THE 1347th REGULAR MEETING OF THE CITY COUNCIL WAS HELD ON MONDAY, APRIL 4, 2011 @ 7:00 PM IN THE COUNCIL CHAMBERS
CALL 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, Mrs. Desch and Mr. Bischoff were present. City Administrator Jim Hammons, City Attorney Jim Reintsma and City Clerk-Treasurer Glena L. Hook, were also present.
Prayer was offered by Tony Shaw of the Libby Baptist Church
Mr. Orr made a motion to approve the minutes from Regular Meeting March 21, 2011 and Special Executive Meeting March 8, 2011.
Mr. Bischoff seconded the motion.
Mr. Orr questioned the March 8th meeting and asked what an executive meeting was.
Mayor Roll answered that it was misnamed and should be changed to a Special Closed Meeting.
Mr. Orr made a motion to amend the minutes of March 21, 2011 stating on the third paragraph next to the last sentence where is says” Mr. Orr made an amendment to the motion to withhold the minutes of March 8, 2011 Special Executive Meeting until the review of the those minutes” to be changed to review of the recording and in the hear from the public asked that it be amended to saying Mr. Roll asked if Mr. Olsen had anything else three times.
Motion died due to lack of second.
Mrs. Williams made a motion to amend the March 21, 2011 minutes to change on paragraph three, to the recording.
Mr. Bischoff seconded the motion.
Motion Passed with Mr. Orr voting against.
Mr. Orr called for a voice vote.
Mr. Bischoff, Mrs. Desch and Mrs. Williams voted for the amendment,
Mr. Orr voted against the amendment and
Mrs. Lawrence and Mrs. Benson abstained.
Motion Passed.
Mr. Orr made a motion to amend the March 8, 2011 meeting to change it to a Special Closed Council Meeting and then would ask that his list of changes that he read be added to the minutes.
Motion died due to lack of second.
Mayor Roll said they were back to the main motion and they had a second.
Mr. Orr stated Montana Code Annotated 45-7-208 tampering with public records or information, a person commits the offense of tampering with public records if the person knowingly makes a false entry in or false alteration of any record, document blah, blah, blah and that is exactly what you guys will do if approve the minutes as they are written.
After Mrs. Benson’s question on the public having access to the minutes, Mayor Roll announced that the public would have access to the recording of the minutes.
Motion Passed.
Mr. Orr voted against approving the March 21, 2011 and the March 8, 2011 minutes and
Mrs. Lawrence abstained.
ANNOUNCEMENTS
Congratulations went out to Alice Sowa for her recent graduation from the Police Academy
COMMITTEE REPORTS
Cemetery/Parks; Mrs. Lawrence stated they have a meeting on Wednesday at noon to discuss benches for Fireman’s Park. Mayor Roll added that they were up to over $10, 000 dollars for Fireman’s Park playground equipment. Mrs. Benson stated that it was $10,525. Mayor Roll suggested to council that they try to get the playground equipment in before the Fire Departments 100th anniversary celebration in July and that the budget be looked into for the remaining cost of the playground equipment. Mayor Roll put it in committee for a recommendation at the next council meeting. Mr. Orr asked how much the equipment was going to cost. Mrs. Benson stated there were several contributors pending and stated that if they order the two pieces it was only $20,900.
Fire; Chief Wood stated there was nothing of significance to report. Chief Wood stated they got a grant from the power company to do the lights at the Fire Hall and was trying to get a new Heat Pump system in the Fire Department meeting hall.
Resolutions/Ordinances; None
Personnel; Mr. Bischoff stated the Personnel Committee has a meeting scheduled tomorrow at noon.
Building; None
Water/Sewer; Mayor Roll stated it has been brought up again that Stimson still has an outstanding water bill. Mayor Roll stated that he would like to have the Water/Sewer Committee look into this.
Budget/Finance; None
Police; None
Lights/Streets/Sidewalks; Mrs. Desch stated that they were planning on checking the bike route out to see what they think.
City Administrators Report; Administrators report was put in council packets. Mayor Roll stated that Jim Hammons City Administrator was in the process of getting bids on the alley in question.
Finance; Clerk Hook stated she had handed out a revised Resolution #1772 and calculations to show what the total amount of the Waste-Water increase should be. Mr. Orr asked if there were any changes in the resolution. Clerk Hook stated that the only changes were in the amount of increase for Waste-Water.
