MEETING OF THE CITY OF CONNELL , WASHINGTON
CONNELL, FRANKLIN COUNTY , WASHINGTON

June 12, 2006

The Special Meeting of the City Council of the City of Connell was called to order by Mayor Walton at 6:00 pm in the City Hall.

ROLL CALL

PRESENT:       Mayor Gary Walton , Mayor Pro Tem Ron Boyer, Councilmembers Monica Pruett , Rhonda Quinton, Kent Mosbrucker, and Jim Klindworth.

STAFF:            City Administrator Art Tackett , City Attorney Terry Tanner , Police Chief Rick Rochleau, and Deputy Clerk Treasurer Maria ChavezPeńa.

VISITORS:      Alan Schroeder , Anderson Perry

 

ORDER OF BUSINESS

EXISTING CRCC FACILITY – IMPACT FEES

City Administrator Tackett reviewed the impact fund Agreement between DOC and the City as approved for the original 400 beds.  The City had received a onetime impact fund of $625,924 for placement of the 400 bed corrections center. . 

Councilmember Klindworth suggested that since the $625,924 had gone through and been approved by Council, DOC, and State Legislature that the following equation be used for impact fees:

Half of $625,924 (plus inflation)

Water impact ($100,000)

                       Sewer Impact ($172,000)

        + land for sewer ($25,000)

Total Impact fee for additional 200 beds

Councilmember Klindworth also suggested the City hire someone to come up with an impact amount.

Council discussed the Equivalent Dwelling Units (EDUs) for the 400 beds that would be freed up by DOC once the sewer was redirected.  Councilmember Klindworth pointed out that DOC had not paid sewer impact fees for the first 400 beds and therefore should not receive credit for freeing up the EDUs.  DOC had not paid sewer impact fees or water impact fees on the original 400 beds.

City Administrator Tackett agreed to meet with Scott Frakes of DOC to go over initial impact numbers.  This would be brought back to the June 26th meeting.

When asked if there had been an additional impact to police response calls to the prison after the 200 inmates were added, Police Chief Rochleau responded that DOC had hired an internal investigator, which may have reduced calls from the prison, but that the investigator would not report a lot of things going on which caused the police department more work as they would have to go back and investigate things that had happened a week earlier.  

 

EXECUTIVE SESSION

Mayor Walton recessed the meeting at 6:35 to go into executive session until 7:00 pm to discuss a legal issue.

 

MEETING RECESSED

At 7:02 pm Mayor Walton recessed the meeting to resume at 7:30 pm .

 

REGULAR MEETING RECONVENED

The regular semi-monthly meeting, of the City Council of the City of Connell was called to order by the Mayor at 7:30 pm in the City Hall and was opened with the Pledge of Allegiance.

 

ROLL CALL

PRESENT:       Mayor Gary Walton , Mayor Pro Tem Ron Boyer, Councilmembers Monica Pruett , Rhonda Quinton, Kent Mosbrucker, and Jim Klindworth.

STAFF:            City Administrator Art Tackett , City Attorney Terry Tanner , Chief of Police Rick Rochleau, and Deputy City Clerk-Treasurer Maria ChavezPeńa.

VISITORS:      Larry Hueter, Kevin Loresch, Scott Frakes, CRCC/DOC; Lon Welch, land owner; Charlie & Mary Paul; Burl L. Booker; Sean & Meloni Glaesemann,  Hunt/Lydig; Larry & Toni Hoffman; Herman Woo; Gay Pierson; Alan Schroeder , Anderson Perry; and Kathy Bingham, Franklin County Graphic .

 

CORRESPONDENCE

1)         Mid Columbia Earth Month – Thanked the City of Connell for their participation.

2)         Mayor Walton reported that he had presented the Anderson Perry Engineering Scholarship to Eric Waldron.

3)         Mayor Walton received information on blocking telemarketers calls on cell phones by registering at www.donotcall.gov. 

CONSENT CALENDAR

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

a)      Minutes of the May 22, 2006 Regular Council Meeting

b)      Minute of the June 6, 2006 Special Council Meeting

c)      Warrant Register May 24, 2006 for $200

d)      Check Journal May 30, 2006 for $106,760.01

e)      Warrant Register May 31, 2006 for $193.97

f)        Warrant Register June 9, 06 for $2,016.67

g)      Warrants for June 12, 2006 for $104,592.31

h)      Payroll  for June 12, 2006 for $10,816.38

i)        Motion to surplus vehicles as listed on attachment

            Councilmember Quinton seconded motion.  Motion carried unanimously.

