Ritzville Council selects Varela for engineering services

During the April 3 Ritzville City Council meeting, Council Member Scott Yaeger announced the Public Works Committee selected Varela and Associates Inc., for engineering consulting services.

Yaeger said the committee, Mayor Gary Cook and Public Works Director Larry Swift, interviewed both Varela and Century West Engineering for the engineering services contract on March 29.

He noted both firms are “comparable” and the group chose Varela based on how well they scored on the five questions they were asked during the interview.

Yaeger said award letter for engineering services was sent to Varela prior to the council meeting.

He also provided the Council with an update regarding the First Avenue road improvement project.

Yaeger explained he received approval from the Washington Transportation Improvement Board (TIB) for the City to issue a Notice of Award to Central Washington Asphalt (CWA). The company’s proposed bid of $275,307.50 was the lowest responsive bid for the project.

He explained CWA will send the contract to Varela for review.

Once the firm has examined the documents, it will be sent back to the City for Cook to sign, which Yaeger added would be on April 22, five days after the next council meeting.

He said there is a chance the contract could be returned to the City before the next meeting.

If the Council approved the contract at the May 1 meeting, it would delay the project by two weeks.

Yaeger said if Cook signed the contract on April 22, the first working day for the project would be May 14. He added the goal is to have it completed by July 6, before the beginning of harvest.

He made a motion to approve Cook to sign the contract after the City receives it on April 22, which Council approved.

In other action items, the Council reapproved Ordinances 2110-2113.

Cook explained the Council had passed Ordinance No. 2110 at the Nov. 21, 2017, and the other three documents at the Dec. 19 meeting, yet they were not published after they were approved.

According to the Municipal Research Service Center’s (MRSC) website, state law states ordinances must be published “promptly after adoption.”

If the ordinance is not published, the validity of the document may be questioned.

Cook said it would be easiest thing for the City to be in compliance would be for the Council to once again approve the ordinances.

The Council also voted to schedule a public hearing for April 17 at 7:05 p.m. to adopt the comprehensive plan. Cook said the Council approved the plan in 2015, but it was not adopted into an ordinance.

He noted the simplest action would be for the Council to set a public hearing at the next meeting. There will also be a draft ordinance for the Council to review and discussion during the meeting.

Cook stated the City will begin adding the monthly Sewer Indebtedness Fee to utility bills beginning May 1, and notices were included in the April utility bills to residents. The monthly fee will be $37 for residential properties and $40 for commercial.

He reiterated the fee applies to utility accounts no longer using city water services, but a water meter is still on the property.

Cook explained the fee will apply to residents who request to have their water temporarily turned off while they are outside of the City for a period of time. It does not affect properties currently using water services.

Council Member Mike Schrag presented an update on the progress of the beautification project on First Avenue.

Schrag said pylons were placed around the sign and information kiosk at the intersection of Weber and First avenues. The pylons designate where volunteers will install landscape and trees for the first phase of the beautification project.

Schrag noted city crews will need to remove cracked cement near the kiosk, then volunteers will apply topsoil and compost for the landscaping. Crews will also install a sprinkler system to keep the plants watered.

There are also pylons near the Odessa Trading Company/Ag Tech building. Schrag said the objective for the area is to improve the walking path and install Crabapple trees in place of the current ones in place.

The Tree Board is working with Boxwood Home and Garden to purchase the trees and plants for the project.

Schrag said the project details are dependent on how much funding the Tree Board acquires for the project.

He added the Tree Board has received $3,750 in funding, including donations from the City, Caring Neighbors and the Hennings Foundation.