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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2006.03.01 CITY COUNCIL MINUTES ORM F EQUEST R RAVEL T CCM ITY OUNCIL INUTES March 01, 2006 Mayor & Council Members: City Staff : Shawn Larsen — Mayor Stephen Zollinger — City Attorney Donna Benfield – Council President Richard Horner – Finance Officer Farrell Young Christopher Mann John Millar — Public Works Dir Rex Erickson Randy Schwendiman Val Christensen – Building Official Bart Stevens Kurt Hibbert — Planning & Zoning Dir Blair Kay — City Clerk 7:00 P.M. – Pledge to the Flag Roll Call of Council Members: All members present. Consent Calendar: The consent calendar includes items which require formal City Council action, however they are typically routine or not of great controversy. Individual City 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. nd A. Minutes from February 22, 2006 meeting B. Approve the City of Rexburg Bills Council Member Young moved to approve the consent calendar. Council Member Benfield seconded the motion. All voted aye, none opposed. The motion carried. Public Comment: on issues not scheduled on the agenda (limit 3 minutes) 1. Nancy Rier, BYU-I asked permission to use the skate park for a skate competition on April 22 for middle school students against marijuana abuse. She handed out a written proposal. The competition will be held from 10 am to 3 p.m. No admission will be charged, Sled Shed will be sponsoring the competition. Mayor Larsen said this has been allowed in the past. Council Member Stevens asked if there was any liability. City Attorney Zollinger said they were covered under City’s insurance policy because the City is a co-sponsor. City Council felt it was a good idea to allow this event. Mayor Larsen addressed the graffiti problem and felt it would be a good service project to help remove it. Mayor Larsen also addressed the tables being moved because there are no benches over there to skate on. He suggested finishing the skate park and adding anchored benches. BYU-I students said they would be happy to do this as a service project. Council Member Erickson felt it would also be a good idea to ask the kids to help clean up the trash and leave the park better than they found it. Council Member Young moved to give them permission to use skate park from 9 am to 4 p.m. on April 22. Council Member Stevens seconded the motion. All voted aye, none opposed. The Motion carried. Brandon Keyser, representing Dr. Alldredge as an intern, wants to start a free dental clinic in the area. He has completed a full business plan. A committee has been formed including a board of directors willing to volunteer. They are looking to find a location in Rexburg. Mr. Keyser wants a building provided by the City. All other funding will come from private sources. 1 Mayor Larsen asked if it would have to be a dental office all the time. He would like it to be like the Medical clinic. Mr. Keyser said they already had the resources to form a dental clinic. Council Member Mann asked if they had talked with District Seven. Mr. Keyser said he had been talking with Brooke Passey who has discussed it with the County. He hasn’t gotten back with them yet, but he felt like it would be a good idea. Council Member Schwendiman asked who qualifies for the services. Mr. Keyser said it would probably be based on poverty, (i.e. no insurance). Council Member Young said he has had it explained to him and his initial questions were 1) Will it be permanent? 2) Will there be someone to run it? It is very well thought out and they have everything they need except a location. Council Member Schwendiman doesn’t ever want to subsidize this free dental clinic. Mr. Keyser said that dentists are taking non paying patients currently. This would allow those dentists a place to send those non paying patients. Part of the idea of their clinic will be to encourage non-paying patients to get to a point where they can pay, and then send them to a local dentist. Council Member Young could not think of any location to hold the free dental clinic. Mayor Larsen said that there is an agency in Idaho Falls that services this area. They are developing a Head Start Center. They provide services to individuals who cannot afford it. They may be a good partnership. It is a Community Action Partnership that covers a nine county area, with Russ Spain as the contact. He felt there should be some kind of partnership with the medical and dental clinic. Council Member Schwendiman indicated the medical clinic is waiting to get a $100,000 grant. Council Member Young said they have talked to dentists and the dentists feel like this is a good thing collectively and that it would not be taking money out of their pockets. Mr. Keyser said they are working with the dentists and will discuss everything with them before they implement anything. Mayor Larsen said they would let Mr. Keyser know if anything becomes available. The Mayor recognized Scout Troop 46. They are working on the Citizenship in Community merit badge. thnd 2. Matt Nelson wanted to know if the street fund deficit was the cause of 7 south between 2 nd west and 2 east (lines). Public Works Director Millar said it is not a budget item. It was seal coated last fall and the coating didn’t work. It will be redone when weather allows. Yellow stripping will be removed. Presentations: - NONE Committee Liaison Assignments for 2006: A. Council Member Chris Mann: Parks & Recreation · Museum Committee; The Museum committee met last week. They are working on an inventory of all items in the Museum. Council Member Mann met with Chris Fox and Lewis Hermits and received a lot of good insight on the Museum. Mayor Larsen said the cost of stone work had been reviewed and it is pricey. They discussed some stone sitting on a lot in the City. The owners are selling the stone. Council Member Young thought the owners were going to bury the stone. Mayor Larsen said ½ of stone was sold for $50,000. Council Member Young asked who owned it. Mayor Larsen said Rudd’s owned the stone. 