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HomeMy Public PortalAboutCouncil Minutes 2007 01/11MINUTES McCall City Council Regular Meeting January 11, 2007 Agenda Call to Order and Roll Call Reports Public Comment Consent Agenda Business Agenda Committee Minutes Other Business Adjournment CALL TO ORDER AND ROLL CALL Council President Bailey called the regular meeting of the McCall City Council to order at 6:04 p.m. Council Member Bailey, Council Member Bertram, Council Member Kraemer, and Council Member Scott answered roll call. A quorum was present. Mayor Robertson was absent. Bill Nichols, City Attorney, was present. City staff members present were Lindley Kirkpatrick, City Manager; Roger Millar, Deputy City Manager; David Simmonds, Information Systems Manager; Brenda Loftis, Human Resource Officer; Linda Stokes, Acting Finance Director; John Anderson, Airport Manager; Michelle Groenevelt, Community Development Planner; Steven Hasson, Planning Manager; Eric McCormick, Golf Course Superintendent; Anne Kantola, Library Director; Brock Heasley, Parks & Recreation Director; Jerry Summers, Chief of Police; and Joanne York, City Clerk. Council President Bailey led the audience in the Pledge of Allegiance. Council President Bailey announced that AB 07-05 would be moved from the Consent Agenda to the first item on the Business Agenda and that comments relating to it would be taken at that time. REPORTS City Manager Lindley Kirkpatrick asked Rick Fereday, Chairman of the McCall Urban Renewal Agency (MURA), to report on the status of selling Municipal bonds. Mr. Fereday said that he MCCALL CITY COUNCIL REGULAR MEETING January 11, 2007 Page 1 of 11 and Mr. Millar had met with Seattle Northwest Securities in Boise that morning concerning the sale of the bonds. He said that shortly before noon, $4 million of the $5 million bonds had been sold and that Seattle Northwest Securities signed off on the final amount. He said that MURA was ready to forge ahead with plans to renovate Legacy Park and wanted to complete the project this summer. Mr. Fereday expressed appreciation to Mr. Millar for his help. Chief Summers reported that January had been a busy month for the Police Department, with two fairly significant drug arrests in the last two days. Mr. Millar reported on three items that had been updated since the monthly report was submitted. He said the Forest Service wanted to divest itself of Bear Basin Road, and that their easement extended from the highway at the City limits to the national forest lands. He said the County would take over the road if the City did not. He said that the road was currently an unimproved right-of-way and if the City took it over, that would be unchanged. He said that if the residents on Bear Basin Road later decided to improve the road, then the City would take over maintenance. Council Member Bertram asked what the homeowners wanted to happen. Mr. Millar said they did not want to allow snowmobiles on their road, but that situation appeared to have been resolved. Mr. Millar said he did not see any reason why the road should be maintained differently. Mr. Millar reported that there had been a very productive neighborhood meeting concerning the Rio Vista Local Improvement District (LID). He said that staff asked participants to fill out surveys. He said the City received responses from roughly half the property owners and that better than half of those who responded supported the LID. There was discussion concerning septic tanks and the Health Department's stand against issuing more septic permits. There was a discussion about Ski Ranch Subdivision. Mr. Millar said the subdivision was a County island surrounded by City property but that the City could annex the property. Mr. Millar said that some of the subdivision wells were beginning to fail and the neighbors were interested in hooking up to City water, which would mean the subdivision would first have to be annexed into the City. Mr. Millar asked that Council begin study on that issue. Mr. Kirkpatrick said the subdivision was made up of fewer than forty lots and that these lots would be on City sewer, not Sewer District. There was some discussion between Council and Mr. Millar on clarification of items in his monthly report. Council Member Bertram asked for an update on the meeting with the Department of Commerce about the grant. Mr. Hasson said there would be a meeting the end of January concerning MCCALL CITY COUNCIL REGULAR MEETING Page 2 of 11 January 11, 2007 opportunities for a grant from the Department of Commerce. Council Member Bertram asked if Mr. Blaye would be involved, and Mr. Hasson said he would be kept informed of the project. Mr. Kirkpatrick introduced John Anderson, the new Airport Manager. Mr. Kirkpatrick announced that the Skate Park had been named the best skate park in the State of Idaho by The Boise Weekly. Mr. Kirkpatrick reported that the Water and Sewer Department had been very busy during the past four to six weeks, with water line breaks and lift station issues. He said that Levi Brinkley and his crew had been doing a good job keeping up despite the poor weather conditions. Council asked if