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HomeMy WebLinkAboutCity Council Minutes 11.19.1996Minutes of the City Council of Laurel November 19, 1996 A regular meeting of the City Council of the City of Laurel, Montana, was held in the Council Chambers and called to order by Mayor Chuck Rodgets at 7:00 p.m., on November 19, 1996. COUNCIL MEMBERS PRESENT: Gay Easton Bud Johnson Norman Orr Miles Walton Ron Marshall Dirk Kroll Donna Kilpatrick COUNCIL MEMBERS ABSENT: William Staudinger INVOCATION: Invocation was given by Alderman Johnson. MINUTES: Motion by Alderman Marshall to of November 6, 1996, as presented, carried 7--0. approve the minutes of the regular meeting seconded by Alderwoman Kilpatrick. Motion CORRESPONDENCE: Received a letter of resignation from Josephine Meccage, December 31, 1996. She is retiring.as of that date. dispatcher, effective Motion by Alderman Walton to accept the resignation from Josephine Meccage, seconded by Alderman Orr. Motion carried ?--0. Received a memo from MMIA regarding a dividend received from our worker's compensation program. Received an agenda from the Beartooth Resource Conservation and Development Area, Inc. for their November 23, 1996 meeting. Received the October minutes and activity report from the Air Pollution Control Board. Received the quarterly newsletter from MMIA. Received the November 12, 1996 agenda and the 1996 Historic Preservation Officer's report. CITY CLERK'S AND CITY TREASURER'S FINANCIAL STATEMENTS: The City Clerk's and City Treasurer's financial statements for the month of October were presented. Motion by Alderwoman KilDatrick that the City Clerk's and City Treasurer's financial statements for the month of October, 1996, be approved, seconded by Alderman Johnson. Motion carried 7--0. CAPTAIN BRENNAN, SHERIFF'S OFFICE - SWAT TEAM: Captain Brennan, from the Yellowstone County Sheriff's Office, gave an overview of the Tactical Response Team. He stated that the unit is normally referred to as the SWAT Team but the official name is the Tactical Response Team of Yellowstone County. The unit is comprised of nine officers. Eight of the officers are Yellowstone County Deputy Sheriffs and one officer is Captain Rick Musson of the Laurel Police Department. Captain Musson has been a member of the team since approximately 1984. The Tactical Response Team was originally formed around 1980 when they had their first call, which was a person driving in Laurel and shooting at homes. Captain Brennan stated that he is the commander of the Tactical Response Team. It is the decision of the Sheriff or Undersheriff whether they want to employ the Tactical Response Team when there is a critical situation. The direction in which the team works is established by the Sheriff and Undersheriff. Captain Brennan said then it is up to him, as commander, to make all the decisions of the team until the critical incident has been resolved. Rick Musson is the second in command on the team. Captain Brennan expressed the importance of each member on the team, in particular, the members that are in command to make the tactical decisions in a life or death situation. He pointed out the importance of being on the team and gaining the experience of being a self-confident member of the team. The sheriff's office has all the confidence in Rick's abilities to conduct his duties and make the decisions as the second in command. The team has been averaging four or five call outs a year since 1990. Some of Minutes of the City Council of Laurel Page 2 Council Meeting of November 19, 1996 Montana and in August 1996 they were in Fromberg, Montana. They then assisted the Billings team at a downtown motel. The City of Billings, also has a Tactical Response Team of nine people. During three of the last four call outs in Billings, there was cooperative effort between the City of Billings' team and the Yellowstone County's team in working the same job. The two teams work together and see situations that confront them that can not be resolved by a simple nine man team. Captain Brennan was asked who would take command in a situation where both response teams are working together. He explained that when a situation occurs in the City of Billings and they request assistance from the Yellowstone County Tactical Response Team, Yellowstone County will respond and give any assistance they can, but it is the City of Billings' "ball game" and they take top command. Yellowstone County may be called into their planning session and be asked for input but it is understood that they are in command. The same standards would take affect, if assistance was