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HomeMy WebLinkAboutCouncil Workshop Minutes 06.21.2022MINUTES CITY OF LAURE CITY COUNCIL WORI TUESDAY, JUNE 21, A Council Workshop was held in Council Chambers and at 6:29 p.m. on June 21, 2022. COUNCIL MEMBERS PRESENT: Emelie Eaton Michelle Mize _x_ Casey Wheeler x Richard Klose OTHERS PRESENT: Michele Braukman Brittney Moorman, Brent Peters, Fire C K.C. Bieber, Fire C Jean Kerr, Judge Jamie Swecker, Fir Kent Kulesa, Assis Public Input: Shawn Mullaney, 1629 Cove Lane, read the attached General Items Executive Review 1. Resolution - A Resolution Amending OP to order by Mayor Dave Waggoner _x_ Heidi Sparks x Richard Herr x Iry Wilke x Bill Mountsier Civil Attorney .dministrative Assistant Marshall nt Fire Chief into the record. No. R21-132. Joe Johnson Equipment purchased Titan Machinery. The are honoring the bid price, but a surcharge had to be passed to us. This resolution is to add that surcharge to the price of the jet rodder: Budget/Finance Committee has reviewed and approved the surcharge. However, the resolution needs to be amended. Council Issues 2. Fire Chief Discussion Brent Peters, Fire Chief, briefly described how this item c February and is looking into other employment opportuni becoming the full-time Fire Chief to be explored. At 750( paid Fire Department, and by creating a Fire Chief positic With 10,000 residents, the City will need a full-time Fire what a full-time Fire Department will cost the City; see at une before Council. He retired in ies. He would like the option of residents, the City will need a partially i, they are meeting that requirement. )epartment. He briefly ran numbers on One project he would like to tackle is billing. He anticipat s additional revenue of $200k to $300k annually, and that revenue would go to General F d. He would also like to identify a better formula for billing the Fire Districts. He would also like to create a new Fire District for Molt as they currently have no structure coverage. Under 1he current mutual aid agreement, the City cannot bill for those calls. The City has not updated its emergency plan since it was written in 1998. This needs to be written and kept current. He would also take care of all things related to fire codes. It was questioned how billing for services would be doned what kind of enforcement could be done. The City can put liens on the property and send a sh riff out for collections. Medicare or Medicaid does not govern collections. Typically there are 'nsurance policies that are triggered and paid out. It was questioned what hours the Fire Chief currently puts in. He stated he puts in the number of hours needed, and he puts in more hours than the average City employee. His availability is excellent now, and he can dedicate many hours to the department. It was questioned what kind of wage he was thinking. He tated that he would want to be competitive with other Department Heads and would like o be considered as the Police Chief and Public Works Director. 3. Closed Executive Session Mayor Waggoner skipped forward in the agenda and meeting portion was complete. Council entered into Closed Executive Session at 7:07 Executive Session ended at 7:57 p.m. Other Items There were none. Attendance at Upcoming Council Meeting Council Member Wilke will be absent from next week's Announcements to this item after the regular to discuss litigation strategy. Closed The Emergency Services Committee meets next Monday 4t 6:00 p.m. in Council Chambers. Council requested a financial report on LURA. Council also requested that LURA be reconfigured and brought back to them. Riverside Park had some flooding during last week's flooding event. The park is open again. Mayor Waggoner sent Staff to Fromberg to help haul loads to the dump. Mayor Waggoner closed the regular portion of this Executive Session after a five-minute recess. The council workshop adjourned at 7:57 p.m. submitted, Administrative NOTE: This meeting is open to the public. This meeting is for the listed workshop agenda items. ing at 7:02 p.m. and entered into rmation and discussion of the Council for The TIF District which generates capital for private and public ii administered here in Laurel for several years under the acronyi district pay the same amount as they would if they were locate generated inside the TIF district is used for a variety of public a community. LURA Grant funds have been modeled after succe )rovements has been successfully LURA Grant. Taxpayers within the outside the district. The fund that is I private uses that benefit the entire ful TIF district funds throughout the state and Billing in Particular. When LURA Grant funds are used in privately held property to control urban blight, that property is increased in value and consequently the taxable value is increased, which then regenerates taxes back to the Lura Grant. The LURA Grant program is a positive way to keep the downtown business district alive and thriving. When these funds are used on private businesses, the Grant will fund up to half of expenses incurred while allowing tl,e district to thrive. When used on public improvements such as streets curbs and Outters, while allowed and sometimes necessary, the funds used in this way do not contribute to the adjoining property's taxable value and thus is a net expenditure and does not regenerate the Lura funo. Last fall Ms. Eaton, acting as temporary Mayor, introduced a reolution that was passed by the City Council which only allows the LURA Grant funds to be used for ublic works projects. This resolution takes away the incentive of a private investor to improve or ev would an investor buy a 100 year old building that often costs Especially when it can be built outside the city limits depriving grant, which was modeled after the TIF district around the Mo great! Many of the downtown businesses look better than the windows, updated facades, decorative awnings all contribute t growing downtown. The LURA Grant board has done a great ji my wife and I have benefited from the Lura Grant. We obtaine have afforded without help from the LURA Grant. i purchase a building in the district. Why ore to improve than to build new? ie city of any and all tax base. The LURA ana Ave area in Billings, was working have in 30 years. New energy efficient an atmosphere and energy that is slowly in distributing the funds downtown and a professional sign that we could not Another concern about the prior Mayors' resolution is that the unds are distributed by the city but only at the recommendation of the LURA Grant board. The City can' just take the TIF district funds to use as they wish. If you don't have a quorum on the LURA Grant boar I to make recommendations to the city council the money can not be distributed. Who would want to oin the board of the Lura Grant simply to distribute money for street and sewer improvements? The city already collects the taxes for this purpose. I'm disappointed in the Council's actions last fall, regardless of 1 requesting the Council propose a Resolution that will eliminate eligibility for LURA funding. Thanks for your time. Respectfully, Shawn Mullaney ie legality of the resolution. I am :he exclusion of all private investors from Structure Fire or High Impact Call Fire Chief Average High Fire Chief $74,701.00 $107,616.00 Battalion Chief $72,643.00 $104,651.00 Captain $74,637.00 $92,331.00 Fire Marshal $60,492.00 $87,146.00 Engineer $62,326.001 $77,600.00 Firefighter $44,356.001 $65,498.00 Structure Fire or High Impact Call Fire Chief 1 Battalion Chiefs 1 Captains 1 Engineers 2 firefighter $369,324.00 Entry Team 2 Backup Entry 2 Rapid Inter 2 Ventilation 2 Support 1 14 Minimum Number of Firefighters for a Fulltime Fire Department Operating costs are not included in these numbers A Crew I B Crew I C Crew I D Crew I Total/ shift Shift numbers minus day positions Average High 1 1 1 1 4 $72,643.00 X 4 $290,572.00 $418,604.00 1 1 1 1 4 $74,637.00 X 4 $298,548.00 $369,324.00 2 2 2 2 8 $62,326.00 X 8 $498,608.00 $620,800.00 $44;3-56-0 3 $�5-96,-8-16:0 $�357—,9228.0 13 13 13 13 52 Fire Chief Fire Marshal Training Admin X X X X 1 1 1 1 $74,701.00 $60,492.00 $50,000.00 $38,000.00 $107,616.00 $87,146.00 $56,000.00 $42,000.00 Total min. 1 56 1 $2,907,737.00 1 $4,059,418.00 These are totals for just salaries and wages. This does not include the operational budget, benefits and overtime.