HomeMy WebLinkAboutCouncil Minutes - September 12, 2018
September 12, 2018
Mayor Jerry Merrill
Council Members:
Christopher Mann Jordan Busby
Mikel Walker Tisha Flora
Brad Wolfe Sally Smith
City Staff:
Stephen Zollinger – City Attorney
Matt Nielson – Finance Officer
Keith Davidson – Public Works Director
Val Christensen – Community Development Director
Scott Johnson – Economic Development Director
Deborah Lovejoy – City Clerk
5:00 P.M. P&Z/City Council Joint Planning Meeting
Those in attendance: City Council: Mayor Merrill, Council President Smith, Council Member Mann, Council Member Busby, Council Member Walker, Council Member Flora and Council Member Wolfe
Planning & Zoning Commissioners: Greg Blacker, Melanie Davenport, Kristi Anderson, Steve Oakey, Rory Kunz, Darrik Farmer and Heidi Christensen
Mayor Merrill welcomed everyone and turned the time over to City Planner, Craig Rindlisbacher.
Planner Rindlisbacher reviewed a discussion from last May. They had talked about tax exempt parcels downtown and what we can do to initiate development. Questions were brought up about
what needs to happen to strengthen the downtown area. He reviewed Envision Madison and the values that came out of that discussion; such as, family focus, physical and mental well
being and economic security.
Planner Rindlisbacher thanked Tawnya Grover for her work in typing a draft for a vision of downtown. The plan will need some adjusting and developing but eventually he would like to
adopt this plan for the Rexburg downtown area. He reviewed the summary of themes for downtown. There needs to be a plan for connections; like, walkability, parking etc. Downtown needs
to be a regional economic hub.
Planner Rindlisbacher presented some planning challenges with dormitory style housing. He showed a map of high density and mixed use zones. He pointed out that we are not coming near
the maximum density in many areas. The only areas where they are reaching their maximum density is where parking strategies have been incorporated. The light areas show where there
could be dormitory housing but there isn’t any there currently.
Planner Rindlisbacher then showed a map of what could be in the high density zones around campus. Many developers are doing less units than what is allowed because they don’t have enough
parking or they don’t want to pay for parking garages.
The net increase capacity graph shows how many more students could be added.
Economic Developer Scott Johnson presented some other challenges of dormitory housing, such as; cost of land, cost of construction, building fees and taxes and low rent rates. Proximity
to campus and downtown plays a huge roll but parking requirements is what holds most developers back.
Capitalizing on the proximity of downtown to the University Campus, Hospital, and Government Institutions will maximize the investment in infrastructure and create a critical mass of
activity in the core of the community.
Steve Oakey brought up the issue of how the governing body fails to market affordable development.
Melanie Davenport commented that high density investing is a totally different market and we need to look at it in a different way.
Mayor Merrill agrees that business owners should figure out a way to run their own business but then you end up running into problems and mistakes are made. There needs to be a balance.
If everyone would do it right that would be great.
Steve Oakey feels that each business needs to take care of their own issues, not the city.
Planner Rindlisbacher talked about public space and how it interacts with private space. Form based code uses enclosure of the buildings. That means streets need to function differently.
He showed a map of streets and the ones that are a problem such as Main Street. Second South is also wide and feels unsafe.
Director Johnson explained Transect Zoning.
Director Johnson showed a map that shows how the transects best fit with the city.
Discussion about the various transect zones from T6 to T4.
Steve Oakey asked if this is an attempt to replace the current zoning or to create another layer of zoning. Director Johnson replied this would replace the zoning for downtown. Mr.
Oakey believes creating boundaries could lead to problems.
Director Johnson presented building form and showed some picture examples of building form. This encourages buildings to go to the “build to” line close to the pedestrian access.
Frontage types would include porches etc.
Building Form standards typically include a broad set of requirement for the configuration, features, and functions of buildings that define and shape the public realm, such as building
placement and form, lot sizes, parking, as well as allowed land uses, encroachments and frontage and building types.
Steve Oakey asked if they are trying to force density. Director Johnson said they are trying to encourage density not force. Mr. Oakey has several objections to this type of zoning.
