Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAbout1996.05.01 CITY COUNCIL MINUTES`~ DATE: (050196) State of Idaho) County of Madison( ss City of Rexburg( Present were: Presiding: Council Members: Excused: City Clerk: Attorney: Pledge to flag. City Council 5/01/96 7:30 P.M. Councilman Glen Pond Kay Beck Bruce Sutherland Farrell Young Nyle Fullmer Marsha Bjornn Mayor, Nile Boyle Rose Bagley Stephen Zollinger A motion was made by Nyle Fullmer and seconded by Kay Beclc to approve the minutes. All Aye RE: LYNN ARCHIBALD SWORN IN AS CHIEF OF POLICE TOPIC: (20,109,,,POLICE DEPARTMENT) Attorney Stephen Zollinger did the swearing in of the Police Chief, Chief Lynn Archibald after the retirement of Blair Siepert. Stephen read the oath and Chief Archibald repeated the oath. RE: PROCLAMATIONS TOPIC: (20,109,,,PROCLAMATIONS) Glen Pond read a Proclamation for Nursing Home Week which would begin Mothers Day May 12, 1996. A motion was made by Bruce and seconded by Marsha to make this proclamation. A11 Aye Glen then read a Proclamation for the National Day of Prayer May 2 from 12 Moon to 12:05 P.M. as the time for united prayer. A motion was made by Kay Beck and seconded by Farrell Young to make this proclamation. A11 Aye RE: REQUEST FOR USE OF CITY RIGHT OF WAY BY RICKS COLLEGE TOPIC: (20,109,,,RIGHT OF WAY,RICKS COLLEGE,PARKING LOT5,3RD SOUTH, CORNELL AVENUE) Use of City right-a-way request. Chuck Frost Director of Physical Plant at Ricks College was at the meeting. They are going to develope a parking lot at the corner of Cornell and 3rd South. The plan was presented to the Planning & Zoning and they recommended it to the City Council. There were some concerns with Planning & Zoning about the setbacks that the city has on that piece of property. On the north side the setbacks are about 15 feet and on the south side the setbacks are about 23 feet. He showed the council a plan. That property slopes about 17 feet from the South East corner to the North West corner. It is just south of the girls dorms. It is a difficult piece of property to put a parking lot on. They are proposing 20 parking places with a park on the North West corner to be used for a picnic area and also a retention pond for run off. It will be designated as daytime only general parking. Glen mentioned this particular piece of property has come many times to Planning & Zoning with a lot of different uses and nothing seemed to fit. That piece of property is about 200 feet from the college's major buildings. It is 200 feet from the dorm. It will be day time parking for people who come into classes. Because of the 22 foot setback, there is one parking place that comes near the sidewalk and would infringe partly on the city right-a-way. The unit next door already has ten or twelve parking places on the city right-a-way. They intend to landscape it and, maintain it to the city standards. There will be landscaping on all four sides. On Cornell Ave there is a chunk of landscaping, along 3rd South there will be grass and the parking lot is angled so it goes with the lay of the 1~ r land. The triangle park will be on the North West corner. Stephen explained the public hearing will be scheduled. What they need tonight is permission to use the city right-a-way. It was recommended by P&Z. There is only one little corner on the city right-a-way. There is sidewalk there and they will maintain it. A motion was made by Kay Beck and seconded by Nyle Fullmer to approve the use of the city right-a-way. A11 Aye Introduction of the scouts. RE: ASHTON MEMORIAL FAMILY RENEWAL CENTER TOPIC: (20,110,,,ASHTON MEMORIAL FAMILY RENEWAL CENTER,AMDAHL) Glen explained there has been a concern about the use of the Amdahl Building. The council will take comments tonight but will take no action. They will take it under advisement. This building is used for Ashton Memorial Family Renewal Center. Marcia Smith- 347 Randy- She lives close to the center and she has some concerns. (Handout) (1) Qualifications promised to the state -vs- actual staffing. (see handout) She did not know if Mike Black, who is the supervisor, meets these qualifications. She has concerns that the managers and unit aids are lacking. (All handouts and information on file) (2) Staff turn-over (see handout page 2) Ashton Memorial is a non profit organization so this is public information. She had listed the board of directors and those who have left that have terminated their employment. She did not think some of them are qualified. (3) Violating Programatic policy and procedure intended to ensure safety. (see handout) She stated that when they leave the facility they must have more than one staff to accompany them which ensures the safety of the community and children. She knows from someone that they have 13 youth two aids with those kids. One aid was in one end of the building and the other aid was in the other end with 7 youth. There are staff that have been threatened and attacked. (4) Admissions Criteria-(see handout) It was quoted in the paper that it it a low risk facility and not a lockup facility. This is misleading to the public. People need to be educated. Staff secured means they are locked in there and are not suppose to get out. When it is a lockup facility it should have bars on the windows and it does not. If the person would have been