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Home My WebLink AboutCouncil Workshop Minutes 11.29.2011 MINUTES COUNCIL WORKSHOP NOVEMBER 29, 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 6:39 p.m. on November 29, 2011. COUNCIL MEMBERS PRESENT: _x Emelie Eaton _x_ Doug Poehls _x_ Bruce McGee _x_ Mark Mace _x Chuck Rodgers _x_ Chuck Dickerson x Tom Nelson _x Norm Stamper OTHERS PRESENT: Heidi Jensen David Kingston, ExxonMobil Brett Rutherford, Elections Office Bryan Kary, Williston -Basin 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. Executive Review: • Discussion — Storage building at the cemetery Chuck Rodgers stated that the Cemetery Commission agreed to purchase the shed that Richard Klose found in Billings because the other two sheds were too costly. The $3,200 shed will be paid for out of the funds for the veterans' section of the cemetery. The shed should be ready in about a month and the public works department will prepare the gravel pad for placement of the shed. Mayor Olson stated that the city attorney will prepare a lease for the American Legion, who will have access to the shed. The shed will be covered under the city's insurance policy with MMIA. • Redistricting proposal by Yellowstone County Elections Office Bret Rutherford, Election Administrator, stated that last summer the State Redistricting Commission commenced meetings to redo the Senate and House Districts, which would be effective in 2014. The 2010 census got this started. By law, the Commission was to consult with the Election Administrators around the state. A commission member from Helena came to Billings a couple months ago for an unofficial visit and told them to submit their lines for the maps to the Commission. Bret, the GIS Department, the Planning Department in Billings, the Billings Chamber of Commerce and one of the lobbyists for the city and the county were present at the meeting and came up with recommendations to implement the maps with the new Senate and House Districts. They have no authority over the Redistricting Commission, but they put some maps together that they thought best represented the Council Workshop Minutes of November 29, 2011 cities, school districts and Yellowstone County as a whole. A handout distributed to the council showed the proposal. The Billings City Council unanimously approved it and the proposal will be submitted to Helena. Bret hopes the Commission will implement the ideas into the draft maps that will be out for public comment in January or February. Bret stated that they made it a point not to be political with the proposed boundary lines. The guidelines used include: use city limits where possible; use school district boundaries where possible; communities of interest; major physical features and barriers; county boundary; existing legislative districts; Crow Indian Reservation boundary; and keep districts compact. Bret state that, after the 2010 census came out, the urban areas got more dense and the rural areas got more rural. Except in the middle of a town, like Laurel or Billings, the population might not have increased or decreased in those areas. With the new guidelines as far as population, the boundaries were untenable at that point, so they came up with some new boundaries. There was discussion regarding the proposed boundaries. The proposed House District would encompass the City of Laurel and the major arterials, the interstate and fairly obvious boundaries were used to create the northern boundary. In a perfect world, they could just use the City of Laurel as one House District, but it does not meet the population requirement. They looked at using the Laurel School District as the boundaries, but it was too large, so they had to compensate and could not get that northern part of the school district within the boundaries. Bret asked if the council would be willing to support the proposal and submit a brief statement of approval to the Commission District. There was a question and discussion regarding the benefits of the redistricting proposal. The current populations have increased and the House District size had to be increased to 9,989 people. Yellowstone County has grown in population by 26 percent, so existing boundaries could not remain. In the proposed district, the majority of the population would be in the Laurel city limits. There was further discussion regarding the effects on representation of officials within the House and Senate, the effective date of the districts in 2014, the non - partisan