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HomeMy WebLinkAboutCouncil Minutes - September 25, 20191 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 Brett Sampson said the prayer. Matthew Snelgrove led the pledge. Roll Call of Council Members: Attending: Council Member Flora, Council Member Mann, Council Member Busby, Council Member Walker, 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. NONE Presentations: Run For A Refugee 5K Event – AJ Frazier (209) 597-2096 Mr. AJ Frazier of Rexburg explained that he served a mission in England where he fell in love with the refugee community so upon arrival back home, he set out to make a difference for the refugees in his own community. He is currently a student at BYU-I. He came up with this idea a year ago and presented it to the city council last year. He showed a recap of last year’s event. The event will be October 19, 2019. Run for a Refugee is a nonprofit that helps refugees by doing a 5k fun run and donating the proceeds to the refugee center in Twin Falls. They do it to help refugees re-settle and get personal needs met. They get sponsors from local businesses to help with costs. They are on social media. Tickets are $19.99. The whole event is videotaped. They have submitted their public gathering permit. They have BYU-I doing radio advertising. They raised $1,500 last year and are hoping to double that this year and raise $3,000 for the Twin Falls Center. 1.1. What are we? - Run For A Refugee is part of Project R., a club on campus (Brigham Young University – Idaho), seeking to be a non-profit organization. 1.2. What are we doing? - Developing a community 5K fun run. - Donate the money raised to a local refugee center; Twin Falls, Idaho. - http://refugeecenter.csi.edu 1.3. Why are we doing it? - To increase student and resident awareness and enhance the empathy/sympathy toward refugees. 35 North 1st East Rexburg, ID 83440 Phone: 208.359.3020 x 2101 Fax: 208.359.3022 deborahl@rexburg.org www.rexburg.org City Council Minutes September 25, 2019 2 - Unite students and Rexburg citizens in a good cause, and help create a better life for refugees as they integrate into western society. 1.4. How are we going to do this? - Seek sponsorship from local small businesses. - Sell water (300 water-bottles) and hot-chocolate at the event. - PR: Ask the City Council for support by helping to promote Run for a Refugee. - PR: Ask Eastern Idaho News and the Rexburg Standard Journal to join us at a City Council meeting for greater publicity. - Obtain insurance from a local insurance company. - Delegate responsibility to Neh Meh and Lindsey Sanders of finding committed and genuinely interested volunteers to help direct runners on the day of the event. - Find speakers to play music/DJ. - Use Eventbrite to manage the 5k Event online with a $19.99 admission cost https://www.eventbrite.com/e/run-for-a-refugee-5k-rexburg-tickets-68188103453 - Hire a professional photographer and videographer for the day-of the event. - Work with the Twin Falls refugee center and ask for photos/videos of local refugees to promote awareness and advertising leading up the race. - Obtain a public gathering permit. - Invite food trucks to vendor at the race. - Speak with the Armature Radio Society about communication during the race. - Create a Facebook and Instagram page and have Sarah and Stephanie as our official Social Media Marketers. https://www.instagram.com/runforarefugee/ www.facebook.com/RunForARefugee 1.5. Our Goal: - Raise $3,000.00 for the Twin Falls Refugee Center - Have 350 t-shirts for our runners with our logo and sponsorship names. Mr. Frazier showed the map of the race route at the Nature Park. There is another race that day so they pushed it back to a later time. The Cube Cyclocross race is that day and goes until 5:00 pm. Discussion about timing of the race being late in the day. Mr. Frazier will look into that. Maybe use a different park. They may move the race to a different date. Mr. Frazier showed more slides indicating where all the volunteers would be stationed. He still has a need for some videographers and photographers and a music organizer. He showed the articles that have been posted about the event. He also showed pictures from last year. It was a good turnout. He showed the refugee center in Twin Falls. He indicated that he still needs sponsors and some outdoor heat lamps. Council Member Flora commended Mr. Frazier for his efforts on such a good cause. 