PALOUSE CITY COUNCIL AGENDA
Public Hearing – 2019 Preliminary Budget
Followed by Regular Council Meeting
November 13, 2018 @ 7:00 pm
Palouse City Hall – 120 E. Main Street
CALL TO ORDER: Mayor Echanove called the meeting to order at 7:04 PM
ROLL CALL: Council members present: Chris Cook; Bill Slinkard; Tim Sievers; Rick Wekenman; Mark Wilcomb; Katie Cooper. Staff present: Public Works Superintendent Dwayne Griffin; Police Chief Jerry Neumann; Police Officer Joel Anderson; City Administrator Kyle Dixon. Councilmember Wilcomb MOVED to excuse absence of councilmember Snyder. Councilmember Cooper seconded and the motion carried.
PUBLIC HEARING: Mayor Echanove open the public hearing to discuss the 2019 Preliminary Budget at 7:05. No comment.
CLOSE PUBLIC HEARING: Hearing closed at 7:07
APPROVAL OF MINUTES: Councilmember Wekenman MOVED to approved the minutes of the Regular Council Meeting of October 23, 2018. Councilmember Slinkard seconded and the motioned carried.
PUBLIC WORKS REPORT: Supt Griffin submitted a written report.
POLICE REPORT: Last weekend of Haunted Palouse was very busy, but no issues to report. Good turnout at truck or treat in Garfield on Halloween. Less action than normal on Halloween in Palouse. PD spending more time at Palouse and Garfield school districts.
JOINT FIRE BOARD REPORT: No report. Will meet next week.
CITY ADMINISTRATOR REPORT:
2019 Preliminary Budget
Mayor Echanove and Council discussed the 2019 Current Expense budget by line item. Final public hearing for the 2019 Annual Budget will be held at city hall on Tuesday, November 27 at 7:00 PM.
Surplus Fire Truck:
The Palouse Volunteer Fire Dept is requesting that Council surplus the following item:
1970 Dodge C 1000 International Fire Truck with 750 gallon water tank and 1000 gpm pump. This truck has been sitting in storage with no plans for further use. Councilmember Wilcomb MOVED to declare this fire truck surplus to city needs with a minimum bid of $500. Councilmember Cook seconded the motion and the motion carried unanimously.
Surplus PD Equipment for interagency transfer:
Officer Handley recently took a position with another agency. Upon separation, he requested to keep the equipment that was purchased and custom fitted for him. This is a relatively common practice among officer/agency transfers as this equipment would not necessarily have any value if the Palouse PD were to keep it. As such, Council can declare these items surplused for an interagency transfer to Officer Handley’s new department so long as Palouse receives “full value” for said items as determined by Chief Neumann. Councilmember Slinkard MOVED to surplus Officer Handley’s equipment on the condition that Palouse receives full value for said items. Councilmember Wilcomb seconded and the motion carried unanimously.
Palouse was recently approved for a $250,000 pre-construction loan through the Public Works Trust Fund for water system improvements. TD&H Engineering will be at the next council meeting to provide further information and take any questions from Council prior to the city deciding whether or not to proceed.
Palouse had two annual excess property tax levies, one for the city pool and one for streets, on the November ballot for collection in 2019. Current ballot counts suggest that both will be approved by voters.
City Hall will be closed on November 22nd & 23rd for Thanksgiving.
OLD BUSINESS:
Avista Car Charging Station Site Agreement:
Earlier this year, the city discussed allowing Avista to install an electric vehicle charging station at their expense. A potential issue that arose from this was if and how the city should allow for public funds to be spent (use of charging station would be billed to city account). Avista has solved this problem by providing charging stations equipped with credit card machines. The next step in this process is to schedule a site evaluation with Avista. Authorizing the city to sign Avista’s site agreement does not commit any dollars. If, after site evaluation has been completed, it is determined that any contribution from the city is going to be required, Avista will present those figures and council can determine whether or not to proceed. Councilmember Slinkard MOVED to allow city to sign site agreement and proceed with site evaluation. Councilmember Wilcomb seconded and the motion carried unanimously.
Wastewater Facility Plan Budget Review:
Due to unattainable restrictions currently enforced by the Dept of Ecology (and likely further restrictions coming) regarding effluent discharge into the north fork of the Palouse River, the city has directed our wastewater engineers (Varela) to investigate feasibility and costs associated with year-round wastewater storage and subsequent land application, thereby eliminating river discharge. Varela presented budget that will allow them to complete their research. Funding has already been secured and allocated for this purpose so no action is required. Mayor and Council reluctantly accepted the new figures. Varela will be at a council meeting before the end of the year to provide further updates on their progress.
NEW BUSINESS:
COMMITTEE REPORTS: No reports.
OPEN FORUM:
MAYOR’S REPORT: Liquor license renewal for the Congress. No objections. The Port of Whitman is scheduled to break ground next year on the build out of broadband fiber in Palouse. This is a great time for Palouse to further investigate the possibility of transitioning from manual water meter reading to an automated system. CA Dixon and Supt Griffin will work together to identify costs and formulate a plan for implementation.
ALLOW PAYMENT OF BILLS: Councilmember Cook 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:
Claims Paid 11/13/18 Ck. #9617-9640 & EFT $56,073.02
ADJOURN: Councilmember Sievers MOVED to adjourn. Councilmember Slinkard seconded and the motion carried. Meeting adjourned at 8:45 PM.
APPROVED: ________________________________ ATTEST: ________________________________