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HomeMy WebLinkAboutCouncil Workshop Minutes 02.28.2012 MINUTES COUNCIL WORKSHOP FEBRUARY 28, 2012 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 February 28, 2012. COUNCIL MEMBERS PRESENT: _x Emelie Eaton _x_ Doug Poehls x Bruce McGee _x_ Mark Mace _x_ Scot Stokes _x_ Chuck Dickerson _x Tom Nelson _x Norm Stamper OTHERS PRESENT: Heidi Jensen 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: Heidi Jensen introduced Monica Plecker, who started as the city's new planner on February P A Planning Board meeting is scheduled on Thursday at 6:00 p.m. and Monica will give a presentation on the City of Laurel's Growth Policy. The current policy, which is over ten years old, is severely outdated and makes the city ineligible for some federal and state grants. The Growth Policy will be one of the first major projects tackled by the Planning Department. Monica is glad to be in Laurel and is trying to learn as much about Laurel as fast as possible. She looks forward to getting into the full swing of things and is excited to be here. Executive Review: • Yellowstone County — Bridge replacement in Yellowstone County Heidi Jensen introduced Del Henman to speak regarding the bridge replacement in Yellowstone County. Del Henman, the Assistant Road and Bridge Director for Yellowstone County, stated that the County applies for TSEP Grant monies through the State every two years. The 50/50 match grant funds are used to help replace bridges. Part of the TSEP process is to go to public hearings. Del attended the Elder Grove School Board meeting last week because one of the bridges is on Central Avenue, just west of 56 Street West. All of the bridges are at a sufficiency rating of 50 percent or less, so they are load limited and it is time to do something with them. Another bridge is by CHS Refinery on Nutting Road, which is by the south end of the refinery. There are two bridges or canals there, and the first one will be replaced with a concrete box culvert, which will get rid of the load limit and will gain a lot Council Workshop Minutes of February 28, 2012 of width. No guard rail will be necessary, as there will be a 60 -foot concrete box culvert there. The refinery is happy with that since their trucks go in and out over there. The other bridge in the Laurel area is on Straugh Road, which is off Laurel South Road, straight across from Walmart. Straugh Road goes down to the river and services one farm there. This one will have to be a bridge as it cannot be replaced with a concrete box. For the TSEP Grant process, the County has to attend public meetings in the area to tell people what they are doing and have people sign an attendance sheet if they are in favor of supporting the county replacing the bridges. The sheets will be included in the County's TSEP application to the state. People are usually in favor of the bridge replacement projects. Bridges around the whole country are deteriorating and it is a big cost. A lot of bridges in the county are being turned into concrete box culverts, which is ideal, as they last longer and there is no maintenance. The bridge projects will probably be completed next year, following the bidding process in the fall. The TSEP grant bridge replacement projects are all bid out to private contractors. The sign -up sheet was passed around for signatures. • Resolution — Memorandum of Understanding with Beartooth RC &D Economic Development District Heidi stated that the standard agreement is for Beartooth RC &D to provide assistance for the next year. The cost of the agreement increased slightly. Heidi mentioned that Beartooth RC &D is currently working with the owner of the Laurel Trading Post to develop his property. • Resolutions — Job descriptions for Court Clerks I, II and III Heidi explained that the court currently operates with one full -time court clerk, which is the Court Clerk II. The Court Clerk position is a 3 / -time position. The salaries, including ancillaries and benefits, for this fiscal year for a 3 / -time court clerk and a full -time Court Clerk II total $93,613. Chris Shay (Court Clerk II) recently retired, so there was an opportunity for the court to reevaluate what the department needs. Heidi and the judge have discussed the court's needs at length. It was determined that the job descriptions need a number, as most jobs are labeled I, II, III, IV or with some kind of grade system in other agencies. Heidi explained the current idea for the new Court Clerk I position. The judge has proposed a wage of $10.50/hour for the Court Clerk I position. If the council decides that the court should continue with one full -time and one 3 / -time court clerk, it would cost $32,000 for a 3 / -time and $39,181 for the next fiscal year with the union contract increase. All three job descriptions are for full -time positions and the court has asked that both clerks become full -time. The wage would be $47,468 for next year and $48,234 for the following year, with the 2 percent increase in the union contract. The proposed Court Clerk III is the same as the current Court Clerk II, so this would just be the increase this year and the increase in the contract the following year. There are some differences in the three job descriptions regarding responsibility and supervision. The proposed wage for the Court Clerk I would have to be approved by the union. The wages are set up currently with $1.20 difference per hour between the two positions. Heidi stated that the council needed to consider if it would like to approve all three job descriptions, whether to approve the job descriptions as full -time or what it would like to see the court