there were any common denominators causing the different breaks. Mr. Millar said weather conditions had caused a lot of problems, with the temperatures varying so much. He said problems with lift station number seven had been related to power failure; on lift station number nine, several seals failed at the same time. Mr. Millar said they had been replacing seals this year but even the new seal failed. He said that Levi had everything running again. Mr. Millar said the problem with the generator had been fixed and that problem was due to a computer glitch. Mr. Millar said the first of the flag stations at crosswalks was installed today and that all the crosswalks should have flags set up by Winter Carnival. Mr. Kirkpatrick noted that the search for Mr. Millar's replacement was proceeding and that there had been some telephone interviews as well as in-house interest. He reported that annual performance reviews for City employees were about seventy-five percent done and the rest would be completed by the end of this month. He said that merit increases should be effective the first pay day of February. He reminded Council that they needed to schedule the City Manager's evaluation and decide what process they wanted to use for that evaluation. Council Member Bailey asked that the City Clerk prepare a year-end report for FY06 Local Option Tax (LOT). Council Member Bertram asked that notices be put in the newspaper concerning LOT to coincide with the beginning of the budget process. Council Member Bertram asked how much use the golf course was getting this winter. Mr. McCormick said they have had tremendous traffic on the walking paths at the golf course. He said the clubhouse was open for a while in the afternoons but had not been used much. He said other activities besides walking at the golf course included cross-country skiing and snow shoeing. Council Member Bertram asked to begin discussion concerning selling property at the golf course, space available for the golf course maintenance area, and any areas suitable for housing. Mr. Kirkpatrick said there had been discussions with the former golf course manager which had MCCALL CITY COUNCIL REGULAR MEETING Page 3 of 11 January 11, 2007 concluded that the only place available for the maintenance area was by the existing facility and the lot across the street to the south. Council Member Bertram asked if that would come up with the Golf Course Advisory Committee, and Mr. McCormick said he would bring it up soon. Council Member Bailey said the Council needed to have a discussion about it soon, and Council Member Bertram added it needed to be discussed before budget time. Council Member Bertram asked about the status of the enclosure for the trash containers. Mr. McCormick said completion of the project would be a priority for this spring. Council Member Bertram urged him to make requests for funding through the Local Option Tax Committee (LOT). PUBLIC COMMENT Council President Bailey called for public comment at 6:35 p.m. He asked that people who wished to speak about the Lake Street closure wait until that agenda item was up for discussion. Michael Anderson introduced himself and said he was the current developer of the airport hangar project. He said he was in favor of pursuing urban renewal at the airport. He said that tax increment funding would provide payment in full for the sewer connection, would fund land acquisition adjacent to the airport, would eliminate need for a lift station; would fund additional airport infrastructure, would provide a local match for capital improvements planned at the airport (which generally received 95% from Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and 2.5% from the State), and would also supplement the airport budget. Mr. Anderson volunteered to be of assistance to the City. Council Member Bailey asked Mr. Millar if this topic should be included on the next Urban Renewal meeting. Mr. Millar said that since Urban Renewal was busy with the design project and closing the sale of the bonds, that it would be better to wait until this spring to meet with all the taxing districts. He said there was concern about the downside of the new taxing district and that it would take money away from other taxing entities. Council Member Bertram asked if the meeting could be held at the end of February, or if a special meeting could be scheduled. There was a lengthy discussion concerning the steps involved in pursuing formation of the new taxing district. Mr. Millar said it would be good to set a special meeting for discussion with the other taxing entities. Mr. Kirkpatrick said he would do that. Council Member Bertram took a moment to recognize McCall as a recreational paradise, specifically mentioning the recognition received by the Skate Board Park. She said that Governor Jim Risch had designated a golf recognition week as a plug for tourism in the State. She said she had attended the ice skating program at Christmas and that the improvement in the level of talent MCCALL CITY COUNCIL REGULAR MEETING Page 4 of 11 January 11, 2007 over the last few years was amazing. She said the City was lucky to have facilities such as