Lind Town Council works towards budget decisions

At the recent Lind Town Council meeting, held on Nov. 10, multiple motions were made with only some carrying.

This meeting held many decisions tabled from the previous meeting, as well as several new motions and information.

The first topic discussed regards the Lind Park irrigation project which has been a topic at previous meetings. Alan Gay, engineer with Stantec, received a bid for the project totaling $9,192.87 from Skone Irrigation Inc. This is almost $1,200 over the engineer’s estimate.

Gay stated the piping the company quoted them for are PVC pipes and not the standard black polyethylene pipes Gay suggests the town uses.

He stated this would bring the cost down closer to the approved $8,000. This project is contingent on the ground having not frozen, which puts the council on a stringent time constraint.

Without having the exact project cost, the council postponed their decision until the Nov. 24 meeting and risk the project being delayed until spring.

The Council’s approval is needed to begin this project, which is estimated to take four days but will include the excavation of the grassy area in the park to lay the new pipes.

Gay will receive a new estimate and present the information to the council at the next meeting for approval.

The next item on the agenda involved the ability for the Town of Lind to apply for grants to complete projects as a low-income town.

Ben Shedlock, Stantec Technical Writer, who specializes in grant writing, presented the council with the information surrounding the need for a new income survey.

The recent American Community Survey via the United States Census Bureau collected data from the Town of Lind. This sampling determined the income for Lind to be higher than the previous year. The increase means the town is unable to apply for grants to continue water projects and other items.

The statistical sample works out to be roughly one in every 38 homes. With the population of Lind under 600, an estimated 15 people were offered the optional survey.

In order for the town to continue on the improvement path they are currently on, the council would need to approve a new income survey to be completed.

Either the Rural Community Assistance Corporation (RCAC) or Evergreen Rural Water of Washington (ERWoW) would conduct the survey.

RCAC sent a bid to conduct the survey via mail in the Town of Lind totaling $7,600.

This means the company would send out two rounds of mailing to every citizen in Lind and if they received enough for their sample size then the town would only be charged that amount.

If inadequate responses are received door-to-door surveys would be conducted, which increases the cost to $12,000.

They have yet to receive a full bid from ERWoW. The next step for this process is to see if they can receive a grant to pay for this project.

They will contact the Department of Ecology to seek assistance as they have worked closely with them on many projects in recent years. They hope Ecology recognizes the need for the continuing grants for the town and help pay for the survey cost.

This topic will most likely continue at the next few meetings before a decision is reached.

Two ordinances were drafted after approval from the council on Oct. 27. They were presented for signature and final approval at the meeting on Tuesday.

The first being Ordinance 15-03, which laid out the plan to increase the citizen’s monthly water to 1,400 cubic feet and to add a $1 surcharge to withdraw tank water.

There were some discrepancies in regards to the passing of this ordinance.

Stated at the beginning of the ordinance, “An ordinance amending section 1.1.2 Table B of ordinance 03-04 as it pertains to monthly water allowance and service rates.”

Councilperson Paula Bell requested the table listed in the ordinance but it could not be presented. Because of this Bell opposed the motion. The ordinance passed with four in agreement.

The second ordinance decided upon was Ordinance 15-04, which laid out the temporary suspending of the rate increase pertaining to monthly water service. Normally each year the citizens of Lind receive a rate increase on their water and sewage rates but for the year of 2016 this will not occur.

The town is able to provide this for the people of Lind because the $1 surcharge tied to the tank water will make up the difference in the amount they would receive from the increase of water rates.

This motion was unanimously passed.

The council discussed the ordinance proposed by Mayor Jamie Schmunk at the previous meeting to add a $20 fee each to be a part of the water and sewer system within the town.

The council needed to make a motion to have this ordinance drafted. The motion carried with Councilperson Kathy and Bell opposed.

The council moved to discussing budget items addressed in the last meeting.

The Mayor began by explaining the $40,000 of unexpected costs for the water budget in 2015.

Because of these overages, Mayor Schmunk proposed to the council to transfer $20,000 into the water budget from current expense.

After much discussion, Councilperson Tom Strohmaier made the motion to transfer this money. With no second, the motion failed.

The council then discussed the proposition to transfer $4,000 from current expense into the airport fund. The reasoning for this is due to the taxes the airport project has brought in this past year.

The Mayor said because these funds came in from the airport they should be directed back to the airport fund. Additionally, she predicts the need to repave the airport and would like to have the $4,000 matching funds available when this happens.

Strohmaier made the motion to transfer these funds, White seconded. The other three members present were opposed and the motion failed.

The last item presented involved the Council’s approval in regards to the proposition to catalogue the Town’s ordinances.

This process includes combining all amendments to current ordinances so they can be easily located and read.

Code Publishing Company proposed a 250-page book including the Town of Lind’s ordinances, which would cost the town $7,250. This amount can be split over a three-year period. The last time this process took place was in 1920.

It was stated Lind is one of 12 communities in Washington who have not had their ordinances summarized since that time.

White made the motion to accept the bid to complete this and Bell seconded. The motion carried without opposition. This process will begin in January.

The council also passed a motion for the Town Budget Hearing to take place on Nov. 24 at 6:45 p.m., prior to the originally scheduled council meeting.