do. The court currently has one full -time and one 3 / -time employee, and the three new job descriptions are proposed at full -time. Adopting all three job descriptions now would be easier in case someone is hired in the future, but the third position will not be filled at this time. 2 Council Workshop Minutes of February 28, 2012 Heidi explained the process of bidding for a union position. The current Court Clerk would bid from Court Clerk into Court Clerk II, which would then be Court Clerk III. The city would open the two positions up to the public and, based on their skills, someone would be hired for the Court Clerk I or the Court Clerk II level. If they are hired on the Court Clerk I level and demonstrated after a year that they were more than competent for the Court Clerk I position, the judge could determine to open the Court Clerk II position and allow the Court Clerk I to bid into the Court Clerk II position. However, all union members would also have the opportunity to bid the Court Clerk II position at that time, and the Court Clerk I might not be offered the position. Heidi stated that court budget does not currently support the additional $3,000 required to change the position from 3 / -time to full -time. This would require a significant budget increase in the 2012 -2013 budget. Currently, the retired court clerk is being paid out with vacation and sick time. The Court Clerk is working as the Court Clerk II and, according to the union contract, is being paid at the Court Clerk II rate. Mayor Olson state that the city has three positions or steps in other areas, but the steps are not filled all the time. Currently, the court has one full -time person and one % -time person. The request is for two full -time employees, which would be an increase in cost. Heidi stated that there would be an additional cost of $10,000. A budget amendment will be needed at the end of the year for the additional costs incurred for this fiscal year's budget. There was discussion regarding the job descriptions. The current job descriptions are not numbered and there are no clear distinguishing features between Court Clerk and Court Clerk II. Court Clerk I cannot be expected to do the same job as the Court Clerk III when there is a $7.00/hour difference. The duties are similar but the skill sets are different. Mayor Olson thanked Heidi and Judge Kerr for their work on the issue. • Discussion — Skate park Heidi introduced Hunter Stokes to give a presentation regarding the skate park. Hunter Stokes is a corporal in the Billings Young Marine Program and has been a member for over three years. He loves to skate board and wants a skate park in Laurel. He stated that skate boarding gives him a feeling of accomplishment when he does something he is good at. Hunter explained his proposal for a skate park because there is currently nowhere to skate board in Laurel. If there is a good place to skate board, it has a sign that says no skate boarding allowed. It would be nice to give something to the skate boarders in the community. He stated that basketball players have basketball courts, baseball players have baseball fields, football players have football fields, tennis players have tennis courts, swimmers have a swimming pool, but skate boarders do not have a skate park. Hunter has done some research and found hundreds of possible grants for keeping kids active physically. The Tony Hawk Foundation Grant gives up to $250,000. He lined up models of skate parks to show the council and stated that there is a slight issue with the MMIA endorsement. He has received 256 signatures on a petition he started, including signatures from administration positions in 3 Council Workshop Minutes of February 28, 2012 the school district. The petition states that they would like a skate park to open up for the public and states support for a skate park. Hunter spoke regarding proposed locations for a skate park. After scouting Laurel, he found seventeen parks in Laurel but only three of them are suitable for a skate park. The three skate parks are Murray Park, Cherry Hills Park and Washington Park, which is located by the new Middle School. He thinks that is a great location. Regarding kinds of skate parks, Hunter stated that the MMIA endorsement for the skate park requires a professional architect to build a model for it and a professional builder for skate parks to build it. Concrete is a lot safer than wood and other options include steel and skate armor. There are more inexpensive and safer materials other than concrete and wood. Regarding money, Hunter stated that donations are available through grants like the Tony Hawk Foundation Grant and physical education grants. He has found 75 models for skate parks under $100,000, and he provided pictures of several models. Options include building a couple small parks and one large one at different parks, building several small skate parks, or building one large skate park. There are a lot of options available. Hunter stated the need for the city council's help and approval for a skate park, as well as needed donations of money and supplies. There was discussion regarding having several skate parks for availability to the public, the skate park that was built in the City of Riverton, Wyoming, fundraising and liability issues, and Montana cities that received grants to build a skate park. There was discussion regarding which committee or board should review the skate park information. Mark Mace stated that the Park Board should review the skate board park issue, and he asked Hunter to give his presentation at the Park Board meeting on Thursday, March 1 at 5:30 p.m. • Discussion — Lease for railroad property