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HomeMy WebLinkAboutCouncil Workshop Minutes 03.10.2009MINUTES COUNCIL WORKSHOP MARCH 10, 2009 6:30 P.M. COUNCIL CHAMBERS A Council Workshop was held in the Council Chambers and called to order by Council President Doug Poehls at 6:30 p.m. on March 10, 2009. COUNCIL MEMBERS PRESENT: x Emelie Eaton Tx Kate Hart _x Chuck Rodgers X_ Alex Wilkins _x_ Doug Poehls x Mark Mace _x Chuck Dickerson Norm Stamper OTHERS PRESENT: Sam Painter Mary Embleton Bill Sheridan Kurt Markegard James Caniglia Rick Musson Scott Wilm Jan Faught Public InDUt (three-minute limit): Citizens may address the Council regarding any item of City business not on the agenda. The duration for an individual speaking under Public Input is limited to three minutes. While all comments are welcome, the Council will not take action on any item not on the agenda. There was no public comment. Fire Department: • Appointments of Travis Nagel, Sean McCleary, Sean Parkinson Fire Chief Scott Wilm introduced Travis Nagel, Sean McCleary, and Sean Parkinson, who were chosen after the department completed the process to find new prospects. The appointments will be on the March 17th council agenda. Police Department: • Appointment of Fredric Gregory as a police officer Police Chief Rick Musson introduced Fred Gregory. Fred is currently a dispatcher and a police reserve. Rick explained the process required for hiring a police officer, which includes written and physical tests, as well as psychological, medical, and drug testing. Rick hopes to get Fred into the Police Academy in April. If he goes in April, he would be back for the 4th of July, and then the 12- week field training would begin. Rick stated that Fred has been an asset to the department. The process to fill the dispatcher position will start soon. The appointment and swearing-in ceremony will be on the March 17th council agenda. Morrison-Maierle: Wastewater Facilities Plan update Carl Anderson gave an update on the wastewater project. The Wastewater Facilities Plan Amendment was submitted to DEQ on February 27th and the city received copies of the document. The Facilities Plan Amendment details the project at this point in time and what will be approved by Council Workshop Minutes of March 10, 2009 the DEQ. Carl will present Morrison-Maierle's findings in detail at the next council meeting. One requirement of the Facilities Plan Amendment is a public hearing, which has been advertised for March 17th. DEQ is in the process of reviewing the update and completing the environmental assessment. John Waddems, in the permit division, has indicated that Laurel should receive a preliminary or a draft discharge permit sometime in April. That is a key component to the whole process. Carl stated that things are on track to get SRF approval, get the SRF commitment agreement signed for the loan portion, and satisfy the conditions for the TSEP Grant, which must be done prior to July 1st. All of the schedules should be met. Morrison-Maierle will answer any questions from the DEQ and SRF in order to facilitate the approval process. Morrison-Maierle is working on the rate ramifications for the different options. Three options will be presented at the public hearing. The first option is the original TSEP project with activated sludge, the second option is W, and the third option includes some deferred maintenance items. The costs for each option are summarized in the update facility plan. After the public hearing and the council has reviewed the Facility Plan Amendment, Morrison-Maierle will ask the council for a decision on how to proceed. He stated that the rate ramifications will be part of the decision. Morrison-Maierle and city staff met yesterday to discuss the status of the project and the wastewater rates. Morrison-Maierle is working through several issues that were brought up at that meeting. Carl was contacted by DEQ to prepare an application for stimulus money for this project. A draft list of projects that DEQ and the SRF Program are recommending for stimulus money has been published, and the Laurel project is on that list right now. A public hearing is scheduled on March 20th in Helena. Carl and Bill Sheridan will attend the public hearing to speak on behalf of the City of Laurel. Since this is a new process and no one knows exactly how the stimulus money will be allocated, it remains to be seen if Laurel will be on the final list to receive stimulus money. Carl stated that the three options would be presented at next Tuesday's public hearing. The rate information should also be available at that meeting or soon after. Carl stated that the rates would be a key component in the council's decision regarding what projects should go forward. A resolution would then be needed after the council's decision regarding the options. Public Works Dgpartment: * Video of the sewer line under the interstate Kurt Markegard presented the video of the sewer line under the interstate, north of the interstate where the manhole was recently discovered. The video showed that the top of the 18-inch pipe is in fairly good condition. There is some buildup along the walls because the line has not been jet rodded because the city did not know its condition. The line was jet rodded after the video showed the condition of the line. The video operator told Kurt that he sees some cracking in the joints of all the sewer lines he does. The video showed places where it was difficult to get the camera through the line due to buildup backing up the flow. The video showed the manhole located between the frontage road and the interstate on the south side. There was no visible light corning through it at that