3 Committee Liaison Assignments for 2019: A. Council Member Mann: Golf Board · Emergency Services Board · Development Workshop Council Member Mann reported Emergency Services has a new emergency manager, Robert Kohler. He just completed the All Hazards Mitigation Plan. This plan is required to have an update every 5 years. It was submitted to FEMA last week for their review and input. Council Member Mann explained about the wildland fire season and the brush trucks and other equipment that go out on wildland fires all over the country each year. The fire season was slow this year due to moist storms. The fire department responded to 22 out of area fires this year compared to 59 last year. The fires they helped with this year were in Alaska, Utah, Nevada and Idaho. Council Member Mann explained the fire department’s change to their staffing model to save money. Instead of two paid employees on call, they now have one-part time employee working a 12-hour shift. This should save the department $70,000 in payroll. There is a need for a new ambulance. The last one was purchased seven years ago. The ambulance service is struggling financially despite efforts to cut costs wherever they can. They get some expenses back on calls but it never meets the costs. Council Member Mann commented that our ambulance service has an amazing response time and they do a great job. Council Member Mann reported the golf courses are winding down. Legacy Golf Course will close the end of September. Teton Lakes will remain open longer. Council Member Mann shared that Experience Rexburg was held last Saturday and it was a great success with many booths and patrons. There was a free potato bar and flag football game and a free concert at the Romance that night. B. Council Member Busby: Airport Board · Traffic & Safety · School Board Council Member Busby reported the Airport Board will meet next month. Most road construction is winding down. The School Board is hosting a Lock onto Hope campaign tomorrow at the district office. This is a suicide prevention campaign where people can write what they hope for and then lock it onto a fence. The new stadium at the high school has been a big draw. C. Council Member Walker: MYAB · Parks & Recreation · Trails of Madison County Council Member Walker reported the Mayor’s Youth Advisory Board (MYAB) has met twice. There are about 40 youth that have been coming out of 70 that applied. They got their shirts and had their group pictures done. Parks has not met. Recreation has their fall sports going. Kidsburg will open the end of October. Trails of Madison County has not met. D. Council President Smith: Legacy Flight Museum · Beautification Committee · M.E.P.I. Council President Smith reported Legacy Flight Museum will meet next week. MEPI is starting some activities soon. E. Council Member Flora: GIS Oversight · Rexburg Cultural Arts / Museum of Rexburg Council Member Flora reported GIS has not met. Cultural Arts just finished Experience Rexburg. She encouraged everyone to come next year. September 27th is the JTM concert at Hemming Village with all proceeds going to a child advocacy group and then on September 28th is Thors Hammer at the Romance Theater. In October, the Romance will have weekly Halloween movies for just $2.00. There will be a Halloween concert at the Tabernacle with Kevin Call conducting on October 29th. It will be funny and entertaining. Council Member Flora introduced Alisha Tietjen who has been the Assistant Museum Curator for the Museum of Rexburg but will now be the new Museum Curator as of Oct. 1st. Council Member Flora indicated that the Museum of Rexburg has changed a lot and encouraged everyone to go see all the wonderful additions and changes that have been made over the past two years. She said that Mrs. Tietjen has been applying for roaming exhibits including the Apollo Exhibit that is currently on display at the Legacy Flight Museum. F. Council Member Wolfe: Planning & Zoning/Building · Urban Renewal Agency · Police 4 Council Member Wolfe reported Planning & Zoning met last week and had a work meeting with Economic Development Director, Scott Johnson to talk about food vendors and e-scooters. They also discussed the vision for downtown and building for the future that will allow both commercial and residential in the downtown area. The Police Department met with the City Council members at the shooting range and had a barbeque and practiced shooting. Staff Reports: Finance: - Matt Nielson Finance Reports - Set Public Hearing Date for Fee Changes on October 16, 2019 Chief Finance Officer Nielson showed the budget summary report on the screen. Through September 3rd we have brought in 37.6 million in revenues with expenses at 34.5 million so we are 3 million to the good. On the cash and investments side, this is the first time we have been above 30 million. If you look just at the liquid cash we are at about 2.5 million and we will be spending 1.5 million tonight if approved so we will probably be doing a 2 million dollar transfer from the LGIP, which has 7.1 million, within the next few weeks. 