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HomeMy WebLinkAbout1999.12.01 CITY COUNCIL MINUTESDate: (120199) State of Idaho) County of Madison) ss City of Rexburg) City Council 12/01/99 7:30 P.M. Present were: Mayor: Bruce Sutherland Councilmembers: Glen Pond Nyle Fullmer ' ' . i....._ Kay Beck Marsha Bjornn Paul Pugmire City Clerk: Rose Bagley Finance Officer: Richard Horner Attorney: Stephen Zollinger P.F.C.: John Millar Pledge to the flag. Introduction of scouts. A motion was made by Marsha Bjornn and seconded by Kay Beck to approve the minutes. All Aye RE: HUMANE SOCIETY TOPIC: (23,45,,, HUMANE SOCIETY,ANIMAL CONTROL,DOGS) Kathy LaF011ette representing the Humane Society was at the meeting to discuss a proposal for Animal Control. (A copy of the proposal has been given to the council earlier.) She has been involved with the Human Society in various ways. In all the programs they have put on they have had poor involvement. She has researched the animal control and has come up with some solutions. She felt there needs to be better education and better animal awareness. She decided to see if she could get some help from the City and talked to the mayor who encouraged her to research the problem and come up with some solutions which she has done. Some solutions she was suggesting is (1) That the city Organize an Animal Control Council and she would be willing to serve on that council. (2) There is lack of information getting out into the community. We need to work harder to educate the community regarding current animal control ordinances. (3) Keep better records on what is going on so we can back track and see where we need to improve. (4) It concerns her that there is a lack of vaccination for Rabies. There is a potential for rabies from wild animals such as bats and skunks. She suggested that it be mandatory that all animals must be current on their rabies vaccination before they are licensed and that there be written proof. (5) There is a big problem with over population of animals. It causes a lot of problems with animals that are turned loose and abandoned. It also causes a problem for the animal control officers as well. People get animals that they don't want to take care of and these are the animals that are left unattended that cause the problems. One thing that would help this would be if we didn't allow public give away of animals at businesses. (6) She would like to see an increase in licensing fees that would penalize pet owners that didn't have their pets altered so we can cut back on the number of puppies or kittens. (7) There is a lack of funds and volunteers to make the necessary changes that are needed. (S) Each pet owner needs to be responsible for their own pet. Glen referred to the city of Moscow where they are trying to get an animal park where people can take their animals and let them run. He asked if she thought that would be a good idea? She said she understood that dogs were allowed in the park if they are under control. (discussion) / �Z/ Ann Stegelmeier- She stated that her husband has been practicing as a veterinarian in Rexburg since 1965. This is a problem they face every day, someone calls and says they have a dog they don't want and ask them to take the dog and find it a home? It is usually a mutt that they have picked up in front of a store the spring when the weather was good and have had it out in the back yard when the weather gets cold they don't want it in the house or in the garage and so they want to get rid of it. They expect them to take care of it and feed it for a few weeks to find it a home. The city and county need to get together and set up a plan and follow through with the plan. She also felt the city should not allow giving away animals at local businesses. Paul LaF011ette- While living in Rexburg in different locations he has been involved in catching a lot of stray animals and often they are sick, wild, a health and safety problem in a neighborhood. He has seen a lot of animals put to sleep. We need to get a hold on it. He felt that cats should be licensed. He knew they are hard to keep track of but they do cause a rabies problem and there is a big problem with wild cats. Kay Beck stated there has always been a pet problem since he has lived in Rexburg. He stated we have to license other things and he felt animals should be licensed. Lynn Poole, Animal Control Officer - He told the council the number of licensed dogs in Rexburg in 1995 was 118, 1996 was 128, 1997 was 126, 1999 so far 92. He does not know whose animal he finds if it is not licensed. He was concerned if the the fee for licenses was raised if people just wouldn't license the animals. (discussion) The mayor told Kathy she had done a good job and the city will look into an Ordinance and discuss it with Officer Poole and Chief Archibald. People will have to want to get their animals registered. We could add in our ordinance the prohibiting of giving away animals at local businesses. The council will also look into having a committee and we will follow through with it. James Parkinson- His concern with banning the give away of animals at public places is what is going to stop someone giving them away from their front lawn? The mayor stated that if they give them away on their lawn they will usually have to advertise and the people that stop by would be a little more interested than those going in and out of a store and seeing some puppies and taking them home. Mr Parkinson stated that his dog is not licensed but he does plan on licensing it. He has a pure bred golden retriever that is unaltered and he did not agree that he should have to have it altered and does not feel he should have to pay more for it. Mr Parkinson stated he would be willing to serve on the Animal Control Committee. Kathy is going to meet with the county with a proposal RE: BEER LICENSES TOPIC: (23,46,,,BEER LICENSES,HORI=Y'S,BROULIMS) The mayor read the Beer Licenses to be approved. Horkley's Self