Moscow City Council – 20 February 2017

Observer: Amber Ziegler

Present: Jim Boland, Anne Zabala, Gina Taruscio, Mayor Bill Lambert, Brandy Sullivan, Kathryn Bonzo

Absent: Art Bettge

  1. Consent Agenda – Approved unanimously with no discussion; included approval of agreement with Jan Mason Rauk to conduct total compensation study for an amount not to exceed $15,000, among other items.
  2. Appointment of Mia Vowels as new City Attorney – Approved unanimously with no discussion.
  3. Multiple hearings related to vacation or revision of Right of Way – All approved unanimously with some discussion.
  4. Sanitation System Planning Services – Proposal for approval of agreement with Great West Engineering of Boise to develop a proposal for a Comprehensive Sanitation System Master Plan. The final product will include a conceptual design of the layout of a new solid waste system, including updated recycling center. The development process will include surveys and other methods of collecting public input. The project is expected to be completed by September 2018, and the cost is $63,641.00, to come from city funds for Sanitation Professional Services ($35,000) and Solid Waste Development ($28,641). Councilperson Taruscio commended the inclusion of public input. The proposal was approved unanimously.
  5. Request for Hamilton Fund to purchase and install wheelchair-accessible swing at East City Park – This proposal was brought forward by Parks and Rec at the initiative of the Moscow High School Buddy Club. They propose to raise around $3,000 in donations to put toward the cost, with the rest coming from the City’s Hamilton Fund (set aside to purchase playground equipment). Council members commended the students’ effort and community involvement. The proposal passed unanimously.
  6. Proposal to postpone General Obligation Bond election – In November 2017 the City Council directed staff to prepare General Obligation Bond to include in May 2018 election, in order to pay for siting and construction of a new police station (to be located where the recycling center currently is). City staff have requested to postpone the bond election to May 2019 because there are no set plans for the new recycling center. They feel that once there is a proposed site and design for the new recycling center there will be more transparency and better communication with the public. Currently they don’t have the ability to answer many questions about the overall plan of relocating and redesigning the recycling center, and they think that it is prudent to be able to have those answers before asking the public to approve a bond to move the police station to the currently recycling center location. Updated costs for the proposed police station and other office spaces (refitting the 4th street station for city offices and renovating current office spaces at the Mann Building) come to $8,555,588. Those costs might change before the 2019 bond election. The proposal to postpone the election was approved unanimously.