City Council Meetings

CITY OF GREEN RIVER CITY COUNCIL PROCEEDINGS June 19, 2012 The Governing Body of the City of Green River met in regular session at 7 pm in the City Hall Council Chambers. Mayor Castillon called the meeting to order and led the Pledge of Allegiance. The following Council Members were present: Gary Killpack, Gene Smith, Adam Coppolo, Tom McCullough, Jim Boan, and Lisa Maes. The following were present representing the City: Director of Public Works Mike Nelson, Director of Human Resources Debbie Klein Robertson, Director of Finance Jeff Nieters, Director of Community Development Laura Leigh, URA/Main Street Administrator Rod Ness, Chief of Police Chris Steffen, Fire Chief/Emergency Services Mike Kennedy, Parks and Recreation Director Allan Wilson, City Attorney Galen West, and Public Affairs Specialist Stephen Pyles. APPROVAL OF THE AGENDA Council Member Smith moved to add an Executive Session to discuss personnel, land, and legal and approve the agenda. Council Member Coppolo seconded. Motion carried. (7-0) PRESENTATIONS Communities Protecting the Green Don Hartley said Mr. Million is still planning to move forward with his water project. It is not clear how he plans to do so, but he is proceeding. There is another group out of Colorado that is pursuing water from the Flaming Gorge Reservoir. The Parker Project will bring water to the front range of Colorado all the way to Pueblo. They claim to have 550 thousand customers and they have picked up support from southeast Wyoming. They have completed their studies and are awaiting results from the Bureau of Reclamation. There is a third project being pursued by the State of Colorado. It is the Flaming Gorge Task Force. They have multiple tasks: one is to access the potential of diverting water from the Flaming Gorge to many projects in Colorado. The Bureau of Reclamation is continuing with their Colorado Basin and Colorado River study to see how much water is available and how much will be needed. He said all of the other studies that have to be done will have to fit into this study so that will be another challenge that people who want water from the Green River have to face. Council Member McCullough thanked him for his time and hard work. The Mayor asked what the feelings are around the Green River Basin. Mr. Hartley said in western Colorado, they see things like we do here. They have one great thing there; it is an agreement with eastern Colorado that protects western Colorado. This is something that could help us. He said in Utah he has heard that the governor will be coming out against the project which is very important. He said as part of the Colorado Upper Basin Agreement, Colorado cannot do what they want to do unless they have an agreement with Utah and Wyoming. Update on the Police Department/Municipal Court Building Plan One Architect; Charlie Van Over said they will have the bid documents completed by July 1, 2012. If the grant goes through it will be ready to go to bid. The basic design has not changed a lot. They were able to incorporate the Municipal Court into the building. Council Member Smith thanked him for coming tonight. He asked why the costs went up so high. Mr. Van Over said the cost estimate for the building is $3,530,000.00. They added the costs of City Council Proceedings June 19, 2012 Page 1 of 9 items that were required by the grant like building permits. The reasons the costs are up is because they added the municipal court into the plans, a court room was added, and construction costs have gone up. They do believe that the bidding climate is still good and they hope to see numbers lower than they have projected. Council Member Smith asked what the total floor space is for the building and how much of it is going to court. Mr. Van Over said around 25,000 square feet and the court is between four to five thousand square feet. Council Member Smith asked if there is a shooting range in the plans. If so, was it in the original plans? Mr. Van Over said yes there is a shooting range in the plans. There was always a desire to have a shooting range in the plans but the costs associated with it were not known, so they weren’t included in the original cost estimates. Council Member McCullough said they might need to get the building done in phases so how much would it cost to do the outside of the building. Mr. Van Over said to get four exterior walls, roof, and platting would be around $850,000 to $900,000. Council Member Coppolo asked if they have looked into cheaper items to build with. Mr. Van Over said they have looked into many options for building