TOWN OF CATHLAMET

July 20, 2009

COUNCIL MEETING

CALL TO ORDER – Mayor Richard Swart

The regular council meeting for the Town of Cathlamet was called to order by Mayor Richard Swart at 7:05 p.m. Monday July 20, 2009 at the Town Council Chambers.

PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE

ROLL CALL – Clerk/Treasurer Sylvia Costich

Present: Council Members Bob Rendler, Walter Wright, David Goodroe, William Talbott, Steve McNicholas and Mayor Richard Swart.

Absent: 0

Also present were Town Attorney Thomas Doumit, Public Works Superintendent David Vik, Gray & Osborne, Inc. engineer Ken Alexander, Clerk/Treasurer Sylvia Costich, Cathlamet Fire Dept. volunteer Beau Renfro, Wahkiakum Eagle reporter Rick Nelson, and members of the public.

ADDITIONS, CORRECTIONS, DELETIONS TO THE AGENDA

a. Council Member Bob Rendler made a request to add a motion to restate a motion that was incorrectly stated in the June 22, 2009 continuation meeting regarding a transfer.

b. Contract for EMS Bookkeeping Services for Shirley Rose

c. Discussion of Carbon Credits for Town forest lands

Motion to approve agenda as amended was made by David Goodroe and seconded by Bob Rendler. Motion carried 5 Yes, 0 No, 0 Abstentions.

VOUCHER REVIEW COMMITTEE

1. Voucher Review Committee Report – David Goodroe recommended approval of the vouchers with the exception of one from Inflatable Boat center, Inc for the Cathlamet Fire Department purchase of an inflatable boat for $2,436.00. Council Member Goodroe said that he did not understand the transaction and needed an explanation prior to the authorization. Mr. Goodroe said that it appeared to be a hybrid transaction between the County and the Town. Council Member Goodroe said that the boat was purchased by the Fire Department and that the bulk of the cost was paid for by the County, but that there was an additional charge due to a consignment charge that had not been covered. EMS member Beau Renfro explained that the item had been commercially produced for water rescue and that EMS had chosen to purchase the boat with the additional cost included. Warrant # 7389 for $2,436.24 was pulled pending further investigation. All other vouchers were approved.

2. The Voucher Review Committee for the August 17, 2009 meeting consists of Bob Rendler and Wally Wright. Steve McNicholas will be the alternate.

CONSENT AGENDA

The Minutes of the July 2, 2009 Forest site visit were not available for review.

Motion to approve the Consent Agenda as corrected was made by Bob Rendler, second by David Goodroe. The consent agenda consists of the Minutes of the June 3,2009 Special Meeting, June 15, 2009 Regular meeting and the June 22, 2009 Continuation of the Regular Meeting, and the July 13, 2009 Procurement Workshop; Payroll for June in the amount of $34,086.97, EMS stipends for June in the amount of $2,691.22, Manual Warrants from 6/23/09 to 7/2/09 in the amount of $24,188.79 and Claim Vouchers for July in the amount of $62,222.18. Motion carried 5 Yes, 0 No, 0 Abstentions.

CITIZEN’S PARTICIPATION

Sandi Benbrook-Reider distributed an update regarding the August 29 & 30, 2009 Long Board Event: Cathlamet Downhill Corral to the Council. Ms. Benbrook-Reider said that they have contacted the DOT regarding the road closure, have been gathering sponsors for the event and said that there is a potential for up to five hundred participants. Ms. Benbrook-Reider said that they are also trying to get a band to play that evening. Public Works Superintendent David Vik said that they will clean the streets before the event. There followed a discussion regarding derelict vehicles parked on the street in which the Mayor stated that he had been in contact with the Sheriff's Department and is working on an ordinance to address the issue. Mayor Swart thanked the Chamber of Commerce for their work on the Bald Eagle Fest and the clean-up that followed.

PROCLAMATIONS and PRESENTATIONS

None

PUBLIC HEARINGS

None

ORDINANCES

Town Attorney Thomas Doumit read Ordinance No. 517-09; an Ordinance adopting the Bond Counsel's proposed language authorizing a Revenue Bond as security against the Town defaulting on repayment of the $491,000 USDA-RD Water Main Replacement loan for the first reading. Motion to approve Ordinance No. 517-09 for the first reading was made by David Goodroe and seconded by Bob Rendler. With no discussion, the motion carried 5 Yes, 0 No, 0 Abstentions.