time, but it has been uncovered and cleaned out. Looking forward, Kurt stated that the problem is probably between the manhole where the sewer trunk line was hooked up and the next section. It is about 112 feet between the two manholes and about 40 to 50 feet of the line needs to be replaced because of the broken pipe south of the interstate. Kurt stated the recommendation to connect the two manholes now that the manhole by the frontage road has been identified and to upsize the line to a 30-inch line for future growth. * Resolution -- Replace fire hydrant at 0 Street and First Avenue 2 Council Workshop Minutes of March 10, 2009 Kurt explained that the fire hydrant at 6"' Street and First Avenue was hit by a vehicle a few months ago. The city cannot replace the hydrant with its manpower because the flashing light by the post office has to be removed. The State had installed handicapped concrete sidewalks there. Any excavation at this location requires removal and replacement of the power pole, the handicapped ramps, and the curb and gutter. The contractor will do the digging, excavation, and repair the concrete. The city will supply the materials and the fire hydrant for the project. The resolution for Castlerock Excavation to do the project will be March 17`h council agenda. There was discussion regarding restitution from the individual that hit the fire hydrant. Kurt stated that the city is seeking restitution, but the city will pay for the repairs prior to receiving any restitution funds. • Resolution -- Small Service Contract to repair concrete curb and gutter for curb box repairs Kurt explained the small service contract needed to repair curb and gutter for curb box repairs. When curb boxes are repaired under the waterline insurance program, the city has to dig down to replace them. Unfortunately, a lot of the curb boxes in town are right behind the curb and gutter. For the past three to four years, the city has not put the curb and gutter back in. The city was relying on another contractor to do the curb and gutter work, but that did not happen. Now curb and gutter repairs need to be done in several places. Kurt asked two concrete contractors to give bids on the work. One response was received from P & H Concrete. The resolution will be on the March 17`" council agenda. Plannin D artment: • Annexation of Riverside Park James Caniglia stated that the Planning Board held a public hearing for the annexation of Riverside Park last week. The Planning Board decided to table discussion for another month to get some issues figured out. One issue is MMIA's claim that this is its biggest liability in the state. At the public hearing, the Rod & Gun Club explained their insurance and how it covered it. The club wanted to know what MMIA had to label it as the worst liability in the state. Another issue was law enforcement. City codes allow law enforcement for a five-mile jurisdictional area outside the city limits and there was some confusion over that. Sam Painter talked to Chief Musson today and looked through city and state codes. To clarify it, Sam stated that the police department does not enforce the law five miles around the outskirts of the City of Laurel because of manpower issues. It is not that the police department does not have the authority, but it is that they do not have the resources to expand the jurisdiction. As far as the codes go, Sam agreed that there is authority to go out further than the city limits. The problem is that it creates more area for the police department to cover. How that interplays with the park is probably a police department discussion with the council. James stated that some other topics from the Planning Board were issues of grants and park maintenance districts. He has not found any evidence that the city could get more grants if the park were annexed. There is a possibility that the city may want to create a park maintenance district, which would require annexation of the park. Because of these issues, the Planning Board decided to put this off for another month in order to get some answers. The Planning Board felt that law enforcement officials and an MMIA representative should attend the next meeting. Representatives from the Jaycees, the Rod & Gun Club, and the Rifle Club also wanted more clarity regarding the leases. The Jaycees have the money to make improvements to their building, but they have no lease. 3 Council Workshop Minutes of March 10, 2009 The Rod & Gun Club and the Rifle Club have concerns about losing the right to shoot down there. City code states that shooting is allowed in the city limits with supervision or during a competition, so unsupervised shooting would become illegal if the park were annexed. As James mentioned to the Planning Board, the city can choose to end shooting at the park with or without annexation. The Planning Board wanted to see a plan for improvements at Riverside Park if it were annexed and to know how the improvements would be funded. Chief Administrative Officer: 2057 East Maryland Lane issues Bill Sheridan stated that the property is part of the city and water service is provided to the home. Yellowstone County built the street and provides maintenance for the street. For several weeks, the property owner has asked that the property be de-annexed from the city and be a part of the county, and still receive potable water for drinking purposes. Since it is a matter of legalities, Bill asked Sam Painter to speak about the issue. Sam gave some background information for the issue, which has been discussed in the past. The property owner is assessed a city street maintenance fee as well as a county road fee. Discussion between the property owner and the