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HomeMy WebLinkAboutCouncil Workshop Minutes 02.11.2014 MINUTES COUNCIL WORKSHOP FEBRUARY 11, 2014 6:30 P.M. COUNCIL CHAMBERS A Council Workshop was held in the Council Chambers and called to order by Mayor Mark Mace at 6:30 p.m. on February 11, 2014. COUNCIL MEMBERS PRESENT: _x Emelie Eaton _x_ Doug Poehls x Bruce McGee _x_ Richard Herr x Chuck Dickerson _x_ Scot Stokes x Tom Nelson x Bill Mountsier OTHERS PRESENT: Heidi Jensen, CAO Jean Kerr, City Judge Public Input (three - minute limit): Iry Wilke reported that the Rod and Gun Club's turkey shoot scheduled on Sunday was cancelled as no one showed up. He asked to reschedule the shoot on March 16 23 or 30 He will submit a formal letter once the club decides on the date. Iry stated that the Laurel Rod and Gun Club's membership party has been scheduled for May 17 He will submit a formal letter of request to allow shooting during that event. The club has already engaged the Jaycee Hall for the party, since their building will not be ready by then. General items: • Appointment: o Laurel Ambulance Service: John Kuper The appointment will be on the February 18 council agenda. Executive Review: • Resolution — Approve MMIA's Workers' Compensation Program Agreement Heidi explained that the clerk/treasurer informed her that there are only two options for the city for workers' compensation coverage. The options are MMIA or the State Fund. After the clerk/treasurer looked into both options, she found that MMIA continues to be the better rate for the city and her recommendation is to sign this agreement. • Resolution — Disposal of City Court records Jean Kerr stated that the court is running out of room to store records. The Montana Courts of Limited Jurisdiction Records Schedule determines the timeframe to retain and dispose of court records. A list of the documents requested for shredding and disposal was attached to the draft resolution. After the resolution is approved by the city council, Jean will submit it to the State for permission to dispose of the documents. After State approval is received, City Court must wait for six months to shred the documents. Council Workshop Minutes of February 11, 2014 • Council Issues: o Angle parking on Montana and Colorado Avenues (Tom Nelson) Tom asked if Heidi had a chance to look up the resolution for a trial period for angle parking. Heidi stated the resolution (Resolution No. R00 -13) for angle parking was approved on July 1, 2000 for a six -month trial period. Resolution No. R02 -61 approved the diagonal parking after the trial period was completed. There were questions regarding striping, the need for clarification of what the council wants done, whether or not there is angle parking on Second Avenue, the suggestion for more discussion at the next council workshop so the public works director could provide information. o Dog issues in Riverside Park (Bruce McGee) Bruce stated that, since people use Riverside Park for their dogs but do not clean up after them, he wondered if the council had any options to alleviate the problems in the park. He suggested signage, letters to violators, citations, police patrol, and the creation of a dog park. There was discussion regarding the need for signage and garbage containers in Riverside Park, concerns that unauthorized shooting is still taking place in the park, current fines for animals defecating in city parks, the Park Board's suggestion to attach a copy of the city's dog ordinance to every dog license and require the owner to sign that they received a copy, concerns about a bow and arrow target in the park, the need for the Park Board to submit recommendations to the city council regarding the issues, concerns about adequate manpower to enforce the ordinances, suggestions that Tom Nelson and the Police Chief attend the next Park Board meeting, and the council's job to set policy for the mayor to direct the CAO and department heads to carry out. o Lease Task Force update Heidi received a call today from the owner of Schroeder Construction, who hopes to provide estimates for work on city hall and the buildings at Riverside Park. Heidi explained the issues with new leaks in the city hall roof and stated that they need to be fixed before any other work can be done. She explained to Schroeder Construction that the city is anxious to get the buildings in Riverside Park worked on and he thought he would have time this spring. There was discussion regarding the current issues with the city hall roof, the need to move the siren, last summer's issues with the roof when the air conditioner was replaced, and the need to replace the entire roof. o Update on 2011 Yellowstone River flooding event Heidi stated that Great West Engineering will present the final solution on Tuesday, February 18` from 10:00 a.m. to noon in the council chambers. She encouraged the council to attend the meeting. There was discussion regarding the time conflict with the LURA meeting that day, as Heidi will not be able to attend. Tom Nelson plans to attend the LURA meeting. Rick Herr and Scot Stokes plan to attend the meeting with Great West Engineering. Other items 2 Council Workshop Minutes of February 11, 2014 Tom asked Heidi to answer a recent question about why the city did not have a contest or scholarship for high school students to design a logo. Heidi stated that the city cannot be involved in any type of scholarship program through the schools and the school does not have the graphic design ability needed to produce the professional document requested. Emelie mentioned that the new logo was brought up by LURA, not by the council. The council simply approved the logo. Heidi explained that the cost for the logo was paid out of the tax increment finance district, as LURA asked for it to use in their economic outreach to businesses. Since the contract was under $5,000, it was approved internally by staff. There was discussion about the need to use local businesses whenever possible. Bruce stated that, from his experience on LURA, the board is very pro local businesses and that is their first desire. Emelie asked for clarification regarding the city's policy about demolition of buildings. Heidi explained that Emelie recently asked if the city had an ordinance or resolution that required pictures to be taken and records kept of historical or old buildings in downtown before they were demolished. Heidi did not believe there was such a policy at that time. However, an ordinance was adopted in 2008 that requires the city to take pictures if a historic building is going to be demolished or structurally made to look different. There was discussion regarding the suggestion to amend the policy to require taking pictures of the downtown buildings every other year for the city's archives. There will be further discussion at the February 25 council workshop. Review of draft council agenda for February 18, 2014 There were no comments. Attendance at the February 18, 2014 council meeting Bill will not attend. Announcements Scot stated that the Park Board recently discussed the signage and garbage issues in Riverside Park. The board would like to see more community service work done in the park. The Park Board voted to have Scot as the chairman and LuAnne Engh as the co- chairman at the last meeting. Emelie stated that the Public Works Committee voted to have the Public Works Director gather information about building a septic tank receiving area at the wastewater treatment plant. Two local businesses that receive septic material have to haul it into Billings and pay a high premium to dump it. Laurel has missed out on the revenues because the plant was not able to receive that kind of material. With completion of the current update at the wastewater treatment plant, it will be possible to receive the material. The committee recommended that the public works director get information regarding the initial expense, how long it would take for the city to recoup any expenses, and possible issues with the roadway. Emelie will bring the issue up at the goal - setting session on March 1s 3 Council Workshop Minutes of February 11, 2014 There was discussion regarding the possibility of a dump station for RV's, the requirement for the septic haulers to provide records of what is received, other area septic haulers that could use the facility, the revenues that could be produced, and the process to recommend the septic tank receiving area to the council. Recognition of Employees • Connie Crowe — 31 years of service on February 3` • Cathy Gabrian — 27 years of service on February 23r • Cheryll Lund — 26 years of service on February 9 • Kyle Bryant — 9 years of service on February 1 • Heidi Jensen — 3 years of service on February 28 • Monica Plecker — 2 years of service on February 1 Mayor Mace mentioned the employees on the list for February. He stated that there was a water break last week, and the guys on the water crew worked long hours in the cold weather to find the break and restore water to the residents. Mayor Mace encouraged the council to thank those employees and all employees whenever they have an opportunity. The council workshop adjourned at 7:33 p.m. Respectfully submitted, 1 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. 4