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08/10/98 SP City Council Minutes1323 A SPECIAL MEETING OF THE KALISPELL CITY COUNCIL WAS HELD AT 7:00 P.M. MONDAY, AUGUST 10, 1998, IN THE COUNCIL CHAMBERS AT CITY HALL IN KALISPELL, MONTANA. MAYOR WILLIAM E. BOHARSKI PRESIDED. COUNCIL MEMBERS JIM ATKINSON, NORBERT DONAHUE, JOHN GRAVES, DALE HAARR, DUANE LARSON, DOUG SCARFF, RON VAN NATTA AND CITY ATTORNEY/ACTING CITY MANAGER GLEN NEIER WERE PRESENT. COUNCIL MEMBER GARY NYSTUL WAS ABSENT. Mayor Boharski called the special meeting to order. FINAL BUDGET ADOPTION FOR FISCAL YEAR 1998-1999 RESOLUTION 4419 Haarr moved Resolution 4419, a resolution amending the annual appropriations for the City of Kalispell, Montana, as set forth in the 1998-99 Budget adopted by the City Council. The motion was seconded by Scarff. Atkinson said this resolution includes a five mill reduction and he will not vote for it. He said as a taxpayer, he gets a lot of "useful things" out of his taxes. Atkinson stated if services provided to the citizens of Kalispell were purchased independently from the City, it would cost a lot more than taxpayers are paying now. He added the reduction of five mills is actually a reduction of seven mills because the City -County Health Department has already provided a two mill cut in its budget. He said he's concerned about the reduction because the reduction will lower the City's reserve account from twenty percent to sixteen percent, and if the City's reserve account is depleted, the City will have to borrow money, and he doesn't think that's a good way to do business. Donahue agreed, stating he is also concerned the reserves are being used. He said the reserves are for a special purpose, such as snow plowing during a bad winter. Donahue said dipping into the reserves for the purpose of showing a mill levy reduction is like "asking your cat to get fed by eating its tail, sooner or later that cat runs out of tail, and the City runs out of reserves." He said he'll vote for the budget, but the Council should be thinking a little more about the question of "good government," and dipping into the reserves isn't an example of that. Donahue added he doesn't think the Council should have "gone out on a hook" to buy a new fire engine, which he feels is unnecessary. Van Natta stated although he will vote in favor of the budget, he also would have liked to have seen compromises rather than cutting the reserves from twenty to sixteen percent. Haarr disagreed, stating money held in reserve is non -productive. He said the least amount of reserve the City can get by with is healthy. Haarr said it means that money is out in the community where it should be. He said two years ago the City was happy with a fifteen percent reserve and it should be happy with sixteen percent today. Boharski said he feels the reserves should be the minimum amount necessary to get the City through the bi-annual tax payments. He said there are two ways to reduce the mill levy: increase property valuation; or reduce spending. He stated he hopes property valuation will increase in the future, but this year the City's property valuation declined. He commented by reducing the tax levy this year, we're showing people that Kalispell is a good place to do business. The motion carried upon roll call vote with Donahue, Graves, Haarr, Larson, Scarff, Van Natta and Boharski voting in favor, and Atkinson voting against. RESOLUTION 4420 Scarff moved Resolution 4420, a resolution making the Annual Tax Levies for the City of Kalispell, Montana, for the Fiscal Year 1998- 1999. The motion was seconded by Haarr. Larson clarified the Council received two resolutions numbered 4420, and the one being voted on includes the City -County Health Department's mill levy. 1324 The motion carried upon roll call vote with Donahue, Graves, Haarr, Larson, Scarff, Van Natta and Boharski voting in favor, and Atkinson voting against. RESOLUTION 4421 Larson moved Resolution 4421, a resolution levying an assessment for the cost of Special Maintenance for the purpose of maintaining the streets and avenues of the City of Kalispell for the Fiscal Year 1998-1999. The motion was seconded by Atkinson. There was no discussion. The motion carried unanimously upon roll call vote with Atkinson, Donahue, Graves, Haarr, Larson, Scarff, Van Natta and Boharski voting in favor. RESOLUTION 4422 Donahue moved Resolution 4422, a resolution levying an assessment for the cost of lighting the streets and alleys in the City's Special Lighting District for the Fiscal Year 1998-1999. The motion was seconded by Scarff. There was no discussion. The motion carried unanimously upon roll call vote with Atkinson, Donahue, Graves, Haarr, Larson, Scarff, Van Natta and Boharski voting in favor. RESOLUTION 4423 Van Natta moved Resolution 4423, a resolution levying an assessment for the cost of lighting the streets in the City's Downtown Decorative Lighting District for the Fiscal Year 1998-1999. The motion was seconded by Scarff. There was no discussion. The motion carried unanimously upon roll call vote with Atkinson, Donahue, Graves, Haarr, Larson, Scarff, Van Natta and Boharski voting in favor. RESOLUTION 4424 Atkinson moved Resolution 4424, a resolution levying assessments for the cost of Storm Sewer Maintenance for the Fiscal Year 1998-1999. The motion was seconded by Haarr. Larson commented the Council, in the coming year, needs to review the City's method of how the storm sewer and street maintenance is levied. The motion carried unanimously upon roll call vote with Atkinson, Donahue, Graves, Haarr, Larson, Scarff, Van Natta and Boharski voting in favor. RESOLUTION 4425 Graves moved Resolution 4425, a resolution to levy the cost of removal of garbage or other offensive matter from streets, alleys or on any premises as a Special Talc against property from which such matter was deposited, and the disposition thereof. Donahue questioned Public Works Director Jim Hansz as to the status of the garbage survey. Hansz answered he spoke with the consultant this morning and the survey should be available by the end of the week. Donahue commented he had hoped the survey would have been available prior to the budgeting process so the cost of garbage removal could have been reviewed. The motion carried unanimously upon roll call vote with Atkinson, Donahue, Graves, Haarr, Larson, Scarff, Van Natta and Boharski voting in favor. 