September 19, 2023

CITY OF TOWNSEND                                                                                                        City Council Meeting Minutes

   Tuesday, September 19, 2023

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

Present:   Mayor Evans, Peter Simon, Vickie Rauser, Matt West, Angie Wintrow, Nate Brown, and Valerie Baraza.  Also present were Kari Williams, Tim Rauser, Paul Rauser, Lee Lewis, Eric Crusch, Jenny Barnett, Nancy Marks, Tim Ravndal, Cliff Wrobetz, Vivian Boaz, Andrew Herrick, Cory Swanson, and JB Howick. 

MINUTES:  Vickie made a motion to approve the minutes from 09.05.23.   Valerie seconded the motion; all in favor, motion carried.

  • City-County Airport Lease Agreement:  Vickie made a motion to approve the lease agreement between the City-County Airport Board and Brian & Theresa Foster; Angie seconded the motion.  All in favor, motion carried.
  • Interlocal Agreement—City Prosecution Services

Cory Swanson stated it makes sense for the county to take on the city’s prosecution services because the city and county work with the same police force, and the salary that the county will receive for this portion of work is reasonable.  It would be hard to find another attorney for the same price. This money will go towards trying to get another deputy attorney for the county to assist in the workload for the county and city.    He also stated that allowing Peter to remain the attorney for the city’s civic duties fits well.   JB Howick asked if the city will be content with the county handing everything to do with criminal prosecution over to the county.   Vickie stated that the city has a new Interlocal Agreement with Law Enforcement and so far, Sheriff Rauser has been at the council meetings twice communicating their workload with the council.  This agreement will go from October 1st to June 30th, 2023, so the city has an opportunity to assess the services being provided between January and April.  If satisfied, the agreement will be renewed for one more year which would give the city twenty-one months of experience with this agreement.  Peter stated that the experience of the county attorney and deputy county attorney have a staff and are better equipped to handle the criminal work than he.  Under this agreement, he stated that the city will have better service and reporting than the last five years while he did it.  So, JB Howick’s question was answered that everyone is confident the county will take good care of the city’s criminal work.  Mayor Evans then read the resolution at hand. 

Resolution 2023-R04 was read by Mayor Evans, giving civic duties to City Attorney Peter Simon and criminal duties to the County Attorney, Cory Swanson. 

Vickie made a motion to adopt the resolution.  Angie seconded the motion.  All in favor, motion carried. 

  • Guest, Sue Fairchild did not show up to speak on the doggy stations for dog poop bags.
  • Andrew Herrick with the Volunteer Fire Dept spoke on the Fire Hall report that was turned in on 9/18/23.  The Volunteer Fire Dept will return at the October 17th meeting to go over their quarterly report with the city. 

Round Table: 

Mayor reported that Townsend Schools would like to have a Homecoming Parade on October 12th and paint the streets with paw prints that lead from various streets to the school.   No one had a problem with that request, so Christina Hartmann will bring the official Street Closure Form to the next meeting on October 3rd. 

Mayor read a letter from Tim Rauser stating that Tim is retiring from his position after twenty-nine years of service, effective December 26, 2023. 

Adjournment:  Nate made a motion to adjourn the meeting; Angie seconded the motion.  All in favor, motion carried.

Next Meeting:  Tuesday, October 3, 2023