April 17, 2006 Regular Meeting

The City Council met in regular session on April 17, 2006 at 7:30 P.M. in the Council Chambers of City Hall.

Mayor Vanderwall presided:

Councilmembers present:

Brian Lorentz
Bruce Walker
Georgia DeHaas
Delbert Houger
James Zehner
Wes Lester

City employees present were Public Works Director Gortsema, Chief Sedam, Attorney Albers and Clerk Kennedy.

The meeting was called to order and the minutes of the April 3rd regular meeting were approved as presented by Councilman Zehner, second by Councilman Houger. Motion carried by a unanimous vote of the Council present.

VISITORS: Darcy James, a candidate for Idaho House of Representatives, District 8A was present to introduce herself and let the Council know some of her concerns are economic development, small cities and small schools and she is available for any questions.

SIDEWALK WAIVER: Shelley Rolvink requested an indefinite sidewalk waiver at 734 W North 2nd due to the location of their lot on West North 2nd Street. If the sidewalk was installed, it would dead end in the overflow ditch that runs into Pierson Logging and the water would possible run back on the their property since they don’t have curb and gutter on the street. Councilman Houger asked if granted an indefinite waiver, is it revisited if a new permit is applied for. Attorney Albers felt it would be; however Clerk Kennedy stated that at this point it hasn’t been done in that way. The Council would like to have sidewalk waivers looked at by the Council if the applicant applies for another permit that would trigger new sidewalks.

Councilman Lester stated that the property to the east of Rolvink’s has an open ditch and no sidewalks and the property to the west is a logging yard. On motion by Councilman Lester, second by Councilman Zehner to grant Paul and Shelley Rolvink an indefinite sidewalk waiver at 734 West North 2nd Street. Councilman Houger stated that he would vote yes, but primarily because there are no curbs. Motion carried by a unanimous vote of the Council present.

COMMITTEE REPORTS: The Planning and Zoning Minutes from March 30, 2006 were accepted on motion by Councilman Zehner, second by Councilman Lorentz. Motion carried by a unanimous vote of the Council present.

Public Works Director Gortsema received a fax from Bodiford on April 11th with the proposed start up date for the Water Project. Bodiford plans to start moving this week and have a service crew start putting in services on the 25th. There are currently 114 services that can be put in on the line from last fall. The pipe service crew is scheduled to arrive May 4th. Bodiford has set the substantial completion date for August 2nd, with a final completion date of September 1st. They have asked for a change order to extend the contract 157 days, which takes care of the winter shut down, but doesn’t extend the days of the original contract. The City sent back a letter to make some changes to the schedule and to ask questions. The City plans to meet with the engineers on Wednesday. Attorney Albers recommends waiting for the change order before approving the change.

Cory Baune and Amy Stillman of J-U-B will be here Friday all day and would like to have a meeting with as many of the Council as can make it. They plan look at the scope of the Wastewater Facility Plan and they hope to receive input on the area that is involved, mainly where the City limits and area of impact will be in the future. They would like to give a project report on Phase I, which is mostly complete and consisted of surveying and the gathering of data. Anyone available will meet over lunch with J-U-B at Oscars in the meeting room.

Chief Sedam updated the Council on the search for Sherri Warburton’s replacement as the Animal Control Officer. Sherri’s last day is May 19th. All applications will go through Job Service.

BRICKS ALONG MAIN STREET: The Council discussed Sturmer Masonry’s proposal as submitted by Melinda Fischer to remove the bricks, fill the trench with 4” of concrete and then mortar the bricks permanently back in place. Councilman Walker felt that the majority of his side of the block wasn’t interested. He felt an equally important issue at Heritage Square was the replacement of the sidewalk as it is starting to crumble. Councilman Lester felt the bricks should be removed and then placed on a wall at Heritage Square. Mortaring the bricks in place doesn’t solve the problem because the bricks are still dirty and if cemented in then they will be hard to remove and or repair if they break. Councilman Lester was not in favor of spending any funds to reset the bricks in another method in the same location. Councilman Walker stated the question was whether the City wanted to spend the money or not and he was not in favor. Councilman Walker asked if the process used at City Hall, which has cement in the bottom and then the bricks have sand to hold them in place, would be a solution. It was suggested that if the Heritage Square sidewalk needed to be replaced, then maybe the sidewalk at Heritage Square could be completely replaced with all the engraved bricks. Councilman Lester still felt the bricks needed to be removed to Heritage Square as that’s the only way they would be clean enough to read. Councilwoman DeHaas asked if the City had any accidents from people falling on the bricks. Chief Sedam did not have any that he was aware of. Attorney Albers explained that the original intent of the bricks was to beautify the sidewalk. One idea would be to have all the engraved bricks moved to Heritage Square and then have blank bricks mortared in place all along Main Street. On motion by Councilman Lorentz, second by Councilman Lester to send the Merchants Committee a letter and ask the committee for their collective opinion for what they would like to see done with the bricks on Main Street. Motion carried by a unanimous vote of the Council present.

