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1. Council Minutes - Regular Meeting - March 21, 2011A REGULAR MEETING OF THE KALISPELL CITY COUNCIL WAS HELD AT 7:00 P,M., MONDAY, MARCH 21, 2011IN THE COUNCIL CHAMBERS AT CITY HALL IN KALISPELL, MONTANA. MAYOR TAMMI FISHER PRESIDED, COUNCIL MEMEBERS Also present: City Manager Jane I iowington, City Attorney Charles Harball, City Clerk Theresa White, Chief of Police Roger Nasset, Planning Director Torn Jentz, Finance Director Amy Robertson, Parks Director Mike Baker, and Deputy City Clerk Judi Funk. Mayor Fisher called the meeting to order and led the Pledge of Allegiance. averud moved to approve the Agenda. The notion was seconded. There was no discussion. The notion carried unanimously upon vote. 1. Council Minutes -- Regular Meeting — March 7 col 1 2. Award Bid —Chip Seal Project Two bids were received for the 2011 Chip Seal Project from Pavement Maintenance Solutions ($188,940.14) and Knife River ($219,754.20). Staff recommended the bid be awarded to Pavement Maintenance Solutions. Larson moved to approve the Consent Agenda. The notion was seconded. There was no discussion. The motion carried unanimously upon vote. Afflnn�: Steve Eckels, 20 white Bark avenue, sang a song he arranged with words written by Lisa Berkeland to a well known hymn which he would like to see become the official Kalispell anthem.. Council is considering proposed rate increases for sewer, water, and solid waste over a five-year adjustment period. Mayor Fisher opened the public hearing. Kalispell City Council Minutes March 21, 201.1 Page 1 Bruce Measure, 635 5th Street East, former Chairman of the Flathead Electric Board, spoke on his perception of the rate -making process and recommended using an Inverted Bloch Rate Structure, which charges small users less. Gary McHenry, 324 9th Avenue Nest, asked where the money is going to go and noted people would prefer to be hit with rate increases a little bit at a time, not all at once in the first year. Pauline Sjordahl, 234 3rd 1-avenue rest, encouraged council to use Measure's suggestion about the Inverted Block Rate Structure. Mayor Fisher closed the public hearing. (All written comments received before and during the public hearing are attached and by this reference made a part of the official record) / WRIN WJA 71 M This ordinance eliminates the requirement that the Kalispell Public Works Director possess a professional engineer (PE) license. Ordinance 1693 passed unanimously on first reading March 7 with K.luesner absent. Public Comment None. Atkinson moved second reading of ordinance 1693, an ordinance amending Ordinance No. 1166, codified as Kalispell Municipal Code 2-5 Public works Director, to waive the require- ment that the director possess a Professional Engineer license, and declaring an effective date. The motion was seconded. Council Discussion None. The motion carried unanimously upon roll call vote. The.Montana Department of Transportation is making plans to construct the Reserve Drive South roadway, connecting west Reserve Drive to the east terminus of Hutton Ranch Road. The proposed roadway does not involve any financial participation by the city. Kalispell City Council Minutes March 21, 2011 Page 2 Howington gave a report and answered questions. Council directed staff to draft a letter to MDOT concerning the name of the road, preferring button Ranch Road. Public Comment None. Kenyon moved. Resolution 5487, a resolution authorizing the Mayor of Kalispell or designee to execute the construction agreement of Federal Aid. Project No. NCI -NIT 15(73), also known as Reserve Drive South -Kalispell, with the State of Montana, acting by and through the Department of Transportation. The motion was seconded.. Council Discussion None. The motion carried unanimously upon roll call vote. f The Kalispell Parks and Recreation Department has received notification of an additional grant award in the amount of $4,087.30 to help address Dutch Elm. Disease. Baler gave a report and answered questions. Public Comment None. averud. moved Resolution 54, a resolution amending the annual appropriations of the City of Kalispell, Montana, as set forth in the 2010-2011 budget adopted by the city council for the purpose of acceptance of an Urban Forestry Grant Award. The motion was seconded.. Council Discussion None. The motion carried unan.irnousiy upon roll call vote. Greenacres Court has requested emergency funding from the state to help with failing septic systems which requires an agreement with the city to allow the mobile homes to connect to city sever. Kalispell City Council Minutes March 21, 2011 Page 3 Howington gave a report and answered questions. Harball and Jentz answered questions. Public Comment Kenyon moved to authorize the development and execution of an emergency agreement between the city and. Greenacres Court for connection to the city sewer system. The motion was seconded. Council Discussion Hafferrnan commented that he prefers Option 2; the laterals should be privately owned and maintained, because there would be too much liability if the city owned them. He added that the 'waiver of Protest should also address billing and sewer impact fees. Mayor Fisher noted she would like to hear more about the different options