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HomeMy WebLinkAboutCouncil Workshop Minutes 10.14.2008MINUTES COUNCIL WORKSHOP OCTOBER 14, 2008 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 October 14, 2008. COUNCIL MEMBERS PRESENT: x Emelie Eaton _x Kate Hart -x Gay Easton Alex Wilkins _x Doug Poehls x_ Mark Mace ?x Chuck Dickerson _x Norm Stamper OTHERS PRESENT: Sam Painter Mary Embleton Bill Sheridan Kurt Markegard James Caniglia Rick Musson Scott Wilm Jan Faught Public Invut (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. Ambulance: Resolution - Step raises/on-call rates Jan explained that the step raises are currently capped at ten years of service and the change would provide a 10 cent increase every two years after the third year of service. Jan stated that the change would not affect the current budget. The resolution will be on the October 215` council agenda. Public Works D artment: • Resolution - Change Order No. 1 for fire hydrants on South Laurel Stormwater and Sanitary Sewer Improvement Project Kurt stated that the change order is for the installation of two fire hydrants on the west side of South First Avenue. The hydrants will be staggered between the existing hydrants on the east side of the street. COP Construction will install the hydrants and the city will provide the materials. The resolution will be on the October 21St council agenda. * Resolution - Small service contract for asphalt patching of water breaks . Kurt explained that two bids were received for the asphalt patching. He recommended accepting the lower bid from G & G Contractors Services, as the contractor should be able to complete the work before the asphalt plants shut down. There was discussion regarding the asphalt plants. The resolution will be on the October 21" council agenda. Clerk/Treasurer: * Resolution - Records retention Council Workshop Minutes of October 14, 2008 Mary stated that the resolution is needed for the maintenance of records disposal. After approval by the council, the list will be sent to the State of Montana. The State will advertise for the public to review the records to see if anything is of historical value to anyone prior to final disposal. The resolution will be on the October 21't council agenda. Council Member Dickerson asked if the city shreds documents. There was discussion. Mary will look into this. Chief Administrative Officer: • South First Avenue project update Bill stated that the South First Avenue project is on schedule. There have been some minor problems, but the project should be completed about the first of December. Kurt stated that the sanitary sewer is installed, as the last manhole was installed Thursday night before the snowstorm. Installation of the storm water system will start by Wal-Mart and work back up Southeast 4th Street, and a crew will install the storm inlets through the streets. Kurt stated that the sanitary lines that were removed had a lot of holes. Pictures were taken and the engineers said to save the pictures. Having the documentation and the pictures showing that the sewer lines were in bad shape would help the city in future grant applications. Kurt explained that installation of the storm system will start at the lowest gradient by Wal-Mart and move back up gradient and will end at Taco John's. On Southeast 0' Street, the storm will go down the south side from east to west. It will be on the south side of the road and then cross to the north side to get away from the utilities. There was discussion regarding installation of inlets for businesses to tie into the storm system. On South First, inlets are being installed to the street and businesses will be able to tie in to the back of the inlets. There will be storm to take care of the curb and gutter, but the inlets will also be available. Once the street is paved by the state next year, it should not be necessary to cut into the street. If businesses want to tie into the inlets on Southeast 4th Street in the future, they can do so. An SID for pavement restoration or pavement improvements on Southeast 4th could be done in the future. The city is working with business owners to get the inlets located on property lines so adjoining property owners do not have to cross another property to get to the inlet. • Road signs on First Avenue South Bill distributed copies of a draft letter he prepared to MDT regarding the traffic signs at South First Avenue coming off the interstate. Council Member Dickerson agreed that the letter reflected the suggestions regarding the signage. If no further comments are received, Bill will send the letter to the Montana Department of Transportation. Executive review: • Schedule council meeting for November 4th (General Election Day) and council workshop for November 11 `h (Veterans' Day) Mayor Olson explained that November 4th and November 11th are holidays and asked if the council wanted the meetings scheduled on those dates. There was no discussion. The meetings will be held on the regular dates. Council Issues: • Town Square information (Chuck Dickerson) 2 Council Workshop Minutes of October 14, 2008 Council Member Dickerson asked who to contact regarding use of the Town Square for special events. Kate stated that the Laurel Revitalization League is responsible for the Town