requested from the Laurel Chief of Police. The Yellowstone County team has the same agreement with the City of Billings to ask for their assistance when needed in the county. Mayor Rodgets expressed the City of Laurel's appreciation for Response Team and the Yellowstone County Sheriff's Department cooperation that the city has received. the Tactical for all the As commander, Captain Brennan devotes eight hours a month for training with the team. He puts in time to plan for the training, time to plan for short and long term goals, time to obtain money for equipment, time to keep track of inventory of weapons, and time for administrative duties. When the team first started, each individual purchased all their equipment themselves. Captain Brennan also has a position within the sheriff's department. He is the Captain of Operations, which is the uniform division. He explained that there are no funds budgeted for the Tactical Response Team. He can draw firearms training monies from the departmental firearms budget. He can draw training funds from the departmental training officer's budget. On occasion when there is something special needed, he budgets once a year for capital outlay. He budgets an average of $1,000 a year in capital outlay, which may be one weapon and a couple of minor things. Mayor Rodgers and Chief Atkinson mentioned the fact that the Yellowstone County Sheriff's Department and Tactical Response Team has helped out in different cases. They helped tremendously in attempting to solve the Hatten case. There were no costs charged to the City of Laurel as they were absorbed by the sheriff's office. Mike Atkinson stated that Yellowstone County can charge the city for any work they do even though it is within the county. Mike said that Sheriff Maxwell and Undersheriff Bell have stated in an agreement with him that the county will never present a charge to Laurel; He mentioned the reason for this is when the team started, Yellowstone County had asked for a Laurel officer to be on the team. Mike was on the team when it started and then Rick Musson replaced him. This was decided because it creates good working communications between the Laurel Police Department and the Yellowstone County Sheriff's Office. Mike said he has a lot of praise for the sheriff's department. Sergeant Mike Zuhoski stated that when Rick Musson is on a call out with the Tactical Response Team he is not drawing wages from the City of Laurel. He takes vacation time to go to training or to put on training for the team. Mike said Rick is dedicated in helping the Laurel Police Department and the Yellowstone County Tactical Response Team which provides good working communication between the city and the county. COLETTE HAUN - COMMUNITY SERVICE PROGRAM FOR LAUREL: Colette Haun, Community Service Manager of Beta Alternatives, gave an overview of the Community Service Program. The Community Service Program is established within the local judicial system to offer defendants the opportunity to make restitution by doing volunteer work. The goals of the program are to divert selected defendants from jail placement and to aid non-profit and governmental agencies. The program provides an opportunity for the defendants to pay the consequences of their offenses by working at community service. This program helps the people who are indigent to pay their fees or is used as a punitive measure by the judges. The people that are placed at work sites are covered by workman's compensation. The sites do not incur any type of medical expenses for the workers~ in case they get hurt on the site. The volunteer workers are also covered by medical insurance so they do not incur any medical expenses on the site. The referrals are from judges. probation and Daro]e Page 3 Council Minutes of the City Council of Laurel Meeting of November 19, 1996 Colette stated she is being forced to terminate people from the Laurel community as unsuccessful because she is unable to place them at a work site. She finds it a hardship in the winter months to send the youths to Billings on the icy roads to do community service. She would like to have the community of Laurel provide community service for these citizens, granted these people have occurred an obstruction on the community which they do need to pay for. She expressed it is a tremendous program to help the community service sites. She screens each of these people before she places them at an appropriate site. Some of these people are offenders for being unsuccessful in doing their community service work and then get terminated. They go back to the judges and then are referred