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HomeMy WebLinkAboutCity Council Minutes 10.02.1990Minutes of the City Council of Laurel October 2, 1990 A regular meeting of the City Council of the Montana, was held in the Council Chambers and called Bob Gauthier at 7:03 p.m., on October 2, 1990. City of Laurel, to order by Mayor 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 Rodgers meeting of September 18, 1990, Collins. Motion carried 8--0. to approve the minutes of the as presented, seconded by regular Alderman CORRESPONDENCE: Received a letter of resignation from Mary Kasner as a member of the Airport Authority. Received a letter of resignation from LuAnne Engh as a member of the Park Board. Received a letter from W. Anderson Forsythe, Attorney, regarding tile Volk Construction claim. A meeting will be held on Friday, October 5th, at 4:00 p.m. in the council chambers to discuss this claim. Received a letter from Ronald F. and Kaye J. Butler regarding a sewer problem at their residence. CLAIMS: Claims for the month of September 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 $ 208,551.31 for the month of September, seconded by Alderman Orr. Motion carried 8--0. DEBBIE TEDSTROM - RECYCLING PROGRAM IN LAUREL: Debbie Tedstrom stated that Earth Day had an impact on her and she is concerned about recycling in Laurel. She feels bad about throwing away cans and paper and would like a convenient location in Laurel to take recyclable products. Debbie stated that she and Janet McGrath have been investigating some possibilities for Laurel. They went to Billings Recycling and found that the jigs (containers where recyclables are deposited) are very busy. Debbie said there is a person in Laurel who is interested in recycling and would like to get started and be able to run a successful business. Jan's IGA is thinking about allowing them to put a recycling center at their place of business. The jigs are quite expensive and run approximately $ 1,700.00. One alternative is to construct a wooden container that could be used until a jig can be purchase with profits from recycling. Debbie said there are many products that are recyclable, but they would start with paper, aluminum cans and bottles. Debbie said some interested people would like to start a committee called Laurel Cares Fund. This committee could help in putting together recycling projects for the community and possibly buy more jigs. The Laurel Middle School is interested in recycling their aluminum products and also the paper, because of the large quantity that is used. Debbie said the money is in aluminum cans right now. You almost have to pay someone to take the paper products, but as more mills open and Page2 Minutes of the City Council of Laurel Council Meeting of October 2, 1990 Janet McGrath stated the advantage of using the jigs is that they are transportable. They looked into the logistics of emptying and hauling the container and whether it would be feasible. Laurel Recycling stated they would buy all the recycled products in addition to picking them up and hauling them. Janet said they would like to get. the city's support in buying a jig and place it in the IGA parking lot. Any money made would go back to the city to pay for the cost of the jig. Any money made as a result of recycling after that would go into furthering environmental efforts in Laurel and/or charity programs. The women asked that the council consider this request. Janet said they will be writing a proposal which will be given to each member and they hope this will answer any questions that might arise. The Mayor suggested that the proposal be brought before the Garbage Committee which meets on October 15th. AGREEMENT WITH STATE FOR MARYLAND LANE PROJECT: Jim Worthington stated that the Highway Department agreed to use urban funds to develop the Maryland Lane project which will be from 6th Avenue east to Washington Avenue. The project will consist of removing two feet of material and bringing gravel back in with a three inch asphaltic mat. The project will include alignment of curbs, installation of driveway approaches, wheel chair ramps in sections of curb rounds where the concrete needs to be replaced, construction and realignment of manholes and signing of the street to be a through street with one stop at First Avenue. The project will be bid on November llth and in order to allow for them to bid, the council must approve their proposal. RESOLUTION NO. 2491 IT IS HEREBY RESOLVED BY THE COUNCIL OF LAUREL THAT THE CITY AGREEMENT OF FEDERAL AID PROJECT NO. 6906(1) WITH THE STATE OF MONTANA, ACTING BY AND THROUGH THE DEPARTMENT OF HIGHWAYS, IS ADOPTED BY THIS COUNCIL; AND THE MAYOR OF LAUREL IS HEREBY EMPOWERED AND AUTHORIZED TO EXECUTE SAID AGREEMENT ON BEHALF OF THE COUNCIL OF LAUREL Motion by Alderman Collins that Resolution no. 2491 be passed and adopted, seconded by Alderman Rodgers. Motion carried 8--0. TRANSFERRING MONEY FROM SID #94 & SID #106 TO SID REVOLVING FUND: The City Clerk explained that SID #94 is to borrowed