DRAFT ONLY. Without council review or approval.
Palouse City Council
Regular Council Meeting
August 22, 2017
CALL TO ORDER: Mayor Echanove called the Council Meeting to order at 7:00 PM.
ROLL CALL: Council members present: Bill Slinkard; Mike Hicks; Senja Estes; Mark Wilcomb; Bob Stout. Staff present: Public Works Superintendent Dwayne Griffin; Police Officer Joe Merry; City Attorney Eric Hanson; Clerk-Treasurer Kyle Dixon. Council members absent, Doreen Hanson, Rick Wekenman. Councilmember Hicks MOVED to excuse the absences of Councilmembers Hanson and Wekenman. Councilmember Estes seconded and the motion carried unanimously. Councilmember Stout arrived at 7:20.
APPROVAL OF MINUTES: Councilmember Slinkard MOVED to adopt the minutes of the Regular Council Meeting of July 25, 2017. Councilmember Wilcomb seconded the motion and the motion carried unanimously. No quorum at Aug. 8, 2017 council meeting.
PUBLIC WORKS REPORT: Supt Griffin submitted a written report.
POLICE REPORT: Typical harvest traffic complaints. No major violations. Moving trailer caused minor damage to fresh work on West Whitman St.
JOINT FIRE BOARD REPORT: We have held a flat budget as long as possible, but critical items need attention. On the First Aid side, beginning January 2019, additional training will increase costs. Biggest new expense for EMS is that Washington just recently authorized CPAP machine in for airflow emergencies. Need to add that equipment. Will get pricing soon. They are fairly expensive. Another continuing expense will be training. State-mandated training and procedures have changed and will be more expensive even with online courses. Likely $3K to $4K more for EMT training, and $5K for additional fire crew training.
Fire Chief Report – 1 call July, 10 YTD vs. 22 this time last year. City has 1 call, 6 rural (all car wrecks) some mutual aid. 2 meetings so far this month. First was training on new truck. Second was training at the park on loading and transporting water. Bigger news is that Bruce Beeson and Mark Arrasmith both retiring in October. This will impact our weekday daytime availability of personnel. Chief will be working soon on a plan to address.
EMS Report – Far fewer calls than last year. Most call recently were auto accidents. Will be needing new equipment to remain eligible to teach AED and CPR classes. More specialized mannequins will be required. Radio tower construction behind the Public Safety Building will begin soon and be finished before winter.
New pumper tender arrived three weeks ago. Solid vehicle overall, just need to resolve some electrical issues. Farmington wants to buy the old truck ASAP. We need to pay the tax and license for the truck ($7230.75) which is $3615.38 each for City and Rural.
CLERK-TREASURER REPORT: The West Whitman Street project is substantially completed. Project Engineer Munir Daud believes work will be completed by early next week. Marc Arrasmith’s final day with the City’s Public Works crew will be Wednesday, October 4th. Marc’s worth to the city cannot be measured and City staff and council will be sad to see him go, but wish him a very happy retirement. The search for his replacement will begin this week as the City will post a job announcement in local papers and online job sites. Anyone who is interested in this position is encouraged to contact CT Dixon at city hall and a job description and application packet will be provided upon request. Supt Griffin is pricing paint for the pool and will work this job into his schedule later this fall. CT Dixon has started preparation for the City’s 2018 annual budget process, which will be a regular topic at council meetings going forward.
OLD BUSINESS:
TD&H Engineering – final draft review of preliminary engineering report prior to application submission to Rural Development:
TD&H needs authorization from council to submit preliminary engineering report to Rural Development. Councilmember Hicks MOVED to authorize TD&H to proceed with submitting PER to Rural Development. Councilmember Slinkard seconded and the motion carried unanimously. Mayor seeks authorization from council to sign required environmental checklist relating to project. Councilmember Wilcomb MOVED to allow Mayor to sign. Councilmember Slinkard seconded and the motion carried unanimously. Rural Development’s website will have other forms for the City to sign to complete application process.
Varela & Associates – Wastewater treatment facility update:
Recapped Wastewater Advisory Committee meeting held at the community center on August 15th. Varela proposed 3 plans that will satisfy mandate by the Department of Ecology to find alternative for effluent disposal. Dana Cowger of Varela discussed all 3 in detail with council. Councilmember Hicks MOVED, Councilmember Slinkard seconded to authorize Varela to proceed with alternative #2 in planning phase of project. Motion carried unanimously.
Mayor Echanove, CT Dixon and Varela will meet with representatives from the Department of Ecology on Wednesday, August 23rd in Spokane to discuss progress made in planning phase and next steps to take to ensure compliance.
NEW BUSINESS:
Apollo solutions group – Discussing potential energy conservation projects
New biennium has been recently released that may help fund additional energy projects. Exact figures are not known yet but if grant dollars are available they would like to collect some further data at no cost to the city to find out what additional projects may be feasible. Councilmember Estes MOVED to allow Apollo to investigate cost savings opportunities. Councilmember Stout seconded and the motion carried unanimously.
COMMITTEE REPORTS/REQUESTS:
Personnel & Pool, Chair Hanson- No Report.
Water & Sewer, Chair Slinkard- Discussed the tabling of McKinstry’s data and water collection proposal. To be discussed at a time that is better for the City.
Streets & Sidewalks, Chair Hicks- No Report.
Parks, Cemetery, & Buildings, Chair Estes- No Report.
Police, Fire, & Safety, Chair Wekenman- No Report.
Policy & Administration, Chair Wilcomb- No Report.
Finance, Property, & Equipment, Chair Stout- No Report.
OPEN FORUM:
MAYOR’S REPORT: The Mayor brought up that contractor Ken Renstrom wanted to ask permission from council to work in the city right of way for utility upgrades at the last council meeting. Since council did not have quorum at the last meeting, the Mayor asked that council make a decision regarding his request. Councilmember Slinkard MOVED to allow Ken Renstrom to work in the city right of way to upgrade utilities, Councilmember Wilcomb seconded and the motion carried unanimously.
Lions Club liquor license is up for renewal. No objections.
RV Park continues to excel. YTD revenues have topped $20,000.
ALLOW PAYMENT OF BILLS: Councilmember Hicks MOVED that the bills against the city be allowed. Councilmember Slinkard seconded the motion and the motion carried unanimously.
The following checks are approved for payment:
Payroll Paid 7/31/17 Ck. #8467-8492 & EFT $ 51,180.49
Claims Paid 8/08/17 Ck. #8493-8522 & EFT $ 19,814.62
Claims Paid 8/22/17 Ck. #8523-8537 & EFT $261,559.06
ADJOURN: Councilmember Hicks MOVED to adjourn. Councilmember Estes seconded the motion and the motion carried unanimously. The council meeting adjourned at 8:57 PM.
APPROVED: ________________________________ ATTEST: ________________________________