City Council Special Meeting

Star City Council Workshop Notes June 15 & 16, 2018 McCall, Idaho Friday, June 15, 2018 Those present: Mayor Chad Bell, Councilmen Kevin Nielsen, Trevor Chadwick, Michael Keyes, David Hershey, Attorney Chris Yorgason, Staff Kathleen Hutton and Mark Butler Workshop began with Mayor Bell reviewing the financials. Discussions were held regarding financials, employees, and job descriptions. Keyes noted he would like to see more visibility in the budget, such as a line item for Hometown Celebration, an accounting of the committee’s in and out amounts, park maintenance expenses. An example of what he is proposing would be line item 432 Recreation Program with sub categories. This would show more clarity in what expenses were paid. Discussion was held regarding the City project list, what was completed and what was still on going. Yorgason discussed the process for surplusing the two lots in Hunters Creek. The Council has already declared the two lots surplused. They need to do a notice for a public hearing to sell them and what the minimum bid will be. Also, they have the option to trade the property for property of equal value. Chadwick brought up they are looking at a pathway from Floating Feather Road to the new middle school and wondered about the possibility of a land swap with Pecht’s for a pathway along his property to the middle school. Yorgason pointed out the land swap values’ would need to be the same. While discussing fines for the City it was suggested they set up a meeting with the Chief to discuss if any need to be changed and they would like to see our officers use the City ticket books. It was agreed that citizens walking dogs in parks posted “No dogs allowed” are to be ticketed. Recreation fees were discussed and Council thought they should consider looking at a more sports based (cost of sport) to set the fees instead of a flat fee for all sports. The Mayor stated he would visit with Ron regarding sport fees, but for now he and the Rec staff felt they should raise the resident fee to $35.00 with a family cap of $100.00 and the non-resident fee to $50.00 and there would be no family cap for non-residents. All were in agreement to this proposed fee change, which will require a resolution to put into place. Chadwick stated he did not feel we were charging enough for use of our athletic fields, especially for tournaments. The Mayor stated he like bringing these activities to town and didn’t want to discourage them. He will talk to Bob and Ron and see if the fees collected are covering expenses. Keyes brought up having the Mayor and Council join the American Planning Association for Professionals as they have a lot of resources for people who are involved in making land use decisions. Following discussion, it was agreed to put $450.00 in the budget to join. Consensus was to purchase two new computers, approving to spend up to $1,400.00 each if need be. Request for Window 10 Program for the new laptop purchased was approved or we may consider purchasing a new laptop with Windows 10. Approved purchasing new copier for $7,200.00 or if need be to spend more for a quality one. The Mayor and a councilman will look at bids and decide on the best buy. The purchase of two new file cabinets was discussed and Chadwick stated he has access to some good used ones and would be willing to deliver them to City Hall. The purchase of file cabinets to be removed from purchase list requests. Discussion was held regarding the request from Dave Hansen for a contract for animal control. All agreed the City did not need full-time animal control, but could possibly look at someone on a contract basis, though this could have many flaws regarding scheduling. At this time the Star Vet Clinic houses stray animals for the City that are brought to him, but he does not pick any animals up. It was agreed our officers need to ticket citizens violating the “No Dogs Allowed” signs posted in parks. Improvements at 960 S. Main Street were discussed. Nielsen proposed using it for scouting activities. Chadwick noted at one time they had discussed renting and storing tubes and paddle boards for the river and ponds. The Mayor stated he was looking for what they may want to do within a year or two. The City does repairs to the buildings and the renters maintain the buildings. It was suggested that this year they possibly spend money on a master plan and we will need to fix the deck. At the Pavilion Park property they are looking at doing some grading, seeding, and installing irrigation at an estimated cost of $60 -$70,000; possibly this fall. Council discussed finishing installing the drinking fountain at Hunters Creek Park and adding it to the project list, as well as fixing the water line to it. Not approved was hiring the 20 hours a week part-time person requested by Kim Ingraham; Council wanted to see justification and a