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HomeMy WebLinkAboutCity Council Minutes 02.05.1985MinUtes of the City Council Laurel February 5, 1985 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 Albert Ehrlick at 7:00 p.m., on February 5, 1985. COUNCIL MEMBERS PRESENT: Lonnie Kellogg Chuck Dickerson Marvin~Carter Rob Harris Mel Krug Bob Gauthier COUNCILMEMBERS ABSENT: Bill Brennan Donald Meyers INVOCATION: Invocation given by Reverend Tofslieo MINUTES: Motion by Alderman Krug to approve the minutes of the regular meeting of January 15, 1985, as presented, seconded by Alderman Harris. Carried. CORRESPONDENCE: Received a Memo from the State of Montana, Disaster and Emer- gency Services Division, regarding the Annual Governor's Conference on Disaster Preparedness for Public Officials, February 14th, at the Colonial Inn in Helena. Received the "High Water" newsletter from DNRC in Helena. Received a copy of a letter from Harold N. Handke, FAA, to Mary McKamy and Richard Hereim regarding airport leases. Received three newsletters from the Montana League of Cities & Towns. Received a letter from the City of Missoula regarding two bills in the legisla- ture regarding annexation. CLAIMS: Claims for the month of January, 1985, were reviewed by the Budget/ Finance Committee. Motion by Alderman Gauthier to pay the claims for the month of January, seconded by Alderman Dickerson. Motion carried 6--0. JIM KAERCHER, HKM - PROGRESS REPORT ON WASTEWATER TREATMENT PLANT: Jim presented a written report and showed slides on the progress of the construction at the wastewater treatment plant. It is approximately 77% complete. WATER SYSTEM ANALYSIS: HKM will be preparing the draft copy of the written document and submitting that to the City, hopefully within the next couple of weeks. Then the City can review the document and come up with any changes they have and maybe discuss them at the next Council meeting. PARKING AGREEMENT WITH YELLOWSTONE BANK: Joe Bradley explained the following resolution to the members of the Council. RESOLUTION NO. 2116 APPROVING AN AGREEMENT BETWEEN THE CITY OF LAUREL AND THE YELLOWSTONE BANK OF LAUREL, SAID AGREEMENT RELATING TO PARKING SPACES. Motion by Alderman Dickerson that Resolution No. 2116 be passed and adopted, seconded by Alderman Carter. Motion carried 6--0. JOE BRADLEY - LITTLE LEAGUE BASEBALL: Appeared before the Council to ask permis- sion to use the baseball diamond for Little League this summem. Motion by Alderman Carter to authorize the Little League to use the baseball diamond, seconded by Alderman Krug. Motion carried 6--0. Minutes of the City Council of Laurel page 2 RENTAL AGREEMENT FOR PASTURE LAND AT THE WATER RESERVOIR: RESOLUTION NO. 2117 APPROVING AN AGREEMENT BETWEEN THE CITY OF LAUREL AND ROBERT VOLMER, SAID AGREEMENT RELATING TO THE RENTAL OF PASTURE LAND AT THE WATER RESERVOIR. Motion by Alderman Carter that Resolution No. 2117 be passed and adopted, seconded by Alderman Gauthier. Motion carried 6--0. RESOLUTION REGARDING WATER RATE INCREASE: Discussion followed. Alderman Kellogg stated the Utilities Committee met with the Budget/Finance Committee to determine the percentage of increase for a water rate increase. We recommend an 8% increase. Dave Michael stated if they (the Council) passes the resolution tonight authori- zing us to prepare a water rate increase, it would be published in the Outlook on the 13th, 20th, and 27th of February. Then a notice of a rate increase would be mailed with the customer's February billing. The public hearing would be on March 5th, and ten days after the Council's decision it would be effective - for the April billing° Bob Gauthier stated the reason we're looking at a rate increase is it's been three years since we've had an increase. This year we are going to use approxi- mately $75~000 of reserve money to do our capital projects: line replacement, reservoir, and projects down at the water plant. We can not continue to do this. What we're looking at: 6% (approximately $30,000) of this increase would be for line replacement ~and 2% for operating. In addition to the 8% increase on metered water, there will be a $15.00 new account fee and an increase from $10 to $15 on delinquent turn-on fee. This will account for approximately 2% increase in revenues for a total increase of~ 10%. RESOLUTION NO. 2118 BEING A RESOLUTION SPECIFYING A PERMANENT WATER RATE TO BECOME EFFECTIVE TEN (10) DAYS AFTER BEING FILED WITH MUNICIPAL]CLER~ND REVISED RATE SCHEDULE FILED WITH THE PUBLIC SERVICE COMMISSION. Motion by Alderman Kellogg that Resolution No. 2118 be passed and adopted, seconded by Alderman Harris. Motion carried 6--0. DON HACKMANN - PICKUP FOR LANDFILL AND CEMETERY: Don said he found out the person working at ~the cemetery has been using his own pickup to do City business. Also, the pickup at the cemetery is a piece of junk. The original intent was to buy the landfill another used pickup and give that pickup to the cemetery. I heard that pickup.is not in real good shape; however, it might suffice at the cemetery for what the caretaker might use it for. Discussion followed on Don Nelson using his own vehicle and insurance coverage, also on buying a pickup for the landfill. Motion by Alderman Kellogg to authorize the Maintenance Director to purchase a pickup for the landfill (not to exceed $3,000} and transfer the clean landfill pickup to the cemetery, seconded by Alderman Carter. Motion carried 6--0. Don Nelson should submit a claim for personal use of his vehicle (approximately 20¢ a mile). page 3 Minutes of the City COuncil of Laurel RESOLUTION - MID-YEAR BUDGET TRANSFERS: The City Clerk presented a resolution for mid-year budget