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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2002.03.20 CITY COUNCIL MINUTES MINUTES OF THE CITY COUNCIL March 20, 2002 7:30 P.M. STATE OF IDAHO, ) County of Madison ) SS. City of Rexburg ) Present were the following: Mayor:Bruce Sutherland Council Members:Paul Pugmire Nyle Fullmer Donna Benfield Glen Pond Shawn Larsen City Clerk:Marilyn Wasden Finance Officer:Richard Horner PFC:John Millar City Attorney:Stephen Zollinger Pledge to the flag. Approval of Minutes Nyle made a motion to approve the minutes, seconded by Paul. All voted aye, none opposed. Mayor Sutherland introduced the scouts. He also introduced Garth Gunderson from the campus division of the Rexburg City Police. rd 3 Reading of Jaywalking Ordinance Mayor Sutherland read and explained the proposed ordinance. He opened this meeting to public discussion. Jake Niederer - Hamer, Idaho Jake would plead with the Council to vote No on this ordinance, he feels it is unnecessary, there are no reasons to merit this ordinance, costs of enforcing it should be considered by the Law Enforcement Officers. If Law Enforcement has time to enforce jaywalking he would assume there would be less drug problems. He speaks for the majority of the students at BYU-I, enforcement of the speed limit would be better enforced than this ordinance, if there were proper stop signs, lines of cars would not become a problem, how do you make cross walks visual in the winter. He would also ask the Council to take into consideration on their vote several items in the ordinance. He believes it is a step to enforce safety but not a necessary one. It would be a great disadvantage to those coming in from out of State not aware of it. He feels this specifically targets college 1 students and he feels this is discriminatory. If student awareness were more into it there would be more students here to oppose. He asks a No vote to this ordinance. Christy Sanburg - Royal Crest Apartments Christy is a student at BYU-I and this ordinance greatly effects those living in that area. She questioned where the cross walks would be and was told generally at intersections and Mayor Sutherland explained the corners where they would be, there would no mid-block cross walks. She feels that asking the students to go to the corner is adding a block every time they choose to go to campus, they are still going to cross there and requests a cross-walk be added in this mid- block area. Patrick Craven - BYU-I student Patrick is a student at BYU-I. He believes that the majority of the students at the school until the last couple of days did not know this was an issue or would have been here. They are not permanent citizens of Rexburg but are here now, if the populace was properly represented at least 80% would not agree with this ordinance. If the street is not busy he wants to walk across campus and officers will just sit and wait for students to cross. He does not agree with an ordinance such as this. Discussion concerning public roadway. Garth Gunderson, Rexburg Police Campus Division Garth did not want to get into the legislative process but will carry out whatever is decided. He has heard comments the last few days from clients and it will be difficult to get compliance but they will work through that. Breckenridge and Birch Plaza residents like to cut across but it is not a long ways out of the way to go to the corner and cross. The only major inconvenience will be to Royal Crest, Harris Hall and the Bunk House. Discussion of going back to the Traffic Safety Committee for review of having a cross walk mid- block. Discussion of the hours that Traffic Safety Committee has worked on this ordinance, how it would be designated in the winter, the use of flags, any motor vehicles running an occupied pedestrian cross walk will be ticketed. Paul thanked members of the Council for not suspending the rules and doing the three readings. He is concerned about the safety around town and there is a lot of cross traffic between the two county buildings on Main Street, it is his expectation that enforcement would be City wide and it is not targeted toward the campus. He believes it would be beneficial to look at putting a strd crosswalk near 1 West and 3 South, he feels this ordinance does deserve the support of the Council. Ken Hart - Salem Ave. He lives in the middle of the block, there are 8 houses, the street is narrow, the garbage truck can’t even go in and out without backing out and he hopes this would not apply to dead end 2 streets. He worked at the Smith Building on campus and there is a street curve, there is no cross walk and it is a dangerous intersection, and the students would have to walk an entire block to cross. Discussion of enforcement throughout the City, Stephen stated that unless there is a cross walk within 500 feet you can cross a street at your leisure. Doug Smith - 1757 W. 1600 North Doug does not live in the City but owns property in the City. He is cheering for the students and feels this is creating a nightmare for the City and all the citizens. He appreciates the fact there are people that have been hurt but he does not believe this is going to stop it and it will only create a nightmare. He recommends this ordinance not be approved. nd Discussion of jaywalking in other cities, Marsha drives down 2 South every morning and the road is a nightmare to get through, some students wait for cars, others amble slowly and you have to come to a dead stop, at night the students cannot be seen. On the west side of the stadium she agrees there should be a mid-way crossing and she feels it is a dangerous situation to have a free for all. Trent Walker of the Traffic Safety Committee was asked to share his view. He reported they were trying to make the streets safer, this has come up again and again, there is a serious safety problem for pedestrians and they are trying to make it safer for children as well as students to cross the streets. The grade school students go to corners to cross because they have been taught, this should not be different for college students. This is being done for the safety of pedestrians, he reviewed the new 4-way stops going in for safety. He feels that through training they will inform the public and it will make it a safer place. They are going to try to educate