| Grant
awarded for hall remodeling
It was announced at the Cottonwood City Council May meeting Monday, May 11, that the city has been awarded the grant they applied for that would enable them to convert the lower level of the Community Hall into a Senior Citizen Center. Councilor Shelli Schumacher said she expects the work would likely start in September. Included in the remodel would be an upgraded kitchen, an additional bathroom and a handicap access ramp. There were a couple of Boy Scouts in attendance looking to complete communication merit badges. Mayor Denis Duman took a little time to inform the young men about what the mayor and council are and what they do. In the reports, Jack Duman said they are getting things ready for the East St. project. They were able to piggyback their project on the Idaho Transportation Dept. grinder and cement with the price coming in at about what was expected. Work on redoing East Street from Foster past the Elementary School would likely start in July. Also the West Camas Transportation group’s call for bids on sealcoating oil came in considerably below estimates which could mean more streets get sealcoating treatment this summer than expected. Mag Chloride treatments should be starting soon on the gravel streets. Pat Holthaus reported they pumped 2.7 million gallons and sold about 2 million with a loss of 665,000 gallons, 24%. A good portion of that could be attributed to chlorinating the lines. No new leaks were found. In the sewer report Ron Grant said the only thing going on there is purchase of chemicals to treat weeds in the agriforest. Grant reported the Fire Dept. had a couple of calls. One was a citizen burning a shed without first getting a burn permit. The other was a vehicle accident in town with concern about possible leaking gas. They also got 6 new pagers of a different style that they are trying out. In unfinished business an encroachment permit in public right of way was discussed. The city currently doesn’t have such a permit. City attorney Joe Wright said he feels it should be addressed by ordinance. Mayor Denis Duman asked him to come up with a proposed ordinance and encroachment permit by the next meeting. The subdivision ordinance was also discussed as a possible property sale is coming up that could be affected by the ordinance, or they could use a loophole to work around it. Apparently the ordinance says a parcel broken into 3 or more pieces has the follow the ordinance rules of getting water and sewer to each parcel while breaking into 2 pieces would not be affected. The matter was tabled with Mayor Duman asking each councilor to take a look at the ordinance and see if there is anything else that jumps out at them. Wright was also asked to go through it and see if there are any areas he feels should be addressed. In final action before adjourning to an executive session the council discussed getting email addresses that would be used when conducting any city business. More and more public access requests can include a person’s private email if any public business is done using that address. The next regular meeting of the Council will be Monday June 8 at 7 p.m. |
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