5 6 Finance Officer Nielson showed the Treasurers Report. He pointed out that there is between seven and eight million in the General Fund. That is high right now because we will do the transfers at the end of September so there will be millions of dollars of transfers that will go out for the subsidies. Council Member Busby asked where we stand with the golf course finances. Finance Officer Nielson indicated that we have put more into it this year but as an investment. We have addressed many capital needs over the past two years that haven’t been addressed over the last decade. The current contractor will serve through next year and then there will be some possible changes to that contract. There is a possible 30 to 40 thousand dollars in cash flow that can be brought back with further changes. Finance Officer Nielson continued with his report. The Parks Impact has $319,000 for reserve funds for the baseball quad. Bids for the quad should be coming within the next few months. Rexburg Rapids has $272,000 in reserve. Sewer reserves have done better than anticipated. Council Member Mann asked about the Promulgation Fund. Have we eliminated that? Officer Nielson said there is $108,000 in that fund for art promulgation. The wages for Cultural Arts comes out of that and we transfer for projects like the Romance Theater but as far as pianos or statues, like the one in the round-about, we haven’t done anything like that for a few years. 7 Council Member Busby asked about the Street Light fund. There is 1.8 million in that fund so when are we going to put that to use? Officer Nielson replied that on Street Impact Fees, there are two projects left from the original study. One is out on 2nd East by the Salem Highway and the other one is the East Parkway Corridor which, when it was identified, was 32 to 34 million. The area that we are targeting right now is acquisition of right-of-way. We are actively pursuing purchase of several different locations for that. Council Member Busby clarified he was talking about the Street Light fund. He asked Director Davidson if that fund is just for new street lighting or if it’s for maintenance as well? Director Davidson said it can be used for both. They are looking at converting to LED’s. Council Member Busby was wondering if there is incentive from RMP to convert to LED’s. He asked Josh Rhodes with the Police Department to get a list of the street lights that are out. Mayor Merrill asked about North 5th West that has a long section with no lights. Officer Nielson indicated that we spend $75,000 a year on street light maintenance and power. Officer Nielson reviewed the fee changes that need to go before a public hearing. Department Category Description Current Fee Last Changed Proposed Fee Comments Building Inspection Building Permit Electrical Inspection Fee-Duplex $260.00 Building Inspection Building Permit Mechanical Inspection Fee-Duplex $260.00 Building Inspection Building Permit Plumbing Inspection Fee-Duplex $260.00 Customer Service Business Registration Dockless Personal Vehicle per Unit $1.25 Annual Fee per Unit Customer Service Business Registration Minimum All Businesses $25.000 4/1/2015 $30.00 Added cost for implementing new software-Laserfiche and/or City Works with GIS Customer Service Fee Initial Short Term Rental Registration Fee $100.000 1/16/2019 $75.00 CHANGE LANGUAGE TO BE FOR LIFE SAFETY INSPECTION FEE ONLY Customer Service Fee Short Term Rental Annual Renewal Fee $25.000 1/16/2019 $100.00 also require owner to sign an affidavit that they have complied with life safety requirements annually Fire Fee Third Party Inspection Fee $5.00 Fire Fee False Alarm Failure to notify of expected false alarm for repair or testing $75.000 previous $75.00 Change Term "False" to Nuisance per email from Chief Child 9/23/19 to clarify description-no fee change Fire Fee False alarm fee each over three times in a 6 month period $200.000 previous $200.00 Change Term "False" to Nuisance per email from Chief Child 9/23/19 to clarify description-no fee change G.I.S.Copies Custom print per hour $65.000 4/1/2015 $65.00 Change Description to Labor Rate Per Hour Golf Pass Season Buddy Pass-Legacy Only $149.00 Bring a Buddy anytime for free with pass holder. Add club rentals for pass holder and friend for the season for $50 total. Golf Capital Improvement Fee Clubhouse Capital Improvement Fee For Tournaments-$150 per 9 holes/day $150.00 $150 per 9 holes/Day for All Tournaments Proposed by Golf Board on 8/6/19 Exludes League Play and only intended if per 9 holes exclusively reserved. Museum of Rexburg Admission School Groups (K-12)/per person $0.50 Museum of Rexburg Admission Ages 3-18 (Under 3 free)$1.000 3/2/2017 $2.00 Change to Ages 4-17 (Under 4 free) Museum of Rexburg Admission Groups of 10 or more $1.000 3/2/2017 $2.00 Museum of Rexburg Admission Additional Admission Cost with Traveling Exhibits $3.00 Reg Adm+Trav Exh Adm=Total Adm Museum of Rexburg Admission Age 19 and Older $2.000 3/2/2017 $4.00 Age 18 and Older P & Z Fee Final Plat Base Fee $100.000 $100.00 Covers first 2 reviews. 3rd Review would cause another charge of this fee. P & Z Fee Preliminary Plat Unit Fee Minimum $100.000 previous $100.00 Remove word Minimum P & Z Fee Short Plat Unit Base Fee $100.00 Covers first 2 reviews. 