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HomeMy WebLinkAboutCity Council Minutes 03.15.2005MINUTES OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF LAUREL March 15, 2005 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 Ken Olson at 6:30 p.m. on March 15, 2005. COUNCIL MEMBERS PRESENT: Dick Fritzler Kate Stevenson Gay Easton Jennifer Johnson Doug Poehls Mark Mace Daniel Dart John Oakes COUNCIL MEMBERS ABSENT: None Mayor Olson led the Pledge of Allegiance to the American flag. Mayor Olson asked the council to observe a moment of silence. MINUTES: Motion by Alderman Dart to approve the minutes of the regular meeting of March 1, 2005, as presented, seconded by Alderman Poehls. A roll call vote was taken on the motion. All eight aldermen/women present voted aye. Motion carried 8-0. CORRESPONDENCE: Laurel Chamber of Commerce: Letter of February 23, 2005 requesting permission to sponsor the Culpepper & Merdweather Circus on Sunday, June 12, 2005, at the old North School Lot. Laurel Chamber of Commerce: Letter of February 23, 2005 requesting permission to hold the annual Grand Parade on July 4, 2005, at 11:00 a.m. and the annual Chief Joseph RUn on July 4, 2005, at 7:00 a.m. Laurel Chamber of Commerce: Letter of February 24, 2005 requesting permission to use Firemen's Park on Friday, July 22, 2005, for Heritage Days. Laurel Chamber of Conunerce: Letter of February 23, 2005 requesting donations to purchase tickets for the Culpepper & Merriweather Circus on JUne 12, 2005. Yellowstone Resource Center, Inc.: Letter of February 23, 2005 regarding the private not-for-profit division of Yellowstone Boys and Girls Ranch. Bright n' Beautiful: Letter of February 28, 2005 regarding the Christmas tree chipping for the 2004- 2005 season. PUBLIC HEARING: None. CONSENT ITEMS: Clerk/Treasurer Financial Statements for the month of February 2005. · Approval of Payroll Register for PPE 02/27/05 totaling $129,097.35. · Receiving the Committee Reports into the Record. --Budget/Finance committee minutes of February 15, 2005 were presented. --City-County Planning Board minutes of March 3, 2005 were presented. --Cemetery Commission minutes of March 3, 2005 were presented. --Council Workshop minutes of March 8, 2005 were presented. Council Minutes of March 15, 2005 The mayor asked if there was any separation of c0nsent items. There was none. Motion by Alderman Mace to approve the consent items as presented, seconded by Alderman Dart. A roll call vote was taken on the motion. All eight aldermen/women present voted aye. Motion carried 8-0. CEREMONIAL CALENDAR: None. REPORTS OF BoARDs AND COMMISSIONS: None. AUDIENCE PARTICIPATION (THREE-MINUTE LIMIT): None. SCHEDULED MATTERS: · Confirmation of Appointments: None. · Laurel Chamber of Commerce: Request for permission to sponsor the Culpepper & Merriweather Circus on Sunday, June 12, 2005, at the old North School Lot. Motion by Alderman Oakes to approve the request for permission to sponsor the Culpepper & Merriweather Circus on Sunday, June 12, 2005, at the old North School lot, seconded by Alderman Poehls. Mayor Olson stated that the requests from the Chamber are for times during the construction season. With approval of this request, the council will allow the Chamber of Commeme to have the activity, but it may be necessary to request a road closure from the council. The Public Works Director should have a definitive start date for the project after this week's meeting regarding the First Avenue project. A roll call vote was taken on the motion. All eight aldermen/women present voted aye. Motion carded 8-0. · Laurel Chamber of Commerce: Request for permission to hold the annual Chief Joseph Run at 7:00 a.m. and the annual Grand Parade at 11:00 a.m. on July 4, 2005. Motion by Alderman Poehls to approve the request for permission to hold the annual Chief Joseph Run at 7:00 a.m. and the annual Grand Parade at 11:00 a.m. on July 4, 2005, seconded by Alderman Mace. Mayor Olson mentioned that the map attached to the request indicaed that the parade would be on East First Street and Fimt Avenue on July 4th. Tentatively, those streets will be under construction, so the route may be different than Presented. A roll call vote was taken on the motion. All eight aldermen/women present voted aye. Motion carried 8-0. · Laurel Chamber of Commerce: Request for permission to use Firemen's Park on Friday, July 22, 2005, for "Heritage Days". Motion by Alderwoman Johnson to approve the request for permission tO use Firemen?s Park on Friday, July 22, 2005, for "Heritage Days", seconded by Alderwoman Stevenson. A roll call vote was taken on the motion. All eight aldermen/women present voted aye. Motion carried 8-0. Resolution No. R05-30: Resolution authorizing the Mayor to execute the requisite agreements with Beartooth Harley-Davidson for the use of three motorcycles by the City of Laurel Police Department. Motion by Alderman Fritzler to approve Resolution No. R05-30; seconded by Alderwoman Stevenson. A roll call vote was taken on the motion. All eight aldermen/women present voted aye. Motion carded 8-0. 2 Council Minutes of March 15, 2005 Resolution No. R05-31: A resolution authorizing the Mayor to sign a Registered Services Agreement to obtain e-government services through the State of Montana website. Motion by Alderman Easton to approve Resolution No. R05-31, seconded by Alderman Ffitzler. A roll call vote was taken on the motion. All eight aldermen/women present voted aye. Motion carried 8-0. · Resolution No. R05-32: A resolution extending Ordinance NO. 653 for ninety (90) days. Motion by Alderwoman Stevenson to approve Resolution No. R05-32, seconded by Alderman Fritzler. A roll call vote was taken on the motion. All eight aldermen/women present voted aye. Motion carried 8-0. Ordinance No. 005-03: An ordinance amending Title 12 of the Laurel Municipal Code, by adding a new Chapter 12.38, for the purpose of allowing the reimbursement to qualified subdivision developers of a portion of the costs of the extension of utility mains in certain limited circumstances. First reading. Motion by Alderman Mace to adopt Ordinance No. 005-03, seconded by Alderman PoeMs. A roll call vote was taken on the motion. All eight aldermen/women present voted aye. Motion carried 8-0. The public heating for Ordinance No. O05-03 will be on the council agenda on April 5, 2005. · Set public hearing for April 5, 2005, for the revised City of Laurel CDBG Housing Rehabilitation Program Income Plan. Motion by Alderman Dart to set the public hearing for April 5, 2005, for the revised City of Laurel CDBG Housing Rehabilitation Program Income Plan, seconded by Alderman Oakes. A roll call vote was taken on the motion'. All eight aldermen/women present voted aye. Motion carried 8- 0. · General Fund Budget Presentation: Nathan Tubergen Nathan Tubergen presented the budget and overview of the General Fund. He asked the council members to bring last year's budget books to the clark-treasurer in order to use them for this budget season. With the update sheets, the council will have the Preliminary Budgets for the presentation on May 19th. Nathan mentioned that no capital is available in the General Fund, but he will continue to work on this. Last year Nathan was asked if the budget would be balanced this year, and he stated that this year's budget is balanced. Although it was not easy, he thanked the department heads for their help in meeting that goal. The total revenues are estimated at $2,648,596 with a total proposed request of $2,726,009 after the cuts. The. total requests were $2,879,470. Nathan subtracted an SID payment and the fire bunker gear, which he felt should come out of reserves. That brought the total to $78,812, leaving net cuts of $153,116 out of the budget this year. When he first received the cuts fzom them, one department had cut out a half-time position in order to meet the necessary cuts. Nathan reviewed each line item in the budget and was able to increase some of the revenues, allowing the half-time position to be included in the budget. So there are no personnel cuts in the budget this year. The proposed personnel cut was in the police department, where Nathan had asked for a cut of $55,000 out of the budget. The police department has a $1 million budget out of the city's $2.6 million budget. After review of the ievenues and expenditures, Nathan was able to put the position back in, keep a balanced budget, and keep staff at the current level. Nathan included the projected contract settlement in the budget. He has been concerned about the worker's comp liability in the budget in the General Fund and all other funds. Currently, the workers' comp charge is approximately $48,000, and a ten percent increase would be $4,800. He was afraid it might be considerably more than that and a