efforts regarding the redistricting proposal, and the approval of the Billings City Council. Bret will e-mail colored maps for the council to review. Mayor Olson asked if the council wanted to have a resolution to support the redistricting proposal on the next council agenda. A resolution will be drafted and presented for the council's consideration on December 6 • Resolution — Amendment to Substance Abuse Policy for safety- sensitive Laurel Bus Transit employees Mayor Olson removed the item from the agenda and stated that it would be presented at a future council workshop. • Resolution — Contract with iPRC for medical records for the Laurel Ambulance Service Heidi Jensen explained that the ambulance department is required to go to electronic medical records by January 1 She had the ambulance director find multiple bids with different companies to find the best one for the Laurel Ambulance Service. She received bids from three different companies, and copies of the bids were supposed to be included in the council's information. The ambulance director and the lead EMTs reviewed the bids and determined that iPRC was the easiest to use. The program costs $4,500 the first year for the program license and two iPads for their use. The iPads will be wi -fi enabled. The iPads are secured and could be remotely erased if one happened to get lost in a 2 Council Workshop Minutes of November 29, 2011 transport, which would help with HIPAA issues. The demonstration Heidi saw of the product looked pretty easy and intuitive. This is a three -year contract which will cost $6,000 for each of the second and third years. Heidi recommended that the council approve the contract next week. There was discussion regarding the $6,000 in the current budget and the next two years, the software and hardware requirements, the iPads, the consensus that personal care records will continue to be an increasing responsibility for first responders, questions that were unanswered at the last Budget/Finance Committee meeting, the Purchase & Procurement Policy's requirement to bid projects /assets over $5,000, the need to distribute copies of the three bids that were received, and the requirement to budget and present renewal of the $6,000 contract to the council in the next two years. • Resolution — Agreement with Williston -Basin regarding the north side of the river Heidi Jensen stated that Bryan Kary from Williston -Basin attended the meeting to answer any questions. The council received copies of a letter from Williston -Basin asking for use of the north side of the river property. The Public Works Department has approved the $7,000 payment to clean out or dredge the basins. This open -ended contract will allow Williston -Basin to do the work on the north side of the river as the weather permits. It is mutually understood that the ponds have to be dredged before flood stage is reached again. Mr. Kary is aware of that and the contract is the same as the previous contract except the amount of compensation increased to $7,000. • Resolution — Contract with Comfort Heating and Air Conditioning, LLC Heidi Jensen stated that the contract is for the improvements at the water treatment plant. In the next few weeks, she hopes to schedule a time for the council to see the completed project. The current furnace that heats the break room, the lab, the new lab, the bathrooms and the area where they monitor the computers is over 35 years old and has reached its peak of efficiency. To get any duct work done from the furnace into the new lab is not a good idea and the contractor does not want to do that work. Heidi agreed that the furnace needed to be replaced, and Kurt found a furnace that will work for the area and stay within the budgeted amount for the project. The furnace would be large enough that duct work could be continued down the newly - created hallway to heat and cool the offices that Tim Reiter and Nathan Herman will be using. The offices currently have window air conditioners and electric heaters in them. If needed, this furnace would be large enough and the duct work would be cheap enough to continue it down the hallway as a backup plan if something should go awry in the offices. The office furniture will be delivered in mid - December. Heidi will schedule a tour for the council when the project is finished. • Resolution — Amendment No. 3 to Task Order No. 6 with Great West Engineering Mayor Olson stated that the amendment is an adjustment of $2,000 in the allocation for the additional grant administration