The following are the unapproved minutes from the Burns City Council meeting held July 22. These minutes have been edited for clarity and length:

Police Chief Newt SkunkCap reported that the Burns Police Department has been very busy. The department confiscated more than 200 pounds of marijuana and a large sum of cash the night before. They are also busy working on city ordinance violations.

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Interim City Manager Judy Erwin reported that:

• she visited with the city attorney about the Business License Ordinance. The attorney suggested having the city manager approve/deny license applications and take a list of the applications to the council. Erwin added that denials could be appealed;

• in order to receive grants from Business Oregon, the water and sewer must be separated. This will require a supplemental budget, which is not an easy task, but Erwin will look into it;

• three bids were submitted and opened for the 2020 Street Project;

• she received one application for the city manager position;

• the city attorney informed her that the council does not have to fill her council seat;

• the city received the $30,000 COVID-19 relief money for the airport, and she provided Resolution 20-690.

Erwin asked that Ordinance 20-872 and Resolution 20-686, which were started back in January, be made effective July 1, 2020, so she doesn’t have to make changes to accounts from January through June.

Councilor Liz Appelman moved to make Ordinance 20-872 and Resolution 20-686 effective July 1, 2020, and the motion passed unanimously.

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Erwin provided an update on the Burns Town Apartments.

She sent a letter to Mr. Zitek on July 14, informing him of his options. She added that Zitek had two days left to show progress.

SkunkCap said he was in the building the day of the council meeting, and he didn’t see any active construction taking place.

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Erwin said they received three bids on the 2020 Street Project, and High Desert Aggregate and Paving was the low bidder at $668,330 base bid.

She told the council that the engineer would like to know whether the council wants to add any of the alternates, which include South Imperial, West Buchanan, West Van Buren, and the over-excavation on West Adams for a total of $812,950.

Erwin said the county agreed to repair Crane Boulevard in exchange for repair on South Egan or compensate monetarily if they can’t get to the repair work on Crane Boulevard.

Appelman asked if the city has the money to cover everything, and Erwin replied that it does.

The council voted to award the contract with all alternates to High Desert Aggregate and Paving in the amount of $812,950.

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Erwin provided the council with an application that she received for the city manager position.

There was a consensus of the council to table the matter until more applications are received.

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During the council comments portion of the meeting, Appelman asked SkunkCap whether the police radios are reliable.

SkunkCap replied that they are not, adding that they have a lot of problems with them.

Appelman asked Skunkcap to follow up with the council regarding this matter, as this is a safety issue.

The next council meeting is scheduled for 6 p.m. Wednesday, Aug. 12, at city hall.