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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2006-01-03 Minutes, City Commission MINUTES OF THE WORK SESSION MEETING OF THE CITY COMMISSION BOZEMAN, MONTANA January 3, 2006 **...************************ The Commission of the City of Bozeman met in work session in the Community Center, Triple Tree Ranch, Building, 58 Triple Tree Road, on Tuesday, January 3,2006, at 3:00 p.m. Present were Mayor-elect Jeff Krauss, Commissioner-elect Sean Becker, Commissioner-elect Jeff Rupp, Commissioner Steve, Commissioner-elect Kaaren Jacobson, City Manager Chris Kukulski, Director of Public Service Debbie Arkell, Director of Finance Anna Rosenberry, Planning Director Andy Epple, City Attorney Paul Luwe, Directory of Public Safety - Police Mark Tymrak, Director of Public Safety - Fire Chuck Winn, Superintendent of Facilities and Lands James Goehrung, City Engineer Rick Hixson, and City Clerk Robin Sullivan. Signing of Notice of SDecial Meeting Each of the Commissioners and Commissioners-Elect signed the Notice of Special Meeting. Public Comment No comment was received under this agenda item. Issue Discussion with Incomino Commissioners and Staff Included in the Commissioners packets was a listing of issues to be discussed during this work session. City Manager Kukulski noted the purpose of this meeting is to provide the newly elected Commissioners with information on some of the major projects and issues that they will be facing in the near future and with the operational foundation from which they will be able to identify goals for Fiscal Year 2006. Mayor-elect Krauss expressed concern that this meeting was not properly noticed and as a result, neither the press nor any member of the public were present. The City Manager responded that the intent of this meeting is to share information and that no decisions are to be made. City Manager Kukulski asked the Commissioners to identify any issues that they wish to discuss in addition to those issues that are already on the agenda. Topics identified included: 1. Transparency in government, including the increased use of technology; 2. Identifying the major planning documents and the revision process for each; 3. Getting to know each department; 4. City finances, including establishing and overseeing the budget; 5. Affordable housing, a discussion to be held early in the meeting; 6. Commissioner relationships with staff; 7. Inter-local agreement with the County regarding planning; 8. Identifying and addressing problems in Commission meetings; 9. Administrative staff's presence at all Commission meetings. Facilities Plans. Director of Public Service Debbie Arkell and City Engineer Rick Hixson gave a brief overview of the wastewater facility plan update, noting the new plan includes a 47-square-mile area. They cautioned that the construction of a new wastewater treatment plant will be required within the next few years, incorporating new technology, to meet EPA requirements. They estimated the cost of the initial phase at $27 million. City Manager Kukulski cautioned that the overall plant will cost an estimated $50 million when complete. He identified impact fees, user fees, bonds, and possible federal funds as funding sources for these capital improvements. 01-03-2006 work - 2 - Director of Public Service Debbie Arkell reminded the Commission that the sewer collection system must be maintained and upgraded. She noted that improvements and maintenance are being carried out on a systematic and continual basis. Responding to the City Manager, Director of Finance Rosenberry estimated that the balance in the Wastewater Fund to be around $200,000. Director of Public Service Arkell turned her attention to the Water Facilities Plan update. She stated the Hyalite transmission main replacement will provide the additional water need to serve the community for the next several years. However, she cautioned that the water treatment plant will need to be replaced in the next few years. She further stated that continual upgrading and maintenance of the water distribution is crucial and is being undertaken on a systematic and regular basis. The Director of Public Service stated that the Department of Environmental Quality has mandated that Phase II stormwater regulations apply to all communities with over 10,000 population. She noted that no funding source for this program has yet been identified and suggested that alternatives include assessments through a city-wide maintenance district or user fees. Planning Director Andy Epple gave an update on the status of the Parks, Recreation, Open Space, and Trails (PROST) plan. He noted that the previous plan is now 10 years old that the update will be more specific than the current plan. Commission Meetings. Mayor-elect Krauss expressed interest in making the Commission meetings more efficient and ending before 1 a.m. During the discussion the Commissioners recognized the need to provide adequate time for public input but agreed that a time limit of around 2-3 minutes should remain in effect. Commissioner Kirchhoff noted that running the meeting is the responsibility of the Chair and