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HomeMy WebLinkAboutCouncil Workshop Minutes 11.11.2008MINUTES COUNCIL WORKSHOP NOVEMBER 11, 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 November 11, 2008. COUNCIL MEMBERS PRESENT: x_ Emelie Eaton ?x Kate Hart Vacant Alex Wilkins _x Doug Poehls _x Mark Mace _ Chuck Dickerson _x Norm Stamper OTHERS PRESENT: Sam Painter Mary Embleton Bill Sheridan Kurt Markegard Rick Musson Jan Faught Jean Carroll Thompson Chad Hanson, Great West Engineering Patrick Murtagh, Great West Engineering Chuck Rodgers 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. Ward 3 Council candidate interviews Mayor Olson read a letter of interest from Chuck Rodgers for the vacant Ward 3 council seat. He asked Chuck to address the council. Chuck Rodgers stated that it will be difficult to fill Gay Easton's position on the council, but it would be an honor to do so. Mayor Olson stated that Chuck Rodgers' name would be on the ballot for the council's consideration on the November 18th council agenda. There was discussion regarding the term of this appointment. The term expires in January 2012, but the appointment will be made to January 2009. The individual would need to run to fill the remainder of the term in the next general municipal election in November 2009. Christmas to Remember Committee - Jean Carroll Thompson Jean Carroll Thompson invited the city and the city council to attend the 2008 Business and Organization Appreciation on November 19th from 5:00 to 7:00 p.m. at the Best Western Yellowstone Crossing Motel. Special awards will be presented. Vi Hill will be invited to the event for her participation in the centennial cleanup event. Council Workshop Minutes of November 11, 2008 Jean Carroll gave a history of the Christmas to Remember Committee, which is in its twenty-third year. This year's event will include the open houses at the businesses from 2:00 to 5:00 p.m., an all- day bazaar in the Ashley Furniture building, a live nativity in Town Square from 4:00 to 5:00 p.m., historical tours from 1:00 to 5:00 p.m., a parade, fireworks, and the arrival of Santa. The Crossings has agreed to allow a minimum of seven and maximum of thirteen organizations sign up to decorate trees at the facility. Jean Carroll stated that the Christmas to Remember might develop into a community event with the businesses continuing to have open houses and shopping. Centennial Celebration video The council watched the Centennial Celebration video, which was produced by Steven Kops of Main Street EFX Photography. Planning: • Zone change request from Zweifel Bill Sheridan stated that the issue would be on the next council workshop agenda, as the city planner was not at the meeting. Mayor Olson stated that an explanation of the issue and the Planning Board's recommendation are included in the Planning Board's minutes. Chief Administrative Officer: * Chad Hanson, Great West Engineering - Updates on the South Laurel Project and Main Street Project Chad Hanson spoke regarding the task orders with the City of Laurel. Task Order No. 2 is for the West Main from First to Eighth SID. MDT is doing the design, the sidewalk improvements, and the mill and overlay. There were some questions with the right-of-way. The land surveyor has been working on that and got the information to MDT. Kurt and Sam are reviewing some draft easements, which should be completed and sent to MDT soon. The project has been pushed to 2010 so that First to Third can be added to the project. Giving up a year so the city does not end up with two blocks between two mill and overlay projects on Main Street is an acceptable solution. Task Order No. 3 is for the South Laurel Storm Water and Sanitary Sewer project. The south side is torn up and a 54-inch diameter pipe that is six inches thick is being installed on the east end. The 6%2 feet of pipe has to be woven in and out of the existing utilities. Some of the sanitary sewer services are in conflict but some solutions have been found. The engineers knew about the Cenex Refinery line but were not aware of an Exxon line. The intersection at South First Avenue and Southeast Fourth was a challenge to get through. The inspector informed Chad that they got around the turn and are headed up First Avenue. COP brought in a second crew and also decided to work every Saturday in order to get the project done on time. Weekly progress meetings are held every Wednesday morning at 10:00 a.m. COP Construction has five extra days. Two days were needed because the city added some fire hydrants to the west side of South First Avenue. The other three days were weather days from the recent snowstorm. The sanitary has been paved back in and they are trying to get First Avenue punched in and repaved. The manhole covers will be up to the previous elevation when the project is completed. Mayor Olson asked regarding the extensions on South First Avenue and Southeast Fourth Street. Chad stated that the city is not hooking any private individuals into the storm sewer. It is the property owner's responsibility to hook into the storm sewer system, the sanitary sewer system, or the municipal water system. Wherever possible, the city has made it easier for property owners by 2 Council Workshop Minutes of November 11, 2008 installing inlets. NOT required some stub outs on South First because of the mill and overlay project scheduled next spring. Several businesses on Southeast Fourth and South First Avenue want to hook into the storm sewer system, and COP is interested in doing it after the project is done. There was discussion regarding the conversion from a French drain to the storm sewer system to make