BINGEN CITY COUNCIL MINUTES
 

January 18, 2005

The meeting was called to order by Mayor Prigel at 7:00 p.m. Council members present: Terry Trantow, Randy Anderson, Betty Barnes, Jeanette Fentie, and Laura Mann. Clerk Jan Brending and Attorney Tad Connors were present. Audience: Debra reed, Don Struck, Tim Hearn, Carl McNew, Brandon Walter, Tom Hons, Jesse Burkhardt.

Approval of Minutes – January 4, 2005

Amendments to the January 4, 2005 minutes were noted as follows:

Page 2, 3rd paragraph, 2^nd sentence should read “In addition, the ordinance should include language that projections within the front yard should be built with the minimum support structure required by building codes.”

Page 2, last paragraph, “Windereme” should be spelled “Windermere”.

Randy Anderson moved to approve the January 4, 2005 minutes as amended. Jeanette Fentie seconded the motion and it was unanimously passed.

Tourism Funding and Mt. Adams chamber of Commerce

Don Struck provided information to the City Council regarding the hotel/motel tax the County currently receives and how it has been used in the past. He said the County has been providing approximately $15,000 in funding to the Chamber of Commerce from landfill revenues. Struck said the hotel/motel tax receipts have been used for a variety of projects with recommendations coming to the Board of Commissioners from the Tourism Board and the Resource Development Department of the County. Struck said he has had discussions with Mt. Adams Chamber of commerce about obtaining a steady source of revenue. He said he believes the Chamber should be the lead agency for tourism promotion in the western half of Klickitat County. Struck said he met with the Mayor and city staff to discuss the idea of passing the funds through to the cities and having them contract with the chamber for tourism promotion. He said that half of the County’s hotel/motel tax could go to Mt. Adams Chamber of Commerce while the other half would be used in the easatern portion of Klickitat County.

Betty Barnes asked if Don Struck has met with the City of White Salmon. She said that she has heard that the Chamber doesn’t do much but she feels that it is hard to do anything with a lot of nothing. Barnes asked if White Salmon is supportive.

Don Struck said he will be meeting with the city council of White Salmon in the next few weeks. He said that is his discussion with Mayor Linda Jones she seemed supportive.

Brian Prigel asked if the Tourism Board is an advisory board to the Board of Commissioners. Struck said yes.

Brian Prigel said he is supportive of getting funds to the Chamber of Commerce. He said that he does have some concerns with the logistics of passing the funds from the County through the two cities and then to the Chamber. Prigel said there may be concerns from unincorporated areas of the County about how the funds are being spent and with the cities having absolute control over the funds.

Carl McNew, president of Mt. Adams Chamber of Commerce read a letter from Erin Anderson in support of providing additional funding for the Chamber with hotel/motel tax receipts.

Jan Brending suggested that a letter from the two cities and unincorporated communities to the County Board of Commissioners might be appropriate encouraging that the hotel/motel tax receipts from the western half of the County be used for tourism promotion handled by the Chamber of Commerce. She said the letter could suggest the County enter into a contract directly with the Chamber instead of passing the funds through the two cities.

Don Struck said he was in agreement with the suggestion. There was a consensus of the City Council that if the City of White Salmon agreed with the proposed process a letter would be written to the Board of Commissioners with signatures from the two cities and the unincorporated communities of Trout Lake, Husum/BZ Corners and Glenwood.

Well Rehabilitation Status and Report

Information was provided to the City council about the background and status of well rehabilitation (see memorandum dated January 14, 2005 – City of Bingen Well Rehabilitation Status and Recommendation).

Brian Prigel said that staff is requesting direction from the City Council on the next step to take. He said addressing the problems with the Dry Creek and Park wells have been a little more complicated than just pulling the pumps and reinstalling them. He said there area two issues – the short-term issue of getting water out of the two wells and the long-term issue of the City’s water needs for the future.

Randy Andersons aid that he would like to bring a consultant in to look at both the short-term and long-term issues. He said it important to look at the long-term needs of the City.

Jan Brending suggested that if the City is going to hire a consultant to look at the long-term issues it might be appropriate to include the development of the city’s water management plan. She said the city does not have a management plan which is required by the Department of Health.  Brending said that much of the information obtained in looking at the long-term needs of the City would be included in the management plant. She said that combining the activities into one contract would likely save the city money.

Brian Prigel said a scope of work could be developed that breaks the request for proposals into separate sections addressing the need for immediate well rehabilitation of the Dry Creek and Park wells and then the long-term needs of the City and the development of a water management plan.

Tom Hons said he feels there is good quality water available to the City.

Randy Anderson moved to authorize the development of a request for proposals to hire a consultant with well-rehabilitation experience to immediately develop a process to address well-rehabilitation of the Dry Creek and Park wells and to also look at the City’s other two wells and long-term water needs in addition to developing a water management plan. Laura Mann seconded the motion and it was unanimously approve.

Ordinance 05-01-509, Front Yard Projections

Jan Brending presented Ordinance 05-01-509 amending the City’s ordinance dealing with front yard projections. She said the ordinance removes references to fences and deletes the height restriction for steps, terraces, platforms, porches, decks and similar projections within the front yard. Brending said that in addition, the ordinance allows those types of projections that are nor more than four feet in height to be enclosed.

