City Council Regular Meeting

Star City Council Meeting Minutes June 5, 2007 The regular meeting of the Star City Council was held on June 5, 2007 at the Star Fire Department at 7:00 pm. Mayor Nathan Mitchell called the meeting to order and all stood for the Pledge of Allegiance. Roll Call: Council persons Tammy McDaniel, Dustin Christopherson, Tom Erlebach and Chad Bell were all present. Approval of the Agenda: Christopherson moved to approve the Agenda, McDaniel seconded the motion. All aye: motion carried. Consent Agenda: The Consent Agenda consisted of: Regular Meeting Minutes of May 15, 2007, Claims Against the City for May 2007, Findings of Fact and Conclusions of Law for: Bell Conditional Use Permit and Lakeshore Subdivision Nuisance Abatement; Approval of School Advisory Committee members and Colt Place Subdivision Time Extension. Bell moved to approve the Consent Agenda with the additional bills in the amount of $1,566.24, McDaniel seconded the motion. All aye: motion carried. Public Input: No public spoke. Public Hearing: The Mayor reviewed the public hearing procedures and asked the Council if they have had any ex parte contact or conflicts of interest. Hearing none the public hearing was opened. Storkan Annexation & Zoning: Applicant, Jeff Storkan, 22727 Can Ada Road, Star, stated that he wanted to annex his property due to being surrounded by the City. He will use part of the property as his home and build on the other. He has City services within 150 feet of his property. Storkan is requesting an R-1 zoning designation. Erlebach asked if they will be putting a permanent structure on the property. Storkan stated that there would be a home on it. Christopherson stated that the Ada County and Canyon County Highway Districts have stated that there would be one access. Storkan stated that the property will access Stump Lane. Bell stated that it looks like two lots, and the one would not be an acre. The Mayor stated that the prior interpretation has been one dwelling unit per acre, or as close as possible. Erlebach asked about the sidewalk along Can-Ada in front of the property. The Mayor explained to Storkan that he would be required to put in curb, gutter and sidewalk along Can-Ada Road. 1 Storkan asked if that would be all the property or just the small part. The Mayor stated that it would be all that was annexed. The Mayor stated that the improvements won’t have to be done until the building permit is issued. Storkan asked why he wasn’t notified of this. The Mayor stated that they wouldn’t normally be notified at an annexation hearing. Erlebach asked if Storkan wanted to continue with the annexation. Storkan stated that he wanted to continue. Staff had nothing to add to the staff report. Public – No one signed up to testify. The Mayor closed the public hearing and moved to deliberations. Christopherson is in favor of the application. Christopherson moved to approve the Storkan annexation with a zoning designation of R-1, Bell seconded the motion. All aye: motion carried. New Business: Westpointe Park Discussion – Darrel Gazzola, 1710 N. Willow Glen, (Westpointe), Star, stated that the homeowners association wants to donate the property in front of the Westpointe Subdivision to the City and the landscape designers were here and have a landscape plan to see if this is what the Council wants. Christopherson asked if there was an agreement between the irrigation district and the City regarding this property. Gazzola stated that there have been pump and water issues, but Westpointe’s pump will more than handle watering the park. They need to get the homeowners on a schedule for watering. Jordan Coil, 431 W. Wycliff, Nampa, stated that the Westpointe has a pump that pumps over 270 gallons per minute – pump is over kill and has already burned up once due to pumping the water dry. The irrigation at Westpointe needs to be on a rotation basis. Coil suggested that the easiest solution would be to use City water to water the park. Erlebach asked who Coil was representing. Coil stated that he is representing the landscape company. The current irrigation pond is fifteen feet deep. There may need to be a bigger pond installed or maybe a tank. 2 Gazzola stated that there are 30 shares of water right now going to Westpointe. The water storage capacity needs to be bigger and everyone needs to be on a water rotation. Bell stated that the pump and shares are not an issue. The question is will the homeowner’s association deed this property to the City? Gazzola stated that yes, they would. Bell stated that at the original discussion there was a lot less landscaping. we talked about natural grasses and a more natural area. For two acres at $170,000 to landscape is very expensive per square foot. Bell stated that we need to look at this in a different way. He thinks we need it to be a more natural area. The Mayor stated that the plan is a perfect world and asked the Council what they want. The number is not unrealistic for what they have drawn. Bell stated that he felt this came out of left field. Bell stated that this would be a great amenity to Westpointe Subdivision and you will profit from higher home values. Bell asked if the homeowners association is willing to put any money into this project? Gazzola stated that he didn’t know – essentially there was no money. The Mayor stated that some of the prices are high. Erlebach stated that the homeowners need to pitch in on costs. He would like to see a path way along the ditch with natural grasses. Maybe plant more trees later on. The Mayor stated that we can do this in phases. McDaniel asked about the six foot bridge that cost $11,000. Coil stated that it was from the original plan, we have an arch type crossing – block face. Dan Beard, 11357 Hercules, Star, stated that he to was representing the landscape company. They designed and put things together per the budget and feels there is a need to have something done there. Erlebach agreed, the ground is bad. We do need to do something, maybe putting some