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HomeMy WebLinkAbout1999.04.21 CITY COUNCIL MINUTES(',' DATE: (042199) State of Idaho) County of Madison( ss City of Rexburg) City Council 4/21/99 7:30 P.M. Present were: Presiding: Glen Pond Councilmembers: Farrell Young ICay Beclc Marsha Hjornn Nyle Fullmer Paul Pugmire City Clerk: Rose Bagley Finance Officer: Richard Horner Attorney: Stephen Zollinger Excused: Mayor Sutherland and John Millar. Pledge to the flag. A motion was made by Nyle Fullmer and seconded by Marsha Bjornn to approve the minutes. All Aye. RE: FIRE DEPARTMENT HID FOR NEW AIR COMPRESSOR TOPIC: (22,125,,,FIRE DEPT.,BID,BUDGET) Glen Pond explained the Fire Department got a bid for their new Air Compressor. We had budgeted $28,000 and the bids came in $19,000, $22,000 and $17,000. A motion was made by Kay Be c1c to accept the low bid of $17,000, seconded by Nyle Fullmer. A11 Aye RE: DOGS IN THE PARKS TOPIC: (22,125,,,NATURE PARK, PARICS,DOGS) Dogs in the Nature Parlc and other Parks- The employees that take care of the parks complained that people are *_aking their dogs in the Nature Parlc and they make a mess for people to step in. Glen told the council we have an Ordinance 564 pertaining to our parks. Section VI-(C) "Animals. It shall be unlawful for any person to bring or harbor any animals in the parks." Discussion. The City of Idaho Falls and the City of Blackfoot have clean up laws behind dogs as they walls them. They have bags that you can scoop up the dog mess and take it with you. The council asked Stephen to amend the ordinance to provide that dogs should be on leashes and that the owners clean up after them and the city could have baggies available. It was also suggested that we need Farrell to put up signs. RE: EMPLOYEE RESIDENTZP..L REQUIREMENTS REMOVED TOPIC: (22,125,,,EMPLOYEE,EMPLOYEE COMMITTEE,PERSONNEL MANUAL) Changing Residential Requirements Section of the Personnel Manual- At the last meeting a presentation was made by a spokesman from the employee committee regarding the residential living requirement. The employee committee would like that removed from the personnel policy. There would be need to be in place a requirement that employees in some departments would need to be within a certain response time to the city which would be in their job description. Marsha- stated she felt arbitrary for us to require the employees to live in the city when it is such a small city. If their response time needs to be regulated it could be in their job description. Farrell- felt we tend to regulate so many things from this level of government that are necessary but he felt that regulating any unnecessary intrusion on peoples lives was unnecessary. Kay- when we made this decision it was because we felt everyone should have a vested interest in the city. He has always backed the employees even though he would rather see them live in the city. He felt when they pay taxes to furnish some money to pay for their wages that they had more vested interest. Paul- felt we should provide a good stewardship for our employees and to provide an environment of which we can attract and keep as happy as possible a well trained, well qualified work force. Discussion. A motion was made by Paul Pugmire to strike from our Personnel Manual the section requiring that our employees reside in the city and that response time be addressed in job descriptions. Seconded by Nyle Fullmer. All Aye Due to another commitment Nyle Fullmer was excused at 7:45 P.M. RE: REZONING PUBLIC HEARING AT 125 E 1ST N APPROVED TOPIC: (22,126,,,1HT N,ZONE CHANGE,PUBLIC HEARING) A Public Hearing held before the City Council regarding a proposed rezoning to provide as follows: That the owners of the property located at approximately 125 East 1st North and extending to the North be rezoned to H.B.D. (Highway Business District). The property is currently zoned L.D.R.1 (Low Density Residential 1). A letter was sent to the Planning & Zoning regarding the Zone Change from Riclc Robbins copy on file. Kent But ilcofer 3354 North 6000 East - He is in the process of purchasing the property to build a Real Estate Office. This requires a zone change from L.D.R.1 to H.B.D. There was no objections except Mr Robbins which as Stephen explained had little or not relevance to this actual request. His concern was at the intersection. A person representing Mr Bell was at the meeting and he told the board Mr Be11 did not object to this development. It would be an improvement over the weeds. Close the hearing. A motion was made by Kay Beck to accept Planning & Zoning recommendation to rezone this property at approximately 125 East 1st ,.. North from L.D.R.l to H.B.D. Seconded by Paul Pugmire. Those voting aye: Marsha Bjornn Farrell Young ICay Heclc Paul Pugmire Absent: Nyle Fullmer RE: BUDGET ITEMS FOR 1999 TOPIC: (22,126,,,BUDGET,WATER RATES, SEWER RATES, FEES,WATER HOOK UP) Budget Items- Richard gave a handout for the budget preparation calendar and rates on water and sewer hookup fees. Discussion on having a retreat for the council and department heads on May 12. At this we would do some strategic planning and come up with a mission statement. He said he had talked to a company that are Facilitators for this thing. They couldn't come on the 12th but could come on the 10th or 11th. For a 3 hours session they would charge $2500 plus travel. Marsha said the fellow she had talked to would charge $600 plus travel for one full day. He wou~.d also talk to the mayor twice before and after. (discussion) In this session we would not be talking about budget but would talk about direction. Then the department head can take it and along with the councilman work it in with the budget. Later on the department heads that are supported by property tax and general fund would meet together prioritize the capital purchases and they would iron out which type of capital purchases would be taken care of after they have already met with themayor and council and Richard. They would come together as a group and say we have X amount of dollars and X amount of requests and then trim that down. They would handle that part and come back to the council after and in an hour meeting go over those budget items and show you what has been done and the direction the department heads want to go. That meeting will be short. Richard said he and the mayor could do the facilitation. Marsha felt we need a Saturday if we have the fellow come from Boise. Rose suggested that the department heads would probably rather come during the week than to give up a Saturday. It was suggested that we involve the council, mayor and department heads. Marsha stressed she thought it was important to do this to see where we are headed in the future and ]ceep it in front of us to remind us. Rose also reminded them they need to take into consideration the goals set in the Comprehensive Plan. Some of the council questioned if we need to bring in an outsider or if the mayor could do it. Glen suggested that Jim Sullivan does this type of thing. Mr Sullivan is with R.D.A, and did it for M.E.D.C.O. He would be more than happy to do it for the city. He has had a lot of experience as a facilitator. He has done this a lot in Utah for Economic Development. Richard said he would call him. Paul and ICay stated they were unimpressed with facilitators,because of the experience they had with them, especially those coming in that don't know anything about the city. (discussion) It was decided to set the meeting for May 12 at 6:00 P. M. It was decided to have the regular council meeting on May 19 to 7:15 A.M, because of Seminary Graduation. Discussion on a date for Public Hearing for Budget. A motion was made by ICay Beclc and seconded by Farrell Young to set the Public Hearing for September 1. This would include the utilities rate increases and other increases or decreases as necessitated. All Aye RE: EMPLOYEE COST OF LIVING INCREASE FOR 1999 APPROVED TOPIC: (22,127,,,COST OF LIVING,INSURANCE) Employee Cost of Living Increase- Richard explained the National Published Cost of Living Index shows it has increased 1.7%. The Health Insurance has gone up 7.8% and Dental Insurance has gone up 8.4%. Richard explained we have accumulated $47,000 because of buying the large deductible plan. The plan was to ]ceep this money to off set the increases in Health Insurance. He proposed that the city fund the $20,000 increase on health insurance. The Dental Insurance went up too but this is funded different. We pay for the employee and the employee pays for their family. The premium went up for a family about $4.OD a month. If we increased the cost of living .D03% with the 1.7% that would cover the increase in the Dental Insurance which would make it 2.0 %. Discussion. A motion was made by Paul Pugmire and seconded by Marsha Bjornn to give a 2.0% cost of living raise which would include holding the employees harmless on Medical and Dental Insurance. All Aye Richard gave council a hand out (one file) for Water & Sewer Hook up fee increases. (discussion) A motion was made by ICay Bec7c and seconded by Paul Pugmire to hold a Public Hearing for these increases on May 