THE 1357th REGULAR MEETING OF THE CITY COUNCIL WAS HELD ON TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 6, 2011 @ 7:00PM IN THE COUNCIL CHAMBERSCALL TO ORDER
The meeting was called to order at 7:00 pm by Mayor Roll who led the Pledge of allegiance and welcomed the public. Mrs. Williams, Mrs. Lawrence, Mr. Orr, Mrs. Benson, Mr. Bischoff and Mrs. Desch were present. City Administrator Jim Hammons, City Attorney Jim Reintsma and City Clerk Treasurer Glena L. Hook were also present.
Prayer was offered by Lloyd Miller of the Amish Church.
Mrs. Lawrence made a motion to approve the minutes from the Regular Meeting August 15, 2011 and Special Meeting & Public Hearing on August 30, 2011.
Mrs. Williams seconded the motion.
Motion passed.
ANNOUNCEMENTS
The 2011 Annual conference of the Montana League of Cities and Towns is October 5th, 6th & 7th. Pre Registration deadline is September 12, 2011.
COMMITTEE REPORTS
Cemetery/Parks; Mrs. Williams stated she and Mrs. Lawrence were looking at putting together a Cemetery Day in which the City would provide good dirt for the cemetery along with fertilizer and grass seed. They would try and get people who have loved ones graves that are not growing grass to come and work on their loved ones grave. They do not have a firm date for the Cemetery Day yet.
Fire; None
Resolutions/Ordinances; None
Personnel; Mr. Bischoff announced that he was trying to schedule a meeting for Thursday and Tuesday. Mr. Bischoff stated we have the vacancy at the Waste Water that we need to do some interviews for as well as other issues that have come up. Mayor Roll stated he gave Mr. Bischoff the information that Judge Briggs’ contract is coming due in October of this year and by ordinance council appoints the judge. Mayor Roll asked that the Personnel Committee talk about it and bring it to council for a decision.
Building; Mrs. Lawrence stated the Building Committee needs to get together and make a decision on some of the requests that Bonnie Morrow of the Montana Athletic Club brought to them.
Water/Sewer; None
Budget/Finance; Mr. Bischoff stated they were still working with Amy Guth on the Keith Kinden loan and she had asked for some more information on the loan. Mr. Bischoff will discuss what Any Guth needs with the City Clerk.
Police; None
Lights/Streets/Sidewalks; None
City Administrators Report; City Administrator, Jim Hammons’ report was put in council packets. There were no questions from the council.
Finance; City Clerk Treasurer reported that July 2011 has been reconciled.
HEAR THE PUBLIC FOR ITEMS ON THE AGENDA LIMITED TO THREE MINUTES
None
UNFINISHED BUSINESS
Purchase of asphalt zipper; Mrs. Lawrence asked about paying for the loader out of the ED Funds and paying back ED Fund with interest. The zipper cost is appr. $136,000.
Mrs. Lawrence made a motion to pay for asphalt zipper out of ED Funds with the same interest offered by the zipper people to be paid back to the ED Fund.
Mrs. Williams seconded the motion.
Motion Passed
NEW BUSINESS
Resolution # 1786, FY-12 Budget amendment;
Mr. Bischoff made a motion to approved Resolution # 1786.
Mrs. Lawrence seconded the motion.
Motion Passed
Resolution # 1787, Salary & Wages of Elected Officers, Appointed Officers and City Employees;
Mr. Orr made a motion to pass Resolution # 1787.
Mrs. Lawrence seconded the motion.
Motion Passed
Resolution # 1788, FY-11 Budget Amendment;
Mrs. Williams made a motion to pass Resolution # 1788.
Mr. Orr seconded the motion.
Mrs. Lawrence had a question about the decrease in the metered water sales.
City Clerk explained that most of the decrease was because of the summer watering that the council voted to give the water users in the City limits.
Mr. Bischoff asked why we were adjusting the Revenue Budget.
Mrs. Hook answered it was just an end of year clean up.
Mr. Bischoff did not feel that the revenues needed to be adjusted.
Motion did not pass.
