Fairfield Regular Town Council Minutes August 20, 2013

REGULAR COUNCIL MEETING
AUGUST 20, 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 August 20, 2013 at 7:00 p.m. The meeting was moved to the Community Center due to the large attendance.

Mayor and Town Council members present: Ed Huber, Mary Branon, Harry Gibbons, Valerie Spurrell and George
Davidson. Brian Kauffman was absent.

Others present: Sheriff Ozzie Knezovich, Rick Scott, John and Emily Thomas, Chuck and Kelly Crockett, Ray and Hazel Westlake, Marie Hahner, KayDee Gilkey, William Thomas, Patricia Neumann, Scott Christianson, Jimmy Reinhardt, Tom Smith, David Stark, Barbara Davis, Cindy Ulrey, Bev Bergstrom, Pete Moroz, Lynn Cook, KJ Hanley, Derek Knecht and Cheryl Loeffler.

Approval of Minutes

ACTION

Harry Gibbons motioned to approve the minutes from the August 6, 2013 regular council meeting as presented; seconded by Mary Branon. The motion carried. Valerie Spurrell abstained.

The warrant register from August 6, 2013 was presented incorrectly at the last meeting and Mayor Huber asked council for re-approval of those claims.

ACTION

Mary motioned to re-approve the claims from the August 6, 2013 meeting; seconded by Harry. The motion approved. Valerie abstained.

Approval of the Claims

ACTION

Mary Branon made a motion to approve EFT 159-164 totaling $6,156.46 and check numbers 17184-17199 totaling $22,284.90; as presented. Harry Gibbons seconded the motion. The motion carried. Check numbers 17188 and 17189 were voided.

Claims: $17,428.09

Payroll: 11,012.37

Total Claims: $ 28,441.36

Check Register signed by: Mary Branon, George Davidson and Valerie Spurrell.

Guests
SCOPE and Sheriff

Mayor Huber expressed the council and town’s appreciation of all the efforts that SCOPE provides to the town and thanked so many for coming to tonight’s meeting. Ed reviewed the current lease which is $500 per month plus utilities.

SCOPE began renting the building in 2003.

Rick Scott, Director of SCOPE stated that SCOPE has a pretty good foot-hold in the area. The budget is challenging and they have consolidated some districts. No other actual changes are planned but he is tossing around several ideas. They like the Fairfield office as it is very centrally located for the southeast part of Spokane County. They continue to encourage citizens to join SCOPE.

Ed commented that the Town will try to pay attention to their needs and keep the presence of all the volunteers in the area. Sheriff Knezovich spoke about the importance of SCOPE and their presence in communities has helped to decrease the rate of crime. The unincorporated areas are experiencing the lowest violent crime rate in two decades.

The sheriff explained that animal control issues cannot be handled by the Sheriff’s department. He explained that SCRAPS is able to write citations where SpoKanimal cannot and suggested to invite commissioners to come down to discuss this issue.

John and Emily Thomas John and Emily presented a letter to council seeking permission to place an on-site waste disposal system on their property. The council will do more research and put his request on the agenda for next meeting.

Pete Moroz of North by Northwest Production Mr. Moroz represents North by Northwest Productions. They are ready to do another film and would like to utilize a few areas in Fairfield. They would like to use the gravel area along Fairweather as a base camp for four trailers to park from September 3rd to the 5th. They will be filming in the community center, in the post office (hopefully) and on Main Street.

Mr. Moroz is asking for permission to control the traffic and parking at Main and Johnson and in front of the library and bank during their filming times. The film is placed in 1994 so newer vehicles parked on the street would not work. Ray Westlake and Rick Christenson from SCOPE stated that they would be able to help with this. Mary will talk to the bank staff about their cooperation. There are no permits that are required and Cheryl will check the Fee Schedule for any fees.

They will also sign a rental agreement for the community center. Filming will take place September 4 & 5. Century West

TIB Sidewalk Funding Application

The council reviewed the utility tax report showing revenue from the collected utility tax and the expenses that have been dedicated from that revenue. The report shows that the town could provide a 5% match (estimated at $8,400) on this application, which will give additional points from the funding agency.