2 B. Council Member Donna Benfield: Beautification Committee ·Police Department update; She handed out a new deck of cards featuring the Rexburg Police Force. They have all new video cameras installed in the patrol cars (10). The remaining cars will receive cameras in next year’s budget. Mayor Larsen recognized the presence of the Rexburg Police Chief. C. Council Member Rex Erickson: Airport Board · Planning & Zoning; Neither committee had met since last week. D. Council Member Randy Schwendiman: Golf Board · Traffic & Safety · Emergency Services Board; The Golf board met and entertained a proposal from a company that would like to put in an 18 hole putting green. He felt like it was a great proposal. They haven’t contacted Public Works Director Millar yet. Emergency services met last night. University is starting a program to train EMT’s and firefighters and they will be making interns available to the City at a nominal cost. The University will provide all the gear. A formal proposal will be coming down the road to the City Council. Emergency Services is doing a great job on a thin budget. Mayor Larsen said the University support has been discussed for years. It could help that department with staffing needs. It would benefit both parties. Proposal from the University: 1) 6 paramedic students; 2 assigned to each of the 3 shifts. Same 6 students for the full year 2) Students will be basic EMT and fire essentials trained, which will meet the departments minimum requirements. 3) Students will receive a scholarship from BYU-Idaho for each semester that they work, 4) The University may allow our fire department a few slots for training on campus and allow them to attend night courses at the University for certification. 5) The college will provide shirts, pagers, and firefighting gear. Students will provide their own pants. They would like to have this in practice by the Fall. F. Council Member Farrell Young: Tabernacle Committee · Rexburg Arts Council; The Tabernacle Committee meets again next week. The Tabernacle podium is missing and the Committee wants to know where it went. People are being sent out to investigative. Council Member Erickson thought it was taken to the Flight Museum at the Airport because he saw a nice podium out at the Airport. He suggested checking that out to see if that is the missing podium. Council Member Stevens asked how much stone was needed for the Tabernacle project. Council Member Young said it was for the sign and ramp. Council Member Stevens said it might be a good idea to figure out how much stone is needed and ask about a donation for Rudd’s. City Attorney Zollinger said it was an estate issue. He said there was some stone on pallets behind Ray’s Chevron but he doesn’t know who owns it. Mayor Larsen said they have asked for a proposal and they are going to submit one. There may be some other alternatives rather than that particular stone. Council Member Young asked about the church stone from the University and City Attorney Zollinger said they paid to dispose it. Council Member Bart Stevens: G. Trails of Madison County · IBC Committee; Trails of Madison County will meet tomorrow at 5:00 p.m. The IBC Committee hasn’t met since the last meeting. Mayor Larsen:ent on a tour of the City to look at new H. Mayor’s Youth Advisory Board: The group w projects. They asked about a new high school. The Mayor explained the difference between the jurisdiction of the City and that of the School Board. Report on Projects: Public Works Director Millar There was a problem yesterday on ditch by the High School. The ditch flooded as a result of snow being piled in the ditch. The flooding affected twenty one homes. There was up to fifty inches of water in one basement. The water broke out windows in this home. Public Works Director Millar personally met with nineteen of the home owners. Procedures have been started with the City’s insurance company. The High School has also been notified to help. Home owners have contacted a restoration service to help with clean up. 3 The other issue that needs to be addressed is the bond election last year, which failed. Another alternative is a provision in the bonding code that allows a two year override bond with a 50% + one majority vote for approval. The City Council may want to evaluate this option. Public Works Director Millar’s recommendation is to evaluate exactly what resources are needed, how many roads need repairs, and how much money is needed. He visited with the County Clerk and they are th willing to put it on the election May 25. A City Council decision needs to be determined by mid April. Council Member Mann drove around with a resident and saw a lot of road damage. He wants to know why Millhollow Road has been pushed to the top of the list. Public Works Director Millar agreed there are worse roads; however, this one is at the top of the list because the road is so overgrown with vegetation which is a safety concern for the