Belgrade City Council

BELGRADE CITY COUNCIL MEETING MINUTES I CHAMBER COUNCIL July 19, 2021 7: 00 PM This meeting was open to the public and attended both in person and via the Zoom video platform. Mayor Russell C. Nelson called the meeting to order. Council Members in attendance were Brad Cooper, Jim Simon, Kristine Menicucci, Jim Doyle and Ken Smith. City staff in attendance were City Manager Ted Barkley, City Attorney Rick Ramler, City Clerk Susan Caldwell, Planning Director Jason Karp, Public Works Maintenance Ed Roe. City staff in attendance via zoom were Finance Director Diane Eagleson, City Engineer Tom Eastwood. Others in attendance were Robin Long, Eric Reinhardt, Rhonda Reed, Judy Doyle, Jason Guffey, Roberta Guffey, Sullivans, Marjii Wronko. Others in attendance via zoom were Ali Vasarella, Diana Setterberg, Gabe, Dale Mailey and Elizabeth Marum. ACTION: Council Member Simon moved to excuse Council Member Meis. Council Member Smith seconded the motion. All voted aye, motion carried unanimously. PUBLIC FORUM Mayor Nelson called for public comment and opened the public forum. Robin Long, residing on West Davis, spoke in opposition to building the new Library at Lewis & Clark Park. He did not want to see removal of trees, felt it would create parking and traffic problems and loss of green space. Mayor Nelson called 2 more times for public comment. There being none, public forum was closed. PUBLIC HEARING Consider Resolution 2021- 22 Bolinger Payback Agreement( continued from June 21st session) City Manager Barkley noted there was a meeting held with the involved parties language was still under review. He requested a continuance to August 2, 2021. and new 1 Mayor Nelson opened the public hearing and called for public comment. Robin Long, inquired if the payback area involved the property adjacent to the junkyard. Mayor Nelson explained that the Sorensen property and junkyard were not in the payback district. Page l of 7  ACTION: Council Member Cooper moved to continue consideration of this item until the next regular council meeting on August 2, 2021. Council Member Doyle seconded the motion. All voted aye, motion carried unanimously. Consider Annexation Service Plan for Reed Property Planning Director Karp reviewed the proposed annexation service plan. He noted that the current policy did not allow hookups unless annexed prior to 2020, therefore, the applicant would be asked to trade out other lots in Henson Subdivision where they were not using sewer in lieu to free up the active lots to allow hookups. Rhonda Reed, applicant residing on North 7th Avenue in Bozeman, noted plans for 2 large warehouse buildings with just a few restrooms. Gary Jenson, applicant with Peregrine Construction, said he had built storage units on property that had water/ sewer capacity, but those 4 service connections were not being used so they wanted to trade that capacity somehow, however the city required. Discussion followed about the allowance for trading connections. City Manager Barkley said it had been discussed with City Attorney Ramler in the context of trading under the same developer or ownership. If changes were made to policy in the future it would be reviewed through the normal inspection process. Capacity would also be reviewed when the upgraded treatment plant came online. Mayor Nelson opened the public hearing and called for public comment. There was none and the public hearing was closed. Discussion followed about amending the service plan to allow a trade of hookup capacity. Karp noted this should be specified in the approving motion. ACTION: Council Member Menicucci moved to adopt the Reed annexation service plan for Lot 31 of Belgrade North Business Park Phase 3 in accordance with 7- 2- 4610 Montana Code Annotated with amended Section E that in this case because the developer has extra capacity that they are not using elsewhere it can be traded for this lot. Council Member Smith seconded the motion. All voted aye, motion carried unanimously. Consider Resolution 2021- 28 Annexing Reed Property Karp noted that with approval of the annexation service plan, the council could now consider annexation of the property. Mayor Nelson opened the public hearing and called for public comment. There was none and the public hearing was closed. ACTION: Council Member Doyle moved to approve Resolution 2021- 28 A Resolution to annex Lot 31 of Belgrade North Business Park Phase 3 into the City of Belgrade including the adjacent Jackrabbit Lane right-of-way. Council Member Simon seconded the motion. All voted aye, motion carried unanimously. Page 2 of 7 Consider Annexation Service Plan for Guffev Property Planning Director Karp reviewed the proposed annexation service plan for Lot 27, located at the corner of Happy Lane and Beeker Lane. The applicants owned Belgrade Sales and Service. Karp discussed accessibility of water and sewer to the lot and requirements to extend service to the southern boundary per City code. City staff recommended the alternative of requiring a bond in the amount of 125% of the estimated cost to install the pipe at a future date. Roberta Guffey, applicant, noted that they were not seeking to hook into City service at this time. It would be expensive to install the pipe as there were no other service lines nearby. They also did not want to be required to provide a bond. They needed to complete the annexation in order to obtain a permit and start the groundwork. Council asked how long a bond would be held. Karp noted that City staff would develop an Improvements