Belgrade City Council

BELGRADE CITY COUNCIL MEETING MINUTES COUNCIL CHAMBERS October 18, 2021 7: 00 P. M. This meeting was open to the public and attended in person and via Zoom video platform. Mayor Russell C. Nelson called the meeting to order. Council Members in attendance were Brad Cooper, Mike Meis, Jim Simon, Kristine Menicucci, Jim Doyle and Ken Smith. City staff in attendance were City Manager Neil Cardwell, City Attorney Rick Ramler, Consultant Ted Barkley, HR/ Administration Director Sherry Brown, Library Director Gale Bacon, Planning Director Jason Karp, Administrative Assistant Dana Jambor, Planning Tech Kristin Spadafore, Planning Tech Levi Simonsen, and Public Works Maintenance Ed Roe. Staff in attendance via Zoom was Finance Director Diane Eagleson. Others in attendance were Eric Reinhardt, Wade Pehl, Kristi Gee, Ali Vaserella, Andrew Cetraro, Judy Doyle, John Rosa, Matt Cotterman, Chris and Myra Cook, Harley Harrison, Kristi Gee, Holliday Bridge, Lola Stein, Richard Wright, and David Richards. Others in attendance via Zoom were Nicole Cardwell, Diana Setterberg, Tanya Anderson, Elizabeth Marum and Dale Mailey. Mayor Nelson called on Planning Director Karp for a clarification on the agenda. Planning Director Karp announced that consideration of the Ashton Meadows major subdivision had been publicly advertised to be considered on tonight' s agenda. However, there were more items needing clarification and it was mutually agreed on by the applicant and City staff to postpone discussion to a future agenda. The date and time of the future meeting and discussion would be publicly advertised for interested parties to provide their input. PUBLIC FORUM Mayor Nelson called for public comment and opened the public forum. Andrew Cetraro, representing the Belgrade Chamber of Commerce, welcomed Neil Cardwell as new City Manager. Holliday Bridge, residing on Crockett Way in Belgrade, spoke about the safety issues they were having at intersections in their neighborhood. With the street curving, they had been getting constant complaints about the curb needing to be painted yellow to keep people from parking right up to the She discussed ongoing contact with City staff since September of corner. last year about this issue, sending pictures and emails and making calls but she felt there had been little to no progress. She said that Public Works Director Steve Klotz had said he Page 1 of 6 understood her concerns and would go out and look at the site. They had asked to have the City paint the curbs yellow at the corners of 13th Street and Butler Creek, 13th Street and Rugged Creek, and 13th Street and Oakwood Drive. The Homeowner' s Association had also offered to do the painting themselves. Ms. Bridge stated a second issue that she had brought up with City staff was street sweeping and was told that it was usually done once a year, but she said that they had weeds growing out of the mud in their gutters because there was such a build- up of debris. She requested the City staff come and sweep it again. She reported a lot of orange tubing that was left in the easement, and they don' t know who it belonged to. She pointed out that Bridger Heights Subdivision had no houses built yet, but already had painted No Parking Here to Corner" curbs, " signs and crosswalks. She asked that something be done before more accidents happened. City Manager Cardwell asked Ms. Bridge to provide her contact information and so he could discuss these concerns with her. Myra Cook, residing on Quaw' s Blvd in Belgrade, requested an extension of the camping permit on her private property. She explained that her daughter and fiancé were looking for a place to live and during the interim had obtained a 30-day camping permit to stay in a camper on her property. Both worked in Belgrade and were on a waiting list for an apartment. Cook noted they had skirted the camper, arranged for sewer pick-up, and planned to keep the camper well maintained. They were requesting an extension for 5 months or until the couple could get into other housing. She did not believe that the concerns stated in the City Ordinance pertained to her specific situation. The City Code Enforcement Officer had advised her that her next step was to come to Council with her request. Council members commented that they were in support of considering an extension similar to what had been done for an area church in the past. It was confirmed that the camper was on the driveway and not in the street. Ms. Cook confirmed that her current permit would expire on November 6th. City Attorney Ramler suggested that Council give him the opportunity to review the current ordinance before they voted on this request, and that it should be scheduled for consideration as a regular agenda item. Council asked the City Manager and City Attorney to review the current ordinance and bring back a recommendation to Council. Harley Harrison, residing on Butler Creek Avenue, stated that he and Holliday Bridge were both Board members for the Story Creek HOA. He concurred with her statements and noted the safety issues on 13th Street and Butler Creek and said that he had personally experienced several " near misses" on that corner. He said that