APPROVED MINUTES
The City Council held meeting # 1529 on Monday, November 4, 2019, in the Council Chambers at City Hall.
Call to Order:
The meeting was called to order at 7:00 pm by Mayor Brent Teske.
Present were Mrs. Williams, Mr. Zimmerman, Ms. Smith, Mr. Beach, Mr. Taylor, Mr. Dufficy, City Administrator Jim Hammons, and City Clerk Audray McCollum. City Attorney Dean Chisolm was absent.
Prayer was offered by Robert Mast.
Mr. Zimmerman MADE A MOTION to approve the minutes from Meeting 1523, held on August 5, 2019.
Mr. Beach, SECOND.
Williams, Zimmerman, Smith, Beach, Dufficy voted FOR.
Taylor Abstained.
MOTION PASSED.
Mr. Zimmerman MADE A MOTION to approve the minutes from Public Hearing Budget FY 2020, held on September 3, 2019.
Mr. Beach, SECOND.
Williams, Zimmerman, Smith, Beach, Dufficy, Taylor voted FOR.
MOTION PASSED.
Mr. Zimmerman MADE A MOTION to approve the minutes from Meeting 1528, held on October 21, 2019.
Ms. Smith, SECOND.
Williams, Zimmerman, Smith, Beach, Taylor, Dufficy voted FOR.
MOTION PASSED.
Announcements:
EPA announced the public comment period for the draft intuitional controls plan covering residential, commercial, and public properties at the Libby asbestos superfund site will be from October 28 – December 31, 2019.
November 11 is Veterans Day, there will be a ceremony at the Veteran’s Memorial at 1 pm at Riverfront Park, and Chief Kessel will be the guest speaker.
Committee Reports:
City Administrators Report: Mr. Hammons said Carson Brothers serviced the city buildings’ heating systems. They will provide the city with a report in the next few weeks.
City crews are hand paving potholes and replacing road signs.
Smith asked if the city was receiving the weekly reports from the Wayfinding Company?
Hammons said he was receiving them.
Cemetery/Parks: None.
Fire: There were a total of 7 calls for the month of September,3 in the city,3 rural and 1 out bring the total to 78 calls for 2019.
Police: Chief Kessel reported there were 233 calls for service in the month of October, resulting in 24 arrests,30 citations, and 3 DUI. The snow removal ordinance is in effect. An officer attended a two-day training on elder abuse. This covered banking, processing cases, and resources; this was paid for by the State of Montana.
Resolution/Ordinances: Committee will meet on Thursday at 12:15 to discuss provisions.
Lights/Streets/Sidewalks: None.
Building: None.
Water/Sewer: Meeting at the end of this week or the beginning of next week.
KRDC: None.
Finance: None.
City-County Board of Health: Laura Larson-Crismore reported EPA and DEQ are conducting a 5-year review on the Libby contaminated groundwater superfund site, tomorrow from 4-5 pm. EPA will be hosting in-person interviews at the EPA information center. If unable to attend, you can send your comments to jenkins.katherine@epa.gov. Crismore said the board of heath meets the second Wednesday of the month; everyone is welcome.
Park District Manager: Tony Petrusha, Park District Manager, reported the city is waiting to get back the easement for road 128 from the Forest Service.
Petrusha said the city needs to develop a plan for road improvements for the 1.3 miles on road 128. The city council would have to send a letter to the Forest Service authorizing any upgrades to the road. The city will need to put this on as an agenda item.
The city needs a plan for recurrent and deferred maintenance on the entire portion of the improvement, repairing potholes, cracks, resealing, chip sealing, and traffic signs. The maintenance will be shared by all the easement holders, The City of Libby, Forest service, The Outdoor Recreation Society, The Nordic Ski Club, and Frontier Communications. Petrusha is looking for suggestions on the request.
Dufficy said the road looked good to him and wanted to know what the future maintenance plans might be?
Petrusha said the plans were to widen the road to two lanes, extend some culverts, and then add a hard surface the 1.3 miles.
Dufficy asked is paving part of a wish list, or is this already in the plan?
Petrusha said this is on the Rack list. Giving the complexity of the maintenance agreement, I am doubtful about the paving aspect of the road improvements. The widen and culverts are possible.
Petrusha then spoke about the Kootenai Wellness Aquatic Center and the public participation at the open house. The response has been positive in building the center; some citizens are concerned about their taxes going up. The organization will form a 501C3 now to start collecting donations for construction money, then go to the voters in the spring to approve a mill levy.
