Special Council Meeting, Fairfield, Wash, March 26, 2012

Fairfield, Washington

SPECIAL COUNCIL MEETING

MARCH 26, 2012

8:00 A.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.

Mayor Huber called the special council meeting to order on March 26, 2012 at 8:00 am.

Council members present: Mary Branon, George Davidson, Valerie Spurrell. Brian Kauffman and Harry Gibbons were absent.

Others present: Cheryl Loeffler.

Approval of UPRR Crossing Replacement

The railroad’s contract for the improvements to the existing crossing that are part of the Main Street Rehabilitation Project is written very clearly. It states that the Town is responsible for 50% of the railroad’s actual labor and material costs associated with the work, which they estimate to be $190,490.00. The council agreed that the contract did not need to be reviewed by the attorney.

ACTION

Mary Branon motioned to accept the Improvements to Existing Public Road at Grade Crossing for Main Street, DOT 89795IJ M.P. 131.73 Fairfield Industrial Lead Fairfield, Washington agreement. The agreement is for 50% of the Railroad’s actual labor and material costs associated with the work with estimation being $190,490.00; seconded by George Davidson. The motion carried.

Acceptance of Employee Resignation

Alene Felgenhauer turned in her resignation as deputy clerk. She is asking to have it effective immediately. The council thanked Alene for her time and dedication to the community.

Ed would like to contact the previous applicants to see if they are still interested before posting the position. After checking with MRSC, neither state nor federal laws require advertising. The most recent applications will be reviewed. Ed would like to have the position filled by the first of May.

The signature cards that were to be updated will be destroyed and the bank will be notified that the town will update them when the new employee is hired.

Adjourn

The regular meeting adjourned 8:12 am.

______________   ________________________

Mayor Ed Huber     Clerk/Treasurer Cheryl Loeffler

Fairfield, Washington on Facebook

Fairfield now has a Facebook page.  Please “Like” it so it can get out in the world.  Let City Clerk\Treasurer, Cheryl Leoffler, know what you would like to see on it or if you  have some event or news you would like to post. Phone: (509) 283-2414, Fax: ((888) 595-5579, or email: "Town of Fairfield" townoffairfield@cougarwireless.net.

 

Fairfield, Washington Council Minutes, March 20, 2012

Fairfield, Washington

REGULAR COUNCIL MEETING

MARCH 20, 2012

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

Mayor Huber called the regular council meeting to order on March 20, 2012 at 7:00 pm.

Council members present: Harry Gibbons, Mary Branon, George Davidson, Valerie Spurrell.

Brian Kauffman was absent tonight.

Others present: KJ Hanley of Century West, Mark Matherly, Larry Zeug, Linda Head, Derek Knecht and Cheryl Loeffler.

Approval of Minutes

ACTION

Harry Gibbons motioned to approve the March 6, 2012 regular council minutes as presented, seconded by Mary Branon. The motion carried.

ACTION

Approval of the Claims

Claim vouchers #16580 through #16595 for $36,083.64 and EFTs for $1.519.53 were approved for payment as presented by Harry Gibbons, seconded Valerie Spurrell. The motion carried.

Claims: $31,663.34

Payroll: 5,939.83

Total Claims: $37,603.17

Check #16584 was voided.

Check Registers signed by: Mary Branon, Harry Gibbons and George Davidson.

Guest:

Mark Matherly lives in Fairfield and works for Du-Mor Recycling. He explained that his company has recycle bins that are similar to the one placed at the Valleyford Fire Station which take aluminum cans, newspapers, magazines and phone books. They also have a bin that could take cardboard. They have bins located in different communities that are used for fundraising by organizations such as the Lions Club. Mark and his boss are offering the Town of Fairfield bins for the aluminum cans and paper and a cardboard bin if needed. Mark would bring the bins to Fairfield in the company truck and take the full ones back. He would be donating his time to provide this to Fairfield. The company would then take the aluminum cans and give back to Fairfield the “can money” and use the paper recycling money to pay for the fuel for the truck to come down here. There would be no charges to Fairfield from Du-Mor Recycling. They do not have the ability to handle glass or plastics at this time.

The council thanked Mark and his boss for this wonderful offer. Ed explained that the council is still researching and want to find the best fit for the Town. The council does not want to offer the recycling to one company and then a few months down the road take it away because something better comes along.