sure that dirt is not getting into the system. Kurt stated that most of the properties have a rock drain underneath the parking lots and the storm water system would just be the overflow in a 10-year storm event. If the mud is kept out of the parking lots and the streets are clean, there should not be a problem with silting. There was discussion regarding a system development fee. Kurt stated that, if the council approves a storm water maintenance district, there could be some system development fees. Kurt recommended having system development fees before allowing anyone to hook into the storm because there will be maintenance and inspection issues. The storm water discharge will be part of the city's total community discharge and will include the water plant, the wastewater treatment plant, and storm water. In the future, DEQ will require all discharge to meet a certain turbidity going into the river, whether there is a storm event or the city is just treating sewage. Chad stated that the trenches in South First Avenue will be paved when the project is complete. Next spring, the State of Montana will do a mill and fill from the interstate interchange through the underpass going east to the Moss Main interchange. The original plans included an SID for an overlay on South Fourth Street, but the business owners were not interested and it was removed from the project. The street will need to be addressed at some point. Task Order No. 5 is the wastewater grant administration, which is an ongoing thing. Task Order No. 7 is the CTEP South First Avenue sidewalk project. Final plans have been submitted to CTEP. The sidewalk project will be bid as a separate project at the same time as the highway project and will be built at the same time. As soon as CTEP approves the project and the final cost estimates are received, Great West will work with the business owners to create the SID. CTEP requires the city to provide a 15 percent match, and there will be an SID on the match like the one for the East First Street sidewalk project. Chad stated that this will be a great improvement for Laurel's entrance corridor. • Resolution - Task Order No. 9 with Great West Engineering for Water Treatment Plant water intake system Patrick Murtagh reported that the City of Laurel has been recommended for the Treasure State Endowment Program grant of $625,000. The city will probably not receive the $100,000 DNRC Grant. Great West tried to move quickly on the project regarding the filters and the low lift pumps at the plant because they are definitely slowing down the capacity to produce water. The plans were submitted to the State, which has already given its comments. The project should be out for bids by the end of November. The project will eventually lead to a rate increase of just over $4.00 per user on the average. Great West has been talking to Cenex, which is going to test its fire suppression system soon. There were several main breaks within the city the last time Cenex tested its system. When they shut the valves off quickly, it sends a big pressure wave all the way through town. Great West is working with Cenex to find ways to keep that to an absolute minimum and below the dangerous levels. 3 Council Workshop Minutes of November 11, 2008 Mayor Olson asked regarding the water facilities project and whether it would address the variable frequency pumps and the filters. Pat stated that only the worst parts are being addressed now so construction of those issues can be done this winter. Half of the plant must be shut down during construction, so it cannot be delayed into April and May. If both filters are not done this year, the contractor would be allowed to start next year, but would not get money for remobilization. The engineers are addressing all the items that were shown during the walkthrough several months ago. The second phase will probably start in July or August. Norm stated concern regarding fencing around the sedimentation basin. Pat stated that fencing will be installed around the booster station on the other side of town. Pat and Bill will discuss this further. Pat spoke regarding the intake system. The old intake system was built up above the high water level from the river and the new one is like a little submarine. It had a top on it to protect the big screens on the intake from being damaged by chunks of ice or a floating tree. It is not known why the tops all lifted off and moved downstream. Divers recently found one of the lids, but no one knows what caused the problem or the best solution at this point. Bill stated that eventually Great West will give direction regarding the solution to ensure that the intake will not be a problem. • Roadway improvements on Washington Avenue at the Laurel Middle School Bill and Mayor Olson recently met with officials from the school district to discuss some issues. The Laurel Middle School is bordered by Washington and Alder Avenues, and there have been complaints regarding those streets. The school district plans to install water and sewer to its property on the east side of Alder Avenue. Next summer, the city plans to use the millings from the First Avenue South project to make improvements on Alder Avenue The school district plans to install curb, gutter, and some sidewalks on Washington Avenue. The city will then repave the areas up against the curb and sidewalk in the areas where families pick up children. In the recent meeting, there was a lengthy discussion about the improvements to the new athletic field. The school district wants to remove a caboose from their property. Bill is contacting the railroad regarding a place to put it. Any ideas should be brought