Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAboutCity Council Minutes 12.21.1993Minutes of the City Council of Laurel December 21, 1993 A regular meeting of the City Council of the City of Laurel, Montana, was held in the Council Chambers and called to order by Mayor Charles Rodgers at 7:00 p.m., on December 21, 1993. COUNCIL MEMBERS PRESENT: COUNCIL MEMBERS ABSENT: INVOCATION: MINUTES: Norman Orr Albert Ehrlick L.D. Collins Donna Kilpatrick Gay Easton Bob Graham Ron Marshall Lonnie Kellogg None Invocation was given by Reverend Peterson. Motion by Alderman Marshall to approve the minutes of the regular meeting of December 7, 1993, as presented, seconded by Alderman Orr. Motion carried 8--0. CORRESPONDENCE: Received a "Notice of Violation" from the State of Montana, Department of Health and Environmental Sciences~ Water Quality Bureau. Received a copy of a notice from Dave Michael regarding Water Treatment Technique Violation. Dave Michael reported that the city must submit a compliance schedule for improvements to provide adequate treatment of the source water to the Department of Health and Environmental Sciences by January 6, 1994. Dave, Chuck and Gay met with an engineering firm for preliminary talks regarding this and the engineering firm will contact the state along with the city submitting a letter requesting a 30-day extension. Dave said the state requires that we notify the people through the newspaper and by sending out a notice with the utility billing on a quarterly basis until the problem is corrected. It was stated that the problem is simply that the water is not sitting the recommended time after treatment before it reaches the first customer. Chuck said he spent a lot of time researching which engineering firm would serve the city's purpose the best and he recommends Morrison- Maierle, Inc. This an emergency situation and we don't have to go out for bid. Motion by Alderwoman Kilpatrick to confirm the Mayor's hiring of the engineering firm of Morrison-Maierle, Inc., seconded by Alderman Graham. Motion carried 8--0. CITY CLERK & CITY TREASURER'S FINANCIAL STATEMENTS: The City Clerk and City Treasurer's financial statements for the month of November were presented. Motion by Alderwoman Kilpatrick that the City Clerk and City Treasurer's financial statements for the month of November, 1993, be approved, seconded by Alderman Collins. Motion carried 8--0. LARRY MCCANN - FIRE INSPECTIONS: Larry McCann stated this program was started in July of last year and he got off to a rocky start trying to set up a schedule that would work out with the firemen. Larry said they basically do inspections on Fridays because that is when the most men are available. Larry stated there are five firemen that regularly do the inspections and they have put in approximately 271 hours total. That is a substantial number of hours donated to this program and he hopes they have become informed about doing preliminary fire inspections. Page 2 Council Minutes of the City Council of Laurel Meeting of December 21, 1993 Larry said the most common violation is the lack of posting an address and because of the large number of violations, he is going back and doing reinspections. Many of the business are starting to put up the addresses as required. Other common violations are the lack of service to fire extinguishers and improper use of extension cords. Larry said there are life threatening situations that can be corrected as they go such as improper storage around furnaces and pipes and covers on water heaters. Businesses with serious life safety violations have been put on notice and some will require a building permit. Larry said he has received a very positive response from the community regarding the inspections. He has been contacted six times at his home by different business, wanting to set up a fire inspection. The council may hear about it when he gets into reinspections which require costly repairs. Larry said that next July he would like to get back to the addresses and would like to involve the Fire Chief by putting out information which would explain why and where the address is needed. With this, Larry said the council may be approached by a company who wants to paint the addresses on the curbs but he has found that this is not very beneficial because a car might be parked there or snow is piled up and you cannot see the address. Larry thanked the Fire Chief, Fire Marshall, Mayor and the five firemen for their support in this program and if anyone hears anything adverse about it, let him know and he will try and correct it. Larry said he hopes to be done with the first round in the spring. On the whole, Larry said he feels the city is very fire conscious. We have some old buildings and there is not a lot we can do with them. If they get really bad, Larry can get with a building official and condemn a building but Larry said this is a very tedious process. Darrell McGillen stated that all the reports that he has received back on the fire inspections have been on a positive note. People have actually thanked him for it. Darrell thanked Larry for the good job he has done. FRONT YARD DEPTHS: ORDINANCE NO. 1083 (second reading) AMENDING SECTION 17.48.040 OF THE LAUREL MUNICIPAL CODE, FRONT YARD DEPTHS Public Hearing: No comments. Motion by Alderman Marshall