Medical Lake council amends administrator's contract

MEDICAL LAKE – During Tuesday’s meeting, Dec. 21, the City Council amended the city administrator’s contract to use a new formula for severance pay.

The existing contract stated the administrator would receive six months of severance pay upon termination. The added amendment states the severance pay will accrue at one month for every two years of service.

Mayor Shirley Maike said the amendment needed to be made because the contract hadn’t been reviewed for quite some time and had existed since the previous mayor was in office.

After that topic passed, Administrator Doug Ross asked for action to be taken regarding a potential broadband contract with Petrichor Broadband of Colfax.

Broadband has been a major interest with the ability for municipalities to spend American Rescue Plan Act funds to develop broadband services.

Ross said the company had given him two estimates, and the first was for the company to conceive a framework of sorts that would cost $25,000.

The second option would include a feasibility study that would cost the city $50,000.

Ross said he wasn’t sure what details that option fully included.

The contract would have a top number that the costs would be set to not exceed that number.

“We won’t get started unless we get started,” Councilwoman Elizabeth Rosenbeck said, moving to approve going forward.

But Medical Lake City Attorney Kendel Froese said the contract should include language that would give her the opportunity to ensure the contract was sound to the needs of the city.

CouncilmanArt Kulibert seconded the motion, but it was voted down with four votes opposing the contract.

The council also needed to appoint a council member to be a Spokane Transit Authority board member, and councilman Don Kennedy said he would continue to serve in that capacity, as nobody else showed interest.

Spokane County Fire District No. 3 Chief Cody Rohrbach spoke on behalf of public safety and mentioned the snowstorm bringing in a lot of crash calls along with slips and falls.

He also described the incident where a 19-year-old male fell through the ice at Fish Lake and had to be rescued.

Rohrbach said the first responders had to utilize a medical backboard and slide it out to the individual with a rope, and use it as a sled to get him back to shore.

The fire chief said the man was hypothermic with a body temperature of 94 degrees, but they were able to get him to the hospital and recovering.

In the closing comments of the meeting, Councilwoman Heather Starr wanted to congratulate resident Jesse Gonzalez for his work to help others and help get fresh water to the residents of Silverlake Apartments who had been dealing with a water issue for a week.

Ross said the complex’s issue was in fact fixed as of Dec. 21.

Matthew O. Stephens can be reached at [email protected].