Friday, December 21, 2012

Palouse Washington 2013 Community Calendars and Dog Licenses



The 2013 Community Calendars are at Palouse City Hall/Library ready for pickup.
 
The Palouse 2013 dog licenses have arrived. For spayed or neutered dogs, the cost is only $5.00 for one full year. Intact dogs are only $10.00 for the full year.
Please purchase from City Hall.
 
 
 

 

Incorrect Facts for Palousse Heritage Park Restrooms Published

 
In today’s edition of the Whitman County Gazette, there were some incorrect facts given regarding the cost associated with the Heritage Park restrooms.  The cost to keep the restrooms open during cold winter months is approximately $500/month (not $1,500 as reported in the Gazette). That $500 covers electricity, labor, and supplies (soap, tissue, towels).  Please watch for the correction in the Gazette.

 

Fairfield Council Preliminary Minutes December 18, 2012

REGULAR COUNCIL MEETING
DECEMBER 18, 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 Ed Huber called the regular council meeting to order on December 18, 2012 at 7:00 pm.
 
Council members present: Harry Gibbons, Mary Branon, George Davidson, and Brian Kauffman. Valerie Spurrell was absent due to a family emergency.
 
Others present: Brad Veile, Brian Tiegs, KJ Hanley, Derek Knecht and Cheryl Loeffler.
 
Approval of Minutes
 

ACTION

Harry Gibbons motioned to approve the minutes from the December 4, 2012 regular council meeting, seconded by Brian Kauffman. The motion carried.
 

ACTION

Brian motioned to excuse the absence of Mayor Huber from the December 4, 2012 council meeting; seconded by Harry. The motion carried.
 

ACTION

Approval of the Claims
Brian Kauffman motioned and Harry Gibbons seconded to authorize claim vouchers #16901 through #16910 for $17,982.25 and EFTs for $1,940.87 as presented. The motion carried.
 
Claims: $19,923.12
Payroll:
Total Claims: $19,923.12
 
Check Register signed by: Mary Branon, Brian Kauffman, George Davidson.
 
Guests:
Brian and Rachel Tiegs- Building Permit #01-2012
Brian Tiegs presented the plans for an addition to their home at 506 Governor Moore Street, which has been approved by the planning commission. They plan to start after the first of the year.
 

ACTION

Mary motioned to approve Building Permit #01-2012 for Brian and Rachel Tiegs’ addition at 506 Governor Moore Street; seconded by George Davidson. The motion carried.
 
Brad Veile
The Veile’s had some sewer issues at 305 E Norton and had questions regarding the sewer mainline and responsibilities. He was given the sewer packet from AWC, the Town’s insurance, at the time of his problems, but AWC has denied the claim since the problem laid on their property and did not involve the 6” mainline. Derek performed a dye test, which showed that the mainline was clear. This test is performed as soon as we are notified of a sewer issue. Derek viewed the CD, which Brad had provided and will look at the video that was made when the Veile’s had issues a few years ago. Brad will make sure that Derek gets the video. This may show something different than the CD.
 
The initial packet from AWC is for relief of liability when it cannot be determined easily where the responsibility should fall and these funds would pay for the camera work or any other test needed to identify the problem. It pays up to $2000.
 
Since this 6” mainline crosses private property and has a few homes sharing a line, Brad expressed concern about possible breaks in the mainline causing sewer from other homes to back-up into their home. Whose responsibility would that be?
 
Derek explained to him that if the main were to break, it would definitely be the Town’s responsibility. It was explained that many of the older homes did “share” a line but any new homes built or repairs made to current lines, the lines will all be independent of one another, which should alleviate some of these concerns.
 
Engineer’s Report
TD&H
Approval of ARC Electric progress payment #1 for the new lights on Main Street.
 

ACTION

Mary motioned to pay ARC Electric progress payment #1 for $50,143.60, not including the $2,639.90 retainage; seconded by Brian.
 
Century West
2012 Sewer Improvement Project
KJ Hanley presented the SEPA checklist for the 2012 sewer project for council review. He stated that this is very similar to past applications. The creek is not involved. The council will review the application and approve it at the next council meeting. It will then be posted for comments.
 
The preliminary plans and cost estimate for the project are completed and the railroad amendment will be started after the holidays.
 
Main Street Rehabilitation Project-Railroad to McNeil Avenue
KJ has put together the TIB consultant agreement for the Main Street Project but we are still waiting to hear from Gloria Bennett from Transportation Improvement Board (TIB).
KJ has been communicating with ARC Electric, who did the previous lighting project to make sure that everything will work together with the new project. He recommended that we get electronic copies of the as-builts for the lights.
 
Pressure Tests
KJ has been working with the results of the pressure tests that public works did around town. He commented that they all look good. Dennis and KJ will be down on January 8 for a question and answer session about the Town’s water pressures for the public.
 
