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03122009CouncilMinutes CITY OF AMMON CITY COUNCIL WORK SESSION MINUTES THURSDAY, MARCH 12, 2009 AGENDA: CITY OF AMMON 2135 SOUTH AMMON ROAD CITY COUNCIL AGENDA – WORK SESSION THURSDAY, MARCH 12, 2009 – 4:00 P.M. DISCUSSION ITEMS: 1.IBSD Direction of Flows (Lance/Dana) 2.Garbage Can Policy (Lance/Leslie) 3.Sensus Results from Propagation Study (Lance) 4.Initial Presentation of Costs Associated with a Start-up Police Department (Steve Kent) 5.Misc. MINUTES City Officials Present: Mayor Bruce Ard Councilmember Dana Kirkham Councilmember Lee Bean Councilmember Brian Powell (arrived 7:15 p.m.) Councilmember Randy Waite Councilmember Rex Thompson Councilmember D. Ray Ellis City Clerk Leslie Folsom City Engineer Lance Bates City Officials Absent: None Councilmember Kirkham opened the meeting at 4:15 p.m. at the City Office Building located at 2135 South Ammon Road. DISCUSSION ITEMS: 1. IBSD Direction of Flows (Lance/Dana): Lance explained our capacity at the treatment plant of 2 million gallons will handle roughly 5555 connections. At this time the City has roughly 4000, so we have 1555 left. The previous example he gave the Council destroyed a lot of the balance and he has now decided to go a different th direction. He is proposing to ask IBSD a couple of questions. Do you want to control the sewer lift station on 17 by Wildwood? If they do, then it makes sense that all of the flows into that sewer lift station become their flows. If they don’t, then where do they want to go on this. They will have to reroute the force main. Councilmember Bean said the agreement with IBSD was they had to figure a way to get their flows – why are we trying to solve their problems. Lance said we have agreed to work with them to separate our flows. His second question is do they want to build a new lift station at the corner of Ross and Wanda, because in order to get the flow out of Ammon’s line they will have to build a new lift station or they can trade connections to us so it continues to flow the direction it does now. Councilmember Thompson said we ought to figure out what we want first. Lance asked if we have a th recommendation or inclination, do we want to accept this sewer lift station or not. He won’t bring it up 14 North, th at this point. Lance said we will have to deal with Idaho Falls at some time on 14 North. If we allow IBSD to have th control of the sewer lift station on 17 street and if they trade us the area south of there, then we are only cutting into our 1555 by 17 connections and he feels this is easily done versus what he had previously proposed. Councilmember Bean advised Lance to start with this. Lance said he will write the letter and go over it with the Mayor and Councilmember Ellis. He will also review all of this with Dave Nowell again. Council Work Session Minutes 3-12-09 Page 1 of 4 2. Garbage Can Policy (Lance/Leslie): Lance presented the proposed policy to the Council. Councilmember Kirkham said she was most concerned that he wanted additional containers limited. Councilmember Ellis said he doesn’t think we should limit the number of containers. Councilmember Thompson stated he agreed that customers can have as many containers as they want. Leslie noted that residential locations could have as many containers as they wanted at a fee of $8.00 per additional container per month. Councilmember Bean asked Lance what his reason was for not wanting the constituent to have more than one container. Lance replied that his concern was how the City was going to look if they have 3 or more cans on the side of their home. He would like to limit it to one or two cans and has set the limit to 3. Councilmember Bean said there is going to be a point in time when Bonneville County is going to charge for the amount we take to the County and he wants to discourage the amount we take. Councilmember Kirkham said change it to $10.00 across the board, for each additional container requested, with no limit. Leslie said they did add a delinquency section to it with a $25.00 reinstatement fee and $1.00 per day per can. Councilmember Ellis said he felt it was no different than turning off the water and there should be a $50.00 pickup and $50.00 drop off. Leslie replied that our garbage is $10.00 now and the only time this would come into force is when we disconnect the water. With garbage and sewer accounts she can’t turn off those services other than picking up the can. If the fee is set too high, they won’t come in and pay the fee and pick up their container. Councilmember Ellis asked what if you go to remove the container and they have it in the garage. Leslie replied they always put the trash out on pickup day and the City can dump it and confiscate it, at that time. Councilmember Bean said let’s just leave it at $25.00 and $1.00 per day delinquent and see how many we have to pick up. Leslie stated that she also added that if a container is stolen, they must present a police report to have it replaced without charge. Also, unauthorized use of a container other than your own is prohibited. Leslie said she will add that each home is mandated to have a container. 