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HomeMy WebLinkAboutCity Council Minutes 10.19.1993Minutes of the City Council of Laurel October 19~ 1993 A regular meeting of the City Council of the Montana, was held in the Council Chambers and called Charles Rodgers at 7:00 p.m., on October 19, 1993. City of Laurel, to order by Mayor COUNCIL MEMBERS PRESENT: Norman Orr Albert Ehrlick L.D. Collins Donna Kilpatrick Gay Easton Lonnie Kellogg Ron Marshall COUNCIL MEMBERS ABSENT: Bob Graham INVOCATION: Invocation was given by Alderman Collins. MINUTES: Motion by Alderman Marshall to approve the minutes of the regular meeting of October 5, 1993, as presented, seconded by Alderman Orr. Motion carried 7--0. CORRESPONDENCE: Received a copy of an application from Rom Bushnell, for the Yellowstone Historic Preservation Board. Received a letter from the Montana Department of Transportation regarding CTEP Project Eligibility Determination. Received a notice from Tri-Cycles of a meeting in Columbus on October 21, 1993 at 7:00 p.m. in the Civic Center. CITY CLERK & CITY TREASURER'S FINANCIAL STATEMENTS: The City Clerk and the City Treasurer' month of September were presented. s financial statements for the Motion by Alderwoman Kilpatrick that the City Clerk and the City Treasurer's financial statements for the month of September, 1993~ be approved, seconded by Alderman Orr. Motion carried 7--0. PRESENTATION OF ADOPT-A-COP PLAQUE: This item was postponed until further notice. ROM BUSHNELL - HISTORIC PRESERVATION BOARD: The Mayor stated that Rom was out of town tonight. CITY'S PARTICIPATION IN "YCICIT": RESOLUTION NO. 2675 APPROVING AND ADOPTING THE YELLOWSTONE COUNTY INTERDISCIPLINARY CHILD INFORMATION TEAM {YCICIT) AGREEMENT, AUTHORIZING MAYOR TO EXECUTE SAME, AND APPOINTING LAUREL'S VOTING MEMBER ON THE TEAM Jeff Hanser, Director of YCICIT, stated the YCICIT team is an attempt to bring together and coordinate different agencies in Yellowstone County with the school districts. Traditionally, they have found that each agencies takes and works with a portion of the child or family but no one is working constructively with the entire family unit. The information obtained by each department is very specific and would be of great interest to other agencies working with the same person or family. However, under current confidentially statutes, these records cannot be exchanged and the different departments may never have a chance to talk to each other about a treatment program. The agreement that has been put together is based on Montana Statute 52-2-111, which allows the formation of an interdisciplinary team to discuss individual cases in a very structured way. The information can never be publicly disclosed by any member of the team and the information retains its confidentiality. This expands the dissemination of information to other members of the team, which allows them to make better treatment decisions for the child. When the child or situation has improved to a level where tracking is no Minutes of the Page 2 Council Meeting of October 19, City Council 1993 of Laurel The team has been in operation in Yellowstone County for a little over a year. They have staff in School District #2, Lockwood, Huntley Project, Shepherd, Custer, Broadview, and several county schools. Since the City of Laurel and the Police Chief have not signed off on the agreement, there are no staff members from Laurel yet. Jeff said this works very well in extreme cases of disfunctional families where they have a lot of agencies involved. It is like putting a jigsaw puzzle back together, it is not an easy process. Jeff said his office is funded throngh a grant from the Board of Crime and this funding will last another three years. There are no budgetary implications for the City of Laurel. In response to a question, Jeff said he works for the task force itself and the team is composed of superintendents from each school district, police chief's from the different departments, the County Attorney, the director of Family Services and Chuck Maxwell from the County Sheriff's office. Jeff said Laurel will be run differently in that it will have its own staff. It will be composed of school personnel from Laurel, Mike Atkinson from the Police Department, Dave Beery from the Juvenile Division who is based in Laurel and Sue Anderson from the Department of Family Services. Laurel will probably handle 10 to 15 cases this year and it is based on school enrollment. Mike Atkinson said this program is long overdue and he feels the schools will benefit the most from it but it will also benefit his department. Motion by Alderman Kello~ that Resolution No. 2675 be passed and adopted, seconded by Alderman Orr. Motion carried 7--0. INCREASE RATES CHARGED TO NON-RESIDENTS BY LAUREL FIRE DEPARTMENT: RESOLUTION NO. 2676 A RESOLUTION ESTABLISHING RATES TO BE CHARGED TO NON-RESIDENTS BY THE FIRE DEPARTMENT, AND REPEALING RESOLUTION