OLD BUSINESS
Lighting
Jim Adams has been working on the lights in the various town-owned buildings. The Town Hall, Post Office and the Community Center are almost complete. It is so nice to have adequate lighting in the office. They are happy at the post office. He will be coordinating with Derek to work this weekend at the shop. He will be working with the Avista rebate to ask forgiveness if he does not get the work completed before 12-31-12.
 
Replace Printer
The lease expired in September for the Xerox machine and an upgrade has been put into the 2013 budget. Cheryl would like to go with another Xerox machine, which would be smaller and still do the same things as the current one. The 5-year lease is $82.69 plus tax per month with 2900 copies included. Any copy above 2900 is .0089. This comes out to be about the same cost as the ones we were looking at from ABC Machines. Xerox provides service for the machine.
 

ACTION

Mary motioned to approve the Xerox proposal; seconded by Harry. Motion carried.
 
Ordinance #371 Budget Amendment #2
 

ACTION

Harry motioned to approve Ordinance #371, Budget Amendment #2 as outlined; seconded by Brian. The motion carried.
 
Sheriff’s contract
The cost to the Town for the 2013 Sheriff’s contract will be $15,293, which is significantly lower than previous years. Explanation for this reduction from Jeff Tower follows. For the 2014 budget, the base rate will be $24,259.
 
Specifically what occurred with Fairfield is that your 2011 bill was based on statistics from 2009. When the settle and adjust was completed, the Town of Fairfield actually used less service in 2011 than what was estimated. Therefore, the county owed the Town a credit of $8,966. This credit is being applied to your bill for 2013. The bill would be $24,259 if there were not a credit owed for 2011. In addition to using less service in 2011, the Sheriff's Office had several reductions in staff from 2009 to 2011 due to budget cuts so our actual operational costs in 2011 were less than what we estimated in 2009.
 
Finally, for planning purposes, the Sheriff's Office and the County realize that the settle and adjust process could put a huge burden on a small towns if we had several incidents or a large scale response in any given year that resulted in more service than the Town could pay for. As a result, the Sheriff lobbied the Commissioners to put a 10% cap on any increases for the small towns. Therefore when the settle and adjust is done for 2012, the most your bill could be for 2014 would be 10% more than your 2013 cost of $24,259 or $26.685. I realize this is significantly higher than what you will pay this year but your bill this year actually reflects a credit of nearly $9,000.
 
Set wages/benefits for town employees
Ed finished the employee reviews and gave the council copies of the last two reviews along with his recommendations for employee salaries for 2013. The staff has not seen any of his recommendations at this point.
 
Cheryl’s vacation accrual is to be added 1-5-13 but she has reached the maximum allowable amount according to the Personnel Handbook. Ed asked the council to give her until the end of January to use at least 80 hours of her vacation time and to add to the accrual as she uses the hours. She is going to move to salary instead of hourly. This way, she will not build up comp hours as she is not paid overtime for the council meetings. Her comp time will be at zero before 1-1-13.
 
All employee reviews were very favorable and the town has very valuable employees with these four.
 
Ed’s recommendations are based upon merits and not across the board.
 
Derek L Knecht, Public Works Supervisor 3.75% increase to $17.64 per hour.
Derek A Knecht Public Works II 5.4% increase to $12.65
Cheryl Loeffler Clerk/Treasurer 3.7% increase to $16.95 or $36,284 salary
Jeannie Jesseph Deputy Clerk $1 increase to $12.00/hour
Jeannie has asked for health benefits and would be willing to negotiate benefit package costs but at the substantial cost of the benefit package ($6876), part time hours and length of service (hired 5-1-12); Ed recommended the customary $1 raise.
 
Ed then asked the council to approve a one-time bonus for the Town employees to retain and reward key and highly skilled personnel and reward outstanding development and performance in the departments worked. MRSC was consulted on this action. He would like to give the full time employees $250 and part time $125 to be included in the next payroll.
 

ACTION

Harry motioned to approve pay and wage increases and the one-time bonus as recommended by the mayor; seconded by Brian. The motion carried.
 
Public Hearing for Approval of Ordinance #372- 2013 Budget
Mayor Huber opened the public hearing opened at 8:46. Cheryl noted that Fund 101 E Main Street Rehabilitation Project was incorrect. It needs to reflect the remainder of the grant, Construction $78,769.24 and Engineering $9,894.96 with total being $141,450.00.
 
With no public comments, the public hearing closed at 8:59.
 

ACTION

Mary motioned to approve the 2013 Final Budget Ordinance #372 with changes noted to fund 101; seconded by Brian. The motion carried.
 
NEW BUSINESS
Piano and wood cook stove at Community Center
There is a piano in the Community Center lower level that has not been used for several years and needs quite a bit of repair. Ed asked the council if the piano could be given away as is, to which they all agreed. The old cook stove is still in the furnace room. Cheryl will contact Jill Townsend in Rockford about putting it on consignment in her store. The council recommended accepting no less than $300.
 
Public Works Report
Water
Testing is on schedule and within limits. Soft start is scheduled for installation on well #2 before the end of the year.
 