on Resolution No. 2460. On SID #106, called and this is the money that is left over it by law, to the revolving fund. repay a loan that was all the bonds have been and we are transferring RESOLUTION NO. 2492 BEING A RESOLUTION TRANSFERRING CERTAIN FUNDS OF THE CITY OF LAUREL, MONTANA Motion by Alderman Collins that Resolution No. 2492 be passed and adopted, seconded by Alderwoman Kilpatrick. Motion carried 8--0. CHANGE DATE OF COUNCIL MEETING DUE TO ELECTION DAY: The Mayor stated the November 6th council meeting needs to be to November 7th, due to the 6th being a holiday because of day. changed election Motion by Alderwoman Kilpatrick to change the November 6th council meeting to November 7th, seconded by Alderman Graham. Motion carried 8--0. COMMITTEE REPORTS: --Airport Authority minutes for July 25th, August 28th and September 25, 1990 were presented. Page3 Minutes of the City Council of Laurel Council Meeting of October 2, 1990 --City Council Committee of the Whole minutes of September 18, 1990 were presented. Motion by Alderman Collins to enter the City Council of the Whole minutes of September 18, 1990, into the record, by Alderman Kellogg. Motion carried 8--0. Committee seconded --City License Committee minutes of October 1, 1990 were presented and reviewed. Motion by Alderman Collins to grant a city business license to R & M Custom Tinting at 1313 East Main, seconded by Alderman Marshall. Motion carried 8--0. There was discussion regarding Ken's Guns & Ammo having stock on hand, which is not according to the terms he stated when applying for his home occupation license. In regard to home occupations in general, Joe stated one way of controlling them is to possibly limit them to services only. He said at times this can become a problem~ trying to distinguish whether something is a service or goods. You would need to judge the character of the business. Motion by Alderman Rodgers to enter the City License minutes of October 1, 1990, into the record, seconded by Kellogg. Motion carried 8--0. Committee Alderman --Fire Committee minutes of September 24, 1990 were presented and reviewed. The minutes were read and there was discussion regarding the possible sale or donation of used equipment that the Fire Department no longer uses. Joe Bradley stated that there must be a resolution to sell city equipment and he would have to check to see if those proceeds could go back into the Fire Department's budget in the general fund. It was stated that if this is possible, it would just be a booking transaction. There was discussion and suggestions in the Fire Committee minutes regarding the need of housing for fire equipment. In response to this~ the Mayor stated Laurel has the highest per capita debt on general obligation bonds in the state. The Mayor said he is not disagreeing that there may be a need, but he does not know of any way to finance it. He said there is not a method of financing until we pay off one of our obligations that we have now. Darrell clarified for the council what the Fire Committee is trying to do. He said now is the time to make a study of what is going to be needed in the long term future and they would like some direction from other committees in doing this. He said the financial situation of the city is not going to change so rather than jumping into a decision where you spend thousands of dollars, he would like to have a specific plan on paper and gradually put it into motion in the coming years. The Williams family would like to sell their property which is next to the complex and Darrell feels we need to get a letter of first denial option on this property. He would at least like a study of this done to look at our options. The Mayor agreed that a study of our future needs is a good idea. Me feels we need recommendations either internally or from the outside, in order to come up with a plan that is suitable for our future needs. This was referred to the Building Committee. The Mayor appointed Jim Stevens, Bill Gaynor, Terry Ruff, Thomas Webb and Scott Wilm as new members to the Fire Department. Motion by Alderwoman Kilpatrick to confirm the Mayor's appointment of Jim Stevens, Bill Gaynor, Terry Ruff, Thomas Webb and Scott Wilm to the Fire Department, seconded by Alderman Marshall. Motion carried 8--0. Peg Kamerzel reported that the city had not received its money from the county for Fire District #7. Apparently the Board of Trustees for the fire district did not get the paperwork in. so PeK contacted the Page 4 Minutes of the City Council of Laurel Council Meeting of October 2, 1990 Motion by Alderman Rodgers to enter the Fire Committee minutes of September 24, 1990, into the record, seconded by Alderman Collins. Motion carried 8--0. --4th of July Committee minutes of September 24, 1990 were presented and reviewed. Motion by Alderwoman Kilpatrick Committee minutes of September 24, 1990, Alderman Orr. Motion carried 8--0. to enter the 4th of July into the record, seconded by --Parks Committee minutes of September 27, 1990 were presented and reviewed. Motion by Alderwoman Kilpatrick to allow the Girl's Softball Association to put in two dugouts and a 75' long chain link fence on both foul lines of the northwest field in Nutting Park, seconded by Alderman Graham. Motion carried 8--0. Motion by Alderwoman Kilpatrick to enter the Parks minutes of September 27, 1990, into the record, seconded by Rodgers. Motion carried 8--0. Committee Alderman --Public Utilities Committee minutes of September 25, 1990 were presented and reviewed. Motion by Alderman Collins to video the 600 block of Cottonwood, seconded by Alderman Marshall. Motion by Alderman Marshall to amend the previous motion that it not exceed a cost of $ 300.00, seconded by Alderman ~arshal~'. Motion carried 8--0. ~!