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HomeMy Public PortalAboutCouncil Minutes 2000 06/08MINUTES McCall City Council Regular Meeting Thursday, June 8, 2000 Table of Contents Call To Order and Roll Call Business Executive Session Public Comment Consent Agenda Business Reports Adjournment Page 1 of 8 June 8, 2000 City Council Minutes CALL TO ORDER AND ROLL CALL Council President Eimers called the regular meeting of the McCall City Council to order at 7:03pm. Mr. Eimers, Mr. Colton, Mr. Venable, and Ms. Arp answered roll call. City staff members present were Attorney Dave Bieter, City Manager Robert Strope, and City Clerk Cathleen Koch. Mr. Eimers amended the agenda to begin with AB 00-58 and then go into Executive Session. BUSINESS AB 00-58 Resolution 00-10 GEM Community Endorsement — McCall Improvement Committee Status Curt Spalding, Co -Chair of the McCall Improvement Committee, addressed the Council Members about the committee becoming the GEM Action Committee and a nonprofit 501(c)3 corporation. Mr. Spalding explained that the organization would have the ability to accept stocks, money and real estate, which the City cannot accept. They would also be more eligible for grants and donations. Ms. Arp asked how the organization would be affiliated with the City, what would make them accountable, who would be legally responsible, and who would have control of the funds. Mr. Spalding stated that the bylaws and articles would spell out the relationship between the nonprofit organization and the City. The organization does not intend to take over grant administration that the City already handles. Mr. Strope stressed that the Resolution to be adopted would require the City Planner to be a permanent member of the group to keep the status with the City. Ms. Arp stated that she would like to see the bylaws and articles before moving forward. Mr. Bieter explained to the Council Members that the organization will need to be set up as a separate entity. The people involved cannot represent the organization and the City. Mr. Colton moved to adopt Resolution 00-10 and authorize the Mayor to sign. Mr. Eimers seconded the motion. Three Council Members voted aye and one abstained. The motion carried. Page 2 of 8 June 8, 2000 City Council Minutes Mr. Colton moved to support in concept the 501(c)3 corporation status of the McCall Improvement Committee and instruct the City Manager and City Attorney to draw up the bylaws. All Council Members voted aye. The motion carried. EXECUTIVE SESSION Mr. Colton moved to go into Executive Session per Idaho Code 67-2345(1t) to consider pending litigation at 7:20pm. Mr. Eimers seconded the motion. All Council Members voted aye. The motion carried. Mr. Eimers moved to come out of Executive Session at 7:48pm. Ms. Arp seconded the motion. All Council Members voted aye. The motion carried. PUBLIC COMMENT There were no comments. CONSENT AGENDA Mr. Colton moved to approve the consent agenda. Ms. Arp seconded the motion. All Council Members voted aye. The motion carried. BUSINESS AB 00-59 Request to Purchase City Property — 508 E. Lenora Street Mr. Strope explained that City staff had recommended not selling the lot at this time. There are potential uses for the property. The Council Members asked why staff brought an item to Council that they were not recommending. Mr. Strope stated that it was for informational purposes. The Council Members agreed that the property should not be sold. AB 00-60 City Manager Performance Mr. Eimers and Mr. Muller sent their comments in to the City Manager concerning his performance expectations. Mr. Strope also compiled a list that was sent to each Council Member for their review. Mr. Colton stated that he had reviewed the lists. The revisions that he would like to make would be primarily editorial. Some of the items listed would be difficult to measure because they are philosophical and do not belong in performance Page 3 of 8 June 8, 2000 City Council Minutes expectations. He also noted that several of the goals in the expectations were really Council goals. Mr. Strope should be responsible for carrying out those goals. Mr. Eimers said that he liked the document Mr. Strope put together with a couple of additions. He would like to see a capital improvement plan added and a City Manager review of all City contracts. Ms. Arp would like to see the Comprehensive Plan, a review of the water and sewer rates, and facilitating participation with community members added to the expectations of the City Manager. Ms. Arp would also like to see a study of the facilities. Mr. Strope explained that he viewed that as a capital improvement plan. Ms. Arp would like it addressed so that morale can be improved with the community and staff members. Mr. Strope asked the Council Members to table the discussion about whether or not they should serve on committees until Mr. Muller is present. Council Members stressed that they expect Mr. Strope to make recommendations to them and to be the representative with other agencies. Mr. Strope outlined his expectations to Council Members concerning