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HomeMy WebLinkAboutCouncil Workshop Minutes 06.11.2013 MINUTES COUNCIL WORKSHOP JUNE 11, 2013 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 June 11, 2013. COUNCIL MEMBERS PRESENT: Emelie Eaton _x_ Doug Poehls x Bruce McGee x Mark Mace Scot Stokes x Chuck Dickerson x Tom Nelson x Bill Mountsier OTHERS PRESENT: Heidi Jensen Monica Plecker 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. None. General items: • Appointments: Laurel Airport Authority; Board of Appeals; Cemetery Commission; Laurel Library Board; Tree Board; City - County Planning Board The Mayor presented the requested reappointments of board members to the Council. Kyle Albers would like to represent the Laurel Airport Authority, Ed Thurner would represent the Board of Appeals, Lee Barndt and Tom Nelson for the Cemetery Commission, Dick Fritzler for the Cemetery Commission, Dixie Feller for the Library Board, Pat Hart for the Tree Board and Hazel Klein for the City - County Planning Board. Chuck inquired as to the terms of the appointments. The Mayor is not positive of the terms, but will ask Cindy to identify the terms for each board. Chuck stated that was not necessary because the terms of appointments are provided in a separate report. Executive Review: • Resolutions — SRO contracts Heidi spoke, stating that both contracts for the SRO officers were before the Council and that there is a small increase in the requested amount. Tim Bronk has informed her that the contracts came before the School Board last night and both were passed. The resolutions and contracts for the schools will be presented at the next Council meeting. Council Workshop Minutes of June 11, 2013 • Cemetery Commission Presentation The Mayor stated that this presentation will be before the Council on the June 25 workshop. • Resolution — YBGR Fire Contract Heidi referred to the next Council item which was the Fire Contract for the Boys and Girls Ranch which was negotiated with an 8% increase, resulting in an additional $632 /year. There were no questions or comments. • Resolution — Laurel Airport Authority Fire Contract The Laurel Airport Authority was next on the agenda and Heidi informed the Council that this contract has a 10% increase which equates to $376.50 /year. Tom mentioned the terms of the contract are stated in the Boys and Girls Ranch contract, but they are not in the Airport contract. He would like to know when that payment will be made to the City. The Mayor will talk to Dr. Smith and request a change showing when the payment is due. Friday's packet will have a due date in the contract. • Resolution — Accept Operating Contract with MDT Heidi referred this contract and the TransADE contract to Monica. Monica stated that this is operating contract with MDT for the Transit Bus System. The coordination plan has gone in and this is the operational contract for the revenue flow from the State. MDT's share is $58,963 and the City share is $40,508. While the amounts for both are high, the bus does not require the entire amount to operate. Monica shared with the Council that both buses are running daily and around 100 rides are received from clients each month. Bruce inquired as to whether this was Federal money and would it be affected by the sequestration. Monica said that the money comes from federal and state money and she has not heard of any of the funds being cut. • Resolution — Accept TransADE Memorandum Agreement with MDT Monica referred to this program as the 5311 Program that supplies funds for the elderly and disabled. These also, are state and federal funds. Fifty three percent of the monies received for the bus comes from this program. This is the program that has to be reported to MDT quarterly. The Mayor mentioned that while this is taking funds from the General Fund it is a valuable service to the citizens of Laurel. Monica stated that not only is this a convenience for local riders, but also serves the work force that is using the bus as a means to their employment in Billings. Chuck inquired about the different fiscal years on the federal grants vs. the state grants. Monica explained that federal and state governments have different fiscal years. • Council Issues: o Street sweeping The Mayor referred to the letter that Kurt wrote to Heidi regarding street sweeping. When Heidi, Shirley and the Mayor met for the budget process a decision was made to subsidize 2 Council Workshop Minutes of June 11, 2013 the Street Sweeping Maintenance with the Street Maintenance fund. Due to the fact that the sweeping fund will not be increased other sweeping will be done on a request basis. More areas will be done as funds become available. Kevin Burson, 108 Durland Ave. spoke in regards to West Railroad and the need for that area to be swept more often. He feels that there is an inadequate amount of time spent on West Railroad and 5 to South 8 Ave down to the park and pond. Due to the traffic on these streets from CHS employees, trucks, buses and schools there is a lot more dirt to be swept. The sidewalks from Woodland to Forrest are covered in gravel and dirt that has accumulated because the street is not being swept. Mr. Burson stated that the sidewalks are buried and lawns are dying because of the lack of sweeping. Doug stated that he understands that the State pays the City for some sweeping and he would like to know if they will pay for the urban routes as well. The Mayor said that the State only pays for State Routes now, but he will set up a meeting with MDT to see if they will pay for sweeping of urban routes. Heidi informed the Council and Mr. Burson that sidewalks are the homeowner's responsibility and they will need to clean the sidewalks. o Update on 2011 Yellowstone River flooding event Heidi stated that the update has not changed much from last report. We are still waiting on the CLOMR. The video /phone conference with Tester was held on Tuesday, June 4 in regards to the Federally funded project. Heidi and the Mayor will be meeting with Todd Tillinger and Jeremiah Theys next Monday, in Helena. The decisions are now being made in Helena and the City is meeting resistance to a permanent solution. The Fish Wildlife and Parks Department and DNRC engineers are also showing resistance towards permitting a weir as a permanent solution. The goal currently is to have a permanent solution by 2015. The Mayor stated that the permitting agencies are glad that Laurel is taking a forward approach but we may be spinning our wheels. The City will keep pushing forward. Doug thanked the Mayor and Heidi for forcing the agencies to talk about a solution. He said it is amazing that FEMA is so quick on immediate disasters and so slow on long term solutions. The Mayor stated that although we're trying to show an accurate representation of where we're at there's still 3 items that need to be addressed. 