Discussion about bike paths.
Council Member Mann said he thinks people like to know what the plan is for their property in the long term.
Council Member Flora asked if making it too structured would detour people from wanting to build there.
6:30 P.M. City Hall
Council Member Walker said the prayer.
Council Member Busby led the pledge.
Roll Call of Council Members:
Attending: Council Member Flora, Council Member Walker, Council Member Mann, Council Member Busby, Council Member Wolfe, Council President Smith and Mayor Merrill.
Public Comment: not scheduled on the agenda (limit 3 minutes); issues may be considered for discussion on a future agenda. Please keep comments on point and respectful.
Presentations:
Committee Liaison Assignments for 2018:
Council Member Mann: Golf Board · Emergency Services Board · Development Workshop
Council Member Mann reported the golf board met and discussed budget reports, forcast projections, class fees and an increase in rates. The ski hill is built and they are excited about
the winter recreation. Emergency Services didn’t meet but he commended the Fire Department for a well done memorial walk for Patriots Day.
Council Member Busby: Airport Board · Traffic & Safety · GIS Oversight
Council Member Busby reported the Airport Board did not meet. Traffic & Safety met and covered a lot of topics. There are some vacancies in the board that need to be filled. They
discussed 4th West and the parking issues there. He asked Attorney Zollinger to explain the proposals for that area.
Attorney Zollinger explained that the first phase for parking on 4th West will be to have only the employees with shorter shifts park there. They will also paint a four foot wing on
each of the driveways so that no one will park there. The owner will participate in maintaining the canal bank if the city will plant sod or something manageable.
Council Member Busby asked City Council how they felt about soding the canal bank and paying the initial cost. Council President Smith asked if grass makes it too inviting. She would
rather see rose bushes or something less inviting along the canal.
Discussion about other options.
Council Member Walker: MYAB · Parks & Recreation · Trails of Madison County
Council Member Walker reported the MYAB met last Wednesday and had a great opening social with about 37 to 40 youth in attendance. They meet again next Wednesday.
Mayor Merrill asked what the feeling of the Council was about the MYAB designing a city flag. Council Member Walker said they decided to let the youth go ahead and see what they come
up with. Attorney Zollinger recommended that they review the problems that Idaho Falls has faced about when and how to fly flags and come up with a resolution.
Council Member Walker reported that Parks and Trails will meet later this month. Recreation just finished their summer programs and fall programs start next week. Girls Basketball
will now start with First Grade.
Council President Smith: Legacy Flight Museum · Beautification Committee · M.E.P.I.
Council President Smith reported the Legacy Flight Museum met last week and recaped the summer. John Bagley says he will no longer be in charge of the air show. They would like to
upgrade the museum over the winter. MEPI met and had a little golf tournament with some of the key business people from the area. They presented some changes to MEPI and explained
the new direction its going. Most business people are receptive to sponsoring things.
Council Member Flora: School Board · Rexburg Arts Council/ Museum of Rexburg
Council Member Flora reported the school board meets next week. She met with Cultural Arts Director, Jackie Rawlins and talked about the Teton Story Telling Festival. They are working
on Experience Rexburg coming up on September 22nd . The Museum has a lot of volunteers who have been cataloging every little piece. Now you can actually pull hierlooms from any family.
It’s an amazing work that the volunteers are doing.
Council Member Wolfe: Planning & Zoning/Building · Urban Renewal Agency · Police
Council Member Wolfe reported Urban Renewal met and will have an item on the agenda tonight. He was out of town for the other meetings.
Staff Reports:
Finance: - Matt Nielson
Monthly Financial Report
Finance Officer Nielson reviewed the Budget Summary Report. He said that we should be at 92%. Arts shows at 60% because they haven’t spent about $100,000 on construction that was going
to be done at the Romance. Building Safety shows at 98% so they are going to go over which is mainly due to expenses in personnel. Over all we are $843,000 in the black. On the investing
side, we are currently investing just shy of 26 million.