 

CITIZEN COMMENT/NON-AGENDA ITEMS

Burl Booker expressed that he was glad to see Council had acted the way they had in regards to the property below the school and inquired as to Council’s plans for the property.

Mayor Walton advised that the property would have to be short platted.

Councilmember Mosbrucker inquired about the Skate Park .

City Administrator Tackett explained that the Skate Park was in the process of being put back together and was being placed closer to Elm Street, southeast of the Pavilion. Work was also being done on the ball fields.  The project was taking longer than intended as they needed more dirt than planned on.

Councilmember Mosbrucker asked about the timeline for getting the grain elevator torn down. 

Councilmember Pruett advised that Public Works Director Munyan had indicated that it was to be torn down by the end of June or the City would tear it down.

Councilmember Mosbrucker brought up the possibility of adding a grass area to the City’s tennis courts so that parents didn’t have to sit in the weeds or gravel.

City Administrator Tackett communicated that the problem was getting water to that site as there was no water there currently.  Future plans were to build another tennis court alongside the existing court.

Councilmember Klindworth requested that the Rail Road Quiet Zone be place on a future Agenda for discussion.

Mayor Walton furnished that the Washington State Auditors had completed their audit of the City of Connell .  The audit had gone well, Mayor Walton thanked Staff and Council for their work.  The only item was a verbal recommendation in regards to doing budget revisions at the time of expending the extra money instead of at the end of the year.

 

APPROVAL OF AGENDA

Mayor Walton made the following change to the Agenda:

            Item 14 was moved between Item 11 and Item 12

Motion: Councilmember Klindworth moved to approve the agenda as changed. Councilmember Mosbrucker seconded motion.  Motion carried unanimously.

 

ORDER OF BUSINESS

PUBLIC HEARING – SIX YEAR TIP

            Mayor Walton opened the Six Year TIP Public Hearing at 7:48 . 

There being no objections or reasons not to proceed, City Administrator Tackett reviewed the 17 projects listed for the 2007 to 2012 TIP.

No. 1 – Highway 395 Interchange at Columbia/Lind Rd , would help with traffic safety concerns of the new prison going in. Would be funded by DOT.

No. 2 – West Adams , had some potentially dangerous spots.  Would be submitted to TIB for funding in August.

No. 3 – East Birch Street , would be submitted to TIB for funding in August.

No. 4 – South Burke Ave , would be funded locally.

No. 5 – South Burke, Gum, and Almira, would be resurfacing the streets and installing new waterlines, would be resubmitted for funding to CDBG in November.

No. 6 – East Clark , safety issue, would be submitted to TIB for funding.

No. 7 – East Davis , to be funded locally.

No. 8 – Date Street, would be working on sidewalks.

No. 9 – North Second Street , would be funded locally. 

No. 10 – HWY 260 Pedestrian Crossing, would help with pedestrian crossing concerns, may want to change priority code to pursue funding.

No. 11 – Old Railroad Bike Path, would be funded locally.

No. 12 – West Franklin Extension, would be extending Franklin around school property.

No. 13 – Hawthorn Street , would be resurfacing the street.

No. 14 – Ford Ave Bike Path Extension, would have to work with the State.

No. 15 – South Sixth Extension, would help with some safety concerns.

No. 16 – Ford Street Extension, new construction.

No. 17 – Ironwood Commercial, would be redoing the street.

Mayor Walton opened the Public Hearing for comments from the public. 

Alan Schroeder noted that the existing Ironwood had been renamed to Hawthorne .

            Mayor Walton then opened the hearing up for comments from Council.

Councilmember Klindworth expressed that he thought it was important to get No. 9, North Second, reopened.  He also wondered if the City would have a hard time forcing people to go up the steps for the pedestrian crossing for No. 10.

Indicated was that the crossing would have ramps to meet ADA specifications.

Councilmember Mosbrucker inquired about the low priority of No.15, South 6th Extension, as it was a safety concern and wondered if it had to do with funding availability.

City Administrator Tackett responded that Priority No. 15 would have to be funded by the FED’s.

Mayor Walton questioned whether the City should consider doing LIDs, other areas of town had done LIDs, and property values would go up for some areas.    