Dave Patterson from Empire Disposal will be here next council meeting to present their recycling program.

Larry Zeug commented that charging the citizens for the recycling does not make sense especially with the hardships that so many people are going through at this time. The mayor and council all agreed with this comment.

Engineer’s Report

Century West

Sewer System Improvement Project

The funding agency, Spokane County Housing and Community Development, has examined their database and determined that Bowen Brothers are not excluded, disqualified or otherwise ineligible for Federal procurement and nonprocurement programs, according to the Excluded Parties List System. Therefore, Century West recommends that Bowen Brothers Construction bid be accepted as the lowest responsive bid at $77,712.55, which includes Additive alternate A. The available construction funding for the Sewer Improvement Project is $93,172.

ACTION

Harry motioned to award the Sewer Improvement Project for 2011 to Bowen Brothers, base bid amount of $68,438.65, Alternate A $9,273.90 with total bid of $77,712.55; seconded by Mary.

The motion carried.

The project should start around April 23 with 20 working days.

KJ will prepare the form letter that will be sent to the residents and businesses that will be affected by this project with a date set for the preconstruction walk through.

TD&H

Randy Noble sent an update regarding the Main Street project.

Fairfield/TD&H made a field review of the plans on 3/8/12.

Plans and Specifications are complete – Awaiting final comments and acceptance letter from WSDOT (expected at any time). Upon receipt of WSDOT’s acceptance letter, Randy will deliver the TIB documentation packet for Mayor Huber’s signature. Cheryl will then mail the packet to TIB for approval to advertise for construction.

UPRR’s agreement for Fairfield was mailed from California on 3/15 and has not yet been received which will need Council action review, accept and to allow Mayor Huber to sign. Once signed, UPRR will initiate the ordering of crossing materials. Since the UPRR agreement has not yet been received by Fairfield, Randy suggest that after the agreement has been received and reviewed, the Council hold a special meeting to authorize Mayor Huber to sign the agreement.

OLD BUSINESS

Water ordinance

The water ordinance will be reviewed by the council another two weeks. Cheryl will also come up with some wording to start the process.

Community Center

Kirk’s Doors came down to fix the lower door and had to order parts. He just notified us today that it would take up to two weeks to get them.

It has still been difficult to get a committee together for the youth activities. Two meetings have been held with very little adult participation. Alene and Cheryl would like to have this committee take over the youth activities by having volunteers lined up and have a calendar of events. Levi’s Room has been open for two Thursdays with two kids coming. Getting the word out has been difficult so the council agreed to check into advertising through Liberty School. Cheryl will contact Sharon Mix.

It is sometimes difficult to get volunteers to provide cooked meals for the Senior Souper. A chair is needed to help keep this running smoothly.

Light fixture replacement

The quote from CED to change the T-12 to T-8 lights in all of the city-owned buildings came in. The report states that it would take 9/10 of a year to break even between the Avista rebate and energy savings. The prices were for the fixtures only. Ed had asked for a labor component installation guide from CED. This would provide a guideline for potential contractors to give a bid.

CED also has flagpole light fixture available that could replace the one at SCOPE and the post office.

Mary will contact Platt to get another work-up for this.

Facebook

Cheryl and Valerie and still trying to find a time to get together.

Signature cards

This will be tabled until next meeting.

NEW BUSINESS

Sewer rate questions

Two residents are requesting to have their sewer rates reduced due to homes being vacant. Ed explained that each connection is part of the sewer system. The rates are dictated by the dollar amount of the loans that it carries and the expensive Department of Ecology testing and regulations. One possibility is for the homeowner to disconnect

their sewer from the system and pay for connection fees in the future. The Town is allowed a certain amount of connections so if someone were to disconnect now and wanted to connect in the future, they would run the risk of the quota being met and no additional connection being available. At the present time, there is no reduction in sewer fees for empty homes.

The property owner of one of these homes did request a refund of the overpayment of the lien that had been placed on his property. This check was issued at this council meeting.

Rights of Entry Agreement for TIB Project #2-E-895(001)-1

The Town received the Right of Entry Agreement between Washington State Department of Transportation (WSDOT) and Fairfield, which will allow WSDOT access for the 2012 chip seal project at 2nd Street, Lake to Bradshaw and West Bradshaw – within city limits to Highway 27. This project will be paid with Transportation Improvement Board (TIB) funds and will have no financial burden on the town. The funding is for $45,438.

