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HomeMy WebLinkAboutCouncil Minutes - September 4, 20241 (208) 359-3020 35 North 1st East Rexburg, ID 83440 Rexburg.org | Engage.Rexburg.org City Council Minutes – September 4, 2024 Mayor Jerry Merrill Council Members: Bryanna Johnson Eric Erickson Robert Chambers David Reeser Colin Erickson Mikel Walker City Staff: Stephen Zollinger – City Attorney Matt Nielson – Finance Officer Keith Davidson – Public Works Director Alan Parkinson – Planning & Zoning Administrator Scott Johnson – Economic Development Director Deborah Lovejoy – City Clerk 6:30 P.M. (0:01:22) Council Member C. Erickson said the prayer. Council Member Reeser led the pledge. Roll Call of Council Members: Attending: Council Member Johnson, Council Member Chambers, Council C. Erickson, Council Member Reeser, Council President Walker and Mayor Merrill. Council Member E. Erickson did not attend the meeting. Welcome New Employees: Dalton Allen - Streets Department, Joseph Timmel - Water Department Mayor Merrill asked Dalton Allen and Joseph Timmel to introduce themselves. Dalton Allen said he was born and raised in Rexburg, Idaho. He enjoys being outdoors and spending time with family and friends. Currently, he is not married. He expressed his gratitude for the opportunity to work for the City of Rexburg. Joseph Timmel expressed his gratitude for the opportunity to work for the City of Rexburg. He said he used to work for the City of Smithfield in their Parks Department for several years. He mainly worked in the cemetery fixing sprinklers. Mr. Timmel said he grew up in a small town in Nevada and a year ago married his wife, Christina. They moved to Rexburg and had their first child, a little girl, about seven weeks ago. Presentation: FlashVote – Kevin Lyons – Zoom Presentation (0:07:04) Kevin Lyons said he is the co-founder of FlashVote and will be giving a presentation about FlashVote which is basically a way of getting true community input or a representative sample of what the whole community actually needs, desires and prefers. Mr. Lyons asked the Councilmembers to guess how often they think public input sentiment matches the whole community sentiment. He answered only 5% of public input sentiment is the same as public sentiment, 25% of public input sentiment is exaggerating public sentiment, and 70% of public input sentiment is the opposite of public sentiment. Mr. Lyons showed an example of a Harvard case study where grad students attended meetings and tracked everything everyone said in person and through an online survey. Then they completed a scientific survey using the FlashVote approach. They had regular people give input on hot topics. He said from all the meetings held, there were two out of five items that people were the most interested in. The two items were health and social services and a study/meeting event space. Mr. Lyons reviewed the meeting demographics in the case study slide. He said 81% of the people that attended the in-person meeting were 60 years or older, which is not a good representation of the whole community. They completed an online survey and received the same results even though the online survey had younger age demographics. 2 Mr. Lyons explained that they set up a scientific survey by inviting people to give input on whichever topic came up, so they had no idea there was going to be a topic about parks and recreation. Out of the five items that people were the most interested in, this time three out of the five items were flipped, and were reversed to what the other data had shown. They thought maybe the results were different than the online surveys because the demographics or age groups were different; however, they were not, they were almost identical. Mr. Lyons said there is this thing happening where people are self-selecting because of their interest in the topic and then sharing those interests with their friends. When someone knows what the topic is, they are attending the meeting because of the topic and certainly the reasons why the survey ends up at 5% of the public input sentiment. 3 Mr. Lyons explained the conclusion of the study is that traditional methods of community surveys are biased; therefore they created FlashVote which is a scientific option. FlashVote is a way to get statistically valid community input within 48 hours, it was designed to have community input between a meeting notice and the meeting itself. Public Comment: Items not on the agenda; limit 3 minutes; issues may be considered for discussion on a future agenda. Please keep comments on point and respectful. NONE Staff Reports: (0:29:50) A. Finance: - Matt Nielson 1. Discussion and update on findings for a new Police Station, review and discuss possibilities of a future joint municipal building with other entities, and next steps to take Finance Officer Nielson explained several years ago they started discussing the potential of a new joint public building, police station and possibly new city