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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2005.01.12 CITY COUNCIL MINUTES ORM F EQUEST R RAVEL T CCM ITY OUNCIL INUTES January 12, 2005 7:30 P.M. City Council 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 Irma Anderson Financial Officer Richard Horner P&Z Administrator: Kurt Hibbert City Clerk: Blair D. Kay PFC: John Millar City Attorney: Stephen Zollinger Pledge to the Flag Roll Call of Council Members: Council Member Anderson was absent. 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 January 05, 2005 meeting B. Approve the City of Rexburg Bills Council Member Pugmire moved to approve the Consent Calendar; Council Member The motion carried. Benfield seconded the motion; all voted aye, none opposed. Public Comment: on issues not scheduled on the agenda (limit 3 minutes) Sherrie Smith at 262 Cornell Avenue reported that day care children with behavioral disorders were playing in an area that was west of their business on Main Street. There was an adult with the children behind the theaters in a parking lot area. She was concerned with their safety because they were playing in a parking lot area. They were playing in between the cars and the construction area for Bingham Mechanical. Council Member Fullmer asked if it was public or private property. It was on private property near the office that was where Doctor Walker had his office. 1 Mayor Larsen indicated that the City’s Code Enforcement Officer would check into it. New Business: Buy domestic abandoned water well in the City A. – Council Member Young Council Member Young reviewed Darrell Neville’s offer to sell an old irrigation well to the City. Council Member Erickson reviewed the City Engineer’s recommendation. The risks to buy the well out weighs the benefits to own the well for the City. Mayor Larsen welcomed students from the high school current events class to the meeting. Parks and Recreation Committee recommendations for Porter Park B.– Staff Brad Smith at 262 Cornell Avenue reviewed a plan for a spray park in Porter Park. The presentation was done on the overhead screen. Rich Ballou at 536 Maple Drive commented on the past meeting where a swimming pool proposal was discussed for City recreation. He presented the video on the spray park to the Council. The Company they have contacted is Water Odyssey in Nampa, Idaho. The water would be controlled by computers and there would be a 2% slope to the concrete for drainage. The water operates when there is movement in the spray park by motion sensors. They showed the layout in Porter Park. It is the dollar store approach to solving the water recreation problem in Rexburg. They would like to start on this project this summer. There are hundreds of choices that are interchangeable to provide a final proposal. It would be a lot of fun for the children in the Community. Chris Moore at 645 Vale Lane (Vice Chair) of the Parks and Recreation Committee reviewed the feasibility of repairing the slide. The Committee recommended replacing the slide completely. The fiberglass slide can hurt people if the slide is not waxed once or twice during the sliding season. They are proposing a polyurethane slide which requires less maintenance and it is much slicker. They recommended removing the small pool at the bottom of the current slide because the new slide would have a water entry design that would require a longer water area with less standing water. The new slide would take 25 gallons per minute verses the old slide which takes 200 gallons per minute. A new slide would cost about $165,000 for a slide the same height as the current slide. The Committee would like to have a new speed slide and another slide similar to the existing slide. Chris reviewed the plan to have a recreational corner of the park to be a part of the Park with the slides and spray park. A new path is planned for the Park to allow the public to move around the Park from the Spray Park area. They would like to connect this Park to the Smith Park area by providing a foot traffic path that could go through the Downtown area. Brad Smith at 262 Cornell Avenue reviewed the lighting plans for the pathways in Smith and Porter Park. The carousel and horses needs repairs in Porter Park. There is water damage to the facility. There is not a bath house in Porter Park at this time. There is not a suitable rest room in the Park for the public. They would like to raise the current building and add a concession area with dressing rooms and restrooms in a new bath house building. A Spray Park would cost about $140,000. The old slide may have some salvage value. If two new slides are added, the cost would be about $165,000. Additional funding would be needed for the costs for landscaping and lighting. The renovation of the Carousel would be under $6,000. The Committee recommended a joint venture with public and private funds to complete the plan for the Porter Park revitalization Project. Nominal fees for the Carousel and slides would pay the Recreation Staff fees for the season. The project would not require fencing because there is not any standing water. 