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HomeMy WebLinkAbout1996.03.20 CITY COUNCIL MINUTES~, ,~_ .~ DATE: (032096) State of Idaho) County of Madison( ss City of Rexburg) City Council 3/20/96 7:30 P.M. Present were the following: Mayor: Excused: city Clerk: Attorney: Nile L. Boyle Glen Pond Bruce Sutherland Farrell Young Ny1e Fullmer Marsha Bjornn Rose Bagley Stephen Zollinger County Commissioner Brooke Passey and Jerry Jeppeaen were at the meeting. Pledge to the flag. Introduction of scouts. __ _-.'~,, A motion was made by Bruce Sutherland and seconded by-Kay BeckJto approve the minutes. All Aye ~---`~~ RE: REQUEST TO USE GOLF COURSE FOR CROSS COUNTRY MEET APPROVED TOPIC: (2D,95,,,GOLF COURSE) Doug Stultz was at the meeting to request using the Golf Course for a College Cross Country Meet. They have always held the meet at Teton Lakes but are requesting to change and hold the meet at the Rexburg '. Municipal Go 1f Course. They are in charge of hosting the Regional Meet this year the first Saturday in November. They try to choose a course --- that is as flat as possible and the Municipal Course is pretty flat. It is also closed at that time of the year. They would also like to hold their regular season which is usually held the first weekend in October. The Municipal Course usually closes around October 15 but last year it was closed after October 1. He requests that they make room for them to hold it out there the first weekend in October. They are looking at putting on a first class meet for high schools at that time in conjunction with the college meet. (handout of financial impact on the city and other impact to the city, on file) Jason Nielson who is chairman of the golf course stated that they have no problems with either of these times. His only question was on the liability. They would also like to use the Nature Park. Brooke stated the County had no problem. Nyle stated they discussed it last night at the golf meeting and they also see no problem except the liability. Brian Groom, new member on golf board, checked with Ricks College and if they get a letter from Doug they would take care of the liability. A motion was made by Ny1e Fullmer to go ahead and approve the Municipal Go 1f Course for the Cross Country Meets. Seconded by Farrell Young A11 Aye We have a request from District 7 Health Department, during the month of April they are going to make everyone aware of the immunization fact - sheet and they would like us to name April as Idaho Immunization Month '. and do all that we can to encourage all the families to get their ''. infant's shots. A motion was made by Kay and seconded by Nyle to proclaim April as Idaho Immunization Month. A11 Aye. RE: CRIME PREVENTION PROBLEMS TOPIC: (20,95,,,POLICE DEPARTMENT,CRIME PREVENTION,STREET LIGHTS) Crime Prevention Problems. Ron Larson from the Rexburg Police Department was at the meeting to discuss the issue. He gave a handout (on file). He is the Crime Prevention Officer. On the top ten things to do, the lighting is one of the problems that all of the officers see around town. He did some research and talked to Les Mecham and Dennis Huffman at Utah Power & Light. Rather than add more poles and lights, he would like to suggest, most of the lights are High Sodium 70 watt ,:.: fir' lights, and they cost the city $4.90 per month. If you go to a 150 watt lamp, it would increase the lumination three fold, with a difference of cost $1.71 per month. The problem areas he would like to start with to get a few allocated every year and go from there. First of all we need to do the parks, they are poorly lighted. They are a crime place waiting to happen. We could use the existing poles and it would cost approximately $55 to install and about $175 to purchase the actual light that would go into its place. If we have to put a new pole in it would cost $695 plus $175 for the light. The other concern is 1st West and 1st South, there are a lot of accidents that happen at that intersection. We would not have to light the whole street, just the intersections. On South 2nd East when you get past 4th South on the sidewalk on the west side there are a lot of people that use that sidewalk everyday from the tennis court to Crestview it is a totally dark street. Kay suggested that in our budget we budgeted for some poles, maybe that money could go toward this. The mayor suggested that Kay and Nyle work with officer Larson and see what street lights he wants to change and see how much it comes to. Officer Larson suggested that tree trimming would help. The mayor appealed to the scouts to be on our