Agreement which would include the terms and other such information. Guffey asked if they could see the numbers and if it could be paid over a number of years. City Manager Barkley suggested further review and continuance to the next regular meeting. Mayor Nelson opened the public hearing and called for public comment. Robin Long, Belgrade resident, inquired if the City Code could be changed or reviewed in regard to these requirements. ACTION: Council Member Menicucci moved to continue the public hearing to the next regular council meeting on August 2, 2021. Council Member Simon seconded the motion. All voted aye, motion carried unanimously. Consider Resolution 2021- 29 Annexing Guffev Property Mayor Nelson opened the public hearing and called for public hearing, there was none. ACTION: Council Member Doyle moved to continue the public hearing for the next regular council meeting on August 2, 2021. Council Member Menicucci seconded the motion. All voted aye, motion carried unanimously. Consider Annexation Service Plan for Sorensen Property Karp reviewed the Annexation Service Plan and noted that Sorensen Veterinary facility was located on the west side of Bolinger Road, just north of NorthWestern Energy' s property. Karp said he did not think the applicant had immediate plans but it would allow future expansion with City services. Mayor Nelson opened the public hearing and called for public comment. There was none and the public hearing was closed. ACTION: Council Member Cooper moved to adopt the Sorensen annexation service plan for Lot A-2 of Minor Subdivision No. 293 in accordance with 7- 2- 4610 Page 3 of 7 Montana Code Annotated. Council Member Menicucci seconded the motion. All voted aye, motion carried unanimously. Consider Resolution 2021- 30 Annexing Sorenson Property Karp noted that with the approval of the service plan, council could now consider approval of annexing this property. Mayor Nelson opened the public hearing and called for public comment. There was none and the public hearing was closed. ACTION: Council Member Simon moved to approve Resolution 2021- 30 A Resolution to annex Lot A-2 of Minor Subdivision NO. 293 into the City of Belgrade including the adjacent Bolinger Road right-of-way. Council Member Smith seconded the motion. All voted aye, motion carried unanimously. REPORTS Mayor Nelson reported that he would not be in attendance for the meeting scheduled on August 2, 2021 and called on Deputy Mayor Meis to direct the meeting in his absence. City Attorney Ramler had nothing to report. City Manager Barkley directed attention to a Water Usage report that he had provided to each Council Member. He noted that water restrictions were being discussed in Gallatin Valley so he wanted to give Council data on Belgrade' s water use, supply and deliverability. The charts showed daily usage and how the system was reacting at various times of high demand. Barkley noted that the Belgrade Public Works Director was not recommending restrictions at this time. He noted that Bozeman used surface water whereas Belgrade used ground water. This explained why our concerns and method of management differed so much from Bozeman. Barkley reported that the next round of ARPA funds were being considered for use toward water storage of some kind probably along south area of our service area. Barkley reported that he was sad that the Mayor would not be in attendance on August 2nd when the Council would be considering the resolution to place Domestic Chickens on the next ballot for voters to decide. Barkley reported on the upcoming preliminary budget discussion to take place on August 2nd and setting a public hearing for the Final budget on August 19, 2021. He reported that the City website had been out of service for a few days last week due to issues with the State' s web hosting site. Belgrade' s page was now up and operational again. Barkley reported on the status of recruitment efforts and noted that one applicant had withdrawn and one could not meet the interview schedule for City Manager. The recruiter suggested considering additional applicants that had come in the meantime. Discussion followed about tentative dates for review of the newer applicants. Prothman' s firm would be contacting the City with an updated schedule. Page 4 of 7  Barkley reported that Richard Dicks had withdrawn from the running for a Council seat. He noted that if no one else filed for the election by the deadline, the vacant council seat would then be filled by appointment. DISCUSSION AGENDA Consider Request for Reimbursement or Credit for Impact Fees related to Cruiser Lane Oversized Water Improvements by Bates Properties Inc Planning Director Karp reviewed the request and noted such a reduction was routine and if approved, would be reimbursed through impact fees. City Engineer Tom Eastwood explained that the City had received a request for reimbursement similar to the one we recently approved for @Home properties. A refund in the form of a check was requested. Mayor Nelson called for public comment, there was none. ACTION: Council Member Menicucci moved to approve of reimbursing Bates Properties for Impact Fee Credits in the amount of$ 22, 995. 