COUNCIL ACTION/DISCUSSION
City of Libby sprinkler system; Mrs. Williams stated they had a meeting with Jack’s Water Works about the sprinkler system. The recommendation was to go forward and pay for it out of IP or ED Funds. Mr. Orr asked for a more itemized invoice and asked Jack’s Water works where the broken heads are that were replaced. Jack answered” in the trash”. Mr. Orr asked who determined which heads needed to be replaced. Jack answered” I did”. Mrs. Williams explained the problems with the sprinkler system and where additional lines should be added. Mayor Roll also talked about the sprinkler system and what it is going to take to get it up and running properly. Jack from Jack’s Water Works stated that one of the reasons that the system was not working properly was because residential heads were used and were not getting out far enough to water properly. Mrs. Benson stated that the cemetery in Fireman’s Park is very visible and people are very passionate about both places especially the cemetery and the system needs to be adequate. Mrs. Benson stated she felt the city should do what needs to be done to get both areas up to par. Mr. Orr stated he thought we needed to save the sprinkler heads and have itemization on the bills. Mrs. Benson asked if we could get the bill itemized. Jack answered yes he would itemize the bills and keep the old sprinkler heads.
Mrs. Williams made a motion to move forward on completing the sprinkler system at the Fireman’s Park and Cemetery.
Mrs. Lawrence seconded the motion.
Motion Passed.
Mr. Orr voted against the motion.
Deer problem in the city limits; Mayor Roll discussed the problem with deer in the field near Mahoney Rd. Mayor Roll stated Lenny Vogel that lives on Mahoney Rd. had told him there used to be about 14 or 15 deer in the field and now there is like 60 or 65. Mayor Roll stated that Lenny’s concern was for the safety of the kids that go back and forth to school through there. Mayor Roll stated that Lenny had approached Fish and Game and they will give a kill permit to folks to kill the deer and take them to the food pantry. Fish and Game also told Lenny that he would have to talk to the County and the City because it might be a combination of County and City property. Mr. Bischoff stated he thought it was all County land. Mayor Roll said he was just bringing this up tonight to get the council to think about an option.
Waste – Water Plant Improvement draw approval;
Mrs. Benson made a motion to approve the Waste – Water Plant Improvement draw request.
Mrs. Desch seconded.
Motion Passed
Approval of Business Licenses received to date;
Mr. Bischoff made a motion to approve the Business Licenses received to date.
Mrs. Benson seconded the motion.
Motion Passed
Approval of Payroll and Claims for August 2011;
Mr. Bischoff made a motion to approve Payroll and Claims for August 2011.
Mrs. Lawrence seconded the motion.
Mr. Orr stated he would vote against it until he saw an itemized list for the sprinkler system.
Motion Passed.
Mr. Orr voted against the motion.
HEAR FROM THE PUBLIC LIMITED TO THREE MINUTES
Lloyd Miller of Meadow Lark Lane, Libby; Lloyd Miller stated in the event that the city can’t get people to come and work on the cemetery he would like to know because he felt like our community would be interested and would like to talk about it further. Mrs. Williams said what we need is man power. Mr. Miller stated he was interested in information at this time. Mr. Miller will talk to Peggy after the meeting.
ADJOURNMENT
Meeting was adjourned at 7:37 pm.
APPROVED
SPECIAL COUNCIL MEETING TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 13, 2011 @ 6:00PM AT RIVER FRONT PARK
The meeting was called to order at 6:00pm by Council President Bill Bischoff.
Mrs. Williams, Mrs. Lawrence, Mr. Orr, Mrs. Benson, Mrs. Desch and Mr. Bischoff were present. City Clerk-Treasurer Glena Hook was also present. Mayor Roll was absent.
Nick Raines, Bob Rennick, Geoff McKienzie, and Paul Lammers from CDM were present. Rebecca Thomas and Mike Cirian from EPA were present. Jeremy Ayala and Jeff Hubbard from th Corps of Engineers were present. Harvey Fowler and Rob Burton from PRI were present.
Council discussed the Boat Ramp, River Bank remediation and the Utility Corridors at the River Front Park cleanup site with the group that was present from EPA, CDM, PRI and the Corps of Engineers.
The council and the rest of the group toured the areas in question. EPA would like the council to make a decision on how they would like the boat ramp done, the river bank remediation done and whether the council wants to try and do the utility corridors this year or next spring. EPA also offered to do some further soil sampling along the river bank. No decisions were made.
It will be put on the next agenda for a decision.
Meeting adjourned at 7:15pm.
APPROVED
THE 1358th REGULAR MEETING OF THE CITY COUNCIL WAS HELD ON MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 19, 2011 @ 7:00PM IN THE COUNCIL CHAMBERS
CALL TO ORDER
The meeting was called to order at 7:00pm by Mayor Roll who led the Pledge of allegiance and welcomed the public. Mrs. Williams, Mrs. Lawrence, Mr. Orr, Mrs. Benson, Mr. Bischoff and Mrs. Desch were present. City Administrator Jim Hammons, City Attorney Jim Reintsma and City Clerk Treasurer Glena L. Hook were also present.
