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The Spokesman-Review Newspaper
Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

City discusses bacteria found in water

Valerie Putnam vrputnam@yahoo.com

Millwood City Council began the new year resolving last year’s unfinished business Monday night.

The council unanimously approved removing the parking restriction on the east side of Laura Road between Frederick and Buckeye avenues.

The restriction, originally part of an ordinance adopted July 2009, restricted parking in 10 areas of the city.

Council decided not to enforce the restriction on Laura after several Laura Street residents voiced concerns about the restriction.

An amendment to the ordinance, presented to council last June, outlined the removal of the parking restriction on Laura along with adopting a parking restriction on the south side of Frederick along the city park.

At that time, council deferred the vote on the amendment to investigate the location of the right-of-way along Frederick, leaving the issue along Laura unresolved.

The parking restriction on Frederick is still pending investigation.

During the maintenance report, assistant maintenance supervisor Paul Allen read a report by maintenance supervisor Cleve McCoul. In the report, McCoul discussed taking a water sample that came back positive for coliform bacteria.

Allen said the coliform bacteria could be an indicator for other harmful bacteria present in the water, but additional testing revealed no other bacteria present. Allen said the city plans to chlorinate the water.

Allen said McCoul is considering recommending chlorination as a permanent solution to ensure public safety. The Department of Health has been pushing the city to do it for a long time, he said.

“If that is determined to be something we need to do in the interest of public health, we’re going to have to start doing an education campaign before we kick that in,” Councilman Kevin Freeman said. “People are very sensitive to the chlorination in the water because they don’t have it.”

In other city news, City Planner Tom Richardson presented an ordinance amending the beginning and ending fund balances for 2010 budget. Council unanimously approved the changes.

The amendment corrected discrepancies in the balances that occurred following the passing of city clerk Eva Colomb in September 2009. Colomb started the budget in August of that year according to Mayor Dan Mork. Richardson completed the 2010 budget following Colomb’s death.

“One of the benefits of our new accounting system is reports that catch things that don’t match up,” Richardson said. “We noticed some things where our beginning cash at a year ago the beginning of the year was different from what we originally recorded. We should clarify that before the year ends.”

The council also approved an ordinance amending the city’s gambling tax to meet state requirements. The ordinance outlines a 2 percent reduction in the tax for bingo and raffles along with a new section authorizing the city to hold liens against unpaid taxes.