HEAR THE PUBLIC FOR ITEMS ON THE AGENDA
Gordon Sullivan of PO Box 718 Libby was concerned about the March 8th meeting. Mr. Sullivan stated the City Attorney deemed it was closed improperly. Mr. Sullivan stated the public never got a chance to hear Alan Payne or the council discussions about the access to OU1 or anything else that went on and wanted to know what the status of the decisions the council made after that meeting were. Mr. Sullivan stated the city provided a request to the EPA for an extension and stated it should have been done in transparency to the public. Mr. Sullivan wanted to know officially, what is the status of the decisions that this council made after that improper meeting and asked the City Attorney how to do that. City Attorney Jim Reintsma answered that he could file suit if he wanted but any votes or decisions that were made during the improper meeting could be held to be void. Mr. Reintsma also stated he did not believe that there were any decisions made during the closed meeting. Mr. Sullivan disagreed and asked that the minutes be kept in perpetuity as long as possible. Mr. Sullivan requested those minutes to be available for challenge in the future. Mr. Reintsma stated the minutes (as recorded) were available to the public. Mr. Sullivan stated his question was not about the minutes of the meeting but that his question was about decisions that were made as a result of the information that was transmitted in the meeting and asked if that was clear. Mr. Reintsma stated he did not recall that there was any decisions in that closed session. Mr. Reintsma went on to say the council came out here and had their discussions with the public and decided to make a request to the EPA for an extension. Mr. Sullivan asked if the only remedy was to file suit. Mr. Reintsma stated the remedy for an improperly closed meeting is to publish the minutes. Mr. Orr stated that we doctored the minutes tonight in his humble opinion. Mr. Sullivan asked for the recording of the meeting “minutes” to be retained.
Mr. Bischoff made a motion to make a special circumstance and have a copy of the recorded meeting made for Mr. Sullivan.
Mr. Orr seconded the motion.
Motion Passed.
UNFINISHED BUSINESS
Sprinkling and Lighting Assessments; Mayor Roll stated he thought the way the assessments were done was a awful expensive way and he would like to put the Sprinkling and Lighting Assessments in the building committee to see if there could be a way to make it more fair on undeveloped land.
IP Project recommendation approval;
Mrs. Williams made a motion to approve using IP money for meter (nonworking) replacement and leak detection.
Mrs. Desch seconded the motion.
Mrs. Lawrence asked if the city was planning on hiring out the replacement of the broken meters.
The Mayor stated yes and they would be trying to hire out locally.
Motion Passed
Mt. Float Loan, approval to proceed with CPA, Melissa Beck;
Mr. Orr made a motion for Melissa Beck, CPA to proceed with the Mt. Float Loan books.
Mr. Bischoff seconded the motion.
Mr. Orr made an amendment to the motion to include a cap of not more than $3000 to be paid for Melissa Beck’s services without further council approval.
Mr. Bischoff seconded the motion.
Motion Passed.
The first motion was then passed by council.
NEW BUSINESS
Policy change concerning timecards; Jim Hammons explained the needed change to the Policy Manual concerning timecards that would put more responsibility on the employees with the approval of the supervisor.
Mr. Bischoff made a motion to approve the change.
Mrs. Williams seconded.
Mr. Orr asked Mr. Hammons if that was brought to him by a supervisor or an employee.
Mr. Hammons stated that it was by an employee and the union and that the union was in approval.
Motion Passed
Variance, Georgia Bothman, Day Care; Mrs. Bothman explained to the council that she would like permission to run a day care out of her home.
Mr. Orr made a motion to approve a variance for Georgia Bothman of 103 W Poplar St. Libby, to run a day care out of her home with the stipulations that if Georgia sold the property or moved to a different location the variance would not transfer.
Mrs. Lawrence seconded the motion.
Motion Passed
Resolution # 1772, Resolution of Intent to increase sewer base rates;
Mr. Bischoff made a motion to approve the Resolution of Intent to increase sewer base rates # 1772.
Mrs. Williams seconded the motion.
Mrs. Williams, Mrs. Lawrence, Mr. Orr, Mrs. Benson, Mrs. Desch and Mr. Bischoff to approved the resolution.
Motion Passed
Resolution # 1773, to award contract for the Phase 1 Wastewater Treatment Plant Improvements Project;
Mrs. Williams made a motion to approve Resolution # 1773 awarding the contract for Phase 1 of the Wastewater Treatment Plant Improvements Project to Shannon Industrial Contractors, Inc. of Coeur D’Alene, Idaho in the amount of $793,220.00.
Mrs. Lawrence seconded the motion.
