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Holcomb appointed to Cottonwood City Council Keith Holcomb was appointed to fill the vacant spot on the Cottonwood City Council at their June meeting Monday, June 14. No appointments were made as to which city functions he would be in charge of but we’ll assume he would be the streets commissioner and airport commissioner. Those were the duties held by former councilor Ben Schumacher. In other business the council, reluctantly, voted in a 3% increase in the water and sewer rates. The council didn’t want to raise the rates again but the Division of Environmental Quality’s requirements to get a sewer discharge permit have the city seeing increasing costs in the sewer department to the point of having to hire additional employees among other expenses. The council voted to purchase a dump truck from the Idaho Transportation Department for $20,000. The city needs a new truck and this was determined to be a great deal. The truck comes with a brand new sander that city employee Dallas Paul said is probably worth the $20,000 all by itself. It doesn’t have a snowplow but does have all the hardware needed to install one. Sewer requirements were discussed with the City of Wallace’s ordinance reviewed. Action was tabled until the next meeting. A notice of public hearing and summary of proposed ordinance was approved regarding flood damage prevention. Installing an Electric Vehicle (EV) charging starting was discussed. Linda Nida said a fast charge unit would cost about $120,000 to install but that would be covered by a 100% grant if it is installed on city property. It pays 80% if on private property. Stipulations are that restrooms are nearby and possible restaurants or shopping as it takes about 30 minutes to fully recharge. Nida said possible city sites would be the north end of the community hall, at the fire station or at the city park. Avista is looking at having stations every 50 miles or so and Cottonwood is about 50 miles from the EV station at the Clearwater River Casino. She felt it may be a little too early in game for the city and the matter was tabled. A city park project was discussed. The VFW have been looking at building a pavilion in the park. This would enable groups to have a function under cover as the cabana is kind of small and there are not enough shade trees for a large group. The site they were looking at is where the backstop is located now. Nida has looked into this and is looking at replacing the restrooms with a handicapped access facility plus some handicapped access parking areas. Dodd Snodgrass of CEDA was at the meeting and said there is grant money available now for city park improvements and adding handicap access elements increase the probability of a grant being awarded. The council passed a motion to proceed with this project. The council also approved a catering permit request from Keuterville Pub & Grub for the VFW’s beergarden during the Idaho County Fair from August 18-21. In reports Terry Cochran reported the grant for officer Rambo was approved and that the burglary investigation has wound up with the perpetrators caught. Pat Holthaus reported that they pumped 2,509,580 gallons of water and managed to sell 2,511,579 gallons. When you figure in re-lube and such they somehow gained about 20,000 gallons of water somewhere. The city crew reported no new leaks were found. The sewer and land and buildings reports were covered in other items on the agenda. The only fire department call last month was an assist on a fatal crash in Lewis County. Amy Uptmor of JUB Engineering sent a written update on the NRCS project. She reported the DEQ draft review of the permit for an 11 year agreement is about done. The sewer system I & I evaluation is continuing. They are starting to develop project costs for the stormwater project. Field work should start in mid-July. The council meeting adjourned at 8:02 p.m. The next regular meeting will be Monday July 12 at 7 p.m. |
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