PUBLIC HEARING
MONDAY, DECEMBER 5, 2011 @ 6:45PM
IN THE COUNCIL CHAMBERS
Mayor Roll called the Public Hearing to order at 6:45 pm.
Mr. Bischoff, Mrs. Desch, Mrs. Benson, Mrs. Lawrence, Mr. Orr and Mrs. Williams were present. City Clerk-Treasurer Glena Hook was also present.
Joseph Sullivan from Montana Sky Net wanted to state his support of the Montana Sky West and Windjammer Communication franchise transfer.
There was no more public comment.
The meeting was adjourned at 6:48pm.
THE 1363rd REGULAR MEETING OF THE CITY COUNCIL WAS HELD ON MONDAY, DECEMBER 5, 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, Mrs. Desch and Mr. Bischoff were present. City Attorney Jim Reintsma and City Clerk Treasurer Glena L. Hook were also present.
Prayer was offered by Tony Shaw of the Baptist Church.
Mrs. Benson made a motion to approve the minutes from the Public Hearing November 21, 2011 and the Regular Meeting November 21, 2011. Mr. Bischoff seconded the motion. Mrs. Lawrence abstained because she was not present at the meetings. Motion Passed
ANNOUNCEMENTS
Mayor Roll announced this will be the only meeting in December and the next meeting will be on the first Tuesday in January.
Mrs. Lawrence announced that City Administrator Jim Hammons was supposed to announce during his report that the city had received a couple of grants for trees. Since Mr. Hammons was not present Mrs. Lawrence announced the grants, one is a $5800 DNRC-Community Development Grant to be used at River Front Park and a $750 Arbor Day Grant which will give a total of $6300 for trees next year.
COMMITTEE REPORTS
Cemetery/Parks; None
Fire; Fire Chief, Tom Wood stated there were 10 calls last month.
Resolutions/Ordinances; None
Personnel; None
Building; Mrs. Lawrence stated the person developing the web site said he should have a draft available for us to look at possibly this week.
Water/Sewer; Mrs. Benson stated she had two issues. The first issue is that the property owner, Fabeck, located at 210 West Poplar Street used the property as a rental and in October or 2010 there was a large water usage of 147 thousand gallons. Mrs. Benson stated that Tanya Gehrke was in contact with Fabeck and tried to work with him during the time Faybeck owned the property. During this time the water could have been turned off by the city forcing Faybeck to pay the city of the overdue water bill. Fabeck defaulted on the property and it reverted back to the first owner, Julie Hopfer, around August of 2011. After a certain amount of time late water bills follow the property and are put on a tax lien, so this water bill has stayed with the property. Julie has since sold the house to another couple. There is a chance that an angry renter turned on the water spigot and left. There were no invoices produced for fixing broken pipes brought to the city as the city has a onetime water usage credit given to customers that bring in receipts proving they have fixed a leak in their water pipes or toilet. The city crew also checked the house for broken pipes and found none. The water/sewer committee recommends waving all fees and penalties reducing the water bill from $841.60 to $420.80. This is to be put on the next agenda for a council vote. Second Mrs. Benson stated Ron Carter’s tax bill is showing a delinquent sewer amount of $460.58. Mrs. Benson stated the house in question is not using sewer at this time. The city’s policy is that all homes or businesses in the city limits continue to pay the base sewer rate unless the sewer line is capped off. The water/sewer committee recommends the entire sewer bill is owed. This is to be put on the next agenda for council vote. Mrs. Benson also stated that Mrs. Lawrence has information on what other cities do with their water and sewer bills if anybody is interested she will get the information to them.
Budget/Finance; None
Police; Police Chief Jim Smith stated there were 261 case reports, citations 38, arrests 26 for the month of November. Chief Smith also commented that they have done compliance checks with the local bars in town for underage drinking and only one bar in town failed the test.
Lights/Streets/Sidewalks; None
City Administrator; None
Finance; Liquor and gaming licenses have went out for 2012.
HEAR THE PUBLIC FOR ITEMS ON THE AGENDA LIMITED TO THREE MINUTES
None
UNFINISHED BUSINESS
Backhoe for City, new or used what price and where to pay from; Mrs. Desch stated the committee met and after discussion would like to recommend buying a new backhoe and using IP money to purchase it. Mr. Bischoff made a stated that he thought the city should go to bid. Mrs. Lawrence made a motion to pay for the backhoe out of the IP Fund. Mrs. Williams seconded the motion. Motion Passed
Mike Fraser engineering support; Mr. Bischoff made a motion to go forward with the contract for engineering consultation support from Mike Fraser with the stipulation of having a one year contract. Mrs. Williams seconded the motion. Motion Passed. Mr. Orr voted against the motion.
NEW BUSINESS
Resolution # 1794, franchise transfer; Mr. Bischoff made a motion to adopt resolution # 1794. Mrs. Desch seconded the motion. Motion Passed.
COUNCIL ACTION/DISCUSSION
Approval of Business Licenses received to date; Mrs. Williams made a motion to approve the Business License received to date. Mrs. Lawrence seconded the motion. Motion Passed
Approval of Payroll and Claims for November 2011; Mr. Bischoff made a motion to approve payroll and claims for November 2011. Mr. Orr seconded the motion. Motion Passed.
HEAR FROM THE PUBLIC LIMITED TO THREE MINUTES
Terry Richmond of Morrison-Maierle wanted to thank the council for all the business the city has given them this past year.
Ryan Jones of Morrison-Maierle stated the Waste Water Treatment Plant is in compliance. The sludge press has some problems. The conveyor issue is resolved. The polymer issue has been changed but still is not working. Mrs. Lawrence asked Mr. Jones what the difference of cost of the neat polymer compared to the polymer that was being used before. Mr. Jones stated the waste water plant is using about $4000 in polymer a year and we won’t know for sure until we pilot test the new neat polymer that the difference in cost will be. Mr. Jones stated their estimates are that the city will be spending about $4000 to $5000 a year for the neat polymer. Mrs. Benson wanted to know if the product from the sludge was marketable. Mr. Jones stated Hamilton gives it away. Mayor Roll wanted to give Ryan Jones a personal thank you, for the work he has done for the city for about the past two years.
ADJOURNMENT
Meeting was adjourned at 7:45pm.