side and help us ]seep the vandalism down. There has been a lot of damage done that will cost a lot. With the gas tax increase the city will get over $100,000 this year to help with roads. Vandalism does cost a lot of money to the city and tax payers. RE: PARKING PROBLEMS ON COLLEGE AVENUE TOPIC: (20,96,,,PARKING,COLLEGE AVENUE) Last year we had some people on College Ave that had a problem with the parking on that street. Zt was at the same time we did the parking around the high school that this was brought up. The mayor got another letter from Richard Taylor. who lives on that street. reminding us that we did not carry through and do something on that. He suggesting that we go back and possibly issue parking stickers for everyone that lives there. The mayor felt what we did up by the high school worked so well. He wondered if we could put signs up on College Ave that say 2 hour parking from 9:00 A.M. to 3:00 P.M. Glen felt that was different because on College Ave, they have the Snow Building and they have a lot of activities at night so 9:00 A.M. to 3:00 P. M. would not solve the problem. Nyle stated that when he visited with the neighbors, he could never get a consensus from everyone as to if they really felt they wanted it enforced. He had kept a eye on it and did not think it was that congested. He would go back and meet with them and check it out and let us know at the next meeting. RE: WASTEWATER TREATMENT PLANT SURCHARGES TOPIC: (20,96,,,WASTEWATER TREATMENT PLANT,SURCHARGES,RICKS COLLEGE) On the Wastewater Treatment Plant, we have a surcharge when they put extra strength either B.O.D's or T.S.S. into the treatment plant. We have a list of 15 companies that have been given discharge permits. Most of those are due to be redone, except Ricks College, Anderson Photo, Gallery Photo, Walmart Photo Lab, and B.& B. Technology they still have until October. The new guidelines were set up by the engineers, by John Millar at Forsgren as he did it. The average of household waste going into the treatment plant is 200 mg. per liter of B.O.D. and T.5.5. To be fair to the home owners a charge needs to be made for anything above that point so we can treat that for them and charge them a figure. As you know we started treating Sun Glow and they are glad to pay it. If they had to put in a pre-treatment to take care of it, it would cost a lot more. We have given Ricks College a permit that for three years which goes until August of 1997. That allows them to do 400 mg. per liter on B.O.D. and T.S.S. We had a meeting with all these people and told them we were going to start charging. Ricks College wrote us a letter and brought out the fact that they have that permit that goes until August 1997. There is a clause in the permit that says "If we modify it or revise it the city will give 180 days notice to make any changes". We need todecide, do we want to notify them now and start charging them in 180 days or wait until their permit runs out in 1997. They feel there are some improvements they can make up there to improve their effluent. Most of it seems to be coming from v~ r~ their cafeteria. A motion was made by Ny1e Fullmer and seconded by Kay Beck to notify them we will give them 180 days to get their surcharge down and then start charging. A11 Aye RE: LINDA EAMES BUILDING HOME ON CORNER OF HARVARD & 2ND SOUTH TOPIC: (20,97,,,EAMES*LINDA,HARVARD,2ND SOUTH,LINEAL FOOT CHARGE) Linda Eames was at the council meeting. She explained that the Planning & Zoning had given her a variance for a lot on Harvard and 2nd South because of the small lot. She then got a building permit and paid $2720 on 10/14/94. She was told by Joe Laird that the house was 1 foot too wide and she could not build so she got a refund and tried to sell the lot. She has found a retired couple that would like a small yard. In order to build a stick built home that they could afford she really had to do a small home and they can't go over the amount. When she went to City Ha11 to get the permit, in addition to paying $1500 to hook up to water and sewer, plumbing permit, plan check and building permit, she would have to pay another $1000 for lineal foot charge for water and sewer. Nile said there hasn't been anything on that corner for the 35 years he has lived here. Being a corner lot she will have to pay on both sides. It would be nice to have something on that corner. She asked that she be grandfathered in because she had a building permit on that property before the ordinance. (discussion) Kay felt we need to get something on the 50 foot lots, with it being a corner he did not