for a $515,251 contract. • Resolution — Amendment No. 1 to Task Order No. 20 with Great West Engineering Mayor Olson explained that the council tasked Great West Engineering to review the water rates. During that process, it was decided that it would be in the city's best interest to review the wastewater rates at the same time. At that time, Great West was charged to include the wastewater rate study with the water rate study in the task order. The original task order was $15,000 for the water rate study and the wastewater rate study is the additional $5,000. • Elm Lift Station update 3 Council Workshop Minutes of November 29, 2011 Heidi Jensen stated that Kurt has a meeting scheduled with Great West next Wednesday. Great West has hired a new engineer, who will work on the city's water issues and the Elm Lift Station. Three alternatives have been prepared for the lift station and will be presented to Kurt next Wednesday. An update should be available at the next council workshop. Other items There were none. Review of draft council agenda for December 6, 2011 A resolution of support for the redistricting proposal will be added to the council agenda. Attendance at the December 6, 2011 council meeting All council members will attend. Announcements Doug asked about the burning and smoke issues on the south side the last couple days. A farmer has been burning their stubble fields. South School was evacuated to the old middle school today because the smoke was so thick. Emelie asked for an update on the construction project at the FAP facility. Heidi Jensen explained that the roof inside the FAP building needed to be fixed. The inside of the FAP building has a center I -beam and beams that connect to it to create the steep grade. The beams are pulling away from the center I -beam, which made it hard to connect the new FAP addition to the roof and made the snow load a lot less on the roof. There was the potential for the roof to cave in if there was a heavy snow. The city signed two separate contracts with High Tech for repairs of the roof, which will be done on days when the weather is too bad to work outdoors. They will create a new stability system so the roof will stop pulling away. The framing is done and the contractors should hang sheetrock inside in the next two weeks. The doors will be ordered and installed as soon as possible. ABTelcom, Industrial Communications, and Technical Edge met last week to work out a plan to get data, phone, and radio services in the new addition. They will run conduit this week or next week from the old part of the building through the bays into the new FAP addition before the sheetrock goes up. Everything will be data ready as soon as the sheetrock goes up. Two wireless routers will be installed to provide wi -fi in the common areas within the building for firemen and ambulance personnel that are on call or for training purposes. Heidi stated that the project is progressing quickly and High Tech is doing a great job. There was discussion regarding the projected completion date in January or mid- February, the financing of the roof repairs on the existing building through the FAP building's budget, and the plan for an open house and/or dedication for the public to see the addition. The fire, ambulance and police departments will be responsible to plan the event, and the council is welcome to submit ideas for the event. There was further discussion regarding the two contracts that were signed for roof repairs to the existing FAP building and the need to keep the council informed about contracts under $5,000. There was a question regarding the no smoking signs that were to be placed on the doors. 4 Council Workshop Minutes of November 29, 2011 Heidi stated that Dynamic Designs has been contacted three times and is supposed to be working on the signs. Heidi spoke regarding the interview process for the city planner's position. Applications closed last Tuesday and all of the applicants were qualified with most having a bachelor's degree or higher. The interview committee includes Hazel Klein, Dr. Richardson, Linda Frickel, Kurt Markegard and Heidi Jensen. The committee will meet on Thursday at 10:00 a.m. to review the applications and interviews should be scheduled in the next two weeks. Mayor Olson stated that the council retreat was well attended and thought provoking. He is trying to schedule a date in January or February for Dan Clark to present another retreat and hopes to use the facilities in the FAP addition for the event. The council's comments on the direction they would like staff to take were heard at the retreat, and Heidi is busy preparing the staff for that. Heidi stated that she has met with the public works department and the fire department and will meet with the library, ambulance and police this week. The public works department was pleased to have the opportunity to develop a five -year plan. The fire department was also receptive and had no problem with the six-month deadline. The council workshop adjourned at 7:30 p.m. Respectfully submitted, aziedt.