BILLS: The bills were approved and ordered paid out of their respective funds on motion by Councilman Lester, second by Councilman Zehner. Motion carried by a unanimous vote of the Council present.

Payroll Fund $ 41,182.66
General Fund $ 48,835.47
Street Fund $ 24,578.55
Library Fund $ 3,479.13
Library Memorial Fund $ 1,035.53
Insurance Fund $ 15,728.50
Recreation Fund $ 2,181.22
Snowhaven Fund $ 4,470.05
Medical Insurance Fund $ 13,994.66
Water Fund $ 42,256.98
Sewer Fund $ 20,320.67
Sanitation Fund $ 40,247.81

BUDGET HEARING: On motion by Councilman Walker, second by Councilman Lester to set the 2006-07 budget hearing for September 5, 2006. Motion carried by a unanimous vote of the Council present.

SUMMER COMMERCIAL SEWER RATES: Public Works Director Gortsema explained that last fall during the adoption of the revision of the sewer formula and rates, J-U-B recommended having commercial accounts install a separate meter for irrigation and to possibly allow for a one year grace period to get the meter installed. The revision was adopted without those recommendations. Now as the clerk’s office is getting ready to switch over to summer rates, it was determined that there will be an enormous increase in sewer rates for certain commercial bills, even though the City knows that the increase on some of those accounts won’t go through the sewer system. A prime example is the Free Press. Last year their sewer rate was $14.23 per month and this year with the new rates it will be $950.60 per month, based upon the highest usage month last year. Gortsema and Clerk Kennedy feel the issue needs to be looked at to determine which accounts should be averaged and which accounts should put in a separate irrigation meter. Some accounts, such as the Free Press, don’t have an increase in the amount of sewer during the summer. Their increase is due to the watering of their lawn. Mayor Vanderwall asked that the Water and Sewer Committee meet with Gortsema and Kennedy and have a recommendation at the next Council meeting.

SPRING CLEAN UP WEEK: Clerk Kennedy explained that Annelle Urbahn wanted to work in conjunction with the City’s spring clean up week, to possibly have organizations help clean up areas within the City that needed cleaned or to help the elderly clean up their property. Annelle would advertise for a “Take pride in your City” and keep a list of areas that need to be cleaned up and then work with volunteer groups to assign the areas out during the spring clean up week. In order to have weekends available, we would like the week to start May 20th and end May 27th. On motion by Councilman Houger, second by Councilman Lorentz to declare May 20th through May 27th Spring Clean Up Week in conjunction with the Grangeville Merchants. Motion carried by a unanimous vote of the Council present.

Councilman Lester asked who was responsible for painting the curbs where the new fire hydrants have been placed. Public Works Director Gortsema stated that the City will take care of them once the weather cooperates.

Councilwoman DeHaas informed the Council that the historical society grant for sign at the courthouse has gone by the wayside because the steam engine isn’t listed in the historical registry. Annelle Urbahn, Pam Northcut and DeHaas plan to continue working on the sign with possible help from the County, City and Grangeville Merchants.

EXECUTIVE SESSION: On motion by Councilman Walker, second by Councilman Lester to go into Executive Session according to Section 67-2345 (f). A roll call vote was duly taken with the following results:

Councilwoman DeHaas Yes
Councilman Houger Yes
Councilman Walker Yes
Councilman Lorentz Yes
Councilman Lester Yes
Councilman Zehner Yes

Motion passed.

A motion was made by Councilman Zehner, second by Councilman Lester to go out of Executive Session. A roll call vote was duly taken with the following results:

Councilwoman DeHaas Yes
Councilman Houger Yes
Councilman Walker Yes
Councilman Lorentz Yes
Councilman Lester Yes
Councilman Zehner Yes

Motion passed.

DMJM HARRIS CONTRACT TERMINATION: On motion by Councilman Lester, second by Councilwoman DeHaas to give DMJM Harris 30-days notice to terminate the City’s engineering contract for the water project. Motion carried by a unanimous vote of the Council present.

ITEMS TO NOTE: The Council received copies of the preliminary plat for the Williams Subdivision.

The meeting adjourned at 8:45 P.M.

_________________________________
Terry Vanderwall - Mayor

ATTEST:

_________________________
Tonya Kennedy – City Clerk