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10182012CouncilMinutes CITY OF AMMON CITY COUNCIL MINUTES THURSDAY, OCTOBER 18, 2012 AGENDA: CITY OF AMMON 2135 SOUTH AMMON ROAD CITY COUNCIL - AGENDA THURSDAY, OCTOBER 18, 2012 – 7:00 P.M. CALL TO ORDER: Mayor Steven Fuhriman at 7:00 p.m. Pledge of Allegiance – Councilmember Powell Prayer – Councilmember Slack MINUTES: None ITEMS FROM MAYOR: CONSENT AGENDA: Accounts Payable – Exhibit A ITEMS FOR/FROM TREASURER: PUBLIC COMMENT REGARDING ITEMS NOT ON AGENDA: (5 Minute Limitation) PUBLIC HEARINGS: None ACTION ITEMS: 1.Request to Drill Residential Well. 2.Resolution 2012-016 – Snow Proclamation 3.EIRWWA Screens DISCUSSION ITEMS: 1.Road Scholar Presentation. 2.Utility Fee Increase. 3.Misc. EXECUTIVE SESSION: 1.Personnel Evaluations - Idaho Code 67-2345 (1-b) 2.Real Property Acquisitions - Idaho Code 67-2345 (1-c) 3.Pending Litigation - Idaho Code 67-2345 (1-f) MINUTES City Officials Present: Mayor Steven Fuhriman Councilmember Dana Kirkham Councilmember Rex Thompson Councilmember Sean Coletti Councilmember Russell Slack Councilmember Brad Christensen City Attorney Scott Hall City Administrator/Clerk/Planning Director Ron Folsom Deputy Clerk Rachael Brown City Treasurer Jennifer Belfield City Engineer Lance Bates Public Works Director Ray Ellis I.T. Administrator Bruce Patterson City Officials Absent: Councilmember Brian Powell 15 Council Minutes 10-18-2012 Page of CALL TO ORDER: Mayor Steven Fuhriman opened the meeting at 7:00 p.m. at the City Hall Building located at 2135 South Ammon Road. Councilmember Thompson led the Pledge of Allegiance. Councilmember Slack offered the prayer. MINUTES: None ITEMS FROM MAYOR: CONSENT AGENDA: Accounts Payable – Exhibit A: Councilmember Kirkham moved to approve the Accounts Payable – Exhibit A, as presented. Councilmember Coletti seconded. Roll Call Vote: Councilmember Kirkham – Yes, Councilmember Coletti – Yes, Councilmember Thompson – Yes, Councilmember Slack – Yes, and Councilmember Christensen – Yes. The motion passed. ITEMS FOR/FROM TREASURER: Jennifer explained that when she and Rachael attended the Idaho City Clerks Treasurers Finance Officers Association’s Conference there was discussion about who should sign the City’s checks. The Idaho State Statute 50- 1018 states who specifically should be signing the checks, and she forward the information to Scott to make sure the statute was being interpreted correctly. Jennifer said the signatures on the checks should be the Mayor and the Treasurers. Jennifer asked the Council if it is okay to have the Mayor’s and Jennifer’s signatures on the checks eliminating the Council President’s signature. The Council said that was fine. Jennifer explained to the Council about a program called “Positive Pay”. Jennifer said every time the City generates a check she would upload a file to Key Bank’s web site; when a check is sent for processing in order for it to clear, it will have to match the check number, payee, and the amount with Key Bank. This gives the City’s authorization for Key Bank to pay the check. Jennifer said the City has never had a problem with a check clearing that was not ours, but she wants to be proactive. Jennifer explained that there is a monthly maintenance fee of $45.00 and $ .05 per check; we average about 250 checks per month and would have an average fee of $12.50 per month. There is also a fee of $5.00 every time she uploads a file to Key Bank’s website, and a $.50 charge for any checks we approve that were not uploaded to the bank. Ron said he and Rachael had a meeting with ICRMP today, and based on the conversation we have not gotten an answer for sure from ICRMP, but they believe the bank’s liability is bigger than the City’s, and ICRMP would cover the checks if it were an embezzlement issue. Ron said the liability will be on the bank if they paid an altered check. Councilmember Thompson said it has only happened once in forty years. Scott Hall said under Federal law the Bank is supposed to confirm every check against the signature card. Councilmember Slack said they are only checked when the customer calls in saying the check was forged. Some banks may have policies concerning checks above a certain amount. Councilmember Slack doesn’t know of a single instance when a check was not refunded for a fraud instance. He doesn’t see a need for the Positive Pay, and feels the City can do without it. Councilmember Kirkham said no. PUBLIC COMMENT REGARDING ITEMS NOT ON AGENDA: (5 Minute Limitation): None PUBLIC HEARINGS: None ACTION ITEMS: 1. Request to Drill Residential Well: Lance explained he had received a request from a resident living in the Cottonwood Hills subdivision. Lance said he has requested to drill a