job description for the position before approving. Following discussion it was also decided not to hire two additional part-time people for Ron Weston for rec; again wanting to see justification and job descriptions. All were in agreement not to purchase a bounce house for the rec department. They could rent one or continue borrowing from Mr. Bruneel. There was a request for two generators for the rec department and one for the parks department. Decision was made to purchase two for the parks department and they would be shared with the rec department and be available for use for other City activities. The request for baseball field irrigation was discussed and they will look into possibly purchasing a cannon sprinkler, but felt it could be done for less than $2,000.00. Request for purchasing sports equipment was approved and budgeted for $5,000.00; but the Mayor was asked to get from Ron the exact number of items to be purchased and the cost of each item to be purchased to justify dollars requested. All realized equipment sporadically needs replaced, just want to know exactly what is to be replaced. Playground equipment for Hunters Creek Park was discussed and all were reminded that the past decision was made not to put playground equipment in the sports complex. All in agreement not to approve the $75,000 requested, but may consider looking into something from Recreation Today out of Nampa for pricing for something along the line of small riding characters for very small children. Request for fencing around the electrical box at Hunters Creek Park was discussed and it was believed Idaho Power would not allow it to be fenced off. It was recommended we look into putting bird spikes on the top of the dugouts to discourage kids from climbing on the electrical box then onto the dugouts. Items requested for park maintenance discussed and it was decided to budget for a skidster, dump trailer, and two generators (different sizes) which the park and rec departments can share. Park maintenance can rent a top dresser when needed and the Mayor will talk to Bob regarding the mowers. It was brought up that the gravel to the ball fields was not ADA friendly; not conducive to wheel chairs. It was suggested they remove the gravel and possibly asphalt; the Mayor will look into it. Chadwick shared a concept plan for the proposed rec center at Pavilion Park and the different activities that could be held there, and noted rec staff could be on site. Talked about using a base fee for usage and possible offer memberships. It was decided to proceed with obtaining concept plans for the rec center and Chadwick stated he could have Jeff ?? give us a bid for the design drawing. It was proposed to go for a bond to pay for the construction of the center. Before they can proceed going for a bond they will need budget numbers and substantial concept drawings. Chadwick was asked to proceed in getting a more defined drawing and costs. The bonding process was discussed and Chadwick asked if they could use impact fees to pay off the bond. Yorgason stated he wasn’t sure, but definitely could not use future fees, possibly could current fees. They could possibly use impact fees for a portion and bond for the balance. A brief discussion regarding the trailers next to the Merc and the possibility of the City purchasing the property took place to which it was decided to scratch further conversation as they already had a lot of projects going. The Mayor pointed out he would like to keep commercial property commercial. Keyes presented some ordinance updates he would like to discuss: 1) Tree ordinance – recommend the type of trees that can be planted, 2) Amending the building ordinance requiring trees to be at certain intervals, 3) Bike parking ordinance – noted the copy presented for review will need to be reviewed as it is pretty lengthy, 4) Parking ordinance regarding trailers, 5) Amendment to the Comp Plan – reflecting amendments to the Comp Plan can be approved at any time, not just every two years as is in current plan, 6) No smoking ordinance in public places – passed out a sample of Boise’s ordinance, presented at the request of Chief Vogt, 7) Aerial fireworks – Chief Vogt asked Keyes to bring before the Council as we are the only City that allows the sale of aerial fireworks. Nielsen stated he felt it was up to the state to fix this issue not the City. Chadwick felt it was an overreach of government putting an ordinance in place. Hershey stated he didn’t like restricting laws already in place. Keyes stated he was presenting per Chief Vogt’s request but did not back it. 8) Proposal for adding some different zoning, a) residential estates, b) agricultural residential, c) agricultural district. 