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HomeMy WebLinkAboutCouncil Workshop Minutes 12.11.2007MINUTES COUNCIL WORKSHOP CEMBER 11, 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 December 11, 2007. COUNCIL MEMBERS PRESENT: x Emelie Eaton x Kate Hart _ Gay Easton x Alex Wilkins _x_ Doug Poehls Mark Mace _x Chuck Dickerson _x_ Norm Stamper OTHERS PRESENT: Sam Painter Mary Embleton Kurt Markegard James Caniglia Rick Musson Jan Faught Gary Colley Chris Rosenberg Chris Mehus, Beartooth RC&D Greg Thomas Public Input (three-minute limit): Citizens may address the Council regarding any item of City business not on the agenda. The duration for an individual speaking under Public Input is limited to three minutes While all comments are welcome, the Council will not take action on any item not on the agenda. There was no public input. Introduction of Chris Rosenberg Code Enforcement Officer Kurt Markegard introduced Chris Rosenberg, the newest team member to the Public Works Department and the City of Laurel. Chris, the new code enforcement officer, has had five years of experience with the Montana Highway Patrol. With the addition of Chris, the Public Works Department can take a more proactive approach to code enforcement. Chris stated that he was highway patrolman for five years in Bozeman and Harlowton. He grew up in Laurel and looks forward to serving the citizens of Laurel Parking issues by the Laurel Middle School Greg Thomas, 728 Washington Avenue, spoke regarding the parking issues at the Laurel Middle School. He expressed concern that the teachers are parking in front of the residences on Washington Avenue instead of parking across the street or in the school parking lot. He stated that Officer Wells and the principal at the high school visited him at his house, and the principal told him they did not realize that there was a problem Since that conversation, there has been a reduction in the parking problem Greg has confronted people when they parked in front of the residences. He distributed letters from the Washington Avenue residents regarding the parking issues, and copies are attached to these original minutes. Greg mentioned several other issues, including: u-turns in the middle of the street; speeding drivers on Washington Avenue; the need for more officers on duty; the need for crosswalks on Washington and Wyoming Avenues; concerns for the school crossing guards; the Council Workshop Minutes of December 11, 2007 paving and gravel on 8a' Street; the condition of the streets following the construction of the Laurel Middle School; and future street SID's and the need for all residents to pay for the street repair. Greg asked the council if any help could be given to address this problem. There was discussion regarding the issues. Doug recommended that the chief of police and public works department review the issues and give a recommendation. Norm asked the chief to explain the policies for patrolling the streets around the schools. Rick spoke regarding school zones. More officers are needed, but the funding is not available. The day shift officer handles school zones, patrol work, and all the calls that come in during that time. When he is not doing call work, he is working the school zones by West, Graff, South, and the middle and high Schools. The two SRO's cannot always be there. Officer Langve works at the high school and Officer Wells handles the middle school issues. They also handle the grade schools. When it comes to school zones, it is difficult to pull the SRO's out of the school because they are there to handle the issues in the school. The officer cannot always be in the school zones during that time, as there is only so much staffing. Regarding u-turns on Washington Avenue, Rick stated that it is not against the law to make a u-turn in a street. The law says it must be made safely, but it can be made in the middle of the block or at an intersection. The City of Laurel and the School District are working together to solve the crosswalk problem Handicapped curbs must be put in, so there has been discussion about the school paying for part of it. The city is waiting for a quote to get it done this winter. Regarding speeders, Rick stated that it goes back to the problem of having enough staff to be there to handle the speeding issues. Staff has been in conversation about what to do with the parking issue on Washington Avenue. The city does not have an ordinance that allows the police department to ticket someone for parking in front of a residence. Other neighborhoods are also affected by these issues, including areas where other schools are located and city parks. Rick suggested the need for continued education of the school staffto be considerate of the residents. Mark stated that paving of 8a' Street would come from Street Maintenance Fund. He asked if the school had a traffic study done, as it should have addressed the