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HomeMy WebLinkAboutPublic Works Committee Minutes 09.13.1999MEMBERS PRESENT: OTHERS PRESENT: MINUTES PUBLIC WORKS COMMITTEE SEPTEMBER 13, 1999 7:00 P.M. COUNCIL CHAMBERS Chairman Gay Easton Bud Johnson Mark Mace Gary Temple Miles Walton Bill Staudinger Lu Anne Engh Larry McCann Soccer Club request for a building in Thomson Park. Larry McCann explained that the Soccer Club requested permission to build a 6x9 shed with a cement foundation in Thomson Park. The shed would be located west of the fence that separates the park from the schools and would be used to store the soccer goals, nets, equipment and concession tables for the Soccer Club. Larry recommended having the Soccer Club buy an enclosed 5x10 trailer in which to store their equipment in the park during the soccer season. He does not want to see another building in the park, as it necessitates more lawn maintenance. The committee had a lengthy discussion regarding having more buildings in Thomson Park. Miles stated that he was opposed to it. Bud mentioned that soccer is a growing sport and should be treated equally with the other sports. Lu Anne Engh, a representative of the Laurel Soccer Club, arrived at the meeting at 7:15 p.m. After she explained the club's request, the committee recommended that the club should purchase a trailer for storage. Lu Anne agreed that this would be an acceptable solution. The committee discussed the need for future evaluation of this and various other aspects of the park policy. Bud suggested that this issue should be a joint agenda item with the school district. Gay will appoint a task force to study Thomson Park and the park policy. Grant application - SDCG. The Sustainable Development Challenge Grant (SDCG) is the third grant application for the intake and is due on September 29th. Tom Kaiserski, Beartooth RC&D, is completing the grant application. We will be applying for $3 million, the maximum amount available. Cenex has corranitted $40,000 to the project if the grant is received. The grant attempts to get businesses to participate in the problems of the city. Since Laurel is the only applicant for the Impact Grant for the State of Montana, we should receive the grant. The money would go to Yellowstone County, and then it becomes our responsibility to justify why that $300,000 should be spent on our intake. Since the intake problem is a project that would affect more people than any other project in the county, it should be simple to justify the need. Stop signs at East 9th and Wyoming and East 9th and Pennsylvania. Gay mentioned that Cal Cumin is still working on the transportation study in Laurel. Smokey explained that the traffic on these streets is intense when school is dismissed, and the teenage drivers are not being cautious. He suggested that installing stop signs at these intersections would help to alleviate some of the problems. There was discussion regarding similar problems in other areas of town during the school lunch hour and at other times when the teens are driving. When asked about the process of installing a new stop sign, Larry said that there is currently no valid traffic study for the traffic in the City of Laurel. The traffic study which is included in the Transportation Grant will identify the areas where there is enough traffic density to justify having a stop sign. The Public Works Department recommended that the signs should not be installed until the traffic study is completed. Gay will talk with Rick Musson about the accident rate in this area and will suggest that the policemen continue to monitor the area. Fifth Avenue and Main Street to Railroad Street. Stillwater Engineering is currently doing the engineering work on the plan to rebuild Fifth Avenue from Railroad Street to Main Street with new rubber crossing. Since the railroad cannot get their crew in to lay the new sections of track this fall, the project will be delayed until next spring. Relocating the crossing ann should not be as expensive as anticipated. The rubber crossing material should cost about $16,000 and will be ordered through the railroad. Spruce Grove emer~enc~ exit. Miles received a complaint that a recreational vehicle was parked here and that the area has been fenced off. Ed Michael, the owner of the RV, has the landowner's permission to park it there. If the vehicle were backed up a short distance, it would be out of the emergency exit. If an emergency occurred, it would be possible to drive through the present fence. But Miles expressed concern that the senior citizens would probably not drive through the fence in the case of an emergency. The chain should be removed from the fence so that the emergency exit is always available. Public Works will be installing Emergency Fire Access signs in this area soon. Annexation of county park. The county park is located at Date Avenue and East 8th Street. It was not possible to coordinate some of the legal aspects of the annexation, so this will be considered at the next meeting. According to his understanding, Bud said that insurance is the reason for annexing the park into the city. Lan'y said that the YMCA wants the park annexed so the city can grant them long-term use of the park. As long as it is used as a YMCA property, their insurance would be primary. Miles mentioned that the same insurance issues are prevalent at Riverside Park with the various organizations that have exclusive use of buildings. Larry said that a long-term lease with the YMCA would require them to provide their own insurance and maintenance. Bud stated that this is not their perspective. He stated that the county would give them any agreement that they chose, so what is the difference if they get it from the county or from us. The stipulations that the City of Laurel would require in an agreement need to be specified so that the YMCA has a clear 2 understanding of them. Miles suggested that annexation was requested in order to receive city water and sewer services. Riverside Park skeet shooting. On September 9th, some people were skeet shooting at Riverside Park. The new owner of the property south of Riverside Park raises horses and claims that someone was hit with pellets from a shotgun at that time. Larry said that skeet shooting either needs to be discontinued or pointed straight down the property line. The committee discussed the problem and the possibilities to change and correct it to ensure safety. Gay will direct Mary Embleton to write a letter to the Rod and Gun Club to explain the problem and ask the club to correct it immediately. Sweeper acceptance. Due to some problems, Larry informed Boyle Equipment Company that we would not accept the street sweeper. After they hauled it into Billings and did some work on it, they returned it and Larry inspected it. Three problems are currently being addressed. Their factory representative should be here during the second week of October. Larry informed them that we would not accept the sweeper until it has been used and observed under regular work conditions. Unscheduled matters. There was a septic tank backup at the Water Plant on Sunday. Larry will check on the legalities of having the septic tank located less than fifty feet from the riverbank. The fix for this issue would not be cheap. The American Legion had a broken pipeline over the weekend. Bud mentioned that the quality and taste of the tap water has greatly improved lately. There were no problems with the Willow Drive Ditch this summer. A letter has been sent to the new owner of the trailer court requiring that the water be shut off. She was told to go to the neighbors to get a SID to install a storm sewer, The meeting adjourned at 8:13 p.m. Respectfully submitted, Cindy Allen City Council Secretary 3