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HomeMy WebLinkAboutCouncil Workshop Minutes 02.25.2014 MINUTES COUNCIL WORKSHOP FEBRUARY 25, 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 25, 2014. COUNCIL MEMBERS PRESENT: _x Emelie Eaton _x_ Doug Poehls x Bruce McGee x Richard Herr x Scot Stokes x Chuck Dickerson x Tom Nelson x Bill Mountsier OTHERS PRESENT: Heidi Jensen, CAO Bob Frank Shirley Ewan, Clerk/Treasurer Iry Wilke Monica Plecker, Planning Director Kurt Markegard, Public Works Director Public Input (three - minute limit): There was no public input. General items There were none. Executive Review: • Laurel Rod and Gun Club's request for annual membership party on May 17, 2014 Iry Wilke, 1017 Seventh Avenue, stated that his letter requested permission for the annual membership party on May 17, 2014. The party will be held in the Jaycee Hall and they will start shooting about noon and be done by 5:00 pm. • Resolution — Annexation of a portion of East Main Street (PH 03/04/2014) Monica Plecker explained the resolution to annex a portion of the right -of -way from Alder to Locust on East Main Street. The city currently has part of the right -of -way and has been seeking permission from MDT to get the other part of the right -of -way. MDT approved it recently and the council already approved a resolution of intent to annex a portion of East Main Street, which triggered a notice period. No comments were received protesting the annexation. A public hearing will be held on March 4 followed by the resolution of annexation. • Ordinance — Fence heights Monica spoke regarding the Planning Board's recommendation for replacement of the existing fence heights ordinance. Gary Colley, the building official, worked on this issue, presented it to the Planning Board, heard their concerns, and prepared the proposed language for the ordinance. Because he deals directly with the builders and issues the permits and notices of violation, it was important for him to be involved to have clear language that he can interpret. Council Workshop Minutes of February 25, 2014 The proposed ordinance deletes the existing language, but several things carry over with similar language. Monica outlined the following items in the proposed fence ordinance: A. Fences, walls and hedges may be erected or maintained in any zoning district provided the height, setback , and material provisions outlined below are followed and a permit is secured as per Laurel Municipal Code Chapter 15.20. "Fence" for the purposes of this section means any fence, wall or hedge. No fence shall be erected or maintained in the public right -of -way, closer than one (1) foot from a sidewalk or six (6) inches from property line. B. Height. Height for the purposes of this section shall be defined as the vertical distance from the top rail, board or wire to the ground directly below. C. Setbacks required. Fences, walls and hedges of up to four (4) feet may be erected or maintained in the required front yard and side yard adjacent to street setback as defined in LMC sections 17.16.020 and 17.20.020. Fences, walls and hedges up to six (6) feet may be erected or maintained in rear yard and side yard not adjacent to street, except as noted in section D. Any fence, wall or hedge in excess of six (6) feet shall meet all of the yard setback requirements for structures as defined in LMC sections 17.16.020 and 17.20.020. None of the above setback requirements shall apply to lands located in AG, CBD, CC, HC, LI, and HI zones. D. Side yard adjacent to street fences. If the property abuts an alley the rear yard fence may be erected and maintained up to six feet (6) from the rear of the dwelling to the alley. Clear vision at alley shall apply. E. Setbacks for clear vision areas. No fence, wall or hedge greater than thirty (30) inches may be erected or maintained in any zoning district within a clear vision zone as defined by City of Laurel Resolution No. R03 -63. Fences of chain link, woven wire or other similar type fence which provide no more than ten (10) percent obstruction to visibility through the fence when constructed can extend to four (4) feet in height may be constructed in this area. F. Material permitted. All fences in residential, agricultural and commercial zoning districts shall be constructed from materials which are commonly used for fencing. Commonly used fence materials include wood, brick, stone, split railing, wire, vinyl, chain link and ornamental iron work. In HI and LI zones fences may be constructed of finished or coated steel or aluminum building panels. Fences shall not be constructed from railroad ties, wooden pallets, tires, rubble or salvaged material. Materials not listed are subject to special review by the city planning group. G. Material exception - Barbed wire and electric fence. In the city limits no barbed wire or electrical fencing shall be permitted in residential zoning districts. Barbed wire and electrical fencing shall be allowed in AG and RT zoning districts. Electrically charged fencing along any public way shall be posted with warning signs or fluorescent marking at intervals not to exceed one hundred fifty (150) feet. 2 Council Workshop Minutes of February 25, 2014 H. Security fences. In AG, CBD, CC, HC, LI, and HI zones security fences may maintain a barbed wire fence on top of a non - barbed wire fence as long as the lowest strand of barbed wire is eight (8) feet above grade. I. Miscellaneous exceptions. These provisions shall not apply to fences required to surround and enclose existing junk yards and public utility installations or to enclose school ground and public playgrounds. J. Penalties. Any person violating a provision of this chapter may, upon conviction thereof be punished as set forth in Section 1.36.010 of this code. Monica stated that the Planning Board discussed the potential issues of requiring fences to be built 6 inches from the property line, which could result in a one foot strip between