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HomeMy WebLinkAboutCouncil Workshop Minutes 09.08.2009MINUTES COUNCIL WORKSHOP SEPTEMBER 8, 2009 6:30 P.M. COUNCIL CHAMBERS A Council Workshop was held in the Council Chambers and called to order by Mayor Ken Olson at 6:30 p.m. on September 8, 2009. COUNCIL MEMBERS PRESENT: X- Emelie Eaton Kate Hart _x Chuck Rodgers x Alex Wilkins _x Doug Poehls _x Mark Mace _x Chuck Dickerson _x Norm Stamper OTHERS PRESENT: Sam Painter Mary Embleton Bill Sheridan James Caniglia Rick Musson Derek Yeager Public Input three-minute limit : Citizens may address the Council regarding any item of City business not on the agenda. The duration for an individual speaking under Public Input is limited to three minutes. While all comments are welcome, the Council will not take action on any item not on the agenda. There was no public input. Ambulance Service: • Appointments - Nick Obritschkewitsch and Jessica Obritschkewitsch Mayor Olson stated that the appointments would be on the September 15`" council agenda. Planning: • Bus Transit Program James Caniglia explained a change in the previous presentations regarding the Bus Transit Program. It had been presented that the city would have a $60,000 grant. The city received a $60,000 grant, but it was prorated for half of the year. Basically, $30,000 of grant money is available for the second half of this fiscal year, not the full $60,000. The following year, the city would get a minimum of $60,000 and hopefully more, but that is yet to be determined. The bus service calls for two trips a day to Billings, a van pool program, and the demand response service five days a week. If the program falls into the price to get 54 percent of the operating costs paid for by the State, with a $30,000 grant the city would have to keep the costs at about $58,000. This means the city would not be able to have a service to Billings at least for the first six months of service unless a larger grant was awarded the next fiscal year. As it stands now, that may be the better option. James stated that the budget is getting tight, so there may not be money to have the full service twice a day to Billings for the van pool and the demand response within the city. As far as the cost of demand response, there are still things to figure out, such as wages. The program could start off slow, and if the costs are under the $58,000 mark a couple months in, the council could choose to expand the service by a couple hours. Council Workshop Minutes of September 8, 2009 There was a brief discussion regarding reducing service hours, the timing for delivery of the buses, and the safety of the buses during inclement weather. Emelie Eaton requested input from the public works director and the clerk/treasurer. Mary stated that this issue was discussed at today's department head meeting, where she requested guidance on how to budget for the program. The city will have to have money available and then be reimbursed for the expenses. Staff will have a session to hammer out the details regarding how to budget for personnel, gasoline, and the O&M costs and to come up with some figures. • Resolution - Annexation request by SID Corporation (Sid's Bar and Grill located at 1701 East Main Street) James stated that this annexation for SID's Restaurant was on a previous agenda because council direction was needed for annexation since the property is less than a city block. James stated that the city council wanted it to move forward, as did the Planning Board. The annexation request is for about 49,000 square feet of property. The applicant wants to install new waterlines to improve his existing waterline before the State project comes through. He also needs to get sewer hookups. The annexation agreement is fairly standard. The agreement requires installation of curb, gutter, and sidewalk before water and sewer hookups are done. A fire hydrant will be installed, and the placement and quality of the hydrant needs approval by the public works and fire departments. Since this is an existing property, no other infrastructure is needed and the necessary commercial zoning is in place. Clerk/Treasurer: • Resolution -- Montana Recovery Act Contract with Department of Commerce for 7th Street ditch mitigation project Mary explained the resolution to authorize the city to enter into a contract with the Montana Department of Commerce, who is administering the discretionary stimulus funding. This was part of the $10 million that cities and towns were given to spend on infrastructure projects. Mary and Kurt submitted this project on behalf of the city with very short notice when they were in Helena last spring. The council previously agreed with their assessment and the end of the setup of this project is here with the contract with the Department of Commerce. With this particular grant, once the signed contract has been returned to the State, they will deposit 90 percent of the funds into the city's account. This is highly unusual, as the city usually has to spend the money first and then get reimbursed. That was part of House Bill 