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HomeMy WebLinkAbout1998.02.18 CITY COUNCIL MINUTES'i DATE: (021898) City Council 2/18/98 7:30 P.M. State of Idaho) County of Madison( ss City of Rexburg) Present were: Mayor: Nile Boyle Councilmembers: Glen Pond Kay Beck --- Farrell Young Bruce Sutherland ~- Marsha Bjornn Nyle Fullmer City Clerk: Rose Bagley Finance Officer: Richard Horner Attorney: Stephen Zollinger Mayor Boyle played the Video Enough is Enough prior to the start of the meeting. Pledge to the Flag. A motion was made by Nyle Fullmer and seconded by Farrell Young to approve the minutes. All Aye RE: ENOUGH IS ENOUGH TOPIC: (22,10,,,RICKS COLLEGE,DRUGS,U.P.&L) Mayor Boyle talked about Enough is Enough. There will be a program presented on this at Ricks College on April 23 and the Holt Arena on April 24. They expect to have about 25,000 kids go see this and there '. will be a chance at night for parents and interested adults to go and '.. see him. He told the council and people attending the meeting that --- they need somemore people locally that want to get involved in this drug task force. If there is anyone that wants to do it, contact him. There will be a regional meeting next Wednesday at 3:30 P. M. with several counties held at the Chamber of Commerce Room. Possibly one event like this might make some change. We need to be organized to do some things. Utah Power is donating some advertising. RE: JOE AND THE MAYOR MEET WITH THE STATE TRANSPORTATION DEPARTMENT REGARDING 7TH SOUTH TOPIC: (22,10,,,STATE TRANSPORTATION DEPARTMENT, 7TH S.,MIDDLE SCHOOL) The mayor told the council he and Joe went to a meeting on local roads and if we are going to apply to spend our money going through the State Transportation Department it takes three to six years even after we have built up our own money to do it. We need to get an application in for the traffic signal on 7th South by the Middle School even though it won't come up for two or three years. He would like permission from the City Council to fill out an application and get it in. A motion was made by Nyle Fullmer to allow the mayor to get an application and send it in for the traffic sign for 7th South by the Middle School. Seconded by Kay Beclc. All Aye RE: PROPOSAL TO LEASE THE POOL AT PORTER PARK TOPIC: (22,10,,,PORTER PARK,POOL,PERRY*DIANE,BUDGET,PUGMIRE*PAUL, SKATE BOARD PARK) Pool and Recreation Discussion. Diane Perry was at the meeting to submit a proposal to lease the pool at Porter Park. She gave copies of the proposal to the council (copy on file). This is a new proposal. She stated that she had put in considerable time in researching this and coming up with these figures. The mayor had given her a key to get in so she could get the bids. The main points she wanted to make was the pool has not been profitable for the city and there is a great need for renovation. In her research she found that the cost of razing the pool would run about $30,000. She had bids on what it would cost to renovate the pool and which would be between $32,000 and $35,000. She has looked at the figures on the pool as far as budget and put together a proposed budget. She felt there was a possibility of restoring the pool. They were hoping to aslc the city to redirect the cost of demolition and disposal to the renovation of the pool. What they would do is anything in addition to what it would cost the city to demolish the pool they would came up with the funds to complete the rest of the renovation and clean it. When the pool was open for the season it would be in a nice clean condition. They are not asking the city to do anything more than put in the money it would cost to demolish the pool. Once that is done they will expect to accept no responsibility as far as liability or repairs. She explained the figures she had. She did intend to reduce the payroll for management and other labor by agreeing to donate their labor and the labor of their children as well as community support. They have not cut any of the wages for teachers or life guards. She had talked to the people that renovated the Blackfoot pool and explained and also said she had talked to the people that restored the Ashton pool. They have talked to a lot of people who felt it would be a shame to take the money that has been invested in the pool and bury it. She had gone over the pool with a fine tooth comb and looked at everything that needs work andtaken it into consideration. She has everything to show she can do this. Bruce asked her if the mayor explained that there is not $30,000 available for the razing so there is not $30,000 available for the repair. It would have to be done with someone else's money. He told her they voted to raze the pool when the money was available. She said she understood that if they went through the city there would be a possibility of grants that would be available. The mayor told her we have not been successful in getting grants for swimming pools. She said if the city was showing the pool was loosing money that would not justify a grant. Kay asked how the $30,000 to raze the pool was that arrived at? She said she had contractors come in and give her bids. He asked if she would give copies of the bids for razing the pool and for renovation of the pool. She said