Rockford
Town Council
May 15, 2013
7:00 PM
Mayor
Micki Harnois called the meeting to order after the Pledge of Allegiance was
recited. Council members present were: Larry Van Every, Dave Thompson, Clint
Stevenson and Thomas Smith. John Goyke Clerk/Treasurer/Public Works Operator
was also present.
Mayor comments:
The
combining of the Clerk/Treasurer position with the Public Works Position is
still in its six month probation period.
Art
Grewe will be leaving tomorrow May 16th at 8:00 Am to fly to Washington
D.C. on the honor flight.
Tree
City USA:
For
Tree City USA recognition the Mayor read the proclamation declaring the Town’s
Arbor Day as May 4th 2013. Three trees were planted in memory of
three local residents Brad Marlow, Dough Pratt and Don Davis.The May 4th Town clean up day went very well, the Mayor then read a list of volunteers that she wished to thank including Jack and Vicki Bergstrom, Dave Thompson, Maiden, Trevor, Justin and Derek Cecil.
June 01 will be the Rockford Tire Recycle Day; tires may be dropped off at the Rockford Town Shop, all day.
The Rockford Community Center will have a redneck water park event at the Town Park. There will be a slip and slide and adult supervision the temperature will have to be 80 degrees or more for the event to occur.
The mayor announced that she has spoken to a corporation that wishes to open a card room in Rockford, this is just a discussion at this point nothing formal has been drawn up.
The mayor has nothing new to report on the Sheriffs contract.
The Mayor had nothing new to report on the Primmer Lease Contract for the South West Reservoir.
The Yellow House on Highway 278/1st Street, the Mayor said that the Town is close to getting the paper work drawn up and signed that will allow the Town to clean up the property and then attach the cost of clean up in a lien to the property.
Committee Reports:
Nothing
to report.
May 01st Minutes
Dave
Thompson made a motion to approve the minutes. Clint Stevenson seconded the
motion, passed with a voice vote, with Thomas Smith voicing an abstention to
the vote.
Checks
Clint made a motion to pay checks 12000
through 12015 for a total of $3,171.24, with payroll of $318.47 and claims of
$2852.77. The motion was seconded by Thomas Smith, motion passed with a voice
vote.
Treasurers Report
Treasurer’s Report: $249,707.86
for April 2013 CE-$65,109.17;
Street-$24,866.54; Criminal Justice $3,079.91; Equipment/Property Reserve
$51,535.70; Sewer $23,433.24; Lagoon Repair $13,153.69; Water Fund $-3,333.65;
Sewer Reserve $43,543.42; Water Reserve $8,319.84; Waste Water Facility Reserve
$20,000.00
The
treasurer reported that the water fund was in the negative this month and that
the revenue that was hoped for will be less than expected. After the meters
were read for the month there were more accounts with credits than anticipated.
Thomas
Smith then requested that a budget position be made available at the next
council meeting.
Old Business
Arena
No
Further information was presented.
Andrew Fricke Alley Vacation
The
Mayor spoke to the Town Attorney and Attorney said that the amendment to Ordinance
12-03 was contrary to Resolution 91-1R.
Thomas
Smith said that the council voted a year ago that Andrew Fricke could have the
alley vacated and that Andrew Fricke could pay the Town $1.00 for the property.
Thomas Smith said that the paper work should have been completed as voted on
and it should have been dealt with by now.
Larry
Van Every said that Fricke’s built their addition in good faith, and had
assumed the Town had completed the process to vacate the alley.
Clint
Stevenson and Dave Thompson both agreed with Larry Van Every and Thomas Smith.
Steve
Meyer said that Fricke’s own both sides of the alley so the Town should be able
to grant a variance to the ordinance and give them the alley.
Thomas
Smith then explained that a new Ordinance will have to be drawn up to finish
the process to vacate the alley to Fricke’s.
The
Mayor said that the new ordinance will be drawn up by the next council meeting.
Town Mowing
Stan
Seehorn and Clint Stevenson looked at the mowing deck for the Town tractor to
assess what was needed to fix it so it could be used to mow the parks.
Stan
Seehorn purchased new wheels, belts and blades for the mower deck.
The
Mayor explained that she authorized the expenditure for the parts that Stan
Seehorn purchased.
Clint
Stevenson said that Skyler Gambrel used the mower deck earlier in the day and
that Skyler Gambrel said that the deck works well now.
The
Mayor said that the Town will use the Town mower to mow the Rodeo Grounds, but
the Town is always looking for more volunteers.
