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HomeMy WebLinkAboutDepartment Head Meetings Minutes 01.16.2007 MINUTES DEPARTMENT HEAD MEETING JANUARY 16, 2007 3:00 P.M. COUNCIL CHAMBERS PRESENT: Perry Asher Larry McCann Rick Musson Gay Easton Mark Richards Mary Embleton Peggy Arnold Steve Klotz Jan Faught (4:17 p.m.) Perry led the meeting. An agenda was distn'buted to the department heads prior to the meeting. Council A~enda - Janua~ 16~ 2007 Scheduled Matters: ,, Confirmation of Appointments: o Laurel Police Reserves: Andrew Ameson Mathew Caudill, Randall Gibson, Frederic Gregory, and Resolution No. R07-02: A resolution approving Change Order No. 2 with COP Construction LLC, for additional meterial~ and services on the 2006 Laurel Wastewater Improvement Project and authorizing the Mayor to execute the attached Change Order No. 2 on the City's behalf. Perry stated the change order is for the work at the Canyon Creek Ditch crossing. Resolution No. R07-03: A resolution amending Resolution No. R05-66 extending the contract with Olness and Associates for auditing services through fiscal year ending June 2007 and authorizing the Mayor to sign said contract for the City of Laurel. Mary stated that the resolution is needed to amend the contract for the auditors. Steve asked if Olness and Associates had been doing the audit for several years and if the city should go out for bids. Mary explained that the contract was extended for three years. The same RFP guidelines also pertain to the auditors as they pertain to professional engineering services. Public Hearings: · Intent to adopt an Official Schedule of Fees and Charges for the City of Laurel. (Resolution No. R06-130 approved 12/19/2006; public hearing held 01/02/2007; public hearing continued to 01/16/2007) Mayor Olson asked Mark to present the issue at the public hearing tonight. Ordinance No. O06-15: An ordinance modifying Title 15, Chapter 15.40.130(I) of the Laurel Municipal Code in order to provide clarity and consistency of the roles regarding freestanding signs. (First reading - 12/19/2006) Mayor Olson asked Steve to present the issue at the public hearing tonight. Steve is willing to do so but asked for mom notice when he needs to attend council meetings. Steve will give Perry the information, and Perry will present it at the public hearing. Depar~neat H~ad Meeting Minutes of January 16, 2007 Mary asked if additional information regarding the schedule of fees and charges was available for the council tonight. Mark stated that copies of the information were distn'buted in the council mailboxes today. Mark asked Mark Mace to comment about his review of the fees charged in Billings and the county. Mayor Olson stated that the public hearing would be closed tonight. Mary stated concerns with adopting fees that are not in ordinance and suggested that the fees should be delayed and brought forward at the appropriate time. Mayor Olson stated that, according to legal counsel, the process can go forward. Draft Council Workshon Aeenda - January 30. 2007 Plannin~ Board issues: Resolution - Canyon Creek Station Subdivision Preliminary Plat Mark stated that the Planning Board approved the preliminary plat and no public comments were received. He has contacted MDOT regarding traffic counts for the proposed McDonald's store. Mark wants traffic engineering design studies completed for the three intersections that will be affected by the traffic generated by the Wal-Mart. · Resolution- Steam locomotive Perry is reviewing Mark's draft resolution to obtain a steam locomotive. Mary asked if the resolution had language committing city funding and the purpose of the locomotive. Mark stated that no funding is requested and he is seeking license to pursue getting a steam locomotive. There was further discussion regarding the desire for a steam locomotive to designate Laurel as the rail city that it is and has always been~ · Updates to the proposed clmnges to the subdivision regulations Mark is working on the subdivision regulations, as per the outline he submitted to the council last week. Adm'mistrative Assistant: · Resolution - Schedule of Fees and Charges The resolution is needed to approve the proposed schedule of fees and charges. · Resolution - Amending union contract to include Memorandum of Understanding regarding alternate work schedule for dispatchers Perry stated that the MOU was finished some time ago; however, it was never approved by the city council or signed by the mayor, and the formality needs to be completed. Resolution - Additional engineering costs for the wastewater improvements project, Morrison- Maierle, Inc. The resolution is needed for the additional engineering costs incurred for the Canyon Creek Ditch crossing issue. 