RESOLUTIONS

Mayor Swart noted that there is a potential Resolution in item 12 c regarding the wind anemometer.

UNFINISHED BUSINESS

1. Council Member William Talbott expressed his opinion that if the Town had been prepared to donate $50,000 for the Wahkiakum Family Practice Clinic, which did not occur, they should be able to use some of those funds to give the Town employees a Cost-Of-Living Adjustment. Council Member David Goodroe said that to date the Town has not had any windfall revenues or decreased expenditures. Clerk/Treasurer Costich agreed with Councilman Goodroe and commented that the Town had not yet received any franchise fees from Charter Communications. Councilman Bob Rendler concurred with councilman Goodroe and wants to put this over for another month. Councilman Goodroe noted that several other municipalities are not giving COLAs this year. Councilman Goodroe asked the Clerk/Treasurer to research CPI information. Council Member Talbott said that the Town should pay the COLA's or will risk losing some of their employees. Councilman Rendler asked the Clerk/Treasurer if there is some way to find out about the status of the franchise fee payments. Council Member Wally Wright agreed. It was agreed that the Council will revisit the issue at the August Council meeting.

2. Item #13a was taken out of sequence. Jennifer Hanigan spoke to the Council about their request for a reduction in their $1,462.37 water installation charge for the new home that they built at 290 S. Third St. Mrs. Hanigan said that their invoice included charges associated with relocating meters on other properties. Mr. Hanigan said that it was his understanding from a conversation with Mr. Vik that he did not want to tear up Third St. to install the new line and he had no problem with that. Mr. Hanigan said that he had equipment available at the time that he would have used at no cost to the Town in order to run the line if it would save him on the installation. Superintendent David Vik stated that the street would have to be patched and that cannot be done for less than $1,000. Council Member David Goodroe did a quick calculation of the parts and labor for the Hanigan installation only part of the project and came up with a dollar figure of $556.13. Motion to adjust the water installation bill to $556.13 was made by David Goodroe and seconded by Steve McNicholas. Discussion: Council Member Wally Wright wanted to know if the Town has set any precedent for water meters installed some distance away from houses that were eventually moved closer to the houses. David Vik replied yes. Council Member Wright asked if customers were charged to move those meters. Answer: maybe not. Council Member Wright suggested that the Town may want to consider creating an ordinance which would require a property to have a water connection prior to its sale. Motion carried 4 Yes, 1 No, 0 Abstentions. Council Member Talbott cast the no vote.

The Council recessed at 8:25 p.m. for a five minute break. Back in session at 8:30 p.m.

3. Item #12 f was also taken out-of-sequence. Gray & Osborne engineer Ken Alexander recommended that the Town arrange a meeting with Al Bolinger of the Dept. of Ecology before the Town does anything regarding lagoon upgrades. Mayor Swart suggested a conference call with Mr. Bolinger, the Utility Committee, Public Works Superintendent David Vik, Mr. Alexander and himself. Mr. Alexander said that he would arrange the teleconference after the Mayor gives him some possible dates. In regards to projects #08521 and #09215, Mr. Alexander said that there might be more funding available but not until the projects are already underway. The town may need to apply by the end of September if it wants to use this funding source for other projects. As for the Columbia Street and SR4 Water Main Replacement projects, he is still submitting specifications to various agencies and said that the Town will need to provide a surety bond for the Dept. of Transportation. Mr. Alexander said that he hopes to have everything ready for bid by mid August.

4. Item #13b was also taken out-of-sequence. Council Member David Goodroe noted that Gray & Osborne, Inc. had made a bid of $16,750.00 for the seismic stabilization structural engineering design of the Town Hall building. Mr. Goodroe said that Kramer, Gehlen and Associates of Vancouver were given the same scope of work information and that they added some items with a bid $16,000.00. Motion to accept the Kramer, Gehlen & Associates proposal of May 29, 2009 in the amount of $16,000.00 for structural engineering of Town Hall seismic upgrades to Kramer, Gehlen & Associates was made by David Goodroe and seconded by Bob Rendler. Discussion: Councilman Wright asked if we had determined if we were committed to TCA via the previous Fire Hall/town Hall work. Mayor Swart replied that the town does not have an obligation to TCA Motion carried 5 Yes, 0 No, 0 Abstentions.

