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HomeMy WebLinkAboutCity Council Minutes 12.16.2014 MINUTES OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF LAUREL December 16, 2014 A regular meeting of the City Council of the City of Laurel, Montana, was held in the Council Chambers and called to order by Mayor Mark Mace at 6:30 p.m. on December 16, 2014. COUNCIL MEMBERS PRESENT: Emelie Eaton(6:43 p.m.) Doug Poehls Bruce McGee Richard Herr Chuck Dickerson Scot Stokes Tom Nelson Bill Mountsier COUNCIL MEMBERS ABSENT: None OTHER STAFF PRESENT: None Mayor Mace led the Pledge of Allegiance to the American flag. Y g g Mayor Mace asked the council to observe a moment of silence. MINUTES: Motion by Council Member Mountsier to approve the minutes of the regular meeting of December 2, 2014, as presented, seconded by Council Member Dickerson. There was no public "' comment or council discussion. A vote was taken on the motion. All seven council members present voted aye. Motion carried 7-0. CORRESPONDENCE: WBI Energy Transmission, Inc.: Letter of November 20, 2104. Laurel Chamber of Commerce: Minutes of November 13, 2014; Agenda for December 11, 2014. COUNCIL DISCLOSURE OF EX PARTE COMMUNICATIONS. PUBLIC HEARING. CONSENT ITEMS: • Clerk/Treasurer Financial Statements for the month of November 2014. • Approval of Payroll Register for PPE 12/07/2014 totaling$203,473.70. • Receiving the Committee/Board/Commission Reports into the Record: --Budget/Finance Committee minutes of December 2, 2014 were presented. --Park Board minutes of December 4, 2014 were presented. --City-County Planning Board minutes of December 4, 2014 were presented. --Council Workshop minutes of December 9, 2014 were presented. --Emergency Services Committee minutes of November 24, 2014 were presented. --Laurel Urban Renewal Agency minutes of November 17, 2014 were presented. The mayor asked if there was any separation of consent items. There was none. Council Minutes of December 16,2014 Motion by Council Member Poehls to approve the consent items as presented, seconded by Council Member McGee. There was no public comment or council discussion. A vote was taken on the motion. All seven council members present voted aye. Motion carried 7-0. CEREMONIAL CALENDAR: • Arbor Day Proclamation Mayor Mace read the Arbor Day Proclamation, which proclaimed May 5, 2015, as Arbor Day in the City of Laurel. REPORTS OF BOARDS AND COMMISSIONS: None. AUDIENCE PARTICIPATION (THREE-MINUTE LIMIT): Mike Dewey, 101 West Main, spoke regarding parking in the downtown area for apartment residents. Parking in the downtown area is just two hours and the city lot across the street is three- hour parking, so there is really no place for apartment residents in the immediate downtown area to park where they are not parking illegally within a short period of time. Parking enforcement has not enforced that in the eight years he has lived there, but he has recently received three tickets. He asked if the council could come up with a solution for the residents. Today Mike spoke with the postmaster, who recently counted the downtown apartments. Between 219 West Main and 105 East Main and including 6 and 7 Montana Avenue, there is a total of 63 units in that area. He suggested that allowing residents to park longer would not block other people from parking. If the city made more than half of the parking spaces available to residents with a permit, he thinks it would alleviate the problem and still provide plenty of parking for visitors. Mayor Mace thanked Mike for his comments and stated that he would pass on the request to the Public Works Department. Council Member Dickerson asked if the request should be place on the next council workshop agenda for discussion to resolve the issue. Mayor Mace stated the need to find out what information Public Works has regarding the issue. Council Member Dickerson stated that it would be nice if the council could come up with ideas to send to the Public Works Director to provide some kind of a guideline as to what could be done, but it was fine if Mayor Mace thought the Public Works Director should address it first. Mayor Mace stated that the Public Works Director has done considerable striping for parking and he thinks it would be advantageous for the council to have that information first. Council Member Dickerson withdrew his request for the agenda item. Council Member Eaton arrived at 6:43 p.m. SCHEDULED MATTERS: • Confirmation of Appointments. Laurel Urban Renewal Agency: Mayor Mace reappointed Janice Lehman as an Advisory Member on the Laurel Urban Renewal Agency for a four-year term ending December 31, 2018. Motion by Council Member Nelson to approve the Mayor's reappointment of Janice Lehman as an Advisory Member on the Laurel Urban Renewal Agency for a four-year term ending December 31, 2018, seconded by Council Member Poehls. There was no public comment or council discussion. A vote was taken on the motion. All eight council members present voted aye. Motion carried 8-0. Police Commission: 2 Council Minutes of December 16,2014 Mayor Mace reappointed Wallace Hall to the Police Commission for a three-year term ending December 31, 2017. Motion by Council Member Dickerson to approve the Mayor's reappointment of Wallace Hall to the Police Commission for a three-year term ending December 31, 2017, seconded by Council Member McGee. There was no public comment or council discussion. A vote was taken on the motion. All eight council members present voted aye. Motion carried 8-0. Park Board: Mayor Mace reappointed Chuck Dickerson, Amy Pollock and LuAnne Engh to the Park Board for four-year terms ending December 31, 2018. Motion by Council Member McGee to approve the Mayor's reappointments of Chuck Dickerson, Amy Pollock and LuAnne Engh to the Park Board for four-year terms ending December 31, 2018, seconded by Council Member Eaton. There was no public comment or council discussion. A vote was taken on the motion. All eight council members present voted aye. Motion carried 8-0. • Resolution No. R14-87: Budget amendment resolution amending appropriations and