City. There is a church planned for that area which is another reason to repair the Millhollow Road. Council Member Erickson drove Millhollow Road too. He indicated the road from the High School to that section of road is in worse condition than the upper section of road. He asked the Mayor why the road is being fixed when the citizens aren’t demanding it. He felt the meeting is a little premature. The main road will be Shoshone, and Millhollow Road will become a rural lane. Two places that would have to be cut out where there have been repairs for sewer hookups. Public Works Director Millar said there are far worse roads in the City. Council Member Erickson indicated that Council Member Benfield’s road is in worse condition than that section of road. Millhollow Road has not been a safety concern. People understand it is a narrow road. He felt it is much calmer than the road to the north of it. Mayor Larsen indicated an LID would be initiated for some of the work on Millhollow Road. The City Council needs to decide how to proceed and give John a policy direction. It is important to be consistent. Council Member Schwendiman indicated Millhollow Road is worse to the north because the curb and gutter forces water down the road. Mayor Larsen indicated the City Ordinance regulating sidewalks may need to be changed. Council Member Young asked if the ordinance requiring sidewalks covers every street or just new construction. New construction or change of ownership on a property requires sidewalk construction. City Attorney Zollinger said this requirement has been ignored. Eight years ago it was reaffirmed. Mayor Larsen mentioned Rural Residential zoning doesn’t require curb and gutter; just sidewalks. If nothing is done on Millhollow Road, we are requiring the Community to do things that we are not addressing in that area of the City. Council Member Stevens felt there needed to be a variance for the width of Millhollow Road because of width issues of the proposed road improvements. Mayor Larsen said neighbors just want the issue resolved. The neighborhood meeting tomorrow night concerning Millhollow Road is a time for the City Council and City Staff to just listen to the neighbors. Public Works Director Millar mentioned a sixty foot right-of-way for Millhollow Road. There would have to be a lot of landscaping removed to widen the street to sixty feet. Council Member Erickson said Millhollow Road would never be in compliance. There is no way to widen the road that much without getting too close to homes. We will have to allow some variance of the City Ordinance. It is not a matter of being in compliance. Even if the neighborhood has given the go ahead to tear it up and redo it; Millhollow Road will not be in compliance with the City Ordinance. Mayor Larsen said it can be resolved so a future City Council will not put the road at the neighbor’s doorstep. 4 Council Member Erickson indicated the City Council can’t hold a new City Council’s feet to the wall. They can do what they like with the street. He has talked to ½ dozen people on that street who don’t want anything done with that street. He feels that the money can be better spent somewhere else where it is needed. Mayor Larsen indicated the street would be discussed at tomorrow’s meeting. Council Member Stevens said George Marriot, who toured the wastewater treatment facility, was very impressed with it and the presentation given by Public Works Director Millar. Mayor Larsen asked if the City Council was interested in a proposal to have a two year levy increase election, or if there is a list of repairs needed with a budget amount. Council Member Erickson asked how much we would go for in the levy. Mayor Larsen said we should form and Adcock Committee and figure out one or two projects and what they would cost over a two-year cycle. The levy couldn’t be higher than the dollar amount proposed last year. Council Member Erickson said people he talked to said the amount and time length of the bond was the issue. If the City would have gone for half the amount, it would have passed. Maybe if the City does the levy, it might be better as a one time thing; maybe even $1.5 million. Mayor Larsen mentioned the State Statute allows a levy for two years. The difference would be the two years and the percentage is 50% plus one. Council Member Erickson believes we should not go for the same thing in a different way when the residents have already let the City Council know how they feel about it. Council Member Benfield would like to see the list of current priorities, scheduled for street repairs and what month the work would be done. nd Public Works Director Millar presented a list of projects and priorities to the City Council. 