Harrington City Council: January 13th

HARRINGTON – The Harrington City Council met by Zoom for its Jan. 13th meeting with the following present: Mayor Nathan Luck, council members Justin Slack, Peter Davenport, Levi Schenk, Stephen Hardy and David Buddrius, Clerk Janice Cepeda, announced visitors Joe Armand and Cherie MacClellan and others unidentified.

The council is showing interest in questioning the expenditures going out of city hall, as was the habit of Mike Cronrath when he served on the council from 2001 to Jan. 2019. Rubber-stamping of the budget was rare then. With so many new members to city government, more questions are likely to occur. Current Mayor Luck has only been on the council since October 2018, when he was appointed to finish out Justin Slack’s term. On March 29, 2020, Luck was appointed by the council to serve as mayor after having refused the position for three months. Luck asked for a motion to approve the three types of billings, unpaid, paid and payroll, which passed unanimously.

Discussion of the 2020 budget amendment resulted in the following dialogue:

Mayor Luck, “The 2020 budget amendment, I’m going to wait on that. We have 20 days we can keep that open. Gonna work on some stuff with Stephen and Janice. We have 20 days we can keep that open. I want to wait until we have all those numbers in. I realize you don’t have the document in front of you.”

Councilman Davenport asked, “Do we have to have a special meeting? Jan. 20 is the deadline?”

Luck responded, “Jan. 20 is the deadline, not 20 days. That’s the ending of the year.”

Davenport asked, “What is the amendment?”

Luck responded, “Some are just adding line items into the budget, our loss of grants, changing some numbers, enough to constitute an amendment to that line item. We won’t vote on it tonight, make sure everything is kosher, set up a week or two weeks for a special meeting. Also do the 2021 budget at the same time, but we must do the 2020.”

Council questioned how to get 14 days into a seven-day time slot. Luck clarified, “The fiscal year closes on the 20th. I think we can amend it after the 20th. I can look that up just to see. Is that your question, Peter? Jan. 20 is just the end date of when we can enter bills into the 2020 numbers, but we can still amend it after that date. I think so. I would hope so. I’ll look into that and get an email off to you. Set a special meeting, or the other option, work on both at the same time.”

When asked when he proposed to vote on the amendment, he said, “Within the next week or two, just to get it into the paper. Two weeks from today, 27th, run ad, special meeting, Mayor’s update section, for the 2021 budget, salaries, etc., 7 p.m.”

At 7:26 p.m., Luck opened the public hearing on the Transportation Improvement Plan (TIP), which was sent by email. Luck explained that initially he thought that the 6-Year Plan only allowed six projects but then learned from Lincoln County Public Works Director Rick Becker that the city can have as many projects on the list as it chooses. The public hearing closed at 7:36 p.m. Council members voted unanimously to accept the TIP. Davenport inquired as to how the projects are ranked on the list. Luck said the mayor and council determine their importance to the city, and they are put on the list in that order.

Following the agenda, Luck returned to the topic of the budget with Ordinance 504. When the council voted on the budget in December, they didn’t actually have the ordinance in front of them, just the prepared budget. “I am not entirely sure how we have to do this, but we need to vote,” Luck said. The ordinance passed by a 4-1 vote, with Buddrius recording the negative vote.

The mayor’s update list had several items. Discussion followed once again on the credit card, which has not yet arrived. “Janice (the clerk) will be the only one using it at this time,” Luck said. When asked about the card’s planned use, Luck said, “Once the policy is in place, for paying any of our bills where we do not have an account.” Buddrius asked if this would replace the credit card currently being used for gas, and Luck’s response was, “Yes.”

The mayor, the clerk and a council member reported going to the bank to investigate the mystery of the safe deposit box. It contained the paperwork for investment money that the city holds and US Bank printed sheets and the official original combination for the safe at city hall. Buddrius asked how much the city pays for the box. Luck responded that it was likely $22 or $23 per month but changed that to $20/year when Davenport said he pays $20 per year for his box. All the former suspense and inquiry became a laugh, “Nothing too exciting, no gold bars or anything.” The box measures six inches by four inches by 16 inches deep. Councilmember Davenport requested the mayor provide the council with an itemized listing of the contents of the box.

Buddrius spoke on behalf of the Park and Cemetery Committee (Slack and Schenk) regarding replacement of the cemetery building and reported some of his findings. Tracks show where vehicles have driven over a portion of the grave area on the north side of the building at the cemetery. If the size of the building is altered, he said, the current location may not be the most appropriate. Discussion ensued as to whether or not the city needs a building alteration if the city does not intend to return to having its own lawn equipment. Other questions: What space does the city actually need? Is there more need than simply furnishing a service box for the water controls? Does the Lions Club want to rent city space for the flags?

The city owns a few small parcels of land, which some members of the council are interested in evaluating for potential sale, to reduce the properties the city needs to manage and thus perhaps increase the tax revenue for the town. Luck said he has a list of what he thinks needs to be kept and of sites that are usable for a building and worth selling. Another commented that it would be advisable to advertise and have public hearings regarding selling some of these parcels.

Council member Hardy is still struggling with getting the new equipment configured. He was successful with the clerk’s laptop, and it is ready to go. “IPads were more difficult than anticipated,” he said.

Luck communicated with Billie Herron regarding the Mid-County Seniors and Senior Meals. Okanogan County Transportation and Nutrition, which formerly oversaw the senior meals program, is now out of the picture. Council is concerned that the Mid-County Seniors obtain an electrically efficient refrigerator.

A few brief comments were made regarding the Town Square Project and the new water lines. Council is considering making those water lines the City’s contribution to the project. The amount was not stated. No decision was formally made.

The recent windstorm resulted in damage to the roof of city hall which McGowan and Cepeda investigated and turned in a report. Other damage noted about town were primarily trees falling over and damaging the sidewalks. Slack commented that Memorial Hall has in times past had issues with its roof and suggested that someone be appointed to check to see if there was damage. Opportunity for public comment was opened. No one commented. The meeting adjourned at 8:37 p.m.