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HomeMy WebLinkAboutCouncil Workshop Minutes 03.09.2010MINUTES COUNCIL WORKSHOP MARCH 9, 2010 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 March 9, 2010. COUNCIL MEMBERS PRESENT: Emelie Eaton _x Kate Hart _x_ Chuck Rodgers Alex Wilkins _x Doug Poehls _x Mark Mace _ Chuck Dickerson Norm Stamper OTHERS PRESENT: Sam Painter Mary Embleton Bill Sheridan James Caniglia Kurt Markegard 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. General items: There were none. Public Works Department: • Resolution- Award 2010 Seventh Street Drainage Improvements Project bid Kurt Markegard stated that the resolution is to award the project for Laurel 7`h Street drainage project on Washington and Alder. The project is out to bid. The bids close on Monday and will be read aloud on Monday. The recommendation and final price should be available by Tuesday night for the council's consideration. The information will be provided to the council as soon as possible. Great West will help make the recommendation on Monday. • Resolution - Amendment No. 1 to Task Order No. 16 - Wastewater System Improvements Kurt stated that Amendment No. 1 to Task Order No. 16 is for Great West to do a feasibility study for Phase 2A2 of the wastewater system improvements project. The amendment specifies the price of $26,000. • Ordinance - Contractor bonding requirements for obtaining Business Licenses Mayor Olson stated that the council could discuss this but the actual paperwork would be distributed by Friday. Kurt explained that, with the current ordinance, a contractor has to get a business license and post a $5,000 construction bond to do construction or remodeling in the City of Laurel. The bond is written Council Workshop Minutes of March 9, 2010 out to the City of Laurel. Legal staff has recommended a change in the ordinance so the City of Laurel is not a third party between a business or property owner and the contractor. The original intent of the ordinance addressed some shoddy work done by roofers when Laurel had hail damage in the late 80's. Sam Painter gave some background information. An outside contractor hired to do work for a business owner questioned why he had to obtain a $5,000 bond. His insurance company did not understand the reason for the bond. Upon review of the ordinance, Sam also had an issue with it. The $5,000 is supposedly to cover or guarantee performance of work; however, it is payable to the city, but the city is not a party to their contract. The owner wanted the contractor to start working as soon as possible but the ordinance stood in the way of getting the work done. The contractor said he would suffer damages while the licensing was delayed and the work could not be done. The discussion with staff and the mayor was that the ordinance needs to be revised. Requirements for liability insurance and/or contractor's license are needed to make sure they are a legitimate business. The city should not be involved in the performance end, which is really between the owner and the contractor. Mayor Olson read the following letter from David Siljestrom. "I ask that you accept my resignation from the Laurel City Public Works Committee for the reason that I am moving to Billings." Mayor Olson spoke regarding Dave Siljestrom's service on the Public Works Committee and invited him to the podium. Mayor Olson stated that Dave's participation on the committee has given some validity to it, his experience in the electrical part has helped tremendously, and it is sad to lose a valued committee member. Dave Siljestrom stated appreciation for the opportunity to serve on the committee. He stated that Laurel is moving in a direction that it should have done years ago and is getting out of the shadow of Billings and becoming its own city again. Dave offered his assistance with future lighting and signal projects. City Planning Department: • Ordinance - Zoning Clarification provisions Mayor Olson stated that the ordinance needs to go to the Zoning Commission first for a recommendation to the council. Chief Administrative Officer: • Resolution - Schedule of Fees and Charges Bill Sheridan stated work has been done on the schedule of fees and charges for quite awhile. The proposed changes are not substantially higher than the current charges. The resolution will be on the March 16`h council agenda. Executive Review: • LURA recommendation - $30,000 for water line improvements to old $1 store for movie theatre renovation Mayor Olson and Bill Sheridan attended a recent meeting of the Laurel Urban Renewal Agency. At that meeting, LURA considered a recommendation to the council to use LURA funds for an extension of water and sewer lines from the street to the property line for the previous $1 Store to be renovated into a movie theater. 2 Council Workshop Minutes of March 9, 2010 • Ordinance - Interim zoning for medical marijuana businesses Mayor Olson stated that a public hearing on the ordinance is scheduled on March 16`h. The ordinance addresses the zoning and taking it to the Zoning Commission for recommendations on the proper places to allow medical marijuana businesses. After the public hearing, the ordinance could be acted upon only after unanimous vote of the council to waive the rule and place it on the agenda for consideration. • Presentation on medical marijuana issue - March 23'd at 7:00 pm at LHS Auditorium Mayor Olson stated that an informational meeting is scheduled on March 23`d at 7:00 p.m. at the Laurel High School auditorium. Officer Long from Missoula will provide a 1'/Z hour presentation on the issue. This is a very hot topic in the State of Montana, and a lot of communities are trying to find out all the information possible before they move forward with the process. Mayor Olson asked Mary to post the meeting in the proper places. Other items Mayor Olson spoke about his letter to MDT regarding the West Laurel interchange. Doug and Emelie previously indicated they would write letters regarding the subject. Mayor Olson asked that the letters be submitted and then approved as a packet by the council. Mayor Olson