| Cottonwood
City Council meets
The Cottonwood City Council held their regular April meeting Monday, April 9. Kevin Chaffee appeared with a request to do something about the creek that flows through his yard and the occasional flooding it goes through. He’s determined the culvert under Butler St. may be the culprit as it is too small to take the excess water. Jack Duman said they are aware of the problem and yes, they know about the street culvert. Unfortunately the street culvert dumps into a culvert that goes under the fairgrounds that is also undersized. A bigger culvert under Butler St. wouldn’t solve the problem. Mayor Pepper Harman said he would come check the problem and see if they can come up with a solution. Idaho County Sheriff’s Deputy Doug Ulmer gave his monthly report. He said things are slow now but will start heating up with the community celebrations which start with the Jet Boat Races in a couple of weeks. In reports Pat Holthaus reported they pumped almost 1.9 million gallons of water and sold 1.8 million which came to only 4.9% loss. Tests were all good. In the sewer report Roy Uhlenkott said the only problem they have had is with rainwater getting into the system. He’s hoping to get some sewer projects going in the next year or so to replace some possibly leaky manholes. Duman reported the Broadway St. project is to get going in May with a target finish date of mid-July so it is done before harvest. He reported Columbia Grain is looking at some paving work too which would help with drainage problems. He will be getting some mag chloride applications projects going and with Seubert Excavators planning on crushing in May, should be able to get some fresh gravel on some of the unpaved streets. In the Land and Buildings report Linda Nida said she contacted Randy from Northwest Elevators about the Community Hall elevator. He said there are no parts to fix that one and a replacement would be about $22,000. He suggested scrapping it. Carol Altman said an ADA grant was used for part of the cost before but she didn’t think that would be available again due to the access ramp they have now. Nida also reported the fire department had no calls this past month. They did an airpack training on April 2. She also reported there are other fire departments showing interest in their old airpacks. Under new business the budget hearing date was set for Monday, August 27 at 7 p.m. In other business Duman said the street sweeper is now 12 years old and showing need for repairs and possible replacement. He was looking for some funding help from the sewer and water departments for those repairs and setting reserve funds aside for a new one. When it was purchased, streets appeared to be the only need but the city crew discovered the vacuum part of it is very helpful when working on water or sewer problems. Both water commissioner Holthaus and sewer commissioner Lynn Guyer said they should be able to come up with some help in their budgets. In final business Gabe Riener appeared looking for an update about water and sewer service to his lots across the highway. City attorney Joe Wright said there is nothing in the city codes about having to hook up unless there is an adjacent water main or a sewer main within 200 feet. Since neither applies he could drill his own well and set up his own septic system. De-annexation was talked about but he could set up his own systems with or without going through that. For him the only difference would be adhering to the city’s building code if he remains part of the city and of course the city taxes. The meeting adjourned at 7:55 p.m. The next regular meeting will be Monday, May 14 at 7 p.m. |
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