Boge drops vote concern

SANDPOINT - Last month's City Council decision to expand Sandpoint's water boundary ended with Mayor Gretchen Hellar casting the tie-breaking vote, but questions about the legality of the vote are now being raised.

Councilman Michael Boge voiced concerns over the vote, pointing to the city's policy for admitting new users to Sandpoint's water system, which says “extension of the city of Sandpoint Water System shall be by majority vote of the Sandpoint City Council.”

Boge argues that because Hellar is not a member of the council, her vote should not have been counted toward reaching a majority on the water boundary extension.

Boge previously voiced concern about the frequency in which Hellar has cast tie-breaking votes in her brief tenure.

“Gretchen's not really the mayor, but the seventh member of the council,” Boge said.

Hellar said she is confident that her vote was appropriate and legal, and said talks with City Attorney Will Herrington have only solidified her opinion.

“When the council is tied, the mayor gets to step in and become the seventh council member,” Hellar said.

The issue was scheduled to be discussed at Wednesday's administrative committee, but Boge asked that the item be removed early this week.

“I can't find any traction to go after this,” Boge said about dropping the issue. “I'll keep an eye on it, and at some point in the future the language in the policy needs to be clarified.”

City Planner Jeremy Grimm, who was instrumental in drafting the water expansion policy, said the sentence in question was meant only to explain that council approval is required in order to gain access to city water.

When the policy was originally approved by council in July, Councilwoman Cindy Elliot made note of the wording.

“We face a similar situation every time we are asked to approve a subdivision or PUD. Because I recall over the last couple of years … we haven't been unanimous on every one of those applications … and the mayor has broken a tie - so I see this as a similar situation,” Elliot said at the July meeting.

According to Grimm, policy items can be worded to ensure that only council members are eligible to vote, but the standard phrase in that case would be that one half plus one of the full members of council are needed to pass.