ACTION

Mary motioned to authorize the rights of entry agreement to WSDOT for TIB Project #2-E-895(001)-1; seconded by Harry. The motion carried.

Flag Day 2012

Flag Day will be held on June 9, 2012. There was some discussion about the Fun Run.

Cemetery mowing contract

Cheryl will contact the people that have shown some interest in mowing the cemetery. The applications will be accepted until 4-3-2012.

The Memorial Day Event will be Saturday May 26 at 1:00. The Cemetery Board would like to have the council participate.

Public Works Update

WATER

• Public Works Dept participated in a meter sizing, replacement and repair class, also included where and how to tap water mains. Classes were at WETRC training facility in Spokane Valley
• Total Free Chlorine Residual is staying between .2 and .3
• Replacing injectors at well #1 along with injector plumbing
• Sent two LMI injector pumps to Spokane Instruments to be repaired

WWTF

• Ducks are moving in for the season, bringing up PH levels
• Testing is staying well within limits
• Juggling flows between E.Q. Basin and Aeration to stay within discharge limits. There is a noticeable difference with the repairs that have been done with the I&I

PARKS

• Picking up of branches and debris from upper and lower parks
• Preparing mowers and weed eaters for spring duty
• Bathrooms will remain closed until there is no hard freeze in the forecast, to avoid busting pipe 

ROADS

• Potholes are being turned over and graded as weather permits. Pavement is being patched with Perma-patch asphalt repair

Other: Metal has been fabricated to replace missing piece on lower Community Center door trim. Had to fabricate pieces to finish trim on upper fire escape door also and paint grey to match.

The security cameras can be replaced for about $250.

ACTION

Mary motioned to approve of the expenditure, not to exceed of $300, to replace the security cameras in Thiel Park; seconded by Valerie. The motion carried.

Lawnmowers

Derek will have a presentation between the John Deere and Grasshopper machines ready for the next council meeting.

Other:

None.

Review Complaints & Compliments

3-12-2012: Letter complaining about sewer charges for empty house. A letter will be sent from Mayor Huber addressing this issue.

Adjourn

The regular meeting adjourned 8:59 pm.

Mayor Ed Huber Clerk/Treasurer Cheryl Loeffler

Mayor and Coucilman Positions Open at Farmington, Wash.,

 

Farmington Town Council is seeking applicants for both Mayor and Councilman. If you are a resident of Farmington, over the age of 18 and interested in serving in either of these capacities, please submit a letter of interest to the Town Clerk-Treasurer at P.O. Box 65 Farmington, WA 99128, prior to 6:00 PM on Monday, April 9th, 2012.

Palouse City Council Minutes, March 13, 2012

DRAFT ONLY.  Without council review or approval.

PALOUSE REGULAR COUNCIL MEETING

March 13, 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; Rick Wekenman.  Absent:  Norm Schorzman.  Councilmember Floyd MOVED to excuse Norm’s absence due to work-related responsibility.  Councilmember Wekenman seconded and the motion carried unanimously.  Also present: Public Works Superintendent Dwayne Griffin; Police Chief Jerry Neumann; Clerk-Treasurer Joyce Beeson; & Deputy Clerk Ann Thompson.  Public present:  Aaron Flansburg.    

APPROVAL OF MINUTES:  Councilmember Wekenman MOVED to adopt the minutes of the Regular Council Meeting of February 28, 2012.  Councilmember Newman seconded the motion and the motion carried unanimously.

PUBLIC WORKS REPORT:   Supt. Griffin submitted a written report.  Heating contractor serviced the furnace in Marc’s shop and also looked at Heritage Park restrooms.  He said the heating systems in the bathrooms are as efficient as they’re going to get; just need to replace the doors for between $100 to $600 each.  The problem with the doors is they’re not exterior doors.  Another option is buying electric wall heaters to heat the air.   

POLICE REPORT:  Chief Neumann submitted the February 2012 activity log.  The PD is showing 50%+ in energy savings since doing the two phases of lowering the ceiling and insulating.  Chief Neumann would like to start final phase 3 of walling in the furnace to help insulate it plus it will provide more storage.  The work is estimated between $1500 and $2000. 