645 and is a nice feature of the program. Great West Engineering prepared the project budget and has been contracted to oversee the project. The City of Laurel may have to contribute $27 of its own money for this project. Great West is getting ready to put the project out for bid. The implementation schedule shows that the design will be done by the end of the calendar year and construction will start as soon as possible in 2010. The city has until September 2010 to spend the money, but the State would like this done as quickly as possible. The project should be finished in June by the end of fiscal year 2010. Mary recommended approval of the contract. Mary stated that there was an issue regarding insurance requirements for these projects. MMIA worked with the State of Montana and others to get that handled, and MMIA will cover the additional insurance requirements at no additional premium. Chief Administrative Officer: • Resolution --- Task Order No. 3 with Morrison-Maierle for Construction Administration and Observation Services 2 Council Workshop Minutes of September 8, 2009 Bill Sheridan stated that Task Order No. 3 is for construction administration and observation services for the Wastewater Treatment Plant. Morrison-Maierle has completed most of the plans and specifications for the project. MMI will insure that the improvements are followed adequately and correctly and they will provide observation services with on-site personnel and engineers. Bill gave a timeline related to the project. Request for bids will go out on Thursday, September 10th and will be open until about October 1st. There may be extensions of the amount of time for bidding based upon inspections of the project by contractors. There will be at least one visit to the Wastewater Treatment Plant with all bidders to insure that contractors know where the projects are and what specific improvements will be made. Bill stated the three major sections included in this project. The first is the wastewater treatment lift stations on East Main Street. The second improvement is a waterline that will be built from the Water Treatment Plant to the Wastewater Treatment Plant. The third includes major improvements to the head works operation. The bids will be opened early in October and a contract should be awarded with council approval by mid to late October. Construction should start between November 1st through 15th and about 165 days of construction is expected. The actual project should start in November and be completed in April. However, weather makes a difference and there could be up to a two-month shut down for winter, which could delay the completion of the project to June 2010. The project will provide a major improvement to the Wastewater Treatment Plant. The engineers will provide adequate plans and specifications and will have personnel to insure that improvements will be carried out properly and construction is done adequately. The full amount of the construction bid will be bonded. Executive Review: • Joint Meeting with Yellowstone County Commissioners - September 16th at 5:30 p.m. Mayor Olson stated the current agenda items for the joint meeting. The items include: formation of an ambulance service district; impact fees with the fire districts; Yellowstone County Veterans' Cemetery contract; improvements and annexation of properties on West 12th Street and I" Avenue; Annexation of Fir Avenue and 12th Street; Millings on Alder and Fir Avenues; other road issues; improvements and construction dealing with storm water run-off east of Laurel and improvements to the Nutting Drain; City-County Planning Board Interlocal Agreement; and the speed limits on Buffalo Trail north and south of the Veterans' Cemetery. Mark Mace stated that further discussion is needed regarding signage and the crosswalk below the walk bridge on 12th Street. Mayor Olson stated that the project was originally funded by a County CTEP project. He thought there had been previous discussion about the City of Laurel taking ownership of the bridge after the county installed it. There was further discussion regarding the need to get the foot bridge ADA compliant and to provide signage. The item will be added to the September 16th city-county joint meeting agenda. Any other items need to be submitted before Thursday. • Board Training --- October 28th or 29th Mayor Olson stated that responses have not been received from the majority of the boards and commissions. There was some discussion. The chairmen of the boards, committees, and commissions will be contacted again regarding preference for the evening meeting. Mayor Olson asked the council chairman to contact their members regarding this training. • City-County Planning Board Interlocal Agreement 3 Council Workshop Minutes of September 8, 2009 Mayor Olson stated that the City-County Planning Board Interlocal Agreement is a discussion item for the city-county meeting on September 16 The issues in the interlocal agreement are determining a quorum by the number of members seated on a board. The County's legal counsel feels like that may not be an