MEETING OF THE CITY OF CONNELL, WASHINGTON
CONNELL, FRANKLIN COUNTY, WASHINGTON
The regular semi-monthly meeting of the City Council of the City of Connell was called to order by Mayor Walton at 7:30 p.m. in the City Hall and was opened with the Pledge of Allegiance.
PRESENT: Mayor Gary Walton, Councilmembers Roel Martinez, Monica Pruett and Ron Boyer.
EXCUSED: Councilmember Perry Skoglund
ABSENT: Councilmember Jim Lobach
STAFF: City Administrator Art Tackett, Chief of Police Rick Rochleau, City Clerk Treasurer Joan Eckman, City Attorney Terry Tanner and Deputy City Clerk Maria Chavez.
VISITORS: Larry Seibel, Anderson Perry; Andy Sawyer, Councilmember Elect; Boy Scout Troop 120; and Connell High School students.
Transportation Improvement Board - Mayor Walton advised that he would not be filling the open position as it was for Cities of 20,000 and over.
Councilmember Pruett moved to approve the Consent Calendar as follows:
Minutes of the November 13, 2001 Regular Meeting with a correction to page 3 changing "bridge crossing " to "railroad crossing".
Councilmember Martinez seconded motion. Motion carried unanimously.
Mayor Walton thanked Boy Scout Troop 120 for attending the council meeting and provided them with City of Connell pins.
Mayor Walton made the following changes to the agenda;
Added Item No. 11 a - TIB
Councilmember Martinez moved to approve the agenda as amended. Councilmember Pruett seconded motion. Motion carried unanimously.
PUBLIC HEARING - FY 2002 BUDGET
Mayor Walton opened the public hearing for the FY 2002 budget at 7:40 pm.
City Clerk Treasurer Joan Eckman reported on the 2002 budget. The Ad Valorem General Property Taxes were limited to a 1% increase. The total of the estimated revenues and expenditures for 2002 were fixed at $11,145,457. The budget did include salary increases of 3%. The water revenue was down by about $10,000. Fund 105 for Repair and Demolition was added to the budget.
Clerk Treasurer Eckman provide Council with a re-cap of the budget and noted that the funds to watch were the water and sewer funds. Water revenues were down and the cost for operations of the new sewer plant would need to be monitored.
MARYETTE CAMP ANNEXATION
City Administrator Tackett reported that this project was not moving as quickly as planned and had requested an extension from Maryette Camp. This item was tabled to the January 14th meeting.
WASTEWATER FACILITY
Larry Seibel of Anderson Perry was present to update the Mayor and Council on the progress of the projects.
Schedule A – Lift stations 4 and 5 were in operation. Water was being pumped into the lagoon. There was a problem with lift station 5, a monitor would be installed to try and correct the problem.
Schedule B - The drilling of the well had been completed and would be tested by the end of the week. Most of the plumbing had been completed. Chloratex would come down to setup the chlorination equipment.
WATER SYSTEM IMPROVEMENTS - PROJECT UPDATE
Larry Seibel of Anderson Perry was present to update the Mayor and Council on the progress of the projects.
Phase I - The project was almost completed, hydroseeding had been done. The final inspection would be scheduled for next week.
Phase II - Approximately 10-12 people had attended the public meeting for Striker Addition. The engineers were moving ahead with the design.
TIB - CLARK STREET - PROJECT UPDATE
Larry Seibel of Anderson Perry reported that he had met with the Signalization Supervisor and the Crossing Supervisor from Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railroad to discuss widening of Clark street. The engineers would provide the railroad with a preliminary layout after council had a chance to review it.
Mr. Seibel noted that the bridge was not constructed on the center of the right-of-way and that there would need to be a slight realignment from the street onto the bridge on each side of the bridge.
City Administrator Tackett commented that he would look into possibilities for funding to redo the bridge.
ORDINANCE NO. 744 - AD VALOREM GENERAL PROPERTY TAXES
City Clerk Treasurer Eckman provided Ordinance No. 744 to Council for their approval. Clerk Treasurer Eckman reported that due to the lag in receiving property tax revenue the budget only reflected a 1% increase over what had been received during the current year, even though the ordinance allowed for more.
Councilmember Pruett moved to adopt Ordinance No. 744 relating to Ad Valorem general property taxes. Councilmember Boyer seconded motion. Motion carried unanimously.
RESOLUTION NO. 2001-08 - SETTING SALARY SCHEDULES FOR 2002
City Clerk Treasurer Eckman advised that the salary schedule reflected a 3% Cost of Living Allowance increase.
Councilmember Martinez moved to adopt Resolution No. 2001-08 setting salary schedules for 2002.
ORDINANCE NO. 747 - AMENDMENT TO ZONING ORDINANCE NO. 689
Mayor Walton reported that Ordinance No. 747 reflected changes to the zoning ordinance relating to residential low density zoning.
Councilmember Pruett moved to adopt Ordinance No. 747 and Councilmember Martinez seconded the motion. Councilmember Boyer voted against.
Motion did not carry as there were only two for and one against. According to RCW 35A.12.120 "The passage of any ordinance… shall require the affirmative vote of at least a majority of the whole membership of the council."
This item to be brought back at the next council meeting.
ADOPTION OF THE COMPREHENSIVE PLAN
City Administrator Tackett reported that this item would need to be tabled due to Staff only receiving the Transportation Element of the Comprehensive Plan.
HOLIDAY AND VACATION BUYOUT - AUTHORIZATION
Mayor Walton advised that the City's Personnel Policy allowed staff to only carry over 160 hours of vacation time per year. Due to the Police Department being shorthanded several employees had not been able to use their vacation time.
Councilmember Pruett moved to authorize vacation buyout in the amount of $7,981.20. Councilmember Boyer seconded motion. Motion carried unanimously.
PAYMENT OF BILLS
Councilmember Pruett made a motion to pay the payroll and bills in the amount of $109,951.60. Councilmember Boyer seconded the motion. Motion carried unanimously.
Police Report - Chief of Police Rick Rochleau.
1. Had a couple of burglaries
2. Officer Quinton would be graduating from the academy on December 19th
3. Could possibly receive the new patrol car before Christmas
Finance Department - City Clerk Treasurer Joan Eckman
1. Progressing with the budget, to be presented at the December 10th meeting
2. Year end would be run on January 15th
3. Had to make a lot of changes to line numbers as advised by the auditors
Attorney's Report - Attorney Terry Tanner
1. The owners of the condemned property had agreed to quit claim the property to the City
2. Would have the transfer of ownership agreement from Bafus Pharmacy to the City at the next council meeting.
City Administrator's Report - City Administrator Art Tackett
1. Would be attending a meeting on Tax Increment Financing on November 28, 2001
2. Would be attending a Storm Water Meeting on November 29, 2001
3. A public meeting to discuss the golf course was scheduled for Monday, December 3rd, at 7:00 p.m. at the Community Center.
4. Attended a board meeting for the Eastern Washington Water Alliance. Will be scheduling two summits a year to discuss water issues.
5. Staff appreciation breakfast scheduled for December 6 at 7:00 am at Michael Jay's
6. Staff would take December 24th off as a personal holiday and close the office
Mayor's Report - Mayor Gary Walton
1. Staff would contact the school to set up the scholarship of $500 from Anderson Perry
2. There would be no council meeting on December 24th
3. Would be meeting with the State Legislatures on December 6th
There being no further business to be heard before the City Council of the City of Connell, Mayor Walton adjourned the regular meeting at 8:45 p.m.