Cathy
Creed said that people purchasing lawn mower belts from the NAPA in Rockford
should watch out, they have had trouble with the local NAPA store and their
belts.
Six Year Street Plan
It
was the consensus of the council to set June 5th as the date to hold
the public hearing for the six year street plan.
Carrie Roecks Sidewalk
The
sidewalk in front of Carrie Roecks’ house on Weaver was discussed.
Larry
Van Every wanted to know if the sidewalk was dangerous for people to walk on,
is it a hazard?
Carrie
Roecks said that yes it was a hazard.
Thomas
Smith wanted to know what would happen if the Roecks were injured while
removing the sidewalk, who would be liable.
Larry
Van Every made a motion that the Roecks could remove the sidewalk if they
agreed to dispose of the old concrete, would sign a general waiver of liability
form, grade the area, plant grass where the sidewalk had once been and maintain
the area where the sidewalk had once been.
The
motion was seconded by Thomas Smith, motion passed with a voice vote.
Contract for a Web Master
Andy
Coumont sent an email to the Mayor that stated that the last contract for
service was in 2011.
Larry
Van Every felt that the current webmasters were not timely in their updates and
were slow to respond to questions.
Larry
Van Every said if the Town was to retain the current web masters a new contract
would have to be drawn up.
Thomas
Smith wanted to know if Andy Coumont could come to the next Town Council
meeting and talk with the Council on this issue.
Larry
Van Every said he would contact Andy Coumont and have him come to the next
Council Meeting with a contract proposal.
NPDES Permit
The
Council had no feed back on the permit.
Developmental Regulations
The
mayor said that the current developmental regulations for Rockford lack teeth.
The Mayor said that the infrastructure standards lack subdivision codes. The
Mayor said that the Planning and Zoning Board needs to look at these items and
begin discussing these items at the next Planning and Zoning Board meeting on
May 29th.
Local Business Licenses
The
Mayor discussed several jurisdictions and how they run their business license
procedures.
Larry
Van Every asked if a local jurisdiction denies the business license what
happens at the state level.
The
Mayor explained that when a locality issues its own business license a person applies
for a business license through the state, and then the person applies to the
locality, the State can issue the license and then the locality can issue the
license and a person pays two fees, the state fee and the local fee. If the
State grants the license but the local jurisdiction does not then the State
license is still valid and the person is free to conduct business in the State
just not the local jurisdiction.
Thomas
Smith said that the current discussion is because of the new head shop that
moved into Town, he said that if the business is operating legally, they can
continue to operate.
Clint
Stevenson said that Rockford used to issue its own business licenses.
The
Mayor said that there would have to be exemptions to the local business license
rule.
Steve
Meyer wanted to know if Spokane County had any rules on business licenses.
The
Mayor said that she was not aware of any information concerning that question.
Larry
Van Every wanted to know if it was the consensus of the Town Council to pursue
the business license issue further.
Larry
Van Every said he would look into the issue further and report back at the next
Council meeting.
New Business
Clint Steven
Stevenson made a motion to accept Ordinance 13-2.
Town of Rockford, Washington
Ordinance 13-02
AN ORDINANCE SETTING THE
SALARY FOR THE MAYOR AND TOWN COUNCIL MEMBERS OF THE TOWN OF ROCKFORD,
WASHINGTON AT $0.00 PER MONTH AND SETTING THE PAY FOR ADDITIONAL MEETINGS
ATTENDED AT $0.00.
The
motion was seconded by Larry Van Every and was passed with a voice vote.
Dandelion Spray
Stan
Seehorn had contacted Town Hall to inquire what the Town was going to do about
the dandelions in the Town Parks.
Thomas
Smith said he thought the Town should spray for dandelions.
Larry
Van Every said the Rockford Youth Group could pull the dandelions by hand.
It
was the consensus of the Town Council that the Public Works operator would work
with Thomas Smith to find a solution to spray for the dandelions.
Wastewater Flow Meters
The
Mayor said that the River Keepers would like a detailed report of the funding
for the improvements on the Waste Water Facility.
The
Mayor has told the River Keepers representative that the Town is looking at GAP
and RCAC funding and the Town is working on the problems at the Facility.
Steve
Meyer wanted to know if the Town was charging the River Keepers for the time
being expended on their requests.
The
Mayor explained that all communications must be made through the River Keepers
Attorney.
Larry
Van Every said that the Town should send them a fee schedule for the time and
expenses that the Town incurs while answering their questions.
Public Works
The
Town Clerk/Treasurer/Public Works Operator informed everyone that Chipping Day
was complete and that there would be no further chipping days due to budget cut
backs.
