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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2016.02.03 CITY COUNCIL MINUTES 1 February 03, 2016 Mayor Jerry Merrill Council Members: President Sally Smith Jordan Busby Donna Benfield Tisha Flora Christopher Mann Brad Wolfe City Staff: Stephen Zollinger – City Attorney Matt Nielson – Finance Officer Blair D. Kay – City Clerk John Millar – Public Works Director Val Christensen – Community Development Director Scott Johnson – Economic Development Director 7:00 P.M. City Hall – Pledge to the Flag Maury Lee led the pledge. Mike Walker said the prayer. Roll Call of Council Members: Attending: Council President Smith, Council Member Benfield, Council Member Flora, Council Member Busby, Council Member Mann, Council Member Wolfe and Mayor Merrill. Public Comment on non-controversial issues: not scheduled on the agenda (limit 3 minutes): Karl Mattson from Ashton, Idaho, stated that in response to the immediate need expressed by BYU-Idaho for additional student housing, his company, Westland Holdings, would like to add additional BYU-I housing at 117 S 2nd E. It is not in the PEZ Area. He referred to a study done in 2014 by BYU-I stating the number of students who bring cars to BYU-I is 69 percent. Currently, for dormitory housing not in the PEZ, the amount of parking required is one parking space for each student. Building a BYU-I approved housing project with one to one parking density would create a large amount of unused parking and would increase cost and waste. He is asking City Council to change the parking space requirements not located in the PEZ zone from 100 percent student parking ratio to 80 percent. This would provide the 69 percent that the university has determined is necessary to satisfy the needs of the student population as well as providing an additional eleven percent for visitor parking and possible increase to requirements in the future. While he could approach the city to be included in the PEZ, he feels it is better to seek for a change in the development code because this issue would apply to more locations than just his. He is not seeking to change the PEZ but asking that the Non-PEZ parking requirements be changed. He requested that City Council ask the Planning & Zoning Commission to evaluate this for a possible amendment to the City Development Code. Blake Willis from Rexburg, who has properties in the City PEZ Area and also outside the PEZ Area, indicated that because of the housing increased needs, he would like the council to consider an increase to the building height restrictions. He also asked to eliminate overnight street parking in the PEZ Area all times of the year. It is a matter of safety, not just snow removal. Presentation: A. BYU – I Enrollment numbers and projected Enrollment numbers – Eric Conrad 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 February 03, 2016 2 Mr. Conrad stated that President Gilbert wants information about college enrollment shared with the city. Mr. Conrad presented some charts on the screen that show enrollment numbers. The current campus head count is 17,714 students. That is how many students are here on campus. The FTE (Full Time Equivalent) averages out students to credits. They take the total number of credit hours and divide it by 15. The FTE student count for BYU-I is currently at 15,116 students. The FTE cap for BYU-I is18,000 students. When they get to that 18,000 FTE cap, it will be around 20,500 students. They expect to reach their cap in 2018. That doesn’t mean they won’t grow after that, they just don’t have permission from the board to grow any further at this time. The university also has many on-line students, pathway students, students doing internships, community students, etc. All those combined equals about 41,000 total students serviced by BYU-I all over the world. It is the actual head count that affects the city. Mr. Conrad explained that when people ask how many students go to BYU-I, it depends on if they mean how many are on campus or how many total students taking some form of classes all over the world. Council Member Smith asked about faculty and how those numbers are. Mr. Conrad said a lot of the new faculty is adjunct or on-line hires. Their goal is to have 25 percent of the students taking on-line classes at the same time that they are enrolled on campus. That would help reduce the need for more building. They want to keep class room sizes small. Council Member Smith indicated she heard there are more males than females right now, which is interesting. Mr. Conrad said the ratio is about 48 percent women to 51 percent men right now but it should balance out soon. Council Member Benfield asked about the projection for how many more units will be needed. Mr. Conrad said he is not ready to put an exact number on that, yet. He explained students are not getting married at the rate they estimated which has changed the number of single beds needed. They have been recalculating those numbers and are not ready to release those right now. Council Member Benfield asked if the married percentage has changed. It was about 27 percent for a long time, but Mr. Conrad thinks that percentage is lower now. Council Member Busby said they appreciate this information and the partnership they have with BYU-Idaho and thanked Mr. Conrad. Mr. Conrad expressed he also appreciates the City and all they do. B. Fire Department Life Saving Award – Chief Mike Walker On 11/04/2015, Jeremy Overson was exercising at the Hart Building at BYU-Idaho, when he collapsed. Aubrey Landon (city employee as a lifeguard at Rexburg Rapids) and Gregory Laffoon witnessed Jeremy collapse and went to his aid. They discovered that Jeremy was in cardiac arrest. They started CPR and instructed bystanders to call 911. CPR was continued until the arrival of Madison Fire Department, at which time the patient was defibrillated and a pulse was re-established. Jeremy made a full recovery and is