properties. The Planning Board wanted to be very clear about property lines, as the building department hears about many property line disputes. There could be challenges with maintaining the one -foot strip, but the Planning Board felt the challenges would be less than the continued disagreements between property owners. Code enforcement addresses weed violations. Setbacks requirements are identified in the Laurel Municipal Code. An exception was added under section D. as a result of some recent council discussions. Side yards that are adjacent to streets, basically a corner lot that has a side yard adjacent to a street, if the property abuts an alley, a rear yard fence may be erected and maintained up to six feet from the rear of the dwelling to the alley. Clear vision shall apply. That takes care of the rear yard because there are some issues with clear vision coming out of alleys. Clear vision requirements are established in the Public Works Standards. There was a lengthy discussion regarding building a fence "closer than one (1) foot from a sidewalk or six (6) inches from property line ", maintenance and weed issues in the one -foot area, a provision for the "good neighbor" fence, clear vision issues, the suggestion that language is needed to grandfather in existing fences, and the suggestion that the city file agreements between two property owners. Monica stated that the ordinance would not necessarily alleviate all fence issues, as it deals with property owners that think they should be allowed to do whatever on their own private property. She stated that the ordinance is in the review process and staff is open to suggestions. The discussion continued at length until it was suggested to send the fence height ordinance back to the staff and the City - County Planning Board for further review. The fence height ordinance will not be on the March 4 council agenda. • Council Issues: o Photographing downtown buildings (Emelie Eaton/Chuck Dickerson) There was discussion regarding photographing the buildings in downtown Laurel every five years in order to preserve the history of the city. A civic organization might be interested in the project. o Sidewalk improvements in the TIF District (Emelie Eaton) Emelie distributed copies of information she prepared regarding the condition of the sidewalks in the TIF District. The information was divided into two main sections, including the downtown area and the Southeast 4 Street area. Emelie photographed the areas that were possible tripping hazards, 3 Council Workshop Minutes of February 25, 2014 wrote a summary and points for action to accompany the pictures, and provided a sidewalk inspection guide and unit price schedule. There was discussion regarding the issue and the Budget/Finance Committee's suggestion to approach LURA with the proposed project. Monica attended the LURA meeting where Council Members Eaton and Nelson discussed potential ways that LURA could participate through some of the grant programs already offered, but there were many unknowns at the time of that discussion. Monica stated that the LMC is very clear that it is the property owner's responsibility to replace and maintain sidewalks and issues with snow removal are handled through code enforcement. She asked the council to take that into consideration with this issue. There was further discussion regarding sidewalk replacement and projects, contracts and permits, the sidewalk SID's on 5 Avenue and Cottonwood, ADA ramps, and a possible grant program through LURA. Heidi explained that 99.9 percent of LURA's current primary focus is on economic development in the TIFD, which is why the city contracted with the economic development coordinator. LURA would need to decide if they are interested in offering a grant or assistance program for sidewalk replacement, the program would need to be developed, and the council would need to consider and vote on the program. At the March 17 meeting, Heidi's recommendation is to show LURA the potential problems and see if they would like to proceed. If so, LURA could ask the mayor to direct staff to proceed in writing a program that would require council approval. Applicants would apply like they apply to the Technical Assistance and the Facade programs. Doug thanked Emelie for all the work she did on the project. o Angle parking on Montana and Colorado Avenues (Tom Nelson) Tom stated that, during last night's Emergency Services Committee meeting, Chief Musson mentioned that the angle parking is in resolution and not in ordinance, so it is not enforceable by the department. The issue will be on the next Emergency Services Committee's agenda. Kurt distributed a quote for a street striping project on Montana, Colorado, Pennsylvania and Wyoming Avenues and a project on SE 4 Street and Bernhardt Road. There was discussion regarding striping, handicapped parking spaces, truck traffic on Second Avenue, and the police chief's responsibility to handle parking issues. Heidi stated that the business owners on Southeast 4 Street were supposed to have a meeting of the property owners to decide whether they wanted to have two lanes of parking or a center turn lane. The city is not part of the discussion and the business owners need to come up with the plan. Until they do so, the city has no plan for Southeast 4 Street. o Report on meeting with Great West Engineering (Bruce McGee) Heidi, Kurt and Mayor Mace attended the meeting with Great West Engineering. She tied this report into the update on the 2011 Yellowstone River flooding event. 