| Uhlenkott
is new Cottonwood Fire Chief
The Cottonwood City Council held their regular February meeting Monday, Feb. 9, and passed a firearms ordinance and approved Roy Uhlenkott as the new Fire Chief. Council President Ron Grant ran the meeting in the absence of Mayor Denis Duman. The ordinance approved updates the old one the city had, bringing it into compliance with state codes and addresses some concerns police chief Terry Cochran had with the old one. The Cottonwood Volunteer Fire Department voted Uhlenkott in as the new fire chief at their last meeting after current chief Greg Sonnen decided to retire from the department. The city council has to approve that selection to make it official. The Council also stated they appreciate Sonnen for all his years of service to the Fire Department. In the reports Pat Holthaus noted the city lost a lot of water this past month as there were about 2.5 million gallons pumped but only 1.8 million that was sold for a 27% loss. There was a big leak on Smith St. that was fixed that may account for some of that. Grant reported the chlorine adjustments recommended seem to be working well. They were able to reduce the chlorine use to about 11% of previous amounts. This also saves a lot in the dechlorination stage since there is a lot less chlorine being used. Jack Duman reported East St. has been surveyed as part of the prep work for the future resurfacing project. He said the surveyors were able to find all the original pins and the current street does not really follow where it was supposed to be. He has contacted Avista about moving some of their poles. The project will take place either this year or next contingent on when Ferdinand Highway District gets their grant or not. If they get it they could share some costs and save both entities some funds. In the land and buildings report Shelli Schumacher reported she met with the senior citizens and things are positive in moving forward with the hall upgrade. She will get the grant application submitted by the 1st of March and they should know by June. In the Fire Department report Grant said they had just 1 call this past month, a dumpster fire near the airport. He also reported Pat Enneking has been doing some plumbing work in the fire station replacing a sink and hooking up a donated washing machine. A vehicle use policy was discussed. City Clerk Carol Altman reported adoption of such a policy would reduce their insurance costs with ICRMP by about $800. Uhlenkott expressed a concern about all the extra rules in the policy that could give the insurance carrier more loopholes not to pay a claim. There was also concern expressed with having all the employees carry CDL’s and be subject to random drug testing. The testing costs could wipe out any potential insurance premium savings. The matter was tabled to next month to get more information. The council meeting adjourned at 8:10 p.m. The next regular meeting would be Monday, March 9 at 7 p.m. |
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