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HomeMy WebLinkAboutCouncil Workshop Minutes 07.09.2013 MINUTES COUNCIL WORKSHOP JULY 9, 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 July 9, 2013. 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 Bill Mountsier OTHERS PRESENT: Heidi Jensen Kevin Zard (BLE) Public Input (three - minute limit): There was no public input. General items There were none. Executive Review: • Request to hold event — Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers (BLE) Heidi Jensen spoke regarding the request by the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers to hold an event. The written request from Kevin Zard did not include some details, so Heidi will work with him and Iry Wilke from the Rod and Gun Club to ensure that the city is covered under their insurance policy. This family event would take place in Riverside Park so the city needs to address safety issues in the area where the children will be located and in the trap shooting area. The protocol that will be in place needs to be more clearly defined than just a paragraph in the request saying that the club protocol and security will be used for the trap shoot. Documentation of insurance coverage is also needed for the event since people that are not in the club will be present, even though club members will be running the event. Heidi asked Kevin Zard to speak about the event. Kevin Zard, 2019 East Maryland, is the president of the Local Division 232, the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers, in the Billings /Livingston/Laurel area. The BLE puts on a picnic every year and the event has been at the Rod and Gun Club in the past. Since the flood, the event has been held in other locations, but many people have asked that it be in Riverside Park again so they can shoot trap. Kevin stated that, since they cannot use the buildings, they plan to use a 30x40' tent and to supply toilets down there. In the past, they have had keg beer and a BBQ and plan to have a Mexican feed this year. Iry Wilke was unable to attend tonight's meeting, but Kevin has talked with him about the insurance policy and the security protocol with the beer, kids and shotguns. Chuck asked if someone from the Rod and Gun Club would attend to ensure that the guidelines for shooting would be followed. Council Workshop Minutes of July 9, 2013 Kevin explained that the BLE asked the club to put on the shoot for them. Iry said that the club would and they would have four to five club members there pulling the trigger for the traps, getting the clay pigeons, getting the bullets and keeping everyone in line. Tom asked Kevin if the BLE had come before the council for permission to hold their event in Riverside Park in the past. Kevin stated that they did not, as they just went through the Rod and Gun Club. For this event, the Rod and Gun Club said they were interested but informed Kevin that the request had to go through the city council. Mayor Olson stated that the leases now require such requests to come before the city council. He thanked the Lease Task Force for its work in including that language in the leases. Bruce stated that the city is adamant that drinking and shooting do not mix. He asked Kevin to explain how those two things would be separated so they do not conflict. Kevin explained that club members Ernie Freund and Ron Herman were at the last event and told them that they could not shoot anymore once they started drinking. The attendees did not have a problem with that. He mentioned discussions regarding putting red tape up to provide a safety zone for the kids and the requirement to put on a wrist band when someone starts drinking so they cannot shoot anymore. The club members kept a close eye on that at the last event. • Council Issues: o Garbage cans behind Mabel's (Bill Mountsier/Tom Nelson) Heidi stated that, since the garbage can issue behind Mabel's was brought up last week, she asked the public works director for an update on the plans for the cans and the condition of the area. The task has been turned over to the Maintenance Superintendent. It was explained to Heidi that that until the city knows what Mr. Foos plans to do with the lot, the garbage cans will remain where they are. At a later time, it will be determined whether they can be placed out of the right -of -way or continue in the right -of -way. The public works director informed her that, according to the city ordinance, he does not have the authority to direct businesses to place garbage cans on their property and not in the public right -of -way. Staff will do some research with other cities and then work on changing the ordinance in the future. There was discussion regarding the garbage cans in the right -of -way at Alpha Omega and KC Interiors, as well as other locations throughout the city. Further discussion included identification of the locations of garbage cans in the right -of -way, the suggestion to have businesses involved in the ordinance language change, responsibility and liability concerns and issues with the garbage cans in the public right -of -way, the location of garbage cans in the city alleyways, the difference between how the law addresses residential and commercial garbage can issues, the need for staff to review the ordinance, Bill's discussion with Joel Torres about relocation of the trash cans to the northwest comer of his property, and the need to improve the area with a new structure and keeping the trash off private properties. Mayor Olson stated that staff would work on the issues. 2 Council Workshop Minutes of July 9, 2013 o Lease Task Force update Tom stated that the task force is currently working on the lease for the Rifle Club and has asked staff to investigate the current condition of the building. If a report is available by next Monday, the Lease Task Force will meet on July 15 Heidi recently contacted Howard Rickard, who is a certified home, meth and mold inspector, which covers the concerns with the building. Last week, Heidi, Howard and the public works director went through the caretaker's residence, the Rod and Gun Club, the Rifle Club and the Commander's Hall in Riverside Park. Howard felt that all of the buildings needed to have some air testing done. He will test the outside air for its porous level, because there is fungus in the air everywhere, and then test the inside air in the building. If the inside air of the building is less than the outside air, the building will be clear to work in, which could be a great benefit to the city. Even though the bank has not been completely restored, the city could remove the water damaged materials in the buildings. Mr. Rickard will also take samples of anything that is questionable in the four buildings and will hopefully be down there this week to get the samples and do the air quality testing. Heidi was not sure that the testing information would be back by Monday, July 15 Tom stated that the Lease Task Force meeting would probably be postponed. o Update on 2011 Yellowstone River flooding event Heidi stated that the CLOMAR has been approved and FEMA has completely approved it through its process. Since it is over $1 million, it requires some Congressional review, which Mr. Lucas felt would be complete within five days. The city should be notified of the award letter from the federal