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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2002.11.06 CITY COUNCIL MINUTES MINUTES OF THE CITY COUNCIL November 06, 2002 7:30 P.M. STATE OF IDAHO, ) County of Madison ) SS. City of Rexburg ) Present were the following: Mayor: Mayor Bruce Sutherland Council Members: Glen Pond Shawn Larsen Marsha Bjornn Paul Pugmire Donna Benfield Nyle Fullmer P&Z Administrator: Kurt Hibbert City Clerk: Blair D. Kay PFC: John Millar City Attorney: Stephen Zollinger Pledge to the Flag Mayor Sutherland welcomed the Scouts to the meeting. Several Scouts introduced themselves to the City Council. Several Scout Troops and Scout Packs were represented. Some of the Troops mentioned were Troop 246, Pack 42, Troop 213, Troop 49, and Troop 217. The Mayor asked the Scouts if they had any questions about City government. Approval of Minutes Marsha made motion to approve the minutes for October 02, 2002 and October 16, 2002, The motion carried Shawn seconded the motion, all voted aye, none opposed. . Non Controversial Items Added to the Agenda Matt Cheney - 615 Chad Drive - Concerned with the sidewalk being removed in front of his thth property. The sidewalk was torn up between September 09 and 11. The site was left in a less than desirable condition. Matt left messages with an answering machine for the Street Department. He did not contact City Hall at that time. From early September to the current date he has not been able to use his driveway. Matt was concerned with the cost of replacing the sidewalk. He talked to Zollinger Construction about the issue. Although Matt was unaware of a notification letter sent to his address, Keith Davidson indicated to Matt that letters were sent to the residents concerning the LID for sidewalk replacement. Matt would like to do the work himself for less money. His complaint is that he is getting charged for something he did not request or approve. Mayor Sutherland - Indicated that the City of Rexburg did send out notification letters. 1 Stephen Zollinger - The City of Rexburg did verify that a letter was sent to the Cheney address. The letter was not returned to the City. The City did follow the necessary requirements thth for notification. Letters were sent out between May 20 and June 5, 2002. A notarized th affidavit of mailing was completed on the 5 of June. The letter was sent to the Cheney address. There has not been any other residents indicating that they did not receive notification for this Local Improvement District. The City of Rexburg did comply with the Law concerning notification. The cost of the replacement project will not be available until after the sidewalk is replaced. Out of a 150 notification letters, your neighborhood is the only location in the City that stated they did not receive notification. Matt Cheney - Concerned with a $150.00 to $200.00 bill for the initial work done by Zollinger Construction. He contended that he would have done the work if he would have been notified of the cost of the project. Zollingers would allow Matt to complete the project upon payment for the initial work for Matt’s sidewalk. Stephen Zollinger - The City of Rexburg did respond immediately when Matt contacted City Hall. Zollinger Construction was contacted within 15 minutes to install a road base in the Cheney driveway. The road base was installed that very day to allow use of the driveway. Discussion on the process of sending notices and making personal contacts when the construction begins at a resident’s home. The Cheneys discussed H & K Construction’s notification process last year. Their notification process notified an adult at the location before construction was started. Stephen Zollinger - Reviewed the problems of managing contractors and sub-contractors. Neighbors of the Cheneys complained that their mailbox was hit and turned sideways. They did not receive notification from the Contractor. There are three homes in the area that are still torn up. The Stewarts are the third family. Keith Davidson - The Stewarts asked the City of Rexburg to have Zollinger Construction replace their sidewalk. The Stewarts are not part of the Local Improvement District. They made the request to have Zollinger Construction work on their project. The Stewarts do not have a problem with the construction site at their home. Stephen Zollinger - The City Staff has met with Zollinger Construction to discuss the delays that have occurred over the summer. They indicated that their sub-contractor abandoned the project over a contract dispute. It has been a problem finding a replacement sub- contractor to complete the project. Matt Cheney - Commented on his desire to complete the project himself. Matt indicated that he does not feel that he should pay the $150 to $200 for work in process. Due to timing issues and lack of notification, he is requesting mitigation from the Council. Marsha Bjornn - The situation is