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01-13-86 Council as WholeJANUARY 13, 1986 COMMITTEE OF THE WHOLE CMr.IL 4: 00 PM Mayor Kennedy presided. Councilman Grainger was absent. All other council members were present. Also present were City Attorney Neier, Clerk/Treasurer Falver, Roger Hopkins and Jeff Ellingson. BANNER POLICY Jeff Ellingson asked if the meeting was going to discuss the Eanner policy. After some discussion the mayor and council agreed to consider banner policy at this time. Jeff Ellingson suggested the "March for Life" banner was a controversial issue and the city should adopt a policy. After lengthy discussion Mayor Kennedy agreed to accept recommendations developed by Jeff Ellingson and representation of the other side of the issue. The council agreed the "March for Life" banner be taken down and no banners be allowed until the council adopts a banner policy. MAYOR'S PHILOSOPHY Mayor Kennedy reviewed his philosopy for administration. He reported there had been some controversy over council members giving orders to department heads. The Mayor also reported he was going to work toward higher morale among employees. He is not going to make changes for the sake of change but only to benefit the city. The council reiterated they set policy and the Mayor carries out those policies. Employees and department heads can properly be called upon to provide information upon which the council can base decisions. COUNCIL PHILOSOPHY The council needs complete and sufficient information upon which to make a decision. All council members need copies of the information to be considered. Present the pros and cons of an issue. Keep the information concise. The council needs to be kept informed on what is going on in the city. Mayor Kennedy is considering a weekly column in the newspaper. AGENDAS The council agreed we should pledge allegiance at each council meeting. The Mayor would like to try a 9:00 A.M. Friday deadline for agenda items. Councilman Ruiz suggested an agenda booklet similar to what School District #5 uses, be considered. Councilman Schindler suggested the Public Hearing Procedure be explained to the �• people attending the hearing. It was also suggested we use the terms "for" and "against" instead of 2 COUNCIL COMMITTEE STRUCTURE It was decided there should be a Committee of the Whole Council meeting each second and fourth Monday of the month for council work sessions. These meetings would include reports from the standing committees to inform the entire council on action to be taken and decisions to be made at the regularly scheduled council meetings. After considerable discussion it was decided to keep the present situation of eight standing committees with three members each. The proposed names and makeup areas follows: PUBLIC SAFETY Police, Fire, Ambulance, Traffic Safety, Animal Contol WATER AND SEVIER Water System, Sanitary Sewer, Storm Sewer PUBLIC WORKS Streets, Alleys, City Shop, Garbage, Street Lighting, Street Signs, Parking Lots, Parking Commission PARKS ADD PUBLIC LADIDS Parks, Swimming Pool, All city land not owned by a utility. (Golf Course, vacant land, old dump site, airport etc.) ANNEXATIOIJ, ZONING AID BUILDING REGULATION Annexation, Zone Changes, Building Department, City -County Planning Department PERSORML AIM POLICY 1 Union Negotiations, Employee Policy, Coordination of Department Head Replacement COMMUNITY DEVELOPMEITT AID PUBLIC BUILDINGS Community Development Department, Public Buildings (City Hall, Hockaday Art Center, Chamber Building, Golf Course Club House, etc.) FINANCE AID ADMINISTRATION Monthly Expenditures, Budget, Appropriations, Insurance. WF ASSIGNED Attorney, Clerk, Court, City -County Health Mayor Kennedy asked the existing committee chairmen to write job descriptions for their committees.. It was suggested The Mayor serve as the city representative on the City -County Health Board. POST OFFICE SITE SELECTION Mayor Kennedy suggested the Post Office Site Selection appears to be pretty firm and we should proceed to sell Griffin Field. Councilman Nystul felt the selection of this site neglects the senior citizens and the downtown business community. Council discussion centered around whether or not a daentoem satellite station would be provided. The latest report from the Postal Service is that, after the new facility is constructed, they will consider whether to provide a downtown station. Mayor Kennedy will write a letter answering Postmaster Brian Russ's letter. 3 SALE OF GRIFFIN FIELD The council recommended the City Clerk and the Parks and Public Lands Committee pursue getting Griffin Field and the surplus Airport Road property sold. Councilman Palmer suggested consideration be given to subdividing the Airport Parcel before selling it. OLD FIREHALL Mayor Kennedy reported he would present a plan for remodeling and utilizing this building. The council recommended we work up a shopping list of items the city wants to negotiate. They also grant to start negotiations in February or March and try to get them done before the budget is finalized. They also request we look into securing a negotiator. USE OF COL114CIL CHAMBERS Mayor Kennedy requested we look at our policy on loaning the Council Chambers. The present fee is $35.00 per day or $17.50 per 1/2 day. Not everyone is paying. The mayor assigned this to the Personnel and Policy Committee. SHOW REMOVAL The Parking Consiission and Street and Alley Committee are working on this. CITIZEN ACTION REQUESTS Mayor Kennedy reported he is working on a policy for receiving, acting on, and reporting back to citizens, on their requests for action. EMPLOYEE PARKING The council didn't feel there was any additional parking available for city employees. USE OF CITY VEHICLES The council felt policy existed and the Mayor had the authority to carry it out. CITY POLICIES Mayor Kennedy asked if city policy such as snow removal could be published so the public knew what the policies were. Some council members felt a bigger problem was finding the staff to enforce the policies. COMPREHENSIVE WAGE STUDY We should write to comparable cities and get their wage schedules. CENSUS TRACK No one was sure what Mr. Verma wants. CITY-CGUNIY ZONING The County is responsible for zoning the areas outside the Kalispell city limits and should be forced to do so. VACATION ACCRUAL Mayor Kennedy and Clerk/Treasurer Halver reviewed the excess leave balances of some employees and explained the policy to the council. n 4 61 ELECTED OFFICIALS WORKSHOP - HELF.NA - MARCH 2O-22 No one has registered yet; a few of the council are interested in attending. MARTIN LUTHER KING'S BI UhDAY City Attorney Neier has concluded this is not a city holiday. ANNEXATION Mayor Kennedy reported he has been asked to clarify when a property is officially annexed into the City for providing services. City Attorney Neier stated we should start providing services_ to the property beginning with favorable passage of first reading of the ordinance, at the latest. CITY AUDIT Clerk Halver reported the city needed to get an audit scheduled for the 84-85 and 85-86 fiscal years and spoke in favor of the state doing it again. Councilman Fiystul spoke in favor of calling for bids among Accounting firms. Council consensus was to go with the State (since put on hold pending further discussion by the council). STREET SUPFRIDIPENDENF JOB DESCRIPTION The ESnployment Coranittee should handle personnel changes with input from the appropriate conmittee and department head. Council members should be notified of all personnel changes. 11 FdSCELLAP rMUS Methods for storing and accessing minutes on the computer were discussed. It was also suggested the City Attorney should have a more sophisticated word processor system. Councilman Saverud recoruended we encourage any future special session of the State Legislature to give serious consideration to the city liability risks created by the recent Supreme Court decision against the liability limit of local governments. Councilman Diystul clarified the requirements for arterial streets in regard to Willrno Glen Drive.