The Times - Serving Waitsburg, Dayton and the Touchet Valley

WAITSBURG - "Third time's the charm" for the Waitsburg City Council. At a special Thursday evening meeting, called specifically for the purpose, the council approved the purchase of a building to protect its new cardboard baler and the cardboard bales it generates. Proposals had been presented and rejected at both the September 18 and October 14 council meetings.

Purchase of the baler was made possible in June through a grant that covered 75% of the $14,418 pur- chase price. At that time it was noted that some type of building or cover would be necessary to protect the ma- chine and to keep the card- board bales dry until they could be collected by a solid waste handling company.

In September, City Ad- ministrator Randy Hinchliffe presented the council a proposal for construction of a pole building. The $17,000 bid would have required the City to borrow money to cover the cost. Several coun- cil members opposed the purchase and discussed possibilities ranging from pallets covered by tarps to canopy- type structures. Concern was expressed about the abil- ity of either option to withstand a windstorm. T h e need for a mini- m um 1 2 - foot ceiling posed an additional challenge.

"If I'd have known we were looking at this type of expense for a building, I might have voted differently about purchasing the baler in the first place," said Council- member K.C. Kuykendall. Hinchliffe was directed to do additional research and return to October's Council Meeting with options at or below $7500.

"After looking at a few different options, it was clear to me that $ 7,500 wasn't going t o be enough to get what I felt was needed in or- der to protect the baler and provide storage for the bales as they are produced," said Hinchliffe. He found a bolt- together building, similar to the pole building originally proposed, with a time-sensitive price of $8,500 for a building listing for $13,500.

The 25 x 30 x 15-foot high Bolt-A-Frame steel building is the same type as the building at Waitsburg's wastewater treatment plant and could be absorbed into the current budget. Public Works employees felt they could perform the installation - with two having prior experience - and save the City labor costs. The out-of- state purchase would exempt the City from paying sales tax as well.

Knowing the bid was over budget, Hinchliffe attempted to expedite the process and qualify for the discount by emailing the Council and asking them to look at the proposal and get back to him. One Councilmember requested an estimate on a comparable Pole Building Kit, which came in at $1,000 more than the bolt-together option. A second email was sent explaining this and reit- erating the timing deadline.

Hinchliffe received one objection and spoke with two council members who "were in favor of it at the time." He relayed the in- formation and responses to Mayor Walt Gobel who di- rected him to secure the discount by making a deposit. The $2,600 deposit, to cover engineering and design costs, was sent.

"Figuring it was the low- est cost option for the City that met the City needs, I thought the Council would just approve it and move on," said Hinchliffe.

Instead, during the regular October council meeting, council members Kuykend- all and Marty Dunn objected to the manner in which the building was purchased -- expressing that the council should have convened to make the decision -- as well as the cost of the structure.

Following a discussion that focused more on the way the decision was made than on the building itself, a vote was taken and the purchase was denied. Kuyk- endall, Dunn, and Debra Callahan voted against the purchase and Kevin House and Karl Newell voted in favor. Hinchliffe was directed to see if he could get the de- posit returned to the City and cancel the order.

Jared Hawkins, a repre- sentative of City Attorney Chris Hedine, commented that email was an unaccept- able manner of communication as it takes the public aspect out of the equation.

Kuykendall

When the City was in- formed they could not obtain a refund on the deposit, a special meeting was called for October 17 in which the Council ultimately approved the purchase. "Feeling that it would look bad to citizens either way, they chose to approve the building as a way to protect this piece of equipment as well as some of the other pieces until the building eventually fills up with cardboard and we get a few dollars back for it," said Hinchliffe. He estimates that a truckload of 60 bales will result in approximately $1500 in revenue.

The City is encourag- ing Waitsburg residents to take advantage of the free cardboard recycling ser- vice by breaking down their cardboard and depositing it in the designated bin at the City Shop recycling station, directly across from Preston Park.