CITY OF WAPATO Regular Council Meeting Council Chambers Minutes of March 7, 2018 CALL TO ORDER: Mayor Juan Orozco called the regular Council meeting of Wednesday, March 7, 2018 to order at 6:01 pm. a. Pledge of Allegiance b. Welcome ROLL CALL: a. Present: Those in attendance included Mayor Juan Orozco, Council members, Tony Gaytan, Dora Alvarez-Roa, Tony Guzman, Roberto Reyna, and Frank Jaime b. Absent: Council Members Keith Workman, Ralph Sanchez c. City Staff Present: City Attorney (CA) Robert Noe, Public Works Director (PWD) Jeff Schumacker, Public Safety Director Michael Campos, Lead Utility Operator John Macias, and Clerk-Treasurer and (CT) Robin Cordova. d. City Staff Absent: None HONORS/RECOGNITION: None MEETING AGENDA APPROVAL: a. Mayor Orozco requested to add the City Attorney s payment voucher be added to the Claim s Vouchers for outgoing monthly payments, payout for termination of Chief Simmons s contract, prayer at the beginning of the council meeting, sponsorship of cultural event, and revision of rental fee schedule for the Community Center. Councilman Reyna made a motion to approve the meeting agenda and Councilman Alvarez-Roa seconded, motion carried. CONSENT AGENDA a. Motion by Councilmember Roa-Alvarez to approve the Consent Agenda seconded by Councilmember Gaytan, motion carried. PUBLIC HEARING a. None. EXECUTIVE SESSION: a. None UNFINISHED BUSINESS: Regular Council Meeting Page 1! of! 6
a. None NEW BUSINESS: Council does not have to act on the following items because this is the first touch, unless they make a motion to do so. Chief Simmons Contract Termination: Attorney Noe explained that a settlement check would be made in the amount of $57,000 to David Simmons per an employment contract made by previous council and past mayor Guzman. Councilman Reyna asked if that would be a final payment. Attorney Noe said that it would be a final payment. Councilwoman Alvarez-Roa made a motion to approve the settlement payment. Councilman Gaytan seconded. Motion carried. Community Center Fee Schedule: Mayor Orozco explained that rental receipts don t match rental contracts for the Community Center. Different fees were applied for different people. He further explained that some parents were paying $75 a month instead of $800 a month. This is considered a gifting of public funds, which the city cannot be involved in. From this point on, all payments would follow the same fee schedule and Public Works would open and close the Community Center before and after rentals. The Mayor would like to amend the rental policy from $25.00 per hour in 4 hour increments to $20 an hour for 2 hour increments and change the deposit from $200 to $100 for the next 2 months. As a result the city will be transparent and fair to everyone. The Mayor plans to open the Community Center again, so citizens should be looking at the schools for gym use. Councilwoman Alvarez-Roa made a motion to amend the policy and Councilman Gaytan seconded, motion carried. Invocation: Mayor Orozco suggested starting council meetings with a prayer after the Pledge of Allegiance. Councilman Reyna was worried about mixing prayer with politics. Councilman Jaime agreed. The Mayor suggested that it may be a calming factor for the tone of the meetings. He also said that it had been done in the past. Attorney Noe said that it is legal and that some cities chose to have it and some don t. Council member Alvarez-Roa made a motion to start council meetings with an invocation on a trial basis for 3 months. It would then be revisited to see if it should be made permanent. Councilmember Gaytan seconded, motion carried. Parade and Celebration: The community would like to have a Dia De Los Muertos Celebration. Councilwoman Alvarez-Roa thought that it would be a great way to unite our community and learn about different cultures. Councilman Reyna made a motion for the City of Wapato to sponsor a parade and celebration at the community center for Dia De Los Muertos. Councilwoman Alvarez-Roa seconded, motion carried. Code Enforcer/Building Inspector: The Mayor expressed the need to reestablish the Code Enforcer/Building Inspector position. This would be a position in the PW Dept. Money would have to be allotted to the PW Dept. for this position. Mayor Orozco negotiated with the union to release this position from the Teamsters. Councilmember Alvarez-Roa made a motion to Regular Council Meeting Page 2! of! 6
reestablish the Code Enforcer/Building Position in Public Works Dept. Councilmember Reyna seconded, motion carried. Budget Amendment: Public Works Director Schumacker said that $35,000 was set aside by the city to contribute toward the French Lane Project. The funds were never dedicated to the project. Mayor Orozco would like to transfer the money designated for this project to the Cemetery Fund. Councilman Reyna made a motion to pass the resolution. Councilman Jaime seconded, motion carried. Mother s Day Celebration in the Park: The city is planning a community event at the Wapato City Park on May 12. Mayor Orozco requested that the city contribute $4,000 that would be used to pay for different types of cultural entertainment. The Mayor expressed that our city will benefit by people from surrounding cities and our residence spending money at the event. Additionally, the event will help change the negative perspective