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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2001.08.15 CITY COUNCIL MINUTES MINUTES OF THE CITY COUNCIL MEETING August 15, 2001 7:30 p.m. STATE OF IDAHO) County of Madison)SS City of Rexburg Present were the following: Council Members:Kay Beck, presiding Nyle Fullmer Paul Pugmire Marsha Bjornn Donna Benfield Finance Officer:Richard Horner P.F.C.John Millar City Attorney:Stephen Zollinger Excused:Mayor, Bruce Sutherland Glen Pond, Council President Marilyn Hansen, City Clerk Minutes:Janet Williamson Pledge to the flag. Introduction of Scouts. th Donna asked for the date of the band concert in the park (Sept. 15) to be put in the previous minutes. Nyle made a motion to approve the minutes with correction. Paul seconded the motion. All voted aye, none opposed. Donna reminded the Council that the City sponsored “Ice Cream Social” with the Sunbirds will be st Tuesday, August 21 , Smith Park Gazebo from 6-8:00 p.m. Everyone is invited. Final Plat Approval of Phase III of Hidden Valley Estates John Millar handed out the Final Plat for Phase III of Hidden Valley Estates. It includes 16 lots. It has been reviewed and approved by Planning & Zoning contingent on agency and departmental approval. Paul made a motion to approve the final plat of Phase III of Hidden Valley Estates contingent on departmental approval. Nyle seconded the motion. All voted aye, none opposed. Preliminary Plat Review for Phase IV of Hidden Valley Estates John handed the Council a copy of the preliminary plat for Phase IV of Hidden Valley Estates. It consists of 4 lots. Planning & Zoning has recommended that it be approved conditioned on departmental approval. Marsha moved that Phase IV be approved. Paul seconded the motion. All voted aye, none opposed. Jay Jenks Conditional Use Permit for Apartments Kay opened the meeting for public hearing on Conditional Use Permit for apartments on Barney rd Dairy Road and 3 East. Stephen read the Notice of Public Hearing. Kay opened the meeting to public comments. There being no one making comments, Kay closed the meeting for public comments and turned it back to the Council for discussion. It was explained that this is presently zoned for a 4-plex and they want to build a 6-plexes. The site plan as proposed for a 6 plex was approved by Planning & Zoning without any conditions. 1 Paul asked about the canal. They have adequate access east of where the canal crosses to put a road and they have access from Barney Dairy Road. (Plans were shown to the Council.) Because of some people arriving late, Kay opened the hearing to public comment again. rd Axell Nielson - 230 N. 3 East He is worried that 2/3's of this building will land lock his back yard. If he wanted to sell off part of that rear portion it would not be possible. John said there is no requirement that someone else provide access to your property. Stephen said that the legal answer to that would be that there is no access to your backyard now. Axell said there is an open field that they can go through. Stephen said that is only because they allow you to. The Garners have owned it and allowed that access but there is no requirement to do so. They could fence it at any time and restrict your access across their property. This public hearing tonight is not really to determine whether they can use their property or not, it is to determine the manner in which they can use it. Kay closed the public hearing and turned it over to the Council. Marsha made a motion to approve the plat for the Conditional Use Permit for the apartments on rd Barney Dairy Road and 3 East. Nyle seconded the motion. All voted aye, none opposed. nd 2 Reading of Ordinance 858 for Mayor Salary Increase nd 2 Reading of Ordinance 859 for Council Salary Increase Stephen read the Ordinances and Kay asked for public comment. Bill Miller, 1730 S. 1000 West Bill asked the justification for doubling the Mayor’s salary. Kay felt they did not need to explain that, on the other hand, he thinks the job is well worth it. They watch what the Mayor does and have seen how the Mayor’s job has expanded over the last few years and all of the Council feel that he is worth that much and the job is worth that much. Nyle said they believe he is putting in well over 40 day time hours a week. Marsha has watched past and present Mayors put in 8-12 hours a day. This is not a part time job. If we leave it where it is at, we are saying that only the wealthy or those people that are retired can run for office. She feels they would have to be pretty well off financially because no one could support themselves where we are now. If we want good people to run for office we can’t expect them to run for nothing. This is a full time job. It was asked if they had considered hiring a City Administrator. Marsha said you would be paying $60,000 or more like Post Falls. Kay said that Rexburg has tried that many years ago and it didn’t work out. Kay mentioned that even though he puts in a full time job they felt they should call it a 32 hour week because there are sometimes when he just has to be away. If we made it absolute full time you would eliminate those people that have their own business or worked for somebody else. Paul said the reason he voted for the salary increase for the Mayor and will do so again is because he wants the Mayor answerable to the voters directly. He opposes city manager forms of government. Paul said he was uncomfortable setting one’s own salary and legislative bodies, whether it is ours or a legislator of a United States Congress are the only places that he is aware of that this takes place. He feels that the position is worth appropriate compensation. What is appropriate compensation? When he made the motion for the council increase he took it off a chart they had of what was happening around the state. He took a number that was right in the middle of that and wanted to start a discussion. He would like to propose that they follow the model that has been set in the State of Idaho for establishing judicial salaries. The way they do it for judges in the state is they have a 2 Citizens Commission review the situation and make a recommendation to the State Legislature. He would like to suggest that they follow that model and instruct the Mayor to appoint a 5 member Citizens Commission to review the Council and the Mayor’s salaries, Ordinance 858 and 859, and th come back to the Council with their recommendation on September 5 and then the Council can rd amend these ordinances on the 3 reading if they choose to. Paul made a motion that they instruct the Mayor to appoint a 5 member Citizens Commission to th review Ordinance 858 and 859 and make a recommendation to the Council on Sept. 5. Nyle seconded