hall. At that time the Councilmembers directed the Finance Department to create a new fund to start setting aside money. The city has been setting aside $300,000 to $400,000 a year. There was also a study completed on the city’s impact fees, particularly for the Police Department. Since the study, all of the Police Impact Fees are also being set aside for the potential costs to build a new police station or to remodel the existing station. Finance Officer Nielson said by the end of Fiscal Year 2025 he is predicting that the city will have about two and a half million dollars saved up between the Police Impact fees and savings fund. The bulk of the 2.1 million dollars is coming from the General Fund Dollars that are being set aside in the savings fund. The money in the savings fund is being invested and they are seeing a good investment return on that money. Finance Officer Nielson explained at the City Council meeting when they discussed the Fiscal Year 2025 Budget, the Councilmembers decided to put in the budget $75,000 in the impact fee fund with the idea of using those funds to complete studies, hiring consultants, and other similar items as they move along through the process of potentially building a new police station. Finance Officer Nielson said he would give an update on the findings for a new Police Station. Several of the Councilmembers have been involved and recently went on a tour of the new Idaho Falls Police Station. The city has been fortunate to have great businesses like Headwaters and several others that have provided free of charge a cost analysis of a new Rexburg Police Station. Finance Officer Nielson reviewed the cost analysis. He said he is confident about the numbers shown in the analysis. He noted if the city were to construct a new police station, Headwaters recommended a site acreage of five and a 24,000 square foot building. Finance Officer Nielson mentioned he and Police Chief Rhodes discussed each of the spaces needed and tried to estimate the space needed now and for future growth overtime. He said he and Chief Rhodes understand there are some items in the cost analysis that could be deleted or reduced such as the square footage. Finance Officer Nielson explained if the city were to build a new police station the estimated cost is about 17 million dollars. The city would not need to borrow the entire 17 million dollars because of the amount of funds in savings. Council Member Chambers asked if the 17 million dollars includes property acquisition. Finance Officer Nielson replied, the purchase of property is not included in this estimate. 4 Finance Officer Nielson said one of the questions was how can the city afford to build a new police station since the city does not have enough funds in savings and it is going to take a while to save millions of dollars so he reached out to a finance contact the city has used before on different loans. The finance contact said there is the option of an annual appropriation lease. Finance Officer Nielson reviewed the analysis summary of an annual appropriation lease. Finance Officer Nielson explained one of the aspects of an annual appropriation lease is the city would own the land and a developer would build the building according to the specifications desired by the city. The city would then lease the building on an annual basis. The city Finance Department would appropriate the lease amount in the budget. He said if for some reason the city stopped the lease of the building, the developer could rent the building to a different entity. There is lower risk with an annual appropriation lease; however, the rates are slightly higher than other rates the city could acquire. Finance Officer Nielson said given the average annual debt service with the annual appropriation lease option, it is not feasible unless they decide to substantially reduce the footprint of the building. Finance Officer Nielson explained the other option he researched is a general obligation bond. A bond would require a supermajority vote which means about a 67% approval rate. The city would still need to put down a substantial amount of down payment. He recommended the city pursue a general obligation bond. He said if the Councilmembers direct city staff to pursue the bond option the next step 5 would be for city staff to submit Request for Qualifications (RFQ) for a contractor, designer, and or construction management company. Council President Walker asked how the City of Idaho Falls paid for their new police station. Finance Officer Nielson said the City of Idaho Falls paid for their police station through the annual appropriation lease. Council Member Reeser asked if the city decided to pursue a bond what would the tax increase be for the residents. Finance Officer Nielson replied, he has not completed that analysis yet. Council Member Chambers asked for a timeline from the point of hiring the consultants to actually getting the bond on the ballot. Finance Officer Nielson estimated the