1) The south bank restoration. 2) The emergency weir 3) the long term solution and until these 3 items are addressed and solved the City will continue to push the agencies. The City engineers have given a responsible solution to the problem and still the CLOMR is 6 months out from being approved. There seems to be some bad stigma about weirs, that may have caused crops to fail, but the Mayor feels that this is not the issue with the Laurel weir. The Mayor hopes that the City will have a resolution to this matter in the next couple of months. o Legislative Review 3 Council Workshop Minutes of June 11, 2013 The Mayor stated that Heidi, Shirley and he went to the legislative updates in Billings. Alec Hansen went over the bills that affect cities and towns. Many of the bills were either tabled or died, but there are a few that affect cities. SB 77 is of interest to cities, as it increases the amount that can be expended without the bidding process. The amount has gone from $50,000 to $80,000. House Bill 435, quiet zones along railway right -of -ways was tabled. Legislature agreed to allow a 3.1% increase in the Entitlement Share to Cities and a 3.5% increase over the next 2 fiscal years. The Mayor encouraged the Council to read over these and ask questions in regards to any of their concerns. Other items • Bid recommendation from Great West Engineering to accept the bid from Williams Brothers for the Wastewater Treatment Plant rehab. The Mayor stated that the City is ready to award the bid to the lowest qualified bidder, which is Williams Bros. Tom asked if all the funding was in place. The Mayor assured the Council that after much recalculation on the DNRC and City's part the funding is acceptable and is now in place. The project looked skeptical, as the bids came in $1 million over the expected bid. DNRC has stated that the City will qualify for another million without raising the rates. Heidi stated that process was quite difficult and the bid could not be accepted until the City was able to meet the qualifications for the loan. The City has met these and will now move forward. Chuck asked if this would come before the Council next week. Heidi stated that it would. Tom asked if the acceptance of the bid and the work would bring the city into compliance with the state agencies. Heidi stated that she has requested an extension of the fines and all that needs to be done at this time is to show that funding has been received and the date as to when the City will be in compliance or the completion date. When the bid is accepted she will fill in the dates and report back to DEQ. The City has 18 months to complete the project after the start date. Doug asked how long the compliance will last or will there be more requirements in a couple of years. The Mayor stated that Dave Mumford from the City of Billings is now working with the Regulatory Agency that forms the compliance rules and he assures us that we will be good for up to 25 years, which leads to the next problem of the sed basins at the water plant and when the City can start work on rebuilding the basins and covering them. Review of draft council agenda for June 18, 2013 4 Council Workshop Minutes of June 11, 2013 No questions or comments. Attendance at the June 18, 2013 council meeting All present will be in attendance. Announcements Doug — Nothing. Mark — He informed the Council that there was a Park Board meeting Thursday and the guests at the meeting are interested in finding out what happened to the Swimming Pool Committee. Mark requested that this be investigated and reported back to the Council. Mark mentioned that he has recently met with Jolene Reich to work on the questionnaire for the Park Maintenance District. The purpose of the questionnaire is to find out what the citizens of Laurel would like to see in Laurel parks. The contract for a Park Master Plan with Plains to Prairies will be available at the next workshop. The Public Works Committee next week has been cancelled. Chuck — He has had complaints from constituents in regards to the yards around town that aren't being mowed. Has the City started citing these people? Heidi said that due to the fact that we do not currently have a code enforcement officer that these are being handled on a complaint basis now. Chuck inquired if the City crew could write down names and addresses of codes that they see being ignored around town. Violations could be handled that way also. Heidi said she will talk to the Public Works Department about starting this process. Mark stated that where this is a good idea, he feels that the sidewalk violations are more dangerous than the height of grass. Bill — Nothing. Tom — Tom is interested in what became of the variance that the City approved where the alley entrance was the primary entrance into a lot and how do we check on these to see whether they have been done and how they were done. Heidi stated that the City does not routinely follow -up on these but when a building permit is issued the variance will come into play as the property owner is trying to do something against City Code. Variances are good for 3 years and if someone tries to build after the 3 years they will have to re- apply. Variances transfer with the property and not the owner. Mark mentioned that the property that Tom was referring to has been sold. Bruce - Nothing Recognition of Employees • Rick Musson — 31 years of employment on June 1 st • Brian Kline — 8 years of employment on June 22 °a • William Brew III — 7 years of employment on June 7 • Daniel Griffin — 4 years of employment on June 15 • Shirley Ewan — 3 years of employment on June 6 • Patricia Klaassen — 3 years of employment on June 28 5 Council Workshop Minutes of June 11, 2013 The Mayor would like the Council to congratulate these folks on their time with the City if they should see them out and about. The council workshop adjourned at 7:55 p.m. Respectfully submitted, c LaCti/0 Shirley Ewan Clerk/Treasurer 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