Council Meeting Notes: June 1, 2009

The meeting materials are available on Ruston Reports, including the proposed fireworks ban ordinance.

The meeting began a 7 pm with all present except Council Member Hunt, who was excused. The agenda was approved as presented, but Council Member Hedrick noted that the council needed to formally change their meeting rules so that public comment could consistently happen before business items were discussed. The town attorney will have the rule change ready for the next meeting.

The hearing on the Phase 1 sewer project had been continued to this meeting. The mayor opened the hearing to allow any new public comment. There was one quick question (I couldn't make it out on the tape) with no further comment, so the hearing was closed.

The minutes from the May 18th meeting were approved.

Public Comment
Sherri Forch liked the new format for the town newsletter. She wanted to confirm if people were allowed to park cars in their yard for a fee during the Taste and drive vehicles over the curb. She invited everyone to participate in the post-Taste clean up (collect trash from your street, bring it to town hall and eat cookies provided by our seniors).

Edie Tallman thanked Mayor Hopkins for taking the job as mayor and she was pleased to see he was going to run for election.

Sgt. Kunkel noted that a crew from Remann Hall is painting curbs. The town supplied the paint. He confirmed that people can park cars in their yards, but they are not allowed to drive over the curb. Council Member Stebner wanted to be sure the police checked people making money from parking had a current town business license. Sgt. Kunkel felt the police would need to focus on life/safety issues.

Old Business
Ordinance 1278 - Regulation of Private Alarm Systems, Pending: This ordinance is not ready yet. The vote to table it was 2-2, so the mayor broke the tie by voting to table the ordinance to the next meeting.

Ordinance 1280 - Designating Off-Leash Areas, Pending: The council had already passed an ordinance making the park on-leash only. This ordinance is to create an off-leash area to the east of the park. Council Member Albertson did not like having these issues held from one meeting to the next. Issues should come back as new business when they are ready. The mayor agreed. The vote to remove this from the agenda passed 4-0.

Ordinance 1285 - Recovery of Emergency Response Expenses, Second Reading: Sgt. Kunkel provided some examples of how other cities calculate their emergency response expenses and suggested Ruston follow the Lakewood example. The ordinance passed 4-0.

Ordinance 1286 - Prohibiting Fireworks, Second Reading: Hedrick wanted more input from the fire chief. He felt the $1000 permit for public displays was too expensive and he wanted to talk more about enforcement of the current code before voting on this. Albertson wanted fireworks banned regardless. Stebner wanted to see this ban passed before the 4th of July this year so that it can become effective by the holiday in 2010. The issue was tabled till the next meeting with a vote of 4-0.

New Business
Ordinance 1287 - Indemnification of Elected Officials and Town Employees, First Reading: Hedrick felt the requirement to bring any summons to town hall within 5 days was not long enough. He also wanted to clarify who who would pay if there was insurance (insurance first, then town if needed).

Ordinance 1288 - Amending Traffic Code:
Ordinance 1289 - Amending Parking Code: The town planner explained that these changes addressed occasional problems with overflow parking from large events at Point Defiance Park, and prohibited commercial vehicles from parking in residential zones. It still allows small businesses to park their commercial vehicles in their driveways. Stebner felt the new high school at the park might cause boats and trailers to park in Ruston. The mayor pointed out this change allows the town to set up a system to issue parking permits to town residents if needed.

Resolution 444 - Accepting Right-Of-Way Deed: As part of the Baumgardner development at the end of Orchard Street, a right-of-way for emergency vehicle turn-around is required. This deeds this portion of land to the town. Council Member Huson wanted to be sure accepting this would not imply that more homes could be constructed on the site. The resolution was approved 4-0.

Claims and Payroll
Approved 2, Stebner no, Albertson abstain

Mayor's Time
The tree committee needs to purchase more trees but there is no money budgeted. Huson felt the previous tree committee had decided on only 5 types of trees that would be allowed, not 16 as proposed by the current committee. He would pay for trees to finish Winnifred Street. He thought the committee should focus on which of those 5 types of tree to plant on which street and that the committee was wasting too much of their time. He wanted the mayor to give them more specific direction.

The mayor noted that the sewer project is proceeding. The town is working with some potential lenders. He noted that he had directed the police department to issue parking tickets for anyone parking in the new red zones, even local residents.

Council Time
Hedrick felt that signs were needed and stronger enforcement of the leash requirement at the park. He hoped the council would support the effort to organize a kids parade along Winnifred Street on the 4th of July. He will have a resolution ready at the next meeting.

Albertson wanted to be sure Ruston is getting refunded for its LID costs. He also noted that it was filing week for council candidates. He urged Stebner to run for re-election. He felt Stebner had always put the interests of the people of Ruston first, dealt with policy not personalities and had never voted to block any of his neighbor's views.

The meeting adjourned at about 8 pm.