well on their residential lot for emergency purposes, and according to the letter the well will not be used unless no other water is available. Lance feels the request is not warranted or needed. Lance said the City has done a great deal of work with the water supply, and even in the event of a power outage we have millions of gallons of storage. There are generators at the well locations that are fairly close to the Cottonwood Hills Subdivision that are capable of producing 4000 gallons per minute that is piped up to the storage tanks. Lance said according to the DEQ, if a private well is granted they could only draw 20 gallons per minute. Councilmember Thompson said he thinks everyone would like to have a well on their property. Councilmember Slack said the last time we talked about this; we started to think about the City of Ammon having an emergency pump at McCowin Park. He thinks the cost estimates were about $60,000. Lance said he could not recall. Councilmember Christensen asked what the code said. Lance said the code prohibits a well unless the City approves. Lance explained that he first gets a written request; he presents the request to the Council with his recommendations, and then the Council has to vote to approve or deny the request. Discussion ensued regarding residential wells, and water testing. Lance said individual residential wells are not required to test for the purity of the water. Councilmember Kirkham said the reason she would have for denying the well is, that the Council would be setting a precedent that every household in the City of Ammon could have a private well. If you allow one, you have to be fair and consistent and allow all of the well requests. Brigham Redd 4925 Lady Hawk said his concerns are about how the debate is going, and that there has not been given a strong enough reason for denial. The fact that you would have to approve everyone if you approve one; there are alternative methods of doing that. The scenario he is envisioning is that there is no more back up for water, or that the City if out of water. That is the 25 Council Minutes 10-18-2012 Page of scenario that he wants to be prepared for, and in that situation you could allow a certain number of wells to provide for neighborhoods. Councilmember Kirkham said the City has paid for a system that the citizens are bonded for that we need to make sure is utilized, and there is no way to enforce the well is only being used for emergency purposes. Brigham said from a practical stand point, if you have a hand pump at McCowin Park, it is not feasible to pump water very far with a hand pump and if you are talking about providing for a whole city that is not likely. Councilmember Kirkham said we have talked about the tank up on the hill, the City could have water available at certain times of the day and people could fill up their 50 gallons containers. Councilmember Kirkham asked Ray Ellis how long the City could provide water in that situation. Ray said for a week. Councilmember Slack said the City has backup fuel and generators to pump water. It is not outside of our view to have a hand pump at every City park, and not just one location within the City. You cannot put an emergency well on everyone’s property. The City could not control whether a person does not share the water in a time of emergency. Having pumps at the parks that can be controlled, locked down would be a better way to go than having wells on private property. Councilmember Thompson said the only way the City’s water supply is going to be off is if there was such an earthquake that the water table shifted. Councilmember Thompson said the problem is this; you get 40 guys who have wells and say they are going to use them for emergency purposes only, then the City installs meters and all of a suddenly it cost more to run water. They will take their well and water the grass and there is no way the City would know. We cannot enforce that the wells are being used for emergency purposes only and there is a potential for misuse. Discussion ensued. Scott said the City Ordinance states that you cannot have a residential well. Councilmember Kirkham said the ordinance can be changed, but we would need a good case for why we want to change it. Councilmember Slack moved to deny the request to Drill a Residential Well. Councilmember Thompson seconded. Roll Call Vote: Councilmember Slack – Yes, Councilmember Thompson – Yes, Councilmember Kirkham – Yes, Councilmember Coletti – Yes, and Councilmember Christensen – Yes. The motion passed. 