The Cottonwood City Council held their regular April meeting Monday, April 10.
They voted to approve a quote for upgrading the Cottonwood Fire Station heating system. Apparently the current system is old and parts are unavailable. Out of several heating units, just one is still working and it winds up running all the time trying to warm up the building. Parks and Buildings commissioner Linda Nida had 3 quotes from HVAC companies for what they recommended which were not necessarily the same system. After some discussion the council decided to go with Rocky Mountain HVAC’s bid which was to put an independent unit in the main fire station and another in the back portion. It would be a propane system. Cost is just over $7,000.
An alcohol beverage license transfer was approved from Cottonwood Foods to Cloningers, Inc., which has purchased Cottonwood Foods effective this week.
The pasture lease for the area above the ballfields was discussed. The current lease runs out in June. The current renter has not been doing weeding and fence maintenance which is part of the lease but still has first option on renewal. Action was tabled until the next meeting.
Mayor Keith Holcomb read a letter from Cottonwood citizen Kristin Frish who had concerns about the city’s water supply with what is coming up. She cited providing water to St. John Bosco, the proposed splash pad at the city park and the new concrete plant going in across Lewiston Street from Seubert Excavators.
Roger Trombetta appeared and said he believes the survey is done but hasn’t been contacted yet by the surveyor. He plans to come back to the May meeting with the info sought by the Council.
Members of the Summerfest Committee informed the Council they are looking at moving the festival to the City Park and pushing the event back to September which should be after the park work is finished. Mayor Holcomb had a concern as to whether the grass would have come back in by then. The committee will look into some options.
In reports Terry Cochran reported he had a busy month as police chief. One item of note is that they have purchased a replacement vehicle for Officer Rambo.
Debbie O’Neill reported the city pumped 1,871,800 gallons of water in March and sold 1,501,810 for a loss of 14.82%. Some of that loss can be attributed to a leak found near Fred’s Body Shop. The crew are in the process of replacing some fire hydrants. They are also looking at painting one of the water towers. It still has original paint on the outside and is showing some rusting. The city crew may be able to do the outside themselves. It also may need to be repainted on the inside and that is quite a different situation.
Brett Miller reported they are cleaning up the agriforest to get it ready for sprinkling this summer. They are also needing to renew the reuse permit which expires in June 2024.
Kristine Holthaus reported she attended the West Camas Transportation Group meeting. They talked about chip seal and mag chloride needs for this year. They are also looking into drilling a well at the mag chloride side but would have to work with the City on that due to the sewer and water lines going through that area. The city crew is also doing some crack sealing around town.
Linda Nida reported the old playground equipment has been removed from the City Park. There is also a question on the Cottonwood Youth Sports agreement with the city and the school’s use of ballfields. After some discussion it was suggested that CYS and the school get together to decide what they want and present that to the city.
Holthaus reported the crack seal and slurry seal at the airport would likely get started near the end of April, weather permitting.
Nida reported the fire department had two calls for house fires.
The meeting adjourned at 8:06 p.m. The next regular meeting will be Monday, May 8 at 7 p.m.