Belgrade City Council

CITY OF BELGRADE COUNCIL MEETING MINUTES COUNCIL CHAMBERS July 3, 2023 7: 00 PM This meeting was open to the public and attended in person. Deputy Mayor Mike Meis called the meeting to order. Council Members in attendance were Jason Guffey, Mike Meis, Jim Simon, Kristine Menicucci, Jim Doyle, and Renae Mattimoe. City staff in attendance were City Manager Neil Cardwell, City Attorney Rick Ramler via Zoom, City Clerk Camille Gregory, Executive Director of Financial Services Charity VanKirk, Director of Community Development Jason Karp, Municipal Court Judge Chris Gregory, Director of Information Technology Ryan Curtis, Chief of Police Dustin Lensing, Director of Engineering Tom Eastwood, Belgrade Library Director Gale Bacon, and Human Resources Director Becky Wilbert. Others in attendance were April Kreis, Jane Schumacher, Aleck Gantick, Kali Peterson, and Judy Doyle. ACTION: Council Member Simon moved to excuse Mayor Russell Nelson. Council Member Guffey seconded the motion. All voted aye, motion carried unanimously. PUBLIC FORUM Deputy Mayor Meis called three times for public comment. There being none, the public forum was closed. CONSENT AGENDA Release of the Improvements Agreement and Financial Guaranty for Story Creek Subdivision. Approval Of Council Minute Draft( S): 6- 20- 23 Council member Doyle mentioned a small spelling error in the minutes, which will be corrected. ACTION: Council Member Menicucci moved to approve the consent agenda items as submitted. Council Member Simon seconded the motion. All voted aye, motion carried unanimously. PUBLIC HEARING Discuss and Consider an Increase to the Street Maintenance Assessment. Executive Director of Financial Services VanKirk stated that the City had not kept up with street maintenance increases in the past and the proposed increase was needed to maintain Page 1 of 5 Belgrade' s roads and keep up with the costs and services. The increase would be 14% each year for three years. The amount would then maintain after the third year, until it is brought to the Council again for increase. Deputy Mayor Meis called for public comment. There was none. ACTION: Council Member Menicucci moved to approve Resolution 2023- 15, adopting incrementally increased assessments to maintain the streets and alleys of the street maintenance district of the City of Belgrade. Council Member Mattimoe seconded the motion. All voted aye, motion carried unanimously. DISCUSSION AGENDA Discuss and Consider Purchase of 109 N Kennedy. City Manager Cardwell explained that the City and homeowners had come to an agreement for the purchase of the property at 109 N. Kennedy. The agreement would include a rental component that allows the sellers to stay in the home while they search for suitable living accommodations. Deputy Mayor Meis called for public comment. There was none. Council Members asked for specific numbers on the appraisal and if the house would stay intact. City Manager Cardwell gave the numbers appraised for the property and explained that the City will keep the house on the property and may use it for additional office space. ACTION: Council Member Menicucci moved to authorize the City Manager to execute the necessary agreements and contracts for the purchase of 109 N Kennedy Street. Council Member Mattimoe seconded the motion. All voted aye, motion carried unanimously. Deputy Mayor Meis requested a motion to move Discussion Item 5. 3 ahead of Discussion Item 5. 2 on the Council Meeting Agenda. ACTION: Council Member Mattimoe moved to hear Discussion Item 5. 3 before Discussion Item 5. 2. Council Member Simon seconded the motion. All voted aye, motion carried unanimously. Discuss and Consider First Reading of Ord. No. 2023- 7 Update of the Belgrade Zoning Regulations. Director of Community Development Karp explained that Belgrade' s Zoning Regulations had not been updated since the 1970s. The public can go to Beheardbelgrade. com for a draft of the updated code. City Manager Cardwell added that he is working on getting Kelly Lynch to come talk about Bill 382 and the big changes the bill lays out. The hope is she can come at 6 p.m. before a Council Page 2 of 5  meeting, allowing her to address Bill 382 and answer any of the Council' s questions prior to their meeting. Deputy Mayor Meis called for public comment. There was none. ACTION: Council Member Simon made a motion that the City Council adopt the first reading of Ordnance No. 2023- 7, an update of the Belgrade Zoning Regulations with amendments as recommended by the Belgrade City- County Planning Board, and set a date for public hearing and final adoption on July 17, 2023. Council Member Doyle seconded the motion. All voted aye, motion carried unanimously. Discuss and Consider Approval of The Fiscal Year 2024 Preliminary Operating Budget Director of Financial Services VanKirk gave a brief PowerPoint presentation on the proposed