City Council

November 19, 2018 The City Council of the City of Idaho Falls met in Special Meeting (Council Work Session), Monday, November 19, 2018, in the Council Chambers in the City Annex Building located at 680 Park Avenue in Idaho Falls, Idaho at 3:00 p.m. Call to Order and Roll Call: Mayor Rebecca L. Noah Casper Councilmember Thomas Hally Councilmember Shelly Smede Councilmember Jim Francis Councilmember Jim Freeman Councilmember Michelle Ziel-Dingman Councilmember John Radford (arrived at 3:03 p.m.) Also present: Pamela Alexander, Municipal Services Director Brad Cramer, Community Development Services Director Michael Kirkham, Assistant City Attorney Joel Tisdale, Police Lieutenant Cherise Frei, Code Enforcement Supervisor Steve Hunt, Police Captain Irene Brown, Animal Control Supervisor Chris Fredericksen, Public Works Director Rob Harris, Holden Kidwell Hahn & Crapo, PLLC David Richards, Water Superintendent Randy Fife, City Attorney Kathy Hampton, City Clerk Mayor Casper called the meeting to order at 3:02 p.m. with the following: Calendar, Announcements and Reports: November 24, Downtown Christmas Tree Lighting ceremony November 30, Association of Idaho Cities (AIC) Annual Legislative Meeting Mayor Casper reminded the Councilmembers to be as economically fiscal as possible during City travel. Liaison Reports and Concerns: Councilmember Hally commented, per Mayor Casper’s travel comments, only a number of government rates are available for lodging accommodations. Councilmember Smede had no items to report. Councilmember Freeman stated snow removal parking restrictions are in effect, and leaf removal is being finalized. He also stated the Idaho Falls Police Department (IFPD) DNA testing unit is up and running; Shop with a Cop will be held December 8; and, the IFPD five-year strategic plan is being developed. He noted Targhee Regional Public Transportation Authority (TRPTA) has recently changed their routes due to budget restraints. Councilmember Francis stated Idaho Falls Fire Department (IFFD) software purchase is forthcoming. Councilmember Radford stated the Golf Division is running in the black, new Golf Advisory Board committees are performing evaluations. He also stated the Civic Center for the Performing Arts facility renovations are completed. Director Alexander recognized the Civic Center team effort. Councilmember Dingman stated Parks and Recreation (P&R) will be hosting a Santa village in the downtown area as well as Breakfast with Santa; the Aquatic Center has reopened followed some maintenance work; the golf courses will be holding a P&R Black Friday shopping; and, an Earth Cam has been installed at the penguin pond at the zoo. 1  November 19, 2018 Acceptance and/or Receipt of Minutes: It was moved by Councilmember Smede, seconded by Councilmember Dingman, to receive recommendations from the Planning and Zoning Commission pursuant to the Local Land Use Planning Act (LLUPA). Roll call as follows: Aye – Councilmembers Freeman, Radford, Smede, Francis, Dingman, Hally. Nay – none. Motion carried. Child Care Ordinance Revisions Discussion: Mayor Casper stated the child care ordinance affects multiple departments within the City, which are affected by State law. She noted when the City ordinance was enacted, the State did not have broad child care legislation. She recognized former Councilmember Karen Cornwell for championing the ordinance for the safety of children. The City ordinance also focuses on those who provide child care, whereas, the State tends to focus on the facilities. Mayor Casper also reminded the Councilmembers that any policy needs to be enforced. Director Alexander briefly reviewed the licensing process, stating licenses are issued through the City Clerk’s Office. She reminded the Councilmembers that temporary licenses are no longer allowed per an ordinance revision in September 2018. Mr. Kirkham stated the State allowed cities to adopt their own child care ordinance, provided any ordinance be more restrictive than the minimum State requirements. He reviewed the following differences between City and State licensing with general discussion throughout: City License State License Definition of a child is less than 13 Definition of a child is less than 12 City license child care workers – requires State does not license child care workers – however, background check prior to issuing license does require facility license holder to submit employees to background check prior to allowing worker to work City licenses “family day cares”- five (5) or fewer State does not license “family daycares” – five (5) or children (in addition to Group and Center facilities) fewer children City requires outdoor play areas, with adequate State does not require outdoor space shade City requires eight (8) hours of training for CPR, State requires four (4) hours every twelve (12) months First Aid, and child development for each renewed license (there has been suggestion to increase the training to sixteen (16) hours) City prohibits certain drug offenders from receiving State does not prohibit drug offenders a license Mr. Kirkham reviewed changes in the proposed revised ordinance, including clarification of ambiguous language determining who is