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HomeMy WebLinkAbout1997.07.02 CITY COUNCIL MINUTES/V DATE: (070297) City Council 7/02/97 7:00 P. M. State of Idaho) County of Madison( ss City of Rexburg) Those present were: Mayor: Nile Boyle Councilmembers: Kay Beck Glen Pond Farrell Young Marsha Bjornn Bruce Sutherland Nyle Fullmer City Clerk: Rose Bagley Finance Officer: Richard Horner Engineer: Joe Laird Attorney: Stephen Zollinger Pledge to the flag. A motion was made by Kay Beck and seconded by Bruce Sutherland to approve the minutes. All Aye RE: STREET FESTIVAL STREET CLOSURE TOPIC: (21,79,,, DANCE FESTIVAL,STREET CLOSURE,POLICE DEPT.) Street Festival Street Closure- Blair Kay was at the meeting to request a street closure for the Street Festival. They are planning a street closer on July 28 from 2:00 P. M. to 11:00 P. M. The closure area is the same as previous years with one change on Center Street. They want to close that to the alley south in front of Gringos. Stephen stated that the Police Department have already been told about this and are planning on the closure. They will put a Ricks College stage off of Main and Center. At 9:00 P.M. they will slide the barriers back to Carlson Ave. The dance will take place from Main to Carlson Ave. The band will use the stage and will play from 9:00 P. M. to 11:00 P. M. A motion was made by Kay Beck that if it has been cleared with the police that it be approved that they close for the Street Festival. Seconded by Farrell Young. All Aye RE: COST OF LIVING RAISES FOR CITY EMPLOYEE TOPIC: (21,79,,, COST OF LIVING,RAISE,BUDGET) Richard discussed the Cost of Living Increase. In previous years we have set the Cost of Living Increase at this time of year so we can put it into the budget. At the end of June the National Cost of Living increase was 2.5%. A motion was made by Nyle Fullmer to approve a cost of living increase of 2.5%, seconded by Marsha Bjornn. All Aye Richard handed out the Budget Calendar and explained it. RE: CONDITIONAL USE PERMIT FOR JARED SOMMER PLANNING AND ZONING ACTIONS TOPIC:(21,79,,,C.U.P.,SOMMER*JARED,ZONING,COLLEGE HOUSING, APARTMENTS,TRAFFIC,PLANNING AND ZONING) Conditional Use Permit for Jared Sommer - Terry Wall- There are a couple of issues they would like the City council to consider. One concern was about the Zoning Committee that the company that sold the property to Jared was Century 21 and the listing was with Nancy Whyte who is the wife of Ted Whyte who participated in voting by the Zoning Committee to go ahead and issue a variance. (reading from the minutes) He believed that it would have been proper if the individual would have noted that there was a Conflict of Interest and withdrawn from the conversation and withdrawn from the voting because there was a conflict of interest financially. Mr Wall handed out a letter from the property owners in that neighborhood. (copy on file) He also added that he felt that because of Ted Whyte not declaring a conflict of interest he thought the city 6u should return the $200 to Mr Sommer that they had charged for the Conditional Use Permit. Jared Sommer- As far as the home being used for business, it is not going to be used for business it will just be used as a rental unit in the basement. As far as their period of stay, it is hard to determine anyone's period of stay. As far as withdrawing it, he is willing to withdraw it based on the fact that the neighbors come up with the amount of money. Based on that he would be willing to withdraw. The mayor told him we could not give back the $200 because it is spent for legal advertisement. Val Christenson- He talked to an attorney and he told him that all the nine items should have been discussed at the meeting. The mayor told him everything does not get in the minutes. Val felt that the board acted on Stephen's request. He felt that what Stephen stated was an opinion and not law. Marsha told him as she sits in on the Zoning meetings, the people that sit on the board are independent thinkers and they all have degrees. They spent over one hour discussing all nine items. Val stated they did not like the way the Planning & Zoning acted, (1) Ted Whyte should have declared a conflict of interest and (2) they did not like how the nine points were addressed. Kay told him every street in the city has a traffic and noise factor, so he did not think that was a valid point. The mayor stated that he had spent the afternoon talking to the people on 5th West and they all were complaining about traffic and probably have a