Small Town News

Council approves Wren Pierson budget bump

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Cheney City Council at its Tuesday meeting approved an additional 5 percent contingency to be added to the budget of the Wren Pierson Building renovation.

The appropriation increase brought the total budget for the project to $1.65 million. Public Works director Todd Ableman said the original 10 percent contingency was about to run out due to four change orders since the project began last fall.

"We're at 9.2 percent of the original 10 percent appropriation. I know there's other things that still need to be addressed," he said.

The project, overseen by Kearsley Construction, has encountered unforeseen challenges in the form of asbestos that had to be abated before work could continue. Able-man said 64 percent of the change orders went to pay for unforeseen and insurance issues.

Also at the meeting, the council approved an agreement with the Washington State Patrol to deploy the Cheney

Police Department's K-9 unit in marijuana eradication efforts this summer. Officer Zeb Campbell and bloodhound Kira worked with a WSP marijuana eradication team last summer, and they were asked to participate again this year, Sgt. Kelly Hembach said. The agreement provided $21, 000 in reimbursement to the city for expenses.

Councilwoman Teresa Overhauser said she realized the deployment was a good training opportunity for local offi-cer s, but expressed concerns about the risk incurred by the city if an off icer would be injured during a de ployment.

"If something happens to an off icer, that's our officer," she said. "The rest of that person's life, po-tentially, if they're disabled, that is ou r burden, not the... Washington State Patrol."

Overhauser abstained from the vo te, while the rest of the council vo ted to approve the agreement.

The council also approved a contract with Energy Control, Ine:., of Spokane Valley, to provide engineering services for a pla nned upgrade of the heating and cooling system at City Hall. Ableman said the firm would go over options for the upgrade and provide design. The contract was for $31, 200.

The council completed first readings of changes to three of the city's water ordinances. Able-man said his department had been working on the changes for the past year and that the majority of the changes were to the ordinances' language and order.

"The last update of the ordinance was in 1984 so we put some more modern language in," he said.

Also at the brief meeting, Mayor Tom Trulovewho was absent from the meetingwas honored in a proclamation read by mayor pro tempore Mike McKeehan. He declared June 11 "Tom Trulove Day" in honor of Trulove's receiving the 2011 Eastern Washington University Trustees Medal. He will receive the medal at EWU commencement June 11.

Becky Thomas can be reached at becku@cheneylreepress.com.



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© 2011 Cheney Free Press Cheney, Washington. All Rights Reserved. This content, including derivations, may not be stored or distributed in any manner, disseminated, published, broadcast, rewritten or reproduced without express, written consent from DAS.

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