2 Council Member Erickson commended the Committee for doing a great job. He applauded their efforts. He asked Brad about the parking problems for the public. Brad Smith indicated that only 65 parking stalls would be gained by invasive parking in st Porter Park; however, two soccer fields would be lost. Street widening of 1 South would allow diagonal parking and provide additional parking. It is a gorgeous Park that is in need of some repair. Council Member Pugmire recommended getting the project done this year. There will be funding requirements to address by the Council. He proposed to review the budget to find some way to fund the project. Council Member Benfield agreed with the project and indicated that it was a great project. Council Member Benfield thought the design proposal looked great. Council Member Pugmire asked Brad where the proposal originated. Rich indicated that the Committee picked this proposal out of three options presented to them by Water Odyssey in Nampa, Idaho. Rich Ballou mentioned that the Standard Journal could get the public involved in the decision making process. Council Member Pugmire asked if the space between the Spray Park elements was normal compared to other Spray Parks. Rich did not have any information on the distance between the Spray Park elements. Council Member Benfield asked how the water would be used or drained. Rich mentioned that the water would have a recirculation process and the concrete would have a coating of material that would provide a non skid surface. Gerald Jeppson asked about the total cost of the project. The proposed overall project cost is $346,000. He asked if the Committee had looked at grant money. Brad reviewed some grant options and he indicated that the Spray Park would be the first component in a stepped approach to providing water recreation to the City residents. The Council discussed the possibility of vandalism in the Park. Mayor Larsen indicated that a Community Project would be less likely to be vandalized because the Community would have ownership of the project. Council Member Erickson reviewed the Gateway Spray Park in Salt Lake City that is used by adults and children. It is located in a shopping area. Mayor Larsen indicated that this is start for water recreation in the Community and the slides would be used by the older youth and some adults. Council Member Benfield mentioned that a slide facility in water is used by adults. Heather Pierce and some friends asked about a facility that could be used by young adults too. Council Member Pugmire indicated that there is a hope to have a swimming facility in the future for the Community. Heather’s group asked about swimming lessons for the kids. 3 Mayor Larsen indicated that the City would have to look into contracting other providers to provide a location for swimming lessons. Chris Moore indicated that it was going to be a fantastic project. Who is going to be responsible for the finances? He asked about the Impact Fees that should be available for a project like this one for Porter Park. The biggest concern from the Committee is the financing of the project. Mayor Larsen mentioned that it is a matter of priorities. This is a priority. Council Member Pugmire asked to keep the project on task and move it forward with a meeting with the Committee and the Council. Chris Moore indicated that the Committee would like to start a fund raiser in February. Brad Smith indicated that this is a reasonable project that could be funded this year through grants and fund raising activities. The Council discussed a joint meeting to discuss the project cost on Tuesday, February 01, 2005, at 7:00 p.m. C.Final Plat for River Woods Townhomes conversion to Condominiums (Trejo Street) Council Member Erickson reviewed the Planning and Zoning Commissions comments. The plat started out as apartments; however, they were built to the specifications of Town-homes. It meets all of the qualifications for a PRD including firewalls to separate the units. The Planning Commission recommended approval of a PRD. John Millar mentioned some drafting items needed to be corrected before the plat can be completed. The Council reviewed the Plat on the overhead screen and discussed the covered parking including common parking area. Council Member Fullmer moved to approve the final plat for the River Woods Townhomes; Council Member Erickson seconded the motion; all voted aye, none The motion carried. opposed. D.Final Plat for Parkside “C” Planned Residential Development for 25 Townhomes John Millar reviewed the Plat on the overhead screen. The original Plat was started 3 or 4 years ago. Council Member Erickson indicated that the Planning and Zoning Commission recommended approval of this project. This will complete the project for a Planned Residential Development. John mentioned that the development has a pocket park for drainage in the southwest corner of the Plat. Kurt Rowland from Schiess and Associates reviewed the area where the green space and pocket park will be located. Council Member Young reviewed the previous portion of the plat that was built earlier. Council Member Fullmer moved to approve theFinal Plat for Parkside “C” Planned Residential Development for 25 Townhomes; Council Member Benfield seconded the The motion carried. motion; all voted aye, none opposed. 