Square and individuals can contact her regarding its use. • Fencing of the underpass (Mark Mace) Council Member Mace suggested that the responsible parties should be contacted about the possibility of placing a barrier between traffic and pedestrians in the underpass. Mayor Olson stated that no one wanted to claim ownership of the underpass when a local group tried to get permission to paint the underpass. Council Member Mace thinks it is important for the city to pursue this. Mayor Olson will write letters to the railroad and MDT. Council Member Mace offered to help. • Eighth Avenue overpass (Doug Poehls) Council Member Poehls thinks that the city should explore whether it would be a viable project to build an overpass over the railroad at 8`h Avenue. He mentioned that Cenex is considering moving the receiving department to the west side of the refinery. There was council discussion. Council Member Mace stated that MRL and Cenex have a big stake in this. Mayor Olson stated that the two entities are involved in several issues being addressed by the city and should be contacted. Mary mentioned that the City of Cut Bank had a similar situation, and she suggested that the former mayor be contacted. Council Member Poehls will get the contact information from Mary and send letters to MRL and Cenex. Other items The yard signs for the fire hall mill levy are available. Information will be published in the Laurel Outlook tomorrow and in the Outrider next week. The council's letter of support for the fire hall mill levy was given to the newspaper today. Mayor Olson stated that Chief Wilm will present the fire hall mill levy information at the council meeting on October 21St Council Member Hart asked regarding the plan for removal of tree branches after the recent snowstorm. Kurt distributed copies of his memo that will be published in tomorrow's newspaper and on Cable Montana's channel 9. Residents are being asked to haul broken branches to the container site. The city will remove tree branches from boulevards and streets for residents that are unable to do so. The container site will be open every day this week from 7:30 a.m to 3:00 p.m. and on Sunday for branch collection only. City crews will not remove broken branches that have not fallen from trees. Kurt stated that seven employees responded to the call out for help on Sunday and he reported that the efforts went well that day and will continue to be addressed. Mayor Olson thanked Bill and Kurt for having a plan of action prior to the snow event. Mayor Olson mentioned that Bill recently asked if the city could advertise for additional temporary workers to help patch streets this fall. Mayor Olson thanked Bill for his ideas. Council Member Dickerson asked regarding the holes in the northbound lane of the underpass. Mayor Olson stated that it would be mentioned to MDT. Council Member Eaton asked if the letters received about police department issues would be discussed soon. Mayor Olson stated that it would be on the next council workshop agenda for discussion. He stated that these are personnel matters and might not be brought forward to the council. An update will be given at the next council workshop. 3 Council Workshop Minutes of October 14, 2008 Review of draft council a enda for October 21, 2008 The fire department's report on the mill levy will be added to the draft agenda. Mayor Olson stated that the second reading of Ordinance No. 008-09 is on the October 21St council agenda. The ordinance creates the Laurel Urban Renewal Agency. A resolution outlining the authority of the agency will be presented at the October 28th council workshop. Attendance at the October 21 st council meeting All present will attend. Announcements The dedication of the Yellowstone County Veterans' Cemetery will be held on Veterans' Day on Tuesday, November 11th. War veterans will speak at a function at the Laurel High School in the morning and the dedication will be held later in the day. Council Member Eaton stated that the League of Cities and Towns Conference was very informative. She will give the information received at the conference to Bill Sheridan to distribute to the appropriate department heads. Council Member Stamper stated that a Cemetery Commission meeting is scheduled on Wednesday at 5:30 p.m. in the council chambers to review the current rendering of the master plan. Council Members Dickerson and Mace spoke regarding the League of Cities and Towns Conference. Council Member Poehls complimented the city crew and city residents for their efforts in clean up throughout the city after the weekend snowstorm. Mayor Olson spoke regarding the contract for the Veterans' Cemetery. Kurt went with a group to Sturgis to visit the cemetery and returned with some valuable information. Kurt stated that the Boy Scouts will be out from 4:00 to 7:00 p.m. beginning tomorrow night to help people remove tree branches. Mary thanked the city council and mayor for allowing her to attend the League of Cities and Towns Conference last week. She was reelected as the secretary/treasurer for the Montana League of Cities and Towns Executive Board. Chief Musson stated that Sgt. Zuhoski resigned effective October 24th. The council workshop adjourned at 7:43 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. 4