Palouse City Council
Regular Council Meeting
February 24, 2015

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

ROLL CALL: Council members present: Bo Ossinger; Mike Hicks; Senja Estes; Rick Wekenman; Bev Pearce; Christopher Langsett. Councilmember Wekenman MOVED to excuse Councilmember Hanson’s absence. Councilmember Pearce seconded and the motion carried unanimously. Staff present: Public Works Superintendent Dwayne Griffin; Police Chief Jerry Neumann; Clerk-Treasurer Mike Bagott; & Deputy Clerk Ann Thompson.

APPROVAL OF MINUTES: Councilmember Hicks MOVED to adopt the minutes of the Regular Council Meeting of February 10, 2015. Councilmember Langsett seconded the motion and the motion carried unanimously.

PUBLIC WORKS REPORT: Supt. Griffin submitted a written report. A rep from Rowand Machinery came and checked out our backhoe’s hydraulic pump on the arm which isn’t acting right unless the engine is revved up. The rep is going to see if there’s anything they can do about it. John Deere knows it’s an issue.

Public Works ground off some welded guard rails on the West Main bridge as required per inspection and then Palouse Welding repaired the welds.

POLICE REPORT:
The 2nd new police vehicle was purchased Thursday. It is a 2013 Dodge Journey with 34,900 miles. Most of the equipment off the old Dodge Charger is being switched over. The call for sealed bids on the Dodge Charger closes this Friday.

Regarding the PD’s computer crash, VGH removed the virus and the threat from the computer and recovered the files, but Xpediter isn’t recognizing them anymore. Xpediter is the PD report writing software company the PD has a working contract with. Xpediter will continue to work on it. Anyone can contact the PD and try and rebuild a case if needed around those two or three months of missing database.

The nuisance yard is making progress. Mayor Echanove read aloud two received letters, one from Teresa Baker and one from Sharon Tharp, thanking the city council and police for working to take care of the situation to the best of their ability.

OLD BUSINESS:
Sand Road Land development: plans, promissory note, and deed:
At the Jan. 13, 2015, council meeting, council approved the plans pending review from city attorney. They added the necessary wording regarding lift station review after 50% of the lots have been sold and built on. At which point the city will review the adequacy of the existing sewer station capacity to accept more houses to be connected to it. Any needed measures and/or improvements to the lift station will be paid for by the developers/owners of any additional lots from this subdivision, to be connected to this lift station.

There is some question over who is to enforce the development’s covenants. (At 7:30 pm Stephen Bishop joined by speaker phone). Mayor read aloud the “enforcement” section of the covenants section. The covenants are discretionary. The covenants are between the lot owners only not between the lot owners and the city; the city has no property interest in the covenants. Atty. Bishop will review and rewrite the enforcement section. Councilmember Pearce MOVED, pending Attorney Bishop’s amended enforcement section, to adopt the plans and authorize the appropriate parties to sign the mylar copy of the plans. Councilmember Wekenman seconded and the motion carried unanimously.

MAYOR’S REPORT:
Vintage Velocity Rods requested to use the grassy area next to City Hall during the hot rod show for a vendor. As long as the sidewalk access is kept clear from front to back and in front.

The city has received more building permit applications on the Jim Farr/Nicole Wood property. Atty. Bishop has those for review. Much discussion ensued on how to the city should proceed. In speaking with city staff and our attorney and based on the history with these property owners, the mayor is directing Public Works to not provide anymore estimates for water/sewer installation nor are they to install infrastructure on their property from this point forward. The property owners can select any bonded and licensed Washington contractor and their contractor must contact Supt. Griffin for required specs. A private contractor is fully capable of taking care of their needs. The mayor hopes for good progress up there. Even though they hire a contractor, they still have to follow city policy, water system plan, specs (meter size, pipe size, etc), council approval, staff review, building inspector approval, etc. And final inspections must be done by Palouse Public Works. Public Works over the years has provided numerous estimates; that will no longer be an issue. Clerk-Treasurer Bagott spoke with city building inspector and attorney, and he has the information now to respond to Jim Farr soon. CT Bagott informed Jim today that from here on out, all his questions regarding their property issues will go through our attorney prior to our response. The city is working hard to provide them with an opportunity to move forward.

Mayor attended the AWC conference last week in Olympia. There was a lot of discussion on liquor revenue and marijuana proceeds.

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

ADJOURN: Councilmember Pearce MOVED to adjourn. Councilmember Estes seconded the motion and the motion carried unanimously. The council meeting adjourned at 8:16 PM.

The following checks are approved for payment:
Void: Ck. #6358 $ (33.00)
Claims Paid Ck. #6364-#6381 $36,450.53

APPROVED: ________________________________ ATTEST: ________________________________