/-~:.~:::"; ~ The original motion, as amended, was voted on. Motion carried 8--0. Jim Worthington reported on the drying beds at the Wastewater Treatment Plant. The plant was built with five beds and at this time, five beds are not adequate. Jim presented drawings with proposals for construction of five more beds. The land was set aside for these additional beds in the original layout of the plant. The Mayor stated that a couple years ago a letter was written to EPA to see if they would fund these additional beds and they said they would not. Bob said we are looking at doing the five beds for somewhere around $ 20,000.00 to $ 30,000.00 if we do some of the work ourselves. We may be able to get by for the winter with what we have, but we definitely need the additional beds by spring. Discussion followed regarding the sewer problems at 616 Cottonwood. L.D. Collins reported that Mrs. Butler came to a committee meeting and asked to have all the reports from 1975 to the present brought out. L.D. said there was a 10 year period of time from 1978 to 1988 were the city was flushing the lines but due to the manpower shortage~ this was discontinued. Reports show that the stoppages on that line are due to disposable diapers, paper, grease and sanitary napkins. The blockage was shown to be in approximately the same place each time which is 225' from the manhole. L.D. said they hope that by making a video of the line, they can tell if her line is hooked into the main correctly or whether the main is gone. In 1975 the city replaced a 10' section of broken tile on the main line. It was noted that the insurance company denied the Butler's claim, based on the history of the past 10 years where there were no claims. It was clarified that it was the city's insurance company that denied the claim. Copies of all letters that Mrs. Bulter has written to the city and also one that she wrote to the insurance company were given to each council member. Mrs. Bulter also submitted pictures of the damages in her basement to the council and these were passed around for all to see. Joe Bradley said the most we can do is try and determine whether the problem is in her line or the cities and the video should show this. Pages Minutes of the City Council of Laurel Council Meeting of October 2, 1990 --Street and Alley Committee minutes of October 1, 1990 were presented and reviewed. Discussion followed regarding the request by MDU to convert the city's vehicles to run on natural gas. It was stated that MDU has been running their own vehicles on this since 1982 and in order to show the advantages to the different agencies, they will hold an expo. It will be held at the MDU servicenter, 4th Avenue and North 18th Street in Billings, on October 10th from 4 - 6 p.m. Motion by Alderman Collins to enter the Street and Alley Committee minutes of October 1, 1990, into the record, seconded by Alderman Orr. Motion carried 8--0. COMMENTS FROM THE AUDIENCE: Bob Graham requested permission to leave the state from October 12th to the 29th. Motion by Alderwoman Kilpatrick to grant Bob Graham permission to leave the state from October 12th to the 29th, seconded by Alderman Rodgers. Motion carried 8--0. Darrell McGillen stated the Laurel Booster Club submitted a letter to him requesting permission to hold a bonfire prior to the homecoming activities. As Fire Chief, he granted them permission~ according to the open burning policy of the city but said they must clear it with the Parks Committee since it will be held on city property. Darrell said he instructed them on what they can burn and he will inspect the contents of the pile before burning. The fire department will be on hand for the burning which will take place south of the high school in Thomson Park. The area around the fire will be roped off and the Booster Club will clean up after the event. Motion by Alderman Collins to allow the Laurel Booster Club to hold a bonfire prior to the homecoming activities, seconded by Alderman Orr. Motion carried 8--0. There being no further business to come before the Council at this time, the meeting was adjourned at 8:30 p.m. Donald L. Hackmann, City Clerk Approved by the Mayor and passed by the City Council of the City of Laurel, Montana, this 16th day of October, 1990. ATTEST: Donald L. Hackmann, City Clerk