he had also reported to City staff about a year ago that the streetlight on Rugged Creek had burnt out. He inquired how much snow had to fall before plowing of streets was done. He stated that Butler Creek Avenue had only been plowed one time last season, even though there several instances where more than 3" of snow fell in a day. Page 2 of 6  Council Member Meis commented that the streetlights were maintained by Northwestern Energy and recommended going to their website to report the burnt- out streetlight. Mayor Nelson called 2 more times for public comment. There being none, the public forum was closed. PUBLIC HEARING Consider Ordinance 2021- 6 ( first reading) Zone Map Amendment to zone the Weaver Road Area to R- 2, R- 3, and B- 1 and set date for Public Hearing Planning Director Karp introduced Planning Tech Levi Simonson, who started working for the City in July of this year. Levi was a Belgrade and MSU graduate, and had GIS mapping skills, which were on display on the white board tonight. Karp reviewed the two zone map amendments under consideration. These were related to the location where Council had previously adopted Emergency Interim Zoning in July, 2020 with a 1- year extension approved in January, 2021. This was done to prohibit a gravel pit from coming into the area. He said that the Council was being asked now to adopt permanent zoning because the interim zoning would expire in January, 2022. Karp said that John Rosa had made a request to zone his property as Residential and Neighborhood Commercial Development. City staff and the Planning Board thought that it would be good to zone the rest of the area at the same time. As development proposals came in, Karp noted they could request zoning map amendments as needed. Karp explained that a property owned by David Richards on the NE corner of the property also came up for discussion at the planning meeting. Richards had requested that the East half be zoned B- 1 Neighborhood Commercial, with the idea of having some commercial area at the corner of Weaver and Bolinger. Richards also requested some Mixed- Use Development, asking for R- 3 or R-4 on the Western half of this property, which would be compatible with the proposed zoning to the south and to the west. City staff recommended R- 3 for this, which would give them a few more options. David Richards stated that he had requested that the corner be zoned B- 1 because with all the growth in that area, some commercial and retail development, such as a gas station or convenience store, would be very beneficial to residents. He said he wanted to be compatible with other zoning within the development. Karp referenced a letter from concerned neighbors, expressing their concerns related to both zoning and density on Collins Road. He said that some density was needed to make it pencil out" for the developer and be somewhat affordable for residents with all the improvements and upgrades required. Staff recommended approving the zoning proposal with a change on two parcels of David Richards' land from R- 2 to R- 3 . Council inquired as to why there was M- 1 zoning in the middle of the density. Page 3 of 6  Karp explained that as part of John Rosa' s proposal in the next agenda item, he wanted a large area for camper storage, as most subdivisions don' t allow for any RV parking. The Planning Board didn' t want to have M- 1 zoning right up against Collins Road so they recommended that some Commercial B- 3 zoning be located there as a buffer. John Rosa spoke and pointed out that the M- 1 zoning mentioned above was not for any other use other than getting campers, boats, and trailers out of subdivision roadways. He also mentioned the need for a lift station in that area because the land was lower than the sewer plant, and that it would cost an unbelievable amount of money to drain the sewer. Mayor Nelson called for public comment, there was none. ACTION: Council Member Meis moved that the City Council approve the first reading of Ordinance No. 2021- 6 to adopt the Weaver Road Area Zoning as recommended by the Belgrade City- County Planning Staff and Belgrade City- County Planning Board, to amend the proposed R- 2 to R-3, and to set the date for public hearing and fmal adoption for November 1, 2021. Council Member Menicucci seconded. All voted aye, motion carried unanimously. Consider Ordinance 2021- 7 ( first reading) Zone Map Amendment to zone the Four Graces Area to R- 2, R- 3, R-4, M- 1, and B- 3 and set date for Public Hearing Planning Director Karp reviewed the zone map amendment as requested by Rosa Development. The amended zone map proposal extended the M- I zoning and added some B- 3 along road frontages to have storage behind other types of buildings. Karp noted that area landowners had been notified of the request for zoning. Staff did not have any issues with Rosa' s modifications to the zoning map. The proposal included some B- 3 on the arterial road and could be a" down-town like" area. Staff recommended following the growth policy. This property was still in the county, as it had not yet been annexed. It would not be developed with county subdivisions, but with city subdivisions, and county roads would become city streets when