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HomeMy WebLinkAboutCouncil Workshop Minutes 09.09.2014 MINUTES COUNCIL WORKSHOP SEPTEMBER 9, 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 September 9, 2014. COUNCIL MEMBERS PRESENT: _ Emelie Eaton _x_ Doug Poehls _ Bruce McGee x Richard Herr x Chuck Dickerson x Scot Stokes x Tom Nelson x Bill Mountsier OTHERS PRESENT: Heidi Jensen, CAO Monica Plecker, Planning Director Public Input (three - minute limit): There was no public input. General items There were none. Executive Review: • Resolution — Partial street vacation Monica Plecker explained the request for a partial street vacation. A memo and a copy of a portion of a plat was provided to the council. Monica stated that, when Mayor Olson was in office, the city started working with Terry Fink at the Caboose Saloon because of discussions about the liability of obstruction in the right -of -way. After many conversations, it was determined that the best way to handle the situation would be to propose vacation of a 9 -foot by 130 -foot portion of what is known as Seventh Avenue. This would require a common boundary line relocation and there would be a conveyance of property to the property where the Caboose Saloon is located. Seventh Avenue would still have 70 feet of right -of -way, which is more than adequate. Seventh Avenue to the south serves the city maintenance shop. The City of Laurel is acting as the petitioner for this partial street vacation. Notice was published and a public hearing is not required. This right -of -way has been used for parking, for an outdoor patio and to display bronze statues, which have been encroachments on the right -of -way for a long time. There was a brief discussion regarding the encroachment of the right -of -way, which is on the east side of the Caboose Saloon. • Resolution — Alley vacation Monica stated that Town & County submitted an application for alley vacation. Town & Country recently acquired the parcel adjacent to their office, which was the old Cable USA building. The alley that runs between those two parcels has not been developed or utilized by the city, and the alley does not even have an approach and really leads to nowhere. The alley is located between West Main and First Street. Directly to the west, there are single family dwellings on large acreage. They are not small city Council Workshop Minutes of September 9, 2014 lots, so there is nowhere for this alley to connect and there is no entrance to this alley. Town & Country submitted the request because they acquired the adjacent parcel, they want to expand their facilities, and they would like to utilize the alley space. There are no water or sewer services located in the alley, and it really is just a right -of -way through there. The alley vacation does not require a new amended plat. In this case, Town & Country represents 100 percent of the parcels affected. Typically in an alley vacation, the legal description changes as the property to the center line goes to one property and the other part of the center line goes to another. If the alley vacation is granted, Town & Country would like to aggregate the lots to use the whole site. There was discussion regarding electrical utilities in the alley and the multi - family zoning with four - plexes located in Tract A -1. Since Tract A -1 has frontage on two sides of the street off Eighth Avenue and off Main Street, there would be adequate access without the alley. • Council Issues: o Discussion regarding council retreats (Tom Nelson) Tom spoke about the possibility of scheduling two council retreats each year to include goal setting discussions, as well as discussion of political issues that affect the council, the council's relationship to Montana State Laws, the city's own charter and how the council operates. There was discussion regarding the need for the council to be informed about the upcoming legislative session, the possibility of having Dan Clark (Local Government Center in Bozeman) and Dave Nielsen (League of Cities and Towns) present information to the council, and the suggestion to schedule retreats in the spring and the fall each year. Heidi suggested scheduling the fall retreat on a council workshop night, instead of on a Saturday. Since the League of Cities and Towns and the Local Government Center have a Monday through Friday work schedule, they could come on a Tuesday evening. After further discussion, it was decided to schedule a council retreat during the regular council workshop on Tuesday, October 28 • Laurel Jaycees' request to supervise camping in Riverside Park; Status of lease and lease amount (Emelie Eaton) • Lease with the Laurel Chamber of Commerce and roof replacement on the log cabin (Emelie Eaton) Chuck asked that these two discussion items be taken off tonight's agenda tonight and put on the next workshop agenda, since the council member that requested them was not in attendance. No council members objected. Copies of the current lease with the Laurel Jaycees was distributed to the council members. o Lease Task Force update There was no information to report. o Update on 2011 Yellowstone River flooding event Heidi explained that the sprinkler system has been installed in the bank and