the skating rink and expressed appreciation to gifts such as the rink from citizens. Hearing no further comments, Council President Bailey closed the public comment at 7:10 p.m. CONSENT AGENDA Staff recommended approval of the following items: ❖ Minutes — December 13, 2006 ❖ Warrant Register printed on January 5, 2007 ❖ Payroll Reports for Pay Periods Ending December 15 and December 29, 2006 ❖ AB 07-01 Alcohol Beverage Catering Permits ❖ AB 07-02 Alcohol Beverage License Report ❖ AB 07-03 Winter Carnival 2007 Events at City Parks ❖ AB 07-05 Winter Carnival 2007 East Lake Street Road Closure ❖ AB 07-06 Winter Carnival 2007 Fireworks Display Permit ❖ AB 07-04 Parks and Recreation Advisory Committee Member Appointment — Jane Cropp ❖ AB 07-12 Budget Line Item Adjustments for Local Option Tax funds for Basketball Uniforms ❖ AB 07-08 Budget Line Item Adjustments for Water Fund for Truck Replacement ❖ AB 07-10 Third Amended Consent Order with Department of Environmental Quality ❖ AB 07-11 Certification related to McCall Urban Renewal Agency bonding ❖ AB 07-14 Ratifying and authorizing the Council President's signature on certain final plats in the Mayor's absence Mr. Kirkpatrick noted that the Council had received another Warrant Register for the Visa bill as well as a payment to the state tax commission and employee reimbursements. Council Member Bailey asked Mr. Millar to explain what the snow poles were and how they were attached to the sidewalks. Mr. Millar said they made special brackets in their shop. Council Member Bailey asked for clarification on a few items on the warrant register. Council Member Scott asked whether the Water and Sewer Department had considered purchasing a used vehicle to replace the wrecked truck. Mr. Kirkpatrick said the Water Department used their vehicles so much that it made more sense to buy a new vehicle rather than a used one. He said they definitely get their money's worth out of buying a new vehicle. Council Member Bertram asked about if the other insurance company had paid. Mr. Millar said that Idaho Counties Risk Management Program (ICRMP) had worked with the other driver's insurance company in settling this claim. MCCALL CITY COUNCIL REGULAR MEETING Page 5 of 11 January 11, 2007 Council Member Scott moved to approve the Consent Agenda. Council Member Bertram seconded the motion. In a roll call vote, Council Member Scott, Council Member Bertram, Council Member Kraemer, and Council Member Bailey voted aye. The motion carried. At this time Mayor Robertson joined the meeting via telephone. BUSINESS AGENDA AB 07-05 East Lake Street Road Closure for Winter Carnival 2007 Mr. Kirkpatrick introduced the agenda for the East Lake Street Closure, explaining that John and Shirley Hicks, the McCall Area Chamber of Commerce Co -Chairs for Winter Carnival 2007, had requested that the City approve the closing of East Lake Street from North Third Street to Pine Street from Friday, January 26, 2007, through Sunday, February 4, 2007, for the McCall Winter Carnival. He said that in the past, the City only supported a road closure if all affected businesses agreed in writing to the proposed closure. He said this year the decision had not been unanimous by all the businesses. However, he explained that staff recommended the closure be approved in order to create a safer environment for the Winter Carnival activities, to accommodate the extensive foot traffic in the area, and to address public safety concerns. He said that staff would continue to work with the Chamber of Commerce to minimize the negative effect on surrounding businesses. Council Member Bailey said that the prior council in 2004 addressed essentially the same issue with the same business owners, so this was not a new issue. He said the decision at that time was to not close the street. Council President Bailey opened the meeting to public comment concerning the street closure. Jeremy McGlathery, co-owner of Mountain Java, said that the diversion of traffic would be detrimental to his business, especially since part of the road was already closed early in the mornings for snow removal. Mayor Robertson observed that an alternative would be to not have Winter Carnival downtown. Esther Mulnick, Mountain Monkey Business, said they had been told that unless all the businesses agreed, the road would not be closed - period. She said that conducting business in McCall was hard enough without losing street access. She said she supported moving Winter Carnival to the old Ridley's site. Jim Lawless, Razzle Dazzle, said his business would be negatively impacted if the road was closed during Winter Carnival because it would be difficult for people to get to his store. MCCALL CITY COUNCIL REGULAR MEETING Page 6 of 11 January 11, 2007 Sam Ronhils said that downtown was the proper place for carnival, and if Lake Street was closed for the food court, there would be a large amount of foot traffic. He said that for the betterment of the entire community, downtown was an ideal place and he was in favor of it being there every year. Council Member Bailey said that the Urban Renewal plan for that area would significantly change the character