the public, there will be substantial warnings for a given time, with the increased students and traffic the problem will only get worse. Discussion of having articles in the Scroll each semester, the education of the public, education of pedestrians to use cross walks and education of drivers to stop at cross walks and pedestrians crossing at the Snow Building, the possibility of having a college student on the Traffic Safety Committee. Glen commented that every Sunday he will break the ordinance, some places there are no sidewalks and he feels he would not support the ordinance. Discussion of the dead end streets and the 500 foot cross walk rule. th Paul would like to send this to the 14 order which would allow for amendments without killing rd the bill. Discussion of it taking the 3 reading to get some interest. Nyle made a motion to table this ordinance until the Council meeting on April 3, inviting anyone, especially Jake Niederer to meet with the Traffic Safety Board on the last Tuesday of the month at City Hall at 5:30 p.m. Motion was seconded by Paul, all voted aye, none opposed. 3 Public Hearing for Annexation and Zone Change for John Millar Mayor Sutherland opened the public hearing concerning the property at 786 So. 1500 West. There was no public comment. Discussion of location of property and zoning of neighboring properties. This property fits in with neighboring zoning and was approved by Planning & Zoning. There was one letter received in opposition. Glen made a motion to approve the recommendation of Planning & Zoning for annexation and zoning of property at 785 So. 1500 West to Medium Density Residential (MDR). Marsha seconded the motion, all voted aye, none opposed. Preliminary Plat Review - Eaglewood Enterprises thnd John explained this proposed subdivision which would be an extension of 7 South near 2 East, and described properties nearby and the plans for the property. Discussion of drainage problem and sidewalks. Marsha made a motion to accept the preliminary plat for Eaglewood Enterprises. Motion was seconded by Nyle, all voted aye, none opposed. INEEL Mayor Sutherland stated that Wendy Smear from Bechtel at INEEL was present. She has recently been made the point of contact from INEEL for the City of Rexburg. She distributed packets of information to each of the Council concerning the economic impact of INEEL on the State of Idaho. Another packet included a plan from the Department of Energy concerning waste and long term stewardship. Wendy also administers charitable contributions which she discussed. Sanitation Service - PSI Waste Systems Stoney Tucker discussed a waste removal alternative for the City. He reviewed other cities which they had taken over and was interested to see if the City was interested in having someone other than the City remove the waste. He discussed alternatives, containers, control, spring and fall cleanup, City employees, billing and PSI would do a plan in more detail, at no charge, if there is interest. Discussion of other cities using this service, Madison County, Jackson, Ashton, and Chubbuck being their largest contract. Paul made a motion to instruct City staff to work with PSI Waste Systems to develop an analysis of what the service could do for the City’s solid waste program. Motion was seconded by Nyle, all voted aye, none opposed. East Main Professional Overlay - East Main Neighborhood Coalition Mayor Sutherland commented that this matter has not gone to public hearing. Anyone here is welcome to comment on their neighborhood. 4 rd Don Sparhawk, 37 So. 3 East Don is presently serving as President of the newly formed East Main Neighborhood Coalition, which name has been changed to Association. The association wishes to introduce themselves to the Council and he appreciates the time. He wants to address issues which are pertinent to their nd area which is from 2 East to the hospital, Professional Plaza is in that area with Smith Park and generally it is a residential area. There are three blocks in this area, two blocks on the south and one block on the north. He feels this overlay will threaten the way of life of the neighborhood. They want to protect the historic value of this neighborhood, it is an attractive older part of town. He desires to protect Smith Park from being surrounded by professional offices, residential areas around the park makes sense. He would like to establish a close working relationship between the neighborhood and the City. When there is an issue concerning this portion of the City they would request being included in discussions and decisions of that area. rd Steve Oakey - 25 So. 3 East Steve is also on the Rexburg Vision Committee, he made himself known as far as his hesitant nature to demolish and destroy historic aspects of the community. He is a business person in the community and in trying to do business he comes up against obstacles. He promotes business growth but he is against haphazard plans. He believes this is a large issue, there are things coming from all sides, he feels there is a huge problem here, there are several entities going off in different directions and feels there is not a master plan. He wants to be a positive influence and that is why he is a volunteer but fails to see a master plan for things presented to this body. He discussed his knowledge of things going on in other communities. He is not in favor of the college having total control over this body, if Planning & Zoning did not have control the parking would not have taken place at the college. There needs to be a vision and a definite plan, designated areas and plans for the feeling that people want in this town. He is pleading for the body to enact some control. rd Helen Lamprecht - 55 N. 3 East Helen would like to address having better notification of public hearings. Mayor Sutherland explained the rules for publication. She is recommending notification in some manner so the people are better informed. st Preston Haley - 25 E. 1 South Preston wanted to discuss an item of conflict of interest and explained his concern. He is concerned about people on the Planning & Zoning Commission voting on items that concern them. He reviewed the minutes from the January 9, 2002, Planning & Zoning Commission and his concern with a conflict of interest between Doug Smith and John Watson. Discussion, rd