BINGEN CITY COUNCIL MINUTES
 

May 1, 2007

The meeting was called to order by Mayor Prigel at 7:00 p.m. Council members present: Terry Trantow, Sandi Dickey, Tim Hearn, Laura Mann and Betty Barnes. Clerk Jan Brending and Attorney Tad Connors were present. Audience: Ruth Winner, Tom Oswald.

Public Comment
Ruth Winner, Gorge Heritage Museum
Ruth Winner tanked Jan Brending for attending the museum board meeting last week. She said several other council members and the mayor have attended meetings or visited the museum. Winner said she is glad to see the interest in the museum.

Ruth Winner said the solar panel used to run the lighting at the flume was stolen. She said it was installed at the time to eliminate the cost of a monthly electrical bill. Winner said now is the time for visitors to the community. She also noted there is no lighting available for the ball court or the play area. Winner said she has invited an electrician to look at the issue and she has shared the idea of providing more lighting with the mayor. She said Mayor Prigel agreed that lights would be a good idea. Winner said lighting would also help deter vandals.

Ruth Winner said she has spoken with Jason Spadero of SDS and Randy Knowles with the PUD about possibly helping in getting additional lighting. She said there is no line item in the museum’s budget for oversight of the flume. Winner said she has obtained some estimates for the electrical work for lighting the flume and providing some lighting between the ball court and play area.

Brian Prigel said the city will review Ruth Winner’s information and obtain additional information and present something to the city council.

Laura Mann, Bingen
Laura Mann said she has reserved the park on Wednesday from 3 to 6 pm and asked that public works not be mowing or sprinkling the park.

Tom Oswald, Bingen
Tom Oswald said Bingen has been a gracious landlord. He said that if the city has not sold the trailers by the end of May he would appreciate any extra time that can be given.

Betty Barnes noted that the people have moved out of Louis Geschwint’s house on the corner of Ash and Humboldt.

Approval of Minutes – April 17, 2007
Corrections to the draft minutes of the April 17 city council meeting were noted as follows:

Page 7, 5^th paragraph, 3^rd sentence should read as follows: “Madden said Skyline has the only FAA approved pad in the Gorge.”

Page 2, 9^th paragraph, last sentence should read as follows: “He said Bingen can: not award the contract; put off the project and rebid it at a future date; identify funding through Bingen’s own sources and award the contract; and possibly other scenarios.”

Page 3, 7^th paragraph, 3^rd sentence should read as follow: “Prigel said he does not understand where White Salmon is coming from because they don’t have a clue about their financial status.”

Page 4, 7^th paragraph, last sentence should read as follows: “He said that he feels Tad Connors points out too many problems if the decision to hire is shared equally.”

Terry Trantow moved to approve the minutes of the May 1 city council meeting as amended. Tim Hearn seconded the motion and it was unanimously passed.

Proposed Resolution 2007-003, Adopting IRS Mileage Rate
Jan Brending said the city has been using a mileage rate of 28 cents for reimbursing employees, council members and volunteer fire fighters for the use of their person vehicles for city business. She said the proposed resolution establishes the use of the IRS mileage rate for reimbursement purposes.

Tim Hearn moved to adopt Resolution 2007-003, Adopting IRS Mileage Rate. Laura Mann seconded the motion and it was unanimously passed.

Small Works Roster bid – Steuben Street Landscape Cleanup
Jan Brending reported that the city received one bid for the Steuben Street spring cleanup. She said the bid was submitted by 4 Seasons Yard Service for $2,500 plus tax. Brending said this is the same bid that was submitted by the company to the City of White Salmon for their street landscaping. She said that she wanted to clarify with the contractor that the bid includes all supplies to accomplish the work.

Betty Barnes moved to accept the bid from 4 Seasons Yard Service for $2,500 plus tax based on the bid including all supplies to accomplish the work. Tim Hearn seconded the motion and it was unanimously passed.

Request for Water Overage Reduction – Brad and Cheryl Dell
Brian Prigel said the city does not read residential meters during the winter months and that many times leaks are detected when the meters are read in April. He said the city will likely receive several other requests for water overage reduction.

Jan Brending said the history of the subject property does not show any water overage occurring. She recommended that the bill be reduced to the base billing.

Betty Barnes moved to approve the reduction in water overage for Brad and Cheryl Dell. Tim Hearn seconded the motion and it was unanimously approved.

Depot Street Sewer Project
Brian Prigel said the city has not awarded the contract for the Depot Street sewer project as the city of White Salmon has not made a decision on Bingen’s requests related to a proposed interlocal agreement for funding.

Draft Dog Ordinance
Jan Brending said she has put together a very rough draft of a dog ordinance incorporating some of the things city council members have raised. She said the ordinance includes a definition section which is probably not complete. Brending said several sections have been added about specific actions taken by a dog that could be declared a nuisance. She said the ordinance, at this time, does not address what happens after the nuisance has been declared.

Betty Barnes said she does not see a rush to pass a new ordinance until the city knows for sure about the Hood River County facility.