1325 RESOLUTION 4426 Larson moved Resolution 4426, a resolution setting the annual appropriations for the Flathead Regional Development Office as set forth in the 1998-99 Budget adopted by the City Council. The motion was seconded by Atkinson. Donahue stated he doesn't feel this resolution is necessary because the appropriations for FRDO are listed in Resolution 4419. Neier said they would take a look at the issue next year, but this year the Council wanted to review and adopt both the FRDO and the Department of Health budgets. He said for that reason, separate .resolutions were prepared. Boharski commented he will support the resolution, however, he hopes in the coming year an agreement can be reached with the County Commissioners concerning how FRDO is operated. The motion carried upon roll call vote with Atkinson, Graves, Larson, Scarff, Van Natta and Boharski voting in favor, and Donahue and Haarr voting against. RESOLUTION 4427 Scarff moved Resolution 4427, a resolution setting the annual appropriations for the City -County Health Department as set forth in the 1998-99 Budget adopted by the City Council. The motion was seconded by Larson. Boharski stated he will not support the resolution because he doesn't believe the government should be involved in anything relating to abortion or birth control. He said he feels they both lead to immoral activity and improper sexual activity. Donahue said he will also vote against the ordinance, but for the same reason he stated before. He said he feels the resolution is unnecessary because the appropriation is covered under Resolution 4428. The motion carried upon roll call vote with Atkinson, Graves, Haarr, Larson, Scarff and Van Natta voting in favor, and Donahue and Boharski voting against. RESOLUTION 4428 Van Natta moved Resolution 4428, a resolution levying and assessing 1.561 Mills as the City's share of the cost of operating the Flathead City -County Health Department. The motion was seconded by Atkinson. There was no discussion. The motion carried upon roll call vote with Atkinson, Donahue, Graves, Haarr, Larson, Scarff and Van Natta voting in favor, and Boharski voting against. CITY MANAGER'S REPORT Neier informed Council members he spoke with former Interim Manager Al Thelen, who indicated he could meet with the Council on August 31st and September 1st to discuss projects, goals or the recruitment of a City Manager. Neier asked if there was any interest on the part of the Council to meet with him. Larson said he can't see a reason for the added expense. He said several members of the Council have been through the process of hiring a City Manager and he doesn't see the value of Thelen coming at this time. Boharski said he feels Glen is being spread pretty thin and there are a number of things that need to get done. He said he thought it would be a good idea to bring Thelen to Kalispell to help with some of the issues still pending. Haarr stated he has no doubt there are items that need to be handled, but he doesn't feel the timing is very good. He said he doesn't want to spend the last part of summer dealing with issues the Council hasn't had time to adequately prepare for. 1326 Boharski questioned Neier as to when the City may be looking at actual hiring a new Manager. Neier answered seventy to eighty applications are expected and it may be November before the list is narrowed down to a workable number. He said once a person is selected, it could be anywhere between thirty and sixty days before they could start. Neier said the City could have a new Manager as early as December, but he would estimate it would be more like January. Van Natta said he feels the Council should get the candidates narrowed down before bringing in Thelen. Donahue agreed, stating the best place to use Thelen is when the City is ready to negotiate the contract for the new Manager. Neier asked the Council to prepare a list of attributes it would like to see in a City Manager which could help narrow the list. Fire Chief Ted Waggener informed the Council he has spoken with State Fire Marshall Terry Phillips, who is willing to look at the City's ISO rating from 1993. Waggener said Phillips indicated he could be available on Wednesday, August 19th, if the Council is interested in meeting with him. Council members agreed that if Phillips is available, they would like to meet with him around 4:00 p.m. on the 19th. Haarr commented the Planning Board's Public Hearing concerning the ValleyDome is scheduled for Tuesday, August llth, and asked Neier if the Council would be voting on the zoning issue at the next meeting, August 17th. Neier stated he can't guarantee the necessary paperwork will be done by then. Boharski said if the Council doesn't vote on the issue next Monday, three weeks of the construction season is lost. Atkinson moved to adjourn. The motion was seconded. The motion carried unanimously upon vote. ADJOURN The meeting was adjourned at 8:06 p.m. WM,F- .5ohar*1. Wm. E. Boharski, Mayor ATTEST: 7 eresa white Clerk of Council approved 08/17/98