            City Administrator expressed that the philosophy on LIDs would need to be discussed as it was an option.

            There being no further comments the public hearing was closed at 8:15 pm .

 

RESOLUTION NO. 2006-06 SIX YEAR TIP

Motion: Councilmember Pruett moved to adopt Resolution No. 2006-06 adopting the 2007 Six Year Transportation Improvement Plan.  Councilmember Mosbrucker seconded motion.  Motion carried unanimously.  

 

DEPARTMENT OF CORRECTION CONTRACT AMENDMENT

            City Administrator Tackett reported that the staff had requested an amendment to the DOE Water, Sewer, and Reservoir Contract to include a 5% project management costs. 

Motion: Councilmember Klindworth moved to adopt Amendment No. 1 to the Contract including the City’s 5% management cost.  Councilmember Pruett seconded motion, motion carried unanimously.

BID AWARD – CRCC PHASE I  - NORTH END WATER MAIN EXTENSION PROJECT

              Alan Schroeder of Anderson Perry reported that the Water Main project had been delayed.  There were some concerns from DOC in having water available to the site in time for construction to begin.  This concern prompted Anderson Perry to redesign the waterline, the easement would be contained to DOC and Lon Welch.  Pegram Construction was agreeable to discussing modifications of scope to their original bid. The final project could run a little smaller then they originally bid.  Would be meeting with Pegram to finalize the scope. 

Easement documents had been prepared however an agreement was needed between the property owners and the City to make the easement legal.

In regards to awarding the project prior to having the easement documents completed, Mr. Schroeder advised that the concern of the City was assuming any kind of risk if Pegram was held up if anything happened.  DOC had indicated to Mr. Schroeder that they would be assuming all risk. 

            Kevin Loresch, DOC, responded that he had an email document from Jack Olsen, Project Administrator, stating that DOC would assume any risk associated with the waterline construction beginning prior to the waterline easements being recorded. Mr. Loresch had spoken to a representative from Pegram who advised that they were ready to mobilize.  Mr. Loresch stressed that the need for access to water could not be overstated, there were a lot things that could not take place with the construction project until there was water on site.

Motion: Councilmember Pruett moved to authorize the mayor to sign the Notice of Award of the contract to Pegram Construction for the North End Water Main Extension Project of CRCC.  Councilmember Boyer seconded motion.  Motion carried unanimously.  

            City Administrator Tackett reported that he had received an email from the Office of Regulatory Assistance that DOH had indicated that the pipeline had been approved to provide for construction use of non potable water for the CRCC expansion site.  The City  could obtain approval to use the pipeline for drinking water if necessary requirements were met.

            Alan Schroeder provided that they were still pursuing easements with Bureau of Reclamation

            Kevin Loresch expressed that DOC would make improvements to the access road as they had previously agreed.

 

FLOAT TRUCK

            Mayor Walton reported that Public Works Director Munyan had contacted several places in regards to leasing a truck.  A three day lease would run about $75 to $125 a day and could not guarantee that a truck would be available on the date needed or that it would be the same truck.  Public Works Director Munyan and Kevin Besel, of the Grange, placed phones call to raise money for the truck.

            Councilmember Pruett expressed that about $6,200 had been raised.  Some of the money would go towards having sponsor signs made to go on the truck.   The Chamber of Commerce proposed that they give the City $4,000 to go towards the purchase of the truck.  Sponsors would pay a $100 a year for advertising that would be used for truck maintenance and sign maintenance. The Chamber would not want to retain legal ownership of the truck due to lack of insurance funding. 

            Councilmember Pruett also noted that Public Works Director Munyan had indicated he would be able to use the truck the remainder of the year when it wasn’t being used for the float. Usually there were about 13 events May through September.

            Councilmember Mosbrucker mentioned that he had spoken to different people and had received both negative and positive feed back.  Councilmember Mosbrucker suggested that surrounding cities also be contacted and asked to participate in sponsorships of the float as they were part of the North Franklin area and also benefited from it.

            Gay Pierson, 255 E. Hatton Rd , expressed that the community of Connell received all the recognition as that was the name on the float and that the City of Connell needed to come fourth in support of the float if they believed in it.  It had to come to a decision of the Council whether they believed it was worthwhile dollars spent to support the City of Connell .

            Mayor Walton explained that money paid for the float came out of the Hotel/Motel fund that could only be used for advertisement of Connell. 

