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HomeMy WebLinkAboutCouncil Workshop Minutes 05.31.2011 MINUTES COUNCIL WORKSHOP MAY 31, 2011 6:42 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 May 31, 2011. COUNCIL MEMBERS PRESENT: x Emelie Eaton _x_ Doug Poehls _x_ Kate Hart x Mark Mace _x Chuck Rodgers Chuck Dickerson x Tom Nelson _x Norm Stamper OTHERS PRESENT: Sam Painter Heidi Jensen Public In (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: • Appointment: Tree Board — LuAnne Engh to a term ending June 30, 2014 The appointment will be on the June 7 council agenda. • Sean O'Donnell, Optimum West — Update on project Sean O'Donnell spoke to the council regarding a franchise agreement for Bresnan Communications last fall. After that, Bresnan was bought by Cablevision Systems and has since rebranded to Optimum. Sean wanted to update the council on the investments, what people can expect, and answer questions. When Bresnan was in the process of acquiring the systems from Cable Montana last October, they underestimated how much work was required. Over the last eight months, they have already invested about $1.8 million in rebuilding the network of private capital with the intent of moving all customers in the Laurel area over to Optimum Services. Optimum Services is an advanced suite of services with more than 200 channels of television, 101 channels of high definition television programming, video on demand programming, and internet speeds of up to 30 megabytes. The standard 15 megabyte package is about ten times faster than previous speeds. They will provide a higher quality telephone service for about the same cost citizens were paying previously. The service will provide more options and flexibility and will exactly match the lineup in Billings. Optimum has already moved 200 customers between Billings and Laurel over to the new system and will continue to move customers over in an organized manner of about 400 homes at a time. Work was not only required on part of the actual plant infrastructure and the cable, but the records also needed work, so they are trying to be methodical in order to respond to any problems encountered. They are excited about the investment and think the changes will be great for the residents of Laurel, as well as their company. Council Workshop Minutes of May 31, 2011 There was discussion regarding Optimum's direct marketing campaign to residents that are not currently customers, notifications to current customers and the action they need to take to change out equipment, the need for an in -house box to access certain digital and high defmition signals, and the opportunity to call 1- 877 - BRESNAN for information. Sean encouraged the city to contact him with any questions or concerns. Executive Review: • Discussion — Sidewalk replacement program City Planner Heidi Jensen prepared a memo to explain the proposed sidewalk improvement project. She mentioned that Shirley Ewan, the clerk/treasurer, has been an immense help as she did a sidewalk replacement program in another city. Council Member Mace will also be available to help. A copy of the memo is attached to these council workshop minutes. Heidi stated that the city has $23,000 of seed money. She reviewed the following eight steps proposed as the guidelines for starting and maintaining the program: • Consultation with Certified Engineer to determine base and concrete depth for future contractor construction. • Establish a contract with a contractor and set fee per linear foot of sidewalk. • Advertise program in paper as voluntary to begin with. Let residents submit requests to the City for the replacement program weighing sidewalks around schools heavier for first replacement. • Once pool of volunteers is almost finished, send out letters to individuals with bad sidewalks. Allow 6 months to correct the problem or the City will have the Contractor on contract make repairs. The City will bill the resident directly, who can then pay in full or put the charges on their taxes as `sidewalks assessments' for 5 -years at 5% interest. • One of the most important aspects of the program is consistent follow -up, which will be provided by the Code Enforcement Officer. • The program will need to determine at current prices the amount of linear feet of sidewalk that can be replaced and still maintain the program. • Sidewalk assessment money can only be used for sidewalks. • Once the sidewalk assessment fund has ample revenue stream, long -term continual maintenance of sidewalks can be established. There was a lengthy discussion regarding notification to residents, the required depth for the base and concrete, requiring residents to use the city's contractor for the sidewalk projects, replacing deteriorated sections of sidewalk as opposed to an entire sidewalk, permit fee requirements, allowing property owners to do the work, the need to use Public Works Standards, the legal issues involved, and qualifications to rebuild gutters. Heidi will present further information regarding standards and fees to the council soon. She encouraged the council to contact Mayor Olson with any concerns. • Ordinance — Change language regarding bus benches Mayor Olson stated that the city's entryway zoning district currently has no provision to allow bus benches. The ordinance provides verbiage to allow bus benches. 