HomeMy WebLinkAboutCouncil Workshop Minutes 05.27.2003 MINUTES
COUNCIL WORKSHOP
MAY 27, 2003 6:30 P.M.
COUNCIL CHAMBERS
A Council Workshop was held in the Council Chambers and called to order by Mayor Bud
Johnson at 6:30 p.m. on May 27, 2003.
COUNCIL MEMBERS PRESENT:
_x_ Lauren Van Roekel __ Doug Poehls
x Ken Olson x Mark Mace
x Gay Easton x Daniel Dart
x Dan Mears x John Oakes
OTHERS PRESENT:
Steve Klotz Matt Erekson
Public Input (three-minute limit)
Citizens may address the Council regarding any item of City business not on the agenda. The duration for an
individual speaking under Public Input is limited to three minutes. While all comments are welcome, the Council
will not take action on any item not on the agenda.
· None
Cemetery land purchase and cemetery, plan - Steve Klotz
· Have been waiting on the cemetery land purchase for six months
· Waiting for legal description on portion of land Schessler donated to the Masonic Temple
o We have a big parcel of land; he donated a little piece of it out of it; land needs to
be subdivided to take that piece out
o Surveying has been done, but has not been registered
o Needed DEQ approval; has been done
o Needs to be reviewed and recorded at the county
· Buy/sell agreement is ready through Carole Mayes at A Haus of Realty
o Should happen fairly soon
· Cemetery plan
o Has been put in CIP
o Similar to water and waste water facilities plans
o Need direction as to how final layout · Roads
· Sprinkler system
· Needs to be sized for expansion
· Final elevations
· Land
· Ability to fill with surplus materials saves on costs of compaction
and buying fill material
· Road maintenance
Council Workshop Minutes of May 27, 2003
· CIP Committee will rank the cemetery plan.
o Will go to council for final approval
o Could put off cemetery plan for a year because we are not yet to the point of
expanding
o Some real obvious things can be done first.
o Not looking at developing any roads in the near future
· Parks plan in CIP
o Needs to be done fight away
o Need to look at water plans
· Need primary water system
o Do not have primary irrigation rights off the ditch at the cemetery
o Question if there are water rights on the property being purchased from Schessler
Storm water district - Steve
· At last week's budget review (three councilmen attended), one topic that raised a lot of
discussion centered on the street maintenance and gas tax presentations.
o Discussion went from there to the storm sewer concerns and our general street
repair process.
o Bud thought it would be worthwhile discussion for this agenda.
· Laurel street condition review
o 36.5 miles of paved streets
o System has been inventoried and condition rated.
o Pavement Condition Index (PCI): 100 is best; 0 is worst.
o PCI above 55 qualifies for preventive maintenance.
o PCI below 55 must be rebuilt from the base up.
o Average PCI in Laurel is 31.
o 82% of Laurel streets require rebuilding (PCI under 55).
o Would cost $10 million to repair our street system in one year
o Our total combined annual revenue from Street Maintenance and Gas Tax is
$265,795.
o Our available revenue after personnel costs is $85,628 (wages, unemployment
insurance, workers' compensation, health/dental/vision insurance/life insurance,
social security insurance, and retirement)
o Our available revenue for construction is $32,246.
o We have invested the time and money to facilitate an efficient street remediation
program; we are just lacking funding.
· Need to do street repair
o There is public outcry for it.
o Water and sewer lines need to be repaired first, which is a high cost for the public.
o Not a good "bang for your buck" for public support for repairing water and sewer
lines.
· Storm water issue
o Not prudent to repave and rebuild base in streets when there is no storm water
drainage
o Most failure in the streets is caused by base failure
· Poor base - paved on clay and expands and contracts
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Council Workshop Minutes of May 27, 2003
· Inundation of water into base, which fails it on its own
· Causes pavement to crack and then it gets more water
· Asphalt binder loses strength in water and accelerates wear
o Before fixing streets, sewer and water lines and putting in storm water drains need
to be done - a lot of high costs before we can even do anything visible that the
public wants.
o Storm water study needs to be done. · Look at whole area
· Look at the service area
· Look at the existing storm water drains and the ditches
· Would come forward with design numbers
· From Steve's perspective, it is the main function of doing the storm water
study.
· Once the study is done, it leads the way to a storm water district
· Laurel Storm Water Study was done in 1974 - not useful for anything now
· Comprehensive study would cost $250,000
· Currently looking into grants to help fund the study
· Once the plan and design is in place, it will be a big cost to complete all the projects.
· Discussion regarding state funding for repair of streets
o Preventive maintenance program
o If you met the grant qualifications, they would do some preventive maintenance.
o The grant qualifications included being able to show which streets you have that
were worth saving.