Motion Passed
COUNCIL ACTION/DISCUSSION
HEAR FROM THE PUBLIC
Approval of Payroll and Claims for March 2011;
Mrs. Williams made a motion to approve payroll and claims for March 2011.
Mrs. Lawrence seconded the motion.
Motion Passed
Approval of Business Licenses received to date;
Mrs. Lawrence made a motion to approve Business Licenses received to date.
Mr. Orr seconded the motion.
Motion Passed
Approval to pay Water Distribution invoices from Morrison-Maierle;
Mrs. Lawrence made a motion to pay Morrison-Maierle out of the IP Funds.
Mrs. Benson seconded the motion.
Motion Passed
ADJOURNMENT
Meeting was adjourned at 7:55pm.
APPROVED
SPECIAL COUNCIL THURSDAY, APRIL 7, 2011 @ 5:30PM IN THE COUNCIL CHAMBERS AT CITY HALL
Mayor Doug Roll opened the meeting at 5:30 pm. In attendance were Mr. Bischoff, Mr. Orr, Mrs. Williams, Mrs. Desch, Mrs. Benson, Mrs. Lawrence, City Administrator Jim Hammons, County Planner Kristin Smith and FW&P Mike Hensler.
On the phone was Melissa Matassa-Stone, with WGM Group, Brian Lutz of Streetscapes, and Attorney Allan Payne.
Mayor Roll asked Melissa Matassa-Stone from WGM Group to start with her presentation on the conceptual plans for OU-1. Before Mrs. Stone started, Mr. Hammons asked if Mr. Hensler could go first and explain the options for the boat ramps. Mr. Hensler explained some of the issues with the boat ramps on the fast moving water and the difficulty of being able to maneuver boats, rafts and canoes into the landing. Mr. Hensler also described how to place large rocks into the river up-stream from the boat ramp at a 30 degree angle and how this will help prevent erosion around the ramps. He talked about how FW&P are using pour in place slabs and sliding them into place for their ramps. They can also use the “Lock mat” style ramps in conjunction, with the slabs. Osprey Landing is an example of this type of boat ramp. This type of ramp would be contracted out as they are more difficult to build. He also said that we would not be able to do it this year due to the high flows. Lower flows are generally in the late winter months. Mr. Hensler brought up the permit process if the city applies for the permit which will be through his office. If the EPA does the work it will be a lot simpler for the city. If they do it as our agent, the city still has to apply for the permit. Mr. Hensler said he would work with the city in the coming year on this project and mentioned that they have had fairly good luck working with the EPA. There was some discussion on which ramp was to be worked on and what needed to be done to it. There was some concern with the slide in slab type of ramp due to the excavating of the area where the ramp would be placed. Mr. Hensler said it would be better for the city if this was 100% the EPA’s project. There was the issue with the up-stream ramp being too close to the river pump. Mr. Orr commented that there was plenty of room for the erosion barrier to be placed up-stream from the ramp. Mr. Hensler said he would find some schematics of ramps and send them to the city and he was willing to work with us in the future on this project.
Mayor Roll then turned the meeting over to Melissa to talk about the OU-1 plans. She said she has been collecting data from all the different agencies (City County MDT) and found good topo mapping so no survey crew will be needed. MDT right of way was larger than first thought. She checked with the County about flood plan issues. Melissa commented that from the information gathered, there were no “Red Flags” and put together the proposals that she had sent to the city to look over. Mayor Roll asked what the difference was between option #1 and option #2. There is a “Round about” in option #1 at the T intersection, Melissa explained. Mayor Roll explained the issue with heavy truck traffic and that a round about would not be an option. Bruce Lutz commented that it is a means of slowing down traffic coming down the hill. The other option did not have this feature because of the sharpness to the curve.
Mr. Orr asked if there is any hope of moving the approach or are we wasting time. Mayor Roll explained that there was hope but we never had an alternative to not moving it and it was always the plan to try and move the approach. The cost of moving the approach would be another issue. Melissa talked about the option of moving the approach, as a safety issue, with the guard rail looking at the bridge, blocking the view of traffic. Mayor Roll commented that the approach already exists and that the State would have to address this issue. Mayor Roll asked Mr. Hammons to contact the State to see if they could take a look at the guard rail and what could be done with it on their end. The Mayor also explained that we haven’t even decided which plan we are going to choose. Mrs. Lawrence wanted to know what the cost would be. Mayor Roll said that the option of not moving the approach would be less expensive. Mr. Orr said an engineer named Frank Votapka estimated it would take 11,000 yards of fill to build a new approach. Melissa said she had not put any numbers on what the cost would be to move the approach, compared to using the existing one. Mr. Lutz brought up the issue of how much of the existing approach is usable and how much would have to be disposed of. There was some discussion about parking and how it was tucked away from the main part of the park. The river pump water trucks could use this area to fill up instead of the boat ramp area. Mr. Lutz said he had some concerns with the old approach and how it would split the park in two, but he felt that this new design worked well with the major body of the park.