back to her. She then has the same problem of placing them at a work site. She stated she is the manager of the program and tries to alleviate a lot of the responsibility of the community service site. These people are to look at the community service site supervisor as employers. Whether these people need to work with supervision all the time or by themselves, depends on the type of duties the site supervisor has them doing, If a person is placed at an inappropriate site, she will place them elsewhere. When and if they do not abide by the rules, they then deal with the judge. But, she would like to see these people get a chance here in Laurel. Darrell McGillen suggested to Colette that the project supervisor should be the parent. It appears to him that if a kid gets thirty hours of community service then the person providing the community service is baby-sitting. This is the way he sees it. Colette pointed out that in many incidents the parents do not care. The parents are not there to provide that support, She said, however, these kids have their own responsibilities. She sees the site supervisors not as baby-sitters but supervisors. If a person is placed at a site that is inappropriate then they are replaced by someone who will do the work. She feels they need a chance in the community. Another problem pointed out to Colotto is the skill level that they can perform. Depending on age, they cannot run power tools, lawn mowers, or climb certain heights. She stated she is working very closely with workman's compensation and together they are assessing what the sites are having the workers do. A list is provided to the community of what these kids can and cannot do. She noted that they are covered by workman's compensation. A site supervisor can work with older kids or adults, depending on job descriptions. Alderwoman Kilpatrick stated that the parks have put kids to work in the summer, but in this area, work is limited in the winter months. Andy Loebe works with the kids at the city shop. He mentioned that in working with Colette, he knows she is strict with these kids and if they do not show or are inappropriate, they are terminated. He said kids that have been charged with petty larceny or theft do have to be constantly supervised. He would like to see Colette find more placements for these kids in Laurel. Discussion followed by giving Colette some positive ideas on utilizing volunteer organizations and senior citizens. AWARD FIRE TRUCK BID: Alderman Marshall referred to the Fire Committee minutes of November 11, 1996. The committee met and reviewed a bid received from Becket Fire Service, Casper, Wyoming. The committee felt the bid was fair considering the cost of the additional equipment and referred the bid to the Budget/Finance Committee for it's approval. The Budget/Finance Committee reviewed the bid and recommended that the council accept the bid from Becket Fire Service. Motion by Alderman Marshall to accept the bid for a fire truck Fire Service, Casper, Wyoming, in the amount of $169,979.00, Alderman Orr. from Becker seconded by Alderman Marshall commented that the amount was higher than what was originally projected. The fire district contracts will be negotiated in the spring of 1997 and an increase will be considered to help pay for the cost of the new fire truck. The truck will be financed over a period of five years. Vote was taken on the motion. Motion carried 7--0. Page 4 Council Meeting of November 19, 1996 Minutes of the City Council of Laurel LAUREL AMBULANCE AGREEMENT WITH JOLIET EMS: RESOLUTION NO. R96-50 AUTHORIZING THE LAUREL AMBULANCE SERVICE TO ENTER INTO A MUTUAL AID AGREEMENT WITH THE JOLIET EMS Motion by Alderwoman Kilpatrick that Resolution No. R96-50 be passed and adopted, seconded by Alderman Orr. Motion carried 7--0. ADOPTING JOB DESCRIPTION - PUBLIC WORKS TECHNICIAN: RESOLUTION NO. R96-51 ADOPTING THE JOB DESCRIPTION OF PUBLIC WORKS TECHNICIAN AS A NON-UNION POSITION FOR THE CITY OF LAUREL Motion by Alderman Orr that Resolution No. R96-51 be passed and adopted, seconded by Alderman Johnson. Motion carried 6--1 with Alderman Marshall voting Mayor Rodgets assigned Dave Michael as Public Works Technician, a non-union position mentioned in Resolution No. R96-51. Motion by Alderman Kroll to confirm that Dave Michael be assigned as the Public Works Technician, a non-union position, seconded by Alderman Orr. Motion carried 7--0. ORDINANCE NO. 096-7 (first reading) AMENDING SECTION 15.12.010 OF THE LAUREL MUNICIPAL CODE, TO ADOPT THE UNIFORM BUILDING CODE 1994 EDITION Motion by Alderwoman Kilpatrick that Ordinance No. 096-7 (first