4 Council Workshop Minutes of February 25, 2014 Heidi stated that Great West presented three alternatives. The first alternative is to install a new intake just east of the current intake and then lower the existing 2003 intake and replace the screens. The second alternative is to move the intake three miles upstream to a more stable location. The third alternative is to install over a mile of various infiltration galleries. Staff had a lengthy discussion with the engineers and decided that there was no clear cut answer and that time was needed to review the alternatives to meld them together to produce one alternative to present to FEMA. During the conference call, they explained to FEMA that the city received a very rough draft and did not want to hand out misinformation. They explained the three different alternatives to FEMA and said the city needed to review them internally and then have Great West present an alternative as the final solution to move forward for permitting as soon as possible. There was a question regarding projected costs for the alternatives and discussion regarding the unrealistic costs for the alternatives. Mayor Mace asked Kurt for a quick synopsis of the UV light project at the wastewater treatment plant. Kurt stated that the UV equipment was installed last week and the building is almost complete. As of last Thursday, the city is in the process of testing the UV light at the sewer treatment plant. Samples are being pulled to test for e Coli. Today Kurt informed the DEQ that the plant is able to treat the effluent going to the river. Hopefully, the plant will quit using chlorine and not have any chlorine residual violations for which the city entered into a settlement agreement with DEQ last fall. The city does not need to treat for e Coli in the winter, but staff is trying to get the equipment up to see how effective the sterilization is before it goes to the Yellowstone River. o Septic dump site at the wastewater treatment plant (Emelie Eaton) The item was brought forward from the Public Works Committee meeting for further discussion to see if the mayor would direct staff to research more information. Kurt stated that people, including Ray Cotter and Bob Frank, have often approached the city about putting in a dump station or finding a manhole for septic haulers to use. Before RBC treatment, the city could not accept it because the RBC trains could not keep up with the treatment. Now that the city is going into a B &R or activated sludge plant, the plant needs the BOD's (biological oxygen demand). Two people have asked the city for years to take their sludge out of the septic tanks, so Kurt thought this was a good time to approach the Public Works Committee. Kurt stated that the best time to install a septic tank system to accept the pumped off sludge from septic haulers would be prior to the completion of the current construction project at the sewer treatment plant and before the parking lot is paved. Bob Frank, 2101 Shay Road, spoke regarding his business, the drive time to Billings, labor and truck maintenance costs, and the financial opportunity for the City of Laurel to provide the service to him and other septic haulers. He hauls about 2,000 gallons per load about three times a day to the facility in Billings at a cost of $40 per 1,000 gallons. At the council's request, Mayor Mace will direct staff to get more information regarding potential costs and how to proceed. There will be further discussion at the next Public Works Committee meeting on Monday, March 10 and the council workshop on March 11 th . 5 Council Workshop Minutes of February 25, 2014 o Riverside Park issues — signage for dogs and shooting There was discussion regarding signage for dog owners, the need for more police enforcement, the current signage about shooting, the need to put information in the newspaper, and the suggestion for signage to report all shooting to dispatch. Kurt stated that there is money in the budget for additional signage. o Park maintenance mill levy issue (Doug Poehls) Shirley presented information regarding the proposed park maintenance mill levy. She explained the items required in the ballot referendum and the two ways to assess the amount, which include assessments based on taxable value or having every property owner pay the same amount. There was a lengthy discussion regarding the proposed mill levy, the two ways to determine the assessments, the total annual amount of the levy, the current costs of $275,000 to operate the city's parks, the need to educate the public about the referendum, and whether the council wanted to move forward. A special Park Board meeting will be scheduled on Monday, March 3` in order to send a recommendation forward to the council. A resolution for the park maintenance mill levy will be added to the March 4 council agenda. o Updated Committee List / Vacancies The updated committee list was distributed to the council. There are vacancies on the Emergency Services Committee, the Board of Appeals, the Library Board, the Tree Board, and the City- County Planning Board. o Lease Task Force update Heidi has not received a response from Schroeder Construction. The code enforcement officer has seen the repairs that are needed to the buildings, has a copy of the inspection list the city received from ServPro last fall, and will help find someone to do some work on city hall and the buildings at Riverside Park. o Update on 2011 Yellowstone River flooding event This was discussed earlier. Mayor Mace stated that the council's goal - setting session is on Saturday, March 1S Department heads will attend from 9:00 to 11:00 a.m. and Dan Clark will take notes on the goals presented. From 11:00 to 2:00 p.m., Dan will provide guidance on the council's roles, responsibilities and goals. Other items Tom mentioned that the city's website needs to be updated. Heidi stated that city staff will make ID lanyards for the council members. Review of draft council agenda for March 4, 2014 • Public hearing: Annexation of a portion of East Main Street The public hearing is scheduled for March 4th. Attendance at the March 4, 2014 council meeting There was no discussion. 6 Council Workshop Minutes of February 25, 2014 Announcements There was no discussion. The council workshop adjourned at 9:19 p.m. Respectfully submitted, L 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. 7