City Council

CITY OF POCATELLO, IDAHO CITY COUNCIL WORK SESSION DECEMBER 12, 2019 AGENDA ITEM NO. 1:Mayor Brian Blad called the City Council Work Session to order ROLL CALL at 9:01 a.m. Council members present were Heidi Adamson, Roger Bray, Jim Johnston and Linda Leeuwrik. Council members Rick Cheatum and Beena Mannan were excused. AGENDA ITEM NO. 2: Mark Cooper, Chair Person from the Pocatello Arts Council was POCATELLO ARTS present to discuss the Arts Council’s goals and projects, as well COUNCIL UDPATE as Council’s policies and expectations. Mr. Cooper gave a review of the Pocatello Arts Council’s (PAC) 2019 year of activities. 2019 Organization Initiatives – shared online document storage; community awareness; sub- committees and a revised grant process. He noted that subcommittees are being utilized for events and budgeting. In response to a question from Mr. Johnston, Mr. Cooper gave a breakdown of the funds they utilize each year. He noted here are two grant cycles and $2,000.00 is budgeted each year. $575.00 - Musicians West, $1,000.00 – Stars for the Arts/Washington Elementary School, $509.78 – Old Town Actors Studio. Other events included: 2019 Community Projects and Events – Idaho Commission on the Arts Public meeting in July; Old Town Alley in August; Art Award/Empty Bowls Fundraiser July/September; Station Square Mural October; and Art Show: Celebrating Rural Idaho with Carl Rowe in November. 2020 Goals and Initiatives – PAC Goals, Vision, and Mission Streamline Arts Grants – Cycle Dates/Guidelines Revamp/Overhaul PAC Website Making the Arts More Accessible 2020 Projects and Events - PAC Meetups/Artist Networking Shakespeare in the Park 2020 2nd Annual Arts Awards/Empty Bowls fundraiser Ms. Leeuwrik shared she is the City Council Liaison for the Pocatello Arts Council. She feels Mr. Cooper has done an incredible job for the Arts Council. His leadership has brought a new focus and energy to the Council and all of the upcoming events are a result of his leadership. AGENDA ITEM NO. 3: Mayor Blad announced that Teresa McKnight, Chief Executive REDI UPDATE Officer, Regional Economic Development of Eastern Idaho (REDI) was not available to give Council an update of REDI’s activities and achievements at this meeting. AGENDA ITEM NO. 4: Melanie Gygli, Planning and Development Services Director, BRADY CHAPEL was present to discuss and seek Council direction regarding RESTORATION UPDATE funding options for the restoration of Brady Chapel. CITY COUNCIL WORK SESSION 2 DECEMBER 12, 2019 Ms. Gygli gave an historic overview of the request. For many years the Historic Preservation Commission (HPC) has been working on restoration of Brady Chapel in the City’s Mountain View Cemetery. Fund-raising has focused on having the already-constructed pinnacles installed atop the Chapel. However, as the project has progressed, staff and HPC were made aware that masonry repairs to the structure must be completed on both the interior and exterior of the Chapel before the pinnacles can be installed. This has increased costs for the restoration from an anticipated $15,000.00 to $60,000.00, for both projects. Approximately $5,000.00 has been raised through fundraising efforts. Recently they were awarded $5,000.00 by the Heritage Trust to assist with the work. This leaves a gap of $50,000.00, far short of the amount necessary to restore this City asset. Alternative funding sources to obtain money for the project was shared. It was noted that the Idaho Heritage Trust Conference will be held in Pocatello September 2020 and it would great to have the pinnacles in place. Ms. Gygli asked that Council allow HPC to use Façade Loan Trust funds for this project. Ms. Gygli reported there has been very minor interest in the Façade Funds and none of the funds have been used. There is approximately $72,000.00 in the fund and Ms. Gygli feels this would be a good use toward preserving an historic City asset. It was mentioned that members of the Brady family should be contacted to see if they would be interested in supporting this effort. Once this has been determined, Mayor Blad shared that he would support the use of City funds as discussed. General discussion was held regarding the Brady Chapel building and fund raising ideas. Having the pinnacle repairs done by the September 2020 conference was highlighted. Maintenance and on- going use of the chapel was discussed. In response to questions to Council, Ms. Gygli outlined the current need and long-range needs for the Chapel. She explained