Plains mayor holds final council meeting

The mayor of Plains was pleased that his final town council meeting went smooth and with no conflicts.

"I have been extremely proud of what we together have been able to accomplish during my tenure as mayor. Many thanks are due to all the town employees, the town council, Shari Johnson, Rich Gebhardt, along with many others," Rowan told the council and the handful of people from the public in attendance last Monday evening at City Hall. "There is still much work left to be done, as there always will be. In the future, I hope to be able to assist if or when needed, so thank you guys," he added before continuing with the meeting.

Rowan will resign his post on December 29 and get sworn in as county commissioner in Thompson Falls on the same day. Chris Allen, as the town council president, would assume the position as acting mayor. At that point, the town council has 30 days to appoint a replacement. The term of that person would run until the next general municipal election in November 2023. "The acting position is limited to 30 days, which means someone would have to file and run for the position, which would be filling the remaining two years term of his position," said Rowan.

Two other council members had entertained the idea of running for the mayor position. Chad Cantrell and Connie Foust changed their minds. Although Allen was reluctant last year, he has now decided to run for the position. "While it is not a desire of my heart to be mayor, I do love our town and want to do what I feel is best," said Allen, who has served on the town council for nearly 14 years and said he would love to see the positive advances they have made continue.

Rowan has been mayor for five years and before that he served on the council for Ward 3 for five years. He said his biggest accomplishment has been getting the new lagoon operational. He's also pleased about the number of road improvements they've done. "There were many things that would be on the list of things that were important, but the sewer project and streets were the biggest and really in a different category than anything else," he said.

Rowan believes Allen will do an excellent job and follows the same thought process that he has about the town needs. He said the only big issue he didn't get done was getting a new water tank to replace the aging one along Highway 28. He said it's a $2 million project, but it will need to get done. A new water tower is only now in the early planning stages. He also wished he would have been able to add more sidewalks in town and correct the existing sidewalk problem. "Many of the sidewalks that were installed many years ago have fell into disrepair for various reasons. There are other areas that never did have sidewalks. Repairs should be made to existing sidewalks and then new sidewalks can be built to connect the repaired areas," he said.

Rowan mentioned at the council meeting that four of the six council positions will be on the 2023 ballot - Foust, Cantrell, Garrett Boon and Allen, if he takes the mayor position. Joel Banham and John Sheridan would be the only two not having to run for re-election next year.

The town council unanimously passed a resolution relating to the issuance by the town of Plains of its $900,000 wastewater system revenue bond. The loan, which is at 2.5% for 20 years, is for the sludge removal at the old lagoon and for an electronic automatic communication system at the new lagoon. The loan would not require a rate increase, said Rowan.

He also passed at the meeting that the mainline bypass at the new lagoon has been completed and it should take about two weeks for cell three at the new facility to fill. Ponds one and two are already full. Sludge removal at the former lagoon has been delayed until spring because of the weather.

The council also approved a motion to sell a piece of surplus property just north of the old lagoon. Rowan said he had no idea why the town bought the land and recently the council decided it was of no use to the town. The mayor said that it started out as a 44.49 acres, but it was recently surveyed as 27.35 acres. "A little over 20 acres went down the river somewhere. Maybe somebody gained 20 acres," said Rowan.

Plains realtor Mary Helliwell did a market analysis on the property and estimated it was valued around $7,737 an acre for a total of $208,899. "Having walked it, I absolutely feel it's a beautiful piece of property. It has over 2,300 feet of river frontage," said Helliwell at the meeting. Because all of it is within a floodplain, it would have limited use, according to Rowan. "It seems to be a nice place to put an RV out there and sit by the river in the summer," he said. Allen made a motion to set a minimum value on the property of $190,000. It was seconded by Cantrell and unanimously passed.

Rowan passed onto the council that the water compact objection for municipalities had been extended to Feb. 9, but that the town attorney, Loren Fitzpatrick, doesn't believe there is any legal basis for the town to make an objection. Fitzpatrick told Rowan he wanted guidance from the council on what part of the compact they object to on legal grounds. The present attorney consulted with former attorney and neither could find one. Rowan said they could check with another attorney, but it could cost the town thousands of dollars. He told the council that the former attorney, Rich Gebhardt, believes it would be a pointless endeavor.

Rowan reported that Traver's Excavator Service finished replacing some 700 feet of water main behind the Dew Duck Inn. The mayor also told council that the town pumped 4,076,000 gallons of water in November, but sold only 2,853,400 gallons, a 30% loss. He said some might have been from the leak behind the Dew Duck Inn, but he believes there's a service line leak somewhere else. It was also reported that one of two heaters at the public library went down. Though the library is a county asset, the building is the town's responsibility. Because the working heater is old and parts are unavailable, they decided to purchase one large system for around $12,000.

The final piece of business for the night was council's approval of a request by member Garrett Boon for the council to voice its approval to make the MKH property for sale for public use in some capacity. Boon said he would draft the letter.