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HomeMy WebLinkAboutCouncil Workshop Minutes 08.28.2007 MINUTES COUNCIL WORKSHOP AUGUST 28, 2007 6:30 P.M. COUNCIL CHAMBERS A Council Workshop was held in the Council Chambers and called to order by Mayor Ken Olson at 6:30 p.m. on August 28, 2007. COUNCIL MEMBERS PRESENT: _x_ Emelie Eaton __ Doug Poehls _x_ Kate Hart x Mark Mace _x_ Gay Easton x Chuck Dickerson Vacant _x_ Norm Stamper OTHERS PRESENT: Sam Painter Mary Embleton Steve Klotz Rick Musson Jan Faught Scott Wilm David Siljestrom Kathleen O'Neil Public Innut (three-minute limit): Citizens may address the Council regarding any item of City tmsiness not on the agenda. The duration for an individual speaking under Public Input is limited to three minute& While all comments are ~elcome, the Council will not take action on any item not on the agenda~ There was no public input. Habitat for Humanity Mayor Olson moved this item from Executive Review for a presentation at this time. Mark Mace introduced Kathleen O'Neil and David Siljestrom, who represent Habitat for Humanity in Billings. Kathleen O'Neil gave a presentation on Habitat for Humanity, which began internationally in 1972 and locally in Billings in 1992. Kathieen explained some misconceptions regarding Habitat for Humanity. Jimmy Carter did not found Habitat for Humanity, but he is a visible supporter. Habitat for Humanity does not give houses away; it sells houses at no interest and no profit. The organization does not choose families based on what church they attend or even if they attend church. Habitat International does not fund projects on the local level. The local organization has to raise money, find land, and find partners to sponsor the houses. Habitat looks for businesses, foundations, organizations, and any avenue to sponsor a house. Then it looks for donations of materials and goods and services, and everything is built with volunteer labor. Qualifications for the program include: the applicant ha.q to have lived in Yellowstone County for one year; they have to show stability and have a monthly income to make the house payment; and they have to have be willing to partner. A Habitat family is required to work sweat equity hours. A single adult has to work 350 hours and a two-adult family has to work 500 hours. Out of those hours, 100 hours can be donated by friends, family, or other volunteers, but the rest of the hours have to be worked by the family. The purpose of that is to prepare the family for homeownership. Habitat for Humanity has built three homes in Laurel on Mulberry. The organization looks for families that want to work and want to contffoute to their Couacil Workshop Minutes of August 28, 2007 community. Land is the biggest need right now. The board has set a limit of $15,000 to $20,000 to spend for a building lot, and there is not a lot of land available for that amount of money. Habitat has land through the end of 2007 and has one building site for 2008. They are seeking partnerships for 2008 and beyond. Insurance and taxes are required as part of the loan payment. Habitat for Hmnanity builds simple houses that usually do not include a garage. The first mortgage price for a three-bedroom, 1,050- square-foot Habitat house is $85,000 for a twenty-five to twenty-seven year loan. Strecter Brothers Mortgage has donated their services for the loans. Habitat sets a price that reflects the cost of construction and sells a three-bedroom house for $85,000. The house is appraised, and the difference between the first mortgage and the appraised value becomes what is called a silent second mortgage. This prevents someone from taking advantage of the program by flipping the house. For every payment made on the first mortgage, one payment on the second mortgage is forgiven. That is how equity is earned between that and the inflated value. It costs $65,000 in straight goods and services to build a three-bedroom house and the land costs $20,000. Habitat tries to keep a level playing field so applicants receive the same benefit. The organization tries to keep ten families qualified for homes at all times, and four spots will be open for new applications soon. Habitat builds four or five houses per year. Low income families can file annually for property tax breaks. David Siljestrom stated that he has had a great experience working on Habitat for Humanity projects this summer and will do it ~galn next summer. He mentioned that a lot of the sites were vacant land in the county or the City of Billings. Some properties had junk piles and collected weeds. Two things happened with the Habitat projects. The properties got cleaned up and there was a new taxpayer for the city, the county, and the school. Dave, who is a crew leader, encouraged the council to look at the houses at 30 and 36 Washington in Billings. It has been rewarding to participate and also to watch other participants realize that they impacted someone's life through this prograrm Mayor Olson expressed thanks for the presentation. He equated this program to the Kids' Kingdom project in Laurel, which was completed with the help of numerons volunteers. Laurel Volunteer Fire Department: · Appointments: JW Hopper and John Herr Chief Scott Wilm stated that the department has been short two members for awhile and tho company recently went through the process to fill the vacancies. JW Hopper works at Staley Tire and was a member of the Dillon Fire Department. Jolm Herr is a technician at Laurel Ford, and this will be a new experience for him. The appointments will be on the September 4th council agenda. Clerk/Treasurer: · Resolution - Budget amendments for Fiscal Year 2006-2007 