Sewer
All maintenance and repairs have been completed for this year on all service pumps.
The light has been replaced at the influent building entrance; screen room is on the list.
Testing is on schedule and within permit limits.
 
Contract for lift station maintenance from Whitney Equipment was reviewed. The length of the contract is until 2017 but Derek will talk to him lowering that to two years. The contract will not be approved until this negotiated.
 
After working closely with Whitney Equipment this past week, Derek and Derek believe that they could do the maintenance at the WWTF themselves. Whitney Equipment had a bumper crane attached to the bumper, which did most of the work. This could be purchased for around $2,600 and then be used for other maintenance around town.
 
Roads
Plowing has started for the year Sander is working great and will be used to sand the intersections and hills along the main routes.
 
There is a hole on Portland Avenue that needs attention.
 
Parks
Hart Park has been trimmed and the old growth trees lining Fairweather at Hahner Field have been removed by Inland Tree Service.
The lighting issues have been fixed in Thiel Park along Main Street.
 
Other
Request from Denny and Jeri Kay Thieren to adjust their excessive water usage for the September/October billing. They have never used that many gallons, 23,450. The most used in the last two years was 7,800. The reading had been checked by both homeowner and public works. Due to the age of the meter, there is a possibility that the numbers caught. Derek will replace this meter soon.
 
ACTION
Mary motioned to approve the removal of excess water usage of $227.90 for meter #173; seconded by Brian.
 
Website
Brian has the website almost complete. If anyone wants to see it before it goes live, Brian is more than happy to have you stop by his home to see it. Talk with Cheryl to get this set up.
 
Ed reminded the council that next council meeting is the selection of the mayor pro-tem for 6-month period.
 
***The meetings in January will be January 8 and 22.
 
Complaints/Compliments
None.
 
Adjourn:
The regular meeting adjourned 9:28 pm.
_______________          ___________________________
Mayor Ed Huber                Clerk/Treasurer Cheryl Loeffler

Monday, December 3, 2012

Fairfield Town Council Preliminary Agenda December 4, 2012



PRELIMINARY AGENDA

REGULAR COUNCIL MEETING

DECEMBER 4, 2012
7:00 P.M.

7:00 Call to Order
 
Approval of the Minutes from November 20, 2012 regular council meeting Approval of Claims for December 4, 2012
 
Engineer’s Report
TD&H
Century West
 
OLD BUSINESS
Spokanimal
  • Suggestions for capturing at-large animals
  • Licensing of “rescue pets”
Review 2013 Preliminary Budget before approval
Approval of 2013-2014 TIB funding for East Main Street Railroad to McNeil Avenue
 
NEW BUSINESS
Approval of tree trimming bids
Northwest Plant Health Care, $7394.04
Tree Specialists, $4500.00
Inland Tree Service, $3600.00
 
Closing on Christmas Eve and New Year’s Eve?
  • Close at Noon?
Public Works Report
 
Other
Next council meeting will be council, staff potluck at 6:00 with meeting at 7:00
 
Complaints/Compliments
 
Adjourn
 
Questions concerning items appearing on this Agenda or requests for accommodations of special needs to participate in the meeting should be addressed to the Town Clerk, 218 E Main Street, Fairfield, WA 99012,  or call (509)283-2414.
 
Mayor Ed Huber & Council Members: Harry Gibbons , Mary Branon, George Davidson, Valerie Spurrell, and Brian Kauffman
 
Town of Fairfield • 218 East Main/PO Box 334 • Fairfield, WA 99012 • Telephone: (509)2832414 • Fax: (888)5955579, townoffairfield@cougarwireless.net.
 

Sunday, December 2, 2012

Palouse Planning Surveys Available at City Hall



The Palouse Planning Commission’s Comprehensive Plan survey was scheduled to arrive in resident's mailboxes by the end of November. Please take the time to fill it out and return it in the self-addressed, stamped envelope, if you haven't done so.

Your opinion does matter. 

Additional Planning Commission surveys can be obtained at City Hall.  If you didn’t receive one, feel free to stop by City Hall to pick one up.  Due to the costs associated with the supplies, printing, postage, etc., only one was mailed to each household.  Unfortunately, there is no way to know how many adults reside at each household.  Each resident over the age of 18 who resides within the Palouse city limits may fill out ONE survey. 

Thank you for understanding.

Palouse Planning Agenda, December 4, 2012


Palouse Washington Planning Agenda

12/4/2012
7 pm
I.     Call to order
II.     Roll call
III.     Approval of minutes from last meeting
IV.     New business
V.     City Council Matters
VI.     Old Business

1.     Lynne Nelson will discuss presentation of survey questions to city council and subsequent mailing of survey 
2.     Assigned sections for review and update.
Land Use – Robin Rilette
Transportation – Jay Iverson
Public Facilities – Mary Estes
Environment – Lynne Nelson
Economics – Chris Hallan- to be discussed
Telecommunications – Mark Bailey-to be discussed
Real Estate- Cory Laughary- to be discussed
VII.     Work Session:
VIII.     Adjournment