attending BYU-Idaho. The favorable outcome would not have been possible without the lifesaving efforts of Aubrey and Gregory. We would like to recognize their efforts by presenting them with a Lifesaving Award from Madison Fire Department and the City of Rexburg. Chief Mike Walker and Captain Troyce Miskin and the Mayor introduced Jeremy Overson. Chief Walker reviewed the story of what happened and how Aubrey Landon and Gregory Laffoon saved Jeremy by performing CPR. He then called up Aubrey Landon and Gregory Laffoon to present 3 them with the Life Saving Award and an accommodation from the American Heart Association. The audience gave them a standing ovation. Left to right – Mayor Merrill, Chief Walker, Captain Miskin, Jeremy Overson, Aubrey Landon and Gregory Laffoon. Mayor Merrill announced that Chief Walker will be retiring soon after 39 years of service to the City of Rexburg Fire Department. His replacement will be Captain Troyce Miskin. The Mayor then asked Chief Walker to say a few words. Chief Walker said he started with the Fire Department in June of 1975. He had a dream when he was young to work on an ambulance. He started right out of high school. He has lived his dream, being an EMT and a Paramedic and a Fire Fighter. He has had the best profession anyone could experience. He is thankful for the people he works with and their great department. Mayor Merrill said we have one of the best Fire and Emergency Services in the country. Committee Liaison Assignments for 2016: A. Council Member Mann: Golf Board · Emergency Services Board · GIS Oversight Council Member Mann reported the Golf Board has not met. GIS will have a report later this evening from Craig Rindlisbacher. Emergency Services did meet but he was unable to attend. He thanked Mayor Merrill for covering that meeting for him. B. Council Member Busby: · Airport Board · Traffic & Safety · Trails of Madison County Council Member Busby reported the Airport Board and Traffic & Safety both met today. He will report on some action items from those meetings next time when they are completed. Trails of Madison County have not met. Mayor Merrill asked if one of those action items involves 7th South. Council Member Busby replied, yes. The Mayor also asked about the video that Traffic & Safety had talked about. Council Member Busby said that is something they are working on and have been talking with Eric Conrad from BYU-I about that. C. Council Member Benfield: Police · MYAB· Parks & Recreation Council Member Benfield reported two of her liaisons will be reporting this evening so she’ll let them do that. The Mayor’s Youth Advisory Board met today and did some Valentines for the Homestead Assisted Living Center they will deliver next Wednesday. There was a good turnout today. 4 Council Member Benfield announced the Chamber of Commerce is taking nominations for Citizen of the Year, Business Person of the Year, etc. and those are due by February 5th. Those winners will be recognized at the Farmer’s Merchant Banquet on March 10th. D. Council Member Smith: Legacy Flight Museum · Beautification Committee · M.E.P.I. Council President Smith reported MEPI met Monday and discussed the Rexburg Business Competition will be on May 5th. It has been changed from winter to spring to get more college students on board and that’s also when it is taught at the high school. It’s not just for students; it is for everyone. The STEM Center will be going in upstairs at City Hall and it will be great for youth to participate in and get hands on experience in robotics and engineering. Council Member Benfield asked what STEM stands for. It stands for Science, Technology, Engineering and Math. Council President Smith reported the Legacy Flight Museum will meet next week. The Beautification Committee does not have members so if anyone in the community would be interested in being a part of the Beautification Committee, please let her know. E. Council Member Flora: School Board · Rexburg Arts Council/Museum of Rexburg Council Member Flora reported the School Board met and they have exciting news about refinancing their bond which will save the community millions of dollars. The Arts Council has not met. She attended the Historical Building meeting. Daniel Torres is putting together a seven year plan of what they would like to see done on the Romance and Tabernacle buildings. They are also looking into some grants that will help with those plans. F. Council Member Wolfe: Planning & Zoning · Urban Renewal Agency · IBC Council Member Wolfe reported Planning & Zoning met two weeks ago but he was out of town. There have been some changes to the commission. Jedd Walker is the new Chairman and some commissioners have left and been replaced. The Planning & Zoning Commission listened to the zone change requirements on the Hemming Property. The zone change was recommended to City Council. Mayor Merrill reported the Urban Renewal Board talked about the status of the different districts. They are in good shape financially and saving money for future projects. The new Urban Renewal District for the new Wal-Mart development at the North Interchange has been put in place. Council Member Wolfe reported they had an RPO (Madison County Rural Planning Organization) meeting today and discussed traffic patterns and what they can do to keep everyone safe during the Thornton Interchange construction. He also reported that many of the council members attended the AIC (Association of Idaho Cities) meetings in Boise last week. Mayor Merrill said they did meet with the legislators in Boise and discussed their concerns over things that they feel are important for cities. There is a Bill 404 in front of the legislature dealing with Urban Renewal. They are talking about making changes and the public can give their input. He encouraged everyone to voice their opinions to the legislature. Staff Reports: A. Legal: Stephen Zollinger (see comments under Mayor’s Business) B. Finance: CFO, Matt Nielson said they are finishing up the audit and have scheduled February 26th to go over that audit and will present to council on March 2nd. W-2’s went out on time. They are continuing to train Pamela Schiess. Deborah is starting the implementation of Work Flow in Laser Fiche. She has started with public gathering permits. CFO Nielson is also working on the budget for 2017. He will present the budget calendar at the next council meeting. 