Fairfield Council Minutes, December 6, 2011

REGULAR COUNCIL MEETING

DECEMBER 6, 2011

7:00 P.M.

Note to persons reviewing this document: This is not a verbatim transcript. While an attempt has been made to document pertinent points, these minutes contain only a summary of the discussion and voting.

The regular council meeting was called to order on December 6, 2011 at 7:00 pm by Mayor Pro-Tem Mary Branon. Mayor Huber was absent due to a previously scheduled business meeting. Council members present: Mary Branon, Harry Gibbons, KayDee Gilkey, Brian Kauffman, and Karrie Stewart. Others present: Randy Nobel, Sheila Dyer, Valerie Spruill and Cheryl Loeffler.

Approval of Minutes

Action

Brian Kauffman motioned to approve the November 15, 2011 regular council minutes as presented, seconded by Karrie Stewart. The motion carried.

Action

Approval of the Claims

Claim vouchers #16438 through #16469 for $29,782.97 and Fetes for $3,311.53 were approved for payment as presented by KayDee Gilkey Brian Kauffman; seconded by Brian Kauffman. The motion carried.

Claims: $19,660.82

Payroll: 13,433.68

Total Claims: $33,094.50

Check Registers signed by: KayDee Gilkey, Harry Gibbons, Brian Kauffman and Karrie Stewart

Guest Speaker

Sheila Dyer from the North Palouse Community Food Bank presented their plan for upgrades at the Food Bank. They would like to have some rewiring done with additional outlets and an additional light fixture. Adams Electric has provided a quote of $410.00 for the electrical work. They would also like to paint the floor. The Food Bank is looking for funding for these projects. They are only here to ask permission from the council to perform the work since the building is owned by the Town.

ACTION

Harry motioned to approve the electrical upgrade and painting of the floor at the Food Bank utilizing outside funding; seconded by Karrie. The motion carried.

Engineer’s Report

2012 E Main Street SR 27 to Railroad Avenue Transportation Improvement Board (TIB) project

Randy Noble from TD&H has been in contact with Terrell Anderson from the Union Pacific Railroad (UPRR) regarding the abandonment of a railroad crossing to help lower the costs for the work for the crossing on Main Street. They discussed the crossing that is on the south end of Rattler’s Run, close to Highway 27. Mr. Anderson will be in Spokane sometime in late December or early January. Randy suggested getting together to review this crossing and the 2600 feet of track to be abandoned and Mr. Anderson agreed if the Town/TIB paid for his time and expense. Randy said that this cost would be covered by TIB with the Town having to meet the 5% match. He needs a letter giving the railroad authorization to come to Fairfield for this purpose, not to exceed $10,000.

The council had concerns about the removal of the tracks and the possibility of someone wanting to have the tracks there in the future. After discussion, the council did agree to have Mr. Anderson from UPRR come to Fairfield and look at this possibility.

ACTION

Brian motioned to authorize UPRR to proceed with preliminary engineering and the construction cost estimate, not to exceed $10,000; seconded by Karrie. The motion carried.

Century West

The Town did not receive TIB funding for 2013.

ORDINANCE #366 BUDGET AMENDMENT #1 PUBLIC HEARING

Mayor Pro-Tem Mary Branon opened the public hearing for Ordinance #366- 2011 Budget Amendment #1 at 7:20 p.m. Mary explained the purpose of the budget amendments is to adjust the estimated beginning and ending balances to the

actual beginning and ending balances of 2011 budget. She then proceeded to go over each fund and department that was to be amended. With no public comments, the public hearing closed at 7:29.

ACTION

Harry motioned to accept Ordinance #366- 2011 Budget Amendment #1, seconded by Brian. The motion carried.

ORDINANCE #367 2012 FINAL BUDGET

This was tabled until the next council meeting.

OLD BUSINESS

Old Fashioned Christmas and dance overview

Cheryl wanted to thank everyone that helped with the Old Fashioned Christmas and thank Elaine Rising from On Sacred Grounds for being so diligent in getting the word out about the different events happening on the Palouse December 3rd. The participation was larger than it had been in previous years.

