--- date: "2010-12-08" title: "Council Meeting Minutes 2010-12-08" source: "2010-12-08-minutes-council-monthly.pdf" --- City of Prairie City CITY COUNCIL MEETING December 8, 2010 Attended: Richard Gray, Acting Mayor Roger McKinley, Councilor Carole Garrison, Councilor Les Church, Councilor Tim Coe, Councilor Georgia Patterson, Public Works Lyn McDonald Tim Cooley Melanie DeJong, GPCCA Glenn Palmer, Sheriff (These minutes were taken and transcribed by Lyn McDonald in Diane Clingman’s absence). Richard Gray called the meeting to order at 6:00 p.m. The Pledge of Allegiance was recited and roll call taken. Mayor Stan Horrell and Councilor Frank Primozic were not present. The minutes of the November 10th meeting were considered. Councilor Garrison questioned the accuracy of page 3, line 4, where Councilor McKinley is quoted as saying “go ahead”. Councilor Garrison did not recall hearing Councilor McKinley make such a comment when the Recorder stated that she took offense at his remark “figures lie and liars figure”. She did remember him saying that his comment was an “old adage” and that it was not directed at the Recorder. Councilor Coe stated that he remembered Councilor McKinley saying to the Recorder “I'm not calling you a liar”. Councilor Garrison asked about a possible amendment to the minutes. Councilor Church spoke up, saying, he did remember Councilor McKinley saying “go ahead” and the minutes reflected accurately what had been said at the meeting. There was no further discussion. MSP: To approve the minutes as written, Tim Coe/Les Church. Four voted in favor with Councilor Garrison opposed. Recognition of Visitors: Acting Mayor Gray recognized Melanie DeJong who was at the meeting representing GPCCA and to voice their support for the proposed vehicle abatement ordinance. GPCCA has $5,000 allocated for community projects and they are offering monetary support to community organizations that will offer their services to residents that need assistance in cleaning up. She said that GPCCA is planning another scrap metal cleanup and hopes the City will offer the rock pit as the staging area again. The cleanup would take place over a three month period with one collection day a month. They have a recycler lined up to work with them and he has even offered the use of his equipment. It was thought that April, May and June would be the best months for the metal cleanup. Melanie said it was not yet known what the cost for the cleanup would be, but she would keep the Council informed. Acting Mayor Gray thanked Melanie for coming and she left the meeting. The renewal agreement with the Prairie Rural Fire District was the next order of business. December 8, 2010 MSP: To approve the renewal agreement with the Prairie Rural Fire Protection District including the addition of the new 2002 Ford F-550. Carole Garrison/Les Church. All were in favor. Public Safety: The draft renewal agreement with Grant County for Law Enforcement Services was addressed. Acting Mayor Gray asked Sheriff Palmer if the City would be responsible for overtime pay on holidays. Sheriff Palmer responded that officers are paid double time and a half for holidays. To prevent any accrual of overtime to Prairie City, overtime is added to the monthly billing each month. There is a ten hour monthly limit on overtime. The officer accrues vacation at eight hours a month with a cap of what Sheriff Palmer thought to be 200 hours. Officers are also paid for one-half of any accrued sick leave when they terminate or are terminated. Acting Mayor Gray voiced his concern that the City did not want a replay of past history in which large checks have had to be written for accrued overtime and vacation hours when officers left the department. Councilor Garrison stated that it would be vital that the City know the County's policy on accrued vacation pay, sick leave, holiday pay and overtime pay for budget purposes. Acting Mayor Gray asked Sheriff Palmer about item #3 on page 2 of the draft document that referred to the $5.00 wage increase effective July, 2011. Sheriff Palmer said that had been added to the contract by the County Treasurer and the City would need to contact her for clarification. Acting Mayor Gray voiced his concern that a $5.00 increase to the contract was a substantial increase and would like to know the criteria on which it was based. Acting Mayor Gray asked if the City was supplying the officer a cell phone. Councilor Garrison said the Council had decided at a previous meeting to supply him with a phone. Sheriff Palmer went on to explain that the County will be entering into Union negotiations in January. He offered to supply the City with a copy of the current Union agreement to use as a tool in negotiating with the County. Councilor McKinley stated that the City understood that they would be bound by the specifics of the Union Contract and it would supersede any decision of the Council. Councilor Garrison asked about the time frame in approving the draft contract as there were still issues to work out and this being the last official Council meeting before the end of the year. Sheriff Palmer felt confident that the County Court would agree to allow the City an additional thirty days to approve the renewal of the contract and meanwhile continue coverage under the old agreement. MSP: To ask the County for a thirty day extension on approving the renewal of the Intergovernmental Agreement for Law Enforcement Services and continue with the old contract until that time. Carol Garrison/Roger McKinley. All were in favor. Sheriff Palmer, before leaving the meeting, asked that the Council fax him any questions they might have regarding the contract and he would be glad to answer them. A workshop to consider the Law Enforcement Contract was scheduled for December 16th at 6:00 p.m. The draft application for the Abatement Ordinance on Abandoned, Discarded, Unlicensed or otherwise Inoperable Vehicles was the next order of business. Councilor Garrison indicated she would prefer that the application be less cumbersome. There was discussion that the City does not have a facility to store vehicles should it become necessary to remove them due to noncompliance. It