City Council Regular Meeting

Star City Council Meeting Minutes December 21, 2010 The regular meeting of the Star City Council was held on December 21, 2010 at 7:05 pm. Mayor Nathan Mitchell called the meeting to order and all stood for the Pledge of Allegiance. Roll Call: Council persons Tammy McDaniel, Gary Smith, Tom Erlebach were present. Councilman Chad Bell was absent. Approval of the Agenda: McDaniel moved to approve the agenda, Erlebach seconded the motion. All ayes: motion carried. Consent Agenda: McDaniel moved to approve the Consent Agenda consisting of: Claims Against the City for November 2010; Regular Meeting Minutes of November 16, 2010; Findings of Fact & Conclusions of Law for Qwest Conditional Use Permit and Kuehn Rezone; and Time Extension for Parkstone Subdivision, Phase 5, Erlebach seconded the motion. Smith asked for clarification regarding the increase to the health insurance premium this month. The Mayor explained a staff person and her dependents had been added. He also noted the City has the policy out for bid and are looking at different options. All ayes: motion carried. Presentations/Public Input: Idaho Power – Blake Watson – Blake Watson, Idaho Power, PO Box 70, Boise, Idaho gave an update regarding Idaho Power to the Mayor and Council. Idaho Power is looking at restructuring the pay rates, becoming more energy efficient and looking at alternative energy sources. Watson presented a check in the amount of $500.00 to the Mayor in support of economic development. Committee Reports – There were no committee reports given. Public Input – No public input was given. Old/New Business: Idaho Community Development Block Grant – Councilman Smith explained that as the City will be looking to go after some grants for downtown revitalization, anticipating up to $500,000.00, we need to get started on requesting bids for proposal for administrative services. He asked if City Staff could get a letter out to the company’s on the list enclosed; and keep a log of hours for in-kind costs to go against the grant. Mayor Mitchell questioned whether the City needed to go to bid as they have a contract with Sage. The city engineer, Justin Walker, stated he believed the City did need to go out for bids and review qualifications. -1- Smith moved to proceed with the Idaho Community Development Block Grant Request for Proposals process to select a grant writer, Erlebach seconded the motion. All ayes: motion carried. Hunter’s Creek Park Discussion – Scope of Work – Mayor Mitchell explained the agreement before the Council was for services for engineering and sub-contracting with a landscape architecture for the Hunter’s Creek sports complex. They are looking to draft a site plan to take before the public for comments on January 24, 2011. A second openhouse will be scheduled with a revised site plan reflecting input from the first openhouse. A final site plan and a civil plan will then be presented to the Council. The second phase of the scope of work will be to develop a construction plan and to go out to RFP bidding. The City will be considered the general contractor for the project. The city engineer pointed out the first phase will also include cost estimates, permitting process, and surveying. Erlebach asked if they can be looking at utilities until they decide what they want. Walker stated they can decide on some of the utilities, such as irrigation easements. Erlebach had concernes over the corner being zoned commercial; would the City be looking at developing it or just putting in grass and holding it. The Mayor explained it had been previously platted, but he encouraged the Council to consider whether they will be selling it in the future for commercial or did they want to plan on incorporating it into the park plans. The plans that will be presented to the public in January will show the entire property planned out. The cost for this agreement is at $18,400.00, with a fifth of the cost going towards surveying. Depending on how many times the plans have to be redrawn, the cost could change. Smith stated he felt this will be a compliment to what was requested at the hearing for the River Walk - the community wants ball fields. He asked if this amount would come out of park impact fees. The Mayor explained it could not; it would come out of the capital budget. McDaniel moved to approve the Agreement for Hunters Creek Sports Complex Civil Engineering and Landscape Architecture Services in an amount not to exceed $18,400.00, Smith seconded the motion. All ayes: motion carried. Mayor Mitchell discussed the situation regarding the property Uri Simmons was living on (a parcel in Hunters Creek Park) and his passing the day the City took possession. Upon Uri’s passing, he had the City Clerk contact Mr. Simmons granddaughter, Alexis, who is currently living there, informing her the City would give her until the end of January, 2011 to move. Alexis stated they had no money, no where to go, and had been told nothing would happen with the property until spring. The Mayor stated