pinnacle repairs could be completed in summer 2020 for the upcoming September event. General discussion regarding on-going maintenance and other needs yet to be identified for the chapel was held. Ms. Adamson clarified that she does not wish to use any cemetery reserves, or capital contingency funds for the proposed repairs. She would like staff to research funding elsewhere and then if the City needs to supplement funding, it can be reconsidered at that time. It was the consensus of the Council that Historic Preservation Commission members should prepare a plan of action for funding the repairs and bring the proposal back to Council for consideration. AGENDA ITEM NO. 5: Buck Swaney, Millennial Development Partners; and Ken Pape, NORTHGATE Portneuf Development LLC; were present to discuss their UPPER WATER LINE proposal to establish a water line partnership for the upper water PARTNERSHIP PROPOSAL line loop of the Northgate Development area. The water line will be 18-inch diameter and connect to the transmission line located at Butte Street and Satterfield Drive running north to the current City of Pocatello Boundary. CITY COUNCIL WORK SESSION 3 DECEMBER 12, 2019 Mr. Swaney gave an historical overview of what the City has contributed to the Northgate Development area. He also shared a current accounting transaction spreadsheet regarding the Northgate Development. Mr. Swaney noted the Siphon Road interchange is complete and currently being used. He reviewed the following items: WATER – THE FINAL STEP Do not have a water loop or pressure zone. 1. We need water pointed at the project from an upper pressure zone. 2. There is a clear benefit to extending Satterfield Drive to connect with Northgate Development. 3. We would like to ask the City to upgrade its water pipe in Satterfield Drive to the existing road’s northern terminus. a. We will complete the extension of water along the NEW road, and down Northgate Parkway to loop the system. b. Will work with Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (LDS) Church on making the Satterfield Drive upgrade in the newer-term time frame. This final project would complete the North Pocatello core infrastructure. After this we have years of runway for growth. Mr. Swaney reported the water is already described in the TIF project. General discussion was held. It included the following: A proposed access from Northgate to Satterfield Road was outlined. This would be the Satterfield Road extension. The proposed road is meant to be used at lower speeds and would be constructed to the current Satterfield Drive guidelines. It was mentioned the proposed road would help decrease traffic on Butte Road as a way to the new LDS temple. Individuals have shared their concerns regarding additional traffic in this area. In response to questions from Council, Mr. Swaney requested that the City participate in the cost to construct a water line loop in the amount of approximately $700,000.00. Mr. Swaney noted the developer’s cost for the water line loop within the project is approximately $2 Million. In response to questions from Council, Merril Quayle, City Development Engineer, agreed the $700,000.00 estimation is correct in order to increase the size of the water pipe as outlined. Additional infrastructure development connected with the project was reviewed. Mr. Bray shared his concerns regarding creation of the Tax Increment Financing (TIF) District for Northgate. He mentioned when the public hearing was held to create the district he asked questions about the costs to have infrastructure put in place. Mr. Bray feels other developers are required to pay for the infrastructure to service the land being developed. These costs are usually bore by the developers. In response to questions from Council, Mr. Swaney agreed the TIF district public hearing addressed infrastructure. He shared it was always his intent that the City would partnership in the process of infrastructure and the future connection in Pocatello was not discussed at the public hearing. General discussion regarding the infrastructure location and whether it is or isn’t included in the TIF outline continued. It was decided additional research would need to be done to verify the exact CITY COUNCIL WORK SESSION 4 DECEMBER 12, 2019 location of the water infrastructure on the TIF map and identify if the expense would be reimbursable under the TIF guidelines. Melanie Gygli, Planning and Development Director, shared that she does not see any major concerns with the numbers being