„ 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 Guidelines Used for Re- districting Legislative Boundaries for City /County Proposed Plan Proposed districts drawn by Tom Tully, GIS Coordinator, City of Billings, and Annette Cabrera, GIS Manager, Yellowstone County using ESRI's free Districting extension Montana Districting Commission Guidelines 1) Required to keep population within 3% of 9,894 — actual variation under 2% 2) Required to use 2010 Census Block boundaries Montana Districting Commission Map Themes 1) Keep counties intact 2) Urban /rural districts 3) Low deviation 4) Current legislative districts Local Committee Guidelines 1) Use City Limits where possible 2) Use School District boundaries where possible 3) Communities of Interest a. Planning Neighborhoods b. Elementary. School Attendance areas (often follow arterials /connectors and other physical features) 4) Major physical features and barriers c. Arterial streets /connectors and highways, d. Major canals /ditches /creeks, e. ` Yellowstone River f. Rims, railroad mainlines, and other 5) County boundary 6) Existing legislative districts (found to be wide variation in population for most) 7) Crow Indian Reservation boundary =' 8) Keep districts compact Guidelines Used for each new district (in addition to 2010 Census Blocks): • District 1: Primarily followed Yellowstone River and school attendance boundaries. • District 2: Planning Neighborhoods, school attendance boundaries, Rims, Yellowstone River, arterials /connectors. • District 3: School attendance boundaries, arterials /connectors, Interstate 90. • District 4: School attendance boundaries, arterials /connectors. Includes oddly shaped Census Blocks. Page 1 of 2 • District 5: Railroad, arterials /connectors, school attendance boundaries. • District 6: Rural school district boundaries, highways, arterials /connectors, county boundary. • District 7: Arterials /connectors, planning neighborhoods, school attendance boundaries. • District 8: Interstate 90, railroad, school attendance boundaries, highways, rims, arterials /connectors. • District 9: Railroad, planning neighborhoods, arterials /connectors, school attendance boundaries. • District 10: Highways, Yellowstone River, rural school district boundaries. • District 11: Highways, BBWA Canal, arterials /connectors, school attendance boundaries. • District 12: Planning Neighborhoods, rims, arterials /connectors. • District 13: Arterials /connectors, rims, BBWA Canal. • District 14: County boundary, rural school district boundaries, highways, arterials /connectors. • District 15: County boundary, rural school district boundaries. This district is still short by almost 600 people, and will need to be combined or adjusted to meet the population criteria. • Unassigned: This is portion of the Crow Indian Reservation that lies within Yellowstone County. Due to uncertainty as to how the rest of the Reservation would be districted it was left unassigned. NOTE: It became apparent early on that the populations of most of the current legislative districts varied significantly from therideal. Using 2010 Census Blocks for population counts, existing district populations within the urban area ranged from more than 1,200 too few to more than 1,200 too many, and would have resulted in considerable adjustment to bring them into compliance with the population criteria. No political data was used. No legislative districts were assigned at this time; only random district numbers assigned by the districting software. Obviously, this plan would need to be integrated into surrounding counties and ultimately the statewide districting plan. Page 2 of 2 ROSEouo \,� DRAFT `- , ��{ L \ Yellowstone County — ^ \ _ '" — House Districts 1 , s , ' k i Yellowstone /Billings Plan 7 1 MUSsEtSHEL1 GOLDEN /ALLEY l/ ' ; • } ' D E.. ' ..w... ' TREASURE � • ' \ I i I .... / j l 1 \ ..,, _-./ ,— Legend 1 , 0 Elementary School Enrollment Areas City Limits t —� D,5 Billings Crty LRni \' E 1 County Redistricting Plan I Y _ ` District r r I I D, ,J Me Dz w 07 •" ..iv X09 STILLWATER , ffi ' 7 .. D D , OS 012 =91 D13 ' �g • ARP! D7 " a 1 D„ 'fi DU �f ,.. 