Belgrade City Council

BELGRADE CITY COUNCIL MEETING MINUTES Council Chambers May 17, 2021 7: 00 PM This meeting was open to the public and attended both in-person and via the Zoom video conference platform. Mayor Russell Nelson called the meeting to order. Other Council Members in attendance were: Brad Cooper, Mike Meis Jim Simon, Kris Menicucci, Jim Doyle and Ken Smith. City staff in attendance City Manager Ted Barkley, City Clerk Sue Caldwell, City were: Attorney Rick Ramler, Planning Director Jason Karp City Staff in attendance via Zoom video were: Accounting Tech Kris Norby, Human Resources Manager Sherry Brown, Public Works Director Steve Klotz, City Engineer Tom Eastwood, Finance Director Diane Eagleson, Library Director Gale Bacon Others in attendance were: Ali Vasarella, Elisabeth Marum, Fred Bates Jr, Fred Bates Sr., Matt Cotterman and Judy Doyle Others in attendance via Zoom video were: Diana Setterberg, Eric Reinhardt, J. Latm, Jennifer Waller, Samuel Waller, Randy and Amber Pomerville APPROVE MINUTES ACTION: Council Member Cooper moved to approve the meeting minutes for April 12, 2021 and April 19, 2021. Council Member Doyle seconded the motion. All voted aye, motion carried unanimously. PUBLIC FORUM Mayor Nelson opened the public forum and called 3 times for public comment. There was none and the public forum was closed. PUBLIC HEARING Consider Resolution 2021- 13 Intent to Adopt Project 238 Plan as an Amendment to the Belgrade Growth Policy City Planning Director Karp explained that the applicant had requested that this item be withdrawn for an undetermined length of time because they were working on additional information to present. Karp noted that the public hearing was advertised and should be opened in order for anyone present to give comment. The item could be continued for consideration at a future date to be determined and the public hearing would be continued at that time. Mayor Nelson opened the public hearing and called for comment. There was none. Page 1 of 10  ACTION: Council Member Simon moved to approve continuation of consideration of Resolution 2021- 13 regarding the Project 238 Plan to a future date to be determined as requested by the applicant at which time the public hearing would also be continued. Council Member Smith seconded the motion. All voted aye, motion carried unanimously. PUBLIC HEARING Consider Resolution 2021- 14 Intent to Adopt the Four Graces Plan as an Amendment to the Belgrade Growth Policy Planning Director Karp explained this property was north and west of the new Story Creek school, also near the JLD annexation and the 220 Plan property with the same land use designation. It would change to high density in agreement with zoning plans from 2020. More detailed recommendations for zoning would start from there. Karp estimated a 10 to 20 year build out for this large area. Some mixed use might also come in. The Planning Board had voted unanimously to recommend designating the area as Residential High Density (RDH). Council asked if it had to high density or if it could be designated R1 or R2, not exclusive to apartments in order to maintain some compatibility. Matt Cotterman, engineer representing the developer, noted that this was one of the first steps in the long-range plan. There was a significant amount of infrastructure improvements and upgrades required in the area for this project. This was a general zoning designation and would be fine tuned at a later point in the development process. Mayor Nelson opened the public hearing and called for comment. Council asked if this zoning designation would eliminate any option for gravel pits. City Attorney Ramler confirmed that the recommended zoning would prevent a gravel pit from coming into this area. ACTION: Council Member Doyle moved to approve Resolution 2021- 14 Intent to Adopt the Four Graces Plan and amend the designation of the contiguous tracts as shown on the amended Future Land Use Map to Residential High Density as an amendment to the Belgrade Growth Policy as recommended by the City- County Planning Board, and set date for final adoption for June 7, 2021. Council Member Meis seconded the motion. All voted aye, motion carried unanimously. PUBLIC HEARING Consider Request to Amend Preliminary Plat of Prescott Ranch Subdivision and Commence Construction of Prescott Ranch Subdivision Phase 2 Planning Director Karp noted that on February 1, 2021, the amendment to the preliminary plat was discussed. Since the circumstances changed with the additional width needed for Bolinger Road, the developer had adjusted the subdivision design and they asked for changes to some lot sizes. Page 8 showed changes to the conditions. Karp reviewed the requirements being added to help improve Dry Page 2 of 10 Creek Road and Cruiser Lane. He noted that there was a potential for payback agreements as recommended by the City Engineer and such agreements had worked well on other projects. Discussion followed about parking along Bolinger. Karp noted that no lots were set