Brewster council approves city engineer selection, solid waste agreement

BREWSTER – City council members made relatively quick work of a short agenda of items at their regular monthly meeting on Wednesday, May 9.
Members approved Salmon Derby event application and vendor application for the13th annual Brewster King Salmon Derby scheduled for August 3-4-5.
Mayor Art Smyth reported that J-U-B Engineers was selected as the city’s engineer following a review of candidates.
City attorney Chuck Zimmerman recommended that council members authorize the mayor to execute an agreement to retain J-U-B for professional services to general and airport services that would allow the contract to be effective from May 9, 2018 through May 31, 2022. Council approved the motion.
Council members also approved a five-year contract renewal with Diversified HR Consulting for human resources services.
Council members approved an interlocal agreement with Okanogan County for solid waste services. Zimmerman recommended acceptance of the five-year contract since it is the same the city has utilized in 2003, 2008, and 2013. The county contracts with three solid waste collection companies, Upper Valley Disposal, Zippy Disposal, Sunrise Disposal, the latter serving the City of Brewster.
Public Works Director Lee Webster reported that Blue Star Enterprises that was awarded the bid to drill test wells for the city should begin work near the end of May.
A new HVAC unit has been installed to replace a defective unit at the Brewster Rec Center.
“It seems to be working fine but hasn’t been there long enough to see a benefit on our power bill,” Webster said and added that he expects to see one shortly.
Okanogan County advised Webster that it will do the chip seal work that was awarded by the Transportation Improvement Board (TIB) for Bruce Avenue.
“That’s good news,” said Webster, “because they are so much less expensive than a contractor.”
 Webster said that construction work that is underway on the new Brewster Middle School requires that the contractor fence the entire area for security reasons. While that event interferes with available parking in that area Webster said the work is expected to be completed prior to July 1 when salmon season starts.
Webster also reported that he received a message from Karl Word earlier in the day advising that he has officially cancelled the outdoor volleyball court project that was proposed for installation in the field east of the high school.
In a final item of business, Webster previewed a new logo design for city shirts.