crosswalk issue. Mayor Olson stated that the information could be requested. There was discussion regarding cleaning up the area around the Laurel Middle School Chris Mebus is the Economic Development District Director for Beartooth RC&D, which is located at P.O. Box 180 in Joliet. He presented an overview of this year's accomplishments and projects, information about the Comprehensive Economic Development Strategy, the annual Memorandum of Understanding to provide economic development services to the community and Yellowstone County, and an annual assessment on a county basis. Laurel, Billings, Big Sky EDA, and Yellowstone County all share in meeting that assessment. The letter he provided listed the projects of the past year. The annual progress report that will come out soon is a full-color, six-page document that outlines their projects and accomplishments. In the letter, the second one item was the Laurel Resource Assessment, which is a service that is provided by the Montana Economic Development Association. They partnered with Big Sky EDA to bring in five different business and economic development specialists from all across the state that have addressed issues similar to Laurel's issues. It was a very comprehensive process that received public comment from businesses, community groups, schools, civic organizations, emergency responders, and basically all aspects of the community. After the 2 Council Workshop Minutes of December 11, 2007 listening sessions, the resource team developed a comprehensive report complete with recommendations to the community about projects, prioritization of those projects, and recommendations of how to move forward. It is incumbent upon them and Big Sky EDA to work with the local economic development group, which is called Laurel Alive. The final document is available on their web site, and several printed copies were provided to the community through the Chamber of Commerce and Laurel Alive. Chris stated that the regional homebuyer education classes are held in Laurel. About 225 to 250 residents have attended the classes, which has been a good partnership between them and local lenders. Some down payment assistance is available to low and moderate income families if they attend this class. Chris stated that the Montana Bio-Industries Cooperative is a regional effort of about a dozen farmers. The group officially incorporated last spring. Beartooth RC&D is working with them to come up with the capital needed to set up a crushing facility so they can grow oil seeds locally. He explained that chamolina is an oilseed and a variety of mustard. On the Highline, they can grow canola, which is the most successful oilseed product, but the rest of the state struggles with the climate to grow good canola crops. They are hoping that chamolina will become a good alternative and Montana can join neighboring states and the Midwest states in bio-diesel and ethanol type products. There is a future potential of partnering with CHS and be able to have the local producers own the cooperative that would supply potentially a bio-diesel refinery right here. Chris spoke regarding other projects, including Dick Feekin's waterwheel hydro-generation project. Mark asked regarding the regional mass transit project. Chris stated that it is basically in conceptual form right now and explained the need to have bus routes to disperse workers to certain areas. Mark stated that he has talked to the Transit Planner in Billings about federal funding for a Park `n Ride type project from Laurel to Billings, and Park City to Laurel to Billings. The name of the contact person will be provided to Beartooth RC&D. Chris stated that a steering committee could be formed and a feasibility study done to get it started. Chris explained the Comprehensive Economic Development Strategy. The CEDS is required by the economic development administration, which is the federal grant that Beartooth RC&D has to provide these services to the communities. It is a five-year planning process, which they see as a living document that is constantly changing and evolving as new projects, new issues, new priorities, and reprioritization of the current issues are done. Chris had a sample letter that he requested the city send. Chris stated that Beartooth RC&D is in the process of updating some of the issues for the City of Laurel and Yellowstone County, based on the resource team assessment that was finished this fall. The annual memorandum of understanding will be sent to the city soon. Chris thanked the council for the opportunity to give this presentation. Planning Board issues: James Caniglia explained several issues that were discussed at the December 6`s Planning Board meeting. One issue was the eventual need to widen First Avenue going north from downtown and a possible zoning change to residential professional. Another issue discussed was the new interstate on/offramp west