timeline for when the city would be ready to have the bond on the ballot would be in late 2025 or May of the following year. Council Member C. Erickson commented on the importance of informing the residents of the need for a new police station. There isn’t sufficient room in the current police station to continue to jam more officers into that small building. A new police station is also needed sooner than later. He said as city officials, they care about the city’s law enforcement and first responders and they are trying to support their needs. Council Member C. Erickson also commented, the estimated 17 million dollars is the highest amount, he believes they can cut down that amount with proper planning for the current and future needs of the Police Department. Their desire is to be very smart with taxpayer money. Finance Officer Nielson said there are several different approaches when considering a bond. Some cities will hire architects in advance and spend quite a bit of money on designing the building before they go out for a vote. Other cities will not want to waste all that money if the voters are not willing to fund the project. These cities will focus on the real costs instead of using that money to get designs or get too deep into that process. He recommended the Councilmembers consider how far into the design process they fiscally desire to enter so the voters understand what the city is asking for with the new police station. Council Member Johnson said she had spoken with Police Chief Rhodes about the estimated costs of the new police station, and he mentioned there are items that could be deleted; therefore, the costs would decrease. She said she agrees with Council Member C. Erickson, the Police Department is the backbone of our community; therefore, they need to take care of them. The Councilmembers have seen a long list of items the Police Department needs that are not being met. She said the Police Department is a huge priority for our city right now. Finance Officer Nielson said city staff are looking for direction from the Councilmembers to move forward and pursue those RFQ’s. That would be the next step to keep the process moving forward. Mayor Merrill said it is the consensus of the Councilmembers to direct city staff to move forward with pursuing the RFQs. Finance Officer Nielson said the second part of this discussion is the possibility of a future joint municipal facility. City Staff many years ago brought up the joint municipal facility concept. Those other entities include the school district and county. There are several reasons for a joint facility being proposed, the first being to consolidate into a smaller footprint; therefore, they can get other properties back on the tax roll. Another reason is for patrons to be able to go to one place of business for school district and municipal government needs. There is also the opportunity to have some joint spaces such as meeting rooms, so they are not building three of these large gathering areas. Finance Officer Nielson said this concept idea has been discussed several times in budget meetings and it has been mentioned when reviewing the city 50-year plan. When considering this concept there is a lot of property in the city’s prime real estate downtown owned by nonprofits; city, county, school district and the university. The idea is to get that prime real estate back on the tax roll and to its highest and best use. There is a real benefit in terms of the property tax that comes back that could be used for services like the Police Department. Finance Officer Nielson said in recent months the county has hired a consultant. They have also invited city and school district representatives to discuss the joint facility. A decision has not been made; however, there has been discussion about whether these entities have any interest in pursuing the joint facility. Council Member Reeser said to his understanding the school district announced they are putting the district office up for sale and requesting bids with the intention of building a new district office near 6 the high school. He said it seems like the option of the three entities coming together into one facility is not realistic. Finance Officer Nielson explained the school district did not communicate to the city where they would build the new school district office; however, they did release an RFP. The school district released an RFP last year and did not get any responses. Mayor Merrill said in the meetings with the city and county, the school district representative said they are still looking at options. Council Member Johnson said she has reviewed the Madison County meeting minutes since June where the joint facility was discussed and in the minutes from June 24th, 2024, it stated that all entities are interested and that they were going to meet again after each entity was able to meet with their governance group. The Councilmembers are the governance group for the city, and they were not