5 C. Customer Services: City Clerk, Blair D. Kay referred to the AIC Records Retention Law that is being revamped. Larger cities have a problem of storing records, for example; the law states that blue prints must be retained until the building expires. They are trying to change the law so that they can use electronic medium and allow the hard copy to be destroyed. City Clerk Kay also showed council the pamphlet his department created that is a Quick Reference Guide for City Codes that police officers can carry easily with them. It is also great for anyone who wants to have easy access to city codes. City Clerk Kay brought Bill 404 to the attention of City Council. The critical issue is that this bill takes money out of the Urban Renewal District to move utilities such as power lines. This bill states that the Urban Renewal District would have to pay for utility relocations instead of the utility company. He sent a letter to the legislators today, opposing this bill. Honorable Representatives: We urge you to “vote no” on House BILL 404 for the following reasons: 1. Idaho court rulings have held that utility providers are “permissive users” of rights-of-way and do not have any property interest in rights-of-way. Currently urban renewal agencies are able to negotiate with service providers for voluntary payment of relocation costs, which allows agencies to participate to the extent that funding and other circumstances allow. 2. The issue of utility relocation has been known and discussed for some time, but neither the issue nor the proposed legislation were presented to the Urban Renewal Interim Committee, which met over the past several months to consider changes to Idaho’s urban renewal laws. This legislation represents an unfortunate end run around the Interim Committee process. 3. House Bill 404 would single out urban renewal agencies and require them to pay for utility relocation using public funds when no other public agency is required to do so. This is bad public policy. 4. Relocation of utility facilities represents an opportunity for telecommunications service providers to upgrade their equipment. Many urban renewal projects attract new businesses to communities, helping to increase the customer base for these utilities. While there are costs associated with these projects, there are also benefits from the service provider’s perspective. Thank you for your consideration, Blair D. Kay Rexburg City Clerk (CMC, CRO) ICCTFOA 2nd Vice President 208-372-2313 – Office D. Public Works: John Millar reported that the main concern this time of year is snow removal. They have been using the brine on the roads. They sent several pieces of equipment out today to try and clear the ice. Some areas have a lot of ice build-up. 6 Mayor Merrill said he did get some complaints about snow piles in drive-ways but someone did thank him today for clearing their driveway. Director Millar said he also got a compliment from a lady on Park Street. Mayor Merrill asked about costs of clearing ice versus using the brine solution. Director Millar said he doesn’t have the equipment right now to do more brine application. He has ordered another brine applicator and when that comes in they will be able to do even more of the brine application. Director Millar also reported the waste water project has been awarded and he anticipates that contracts will be signed on the 17th of February. Once contracts are signed, the company has sixty days to get shop drawings, submittals and equipment ordered. Start time should be around mid-April. On the water project, they are looking at contracts right now. They are pre-buying pipe to get a better price and get around contractor mark ups. It will be about one million dollars’ worth of pipe. They will be contracting installation of the piping which is being done by Keller Engineering. They will also be contracting two wells; one at north well and one at the new Madison High School. Negotiations with Madison School District look favorable. Mayor Merrill reported he, along with Public Work Director Millar and City Engineer Davidson, met with Superintendent Thomas and his staff. The Madison School District agreed to allow the city to help them with some school projects in exchange for the land for the well. Council Member Busby asked how big the water tank will be at the high school. Director Millar said it will be two million gallons which is the same size as the one on the hill. They agreed to put the Madison Bobcat Logo on the water tower at the high school. Director Millar added that one more thing they are moving forward on is the redevelopment of Center Street from Main Street to First South. They are in the third round of drawings. It will be a great development to that area. They will redo lighting and improve lighting in general. They are looking at a new LED street light. The LED lights are much whiter and brighter. Council Member Wolfe asked if we could consider plowing sidewalks in some areas further out onto 1st and 2nd North and other side streets to make our streets more walking friendly. Director Millar said we do plow beyond Main Street and Compliance Officer Powell works hard to get residents to shovel their own sidewalks. E. Engineering: Keith Davidson reported they have submitted three projects to BYU-I for their Civil Engineering Program and the three projects were selected for capstone projects. Mayor Merrill interjected in the Historic Buildings meeting they talked about having a student help with the architecture, so he talked to Mike Sessions and he said they would be happy to help with historical building architecture. Mayor Merrill asked about piano key cross walks. Engineer Davidson said there is a bar then no bar and it looks like a piano key board. F. Community Development: Val Christensen went over the January building report. Valuation was 1.6 million. Our total fees were $76,817. Planning & Zoning has some new members and they are excited to get rolling. The Planning & Zoning Meeting for tomorrow has been cancelled because they don’t have anything to review. Council Member Busby asked about the six Rigby permits on the report. He wanted to know if the revenue from those permits even covers our time to go all the way to Rigby. Community Development Director Christensen said the small permits probably don’t pay enough to cover our expenses but the big projects do subsidize the small projects. 