Fairfield Town Council Meeting Minutes February 19, 2013

REGULAR COUNCIL MEETING

FEBRUARY 19, 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 February 19, 2013 at 7:00 pm. Council members present: Harry Gibbons, Mary Branon, Valerie Spurrell, and Brian Kauffman. George Davidson was absent. Others present: Derek Knecht and Cheryl Loeffler.

ACTION

Mary Branon motioned to excuse Ed Huber from the February 5, 2013 regular council meeting and Valerie Spurrell from the February 14, 2013 special council meeting due to work conflicts; seconded by Brian for Valerie Spurrell and Valerie for Ed. The motion carried. Valerie abstained.

Approval of Minutes

ACTION

Brian Kauffman motioned to approve the minutes from the February 5 regular council meeting and the February 14, 2013 special council meeting as presented; seconded by Mary Branon. The motion carried.

ACTION

Approval of the Claims
Brian Kauffman motioned and Mary Branon seconded to authorize claim vouchers #16983-16993 for $13,281.65 and EFTs for $1,771.10 as presented. The motion carried.

Claims: $11,882.22

Payroll: 3,399.43
Total Claims: $15,281.65
Check Register signed by: Mary Branon, Brian Kauffman and Harry Gibbons.

Guests

Commissioner Shelly O’Quinn
Commissioner O’Quinn and Bill Wedlake from the County Solid Waste had to cancel tonight due to illness. They have rescheduled for the March 19 meeting.

OLD BUSINESS

Resolution 2013-1 Fee Schedule

Resolution 2013-2 Utility Extension/Improvement Costs

This resolution ties in with Resolution 2013-1 so it was moved from New Business and was presented at this time. This resolution relates to the costs involved with utility improvements or extensions.

ACTION

Brian motioned to approve Resolution 2013-1 and Resolution 2013-2; seconded by Mary. The motion carried.

Tire Amnesty Day

Cheryl visited with Mark Hope about the tire amnesty event. He explained that passenger, lite truck and truck tires with the rims on or off are eligible for recycling with this program. He estimated that Fairfield would acquire around 700 tires for this event. The real only requirement is that the location has to be accessible by truck so the company can come in the following Monday and retrieve the tires. This is funded by the Department of Ecology so there would be no cost to the Town. The main goal is to help rid of mosquitos. Cheryl will check to see if they can be picked up the same day instead of the following Monday and Derek will contact the fire chief about possibly having the dumpsite be the Fire Station on Truax. It will be held the same day as the Spring Yard Debris Day, which is April 27.

Spring Yard Debris Day

Saturday, April 27 will be the yard debris this spring. There will not be a fall debris day due to budget cuts.

Website update

Brian is still working at getting all of the accounts set up with the web host.

NEW BUSINESS

AWC Claims Reports for 2012
The Town received notification that there were no open insurance claims for 2012.

Record Management Services

When Alene Felgenhauer was deputy clerk, she was trained by Donna McLean for records retention. Since she left, nothing has been done with them. Instead of having them become unmanageable since neither Cheryl or Jeannie understand the process, Cheryl asked Alene if she would be interested in either doing that job yearly or train one of us to do it. She presented a proposal to provide records management for $12 per hour up to 40 hours and $15 per hour over 40 hours per job. She has also offered to train the current staff to maintain the records appropriately. Harry asked if the budget could afford this and there was discussion about placing a maximum cost.

ACTION

Harry motioned to approve the expenditure of up to $480 to provide records management and training current staff for that purpose; seconded by Brian. The motion passed.

Community Center Equipment

The staff had a visit with Fire Chief Ken Fuchs about the propane tank that is used on the grill in the Community Center. The liability of having that old of a propane tank inside the building is extremely high. With the increased use of the Community Center, the fire chief has recommended that the propane tank be removed from any building. It can be replaced with a safer tank. Ed will visit with the Service Club members about removing the propane tank that is used for the grill in the Community Center. With the remodeling of the Café, Karl Felgenhauer has offered the upright cooler for use at the Community Center. Jon Smith from Wheatland Heating came down to see if it is in working order. Contingent on the costs of the repairs and if a feasible place in the Community Center can be located, it is a very generous offer. The $610 that the Women’s Improvement Club gave to the town could be used for the repairs.

Family Fun Night

Saturday, February 23 Fund Raiser for Fairfield Youth at the Community Center. There will be a jumping castle, cotton candy and popcorn.

Public Works Report

WATER

• Chlorine is staying a steady .2 PPM
• Valves have been exercised at the Fairfield Care center and Shut off valves are operational for fire suppression and the main service line.
• Meeting with Mark Bowman and company from ERWOW and DOH went very well. Town is in good standing with permits and prevention plans etc.
• New bids on generator install are being taken now for well # 5.

WWTF

• Juggling high flows from high rain and snow run offs between the E.Q. Basin and settling pond, staying within limits.

• New motor should be approximately one week out from delivery, installation will follow shortly after.
• Have been removing clogged effluent lines again this year, can be a significant problem.

PARKS

• Some repair work is being accomplished in upper Hart Park parking area, agreeable weather is needed.
• Debris is picked up as the snow piles are melting away.

ROADS

• Grading and pothole repair has started for the year and will be an on-going process as weather allows.
• Road sign straightening has started now that the ground has thawed and is drying out.
• Dimensions and grade are being taken for the new Main Street project.

OTHER: Repairs to snow removal equipment is being done on a steady basis; chains, brake lines etc.

Other

Tree inventory grant was approved by the Department of Natural Resources Urban and Community Forestry Program. No dollar amount was stated.

The council was presented the invoice for $2,743.36, which was sent to Co-Ag for their portion of the removal and replacement of the concrete.

Council received the Receipt Register for January 2013.

Complaints/Compliments

2-11-13 Dog Complaint: Black lab running at large on west side of town. Sent letter requesting notification of how the animal will be contained, ordinance and fee schedule. ** It was reported that the dog owner has installed a fence to contain the animal.

Adjourn:

The regular meeting adjourned 8:18 pm.

______________    ____________________________

Mayor Ed Huber     Clerk/Treasurer Cheryl Loeffler