444 a. k^s Ia 7••"a e, its D6 a 't ' 4r .._.�;.„, 014 ' * a67> d MG HORN Unassigned • „ .. Dt �" ' -- Stale Roads '- 1 � 014 d \-----"'&–...._' \ ' / / t Unass - e .... -» \ tW.:. Imo] y -- CARBONS i rl I � . , r. t 4 . /_______,j ......... ,. . 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WJTMR S. O L 6 S V. U VOW ST L .1110 m 4 4 w)!A ST C / T < Y m m W 14T SI + u . . 2 - ...{ 4 1 m i ' m y m � 5TH M e- SE t'n ST � � 90 � 4 5 b 1 y 7'STMs -� i $ �` m SS, s: O o VV i �a w s 21 se+�" T "' ,RGA / z z Twaaor / m ij Yellowstone County /City of Billings House Redistricting Plan Primary guidelines followed: • Keep total population for each district within +1- 3% of 9900. • Maintain communities of interest as much as possible. Used primarily Planning Neighborhood Areas and Elementary School District boundaries. > Neighborhood area boundaries were determined for neighborhood planning purposes. Elements that contribute to shared common values of the residents were considered: • Transportation network, linkages and circulation • Proximity to service centers (Schools, parks, fire stations, etc.) • Housing densities (lot size, single family v. multifamily) • Environmental characteristics (river access, above rims, below rims, drainage, etc.) • Follow physical features such as major highways and arterial streets, railroads, rivers, streams and canals. • Exclude the Crow Indian Reservation. ❖ Used 2010 U.S. Census Block boundaries and total population of each to create districts. >, E .. — c 0 1 ; a 0 c CU • ... a- a. (I) 1 O 0 = i 2 I ' a) _!IngnIfig 11 .,.. >- ;),./.___ , ..,......--- vii 1 ____ _...... ... , 1 / ) ---,„ , 0 \ - " \,.. \ 1 \77 ., r '---1 _ / x , --, . 1 , i 1 1.--N--,........... 1 I ------- - - - I , i' - --._ , _- • , ,,, my , .. ,, ...-- , ...- lb, 7, „ ..- CD 411r •••••• Nk i o 11 ?Q v A ...„ ... ----' k lII/'/r'--'-''"'IIIIIIr 11 1 1 .11111 Id . s , 11/111/NNO . - ..; 9..-: .... I amloil -- --.-- \ a 101 Ili g \ i IIIIMENIi. x , Ai No ir i _ le Wi 1 • --- 1 /......■ • - IIII&--- —t t 1 . \ — L . 1--- 1--- ......” ..." I 1 ■ / , i / , ‘ lc s 0 . X S. Current House Districts Population Using 2010 U.S. Census Blocks House Distr Pop Total Pop Total Dev Pop Total DevPct 42 595 -9,305 -93.98 43 4,080 -5,820 -58.78 44 9,738 -162 -1.63 45 3,007 -6,893 -69.62 46 13,938 4,038 40.78 47 11,121 1,221 12.33 48 10,560 660 6.66 49 8,803 -1,097 -11.08 50 8,563 -1,337 -13.50 51 9,097 -803 -8.11 52 8,895 -1,005 -10.15 53 8,694 -1,206 -12.18 54 9,182 -718 -7.25 55 10,488 588 5.93 56 9,980 80 0.80 57 11,135 1,235 12.47 58 10,096 196 1.97 DRAFT Yellowstone County House Districts I ( ' Yellowstone/Billings 015 Plan — DA _ . Fe 1 / wee l i i ...., I ' 1 - ------- /1 , ■ , \ 1, ..____ . 111111 Ir - .... ......., . . _ ., -- i u. Legend - 1-7r-71\-7. City Limits .i, i t -- „ : County Redistricting Plan _ _, 1 / Ns I # $ 1 1 . 1 ...., I kr...p "( INIMMI I Ilk 7' 4 1 1 I Mr [ 1 ---,, , , , MI DIO --) ' . MOO DIZ MI Dt's I IMO I /' a'.3 / '14 I ------ -) --t L.-` 1 ...-- '6 14 . z , 01 ■••,>. ..., ' ., . City/County PIa n District Pop Total Pop Total Dev Pop Total DevPct Unassigned 403 -9,497 -95.93 D1 9,835 -65 -0.66 D2 9,922 22 0.22 D3 10,093 193 1.95 D4 9,809 -91 -0.92 D5 9,911 11 0.11 D6 9,770 -130 -1.31 D7 9,882 -18 -0.18 D8 10,024 124 1.25 D9 10,061 161 1.63 D10 9,766 -134 -1.35 Dll 9,943 43 0.43 D12 9,709 -191 -1.93 D13 9,837 -63 -0.64 D14 9,704 -196 -1.98 D15 9,303 -597 -6.03 DRAFT I / ) Yellowstone County i House Districts / ----} ' Yellowstone /Billings Plan /. 011 7 CM _„ eili H IN , ., 1 .\. _ C i 1 M' 1 v la A i N , r r�� _ Legend M 1 ' � . r > �. l j • ... _ ( r r — _ i r '> �* I —\ Cdy Limits ,__.. ��__. . J • 1 1 _ 013 I Q . , i 1 1 i�MI / County Redistricting Plan I ` 1 District L. " 6s [ , .... 12 PP I r ..)(7-7477 , I F i PP,_, . 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[ 1 --, 44,-04 r "1_ 1 '1 L Legend "1 City Limns r___/ ..j' " Proposed Senate Districts 1 ‘r\ ) ....... . . 2 7' ---- , District •, 1 D15 i 1 L.......; ,.". , = A \ , ...-,---- 4 - 7-.'. r..--LT I r ___I — I- r - - ,-7—t_t_- - 7- _ v.. , i sr., ,I, -, - ^ . , , NAII• — 11 _ .., r ___ ,....=@D,„ ,,. ____ I. - 1 - .T..o41, - , , t SD 6' ' II■:. 2 ' , 1 _ r 3710 40 °° - '. 4 SD 2 .4 / . • ^ 1 Ilk. wit, - 1 I : . ' - , t'' , l / _ ■ ' . F , SD 7 - _ , 1 i - ,- Unassigned 1 - J itllic,) 1 1 i , 1 6111111•11- ' 1 / — - -