materials but the cost was not there. They need to look at the durability too. Grant Update Lisa Muller thanked the Mayor and Council for the opportunity to give them an update. She thanked Chief Steffen and Mr. Van Over for their assistance with the grant. She said when the process started they had the intentions to not only write one grant but to create a master document. This creates the opportunity to use a master copy for future grants. There are changes that come up and they try to keep up with them as they go. They have completed two of the three grants so far. The remaining mineral royalty grant has been submitted to the State Land and Investment Board and they are awaiting their decision. Currently, she has approximately 548 hours of her time into preparing the grants and will continue the process all the way until the end. Council Member Coppolo asked how much the city’s match was on the feasibility study and the Brown’s Field. Ms. Muller said the Feasibility Study match is $20%. The grant total was $15,000 and the difference was $3,600 and that is the match. She does not believe there was a match for the Browns’ Field Assessment. Council Member Coppolo said if a match is required for the Mineral Royalties Grant it will be high. Ms. Muller said there is a 40% match required with this grant. The city’s portion would be $1.5 million and SLIB’s portion would be $2.250 million. She will double check this number to make sure. There were some changes made in order to be able to use any options available. Council Member Smith asked if they are not successful in getting the 6th Penny Funding what happens with the grant from SLIB. Ms. Muller said the grant is not contingent upon the 6th Penny Funding. It is listed as an option of funding but not as the only way. City Council Proceedings June 19, 2012 Page 2 of 9 CITIZEN REQUESTS AND OTHER COMMUNICATIONS Ms. Leigh introduced the new URA/Main Street Manager Rod Ness. Mr. Ness said he is very excited to be here and he is looking forward to working with everyone. PUBLIC HEARINGS Proposed Budget for Fiscal Year Ending June 30, 2012 Mayor Castillon opened the hearing at 7:49 pm. There were no comments or concerns presented. The Mayor closed the hearing at 7:50 pm. ORDINANCES Adoption of State Statutes for DUI’s, Youthful Offender DUI’s, and DUS’s 12:07: An ordinance adopting laws prohibiting driving while under the influence of alcohol or controlled substances, driving with suspended license, and driving while under the influence of drugs or alcohol when under the age of 21 years. Council Member Maes moved to approve the ordinance on third reading. Council MemberKillpack seconded. Motion carried. (7-0) RESOLUTIONS Reallocation of Funds for Parks and Recreation Part Time Hours R12-28: A resolution for the governing body of the City of Green River, Wyoming, to approve a modification in the General Fund in the Parks and Recreation Department for additional part-time hours for the Parks Administration Division in the amount of $18,000. Council Member McCullough moved to approve the resolution. Council Member Killpack seconded. Motion carried. (7-0) Budget Adoption for Fiscal Year End 2013 R12-29: A resolution making appropriations and adopting the budget for the City of Green River, Wyoming, for the fiscal year beginning July 1, 2012 and ending June 30, 2013. Council Member Killpack moved to approve the resolution. Council Member McCullough seconded. Council Member Smith asked if the Risk Management Fund is short by $1.1 million for the CDC. Mr. Nieters said yes. The resolution allocated $1.1 million from the Risk Management Fund for the CDC Project in order to bid out the project. It will be returned to the account in January or February of 2013 from the 6th Penny over collection. Council Member Smith asked if the unallocated funding for 2013 budget is essentially nothing. Mr. Nieters said the un-appropriated amount is $6,935. Council Member Smith suggested taking the $350,000 for the splash park and funding it in January because this will not affect the project at all. He would suggest taking $100,000 from the IT budget, and $100,000 from equipment replacement. These are all items that can be replaced later but can create a cushion for the budget. Council Member Smith moved to amend the budget by taking the $350,000 for the splash park to make it unallocated. Take the equipment replacement fund from $300,000 to $200,000 and put the $100,000 in unallocated funds. Bring the Information Technology equipment to an even $200,000 which would add $97,000 to the unallocated fund. Council Member Coppolo