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 GaryWalton, Councilmembers Roel Martinez, Monica Pruett, Ron Boyer and Perry Skoglund
EXCUSED: Councilmember Jim Lobach
STAFF: City Administrator Art Tackett, Chief of Police Rick Rochleau, Public Works Director Pat Munyan and Deputy City Treasurer Jeri Reinauer.
VISITORS: Larry Seibel, Anderson Perry; Rosebel Marroquin and Frank Sanchez, Custom Cruisers; and Kathy Bingham, Franklin County Graphic.
CORRESPONDENCE/PRESENTATIONS/APPOINTMENTS
Councilmember Skoglund moved to approve the Consent Calendar as follows:
Minutes of the October 8, 2001 Regular Meeting
Councilmember Pruett seconded motion. Motion carried unanimously.
Frank Sanchez and Rosebel Marroquin thanked the Council for their help sponsoring their car for the Las Vegas car show on October 7th. The car came in second place. Discussed was the possibility of holding a car show sometime during the spring.
Mayor Walton noted that the Old Time Fiddlers would be at the Community Center on Thursday for their last performance.
Mayor Walton made the following changes to the agenda;
Moved Item No. 16 after Item No. 12,
Councilmember Skoglund moved to approve the agenda as amended. Councilmember Martinez seconded motion. Motion carried unanimously.
PUBLIC HEARING - MARYETTE CAMP ANNEXATION
Mayor Walton continued the hearing to November 26.
WASTEWATER FACILITY- PROJECT UPDATE
Larry Seibel of Anderson Perry was present to update the Mayor and Council on the progress of the projects.
Schedule A – The sewer line to the Grain Growers had been fixed. Only two more items were left on the punch list to be completed. Mr. Seibel recommended that Council accept the project once the punch list had been completed. This would allow them to pump water to the lagoons for Schedule B.
Councilmember Skoglund moved to accept Schedule A - Wastewater Facility once the punch list was completed. Councilmember Martinez seconded motion. Motion carried unanimously.
Schedule B - The well had been tested and did not produce the required amount of water. The contractor would be back to correct the problem. The building had been insulated but still needed to be sheet rocked. Testing would probably be started before the end of November.
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 - 2,700 feet of trenching had been completed. The contractor got to the point were they could no longer excavate due to the rock.
Phase II - A public meeting had been schedule for November 15th at 7:00 PM to answer question on the Striker portion of the project.
TIB - CLARK STREET - PROJECT UPDATE
Larry Seibel of Anderson Perry reported that the survey crew had completed the data collection survey. The next step would be the design.
CONTRACT AMENDMENT - ANDERSON PERRY
City Administrator Tackett provided Council with a Contract Amendment for Anderson Perry in the amount of $10,000 to update the City's Water Plan. Anderson Perry and City Staff had been working on consolidating the City's water rights so as not to run into problems when the City expands to areas that had not previously been served.
Councilmember Skoglund moved to authorize the Mayor sign the Contract Amendment for Anderson Perry in the amount of $10,000. Councilmember Martinez seconded motion. Motion carried unanimously.
COMMUNITY CENTER REPAIR - DISCUSSION AND AUTHORIZATION
Larry Seibel of Anderson Perry reported that he was still looking into previous finds on damage to the Community Center. The object at this point was to see what was causing the damage and to try and stop it. He recommended that this item be tabled to the November 13th meeting.
2002 BUDGET PROCESS AND TIMELINE
City Administrator Tackett reported that City Clerk Treasurer Eckman had provided a timeline for the 2002 Budget. A Finance Committee meeting was scheduled for November 13th at 6:00 PM.
Council gave its consensus to change the Council Meeting scheduled for November 12 to November 13th due to the holiday.
The final public hearing for the budget was scheduled for the November 26th Council Meeting.
GOLF COURSE - DISCUSSION
City Administrator Tackett discussed the progress on the golf course with Council. A trip would be scheduled for Council to travel to Union, Oregon to look over the golf course there. A topo map would need to be done for the final design of the course lay out. A great deal of citizen participation would be necessary in order for the City to complete this project.
Councilmember Skoglund moved to approve the expenditure of $12,000 for a topo map. Councilmember Pruett seconded the motion. Motion carried unanimously.
Council suggested that a sign be placed at the golf course site to let residents know that that would be the future golf course site and that a newsletter with the course design be sent out.
INDUSTRIAL LAND DEVELOPMENT - DISCUSSION
City Administrator Tackett reported that the developer for the truck stop was still interested in constructing in the community. Further discussion was tabled to be discussed during executive session.
EDA APPLICATION AUTHORIZATION
City Administrator Tackett reported that he had been in contact with EDA in regards to a grant in the amount of $1.8 million for the extension of the City's waterline to the farm. Connell would be eligible for an 80% grant leaving a $360,000 match. Staff would look into ideas for the match.
Councilmember Pruett moved to approve City Staff to apply for the grant and for the Mayor to sign the application. Councilmember Boyer seconded motion. Motion carried unanimously.
PAYMENT OF BILLS
Councilmember Skoglund made a motion to pay the payroll and bills in the amount of $98,146.73. Councilmember Pruett seconded the motion. Motion carried unanimously.
Bark Board - Councilmember Perry Skoglund
1. Toured the parks to look over the playground equipment.
Police Report - Chief of Police Rick Rochleau.
Two officers currently attending the academy and doing well.
A patrol car was hit during a pursuit.
Arrested a juvenile on a burglary charge.
Attended a meeting in regards to Anthrax.
City Hall - Deputy Treasurer Jeri Reinauer
Deputy City Clerk Maria Chavez had returned to work part time.
Public Works - Public Works Director Patrick Munyan
Work was being done on Elm Street.
The fence was being put up around the reservoir along with an intrusion alarm.
Started the repair work on the City Hall roof.
City Administrator's Report - City Administrator Art Tackett
Would be attending a meeting in Moses Lake on downtown market studies.
A luncheon would be held on Wednesday for the new pharmacist.
Mayor's Report - Mayor Gary Walton
Attended an AWC conference in regards to small cities. Discussed several issues including water rights, street projects, and special meetings.
The Mayor recessed the regular meeting at 9:00 p.m. to go into an executive session for approximately 15 minutes, to discuss potential industrial land development.
The regular meeting was called back into session at 9:40 p.m. There being no further business to be heard before the City Council of the City of Connell, Mayor Walton adjourned the regular meeting.