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HomeMy WebLinkAboutCouncil Workshop Minutes 03.30.2010MINUTES COUNCIL WORKSHOP MARCH 30, 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 30, 2010. COUNCIL MEMBERS PRESENT: x Emelie Eaton _x Kate Hart 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 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. Marv McCann introduced himself to the council and stated that he is running for Yellowstone County Attorney. He distributed brochures and business cards to Mayor Olson and the council and offered to answer questions after the council workshop. General items: • Laurel Volunteer Ambulance Service: Appointment of Sean McCleary The ambulance appointment will be on the April 6th council agenda. Public Works Department: • Resolution - Randy Swenson's request to abandon sewer easement Kurt Markegard stated that the request will be on the April 13th council workshop agenda. • Resolution - Urban Forestry Arbor Day Grant Agreement Kurt explained that the city applies for the grant every year for the annual Arbor Day celebration. The $1,000 grant requires a 35 percent match, so the total amount available to buy and plant trees would be $1,350. The resolution authorizes the mayor to accept the $1,000 grant agreement for Arbor Day. • Resolution - Change order/Davis-Bacon wages Kurt stated that the DEQ ruled that cities have to pay contractors the Federal Davis-Bacon rate instead of the State rate because of the ARRA funding. Since the contractor has not yet prepared the documents for the engineering firm, Kurt stated that the resolution needed to be removed and rescheduled to a future council workshop. The DEQ letter was distributed to the council. Council Workshop Minutes of March 30, 2010 • Resolution - Support for cleanup event in the City of Laurel Kurt stated that the resolution is for the city council to voice its support for community cleanup on May 1St and 2'd. The event, which was started a few years ago, has been very successful for getting rid of the rubbish in the alleys and on people's private property. Vi Hills is involved with the event again this year. The container site will be open from 8:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. on both days. There will be a little overtime involved, but that has been budgeted. The rest of it is a volunteer effort. Kurt does not know if the Army Corps or the Reserves will assist this year, but he will present a report as more details are finalized and the event gets closer. Mayor Olson stated that it is a great opportunity for cleanup in the community. It was a great success prior to the 2008 Centennial celebration and also in 2009. Notices will be posted that garbage and refuse will not be received from non-city residents. • Resolution - Agreement with Williston Basin Interstate Pipeline Company Kurt explained the resolution and agreement with Williston Basin Interstate Pipeline. Williston Basin needed to repair a natural gas line that blew up underneath the river last year. In order to accommodate the drilling, they needed some more area to set up the drill rig to pull the pipe back underneath the river. The city was scheduled to clean the backwash sedimentation basins at that time. Because the city had to postpone the cleaning in consideration for this pipeline, Williston Basin said they would pay up to $6,000 if the city would wait until spring. Recent quotes are for $5,500 to clean the sedimentation basins, so the costs should be totally covered by the agreement with Williston Basin. • Resolution - Change Order No. 6 for Phase II of the 2009 Water System Improvements Project Kurt recently showed pictures of an electrical box at the water treatment plant that had to be replaced. Rosebud Engineering has recommended that signal isolators be installed on the speed signal from the new VFD's (variable frequency drives). Without the isolators, they are receiving inaccurate signals in the computer system for the variable frequency drives on the pumps. The change order for both items is $4,369.53. Kurt stated that the variable frequency drives and the pumps are in operation. When the pumps are turned on, it takes 30 seconds to ramp up to 100 percent and it takes 30 seconds to ramp down. Hopefully, there will not be any water hammer in the city anymore. City Planner: • Letter of Support for Community Transportation Safety Plan Assistance Program James Caniglia stated that the program is new to the State of Montana and available for communities that have certain sections of street that are dangerous for pedestrians and/or vehicles. In Laurel, South 1St Avenue from Main Street to SE 4th Street is a problematic stretch with the underpass, cars turning left onto Railroad Street when heading south, and for pedestrians who can only cross South Ist Avenue on the north side of Main Street and then have to go to SE 0. The goal is to get assistance from the State to develop a good plan. Meetings will be held to get public input and a public consensus on how to address the problems. James stated that lst Avenue is a state highway and Railroad Street is a truck route, and should be viewed as even more of a hazard with the safety issues there. The letter of support is needed to try to get into the program to get the problems addressed. Since 1St Avenue is a State highway, it will hopefully get put on a priority list so that the State will come in and do improvements to it at some point. 2 Council Workshop Minutes of March 30, 2010 • Resolution - Energy Grant James stated that a resolution was not prepared because a contract has not yet been received from the State. James recently applied for a Community Block Energy Grant with ARRA funding for municipal owned buildings to upgrade energy efficiency. Johnson Controls and Andersen Windows figured out the cost upgrades and replacements, and the City of Laurel was awarded $143,000. The State wants to do an energy audit of the building to double-check the figures. The project would include replacing the boiler, which is 60 years old, and will cost about $50,000. There will be new temperature controls for the entire building, with programmable thermostats, and new windows for the building. Hopefully, the energy audit will be done in the next couple weeks and then the city will get a contract shortly thereafter so work could start in late spring or early summer. There is no percent match on the grant. James put $8,000 of the city hall building maintenance fund monies in the grant, but the State made no reference to that. He does not think the city will be asked to contribute unless there are some cost overruns because the whole project was $143,000. Clerk/Treasurer: • Resolution - Return First-Time Homebuyer's money to the State of Montana Mary Embleton stated that a resolution is not ready to go forward for the HOME project. She received word that the State would require the HOME Grant monies to be returned to the State. Some new rules and regulations now govern the HOME Grant Program. Mary pulled