2 th West and 7 South were two projects that would take the whole budget. Public Works Director Millar referenced a $465,000 budget for heavy street maintenance in 2006. Council Member Schwendiman said it would be too early to go for a tax increase. He would like to show what we’ve done with the money. He can’t support a tax increase until he feels like the priorities are right. The City Council discussed the priority list put together by Public Works Director Millar and where the money was coming from in the budget. Council Member Schwendiman asked if there was any other grant money available? Public Works Director Millar said he didn’t know of any additional funding. There is about $450,000 available for street reconstruction, and other funds are available for specific projects. Council Member Erickson mentioned there was $600,000 annually for streets. Public Works Director Millar said it was more like $500,000. The 2006 Budget is $545,000 for streets. It has been 10 years since a major project was done for crack sealing. Rolling Hills has been touched up every three to four years. Council Member Erickson said if it’s not sealed then the street doesn’t last. Public Works Director Millar said it’s been crack sealed but not seal coated for at least 10 years. This is a budget issue. We do make a concerted effort to crack seal the streets. Council Member Benfield said with the levy for the City has a cap. How much can the levy be raised. Mayor Larsen said there is no cap with the two-year override levy. The levy could be raised to .4 permanently with a 60% vote. A two-year over ride with a 50% plus one vote can be raised with a specific amount; or an increase over .4 takes a two thirds vote, which is what we went for last year. The City Council can decide the amount base on the projects (a, b, and c projects). The two year over ride levy would have to have a specific outline of projects. A temporary committee should 5 be formed to decide what the highest priorities are for street maintenance projects. If we ask for $950,000 it won’t pass, but a sunset bond of $750,000 over the next two years with specific provisions may have a better chance. Council Member Benfield indicated the City Council needs to address the issue with some options; one solution would be to shift budget money form other budget areas to show the urgency. Mayor Larsen agreed that we need to make sure budget money is being spent correctly. If a two year override election were held for a temporary levy increase, there are two dates available for the election; the fourth Tuesday of May and the general election in November. Council Member Schwendiman said the City Council is rushing into it. He wants to think about it and ask the general public what they think. He doesn’t think the public felt we prioritized our spending and doesn’t want to ask for more money before we prove we have prioritized the City’s spending. Council Member Mann mentioned if the City Council puts something on the ballot, the City Council needs to be committed to work for it. Council Member Schwendiman doesn’t think the homework was done (i.e. school bond and pool bond). We must have a definite plan before we try to sell something. If the City Council doesn’t even believe in it, how will they sell it? Mayor Larsen asked if it would be worth while to form a committee. What does the City Council feel we should do? Council Member Schwendiman felt roads have been ignored since the Teton Dam Flood. Other areas need to be trimmed before we ask for more money. He wants to wait a year before going to the public for money. Council Member Benfield thought maybe we should form a committee. Council Member Erickson said we are getting ready to form the budget for 2007. Let’s wait and see where we can trim the budget. We need to figure out if there is any extra money to divert. Council Member Schwendiman isn’t opposed to forming a committee. He just feels there must be a consensus. The school bond was a disaster because there was no plan on how the money would be spent. Mayor Larsen asked about forming a committee of both professionals who understand roads as well as citizens. Council Member Stevens agreed as long as it’s formed as a discovery committee and not with the intent of increasing taxes. He doesn’t want forming the committee to look like we are going to increase taxes. He feels it’s too close to the last election. Maybe Public Works Director Millar is the one who can give us the information we need without a new committee. We already know how much it will cost. Council Member Young feels the committee needs to be charged with coming up with how to make the road repairs happen, not finding out costs. Council Member Schwendiman felt that the sidewalks, curbs and gutters are causing the street problems because of the water constantly flowing down it. Council Member Benfield suggested having Council Member Stevens on that committee because he knows a lot about construction and roads, in addition to Public Works Director Millar. 6 Council Member Erickson feels each precinct should have equal representation, not just precinct sixteen. The Westside of town should have an equal vote on which projects take priority. Public Hearings: - None New Business: A.Business Registration BILL 958 Presentation by City Attorney Zollinger covering the business registration issues: 1. The City needs a method to track residential business uses; (duplexes, 4plexes, and apartments). There needs to be categorizing of duplexes that have two separate families for registration purposes. 