NO. 2201 Darrell McGillen stated that some time ago the pay for increased to $ 6.00 per call out but this was never resolution. This is merely a bookkeeping measure. each fireman as changed in the Motion by Alderman Orr that Resolution No. 2676 be passed and adopted, seconded by Alderwoman Kilpatrick. Motion by Alderwoman Kilpatrick to amend Resolution No. 2676 by adding Item #2 "Prior Resolution No. 2201 is hereby repealed", seconded by Alderman Ehrlick. Motion carried 7--0. A vote was taken on Resolution No. 2676 as amended. Motion carried ORDINANCE AMENDING SECTION OF LMC - FRONT YARD DEPTHS: Joe Bradley stated that this is an amendment to our zoning codes and it has to come from the Planning Board. Cal Cumin said not to put this on the November 3rd agenda because it might need a public hearing. COMMITTEE REPORTS: --Building Committee minutes of October 13, 1993 were presented and reviewed. SALE OF IMPROVED LOT IN CHERRY HILLS SUBDIVISION Discussion regarding the 16 lots in Cherry Hills that the city owns. It was felt that the city should sell the 16 lots as one unit instead of breaking them up and selling them individually. There would be a lot less hassle in doing it this way. In regard to the single improved lot, Lonnie said we received a bid for the lot in the amount of $ 6~500.00. Minutes of the Page 3 Council Meeting of October 19, City Council 1993 of Laurel Joe received a copy of the unimproved lots appraised $ 7,000.00. appraisal that was done at $ 5,000.00 each anO in July 1992. The the improved lot at. Lonnie stated he has talked to realtors and they feel the base for the unimproved lots should be $ 7,200.00 and the improved lot would be more than that. Donna Kilpatrick inquired about what our chances are of selling all the lots together? Lonnie said the chances are not very good. In discussing it with realtors, they feel that with the developments in the past few years that have gone sour~ the banks are very reluctant to lend money to developers, even though the area is growing and the pressure is there. More discussion and it was stated that if we sold the lots individually, the city might be expected to install the water and sewer mains so each individual property could tap into them. Joe said this would be very costly and that is why it would be nice if a developer bought the whole bunch of lots because we could make hira pay for it. Joe suggested selling the single improved lot through a realty company but the city would have to set a price and you would want it on the high side. When talking to the realtors~ Lonnie said they felt $ 8,500.00 was a fair price for this lot. Joe then suggested starting with a price of $ 10,000.00 and see what kind of offers we get. Lonnie said we have three local realty companies in town so he asked each one to submit a bid for their costs in selling this lot under a multiple listing service. These bids will be brought to the council at a later meeting. There was discussion regarding the process of simply throwing the lot out for sale by anyone who can sell it or by getting a bid for the one who would charge us the least to sell it under a multiple listing service. A Building Committee meeting will be held on Wednesday, November 3rd at 9:00 a.m. regarding the improved lot. Realtors will be invited to this meeting and will be asked to bring their bids with them. Joe said the council needs to pass a motion to say what the listing price is. Then if someone offers that~ we are bound to accept the offer and it does not have to come back to council. If someone offers less, it will come up at a council meeting and the council can decide whether to accept the lesser offer. We won't have to have this written into the listing unit because we have a stated price, Joe checked on the size of this lot and stated it has 11,483 square feet. More discussion regarding a price on the lot. It was decided to start on the high side and see what happens. Motion by Alderman Orr to Subdivision ~o~~ $ 12,500.00, carried ?--0. sell Lot 12, Block 11 of Cherry Hills seconded by Alderman Kellogg. Motion ACOUSTIC PROBLEMS IN COUNCIL CHAMBERS In regard to the noise and echoing in the new council chambers, Gay stated a company by the name of C & C Lighting will come in with sound monitors and determine where the problem is for a fee of $ 100.00. Gay said he would rather spend $ 100.00 to find out where the problem is than spending $ 1,500.00 for suspended ceiling that may or may not fix the problem. Motion by_Alderman Orr to have C & C Lighting determine where our sound problems are for a fee of $ 100.00, seconded by Alderman Collins. Motion carried 7--0. Motion by Alderman Kello~ to enter the Buildin~ Committee Minutes of the City Council of Laurel Page 4 Council. Meeting of October 19, 1993 --Budget/Finance Committee minutes of October 5, 1993 were presented and reviewed. Motion by Alderwoman Kilpatrick to enter Committee minutes of October 5, 