---
date: "2017-02-08"
title: "Council Meeting Minutes 2017-02-08"
source: "2017-02-08-minutes-council-monthly.pdf"
---

City of Prairie City

                   Carole Garrison, Councilor
                   Dottie Miller, Councilor
                   Les Church, Councilor
                   Georgia Patterson, Councilor

1.                   CITY COUNCIL MEETING
2.                       February 8th, 2017, 6:00pm
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5. Attended:   Jim Hamsher, Mayor
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10.                   Joe Phippen, Councilor elect
11.                   Frank Primozic, Councilor
12.                   Taci Philbrook, City Recorder
13.                   Bob Shive, Museum Director
14.                   Marvin Rynearson,  Fire Chief
15.                   Carlos Bortell, resident
16.                   Luann Bortell, resident
17.                   Cheryl Hoefler, resident
18.                   Dale Mosier, P.C. property owner
19.
20. The Mayor opened the regular meeting at 6:00pm. Roll Call was taken. All
21. councilors present except Councilor Primozic. Councilor Primozic arrived at
22. 6:40pm.
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24. The minutes of the January 8th regular meeting were considered.  MSP:  To
25. approve the minutes with corrections to line 70. Councilor Garrison/
26. Councilor Patterson.  All members voted in favor.
27.
28. Visitors:
29. In Realtor Lori Hickerson's absence; Lyn McDonald presented to the council
30. Lori's request for an exception for the property / residence located at 340 S. Main,
31. owned by Sandi Rennels (see attached). Lyn explained after careful review of the
32. request, and our city codes, she found that the only way Ms. Rennels could use
33. the garage/shop living quarters as a separate residence would be through an
34. “exception” to the code for that zone. The council discussed allowing separate
35. living quarters with separate water and sewer services by way of a second meter.
36. The council also discussed a scenario where the owner would get a double
37. billing, with the owner assuming the responsibility of the whole utility bill.
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39. The council decided it is not open to having a separate meter on one tax lot. The

40. apartment would remain on the same line as the main residence as it is now. For
41. that reason, there will be no way of distinguishing how much water is used
42. individually by the house and/or apartment. A “condition” would be attached that
43. the owner of the property take the responsibility for the water/sewer billing each
44. month for both the house and the apartment. It as also agreed by the council, that
45. should one of the two units not be occupied for any time period, the billing each
46. month will remain the same, $181 each month plus any overuse.
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48. Lyn was asked to respond to the request with an email to Hickerson. The email
49. should explain the decision made by the council. Once they have replied to her
50. email it will be decided if we need to move forward with a “special meeting” to
51. make an official decision on the conditional use.
52.
53. The mayor recognized Dale Mosier:
54. Mr. Mosier explained that the unimproved section of N. Meschan has prevented
55. the sale of his adjoining property. He has come before the council to ask them to
56. vacate the street, move forward with developing the street, or buy his property
57. from him. Mr. Mosier pointed out on the city map the property he is speaking of.
58.
59.  As an adjoining property owner Jim Hamsher recused himself from the
60. discussion as he is an adjoining property owner. The idea of vacating the street up
61. to 4th street was discussed at great lengths. The council decided to hold a special
62. meeting at a later date to discuss the possibility, and procedures, to vacate
63. North Meschan Ave.
64.
65. Procedural correction:
66.Mayor Hamsher addressed the Council and asked to correct a procedural error
67. regarding the appointment of a Council President.  He said they should have
68. nominated a candidate and called for a vote instead of appointing.  Councilor
69. Garrison then nominated Georgia Patterson as Council President. As there were
70. no other nominations it was put to a vote. MSP: For Councilor Patterson to be
71. Mayor Pro-Tem. Councilor Garrison / Councilor Phippen. All in favor.
72.
73. Museum: (see attached report)
74. Bob also reported Kathy Smith has found a company with Terra Cotta bricks that
75. are historically correct for using in repairs on the DeWitt Museum chimneys. It
76. was the consensus of the council to “go in that direction” so as to preserve the
77. integrity of the chimney.
78.
79. The museum is also seeking out more Bates memorabilia from the newspaper,
80. and social media sources.
81.

82. Emergency Response Team:
83. Dottie reported the maps are finished. She was pleased to announce Prairie City
84. is the only town in the county setting up an Emergency Response Plan. Once the
85. plan is complete it will be submitted to the city's attorney for approval. Once it is
86. approved by Jeremy the council will review and adopt the plan. There will be a
87. table top training in two weeks for the response team.
88.
89.Chief Rynearson reported he personally has been doing winter maintenance on the
90. tool boxes on the ex-military truck. His department is also cross training as first
91. responders. The first responder training will include the transfer of bodily fluids.
92. For now the fire department personnel are assisting with (heavy) lifts.
93.
94. Public Works: (see attached report)
95. Chris announced to the council a computer is being purchased for the city. The
96. computer will be used by the Emergency Response Team for document
97. management, and for city employees to use webinars, power point presentations
98.  and classes.
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Chris updated the council on the main line that had frozen at the east end of
town cutting off services to one of our residents. Chris had reported last
month an east wind blew under the bridge and froze the 8 inch ductile line.
His department ended up using the jet rodder to push hot water through 100
ft. of PVC to thaw the frozen line. The line was frozen about 33 ft. across
the bridge deck.

