City Council Meetings

CITY OF GREEN RIVER CITY COUNCIL PROCEEDINGS July 1, 2014 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. The following Council Members were present: Gary Killpack, Mark Peterson, Adam Coppolo, Tom McCullough, and Lisa Maes. The following were present representing the City: Director of Public Works Mike Nelson, City Engineer/Utility Manager Mark Westenskow, Director of Finance Jeff Nieters, Director of Community Development Laura Leigh, Chief of Police Chris Steffen, Fire Chief/Emergency Services Mike Kennedy, Parks and Recreation Director Allan Wilson, and City Attorney Galen West. APPROVAL OF THE AGENDA Council Member McCullough moved to approve the agenda. Council Member Killpack seconded. Motion carried. (6-0) PRESENTATIONS Joanna Klepper gave a brief update on the Green River Chamber of Commerce. BOARD AND COMMITTEE APPOINTMENTS Appointment to the Joint Powers Water Board Council Member Peterson moved to confirm the Mayor’s appointment of Jane Fillmore to the Joint Powers Water Board for the term expiring March 2017 (Pati Smith’s position). Council Member Coppolo seconded. Motion carried. (6-0) CITIZEN REQUESTS AND OTHER COMMUNICATIONS Ms. Leigh said the Community Development Department has received a lot of calls regarding placement of campaign signs so she wanted to give a brief update on the ordinances. There are two ordinances dealing with signs; the first can be found in the Zoning Ordinance Section 10.7. There are three requirements: the sign cannot exceed 32 square feet in size, the property owner has consented to the placement of the sign, and the sign has to be removed 10 days after the election. The second ordinance deals with signs that are placed within the city or WYDOT’s right-of-way, which is the location between the private property owner’s fence and the sidewalk. This is addressed in the general signs Zoning Ordinance Section 10.4.C which outlines, in general, the prohibited signs. The number one listed prohibited signage is signs located on public property. Political signs in this area are prohibited. If the property owner has consented and a sign is attached on their fence, facing the right-of-way, it is allowed because it is on private property. It cannot be fully located on the city or WyDOT property. This will make sure there is no appearance of the city favoring any specific candidate. She will be sending a letter to all of the candidates informing them of the ordinances and she will ask them to remove any signs that have been placed in these areas. In the past, the Community Development Department removed them and threw them away, but knowing they cost the candidates money they are asking them to remove the signs themselves. Resident Kate Danielson asked why the city decided that they were not going to fund the flight for life, and who was consulted. The Mayor said the life flight contract is directly handled by the county it does not have anything to do with the city. Chief Steffen said Sweetwater County Memorial Hospital just changed the service provider for life flights. City Council Proceedings July 1, 2014 Page 1 of 5 Ms. Danielson asked if Green River residents would be able to use the life flight if it was needed. Chief Steffen said yes, they will, but it is up to the person to request which company they would like to use for life flight transport. It has nothing to do with the city. Tim Laboria recited The New Colossus sonnet that was written by Emma Lazarus. RESOLUTIONS Development Agreement and Land Sale with Rock River Group, LLC R14-34: A resolution authorizing and directing the governing body of the City of Green River, Wyoming, a Municipal Corporation, to enter into a Development Agreement and Land Sale with Rock River Group, LLC. Council Member McCullough moved to approve the resolution authorizing and directing the governing body to enter into a land sale with Rock River Group, LLC, and authorizing the Mayor and City Clerk to sign, execute and deliver the Development Agreement and Warranty Deed. Council Member Maes seconded. Council Member Killpack abstained from the vote due to conflict of interest. Motion carried (5-0) with Council Member Killpack abstaining. COUNCIL ACTION ITEMS Lease Agreement with SW-WRAP Council Member Coppolo moved to approve the Lease Agreement with SW-WRAP. SW-WRAP will reimburse the City for all utilities in proportion to the square footage leased and the monthly utility bills incurred by the City, in lieu of a monthly base rental fee. Council Member McCullough seconded. Council Member McCullough asked why the city could not find out what the utilities would be and give them a base amount for rent every month. Mr. West said the considerate of the lease does not just include utilities. There are also services that will be provided by SW-WRAP that the city is considering for the rent. The term of the lease is also based upon the benefit that the city has determined is being provided. There are multiple items of consideration in the lease, payment of the utilities is an obligation of the tenant and is not in lieu of rent. There are other obligations that the tenant is providing. Council Member Killpack said he will vote against the motion because he does not feel the city should be in the rental business. There are many non-profit businesses in the city that have to pay rent for a building. The city should not compete with private businesses. Motion carried (4-2) with Council Members Peterson and Killpack voting no. Consensus Block Grant for the Sweetwater County Project Council Member Maes moved to approve the Countywide Consensus Block Grant Resolution #SWBFY15/16-1 for Sweetwater County. Council Member Coppolo seconded. The Mayor said the county approved the distribution of the consensus grant. It was agreed upon that the city would receive 27% which is $1,243,678. The city of Rock Springs will receive 33%, and Bairoil, Granger, Superior, and Wamsutter will receive 3.25%. Motion carried. (6-0) Appointment of Chris Steffen as Acting City Administrator and Approval of