City Council

December 6, 2018 The City Council of the City of Idaho Falls met in Special Meeting (Joint Meeting with Bonneville County Elected Officials), Thursday, December 6, 2018, in the Council Chambers in the City Annex Building located at 680 Park Avenue in Idaho Falls at 3:00 p.m. Call to Order and Roll Call: There were present: Mayor Rebecca L. Noah Casper Councilmember Thomas Hally Councilmember Shelly Smede Councilmember Michelle Ziel-Dingman Councilmember Jim Freeman Councilmember Jim Francis Councilmember John Radford Also Present: Roger Christensen, Bonneville County Commissioner Bryon Reed, Bonneville County Commissioner Dave Radford, Bonneville County Commissioner Steve Serr, Bonneville County Planning and Zoning Brad Cramer, Community Development Services Director Chris Fredericksen, Public Works Director Randy Fife, City Attorney Kathy Hampton, City Clerk Mayor Casper called the meeting to order at 3:01 p.m. with the following: City/County Area of Impact (AOI) Discussion: Director Cramer briefly reviewed the October 17, 2018 Area of Impact (AOI) meeting discussion, indicating discussion needs to occur regarding policy and strike-through of the sewer extensions. Councilmember Smede questioned the benefits to the County and the City for value to all. Commissioner Christensen stated the majority of Planning and Zoning (P&Z) discussions revolved around the assumption of the extension of utility services. Mayor Casper stated the 2013 policy she referred to could not be located and her recollection of the same could be faulty and the policy could have only been a discussion. She questioned why the sewer extension paragraph is something that is an important concept to the County. Commissioner Christensen noted a December 4, 2018 P&Z Hearing included a City-initiated annexation that passed on a 4-3 vote. He quoted a commissioners frustration of lack of information to citizens and lack of written policy with criteria from City Council. He stated if the County is going to enter into an AOI agreement that affects property rights, the County prefers a document that clearly states what is happening to citizens’ property rights. Commissioner Christensen indicated the County needs guidance from City Council for the P&Z Commission to follow. Commissioner Reed stated he receives several concerned calls and visits from County residents and he has attempted to remain neutral out of respect. He indicated people are concerned there are no services available, and they must pay to get the services to their property, so they are questioning what they get out of annexation. Commissioner Reed stated he is not supportive and not in favor of annexation if services are not run to the property. Mayor Casper indicated City Council has not yet received the information from that hearing. Commissioner Christensen stated these are representations of general policy made in 2014 that by 2016 City Council was directed to take enclaved parcels. Mayor Casper stated there have been no orders, there has only been discussion and consensus, usually occurring at Council Work Sessions. Councilmember Dingman stated discussion occurred with advice from Director Cramer and each of these annexations are received individually. Director Cramer indicated that the word he generally uses is “directed”. He stated, per a memo, he supplied a list of parcels with services, enclaved areas, etc., followed by recommendation if the Council proceeds with City-initiated annexation, they begin with Category A and then consider moving onto Category B annexations. He indicated the memo was voted to be policy in terms of “directed” annexation. Director Cramer stated the last annexation he brought to the Council 1  December 6, 2018 included different options, he asked for guidance on how to proceed with the annexation. He stated there was logic to the annexations although it may not have been understood by P&Z. Mayor Casper stated, due to her request, Director Cramer reviewed and inventoried the properties that were contiguous and, she believes prioritization has been the unwritten policy to proceed forward. She also stated the City was not in annexation clean-up business for a number of years, they are now proceeding with staff leading the way. If a resident is in the AOI and contiguous, they are vulnerable to annexation. Mayor Casper indicated neighborhood meetings have been held and have been a source of valuable information, although there is room for improvement. Councilmember Dingman stated it is difficult to enforce utilities when the Council has no information on the buyout or how it will impact property. She believes the Council is going in just as blind as the property owners. Councilmember Radford stated there is expense to expand beyond the City borders and the extension of services has created a lot of the County islands. He indicated the City has not been able to force development back into the core. He prefers the core to build out before building to the south. He acknowledged the frustration regarding the County islands within the City. Councilmember Radford stated for predictability, residents should know if they are in the AOI and surrounded by the City, the City is going to try annexation at some point. Councilmember Smede stated factors to be considered for proposed annexations include current services, an annexation agreement, contiguous, or enclaved. Mr. Fife stated annexation is legislative, not a policy and, services (police, fire, general-fund government) are tax-based services. He also stated annexation allows adjacency (close to) not contiguous (touching) in Category B annexations. Commissioner Reed stated if a current County resident is annexed and their septic system or well fails, they would have to hook into the City with the associated cost, which can be expensive. Mayor Casper stated public health issues would have to be considered for septic failure. Councilmember Freeman believes the taxpayers should not have to subsidize these fees. Director Cramer stated