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HomeMy WebLinkAboutCity Council Minutes 01.07.1992Minutes of the City Council of Laurel January 7, 1992 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 Chuck Rodgers at 7:02 p.m., on January 7, 1992. COUNCIL MEMBERS PRESENT: Lonnie Kellogg Albert Ehrlick L.D; Collins Donna Kilpatrick Norman Orr (late) Bob Graham Ron Marshall COUNCIL MEMBERS ABSENT: None (a Third Ward Alderman position is currently vacant) INVOCATION: Invocation was given by Reverend Wilhelm. SWEARING IN CEREMONY: City Judge, Larry Herman, administered the Oath of Office to the following newly elected officials: Lonnie Kellogg Bob Graham Albert Ehrlick Chuck Rodgers MINUTES: Motion by Alderman Collins to approve the minutes of the meeting of December 17, 1991, as presented, seconded by Graham. Motion carried 6--0. regular Alderman CORRESPONDENCE: None CLAIMS: Claims for the month of December, 1991, were reviewed by the Budget/Finance Committee and recommended that they be paid. Motion by Alderwoman Kilpatrick to approve all claims in the amount of $ 308,257.46 for the month of December, seconded by Alderman Collins. Motion carried 6--0. GARBAGE RATE INCREASE: This being the time and place advertised, a public hearing was held. Joan Hapman~ 512 Idaho Avenue, the city has and the rates regarding garbage rates. questioned the number of garbage cans for them. She was given a handout Bob Graham stated that years ago the Garbage Committee spent an enormous amount of time checking the garbage cans to see how much garbage is generated by residents and the different businesses. The committee came up with six different classifications, but these have not been updated since they were initiated. The committee is looking into updating the classification in the near future. The rate schedule, on the other hand, will not change. Dave Michael explained that a unit of garbage is single family resident uses in a months time. The hold approximately 10 units when full. basically what a 300 gallon cans The proposed increase of $ 1 per unit will generate approximately $ 36,000. The residential customers will pay an additional $ 1 per month because residential usage is one unit, but businesses will pay more, based on their number of units. Joan questioned whether the deficit of $ 29,370 will be paid off this coming year with the additional revenue from the increase. Dave clarified that the deficit is what the city has over spent the budget (expenditures exceeded revenue) for this year after deleting the one time expenditures for a twelve month period. (Since the last rate increase in September 1990, the expenses have exceeded the revenues by approximately $92~237. The adjusted deficit of $ 29,370 is arrived at by deleting the one time expenditures which are; the down payment on the transfer truck, the purchase of a scraper and the increase expenses on hauling shingles, from the total deficit.) Minutes of the City Council of Laurel Page 2 Council Meeting of January 7, 1992 Joan asked if this deficit was caused by the increase in roofing materials that are being hauled. Dave said $ 30,000 was backed off as a one time expenditure for the roofing material. Bob Graham stated that the city recently passed a resolution charging for the dumping of shingles through the building permit process. This fee would compensate for the additional expense of hauling the singles to Billings. Bob said part of our deficit is due to the high cost of dump fees at the Billings landfill. We are now paying regular rates to do this. Joan reiterated what has been said and she understands that with the increase there should be a cushion. Bob took exception to the word cushion and said this money would be put away to cover future expense in the garbage department such as the building that needs to be constructed at the transfer site. In response to a question from Joan, Dave stated that our landfill was closed because it was full and we have no more room on that tract of land to put another landfill. Dave said the city leased that land from the State of Montana but, the State will not lease anymore land for landfills. The city is required to cover the old landfill and seed it with grass then~ it will be given back to the State. Bob Graham said the city had the option to purchase more land and develop another landfill but, environmental controls are becoming so strict that it was not feasible to do so. The city studied their options before starting the transfer site and felt that even though it is expensive, it is still the cheapest way to go. Joan said a recent paper quoted someone as saying the city is out of line as far as what other towns charge and she was concerned that the raise was not implemented just to "catch up" with everyone else. Dave said the switch from the landfill to the transfer site involves a lot of one time expenses but after these expenses are met~ the general operational expenses should decline. At this time, the transfer site needs a building with a cement floor and a different loader that can be used on cement. The trucks are a high expense item and they will need to be replaced periodically due to the high usage, Bob said garbage is one of the biggest problems this country is facing today. The push is on for recycling but, in our state, we do not have the population to make it feasible at this time. It was stated that when we are forced into recycling it will end up costing the consumer money. Motion by Alderwoman Kilpatrick to close the public hearing, seconded by Alderman Kellogg. Motion carried 6--0. The Garbage Committee minutes of January 2, 1992 were reviewed at this time. Bob Graham said the committee is concerned that if the rate is raised now for commercial users with a study being done later, we may find some are out of line and their rate would be increased again. Bob said there are places in town now that are not paying what they should, according to the rate schedule. L.D. Collins stated there are problems with