the Contract City Council Proceedings July 1, 2014 Page 2 of 5 Council Member McCullough moved to confirm the appointment of Chris Steffen as Acting City Administrator, to be effective July 19, 2014. Council Member Coppolo seconded. Motion carried. (6-0) Council Member Killpack asked if the motion should include an appointment end date. Mr. West said for purposes of the confirmation motion there does not need to be an end date. The charter ordinance specifies that an acting city administrator cannot act for more than twelve months. The contract that relates to the city administrator has specific language on how the contract is terminated. Council Member Killpack moved to approve the Letter Agreement between the City of Green River and Chris Steffen regarding Steffen’s employment as Acting City Administrator, in the form submitted, and to authorize and direct the Mayor to sign the same on behalf of the city. Council Member Peterson seconded. Council Member Peterson thanked Chief Steffen for stepping forward. He thinks he will do a great job. Motion carried. (6-0) The Mayor congratulated Chris Steffen and wished him luck. CONSENT AGENDA Council Member Coppolo moved to approve the following consent agenda items. Council Member McCullough seconded. Motion carried. (6-0)  Agreement for the Topographic Survey Services for Phase three of the 6th Penny Projects with Inberg Miller Engineers, in the amount of $9,975  Landfill removal request from Denver Eaton to remove a bicycle  Financial Reports and Payment of Bills: Prepaid Invoices = $133,446.10 Outstanding Invoices = $1,584,690.02 Payroll Expenditures = $778,636.67 Pre-authorization Payments = $1,085,000.00 Cash & Investment Balances Report CITY ADMINISTRATOR’S REPORT Chief Steffen thanked the council for their support and said he will do his best as Acting City Administrator. He thanked the Flaming Gorge Days Committee and city staff for their efforts during the Flaming Gorge Days events. CITY ATTORNEY’S REPORT Mr. West had nothing to report. MAYOR AND COUNCIL REPORTS Council Members Peterson, Coppolo, and Maes had nothing to report. Council Member McCullough recognized the candidates in attendance Art Kline and Ted York. Council Member Killpack thanked Chief Steffen for stepping up as acting city administrator and the Flaming Gorge Days Committee and employees for their efforts during the event. The Mayor thanked Jane Fillmore for volunteering to serve on a board. He thanked the Flaming Gorge Days Committee and staff for their efforts with the event. He met with the county commissioners in regards to the subsidy for SkyWest. They were very vocal about the article in the paper stating the Mayor would not support the flights. This is far from the truth, the city supports the airport. He understood the money was set aside for the City Council Proceedings July 1, 2014 Page 3 of 5 subsidy in the Capital Projects line items and that is what he was told before the meeting. The county did not send an invoice or contract for the services and that is why he met with them. It was in the draft budget but the city never received any documentation stating how much the subsidy was going to be. Mr. Nieters said during budget sessions the declining sales tax revenues were discussed. Due to revenues declining the city estimated an $800,000 short for the FY2015 budget. When the final budget was prepared the decision was made to remove all of the department director’s requests to balance the budget. When he gave the list back to the city administrator he was instructed to cut the subsidy from the budget as well. That is why it was not included in the budget. Council Member McCullough asked if this item was on hold. Mr. Nieters said all of the $1 million items that were requested were put on hold. Council Member McCullough said council agreed to support the original subsidy amount, but if it is more, the council would have to look at it again. Mr. Nieters said they did place a few items on hold until January because the city needs to see where they are at mid-year. Council Member Killpack said the city would not have had a balanced budget if these items were not put on hold. If the city has money later during the budget year, then the council can do a resolution and move forward with the items that were placed on hold. Mr. Nieters said by state law, the city cannot pass an unbalanced budget. Council Member Coppolo said costs for the airport keep going up every year and services have changed, so someone needs to tell them no more. He feels the airport is holding both cities hostage. Council Member Peterson said the airport’s budget cycle does not follow the city budget cycle and that is why there is confusion. Mr. Nieters said both the Rock Springs and the Green River fiscal year ends at the same time, but the Aeronautics Department’s fiscal year ends in September and begins in October. He understands they want to change to make it the same as both cities so the entities involved can budget properly. The Mayor said the paper reported the county approved $320,000 for the SkyWest subsidy. For July 1st through September 2nd the cost will be $342,000 which is an increase of $22,000. The portions would be broke down as $153,942 for the County, $112,891 for Rock Springs, and $75,167 for Green River. He said until the county sends a contract or an invoice with the numbers the city should wait to decide. Council Member McCullough agreed. There are a lot of different rumors going around so it is best to wait. The Mayor said the city requested the numbers for services by city origination but they have never seen anything. Council Member Killpack said the amount in the draft budget is $125,000 for fiscal year 2015. ADJOURNMENT Council Member McCullough moved to adjourn at 7:56 pm. Council Member Coppolo seconded. Motion carried. (6-0) ______________________________ H. Castillon, Mayor City Council Proceedings July 1, 2014 Page 4 of 5 ATTEST: _____________________________ Jeffrey V. Nieters, City Clerk City Council Proceedings July 1, 2014 Page 5 of 5