Ritzville City Council works towards grant completion

The May 17 meeting of the Ritzville City Council began with two requests from residents in attendance.

The first request came from Amy Galbreath who requested the council’s approval to set up a firework stand near the Conoco Station. She will open at noon on June 28 and close in the evening of July 4 or whenever the stand is sold out. The council approved this unanimously.

Larry Ahern representing the Ritzville Pastime requested to once again have permission to open a beer garden at the side of their establishment for Memorial Day weekend. Ahern requested to use gates to mark a 52-foot by 20-foot space to be manned by an employee to check identification.

Ahern advised the beer garden would be slightly smaller than last year to accommodate the Art on the Plaza Western Art Show.

He also requested a form from the Western Artists Association to waive their liability if any accidents occur on the sidewalk belonging to the Pastime.

The council approved the beer garden but advised the permit would need to be discussed with the Western Artists Association.

Resolution 2016-07 was presented in regards to the Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) certification of compliance.

This document certifies the City will comply with the specific restrictions and policies set forth by the CDBG if they receive the funds from the CDBG.

The council then discussed Resolution 2016-08 in regards to the Greenhouse Gas Reduction Policy. Passing this resolution is another part of the City preparing for their CDBG application as they have changed their regulations and the resolution needed to be updated from 2001.

Jake Youngren from Varela and Associations, Inc. provided a review of the three bids received for the First Street overlay project.

The lowest bid was received from Granite Constriction Company for $162,195. The engineer’s estimate for the project was $180,000. The other two bids were from Slaven’s Construction and WM Winkler Company.

The council discussed the bids and chose to proceed with Granite Construction Company based on the Transportation Improvement Board’s acceptance of the bid.

City Attorney Mark DeWulf advised the Franchise Agreement documents have been sent to both Avista Utilities and Big Bend Electric Cooperative for their review.

Ann Olson then approached the podium representing the Ritzville Museum Volunteers in regards to repairs needed on the Frank R. Burroughs’ Home. Olson advised the foundation of the building was constructed with basalt pillars, which are deteriorating with time.

Townsend Construction examined the foundation and offered a bid for rehabilitating the building of $10,835. This specific company has done numerous restoration projects on the Burroughs’ Home and is known for keeping the historical value of properties.

To date, the Ritzville Museum Volunteers have raised $7,000 towards this project through grants and fundraisers. Townsend Construction advised their availability would be limited after May and the Volunteers were requesting the remaining funds to come from the City.

After discussion of this the council approved the funding of $4,000 to be taken from the reserve utility tax fund to go towards the repairs of the historic building.

Councilperson Mark Weigand was opposed to this as he did not appreciate only having a short time to think about the spending of this amount of money.

Ritzville City Police Chief Dave McCormick advised he attended a countywide Washington State Patrol Criminal History meeting in Ritzville.

The 2014 audit results were discussed in length specifically in regards to the non-compliance rating for the handling of criminal history from arrest to judgment.

They received a 78 percent rating on that with seven disposition sheets never filed with the State.

McCormick advised they discussed how once an arrest is made and the paperwork filed with the court or prosecutor they no longer have control over the document.

He advised he is sending a letter to the agencies to address the dispositions from 2014, which were never filed.

Councilperson Mike Schrag representing the Tree Board updated the council in regards to the Sprenger Memorial located at the Ritzville City Park.

He advised everything has been ordered and to date they have spent $6,186. They hope to have the memorial finished by July 8.

Councilperson Scott Yaeger advised the Ritzville Golf Association submitted a request for improvements to the Parks and Recreation Committee.

The specific improvements include 18-inch walls to line specific greens as well as fixing two water fountains along the course totaling approximately $7,000.

After discussion of these the council approved the RGA to move forward with these at it will be paid for by the RGA and no additional funds from the City were required.

Clerk/Treasurer Kris Robbins advised the CDBG Public Hearing would be held on May 26 at 5:30 p.m. followed by a Council Workshop.