2 Council Workshop Minutes of May 31, 2011 Heidi Jensen stated that the contract with Blair Advertising for the bus benches was signed last October, so Mr. Blair has been waiting a considerable amount of time to have his benches reviewed for placement and approval. The first reading of the ordinance will be on June 7 Mayor Olson stated that the public hearing would be on June 21 and the council could consider waiving the rule to allow the second reading on June 21s Heidi explained that the next process would be for Mr. Blair to provide the plan for placement of the bus benches, as included in the contract. Heidi stated that the city must keep in mind that the bus is not on a fixed route. She is concerned that people might sit on the benches and anticipate a ride, but the bus will never pick them up. She stated that the plan could be prepared during the thirty days between the second reading and the effective date of the ordinance. • Resolution — GASB 54 Mayor Olson removed this item from the agenda as more information is needed. • Resolution — Agreements for employee health insurance program Mayor Olson asked Tom Nelson to give a report to the council. Tom stated that the Insurance Committee met today. The committee had sent BlueCross BlueShield's two option proposals to the unions for consideration. The city currently has 80/20 and 70/30 options for city employees. At the current time, there are no city employees on the 70/30 plan, as it has very little savings for the difference in benefits. The committee approved a motion to add option 2.b., another 70/30 plan, to the city's 80/20 plan in lieu of the current 70/30 plan. That would give the employee /family and employee /spouse participants that do not utilize a lot of medical services the opportunity to save between $600 and $800 a year in premium payments. Mayor Olson stated that the current 70/30 option afforded no advantage. With the higher deductible, the increase in premium would be about 8.28 percent and the increase in premium for the 80/20 plan will be 13.5 percent. The paperwork will be distributed to the council this week. • Resolution — CAO contract Mayor Olson spoke regarding the interview and background check process. Mayor Olson stated that the three -year contract with Robert J. Sivick for the CAO position would be on the June 7 council agenda. • Resolution — Ambulance Medical Director contract Mayor Olson stated that the contract with Dr. Thomas Bennett for the medical director position with the Laurel Ambulance Service would be on the June 7 council agenda. The one -year $5,000 contract will be paid in quarterly payments of $1,250. • Resolution — City prosecutor contract Mayor Olson removed this item from the agenda. Other items There were none. 3 Council Workshop Minutes of May 31, 2011 Review of draft council agenda for June 7, 2011 The resolution for the prosecutor contract will be removed from the draft agenda. Attendance at the June 7, 2011 council meeting All council members present will attend, except Kate Hart, whose resignation is effective tomorrow. The Ward 2 council vacancy will be posted twice in the Laurel Outlook and letters of interest are due on Friday, June 10 Announcements Emelie has received questions regarding why there is not a sidewalk on the corner of First Avenue and 12 Street by TenderNest. She asked that this be discussed at the next workshop. The council workshop adjourned at 7:28 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. 4 MEMORANDUM TO: LAUREL CITY COUNCIL FROM: HEIDI JENSEN, LAUREL CITY PLANNER SUBJECT: SIDEWALK IMPROVEMENT PROJECT DATE: 5/31/2011 Many residential sidewalks within the City of Laurel are in need of repair and /or replacement, due to age, tree roots, heaving and heavy /overweight motor vehicle usage. To address the problem, which according to MMIA, must be addressed once the City becomes aware of a problem, as it is responsible for all liability issues, is to start a sidewalk replacement program. There is $23,000 available to start the program, which will be managed in coordination with the Planning /Building /Code Enforcement /Safety Department and the Clerk's office. The following is a rough outline as to how the program will be started and maintained: 1. Consultation with Certified Engineer to determine base and concrete depth for future contractor construction. 2. Establish a contract with a contractor and set fee per linear foot of sidewalk. 3. Advertise program in paper as voluntary to begin with. • Let residents submit requests to the City for the replacement program weighing sidewalks around schools heavier for first replacement 4. Once pool of volunteers is almost finished send out letters to individuals with bad sidewalks. Allow 6 months to correct the problem or the City will have the Contractor on contract make repairs. The City will bill the resident directly who can then pay in full or put the charges on their taxes as `sidewalks assessments' for 5 -years at 5% interest. 5. One of the most important aspects of the program is consistent follow -up, which will be provided by the Code Enforcement Officer. 6. The program will need to determine at current prices the amount of linear feet of sidewalk that can be replaced and still maintain the program. 7. Sidewalk assessment money can only be used for sidewalks. 8. Once the sidewalk assessment fund has ample revenue stream, long -term continual maintenance of sidewalks can be established