7 Mayor Merrill asked if the inspectors can do all the Rigby projects on the same trip. Director Christensen said they try. G. Economic Development: Scott Johnson presented a letter to council. He indicated the Idaho Transportation Department asked us to look at their local official consultation process plan and get back to them on what we thought of their plan. At the RPO meeting they felt it was appropriate to respond collectively so that response is here. The only thing they have done is ask that the Idaho Transportation Department include and recognize RPO’s. 8 Mayor Merrill said this is just an informational piece for City Council to look over and see if they have any questions or additions. If so, they can talk to Scott Johnson. H. Technology Coordination Services: Kelvin Giles reported on a new application that they launched today. It will be used by fire inspectors to do their field inspections. They have been working on it for 90 days. The field inspector will go out with an electronic tablet and create a new form and check specific items. At the bottom he has a place for comments and a place to mark pass or fail. The inspector will then have the customer sign it. Failed inspections will show up on a pending list. Once the inspection is finalized, it emails the inspection report to the customer and can be pulled up any time. The first day of using this new app has been successful. Director Giles reminded City Council they need to get their policy tech set up. He also reported he has had people wanting to be able to use their laptops at the podium to control their presentations on the screen themselves. During this report, he has been controlling the slides himself with a lap top. Council Member Benfield asked if the new app will save time compared to paper. Director Giles will get input from the Fire Department about that and report back. I. Parks: Greg McInnes reported he is happy to work with Council Member Benfield again. Right now they are working on small equipment. He recently returned from INLA (Idaho Nursery and Landscape Association) training two weeks ago in Boise, where he learned about pesticides, insecticides, fertilizers, etc. The Parks Department helped with SnowFest and they enjoyed watching the Mayor jump into the freezing cold water. J. Recreation: Bob Yeatman reported on SnowFest this past weekend. They had 600 to 700 people attending. The Polar Bear Plunge increased from 25 to 48 participants. He thanked all the helpers, departments and sponsors that helped this year. He mentioned everyone that provided service or supplies. The Cupid Cup will just be supporting the Madison Junior High and High School Nordic Club students this year. 9 The Madison Baseball Association asked the city to take over the league. They were running out of volunteers who would spend the time necessary to keep the league running so they are in the process of transitioning to the city running the league. They will keep the same name. Riverside North fields behind the old K-Mart Building will be seeded this spring. The Baseball Quad to be located north of the Madison Junior High School tennis courts is waiting on final approval. The “Zone” is going to allow us to offer recreation camps this summer in their building. Council Member Busby asked about managing the baseball league and what is required from the city. Two years ago the Madison Baseball League was going to run the quad so what will happen now? Director Yeatman said that the city will do it now. Alton Hansen will be the liaison between the league and city. He will be the man on the field so to speak. Council Member Busby asked if Alton will be paid. Director Yeatman said he would be paid by stipend. Mayor Merrill said Zack Sutton and Jared Rydalch and their boys are involved with travel teams and it was getting tough for them to run the league and go with their boys, so the city agreed to take over the baseball league to help them out. Alton Hansen agreed to help run it and he has done a good job in the past. Council Member Busby asked if that is just baseball or if it included softball. The Mayor said it’s just baseball. K. Human Resources: Valeea Quigg reported they are in the process of hiring two positions; a new HR Director which will close this Friday, February 5th and an Asset Management Systems Technician which will close February 19th. She is also in the process of transitioning the drug testing program to Madison Memorial Hospital. They have had some issues in the transition but mostly it has gone pretty smooth. By using the hospital they will be able to more fully go by city policy. She has been working on getting job descriptions from all the city staff for each job position. Most of that has happened but there are a few that she still doesn’t have. She would like to finish updating all the job descriptions for the City by April 15th. Council Member Busby asked how the applications are looking for the open positions. Director Quigg said so far we have eight applications for the HR Director and she hasn’t checked on the other one. The HR Director