No prayer was offered.
Mrs. Williams made a motion to approve the minutes from the Regular Meeting September 6, 2011 and Special Meeting September 13, 2011.
Mrs. Lawrence seconded the motion.
Mr. Orr made a motion to add three things to the minutes of September 13, 2011.
Motion died to lack of second.
Mrs. Lawrence made a motion to add to the September 13, 2011 minutes that EPA offered do some further soil sampling along the river bank.
Mrs. Benson seconded the motion.
Motion passed.
Next back to main motion to approve minutes, motion passed.
ANNOUNCEMENTS
Change Breakfast meetings at the Venture, starting next Wednesday, September 28, 2011
COMMITTEE REPORTS
Cemetery/Parks; Mrs. Williams stated she had a meeting with Lloyd Miller and weather permitting on October 2nd which is on a Sunday the Amish Community Church will be canceling its’ service and will be working up at the Cemetery. Mrs. Williams stated the focus of their work at the cemetery is going to be to try to get grass growing on those graves that either have weeds or spotty grass or no grass. They will be bring people, possibly a back hoe, rakes, shovels and wheelbarrows. Mrs. Williams told them the city would have decent dirt for those areas that might need it, some seed and maybe some fertilizer. Mrs. Williams stated she would be talking to Jim about doing some other coordination for whatever they may need. This is all volunteer community service work. Mrs. Benson stated she thought the city should send a thank you to the group.
Fire; None
Resolutions/Ordinances; None
Personnel; Mr. Bischoff stated they interviewed last week for the vacant waste water position and made a recommendation for the position. Mr. Bischoff stated they also discussed extending Judge Briggs contract which we will cover under new business.
Building; Mrs. Lawrence stated that the committee met and made a recommendation for the requests that Montana Athletic Club has submitted for their building. Mrs. Lawrence stated every year the city purchases paint for the bathrooms at Montana Athletic Club and they have already done that. Mrs. Lawrence stated the city purchased new carpeting for them in 2004 and that demonstrates the City has taken a responsibility for the carpeting so the recommendation is that next year the replacement of the carpeting at the Montana Athletic Club be a high priority out of the maintenance budget. Mrs. Lawrence stated they also discussed the carpets that are in City Hall and feel they are a liability to the city. Mrs. Lawrence wanted to discuss if there was any way to use ED Fund money to replace the carpeting in City Hall. Mrs. Lawrence stated they thought the carpeting in the Ponderosa Room needs cleaning and Jim Hammons has been checking into that and got a bid for $150.
Water/Sewer; Mrs. Benson stated the Committee met on September 15th with City Street Supervisor, Corky Pape and City Administrator Jim Hammons to discuss options for the backhoe repair. Mrs. Benson had passed out estimates to the council from Payne Machinery on doing repairs on the backhoe. Mrs. Benson stated that Jim and Corky has spoken personally to 3 of the mechanics at Payne Machinery and the estimate does not cover the engine or tires. It strictly covers hydraulic work. Mrs. Benson asked if the city wants to invest this kind of money into an existing old piece of equipment or think about selling both of the city’s old backhoes and purchasing a new one. Mrs. Benson stated that a rough estimate for a new backhoe would run in the mid to low 80K’s. Mrs. Benson also stated that she asked the Street Supervisor Corky Pape to attend the next council meeting and should have better estimates then. Mayor Roll stated he had talked to Jim and Corky and thought the city was going for more of a good used backhoe and that most of the work the city is doing is being done with the excavator. Mr. Orr asked that the duties of the backhoes the city owns be laid out for the council before a decision is made. Mayor Roll stated it could be done.
Budget/Finance; None
Police; None
Lights/Streets/Sidewalks; None
City Administrators Report; Jim Hammons stated he met with Terry Richman and Jeff Cicion from Morrison-Maierle about the access road at Flower Creek Dam. Mr. Hammons stated in the beginning we talked about the City doing the access road and we thought we could. After going through the plan and how technical some of the grades are if it is something we took on it would be a big liability for the City. Mr. Hammons stated that Terry’s recommendation was that we look at bidding it out and stated that we probably still could do it this year. Mr. Hammons stated he felt we should have another committee meeting on this. Mr. Hammons stated that in his report for the next meeting he would have a lot more detail on the access road to Flower Creek Dam.