county resulted in the county telling the city to figure it out. The property owner came to the council, and the city council decided not to waive the city's fees, which Sam stated is generally not a good idea. Sam attended the Commissioner meeting with James to try to get some ideas on resolving this problem. Basically, there are two options. One option is de- annexing the property. The property owner would seek permission to de-annex, a public hearing would be required, and the council would have to grant permission after the public hearing based on the evidence. Sam stated that there are problems with that solution. Not wanting to provide legal advice to the property owner, he pointed out that there are certain state statutes and regulations that make it impossible to drill a well if the property is located within "x" number of feet from services. That would be the property owner's issue. Secondly, from a planning perspective there are thoughts regarding where the city will grow, which could be through that area. From a planning perspective, de-annexing might not make sense either. The second alternative that the county would support is that the city annex the part of the street that is currently still in the county that is adjacent to the property owner's piece of land. The county would release the property owner from the rural assessment, but she would still pay the city's assessment. The county would still maintain the complete highway as long as the city worked out a trade to maintain some other piece. Sam again stated that there are only two possibilities for this issue. As directed by the mayor, Sam sent a letter to the property owner advising her of the two options and that the issue would be on tonight's agenda. Janet Johnson, the property owner, stated that the previous property owner had to figure out how to get water to the property in order to utilize it. The problem was with putting in a septic system, as the drain field was too close to the well. The property borders Yard Office on the east and East Maryland on the south and she is totally surrounded by county. They were annexed in on April 1, 2003, and on April 15, 2003, the council decided that this was a zoo and was going to come up with a plan on how to take care of the roads adjacent to the property that was just annexed in so they started annexing roads after she was in. Her roads are not annexed. Her roads are still county roads. She is totally surrounded by county. Therein lies the big problem. When she was annexed into the city, she came in with all city taxes, taxes for city roads, schools, and everything else. But the county still stuck her with the county road tax because the county maintains the road. So she has two taxes, and nobody else gets those. So that is why she is here. The water line extension from the trailer park was paid for by the previous owner. Janet does not have full city services as she does not have sewer services. 4 Council Workshop Minutes of March 10, 2009 The garbage is another issue to talk about later. She needs to give that up because the garbage truck is doing a lot of damage to the road and her driveway in that area. Janet stated that it boils down to the fact that the land was not annexed in and that she has two road maintenance taxes. She understands that when property comes into the city, it comes in with all the taxes and everything. But you cannot annex in half a road and expect the city to take care of it either. That is almost unheard of. This last year, the county chip sealed East Maryland and they plow Yard Office and they chip sealed that, too. Janet has another problem and that is a safety issue. When she calls 911 for accidents in front of the house, there is confusion regarding whether she is in the county or the city. Janet described the problems further. She then stated that the garbage man had been turning around in her driveway. She was the third person to flip her bike, land on her face, and fly across the gravel because of the ruts. She stopped him from doing that and once in awhile he forgets. She keeps repairing her driveway. Janet would gladly give up garbage service. When the property was annexed and the taxes came in there, Mary and Janet talked about the problem of all the taxes coming on there. With the annexation, they get the group of city taxes. Janet stated that it is kind of a "yes" and kind of a "no". She is not surrounded by city roads, as everybody else in the city usually is, and she is being taxed for them. If that was true and all the taxes are lumped together when property is annexed into the city, then she would be taxed for city lighting, which she is not. She does not have any city lighting over there. She stated that things can be sorted out in part and parcel. With de-annexation, she would ask for a utility extension for water only. She said to throw their property back into the county and they will live with it later. They are basically surrounded by county and are just an island to themselves. Janet stated that, if everyone could at some date sit down all together, she thinks it could all be sorted out. But everyone is never on the same page, on the same day, at the same time. She would appreciate it. Mark asked whether she has private or city garbage service. Janet stated that it is city garbage service. She is located in an odd place because the garbage truck has to come from across Yard Office to her house and figure out how to circle around and get out. Unless they use her driveway, which they have not been, she has a feeling they go around a convoluted route to get back and or turn around in her driveway, which she keeps repairing. She does not know if the county would want