a letter of January 7t' off the internet, but the city never received the letter. The last Montana Legislature enacted the Montana Mortgage Broker, Mortgage Lender, and Mortgage Loan Originator Licensing Act. In part, this legislation was to implement the Federal Secure and Fair Enforcement (SAFE) for Mortgaging Licensing Act of 2008 and intended to protect homebuyers from unfair lending practices. The essence of the law is to require that any organization and its staff lending money for residential home mortgages be licensed. As part of receiving the license, there are requirements for education, experience, and continuing education, as well as fees for each step of the process. But if an organization is a non-profit or local government, the organization is exempt from registering but will need to file a Montana Mortgage Broker, Lender, or Mortgage Originator Exemption Claim Form with the Banking Division Montana Department of Administration. Any individuals doing activity with an organization must be licensed. Mary stated that the information was unclear. The city never really lent any money. It was a deferred loan, but the city was not the mortgager. The city was a lien holder. There are trying to clarify what the program income and what recaptured income is and what it could be used for. Laurel's HOME Program has remained the same since it started. The grant money provided down payment and closing cost assistance for about 100 people to get into homes as first-time homebuyers. The last few years, the amount has been about $7,500 per grantee, sometimes at $10,000, with five or ten years to meet eligibility requirements. The State now says that the money might have to be returned to them for disbursement. Mary asked the Bureau Chief, Maureen Martin, who is the Chief of the Housing Assistance Bureau for the Montana Department of Commerce, for some kind of clarification. Mary stated that HUD had extended a hearing deadline for public input through March, and she thinks it is still being evaluated in Helena. Currently, the City of Laurel contracts with Housing Montana to do the eligibility screening of potential first-time homebuyers. She assumes they would have to go through a licensing procedure, but she is not sure of the facts. When a grantee application gets to the City of Laurel, it has been thoroughly reviewed and all the facts are stated. Then the board meets and approves or denies the grant assistance. There is currently over $20,000 in the HOME Grant Fund, which has always been accounted for separately and has a very good track record. This issue will be brought forward when more information is available. Executive Review: 3 Council Workshop Minutes of March 30, 2010 • Resolution- Intent to create SID No. 112 Mayor Olson stated that more work is needed on the resolution of intent to create SID No. 112. When Larry McCann was the Public Works Director in 2005 or 2006, the waterline project on Main Street was initiated so the State could do the overlay on West Main. The SID will cover the flat work involved with the project, which will finally be done in 2010. The SID is being formed and will be brought forward for the council's consideration soon. • Resolution - Regarding the West Laurel interchange Mayor Olson stated that the resolution reflects the council and city's stance on the Department of Transportation's expansion of the west Laurel interchange, MDT's delayed extension to the south with the interstate, and how it affects and reflects Laurel's ability to respond safely to conditions on the south part of the railroad. If council members would like to write letters, they will be included with the resolution in the packet to MDT. Stefan Streeter recently told Mayor Olson that that best way to identify Laurel's concerns is to document them through a resolution. Other items There were none. Review of draft council agenda for Apri16, 2010 • Public Hearing: Ordinance No. 010-02: An ordinance amending Section 5.08.040 of the Laurel Municipal Code titled "Contractor's License and Bond Requirements" located at Chapter 5 of the Laurel Municipal Code. (First reading- 03/16/2010) The public hearing is on the April 6th council agenda. • Ceremonial Calendar: Employer Support of the Guard and Reserves presentation The presentation will be on the April Oh council agenda. Attendance at the April 6, 2010 council meeting All council members present will attend. Announcements Chuck Dickerson asked for an update on the project in Murray Park at the April 13th council workshop. The update should include the status of the completion of the area, cleanup of the gutters, planting of the grass, a cover over the generator to keep soccer balls and kids out, MDU's plans for filling in the hole dug up to connect the gas line, and cleaning up the gravel in the street. Norm Stamper stated that the Cemetery Commission will meet on Thursday, April 8th, at 5:30 p.m. to discuss flagpoles and benches in the gathering area. The flat work has been started and decisions need to be made to get things finalized. Emelie Eaton stated Tom Yelvington, the arborist in charge of tree trimming for the DNRC Grant, will give a presentation on Thursday at 4:30 p.m. at Riverside Park. The tree trimming will be done in Riverside Park on Thursday and Friday. Emelie stated that planting trees in Lions Park is the other aspect of the DNRC Grant. The culvert has been installed and the Lions have been installing an irrigation system in preparation for the trees that will be planted. Mayor Olson thanked Emelie for the report. He stated that certain people have expressed interest in making Riverside Park a more user-friendly park and it is one step closer. He stated that South Pond 4 Council Workshop Minutes of March 30, 2010 is a real treasure. The Public Works Department informed him of an unanticipated event at South Pond. The thickness of the ice created a blockage of the sun, which caused the plants under the water to not survive and ultimately caused a fish kill. Public Works will contact Fish, Wildlife and Parks regarding restocking South Pond. Mayor Olson informed the council that he met with Commissioner Ostlund last Thursday. They discussed the upcoming projects on Alder and Fir Avenues, with the understanding that the details need to be put into an agreement so there is a clear understanding of the expectations of the County Commissioners and the Laurel City Council. Mayor Olson stated that he was sorry to announce that Clerk/Treasurer, Mary Embleton, has found other employment and elected to move to Great Falls. In the last couple weeks, he has had several discussions with people and the one thing that keeps coming out is key employees. Mary certainly has been a key employee for the City of Laurel for eleven years. The city will be hard-pressed to find somebody to fill the shoes that Mary will vacate. He hopes that Mary will allow some sort of recognition before she leaves. The council workshop adjourned at 7:05 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.