an adult that broke out and stole a car it would have been considered a felony. (5) Runaway Plan-(see handout) This area upsets her the most. She called the center on Friday April 26 and talked to Unit A and she will not give his name because she heard that all the staff have been warned if they talk to anyone they will be terminated. She had questioned him as to when he was trained on the runaway plan? He stated that he had not seen it but she would have to talk to Mike Black about it. She feels everyone should be trained and knowledgeable of the runaway plan. Mike slack stated that they were revising the runaway plan. She felt that was misleading. They have neglected these measure to ensure the safety of the community. If these programs are run by educated in the right field and experienced staff, everything will run smoothly. We would not see police officers being called in to gain control four times, with runaways putting us all in danger. She does not like what she sees. Robert Charleton- Clinic Director, of the Adolescent Renewal Center- He stated that the Amdahl sign is still out in front of the building so they don't have their sign up. The sign belongs to Amdahl and they have not chosen to remove it. The Policies and Procedures that they presented to the State are in place. Policies and Procedures on paper are one thing, but in practice you find things don't turn out like you have them written down. You have to be willing to make some adjustments and look at what is happening. They had a meeting with the Chief of Police after the the run-a-way happened. They had their run-a-way plan in place at that time and decided it took more than five minutes to call the police. It was about 35 minutes before the police ~~/ were contacted. He told the council the procedure they went through before they contacted the police. The police chief told him they need to amend their procedures so they contact the police first. Staff and qualifications. They are heavy into family so the kids will have a positive situation to return to. Family intervention is very important. Byron Webster is the family therapist that works with the families of these boys. They have 12 youth in the center. Byron has talked to 90~ of the boys families either over the phone or in person. He has a masters degree in marriage and family therapy. Kris Erickson who is the primary therapist. She moved here from Minnesota, she has a Masters Degree in social work. Her job is to see each of the children every week. She keeps in contact with the probations officers and gets the patients hooked up with foster care or any other needs such as job service. Carol billion- another therapist who works part time with the Central High School in counseling and then she spends part of the day at the center. she drives from Pocatello because the city of Rexburg is providing the Alternative School and this facility. she has worked with youth for about 22 years. She has a little girl 5 years old that goes to the facility with her and she likes the boys. She enjoys the work. Mike Black, Program Supervisor- C.A.D.C. Certified Alcohol Drug Councilor. He has worked with the Idaho State Department of Health and Welfare and at Ashton Memorial for three years. He ran the adolescent inpatient program in Ashton. Lenny Gibbs- He is the nurse on staff. He went to Viet Nam as a medic and got his training through U.S. Army as a combat medic. He later attended Ricks College and graduated from New York with a degree in nursing. He has 29 years experience as a nurse and 15 years as an emergency room supervisor. He had been in charge of many military young men. He was the surgery coordinator at Madison Memorial for ten years. He worked in surgery intensive care in Texas for five years. He worked as an instructor. Now he is the supervising nurse at Family Renewal Center. Ken Benf field- Shift Supervisor- They have lived here 17 years, but before that they lived in L.A. County and he worked with Law enforcement. He has worked with kids programs for 30 years. He also worked as a paramedic for five years. When Ken was young and having problems, one man took him aside and gave him his time. 5o he and Donna decided to volunteer their time because it was like looking in the mirror of himself. He has a lot of experience working with kids. He had these kids to his home for dinner. If you don't want these kids in your community, you don't want Donna & I either, because these boys are not bad. They will be good citizens, they just need help. Dave Ogden- He is a voting member of the Board. Roger Clark-District 7 Liaison- Department of Juvenile Corrections- He wanted to assure everyone that they are in the process of an investigation so the documents that have been given to the council will be taken very seriously. e Glen asked Mr Clark if he was with the Idaho Department of Corrections, if this is a licensed facility and if so does the State have jurisdiction to see that it is run properly3 He asked Mr Clark to tell us a little about that. Mr Clark stated that they realize there was tribulance right after the facility opened with staff, which is something they are not associated with. That is strictly viewed as an internal problem. They do periodic reviews of this facility. As soon as the reports are in they will do a complete review of the staffing qualification program and so forth. Every concern will be addressed and answered honestly. They will work very closely with the city as well. Glen told him the city would appreciate it if when they finish the investigation they would give a copy to the mayor and the council. 