January 28, 2020

Posted on by Mark Wilcomb

Palouse City Council

Regular Council Meeting 

January 28, 2020

 

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

 

ROLL CALL:  Council members present:  Mary Welcome; Bill Slinkard; Tim Sievers; John Snyder; Steve Alred; Katie Cooper.  Staff present: Police Chief Jerry Neumann; Police Officer Joel Anderson; Building Inspector Dan Gladwill; Deputy Clerk Ann Thompson.  

 

APPROVAL OF MINUTES: Councilmember Alred MOVED to approve the minutes of the January 14, 2020, Public Hearing and Regular Council Meeting, as written. Councilmember Snyder seconded.  Motion carried. 

 

BUILDING INSPECTOR REPORT: 

–BI Gladwill was present to give the year-end report. 

-Effective July 1, 2020, the state will be switching from operating under the 2015 International Building Code to the 2018 IBC.  

 

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

 

POLICE REPORT:  

-Had 35 various calls to service in last two weeks, 12 of which were in Garfield.

-Grand Jury met last week and a warrant was issued for Kent Kimberling’s arrest for weapons violations, etc. He is now being held federally in Spokane.

-Officer Anderson had his taser fail during an arrest with man exhibiting excited delirium. WC Sheriff Office and WSU police assisted with the arrest.  Two new tasers were purchased as a result of the taser fail.  

-WC Sheriff assisted Officer Snead with a high-risk call. The man eventually surrendered peacefully.

-Chief Neumann wants to move forward the third officer hire. The applicant is tentatively scheduled to come Feb. 10th for an interview with the Personnel Committee as well as the Civil Service. The applicant will be flying in and Chief Neumann has authorized up to $250 towards a rental car for the applicant to travel back and forth between Spokane and Palouse for interviews and testing. Chief Neumann will share the application with the Personnel Committee. Officer Snead has requested lesser hours so time is of the essence to get a third officer hired. 

 

JOINT FIRE BOARD REPORT:  Councilmember Cooper reported on JFB year end.  

-Financials ended well, not over budget.

-87 total EMS calls in 2019.  33 total FD calls in 2019. 

-There is a need to replace all 22 radios in an ongoing process. The current radios are running the risk of dying and could be a potential emergency situation.  City and rural will split the purchase of 6 radios this year. Cost per radio is between $500-$800.

-The attack engine has been fixed in-house.

-Discussed 5-year plan to replace some of the trucks which are aging out. 

 

CITY ADMINISTRATOR REPORT:  

-CA Dixon is in Olympia for AWC’s annual City Action Days to advocate on behalf of Palouse and municipalities across the state.

-We are finalizing the purchase and sale agreement between the city and Palouse Brewing Co. this week. A portion of this agreement requires measures of progress by the Palouse Brewing Co. at predetermined intervals as outlined in the city council minutes dated 11/26/19. The minutes need to be amended as noted below because the Brownsfield Committee has no actual authority.

 

…….3) significant tangible improvements within 12 months including grading, foundation work, and significant progress to the completion of phase 1 within 24 months as determined by the Brownsfield Committee Palouse City Council. 

 

Councilmember Sievers MOVED to amend the minutes as noted above by replacing Brownsfield Committee with Palouse City Council.  Councilmember Slinkard seconded. Motion carried unanimously.  

 

Mayor Cook and CA Dixon will be in Spokane on Friday to meet with ECY and our wastewater engineers Varela & Associates. The goal of this meeting is to ensure that all involved within ECY are in agreement on the direction of our proposed wastewater facility plan and to finalize a path forward. City will have an update at our next meeting.  

 

City Hall is accepting letters of interest for the open council position #5 until Friday, Feb. 14th. This is a council-appointed position that will serve until December 31, 2020.

 

COMMITTEE REPORTS/REQUESTS:  

Mayor Cook finalized the committee assignments as follows:

 

  • Budget Finance, Major Acquisitions: Chair Welcome, Slinkard, Cooper
  • Streets, Property, & Facilities: Chair Sievers, Alred, Welcome
  • Personnel: Chair Snyder, Sievers, Slinkard
  • Water & Sewer: Chair Slinkard, Alred, Sievers
  • Policy & Administration: Chair Cooper, Snyder, Pos. #5

 

Additionally, Mayor Cook appointed Alred, Cooper, and Pos. #5 as council representatives to the Joint Fire Board.

 

MAYOR’S REPORT:    

-Councilmember Alred MOVED to appoint Councilmember Cooper as Mayor Pro-Tem. Councilmember Welcome seconded.  Motion Carried. 

  -Mayor Cook and Mayor Pro-Tem Cooper will be added as authorized signers on city’s Banner Bank account and Echanove and Wekenman will be removed. 

-There will be a meeting next week to continue discussions about the Palouse’s police contract with Garfield. Present will be the Palouse Personnel Committee, CA Dixon, Mayor Cook, Chief Neumann, Garfield Mayor Pfaff, and a couple Garfield councilmembers.  

 

ALLOW PAYMENT OF BILLS:  Councilmember Sievers MOVED that the bills against the city be allowed.  Councilmember Cooper seconded the motion. Motion carried. 

 

The following checks are approved for payment:

Claims Paid 01/28/2020 Ck. #10617-10630 $13,615.33

VOID Ck. #10527

 

ADJOURN:  Councilmember Welcome MOVED to adjourn.  Councilmember Slinkard seconded the motion and the motion carried.  The council meeting adjourned at 7:49 PM.

 

APPROVED: ________________________________   ATTEST: ________________________________