2. The City needs to have a Compliance Officer do a walk through of businesses to check for violations such as storage rooms turned into apartments, exits blocked by shelving etc. Fire Departments in other Cities are utilized for this compliance review. We can’t do that now but we do have the Compliance Officer. A couple of hours each day could be available to walk through businesses checking for fire extinguishers, windows nailed shut, etc. If she found something out of place, she would notify inspectors to do a courtesy check up to make sure they aren’t out of compliance. There would be an annual walk through of businesses in Rexburg. This would be less antagonistic, if we were doing a friendly visit on a regular basis; instead of a technician with a badge. The City Staff hopes to establish an annual registration fee schedule starting at a small fee of about $5.00 per unit. Larger units would be driven by square footage to cover inspection costs. They will establish a method of inventorying of what exists at the beginning of each year, such as storage, parking stalls, etc. Routine complaints have been received concerning these issues. The City has not kept accurate records of these compliance issues. Registration would allow us to create an inventory to erase deficiencies. There are some new owners of complexes which should have a one to one ratio; now they have eighty students more than they have parking spots. This will allow the City the ability to coordinate with the University on housing issues. Council Member Young asked if there is a business license ordinance. City Attorney Zollinger indicated there is an ordinance that regulates retail services with the exception of doctors, lawyers, and dentists (professional service exemptions). An ordinance would include an annual renewal of the Business Registration Certificate, occurring in January and compliance would be at any time in the 12-month period. Council Member Young wanted it to apply to everyone with no exemptions. Businesses aren’t sure if they have to pay the fee or not under the current procedures. City Attorney Zollinger said licensing makes people think the City is endorsing that business. Business registration will allow business (exchanging any service or good) transactions to legally occur in Rexburg. Mayor Larsen said the issue is compliance. How do we make sure businesses are complying? Council Member Schwendiman asked if there would be smaller complexes included in it. City Attorney Zollinger said this ordinance requires anyone making a profit to obtain a license. Council Member Schwendiman asked if businesses are ever shut down for non-compliance. City Attorney Zollinger said yes, last week there was one who went to court and was shut down. Council Member Schwendiman asked about starting the business review in non-compliance areas; (i.e. one to one parking per student issue). City Attorney Zollinger said there was a line drawn in 1985. The Compliance Officer will determine the end of the lease term. Violators after the lease term will be charged criminally. The lease term will end in April. We didn’t have access to numbers until the Compliance Officer started 7 going out and doing these counts. A BYU-I group has been conducting a study on parking. He is asking it to be put on the agenda to make a presentation. Owners are intentionally violating the allowed numbers. This will allow us to compare beds to parking stalls. Council Member Mann asked how it would work with BYU-I already doing an inspection. City Attorney Zollinger said BYU-I inspections will be dissolved. They felt the City should take over these inspections because the University cannot enforce laws. BYU-I will occasionally walk through to make sure complexes are approved for University housing. Council Member Mann asked if the City can afford this apartment review process. City Attorney Zollinger wants the program to pay for itself with registration fees. Mayor Larsen says the vision is to have the inspections go through the permitting system, which is an existing database. Council Member Stevens felt this would create too much paper work. Every inspection will require filing a report. He is concerned that the staff would be overwhelmed with the extra paperwork. City Attorney Zollinger said the Compliance Officer will enter her own data daily. City Attorney Zollinger met with City Clerk Blair Kay about licensing and Building Official Val Christensen about the time requirement needed. The City will try to coordinate with all departments to streamline this part of the business review process. Once it’s established and first walk through is done it will be a quick thing. Currently, the Compliance Officer spends five hours a day trying to get compliance and three hours are spent filing reports and meeting with other departments to discuss complaints. If we are falling behind, we can make that adjustment. We could hire interns with a day or two of training to do those inspections. Twenty inspections per week will be feasible in a month or two. It will be a friendly walk through, not an inspection. Council Member Schwendiman asked if it was an illegal inspection. City Attorney Zollinger said the Compliance Officer will make notes to herself about non- compliance and then go back to the fire inspector or the building inspector and verify what she found. The inspectors will then go follow up on it. He anticipates using interns if necessary. Inspection for 2007 may be waived at the discretion of the City. There will be a nine month window of opportunity to try it out. 2008 inspection will be required. Council Member Mann asked if it would apply to BYU-I. City Attorney Zollinger said it would be required wherever there is business conducted. Mayor Larsen commented that this would replace the business license fee. Council Member Schwendiman felt it was a good thing. City Attorney Zollinger would like to have the first reading by the next meeting. Council Member Mann wants it to be a friendly environment. He doesn’t want to be setting up roadblocks. City Attorney Zollinger’s goal is to set up a fee schedule that is at break even. Council Member Benfield asked if this was done in other cities. City Attorney Zollinger said it was done in other cities. One example is Moorhead Minnesota, which is a university town, does have this type of system. Council Member Stevens would like to give the City Council some idea of businesses that wouldn’t need to be inspected, such as home based businesses. 