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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2014.08.20 CITY COUNCIL MINUTES 1 August 20, 2014 Mayor Richard Woodland Council Members: President Sally Smith Jordan Busby Donna Benfield Jerry Merrill Christopher Mann Brad Wolfe City Staff: Stephen Zollinger – City Attorney Matt Nielson – Finance Officer John Millar – Public Works Director Val Christensen – Community Development Director Scott Johnson – Economic Development Director Blair Kay – City Clerk 7:00 P.M City Hall – Pledge to the Flag Council Member Mann conducted the meeting. Council Member Benfield led the pledge. Roll Call of Council Members: Attending: Council Member Mann, Council Member Benfield, Council Member Busby, Council Member Merrill, and Council Member Wolfe. Mayor Woodland and Council President Smith asked to be excused. Public Comment on non-controversial issues: not scheduled on the agenda (limit 3 minutes): Jack Bogetti has lived here for 2 months. They moved here from Boise and they are thrilled to be here. He wanted to comment on the flood. It was very concerning. When another heavy rain hit he was again concerned with the water that creeps up to his house. He was not flooded, but close. He is on the corner of Yost and Polo. When big storms hit, the storm drains quit working and a lake forms. He is afraid that one day it will flood their house. During last night’s storm he drove to Mariah and Oaktrail and noticed a red light on a panel where the pump is. He would like to encourage the council to keep addressing this issue. He thanked the council for their service. Council Member Benfield encouraged him to stay and hear the report that will be presented this evening. Council Member Busby also encouraged him to attend the task force meetings. Council Member Mann said that Mr. Bogetti lives across the street from him and has also witnessed the high water levels in front of their homes as that is where the storm drains are located. Presentations: - None Council Member Mann reported that the flooding on campus has been bad. He can attest to the severe destruction. The Manwaring Center was badly flooded. His office and many other offices are being remodeled due to the damage. 35 North 1st East Rexburg, ID 83440 Phone: 208.359.3020 x2313 Fax: 208.359.3022 blairk@rexburg.org www.rexburg.org City Council Meeting August 20, 2014 2 Committee Liaison Assignments for 2014: A. Council Member Christopher Mann: Golf Board · Emergency Services Board · MYAB Council Member Mann reported none of his committees have met. Mary Flanary with the Mayor’s Youth Advisory Board is working hard on sign-ups at the schools for the new year. B. Council Member Jordan Busby: GIS Oversight · Airport Board · Traffic & Safety Council Member Busby reported none of his committees have met. C. Council Member Donna Benfield: Police · Trails of Madison County · IBC · Teton Flood Museum Committee Council Member Benfield reported trails will meet tomorrow night. D. Council Member Sally Smith: Legacy Flight Museum · Rexburg Arts Council (Romance Theatre & Tabernacle Civic Center, Orchestra) · M.E.P.I. Council President Smith was excused. E. Council Member Jerry Merrill: School Board · Parks & Recreation · Urban Renewal Agency Council Member Jerry Merrill reported the school board has not met. The Recreation Department held their annual Rush Triathlon last Saturday. He showed some photos and remarked that a lot of families participated. A contestant, Mr. Wray, came across the line an hour after everyone. He has lost 100 pounds since last April and is trying to get in shape. It was emotional. Urban Renewal and Parks & Recreation is working on the new parking lot for Rexburg Rapids with an exit onto 1st East and Valley River Drive. Urban Renewal is helping finance the building of that road. F. Council Member Brad Wolfe: Planning & Zoning · Beautification Committee Council Member Wolfe reported Planning & Zoning met last week. They are looking at the current regulations for temporary businesses. There may be some changes coming there. They also talked about the final plat for Tamana Fields. Public Hearings: - None Council Member Merrill asked to be excused. Items for Consideration: A. Resolution 2014-16 Urban Renewal Plan for North 2nd East – Terry Butikofer RESOLUTION NO. 2014-16 A RESOLUTION BY THE REXBURG CITY COUNCIL DETERMINING A CERTAIN AREA WITHIN THE CITY TO BE A DETERIORATED OR DETERIORATING AREA AS DEFINED BY IDAHO CODE SECTIONS 50-2018(9) AND 50-2903(8); DIRECTING THE URBAN RENEWAL AGENCY OF REXBURG TO COMMENCE THE PREPARATION OF AN URBAN RENEWAL PLAN SUBJECT TO CERTAIN CONDITIONS, WHICH PLAN MAY INCLUDE REVENUE ALLOCATION PROVISIONS FOR ALL OR PART OF THE AREA; AND PROVIDING AN EFFECTIVE DATE. Terry Butikofer from the Development Company in Rexburg presented the Urban Renewal Plan for North 2nd East interchange. This is just the eligibility report. These are areas of potential deterioration that may need improved. Discussion: 3 Council Member Busby moved to approve Resolution 2014-16 for the Urban Renewal Plan for North 2nd East; Council Member Wolfe seconded the motion; Acting Council President Mann asked for a vote: Those voting aye Those voting nay Council Member Mann None Council Member Benfield Council Member Busby Council Member Wolfe The motion carried. 