LINGLE – The Lingle Town Council meeting was called to order by mayor Micah Foster. In attendance were Tabitha Lambert, Kathy Wilhelm, and Jeff Jerome, council members. City employees, Ritch Reyes, Logan Dailey, Nakisha Garner and Endra Andrews were present. City attorney, Anna Barnes and Shelly Duncan, council member, were both absent. 

Foster asked for a motion to accept the evening's agenda and Reyes added the additional item of renewing the contract with 120 Water under unfinished business and the approval of payments for the retainage of the landfill. The additions were made to the agenda which the council approved by vote.  A motion was then made to accept the February 5 meeting minutes which carried. With no bills to be addressed by the council, they moved on to the next item on the agenda, public comment.  

Under public comment, Garner spoke to the council on the town making a possible donation to a Wee Pals Pre-School fundraiser. Garner noted the school was hosting a bingo fundraiser on March 23. Garner had hoped the council would consider making a donation for the event. The council agreed to table the discussion until legal council could be consulted. 

Next, the council moved on to Lingle Chief of Police, Endra Andrews. 

“I have a lot of upcoming MDTs and continuing DFS cases,” Andrews explained. 

Council member Jerome asked Andrews what an MDT was.

“Multidisciplinary team. It’s how we handle juvenile cases. Not much going on. Some suspicious circumstances,” Andrews said. “I’m always keeping my eyes out for people with new warrants,” the chief added. 

After a brief discussion, the council moved on to the maintenance items report from Logan Dailey. 

“Just a quick update on the landfill. I talked to Craig McComey. We’re still having trouble getting reasonable bids for the building up there. We’re still working through that process to see if that’s going to work or not,” Dailey said. 

Dailey noted McComey was displeased with the capping done as it was supposed to shed water however the way it has been done pushes the water west and forms a pool. Dailey noted, if need be, the maintenance department could fix it.

“I don’t know what all that’s going to entail, but like I say, it’s just a real simple project,” Dailey explained. “We just need to put some dire and level the top of it because there’s a bowl on the top of it. But we’re still working on that.”

Dailey also mentioned snow clean-up and a roofing project at the senior center as projects keeping him busy. After a brief discussion on street light repairs, the council moved on to the Lingle Volunteer Fire Department’s report which was provided by Lambert. 

“We don’t have a lot going on. We do have a date for our Easter egg hunt,” Lambert said. 

“Yes, that will be April 12 at 1 p.m.,” Dailey added. “That’s the weekend before Easter.”

Dailey mentioned fire department members were fitted for new bunker gear and they are currently in the process of ordering new bunker gear.

“These are way more comfortable than the old sets that we had,” Dailey said. “They’re a lot lighter. They’re more made to move with your body. They’re not real boxy so we are looking forward for sure.”

“We’re still trying to get a quote for the heaters in the bay,” Lambert said. “Other than that, we have a gas line installed. The heater at station two is fixed.”

The council moved on to administrative items where Reyes noted applications are due for the pool manager and assistant manager on Friday, February 21. Reyes also explained applications for lifeguards will be due March 7. Reyes noted he would add a listing for additional maintenance employees to the job posting. 

The council moved on to new business where Dailey spoke on the renewal of the 120 Water contract. 

“So, 120 Water – we started with last year with the lead and copper rule revisions that the EPA passed. We have to maintain an inventory of every water line throughout town and we’ve been using their web service to maintain this inventory,” Dailey said. “Plus, they’ve helped us out a lot with different ways to get information and things like that. We have a good foundation started. We still have some that we’re working through but this is something at this point I don’t see going away.”

Dailey noted the contract renewal is $4,000 which was a chunk of change, in his opinion, but worth the price tag. Dailey also explained it was presently in the budget. 

A motion was made by Wilhelm which was then seconded by Lambert to approve the contract renewal. The motion carried and the contract was renewed.

The council then moved on to the retainage for the landfill in the amount of $2,401.72, as a final payment. After a brief discussion on whether to pay the company before they fix the project, a motion was made by Wilhelm to approve the payment under Dailey’s approval of the project completion in order to comply with EPA standards. Jerome seconded the motion, which carried by vote. 

With no further council discussion, the meeting was adjourned. The next Lingle Town Council meeting will be Wednesday, March 5 at 6 p.m. at the community center.