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HomeMy WebLinkAboutCouncil Workshop Minutes 07.26.2011 MINUTES COUNCIL WORKSHOP JULY 26, 2011 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 July 26, 2011. COUNCIL MEMBERS PRESENT: _x Emelie Eaton _x_ Doug Poehls Bruce McGee _x_ Mark Mace (6:39 p.m.) _x Chuck Rodgers _x_ Chuck Dickerson _x Tom Nelson _x Norm Stamper OTHERS PRESENT: Sam Painter Rick Musson Kurt Markegard Brent Peters Jan Faught 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: • Appointments: o Laurel Urban Renewal Agency: • Elizabeth Decker to fill a term ending December 31, 2013 o Park Board: • Gretchen Paulson to fill a term ending December 31, 2012 • Chuck Dickerson to fill a term ending December 31, 2014 o Budget/Finance Committee: • Emelie Eaton to replace Tom Nelson o Laurel Fire Department: Lorie McCleary and Jamie Swecker Fire Chief Peters introduced Lorie McCleary to the council. The appointment will be on the August 2nd council agenda. o Laurel Volunteer Ambulance: Nick Kallem Ambulance Director Jan Faught introduced Nick Kallem to the council. The appointment will be on the August 2 council agenda. Executive Review: Council Workshop Minutes of July 26, 2011 • Council Issues: o 4 ofJuly report from Fire, Ambulance, Police and Public Works (Norm Stamper) Chief Peters stated that the department responded to nine fire calls during the 4 of July weekend. The big oil spill took about fourteen hours of each one's time. There were four grass or wildland fires, and two were caused by fireworks on the 4 and one was in the city limits. Brent thinks that the new fireworks ordinance was a success for the city. The department was called to a river rescue where two people were extricated from their home off the Yellowstone River that was completely surrounded by water. The department also had a lift assist, downed power line and a motor vehicle accident. The fire department logged 685 man -hours for fire responses during the 4 of July weekend. Brent stated that the 11,000 shot fireworks show was amazing, and many people have commented that it was the best show to date. The department logged in over 1,000 man -hours of time on the weekend alone. Everything was done with no injuries, which made it a successful 4th ofJuly. Mayor Olson thanked the fire department for their service and the 4 ofJuly fireworks. Ambulance Director Jan Faught distributed copies of the ambulance report for the 4 of July weekend, which started on July 2nd for ambulance personnel. Ambulance crewmembers were called to help with the oil spill evacuation on Thiel Road for a couple hours. A standby crew was at the station during the street dance and the Palace concert on Colorado. There was one transport that was unrelated to the concert. On July 3 there was a standby crew at the Jaycees street dance, but there were no transports. The 4 of July is an all day event for the ambulance crew. They set up the ambulance area in Thomson Park, assisted with road closures for the parade, had an ambulance in the parade, and kept a crew at the station. Nine crewmembers worked the parade and ten crewmembers treated people in the park for blisters, a broken nose, eye wash due to glow sticks, glass in thumb due to glow sticks, four eye washes due to ashes in the air, one burn due to a sparkler, and one bum to a firework that exploded. There were a couple transports that day and a couple non - transport calls. After the fireworks, the crew cleaned up the area, wrote reports, and finished the weekend at 2:00 a.m. The information distributed provided a comparison of the last three years for the 4 of July. There were numerous calls in 2009, very few calls in 2010, and an average number of calls in 2011. Chief Rick Musson distributed copies of the police department's 4 of July report. The police department's 4 ofJuly starts on June 24 when fireworks go on sale. Chief Musson spoke regarding the low number of fireworks calls and the low number of citations. Three citations were written last year and two were written this year. Chief Musson thanked the council for taking action and enacting the changes to the fireworks ordinance. He also thanked the Outlook for the article, which put a positive spin on the fireworks. He stated that the officers did a good job. By 12:30 a.m., the fireworks had slowed down dramatically compared to past years. There were 465 calls for service this July 4 as compared to 452 in 2010. These were calls that came into the dispatch center and were given a case report, including fire, ambulance, police, public works, and agency assist calls. The majority of the calls were