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HomeMy WebLinkAboutCity Council Minutes 12.15.1998 MINUTF, S OF THE CITY COUN(IL OF !,IURI L December 15, 1998 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 7:08 p.m. on December 15, 1998. COUNCIL MEMBERS PRESENT: Dirk Kroll Ken Olson Gay Easton Bill Staudinger COUNCIL MEMBERS ABSENT: None Gary Temple Miles Walton Norman Orr Bud Johnson Mayor Rodgers asked the council to observe a moment of silence in behalf of Miranda Fenner and her family. MINUTES: Motion by Alderman Johnson to approve the minutes of the regular meeting of December 1. 1998, as presented, seconded by Alderman Orr. Motion carried. CORRESPONDENCE: City of Billings: 1999 Landfill Users Summit Schedule City of Billings: 1999 Legislative Agenda MMIA: CI-75 - Duty to Defend and Indemnify CONSENT ITEMS: a. Clerk/Treasurer Financial Statements for the month of November. b. Committee Reports. --Budget/Finance Committee minutes of December 1, 1998 were presented. --City Council Committee oftbe Whole minutes of December 1, 1998 were presented. ~-Parks Committee minutes of November 25, 1998 were presented. --Board of Adiustment minutes of December 8, 1998 were presented. --City-County Plannine Board minutes of December 10, 1998 were presented. c. Resolutions. 1) Resolution No. R98-60: Resolution adopting a Policy Statement for the employees of the City of Laurel. RESOLUTION NO. R98-60 ADOPTING A POLICY STATEMENT FOR THE EMPLOYEES OF THE CITY OF LAUREL. 2) Resolution No. R98-61: Resolution adopting a Procedures Manual for the City of Laurel. RESOLUTION NO. R98-61 ADOPTING A PROCEDURES MANUAL FOR THE CITY OF LAUREL. 3) Resolution No. R98-62: Resolution extends the Water Treatment Plant Contract completion date to April 15, 1999. Council Minutes of December 15, 1998 RESOLUTION NO. R98-62 RESOLUTION EXTENDS THE WATER TREATMENT PLANT CONTRACT COMPLETION l)ATE TO APRIL 15, 1999. 4)Resolution No. R98-63: Resolution on change order for water lines. RESOLUTION NO. R98-63 RESOLUTION ON CHANGE OR1)ER FOR WATER LINES. 5) Resolution No. R98-64: Resolution accepting Change Order No. 2 for the Water Treatment Plant project. RESOLUTION NO. R98-64 RESOLUTION ACCEPTING CHANGE ORDER NO. 2 FOR THE WATER TREATMENT PLANT PROJECT. 6) Resolution No. R98-65: Resolution on bus loading zone. RESOLUTION NO. R98-65 A RESOLUTION ESTABLISBING A BUS LOADING ZONE ON THE WEST CORNER OF WEST MAIN AN1) FOURTH AVENUE. The mayor asked if there was any separation of consent items. There was none. Motion bv Alderman Kroll to approve the consent items as presented, seconded by Alderman Johnson. Motion carried. SCHEDULED MATTERS: a. Confirmation of Appointments. City-County Planning Board: Mayor Rodgets appointed Laurel Haggart to the City-County Planning Board to complete the term vacated by Bob Dantic, expiring June 30, 1999. Motion bv Alderman Staudinger to confirm the appointment of Laurel Haggart to the City- County Planning Board, seconded by Alderman Johnson. Motion carried 7-1, with Alderman Temple voting nay. Board of Appeals: Mayor Rodgers appointed Darrell Aaby to the Board of Appeals for a term of two years, effective December 15, 1998. Motion by Alderman Johnson to confirm the appointment of Darrell Aaby to the Board of Appeals, seconded by Alderman Kroll. Motion carried 8-0. Historical Board: Mayor Rodgets re-appointed Patrick Gubbins to the Historical Board for a term of two years, effective December 15, 1998. Motion by Alderman Staudinger to con~ma the re-appointment of Patrick Gubbins to the Historical Board, seconded by Alderman Johnson. Motion carried 8-0. b. Home Occupation: Marylou Berman, 609 Fifth Avenue. Planning Board recommends approval. Motion by Alderman Johnson to approve the home occupation for Marylou Berman, 609 Fifth Avenue, seconded by Alderman Orr. Motion carried 7-1, with Alderman Temple voting nay. Council Minutes of December 15, 1998 Miles Walton stated that he understood how difficult it is to have a meeting just to consider one item, but that is the responsibility of the board. He was not pleased with the phone survey taken to approve this matter, and thinks that it should be done properly in the future. He did not understand the urgency of needing to address this particular matter, and felt that it could have waited until the January meeting. c. Ordinance on encroachment fees. After reviewing the existing ordinance document, Larry McCarm and the staff recommend