she had copies but would like to ]seep them at this point in time. Kay stated that it sounds like a lot of money to raze the pool, it didn't cost nearly that much to raze the airport building because we did a lot of it with our own people and possibly could do the same with the pool. Mrs Perry said she had found several people that would donate time and material to renovate the pool. United Plumbing have agreed to provide labor at no cost and some materials and would sell her some materials at their cost. The mayor said he was not surprised that you could renovate the pool for $30,000 but if something major went wrong then that would be the end of it. The city doesn't have $30,.000 to do it unless there was some other way to do it. Mrs Perry said there is a lot of support in the community. She is willing to do fund raisers but needs the support of the council. The mayor stated if there was $30,000 there to-get it started and the legal problems could be taken care of he would have no problem in leasing the pool but the city cannot come up with $30,000. Marsha stated the pool committee did a lot of research and they thought they could raise money. it is a nice thought but does not always happen. Mrs Perry said she had a lot of calls asking how they could help. (discussion) Clair Boyle asked when she had checked the pool? She said it had it been in the last two weeks? Clair said there is a lot of snow and the pool door was left open and had to have three men help while a locksmith repaired the lock. He could not tell you what that pool was like because of the snow and you can't see it. She said she was there last year as well. Clair also asked if the city would give us the $30,000 why couldn't they operate the same as her? She said they could but why hasn't the city done it? Clair said they have not had the money to do it. They have had to operate the pool on a patch by patch bases. (discussion) The council felt if she could raise the $30,000 there would be no problem. (discussion) A question about the parking. Stephen stated if it is being operated as a private enterprise the parking will have to be addressed but could be addressed by the council. Once it becomes a private enterprise they are bound by the rules we have. What the city would be doing is leasing the pool. Perry's would be responsible for all aspects of the pool. Stephen discussed the liability insurance costs and what ICRIMP would require. Generally speaking when you enter into a lease there is not only a guarantee from the city for the right to use the pool but somekind of assurance or provision in the lease that Mrs Perry will guarantee the operation of the pool. He is concerned if things go badly are you going to subsidize this? She said if necessary. She said in looking at the revenue in the past three years, it has done abcut $75,000 or $85,000 in revenue in the last three years. Stephen said you need to take into consideration that we have given people a year to find that there is three or four pools that are not quite as far away as they thought. Hruce asked if she had figured the cost of water? She had not but hoped the city would give them a good rate on water. A motion was made by Nyle Fullmer to support their proposal and effort if they address the legal issues and come up with the money to renovate and operate the pool. Seconded by Glen Pond The mayor asked for any discussion Doug Smith stated he had spent four years looking at the pool situation. He ]snows what she is talking about is feasible to do for a short period of time, but he did not think she would be able to do that for more than a short time on a volunteer bases. He had watched volunteer things and they struggle. They go up and then come back down. We need to be behind things that we can keep moving. He did not think that pool meets the needs of our community. He has had mothers tell him they will not take their children there because of the dressing rooms. If she renovates them to make them better it might change some minds. IIntil we get together as a community with some leadership and direction, we can't move forward. He felt we need some support from our government on a bases that we have some stability for recreation that it doesn't go up and down every time a road gets cracked. He was sure the things that get done in the city as far as recreation is we are borrowing money from streets and the other things that need to be done to complete it and he felt that needs to stop. We need a recreation fund. We have no means to do anything like the skateboard park, the pool, or other recreation things until we get a plan together. The council will need to be in charge of it because we have not got the county in that direction. He lives in the county but feels it is a travesty the way the County Commissioners have avoided the issue. We sit here and talk about Enough is Enough and we have these drug things but have we don't do anything for them. There is no better thing than recreation to help keep our kids out of drugs. We need multiple recreation things that meets the needs of everyone of those kids. If we let this go on it will ]seep the pool going for a while but we still need a recreation program in this community. If it isn't a recreation district then we need to have