Belgrade City Council

CITY OF BELGRADE COUNCIL MEETING MINUTES COUNCIL CHAMBERS August 5th, 2024 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, Jim Simon, Kristine Menicucci, and Renae Mattimoe. City staff in attendance were City Manager Neil Cardwell, Assistant City Manager Greg Tryon, City Clerk Camille Gregory, Executive Assistant Dana Jambor, Executive Finance Director Charity VanKirk, Chief of Police Dustin Lensing, Director of Information Technology Ryan Curtis, Municipal Court Judge Chris Gregory, Director of Community Development Jason Karp, Chief Building Official Lucas Sobeck, Director of Human Resources Becky Wilbert, Director of Parks and Recreation Steve Klotz, Public Works Director Camaree Uljua, Jordan Ramler filling in for City Attorney, Director of Economic Development Katharine King, and Fire Chief Jay Wittwer. Others in attendance were Karen Tucker, Bonnie Cambell, Mary Ellen Fitzgerald, Dede Frothingham Semerad, Joe Murphy, Carol Scott, Robert Blakeman, Jedediah Hinkle, Josh Smith, and Jim Meyer. ANNOUNCEMENT: On behalf of Mayor Nelson, City Manager Cardwell announced that Council Member Doyle has stepped down from his position on the Council and asked that the Council ratify his resignation. ACTION: Council Member Menicucci moved to confirm Council Member Jim Doyle' s resignation. Council Member Guffey seconded the motion. All voted aye, motion carried unanimously. ACTION: Council Member Mattimoe moved to excuse Mayor Russell C. Nelson. Council Member Simon 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 Consider First reading of Ord. No. 2024- 5, a Zone Map Amendment of Lot 6 and Utility Lot in Yellow Iron Subdivision changing the zoning from CC- Commercial Corridor to FE- Flex Employment. Page 1 of 7  ACTION: Council Member Simon moved to approve the Consent Agenda items as submitted. Council Member Mattimoe seconded the motion. All voted aye, motion carried unanimously. PUBLIC HEARING Discuss and Consider Ord. No. 2024- 4, 2nd Reading of an Ordinance to Abandon the Right- of-Way at the west end of West Custer Avenue. Director of Community Development Jason Karp stated that this issue was discussed by Council at their last meeting. It was noted then that this ordinance will allow the City to abandon the west end of West Custer Ave. The abandonment would revert that property to the property owners on either side. The property owner on both sides is Belgrade One, who owns the Town Pump in that area. Belgrade One intends to use the property for parking and a driveway area. There will be no money exchanged in this instance. Joe Murphy, appearing for the Applicant as their representative, thanked the Belgrade City staff for their help with this ordinance. Deputy Mayor Meis called three times for public comment. There was none. ACTION: Council Member Menicucci moved to adopt, on second reading, Ordinance No. 2024- 4 to Vacate West Custer Avenue adjacent to Lot 1 Block 21, Belleview Addition. Council Member Mattimoe seconded the motion. All voted aye, motion carried unanimously. Discuss and Consider an Increase to the Street Maintenance Assessment for FY2025. Executive Finance Director Charity VanKirk explained that during the discussion and adoption of the Preliminary Budget the City was asked to look into how much the street maintenance fee would have to be raised in order to add two additional employees to the street maintenance fund and provide a 5% fund balance. She then explained that to accomplish this goal of two additional adding employees while ensuring a 5% balance, the City would need to increase the street maintenance fee to $ 205 per lot. VanKirk noted that this resolution would only address one year. This would allow the City to have a study done to determine where the fee should be set going forward. Deputy Mayor Meis called three times for public comment. There was none. The Council briefly discussed the need for more employees to keep up with the demands of a rapidly growing community. Page 2 of 7  ACTION: Council Member Menicucci moved to approve Resolution 2024- 16, adopting incrementally increased assessments to maintain the streets and alleys of the street maintenance district of the City of Belgrade. Council Member Guffey seconded the motion. All voted aye, motion carried unanimously. DISCUSSION AGENDA Discuss and Consider Resolution 2024- 20 Supporting School Land Exchange. City Manager Neil Cardwell explained that this resolution is for the Council to express their support to the Belgrade School Board for putting this measure on the ballot in the fall. The intention is for this issue to go to the voters of the Belgrade School District, so that they can decide on