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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2003-08-04city council minutesREGULAR MEETING AUGUST 4, 2003 7:00 P.M. The Meeting was called to order by Mayor Nancolas. The Invocation was offered by Pastor Phil Bohlken of Grace Lutheran Church. The Mayor asked that everyone remain standing for the Pledge of Allegiance to the Flag led by Aaron Keener, Boy Scout. The Roll of the City Council was called with the following members present: Hopper, Ozuna, Dakan, Wells, Blacker, and Callsen. Absent: none. SPECIAL PRESENTATIONS There were no special presentations. ADDITIONS OR DELETIONS TO THE AGENDA MOVED by Blacker, SECONDED by Wells to approve the Agenda as written. Roll call vote. Those voting yes: Blacker, Callsen, Hopper, Ozuna, Dakan, and Wells. Those voting no: none. Absent and not voting: none. MOTION CARRIED AUDIENCE PARTICIPATION The Mayor asked Boy Scout, Aaron Keener to introduce his family members. Candy Jenkins introduced her son, Ethan, also a Boy Scout. The Boy Scouts were attending the meeting to earn their Communications merit badges. CONSENT CALENDAR: The Mayor presented the following items on the Consent Calendar for approval by the Members of the City Council: 1. Dispense with reading of the minutes of the July 7, 2003 and July 21, 2003 Regular City Council Meetings and approve as written; 2. Approve acceptance of the minutes from the Caldwell Golf Board held on July 16, 2003 and July 23, 2003 and the Planning and Zoning Commission Meeting held on June 12, 2003; 3. Approve Order of Decision on Case No. SUB- 87PF -03 (Colby Hawker), Case No. SUB- 89PF -03 (Reed Taylor), and ZON -33 -03 (Gary Vezzoso); 4. Approve Resolution No. 63 -03 authorizing execution of a Cancellation of Airport Tenant Agreement with Gregory W. Doster; 5. Approve Resolution No. 64 -03 authorizing execution of an Airport Tenant Agreement with Cliff and Sheri Pearson; 6. Approve Resolution No. 65 -03 authorizing execution of an Airport Tenant Agreement with Gregory W. or Paula A. Doster; 7. Approve Resolution No. 66 -03 authorizing execution of an Addendum to the Airport Tenant Agreement with Andreas Blech; 8. Approve Resolution No. 67 -03 authorizing execution of an Agreement for Connection to the City water and sewer system with Jon and Cathleen Heaton; RESOLUTION NO. 37 -03 BY THE CITY OF CALDWELL, IDAHO ACCEPTING AN ANNEXATION AGREEMENT BETWEEN THE CITY OF CALDWELL, AND JON AND CATHLEEN HEATON, FOR THE PURPOSE OF BINDING THEIR PROPERTY, DESCRIBED IN "EXHIBIT A; TO BE ANNEXED BY THE CITY OF CALDWELL AT SUCH A TIME AS IT IS LEGALLY ABLE TO DO SO, AND AT THE OPTION OF THE CITY OF CALDWELL, IN EXCHANGE FOR GRANTING THE RIGHT TO CONNECT TO CITY WATER SERVICES. 9. Approve request for contingency funds in the amount of $11,600 to provide for HR/City Clerk's office and additional workstations for Finance personnel. MOVED by Blacker, SECONDED by Dakan to approve the Consent Calendar as written. Roll call vote. Those voting yes: Blacker, Callsen, Hopper, Ozuna, Dakan, and Wells. Those voting no: none. Absent and not voting: none. MOTION CARRIED OLD BUSINESS (SECOND READING OF BILL NO. 9 (ORDINANCE NO. 2462), REGARDING A PROPOSED EXCHANGE OF CITY -OWNED REAL PROPERTY FOR PRIVATE PROPERTY OWNED BY P.R. MAC (JIM MCGARVIN) WITH A REQUEST TO WAIVE THE RULES, PASS ON THE SECOND READING AND APPROVE SUMMARY FOR PUBLICATION) The Mayor read Bill No. 9 (Ordinance No. 2462) by title only: AN ORDINANCE FINDING AND DETERMINING THAT THE CITY OWNS CERTAIN REAL PROPERTY IN THE VICINITY OF JOHNSON STREET AND AIRPORT AVENUE; THAT THE CITY HAS STATUTORY AUTHORITY TO MANAGE ITS REAL PROPERTY IN THE PUBLIC INTEREST; THAT SAID PROPERTY IS UNDERUTILIZED IN ITS CURRENT CONDITION; THAT THE CITY COUNCIL HAS DECLARED ITS INTENT TO EXCHANGE SAID PROPERTY WITH ADJACENT REAL PROPERTY OWNED BY P.R. MAC, A PARTNERSHIP; THAT A PUBLIC HEARING WAS DULY NOTICED AND HELD REGARDING A PROPOSED EXCHANGE; AUTHORIZING THE EXCHANGE OF THE SUBJECT PROPERTIES; AUTHORIZING THE MAYOR TO EXECUTE A WARRANTY DEED; AUTHORIZING ACCEPTANCE OF A DEED FROM P.R. MAC; REPEALING ALL ORDINANCES, RESOLUTIONS OR PARTS THEREOF IN CONFLICT HEREWITH; AND ESTABLISHING AN EFFECTIVE DATE. MOVED by Dakan, SECONDED by Hopper to accept this reading as the Second Reading of Bill No. 9 (Ordinance No. 2462) and to waive the third reading. Roll call vote. Those voting yes: Dakan, Wells, Blacker, Callsen, Hopper, and Ozuna. Those voting no: none. Absent and not voting: none. MOTION CARRIED MOVED by Hopper, SECONDED by Dakan to sponsor Bill No. 9 (Ordinance No. 2462), move for its passage on the second reading, and approve the Summary for Publication. Roll call