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HomeMy WebLinkAboutCouncil Minutes - October 16, 2019_unbound 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 Alan Parkinson – Planning & Zoning Administrator Scott Johnson – Economic Development Director Deborah Lovejoy – City Clerk 6:30 P.M. City Hall Council Member Walker said the prayer. Jeremy led the pledge. Roll Call of Council Members: Attending: Council Member Flora, Council Member Mann, Council Member Busby, Council Member Walker, Council Member Wolfe and Council President Smith. Mayor Merrill asked to be excused; he is attending an Economic Development Conference in Indianapolis. 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. NONE Presentations: Committee Liaison Assignments for 2019: Council Member Mann: Golf Board · Emergency Services Board · Development Workshop Council Member Mann reported the Golf Board, Emergency Services Board and the Development Workshop have not met. Council Member Busby: Airport Board · Traffic & Safety · School Board Council Member Busby reported the Traffic and Safety Committee and the School Board have not met. The Airport Board is holding an open house on November 6th at City Hall to review the airport feasibility study. The School Board is holding parent teacher conference this week. Council Member Walker: MYAB · Parks & Recreation · Trails of Madison County Council Member Walker reported the Mayor’s Youth Advisory Board (MYAB) met today to review the skits they have been working on for Halloween. They will be performing their skits to the elementary school students in Rexburg to promote Halloween Safety. The Recreation Department is busy with Girls’ Basketball. A total of 110 girls have signed up this year for the girls’ basketball program. The youth indoor soccer program will begin this week. A total of 43 youth signed up for indoor soccer program. Council Member Walker also reported the Recreation Department is working on the Kidsburg season opening with a free Trunk or Treat on October 31st for Halloween. He said the Trails of Madison County have not met. Council President Smith: Legacy Flight Museum · Beautification Committee · M.E.P.I. Council President Smith reported the Legacy Flight Museum Board met today. They discussed moving forward with the Airshow for the year 2020. Kevin and Brian Lee will be in charge of the Airshow this year with the help of John Bagley. The Airshow is scheduled for Father’s Day weekend in June. She said the Airshow is great for economic development in Rexburg and a great opportunity to highlight the airplanes at the museum. Council President Smith reported the Legacy Flight Museum Board is preparing for winter. There will be airplanes flying over the city on Veterans Day. M.E.P.I. has not met; however, Economic Development Director Johnson and Mayor Merrill are attending an economic development conference and will report what is new in economic development. Council Member Flora: GIS Oversight · Rexburg Cultural Arts / Museum of Rexburg Council Member Flora reported the GIS Oversight Committee has not met; however, she visited with the GIS Department to understand the technology they use. She mentioned the GIS website, where any resident can view a map of the City of Rexburg and identify any parcel in the city. The GIS Department also helps with mapping the different voting precincts. A city resident can use the map to determine where their polling place is located. She commended the GIS Department for their hard work. Council Member Flora reported on the Rexburg Cultural Arts. The renovations that have been completed at the Romance Theater are beautiful. One of the attractions the Arts Council uses to encourage patrons to visit the Romance Theater is the movie nights. They have been showing Halloween movies on Fridays and Saturdays this month. Some of the movies include Hocus Pocus, The Bride of Frankenstein, The Nightmare before Christmas and Coco. She reported there will be a Halloween Concert at the Tabernacle on October 29th and 30th. She encouraged everyone to attend the concert because it will be fantastic. Council Member Flora reported the last couple of years the Arts Department has held a Holiday Festival at the Tabernacle where people have donated Christmas Trees to auction. This year the Arts Department will be seeking donated holiday wreaths to auction. She said all of the proceeds collected from the wreath auction will be donated to the Shop with a Cop program. The Police Department oversees the Shop with a Cop program. The program covers five surrounding counties and the Idaho State Police is also involved. She encouraged everyone to attend the Holiday Festival at the end of November. Council Member Flora reported the Museum of Rexburg Curator, Alisha Tietjen, has accomplished training in Boise to be able to care for the Smithsonian Exhibit that will be coming to the museum soon. There are also fun Halloween activities for children at the museum. Council Member Flora commended Curator Tietjen for her great efforts in being the museum curator. Council Member Wolfe: Planning & Zoning/Building · Urban Renewal Agency · Police Council Member Wolfe reported his committees have not met. The Urban Renewal Agency will be meeting next week. The Police Department Staff meeting was canceled. He spoke with Chief Turman and he mentioned Assistant Police Chief Hagan will be attending FBI training in West Yellowstone for a week. The training includes police departments