DRAFT ONLY. Without council review or approval.
Palouse, Washington
REGULAR COUNCIL MEETING
March 27, 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. Also present: Public Works Superintendent Dwayne Griffin; Police Chief Jerry Neumann; Clerk-Treasurer Joyce Beeson; & Deputy Clerk Ann Thompson. Public present: Mark Sawyer; Tom Kammerzell.
APPROVAL OF MINUTES: Councilmember Schorzman MOVED to adopt the minutes of the Regular Council Meeting of March 13, 2012. Councilmember Ossinger seconded the motion and the motion carried unanimously.
PUBLIC WORKS REPORT: Superintendent Griffin submitted a written report. Regarding the rising Palouse River, the water got to shop but no damage. But at the park the river moved all the wood chips and it’s a mess. City will try and have a volunteer day at the park to fix it before the Easter egg hunt on the 7th if weather is permitting.
PW was going to try and use the tin roof from the building on the Brownfields site but it’s not salvageable.
POLICE REPORT: Reminder to drivers to watch for pedestrians now that weather is warming up. PD will be having bike safety education day at the elementary schools soon. Reminder that dogs have to be leashed at all times while off of your property, even if it’s a well-behaved dog. The PD completed yearly mandated training and has been certified by the state. City Hall and PD radios have been updated and are now FCC compliant. Public Works’ radios still have to be replaced. We’re mandated by the feds to do this.
OPEN FORUM:
Mark Sawyer spoke about the 2nd Annual Palouse River Duathlon scheduled for May 12th. He would like permission for use of city streets and city park, use of city cones and white barricades, assistance from PD for traffic control, volunteers from the community on race day, and publicity through word of mouth. Also would like to have permission to begin setup for the race on May 11th at 4pm. The only changes from last year will be an earlier start time and reverse the race direction. Mark will obtain all county, D.O.T., and city permits, insurance, signage, emergency services, public notification, advertising, registrations, race timing, sponsorship and prizes. No objections from council.
Tom Kammerzell, Port of Whitman County Commissioner - Right now the fiber optic project is their main focus. As word has gotten out that the entire state will be looped, there is increased interest from business. This is a great opportunity to the Palouse. Project is about 60% done. The wet weather slows progress. All the vaults will be placed underground.
The port has put in for the federal Tigre grant to upgrade the rail system between McCoy and Marshall; this grant is what could potentially repair/rebuild all the bridges including the bridge in Palouse on SR 27. One positive thing for the rail in this part of the country is the DOT has assigned someone to be in charge of the rail. The upkeep of the rail will save wear and tear and expense on the highways.
Lewiston, Clarkston, and Whitman County recently had their quarterly meeting in Palouse.
JFB REPORT:
The training fund is over budget right now due to the increased cost for EMT trainings. Right now there are two people training in the program. It is about $700-$900 per person and very time-consuming. EMS has changed their policy on accepting new people into their program just because it is so expensive. They’re requiring 2/3 of the cost of the new equipment to be paid by the person and also requiring them to be in the community for two full years before they apply.
Four fire call in February, 8 ytd, which is already half of all of 2011. Our pumper tanker 416 is out for repairs. Should be back soon. We’ve notified neighboring community departments just in case we have a fire.
EMS had 6 calls in February, 12 ytd. Waiting to hear word on a pre-hospital participation grant from the DOH which will help outfit us in new equipment plus replace various sundries used on all their calls.
COMMITTEE REPORTS/REQUESTS:
Parks, Cemetery, & Buildings-Norm Schorzman. Chair: no report
Policy & Administration-Bo Ossinger, Chair: no report
Police, Fire, & Safety-Rick Wekenman, Chair: no report
Finance, Property, & Equipment-, Chair: no report
Personnel & Pool-Tim Jones, Chair: no report. Having a meeting tomorrow.
Water & Sewer-Connie Newman, Chair: Update about WSP. We continue to meet regularly. We’re into the point in the WSP where we’re looking at the strengths and weaknesses of our water program; our capital improvement plan. We will be submitting our first draft to DOH by the end of April. DOH will have 90 days to review. Once we make any revisions, we’ll have a public comment period.
Streets & Sidewalks-Cecil Floyd, Chair: Taylor Engineering is submitting paperwork to TIB for our grant.
Regarding the request by Nicole Wood to be allowed to have a private driveway on a city right-of-way. Councilmember Floyd recommends allowing it. Much discussion ensued. When the Kesslers built their house, they requested opening B Street between 7th and 8th, paid a contractor and built it to city spec and then some. Dwayne Griffin oversaw the work and has approved the street construction. A letter has not gone out yet to Kessler’s accepting it but that will be done. However for all intents this is now an opened city street. A private drive insinuates it goes to one property owner; there are three adjacent property owners (Tronsen, Griner, Kessler) abutting where Nicole Wood wants to put a private driveway. There are requirements for street openings and we need clarification on the process vs. a driveway. We don’t want to treat anyone any different, however each request is unique. It’s very important that we address the effect to the three adjacent property owners. If you look at the platted map, it appears the requestor (Nicole Wood) has access through their own property to that location. PW Supt. Griffin distributed in writing his concerns and accompanying map: several maintenance issues top the list. Dwayne stressed that the city needs to keep control of its property. We’ve had issues like this in the past and the city didn’t go through the proper channels and still has to deal with those issues. Now is the time to get this done right; don’t leave this for someone down the road. Connie stated that we should defer to our PW Supt as his concerns are not unreasonable. It is in the city’s best interest to have 24/7 access. Councilmember Newman MOVED that we refuse the 7th Street driveway request and require it as a street opening. No second. Motion failed. Council wants more information. Councilmember Floyd requested a note be sent to Nicole that no decision was made and it will go back to committee. He would like to have answers from the attorney on questions that have been asked and invited Nicole to the committee meeting scheduled for April 4. Council members were encouraged to look at the right-of-way in question.
MAYOR’S REPORT:
Brownfields project is still moving along.
ALLOW PAYMENT OF BILLS: Councilmember Schorzman MOVED that the bills against the city be allowed. Councilmember Jones seconded the motion and the motion carried unanimously.
ADJOURN: Councilmember Schorzman MOVED to adjourn. Councilmember Wekenman seconded the motion and the motion carried unanimously. The council meeting adjourned at 8:20 PM.
The following checks are approved for payment:
Claims Paid Ck. No. 3898-3916 $5,686.86
APPROVED: _____________ ATTEST: ________________________________
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