closes Friday and then they will go through the applications and extend interviews. Hopefully, they will have someone by the end of the month. L. GIS (Mapping): Craig Rindlisbacher introduced two maps they are developing. The Urban Renewal District changed on the south side of town and there is a new one on the north. GIS reviews those legal descriptions several times and then they are involved as those are submitted to the State to be approved by the Idaho State Tax Commission. Changes to tax code areas require approval by the state so they have to have a good legal description. He showed the update to the Urban Renewal District map that is online. The new maps are also on the new browser so they can go in and see what parcels are in the Urban Renewal District. USE LINK TO VEW URBAN RENEWAL MAP: http://www.arcgis.com/home/webmap/viewer.html?webmap=564a894383f64a87aee6c d1a92fcdadc That information is important to developers as they are looking for projects. The other map they are working on is the Elections Map. They do a new map for each election. There are often changes to precinct polling places. The Elections Maps are updated four times a year. There are two Primary Elections this year and this map will be used for those elections located on http://www.Rexburg.org. M. Police: Chief Shane Turman reported the school district has lined them out on the “Start with Hello” campaign. Chief Turman indicated the Rexburg Police Department sent four officers to Salt Lake City for the funeral of Officer Douglas Scott Barney. Officer Barney was a 44 year old police officer for the Unified Greater Salt Lake Police Department who was shot in the head while stopped at a traffic accident. He had a wife and three children. Over 9,000 officers attended the funeral. 10 Chief Turman indicated with the new hires they are finally able to start a traffic shift which they have not had for several years. This will be a 7:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. shift that is dedicated to nothing but traffic. Those officers will patrol the school zones and they will not take calls during that time. Mayor Merrill asked if the traffic shift officer will cover the south interchange during the busy morning and afternoon hours. Chief Turman said, yes, but the biggest thing will be the schools. Chief Turman also reported Officer Allen is doing well at Post Academy in Boise. Officer Darrik Farmer is doing great in his FTO (Field Training Officer) Program. He survived the tasering and macing. Chief Turman said they just completed ILETS (Idaho Law Enforcement Telecommunication System) training today, which is a dedicated data communications network that links local, state and federal criminal justice agencies to state records and files and to the National Crime Information Center system. There are a lot of state rules and regulations. They invited the sheriff’s office over and were able to get everyone done today. Since October, there have been a lot of apartment burglaries. They have caught the man who was responsible. He is from Idaho Falls. He had been driving up in the middle of the night and going into unlocked apartments. The Police Department has recovered $10,000 worth of stolen property. Chief Turman showed the traffic count they performed at Pine Haven. Over a thirteen day period they found that 97.3 percent of the vehicles traveling through that area were going 25 mph or under. Just 2.7 % of those vehicles were going over 25 mph. Six vehicles were going over 40 mph but there are usually some people who like to see what their cars will do. In that thirteen day period they had 9,738 vehicles travel through and most of those were under the speed limit. Mayor Merrill and Council Member Mann indicated that winter traffic is usually slower due to slick roads. Perhaps another study in the spring would be good. Chief Turman said they will do another traffic count in the spring. Chief Turman reviewed the numbers on the charts. Council Member Flora asked if this traffic count was done with a counter or with the speed sign. Chief Turman said it was done with a speed sign. It has an on board computer that tracks 11 all the data. Council Member Flora also asked if people slow down because of the sign. Chief Turman said, absolutely. Council Member Mann asked if we should do the same report in May or some time when it isn’t winter. He has noticed that everyone travels slowly because of the snow. Mayor Merrill agreed we should do it again in May or sometime. N. Fire: Chief Corey Child reported when he started with the Fire Department back in 2008, they totaled 1,814 calls. They are now receiving 1000 more calls per year. EMS calls went up 18% in 2015 and fire calls went up 12% for a total of 2,788 calls. Interestingly, the full time staff has not increased at all. He is very proud of his department, because they have been able to pull off that kind of call volume with the current number of staff. Chief Child said they make themselves available to be out-sourced to federal fires. Last year they had 24 resource orders that they accepted. Of those 24 resource orders, they sent out 70 personnel and they grossed just over half a million dollars. One third of that goes to payroll, one third goes to expenses such as food, lodging, vehicle repairs, etc., and one third goes to equipment. In 2012 they brought back $875,000. He is very happy with that program and what it does for the department. A lot of that money went to the remodel of the new station. Council Member Benfield asked if the equipment is new equipment that is bought for the station. Chief Child said one third is payment to the equipment or he who owns the equipment receives that money for it. Mayor’s Report: A. Proclamation 2016-01 “Start with Hello” Week 12 On Monday, February 8th, the Madison School District will be launching their “Start with Hello” campaign by holding an assembly and reading the proclamation. They are trying to get people to unplug from