Contract dispute settled
To avoid a potential lawsuit, the Liberty Lake City Council voted Tuesday night to pay $1,500 to a janitorial company as part of a settlement.
The dispute arose from a contract signed a few years ago between the city and P.S. Janitorial Services, which fixed the payment amounts for services, said city attorney Stanley M. Schwartz. However, the contract amount was below the prevailing wage for janitorial services, and state law requires that cities pay the prevailing wage to workers.
After the janitorial company paid the employees the difference, the company then came to the city of Liberty Lake seeking reimbursement.
“To avoid a dispute and to insure prevailing wages were properly paid, we entered into a settlement agreement,” Schwartz said.
When the contract was signed, the city believed the janitorial services company was operated by its owners, a husband and wife team. The city did not know the company hired employees, and therefore did not assume it needed to pay the prevailing wage, Schwartz said.
Asked if the city will check to make sure contractors have employees in the future, Schwartz said, “I think that’s a safe assumption.”
Also in Tuesday night’s meeting, council members chose a preliminary site plan for the proposed community and civic center to be located on 6.4 acres of land near Caffe Liberte.
Despite strong public sentiment in opposition, those plans include a public safety building on the corner of Appleway and Signal.
“It doesn’t make sense to me that if we’re bringing members of our community here, we shouldn’t bring our public safety here,” said Councilman Brian Sayrs. “We need to show this is a safe place. I think it’s important to have these types of functions on this property.”
During public comment periods, several citizens expressed concern about the sounds of sirens interfering with activities at the community center or the farmer’s market. Some people said they wanted a community center on the 6.4 acres and nothing else.
“At no time do I ever remember us saying this was just for a community center,” said Councilwoman Judi Owens. “This is such a large property that it can be utilized for a lot of things.”
Council members reached consensus on a site plan that places the library and community center in one building in the southeast corner of the property, with a walkway and green space extending to the west. A city hall and public safety area is set aside along Signal Road to the east, and an area for future development is set aside on the northwest corner.
No matter what happens, the project will likely go before a public vote for funding, said Doug Smith, the city’s director of planning and community development. The city has reached the limits of its debt load for the time being, he said, and citizens would need to vote on the project in order for it to start.
Police Chief Brian Asmus informed council members of a proposed ordinance limiting golf cart usage in the city. The proposed ordinance would set several requirements for the carts, such as passenger limits, reckless driving standards, lighting arrangements for the carts and requests to use golf cart paths instead of sidewalks.
The ordinance will likely be presented for first reading at the next council meeting.