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HomeMy WebLinkAboutCity Council Minutes 08.04.1998MINIJTES OF TIlE CITY COIJNCIL OF I, - IJREL August4,1998 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 7:02 p.m. on August 4, 1998. COUNCIL MEMBERS PRESENT: Dirk Kroll Ken Olson Gay Easton Bill Staudinger Gary Temple Miles Walton Norman Orr Bud Johnson COUNCIL MEMBERS ABSENT: None MINUTES: Motion by Alderman Kroll to approve the minutes of the regular meeting of July 21, 1998, as presented, seconded by Alderman Johnson. Motion carried. CONS ENT ITEM S: Claims for the month of July. Clerk/Treasurer Financial Statements for the month of June. Correspondence Little Dude Ranchettes Report Memo regarding joint meetings with the City Council: August 4, 1998 - County Commissioners, Billings City Council and Billings School District August 5, 1998 -Laurel School District Montana League of Cities and Towns Montana Transportation Planning Newsline The mayor asked if there was any separation of consent items. There was none. Motion by Alderman Johnson to approve the consent items as presented, seconded by Alderman Orr. Motion carried. SCHEDULED MATTERS: Confirmation of Appointments. None. b. Committee Reports. --City Council Committee of the Whole minutes of July 21, 1998 were presented. --Laurel Airport Authority minutes of June 23, 1998 were presented. --Parks Committee minutes of July 23, 1998 were presented. Motion by Alderman Johnson to enter the committee minutes into the record, seconded by Alderman Kroll. Motion carried. c. Sheri Hatten - Home Occupation - Daycare for four. Sheri Hatten, 409 Third Avenue, has applied to have a daycare for four children in her home. The State of Montana has already licensed her. Motion by Alderman Walton to grant approval to Sheri Hatten for a home occupation, seconded by Alderman Johnson. Motion carried. d. Charlie Fischer - Community Hope garbage charges. Council Minutes of August 4, 1998 Charlie Fischer stated that no one donates any money to haul out the garbage at Community Hope and they presently have a past due bill. Mayor Rodgers recommended that this matter should be discussed in the Garbage Committee. Gay Easton said that this particular bill had not been discussed at the last committee meeting and should be brought up to the committee at their next meeting on Thursday, August 20th. They will mak~ a recommendation to the council at the next meeting. e. Penny Barry - Crime, alcohol and drug problem in Laurel. Penny Barry addressed the drug situation in Laurel. It has been going on for many years and it has come to a point where she, as a parent and a citizen, does not want to allow it any longer. She believes that the first solution to a problem is to admit that there is a serious problem. She has spoken with many teenagers and they all agree that as many as 90 to 95 percent of the Laurel Middle School and Laurel High School students have done or are doing drugs, whether it be marijuana, liquor or crank. She has personally addressed this with the high school principal and has not received much response. He says that there is no problem and Penny strongly disagrees. She feels that it is ignorant to say that we do not have a drug problem. She often hears that there is not enough money and not enough policemen on the street. In her search about what is going on, she has found that we have had the same drug people in our area for as long as fifteen years. We all know where the drug houses are and who is doing the robberies, but nothing is done. Some citizens take daily logs of the activity in and out of these houses, but nothing is done. She recently talked with a recovering drug addict who said that it is very hard to walk down the streets of Laurel because it is so easy to get drugs without even buying them. Some parents have moved their children out of the area because of the drug problem. Penny does not believe that is the answer either. As a citizen, she can name each and every drug addict walking down the street. These are the obvious ones, but there are also many good young people in the school who have a problem. Another part of the problem is the lack of consequences. When the offenders are arrested the first time, they are given community service. Some of them are arrested many times, but they do very little community service, maybe an hour or two here or there. The problem lies with us as a community because we have chosen to close our eyes. She has talked with Beta Altematives. One of the problems is that there are only three places in Laurel that will do community service. We need to find more