Ritzville City Council discusses changes in contracts, permits

The Ritzville City Council met on Tuesday, March 15, for their regularly scheduled meeting. An executive session was held for the hour prior to the meeting with discussion of the Well No. 9 project but no decisions were made.

The meeting began with the discussion of Ordinance No. 2095, which is in regards to adopting a procedure for fence permits within the City of Ritzville.

There have been many discussions in regards to fences being built outside the specifications the city has.

The License, Rules and Permits committee met and discussed their ideas on creating a required permit for building a fence.

This ordinance would help to keep fences within set guidelines prior to them being built, this in turn would save the resident money as they will not have to potentially alter their fencing.

The specific ordinance requires information on the resident and a detailed drawing of the property including construction details for the fence.

The ordinance also details the cost of the permit, which is included as $30. The City plans to take $5 from each permit and place it in the City’s Cumulative Reserve fund. The remaining funds will be placed in the General Fund.

This document will help to ensure all fences comply with the city’s development regulations and the International Building Code.

Any violations to the provisions of the fence regulations will be considered a civil infraction and may be cited a fine of up to $500.

The council discussed this proposed ordinance and chose to table it until the next meeting.

The next topic was the Interlocal Cooperation Agreement between the City of Ritzville and the Adams County Fire Protection District No. 1.

This agreement outlines the specific responsibilities of the District and the City including issues such as equipment needs and cost sharing.

The main change in the agreement is the City is now responsible for funding six training sessions each year. Previously, the City funded four trainings.

Fire Chief Bill Banner explained this was so the city department had more control over the specific trainings they are responsible for.

Flushing the hydrants is one of the annual trainings the City is responsible for and while this is great practice for the volunteer firefighters, Banner explained they were down to only three trainings they could control.

The other major cost associated with this agreement is the cost to the City for renting truck spaces in the District’s fire station.

The city agreed to pay $3,000 per year with an annual increase of 1.5 percent.

Banner explained this is a reasonable cost compared to the hardship that would occur if the city and district’s equipment were separated since the two groups focus on mutual aid.

The City additionally pays for the utilities for the County Fire House as per this agreement.

After explanation of the changes and costs the council unanimously approved the signing of the agreement.

The Ritzville Downtown Development Association was presented with a sculpture idea from John Rankin to be placed near the restrooms near the Depot Museum on City property.

The council stated they would need more information and Councilperson Scott Yaeger agreed to head a committee to review the space for the sculpture, as he is a member of the License, Rules and Permits committee and the Parks and Recreation committee.

Ritzville Police Chief Dave McCormick reported the department will begin enforcing action on residents who have failed to license their animals 30 days after a letter is sent to the remaining residents.

He also reported the department had received their new vehicle and are now installing final equipment prior to it being put into service.

City Clerk/ Treasurer Kris Robbins advised the County will have it’s clean up day on April 2.

The City is also working to coordinate with the County in regards to the picking up of old appliances for city residents.

Banner then presented information in regards to the fire department’s request to purchase a 40-foot shipping container to use for live fire trainings.

Jim Bostic presented the request to the Planning Committee and they received a conditional one-year approval to place the container on the Ritzville Volunteer Ambulance Association’s ground.

Banner advised the restrictions on the conditional agreement were very strict. They are now looking into different locations to possibly circumvent a few of the restrictions, such as no weekend use and the requirement of a 12-day advance notice to the community.

Banner also advised the council that the fire department received a grant from the Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railway Foundation in the amount of $5,000 to be used within one year for safety equipment only.

Banner asked for permission to purchase seven portable radios, seven speaker microphones, two earmuff headsets and one additional speaker microphone for an existing radio in the amount of $3,987.62 using these funds.

With these additional radios the department will be able to outfit one radio per two volunteers and as the fire personnel usually work in pairs this is ideal. The council unanimously passed the approval of the use of these funds.

The Tree Board, represented by Mike Schrag, reported on a memorial sculpture being placed in the Ritzville City Park last week.

Additionally, Schrag reported that on Arbor Day, which is April 29. The fifth grade class from the Ritzville Grade School will help in planting four trees at the park.