1. CALL TO ORDER

Mayor Norm Childress called the regular meeting to order at 7:30 p.m. in the Council Chambers at City Hall.

Present were: Mayor Childress and Councilmembers Helen Darr, Bill Flory, Pam Horner, Jan McDonald, Robert Morales, Javier Rodriguez and Joan Souders.

Staff present were: City Administrator Scott Staples, City Attorney Jack Maxwell and City Clerk Anita Palacios.

2. PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE

Harley Hurst, Student of the Month at Harriet Thompson Elementary School, lead the pledge of allegiance.

3. PRESENTATIONS

Mayor Childress presented Trent Mottice with the March Youth of the Month Certificate of Appreciation.

4. PUBLIC COMMENT - None

5. CONSENT AGENDA

On motion by Councilmember Flory, second by Councilmember McDonald, Council unanimously approved the Consent Agenda consisting of the following:

A. Minutes of the March 5, 2007 study session

B. Minutes of the March 5, 2007 regular meeting

C. 2007 Claim Warrant Nos. 78221-78333 in the amount of $237,785.26

D. Payroll Warrant approval for March 15, 2007

E. Ordinance No. 2007-4; amended Grandview Municipal Code Section 8.24.085(A)(3) regarding chronic nuisance properties

F. Ordinance No. 2007-5; amended Chapter 2.75.010 to the Grandview Municipal Code entitled “Recreation Program Fees”

G. 2007 Fuel Bid Award

6. ACTIVE AGENDA

A. Ordinance No. 2007-3

· Amended Section 13.28.140 (C) and (D) and Section 13.28.010 of the Grandview Municipal Code and added a new subsection 13.29.140 (E) regarding delinquent utility payments and fees

At the February 20^th study session, Council and staff discussed the issue of the disconnection of utility services as a result of unpaid delinquent account balances. The discussion was related to the date and time of payment to avoid the disconnection of city water service. Council directed staff to prepare an ordinance clarifying the timeline for payment. It has been the practice of staff to allow customers time to pay delinquent utility bills until early morning of the day of service disconnection. This practice was not consistent with Grandview Municipal Code. City code allows for payment until the end of the day following delivery of the 24-hour notice of disconnect. This led to an extended time because of payments made by drop box or “on-line” after the close of business. The practice of extending time to pay was a courtesy to customers and also an effort to reduce the number of meters that the public works crew was required to disconnect. While the above practice reduced the number of disconnections made, it allowed for receiving of payments past the time allowed by the municipal code. After discussion with Council and staff, it was determined that setting a receipt cutoff time as the close of business on the business day after the 24-hour notice of disconnect was delivered would be a policy more consistent and easier to administer.

Following amendment of the code, staff would inform those utility customers that have recently been on the 24-hour notice of disconnect list of the change in payment receipt time.

Councilmember Darr requested that Section 13.28.140 be amended to add the word “clerk” at the end of the first sentence.

On motion by Councilmember Horner, second by Councilmember Darr, Council unanimously approved Ordinance No. 2007-3 amending Section 13.28.140 (C) and (D) and Section 13.28.010 of the Grandview Municipal Code and adding a new subsection 13.29.140 (E) regarding delinquent utility payments and fees, as amended.

B. Resolution No. 2007-8

· Amended the Grandview Personnel Manual Section 2.23.2 regarding travel expenses

In 2006, Department Heads discussed the current meal allowance provided in the City’s Travel policy. The City Treasurer surveyed comparable communities. Recently meal allowances were discussed with the mayor and council present at the February 19^th study session. Based on these discussions and survey information, a resolution amending the travel policy was prepared. Current travel expense reimbursement levels were adopted in 1985. Reimbursement was set at: Breakfast – $7.50, Lunch – $ 10.00, Dinner – $ 15.00, Lodging – $ 65.00/night. Amended reimbursement amounts were: Breakfast – $10.00, Lunch – $15.00, Dinner – $25.00. Lodging would continue to be for a single room rate and the employee would be expected to use good judgment in choosing reasonable lodgings. In 2006 and early 2007, the average lodging expense was $101.84/night. The amended reimbursement levels reflect the equivalent of a 2% per year inflation factor since 1985. The 2007 adopted budget anticipated additional travel expenses included.

On motion by Councilmember Darr, second by Councilmember Rodriguez, Council unanimously approved Resolution No. 2007-8 amending the Grandview Personnel Manual Section 2.23.2 regarding travel expenses.

