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Home My WebLink AboutCouncil Workshop Minutes 01.31.2017 MINUTES COUNCIL WORKSHOP JANUARY 31, 2017 6:30 P.M. COUNCIL CHAMBERS A Council Workshop was held in the Council Chambers and called to order by Mayor Mark Mace at 6:30 p.m. on January 31, 2017. COUNCIL MEMBERS PRESENT: _x Emelie Eaton Doug Poehls x Bruce McGee _x_Richard Herr x Chuck Dickerson Scot Stokes x Tom Nelson x Bill Mountsier OTHERS PRESENT: Heidi Jensen, CAO Rick Musson, Police Chief Public Input Iry Wilke, 1017 Seventh Avenue, updated the council on the Laurel Rod and Gun Club's successful turkey shoot on January 8th. The next turkey shoot is scheduled on February 12th Iry spoke about the crosswalk devices on Southeast 4th Street by ACE Hardware and Laurel Ford. His complaint is that people are not going to use the crosswalk devices if there is a foot of snow in them. He thinks they should be kept clean so people can use them, as a lot of money was spent to install them. General items: • Appointments: o Laurel Police Department - Zachary Cortese Chief Musson said that it has been a long process to finally get somebody hired. Zachary Cortese will attend the council meeting on February 7th. Judge Kerr will perform the swearing in ceremony, and Chief Musson will do the ceremonial oath of office, code of ethics and give him his badge and collar brass. With the appointment and approval of the council, Zachary will start on February 8th. Chief Musson thinks that this local young man is going to be a real asset to the police department and the citizens of Laurel. The appointment will put the police department back to a full staff of thirteen officers. o Library Board -Arthur Vogele The appointment of Arthur Vogele to the Library Board to fill a term ending June 30, 2020, will be on the February 7th council agenda. o Laurel Urban Renewal Agency- Don Smarsh The appointment of Don Smarsh to the Laurel Urban Renewal Agency to fill a term ending December 31, 2019, will be on the February 7th council agenda. Council Workshop Minutes of January 31,2017 Executive Review: • Council Issues: o Update on 2011 Yellowstone River flooding event Heidi distributed three pictures to the council to explain what is happening with the new intake. The first picture is what the river looked like last Friday with an ice jam where the coffer dam was located. Heidi walked from the headgate by the new intake and along the bank and took the picture as close to the coffer dam as possible without walking out onto the ice in the river. The black plastic pipes are the lines that have been run to where the generators sat. No sandbags are visible out in the river, as the ice and water are still over the top of the coffer dam. The contractor cannot get back in the river to finish the intake until some of the ice recedes and the water drops. A total of five weeks of good weather is needed to get it done from its current point start to finish. With the 40 degree weather last week, the Yellowstone River had started to cut a channel and it was hoped that the levels would drop at the treatment plant. Levels dropped on Saturday but then came right back up, and this week's cold weather will not help. The picture showed why nothing is happening at that site now. The second picture is an aerial view of laying the pipe. The contractor usually has five or six excavators digging, putting the pipe in, and backfilling. They have had a lot of water problems laying this pipe because the river has jammed, the ice has pushed the groundwater level up and it is a swamp. Since it has not frozen, they have to pump the trench as they go. Wilson Bros. is going to bring every available crew up to lay the pipe so they can move ahead quickly on the intake site when the water recedes. Heidi stated that 62 percent of the materials are here, the piping is approximately 36 percent done, and the major work is done at the water treatment plant. The bypass tie-in went in on Friday without a hitch in about two hours. Heidi stated that comparing the second and third pictures showed the huge size of the area in which they are laying the pipe. The third picture showed how small Heidi, Kurt and a pickup truck were in comparison to the area in which the pipe is being laid. The contractor is working in this large area with a very interesting and precise method of digging, laying, covering, digging, laying and covering. They are reclaiming the material that they are using onsite as quickly as possible so that once substantial completion is done in April, they can seed and reclaim any of the wetland property, as required by the city's permits. Heidi mentioned that the city, Wilson Bros, and Great West Engineering will have bi-weekly meetings until the contractor starts working on the actual intake structure again. The next meeting will be on February 14th. Wilson Bros. emails a weekly status update to Great West Engineering. Chuck asked about the possibility of separation in the pipes once the weather changes. Heidi explained that the pipe is pressure tested as it is laid and will be completely pressure tested before it goes online. It would be the contractor's responsibility to figure out the location of any possible leak. Richard asked regarding possible fees or fines if the project goes beyond April. Heidi explained that Wilson Bros. requested a winter shutdown for bitterly cold weeks in December. She granted the winter shutdown, which moved substantial completion from April 1 t to April 11th. The contractor has not asked for any other extensions at this time. The issue with the substantial completion date is a safety issue because safety is of the utmost concern. The city needs to make sure 2 Council Workshop Minutes of January 31,2017 that the intake is online and tested prior to spring runoff, which is the reason for the deadline. The city's flexibility will come in as things start to warm up. If the weather hits 70 degrees in two weeks and everything starts flash flooding, it will not be good. But if the weather gradually warms up, there might be a little more flexibility on the completion date. The biggest concern is to make sure the intake is online before the runoff or there will be no chance to get in the river until next fall, which Heidi stated is 100 percent unacceptable. Other items There were none. Review of draft council agenda for February 7, 2017 Tom asked if an item that was removed from the consent agenda on January 3rd would be included in the consent agenda on February 7th. Heidi stated that a letter has been written and the Budget/Finance Committee will discuss it with the department head next Tuesday. Attendance at the February 7, 2017 council meeting All council members present will attend. Announcements Emelie stated that the Public Works Committee will meet on February 13th at 6:00 p.m. Recognition of Employees • Kurt Markegard 12 years of service on January 3rd Public Works Director • Stan Langve 17 years of service on January 5th Police Officer Mayor Mace recognized the employees for their service to the City of Laurel. The council workshop adjourned at 6:48 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. 3 m.. 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