Council Meeting: March 15, 2010

A special meeting was called to order at 6:32 pm and immediately moved into executive session to discuss legal issues for 30 minutes. Council Member Huson was absent due to illness.

At 7 pm the regular meeting was called to order. Huson was formally excused from the meeting. The agenda was approved as presented. Council Member Hunt suggested that the March 1, 2010 meeting minutes be rewritten, watching for typos. The mayor noted that the clerk is still doing two jobs and is overloaded. The minutes will be reconsidered at the next meeting.

Public Comments
Sherri Forch gave details on the upcoming Easter Egg Hunt. She is hoping to use the new community center by next year for a full course breakfast after the egg hunt.

Ryan Morris, 5224 N. 49th, moving to Ruston soon. Just came in to see how small towns operate.

Buffy Turner, 5315 N. Shirley, spoke against the variance being considered by the council. She is still opposed to the proposal even though some of her concerns were addressed.

Staff Reports
Police: Chief Kunkel noted that the E-ticket system is working well. The new vests have been purchased and reimbursed has been requested from the state grant.

Fire: Chief Torbet noted that response times are under 2 minutes for the year so far. There was a joint training exercise recently with the police if anyone saw the activity, acting out a house under siege with hostages. The fire inspections continue for local businesses. The mayor commented that both chiefs had assembled great crews and he was proud of all the public safety personnel.

Business
1. Electrical power to the medians on Winnifred: The mayor had asked the current contractor on the street light project for bid on running power to the medians for Christmas lights and other uses. Mo Fesharaki, the town electrician, felt the bid was very reasonable given the cost savings by doing the work in conjunction with everything open while they are installing the new lights. There is no money left in the electric reserve fund, so the money for this additional work will need to come from some other fund. Hedrick asked to see more options. Hardin wanted to know how much time was left to make a decision (until early-mid April). A decision will be made at the next meeting.

2. Ordinance 1308, Variance for Side Yard Set Back at 5311 N. Shirley: Town planner Rob White outlined the variance and planning commission findings and unanimous vote to approve the valiance. Hunt suggested that each council member walk the lot before making a decision. Hedrick was concerned that one of the neighboring house has the required set backs, even though most in the neighborhood do not. White noted that only 38% of the lot can be covered with impervious surface which may be even more of a limiting factor than the side yard set backs. Hedrick was concerned about the proposed building, but White pointed out that the building in the variance application is only a schematic drawing, no application has been made or any building design approved. The application is only to reduce the side yard set backs to 5 feet from 7.5 feet. Hardin wanted to be sure this would not set a precedent. White did not think so, given that many of the lots are similar size and shape.

3. Budget Discussion: The mayor is getting the budget up to speed as the new accounting services are brought on board. There will be things at the next meeting to be addressed, such as an account with a negative balance that must be corrected immediately. The mayor will be bringing in someone to do a "utility survey" to confirm that Ruston is charging appropriate rates to cover the costs for utility services. Hunt will research to ensure that the work being done at the school is being charged appropriately.

Claims and Payroll
Only payroll was presented and was approved with a vote of 4-0.


Mayor's Time
Mayor Hopkins was excited to see that the on-line utility bill payments are now available. They will also take over the stuffing, mailing of the utility bills next month. He has reached someone at Comcast and is working on a new agreement with them. The last agreement expired in 2006. Kevin Rochlin from EPA will be at April 19th meeting for an update on remediation issues in town. Kevin Moser and Rob White put in new hardwood flooring in the kitchen at the community center on Saturday. Many others helped with painting and cleaning. At the storage area next to the park, the mayor is exploring having cement blocks for the maintenance department's sand and gravel instead of the shed out there now. Kristovich has been assigned as the council liaison for parks and recreation and is already working on great ideas.

Council Time
Hedrick had nothing.

Hunt handed out the agreement that Comcast had reached with Pierce County and suggested that Ruston use the same rates, raising them from 3% to 5%. She also wanted to be sure the new council members got a copy of the council rules.

Hardin reminded the mayor to thank Mike Tallman for his his help clearing out the storage area at the park with is construction equipment. Hardin thanked the mayor for all his volunteer work in town and wanted to be notified when these opportunities come up so others can join in.

Kritovich mentioned the RELAX chair art project coming up this summer. She is also working on a plan for a separate dog park with some fund raising ideas to raise money to improve both the people and dog area in the park. She asked for input from any and everyone with more ideas.

The meeting adjourned at 8:07 pm.