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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2003.03.19 CITY COUNCIL MINUTES CITY COUNCIL MINUTES CITY OF REXBURG March 19, 2003 7:30 P.M. Pledge to the Flag 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. a.Minutes from the March 05, 2003 meeting b.Approve City of Rexburg bills Mayor Sutherland welcomed the scouts to the meeting. He asked the scouts to introduce themselves. Nyle Fullmer moved to approve the consent calendar; Paul Pugmire seconded the motion; The motion carried all voted aye, None opposed. . Mayor Sutherland excused Donna Benfield from the meeting. Non Controversial Items Added to the Agenda: Public Hearing: None scheduled New Business: Rexburg, Sugar City & Madison County Greenway Committee (Kurt Hibbert & DaNeil Jose) DaNiel Jose – Representing the County - Requested that the Council entertain a request to formulate a Greenway Committee for Sugar City, Madison County and the City of Rexburg. This Committee would be able to establish the Greenway Path in a formal proposal that would be incorporated into the Comprehensive Plan for the City. Mayor Sutherland – Reviewed the request to have a formal Greenway Committee with the Council. Discussion on the type of Committee that would be created to do the job. A formal Committee would have to abide by the open meeting requirements for a public meeting. There was some concern with the time a meeting would be held that would allow the public to attend. Mayor asked for a motion to set up a formal Committee (Board) with input from Kurt Hibbert and DaNiel Jose. Paul Pugmire talked about the Committee and the need to make the meetings accessible to the public. Pual Pugmire moved to instruct City Staff under the direction of the Mayor to work with the 1 County to formalize and construct a Greenway Committee as a standing Committee in the City of Rexburg with all of the formal requirements needed for a City Board; Nyle Fullmer seconded the motion; Discussion on the impact this Board would have on the Parks and Recreation Board. There seemed to be some lap over between these two The motion carried Committees. All voted aye, none opposed. . Mayor Sutherland – Recommended that Kurt, DaNiel, and the Mayor meet with the County to proceed with this request to create a Greenways Board as discussed. He recommended setting up some bylaws for the proposed Greenways Committee. Marsha Bjornn indicated her appreciation for their work on the proposal. Local Access Cable Channel – Cisco Productions – Richard Horner Richard requested to defer this item to a future meeting. Old Business: Urban Renewal Project Report – Rexburg Urban Renewal Agency – Glen Pond Glen Pond – Reviewed a report that was created to propose some options for the proposed revitalization of downtown Rexburg. Glen indicated that the City, County, and School District would have to work together to formalize a plan for the incremental funding of the project. The proposal includes eight downtown blocks of the City of Rexburg. The rdndstst project would be from 3 West to 2 East and 1 North to 1 South excluding the old Washington School property. Improvements to the storm drain system, downtown parking, and the alleys could be part of this proposal. This is an Urban Renewal Agency initiative for the enhancement of the downtown area. The initiative needs formal Council approval to move forward to a public hearing. Glen indicated that a public hearing would be required to seek funding for the infrastructure improvements. Paul Pugmire moved to instruct the Urban Renewal Agency to continue the process to establish an Urban Renewal District on the defined boundaries on the attachment as noted above; Shawn Larsen seconded the motion; Discussion on off street parking and the coordination that would be needed to complete the project. All voted aye. The motion carried. None opposed. Legislative report: Glen Pond - Reported on the information gathered from Ken Harwood who represents the Association of Idaho Cities with the Legislature. Glen indicated that two residents from the Impact Zone for the City of Rexburg testified to a Legislative House Committee on their opposition to the proposed annexation of their neighborhood into the City of Rexburg. Glen went over to the Legislature with Ken to give the legislature their views on the annexation proposal. Glen indicated that the intent of the meeting was to inform the Legislators of the facts of the proposed annexation. He feels that if the legislature doesn’t understand the City’s view, they might take the testimony given as fact. Glen does not want the Legislators to feel like the City of Rexburg is not sensitive to the resident’s needs that are part of the proposed annexation. Glen Pond – Reviewed the documents that were submitted to the House Committee by Paula C. Harris residing at 1125 Widdison Lane and Wes and Marlena Belnap residing at 1150 2 Widdison Lane. The documents seemed to indicate that those residents were representing 70 homeowners with 250 people in the County that were opposed to the annexation proposal. The documents also seemed to imply that all of those residents were opposed to the annexation proposal. If the testimony is correct, Glen would prefer to avoid annexations of properties that feel that they have been run over by the City. He recommended installing the City’s infrastructure in that area without annexation of the affected parcels. Discussion on the letters that were brought before the Legislature. The Legislature does not have the City’s information on the annexation proposal. The Mayor will meet with the Legislature’s House Committee on annexations next week to present the City’s information on the annexation proposal. Paula C. Harris presented her side of the story to the Council concerning the testimony given to the Legislative Committee. She was only representing herself in the