this happened. Rosa met with neighbors in Mission Park Subdivision and drew zoning lines based on his conversations with them. Karp noted that the subdivision process would require many more public hearings to review this project. Mayor Nelson called for public comment, there was none. ACTION: Council Member Menicucci moved that the City Council Adopt the first reading of Ordinance No. 2021- 7 to adopt the Four Graces Zoning as proposed by the applicant and set the date for a public hearing and final adoption for November 1, 2021. Council Member Smith seconded. All voted aye, motion carried unanimously. REPORTS City Manager Barkley extended a personal welcome and passed on the City Manager' s badge to Neil Cardwell. Page 4 of 6  Mayor Nelson read a proclamation regarding" Extra Mile Day November 1, 2021" and welcomed City Manager Cardwell to his first meeting. City Attorney Ramler had nothing to report. City Manager Cardwell thanked Mayor Nelson and the Council. He didn' t have a full report for tonight but said that it had been a wonderful first day and the staff had been incredibly welcoming. He met with the executive team today. He felt that Belgrade had a great team, and he looked forward to working with each and every one of them. He said he would endeavor to continue in Barkley' s very large footsteps. He also mentioned that at the last council meeting, some salary compensation adjustments were approved, and he wanted to publicly state to the rest of the staff that he would be actively reviewing the salary study, along with Human Resources and Finance, to make sure that other possible market adjustments could be brought to Council as quickly as possible. DISCUSSION AGENDA Discuss Trash Can Wrap Project for Downtown and Lions Park area—Belgrade Community Coalition Ali Vasarella, representing the Belgrade Community Coalition, said that they would like to continue their Trash Can Wrap with two cans downtown, one at the library, and five at Lion' s Park. The artwork would be by local Belgrade area artists and would go through a submission process. She noted that the cans that were previously wrapped seemed to be wearing well. Mayor Nelson called for public comment, there was none. Consider Resolution 2021- 38 $ 5. 6M Sewer System Revenue Bond Series 2021C City Manager Cardwell reviewed the bond as the next in a series of bond proceeds related to the new wastewater treatment upgrade project. He also informed the Council that the City was approved to receive an award from the State of Montana for ARPA funds for an additional $ 2M to be put toward this project. He would be meeting with the City Attorney and Finance Officer for additional information on that subject. He noted that these funds were separate from the original grant funds and were specifically allocated for the sewer project. Cardwell noted that there were some struggles related to the supply chain on the project. He would be working with Public Works to bring more information back to Council. Mayor Nelson asked for public comment, there was none. ACTION: Council Member Meis moved to approve Resolution 2021- 38 to issue 5. 6M Sewer System Revenue Bond Series 2021C. Council Member Simon seconded the motion. All voted aye, motion carried unanimously CONSENT AGENDA Warrants Payable for September 2021 Page 5 of 6  ACTION: Council Member Cooper moved to approve the Consent Agenda as submitted. Council Member Smith seconded the motion. All voted aye, motion carried unanimously. FOR YOUR INFORMATION Council Members Smith, Doyle, Menicucci and Cooper had nothing to report. Council Member Simon reported on attending the Park Board meeting and that the Pump Track concept at Prescott Park was moving forward. There would be some community research to put a plan together for recommendation to the Park Board and Council. He noted that Lewis & Clark playground equipment that was removed would be replaced with $ 300, 000 worth of new playground equipment that would be installed by next spring. The old equipment would be moved to Sunnyside Park. They were also still working with Belgrade Baseball on a long-term use agreement with the Lion' s Park facility for baseball. Simon also reported on attending the Fire Board meeting, and that their staff had been hit by Covid 19 and were down about 20%, but things were getting better. The Fire Chief was out with Covid, and the Fire Marshall was named Acting Chief for the next 30 to 60 days. They had hired a new Assistant Fire Chief out of Washington state, who should be on board within the next couple weeks. He also reported that six fire fighters went through the Engineer' s Academy, which was a lengthy process in addition to their regular work schedule. Council Member Meis reported on the opening day of rifle season approaching, and he wished good luck to all hunters. Also, there was no school in Belgrade on Thursday and Friday of this week. Mayor Nelson gave a copy an article on ransomware to City Manager Cardwell. He wanted Cardwell to make sure that the City' s systems were as prepared and protected as possible. ADJOURN Council Member Smith moved to adjourn the meeting t 8: 13pm. Russell 6/ C. Nelson, 4 Mayor Attest Su n' Calds ell, City Clerk Page 6 of 6