think it would be fair to drop the lineal foot charge all the way around the property. It would be nice to see something on that lot. Nile explained that when the lines were put in they were put in under a G.O.S. Bond with the property owner's payment of taxes. Now those bonds are paid off on water & sewer lines. The tax on the lot without a house would have been a little bit but not as much as a home would have paid. We need to use this charge to replenish the water and sewer fund to replace lines. Linda told the council it is getting beyond people's means to get affordable housing in Rexburg. A motion was made by Ny1e Fullmer to charge for 1/2 the length of the property, Seconded by Kay Beck. Farrell asked if it would cause her not to build on the property. Linda said she did not know if these people could afford to build with this extra cost. A11 Aye to the Motion RE: NEW BEER ORDINANCE NOT PASSED TOPIC: (20,97,,,BEER,ORDINANCES) 3rd reading on Ordinance No. 787 AN ORDINANCE AMENDING SECTION 1 OF ORDINANCE 535, ALSO KNOWN AS SECTION 1 OF ORDINANCE 343, AND AS SECTION 16 OF ORDINANCE 341, PROHIBITING THE SALE OF BEER ON CERTAIN DAYS OF THE YEAR AND REGULATING THE DAYS AND HOURS FOR THE SALE OF BEER, AND REPEALING ALL ORDINANCES OR PARTS OF ORDINANCES IN CONFLICT THEREWITH; AND PROVIDING WHEN THIS ORDINANCE SHALL BECOME EFFECTIVE. This Ordinance would allow the sale of beer on Sunday in the City of Rexburg. The mayor read a petition against the sale of beer on Sunday. Only two people from the city signed the petition and all the rest were from the county. (on file) He read letters from Steven Mc Garry, Jamason Hayes, Sharon Schwab, J.D. & Ann Hancock, Judy Terry who is a Seventh Day Adventist and believes we should not sell beer on Saturday because that is their Sabbath, Bruce Parker in South Carolina- they have Blue Laws and don't sell anything until 1:30 P. M. These letters will be entered into the record and on file at City Ha11. Ken Burt, lives in Rexburg Heights but he does own a business in the City. He would like to express his concern. He does not want the city to sell beer on Sunday. He is concerned about the security of his business. They are at the business 6 days a week, but not there on Sunday. He feels that the sale of beer on Sunday could jeopardize the security of his business. We have a good city and we should keep it that way. The more we open it up to the sale of beer the next step will be to sell liquor by the drink and it will go on and on. He would like to see the businesses that have been grandfathered in because they were annexed made to when those businesses change ownership that there be something passed so it would no longer be allowed for the new owner to sell beer. ,;~ Stephen Zollinger stated that if the ownership changes, we could draft the annexation agreement that the grandfathering be such so it was a personal right rather than a property right, but it would be at the essence of the owner at this point, so we would have to approach them. Generally a Grandfathering right is a property right. The mayor said there were three other letters entered into the record last time. Nyle stated he had been torn on this issue. Up until just a few hours ago he felt like he was going to vote in favor of Sunday beer sales, '.. because he didn't know if we had the right to impose the issue. He had '', thought about it and talked to some people and after listening to the '', letters and testimony, the majority of the people are against it. The `---- reason the majority of the businesses came to Rexburg, was because we have more values and because of the type of community it is. He felt one of the reasons is because of the way it has been operated during the past years. He felt we should leave it the way it is. One person asked him if we could put it to a ballot vote? Maybe we were at fault when we did the annexation for not picking up on it. Bruce commented, when this all started much was said about now these other businesses are in the city it is not fair for the other businesses who would like to sell beer on Sunday. What the city did was just change the boundary. They did not increase beer sales; they didn't make it easier for anyone else to buy beer on Sunday because these other places sell beer. There is one of the parties that owns a store on the outside of town and a store on the inside of town. He is not permitted to sell beer at both establishments. It did not change anything there. Bruce's opinion is that there was no intent to aid or abate these other business to give them a commercial advantage so to speak. He