dirt down and maybe one culvert. Erlebach asked what the culvert was connecting to. Gazzola stated that that there are no pathways that connect to the culvert. They have no trails. Bell stated that this project went from low to high without Council’s knowledge. Bell stated that the real question is if they don’t follow the landscape plan is the homeowners association still willing to donate the land? Bell stated that the real benefit of this will go to the Subdivision. He wants the area to look better, but we have to decide what we are going to do with it. Some of the numbers on the landscape plan are high. The question is do we want to proceed or what do we want to do something with the land? The Mayor stated that it is owned by the homeowners association. Do you want the ground and if you do, how much money do you want to spend on it. McDaniel stated that there is a water issue that can be solved, but what if the homeowners association does not manage the water there could be problems. The Mayor 3 stated that we can put an agreement in place like we have with Saddlebrook. The water shares would come with the deeded land. McDaniel stated that there is a great benefit to the subdivision, but not to the City. The third thing is there are 54 trees proposed – she is concerned with it fitting in with the rest of the area. The Mayor stated that we can get some topsoil and irrigation put in and move to phases. Gazzola asked if the City wants the park and how close to the proposed landscape plan do you intend to go. Bell stated that they are not in a position to make a decision on what it will look like now. The concept is beautiful, but it won’t happen this year. Erlebach stated that we should take the park and asked if the homeowners will still want to give it to us no matter what kind of park we want. Erlebach would like it to be a dogs allowed park and would like it to be natural. Gazzola asked if they want to phase this plan or what they are planning. Gazzola asked what the Council’s vision was and how long they believe it will take. Christopherson stated that his rough estimation is they will draw about 100 homes using the area. He believes that we should accept the park and landscape it minimally. Gazzola asked if this is what you see for the park. Christopherson stated that he would like to see something like this. McDaniel stated that it will be an amenity to the City, but thinks we should pull back on the cost and make it as nice as possible. There is about $30,000 left in the budget for parks. McDaniel asked if this needs to go back to the association. Gazzola stated that if it’s better than what it is now it will be great. Bell stated that he likes the concept of the little patios/picnic areas, but he wants to see it more natural with pathways and widen out in other areas. He believes it is a great amenity and worthwhile to the City to accept it. He thinks we should get it cleaned up and maybe put in the irrigation in this budget year. We need an irrigation plan that fits the end product. Would like to see us accept the park and use the plan as a concept with it being more natural than manicured. Erlebach asked if we are approving dollar amounts now. The Mayor stated that we are not approving dollar amounts. Gary Smith asked if this is setting a precedence for other subdivisions. The Mayor stated that it would not. Bell moved to accept the dedication of land from the Westpointe Homeowners Association with the general concept plan and approving the development in phases as budget permits, McDaniel seconded the motion. All aye: motion carried. 4 Canyon County Highway District Agreement – The Mayor explained that this was a joint powers agreement regarding roads in Canyon County that have now been annexed by Star. Christopherson stated that he couldn’t find anything that talks about CCHD accepting the Ada County Highway District standards. The Mayor stated that he doesn’t believe that it can be stated in this agreement. The City can’t prevent CCHD from making decisions on these roads. Christopherson moved to approve the joint powers agreement with CCHD and Star and authorize the Mayor to sign the agreement, Erlebach seconded the motion. Roll Call: McDaniel, Christopherson, Erlebach and Bell – all aye: motion carried. Streetlights – The City Clerk asked that this topic not be discussed tonight as the City Engineer had some input that was not included. The Mayor stated that it would be scheduled for a later meeting. The Mayor explained what the changes were that the City is looking at. Reports: Staff – No reports were given. Council - Bell stated that he attended a School Committee meeting and they will be meeting again with Eric Exline. Erlebach stated that he attended the first Park and Recreation meeting, the name of the newsletter is the Star Adventure. They are currently working on classes. Erlebach stated that he thinks Mule Days went off without a hitch. Mayor Mitchell stated that Mule Days was a good time. Next week is the Council retreat. He will be gone Tuesday and Wednesday to the AIC Conference. We will be out of the retreat by three or four to get back for the Father’s Day weekend. The Mayor stated that he had a meeting with Mayor Beiter regarding the Blue Print, they want Star back into the group. There is a consortium meeting Thursday and he will attend. The Mayor stated that we have cut some of the weeds and did paint the pump house at Lakeshore. The judge in the law suit has assigned a receiver, Chuck Winder, ad he will make all the decisions and part of his mandate is to take care of all outstanding matters. McDaniel stated that her daughter graduated from High School and appreciated all the support with her missing some of the Council meetings. 5 Adjournment: Christopherson moved to adjourn the meeting, Bell seconded the motion. All aye: motion carried. The meeting was adjourned at 8:45 pm. Respectfully submitted: Approved: __________________________ ____________________________ Cathy Ward, City Clerk Nathan Mitchell, Mayor 6