Revised Fairfield Town Council Regular Meeting Minutes January 8, 2013

Revised

REGULAR COUNCIL MEETING
JANUARY 8, 2013
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 January 8, 2013 at 7:00 pm.

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

Others present: KJ Hanley and Dennis Fuller from Century West, Karl Felgenhauer and Thomas Foster, Maintenance Director of Fairfield Care, Tom Smith, and Cheryl Loeffler.

Approval of Minutes

ACTION

Brian Kauffman motioned to approve the minutes from the December 18, 2012 regular council meeting, seconded by Mary Branon. The motion carried.

ACTION

 

Approval of the Claims
Mary Branon motioned and Brian Kauffman seconded to authorize claim vouchers #16911 through #16934 for $53,668.60 and EFTs for $5,699.45 dated 12-31-12 and claim vouchers #16935 through #16945 for $41,808.02 and EFTs for $4,316.98 dated 1-8-13 as presented. The motion carried.

 

12-13-12 1-8-13 Claims: $49,334.06 $40,544.87 

Payroll: 10,033.99 5,580.13

Total Claims: $59,368.05 $46,125.00

 

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

ACTION

 

Harry Gibbons motioned to excuse Valerie Spurrell from the December 18, 2012 council meeting due to a family emergency; seconded by Mary Branon. The motion carried.

 

Engineer’s Report

KJ Hanley and Dennis Fuller were here tonight to answer questions about the Town’s water pressures. They have been working with the readings that public works took in November. Dennis explained that the biggest influence to water pressure is elevation. The higher you are, the lower the pressure. For instance, the homes close to the water tower in the Wernz addition need an additional pump to maintain good water pressure. KJ stated that the numbers that Derek provided were very similar to the numbers that he could get when put into the model of the Town’s system.

 

The question was presented about the varying pressure in the area around Fairweather and Governor Moore. The homes there are quite a bit lower than the tower so the elevation should not be an issue. A 4” line services that area so the system should easily support them. It was suggested to make sure that there is not a valve that could be partially closed.

 

Dennis recommended that the town check valves for partial closure also.

 

Fairfield Care

Karl Felgenhauer and Thomas Foster from Fairfield Care questioned the ability to provide enough water pressure for fire
suppression. Dennis and KJ suggested a possible fix might be to place a booster pump at well #5, which could provide enough gallons per minute. This will be continued to be looked into. Repeat testing during high volume usage for comparison was also suggested.

 

Since Karl was here, Ed asked him to give an update on Fairfield Care. Plans have been submitted to the Department of Health for updating the independent apartments to meet ADA standards. At the completion of the project, the apartments will be both independent and assisted living. So far, $158,000 in donations has been received for the project.

 

If a new water connection is requested by someone, by law; the town must supply water but if that connection causes a significant impact to the system, that new connection should pay for to upgrade the system.

 

Sewer issue on New Year’s Day

With Karl and Thomas being here, this item was moved to here on the agenda.

 

On New Year’s Eve, it was noticed that a manhole was overflowing. Derek was notified and Roto-Rooter was called in but nothing could be done that evening. New Year’s Day, Big Sky Industrial and public works spent all day trying to clear the obstruction but was unable to break through. Roto Rooter was then called and after about two hours, they were able to dislodge the large obstruction. Derek has pictures of the obstruction which documents that there was foreign material in the manhole It was discovered that this manhole is in poor condition and will be placed on the immediate repair list. The cost of this emergency is approximately $5000. KJ discussed a few different solutions involving relocation of the line to move away from the railroad. He will have the area surveyed when Century West is in town for the sewer project to locate a possible area for relocation.

 

2012 Sewer Improvement Project

Cheryl and KJ have been working on revising the agreement for encroachment with UPRR. He has recently found out that the requirement of a $1055 application fee must be submitted with the paperwork plus additional fees associated with additional processing and reviewing fees but those are unknown at this time. The application should be completed this week.

