Palouse City Council
Regular Council Meeting
Special Location at Palouse Community Center, 220 E. Main Street
June 23, 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: Public Works Superintendent Dwayne Griffin; Police Officer Joe Handley; Clerk-Treasurer Mike Bagott; & Deputy Clerk Ann Thompson. Planning Commission members present: Jeff Baldwin; Jay Iverson; Nicole Flansburg; Lynne Nelson; & Judy Finch.

APPROVAL OF MINUTES: Councilmember Pearce MOVED to adopt the minutes of the Special Council Meeting of June 9, 2015. Councilmember Langsett seconded the motion and the motion carried unanimously.

PUBLIC WORKS REPORT: Supt. Griffin submitted a written report.
The city’s new backhoe just isn’t working out for the city’s needs. It doesn’t have enough finesse for the trench applications and other things we do. The Rowand service reps and even a rep from John Deere have been to Palouse looking at the backhoe a number of times and have confirmed that the backhoe is behaving as it’s designed. Rowand Machinery has offered a proposal for trading up to a 2012 410K backhoe that is bigger, has more horsepower, and features a completely different hydraulic system than the current machine. We can trade our backhoe in for this unit for a total cost, with tax, of $5,390. It’s out of factory warranty but Rowand is offering a 90 day warranty. Supt. Griffin and CT Bagott went to Rowand’s facility in Spokane to inspect and operate it. Supt. Griffin was satisfied that it would be substantial improvement over the current unit and will fulfill the City’s needs. This is a critical piece of equipment; it gets used continuously. CT Bagott explained that Rowand has been great to deal with and that there is no fault in the original purchase. The distribution of funds for this purchase will be 10% from general, 30% from street, water, and sewer each. Councilmember Wekenman MOVED to accept Rowand Machinery’s offer of trading in our 2014 310 SK backhoe for their 2012 410K backhoe plus $5,390. Councilmember Hanson seconded. Motion carried unanimously.

POLICE REPORT:
Officer Handley reported the radar trailer has been moved to west Main Street near the pool. Hopefully it will remind drivers to watch for kids.
The PD acquired two pedal bicycles for use by the PD.
The PD is working on fliers to distribute to seniors explaining the fraud scams out there, particularly ones targeting senior citizens.

JFB REPORT (2nd council meeting of month only):
Councilmember Langsett reported that he and Councilmember Ossinger attended the JFB meeting June 15.
Financially, the JFB is way under budget.
0 fire calls in May, 11 YTD. 6 EMS calls in May, 28 YTD.
FD and EMS had an extrication training with a donated car. This was the first opportunity the group had to use the hydraulic cutter/spreader that was donated by Fire District 12. The spreader worked great but the cutter needs work. The department has sawzalls to use if needed. They will look into repairing the cutter portion.
Water tender truck is back in service; it has new plumbing and valves.
Parking barrier blocks for the parking lot at the Public Safety Building will be purchased through Atlas because Premix can’t work within the time frame. It may be slightly more expensive. Marty from Palouse Welding will help move the blocks with their forklift if needed.
Frontier is in the process of moving the manual siren activation button from the old fire station to the Public Safety Building.

CLERK-TREASURER REPORT:
CT Bagott will have 2nd Q treasurer’s report at the next meeting.
We will have the public hearing for revenue sources at the first meeting in July.

OLD BUSINESS:
Shoreline Master Program update:
Amy Summe from The Watershed Company, and Izzy Cannell from Berk Consulting gave an update/presentation on the Shoreline Master Program (SMP). Whitman County developed the SMP in 1974. It was adopted by Palouse (and six other communities) in 1974. The Shoreline Management Act requires all local governments to update their SMP because it’s over 30 years old and ecology passed new rules in 2003. In a nutshell, the purpose of the Shoreline Management Act is to protect our river and prevent harm caused by uncoordinated and piecemeal development of the state’s major shorelines. The SMP carries out provisions of the SMA. There is no change to Palouse’s obligation, just updating. There are 117 acres in Palouse subject to SMP. The SMP addresses shoreline vegetation, setbacks, development, use, etc., along the Palouse River.

SMP regulations are not retroactive. SMP regulations apply to new development and activities, including proposals for expansion or alteration of existing uses. The SMA especially recognizes existing residences. Residential structures that were legally established and are used for a conforming use, but that do not meet SMP standards (height, buffers, setbacks, etc.), are considered a conforming structure. The SMP can allow redevelopment, expansion, or replacement of the residential structure if it is otherwise consistent with the SMP.

Once this draft is approved by Palouse City Council, it goes to Ecology for approval. The SMP will be adopted by ordinance and be a part of Palouse’s municipal code, just as the Critical Areas is. Just as it has always been, when someone wants to build/repair/alter their property, they first need to contact City Hall to determine the requirements, if any, of the SMP, Critical Areas, FEMA, SEPA, and Palouse building codes. Deputy Clerk Thompson expressed her concerns with having to enforce all this.

It’s important to note that critical areas within the jurisdiction of the SMP shall be governed only by the SMP as of the time DOE approves our SMP update.

MAYOR’S REPORT:
The City received from the WA State Liquor Control Board a special liquor license approval for the beer garden at the Palouse Music Festival. There were no objections.

ALLOW PAYMENT OF BILLS: Councilmember Estes MOVED that the bills against the city be allowed. Councilmember Langsett seconded the motion 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 8:55 PM.

The following checks are approved for payment:
Payroll Paid 5/31/15 Ck. #6600-6620 & EFT $40,719.31
Claims Paid 6/24/15 Ck. #6640-6657 $ 7,331.11

APPROVED: ________________________________ ATTEST: ________________________________