3. Sensus Results from Propagation Study (Lance): Lance had the council pull up the map showing the propagation study. He explained the variety of coverage in the City with only 17 locations with any problems. They will be able to put a portal to cover these areas. Lance stated with one tower we should be able to get well beyond the City limits. Lance explained the cost of the tower at the tank site is $72,000, the $3700 is the other piece of equipment, the rest of the software and interface is $3300. That does not include the cost of the meters. A one inch SR2 meter is$188.95, a single port NXU is $135.00, that totals to $323.95 and we are currently collecting $375. Hopefully when we install these, we will have two different phases, handling properties with existing meter pits first, which will take care of most of the City. There are 1016 homes that don’t have meter pits that will take more effort. Lance stated this will be out of pocket and not part of the water project. Leslie stated the meter charges will cover the expense of the tower. Lance said we will have staff to handle this after the garbage truck comes on line. Mayor Ard stated he wondered if our crew can perform the installations. Lance stated we will start with Quail Ridge and see how long it takes. Councilmember Ellis said they met with Keller’s for the grant. By the time we start on the pits and the funding, how do we track those costs? Councilmember Thompson asked if each household has to apply to get a rebate. Councilmember Ellis said there is a lot of red tape with the grant, but the major question is how we pay for it. Councilmember Ellis said we are seeing estimates of $1 ½ to 3 million. Councilmember Bean said you are saying putting in 1000 meter pits which will cost $1 ½ million. Councilmember Ellis said the costs covers the meter pits and meters. Lance said we start charging the meters and the flows of those we can and then we bring in the other parts of the City. Councilmember Bean said he thinks we need these and wonders if we should have an engineer come in to tell us if we will recoup the expense. Jennifer stated the meter charges have been going to a separate account in the reserve for the improvements and financials. Councilmember Bean said he doesn’t disagree that this is the best for conservation, but of the economics he’s not sure. He feels he can go and buy water rights for the $3 million and build new wells. Councilmember Ellis said what about having a policy that when a water line gets replaced they have to put in a meter pit and meter. Councilmember Bean asked how much water rights do you need, for instance on well 11. Lance responded well 11 is going to be right around 6 CFS, we had a total average use of about 27 over the course of the last year. We peaked out at about somewhere close to 50. In the winter months we are closer to 13 or 14. Councilmember Bean asked how much it would cost for water rights. Lance replied he would ask them to research that. 4. Initial Presentation of Costs Associated with a Start-up Police Department (Steve Kent): Steve Kent, Jerry Summers Chief of Police in McCall and Stan Peterson Sergeant with Shelley Police Dept attended the Council Work Session Minutes 3-12-09 Page 2 of 4 meeting. Steve presented a slide program with a long range strategic plan. He would recommend a report from the Chief of Police every quarter and expect 90% satisfaction. He went through the leadership requirements from the police department. He would recommend a separate police district to keep it out of the general fund. Councilmember Bean asked if the Council loses control, if it goes to a district. Steve stated he feels the Council can be the district. Jerry Summers said it is a policy, so it keeps the funds used only for the police department. Jerry stated you look at the dating philosophy. If you go out and walk the streets and you feel safe window shopping – you need to thank your police department. The end product of code enforcement is property values. Councilmember Bean asked if what they were showing here was common to police departments. Chief Summers responded no it is not common, it’s a philosophy, that they are trying to change in law enforcement. They took a plan that was very similar and moved it forward. It has stabilized and is now growing the department in a healthy manner. Jerry said when he was hired they had a