OPEN FORUM:

Aaron Flansburg, skatepark project.  Presented a brief history of how and when the project started nine years ago.  $1,480 was raised.  Efforts were sidelined.  But now Aaron would like to take on the responsibility of starting up the project and fundraising again.  There are many issues of concerns:  liability, costs, upkeep, locations, etc.  He has ideas for locations but it will be up to the city what works best.  His first goal is to settle with the city on a location so he can move forward.  It needs to be visible and accessible to people.  And you don’t want it to be a noise bother to homeowners.  He favors the park.  His hope is a cement park, durable, low maintenance, and flood resistant.  Needs to be fenced so small children can’t get in and get hurt.  He sees it as smaller than 8,000 sf.  Grants are tougher to come by now than in better economic times.  He sees this as a five+ year project.  Aaron’s next move will be to meet with the parks committee.    

NEW BUSINESS:

Resolution No. 2012-01:  Adoption of Whitman County Solid Waste Management Plant (SWMP):

Mayor read aloud the resolution in its entirety.  The city signed an Interlocal agreement with the county to participate in this SWMP rather than developing our own.  The county has completed the SWMP and is ready for the city to adopt through this resolution.  Councilmember Jones MOVED, seconded by Councilmember Floyd, to approve Resolution No. 2012-01adopting the county SWMP.  Motion carried unanimously. 

Brownfields Project Update:  MFA contract extension.  There are three grants coming our way for the next phase of the Brownfields Project.  The first is federal ARRA (American Recovery & Reinvestment Act)) for $150,000 – for professional fees and demolition. The ARRA grant will have provisions for reimbursing pre-award work back to March 1, 2012 and must be spent by June 30, 2012.  The second grant is BRLF II for $200,000 – for construction and remediation costs.  The third grant is Remedial Action grant for $436,800 – for construction/remediation costs, some professional fees and ground water monitoring.  Total of all three grants is $786,800. 

In order to meet the deadline of June 30 for execution of the ARRA grant, MFA would need to begin work as quickly as possible.  They put together a contract and once signed by the mayor, would begin work even though the ARRA would not be signed until later this month.  There is a provision in the contract (Page 5) which states that payment to MFA is subject to the execution of the grant as expected.  The key here is they’re taking monetary responsibility if funding for work done though this contract falls through.  Councilmember Wekenman MOVED to authorize the Mayor to enter into a cleanup and construction oversight contract as outlined with MFA.  Seconded by Councilmember Jones.  Councilmember Newman asked if there is a monetary cap to potential modifications to this contract.  Mayor stated that we’re not spending more than we get from these three grants.  That’s why there is the 20% contingency built in to all tasks as outlined.  Motion carried unanimously.  Councilmember Floyd MOVED to have the Brownfields Committee reactivated as part of the process as early as next month.  Councilmember Newman seconded and the motion carried unanimously.       

Planning Commission Update:

The Planning commission is considering mailing out a survey and asked if there is money in the budget for it. There is $700 budgeted for Community Planning.  We can possibly include the survey with the city’s Consumer Confidence Report which goes out every June.  The mayor appointed Cecil and Tim as the city’s ex-officio liaisons to the Planning Commission.        

COMMITTEE REPORTS/REQUESTS: 

Finance, Property, & Equipment-:  no report

Parks, Cemetery, & Buildings-Norm Schorzman. Chair:  no report 

Police, Fire, & Safety-Rick Wekenman, Chair:  Rick is representing Palouse on the Whitman County Hazard Mitigation Committee.  They are putting together a county-wide plan and once approved, will qualify Palouse for monies in the event of any natural disaster such as flood, fire, wind, etc.  Technology has really changed; there are all kinds of databases now that tell for example how an earthquake in Othello would affect our buildings here in Palouse, and how it affects our appreciable value.  

Policy & Administration-Bo Ossinger, Chair:  Still working on cost allocation.  We’re about ready to present the resolution to council after it gets looked at by the state auditor. 

Streets & Sidewalks-Cecil Floyd, Chair:  Cecil reviewed aloud his submitted written committee meeting report.  They decided they need more information on the process for request of a private driveway on an unimproved city street.  The committee will gather information, consult with Attorney Bishop and revisit the whole issue. 