met with. In the meeting minutes from July 16th, 2024, it stated each entity’s governing body has been kept in the know about the meetings and has encouraged the discussion. She pointed out that she has never been a part of one of those discussions. Council Member Johnson said moving forward she hopes that the city’s governing body is kept in the know and included in the joint facility discussions. Mayor Merrill explained discussion regarding the concept for a joint county, city and school district facility has been talked about for a length of time and no decisions were made. He said the idea of a joint facility was discussed during the city budget meeting and at different times more informally; however, not as much as he thought. He said more updates about the discussion of a joint facility will be shared in the City Council meetings. 2. Further Pickleball Court discussion and options (0:53:52) Finance Officer Nielson explained the city had put in the budget of about $370,000 with the intent to build a four-quart Pickleball Court at the DonJo sports complex. City Staff pursued bids for optimal post tension courts like the Pickleball Courts the university has built. The city’s Pickleball Courts would have more back area or more side area. The city did not receive any bids; however, one of the contractors later submitted an estimate in the mid $500,000 for the four courts. The price was out of the city’s budget, so city staff started looking at other options. Finance Officer Nielson said one of the options discussed was the tennis court at Smith Park, which is not in the greatest shape. There are over 700 feet of cracks in the court, so he contacted the company that resurfaced the tennis court over 10 years ago and they declined to bid. The reason the company declined to bid was because last time they resurfaced the court, it was on its last leg. Finance Officer Nielson said the resurfacing company thought it would be better for the city to save the money it would cost to resurface the court to put towards a new facility; however, he did reach out to other providers. These other providers felt like they could rehabilitate the court to get some life out of the court; however, the cracks are going to show up fast, probably within the first winter. Finance Officer Nielson mentioned he contacted six different contractors about removing the old acrylic, crack sealing, leveling and repainting of the tennis court. He only received three bids back without guaranteeing that those cracks are not going to come right back. There was feedback from several residents about not being in favor of the tile court because there are dead spots, the ball skids and the court becomes slippery when wet. Finance Officer Nielson reviewed the three bids received to resurface the court. 7 Council President Walker said he would prefer the acrylic surfacing over the tile surfacing. The bid for the acrylic surfacing from Sport Surface Pros, LLC is $66,000 and the cost for the versa tiles was $136,623. The difference in cost could be saved for when funding is available for new Pickelball Courts. Discussion regarding the types of court surfaces and the longevity of the different court surfaces prefering the polly mesh. Council President Walker moved to approve the bid from Sport Surface Pro, LL for the resurfacing the of the asphalt and paint on new acrylic surfacing; Council Member Chambers seconded the motion; Mayor Merrill asked for a vote: Those voting aye Those voting nay Council Member Johnson none Council Member Chambers Council Member C. Erickson Council Member Reeser Council President Walker The motion carried. Council Member Johnson asked if the rest of the funds could be saved to build some new Pickleball Courts near the baseball quad. Finance Officer Neilson explained if Council Member Johnson is referring to the $310,000 as the rest of the funds it would take the reserves down below 25%; however, he does not recommend going below 25% in reserves. He recommended that as they get closer to the end of the year when the budget transfers are made, they can determine how much funds to save for the pickleball courts. Mayor Merrill asked that they wait to discuss the amount of funds to set aside for the pickleball courts closer to the end of the year. B. Public Works: - Keith Davidson (01:11:11) 1. Review and approve Utility Rate Study Consultant RFP selection Public Works Director Davidson explained the Public Works Department pursed a Request for Qualifications (RFQ) to complete a utility rate study. Both he and Finance Officer Nielson reviewed the city’s utility rates to determine if any adjustments need to be made. He said he would like to have an outside consultant look at the utility rate adjustments they have made over the past years to make sure they are making the right adjustments. FCS, a building company out of Redmond, Washington was the only company to respond to the RFQ. FCS has completed utility studies for several cities in Idaho. He