Mayor Berget gave the Oath of Office to Police Officer Jason Place. Jason was deployed in October 2004 to Iraq and was put on military leave with the City of Libby. He returned in February 2006 and accepted the new position as a police officer. The Council welcomed him to his new position.

Mr. Roll moved to accept the minutes from the February 6, 2006 regular meeting and the February 13, 2006 and February 27, 2006 special meetings as presented.
Mr. Bothman seconded the motion.
Motion carried.

Council member Gary Huntsberger moved out of the city limits and therefore had to vacate his position on the city council. The open seat was advertised for interest. There were seven individuals who expressed written interest in being appointed to the vacant position. The applicants were Bill Bischoff, Gordon Price, Carol Ann Peltier, Ron Thatcher, D. C. Orr, Peggy Williams and Ron Carter. Mayor Berget assigned the task of interviewing the candidates to committee and asked that they bring their recommendation to the March meeting. Council President Charlene Leckrone presented Bill Bischoff as the committee’s recommendation.

Mr. Roll moved to appoint Bill Bischoff to fill the council member position.
Mr. Bothman seconded the motion.
Mr. Crismore stated he felt the process regarding appointment to vacant positions needed to be refined, as it seemed to him to always differ when a vacancy occurred. According to the Charter of the City of Libby, the majority vote regarding a vacancy on the council decides vote. Mayor Berget stated that upon the advice of prior counsel, this was the way the appointment would be decided. City Attorney Evans presented Mayor Berget with a revised process for voting to fill a vacancy. The council members received the revision too late for discussion and acceptance of the modification. Mayor Berget made the decision to have the Council Members vote on each candidate individually by roll call vote and the majority vote would win.

The first motion was withdrawn.

From the list of candidates, Mayor Berget presented Mr. Bischoff’s name for vote.

A roll call vote was taken: Mr. Crismore-nay, Mr. Roll-aye, Mr. Bothman-aye, Ms. Leckrone-aye, and Mr. McElmurry-nay.

Mr. Bischoff was appointed as Council Member due to a 3-2-majority vote.

Mayor Berget asked Mr. Crismore to prepare a policy for a revised process to incorporate in which to appoint future vacancies to the city council.

Mayor Berget presented the Oath of Office to Bill Bischoff. The Council welcomed him to his new position.

UNFINISHED BUSINESS

Mary Klinkham, Lincoln County employee acting as advisor for the City of Libby Planning Board, distributed a list of goals and objectives the Board had compiled for the community growth policy. She asked the Council to prioritize the list so the group could begin working on modifying the growth policy. The categories were Land Uses, Population, Housing Needs, Economics, Local Services, Public Facilities, and Natural Resources. The Council agreed that the most critical area to begin focusing on was Public Facilities with Economics being second. The Council will prioritize the remaining categories at a later date.

NEW BUSINESS

David Harman, legal representative for Fred Thompson, brought a request for easement before the Council. The City owns a parcel of land adjacent to two parcels owned by Fred Thompson. Mr. Thompson has a commercial building constructed on his two parcels. Mr. Thompson is requesting an encroachment easement on a portion of the lot owned by the City to allow for access to his building on the north side and a to allow for a turn around area on the east side of the building. Dan Thede and Fred Thompson and David Harman and Charles Evans will meet and confer on the issue.

Larry Comer of Welsch-Comer and Associates presented a detailed plan to the City Council that would mark the beginning of the Libby Revitalization’s Streetscape Improvement project. An SID has been discussed as a way to obtain funding to start the project. Mr. Comer invited Darrell Kerby, Mayor of Bonners Ferry, Idaho and Robin Ponsness, Economic Development Director to the meeting. Bonners Ferry completed one phase of a downtown revitalization plan they initiated a few years ago. Mr. Comer felt it would be beneficial to the Council to hear firsthand from a municipality who has done such a project to get a feeling as to the impact such a plan had on a downtown area. They were able to answer investment concerns, vacancy questions and overall success stories about the project. As Mr. Comer emphasized, it is important to have a SID in place first before seeking outside grants for the project. It gives a sense of support from the city to the grant providers. As discussed, SID’s only apply to the property owners directly affected by the area to be improved. The monies can be paid back over a term of 15 years or paid individually in full with no tax lien involved. The first step to implement the project would be to submit an RFP to qualified engineering firms who are interested in providing engineering and architectural services and who can develop a funding package for the project.