3rd Review would cause another charge of this fee. P & Z Application PUD- Minor Amendment Fee $250.00 Would be charged if plans are adjusted partway through process P & Z Fee Preliminary Plat Unit Fee (greater of)4/lot or 8/acre previous 15/lot or 30/acre Covers first 2 reviews. 3rd Review would cause another charge of this fee. $15/lot or $30/acre P & Z Fee Final Plat (greater of)15/lot or 30/acre previous 15/lot or 30/acre Covers first 2 reviews. 3rd Review would cause another charge of this fee. $15/lot or $30/acre P & Z Fee Short Plat Unit Fee (greater of)15/lot or 30/acre Covers first 2 reviews. 3rd Review would cause another charge of this fee. $15/lot or $30/acre 8 Police Parking Enforcement Dockless Personal Vehicle Storage- Impound Daily Fee $20.00 Police Fee Infractions- $100 Fine Plus Court Mandated Fees $100.00 Recreation Rental Skate Rental $2.00 Recreation Rental Ski Club Rental $3.00 Recreation Rental Kid's Cross Country Skis $4.00 Recreation Rental Adult Cross Country Skis $6.00 Recreation Rental Burley We! Ski Sled $8.00 Street Claw-back Fee Street Construction per Square Yard for Residential Subdivision $47.200 1/16/2019 $31.00 Based on the average of 4 bidders on LID 48 Street Claw-back Fee Street Construction per Square Yard for Business Subdivision $73.880 1/16/2019 $40.00 Based on the average of 4 bidders on LID 48 Street Claw-back Fee Curb & Gutter per linear foot including Infiltration System $55.750 1/16/2019 $54.00 Based on the average of 4 bidders on LID 48 Street Claw-back Fee Sidewalk per square yard $66.000 1/16/2019 $67.00 Based on the average of 4 bidders on LID 48 Water Fee Fire Hydrant Deposit for a small water meter $600.000 3/19/2014 $700.00 1" custom turbine meter put together by water department Water Fee Fire Hydrant Deposit for a large water meter $1600.000 3/19/2014 $1800.00 2" custom turbine meter put together by water department Finance Officer Nielson would like to set the public hearing for October 16, 2019. Some of the big fees are for the e-scooters. We would also like to increase the business registration fee to $30.00 per year instead of $25.00. That fee hasn’t changed for five years. Short term rentals would change so the owner doesn’t have to do a life safety inspection every year but the fee would go up to $100.00 per year. This would help pay for a service that goes out and identifies short term rentals in the community. There is about 200 short term rentals in Rexburg but only 21 have registered. The non-compliance of some is driving up the cost for the rest. City Clerk Lovejoy explained that some short-term rentals are seasonal so they rent on and off but this system would be a way to find those who are not being compliant. Council Member Flora asked if we have contacted these people on our own to inform them about this ordinance. Mayor Merrill said it’s too hard to catch up to all of them but the software program they are looking at would help. Council Member Flora asked for clarification on the fees. It would be $175.00 for the first time registration fee which would cover the inspection and then $100.00 annually which covers the registration fee and the cost of the software. Council Member Busby asked what happens if they refuse to register. Mayor Merrill said there are penalties that can be applied. Council Member Mann thinks it is important that they are all registered for emergency service purposes. We need to work harder to get everyone registered. Council Member Walker asked if this company goes out and contacts the people. Officer Nielson said the company provides a list for us and then we send the letters out. Council Member Flora is concerned about the huge jump in fees. Mayor Merrill commented that $100.00 is actually cheaper than most cities. He thinks we just set it too low to start with. City Clerk Lovejoy explained that they can’t go higher but they can go lower. We need to see what kind of a response we get. Finance Officer Nielson pointed out some changes in the Legacy Golf Course Fee to add a buddy pass. They want the casual golfer to use the course. If they buy a pass, they can bring one person with them as often as they want the whole season. For an extra $50.00 we will provide clubs for them the whole season. The Golf Board recommends a club house capital improvement fee for tournaments. Companies that want to rent eighteen holes for the day, could pay an additional $300.00 for exclusive use of those holes. Officer Nielson continued with the Museum of Rexburg. They want to add a .50 cent fee for school groups and raise the fee for ages 4 to 17 from $1.00 to $2.00. Groups of 10 or more would go up from $1.00 to $2.00 and they will add $3.00 to regular admission for special traveling exhibits. Age 19 and over would go from $2.00 to $4.00. 