from the Mississippi River to the West Coast. The Rexburg Police Officers do not have to shave their beards during the holidays as long as they donate $25 to the Shop with a Cop Program. Council Member Wolfe said the Shop with a Cop Program involved about 105 police officers and 80 children last year. He commended the program. It is a great experience to see the children holding the police officer’s hands as they shop for gifts. There are volunteer opportunities for anyone interested in serving in the Shop with a Cop Program. Staff Reports: Finance: - Matt Nielson Finance Reports Finance Officer Nielson reviewed the Treasurer’s Expenditure Report. The expenses are close because the accounts have finished accruing the expenses. The cash balances are all about to change with the year-end adjustments. He used the General Fund as an example, the account shows 7.7 million dollars; however, the transfers alone are 2.4 million dollars. He said many of the accounts in the negative will become a zero balance such as the Fire Operation Account. / Finance Officer Nielson reviewed the Cash and Investments Report. He has a propsol needing City Council consideration. One of the accounts in the Cash and Investments the city has can obtain a really good return on Certificates of Deposit (CD’s). The most resent CDs have a 2.9% return. There are quite a few banks and Credit Unions in town where the city doesn’t have CD investments. He said the Finance Department questioned which investment can money be pulled from with a low yield to receive a higher yield. One of the investments they determined with a low yield is the Diversified Bond Fund (DBF). There is about eight million dollars in the DBF and the current return is about 2%. On the right side of the report the intrest rate was added. Finance Officer Nielson explained one of the difficulties with the DBF is the city does not have the ability to hold the investments in the fund until they mature because when money is withdrawn, they are going to calculate the market price per share not the book value. The Finance Department questioned if this would be a good time to pull funds for the DBF. Finance Officer Nielson reviewed the Diversified Bond Fund Graph. He is recommending half of funds in the DBF be transfered because if the city needs the cash in the future there is no way to know what the market value is going to be comparied to the book value. He believes it’s in the city’s best intrest to withdraw the funds now and re-invest some of the funds into local CD’s. The Finance Department is also reviewing another managed account with a company that has a low rate to manage the investment. He said moving the funds would allow the ability to have cash for the Water Fund when the Department of Enviornmental Quality (DEQ) loan is completed next year. The cash would be available if City Council decides to pay off more of the DEQ loan. / / Finance Officer Nieslon said he is seeking City Council approval to withdraw four million dollars from the DBF. Council Member Busby questioned if the funds are withdrawn could they be used to pay other loans or are the funds specifically tied to the Water Fund. Finance Officer Nielson explained the funds are tied to the following accounts 4.2 million dollars for Water, 1.6 million for Wastewater and 2.1 million dollars for the General Fund. Council Member Busby questioned if the 2.1 million dollars for the General Fund could be used to increase the Street Fund. Finance Officer Nielson replied yes, with City Council approval, money from the General Fund could be trasfered to the Street Fund. Discussion regarding the interest rates between the CD’s and Managed Accounts. Finance Officer Nielson said the managed accounts would yield a higher return compared to CD’s. Finance Officer Nielson said he is planning to withdraw the full 1.6 million dollars for the Wastewater Fund because of the capital projects scheduled for next year. He said about half of the 4.2 million dollars will be withdrawn and about half a million from the General Fund. Council Member Busby asked if more funds need to be withdrawn from the General Fund. Finance Officer Nielson replied he doesn’t believe more funds are needed to be withdrawn from the General Fund because there is sufficant cash flow in the General Fund. There is also sufficant funds in the LGIP Investment which is equal to next day cash. The four million dollars he is requesting approval to be withdrawn from the DBF are going to be deposited in the LGIP, a managed account and in CD’s. The LGIP currently has a 2.3% return. Council Member Flora moved to approve the transfer of four million dollars from the Diversified Bond Fund to CD’s, Managed Accounts, or in the LGIP; Council Member Busby seconded the motion; Council President Smith asked for a vote: Those voting aye Those voting nay Council Member Flora None Council Member Wolfe Council Member Busby Council Member Walker Council Member Mann Council President Smith The motion carried Rexburg City Barney Dairy Park and Teton River Master Plan Budget Adjustment Finance Officer Nielson explained the Budget Adjustment Request for the Parks Department. The Parks committee has been discussing the option of having a Master Plan for the new city parks on 5th West and the Barney Dairy Park. After discussing the request of having a Master Plan for both the parks, it was determined, the Master Plan for the 5th West Park is premature because the park is not in the city’s