presented at this time. However, she would contact the attorney for Pocatello Development Authority to verify the issue regarding the water line and possible TIF reimbursement. Mayor Blad directed staff to place the item on the December 19, 2019 Regular Council meeting agenda for consideration by Council. He noted if staff is not able to verify the TIF reimbursement portion of the expense, the item will be considered at a later date. AGENDA ITEM NO. 6: Heather Buchanan, Human Resource Director; and Ashley TIME CLOCK PLUS Linton-Welsh, Chief Finance Officer, were present to provide an IMPLEMENTATION update on implementation of the City’s new Time Clock Plus UPDATE System. Ms. Buchanan give an update on the Time Clock Plus implementation. She explained the process has gone well and administration is working through the hiccups. Ms. Buchanan has met with almost every Department Head and are working toward implementing the new system. In response to questions from Mayor Blad, Ms. Buchanan explained Council’s decision to require exact time for hourly/non-exempt employees has brought out a series of problems. Example – drivers in Sanitation Department usually show up 15 minutes to 1 hour early to get their trucks ready. There are questions about discipline measures for employees not having exactly 8 hours. Overtime budgets for 1 – 2 minutes each day has also been a concern. Ms. Buchanan added that employee morale has been effected negatively. Ms. Leeuwrik mentioned the concerns listed by Ms. Buchanan are concerns she stated in the initial discussion regarding implementing the new system. She agrees there are advantages and disadvantages to each system. The perception expressed by employees is a bigger problem than actual implementation of the new system. In response to questions from Council, Ms. Buchanan reported several departments have purchased additional time-clocks so employees can check-in timely. However, there are employees out in the field that are not able to use the clocks. Departments may need more funding for clocks with the addition of part-time employees in the summer. Mayor Blad mentioned Fire and Police employees have a 15-minute transition period between shifts to brief individuals coming on shift. The exact time aspect will be a challenge and concerns about the transition between shifts was shared. Ms. Adamson mentioned any time you implement a change there are some hiccups and staff should continue to move forward with exact time for the time clock system. In response to questions from Council, Ms. Buchanan explained Human Resources staff will need to give training on the new system. She noted they have not started the actual training and can change the content before starting the process. CITY COUNCIL WORK SESSION 5 DECEMBER 12, 2019 General discussion regarding the implementation of exact time vs. rounding time for the time clock system was held. Rounding by 15-minutes was again recommended. In response to questions from Council, department heads in attendance acknowledged they would prefer rounding instead of exact time for administration purposes. A motion was made by Mr. Johnston, seconded by Ms. Leeuwrik, to utilize the 15 minutes rounding option for hourly/non-exempt employees. Ms. Adamson shared that she feels the exact time option was the best way to implement the time clock system. She also feels exact-time is more fair to employees and not what has been perceived. Ms. Welsh clarified that everyone at her previous employer had a computer at their working area and using exact-time was not an issue. However, when staff were not at a computer it became a problem. General discussion was held regarding the options to use a Smartphone or other device in place of an actual time clock followed. It was noted that Department heads will continue to monitor the arrival and departure time of their staff. Mr. Johnston’s motion was voted upon at this time. Upon roll call, those voting in favor were Johnston, Leeuwrik and Bray. Ms. Adamson voted in opposition to the motion. The motion passed. It was announced a diaper drive competition between City employees was being held. Diapers and funds collected will be given to Southeast Idaho Public Health Diaper Bank. Appreciation to the City’s Police and Fire unions was extended for their involvement in the diaper drive. AGENDA ITEM NO. 7: There being no further business, Mayor Blad adjourned the ADJOURNMENT meeting at 10:47 a.m. APPROVED: BRIAN C. BLAD, MAYOR ATTEST AND PREPARED BY: RUTH NEWSOM, CITY CLERK