Brady reappointed Mayor Pro Tem

PATEROS – The city council voted to give Pateros volunteer fighters their first pay increase in 15 years at its regular monthly meeting last Tuesday, Jan. 22. In Ordinance 770 of the Pateros Municipal Code (PMC) council members raised drill training rates from $1.25 to $5 per event and turnout for each fire, alarm call, or emergency aid call from $3 to $10.

While council members were in the finance mode, they also addressed an amendment to the 2019 fee schedule approved last November 2018. The amendment covers fees for services outside the city limits and specifies that services “including sewer, water, garbage, labor and/or equipment shall be charged at thirty percent (30%) over the equivalent rate for city residents.”

The new fee schedule includes a 3.1 percent increase in water and sewer rates in line with the Consumer Price Index rate. Added to the schedule this year under Section 5, Planning Fees is an Administrative Permit ($150), Franchise Permit ($250), and Excavation Permit ($10).

In other business, council member and former mayor George Brady was re-designated to serve as Mayor Pro Tem until Dec. 31, 2020.

Council members authorized city engineers Varela & Associates of Spokane to initiate the bid for the rehabilitation of a stretch of Industrial Way beginning east of Park Street and continuing to its junction with U.S. 97. The $460,000-plus project is being funded through a grant from the Transportation Improvement Board.

The council approved renewal of the expired interlocal agreement with the Okanogan County Sheriff’s Office. The city has contracted with the county for its law enforcement services since 2005.

The regular February meeting of the city council falls on Presidents’ Day, so members voted to change next month’s meeting date to 6 p.m., Tuesday, Feb. 19.