Clint
Stevenson said that the Town needs to install a “No Dumping” sign at the old
chipping site.
The
Clerk/Treasurer/Public Works Operator said that he would look into that and
that the items left by the chipping company that were not picked up will be
picked up soon.
Public Comment
Jennifer
Cecil said that she needs help in writing up her proposal to the Town to
purchase the property from the Town near Mica Bridge. She said that she is
willing to pay the Town $3,000.00 for the property even though it is only
assessed at $680.00. She said that the property is approximately 25,000 square
feet. She explained that currently the property is being used to dump garbage,
that teenagers are hanging out there and that she wants to clean it up and fence
it off.
The
Mayor said that the Town has not used the property since it was purchased.
Clint
Stevenson said that the property had to be purchased when the new Mica Bridge
was installed.
Bill
Creed wanted to know the status of the Primmer contract regarding the South
West Reservoir.
The
Mayor said that the contract is still in review.
Cathy
Creed discussed the Bank of Fairfield robbery and that the person that saw the
bank robber was not a local resident, and that the Town should send a letter of
thanks to that person for calling it in and taking down important information.
Cathy
Creed said that there is a spot in the park to pull cars into the park that is
level that would not require the ditch to be filled in.
Jennifer
Cecil spoke about the deposit for the Horse Arena; she said that she is still
collecting information.
Clint
Stevenson said the deposit needs to be more than the $50.00 that is charged for
the park.
It
was discussed that other arenas charge $175.00.
It
was discussed that Rockford could charge $150.00 deposit, that there would have
to be a rental agreement for an organized group, a reservation procedure and in
the paper work the group reserving the arena would have to stipulate that they
have insurance.
Robert
Tollefson wanted to thank the Town of Rockford for responding to a water leak
on Lake Street during Mothers Day Weekend.
He also noted that he did not see any further discussion about the
electric bills that the Town is paying on non-town owned buildings. He said that
the Town should recoup the electric costs from the float building.
Carrie Roecks said that the Fair Association
does pay the electric bills for the buildings in the park.
The
Deputy Clerk said that the Fair Association only pays the electric bill for one
month out of the year when the fair is held and that the rest of the year the
Town pays the bills.
Thomas
Smith said that the Town needs to help the Lions Club because they help the
Town on so many projects.
Ivan
Willmschen said the Lions Club built the buildings and then gave them to the
Town.
Larry
Van Every then said that there should be a fee structure to use the buildings.
Larry
Van Every said the fees need to be justified for the communities good.
Jennifer
Cecil said that the Lions Club pays for many things around Town.
Jennifer
Cecil wanted to know if the Town could burn down the Yellow House on 1st
Street.
The
Mayor said the Town could not burn down the House on 1st Street
because it is too close to other buildings.
Larry
Van Every said that he was glad that Bill Creed brought up the Open Public
Meetings Act because the council was at fault the last few meetings and that
they should have left the table when the discussion continued after the meeting
was closed.
Executive
Session
To evaluate the
qualifications of candidates for council position
To review the
performance of a public employee
(The information
above is from RCW 42.30.110 and has to be stated as such on the agenda-per the
Auditors)
The
Mayor then moved the meeting into an executive session at 8:25 Pm and said the
meeting would resume at 8:45 Pm.
The
regular meeting was then called back into order at 8:45PM
Clint
Stevenson then nominated Chuck Collison to fill council position two left open
by Steve Meyer’s resignation. The nomination was seconded by Dave Thompson.
Thomas
Smith then nominated Carrie Roecks to fill council position two left open by
Steve Meyer’s resignation. The nomination was seconded by Larry Van Every.
Seeing
no further nominations the Mayor called for a vote.
The
vote for Chuck Collison was made and he received two hand votes.
The
vote for Carrie Roecks was made and she received two hand votes.
The
Mayor then declared a tie in the vote and cast a deciding tie breaker vote for
Carrie Roecks.
Carrie
Roecks was present for the vote and announced she would accept the appointment
for council position two.
There
was then discussion about changing the office hours of Town hall. It was the
consensus of the Council to close Town Hall on Thursdays and to set the office
hours at 9:00 Am to 12:00 Pm and from 1:00 Pm to 4:00 Pm. There was discussion
on the cost saving that could be created by limiting the office hours of Town
Hall. The Council wanted the Ordinance presented at the next meeting.
The
Mayor then adjourned the meeting at 8:58 Pm.
_________________ ______________
John
M. Goyke Micki
Harnois
Clerk/Treasurer Rockford
Mayor
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