1 '}~, Mr Clarlc stated that the Facility is licensed and remains licensed at this time. Marcia Smith asked if they don't meet the qualifications then what happens? Mr Clark replied the licensing would be reviewed and the contracting would be terminated. The contract requires that the contract be terminated if the qualifications are not met. Mr Charlton stated because it is a new center you have to realize that even the very best facility when it gets started there are some difficulties. The first and most important priority the department ', places is community safety so they are very concerned. Susan Cook-Ashton, Idaho- She is in charge of the licensing of the ``-' facility. Currently they are licensed, that has not changed and will not change. The licensing specialist in Boise are very much aware of who is the program supervisor and have Mike's credentials. They also have Sheila's credentials as the program administrator. They do not question these nor have they asked for a license review. They are up to date and current on licensing. Mr Charlton stated that with regard to the safety of the community, in the policy and procedures as each child comes into the facility they look at them very careful and look for certain things. (listed on handout) They do their best to try to screen them to see that the right kids are there and that they are getting the right treatment. (handout) Treatment plan discussed. The education specialist is Reese Butilcofer and he makes the complete educational program for every student at the Family Renewal Center. The recreation specialists are Bob Boyce and Jim Lamph. They work with each one of these boys on a daily basis. A typical day at the center is they have 9 1/2 hours of free time during one week. They are in groups from 9:00 A.M. until noon and they break for school and they have 2 1/2 hours of school. They have structured recreation activities. Brochure on different levels. ` Glen Muir he lives east of the high school. He goes past this facility every day on the way home. He has seen the Amdahl sign but did not know what was going on over there until yesterday. He felt that it was the Center's responsibility to put up their own sign and tell us what is going on. It has been very deceiving and misleading which makes them think that something sneaky is going on. He had talked to a fellow that worked there and he was a little bit scared because he said there was a lot of stuff going on out that he wasn't so sure about. At the beginning of this meeting it was stated that sometimes they check the people every 15 minutes and sometimes it is 20 or 30 minutes. If the facility has policies and procedures you need to follow them. Mr Charlton told him they felt they should do it on a random basis. The City Council has the responsibility for public safety. Camie Muir- What she has heard here is just a bunch of credentials. she asked the state how long it will take to investigate all these concerns and will the public be notified or what is the procedure? She was told it would take two to three weeks. He suggested that the council schedule it on an agenda where a presentation can be made of the findings or a written copy of the findings be made available to the public. she questioned the gentlemen that said these kids are no threat to the community or anyone else? What kind of a threat was everyone in when they stole a car and drove it to Boise stale another truck and ran into a police car? Phil Nye- He lives on 3rd East just two block south of this center. People need to remember we have kids like this on the street. He supports the facility and he is glad it is there and that these kids have an opportunity to come in and get same rehabilitation. He would rather them be in that location rather than be out running on the streets and us or their parents not knowing where they are. Jennette Barrick- It was her car that was stolen. she has been in that building and she was there in the beginning when they were getting started. She believed that plan was Matt Smith's in the beginning and she asked him if that had changed? She asked if after he was ~ ~, terminated do they still follow the plan. Mr Smith said no they did not. She asked how they got out? Ken told her they got out through the windows they used a pin knife to undue the screws. They have since changed the windows. He said the boys that run away were homesick. Mrs Warrick stated they should not have that free reign. They need more staff and more control. John Eaton- 3rd East- These kids obviously have problems. These kids are probably very scared and one thing led to another. He asked if they saw this type of behavior repeated or will their behavior escalate because of fear so it would be extremely harmful. They told him they ', are very unpredictable. The nature of a lot of these kids is to be impulsive. The rule structure there is to help them deal with consequences. John said he is trying to be opened minded because he knew that a lot of worse things have happened in