Mayor Hawkins called the meeting to order with Councilmembers Turner, Amenn, Price and Minder present. Mayor Hawkins read a letter of resignation from Councilmember Hunt and accepted it with regret. Deputy Upton and City Clerk Gilleland were also present. Public Works Director Light was absent due to illness.

By motion of Councilmembers Minder and Turner, the Agenda was approved.

By motion of Councilmembers Price and Amenn Claims Vouchers in the amount of $70,167.88, paid by checks #12116 through #12147, were approved for payment. City Clerk Gilleland requested Council approve check #12148, in the amount of $66,877.51, made payable to Corstone Construction. She explained this is the first payment due on the Gateway Park Project and the City has received the grant funds to cover the check. By motion of Councilmembers Amenn and Minder, the payment was approved.

Ray Coleman suggested the Kennel Ordinance be changed on page 2 to read "four or more adult dogs or four or more adult cats".

Mayor Hawkins reported staff would begin advertising the Council vacancy tomorrow. The position will be advertised in the newspapers and on the reader board. Mayor Hawkins requested Council to set the deadline for applications. After discussion, it was Council consensus to set December 2^nd as the deadline for applications, with the interviews held during the December 7^th regular meeting. Mayor Hawkins was asked to contact the applicants from the previous Council opening to see if they were still interested. Council should submit their questions to the Mayor as soon as possible.

Mayor Hawkins reported on a recent meeting of the Sky Valley Mayors regarding Highway 2 and the Coalition plan to apply for a rural corridor grant to develop a capacity and safety improvement plan. The project area would be from Skykomish to Snohomish. The grant is available through the Puget Sound Regional Council. Representatives from DOT and Snohomish County were also at the meeting.

Mayor Hawkins then thanked the staff, especially the front line staff, Cheryl and the maintenance crew, for all their hard work. They are carrying a heavy load during this time due to the ill health of the administrative staff.

(Clerk’s Note: After Council Comments, Mayor Hawkins requested permission to add to her Mayor’s Report the following.)

Mayor Hawkins announced a Highway 2 Coalition meeting to be held Monday, November 29^th, at the Sultan Community Center at 7:00 PM.

Mayor Hawkins called Council’s attention to a letter before them from Lori Appel requesting permission to hold a craft bazaar and bake sale on Saturday, December 4^th and 11^th, at 1124 Croft, from which 10% of the proceeds will benefit the New Hope Mennonite Church. Staff stated it was brought before the Council because we don’t have anything specific in the Code to address a request of this nature. Traffic should not be a problem at that location. Council had no objections and permission was granted.

City Clerk Gilleland also thanked the staff for their hard work and the Council for their patience. She then asked Council to set a budget workshop to solidify the 2005 Budget and to review proposed amendments to the 2004 Budget. Council consensus set the workshop for Tuesday, December 30^th, at 7 PM.

City Clerk Gilleland gave a brief report regarding the Comp Plan schedule, stating the Public Hearing is tentatively scheduled for December 21^st, with a first reading of the ordinance that evening and the second reading the first meeting in January. By consensus of Council, the Public Hearing was set for December 21^st.

City Clerk Gilleland called Council’s attention to her memo regarding the proposed redistribution for the Water rates. She requested a consensus on an amount to be redistributed from the assessment rate to the operations rate so that she could prepare the resolution. Council consensus directed staff to use $1.25.

Councilmember Turner stated he was pleased with the progress at Gateway Park and suggested Council pass an ordinance about skateboards, bicycles and motorized scooters as soon as possible to protect the new park. Mayor Hawkins stated she is working on an ordinance and it should be ready soon.

Councilmember Amenn stated he was glad to hear about the plans for SR2 and working with the PSRC. He is interested in getting more information about the Comp Plan and the Mayor’s meeting with County Councilmember Sax. He then thanked the staff for meeting him half way regarding the budget and the water fund. He would like to discuss further the usage of the water funds, specifically the distribution of salaries. After discussion, the other Councilmembers were comfortable with the current proposals and did not wish to pursue the issue further.

Mayor Hawkins provided information regarding her meeting with Councilmember Sax and our Comp Plan. Councilmember Sax is in agreement with our need to enlarge our UGA. He suggests that we add information to our Plan regarding a sewer utility and that we adopt it as soon as possible. Mayor Hawkins is gathering information regarding sewers to incorporate into the Plan. Mayor Hawkins explained there are two areas that potentially will need to be deleted from our proposed UGA. One is the "Dorman" area due to farmland issues. She also reminded Council that we need to develop our capital projects list and a Comp Plan workshop should be set. After discussion, it was consensus of the Council to set a workshop at the next Council meeting so that the newly appointed Councilmember could participate.

Mayor Hawkins read the ordinance in its entirety, being an ordinance amending the Gold Bar zoning code to increase the number of cats and dogs allowed per household or facility in various zoning districts including residential districts and amending the requirements for a kennel license. Councilmember Amenn recused himself from the meeting due to a potential conflict of interest regarding the ordinance and left the room. He returned after the vote.

By motion of Councilmembers Turner and Minder, the ordinance was approved for introduction and first reading.

This item remained on the table.

Al Robinson, 601 Prospector, voiced his concern that the Council has gone a month without minutes and suggested they be delegated. He then stated he felt the Council should address Councilmember Amenn’s concerns regarding his budget issues.

There being no further business, the meeting adjourned by motion of Councilmembers Price and Minder.

ATTEST: ________________________

Colleen Hawkins, Mayor

_______________________________

Hester Gilleland, City Clerk-Treasurer