00 related to installation of over-sized water improvements on Cruiser Lane. Council Member Cooper seconded the motion. All voted aye, motion carried unanimously. Consider Ordinance 2021- 4 ( first reading) to adopt the updated Int' l Mechanical Code, National Electrical Code and Int' l Fuel Gas Code and set public hearing for August 16, 2021 Karp noted that Belgrade has traditionally relied on the State for electrical and gas code inspections. He noted that Belgrade' s growth would include becoming a first class city in the future which would affect our process and duties. Karp reported that Belgrade had now increased capacity in regard to inspections and training was getting up to speed. Once these codes were adopted, certified City inspectors would take on this duty going forward. Karp noted that inspection services are all fee based and do not come out of taxes. Mayor Nelson called for public comment, there was none. 1 Manager Barkleynoted that Belgrade is considered a third class City, however, 1 because our population is now determined to be over 10, 000, City staff was preparing to become a First Class City. The Census data was expected to confirm our status. Karp noted that we didn' t have to be a first class city to make these proposed adjustments at this time. Discussion followed about the way a city' s designation affects provisions related to fire protection and water treatment. ACTION: Council Member Menicucci moved to approve Ordinance 2021- 4 upon first reading to adopt the 2018 International Mechanical Code, the 2017 National Electrical Code and the International Fuel Gas Code with State amendments and set date for public hearing for August 16, 2021. Council Member Simon seconded the motion. All voted aye, motion carried unanimously. Page 5of7  Consider Lowering Speed Limit on Broadway School Zone to 15MPH to Standardize with other such zones tf City Manager Barkley noted that the Broadway school zone was currently set at 20mph. He noted that speeds should probably be set by ordinance. He proposed that he bring back a revision to the code addressing speed limits. He learned that the school district may not be using Heck/ Quaw as a school going forward. The speed limits around the new School on Bolinger Road needed to be addressed as well. He wanted to verify if Saddle Peak School was covered properly. Barkley proposed that they move the speed limit to a normal 25mph until the District started using the Heck/ Quaw building as a school again. Other school areas should all be 15mph. Council was generally in agreement to have Staff develop a standardization of school zone speed limits, address Saddle Peak and Bolinger Schools at 15mph, and Broadway buildings at 25mph. Mayor Nelson called for public comment, there was none. Consider Interlocal Agreement regarding the Gallatin Valley Water and Wastewater Regionalization Feasibility Study City Manager Barkley reminded Council of the previous discussion about supporting this study. He noted commitments received thus far from Bozeman, Gallatin County, and Belgrade at $ 50, 000 each. The County had agreed to administer the contract. The Selection Committee would include Belgrade' s Public Works Director and City Engineer. Mayor Nelson called for public comment. Elizabeth Marum, Belgrade resident, spoke in favor of supporting this study. ACTION: Council Member Simon moved to approve contributing$ 50, 000 for a feasibility study and authorize the City Manager to sign the agreement for Gallatin Valley Interlocal Water and Wastewater Regionalization Feasibility Study. Council Member Cooper seconded the motion. All voted aye, motion carried unanimously. Consider Quarterly Financial Report City Manager Barkley reviewed the quarterly financial report and noted that final expenditures are still being processed and bills are still being paid. He noted that the ARPA funds and Covid impact payments have been included in the preliminary budget. Mayor Nelson called for public comment, there was none. FOR YOUR INFORMATION Council Member Smith reported on his attendance at the recent Central Valley Fire Board meeting. He noted that they had brough in 8 candidates that had successfully completed one year in service as volunteers and one was selected for a career position. Barkley noted that CVFD had planned a celebration for July 24th to honor past volunteers and Council was invited. Page 6 of 7  Council Member Doyle asked if restrooms were being vandalized, and if we were considering installing cameras to help discourage this from happening. Barkley said he would check into it. Council Member Menicucci reported on the upcoming Library Book Sale at Lewis & Clark Park this week from Wednesday through Saturday. She noted Christmas in July event put on by the Belgrade Community Coalition would be held on this Thursday. She brought up the Chronicle' s article regarding Council Member wages and felt that a raise should be considered. She noted that potential candidates cannot afford to run for council because they need to pay for daycare. Barkley and Ramler said they would check on the process for amending council pay. Council Member Simon reported that the recent Park Board meeting was cancelled due to lack of quorum. He asked the City Manager about DNRC' s issues with the proposed pool. Barkley noted that DNRC was requiring an owner of the property to administer the pool and was not in support of allowing the Aquatic Center to own the pool so further discussion was needed. Barkley stated he was hesitant for the City to take on the ownership, but perhaps a Park Maintenance District would make the difference as it would match the tax base of the schools. Council Member Cooper thanked staff for installing speed signs along Madison Avenue. ADJOURN Council Member Smith moved to adjourn the meeting at 9: 06 pm. 421.„ x= 11. Russell C. Nelson, Mayor Attest: g- Cesa.aetle Susan Caldwell, City Clerk Page 7 of 7