Police news dominates Mattawa council meeting

MATTAWA - News from the police department dominated the Mattawa City Council meeting last week.

The council authorized the hiring of Moses Lake resident Jordan Miers as a Mattawa police officer with the condition he must remain employed with the city at least 36 months.

If not, the council agreed, Miers will have to pay back the cost of the academy of $3,063. He is scheduled to attend the police academy from October 27, 2015-March 9, 2016.

The Council said it would like the GPS systems in cars that have been retired to be moved to new cars. The city pays more than $1,400 a year for this service. The systems were installed a few years ago at the request of Mayor Judy Esser and Council.

It was announced that event permit insurance will go up. Canfield Insurance is now requesting $2,000,000 coverage for events on city rights of way.

The police department has received a $2,500 grant from the Washington Association of Sheriffs and Police Chiefs for one in-car video camera. The Council authorized the purchase.

Police Chief John Turley and City Attorney Katherine Kenison are drawing up a draft ordinance to move reserve officers coverage from Labor & Industries to the Board of Volunteer Firefighters and Reserve Officers. It will be presented to Council at a later date.

The police department announced there will be an emergency drill in June at which the Wahluke schools will interact with emergency personnel.

In public works news, it was suggested the slides on the new big purple toys at the park be lowered. The drop at the bottom is high, and children are getting hurt, it was reported

City Planner Darryl Piercy told the Council that a contractor called him regarding the City Hall remodel project and said he never received the e-mail that Piercy sent out. Because of the e-mail issue, he will be re-sending the e-mail requests to contractors.

It was announced the Committee for Government Road Improvements will have its next meeting on March 24 at 10 a.m.

The Council voted to support Wahluke High's Bianca Ramirez in her quest for an AWC student scholarship. He application will be sent to the AWC as the city's nominated student.

The Council recognized Central Washington Asphalt as the low bidder for the Ellice Ave. overlay project and authorized the mayor to sign the construction contract. The engineer's estimate on this project was $173,700, and the bid came in at $153,000.

As of March 5, the Council approved for payment 2015 payroll EFT and payroll checks Nos. 31229-31235 in the amount of $61,402.06 and 2015 claims EFT and claims checks Nos. 14241-14265 in the amount of $12,903.93.

In public comment, two flea market vendors asked if they would be required to move to the city's flea market if it re-opens. As far as the city knows, the current flea market will still be open and available for vendors even if the city re-opens its own.

This topic will be up for discussion at the next council meeting on Thursday, March 19.