Palouse City Council
Regular Council Meeting
April 14, 2015

CALL TO ORDER: Mayor Echanove called the Council Meeting to order at 7:00 PM.

ROLL CALL: Council members present: Doreen Hanson; Bo Ossinger; Mike Hicks; Senja Estes; Rick Wekenman; Bev Pearce; Christopher Langsett. Staff present: Public Works Superintendent Dwayne Griffin; Police Chief Jerry Neumann; Clerk-Treasurer Mike Bagott; & Deputy Clerk Ann Thompson.

APPROVAL OF MINUTES: Councilmember Wekenman MOVED to adopt the minutes of the Regular Council Meeting of March 24, 2015. Councilmember Pearce seconded the motion and the motion carried unanimously.

PUBLIC WORKS REPORT: Supt. Griffin submitted a written report.

S&M Mini-Storage asked for permission to take out part of sidewalk to build ramp up to site, very similar to the Post Office’s mail carrier access. No objections from council. Mayor Echanove asked if S&M would have to abide by WSDOT standards for crosswalk access. Supt. Griffin will contact WSDOT to find out.

POLICE REPORT:
The city received two applications for the lateral police officer position. Chief Neumann, Officer Merry, C-T Bagott, Councilmember Langsett, and 2/3 of the civil service members interviewed one so far and are interviewing the other one April 16. Both applicants are Washington State Academy certified and both are willing to relocate. Chief Neumann would like to get a commitment on a candidate by next week because there are state-mandated requirements that take time: background checks, physical, etc. Hopefully someone will be hired by May 1.

PD issued a citation in Palouse for a nuisance garbage violation on Friday and it was cleaned up by Sunday.

Junk vehicle cleanup going on in Garfield right now and will soon be in Palouse.

CLERK-TREASURER REPORT:
1st Q Treasurer’s report – No tax collections in yet so there’s not a lot of information to be gleaned from the 1st Q treasurer’s report. No revenue or expenditure concerns yet. The next quarter will have more valuable information because we’ll have received our first half property taxes and 2nd Q state assistance. Sales tax for the 1st Q is a couple hundred over last year. The City Assistance money that we received from the state was $4,000 last year and just shy of $6,000 this year but that trend might not continue.

C-T Bagott leaves tomorrow for a WA Public Treasurers Assn conference in Chelan. The conference should cover more in-depth things like investments, cost allocations, etc.

Our lease is up on our current copier. We’ve been in discussion about replacing it with a very similar unit except the new one will be able to scan in color (not print). The current copier whose lease is up is going to the Fire Department for no charge.

Councilmember Wekenman MOVED to accept the Clerk-Treasurer’s report as presented. Councilmember Langsett seconded and the motion carried unanimously.

NEW BUSINESS:
Resolution No. 2015-04 pool key agreement: Mayor read aloud the resolution in its entirety. Due to the serious potential risk of death, drowning, injury, or damage if unauthorized persons have access to the city pool and pool areas, and in order to ensure the ongoing safety of the public, all pool employees, upon hiring, will be required to sign out a numbered key and prior to receiving final paycheck, will sign the same key back in. Lost, stolen, or otherwise unreturned keys shall be subject to a $250 fee to replace all keys and locks. Safety is of upmost concern and the city needs to start tracking keys. Councilmember Pearce pointed out that pool employees are responsible for the lives of patrons so should have no problem being responsible for a key. Councilmember Pearce MOVED, seconded by Councilmember Estes to adopt Resolution no. 2015-04 as written. Motion carried unanimously. Supt. Griffin said this might be a step towards a policy for all city buildings and keys. Chief Neumann suggested perhaps electronic keypads may be a good idea; no keys required and the code can be changed at any time. Chief’s idea would work for some city buildings but not for the pool house which consists of two padlocked gates to the pool, locked filter room, locked chlorine room, front door, etc.

COMMITTEE REPORTS/REQUESTS:
Policy & Administration, Chair Hanson – Doreen would like to consider Supt. Griffin’s idea of having a key policy for all the city buildings. She will have a meeting.

Streets & Sidewalks, Chair Hicks- Mike is in the process of buying the car wash. There is an agreement between the city and the current owners about the city cleaning out the car wash pit and in return the city is provided with car wash tokens to wash service vehicles. But Mike is going to draft a new agreement in which he will instead pay for the city to clean the pit.

Finance, Property, & Equipment, Chair Langsett- Met with C-T Bagott to go over the basic budget.

OPEN FORUM:
Alternatives to Violence of the Palouse presentation: Jennifer Murray coordinator at ATVP spoke about what services they offer. They provide free, confidential, 24 hour service to victims of domestic violence, stalking, sexual assault, and child abuse, etc. They are a non-profit, local provider and have been around since 1980. April is sexual assault awareness month. They also do educational presentations. Their 24 hour phone number is 1-877-334-2887.

Aaron Flansburg regarding the skate park location. A portion of their design plan falls within city right-of-way. He would like the city to have Attorney Bishop write up a license agreement for Palouse Skate Park, Inc. to utilize city right of way in the vacant areas adjacent to the north side of Whitman Street between Beach Street and J Street, including the 30’ K Street right of way for skate park and garden development. The agreement would require that Palouse Skate Park, Inc. maintain insurance coverage on these right-of-ways and hold the City of Palouse harmless in the event of injury. City would retain rights for all easements; no permanent structure can be built on city right-of-ways (minus flat work), etc. Public Works has to be on board as well. Nuisance laws must be strictly followed for them to keep this license. Discussion ensued. There is water and sewer on the west end of the property; if Aaron wants that moved, the cost all falls on Palouse Skate Park, Inc. Councilmember Pearce MOVED to authorize Atty. Bishop to draft a license agreement for Palouse Skate Park, Inc.’s use of city right-of-ways. Councilmember Hicks seconded. Supt. Griffin doesn’t want to vacate K Street; we keep control but let them use it as part of this agreement. Motion carried unanimously.

MAYOR’S REPORT: WSU/UI collegiate bike race is April 25th. They’re looking for volunteers. Chief Neumann and Mayor will meet with them to ensure safety and that all traffic laws are upheld.

WA State Liquor Control Board submitted a beer/wine license renewal for the Palouse Lions private club license. No objections.

The testing at the Brownfield site is 100% paid for by an EPA grant. MFA is planning on one more test in 2015.

ALLOW PAYMENT OF BILLS: Councilmember Estes MOVED that the bills against the city be allowed. Councilmember Langsett seconded the motion and the motion carried unanimously.

ADJOURN: Councilmember Pearce MOVED to adjourn. Councilmember Langsett seconded the motion and the motion carried unanimously. The council meeting adjourned at 8:42 PM.

The following checks are approved for payment:
Payroll Paid 3/31/15, 15 employees Ck. #6447-6474 & EFT $42,975.98
Claims Paid 4/15/15 Ck. #6475-6512 & EFT $22,492.46

APPROVED: ________________________________ ATTEST: ________________________________