Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAboutCity Council Minutes 03.05.1991Minutes of the City Council of Laurel March 5, 1991 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 Bob Gauthier at 7:00 p.m., on March 5, 1991. COUNCIL MEMBERS PRESENT: Norman Orr Donna Kilpatrick L.D. Collins Chuck Rodgers Lonnie Kellogg Bob Graham Ron Marshall Bruce Teeters COUNCIL MEMBERS ABSENT: None INVOCATION: Invocation was given by Alderman Collins. MINUTES: Motion by Alderman Marshall meeting of February 19, 1991, Graham. Motion carried 8--0. to approve the minutes of the regular as presented, seconded by Alderman CORRESPONDENCE: Received a letter from L.D. Collins, Chairman of Christmas to Remember, thanking the city for their participation in the 1990 celebration. Received a letter from the Montana Department of Highways regarding the Laurel Maintenance Section Sandhouse Lease. They would like to renew it again for another 25 years. The Mayor referred this to the Street and Alley Committee. Received a legislative bulletin from the Montana League of Cities and Towns. CLAIMS: Claims for the month of February were reviewed by the Budget/Finance Committee and recommended that they be paid. Motion by Alderwoman Kilpatrick to approve amount of $ 221,688.89 for the month of February, Collins. Motion carried 8--0. all claims in the seconded by Alderman FIRE TRUCK BIDS: The bids were opened at the council meeting on February 5, 1991 and referred to the Fire Committee for a recommendation. At this time the Fire Committee minutes of March 4, 1991 were reviewed. Chuck Rodgers stated that two trucks were bid. The committee recommended going with the Spartan Monarch with option of design change order not to exceed $ 6,000.00. The White GMC bid did not meet the specifications and the committee feels the Spartan Monarch has a much better chassis. Chuck explained that the change order is necessary because when bidding a piece of equipment of this nature, there are generally minor changes that need to be made. These changes would not effect the actual specifications of the original bid. Chuck said the Truck Committee has spent approximately a year and a half and thousands of hours putting the specs together for this truck. They feel they are getting the best truck for the money. Darrell McGillen said they have been told it will take 300 days for delivery and the department can look to have it after the first of the year. Page 2 Minutes of the City Council of Laurel Council Meeting of March 5, 1991 Motion by Alderman Rodgers to award the bid to Becker Fire Equipment for the Spartan Monarch in the amount of $ 206,870.00, with option of design change order not to exceed $ 6,000.00, seconded by Alderman Orr. In regard to financing, Darrell stated he had the treasurer estimate what will be in the account as of December 31, 1991 and there will be sufficient funds to cover the truck. At this time the vote was taken. Motion carried 8--0. 1989 - 90 AUDIT REPORT: Steve Cosner presented and reviewed the 1989-90 audit report with the City Council. A copy of the audit was distributed to each council member. Motion by Alderman Orr to accept the 1989-90 audit report, seconded by Alderman Marshall. Motion carried 8--0. COMMITTEE REPORTS: --Budget/Finance Committee minutes of February 19, 1991 were presented and reviewed. Motion by Alderwoman Kilpatrick to enter the Budget/Finance Committee minutes of February 19, 1991, into the record, seconded by Alderman Teeters. Motion carried 8--0. --City Council Committee of the Whole minutes of February 19, 1991 were presented. Motion by Alderman Marshall to enter the City Council of the Whole minutes of February 19, 1991, into the records by Alderman Graham. Motion carried 8--0. Committee seconded In regard to the Fred Winters matter concerning junk on the sidewalk by his business~ Joe Bradley said a letter was written and Fred has moved the televisions around the corner and off the sidewalk. Complaints have also been made regarding the junk around Fred's home. Joe will write a letter asking him to clean up his residence. --City-County Planning Board minutes of February 14, 1991 were presented and reviewed. Motion by Alderman Orr to enter the City-County Planning Board minutes of February 14, 1991, into the record, seconded by Alderman Kellogg. Motion carried 8--0. --City License Committee minutes of March 4, 1991 were presented and reviewed. There was one application and the committee left the decision up to the council. The business is Jazz Era Production at 709 E. Main Street. The description of the business is trailer sales, antique furniture repair and light mechanical retail. This is a residential home in a commercial business district and part of the controversy is that the applicant wants to conduct the business from the yard. L.D. Collins said we have issued citations for violation of the nuisance ordinance in regard to junky yards and he feels this may create another problem. Another concern is parking. Since this is just a house and not a commercial building, there are no requirements addressing the parking issue. Page3 Minutes of the City Council of Laurel Council Meeting of March 5, 1991 Joe Bradley said that you are not required to have a building in order to conduct business but if you do, it must conform to the building codes. Rob Harris did a fire inspection on the storage building behind the house and Celeste Davis said she will bring it up to code. As Rob understands it, the house will be used strictly as a residential home. Joe Bradley said in the past, situations such as this have been in violation, but you cannot assume that this applicant will also be in violation. The license will be limited to outdoor sales only and if she violates this by bringing customers inside, then this would be grounds for prosecution. It was questioned whether you need to provide rest rooms. Joe said that if you are a sole proprietor and have no employees, you do not have to provide rest rooms. Joe said there have been complaints against John Floyd but the nuisance ordinance does not address this when it is located in a commercial zone. Joe said if the council feels this is a problem, they may want to consider passing an ordinance which would require commercial premises to screen unsightly clutter from public view. Joe said that the community commercial zone will include everything listed on the application. Celeste Davis stated the retail business will be conducted in the yard during the daytime hours in the summer. The trailer sales will