vote. Those voting yes: Hopper, Ozuna, Dakan, Wells, Blacker, and Callsen. Those voting no: none. Absent and not voting: none. MOTION CARRIED (CONSIDER BILL NO. 23 (ORDINANCE NO. 2476), REGARDING GARY VEZZOSO REZONE, WAIVE THE RULES, PASS ON THE FIRST READING AND APPROVE SUMMARY FOR PUBLICATION) The Mayor read Bill No. 23 (Ordinance No. 2476) by title only: AN ORDINANCE TO PROVIDE A C -1 (NEIGHBORHOOD COMMERCIAL) ZONE DESIGNATION FOR CERTAIN LANDS; DETERMINING THAT SAID ZONING IS IN THE BEST INTEREST OF THE CITY OF CALDWELL, IDAHO; INSTRUCTING THE CITY ENGINEER AND COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT DIRECTOR TO DESIGNATE SAID PROPERTY AS C -1 ON THE OFFICIAL ZONING MAP AND OTHER AREA MAPS OF THE CITY REPEALING ALL LAWS, ORDINANCES AND RESOLUTIONS IN CONFLICT HEREWITH. MOVED by Hopper, SECONDED by Callsen to approve Bill No. 23 (Ordinance No. 2476) and waive the rules. Roll call vote. Those voting yes: Hopper, Ozuna, Dakan, Wells, Blacker, and Callsen. Those voting no: none. Absent and not voting: none. MOTION CARRIED MOVED by Hopper, SECONDED by Callsen to sponsor Bill No. 23 (Ordinance No. 2476), move for its passage, and approve the Summary for Publication. Roll call vote. Those voting yes: Hopper, Ozuna, Dakan, Wells, Blacker, and Callsen. Those voting no: none. Absent and not voting: none. MOTION CARRIED NEW BUSINESS (PUBLIC HEARING TO CONSIDER SETTING SECURITY DEPOSIT FEES FOR CITY SERVICES) The Mayor explained the Public Hearing process, the sign up sheets, and testimony. Gordon Law, City Engineer for the City of Caldwell, 621 Cleveland Blvd., gave the staff report. Law stated that this was the third step in trying to deal with the mounting bad debt problem associated with city utilities. City ordinance has been modified to allow the collection of a security deposit and to transfer the responsibility for billing delinquencies from tenants or non - residents to the actual property owner. E1Jay Waite, Finance Officer for the City of Caldwell, 621 Cleveland Blvd., stated that the public hearing has been duly advertised and noticed for this evening. Waite noted that the resolution sets the security deposit amount for standard residents in the city of Caldwell at $100.00. This amount was established by analyzing the nature of the bad debt that the City has been experiencing and trying to set the fee at a rate that will re- capture the amount of lost revenue without overcharging others who do not carry the amount of bad debt. Specifically, it would capture about 75 % -76% of it. Clarence Frericks, 2220 S. Indiana Avenue, stated that he wished to speak to the proposal part of the resolution where owners will be billed if they can't collect the fees from the people in the rentals. Frericks stated that, if we start having property owners pay the bill, there will be an avalanche of problems down the line because people will get the attitude that if they let it slide, they are going to make the owner of the property pay the bill. They will just let the landlord pay the bill and then they will go somewhere else and do it again. He stated that he can guarantee that if renters are behind on their water bill, the odds are pretty good that they are already behind on their rent. He stated that the owners are generally already in trouble because the renters already owe them money. Frericks stated that he doesn't want to be a collection agency for the Caldwell Water Department. He suggested that the City and the Council take a look at the City Water Department. Landlords should not be penalized for sloppy management in the Water Department. The Mayor stated that the water superintendent and staff are excellent and extremely competent. Also, Caldwell's water rates are some of the lowest in the valley and they are that low because we have good employees and they do a very good job of managing their departments. The intent is not to punish the property owner. The $100 should cover any outstanding balance that is there. The average water bill for two months is less than $100. If you are living in the city and you transfer to another and you have had a good payment history, you will not be charged a $100 deposit. Only brand new customers and those that have had a bad credit history with the city will pay a deposit. Those that do pay the $100 deposit will have the money refunded after two years of good credit. The thought is that we want to penalize those that are skipping on the rest of us. In most instances, the $100 will cover everything so the landlord should very rarely be assessed anything. Councilman Wells stated that they talked about this process for well over a year and although he wasn't overly in favor of the