4 Preliminary Plat South Fork Plaza E.– South of Taylor Chevrolet – Staff Kurt Rowland with Schiess and Associates representing Futures of Idaho reviewed the Plat on the overhead screen. Council Member Erickson indicated that the Planning Commission was concerned with the ingress and egress to the subdivision. The street (South Yellowstone Hwy) is now a City Street instead of a State Hwy. They would like to see a turning lane to come in and out of the subdivision. The Staff has been working on the turning lane issues. Snow storage and green space were reviewed and they were taken care of in the Planning and Zoning Commission meeting before the Commission approved the plat. Council Member Pugmire reviewed the two accesses into the Subdivision. Council Member Benfield asked if this project is being done in one phase or multiple phases. Kurt indicated that the pavement would be done this summer. The developer is building all of the buildings through this coming summer. Council Member Erickson asked about neighbors to the east asking for access to the South Hwy 191 from their property. Kurt Rowland indicated that at this time, the neighbors have not asked for access through the subdivision. Planning and Zoning approved the project contingent on the turning lane with engineering approval. Council Member Fullmer was concerned with the ingress egress issue. John indicated that a traffic study required a turning lane by widening the South Yellowstone Hwy. Council Member FullmerPreliminary Plat South Fork Plaza moved to approve the with staff approval; Council Member Erickson seconded the motion; all voted aye, none The motion carried. opposed. Preliminary Plat Pioneer Village – F.Adjacent to Mariah Avenue – Staff Kurt Rowland indicated that this plat is located east of World Gym with a road through the project that is dedicated to the City with landscaping and snow storage. The Council discussed the location of the building off Pioneer Road and the name of the street in front of the project as Pioneer Road instead of Porter Road. There are six buildings with 2500 square feet planned in the project including the strip mall. John Millar referred to items he discussed during the review. He asked to eliminate the access to Mariah. And change the access on to Pioneer Road. Kurt Rowland will change it for the final plat per John’s approval. Council Member Erickson reviewed lot 4 and the planned changes for the access onto Pioneer Road and Nauvoo Road. Council Member Fullmer Preliminary Plat for Pioneer Village; moved to approve the Council Member Pugmire seconded the motion; all voted aye, none opposed. The motion carried. Public Hearings: - None Calendared Bills and Tabled Items : A.First Reading : Those items which are being introduced for first reading. BILL 931 Title 39 Idaho Code – 1. Support Clean Indoor Air Act - Madison County Health Coalition 5 Mayor Larsen reviewed the previous discussion by the City Council to have the City Attorney reduce and simplify the original BILL to cover Bowling Alleys that were not included in the State Statute. Council Member Pugmire agreed with the text of the simplified version of BILL 931. Council Member Pugmire moved to first read BILL 931; Council Member Erickson Seconded the motion; Mayor Larsen called for a roll call vote: Those voting aye Those voting nay Paul Pugmire None Donna Benfield Farrell Young Nyle Fullmer Rex Erickson Irma Anderson The motion carried. B.Second Reading : Those items which have been first read. st 1.BILL No. 926 New Planning and Zoning Regulations (1 Read–November 17, 2004) Kurt Hibbert passed out an update of one section of the BILL to the Council. He is still working on the document (Commercial Zones) and he hopes to have it ready in the near future. Council Member Pugmire asked for time to review the new material. He asked to let it rest on the calendar. Council Member Pugmire requested a copy of the Zoning Map for review. Kurt Hibbert opened up a large map and showed it to the Council. Council Member Pugmire asked for a smaller map and the rest of the Ordinance SIC codes and Zones. Highway Business District (HBD) will be changed to add additional Zones for HBD. The plan is to allow a range of Zoning choices for Commercial areas and eliminate the current HBD Zone. Kurt mentioned the addition of a Commercial Zone for Regional Development as an option. Mayor Larsen asked Kurt when the Council could review the entire document. Kurt was hopeful to have a completed document ready for the Council’s February meetings. Council Member Pugmire thanked Kurt for his work on the project. Council Member Benfield asked Kurt if he could get new plats to Clair Boyle for Economic Development. Mayor Larsen asked Kurt if he attended the MEDCO Board meetings. Kurt indicated that he had not attended those meetings at this time. 6 st 2.BILL No. 911 Booting parked cars (1 Reading – December 03, 2003) Mayor Larsen reviewed the Bill and its first reading in December of 2003. Bill Johnston at 271 Randy Drive agrees with 99% of BILL. He was