capital improvement plan until the year 2030. They determined the Master Plan for the Barney Dairy Park is needed because the park is on the city’s budget the next few years. Finance Officer Nielson indicated the cost to have a Master Plan for the Barney Dairy Park is $15,000 with MGB+A The Grassli Group. The Parks Impact Fee Study is going to go into the next fiscal year and the cost is $2,200. The city ended up funding the baseball quad last year; however, we had put it in the budget for fiscal year 2020 as well and so he is going to take it out because we do not have a need to make that transfer. This Budget Adjustment would cover these three areas. / Council Member Busby questioned when the bids for the baseball quad will be requested. Public Works Director Davidson explained the lighting for the baseball quad is out to bid; however, the city engineers are finalizing some of the other items before requesting bids. Council Member Mann asked for clarification regarding the Master Plan for the Barney Dairy Park. Finance Officer Nielson reviewed some of the items included in the Master Plan MGB+A is completing. / Council Member Busby moved to approve the Parks Department Budget Adjustment in the amount of $800,000 for Fiscal Year 2020; Council Member Wolfe seconded the motion; Council President Smith asked for a vote: Those voting aye Those voting nay Council Member Flora None Council Member Wolfe Council Member Busby Council Member Walker Council Member Mann Council President Smith The motion carried Approve Health & Dental Insurance Plan Fiscal Year 2020 Finance Officer Nielson reviewed the Health and Dental Insurance Renewal Plan with Blue Cross of Idaho. There is an increase of 6.83 percent, which is about $133,000. He is proposing an increase in the employee and employer shared costs by a total of $145,000 to put more money into savings. He said combining this year’s insurance increase with the last three years; the city is averaging a 1% decrease. Finance Officer Nielson said there are some changes to the plan. The doctor copay is going from $30 to $40. The brand name prescription deductible is going from $250 to $500 and the health plan will include the required health coaching. If the employee does not engage in the health coaching the employee and spouse will lose half of their HRA money in July. Council Member Walker asked for the shared increase amount for the employee. Finance Officer Nielson said the employee-shared increase depends on the enrollee plan. He used the employee plus family plan because 83 employees are enrolled in this plan. The actual dollar increase for the employee plus family is about $175 per year Council Member Flora mentioned there are other organizations trying to keep the cost of health insurance as reasonable as possible. She commended the city employee’s for their efforts to keep the costs for health insurance from increasing substantially. Finance Officer Nielson mentioned the city is trying to position itself to have self-funding insurance. Council Member Walker moved to approve the City of Rexburg Health and Dental Insurance Plan Renewal with Blue Cross of Idaho for Fiscal Year 2020; Council Member Mann seconded the motion; Council President Smith asked for a vote: Those voting aye Those voting nay Council Member Flora None Council Member Wolfe Council Member Busby Council Member Walker Council Member Mann Council President Smith The motion carried Public Works: - Keith Davidson Resolution 2019-13 Wastewater Treatment Plant Grant Agreement – Rick Miller Public Works Director Davidson explained the city is seeking assistance in planning, developing, grant writing and administering a project to improve their wastewater system. The project will include the construction of a new lift station and conversion and demo of an existing lift station located in the Millhollow Subdivision. The lift station will be relocated near the Barney Dairy Road and extended across the Teton River, which would help eliminate the need of a new lift station that would be needed to service the additional properties on the south side of the Stonebridge Subdivision. Public Works Director Davidson said city staff has been working with East-Central Idaho Planning and Development Association, Inc. to apply for an Idaho Community Development Block Grant for the demo and relocation of the Millhollow Lift Station. Public Works Director Davidson recommended Resolution 2019-13 authorizing Mayor Merrill to sign and execute the application for the block grant. Council Member Busby questioned if the lift station in the Millhollow Subdivision will be abandoned. Public Works Director Davidson explained the lift station will be turned into a manhole with a sewer line running through and over to the new lift station on Barney Dairy Road. This new lift station will be a regional station with the capability to handle a larger area as the city grows and develops. The lift station is one that was identified in the city’s Sewer Master Plan. Public Works Director Davidson said the city has a grant to pave a pathway along the canal to connect with the pathway along the river and behind the Madison Jr. High School over to 1st N. The grant funds will be available on July 1st. Member Flora Council asked how much funding is available in the grant. Public Works Director Davidson said the city is applying for $500,000. / Council Member Flora moved to approve the Resolution 2019 - 13; Council Member Busby seconded the motion; Council