Belgrade City Council

CITY OF BELGRADE COUNCIL MEETING MINUTES COUNCIL CHAMBERS December 5, 2022 7: 00 PM This meeting was open to the public and attended in person. Mayor Russell C. Nelson called the meeting to order. Council Members in attendance were Martha Sellers, Mike Meis, Jim Simon, Kristine Menicucci, Jim Doyle and Renae Mattimoe. City staff in attendance were City Manager Neil Cardwell, City Clerk Susan Caldwell, Executive Assistant Dana Jambor, Finance Director Charity Wilson, Police Chief Dustin Lensing, Fire Chief Greg Tryon, City Judge Chris Gregory. City Attorney Rick Ramler attending via Zoom. Others in attendance were Vivian Crouse, Judy Doyle, Elliot Lindsey, Don Davis. PUBLIC FORUM Mayor Nelson called for public comment. Elliot Lindsey, residing on Park Avenue, inquired about the areas within City limits that were governed by Ordinance 2022- 23 in regard to marijuana usage and business. He felt that the restrictions noted in the language would limit all of the commercially zoned business parks in Belgrade. He asked for clarification if this was the Council' s intent or if this could be amended. Mayor Nelson suggested that Mr. Lindsey make arrangements to meet with the City Manager and/ or staff for further clarification of the existing City Code and discuss options. City Manager Cardwell agreed. Don Davis, residing on Louisiana Street, spoke about unsafe conditions due to the high number of drivers ignoring stop signs. In view of a recent instance where a driver ignored the stop signal and a man was killed while riding his bicycle in Bozeman, Davis felt it was important to bring up the issue again. He felt the streets of Belgrade were not safe. He noted suggestions he had brought to Council in May 2022 regarding the need for traffic lights, turn arrows and stop signs. He related his own observations of several locations where people were chronically ignoring stop signs. He felt the lack of enforcement gave people no fear of breaking these laws. He suggested showing more concern for safety. He felt that turning arrows should be installed at Madison and Jackrabbit as this was such a busy intersection. City Manager Cardwell thanked Davis for his suggestions. He noted that several state routes ran through City limits, Jackrabbit and Main Street included. These signals were governed by the State Department of Transportation. Cardwell recommended that Davis submit his suggestions and observations directly to the DOT for their review and thanked him for his input. Mayor Nelson called 2 more times for public comment. There being none, the public forum was closed. Page 1 of 5 CONSENT AGENDA Consider approval of Ordinance 2022- 16 ( first reading) to Increase Lot Coverage allowance in R- 2 Single Family Districts and set date for public hearing on 12- 19- 2022 Consider approval of draft Council Minutes for 1- 3- 2022, 1- 18- 2022 and 11- 21- 2022 ACTION: Council Member Menicucci moved to approve the consent agenda items as submitted. Council Member Sellers seconded the motion. All voted aye, motion carried unanimously. PUBLIC HEARING Consider Ordinance 2022- 15 ( second reading) Amending Parking Regulations Title 5, Chapter 4 of Belgrade City Code City Manager Cardwell recused himself during consideration of this item. Mayor Nelson asked for clarification about the fines related to illegal parking. They used to be$ 85 but now would be $ 20. Police Chief Lensing noted there was a fee schedule under the criminal code. Certain parking infractions would still be subject to the $ 85 fine which fell under the State code. The $ 20 fine would be applied to those infractions falling under the parking zone ordinance. Lensing noted there were some minor grammatical corrections made since the Council' s first reading of the Ordinance but no other changes. He recommended adoption and noted that the new code would take effect in 30 days. Council asked how staff would process a request for designating a special parking zone or district. Lensing noted the process would be streamlined with the new ordinance. Creation of a protocol for reviewing such requests was underway. Mayor Nelson opened the public hearing and called for public comment. There was none and the public hearing was closed. ACTION: Council Member Meis moved to approve and adopt Ordinance 2022- 15 upon second reading and after public hearing amending Title 5, Chapter 4 of Belgrade City Code. Council Member Menicucci seconded the motion. Motion carried. Council Members voting aye: Sellers, Meis, Simon, Menicucci and Mattimoe Council Members abstaining: Doyle DISCUSSION AGENDA City Manager Cardwell returned to the Council chambers. Page 2 of 5 Consider Belgrade Police Commission Board Appointment Police Chief Lensing noted Baird was retired from law enforcement and Lensing felt he would do a fine job in this capacity. Mayor Nelson recommended appointment of Brian Baird to serve on the Belgrade Police Commission. Mayor Nelson called for public comment. There was none. ACTION: Council Member Doyle moved to approve and appoint Brian Baird to serve on the Belgrade Police Commission for a 3- year term. Council Member Mattimoe seconded the motion. All voted aye, motion carried unanimously. Consider an Interlocal Agreement with Central Valley Fire District for Office Space Lease City Manager Cardwell reviewed the proposed plan to use available office space at Fire Station# 1 near the Airport. This space would be used by the City Engineering staff. If approved by Council, it would then go to the Central Valley Fire Board for approval later this month. The lease would be for a period of one year and then month- to- month going forward. The City would also incur associated costs for upgrades and monthly usage related to electronics and connectivity. Funding of the rental and maintenance costs would most likely come out of the Capital Improvement Plan funds related to Technology and Security upgrades as approved in the budget. Fire Chief Tryon spoke in support of the plan and looked forward to the added