ACTION

Mary motioned to approve 5% match for the TIB sidewalk project, estimated to be $8,400, to be utilized out of the utility tax revenue, seconded by Valerie. The motion passed. KJ will change the application and send it to Cheryl for her review and signature. It has to be postmarked by Friday.

Main Street Rehabilitation Project

After the last council meeting, the homeowners that would be affected by this project were invited to attend the meeting. Unfortunately, none of them were present tonight but two of the local businesses that would be affected with the construction were. They were concerned that they would be forced to close during construction. It was explained to them that is not the intention. Even though Main Street will be shut down for approximately two months to through traffic, local traffic would have access and the businesses will not be forced to close. KJ explained that they will do everything possible to coordinate to keep sidewalks open but parking during construction will be an issue. Right now, they have the ability to have signage made with any type of information we need on them. It was asked about the construction happening on the weekends since the town is basically closed during that time. It was also suggested that the sidewalk could be left until the very last part of the project. It is very important that the public is aware that they are always invited to bring their concerns and ideas to the meetings.

OLD BUSINESS
Utility tax accounting
Reviewed the report under the Engineer’s Report
CDBG eligibility The way the communities qualify for funding is changing and this could potentially end the funding that the town receives from CDBG. Cheryl is working with Andy O’Neill from RCAC and Pat Stretch from CDBG regarding these changes and the potential for having an income survey performed. We will continue to work on this but at this time; Pat Stretch recommends that we submit an application for the 2014 funding cycle, which should be opened in the next few weeks.

NEW BUSINESS
Spokane County Housing and Community Development Advisory Committee appointment

ACTION

Harry motioned to re-appoint Cheryl Loeffler to the Spokane County Housing and Community Development Advisory Committee, seconded by George. The motion carried.

Special Occasion License

ACTION

Harry motioned to approve the Liberty Community Education Foundation special occasion license for 10-19-13 auction, seconded by Mary. The motion carried.

It was advised that the address of the community center is incorrect on the application and should be changed from Spokane to Fairfield.

Public Works Report
Derek presented council with three bids for the emergency generator. This will be paid for out of the water capital fund. Company Generator Price Sales tax Fencing ARC 25 KW $39,950 plus tax optional Jim Adams 20 KW $32,040 includes tax optional Latah Electric 20 KA $22,864 Plus Tax optional 30 kW $25,259 Plus Tax optional

ACTION

George motioned to authorize the expenditure of $25,259 plus sales tax to purchase of 30 kW emergency generator to be placed at well #5 by Latah Electric; seconded by Harry. The motion carried.

WATER
• V.O.C. Testing on SO1 and SO5 are being done this month.
• Fifteen lead and copper samples are being done this month at randomly chosen locations in town limits.
• Bids are ready for review by the Council for generator install on well #5 for emergency backup service in case of power failure.

WWTF
• Road maintenance is being done on dyke roads.
• Flows have been noticeably lower and discharge may be held off until the end of September into October.
• Mowing and bank maintenance is an ongoing project at the facility.
• U.V. system is being cleaned and ready for use when discharging commences.

PARKS
• Had a lot of branch damage from a wind storm over the last week.
• Repairing sprinklers in Thiel Park.
• Bathrooms are being monitored daily in hopes of deterring vandalism in the men’s and women’s restrooms.

ROADS
• New potholes are being fixed.
• Washboards are being graded when possible.
• Designated areas in town are up for review for a possible speed limit reduction (25 down to 15) dead ends, dirt and gravel and alleyways within town limits.

OTHER: The street light in front of Artistic Metals Inc. has been relocated to satisfy the railroad requirements.

Requests have been made for street light repair at various locations in town.

Other
Update on the 309 W Lake property issue. Cheryl forwarded the pictures and complaint to the lender. They have not “officially” received the property but she will try to push this through the official steps to get it cleaned up. The improvement board will be contacted to start the process on our end. Terry Ottosen will also be contacted for code enforcement.

Pop Machine
Cheryl has made contact with a local vendor to install the pop machine outside of town hall. He is able to sell Coke, Pepsi and Dr. Pepper products. He will stock the machine and the town will receive approximately 10% of the sales.

Complaints/Compliments
None.

Adjourn
With no further business, the council meeting adjourned at 9:23 pm.

Mayor Ed Huber Deputy Clerk Jeannie Jesseph