8 Mayor Larsen said the biggest challenge would be home-based businesses. It is important to do this, because we want to make sure those businesses are in compliance with zoning laws. City Attorney Zollinger said that is why we may need to slide through 2007 but by 2008 the Compliance Officer will have a handle on what it will take to get inspections done. Council Member Young said there should be maintenance on new businesses coming in and old businesses no longer there. City Attorney Zollinger indicated the Compliance Officer and City Clerk will work together to keep this record. Certified technicians inspections will also qualify as that year’s inspections. Mayor Larsen mentioned there were one hundred and thirty additional business licenses last year. It is a challenge to keep track of these businesses. B.Resolution 2006-04 for Fair Housing City Attorney Zollinger said a number of grants require ratification of a Fair Housing Resolution and a willingness of the City to comply with regulations. This is another concept that we endorse and embrace “fair housing.” Mayor Larsen: mentioned that this has been done in the past. Council Member Erickson moved to approve the resolution 2006-4/Fair Housing Resolution. Council Member Mann seconded the motion. All voted aye, none opposed. The motion carried. C.CHC Grant (Parks Recreation & Arts Director Bowman): Council Member Benfield would like to discuss it. All Chamber members were in favor but didn’t know that’s what they were going to do. She feels as a City Council we should know what we want to do. Council Member Erickson wants the City’s intent with the Westwood Theater defined. He doesn’t recall anyone besides BYU-I Idaho students who have used the theater. Mayor Larsen said there have been others besides BYU-I use the facility. Parks Recreation & Arts Director Bowman has rented it out for the same rates as the Tabernacle is rented to these groups. Council Member Erickson asked how much the Entertainment Expense Contract was for Ruby Gonzales. It was a City sponsored event. Mayor Larsen mentioned no money was budgeted for the theater after it was purchased. Money was drawn out of the budget to hold a fundraiser. City Attorney Zollinger reviewed the $1500 cost drawn against funds they already had in the theatre fund. The project did not go well. There is a committee that was created by the previous City Council to direct how the renovation should be conducted. Council Member Erickson still has questions about having both the Tabernacle and Westwood Theater. We won’t be using both facilities the same night. City Attorney Zollinger said the Westwood Theatre has made more money since we’ve owned it than the Tabernacle made all last year. Business hasn’t been solicited. Young groups have hosted concerts, and the “Hysterics” are using it as a home base. Council Member Erickson mentioned that we have created a place for University students, not the public at large. City Attorney Zollinger said the Warren Miller film was attended primarily by high school students. Council Member Erickson voted to buy the Westwood Theatre because it was a good real estate purchase, not so it could be a money pit. He feels there are better uses for it than to be used by the University students. 9 City Attorney Zollinger said Habitat for Humanity wasn’t a University function. It would not have been allowed on campus. Parks Recreation & Arts Director Bowman isn’t spending money on the Westwood Theatre right now. He understands that he will not be receiving any budget money from the City. The Tabernacle would not have been able to be used for either the Warren Miller festival or the Habitat for Humanity event. Council Member Stevens thought it couldn’t be used as a theater and show movies because of a non-competition agreement. This is false. Council Member Schwendiman would have only voted to buy it to knock it down and put in a parking lot. He feels it’s unnecessary to own both the Tabernacle and the movie theater too. He would rather spend money on the Tabernacle because it’s a historical building. There isn’t money to keep both buildings up. He felt the theater would become a money pit. Council Member Erickson felt it would cost the City some serious money down the road. He felt it would best be served as a City Center Park. The theater has no sentimental value. Council Member Benfield asked what the previous City Council had directed; She did not remember voting for a theater committee. City Attorney Zollinger suggests the City Council put an end to the parking lot question. It’s too small. Council Member Benfield said the decision wasn’t taken in the previous City Council. City Attorney Zollinger mentioned a vote was taken to have Parks, Recreation, & Arts Director Bowman work with his committee to make recommendations and manage it until it’s decided what to do with it. Parks Recreation & Arts Director Bowman has done that and is making more money than the Tabernacle has in two years. Mayor Larsen indicated the money Parks Recreation & Arts Director Bowman is using is the money made from that facility. Donations have also been made specifically to the theater. There are five construction management classes that are doing projects for free, soliciting