Officer Nielson showed the treasurer’s report on the screen. He noted the recreation is at 106% spent already because of the Kid Zone which has taken $43,000 but that will be covered
by contributions and grants; mainly the high five grant. Rexburg Cultural Arts is high at 134% because of part time wages and the Teton Story Telling Festival which was higher than
anticipated. We have spent about 48% of the budget which is about 29 million dollars and have about 25 million in cash and investments.
Council Member Mann brought up the Idaho Falls City Council that budgeted $525,000 each year for snow removal that they will keep budgeting every year until they have a reserve built
up of one million dollars. He asked if we budget for snow removal. Mayor Merrill said it is part of our street fund. Officer Nielson explained how they do the street/snow fund.
Public Works & Engineering: - Keith Davidson
J-U-B Engineers Contract for Sewer Collection System Master Plan
Director Davidson reported that they have selected J-U-B Engineers for the City Master Sewer Collection Plan for $134,000.
Mayor Merrill indicated that the Engineering Department did negotiate the price down by eliminating some things and having Faron do a lot of the leg work.
Council Member Busby moved to approve the contract with J-U-B Engineers for the amount of $134,000; Council President Smith seconded the motion; Mayor Merrill asked for a vote:
Those voting aye Those voting nay
Council Member Flora None
Council Member Walker
Council Member Mann
Council Member Busby
Council Member Wolfe
Council President Smith
The motion carried
Director Davidson updated Council on the various projects happening in the city. The University Blvd. and Yellowstone Hwy. corner will be opened up by Friday. Second East was getting
the man holes raised today and should be opened back up by Friday. The completion of University Blvd. will be a couple weeks out.
Mayor Merrill commented that some apartment complexes are letting students check in early which should alleviate some congestion on the first day of check-in. BYU-I Liaison, Bett Sampson
said some apartment complexes are allowing students to check in early but not a lot.
Director Davidson reported that they will be pouring the floor for the new water reservoir early tomorrow morning. Notifications have gone out to the neighbors.
Mayor Merrill indicated that he and Director Davidson attended an ITD bus tour of Highway 20. He urged ITD to move up the interchange work for Rexburg sooner. We are scheduled for
2024 but they may be able to move it up a little. He also reported that the City and County are hosting FEMA from Boise and Washington DC about flood plain issues. The meeting will
be in the City Council Chambers on Thursday, September 13th at 10:00 a.m.
Mayor’s Report: Proclamation 2018 – 04 – National Child Passenger Safety Week
Mayor Merrill read the proclamation for National Child Passenger Safety Week.
PROCLAMATION
No. 2018 - 04
NATIONAL CHILD PASSENGER SAFETY WEEK – SEP. 23-29, 2018
WHEREAS, infants, toddlers and children represent Idaho’s future; and
WHEREAS, motor vehicle crashes are the leading cause of death and serious injuries for children 14 years old and younger; and
WHEREAS, nationwide in 2016, of the 826 children killed in passenger vehicle crashes, 289 were unrestrained; and
WHEREAS, in Idaho during 2016, 3 children under 7 years old died and 5 were seriously injured in car crashes because they were unrestrained; and
WHEREAS, many of these deaths and injuries could have been prevented had these children been buckled up in an appropriate car seat or seat belt; and
WHEREAS, during National Child Passenger Safety Week September 23-29, 2018, several car seat safety check events will be held statewide; and
WHEREAS, Idaho has more than 300 certified Child Passenger Safety Technicians who are committed to educating parents and caregivers about the best ways to keep kids safe while traveling
in cars, no matter how short or long the trip; and
WHEREAS, the Mayor and City Council hereby support the Rexburg City Police Department emphasizing the importance of preventing child deaths and injuries by keeping them buckled up in
an appropriate car seat or seat belt; and
NOW, THEREFORE, the Mayor and City Council of the City of Rexburg, Idaho, do hereby recognize
September 23-29, 2018 as National Child Passenger Safety Week
in the City of Rexburg and call on and encourage our citizens to take advantage of car seat safety checks to ensure children are in the proper car seat for their age and size, and that
the seats are installed correctly.
