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HomeMy WebLinkAboutCouncil Workshop Minutes 07.28.2015 MINUTES COUNCIL WORKSHOP JULY 28, 2015 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 July 28, 2015. COUNCIL MEMBERS PRESENT: x Emelie Eaton _x Doug Poehls x Bruce McGee x Richard Herr Chuck Dickerson Scot Stokes x Tom Nelson x Bill Mountsier OTHERS PRESENT: Heidi Jensen, CAO Sam Painter, City Attorney Shirley Ewan, Clerk/Treasurer Public Input There was no public input. General items There were none. Executive Review • Resolution—Compliance Regulations for Bond Issuance for Sed Basin funding. Heidi referred the resolution to Shirley. Shirley tried to explain the purpose of the resolution and mistakenly referred to the loan for SID 117 instead of funding for the sed basins. After correction from Council Member Eaton, Shirley apologized for her error and explained that the purpose of the resolution is to insure that we comply with all regulations pertaining to bond issuance. The bond issue is in the amount of$3,362,747. • Resolutions— Surplus Purchase Program with State of Montana Property and Supply Bureau. Heidi referred the resolution to Shirley for explanation. Shirley stated that this resolution is to update the files at the State and insure that the City will comply with the Civil Rights Act of 1964. Council Member Mountsier asked if the City uses the program to find better prices on supplies. Shirley stated that is how the cars for the police department were purchased and that the City could probably use it more extensively. • Resolution—Agreement with Family Fun Scuba& Snorkel. Heidi informed the Council that this resolution will not be going forward, as the YMCA has a lease with the City and they have control of the pool for the summer. If the YMCA is comfortable with the classes and Mr. Dean provides the insurance coverage, the City will not get involved. Council Member Nelson asked if the Attorney was comfortable with this. The City Attorney stated that he is and the city will have double coverage during these classes. Council Workshop Minutes of July 28, 2015 • Park Board Issues—Hours for Kids' Kingdom and Kiwanis Park Heidi stated that the Chief of Police is not in favor of changing the hours to the same hours as Kids' Kingdom. Council Member McGee was at the Park Board meeting when this was discussed and the Board felt that the Police Chief was in favor of this and stated that it would be easier for patrolling the area. Heidi stated that it is budgeted to put security cameras at the park to deter vandalism. The cameras we are getting quotes on have additional cameras that can be placed in other areas and monitored by the police. Jean Kerr, residing at 1128 9th Avenue, stated that the Council should consider changing all parks to dusk to dawn hours. She's not sure where the Siren Replacement Group is, but if the siren was replaced and working it could go off at 9:00 p.m. each night giving warning that the parks are now closed. Mayor Mace stated that in the summer the parks are still light at 9:00 p.m., which wouldn't be fair to those that are still playing in the park at 9:00 p.m. • Council Issues: o Discussion regarding how items proceed from committees/training for committees (Emelie Eaton) Emelie stated that, while she is on several committees, she is not sure how the committee suggestions and expectations are to come before the Council. Some are presented, some are ignored and some just die after they leave the committee. She would like some clarification and training in regards to what committees can and can't do and why some items are followed through with and some are just lost in the piles. She feels that there are some committee members that are quitting due to the fact that the committee suggestions are going nowhere and no one knows why. As a Council member, she is also interested in why some things are followed through and some are not. City Attorney Painter stated that he has gone through the Code Book and has found little guidance on standing Boards and Committees. There is more information on Special Committees that have one project or job, meet, decide and close the committee. It does state that someone from the committee is to report back to the Council and while this is a good idea, it doesn't always go that way. Committees need to understand that they need to be willing to give and take with the Council and not everything they request or act upon will be approved by the Council. The committee members need to request that they be put on the Council agenda through the Mayor or CAO to bring their ideas forward. Council Member Poehls stated that the committee members and the Council need a training session. Heidi stated that she has talked to Dan Clark at the Local Government Center and is requesting that he present such a training session on the fourth Tuesday in September. Currently he is booked for that week, but could possibly do the training on a Tuesday before a Council workshop. Heidi mentioned that not only do we need training, but also need to learn how to dissolve some committees, as there are several that no longer meet. Council Member McGee agreed that training is necessary and the Council could use part of the agenda for reports from Council Members in regards to committees. It needs to be noted that committee minutes will need to be done on time to report to the Council. o Update on Shade at the Pool(Emelie Eaton) 2 Council Workshop Minutes of July 28, 2015 Emelie has seen the canvas coverings, the tables and chairs at the pool and feels that is an awesome addition to the pool area. Heidi stated that those items were donated to the pool by a private individual, LuAnne Engh. Emelie asked if she has been thanked for the donation. Heidi stated that the City has thanked her and she will get a card if the Council would also like to extend their thanks. Emelie stated that would be great. o Update on the Yellowstone River Flooding Event Heidi has met with the State Land Board and the City has been approved for an easement from where the Intake will be placed in the river, over to the bank of the river. The 2 other easements have not be procured. After the meeting with the Board, she went to the Governor's office to ask for five minutes of his time. She was denied the meeting with the Governor, but met with his assistant, Adam Schafer. She pleaded with him to have someone from the Governor's office come address the Council on why the State is refusing to take on the responsibility of the $2.7 million deficit in the project. Mr. Schafer stated that he will work on getting someone to appear before the Council. Mr. Schafer showed Heidi the Attorney General's opinion on why the State is not responsible for the deficit. 1) Title 10 Funds are only eligible for replacement and not new. Heidi stated that she has already gone through this with the Feds and this is a replacement and they accepted the City's report as such. 2) The State is not responsible, as this is a different biennium than when the flooding occurred. It is now the Bullock administration rather than the Schweitzer administration, and they regard this project as non- emergent. Heidi asked that if the City were to declare an emergency this summer in regards to drought and not enough water, would the State consider that an emergency. Mr. Schaeffer will have to look into that. Meanwhile, FEMA is pleased with the progress with the design and plans and Heidi and the City Attorney will continue working on the easements. o Lease Agreements Heidi stated that these have not moved forward. Other items o Resolution—Agreement with Industrial Communication for E-911 Support. Heidi stated that Chief Musson asked today, if the contract with Industrial Communications could be on tonight's workshop. The City Attorney has written the resolution for the contract and she would like the Council to accept the resolution for vote at the next meeting. This is the same contract as last year and the same cost. Council Member Eaton asked if the contract had been budgeted. Heidi assured her it had. Review of draft council agenda for August 3, 2015 There was no draft council agenda to review. Shirley stated that she will have the secretary send one out as soon as possible. Attendance at the August 3, 2015 council meeting All council members present will attend. Announcements Council Member Mountsier reported on the Pennsylvania and Eighth Street Project. He mentioned that a water main was broken and the neighborhood went without water for several hours. Heidi 3 Council Workshop Minutes of July 28,2015 stated that the Engineer, City and Wilson Brothers' representative meet tomorrow morning and she will find out what happened and how the main got broken. Council Member Nelson commented on what a nice job the construction crew did on the underpass and that they finished a few days early. Emelie thanked staff for working on training for the committees and council. The council workshop adjourned at 7:17 p.m. Respectfully submitted, )df-/ &ICU() Shirley Ewan Clerk/Treasurer 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