or is not eligible to receive a child care license along with a timeframe restriction on certain offenses. Councilmember Hally questioned the staff ratio. Mr. Kirkham indicated the City is more restrictive on the ratio and point system for staff and children. Mr. Fife believes, per previous public comments regarding child care licensing, there was a misunderstanding regarding the delay of child care licensing. He indicated the City has an approximate two-day turnaround on background checks. He stated if the Council could chooses not to be in the child care business, all regulations would fall back to State Code. Brief comments followed regarding the zoning of in- home child care facilities. Director Cramer stated the previous zoning issues have been resolved. Lieutenant Tisdale reviewed the process of the fingerprint background clearance with the State. He stated the majority of background clearances are returned from the State within a 24-hour timeframe. The electronic record is then accessible by the IFPD Records personnel and is compared to City Code for approval or denial. Mr. Kirkham stated, per public comment received, there are no private background checks in the State for child care licensing. Councilmember Radford questioned the City’s role in the child care business. Councilmember Hally reiterated former Councilmember Cornwell’s passion for this ordinance. He also believes, at that time, there was discussion only on the State level. He indicated once the State took over the responsibility of regulations, there was potential that the City would only 2  November 19, 2018 regulate Fire inspections. However, the State regulations did not include worker licensing. Councilmember Freeman questioned additional City licenses requiring a fingerprint background check. Ms. Hampton reviewed the additional City licenses, noting that temporary licenses are not allowed for any City license. Councilmember Freeman believes the City has the responsibility to protect the vulnerable individuals in the community. He does not believe the length of time to obtain a child care license is the issue. Ms. Hampton stated each applicant must also complete the State Child Protection Registry form, this form may take up to 14 days to be processed. Councilmember Francis strongly supports maintaining local support of the child care licensing. Following general comments, Mayor Casper requested the Councilmembers submit any proposed ordinance revisions and/or comments for future discussion of this item. She expressed her appreciation to the multiple departments involved with child care licensing. Animal Control Licensing and Fees Discussion: Captain Hunt stated the proposed revised ordinance will bring the ordinance into compliance with the recently approved fee resolution. He indicated the ordinance will include cat licensing, which is only required for an unaltered cat. Altered cats that have a current registered microchip will not be required to be licensed. Captain Hunt believes the license requirement will be a good incentive to get cats spayed or neutered and microchipped. The microchip records will verify if the cat has been altered. Captain Hunt stated, per previous fee discussion, fees are now closer in-line and costs are incurred by pet owners versus all taxpayers. Mayor Casper questioned the number of additional animal licenses that could be issued from the Clerk’s Office. Ms. Hampton stated the majority of dog tags are currently obtained from other multiple locations, she does not anticipate additional workload in the Clerk’s Office. Brief comments followed regarding an online process for animal tags, nuisance complaints, and cat euthanasia. Ms. Brown believes the Trap-Neuter-Return (TRN) program has been successful. She indicated the cat euthanasia rate has been reduced from 60% to 20%. Additional general brief comments followed. This item will be included on a future Council Meeting agenda. Water Settlement Agreements Presentation/Discussion: Mayor Casper stated this item has been discussed over the course of numerous years. Director Fredericksen stated final discussion will include the Settlement Agreement, the Internal City Agreement, and, the financial component. He recognized Mr. Richards’ work on these agreements. Director Fredericksen noted previously requested changes by the Council have been included in the Internal City Agreement. Mr. Harris stated in Idaho there must be water rights to divert water. Water rights were allocated based on prior appropriation doctrine. As Idaho continued to grow, surface water was used until ground water pumping became available in the 1950’s. The ground water rights became junior to the senior surface water rights that already existed. In the 1990’s there was conflict between the Surface Water Coalition group (the Coalition), consisting of seven (7) large Magic Valley area irrigation entities. This conflict led to the Conjunctive Management Rules. In 2005, this same group filed a delivery call against all junior ground water pumpers for curtailment. This led to several years of litigation and eventually a major settlement agreement was established between the ground water pumpers and the Coalition. The cities were not involved