to front along Bolinger so resident parking was planned for the interior, however, parking would allowed alongside the sidewalk. Cruiser Lane was also discussed. City Manager Barkley noted that we will be getting close to the next level of development that will trigger another traffic study with corresponding requirements for the Cruiser/ Dry Creek connection. Fred Bates Sr, developer, confirmed that they had no plans to front any houses along Cruiser and he welcomed any questions from Council. Mayor Nelson opened the public hearing and called for comment. Elizabeth Marum, Belgrade resident, noted she was on the Planning Board but she was commented as a citizen. She thanked council for their concern over the connectivity of these developments to nearby schools. She suggested the developer eliminate a couple of townhomes that would open up another outlet onto Glider Lane which would provide easier access to a school route. Mayor Nelson called 2 more times for comment. There was none and the public hearing was closed. Fred Bates, Sr, responded to the public comment and noted that Phase I was already built out and the Planners seemed to want them to use the collector roads that were already in place. He reviewed the current access points. ACTION: Council Member Meis moved to approve the amended preliminary plat for Prescott Ranch Subdivision and allow construction of Phase 2 to commence, subject to the amended conditions of approval as listed in the staff report and additional amendments starting on page 8 for conditions 9, 19, 20, 21, 25 and 27. Council Member Smith seconded the motion. All voted aye, motion carried unanimously. REPORTS Mayor' s Report— Mayor Nelson had nothing to report City Attorney' s Report— the City Attorney had nothing to report. Eagle Scout Project Report— Samuel Waller Samuel Waller, Eagle Scout, reviewed the accomplishment of installing 10 trees within Menicucci Park. Tree types included Boxelder Maple, Northwood Maple and Honey Locust. He noted placement and spacing of trees in relation to the sprinkler systems and that the School' s groundskeeper would be caring for them going forward. They took care to mitigate wind, provided mulch and watering, so they will have the best chance of survival. Expenses came to a total of Page 3 of 10  1, 522. 19 which included donations of cash and materials. Waller noted that 27 volunteers assisted in the preparation and planting project and he thanked everyone for their support and help. Discussion followed about providing an invoice to the City office to reimburse Waller for the funding approved by Council in the amount of$ 500. The Mayor and Council thanked him for his hard work and commitment to the park and community. City Manager' s Report City Manager Barkley asked to move the library report up to the second item on the discussion agenda so the architect could give her report sooner. Council agreed. Barkley reported that there was revised wording on the agenda under the Public Forum section to clarify that items listed elsewhere on the agenda should be considered at the designated time so the comments may be tracked in a more organized manner. Public Forum is for items not already on the agenda. Barkley reported that the Water Reclamation Plant ( WRF) project was progressing and Council could expect the next round of financing to come before them for approval in 3 to 5 weeks. Barkley reported that the Splash Park was scheduled for reopening on the Memorial Day weekend as planned. Barkley reported requests for streetlights on Northern Pacific, Hawaii and 2 more for the Ice Rink. His intention was to have the lights installed and then we could review lighting districts and perhaps do something with them at that time. He noted there was not a lot of funding involved and asked if Council had any objection. Barkley reported that the budget meetings were rolling along and he would start bringing information to Council for review starting next month. Barkly reported that he had received a complaint about camper parking from Council Member Meis and it had been reported to the Code Enforcement officers for follow up. Barkley noted MDT' s plan to start a resurfacing project on I- 90 and to work on both interchanges. MDT had asked if Belgrade had any ordinances preventing them from working at night as this would shorten the project and lessen the impact on traffic. Barkley noted that he had not responded to their inquiry and wanted to know if Council had any concerns with it. Council generally agreed that night work was fine. Barkley said he would ask them to take reasonable steps to control noise. Barkley noted plans to have a Payback Agreement for the School District related to Bolinger Road area improvements for Council approval at a future meeting. Page 4 of 10  Barkley reported that the deadline for Candidate filing for upcoming council seats was Monday, June 21, 2021. He noted that Brad Cooper, Kristine Menicucci and Jim Doyle were the affected council members. Mayor Nelson' s seat was coming