police calls. An officer worked the Rock the Block event on reimbursed overtime on July 1s and for the street dance on July 2 and 3 From July 2 to early July 5 the police worked 112 overtime hours, with 34 hours reimbursed by the events. Eighteen hours of overtime were charged to the Palace Bar Street Dance and sixteen hours were charged to the Jaycees. Ten police reserves worked the two street dances, the Chief Joseph Run, the Kiddie Parade, the Grand Parade, and the fireworks and the reserves logged 192 hours of work from July 2 through early July 5 If the police reserves were paid, it would cost $5,760.00, calculated at $30.00 per hour for 192 hours. In 2011, there were 35 calls for fireworks, versus 49 calls in 2010. Chief Musson stated that people were very tolerant over the 4 and he was thankful no one was hurt. 2 Council Workshop Minutes of July 26, 2011 Public Works Director Kurt Markegard stated that the public works department set up barricades and set out garbage cans for the 4 of July on Friday. There was one call regarding backed up toilets at Lions Park during a family reunion on July 3` On the 4 an employee was sent out to address that and also to pick up solid waste trash in the parks. Since the Billings landfill was closed on July 4th, the trash was dumped into a container at the container site. There was another callout when an individual decided to go swimming in the Yellowstone River at the water treatment plant and had to be removed. The barricades at the water treatment plant had been moved for use at the events in the city, but the sign was posted that the street was closed. The Sheriff's Department escorted the individual out of the area. Cleanup was done on July 5 There was trash everywhere, but the Chamber did an awesome job of getting volunteers out to clean up the parks. Kurt stated that there were really no issues on the 4 of July. Doug asked if the bathrooms at Lions Park were locked for a reason, because they were locked up last Sunday. Kurt will check on this, as the police department unlocks and locks them on the weekends. If there are problems with the park bathrooms, dispatch should be called to send an officer to check on it. o Discuss what to do with cabin in Riverside Park (Norm Stamper) Norm stated that discussion regarding the cabin in Riverside Park is on the next Park Board agenda. The Park Board meeting will be on Thursday, August 11 th , instead of August 4 o Additional appointments to the Task Force for Riverside Park leases (Tom Nelson) Tom asked regarding the formation of the task force and ideas for other appointments. Mayor Olson will provide a list of individuals associated with the various clubs. Mayor Olson, Tom and Norm will meet on August 15 for further discussion. There were questions regarding whether Riverside Park is closed for the year and the extent of the flooding damage in the camping areas. Mayor Olson stated that the park is closed for the foreseeable future, due to liability concerns and instability of the riverbank. One road used to bolster the levee has been impacted by mud and debris, so the camping area along the north side of the road has been jeopardized, but the rest of the area is not as bad. There will be some ExxonMobil drilling activity down there soon, and ExxonMobil will ask the council to consider closing the park off during that period of time. • Resolution — Create SID No. 113 The resolution will be considered after the public hearing, which is scheduled on August 16 • Resolution — Letter of Engagement with D.A. Davidson for bond advisory on SID No. 113 The Letter of Engagement is for D.A. Davidson to serve as the bond advisory for SID No. 113. The resolution will be on the August 2" council agenda. • Resolution — Change order with Blacktop, Inc. for pothole and overlay of streets The change order is for an additional 4,400 square yards of asphalt pavement patching and 177 square yards of pothole patching at a cost of $119,186.00. The resolution will be on the August 2 " council agenda. There was discussion regarding potholes and the need to give the proper notification to the public works secretary. 