Service - 1021 N. Salem Road - contingent upon them getting their State License. Horkley Self Service 39 South 2nd West- contingent upon them getting their State License. A motion was made by Nyle Fullmer and seconded by Glen Pond to approve those beer licenses contingent upon their State License. All Aye Broulims - 124 West Main - contingent upon them getting their County License. A motion was made by Kay Beck and seconded by Marsha Bjornn to approve this beer license contingent upon their County License. All Aye -�- RE: DISCUSSION OF GARBAGE TRUCK SALE TOPIC: (23,47,,, SURPLUS EQUIPMENT,GARBAGE TRUCKS,EQUIPMENT) John discussed the Garbage Truck Sale. Two weeks ago we had received bids on the old sweeper and old garbage truck. Since then he had done some research on how often we would use the old garbage truck and how critical it is that we have a spare truck. He had also looked at our Mutual Aid Agreement with the City of Rigby and talked with Rigby about the availability of their equipment. In talking with the crew, we are using that truck as much as 6 weeks during the year. If you calculate that into our rate with the City of Rigby which is seven years old at $65.00 an hour we would recoup in two years what we can get out of the truck without counting the convenience of having the truck available. On most holidays they will put three trucks out to catch up or if a truck goes down for even two hours or two weeks, the parts are not available locally. Every part they have to get to repair the truck comes from a factory back east and it takes two weeks for parts. John and Richard looked at it financially and there are some down sides to it. The drivers would like to see us keep that truck and rotate out the third truck. A motion was made by Kay Beck to accept this recommendation and reject the bid and keep the old garbage truck. Seconded by Glen Pond, All Aye RE: UPDATE ON PROJECTS TOPIC: (23,47,,, 7TH S0UTH,5TH WEST,SEWER LINES) The sewer project that Edstrom has been working on 7th South and 5th West. The hooked up the pump station today and that project is complete. RE: SOUTH HIGHWAY PROJECT TOPIC: (23,47,,, SOUTH HIGHWAY,YELLOWSTONE HIGHWAY,TRAFFIC SIGNALS) The south highway project - Zollinger's contract is near completion. Discussion on the stripping. The paint is flaking and we need to resolve it. If we can get by until spring we will seal coat and then restripe the road. The lights are up, they are doing the wiring now and the turn on date is scheduled for next Friday, December 11. RE: 2ND WEST AND MAIN STREET SIGNAL TOPIC: (23,47,,, 2ND WEST,MAIN STREET,TRAFFIC SIGNALS) The 2nd West and Main signal- they have a lot of the wiring done. The bases and control cabinet are here. The poles are scheduled to arrive this week and they will move right onto that one as soon as they finish South Highway. They anticipate that to be operational by the end of the year. RE: PAVING OF FAIR GROUND ROAD TOPIC: (23,47,,, PAVING,FAIR GROUNDS,MADISON COUNTY) The corner by the race track has been completed. John had met with the county and they will bring us a check. RE: WASTEWATER TREATMENT PLANT TOPIC: (23,47,,, WASTEWATER TREATMENT PLANT) They are nearly complete on the excavation for the Treatment Plant. Hopefully we can get the deep concrete in for the clarifier before this winter. After they get that done they will probably shut down until spring. RE: DISCUSSION OF VARIOUS ITEMS i..__. TOPIC: (23,47,,, SH0SH0NE,SUNSET CIRCLE,FAIR GROUNDS,PARKING, SIGNS, NATURE PARK,BIKE PATHS,SNOW REMOVAL,WASTEWATER TREATMENT PLANT) Marsha had some .questions about area on Shoshone where the fence is in the site triangle and you can't see around the corner? John said he still would check on it. She questioned the drainage in Sunset Circle? (discussion) The road that is sinking by the canal by the Fair Grounds? John said it was not totally the City's responsibility but he would work with them. (discussion) No Parking signs by Parkinsons and Conrads? John said when we move that park shop and park compound they can have an entrance for cars and that will help. She questioned about keeping the jogging path in the Nature Park open in the winter. Mr Parkinson said he would keep the one side open if we would keep the rest open. John said they had put in the budget to get a Skid Steerer for the Wastewater and it can be used to keep the trails groomed. He will be bringing a proposal to the council on that. RE: DISCUSSION OF PERSONNEL COMMITTEE DECISION TOPIC: (23,48,,, PERSONNEL,SICK LEAVE,MEDICAL INSURANCE, EMPLOYEE BENEFITS,EMPLOYEE COMMITTEE) Glen Pond reported that the Personnel Committee met this week. Kay filled in for Farrell in his absence. An issue was brought up regarding sick leave loss by some of the long term employees since January 1, 1990. Employees hired after that date accrue their sick bank and are able to take 25% of that with them when they retire or leave it with the City to pay for medical insurance until it runs out. The long term employees that were hired prior to that date are loosing several hours because we didn't have that policy in effect. The Personnel Committee is recommending that we go back to allow those long term employees to pick up those hours that would have been lost prior to 1990 so when they retire they have those hours they have accumulated that we can reimburse them for. There are a lot of employees that don't use their sick leave and are here everyday. The Personnel Committee is recommending that they get paid 25% of their current hourly wage and if they want to leave the money in the city for health insurance that they be paid 35 9 6. The amount of money is not real significant because we can't accrue that amount until those employees retire. Richard has a handout to give the council with the figures on it. Glen suggested that the council who had any questions go in and talk to Richard or someone on the Personnel Committee and be willing to make a vote on it at the next council meeting. The