Ritzville Council sets meeting date to review 110 applications

Ritzville businesses and organizations who have applied for 110 Funds in 2018 may want to have Nov. 28 open on their calendars.

The Ritzville City Council approved holding a special meeting on Nov. 28 at 5:30 p.m. to hear presentations from 110 fund applicants.

Mayor Gary Cook said the 110 fund applications were distributed two weeks prior to the council meeting and were due on Nov. 15. Cook said the city will also apply for project funds on behalf of local organizations as asked, such as the Ritzville Area Chamber of Commerce.

In other action items, Council approved Cook to enter negotiations regarding a possible property acquisition for the city.

Clerk-Treasurer Kris Robbins informed council of a property owner who approached staff about donating a parcel of land on Columbia Street, behind the Birchwood Apartments, to the city. The parcel consists of five vacant lots at 25,000 square feet with an assessed value of $9,000. Robbins said she wanted to approach Council to see whether or not they wanted Cook to proceed with negotiations for aquiring the property.

Council also approved a request from the chamber to vacate Washington Street, from Main Avenue to Railroad Avenue, from noon to 6 p.m. on Dec. 16.

Cook said the chamber is planning several holiday activities for December, including an event at Pioneer Plaza on Dec. 16. The original request from the chamber was to close the street from 3-6 p.m, but Police Chief Dave McCormick suggested closing earlier in the day to allow the chamber more time to set up the event.

The council then tabled an order of substantial completion for PumpTech regarding the Well No. 9 project.

Robbins said the City received the order of substantial completion and PumpTech had completed the required items from the punch list. She noted there is still some work to be completed regarding the well’s motor and other work, but those matters are not related to the list.

Public Works Director Larry Swift said the contractor is inspecting the well’s motor after hearing a noise in it. If there is a problem, the contract’s warranty will cover the cost.

Council postponed the item to wait and receive a written letter and more data from the project’s engineers, which is scheduled to be presented at the Nov. 21 council meeting.

In department reports, Assistant Fire Chief Joel Bell informed council the fire department responded to four calls at Lind-Ritzville High School in October, all of which were deemed false alarms. He explained the alarms were from the spikes in the city’s electrical system.

Bell said he contacted Superintendent Matthew Ellis and they discussed the building’s alarm system, which he learned was outdated. He added the Fire Department will not respond to alarm calls at the high school until firefighters are informed of smoke or fire in the building.

Bell also drafted a letter informing the school district they were in violation of the city’s False Alarm ordinance, but had not mailed it to the school district. Council adopted the ordinance in March in order to reduce false alarms in the city.

The ordinance states when false alarms that require emergency responders to assist more than once in a three month period, building or property owners will be assessed a service fee of $100.

The document also allows the police or fire chief to waive the fees if the cause of a false alarm was beyond the control of the owner. One example is if there is a spike in the electrical system that causes an alarm to go off.

Bell said his letter includes the number of false alarm incidents at the high school, which go back to March. Cook suggested he, Bell and McCormick schedule a meeting to discuss further action, to which Bell agreed.

McCormick said there were storage units were broken into in the last two weeks. When officers responded to the storage units, they found the locks were cut. He added there were reports of SUVs being broken into and gas being siphoned from vehicles in the city.

McCormick said if these incidents continue to escalate, the Police Department will expand shifts and have two officers on patrol.

Swift said Garth Davis from the Spokane Conservation District, completed landscaping in Ritzville City Park. He added maintenance crews are also working on the stagecoach and patching holes on the railroad crossings.

Robbins announced the City received two grants, one of which was from the Washington State Department of Natural Resources. This grant will help fund a project to restore 10 damaged Silver Maple trees in the City Park.

The other is a $4,000 Empire Health Foundation grant that will be used to preserve and restore the Ritzville walking path.

During committee reports, Council members Michelle Plumb and Dennis Chamberlain announced the Health and Wellness Committee is undertaking a project to remove excess and outdated signs throughout Ritzville.