concerned with the portion of the BILL where the owner or manager would have to sign a document to authorize a car to be booted or towed. Other managers he has talked with about this issue did not want to sign the documents at night. It is his biggest concern. The University has tried to educate the students on the booting process and the concerns of owners and managers. Parking is only available to those who live at the complex. Bill asked to have a time frame (i.e. 11:30 p.m. to 7:00 a.m.) added to the BILL that would allow towing companies to boot without the signature requirement. Council Member Erickson asked which units Bill manages in the City. Bill indicated that he manages the Pineview Apartments. Council Member Erickson asked Bill if he needed to use booters in his complex. Bill mentioned that he did try to police it himself. The violators did not respect the parking policies of Pineview Apartments as they did not honor warning stickers. Booters were more successful. Bill has sat on the housing board and reviewed some examples of self policing and booting. His experience is that booting is better for his development. Council Member Young asked if he was happy with Provo’s Booting Ordinance. Bill Johnston indicated that Provo did not enforce the Manager’s signature as much as they did in the beginning of the Ordinance. Council Member Fullmer asked if the public had become educated to the requirements in Provo. Bill indicated that the education process has made it better in Provo. Council Member Pugmire asked Bill if he liked to have booting as an option. Council Member Pugmire expressed his opposition to the booting of vehicles. He is not satisfied with the absence of predatory booting penalties in BILL 911. Bill Johnston mentioned that there have been vehicles damaged by booting when the vehicle was driven with the boot on the car. He would rather not use any type of enforcement for his parking lot; however, it is a tool to keep parking violators off his lot. Council Member Erickson was in agreement with Council Member Pugmire’s comments and he indicated that the property owner should be in control of issues on private property. Bill Johnston did not want his managers to be out late at night. Mayor Larsen mentioned the history of BILL 911 and the many discussions in Council Meetings and in work meetings on the merits of booting cars and the need to have some control of booting. That is why BILL 911 was brought to the Table. Darin Helm is an owner of a towing company in Rexburg; He does not boot cars because of the problems with booting; he prefers towing cars to alleviate a lot of the problems. It has been better for his company to tow instead of boot. The time limit suggestion would be different in different lots. Each parking lot has a different set of problems. He tows if the parking violators do not obey the signs. Council Member Erickson reviewed Darin’s agreements with the apartment owners to tow parking violators. Property owners give them the direction to tow; however, 7 they do not have the managers sign every tow. He was opposed to having student residents calling for tows if there is a parking violator in the renter’s parking space. The whole complex gets mad at the towing company and the person who called the towing company. Daren explained that he charges ½ price if the vehicle is not in tow. He charges full price if the vehicle is in tow. This regulation (BILL 911) is extreme. Darin wanted to contract with apartment owners without having the manager sign for each tow. Ross Farmer, apartment owner, reviewed the problems without having the option of booting to control the parking lots. They tow for their tenants. Before towing, it was hard for the residents to park in their parking lot that they had paid for with their housing. His tenants are paying for a place to park and he does not understand the motivation to have this ordinance. Council Member Young asked if the Police have had to monitor fights over the booting issue. Corey Foster mentioned students would be booted when they were in a parking lot to help a resident of that housing development. He indicated that there are still booting issues in the Community. Council Member Benfield asked to have some booting statistics from the last quarter of school to see if there has been any change. Ross Farmer indicated that it works very very well. There is a lot of benefit to doing what the apartment owners are doing. Council Member Pugmire indicated that this issue came to the Council by unhappy people who were booted. He asked Ross if he sells parking permits and have assigned parking. Ross does not sell parking stalls beyond the parking availability. Some lots have different situations; there are problems. They would like to keep the system the way it is presently operating. Council Member Fullmer asked if the situation is getting better through the education of the public. Ross pays attention to this issue when he gets phone calls. This year he has not received any calls. Council Member Fullmer asked to get more information as requested by Council Member Benfield. Curtis Cheney owner of Elite Towing dropped this last semester to 4 boots and 3 calls from managers. Corey Foster commented that a lot of students where unhappy with payment methods. The students do not carry cash. The students were unhappy with the way they were being treated. It varied from case to case depending on how the student was being treated. Mayor Larsen asked for the Council’s preference on this booting issue. Council Member Young expressed his opposition to the BILL. Council Member Pugmire is still opposed to the wording of the BILL. It is not ready for passage. He requested to leave it on the calendar. 