Irrigation was mentioned, as for where to take the water from the city or river. Mayor Roll said that there is 70 PSI at the park and we have an existing water system near the pavilion.
Storm drainage is another issue that Melissa brought up. She would like to treat the water on site. Mr. Orr asked if these drainage areas would be abrupt. Melissa said they would not. Mr. Orr then mentioned digging down in these areas and putting material that would drain. Melissa said that would be a good idea to do that.
Mrs. Lawrence mention that she would like to have trees around the main body of the park and to have the area dug and soil in place for planting. She was also concerned about the soils that were to be put back, and would like Mr. Lutz to look at the soil that they use. Mr. Lutz mentioned maybe doing some mixing with the common fill to get a better soil. There was discussion about the leaves we pickup and also the possibility of using sludge and mixing it for compost. This is something the city is looking into doing more of in the future. Mrs. Lawrence then talked about the EPA removing the remaining trees along the highway and the approach. She would like to see them replaced with native type vegetation that grows in this area, that would also promote bird habitat.
Mrs. Benson had asked what the, total number of parking spaces are in the design. Melissa thought about 120. Mr. Lutz said he would put together some information on the number of parking spaces a park our size should have. Melissa asked the council if there was anything else that she needed to address. Mayor Roll said that this park would have to be done in phases. The big issue is money and we want to see how much we can do this year. The irrigation system was brought up and keeping the park green as also mentioned. Mr. Lutz said that he would help look into new technology for watering the park. He mentioned a system that could be added as we go and that it uses decoders instead of wiring. Mrs. Lawrence said that we could get a grant from the DNRC for the irrigation and the trees if we get the corridors in place.
Mr. Orr asked if we go with the existing approach, would EPA remove the spur. Mayor Roll said that they are going to remove the spur because it is contaminated. Mr. Orr said that we would be capping the spur and may get some money in return. The Mayor said that is an idea and if we could cap it and use it, that would be fine. The Mayor also said that once we have engineered plans as to where roads and parking lots are to be, that maybe we could cap those areas cheaper with gravel, than it would be to scrape and fill the area.
The Mayor asked Melissa if we had any engineered plans, that we could give to EPA with an idea of where the roads and utility corridors will be. Melissa said that they will have the plans pretty well worked out once the council has an option they want to use. The council was in agreement, with the new design, using the existing approach. Melissa said that they will have a design to the EPA with some rough grade and where all the utility corridors, roads and parking lots are to be, by Monday’s meeting.
Mayor Roll asked Melissa to leave off the road extension by the rail spur. He would like the road to sweep around to connect with the existing City Service Road because we don’t know when this road will ever get built.
Melissa and Mr. Lutz said they would be in town on Monday about 1:30 pm.
Allan Payne asked would the EPA still be in town Monday if the Government shuts down. The Mayor said yes, that they still plan to be here but if something changes he would let everyone know.
Meeting ended at 6:27 pm.
THE 1348th REGULAR MEETING OF THE CITY COUNCIL WAS HELD ON MONDAY, APRIL 18, 2011 @ 7:00 PM IN THE COUNCIL CHAMBERS
CALL TO ORDER
The meeting was called to order at 7:01 pm, by Mayor Roll who led the Pledge of Allegiance and welcomed the public. Mrs. Williams, Mrs. Lawrence, Mr. Orr, Mrs. Benson, Mrs. Desch and Mr. Bischoff were present. City Administrator Jim Hammons and City Clerk-Treasurer Glena L. Hook, were also present.
Prayer was offered by Phillip Coblentz.
Mrs. Lawrence made a motion to approve Council minutes from April 4, 2011 Regular Meeting and April 7, 2011 Special Meeting.
Mrs. Williams seconded the motion.
Motion Passed
ANNOUNCEMENTS
Mayor Roll announced that the Breakfast meetings would change to Henry’s starting Wednesday, April 27, 2011. Mayor Roll also announced a visitor from Haiti, pastor Stemio Capre.
