HomeMy Public PortalAboutCouncil Minutes 2003 02/24MINUTES
McCall City Council
Special Joint Meeting
with Valley County Commissioners
Monday, February 24, 2003
3:00 p.m.
Table of Contents
Call To Order and Roll Call
Business
Area of City Impact Discussion with Valley County Commissioners
Adjournment
Mayor Colton called the special meeting of the McCall City Council to order at
3:05 p.m. Mayor Colton, Councilmember Arp, Councilmember Muller, and
Councilmember Eimers were in attendance. A quorum was present. City staff
members present were City Manager Robert Strope, Community Development
Director Lindley Kirkpatrick, and Finance Director/City Clerk Barbara Bauer.
Commissioners Tom Kerr, Phil Davis and Terry Gestrin represented Valley
County.
Area of City Impact Discussion with Valley County Commissioners
Mayor Colton began the discussion by asking the Commission for comments regarding
the May 2002 proposal for a city P & Z Commission of seven individuals, including a
proportional (by population) representation of city members appointed by the City
Council and area of impact members appointed by the County Commission. Under this
proposal, P & Z decisions and appeals for those inside city limits would go to the City
Council and the County Commissioners addressing decisions and appeals by those in
the area of impact. In addition, the Mayor noted that those attending the public meeting
last year had indicated a desire to continue to handle things as they had been, but that
the previous process did not meet legal requirements. Commissioner Kerr felt that
citizens testifying at the public meeting were expressing a desire for continuing to have
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a P & Z Commission for issues inside the City of McCall and a second P & Z
Commission for issues relating to the McCall area of impact. The Commissioners
provided the group with copies of legal opinions stating that the city and county could
legally maintain two separate P & Z Commissions for the city and impact area.
Both the Commission and Council members agreed that they would like to avoid a
"Committee of Nine" and legal action to resolve this issue. Further questions about the
city proposal by County Commissioners confirmed that this option will actually increase
the representation of impact area residents and give them input into decisions about
actions within the city limits. Both city and county planning staff stated that the current
process of having all decisions handled by the county P & Z Commission and County
Commissioners or the city proposal would work, but that the city proposal would be
preferable. Council Member Arp stated that changing the size of the city P & Z from five
to seVen members was a way to increase involvement and include all previous P & Z
commission members from the city and the area of impact. Council Member Muller
noted the importance of creating a process that reflects the fact that whether you live
inside the City of McCall or the area of impact, you still live in the community.
City Council Members and Commissioners agreed that it is important to find a way to
educate the public about the options being considered. In order to address that
concern, the County Commissioners proposed continuing the current practice while
County staff members prepare an information packet outlining the details, participants
and effect of the old process, the current process and the city proposal. They will then
schedule a public meeting in the McCall area to discuss the advantages and
disadvantages of the proposals. The Commissioners asked that the public meeting be
a joint session with the City Council so that further discussion can occur after additional
public discussion.
Without further business, Council Member Muller moved to adjourn. Council
Member Arp seconded the motion. All Council Members voted aye. The motion
carried. The Council adjourned at 3:57 p.m.
Ralph Colton~, 'Mayo~
ATTEST:
Barbara Bauer, Finance Director/City Clerk
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City Council Minutes
MINUTES
McCall CitY Council
Regular Meeting
Thursday, February 13, 2003
Table of Contents
Call to Order and Roll Call
Public Comment
Consent Agenda
Business
Reports
Adjournment
Mayor Colton called the regular meeting of the McCall City Council to order at 7:00 pm.
Ms. Arp, Mr. Muller, Mayor. Colton, and Mr. Eimers answered roll call. A quorum was
present. City staff members present were Attorney Susan Buxton, City Manager Robert
Strope, Finance Director/City Clerk Barbara Bauer, Deputy Finance Director Amanda
Townsend, Recreation Director Brock Heasley, Police Chief Ralph Appa, Public Works
Director Bill Keating, and City Planner Lindley Kirkpatrick.
Mayor Colton announced changes to the published agenda as shown on the revised
agenda, including an addition to the Consent Agenda of Invoice for Approval List Dated
Ending February 12, 2003, and a revised Resolution 03-02. Mayor Colton also moved
Ordinance 775 from the Consent Agenda to the first item in the Business section of the
agenda.
The Mayor called for public comment. No public comment received.
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Question by Mr. Eimers on the amount of overtime and comp. time in the Police
Department while positions are being filled and whether the dock repair on the Consent
Agenda had been budgeted.
Mayor Colton moved to approve the Consent Agenda. Mr. Eimers seconded the
motion. On a roll call vote, all Council Members voted aye. Motion carried.
AB 03-20 Ordinance 775 International Building Code Amendment: Snow Load
City Planner Lindley Kirkpatrick gave an overview of the reason for this ordinance, the
new standards included in the International Building Code, and the reason for
maintaining the current minimum standards. Lindley requested that the council waive
the requirement for detailed or additional reading and enact this change tonight. Mr.
Muller questioned the impact of these changes on manufactured or mobile homes
coming ito the community. Susan Buxton addressed the issue of fairness in applying
these standards to all homes in the community. There may be a future issue that
requires Council attention if no manufacturer could provide a home that meets the
standard. If so, there may be a need to consider allowing a snow roof in very specific
conditions. Additional discussion of the use of snow roofs for mobile homes resulted in
Mr. Muller requesting that P & Z look again at when or how snow roofs could be allowed
within city limits if no manufacturers are able to meet the 120 pound snowload roofing
standard.
Moved by Mayor Colton to suspend the rules and read by title only, Ordinance
775. Seconded by Mr. Eimers. On a roll call vote, Mr. Colton, Mr. Kaiser, Ms. Arp,
Mr. Muller, and Mr. Eimers voted aye. Motion carried.