of the street and should benefit businesses in the long run. He said planning for next year's Winter Carnival should begin now. John Hicks explained that there was a shortage of areas where the food court could be located, due in part to the construction at Hotel McCall and to the inability to get sufficient electrical power to Legacy Park. He said they could make arrangements for opening up for snow removal as the need arose. He said they also were planning to add signage to direct traffic, add parking spaces, provide room for construction parking, and also barricade a portion of John Carey's upper lot for additional parking. Mayor Robertson said Council needed to know whether or not downtown businesses want to continue to hold the carnival downtown. Mr. Kirkpatrick noted that procedurally the City had not noticed this meeting as a public hearing in order to solicit broad public comment, and had not gone through any sort of public involvement process to gather general public input. Council Member Bertram gave a brief history of the philosophy of Winter Carnival and said it involved much more than just closing Lake Street. She discussed the effects of the carnival on businesses and that businesses also participated in the carnival activities. She noted that some of the vendors would be in competition with the local businesses and also would not be putting their money back into the city. She said that local businesses should not be burdened in order to benefit vendors and that a decision should be reached that could be applied to future carnivals. Council Member Scott asked if a commitment had been made by the Council in 2004. Council Member Bertram replied that the current council could not be held accountable for past councils' decisions. She also noted that the closure of Lake Street would last for eleven days, not just for a few hours. Mr. Kirkpatrick explained that previous sites were no longer available to use for the carnival and that the Urban Renewal Agency was looking at this area as a venue for activities like this. He said that when considering the total package for layout of activities, the road closure made sense in the public safety sense, while still providing access to the businesses. There was a discussion concerning other alternatives to closing Lake Street for eleven days. Council Member Kraemer suggested that the street could be open for one-way westbound traffic. Mr. Kirkpatrick noted that eastbound traffic would be better for the businesses. MCCALL CITY COUNCIL REGULAR MEETING Page 7 of 11 January 11, 2007 Council Member Bertram emphasized that funding vendor competition to businesses that supported the Winter Carnival was not right. Council Member Scott agreed that Council needed to support the local businesses. Council Member Bailey asked if it would be possible to look into the one-way traffic proposal or to contact Mike Hormaechea to see if he would stop his building activity at the old Ridley's site long enough to allow for Winter Carnival to be held there. John Hicks said he had been told that they would not be allowed to use the construction site due to safety issues. Council Member Bailey asked him to check into that again, but added that safety would be the first consideration. Council Member Bailey added that the issue had been decided before and the decision should not be changed. Council Member Bertram moved to deny the closure of East Lake Street for the duration of Winter Carnival. Council Member Bailey seconded the motion. In a roll call vote, Council Member Bertram, Council Member Bailey, Council Member Kraemer, Council Member Scott, and Mayor Robertson all voted aye. The motion carried, and the road closure was denied. At this time, Mayor Robertson ended his telephone participation with Council. AB 07-07 Airport Advisory Committee (AAC) Annual Report to Council John Seevers, Chairman of the AAC, presented the Committee's annual report to Council. Mr. Seevers introduced other AAC members present, Gordon Eccles and Dan Scott. Mr. Seevers explained that the AAC was an advisory committee to the City Council. Mr. Seevers discussed some of the highlights from this past year, including the restructuring of the airport fees which had allowed the airport to increase the number of staff. He said the airport now has thirty-two new hangars being completed and that one other hangar had been moved to a new location. He noted that the Airport Master Plan was in the final stages of completion and that the confidence level from the public in the airport had increased Mr. Seevers expressed concern that the salary for the airport manager was not equal to the ability required, and that the AAC would like money generated by the airport to stay at the airport. He said the AAC goals included continued excellent management with working in harmony with the airport manager and to allow more decisions (other than policy) to be made by the airport manager and AAC. He discussed other goals, including completion of the Airport Master Plan and implementation of its recommendations in a timely manner. Mr. Seevers expressed appreciation from the AAC to the City Council for the support the