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HomeMy WebLinkAboutDepartment Head Meetings Minutes 08.07.2007 MINUTES DEPARTMENT HEAD MEETING AUGUST7,2007 3:00P.M. COUNCIL CHAMBERS PRESENT: Mayor Ken Olson Sam Painter Mike Zuhoski Gay Easton Mary Embleton Jan Faught Scott Wilm Steve Klotz Council Agenda - August 7~ 2007 Public Heating: · Ordinance No. 007-08: Ordinance amending the Form of Municipal Government in the City of Laurel, County of Yellowstone, Montana. (First reading - 06/19/2007; Public Hearing - 07/17/2007; Public Hearing continued to 08/07/2007) Scheduled Mattem: · Confirmation of Appointments o CTEP Administrator: Steve Klotz Mayor Olson will appoint Steve as the CTEP Administrator until after a city planner is hired. · Resolution No. R07-56: A resolution adopting the Water Facilities Plan from Morrison-Maierle, Inc. Resolution No. R07-57: A resolution authorizing the Mayor to sign a right-of-way agreement with the Montana Department of Transportation granting the State and its contractors a temporary construction permit. · Resolution No. R07-58: A resolution transferring certain Insurance Funds of the City of Laurel, Montana. · Resolution No. R07-59: Resolution authorizing the City Clerk to perform certain and specific budget transfers for the City of Laurel. · Resolution No. R07-60: A resolution of the City Council to authorize the Mayor to execute a settlement agreement on the City's behalf to resolve a union grievance. · Resolution No. R07-61: Resolution to approve a Consultant Contract between the City of Laurel and Local Govemment Associates, Inc., for the provision of government planning services. There was no discussion regarding the resolutions. · Ordinance No. 007-05: Ordinance for Laurel Cable Communications. Second reading. (Postponed June 5, 2007 and July 3, 2007) Mayor Olson stated that the council would probably postpone the second reading of the ordinance until August 21st. There will be further discussion at the council workshop on August 14th. Mayor Olson stated that Ordinance No. 007-08 regarding the form of municipal government might be placed under unscheduled matters on tonight's council agenda. Draft Council Workshop Agenda - August 14~ 2007 Planning Board issues: Department Head Meeting Minutes of August 7, 2007 · Proposed amendment to the Laurel City Subdivision Regulations The proposed amendment to the subdivision regulations for the Laurel jurisdiction provides up to three years between preliminary and final plat approval, instead of the current one-year timeframe. State law allows three years between preliminary and final plat approval. A draft ordinance will be presented at the council workshop on August 14th. Executive Review: · Ordinance - City of Laurel Truck Route A draft ordinance was distributed at the department head meeting on July 31st. Rick needs to review the draft ordinance and submit input to Sam. Since Rick is on vacation this week, Mike will talk to him about it on Monday. The draft ordinance will be on the council workshop agenda on August 14th. There was discussion regarding the G.V.W. in the ordinance. Steve recommends a G.V.W. of 12,000 pounds. Sam stated that a resolution is needed to establish the streets for the truck route. In order to present the ordinance and the resolution at the same time, the resolution will include verbiage stating that it will be in effect as of the effective date of the ordinance. The resolution establishing the track route will be added to the August 14th council workshop agenda. · Resolution - Surplus auction items Mary received a list of additional items from Peggy for the library. The items will be added to the master list, which will be distributed to department heads by the end of this week. The list of surplus items and the draft resolution will be on the council workshop agenda on August 14th. The auction, which much be advertised twice, is tentatively scheduled for Saturday, September 8th. Department Reports: Ambulance Service · New ambulance update Jan mentioned that the new ambulance is in service and was used to respond to an ambulance call for a near drowning of a one-yea.r-old child, who is recovering nicely. Jan stated that the sink and moldy cabinet in the ambulance office need to be removed and replaced. There was a lengthy discussion regarding where to put a sink, estimates for the work, and various options to address the issue. Mayor Olson and Jan will discuss it further. The FAP building budget was increased by $10,000 for the remodel of the ambulance office. Jan recently received the July bill from AMR. Mary will increase the ambulance budget by $2,000 for this expense. City Council President There was no discussion. City Court Most of the ergonomics part of the court remodel has been completed. The contractor has not completed the whole project and a bill has not yet been received. The air conditioning portion of the project has not been done. Steve received one bid for the air conditioning, which he gave to Jean for review. A private citizen donated outside window shade coverings for the court and motor vehicle windows, and the shades were installed earlier this week. Clerk/Treasurer 2 Department Head Meeting Minutes of August 7, 2007 · Budget process update Mary received the certified taxable value today. The mill value is $6,192 with $242.00 newly taxable property for the float. The mill value is subject to change as the Department of Revenue recently called regarding the city's 2006 annexations. It is critical that all real property is accounted for, and Mary is working with the department on this issue. The preliminary budget will be distributed at the council workshop on August 14th, the presentation will be made at the August 21st council meeting, the public hearing will be held on September 4th, and the final budget will be presented for adoption on September 18th. Fire Department · Fire track update Scott did not have an update on the fire lxuck. Scott stated that the department needs a new tender truck. The fire department responded to a mutual aid call last week and should receive a check soon. Scott mentioned that the department would like to remove the water tank from Tender 2, sell the tank for $30,000 to $35,000, and put the money towards the purchase of a 2,000 to 2,500-gallon tender truck. New tender trucks cost $150,000 and used trucks cost $60,000 to $80,000. Scott asked Sam regarding the process to follow to sell city property. Sam will research and e-mail the process to Scott. Libratw · Website progress There was no discussion. · Parking lot progress Steve met with Engineering, Inc., last week