Also they discussed the design of the Mohr Street sidewalk project.  Calvin from Taylor Engineering thinks there’s enough funding in the grant to extend the sidewalk all the way to the school, but would need to pass through city right-of-way which raised no concern from council or staff.  It has always been the city’s plan that Taylor Engineering be both the design and project manager for the Mohr Street project.  Taylor Engineering will look into handicap accessibility issues for the abutting house affected by this project.         

Discussed future projects:  West Whitman Street classification as an arterial, making it eligible for TIB grant money.  They invited Gloria Bennett from TIB to a committee meeting.  Cecil talked to DOT about the Bridge St bridge.  Rick said this bridge actually came up at his Hazardous Mitigation meeting.  It might very well receive some funding.  Cecil and Rick will each continue to pursue this through their different avenues.             

Cecil asked for clarification about if B Street is opened all the way to Fairview Avenue.  Dwayne explained that it has only been improved to Kessler’s house.  Public works builds up berms below Kessler’s to keep mud and water off of Fairview.  

Personnel & Pool-Tim Jones, Chair:  Time is upon us to begin working on the 2012 pool season.  Ann sent a letter out in January to various Palouse groups about taking on swim team.  No takers yet.  Will continue trying to get word out to see if anyone wants to be a swim team coach and take on the duties related with having a swim team, with reminder that swim team is not a city responsibility/project.   

Water & Sewer-Connie Newman, Chair:  Submitted a written report.  Committee continues to meet regularly to continue work on the WSP.  Palouse will be implementing a WUE (water use efficiency) plan.  The plan will demonstrate that we take measurable steps to show we are preventing water waste and that we’re monitoring the whole community’s water use.  The WSP is scheduled to be submitted to the DOH for review by April 2012.  DOH does not require a public review and comment period for the WSP, but we are going to offer that for a period of time. 

MAYOR’S REPORT:   

The mayor would like to appoint Bo Ossinger to the JFB. 

Hawkins Developer would like to discuss their side of the project with Palouse City Council.  Mayor will tell him it would be better to make it a community-wide forum through the Palouse Chamber of Commerce rather than at a council meeting.     

Connie asked about the parking lot at the new PCC.  The city’s role is to excavate and install rock and fabric that has been purchased by the PCC.  The area need to dry out first.

ALLOW PAYMENT OF BILLS:  Councilmember Jones MOVED that the bills against the city be allowed.  Councilmember Newman seconded the motion and the motion carried unanimously.

ADJOURN:  Councilmember Jones MOVED to adjourn.  Councilmember Wekenman seconded the motion and the motion carried unanimously.  The council meeting adjourned at 8:57 PM.

The following checks are approved for payment:

Claims Paid, Check Nos. 3873-3897 & EFT          $17,061.69

APPROVED: __________   ATTEST: ____________

March 13, 2012 Palouse City Council Agenda

PALOUSE CITY COUNCIL AGENDA

March 13, 2012, 7:00 pm

Regular Council Meeting

Palouse City Hall – 120 E. Main Street

CALL TO ORDER: 

ROLL CALL: 

APPROVAL OF MINUTES:  Regular Council Meeting of February 28, 2012.

PUBLIC WORKS REPORT: 

POLICE REPORT: 

OLD BUSINESS:

NEW BUSINESS:

Resolution No. 2012-01:  Adoption of Whitman County Solid Waste Management Plan:

Brownfields Project Update:  MFA contract extension

Planning Commission Update:

COMMITTEE REPORTS/REQUESTS:

• Parks, Cemetery & Buildings
• Water & Sewer  
• Policy & Administration
• Police Fire & Safety
• Streets & Sidewalks
• Finance, Property & Equipment
• Personnel & Pool 

OPEN FORUM:

MAYOR’S REPORT:

ALLOW PAYMENT OF BILLS:

ADJOURN:

The Palouse City Hall is accessible to persons with disabilities.  Persons requiring special accommodations should, before 5:00 PM the Monday preceding the Council Meeting, contact the City Clerk at 120 E. Main Street, PO Box 248, Palouse, WA  99161, or 878-1811 or cityclerk@palouse.com.