of town and how that could affect growth in the area. 3 Council Workshop Minutes of December 11, 2007 • Variance for Paul Bokoske, 1535 Valley Drive, for a proposed tree nursery James stated that Mr. Bokoske received permission to start a tree trimming business. He would like to start a tree nursery on his property as well. The Planning Board voted 3-2 in favor of the variance. James recommended denial on the issue because he would rather see such items happen through zoning instead of a variance. With a variance, he would be in charge of making sure there is compliance on the property. The property would have a maximum of 2,500 square feet available for the tree nursery. If the owner goes beyond that, the variance could be revoked. The variance will not carry over to a new property owner if the property is sold. Some Planning Board members had traffic concerns and questioned if the road can handle increased traffic. Mr. Bokoske says that people can only come by appointment, which is difficult to enforce. The maximum area allowed for the tree nursery would be more enforceable. • Building heights of up to 45' in Community Commercial zone James stated that he was going to have the Planning Board vote on this, but there was discussion and a vote was delayed. The community commercial zone allows for building up to 25 feet, but the neighborhoods behind community commercial allows for building up to 35 feet. It does not make much sense, and taller buildings would provide more of a sound barrier from the railroad. The Planning Board did not vote on it because James explained that a new type of zoning might need to be created and further review is needed. A gentleman is interested in upgrading the vacant Community Hope building on the comer of Pennsylvania and First. He wants to put in rental housing there, but community commercial does not allow the number of units he proposed. He hopes to have a 75 percent lot coverage, which cannot be done with the current zoning. James thinks that more residents need to be enticed into the central business district area to make downtown more viable and active. • Annexation allowance for 1 or 2 years to conform James distributed the draft annexation policy to the council. Since Chapter 16 was repealed from the Laurel Municipal Codes earlier this year, the city has used MCA for annexations. There have been some issues with engineering and installation of curb, gutter, and sidewalks for some annexations. The one or two-year requirement would help solve the issue and would have nothing to do with any major subdivisions. Subdivision Improvements Agreements require that curb, gutter, sidewalk, and proper engineering are done. There was lengthy council discussion on the issues. Executive review: • Appointments: o Police Commission: Reappoint Brett Lund to a three-year term ending 12/31/2010 Mayor Olson stated that the reappointment will be on the December 18d' council agenda • Council Issues: o Yellowstone Historic Preservation Board issues (Emelie Eaton) The information was not available for this meeting. The issue will be on the December 26d' council workshop agenda. • Trespassing and blocked sidewalks (Emelie Eaton) Emelie recently spoke with Chief Musson regarding two issues and wanted the responses put on record for public information. The trespassing issue dealt with what was perceived as trespassing in an apartment building. The chief's answer was that no apartment manager or caretaker has the ability Council Workshop Minutes of December 11, 2007 to police people who are perceived as being trespassers. Three examples given were: people who were coming to promote attendance at a different church; people who were campaigning; and people who were selling things. The police do not have the ability to get someone off of your doorstep, simply because you do not like them there. Emelie stated that an individual thought they could resolve the matter by posting a "No Soliciting", but that was not an effective deterrent. The individual that brought this to Emelie's attention had the opinion that a person can keep people off your doorstep at an apartment building by posting "No Soliciting: signs in the office and by contacting the manager. Chief Musson stated that the problem is difficult. Posting one "No Soliciting" sign does not account for the individual rights of residents in an apartment complex. It would be impossible for the police to enforce or an attorney to prosecute. Emelie explained the issues with blocked sidewalks and a resident that does not have a front lawn. The resident parks vehicles on the cement that reaches right up to the building. There is an ordinance against blocking city sidewalks. Rick stated that sidewalks cannot be blocked, but the police are not going to go around the old Congregational Church, which is now a residence, and start putting tags on vehicles. If there are complaints, the department would