Mr. Orr asked Jim Hammons about the demand letter the city got back in March from the Helping Center for $40k and wanted to know if it had gone to litigation or is it just languishing or has it been dropped. City Administrator Jim Hammons stated he had not heard anything about it. City Attorney Jim Reintsma stated it was languishing as far as he knew.
Finance; None
HEAR THE PUBLIC FOR ITEMS ON THE AGENDA LIMITED TO THREE MINUTES
Mel Parker owner of Raintree Nursery came forward with pictures and stated to the council his disagreement with the EPA over the cleanup of his property (the former Raintree Nursery site.) Mr. Parker stated that there has never been a risk assessment done on his property after the cleanup and asked the council if they really wanted to let city property be cleaned up knowing they will have to deal with institutional controls when this is all done?
UNFINISHED BUSINESS
Decision on Boat Ramp, River Bank remediation and possibly Utility Corridors at River Front Park clean-up site; Boat Ramp, discussion; Mrs. Williams asked, has the EPA tested the soil at the Boat Ramp and stated that Rebecca Thomas was suppose to get back to us on it. Mr. Bischoff asked if Mrs. Williams wanted to wait until she got the report from Rebecca before meeting. The council discussed the boat ramp. Mr. Orr stated if the city went with the interlocking blocks he wanted to make sure that impermeable fabric liner be used to prevent microscopic fibers from coming through the interlocking blocks.
Mrs. Williams made a motion to proceed with the interlocking blocks on the Boat Ramp providing that impermeable fabric liner be used.
Mr. Bischoff seconded the motion.
Motion Passed.
Mr. Orr voted against the motion.
River Bank remediation; Mrs. Williams, in response to Mayor Roll’s question, stated that EPA had talked about doing some ambient air testing around the River Bank remediation area. Mrs. Williams asked to speak about the river bank in sections starting with the boat ramp to the pump house; Mrs. Williams stated that most of the discussion with EPA indicated that EPA was going to remediate that section. Most of the council agreed that samples have shown trace amounts of vermiculite from pump house to the bridge.
Mrs. Williams made a motion to approve remediation from the boat ramp to the trail with final design approval and to address the slope.
Mrs. Desch seconded the motion.
Motion Passed.
Mr. Orr voted against the motion.
From path to under the bridge; Most of the Council wanted to wait for air samples before making a decision from the path to under the bridge.
Mr. Orr made a motion to remediate the section from the path to under the bridge.
Motion died from lack of second.
Mr. Orr made a motion to ask for indemnity on this site.
Motion died from lack of second.
Mayor Roll stated he thought the city should wait until next spring to lay the sewer lines.
NEW BUSINESS
Judge Briggs contract for new year; Mr. Bischoff stated that the committee recommends the extension of Judge Briggs contract for four years.
Mrs. Lawrence made a motion to extend the contract for four years.
Mrs. Benson seconded the motion.
Motion Passed
Resolution # 1789, resolution relating to Sewer System Revenue Bond;
Mrs. Williams made a motion to approve Resolution # 1789 relating to the Sewer System Revenue Bond.
Mrs. Lawrence seconded the motion.
Mrs. Williams, Mrs. Lawrence, Mr. Orr, Mrs. Benson, Mrs. Desch and Mr. Bischoff voted to approve Resolution # 1789.
Motion Passed
Resolution # 1790, FY-11 Budget Amendment;
Mrs. Benson made a motion to approve Resolution # 1790 Budget Amendment.
Mrs. Desch seconded the motion.
Motion Passed.
Mr. Orr voted against the motion.
COUNCIL ACTION/DISCUSSION
Planning Board updates on subdivision; Kristin Smith, County Planning, spoke to the council about the Planning board updates. Kristin Smith stated that drafts of the updates were in the council packets. Mrs. Smith touched on some of the highlights of the updates. Pg. 37, roads, street and lights, table on next page, design, standard curb, gutters, street parking, sidewalks. Pg. 39 table 2 is new table, distinction between urban streets and suburban streets, pg 40 maintenance and warranty of improvements, pg 41, water supply, all new subdivisions to have city water and sewer. Pg. 43 concerns park land dedication, construction of paths and trails in suburban street sections. Kristin Smith stated the next step is the public hearing and then adopt the updated plan.
HEAR FROM THE PUBLIC LIMITED TO THREE MINUTES
None
ADJOURNMENT
Meeting was adjourned at 8:07pm.