Laura Mann said she would like to see the current city’s ordinance amended to just address dogs running at large. She noted the council previously changed the ordinance to address two dogs or more from the same household running at large. Mann said she would like to see the ordinance broadened to address any dog running at large.

The city council agreed that staff will develop a proposed amendment to the dog ordinance addressing dogs running at large and providing a $100 fine for the first offense which would be a civil infraction and that any further offence within a six-month period would be a misdemeanor.

Jan Brending said she will run public notice and put a public hearing on the agenda for the May 15 meeting.

Mayor’s Update and Council Member Comments
Sidewalks
Betty Barnes said that there are several areas of the sidewalks, particularly in the handicapped access areas, that have sand and gravel in them. She said she would like to see them cleaned up. Barnes asked why a portion of the sidewalk on Walnut Street adjacent to the Eagles building is missing.

Brian Prigel said that when the Humboldt Street sidewalks were completed there was a problem in that area because the doorway is below grade. He said that he will take a look at it to see what can be done to make the sidewalk safer.

Parking
Betty Barnes said recently she pulled up to the post office and noted that Insitu had two parking spaces in front of the Winery building reserved for a General and an Admiral. She said that she is concerned about businesses reserving spaces because then everyone else will want to do it.

Brian Prigel said that the city has allowed other businesses to do it in the past for infrequent situations. He said Insitu could have done it for security reasons. Prigel said he does not see a problem as long as it is not abused. He said examples are when the Lt. Governor came to town for a luncheon at Viento and when businesses have needed to unload or load trucks.

Betty Barnes said that sounds reasonable. She said she wonders if there would a problem if employers and their employees did not park on the main street.

Brian Prigel said it may be necessary for temporary reserved parking right in front of the door of the business.

Council members and staff agreed to write a letter to business owners regarding parking in downtown particularly now that the summer season is starting.

Vandalism
Betty Barnes asked if the police was contacted regarding the recent vandalism at the park.

Jan Brending said yes. She said that she has completed a victim’s statement related to the vandalism on April 6 where several individuals were arrested.

Regional Transportation Committee Meeting
Brian Prigel said he sits on the Regional Transportation Committee for Klickitat County and attended a meeting today in Vancouver. He noted that any council member who is interested in serving on the committee should let him know.

Maple Street Project
Brian Prigel said he has met with the property owners regarding the Maple Street project. He said Jason Spadero has raised an issue that the city will try to address. Prigel noted that SDS Lumber will be presenting a proposed land exchange in the near future.

Jan Brending said Garwood Oil has agreed to provide an easement at no cost. She said Tad Connors will be drafting an easement after a legal description is obtained.

Dry Creek
Brian Prigel said he met with Stoner Bell about Dry Creek. He said Bell has a conceptual proposal that will be presented to the city council. Prigel said he believes it would achieve what the city originally wanted to do with Dry Creek when it was working on the highway project. He said it would address the water and debris that comes down in a flooding situation. Prigel said the concept involves installing a new pipe along the city’s 400 W. Steuben property that would tie into an existing catch basin that then runs across Highway 14 and into Dry Creek. He said the project would not disturb the roadway or creek bed. Prigel said the concept will be presented at the next council meeting.

Crosswalk Repair
Jan Brending reported that the installer of the Duratherm crosswalks will be in town on June 25 to begin making corrections to the crosswalks.

Tim Hearn asked what will happen if the same problem occurs again.

Brian Prigel said the manufacturer believes that the asphalt compaction is what caused the problem. He said a double thickness of the product will be installed. Prigel said he does not have a good answer but if the problem occurs again the city will likely have to look at doing something else for crosswalks such as paint.

Quiet Zone Workshop
Betty Barnes said she wants to complement Jan Brending for the excellent job she did in putting on the Quiet Zone workshop.

Brian Prigel agreed it that it was a good job.

Flume Lighting
Terry Trantow asked if the photo cell and lighting could be mounted up higher on the flume so that it was not easily reached.

Brian Prigel said he did not think the photo cell and lighting worked well.

Dry Creek at Jefferson Street
Terry Trantow said that there are several large pieces of wood in Dry Creek at Jefferson Street and that now might be the best time to remove them.

Community Pride
The Chamber of Commerce felt that there might have been less participation this year but that maybe there is less stuff because of holding the event year after year. At lot of furniture was donated to Washington Gorge Action Programs.

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 May 1, 2007. The council by unanimous vote does approve for payment the following list: checks 8762 through 8795 totaling $30,224.49 and payroll checks 8749 through 8761 totaling $18,716.90; and a manual check for $50.00 for a total of $48,991.39. Current - $9,050.90; Street - $3,166.57; Community Development - $15.03; Street Construction and Maintenance - $16,905.31; Water – $5,174.08; Sewer - $1,470.36; Treatment Plant - $5,884.82; Dallesport Treatment Plant – $7,324.32.

Executive Session
At 8:30 p.m., Brian Prigel said the city council will meet in executive session for 20 minutes to discuss potential litigation.

The council resumed regular session at 8:50 p.m. and Brian Prigel said the city council will continue in executive session for an additional 15 minutes.

The council resumed regular session at 9:05 p.m. and adjourned.

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City Clerk                                                                    Mayor