as this goes forward. COMMUNITYE6, ORDINANCE 1694 — PUD AGREEMENT EXTENSION CORNERSTONE READING This is a request for a one-year extension of the Planned Unit Development agreement to construct a bank at the corner of Northridge Drive and Highway 93. Jentz gave a report and answered questions. None. Larson moved first reading of ordinance 1694, an ordinance authorizing and adopting an amendment to the Cornerstone Community Church Planned Unit Development Agreement in association with the construction of valley Bank. The motion was seconded. Council Discussion Gabriel commented that she still has problems with the driveways cutting through the bile lanes in the original development. The motion carried unanimously upon roll call vote. Kalispell City Council Minutes March 21, 2011 Page 4 IMPACT FEES The city council, in 2009, unposed transportation impact fees at the rate of 75% of the scheduled fee for any new construction for two years. Resolution 5489 extends that reduction for an additional one year. Howington gave a report and answered questions. Public Comment U � . w enyon moved Resolution 5489, a resolution to amend that section of Resolution No. 5346 that established the City of Kalispell Transportation Impact Fees to extend the initial two year limitation at 75% of the scheduled fee for one additional year. The motion was seconded. Council Discussion W"1695 � ORDINANCE ► IMPACT READING This ordinance refines the administrative procedure for installment payments of impact fees as authorized under Ordinance 1587. Howington gave a report. Public Comment None. Larson moved first reading of ordinance 1695, an ordinance amending the City of Kalispell Impact Fee ordinance No. 1587 codified at Chapter 8 of the Kalispell municipal Code, declaring an effective date, and authorizing the City Attorney to codify the same. The motion was seconded.. Council Discussion None. The motion carried unanimously upon roll call vote. Kalispell City Council Minutes March 21, 2011 Page 5 This ordinance places a five -acre cap for lighting assessments on large vacant parcels. Howington gave a report and answered questions. Public Comment Steve Lorch, Department of Natural Resources and Conservation, 655 Timberwolf Parkway, expressed his support for the ordinance and his appreciation to the staff for their work. Saveru.d moved first reading of ordinance 1696, an ordinance setting a per parcel or lot limit on the assessment of the City of Kalispell Special Lighting District. The motion was seconded., Council Discussion Atkinson explained that the assessments on very large lots were very expensive and staff felt that capping the lot size would be appropriate. The motion carried unanimously upon roll call voted D Resolution 5490 sets fees for parades and special events that use city property and public right-of- ways to help offset costs incurred by the city. Howington gave a report and answered questions. None. Atkinson moved Resolution 5490, a resolution establishing parade permit and special event fees to be charged by the City of Kalispell to applicants seeking to make use of city property and public right of ways for these uses and declaring an effective date. The motion was seconded. Council Discussion x. None. The motion carried upon roll call vote with Atkinson, Gabriel, Hafferrnan, Kluesner, Larson, Saverud, Zauner and Mayor Fisher voting in favor, and. Kenyon voting against. Kalispell City Council Minutes March 21, 2011 Page 6 �:. The city manager requires the consent of the council to execute the collective bargaining agreement bdtWeen the city and the Firefighters Local Union No. 547. Harball gave a report and answered questions. Public Comment None. Larson moved council authorize the city manager to execute the collective bargaining agreement with. the IAFF Local 547. The motion was seconded. Council Discussion Hafferman conunzented this is a clash of two accounting systems and he has no idea ifthe bottom line will be met. He said he would like council to establish guidelines for the coming budget year. Mayor Fisher noted this is an issue the council has to address, in addition to the city manager. She asked council members to discuss how they feel about the matter with the city manager. Atkinson agreed. The motion carried unanimously upon roll call vote. �. I$ Wxqffil ray VI DI tan 51 11111 i Howington listed some of the options for the fire department, including reorganizing EMS services, downsizing the fire department, downsizing other general fund departments, doing nothing, or using reserves. Mayor Fisher announced she will be on KGEZ radio with a mayor's report on Mondays between S:oo and 8:30 am. Hafferman, in reference to a comment from a constituent asking why the city is sweeping the streets now and not waiting, noted that the streets need to be swept of winter debris and this is the best time to start. Larson noted we need to "clean up" the animal ordinance and requested a work session on the matter. Kalispell City Council Minutes March 21, 2011 Page 7 The meeting was adjourned at 8:43 p.m. Theresa White City Clerk Kalispell City Council Minutes March 21, 2011 Page 8 Theresa White From: candreoiby candreo[by@gmaii.com] Sent: Monday, March 14, 2011 9:33 PM To: Theresa White Subject; Comments: Water, Sewer