City Administrator’s Report

April 2006

Council will continue debate and taking public input on the proposed Temporary Sign Ordinance.  There was further discussion at the April Council meeting and many citizens had concerns about losing their right to properly advertise their event(s), whether private or community service.  Although Council decided to table this issue, proposed ordinance wording allowing temporary signs will be available for viewing at City Hall.

City Administration is making headway with its long-term water-usage study. During discussions last week, we discovered some residential water customers using many times the average consumption.  We will identify those customers and discuss conservation measures with them.  Additionally, when preparing to plant a new lawn, please drop by the City hall for some helpful guidelines on the most effective soil types for your lawn base.  Much of our City has sandy or gravelly soils, conditions that do not hold water effectively.  Remember, too, that the City has low-flow faucet and shower heads to give residents for their use.

The Council and Planning Commission were scheduled to conduct a goal-setting session Saturday, April 22 but cancelled due to members’ prior commitments.   Chewelah Planning Commission met at regular session on April 20 and approved a Site Plan Review for John and Donna Geiges, at 1117 W. Robert.  The site is within 200’ of Paye Creek and was approved with one condition: no construction or development activities are allowed within the flood plain of Paye Creek.  The PC also continued work on the Draft Shoreline Master Plan (SMP) and conducted elections resulting in the election of Tom Bristol as Chairperson and Daniel Voltz as Vice Chair.  Planning Commission expects to wrap up work on the SMP and begin the update on the Chewelah Comprehensive Plan this year.  We anticipate the Comp Plan update will encourage citizen participation.

The City was awarded a $19,000 WSDOT grant to acquire Right-Of-Way for the Downtown Gateway Icon.  Council will be asked to approve a service contract so we may proceed with this project.  Still to be determined is the site for the Icon.  Council Action

The City has been verbally notified of a $33,000 WSDOT Aviation grant to provide an Airport layout Plan.  David Ketchum, Airside Associates, has been selected to perform this task.  We will not proceed until we receive an executed agreement for the grant award.

The City has applied to Washington CTED for a Community Development Block Grant to provide water and sewer line construction on Segment C of the Flowery Trail connection project to East Main Street.  This is a very time consuming process designed to ensure the applicant meets all the grant criteria.

The Information Kiosk project spearheaded by Jenkins High Seniors David Ludwig and Cameron Stroyan is being constructed.  The proposed site for the Kiosk is near the extreme southwest corner of Jenne Memorial Park. Several service organizations in the community donated funds and the City Council approved up to $5,000. 

Administration is preparing ordinances for adoption of the International Building, Fire, Mechanical, Fuel Gas, and Uniform Plumbing Codes, as mandated by the State of Washington. 

The Mayor and Administrator attended an “Effective Council Meetings” workshop in Spokane April 19.  Some of the topics studied were: consensus building techniques, public input process, basic meeting facilitation skills, council information packets, and the use of regular opinionaires to gather public input on special issues and problem solutions.  These would be great topics during one of our workshops.

Jewel Zeihen, retired Chewelah council-member, annually spearheads the upkeep of the Pioneer Cemetery.  This is becoming more difficult each year due to the aging of the volunteer members.  As in years past, the Airway Heights Corrections crew will arrive to work the third week of May mowing grass, removing debris, and performing general maintenance at the Pioneer Cemetery.  The City furnishes some of the equipment and a trash dumpster.  If any of you have some volunteer time, please contact Jewel at 935-8341.

City crews will begin maintenance on the swimming pool soon to prepare for the opening on June 12.  Alissa Akers, Pool Manager, has a few new programs this year as well as swim lessons and water aerobics.  Lessons begin June 19.  An announcement will be in the Chewelah Independent soon.  For any other information, please contact City Hall.