Palouse City Council
Regular Council Meeting
September 24, 2019
CALL TO ORDER: Mayor Echanove called the Council Meeting to order at 7:02 PM.
ROLL CALL: Council members present: Chris Cook; Bill Slinkard; Tim Sievers; John Snyder; Katie Cooper. Absent: Rick Wekenman. Councilmember Cook MOVED to excuse Councilmember Wekenman’s absence. Councilmember Snyder seconded. Motion carried. Staff present: Police Chief Jerry Neumann; Police Officer Joel Anderson; City Administrator Kyle Dixon; & Deputy Clerk Ann Thompson.
APPROVAL OF MINUTES: Councilmember Sievers MOVED to approve the minutes of the Special Council Meeting of September 10, 2019 as written. Councilmember Slinkard seconded. Motion carried.
PUBLIC WORKS REPORT: Supt. Griffin submitted a written report.
POLICE REPORT: Palouse Days went well. No problems.
-Looking into purchasing a couple solar-powered speed signs next year. One will go on HWY 27 coming into town from Pullman and one on 272 from Potlatch into town. Will look into some traffic safety grants to help with the purchase. Would eventually like one for each entrance into town.
– The Chamber is paying $25/hour for extra policing during Haunted Palouse. We want 3 or 4 extra officers both weekends, depending on crowds.
JOINT FIRE BOARD REPORT:
Budget is looking good.
6 EMS calls in August: 2 city, 2 rural, 2 non-resident.
3 Fire calls in August.
Got fire insurance rating back and Palouse kept Class 6 rating which is good.
CITY ADMINISTRATOR REPORT:
Sept 18, CA Dixon, Mayor Echanove, and Councilmember Cook spoke with Varela to discuss next steps for WW Facility Plan. Plan has been delivered to DOE and it will take until at least November for them to review and provide comments. Anticipating comments and additional review, which creates a tight window to take advantage of funding opportunities with DOE that are due in mid-December. Echanove, Cook and Dixon directed Varela to put application together to hopefully take advantage of this funding opportunity with the hope that the plan can be finalized by the December deadline. Next year we will move into design phase and it will be very beneficial to have funding options in place for us to proceed.
In June we received a $2,500 grant to have a professional review and update items in our Critical Areas Ordinance. CA Dixon will send it to council and have it available for public review. This is mandated to be periodically updated. Public Hearing will be at next council meeting for anyone who wants to review it.
Improvements to Shady Lane are almost complete. CA Dixon met with City Insurance Rep to walk it. Will put in some fencing along steep side of access points and a caution sign. Benches will be ordered this week as well. Work by Palouse Hills Excavating looks great.
Budget season is on us. CA Dixon will meet with Finance Committee in October to discuss needs for next year. Would like to see budget passed by second meeting in November.
Port of Whitman is in design phase of Fiber to the Home project in Palouse.
First Step needs council approval to relocate some equipment from roof of St. Elmo bldg. to roof of City Hall. Supt. Griffin has no concerns with it. Councilmember Sievers MOVED to allow First Step to move their equipment from St. Elmo roof to City Hall roof. Councilmember Snyder seconded. Motion carried.
Sealed bids are due tomorrow at 2 pm for surplus fencing and surplus street light equipment. Minimum bid of $50 for each.
CA Dixon, Supt. Griffin and w/s committee met last week to discuss some potential fee structure changes. More meetings to come. It is ongoing.
OLD BUSINESS:
Resolution No. 2019-10 adopting the Six-Year Transportation Improvement Plan for 2020-2025: This gets updated every year. The goal is to complete one from the list every year. Councilmember Sievers MOVED to adopt Resolution No. 2019-10. Councilmember Cooper seconded. Motion carried.
COMMITTEE REPORTS/REQUESTS:
Personnel & Pool, Chair Cook- Councilmember Cook completed his pool summary report and reviewed it with council.
Water & Sewer, Chair Slinkard-
Committee met with CA Dixon and Supt. Griffin to discuss utility fee structures. Still gathering information and hoping to have a full report within a month.
ALLOW PAYMENT OF BILLS: Councilmember Cook MOVED that the bills against the city be allowed. Councilmember Slinkard seconded the motion and the motion carried.
The following checks are approved for payment:
Claims Paid 9/24/19 Ck. #10342-10355 $34,072.92
ADJOURN: Councilmember Cook MOVED to adjourn. Councilmember Sievers seconded the motion and the motion carried. The council meeting adjourned at 8:09 PM.
APPROVED: ________________________________ ATTEST: ________________________________