City Council members discussed the ordinance and asked that the sentence allowing projections that are no more than four feet in height to be enclosed to be changed as follows: “The lower portion supporting steps, terraces, platforms, porches, decks and similar projects that are no more than four (4) feet in height may be enclosed but may not be used for living space.”

Laura Mann moved to adopt Ordinance 05-01-509, Front Yard Projections as amended. Terry Trantow seconded the motion and it was unanimously passed.

Klickitat County Jail Agreement

Tad Connors said he has received a letter from Klickitat County in response to the letter from the City. He said that the main issues have been addressed but he still has a concern with the language in Section III(2). Connors said the agreement is still in negotiation. He said he would like to see the feedback from White Salmon and Goldendale.

Betty Barnes moved to authorize the Mayor to sign the agreement upon Tad Connors recommendation after negotiations have been completed. Randy Anderson seconded the motion and it was passed unanimously.

Motorized Foot Scooter Ordinance

A copy of the ordinance recently adopted by the City of White Salmon dealing with motorized foot scooters was provided to the City Council.

Tad Connors said that White Salmon’s ordinance is not exactly the type of ordinance that he thinks Bingen was looking for. He said that he believes the Washington state legislature will again be looking at the issue of motorized foot scooters and similar devices this year and that some of the issues Bingen is concerned with will be addressed at the state level. Connors said that if Bingen adopted the same language as White Salmon it would allow the police department to address motorized foot scooters.

Terry Trantow said that he has pulled a couple of ordinances addressing motorized foot scooters off of the MRSC site. He said that he particularly likes Everett’s ordinance which address all of the basics that Bingen is concerned with.

Betty Barnes reviewed several definitions from the state statutes.

City council members discussed the need for an ordinance but wanted to make sure that the ordinance was not too restrictive or to overboard.

Jan Brending and Tad Connors will work together and develop a draft ordinance based on the ordinance adopted by the City of Everett. The draft ordinance will be presented in a workshop format at the February 1 council meeting.

Mayor’s Update

I-84/Hood River Bridge Interchange

Brian Prigel said Oregon Department of Transportation is hosting a design workshop in Hood River to begin looking at the interchange of I-84 and the Hood River Bridge and marina area. He said the workshop is scheduled for January 20 at the Hood River Inn from 9:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. Prigel said he will be attending representing the Washington side of the river.

Stonecliff LLC Annexation

Brian Prigel said the City of White Salmon has accepted a Notice of Intent to Annex from Stonecliff LLC. He said this is the same development that was presented to Bingen by John Gotts. Prigel said he believes the scope of development has changed significantly from last summer when Gotts presented it to Bingen. He said that he has requested information from the City of White Salmon related to the proposed annexation.

Prigel said he and Jan Brending attended a meeting with Wil Keyser and Linda Jones on January 10. He said he did not learn a lot of new information but did learn that the proposal for access roads has changed. Prigel said the access roads that are proposed are probably the only possible access roads into the property.

Prigel said he, Brending, Betty Barnes, and Randy Anderson attended a work session held by the White Salmon City Council on Tuesday, January 11. Prigel said the work session was not very productive.

Prigel said White Salmon is aware that the City of Bingen is concerned about the proposed development. He said the issues remain the same as when both Vizena and Gotts presented their proposals to the City including stormwater, fire, and access. Prigel said that it appears Gotts has purchased land for access although he mentioned developing a one-way road. Prigel said that he does not feel a one-way road would be safe.

Prigel said he is not sure when the annexation will be heard by White Salmon. He said that Bingen will want to make some kind of formal comment on the annexation.

Randy Anderson said that John Gotts did not want to discuss the specifics of his development at the white Salmon workshop. He said that Gotts appears to be enticing White Salmon with parks and trails. Anderson said he feels Gotts is trying to skirt around the process.

Brian Prigel noted that Gotts was asked about whether he had considered annexing into Bingen. Prigel said he said that he had talked to Bingen but then blamed Jan Brending for not moving forward. He said that the Bingen council had asked Gotts for some specific information and that until that information was provided the city was not ready to meet with him. Prigel said it appears that Gotts took that action as being rebuffed and went to White Salmon.

Laura Mann asked what rights the City of Bingen has in the process. Prigel said he is no sure what the City’s rights are. He said there are safety issues and SEPA guidelines that will need to be addressed.

Prigel said it has been suggested to White Salmon that a SEPA checklist should be completed for the annexation and that some environmental issues need to be considered.

Prigel said White Salmon has stated that they do not have an appropriate zoning designation for the subject property.

Betty Barnes said that Wil Keyser had talked about slowing the process down but she said that she does not believe White Salmon plans on slowing down on the annexation.

Vouchers
Vouchers audited and certified as required by RCW 42.24.080 and expense reimbursement claims certified as required by RCW 42.24.090 as of this date January 18, 2005. The council by unanimous vote does approve for payment the following list: warrants 6480 through 6503 totaling $72,466.26 and   payroll warrants 6131 through 6150 totaling $9,692.84 and manual warrants 501030 and 6478 totaling $12,409.02 for a total of $93,457.01: Current - $68,931.28; Street - $888.62; Water - $3,435.02; Sewer - $945.52; Treatment Plant - $2,843.05; Dallesport Treatment Plant - $4,110.63; Dallesport Billing Trust Fund - $12,302.99.

At 9:05 p.m. the Council resumed regular session and adjourned.

Jan Brending                                                            Brian Prigel
City Clerk                                                                Mayor