Council Member Wolfe moved to ratify Proclamation 2018 – 04 - National Child Passenger Safety Week ; Council Member Flora seconded the motion; Mayor Merrill asked for a vote:
Those voting aye Those voting nay
Council Member Flora None
Council Member Walker
Council Member Mann
Council Member Busby
Council Member Wolfe
Council President Smith
The motion carried
Public Hearings:
Ordinance No 1201 - Termination of the Washington School Urban Renewal District – adopted by Ordinance 794 on June 3, 1997. – Matt Nielson (Recommend Suspension of the Rules)
Finance Officer Nielson explained the termination of the Washington School Urban Renewal District. There is a debt owed to the city for the construction on the corner by BMC West and
Steiners. They owe the city about 279,000 but they do still own about 1.3 acres there and are planning to develop it. If that does sell, the proceeds will go to the city to pay off
the debt or they
will transfer the land to the city before the end of 2019. Any money that comes in after 2019 for those that pay late, will go back to the taxing entities.
Mayor Merrill mentioned that this is the first Urban Renewal District to be closed out since they started 20 years ago so there will be more coming forward in the future.
Mayor Merrill opened the Public Hearing
Testimony of those in favor:
Testimony of those neutral:
Testimony of those against:
Mayor Merrill Closed the Public Hearing
Discussion
Council Member Busby moved to suspend the rules for Ordinance 1201 - Termination of the Washington School Urban Renewal District – adopted by Ordinance 794 on June 3, 1997; Council
Member Smith seconded the motion; Mayor Merrill asked for a roll call vote:
Those voting aye Those voting nay
Council Member Flora None
Council Member Walker
Council Member Mann
Council Member Busby
Council Member Wolfe
Council President Smith
The motion carried
Council Member Busby moved to approve Ordinance 1201 - Termination of the Washington School Urban Renewal District – adopted by Ordinance 794 on June 3, 1997 and consider it third read;
Council Member Flora seconded the motion; Mayor Merrill asked for a vote:
Those voting aye Those voting nay
Council Member Flora None
Council Member Walker
Council Member Mann
Council Member Busby
Council Member Wolfe
Council President Smith
The motion carried
Items for Consideration:
Resolution 2018-12 Setting time and place of Public Hearing for Local Improvement District 47 Assessment Roll for October 3, 2018 – Keith Davidson
Director Davidson asked council for approval to set the time and place for the public hearing for LID 47 on October 3, 2018.
RESOLUTION FOR SETTING THE TIME AND PLACE OF
HEARING ON LOCAL IMPROVEMENT DISTRICT 47 ASSESSMENT ROLL
Resolution No. 2018-12
A RESOLUTION OF THE CITY OF REXBURG, IDAHO, FIXING THE TIME AND PLACE OF HEARING ON THE LOCAL IMPROVEMENT DISTRICT NO. 47 ASSESSMENT ROLL; PROVIDING FOR PUBLICATION AND MAILING OF NOTICE
THEREOF; AND PROVIDING AN EFFECTIVE DATE.
WHEREAS, Local Improvement District Number 47 ("L.I.D. No. 47") of the City of Rexburg (the "City") was created by Ordinance No. 1156 adopted by the City Council (the "Council") on
March 15, 2017; and
WHEREAS, in accordance with Ordinance No. 1156, the improvements within L.I.D. No. 47 have been completed, and the City Engineer, as engineer for L.I.D. No. 47, has submitted a report
showing in detail the total cost and expenses of the improvements, the dollar amount thereof payable from assessments, and a form of assessment roll showing the amount chargeable to
each lot or parcel of property subject to assessment within L.I.D. No. 47.
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF REXBURG, IDAHO, as follows:
Section 1: The form of assessment roll for L.I.D. No. 47 prepared by the City Engineer shall be filed in the office of the City Clerk, where it shall be available for
public inspection during normal business hours.
Section 2: Wednesday, the 3rd day of October 2018, at the hour of 7:00 pm, at the regular meeting place of the Council, City Hall, 35 N 1st E, Rexburg, Idaho, is hereby fixed as the
date, time, and place when and where the Council will meet in open session for the purpose of considering the City Engineer's report on the assessment roll and hearing any objections
to the assessment roll by the owners of property within L.I.D. No. 47.