5. Item #12b. Motion to authorize Mayor Swart to sign the proposal from bond attorney to bind the Town to pay $5,200.00 for legal services was made by David Goodroe and seconded by William Talbott. Clerk/Treasurer Costich noted that expenses incurred by bond council are in addition to that amount. Council Member Goodroe suggested that the wording "plus expenses" be added to the motion. Motion to approve amending the motion to add the words "plus expenses" carried 5 Yes, 0 No, 0 Abstentions. Motion as amended carried 5 Yes, 0 no, 0 Abstentions.

6. Item #12c. Council Member David Goodroe advised that the Town needs to perform more due diligence before addressing the anemometer purchase. Mr. Goodroe said Wahkiakum PUD Manager Dave Tramblie had said that they are not set up to handle six megawatts. Mr. Goodroe said that this project would require very knowledgeable people to assist the Town. He suggested that the LCEDC take the lead in contacting the appropriate people for more information and assistance. Council Member Bob Rendler wanted to be certain that it was understood that the Town would be a landlord to the project, but a private firm would be the builder and operator etc. Council Member Goodroe requested that the issue be put over to the August meeting so that he may have additional time to gather more information. Motion to authorize up to $25,000 to purchase an anemometer and hire a testing consultant based on recommendations from the Alternative Energy Committee was made by Wally Wright and seconded by Steve McNicholas. Discussion: Council Member Goodroe said that he did not want to rush the process. Motion failed 2 Yes, 3 No, 0 Abstentions. Council Members Talbott, Goodroe and Rendler cast the "No" votes.

7. Item #12e. Council Member Bob Rendler wanted to know why there was such a rush to clear the new Waste Water Treatment Plant (WWTP) site at this time when there are questions about how soon the new plant can be built. Motion to accept the land clearing proposal from Jerry DeBriae Logging Co. to clear the site of the proposed new WWTP was made by Wally Wright. Motion died for lack of a second. Councilman Wright commented about the fire hazard and wants to clean up the site to show Dept. of Ecology that we still intend to put WWTP there. Mayor Swart asked is any council member wished to make a second at this time. There was no response.

8. Councilman Rendler offered to restate the motion from the June 22^nd meeting. Motion to increase the $4,000 permanent transfer from fund 108 to fund 001 from $4,000 to $6,000 for Wild Land fire truck purchase in next budget amendment was made by Bob Rendler and seconded by Wally Wright. Motion carried 5 Yes, 0 No, 0 Abstentions.

NEW BUSINESS

13c. Town Attorney Thomas Doumit suggested that the words "and local permits" be added after the words "State of Washington" in the IT contract renewal with Creative Software Solutions. Motion to authorize the IT contract as amended was made by David Goodroe and seconded by Bob Rendler. Motion carried 5 Yes, 0 No, 0 Abstentions.

13d. Motion to authorize the Town to apply for CTED grants for a heat pump, insulation and new main power panel for the Library was made by Bob Rendler and seconded by William Talbott. Motion carried 5 Yes, 0 No, 0 Abstentions.

13e. Motion to decline the request for a $25 refund for swimming lessons to Ellie Carosa was made by David Goodroe and seconded by Bob Rendler. Motion carried 4 Yes, 1 No, 0 Abstentions. Council Member Wally Wright cast the "No" vote.

13f. Motion to declare the Canon copier serial # 2NP69432 as surplus because it is broken beyond repair and of no value was made by Bob Rendler and seconded by David Goodroe. Motion carried 5 Yes, 0 No, 0 Abstentions.

13g. Motion to increase the EMS Book keeping contract from $200 per month to $500 per month effective July 1, 2009 was made by David Goodroe and seconded by Bob Rendler. Motion carried 5 Yes, 0 No, 0 Abstentions.

13h. Council Member Wally Wright said the Council should look into the possibility of selling the carbon credits on un-harvested trees on Town forest lands to generate revenue for the Town. Council Member David Goodroe said that he will discuss this subject with consultants while following up on the potential wind farm project.

COMMITTEE REPORTS –

Council Member Bob Rendler of the Finance Committee answered questions regarding the draft copy of the revised personnel ordinance that had been distributed to the Council and staff. Council Member Steve McNicholas asked if the Town Librarian was a Town employee or a "special case". The Clerk/Treasurer responded that the Librarian is a "special case" because her salary and hours are set by the Library Board of Trustees based on the funds appropriated by the Council for Library salaries.

ANNOUNCEMENTS – none

EXECUTIVE SESSION – none.

ADJOURNMENT – at 10:11 p.m.

Richard A Swart, Mayor Sylvia G. Costich, Clerk/Treasurer