CITY OF GOLD BAR – City COUNCIL MEETING NOTES

TUESDAY OCTOBER 17, 2006

(By Joe Beavers)

The following are from my notes taken at the council meeting.  They are not intended to be minutes of the meeting.  My comments are in italics.

This was a regular council meeting.   Lonn Turner and Robert Amenn were not in attendance and both had given advanced notice of their possible absence.  Chief Ruchty was not in attendance.  Turner and Amenn were excused on a 3-0 vote.

AGENDA APPROVAL

The agenda was approved without changes on a 3-0 vote.

MINUTES APPROVAL

Minutes for June 17, June 20 and July 6 were approved by a 3-0 vote.  Minutes for the meetings that did not have a quorum, August 15 and August 17, were approved with one typo correction by a 3-0 vote.

VOUCHER APPROVAL

All expense warrants were approved by a 3-0 vote.

Dorothy asked about payment of the ICMA retirement accounts.  Laura noted that those payments were on the payroll vouchers which were not included in the council packet.  Crystal noted that the payroll warrants had been held over from the last council meeting so she could evaluate some issues.  Laura left to make copies of the payroll vouchers so that they could be reviewed at the end of the meeting.

WATER COMMITTEE PRESENTATION

Ray Coleman and Joe Beavers presented the Water Committee Final Report.  A paper copy and CD copy are available at City Hall for anyone who wishes to review the report.  (CD copies are available at $ 7.00 each.)

MAYOR’S REPORT

Crystal had no specific report, but noted that she would be making a report on the BHC Consultants later.  She noted that, with Laura back, City Hall was running much better.

COUNCIL COMMENTS

Jerry thanked the Water Committee for their work.

Richard noted that the city website (www.cityofgoldbar.us) now has a starter page.  He also noted that the Sultan Middle School Pancake Breakfast is this next Sunday from 9 AM – 1 PM, an all-you-can-eat buffet.  The price is $5.00 per person or $20 per family, with the proceeds going to support a school trip.  Crystal noted that the City Attorney said an amendment to city policy would be needed in order to post city information on the website.

Dorothy asked what was the status of the budget for 2007.  Crystal said that it would be developed after the new City Clerk/Treasurer (CCT) arrives.  In the meantime, the city could adopt the 2006 budget and amend it when ready.  There was an additional one-week delay in getting the CCT posting out on the AWC website.  The opening will be closed out next week, and interviews started.  All who previously applied for the position have been notified of the new schedule.

Dorothy asked for a consensus on administrative leave.  (Note:  the issue of administrative leave, i.e. an extra day of pay per month versus compensatory time, i.e. taking extra time off, to handle the extra work hours of the exempt employees has been in discussion for some time, with the accrual rules being questioned.)  Richard noted that it needs to be changed.  A discussion ensued concerning how to handle this issue.  Richard concluded the discussion by proposing a 40-hour cap on accumulated administrative leave.  Crystal said she would ask the attorney to draw up a resolution for this.

Dorothy then asked about a temporary CCT, particularly Linda Larsen.  Crystal said that Linda had not called her back.  Dorothy then asked about Christine Yates.  Crystal said that she had just returned her job at Skykomish and would not be available.  Crystal said that Prothman was searching for a temporary person also.  Jerry asked if the current accounting system that Gold Bar uses was the best one to have.  Crystal said that it was a complex system, but that the Monroe CCT said it was the best one for a city the size of Gold Bar.  She went on to say that there were some upgrades available that might make it easier to use.  Jerry said he was leery of having only one person in City Hall knowing how to use the system.  Crystal said they would be doing cross-training.  Jerry said he would like to have three people know the system, Crystal said they would make that the goal.

STAFF REPORTS

Laura had no report to make.

John said it was nice having Laura back.  He noted that he was initially leery of the Water Committee, but noted that they worked hard on their assignment.  He said that Gold Bar was moving forward and again a fun place to work.  He reported on the fence around the Public Works Buildings, two bids out of four requested came in.  They were in the $6,000-7,000 range.  He suggested we wait for the CCT to arrive in order to make allocations properly.

John noted that he had received notice of an upcoming 7-lot subdivision request.  The water tank funding report will be ready in a month or so.  Jerry and John discussed the environmental impact work that had been done in order to complete the funding requests.  Jerry wryly commented about the requirement to evaluate the effect of the water tank on Orca whales. 

John commented on the death of the person in Sultan killed by a train.

