[G.R.I.T. Note: This report was authored by Joe Beaver, a Gold Bar resident.]
JOE'S CITY COUNCIL MEETING NOTES
THURSDAY AUGUST 03, 2006
The following are from my notes taken at the council meeting. They are not intended to be minutes of the meeting. Any comment I may have is in italics, otherwise the notes reflect what I heard.
The meeting was held on Thursday as the usual Tuesday meeting was postponed due to the National Night Out Against Crime.
Agenda
There were not items on the agenda at the start of the meeting. Robert Amenn asked to add:
Robert then noted that Dorothy wanted to add something to the agenda. Dorothy then added an executive session on complaints against two elected officials.
Lonn Turner wanted to table the First Street discussion pending further investigation. Robert noted that he wanted only an update on things, Lonn agreed.
Mayor, Staff and Council Reports
The Mayor's report concerned the National Night Out activity. She noted it was a wonderful success and commended Deputy Haldemann for his behind-the-scenes work on putting things together. She also noted that a Small City Specialist was coming the 3rd week of August to train the staff in the use of the budgeting computer system.
John Light noted that there would be repair work on the First Street bridge the next day (Friday), replacing some damaged boards. The replacement bridge is moving along, going out for bids next week if all goes well.
Robert Amenn asked about the Dead End sign for Nugget Road. John reported that the sign was available and would be installed as soon as priorities allowed. John also noted that they had repaired a hole in the street.
Dorothy Croshaw noted that there was a County Parks District that Gold Bar might be able to utilize based on her conversations with Fred Walser. She asked for a copy of the bank statement for July. Dorothy discussed having Laura Koenig (Sultan Clerk/Treasurer) come in to do a spot check exit audit. There was extended discussion on the details of an audit committee and how to utilize Laura Koenig legally, i.e. as a contractor or as an employee. Crystal asked to have the audit postponed until after the Small City Specialist was done with his training, Dorothy was OK with that. Dorothy also asked for payroll records over the past two years.
Lonn Turner then thanked the staff for their work on National Night Out. He asked about the status of the playground equipment and was told it was expected in the middle of next week.
Richard Norris thanked the staff for their work on National Night Out.
Jerry Wood echoed Lonn and Richard.
Robert Amenn echoed the others on National Night Out and noted that he liked the rock wall. He asked that a letter to the contributors be sent out and publicized. He discussed the status on Nugget Road. He brought up the issue of having people be able to declare the front of their homes a handicap parking zone. He asked about writing an ordinance on this. John Light noted that we already have a parking ordinance and the Attorney noted that the city had the right to specify parking rules. Robert noted that Donna Murphy would be in Gold Bar on Saturday for a class on grant writing.
Citizen Comments
Dennis Blanchette presented the Best Motorcycle Award to Chief Ruchty, who was not in attendance. Crystal accepted the award for him.
Joe Beavers discussed small board exceptions in Robert's Rules of Order.
Bert McClellan discussed why there was no dip tank this year at the Night Out.
Bridgett Talbert said the legal stuff boggled her mind. She was discouraged about write-ups in the paper and contention in the council. She asked about money for the museum and was told it was approved. She noted that limited parking would be better for the situations discussed earlier, as any handicapped approved car could park in a handicap zone, defeating the purpose of having the zone in front of a handicapped person's home.
Council Meeting
The US2 Route Development Plan was discussed. There is an Open House** in Sultan on the 14th and 16th during which WSDOT and the US2 Safety Coalition will discuss possible steps to take. Robert wanted to know the city's official position on the plan. There was discussion. Robert talked at length about sending Gold Bar's Comprehensive Plan, Sewer Study, and Growth Plan to WSDOT so that they would have the information on Gold Bar's growth on hand. John Light said he thought all the relevant information on future growth had been sent to WSDOT a year ago.
Robert asked the attorney a long question concerning who could be sent to the meeting noted above. The attorney talked around the issue, said it depends. Lonn said that anyone could join, that the meeting in question was undertaken by the US2 Safety Coalition.
**[G.R.I.T. NOTE: This is not an “open house” but a long-scheduled WSDOT planning charette for the Route Development Plan [RDP] being developed for U. S. 2, the participants of which will be the corridor cities working group members. This group, consisting primarily of WSDOT members and county and corridor cities public works officials, have been meeting since approx. October, 2004. While the charette is a legal public meeting attendance has essentially been set by “invitation” only and the public will not be allowed to participate.]
The UGA discussion ended quickly with a reiteration that Amenn, Hill and Norris would meet with the City Attorney to discuss this issue. The four are to synchronize their schedules and determine a meeting time.
Speed bumps were discussed, the council seemingly in favor of them. John Light is to go with Jerry Wood to Bothell to look at the chicanes (weaving road with head-in parking). Robert said the council should act and have a policy in place. He suggested a Local Improvement District with the affected residents paying for the speed bumps. Speed bumps are on the agenda in September pending further study.
The council then was going to recess for an executive session. The City Attorney said that the expected actions had to be described, that "possible litigation" was insufficient. Robert then said that the potential litigation was a claim to recover monies already paid out. Dorothy's description of a complaint against two elected officials was sufficient.
Citizen Comments
Citizen comments were moved from after the executive session to before. No citizens had comments at this time.
Executive Session
The council then retired to an executive session with the attorney. After 30 minutes, they returned and recessed for an additional time.
Upon their return, Dorothy complained about Lonn Turner leaving an executive session and a special council meeting before adjournment. Crystal disagreed, noting that Lonn left within the current understood guidelines at the special council meeting. Those guidelines were subsequently determined to be incorrect. Crystal noted that the executive session had been adjourned, but discussion had continued, so that Lonn did not leave before adjournment. Dorothy seemed content with that explanation. Lonn and Robert talked at length.
Dorothy then made a complaint against Crystal that she did not respond to her emails. Crystal noted in the future that she would respond that she had received the email pending determining a proper response. Dorothy seemed ok with that.
Robert then discussed points at length, particularly about respect. When Crystal started to reply, Robert said he was not interested in Crystal's response. Crystal said that Robert was in error on his earlier statements.
The meeting was then adjourned.
After adjournment, I asked about the potential litigation. Crystal noted that no action was to be taken, they had forgotten about it upon their return.