2 Depaxtmmt H~ad M~eting Minutes of January 16, 2007 · Resolution - Montana Engineering and Administration, Amendment No. 2 Mary stated that the amendment is needed bemuse the rate schedule was not included as part of the contract. A new contract amendment is needed to establish ME&A's current rate schedule. Executive review: · Appointments: Emergency Services Committee: Dick Fritzler Mayor Oison will appoint Dick Fritzler, and another person is interested in serving on the committee. Dick would also like to serve on the Cemetery Board; an a_aaptation to the cemetery by-laws will be reviewed. There are also vacancies on BSEDA, the Historical Board, and the Tree Board. Rick mentioned an individual who serves on LEPC and expressed interest in serving on the Emergency Services Committee. Perry asked that staff members not talk with each other during council workshops. If a staff member needs to say something, the individual should raise their hand and be recognized by the mayor. Mary asked about filling the vacancies on the city council. Friday, January 19th, is the deadline for letters of interest. Mayor Olson stated that the council has thirty days to fill the vacancies. A special council meeting will be held on January 30th to appoint two new members. There was discussion regarding the process. In the past, applicants were asked to make a short presentation to the council and then the council voted and made a selection at the same meeting. Department Reports: Public Utilities · Report on Trunk Main and associated issues A letter stating that the city will maintain the Canyon Creek Ditch crossing needs to be submitted to Stephanie, who will forward it to the State. · Funding sources: grants, water/sewer rate studies, etc. Perry, Larry, Mary, and Mayor Olson will meet with Carl Anderson on Wednesday, January 31 st, at 4:00 p.m. to discuss the rote studies. Steve will attend if necessary. Perry will confirm the date and time via e-mail. · 8* Avenue utilities - what's needed, cost, and funding A decision needs to be made. · Johnson Controls meter replacement project nd A meeting is scheduled for Monday, January 22 , at 1:00 p.m. · Other Mayor Olson asked regarding scheduling a conference call for funding of the 8th Avenue project. Mary already had a conference call with Sandy Straehl, Lynn Zanto, and Dick Turner. They were waiting to hear the city's decision regarding redesign of the project. The city's decision to narrow and redesign the 3 Departmea~t Head Meeting Minutes of January 16, 2007 strut project was submitted to the State last week. Mayor Olson stated that information about a conference call should be distributed as common knowledge, and another conference call will be set up. Library · Report on how the new computers are working out Peg stated that she did not receive a department head agend~ Agendas were e-mailed last Friday. Four of five new computers are set up at the library. A new firewall with content filtering is needed. · Other issues Peg asked for an up-to-date city map in order to keep records of what type of patron uses the library's services. Steve agreed to print a city map for the library. ACE Electric has been installing new lights at the library. Peg questioned if the cost needed to be included in the library budget. The lights are being installed as part of the Johnson Controls contract, and $1,000 will come out of the h~omry budget. Current usage of 1.6 amps for lights will decrease to .9 amps. Peg stated that the improvement is appreciated. Police Demu hnent · Any issues caused by the cold - How are the vehicles running? Rick stated that it has been helpful to have a warm place to park the police vehicles during the cold weather. · Anything new ~om the high school The investigation will be presented to the county attorney's office for prosecution soon. The juvenile will be charged for the incident, but what happens after that will be the issue. · Other issues Officer Popp resigned effective January 264 after five years at the Laurel Police Department. She will take a position as a State Farm claims adjuster. The job opening will be posted tomorrow. One officer has expressed interest in the SRO position at the Laurel Middle School. Stan Langve and the day shill officer will fill the gap at both schools through the end of this year, as the department does not have the manpower to take an officer off the streets. A new SRO will begin at the Laurel Middle School in the falL Rick added the appointment of Travis Brewington to the Laurel Police Reserves to the council workshop agenda on January 30t~. Mary asked regarding the status of the SRO agreements. Mayor Olson stated that Josh Middleton would return them as soon as school board action has been taken. Perry will contact Josh about this. Rick explained the need and asked if a request for computer equipment could be submitted to the Budget/Finance Committee tonight. Steve asked Mary to put the Purchasing Policy on the public server. Mary stated that the policy is in the policy folder, and she will e-mail it to him directly. Mary expressed concerns about the network. There was discussion regarding the lack of structural order in the shared folders. Larry has encountered numerous computer problems. Perry told the department heads to e-mail him any concerns regarding the computer system, and he will contact Technical Edge. 4 Departmeat Head Meeting Minutes of January 16, 2007 Technical Edge has completed the change in the city's e-mail system Employees should send a blast e- mail to their contact list to change the address to laurel_mt.gov. There was discussion regarding being denied access to perform searches. Mary asked for better communication about the status and training for the