Mayor & City Council

WHITEFISH CITY COUNCIL March 18, 2024 7:10 P.M. 1) CALL TO ORDER Mayor Muhlfeld called the meeting to order. Councilors present were Qunell, Feury, Caltabiano, Davis, Sweeney, and Norton. City Staff present were, City Clerk Howke, City Manager Smith, City Attorney Jacobs, Finance Director Gospodarek, Planning and Building Director Taylor, Public Works Director Workman, Police Chief Kelch and Fire Chief Hadley. There were zero people in the audience and approximately two people attended virtually. 2) PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE Mayor Muhlfeld asked City Manager Dana Smith to lead the audience in the Pledge of Allegiance. 3) COMMUNICATIONS FROM THE PUBLIC– (This time is set aside for the public to comment on items that are either on the agenda, but not a public hearing or on items not on the agenda. City officials do not respond during these comments but may respond or follow-up later on the agenda or at another time. The mayor has the option of limiting such communications to three minutes depending on the number of citizens who want to comment and the length of the meeting agenda) None 4) COMMUNICATIONS FROM VOLUNTEER BOARDS Councilor Norton reported she attended the Tree Committee meeting. There is a longstanding issue on Idaho Avenue with some trees that were cut wrong years ago. Staff has found a final solution to cut them back to where they were cut wrong and then apply a growth retardant. She reminded the public that nobody is allowed to cut trees on a neighbor’s property, and the City does not top trees in our urban forest. She also reported that Arbor Day is April 26th, at Armory Skate Park. The High School students are going to help plant trees at 10:45 am. The public is welcome. Staff is working with Flathead Electric regarding trees that need to be removed under powerlines. Mayor Muhlfeld asked City Attorney Jacobs to visit with Director Butts pertaining to the tree issue Councilor Norton mentioned earlier. 5) CONSENT AGENDA (The consent agenda is a means of expediting routine matters that require the Council’s action. Debate does not typically occur on consent agenda items. Any member of the Council may remove any item for debate. Such items will typically be debated and acted upon prior to proceeding to the rest of the agenda. Ordinances require 4 votes for passage – Section 1-6-2 (E)(3) WCC) a) Minutes from March 4, 2024, Regular Meeting (p.34) b) Ordinance No. 24-03; An Ordinance amending Whitefish City Code, Title 1, Chapter 7, Section 2, Municipal Judge (Second Reading) (p.39) Councilor Sweeney made a motion, seconded by Councilor Norton to approve the minutes. Councilor Norton had a correction on the March 4, 2024, regular meeting minutes, Over 5,000 people dies died in the U.S. last year from Long Covid. The symptoms are subtle, ringing in the ears, brain fog, word finding deficits. The motion to approve as corrected carried. 6) PUBLIC HEARINGS (Items will be considered for action after public hearings) (Resolution No. 07-33 establishes a 30- minute time limit for applicant’s land use presentations. Ordinances require 4 votes for passage – Section 1-6-2 (E)(3) WCC)) a) Resolution No. 24-14; A Resolution approving a Land Use License with the Montana Department of Natural Resources and Conservation with respect to the Spencer Mountain Trail (p.43) City Attorney Angela Jacobs presented her staff report that is provided in the packet on the website.  CITY COUNCIL MINUTES March 18, 2024 Mayor Muhlfeld opened the Public Hearing. There being no public comment, Mayor Muhlfeld closed the Public Hearing and turned the matters over to the Council for their consideration. Councilor Sweeney made a motion, seconded by Councilor Davis to adopt Resolution No. 24-14; A Resolution approving a Land Use License with the Montana Department of Natural Resources and Conservation with respect to the Spencer Mountain Trail. The motion carried. 7) COMMUNICATIONS FROM PUBLIC WORKS DIRECTOR a) Consideration to appoint a Council member or Mayor to the Safe Streets for All Plan Task Force (p.62) Councilor Sweeney made a motion, seconded by Councilor Feury to appoint Mayor Muhlfeld to the Safe Streets for All Plan Task Force. The motion carried. 