Mr. Roll moved to direct the City of Libby to submit a Request for Proposal for engineering, architectural and funding services to qualified and interested engineering firms for the Libby Streetscape Improvement project.
Ms. Leckrone seconded the motion.
Motion carried.

COMMITTEE REPORTS

Due to time constraints, there were no committee reports. The fire, police and street departments handed in monthly written reports.

Ms. Leckrone moved to pay the claims as presented.
Mr. Roll seconded the motion.
Motion carried.

HEAR THE PUBLIC

Lee Disney, spokesperson for the Friends of the Historic Libby High School brought the City Council up to date on the future of the building. He asked that representatives from the City Council attend the school board meeting scheduled for March 13, 2006 at 1:00 p.m.

D. C. Orr spoke regarding tax breaks to local business, the LADC accounting and SID’s.

The meeting was adjourned at 8:40 p.m.

Anthony J. Berget, Mayor

Chris A. Erickson, City Clerk

SPECIAL MEETING OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF LIBBY MARCH 20, 2006 – 5:30 P.M. RIVER FRONT PARK

Mayor Berget called the special meeting to order at 5:45 p.m. at River Front Park. Council members Bothman, Leckrone, McElmurry, Crismore, Bischoff and Roll, City Services Supervisor Dan Thede, and City Clerk Chris Erickson were present. Also present was Jim Germany.

As Mayor Berget explained, the EPA is preparing to install the sprinkler system at the River Front Park. Landscaping, parking and an asbestos victim memorial at the park had been discussed briefly prior to this meeting and Mayor Berget wanted input and decisions from the City Council as to what they would like done before the installation of the sprinklers. The pad for the memorial was erected further down in the park than originally intended but as agreed would work where it was.  It was suggested to move the parking across the City Service Road and make the current parking lot grass. It was suggested that the tree committee design a landscape plan and bring it to the City Council for approval.

Mr. Bothman made a motion to move the existing road in 20 feet on the river side, create a turnaround area for boats, create boat and RV parking on the other side of the road and make the east end of the lot smaller for limited parking and more grass.
Mr. McElmurry seconded the motion.
Motion carried.

Jim Germany gave a short accounting of a meeting he attended in February regarding a splash park proposal with Mayor Berget, Dan Thede, Betty Jo Wood, Cheryl Chandler and Tom Erskine of Interstate Engineering in Billings. At this point, he is asking for support from the City Council. Mr. Germany felt the community would much better receive the pool project if it were constructed in phases with the splash park being the first phase. The cost of the splash park would be easier for the community to support at this point. The Park District will own the splash park and pool. The City of Libby would lease the property to the Park District and construct the water lines and provide the water supply for the splash park. Mr. Germany felt receiving the contract from Interstate Engineering was the first step in moving forward. He emphasized the necessity to create a memorandum of understanding before any commitments are made to have all parties clearly agree where all the responsibilities before the construction begins. The group would like to see the splash park in operation for the 2006 summer season, if possible. It was agreed that the public will be much more receptive to support a pool once they see how beneficial the splash park will be to the community. The City Council agreed to support the splash park in theory.

Chief Clay Coker requested approval to order two additional police vehicles from the 2006-07 budget. He has to put in the order by March 21, 2006 in order to get the agreed upon price. He has set up a long-term replacement schedule for vehicles insuring none become too old for operation. Mayor Berget stated other departments were in dire need of newer equipment and have not been able to replace worn out equipment. Mayor Berget agreed to consider his request and provide him with an answer the next day.

There was no public input.

Meeting adjourned at 6:25 p.m.

Anthony J. Berget, Mayor

ATTEST:

Chris A. Erickson, City Clerk

There was no request for public comment.

Meeting was adjourned at 8:27 p.m.

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Charlene Leckrone, City Council President

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Chris A. Erickson, City Clerk