Palouse City Council
Regular Council Meeting
January 22, 2013

CALL TO ORDER: Mayor Echanove called the Council Meeting to order at 7:02 PM.

ROLL CALL: Council members present: Tim Jones; Connie Newman, Bo Ossinger; Norm Schorzman; Alison Webb. Absent: Cecil Floyd and Rick Wekenman. Councilmember Newman MOVED to excuse both councilmembers’ absences. Councilmember Jones seconded and the motion carried unanimously. Also present: Public Works Superintendent Dwayne Griffin; Police Chief Jerry Neumann; & Deputy Clerk Ann Thompson. Public present: Heather McGehee.

APPROVAL OF MINUTES: Connie amended the minutes as follows. Under open forum, Councilmember Newman is very unhappy “that disparaging remarks or complaints about specific staff people were included with the planning commission survey results that went out to the public.” Councilmember Jones MOVED to adopt the amended minutes of the Regular Council Meeting of January 8, 2013. Councilmember Webb seconded the motion and the motion carried unanimously.

PUBLIC WORKS REPORT: Submitted a written report. The city needs to change the way we chlorinate the pool, so Dwayne is looking at alternatives.

POLICE REPORT: Last week there was a suspicious fire on the railroad tracks down by the flathouse. PD is still investigating. PD had their L&I inspection – just some minor changes to implement.

COMMITTEE REPORTS/REQUESTS:
Councilmember Jones is the new chair of the Finance Committee and Councilmember Schorzman will chair the Personnel & Pool Committee.

Water & Sewer-Connie Newman, Chair: Taylor Engineering received a letter back from the Dept. of Health regarding our WSP. They needed a few clarifications which Angela is addressing.

Received another PRR questioning the validity of the WSP, if we had a public meeting, if we followed proper protocol in notifying the public, etc. There’s a WAC requirement by the DOH to have a consumer-input process. We went above and beyond those requirements: we sent it out on list serve; printed it out on water bill; prior to Oct. 9, 2012, council meeting, had an hour long Q & A which no one attended; we allowed a community member to attend a committee meeting. Additionally, Councilmember Newman offered to meet with people and got no requests. The city has covered our bases.

Parks, Cemetery, & Buildings-Alison Webb. Chair: No report.
Policy & Administration-Bo Ossinger, Chair: No report.
Streets & Sidewalks-Cecil Floyd, Chair: absent
Personnel & Pool-Norm Schorzman, Chair: No report
Police, Fire, & Safety-Rick Wekenman, Chair: absent. Chief Neumann reported that Garfield is interested in a three-year police contract. He will work with Rick and get back to council.
Finance, Property, & Equipment-Tim Jones, Chair: No report.

MAYOR’S REPORT: Public Works Trust Fund may change their academy location.

ALLOW PAYMENT OF BILLS: Councilmember Schorzman MOVED that the bills against the city be allowed. Councilmember Jones seconded the motion and the motion carried unanimously. Councilmember Newman inquired about our signature process and if the finance committee chair should sign the check register (as opposed to other council members). Staff will look into it. Motion carried unanimously.

ADJOURN: Councilmember Jones MOVED to adjourn. Councilmember Schorzman seconded the motion and the motion carried unanimously. The council meeting adjourned at 7:26 PM.

The following checks are approved for payment:
Claims Paid 12/31/12: Ck. #4614-4624, 4627, & EFT $ 35,912.00
VOIDED: Ck. # 4616 & 4620
Claims Paid 1/23/12 Ck. #4625-4626, & 4628-4642 & EFT $444,940.40

APPROVED: ________________________________ ATTEST: ________________________________