4 B. Final Plat – Tamana Fields South Phase One Presented by Barry Whitson of Keller Associates in Idaho Falls, Idaho. They are here to get approval on the final plat. It has been through all the departments and questions have been addressed. Staff Report: Community Development Director Christensen reviewed the final plat for Tamana Fields: Fire Department Staff Review Comments The Final Plat was reviewed. There were no Fire Department comments at this time. GIS Staff Review Comments 1. A 10 foot utility easement is missing from the front of the lots. 2. A Flood Plain statement is missing. 3. Access needs to be shown on the final plat to determine addressing. Public Works Staff Review Comments 1. An easement needs to be established for the joint access to Lot 1 of Tamana Fields South Phase 1. This information needs to be shown on the plat. 2. Will the access from South Yellowstone serve only this phase or is it intended to have this access continue into the property to the east? If so, an access easement needs to be established through this phase to the east. 3. There needs to be an access provided to Lot 1 of this phase. It should be shown on the plat or on an attached agreement. 4. A 10 foot utility easement should be shown along the west side of the property for power, phone, fiber, etc. Planning & Zoning Staff Review Comments 1. There are no concerns from Planning and Zoning. Discussion on the easement from South Yellowstone east to the Division Two development. The plat needs to show an easement there. Council Member Wolfe moved to approve the Final Plat for Tamana Fields South Phase One; with a condition to have an easement from South Yellowstone Hwy over to the future Division Two; Council Member Benfield seconded the motion; Acting Council President Mann asked for a vote: Those voting aye Those voting nay Council Member Mann None Council Member Benfield Council Member Busby Council Member Wolfe The motion carried. 5 C. Annexation of properties within City Limits – Staff City Engineer Davidson explained the need for a sidewalk along University Blvd to provide pedestrian traffic from McDonalds to the new Madison High School. These two properties along University Blvd are outside the city limits. Discussion: The properties are not in city boundaries. The city would need to acquire the property right of way so that we can put in the sidewalk. We would put sidewalks on the north side only at this time. The property owners have not been notified yet. The property owners would have higher taxes. Council Member Mann proposed that some questions be addressed and that a full council be present for further discussion. Questions to be addressed are; right of ways, owners feelings and exactly what we have in mind and the costs. Staff Reports: B. Public Works Director John Millar reported on the Task Force meeting that was created to address the concerns associated with the flash flood that happened on July 15th, 2014. They are looking at the areas hardest hit. The Ricks Palmer subdivision problem with the over-taxing of the pump station. They looked at possible solutions. They looked at short term and long term modifications. They have looked at why the pump tripped out. Even if the pump had not tripped out, he doesn’t know if it would have been able to keep up with the water. There are two pumps that run 1 hour each per day, alternating. That day they ran 16 hours. Water was coming from manholes, basement drains etc. They are looking at raising the electrical box at the station. There was eight times the volume of normal operation. They could install manhole pins that block water from running into the manholes at a cost of $100.00 each. Homeowners could install a backflow device. This would cost $1000.00 each and would require digging up their yards. A simple plug for $25.00 could be put on a hose and inserted into the clean out line to plug it. Another device for $75.00 requires compressed air to plug the line. These devices would need to be close and accessible when needed. They do not stay in the line. The flooding from the ditch was another problem. They will do a once a month maintenance on the ditch and keep record of all cleaning and modifications. The lift station door has a gasket that keeps water out also. Long term solution is to move the pump station into Rotary Park. Or run a new pressure line into the Kmart lift station. Written Input: 8/12/2014 Dear Mayor Woodland, Council and task force members: We live on Rodney drive and our home was one of many that received sewage on the night of July 15, 2014. Brad Wolfe asked at the last city council meeting that we send our comments and questions to the task force to be addressed and answered. We have thought hard and long about things we would like to discuss and have tried to remember as many as we could to include in this letter. 