the garbage truck coming up there because that subgrade is not built for that weight of truck. That is not what a city street would be built for. It is built for residential, not for commercial. She has a feeling the edge is going to start caving. Doug stated that discussion of the issue will continue. Executive review: • Ordinances - Revisions for Municipal Code Corporation Sam explained the two separate ordinances. The first ordinance is Title 18, the Laurel Urban Renewal Agency and Renewal Area. Two ordinances were previously adopted by the city council. After they were adopted, it was discovered in the codification process, that the numbers did not fit into the ordinance book very well. The service that codifies the book requested that the city review them and come up with a number system that actually fits into the municipal code. Sam has done that and what is proposed is exactly as written. The only changes are the underlined parts and the strikeouts. On the Laurel Urban Renewal Area, Attachments A and B are referenced in the first section in 18.04.010. One attachment is a large document, and will be available at the city clerk/treasurer's office during business hours. The legal description and the map are the correct versions. The first reading of the ordinance will be on the March 17'' council agenda. 5 Council Workshop Minutes of March 10, 2009 Sam stated that the second ordinance is a simple change to modify Chapter 2.08.020 and clarify how the council fixes the compensation of all city employees except the library employees, which is consistent with State statute. The previous language, "subject to limitations mentioned in Montana Code Annotated" was changed to directly specify that the city council does not set the compensation of the library employees. The Library Board sets the compensation of the library employees. The first reading of the ordinance will be on the March 17th council agenda. • U.S. Census Bureau- 2010 Census Doug stated that this item would be placed on the next council workshop agenda, as he did not review the e-mailed information. • Council Issues: o Speed limits - East Railroad to Shannon Road (Emelie Eaton) Emelie asked James to report on his meeting with the county regarding the speed limits. Jaynes and Sam attended a recent commissioner's meeting where the issue was discussed. He thought that the city would probably annex some of the half streets, but gas tax revenues would not make it worthwhile to annex them. The streets that were annexed after 2003 need to be annexed, but the other ones do not. James stated that the speed limit issue is rather odd. There are two 35 mph signs east of Wal-Mart and there is one 25 mph sign heading the opposite direction west of Wal-Mart. It is not well marked. James talked to the county public works director about the speeds. The county does traffic studies to determine what a speed limit should be. It is determined by an 85 percentile. If 85 percent of the cars are going to speed, then the speed limit is raised. Unless the city has a study that shows 85 percent of the cars are not going to speed and go in the 35 mph range, the county would keep its speed limit at 35 mph. The city does not have any studies that show that 25 mph would be appropriate, and James does not think it would be appropriate. Since it is a commercial area and is a straight street, 25 mph seems low. At this point in time, it looks like it is probably the city's responsibility to change its speed limit to 35 mph at this location. The speed limit could remain at 25 mph closer to First Avenue. Other items: Don Nelson, 622 Elm, is the President of the Union Local 316. He was requested by the membership to come to the council to find out if the issue of sick leave on their last proposal to the city for their contract is the only issue the council has with the proposal. The proposal was for 100 percent payout of sick leave to the spouse or beneficiary in the event of the death of an employee. He was led to believe that was the issue after the last council meeting. President Poehls stated that, because the council cannot negotiate as a council, it could direct the negotiating team to provide a response. Don stated that would be great because it is needed in order to take it back to the union membership and proceed. President Poehls stated that the negotiating team would be directed to respond to his question in writing. Review of draft council agenda for March 17, 2009: 6 Council Workshop Minutes of March 10, 2009 The public hearing for the 2009 Wastewater Facilities Plan Amendment is on the March 17th council agenda. Attendance at the March 17, 2009 council meetin : All council members present will attend. Announcements: Emelie Eaton mentioned that the Historic Preservation Roundtable is scheduled on Tuesday, March 17th, from 8:00 to 10:00 am. The event, which is open to the public, provides an opportunity for every organization that is involved with historic issues to meet and mingle. The meeting will be held at the old Masonic Temple on 28th and 3rd, which is now the MSU-B conference room. The Tree Board has scheduled a presentation on Wednesday, April 15th, at 6:00 p.m. at Fireman's Park. The Tree Board will dedicate a tree and a plaque in memory of Gay Easton. Formal invitations will be sent out, but Emelie wanted everyone to be aware of the date. Doug Poehls and Kate Hart will have speaking roles at the event. Emelie encouraged the council to attend. The council workshop adjourned at 7:34 p.m. Respectfully submitted, Cindy Allen Council Secretary NOTE: This meeting is open to the public. This meeting is for information and discussion of the Council for the listed workshop agenda items. 7