recommended the city start the negotiation process for a contract with FCS to use them as a consultant. Discussion regarding the utility rate adjustment process. Finance Officer Nielson said the utility rate adjustment process has been developed over many decades, it has been enhanced and developed by the Finance, Public Works and Legal Departments. Mayor Merrill questioned what the advantage is of spending money to hire a consultant for the utility rate adjustment instead of continuing with the internal process. Public Works Director Davidson said the hiring of a consultant is like completing an audit of the utility rate adjustment. Finance Officer Nielson said the consultant is also completing a study on the Capacity Fees. Council Member C. Erickson asked if the wastewater rates charged to the City of Sugar City and Teton are part of the study. Public Works Director Davidson replied yes, all utility rates are included in the study. Council Member Chambers moved to approve the Utility Rate Study Consultant RFP from FCS a Bowman Company; Council Member Johnson seconded the motion; Mayor Merrill asked for a vote: Those voting aye Those voting nay Council Member Johnson none Council Member Chambers Council Member C. Erickson Council Member Reeser Council President Walker The motion carried. Public Works Director Davidson mentioned the Fall Clean Up dates are scheduled for October 21st through November 11th. 8 Discussion regarding the highway interchanges construction work and completion dates. Mayor’s Business: (0:26:20) A. Proclamation 2024 – 05 Constitution Week as September 17th - 23rd, 2024 Mayor Merrill welcomed Kathy Kula and Jenna Rosika they are members of the organization of Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR). They are encouraging us to pay attention to the constitution especially during constitution week. Mayor Merrill read Proclamation 2024 – 05 Constitution Week as September 17th – 23rd, 2024. PROCLAMATION No. 2024-05 Declaring September 17th – 23rd as Constitution Week WHEREAS, September 17, 2024, marks the two hundred and thirty- seventh anniversary of the drafting of the Constitution of the United States of America by the Constitutional Convention; and WHEREAS, It is fitting and proper to accord official recognition to this magnificent document and its memorable anniversary and to the patriotic celebrations which will commemorate the occasion; and WHEREAS, Public Law 915 guarantees the issuing of a proclamation each year by the President of the United States of America designating September 17 through 23 as Constitution Week. NOW, THEREFORE, I Jerry Merrill, by virtue of the authority vested in me as Mayor of the City of Rexburg, do hereby proclaim the week of September 17 through 23 as Constitution Week And ask our citizens to reaffirm the ideals the Framers of the Constitution had in 1787 by vigilantly protecting the freedoms guaranteed to us through this guardian of our liberties remembering that lost rights may never be regained. ADOPTED by the City of Rexburg, State of Idaho, on this __ day of September 2024. IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand and caused the Seal of the City of Rexburg to be affixed this 4th day of September of the year of our Lord two thousand twenty-four. APPROVED: ___________________________ Jerry Merrill, Mayor ATTEST: ______________________________ Deborah Lovejoy, City Clerk Council Member Reeser moved to ratify Proclamation 2024 – 05 Constitution Week as September 17th - 23rd, 2024; Council Member C. Erickson seconded the motion; Mayor Merrill asked for a vote: Those voting aye Those voting nay Council Member Johnson none Council Member Chambers Council Member C. Erickson Council Member Reeser Council President Walker The motion carried. Mayor Merrill reported he attended a meeting with representatives from the Madison School District, BYU- Idaho, Sugar-Salem School District, Madison Library, Chamber of Commerce and the Mayor of Sugar City. The purpose of the Community Partners meeting is to coordinate each of their activities. The next Community Partners meeting is scheduled for January in the City Council Chambers. Council Member Chambers asked if the Councilmembers could be notified of those meetings. 