Section 3: The City Clerk shall give notice of the hearing specified in Section 2 above by publication of notice in the official newspaper of the City, once a week for two successive
weeks, the first such publication being at least fifteen (15) days before the date fixed for hearing objections to the assessment roll. The City Clerk shall also, not less than fifteen
(15) days before the date fixed for hearing objections to the assessment roll, mail notice of the hearing to each owner of property, if known, or his or her agent, if known, within
the limits of L.I.D. No. 47, addressed to such person at his or her post office address, if known, or, if unknown, to the main post office in the City of Rexburg, Idaho. The mailed
notice shall state the amount of the individual assessment as shown on the preliminary assessment roll.
Section 4: The owner or owners of any property which is assessed in said assessment roll, whether named in said assessment roll or not, may, within the time specified in the notice before
the date and time fixed for the hearing, file with the City Clerk his or her objections in writing to said assessment.
Section 5: This resolution shall take effect and be in force from and after its passage and approval.
DATED this 12th day of September 2018.
Council Member Walker moved to set the time and place of hearing on Local Improvement District 47 Assessment Roll - Resolution 2018-12 for October 3, 2018; Council Member Busby seconded
the motion; Mayor Merrill asked for a vote:
Those voting aye Those voting nay
Council Member Flora None
Council Member Walker
Council Member Mann
Council Member Busby
Council Member Wolfe
Council President Smith
The motion carried
Calendared Bills and Tabled Items:
“LAND USE ACTION” – Bills Recommended/Approved in a Land Use Public Hearing Procedure (Recommend Suspension of the Rules):
BILL Introduction: – NONE
Second Reading: Those items which have been first read: NONE
Third Reading: Those items which have been second read: NONE
Mayor Merrill received a questionnaire from the United States Department of Agriculture regarding the West Tisbury apartment complex in regards to them being approved for government
subsidized housing. He asked if anyone had heard any complaints against these apartments. No one has heard of any complaints.
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.
Minutes from September 5, 2018 meeting
Approve the City of Rexburg Bills
Approve Beer and Wine Licenses
Council Member Wolfe moved to approve the Consent Calendar containing the minutes and city bills and approve the 2019 Fiscal Year Beer and Wine Licenses contingent upon Madison County
passing them on Monday, September 17, 2018; Council Member Walker seconded the motion; Mayor Merrill asked for a vote:
Those voting aye Those voting nay
Council Member Flora None
Council Member Walker
Council Member Mann
Council Member Busby
Council Member Wolfe
Council President Smith
The motion carried
Adjournment 7:19 P.M.
7:20 P.M. Employee Salary Study Work Meeting
Terri Hill handed out the packets to City Council. She thanked the Research and Business Development Center for doing this study. She turned the time over to Griffin Clayton, David
Lindsey and Will Jensen for the presentation.
Griffin Clayton explained the scope of their research. They compared variances between minimum and maximum ranges and included medical and dental benefits. They sent out a questionnaire
to various Idaho city Human Resource Departments .
They added in a location based wage adjustment that takes in houseing etc. They compare with an equal and level playing field.
Data Sources included the Bureau of Labor Statistics and MIT.
No current employees will have pay reductions as a result of the study.
If the study suggests a change in the grade of a position, it does not affect the current wages of the employee in that respective position unless the pay falls under step one of the
new grade.
It does affect the salary range and long-term earning capacity for the position.
If a wage change is recommended, it shall require approval by the City Council. The study only affects the earning potential not the actual wage. He showed a graph of several cities
and some example positions.
Most of the departments are being under paid compared to other cities. They have used more sources than was used in the last salary study which accounts for the wider range. 73 positions
propose an increase to grade and 16 positions propose a decrease to grade.
With benefits added in it makes a drastic change to how everything weighs in. Rexburg has second highest employer costs for medical, dental and vision at 10.34/hr.
Director Hill shared an example. She just made a job offer to a prospective employee and the employee said that she had just gotten a $4.00 per hour increase due to a salary study.
So, it’s not just us, the private sector is also evaluating employee salaries.
