Mossyrock City Council

AGENDA – MOSSYROCK CITY COUNCIL

August 21, 2024

1. Call to Order (6:00 P.M.)
2. Pledge of Allegiance

III.    Roll Call (6:01)

1. Setting of Agenda and Consent of Agenda (6:02)
2. Minutes of July 17th Council Meeting 2024 and July Vouchers approved by Mrs. Quinlan and Mr. Byrum.
3. Treasurer’s Report (6:05)
4. Staff and Committee Reports (6:08)
5. Public Works (Wastewater, Water, Streets)
6. Law Enforcement (Chief Cournyer)
7. Parks and Recreation Department (Randall)
8. Planning Commission (Marcia Manley or Mayor)

VII.   Public Comment on Agenda Items (6:25)

VIII.  Old Business (6:26)

1. Ordinance 356 Dog Ordinance
2. New Business (6:30)

A,      Ordinance 514 Draft    Regarding Motor Homes and Recreational Vehicles,

Amending Mossyrock City Code ( Discussion olnly)

1. MOU from Planning Commission – for discussion only
2. Other items – (6:35)

XII.   Adjourn (6:45)

 

MOSSYROCK CITY COUNCIL MEETING

August 21, 2024

 

I     Call to Order

The Council meeting was called to order at approximately 6:02 p.m. by Mayor Randall Sasser.

 

1. Pledge of Allegiance

 

III   Roll Call – 6:03

Present were Mayor Randall Sasser, Treasurer Angie Hartmann, Council Members: Bea Minnear, Juliana Simon, Teresa Quilan, and Shannon Mcarron. Excused: City Engineer and City Attorney. Council Member Craig Byrum was excused.

 

IV   Setting of Agenda and Consent Agenda 6:03

Mrs. Mcarron noticed a couple of errors on the minutes from last month and asked for corrections to be made. She then motioned to accept the minutes from July 17th, 2024, Council Meeting with corrections and vouchers from July 2024. Mrs. Simon seconded. Question called and passed.

 

V   Treasurer Report   6:05

Mrs. Hartmann gave the Treasurer’s report. See attached.

 

The question was asked as to what the grants are for, Mrs. Hartmann said they can be looked up online, but the specific grants are not on there. Mrs. Hartmann then explained what the Department of Ecology grant was for, which was the upgrade of the UV lights and aeration system. Mrs. Quinlan said she was going to ask the same question and Mr. Sasser said that the Ecology grant is changing all the time because as they look at the diffusers, we are not going to do all of them, we are going to hold off on one section. Comments followed.

Mrs. Quinlan asked about the TIB grant and which streets we would be doing, Mr. Sasser said that that will be for the ADA access ramps and curbs. Most of these are out of spec and need to be updated. More comments followed.

Discussion followed regarding the flow of income in and out to the engineering firms for their work in this process.

Mr. Sasser commented on the Climate Planning grant, not to his liking but it is something we have to do. Discussion followed. Mrs. Manley then explained a little more about what the grant is about, such as fires in our area and how we will mitigate them. More discussion.

Mrs. Quinlan then asked about retrofitting the community center, which had been talked about before to be an emergency center if needed and Mr. Sasser commented that there is probably out there, but it is not fully funded. Discussion followed.

 

 

 

VI    Staff and Committee Reports   6:07

1. Public Works (Mr. Sasser)

We currently have two people in public works, one is dedicated to the treatment plant and the other one is dedicated to everything else within the city. Next week he will start the hiring process to bring on one more person. We lost two but he will only bring back one more person. We will then reevaluate it later.

We did lose power during the last storm out at the treatment plant. It was down for about eight hours, but we have our generator out there. And even though the generator starts automatically and runs for 30 minutes, this time it did not start. But we got it taken care of and got it running. PUD did call Mr. Sasser and explained what they were doing to fix the electrical problem as well. Comments followed.

Once the third person is on board, there is a lot of trimming of trees and that sort of stuff.

 

1. Law Enforcement – Mr. Sasser

Mr. Sasser said he would continue to try and get the chief at the meetings. He asked if

everyone had the report from the police. Comments followed.

He said we are working on a secure system that we could put in actual gates down at the

park. Another option voiced was putting a gate code panel.

Mr. Sasser said vandalism has not been as bad this year down in the bathrooms in the

park.

 

1. Parks – Mr. Sasser

Mr. Sasser said that right now our big thing is the grant for the pickleball courts. He is positive about it, and it will be a great asset to our community and park. Comments followed.

The park board meets the 3^rd Monday of every month at 1 pm. Please come if you can.

 

1. Planning Commission – Mrs. Manley

Mrs. Manley said they have been a little busy. One of the things they have discussed is from a family hardship request to be able to use an RV as living space. Currently the city code says you cannot live in an RV in city limits. You can use an RV for 15 days and then you can come back and get another 15 days and after the third 15 days, you have to get a permit. Then after that you are not supposed to be allowed to have a permit. She said they have told the council about this before and they have two instances, one was the family where the mom was having medical issues and here her daughter wanted her to live in an RV outside the home and they came to the planning commission. The other instance is a new family that just moved in, they talked to the city clerk and did not submit any paperwork to the planning commission and in this case it is a three-generation issue. Comments followed.