neither the fault of the City or the Cheneys. Shawn Larsen - Reviewed his concerns with a lack of communication between the Street Department and the Cheneys. A contact made to any City Employee is a contact made to 2 the City. Shawn indicated that the City should work out something with the Cheneys. Nyle Fullmer - Reviewed the number of residents that did not receive notification. Two residents on Chad Avenue indicated that they did not receive notification. Discussion on the time the sidewalk replacement began. Matt indicated that it was started thth between September 9 and September 11. Nyle Fullmer - Reviewed issues of LID notification compliance and the construction delays caused by Zollinger Construction and sub-contractors. Nyle indicated that Zollinger Construction is responsible for the delays in completing the LID Contract. Mayor Sutherland - Reviewed the options available for the Cheneys. The Mayor asked Matt how he wants to proceed. Matt would prefer to have the job done as soon as possible. He is concerned about the upfront cost of the project. Mayor Sutherland - Indicated that the Cheneys and their neighbor would receive new mailboxes. Nyle Fullmer - Indicated that the City of Rexburg was not liable for the damage done to the mailboxes. Zollinger Construction was responsible for the damage. Marsha Bjornn - Requested that the City of Rexburg or Zollinger Construction decrease the LID cost for Cheneys by $200.00 for the delay in getting the sidewalk replaced. Discussion on the City of Rexburg treating other residents involved with LID sidewalk replacement delays in the same manner. There are other residents with the same issues. Marsha Bjornn - Commented on the problem of having resident’s yards being dug up for two months for this project. She indicated that she would not want her yard dug up for two months. Stephen Zollinger - Indicated that the City of Rexburg must operate within the parameters of the contract with Zollinger Construction. There are certain issues that are beyond the control of anyone. Stephen mentioned that Weststates Development (who is using a different ndth contractor) is into the 2 year with their contract. The project on 5 West has been under construction for three months. Marsha Bjornn - Indicated concerns with the procedures used by the City to enforce the timely completion of contracts for sidewalk replacements. Stephen Zollinger - Reviewed the problems that are inherent with construction contracts. Stephen indicated that “Contracts have problems”. The City has had 40 to 50 sidewalk replacements exposed during the summer for a period of time. Stephen gave instruction on the reasons to use the City’s Professional Staff to resolve contract issues. Mayor Sutherland - The City will respond to Matt’s request within a few days. Matt was agreeable to the City’s response. The Mayor asked the Eatons to call the Mayor’s office if they have any problems to resolve on their sidewalk replacement project. 3 New Business: Committee Reports : Mayor’s Business : Mayor Sutherland asked the Council Members to approve the new appointees to the Recreation Board. The list was read to the Council as follows: Recreation Board Committee - October 23, 2002 Jackie Bergener 356-4156 Mike Jensen 356-4218 Dan Moore 359-2522 JoAnn Reeve 356-8716/496-2112 Brad Smith 356-8919/356-8500 Lee Terry 356-0941 Dana Wade 356-7065 Heather Williams 359-2144 School District Appointee Nyle Fullmer moved to accept the Recreation Board members as proposed; Glen Pond seconded the motion, Discussion on the list and the procedure to be followed for the appointment of a Committee Chair person. The Chair will be selected by the body of the Committee. The motion carried All voted aye, none opposed. . Steve Burton - Student Mike Hill would like the Council to be aware of a Service Referral Note- book. This would be a resource for Citizens in need. Service requests from the community or other organizations for service projects that need to be done are put in the Service Referral Notebook. The Notebook is then made available to students, student groups, and church organizations who would like to do service projects. The information needed for the service project is the location, time, what is needed, and the duration of the project. Projects: John Millar - The Contract for the sidewalk replacement LID is behind schedule. The Christmas Lighting project on Main Street is about 50% complete for 2002 part of the project. Surface restoration is close behind the installation of conduit and other under ground facilities. Some of the holiday decorations have been installed. A week of record cold temperatures delayed the project. There was 18 inches of frost in some areas. Plans for a utility extension project on the West side of town is being planned to extend water and waste water in areas West of US Highway 20. A road project is being planned for next summer. Some sidewalk, curb, and gutter