2. Resolution 2012-016 – Snow Proclamation: Mayor Fuhriman read Resolution 2012-016 - Snow Proclamation. Councilmember Slack moved to approve Resolution 2012-016- Snow Proclamation, as presented. Councilmember Kirkham seconded. Roll Call Vote: Councilmember Slack – Yes, Councilmember Kirkham – Yes, Councilmember Coletti – Yes, Councilmember Thompson – Yes, and Councilmember Christensen – Yes. The motion passed. 3. EIRWWA Screens: Councilmember Kirkham said the bottom line is that the City needs these screens at the wastewater plant. Councilmember Coletti said some things have changed, and members of the Region are open to have an MOU that would say we understand that this is a component everyone is participating in as far as the cost and part of that is the screens and the screens will be paid for by the region and not by the City of Ammon or the City of Shelley. Scott said the theory was that this is how it was always intended to be. Councilmember Kirkham asked if the City has time to get the MOU in place before acquiring the screens. Lance said they have already begun the design. Councilmember Coletti feels we could approve an MOU really soon. Discussion ensued regarding the bond payback, and an MOU with the Region. Councilmember Coletti said about 75% of this payment would come from the City of Ammon and 25% from the City of Shelley. Scott said the Region went over six different options and it was determined that the screens were the best option. Lance said the DEQ has started an investigation because of odor complaints. Councilmember Coletti said we need the screening system because it’s just going to get worse. Councilmember Kirkham said it is just going to get more expensive if we wait. Councilmember Slack feels we need to do it now and attach it to the bond. Discussion ensued. Councilmember Slack moved to approve the EIRWWA Screens with the City of Ammon paying $75% and the City of Shelley paying 25%. Councilmember Kirkham seconded. Roll Call Vote: Councilmember Slack – Yes, Councilmember Kirkham – Yes, Councilmember Coletti – Yes, Councilmember Thompson – Yes, and Councilmember Christensen – Yes. The motion passed. DISCUSSION ITEMS: Road Scholar Presentation: 1. Bruce Drews, 3330 Gray Street, Boise, ID explained the training with the Idaho Technology Transfer T2 program and the services it provides. Bruce explained the Road Scholar program, and Road Master’s Program, and City of Ammon staff involvement. The Idaho Technology Transfer Center was created in 1986 and housed at the Idaho Transportation Department in Boise Idaho from1986 until 1996 and then was moved to the University of Idaho from 1996 to 2008. The program was then moved to the Local Highway Technical Assistants Council where it now resided. Bruce is the manager of that program within the LTAC organization. Bruce said the program receives some federal funding as well as matching dollars from the local agency in the state of Idaho to provide training and technical assistance. The Idaho T2 program has been providing technical assistance, and last year they provided 150 training events to over 3000 individuals in the state of Idaho. The Road Scholar, Road Master Program is a National Program recognized across the United States in the LTAC community T2 programs. The program recognizes the dedication of the staff and promotes the development of the local jurisdiction infrastructure. In order to do that, they have established the Road Scholar basic level training program for individuals entering the transportation system. They take courses in first aid, CPR, flagging, surveying, and pavement maintenance, there are nine different courses and two electives about 90 hours of training to receive the Road Scholar. It is a significant investment in time for your staff as well as your City, because a small 35 Council Minutes 10-18-2012 Page of registration fee is charged to keep the program going. The Road Master Program is a more advanced level of training. The City of Ammon has two individuals that have successfully completed the Road Scholar program and are well on their way to finishing their Road Master Program. The staff members have been very dedicated in going to their classes. A class was held today dealing with snow and ice control. Bruce presented Road Scholar plagues to Jason Clapp, and Andy Peterson. Jason said he appreciates this very much and it has been a very educational program with a lot of time invested. He feels his experience with the T2 program has helped him with the current road projects, such as 17t Street, 49th street and work on Rosedale in the older part of town. Jason said he plans to present some very good ideas to Ray Ellis with regard to ice removal. Andy Peterson thanked the City Council and Ray for allowing him to be involved in the training program. The Mayor thanked Ray Ellis for working so hard to get his staff trained. Ray Ellis said this is an example