6 To start with, we found it quite interesting that on the night of August 7th, 2014 that Local New 8 had two news stories back to back. The first story was of the flooding that Blackfoot received on the night of August 6th. They received at least three inches in a very short time. Scott Reese, the Bingham County Emergency Director had already been in touch with Homeland Security as they wanted to know how many homes had been affected. He said well over 100 homes had been affected. There was so much water that it caused their sewer system to back up. They sent out a red alert urging the citizens of Blackfoot not to use the water and not to flush their toilets. At the end of the story, it was stated that the City of Blackfoot was accepting claim forms from their citizens to send off to the city’s insurance because of the sewer system backing up. Counter this with the story that followed, the story that followed was another look at the Rexburg City Council Meeting that was held in Rexburg on the 6h of August. This showed the citizens frustrated as they tried to get some answers from the public works director, John Millar as to why they had sewage in their homes and what could be done to make sure it wouldn’t happen again. John Millar was depicted in the news story as being very defensive and as Carol Honas put it, it seemed as times as if he was on trial. We bring up this story for many reasons. The first reason is it brings up several questions.  Does Rexburg or Madison County have an Emergency Director? If so, who is it?  What kind of emergency plans does Rexburg have in place?  We said in our home as the sewage was coming up out of the drains for two hours, please tell everyone to quit flushing their toilets. Maybe it would have made a difference if some type of alert had been sent to the flooded areas asking homeowners not to use water or to flush their toilets. Perhaps the flooding into our homes wouldn’t have been so severe. The other reason we bring up these two stories is to point out how differently the two towns handled the problem. Blackfoot is less than half the size of Rexburg, they had more damaged homes but yet it sounds like they are willing to have the insurance pay for the damage caused by the sewage back up regardless of the reason for the backup. Rexburg on the other hand (or at least the public works director) wants to claim that the city has no liability in this situation because it only happened because of the rain. The cause of the lift station failing this time was the same as it was in 2006. The only difference was the source of the water. On February 26, 2006 it rained that day along with the spring runoff. As John Millar points out, yes that a small part of the canal was covered over with snow but that was only part of the problem. The snow in addition to the warm weather and rain caused the canal to overflow. As it did so, the city came and breached the canal and let the water overflow into the baseball fields. As homeowners, we are grateful that they did that as we believe it was only two homes received the water in their basements, as the water flooded into their backyards and broke out windows. If the canal hadn’t been breached, many more home owners would have had severe flooding into their homes. The rest of us had another problem, there was a lot of water right in front of the lift station again and the lift station quit working causing 11 homes to have sewage back up into their homes. On July 15, 2014 there was a flash flood but that didn’t get into most people’s homes in our neighborhood. In fact it was about an hour after the rain had stopped before the sewage came up into our basements. This went on for over two hours before they were able to get the lift station back up. This time it affected 26 homes and caused a lot more damage. It was still the cities system that couldn’t handle the overflow of water. John Millar states that there have only been two failures on the lift station. In reality he should say we are lucky that the lift station has only caused damage twice when it has failed. Most every time when there is any heavy rain the water collects into a big pond right in front of the lift station and the city has to come and pump it out. There are also many times that a generator is brought in because the lift station has gone down. Sometimes this is because the power has gone out but many other times the power is still on and for whatever reason they have to bring in a generator. It is the cities responsibility to maintain the streets, the ditches and the sewer system. They didn’t do a good enough job two of those times and it caused sewage to come up into many homes. It shouldn’t