City Council Regular Meeting

Star City Council Meeting Minutes June 16, 2009 A regular meeting of the Star City Council was held on June 16, 2009 at Star City Hall at 7:00 pm. Mayor Nathan Mitchell called the meeting to order and all stood for the Pledge of Allegiance. Roll Call: Council persons Dustin Christopherson, Tom Erlebach, and Chad Bell were present. Councilwoman Tammy McDaniel was absent. Approval of Agenda: Bell moved to approve the agenda, Christopherson seconded the motion. All ayes: motion carried. Consent Agenda: Bell moved to approve the Consent Agenda, Erlebach seconded the motion. The Consent Agenda consisted of: Regular Meeting Minutes of June 2, 2009 and Finding of Fact & Conclusions of Law for Roseland Subdivision Development Agreement. All ayes: motion carried. Public Input Presentations: Ada County Assessor – Bob McQuade: Bob McQuade from the Ada County Assessor’s office stated this had been an unusual year for assessments. They mailed out 186,000 assessment notices of which 3,400 were to Star. The city’s values were off 25% from last year with a 2% increase in residential lots from last year. New construction seemed to be down more than 50% from last year for both residential and commercial. Star’s tax burden is 89% residential and 11% commercial. He explained the assessor’s office does not set taxes, they just assess property values. Mayor Mitchell expressed to McQuade that the DMV located at City Hall was a success and well received by the community. Audit Report – Bailey & Company: Jared Zwygart, Bailey and Company, presented and reviewed the audit report for fiscal year 2007-2008. He reviewed the city’s assets and commended the city for building the new city hall without incurring debt. Zwygart noted income was down, but the city had also spent less than was budgeted. He noted which expenditures were down and which were up, mostly due to not knowing what to expect for cost of maintenance and utilities in the new building. He commended the Council for watching expenditures and the treasurer for the job she was doing on the city financial records. Overall the financials were looking great and he had no recommendation except to note that Bailey and Company prepare the financial statements and do the audit for the city. Mayor Mitchell thanked him for the excellent service they provided to the city and for their quick response to any questions brought to them. Star Police Report: Mayor Mitchell introduced Sergeant John Harris and explained he was covering for Chief Ramage, who was at training for the next ten weeks. Harris stated he had been with the department for 15 years, with most of his experience in patrol. He noted he expected his officers to provide quality service, and stressed they did not have a citation 1 quota. He noted that citations were down and many calls received were in regards to dogs. His goal is crime prevention, to which he has been passing out information on how to decrease vandalism and vehicle burglary, and has been giving away gun locks at City Hall. Committee Reports: Gary Smith, Economic Development Committee, noted that at the BVEP meeting they reported lease rates in the valley were down. He stated he planned to check the rates in Star and would compare them against the other cities. He has learned that some cities are setting budgets by using their comprehensive plans versus a master plan. Smith announced they have received $25,000.00 from the Gem Grant to work on a master plan for the city. He would like to start setting up a working group for the city’s master plan, which would include the Council, EDC, Sage, and Keller & Associates. The City of Eagle has a committee to help new businesses maneuver through City Hall and he wondered if it would be something for them to consider. Smith announced they are holding their business social Wednesday, June 24th, at 6:00 pm at the Heron River Clubhouse. The committee will be delivering invitations to all the businesses in town and he extended an invitation to the Mayor and Council. Public: No one from the public spoke. Public Hearing: Colberg – Annexation/Zoning and Conditional Use: Mayor Mitchell reviewed the procedures for the public hearing. He explained the property was located on South Star Road and is north of the river. Mayor Mitchell declared the public hearing for File AZ 09-03 and CU 09-04 Colberg Annexation and Zoning and Conditional Use Permit open, and asked the Council if they had any conflicts of interest or ex parte contact, hearing none the Mayor asked the applicant to speak. Applicant – Chris Colberg stated it was their intent to operate a karate school and antique store out of the house on the property. Christopherson asked if the businesses were currently operating there. The City Planner, Mary Shaw Taylor, stated the antique store had been operating there by the family for many years. Erlebach asked how many students they planned to have. Colberg stated they hoped to have four to eight students per class in the 400 square foot living room, with possibly up to 50 students. Erlebach asked if they planned on leaving the karate sign up. Colberg replied it was up to the Council to decide if they could. The Mayor explained the application is also asking for permission to let them continue using the non-conforming sign. Shaw Taylor explained the sign was non-conforming because it was too large and was lighted. Mayor Mitchell pointed out these uses would conform to the mixed use designation they are requesting. Shaw Taylor noted the city code has no definition for the martial arts school; therefore it requires a conditional use permit. The Mayor reiterated the applicant is asking to be allowed the two existing uses and approval of the two existing signs. 2 Christopherson asked for clarification, that there were no conditions attached to the annexation request, but the conditional use had three. The Mayor stated that was correct. Shaw Taylor pointed out the Council could add a fourth condition, as there are no city services available to this property, requiring the applicant to sign an affidavit that the applicant would hook up to city services when they become available. She also pointed out the property was non-conforming as there were no parking spaces. Shaw Taylor noted the Fire Department had stated they had no problem with this application. Colberg pointed out the two businesses would not be operating at the same time. They did not see the parking as being a problem as most parents drop off their children and come back to pick them up. Bell asked if they were to deny the sign, would the applicant want to withdraw the applications. Colberg explained that when they first put the illuminated sign up and lit it they received a lot of calls. They mainly are doing this process to allow Colberg’s parents to continue operating their antique business and to again put their antique business sign out. Bell stated he had no problem with the zoning, but did with the non-conforming signs. Mayor Mitchell pointed out there were two issues, the size of the sign and the illumination. They possibly