whether to move forward with the proposed land exchange between the City and the Belgrade School District. Cardwell also noted that this exchange is a joint effort between the City and the School District and has been in talks for approximately two years. He also advised the public that there is a survey up on beheardbelgrade. com and the City needs input from the community on this issue. Belgrade School Superintendent Frothingham Semerad explained the possible outcome if this proposed land exchange did not happen and what this land exchange could mean for the future of Belgrade and the School District if it did happen. The Council inquired whether the school building( s) that the City would be getting in this exchange were still structurally sound. The Council also wondered whether there is a set date for the land exchange to take place, if the measure passes on the fall ballot. Frothingham answered that the buildings are being looked after and are safe to remodel. She also advised there is no definitive time frame for the exchange at this time. Deputy Mayor Meis called for public comment. Robert Blakeman, residing at 714 Al Dr., stated he is concerned about the proposed parking at Lions Park if this exchange were to go through. He is also concerned about the School District expanding on the property and backing up to the back of his property, as well as the prospect of losing the park if the School District decides to use that land to build another school. Jim Meyer stated he thinks he may end up supporting the land exchange. However, if the exchange were to move forward, he would like the Council to consider the potential impact this could have on traffic for homeowners in the area. He also hopes they will consider maintaining the current speed limit on Broadway. Deputy Mayor Meis called two more times for public comment. There was none. Page 3 of 7  Members of the Council expressed excitement about the possibility of the land exchange and stated they believe it is the most cost- effective plan to address the challenges the City and the School District are facing. ACTION: Council Member Simon moved to adopt Resolution 2024- 20, a Resolution Supporting the Proposed Land and Building Exchange between the City of Belgrade and the Belgrade School District and Endorsing the School District' s Initiative to present the proposal to voters. Council Member Mattimoe seconded the motion. All voted aye, motion carried unanimously. Discuss and Consider A Resolution Submitting to the Qualified Electors the Question of Permanently Levying Mills to Pay Expenses of the Belgrade Senior Center. Assistant City Manager Tryon explained that this resolution asks the Council to consider placing a permanent levy question on the November 5th ballot. He then explained the Levy would cover the cost of providing food to the growing senior population in our area, as well as help preserve the current services offered by the Senior Center. Tryon noted the yearly cost of this mill for owners of a$ 300k home would be $ 32. 40, which breaks down to $2. 70 per month. Owners of a home valued at 600k home would pay$ 64. 80, or 5. 40 per month. Approval of the permanent mill would cover the cost of operations of the Senior Center at $ 290, 000 a year. It would also allow the City to stop charging a$ 20 membership fee. Bonnie Campbell, who volunteers at the Senior Center and is on the Senior Center Advisory Board, spoke about how much the Senior Center has grown in the last year. She further stated that when she was delivering meals, the Senior Center delivered less than 20 meals per day. Now, they deliver 50 daily meals, including on the weekends. Campbell also noted that the Senior Center' s exercise classes are growing exponentially. She stated those classes used to get three to six people who regularly attended, but that number has grown to approximately 18 to 20 people. Because of that growth, they are having to do the classes in the Quaw building. She encouraged the Council to consider the mill levy. Carol Scott mentioned that removing the $ 20 membership for the $ 32 yearly tax might make this a bigger hurdle. She also stated she believed bundling the Levy with something else, such as a Parks and Trails Department issue, might make the Levy more enticing to voters. Deputy Mayor Meis called three times for public comment. There was none. Council Member Guffey commented that Senior Center Manager Lisa Beedy and her husband Dave, who cooks the meals, work very hard at the Senior Center. He believes the Levy would greatly help them. Council Member Mattimoe asked if the$ 20 membership fee would remain in place for those who use the Senior Center but live