more valid point than the people in this addition. There is a traffic problem on all. the streets in the city. Val stated he felt this would set a precedence. Kay told him he did not feel that was a valid point. Jo Ann Green- Mr Zollinger had explained to them yesterday how the Protective Covenants have to be monitored by the neighborhood and their committee, but they do not want to set a precedence in their neighborhood even though it would not have any bearing in other neighborhoods. Kay told them they can change their Protective Covenants to wipe out anything they don't want in the neighborhood. Stephen told the group that there is no law stating that the findings be written. That is the way the statute is written it is not an opinion. The board did refer to the nine items and said they did not see any of the nine items in conflict. He did not think the Planning & Zoning did anything in error and they don't take their lead from him as to how to issue a Conditional Use Permit. They made their decision based on their analysis of the facts. Mr Sommer's action to withdraw does not change the fact that they have issued that permit and this council has to either uphold their decision or find a reason not to uphold their issuance of that permit. It will resolve this problem but the council has to make a decision whether they are going to overturn Planning & Zoning's efforts on this Conditional Use Permit, because of right now it is there and the council has to overturn it or leave it standing and let Mr Sommer withdraw as a courtesy to these neighbors. The council has to resolve the appeal. (discussion on the zoning, college housing and traffic) They were asked who has apartments in their basement. Mr wall said he knew at least two that had apartments and had not applied for a Conditional Use Permit. Probably the council should address those. Stephen told them the standard is not that it increases the traffic but will the road sustain the increase of traffic the way it has been designed and built. A motion was made by Glen Pond to table it for two weeks. Seconded by Farrell Young. Discussion. Those voting aye: Farrell Young, Glen Pond. Those voting nay: Kay Beck, Bruce Sutherland, Nyle Fullmer, Marsha Bjornn. Motion failed. Bruce Sutherland made a motion to let the decision stand as it was made by Planning & Zoning to issue the Conditional Use Permit and let Mr Sommer work it out with the neighbors. Motion seconded by Marsha Bjornn. Farrell Young asked if he does work it out with the neighbors -6i will that Conditional Use Permit stay with the property? Stephen told him it would stay with the property only if he builds exactly to the plans that Mr Sommer has had approved. If the structure is built it would go with the structure. Now it only goes with Jared and his plans. The only thing that has been approved is exactly what Jared has requested. Those voting aye: Kay Beck, Nyle Fullmer, Bruce Sutherland, Marsha Bjornn. Those voting nay: Farrell Young, Glen Pond. Motion carried. The mayor told the neighbors they need to come to Planning & Zoning to request a zone change to L.D.R. to not allow for apartments. RE: APPROVAL OF RESOLUTION 97.06 TOPIC: (21,81,RES,97.06,7TH SOUTH,RIGHT-OF-WAY,PERMITS,EASEMENT) Joe Laird presented Resolution 97.6 regarding the 7th South project. This would authorize the mayor to sign the resolution stating that all right-of-way, material sources, permits, easements, and/or agreements necessary for the construction of the above named project have been acquired as required by the State and Federal requirements. That for project STP -7866(100) we have not displaced any houses, business or farms, that no one has been displaced and that we have made effort to acquire real property by negotiation. A motion was made by Nyle Fullmer and seconded by Kay Beck to approve Resolution 97.6. All Aye RE: SKATE PARK TOPIC: (21,81,,, SKATE PARK,SWIMMING POOL AREA) Marsha made a report on the Skate Park. They had a meeting and they are trying to work out a location. They would like to use the pool area. There is a lot of support for it. RE: WILCOX FRESH PACK TOPIC: (21,81,,, WILCOX*LYNN,COMPREHENSIVE PLAN,ZONING, SIDDOWAY*THAYNE,HIGH COUNTRY POTATO) 8:00 P. M. Wilcox Fresh Pack - Public Hearing pertaining to the annexation to the City of Rexburg, as well as the amendment of the Comprehensive Plan pertaining to the property across from property commonly known as Spuds out on the south side of the road next to the South Interchange. At this time the City Council will hear and