any customer within 200’ of a municipal sewer line, whether they are annexed or not, would be required by the Health Department to connect to the service. He questioned the County reason to run the utilities. Commissioner Christensen stated the AOI would require the County to build to City standards, if they will extend the sewer. He indicated he has a difficult time understanding the current policy of not extending services. Mayor Casper indicated that the word “practice” should be used in place of policy. Commissioner Christensen stated the County has attempted to stay neutral in annexations, however it is difficult when statements made by the P&Z Commissioners are that the County is pushing the annexation. He questioned the amount of property tax dollars allocated to the Street Fund. Mayor Casper stated this amount is significant as they had to make up for the deficit in the gas tax with local dollars. Councilmember Francis questioned why standards wouldn't be the same whether utilities are extended or not. Commissioner Radford stated if County residents are required to adopt the same standards in the AOI, why not just be in the City. He also stated there is a reason that people like to live in the County. If they are in the AOI and forced to the same standards of the City there is no difference between the AOI and the City limits. Mr. Serr believes adjacent is viewed in a variety of ways and how it is defined varies. He stated the State Tax Commission states you must be immediately adjacent, contiguous to be able to be approved. The County encourages property owners near the City to do things that are compatible, although they don’t want to deny all rights of use of the property in the interim. Mr. Serr stated if the annexation policy is in place for annexation when adjacent, then you have a pre-built City. Councilmember Hally questioned the condition of roads even though the improvement of the road would improve the safety for the County and City residents. Commissioner Christensen stated standards have been increased and the County now requires curb, gutter, and sidewalks and, build-out of half of the road. He indicated clean-up is occurring during annexations. Commissioner Radford prefers roads be owned by one entity. He stated he would like to see the annexation agreement on the deeds. He questioned how extending sewer/water will encourage infill development for the City. Director Cramer appreciates property owners being able to expand their land to the density they want. He expressed his concern with extending City utilities into the County with regard to the AOI. Commissioner Christensen expressed his concern about incorrect statements made at a P&Z Hearing. Mayor Casper stated if there were statements made that were not corrected, P&Z will be directed to make sure that no one speaks for the County. Mr. Fife reminded those in attendance to refer to general annexation and not refer to a specific local land use act so the process isn’t tainted. Commissioner Reed believes they should require subdivisions outside of the City to have services. He doesn’t believe subdivisions should be built cheaper outside of the City. He stated that some businesses will have to locate outside of the City, but residential should occur inside the City. Councilmember Freeman prefers an incentive to come into the City. Councilmember Dingman believes County residents are not paying for the use of roads, including snow removal, and that is not equitable taxation. She stated there is the Police issue, general safety, voting and representation, and there is value in being a City resident, including 2  December 6, 2018 the equitable contribution. There is pride of being a City resident and being able to speak to Council about daily impacts. Commissioner Christensen agrees, although he questioned how often City residents travel outside of the City to the County. Brief comments followed. Commissioner Christensen stated many of the areas that are developing are urban density. He agreed residential growth should go to the City. The County is trying to find a way to encourage that inter-City growth, the incentive is the utility with an agreement to annex when they become contiguous and standards must be the same as the City standards. Commissioner Christensen noted some of the agreements from the past were not recorded and so the residents were not aware of an annexation agreement. Mayor Casper questioned changing the urban growth in the County’s Comprehensive Plan. Commissioner Reed questioned taking away property owner rights. Mayor Casper stated a Comprehensive Plan does not confer rights, it only guides and shapes the growth. Director Cramer explained the City’s view of the Comprehensive Plan does not give a development right, it is just a plan. If zoning is requested and if the Comprehensive Plan indicates zoning is ok, the developer they should get the zoning. However, the legal interpretation from the County is that amending the Comprehensive Plan would be a taking. Commissioner Christensen stated they would follow their legal counsel’s direction. He believes Comprehensive Plans are not working due to lack of communication between the planning boards. He stated this needs to be a joint process for growth, and when one body unilaterally makes a change, and the County must read about it in the paper, it is poor communication. Director Cramer agreed and indicated they have tried to rectify the communication issues. He stated if the AOI line is kept tight and the City and the County are going to have the discipline to say no, when a property is not right for development yet, it will alleviate fears and make a more open conversation. Mayor Casper recommended the Comprehensive Plan and the AOI lines are tools for planning, they may need discussion. Mr. Serr indicated the County also deals with other jurisdictions and other cities. General discussion followed regarding utility service providers in the City and the County, and whether the City would allow other