city staff knows how to operate it. Staff will do a closeout on the bank restoration project soon, as she will submit all of the fmal 2 Council Workshop Minutes of September 9, 2014 bills to the State DES Office. Good Earth Works is going to replace the trees and the bushes that were lost in the flooding event earlier this year. The trees and bushes will be planted on the higher part of the crown this year. All of the bushes and trees were down closer to the water and they just washed away very quickly. The city is required to pour dirt in between the rocks and then will replant from the crown down to where the water touched the riprap so the plants can root and grow in the area. As soon as the berries drop, they should naturally continue down the bank and re- vegetate and reseed. Heidi stated that the Environmental Assessment public comment period closed last Friday and the city received the public comment needed from all of the State and Federal agencies. FEMA is reviewing the comments and the Environmental Assessment should be approved in the coming months. Other items • Resolution — Accept bid for 2014 Street Maintenance Project Heidi explained that the bids for the project close on Thursday and the selection from city staff and the engineering firm will be fmalized by next Tuesday. The project includes crack sealing on the new streets by the Catholic Church on Fifth Avenue so the streets can be chip sealed next spring. Some heavy patching and restoration work is planned on West Railroad and a crown will be done on the north portion of Fourth Street that is in the city and has gutter to drain the water out to Eighth Avenue. Some crack sealing and patching will also be done in town. • Resolution — Approve DEA Agreement Heidi explained that the annual agreement is for the police officer to continue working as an extension of the Laurel Police Department. Review of draft council agenda for September 16, 2014 • Public hearings: o Partial street vacation o Alley vacation The public hearings are not needed and will not be on the September 16 council agenda, as stated by the Planning Director. Attendance at the September 16, 2014 council meeting All council members present will attend. Announcements Doug spoke regarding a constituent's call about traffic on Southwest 4 Street. Some residents intentionally parked a pickup and a trailer on one side of the street and an older pickup and a car directly opposite on the other side of the street, and the street is literally one lane wide there. Doug thinks the people parked the vehicles there in order to keep the Cenex employees from driving 60 mph down that street. Heidi said she would let the parking enforcement officer know about the situation. There was a lengthy discussion regarding parking vehicles on the street, LMC's requirement that vehicles cannot be parked longer than five consecutive days on a street in the city, and the need to review the ordinance. There will be further discussion at the council workshop on September 30 Bill stated a constituent's concern about the need to repaint the crosswalks on Wyoming Avenue, as the constituent has seen Graff School students trying to cross the street when high school students were 3 Council Workshop Minutes of September 9, 2014 speeding down Eighth and Ninth Streets. One of the problems is that there are no curbs on two blocks in this area. Heidi thought the crosswalks were going to be painted and will check with the Maintenance Superintendent to find out. Tom stated that some constituents in his neighborhood have been trying to get the alley between Date and Elm that runs from East 5 to East 6 repaired for a year. After driving around north of East Main Street, Tom thinks it is one of the worst alleys in town. The grade slopes so that water runs off into the neighbor's garage during snow melt. The neighbors at the south end at East Fifth have dumped a lot of junk to try to fill the alley and it has chewed up most of that and is still full of potholes. The alley is all dirt and has no real gravel. Tom stated that he wanted to put this information on the record. Tom stated that the Cemetery Commission will meet on Thursday, September 18 at 5:30 p.m. Chuck mentioned that some constituents asked him about the landfill hours on Saturdays, the hour that the landfill is closed from 10:45 to 11:45 a.m., whether the employee is working seven hours and getting paid for 8 hours, and if the landfill could remain open for eight hours, as the closure time is inconvenient for some people. Heidi explained that the employee does not just run the container site but also does some work at the city shop. The employee has two 15- minute breaks and a half hour for lunch, and the container site is closed during the lunch hour. The container site is not open for the full eight hours but the employee works a full eight hours. Recognition of Employees • Jan Faught — Ambulance Director 14 years of service on September 18 • Mike Furman, Jr. — Library 5 years of service on September 17 • Jeremiah Johnson — Police Officer 3 years of service on September 21s Mayor Mace recognized the employees for their service to the city. The council workshop adjourned at 7:13 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. 4