consider any and all protests against the annexation of said properties; the amendment to Comprehensive Plan; and that said properties if annexed to the City, be zoned as follows: Parcel 1: HIGHWAY BUSINESS DISTRICT (HBD): PARCEL 2: INDUSTRIAL DISTRICT (I). The mayor asked the council if they had all read the minutes from the Planning & Zoning Public Hearing? Kay Beck declared a conflict of interest. The mayor opened the hearing and asked that all comments to the council be limited to no longer than three or four minutes unless there is something different to present then what was presented at the Planning & Zoning Public Hearing. Lynn Wilcox- He didn't think there was anything to add to what was stated at the Planning & Zoning Public Hearing. He appreciated their service. Terry Mortensen- He was representing Thayne Siddaway. He is a partner of Thayne. He did not attend any of the other meetings and is not aware of the things that were brought up. Thayne is opposed to this annexation. His concern is the potato warehouse going next to their seed cutting facility. Their facility is designed to cut certified potato seed which could be in danger of bacteria, fungus, or virus which cocld be in the settling pond. He suggested that it would not add to the beautification of the city when you come into town and it would also add to the traffic problem. He thought these things should be taken in'=o consideration. The mayor read a letter from Stones Town and Country Motor and also signed by Ray Loveland, Reed Call, Doug Yancy, Brent Bell, David Taylor and Lori Black. (copy on file) They are proposing that 40' of the Wilcox property be made available for the exit to their facility in order to alleviate the traffic concerns. This would provide a seven lane exit into the city and also allow more room for the big trucks into the property. The mayor stated that could be put into the preannexation agreement and it would help the traffic problem. There is another letter suggesting that the 2nd exit across the railroad tracts be necessity. It would have to be done according to our ordinance. Chuck Homer representing High Country Potato- The reason they are here is to make sure the council is aware of their future plans. The concern they have now is that the city is now being asked to change their comprehensive plan and turn the area south of the city into an industrial area. When they had first talked to the Planning & Zoning they were concerned if that was the way the city really wanted to go. Does the city really want to have light industrial at that entrance to the city. The Planning & Zoning voted that yes they did want that area to be Light Industrial. If in fact the city is going to change their plan, then it would be the intent of High Country that the farm area around High Country which is owned by them that they would want to come back and get the same consideration to also make that area Light Industrial. They just want to be treated the same way when they come back and ask for a change. Nyle asked if this is denied will you come back and ask for a change? Mr Homer stated that if it is denied, it would be obvious that the city does not want it zoned industrial and they would have to look elsewhere. You are only allowed to change your plan every six months. The mayor stated that he could see a difference in putting industrial where there already is industrial and allowing it to go further north next to the residential area. He felt you would have a hard sell making that Cook property industrial. Marsha stated that the Planning & Zoning went over this in great length and took a vote and one member of the board voted against it. He was in on the Impact Zone and at that time they did not feel that it should be zoned Industrial. The rest of the board felt it was going that way anyway. Mary Ann pointed out that they are asking for Industrial in the back and H.B.D. in the front. (discussion) Nyle asked if the same concerns they have about this business applies to High Country? Terry said it does because fungus does travel in the area. He explained the contamination and precautions. High Country is that much further away and there is a highway separating. The perception is not as great. There is a bigger problem if it is closer. A motion was made by Marsha Hjornn that we change the Comprehensive Plan to allow for Industrial with a 2nd hearing on the plan in two weeks to amend the plan to allow for Industrial to the south of 1500 South except for H.H.D. immediately South of 1500 South as