to close the public hearing, seconded by Alderwoman Kilpatrick. Motion carried 8--0. Motion by Alderman Kellogg that Ordinance No. 1083 (second reading) be passed and adopted, seconded by Alderman Collins. A roll call vote was taken and all aldermen voted, "YES". Motion carried 8--0. AWARDING CONTRACTS - BIDDING PROCESS REQUIRED: ORDINANCE NO. 1084 (first reading) AMENDING SECTION 3.08.010 OF THE LAUREL MUNICIPAL CODE FOR THE AWARDING OF CONTRACTS Don Hackmann, City Clerk, reported that there has been a change in state law, effective October 1, 1993. Cities were required to go out for bid on anything over $ 10,000.00 but this has been increase to $ 20,000.00 and for construction purposes, it has increased to $25,000.00. Motion by Alderwoman Kilpatrick that Ordinance No. 1084 (first reading) be passed and adopted, seconded by Alderman Orr. A roll call vote was taken and all aldermen voted, "YES". Motion carried 8--0. Minutes of the City Council of Laurel Page 3 Council Meeting of December 21, 1993 CORRECT CLERICAL ERRORS SPECIAL REVIEW PROCEDURE: This item was tabled until the January 4th council meeting. TRANSFERRING SEWER FUNDS FROM OPERATION TO REPLACEMENT/DEPRECIATION: RESOLUTION NO. 2684 BEING A RESOLUTION TRANSFERRING CERTAIN SEWER FUNDS OF THE CITY OF LAUREL, MONTANA Motion by Alderman Marshall that Resolution No. 2684 be passed adopted, seconded by Alderman Graham. Motion carried 8--0. and TRANSFERRING FUNDS - SID REVOLVING TO SID #102: RESOLUTION NO. 2686 A RESOLUTION TRANSFERRING CERTAIN FUNDS OF THE CITY OF LAUREL, MONTANA Motion by Alderman Orr that Resolution No. 2685 adopted, seconded by Alderwoman Kilpatrick. CEMETERY LOT PRICES: ORDINANCE NO. 1085 be passed and Motion carried 8--0. (first reading) AMENDING SECTION 2.84.100 OF THE LAUREL MUNICIPAL CODE, LOT PRICES Don Hackmann stated that lot price changes have been done by ordinance and this becomes costly when our ordinances are codified so the fees will be established by resolution from now on. Motion by Alderman Orr that Ordinance No. 1085 (first reading) be passed and adopted, seconded by Alderman Ehrlick. A roll call vote was taken and all aldermen voted, "YES". Motion carried 8--0. REPEALING SECTION 2.84.040 OF LMC - CEMETERY FUND: ORDINANCE NO. 1086 (first reading) REPEALING SECTION 2.84.040 OF THE LAUREL MUNICIPAL CODE, CEMETERY FUND Motion by Alderman Collins that Ordinance No. 1086 (first reading) be passed and adopted, seconded by Alderman Orr. A roll call vote was taken and all aldermen voted, "YES". Motion carried 8--0. CEMETERY GRAVE MARKERS: ORDINANCE NO. 1087 (first reading) AMENDING SECTION 2.84.090 OF THE LAUREL MUNICIPAL CODE, GRAVE MARKERS, REGULATIONS GOVERNING Motion by Alderwoman Kilpatrick that Ordinance No. 1087 (first reading) be passed and adopted, seconded by Alderman Collins. A roll call vote was taken and all aldermen voted, "YES". Motion carried 8--0. COMMITTEE REPORTS: --Budget/Finance Committee minutes of December 7, 1993 were presented and reviewed. Motion by Alderwoman Kilpatrick to enter the Budget/Finance Committee minutes of December 7, 1993, into the record, seconded by Alderman Orr. Motion carried 8--0. Minutes of the City Council of Laurel Page 4 Council Meeting of December 21, 1993 --City Council Committee of the Whole minutes of December 7, 1993 were presented. Motion by Alderman Orr to enter the Whole minutes of December 7, 1993, Alderman Kellogg. Motion carried 8--0. the City Council Committee of into the record, seconded by --City-County Planning Board presented and reviewed. minutes of December 9, 1993 were Cal Cumin stated that the motion on Community Hope is in error. Special reviews are something that are allowed in these zones. Community Hope has a right to be in that zone and the city has the right to impose conditions upon the location that will make it compatible with the neighborhood and surrounding land use. Cal said the motion that was made and passed on to the City Council read, "that we recommend approval to the City Council, subject to the city approving the site plan and that a traffic turn around be addressed." In regard to the turn around, Cal said they can turn around on the street or work out some sort of street pattern that is in compliance with city codes. They have three city lots and could possibly put a turn around on their property. Cal said a turn around is a critical point of this recommendation for approval because the street is a dead end one that drops off into the ditch that is railroad right-of-way. Cal said the council can put any conditions on it that they want. They can require that the street be built, that the turn around be on site, that the site be fenced and lighted and so forth. In regard to a question, Cal said the City-County Planning Board had a lot of opposition to this but they also had a lot of support. Letters were received both for and against it and each Planning Board member received phone calls against it. Cal said you don't want the Planning Board to tell the council not to approve it because the law allows it to be there. You want conditions for approval put on it that address the concerns of the city. Cal said this is no more of a residential area than it's current location. Ron Marshall asked if the council has the right to flat out deny this? Cal said the council in which you review