reading) be passed and adopted, seconded by Alderman Orr. A roll call vote was taken and all aldermen present voted "Yes". Motion carried ORDINANCE NO. 096-8 (first reading) AMENDING SECTION 15.16.010 OF THE LAUREL MUNICIPAL CODE, TO ADOPT THE CABO ONE AND TWO FAMILY DWELLING CODE 1995 EDITION, INCLUDING AMENDMENTS Motion by Alderman Marshall that Ordinance No. 096-8 (first reading) be passed and adopted, seconded by Alderman Orr. A roll call vote was taken and all aldermen present voted "Yes". Motion carried ORDINANCE NO. 096-9 (first reading) ADDING SECTION 15.24.010 OF THE LAUREL MUNICIPAL CODE, TO ADOPT THE MODEL ENERGY CODE 1993 EDITION Motion by Alderman Kroll that Ordinance No. 096-9 (first reading be passed and adopted, seconded by Alderman Johnson. A roll call vote was taken and all aldermen present voted "Yes". Motion carried 7--0. ORDINANCE NO. 096-10 (first reading) AMENDING SECTION 15.18.010 OF THE LAUREL MUNICIPAL CODE, TO ADOPT THE ABATEMENT OF DANGEROUS BUILDING CODE, 1994 EDITION Motion by Alderman Johnson that Ordinance No. 096-10 (first reading) be passed and adopted, seconded by Alderwoman Kilpatrick. A roll call vote was taken and all aldermen present voted "Yes", Motion carried 7--0. Minutes of the City Council of Laurel Page 5 Council Meeting of November 19, 1996 ORDINANCE NO. 096-11 (first reading) AMENDING SECTION 15.36.010 OF THE LAUREL MUNICIPAL CODE, TO ADOPT THE UNIFORM SIGN CODE 1994 EDITION Motion by Alderman Kroll that Ordinance No. 096-11 (first reading) be passed and adopted, seconded by Alderman Johnson. A roll call vote was taken and all aldermen present voted "Yes". Motion carried 7--0. ORDINANCE NO. 096-12 (first reading) AMENDING SECTION 15.04.010 OF THE LAUREL MUNICIPAL CODE, TO ADOPT THE UNIFORM FIRE CODE 1994 EDITION Motion by Alderman Johnson that Ordinance No. 096-12 (first reading) be passed and adopted, seconded by Alderman Orr. A roll call vote was taken and all aldermen present voted "Yes". Motion carried 7--0. ORDINANCE NO. 096-13 (first reading) AMENDING SECTION 1.12.010 OF THE LAUREL MUNICIPAL CODE, ORIGINAL TOWNSITE Motion by Alderman Johnson that Ordinance No. 096-13 (first reading) be passed and adopted~ seconded by Alderman Walton. A roll call vote was taken and all aldermen present voted "Yes". Motion carried 7--0° COMMITTEE REPORTS: --Budget/Finance Committee minutes of November 6 ~ 1996 were presented and reviewed. Motion by Alderwoman Kilpatrick to enter the Budget/Finance Committee minutes of November 6, 1996~ into the record, seconded by Alderman Johnson. Motion carried 7--0. --City Council Committee of the Whole minutes of November 6, 1996 were presented. Motion by Alderwoman Kilpatrick to enter the City Council Committee of the Whole minutes of November 6, 1996~ into the record, seconded by Alderman Orr. Motion carried 7--0. --Fire Committee minutes of November 11, 1996 were presented and reviewed. Motion by Alderman Marshall to enter the Fire Committee minutes of November ll, 1996, into the record, seconded by Alderman Orr. Motion carried 7--0. COMMENTS FROM THE AUDIENCE: None APPOINTMENTS: Mayor Rodgers appointed Kevin Schwartzkoph as an ambulance attendants effective November 16, 1996. Motion by Alderman Johnson to confirm the Mayor's appointment of Kevin Schwartzkoph as an ambulance attendant, effective November 16, 1996~ seconded by Alderman Kroll. Motion carried 7--0. Mayor Rodgets re-appointed John Smith to the Airport Authority Board for a five year term~ expiring June 30, 2001. Motion by Alderman Marshall to confirm and approve the re-appointment of John Smith to the Airport Authority Board for a five year term, expiring June 30, 2001, seconded by Alderman Johnson. Motion carried 7--0. MAYOR ' S COMMENTS: Mayor Rodgets commented that the presentation from the Yellowstone County Sheriff ' s Office on the Tactical Response Team was very educatl ona ] . ~ Minutes of the City Council of Laurel Page 6 Council Meeting of November 19. 1996 Alderman Marshall announced a Public Utilities Committee meeting on Monday, November 25, 1995 at 5:00 p.m. in the council chambers. Alderwoman Kilpatrick announced there will not be a Parks and Recreation Committee meeting on November 28, 1998 due to Thanksgiving Day. In the event a meeting is needed, it would be called for December 12, 1996. There being no further business to come before the council at this time, the meeting was adjourned at 8:00 p.m. Donald L. Hackmann, City Clerk Approved by the Mayor and passed by the City Council of the City of Laurel, Montana, this 3rd day of December, 1996. Attest: Donald L. Hackmann, City Clerk Charles Rodgers, ~