matter what caused the lift station to fail, it is still the cities responsibility to maintain it adequately so problems like this don’t happen. We would like to share a little analogy; it is a very rainy day, with flash floods, drivers are encouraged not to drive through the puddles as it could be dangerous and could also cause problems with their brakes. We ignore that warning and drive through the big puddles. Later that evening we go to stop at an intersection and aren’t able to because the brakes are too wet. There is an accident because of this. We tell the other party involved in the accident, “The accident was an act of God, if it hadn’t rained, then our brakes wouldn’t have been wet and there wouldn’t have been an accident, therefore it isn’t our 7 fault and our insurance will not pay for it.” Isn’t this basically what the city is doing? They are claiming no fault because of the rain but it wasn’t rain that caused damage to our homes, it was sewage. John Millar stated at the meeting held on the 6th of August that the ditch that runs in front of the trailer court and around the back of our houses is owned by the city. He mentioned that the ditch over in Hidden Valley is cleaned out twice a year. He didn’t mention how often the one around our division known as the Ricks/Palmer subdivision is maintained. It is hard to believe it is cleaned out twice a year with all the debris they pulled out on the night of July 15th after the rain had stopped.  How often is the ditch/canal cleaned out?  Is there some type of maintenance records keeping track of this?  Whose responsibility is it to maintain the ditch? Last of all we have a few questions about the lift station. John Millar was quoted on the news as stating that all the lift stations are upgraded every 10-15 years with new pumps and new electrical. When asked about the specific pump that serves our housing division he said he couldn’t give an answer right off the top of his head.  When was the lift station serving our housing area (the pump at the intersection of Rodney and Syringa) last upgraded?  Can the records be given to the community with that information?  Are there maintenance records that record each time a city worker comes to work on that lift station and a description as to what the problem was?  John Millar was asked how many homes the pump station could handle and he said 250. Is 250 homes the capacity it can handle or is that how many homes are currently connected to that lift station?  What areas are connected to the lift station? It is our understanding that it is the Ricks/Palmer subdivision which includes the trailer park along with the Hidden Valley housing division. If this is the case, there are well over 250 homes; in fact we counted approximately 345 homes in these areas. Lastly, as you drive into the city of Rexburg there is a sign that says “America’s Family Community”. Please do what is right and treat the citizens affected with the sewage the way you would want your own family to be treated. Some of us had small amounts of insurance to help as we added an endorsement after the last incident but many of the people affected our young families in their first home that didn’t know about the last incident or that they could add this endorsement to their policy. They are just starting out and don’t really have the money to pay for the damages. Others of us although we had insurance, there isn’t enough coverage to cover all of our damages. We are not a wealthy community but hard working citizens trying our best to make a nice home for our families to live in. We have enclosed some pictures to show you what it is like to have sewage pouring into our home for two hours, what it is like to see our home torn apart and the conditions that we are now living in while waiting for our home to be fixed in just a very small part of our home with items everywhere. The time is off on some of these pictures as our camera hadn’t been changed to daylight savings time. Thank you, Traci and Kevin Sessions 8 8/21/2014 To the Mayor of Rexburg and City Council: We found out that our original letter dated August 12th was not delivered. I have attached it to the email. After last night's meeting we have a few more questions and comments. The first thing is at the city council meeting on August 6th, it was mentioned that the city was working with Homeland Security to perhaps get some funds to help out those who were flooded. What has become of that? Has there been enough flooding in the state, that it could be declared a state of emergency and funds made available that way? The second thing is, the city keeps saying that the only reason that lift station failed was because of the amount of water that fell in such a short amount of time. If that is the case, shouldn't of there have been lift stations failing all over town since it wasn't an isolated storm? Why is it only our subdivision that ended up with a lot of homes with sewage in