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HomeMy WebLinkAboutCouncil Workshop Minutes 07.26.2016 MINUTES COUNCIL WORKSHOP JULY 26, 2016 6:30 P.M. COUNCIL CHAMBERS A Council Workshop was held in the Council Chambers and called to order by Council President Doug Poehls at 6:30 p.m. on July 26, 2016. COUNCIL MEMBERS PRESENT: Emelie Eaton _x_Doug Poehls Bruce McGee _x_Richard Herr x Chuck Dickerson Scot Stokes Tom Nelson Bill Mountsier OTHERS PRESENT: Heidi Jensen, CAO Jean Kerr, Laurel City Court Judge Public Input Jean Kerr, Laurel City Court Judge, distributed a handout of recent emails with the CAO regarding VisionNet. There was a lengthy discussion regarding the VisionNetproposal, the city's request for the court to seek an extension for the proposal, the possibility that the cost will increase after July 31St, the city's request for the court to aggressively pursue collection of unpaid fines to make up the difference in funding over the next budget cycle, the need to follow the city's policies and procedures, and the purchase requisition process. Jean stated that the court is complying with the city's request that the court turn people over to collections. She stated that Montana Code Annotated says that the judge cannot be ordered to collect the fines or use collection services, as it says the judge "may". She cautioned that there should not be a condition for the court to get the money for the VisionNet Program, since the court did not spend $14,000 in the last fiscal year. There was further discussion regarding the Budget/Finance Committee, the auditors' concerns regarding the court's lack of collection, the merger of the court's finances with the city's finances, and the court's collection policy. Council President Poehls returned the discussion to the item at hand, the VisionNet program. He stated that the VisionNet program will be added to the budget, but the court has been asked to collect the money to help pay for it since the purchase was not originally in the budget. Jean will finalize her complete response tomorrow. General items There were none. Council Workshop Minutes of July 26,2016 Executive Review • Laurel Rod and Gun Club's request to hold a trap shooting event for the Locomotive Engineers Union Heidi stated the request from the Laurel Rod and Gun Club to hold a trap shooting event for the Locomotive Engineers Union on August 16t. Copies of the requests were distributed to the council members. • Resolution- Expand Lighting District No. 2 Heidi stated that NorthWestern Energy finally responded to the clerk/treasurer regarding how to expand Lighting District No. 2 to include Foundation Avenue, which has been worked on for almost two years. The design is done and ready and Light District No. 2 needs to be expanded to include Foundation Avenue in the residential light district. • Resolution- Preliminary levy of special assessments for maintenance costs in SID No. 114 Heidi explained that SID No. 114 is for the Elena Subdivision. Prior to the budget being finalized every year, the city needs to assess the maintenance costs for the subdivision. The city has been very equitable and worked hard to keep the cost down. Some trees were planted in the subdivision this year, and positive comments have been received about that. • Resolutions - Canyon Creek Ditch Company Easement Deed and Clarks Fork Ditch Company Easement Heidi explained that the two resolutions are for the final easements the city needed to obtain for the pipe to be installed for the new water intake project. The easements are with the Canyon Creek Ditch Company and the Clarks Fork Ditch Company. The ditch companies are not charging a fee for the easements. • Council Issues: o Lease Task Force update Heidi stated that there was a question recently about whether the Park Board could work on the leases. She explained that she and the city attorney worked on the leases at the direction of the previous mayor, and the current mayor is fme with having the Park Board take them back. Heidi sent an email with an updated lease spreadsheet to the Park Board members today. The spreadsheet shows the status of the leases with city property and buildings. Heidi will not need to give the council a Lease Task Force update anymore. As her email stated, all negotiated leases must be reviewed by the CAO and the city attorney before they are placed on an agenda in order to make sure the city is being protected. o Update on 2011 Yellowstone River flooding event Heidi spoke regarding today's bimonthly FEMA conference call. She stated that the project has fmally started, after five years. The City of Laurel has not yet received the 404 Permit from the Army Corps. The Army Corps has mailed it, but the city has not received any mail from them. The city has the electronic copy of the 404 Permit, but not the actual original. The contractor will not be working in any areas that the 404 Permit specifically allows until the city receives the actual letter to make sure we are in compliance with it. During today's conference call, there was discussion regarding how draws will work. The city plans to use the $1.7 million from the SFR loan up front and then draw on the FEMA money, which should be available in September. The city would make the draw from the 2 Council Workshop Minutes of July 26,2016 State DES Office. Since the city does not have $8.5 million in reserves to pay the invoices as they come, Heidi made sure the entities know that the city expects a quick turnaround time. Heidi mentioned that the weather is hot and the water is dropping in the river. That is a concern because the city does not have another intake online. If the water drops too far, the city will need to go back into the river and place the rip rap that was removed this spring in order to ensure that the city can continue to provide the citizens with water. Heidi stated that construction updates will be held on Tuesdays at 10:00 a.m. in the council conference room. All meetings of the city are open to the public. Great West Engineering in Helena will attend the meetings via the use of technology with Skype or GoToMeeting. Other items There were none. Review of draft council agenda for August 2, 2016 There was no discussion. Attendance at the August 2, 2016 council meeting Richard will not attend the meeting. Announcements There were none. The council workshop adjourned at 6:52 p.m. Respectfully submitted, Q-Q.Q¢4— 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