and Solid waste I am opposed to the fixed rates. what I see is widows and widowers on a fixed income paying the same sewer rate as a household next door with six or more people. water is charged according to the amount used, why not do the same with sewer and solid waste I. Solid waste is a joke. People like myself who recycle are penalized. we take our time and money to transport recyclables yet pay the same as those who fill the containers and add to the landfill. These same people who can't be bothered with recycling are the ones who fill the durnpsters with cardboard boxes they are too lazy to collapse and when the containers are full they pile their trash against my garage creating a fire hazard! I have had my garage roof and fence damaged by the container truck and when I complained to the city I was told they couldn't have done it. Any charge should be per person and their usage not based on property ownership. Clay Colby Theresa White From: Marvin Ortm an m coslo @ cyberport. net] Seat: Monday, March 14, 2011 9:44 AM To: Theresa White Subject: rate increase Dear City council, Thank you for your mailing on the proposed rate increase. May I suggest that the information given in the mailing is probably accurate, but incomplete. The real costs of utility expansions outside of the city for new development and the real costs for providing sewer treatment for Evergreen was not explained. These past decisions may have to be revisited. We as citizens do not know where the money all goes, but rate increases are always looked to, early on, when there is not enough money to go around. I can see that you do not want to increase volume rates, as that would only cause more conservation of water thereby mitigating the effect on the rate increases. Obviously conservation of water is not an issue with those looking at the water department finances, as the new proposed rates effectively penalize those who have made an effort to conserve. Raising the base rate will effectively force those that are small consumers of water to pay way more for each 1 000 gallons of water. These are in many cases the elderly, widows and the poor. I agree with the 1996 City Council decision to freeze the fixed portion of the water and sewer rates. If you see it necessary to make some changes to the fixed rate, may I suggest that something under a 50% increase may be more reasonable than a 400% increase. There will never be enough money from the fixed fund to pay for the fixed costs of operation, especially when considering the water system, which has relatively low costs for the actual water wells and electric bills. I think that the $3.75 base rate, for each, of the water & sewer, should be more than enough to cover the billing and receipts expenses for each service. May I suggest that you take your time on this issue, look at the rate increase more carefully and find a way to do several more things. 1. Tell us where you have made bad decisions in the past that have affected your effective income. 2. Find a better way to change the rates. Take a look at the FEc new rate structure for i nstar �e 3. Show us that you can make some cuts in your day to day expenditures. Thank you for your time and dedication in service to every business and resident in Kalispell. Marvin Ortman Theresa h to From: Marcia Siblerud siblerud G bresnan.net Sent: Monday, March 14, 201 0:25 AM To: Theresa White Subject: Sewer & Water Rates Dear pity Manager, I think the proposed rate increases for sewer and water are necessary and very fair and I hope that they will both be implemented. We are so fortunate to have great systems in place for bath. Thank you! Marcia Siblerud LJ City Of Kalispell CitY Council March 12 201 $ , 0 0 Re: Pry os utility rate increase I. L Jane Howington Kalispell City Manger tt � L- L g� i RE: Notice of Proposed Sewer and Water rate Increase Dear Ms Howington; 2226 S. Woodland Dr Kalispell. MT. Larch 1 6, 2011 Thanks for the information and the opportunity to express my concern on the proposed increase sewer and water fees. To start let me share with you a little personal information. We are retired on a fixed income with a little help from. investments. Prier to the National economic melt down our savings and investment were keeping up with rising cost, however, presently income from investments has rebounded less than 20% and it is a struggle to keep up. Almost daily in the news paper there are stories about the City of Kalispell, Flathead County, and Montana State departments and agencies in need for more money. A good example is a big bunch of money needed to fix some of Kalispell schools that were recently built or refurbish. Local and federal governments have a bad case of the wants and they are looking at tax payers with packets running on empty to pay more. Add these requests to increase cost for food, medical needs and insurance , electric power, natural gas and fuel, a 450% increase for base fees for water and sewer is - - - weR, overwhelming. At current rates for water we have only been watering our lawn in the front of the house. Something has to give. I am corning closer to the rock and the hard spot. The City's request for increase rates hits me like the last straw on the poor old camel's back. We are not quite broke but