Ordinance 775 was read by title by Susan Buxton.
Mayor Colton moved to adopt Ordinance 775. Seconded by Mr. Eimers. On a roll
call vote, Mayor Colton, Ms. Arp, Mr. Muller, and Mr. Eimers voted aye. The motion
carried.
AB 03-18 Audit Report
The Audit report for FY 2002 was presented by Kevin Smith, representing Balukoff
Lindstrom & Co. Mr. Smith explained the scope of the audit activities and then
discussed the improvements in cash position and various fund balances. Mr. Eimers
asked whether the city could use any of the cash balance in the water fund to address
high priority projects. Mr. Strope said that some projects will be included in the next
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budget presentations. It was noted that the Golf Fund continues to have some issues
that need to be addressed since the reserves will be depleted within one year. The
audit resulted in a report with no reportable conditions or material weaknesses. The
footnotes contain no significant changes from prior years. It was noted that the
estimates on the water treatment project may be high given the current status.
There is a footnote about LID 3 issues related to values. Mr. Eimers asked about the
city's potential liability. Mr. Eimers and Mr. Muller asked that Susan provide more
information on the LID 3 valuations at the next meeting of the council. She also
mentioned that she has been talking with Balukoff and other bond specialists to look at
ways to help protect the interests of the bond holders even though the City of McCall is
not liable for the validity of the valuations used to establish the LID. Susan is
suggesting that we look into the possibility of creating a bond-holders committee to
assist the city in making the decisions about this situation and stated more information
may not be available until the first regular council meeting in March. Susan explained
that she feels the city has a reasonable defense to claims bondholders could allege.
Mr. Smith continued to discuss the footnotes, pointing out that the city has not had any
instances of negative fund balances or expenses exceeding the budget during FY 2002.
It was pointed out that there were no significant findings or reportable conditions found
during the course of the audit. Mr. Eimers congratulated all staff members on the
excellent progress and hard work that this audit report highlights. The Audit Committee
Letter highlighted the $1.3 million liability recorded without revenue, the $8 million water
treatment plant, the Golf Fund and the LID.
Mr. Smith discussed some of the changes that will be come with new financial reporting
~equirements of GASB 34. There are several management issues to address in relation
to the way we report our capital assets. He provided an example of the new financial
statements to show the brevity of the new reporting format and discussed the
reconciliation issues that are involved in making year-end financial statements reconcile
to the formats being used in the current monthly financial reports. Balukoff gave the
City of McCall a "Grade" of A for the work done by the city this year.
Question by Mr. Eimers relating to actual surpluses over the percentage thresholds.
Robert Strope agreed to provide that information. Ms. Arp asked about the spending
standards and controls in place and how they are reviewed during the audit. Mr. Smith
discussed the audit standards and stated that the city does appear to have good
controls in place.
Ms. Arp asked about the factors that will be used to determine whether the GASB 34
implementation should include valuation of capital assets.
AB 03-14 Economic Development Update
John Blaye reported that there have been numerous inquiries to the Economic
Development Council of Boise and Valley Counties during the past year. Mr. Blaye
discussed the types of inquiries made and the major projects that are being worked on
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this year. John also thanked Robert Strope for his service on the Economic
Development Council and thanked the Council for the ongoing financial support of the
City. Mr. Blaye will return to a future Council meeting to provide additional information
about the new tax and revenue dollars that are generated as a result of their work.
Mr. Eimers asked the Mayor to write a letter on behalf of the Council members
supporting the work of the EDC so that they can provide it to the Legislature during
upcoming funding requests.
Tom Daniel discussed the progress on converting the old Forest Service building into a
"Park Place" Business Office and Technology Center. Mr. Daniel discussed the non-
profit group developed to provide technology to the community and also discussed the
importance of bringing fiber optics into the community to benefit the schools and the
business community. Discussions occurred earlier this week between CISCO, BSU, the
Economic Development Council and local business and government entities about
bringing technology and video production courses through BSU distance learning and
the high school using fiber optic technology. The building remodel will include a full
video production facility. Overall remodeling, including duplicate fire protection systems
and full security systems, optical fiber technology, IP telephone systems, and strong
computer networking and video with triplicate redundancy throughout. This work should
be completed late in March. The facility will also be usable for and available for
conference and meeting use. The computer technology being developed for this facility
should also be available to the schools here in town.
Written reports were provided in the Co;Jncil Packet.
Mr. Muller asked for a report on the DEQ review of J-Ditch I & I reduction. Mr. Strope
reported that at this point, the city has not submitted the DEQ packet, but he will send
the Council members an update via e-mail. Our One to One application has been
submitted. The line will be completed prior to the
Mr. Eimers noted that he has received many positive comments regarding the City
employee participation in creating a snow sculpture and he thanked the city employees
for the good work. The thanks extends to the efforts by the Police Dept. and the Public
Works Dept.
Ms. Arp noted that Council has a meeting in Cascade with the Valley County
Commissioners as part of their agenda on February 23 at 3:00 p.m. No action will be
taken at that meeting, but it will be used as the first step in creating the "Committee of
Nine" or a discussion of alternative proposals to the "Committee of Nine" which could
then be adopted by the groups at future regular meetings. If that proposal includes an
initial formalization of what is currently being done, Lindley Kirkpatrick suggested that it
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may be a useful step to consider. Council members expressed
negotiating if the city's preferred position is included in the discussions.
an interest in
Without further business, Mayor Colton moved to adjourn.. Mr. Eimers seconded
the motion. Ail Council Members voted aye. The motion carried. The Council
adjourned at 8:45 p.m.
ATTEST:
Barbara Bauer, Finance Director/City Clerk
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