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HomeMy WebLinkAboutCommittee of the Whole Minutes 05.04.1999 MINUTES CITY COUNCIL COMMITTEE OF THE WHOLE May 4, 1999 6:30 P.M. Council Chambers MEMBERS PRESENT: Chairman Chuck Rodgers Dirk Kroll (6:41 p.m.) Gay Easton Bill Staudinger Bud Johnson Gary Temple Miles Walton Norman Orr OTHERS PRESENT: V. Joe Leckie Larry McCarm Mary Embleton Rick Musson Jim Stevens Mayor Rodgers received a packet from Beartooth RC&D regarding the CDBG Technical Assistance Grant. If any councilmen want to see the information, Mary will have the packet. The council received correspondence from the Local Emergency Planning Committee regarding a presentation scheduled for May 12th, 7:00 p.m. to 8:30 p.m., at Deaconess Billings Clinic. Miles Walton commented that the highway and roads look nice after the recent completion of the milling and paving. Gary Temple asked if the $5.00 charge for obtaining a police report could be increased for a habitual offender. Town Pump calls the Police Department to verify the number of gas drive-offs each month for insurance purposes. Gary wants the fee increased so they will consider doing something to solve the problem. Rick said that they do not even pay a fee since they do not receive a hard copy of the police report. Joe Leckie said that the fee charged has to be reasonably associated with the cost of the service provided, and the fee cannot be increased for specific requests. Gary thanked the city for allowing the council members to attend the Elected Officials Workshop recently. Bill Staudinger commented that the clean-up work that was done throughout the city looks good. He also mentioned that there are bad holes in some of the alleys. Dirk Kroll mentioned that the new juniper trees in the cemetery look nice. Last month, Jim Stevens met with the Insurance Service Offices representative from Utah. The question regarding boundaries in our district was straightened out. Jim Stevens mentioned that the new fireman, Brian Cherry, would be at the council meeting. Brian's grandfather and uncle have been members of the LVFD. Jim said that Brian was a firefighter in the Air Force and will be an asset to the department. Rick Musson attended graduation in Helena last Friday for the two policemen who completed the Police Academy. The officers are glad to be back to work. There was a drug raid early today at 506 Birch, and three arrests were made for sale, possession, and drug paraphernalia. The statistics report for April was distributed, and traffic stops decreased from 323 in March to 181 in April. Larry McCann informed the council that Ray Lewis is submitting a bid on mudjacking the council chamber building back to the correct level. The cost for this project has not been budgeted. Larry mentioned that a presentation on streetlights is on the council agenda. Larry is still working with Cenex and Tom Fox on the composting program. Billy Johnson recently resigned his position as Code Enforcement Inspector. The changes in the Building Code Division requirements make it necessary for cities to be certified to do code enforcement. By state law, only certified cities can do building inspection. The state is now charging a .05% fee on permits and this cost must be absorbed by the cities and cannot be assessed on the permits. The building division can only support itself, and the funds generated by the building division can only be put in reserve. The reserve funds cannot equal more than the division's yearly operating expenses. The Administrative Rules of Montana require an individual to be certified in building and plumbing codes. The state suggests that more than one person should be certified so that vacations can be covered. The state will only deal with the certified individual and will not deal with anyone else, even if the person is an employee. The state requires the appeals board to have experience, but will approve others if we prove we cannot get personnel with building experience. Without a local program, the state only enforces codes on structures larger than a four-plex apartment and commercial buildings. The State Building Code does not apply to residential structures smaller than a five-plex apartment. This means that a residential structure can be built out of anything. If the city does not have a local program, we will lose all contact with zoning issues until it is too late. If the city continues to be certified, local business will be able to deal with concems locally. The city will have knowledge of all building activity being done in the area. The enforcement of building codes is the only way to prevent deterioration of the city neighborhoods. Crime rates tend to go down in areas where building codes are in effect. Larry recommended that the City of Laurel should stay in the Building Code Enforcement program. He suggested that he should become certified so that he can deal with the state, as well as the Code Enforcement Inspector. Since Larry's current duties allow little time for building inspections, he feels someone should be hired for the position. If the city hired a state-licensed engineer, the state would drop all personnel requirements, except for the appeals board. This would not reduce the need for ma inspector, but the inspector would not require certification as long as the engineer is the responsible person. We could hire a certified person, with the understanding that the building inspector works for the Public Works Director and the building division is not going to become a department. The city began a six-month grace period for certification on April 29th. If Larry is going to be certified, he will need to attend a four-day class in Denver. The class costs $495.00, the test costs $70.00, and there would be travel, lodging and meal expenses. The estimated costs would be about $2,000.00. Larry asked the council to make a decision on this issue soon. Gary Temple said that the city needs to get Larry certified. Mayor Rodgers asked the council to consider it for a couple days and said that a special meeting could be called to decide the issue. Mary Embleton informed the council that she reviewed the COPS Grant drawdown history and found that a double payment was made on one draw. She will contact them to resolve the problem so it will be closed out by the end of this fiscal year. On Friday, April 30t~, Mary and Larry attended the pre-construction meeting for the Log Cabin CTEP Project. The architect, a Department of Transportation representative, the builder, several members of the Chamber of Commerce, and Cai Cumin also attended the meeting. They reviewed the process, including the flow of the paperwork and the requirements of the contractor and sub-contractors. It was a very informational meeting. The meeting adjourned at 6:58 p.m. Respectfully submitted, Cindy Allen City Council Secretary