CITIZEN COMMENTS

Ray Coleman noted that pictures of the old water tank taken by the Water Committee were used for the grant application for the new tank.  He said that Lonn was interested in another Town Hall meeting for Block Watch discussions, initially planned for November.  Ray noted that he was having difficulty getting support from the Sheriff and had actually sent them information about this.

Bert McClellan said it was sure nice to have a quiet meeting, with smiles on faces.  He too was surprised by the Water Committee, thought they did well.  He thanked John for the painting of the crosswalks at First and Lewis, said they looked good.  He noted that Norm Cook had retired as fire commissioner and from four applicants, Ms Glen Rose Williams was selected as his replacement.  He said that Linda was available as a temporary CCT and Crystal said she would give Bert her cell phone number so that Linda could arrange to meet with her.

Al White said that kids were sitting in the street and wearing dark clothes, he was afraid someone would get hurt.  He reported a van playing loud music as it drove down First at 10:30 PM.  He reported this to 911 and had gotten the license plate number.

Ray Coleman said there were block watch grants that might apply to additional police staffing.  The Gateway Park picnic tables that he recently refurbished had been in use and had been damaged by surface burns.  He noted that there was litter over the park and it needs to be cleaned up.

NEW BUSINESS

BHC Consultants Contract

Crystal reported on the contract negotiations with BHC Consultants for subdivision reviews.  There were issues with the wording of the liability and insurance of the contract, that the City Attorney had recommended changes.  She asked to be allowed to sign the contract with the proposed amendments.

Richard noted that the contract specified a specific subdivision.  Crystal said it was a general contract with the costs for any subdivision to be passed onto the developer.  John clarified that, saying that a new contract would be issued for each subdivision application to make costs easy to track.

Dorothy asked which property was referenced.  Richard noted that it could not be discussed until the actual application was received.  Richard then said that he could not remember such contracts coming to the council for approval before.  John said they should have come to the council for approval, perhaps that got overlooked last year due to the complexity of the applications. Richard asked if the reviews were done in-house, were developers charged.  John said yes.

There was a discussion of the ease of tracking costs with a contract which is charged to the developer.  The motion to allow Crystal to sign the contract passed 3-0.

Sewer Feasibility Study

Crystal started the discussion, stating that this was not for the approval of a sewer system, just acceptance that the study was complete.  Richard said he read the study cover-to-cover, compared it to the City and County plans, and that it seems to reflect current costs and requirements.  John said the study showed that it is feasible to have wastewater treatment for Gold Bar.  He said that he got into a heated discussion with someone over the plant being located on their business property.  He said the area was used just to illustrate sizing and that the County was impressed with the plan.

Richard said he thought the financials were pie-in-the-sky.  Crystal said there was no way to know what the sewer would cost without a full plan development.  Jerry asked what was the good thing to get out of approving the study.  Crystal said that the GMA requires planning for utilities and that the County considers sewer a utility.  Richard re-stated that approval is just acceptance of the study.  John said yes, there was no obligation to do anything.

The approval of the study passed 3-0.

Speed Bump Discussion

This discussion was inserted into the New Business time.  Jerry asked John what new information was available on speed bumps.  John said he forgot to cover this in his staff report.  The new 15 mph speed limit signs are ordered and coming in.  Also, the handicap parking signs are also coming in.  Crystal noted that the Sultan School District had asked that the east side of the school be designated as a load/unload area.  The PTA has been asked to pay for the signs.  There was continued discussion about the location and width of the speed bumps.

Payroll Warrants

There was a discussion about the information included with the warrants, particularly the lack of details such as overtime.  Laura said she would include the details on future warrants.  The warrants passed 3-0.

City Emails

Richard asked if it was OK to publish the new email addresses for city personnel and council.  He said each person’s computer needs to be set up properly in order to access their emails.  Crystal said that the addresses need to be released at the next meeting in order to have time to set everything up.

CITIZEN COMMENTS

Joe Beavers discussed the number of kids using First and Lewis versus those using First and Grand.  He suggested positioning one of the speed bumps with that in mind.  Dorothy noted that Lee said he would pay for a speed bump if it were close to his house.  Karol noted that he wanted one between their house and further down toward May Creek Road.  (Lee was not in attendance to clarify those comments.)  Crystal said the bumps had to be appropriately placed.

Jay Prueher asked if BHC was a local concern.  Crystal said it was a national concern and that we were using the Bellevue office.  There was a complex discussion about an easement that may or may not have been traded in on a road that was never built.  Richard pointed out that the public meetings for the subdivision was the proper venue for this discussion. 

The meeting was adjourned before 9 PM.