could have the sign up and not illuminated or they could go with a smaller illuminated sign. Colberg explained they had tried having the sign on a timer to catch the morning and evening traffic. Erlebach stated he had no problem annexing the property, but was concerned with the sign; felt it was too large. Mayor Mitchell pointed out the applicant was not proposing improving parking spaces to meet code. Colberg stated they were not as they have put down gravel road mix, so the current parking is not muddy. The Mayor pointed out the city code requires paved parking, and as such this was a concern to him. Mayor Mitchell asked for public input. Betty Smith, 258 S. Langer Lake Way, Star, stated that as a citizen driving by she felt the sign covered at least 25% or more of the building. She also felt they should be required to meet code and be required to conform to the existing sign codes. Smith felt mixed use zoning was appropriate and liked the idea of a karate studio. Ray Stokes, 10166 Arrowleaf Court, Star, stated he was concerned with the unimproved parking as they are trying to get the central business district cleaned up and improved. He stated he was not in favor of allowing non-conforming parking. Rebuttal – Chris Colberg stated they were okay with the sign change, but would be unable to put in paved parking due to finances. They are trying to use what already exists, especially till the business shows it is feasible to operate. Shaw Taylor asked Colberg if he had met with Ada County Highway District. Colberg stated he had, and they were not concerned with parking, but mentioned having them put in a sidewalk or dedicate land to ACHD for future development. 3 Mayor Mitchell asked Bruce Mills, ACHD, if there was a staff report. Mills stated he was unaware of one, but would check. Christopherson asked how many square feet was available for the facility. Colberg stated there was 1,400 square feet. Part of the house is used for the antique shop and the front room will be used for the karate studio. Christopherson asked if they used separate entrances. Colberg stated there were several entrances. The studio uses the sliding door, the antique shop uses the back door, and the front door is not used. Erlebach asked if they had thought of running the school out of another building. Colberg stated it would be counterproductive with the cost of rent when they are already paying mortgage and utilities on this building. He noted he also runs another facility full-time and his kid’s will be doing the classes at this building. Colberg stated that if they are not allowed to run the karate school they will cease; they are mainly looking to having their parents be allowed to again run their antique store, as they have for the last 25 years. If the sign has to come down he is okay with that. Mayor Mitchell stated they are looking at six parking spaces. He estimated that would equal about 1,000 square feet of concrete and possibly looking at a cost of $2,500 or less. He stated he would like to see them take the sign down and put in six parking spaces to bring them into compliance with the law. Bell noted the code actually required six paved or concrete parking spots, but didn’t require paving the driveway entry. It was asked if they could use crushed asphalt. The city engineer stated he would have to see if it would meet the intent of the code. Mayor Mitchell stated they could decide not to approve this application if Colberg’s had no intent to meet the code. Another option would be to table a decision if Colberg’s wanted time to research their options. By tabling it did not mean the application was being denied. It was noted the City had just required another property to do this and suggested Colberg’s could go and look at it and see if they were willing to do it. Colberg stated they would like to look at the code and their options. He asked if they would need to improve the parking spaces for either businesses; to which the Mayor stated they did. Bell stated he would love to have their businesses in the city, but felt that as a business they must meet at least the minimum standards. He would like to see them go with the options the Mayor had presented. Christopherson moved to table the Colberg Annexation and Zoning File AZ 09-03, and Conditional Use Permit File CU 09-04 to July 7, 2009 at 7:00 p.m. at Star City Hall, Erlebach seconded the motion. All ayes: motion carried. Ordinance No. 202 Council Meeting Date, Time, Location: Mayor Mitchell explained this Ordinance was to change Council Meeting’s from twice a month to once a month. Christopherson stated he had been giving this a lot of thought since the last discussion and was no longer in favor of going to one council meeting a month. He stated he felt they 4 should continue with two meetings a month and cancel a meeting if there’s no need for it. This would allow citizens continued access to their government. Bell stated he agreed with Christopherson’s comments and was more comfortable leaving the meetings on the first and third Tuesdays of the month and canceling if needed. Erlebach stated he also concurred with Christopherson and Bell. Bell moved to deny Ordinance No. 202 an Ordinance of the City of Star, designating the date, time and location of the regular meetings of the Star City Council, Christopherson seconded the motion. All ayes: motion carried. Reports: Council – Erlebach noted the parks were looking good. He commented that he had been asked to repair the fence at Blake Haven Park a couple of times, due to kids kicking it down to climb the tree behind it. He questioned whether they should leave that portion of the fence down. Erlebach stated he felt Mule Days went off without a hitch and he understood they may have broken even on expenses. Bell noted he and Gary Smith had judged the pies for the senior’s pie contest and was happy to see there were twice as many entries compared to last year. The Valley Regional Transit meeting he was to attend this month was cancelled. Mayor – Mayor Mitchell stated Valley Regional Transit was asking for an additional $1,200.00 to fund a second trip on their current route to offer citizens more riding options. Boise has offered to pay half the additional cost, while Star, Eagle, Middleton, Caldwell and Nampa are being asked to contribute an additional $1,200.00 each. He has asked them to bring ridership numbers to the Council for discussion. The River Walk is still in progress and will be highlighted at an environmental forum in August. The Mayor informed the Council the City had completed the purchase of the property on the river and had received the warranty deed. Erlebach suggested putting a sign on the property along the lines of saying “Paid with park impact fees”. Mayor Mitchell stated he would check into it. He also felt Mule Days went well and enjoyed the parade. Adjournment: Bell moved to adjourn the meeting, Erlebach seconded the motion. The meeting adjourned at 8:45 pm. Approved: Respectfully submitted: ________________________ Nathan Mitchell, Mayor __________________________ Kathleen Hutton, Deputy Clerk 5