3 Council Workshop Minutes of July 26, 2011 • Elena Subdivision — Creation of a park maintenance district Staff is working on the creation of a park maintenance district, but the information was not ready for tonight's council workshop. • Resolution of intent — Water and sewer rates Mayor Olson stated that the public hearing for the water and sewer rate increases has been scheduled for the council meeting on August 16 The public hearing will be advertised three times in the Laurel Outlook and notices will be mailed to all users. Staff will schedule meetings with the large volume users on a one -to -one basis. There were questions regarding possible legal scrutiny from parties that did not approve of past water rate changes and whether the city is following state statute as far as how to base the original argument that was brought forward. Sam stated that the city requested and received the requisite study from the engineering firm. The study was well done and is based upon the city's use of water because basically large volumes of water cost more to produce. The analysis is appropriate and it deals with the users equitably across the board, depending upon the use. The higher the use, the higher the cost is to provide the service. The study states the rationale and the costs associated with it. Public comment and the rate study will provide the information needed for the council to make a decision. Mayor Olson spoke regarding the comparison of usage to the base rate, how it is equated to the plants and distribution, O &M, and the surcharge that is intended to help the City of Laurel fund major projects in the future. The projects include $625,000 for the ultraviolet and $6.2 million for the oxidation ditches, as required by state statute in order to address the phosphates and nitrates discharged into the Yellowstone River. Statute mandates that the effluent put into the river meets certain standards, and in order to meet the standards, the projects must be done. • Discussion from ExxonMobil on Riverside Park easement Mayor Olson stated that ExxonMobil originally intended to present an easement agreement to the council tonight. At this time, ExxonMobil intends to have an easement proposal to the City of Laurel around August 9 for council consideration on August 16 Other items • Resolutions — SRO Agreements Mayor Olson stated that the resolutions for the SRO agreements for the Laurel Middle School and the Laurel High School will be on the August 2" council agenda. The agreements include language that reflects a cost for the services, as requested by the school. Emelie asked how that changed in dollars and cents. Mayor Olson stated that the increase was $2,750, and he has offered to split the increased cost to the schools. The agreements would be last year's contract with an additional $1,375 ($687.50 per contract), with the City of Laurel accepting the other $1,375. Tim Bronk, school superintendent attended the last Budget/Finance Committee meeting and indicated that he would urge the school board to approve the contracts. 4 Council Workshop Minutes of July 26, 2011 Mark thanked Mayor Olson for inviting Tim Bronk to the Budget/Finance Committee meeting. He thinks it is important to have contracts and the superintendent needs to understand that the costs for the service are not an arbitrary figure. Review of draft council agenda for August 2, 2011 No changes were needed. Attendance at the August 2, 2011 council meeting Norm will not attend the council meeting. Announcements Chuck Dickerson asked if there is an ordinance regarding posting and removal of garage sale signs on telephone poles. Mark Mace asked that public works staff review the ordinance that requires that vehicles do not park across the sidewalk on a driveway and block the sidewalk, which is happening on 8 Avenue. Mayor Olson stated that the information would be emailed to the council. Chuck Rodgers and Emelie will meet with Mayor Olson at 10:00 a.m. on Friday morning at the Easton Bridge going across the ditch to discuss a couple concerns. There was a brief discussion regarding the new paint color on the building. Positive comments have been received from the public. As there is no way to cut in a different color on the arch, it will be painted the same color as the building. The Eagle Scouts will be painting on Saturday from 7:30 to 10:00 a.m. and Mayor Olson encouraged the council members to be part of the process. One bid has been received and two other bids are expected for the roof repairs. Chuck Dickerson asked about the no smoking signage for city hall. Mayor Olson stated that the signage was removed when the glass was replaced in the doors and the stenciling needs to be redone. Mayor Olson will meet with Gary Pruessing, the president of ExxonMobil, on Wednesday at 11:00 a.m. ExxonMobil invited Mayor Olson, Kurt Markegard and a DEQ representative to get a visual view of the flood event and the oil spill via helicopter on Thursday at 8:30 a.m. Mayor Olson stated that Cenex recently presented a $100,000 check to the City of Laurel for flood mitigation on the north side, which is the water