Mary Embleton stated that the resolution is the final step in approving the budget amendments to finish last year's fiscal year. The budget amendments were presented at a previous workshop, and the public hearing was hold on August 21't. The resolution will be on the September 4~ council agenda. Executive review: · Resolution - Personnel Policy revisions for probationary employees and broastfeeding employees Mayor Olson stated that the recommendation to add the breastfeeding policy to the Personnel Policy Manual came from MMIA. The resolution will be on the September 4~ council agenda. Council Workshop Minutes of August 28, 2007 · Ordinance- Documentation of historic buildings Mayor Olson said that the ordinance for historic buildings was discussed by the department heads today. Sam Painter explained that the consensus was that the dratt document should be sent to the Historic Board, through Emelie, to determine if it will work for the organization or if there are additional suggestions for revision. Sam will e-mail the document to Eroelie, who will submit it to the board and gather comments. Emelie stated that the next board meeting is scheduled for September 10'. · Ordinance - Laurel City Track Route update Mayor Olson stated that staff is continuing to review the track route ordinance. The next step is to invite the people who will be affected to a roeeting for their input as the process goes forward. Work will continue at the department level until the product addresses all the issues, at which time the final document will be presented to the council. · Resolution - Establishing the City of Laurel Truck Route update The resolution will be presented with the ordinance. · Discussion - Impact fees Mayor Olson stated that the Budget/Finance Committee has discussed impact fees. Since the city planner, the financial department, and the legal staff will be directly involved in this issue, he recommended to the Budget/Finance Committee that the issue wait until after the planner begins work on September 4t~. The committee agreed to that and the issue will be presented to the council in the near future. · Appointments: o City Planner: James Caniglia Mayor Olson stated that the appointment of James Caniglia will be on the September 4t~ council agenda~ James graduated from Arizona State University, his references were good, and he will begin working on September 4th. CandiBeaudrywillwork with James for training purposes. o Public Utilities Director: Steve Klotz Mayor Olson announced tbat Steve Klotz will become the Public Utilities Director. The appointment will be on the September 4th council agenda. o Board of Appeals: Don Brown to a 2-year term ending June 30, 2009 Mayor Olson stated that Don Brown has agreed to serve on the Board of Appeals. The appointment will be on the September 4th council agenda~ · Council issues: o Update on Veterans' Cemetery (Council Member Eaton) Norm Stamper reported on last week's Veterans' Cemetery meeting. Norm stated that the plan is to break ground on Memorial Day 2008. The steering committee members include Mayor Olson, Norm Stamper, Dick Fritzler, and Commissioner Kennedy. Commissioner Ostlund also attended a meeting. Bill Enright, Interstate Engineering, is the acting engineer. Jolene Rieck, Peaks to Plains Design, is the landscape designer. The committee is currently working on the master plan, which should be done by the end of November 2007. Something will come forward to the council shortly regarding Council Workshop Minutes of August 28, 2007 granting the mayor permission to go into negotiations for the sale of the land. The County is also looking at contracting the maintenance of the Veterans' Cemetery through the City of Laurel, and there will be negotiations regarding that agreement. The extension of Airport Road to Buffalo Trail is still in the process of being constructed this fall. The county wants to punch it through, get it built, let it sit over the winter, and pave it next spring so it is open for the groundbreaking at the Veterans' Cemetery. Norm stated that the Cemetery Commission will be reviewing this and the master plan soon. Mayor Olson stated that it is an exciting time for the Cemetery Commission. o Update on administration building (Council Member Dickerson) Mayor Olson stated that a retail business is currently interested in the Only $1 Store building. The city recently received a flyer regarding the former Western Security Bank building. The price has been reduced from $369,000 to $345,000. He stated that the council was looking at the opportunity to set aside money and form a group to have the existing area developed into a building. Chuck asked regarding the feasibility of looking for investors to build a two-story office building, have the city lease it back from the investors over a ten or fiftcen-year period, with the city having purchased the building at the end of that time. Mayor Olson stated that the possibility could be explored. There was a lelagthy discussion regarding this issue and the funding needs. Mark indicated that the bank building could provide useable space for some departments without a lot of cost, and it should be seriously considered. He stated that it is important for a city to purchase property when it is available. The elevator in the building needs to be fixed, but the cost would be minimal compared to the cost of purchasing and installing an elevator. Kate suggested that a cost analysis be done to compare costs for relocation to another building versus rebuilding the current building. Gay mentioned that a new planner will be on beard soon, and the city has contracted with Great West Engineering, who could