August 21, 2006 Regular Meeting

The City Council met in regular session on August 21, 2006 at 7:30 P.M. in the Council Chambers of City Hall.

President Walker presided:

Councilmembers present:

Brian Lorentz
Georgia DeHaas
Delbert Houger
James Zehner
Wes Lester

Mayor Vanderwall absent

City employees present were Public Works Director Gortsema, Chief Sedam, Attorney Albers and Clerk Kennedy.

The meeting was called to order and the minutes of the August 7th regular meeting were approved as presented by Councilman Houger, second by Councilman Lester. Motion carried by a unanimous vote of the Council present.

PUBLIC HEARING ON THE VINEYARDS PRELIMINARY PLAT: A public hearing on The Vineyards preliminary plat was called to order. President Walker read the letter from George and Elizabeth Brown letting the Council know that they had a previous engagement and could not attend the public hearing. Hunter Edwards let the Council know that the layout of the subdivision has not changed. There are 39 lots with the frontage between approximately 75-80 feet.

Staff Presentation: Mike Sturdevant explained that the technical review committee met two times. The first meeting was May 18th during which they reviewed the packet of information and found some deficiencies. George and Hunter both attended the meeting and most of the concerns were addressed at that time. They submitted a letter back to the committee addressing those concerns, most of which will be addressed during the construction design phase. On July 25th the committee had a follow up meeting to discuss storm water. The storm water was not originally addressed at the May meeting and the committee felt flooding might occur down stream using the existing conveyance system. The developer then had to come up with a Storm Water Mitigation Plan that the City and Sate both wanted in place. The developer came back with a plan of action to have two controlled discharge points so storm water runoff wouldn’t increase any existing flow. The committee reviewed the report and found some errors that were addressed and corrected. The technical review committee felt the developer had addressed all 17 required areas of the preliminary plat and has recommended approval of the preliminary plat. A Storm Water Report was created that identified the amount of water that would run off from the subdivision. The first discharge area is the Tamarack culvert that is regulated at 1.6 cfs. The second structure is a retention basin which is designed to hold anything over the 1.6 cfs. This basically discharges into the States 24” culvert that goes under highway 95 with a discharge rate of .88 cfs. The retention basin will drain completely and will not hold water for an extended time. After the storm it will hold back flow and then release it slowly.

Councilman Lester asked where the water would go if there was more water than the basin could handle. Mike responded that it would then run down toward Highway 95.

Public Works Director Gortsema stated that the technical review committee also recommended that the drainage system is maintained by the owner for three years or until 75% build out, whichever comes first. This will give the developer an incentive to keep the dirt and silt on the property during the building phase. The developer will also need an EPA permit for storm water, due to the size of the development. Gortsema also had the water and sewer engineers currently working on City projects review the line extensions to determine the correct sizes for the system.

Councilman Walker asked about future development of the property and voiced his concerns about the system being designed based upon only a 10 year flood. He felt the mitigation system should be based on more than a 10 year flood since it’s easier to account for the modifications of a future development now rather than later. Mike Sturdevant explained that this is for Phase I and if the developer submits a Phase II then at that time the whole system would need to be re-evaluated during the process.

Written Correspondence: none

Supporters of the Application: none

Neutrals of the Application: none

Opponents of the Application: none

The hearing was closed.

Recommendation: On motion by Councilwoman DeHaas, second by Councilman Zehner to accept the Vineyards Preliminary plat as presented. Motion carried by a unanimous vote of the Council present.

The Planning and Zoning Minutes from August 17, 2006 were accepted on motion by Councilman Lorentz, second by Councilman Lester. Motion carried by a unanimous vote of the Council present.

VISITORS: Kathy Parsells asked that the alley between East South 9th and East South 10th Street would be left open. About a month ago the alley was blocked by Linda Fisher when she moved her fence and parked her car in the alley. Kathy stated that she has a gate that she would like access to. The alley is the shortest route to the renter’s house and the easiest route to hand trim her trees. Without the alley open, she can’t access the trees with a boom truck. Due to past problems, Kathy is not allowed to talk to Linda, so she went to the police department and they wrote a report and sent to Attorney Albers. Kathy also stated that the alley is the only way to access the storage shed on the Wagner’s property.

Chris Wagner stated that they have no way to access the storage shed and their property without the use of the alley. The shed is storage for a boat or full size vehicle.

Port Wagner asked why Mrs. Fisher put things in the alley. Attorney Albers responded that Linda owns part of the alley.