current situation at the start, he couldn't come up with anything different to spare the citizens of the city and also the landlords. His understanding was that if you have multiple pieces of property and the delinquency occurs on one of the properties, the delinquency stays with that property and doesn't spread across all the properties. Ken Olson, 70 N. Grant Street, Nampa, stated that he didn't understand where the council came up with the $100 figure. He stated that he has many rentals and some of his renters are low income and can't afford $100. He also asked about interest on the $100. He stated that it is against the law to hold money and not pay interest on it. Councilman Wells stated that they had a discussion with the City Attorney on the issue of interest on deposits. He asked the Mayor to give the summary of that discussion. The Mayor asked E1Jay Waite to provide the answer. Waite stated that they had looked into the probability of interest payments that would be required on the deposits. Interest probably will be required on these deposits and that will be calculated at the end of the holding period and paid to the resident when the deposit is paid back. Waite stated that there will be interest added if it is required by the state. He is of the opinion that interest will be added. The Mayor stated that the attorneys have reviewed the documents and have approved the ordinances as written. Councilman Wells asked Gordon Law if after two months there is a five to ten day lapse before the water gets turned off. Law stated that it would be fair to characterize the shut -off policy as a liberal one. It is a month plus another month plus ten days. The Mayor stated that the intended effective date of the deposit fee is September, 1, 2003. Councilman Wells stated that he thinks that is something they can start with the understanding that it is an ongoing thing that should be revisited later when issues come up. Like all policies, it needs to be monitored. Councilman Hopper stated that he had some concerns when this was brought forward and he agrees with some of the comments made by the landlords this evening. He has tried to reconcile what is the best approach and how is the best way to do this. He stated that he is very concerned about whether the $100 deposit is a difficult barrier for lower income people but he thinks that this is the only approach they can take that doesn't adversely affect other residents of the city. He stated that they should pay very close attention to what the impact may be and be prepared down the road to make some changes and fix some potential issues with the policy. He stated that we are not doing a service to the citizens of Caldwell when we have that much delinquent payment outstanding. MOVED by Callsen, SECONDED by Hopper to close the Public Hearing. Roll call vote. Those voting yes: Callsen, Hopper, Ozuna, Dakan, Wells, and Blacker. Those voting no: none. Absent and not voting: none. MOTION CARRIED (CONSIDER RESOLUTION NO. 62 -03 SETTING SECURITY DEPOSIT FEES FOR CITY SERVICES) The Mayor read Resolution No. 62 -03 by title only: A RESOLUTION PROVIDING FOR SECURITY DEPOSIT FEE FOR THE CITY OF CALDWELL, COUNTY OF CANYON, STATE OF IDAHO; PROVIDING AN AMOUNT AND METHOD OF CALCULATING THE FEE FOR STREET LIGHT SERVICE; PROVIDING AN AMOUNT AND METHOD OF CALCULATING THE FEE FOR REFUSE COLLECTION SERVICE; PROVIDING AN AMOUNT AND METHOD OF CALCULATING THE FEE FOR SEWER SERVICE; PROVIDING AN AMOUNT AND METHOD OF CALCULATING THE FEE FOR WATER SERVICE; REPEALING ALL RESOLUTIONS, ORDERS, AND PARTS THEREOF IN CONFLICT HEREWITH; AND PROVIDING AN EFFECTIVE DATE. MOVED by Hopper, SECONDED by Dakan to approve the passage of Resolution No. 62 -03. Roll call vote. Those voting yes: Hopper, Ozuna, Dakan, Wells, Blacker, and Callsen. Those voting no: none. Absent and not voting: none. MOTION CARRIED The Mayor stated to Gordon Law that council members had noted to keep a close eye on this policy and to bring back to Council any part of it that needs to be revisited after it has been implemented for a short period of time. He appreciates the hard work that has been done, about a three -year process from the beginning. He acknowledged Law and E1Jay Waite for putting in a tremendous amount of time and consideration to making sure that the proposal was fair. There have been several workshops and he appreciates all the time staff put in to bringing forth this resolution. It is never a joyous occasion to implement a new fee; but, in this case, he really believes that it is simply trying to be fair and make sure that those who are not paying the bills are the ones who are being addressed here so the rest of the rate