8) COMMUNICATIONS FROM CITY ATTORNEY a) Resolution No. 24-15; A Resolution approving a Memorandum of Understanding with the Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks for the Beaver Lake Fishing Access Site (p.64) City Attorney Angela Jacobs presented her staff report that is provided in the packet on the website. Councilor Sweeney made a motion, seconded by Councilor Qunell to adopt Resolution No. 24-15; A Resolution approving a Memorandum of Understanding with the Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks for the Beaver Lake Fishing Access Site. The motion carried. b) Consideration of Approval of an Agreement with Miles Whitefish Investment (p.102) City Attorney Angela Jacobs presented her staff report that is provided in the packet on the website. Council discussed this agreement at length. The full discussion is provided on the YouTube recording (18:57). The condominiums located at 28 Miles Avenue is nearing completion. The Developer is unable to meet Condition #6 of WCUP 21-23, because FCD has not approved a 310 Permit, and it appears FCD will not do so in the future. The City proposes to submit an application to FWP for a 124 Permit to allow the City to construct the segment of the Whitefish Rivert Trail proposed to run through property owned by Riverbend Condo Association and the Property, treating the segment as “one project” as required by FWP. The Developer and the City proposes to enter into an agreement for the City to construct the bike/pedestrian trail over the Property and for the Developer to reimburse the City for certain expenses related to the same. The Developer will reimburse the City for $204,362.50, the amount of the bid received by Watson Excavating for construction of the trail. The Developer has a condition of approval from the City that requires him to build the path, but he can’t get the permit to build it. The Developer is looking for a means to fulfill his condition of his CUP and start selling units. After much discussion, the Council has concerns of the timing of the payment to the City and the termination of the agreement. Council feels the Developer needs to pay the City now as a condition of getting his Certificate of Occupancy (C of O) to begin to sell those units. If at some point in the future it becomes clear and the City decides they don’t want to build it, the City would then agree to give the money back. Attorney Jacobs stated if the Council wanted it paid immediately, staff can talk to the Developer about it. We have to be clear about when we are going to reimburse them and how much are we going to reimburse. Councilor Caltabiano made a motion, seconded by Councilor Norton to approve the agreement, and discuss potential amendments. 2  CITY COUNCIL MINUTES March 18, 2024 After lengthy discussion, Councilor Caltabiano withdrew his motion to approve, Councilor Norton seconded his withdrawal. Councilor Caltabiano made a motion to instruct staff to discuss with the developer and come back with an agreement that might fulfill all the concerns. The Council showed support by raising of hands. 9) COMMUNICATIONS FROM CITY MANAGER a) Written report enclosed with the packet. Questions from Mayor and Council? (p.110) Councilor Caltabiano commented on the credit card processing fees that Manager Smith reported on in her manager report. He supports the change and clarifies that service fees or convenience fees are not illegal unless the state legislature has made them illegal. In certain cases, they are dictated by the terms in conditions between Visa/Mastercard and the merchant. b) Other items arising between March 13th and March 18th Manager Smith mentioned Planner Tiefenbach has worked with the Whitefish High School art class, who have done art depicting our growth policy update and what Vision Whitefish 2045 looks like to them. The artwork is on display on the second floor of City Hall. His intent is to include some of that artwork in the growth policy. The budget calendar is on the agenda, typically she has met in March with the Council in smaller groups to share concerns for the budget. This year it will be a challenge time wise to get meetings. She has a full week of union negotiations in April and full week of Director’s budget meetings in April. She asked Council if she could update the data that she usually provides and provide it to the Council. If the Council has questions Council can schedule a time to meet with her individually. Council was in agreeance. 