Cargo container ordinance remains focus of city council meeting

The Ritzville City Council met for its regular meeting on Oct. 16, while earlier in the evening the council reviewed 110 Fund applications from organizations in the city.

Like the previous city council meeting on Oct. 2, a sizable portion of the meeting centered around the proposed ordinance that would ban permanently placed cargo containers in residential zoning districts. After noting suggestions made by councilmembers in the previous meeting on Oct. 2, Treasurer-Clerk Julie Flyckt and Police Chief David McCormick incorporated new civil infractions into the ordinance in hopes of helping the City more effectively enforce the ordinance.

The revised ordinance states that “any person violating the provisions of this chapter shall be charged with a monetary penalty of $250 for each day over the allowed days the container or pod remains on site.” However, the Council unanimously passed a motion at the meeting that revised the daily penalty from $250 to $500.

The ordinance also stated that pods could be authorized for a maximum period of 60 days, if authorized by a city conditional use permit. A date for a public hearing on the ordinance was also approved and is set for Nov. 6.

Pete Collard, a maintenance official at the Adams House Apartments on Broadway Avenue, spoke to the council about the apartment’s need for an additional handicapped space. Adams House sought approval from the City to add an additional handicap parking space on Jefferson Avenue, and said that Adams House personnel would install a sign, stripe the street, paint the curb and paint a handicap marking in the parking space.

Collard noted that the need for a new handicap space is because there are more handicapped residents at the Adams House Apartments than the number of handicapped parking spots available in their parking lot. There are currently two designated handicapped parking spots in the Adams House parking lot.

The council was engaged throughout the conversation, asking what role the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 might play, whether the City would be liable for any potential accidents if they did authorize the additional handicapped parking space, and the existing struggles current tenants faced in accessing the apartment complex.

After nearly 20 minutes of discussion, Councilman Mark Weigand made a motion to let the Adams House Apartments add the handicapped parking spot that they requested, but the motion was not seconded by any other councilmembers. Councilwoman Michelle Plumb noted that if the motion passed it would require the City to change an existing ordinance. Mayor Gary Cook said that the Council would continue to look further into the requests made by the Adams House Apartments.

The council also discussed the issue of cars driving in both directions on one-way streets at Railroad Avenue and Washington Street. L.R. Keith with the Railroad Depot Museum made the City aware of the issue. Potential solutions discussed by the Council and other officials in attendance included repainting the one-way turn sign on the street, and also adding more visible one-way and do not enter signs.

The council also approved the transfer of $24,620 from the Sewer Fund to the Doe Debt Service Fund.

The next city council meeting is set for Nov. 6 at 7 p.m.