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HomeMy WebLinkAbout1999.12.15 CITY COUNCIL MINUTES~l Date: (121599) MINUTES OF THE CITY COUNCIL MEETING 12/15/99 6:30 P. M. State of Idaho) County of Madison ) ss City of Rexburg) Present were the following: Mayor: Councilmembers: City Cleric: Finance Officer: Attorney: P.F.C: Hruce Sutherland Kay Eeck Marsha Hjornn Paul Pugmire Nyle Fullmer Farrell Young Rose Bagley Richard Horner Stephen Zollinger John Millar Also present were the Department Heads. Pledge to the flag. A motion was made by Nyle Fullmer and seconded by Farrell Young to approve the minutes. All Aye RE: Y2IC AND EMERGENCY PLAN TOPIC: (23,51,,,Y2 K,EMERGENCY CONTINGENCY PLAN,DEPARTMENT HEADS) First on the agenda was a Worlc Meeting regarding the Emergency Plan Update. Year 2000 and Other Emergency Contingency Plan, what has been completed and the purchase of supplies update was given first by Richard. He did not feel we had done much on the vandalism protection. The City will send out an information brochure to the public. Department Head Overview of Preparedness was given by each Department Head for their department. RE: PUBLIC HEARING REGARDING PROFESSIONAL PLAZA TOPIC: (23, Sl,ORD,824,PUBLIC HEPS2INGS, PROFESSIONAL PLAZA,ABANDONMENT, PARICING,PARKING LOTS) A Public Hearing was held pertaining to the permanent closure and abandonment of a portion of the Northwest Corner of the street ]cnown as Professional Plaza. It ie proposed that the property at issue would be transferred to the property owners adjacent to the portions abandoned in accordance with Idaho Code, Section 50-311. John Millar explained the area. When this subdivision was set up the area that is currently used as parking was dedicated as a public driveway. It is essentially a big parking lot. What we are looking at abandoning is the small area on west side of that large parking area to allow the owners of the buildings to provide safer access into their buildings. Last year there was an L.I.D. done that re-established sidewalk grades. Dave Martin asked about the traffic flow in and out of there? The mayor told him it would not disrupt the traffic flow. This abandonment would just be a small 15' area. Sohn Watson stated that the other issue is to allow the owners to put signage in the landscaping area. The mayor closed the hearing. A motion was made by Paul Pugmire and seconded by Nyle Fullmer to abandoned the property as explained and authorized. All Aye ORDINANCE 824 regarding the abandonment of a portion of property on the Northwest Corner of the street known as Professional Plaza. c~ d AN ORDINANCE ALLOWING FOR THE PERMANENT CLOSURE AND ABANDONMENT OF A PORTION OF THE NORTHWEST CORNER OF THE STREET KNOWN AS PROFESSIONAL PLAZA. A motion was made by councilman Nyle Fullmer, seconded by Itay Beck that the rules requiring an ordinance of a general and permanent nature to be read on three occasions be dispensed with and that said ordinance be number 824. Those voting aye: Marsha Bjornn Kay Beck Farrell Young Nyle Fullmer Kay Beck Those voting nay: none Dr. Marshall Merrill owner of an office in Professional Plaza came to the meeting to give comments. His question was what effect will this have on taxes? Richard explained. The Mayor told him the tax would be minimal. The increase should be not more than a few dollars. (discussion) Dr Merrill stated he just wanted to be sure because the L.I.D. was suppose to be much smaller and it ended up being quite large. The Mayor asked if he was apposed to this abandonment? Dr Merrill stated that any opposition would be based on the costs. Stephen explained the tax assessment breaks up the land and the building as separate entities. You take the land value divide that by whatever square feet you have. If they are adding percent to your square footage it would go up that much probably $20 to $50 per year. It won't be the same type of surprise he got on the L.I.D. Ordinance 824 was then placed before the council. The mayor then called for the voting for final passage of the ordinance, and the motion was made by Paul Pugmire and seconded by Kay Beclc that ordinance 824 be passed. Those voting aye: Paul Pugmire Kay Beck Farrell Young Marsha Hjornn Those voting nay: Nyle Fullmer The roll showed the majority of all councilmen present voting "Aye" carried, the Mayor declared that the majorityof all the members of the City Council had voted for the passage of said ordinance and it was duly and regularly passed. Mayor Sutherland declared the motion carried. Marsha left at 7:30 P. M. RE: Y2X AND EMERGENCY PLAN TOPIC: (23,52,,,Y2 K,EMERGENCY CONTINGENCY PLAN,MADISON COUNTY, DEPARTMENT HEADS) Milce Clements representing Hureau of Disaster Services was asked by Ron Moss to be here to answer questions. He would give a short summary of how the Civil Defense works and how the city fits into that plan. The city is responsible for its own people. If we have a disaster and you exceed your capabilities to respond to it then you ask the county for help, then Civil Defense would coordinate with the county for the assistance needed. You can apply right to the state, however they prefer you go by a domino effect and go through the county first. If the disaster exceeds the ability of the county then the county applies for assistance from the State