1993, into the Alderman Ehrlick. Motion carried 7--0. the Budget/Finance record, seconded by --City Council Committee of the Whole minutes of October 6, 1993 were presented. Motion by Alderman Orr to enter the City Council Committee of the Whole minutes of October 5, 1993, into the record, seconded by Alderman Kellogg. Motion carried 7--0. --Street and Alley Committee minutes of October 7~ 1993 were presented and reviewed. Motion by Alderman Ehrlick to enter the Street and Alley Committee minutes of October 7, 1993~ into the record, seconded by Alderman Collins. In regard to the second access to Spruce Grove Apartments, Joe said we are trying to figure out if a ditch that is there is in our city right of way. If it is~ we can put a culvert over it but if it is privately owned~ we cannot put a culvert in. We have to find out if a portion of the street that is platted through there has ever been dedicated to the city. In regard to a question~ Joe said we can measure the distance and find the property owners but what we need to find is some kind of written dedication to the city, if one exists. Spruce Grove gave us 30~ immediately adjacent to their property on the north side of 7th Street when their plat was approved. What we need is 30' from the south side. If it has never been dedicated to the city as a public right of way, we will have to negotiate with the owners. Joe said when Spruce Grove was first approved, we told the developer that he had to provide a second access. That meant that it was up to him to negotiate or do whatever he had to to provide it. However, we allowed him to put everything in and all he did was put some culverts in without talking to anyone. A few months later the West End Ditch Company went and took the culverts out. Chuck stated this is something we will continue to work on. At Lhis time a vote was taken on the motion. Motion carried 7--0. COMMENTS FROM THE AUDIENCE: Larry Thomas, 101 1/2 East Main, stated, "I would like to know what the city is going to do about the public danger that Gary Temple~s building poses to the buildings around it, plus the public in general". Chuck said, "Can you prove that there is some danger there." Larry stated, "It is not my place to prove. We have an engineer at work that states that it may fall. And I haven't seen the city repeat that in any way, shape or form, or ask the questions." Peggy Schram stated, "We don't feel we have to." Larry said, qYou don't?" Peggy said, "No." Larry addressed Peggy saying, "You don't feel that there's a public danger to the public, a danger as far as the building falling. You don't feel..." Peggy said, "I feel there is more danger of Weichert's fascia damaging public heads that walk under there when bricks come off of it, more so than that building falling down. Joe told Larry, "The responsibility of the city is to make sure that Minutes of the City CoUncil of Laurel Page 5 Council Meeting of October 19, 1993 Larry stated, "That's true~ but the responsibility of the city also to insure public safety. Where is the city insuring public safety by ignoring all the warnings that are there..." (not audiblel Joe stated, "Well, I don't think we are ignoring them, we are starting an inspection..." Larry interrupted by saying, "It seems to me as though it's being swept under the rug and I will tell you here and now, I will not stand for it. You will hear from me again and again and again, every council meeting that is here until somebody does something about it, because I seem to be the only one interested in people may be killed out here because a building falls because some arrogant fool wants to build it and everybody else is going to let him because nobody wants to call up any waves. That is the point of facts of the matter. If the city wants to ignore it, if they want to sweep it under the rug~ they're preparing the consequences." Joe told Larry, "You have the right and the ability to start a civil action to prove what..." (not audible) Larry interrupts stating, "We intend to." Joe said, "OK, well then..." Larry said, "We intend to but, but, the city is the only one at this time who can stop what's going on, the only one with jurisdiction unless the state wants to overrule the city~ which they may~ if they feel it is a danger enough to the public, which I believe it is. A building falling down on peoples head~ I would think would be about danger for anybody. Just the very fact..." Chuck said, "...you will have to bring the proof to this council." "Do I have to prove that people may get killed, Mr. Mayor," stated Larry. Chuck responded, "I believe you will on this." Larry said, "I have proved that to you. peoples' heads?" Like the building falling on "We will enforce...