review this issue. Norm agreed with Mark's statement that it is important for the city to purchase property when it is available. He asked regarding the process needed to acquire funding to purchase a building. After additional discussion, Mayor Olson stated that further review is needed to provide the actual costs associated with a cost analysis study. o Habitat for Humanity (Council Member Mace) This was discussed at the beginning of the council workshop. o Resolution - Proposed change in form of government Mayor Olson reviewed the message from the Laurel mayor and city council, which is part of the proposal to the voters of Laurel. The city will provide the information to the voters of Laurel, and the issue will be on the November 6* mail-in ballot. Mayor Olson explained the following changes in the draft charter: Section 3.09 Grounds for Removal of the Mayor The mayor may be removed ~om office by a finding, by an affirmative vote of six (6) of eight (8) council members cfr. ='~jz~y ,~ft~c ~t~z ~:me~! that, pursuant to law, there is a vacancy in the office of mayor. 4 Council Work~op Minutes of August 28, 2007 Section 3.10 Chief Administrative Officer 1. There s?.~!! may be a chief administrative officer appointed by written contract the teiais of which shell be negotiated by the mayor for approval by the city council. The term of the contract shall not exceed two years unless specifically extended or renewed by majority vote of the council. 4. The chief administrative officer shall not heve the authority to d~aip!:'::a ar t~mfinate any city employee, thet authority being reserved to the mayor. There was discussion regarding Section 3.07 Compensation of the Mayor, which stated thet "the compensation of the mayor shall be set annually by ordinance." Currently, the city council sets the compensation of the mayor by resolution through the budget process. Section 2.02 Composition stated that "the compensation of council members shell be set annually by ordinance." There was a lengthy discussion regarding the current process and the need to revise the verbiage. The attorney will revise the language in the cbamer to correctly reflect the process used to set the compensation of the mayor and the city council_ · Mayor/Council responsibilities for public education of issue Mayor Olson asked the council for suggestions as to how to proceed to educate the public on this issue. Kate suggested using the Laurel City goice to provide information to the public. Chuck and Mark suggested scheduling a series of town meetings at the high school auditorium. Mayor O1son will contact Dr. Ken Weaver and Judy Mathre regarding dates for the town meetings in September and October. Mary Embleton stated that it would be cost effective to publish the information in the city's newsletter. It was suggested to include each council member's phone and ward numbers, as well as a ward map, on the signature page of the proposal. Other items: Norm asked regarding the vacant council seat. No letters of interest heve been received for the vacancy. Mayor Oison stated th~at the council has an obligation to fill a vacant seat. If the council is unable to fill the seat within thirty days, the council can go forward without discrediting the decisions or actions of the remaining seven council members. Chuck stated that the potholes in the underpass need to be addressed again. Mark asked regarding the next joint city/county meeting. The City of Laurel will host the next joint meeting on Thursday, October 25~. The Yellowstone County Commissioners, the City of Billings, the City of Laurel, School District No. 2, and School District No. 7 will meet for dinner and discussion of agenda items. The location of the meeting will be determined soon and further information will be distn~outed when available. Mayor Olson repor~ad on a meeting with Joe McClure and Steven Zeier of Big Sky Economic Development Authority. The Laurel Alive Committee had asked regarding tools to use to enable the downtown business district to address concerns. A lady from BSEDA suggested thet Joe McClure would discuss TIFD, Tax Increment Finance Districts. Ma~y and Mayor Olson participated in today's discussion. Mayor Oison proposed thet the council allow BSEDA to go forward with an Urban Renewal Plan. Boundaries can he set with an Urban Renewal Plan, and those boundaries could become a Tax Increment Finance District. This would give an opportunity to allocate funding from the finance district into the downtown aree~ Since this would impact the City of Laurel and the 5 Council Workshop Minutes of August 28, 2007 School District, Josh Middleton will be invited to attend future discussions. Further information will be presented as it is available. Review ofdrait council a~,enda for September 4, 2007: * Public Hearings: o Ordinance No. 007-09: An ordinance emending a section of the "Laurel Subdivision Ordinance" located at Chapter 16 of the Laurel Municipal Code. (First reading - 08/21/2007) Sam explained the revisions made to the ordinance. The "Laurel Subdivision Ordinance" should be referred to as the "Laurel Subdivision R~gulations." The first and second paragraphs referred to Section 17, which had previously been renumbered to Section 16. The public hearing will be on the September 4th council agenda. o 2007-2008 Preliminary Budget o Additional Mills Levied for Permissive Medical Levy Fund Budget for Fiscal Year 2007-2008 The budget hearings are scheduled for September 40,. Attendance at the September 40, council meeting: All present will attend. Announcements: There were none. The council workshop adjourned at 8:09 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. 6