feels that the law as it stands should stay as is. He agrees with Ny1e, he believes that what we have built here will last for years as a good community and part of what it stands for is fighting against as much moral incorrectness as possible and in view of the fact the city has done nothing to increase beer sales on Sunday simply because we changed the property lines. He believed that changing this law would be i11 advised at this time. Kay stated that the other businesses built in the city knowing they could not sell beer. The other businesses were annexed in by the city. He did not think it was the City Council that has done anything to change the competition. A motion was made by Nyle Fullmer to let the beer ordinance stay the same as it is and not change it to allow beer sales on Sunday. Seconded by Bruce Sutherland. Each councilman present voting aye. RE: SIDEWALKS AROUND TOWN DISCUSSED TOPIC: (20,98,,,SIDEWALKS) The mayor told the council he and Kay drove around and looked at areas that don't have sidewalks. As we start working on the L.I.D. for sidewalks we need some direction. Kay said what they looked at today was those homes that have traded hands. He was going to get a list from Richard. The mayor stated that they looked at two other areas around the high school and around Kennedy school. He asked the council if they wanted to do any other areas? Glen questioned if we do it around the high school, where do you want to start and where do you want to stop and what about the high school itself? The mayor asked if we need to put a sidewalk around Smith Park? Glen felt if we start, Smith Park was a good place to start and we would set a good example. Bruce felt that was a good point well taken but he had never seen a park with a sidewalk around it. Ny1e agreed that Glen had a good point. Discussion on fences and on Madison Ave. Nyle stated that we have an ordinance that when the property changes hands they have to put in sidewalks, but we would have a hard time picking and choosing who is going to put it in and who isn't unless we go in and help subsidize it but even that would set a bad precedence unless we can get the district to go in with us. (discussion) Hyrum Conrad wanted to meet and talk about Grant Writing and Sue Collin would like to write grants on her own. They are looking at doing it ~:~ µ'~ for compensation. Nyle suggested that we listen to them and see what they have in mind. RE: INTERSECTION LIGHT AT CORNER OF MAIN & 2ND EAST DISCUSSED TOPIC: (20,99,,,INTERSECTIONS,MAIN STREET,2ND EAST,HANDICAPPED, COUNTY COMMISSIONERS) Brooke Passey and Jerry Jeppesen were at the meeting to discuss part of ,...., the courthouse moving across the street. They have run into a problem with the intersection light at the corner of Main and 2nd East. There is not an access for people to push a button and walk across Main Street. Jerry has been in touch with the state and got some estimates `-- on what it would cost to put in a new box and make it assessable so those walking across Main Street to access both county buildings will be able to do so and not have to dodge the cars and light. The cost will be between $7000 and $8000 to re-work it for a cross walk. It looks like the State will pitch in about $4000 of the cost. He thought there was a handicapped ramp on the side by the Courthouse, but not one on the other side of the street. He asked the city if they would go in and put a handicapped ramp on the other side of the street. There is one on 2nd East. He asked the city if they would pitch in $1000 to help them out on changing the switch box. Glen asked if at the same time the State could look at that light so you didn't have to sit at the light for so long when you are traveling West? Brooke suggested that it was time for the county and city officials to meet again. There is a possibility that the Juvenile Detention is going into the old jail. That will bring us into a space problem again. They are trying to get a meeting this week with Mike Johnson and see what pressure they are under to get things taken care of there. After they meet with Mike, the commissioners would like to meet with the City Council. Jerry Jeppesen asked the council if they would consider a Blue '... Ordinance to change County wide. (to close everything on Sunday). Stephen told them we would have to make the issue other than religious to close everything on Sunday. We could look into it. A motion was made by Nyle Fullmer to pay the bills and seconded by Kay Beck. All Aye Meeting adjourned. ,~ ~ ~,~- Mayor, ,i1e L. Boyls~ .~ ~ ~' ~~F City Clerk, Rose~'lagle~iJ