council had given this past year, and that they hoped the support would continue at that level. MCCALL CITY COUNCIL REGULAR MEETING Page 8 of 11 January 11, 2007 There was a lengthy discussion concerning amenities that could be provided at the airport. The Council thanked Mr. Seevers for his report and for the work of the AAC this year. AB 07-13 Aspen Ridge Subdivision Phase 3 Local Improvement District (LID) segregation roll — Ordinance No. 832 Mr. Hasson introduced the agenda item, noting that he had provided Council with copies of background information, including an explanation of an LID. He explained that Ordinance 832 would allocate the local improvement district assessment roll from the larger original parcels to the newly created subdivision lots associated with Aspen Ridge Phase 3. Council Member Bertram asked if all the lots were buildable. Mr. Hasson replied that they were all platted lots and buildable. Council Member Bailey said there were wetlands but they had been delineated. Mr. Hasson said the Army Corps of Engineers had evaluated the wetlands and given their approval. Council Member Bertram noted the LID's would be paid for when the lots were sold. Council Member Bailey said the LID's were typically paid off over time. Mr. Kirkpatrick said that in this case, the LID's were due and payable when each lot was sold. Mr. Nichols explained the exhibits that were attached to the agenda bill. There was a discussion concerning Exhibit C and whether or not the summary was necessary. The Council determined it was not. Council Member Kraemer moved to suspend the rules and read ordinance 832 by title only, one time only. Council Member Scott seconded the motion. In a roll call vote, Council Member Kraemer, Council Member Scott, Council Member Bertram, and Council Member Bailey voted aye and the motion carried. The Clerk read Ordinance 832 by title only, one time only. Council Member Kraemer moved to delete the summary of Exhibit C, and to adopt Ordinance 832; and authorize the Mayor to sign all necessary documents. Council Member Bertram seconded the motion. In a roll call vote, Council Member Kraemer, Council Member Bertram, Council Member Bailey, and Council Member Scott voted aye and the motion carried. AB 07-09 Renewal of Drive 55 Promotional Program Council Member Bailey introduced the agenda bill, explaining that the City's participation in the FOX12 Drive 55 promotion would end on January 31, and that the campaign would cost $3,300 for six months or $1,800 for three months. He said that as of January 1, the FOX12 Drive 55 website link had recorded 110,468 `impressions' and the Drive 55 page had been viewed 911 times. He also stated that no funds had been budgeted in FY07 to continue the program. MCCALL CITY COUNCIL REGULAR MEETING Page 9 of 11 January 11, 2007 Mr. Kirkpatrick explained that "impressions" indicated how many times the promotional website had been seen and that the McCall link had only been viewed 911 times. He asked that Council provide direction to staff regarding Council's intent. Council agreed that it would be more appropriate for Fox 12 to approach the Chamber and the Local Option Tax Commission. Council Member Bertram asked Mr. Kirkpatrick to write them a letter suggesting that. Council agreed not to proceed any further with this program. COMMITTEE MINUTES The Airport Advisory Committee Minutes for December 7, 2006, were included in the Council packets for review. OTHER BUSINESS Council Member Bailey said he had never been completely happy with Sterling Codifiers. He distributed copies of City code changes and copies of what Sterling had done with the formatting. He asked that Council study these samples and discuss it at the next meeting. He said they had omitted appendices and that their format was difficult to follow. He said the process was confusing. There was discussion about the service provided by Sterling and that it took almost eight months to codify the ordinances, the cost of which was $8,700. Council Member Bailey asked about the purpose of having to use a codifier. Mr. Kirkpatrick said McCall had a local ordinance requiring the services of a codifier, but Council Member Bailey said the ordinance was old and should be looked at again. Mr. Nichols explained that the advantage of codification was that everything was in one place and there was a system to find sections. He said there was a requirement that McCall was to have an official hard copy of the Code in the office of the City Clerk. Mr. Kirkpatrick said he would take a look at the options and get back to Council. The following is the meeting schedule for the next few weeks: Wednesday, January 17, 5 p.m. - Work Session with Planning & Zoning Thursday, January 18, 6 p.m. - Meeting with the Comprehensive Plan Steering Committee, at the Golf Course Club House January 25, 4 p.m. - Work Session on Waste Water Facility Planning MCCALL CITY COUNCIL REGULAR MEETING Page 10 of II January 11, 2007 ADJOURNMENT Without further business, the meeting was adjourned at 8:56 p.m. ATTEST: (.y� �hne E. York City y erk onald C. Bailey, Council Preside MCCALL CITY COUNCIL REGULAR MEETING Page 11 of 11 January 11, 2007