Mrs. Manley felt that the city should be able to help with this and so they drafted an ordinance for this issue. Discussion followed.

In the ordinance they tried to have variances for family hardship or medical issues.

More discussion followed.

Another issue was a request for a sign by U4 Realty at 354 E. State Street. They requested about two or three signs and another sign that was 19 by 6 ft up on the front facade. This would require a variance and public noticing. Mrs. Manley feels this needed to go to the council for discussion and approval.

The third issue was a sign ordinance which will be coming to council soon. In 1999, there was an ordinance 322 that was drafted and tabled indefinitely. It was really long and that is probably why it was tabled indefinitely. The clerk had been getting a lot of requests for different signs and the growth management only talks about the 16 square feet and some other issues. They want to draft something much simpler.

The other ordinance they are working on is an update to the building code ordinance, and that was sent directly to the planning commission by our legal counsel. Our current code refers to 1999 or 2000 and the attorney has updated it to current codes. That will be coming to the council as well.

The last thing they talked about was a fee schedule ordinance. The county and several cities in the state have passed a fee schedule ordinance, that states if they have a fee schedule ordinance with all the fees, it can be changed by resolution instead of redoing all the individual ordinance. Comments followed.

Mrs. Manley would also like to have a half-hour workshop before the meeting where she can answer questions about any of the ordinances.

 

Mr. Sasser wanted to talk about some of these things and maybe at the next meeting.

Mrs. Quinlan then asked about the changes and Mr. Sasser said those are the lines in the red.

Discussion followed about the recommendations.

 

VII    Public Comment on Agenda Items   6:42

Mr. Buddy Rose made some comments regarding Climate Planning and Climate Change.

 

VIII   Old Business     6:44

1. Ordinance 356 – Dog Ordinance Establishing Definitions for Nuisances,

    Violations, Abatements and Penalties    

Mr. Sasser asked if we were going to table this again but then there was a discussion about who was working on this, and the thought was that it had been divided up into three sections. The fee regarding this has already been taken care of but the issue regarding vicious animals or dogs has not. The comment was that we have been working on this for two years now. Mrs. Mcarron commented that she thought our attorney, Ms. Jay had been taking a look at the aggressive dog issue and make a recommendation. Discussion followed.

 

Mr. Sasser asked if by the end of the year can we have this completed and rubber stamped and done. Mr. Sasser said we are not going to be keeping any dogs. Discussion followed.

 

Mrs. Mcarron said we should have Ms. Jay to come up with something by the end of the year.

More discussion.

Mrs. Mcarron motioned to talk this ordinance again till we have more information, Mrs. Quinlan seconded. Question called and passed.

 

IX     New Business – 6:55

 

1. Ordinance 514 Draft Regarding Motor Homes and Recreational Vehicles,

Amending Mossyrock – for discussion only

 

Discussed earlier.

 

1. MOU from Planning Commission – for discussion only

Mr. Sasser said this is regarding the sign, his cut at it, signage for a real estate agent to sell property is no problem but what he has an issue with is the flashing lights. They have to go.

The real estate company really wants to get this property sold.

Discussion followed.

Mr. Sasser said we should look at each sign individually and what the purpose is for. Mrs. Quinlan said we also need to look at whether the sign may cause harm to someone if not installed correctly. Discussion followed.

Everyone agreed that it cannot be permanent but only temporary.

Mrs. Mcarron motioned to accept the banner proposal, but she would like to have a time limit set for it to be up. She motioned to accept the banner with a 90-day limit then reevaluate if the property has not sold yet. Mrs. Simon seconded the motion. Question called and passed.

 

1. Other Items – 7:06

There was a question from a lady named Amanda and she asked if the community has a current 4 H group and how may people may want to have a 4 H group in the area. Mrs. Mcarron asked if she had contacted Mr. Hankins at the school. Amanda then explained what she would like to do to provide kids in the area with a way to learn, meet with other kids, and do things together.

Discussion followed. The recommendation was to contact the school to see if they still have a 4 H program.

 

The last item is the budget. Mrs. Hartmann explained the paperwork the councilmembers had received which was the expenses and revenues and some fees that the city attorney said the councilmembers should review. This is the first rough cut for them to review for next month. Open public meetings start next month. Discussion followed. Mrs. Hartmann explained some of the revenues and expenses and what the differences are.

 

Then there was a discussion regarding employees and their pay and how to keep them with us.

 

Mrs. Mcarron then asked about the miscellaneous expenses and Mrs. Hartmann then explained why there is a difference. Discussion followed.

 

1. Adjournment 7:32

Mrs. Mcarron motioned to adjourn the meeting; Mrs. Simon seconded. Question called; motion passed unanimously.

 

Respectfully submitted,

Angie Hartmann