Palouse City Council
Regular Council Meeting
February 9, 2016
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; Mark Wilcomb; Christopher Langsett. Staff present: Public Works Superintendent Dwayne Griffin; Police Chief Jerry Neumann (7:35), & Deputy Clerk Ann Thompson.
APPROVAL OF MINUTES: Councilmember Wekenman MOVED to adopt the minutes of the Regular Council Meeting of January 26, 2016. Councilmember Hanson seconded the motion and the motion carried unanimously.
PUBLIC WORKS REPORT: Supt. Griffin submitted a written report.
POLICE REPORT: Chief’s vehicle just had repairs to the brakes and front-end steering issues. There is upcoming training for Officer Handley in May. Officer Handley is talking with Colfax PD for some cooperative training.
CLERK-TREASURER REPORT:
Atty. Bishop is working on updating our sewer facility reserve ordinance.
We’re waiting for information from Apollo so the solar grant application can be submitted.
OLD BUSINESS:
Regarding the West Whitman Street project, the property is subject to a mandatory archaeological survey. Plateau Archaeological Investigations, LLC, in Pullman, WA, submitted their price at $4,175 which is in the typical $4,000-$5,000 range for this area. This cost comes out of the design money for the project. TIB project engineer Gloria Bennett has granted approval to go ahead with Plateau for this service. Councilmember Hicks MOVED, seconded by Councilmember Langsett, to approve the Plateau Archaeological Investigations proposal for the archaeological survey for West Whitman Street project. Motion carried unanimously.
NEW BUSINESS:
Ordinance No. 943 – Budget amendment for Fund 311 (Police Car & Equipment): Mayor read aloud the ordinance in its entirety. This ordinance allows for the expenditure and reimbursement of funds from the WASPC grant for the purchase of two handheld radar units and two alcohol breath testers. This is a 100% funded grant and has a zero net effect, it just allows us to expend the bills first then get reimbursed from WASPC. Councilmember Hicks MOVED, seconded by councilmember Wilcomb to adopt Ordinance No. 943. Motion carried unanimously.
COMMITTEE REPORTS/REQUESTS:
Police, Fire, & Safety, Chair Wekenman- The city received a complaint regarding a nuisance yard on the south hill. Police have made contact. A couple vehicles have since been moved. There’s still some work to do.
Streets & Sidewalks, Chair Hicks- Met with Supt. Griffin to have a 2015 year end equipment meeting. We need to replace our 30 year old locator. Money is in the budget for it so that will probably be the next purchase. The bids for the surplus Ford 1-ton are due Feb. 23. Small tools are fine. Backhoe is great. The next piece of equipment on the wish list for next year is a new zero-turn mower which should cost between $6,000-$7,000. Current one is about 8 years old and we can probably get some good money out of it on trade or resale. City needs to think about saving to replace our 43 year old dump truck; we’ll run it until it’s dead.
MAYOR’S REPORT:
The city received an outline from Varela & Associates for our contract for the design of the WWTP facility upgrade. CT Bagott and Mayor Echanove will review with Varela and report back to council at next meeting.
ALLOW PAYMENT OF BILLS: Councilmember Langsett MOVED that the bills against the city be allowed. Councilmember Wekenman seconded the motion and the motion carried unanimously.
The following checks are approved for payment:
Void: Ck. #7224 & 7225
Payroll Paid Ck. #7223, & 7226-7241, & EFT $38,802.00
Claims Paid Ck. #7242-7273, & EFT $16,072.81
ADJOURN: Councilmember Hicks MOVED to adjourn. Councilmember Hanson seconded the motion and the motion carried unanimously. The council meeting adjourned at 7:44 PM.
APPROVED: ________________________________ ATTEST: ________________________________