Palouse City Council
Regular Council Meeting
August 25, 2015

CALL TO ORDER: Mayor Echanove called the Council Meeting to order at 7:01 PM.

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

APPROVAL OF MINUTES: Councilmember Pearce MOVED to adopt the minutes of the Regular Council Meeting of August 11, 2015. Councilmember Hanson seconded the motion and the motion carried unanimously.

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

POLICE REPORT:
Regarding the clean-up at the house on Alder Street: The owner came to town and has made noticeable improvement. A lot of the junk was hauled off, vehicles moved, etc. Chief and Officer Merry viewed the progress and will follow-up in a couple weeks.
There have been three arrests in last couple weeks: an assault; an attempting to allude; and one false impersonation.
The bike rodeo is this Thursday on Whitman Street near the PD.

JFB REPORT:
This report covers June & July as there was no meeting in July due to lack of quorum.
Things are on target financially. The 2016 budget was reviewed, voted on and approved.
There were 6 fire calls in July, 21 YTD. 2 EMS calls in June, 9 calls in July.
Using donated funds, wireless headsets & intercom units were purchased for the brush trucks.
Nine Palouse firefighters spent a total of 28 hours at the Potlatch fire station on August 14 and 15 while Potlatch personnel were fighting the Big Lost fire near Harvard. They took the pumper tanker and a brush truck so they could respond to structure or wildland fire calls if necessary. Fortunately, no additional calls were received during their time at the station.
The burn ban is still in effect.
Palouse had a couple of small fires during harvest but considering the conditions we’ve been lucky. Fires were contained quickly with help from farmers using tractors to plow fire breaks.

CLERK-TREASURER REPORT:
CT Bagott got the TIB application submitted last week for west Whitman Street project. The total for the entire project is $700,000: $30,000 from DOT for railroad portion, $19,500 from city, $280,000 from the legislature and the rest is what we requested from TIB. We’ll find out in November if it is awarded. CT Bagott and Mayor met with Gloria Bennett from TIB and Bob Westby from WSDOT. WSDOT may be putting in additional money to replace/repair the entire line from Mill Street all the way to the grain growers.

NEW BUSINESS:
Resolution No. 2015-11 – Authorization to go out to bid for 1-Ton for Public Works: Mayor Echanove read aloud the resolution in its entirety. Resolution authorizes the solicitation of bids for the purchase of a 2016 Dodge Ram 3500 4WD Cab & Chassis for the Public Works Department. Finding something used has been fruitless. Supt. Griffin is looking for a regular cab, gas not diesel, non-luxury features, low miles, etc. The current 1990 1-ton has been on its last leg for a long time and we need to act before we’re desperate. The old service box will go on the new vehicle. This will be a secondary plow truck; we’ll still use the Ford to plow. Anticipated total cost is under $36,000 and funding is available in the 2015 budget. The truck, as specified, will most likely have to be ordered from the manufacturer as opposed to being purchased from dealer stock; anticipated turnaround time is two to three months. Supt. Griffin’s five-year payroll history was used to determine the % split amongst budget funds for this purchase: 22% streets; 43% water; 18% sewer; 16% current expense; .68% cemetery. Councilmember Hicks MOVED to adopt Resolution No. 2015-11. Councilmember Wekenman seconded. Motion carried unanimously.

COMMITTEE REPORTS/REQUESTS:
Water & Sewer, Chair Ossinger- committee met 8/24 to discuss the rates to hook water and sewer into the city’s system. The city is grossly undercharging and losing money at the current rate. Committee will gather more information and continue to look into this.

OPEN FORUM:
Will Hume, on behalf of the Viola Community Center and operating under the Palouse Caboose’s liquor license, is seeking council permission to set up a beer garden during Palouse Day (Sept. 19) on south Beach Street for the music venue. Same set up as last year. The only egress and ingress is a 10’ area in the front and the rest is completely fenced. There will be I.D. checkers on Main Street going into the venue. Beginning at approximately 4 pm and ending at 10 pm. There are no police concerns from Chief Neumann. Councilmember Hicks MOVED to allow permission for Will Hume/Viola Community Center/Palouse Caboose to use south Beach Street for Palouse Days beer garden. Councilmember Langsett seconded. Motion carried unanimously.

MAYOR’S REPORT:
The city needs to start looking at funding opportunities for Varela & Associates for 2016 because we are required to deliver a plan to DOE by end of 2017. USDA Rural Development and CERB both have grants opportunities that CT Bagott will be researching. The CERB grant is due at the end of September.

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

ADJOURN: Councilmember Ossinger MOVED to adjourn. Councilmember Pearce seconded the motion and the motion carried unanimously. The council meeting adjourned at 8:13 PM.

The following checks are approved for payment:
Claims Paid 8/25/15 Ck. #6826-6847 $6,193.15

APPROVED: ________________________________
ATTEST: ________________________________