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HomeMy Public PortalAboutMinutes_City Council Work Meeting_02162021 CITY COUNCIL WORK MEETING fiN IONA CITY HALL FEBRUARY 16,2021 6:00 P.M. PRESENT: Mayor Dan Gubler, Council President Rob Geray, Council Member Michael Thompson, Council Member Peter Wadsworth, Council Member Kathy McNamara, City Attorney Andrew Rawlings, Public Works Director Zech Prouse (via teleconference), Office Assistant Rylea Farrens and City Clerk/Treasurer Keri West. ABSENT: None. VISITORS: Brenda Klingler, Richard Large, Ramona Horton, Carma Hobbs and Jolene Eborn. ITEMS OF BUSINESS: Discussion of"Just Serve" Program—Brenda Klingler approached the Council and introduced a program called, "Just Serve", a program described as a free website and app that enables registered entities to advertise for service opportunities. Mrs. Klingler displayed a short video highlighting the program and encouraged the City to register as an entity to allow more people the opportunity to volunteer for local events and service. Council President Geray stated he thinks this is a good opportunity for the City and can easily be tied in with the new "Heritage Commission" the City is working on establishing. Mayor Gubler and other council members agreed. Mayor Gubler also mentioned having the Mayor's Youth Advisory Council use the "Just Serve"platform as a way to find new service opportunities. Discussion of Iona Easter Egg Hunt — Office Assistant Farrens approached the Council and discussed ideas for the Easter Egg Hunt that will be taking place this year on Saturday, March 27th at 1:00pm. She stated the time has been moved to the afternoon due to weather. She also stated she conducted an online survey to learn what types of activities the community would like to see at this event. Assistant Farrens stated she has confirmed the Easter Bunny will be there and will have a structured schedule for each age group. She continued and stated one business has offered to hand out free hot chocolate at the event. Assistant Farrens continued and requested additional feedback from the City Council regarding other suggested activities, including food trucks and a chalk art contest. Council Member McNamara stated she was in favor of the food trucks for people that want to stay and play at the park after the actual egg hunt is over. Council President Geray stated his only concern with food trucks is the cleanup involved. Director Prouse stated he does not oppose food trucks as long as their placement does not create a hazard for pedestrians and they clean up after the event. Clerk West stated the vendors would need to pay for an Itinerant Merchant License and would be required to clean up themselves. Council Member Wadsworth stated his support for food trucks, but disagreed with having a booth handing out free hot chocolate available if we also have food trucks. He expressed that he felt it would undermine the paying vendors if the City or other vendors are giving items away for free. Council Member Thompson agreed and suggested having the food vendors also include coupons in the eggs that can be redeemed immediately at the event. Assistant Farrens agreed. She also stated the City has already received many donations from nearby businesses. Clerk West recognized and thanked Assistant Farrens for her planning and work on this event to secure 1 funds and prizes from various businesses. riN Approval of Stanger Building Lease Agreement with Bonneville Art Association —Attorney Rawlings stated he has received feedback from Richard Large, President of the Bonneville Art Association (BAA), regarding the updated Lease Agreement for the Stanger Building. He continued and addressed the specific comments individually. Mr. Rawlings summed up a major concern for the BAA is only having a one year lease. They expressed concern using their funds to repair the building without being guaranteed a longer contract term. Mr. Large agreed and reiterated their concern of possibly not having their lease renewed after they invest to update the building. Mr. Rawlings stated the reason the City has decided to only do a one year term is to avoid the current City Council from binding future Councils to this contract. However, the City does have more leeway on this law pertaining to leases than other types of contracts by Resolution. Mayor Gubler added this contract does auto renew at the end of each term and does not require a discussion by the City Council, unless requested by either party. Council Member Wadsworth stated he does not want to entertain a longer lease and does not want to bind future Councils to this contract. He continued and stated he understands the concerns of the BAA, but the agreement only requires a $5/month lease payment, which is negligible. Council Member Wadsworth stated the way the contract is written is basically allowing the BAA complete use of the building indefinitely, but allows the City the flexibility and protection to end the contract if necessary. Mr. Large requested a statement in the contract to allow the BAA the same flexibility to cancel the lease agreement with 30 days' notice. All Council Members agreed. Attorney Rawlings continued through the contract and stated the BAA would like the City to continue covering the water and sewer fees each month. Mayor Gubler stated the City has been paying the sewer bill for the Stanger Building and feels the BAA should take over the sewer payments for the building. He did state the City could continue waiving the water charges. Council President Geray agreed and advised the BAA to contact Iona Bonneville Sewer District to determine if they are eligible as a non-profit entity to have their sewer charges reduced or waived. Council Member Wadsworth agreed it is not appropriate to ask the patrons of Iona to pay the sewer bill