Attorney Albers stated that the best information the City has without a complete survey is the area marked on 10th Street. It appears that about ½ of the alley that is dedicated is being occupied in Kathy’s yard and the other ½ owned by Mrs. Fisher. The right of way line on 10th Street is accurate and two surveyors have concurred.

Councilman Walker felt the City need to take the issue under advisement and postpone discussion until the next meeting.

Charles Light, 218 East North 5th Street, asked for permission to plant trees in the right of way on the west side of 218 East North 5th Street and on the north side of East North 5th Street. On motion by Councilwoman DeHaas, second by Councilman Houger to grant Charles Light permission to plant the trees in the right of way, as requested. Motion carried by a unanimous vote of the Council present.

Jeff Kutner provided the Council with a CEDA and Ida-Lew update and thanked the Council for their support of $2000.00 to Ida-Lew. Gil Bates has been meeting with businesses and establishing contacts. CEDA has helped businesses in and close to Grangeville receive approximately $220,000.00 in loans. A public meeting will be held August 22nd at the Senior Center, at 10:00 a.m. on the telecommunication study that occurred through CEDA.

Jeff Kutner was disappointed that almost no one showed up at the County hearing on the garbage ordinance. They plan to vote next meeting on the ordinance.

COMMITTEE REPORTS: On motion by Councilman Lester, second by Councilman Zehner to approve the Library Board Minutes of July 27, 2006. Motion carried by a unanimous vote of the Council present. The Library had a successful summer reading program with an 11.6% increase in participation.

WATER PROJECT: Public Works Director Gortsema explained that most of the work left is 6” pipe and just the balance of 8”. Bodiford is caught up on services, but waiting on the bacteria test results on 6th street. The City is in receipt of several change orders for dollar amounts and contract days. Gil Walker is reviewing those and Gortsema and Mike Sturdevant have already reviewed them. They have questions and will work to get them resolved and then present them to the Council at a future meeting. As they currently stand, the changes add 39 working days to the contract which moves the completion date to about the 3rd week in October.

On motion by Councilman Lester, second by Councilman Lorentz to approve Bodiford’s pay request #10 in the amount of $213,453.17. Motion carried by a unanimous vote of the Council present.

BILLS: The bills (including Bodiford’s pay request #10) were approved and ordered paid out of their respective funds on motion by Councilman Zehner, second by Councilman Lester. Motion carried by a unanimous vote of the Council present.

Payroll Fund $ 48,588.43
General Fund $ 46,977.41
Street Fund $ 36,609.45
Library Fund $ 6,455.54
Recreation Fund $ 22,478.83
Snowhaven Fund $ 572.61
Medical Insurance Fund $ 13,161.66
Water Fund $259,837.43
Sewer Fund $ 17,468.47
Sanitation Fund $ 38,979.44

MEETING CHANGE: On motion by Councilman Lester, second by Councilman Lorentz to change the September meeting from the 4th of September to September 5th, due to Labor Day. Motion carried by a unanimous vote of the Council present.

ICCTFOA CONFERENCE: On motion by Councilman Lester, second by Councilman Houger to allow Clerk Kennedy to attend the ICCTFOA Conference September 20th – 22nd. Motion carried by a unanimous vote of the Council present.

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE APPLICATION: The Department of Commerce is accepting applications from those Cities under 10,000 in population that are experiencing growth. The money can only be used for planning not engineering. The City didn’t have a project planned at this time.

EXECUTIVE SESSION: On motion by Councilman Lester, second by Councilman Zehner to go into Executive Session according to Section 67-2345 (f). A roll call vote was duly taken with the following results:

Councilwoman DeHaas Yes
Councilman Houger Yes
Councilman Lorentz Yes
Councilman Lester Yes
Councilman Zehner Yes

Motion passed.

A motion was made by Councilman Lester, second by Councilman Houger to go out of Executive Session. A roll call vote was duly taken with the following results:

Councilwoman DeHaas Yes
Councilman Houger Yes
Councilman Lorentz Yes
Councilman Lester Yes
Councilman Zehner Yes

Motion passed.

On motion by Councilman Lester, second by Councilman Houger to authorize the hiring of a conflict attorney for an upcoming personnel issue. Motion carried.

ITEMS TO NOTE: The next Highway 95 Corridor Steering Committee meeting will be September 13, 2006, 9:00 a.m. at the Super 8.

The public hearing for the FY ’07 Budget is September 5th at 7:30 p.m.

The meeting adjourned at 9:30 P.M.

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Bruce Walker - President

ATTEST:

_________________________
Tonya Kennedy – City Clerk