City Council Meetings

CITY OF GREEN RIVER CITY COUNCIL WORKSHOP PROCEEDINGS AUGUST 11, 2015 The Governing Body of the City of Green River met in workshop session at 6:30 pm in the City Hall Council Chambers. Mayor Rust called the meeting to order. The following Council Members were present: Mark Peterson, Ted Barney, Brett Stokes, Gary Killpack, Allan Wilson, and Lisa Maes. The following were present representing the City: City Administrator Reed Clevenger, Director of Public Works Mike Nelson, Director of Finance Chris Meats, Director of Community Development Laura Profazier, Chief of Police Chris Steffen, Public Affairs and Grants Administrator Misty Springer, and Fire Chief/Emergency Services Mike Kennedy. Prioritization and Discussion on City Goals and Objectives for FY 2016 Mr. Clevenger said the purpose of this meeting is to review goal planning and set guidelines on what council would like to do and decide what is most important. Some of the items that are still trying to get completed are from 1999. There are a number of new people on the council and staff as well so it is good to review to make sure we are continuing down the path that fits best for the budget and goals. Expectations: • Discuss process • Getting back to the vision • Establishing the priorities • Using plans and studies the city already has in place • Look where the city stand and what is planned and what has been accomplished • What is the method to get where we need to be • Timeframe and importance level • Include people such as city staff, community leaders and citizens when needed • Creating action • Stay within the Mission and core beliefs that have been established Items discussed previously: • River Corridor • Consolidation of facilities • Rooftops and real estate • Union Pacific Railroad Depot • 2nd South beautification • Ordinances and Code Changes • Wastewater Treatment Plant • Utility Rate Study • Cease and Transfer Station • Maintenance • URA/Main Street Impact • 150th Anniversary of Powell’s Expedition • Grants • Our people Mayor Rust said we need to have a schedule, make it accessible to the public, and decide on a place to hold the meetings. He suggested holding the meetings at the Fire Department possibly on a Saturday. Should we get a facilitator, if so who should we ask? Council Member Wilson said he would support having it on a Saturday and we should invite the public, School District #2 Trustees, and County Commissioners. It should be held at the pavilion. Having it at the Fire Station could cause issues if a large amount of people come and they have a fire call. The Wyorural Study was very good and should be utilized. Council Member Maes suggested having a mixture of Saturdays and evenings scheduled since she works on Saturdays. She said the pavilion is a good place to host it. Department heads City Council Workshop Proceedings August 11, 2015 Page 1 of 4 should also be involved so they have time to work on their budgets. Some items have been started but not finished and those things need to be looked at as well. Council Member Peterson said the biggest thing the council needs to remember is funding. He asked Mr. Meats how much money is in the budget. Mr. Meats said roughly $73,000 but with year-end closing there might possibly be $200,000 more. The city will have to look at other financial sources to utilize. Council Member Peterson said the city needs to look at other funding that is available and what the city can move forward with. Mr. Clevenger said the council can plan according to what they want to see accomplished and what types of funding can be utilized. Council Member Killpack suggested using the pavilion and hosting it on Tuesday evenings since the council and staff are used to having meetings on Tuesdays. It needs to be a specific topic and Mr. Clevenger can facilitate the meetings. Council Member Stokes said he is busy on weekends so it would be more convenient to have them on Tuesdays nights. He does not see any need for the city to hire a facilitator since we already have Mr. Clevenger. Council Member Barney said Tuesday night is the best and he would like advanced warning if they are going to be on Saturdays so he can plan ahead. Mr. Clevenger would be a great facilitator. He suggested hosting a monthly goal setting meeting so all items can be discussed. The city should not spend any money on the meetings. The Mayor said Tuesday’s seem to be the consensus. We can use Saturday’s if needed. The council chambers would work as well. If we can have it as a round table discussion and be down with the public instead of governing body on the daisies. He read today that coal has only 1% difference in assessed valuation compared to real-estate. The more we build new units on new properties the more money will come into Sweetwater County. He said we need to remember the city has not included the revenue from the recent property sales in the budget so that will help with stretching the revenue. It looks like we have the when, where and now we need to discuss what items will be discussed. Council Member Wilson said the 2nd South Beautification, Wastewater Treatment Plant Replacement, the Utility Rates Study, and the UP