outside of Belgrade. City Manager Cardwell explained that the Page 4 of 7  City receives some funding from Gallatin County that helps subsidize the Senior Center. So, that fee would be removed for anyone that lives in Gallatin County. Deputy Mayor Meis explained that it is his understanding that bundling the Levy with projects in other departments may muddy up the language and make it hard to keep track of where the monies would go. That is why this measure needs to be only for the Senior Center. ACTION: Council Member Menicucci moved to adopt Resolution 2024- 17, Calling for a Mill Levy Election in Support of the Belgrade Senior Citizen' s Center. Council Member Mattimoe seconded the motion. All voted aye, motion carried unanimously. Discuss and Consider Resolution 2024- 18 Restricting Irrigation Water Usage and Setting Specific Irrigation Hours. City Manager Cardwell explained that he had been tasked by the Council with avoiding any restriction on water use. However, he also noted the City is currently struggling to keep up with water production at peak usage hours, due largely to the rapid growth of the population who use lots of water during peak hours. He noted that a water use restriction is necessary to alleviate the strain on the City' s water production facilities during peak hours, but there is no current concern over the City' s overall water supply. This proposed restriction will restrict water use for irrigation purposes only. The restriction would be in place between the hours of 5 a. m. and 6 p.m. Citizens are asked to irrigate outside of those hours. Deputy Mayor Meis called for public comment. Robert Blakeman, residing at 714 Al Dr., spoke in favor of this resolution. He stated he felt watering lawns isn't sustainable for future water use. Jedidiah Hinkle, residing at 1700 Drummond, asked how the restriction would be enforced. He asked if the water would be restricted if used for things such as kids playing in sprinklers or filling up pools on hot days. Deputy Mayor Meis called two more times for public comment. There was none. Council Member Mattimoe clarified that there is an exception for hand watering with a hose equipped with an automatic shut- off nozzle, so if kids wanted to spray each other with the hose, that would not be in violation. Cardwell further clarified that this resolution only restricts irrigation watering. So, filling up a swimming pool or playing in the sprinklers falls outside that scope. Belgrade City Code only permits the City to regulate the use of water for irrigation. Cardwell also stated that the goal of this resolution is voluntary compliance. Page 5 of 7  ACTION: Council Member Mattimoe moved to adopt Resolution 2024- 18, restricting irrigation water usage and setting specific irrigation hours to ensure sustainable water management and adequate supply for all residents, businesses, and emergency needs. Council Member Guffey seconded the motion. All voted aye, motion carried unanimously. REPORTS Deputy Mayor Meis had nothing to report. Acting City Attorney Jordan Ramler had nothing to report. City Manager Cardwell explained that the next council agenda will include addressing how the Council would like to move forward with filling former Council Member Doyle' s vacant seat. He then introduced Katharine King as Belgrade' s new Director of Economic Development. He noted that Mrs. King will specialize in the TIF and the Urban Renewal District. King stood and introduced herself. She noted that she came by this way of work, having been working in Kalispell on their Core and Rail Development for the last 16 years. FOR YOUR INFORMATION Council Member Mattimoe had nothing to report. Council Member Menicucci reported that the County is considering combining the Water Quality Department with the Environmental Health Department. Council Member Simon mentioned that there is a special Fire Board meeting on August 6th, 2024. He noted their next regular meeting was moved from August 13th to August 20th, 2024. Council Member Simon then asked who would be filling in on the Senior Center board in former Council Member Doyle's absence. Council Member Mattimoe volunteered to attend the upcoming Senior Center Board meeting on August 12th, 2024. Council Member Guffey had nothing to report. Deputy Mayor Meis reported that he and Menicucci attended a lunch presentation by HRDC, where they discussed multiple topics. However, the most notable topic discussed was the challenges this area has due to its lack of mental health resources. ADJOURN : Council Member Simon moved to adjourn the meet' _ : t 8: 24 pm. Russell C. Nelson, Mayor Attest: Page 6 of 7  2.. Cite.Oiregoiy, City Cler. / r r:. Page 7 of 7