Minutes
Regular Council Minutes: November 7, 2007
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Nov 14, 2007, 09:54

                                   REGULAR COUNCIL MEETING

NOVEMBER 7, 2007

Officials in attendance were Mayor Clancy Bauman; Councilmembers Carra Nupp, David Haskell, Harvey Savitz, Sharon Ludwig, Barbara Mowrey, Roberta McMillin and Greg Rolstad; City Administrator Curt Kelling; Clerk/Treasurer Pamela McCart.

Absent:  City Attorney Pat Monasmith

The Mayor called the meeting to order at 7:00 PM.

Agenda Additions, Deletions, Changes:  None.

Audience Comments:

·        Merrill Ott, Stevens County Commissioner, stated that he has been involved with the Tri-County Motorized Recreation Association and others regarding ATV travel in the recreation areas of Stevens County.  The County has received requests to open up certain county roads for travel by four wheel vehicles to access the national forest areas and other off-highway vehicle recreation areas.  The US Forest Service is under a mandatory requirement to update its travel management plan in order to facilitate recreation.  Years back, Washington State passed a law (RCW 46.09) that is in the public interest of the recreation industry which allows off-highway vehicle travel on certain designated roads and local authorities, including municipalities and counties, are allowed to designate the roads that lead to direct accesses to recreation areas.  Last Monday night, after six months of work, the Stevens County Commissioners passed the first county off-highway vehicle ordinance in which  approximately 200 miles of county roads were designated to allow direct access to recreation areas.  It helps us tie routes together – in other words there are a lot of forest service roads that cannot be accessed unless you travel on a county road.  It also keeps off-road vehicles on designated trails so that they are not tearing up the rest of the countryside.  The City of Northport has had such an ordinance in place since 2001.  The County ordinance is simple -- it refers to RCW 46.09 authorizing it and includes another section designating the roads.  Pond Oreille and Ferry Counties are engaging in this same endeavor.  Hopefully, Chewelah will consider this as an opportunity for them to engage in an economic activity that might be a boon to the City.  The roads that the County has designated circumvent Chewelah right now – there’s no direct connection to Chewelah that is authorized.  So unless the City of Chewelah has an ordinance which allows off-road vehicle users to come into the City, they’re not authorized to drive their vehicles into Chewelah.  Ken Barker, President of the Tri-County Motorized Recreation Association made a slide presentation on the Paiute ATV Trail system in Utah.  This trail system provides a legal and enjoyable network of trails to ride, provides a system to assist land managers in keeping OHV’s out of places where their use cannot be tolerated, and provides an economic base to the economy of participating communities.

·        Chris Ann Lehew, employee for WSU, stated that she has been working on a grant project called “Horizons”.  During the last year, study circles were organized to discuss poverty and what can be done to change it in Chewelah.  Leadership classes were conducted in which participants were taught leadership skills.  A two page survey was mailed to residents within the Chewelah zip code asking them what they thought Chewelah needed to make it a better place in which to live.  A community visionary meeting will be held at City Hall on November 22^nd to present the results of the survey and to develop a strategic plan to implement some action ideas.  At the end of June there will be $10,000 in grant funds to give to the City to further whatever work it has started.

Mail Received and Announcements:

·        Motion by Councilwoman Nupp confirming appointment of Patricia Kaiser to the Library Board to fill the remaining term vacated by Teena McDonald, seconded by Councilwoman Mowrey.   Roll call vote taken with all in favor.  Motion carried.

·        The Clerk read Proclamation by Mayor of November, 2007 as “Hire a Veteran Emphasis Month”.

·        The Mayor stated that he and Executive Secretary, Tracy Ferrell, had attended the IACC conference in Wenatchee during October. 

·        The Mayor stated AWC training for new and existing officials would take place in Spokane on January 12^th. 

Consent Agenda:

·         Motion by Councilwoman Ludwig to approve the Consent Agenda consisting of the October 3rd Regular and October 30th Special Minutes; payment of claim vouchers     # 55843 – 55965 totaling $580,437.78; payment of pre-authorized debits to BPA totaling $58,842.00; and payment of payroll warrants #18337 - 18401 totaling $147,167.17, seconded by Councilwoman Nupp.  Roll call vote taken with all in favor.  Motion carried.