option. The other issue is the funding mechanism The city is asking that the full mills are allowed be milled for the interlocal agreement. James attended the commissioners' meeting today and has updated information. James stated that the County Commissioners' Board voted that every mill levy within the county get the minimum 1.1 percent budget increase. The mill levy for Laurel Planning went up about 3.4 percent because there was a loss of valuation within the area. He does not think home values have dropped, but it could be because the coker was taxed last year is receiving tax breaks this year. The Commissioners were adamant about not increasing mill levies with the state of the economy. Mayor Olson asked staff to run some figures as to what that represents so the council will have a better understanding of how much funding will be afforded to the Planning Board and the information will go forward to the joint meeting on September 16''. At one time, the City of Laurel was informed it would receive the maximum levy, but that changed last week. The council will be informed of the final figures. • Council Issues: o Schedule visit to see the sprinkler system at the Rockvale Cemetery (Chuck Dickerson) Chuck Rodgers stated that Robert Williams is not available to show the council the sprinkler system on Tuesday, September 22M. Available dates include September 11th, 17t1i, 18th, 21$1, 23rd, 24th, 25M, or 28th and then the water will be shut off for the season. There was discussion regarding the available dates and the need to find solutions for the watering issues at the cemetery. Emelie asked if this issue should be reviewed by the Public Works Committee and the Cemetery Commission. There was further discussion. Mayor Olson encouraged the Public Works Committee and the Cemetery Commission to schedule a time to visit the Rockvale Cemetery. Chuck Rodgers stated that something would be worked out and scheduled for those that are interested. He would like some city staff members to go, too. Mayor Olson stated that Bill should decide if staff members could go. He stated that, if council members attend, the date and time for the trip to the Rockvale Cemetery needs to be posted, so the information should be given to the council secretary. Other items Mayor Olson spoke regarding the vacancies on the city's boards, commissions, and committees. Ads will be placed in the Laurel Outlook to seek new members and will be posted at the library, the window at the water office, and on the city's website. Mayor Olson stressed the importance of filling the vacancies on the boards, commissions, and committees. There are currently vacancies on the Park Board, City-County Planning Board, Laurel Urban Renewal Agency; Emergency Services Committee and Public Works Committee. There was discussion regarding the need to specify the requirements for the positions, such as being city residents, and the need to state how often the board, commission or committee meets. Mayor Olson stated that most positions are appointed by the Mayor with the consent of the council. 4 Council Workshop Minutes of September 8, 2009 Review of draft council agenda for September 15, 2009 The two ambulance appointments will be added to the council agenda. The joint city-county meeting on September 16t` will be added under the dates to remember. Attendance at the September 15, 2009 council meeting Chuck Dickerson will not attend the meeting. Announcements Mark Mace and Chuck Dickerson stated that it is nice to see Chief Musson up and around. Norm stated that the Cemetery Commission will meet on Thursday, September 10'?', at the Laurel Cemetery to review several issues. The Commission will return to the council chambers for the rest of the meeting. Norm will discuss the board training dates and the trip to the Rockvale Cemetery with the Cemetery Commission. Chuck Rodgers stated that the two ton rock was delivered to the city's barn recently. Chuck Dickerson mentioned previous discussion regarding placing the rock near the walking bridge on 12th Street. Mayor Olson stated that the Heritage Committee will present their first annual play this Friday and Saturday evenings. Rock the Block is scheduled on Saturday, September 12"'. Mary stated that early registration needs to be completed soon for the League of Cities and Towns Conference in Great Falls on October 7`", 8"' and 9a' at the Heritage Inn. Chuck Dickerson, Mark Mace, and Alex Wilkins plan to attend. This will be Mary's last year as president of the Clerks, Treasurers, and Finance Officers Association, so she will be promoted to the Immediate Fast President. She hopes to keep her seat as the Executive Secretary on the Board of the League of Cities. Chuck Dickerson stated that the last Rock the Block event is scheduled in the Town Square on Saturday at 6:00 p.m. The 7 h Avenue Band will perform at the event. The council workshop adjourned at 7:20 p.m Respectfully submitted, Cindy Allen Council Secretary NOTE: This meeting is open to the public. This meeting is for information and discussion of the Council for the listed workshop agenda items. 5