up for election as well. Barkley reported on receiving some guidance from the Treasury on allowed use of Covid program funds and he was hoping to discuss it as part of the budget process. The first distribution was coming and he was watching for more information and interpretation through the Montana League of Cities and Towns ( MLCT) and working with the State for alternative uses for the funds. Barkley reported on receiving an actuarial review of the Fireman' s Relief Fund. Some ground was lost because they had voted to increase their benefits. He would be checking into this information to gain a better understanding. Barkley reported that the issues related to parking around the high school kept coming up so it would probably come before Council again. DISCUSSION AGENDA Consider Resolution 2021- 15 Concerning Certain actions and Laws related to COVID- 19 City Manager Barkley referenced recent enactments by the Montana State Legislature including three specific House Bills: HB121, HB257 and HB632. He noted that HB632, Section 28 specifically stated if a local government was awarded grant funds, such funds would be reduced by 20% if our local Covid- 19 regulations were more strict than those imposed by the State. Barkley recommended that the City of Belgrade conform with health regulations related to Covid- 19 as recommended by the Montana Department of Health and Human Services and as established by the State of Montana. He noted that this resolution acknowledged the new statutory environment that we were operating under and we have no intention of setting stricter regulations. Barkley recommended that Council consider ending the mandatory use of masks inside City buildings, but still strongly suggest their use on a voluntary basis. This would only apply to City business. This would affirm our conforming to recent legislation. Discussion followed about the fact that Covid- 19 vaccinations were readily available and many people were fully vaccinated. Mayor Nelson called for public comment. There was none. ACTION: Council Member Smith moved to adopt Resolution 2021- 15 to act consistently with health regulations related to Covid- 19 as recommended by the Montana Department of Health and as established by the State of Montana. Council Member Simon seconded the motion. All voted aye, motion carried unanimously. City Manager Barkley clarified that businesses would continue to exercise their own authority in regulating best practices related to masks, independent of the City. Page 5 of 10  ACTION: Council Member Cooper moved to end the requirement of mandatory use of face coverings inside City buildings and recommended continued use of masks on a voluntary basis. Council Member Simon seconded the motion. All voted aye, motion carried unanimously. Discussion followed regarding the current practices in place at the Library regarding limiting the number of patrons allowed inside the building. Barkley noted that this would be directly affected by the change in mask usage and would be adjusted accordingly now that Council had given this new direction. Consider Library Community Center Proposal— One Building Solution City Manager Barkley discussed the various boards that have all been working on this project at various times and phases. He noted that the plans being presented at this meeting were a result of the preliminary planning, consulting and value engineering all paid for by private gifts to the Library Foundation. No public money had been used yet. He discussed the " One Building Solution" as being very important due to the cost savings it represented. He noted that the Bond Ballot would likely come in at $ 14 Million and it would be brought back on June 7th for approval to place on a special ballot. Barkley noted that as more growth occurs, the value will not change but the impact to individual tax payers will be lower. Ali Vasarella, Architect with 45Architecture, reviewed the work done with the various groups and coming down to the current estimate. She went through the design drawings and answered questions about the community meeting space, parking site plan and plans for various library programs and professional staff office spaces. Discussion followed on fees for usage and administrative rules. Barkley noted that some of the public donations would come later after the ballot was decided on. So some other alternatives and other features could be feasible based on donations. It was noted that the Library has accumulated budget reserves in anticipation of the project as well. Mayor Nelson called for public comment. There was none. Consider Lewis & Clark Park Project Bid— Playground Design/ Build Tom Eastwood, City Engineer noted that only one acceptable bid was received on this request for proposal. He recommended awarding the bid to Dakota Playground in an amount not to exceed the preliminary construction budget of$ 275, 000. 