Public Hearing on  Revenues for Fiscal Year Ending 12/31/08:

The Mayor opened the public hearing and set forth the format that would be followed.  There were no objections to the Mayor participating as chairman.  There were no objections to any Councilperson’s participating in the proceedings.  No Councilperson acknowledged any communications outside of this hearing and no Councilperson acknowledged any gain or interest with regard to this matter.     

C/A, Staff Report:   Revenue-wise we really haven’t changed anything.  This budget reflects a larger general beginning balance than the City has started with for quite some time – we locked it in at an estimate of $350,000 to start with.  We exercised the 1% property tax increase, the only tax increase that is available under current state law, which basically equates to $3,248 more than we received last year.  The only other thing that we changed was a small adjustment to the garbage rates to correspond to the change in the landfill fees and the last time I checked the price of gas isn’t getting any better.   

The Mayor opened the hearing to Public Testimony:

 There was no written or oral testimony.

The Mayor closed the public hearing.

Committee Reports:    None.

            City Administrator Report:

·        Just wanted everyone to know that we will continue to look into the subject of the burn ban.  I don’t know if I’ll get organized enough to do anything with it this fall.  I have been able to contact a Spokane based company which can come here and haul/chip or whatever you want to do.  I think you have an ability now to have a commercial vendor out of Spokane to come here if you decide to stockpile debris.  I’ve had several conversations with Pat Monasmith to get into collaboration with the golf course which has its own volume of pine needles, etc.  And then Sharon and I have talked quite a bit this week and there may ultimately be a local option that does not quite exist yet.  I’m guessing that it’s going to be snowing anytime now and it will be difficult to do something right now.  We will probably try to get something in the form of a clean-up organized in the spring.  I think we can get the spot set up by the wastewater treatment plant or at the golf course or maybe both to do some collection.  I don’t think you want to do it totally unattended because you’ll end up with garbage.  The way the folks out of Spokane work – you need to basically separate what can be chipped from leaf and other plant material.  They will let you throw cardboard in with all of it.  They don’t take grass.  Denise and I are also trying to figure out what the County ultimately proposed in their grant. 

Old Business:   

·         The C/A stated that this was the scheduled time for the Council to make a decision on the Chewelah Crest II Preliminary Plat.  No additional or public testimony will be taken on the subject.  If Council has a question, the developer is here to clarify anything that is part of the record.  With the timing of dealing with water right issues with DOE, the developer has made it through DOE’s approval process and transferred the water rights purchased up there to the golf course and then subsequently, as part of this development, kind of split it with part of it staying with the golf course for their irrigation and the rest has been dedicated over to the City as part of our water right for serving the potable water uses at the golf course.   In response to Councilman Rolstad’s query, the C/A replied that the moratorium on new water rights is still moving forward. Motion by Councilman Rolstad to follow the recommendation of the Planning Commission and approve the Preliminary Plat for Chewelah Crest II Subdivision subject to compliance with the conditions of approval in the Staff Report to the Planning Commission dated 9/20/07, seconded by Councilman Haskell.  Roll call vote taken with all in favor.  Motion carried.

·        The Clerk read the introduction of Ordinance # 795 Vacating a Portion of North Bernard Street.

New Business:

·        Motion by Councilwoman Mowrey to declare four library computers as surplus with method of disposal as donation to a non-profit organization (Senior Citizens Center), seconded by Councilwoman Nupp.  Roll call vote taken with all in favor.  Motion carried.

·        The Clerk read Resolution 07-13.  She explained that this resolution duplicates Ordinance      # 796 because the ordinance will not be adopted until the December meeting and the County requires submittal of 2008 tax levy documentation by November 30^th. Motion by Councilman Rolstad to adopt Resolution 07-13 Authorizing the Property Tax Levy for Fiscal Year Ending 12/31/08, seconded by Councilman Haskell.  Roll call vote taken with Councilwoman Mowrey voting against, remaining votes in favor.  Motion carried.

·        The Clerk read introduction of Ordinance # 796 Fixing the Property Tax Levy for Fiscal Year Ending 12/31/08.

·        The Clerk read introduction of Ordinance # 797 Adopting the Budget for Fiscal Year Ending 12/31/08.

·        The Clerk read introduction of Ordinance # 798 Regarding Highway Access Management.  The C/A explained that this allows the State to approve anything that adds a driveway with access to the State highway – so that could be something initiated through the building permit process or some other form.

Audience Comments:    None.

The Mayor adjourned the meeting at 8:15 PM.

Mayor   ___________________________        Clerk/Treasurer ___________________________