MEETING
OF THE CITY OF
CONNELL,
The regular
semi-monthly meeting, of the City Council of the City of
PRESENT: Mayor Gary Walton, Councilmembers Andy Sawyer, Monica Pruett, Roel Martinez, and Ron Boyer.
EXCUSED:
Mayor Pro-Tem Perry Skoglund
STAFF:
City Administrator
VISITORS:
Roger McDowell & Craig Brazell;
1)
WA State Liquor Control Board: Liquor Application for Chamber of
Commerce Wine Festival
2) WA State Liquor Control Board: Liquor License Renewal for Pizza Station. No objections were heard.
3) St of WA Gambling Commission: Issuance of Gambling license to Hazy’s.
4) United State Senate, Patty Murray: Thanked the City for supporting the asparagus industry.
5) Mayor Walton temporarily appointed Roel Martinez to the Finance Committee.
Motion: Councilmember Pruett moved to approve the Consent Calendar as listed:
a)
Minutes of the
Councilmember
Martinez seconded motion. Motion carried unanimously.
Councilmember Boyer advised that he had received a complaint of construction debris left on the road.
Public Works Director advised that the construction company was aware of the debris and would be picking it up.
Mayor Walton made the following addition to the agenda:
Item No. 12 a)
Motion:
Councilmember Sawyer moved to approve the agenda as amended.
Councilmember
Boyer seconded motion. Motion
carried unanimously.
Roger McDowell and Craig Brazell from New York Life provided information on a variety of life insurance programs for City employees and Councilmembers.
Council gave its consensus to authorize staff to meet with
USDA - WATER
SYSTEM IMPROVEMENTS
City Administrator Tackett advised that the access road was staked partially on Hoffman’s property, a meeting would be held to correct the problem. A schedule had been received for construction on Phase III.
Motion:
Councilmember Pruett moved to pay Partial Pay Estimate No. 1 to Erwin
Construction in the amount of $28,610.97. Councilmember
Martinez seconded motion. Motion
carried unanimously.
STREET PROJECTS
City Administrator Tackett advised that things were being wrapped up and that he had received positive feedback on the school safety lights.
Mr. Tackett reported that he had heard from TIB who would be finalizing
their review of the
2005 FISCAL YEAR BUDGET
Mayor Walton thanked City Clerk-Treasurer Eckman for all her work on the budget.
City Clerk-Treasurer Eckman presented the preliminary budget to Council. A 2% COLA was projected into the budget. The Police Department was still under negotiations. The 204 fund would be designated to the DNR land purchase, and the Airport Improvement fund would be changed to Commercial Development Reserve. City Clerk-Treasurer Eckman advised Council to take a hard look at the Hotel/Motel fund.
The projected budget for 2005 was $9,379,970.00, a $500,000 decrease from 2004’s budget.
City
Administrator Tackett requested the Finance Committee meet on November 15th
at
ORDINANCE NO.
773 AD VALOREM PROPERTY TAXES 2005
City Clerk-Treasurer Eckman advised that Ordinance No. 773 increased the budget by 1% in property tax revenue from the previous year, for a levy amount of $297,616.99. The amount necessary to be levied by ad valorem property taxes to raise the annual expenditures provided in the 2005 Budget for General Bond obligation was set at $20,090.00.
Motion:
Councilmember Pruett moved to adopt Ordinance No. 773 relating to the amount
necessary to be levied by ad valorem general property taxes for the 2005 budget.
EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT
City Administrator Tackett advised that he had requested John Sheer from Emergency Management attend the November 22 meeting to discuss the Franklin County Interlocal Agreement.
This
item was tabled until the November 22 meeting.
PAYMENT OF BILLS
Motion:
Councilmember Pruett moved to pay the vouchers and payroll in the amount of
$80,034.33, Councilmember Pruett seconded. Motion carried unanimously.
PLANNING COMMISSION
Mayor
Walton advised that there was a vacant position on the planning commission.
PUBLIC WORKS DEPARTMENT – Public Works Director Pat Munyan
1) Alleys had been cleaned and would be graded
2) Lift Station 4 had a cracked elbow
3) Lift Station 5 had a matting problem
POLICE
DEPARTMENT - Police Chief Rick Rochleau
1) Halloween had gone well
2) Officers Turner and Quinton had attended a survival Spanish class
3) Chief Rochleau would be attending the Chief’s & Sheriff’s conference
4)
Received a grant from Canfield & Associates in the amount of
$2,097.00 to purchase tazers.
CITY ATTORNEY – City Attorney Terry Tanner
1)
The City of
2) B/F Health Dept had passed out rules for action that would be taken if a quarantine where necessary.
CITY ADMINISTRATOR’S REPORT – City Administrator Art Tackett
1) Attended and IACC conference were they spent a fair amount of time discussing an energy park.
2) IAC was getting closer on getting the ball fields completed. There was a chance another SEPA would have to be done.
3) There would be a DOC meeting at the Community Center regarding the prison expansion.
4) Still waiting to receive information from the lobbyist.
5) Had not heard back from Mrs. Holley, her property was up for sale.
There being no
further business to be heard before the City Council, Mayor Walton adjourned the
meeting at