FAIRFIELD, WASH.
REGULAR COUNCIL MEETING

MARCH 6, 2012

7:00 P.M.

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

Mayor Huber called the regular council meeting to order on March 6, 2012 at 7:00 pm. Council members present: Harry Gibbons, Mary Branon, George Davidson, Valerie Spurrell and Brian Kauffman.

Others present: Randy Noble of TD&H, KJ Hanley of Century West, Anthony and Mary Sparks, Tom Smith from St. John Hardware and Cheryl Loeffler.

Approval of Minutes

ACTION

Brian Kauffman motioned to approve the February 21, 2012 regular council minutes as presented, seconded by Harry Gibbons. The motion carried.

ACTION

Approval of the Claims

Claim vouchers #16561 through #16579 for $34964.62 and EFTs for $5,030.98 were approved for payment as presented

by Harry Gibbons, seconded Brian Kauffman. The motion carried.

Claims: $33,638.76

Payroll: 6,356.84

Total Claims: $39,995.60

Check Registers signed by: Mary Branon, Brian Kauffman and George Davidson.

Engineer’s Report

Century West

Sewer System Improvement Project

Bid opening was March 2, 2012 with five bids opened. Currently, Bowen Brothers appear to be the low bidder at $68,438.65 with Alternative A at $9,273.90 and B $25,523.00 for a total of $105,302.91. Bowen Brothers has done work in Fairfield and has been hired by the Town on separate occasions and the Town has always been very satisfied with their work. The bid was low enough that the first additive could be completed. Accelerated Construction and Excavating, LLC is the second lowest bid with base bid at $78,862.19, Alternative A $10,024.11 and B $24,271.69 for a total bid of $113,157.99. They are the construction company that put the pedestrian bridges in Thiel Park. The CDBG grant is for $112, 283.00

Abe Bowen does not anticipate starting until May. They have 20 working days to complete the project. Right now, they are scheduled to have the job completed June 8. Mary brought up the fact that Flag Day is June 9 and that is cutting it very close. KJ will move the ending date to June 1.

A walk-through pre-construction meeting will be held for all of the affected homes and St. John Hardware in that area so everyone will know what it going on and what to expect. A letter will also be sent notifying them of the project.

Portland Avenue

Notification was received from Washington State Department of Transportation (WSDOT) and Spokane Regional Transportation Council (SRTC) that the application to reclassify Portland Avenue to a rural major collector was rejected but that they would accept it as a rural minor collector. (By description, a major collector is Carlton and a minor collector is Bradshaw.) The Town could write a letter to WSDOT and SRTC requesting to reclassify Portland so traffic can be rerouted from Carlton to Portland. The next time that Gloria Bennett is in town, KJ will set up a meeting to walk Portland. She may have some different ideas to utilize to get it reclassified. As a minor collector, there is no funding from WSDOT or SRTC. KJ, as an engineer, does not think that it is realistic to make Portland an arterial. It would require major work and funding to get it to the condition it needs to be for an arterial. Harry brought up the point that Portland has a very poor base and is costing the town quite a bit of money in maintenance. He suggests doing the project in sections.

TD&H

Randy Noble presented the estimate of $190,000 from Union Pacific Railroad for the crossings and this was then cut in half so Fairfield’s portion would be $85,000. The original application listed the crossing at $144,000 so this is significantly lower. The Town is responsible for 5% of this amount. On Thursday, March 8 at 8:00 a.m., Randy will be in town to walk the project with the plans to get a better understanding of the project. Anyone is invited to walk the project with Randy and Ed.

The council accepted the UPRR estimate so the railroad can now initiate an agreement with Fairfield for the work. This agreement must be executed before UPRR will order materials.

Ed discussed the possibility of having the asphalt in front of the post office and city hall repaired while the contractors are in Fairfield. The records room took in water during one of the storms due to the condition of the asphalt. Since the Main Street project is already below budget, Randy did not think that TIB would have any problem with stepping in to help fix this problem. He will check with Gloria Bennett about this.

OLD BUSINESS

Recycling in Fairfield

MRSC was contacted about the $2 being added onto the utility bills. Paul Sullivan stated that since the town does not already provide a garbage service, legally we could not add this fee. His suggestion would be to add a utility tax onto the water. In order to receive the $2 from each household, approximately 9% utility tax would need to be added. The council and mayor all had reservations about taxing water to subsidize the recycling. The suggestion is to not charge our residents for recycling but to divert a portion of the 6% utility tax that we are already collecting from Avista from the streets to recycling. Cheryl is still working with Suzanne Tresko on the Department of Ecology grant.