them? There are other homes in Rexburg much older than ours that wouldn't have back flow preventers either. The third thing is, would there be a way to get some type of alarm on that lift station so that if it is getting to where there may be a problem that the residents of the area could hear so that we would know that we need to put the balloon valve in our clean out? We wish that more comments could have been made at last night's meeting. There was a lengthy conversation in the hallway with Mr. Zollinger and Mr. Millar and some of the residents of our neighborhood. There were many things said that were quite concerning. First, Mr. Zollinger said that there is a computer system on our lift station that tells them if it gets above two feet and then they know that they need to send guys to take care of it. He said the city will continue to send employees out there rather than take any other measures until that becomes cost prohibitive. This is not acceptable. It is already been cost prohibitive to the residents in that area that have had to deal with fixing their basements up twice. When it was mentioned that nothing was done the last time to fix the problem as promised, Mr. Zollinger said that there it was done. When asked what was done, he said the snow was moved. Some of the same things discussed last night were discussed being done eight years ago and obliviously they were not. It makes the citizens doubt the city government when there is no follow through. Mr. Zollinger also stated that they are on our street anytime there is a problem long before the sewage would come into our house as the lift station has to get up to 3-4 feet before there is a problem and that anytime it is above two feet they get an alert. If this is was true, why didn't they get word out to our area not to flush toilets etc and to watch your drains. We can guarantee they were not on the street before the sewage starting coming up. Many of us were out and about that night after the rain stopped taking pictures of the street and there were no city workers on the street. In fact the rain had been stopped for well over an hour, the sun was out, other than the two big puddles one on Laleene and one on Rodney/Syringa the roads were drying up. We had already all checked our basements and thought we were in the clear. Our neighbors even went back to working on their roof. My husband left to go to some meetings at church. I continued to check my drain and it was fine. I left to pick up my daughter at 7:00 from work and still no city workers on the street. I was at Wal-mart for about 20 minutes. When we came home 9 all that we saw was a back hoe on Barney Dairy Road pulling debris out of the canal. My daughter and I were not home but about 5 minutes when the drain started overflowing. I had my daughter hurry and message my husband and he came home from the church to help. He didn't see any city workers at that time. Our neighbors were also still on the roof so they would have noticed workers as well. Also, there was a lot of debris in the canal that made it to where the water couldn't flow through and it overflowed. Mr. Zollinger is saying that the debris came with the storm. It is our opinion that the debris didn't wash down with the storm, we drove through the storm and saw lots of rock and gravel float down streets but not big tree branches and weeds. This is what was pulled out of the canal. Our neighbor has some pictures of what was pulled out. We are in the process of trying to get copies of those pictures. We didn't go out and take pictures ourselves as we were cleaning out our basement. The city needs to just step up and have their insurance pay for the damages caused by the sewage. Thank you, Kevin and Traci Sessions Council member Wolfe asked how much it would cost to raise the electrical at the existing pump station. Public Works Director Millar said it would be under $2,000.00. Council Member Benfield asked about short and long term expenses. Public Works Director Millar said the short term expenses would be around $2,000.00 to $3,000.00. A new lift station would be $120,000 a new pressure line to Kmart would be $200,000 to $300,000. Another long term proposal would be to pipe the ditch along the east side of the Junior High. That would be $200,000 to $300,000. The Hidden Valley Subdivision - The Palmer’s and the Blunck’s signed a quit claim deed to all the property above the subdivision over to the city to allow the city to take care of the ditch. The ditch is necessary however it needs to be enlarged. They could also put in a detention basin at the top of the hill at the end of 7th South. Half of the area that contributes run off would be controlled. The structure would be open. More surveying would be needed but the expense would be well worth it. They could also monitor the ditch. The wall next to Leishman’s did not extend into the hill. He recommends extending it this year. They would do a sweeping wall to