in those discussions. Cities only pump approximately 3% on the Eastern Snake Plain Aquifer. Under the conjunctive management rules the delivery call is ongoing and will not be withdrawn. Each year the director estimates runoff, if the runoff does not supply the Coalition the full supply, the short fall will result in a shut off to ground water’s users, which includes cities. Several years ago, the City of Idaho Falls filed a mitigation plan which was protested by the Coalition. Sixteen (16) cities then decided to join under an umbrella agreement, which has resulted in the proposed Settlement Agreement. The Settlement Agreement also allows additional cities to join in under the umbrella agreement. The agreement indicates a set amount of mitigation each year in which the Coalition agreed to. In the Idaho Ground Water Association (IGWA) Settlement Agreement, 19 wells were designated as barometers for the aquifer. This Settlement Agreement does not tie the cities to those wells. Mr. Harris believes this is a good policy decision as it will buy up to 35 years of water certainty. Mr. Harris stated a 40,000 acre foot growth factor was also built into the agreement. If this number is exceeded, the agreement is stopped and would need renegotiated. Brief discussion followed regarding the pumping method prior to the 1990’s and the effects to the Snake River. Mr. Harris stated the Settlement Agreement states that cities will provide 7,650 acre feet of water annually to mitigate for 3  November 19, 2018 pumping for aquifer enhancement activities, including ground water recharge. The cities will also get credit for ground water to surface water conversion. Mr. Harris reviewed changes in the mitigation obligation which would exclude municipal waste water being pumped directly into the Snake River. Director Fredericksen stated waste water would require additional treatment. Mr. Harris also stated recharge sites must be approved. He noted a City recharge site was recently approved at Sandy Downs, with additional recharge locations being reviewed. Director Fredericksen stated the City has the ability to re-pump surface water. Mr. Harris stated mitigation was based on an average of 3% growth rate. Director Fredericksen stated if the City dramatically reduces the consumption, this would be factored into the mitigation. There is benefit to reduce the actual usage, which would be re-determined every three (3) years. The agreement includes how to quantify mitigation obligation (how to enhance the aquifer). Mr. Harris indicated the Surface Water Coalition has already signed the Settlement Agreement. The Internal City Mitigation Allocation Agreement determines the allocation of individual cities. Half of the allocation is based on pumping and half of the allocation is based on the water right exercised on an average year. The City of Idaho Falls is one of the more senior cities. Based on this calculation, the City’s total allocation is 3,634 acre feet per year. To the response of Councilmember Hally, Mr. Harris stated the City would reduce the annual pumping by 25-40% if the City were metered. Mayor Casper stated the City’s cost would be reduced if more cities participated in the agreement. Mr. Harris stated an additional component to the Internal City Mitigation Allocation Agreement involves the resource of water. He indicated the City is a shareholder (1,180 shares) in a company that has a contract in Palisades Reservoir. Pocatello, as a spaceholder, is making their storage available to meet the cities mitigation obligation. In addition, a common rental pool has been built to protect irrigators, although Idaho Falls takes bottom priority from the common rental pool. This is not available in all years. Mr. Harris reviewed the pricing mechanism, it is estimated to cost approximately $35 per acre foot or $105,000 each year. Three (3) years ($315,000) must be paid up front to avoid binding future City Councils. Mr. Harris reiterated the external options: use the Palisades Reservoir water (not guaranteed); rent from the common pool (Idaho Falls is in a 5th tier position); or, privately lease storage water (from Pocatello or other private spaceholders). He also reviewed internal options: ground water to surface water conversion (large green areas/parks); start a recharge project (lease from others); or, use wastewater. Director Fredericksen stated the Water Division is a $10m annual utility. The Water Division has been building portfolio to meet mitigation needs with several alternatives. Director Fredericksen stated Idaho Falls Power (IFP) recently transferred funding, in the amount of $345,000, due to over-billing of well meters. This amount could cover the three-year mitigation amount. He indicated there is flexibility built into the agreement to help cities strategize to meet obligations, which will be evaluated in the near future. General brief comments followed regarding the timeframe as well as minor potential revisions to the Internal City Mitigation Allocation Agreement. These agreements will be included on the November 20 Council Meeting agenda. There being no further business, the meeting adjourned at 5:37 p.m. s/ Kathy Hampton s/ Rebecca L. Noah Casper CITY CLERK MAYOR 4