RACC requests money from council

Carol Riggan of the Riverside Area Community Club (RACC) spoke at the Riverside City Council Tuesday about the planning underway for the 28

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installment of TrekFest, which is June 29-30. Riggan asked the council to pay for about $1,600 in TrekFest related expenses such as port-o-potties, paying someone to clean the bathrooms and paying for law enforcement.

Mayor Bill Poch said he didn?t think the council could approve the request since all that was listed on the agenda was ?RACC TrekFest Events? without any reference to a request for money.

?My thought is that there needs to be a better dialogue on what we?re going to expect,? he said. ?We need to have somewhere on there that Carol Riggan is going to come and she?s going to ask for financial assistance. Then, you can come and explain that.?

Later in the meeting, City Clerk Missy Carter said that she consulted with City Attorney Les Lamping and that it was sufficient to have RACC on the agenda for the council to approve funds for it. Riggan agreed to come back at a later meeting to further discuss funding.

Riggan said that RACC is interested in bringing an astronaut to speak at TrekFest. She said that the astronaut will not charge a speaking fee and will only ask to be reimbursed for his or her airfare, food and lodging.

RACC member Larry Schluttenhofer said that some people think TrekFest is ?geeky? and that there should be non-Star Trek themed events, too, such as a rodeo. He said he doesn?t know if there will be a rodeo this year because he?s still trying to get a feel for whether the community wants one. He said a two-day rodeo is likely to cost about $20,000.

The council talked about renewing MidAmerican Energy Company?s right to operate natural gas in the city. Lamping told the council that MidAmerican?s new agreement included several changes from the 1987 agreement and that they were designed to limit the company?s obligations.

?None of this language benefits the city,? he said.

The council instructed Lamping to work on the contract further with MidAmerican.

Mariellen Bower wrote a letter to the council in which she announced her resignation from the variance committee.

Bower wrote, ?I will not be part of a violent town. It is too hard on my health. I regret doing this for I know everyone on that committee and they are good people that I know I could work with but this is my wish and the wish of my family. I?ve had enough!?