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HomeMy Public PortalAbout2015.03.26 Regular MinutesMINUTES McCall City Council Regular Meeting Legion Hall (McCall City Hall - Lower Level) March 26, 2015 Agenda Call to Order and Roll Call Approve the Agenda Work Session Pledge of Allegiance Public Comment Proclamation Business Agenda Consent Agenda Adjournment CALL TO ORDER AND ROLL CALL Mayor Aymon called the regular meeting of the McCall City Council to order at 5:31 p.m. Mayor Aymon, Councilor Giles, Councilor Swanson, and Councilor Witte all answered roll call. Councilor Scott was absent. City staff present was Gene Drabinski, City Manager; Bill Nichols, City Attorney; Carol Coyle, Grant Coordinator; Michelle Groenevelt, Community Development Director; Nathan Coyle, Airport Manager; Peter Borner, Public Works Director; Dennis Coyle, Parks and Recreation Director; Eric McCormick, Golf Course Superintendent; Erin Roper, Communications Coordinator; Justin Williams, Chief of Police; and Lisa Kundrick, Deputy City Clerk. APPROVE THE AGENDA Councilor Swanson moved to approve the agenda as submitted. Councilor Giles seconded the motion. In a voice vote all members voted aye and the motion carried. WORK SESSION 1 AB 15-41 -- Comprehensive Parking Strategy for Recreational Trailers in the City of McCall The work session was led by Michelle Groenevelt, Community Development Director. Due to the City's lack of a Comprehensive Parking Strategy for managing larger vehicles (recreational vehicles and vehicles with trailers), the Department Heads met to identify the problems that are created by parking recreational trailers in city limits and to present recommendations. The McCall City Council Regular Meeting March 26, 2015 Page 1 of 7 purpose of this work session was a review of that meeting to inform the Council. Ms. Groenevelt discussed the issues that came up in the meeting such as the difficulties of finding places to park trailers within city limits. The second issue discussed was the parking management at the Mi11 Street parking lot and a funding source needs to be identified for that parking area. In addition, overflow parking for trailers needs to be identified so visitors know where to go when parking lots are full. Staff presented some recommendations. The first was to simply not allow trailer parking on streets and to identify places where trailers may be parked, and to modify City Code to reflect that. The second recommendation was to very clearly designate boat trailer parking only on certain streets. The third recommendation was not to allow overnight boat trailer parking within the Mi11 Street parking lot and designate it as day use only. The last recommendation was to develop an educational and public relations plan to inform the public. This plan applies to both boat trailer parking in the summer as well as snowmobile trailer parking in the winter to avoid conflicts with snow removal. Justin Williams, Chief of Police, added to the discussion, reinforcing the problem of parking trailers on city streets, safety problems, etc. Dennis Coyle, Parks and Recreation Director, gave an alternate view of the problem, stating that if parking is limited even further then there will be even less places to park, making it difficult to accommodate the visitors. Mr. Coyle did not agree with the idea of charging for parking as it would conflict with grant funding and it is expensive to enforce. (The grants were given with the provision that the City would not charge a fee; if that were to change the City would have to pay back some of the grant funds.) A different issue that Mr. Coyle brought up was large trucks and motorhomes parking too close to intersections, causing visibility problems. Peter Borner, Public Works Director, highlighted problems encountered parking snowmobile trailers during the winter months. He stated that snow complicates parking issues. The other issue is parking these large vehicles downtown and how it creates sight -distance problems when trying to get out into intersections. Public Works has tried to make Mi11 Street available for parking but this still needs more work. Eric McCormick, Golf Course Superintendent, said he would not be opposed to overnight parking in the Golf Course parking lot during the winter because of the inactivity during the winter. Mayor Aymon asked what other communities (like Coeur D'Alene) do for this problem, and also who the complaints are coming from (locals versus second home owners). Michelle Groenevelt replied that she was not aware what other cities are currently doing. Also, the complaints appear to be coming from the locals who find that they cannot utilize the day use parking. Mayor Aymon stated she thought a 72-hour parking limit was overly generous and she was