Hureau of Disaster Services. This is the state department that coordinates all assistance with federal assistance for a local entity. Typically disasters don't just hit a city they hit a whole county. The city would work with the county and all state and federal aids would be to the county. When the disaster exceeds the capability of the state or otherwise qualify for federal assistance, recommendations are made to the governor by this department ~~ and then they ask for a Presidential declaration for help. Then F.E.M.A. will come in and bring in any federal resources needed. The Mayor commended theDepartment Heads for putting in a lot of worlt for this plan which has given all of us a wake up. There has been a lot of work and thought put into the manual. He stated the City is preparing a brochure with procedures in the event a disaster occurs to be sent out to all residents. The Mayor thanked Mike for coming and for the information he had given. ',` Mike told the council a review of the chain of command needs to be in the plan and also the procedure of declaring an emergency or disaster. That allows you a lot of immunity. You don't have to hold public ,.. _. hearings to take money from one department to give to another. As a city you need to be aware the Mayor or one of the City Council. or one of the people in the chain of command can make a declaration that is good for 2a hours or two days. If it is for more than a week you have to have a quorum. The Mayor explained if he is not in town, the President of the Council is in charge and from there down the Council. Richard stated that in the plan were phone numbers of the chain of command. Milte gave an overview of the Nationwide reporting system. It also goes through the county and state government. A motion was made by Nyle Fullmer and seconded by Paul Pugmire to approve the Emergency Contingency Plan subject to the minor revisions as discussed. All Aye Introduction of scouts. RE: DISCUSSION OF FIRE DEPARTMENT EQUIPMENT TOPIC (23,53,,,FIRE DEPARTMENT,EQUIPMENT,MADISON CDUNTY,AMHULANCES) Spencer Larsen explained last year they had about 100 arson fires. Out of the the 100 fires they were able to get a conviction on about four. There is a new law that allows victims to get baclt some of their losses .._._. through a legal process. The Department decided to go ahead and pursue this process. On the four arson fires they were able to document a loss of around $5700. Through arbitration with attorneys they agreed to go for a lessor amount if they would pay it so they would not have to fight for it through the legal process and they settled on $a000. They would lilte to worlt with the ambulance service and Madison County in using that money to buy a projector to put in their training room. They would lilte the projector to be a portable one they could take to the schools to do presentations. They have about 2000 students come through the fire station and they feel they have a good program and feel this would enhance that program. The estimates they have are from $3000 to $9000. They wanted to stay around $5000. It would be a 50 - 50 matching with the County if they agree with this. The Fire District needs to agree to their share. These fires actually occurred in the County. Spencer was asking the Council for approval to buy the projector and buy some tables. Paul questioned if this money should be used for some of the equipment that was discussed at the time of the budget? (discussion) A motion was made by Ny1e Fullmer and seconded by Farrell Young to approve using the money for the projector and tables. All Aye RE: VALLEY WIDE CO-OP'S MONITORING WELL ,. TOPIC: (23,53,,,VALLEY WIDE CO-OP,PARKING LOTS, MONITORING WELL, PORTERS,D.E.Q.) Valley Wide Co-op's request for a Monitoring Well in the Parlting Lot behind Porters. John Millar explained because of the fuel leak they had about a year ago at the Coop, they had to go in and remove 500 yards of fuel contaminated soil. D.E.Q.has also. requiredthat they put in a ground water monitoring well. They need to put in the area of the parting lot behind Porters. They have requested that they be granted an easement to install the ground water monitoring well in that parking lot. The facility would be flush with the asphalt and would not take up a parking stall. It would be there for a number of years and then abandoned in place. It would be put in thenorth east corner of the ~~ panting lot. (Discussion) A motion was made by Nyle Fullmer and seconded by Kay Beck to approve the easement for the well. All Aye RE: DISCUSSION OF PARKING ON COLLEGE AVENUE TOPIC: (23,54,,,C0LLEGE AVENUE, PARKING,PLANNING & ZONING,STREETS) College Avenue Panting- The Council had received a letter and pictures on the College Avenue Parting submitted by Rod Taylor. The Council felt this is just an indication of one of the problems that extend all around the college. Stephen told the Council we have an ordinance prohibiting the storage of inoperable vehicles within the public view. ',. We also have an ordinance not allowing parking on the streets from „__ November 1 to March 1 so they are parking on the lawns and sidewalks. We are ticketing the cars that are panted on the sidewalks. The issue becomes policing it. The parking on the lawn becomes a Planning and Zoning issue. The council