some money set aside for recreation as a community. ', Diane Perry- She told them she was not going to depend on volunteers to run the pool forever. For the first year they are going to ask for volunteers to help with the renovation and to help through that first season to see how things will go. She was confident that after the first year there would be no reason for volunteers. IE the community wanted to spend money on a new pool we would of had it in the vote. She is planning on running it far a minimum of 5 years. Debbie Thompson- She felt there was a misunderstanding that a recreation district was just for a swimming pool. She felt it was amazing that we can have a new jail facility and a juvenile detention center with a recreation area but yet we can't have recreation in our community. (discussion) Mr Perry expressed that he felt the city should contribute with the funds that were going to be available for razing the pool because it would be an asset to the city. He felt the city should give them direction as to where they could get funding. Instead of the council helping he felt they were taking them down. He was under the impression that the city had funds available. The mayor told him the motion was made to raze the pool when funds were available. (discussion) --- Clair Boyle- He stated that if the poollost money but are people aware of how many days the pool was shut down because of weather conditions but we had to heat the water. He told Mrs Perry if she can operate the pool in a fine manner and make the council happy, more. power to you. When we talk about the wages of life guards, that was his responsibility as much as anyone. Every time a siren went off in the city he headed for the swimming pool. He had that much fear of someone drowning in that pool. That is how much responsibility you will have. The city council did everything they could to provide money to put in that pool and that is the reason the patching was done. If we had $30,000 the pool would not have been leaking the slide pool would not have been leaking, we would have a new boiler, some resurfacing and we would be operating the pool. He worried about volunteers. He has been running the pool for a long time and ]mew what it cost and the problems. No one has offered to give him a rack off on plumbing supplies. Paul Pugmire- He wanted everyone to understand that the pool and the skate board park are separate issues and are not in competition. If you keep the pool they would find another site for the skate board park. If it is the judgement of the council to take the pool out then it remaine their preferred site. If the pool remains they suggest there could be another location in. the park. He would like to support Dr. Smith's comments and the importance of recreation in the community. Rose read the motion that was made by Nyle Fullmer. (discussion on the terms of a lease) Mrs Perry would like until the '99 to work on it. Stephen pointed out, all this motion was is in support of Mrs Perry if she can pull this together. No one is malting a commitment or can the make a commitment. They are not voting on giving you a contract. They are voting on their support that you go outand see if you can pull it together. He felt she would find out the insurance number would be the big problem. The council can't commit themselves to not make a second motion 6 months from now. The council is not guaranteeing her anything. The mayor asked for a vote of the council on the motion. Those voting aye: Glen Pond Nyle Fullmer Kay Beclt Those voting nay: Bruce Sutherland Marsha Hjornn Farrell Young The voting being tied called for a vote from the Mayor. The mayor voted aye to see if there is anyway to raise the money privately and that the liability is covered. Stephen stated that we would have to have a million dollars liability before ICRIMP will let us lease the pool. That is what we are requiring in the Golf Course contract and he felt that would be the minimum they would let us get away with on a swimming pool facility. The mayor stated that all around the state he sees increasing spending for recreation and Madison County is going the other way. We have a group that wants to set up a committee and have sort of a commitment from the county commissioners to get involved. We need to get a large group and get worlting that way because swimming by itself is not enough. RE: GOLF BOARD NEEDS A DECISION ON A NEW HOARD MEMBER TOPIC: (22,14,,,GOLF BOARD,GOLF COi7RSE) Nyle stated that the golf board would like a decision on the new member of the golf board. A motion was made by Nyle to approve Denys Wheeler as a member of the golf board. Seconded by Bruce. The mayor stated we need to work out the length of the terms on the board. Nyle stated that they recommended that one term be six years so it carries over making up for the last year of Don's term so it will be on a regular rotation. The mayor asked for a vote on the motion. All Aye The mayor told the council that the Recreation Committee would meet after this meeting to go over the Job Description for the Recreation Director to replace Clair and advertise the job. A motion was made by Bruce and seconded by Nyle to approve the bills. All Aye Meeting Adjourned Nile L. Hoyle, Mayor Rase Bagley, City Clerk