President Smith asked for a vote: Those voting aye Those voting nay Council Member Flora None Council Member Wolfe Council Member Busby Council Member Walker Council Member Mann Council President Smith The motion carried Council Member Busby moved to approve the Professional Services Contract with East-Central Idaho Planning & Development Association, Inc., for the development of a Wastewater Improvement Project in the amount of $4,000; Council Member Mann seconded the motion; Council President Smith asked for a vote: Those voting aye Those voting nay Council Member Flora None Council Member Wolfe Council Member Busby Council Member Walker Council Member Mann Council President Smith The motion carried Council Member Busby moved to approve the Request for Proposal for Administrative Services for the Block Grant.; Council Member Walker seconded the motion; Council President Smith asked for a vote: Those voting aye Those voting nay Council Member Flora None Council Member Wolfe Council Member Busby Council Member Walker Council Member Mann Council President Smith The motion carried Public Works Director Davidson reported on the public works projects being completed in the city. The water reservoir is almost complete. The contractor is shaping the dirt mound up around the reservoir. DL Beck Construction is working on the well houses. They are starting on the well house on 7th N. first and then will move over to start building the well house by the Burton Elementary School. Once the well houses are built, the pumps, new well, and buster pumps will be installed to activate the water reservoir. The reservoir was filled to capacity and is currently being drained because the reservoir should not be filled with water while the well house is being built. Public Works Director Davidson indicated the reservoir will be a great benefit to the city once in operation because the city will not have to recharge as much water. The city will pump its water diversion right out of the ground. The water will be stored in the reservoir. The city will not have to water recharge as much this year. This year the city has recharged 70-acre feet, which is not a lot, compared to the 280 acre feet that was recharged last year. Public Works Director Davidson reported the contractor is still working on the Local Improvement District. There is concrete work needing to be completed. There have been delays with completing the concrete work. Council Member Busby said the traffic lines in front of Rexburg Motor Sports do not line up with the lines heading towards the high school. The traffic lines are causing confusion. Public Works Director Davidson said he would look into correcting the traffic lines at that location. Discussion regarding the lack of street lighting on 5th West. Public Works Director Davidson said he will reach out to Rocky Mountain Power to determine if a streetlight could be added. Mayor’s Report Public Hearing 7:15 P.M.: Resolution 2019-12 Proposed Fee Changes Finance Officer Nielson reviewed the proposed fee changes for Resolution 2019-12. All of the City fees are available on the city’s website for anyone to review. Council Member Mann mentioned he brought forward the Clubhouse Capital Improvement Fee for tournaments $150 per 9 holes/day fee. The reason for the fee is due to the clubhouse needing repairs and being that the golf tournaments use the clubhouse more than the day to day businesses he felt it was fair to add the fee to those tournaments. Finance Officer Nielson said there have been improvements completed to the clubhouse this year. Finance Officer Nielson continued to review the proposed fee changes. / / / Council President Smith opened the Public Hearing. Public Testimony in favor of the proposal (5-minute limit): Public Testimony neutral to the proposal (5-minute limit): Public Testimony opposed to the proposal (5-minute limit): Council Member Mann moved to approve Resolution 2019-12 the Proposed Fee Changes; Council Member Wolfe seconded the motion; Council President Smith asked for a vote: Those voting aye Those voting nay Council Member Flora None Council Member Wolfe Council Member Busby Council Member Walker Council Member Mann Council President Smith The motion carried Items for Consideration: “LAND USE ACTION” – Bills Recommended/Approved in a Land Use Public Hearing Procedure (Recommend Suspension of the Rules): – NONE Second Reading: Those items which have been first read: - NONE Third Reading: Those items which have been second read: – NONE Mayor’s Business: Council President Smith questioned how the NASA Apollo Exhibit fared in terms of funds collected and patron attendance. Museum Curator Tietjen replied the exhibit was well attended and the patrons were really excited to view the exhibit. Discussion regarding the City Council Meeting Schedule for the months of December and January. 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 October 2, 2019 meeting Approve the City of Rexburg Bills Council Member Walker moved to approve the Consent Calendar containing the minutes and city bills; Council Member Mann seconded the motion; Council President Smith asked for a vote: Those voting aye Those voting nay Council Member Flora None Council Member Wolfe Council Member Busby Council Member Walker Council Member Mann Council President Smith The motion carried APPROVED: ________________________________ Jerry Merrill, Mayor Attest: _______________________________ Marianna Gonzalez, Deputy City Clerk