19. All Aye RE: TABERNACLE & MUSEIIM REPORT TOPIC: (22,127,,,TABERNACLE,MUSEUM) Farrell Young gave a report on theTabernacle and Museum- Because the City and Historical Society have cometo an agreement that the City will take over the museum in the basement of the tabernacle on May 1, we held an informational meeting with several interested citizens to discuss and see what their feelings were about the museum. He summarized the feelings of those people that were museum oriented and listed some of the questions: (1) Should we continue to have a museum or should we discontinue it? The consensus was the museum serves a worth while purpose. It served 5000 people last year and could serve more if we publicize it. They were unanimous in favor of keeping the museum if we can find a way to fund it. (2) They talked about )ceeping the name of the Teton Flood Museum and felt that was the name that brought more people to see it. Right now there isn't much in the museum about the flood but there could be more things brought in. (3) Should the museum be moved to another location however funding would come into consideration and it was-felt that the tabernacle location was excellent because of the historical nature of the building. It was felt that people should be allowed to go upstairs when they come to the museum. (a) It was suggested that we put together a brochure telling what is in the museum. It could have in it the history of Rexburg as well as the displays. (5) We could clean up the museum, paint it and put in new display cases. We could make it something to be proud of if we decide to go ahead with it. (6) They talked about who will do it. They talked about volunteers and if we could staff the museum for eight hours a day with volunteers. Ideally there should be a governing board to oversee it with one hired director who would be there most of the time to oversee the volunteers. They realized that money is the biggest stumbling block, but if there is any way the museum can be maintained and improved it was felt it was a worth while project. If we docontinue with the museum it was felt we should charge a fee so it can be self sustaining. (discussion) They felt we should make it something people would want to come back to. If we could get rotating displays, peoplemight want to come back every year. (discussion) Marsha suggested that we hire a museumologist. Stephen stated he did not think that was necessary and we don't have funds or facility to run it like they are taught in school. There are a lot of retired people who would be qualified and available to help. Paul Pugmire suggested he would like to see us change how the tabernacle civic center is managed. He also would like to see the basement managed like the upstairs is managed. Farrell Young stated that those who manage it want it to remain historical and not damaged. (discussion) Paul stated he would like to see us make it a functional civic center. Stephen stated the Tabernacle Board would not be able to take the museum over in nine days. There are a lot of schools that are looking '' for field trips during the last week of school. He suggested that we get an interim committee to run the museum during the month of May to accommodate all the school children. He suggested that possibly Terrell and Margaret Arnold would help through May. Maybe the council committee could visit with them. Cory Foster suggested that the employee committee are looking for a service project. Maybe they could go in and help clean it up. Stephen suggested that there are people who need to do Community Service and could be assigned to that project. Stephen suggested that we give who ever is going to manage-t during the interim time to look at it to see what needs to be done. RE: REPORT ON SKATE PARit - ~ - TOPIC: (22,128,,,NATURE PPS2IC, SICATEHOPI2D PP12IC, RECREATION) Paul Pugmire reported on the Slcate Parlc. They have completed the design and have finalized putting it out for bids. They are hoping to finish it by the end of July or first of August. Richard told him they need to let our insurance company look at the design. RE: SAFETY COMMITTEE TOPIC: (22,128,,,SAFETY COMMITTEE) Aay Heck reported on the Safety Committee. They are meeting regularly and doing a lot of foot work. He felt we need to pay attention to their recommendations. (discussion on roads) Farrell Young stated the Airport Hoard want to meet on the Budget. A motion was made by ICay Heclc and seconded by Farrell Young to pay the bills. All P_ye Adjourned. `~ / ~ !~ ~ /~ ~~-' J' Mayor, Bruce Sutherland City Clerk, Rose; Ba'gl