include 16' trailers and smaller ones that she can display in the yard. The mechanical work will include light restoration of automobiles, repair of antiques and furniture and small vending machine restoration. The work will be done in the storage shed. It was questioned and Celeste stated she is in the process of applying for a state vehicle dealers license. It was questioned where business transactions would take place in the winter since customers cannot come inside the building. Celeste stated that in case of extreme cold temperatures, she most likely would not be open. It was stated that a letter has been received from Roy Williams, owner of the Russell Motel next door. He objects to it because he does not want unsightly accumulations of furniture and the like next to his business. Motion by Alderman Graham to grant a city license to Jazz Era Production pending bringing the building up to fire codes and receiving a state vehicle dealers license, seconded by Alderman Kellogg. L.D. Collins abstained from voting. Motion carried 6--1 with Alderman Marshall voting, "NO." Motion by Alderman Collins to enter the City License Committee minutes of March 4, 1991, into the record, seconded by Alderman Orr. Motion carried 8--0. --Fire Committee minutes of March 4, 1991 were reviewed. Discussion followed regarding the request by the committee to reenact a grant committee. Darrell McGillen stated that Laurel applied for two grants and were denied both and yet, the Lockwood Fire Department received a CDBG grant in excess of $ 300,000.00 for a new truck. Don Hackmann said one of the criteria Laurel has trouble meeting is the percent of people in the moderate to low income range. Laurel has a slightly lower percentage than other communities receiving the grants. Darrell feels circumstances may have changed in the last two years since Laurel last applied for a grant. Page 4 Minutes of the City Council of Laurel Council Meeting of March 5, 1991 Don stated he feels it would be in the best interest of the city to hire a professional grant writer who knows what to put in the application, thus giving Laurel a better chance of receiving a grant. It was stated that grant writers are paid only if they are successful in obtaining the grant and their fee is based on a percentage of the grant, which is figured right into the application. Motion by Alderman Rodgers to March 4, 1991, into the record, carried 8--0. enter the Fire Committee minutes of seconded by Alderman Orr. Motion It was stated that Fire District #7 still has not paid the 2nd half of their assessments. This matter will be looked into. --Parks Committee minutes of February 28, 1991 were presented and reviewed. Motion by Alderwoman Kilpatrick to enter the Parks minutes of February 28, 1991, into the record, seconded by Collins. Motion carried 8--0. Committee Alderman --Street and Alley Committee presented and reviewed. minutes of February Zl, 1991 were There was a request by Clarence Foos to cover the ditch on the east side of Alder Avenue in the 300 block. Joe Bradley stated that the ditch is a private ditch and the owner doesn't have to worry about it. If we want to satisfy city residents and property owners, the city will have to cover it. Clarence does not own the ditch but he does own the property around it and he is willing to split the cost of covering it with the city. In response to a question about possible additional requests for the same thing, Joe said the city needs to look at each case and see if it benefits the city. It was felt that in this case, it would be for public safety. Jim will look into the cost of doing this. Cable TV made a request to install a drop box on the curb on West 1st Street for drive up customers. It would be located close to the alley. Les Milliard stated that with the increase in postage, they have more people coming in to make their payments and they are just trying to make it more convenient for their customers. They have never put a box in their building because they do not want to take the risk of vandals breaking in and damaging all the electrical equipment they have. They would rather keep the box away from the building. There was some concern that people would drive up to the box on the wrong side of the street and it's not to say that someone will not try it, but it should work just as well as the post office boxes downtown. It was questioned whether they would make this a no parking zone and Les said they would like to. Les said there would be no problem with parking if there is a fire call. This item will be discussed at the next Street and Alley Committee meeting. Motion by Alderman Collins to enter the Street and Alley Committee minutes of February 21, 1991~ into the record, seconded by Alderman Marshall. Motion carried 8--0. COMMENTS FROM THE AUDIENCE: Rob Harris inquired what the status is on the Merchant garages behind Micci's. Jim Worthington said that according to abatement codes, Jim Martin had 30 days in which to obtain permits to do the necessary demolition work and an additional 30 days to do the work. The total 60 days are up as Pages Minutes of the City Council of Laurel Council Meeting of March 5, 1991 of March 10th. If he does not comply, the city will issue the order, file it at the Clerk and Recorders office and schedule the city crew to do the demolition. The cost will be put on the owner's taxes and become a lean against the property. Les Hilliard stated that Jim Martin owns a trailer that sits next to Cable TV and it does not meet the zoning requirements. Jim has been informed of this by Joe Bradley, but nothing has been done and Les would like to see it moved. Joe said in this case it is a criminal violation of the zoning ordinance and the city would have to serve him papers in person. Since Jim lives in California, it is not practical to do so. HAYOR*S COMMENTS: A special council meeting will be held on Tuesday, March 12th at 5:00 p.m. to appoint a city treasurer. Jim reported that the Maryland Project is to be bid on March 28th. This is Avenue to Washington. is back on the bid schedule and for redoing Maryland from 7th Jim stated he is also working with the county on the signing of East Maryland, adjacent to the city property. There being no further business to come before the Council at this time, the meeting was adjourned at 8:22 p.m. Donald L. Hackmann, City Clerk Approved by the Mayor and passed by the City Council of the City Laurel, Montana, this 19th day of March, 1991. ob Gauthier, Mayor of ATTEST: Donald L. Hackmann, City Clerk