places where community service can be done, and we also need concerned citizens who will volunteer their time to make sure that the community service is completed. Right now there are over thirty adults, not including juveniles, waiting to do conunuhity service from 15 to 108 hours per person. She doubts if any of this community service will be done. The system seems to always fail. We can point our fingers at everyone else, but we need to start pointing our fingers at ourselves. She watched the drug activity in the past but did not want to become involved in finding a solution. Now it is time to do something about it and she is willing to donate ten hours a week to supervise. We often hear people say that we need to hire more policemen and we need to do other things but these things cannot always be done. The community needs to become involved. We all see kids gathered at Taco John's, the IGA parking lot and at the park and they are not trading candy. As adults, we need to be willing to confront the teenagers who are doing these things. She has seen a photo album containing pictures of Laurel High School students doing drugs. She suggested that the solution might have to begin with one person who is willing to give time to make a difference. Public awareness is an important aspect. If the problem is kept in the dark, it will just get worse. She believes that much more can be done about the problem, and we need to join together. The teenagers in Laurel readily admit that there is a big problem, and now the adults need to admit that there is a problem and to be willing to address it. One of the biggest places of drug distribution will begin when school starts again on August 27th. She suggested that we might need parents in the school parking lot, volunteers to donate time for community service, and parents to walk the streets at night. She is willing to do all these things. Gay Easton mentioned that he talked with Bemie Hendricks. Bernie is the truant officer in Laurel and he is quite concerned about the problem. Youth Coalition, a restorative justice project, will hold their next meeting on September 21st in the Old Council Chambers. There is a grant of $100,000 available for the development of a similar project. Five problem areas are being targeted and Laurel is included. Penny said that it is very difficult for the youth who desire to get out of drugs to do so because they have no place to go. Penny's motto is "Sin will take you farther than you want to go, keep you there Council Minutes of August 4, 1998 longer than you want to stay, and cost you more than you want to pay." She presented a list compiled by Beta Alternatives of people who desire to be involved in finding solutions for this problem. Mayor Rodgers said that he met with Penny and several other concerned Laurel citizens on Sunday, August 2nd. He feels that we have been out of touch and need to listen to what people have to say about the drag, alcohol and crime problem in Laurel. There will be more discussion regarding this subject at the joint meeting with the City Council and the Laurel School District on Wednesday, August 5th. The mayor has spent several hours recently talking with past students, and he challenged the council to talk to some of these students. Miles Walton agreed that there is a drug problem in Laurel and that combating it is very frustrating. Thoughts of getting something done and actually accomplishing something are still far apart at this time. If we do not take the first step to try to do something, the road to a solution will continue to get longer and longer. Miles emphasized that it will take a united community effort to combat this problem. Ken Olson applauded Penny for her presentation. He is encouraged when people are willing to take a stand and want to find solutions for a problem. He also encouraged the council to talk with the students to get their view of the sittmtion. Mayor Rodgers invited two people from the audience to speak. Brad Molnar commented on the restorative approach. He said that there are currently no consequences for the actions of these youth. They are given community service, but if they do not show up, that is fine. They might be given more community service, but they still may not show up to do it. He believes that a multi-faceted approach should be taken. There is no reason that the City Council could not tell the juvenile probation officer to have the juvenile offenders do some community service that would benefit the city. The school district has a large contract to wash school buses, and Brad feels that juvenile offenders could do a