| Cottonwood
City Council meets
Shaun Maxey and Jeff Kutner of the Ida-Lew Economic Development Council were present at the June meeting of the Cottonwood City Council Monday, June 14. They were making their pitch for the city to stay on with financial support. The city has provided $2,000 per year in the past. Council members relayed questions they’d been getting and also asked some of their own. Maxey and Kutner said although at this time they can’t take full credit for creating X number of jobs, they feel they have provided resources that helped with creation of and training for several jobs in the area. They also have some things in the works including possible industrial sites at Craigmont and Kamiah. After the session the council voted to table a decision on providing funding until they could talk it over amongst themselves. There was a request from St. Mary's Hospital to use the Hall basement for the Safe Sitter classes. They have been running into scheduling problems at their usual sites. Since it is a community service program, the council voted to allow use of the hall at no charge. The city raised over $1,045 from the surplus property sale with several items receiving multiple bids while others received no bids at all. High bidders were Delmar Goeckner, $27 for a pipe vise; Ed Holthaus, $178 for a cement mixer; Kurt Riener, $176 for a Kub Kadet lawn tractor; Idaho Stove, $333.33 for a pipe threader; George Hauger, $271.25 for welding equipment; Spike Dorf, $10 for a Cenex 3-20 lawn mower and $5 for a small pressure washer; and Mike VonBargen, $45 for a plastic slip tank with hose. The council later voted to use some of that money for signage at the Little League ballfields designating them as the “Wimer Little League Ballfields” with “Field I” and “Field J” for Imelda and Jack Wimer. The large sign will be 2 foot by 16 foot at a cost of $350 while the smaller field designation signs will be $40 each. In the water report, Martin Fowler stated that water usage is about where it has been historically at 4+ million gallons per month. He reported leakage is still at about 25% although it’s hoped the repair work on Front Street will take care of one of the worst leaks. That project will cost about $25,000 and is funded through the $3 per month per water bill fund. Fowler reported they are still having problems with the telemetry system as figures sent to city hall don’t match what is being seen at the well sites regarding pumping rates. Fowler reported the rest given to wells 2 and 4 is paying off as both are back up to the capacity of the wells when they are being used. Also well 5 is showing no problems as the static level is being maintained. Max Nuxoll reported there was some sewer line replaced in town but little other activity this past month. Jack Duman reported he has about 13,000 feet of streets lined up for dust abatement with a couple other areas possibly to be added. They’re looking at about $10,000 for the project which will be shared between the city and landowners. They hope to start next week. Another road tour is set for next week as well to designate all the problem areas in area streets and roads. The street and road coalition will also have a public meeting June 23 at the Community Hall to seek input. The sealcoating project for Lewiston Street from Front to Gilmore is set for August. Shelli Schumacher reported the city will contribute $1500 to the Lions Club’s bike path rebuilding project. With the Lions contribution this will allow for over $4000 to replace more of the asphalt path with longer lasting concrete. Schumacher said they are looking at prisoner work crews to help with some painting in the park. She says she has also investigated grant moneys for trees and for spraying of weeds in the agriforest. Mayor Denis Duman reported that the fire department hosted a “flashover” training at the airport the weekend of June 5-6 with several area fire departments participating. The mutual aid agreement with Grangeville is still in the works. The contract with DanControl, Inc. for the telemetry system was discussed. The system has yet to work properly. The city has paid about ¾ of the $32,933 project with $2211 from the water dept. part and $6100 from the sewer dept. part yet to be paid. The water portion is reimbursable from Rural Development and needs to be paid soon or they’ll lose those funds. The council voted to pay that portion and hold the rest for completion of the project. The city will also look into alternatives to fixing the system if DanControl can’t do so satisfactorily. The council adjourned to an executive session at 10:10 p.m. The next regular meeting will be Monday, July 12 at 8 p.m. |
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