00. He noted that Dakota Playground was also installing playground equipment at the Story Creek school on Bolinger as a point of interest. Mayor Nelson called for public comment. There was none. Barkley discussed the conceptual drawings that were included in the packet of information. He noted that the Park Board would be consulted on actual designs. The Council was being asked to approve the selection of the contractor only at this time. He also noted that the existing playground equipment would be moved to Sunnyside Park and the new build would probably happen next season. ACTION: Council Member Menicucci moved to approve awarding the bid to Dakota Playground for the Lewis & Clark Park Playground Design/ Build project, not to exceed the Page 6 of 10 project amount of$ 275, 000. 00 and authorize the City Manager to develop and sign a project contract. Council Member Simon seconded the motion. All voted aye, motion carried unanimously. Consider Lewis & Clark Park Project Bid— Restroom Improvements Tom Eastwood, City Engineer, noted that one bid was received, however the bid did not address the full proposal of installation of new restrooms nor the remodel of the existing restrooms. He recommended rejection of the bid submitted by Kidrick Masonry Inc. because it was a partial bid and did not meet all of the requirements. Eastwood asked for Council' s approval to readvertise and open another Request for Proposal on this project. Mayor Nelson called for public comment. There was none. Discussion followed as to why only one bid was received on this project. Barkley said it was hard to get anyone to respond due to market conditions right now. Staff would consider changing the presentation of the request and possibly split it into two parts when the rebid goes out. ACTION: Council Member Simon moved to reject all bids received ( 1) for the Lewis & Clark Park— Restroom Improvements Project and authorize the City to advertise a new Request for Proposal on the project. Council Member Doyle seconded the motion. All voted aye, motion carried unanimously. Consider Request for Variance— Sewer Line Depth at Bridger Heights Apartments Tom Eastwood, City Engineer, explained that the applicant was asking for approval of a sewer depth of 3' 8". The City standard normally required a minimum of 4' depth. City staff had reviewed the request and found that adequate insulation would be provided over the sewer main sections where they were less than 4' and this would allow the slope required to coordinate matching access to and from Bolinger Road, Golden West Drive and Winter Brook Drive. Staff recommended approval of the variance, provided that adequate insulation was put into place. The proposed insulation would be blue board. Mayor Nelson called for public comment. There was none. ACTION: Council Member Menicucci moved to grant a variance request from City Design Standards and Specifications Section V.B. 14 to allow for less than four feet of cover with adequate insulation to be provided for proposed sanitary sewer mains and services within Phase 2A of the Bridger Heights Apartment development. Council Member Meis seconded the motion. All voted aye, motion carried unanimously. Consider Request for Variance— Sidewalk Expansion Joints at 1506 Butler Creek Avenue Tom Eastwood, City Engineer, explained that the applicant was asking for approval of a variance for installing expansion joint material all around sidewalk section and through driveway approaches. Upon inspection of the concrete sidewalk and drive approach installed at 1506 Butler Creek Avenue, only the edges of the driveway and approach from the street had the expansion joints. It did not affect any ADA requirements. At 25 foot intervals, there were no joints at the edges of the Page 7 of 10 driveway. City staff noted that in this instance it may be preferable to leave the installed sidewalk as is, with no additional modification. Staff recommended approval of the variance, and to not require any additional joint expansion to be installed at this time. Mayor Nelson called for public comment. There was none. ACTION: Council Member Meis moved to grant a variance request from City Design Standards and Specifications per City Standard Drawing No. 02529- 11 and not require any additional installation of joint expansion material. Council Member Doyle seconded the motion. All voted aye, motion carried unanimously. Discuss Installation of Electronic Speed Signs and Suggested Locations Public Works Director Steve Klotz confirmed that the City had some speed signs on hand and he suggested one be installed along Madison Avenue between Broadway and Oregon. He wanted to review the plan with the Police Department to see if that was reasonable to them. Klotz noted plans to review more data a bring back 2 more locations where the other signs could be installed. Mayor Nelson called for public comment. There was none. ACTION: Council Member Menicucci moved to approve installation of a speed sign on Madison Avenue between Broadway and Oregon. Council Member Cooper seconded the motion. All voted aye, motion carried unanimously. Discuss Board Membership of Revolving