REGULAR COUNCIL

CITY OF COSMOPOLIS Regular City Council Meeting May 18, 2022 Mayor Kyle Pauley presiding. COUNCILMEMBERS PRESENT Candice Makos, Stana Cummings, Jim Ancich, Cody Bridges, and Miles Wenzel. STAFF PRESENT Attorney Steve Johnson, Fire Chief Mark Tarabochia, City Administrator Darrin Raines, Public Works Superintendent Jeff Nations, Court Administrator Tracy Dugas, and Finance Director Julie Pope APPROVAL OF AGENDA Mayor Pauley stated that Item c would need to be striked from the agenda. City Administrator Raines stated that we have not received the agreement yet as they are still working on the numbers. Councilmember Ancich made a motion to approve the agenda with the removal of item C. Councilmember Makos seconded. Motion carried. CONSENT AGENDA Councilmember Makos made a motion to approve the consent agenda. It was seconded by Councilmember Cummings. Motion carried. COMMITTEE REPORTS Public Safety – Councilmember Wenzel stated that they met on May 10th to get an update on the process to bring on new volunteers and the process to acquire testing and equipment purchases. Parks, Rec, and Cemetery – The committee and department heads met with Linda Springer to discuss paving funding. Linda Springer stated that she will receive grant funding to cover it. They also discussed the Highland Park and where the project is at. Linda Springer gave an update on the Highland Park Project. She gave a shout out to Jeff Nations and Public Works for their help with the project. She stated they have almost $100,000 in grant and in-kind funding for the park. CITY OFFICIALS City Administrator – Administrator Raines requested a public hearing for the June meeting for the Six Year Street Plan. He discussed the AHBL Agreement that is Item D under new business. It is for a review of the Shorelines Master Program. It was last updated in 2017. This is a grant from the Department of Ecology for $11,200. The Mill Creek Multi-objective Plan will be on hold until next month. He should find out tomorrow if we will receive additional funding for this. If not, we may have to trim costs. Finance Director – Director Pope stated that Spring Clean Up has less vouchers used than the previous year. She has met with Municode to start the training and set up. It should go live in July. Next week, she and Darrin will meet with Jared Loman regarding the website update. The State Auditors have contacted her to start the audit process. She asked the Council permission to move the Makarenko Park Fund Reserve and Fire Equipment Fund Reserve back to investment accounts. She spoke with the Bank who encouraged her to do so with the rising interest rates. She emailed the Finance Sub Committee to discuss this prior to the meeting. Councilmember Wenzel made a motion to move the funds to the investment accounts. Councilmember Bridges seconded. Director Pope stated the interest rate would go to .55 percent and should continue to go higher. Motion carried. Fire Chief – Chief Tarabochia stated that they are close to bringing on a group of volunteers. He stated that there will costs associated with this for background checks, physicals to include respiratory testing, and drug screening. They will also be subject to an in-house physical agility test. We will have the volunteers provide their driver’s abstract. He would like to push out into South Aberdeen and the College to look for volunteers. We did get our hose and ladders tested. Next we will test our SCBA’s and compressors. The station needs a new water heater. Public Works is looking into options for this. He has a person from the community who wants to volunteer to help around the station. Another member of the community donated funds for another AED. This one will be located in City Hall. He thanked the community members for donating the money for these. He thanked the City of Abe3rdeen for protecting our community. They have done a tremendous job. Councilmember Wenzel asked what the on boarding costs are for a volunteer. Chief Tarabochia stated that he is estimating around $300 at this time. Councilmember Wenzel asked if $600 per volunteer would be adequate. The Chief agreed. Councilmember Wenzel made a motion to approve $600 per volunteer for onboarding costs. Councilmember Makos seconded. Chief Tarabochia stated that they have five volunteers to start. He also stated that the previous members who come back by June 15th could come back without going through the same process as new recruits. It would be considered a leave of absence. Motion carried. Attorney – Attorney Johnson stated that last meeting we tabled the selection of the RFA Committee members. Mayor Pauley stated that he will include this in his mayor’s report. Public Works Superintendent – We had shut down the Lions Park bathrooms due to vandalism this past winter. We reopened them the first of this month, but they have been vandalized again. We put in two new connections for water and sewer this month. We have been mowing the cemetery for the holidays this month. This takes a lot of hours to accomplish. We haven’t installed any new water meters in two months. The grass is growing rapidly and we do not have