council suggested that Richard run it past the Employee Committee to see if they are in favor of this proposal. Richard said the Employee Committee had discussed this a year or so ago but he would meet with that committee prior to the next council meeting. RE: LOUISIANA PACIFIC PROJECT - TOPIC: (23,48,,, LOUISIANA PACIFIC,ZOLLINGER CONSTRUCTION,PARKS, RECREATION,FUNDS) The Mayor told the council that on Monday November 29 we closed the deal with Louisiana Pacific. Stephen told the council they were unable yet to get an actual legal description because they couldn't get it all drawn up. He gave the council a drawing to show what property Zollinger Construction has been presented with. John Millar met with Jack and Jeff Zollinger. The council needs to approve the sale . of this portion of the property. The terms of the sale are that Zollinger Construction will pay $125,000 cash and $50,000 in -kind labor to assist in removing obstacles from the property that is not shown on this drawing to make this property useful for a park. As was discussed, Zollinger Construction will only use a portion of the property as industrial and steps will be taken to rezone that portion to the West as M.D.R. The total outlay by Zollinger Construction would be a total of $175,000 with cash plus in -kind labor. Everyone involved is reasonably sure that will exceed the fair market value of this property. Zollinger has requested an appraisal of this property and any amount over the appraisal amount would be credited as a donation. i Glen asked who would supervise the sale and labor and do we have the ability to put time constraints on them. Zollingers have requested that they have three years to complete the in -kind work. Immediately we will go out and dig test holes and determine how much is hark and what opportunity there would be to blend the bark with top soil and make it into a plantable area as soon as possible. John will manage Zollingers time and assessing the work with Jack. John stated Zollinger's big concern is that they could do the work in off times, he tries to keep his crew busy in the winter or wet times. If Zollinger could send the crew over there it will be minimal cost to him. The total acreage with the purchase is just over 30 acres. It includes a portion behind Utah Power & Light which has a concrete floor which might be useful to put a building on. (discussion) Glen asked if we need a bond with Zollingers in case they go out of business or sell their business? Stephen stated that right now Jack is bonded to about five million dollars. The contract could be drawn up that if they don't fulfill their portion of the agreement we could foreclose on the property. Marsha stated she felt bad that they are going to take the complete frontage of the property. We talked about access to the property. Will we have a right -a -way through there? Stephen stated that we kept a road that is already there that will tie into our property. Jack Bowman would like the eastern most corner developed into grassy fields for soccer and baseball fields. Parking would be negotiated with KMart. (discussion) Zollingers are requesting that we put a lien against the $50,000 in -kind work and when they pay the $125,000 cash they will get clean title to the other portion. John stated he was not sure we can clean up the property for $50,000 but we can get that much work done in three years. John stated we need to put in the contract that a minimum 1/3 of the work will be done each year. Stephen suggested that we put in the contract that in the event that Zollinger has not completed the $50,000 worth of work at the end of three years that they cash out what has not been done. Everything will have to he approved and assessed by the city and establish an hourly rate for the work and equipment. We will have to monitor it so we direct the work. The City bought the property for $225,000. Richard stated that we will have to amend the budget but we can take the money out of our Fund Balance. A motion was made by Nyle Fullmer to approve the transfer of the sale of the property as authorized to Zollinger Construction for $175,000 with $125,000 cash and $50,000 in -kind work. Motion was made by Kay Beck and seconded by Paul Pugmire. All Aye The council stated that the council leave it up to the mayor and John to approve the contract as written and make sure John can administer the contract. RE: DISCUSSION OF Y2K PLAN TOPIC: (23,49... Y2K) Richard told the council we need to approve the Y2K Plan. The council felt they would like to go through it with the department heads. It was decided to start the next council meeting at G:30 P. M. and have the department heads come and do a short 10 minute overview for each department. RE: DISCUSSION OF TAX ANTICIPATION NOTE TOPIC: (23,49,,, FUNDS,TAXES) Richard told the council it is the time of the year prior to us getting any tax money and we are getting low on funds and he asked the council's approval for a tax anticipation note. A motion was made by Glen Pond and seconded by Kay Beck to approve a Tax Anticipation Note for $500,000 and authorize the mayor to sign the note. All Aye RE: DISCUSSION OF CART BILL TOPIC: (23,49,,, CART,MADISON COUNTY,CONTRACT) Richard also told the council we received a bill from Cart for the city to contribute $1400. We have contributed this amount in prior years. Stephen stated that we need a contract with any entity that we give money to specifying what type of service we expect. It needs to be written out. The council felt we need to base the contract on the fact that the county pay their share. Paul told the council the City of Pocatello -is talking about a skate park and want him to meet with them. Marsha reminded the council that we need a work meeting on the firing range. This can be set for the first of the year. A motion was made by Glen Pond and seconded by Nyle Fullmer to pay the bills. All Aye Meeting adjourned. Rose Bagley,; /C Clerk Bruce L. Sutherland, Mayor