to Bill's attention. Executive review: • Resolution - Approve Laurel Cemetery Master Plan Mayor Olson stated that the Cemetery Commission worked hard on the master plan. Norm explained stated that the master plan was presented and discussed at the previous council workshop. After the council approves the plan, interstate Engineering will complete the sprinkler system for the cemetery. The engineers will provide cost estimates for several phases of the project, beginning with the gathering area. At that time, the contract with Interstate Engineering will be complete. Norm stated that the funding in place is not enough to complete the entire gathering area, but it will get the project started. • Appointment: 4 Council Workshop Minutes of November 11, 2008 o Human Relations Committee, Council Member-at-Large: Emelie Eaton The appointment will be on the November 18th council agenda. • Council issues: o Discussion regarding the three branches of government (Mark Mace) Mayor Olson stated that some council members asked regarding the process for interaction between the council and the CAO. Mark stated that his concern was that council members talk directly to staff or give staff instructions without going through the CAO. Mayor Olson spoke regarding the charter that the council adopted. The charter includes sections regarding the executive branch and its powers and duties and the legislative branch and its powers and duties. The legislative branch sets policy and the executive branch is charged with executing the policies adopted by the council. Dr. Weaver has addressed this issue in the workshops on roles and responsibilities. If a staff member takes direction from the administration and then is faced with a direction from a council person, it puts the employee in an uncomfortable situation. The charter states that the employee takes direction from his/her immediate supervisor, the immediate supervisor gets direction from the CAO, the CAO gets direction from the mayor, and the mayor gets direction from the policy set by the council. It is prudent to recognize that unnecessary stress is put on the employee when the process is not followed. o Discussion regarding the community policing concept (Emelie Eaton) Emelie asked if there was a negative impact to the community policing concept with regard to the letters of complaint that were received and how the council should respond to constituents. Mayor Olson stated that council members should contact the CAO regarding complaints. If that is not satisfactory, the constituent could then contact the mayor. Reports of incidents with employees are of concern and high priority. Complaints are addressed according to the steps in the city's policies. The rights of both the citizen and the employee need to be respected in the process. Rick gave an explanation of community policing, which is a collaborative effort between a police department and a community to identify and solve problems. He explained the three phases: 1) partnerships between police and community; 2) problem solving 3) change in management. Rick listed many areas of community policy that the Laurel Police Department provides in Laurel. These include insecure premises, area checks, streetlights, speaking to civic organizations, Junior Police Academy, internship for high school students, Citizen Ride-Along Program, DUI Task Force, child fingerprints, gun locks, alcohol training, bank safety talks, the Laurel City Voice, July 3rd and 4th activities, motor patrol, the School Resource Program, and the Crossing Guard Program. Mayor Olson stated that the city and council are accountable to the citizens. The City of Laurel will stand behind the process to make sure that every citizen has the ability to be heard and to seek a resolve to issues. o Fire hall mill levy Mayor Olson and Bill Sheridan have discussed the issue and are aware of the situation. He stated that 1,300 people believe the city needs a fire hall and some others do not. The city cannot walk away from this issue without investigating what is needed to present a product that the community would 5 Council Workshop Minutes of November 11, 2008 approve. Mayor Olson, Bill and Chief Wilm will work with the council's direction to forward a product to service and meet the needs of the city. He asked for the council's input regarding the issue. Kate stated that, like with other issues that have come forward, the problem is with education. The issues that she has been best educated on recently were the mail-in ballots where the information is received with the ballot. Kate would like to see a mail-in ballot. Emelie stated that some people are confused about the TIF District, whether it automatically gives the city enough money to build a new fire hall, and what it can and cannot do. She suggested that education is needed in those areas. Doug stated concern that the city tries to educate people but citizens do not show up for the meetings. Only five people attended the recent meeting at the fire hall. He thinks that many people are apathetic and it is difficult to get them interested in the issue. That goes back to the need for education. Another concern is that some of the opportunities available now, specifically the land, may not be available in the future. He suggested inviting the public to the fire hall for a public meeting so people can see the space issues. Chuck Rodgers stated that he has come up against this issue on the street several times. One thing people asked was why they should vote for a new fire hall when the city will not fix the streets. The other thing was that the city gets money from the fire districts and they ask why they cannot