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HomeMy WebLinkAboutCouncil Workshop Minutes 12.29.2015 MINUTES COUNCIL WORKSHOP DECEMBER 29,2015 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 December 29, 2015. COUNCIL MEMBERS PRESENT: x Emelie Eaton _x_Doug Poehls -x Bruce McGee _x Richard Herr -x Chuck Dickerson Scot Stokes x Tom Nelson _x Bill Mountsier OTHERS PRESENT: Heidi Jensen, CAO Iry Wilke Rick Musson, Police Chief Howard Rickard, Laurel Jaycees Public Input (three-minute limit): Iry Wilke, 1017 Seventh Avenue, reported on the Laurel Rod and Gun Club's recent successful turkey shoot at Riverside Park. General items • Appointments to the Laurel Police Reserves: Wesley Brutlag and Ryan Sedgwick Chief Musson introduced Wes Brutlag and Ryan Sedgwick, who went through the application process starting in August and were chosen after background checks were completed. On January 12th, they will start the basic academy for reserves that is run by Captain Guy two nights a week and will graduate in May. Executive Review • Resolution- Budget amendment Heidi explained the budget amendment for the employer contribution to the Permissive Medical Levy Fund for fiscal year 2014-2015. This is a change of$14,903.00 and the cause of over expenditures was to lower the reserve in the fund. This did not raise any red flags with Heidi, as it is a simple budget amendment. There were no questions from the council. • Resolution- Lease with Laurel Jaycees Heidi stated that the resolution is for the lease with the Laurel Jaycees. The Jaycees was the first organization that came in to negotiate the lease with staff and wanted some language changed and added to the lease. One addition to the lease is the permission to allow a maximum of two RV's to be parked in the park for events, as people need to change clothes before a wedding and there is no place to do that in the Jaycee Hall. The Public Works Director and Heidi agreed with Mr. Rickard about this issue and will come up with some sort of signage to put in the window of the RV that demonstrates that they have permission. It is not for camping purposes,but it is clearly a staging area. Council Workshop Minutes of December 29,2015 Staff is excited to see the receipts that come back from the Jaycees because the organization puts money into the building and takes care of the facility. Heidi thinks it will be helpful for the council to see the work being done and the care that is being given to the building in the long term. Emelie asked if the council chair had decided on the annual lease amount. Heidi explained that the current lease is$100/year and the Jaycees are up-to-date on their payments. • Resolution- Agreement with Yellowstone County for DMV office space Heidi explained the resolution for an agreement with Yellowstone County for the DMV office space in city hall. Yellowstone County currently leases the space located adjacent to the court for no monetary amount and have asked to renew the lease for an additional five years with a lease amount of$0. The proposed lease agreement has been signed by the County Commissioners and awaits the council's decision and the Mayor's signature. Doug stated that the DMV is a great convenience and service for people in Laurel and he has no problem with the $0 lease amount. He recently found out that property taxes can be paid in the DMV office in Laurel. • Resolution- Easement Deed with M Diamond Land & Cattle LLC Heidi spoke regarding the resolution for the easement deed with M Diamond Land & Cattle LLC, which is the easement with the McCoy property for the new water intake. The lease is for$3,200 and the check has already been sent. A resolution needs to be approved for recordkeeping purposes. The documents have been signed and will be filed in Yellowstone County as soon as the resolution is approved. • Council Issues: o Update on 2011 Yellowstone River flooding event Heidi explained the delays regarding the easement with the Howrie property. The Howrie's attorney has been unable to review the buy/sell and easement agreement that the city attorney sent her. This easement is for a larger amount of money and includes a deed transfer for the purchase of a portion of their property for the pump house location. In an email today, the Howrie's attorney told the city attorney that she hopes to review the documents this week. Heidi thought the Howries wanted a check by the end of the year for tax purposes, so that would need to be done by Thursday. Heidi saw Pat Kimmet at Rotary two weeks ago and he has the easement for the CHS property on his desk. Heidi hopes that the Howrie's attorney will at least provide written permission for the city to survey on the property so Great West Engineering can finish the final plans to submit to DEQ. Heidi will attend a Resilient Montana Conference in Helena on January 15t. Laurel has applied for a Federal Disaster Grant through the Department of Commerce, and this is the final push to get that application in. The city is asking for the full $2.7 million and is also looking at some other grants with Federal EDA. Federal money cannot usually be used to match Federal money, but some of these grants have exceptions since they are disaster related. Heidi continues to explore other alternatives to the DNRC loan and DNRC is still processing the paperwork for the$1.7 million loan. o Lease Agreements Heidi will bring the next lease forward when it is ready. 2 Council Workshop Minutes of December 29,2015 Other items Mayor Mace explained that he has sent emails to Dan Clark regarding committees and other questions, but some email issues have been a problem for him. Heidi is working to get the email issues resolved and he will get the answers to the council as soon as possible. Review of draft council agenda for January 5, 2016 • Swearing in of re-elected council members There was no discussion. Attendance at the January 5, 2016 council meeting All council members present will attend. Announcements Bruce asked regarding the sign that is going up at the Chevrolet dealership, since the council did not approve it. Heidi will find out what is going on. The council workshop adjourned at 6:49 p.m. Respectfully submitted, Cindy Allen Council Secretary NOTE: This meeting is open to the public. This meeting is for information and discussion of the Council for the listed workshop agenda items. 3