City Council Proceedings June 19, 2012 Page 3 of 9 seconded. Council Member McCullough said they can allocate money from the funds if they need too. The sales tax can be looked at later and move money where it needs to be moved. He will vote no because they can proceed with the budget as it has been presented. Council Member Killpack said he has tried to get the money moved and was voted against him on it. For the last four days he has talked with a number of people and they have stated that they will be ok with the budget. Even though he is in favor of delaying the splash park he will not vote for the amendment. He will not support taking money from the IT budget because the city needs to have equipment in order to operate. Council Member Maes said there have been years there was no money left unallocated. She thinks the sales tax will increase and she does not think they need to delay any projects. She will vote no on the amendment. The Mayor said everyone needs to keep in mind that they do have money coming from the governor. It will be around $1 million and that will have to go to projects. There are options out there. Council Member Smith asked how much is in the Risk Management Fund that is not allocated. Mr. Nieters said $700,000. Council Member Coppolo said there is only $700,000 that can be worked with until other funds come in. Mr. Nieters said right now the $700,000 is available to be spent now, if needed, but the $1.1 million is not available until January. Council Member Coppolo said to delay funding on these items would be a good thing because there should be some sort of a cushion to cover. Mr. Nieters said if these items are put into unallocated funds it would go into the General Fund. Motion denied (5-2) with the Mayor and Council Members Boan, Maes, Killpack, and McCullough voting no. Council Member Boan said this is the worst budget presented to council and he thinks it was done intentionally. It is the council’s responsibility to know where the taxpayer’s money is going and how it is being spent. There is too little information and waist in the budget so he will be voting against the budget. Council Member Maes said it was a hard budget to work with. The staff had a hard time working with it too. The council wanted this kind of a budget and staff did the best they could. She appreciated the hard work that went into the budget and she thinks it will get better. She does not think there were enough budget meetings to understand it. She will vote to pass the budget. Council Member Killpack said he will vote in favor of this budget. He is disappointed in the stipend. He would rather see a 1.5% raise. He feels there was mistake made some time ago in the fact that there are employees that work 30 hours or more a week that will not get the stipend. There are around 12 employees that come in everyday all year long and they will not get anything. Council Member McCullough said these disagreements need to be expressed during the budget meetings and not now. He will support the budget as it is. Council Member Smith said there are some things in the budget that he likes and some he doesn’t. He said the council should be willing to change things if they choose. Keep their minds open for change. He thinks it is wrong to pass this budget with no cushion. Mr. Wilson said they will not start on the project until spring so no funds will be used from that line item. The Mayor said there is money available if there is an emergency. City Council Proceedings June 19, 2012 Page 4 of 9 Original motion carried (4-3) with Council Members Smith, Boan, and Coppolo voting no. Establishing Wages for Fiscal Year End 2013 R12-30: A resolution establishing wages for the all elected and appointed officials of the City of Green River, Wyoming for the fiscal year ending June 30, 2013. Council Member Maes moved to approve the resolution. Council Member McCullough seconded. Motion carried. (7-0) Adopting the Schedule of Fees for Fiscal Year End 2013 R12-31: A resolution adopting the Schedule of Fees charged for services, products, licenses, rentals, etc. for the City of Green River, Wyoming, for the fiscal year beginning July 1, 2012 and ending June 30, 2013. Council Member Smith moved to approve the resolution. Council Member Coppolo seconded. Mr. Nieters said there is a 7% increase in the wastewater fees. There will be an increase to every household of $1.00 a month. Mr. Wilson said the proposed changes in the Parks Department are: Cemetery  Adult burial space $375  Infant burial space $125  Open/closing adult $300  Open/closing infant $100  Open/closing