enough manpower. MAYOR’S REPORT Mayor Pauley stated that he reached out to the council members to see if there was any interest in the RFA Committee. He is appointing Councilmembers Wenzel and Cummings to the committee. He and the two councilmembers will represent Cosmopolis at the RFA meetings. As of the next meeting, we will be returning to City Hall for meetings. We are working on a system to allow hybrid meetings. We will be adjusting to how public comments work. We will have the option to comment in person at City Hall or they can send it in and have it read at the meeting. We have scheduled June 25th for a City-Wide garage sale. The City is not organizing the event. The AWC Conference is coming up next month. There are still spots available for those that would like to attend. He submitted a letter of support for the Washington State Sheriff and Police Chiefs to continue the funding for the behavioral navigator position. We are reviewing updates for the new municipal building. Our last design came in above budget. Nothing is finalized at this point. The current EMS costs from Aberdeen are being paid by the City and Fire Department budget. We may have to pass on some of the costs to the residents. NEW BUSINESS A. Resolution 2022-01 (Purchasing Policy) – Attorney Steve Johnson went over the resolution. Councilmember Wenzel made a motion to approve the resolution. Councilmember Cummings seconded. Councilmember Wenzel stated that this is to expedite the process when the items have already been approved in the budget. Councilmember Bridges asked if there are any public works projects coming up that would spark an interest in this. Superintendent Nations stated that it has been for something that has already been budgeted for. Administrator Raines stated this covers department head purchasing. Previously department heads had a $2,000 limit. With the increase in pricing, $2,000 does not cover it. Motion carried. Councilmember Ancich caught a typo in Section 3. It should state City Council, not City. Councilmember Ancich made a motion to amend the resolution with the section 3, item A to say “approved for purchased by the City Council”. Councilmember Bridges seconded. Motion carried. B. Resolution 2022-02 (Animal Licensing Fees) - Attorney Johnson stated that this adds a new license fee. This is a lifetime license for altered cats or dogs. This also adds a few to replace a lost or damaged tag. Councilmember Makos made a motion to approve the resolution. Councilmember Cummings seconded. Motion carried. C. HDR Agreement – REMOVED FROM AGENDA D. AHBL Professional Services Agreement – Administrator Raines gave a review of the agreement. This is the consultant for the Shorelines Master Program review and is required by the Department of Ecology. The total amount is $11,200. Councilmember Wenzel made amotion to approve the agreement. It was seconded by Councilmember Makos. Motion carried. COUNCIL COMMENTS Councilmember Ancich – Public Works need help. They would like to schedule a public works committee meeting to discuss this. Councilmember Bridges - He stated that Public Works has been struggling for years. They need to hire another employee. It needs to be a priority. Councilmember Wenzel – He agrees with the other Councilmembers. We need to see if we can get some funding to help public works. We need to prioritize this. He stated that Linda and the Highland Park volunteers have done a phenomenal job in securing funding for the park. They have put in a lot of work in the park and it looks great. He thanked the community members for the donations to pay for the AEDs. PUBLIC COMMENTS Ray Robinson – He said that we do not have an abstain vote. He thinks we could add that in the future. We have a councilmember who does not live in our community and hasn’t for the last four or five months. He doesn’t understand how he can represent us and not live in the community. The RCW says in order to be a city councilmember you must be a registered voter and live in the community. Carl Sperring – He complimented Chief Tarabochia for the things he is putting in place for hiring the new volunteers. He asked if this process will be for all new city employees. Mayor Pauley said that each department has their own procedures for hiring. Linda Springer – She stated that she has worked closely with Jeff. He needs to be supported. She stated that the City has the responsibility to hire another person for his crew. We have volunteers who will be helping with the Highland Parks project. Teri Phipps – Terri asked if we have three volunteers lined up. Chief Tarabochia stated he has five. She said we only have one more meeting before the 4th of July. She highly encouraged the City Council to ban fireworks this year. Councilmember Wenzel stated that in order to enact a Firework ban that it has to happen a year prior. The Mayor can impose a temporary ban. Ann Peery – Ann agreed with Mr. Robinson. She stated that Cody Bridges does not live here and shouldn’t be on the council. Mayor Pauley adjourned the meeting. ___________________________________________ Finance Director Attest: ______________________________________ Mayor