their devices and talk to each other. On Wednesday, February 10th, they will have several people help with greetings at the game against Highland High School and he encouraged City Council Members to come help out with that. They are going to have high school kids go to the elementary schools and greet the kids as they come to school. Friday, February 12th will be “no one eats alone” day where high schoolers will go eat with the elementary kids and adults are encouraged to go eat with the high school kids. Council Member Wolfe moved to ratify Proclamation 2016-01 declaring February 8th to February 12th, 2016 as “Start with Hello” week; Council Member Flora seconded the motion; Mayor Merrill asked for a vote: Those voting aye Those voting nay Council President Smith None 13 Council Member Flora Council Member Busby Council Member Benfield Council Member Mann Council Member Wolfe The motion carried Council Member Smith asked Community Development Director Christensen about the property Mr. Matson was talking about at 117 S 2nd E. She wanted to know if that was the property they re- zoned to commercial use to put in a call center and now they want to put student housing there. Director Christensen replied they are allowed as it is now MU2 and they need to have a commercial component with it. Council Member Smith asked if they are still required to put townhouses on Harvard. Director Christensen said, absolutely, anything that was in the conditions will still have to be met. Mayor Merrill said there is a situation on the big ten acre property on 5th West. The conditions on that are past the deadline. They had put that on hold for a while and now they will need to renew those conditions. Director Christensen recommends that City Council renew the Sunset Clause. Mayor Merrill has talked to Steve Holloway who is the developer and he thinks they have an investor on board to start this spring. It needs to be on the next agenda to renew the Sunset Clause for the old Squires Brick property. B. Ratify Greg Blacker as a Planning and Zoning Commissioner replacing Thaine Robinson. Mayor Merrill presented Greg Blacker as a new Planning and Zoning Commissioner; replacing Thaine Robinson. Council Member Busby brought up the fact that Greg Blacker is on the Traffic and Safety Committee and will need to be removed from that committee and presented with a plaque. Mayor Merrill asked for names to be submitted to replace Greg Blacker on the Traffic and Safety Committee. Discussion: Council Member Busby moved to ratify Greg Blacker as a Planning and Zoning Commissioner, replacing Thaine Robinson; Council Member Wolfe seconded the motion; Mayor Merrill asked for a vote: Those voting aye Those voting nay Council President Smith None Council Member Flora Council Member Busby Council Member Benfield Council Member Mann Council Member Wolfe The motion carried Public Hearings: A. BILL 1141 to consider creating the proposed LID 46 for constructing the proposed property Improvements, and hear all complaints, protests, and objections which may be made in writing and filed with the City Clerk on or before said time, by any owner of any parcel of land to be assessed – Engineer Keith Davidson reviewed the slides and showed the 48 inch storm drain line and the route it will take. He pointed out new sidewalk and new curb and gutter areas. Mr. John Bowen would like to do the work on his property himself. The LDS church owns three lots and they do not have any plans for them yet. There were three different lines that came 14 across so they plan to put a line across and add a fire hydrant. Council Member Mann asked why there is only city participation on some of the properties but not the others. Engineer Davidson explained that any new sidewalk that goes in, the city does not participate and the property owner pays for the entire walk. If it is an existing sidewalk and gets replaced, the city helps pay for that. Council Member Busby asked if we are in the process of a total reconstruct on 4th East. Engineer Davidson said no, it was overlaid several years ago. This project would just be picking up those homes that don’t have sidewalks. Council Member Busby also asked about the rules for homeowners who sell their home and have not put in a sidewalk. Attorney Zollinger explained the rules that state any home sold would require sidewalks. Sidewalks have always been required but some homes were overlooked. Council Member Flora asked if Engineer Davidson actually went out and met with the people to explain this LID. Engineer Davison said they send out an estimate letter but they don’t actually get out and talk to every person. They send out the estimate and then try to answer as many questions as they can. Mayor Merrill opened the public hearing. Written correspondence: - NONE Public Testimony in favor of the proposal (5 minute limit): NONE Public Testimony neutral to the proposal (5 minute limit): NONE 15 Public Testimony opposed to the proposal (5 minute limit): NONE Mayor Merrill closed the public hearing. Discussion: Council did not have any further questions of comments. Council Member Busby moved to approve the creation of LID 46 by BILL 1141 for constructing the proposed property Improvements, and hear all complaints, protests, and objections which may be made in writing and filed with the City Clerk on or before said time, by any owner of any parcel of land to be assessed; Council Member Wolfe seconded the motion; Mayor Merrill asked for a vote: Those voting aye Those voting nay Council President Smith None Council Member Flora Council Member Busby Council Member Benfield Council Member Mann Council Member Wolfe The motion carried Items for Consideration: A. Conditional Use Permit to allow a precast building to house fiber optic equipment for high speed internet and video at approximately 251 West 2nd North; the property is in the Low Density Residential 2 (LDR2) Zone - Maury Lee lives in Pocatello and works for Cable One. He explained the fiber optic building they want to build. They want to lease the small piece by Pacific Corps property. There was some esthetics discussion about location of the building on the property and the green space. Conditions proposed by Planning and Zoning: 1. There shall be a chain link privacy fence with PVC slats around the precast building. 