TOWN OF WILSON CREEK
REGULAR CITY COUNCIL MEETING
June 13, 2019

Council present: Mayor Kevin Newland, and Councilmembers Scott Mortimer, Raymond Kelby, Debbie More, and Keith Jensen. Staff present: Kaci Anderson.

  1. Open Meeting: Mayor Kevin Newland called the meeting to order at 6:00 pm and led the Pledge of Allegiance.
  2. Minutes: Motion made by K. Jensen, seconded by R. Kelby, and carried to approve May 9, 2019, meeting minutes.
  3. Public Comments: Residents mentioned rattlesnakes have been spotted – be careful!
  4. Council Concerns and Issues:
    1. K. Jensen mentioned he noticed a malfunctioning water hose near the school readerboard – Mayor Newland confirmed it has since been fixed. K. Jensen added he thinks the weeds in town look better than in the past and S. Mortimer agreed, saying the town looks good.
  5. Reports
    1. Mayor’s Address
      1. The Town recently borrowed a spray apparatus from the cemetery, and it worked great. He would like to purchase a larger one for Town use to combat weeds. S. Mortimer suggested looking at North 40 in Moses Lake.
      1. Mayor Newland introduced new public works employee Alisha Larsen. Alisha will be reading water meters and performing weed control and lawn care.
      1. The owner of the company interested in leasing the airport is out of the country, so it may be a while before anything is decided.
    1. Clerk/Treasurer Report:
      1. Notes from the Clerk
        1. SAO Annual Report was submitted online and on time thanks to BIAS.
        1. BIAS Training & Support received at a class in Spokane last month. Kaci shared there was a wealth of knowledge shared with her that will help across the board, not just regarding the annual auditor’s report. She also noted that half of the registration cost of the class will be reimbursed via scholarship from RMSA.
      1. Motion made by K. Jensen, seconded by D. Moore, and carried to approve the Town’s current fiscal status and to pay the June 2019 bills as follows:

June 2019 Bills                                                                                         Current Account Balances

Payroll checks 10162 – 10172                 $          3,380.28                  US Bank                  $         125,465.10

A/P checks 10173 – 10188                       $          6,523.25                  Grant County         $         110,092.69 

EFT payments                                             $             760.34                  Total                        $         235,557.79

Total                                                              $       10,663.87

  • Maintenance Report: Mayor Newland mentioned the frost-free was replaced, and the meter on south Railroad Street isn’t monitoring the pots and trees and will need replaced with a timer. Mayor Newland and S. Mortimer discussed an empty lot in town that needs sprayed again after the first round didn’t completely kill the weeds. S. Mortimer will coordinate with public works staff. Mayor Newland noted at least one resident has asked about mosquito spraying – S. Mortimer said there needs to be very specific weather conditions to be able to effectively spray; it’s also expensive to do and should wait for threshold population to be reached prior to spraying. D. Moore mentioned Tempo works well.
  • Old Business:
    • Review Livestock Applications: The Council reviewed the horse application previously tabled. With S. Mortimer abstaining, it was unanimously decided to decline the application.
    • Weed Control: Mayor Newland noted that funds originally budgeted for weed control contract services have been used for in-house weed control by Town staff, and the Town is well under the $8,500 allotted. The next focus will be on alleys and puncture vines.
    • Approval of Ordinance 429: Solid Waste Management: The Council discussed opinions of those opposed to the ordinance, and clarified profit/revenue projections. Mayor Newland asked if the Council wanted to take the ordinance to a vote, or table it for further discussion. Motion made by R. Kelby, seconded by K. Jensen, and carried to approve the ordinance, adopting a comprehensive garbage collection service effective August 1, 2019.
  • New Business:
    • Bid Selection for Water Reservoir Cleaning: The Council narrowed down the bid pool to LiquiVision and Liquid Engineering, asking Mayor Newland to look at each company and select at his discretion. S. Mortimer mentioned waiting to schedule cleaning for the spring of 2020 may not be a bad idea.
    • Bid Selection for Sidewalk Repair: No written bit has been received from Paul Bicondova, but he verbally quoted $4,500 in work to fix sidewalks by the clock and in front of the machine shop. Slabjack’s bid would only be a temporary fix at nearly $3,000, where Bicondova’s work would be a more permanent fix. K. Anderson noted the loss prevention grant from RMSA closes at the end of August so all work would need to be completed, billed and paid by then. The Council agreed to allow Mayor Newland to proceed with sidewalk repair at his discretion.
    • Paul Lauzier Charitable Foundation Grant: Parks & Rec coordinator Lorry Pearce attended and she and K. Anderson shared the good news that the Town was granted $18,200 from the Paul Lauzier Charitable Foundation to purchase and install new playground equipment. Lorry shared the Fire District has agreed to volunteer time to help install the fixture and Bill Stevens has agreed to donate pea gravel (or other possible fill). Possible location for the equipment was discussed and it was agreed that the southeast corner of the park would be best. The Council and Mayor Newland expressed gratitude to Lorry and Kaci for their work on obtaining this grant. Thanks was also given to R. Kelby for his work on ordering new US flags for the Town.
  • Adjournment: Motion made by K. Jensen, seconded by D. Moore, and carried to adjourn the meeting at 7:20 pm. The next regular council meeting is Thursday, July 11, 2019, at 6:00 pm.