Palouse City Council
Regular Council Meeting
December 8, 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: Police Officer Joe Handley; Clerk-Treasurer Mike Bagott; & Deputy Clerk Ann Thompson.

APPROVAL OF MINUTES: Councilmember Hicks added a slight clarification under his committee report regarding the description of sidewalks in disrepair. Councilmember Wekenman MOVED to adopt the minutes of the November 24, 2015, Public Hearing and Regular Council Meeting, as amended. Councilmember Langsett seconded the motion and the motion carried unanimously.

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

POLICE REPORT:
The PD has had a few calls over the holiday. Winter tires are now on all the patrol cars.

CLERK-TREASURER REPORT:
Cascade Bike Club will be coming through Palouse again this August.

Earlier this year we talked about having an energy audit done by Apollo Solutions to see about cost savings to the city. Apollo Solutions comes in and does an audit at no cost to the city. The city isn’t under contract to do anything. The State Dept. of Enterprise Services (DES) serves as the project manager and acts as a clearinghouse for contractors and consultants. Apollo is under contract with DES and DES meets all RCW’s for competitive bidding. Councilmember Hicks MOVED to authorize the mayor to sign a contract with DES for an energy audit. Councilmember Wekenman seconded. Motion carried unanimously.

NEW BUSINESS:
Ordinance No. 940 – adopting 2016 budget: Mayor read aloud the ordinance in its entirety. Councilmember Wekenman MOVED to adopt Ordinance No. 940 adopting the 2016 budget. Councilmember Langsett seconded. Motion carried unanimously.

Ordinance No. 941 – 2015 budget amendment: Well #3 is currently undergoing scheduled routine maintenance. The city has $20,000 budgeted for the Pump Maintenance Reserve Fund. This ordinance amends it to $25,000 just to give us a buffer in case the repairs come in a little higher than expected. This has a zero effect on the 2016 beginning budget, just gets us in the good graces of the auditor’s office by bumping the appropriation from $20,000 to $25,000 just in case. Councilmember Wekenman MOVED to adopt Ordinance No. 941. Councilmember Hicks seconded. Motion carried unanimously.

Resolution No. 2015-14 – 2016 salary schedule: Zero changes and zero raises to the 2016 salary schedule. As scheduled, Officer Handley’s salary increases in May 2016 on the one year anniversary of his hiring. Councilmember Langsett MOVED, seconded by Councilmember Hanson to adopt Resolution No. 2015-14.

Resolution No. 2015-15 – 2016 fee schedule: Changes to the cost for variance, conditional use, rezone, and street vacation applications, and to the mobile home install application permit. All other fees stayed the same. Councilmember Pearce MOVED to adopt Resolution No. 2015-15, seconded by Councilmember Hanson. Motion carried unanimously.

COMMITTEE REPORTS/REQUESTS:
Streets & Sidewalks, Chair Hicks- Council made a couple slight recommendations to the letter being sent to property owners with dangerous sidewalks. Councilmember Pearce MOVED to approve the letter, with amendments, to be sent out. Councilmember Wekenman seconded. Motion carried unanimously.

Personnel & Pool, Chair Pearce- Tonight is Councilmember Pearce’s last council meeting as her term is up. She thanked her fellow council members for their service and CT Bagott and Deputy Clerk Thompson for all their work.

MAYOR’S REPORT:
Citizen Advisory Group for the WWTP met last week. It was a very productive meeting.
Liquor license renewal request for beer and wine at the Green Frog. No objections.
Councilmember Estes MOVED, seconded by Councilmember Langsett to allow City Hall to be closed Dec. 24th. Motion carried unanimously.
Councilmember Estes MOVED, seconded by Councilmember Wekenman, to cancel the 2nd council meeting in December. Motion carried unanimously.
The Request for Qualifications for the city’s roster went to the paper. Closing date to submit SOQ’s is December 28, 2015.

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

The following checks are approved for payment:
Payroll Paid 11/30/15 Ck. #7082-7103 & EFT $41,018.34
Claims Paid 12/08/15 Ck. #7104-7132 & EFT $ 6,379.28

SWEARING IN OF COUNCILMEMBERS: New councilmember Mark Wilcomb, incumbent council members Rick Wekenman and Bo Ossinger, and incumbent Mayor Echanove, each individually read aloud their oaths of office from the county auditor.

ADJOURN: Councilmember Hicks MOVED to adjourn. Councilmember Estes seconded the motion and the motion carried unanimously. The council meeting adjourned at 8:43 PM.

APPROVED: ________________________________ ATTEST: ________________________________