for bulk water station Heidi Jensen spoke regarding the proposed lease on railroad property for a bulk water station. She stated that information was received about a bulk water station that is for sale in Wyoming. It would certainly fit the city's needs quite well. The water station was purchased by a gentleman who did not know that he could not sell bulk water in the city that he lives in, so it has never been hooked up. There has been some communication with the gentleman, the city has received the railroad lease that would be required to obtain property on the south side of Main Street, and the lease has been sent to the city's attorney for review. Heidi told the council that staff is working on this and wants to know if it should be pursued further. There was discussion regarding the need to pursue the lease and bulk water station further, the need to raise additional funding for more water infrastructure improvements (i.e., reservoirs), the funding options for purchase of a bulk water station, the need to determine proposed fair market charges for bulk water, consideration of the city's streetscape plan for Main Street, and current access to water and sewer services at the proposed location. • Discussion — East Railroad Street speed limit 4 Council Workshop Minutes of February 28, 2012 Heidi stated that staff is continually working on the East Railroad speed limit issue. The council packets included a letter from Ms. Walton and copies of MCA 61 -8 -303, 61 -8 -309, 61 -8 -310 and 61- 8 -312. MCA 61 -8 -309 addresses areas that are reasonable and safe and MCA 61 -8 -310 addresses engineering and traffic investigation to determine the speed. Heidi contacted the Yellowstone County Public Works Department to find out what kind of traffic study and traffic investigation was done on East Railroad. Once she has more detailed information, it will be possible to determine if it is an arterial street and if the city can even change the speed limit. Heidi stated that there have been many comments and a lot of people are concerned about it, but the city is not ignoring it. There was discussion regarding the city's need for an updated Transportation Plan. Transportation Plans are supposed to be updated every five years, but the city's plan has not been updated since the 1970's. Heidi stated that it costs about $30,000 for a Transportation Plan and it would be nice to do one in conjunction with the Growth Policy so the Transportation Plan could be adopted as a section of the Growth Policy. The city needs to consider this during the current budget process, as the city is in desperate need of a Transportation Plan. Other items There were none. Review of draft council agenda for March 6, 2012 • Ordinance No. 012 -01: An ordinance amending Chapter 18.02 of the Laurel Municipal Code relating to the composition of the Laurel Urban Renewal Agency. (Second reading.) Attendance at the March 6, 2012 council meeting Doug will lead the meeting, as Mayor Olson will be attending the Mayor's Academy in Bozeman next week. Announcements Mayor Olson asked Heidi to give an update on the river stabilization project. Heidi explained that the city received a letter from the EPA on February 23 that said the EPA would not currently approve the city's permit. It is now in a 30 -day open period and the EPA has five lengthy issues for the city to address. There is some confusion that the project is to restore the levee, but the levee restoration is in part to save the intake. Since some of that was lost in the city's original application, it will now be emphasized that the project is to protect the city's water intake and the levee is just a part of that project. Jeremiah Theys, of Great West Engineering, is working to submit the city's reply to the EPA to explain the true depth of the city's project before the thirty -day period ends, which will then be followed by the EPA's comment period. Time keeps ticking by, spring and runoff season are coming, and then the construction season will have been missed. Heidi believes Jeremiah will do a fantastic job and, once the EPA receives the response, they will approve the city's permit. However, even if the city has a permit, there is no money. The application has been moved from Washington to the Denver FEMA office and the city has a contact named Gary Tubach. Gary is trying to do research and find pictures from when the levee was originally established, and those pictures are incredibly hard to find. The city is working to find enough data to keep our request and worksheet going. Mayor Olson spoke with Commissioner Kennedy last Friday. The city wrote a letter for Commissioner Kennedy to take to Senator Baucus in Washington, D.C. The city asked for help in relaying information to Senator Baucus that the City of Laurel is having problems and needs some help. Hopefully, the city can get the Senator's support, which we had originally when trying to 5 Council Workshop Minutes of February 28, 2012 get FEMA to even do a project worksheet to save the intake. Heidi stated that this is a very frustrating and time consuming process. The Army Corps of Engineers will officially give the permit to the city, but the EPA has to allow the Army Corps to grant the permit. There was discussion regarding the petitions for public comment, letters of support, and the Jaycees' Facebook efforts for support of the project. Heidi stated that the Army Corps of Engineers received the public comment and the city has not seen any of it. The city does not know what supporting groups submitted or what the environmental groups submitted. The council workshop adjourned at 7:38 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. 6