reserves for employer contribution—Group Health Fund for Fiscal Year 2013-2014. Motion by Council Member Eaton to approve Resolution No. R14-87, seconded by Council Member Nelson. There was no public comment or council discussion. A vote was taken on the motion. All eight council members present voted aye. Motion carried 8-0. • Resolution No. R14-88: A resolution of the City Council authorizing the Mayor to sign a contract with Great West Engineering for on-call engineering services. Motion by Council Member Poehls to approve Resolution No. R14-88, seconded by Council Member Mountsier. There was no public comment or council discussion. A vote was taken on the motion. All eight council members present voted aye. Motion carried 8-0. • Resolution No. R14-89: A resolution authorizing the Mayor to sign Change Order No. 4 with Williams Brothers Construction for the Wastewater Treatment Plant Project constituting an increase of$33,445.29 for additional work. Motion by Council Member Herr to approve Resolution No. R14-89, seconded by Council Member Poehls. There was no public comment or council discussion. A vote was taken on the motion. All eight council members present voted aye. Motion carried 8-0. • Resolution No. R14-90: A resolution of the City Council authorizing the Mayor to sign a contract with Marstaeller Construction and Roofing for a new roof and gutters for the Laurel Chamber of Commerce building. Motion by Council Member Stokes to approve Resolution No. R14-90, seconded by Council Member Dickerson. There was no public comment. Council Member McGee pointed out to the council that his resolution approves reroofing a city- owned building that someone uses without a lease in place. He wanted the statement to be in the record. He does not know the rest of the council's thoughts on that, but that is what is taking place with this motion and the council needs to be aware of it. Council Member Nelson stated that, in most of the leases, the city is responsible for all major work, including roof replacement. Although the city does not have a current lease agreement with the Chamber, he assumes that the language would be similar to that in other city leases. He would like that to be on record also. A vote was taken on the motion. Council Members Poehls, Herr, Stokes, Mountsier, Nelson, Dickerson and Eaton voted aye. Council Member McGee voted nay. Motion carried 7-1. • Request from the Laurel Rod and Gun Club to host three turkey shoots on January 4, February 8 and March 15, 2015 from 10:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m., as per the protocol in the lease agreement. 3 11/ L Council Minutes of December 16,2014 Motion by Council Member Mountsier to approve the request from the Laurel Rod and Gun Club to host three turkey shoots on January 4, February 8 and March 15, 2015 from 10:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m., as per the protocol in the lease agreement, seconded by Council Member McGee. There was no public comment or council discussion. A vote was taken on the motion. All eight council members present voted aye. Motion carried 8-0. ITEMS REMOVED FROM THE CONSENT AGENDA: None. COMMUNITY ANNOUNCEMENTS (ONE-MINUTE LIMIT): None. COUNCIL DISCUSSION: Council Member Nelson mentioned that no council meeting is scheduled next Tuesday, as there are five Tuesdays in December. He wished everyone a Merry Christmas. Council Member Dickerson asked about the possibility of addressing the holes that are forming in the underpass while the weather is decent and before they become a major obstacle as in the past. He stated that it could be on the December 30th council workshop agenda. Mayor Mace stated that an email could be sent to the State to see when the next maintenance is scheduled for the underpass. Council Member Dickerson wished Happy Holidays to everyone. Council Member McGee spoke concerning the Park Board and the LMC mandate for the Park Board to be involved in the leases. He asked if there could be an update on the lease agreements on every council workshop agenda so the council could know the status. He also asked if a timeline could be established for completion of the leases. Council Member McGee suggested that all of the leases, including the leases in Riverside Park, should be completed by July. Mayor Mace agreed to have the lease agreements be a standard item on the council workshop agendas. Council Member McGee wished everyone a Merry Christmas. Council Member Eaton mentioned that she was recently advised that when someone makes a motion for an item, they cannot then vote no for the item. She wanted to bring it to the council's attention that if someone is against the motion,they have to reword it so they can vote for the motion. Council Member Poehls disagreed. He stated that Mr. Weaver always said that the actual motion process is to bring the item up for a vote and it does not make any difference which way a person votes on it. The individual is just bringing the item to the table to be voted on, not saying whether or not they endorse it. Council Member Eaton asked for discussion at the December 30th council workshop. Mayor Mace stated that it would be on the next agenda. "— Council Member Dickerson also spoke regarding the motion sequence. Council Member Poehls thinks the motion is just to bring the item to a vote and has nothing to do with how the person is going to vote. Mayor Mace stated that there would be discussion at the next council workshop. UNSCHEDULED MATTERS: None. ADJOURNMENT: Motion by Council Member McGee to adjourn the council meeting, seconded by Council Member Eaton. There was no public comment or council discussion. A vote was taken on the motion. All eight council members present voted aye. Motion carried 8-0. 4 " i� Council Minutes of December 16,2014 There being no further business to come before the council at this time, the meeting was adjourned at 6:59 p.m. Cindy Allen, ouncil Secretary Approved by the Mayor and passed by the City Council of the City of Laurel, Montana, this 6t" day of January, 2015. Mark A. Mace, Mayor Attest: Shirley Ewan, Clerk/Treasurer 5