~" stated Joe. "Just, just the possibility~ is not the possibility of that happening, is that not enough for the city to do something?", asked Larry. Joe said, "We will enforce the building codes, that is what we will do. If there is something beyond..." (tape was turned over) "You said ordinarily, the building permit shouldn't have been issued. I don't know if that is an exact quote but it's pretty close. What was so unordinary about this that the building permit was issued?" Larry asked. Joe started to say something and Larry interrupted by saying, "I'd like to know. No one has been able to tell me yet or won't own up to even giving it." Joe said, "Our building staff was satisfied with the subsequent plans that Temple submitted..." Larry interrrupted saying, "Are your building staff engineers, Joe?" structural Joe said, "Our building staff..." Larry interrupted saying, "Are they structural engineers?" Joe said, "What you should do is structural engineers to prove..." start a civil action and bring your "Believe me, if that building falls down, this city will get plenty of civil action. In fact, this city will cease to exist," Larry said. Joe said, "That is definitely true..." (not audible because both men were talking at the same time) Page 6 Council Meeting of October 19, 1993 Minutes of the City Council of Laurel Larry said, "That's a definite possibility but everyone wants to ignore it. Thank you! Good night!~' At this time Larry walked out of the meeting. Chuck suggested that if anyone has any problems with this situation, talk to Dave and go through the code book. Donna asked where in this letter does it say that the building is going to fall. It was stated that the letter does not say that the building is going to fall. Chuck stated that if that building was going to fall, there are several others that are going to fall being that close to the railroad tracks and that many years of hauling steam locomotives up and down there. I'm sure the vibration would have done something. Joe said he thinks the city is fully aware of the complexity of construction over there and it is going to require some intermediate inspections during the progress of construction. We intend to do that and if we find violations of the building code, we will stop construction until they fix them. Albert said all they have to do is reinforce where it's weak. Joe said he can't say for sure that it is weak. The structural engineer says it might be~ in a report they submitted. But it's not definitive in any way. Chuck said no one has proven at what point it might be weak. Joe said basically if they want to dispute the right of Temple to attach to that building under the party wall agreement of 1908, they have to fight that battle themselves. Chuck said that according to the plan, this is a free standing structure, it is not attached to the Weicbert building. Donna asked something about violation but it was not audible. Joe said he does not know and he does not want to express an opinion about what was violated. That is between them. We will enforce the building codes. Peggy said the party wall agreement that they first come up with is saying this is not right, you can't do this. There is a light corridor that was suppose to be put out, but it dealt with the area 65' behind the front of the building, which makes sense if you look at it because that's where most of the windows are. It doesn't make sense to sit there and think there is as light corridor agreement for just these first few windows on the south. And that is where they first started and when they saw they were long on that, then they starting tacking... (not audible). The simple fact is that some of those windows will be plastered over or bricked over as ...(not audible). Peggy feels this is where all the squawking is coming from and they just don~t know about it. IMPOUNDED VEHICLES Joe stated that the city tows a lot of vehicles and we store them the city lot. He is wondering if we should charge a storage fee. at Mike Atkinson said he would also like to see a time limit on how long we keep them before we junk them. This was referred to the Police Committee and a resolution will be on the next agenda. Discussion regarding a fee and time frame for disposal of these vehicles and procedures for notifying the owner. Joe said if the city charges an impound fee, we can then put a lean on the vehicle because we have possession of it and we provide a service, which is storage. We can then auction it off under the lean procedure of state law. It doesn't become our vehicle, but we can sell it for the impound fee. Minutes of the City Council of Laurel Page 7 Council Meeting of October 19, 1993 ISTEA Cal Cumin reported that he has no information on the ISTEA program at this time. MAYOR'S COMMENTS: Chuck said he is looking into the situation of how to dispose of our trees. There being no further business to come before the council at this time, the meeting was adjourned at 8:00 p.m. Donald L. Hackmann, City Clerk Approved by the Mayor and passed by the Council of the City of Laurel, Montana, this 3rd day of November, 1993. Cha~-- EST: Donald L. Hackmann, City Clerk