City Council Regular Meeting

Star City Council Meeting Minutes January 5, 2016 The regular meeting of the Star City Council was held on January 5, 2016 at 7:03 pm at the Star City Hall, 10769 W. State Street, Star, Idaho. Council President Chad Bell called the meeting to order and all stood for the Pledge of Allegiance. Roll Call: Councilmen Hershey, Lockett, Erlebach and Bell were all present. Mayor Nathan Mitchell was absent. Approval of the Agenda: Erlebach moved to approve the Agenda, Lockett seconded the motion. All ayes: motion carried. Consent Agenda: Lockett moved to approve the Consent Agenda consisting of Regular Meeting Minutes of December 15, 2015 and Claims Against the City for December 2015, Erlebach seconded the motion. All ayes: motion carried. Presentations/Public Input: Public Input - Chris Butterworth signed up in support of the Republic Storage Conditional Use Permit; he did not want to speak. Swearing in of the Mayor: Legal Counsel Chris Yorgason administered the oath of office to new Mayor elect Chad Bell. Swearing in of Council Members: Mayor Bell swore in the new Council by each seat. Seat 1 * Kevin Nielsen as Councilman for Seat 1. Seat 2 * Trevor Chadwick as Councilman for Seat 2. Seat 4 * David Hershey as Councilman for Seat 4. Presentation: Mayor Bell presented Tom Erlebach, former Councilman, with a plaque and certificate. The Mayor stated that Erlebach has always been here for the City and that he knows of no one that has volunteered more than Erlebach, he is always there to help. He had done a great job and thanked Erlebach for his service to the City. The Mayor stated that we have a plaque and certificate also for past Mayor Nathan Mitchell. The Mayor stated that Mitchell has done a lot of work for the City and has been involved in the City for many years, both as Councilman and then Mayor. Mayor Bell thanked everyone for helping him get elected. His father helped him make the decision to run for Mayor and he thanked his father. 1 New Business: Election of Council President – Chadwick nominated Lockett for Council President, Hershey seconded the motion. Hearing no other nominations, Mayor Bell closed the nominations. All ayes: motion carried. Public Hearing – Star Middle School Conditional Use Permit (continued) - The Mayor explained procedures for the public hearing. The Mayor asked Council for any ex parte contact or conflicts of interest. Hearing none the Mayor opened the public hearing and asked the Applicant to speak. Applicant: Scott Henson, LCA Architects, asked if he needed to review the entire project for new Council members. Council said they did not need the review. Henson said the school is taking a more proactive attitude in changing the design of the entry road. Henson reviewed the drawings and how the road would be revised; the east shoulder is narrow and the west shoulder is considerably wider. The area of the school districts frontage is proposing an 11 foot wide road and have a turn lane 100 feet deep and 300 feet long. The total width of road will be doubled at the entrance roughly 44 feet. They will have to move power poles and barbed wire fence. They can keep the road in the right-of-way without going onto someone’s property. The School District will have to negotiate with the neighbor about a borrow pit. They believe they can work the widening into the budget. Hershey asked what a decel lane was. Henson stated it was a deceleration lane. Henson stated that they are not planning for cars to back up, reason for deceleration lane. Nielsen asked how wide the road is. Henson stated that Ada County Highway District will make that determination and it will be more than there is now. Nielsen stated that there will be no barriers installed. Henson stated that ACHD sent a letter to the City, stating that when they investigated it, there have been no accidents on that road; that’s why they determined that there would be no guardrail. The entire road would have to be moved to the west. Nielsen asked about barriers. Henson stated there is not enough road. Henson stated that ACHD has numerous roads that are heavily traveled with no guardrails; one that they pull cars out once a week. Henson stated that this is improved. There is a representative from the School District here if Council wants to talk to him. Public: Gerrard Cattin, 12097 W. Caribee Inlet Drive, Star, Idaho, thanked Council and Mayor for the open public input, especially in light of the school safety issues. The safety of children comes first. Cattin thanked the school for expanding the road and making room for the cars to move around. He is not happy that guard rails are not going in, it is not acceptable. He wants it addressed. He suggested piping the ditch. He is asking Council to consider the safety of the children before you consider this option. 2 Gary Smith, 258 S. Langer Lake Way, Star, Idaho, stated he has attended all the meetings on this project. There is only one driveway in and out; if there was ever an accident at the entrance no one could get out. If there was anything that blocked the entry there is only one way in and one way out. There would be no way to get safety vehicles in or out. Smith asked if there was an option for an emergency road. He would like Council to please consider it. Applicant Rebuttal: Henson stated that as the designer of this facility the safety of the children is of the utmost concern. We believe we have committed to providing safe bussing, no matter how close children live to the school, but most will probably be brought by their parents. The School cannot control what ACHD will do; it is outside their control. They are going above what they are required to do. There is one approach into the facility, it is a divided medium with landscape buffer, if anyone blocked the road it is highly unlikely they couldn’t get out. If it was blocked what better place to be than the safety of the school. The have met with the Fire Chief and discussed the options, if it was only one entrance he would agree with safety environment, but it is not. Chadwick stated that don’t schools have two access points. Henson stated that most do. Chadwick asked if there was one that didn’t. Henson stated that none comes to mind. The schools can be set up with Knox gates. Henson