regarding the parking lot at the library. Steve plans to go forward using the existing valley down the alley instead of installing a storm drain. There was discussion regarding the project, using the city crew to demo and put in the base, and going out for bids on project. Steve will present the cost figures in a couple weeks and expects to complete the project in September. Police Department · SRO contract Mike stated that Rick is contacting Josh Middleton regarding the SRO contracts. The police department is accepting applications for the relief dispatcher position. Public Utilities · $750,000 TSEP Grant The status of the TSEP Grant has not changed. · South side water line issue Sam stated that there is no written agreement and he questioned if a survey had been done. The issue will be discussed with the individual when he returns to Laurel soon. Steve stated that the Canyon Creek Ditch Company wants $500 for an easement agreement. Steve thinks that Canyon Creek was there first in 1886. Sam will review the document. 3 Department Head Meeting Minutes of August 7, 2007 Steve stated that Jerry Neumann has spent about $4,000 on the projects at the Elena Subdivision booster station. The city agreed to pay $8,000 for the projects. Steve told Jerry to send a bill to the city as projects are completed. Steve will inspect the project and the city will reimburse half of the costs as projects are finished. Steve stated that H.P. Nuemberger has a 25-pound weight restriction for two weeks. Steve questioned who is handling human resource issues now. Steve has light duty for H.P. this week and will also work on next week. Mayor Olson and Steve need to discuss this before the two-week timeframe is over in case the doctor extends the time for the weight restriction. Steve met with Engineering, Inc., today regarding the Eighth Avenue Project. He explained the options for the curb walk vs. boulevard walk, which resulted when the roadway was narrowed in the project. The engineers will design a proposal for a five-foot boulevard walk from Main Street to Ninth Street. Them will be a cost reduction since the roadway will be narrowed; however, ICAP charges have increased 2 percent. Mayor Olson asked regarding the sewer, water, and storm water costs for the Eighth Avenue project. Steve stated that the costs have already been determined, and he will contact Gary Neville or Kirk Spalding to obtain the figures. Mayor Olson asked about a letter from Qwest regarding a utility line. Steve explained that the city crew hit the line, but the line had not been located by Qwest or the locator company. Public Works · Report on progress with South Laurel Business SID and Main Street, 3rd to 8th Steve met with Chad Hanson and Jeremiah Theys (Great West Engineering) last week. The engineers are working on costs and defining the district. Steve will visit with some of the business owners, and a sample ballot will be used to determine if the SID will be approved before the city goes forward further. Steve stated that Tom Maack informed him that the Soccer Club wants to donate the soccer field to the city. The city would need to annex the property, hire someone to maintain the property, install a parking lot, curb, gutter, approaches, and provide water to the property. Mayor Olson and Steve will discuss this further. Them was discussion regarding sick and vacation benefits for summer help. Steve prefers to terminate summer employees and pay out the sick and vacation hours. Mary stated that the employee should make the decision. A seasonal employee, who returns from season to season, earns sick and vacation pay, but a temporary employee does not. Steve does not want to be obligated to rehire the summer help the next year. The policy needs to be reviewed. Steve asked regarding the League of Cities and Towns meeting in October. Mary reserved a block of rooms for the meeting and registrations need to be submitted soon. An agenda will be distributed a week or two before the conference. Steve mentioned the tree in Russell Park that was destroyed in a semi-truck accident. MMIA reimbursed the city $150 for the tree. The tree was appraised for $5,200 and the semi-truck's insurance carder reimbursed the city for that amount. The money was received a couple months ago, but Steve did not know it had arrived. Kurt has been contacting the insurance company regarding the money. A new tree has been planted. 4 Department Head Meeting Minutes of August 7, 2007 Steve mentioned a union issue regarding summer help. If summer help works more than ninety days, the city must get permission from the union. Ihe union wants the city to lay the employee off for a day and then rehire. Steve stated that the union contract does not require that. Steve gave Mayor Olson a comparison of zoning requirements. Cit~ Attorney ,~ Truck route issue This was discussed earlier in the meeting. · Cable Montana This was discussed earlier in the meeting. Sam distributed copies of the current and draft ordinance for temporary use permit and asked department heads to review the documents. It will be on the August 14th department head agenda for discussion. Mayor Olson · Safety program update Mayor Olson asked that a reminder be added to his board to contact this individual at MMIA. · Report on Planning Department Mayor Olson stated that the city planner interview went well and the references will be contacted. There was discussion regarding background checks for employees. · Cemetery contract Steve will have Kurt contact some cemeteries to determine the cost of maintenance per square foot. · Discussion of canopy height ordinance There was no discussion. · Temporary use permit There was no further discussion. · Surplus auction The surplus auction was already discussed. · Impact Fees The BudgeffFinance Committee will discuss impact fees at today's meeting. Mary mentioned a recent phone call with the Department of Revenue regarding vacation of an alley at Twelfth Avenue near Maryland Lane. Mary stated that the petition requesting vacation of the alley is the critical document needed to determine this issue. Sam needs to review the documents and write a legal opinion regarding this. Copies of agendas and documents will no longer be distributed to department heads in an effort to save paper. Agendas and documents will be e-mailed to department heads, which will then be responsible to 5 Department Head Meeting Minutes of'August 7, 2007 bring the agendas to the meetings. The council, mayor, and city attorney will continue to receive council packets. The meeting adjourned at 4:41 p.m. Respectfully submitted, Cindy Allen Council Secretary 6