August 15, 2023

CITY OF TOWNSEND

                                                                                                                                   City Council Meeting Minutes

Tuesday, August 15, 2023, 6:30 p.m.

CALL TO ORDER:  Mayor Evans called the meeting to order at 6:30 p.m.

Present:   Mayor Evans, Vickie Rauser, Matt West, Ken Urich, Angie Wintrow, and Nate Brown.  Also present were Tim Rauser, Kari Williams, Valerie Baraza, Todd Rolfs, Bill Garwood, Nancy Marks, Jeff Langlinais, and Vivian Boaz.

MINUTES:  Vickie made a motion to approve the minutes of 8.1.23  Angie seconded the motion; all in favor, motion carried.

  • Committee for Penalty Revisions: The committee (Angie, Matt & Vickie) met with Peter Simon to determine fees for fines.  The fines will range from  $50.00 to $500 so Judge Flynn can exercise his discretion on the fines.
  • Committee for City Attorney Contract:  (Angie, Matt & Vickie) They met and talked briefly about dividing Peter Simon’s load for civil work and law work.  Another meeting will be scheduled soon. 
  • Council Positions Letters of Interest:  The council received letters of interest from 4 people.  The only vacancy at this time is to fill Christina Hartmann’s position since she resigned from her seat in WARD 1.  The letters received are from Valerie Baraza, Judy Gillespie, Heather Hailea, and Bill Garwood;   Valerie, Judy, and Bill are in Ward 1, so the vote was between these three.  Valerie filed on time for the election for Ward 1’s seat.  Judy  and Bill are also in Ward 1 but did not file for the election.  Bill and Valerie addressed the council by introducing themselves and stating why they would like to be considered for the position.  Bill stated that he was not aware that there was a filing deadline of June 15th.  Voting ended with Valerie having the majority of the votes to fill in for Christine Hartmann’s vacated position.  The council will look into getting Valerie sworn in at the next meeting.  New letters will need to be submitted for any and all vacant positions in the Wards that have not received candidates for the election in November 2023. 
  • Airport Grant offer for the Airport Improvement Program.  Angie spoke about this; Peter Simon was phoned in for any questions.  Peter stated that he read over everything and stated that a motion to approve the mayor signing is sufficient.  Matt made a motion to approve the mayor signing the Grant Offer for the Airport Improvement; Vickie seconded the motion.  All in favor, motion carried.  Peter will deliver the signed documents to the county the next day.  Angie told Peter that any of the reporting for Grant Funding, per our interlocal Agreement, is the responsibility of the county and not the city.  Peter asked if this is the case for audits on this as well, and Angie said that yes, the county would be responsible since all of the funding goes directly to the county, not the city. 
  • Law Enforcement Contract:  Exhibit A given as requested at the last meeting.
  • Jeff Langlinais with the Rotary:  Jeff presented a proposal for the Slice of Summer swim program.  Rather than taking how many kids go in, he’d like to pay the city a flat fee.  Rotary had some feedback from some of the parents, stating that some of the kids are not getting in because pool management stated that only 30 kids are allowed at one time for safety.  Jeff would like to have the lifeguards blow their whistle at 45- or 60-minute intervals to allow other kids in line to swim as well.  A discussion was held regarding the number of kids that are allowed in the pool at one time.  Vickie made a motion to allow the Rotary to rent the pool for the Slice of Summer for 5 hours at 45-minute intervals.  Matt seconded the motion.  After further discussion, Vickie amended the motion for the pool management to work with Rotary and set the time intervals allowing an agreed upon number of kids in and out of the pool for $600. Matt seconded the motion.  All in favor, motion carried. 

Round Table

No Discussion

Adjournment:  Ken made a motion to adjourn the meeting;  Nate seconded the motion.  Motion carried.

Next meeting will be held Tuesday September 5th at 6:30 p.m.