we are getting there. Our only tool for survival is to decrease spending any place we can. If the City's request for increase in fees is passed there goes my green front lawn along with ghat ever I can do with out. Please take another look at the City's proposed rate increases for our water and sewer. Thanks to all of you working for the City of Kalispell for their good work and service to our community. Sincerely, f. From: Jane Howington Seat: Friday, march 8, 201 1 , 0:88 AM To: Theresa White Subject: FW: Proposed rate increase Re: rate adjustments ------original Message____. From: Parker Ryan mail.to:t arkerr an mail.con Sent: Thursday, March 17, 2011 1:39 PM To: Jane Howington Subject: Proposed rate increase Dear Jane, I recently received a notice in the mail that the city wants to increase our sewage rates as well as triple the base rates on water and sewer. I have lived in Kalispell for most of sty life with the exception of the 12+ years of college and grad school that I attended. I have seen the city grow and change in both good ways and bad ways. For the most part I just excepted the changes as they have come. However, my attitude changed when I built a home in 2008. I was amazed to learn that the developer had to pay to put in all of the utilities in the subdivision as well as pay impact fees to the city and pay to put in and maintain a city park. of course, as you know, those fees are passed on to us, the consumer. I then had to pay for my permits, etc. and was handed a bill by the city for @ $9,000.00 to hook up to the water and sewer. For this amount you would think the city would actually have to come to your house and physically hook up the services. No, I had to pay someone to do that. The $9000.00 was simply another tax from the city. So, what did I receive for this fee? Nothi.ng...... I still have to pay a water and sewer bill every two months. So now you want to raise ray rates because building has slowed down and the gravy train of impact fees and hook up fees has run dry. My question is this: what happened to all of the impact fees and hook up fees that were collected during the hay days? I know you were not here for that time period but someone needs to be held accountable for not managing funds correctly during the good times. Just as the citizens have had to learn to Cut back, sell their toys and homes and downsize, so too must the local. government. It seems as though while the economy was taking a down turn and people's incomes were decreasing, the city stayed busy building new fire halls and schools. Citizens kept voting yes for every bond that came through the voting booths because each one came at a different time and was sold as a small increase of x amount of dollars on a $100,000.00 hone. Each of these votes has added up over the past ten years. Then, to top things off, we get hit with housing reappraisals that valued our house at over $80,000 dollars more than we built it for and far more than we could sell it for today. So now I have to pay city taxes that are based on the inflated value of my house. Now you want more. I just can't support any increases. we have to stop hitting people with additional costs. This is no more than another tax increase. It is just called a fee instead of a tax. Where does it stop? By the time I was done building my house I figured I had paid well over $20, 000.00 in impact fees to the city of Kalispell between the direct fees from the city and the hidden fees in the cost of the lot that was passed on to me by the developer. Enough is enough. Time to stop spending and start making difficult decisions on how to save money. I don't know you personally, but from the few people I have asked it sounds like your intentions and heart are in the right place. Thank you for taking the time to read my letter and I sincerely wish you good luck tin your future managing the city of Kalispell. I know zt can be a difficult task working with all the different personalities among the citizins and the city council members. T. Parker Ryan, D.C. 406-755-6030 Drucilla Parker 131 Quincy Loop Kalispell, MT 59901 City Clerk 201 First Avenue E Kalispell, SIT 59901 To whom It May Concern: I would like to voice my opinion regarding an increase in the rates of sewer and solid waste utilities and proposed water rates. I am strongly against these rate increases, especially since most looks like administrative charge base rate increase. Public services administration needs to budget around our current circumstances just like your general public has had to budget our finances without raises, increased property taxes, etc. Many of us are struggling to survive, and the City Administration seems to grant concessions after concessions to nonprofit organizations while shifting the burden of providing services to the few residents that weren't locating outside of City Limit boundaries. This includes providing so much "free recreational" access to parks, roads, sidewalks, all for those tourist dollars. we all ready pay a "sprinkler fee in addition to our regular water rates" for those same park areas. I feel enough is enough and the City needs to figure out how to "reduce administrative burden", not cut the employment of a meter reader or two. Sincerely, -�- �. `- rucilla Parker