strategic plan and after five years they are just getting it completed. The blank slides are for your Chief to fill out and present to the Council. He went over the recommendations to start the police dept. First would be to finalize the contracts with Bonneville County. Second, form a citizen advisory group, not a citizen oversight committee, to look over these documents then leave the rest to the Police Chief. He covered education of the public to bring on our own police department. Councilmember Kirkham asked how long it would take to start our new force. Steve said he feels it will take five years. He recommends hiring someone on the way up and forms a selection committee (five people at the most) and make a final recommendation back to the Mayor of the top three candidates. Ask the Chief to come up with a plan and timeline for the Council. Jerry stated there needs to be a minimum 10,000 sq ft for the police force. You will need secured space for evidence room, records, interview rooms and shower/locker/exercise room. Councilmember Kirkham asked if we could add a Detective Sergeant or contract out for these services. Stan Peterson said there is an intimate relationship between patrol and investigations and detectives. They couldn’t work well together, if they were in two different locations. Steve went over the annual budget with the Council. To start up the department would cost $3.5 million and the annual amount would be $1.3 million for 17 employees. Councilmember Bean asked where these salaries fit in terms of the local market. Steve said he took state averages but doesn’t know locally. Jerry said it costs $70,000 a year to keep training new officers because they pay too low on salaries and his employees can qualify for food stamps. Councilmember Bean asked Stan what these salaries look like compared to Shelley. Stan makes $22.60 per hour and he is an investigator and Patrol Sergeant. IFPD pays a lot more but most are not happy. If you pay what Stan is making, you will keep them happy. Councilmember Kirkham asked about the DARE officer and if the school will still contract with them. Steve said that would be up to the city, but Jerry said McCall pays for one full time SRO and they pay 60% of his salary. Steve feels it’s critical to have them. Councilmember Thompson asked how do you figure officers per calls and we have 450 calls per officer. It is 7200 total calls now. Jerry said this is dispatch calls and officer initiated activity. Councilmember Kirkham asked if these figures are based in future dollars. Steve said no it is based in today’s dollars. Councilmember Kirkham will argue that 11 ½ employees is high to start. Steve said it would be interesting to take that level of service and compare the contract proposal to how close it gets to it. Jerry stated he is a firm believer in having 2 officers on all shifts and you always have someone sick, on vacation, etc. On this form you will have two officers and a Sergeant on duty. Councilmember Bean asked Jerry if he has ever thought of moving out of McCall. Jerry said yes. Councilmember Kirkham asked about 14 total vehicles. Jerry said there is a problem with high wear and tear. Jerry said they buy four wheel drive Ford Explorers’ for $27,000 with the State Contract, then it costs another $7,000 to mount the radios and put the cage in. In the winter they need four wheel drives. They are looking at a $6500 digital video camera in each vehicle and they search all females in front of the camera which has helped with liability. They have radar, videos, map lights, etc. going into the vehicle outfitting. The purchase of the vehicle includes the lights and cages. Jerry explained the fees and fines from courts. In every case, they can fine or order restitution. He has a problem with restitution since this can’t be controlled. Code enforcement generates approx. $400 a month throughout the year in parking fines that comes to the City. Every time an officer makes a traffic stop and finds any paraphernalia, they can charge that to drug enforcement and that comes back on a dollar for dollar. The money then goes into a separate line item to help with drug interdiction, drug training, drug funding of any type. Councilmember Bean asked if there is a suggested location for a police office. Councilmember Kirkham said we could use our fire department. Councilmember Ellis said we have training rooms, showers, etc. in the fire department. Steve explained they have a figure of $160 per sq ft. Jerry just transports to the County. They bring in arrests for alcohol and drugs and check them at the local facility and then they take them to the County. Council Work Session Minutes 3-12-09 Page 3 of 4 Councilmember Kirkham asked why we need the two rooms – one soft and one hard. A hard