part of this. If a juvenile offender owes $400 and it costs $200 per bus, the child would have to do two buses. Brad said that there are also many things that the city could have these kids do, and it would only cost the city 25 cents per hour for workmen's compensation. If we are looking for help from the state, it is not going to happen. The juvenile probation officers are limited in what they can do. We just closed our jail because of the cost involved to redo it. After completion of a sixteen-hour training program, juveniles could be put into the jail. If you had a child with a drug problem, would you rather he spend the night in jail and come home in the morning or simply come home in the morning? Brad said that many cities and states are trying new ways to combat the problems and he encouraged the council and people of Laurel to do so, too. He asked someone recently why Laurel has reached national attention for crime and as a heroin distribution center. He was told that it is because Laurel does not have detectives or a jail, has a small police force, and the juveniles know that they can carry, sell and distribute drugs without the fear of consequences. He challenged the council to create those consequences. Carol Badura is a single mother of four children. She has to work and cannot be home all day. She has been threatened in her own home by kids who do drugs and has a handicapped son who is very vulnerable. Carol expressed great concern regarding the drug problem in Laurel. f. Chris Dimock - Western Technology Partners - Presentation of the Internet. Chris Dimock, owner of Western Technology Partners, gave a presentation about the Internet. They do Internet service and website design work. WTP currently has a contract with the City of Billings to make a website. He presented some of the things that can be achieved through the Internet. Creating a webpage would provide an opportunity for the rest of the world to see what Laurel, Montana, has to offer. Internet service would also provide electronic mail so that citizens could communicate with councilmen, the mayor and other people in the city's administration. Internet communication is rapidly becoming as important as the telephone and fax machine. The Internet and electronic mail provide a means of contacting people 24 hours a day. The City of Billings is putting up a website that talks about economic development opportm~ities within the city and why people choose to live in Billings. The same type of thing could be done for the City of Laurel. He is also putting together information in the form of a paperless agenda for the Billings City Council so that there will be an online version of the agenda available to be downloaded from a computer. Agendas are also posted on the Internet so that people can make comments and be informed about the meeting. Posting the minutes of the council meetings on the Internet provides an opportunity for Council Minutes of August 4, 1998 people to see and understand the results of the meeting. All of this is done electronically and is a simple interface. He is also creating an online forms library and a feedback loop for the City of Billings. About 25 percent of the population have access to the haternet, and it is estimated that this will rise dramatically within the next three years. Chris brought his presentation with him, but because of lack of time, said that he would be glad to bring it back to another meeting to show how city governments can use the Internet. Chris has been involved with computer technology on the Internet for fourteen years and with computer technology in general for twenty-two years. Mayor Rodgers invited Chris to return to a pre-council meeting to show his presentation. Set Public Hearing for Little Dude Ranchettes zone change. Planning Board recommends denial. Motion bv Alderman Johnson to set the public hearing on the Little Dude Ranchettes zone change for September 1, 1998, seconded by Alderman Staudinger. Motion carried. h. Resolution adopting 1998-99 Final Budget. RESOLUTION NO. R98-43 A RESOLUTION APPROVING AND ADOPTING THE FINAL BUDGET FOR THE CITY OF LAUREL FOR THE FISCAL YEAR 1998-99. Motion by Alderman Johnson that Resolution R98-43 be passed and adopted, seconded by Alderman Kroll. Motion carried. i. Adopt 1998-99 Tax Resolutions. RESOLUTION NO. R98-33 BEING A RESOLUTION LEVYING TAXES FOR GENERAL AND SPECIFIC PURPOSES FOR THE CITY OF LAUREL, MONTANA, FOR THE FISCAL YEAR BEGINNING JULY 1, 1998. RESOLUTION NO. R98-34 BEING A RESOLUTION LEVYING AND ASSESSING ALL OF THE PROPERTY EMBRACED WITHIN SPECIAL IMPROVEMENT DISTRICT LIGHT NO. 2 