turn the water. Council Member Busby asked about enlarging the storm drain. Public Works Director Millar doesn’t think that was the problem. Council Member Merrill would like to see the wall done quickly. Public Works Director Millar thinks it could be done for around $10,000. Another long term solution would be to extend the culvert and add slots. They could better shape the drain ditch behind the Brunson’s. Along the north boundary of the subdivision there is a berm that needs to be reshaped for better drainage. There are two areas above Hidden Valley where there could be additional storage drain basins. Another problem area is 2nd E and 5th S. There is a drainage basin in Eagle Wood that needs to be cleaned out and utilized better. Generally, if there is drainage coming toward your home, the window wells need to be raised so that it’s not the lowest point of your yard. Council Member Busby commented that the person who raised their window wells did avoid flooding during the next storm but it did get into the neighbors. Public Works Director Millar also said that there is a shed in the way but arrangements have been made to move it. There is also a fence on the north side of Aspen Village that has served as a barrier. It needs to be repaired. That would help divert water to the west. Council Member Wolfe asked if a retaining wall there would cause a bigger issue somewhere else. Millar said that it currently goes into a vacant lot. Perhaps with some grading it could go across that lot. 10 Council Member Merrill also wondered if it could drain onto city property. Aspen Village would need to be on board with these changes. Public Works Director Millar commented that older properties did not have storm drain control. Legal issues would need to be addressed. Aspen Village at 545 South 2nd East between 4th and 6th South on 2nd East had water that was 2 inches away from going in the door last night. They were pumping last night. They have an old system that is not adequate. There has been new growth in that area. They plan on being very pro-active in making sure new buildings have storm drain management. Older properties need to be looked at to make sure they are functioning properly. He recommends purchasing a large portable pump that does bigger jobs. The current portable pump only does 200 gallons a minute. A new one would be able to pump 2,000 to 4,000 gallons per minute. Council Member Wolfe asked about cost – a used one, which would not be ideal due to needs for constant repair, would be about $25,000. A new 48 inch line is in the process of being installed from 5th west. New pumps at 4th W 7th S could be upgraded. Large capacity pumps could be installed for $40,000. They have asked the University to be proactive as well. Council Member Busby suggests a time frame for investigating the university drain systems. Yost area is a problem. Vacuum trucks were there last night. Catch basins were taking a lot of water. They are going to televise those drains. The detention basin on Mariah works great. Council Member Busby commented on the amount of debris in the canal. He asked if Cammie Muir has talked to the neighbors about that. She said that their homes have six foot fences so it must be coming from above. Her neighbors have not been dumping in the ditch. Council Member Benfield said that someone from that neighborhood volunteered to clean up but was told it would be $25.00 to pick up the debris. She would like to set a weekly day that the trucks could pick up flood debris. She would like the front desk to be able to tell those people a day that debris can be picked up. Public Works Director Millar said that we can pick up as needed without charge. He would like to stay away from regular pick-ups. Council Member Mann commented that there are some funding sources that can be used and some that cannot. Funds are set aside for certain things. Storm water is not funded by any kind of fee that is collected in the city. We are trying to get funding for that purpose. We need to enforce storm drainage on the new developments. He appreciates all that Public Works Director Millar has done. Council Member Merrill asked if we are moving right away on the short term fixes. Public Works Director Millar said that it depends on the budget. There is $45,000 contingency. Council Member Wolfe asked if an emergency fund could be set up or taken from other areas. City Attorney Zollinger said that they can’t use other funds. Council Member Busby reminded everyone that other area cities are also addressing the same problems due to flooding; Ammon, Twin Falls, Blackfoot, Idaho Falls. Mrs. Smith asked if the short term modifications would be done soon. Public Works Director Millar said some things will be done this fall. Todd Leishman would like to have something done right away. Attorney Zollinger said that we will construct a better wall immediately. Mr. Leishman is concerned about winter coming on. Mrs. Walker said