| Stormwater,
East St. discussed
The City of Cottonwood voted to establish a separate stormwater sewer department and have the sewer commissioner oversee that as well as the regular sewer system. In the past stormwater issues have been dealt with by both the streets and sewer departments but these issues take away from funds dedicated to their regular purposes. The council is looking into adding an additional fee to the utility bills to build a dedicated fund to address stormwater drainage issues. There is also some grant funding they could pursue. Some issues have already arisen but they will need to develop of list of these needs and prioritize them for when they can get some funding to fix the problems. Another upcoming problem is East Street, both the street and sidewalk, from Foster to Cottonwood Butte Road. Street Commissioner Jack Duman said he estimates costs to fix the street properly would run from $300,000-$500,000. The problem is that it doesn’t fit into any of the current funding sources available. He said the street is in bad shape now and would only get worse in a couple of years if the school district moves ahead with the plan to move the K-4 students to the Middle School. The project is too big for the $100,000 stimulus fund grants available and too small for other grant funding. The only option he sees at this time would be a bond levy. Before they do anything though they have to clear up the right-of-way issues with the school. In his street report Duman said he met with the West Camas Group to list projects and prioritize them for the $100,000 stimulus grants. East St. came out #2 on their list. After tossing it out due to the excessive cost to fix it properly, the city’s highest rated project within the multi-highway district area is a proposal to put an asphalt overlay on Broadway Street from Arnzen Drug up to the railroad tracks. Other city projects in the running were mag chloride, fixing the northern part of Lewiston Street that won’t get fixed by the project already in the works and redoing the BST on several of the streets in town. He said they are still waiting on state information on doing the school crosswalk on King Street and putting up the signage for which they’ve been awarded a grant. Once the state guidelines are received they will get the appropriate signage ordered. In the water report it was reported that just over 4 million gallons were pumped last month. There was some loss but most of it can be attributed to various projects. Jay Hinterlong reported the city crew has been working on some of the laterals coming off of Lewiston Street as preventative maintenance. Roy Uhlenkott reported well #5 has been down as they had to wait for a replacement part. A coupling at the well house went out. The replacement they ordered is rated for higher pressure than the one they had. In the sewer report Ron Grant said he is looking to get together with Jack Duman to set up a time line for the sewer system work they’ll be doing on Lewiston St. In the Land & Buildings report Shelli Schumacher reported the hall renovation work has started. Later on in an agenda item she reported that the proposed library remodel and extension of the front awning would have to be done as separate projects. Since this is a community building the state requires plans be drawn by an architect and then go through all the procedures. In other business Ordinance #220 was approved. It raises the fees for several of the zoning change requests. It appears elsewhere in this week’s Chronicle. Votes were canvassed for last week’s city election with Shaun Riener and Ron Grant approved as the winners. Mayor Denis Duman made 3 more Planning and Zoning Commission appointments. They are Joe O’Neill, Robert Stinson and Todd Stenzel. They join Nate Gentry who was appointed last month. That leaves one open position. There was discussion on the railroad salvage. The discussion centered around what can be done if the railroad pulls out all the good ties and just leaves the rest setting there. City attorney Joe Wright said it may fall under the county ordinances or under the jurisdiction State Division of Environmental Quality (DEQ). A liquor catering permit was approved for the Royale Room for the Brats & Brew contest set for this Saturday at the Community Hall. A couple of resolutions were read and passed that are requirements for acceptance of the grant monies, even though these same resolutions were passed prior to the water project a few years ago. The council adjourned to an executive session at 9:20 p.m. The next regular meeting will be Monday, Dec. 14, at 7 p.m. Riener, Grant are elected Shaun Riener and Ron Grant emerged as the winners in the 3-way race for the Cottonwood City Coucil’s two positions that were up for election. Riener received 74 votes while Grant received 69 votes. Jay Hinterlong polled 26 votes. There were 96 total ballots cast. Grant and Hinterlong were the incumbent councilmen. 18% of the city’s 527 registered voters cast ballots. |
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