letter. Discussion concerning the West Widdison Addition proposed annexation. Karl Edwards residing at 1156 Widdison Lane provided input to the Council indicating that they were in favor of the annexation with the concessions offered to the residents by the Council. There was discussion on the compromise offered by the City to the residents. Although it is a burden to an existing neighborhood, Karl felt that the City had made concessions to mitigate the cost of annexation. Karl talked about the open discussions that have been held with the residents and the City Council. He felt that the Council had made compromises that were adequate for the residents to accept in the current annexation proposal. Shawn Larsen – Reviewed the process for the current annexation proposal. He talked about the annexation proposal being a necessary part for proper planning of the Community’s growth. Although Shawn was concerned with what information the Legislature was receiving on the annexation proposal, he was more concerned with doing the right thing for the Community. Proper planning for the City’s growth necessitates the annexation of these properties according to Shawn. Paul Pugmire – Inquired of Paula if she would be willing to indicate in a letter to the Legislative House Committee that her letter did not represent the entire neighborhood. Paula indicated that she was unwilling to send further correspondence to the House Committee to clarify the matter. ’s Business: Mayor Miss Rexburg () – Miss Janelle ByingtonProposed to have a proclamation adopted by the City of Rexburg proclaiming the month of March, 2003 “Music in our Schools” month. Mayor Sutherland read the official proclamation. Music month is March in the schools. Nyle Fullmer moved to approve the Proclamation to have March, 2003 as the Official Month for “Music in our Schools” month; Paul Pugmire seconded the motion; All voted aye., The motion carried. none opposed. Mayor Sutherland declared that the Month of March, 2003 is the official month for “Music in our Schools”. 3 Mayor Sutherland – Indicated that Rick Hansen who has developed the Symphony Band and Strings programs in our Schools is one of the Governor’s nominees for the “Brightest Star” award this year in Boise. Update on Projects: th John Millar - Recommended that the spring yard cleanup to start Monday March 24. The cleanup would end the last Friday in May. Paul Pugmire move to have the City do yard th cleanup this Spring from March 24 to the last Friday in May; Nyle Fullmer seconded The motion carried. the motion; All voted aye, none opposed. John Millar – Reviewed the bid opening for the West side sewer and water project. John requested that the Council allow the work to begin Monday of next week. The project Schedule One is divided into two sections. was won by Zollinger Construction for Schedule Two $918,866.50. was won by DePatco for $41,365.08. Shawn Larsen moved to approve the low bidders on the respective schedules; Paul Pugmire The motion carried. seconded the motion; All voted aye, none opposed. John Millar – Reviewed a proposal that will change the front footage fees for the extension of water and sewer lines. The City of Rexburg is proposing to include the acreage for a parcel in the front foot formula. This will allow a fair method for the City to assign line extension costs to a project. Discussion on the reason for the proposed change. The proposed method would set a lot depth at 250 feet for the standard front footage fee with an additional charge of $1,000/Acre to be assessed for acreage beyond the 250 foot depth of the lot. The acreage cost would be set at $500 for water and $500 for sewer per acre. The present calculation does not equitably charge parcels of property with small front footage. Shawn Larsen moved to present the proposal in a public hearing; Nyle Fullmer seconded the The motion carried. motion; all voted aye, none opposed. John Millar – Reviewed the City’s effort to provide new street lighting and new fiber optics conduit for Main Street in the Downtown area. He reviewed the plan to have new signage for parking by permit in front of homes. John indicated that Staff is putting the Ordinance together in the next 30 days for this effort. Committee Reports: Marsha Bjornn – Reviewed the Historical Society Committee’s desire to present to the Council a presentation on Architectural themes for the City of Rexburg. They are looking at Architectural themes in other Cities. The Committee is looking for someone to be designated as the chairman of the Historical Society Committee. Tom Kennelly has asked to be replaced as the chairman of the Committee for personal reasons. The United Way Committee met their goals for the fund raising effort this year. The Parks and Recreation Committee will be meeting Thursday night of this week at 6 p.m. at the Middle School. Mayor Sutherland indicated that the Traffic Safety Committee is loosing the Chair, Trent Walker. A new Chair will need to be designated for that Committee. The Mayor indicated that Dr. Corey Rammell would like to be appointed to the Traffic Safety Committee. 4 Glen Pond moved to appoint Dr. Corey Rammell to the Traffic Safety Committee; Marsha The motion carried. Bjornn seconded the motion; All voted aye, none opposed. Discussion on the need to have the Traffic Safety Committee review the intersections in the City that are not controlled by a street light. The City of Rexburg is going to experience an increase in pedestrian traffic. Glen Pond – Indicated that there is a need to have a new member on the Urban Renewal Committee. Discussion on having Jon Weber serve on that committee. Nyle Fullmer moved to appoint Jon Weber to the Urban Renewal Committee; Marsha Bjornn The motion carried. seconded the motion. All voted aye, none opposed. ___________________________ Bruce Sutherland, Mayor _____________________________________ Blair D. Kay, City Clerk Adjourned 5