| Bid
awarded for Community Hall renovation
Bids were opened for the Community Hall renovation work at the September meeting of the Cottonwood City Council Monday, Sept. 14. Schacher Construction of Grangeville was the apparent low bidder among 4 bids received. They met and passed all criteria set forth by the architect and were awarded the bid in a vote by the council. In her lands and buildings report, Shelli Schumacher reported that when the work is done on the hall renovation that the library would like to expand at that time as well. They would extend about 10-12 feet into the current city council chambers to where the beam runs across just in front of where the council podium is now. With no objections raised by either the mayor or council members, Schumacher said she would give them the go-ahead. She also reported on the trees at the Riding Club Arena, stating she is having a professional landscaper look into it but the preliminary indication is they aren’t receiving enough water. She said that she and City Clerk Carol Altman have also applied for a grant to make a “pocket park” out of the old jail site now that Primeland is no longer using that area. Jay Hinterlong reported that they pumped nearly 8 million gallons of water last month and sold about 7¼ million with most of the difference accounted for in water that isn’t metered. No new leaks were reported in the past month. Ron Grant reported the Division of Environmental Quality approved their wastewater reuse permit. He also reported that they are looking at ordering manholes for Lewiston Street. They would like to get 10 of them ordered in this budget year. Later in the meeting bids were opened from 3 different companies with bids for the 10 manholes ranging from a high of $10,540 to a low of $7,790. Low bidder Boise Vault and Precast was awarded the bid, which included shipping to Cottonwood. City Maintenance Supervisor Roy Uhlenkott said he has heard good reports about that companies manholes from Grangeville. Jack Duman reported they tore out a couple of railroad crossings and have filled them in. He is still waiting from some information on the Lewiston St. project. Ron Grant reported the only fire call in the last month was a mutual aid call to Ferdinand on Sunday concerning a possible anhydrous leak. It turned out that a hose came loose and the only leakage was just what was in the hose. He said the department also has ordered and received a gas sniffer, which he is in the process of learning how to operate. There was no Planning and Zoning meeting this month. Mayor Duman said he needs some help recruiting new members to the P & Z commission. It was reported that a new 6 inch water meter has been installed for the housing area. Previously they had a 4 inch meter there with a 6 inch line going in and a 6 inch line coming out, so it made sense to put in a 6 inch meter, for fire protection if nothing else. Cottonwood Housing and the BLM were to help with the costs of the larger meter. City fees were brought up. Apparently the current fee structure for things like variance requests and conditional use permits don’t cover expenses. The council asked city clerk Altman to come up with estimated actual costs and bring them to the next meeting. Councilor Jack Duman asked if the council members could get a list of all city fees, including things like hall rent, dog tags, etc. In final action at the meeting bad utility debts of $362.59 were written off. The council adjourned at 8:05 p.m. The next regular meeting will be Tuesday, October 13 at 7 p.m. The meeting will be on Tuesday due to the government holiday on Monday for Columbus Day. |
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