suggested that the Chair needs to be better able to identify the outstanding issues and guide the discussion. The City Manager suggested that the televising of meetings will allow the public to be more informed in regards to the decisions that the Commission is making. Responding to Commissioner-elect Jacobson, City Attorney Paul Luwe stated that the applicant is given an opportunity to provide rebuttal at the end of a public hearing to ensure the developer has been provided with due process and to help eliminate potential legal issues. He acknowledged that the rebuttal opportunity has been gradually becoming a summary period rather than a rebuttal to specific issues raised during the public testimony. Mayor-elect Krauss requested that the cover memo more effectively reflect the important points in the attached support information. Commissioner Kirchhoff expressed concern that informal reviews can lead the Commissioners into dangerous waters and cautioned that care must be taken in comments forwarded during that review. He recognized that these reviews had merit when the new planning philosophies were being implemented, in order to help educate developers in these new philosophies, but suggested that they may have outlived their usefulness. Mayor-elect Krauss stressed his desire to exceed statutory requirements for publishing notice of meetings on critical issues in which the public may have interest. Commissioner-elect Becker questioned whether the Commission is receiving adequate information upon which it is expected to make decisions. He would like to see comparative analysis as well as the support information upon which staff has based its recommendation. The Mayor-elect stated that he is also disappointed with the professional staff reports, stating he feels that they are too subjective. He also supports the providing of comparative analysis in the reports. Break - 615 to 645 D.m. 01-03-2006 work - 3 - Mayor-elect Krauss declared a dinner break from 615 p.m. to 645 p.m. Issue Discussion with Incomina Commissioners and Staff (Continued) Transportation Plan. Planning Director Andy Epple gave an overview of the Transportation Plan, noting that the 2001 update is already outdated and that a new update is essential. The Transportation Coordinating Committee has begun that process and the update is estimated to cost $130,000 - $150,000, with the State committing to pay one half of those costs and the City committing to funding the other half. He noted that the Transportation Plan includes the backbone structure of the street system only and not local street alignments. City Manager Kukulski stressed the importance of having up-to-date facilities plans in place. He cited several recent examples of the City receiving federal funds that were previously earmarked for other communities because they were unable to meet federal requirements for the receipt of those monies and Bozeman was able to do so under an extremely short time line because of the facilities plans. Fire Station. Director of Public Safety-Fire Chuck Winn distributed a handout on the fire department. He noted the department's success is measured by what doesn't happen, citing the quickly-contained fire at the Story Mansion as an example. He cautioned that considerable portions of the community now lies outside of the 7 -minute response from either fire station. He indicated that the department is currently undergoing a fire station location study and the results will show where the optimum locations for additional stations are. He also drew attention to the dramatic increase in calls for service over the last 22 years, from 300 calls, when he started with the department, to over 2000 calls in 2005. Bozeman 2020 Community Plan. Planning Director Andy Epple stated that this is the City's growth policy. It is to be reviewed and updated every 5 years, and 2006 is the next time that process will begin. This plan is the overriding document for all other plans previously highlighted in this discussion. He indicated that the plan will be updated by in-house staff, the same process by which the document was originally prepared. Mandeville Farm. City Manager Kukulski reported that ThinkTank has been hired to do the master plan for the Mandeville Farm land development. He stated that rail access is an attractive feature to several local businesses that have such transportation needs. He noted that the master plan will allow for appropriate development of the entire site, and encouraged to the Commission to view this as an opportunity for economic development. Parking Garage. Director of Finance Anna Rosenberry reported that staff is drafting a memorandum of understanding that makes this a City-owned facility and puts the retail portion of the project out to bid. Commissioner Kirchhoff left the meeting at 7:52 p.m. Library. Superintendant of Facilities and Lands James Goehrung cautioned that the restrictions on the federal monies recently awarded for the library project may preclude usage of the entire award on the site immediately surrounding the library; however a portion of it could be used for the development of a parking lot at the base of Peet's Hill. He brought attention to the fact that the library project will be approximately $1.5 million short, and that financing will be required. Mayor-elect Krauss mentioned that there was no rigorous professional urban planning applied to the library development process. 