| City
to purchase two newer firetrucks
The Cottonwood City Council held their regular September meeting Monday, Sept. 8 and approved a bid for two firetrucks. The two trucks are new identical 1997 Pierce Saber Custom Pumper trucks located at Whidby Island, Wash. They would replace the two oldest trucks the city has. Those trucks will be surplused out and sold. The bid was for $105,000. The department has $93,000 in their truck fund. The rest would come from reserves until the older trucks are sold, which should more than cover the difference. In other business City Clerk Carol Altman discussed the quotes for a handheld meter reader. They ranged from $7,700 to $10,000. After getting quite the runaround on what they actually needed she wound up talking with a representative from the company that supplied their reader wands. According to him he can refit their wands with a memory chip for about $600 that would do what they need. He said they don’t need a fancy handheld meter for a city no larger than we are as long as the person doing the readings knows where all the meters are. A catering permit was approved for Doreen’s for an Idaho/Lewis County Cattle Producers’ event at the Community Hall on Oct. 18. The council discussed a concern Larry Remacle had about his driveway drain. In a recent hailstorm it got plugged up and flooded his garage which is below his house. The drain was apparently installed when the house was and it is believed to run out below the street towards the creek that flows through that part of town. City attorney Joe Wright said from the discussion he’s hearing it is not the city’s responsibility. In reports Pat Holthaus report the city pumped 6.5 million gallons and sold a little over 6 million. After all non-metered use was accounted for there is about 410,000 gallons unaccounted for, about a 6.3% loss. City maintenance supervisor Roy Uhlenkott said he wants to try isolating some of the areas at the east end of Main Street and see if the water loss might be in that area. It seems like no matter how much is pumped, they lose about the same number of gallons each month, 400,000-500,000. In the sewer report Ron Grant reported the sewer system has nothing to report. In the stormwater area they have been cleaning out the creek behind Riener’s Grocery. The Maple Street culvert project is progressing with grant funds coming available about the end of the month. The culvert has been ordered and Uhlenkott reported the got a good deal as it came in under projected cost. Jack Duman reported there’s not much going on with streets although they might get some money back on the dust abatement as the product they received has had some problems. He also said he has seen some response on the overgrown trees hanging over the streets. There’s still some work to do there though. Shelli Schumacher reported the recreation department went over budget due to the amount of watering in the city park. Later in the meeting the council approved transfer of reserve funds to cover the amount over budget. Mayor Denis Duman commented that he’s heard people saying they appreciate the park being green. Grant reported the Fire Department had 6 calls this past month, 3 in town and 3 rural. The in-town ones were a pole fire near the fairgrounds, a grass fire and an ambulance assist. Rural calls were field fires. Fire Chief Greg Sonnen said the fire restrictions enacted last month are still in place. Also appearing before the council was Idaho County Commissioner candidate George Perry of Kooskia. He is running against Skip Brandt. The meeting adjourned at 8:20 p.m. The next regular meeting will be Tuesday, Oct. 14 at 7 p.m. It will be on Tuesday due to the Columbus Day holiday. |
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