benefit of developing a closer relationship between the Fire Prevention Bureau and the City Engineering team. He saw this as a positive move in that direction. Mayor Nelson called for public comment. There was none. ACTION: Council Member Meis moved to approve the Interlocal Agreement with Central Valley Fire District for leasing office space as presented and authorize the City Manager to sign said agreement. Council Member Simon seconded the motion. All voted aye, motion carried unanimously. Discuss Outstanding Items with the Montana Department of Environmental Quality ( DEO) City Manager Cardwell noted that City Engineer Eastwood was not able to attend this meeting. He asked Council to table this discussion until the next regular meeting. Cardwell also proposed that Council consider scheduling a special workshop to be held at or around 6: 00pm on the same day as the first regular Council meeting in 2023. This would fall on Tuesday, January 3, 2023. He wanted to take this time to discuss Belgrade' s issues and priorities and possibly adopt a legislative initiative to make this known in anticipation of the next Legislative Session. Page 3 of 5  ACTION: Council Member Menicucci moved to table the discussion regarding pending DEQ items. Council Member Doyle seconded the motion. All voted aye, motion carried unanimously. Discuss and Consider Authorizing the City Manager to Negotiate the Acquisition of Real Property located at 111 N. Kennedy Street, Belgrade MT City Manager Cardwell noted this property had come up for sale about 2 months ago and was directly across the alley from other property owned by the City, behind the library. The close proximity to City Hall and the need for centrally located office space made acquisition of the Kennedy property desirable. The previous city manager had also planned on acquiring nearby properties within the same block as they became available to accommodate staff. Cardwell noted initial plans to use the property as office space for the Community Development department. Cardwell and CD staff had toured the property this past week. It would require some minimal remodeling to bring it into compliance with ADA along with some installation related to electronics, internet and communications. A provisional offer was placed in the amount of$ 430, 000 pending approval by Council. Cardwell noted funding was available in our Administrative Impact fee account as this purchase was directly related to growth. Once the Community Development staff were moved over, part of the Police staff would then move into the vacated office space on the main level of City Hall. Cardwell discussed current City Hall. Initial plans were to convert the residence zoning near on Broadway to a parking area, however, this use would not be allowed under current zoning codes related to access requirements. Cardwell noted they may see fit to propose a zoning change to the entire block as PLI ( Public Lands and Institutions) in the future. It could also include zoning for the Ice Skate Park nearby. Council suggested communication with existing neighbors within the block so they would know the reasoning for such a zoning change. Cardwell noted he could also ask for right of first offer if and when other properties inside the block came up for sale. He noted that Barkley had noted having verbal conversations with the neighbors so they would let the City know if they were planning to sell, but there were no formal agreements. Mayor Nelson called for public comment. There was none. ACTION: Council Member Meis moved to approve the purchase of real property at 111 N. Kennedy Street, Belgrade MT., and authorize the City Manager to negotiate and sign documents related to said purchase. Council Member Mattimoe seconded the motion. All voted aye, motion carried unanimously. REPORTS Mayor Nelson had nothing to report. City Attorney Ramler had nothing to report. Page 4 of 5  City Manager Cardwell noted that he would not be attending the next meeting in December and Chief Lensing would be acting as City Manager while he was out of town. Lensing would probably be the one to sign the final paperwork for purchasing the Kennedy property on behalf of the City because the owners wanted to close before the holidays. FOR YOUR INFORMATION Council Member Sellers asked how decisions were made to install left- turn arrow signals. Cardwell noted that the City had no control over signal installations. He noted that City staff had taken their suggestions to the State Board that heard this type of input, but ultimately Montana Department of Transportation ( MDT) only seemed to install arrows based on traffic engineering analysis. It caused a lot of frustration. He encouraged individuals to place their suggestions directly with the State and the City would continue to do so as well. Council Member Meis said he would like to get an update on the Jackrabbit project. Cardwell said initially MDT had given the impression that there would be some signaling improvements along with the over- under pass project. Recently they had changed that stance and were saying we would have to wait and see. Council Member Simon thanked staff for snow plowing efforts. Council Member Menicucci reported that the Water Quality Board had decided that the wrong kind of study had been underway in regard to effluent and down- stream effects so they scrapped it and will now be starting over. Cardwell commented on related information in this regard due to Belgrade being newly classified as a First Class City. He noted that Belgrade would now be participating along with the other seven cities in various initiatives. One of them was MLCT' s study on effluent and associated concerns. Council Member Doyle had nothing to report. Council Member Mattimoe said she was looking forward to the activities over the weekend with the Festival of Lights, truck convoy and book sale. ADJOURN Council Member Simon moved to adjourn the meeting at 7: 47 pm. Russell C. Nelson, Mayor Aftest: l l Susan Caldwell, City Clerk Page 5 of 5