9) Keyes noted that at a recent AIC training it was presented that City’s do not need to have a public hearing for preliminary plats when they meet our code. We may need to update our code. Yorgason will work with Cathy to tighten up our code. Budget Discussion – Discussion was held on possibly taking some of the City’s forgone amount and it was pointed out that this would be a permanent increase. A resolution would need to be adopted in order to take any forgone amount; which could be done just before adopting the budget. It was agreed to take the 3% increase allowed in tax revenue and new construction. It was also agreed to only take some of the forgone dollars if needed, possibly to cover the increase in the police budget as they would like to go with option 1 of the police proposed budget which includes two additional officers and one additional police car at a cost of $996,717.95. Discussion was held and all were in agreement that they would like to budget for updating the Comp Plan. Keyes felt $200,000 was not out of line and the Mayor felt with Mark Butler’s help they could revise our current plan. Nielsen felt it was more important to revise the unified development code (UDC) and should budget at $100,000. The Mayor felt we could budget $100,000 for planning for both the Comp Plan and UDC. It was agreed we needed to take more than 90 days to revise the plans and agreed to a timeline of more like 12 – 18 months. Keyes asked when they felt we might need a full-time planner. The Mayor stated he did not feel we were there yet and Butler is willing to continue with a contract on a part-time basis. It was decided to continue with Mark Butler on contract and he could assist Ward when requested. The Mayor stated they should have a new budget before the Council in July to review before the August public hearing. He will let them know when the July workshop will be scheduled. Discussion held on money allocated for payment of the new maintenance building. It had been budgeted in the 2017 budget but was not built till this past spring in the 2018 budget. It was agreed to open and amend the 2017-2018 budget to add $500,000 from savings to pay for the maintenance building. This can be done the night of the budget hearing. The Council stated they would like the EDC Building Communities plan on the July 3rd Council meeting. The Mayor stated neither he nor the City Clerk had received a copy and they needed a copy of the updated plan before it could be put on an agenda. Saturday, June 16, 2018: Mark Butler updated the Mayor and Council on the Northerly Expansion Update Workshop held May 29th. There were 30 people present and the next workshop is scheduled for July 9, 2018. Butler has met with transportation agencies and will put comments together and will schedule another meeting. Canyon County Highway District is concerned with maintenance of new roads as development for the City in Canyon County happens. No impact fees are collected for Canyon County. They may consider once growth is so large having the City take over the maintenance of the roads from the County. The City may need to look in to how to collect money from Canyon County residents to pay for maintaining the roads if the City takes them over. The public hearing for the Comprehensive Plan Northerly Expansion and map amendment is scheduled for July 24, 2018. Butler will submit the same map for approval, but may update some text and will have it available for review. Discussion held for updating the City’s Comprehensive Plan and Butler shared samples of various city’s comp plans. Question raised as to whether they should write into code wanting a variety of lot sizes. Chadwick asked if Butler will be updating the language in Chapter 13 regarding slopes and Butler stated he will look in to it. Butler reviewed his proposal for updating the Comp Plan. Keyes asked if he planned to hold open workshops or have specialty group meetings. The open workshops will be for the public to give comments with the possibility of a few group meetings for groups such as business owners. Council can make that decision. It was noted Butler will bring in specialists for certain areas of the comp plan. Discussed the characteristics of the visioning process, engaging the public in the process, creating a plan but knowing it could change in five years, and the timeline for the process. It will take an ordinance to enforce the comp plan wording. Butler is willing to work with Council on redoing the City’s Comp Plan or is willing to act as a consultant to guide the process if Council would like a larger plan done and want to go out for bid. Council felt the timeline presented was too condensed, felt it will need to take longer than the proposed three months, but didn’t want it going for two years. Possibly schedule bi-weekly input workshops starting in August, breaking for the holidays, and beginning the refinement workshops in January, and doing the public hearing sometime in April 2019. Butler was directed to plan to McMillan to the south and to Palmer Lane