Preliminary operating budget. Council Member Simon asked what the increase was in the council budget. Cardwell explained that it was for hiring the legislative consultant. VanKirk also added that the increase included membership fees that had been relocated from another part of the budget. Council Members commented that the presentation was very easy and pleasant to navigate. Deputy Mayor Meis called for public comment. There was none. ACTION: Council Member Mattimoe moved to accept the Preliminary Budget for FY 23- 24 as presented. Council Member Guffey seconded the motion. All voted aye, motion carried unanimously. Discuss and Consider 6- Month Review of Swagit System Performance and Remote Participation Policy. City Manager Cardwell noted that in October of 2022, he had requested a six( 6) month review of the Swagit recording system. The meeting was intended to review how the Swagit system was working, and what improvements may be needed. The date of this hearing was set for that review. Council Members commented that the Swagit system works well, but that the sound could use updating. Cardwell agreed and stated he will work with Belgrade' s Director of Information Technology to update the system' s sound. Deputy Mayor Meis called for public comment. There was none. ACTION: Council Member Menicucci moved to make the use of Swagit live streaming for all City Board meetings and limit remote meeting participation to Board members or City Page 3 of 5 Consultants a permanent policy. Council Member Mattimoe seconded the motion. All voted aye, motion carried unanimously. Discuss and Consider Formation of Regional Water/ Wastewater Committee. City Manager Cardwell explained that the City of Belgrade, the City of Bozeman, and Gallatin County came together to fund a regionalization of water and wastewater study conducted by AE2S. The study by AE2S is almost complete. Thus, Cardwell requested that two or three council members join a committee with staff to discuss the report and whether Belgrade will join Bozeman on the communication aspect of it. Judy Doyle, residing at Drummond St., asked how the public could acquire the report. Cardwell said the report will be available on the websites for Belgrade, Bozeman, and Gallatin County once it is done in October. Deputy Mayor Meis called for public comment. There was none. ACTION: Council Member Menicucci moved to appoint Council Members Mike Meis, Jim Simon, and Jason Guffey to join Belgrade staff in a committee for the purpose of making a recommendation to the full Council in regards to Belgrade' s stance on the proposed Regional Water/ Wastewater effort. End date of this committee is to be set by the City Manager. Council Member Doyle seconded the motion. All voted aye, motion carried unanimously. REPORTS 17th Deputy Mayor Meis Reported that he will be camping during the July meeting and out of cell service, so he will not attend the next council meeting. City Attorney Ramler had nothing to report. City Manager Cardwell thanked the Council for approving the preliminary budget and thanked VanKirk and her team for their hard work on the budget. Cardwell also reported that VanKirk is working on moving the City of Belgrade to a money market account, which will drastically improve the interest gained, and acquiring CDs. He also thanked each department head for their effort to clean up their budgets. Caldwell also announced there will be a street closure due to the car show on July 9th, 2023. Cardwell also mentioned that the well repair involved substantially more than originally thought. However, they were about three weeks from being done with repairs, and there should not be any water restrictions for the public. Lastly, Cardwell stated that he and the City Attorney will meet with the Gallatin County Attorney and the Gallatin County Commission on July 10th, 2023, to review the interlocal agreement. If all parties agree on it, it should be signed. Page 4 of 5 FOR YOUR INFORMATION Council Member Mattimoe thanked Cardwell for providing pictures and updates on the new library building' s progress. She also mentioned that she would be absent from the Parks Board meeting and asked if anyone could sit in her place. Council Member Guffey volunteered. Council Member Doyle had nothing to report. Council Member Menicucci mentioned to Cardwell the ragweed situation under the billboard on Hoffman. Meis also mentioned there is a weed problem near Town Pump on Jackrabbit. Police Chief Lensing explained that someone out of state owns the property the billboard sits on, and the Police Department is working on contacting them. Council Member Simon stated he will also be absent from the July 17th Council meeting. Council Member Guffey wished everyone a safe and happy Fourth of July. ADJOURN Council Member Simon moved to adjourn the meeting at 8: 10 pm. Russell C. Nelson, Mayor Camille Gregory, C erk 4 Page 5 of 5