of given the tools and training, our crew is capable of doing many things. Ray said he has 12 staff members and three years ago when he started with the City, there was only one certified operator, and now 10 of them are certified and they hold 14 different certifications. The staff has come a long way a long way and Ray is proud of them. 2. Utility Fee Increase: Councilmember Kirkham said she wants to increase the fee for the sewer and the water has been moved to discussion items. Councilmember Kirkham said it was left off last week so the Council could consider all their options, but she is not sure they have all the information needed to make the decision. Councilmember Kirkham looks at the sewer and water as two different animals, and after thinking about it, this is where she is on the subject. Councilmember Kirkham said there is no question there will be future projects for both the sewer and the water that are going to be expensive. The question is how you save for that without putting undue burden on the citizens. Councilmember Kirkham said she feels that we haven’t made a decision on water metering, or a decision on how we are going to address the original town site. Councilmember Kirkham said to quote Councilmember Powell; even if we raise the fees for water, it would be like spitting on a wild fire. She feels with regard to water, the Council should wait on the water increase, but move forward with the sewer increase. If the Council goes along with the MOU, we will be raising our rate $2.50 to match the City of Shelley, and feels the increase to the sewer is merited. If she had to vote tonight she would vote in favor to increase the sewer, and would vote against increasing the water. Scott said the City of Shelley Council is baffled as to why the City of Ammon is paying a different fee than what they are paying; because they believed this was going to be a component project and we would be paying the same fee. Councilmember Kirkham said the City of Shelley’s bond is less, and so the City of Ammon pays a different amount. Discussion ensued regarding bond payments. Councilmember Coletti said there needs to be clarification from Stephanie regarding the bonds and whether the City of Shelley can help pay for the City of Ammon’s bond. Scott Hall will contact Stephanie to get clarification. Councilmember Christensen said he agreed with the sewer increase of 3% and he would like to close the sewer bond as soon as possible and pay it down as much as the City can afford. Councilmember Thompson asked Councilmember Christensen if his intention for paying down the bonds would be to reduce rates or to pay it off quicker. Councilmember Christensen answered rather than reduce rates you maintain the rates and try not to raise them for a period of time. Councilmember Christensen said it would do both. Councilmember Slack asked Councilmember Kirkham why she didn’t want to raise the water rate. Councilmember Kirkham said even if the Council increases the water rate by 3%, in five years when we want to upgrade the original town site you will have $500,000 and the City will need $8 million. She does not see the point in burdening the citizens now when you will have to burden them in two years anyway. If you made the $1.50 increase now for 5 years it is a drop in the bucket for what you need. Councilmember Kirkham said we are arbitrarily making that increase without knowing what we are going to need, and it doesn’t make a difference if we make it now or two years from now. Jennifer said she has done an analysis on the water balance from April 2007 to Aug 2012. The difference in the net cash amount that the water fund has is $684,938.03 and if you divide it by five years that is $136,987.61 per year that the City has been saving. There is $5.3 million in the water’s savings. In the water fund we want to “minus” one year’s M&O of 1.25 million, “minus” one year’s bond payments $955,000, and DEQ requires having the one year bond reserve, so the total is roughly $3.25 million that we always want in savings. As we are going in and have projects worked on, once we open the ground the project balloons once we see what is in the ground. We need to have funds available to get the service back on. Discussion ensued regarding the impact of the water fee increase on the water reserve fund. Tom Hunsaker, 2925 Carolyn Lane said he was here when the Council decided they needed to start saving with 3% increases and we never did, and then we had the huge increase. He asked himself why this was never on the agenda. His income has been frozen solid for two years, costs are going up, and his wages are not. He cannot afford for the City to not make this increase every year, even though it is