9 Items for Consideration: NONE Calendared Bills: (01:23:52) A. Second Reading: Those items which have been first read: 1. Ordinance No 1320 Amendment to the Rexburg Development Code, Ordinance No 1200, as it pertains to Fences and Billboards as well as other substantive and non- substantive items #23-00958 – Alan Parkinson Discussion: Council Member Johnson moved to approve Ordinance No 1320 Amendment to the Rexburg Development Code, Ordinance No 1200, as it pertains to Fences and Billboards as well as other substantive and non-substantive items and consider second read; Council Member Reeser seconded the motion; Mayor Merrill asked for a vote: Those voting aye Those voting nay Council Member Johnson none Council Member Chambers Council Member C. Erickson Council Member Reeser Council President Walker The motion carried. B. Third Reading: Those items which have been second read: (01:25:50) 1. Ordinance No 1317 Rezone 250 N 12th W and 1022 W Main St from Transitional Agriculture (TAG) and Mixed Use (MU) to Community Business Center (CBC) zone #24-00418 – Alan Parkinson Discussion: ORDINANCE NO. 1317 Rezone 250 N 12th W and 1022 W Main St from Transitional Agriculture and Mixed Use (MU) to Community Business Center (CBC) Zone AN ORDINANCE AMENDING AND CHANGING THE ZONING MAP OF THE CITY OF REXBURG, IDAHO, AND PROVIDING THAT THE ZONED DESIGNATION OF THAT CERTAIN PROPERTY HEREINAFTER DESCRIBED, SITUATED IN REXBURG, MADISON COUNTY, IDAHO, BE CHANGED AS HEREINAFTER DESIGNATED; AND PROVIDING WHEN THIS ORDINANCE SHALL BECOME EFFECTIVE. 10 Council Member C. Erickson moved to approve Ordinance No 1317 Rezone 250 N 12th W and 1022 W Main St from Transitional Agriculture (TAG) and Mixed Use (MU) to Community Business Center (CBC) Zone and consider third read; Council President Walker seconded the motion; Mayor Merrill asked for a vote: Those voting aye Those voting nay Council Member Johnson none Council Member Chambers Council Member C. Erickson Council Member Reeser Council President Walker The motion carried. 2. Ordinance No 1318 Amendment to the Rexburg Development Code, Ordinance No 1200, as it pertains to RV Park permitted uses for CBC, and other substantive and non- substantive items #23-00958 – Alan Parkinson CITY OF REXBURG ORDINANCE NO. 1318 DEVELOPMENT CODE ORDINANCE 1200 AMENDMENTS AN ORDINANCE AMENDING THE CURRENT DEVELOPMENT CODE (PLANNING AND ZONING ORDINANCE NO. 1200) CONCERNING SUBSTANTIVE AND NON-SUBSTANTIVE ITEMS; THE FOLLOWING CHANGES HAVE BEEN MADE: AMENDMENTS TO PERMITTED AND CONDITIONAL USES IN ALL COMMERCIAL ZONES PROVIDING FOR TINY HOMES ON WHEELS AS A CONDITIONAL USE; PROVIDING FOR VIOLATION OF THE PROVISIONS OF THE ORDINANCE; PROVIDING FOR ENFORCEMENT OF THE ORDINANCE; AND PROVIDING FOR THE EFFECTIVE DATE OF THE ORDINANCE. Council Member Chambers moved to approve Ordinance No 1318 Amendment to the Rexburg Development Code, Ordinance No 1200, as it pertains to RV Park permitted uses for CBC, and other substantive and non-substantive items and consider third read; Council Member C. Erickson seconded the motion; Mayor Merrill asked for a vote: Those voting aye Those voting nay Council Member Johnson none Council Member Chambers Council Member C. Erickson Council Member Reeser Council President Walker The motion carried. 3. Ordinance No 1319 Fiscal Year 2024 Budget Amendments amending Ordinance No 1300 Fiscal Year 2024 Budget Appropriation – Matt Nielson Ordinance No. 1319 Amend Ordinance 1300 Fiscal Year 2024 Appropriation Ordinance AN ORDINANCE OF THE CITY OF REXBURG, IDAHO, AMENDING ORDINANCE NO. 1300, THE APPROPRIATION ORDINANCE FOR THE FISCAL YEAR BEGINNING OCTOBER 1, 2023, AND ENDING SEPTEMBER 30, 2024: APPROPRIATING ADDITIONAL MONIES THAT HAVE BEEN OR ARE TO BE RECEIVED BY THE CITY OF REXBURG, IDAHO, AND BUDGET REDUCTIONS IN THE NET SUM OF ($783,300) AND PROVIDING AN EFFECTIVE DATE. Council Member Reeser moved to approve Ordinance No 1319 Fiscal Year 2024 Budget Amendments amending Ordinance No 1300 Fiscal Year 2024 Budget Appropriation and consider third read; Council Member Chambers seconded the motion; Mayor Merrill asked for a vote: Those voting aye Those voting nay Council Member Johnson none Council Member Chambers Council Member C. Erickson Council Member Reeser Council President Walker The motion carried. 11 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. (01:27:57) A. Minutes from August 21, 2024, Meeting B. Approval of the 2024-2025 Beer and Wine License C. Approve Payment of the City of Rexburg Bills Council Member C. Erickson moved to approve the Consent Calendar containing the minutes and city bills; Council Member Walker seconded the motion; Mayor Merrill asked for a vote: Those voting aye Those voting nay Council Member Johnson none Council Member Chambers Council Member C. Erickson Council Member Reeser Council President Walker The motion carried. Roll call vote for motion to move into Executive Session as per Idaho State Statute §74-206(1)(c) To acquire an interest in real property not owned by a public agency (01:29:10) Council President Walker moved to enter into Roll call vote for motion to move into Executive Session as per Idaho State Statute §74-206(1)(c) To acquire an interest in real property not owned by a public agency; Council Member C. Erickson seconded the motion; Mayor Merrill asked for a roll call vote: Those voting aye Those voting nay Council Member Johnson none Council Member Chambers Council Member C. Erickson Council Member Reeser Council President Walker The motion carried. Executive Session Began 7:59 P.M. Executive Session Ended 9:35 P.M. Adjournment 9:36 P.M. APPROVED: ________________________________ Jerry Merrill, Mayor Attest: _____________________________ Marianna Gonzalez, City Deputy Clerk