that the encroachment permit ordinance not be changed at this time. The encroaclm~ent ordinance needs to be reworded to allow uniformity in its application. The ordinance language has conflicts within itself. In order to clarify the use of this ordinance, it needs to be rewritten. The rewritten ordinance needs to identify methods to assess costs and to include definitions for the types of encroachments. The City Attorney will need to be involved. If any fees are changed, the effects of CI-75 will have to be considered. Joe Leckie explained that CI-75 affects increases, so it is acceptable to charge fees at the current levels. However, if the fees are changed so that a different method of assessing is used, or an increase of fee is necessary, it becomes a factor ofCI-75. Miles Walton mentioned that the current encroachment fee was designed to facilitate a yearly review of the encroachment in order to investigate any problems. A one-time fee would eliminate this review process. Mayor Rodgers suggested that the staff work with Joe Leckie regarding the encroachment ordinance and report back to the Council as a Whole at the January 19th, 1999, meeting. Motion by Alderman Johnson to follow the recommendation of the staff to formulate an approach to changing the ordinance on encroachment fees, seconded by Alderman Orr. Motion carried 8-0. UNS CHEDULED MATTERS: Jim Stevens reported that 176 call outs have been received so far this year. Fire Chief Stevens and the Laurel Volunteer Fire Department wished the council~ administration, department heads, the staff and all their families a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. Dean Askim, a City employee, injured his back last week and will be having back surgery next week. The Parks Committee meeting is scheduled for Wednesday, December 23rd, at 5:00 p.m. The council retreat has been scheduled for Saturday, January 16th. Mr. Young will be unable to attend this meeting. Mayor Rodgers explained the proposed restructuring of the committees. There will be three main conm~ittees: the Public Works Committee; the Budget and Finance Administration; and the Emergency Services Committee. Each of the committees will include four council members. The Public Works Cornmittee would include at least six citizen members, the staff and the Public Works Director. The Emergency Services Committee would include at least four citizen members, the staff, Fire Chief, Police Chief, Ambulance Director and the DES Coordinator. By coordinating these committees into one meeting, Mayor Rodgers anticipates that con~munication would be greater. Each of the main committees would continue to have smaller subcommittees involved. Any change would need to be done by ordinance, and Mayor Rodgers asked the council for their input regarding this matter. Bud Johnson, Ken Olson, Mayor Rodgers, and Dirk Kroll recently attended a joint meeting with the Yellowstone County Commissioners and the Billings City Council. Legislators in the area had been invited to attend the meeting, and it gave an opportunity for the council to share their thoughts and problems with them. The meeting addressed the impending change in electrical distribution with the possible deregulation. A number of communities across the state are asking to be declared the default provider for people who do not decide on an electrical provider. Bud Johnson commented that the meeting provided an excellent forum for an exchange of ideas, and he desires that this type of meeting will continue and increase to serve the citizens better. Dirk Kroll mentioned that our legislative group needs to work together. Ken Olson suggested that we must cultivate what we believe is important to our city by inviting our legislators to Laurel to show them our problems. Council Minutes of December 15, 1998 Miles Walton agreed that we must engage in dialog with our state legislators. Mayor Rodgers stressed that it is very important to have a continuing dialog with the legislators, instead of waiting until issues become a problem. Mayor Rodgers wished everyone a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. There being no further business to come before the council at this time, the meeting was adjoumed at 7:43 p.m. Cindy~lle~,Secretary Approved by the Mayor and passed by the City Council of the City of Laurel, Montana, this fifth day of January, 1999. Charles Rodgers, Attest: Donald L. Hackmann, Clerk-Treasurer