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HomeMy WebLinkAboutJune 26, 2009 Joint City-Town County Meeting Minutes1 LINKED MINUTES OF THE JOINT CITY-TOWN/COUNTY MEETING OF THE CITY COMMISSION BOZEMAN, MONTANA June 26, 2009 ********************** The Commission of the City of Bozeman met at Sir Scott’s Oasis located in Manhattan 204 West Main, Friday, June 26, 2009 from noon-1:30 p.m. Present were Mayor Kaaren Jacobson, Cr. Sean Becker and Cr. Jeff Rupp, City Manager Chris Kukulski, Policy Chief Mark Tymrak and City Clerk Stacy Ulmen. The following Minutes were transcribed by Gallatin County Commission Assistant Crystal Turner. An audio of this meeting exists but is not clear. Mayor Haag called the meeting to order. He asked all to go around the room and introduce themselves. #1a) Law & Justice Center: Update on Detention Center Project Commissioner White updated the group that the Detention Center construction project is on budget. Construction is still ongoing. The precast flooring will be done by a local company. The Exterior walls are manufactured in Spokane. The Master Plan for the entire site is still in the works. It will involve the Police Department’s proposed building as well as the new Law & Justice Center – which would have to go out to the voters due to the cost. The estimated completion date for the Detention Center is December 2010. MDT is remodeling 19th at the same time and it has greatly improved the entrance onto Dickerson. #1b) Law & Justice Center: Information Regarding Detention Center Work Program Availability Commissioner Skinner explained the Detention Center work program to the council and commission members present. These are workers from the jail, low-level offenders, as well as community service workers. The County uses them to mow the lawns at the Courthouse and Law & Justice Center, as well as pick up trash near the Logan Landfill, etc. These workers are also available to the municipalities if you need them. County priorities are first, but there are still many hours left in each week for other opportunities. Contact Sgt. Terry Brack or Sgt. Greg Bishop at 582-2133. #2) Solid Waste Management Update Commissioner White explained the composition of the board and the misconception that they were autonomous. He explained the removal of board members and the resignations we currently have on the board. There have been many challenges with the board but also with management of the facility. Stipends were removed from the bylaws. The County has advertised nationally for a new manager of the landfill. We received fourteen applications and interviewed the top three candidates on June 25th. A decision will be made by the four-member SWMD (current) board, but they want the city’s recommendations – that’s why the County invited a representative from each city/town that had a vacancy. The County is currently doing background checks and calling references. 39 Minutes of the Joint City-Town/County Meeting on Friday, June 26, 2009 2 The Logan Landfill has a new administrative building and new shop. We have had a couple robberies in the shop building already. Recently the board awarded a contract to purchase and install security system with cameras. Dan Ryan asked if modifications to the bylaws still allowed the board to be functional. Steve explained it has remained the same – stipends were all that were removed. (The original resolution creating the board set forth the board’s responsibilities.) The County Commission has the financial decision powers. #3) Public Mill Levy for Animal Control Commissioner Skinner explained the County’s current contract with Heart of the Valley (HOV) and the budget disagreement we have. He asked all present what they thought about going out for a public mill levy county-wide to administer animal control. Mayor Russ Nelson asked how many mills the County was thinking of. Joe answered that he didn’t have a number – he wanted to get a feel for others before doing a lot of work investigating this process. Chris Kukulski said that the City of Bozeman pays HOV about $100,000/year. He would like to approach this like they did for 9-1-1 mill levy. He believes the city would tell its residents that if done at the county-level it would most likely be less expensive. Commissioner White said that about 63% of the animals dropped off are picked up by the owners. HOV averages 8-9 animals/month. He would like to let the public decide how to handle this issue. There was discussion regarding the “kill” policy and that the contract does not include cats – it is for dogs only. Mayor Gene Townsend stated that the City of Three Forks pays Headwaters Veterinary for the first four days if an animal is dropped off. After that it’s up to them if they euthanize or keep the animal after four days. Many Three Forks locals use this vet though so they are familiar with most of the animals dropped off. He believes it would be hard to “sell” to Three Forks. Mayor Tony Haag said that it would be difficult to “sell” this to the public in Manhattan as well. Anne Koentopp said she does not know how much the City of Belgrade pays, but knows it is cheaper at Hardaway Vet for four days, then shipping to Livingston, than it is to keep the animals at HOV. With it being a difficult “sell” to the public, Commissioner Skinner agreed to drop any further attempts. #4) Treasure State Network Mayor Townsend questioned whether other communities received the notices from the Treasure State Network requesting all contract information. He is not trying to hide anything from this group, but it’s budget time and Three Forks only has two clerks to do all the day-to-day tasks as well as budget time work and other events – and we just don’t have the time to prepare all this information for this group and send it free of charge. He questioned how the other municipalities were handling this. City of Bozeman Clerk Stacy Ulmen said that they also received and City Attorney Greg Sullivan responded. She will share the response with the rest of the municipalities/county staff when she returns to her office. Chris Kukulski added that many of their ordinances, contracts, etc… are digitized and available online so that staff does not have to spend extra time preparing this type of request. It does make it easier for the public to access your documents as they can do it anytime outside of business hours. #5) Anything else? There was nothing else. Time/Date/Host of Next Meeting Mayor Townsend stated that it is Three Forks’ turn to host. He suggested August 28th at noon at the Three Forks Café (the old Headwaters Restaurant building) and we could all sit outside (if there are no mosquitoesJ). 40 Minutes of the Joint City-Town/County Meeting on Friday, June 26, 2009 3 ________________________________________ Kaaren Jacobson, Mayor ATTEST: _____________________________________ Stacy Ulmen, CMC, City Clerk PREPARED BY Gallatin County Commission Assistant, Crystal Turner. Approved on __________________________. 41