Councilor Patterson asked if there is anything we can do to prevent the line
from getting frozen in the future. Chris responded by having the resident
run his water during freezing temperatures should prevent the line from
freezing. If it gets really bad we may have to run the fire hydrant and blow
it out in the pasture to get some water running through it.

Mayor Hamsher commended the public works department for their work in
maintaining the roads clear of ice during the freezing temperatures. Chris
reported they have used up all of our gravel reserve. He has purchased
 more gravel and sand.

Chris explained to permanently fix it his department would have to bore
under Slaughter House Creek and run a line under it. That would be a
project further in the future.

Chris reported he is going to Seattle to pick up and drive home the used
(2006) Vac Truck.

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The council discussed the County Departments need of a plow truck for the
Fair grounds, and the airport. We have a 79' Dodge plow that could be
traded for; gravel, sanding rock, some labor such as removing fallen trees,
or at the landfill.

Chris reported to the council that although it is not required yet; he tested
our water for Hex Avalent Chromium. Our levels were minute, under the
reporting levels.

Payables:
MSP: To ratify payment of the bills. Councilor Garrison / Councilor
Miller. All in favor. The council discussed the expense of lights for
Christmas. It was explained we are purchasing new lights (LED) which
would be more cost efficient and last longer. It was also explained to
Councilor Phippen the expenses are also for other expenses such as the
Christmas Food Basket program. Councilor Phippen voiced his concerns
about “everyone” being able to charge at the hardware store he feels there
are too many charges for shop supplies. Taci explained to the council the
term shop supplies is a generic key stroke used to input the payables. She
will be more diligent in labeling the charges so as to define them better for
the council. Since we insist on shopping local it was discussed how much
easier it is for the employees to be able to charge at the stores. Chris offered
for Councilor Phippen to call him anytime if he has questions about
charges.

MSP: to adopt the changes of the City Clerk's job description.
Councilor Church / Councilor Phippen. All in favor.

MSP: to adopt the city clerk's position ad for the paper. Councilor
Patterson / Councilor Church. All in favor. There was a discussion about
the phrase “may be required to do a background check”, and the hiring
schedule, but nothing was changed.

MSP: to adopt the changes of the Museum Director's job description.
Councilor Garrison / Councilor Patterson. All in favor. Councilor
Garrison suggested the (new) museum director set up an advisory
committee consisting of residents, and museum volunteers. The mayor will
speak to Bob Shive about setting up an advisory committee.

 Other Business:

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The City Recorder produced an invitation to the council for Elected
Essentials Training being held in Ontario, March 30th. She suggested those
that can attend can carpool to Ontario. It was suggested Taci find out if
other cities are interested in pooling resources to have the course offered
closer. Councilor Garrison reminded the council when she began it was
required for the incoming councilors take this course.

The city recorder announced we are midway through the fiscal year and we
have only spent 22% of the budgeted amount for police services and fuel.

Taci also reported that the E-Recycling event held last September yielded
1,715 lbs. of electronics disposed.

Taci also reported that two committees have come together for eclipse
planning. She was on KJDY speaking on the Local Awareness program
initiated due to the eclipse. On KJDY she discussed the pitfalls and dangers
of the astro tourists expected for this event.  The facebook page dedicated to
this event is being updated regularly as is the city website and the nationally
renowned Eclipse2017.org site. Taci asked the council to consider a budget
she will be proposing for the eclipse event. She will start a new expense
line with $5000. The council discussed which city properties porta potties
could be placed. Taci spoke of ways this event will be networked with our
local merchants and restaurants.

At 7:30pm the city council moved into executive session.
At 7:51pm the council moved back into regular session.

MSP: the city will pay all expenses for re-testing for the employee they
had discussed in executive session. Councilor Patterson / Councilor
Miller. All in favor. The employee has three months after the training class
to take his test. The employee was made aware how important is for him to
pass the re-test.

   The Mayor adjourned at 8:00 pm.

  Submitted by:

  ________________________________
  Taci Philbrook, City Recorder
                                                         Approved by the City Council this_____
                                                         day of ______________, 2017 and
                                                         signed by the Mayor:

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                                                        _________________________________
                                                        Jim Hamsher, Mayor