BINGEN CITY COUNCIL MINUTES
 

July 19, 2005

The meeting was called to order by Mayor Prigel at 7:00 p.m. Council members present: Terry Trantow, Betty Barnes, Randy Anderson, Barbara Hylton and Laura Mann. City Clerk Jan Brending and City Attorney Tad Connors were present. Audience: Tim Hearn, Wayne Wooster, Jesse Burkhardt, Steve Brown, Don Struck, Dena Riggleman, Micheal Robarge, Esteban Sanchez, Brandon Walter, Mark Scowden.

Public Comment

Betty Barnes, Bingen

Betty Barnes notified the city council that John Verax had passed away. She suggested sending flowers and asked for donations from council members.

Betty Barnes asked the city to send a letter to Windermere thanking them for planting flowers at Daubenspeck Park.

Betty Barnes said there is a lot of garbage including furniture piled in the right-of-way at property located on E. Franklin. Jan Brending said she will write a letter to the property owner regarding the situation.

Betty Barnes said she was contacted by Antiques & Oddities regarding some bricks that were taken out of the space between Mirror Image and Antiques and Oddities during the highway construction.

Jan Brending said she has provided the information to Brian Prigel and Brandon Walter and it should be taken care of next week.

Approval of Minutes – July 5, 2005
Randy Anderson moved to approve the minutes of the July 5, 2005 council meeting. Barbara Hylton seconded the motion and it was unanimously approved.

Klickitat County Emergency Management Department
Steve Brown provided an overview of the Klickitat County Emergency Management Department and the planning process to date. He said the next step in the process is for the three cities to adopt the interlocal agreement. Brown noted that the agreement does not include a formula as to how the costs are to be split equitably between the county and the three cities. He said the formula would be developed by the three mayors and the county who will comprise the Executive Committee for the department. Brown said an example is that the formula could be based on population. Brown said the operating budget for 2005 is $24,000 with $12,000 of that be provided through grant funds. Brown said he feels that Bingen’s share of costs will run approximately three percent.

Laura Mann asked if the $24,000 is the entire budget. Steve said no that it is approximately $250,000 with grant funds for law enforcement and funds to develop the emergency management plan, purchase equipment and for training. Steve noted that his hours with the department will be reduced in the future once the plan has been adopted and the implementation process started.

Steve Brown said the emergency management plan is in rough draft and needs to go through a review process with the Executive Committee and an advisory committee.

Betty Barnes asked who makes the decisions about the administration of the department. She said the city has concerns about the department growing in size.

Don Struck said the executive committee will make decisions about the department, its staffing and needs.

Brian Prigel said the city is required by state law to have an emergency management plan. He said the options are for the city to develop one on its own, adopt Klickitat County’s plan, or possibly adopt a plan with the City of White Salmon. Prigel said he feels that after his discussions with Steve Brown that it would be more cost effective and produce a better plan to go with Klickitat County. He said that he believes Klickitat County hired the right person for the job when hiring Steve Brown.

There was consensus to schedule review and possible adoption of the interlocal agreement at the next council meeting on August 2.

Randy Anderson asked who has jurisdiction when an incident takes place within the city of Bingen. Steven Brown said Bingen will always have jurisdiction unless the event exceeds the capabilities of the city’s departments. He said his job is to act as a facilitator to provide equipment and resources to deal with a specific situation.

Employee Medical Insurance Benefits
Brian Prigel provided information to the city council regarding payment of employee medical insurance benefits (see memorandum dated July 15, 2005). He said the memorandum is a result of information that he was provided by the employees of the city. Prigel said the employees would like to keep the coverage of benefits as they currently exist.

Betty Barnes said she likes the information that was presented in the memorandum. She said the employees were hired with full coverage of their medical insurance as part of their benefits package. Barnes said she feels the city should maintain the current benefits package.

Randy Anderson said that he is willing to support the current benefits package as long as employees are willing to look at other areas for cost cutting measures if necessary.

Barbara Hylton moved to continue with the current employee medical insurance benefits package and not to require employees to pay any portion of the benefits. Betty Barnes seconded the motion and it was unanimously passed.

Sign Application – McDonald’s
Jan Brending presented a sign application for a drive through clearance sign. She noted that the application was received in the city’s office today and that the business owner asked it be placed on tonight’s agenda.

Brending said she does not have enough information to determine whether or not the business’ current signs are under or over the 150 square foot maximum for signage. Brending stated that the drive through clearance sign is needed due to a safety issue with oversized vehicles running into the overhang in the drive through area.

The city council discussed the proposed sign as presented including the banner mounted and other emblems on the sign.

Barbara Hylton moved to table the decision. The motion died due to a lack of a second.

Randy Anderson moved to approve the drive through clearance sign with no banner and no other emblems including the “Speedy Arch”. Terry Trantow seconded the motion. The motion carried 3 to 2 with the following vote: Randy Anderson – Aye, Betty Barnes – Nay, Barbara Hylton – Aye, Laura Mann – Nay, Terry Trantow – Aye.

One-Half Percent Sales Tax Increase
Jan Brending presented draft public information and a draft ordinance for the proposed one-half percent sales tax increase.

The council suggested the following changes to the public information:
·        Bullet projects funded by the Community Development fund and include costs
·        Change the word “considering” to “proposing”
·        Identify the average annual income from the current sales tax and the proposed sales tax
·        Provide the city’s post office box and e-mail address for sending in written comments 

A section will be added to the ordinance providing that all funds received from the ½ percent increase will be deposited in the Community Development fund.

