Brewster Special Council session ties the bow on June business

BREWSTER – In a second - and special - session this month, the city council approved several resolutions including the six-year street plan, purchase of a mini excavator, and surplus of a Brewster police car and received an update from Public Works director, Lee Webster on the status of the city’s water reservoirs.

Webster explained adjustments to the six-year street plan and said his intention is to prioritize street upgrade funding requests based on those whose scoring criteria offer the best chances for approval. Webster added that some areas such as the Columbia Addition with its aging utilities could present difficulties since funding approval is unlikely where old utilities are involved.

“Approving the plan does not preclude a change in the plan at any time, correct?” asked council member Jan May.

Webster concurred and May proposed that council approve the street plan as submitted.

Council also approved a change order for Smart Choice Roofing for additional repair to the new roof just completed on the city hall building.

Council authorized the purchase of a mini-excavator for $40,834.70 after Webster advised members that this, the fourth excavator public works has examined, is “the best one we’ve seen with the least hours and is the least expensive.”

At Brewster Police Chief Nattalie Cariker’s recommendation, council approved the surplus of a 2004 Crown Victoria to Douglas County for annual EVOC (Emergency Vehicle Operators Course) in trade for EVOC training and expenses valued at more than the car’s worth to the Brewster PD.

Webster had some good news for council from the previous day’s bid openings for the airport lighting project.

“We got two bids and one was some $130,000 under the engineer’s estimate,” Webster said who already filed the grant application.

Council also discussed a street vacation request for the eastern end of Keller Avenue West that includes the site of the city present northwest water pump station.

City attorney Chuck Zimmerman recommended that the city first clarify with the applicant “how much money is involved in rebuilding a new lift station somewhere else.”

Council member John Housden raised some questions regarding valuation, access and use.

Council took no further action on the vacation application.

Webster reported that the new upper water reservoir is online as is the lower tank. The old upper 500,000-gallon tank was emptied and inspected by representatives of J-U-B Engineers (Coeur d’Alene), Apollo, Inc. (Kennewick) and Strata Geotechnical Engineering (Spokane) on June 26. While some repair work was identified, the inspection report noted that J-U-B’s structural engineer “does not feel the condition of the tank is significantly different from what was expected.”

The next steps involve an inspection of the tank’s steel rebar and ground penetrating radar to identify any voids under the floor.