new system. Perry bas not experienced the problems encountered by other department heads, but he will contact Bart. Discussion regarding frequent logouts on Microsot~ Outlook. City e-mail accounts can now be checked t~om another location. Mary mentioned the backup problems because the server is full. Employees need to delete e- mails so more space is available. Discussion regarding external storage systems. Larry has had Selby's transfer old plans and drawings to disc and he has put them on the server. Mark mentioned the current virus and the need to upgrade to Adobe Acrobat Reader 8.0. Mark recently bypassed the system to search online. Mary expressed concern regarding that and suggested the need for department heads to discuss and establish standards, as she is concerned about hacking. Planning Department · Subdivision ordinance report Mark currently has two major and two minor subdivisions to review. · Other issues Mark stated that the City-County Planning Board agreement has major flaws, and he will contact Sam regarding those. Mark has been telling people about the new planning fees, which will not be in effect until the ordinance is in place. · Anything new on hnpact fees Mark stated that he has not pursued the impact fees, as he felt everyone had dropped the issue. He stated that a district boundary needs to be formulated. Mayor Olson stated that the Budget/Finance Committee is interested in pursuing impact fees. Perry stated that Sam is doing some background work on this. Mary asked at what point the city would RFP for an outskle consultant, as the city does not have the ability to develop this due to the complexity of the laws. Mark stated that he used to write facility plans and knows how to write the RFP. Mark wants to emend this out to the boundaries of the City-County Planning Board's jurisdiction. Fire Department · Heat problem in the fire bays No discussion. · Any extra calls due to the cold or ice No discussion. Ambulance Service · How has the heat failure affected your team? Jan stated that heat was been restored to the bays and the office after two days with no heat. · Calls generated by weather? Depaxtmeat Head Meeting Minutes of January 16, 2007 Jan stated that thirty-seven ambulance calls had been received this month as of this morning, and fitt~y calls have been received as of this afternoon. Most of the calls were medical calls and were not trauma calls. Public Works · Project tracking A spreadsheet Steve made is being reviewed by Perry and Mayor Olson. It will be distributed to staff soon. · Report on 8th Avenue progress Perry notified tho State to narrow and redesign the project. · Final numbers for street improvements for Spring 2007 Same as last week; still waiting for numbers. · Other issues Steve asked that copies of Wal-Mart's pre-construction meeting be distffbuted to the council tonight. There was discussion regarding the surplus auction. Dr. Smith has some Airport Authority items to add to the list. Depm'tment heads agreed to schedule an annual auction in June. There was discussion regarding inventory control, the difference between assets and inventory, and the process to notify Neva. Mary stated that, if the taxpayers' money bought an item, the public gets the first oppommity to buy it back. The surplus lists need to be submitted, the council needs to declare the items as surplus, and two advertisements need to be published. Steve mentioned the call out list for emergencies and asked for an amendment to the union contract to get a process that works. Perry suggested having a call out phone. Don Nelson is the union president now. Mayor Olson recommended that the city's negotiating team meet to discuss the issue. Steve asked if exempt and non-exempt status could be evaluated, as some changed with the addition of the AA position. Perry stated that could be done while job descriptions are being reviewed. ClerkJTreasurer · Review results of annual audit and begin discussion on how to eliminate the list of problems identified This was discussed last week. · Other issues None. City Council President Gay mentioned that Ida Anderson, a former police dispatcher, passed away. Rick and Gay attended the Aviation and Technology Week meeting. The event is scheduled for May 7- 10, and about 20,000 students are expected to attend. The city has furnished the portable toilets during past events. Jack Bayne will write a letter of request to the city. Rick mentioned that bus parking will be a dilemma since Ricci's lot is no longer available. 6 Department Head Meating Minutes of Januat3t 16, 2007 City Court None. City Attorney None. Mayor Olson Mayor Olson asked regarding the dratt ordinance for street closures. The item will be discussed at the department head meeting on January 23rd and placed on the January 30t~ council workshop agenda Mayor Olson attended the TSEP Committee review in Helena last week. Mayor Olson mentioned the recent CIP meeting and the upcoming meeting to discuss projects. Administrative Assistant · Record of Long-Term Employee Absence Form No discussion~ · City Surplus Auction Procedure - Final review and recommendation No further discussion. The meeting adjourned at 4:53 p.rm Respectfully submitted, Cindy Allen Council Secretary 7