in favor of not allowing people to park overnight. Councilor Swanson was concerned about where these vehicles would go if they were not allowed to park downtown. Mr. Coyle estimated that most of the boat trailer parking in the lot turns over about four times a day as people remove McCall City Council Regular Meeting Page 2 of 7 March 26, 2015 their boats. Ms. Groenevelt reminded the Council that there is plenty of room to park boat trailers in the State Park, for a fee, but Mr. Coyle countered that the downtown parking will always have more launches due to its location. Councilor Witte commented that she would support changing the Mi11 Street lot to day use only, but she agreed with Councilor Swanson that an alternative parking source needs to be identified. Councilor Swanson suggested that there may be different times of the year when long-term boat trailer parking should be allowed. Ms. Groenevelt commented that designating parking for boat trailers elsewhere would possibly displace parking for cars, and ultimately she felt that the plan should reasonably manage parking for all users in the downtown area. The general consensus among Council was to not allow on -street parking for trailers, with the exception of very short-term use (parking to load or unload, etc.). Councilor Giles pointed out that there is some degree of responsibility that lies with the trailer owner to arrange parking when securing lodging, or to make sure there is room to park a trailer when buying a home. Michelle Groenevelt stated that City Department Heads would review input from Council and the other department heads and come up with a plan for a parking strategy. Mayor Aymon led the audience in the Pledge of Allegiance at 6:08 p.m. PUBLIC COMMENT Mayor Aymon called for public comment at 6:09 p.m. Hearing no comments, Mayor Aymon closed the public comment period. PROCLAMATION AB 15-44 -- Fair Housing Month Proclamation 2015 Carol Coyle, Grant Administrator, proposed that the City sign the Fair Housing Proclamation for the month of 2015. Councilor Witte moved to proclaim April, 2015 as Fair Housing Month in the City of McCall and authorize the Mayor to sign the proclamation. Councilor Swanson seconded the motion. In a roll call vote Councilor Witte, Councilor Swanson, Mayor Aymon, and Councilor Giles all voted aye and the motion carried. BUSINESS AGENDA AB 15-40 -- Centennial Committee Annual Report to Council Mr. Lyle Nelson presented the Annual Report from the Centennial Committee stating that Centennial Plaza is almost complete. The wall is 100 feet (for 100 years), and the artwork depicts McCall City Council Regular Meeting March 26, 2015 Page 3 of 7 significant events in McCall's history. The dates and events will be sandblasted into the wall to describe the events. There will be plaques on the monument to allow space for future entries and there are still orders coming in for bricks. There will be a celebration this summer in July to present the finished plaza to the City. The plaza was done to acknowledge the importance of community and recognizing people and showing how each brick contributes to the plaza and the community as well. The bronze plaques will commemorate organizations in McCall. AB 15-45 -- Golf Advisory Committee Annual Report Roger Snodgrass, Golf Advisory Committee Chair, presented Council with the following annual report of the Golf Advisory Committee. The course is anticipating an early opening this year if there is enough staff for operations. The clubhouse lighting upgrade was completed with the help of an Idaho Power rebate. Local Option Tax funds were used to purchase a multi -purpose Gator with blade for snow removal from the greens. Three greens needed to be re -sodded due to winter damage. There were a number of irrigation problems last season that required addition LOT funds to repair. The new storage building has been completed. Dead trees were removed and 65 small trees were planted. Three new ladies' tee boxes were added. The clubhouse was closed for the winter. McCall Golf Course was mentioned in Golf Digest in a recent article. Mr. Snodgrass continued with the report stating that the golf course is now using an online system to facilitate booking tee times. Cart paths are being maintained in the winter for walkers. The golf course entered a float in the Winter Carnival parade. The Golf Course Committee filled all of its vacancies. Verizon has proposed placing a cell phone tower on the golf course which will be going through the permitting process. The Committee will review the site and send a recommendation to the Planning and Zoning Committee for their meeting on May 5, 2015. The increase in fees this year has met with mixed approval. One area of contention is the elimination of the Monday -through -Thursday season pass. There were 400 participants to the golf course survey with 141 comments with some being positive and others had constructive criticism. The Committee thanked the Local Option Tax Commission and City Council for the LOT funds provided over the years. Commissioner Snodgrass asked for feedback from the Council. The Council briefly discussed the elimination of the Monday -through -Thursday season pass and the complaints that resulted from this elimination. AB 15-46 -- Request to Sell and/or Raffle Lifetime Golf Passes Roger Snodgrass, Golf Advisory Committee Chair, discussed the Golf Course Advisory Committee's (GAC) proposal to sell and/or raffle 12 lifetime golf passes. The current cost of a lifetime pass is $15,000, and the Advisory Committee is asking to lower the price to $10,000. They also asked for an annual raffle of 200 tickets at $50 per ticket. The $10,000 from the initial raffle would go towards the reconfiguration of Aspen #1 green. The Men's Association would pay for the remaining $11,000 to rebuild the green to start in October 2015. The raffle winner would be allowed one transfer of the lifetime pass. The recipient of the transfer must be named prior to the pass being issued. The raffle winner would be responsible for any income tax liability. If the raffle winner has purchased a season pass they would be entitled to a refund of 50% of the purchase price of that pass. Currently there are 12 lifetime passes in use. The lifetime passes were $10,000 for quite some time, but the price was raised to $15,000 and only one has been sold at that price. The GAC thinks lowering the price would bring in more sales to fund improvements to the golf course. McCall City Council Regular Meeting Page 4 of 7 March 26, 2015 Councilor Giles said he was comfortable with allowing the raffle but was not in favor of lowering the price of the lifetime pass to $10,000. Since the money from the raffle ticket sales would be donated to the Men's Association for improvement projects, Councilor Witte raised the question of the legality of donating the money to the Men's Association. City Attorney, Bi11 Nichols, responded that if all the funds raised from the raffle are invested in the golf course then it would be considered as trading those funds for improvements to the golf course, so it is not something that directly benefits the Men's Association or its members directly. Councilor Witte approved of doing the raffle as a one-time event but was reluctant to have more lifetime passes in use. Council was advised by City Attorney Nichols to determine actions in two steps. The first step is whether or not to authorize the raffle, and secondly to determine how many tickets and what price. Councilor Witte moved to approve the Men's Golf Association to raffle one Lifetime Golf Pass for $10,000, with the winner allowed to transfer the pass one time prior to use of the pass to fund the capital needs of the McCall Golf Course. Councilor Swanson seconded the motion. In a roll call vote Councilor Witte, Councilor Swanson, Mayor Aymon, and Councilor Giles all voted aye and the motion carried. AB 15-38 -- Senior Center Request for Reallocation of FY14 LOT Funds Dick Jenkins presented on behalf of the McCall Senior Center stating that the Senior Center received LOT funds of $6539 in FY14 for replacement of windows. A second bid resulted in a cost savings of $1133. In a separate project the light fixtures were replaced through an incentive grant from Idaho Power with a balance due of $1372. The Senior Center requested to use the remaining LOT funds to pay toward the balance due on the light fixture replacement. Councilor Swanson moved to approve the use of remaining FY14 LOT funds to pay toward the balance due for light fixture replacement in the Senior Center. Councilor Giles seconded the motion. In a roll call vote Councilor Swanson, Councilor Giles, Mayor Aymon, and Councilor Witte all voted aye and the motion carried. AB 15-42 -- Resolution 15-05 to Accept Idaho Transportation Department "Cash for Towns" Grant Award Peter Borner, Public Works Director, began with an update that the City has received planning grants from DEQ for drinking water and wastewater. The City was granted $87,500 for drinking water and $77,000 for wastewater. Linda Stokes will be preparing a budget amendment for this. Mr. Borner added that Lift Station #7 is now replaced and the new lift station is operating. Mr. Borner stated that every year ITD allocates money to the "Cash for Towns" program for safety enhancements along state highways, primarily curb ramps and sometimes sidewalks. The City received $100,000 to be used for eight curb ramps that were identified along Highway 55 McCall City Council Regular Meeting Page 5 of 7 March 26, 2015 that needed