interview room is a room used for possible confession of a crime and interview. Jerry said however, they may be a victim of a crime and you don’t want a victim in a hard room. Steve stated he believes that Ammon will have its own police department. Councilmember Ellis asked how we start up with the building. Jerry said one of the things you can look at getting the money for is fire departments and you can get funds for a combination fire/police department. Jerry said they have factored in for wrecks, etc. Jerry said SLC sells their vehicles already equipped and the car will last the City two years. Jerry said hire the Chief first. Councilmember Bean asked if it was wrong in asking, “We want your assistance in helping us move forward”, not if we are going to do it. Jerry stated he makes $39.31 an hour which is $82,000 a year. Jerry took his job at $65,000 four years ago. Councilmember Kirkham said for all to go home and review the information. At the next Council meeting, they need to decide if the City stands on their own or not. If the Council moves forward with the department, then they would move forward with the Citizens Task Force as to how to put it together. Steve stated he will come to the first advisory citizen’s task force meeting and would love to have four hours to educate them and to help develop the action plan. Councilmember Kirkham stated she would like to limit it to two hours. Councilmember Kirkham said 12 people because she wanted representation from all the sections of the City. Jerry recommended getting a cross section of business and residents. He said the bar owners were furious about the DUI tickets until they had them on the committee so they could understand the validity of it and why they don’t want to over serve. Councilmember Bean said everyone come back with names ending with a minimum of 7 and maximum of 12. Councilmember Kirkham said she was entering into negotiations now and was wondering how to proceed. Steve said he could go to see Sam Hulse and give him these records. Council is ok with Steve seeing Sam. Steve said he feels Paul will support the City going on their own, as long as it’s a true police department. Councilmember Bean stated he has been happy with the services but this is the direction the Council wants to go. Jerry stated the easiest statement would be we are looking at forming our own police department which prevents the City from signing a ten year formula. Jerry said you want them to understand you are looking at this and the dollars they are charging equals out. Councilmember Kirkham said they need to phase out, as much as, we need to phase in. Steve said he wouldn’t recommend the City getting its own dispatch, at this time. Councilmember Kirkham asked if this additional service to assist with the task force costs more. Steve said this is still part of his contract and he will let the Council know when the contract is ending. Council told Steve they liked his presentation. Councilmember Thompson asked the time frame for the group. Steve said two hours a month for three months. Jerry said allow them to be flexible with the time, in case, they want to do more or less. Councilmember Kirkham said this will be a topic during the elections. Steve suggested that the committee be all volunteers, less than 10, everyone might need to do tasks, and it will self-destruct in 90 days. Councilmember Bean asked if one of the volunteers will be the leader. Steve would prefer it to be a Councilmember. 5. Misc.: Councilmember Kirkham asked concerning the public works manager. Do you see this position as a department head or a staff level employee? Lance feels it would need to be a department head. Councilmember Bean said you can have a variation of organization and have it under Lance. Councilmember Bean said it will be on a salary basis. Councilmember Kirkham said a high salary of $47,000 and a low of $45,000, under Lance and over public works. Lance said he will be over plans and storm water retention. This individual will oversee sanitation, water, etc. and would be an extra hand. Mayor Ard said this person isn’t going to be sitting behind the desk – it will be a hands-on position. Councilmember Kirkham said they are looking at construction experience and would want the individual to be water certified. Councilmember Bean motioned to adjourn. Councilmember Kirkham seconded. Roll call vote: Councilmember Bean – Yes, Councilmember Kirkham – Yes, Councilmember Thompson – Yes, Councilmember Waite – Yes, Councilmember Powell – Yes, and Councilmember Ellis – Yes. The motion passed. The meeting adjourned at 7:20 p.m. _____________________________________ C. Bruce Ard, Mayor __________________________________ Leslie Folsom, City Clerk Council Work Session Minutes 3-12-09 Page 4 of 4