service providers within the City limits, such as Falls Water, Iona Bonneville Sewer District, etc. Director Fredericksen does not anticipate interconnecting City water with an outside entity such as Falls Water. Councilmember Hally wants to ensure long-term benefit with the extension of services. Mr. Serr stated utility services are enterprise funds and are not funded by tax dollars, the dollars paid for the services still fund the enterprise. Director Fredericksen stated that sprawl creates inefficient services, there are pros and cons to extending. Commissioner Reed questioned whether the opportunity to have services might have filled in the County islands quicker. Mayor Casper stated the City began with the areas that had services, it didn’t make the annexation any easier. Commissioner Reed stated his concern on the annexation is that the services are not run to the residents. Mr. Serr believes the consent to annex should be included on future recorded deeds, that would eliminate a lot of the objection. Commissioner Christensen stated this has been ongoing for 25 years, they need to find a way to change it. Councilmember Radford suggested a pilot project on a specific area to project predictability moving forward and build some trust. He stated that annexation is a legislative process, but the process of extending utility service may not have to be legislative. Director Fredericksen stated lines have been laid out for water and sewer service expansion, however there are competing sewer services to the south. Mayor Casper believes the County is encouraging growth of urban density outside of the AOI. She stated it would make sense to have the County’s encouragement and the City’s proposed growth area be the same. Commissioner Christensen stated they are not encouraging it however, they need to know the policy on whether other service providers would be allowed to serve within the City. Mayor Casper indicated that change could be facilitated. Councilmember Radford stated there has been a lot of work from both commissions and most of the issues have an agreement except for the utility issue. He described a pilot project with a specific area, as it comes forward. Brief comments followed, including developers cost of utility extension. Mr. Fife stated the financial burdens associated with a pilot project would need to be defined. Director Fredericksen stated it is the developer’s responsibility to bear the cost to extend the utilities. Mr. Serr stated the County would approve full transparency for the City to inspect/check/sign off. Director Fredericksen stated annexing the entire roadway when there is only City property on one side could cause an issue. Commissioner Christensen wants a written policy, as Council’s and opinions change. Mayor Casper believes this should be a mutual agreement and there should be dialogue about the policy. Commissioner Radford stated the County has been involved in a major sewer project and he would like Idaho Falls to respect that. Commissioner Christensen believes the legal interpretation of parcels may not be agreeable. Discussion followed regarding an annexation policy pertaining to the AOI. Councilmember Dingman clarified the City Council is not directing which parcels to annex. Staff is investigating the area and then approaching the Council for potential annexation. Councilmember Radford stated in order to entice people to develop within the City they must find a way to gain the trust, the pilot project could help. Mr. Fife stated the Comprehensive 3  December 6, 2018 Plan Map and the Comprehensive Plan have no legal effect on a piece of property in Idaho, they are guidance documents. He also stated that coming to an agreement on legal interpretation between the City and County could help this process. Councilmember Radford believes there is common ground on urbanization, standards, etc. Commissioner Christensen stated they need to be aware of any changes in annexation statutes. Councilmember Freeman believes a pilot project could show how well things go. Mr. Serr noted in 2000 the County made modifications to their ordinance to mirror the City standards County-wide. Mayor Casper outlined assignments that were discussed as follows: 1. Desire to work on statement of annexation principles with input from the County followed by City review. Commissioner Christensen stated the County prefers a policy for extension of services and keeping the AOI that has other service providers. Mayor Casper committed to a conversation regarding the water/sewer ordinance and making that change. General discussion followed regarding the southern boundary. 2. Staff outline what a pilot project would look like. 3. Staff outline of an annexation policy or statement. 4. Working through the County and City’s different legal interpretation of the Comprehensive Plan. 5. Future follow-up discussion to occur, possibly in February. Mayor Casper stated she will ensure City staff will not make statements at P&Z on behalf of the County. She requested the commissioners not allow County residents to use forced annexation term or, explain that the annexation is not forced. Commissioner Christensen believes a fact sheet could be helpful for the annexation process. Commissioner Reed clarified there are several services that the County is responsible for including jails, landfills, etc. which is tax-based. Taxes are not dollar for dollar. Brief comments followed regarding resources that both County and City provide. Mayor Casper believes cleaning up enclaves was the right thing and believed the County would be in support. Commissioner Christensen stated his concern was the annexation of roads and cleaning up the annexation of half roads. The County took no position on the City’s right to annex under Type B annexation in the AOI. Commissioner Christensen commended Director Cramer for the annexation of Sunnyside Road. There being no further business, the meeting adjourned at 5:13 p.m. s/ Kathy Hampton s/ Rebecca L. Noah Casper CITY CLERK MAYOR 4