lot of things can still change. Until the legislative process ends in April, taxes and shared revenues are uncertain and could impact the budget. Council Minutes of March 15, 2005 Nathan again mentioned that no capital is included in the budget overview as presented tonight. He will do a review of the expenditures and revenues to see what reserves might be available at year end. Nathan and Mayor Olson will review the capital improvement plan to determine the priorities. Nathan stated that the City of Laurel needs to look at new revenue sources between now and a year from now. The budget is balanced, but it is a minimum budget. He questions whether or not some of the departments will be able to make it through the year, but all of the department heads are very aware of the situation. Nathan encouraged the council and the Budget/Finance Committee to review the budgets at mid-year to see if there are any problem areas. A schedule for the park maintenance district will be Nathan's next project. In a meeting with the fire department today, Nathan asked regarding the Fire Relief Fund. He offered his assistance to prepare a five-year projection for the fund because of the expenditures versus the revenues that are generated. Nathan distributed the city council, mayor, and city attorney budget sheets to the council. On Tuesday, March 22nd, the police, court} ambulance and fire department budgets will be presented. On Wednesday night, the public works department budgets and the library budget will be reviewed. Nathan reviewed the city council budget sheet. The Budget Changes column will show any adjustments made within the budget. The Final Budget column will be the Preliminary Budget that is presented to the council on May 19th. The consultant's services were reduced from $5,000 to $3,000 in the city council budget. The major change in the Mayor's budget was the removal of $13,200 for health insurance. The consultant's services amount was reduced from $20,000 to $15,000. A total of $18,200 was removed from the Mayor's budget. An increase in Salaries and Wages would provide for the administrative assistant's position to become a full-time position instead of a half-time position. No adjustments were made to the city attorney's budget, as it is already below last year's budget and the city has a legal services contract: Nathan explained that there is not much difference between several of the current and proposed budgets. For instance, the police budget has a thousand or two thousand dollars difference between this year's and last year's budgets, including wage increases. Nathan explained that the various budgets would be charged five percent for the administrative assistant's position. Mayor Olson thanked Nathan for the presentation. ITEMS REMOVED FROM THE CONSENT AGENDA: None. COMMUNITY ANNOUNCEMENTS (ONE-MINUTE LIMIT): None. COUNCIL DISCUSSION: Alderman Mace stated that it is nice to s~e equipment working in the streets. Alderwoman Johnson mentioned that:there has been a lot of discussion via e-mail from the Big Sky EDA regarding clusters such as economic development, transportation, agri-systems and health care. She will provide information to the council as it is received. Bob Curt, from MSU-Billings, is still interested in setting up an office in Laurel. Alderwoman Johnson plans to work with him on that. The Daughters of the Revolution want to plant a tree on Arbor Day. Alderman Easton reminded the council of the groundbreaking for Solid Foundations Subdivision on April 1st at 2:30 p.m. Mayor Olson reported on the Mayor's Conference he attended in Bozeman last week. About thirty- five mayors from different communities attended, and the ability to interface with other mayors with similar problems was a great opportunity. Council Minutes of March 15, 2005 UNSCHEDULED MATTERS: Special council workshops are scheduled for 6:30 p.m. on Tuesday, March 22nd, and Wednesday, March 23fa, for budget presentations to the council. ADJOURNMENT: Motion by Alderman Poehls to adjourn the council meeting, seconded by Alderman Dart. All eight aldermen/women present voted aye. Motion carried 8-0. There being no further business to come before the council at this time, the meeting was adjourned at 7:23 p.m. Cindy~etary Approved by the Mayor and passed by the City Council of the City of Laurel, Montana, this 5th day of April, 2005. Attest: Mary K. FT~bleton, Clerk-Treasurer 5