COMMITTEE REPORTS
Cemetery/Parks; Mrs. Williams reported several recommendations from the Cemetery/Parks committee. The first recommendation was for the Fred Brown Pavilion, to not refund the $50 for the rent of the pavilion unless cancelations are made at least seven days prior to the reserved date. The second recommendation for the Fred Brown Pavilion was to erect some means of signage to mark the pavilion as reserved for a specific date. The recommendations for Fireman’s Park Campground Host included cleaning the restrooms and dump station twice a day, cleaning the splash pad daily and locking and unlocking the splash pad gate. It was also recommended to charge a $10.00 a day fee for all campers at the Fireman’s Park.
Mrs. Lawrence added that a sales representative from Dakota Fence would be in Libby next Tuesday to look at the proposed playground project at Fireman’s Park.
Fire; None
Resolutions/Ordinances; None
Personnel; None
Building; Mrs. Lawrence stated they started doing a little research on the issue of the annexation of undeveloped land but they have not had a meeting yet.
Water/Sewer; Mrs. Benson stated there would be a pre-construction meeting with Shannon Industrial at noon on May 4th and that Shannon Industrial plans to start work on the waste water plant on Saturday, May 9th. Mrs. Benson also reported there is Water/Sewer Committee Meeting on Thursday at noon @ City Hall pertaining to a water bill.
Budget/Finance; None
Police; None
Lights/Streets/Sidewalks; Mrs. Desch stated they were going to have a meeting with Ryan of Morrison-Maierle about the alley behind Western News on Thursday, April 21st at 11.00am. The following Thursday, April 28th at 9:00am a group will get together for a meeting at the Chamber and they are going to ride the bike route to see what they think.
City Administrators Report; None
Finance; Clerk Hook stated she had reconciled for March 2011. Mrs. Hook said she had copies of the 2010 audit if anyone wanted to look at them and that the audit exit meeting would be during the latter half of May and she would let the council know as soon as she had a date from the auditor. Mrs. Hook also stated that an invoice came in from WGM Group and asked council to think about where to pay them out of. Mrs. Hook said she would put it on the next agenda and send copies of the invoice out in the packets to the council. Mr. Orr asked how much the bill was for. Mrs. Hook stated it was for $11,271.28.
HEAR THE PUBLIC FOR ITEMS ON THE AGENDA
Trent Oelberg of 5543 Kootenai River Road, Libby spoke to the council about the Blues Festival scheduled for August 12th & 13th, 2011 at the River Front Park and was concerned about whether the clean-up would be done in time to have the festival. Mr. Oelberg stated he talked to EPA and they told him that as long as they stayed on the east side of the road it should not be a problem. Mayor Roll stated that clean-up has not started and he did not know about the parking. Mr. Oelberg stated they have made arrangements to bus people from J. Neils Park to River Front Park if needed.
Kevin Lindgren of 67 Albert Way, Libby who was representing the Search and Rescue asked the council for clarification on the new road planned for the River Front Park and wanted to know if the council was planning on some kind of boundary fence or was it going to be an open area adjacent to their parking lot. Mayor Roll stated they haven’t gotten that far yet but thought that Search and Rescue would be able to use the road for backing onto. Mr. Lindgren stated it would be ideal for them. Mr. Lindgren also asked if the gazebo was still going to be moved into the middle or was it still going to be in the corner. Mayor Roll stated that it was kind of up in the air and as far as the gazebo goes it would probably be down the road quite awhile before they decided. Mr. Lindgren stated the only concern would be emergency situations if there was an overflow of people and traffic. Mayor Roll stated they would work with Search and Rescue on access and emergency situations.
UNFINISHED BUSINESS
None
NEW BUSINESS
Resolution # 1774 to approve a transfer from fund 2386 to fund 5210 for the use of IP money to pay for Morrison-Maierle invoices pertaining to the Flower Creek Dam and Water Distribution.
Mrs. Benson made a motion to approve Resolution # 1774.
Mrs. Lawrence seconded the motion.
Motion Passed
Approval of River Front Park Plan;
Mrs. Williams made a motion to approve the most currant park plan with the changes that have been made.
Mr. Bischoff seconded the motion.
Mrs. Lawrence was concerned with the walking path that goes by the picnic tables and thought that the path may need to be changed. It was discussed that the trails could be talked about and changes made in the future.
Motion Passed
COUNCIL ACTION/DISCUSSION
None
HEAR FROM THE PUBLIC
None
ADJOURNMENT
Meeting was adjourned at 7:55pm.