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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2004.03.03 CITY COUNCIL MINUTES CITY OF REXBURG March 03, 2004 6:00 P.M. STATE OF IDAHO ) : ss. County of Madison ) Present were the following: Mayor: Mayor Shawn Larsen Council Members: Paul Pugmire Donna Benfield Nyle Fullmer Rex Erickson G. Farrell Young Garth R. Oakey Financial Officer Richard Horner- excused P&Z Administrator: Kurt Hibbert City Clerk: Blair D. Kay- excused PFC: John Millar City Attorney: Stephen Zollinger Portions of the meeting were recorded. Pledge to the Flag Council Member Pugmire moved to go into executive session concerning personnel issues. Council Member Fullmer seconded the motion. Those voting ayeThose voting nay Paul Pugmire None Donna Benfield Nyle Fullmer Rex Erickson G. Farrell Young Garth R. Oakey The motion to go into executive session carried. Executive session Executive session ended 1 Mayor Larsen reviewed the need to have a work meeting concerning Ordinance 911. He is hopeful that the City Council can receive more information that would be helpful in putting in the Ordinance. Mayor Larsen requested individual public input to be limited to approximately 3 minutes. Open discussion Stephen Zollinger reviewed the ordinance and its purpose. Stephen reviewed the reason for reinserting the owner into the equation. The owner or manager needs to be involved with the action for booting the vehicle. Kaylonnie Hall , Star Valley Wyoming – received a boot while returning her niece to Baronessa Apartments. She had a diagram showing where the signs are located in that complex. She understands the meaning for the signs and she would have had no problem paying for the booting; however, the signs were not clearly visible. She recommended looking at the State’s ordinances because they have had several of the same problems. She contacted the State and the sign people said that there should be a minimum of 6 inch lettering. The lettering on the signs stating “permit parking” were only 1 ½ inches tall. Council Member Erickson apologized for the inconvience. He asked if the manager or owner had been contacted, would their vehicle been towed. Kaylonnie indicated that she thinks that she would not have been booted if the manager or owner was notified. The Council commented that it is hard for the City to manage what happens on private property and that is why they want to get the owner involved with their property. Kaylonnie had some questions about some of the wording in the draft Ordinance. She was under the impression that this was an Ordinance already in place. The Council went over the wording in the draft Ordinance. Darren Helm , Rexburg Parking Security, has been in the business for about 5-6 years. He talked about the hassle of the owners having to be involved and that is why the owners are so willing to have the booters watch their parking lots. The Council reviewed the issue of needing larger signage. Darren’s signs say “permit parking only” in big lettering at the top of his sign. His signs are reflective. Darren had a situation with a car parking in front of two no parking signs. He booted the car and the person called the police. Four police officers came for a parking violation. He doesn’t think that is necessary for so many officers to show up on a booting call. Ron Larson , with the Rexburg Police Department, appreciates people coming to defend this proposed Ordinance. On a daily basis he has to deal with this type of parking problems. He talked about having numerous problems with these issues. There is a need 2 for the booting of cars; however there needs to be respect for what needs to be booted and what doesn’t need to be booted. Council Member Erickson asked Ron’s opinion concerning a time frame when the car is booted. Stuart Wells , student at BYU-Idaho, - has had experience with the booters. He agrees that there needs to be an Ordinance that helps the parking issue. Scott Johnson , Aspen Village, - would like to talk about this from a manager’s perspective. They have to protect their complex. The people living in the apartments have a right to park in the parking lot because they pay for their permits and they have paid for their apartments. The manager does not want to be out signing a document to boot a car and that is why they have booters to watch their parking lots. They just want to protect their tenants. There needs to be a fine line. Council Member Oakey asked if the owner would be willing to give up some of their big green space for more parking. Scott Johnson said that it would be a costly expense. Council Member Pugmire asked Scott Johnson what his recommendation would be to solve this problem. Scott Johnson requested a less restrictive Ordinance. He commented that it is more expensive to be towed than booted. Ben Hall , a student living with the Aspen Village, commented that he is looking for another place to live because booting has been a problem. A ticket could be better than booting. He suggested putting a cap on the booting charge. D.J. Barney , Barney towing, commented on a need to have a standard sign. The property owner should provide the signs. Having someone from the apartment complex meet with him before a car is booted is a burden on him and the Owners. He indicated that fees need to be more than $25.00 for towing. The student’s need to be more responsible that live in a complex with “permits parking only” and they need to warn someone who is coming to see them. D.J. commented that he does not tow cars unless the property owner calls for a tow. He may not be there right away if he is busy with another job. Bill Johnston , Pineview Apartments, has been involved with another City’s parking problem. He has had a booting company come in and watch his lot so he wouldn’t have to be out there all the time. He has a verbal agreement with the booting company set with his guidelines on what cars to boot and what cars not to boot. He has refunded some people’s money because he thought that they have been wronged. They have told their tenants through a flyer about the booting. 