payers are not paying the bad debt. He stated that they will keep a close eye on the policy and make sure that it doesn't become a burden and that it does accomplish the intended goal. (ACCEPT THE TENTATIVE BUDGET FOR FISCAL YEAR 2003 -2004 AND SET THE PUBLIC HEARING FOR AUGUST 18, 2003). The Mayor stated that this is following the process by State Code to bring forward a tentative budget. The Council made a commitment a few years ago to try to expand the tax base and let new growth pay for the services of the city as it expands. The Council has done an extremely good job this year of working through that and staff has done a great job of putting numbers together. He stated that Council is pleased to say that they are not taking the levy rate increase that they are allowed to take by state law, which should relieve some of the tax burden that we are feeling and hopefully, it will have the effect of driving the levy rate down. E1Jay Waite, Finance Officer for the City of Caldwell, 621 Cleveland Blvd., gave highlights of the 2003 -2004 budget. The City has followed the guidelines set forth by the Council in not taking a 3% increase available to the general fund activities. In the budget proposal there was an approximate $250,000 deficit which would be funded out of fund balance. That has been reduced to $171,000. With the additional trimming in the budget and the revenue projections that came in for the sales tax and the revenue sharing, that deficit which will be funded from Fund Balance is not $250,000 but $171,000. Waite stated there are expenditures in all funds of $40,021,689. The General Fund will have expenditures of $10,800,380. That is up approximately $150,000 from the previous year. He noted on the General Fund, several things that have taken place in this budget that are special note to the community. This administration in the previous two years made a commitment to safety services to provide enhanced benefits and pay so that turnover would be minimized and officers and firefighters would be trained and available to respond to the public. This budget continues that commitment. Also, it has been extended to the City employees to receive a 4% increase, which is part of the commitment that was made by this administration in the previous year. Waite stated that he believes the intent of this Council is to continue to consider not taking a 3% increase as long as it is possible. The Council has required that department heads hold the line on new projects and new employees and this budget does not have any new employees and very few new projects in general funds. There is $150,000 for general emergencies and another $100,000 for legal and miscellaneous items that could come up through insurance and the potential purchase of property located adjacent to the Police Station, which is a contingency of $125,000. Waite noted that one other thing to consider is that there is a reduction of $33,000 in interest paid on the General Obligation Bond for the construction of the Police Station. That is the result of construction cost savings of $600,000 of two years ago. That is a substantial amount of money that will be about $1,080,000 in principle and interest savings as a result of the ability to purchase those bonds with the construction funds that were saved during construction of the Police Station. Waite stated that he has been advised by the Bond Council that this rarely happens in government because budgets that are set are rarely ever constructed for less than what is set. In this case, the Mayor and Council promised the community that, if they could, they would save money and they did. An announcement has not been made to the public yet but those bonds were purchased on the first day of August, 2003. The Mayor stated that the intent of this is to set by statute the maximum amount of money the City would anticipate spending and the Public Hearing would be held on August 18, 2003. He noted that there is the opportunity to reduce expenditures but not raise them above this amount. The Mayor stated that this Council has done an outstanding job of establishing priorities and using the budget to accomplish those goals and priorities. As was stated earlier, several years ago, the Council made a commitment to the employees of this community to try to pay them the best that we could to try to retain the good employees that we have but only based upon the capacity of this community to pay. This Council also made a commitment to invest in this community to encourage growth with things like water lines, sewer lines, roads, beautification, building parks, and creating a community that is a good place to live. This Council has made those