Chinook City Council hears status of projects nearing completion

Steve Edwards

BCJ News

The Chinook City Council approved payment for work on some of the final phases of the nearly two-year long water treatment plant upgrade. A final walk through to check the punch list on the downtown sidewalk project will complete that work and release funds to pay the contractor. Council considered the need to reduce costs of certifications to city pool lifeguards in order to attract and keep adequate numbers of pool employees each season.

Mayor Keith Hanson called the June council meeting to order. Council members present were Mitch Haider, Robert Smith and Clint Greytak. There is one vacant council seat after the resignation of Chris Thurman last month. The council moved and approved the minutes from the May meeting and approved the claims and reports as submitted.

During the public comment period several residents complained about cats and the litter the cats are making in peoples' yards. Commenters said it was a problem in several parts of town and they felt the city needed to take some action. Mayor said the matter would be taken under advisement and would be on the agenda for the July regular monthly meeting.

Department heads made their reports to the council. Jim Teel, streets and buildings, said despite some challenges with wet and cold weather the city pool opened on schedule. He said the wet weather has also made keeping up with weed control and mowing grass a challenge. Eric Miller, at the wastewater plant, said they are also mowing grass more regularly than usual. Two plant employees will be attending a conference and doing training next week.

Police Chief Elmer Zarn reported Brandon Olson will graduate from POST training on June 24, then be back on duty with the department. Zarn said the new police cruiser is now licensed and all equipment in place. John Blankenship reported that the two employees at the plant are learning how to operate the new plant. There are still some loose ends to be tied up from the new construction but those are being attended to by the engineer and there are still funds to cover the final projects to be completed.

Fire Chief Kraig Hansen reported the 'meet and greet' last Sunday at Sweet Park was a great success. He noted it was always helpful to meet people who would be responding to emergency situations. There was a good representation at the get together that connected representatives from the county, city and regional agencies that cover fire, law enforcement and EMS. Michelene Edwards, city pool manager, said the hot weather has made for some big numbers of swimmers at the pool. She said there are a number of returning lifeguards and all the guards are working out well. Jim Teel is helping the crew at the pool to learn operational aspects of the pool. City Clerk Carol Floren said she and her assistant clerk are working hard to get up to speed on their jobs. Carol will be attending budget training classes this coming week.

Council member Robert Smith said the ordinance revision committee is still working on parking and community decay sections of the city code. Council member Haider said new signs for the dumpster area are delivered and should be up soon.

Old business

Michele Turville, with Bear Paw Development, presented Draw # 9 for the water treatment plant upgrade. Payment of the $13,116.60 expense was motioned and approved by the council. Council then discussed an email from Jeff Ashley, with the engineering firm that designed the water treatment upgrade, outlining the final expenses that are anticipated to complete the project.

After discussing the engineer's recommendations for the water treatment plant, the council motioned and approved an expense of $57, 866, these funds from contingency funds. The majority of the expense if for an upgraded chlorination system. Additionally, there is funding for security fencing, landscaping, weed barriers, graveling and a larger capacity flowmeter. Another part of the motion was for an additional $39,700 for engineering costs and more training in the fall.

Ashely was at the plant recently studying an alternative method for filtering that would be more effective but require purchase and installation of some larger pumps. Once final cost numbers are determined, this work will likely be the final change order of the project.

The downtown sidewalk project is nearly complete. In the process of laying the sidewalks around The Annex there was some splatter on the building. The final bill for repainting the affected parts of the building was paid by Frontier. Council was told the contractor will receive the final payment after one more walk through to assure the work is completed.

New Business

After hearing about access problems from a water hauler with an oversized semi-accessing the new road at the water treatment plant, council motioned and approved a method for a water hauler to use an alternate filling site. Alternate fill sites must be approved by the council on a case-by-case basis.

Two completed bids were received from accounting firms to do the city's auditing work. Council motioned and approved to accept the bid from Strom Associates. The proposal would cover a three-year period, for fiscal years beginning in 2016 and ending in 2018.

The volunteer fire department brought a set of amended and updated bylaws to the council for approval. After discussion about how ordinances and state statutes should be incorporated in the bylaws, council motioned and approved to table the bylaws until a group could collaborate to include the proper legal citations.

Police Chief Elmer Zarn reported to the council that the current computerized crime reporting system used to report to the state is not user-friendly. He said the Sheriff's department is looking at other reporting system. The city and the Blaine County Sheriff's Department currently share use and cost of the system. With budget preparation coming up and the possibility that a new reporting system is being considered, Zarn said he thought the council needed to have that potential cost as part of the budgeting process.

The agenda item to consider wages for city employees was tabled. Mayor Hanson then said he was surprised when he learned how costly the certification training programs were for lifeguards. He said this initial cost is paid by the people seeking a lifeguarding job and the cost is a deterrent to attracting and keeping lifeguards each season. Mayor will check on possibility of city getting its own person certified as a trainer and then train the candidates who want to be certified.

A request to plant a memorial tree at the pool was approved by the council last meeting. Mayor Hanson said he since found out that the property is controlled by the Sweet Park Board and they denied the request because of potential maintenance problems with underground utilities. Council member Haider will check with the Sweet Park Board for ideas that would work for families and friends wishing to make a memorial in the city pool area.

Council motioned and approved to have the city hall office staff create a generic permit form to coincide with the ordinances that require a permit but have no charge for the permit.

Mayor announced no applicants had come forward for the vacant Ward 1 city council seat. Council will need to fill that vacancy shortly.

A motion was made and approved to adjourn.