Director Hill is seeking recommendation from City Council to finalize this study. She reviewed the current policy that she is proposing making some changes on. She would like to go
by the salary study not the benefits comparison. The findings may affect some current wages. This market is telling us that doing a grade change is not going to bring them to market.
There may be a need for a pay increase. Estimated adjustment would result in a $55,000 to $60,000 cost increase which includes benefits.
Director Hill proposed that the city adopt a policy where they recruit at a Step 13 instead of a Step 1. This will cause a ripple effect so it will have to be done in stages. She suggests
they gradually hire at a higher step over the next few years. Training costs are between $50,000 and $70,000, depending on the position, so we need to retain the employees we’ve got.
Director Hill talked about retention and suggested they increase wages for all empoloyees in addition to the 2.07 percent COLA. This would be about $95,000 for every 1 percent of increase.
The increase for a topped out employee would be a one time lump sum. All other employees would be a step change. The increase could come from the general fund contingency and carry-over.
Officer Nielson said there is sufficient carry-over and reserves in the departments to do this increase.
Mayor Merrill thanked the employees for managing their health costs which helps everyone.
Council Member Wolfe asked the reason for bringing people in at step 13. Why not adjust the salary table. Director Hill said they have thought about that and it is an option.
Council Member Walker asked how they would bring everyone up to where they need to be.
Discussion about grade and step pay.
Council Member Wolfe asked what the amount would be to bring every employee up to market value right now. Officer Nielson and Director Hill will do the math on that but probably around
1.2 million dollars.
Council Member Flora asked how to bring everyone up to market when we don’t have the 1.2 million or whatever it would take. Director Hill said their recommendation is to give those
who have the bigger disparity a grade change, start recruiting at a higher grade level and increase wages for all employees by 4 percent plus the 2.07 COLA. Then budget for it for
next year. The 4 percent is a one time across the board.
Council Member Mann is happy to see that the lower waged employees will get an increase. He wants everyone to be treated fairly. He wants to know what percent of the budget it would
take and how many people are applying for the jobs we have. He wants to make sure that we are level with other businesses as well.
Mayor Merrill said his goal is to try to bring everyone up to market value as much as possible. He hopes everyone enjoys working here. He hopes the employees understand that they need
to make it work with the budget.
Council Member Wolfe would like to take a closer look and maybe have each department look at ways to cut costs in their budget to account for the increases.
Officer Nielson asked Council if they are on board with the adjusted max. Council Member Flora wants to make sure that the ones furthest away from market value get the biggest increase
instead of everyone getting the same percent.
Council would like to look closer at each position and see where they are percentage wise.
Josh Rhodes wife asked about increasing everyone 4 percent. Would that leave those who are 14 percent below market value always at 10 percent below? Mayor Merrill said their goal is
to get everyone up to market value but this would be a start toward that.
Council Member Wolfe agreed with Council Member Flora that the ones with the biggest gap should get a bigger increase than the ones with a smaller gap.
Officer Nielson commented that the fact that we are comparing to all cities in Idaho helps us get within market value better than just comparing with East Idaho. Adopting this new market
is a benefit for all employees.
Discussion about lump sums for those who are topped out.
Council Member Walker suggested that employees bring any ideas they have to Human Resources.
Council Member Mann appreciates every employee and the work they do.
Mayor Merrill called the meeting to an end at 8:28 p.m.
Mayor Merrill asked for a motion to move into executive session
Council Member Busby moved to go into executive session per Idaho Code 74-206(C) to acquire an interest in real property which is not owned by a public agency and Idaho Code 74-206(B)
To consider the evaluation, dismissal or disciplining of, or to hear complaints or charges brought against, a public officer, employee, staff member or individual agent, or public school
student; Council Member Walker seconded the motion; Mayor Merrill asked for a roll call vote:
Those voting aye Those voting nay
Council Member Flora None
Council Member Walker
Council Member Mann
Council Member Busby
Council Member Wolfe
Council President Smith
The motion carried
Executive session started at 8:35 p.m.
Executive session ended at 9:30 p.m.
APPROVED:
________________________________
Jerry Merrill, Mayor
Attest:
_____________________________
Mary Flanary, Deputy City Clerk