this community. The reason he came tonight is because he lives two blocks from there and he has small children and he is glad he came because now he is a little better educated on what they are doing there. He would appreciate a sign because he drives that road quite often and he had no idea that was there. He asked if there was room for volunteers? They told him there was. He did not see it as the problem of the facility or the state, he sees it as the communities problem. He said he would contact them because he would like to come and volunteer. Phil Nye had gone over there and done some church service and John felt that type of thing is what they need. He does support this facility and would help in any way he could. Bob Adler -31 North 3rd East- He had the pleasure of going over and talking to a group on Sunday. He was involved with this type of facility in Arizona for several years and they had 16 boys. After seeing and talking to these young men in this facility in Rexburg he was so impressed at their attitude and desire to do the right thing. He feels that this facility is needed and he congratulated the people who are involved in it. When they started the facility in Arizona they had a lot of problems but as time went on everything turned out fine and they saw a lot of miracles. He is in favor of this facility. Nyle Fuller- He asked Dr Charlton as you screen the clients in the facility and do you have any clients over there with past violent history or sex offense history? Dr Charlton stated they have no one with a sex offense history, violence is hard to screen out. You have to look closely at what happened and talk to people involved. They try hard to not have anyone that has had an assault related incident, but it is hard. They try to screen them as good as they can. They are a residential treatment program not a lock down facility. They are licensed for 16 patients. Lenny Gibbs, the nurse- He was the one that took the three young men down the street. He wanted to explain it was his responsibility to watch over these young men. Their behavior is not his job. His job is to see that their medical needs are taken care of. He sees that a lot of their medical care needs to be taken care of and they are behind on their immunizations. Since he has been there every boy has been to the dentist and five boys have had glasses. When you are in a facility like this you are at very high risk especially with drug abusers with hepatitis. There are immunizations required for that. He had talked with the Public Health nurse and she was quite concerned with it as well and they needed to have those hepatitis shots. The front of that building faces right down that road that District 7 Health is on and it is only two doors down. There were other guys inside the building watching him and he insured them before he left and he has a two-way radio and they could be there in moments. District Health Department watched and helped him'. The medical director is Dr. Stephen Cheyne from St Anthony. Gerald Ostermiller- Pirst he would like to commend Ashton Memorial for hiring some of the employees that they have picked. His concern is just security issues. It does not take breaking out of a facility to steal a car. A car can be stolen and start down the street where his children are playing in a matter of moments, so you can't take your eyes off these kids for a moment. This should not happen in the first place. He did not think those patients should be transported anywhere ~~~ without a two to one staff ratio. He just graduated with a social work degree and he is all for this type of facility as long as it is properly run and managed and that includes personal from the Doctor down to the aid all need to be trained. Glen closed this information hearing. He told the group the city will follow up with the state on the licensing and then we will make that public at one of our future meetings when that becomes available. RE: SPRING CLEAN UP EXTENDED TOPIC: (20,114,,,SPRING CLEAN UP) Glen told the council that the mayor felt we should extend the spring cleanup for 15 days because of the inclement weather. A motion was made by Kay Beclc and seconded by Nyle Fuller to extend the clean upfor 15 days. All Aye RE: PARKING AT PARK PLACE APTS. - REPORT FROM PLANNING AND ZONING TOPIC: (20,114,,,PARK PLACE APARTMENTS,VARIANCES,PARKING) Marsha made a report from Planning & Zoning. She discussed the issue of the paving at Park Place. He isgoing to come in for a variance. She, Glen and the Mayor met with Mr Schwendiman about the problem and Mr Schwendiman feels it is a city problem because this was approved about 20 years ago after the flood. The city did not look into the parking. After talking with Stephen Zollinger after the meeting, he said the reason they didn't require more parking at that time it was to be condominiums. In the minutes at the time it was built, it says the zoning did want more parking but because it was condominiums it was allowed in the ordinance that they have one parking place per unit. The use is being changed somewhat to apartments. The use has changed. The owners feel things will get run down if we don't approve it. Because they paved over the city right-a-way, they are very agreeable to digging up that section between the sidewalk and the road for