· The paver software met those qualifications.
· We presented our data, our system, and our evaluation to the State.
· Also reviewed by the federal government prior to meeting the grant
· Result that some preventive maintenance work will be done.
· Work is scheduled for next summer
· Will include a mill and fill (rom-milling off the top surface), and
then overlaying it, some leveling, and then chip sealing everything
(seal and cover).
· Work will be done from
o Up 1St Avenue from Main to 12th (where our ronte ends)
o East and West Maryland from Washington to 8th
o Section from 8th to 12th
o Remainder of 8th Avenue is an urban route (scheduled for
reconstruction)
· PCI index used to qualify the streets through a field review; looked
at curb and gutter and some type of drainage.
· Discussion regarding culverts in right-of-way
· Discussion regarding base and material failure
· After studies are completed, city is no closer to getting the projects done because of lack
of funding.
· Discussion regarding increasing the assessment for the street maintenance
o Currently at ½ cent per square foot (about $40 per year)
· Discussion regarding a spiral plan for street repairs
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Council Workshop Minutes of May 27, 2003
Budget
· Distributed booklet containing materials from each budget review session
· Fire department and public utilities department scheduled for May 28th budget session.
· Need input from council regarding the direction of the budget
· Public hearing on budget scheduled for June 17th.
· Preliminary budget will be available for preview prior to the public heating.
· Mayor wants appropriations passed by first of July.
o Mary feels crowded by that deadline.
o Mayor thinks the deadline is possible.
· Budget that we would propose to pass includes a set level of appropriations that is set by
the council according to estimated revenue sources
o If the estimated revenue source roms up in a different fashion than what was
estimated, there may need to be some changes made.
· Some budgets are not in the booklet.
o Workers comp fund
o Health insurance
o Council sets level, but no decision-making takes place by council.
o Mary has some budgets to do; will be available soon.
· Laurel Airport Authority
o Presented their budget in past
o Defining the Airport Authority
o Council has no control over the Airport Authority except for appointments.
o City provides Airport Authority with 2 mills (approximately $12,000).
o John Smith will be invited to present AA budget during Reports of Boards and
Commissions at the June 3ra council meeting.
· Mayor asked for thoughts regarding the budget review.
o Comments regarding funding things
o Evaluation of process - changes for next year
· Discussion regarding life insurance
· Labor/Management Cooperation Committee
o Insurance Committee was first item on agenda.
o Existing committee used now
o Review process
o Define function of Insurance Committee
o May result in a different way of negotiating insurances
· Ken Olson
o Discussion regarding $167,077 mom appropriations than revenues
o Will be taken out of cash reserves if budget is adopted as it is now
o Cannot go into cash reserves for two or three years in succession
o Need ideas to increase revenues
· Franchise fee would generate about $30,000
· Park Maintenance District
· Street Maintenance District - assessment could be increased
· No capital requests in budget - go to CIP
· Discussion regarding need to increase revenues
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Council Workshop Minutes of May 27, 2003
· Need a work plan
0 Set of priorities must come from council
o By setting appropriation levels, council allocates resources.
o Where do we want to see the city a year from now?
o Set of written goals could drive the process
Ci~. attorney
· Review ofpropnscd Temporary Services Contract
o Contract to provide services of city attorney through December 31, 2003
o During that time, council could come to a point to restructure or rehire.
· Review of process
o Matt tendered resignation, effective upon replacement.
o Questions of restructure of the attorney's position are still unsolved
· Matt's evaluation of contract
o Determination needs to bc made about mount of time for thc secretary
o Mileage could be charged from office in Billings.
o Attorney liable for experts and witnesses is different from previous contracts
indicated
o Does not include that council already passed a resolution for $2,000 per month
o Letter of understanding was signed for $50/hour.
o This contract does not rescind the previous resolution and contract.
· Mayor's explanation
o Original proposal was restructured into a civil and prosecution side, each having a
separate and distinct contract.
o Civil contract was approved but not executed.
o Civil services contract as proposed would have been for the city attorney position.
· Current city attomey was still an employee.
o Resulted in execution of an attorney/client agreement for $50/hour for civil legal
services.
· Matt stated that the signed document should be repealed.
o Resolution should rescind previous resolution and revoke agreement.
· Mayor gave council period of time to review the attorney contract.
· Agreement needs to work for both sides.
o Some elements are negotiable.
o Early termination clause is included for both parties.
· Mayor to adjust and clarify the contract and put on next council agenda.
o Need statement in contract to rescind other agreement.
o Travel statement to be clarified and defined.
o Secretary time to be defined (option in the proposed budget).