their own donations for materials. These committees were authorized by the City Council. Council Member Erickson said he doesn’t remember authorizing that committee. City Attorney Zollinger indicated Val Johnson came and made a presentation. He wanted the theater turn over to him. The City Council decided to have Parks Recreation & Arts Director Bowman manage it until such time as the City Council had an opportunity to make some decisions. Council Member Benfield mentioned if we go any further without a decision by the City Council, and you accept money for a grant, the decision has already been made. Are we already down that road? If the City Council does not make a decision, a $450,000 grant is forfeited. Council Member Erickson indicated grants help create a contingent liability. Nothing is free. He doesn’t want to see that situation when we could turn it into a nice park, which would not be a liability. Mayor Larsen said there will be a park where old Coop building is currently located on East Main Street. The blueprint for downtown calls for businesses, not another parking lot. There are already three in that area. If you follow the blueprint for downtown, we need destinations, businesses (offices), people, and housing. Council Member Schwendiman feels the City can’t afford both buildings. Why aren’t we going for grants for the Tabernacle? If you start putting grant money into the theater then when do you pull the plug on it? Why is the City in the theater business when we don’t have money for streets? Council Member Mann thinks the question should be raised. He hasn’t heard of bringing back the Romance Theater. What are we looking at down the road? Programs for the young people? He thinks it could be a great program, but by promoting the theater are we taking money that could be better spent somewhere else? Council Member Benfield has been waiting for a presentation from someone as to what we want to do with the theater, its costs, and how much funding can be raised to cover the costs. Where 10 does the money go? Is this theater a priority? As a City Council we need to agree what our priorities are on this issue. Mayor Larsen asked if the City Council would like to have Parks Recreation & Arts Director Bowman make a presentation. City Attorney Zollinger said the committee was the Arts Council, not the Tabernacle Committee. Council Member Stevens asked if there was a way to get a break down of what it costs the City to maintain the theater building. Why are we asking for money for roads when we have money for a theater? He would like to see financials regarding this theater. The public has shown concern about things the City is buying and if they are, then there must be money for roads. He needs financial information so he can make a decision. Council Member Schwendiman said this is a daily conversation. He would like one really nice presentation to show everything that’s being done in both of them. He would like the Tabernacle Committee to come and present in addition to the theater presentation. Mayor Larsen wants to add to the agenda a presentation by both committees. Council Member Young wants to clarify a committee for the theater. He has never been asked to be a liaison for this type of committee. It sounds like an orphan. Council Member Schwendiman said it must be a self appointed committee. Council Member Young would like Parks Recreation & Arts Director Bowman to do the presentation. Mayor Larsen said it would be on next meeting’s agenda. Calendared Bills and Tabled Items: A. First Reading: Those items which are being introduced for first reading. - NONE B. Second Reading: Those items which have been first read. – NONE C. Third Reading: Those items which have been second read. - NONE D. Tabled Items: Those items which have been the subject of an affirmative vote to a motion to table: - NONE Old Business: Public Works Director Millar gave a presentation on the Legacy Flight Museum signage. Is the City Council willing to entertain a direction (sizeable sign) on City/County property? Council Member Erickson wanted to know if it was an East West sign. He wants to put it on the back of the t-box; that may mean taking out shrubbery. Public Works Director Millar said plans will be submitted. Council Member Schwendiman asked if it was in addition to the Teton Lakes sign. Council Member Erickson said that was a billboard. Mayor Larsen indicated billboards aren’t allowed in the City. County ordinance doesn’t allow them either. City Attorney Zollinger said it won’t be a billboard. He hasn’t seen the plans yet. It will advertise the museum and the golf course. Council Member Mann feels there needs to be more directional signs off Main Street for the Tabernacle, Museum, and things like that so people are aware of them. Council Member Young said directional signs have already been ordered. Public Works Director Millar said it’s a free standing sign, more like for a business. Council Member Mann would like there to be consistency in directional signage. The City Council felt they needed more detail. 11 Mayor’s Report: Calendar: th Joint City/County meeting on March 16. nd City Council meeting on March 22. th March 8 is Chamber meeting. Council Member Schwendiman asked to be excused from the Chamber meeting for a neighborhood meeting. Council Member Erickson also asked to be excused. Everyone else will attend. Adjournment at 9:53 pm. ____________________________ Shawn Larsen, Mayor _________________________ Blair D. Kay, City Clerk 12