communication with department heads. He stated that there is a clear separation of who can tell who to do what. An individual Council Member cannot tell department heads to do things. An inquiry or casual contact is fine. Mr. Strope said that the Council Members could add his responsiveness to the list of expectations for the City Manager. The Council Members asked what options a department head would have if they had a problem with the City Manager. Mr. Strope said that a department head could request an Executive Session through the City Manager or City Clerk to address any problem. The also asked about lower levels of staff members. Mr. Strope explained that he has an open door policy. He will be meeting with all staff members in his first 90 days of employment. Mr. Strope and Mr. Colton will get together to assemble the City Manager's Expectations. The department heads have already had the opportunity to review and make comments about Mr. Strope's performance expectations. Ms. Arp would like to see the Council Action List in the packets again. AB 00-61 Bike Path Completion and Purchase of Property from John Carey Mr. Strope presented the amendment to the IDWR contract to receive funds in order to purchase the property behind City Hall for the bike path. Mr. Keating and his staff have done an excellent job getting the work done. Mr. Strope recommended a ribbon cutting ceremony with Mr. Keating's staff. Page 4of8 June 8, 2000 City Council Minutes Ms. Arp moved to approve Amendment #1 to IDWR Contract DWR- CON00255 and authorize the Mayor to sign the Amendment. Mr. Eimers seconded the motion. At a roll call vote, Mr. Eimers, Ms. Arp, Mr. Venable and Mr. Colton voted aye. The motion carried. Ms. Arp moved to authorize the Mayor to sign all documents necessary to purchase the former railroad right-of-way, for an amount not to exceed the IDWR grant award, subject to review and approval of all closing documents by the City Manager and City Attorney. Mr. Eimers seconded the motion. At a roll call vote, Mr. Eimers, Ms. Arp, Mr. Venable and Mr. Colton voted aye. The motion carried. AB 00-62 Resolution 00-11 Clean Water Act & Contract with Contractor's Northwest, Inc. for Construction of Phase II of the Water Treatment Plant Mr. Strope met with the Water Treatment Plant Citizens Committee. The resolution presented allows the committee to act on a lower cost alternative, if an opportunity presents itself. Mr. Colton moved to adopt Resolution 00-11 and authorize the Mayor to sign. Mr. Eimers seconded the motion. All Council Members voted aye. The motion carried. REPORTS City Manager — Robert Strope Mr. Strope met with Chief Points from the Fire Department. They discussed 2 options concerning the lease of airport property and the current building jointly owned by the City and Rural Fire District. The current building could be sold jointly or the City could purchase the building at replacement cost after an appraisal is completed. Mr. Bieter will put together a lease with both options. A letter has been given to the Sheriffs Department giving them permission from the City to moor their boat at the City's dock. The Council Members stated that the Sheriffs Department should use the shorter dock because citizens use the other dock. Mr. Strope said that the details have been turned over to Chief Wolf and Sheriff Durfee to decide which is a better dock to use. The men only day was addressed with the Golf Course. They will not be holding any events that could be considered discriminatory. Page 5 of 8 June 8, 2000 City Council Minutes Mr. Rowe will be working with the USFS to develop a formal agreement for the use of City property at the airport. The USFS currently pays by purchase order on an annual basis. Mr. Strope will be meeting with Steve West, DEQ, to discuss the funding of the J- Ditch Project. There may be additional funds to use for the project and to fund a full-time position for Paul Levihn. DEQ has made $7,500 available to pay for Mr. Levihn's time during the month of June. Matt Uranga, JUB Engineers, gave an update on the J-Ditch Project. It does not look like a pond yet. The crew will get larger next week. They hope to get through the topsoil this week because it is a longer haul for that particular soil. The production rate will increase after they get through the topsoil. Mr. Uranga believes that he will have a feel for the time line within 3 weeks. The people residing in the area seem to be happy. Landscaping has already begun because there was extra material available to create a visual screen. The Local Option Tax Committee has decided to focus on a general sales tax and bed tax. The range has been set for 1 to 2% and 2 to 3% respectively. Their focus will be on what kind of revenue the different percentages will generate, identifying the priorities for the funds generated and the level of community support for the taxes. Mr. Strope asked for the Council Members support in funding a professional poll. The scope of the poll and cost will be brought to Council for action. Mr. Strope pointed out that Sun Valley has set taxes