Continuing interest and options for council communication · Mayor previously distributed pages of interests and options for communication.
· Has not received a lot of feedback
· Could use as starting point to clarify
· Originally attempted as an effort to address issues
· Have been more presentations on workshop agendas to promote better communication
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Council Workshop Minutes of May 27, 2003
· Public input on agendas provides communication.
· Mayor said additional interests or options could be added.
· Might be topic for future retreat
Executive review
· Dan Mears questioned the status of the generator at the water intake.
o Explanation may be available at budget review meeting tomorrow night.
· Need for formality for the council to address the chair during meetings
o Tends to give order to hectic proceedings
· Supervisory training
o Half day of supervisory training from AEM held today
o Dealt with supervisory relationships to help department heads and supervisors be
more effective in interactions with employees
o Second half of supervisory training scheduled for June 24th
o May get some additional resource
· AEM has been reviewing employee records on Wednesdays and Thursdays for the past
few weeks; process is about half completed.
Agenda discussion · Resolution:
· A resolution approving an agreement between the City of Laurel and the City of Billings,
said agreement relating to solid waste disposal.
o Yearly renewal
Other items
· Question regarding the tree chipper
o Need to ask Steve
· Matt Ereksun
o MMIA informed him that the city has a rider regarding personnel policies and
coverage.
· The rider actually covers court proceedings.
· MMIA is going to take over the issue with Fran Schweigert in from of the
Human Rights Commission.
· Matt would make the letter available to the council upon request.
· The question to them was when it becomes a trial and when it is a hearing.
· MMIA does not have an obligation but is going to take it over anyway.
· MMIA hired Harlan Craig, of the Moulton Bellingham Firm, to handle it
for the city.
o When water rates were increased, the water rates for fire hydrant rental were not
increased.
· Need to decide if it is worth addressing or not worth addressing.
· Fire department and Cenex are charged for hydrant rental.
· Amounts of increased revenues would be minimal.
· Discussion regarding process to clari~ functions of committees
<~ Mayor has not received any additional interests and options.
o There are some dilemmas in the committee structure.
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Council Workshop Minutes of May 27, 2003
o Explanation of situation with fire rate increases for airport
· Dan Dart received phone calls from Laurel Airport Authority members
regarding rate increases.
· His name, as the committee chairman, was listed as a contact on the letter.
· Dan did not know anything about the increases.
o Recent Emergency Services Committee
· Agenda, keg ordinance, and helmet law information was sent to members
of committee prior to the meeting.
· Members of committee did not read the information before the meeting.
· No quorum at the last Emergency Services Committee meeting.
o Discussion regarding committees
· Elected officials bear the brunt of the decisions that result from the
committees.
· Citizens do not have a stake in it.
· Committee membership takes:
· Participation
· Preparedness
· Dedication to attend meetings
· Purpose of committees
· Some committee members think the committee has authority.
· Committees should make recommendations to the council, not set
policies.
· Public should be involved in the committees.
o Opportunities for public involvement are available -
example of sign code task force
o Public provides a sphere of influence.
· Committees need to be informed regarding:
· Purpose
· Role/responsibility
· Recommendations
· Regular attendance - call if you cannot come
· Questions whether issues should go to committees or workshops
· Need defiaition of function of committees
· Discussion regarding quorums
· Quorum is needed at committee meetings and council meetings.
· Need to call and let someone know if unable to attend a meeting
· Several current vacancies on board/committees
· Question if there are too many committees
· Person is needed to take minutes for Emergency Services Committee
· Will check with Rick regarding R.S.V.P.
· Letter from John Oakes
o John's memo was read.
o Memo was critical of the process of ad placement
o Further discussion revealed that the action had been addressed at the May 13th
council workshop.
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Council Workshop Minutes of May 27, 2003
Process used was awkward.
Cal's budget makes proposal for position.
o Cal sees it as a cooperative effort with businesses.
o Mayor indicated that he would try to work at it better.
o Matt has copies of the job description and the recent TCSP Oversight Committee
minutes.
o Mayor indicated that he would try to work at it better.
o Question regarding level of council's involvement in every situation.
· Discussion regarding quorum at council meeting on May 20th
o Council members need to let mayor know if they will not be at a meeting.
o Mark Mace will not be at budget review meeting on May 28th.
Announcements
· Election papers available in the clerk/treasurer's office.
· Bring code books to council secretary for updates.
The council workshop adjourned at 9:18 p.m.
Cindy Allen,~Council Secretary
NOTE: This meeting is open to the public. This meeting is for information and discussion by
the Council.
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