10) COMMUNICATIONS FROM MAYOR AND CITY COUNCILORS a) Consideration of approving tentative FY25 Budget calendar (p.113) Councilor Qunell made a motion, seconded by Councilor Sweeney to approve the tentative FY25 Budget calendar. The motion carried. b) Letter from Flower Bartholomew requesting City Council to consider implementing a preservation program (p.114) Councilor Norton mentioned that she, Rhonda Fitzgerald, and staff have started working on this. They have a survey from the MDT that was done along the Hwy 93 corridor. They have identified a historian from Missoula that created the survey. She has talked with Manager Smith and Director Taylor about budgeting. We won’t be able to hire the consultant to help until FY25. She is currently doing a study on our China neighborhood. Staff is also working on a demolition permit and looking at site review policy to include identifying homes that will be demoed or removed on a site. c) Letter from Toby Scott suggesting City Council to set an income level above which a Councilor or Mayor is not paid (p.113) No comment. Council Comment Councilor Norton reported she attended the Housing Summit. It was nice to hear the progress that we have made. We are moving in the right direction. She also reported that she spoke with Justine with FWP about 3  CITY COUNCIL MINUTES March 18, 2024 the bear situation. She asked Manager Smith if all the containers have been rolled out. Manager Smith stated according to Republic Services they are. Staff is looking through accounts to confirm. Staff is also working to meet with Republic Services. We are facing challenges from communications and fees that they are charging. Councilor Norton stated that FWP was only able to identify two bear families in town. People should pull their cans into the garage to lessen the risk of bear getting ahold of it. She recommended getting a hold of Republic Services or Utility Billing to fix latches that are not working. Councilor Davis commented on the work session prior to the meeting. It might cost more to have market wages, but you get that back and benefit in investing in your people and investing in keeping people around and keeping the organization performing well. He thinks something needs to be done. Manager Smith’s initial proposal sounded reasonable. He also agrees with the comment that was made; the couple jobs that are a lot lower than others should be looked at. If there are any reasonable suggestions about how to avoid getting in this position in the future, we should consider them. Making sure our wages are keeping up with the market rather than trying to make large adjustments one year. It is better to do it over time. He agrees, the folks in the seasonal jobs who are very public facing positions, making sure we are retaining good people. Property taxes are very politically sensitive. He is very hesitant to raise property taxes. He doesn’t like the idea right now, but he thinks we are where we are and he thinks the citizens, if properly explained would probably understand. This is a big number we are looking at, so it would help him to be able to assess this in the context of our overall budget. He hopes with new taxable value and being cost conscious in other areas that we can find a way to do this without having really significant changes in property taxes. Councilor Sweeney concurs with Councilor Davis; we need to do something. He thinks Manager Smith’s initial proposal is something we ought to look at for this budget year with the idea that we are going to fill in the holes. He appreciates staff bringing this forward. We need to stay ahead of this one as best we can. Councilor Qunell apologized for missing the work session. It is nice to have the opportunity to raise taxes without having to vote on them. In general, we don’t have a lot of employees that leave because they are well compensated, not just monetarily, but in terms of benefits, especially compared to other public employees. His only suggestion would be to try not to eat the elephant all in one bite. Scale this up over time rather than trying to solve it all in one year or even two years. Councilor Caltabiano agrees with Councilor Davis’ suggestion. It needs to be seen in the budget context to understand what we are looking at. Mayor Muhlfeld mentioned he attended on behalf of the City the Montana Wetland Council Annual meeting that is put on by DEQ in Helena. There were representatives from the entire state, and the focus was on the recent Supreme Court decision that is a significant blow to the federal Clean Water Act. They invited the City to educate those in attendance of what we have done at the local level to exceed federal and state water quality protections. We are leading the charge in Montana for local governance. 11) ADJOURNMENT (Resolution 08-10 establishes 11:00 p.m. as end of meeting unless extended to 11:30 by majority) Mayor Muhlfeld adjourned the meeting at 8:35 p.m. /s/John Muhlfeld Mayor Muhlfeld Attest: /s/Michelle Howke Michelle Howke, Whitefish City Clerk 4