based upon the point of delivery. Progress is being made to resolve the areas for improvement in the audit report. A number of items have been fixed. The deadline to complete all items is June 26th. A positive relationship is being created with the auditors. Mr. Strope is concerned with the budget because things like the bike path were not projected. He's also concerned about the Recreation Department's budget. More money will probably have to be put into the budget for the department. After looking at only 2 employees wages within the department, there was only $3,000 left for the other employees. The budget for the department may not have been put together well. The large increase in the salary has been because of the increased number of kids in the program. A department head meeting was not held this week. The focus of the meetings will be the current year's budget. Projections are being developed for the remainder of the year. The Personnel Policy Manual needs some work. Mr. Strope requested the authority to grant exceptions to the policy while it is being revised. He stated that there was only 1 qualified applicant for the swimming program. The applicant was related to an employee within the department. The personnel policy prevents the City from hiring the most qualified candidate. Ms. Arp stated that Page 6 of 8 June 8, 2000 City Council Minutes she believes policy is policy without exceptions. The policy is in place to prevent nepotism. Mr. Bieter pointed out that the policy says the City can vary it at times. Mr. Eimers moved to give Mr. Strope the authority to deviate from the policy while it is being amended and then notify Council of any such deviation. Mr. Colton seconded the motion. All Council Members voted aye. The motion carried. Mr. Strope reviewed the duties of the Assistant Recreation Director with Mr. Peckham. Ms. Barkley was set up to work 30 hours per week, but she has been averaging 37 hours weekly. Mr. Strope is considering converting Ms. Barkley to a salaried position with pay that would be approximately the same as her current 30-hour salary. The change will probably be made with the next fiscal year. The Council Members agreed that the Recreation Department should have hours posted. Responses have been received for the 360-degree evaluation program. Input is received from department heads, staff, Council, and community members. Mr. Strope is the only one who will see the actual input. Mr. Kirkpatrick will be the Acting City Manager while Mr. Strope is away getting his family moved. Then, he will be attending the AIC Conference. Mr. Strope will be back in the office July 1st Ron and Lou Anne Gwartney requested to erect a temporary structure for storage of their vending cart. Mr. Strope did not approve the request. City Clerk — Cathleen Koch Danielle Swinford sent a letter requesting a City Parks agreement. The Council Members said that an agreement similar to the Gwartneys would be fine. They would like to reevaluate any agreements at the end of the year. A resolution will be brought to the next Council meeting to suspend the open container policy. The City must be named as a writer on the insurance policy of the businesses selling alcohol. City Councilor — Ray Venable Would like the attorney action update completed at the next Council meeting. City Councilor — Marilyn Arp Will be out of town for the next meeting. City Councilor — Ralph Colton Page 7 of 8 June 8, 2000 City Council Minutes Received a call from Mike Mitchell, Committee for Region 3. He said that the City could probably obtain grant funds. Boise is presently receiving most of the funds. Mr. Strope will follow up on the call. He already spoke to Mr. Mitchell but has not received the information he was supposed to receive. A local saloon owner was concerned about the police department profiling their customers. They will be forming a committee to discuss the problem. Mr. Colton suggested that they involve the police department and maybe a Council Member. Mr. Strope said that he would be happy to get involved in the committee. The signs at Rotary Park need to be checked. They say no alcoholic beverages, which is not correct. The code allows beer and wine. City Councilor — Kirk Eimers Mr. Eimers asked who was responsible for collecting trash from the new trashcans. It was noted that the Golf and Parks Departments are responsible, but the cans are for planters, not trash. City Attorney — Dave Bieter Vending in the City Parks must be done by an agreement approved by Council with a roll call vote. Ms. Arp moved to execute an agreement with Danielle Swinford similar to the other vendor in the City Parks and authorize the Mayor to sign. Mr. Colton seconded the motion. At a roll call vote, Mr. Eimers, Mr. Colton, Mr. Venable, and Ms. Arp voted aye. The motion carried. ADJOURNMENT Without further business, Mr. Eimers moved to adjourn. Mr. Colton seconded the motion. All Council Members voted aye. The motion carried. The Council adjourned at 9:40pm. ATTEST: Cathleen A. Koch, City Cler Muller, Mayor Page 8 of 8 June 8, 2000 City Council Minutes