Depot is important and the longer we let the UP Depot sit as it is the more money it will take to fix it later. We could do the basics to keep it from dilapidating further. There are some projects that have not been completed such as the pedestrian viaduct. It was fixed at the ends but the middle is not even started. The operation and maintenance of all new and old buildings often gets forgot about. We need to stay on top of these items as far as the 6th penny funding since we can plan ahead and try to get them on the list. Council Member Killpack asked if the city was bound to follow the strategic plan that has been adopted. He said the council needs to get information from all of the department heads since they are on the forefront. If the city takes over the UP Depot it needs to be discussed now instead of having issues later. The depot is not an income producing property for the city it is going to cost the city. The city could develop the property above Stratton Myers Park for residential homes. Council Member Wilson said the property is owned by the BLM and is deemed recreation facility use only and would take a lot to get it changed. Council Member Killpack said it needs to be decided if Green River will be a bedroom community or a business community. Mr. Clevenger said the strategic plan is set but the hope is the next council would move forward with their projects and funds available at that time. The UP Depot can be used as an asset if that is what council chooses. City Council Workshop Proceedings August 11, 2015 Page 2 of 4 Council Member Killpack said we could never sell the UP Depot since the railroad owns the land. Mayor Rust said we need to follow the existing plans and see if the priorities are still something we want to do. Council Member Stokes said there is a list of projects out there. The UP Depot and the Wastewater Treatment Plant are important but we need to realize that next year’s budget may be even tighter and we should listen to the public on what they need and want. Council Member Maes asked if the sales tax amount that was received was for May or June. Mr. Clevenger said it was received in May and it is typical for July. He will be putting together a rolling 12 month and 6th month report of sale tax revenue. Council Member Maes said the grant for the Depot had been changed without the council knowing about it. It needs to be out in the open and everyone should be involved. The Clock Tower Park was also changed from the original presentation. Mr. Clevenger said talking now should eliminate those issues. Council Member Maes said the Branding Study was very intense and it said the viaduct should be included as a vital part of the city. She wants to be ready ahead of time with the 6th penny requests instead of waiting until the last minute to make a list. She said the council should make a list of what their top priorities and the department heads should make a list of theirs and then we can bring them all together. The strategic plan is a working document and it ties into funding. Council Member Killpack said the citizens want a second grocery store here and we need to know why the grocery stores don’t want to come here. The goals should be set with all of the reasons why something isn’t happening before we plan something we can’t do. Mr. Clevenger said we have to have the infrastructure for what we want as well. Mayor Rust said we need to identify what alternatives there are, such as, a small independent grocery store instead of a large store. We need to see what we can do and what the people want and then move forward. Council Member Peterson said Green River is the crown jewel of Sweetwater County and a great place to raise your children and live. A small grocery store would make money but we are limited on what we can do. We need to utilize the land that we have and sell if we don’t plan to use it. Council Member Barney said a city exists for the citizens so we need to look at the infrastructure. The budget is short because of the economic development. We need to know how to bring people here to buy properties that are vacant. We need to look at the reality of what is going on here and build from that. He has some ideas of companies that might be willing to come here. Council Member Killpack said we need to look at what businesses will be willing to come here since there are some that won’t come here. Mr. Clevenger said we need to look at what makes sense for us. Council Member Wilson said we need to look at our ordinances and code changes because they can cause people not to come here as well. Council Member Maes said she shops at home to keep money here. We should bring in a smaller grocery store that might bring people from Rock Springs. Mayor Rust said financing is going to be the biggest item we have to look at and will determine what we can or can’t do. City Council Workshop Proceedings August 11, 2015 Page 3 of 4 All department heads in attendance agreed to have the meetings on Tuesday’s as well. Adjournment The meeting adjourned at 6:43 pm. ____________________________________ Pete Rust, Mayor ATTEST: Chris Meats, City Clerk City Council Workshop Proceedings August 11, 2015 Page 4 of 4