the multi-family rate that need to be looked at. The first unit is charged eight dollars but~ additional units are only being charged five dollars. By equalizing this, additional revenue would be forthcoming. Ron Marshall questioned whether there has been any feedback from the large commercial garbage users in town regarding how much volume they have. L. D. said this is a concern of the Garbage Committee and they checked the usage by Hardee's and Jan's IGA who have all the cans together and there are discrepancies in the billing as a result of what they found. L.D. said it is complicated to find out what the actual usage is in the commercial district but, it is something that needs to be done. The Mayor stated he would like the Garbage Committee to consider this information and draw up a resolution for the next council meeting. Minutes of the City Council of Laurel Page 3 Council Meeting of January 7, 1992 AMBULANCE RESERVE BY-LAWS: RESOLUTION NO. 2572 APPROVING THE LAUREL VOLUNTEER AMBULANCE RESERVE BY-LAWS Motion by Alderwoman Kilpatrick that Resolution No. 2572 be passed and adopted, seconded by Alderman Collins. Motion carried 6--0. CHARGE OFF FRED WINTERS' NOVEMBER RENT: Fred Winters rented one of the buildings on the William's property that the city recently acquired. Due to plumbing problems, the council evicted Fred's business. After Fred moved, there was a lot of junk that needed to be cleaned up and Joe Bradley wrote a letter to Fred, stating that if he got it cleaned up promptly, the rent would be dropped. Joe said the property has been cleaned up. Motion by Alderman Kellogg to not charge Fred Winters the November rent, seconded by Alderman Graham. Motion carried 6--0. Alderman Orr arrived at the council meeting at 7:40 p.m. after responding to a fire call. ORDINANCE AMENDING CEMETERY LOT PRICES: ORDINANCE NO. 1007 (first reading) AMENDING SECTION 2.84.100 OF THE LAUREL MUNICIPAL CODE, LOT PRICES Joe Bradley said this ordinance is regarding people who own lots and want to sell them privately. The transaction still has to be handled through the city and there should be a paper works fee for doing this. Motion by Alderwoman Kilpatrick that Ordinance No. 1007 (first reading) be passed and adopted, seconded by Alderman Orr. A roll call vote was taken and all aldermen voted, "YES." Motion carried 7--0. APPOINTMENT OF COUNCIL PRESIDENT & VICE-PRESIDENT: COUNCIL PRESIDENT: Norman Orr nominated Bob Graham, seconded by Ron Marshall. Motion by Alderwoman Kilpatrick to close the nomination, seconded by Alderman Orr. Motion carried 7--0. A vote was taken and Bob Graham was unanimously elected Council President. VICE-PRESIDENT: Norman Orr nominated Ron Marshall, seconded by Bob Graham. Motion by Alderwoman Kilpatrick to close the nomination, seconded by Alderman Graham. Motion carried 7--0. A vote was taken and Ron Marshall was unanimously elected Council Vice-President. MAYOR'S COMMITTEE APPOINTMENTS: The Mayor stated that at this time, he has not appointed anyone to specific committees. He would like input from the council members regarding where they would like to serve by the first of next week so he can line out the committees by the next council meeting. Chuck said the Police Committee needs to meet as soon as possible and the existing committee can handle it. A meeting was set for Thursday, January 9th at 5:00 p.m. APPOINTMENT OF CITY ATTORNEY: The Mayor appointed Joe Bradley as City Attorney for a two year term. Motion bw Alderman Graham to aonflrm khm Mavmr'~ mn,,nlnkm~n~ mF Minutes of the City Council of Laurel Page 4 Council Meeting of January 7, 1992 COMMITTEE REPORTS: --Budget/Finance Committee minutes of December 17, 1991 were presented and reviewed. Motion by Alderwoman Kilpatrick to enter the Budget/Finance Committee minutes of December 17, 1991, into the record, seconded by Alderman Orr. Motion carried 7--0. --City Council Committee of the Whole minutes of December 17, 1991 were presented. Discussion regarding the collection of Christmas trees. Motion by Alderman Marshall to enter of the Whole minutes of December 17, 1991, by Alderman Graham. Motion carried ?--0. the City Council into the record, Committee seconded --Garbage Committee minutes of January 2, 1992 were presented and reviewed. Motion by Alderman Graham to enter the Garbage Committee minutes of January 2, 1992, into the record, seconded by Alderman Orr. Marvin Carter, Garbage Committee member, highly recommended to the council to go ahead with the residential rate increase but, he feels the committee needs more time to study and equalize the business district's rates. A vote was taken on the motion. Motion carried 7--0. COMMENTS FROM THE AUDIENCE: Don Hackmann, City Clerk, stated that letters of interest will be accepted through January 14th for the Alderman vacancy. Two letters have been received so far. After the closing date, copies of the letters will be put in the council mailboxes with an appointment to be made on January 21st. In regard to Fred's T.V., Jim Worthington stated that Fred did vacate the building and cleaned up both the inside and outside. The gas was shut off at the beginning of December and as of now, there are no utility services to the building. In regard to the letter that was sent to Fred Winters aboUt the junk at his residence, Jim reported that Fred has cleaned up his property. MAYOR'S COMMENTS: Chuck Rodgers stated that he has quite a challenge ahead of him. He feels he has a good council to work with and there is a lot of work ahead of everyone. He would like to get each committee to participate in the budget process so they can keep informed with what is going on. The Garbage Committee will meet on Monday, January 13th at 5:00 p.m. There being no further business to come before the Council at this time, the meeting was adjourned at 8:02 p.m. Donald L. Hackmann, City Clerk Approved by the Mayor and passed by the City Council of the City of Laurel, Montana, this 21st day of January, 1992. Donald L. Hackmann, City Clerk