treatment plant side. The city wants to find a grant to use the money as match money to increase the dollar value. As per Kurt Markegard, there are some concerns that need to be addressed. The temporary dike was built with plastic and sandbags and will be nonexistent over the years. A full- fledged dike with some ground stabilization and some growth is needed to hold it together in the case of another event. Another concern is that the water plant employees have to go down past the berm to make a collection off the tank by the river, and a safer way is needed for that. Another concern is that, in high water events, the restroom at the water plant does not work when the drainfield is saturated and the water level is high. The city needs to ensure that the workforce has restroom facilities. The way to address the concerns is to make that money work for the city by finding different ways to leverage with it. The city is actively communicating with the Army Corps of Engineers on Title 14 regarding being accepted as a grant recipient for a 65/35 percent match grant. The city could use the $100,000 for a matching grant. 5 Council Workshop Minutes of July 26, 2011 Mayor Olson stated that budget meetings are scheduled with several departments next week. The city will receive the mill value on August 2° and a preliminary budget should be presented to the council soon. The council workshop adjourned at 7:42 p.m. Respectfully submitted, d 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. 6 City of Laurel Volunteer Ambulance 215 W 1 g street Laurel MT 59044 406- 628 -1611 July 4, 2011 July 2 — 0031 - /l4 available crew called in to help with evacuation on Theis Rd due to the oil spill. 1800 - Stand by crew at the station during street dance and concert on Colorado. 2107 — Transport 1 due to ETOH July 3 — i yuu -- Stand oy crew at the station tor Jaycees street dance — not transport July 4 - 0900 — Set up in the park 1 006 - Crew at the station 1130 - Care 1 to Parade route Care 2 to provide road closure at 5 Ave ORLI to provide road ciosure at Main and Colorado Crew available for Care 3 Crew members — 9 1600 — Crews and Ambulances to Thomson park. Treated at the park — 2 blisters 1 broken nose 1 eye wash due to glow sticks 1 glass in thumb due to glow sticks 4 eye wash due to ash 1 burn due to sparkler 1 burn due to fire work Crew members — 10 Transports 1305 Motorcycle collision /Interstate 2135 Vomiting/Diarrhea from park 2314 Asthma Attack from park - emergent 0014 Seizure from City — emergent No Tranpsort 1049 ETOH parade route 1155 Heat exhaustion from Parade walker 1241 Motorcycle collision /Interstate 2233 ETOH /FAP Clean up — load /unload — write reports — our weekend ended at 0200, July 5. Laurel Volunteer Ambulance Comparison July 4 2009 July 4 2010 July 4 21111 Set up at park Set up at park Set up at park Care 1 — Parade Care 1 — Parade Care 1 — Parade Care 2 — street closure Care 2 — street closure Care 2 — street closure Care 3 — street closure QRU — street closure QRU — street closure Calls Galls Calls Transports Non Transports Transports Non Transports Transports Non Transports 1025 0052 1049 1240 0145 1155 1554 1445 1241 2026 2043 1305 2226 2135 2318 2233 2322 2326 2314 2332 0014 2340 2349 0026 0030 Laurel Volunteer Ambulance pOUCE coARTMENT .' • L aurel Departmerit , �0 215 W. 1 Street Laurel, Mt. 59044 • Phone 406- 8737 • Fax 406 - 628 -4641 Chief of Police Rick Musson July 26, 2011 Report on fireworks and police activity for 2011 Comparing fireworks complaints from 2010 and 2011. Dates of Comparison: June 24 -July 5. On June 24 the fireworks stands open for business. 2011 2010 June 24 -1 June 24 -0 June 25 -0 June 25 -3 June 26 -0 June 26 -2 June 27 -2 June 27 -4 June 28 -1 June 28 -1 June 29 -2 June 29 -1 June 30 -3 June 30 -3 July 1 -3 1 citation July 1 -1 July 2 -3 July 2 -6 July 3 -8 1 citation July 3 -8 2 citations July 4 -7 July 4 -11 1 citation July 5 -5 July 5 -5 Total 35 Total 49 Total calls for service during the same time period 465 452 Overtime hours between July 2 -July 4 2011=112 Reimbursed overtime from July 2 -July 3 2011 =34 18 hours reimbursed by PALACE BAR STREET DANCE 16 hours reimbursed by JAYCEES STREET DANCE Page 2 POLICE RESERVES: We had 10 Police Reserve Officers volunteer their time to work two street dances, Chief Joseph run on July 4 Kiddy parade 10am, Grand Parade 11 am, work the park during the day and work the fireworks. TOTAL HOURS WORKED DURING THE THREE DAYS WAS 192 HOURS. If we had to pay officers from outside agencies to cover these hours is would cost us $5760.00. This is calculated at $30.00 per hour X 192. Chief Musson