MEETING OF THE CITY OF CONNELL , WASHINGTON

CONNELL, FRANKLIN COUNTY , WASHINGTON

 

January 13, 2003

 

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.

 

ROLL CALL

 

PRESENT:       Mayor Gary Walton, Mayor Pro-Tem Perry Skoglund, Councilmembers Ron Boyer, Andy Sawyer, Roel Martinez, and Monica Pruett.

 

STAFF:            City Administrator Art Tackett , Chief of Police Rick Rochleau , Public Works Director Pat Munyan , Deputy City Clerk Maria Chavez, and City Attorney Terry Tanner .

 

VISITORS:      Larry Seibel, Anderson Perry; and Kathy Bingham, Graphic

 

CORRESPONDENCE

 

  1. Mayor Walton advised that the Finance Committee would be meeting quarterly to review the budget.

  2. AWC – Legislative Session February 19th and 20th in Olympia .

  3. WA Workfirst – Earned Income Tax Credit brochures.

 

 APPOINTMENTS

 

The Mayor made the following re-appointments:

            Planning Commission – Molly Kunkel, Al Sorestad & Roger Baile

            Park Board – Bob Misener

            Board of Adjustments- David Hart

           

CONSENT CALENDAR

 

Motion: Councilmember Pruett moved to approve the Consent Calendar as listed:

Minutes of the December 9, 2002 Special Meeting

Minutes of the December 9, 2002 Regular Meeting

Councilmember Martinez seconded motion.  Motion carried unanimously.

 

CITIZEN COMMENT/NON-AGENDA ITEMS

 

Mayor Walton advised that he had received comments from the public in regards to the quality of the cable service.

 

APPROVAL OF AGENDA

 

Mayor Walton made the following additions to the agenda:

            Item No. 17 a. Chris Eskildsen  - Property Issue

            Item No. 17 b. Ron Boyer – Business license

 

Motion: Councilmember Skoglund moved to approve the agenda as listed. Councilmember Pruett seconded, motion carried unanimously.

 

ORDER OF BUSINESS

           

WASTEWATER FACILITY  

Schedule A – Larry Seibel reported that the pumps had been reinstalled and that Paco Pumps would do a test run on Wednesday.  A final inspection would be done on Monday, January 20.

 

Schedule B – All electrical problems had been completed and the close out paperwork for the project had been initiated.

 

Motion: Councilmember Pruett moved to accept the project contingent upon the changeover of the pipeline of the forcemain to the new manhole.  Councilmember Sawyer seconded motion.  Motion carried unanimously.

 

SEWER PROJECT STATUS

Larry Seibel of Anderson Perry reported that the project was moving ahead and that the design was being completed for Clark Street extension.  A meeting would be held with the School to discuss the right-of-way and easements for the extension.  The Striker design was also being worked on and would be advertised by the end of January.  A meeting would be set up with the residents who would be having grinder stations installed on their property.

 

USDA – WATER SYSTEM IMPROVEMENTS

Larry Seibel of Anderson Perry reported that the designs for Phase I and Phase II were moving ahead and that currently the Water Storage design was being drafted.  A chart with the tentative dates for all the schedules would be provided to Council once it had been completed. 

 

WATER SYSTEM – INTERIM FINANCING

City Administrator Tackett reported that he had spoken with three banks in regards to interim financing.  US Bank and Banner Bank could not compete with the offer from Bank of America.  Interim financing was necessary since USDA would not provide any reimbursements until the project was completed. 

 

Motion: Councilmember Pruett moved to accept interim financing from Bank of America.  Councilmember Skoglund seconded the motion.  Motion carried unanimously.

 

TIB – CLARK STREET – PROJECT UPDATE

PHASE I – Larry Seibel reported that this phase had been completed and recommended Council approve acceptance of this project.

 

Motion: Councilmember Pruett moved to approve Application for Payment # 5 to Selland Construction in the amount of $41,980.50.  Councilmember Martinez seconded motion.  Motion carried unanimously.

 

Motion: Councilmember Pruett moved to formally accept Clark Street Phase I.  Councilmember Martinez seconded motion.  Motion carried unanimously.

 

PHASE II – Larry Seibel reported that the design was well along.  Advertisements would go out the beginning of April with construction to begin in June, once school had let out.  The project would be completed before school resumed in the fall.

 

ORDINANCE NO. 754 – SANITATION

City Administrator Tackett reported that he had received materials from BDI and MRSC regarding the sanitation ordinance and that he would be setting up a meeting with BDI to go through a draft ordinance. 

 

ENVIRONMENTAL AND GEOPHYSICAL ANALYSIS – OLD SEWER PLANT

City Administrator Tackett reported that it was time to decommission the old wastewater treatment plant and get it ready for its new use. By being involved in TRIDEC’s Certified Sites program the City would have a shovel ready site.  A proposal had been submitted by Shannon & Wilson to complete an Environmental and Geophysical Analysis.

 

Motion: Councilmember Sawyer moved to authorize Shannon & Wilson to complete an Environmental and Geophysical Analysis not to exceed $15,000 to be taken form the Industrial Park Reserve.  Councilmember Martinez seconded.  Motion carried unanimously.

 

CONTRACT EXTENSION – HOLLY LEASE

City Administrator Tackett advised that the lease for the Clark Street Park with Ms. Holley needed to be updated.  Ms. Holley requested that the lease be extended to two years instead of three years.