            Larry Hoffman asked how much money was brought in by the Hotel/Motel tax yearly.

            Councilmember Pruett responded that approximately $4,000 to $9,000 was brought in.

            Councilmember Klindworth suggested the City consider renting a truck instead of purchasing it and possibly hiring someone to drive the truck.  Councilmember Klindworth also indicated that he did not feel that liability would be an issue.

Motion: Councilmember Pruett moved that the City purchase the truck in the amount of $8,500 with the agreement that the Chamber would pay the City $4,000 to go towards the purchase. Councilmember Quinton seconded motion.  Motion carried unanimously.

           

ENGINEERING AGREEMENT FOR SURVEYING SERVICES

            City Administrator Tackett reported that he had requested a quote from Anderson Perry to provide the City with engineering services for surveying the area south of the school and south of 260. 

            When asked if Anderson Perry would be able to move on this right away, Alan Schroeder responded that they were busy however the surveying crunch had been last year.  They had also hired a new surveyor.

            Mr. Schroeder pointed out that the south piece of property, south of the railroad tract, would be broken off leaving the northern part of the property in tact as it was encumbered by access issues and nothing could be done with the northern property until those were resolved.

            Council and staff discussed the property and alternatives for platting the land.

Motion: Councilmember Klindworth moved to sign the contract with Anderson Perry for surveying services.

 

FIRE TRUCK

            Mayor Walton reported that he had been in contact with Fire Chief Bob Koch in regards to a obtaining a brush fire truck for the rural areas of town. The City was unable to have an interlocal agreement with the County as the City had nothing to interchange with.  The cost for a combination fire truck was approximately $200,000. 

Councilmember Klindworth suggested that the City contract with the Fire District to have them respond to the City’s fires.  The Fire District Commissioners had indicated that they were willing to contract with the City.

            Mayor Walton agreed to go to the next Fire District meeting and would bring back more information.

 

ORDINANCE NO. 801 – RV

            City Administrator Tackett provided that Council had requested changes be made to the proposed RV ordinance. An additional change was made to Development Standards No. 11 (c) to include the addition of ‘2,000 feet or greater’ after the words ‘each space’.

            Councilmember Klindworth questioned if there would be any spaces 2,000 feet or greater.

            There was discussion regarding space sizes.     

Mayor Walton noted that there was an offer on the table and a feasibility study due around the June 20th for the 4.6 acres.

            This item would be brought back to Council for clarification space sizes.

 

COMMITTEE / DEPARTMENT REPORTS

POLICE DEPARTMENT REPORT – Police Chief Rick Rochleau

1)                  Officer Robertson was attending equivalency academy.

2)                  Purchased two cell phones to be used after hours for dispatch.

3)                  Continuing to work on junk cars. 100th car would be brought in on June 13th.

4)                  Getting ready to send out letters to property owners.

Councilmember Mosbrucker questioned time spent on state highways writing tickets opposed to the amount collected from those tickets and requested that that be looked into.

Attorney Tanner voiced that someone would have to look at each ticket to determine if they were written for a highway violation since that information was not imputed into the computer.

Councilmember Klindworth questioned whether it paid to put police cars on the highway or if it was being done for the sport. 

Mayor Walton expressed that he was curious to see how many hours were spent patrolling the highway.

There was some discussion regarding cell phone use and reimbursements.  Mayor Walton suggested looking into a government plan were department heads shared minutes.

 

CITY ADMINISTRATOR’S REPORT – City Administrator Art Tackett

1)                  Received a request to reconstitute the Community Center Committee to look at some issues.

2)                  Presented a draft of the water plan.

Councilmember Klindworth advised he would like to be on the Community Center Committee.

 

ENGINEER’S REPORT Alan Schroeder of Anderson Perry

Anderson Perry & Associates employed about 85 people, 35 of those worked in Washington . With the work coming up Anderson Perry had hired three new engineers, one was a mechanical engineer who would be working on the slides.  One gentleman hired was a sanitary engineer to design the expansion of the LambWeston facility and would be key on the wastewater project expansion.

 

MAYOR’S REPORT – Mayor Gary Walton

Expressed that he had been approached by three individuals who had inquired about the process of starting a Local Improvement District (LID). 

 

MEETING ADJOURNED

There being no further business to be heard before the City Council, Mayor Walton adjourned the meeting at 9:34 pm .