The Thompson Falls City Council met at 6 p.m. on Monday, Oct. 25 at City Hall. Council members James Robinson, Tom Eggensperger, Mark Sheets, Linda McKahn, and Raoul Ribero were in attendance at the meeting, which was lead by mayor Carla Parks. Council member Randy Roberts was not present at the meeting.

The first order of business at the meeting pertained to Ordinance 330, which pertained to a change in city burning ordinances. This ordinance would change outdoor burning regulations, and would allow for residences to have and utilize individual fire pits.

The city Beautification Committee, represented by Rita Lundgren, presented the second item on the agenda, which pertained to proposed improvements to the rose garden. According to Lundgren, the garden was the site of a playground, which had fallen into disrepair. Deemed a safety risk, it was dismantled, and the committee sought support to replace the old playground. The goal is to build a safe, durable, attractive and accessible playground system, one that would be accessible to disabled children as well. The committee would like to have the playground completed next year.

The Beautification Committee would like to involve the local elementary school classes in the design of the playground, giving kids the opportunity to share their viewpoint. At this point, the committee is in the conceptualizing stage, and was asking the council for support in the planning stages of this project. The group committed to working together with the council, and stressed the face that the council would have final say in any decisions on the project. Many members of the council voiced support of this project, and when it was put to a vote, the council decided unanimously to support the project.

The third order of business dealt with an easement requested by the Drazst family. Prior to the city council meeting, a public meeting was held to discuss this issue. When the issue was presented to the council during the meeting, it was passed unanimously.

After it was decided that discussions on the city website would be tabled until next time, the floor was given to Thompson Falls resident Sandra Kazmierczak, who works with the Thompson Falls pool. Kaszmierczak presented a report on the pool, which included information gathered over last summer. According to Kazmierczak, last season was a success. The pool saw 3,520 attendants, which is an increase of nearly 1,000 people over the previous season’s attendance, which was 2,591. 115 kids attended swimming lessons, which is 16 more than last year. 212 swimmers ages 14 and under passed the deep end swimming test. 33 in-town and 10 out-of-town family passes were issued over the season.

The next issue, which was presented by Mark Sheets, dealt with and easement for the construction of a new power line through Thompson Falls by PPL. The projected line would pass over four city streets or alleys and continue on through a section of private property. According to Mayor Parks, no easement would be necessary for the lines to pass over public right of ways, as easements are already written into city-managed assets. The issue was tabled until further information became available about the design and specifications of the power line.

The city was contacted by the National Association for Railroad Passengers, which is an organization that advocates for the expansion of passenger railways. The organization is looking into reestablishing a southern passenger rail route, and is gathering information about which communities would support such a project. After brief discussion, many members of the council voiced their support of the project. The committee unanimously decided that Thompson Falls could be counted as a community in favor of expanding passenger rail.

Mayor Parks presented committee appointments for the Community Decay Review Committee and the Board of Adjustments Committee. The council passed these appointments unanimously.

The next city council meeting is scheduled for the second week of November.