cremation space $100  Charge for holiday weekend open/closing fee $150  Perpetual care fee $150 Park Fees  User Field Leagues (per person): Babe Ruth $10.00, American Legion $10, Girls Softball $7, Little League $7, Spurs $5, Youth Football $5. Program Fees  Monkey and Me $30 (reduction)  Open Gym $12 (reduction)  Kids in Motion-Punch Card 10 punches $21 (reduction)  Kids in Motion-punch card 20 punches $42 (reduction)  Plato’s Loft After School Program onetime fee $20  Powell Plunge Kayak Rodeo $25 (reduction)  Water Safety Instructor Course $130  Lifeguarding Course $130  CPR/First Aid $55 (reduction)  Adult Indoor Soccer (per team) $275  Tough Turkey Volleyball team fee $200  Gym Activity fee $65  Roller Skating usage fee $60 The Mayor said Plato’s Loft activity is the only thing that some children can do afterschool. He is against charging a fee because some of the children cannot afford the fee. Mr. Wilson said this is a onetime fee and there are options out there for assistance if families need it. The Mayor suggested putting the fee to $10. Council Member McCullough said this would start next school year and if staff sees there are some issues and numbers are down the fee can be changed. City Council Proceedings June 19, 2012 Page 5 of 9 Mr. Wilson said they want to look into the program but if there are complaints they will come back to council for an adjustment on the fee. They are trying to recoup some of the costs of the program. Council Member Smith said he likes what he is hearing and those who cannot afford the fee can get assistance. He would leave it as is. Council Member Maes said this program is a great thing and the children need a place to go. Council Member Killpack said when you don’t have any money you usually do not go ask for help. He would rather see it back to zero. Council Member Boan said out of all of the programs he did not want the costs to go up for children’s programs. He said the program is important for children to have a place to go that is safe. He moved to amend the motion by eliminating the $20 cost increase for Plato’s Loft Program and return it to zero. Council Member Killpack seconded. Motion carried (5-2) with Council Member Smith and Coppolo voting no. Chief Steffen said the only changes in fees are in Animal Control. Animal Control  Adoption Fee $30  Puppies $40  Kittens $20  Euthanasia $25 Motion carried. (7-0) Amendment to the City’s Classification Plan R12-32: A resolution amending the City’s Classification Plan Council Member Boan moved to approve the resolution. Council Member Coppolo seconded. Council Member Boan asked why they were creating a new position for Animal Control. A level one can make $25.74 and level two can make $27.04 so he does not see a need for another pay grade in Animal Control. Chief Steffen said it is not a new position it is a pay classification. Almost all of the pay grades have levels one, two, and three but this one does not. This will give some flexibility for a move within the Animal Control. Council Member Boan said this would make a level three person able to make up to $29 an hour. He will vote against this. Motion carried (6-2) with Council Members Boan and Coppolo voting no. Changes to the Personnel Manual R12-33: A resolution amending the City’s Personnel Manual Council Member Coppolo moved to approve the resolution. Council Member McCullough seconded. Motion carried (6-1) with Council Member Boan voting no. COUNCIL ACTION ITEMS An Agreement with SOS Staffing Services, Inc. Council Member McCullough moved to approve the agreement with SOS Staffing Services, Inc. and to authorize the Mayor to sign it. Council Member Killpack seconded. City Council Proceedings June 19, 2012 Page 6 of 9 Council Member Smith asked who would initiate working with SOS Staffing Services and for what positions. Ms. Robertson said the Human Resource Department would coordinate the contract itself. They would work closely with the departments in question. At this point the need is for administrative assistants in the Administration Department. Council Member Smith asked if the positions that would be filled would only be positions that are budgeted. Ms. Robertson said yes. Council Member Maes said in the relief administrative assistant’s pool all of the people in there are available for any departments. Some departments do not share the relief that they have and that is not the purpose of these pools. The city will be paying for every person that comes from SOS Staffing Services and if we decide to hire that person we have to pay them a fee. She asked if they are not getting any