2. The rest of the property shall be in gravel and maintained weed free. 3. The sewer line to the existing or previously occupied residence that was on the subject lot shall be capped. 4. The subject privacy fence shall be a minimum of six feet in height. Discussion: Council Member Busby moved to approve the Conditional Use Permit to allow a precast building to house fiber optic equipment for high speed internet and video at approximately 251 West 2nd 16 North, located in a Low Density Residential 2 (LDR2) Zone and include Planning & Zoning conditions; Council Member Smith seconded the motion; Mayor Merrill asked for a vote: Those voting aye Those voting nay Council President Smith None Council Member Flora Council Member Busby Council Member Benfield Council Member Mann Council Member Wolfe The motion carried B. BILL 1140 Rezone at approximately 157 West 2nd South from High Density Residential 1 to Hemming PRO (Project Redevelopment Option) Zone –Josh Peterson explained they are moving into phase two which is right across the street. They are in the process of buying property from Horizon Realty Advisors. The new development will have some retail space and commercial space. It is currently in the High Density Residential 1 Zone and they are asking it to be rezoned to Hemming PRO Zone. There will also be a parking garage included. Council Member Busby asked how high the parking structure will be. Mr. Peterson said that it won’t be any higher than the other tall buildings. Council Member Busby also commented that the whole area looks great and he appreciates what they have done. Council Member Smith wants them to know that two of those houses coming down were built by her grandpa and she lived there for 14 years. She would like to go through it one more time. Discussion: Council Member Mann moved to approve the re-zone request by BILL 1140 at approximately 157 West 2nd South from High Density Residential 1 to Hemming PRO (Project Redevelopment Option) Zone; Council Member Benfield seconded the motion; Mayor Merrill asked for a vote: Those voting aye Those voting nay Council President Smith None Council Member Flora Council Member Busby Council Member Benfield Council Member Mann Council Member Wolfe The motion carried 17 Calendared Bills and Tabled Items: A. LAND USE ACTION – BILLS RECOMMENDED/APPROVED IN A LAND USE PUBLIC HEARING PROCEDURE: 1. BILL 1140 to rezone at approximately 157 West 2nd South from High Density Residential 1 to Hemming PRO (Project Redevelopment Option) Zone AN ORDINANCE AMENDING AND CHANGING THE ZONING MAP OF THE CITY OF REXBURG, IDAHO, AND PROVIDING THAT THE ZONED DESIGNATION OF THAT CERTAIN PROPERTY HEREINAFTER DESCRIBED, SITUATED IN REXBURG, MADISON COUNTY, IDAHO, BE CHANGED AS HEREINAFTER DESIGNATED; AND PROVIDING WHEN THIS ORDINANCE SHALL BECOME EFFECTIVE. Mayor Merrill asked for a motion to suspend the rules for BILL 1140. Council Member Busby moved to suspend the rules for BILL 1140; Council Member Benfield seconded the motion; Mayor Merrill asked for a roll call vote: Those voting aye Those voting nay Council President Smith None Council Member Flora Council Member Benfield Council Member Wolfe Council Member Mann Council Member Busby The motion carried Council Member Busby moved to consider BILL 1140 approved and third read to rezone property at approximately 157 West 2nd South from High Density Residential 1 to Hemming PRO (Project Redevelopment Option) Zone; Council Member Smith seconded the motion; Mayor Merrill asked for a vote: Those voting aye Those voting nay Council President Smith None Council Member Flora Council Member Busby Council Member Benfield Council Member Mann Council Member Wolfe The motion carried B. BILL Introduction: – NONE C. First Reading: 1. BILL 1141 to consider creating the proposed LID 46 for constructing the proposed property Improvements, and hear all complaints, protests, and objections which may be made in writing and filed with the City Clerk on or before said time, by any owner of any parcel of land to be assessed. AN ORDINANCE OF THE CITY OF REXBURG, IDAHO, CREATING LOCAL IMPROVEMENT DISTRICT NO. 46; DESCRIBING AND SETTING FORTH THE BOUNDARIES OF SAID LOCAL IMPROVEMENT DISTRICT; PROVIDING FOR THE IMPROVEMENTS TO BE MADE THEREIN; APPOINTING AN ENGINEER TO PREPARE THE NECESSARY PLANS AND SPECIFICATIONS FOR THE WORK; AUTHORIZING THE ADVERTISING FOR BIDS FOR SAID WORK AS AUTHORIZED BY LAW; PROVIDING FOR THE PAYMENT OF COSTS AND EXPENSES OF SAID IMPROVEMENTS TO BE ASSESSED AGAINST THE PROPERTY WITHIN THE DISTRICT BENEFITTED THEREBY AND THE METHOD OF ASSESSMENTS; PROVIDING FOR THE 18 ISSUANCE OF LOCAL IMPROVEMENT DISTRICT BONDS AND WARRANTS; PROVIDING FOR RELATED MATTERS; AND PROVIDING AN EFFECTIVE DATE. Council Member Smith moved to consider BILL 1141 approved and first read to create LID 46 for constructing the proposed property Improvements; Council Member Wolfe seconded the motion; Mayor Merrill asked for a vote: Those voting aye Those voting nay Council President Smith None Council Member Flora Council Member Busby Council Member Benfield Council Member Mann Council Member Wolfe The motion carried D. Second Reading: Those items which have been first read: - NONE E. Third Reading: Those items which have been second read: - NONE Mayor’s Business: Mayor Merrill reported that he met with Mr. O’Blennis from the Development Workshop and he asked if we would consider having a city council liaison meet with them at their board meetings. Mayor Merrill asked Council Member Mann if he would be the City Council Liaison to the Development Workshop Board meetings. Council Member Mann agreed