The URL can be used to link to this page

Home My WebLink AboutCITY COUNCIL MINUTES DECEMBER 17, 2004 ORM F EQUEST R RAVEL T CCS ITY OUNCIL PECIAL M EETING December 17, 2004 (12:00 p.m.) NLC Conference Report Mayor & Council Members: City Staff : Shawn Larsen — Mayor Val Christensen – Building Official Paul Pugmire Donna Benfield Kurt Hibbert — Planning & Zoning Dir Farrell Young Nyle Fullmer Richard Horner — Finance Officer Rex Erickson Irma Anderson Blair Kay — City Clerk John Millar — Public Works Dir Stephen Zollinger — City Attorney New Business: NLC Conference Report Mayor Larsen asked the Council Members to relate their experiences on the National League of City’s Conference during the first week in December. The Conference was held in Indianapolis, Indiana. The attendees were able to gather information on City Government that could be utilized in Rexburg. Council Member Erickson reviewed the Downtown Revitalization project in Rexburg. He was able to learn about Mixed Use development where retail businesses would share their space with Commercial Office space. There is a need to identify “Anchors” in the Community and build around those Anchors. In Rexburg, he mentioned the Court House, Library, Museum, and specialty stores as being those Anchors. He mentioned the need to focus on retail recruitment into the Downtown area. Traditionally, there is a 40 to 1 ratio of private funds to public funds invested on Downtown projects. Council Member Erickson related some statistics on a City with a population of about 17,000 residents. This City has a much larger police force than Rexburg’s Police force. He suggested that Rexburg may want to assign Police Officers to certain areas of the City under a Community Policing program. Mayor Larsen indicated that the City of Rexburg invests $15,000 per year to support the Madison Economic Development Organization (MEDCO). Council Member Benfield mentioned that MEDCO does not recruit retail business. If they come to Rexburg looking, then MEDCO helps them with their effort to establish a business in Rexburg. The Council discussed having an existing fee allocated from new construction to recruit businesses to the Downtown area. Mayor Larsen mentioned that Rexburg could use a Farmers Market. 1 Council Member Benfield mentioned that the Chamber of Commerce has a Board of 27 members. There are many Committees that work on events and projects in Rexburg. These Committees do the events as directed by the Chamber Board. The Council discussed the need to support the Chamber of Commerce in their efforts to establish and maintain events for the City of Rexburg. Council Member Benfield mentioned that there are events that have been tried for two or three years in Rexburg that were discontinued due to lack of interest and support by the public. If the event is successful, the Chamber puts effort into maintaining the event. Council Member Pugmire discussed the Policing of the City and the information he learned for other City’s at the Conference. One example is a City that divides the Community up into precincts. Police Officers are assigned to these precincts to get to know the residents in these precincts on a personal basis. They know everyone in the precinct. The Council discussed the possibility of having Internships to help with Community and Chamber events. There is a need to have an “Events Coordinator” in the Community to celebrate the Community assets. One example would be to hold a “Taste of History” event with a Dutch oven cook off to celebrate our pioneer heritage. They discussed encouraging feed back from the Community by conducting a survey and giving a $1.00 credit on a City bill for participating in the survey. Mayor Larsen concluded that it would be better to partner with the Chamber in planning and organizing City events instead of the City taking on that task. Council Member Benfield asked for suggestions on future events that could be successful in Rexburg. Council Member Fullmer mentioned that there is a definite need to articulate the message to the public in a manner that will encourage support for a specific event. He mentioned that possibility of having a war memorial in Rexburg. Another possibility would be the restoration of a theater building for the support of live theater in Rexburg. The theater could be used for symphony variety shows. He indicated that there is a lot of talent in Rexburg that could be put to good use in the “Arts”. Examples would include live theater, variety shows, and local art shows. Both Council Member Fullmer and Council Member Pugmire suggested that a portion of building permit fees could be allocated to the Arts in Rexburg. Child care could be provided to allow young families to participate in Community events. The Council discussed the need for a Special Events Coordinator in Rexburg. They will be gathering ideas from the public to see if this idea is viable. Council Member Fullmer discussed the possibility of having Mixed Use Zoning around the University. A Community Gift Card was mentioned as a way to help support events in Rexburg. The Gift Card would be similar to a credit card. Mixed Use development around the University was mentioned as a possibility. 2 Council Member Anderson commented on the need to have a Cultural Tour for Rexburg in the mix of events. Council Member Benfield referred to one City that had done a Wal-Mart Resolution to help with the impact that Wal-Mart creates in a Community. She discussed the need to have the City support education in Economic Development and help with welcoming new residents to Rexburg with a “Community Basket”. She mentioned that flowers are used in other City’s to enhance the beauty of their Cities. Council Member Benfield commented on the need to have a walk-able school program where school children can walk to school from their homes in a safe manner. She was encouraged by all of the information she gathered from the trip and she wanted to pass some the information off to City Committees to help enhance the beauty of Rexburg. Mayor Larsen commented on the recent meeting with the County Commissioners where they reiterated the County’s desire to be involved with the Animal Shelter in Rexburg. They are willing to pay for the enlargement of the facility at the County’s expense. The nd City will have a proposal on the Animal Shelter ready for the County by the 2 Council meeting in February, 2005. Council Member Anderson commented on her experience with a Cultural Tour that she took during the Convention. Indianapolis was divided into five Cultural Districts for funding. She mentioned that the “Arts” need to be visible to the Community and prevalent in the lives of the citizens. She identified (1) Parks, (2) Recreation, and (3) Cultural Events as possible areas to display “Art” in the Community. There is a need to have a stopping off point in the Community for Rest Rooms. She would like to see after school programs and classes after school for the “Arts”. Examples are the events like Summer Concerts in the Park, Art Shows in the Park, Story Telling in the Park, and Cook Offs in the Park. Council Member Anderson commented that the City Parks are under utilized. If managed correctly, the City Parks could be a source of revenue for the City. The Tabernacle is under utilized too. It needs to be a revenue generator with special events. The City needs to look at an Aging and Disability Resource Center in the future. The City Council should be involved in spear heading projects. In the past the Council has been visible in parades; however, the residents need to see the Council working on and spearheading service projects with City Employees. Mayor Larsen mentioned that the Eastern Idaho Special Services organization would like to have a Head Start Center in Rexburg. Council Member Young reminded the Council of the wonderful Tabernacle Orchestra that performs every Wednesday night at the Tabernacle. There is a Community Choir performance on Thanksgiving Day and an Orchestra Concert in the Park. 3 Mayor Larsen reviewed the projects and plans that are coming up for the City Staff and Council to take under consideration: 1)City Council Manual 2)Municipal Government Month for each City Department, Committees, Commissions, and Boards. 3)Youth mock City Council 4)University representative (Richard Smith) to attend monthly City Staff meetings 5)Test a “Zipper” pavement crushing machine for City Street Crew 6)Parking permits around the University (example in San Jose, California) 7)Decorative Lighting Standards for City Parks (Smith and Porter). 8)Neighborhood lighting projects on a City participation program 9)Green Belt Pathway Master Plan program around the City Parks using City Streets for access. 10)Bloom-master products 11)Bike lanes on City Streets 12)Signage for the Community to help visitors find their way around Rexburg and to the Downtown area. 13)Arts Initiative 14)Community Events Coordinator Adjournment ______________________________ Shawn Larsen, Mayor __________________________________ Blair D. Kay, City Clerk 4