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HomeMy WebLinkAbout12-08-08_November 6, 2008 Policy Meeting MinutesLINKED MINUTES OF THE POLICY MEETING OF THE CITY COMMISSION BOZEMAN, MONTANA November 6, 2008 ***************************** The Commission of the City of Bozeman met in the City Commission Room at City Hall, 121 North Rouse on Thursday, November 6, 2008 from 12-1:30 p.m. Present were Mayor Kaaren Jacobson, Cr. Jeff Krauss, Cr. Sean Becker, Cr. Eric Bryson, Cr. Jeff Rupp, City Manager Chris Kukulski, Director of Finance Anna Rosenberry, and Deputy City Clerk Aimee Kissel. 0:00:44 A. Call to Order-Noon-1:30- City Commission Room, City Hall, 121 North Rouse Mayor Jacobson called the meeting to order. 0:00:45 B. Pledge of Allegiance and Moment of Silence 0:01:15 C. Policy Discussion 0:01:17 1. Preliminary Discussion regarding the Water Reclamation Facility Funding 0:01:27 Chris Kukulski, City Manager Mr. Kukulski presented an overview of the policy discussion 0:04:28 Anna Rosenberry, Director of Finance Ms. Rosenberry explained that the October 1st bids for the water reclamation facility came in substantially higher than planned prompting the need for this discussion. Staff whittled the project down to a revised recommended bid award of $53.8 million. 0:06:04 Cr. Bryson Cr. Bryson asked whether there was any reason why the project could not be re-bid. 0:06:22 Mr. Kukulski Mr. Kukulski explained that staff did not feel that the package should be re-bid as a whole but that there are pieces within that they are recommending to be re-bid such as the laboratory and administration building. 0:07:56 Ms. Rosenberry Ms. Rosenberry spoke about impact fees and the percentage of the project that was eligible to be covered with impact fees and what the impact fees are projected to be. Impact fees will not cover all eligible costs of the plant. What cannot be covered with impact fees has to be covered by the utility fund, the rate-payers. She asked that the commission provide direction in estimating future customer growth in light of the downturn within the economy recently. 0:11:25 Cr. Bryson Cr. Bryson asked what the actual growth rate of customers was for the past five years. 23 Linked Minutes of the Bozeman City Commission Policy Meeting, November 6, 2008 2 0:12:37 Ms. Rosenberry Ms. Rosenberry explained the different scenarios that had been offered to the commission within their packets. She also explained the issues with the shop complex as it relates to this project. She spoke about using the State Revolving Loan Fund to finance a portion of this project and how low the interest rates are. She gave information about one grant that has already been awarded and said they will be pursuing further in the future. 0:17:09 Cr. Becker Cr. Becker asked if the project could just be delayed. 0:17:42 Mr. Kukulski Mr. Kukulski explained that we cannot delay the project because the current facility is already 20% over load capacity. 0:18:55 Mr. Kukulski Mr. Kukulski explained that some of the project has been pushed to Phase II but even if we had no growth the items would still need to be completed because of regulation demands. 0:19:27 Tom Adams, Wastewater Treatment Plant Superintendent Mr. Adams explained that we are facing a regulatory compliance schedule. 0:24:58 Ms. Rosenberry Ms. Rosenberry explained the various scenarios in detail. 0:29:20 Mr. Kukulski Mr. Kukulski explained that the EPA does not consider a wastewater rate a hardship unless it reaches 2% of the median household income. Our rates are well under that EPA guideline. 0:30:43 Cr. Bryson Cr. Bryson raised concerns about what the rate payers would think about rate increases. 0:30:58 Mr. Kukulski Mr. Kukulski explained that the EPA does not care what the local economical situation is, they are only concerned with whether we meet our standards for discharge permits. 0:36:28 Cr. Krauss Cr. Krauss asked how much money from the general fund will be needed to build the shops. 0:38:12 Cr. Krauss Cr. Krauss asked how our rates stack up state-wide. 0:38:16 Ms. Rosenberry Ms. Rosenberry explained that we are on the high end of the rate scale within the state. 0:38:49 Mr. Kukulski Mr. Kukulski explained that there is a direct correlation between when city's made their facility investment and higher rates. 24 Linked Minutes of the Bozeman City Commission Policy Meeting, November 6, 2008 3 0:51:33 Cr. Rupp Cr. Rupp asked whether all of the required modifications to deal with Dairy Gold discharge are still included in the $53 million dollars. 0:52:20 Mr. Adams Mr. Adams explained that the facility addition will be able to handle discharge from Dairy Gold. 0:56:42 Rick Hixson, City Engineer Mr. Hixson explained that city staff felt that the bids were competitive and that they feel the bid price is the cost of the work. Three bids came within 6% of each other. 0:57:46 Mr. Hixson Mr. Hixson explained why the engineer hired by the city had such a low estimate compared to the bidders. 0:58:03 Mr. Hixson Mr. Hixson explained why city staff does not think that re-bidding the entire package again would be advantageous. 1:00:55 Cr. Becker Cr. Becker would prefer that rates do not go up to cover impact fee eligible projects to cover future growth leading to a discussion about costs to rate payers and the use of future impact fees. 1:07:09 Mr. Kukulski Mr. Kukulski explained how the city is looking for other grant sources but is not counting on them. 1:09:13 Cr. Rupp Cr. Rupp brought up the issues of dirtier water coming into our system than is going out from other sources of contamination up-river. 1:12:00 Cr. Rupp Cr. Rupp started a discussion regarding the shops complex. 1:18:18 Mr. Kukulski Mr. Kukulski asked for clarification about which impact fee growth rate estimates to move forward with. 1:22:29 D. Public Comment Mayor Jacobson opened public comment. Seeing no public comment, Mayor Jacobson closed public comment. 1:22:53 E. Round Table Discussion (Identifying potential future agenda items arising from the prior City Commission Meeting) 1:23:05 Cr. Becker Cr. Becker asked about the Transportation Plan draft. 1:23:16 Bob Murray, Project Engineer II Mr. Murray explained that a draft of the Transportation Plan has been distributed and is on the 25 Linked Minutes of the Bozeman City Commission Policy Meeting, November 6, 2008 4 web-site and open for public comment. The public comment deadline is December 5th and then the Transportation Coordinating Committee will try to resolve issues that arise. 1:24:28 Cr. Krauss Cr. Krauss explained that the Transportation Plan has been released to the planning board as well and then the Transportation Committee can present the Plan to the City and County Commissions after planning board and public comment issues have been looked at. 1:26:35 Mr. Kukulski Mr. Kukulski suggested that a joint public hearing and meeting with both City and County commissions to avoid adoption problems. 1:26:52 Cr. Krauss Cr. Krauss said that each body should be able to talk about the Transportation plan with a joint hearing as a last resort to hammer out discrepancies. 1:30:06 G. Adjournment Mayor Jacobson adjourned the meeting at 1:36 p.m. ______________________________ Kaaren Jacobson, Mayor ATTEST: ___________________________________________ Stacy Ulmen, City Clerk PREPARED BY: ____________________________________________ Aimee Kissel, Deputy City Clerk Approved on__________________________________. 26