was said that the City should just issue the permits with the necessary criteria and should noncompliance become an issue, impose a fine. Only after that, should it become necessary, then follow the guidelines of the abatement ordinance. The application and the ordinance need further refinement. Table the issue until the January workshop. December 8, 2010 Planning: Nothing to report. Landfill Operation: A written report was presented. Public Works: Georgia Patterson reported that they had reworked the big Christmas Star up on the hill using LED lights and it was in place and lit. Red's Electric was called in to rewire the electrical plug in for lighting the big tree in the park and at the same time, wired for the new fountain they are installing. Georgia said she was working with John Stearns of OTEC and they will be removing the electrical pole at the corner of Half Street and N. McHaley for safety reasons. That light and/or pole will be used elsewhere in town. Georgia is also working with OTEC to light the new playground area. She advised that they plowed a lot of snow over the past few weeks and accumulated some overtime. However, they did work split shifts to cut back on over time hours. Well Drilling: Council was in receipt of a copy of an email to Gary Viehdorfer from the City Recorder and his response to her. The Recorder was asking what part of the water system improvement loan they where expected to pay as the loan had not yet been closed out. Viehdorfer responded with three options the City could choose from; 1) to delay the initial payment until December 1, 2011, 2) to pay the full amount ($117,068.69), or 3) to pay only the prior period interest ($30,205.83). Councilor Garrison said there was $94,000 budgeted for “Debt Service” and it was her thinking that Council should transfer $23,069 from Contingency to Debt Service and pay the entire $117,068.69. She then made a motion to that effect. There was further discussion that a transfer of funds would require approval by resolution and there would not be another Council meeting this year to approve the resolution. Councilor Garrison withdrew her motion. MSP: to pay the Prior Period Interest of $30,205.83 (Option #3) at this time and address future payment of the balance at a later date. Carole Garrison/Les Church. All were in favor. Accounts Payable: There was an additional bill from Prairie City Motors for $212.50 added to the accounts payable listing. MSP: to pay the payables with the addition of the Prairie City Motors bill for $212.50. Tim Coe/Les Church. All were in favor. Ordinances/Resolutions: Resolution No. 2010-11 “Resolution Requesting Enterprise Zone Boundary Change” was presented for approval. Councilor Garrison moved to approve Resolution No. 2010-11. Councilor Church said that by approving Resolution No. 2010-11 we would provide Mr. Campbell (Silvies Valley Ranch) the tax break he is wanting; however, Grant County needs the tax revenue that would be generated from not approving the resolution. Councilor Garrison reminded the Council that they had voted in favor of passing the resolution when Sally Bartlett was at a previous meeting and spoke about the issue. Acting Mayor Gray indicated he was not in favor of the resolution either. Councilor Garrison responded that the tax exemption was not for the entire ranch, but only for a very small portion and for only three to five years. The motion to approve Resolution No. 2010-11 died for a lack of a second. December 8, 2010 Other Business: D.R. Johnson passed away on November 25th and there is to be a memorial service for him on December 11th in Roseburg. MSP: To make a $200 contribution to the Prairie City Food Bank in memory of D.R. Johnson. Les Church/Tim Coe. All were in favor. The letter from Bonnie Nance regarding the undocumented 1983 property exchange between her father, Alfred Combs, and the City was brought up for discussion. Councilor Garrison said she had no doubt that there was an agreement for a land exchange as the old minutes reflected discussion by the City Council of such action. She suggested that the City contact someone that was on the City Council at that time that might be able to verify the property involved in the exchange. Tony Johns, Larry Wright, and Fred Winegar were three on Council at that time. It was suggested a letter be written to the three men inviting them to attend the January City Council meeting. Councilor McKinley offered to make contact with the three named also. Councilor Church offered to talk to Bonnie Nance to make her aware that the City is moving forward on the matter. The next order of business was the approval of the AT&T contract for placement of a tower on City property. The Recorder had noted that councilors were given a copy of the contract back in September. None of the councilors remembered receiving a copy of the contract. The matter was tabled until the next meeting. Acting Mayor Gray brought up the issue of the three patrol cars that the City no longer needs now that we are contracting with the County for law enforcement. He said he would like to see the City sell the Durango and give the other two cars to another agency that could use them. He suggested a sealed bid with a minimum bid on the Durango. MSP: To contact Jeff Cotton, the agent that provided the two cars and allow him to find another agency that could use them. Carole Garrison/Les Church. All were in favor. Councilor Garrison asked to comment on the grant opportunity for the museum from Heritage Preservation that had been noted as “no response” by the Recorder. Councilor Garrison said she was not aware that the council needed to respond to the document as the grant application was for the museum which is owned by the County. Councilor Garrison offered to make contact with the County Treasurer, Kathy Smith, and see about moving forward with the application for the grant. MSP: Motion to adjourn. Tim Coe/Richard Gray. All were in favor. Submitted by; ___________________________________ Lyn McDonald, Clerk Approved by the City Council this ____ day of ___________________, 2010 and signed by the Mayor. _______________________________ Alvan F. Cooley, Mayor December 8, 2010