8 Council Member Benfield agreed with Council Member Pugmire. Mayor Larsen indicated that BILL 911 would be left on the Calendar. The Council discussed the merits of leaving the booting BILL 911 on the agenda in its present format or should it be re-written before any further discussion. Insurance, signage, etc. for the booters was discussed. Some booters operate their businesses out of the trunk of their car. The Council discussed the legislative process and the need to adopt administrative rules for conducting Council business where Council business would end when the term ends for the elected Council. The new Council would start with a new set of requests or BILLS for their legislative action. C.Third Reading : Those items which have been second read. D.Tabled Items : Those items which have been the subject of an affirmative vote to a motion to table: Resolution 2004-22 1.(Adoption of Vision 2020 Rexburg Comprehensive Plan Text – Tabled November 03, 2004) Parliamentary Procedures 2.for the City Council Old Business: - None City Council Report: A. G. Farrell Young - None B. Donna Benfield – waiting for the minutes from the Traffic Safety Committee and the Rexburg Beautification Committees before making any comments on their issues. C. Rex Erickson mentioned that the Planning and Zoning Commission set up a Sub- Committee to study Commercial Design Standards on buildings under 25,000 square feet. They asked the Council for direction or parameters for the Committee. Council Member Pugmire suggested having architectural elements included in the discussion. Kurt Hibbert mentioned that Zone specifications (i.e. corridor Regulations) were requested by the Planning and Zoning Commission. D. Paul Pugmire mentioned that the Golf Course is closed again for the season. The Police Department Party was a great party. E. Nyle Fullmer indicated that the Emergency Services meeting was postponed to February. F. Irma Anderson absent Mayor’s Report: Mayor Larsen introduced the Appointees to the Task Force and asked for a vote of Appoint Comprehensive Plan Task Force: approval. 1.City Council President Paul Pugmire 2.City Attorney Stephen Zollinger 3.Rexburg Citizen - Don Sparhawk 4.Planning and Zoning Commission - David Stein 5.Planning and Zoning Administrator – Kurt Hibbert Council Member Fullmer Comprehensive Plan Task Force; moved to approve the Council Member Erickson seconded the motion; all voted aye, none opposed. The motion carried. 9 Mayor Larsen gave out new committee assignments to the Council Members. He asked the Council to keep the Committee Member list and information current. He mentioned that the Public Works, Community Development, and Emergency Services Department reviews will be scheduled this year. Mayor Larsen asked the Council to consider a change in the function of the Parks and Recreation Department. He proposed to have a Parks, Recreation and Cultural Arts Department. He handed out a job description for a Parks, Recreation, and Cultural Arts Department Director. This position would be responsible for a Community Foundation. The recent Downtown Revitalization review would be included in this position’s responsibility. This position would be similar to a Downtown Manager with supervisory responsibility over the Parks Department and the Recreation Department. The Council discussed the merits of the new position and the availability of budget money to fund the position. The position would be budgeted in the upcoming budget for 2006. The Council discussed the role of the new Engineering Technician that will administer the engineering of Local Improvement Districts, (LID’s) and other Capital projects for the City. The Council discussed the need to prioritize budget items to fund the many Parks and Recreation Projects that are on the table. Mayor Larsen handed out a goals document for the City Departments that will be review with the City Employees tomorrow. Mayor Larsen Homeland mentioned that the City and County were approved for a Security Training Grant to take a team to Emmetsburg for Homeland Security Training. This training will benefit the Local Emergency Planning Committee (LEPC). Report on Projects: Council Member Erickson and Mayor Larsen mentioned that they had received good compliments on the snow removal process. Council Member Benfield asked the Council Members to support the Snowfest on the nd 22 of January at Smith Park. nd Mayor Larsen will give the State of the City address on the 02 of February, 2005. Adjournment ____________________________________ Shawn Larsen, Mayor ___________________________________ Blair D. Kay, City Clerk 10