Loan Fund ( RLF) Review Committee City Manager Barkley apologized to Council Member Doyle because there had been a disconnect in communications when the various committee meetings were scheduled. Barkley noted that the RLF loan committee designated 3 council members, but the Business Stabilization committee had only designated 2 council members, thus the confusion. Barkley noted that the Council had approved all the loans thus far so full review was taking place. Barkley suggested we have one standing committee for both review boards. Having the 3 council members and city staff on the board was very workable. Other professionals were used for their expertise through the NRMEDD and Prospera contacts. Going forward, Barkley proposed that they would have a single loan and grant committee to include Council Members Smith, Menicucci and Doyle and the City Manager. He noted that loan approvals would come before Council, but grant approvals would not. The scope of the grant program could be broadened and continued as a useful tool to assist businesses even beyond the era of Covid. Discussion followed about Prospera' s activities. Barkley noted that Prospera had had some changes in staffing, but he expected their activities to perk up again. He noted that their subrecipient agreement would be coming up for renewal soon. ACTION: Council Member Cooper moved to approve one committee for both the RLF Loan program and the Business Stabilization loan/ grant program with members to include Council Members Menicucci, Doyle and Smith and the City Manager. Council Member Simon seconded the motion. All voted aye, motion carried unanimously. Page 8 of 10  Consider 2021- 2022 Budget— Non- Discretionary Funds City Manager Barkley reviewed the data related to non- discretionary funds for the new budget year coming up. Mayor Nelson called for public comment. There was none. Consider City Manager Recruitment Status Update Barkley reviewed the draft recruitment brochure that Prothman' s group had produced for the new City Manager. He noted that his base rate 120, 000 and their proposed pay range was more was at $ appropriate. Barkley encouraged Council to review the brochure and make suggestions. The first review of applicants was noted for June 20th with first interviews to be confirmed sometime in July. ACTION: Council Member Menicucci moved to approve the draft brochure. Council Member Cooper seconded the motion. All voted aye, motion carried unanimously. CONSENT AGENDA Payroll for April 2021 Warrants Payable for April 2021 ACTION: Council Member Cooper moved to approve the consent agenda items. Council Member Simon seconded the motion. All voted aye, motion carried unanimously. FOR YOUR INFORMATION Council Member Smith commented that he was deferring his time to Kris because she was not wearing her mask and he saw her smile. Council Member Menicucci reported on attending the Fire Board meeting. The reappointed members to do. and talked quite a bit about their budget and having challenges and they have a lot of hiring Council Member Doyle reported that a fire truck had visited their house and they changed out the smoke detector which was appreciated. Doyle reported that his step- daughter lives in Las Campanas and she said residents had questions about the proposed dog park. He suggested that City staff reach out to those residents to get their thoughts on the proposal. Doyle said most of the buzz was positive, they asked about fencing and a trail. Simon noted the proposed area was on the east end and the hilly area would still be available for bikes etc. Barkley said he had heard people wanted it fenced so dogs wouldn' t intermingle with people who have their dogs on leash. Barkley also noted that there would be a public process involved in forming a dog park so the Homeowners Associations in the area will be included with at least one public meeting about it as it moves forward. It is not on the top of the list right now. Page 9 of 10  Council Member Smith asked if there was an option to designate the State land that is currently being used as a dog park, even though it has not been officially designated as a dog park. Barkley said that the Department of Natural Resources ( DNRC) is marketing that property. Council Member Simon reported on attending the Park Board meeting and noted that Patrick Feretta, a board member that was recently reappointed had now resigned so there was another vacancy to be filled. The Park Board had discussed the upcoming budget for projects and priorities. Council Member Meis noted that he and Council Member Smith had received the email about a camper on Al Drive and that Chief Clark had responded. Council Member Cooper was happy about more streetlights being added, he was glad to see the Splash Park being prepared to open and also about the speed sign planned for installation on Madison. ADJOURN Council Member Smith moved to adjourn the meg at 10: 06pm. d;67/" Z= d7, V", 7, Russell C. Nelson, Mayor Attest: Susa Caldwell, City Clerk Page 10 of 10