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HomeMy WebLinkAbout1980-03-11city council minutesBook 21 Page 73 SPECIAL MEETING March 11, 1980 7:30 p.m. The Special Meeting was called to order by Mayor Pasley. The Roll of the City Council was called with the following members present: McCluskey, Betts, Williams, Hopper, and Carter. Absent: Raymond. (PUBLIC HEARING AS REQUESTED BY THE DEPARTMENT OF HOUSING AND URBAN DEVELOPMENT) The Mayor stated that this meeting was called at the request of the Department of Housing and Urban Development. In a letter dated January 7th, they stated that it was noted that the City of Caldwell's Citizen's Participation Meetings were not held at a time when employed low income persons could attend. They further said that citizens need to be given this opportunity at a time convenient for this purpose. The Mayor stated that because of this letter, the City of Caldwell was required to schedule two more meetings. Two advertisements, not in the legal section were published which read as follows: "Two Public Hearings will be held March 11th and 12th at the Caldwell City Hall for the City of Caldwell for the purpose of obtaining input from the community on a proposed application to the Department of Housing and Urban Development for partial funding on a sewer line extension along Cleveland Boulevard. The Meeting will be at 7:30 p.m. in the Council Chambers in City Hall at 704 Blaine. Interested persons are encouraged to attend." This was also printed in Spanish. The Mayor further said that the law states that ten days prior a notice of each Public Hearing and Meeting will be given to the public by publication in easily readable type in the nonlegal section of the News Tribune. Such notices shall indicate the date, time, place, and procedures for the hearing topics to be considered. The Mayor further stated that the topic to be considered was the extension of a gravity flow main sewer interceptor from Belmont Street to Boise Avenue, up Belmont Street to Thirteenth, across Thirteenth to the railroad, up the railroad right of way to Georgia, out Georgia to Cleveland Boulevard, up to Cleveland Boulevard to Ustick Road, down Ustick Road to the railroad, and up the railroad right of way to Laster Lane. This was tentative and was the route that preliminary engineering felt: was the best route. The City was unable to hire an engineering firm to determine details until the City has received Federal Grants. The City was applying for two grants; one grant to the Economic: Development Agency which was already applied for in the amount of $540,000.00 and the second grant of $700,000.00 will be applied for to the Department of Housing and Urban Development. The City's contribution in this project would be $360,000.00 financed either by revenues from the Water and Sewer Departments or Revenue Sharing. The City Council has yet to make that determination. There was several pumping stations in the vicinity of Linden which could be eliminated if this main sewer interceptor gravity flow was put in and it would provide sewer service to an area of some 2,500 acres; an area that was presently not served by sewer. The sewer services from the main interceptor to various developments would be financed by private individuals such as businesses or developers. It was the opinion of the City Council and of the Industrial Committee of the Chamber of Commerce that such a project would be of tremendous economic consequence to the City of Caldwell. It would serve an area of approximately 2,500 acres that was not presently served by sewer. The purpose of this Public Hearing was to seek public input, either for or against the development of this project and at this time the Mayor stated he would declare the Public Hearing open and solicit comments from anyone in the audience. A Mrs. McKinley was recognized and asked for clarification as to what the 4,000 feet was. The Mayor asked for the City Engineer to answer this question. Book 21 Page 74 Mr. Lewis stated that this was the water line extension part of the project which was approximately 4,000 feet. He further said that the sewer would consist of approximately 25,000 feet. The Mayor also explained that hopefully tied in with the project was the drilling of a well in the vicinity of Laster Lane and and Cleveland Boulevard which would be done by private enterprise who would enter into an agreement. with the City of Caldwell whereas the City would eventually purchase that well and tie into the City's regular water distribution system. Presently, the water line goes to Ustick Load, the sewer line approximately to Linden,but it was not a gravity flow line to Linden. Development from Linden to the Southeast of Laster Lane was greatly hampered by lack of sewer because industrial /commercial development was so limited without access to the sewer line. The City felt that this was one of the most important projects that the City has ever considered and certainly the City Council supports it one hundred percent as well as the Chamber of Commerce. There were..a few residences and a few businesses in the area that would benefit and very much vacant land which would be much more readily saleable for development if the City was successful in completing this project. Dick Winder was recognized and asked if the testimony that was presented at the meetings held during the day time were still valid and accepted. The Mayor answered that it was valid and was all favorable. Mr. Winder then asked if there was a real necessity for the Chamber of Commerce to testify again. The Mayor said that there really was not. The evening meetings were only to give an opportunity for the people who were unable to attend day meetings to testify. There wasn't any of those people in attendance which the Mayor felt was rightfully so as this kind of development would not affect most of them. It would affect the Office of the Idaho Migrant Council, who have written that they do endorse the project and would expect to hook on to the system. One of the requirements that was necessary to get the grant was that the City has to show positive proof to the Department of housing and Urban Development that there will be at least '$6.00 of private capital invested for every $1.00 of public funds. There were three people from the Ida -Ore Development Council working on this grant application. One of them, Rand Lindley and his wife, were in the audience at this time. Another requirement of H.U.B. was that the City not only have a commitment from a developer or developers, but that they will commit approximately five million dollars to the project and they must also produce a firm letter from their lending agency who agrees to finance this amount. The City received a letter very recently asking that all of this information be made available to I-I.U.D.'s Washington Office by April 4th. The Mayor stated that he wrote to them and said it would be near June lst when the City would be able to meet that time table. He stated that he did this after talking with the lending agency that was involved and they agreed that this was probably a practical answer. Rand Lindley was recognized and said that he would like to again mention that the project was prioritized number one in the district by E.D.A. Duane Wolfe was recognized and said that he would like to testify that he fully supports this project and that they were working very hard to make it a reality. He felt that good,.. progress was being made and that if the City was able to get this grant it would make a giant step towards an awful lot of economic impact on the City of Caldwell. Some very staunch developers out of Boise have visited with him and would like to Book 21 Page 75 become a part of this development. Mr. Wolfe further said that the market exists over here, but it has not been able to be developed. He stated that he fully supported the City's efforts. Curt Beukelman was recognized and stated that he was certainly in favor of the project. Since there was no one else from the audience who cared to offer comments at the Public Hearing, the Mayor declared the Public Hearing closed. There being no further business, the Meeting was adjourned at 8:30 o'clock p.m. APPROVED AS written THIS 18th. DAY OF March 1980. mayor ''Cb'brfci,lman, councilman Counqgamanl Councilman ouncilman Councilman ATTEST: City ClerK,