Weekly Council Brief (2)Hi Jane:
I just finished my weekly council phone calls so I thought I would
update you on what I told them and the feedback I received.
I told them that I am requiring the building dept to reduce one person.
I also reminded them that when they required me not to have any layoffs
that promise was connected to the amended FY09 budget which expired 30
Jun. The promise expired along with it. I did not receive any "push
back." They understand that with the level of construction off so much
we cannot sustain the dept we have had. There is some good news. PW has
an open position that the layoff could go into if he is qualified. It
would probably mean a pay reduction but it is a job.
There is broad consensus that any Airport issues need to go away for
awhile. I told them I can do that and would recommend the same to you.
We need to get the tower issue resolved and get the South Kalispell
Urban Development Plan going. The Monk property acquisition can
wait......for a long time.
The city has a very nice subdivision north of town called Silverbrook.
Problem- the sewers leak. Last winter we noticied a lot of flow thru our
northern lift station during snowmelts. The sewer guys tracked it to
Silverbrook and when we ran a camera down the lines we found breaks. It
appears the contractor did not bed some of the connections properly, the
developer's engr did not check, and then when they were covered with
dirt- they broke. The developer knows this is his problem to fix and we
have told him not to come to us with any building permits until the
breaks are fixed. The sewers are still under bond so there is no
financial risk to the city. I told the council about this in case they
hear anything. I would rather they hear this kind of thing from me
first. Sometimes the craziest rumors get going and the city is always
guilty until proved innocent.
The only question I received was from CM Hafferman who heard there was a
leak in the city pool. From my expereince all pools leak the only issue
is how much. I have passed on his question to Mike Baker and will
respond when I hear from Mike.
BTW one of the council members went to a conference and sat next to
someone from Dayton. The Daytonite had nothing but good things to say
about you and this will certainly increase the comfort level of the
council.
That's all for this week. Have a good weekend.
Myrt