CITY OF PROSSER, WASHINGTON TH STREET CITY COUNCIL CHAMBERS CITY COUNCIL REGULAR MEETING TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 13, 2007

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1 CITY OF PROSSER, WASHINGTON TH STREET CITY COUNCIL CHAMBERS CITY COUNCIL REGULAR MEETING TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 13, 2007 CALL TO ORDER Mayor Pro Tem Taylor called the Regular Meeting of the Prosser City Council to order at 7:00 p.m. ROLL CALL Council Members Becken, Everett, Taylor, Troemel, Walter, and Warden were present. Council Member Giordanengo was absent. CITIZEN PARTICIPATION No citizen participation was received. MAYOR AND CITY COUNCIL REPORTS AND COMMENTS A letter of resignation was distributed to all Council Members announcing Council Member Giordanengo s resignation. A motion was made by Council Member Walter, seconded by Council Member Everett to accept Council Member Giordanengo s resignation. Motion carried unanimously. PUBLIC HEARING 2008 PROPOSED BUDGET At 7:04 p.m., Mayor Pro Tem Taylor recessed the Regular Meeting of the City Council and opened the Public Hearing to conduct a budget hearing regarding the 2008 proposed budget. At 7:05 p.m., Mayor Pro Tem Taylor closed the Public Hearing and reopened the Regular Meeting of the Prosser City Council. POTENTIAL VACATION OF A PORTION OF FOURTH STREET At 7:05 p.m., Mayor Pro Tem Taylor recessed the Regular Meeting of the Prosser City Council and opened the Public Hearing to conduct and continue a Public Hearing to receive citizen comment regarding the potential vacation of a portion of Fourth Street. A motion was made by Council Member Walter, seconded by Council Member Everett to continue the Public Hearing. Motion carried unanimously.

2 APPLICATION TO STATE OF WASHINGTON DEPARTMENT OF COMMUNITY TRADE AND ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT (CTED) FOR THE VILLAGE PARK SUBDIVISION (Information was made available to the public at the entry in both English and Spanish regarding the program and grant application.) At 7:06 p.m., Mayor Pro Tem Taylor recessed the Regular Meeting of the Prosser City Council and opened the Public Hearing to conduct a Public Hearing to review community development and housing needs and authorize an application to the State of Washington Department of Community Trade and Economic Development (CTED) for an amount not to exceed $420,000 for water line system and road improvements in Village Park subdivision. City Administrator Stouder explained that a notice was published, which indicated that English and Spanish translation services would be provided at the meeting if necessary. He also provided an explanation in Spanish and gave the public the opportunity to request translation services or to ask questions. His explanations (in English and Spanish) included that written information was available at the entry way. Translation services were not requested by the public. The only public comment came from Laura Ripplinger. She said that the grant would help a lot of home owners. She also explained that it would help remove the stigma that people are concerned with moving into the Village Park Subdivision because of potential water leaks and home owner dues. At 7:11 p.m., Mayor Pro Tem Taylor closed the Public Hearing and reopened the Regular Meeting of the Prosser City Council. City Administrator Stouder mentioned that he would be meeting with another agency regarding additional funding for the Village Park Subdivision improvements. ANNOUNCEMENT Mayor Pro Tem Taylor announced that items 15 and 17 were being removed from the agenda. CONSENT AGENDA A motion was made by Council Member Walter, seconded by Council Member Becken to approve Consent Agenda items A-C. a. Approve payment of payroll warrant nos through in the amount of $110, for the October 31, 2007 payroll. b. Approve payment of claim warrant nos through in the amount of $334, and the IRS Federal Tax Wire in the amount $38, for the period ending November 13, 2007.

