DRAFT ONLY. Without council review or approval.
REGULAR COUNCIL MEETING
January 10, 2012
CALL TO ORDER: Mayor Echanove called the Council Meeting to order at 7:00 PM.
ROLL CALL: Council members present: Cecil Floyd; Tim Jones; Connie Newman; Bo Ossinger; Norm Schorzman; Rick Wekenman. Absent: Councilmember Milano. Also present: Public Works Superintendent Dwayne Griffin; Police Chief Jerry Neumann; Clerk-Treasurer Joyce Beeson; & Deputy Clerk Ann Thompson. Councilmember Newman MOVED, seconded by Councilmember Schorzman, to excuse Councilmember Milano’s absence due to illness. Motion carried unanimously. Public present: Pete Hertz.
Swearing in of council members: Mayor Michael Echanove, Councilmember Bo Ossinger, Councilmember Tim Jones, Councilmember Cecil Floyd, Councilmember Rick Wekenman, Councilmember Norm Schorzman, and Councilmember Connie Newman, all read aloud their oath of office and were sworn in.
APPROVAL OF MINUTES: Amend the December 20, 2011 minutes to reflect that “Councilmember Floyd MOVED, and Councilmember Snook seconded, not to excuse the absences of councilmembers Milano, Schorzman, & Jones. Motion carried unanimously”. Councilmember Wekenman MOVED to adopt the amended minutes of the Regular Council Meeting of December 20, 2011. Councilmember Newman seconded the motion and the motion carried unanimously.
PUBLIC WORKS REPORT: Supt. Griffin submitted a written report. Additionally, PW worked with Taylor Engineering to do hydrant flow and pressure testing as part of the WSP.
They found a storm drain near McGregor’s and cleaned it out. This will hopefully divert the large puddle that forms.
Continuing to go through the old Conoco station to clean it up.
The readerboard was disconnected Friday. Connie will meet with GPAC to see if they want to finance it. Discussion on insulating the Heritage Park restrooms vs. replacing the doors. DG believes better sealing doors would be more cost-effective than insulation. He will still get advice from Avista.
Bob Brookshier has requested one of the street lights that was turned off be turned back on as he believes it’s a safety issue. Much discussion ensued. Councilmember Floyd MOVED to leave the lights as they are currently. For lack of second, motion failed. Councilmember Newman MOVED to grant the tavern’s request to turn the light back on because their business is open late into the night. Councilmember Wekenman seconded. Councilmember Floyd voted nay. Motion carried.
POLICE REPORT:
Chief Neumann distributed December 2011 Activity log.
The vehicle purchase that was approved last year is moving forward. The increase in the budget has allowed us to find the vehicle that will work best for the Police Department. He is working with Bud Bagott and has found three vehicles that fit. All vehicles are under the $20,000 budget limit. Chief Neumann stated that this could happen quickly, possibly before the next council meeting.
There is a Washington law that came into effect stating dogs, cats, & ferrets must have rabies vaccination. At this time there is no enforcement, unless there is a rabies outbreak in the area. In the event of an outbreak, your animal could be confiscated and destroyed if it is not vaccinated.
NEW BUSINESS:
Surplus of steel building on Brownfields property: DOE and EPA funding is still in the process; they’ve received all the paperwork. The city has received several inquiries about the steel building on this site. We have the opportunity to surplus it, and solicit proposals from people who may be interested in salvaging it. It’s an opportunity to have it taken down at no cost to the city, and possibly make some money. The building has a salvage value. Councilmember Newman MOVED to declare the steel building on the brownfields site as surplus. Seconded by Councilmember Schorzman. Motion carried unanimously. After much discussion, Councilmember Newman MOVED that we put out for sealed bid/proposal the removal of the steel building and all its contents. We will work with Atty. Bishop to write the bid specs. Seconded by Councilmember Schorzman. Motion carried unanimously.
Selection of Mayor Pro-tem: Whenever there is a general election, we need to appoint a mayor pro-tem. The mayor pro-tem fills in for the mayor’s absence, has signing authority on all accounts and must come from current council. Our current mayor pro-tem is Councilmember Wekenman. Councilmember Schorzman MOVED, seconded by Councilmember Floyd, to reelect Councilmember Wekenman as Mayor pro-tem. Motion carried unanimously.
Committee Assignments: Just a couple changes with the addition of Councilmember Ossinger. Mayor read aloud the committee assignments. Committee Chairs are as follows: Parks, Cemetery, & Buildings: Norm Schorzman; Personnel & Pool: Tim Jones; Finance, Property, & Equipment: Mike Milano; Police, Fire, & Safety: Rick Wekenman; Policy & Administration: Bo Ossinger; Streets & Sidewalks: Cecil Floyd; Water & Sewer: Connie Newman.
JFB and Planning Commission both still need to fill vacated positions. Cecil Floyd and Mike Milano are both on the planning commission.
COMMITTEE REPORTS/REQUESTS:
Water & Sewer-Connie Newman, Chair: Calvin George from Taylor Engineering was very impressed with our public work department’s knowledge base of the water system. The largest portion of the WSP is completed (reservoir and well analysis). The committee next week will begin reviewing Taylor Engineering’s recommendations for the Water Efficiency Plan. The committee will bring forward 3 or 4 plans for discussion. Next week the committee will literally start going through each chapter to proof before it is submitted to Ecology for approval by the end of March. Project is on budget so far.
Councilmember Wekenman shared knowledge of a possible grant opportunity for capital projects for things such as water and sewer.
Streets & Sidewalks-Cecil Floyd, Chair: Chairman Floyd is concerned about the selection process for hiring an engineering firm for the Mohr Street project. He wants guidance on his role in selecting an engineering firm. Mayor explained that the city, at the request of Gloria Bennett (TIB), submitted our most recent advertisement for Statements of Qualifications from engineering firms. Once Gloria approves our SOQ process, the city will be allowed to either negotiate a contract with Taylor Engineering or go back out for proposals from other firms. In 2009 the city advertised a request for engineering services with a list of potential projects planned for 2010 through 2012. The city is under no obligation to continue using Taylor Engineering through 2012. We are still awaiting TIB word that we can proceed.
OPEN FORUM: Pete Hertz updated council on issues before the Solid Waste Advisory Committee (SWAC). There will be a meeting to consider single stream recycling vs. source separating recycling. It will be held at the Public Works Building in Colfax on Jan. 18, at 1:30 pm. Also, there will be a public hearing on floodplain ordinance revisions February 1, 7:00pm also at the Public Works Building.
MAYOR’S REPORT: Mayor encouraged councilmember’s to sign up for the Mayors Roundtable, February 23 at the Bell Tower in Pullman. This is sponsored by Avista and SEWEDA.
ALLOW PAYMENT OF BILLS: Councilmember Schorzman MOVED that the bills against the city be allowed. Councilmember Newman seconded the motion and the motion carried unanimously.
ADJOURN: Councilmember Schorzman MOVED to adjourn. Councilmember Newman seconded the motion and the motion carried unanimously. The council meeting adjourned at 8:37 PM.
The following checks are approved for payment:
Payroll Paid, 12/31/11 Ck. No. 3698 – 3716 & EFT’s $43,344.59
VOIDED Check Ck. No. 3717
Claims Paid, 12/31/11 Ck. No. 3718 – 3749 $14,048.62
Claims Paid, 1/11/12 Ck. No. 3750 – 3761 $28,990.95
APPROVED: ________________________________ ATTEST: ________________________________
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