 

Motion:

 

MOSQUITO CONTROL DISTRICT

City Administrator Tackett reported that he had attended a meeting with the County Commissioners to discuss the formation of a county wide Mosquito Control District.  The intent of the County Commissioners would be to have residents vote on the formation of the district and on funding.  An assessed valuation on homes would have to be determined, possibly .25 cents per thousand.  This would not impact the tax rates for the City, County, or Fire District.  It was hoped that this district would be in place by March or April.

 

PURCHASE OF NEW PUBLIC WORKS TRUCK

Public Works Director Munyan requested permission to proceed with the purchase of a new truck for Public Works which had been included in the budget for 2003.

 

Motion: Councilmember Skoglund moved to authorize Public Works Director Munyan to proceed with the purchase of a new truck.  Councilmember Pruett seconded motion.  Motion carried unanimously.

 

CHRIS ESKILDSEN – PROPERTY ISSUE

City Administrator Tackett reported that he had been approached by Chris Eskildsen in regards to the airport property the City sold to the Eskildsen’s and Allison’s.  The City agreed to allow Mr. Eskildsen to separate an acre of the property to be sold to Mr. Quinton.  Mr. Quinton had begun the construction of a new home on this property but now needed to have the title to the property to obtain a loan in order for him to complete construction.  The City holds three contracts on that property and can not segregate the piece off and given to Eskildsen because of the impact on the vale of the land and the City’s ability to recoup any money for that piece of property if payments on these contracts were stopped. 

 

Council and City Attorney discussed different options to hold money in escrow until the City was satisfied that the loan would be paid off.

 

Motion: Councilmember Skoglund moved to authorize staff to proceed with the request from Chris Eskildsen to relinquish the City’s interest in the one acre parcel and set aside money in escrow.  Councilmember Pruett seconded motion.

 

RON BOYER – BUSINESS LICENSE

Councilmember Boyer stepped down from his position on the bench during this agenda item.  

 City Administrator Tackett reported that he had received correspondence from Mr. Boyer in regards to placing a storage shed business on property owned by Mr. Boyer on Columbia Avenue.

 

Ron Boyer advised that he had been approached by a company who sells storage units who was looking for a place to establish a distributorship in town.  There would be some stationary rental units for storage and there would be units available for sale.

 

The concern of the Council was that the zoning for this area was for retail sales and the request was for a combination of retail sales and a storage business.

 

Council determined that this business included retail sales and therefore was a permitted use under the zoning ordinance and that no motion was needed.

 

PAYMENT OF BILLS –

     Motion:

 

DEPARTMENT REPORTS

           

BUSINESS DEPARTMENT – Deputy City Clerk Chavez

1.                  Year end for 2002 would be run on Wednesday

2.                  The Budget document would be available at the first meeting in February

 

POLICE REPORT - Chief of Police Rick Rochleau

1.                  Arrested an individual on January 3rd for the attempted rape of a child, this was an internet sting.

2.                  Arrested an individual from Camp Outlook who would be facing charges of sexual misconduct with a minor.

3.                  Allen Hadley started the reserve academy.

4.                  Focusing on training.

 

PUBLIC WORKS DEPARTMENT – Public Works Director Patrick Munyan

1.                  The floor in the Health room of the Community Center had been stabilized.  Some damage was created in the men’s bathroom.  Work was still being done on the floors in several of the rooms.  Sidewalks would be poured later in the week.  The holes in the parking lot would be temporarily fixed with asphalt.  Looking at doing a section of the parking lot in concrete each year.  The rain gutters were being plumed together to go into the drain in the parking.  The drain with the sink hole would be pumped to the next drain.

2.                  Started an eight week Auto Cad course to update the City maps. 

 

CITY ADMINISTRATOR’S REPORT  - City Administrator Art Tackett

1.                  Submitted a grant application through the New Streets Program for Elm Street .

2.                  Submitted a 3161 grant for $80,000 to do work at the Wastewater Treatment Plant.

3.                  The Governor’s budget was combining several boards, one of which was TIB.  TIB has been a good source of funds for the City in the past. The City would not like to have TIB go away and would recommend that these boards not be combined.

4.                  The closing arguments had been submitted for the DOE lawsuit.

5.                  Would be making a presentation on Wednesday on planning issues.

6.                  TAC meeting in February in regards to the interchange near the prison.

7.                  Received information from the Heritage Community to participate in the sesquicentennial for cities formed between 1853 and 1885.  The City of Connell was formed in 1880.  Signs would be placed at each entrance. 

8.                  Would be setting up a Downtown Meeting for the first week in February.

9.                  The Defense Attorney had advised that he would be looking for a replacement to take over his contract with the City due to a conflicting schedule.

 

ATTORNEY’S REPORT – City Attorney Terry Tanner

1.         Criminal case filings had been up.  May be looking at breaking up the docket and having a morning docket and afternoon docket.

 

MEETING RECESSED

Mayor Walton recessed the regular meeting at 9:07 pm to go into Executive Session until approximately 9:20 pm to discuss a contract and a litigation matter.

 

MEETING ADJOURNED

There being no further business to be heard before the City Council, Mayor Walton adjourned the meeting at 9:18 p.m.