proposed. Seconded by Glen Pond Those voting aye: Glen Pond, Nyle Fullmer, Bruce Sutherland, Marsha Hjornn. Those voting nay: Farrell Young. Abstaining: Kay Beck The mayor told the council if there was anything they wanted put in the annexation agreement they need to let us know. Stephen stated that the Planning & Zcning stated it should be annexed subject to an Annexation ...... Agreement. RE: TOURIST REGION FOR OLYMPICS TOPIC: (21,62,,, RECREATION,OLYMPICS,TOURIST) Marsha reported on recreation. The Tourist Region is trying to set up an Olympic Committee so we get some of the money that is going to Utah. Driggs is already getting a package. Dave Payne is putting together some trails. We,want to put a package together for the people going through this area to Salt Lake. They would like ideas to reap some of the benefits. rM She met with the Recreation District Committee today and the Legislators and gave them some information and she felt the Legislators went away much more mellow on the subject. They feel they should postpone the election until November so they can be more ready. RE: BIKE PATH MEETING WITH FORESTRY COMMITTEE TOPIC: (21,83,,, BIKE PATH,TRAILS OF MADISON COUNTY,FORESTRY COMMITTEE, SCHOOL BOARD,EASEMENT) The mayor reported that there was a meeting Monday night which included people from the Bike Path Committee, Forestry Committee, Greenways Committee and put it altogether to try to coordinate it. It will be chaired under the Trails of Madison County. The mayor told the council he had been working on the Bike Path that we have the grant for and had met with all but two families along 5th West and he really didn't get any negative feed back. some of them have already signed the easement. All these years we have assumed that we had a 99 foot easement on 5th West but after checking it we do not have a 99 foot easement. We have a 49 1/2 foot easement on the east and none on the west. We have water, sewer and storm sewer but no easement on that side of the street. We only have a prescriptive easement to the edge of the road. He is having those people sign an easement that gives sufficient space that we can put a 10 foot sidewalk. There is a good perception down there. We need to individually talk to the people on the school board and let them know how important it is. The price to culvert up by the Middle School is only $9000 which would be a lot less than if they had to put in a curb, gutter and sidewalk which our agreement calls for now. Council agreed to let the school put in a culvert rather than curb & gutter for saftey reasons. The principal is worrying that predators would hang around the bike path and take advantage of the kids at Kennedy School. As he has seen bike paths in other cities, that has not been the problem. RE: CROSSWALK AT LINCOLN SCHOOL TOPIC: (21,83,,, CROSSWALK,LINCOLN SCHOOL,CROSSING GUARD) Kay Beck reported about the crosswalk at the Lincoln School. The crosswalk will come down the west side of the school, almost exactly directly across to the subdivision across the street rather than at the bottom of the hill. They will move the crossing guard up there. The safety committee felt good about this. With this they will do away with the crossing above. (discussion) It will be directly in the middle of the block. A motion was made by Kay Beck and seconded by Bruce Sutherland to put the crosswalk in the middle of the block directly across to the subdivision. All Aye Marsha stated that we need to thank Clair for all the extra hours he put in on the baseball teams. RE: FINANCING APPROVED TO EXPAND LEASE FOR WATER AND WASTE WATER IMPROVEMENTS FOR THE WILCOX PROJECT TOPIC: (21,83,,, WATER DEPT,WASTEWATER,FINANCING,WILCOX*LYNN) Richard gave a handout explaining the extension of the financing to expand the lease for water and wastewater improvements for the Wilcox project. We need to expand the financing from 1.2 million to 1.5 million. We will have to come up with $240,000 plus $60,000 contingency. A motion was made by Glen Pond and seconded by Kay Beck to approve the expansion of the lease by $300,000. Those voting aye: Bruce Sutherland, Glen Pond, Nyle Fullmer, Marsha Bjornn. Those voting nay: Farrell Young. Kay Beck Abstaining. A motion was made by Bruce Sutherland and seconded by Nyle Fullmer to approve the bills. All Aye A motion was made by Nyle Fullmer to go into executive session for a personnel matter. Seconded by Kay Beck. All Aye Meeting reconvened A motion was made by Nyle Fullmer and seconded by oleo enud to adjourn. City Clerk; .RO-Se ,5a*ley