Cheryl stated that the Old Fashioned Christmas was a success. The vendors were happy with the turn out. There was live music provided for most of the day. The Food Bank served soup, roll and pie and the proceeds were split between them and the Community Center Activities. Each group ended up with $156 from lunch.

The Children’s Workshop was very well attended. The volunteers thought perhaps 100 kids went through and made crafts. The crafts were very simple and very cheap.

New people stepped up to volunteer for many of the different activities.

The Community Center was decorated very nicely thanks to Alene Felgenhauer and Mary Day. It added just that extra touch to the whole day.

The dance had very little attendance but everyone had a good time. The band “Spare Parts” was excellent and played for three hours straight with no intermission. Some of the people voiced that they would like to have another dance-perhaps Valentine’s Day. Getting the word out to the citizens is a major issue and personally handing out flyers to people and inviting them to come may be the best way to get the word out.

There was discussion about forming an actual committee with planning starting perhaps in July next year. It is important to provide things for the community and the Old Fashioned Christmas is one thing that the Town can do.

Volunteer Appreciation Potluck Dinner

This potluck dinner is Sunday 12-11 at 3:00. Since the upstairs of the Community Center is still decorated, the meal will be served upstairs. KayDee, Harry and Karrie will set up with Brian, Ed, Mary and Cheryl cleaning up. The meat has been ordered from Kelley’s Thrift.

NEW BUSINESS

Hardship snow removal request

Harry & Eleanor Martin put in a request for help with snow removal due to age and health issues.

ACTION

KayDee motioned to approve the hardship snow removal request from the Martins, seconded by Karrie. The motion carried.

Public Works Update

WATER

· Managerial and Financial Capacity Assessment has been completed for 2011/2012 pertaining to the sustainability of our water and wastewater systems with the stats turned in to the Department of Health (DOH).

· Cross control program is being worked on. All data should be received and entered by March of 2012.( includes all backflow and cross connections for all business and residential hook-ups)

· Had to re-hang door on well house #1, wood jam is rotten. Installed longer screws into mason block.

· Re-plumbed chlorinators in well houses #2 and #5.

· DOH is no longer going to be taking our required monthly Bacteriological test. The town will now be taking the sample and have the test done by AAA, then forwarding the results to DOH.

WWTF

· First month of testing has been done, all results are favorable and/or within state and federal limits.

· Lights have been changed on the influent building as well as the sensors. They are now working properly.

· Still battling clogs in the effluent system. Floating material is at a minimum as the top layer freezes. Problem should be at a minimum until spring.

PARKS

· Branches are continually being picked up due to windstorms.

· No vandalism to report /picked up blowing garbage and debris

· Mulching of leaves has been completed until spring (maybe one more before snow).

ROADS

· Sander has been installed and is working great!

· Have installed new set of fog lights for side visibility on plow truck.

· Year-end maintenance has commenced on entire town fleet including lube, oil, filters, belts, anti-freeze and service transmissions.

· Have ordered gravel to carry over until spring, working on deal with Jay Baird from Spokane County to purchase remainder of salt sand mix needed for this year. May be able to pick-up from stockpile on Truax Road.

· Started re-striping centerline on Ticknor Street.

Other:

Goldie Kelley was present regarding the request for removal of the abandoned trailer. She is asking the council for an extension until the spring to get it done. She does not want anyone going down there to work and risking the possibility of getting hurt. The area where the trailer is also has a swampy area on the property that could pose a potential hazard.

Mary expressed gratitude for her coming to the council and acknowledging the issue. The council suggested to Mrs. Kelley that everyone comes back together towards the end of March and discuss the removal again. Cheryl will notify the Improvement Board of this and if they are in agreement with this decision, no further action will take place until the end of March 2012.

Review Complaints & Compliments

11-30-2011 Dog complaint: Beagle has been seen in yard and various other places around town, leaving feces and running loose on the streets and has shown a tendency for aggressive behavior. **Phone call to owner (dog was actually in front of the office) plus letter, ordinance and fee schedule sent.

Adjourn

The regular meeting adjourned 8:15 pm.

Mayor Pro-Tem Mary Branon Clerk/Treasurer Cheryl Loeffler