By BECKY THOMAS
Staff Reporter
Three people were appointed to the Historic Preservation Commission at Tuesday's Cheney City Council meeting.
Retired Eastern Washington University history professor Richard Donley, EWU geography professor Dan Turbeville and Spokane area realtor Tom Balderree were all named to the commission to fill some long-vacant seats.
The council meeting also included several purchase agreements for work in the city. The council approved a $20,820 bid to remove an asbestos-contaminated boiler from the City Hall building, a $31,200 bid to purchase a cable trailer for the Light Department and a $25,300 bid to purchase 12 electric transformers for new infrastructure along Simpson Parkway, in the Terra Vista development and replacing old transformers in the downtown core.
The council also approved a computer server purchase to replace an aging model to communicate with police car computers at the Cheney Police Department, and accepted a $88,390 grant from the Community Development Block Grant. The grant would fund water main replacement along Summit Drive.
The council also approved a budget amendment to recognize new grant revenue and other adjustments.
Also at the meeting, Public Works director Todd Ableman covered information on the city's Residential Street and Sidewalk Program, funding for which will be decided by voters Aug. 7. Les Harris, with the Committee for Preserving Cheney's Streets, said the committee was available to help inform citizens about the utility tax that would fund the program if approved. More information on the committee is online at http://www.cheneystreets.webs.com.
Light director Joe Noland shared a video with the council that celebrated 75 years of Bonneville Power Administration operating dams on the Columbia River. Noland noted that Cheney's power and light department is older, having been enacted by Mayor Clarence Martin and the City Council 81 years ago. As governor, Martin turned the hydropower utility over to the federal government in 1942.
“We have this long history of leaders in the industry,” Mayor Tom Trulove said, noting that Cheney was one of the first cities in Washington to start its own electric utility.
Many council members shared anticipation for the upcoming festivities in Cheney, with plans to attend the Cheney Jubilee, parade and the Cheney Rodeo.
The Cheney City Council next meets July 24 at 6 p.m. in City Hall council chambers.
Becky Thomas can be reached at becky@cheneyfreepress.com.
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