along Highway 33 is being scheduled for replacement. Testing was done on the geothermal well last week. The City of Rexburg hired a pump crew to come in and put a well pump in and test the well. The water quality is being th tested at this time. This well is on 7 South and is approximately 4,000 feet deep and the water is about 68 degrees. The volume test indicated about 600 gallons per minute flow 4 from the well. The well was cased as a geothermal well with the top 2,300 feet being cased. This prevents additional capacity from the well. If the well’s water tests indicate that it is a usable well, Engineering’s recommendation is to put a direct pump into the well and pump directly into the City water lines. This well would replace the Smith Park well that was taken off line with about the same amount of water for the City. The City would need to go somewhere else and drill a well that would provide a future main water supply for the City. This new well location could possibly be on the West Side of U.S. Highway 20. The chlorination system will be put online Wednesday. The bio-solids are being hauled out of town to a land application site. This is an annual process from the waste water treatment process. Mayor Sutherland - Thanked John for his efforts on the projects. Paul Pugmire - Inquired if the City has received Mag-Fluoride Applicator for street ice applications. Paul asked if the sand that is applied to the streets prevents the Mag- Fluoride from adhering to the pavement. John Millar - The sand application on the street helps keep the Mag Fluoride in place on the pavement. The State of Idaho mixes Mag-Fluoride with their sand application. John Millar - Rolling Hills Subdivision is getting curb and gutter today. The pavement should be applied in a couple of days. The process was slowed down with the cold weather. The contractor for this project is Zollinger Construction. They have a heater with 800 feet of hose that circulates warm water to thaw the ground out. They are using it to keep the concrete warm after they pour the curb and gutter. Shawn Larsen - Asked about the Gas Chlorine process. John Millar - The Waste Water Treatment Plant chlorinates all waste water before it is discharged into the river. The City of Rexburg has been using gaseous chlorine. The new equipment will make high strength Clorox out of rock salt. The cost per pound is about one third the cost of the old gaseous chlorine. The new equipment has about a three or four years payout. Mayor Sutherland - Gave appreciation for John’s efforts. John Millar - Discussed a proposed City of Rexburg working Ordinance to dis-allow any street excavation on new streets or roads for a period of 7 years. It would be unlawful for a utility company or the City of Rexburg to make an excavation into a newly constructed road for a period of 7 years. A written appeal to the City Council would be necessary justifying why they can not come up with another method to do the work. Council action would be required for approval of the request. Glen Pond moved that the City Council go into Executive Session, Nyle Fullmer seconded the The motion carried. motion, all voted aye, none opposed. Executive Session 5 Executive Session ended Tabernacle Rental Rates and Tabernacle Sound System Marsha Bjornn - Discussed the new rates for renting the Tabernacle. Marsha reviewed a requestors concerns with the new rates. Stephen Zollinger - Reviewed the new rate schedule for renting the Tabernacle building. A deposit for a $150.00 will be collected with a $100.00 being refunded after the event. $50.00 will be retained for janitorial services. Discussion on non-profit groups using the facility. Stephen Zollinger - Discussed a proposal to create a Concert Series every Friday and Saturday for the Holidays from November 29 to December 25. They would request that their fees would be waived. Paul Pugmire - The Tabernacle Board is requesting that the City of Rexburg support the fee structure for renting the Tabernacle. If fees are waived, the City of Rexburg will cover the fee with an internal budget transfer. Paul Pugmire - Indicated the he is in support of the Concert Series proposal. Glen Pond moved to have the City of Rexburg Co-sponsor the Community driven Concert Series, The motion carried Shawn Larsen seconded the motion, all voted aye, none opposed. . Donna Benfield - Reviewed the Festival of trees project with silent bidding. Approval of the Bills: Glen Pond moved to pay the bills, Shawn seconded the motion, all voted aye, none opposed. The motion carried. John Millar - The City of Rexburg has old Christmas Ornaments. He asked the City of Rexburg to donate them to neighboring Cities. The Council agreed to have John Millar handle the donation of the old Christmas lights from Rexburg to neighboring cities. Adjourned ___________________________________ Bruce Sutherland, Mayor _____________________________________ Blair D. Kay, City Clerk 6