compatible. cannot do this. the conditions This is a special review process that are necessary to make it In regard to a question about what the council can do, Cal said you should set a public hearing. The reason for this is that the council may want to reach it's own conclusions about what needs to be done to make it more compatible, hearing the complaints of the people who live there and the plans of the people who are proposing to build there. The council may impose different or more restrictions than the Planning Board has made. Motion by Alderman Graham to set a public review on Community Hope on February 1, 1994, Kellogg. Motion carried 8--0. hearing for seconded by special Alderman Motion by Alderman Graham to enter the City-County Planning Board minutes of December 9, 1993, into the record, seconded by Alderman Easton. Motion carried 8--0. --Fire Committee reviewed. minutes of December 14, 1993 were presented and Motion by Alderman Ehrlick to accept the committee's recommendation to award the bid for the fire truck to Fichtner Chevrolet in the amount of $ 18,239.00, seconded by Alderman Kellogg. Motion carried 8--0. Motion by Alderman Kellogg to enter the Fire Committee minutes of December 14, 1993, into the record, seconded by Alderman Orr. Motion carried 8--0. Minutes of the City Council of Laurel Page 5 Council Meeting of December 21, 1993 --Public Utilities Committee minutes of December 13, 1993 were presented and reviewed. Motion by Alderman Graham to enter the Public Utilities minutes of December 13, 1993, into the record, seconded by Orr. Committee Alderman In regard to the Task 3 violation, Chuck said the city is going to have to look at some kind of grant funds. He felt the cost to complete and upgrade the study by HKM Associates would be wasted at this time. We need a complete upgrade of the water system and this will require grants and a rate increase. Bob Graham stated that the city has worked with HKM in the past but he feels it is time we look for another company~ one who can give us the lowest bid and do the best job for us. Darrell McGillen said the city is definitely going to have to rely on its own resources regarding our employees' expertise. We basically know where the problems are with the water lines and we will have to rely on our people telling the developers what is needed. It was stated that this Task study by HKM was in regard to the water distribution system (water system analysis) and it had nothing to do with the water treatment plant. Basically, the information from that analysis is information the city already knew and it did not benefit US. Dave said that several of HKM's recommendations have been implemented throughout the years. In addition, Dave said he has met with the school system regarding the proposed new middle school and how this will effect the water and sewer systems. He will report on this at the next Utilities meeting. A vote was taken on the motion. Motion carried 8--0. --Street and Alley Committee minutes of December 16, 1993 were presented and reviewed. There was discussion at the committee meeting regarding drainage for the proposed new middle school and Albert Ehrlick said this would require dips in the street and the city may hear about it because the public does not like dips. Motion by Alderman Ehrlick to enter the Street and Alley Committee minutes of December 16, 1993~ into the record, seconded by Alderman Collins. Motion carried 8--0. Chuck received a letter from Patrick Mullaney regarding a drainage problem on property that he owns on East llth Street. The Mayor referred this letter to the Street and Alley Committee. COMMENTS FROM THE AUDIENCE: Bob Graham stated there were no Police Committee minutes tonight but there is one appointment that the committee would like to make. Matt Hoppel has bid on the Relief Dispatcher/Patrolman position, Job #93-07. Motion by Alderman Marshall to award the Relief Dispatcher/ Patrolman position to Matt Hoppel, seconded by Alderman Graham. Motion carried 8--0. Bob Graham thanked L.D. Collins and Norman Orr for serving on the City Council and for the personal help they have given him over the years. Norman Orr thanked everyone for their help throughout the years. L.D. Collins thanked everyone and said it has been a lot of fun. The County will be using the council chambers on January 5th at 7:00 p.m. for a public hearing regarding consolidation of county offices. Page 6 Council Minutes of the City Council of Laurel Meeting of December 21, 1993 The Mayor said he would like the council to consider getting a court reporter for the public hearing involving Best Value Home Improvement Center, Motion by public hearing Alderman Graham. Alderman Marshall to hire a court reporter for the on Best Value Home Improvement Center, seconded by Motion carried 8--0. MAYOR'S COMMENTS: The Mayor presented certificates of recognition to Alderman Collins and Alderman Orr, the two outgoing aldermen and thanked them for their contributions and years of service. There being no further business to come before the council at this time, the meeting was adjourned at 7:58 p.m. Donald L. Hackmann, City Clerk Approved by the Mayor and passed by the City Council of the City of Laurel, Montana, this 4th day of January, 1994. Charies-Rodgers,C-~yor ~ ATTEST: Donald L. Hackmann, City Clerk