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HomeMy Public PortalAboutMinutes_City Council Work Meeting_11162021 CITY COUNCIL WORK MEETING IONA CITY HALL NOVEMBER 16,2021 6:00 P.M. PRESENT: Council President Rob Geray, Council Member Peter Wadsworth, Council Member Michael Thompson, Council Member Kathy McNamara, City Attorney Andrew Rawlings, Public Works Director Zech Prouse and City Clerk/Treasurer Keri West. ABSENT: Mayor Dan Gubler. VISITORS: James West, Sarah Long, Jeff Long, Maurice Theriault, Evan Mann and Chris Williams. ITEMS OF BUSINESS: Discussion with Snake River Animal Shelter—Council Member Wadsworth stated he was told that a representative from the Snake River Animal Shelter would be present at tonight's meeting. However, there was no one in the chambers to represent the Snake River Animal Shelter. Clerk West stated the Idaho Falls Animal Shelter did issue a check in the amount of $1,600 for impound fees they collected on behalf of the City during FY2021. Council Member Wadsworth stated he appreciates that, but the amount they are charging the City for impounding dogs is still astronomical. Council Member Thompson asked how much the City had been charged. Clerk West stated she didn't have the exact numbers accessible at that moment, but believed it to be approximately $5,000. Council Member Wadsworth stated Snake River Animal Shelter had quoted him $40/dog, a total of$280 for the 7 dogs that were impounded from the City of Iona last year. Clerk West also stated the City of Ammon has switched shelters and is no longer using the Idaho Falls Animal Shelter, which is another reason our costs have increased. Council Member Wadsworth stated he has heard many complaints from patrons regarding the impound fee they are charged by the Idaho Falls Animal Shelter, which is necessary to lessen the amount the City of Iona is responsible for paying. He continued and stated he would like to contract with a different animal shelter that will charge less for impounding dogs picked up in the City. Council Member Thompson agreed with looking into other shelters to compare costs. Council Member Wadsworth asked Deputy Williams how it would affect our contract with Bonneville County Sheriff's Office (BCSO) if the City wanted to switch animal shelters that would serve as our impound provider. Deputy Williams stated it would not affect the contract,just like it did not affect the City of Ammon's contract with them when they left the Idaho Falls Animal Shelter. Clerk West stated the City's contract with BCSO does not specify which animal shelter is used. BCSO will just need to know if the City changes so they know where to take the dogs they pickup from Iona. Discussion of City Christmas Event — Office Assistant Rylea Farrens stated Von White, who had offered to do free carriage rides around the City Building for the Christmas event, recently passed away. She continued and stated that was the only part of the event that has already been advertised. She continued and stated Director Prouse is still planning on putting lights up on the City Building, but she is now wondering what the City Council would like to happen with this event. Assistant Farrens continued and stated she has called other carriage or wagon companies to see if someone else would be available and has received no response. Council Member IONA CITY COUNCIL WORK MEETING—NOVEMBER 16, 2021 McNamara stated the couple that has offered to come to the event as Santa& Mrs. Clause is still interested. She continued and stated they will need to sit down for the duration of the event. Assistant Farrens stated the options would be to either cancel the event or just make the event much smaller with Santa & Mrs. Clause, hot chocolate and lighting the building. She continued and suggested incorporating the canned food drive for people to earn a visit with Santa. Council Member Wadsworth suggested having the canned food drive sign state, "In Memory of Von White." All Council Members agreed to this idea and to continue with the event as planned. Clerk West voiced her concern with having so many large events and the lack of volunteers willing to help. She continued and encouraged the Council to help with these events or help find volunteers. Assistant Farrens stated this event has been difficult to plan because it wasn't suggested until September. At that time she was already in the middle of planning the Halloween Carnival and the Veterans Day event. She continued and stated going forward she should have time to find volunteers, but this year it has been difficult on short notice. Council President Geray asked if the Mayor's Youth Advisory Council (MYAC) is planning to be involved in this event. Assistant Farrens stated they are in charge of the Angel Tree and the food drive. She continued and stated she will begin planning the event to be held on December 4tn Discussion of Bike Lane on Dayton Street — Clerk West stated Iona Elementary is really over capacity this year. This has created a lot of traffic and long lines during the morning drop off and afternoon pick up times. Because of this, more and more parents are using Dayton Street, which is across the street to the north of the elementary school, to drop off and pick up their kids. They are parking in bike lanes and creating a dangerous situation for kids that are forced to walk in the middle of the road. She continued and stated there has been a lot of complaints and discussions on Facebook regarding this situation. Jeff Long stood and approached the Council to discuss his safety concerns and possible solutions to this problem. Mr. Long stated he does not like the bike lane on Dayton Street. He continued and stated the new bike lane on Denning Avenue connects to sidewalks on both sides, but the one on Dayton Street ends after one block and does not connect to a sidewalk. Mr. Long continued and stated painting a line on the side of the road and calling it a bike lane creates a false sense of security. He then stated his opinion that installing sidewalks would be the best solution to increase safety. He did state that he understands this would be expensive and may not be the most economical. Mr. Long also suggested allowing parents to park on the other side of the road and only having a bike lane on one side of Dayton Street. He then continued and stated by eliminating Dayton Street as an option for parents, it pushes the traffic and creates a bigger problem on Iona Road, which also has a bike lane. Director Prouse stated the bike lane striping and signs are intended to direct the motorists to obey the law and create a safe place for cycling and pedestrians to travel. He continued and stated one option the City is looking into is having a secondary drop off lane on Iona Road, parallel to the bus drop off lane and the school's parking lot. Director Prouse stated he believes this will be the best option for motorists and pedestrians. He continued and stated the City will need to coordinate with District#93 to see if this is even an option. Director Prouse also stated he agrees that sidewalks are needed in