3 Matt Fisher , a student at BYU-Idaho, recommended that there should be a time limit placed on how long the car should be outside. It should be clearer to students what the law is concerning booting in private parking lots. Council Member Fullmer asked if there should be a time limit for no parking areas also. Lance McDonald , a student at BYU-Idaho, commented that this is not a big city and he thinks that it is too much to pay $40.00 to get a boot on their car. There should be something that says if there are other parking spaces available then there should be no booting. Philip Waters , a tenant of Main Street Station, indicated that he is opposed to booting all together. He doesn’t believe that there is a right to boot most of the cars. Who gave them the right to put the boot on their car? He commented that it is like vandalism to a car when someone has placed a boot on the tire. There is not enough parking to begin with in the parking lot. Kurtis Wood , with the Madison County Sheriff’s Department, - received a boot when he was not on duty. He commented that if the parking lot where he received a boot was properly signed, then he wouldn’t have a problem with the booting. The sign was posted on a City utility pole and that is illegal to have a sign on a utility pole. The booter would not identify himself and he did not know if he was licensed to boot because he would not show a license. Brian Hallie , with Elite Parking Service, - is opposed to having an owner agent give consent before they boot a car in their parking lot. He mentioned that he has already talked with the owners about the parking lot guidelines. Council Member Benfield appreciates everyone’s opinion and notices that there is a big problem. The council hopes to prepare an Ordinance that takes in some of the comments made and get it ready for the next reading. City Council 8:20p.m. Review Off-Premise sign requests (Applications denied)-Michael Watts (Outdoor American roadside advertising) Al Stephens represented this matter and commented that this application process began in September of last year. The applicant believes that there have been several excuses why the applications were set back until the first of the year. The applicant was told that the staff was in the process of working on a new sign ordinance and that was why it was set back. The County does not permit billboards in their Sign Ordinance but this application is in the City limits. The applicant would like permission from the City Council for billboard signs that were denied by the City Staff. They showed a map of the areas on the overhead screen. 4 Stephen Zollinger reviewed the applications and the reason they were denied by the City Staff. Kurt Hibbert talked about the process for sign applications. These applications did move through the process, and the applicant understood that these applications were reviewed under the old Sign Ordinance. Council Member Oakey asked if the Staff had received all of the required information for the applications. He asked if the applications were complete. Stephen Zollinger talked about sending a letter concerning these applications. The letter indicated the deficiencies in the applications. Council Member Young moved to table the matter because of the confusion; Council The motion carried. Member Oakey seconded the motion; all voted aye, none opposed. Preliminary Plat for Teton Professional Park- Trejo Street Schiess & Associates (Bagley Enterprises) John Bagley reviewed the proposed Professional Park on the overhead projector. John mentioned that they are trying to make these buildings look nice. Council Member Pugmire moved to approve the plat under the recommendation of the Planning and Zoning Commission; Council Member Erickson seconded the motion; all The motion carried. voted aye, none opposed. Rexburg Business Park Preliminary Plat for Phase II John Millar reviewed the preliminary plat on the overhead projector. They changed the lots to be bigger lots. When the first phase of the original plat was approved, it was approved without sidewalks. Part of the Business Park is zoned light industrial and it is intended to stay that way. Council Member Erickson moved to approve the seconded phase for the Rexburg Business Park Preliminary Plat. Council Member Fullmer seconded the motion. All voted aye except Council Member Benfield and Council Member Pugmire. Council Pugmire discussed the need to have sidewalks on the plat as required by Ordinance. Council Member Young made a motion to revote on the Preliminary Plat proposal. Council Member Fullmer seconded the motion. All voted aye. none opposed. The motion carried. Council Member Young moved to deny the Business Park Plat Phase II until it complied with the sidewalk requirement in the Ordinance. Council Member Oakey The motion was withdrawn. seconded the motion. 