stated they did not approach the surrounding property owners about an access. Henson stated the Fire Chief stated that it was safe. Hershey asked if the school zone is 20 mph? Henson does not know, he thinks they are generally 15 to 20 mph. Hershey stated that he sees flashers and that you have widened it quite a lot, but do they have teachers out monitoring the drop off. Henson asked Joe Yokam of the School District to speak. Henson hasn’t seen monitors. Joe Yokam, West Ada School District stated that they leave it up to the schools where the supervision is needed. If a crossing guard can be hired there maybe one at the entrance. Teachers do bus duty, as well as principals. There will be a faculty present. The Mayor closed the public hearing. Staff: Ward stated that there is another letter from ACHD and the staff report does suggest a second access point to the north of the property. The Mayor reviewed the previous meeting information. The Mayor stated that we don’t control the school or the highway district. We are trying to do the best we can. Nielsen thanked the school district for coming back with this proposal. We do have a turn lane for buffering the cars of 14 feet. The lane is close to the ditch. It drives him nuts when he hears that ACHD pulls a car out of the ditch every week. 3 Chadwick believes the school district has gone above and beyond and it is unfortunate that three entities are trying to make this right. He wants the City to work with ACHD on this road and make it better. Chadwick stated that it is a shame that the City didn’t see this before. He spoke with ACHD and if the street does become an access for the school it does become eligible for plowing. The Army Corp owns the ditch and he thinks that ACHD and the City can make it safer. He understands the access as we have a four lane highway going into the school. Hershey stated if we could get traffic slowed down we need to. At the north end where we could have an access point it would be good. We are up against other entities which feel they don’t need a guard rail. As far as snow and ice, the school does take that very seriously. He came into the application in the middle, but believes the school district shows a due diligence. Lockett moved to approve Conditional Use Permit, File #CU-16-01 for the Star Middle School with the nine conditions of approval, adding 10 the additional widening of Pollard Lane as stated by ACHD, and 11, adding the emergency access to the North, Hershey seconded the motion. Nielsen asked if we need to make it a condition to have the school enter into agreements for the borrow ditch with the neighbors. Yorgason stated that it was part of the widening of Pollard Lane. All ayes: motion carried. Public Hearing – Republic Storage Conditional Use Permit - The Mayor reviewed the public hearing procedures. The Mayor asked Council for any ex parte or conflicts of interest, hearing none the Mayor opened the public hearing and asked the applicant to speak. Applicant: Cornell Larson, representing Republic Storage asked Council if they wanted any history. Larson stated that initially the project started out as an “L” shaped parcel. As the Highway 16 project moved forward, the residence for the storage was cut off. The Mayor showed the property on the overhead. Larson stated the dark shaded property was recently acquired as part of an expansion and there is a need for additional storage. The transportation department participated in moving the residence to Moyle Lane to serve the existing facility. It was impossible to use the old site. The residence was moved to the west and they have done all the improvements and installed the fence, which is the same as the old facility. They are asking for approval of the new facility. Public: No public testimony was given. Staff: Staff had no additional comments. The Mayor stated that this is before the Council because of the Highway 16 expansion. The Mayor closed the public hearing. Lockett moved to approve the Conditional Use Permit for Republic Storage, File #CU-16-02 with the nine conditions of approval, Nielsen seconded the motion. All ayes: motion carried. 4 Resolution No. 16-01 Agreement with Ada County Highway District for Drainage for the Skate Park - The Mayor showed the picture of Hunter’s Creek and showed the location of the Skate Park. Chadwick asked about the requirement of being an active member of Digline. Our Engineer will fill out the paperwork, we don’t believe there is a cost. Hershey moved to approve Resolution No. 2016-01, a Resolution of the City of Star, Idaho approving the agreement between the Ada County Highway District and the City of Star, Idaho for use across and under the Ada County Highway District Right-of-way for storm water drainage from Hunters Creek Sports Park; to maintain an active membership in Digline; authorizing the Mayor to execute such approval on behalf of the City; and providing an effective date, Lockett seconded the motion. All aye: motion carried. Reports: Council – Nielson thanked everyone and appreciates everyone supporting him. It was a great race. He looks forward to serving the City. Chadwick stated he was honored to serve. Thanked Tom Erlebach for his work in this community in getting Hunter’s Creek ready. He thanked family. He thanked Cassidy and Doug for helping with the campaign. His parents are his inspiration for running for Council. His doors are always open and appreciates everyone’s support. Hershey stated he won with 15 votes and makes no illusion that many don’t want him in the office. He is very appreciative, he is here to serve Star and will vote for what’s best for the City. Everything he does is with the best of intentions. His major supporter is his wife. His door is always open; he is horrible at procedure. He loves the support he is seeing. Bell thanked everyone for their support and he has arranged for cookies and cake for family and friends. Chad has a vision for what we can do for Star and we need to trust the vision. The front wall of the meeting room will state “Hold the Vision - Trust the Process” very soon. Adjournment: The meeting was adjourned at 8:15 pm. Approved: ________________________ Respectfully submitted: Chad Bell, Mayor _______________________ Cathy Ward, City Clerk 5