01-03-2006 work -4- Story Mansion. Superintendent of Facilities and Lands James Goehrung stated that the recent fire did minimal damage to the exterior, with some smoke damage to the interior of the structure. City Manager Kukulski noted that the two separate requests for proposals reflect the City's diligence in their efforts to uphold the community's dream to preserve this historic site. He cautioned that if Montana State University is unable to raise the funds needed to convert the structure into a Humanities Institute, it may be necessary to allow for limited development of the site by a private developer. Durston Road. City Manager Kukulski reported that the special improvement district has been created, bid documents are being prepared, and the opening of construction bids is scheduled for the first week in February, for the portions of Durston Road lying between North 19th Avenue and Fowler Avenue. He noted that the bids for improvements to Durston Road between North 7th and North 19th Avenue are also to be opened this spring. Impact Fee Studies. City Manager Kukulski reminded the Commissioners that the impact fee lawsuit was recently settled, thus removing the freeze and allowing for the expenditure of impact fees. He cautioned that new studies are needed to determine the appropriate levels of impact fees and to identify eligible projects. Cable Television Franchising. City Manager Kukulski announced that Bresnan Communications had agreed to provide a community access channel without a franchise agreement. As a result, no agreement is being pursued at this time. Police Department. Director of Public Safety-Police Mark Tymrak recognized the benefits of partnering with county law enforcement at the Law and Justice Center, however he cautioned that they have outgrown the facility and cannot wait 10 years for a new one. In efforts to address the overcrowding, he is opening a downtown substation in the City Hall complex, where the police department was previously located. For the convenience of the public, his goal is to have the substation open during regular business hours on a permanent basis. The Director highlighted the various divisions within the department and the duties of each. He voiced concern that the department, like all other law enforcement departments across the country, has encountered problems with recruitment and retention of excellent police staff. Director Tymrak cautioned that he is not always able to respond to questions pertaining to confidential criminal justice information. Director Tymrak turned his attention to the financing of the Joint Dispatch Center, stressing the importance of a 911 mill levy that will provide adequate funding for the operations on a fair and equitable basis. He stated that under the current funding structure, city residents are double paying while residents in other jurisdictions pay little, in comparison, for the service provided. Snow Removal. City Manager Kukulski stated that if a better system for the removal of snow from city streets is to be developed, on-street parking restrictions will have to be considered. Neighborhood Program. Neighborhood Coordinator Tracy Oulman gave an overview of the program and identified the need to establish a structure for recognizing neighborhood councils that includes criteria and predictability. She identified neighborhood councils as grass roots organizations and not part of the City's overall governing structure. 01-03-2006 work - 5 - Affordable Housing. Planning Director Andy Epple stated that current regulations have shown limited success in providing affordable housing. He further mentioned that the 5,000 square foot lots are being developed with small homes that sell for over $200,000. City Manager Kukulski recommended that affordable housing consultants be hired to determine how to best apporach creating an affordable housing market. Commissioner-elect Rupp noted that during his tenure with HRDC much of his work has been devoted to providing affordable housing in and around Bozeman. He expressed his intent to bring forward a proposal requiring that 20% of all lots be designated "affordable housing" for the local workforce including city and county employees, and teachers. He also stated that he intends to ask that every Planned Unit Development provide a minimum of 10 percent for "affordable workforce housing." Miscellaneous. City Manager Kukulski distributed copies of the Core Values and the mid- and long-term goals as well as the 2005 goals and encouraged the Commissioners to review these in preparation for the next discussion and impending goal-setting process. Adiournment - 22:45 p.m. There being no further business to come before the Commission at this time, Mayor-elect Krauss adjourned the meeting. ATTEST: ~ fL t\_~- .-- JEF Y. SS, Ma or ~J~ R BIN L. SULLIVAN City Clerk PREPARED BY: f)' U DEVIN M. ~OUR Deputy City Clerk 01-03-2006 work