it was in February, eight years ago that she was flooded. She hasn’t seen anything done since then. She is anxious and would like to feel that something is being done. 11 Council Member Wolfe has been impressed with the task force and he is confident that something will be done soon. Public Works Director Millar would like everyone to make sure we are aware of any problems. Council Member Mann was concerned about documentation of calls coming in. He wants to make sure all problems are documented. Council Member Busby wanted everyone to know that they are welcome at the task force meetings. There was discussion of canal and head-gate to the culvert. It was locked at one time. Public Works Director Millar said that it will be left open. More discussion about drains in front of pump station and capacity of the pump station. (Further discussion will be taken on September 3rd.) Flood Related Areas of Concern Area of Concern Short Term - modifications Long Term - Improvements Ricks-Palmer Subdivision Raise electrical Equip. New Lift Station with fixed stand-by power Install Manhole Pans where needed New Pressure Line Home owners to install backflow devices Pipe Ditch along the east side of the school property Monthly check on ditch and remove debris and record Record any maintenance on the ditch Check and fix access door gaskets on lift station access Hidden Valley Subdivision Acquire land where ditch is located Fix wall at Leishman’s Construct detention basin @ 7th S. Change culvert at Berntsen’s Scheduled maintenance on ditch and keep record of conditions Change berm at North Hill Rd. Construct additional storm basins above Hidden Valley 5th S. 2nd E. Modify existing storm water detention basin in Eagle Wood Work with Aspen Village on the construction of a storm water detention basin Howe owners to raise window wells Relocate shed at Kusch’s Repair fence along North property line for Aspen Village 4th W. 6th S. Purchase additional portable pumps for handling storm water New 48” sewer drain line Check all existing up-stream detention basins for functionally BYU-I University Review of all catch and storm basins Detention systems? B. Finance Department – Finance Officer Matt Nielson clarified that the Mayor can authorize $10,000 from contingency; not $50,000 as was previously stated. 1. BUDGET HIGHLIGHTS City of Rexburg 2015 Budget Total Budget: $ 59,896,100 up $ 8,832,700 from the original 2014 budget. Operating Budget is approximately $ 27.5 million of the total, up from approximately $ 26.2 million from last year. 12 The General Fund has a $ 103,700 Contingency for unforeseen increases in expenditures or reductions in revenues, which is funded by excess carryover reserves that is forecasted to be in the general fund at the end of fiscal year 2014. Revenues available from the Street Operations Fund for maintenance, street reconstruction, and the construction of new streets, is $ 2,687,000, about $ 33,300 more than the prior fiscal year budget. Major street projects include the reconstruction of the Cresthaven Subdivision streets and 2nd North between Center Street and 2nd East. Property tax revenues are estimated to increase about $ 383,200 to a total of $ 3,768,400, mostly due to newly constructed buildings. The current City property tax levy rate is at $ 406 per $ 100,000 of taxable value, which is still the lowest for most cities in southeast Idaho and other similar size cities. No new full-time personnel positions are scheduled to be funded this budget year. Increases in utility rates will be about .7 % for the average homeowner, or about $ .62 per month, which is attributed to an increase in the garbage service due to a large increase in recycling expenses. Wastewater and Water needed no increase. Included in the budget is the completion of the Center Street Fire Station Addition of a second floor, which will begin in Fiscal Year 2014 and be completed in Fiscal Year 2015. The total cost of this project is budgeted to be approximately $ 1.8 Million. This project is being funded by a CDBG Grant, the Fire District, and the Downtown Urban Renewal District. The budget includes the transfer of the old shop to the police for storage purposes and the construction of a new shop to be utilized by the street department and mechanic shop. The budgeted cost is $ 1 million and the funding is coming from the general fund, street fund, and utility fund. Major utility construction projects include $ 9.5 million for a possible water well and additional water infrastructure. Once we have received a report of our current water study it will be determined how much of that budget will be needed and the City Council may choose to sale bonds to fund such construction. More additions to the wastewater treatment plant to eliminate odors and add new capacity for $ 3,000,000 have been included in the budget. New capacity will be funded by fees charged to new development. Plant upgrades will be funded by user fees. There