ACTION

 

Mary motioned to approve the expenditure of the $1,055 application fee for the encroachment agreement with UPRR; seconded by Brian. The motion carried.

 

SEPA environmental checklist

The checklist was reviewed by council. There is no environmental impact with this project.

ACTION

 

Mary motioned to approve the environmental checklist; seconded by Brian. Motion carried.

 

E Main Street to Fairweather Rehabilitation Project - Transportation Improvement Board (TIB)

 

Fairfield has TIB approval to execute the Consultant Agreements AFTER we receive the Design Phase Approval from TIB, which we are still waiting on.

ACTION

 

Mary motioned to approve the Consultant Agreement, contingent upon receiving final approval from TIB; seconded by Harry. The motion carried.

 

Update to Spokane River Keepers (SRK)

Dennis and KJ have put together a letter updating the SRK on the progress in reducing the inflow and infiltration.

 

TD&H

Randy Noble was not present at tonight’s meeting but the council reinforced their stand on the relocation of the light pole.

 

OLD BUSINESS

Approval of communications package for shop Cheryl presented a quote to bundle the phone service and internet at the Town Shop with Frontier. Mary will check into getting a free booster from Sprint so the cell phones can be used in the shop. She also suggested verifying if the telemetry system could be ran through the internet, then the landline could be disposed of and only internet service would be needed.

 

New employee review process

The council discussed how the review process works with new employees.

 

NEW BUSINESS

Mayor Pro-Tem

ACTION

 

Mary nominated Brian Kauffman for the six-month mayor pro-tem position; seconded by George Davidson. The nomination passed.

 

Ed then stated that he would be absent the first meeting in February.

 

Hardship request snow removal

The council received a hardship request for snow removal from Ann Moore. They want it noted that these requests are not a guarantee that the snow will be removed and that it is contingent on having volunteers available to perform the snow removal. These requests were never intended to be fulfilled by public works.

ACTION

 

Mary motioned to approve the hardship request for Ann Moore and to look for volunteers for this and additional requests; seconded by Brian. The motion carried.

 

Volunteer appreciation dinner

The council discussed the Volunteer Appreciation Dinner, which will be held on Sunday, Jan 27. It was decided to do a brunch this year with a pre-function beginning at 11:30 a.m. Invitations to people that have volunteered in 2012 will be sent out next week.

 

Liquor License Renewal

Brian motioned to approve the annual liquor license renewal for Kelley’s Thrift; seconded by Mary. The motion passed.

 

Public Works Report

WATER

• Testing is on schedule and in parameters of chlorination.
• Water leak at City hall was repaired due to missing outside water valve. Turned off until spring.
• State WQMR’s should be coming for this year by February.
• WWTF
• Treatment plant has been getting a workout but is holding up very well.
• New float gauges are working wonderful.
• Testing and flows are within State limits.
• Sewer Drainage issue on Hilltop LN. and Rattlers Run has been resolved for now. Remedies to a permanent solution are being discussed.

PARKS

• Parking lots are being cleared of snow when possible.
• No facilities until spring.

ROADS

• Major snowfall and ice. Equipment has had some problems due to heavy use.
• Sanding is being done in needed areas, stop signs, hills, bus stops etc.
• Special request hardship snow removal is being done on a time available schedule.

OTHER:

All year-end reports are being generated, waiting on final test results for the WWTF.

Other

The homeowner of 402 W Portland has sent an email stating that she is seeking legal advice on her overage charges.

 

The owner of 303 S First Street has not paid utilities stating that there are no services provided.

 

Resolution 2012-1 was provided to council to review for next meeting adoption.

 

Complaints/Compliments

Thank you to the guys for the GREAT plowing job.

 

Adjourn:

 

The regular meeting adjourned 9:20 pm.

______________    __________________________

Mayor Ed Huber     Clerk/Treasurer Cheryl Loeffler