the motion. Stephen explained the subject matter is before the Council as a result of the second reading of Ordinance 858 and 859 and the motion is valid. (Discussion - time pressures discussed) Kay would like to see the Council approve the appointments but there is not enough time. The idea is great but we are rushing it. Richard mentioned that if they are trying to distance themselves from this it would be better for the Commission not to be approved by the Council. rd Stephen said the Council’s options at the 3 reading would be to approve the ordinances as read, reducing it down, or taking no action. If the committee came back with increasing it he was not sure if they could do that; but, they probably could amend it in any way. Stephen said that this motion is not an amendment to the ordinance at this point. This is no different than in the legislative bodies - they will appoint Ad Hoc committees made up of professionals to gather information for them to assist them in making the ultimate decision relative to that particular statute. Paul amended the motion to read that they instruct the Mayor to appoint a 5 member Citizens Commission composed of citizens in the city limits: 1- a manager of a large business1- a manager of a smaller business 1- a human resource professional1- a stated opponent 1- someone ‘at large’ (no particular connection but a concerned, involved citizen) This is their desired direction within the ability of the mayor to find people willing to serve. Nyle seconded the motion. Voting Aye: Donna, Marsha, Nyle, Paul. Voting Nay: Kay. Kate Mori, an intern with District 7 Health Department gave a presentation on the importance of using seat belts. She would like the Council to be well informed and to support the use of seat belts. (Handout included). Amy Garner with the District 7 Health Department gave a presentation on teen pregnancy prevention. (Handout included). Richard handed the Council a copy of the proposed budget to review. He explained that since April the department heads have been reviewing the budget. Tonight the Council’s purpose is to approve the tentative budget and set the hearing date and the hearing date for any rate increases as well. The first page of his handout was an amendment to the current years budget. There are a couple of projects they have already approved but need to be officially inserted into the budget. They are the North Highway Project and the Airport Property Purchase. Paul moved they approve the amended budget for the North Highway Project and the Airport th Property Purchase and set the public hearing for these actions on September 5. Donna seconded the motion. All voted aye, none opposed. The second page of the handout is the notice of public hearing for the proposed budget for fiscal year stth 2002 which starts October 1, 2001 and ends September 30, 2002. This proposal is to have a th hearing at 8:00 p.m. on September 5. Paul moved they establish a public hearing for final consideration and tentative approval of the 2002 th budget on September 5. Nyle seconded the motion. All voted aye, none opposed. 3 The last item, in connection to the budget, is a wastewater rate fee increase that will need to be put into effect. The Council previously reviewed this. This fee increase has also been reviewed with Sugar City and Teton City. Paul made a motion they establish a public hearing for consideration of the wastewater fee increase th on September 5. Donna seconded the motion. All voted aye, none opposed. Project Update th HK started the seal coating project yesterday (August 14) ndnd Traffic signal on 2 North and 2 East is a State project. The mast arms on the east side of the road were too close to the power line and the power lines had to be raised again and they had to order some shorter pole extensions for the street lights. That signal should be operational next week. The Building Official position has been vacant since Joe Laird retired. John would recommend that Val Christensen be moved into that position so that he is the official City Building Official. Concurrently with that, it also left the City Engineer position open. There are times when just for official reasons that needs to be filled. If the Council’s intent was that he (John Millar) fill that role also, then note that as part of the record. John has been functioning in that role. Paul moved they approve Val Christensen as the Building Official for the City of Rexburg. Nyle seconded the motion. All aye, none opposed. Paul moved that John Millar serve as the official City Engineer when the occasion requires. Nyle seconded the motion. Marsha told John he is doing a great job. He has served the City well for a lot of years. His good stamp is everywhere and she appreciates how he is looking out for the City. All voted aye, none opposed. th John told the Council they were opening bids for the 2002 Street Project on Thursday, August 16. That includes about 2 blocks of streets being reconstructed and about 10 blocks will be over laid. The South Rexburg Arterial - The State’s procedure on selecting an engineer to do that work can be done in one of several ways: - the state maintains a list of approved engineering firms that can do state work and are preauthorized. If we elect to choose from that list we may choose a firm and negotiate a fee with that firm. - Select 3 firms and do interviews - Go from open proposals and select from firms on or off the list. John has looked over that list and he would recommend the firm of Keller & Associates out of Boise to do that work. Marsha moved that John initiate negotiations with Keller & Associates. Paul seconded the motion. All voted aye, none opposed. John said another issue is the project is scheduled for FY 2004. The Highway Department has said we are pushing the time line on that. They would rather we notify them that we are going to be late than keep saying we can do it and at the last minute not be able to come through and they end up losing those federal funds. He will report to the Council later on this. Marsha asked about the fire inspections on Targhee Pawn Shop. Chris Huskinson has notified Mr. Kunz of the corrections that need to be made in 30 days or he will be sited. Kay said they will be having the ground breaking for the new fire station in Archer tomorrow, August 4 th 16 at 7:00 p.m. and everyone is invited to be there. Nyle made a motion to pay the bills. Marsha seconded the motion. All voted aye, none opposed. Nyle made a motion to go into executive session. Marsha seconded the motion. All voted aye, none opposed. Reconvened. Nyle made a motion to adjourn, seconded by Paul. __________________________________________ Kay Beck, Presiding _____________________________________ Janet Williamson 5