By RYAN LANCASTER
Staff Reporter
In their first meeting of the year Monday, Jan. 4, the Airway Heights City Council opened a council seat to all interested applicants and discussed whether or not to support legislation that would remove inmates from the city's population rolls.
The council considered issuing a joint letter of support for two upcoming state bills at the request of the city of Connell where the Coyote Ridge Corrections Center is located. The bills address the negative impacts of counting Department of Corrections inmate populations in official population counts when applying for grants.
Airway Heights currently tallies the roughly 2,150 inmates incarcerated at the Airway Heights Corrections Center as residents, effectively doubling the city population. The pending legislation would allow Airway Heights to apply for certain small city grants that would otherwise be off limits with the elevated counts, City Manager Albert Tripp told the council. On the other hand, Tripp said the legislation poses a risk that inmate population numbers could be left off the city roster permanently, netting the city fewer state tax revenues.
After some discussion, the council opted to table the item until the pros and cons could be considered and a more informed decision could be made.
Next on the agenda was the Position 6 council seat left open by Councilman Larry Haskell's resignation at the end of 2009, which the council hopes to fill soon after soliciting applications through this Friday, Jan. 8. If no qualified applicants come forward, the deadline will be extended, but city leaders expect to have the position filled by the middle of the month.
The council elected Councilwoman Charlotte Lawrence to take over Haskell's duty as deputy mayor, a two-year position, and set about filling committee positions for 2010. Lawrence will be joined on the finance committee by newly appointed Councilwoman Tanya Dashiell. The community and economic development committee will consist of Councilman Kevin Richey and incoming Councilman Steven Lawrence. The public works committee is made up of new Mayor Patrick Rushing, Councilman John Holloway and Charlotte Lawrence. Richey, Dashiell and Steven Lawrence will now comprise the public safety committee. Rushing said he will fill in on various committees where needed until a Position 6 council member is found.
A resolution adjusting hotel-motel sewer rates for the new year was also approved by the council, reducing the base rate from $32.50 to $16.50 and increasing the volume charge from $5.75 to $7.84 per 1,000 gallons. Tripp said this new structure takes into account the seasonal nature of the hospitality industry and allows for rates that better reflect the amount of usage by individual establishments.
Rushing summed up the meeting by reiterating his campaign promise to bring the salary of the mayor and deputy mayor positions back to their previous levels. Early last year after weeks of debate the council approved monthly compensation increases for the mayor from $500 to $2,000, the deputy mayor from $300 to $750 and council members from $300 to $500, to take effect Jan. 1, 2010. Rushing requested the item be discussed in committee soon so that an ordinance can be brought before the council.
Ryan Lancaster can be reached at [email protected].
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