9 Officer Nielson explained that Planning and Zoning has had problems with people coming in with their plats incomplete so it ends up going through several reviews. They will now let people know that they get two reviews but any additional reviews will be charged the fee again. Council Member Flora asked about parking passes. Could residents buy a 4 year pass instead of coming in every two years? Officer Nielson will check with the Police Department. Council Member Smith moved to Set Public Hearing Date for Fee Changes on October 16, 2019; Council Member Busby seconded the motion; Mayor Merrill 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 A. Public Works: - Keith Davidson Bid Acceptance CHP (Combined Heat and Power) System for Rexburg Rapids Director Davidson presented the single bid from Mountain West Mechanical for $159,765 for the CHP (Combined Heat and Power) System for Rexburg Rapids. Director Davidson recommends awarding the bid to them. Council Member Flora moved to award the low bid of $159,765 to Mountain West Mechanical for the CHP (Combined Heat and Power) System for Rexburg Rapids; Council Member Walker seconded the motion; Mayor Merrill 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 Grader Bid Director Davidson explained that the grader bid didn’t get posted in the paper so the bid opening will be on Monday, September 30th and he will need to poll the council on that in order to get it awarded this fiscal year. The old grader will be surplused. Council Member Flora commented that the RFP (Request for Proposal) for the grader is 14 pages long and it’s interesting because there are very detailed specifications regarding the grader. It took a lot of work to do this. She appreciates Director Davidson for all his hard work. Fall Clean Up Dates – Director Davidson recommends setting the fall clean up dates for October 14th to November 11th. Council Member Smith moved to approve the Fall Clean Up Dates for October 14th to November 11th, 2019; Council Member Wolfe seconded the motion; Mayor Merrill asked for a vote: Those voting aye Those voting nay Council Member Flora None 10 Council Member Wolfe Council Member Busby Council Member Walker Council Member Mann Council President Smith The motion carried Mayor’s Report – Mayor Merrill reported that he has been meeting with Bradley Petersen with the county regarding flood plain issues. He wants to commend Bradley for all the work he has done. He has been meeting with FEMA and building a relationship with them, so now they are willing to work with us. He mentioned that government departments are reaching out to states and counties to learn more about their needs. There have been several ribbon cuttings lately; such as, John Adams, Carriage Cove and Eden Apts. Mayor Merrill thanked Council Member Mann and Cultural Arts Director Rawlins for Experience Rexburg. It was a great event. The football game went well. He also thanked Brett Sampson with BYU-I. Items for Consideration: Calendared Bills and Tabled Items: A. “LAND USE ACTION” – Bills Recommended/Approved in a Land Use Public Hearing Procedure (Recommend Suspension of the Rules): B. Second Reading: Those items which have been first read: 1. Ordinance No. 1218 Vacating Princeton Ct. Council Member Mann moved to second read Ordinance No. 1218 Vacating Princeton Ct; Council Member Busby seconded the motion; Mayor Merrill 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 C. Third Reading: Those items which have been second read: NONE Mayor’s Business: Consent Calendar: The consent calendar includes items which require formal City Council 11 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 September 4, 2019 meeting B. Approve the City of Rexburg Bills Council Member Smith moved to approve the Consent Calendar containing the minutes and city bills; Council Member Flora seconded the motion; Mayor Merrill 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 Executive Session – Idaho State Statute 74-206 (j) To consider labor contract matters authorized under section 74-206A (1)(a) and (b), Idaho Code, and Idaho State Statute 74-206 (a) To consider hiring a public officer, employee, staff member or individual agent, wherein the respective qualities of individuals are to be evaluated in order to fill a particular vacancy or need. This paragraph does not apply to filling a vacancy in an elective office or deliberations about staffing needs in general. Council Member Walker moved to go into Executive Session per Idaho State Statute 74-206 (j) To consider labor contract matters authorized under section 74-206A (1)(a) and (b), Idaho Code; and Idaho State Statute 74-206 (a) To consider hiring a public officer, employee, staff member or individual agent, wherein the respective qualities of individuals are to be evaluated in order to fill a particular vacancy or need. 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 Wolfe Council Member Busby Council Member Walker Council Member Mann Council President Smith The motion carried Executive Session started 7:47 Executive Session ended 8:49 Adjournment 8:49 P.M. APPROVED: ________________________________ Jerry Merrill, Mayor Attest: _______________________________ Mary Flanary