By Stephanie A. Herbert
Boss Lady at Stephanie’s Biz Services ✍️
UNIONTOWN – The council unanimously voted to add a 64 cents per thousand levy to the November ballot for operations and general maintenance during an 81 minute Town Council meeting on June 10.
When Council Member Jim Barry asked if those could include payroll expenses, the council updated the motion to exclude them.
“The county has a property tax raise in 2027, and we have a continuing school tax, so it might be a hard sell to the town,” Barry said.
Council Member Brent Lane, who also serves as Uniontown Public Maintenance supervisor, explained that education is needed.
“The infrastructure is huge, and if we don’t go this route, it’s going to be putting us further back if we do have a major failure,” Lane added.
Mayor Wesley Kerr shared that hydrants cost around $9,500 each.
“So you can spend all of the $30,000 on just the four (hydrants) that are leaking,” Council Member Mark Davis explained.
Voters have to approve the levy on the November ballot for the council to get access to the additional funding.
RESIGNATION
Barry had asked about discussing a social media post, but Kerr advised against doing so, adding that he would be speaking only for himself and not as a council member.
Barry resigned during his council comments at the end of the meeting and passed out a copy of a letter of resignation and said that life and medical reasons offered “a more or equal factor in the decision that need to be addressed sooner rather than later.”
He thanked the other council members and the community for their support, and the other council members thanked him for his questions and his time.
UCB DISCUSSIONS
Kerr shared that he had coordinated a $25 a week rate with Pullman Regional Hospital for the senior meals program.
Barry asked when the council had decided that rate. Kerr shared that the council had approved a free rate for the hospital so he didn’t understand the questions about the change.
Kerr added that managing the building falls under the mayor’s purview because it falls under the town’s day to day operations.
Warner asked to see a contract with each group that wants to rent the building so the council can vote and set a rate.
Barry shared that he believed the council would be more involved with setting rates for groups using the building.
“But apparently I’m wrong about that, if it’s falling on the mayor’s shoulders,” Barry said.
Davies added that the Pullman hospital had gotten the state program to restart the senior lunch program.
“So I think the feeling is that we do anything we can to get them in the door for a facility,” Davies said. “I know (the hospital) also has to show transparency and provide some kind of report back to the state on their expenses.”
Barry later asked why the UCB item had been removed from the monthly agenda. Kerr said that happened since the council does not have any official business or a lease to discuss with the UCB.
Kerr shared that town staff are working on installing a camera system for security and property protection.
“We spent $1,500 on the system and it’s just not getting used, so it’s better so we can control what’s happening in the building,” he said.
Kerr added that the town is working to put keypads on the doors in lieu of key rentals for convenience.
“So when they pay and they get a PDF of the signed contract so they don’t have to come sign one, then they get a code for their time and the code expires after their time,” Kerr shared.
Lane shared that they have time stamps every time somebody is in and out of the building.
Barry asked about concerns from the council’s legal counsel about offering free rent as not being a good use of public funds. Kerr said that he believed the Uniontown Community Building organization running the building could not allow free rentals, but the town council could allow groups to rent it for free. He said he will follow up with counsel about that point.
The council voted to adopt the same rate schedule as what the UCB had, with the addition that a group can apply for a free or reduced rate with the council’s approval.
Davies said that he and UCB president are in discussions about a new lease, and that both sides had issues with the old agreement.
“My opinion is that I don’t want to see anything changed until we’ve had plenty of time to take proposed co-management agreements back to both sides.
During council comments, Davies added that the process may take a little bit of time.
“We can use a little bit of input, but I don’t think the town council meetings are a good place to hash that out. We can get back to a basis of a general agreement, and bring it back to our groups and then see what we think. And we can bring Adam (Papini, Uniontown city attorney) into it also.”
A COOKED MEAL
During public comments Jason Cook spoke for A Cooked Meal to request access to the Uniontown Community Building on a new date since PRH is doing meals on Wednesday. The council approved the change to every first and third Tuesday of each month.
COMMUNITY BARBECUE
The council discussed planning for a community barbecue from 2-5 p.m. on July 11 at Memorial Park after hearing that harvest might get started early this year. The UCDA and the library will be involved and fliers will be distributed on bulletin boards with more information about the event.
“It’s designed to bring the community together and provide a great sense of community,” Kerr said. “We’ve already approved the money, so we’re just looking at dates.”
He added the town held a barbecue the first year he moved to town, and the event is a way to get the information out and answer questions.
PLANNING & ZONING
Davies shared that he has finished half of the first year of a two-year critical ordinance update with a consultant from Spokane and that some new mapping might be done involving wetlands and frequent flooding areas.
Town Administrator Kim Brickey shared that the plan is to have the mapping done by August 2026 but they also had some major delays so the timeline is not set in stone.
“If there’s anything that might affect our property owners in this town, we need to know about it,” Davis said.
Davies said he’s worked with someone from the conservation office to work toward a bunch of grant money available for small communities that have not usually gone after the grant money. He said if Colton would like to work together, the group could create a master plan for a parks and recreation district to request $100,000 or $150,000.
“That could really go a long way to get a plan together to get our park up and replace the equipment and get a lot done that we’ve been trying to do,” Davies explained. “It’s grant money, and there’s no matching fund requirements so it’s very competitive.”
Davies also reported that someone mentioned in a planning commission meeting about concern for the billboards to be turned into an electronic sign. He said the committee will look at the sign ordinance attached to the land use ordinance, because a lot of it dates back in the late 1990s.
UCDA UPDATES
Ashley Conklin from the UCDA shared that unfortunately the Jacobs building will be going up for sale.
“There’s a lot of talk that we’d rather sell the building but if we got the right leasee in, then we’d do that instead,” she explained.
Barry asked about the process if the UCDA sells the building. Kerr said that the money goes to the group for their resources.
Brickey asked what the plan is for the planters in town.
Conklin said they haven’t discussed the planters yet.
Brickey said her contact is “more than happy to help but doesn’t want to step on anybody’s toes.”
Kerr shared that typically if a planter generally falls in the property owner’s right of way, the business owner is responsible for the upkeep.
Davies also shared that there’s state funding for a plan to redo Highway 195 from the Idaho state line to Colton.
“So if there’s any kind of plan for improvements for sidewalks, or street lighting, we can roll it in and they’ll pay for it,” he said. “So if there’s talk about those going away down the road and we don’t want to invest a lot of money going into them. But if we have the property owners watering them, it’s a better step in making the town look better.”
Stephanie Herbert owns Stephanie’s Biz Services, offering news releases and news articles as opportunities for publicity for organizations and businesses. Read more about her career journey here.