for the Stanger Building if it is being exclusively used by the BAA. Mayor Gubler agreed to add a statement to the contract stating the City will pay to fix any repairs that are caused by City usage of the building. Mayor Gubler also agreed to add a statement in the contract stating the City will give advance notice to the BAA if the City requires usage of the building for a specific event. Attorney Rawlings stated he included in the contract the BAA is liable for any personal property and artwork they choose to keep on premises. All Council Members agreed. All Council Members agreed with allowing Mayor Gubler to sign the lease with the adjustments that have been discussed. Mr. Large also agreed to the lease as discussed. Attorney Rawlings stated he would get the lease edited and send it to Mr. Large for review, prior to final signatures. Amendment to Owner-Engineer Agreement #2 for Iona Water System Improvements — Mayor Gubler explained this amendment is for additional monies requested by the Engineer for the Water Project. He continued and stated the Council has discussed this at a previous Work Meeting, but they did not have the exact numbers at that time. Mayor Gubler stated the amendment adds an amount of$135,000 for engineering service for the project. He continued and stated part of that amount has already been included in the grant money from the Army Corp 2 of Engineers (ACoE). Mayor Gubler explained reasons for the increase include the extended length of time the project has taken and the increased scope of work to obtain the grant from the ACoE. Mayor Gubler also stated with the additional amount of engineering, the total cost of the project will still be under the threshold of the original financing amount received by the City. Council Member Wadsworth expressed his concern that he was previously assured by the engineer that receiving the grant from ACoE would not cost the City any additional money. This amendment proves otherwise. Mayor Gubler advised Council Member Wadsworth to contact the engineer directly to discuss his concerns. Council President Geray agreed and stated he does understand the additional cost due to the increased scope of work and the extended deadline caused by the contractors and supply issues. Mayor Gubler entertained a motion. Council President Geray made a motion to approve the Amendment to the Owner-Engineer Agreement Amendment #2 for approval of an adjusted agreement amount not to exceed $735,235, as outlined in the agreement. Council Member Thompson seconded the motion. All in favor. Motion carried. Discussion of Iona City Code § 8-2-4: Granting of Franchise Prohibited; pertaining to private wells on residential properties — Mayor Gubler stated questions were asked by a resident regarding allowance of a private well on his residential property. Mayor Gubler also stated he was not aware this was already in the City Code as not allowed. He continued and stated he feels this code needs to be changed to allow the use of emergency private wells for residents. Mayor Gubler also stated he believes there should be a way for the City to track them and set regulations, but feels it should be an option for residents. He stated the Idaho Department Water Resources (IDWR)controls all the permits for private wells. OIN Council President Geray stated the way he interprets Iona City Code § 8-2-4 is that the City does not want competition for the water system and does not address emergency private wells. Attorney Rawlings stated he was under the impression the discussion was more related to a resident wanting to drill a private well for domestic use, instead of connecting to the city water system, which is prohibited in this section. Mayor Gubler explained his intent is solely for a private emergency well for the resident's domestic use, not hooked up to anything. Mayor Gubler stated he would personally allow a resident to hook their well up to their home if they chose to, instead of the city water system, but they would still be required to pay the City water bill. Attorney Rawlings expressed concern for enforcing a water bill if the resident is not receiving the City water service. Council President Geray also expressed concern over charging for a service that is not being provided. Mayor Gubler explained cities are required to bill for such services through the Constitution of the State of Idaho. Director Prouse recommended a resolution to this situation would be to have a separate section that pertained only to emergency, stand-alone private wells. Attorney Rawlings agreed. Director Prouse also stated he would encourage the City to have their own permitting process for this to enable tracking and inspections. Discussion continued regarding various rules and ideas for monitoring. Council Member Wadsworth stated he would allow residents to connect their wells to their homes, but there would need to be no cross-contamination with the City water system and a backflow preventer installed. Director Prouse stated he would only feel comfortable allowing emergency wells is if there were absolutely no physical connections from the well to the residence and no electrical pumping systems. Attorney Rawlings stated he will draft something for the Council to discuss and possibly vote on at next month's Council Meeting. Discussion of Iona City Code § 10-1-9: Small Subdivision Process —This item was unable to 3 be discussed due to time. It will be added to the Regular City Council Meeting immediately PIN following this Work Meeting. Discussion of Iona City Code Infractions & Fines —This item was unable to be discussed due to time. It will be added to the Regular City Council Meeting immediately following this Work Meeting. Meeting Adjourned: 6:59 p.m. COUNCIL APPROVED: March 16, 2021k. 11 Dan ubler, ayor ATTEST: ��� Keri West, City Clerk/Treasurer 4