transfers. RESOLUTION NO. 2119 BEING A RESOLUTION AUTHORIZING BUDGET TRANSFERS OR REVISIONS. Motion by Alderman Kellogg that Resolution No. 2119 be passed and adopted, seconded by Alderman Gauthier. Motion carried 6--0. Alderman Kellogg stated the reason there was $8,000 left on the line replacement is because the Maintenance Director did such a fine job and cut the expenses on the line replacement that there was a little extra. COMMITTEE REPORTS: --FAP Committee minutes of January 30, 1985, were presented and reviewed. Motion by Alderman Gauthier to accept the bid from Magic City Decorators in the amount of $1,650 for the painting of the interior of the police station, seconded by Alderman Dickerson. Motion carried 6--0. Motion by Alderman Gauthier to enter into the record the FAP Committee minutes of January 30, 1985, seconded by Alderman Krug. Motion carried 6--0. Discussion regarding getting someone trained to work on the boiler and heating system. --Park Committee minutes of January 22, 1985, were presented and reviewed. Motion by Alderman Krug to accept the Magnus bid for removal and trimming of trees at Riverside Park in the amount of $500, seconded by Alderman Carter. Motion carried 6--0. Motion by Alderman Krug to enter into the record the Park Committee minutes of January 22, 1985, seconded by Alderman Harris. Motion carried 6--0. Discussion regarding restrooms in Thompson. Park. Marvin.Carter asked about the money the City allocated for new park development and stated he heard that the restrooms that are going to be built would not be used by park people, they would be used for baseball and then closed off. I would like a clarification of that, if that's the intention of the baseball group to take our money and run to the store and close the door. Bob Gauthier That wasn't the intent in the drawings that we showed. The rest- rooms are not actually in the baseball complex itself. They are off to one side. They can be used by the entire public, not just by baseball people. --Street & Alley Committee minutes of January 17, 1985, were presented and reviewed. Discussion regarding stop signs on three through streets: 5th Avenue, 8th Avenue and West 12th Street. Since there is no Federal funding available, the cost per sign would run around $35, approximately 20 signs. Also, if Maryland is used as a through street, an additional 16 signs would be needed. You're looking at a cost factor of about $1,000. Motion by Alderman Krug to enter into the record the Street & Alley Committee minutes of January 17, 1985, seconded by Alderman Dickerson. Motion carried 6--0. --Budget/Finance Committee minutes of February 5, 1985, were presented and reviewed. Motion by Alderman Gauthier to enter into the record the Budget/Finance Committee minutes of February 5, 1985, seconded by Alderman Krug. Motion carried 6--0. page 4 Minutes of the City Council of Laurel Donald L. Hackmann, City Clerk COMMENTS FROM ALDERMEN & DEPARTMENT HEADSi Don Hackmann spoke on behalf of Ernie Davis. He would like the Council to delay putting up the building at the landfill so that you can transfer that money to garbage containers (capital outlay). Motion by Alderman Dickerson to delay putting up the building at the landfill until after July 1st and to transfer the budgeted amount{S3,150) to g~rbage containers~ seconded by Alderman Kellogg. Motion carried 6--0. Another item Don Hackmann mentioned is that he and Joe Bradley have been working on group health insurance. We wanted to get the Council's opinion before Joe asks for the Attorney General's opinion. The last time the City went out for bid an insurance company questioned the firemen being on our group health policy. They feel they are not scheduled to work 20 hfs a week. Don's argument is they are on call 24 hrs a day. More discussion. Joe to write and ask for the Attorney General's opinion. MAYOR'S COMMENTS: Albert stated he has put a directive out about purchasing items without proper supervision. Peg Kamerzel asked Council's opinion. She received a request from the Laurel Chamber about having a raffle. They plan on raffling off a new Blazer (their cost $12,000). They would print up 1,000 tickets and sell them for $20 each. Peg was informed to tell the Chamber, "NO." The maximum raffle prize is $1,000. Alderman Dickerson asked permission to leave the State from February 22nd through March 3rd. Motion by Alderman Carter to grant Alderman Dickerson permission to leave the State from February 22nd through March 3rd, seconded by Alderman Krug. Motion carried 6--0. Cal Cumin urged the City Council to take a close look at the adopted transpor- tation plan. You spent a lot of money on professional City transportation planners to put this plan together. Take a hard look at re.channelling the traffic. I'm not saying you shouldn't do it, there may be a reason for changing it. Chuck Dickerson stated there will be a Police Committee meeting in the Council Chambers at 5:30 p.m. on Thursday night, February 7, 1985. Marvin Carter stated that if any members of the Council wish to donate to George Schneider's family, they can leave their money at the office with Pat. The City Shop and office downstairs took up a collection just to help out. Peg Kamerzel asked permission to leave the State from February 17th through the 21st. Motion by Alderman Krug to grant Peg permission to leave the State from February 17th to the 21st, seconded by Alderman Carter. Motion carried 6--0. There being no further business to com~ouncil at this time, the meeting was adjourned at 9:15 p.m. ~ fJ~~~ fDonald L. Hackmann, City Clerk Approved by the Mayor and passed by the City Council of the City of Laurel, Montana, this 19th day of February, 1985.