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Lewiston council approves annual schedules and new library board member; debates ballroom floor replacement
Summary
Council adopted annual administrative items and appointed Laurel Linder to the library board; members discussed replacing the ballroom's century-old floor with a hardwood surface (staff estimated about $55,000) and inspected the space during the meeting, with potential funding from fiscal-year surplus to be decided at the next meeting.
The Lewiston City Council approved routine annual items and a library board appointment and spent part of its December meeting discussing replacement of the ballroom floor.
The council unanimously approved the master fee schedule (Resolution 24-01) and the city meeting schedule (Resolution 24-02) after brief discussion about start times for departmental meetings. Council members also approved the minutes from the Nov. 19 meeting.
During public business, the council thanked outgoing library board member Amber Wadipes and, on a motion, appointed Laurel Linder to the library board; that motion was approved unanimously.
The council then turned to "other business," where the presiding speaker proposed removing the ballroom's existing floor and installing a new hardwood plank floor. The speaker said, "Our ballpark estimate on this is gonna be about $55,000," and described hardwood as more durable and re-surfaceable every seven to 10 years. The speaker also said surplus funds from fiscal year 24 could be allocated at the next meeting for the work and that prioritizing the ballroom floor would delay some finishing touches on the new Public Works building.
Council members and staff questioned whether the old floor could be salvaged; staff said the surface is glued to concrete and more than 80 years old. One later numerical reference in the transcript ('42,055,000) is inconsistent with the earlier $55,000 estimate and was not clarified in the meeting record. Council members agreed to take a brief field inspection of the ballroom during the meeting; no final contract, contractor selection or binding budget appropriation was made at that time.
The council did not set a firm funding authorization during the recorded discussion; the presiding speaker instructed staff to include the flooring allocation in the next meeting's budget adjustments when the audit is presented.