explained the resolution for the CTEP Construction Agreement for the West Main Street Project. The resolution and agreement identify the city's source to fund $148,612 for the flat work project through the CTEP Agreement. Mayor Olson stated that a resolution of intent to create the SID for payment of the needed CTEP match would be prepared for consideration on Tuesday. The city recently received notice that MDT is moving forward quicker than anticipated for the letting of the West Main Project. Consequently, the city was a little short on time. Mayor Olson spoke regarding the Employer Support of the Guard and Reserves presentation on the Ceremonial Calendar for March 16th. Alex Wilkins is the council's representative that serves, and there is another individual on the fire department that has been unavailable for awhile. The presentation might be removed from the agenda if both individuals are not available. Review of draft council agenda for March 16, 2010 The resolution of intent to create the SID will be added to the agenda and the verbiage of the ordinance for business licenses will be added. Attendance at the March 16, 2010 council meeting Kate may be unable to attend. Mayor Olson stated that it was brought to his attention that a quorum was not present tonight. Because this opportunity was not used to make decisions, he felt comfortable going forward with the meeting. He is uncomfortable that half of the council did not have the opportunity to be educated about the issues that will be addressed at the next council meeting. He hopes that as many as possible can attend all the meetings. 3 Council Workshop Minutes of March 9, 2010 Announcements Mayor Olson reported on the three-day Mayor's Academy he attended in Bozeman last week. When he met Mayor Tom Hanel of Billings, they discussed that Billings and Laurel share issues of considerations for water and the fire districts and he suggested the possibility of meeting with Mayor Hanel, Tina Volek, and Bill Sheridan. He explained the disruption at the Mayor's Academy when it was announced that consideration for budget concerns from the Governor were going to be addressed by possible sanctions against some of the stimulus projects that had been awarded. Mayor Olson contacted Bill and Mary after that announcement. At that time, Alec Hansen was supposed to speak to the mayors, but he was at the Capitol representing the League of Cities and Towns on their request that this not go forward. Mayor Olson stated that the Governor should not use stimulus money to support his budget, as the money was not intended for that. After contacting Mary, she informed him that Laurel's stimulus project, the 7th Street Ditch Mitigation, is safe because the city's request for funds was authorized and the project is moving forward. Communities that did not submit requests for funds are in jeopardy. There was also a report that the TSEP funding would be in jeopardy. Mayor Olson asked Mary to comment on that. Mary stated that she contacted Alec Hansen, who apologized for not making the Mayor's Academy. Alec said that, when the Finance Committee is in town, he is in Helena to address them. Alec said they were talking about House Bill 645, which authorized all of the ARRA money and in particular the smaller projects of the allocations for counties and cities. Thirty-eight cities did not submit the paperwork to request the funding and secure the projects, and those are what Alec was fighting for. As far as TSEP, Alec had not heard anything about TSEP projects being in jeopardy. The only thing Mary could think of is that some of the ARRA money was used to pay back the loan that the 2007 TSEP projects were into Intercap for and also in order to fund all of the requests for 2009. Laurel is safe and sound with the ARRA money. The sewer project is currently on hold but has been funded, and the city received 90 percent of the funds needed for the 7th Street ditch mitigation project. Mayor Olson spoke to the mayors regarding the water resale issue. Out of 55 cities represented, all but two were the only people who resale. The cities were the resalers of their own water and there were no resalers. The majority of the people involved in the discussion brought forward the need to have DEQ involved, the need for the vacuum break, and the need for the check valves. The issue of payment via slots versus debit or coin payment in city hall was also discussed. Mayor Olson spoke with the mayor from Cut Bank, which provides water resale to a water district. He asked Mary to explain the water district. Mary stated that the City of Cut Bank has had a contract with the North Glacier County Water and Sewer District for quite a few years. It is a separate water district entity and they built their own lines to service miles and miles of line. There is a separate rate and contract for the North Glacier County Water District. When the City of Cut Bank needs to review its water rates, the water district has to be considered. The district has its own board and must pass along their water rate increases in the same manner as a city would with the notification and public hearing process. They are side-by-side entities, as the City of Cut Bank produces the water and the North Glacier County Water and Sewer District is a large customer. Anyone wanting to tap onto the line or request an extension would have to work through the Board. They have their own staff for billing and collection, but the construction work is contracted out. 4 Council Workshop Minutes of March 9, 2010 Mayor Olson stated that some people think water districting would be another revenue source for Laurel. If the council is interested, he suggested that verbiage providing a mechanism for annexation should be included should the properties become contiguous. Mark suggested that it might be beneficial to talk to the Billings Heights Water District Mayor Olson will distribute information he received from the Mayor's Academy on budgeting, and the Budget/Finance Committee will discuss the information briefly. The council workshop adjourned at 7:09 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