to be the liaison. Mayor Merrill asked Attorney Zollinger to explain why some employees take vehicles home. Attorney Zollinger explained it is set out in the employee manual. There is a group that is required to take vehicles home so they can respond to on-call duties. It is a good business practice to get them to the situation as quickly as possible. They are allowed to take the vehicle home and use it; it is necessary for speedy on-call service. Usually, the vehicle is rotated among the employees who take turns being on call. Fire chiefs, police officers and inspectors are allowed to drive their company vehicle home but there is a cost to them, for example; Lieutenant Corey Foster lives about six miles out of town and there is a formula that charges the employee for that vehicle. If they live inside the city there is no extra compensation required. The employee manual sets out the details on what is allowed. It is less expensive to assign them a car than to pass it from shift to shift. Assigning a car per officer made the cost of maintenance go down. We are able to stretch the life of the vehicle because the person driving it takes extra pride in maintaining it. Employee Handbook – Section 603 Certain employees may use city vehicles while on and off the job. This is at the convenience of the City, as the employer, and as an aid in the performance of their jobs. Employees on call after regularly scheduled hours of work may be provided a city vehicle to take home. Other employees, who are allowed the use of City vehicles both on and off the job, are given this benefit due to the nature of their work and service to the City. Positions that are permitted by the City Council to take a City vehicle home, subject to Department Head approval: Police Officers Madison Fire Department Chiefs Public Works Department employees on call Public Works Foremen Parks Foreman and Assistant Foreman Building Inspectors These positions are also allowed to have family members ride in the vehicle and do personal business in the vehicle when the employee is on call. Council Member Busby asked what happens if there is an accident with family in the car. Attorney Zollinger indicated that the City’s liability insurance covers it. The City does not encourage officers to us their vehicle for personal use, but they don’t preclude it either. Some officer’s take 19 their vehicle to church. It’s very important for the officers to be able to get to an emergency situation quickly. For example, when a child goes missing, all officers need to report; if there is a chance that the child has fallen into the canal, the ability of the officers to hit different sections of that canal are key to saving lives. Police Chief Turman indicated most officers don’t carry their families with them in their patrol cars. They feel unsafe in marked cars. He also added that it is good to have the appearance of a lot of police in the city. Council Member Mann said he has no problem with police officers and emergency service personnel taking the vehicles home; however, he asked about community development workers. Attorney Zollinger explained that the inspectors often respond to inspections on their way in and out of town and have a lot of their equipment in the vehicle. They pay the same rate if they drive the car home. Building inspectors have a-typical hours. It saves time and money if they can go directly to the sight instead of driving all the way into City Hall to get their company vehicle first. Community Development Director Christensen explained that having computers has also helped save time because the Permit Tech can come in early and check the inspection hotline and get those inspections sent to the inspector’s computers. Those computers are in their company vehicle where they can see what inspections they have that day first thing and go right to work without having to come into the office first. Council Member Smith asked if they could see the city vehicle inventory or just know how many city vehicles in the fleet. Attorney Zollinger said that every certified officer gets a car plus a few others within the Police Department. Officer Wynn Robinson lives so far away that it’s not worth it for him to drive it home so it stays here. Hopefully, he will move closer soon. The fire department has four vehicles that go home and they are all emergency vehicles. Public Works has four vehicles but only one goes home and Community Development has five vehicles. 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 January 20, 2016 meeting b. Approve the City of Rexburg Bills Council Member Smith moved to approve the Consent Calendar and pay the bills; Council Member Busby seconded the motion; Mayor Merrill asked for a vote: Those voting aye Those voting nay Council President Smith None Council Member Flora Council Member Busby Council Member Benfield Council Member Mann Council Member Wolfe The motion carried Mayor Merrill asked to go into Executive Session per Idaho State Statute 67:2345 ) (c) To conduct deliberations concerning labor negotiations or to acquire an interest in real property which is not owned by a public agency; The mere presence of legal counsel at an executive session does not satisfy this requirement. 20 Council Member Benfield moved to go into Executive Session per Idaho State Statute 67:2345 ) (c) To conduct deliberations concerning labor negotiations or to acquire an interest in real property which is not owned by a public agency; Council Member Busby seconded the motion; Mayor Merrill asked for a roll call vote. Those voting aye Those voting nay Council President Smith None Council Member Flora Council Member Busby Council Member Benfield Council Member Mann Council Member Wolfe The motion carried Executive Session at 9:40 P.M. Executive Session Ended at 10:06 P.M. Adjourned at 10:06 P.M. APPROVED: ____________________________ Jerry Merrill, Mayor Attest: _______________________________ Mary Flanary, Deputy City Clerk