OF THE CITY OF LAUREL, MONTANA, WITH THE ENTIRE COST OF MAINTENANCE AND ELECTRICAL CURRENT FOR THE FISCAL YEAR, 1998-99. RESOLUTION NO. R98-35 BEING A RESOLUTION LEVYING AND ASSESSING ALL OF THE PROPERTY EMBRACED WITHIN SPECIAL IMPROVEMENT DISTRICT LIGHT NO. 3 OF THE CITY OF LAUREL, MONTANA, WITH THE ENTIRE COST OF MAINTENANCE AND ELECTRICAL CURRENT FOR THE FISCAL YEAR, 1998-99. RESOLUTION NO. R98-36 BEING A RESOLUTION LEVYING AND ASSESSING ALL OF THE PROPERTY EMBRACED WITHIN THE CITY OF LAUREL, MONTANA, FOR STREET MAINTENANCE FOR THE FISCAL YEAR 1998-99. RESOLUTION NO. R98~37 BEING A RESOLUTION LEVYING AND ASSESSING ALL OF THE PROPERTY EMBRACED WITHIN STREET SWEEPING DISTRICT NO. 1, OF THE CITY OF LAUREL, MONTANA, FOR THE PURPOSE OF THE SWEEPING OF STREETS IN THE DOWNTOWN OR BUSINESS DISTRICT FOR THE FISCAL YEAR 1998-99. Council Minutes of August 4, 1998 RESOLUTION NO. R98-38 A RESOLUTION LEVYING AND ASSESSING ALL OF THE PROPERTY EMBRACED WITHIN SPECIAL IMPROVEMENT DISTRICT NO. 110 OF THE CITY OF LAUREL, MONTANA, WITH THE COST OF STREET PAVING, CURB AND GUTTER, AND STORM DRAIN FACILITIES IN MURRAY HEIGHTS SUBDIVISION. Motion by Alderman Staudinger that Resolutions No. R98-33 through R98-38 be passed and adopted, seconded by Alderman Walton. Motion carried. RESOLUTION NO. R98-44 BEING A RESOLUTION LEVYING AND ASSESSING A SPECIAL TAX AGAINST CERTAIN PROPERTY IN THE CITY OF LAUREL, MONTANA, FOR WATER METER AND CURBBOX REPAIR. Motion by Alderman Orr that Resolution No. R98-44 be passed and adopted, seconded by Alderman Staudinger. Motion carried. RESOLUTION NO. R98-45 BEING A RESOLUTION LEVING AND ASSESSING A SPECIAL TAX AGAINST CERTAIN PROPERTY 1N THE CITY OF LAUREL FOR ANY UNPAID SEWER CHARGES. Motion by Alderman Orr that Resolution No. R98-45 be passed and adopted, seconded by Alderman Olson. Motion carried. RESOLUTION NO. R98-46 BEING A RESOLUTION LEVYING AND ASSESSING A SPECIAL TAX AGAINST CERTAIN PROPERTY DESIGNATED AS GARBAGE DISTRICTS IN THE CITY OF LAUREL, MONTANA, FOR THE REMOVAL OF GARBAGE AND REFUSE. Motion by Alderman Staudinger that Resolution No. R98-46 be passed and adopted, seconded by Alderman Orr. Motion carried. j. Extend leases at Riverside Park to January 1999. Motion by Alderman Temple to extend the leases at Riverside Park to January 1999, seconded by Alderman Johnson. Motion carried. k. Cal Cumin - CTEP Cabin Restoration. Cal Cumin said that the CTEP Cabin Restoration project has been approved by the state. After looking at it for months and months, they decided that they did not want to do an architectural review on it. If we wm~t to wait for them to review it, they do not know when they will be able to do so. However, if we want to proceed, we have their permission to go ahead and proceed with bidding. They are telling us that we can go ahead and proceed if we believe in our consultants and our city staff. Cal recommends that we proceed. Jim Taylor, President of the Laurel Chamber of Commerce, said that they are ready to proceed and would like the council's approval. Bill Thomdal said that it is time to do this project. Don Hackmann questioned whether there is a liability issue involved. Cal said there would be a liability issue if something is done incorrectly and the federal and state governments would come back and ask for the money. Cal said that is why we hire architects who are registered. It is incumbent upon the architects and the city to do the project correctly. The Chamber of Commerce has appointed someone to monitor the project daily. Motion by Alderman Temple to proceed with the CTEP Cabin Restoration project based on Cal Cumin's recormnendation, seconded by Bill Staudinger. Council Minutes of August 4, 1998 Miles asked if the state has given any idea how long it would be. Cal said that it has been six months and it has not been done. Miles asked the Chamber of Commerce to keep a close eye on the project. After a short discussion, a vote was taken on the motion to proceed with the CTEP Cabin Restoration project. Motion carried. UNSCHEDULED MATTERS: Bud Johnson stated that he feels it is not right to ask the council to vote on something that they have not read. He wants to be exposed to what they are voting on and hopes that his request will be taken into consideration. Ken Olson agreed with Bud Johnson. There being no further business to come before the council at this time, the meeting was adjourned at 8:04 p.m. Cindy Allen~;~Secretary Approved by the Mayor and passed by the City Council of the City of Laurel, Montana, this 18th day of August, 1998. Charles Rodgers, Mayor Attest: Donald L. Hackmann, Clerk-Treasurer 6