old town Iona, but that type of project would need to be completed as a whole to be the most cost effective. A project of that scope would need to be planned and budgeted for far in advance. Council Member Wadsworth stated the cost of a project that size is difficult with the limited budget the City has and the ongoing maintenance required throughout the City. Sarah Long stated she has been using Dayton Street as a drop off and is now using the parking 2 IONA CITY COUNCIL WORK MEETING—NOVEMBER 16, 2021 by the tennis courts as suggested by Deputy Williams. However, she feels this just pushed the problem one block away and is now requiring kids to walk in the middle of the road with no bike lane and parents to back up out of the parking spots near the tennis courts. Director Prouse stated there is a responsibility to drive cautiously when operating a motor vehicle. Mrs. Long agreed, but added her daughter has to travel 5 blocks with no bike path to get home from the elementary school. Council President Geray stated this is a dilution scenario. He explained that safety is never a guarantee when using a bike lane, but they are diluting the problem by allowing space for people to spread out away from the congestion and traffic at the elementary school. Mr. Long stated he appreciates hearing from the Council and the long-term solutions already being considered by the City. Discussion and Approval of New City Limit Signs — Director Prouse suggested a new design for the City Limit signs with the new City logo and updated population. Council Member Thompson suggested adjustments to font size. All Council Members agreed and approved the design provided by Director Prouse. Discussion and Approval of Records Management Licensing Upgrade — Clerk West stated the City currently uses a software company called Laserfiche for records management. She continued and stated this is the program people use to access all of the City Council Minutes and the City Code through the City website. Clerk West stated the company is changing its licensing structure, which requires the City to move over to this new platform. She continued and stated the City can either keep the same price and features, or upgrade for approximately $1,100/year and receive a lot more features with our program. She specified the main feature this would include would be a "Forms Portal". This would enable people to fill out applications and forms on the website and send them directly to the City. Currently, patrons and customers are required to print the forms, fill them out and either email them or bring them into the City Office. Council Member Wadsworth asked if the City receives enough applications and forms throughout the year to justify $1,100/year. Clerk West and Director Prouse agreed between water applications, building permits, etc., the cost increase is justified and would reduce the amount of time it takes to process these applications. Council Member Thompson asked if this could also be used by the Sports & Recreation Department for registration information. Clerk West confirmed the top upgrade would have unlimited applications for the Forms Portal. Council President Geray stated it sounds beneficial for everyone and has no concerns. Council Member Wadsworth suggested having a local company bid a similar program to see if it is less expensive. Clerk West stated she is not opposed to saving money, but there are already a lot of records on the current program that would take a lot of time to move to a different program. She also continued and stated this program includes the public portal for patrons to view documents live from the website. Council all approved to upgrade the records management system to include the unlimited Forms Portal with Laserfiche. General Water System Discussion — Director Prouse stated there have been leaks associated with the new water tank. He continued and stated it is not uncommon for this type of structure and is repairable. He continued and stated there have already been divers in the tank to investigate and do initial repairs. Director Prouse continued and stated the tank is currently draining for further repairs. He continued and stated the City will not sign off on it until the tank passes a 48 hour non-leakage test and meets all the required standards. Council President Geray asked if there have been any change orders submitted that the City is expected to pay. Director 3 IONA CITY COUNCIL WORK MEETING—NOVEMBER 16, 2021 Prouse stated that would not be acceptable as the City is not at fault. Director Prouse also stated the electrical and mechanical components are nearing completion and the well has been verified that it is pumping as designed. Council President Geray stated regarding the hand pumped well in front of the City Building, Mayor Gubler has expressed a desire to possibly enhance that well for emergency preparedness. One idea could include an electric motor to increase the capacity. Director Prouse stated this option would mean gutting the entire casing, dropping a submersible pump inside and adding a power source. Council President Geray then asked if all of the wells have backup emergency power. Director Prouse said there is emergency power on all of the wells, except the old tank site. Director Prouse said this was discussed as an item to add to the water bond if funds were available, but the funds for the project have been used for the new tank. He continued and stated American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funds could be used for this, but the ARPA funds are also being considered for other expenses. Clerk West stated the ARPA funds can be used for water, fiber and some infrastructure expenses. Attorney Rawlings stated an update regarding the mitigation situation where the City of Iona has been leasing water from the City of Pocatello. He continued and stated that bill is due tomorrow, so he has worked directly with Clerk West to get that agreement signed and paid on time. Clerk West stated it was approximately $100 more than the previous year. Director Prouse encouraged Attorney Rawlings to reach out to the City of Pocatello for a reassessment since the City of Iona has purchased additional water rights. Clerk West stated regarding the water project, she will need to re-open the Fiscal Year 2022 budget to accurately capture the revenues and expenditures for the water project. She continued and stated she was told the project would be completed in the last fiscal year, so there are no revenues or expenditures for the water project captured in the current budget. Council President Geray encouraged Clerk West to make a double payment on the bond once the first payment is due. He continued and stated his desire is to eliminate that debt as soon as possible. He continued and suggested having this discussion again when Mayor Gubler is present. Clerk West stated she would include that in the budget amendment in December to discuss. Meeting Adjourned: 6:51 p.m. COUNCIL APPROVED: December 21, 2021 -� GeRA Rob Geray ounci ident ATTEST: //10./i Wed--"t"-- Keri West, City Clerk/Treasurer 4