government sometime this week. The city would then be able to go out to bid for the south bank restoration project. This is several months ahead of the anticipated schedule, as the goal was to do the restoration project in October or November. The city could wait until the fall in order to get down to the lowest flow possible to push 300 feet of bank back out 50 feet into the river. Recently, Jeremiah Theys, Heidi and the public works director met with Ken Frazier, the local Fish Wildlife and Parks manager, and Jeff Bolen, the DNRC planner. Jeff Ryan in the Helena office handles DEQ permitting and Beau Downing at FWP. A meeting is scheduled in Helena on July 19 for further one -on -one discussion with DEQ and FWP regarding the alternatives. Heidi mentioned that the public works director notified her today that the river has dropped 1.5 feet in the last ten days. Closer monitoring will be done this year in order to do maintenance on the emergency work that was done last year. The city is keeping very close watch on the river and will address any problems quickly. Other items • Resolution — Award bid to Dick Anderson Construction Heidi stated that the council approved SID No. 115 and SID No. 116 for the sidewalks on Cottonwood and Fifth Avenues last week. After that, Great West Engineering contacted Dick Anderson Construction to make sure the schedule for the SID improvements would be included in the bid document for council approval. Awarding the bid will start the clock for the 60 days from start to finish for this project. Dick Anderson Construction is aware that the item is on next week's agenda and should schedule a pre - construction meeting within the next ten days. Construction should be completed by the beginning of September. 3 Council Workshop Minutes of July 9, 2013 The bid includes the water and sewer main replacement on Fifth Avenue, water main replacement on Cottonwood Avenue, overlay of asphalt from curb to curb and the replacement of sidewalks in both locations. Dick Anderson Construction will be the general contractor for the whole project. • Resolution — Approve Addenda B and F to the Agreement between the City of Laurel and Local 303 Heidi explained that Addenda B and Addenda F are only the financial portions of the contract. Some grammar and outdated language still needs to be cleaned up in the contract. However, since negotiations have been going on over a year, settling some part of the contract would be in the best interests of the negotiating team and the city. The Addenda are the terms agreed upon by the city and the union. The concern was to make sure that a wage increase was not put onto the base salary, as the attorney determined that there was a large discrepancy in the amount paid to junior officers and senior officers. Officers start at the city at a wage that is close to the wage an officer ends with the city, so it would be in the city's best interests to compensate them to encourage officers to stay. The city tried to do an interest -based bargaining, which means the city said how many dollars were available and the union should figure out how to spend it. In the first two years, there is no wage increase in a percentage or cents capacity. It is a step program but the steps are not a guaranteed wage every year. Everything in the contract will be negotiable the next time the contract comes forward. They are listed as set amounts in Addendum "F" because the first year of the contract has passed and union members will receive back pay for the year of service last year. This year the amount will be broken into a different line item on the paychecks. Addendum `B" for 2014 -2015 includes a 2 percent increase for all Local 303 employees. • Neptune water meter update Heidi has met multiple times with Tony Glasser, the Neptune representative for this area. In correspondence last week, she supplied him with the city's logo and the authorization to put the logo on a door hanger that says the City of Laurel is aware that work will be done and meters will be changed out. A representative from Pacific Water Works came in yesterday and had the door hangers approved by the water clerk. They plan to start work this week and hope to replace the 1,600 water meters in three weeks. The city might need to replace meters in a few houses that cannot be done within the time period, due to homeowner vacations or vacant properties. Mayor Olson thanked Heidi for her work on the issue. Review of draft council agenda for July 16, 2013 The information regarding the event request will be inserted. Attendance at the July 16, 2013 council meeting There was no discussion. Announcements Mark mentioned that the Park Board will meet on Thursday, July 11 th . Chuck asked for an update on the proposed consolidation of emergency services. Heidi explained that staff is working with Carbon County on the proposed consolidation. At a meeting last month, it was decided that the city's clerk/treasurer and the clerk for Carbon County 4 Council Workshop Minutes of July 9, 2013 needed to hash out some numbers. The city does not want to continue in this if there was no financial benefit or would cause an extreme hardship on the city. Another meeting is scheduled next Wednesday in Joliet with Carbon County for discussion. The City of Laurel does not want to enter into this lightly. The City of Red Lodge has a lot of concerns, but they are currently getting an incredible deal from Carbon County for their emergency service dispatching. The city's clerk/treasurer did a nice job of breaking it down by percentage of calls. The City of Laurel would be responsible for its percentage, which is 42 percent of the total calls for the two counties. The city would sign an agreement with Carbon County and Carbon County would have agreements with Bridger, Joliet, and the fire districts and servicing areas in Carbon County. Red Lodge, Bridger and Joliet would have a certain percent of the calls and Carbon County would get the funding from them and submit it to the City of Laurel. The Management Budget allocated for remodeling in the old ambulance area. If the consolidation goes forward, the remodel could accommodate a larger dispatch and a police locker room. If the consolidation does not go forward, the remodel could be a sally port, a locker room and another fire office. Tom stated that a Cemetery Commission meeting should be scheduled on Thursday, July 18 He asked if staff has the information available for costs for the city to offer access to the back of section H in the cemetery. There was a brief discussion regarding the status of the requested information. Mayor Olson stated that he would check with staff and get back with Tom. Tom mentioned that Chuck Rodgers recently made a presentation about the cemetery to the council, and Tom would like to see projects move forward. Mayor Olson thanked the Fire Department for the fantastic fireworks show and thanked staff for their work through the long weekend. Recognition of Employees • Sheri Phillips — 16 years of employment on July 1 • Fran Schweigert — 15 years of employment on July 6 • Nathan Herman — 13 years of employment on July 10 • H. P. Nuernberger — 11 years of employment on July 3 • Calvin Lovshin — 1 year of employment on July 6 The council workshop adjourned at 7:22 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. 5