3 c. Accept the monthly report by Prosser Economic Development Association for the month of October 2007 and authorize payment for those services in the amount of $2, Motion carried unanimously. ADOPT RESOLUTION NO AUTHORIZING THE MAYOR TO ACT IN ALL OFFICIAL MATTERS IN REGARDS TO THE PARTICIPATION IN THE STATE OF WASHINGTON COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT BLOCK GRANT PROGRAM A motion was made by Council Member Everett, seconded by Council Member Becken to adopt Resolution No authorizing the Mayor to sign and submit appropriate documents and forms including the application for Community Development Block Grant funds in an amount not to exceed $420,000 to the State of Washington Department of Community Trade and Economic Development for water line, system, and road improvements for the Village Park Subdivision. Motion carried unanimously. ACCEPT COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT BLOCK GRANT GRIEVANCE PROCEDURE A motion was made by Council Member Everett, seconded by Council Member Becken to accept the Community Development Block Grant Grievance Procedure. Motion carried unanimously. PRESENTATION BY PROSSER MEMORIAL HOSPITAL ON STATUS OF COMMUNITY AMBULANCE SERVICE AND CURRENT AND FUTURE NEEDS Jim Tavary, CEO of Prosser Memorial Hospital, explained that Proposition #1 was placed on the election ballot in an effort to increase the property tax levy for the Hospital. The Proposition was not passed by the voters. Prosser Memorial Hospital (PMH) still has a need for short and long-term funding for ambulance services. The funding problem arose when the Hospital was audited in 2006 for the 2004 fiscal year. A new auditor said because there is another ambulance service within 35 miles, the hospital does not qualify for 100% cost reimbursement for Medicaid and Medicare patients. PMH is creating a governmental coalition and will be holding a meeting next week with County and City officials to discuss stop gap funding and long-term funding strategies. While working with the various agencies, the Hospital will also be focusing efforts towards trying to make changes to federal legislation. Mr. Tavary said he understands budgets are tight but believes ambulance services are a vital public health and safety function. PMH could attempt to form an ambulance district but two ballots measures would be presented for both Benton County and Yakima County. Mr. Tavary said if funding does not become available, the hospital would be forced to minimize services which could cause response times to increase. The Council suggested that the Hospital form a committee to get information out to the community.

4 APPROVE EXTENSION OF INTERLOCAL AGREEMENT FOR GRANT WRITING SERVICES to approve the Interlocal Agreement with Prosser Economic Development Association for grant writing services in an amount not to exceed $15, and authorize Mayor to sign the agreement. Motion carried unanimously. ADOPT ORDINANCE NO REPEALING AND THEN RE-ENACTING PROSSER MUNICIPAL CODE 2.68 City Attorney Saxton explained that the reason for adopting a new ordinance is strictly for housekeeping purposes. The changes will clean up the language so the code is in harmony with the actual relationship between the City of Prosser and Benton County District Court. to adopt Ordinance No repealing and then re-enacting Prosser Municipal Code 2.68 and repealing all Ordinances which adopted the previous chapter. Motion carried unanimously. APPROVAL OF THE AUGUST 2007 FINANCIAL STATEMENT A motion was made by Council Member Walter, seconded by Council Member Becken to approve the August 2007 Financial Statement for the City of Prosser. Motion carried unanimously. APPROVAL OF THE SEPTEMBER 2007 FINANCIAL STATEMENT A motion was made by Council Member Troemel, seconded by Council Member Walter to approve the September 2007 Financial Statement for the City of Prosser. Motion carried unanimously. ACCEPT ANNUAL REPORT FOR THE YEAR ENDING DECEMBER 31, 2006 to accept the 2006 Annual Report for the year ending December 31, 2006 as presented. Motion carried unanimously. ADOPT ORDINANCE NO INCREASING SALARIES FOR NON-UNION EMPLOYEES BY A COST OF LIVING ALLOWANCE (COLA) A motion was made by Council Member Everett, seconded by Council Member Walter to adopt Ordinance No increasing salaries for non-union employees by a COLA in the amount of 2.7% effective January 1, Motion carried unanimously.

5 ADJOURNMENT There being no further business before the City Council at this time, the Regular Meeting of the Prosser City Council was adjourned at 8:28 p.m. Attest: Mayor Linda Lusk City Clerk Cathleen Koch