landscaping. There isn't a lot of space so he would have to come for a variance to allow the parking that he has already put in. He said he did not know about the ordinance requiring a permit for paving. The zoning commission felt that if they make an exception, it will set a precedence. There are other places in town that are doing the same thing as far as using the city right-a-way. They voted unanimously that he not 6e allowed to use this for parking. Glen stated that he did try to purchase property to park on. They were allowed to use it, but Upper Valley Industries have turned them down to even use the property. They have checked with Porters about that piece of property, but it is farther away. Marsha stated that there are as many as three families in an apartment. Kay stated he did not know what is right and what is wrong, but it looks better than it use to. Marsha stated that having been on the P&Z she can see their point but on the other hand she can see his point too. She felt if he was willing to dig up and put landscaping in between the sidewalk and street and because there is no parking, maybe we should have to bend. Glen stated that parking was put on the other end of the building on Ricks Avenue when that was put in no one said anything. Parking really is an issue over there because most families both husband & wife have a job and both drive a car and there is only one spot available. Nyle Fullmer stated because of the big issue we have made over the last few years for people to provide parking, we can say we are setting precedence but he thought we set the precedence when we stated saying we need more parking. When a property owner tries to improve the situation for the tenants and the city, he did not know that we should stop him. Farrell wondered if we allow Ricks College to use the right-a-way how is that different? Marsha stated that P&Z discussed that and felt like the college parking affected the public at large plus they were addressing it ahead of time where this was already done. Ny1e suggested that you can say one affects the public more than the other but the fact is one is non profit and one is profit. Randy is ~~~~~ trying to do the best he can realizing that there are cars on the street and he has a mess but is trying to improve it. Farrell suggested if we give a variance to one we need to give a variance to the other. Nyle stated we need to consider them one by one as they come and see if they are improving the over all situation or are we tripping over some grass and shrubbery? Glen stated we can't do anything tonight. RE: PARKING ON COLLEGE AVENUE CHANGED TO 2 HOUR PARKING TOPIC: (20,115,,,COLLEGE AVENUE,PARKING) Nyle told the council residents on College Ave wanted 2 hour parking for limited amount of town. He finally got a consensus. He took Chief Archibald down there and took a look at it and Nyle's recommendation is to go ahead and put in 2 hour parking for the south half of that block £rom 8:00 A.M. to 2:00 or 3:00 P.M. We might need to give some permit parking for some of the households so if they have guests they can have a permit to attach to the the rear view mirror. A motion was made by Ny1e to put signs up on the South half of that street for 2 hour parking from 8:D0 A.M. and 2:00 P. M. Farrell asked about other streets. Seconded by Farrell Young. A11 RE: SKATEBOARDERS DOWNTOWN - BENCH BY ARC ELECTRONICS MOVED TOPIC: (20,115,,,SKATEBOARDERS,MAIN STREET,BENCHES,ARC ELECTRONICS) Ny1e also stated that Mike Riley from Arc Electronics has called him about the problem with skateboarders. They have had some vehicle damage and other damage. There is a concrete bench right in front of his store and they use it to jump off. He thinks it would help the situation to move that bench. He has hardly seen anyone use it. He felt we would have a liability. A motion was made by Nyle to move that we remove that bench by Arc Electronics. Seconded by Farrell Young. A11 Aye Bruce suggested we need to do something to prohibit Skate Boards downtown. Glen stated we will try and see what happens. Farrell stated that the Sanitation department are concerned because the enclosures for garbage containers are not big enough to get the arms in. It was suggested that he talk to Farrell and Joe about it. RE: COMPLAINT ABOUT PARKING BY POST OFFICE TOPIC: (20,115,,,PARKING,POST OFFICE) Kay stated that he had a complaint from the Post Office between 1st South and 2nd South they park a van and pickup at the exit of the post office and people who are turning left can't see to drive out. He suggested that we paint back two more spaces along there so they can see as they pull out of that parking lot. The council agreed. Glen suggested that there are other areas in town that are the same way. He said as you pull out of the alley by the city hall you can't see the traffic if something is parked there. Farrell suggested that by the alley by the city water tower it is bad. Marsha stated she had volunteered herself to help with the Commemoration of the flood and they thought she was volunteer money from the city. Glen told her they would have to come and make the '.. proposal to the council. A motion was made by Bruce Sutherland and seconded by Ny1e Fuller to pay the bills. All Aye Meeting adjourned. ~/ ~~ City C erk, Ros~Ea~].=ey Mayor- N'1~. Boy1