of our community. Councilmember Alvarez-Roa made a motion for the city to contribute $4,000 for entertainment for the May 12 event. Councilmember Gaytan seconded, motion carried. Cemetery: Mayor Orozco explained to council that the cemetery has become dilapidated over the years. Tim Morris volunteered to become part of the Wapato Cemetery Board. The Mayor would like to contract Tim Morris to assist the Public Works Dept. in developing best practices for maintenance of the cemetery. Councilwoman Alvarez-Roa made a motion to approve a cemetery contract with Tim Morris. Councilman Reyna seconded, motion carried. REPORTS a. Correspondence- None. b. Committee Reports 1. Cemetery Board: Mayor Orozco There has been so much pain involved in trying to fix the cemetery. While on the Cemetery Board for many years, Becky Cordova and Robin Cordova have faced much adversity. Things are now changing for the better. Currently, there have been 12 park benches sold, the committee is looking at ordering old fashion lamp posts, a zero turn lawn mower, and entrance gates. c. Department Reports 1. Police Department: Sgt. Campos PSD Campos handed out the February monthly report. 2. Fire Department: George Gomez was sworn in as the volunteer Fire Chief. He has been a member of the fire department for 27 years. Volunteer Fire Chief Gomez Regular Council Meeting Page 3! of! 6
said that it will be a transition, but he has the support of JJ Ihnen and Greg Klutts to help him. 3. Public Works: Jeff Schumacker PWD Schumacker believes that over 200 lost headstones have been found. They should be finished with the small stones by next week. The new mower has an estimated delivery date of early next week. Public Works employee Jerry Roybal will be taking charge of the cemetery. After the grass is claned up, fertilizer will be applied. PW Supervisor John Macias is the only certified pesticide applicator. Weather must be right in order to apply pesticides for rodents. Will reapply again in a few months. City parks will be maintained also and should look good by 2 nd week of May. All PW employees have been given a copy of the city employment policy. All employees were required to review and sign. Grant requests for the cemetery, casino, and swimming pool have been applied for through Legends Casino. North Wapato Lift Station 100% of grant money can be used without the requirement to apply for a loan. PW Supervisor has been with the City of Wapato in the water department for 15 years. He has employed by the city for 21 years. Mayor pointed out that the administration has all been involved in the Wapato community for many years. PW Supervisor Macias has to test water daily. Water meters are 95% changed out, but meters are getting old and need to be replaced again. There are many elements that go into supplying the city with water. 4. Mayor s Report: Getting plugged into ISPY. Screens will be used for webinars and training. Abandoned houses need to be identified throughout the city so that the city can begin to take legal action against owners. There is a possibility that the city will need to increase the budget for legal fees. The city is looking at a complete remodel on the swimming pool. We would like to bring the swim team program back to Wapato, and make sure the pool is open to our community. Painting the inside of the Community Center will start soon. We are engaged in a battle for the future of our community. We need to educate instead of incarcerate. Would like to have a study done on jail. Don t know if we are making or losing money. As a city we need to do a good study on if it is worth it to house other inmates or contract our inmates out to another city. If it is worth it, we need to look at building a new facility. Regular Council Meeting Page 4! of! 6
When weather gets better we are going to start filling pot holes. The Mayor would like to start across the tracks so that it will all get finished. The Mayor wants to make sure the entire city is done. Water rates are extremely high. Taken on a state average. Even though we are the poorest city in the state. The City needs to look aggressively on how we can lower water rates by 5% this year so that it can progressively get lower. We need to recruit new businesses to move to Wapato. 5. Community Center: None 6. Admin/Finance: None 7. Planning Commission: None AUDIENCE PARTICIPATION: Becky Cordova 581 Ragan Rd., Wapato. Asked Council if they could foresee having public forums. She would like everyone to hear of all of the good things that are happening in Wapato. Tim Morris PO box 217, Sunnyside. Thanked the Council for asking him to be a part of the Wapato Cemetery Board. He is happy to be here. It has a lot of work that needs to be done, but it is headed in the right direction. Elvia Lopez 349 Lance Way, Yakima. She was born and raised in Wapato. She is happy to hear all of the positive things going on in Wapato. Thank you for looking at getting the roads fixed across the tracks. ADJOURNMENT: Motion was made by Councilmember Jaime to adjourn the meeting, seconded by Councilmember Reyna. Motion carried. There being no further business to come before the Council at this time, the meeting was adjourned at 7:19 p.m. Juan Orozco, Mayor Regular Council Meeting Page 5! of! 6
Robin Cordova, Clerk-Treasurer Regular Council Meeting Page 6! of! 6