C. Legislative Update

City Administrator Staples updated Council on the following proposed legislation:

Transportation Benefit Districts (TBDs) – SHB1858 passed out of the House on March 13^th. The substitute bill would allow cities or counties to impose the first $20 of the vehicle fee if a TBD was jurisdiction-wide (the balance remains voter approved) and would allow cities or counties to impose limited transportation impact fees, but prohibit “double-dipping” of existing impact fees or any residential property. The bill was scheduled for public hearing in the Senate Transportation Committee on March 21^st.

Utility Liens – SB 5854 would have prohibited cities and counties from collecting delinquent utility debt from property owners if the owner notified the City that their property was a rental and if the utility contracted directly with the renter for utility payment was considered dead for the session.

Website Postings of Certain Information – SSB 5420 would have required that the agenda of all regular meetings of any municipality that owns or maintains a website be posted within 72 hours before a meeting; the text of any ordinances, rule or regulation that is under consideration at the meeting be included on the website at the same time the agenda is posted; and the minutes of all regular and special meetings of any municipality that owns or maintains a website be posted within 15 business days following a meeting was considered dead for the session.

Offender Supervision Liability – SHB 1669 would provide for a gross negligence liability standard for misdemeanant supervision, passed the House unanimously on March 9^th and was in the Senate Judiciary Committee. The substitute version of the bill took out the section providing that the standard of proof must be clear, cogent and convincing. Parity with the state on the level of liability for supervision would be one small step in addressing the significant issue of offender supervision liability for cities.

Gang-Related Offenses – SSB 5987 would be heard by the House Public Safety & Emergency Preparedness on March 22^nd. The bill, which passed the House on March 10^th, established a work group to address the issue of gang-related crime and report to the Legislature by January 2008.

Increasing the City-County Assistance Account – HB 2022 would have provided additional assistance for low tax base cities. The bill did not meet the committee deadline a couple of weeks ago and remained in the House Appropriations Committee – apparently dead.

Six-Year Collective Bargaining Agreements – ESB 5251 would allow local governments and their employees to agree to contract terms of up to six years, passed the Senate on March 8^th. It was amended on the floor to allow school districts to negotiate six-year contracts as well. The House Commerce and Labor Committee held a public hearing on March 15^th. No one testified against the proposal and it was hopeful the Committee would advance the bill to the Rules Committee soon.

Property Tax Bills – HB 2334 would allow cities to increase property taxes to 100% plus inflation in lieu of imposing impact fees and HB 2117 would reenact the limitations on regular property tax growth adopted under I-747. While none of the bills moved out of the house of origin by March 14^th, all of them could be tied to the budget and therefore remained active vehicles.

7. COUNCILMEMBER MEETING REPORTS

Washington Women Consortium – Councilmember Souders attended the Washington Women Consortium on March 15^th in Olympia.

Grandview United Meeting – Councilmember Flory attended the Grandview United meeting on March 15^th.

Council Positions – Discussion took place regarding a recent Yakima Herald article which stated that a new Whitman College report indicates the election system in Grandview keeps Hispanics off the City Council in violation of the federal Voting Rights Act. Council agreed to discuss the issue at the next study session and staff was instructed to obtain a copy of the report.

Business License Revocation Appeal Hearing – An appeal hearing of the business license revocation for Dave’s Recycling Center will be held before the Council on Monday, March 26^th at 6:00 p.m.

Joint Meeting with the School Board – The City Council and School Board will hold a joint meeting on Monday, April 23^rd, 6:00 p.m. at the GHS Library.

Library Carpet Replacement – The City received two proposals for the Library carpet replacement: Bieber Brothers in the amount of $18,885.31 and Standard Paint in the amount of $22,037.50. It was anticipated that the project would be completed during the month of May.

FEMA Grant – The City has been awarded a FEMA grant in the amount of $98,000 to install an exhaust system in the Fire Department.

CDBG General Purpose Grant – On November 15, 2006, the City applied for a CDBG General Purpose Grant from the CTED for street, water, and sidewalk improvements in the neighborhood east of Avenue E between Second and Fourth Streets. The City’s application scored 69 points and the last application funded in this cycle scored 71 points. Staff would be scheduling a debriefing with CTED to discuss the City’s application.

Railroad Crossing Improvements – The abandoned railroad tracks located on Wilson Highway will be removed on March 22^nd.

YVCOG General Membership Meeting – The City will be hosting the March 21^st YVCOG General Membership meeting at The Vineyard. The meeting begins at 6:30 p.m.

8. ADJOURNMENT

The regular meeting adjourned at 8:10 p.m.

__________________________ __________________________

Mayor Norm Childress Anita Palacios, City Clerk