5 Council Member Pugmire moved to approve the plat contingent upon changes to The Business Park Plat which would comply with the City Ordinances; Nyle Fullmer The motion carried. seconded the motion; all voted aye, none opposed. Camping in the Park- Jack Bowman Jack Bowman presented a new program, mainly for young families that allows camping thth in the City Parks on June 18-19. Right now Ordinance 564 section 3, allows people in the park from 7 a.m. until 11:30 p.m. Discussion on which City Park the camping for one night would be allowed. Jack commented that this program gives a chance for those who Council Member Pugmire do not camp very much to have a camping experience. Council Member Fullmer suggested needing to provide for it in the statue. suggested having a pre-registration to know how many people will attend. Jack commented that they would have to sign up at the regular scheduled recreation signups. The Council will have Association of Idaho Cities (AIC) meetings on that date so they would not be able to attend. They looked at the option of changing the date. The Council suggested getting a public gathering permit from the clerk’s office and for the proper approvals that it requires. Chris Huskinson- second reading of Ordinance 918- Implementing of a Knox Box or rapid entry system within the City of Rexburg Chris Huskinson The Council asked if there have been any complaints. commented that there was one; however, they didn’t have all of the information on the program; they wouldn’t even need to be included in the program because they did not have a sprinkler system for fire prevention or an alarm system that is connected to the Fire Department. Council Member Pugmire moved to approve Ordinance 918; Council Member Benfield seconded the motion; all voted aye, none opposed. The motion carried. 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 February18, 2004 meeting b.Approve City of Rexburg bills Council Member Young moved to approve the Consent Calendar; Council Member The motion carried. Pugmire seconded the motion; all voted aye, none opposed. Girl Scout Proclamation Mayor Larsen read the Girl Scout proclamation declaring the week of March 09, 2004 as Girl Scout Week. 6 Council Member Pugmire moved to approve the proclamation as read. Council Member Benfield seconded the motion; all voted aye, none opposed. The motion carried. Travel Policy for City Officials Council Member Pugmire recommended changing the wording and adding additional clarification to the Procedures and Rules section A. Council Member Young moved to approve the Resolution according to changes made. The Council Member Pugmire seconded the motion, all voted aye, none opposed. motion carried. Tree Ordinance Council Member Erickson This Ordinance is prepared to apply for a Tree City U.S.A. suggested that the Ordinance be put on the agenda for a first reading next time. Planned Residential Development Ordinance 917 Kurt Hibbert reviewed the Ordinance 917. He went over all of the suggestions for changes that were put into the document. The Planning and Zoning Commission requested that this Ordinance go before the City Council for approval. Discussion on the new Ordinance’s wording. Council Member Pugmire moved to approve the first reading of Ordinance 917; The Council Member Erickson seconded the motion; all voted aye. None opposed. motion carried. Update on Projects John Millar reviewed the condition of the waterslide at Porter Park. The repairs would cost about $2,000. Mayor Larsen suggested moving forward and making those repairs. The Council members were in agreement with that suggestion. ndnd The traffic light is up on N. 2 E. and will be synchronized with the other lights on 2 East. The design is complete on the water and wastewater SCADA system. John Millar talked about painting the water tower; he went to a conference and learned about painting water towers. They will be preparing bid opening documents for that work. The City will be painting the inside and outside of the water tower. Snow removal is going good. 7 Discussion on Rexburg’s new slogan that will be used for the City. Council Member Pugmire suggested having the 1% Public Art Ordinance put on the next agenda. Committee Reports Discussion on putting the “Idaho Heritage City” sign up for the City. There are two signs and it was decided to be put them on the south exit and middle exit for Rexburg. Discussion on funding to bring Tom Hudson in for work with the Downtown Vision Committee. Council Member Benfield talked about the Smithsonian display and she would like to involve community more. She reviewed the comments from the Traffic Safety nd Committee’s meeting concerning South 2 East and Barney Dairy Road. Council Member’s Pugmire and Benfield met with the Police Department for their evaluations. They reported that these evaluations are going well. Mayor’s Business Mayor Larsen handed out a copy of Quick Wins and the Council went over the Quick Mayor’s Youth Advisory Board Wins. The is going to take lead on Rexburg Pride thnd Days. There are four separate days for this event. These days are April 30, May 22, thst June 19, and July 31. They talked about having a youth dance at the end of the clean up project. The Council discussed some good ideas for the clean up days. Citizens Advisory Academy Discussion on . The Council would like more ideas and input concerning that process. Personnel Oversight team The met and prepared the requirements for the grant writer position and the permit technician. These new positions are being put out for bid. Discussion on scheduling another meeting for the Ordinance 911 (booting cars in parking lots). It was suggested to review the ideas mentioned in the meeting and come up with a revised Ordinance before bring it forward for a second reading. Discussion on if booting is legal. 8