Small Town News

Aberdeen city council contemplates garbage collection contract

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The Aberdeen City Council met Tuesday, Aug. 11, with Snake River Dispose-All to discuss the needs of Aberdeen and the hauling of their garbage. Bill and Jamie Jones of Snake River Dispose-All were present to answer any questions that arose.

The contract between the city and the sanitation collection company will be up for renewal soon so the council wanted to discuss options and changes to the contract.

Present for the meeting were council members Aaron Spence, Mary Leisy, Lisa Pankau, Mayor Morgan Anderson, Brian Schneider, Larry Barrett and Craig Wampler. Police Chief Ray Dalling, Richard Mayer and Dan Acevedo were also present.

The council discussed changes they would like to make to the contract, including the term of the contract and changes of cost which may occur throughout the year. Amendments were added to the contract reflecting the changes which would benefit both the city and Snake River Dispose-All. The city council will vote at the next meeting on whether to renew the contract with the changes added.

Bill Jones agreed with the change requests and appreciated the willingness of the council to address his interests. Mayor Anderson expressed his satisfaction with the service of the Snake River Dispose-All to this point.

The minutes of the last city council meeting were approved. Anderson then asked for reports from the various departments. Parking

Larry Barrett was approached by a concerned resident about parking on Main Street. The question was raised about truck parking and how long it was appropriate for the trailers to be on Main Street. Barrett asked if there was an ordinance concerning this issue.

Anderson said at this time the city didn't allow RV's to park on Main Street. The city doesn't have a parking ordinance at this time. Anderson agreed that the parking situation needed to be addressed. During the council discussion, it was brought up that it would be okay for a truck to park his trailer for a couple of days on Main Street, but if it was left longer than a month it would definitely become an issue especially during snow removal.

Anderson asked for more information on state highway parking regulations and requested that Acevedo check into it. Acevedo agreed to research the parking regulations and get back with the council. Anderson then requested the parking issue be tabled until the September meeting so the information could be gathered. Wastewater

A bond election for the wastewater treatment plant update was discussed last month. Wamplef gave the council members an overview of the project and needs of the city. He asked if he could go ahead with the process for holding a bond election. He would like to get started on the preliminary work needed so information would be available to the public through open houses.

Anderson requested that all council members become familiar with the project so residents could come to them with questions. Some needed repairs to the plant are a must and need to be done within the next year. Each council member expressed their approval to start the preliminary work for wastewater bond election.

Wampler asked the council members to give him input on the water treatment plant. Anderson asked if Wampler would get a fact sheet to each council member to be familiar with when talking to city residents.

It was asked if the city had done mock billings for the fresh packs in town. Keillor needs this information for the projected costs for the treatment plant. Parks

Pankau has been working on plans to put a shelter at Posse Park. People are constantly using the park and a shelter would be a good addition, she said. There is money in the budget to pay for the project. She would like to obtain bids for the cement pad and metal structure to build the shelter. She was advised to talk to Les Howell about the public work specifications to make sure the shelter was in compliance.

Pankau said she would like to start up the mayor's youth council again and will talk to the school about interested students who might want to participate. Equipment

Spence asked Richard Mayer if there were any equipment problems or needs. Mayer said it would be really helpful to have another weed beater. The city crew is working hard to keep the weeds down and this would help. It would cost about $2,000. Spence said he felt it might be possible and would check his budget. He had no other business.

Personnel

Barrett had a meeting with the city crew to discuss their needs and concerns. He said he felt the meeting went well and appreciated the comments made by the city crew. He would like to change the time of the meeting to closer to the actual council meeting so the information is more current. Right now, they meet a few days after the council meeting. He would like to change to the week before the council meeting. Council members agreed this would be a good change.

Barrett asked about the junk car policy. Police Chief Ray Dalling informed him that there is a junk car ordinance for the city. Anyone who is concerned about junk cars should contact Dalling and he will attempt to take care of the issue. Water

Schneider reported on the water meters. They have taken meter readings for the past two months and noted a decrease in water usage from two years ago. Schneider felt this was due to the wet month of June.

The city crew has worked hard to repair the problem meters and the majority are fixed, he reported. This enabled them to have better meter readings.

The city is now ready to move forward with billing residents based on the water they use rather than a base rate. Each household and business will have a base amount for their water bill which will be about $20 for 10,000 gallons. Usage cost after the 10,000 gallons will be based on the amount of water used. Therefore, the bill could reflect both amounts.

Leisy asked if they could maybe have level pay available for the water bill. Marva Jean Mueller and Schneider said they would check into it. Schneider hopes to have everything in place to start using the meter billings by spring of 2010.

Airport

Leisy said she is still waiting on the state to send her the airport layout plan. Until she receives it, plans cannot go forward on the airport.

Work on the Gem Trail is progressing. The canal company owns the land on both sides of the ditch so they will be putting in culverts where designated on the trail. Because it was canal company land, culverts made a more cost effective plan than bridges and must be put in by the canal company. Leisy said they would apply for grants to cover the cost of the pipes and culverts for the trail. She is hoping they can finish this sometime this fall.

Police

Chief Ray Dalling had no business at this time. City Crew

The city crew has been busy this month beating weeds, patching streets, street sweeping and painting crosswalk lines at the school and on Main Street. They had a compliance inspection at the plants. Future plans for this next month are to repair the flow meters which need fixed, keep working on weeds and the streets.

Budget

Mayor Anderson commended all the departments on how well they did on spending their budgets and that he appreciated their work to make sure the budgets were accurate and according to need. A motion was made and passed to publish the proposed budget in The Aberdeen Times. Marva Jean Mueller said she will put the proposed budget into the paper. The budget hearing will be held on Wednesday, Aug. 26, at 7 p.m.

The bills were reviewed and a motion passed to pay the bills. Mueller asked which of the council members were up for election in November. Mary Leisy, Lisa Pankau, Brian Schneider and Larry Barrett will all be up for reelection.



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