recommended that the parking issue for rentals and businesses be turned over to Planning & Zoning. The council felt if we have ordinances we should enforce them. Discussion on monitoring the parking lots more and giving tickets. Stephen said he would check on it. RE: VENTLESS HEATERS IN BASEMENTS TOPIC: (23,54,,,VENTLESS HEATERS,BUILDING DEPT.,MECHANICAL CODE) John explained we have a request through the building department for Ventless heaters in basements such as fireplace logs. The mechanical code does not specifically address those. The fire department does not see any problem either way and did not gives recommendation. After checlting with other cities our building department did not see any reason to preclude them, so the building department's recommendation is to allow them with natural gas. That would be a modification of the code. A motion was made by ICay Beck and seconded by Paul Pugmire to make the change tc the code to allow the ventless heaters. All Aye RE: PERSONNEL MANUAL TOPIC: (23,54,,,PERS0NNEL NANUAL,SICK LEAVE,MEDICAL INSURANCE, EMPLOYEE BENEFITS) Personnel Manual Amendment on Unused Sick Leave - At the last meeting the Personnel Committee discussed an amendment regarding Sick Leave loss by some of the long term employees prior to January 1990. The Personnel Committee recommended that they get paid 250 of their current hourly wage and if they want to leave the money in the city for health insurance they be paid 35o and that they go baclt and piclt up sick leave that was lost prior to 1990. A motion was made by Nyle Fullmer and seconded by Kay Heck to amend the Personnel Manual as recommended by the Personnel Committee. All Aye RE: SKATE PARK SHADOW BOX TOPIC: (23,54,,,SKATE PARIC, BOYLE*CLAIR) The mayor presented to the council a Shadow Box with a photo of the new Clair Boyle Sltate Park. This is to be put up on a wall in the City Hall for display. He also stated he felt we should have a similar display for the other projectsdone by the city. We will turn that project over to Sohn Millar to document the projects. RE: BEER LICENSES TOPIC: (23,54,,,BEER LICENSES,ALBERTSONS,MAVERICK,ONE STOP,RITE AID, TETON LANES) Albertson #171, One Stop, Maverik 195 and Rite Aid 5407 for sale of beer not for consumption on the property. A motion was made by Nyle Fullmer and seconded by Kay Beck to approve those beer licenses. All Aye A beer license for Teton Lanes for sale and consumption on the property. A motion was made by Nyle Fullmer and seconded by Kay Beck to approve the beer license. Farrell Young voting nay. With all other council members voting aye. Motion carried. RE: UPDATE ON PROJECTS ~~ TOPIC: (23,54,,,TRAFFIC SIGNALS,7TH SOUTH,STREETS) John Millar gave an update on the projects. The stop light on 7th South is fully operational now. The only problem we have is we blac]ced out the old striping and all of the paint is worn off already. They are investigating some other options. As soon as it is warm enough this spring it is in the contract to seal coat the road. The issue will be resolved. RE: TRAFFIC SIGNAL ON MAIN STREET TOPIC: (23,SS,,,TRAFFIC SIGNALS,BROULIMS, 1ST WEST,MAIN STREET) The signal poles are here for the stop light at Broulims and they will be putting those up this week and they are proceeding with that. RE: WASTEWATER TREATMENT PLANT TOPIC: (23,55,,,WASTEWATER TREATMENT PLANT) Excavation is complete at the Wastewater Plant and have most of the underground piping in and they shut down that day. RE: EMERGENCY GENERATOR FOR CITY HALL TOPIC: (23,55,,,GENERATORS,EMERGENCY CONTINGENCY PLPS7, Y2ZC, CITY HALL, ELECTRICAL CODE) The one project we are working on is the installation of the generator that will power the city hall. Due to electrical code and requirements we are looking at about $10,000 to $15,000 for the modification and transfer switch. If we want underground power we have no choice. Discussion. The council okayed the expenditure. A motion was made by Nyle Fullmer and seconded by ICay Beck to pay the bills. All Aye A motion was made by Nyle Fullmer and seconded by ICay Heclc to go into executive session. All Aye Council reconvened. RE: DISCUSSION OF LOUISIANA PACIFIC PROPERTY TOPIC: (23,SS,,,LOUISIANA PACIFIC, PARKS,GRANTS, FLOOD PLAIN, MADISON COUNTY, GREEN BELT) Mike Clements came back in the meeting. He congratulated the council in buying the Louisana Pacific Property for a park. A few years ago they had money to pay 75~ of the price for that property. There are a couple of things to consider. We need a County Mitigation Plan. We need to write a plan saying we will turn flood plain areas into parks. The City could write a grant under a sub from Madison County. The County has to apply for the grant. They would like to get a green belt through the county. In order for the money to be available the City needs to acquire the property or get easements along the river. There is $10,000 available to hire someone to write the plan and break it into sections. If you get the plan in place then you would~be eligible for more grants. (discussion) Funding is only available every 5 years. We need to look at putting together a team to get it going. There is also grant available to cities called Project Impact to make Disaster Resistant Communities. Meeting adjourned ~~~~ Hruce L. Sutherland, Mayor Rose Bagley, City Clerk