take action. There have been debates and issues where people park with one wheel on the boulevard and one wheel on the street. It is against the law but it is a solution to a narrow street and gives more width for people to drive through the street. Rick stated that most cases are dealt with on an individual basis when a complaint is received about an issue. Other items • Resolution No. R07- : A resolution of the City Council consenting to Thomae Lumber Sales' assignment of the Encroachment Permit previously approved by the City Council to Newkirk Real Estate-Montana, LLC. Mayor Olson stated that Paul Thomae, the owner of Thomae Lumber, contacted him today for his signature on an encroachment permit. Thomae Lumber is selling the property tomorrow. Section 10. a. of the permit says "no assignment of this Permit or the rights and obligations hereunder shall be valid without the specific written consent of both Parties hereto." Both parties' signatures are needed in order to assign responsibility to the new owner. Mayor Olson signed the document in order to facilitate tomorrow's closing. He asked the council to grant authority for that signature with approval of this resolution. Mayor Olson stated that Thomae Lumber will remain in business in Laurel and in Billings. With the signature, the new owners have accepted all of the liabilities and considerations of the Encroachment Permit that went into agreement with Thomae Lumber at the time of its creation. The Encroachment Permit is available for review in the clerk's office. The resolution will be on the December 186i council agenda. Resolution No. R07- : A resolution of the City Council approving Yellowstone County's request to drill a water test well on a small portion of the Laurel Cemetery to determine the existence of usable water for irrigation of the future Veterans' Cemetery. Council Workshop Minutes of December 11, 2007 Mayor Olson recently attended a meeting of the Veterans' Cemetery Steering Committee. At that meeting, Bill Enright, of Interstate Engineering, made a proposal for the provision of water for the Veterans' Cemetery and presented a hydrologist's recommendation for finding usable water. The study determined that the best place to find water is in the southernmost tip of Laurel' cemetery property. The county is requesting permission from the city council to drill a test well to find out if there is water that would be suitable for irrigation and provide a flow of between 20 and 25 gallons per minute. It would be a six-inch cased well going down 125 feet. Upon discussion further with the engineering firm, it was explained that the construction of a 100,000-gallon holding reservoir may be needed. The static water supply would be used to irrigate the Veterans' Cemetery. Mayor Olson stated that the request is for permission to drill and other requests may come forward to the council, but nothing else can happen without council approval. The resolution will be on the December 18"' council agenda. • Resolution No. R07- : A resolution of the City Council approving a change to the agreement between the City of Laurel and Interstate Engineering, Inc. Mayor Olson mentioned a letter from Interstate Engineering, which proposed preparation of the Laurel Cemetery Master Plan for $8,400. The council appropriated $25,000 for a Master Plan in the budget. Interstate Engineering recently did the mapping of the cemetery. There was discussion regarding how the city currently irrigates the cemetery. Kurt Markegard explained that the cemetery is irrigated by a pump off the Cove Ditch. The pump is located west of it down below the hill. It is pumped up, across the highway, and up along the highway to the cemetery, and then hand lines are used. It is a secondary pumping contract with the Cove Ditch Company. Cove Ditch is notorious for breaking out, since it is built on sandstone. It has a maximum capacity as it is coming through Park City, so they are always trying to push the limits on it and trying to get water to the farmers. When the ditch breaks out, the City of Laurel is shut down. This year, the city had a ten-day shutdown for repairs when the ditch broke out. The Cove Ditch Company put a two- week restriction on the city not to pump until the water could get down to the farmers that needed it. Along with the Veterans' Cemetery, the city is well aware of the issues. If the county is successful with the test well, the city could also look into that. Norm stated that the County and the City of Laurel will meet on Wednesday, December 19's, for discussion regarding a maintenance contract for the Veterans' Cemetery. The Veterans' Cemetery will pay the City of Laurel to maintain the cemetery, which could be a great opportunity for the city, but many questions need to be answered. A subcommittee, consisting of Norm and Dick Fritzler, will explore the issues. This will be the only recognized Veterans' Cemetery in