hitting him more each year and what he has left to spend is going down. We are far better off having that part of it already taken care of. Even if it is just a drop, it’s still a penny earned philosophy. There is going to be something done even though there will be huge chunks in the future, and other emergencies will come up. Councilmember Kirkham said you will pay a $1.30 each year and still have the $10-15 increase in four or five year, but you would still have rather bitten off that little bit each time. Tom said yes. Councilmember Christensen said keep in mind you are going to also have to pay a 3% increase in your sewer rate, and a 3% increase in your property taxes. It is one on top of another, on top of another. It is a whole line up of things and he thinks at one point we should say look let’s look at next year, let’s look at the budget and look at what we have spent. Isn’t it irresponsible to raise the water 3%? Tom said as long as we do not factor out “let’s sacrifice today for what we need tomorrow” versus “let’s sacrifice tomorrow for what we want today”. He thinks we need to keep things in 45 Council Minutes 10-18-2012 Page of balance. Councilmember Christensen said his biggest fear is at some point we raise these rates, people say living in Ammon is too expensive, and we don’t see the growth that we planned for in the first place. Tom said these bonds are not to pay for future growth; they are intended to catch up with what we needed. Councilmember Kirkham said the main benefit was for new construction, and many subdivisions couldn’t even exist without this water system, and the City tried to grow from the outside in, instead of the inside out. Councilmember Slack said the only benefit of not raising the fees is gaining favor from the constituents for not raising their fees. We will have to kick a bigger can down the road every year. The whole idea is wrong when we know we have this need down there and we do not do even a little bit to get us a little closer. Councilmember Slack said previous Councils have put us in a position that we have not maintained the growth the City needed to incrementally pay for the projects. If you focus on the rate you look at what it is now, and you look at the incremental increase and what that does to the constituents. It’s the approach of “I have to do everything to please the constituents” instead of “I have to plan and prepare for in the City and how am I going to reach that”. Is there a way to cut and slim the budget, which I do not believe there is, to a point where we can reach those end goals of the improvements that are going to happen. Councilmember Kirkham said she is asking for time, because we do not know what we are going to do. We are talking about maybe metering sooner than later. We know once we meter consumption goes down, reducing the City’s economic strains. Why raise this arbitrary number, because we know we are going to need it, but we don’t know why and what for. Just wait figure out what we are doing and if we are not going to meter then we need to start the 3% increase. Councilmember Thompson said the biggest part is what lays in the economy’s future and what the economy does in the next year or two. Can we hunker down and get through this and then things will be better in a couple years. We do not know that because there is no guaranteed in three years things will be better. Councilmember Thompson would take the 3% increase in water and in sewer because that is what has needed over the last thirty years, and he would also like any increases to go through a public hearing. Discussion ensued regarding whether to take the 3% increase in water and in sewer. 3. Misc.: Jennifer explained that the III-A information is on the SharePoint website for the Council to review and she will need a decision by October 29th. Jennifer said she would like to know that the Council will support the decision made by her and the Mayor.Discussion ensued. The Council said they would like to continue with the III-A. EXECUTIVE SESSION: 1. Personnel Evaluations - Idaho Code 67-2345 (1-b) 2. Real Property Acquisitions - Idaho Code 67-2345 (1-c) 3. Pending Litigation - Idaho Code 67-2345 (1-f) Councilmember Kirkham moved to adjourn into executive session pursuant to Idaho Code 67-2345(1- F). Councilmember Coletti seconded. Roll Call Vote: Councilmember Kirkham – Yes, Councilmember Coletti – Yes, Councilmember Thompson – Yes, Councilmember Slack – Yes, and Councilmember Christensen – Yes. The motion passed. The meeting adjourned at 9:17 p.m. _________________________________________________ Steve Fuhriman, Mayor _________________________________________________ Ron Folsom, City Clerk 55 Council Minutes 10-18-2012 Page of