response from the ads in the newspapers. Ms. Robertson said they do put ads in the newspaper but they have not had a lot of responses, especially on the position that is being advertised now. Motion carried (6-1) with Council Member Maes voting no. WYDOT Urban Systems Cooperative Agreement Council Member Killpack moved to approve the Cooperative Agreement with WYDOT for the Urban Systems Street Program. Council Member McCullough seconded. Motion carried. (7-0) An Agreement for River Cove Addition Subdivision Improvements Council Member Coppolo moved to approve the Letter of Agreement between the City of Green River and Four Whatever, Inc. extending the completion date of the River Cove Addition Subdivision improvements. Council Member Killpack seconded. Ms. Leigh said the sub-divider had submitted a Letter of Agreement for the River Cove Addition Improvements but it has taken a lot longer than originally planned to complete them, so this is an extension. The water project is holding them up. Motion carried. (7-0) An Interlocal Agreement Regarding the 2012 JAG Grant Distribution Council Member McCullough moved to approve the 2012 Justice Assistance Grant Distribution Agreement in the amount of $21,014. Council Member Coppolo seconded. Motion carried. (7-0) CONSENT AGENDA Council Member Maes moved to approve the following consent agenda items. Council MemberKillpack seconded. Motion carried. (7-0)  Citywide Wireless Maintenance Agreement with Sparky Industries in the amount of $30,000  Catering Permit to Office Lounge, pending approval by the Rock Springs governing body, to cater alcoholic beverages for the Reyes/Miller wedding at the Pavilion, on July 14, 2012 from 2 pm to midnight  Catering Permit to the Embassy Tavern to cater alcoholic beverages for the Cowan/Nichelson wedding at the Pavilion, on July 7, 2012, from 3 pm to midnight  Authorization of a Landfill Removal Request from Todd Lewis to remove a boat trailer from the landfill  Minutes for June 5, 2012 Council and June 7, 2012 Budget Workshop  Financial Reports and Payment of Bills: Prepaid Invoices = $146,158.51 Outstanding Invoices = $1,080,345.10 Payroll Expenditures = $362,654.80 Pre-authorization Payments = $755,000.00 City Council Proceedings June 19, 2012 Page 7 of 9 CITY ADMINISTRATOR’S REPORT Mr. Nieters had nothing to report. CITY ATTORNEY’S REPORT Mr. West had nothing to report. MAYOR AND COUNCIL REPORTS Council Member Killpack asked what they are replacing or removing on the Greenbelt. Mr. Wilson said that project is 90% complete. They are going to replant cottonwoods and buffalo berries along the greenbelt in groups. This will happen in August when it is the ideal planting time. Council Members Boan, Maes, Coppolo, and McCullough had nothing to report. Council Member Smith said the fencing along the Depot looks nice. The Mayor said the city administrator recruitment will close on the June 29, 2012 and so far they have 39 applicants. He would like to plan interviews for July 30th and 31st. He said there are wellqualified individuals. The 6th Penny will include $59 million for infrastructure. This does not include the stand alone projects for $128 million. The city will be submitting two projects one for infrastructure and the other for the PD Building. He has forwarded a letter from Future’s requesting support for a $268,000 grant for infrastructure and water system for the Tomahawk. He would like some direction from council on what they would like to do. Council Member Boan said he would respond with a letter saying thank you but no thank you. The city does not want to get involved. Council Member McCullough agreed. The Mayor said he will draft a short response and forward it to council for review before he sends it. He has been working with Mr. Wilson and they have come up with 63 spaces for parking for the National High School Final Rodeo. They will not advertise these spaces. The Chamber will allocate the spaces as needed. ADJOURN TO EXECUTIVE SESSION Council Member Boan moved to adjourn to executive session to discuss personnel, land, and legal at 9:09 pm. Council Member McCullough seconded. Motion carried. (7-0) RECONVENE Council Member Coppolo moved to reconvene at 10:25 pm. Council Member Killpack seconded. Motion carried. (7-0) ADJOURNMENT Council Member Boan moved to adjourn at 10:26 pm. Council Member Killpack seconded. Motion carried. (7-0) ______________________________ H. Castillon, Mayor City Council Proceedings June 19, 2012 Page 8 of 9 ATTEST: _____________________________ Jeffrey V. Nieters, City Clerk City Council Proceedings June 19, 2012 Page 9 of 9