the immediate area Norm stated that the Veterans' Cemetery will be built to national standards. It currently is not a national or state veterans' cemetery, but the idea is to build it to national standards so it could eventually become one. Mayor Olson stated that the Laurel Outlook plans to release its opinion on the city's charter and the manner in which the city was given authority for it in Wednesday's newspaper. The city's response is anticipated the following week. Review of draft council agenda for December 18, 2007 6 Council Workshop Minutes of December 11, 2007 Ordinance No. 007-12: An ordinance of the City of Laurel, Montana, establishing load limits on city streets; providing for truck routes and for loading and unloading; establishing exceptions; providing enforcement procedures and definitions; and providing for a penalty. (First reading - 11/06/2007; Public Hearing -12/04/2007; Second reading -12/18/2007) Mayor Olson stated that the second reading of the ordinance is scheduled for December 181i There was a brief discussion regarding the truck route. If changes are needed to the truck route, the streets must be built to the proper specifications in order to allow the truck route's weight designation for 12,000 pounds. Attendance at the December 18d council meeting" All council members present will attend. Announcements: Doug stated that the Emergency Services Committee will not meet in December. Mark requested that the staff talk to the new owners of Thomae Lumber regarding the stipulations in the encroachment permit. Mayor Olson stated that the staff would do so. Mark suggested that the city should document the current condition of the streets by Thomae Lumber, Mayor Olson stated that, because of the holidays, the council workshop will be on Wednesday, December 26 h, and the council meeting will be on Wednesday, January 2°d. The swearing in ceremony for the new council members will be on the January 2nd council agenda. The council workshop adjourned at 8:12 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. 7 RESOURCE CONSERVATION ANd VELOPMENT {SEA, INC. PO Box 180, 604 West Front Street, Joliet, MT 59041 406-962.3914. FAR 406-962-3647 - December 11, 2007 Laurel City Council, Regional Mass Transit Provided staff time for technical assistance, grant writing and support for project. Laurel Resource Assessment Provided business technical assistance and support. First Time Homebuyer Education Classes Classes are offered in Laurel the second Saturday of every Month. This program has assisted over 200 attendees annually. Montana Bio-Industries Coouerative Provided grant writing, administration, business and technical assistance in formation of cooperative and developing feasibility for bio-fuel refinery project. Montana Territory Meats Provided business and technical assistance. Big Sky Woodcrafters Business funding and technical assistance provided by Beartooth RC&D Revolving Loan Fund. Northern Rocky Mountain Glass Business funding and technical assistance provided by Beartooth RC&D Revolving Loan Fund. Michelle Riley 706 Washington Ave. Laurel, MT 59044 406-628-7322 December 10, 2007 To Whom It May Concern: My name is Michelle Riley and I live at 706 Washington Ave.,. I own and operate a daycare in my home. Since school started I have had problems with people parking their cars/trucks in front of my house. I have even had people who park in front of my house all day long ! ! Why can't they park in the parking lot ?? Isn't that what it's for ? On some day's I've even had people blocking my driveway !! I have parents who drop off their children / or pick them up, and have to walk from the end of the next block, because they cant park in my driveway or in front of my house ! ! I don't think this is right or fair to me ! ! And I have actually asked people to not block my driveway, or park in front of my house, so parents can pick up / drop off children, for my daycare. If there is something you can tell your teachers, or parents to keep this from happening, I would greatly appreciate it ! ! If you have any questions, please feel free to contact me at any time . Sincerely, Michelle Riley & Home Away From Home Daycare December 4, 2007 To Whom It May Concern, I am writing to express my concerns about the teachers parking in front of my house during school hours. With the new Laurel Middle School being built, I am sure that adequate parking for the teacher's has-been allotted in the school parking lot. Since the first day of school, there have been teachers parking in front of my house from 7:20am to 4pm leaving us or our visitor no where to park. My house has no drive way from the street, which leaves us no parking in front. I know that the street is public parking, but some consideration from the school to monitor that the teacher's park in the school parking lot would be much appreciated. 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