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HomeMy WebLinkAbout06-14-14 INC minutes THE INTER-NEIGHBORHOOD COUNCIL (INC) MEETING OF BOZEMAN, MONTANA MEETING MINUTES Madison Room, City Hall, 121 N. Rouse Avenue Thursday, June 14, 2014 Attending: Jennifer Rockne (SCAN) moderator, Kirk Johnson (MarLin), Joe Genovese (NHVN), Ginny Cowan (BCNA), Bob Wall (SENA) Allyson Brekke (City Neigh- borhood Coordinator), Deputy Mayor Carson Taylor (City Commission liaison), Lain Leoniak (City Water Conservation Specialist), Fire Chief Jason Shrauger QUORUM MET 4:35 Jennifer convened the meeting Review of May minutes. Bob moved to approve the minutes. Ginny seconded. Motion passed unanimously. Update on Rental Safety Initiative – Fire Chief Jason Shrauger The Fire Department has conducted meetings with a number of stakeholders. They start- ed the inspection program, did six inspections, and generated a number of questions. They are consulting the City attorney, Tim Cooper. They have halted inspections until the questions are resolved. Initial inspection discovered several situations not allowed by City planning, and also a number of code violations. The presentation to the City Commission has been deferred from May to July 16. There have been 190 requests for inspections already, mostly from one property manager. The group has requested budget for a fire inspector. If approved, that individual will be responsible for the inspection program as well. We discussed enforcement – life-threatening problems will be dealt with immediately. Owners won’t be forced to address non-immediate problems. More information can be requested from info@bozemanfire.com. 4:55 Presentation on city water use and conservation efforts – Lain Leoniak, City Water Conservation Specialist Lain brought leak detections kits for toilets, handouts on Montana plants courtesy of MCRS, brochures on City’s riparian recommendations, water conservation tips for lawns, toilet tradeout forms, water calculator quizzes. The City’s toilet tradeout program is still going – there is no end date projected. Conservation is important; the City does not have adequate water supply to meet future demand. Conservation will delay the need for construction projects. Watering – fescues use about half the water of traditional lawns. You can see an example of fescue lawn installed north of the stadium at MSU. Hunter MP rotator spray nozzles for sprinkler systems can reduce flow by about 30%. Reviewed information on different native Montana plants that handle low moisture situa-tions well. Lain is available to attend neighborhood association meetings. 5:25 INC Election of Officers We discussed vice chair nominees. Responsibilities are to chair meetings if the chairper- son is not present and to review agendas prior to meetings. Bob nominated Joe as vice chair. Jennifer nominated Bob as secretary-treasurer. Bob nominated Jennifer as chair. Bob moved to accept slate of officers by acclamation. Kirk seconded. Motion passed unanimously. 5:35 BCNA Update Annual meeting was held this past Monday at the Martel board rom. The room holds 15 people – 46 people attended. The group still has some work to do on bylaws and needs to elect officers. A presentation by the code compliance officer generated a lot of discussion. GVLT also presented. The group has decided to revise its bylaws to change from an advisory board to a chair/vice chair/sec.-treasurer structure. BPNA Update BPNA is not in compliance with the Neighborhood Recognition Ordinance requirements. The group has not had a meeting since 2012. There have been delays organizing a meet- ing of the officers and Allyson. We discussed drafting a non-compliance notice to help spur the group to get more active. Joe moved to ask Allyson to draft said letter, which will be reviewed at the next meeting. Bob seconded. Motion passed unanimously. 5:50 City Budget Review The City Commission started reviewing the proposed budget during their meeting this past Monday. The Community Development Department has requested a full-time posi-tion for a Neighborhood District Specialist. This person would devote half time to two TIFF districts and half time to the Neighborhood Program. The person would not be re- sponsible for doing any planning review. The Community Development Department is funded from the general fund, and there are 4.4 FTEs requested from the general fund. It is not likely that all of these positions will be funded. June 23 is the first date when the budget could be approved. It will likely go to June 30 before adoption. We reviewed the Neighborhood Recognition Ordinance and confirmed that it did not establish a neighborhood coordinator position, only enumerated responsi- bilities of the City in regards to neighborhoods. Bob will edit the letter that we previously sent encouraging the establishment of a full time neighborhood coordinator position to instead encourage funding the Neighborhood District Specialist position when the budget is considered. We will distribute for review. Once it is ready, it will be mailed to agenda@bozeman.net to be distributed to the Com- missioners. Deputy Mayor Taylor recommended that we mail after June 16. Joe moved to form a task force composed of Jennifer and Bob to get the letter revised, reviewed, and sent. Bob seconded. Motion passed unanimously. 6:00 FYI Chelsea Schmidt is leaving MSU. She was involved in the Good Neighbor committee. MSU is deciding how her responsibilities will be distributed. Next meeting will include a presentation by Craig Woolard, Director of Public Works. Deputy Mayor Taylor commented on the budgeting process – upcoming issues will in-clude affordable housing, building organization around community gardens. Discussed possibly using part of the pocket park behind Pilgrim Church (in the SENA neighbor- hood), as an example. 6:05 Joe moved to adjourn. Ginny seconded. Minutes recorded by Bob Wall.