will be a major construction project at the Airport for reconstruction of the apron. The airport relocation master plan study will also be included in the budget. These projects are funded approximately 92.5% by the FAA and the State of Idaho and the rest by the City and the County. $ 410,000 is budgeted for Riverside Park that includes the completion of the paved parking and a second access point from 1st East. This improvement is budgeted to be funded by the North Highway Urban Renewal District. The City has budgeted $ 800,000 to begin constructing a new baseball/softball quad at Community Fields and the projected completion date of this project is 2016. This budget includes the Community Safety Lighting Fund of $ 258,800, which is available for street lighting construction projects, with the remainder budgeted for street light maintenance. Large Equipment Capital purchases include a backhoe in streets for $ 100,000. In finance, $ 80,000 is budgeted for fiscal year 2015 as a savings plan to purchase a new financial package. The plan is to continue to save a little each year until we have sufficient monies in reserve to make this purchase when needed. 13 2. Budget Summary Report: 14 Budget Summary Report (Cont.): 15 3. Treasurer’s Report: Council Member Busby asked what the Trust Funds are. They are funds that we manage for other people like the Pipes and Drums, Veterans Memorial, ESD Paid Call, etc. Council Member Benfield asked for the last 3 transfers out of the contingency fund. CFO Neilson reported that we started out with $100,000. $27,300 was moved out for a records management system for the Police Department, $4,800 was moved out for Web Server up-grade, then $9,000 for a benefits budget increase for retiring CFO, Richard Horner, then some was used for traffic cones and some for TRPA, $4,200 for splash park repairs. Council Member Mann asked for a report on impact fees at next meeting. Council Member Busby asked about $9,100 for mowing? Discussion about how funds are divided with the county for airport maintenance. 16 Council Member Busby asked about Rexburg Rapids $11,000 natural gas bill to heat pool. The pool seems to have a leak that needs to be looked into. It has cost more this year due to that leak. The pool may lose money this year. It closes Labor Day. Calendared Bills and Tabled Items: A. USE ACTION” – BILLS RECOMMENDED/APPROVED IN A LAND USE PUBLIC HEARING PROCEDURE: – NONE B. BILL Introduction: – NONE C. First Reading: Those items which are being introduced for first reading: – NONE D. Second Reading: Those items which have been first read: 1. Ordinance 1119 - Amend 2014 Appropriation Budget Discussion: Council Member Benfield moved to consider Ordinance 1119 to amend the 2014 Appropriation Budget second read; Council Member Busby seconded the motion; Acting Council President Mann asked for a vote: Those voting aye Those voting nay Council Member Mann None Council Member Benfield Council Member Busby Council Member Wolfe The motion carried. 2. Ordinance 1120 Rezone approximately 99 Valley River Drive from Light Industrial (L1) to Mixed Use 2 (MU2) Discussion: Council Member Mann moved to consider Ordinance 1120 to rezone approximately 99 Valley River Drive from Light Industrial (L1) to Mixed Use 2 (MU2) second read; Council Member Wolfe seconded the motion; Acting Council President Mann asked for a vote: Those voting aye Those voting nay Council Member Mann None Council Member Benfield Council Member Busby Council Member Wolfe The motion carried. E. Third Reading: Those items which have been second read: 1. Ordinance 1118 - 2015 Appropriation Budget Discussion: Council Member Benfield moved to consider Ordinance 1118 for the 2015 Appropriation Budget third read and approved; Council Member Wolfe seconded the motion; Acting Council President Mann asked for a vote: Those voting aye Those voting nay Council Member Mann None Council Member Benfield Council Member Busby Council Member Wolfe The motion carried. 17 Consent Calendar: The consent calendar includes items which require formal City Council Action; however they are typically routine or not of great controversy. Individual Council members may ask that any specific item be removed from the consent calendar for discussion in greater detail. Explanatory information is included in the City Council’s agenda packet regarding these items. A. Minutes from August 06, and August 13, 2014 meetings B. Approve the City of Rexburg Bills Council Member Mann moved to approve the Consent Calendar and pay the bills; Council Member Benfield seconded the motion; Acting Council President Mann asked for a vote: Those voting aye Those voting nay Council Member Mann None Council Member Benfield Council Member Busby Council Member Wolfe The motion carried. Adjourned at 9:06 P.M. APPROVED: _______________________________ Christopher Mann, Acting Council President Attest: _______________________________ Mary L. Flanary, Deputy City Clerk