he was looking for guidance and asked how aggressive did the Council want to be in getting them out. He suggested having the Attorney write a follow-up letter stating they would like to have them out by April 1, 2011, and if they can’t be out to please let the City know the reasons. -2- McDaniel stated she didn’t feel they should give them the option of not having to move – just an April first move out. Mayor Mitchell asked if they state they have no money to move, do we want to have the option of giving them $1,000.00 to help with moving expenses. The City Attorney, Cliff Brown, noted it would be better to give them notice now, with a specific date. If they don’t leave, then offer them money to move. Or we could play hard ball and take them to court, which usually will take six months or more. McDaniel and Smith stated they felt a letter should be sent setting April 15th as a moving date. The City Attorney suggested moving the date up to February, giving the City more negotiating time. The Council was in agreement to set February 15, 2011 as the date to move out in the letter, and not mentioning an offer of money to move out. Blakehaven Park Restroom Discussion – Mayor Mitchell brought before the Council citizens complaints of no restroom at Blakehaven Park. He estimates it will cost between two and three thousand dollars to draw up plans for a brick building with two restrooms with two stalls each, storage, and water fountains. As this is considered a commercial project, we will need a stamped set of plans to get a building permit. If the project costs more than $50,000.00 the City will have to go out for RFP; if between $25,000 and $50,000 must get three bids; and if less than $25,000 can just get a bid. Richard Tinsley asked if they could have power outlets added to the structure for events. The Mayor stated they would look at. Mayor Mitchell stated he was looking for permission to spend up to $3,000.00 for professional services to draw up designs for a restroom. McDaniel moved to authorize the Mayor to get drawings at a cost of no more than $3,000.00 for a public restroom with two restrooms, storage, and water fountains, Smith seconded the motion. All ayes: motion carried. Reports: Staff – Staff had nothing to report. Council – McDaniel stated she had attended ACCEM Quarterly Meeting at which they are looking at adopting a mass evacuation plan for cities. They would like all the cities to adopt the plan and will be getting more information out. They also discussed inclement weather and public closures; and possible flooding at a spot along the Boise River. Smith stated the Highway 16 project is gaining momentum and the project could create jobs. He attended the BVEP meeting at which they discussed data centers and how they like our area. What separates us from competitor states is corporate taxes. Erlebach stated we need a sign on South Main stating this is the trailhead to the walking path. The Mayor stated he would follow-up with Jane Rahling regarding the sign and let -3- the Council know at the next meeting. Erlebach also inquired if more wood chips could be dumped at the lot on the river. The Mayor stated it could be arranged. Mayor - The Mayor stated they are planning the first Hometown Celebration meeting for mid-January. He is looking at a proposal and possible dates for a three concert series; possibly having it in conjunction with the Hometown Celebration. Money raised could possibly be dedicated for development of Hunters Creek Park. He announced the date set for the Hometown Celebration will be July 9, 2011. The walls have been framed on the remodel of the upstairs at City Hall. As part of the grant for emergency services they are looking at wiring all of the building for emergency services, computers, and installing smart boards and TV’s. The Mayor gave an update on Sergeant Ramage who is expected to be back full time in January, and is currently back with light duty. The Mayor informed the Council he is hiring Shawn Nichols, with Stanley Consultants, to do a sign audit and assess them against our new code as to whether they are compliant and if not how can they become compliant. The fee will be taken out of the temporary employee fund. McDaniel asked if he had heard anything from Bob McQuade regarding the DMV office at City Hall. The Mayor stated he had missed a meeting and has had one conversation with him. The City has not been making any payments and has gotten no comments from them. The Council discussed the tree lighting held during the Holiday Celebration. They would like to see it expanded on and feel it should be separate from the Holiday Celebration. The Mayor asked them to put some thought into what they want it to be and what group may want to take it on. Adjournment: McDaniel moved to adjourn the meeting, Smith seconded the motion. All ayes: motion carried. The meeting was adjourned at 9:10 pm. Respectfully submitted: Approved: _____________________________ ________________________ Kathleen Hutton, Deputy City Clerk Nathan Mitchell, Mayor -4-