Klickitat County PUD Downtown Revitalization Billing
Jan Brending said the City has received a response back from the Klickitat County PUD and has agreed to increase its portion of the costs by $3,265.64 reducing the final billing to $23,189.54.

Brian Prigel said he recommends the city council authorize payment of the final bill.

Randy Anderson moved to authorize the payment of the final bill from Klickitat County PUD in the amount of $23,189.54. Barbara Hylton seconded the motion and it was unanimously passed.

Jefferson Street Bridge
Brian Prigel said that Dev Bell has looked at the Jefferson Street Bridge. He said Bell feels it is not at risk of collapsing. Prigel said that Bell would like to remove one or two boards so that he can have better access into the bridge. He said this will require one of two options: keeping the bridge open but covering it with steel plates or closing the bridge. Prigel said he does have concerns with closing the bridge and the impacts it will have on the residents in the immediate area.

Randy Anderson said he disagrees with the assessment that the bridge is not in danger of collapsing. He said he feels that boards could be broken just by jumping up and down on the bridge. Anderson said he feels there is a danger to the community

Terry Trantow said he likes the idea of placing steel plates on the bridge until it can be replaced. He said he feels it will slow people down and take care of the noise.

Barbara Hylton said she also feels the bridge is dangerous. She said she believes there is a liability to the city by keeping it open.

Laura Mann suggested that the bridge be closed until the steel plates can be put in place.

Brian Prigel said the city has looked into borrowing plates but has not been able to find any.

Brandon Walter said the city can purchase two 4’ x 10’ plates at a cost of $1,500. He noted that the city can use the plates for other things after the bridge replacement is completed. Walter said the plates will arrive the day after the order is placed. He said he could have the plates in place on Thursday.

Betty Barnes said she feels the bridge should be closed immediately until the steel plates are in place.

Laura Mann moved to authorize purchase of steel plates to be placed on the Jefferson Street Bridge and that if the plates are not in place by 5 p.m. on Friday, the bridge will be closed until they are in place. Barbara Hylton seconded the motion. The motion carried 4 to 1 with the following vote: Randy Anderson – aye, Betty Barnes – Nay, Barbara Hylton – Aye, Laura Mann – Aye, Terry Trantow – Aye.

Brian Prigel said there is another issue with the Jefferson Street Bridge that needs to be addressed and that is the guard rails. He said the guard rails are not to code. Prigel asked the city if they should be replaced.

Council agreed to have the engineer provides options and cost estimates for replacing the guard rails.

200 West Lincoln Traffic Pattern
The city council discussed the traffic pattern at the intersection involving West Lincoln, North Ash, and Highway 141.

Betty Barnes said that feels a sightline problem exists at the intersection. She feels it is the council’s job to make sure things are safe in the city.

Laura Mann said there are a lot of difficult intersections in the area. She said she does not feel the traffic pattern should be altered. Mann said she believes it is only rare instance where you have cars at both stop signs at West Lincoln and North Alder.

Laura Mann moved that no change be made in the traffic pattern on 200 West Lincoln. Barbara Hylton seconded the motion. The motion carried 3 to 2 with the following vote: Randy Anderson – Aye, Betty Barnes – Nay, Barbara Hylton – Aye, Laura Mann – Aye, Terry Trantow – Nay.

Treasurer’s Report
Jan Brending presented the Treasurer’s Report for May 2005.

Laura Mann moved to accept the Treasurer’s Report for May 2005. Randy Anderson seconded the motion and it was unanimously passed.

Mayor’s Update
Fire Chief
Brian Prigel noted that David Spratt the city’s new fire chief was in the audience. He said that he feels Spratt is doing a fantastic job and that things are moving along.

David Spratt said he has appointed volunteers as captains and put them in charge of certain things including training. He said the department currently has 15 members and that attendance at fire meetings is up.

Brian Prigel noted that one goal of the city is re-rate the town for fire insurance purposes. David Spratt said the city is not quite ready for that as the documentation is not yet in place.

Community Action Plan
Brian Prigel said the city’s Community Action Plan was adopted in 1998. He said he feels it is time to reassess the plan and update it. Prigel said he would like to put together a request for proposals for a facilitator to assist the city in updating the community action plan.

Staff will put together a draft request for proposals for the council’s review at the next city council meeting.

Well Rehabilitation
Brian Prigel said the well drillers are expected to be in town next week to begin the work on the wells.

Laura Mann asked if the letter had been sent to the Yakama Indian Nation regarding the two tribal trust lands and whether the cities in the area had been contacted about serving on a Board of Appeals for abatement issues.

Jan Brending said she be drafting the letter and making the necessary contact.

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 July 5, 2005. The council by unanimous vote does approve for payment the following list: warrants 6853 through 6882 totaling $$58,774.64 and   payroll warrants 6311 through 6331 totaling $$13,470.28, and manual warrants 900561- 900562 and 501036 for $14,398.34 for a total of $86,643.26: Current - $54,152.14; Street - $1,314.71; Water - $3,687.60; Sewer - $2,129.55; Treatment Plant - $5,455.35; Dallesport Treatment Plant - $5,369.36;  1973/1995 Water/Sewer Bond Redemption - $176.21; Dallesport Billing Trust Fund - $14,358.34.

At 9:00 p.m. the Council adjourned.

Jan Brending                                                            Brian Prigel
City Clerk                                                                Mayor