improvements to bring them into ADA compliance. Mr. Borner presented a resolution to enter into a cooperative agreement with ITD to complete the work. Councilor Giles moved to adopt Resolution 15-05 authorizing the Mayor to enter into, on behalf of said municipality, a Cooperative Agreement between the City of McCall and the Idaho Transportation Board, accepting the Cash for Towns Offer in the amount of $100,000. Councilor Witte seconded the motion. In a roll call vote Councilor Giles, Councilor Witte, Mayor Aymon, and Councilor Swanson all voted aye and the motion carried. AB 15-39 -- Resolution 15-06: McCall Redevelopment Agency Determination of Deteriorated or Deteriorating Area Michelle Groenevelt, Community Development Director, presented a resolution on behalf of the McCall Redevelopment Agency (MRA). MRA has six parcels located out of its boundary that they would like aligned with their district as well as the Central Business District Boundary. This resolution is the first step in that process as it determines that those six parcels are deteriorated or deteriorating areas as defined by Idaho Code and enables the Urban Renewal Area to expand its plan boundary to include the above mentioned parcels. This gives the Board the authority to dispose of the property because it would be within their boundary in the District. Of note, Ms. Groenevelt stated there is no specific development plan for this area. City Attorney Bi11 Nichols added that the Councils only decision right now is to determine whether this area is deteriorated or deteriorating. These six parcels do not have common ownership, so it would be difficult to redevelop, so it qualifies as deteriorated or deteriorating under the statute. Councilor Swanson thanked City Attorney Nichols for his team's assistance and added that the Urban Renewal District currently cannot do anything with that property -- they cannot dispose of it and cannot spend money on it because it is not within its boundary, so it remains as bare dirt. This action will empower MRA with flexibility to sell it or perhaps partner with a developer in the future. Councilor Witte moved to adopt Resolution 15-06 determining that six (6) parcels adjacent to the existing Railroad Avenue Urban Renewal Area are a deteriorated or deteriorating area as defined by Idaho Code §§50-2018(8) & (9) and authorize the Mayor to sign all necessary documents. Councilor Giles seconded the motion. In a roll call vote Councilor Witte, Councilor Giles, Mayor Aymon, and Councilor Swanson all voted aye and the motion carried. AB 15-43 -- Request for Approval to Present Amendment of McCall City Code Title 8, Chapter 16, Paragraph 3(H) Nate Coyle, Airport Manager, addressed the use of aircraft tie -down spaces for parking of personal vehicles stating that this has been identified by FAA as a safety concern. The Airport Advisory Committee (AAC) was able to designate long-term parking that could be used instead. Mr. Coyle proposed that the code be amended so that the City does not have to provide a parking space for the user renting a seasonal tie -down space and instead a parking space can be obtained McCall City Council Regular Meeting Page 6 of 7 March 26, 2015 through a private on -site provider. This change would be implemented beginning with the 2015 summer season. The Council's consensus was to proceed with the Code Amendment. Upcoming Meetings Schedule Discussion Council discussed upcoming meetings. City Manager Gene Drabinski commented that he and some Council members may not be available for the April 9 Council meeting as they will be in court. The meeting may be difficult to move as there is a public hearing for a zoning amendment and it has already been noticed. Council decided to proceed with the April 9 meeting, have those Council members call in by phone that are not able to attend, open the hearing but postpone it until April 13. The regular Council business agenda could be moved to April 13 as well. There still may be a quorum to hold the meeting, so Council decided to go forward with the regular meeting schedule as planned. CONSENT AGENDA Staff recommended approval of the following items: 1. Regular Council Minutes — September 11, 2014 2. Regular Council Minutes — September 25, 2014 3. Alcohol and Catering Licenses Activity Report 4. Payroll Report for Period ending March 13, 2015 5. Warrant Registers Councilor Witte moved to approve the Consent Agenda as presented. Councilor Giles seconded the motion. In a voice vote all members voted aye and the motion carried. ADJOURNMENT Without further business, the Mayor adjourned the meeting at 7:39 p.m. ,,��uuunrg4, ``4 Mc( O•,,��� ter'. U SEgL s : J kie J. Aymonn M or ATTEST: '♦ ��+ G * • essieJo y lerk McCall City Council Regular Meeting Page 7 of 7 March 26, 2015