Petrusha said there are 1.4 acres by the Port Authority and 1.4 acres in front of City Hall; he would like to purpose a land swap between the City of Libby and Lincoln County. The parking lot would become city property, and the grassy lot would become the swimming pool property. Petrusha would like this to be an agenda item. Mr. Petrusha said the pool would be owned by the Libby Park District, and it will be on county property.
Petrusha then spoke of the recent passing of Todd Berget and his vision of The Bridge of Voices and how special it would be to incorporate this into the trails system in Todd’s memory.
Public Comment on Non- Agenda Items: None.
New Business:
APPROVE FUNDING $2375.00 FROM THE COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT FUND (2959) FOR SHARED COST CONTRIBUTION FO THE MARKET STUDY FOR AMERICAN COVENT SENIOR HOUSING FOUNDATION.
Tina Oliphant,815 Minnesota, said a developer out of Kalispell is interested in Asa Wood School for a potential assisted living center. The market study report will be utilized for internal decision-making purposes, potential lender or investor use associated with a new market tax credit application. The study will be available to the city.
Craig Barringer, Libby School Superintendent, said the developer is only interested in the building, the district is hiring an appraiser. The district has sent the developer the asbestos reports and building plans. Barringer said this would be beneficial to the Libby schools since the upkeep on the Asa Wood building is costly.
Dufficy asked why the City of Libby should pay for a study on a building that the city does not own?
Teske asked what benefit will the city get out of the report?
Oliphant said you are helping your community take a building that has no value and potentially using the economic development fund to add value to your community.
Council discussion followed.
Dufficy MADE A MOTION to table until Dufficy and Taylor received the guidelines for the Community Development Fund.
Taylor SECOND.
Dufficy and Taylor FOR.
Williams, Zimmerman, Smith, and Beach AGAINST.
MOTION FAILED
Smith MADE A MOTION to approve funding $2,375.00 from the Community Development Fund for shared cost contribution of the market study for American Covent Senior Housing Foundation.
Williams SECOND.
Dufficy and Taylor AGAINST.
Williams, Zimmerman, Smith, and Beach FOR.
MOTION PASSED.
APPROVE RESOLUTION 1950 THE MAYOR’S SIGNATURE TO AMEND THE WASTEWATER PERS PRIORITIES LIST.
Mr. Zimmerman MADE A MOTION to approve Resolution 1950.
Mr. Beach SECOND.
Williams, Zimmerman, Smith, Beach, Taylor, and Dufficy FOR.
MOTION PASSED.
APPROVE ALL CLAIMS AND PAYROLL FOR OCTOBER 2019.
Mrs. Williams MADE A MOTION to approve all claims and payroll for October 2019.
Mr. Dufficy SECOND.
Williams, Zimmerman, Smith, Beach, Taylor, and Dufficy FOR.
MOTION PASSED.
APPROVE ALL BUSINESS LICENSES RECEIVED TO DATE.
• Straighten Up LLC
• A & D Daycare
Ms. Smith MADE A MOTION to approve all business licenses received to date.
Mr. Beach, SECOND.
Williams, Zimmerman, Beach, Smith, Taylor, and Dufficy voted FOR.
MOTION PASSED.
UNFINISHED BUSINESS:
City of Libby Wildlife Management Plan.
Mr. Taylor announced there would be a meeting on November 13 at 6 pm in council chambers to review other city’s wildlife management plans.
IP Negotiations.
Mayor Teske received a draft letter from Mr. Payne today at 4 pm. He will review it then forward it to the council.
Zoning recommendations from the planning board for the purposed Downtown Business District and Highway Commercial District.
Mayor Teske received an email from City Attorney Chisholm stating he had come across a state attorney general opinion from Red Lodge Mt. A Planning Board cannot be the Zoning Commission. They must be separate entities; they can be the same people. Teske is waiting to follow up, has some questions out to MMIA, will contact Red Lodge to find out the results of the actions. The city may have to restructure and appoint a separate zoning board and have a meeting to review prior to moving forward with this.
Council discussion followed.
General Comments from Council:
Taylor has been in contact with City Attorney Chisholm regarding the public safety issue with the old Central School Building. Chisholm recommended the city building inspector determine if the building is or is not a public nuisance. Then enter into dialogue with the owner to resolve the public nuisance. The last step would be to file a criminal complaint against the owner for public nuisance or file a civil action suit. The suit is usually brought on by the county attorney to abate the nuisance.
ADJOURNMENT:
Mrs. Williams MADE A MOTION to Adjourn.
Mr. Dufficy, SECOND.
Smith, Williams, Zimmerman, Beach, Taylor, and Dufficy voted FOR.
MOTION PASSED.
Meeting adjourned at 7:55 PM.
__________________ Attest; ______________________
Mayor Brent Teske Audray J. McCollum, City Clerk/Treasurer