Harry was concerned that Empire Disposal had not been contacted about the possibility of lower revenues and that the citizens should be notified that Empire would probably raise their rates to compensate. Since the Town does not contract with Empire but it is done on an individual account basis, it is not the Town’s responsibility.

Mary and Anthony Sparks, who were unable to attend the public hearing, expressed their thoughts on an additional fee plus their concern about some of the people not being able to actually utilize the recycling dumpsters. They already do their own recycling and garbage. They also asked if a location had been chosen, which it has not.

ACTION

Mary motioned to approve participation in the six-month trial period of the recycling with Sunshine Disposal with the contingency that the other four communities sign on; seconded by Brian. The motion carried with George and Harry abstaining.

Community Center

Cougar Wireless is offering the Town internet security at the community center. The council selected a Level 3, which protects against pornography and non-family friendly access and from sharing sites that contain viruses. Cheryl will notify Cougar of their choice. She will also find out if this will be available at both hot spots.

The lower door handle is broken so access is limited through the upper door until it is fixed. Parts had been ordered from Wholesalelocks.com but were incorrect.

Youth activities begin 3-8-2012. So far John and Jeanie Jesseph and Jon and Maureen Rinker have signed up to chaperone.

Background checks will be performed. Cheryl checked with Roger Neal from RMSA about sharing the background checks with other organizations such as Fairfield Care and the churches and as long as the applicant is willing (get it in writing) to share their background check (and those that aren’t would be a big Red Flag,) he think that sharing the background check is a good use of resources.

The article that Nina Culver wrote for the Valley Voice about Levi’s Room has generated the donation of a Brunswick fullsize pool table. This is in very good condition. A full-size pick-up and some muscles are needed to get this from the home in Spokane Valley. Please let Cheryl know if you would be able to do this.

NEW BUSINESS

Water ordinance

When the state auditor was here, one of their suggestions was to update the utility ordinances, especially about delinquent payments and lien placements. The council received copies of sample water ordinances from Tekoa, Almira and Rockford along with our own. They will review all of these and come back to the next meeting with changes they would like to implement.

Staff meeting

The staff and Ed met last Thursday for a breakfast meeting to discuss the upcoming projects.

2012 Spring Yard Debris Day

The annual Spring Yard Debris Day is scheduled for April 28 from 9-3. A free home composting class will be offered on the same day at the Community Center at 10:00.

Public Works Update

WATER

• Total Free Chlorine is staying at a constant .2
• Injector pump is being replaced in well house #2.
• Soft start system quotes are being prepared for wells 1 and 2.

WWTF

• UV lights have been cleaned and operating at 100% disinfection rate.
• Testing is on schedule and staying within limits. 

PARKS

• Garbage and debris picked up on a regular basis, branches from high winds etc.
• Prepping mower for spring duty, repairing J.D. 316 for liquidation.
• Final research on new mower purchase, narrowed to two choices, John Deere industrial/commercial model and Grasshopper 72” Diesel.

 ROADS

• Plowing and sanding have been going great with late season snow and ice.
• Continuing with pothole repair in paved areas, grading of gravel roads will commence upon favorable road conditions (proper moisture content).
• Sight at Seward and Second is still too soft for travel and remains sectioned off.

Fire Extinguishers have been serviced for the year, good until March 2013. It has been recommended by Oxarc to install 20lb. Purple K Fast Flow Ext. by the towns propane tanks per NFPA #102010.

Also a second bid for replacing lights and fixtures in town properties on the Avista rebate program is being compiled for council review.

Other:

None.

Review Complaints & Compliments

2-22-2012: Blowing insulation from trailer removal. The owner was contacted and guaranteed that it would be resolved as soon as possible.*Cheryl will make a personal contact with the owner as soon as possible. There have been some health issues and the snow recently so clean-up activity was basically halted.

Adjourn

The regular meeting adjourned 8:59 pm.

______________   __________________________

Mayor Ed Huber     Clerk/Treasurer Cheryl Loeffler