Reappointments, amendments and committee assignments

    Despite the snow falling rapidly, the Tuesday, January 8 City Council members shuffled into City Hall for the first City Council meeting of the year. The agenda was loaded with delegating board and committee assignments along with passing action on contracts and agreements for the 2019 year.
    The first actions to be taken care of was several individuals being officially sorted into familiar roles.
    The council unanimously voted for the current Mayor Pro Tempore, Carolyn Wilson to remain in this position. Wilson is no stranger to the role, which involves her filling in the mayor's shoes when Mayor Farivar is absent. She's served as the Mayor Pro Tempore from 2014-2018.
    Heidi Forchemer was also officially inducted in the same position she's held. She is a member of the Design Review Board and the reappointment action put forward Tuesday night, kept her remaining on the board. The Design Review Board is responsible for focusing on helping Leavenworth maintain the authentic Bavarian atmosphere that entices in tourists eager to visit the Bavarian Village.
    "She is German, has strong connections to Germany. Her father is from there and she makes frequent trips back to Bavaria. She has been a long term asset to the Design Review Board", said Farivar.
    And the final reappointment was keeping council member Sharon Waters on the Festhalle Oversight Committee for another three years along with Leavenworth resident Steve Scott. Scott was appointed last year, but was also a member of the original Festhalle committee, Leavenworth Civic Center Foundation.
    As for representing the Mayor, City Administrator, Joel Walinski, was also assigned to the Festhalle Oversight Committee.
    When someone is charged with a misdemeanor within city limits, it is the responsibility of the city to pay for the costs of incarceration in Chelan County District Court system. An amendment to the Interlocal Agreement between Chelan County and the city of Leavenworth was made during the meeting. City clerk Chantell Steiner stated that normally the agreement is multi-year, which has just come to an end.
    "In the past what we've done is had a three year look back based on actual costs..so we know what those history dollars were each and every year. So when we get to what we consider the fourth year, or the year that we're paying, we'll have that look back and average it. What they've proposed this year is to change it to the average daily population rather than the actual cost," said Steiner.
    This upcoming year, the city and Chelan County have negotiated an alternate way to calculate what the city owes for inmates arrested in Leavenworth city limits. This year they're going to test the waters for calculating the rate based on the average daily population. It was stressed that the amendment is only for a year, but could produce possible monetary benefits for the city.
    "This might be a benefit for us in the future. Because if you think about the average daily population, think about the amount of inmates Leavenworth has versus the overall population of the jail. What's going to happen over time, growth is going to occur, more in Wenatchee, more in Chelan County so our ADP could potentially go down," said Steiner. "It may stay very similar to the dollar versus the percentage, but with this particular one I did the math going with the ADP and it came out to about $200 less for the entire year for this year's one year extension."   
    Before wrapping up the meeting for the evening, the council voted on the amendment to the City Administrator contract amendment. Since 2010, Walinski has been a static figure in the city of Leavenworth's administration. Walinski has decided to extend his stay with the city of Leavenworth until May 2020 and the council approved this action merrily.
    "I picked that day primarily because you'll have a new mayor and potentially new council members, " said Walinksi. "I always enjoyed the work. I think the city and community is a wonderful place to accomplish things work wise."

Other business taken care of at the meeting:
- The City Council approved the new labor union contract with Teamsters Local Union No. 760, that applies to 24 out of the 29 full time employees for the city of Leavenworth. The contract will be in effect until 2021.
- An increase in the City Attorney's monthly retainer amount - $3,700 to $3,900. City Attorney, Thomas Graafstra, has served the city since 2011.
- The annexation of the property on 1440 Commercial St for city purposes. The council will eventually return back to this for the rezone of the property. According to Walinski, the property should be vacated by the end of the week of January 8, ahead of time.