to the east. Possibly look at an Ag area for 20 acres to the south where some homeowners want an Ag designation but the City can’t use as a hammer and make them stay Ag when homeowner wants something different. The Comp Plan will include transportation, which usually includes the major roads. Butler will spread out the meeting schedule and what will be covered at what meeting. Butler noted he may need to bring in third party consultants i.e., COMPASS, Star Sewer & Water, Dave Szplett for transportation, etc. Butler agreed to expand the timeframe out, get a better cost estimate and will work with the Mayor on it. Estimating 15 hours a week for 52 weeks. Butler reviewed the transportation plan map and noted the changes made following their meeting with agencies on Thursday. ACHD staff didn’t want a light at Moyle due to IDAPA rules, but the City still wants to look at having a signal at Moyle and Hamlin. Noted the City does not want to block the possibility of a light at Short Lane in case we can’t get the light at Hamlin. They removed the possible loop on T.J.’s property and Larson property – looking at separate entry roads. Keyes asked what it would take to hire Mark Butler as a full-time planner. Butler stated he enjoys working with the City and on his own projects, but would be willing to work with the City on choosing one if they wish. The Mayor stated we’ll work through some things and maybe look at it in the next year and a half to two years. Budget Discussion: Question brought up as to whether GovOffice can be set up to receive payments on- line, to which Nielsen stated our new website did have the capability. The Mayor stated we are looking at having it done within this fiscal year. The Mayor pointed out Dana Partridge is now working roughly four hours a week for $300 a month and the Mayor proposed expanding her position to Activities/PR Coordinator to coordinate activities for the City and do some public relations. The position is looking to be 20 hours a week at $20 an hour; Partridge is only wanting to be a contract employee part-time. Nielsen recommended removing line item 415.13 and moving to professional services for a total of $130,000.00. It was noted to check with Treasurer as to why line item 415.21 is reduced and to have her double check the amount on line item 415.22. It was discussed have a landscape plan done for the River Park property including the acres coming to the City in Heron River. They will budget $25,000 for the plan, and will see if Keller Associates can do and possibly check with Syringa Landscape in town. Chadwick suggested adding a budget line item for sports equipment. Nielsen stated he was not in favor of a line item, better to have them come with request each year. Keyes noted he would like to see the equipment request explain what they are requesting, the amount and the cost to be incurred. Nielsen felt the cost of equipment should come out of line item 432.00 Recreation Program which is being proposed to increase to $60,000. They would like to see a cost sheet before approving and know what the $60,000 budget amount covers. Keyes brought up cross training of staff, especially the City Clerk in case of an emergency, and the Mayor noted that was one reason for bringing on a new receptionist. Yorgason asked if the Impact Fee Committee was still meeting. They should be reviewing the plan, the amount being collected, and reviewing the fee amount. The committee must be made up of varying sectors of the community, usually meet for a month and can only make recommendations to the City. Statutorily the City is required to have one. Would like to add a line item to the proposed budget for Planning with sub line-items for Comp Plan $75,000, Unified Development Code $25,000, and Transportation Planning $38,000. To line item 450.50 Police increase to $996,717.95 to add increase for option 1. Future Projects proposed for future impact fees include: River Park Master Plan Implementation 2021-2022 Pavilion Park grass/irrigation/trees 2019-2020 Trident Ridge Pathway 2022-2023 Hunter Creek Park Improvements 2019-2020 & 2020-2021 Pavilion Park Rec Building 2020-2021 Blake Park ADA Drainage Improvements 2019-2020 & 2020-2021 Future Park Acquisition 2023-2024 Park Improvements 2024-2025 Budget Priorities for 2018-2019 were discussed and decided as follows: Planning - Comp Plan, Transportation $100,000 1 Irrigation/grass seeding/trees -Pavilion Park $65,000 2 Execute Economic Dev. Plan $50,000 3 Preliminary Planning Rec Building - Design & Bond Proposal $50,000 4 River Park Master Plan - 960 S. Main, 1000 S. Main, Heron River $25,000 5 $1,000 for council for training $1,000 6 (2) Generators $5,000 7 Dump Trailer $7,500 8 Skidster $10,000 9 Sports Equipment $5,000 10 Reviewed a plan for a possible site for the proposed event center west of downtown Star. Workshop adjourned at 12:00 am on June 16, 2018.