build it. Chuck stated that those questions have to be answered. He stated that it is not just fire department, as the police and ambulance are also in the building. He thinks they need to step up and help educate the people why they need more space. Rick Musson spoke for himself and Jan Faught. He stated that one of the problems was the lack of a plan for the police and ambulance. He voted, had a sign in his yard, and talked to people. But he has a hard time now saying to vote for this until there is a plan. Mr. Rodgers has the right thought. There are entities over there that no one knew what was going to happen. A lot of rumors went around who was going to be moving in over there, and it was not them. He stated that they want to be proactive on it, but the plan has to be broader than the fire department. He stated that there was never any funding set up for that, but that did not make the mill levy go down. For the future, they want to be on board and would like to see a plan go forward for all three entities. Mayor Olson stated that he, Bill and the fire chief will work to determine how to go forward. The biggest things are education and the ability to have the details worked out before getting into the realm of the vote. Trying to educate will be a challenge because there is so much going on. The other challenge will be to formulate a plan with which everyone is on board. That is necessary so that department heads have a clear understanding of the issue. Mark suggested preparing a questionnaire asking voters about their reasons for voting against the mill levy. He suggested that this and further education could be done in the Laurel City Voice. Kate requested information regarding the total number of voters that returned the mail-in ballots for the new school and the new sports complex. Mayor Olson stated that there would be future discussions and that the council can help by educating themselves and the community. 6 Council Workshop Minutes of November 11, 2008 Other items Bill Sheridan explained an issue at 13th Street and West Maryland Lane where water is filling up the basements in four houses. At least two of the property owners are discharging the water into a street or an alley. This will be a dangerous situation when the water that is cascading on West Maryland freezes and causes problems. Dumping the water into the sanitary sewer is inappropriate and against the law. The water should go into a storm water system, but none is available in this particular area. Bill has one bid for $17,000 or $18,000 to put in the necessary piping and catch basins and to repair the street. Kurt Markegard stated that the gentleman has been discharging since last spring. Initially, the city thought that it was leakage from a ditch, but the ditches are off, and the water is still coming. This issue is a detriment to the street and to the safety of the public. Having water constantly going across the asphalt is making potholes in the street. If the city installed a drain system underneath the street to collect the water, it could actually settle foundations in other areas that we do not want to do. A house is built on a certain type of soil and part of that soil content is water. By taking away the water, there could be settlement issues. The only option is to control where the water is pumped and discharged. There was discussion. Kurt stated that a system on West 9th Street has inlets that actually drain into the ditch and come down to West 7 h and along the ditch there. On 86' Avenue a block north of the school, water runs into a pipe and goes down to Main Street and discharges by the city shop, where it dumps into the Laurel Drain or the Italian Ditch. Mayor Olson stated that standards do not allow the discharge of water into the sanitary sewer. That leaves a limited avenue of options, which are currently being reviewed to find the best way to resolve the issue. Review of draft council agenda for November 18, 2008 Mayor Olson stated that action to fill the Ward 3 council vacancy would be on the agenda after the roll call of the council. Mayor Olson stated that the BSEDA board needs the Nominating Committee position filled. Chuck Rodgers has agreed to fill the position, and the appointment will be on the agenda next Tuesday. Attendance at the November 18th council meet' All present will attend. Announcements The Yellowstone Historic Preservation Board meeting is scheduled on Tuesday, November 18t`, at 8:00 a.m. at the Parmly Billings Library. Emelie expressed kudos to staff, particularly Bill Sheridan who recently spoke with a resident. She stated that it is a relief to know that there is someone from city hall who is such a public figure in this community. Mayor Olson stated that Dick Olson, one of the contractors at the Veterans' Cemetery, asked him to tell the public works department that Bruce Lefler's assistance and ideas throughout the construction of the cemetery were deeply appreciated. Bruce had a vast knowledge of the problems and the 7 Council Workshop Minutes of November 11, 2008 intricacies of the land. Mr. Olson asked Mayor Olson to forward that to his supervisors. Mayor Olson thanked Bruce for all of his work with that individual. Mayor Olson stated that Norm's presentation at the Veterans' Cemetery celebration was great and represented the city extremely well. He thanked Norm for the presentation. There was further discussion regarding the Veterans' Day events. Kate mentioned that Alex Wilkins is on active duty right now and should return in a couple weeks. The council workshop adjourned at 8:41 p.m. Respectfully submitted, a&z.,- 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. 8