Marsha Sparhawk - 37 So. 3 East Marsha transcribed the audio tapes of January 29 and February 27 Planning & Zoning meetings. She feels the minutes are not exact enough, it took her a long time but when they were transcribed 5 and gave to interested neighbors they were shocked at the difference in the actual tapes and the official minutes. She feels John Watson and Doug Smith have had an unfair opportunity and advantage to influence the Board, John is there every week and putting forth his ideas as to what he wants done. He can do this every week and no one else can, he is promoting over and over what he wants personally and will be advantageous to them financially. If this is not legally wrong then it is morally wrong and the City Council owes it to the citizens to straighten this out and it leaves the citizens with an unfair advantage. st Mary Haley - 275 E. 1 South She first became aware of public notice of meetings about 20 years ago. Her husband was involved in the high school and she makes it a habit to look at the public notices. She noticed a liquor license item and she and her husband were the only ones at that meeting, the ordinance did not pass. The citizens have a responsibility to know what is going on. Another time she noticed an article on Planning & Zoning concerning the neighborhood, she went around the neighborhood and made the neighbors aware. She could not be to the meeting but several of the neighbors showed up and made an opinion known. The discussion was tabled, the notice in the paper said it would be brought up at a later time. Since December she has not been vigilant and did not know there was more discussion. We need to be aware of the meetings, she believes the Council and Planning & Zoning can depend on their association to make their views known and it is the responsibility of the citizens to be heard. Gerald Larsen - Gerald wanted to know which County Commissioner is over the County Planning & Zoning. Discussion of county members on the Planning & Zoning Board which was explained by Mayor Sutherland. Discussion concerning the minutes being typed word for word and the decisions that are being made by Planning & Zoning and other committees. Mayor Sutherland reiterated the honesty of the hard working people on the City staff, on the Planning & Zoning Board and the City Council and there has never been a time when the Council or staff has tried to make secret decisions. Some decisions are not always right but the staff and boards do the best they can, and nothing has ever been done to avoid input. It is important to work together and receive input from citizens. Parks and Recreation Committee Shawn reviewed his feeling for a need to have a Parks and Recreation Committee and reviewed a plan he had received from another city. Discussion. Due to the hour, it was determined this be put on a future work meeting agenda. Update on Projects John stated they opened bids last week for furnishing equipment for the hypochloride system at the Wastewater plant. The bids were estimated at $60,000, only one came in at $60,244 from Chlor Tec. 6 Nyle made a motion to approve the bid of $60,244 for Chlor Tec. Motion was seconded by Shawn. All voted aye, none opposed. The aerial photographs of the City are currently 7 years old. An advertisement to bid went out today for new aerials, we will work with Madison County and Sugar City to keep the cost down. The photographs will be done in two flights, one with snow leaving and leaves coming, then a second flight later with a color photograph showing the green. Discussion of companies performing this service. The department is looking at serving some other areas with wastewaster. There may need to be another lift station on 2000 West approximately 1/4 mile north of 1000 South and a pressure line back into the system. The numbers are being finalized and it will be presented in the future. The addressing committee is still working on the addressing system, to get addressing correct. The system should all be determined next week. There was a meeting with the City of Rexburg, Madison County and Sugar City Planning & Zoning commissions to discuss impact areas. There will be a joint a public hearing on this matter. Madison County will lead the public hearing. There was an earlier meeting with Richard Smith concerning BYU-I on the housing study draft. There were numerous errors, there will be a correct draft which should be back on Friday or Monday. This matter will appear on the Council agenda for the first meeting in April. Committee Reports Shawn attended the Planning & Zoning training meeting in Pocatello. Several members attended, it was good training and very helpful. Shawn thanked Chairman Dyer for attending the training and this meeting tonight. Mayor’s Business Richard reported on the list of records for destruction and requested destruction of those records. Most of these items are through an annual housecleaning and they will be destroyed according to the time line set out. Mayor read the list of records listed for destruction. Glen made a motion to give Richard authorization for destruction of records listed as appropriate. Motion was seconded by Nyle. Voting as follows: Paul nayDonna aye MarshaayeGlenaye ShawnayeNyleaye Resolution No. 2002-02 Motion was recorded as Approval of Bills 7 Nyle moved to approve the bills, seconded by Shawn. All voted aye, none opposed. Personnel Manual The draft rewrite of the Personnel Handbook needs discussion. A meeting was set for Monday, March 25, 2002 at 6:30 a.m. at the City Council Chambers. Glen made a comment concerning the dispersions made about Planning & Zoning, those comments were not correct that were put toward them and he appreciates all of the different committees in the City and those members. There will always be a conflict, he is grateful for those willing to serve without pay. Discussion. Steve Oakey does not want to be associated with any of the negative comments that were made this evening. Mary Haley commented on the strong feelings, they are trying to show the Council they are concerned and the intent is good. Jim Long commented that the association is imperfect and that comes from people also that are imperfect. ________________________________________ Bruce Sutherland, Mayor _____________________________ Marilyn Wasden, City Clerk 8