| Cottonwood
City Council meets
The Cottonwood City Council held their March meeting Monday, March 10 with a sidewalk proposal for the front of the old K-1 building receiving the most discussion. Jack and Jeanne Wimer purchased the Kindergarten-Center for Discovery building with an eye toward turning it into apartments. They also eventually plan to add more another building in the property. Wimer’s sidewalk proposal is to extend it 12 feet from where it currently is. This would bring it straight across from where the sidewalk along Lewiston St. is at the intersection with Church St. Nate Gentry of the Planning and Zoning Commission said the P & Z members went and measured things out and Wimer demonstrated with vehicles that it does not narrow the street any. Vehicles parking diagonally actually stick out farther than vehicles parallel parked along the proposed new sidewalk. The City Council members decided they would like to take a look at it themselves before taking any action. The proposed Ironwood agreement was discussed with the council filling in some of the blanks on their proposed agreement. Mayor Denis Duman was to have a meeting with representatives of Ironwood, the BLM and a private residence owner in the old Job Corps housing area on Tuesday to discuss some issues. A catering permit was approved for Doreen’s to cater the Hospital Foundation’s Mardi Gras event on March 22. The Cottonwood Youth Sports agreement with the city was approved for another 5-year period. No changes were made as both sides have been happy with the previous agreement. A BLM easement request to build a water line was discussed. Duman wasn’t sure whether it was city property to grant an easement. City Attorney Joe Wright said that where East Street is being maintained by the city and is being used as a public road that the city does have easement rights. The city road grader is in need of transmission repair which Roy Uhlenkott said is estimated at about $20,000. That sounds like a lot but is still much, much less than getting a new grader. The city has money in the dump truck fund that could cover that and since their current trucks are in very good shape, money could be used from there. Mayor Duman suggested getting the repairs done and they can approve the money transfer when the bill comes due. Jay Hinterlong of Idaho County Recycling appeared before the council with a request to use the city park and possibly the cabana for an Earth Day event April 19. Megan Rambo pointed out that would also be the date of the Easter Egg Hunt. It was felt since one finishes before the other really gets started it shouldn’t be an issue. In reports Pat Holthaus reported the city is still losing a substantial amount of water somewhere as 2.3 million gallons were pumped and 1.8 million gallons sold for a 20% loss. It is hoped that when things dry up that leaks may be more evident. The water tests were good. Ron Grant said they had an Idaho Division of Environmental Quality inspection last week just after the flooding event which led to some overflow into the creek from the treatment system which wound up overfilled. He’s hoping since it was a natural event the city won’t get dinged on this. In relation to the flooding, Mayor Duman had a certificate of appreciation to present to NICI Warden Lynn Guyer for their help with the flooding. Apparently the city already had an offender crew ready to fill sandbags for the north end of the city park along Butler St. in case that area flooded again when Cottonwood Creek overflowed downtown. That’s why the city was able to respond so quickly with the sandbags. Grant said he actually watched the creek rise. He said it rose so fast that the culvert under the street couldn’t handle it. In the stormwater report Grant said the city has been reimbursed for the stormwater project. In the street report, Duman said they are still looking for a new streets commissioner. The sidewalk grant submitted by Jack Duman is up for review this week. Hopefully they will hear whether it is approved or not soon. Shelli Schumacher said the current phase of hall renovation is nearing completion. City Clerk Carol Altman commented there was lots of volunteer help in laying the new floor including Shelli, her husband and two brothers. Grant reported the fire department had no calls this past month. They have 6 members of the department scheduled to attend training at Orofino. The meeting adjourned at 8:35 p.m. The next regular meeting will be Monday, April 14 at 7 p.m. |
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