investments in our community and they are paying off. We are seeing unprecedented growth and a huge increase in commercial development. We have already seen a huge increase in residential development. We are also starting to see millions of dollars of private investment in this community. The Mayor restated that he is very pleased that the Council made the decision this year to not take the 3% increase in the General Fund. He stated that this fulfills a commitment to the employees, citizens, and property owners of this community to provide a good, safe environment and to make our taxes as reasonable as possible. Our fund balances are strong, we are not taking a tax increase, and yet we still have appropriate programs and we are paying our employees the best that we can. MOVED by Hopper, SECONDED by Callsen to accept the tentative budget for fiscal year 2003 — 2004 and set the Public Hearing for August 18, 2003 at 7:00 p.m. at the Regular City Council Meeting. Roll call vote. Those voting yes: Hopper, Ozuna, Dakan, Wells, Blacker, and Callsen. Those voting no: none. Absent and not voting: none. MOTION CARRIED (FIRST READING TO CONSIDER BILL NO. 24 [ORDINANCE NO. 24771 AMENDING THE CALDWELL CITY CODE PERTAINING TO SALARIES FOR ELECTED OFFICIALS) The Mayor explained that elected officials are only allowed to take a raise every two years and it has to be in an election year. Elected officials' salaries maintain the same level for two years at atime and sometimes longer depending on the ability of the community to pay. This ordinance looks at the raises that have been given to employees over the last two years and is consistent with the performance based pay program. City employees have received 4% on each of the last two years for a total of 8% in two years. This ordinance is for an 8% raise for elected Council members and a 6.15% increase for the Mayor. The Mayor noted that a decision was made this year that the Mayor and appointed officials' salaries needed to be consistent with the performance based pay program which is 2% plus the value of goals received. The Mayor read Bill No. 24 (Ordinance No. 2477) by title only: AN ORDINANCE AMENDING CHAPTER 3, ARTICLE 1 OF THE MUNICIPAL CODE OF THE CITY OF CALDWELL, COUNTY OF CANYON, STATE OF IDAHO, PERTAINING TO GENERAL PROVISIONS BY DELETING AND ADDING CERTAIN LANGUAGE IN SECTION 03 -01 -05 (1) PERTAINING TO SALARIES OF ELECTED OFFICERS; REPEALING ALL ORDINANCES, RESOLUTIONS, ORDERS AND PARTS THEREOF IN CONFLICT HEREWITH. MOVED by Dakan, SECONDED by Blacker to accept this as the First Reading of Bill No. 24 (Ordinance No. 2477). Roll call vote. Those voting yes: Dakan, Wells, Blacker, Callsen, Hopper, and Ozuna. Those voting no: none. Absent and not voting: none. MOTION CARRIED (FIRST READING TO CONSIDER BILL NO. 25 [ORDINANCE NO. 24781 AMENDING THE CALDWELL CITY CODE PERTAINING TO AMENDMENTS TO ELECTIONS) Monica Jones, City Clerk, 621 Cleveland Blvd., stated that most of the information is from the Association of Idaho Cities who puts out the Election Manual. They brought to my attention that the municipal election state code has changed and they suggested that I add our polling times to our ordinance. Jones stated that, as she looked at the language that we already had in our ordinance, it didn't follow state code so she made some suggestions on the changes. The most important change is to list the polling times. The Mayor read Bill No. 25 (Ordinance No. 2478) by title only: AN ORDINANCE TO AMEND CHAPTER 1, ARTICLE 7 OF THE MUNICIPAL CODE OF THE CITY OF CALDWELL, COUNTY OF CANYON, STATE OF IDAHO; PERTAINING TO AMENDMENTS TO ELECTIONS, SECTION 01 -07 -05 (1), (2), AND (3), BY ADDING AND DELETING CERTAIN LANGUAGE; REPEALING ALL ORDINANCES, RESOLUTIONS, ORDERS, AND PARTS THEREOF IN CONFLICT HEREWITH. MOVED by Ozuna, SECONDED by Hopper to accept this as the First Reading of Bill No. 25 (Ordinance No. 2478). Roll call vote. Those voting yes: Ozuna, Dakan, Wells, Blacker, Callsen, and Hopper. Those voting no: none. Absent and not voting: none. MOTION CARRIED (FINANCIAL REPORT) Councilman Callsen reported that the Finance Committee has reviewed current accounts payable in the amount of $681,365.69 for the period ending July 30, 2003 and a net payroll of $214,898.03 for the pay period ending July 18, 2003. MOVED by Callsen, SECONDED by Blacker that accounts payable in the amount of $681,365.69 represented by check numbers 15903 and through 16110 and the total payroll for the amount of $214,898.03 represented by check numbers 2915 and through 3093 be accepted, payments approved, and vouchers filed in the Office of the City Clerk. Roll call vote. Those voting yes: Callsen, Hopper, Ozuna, Dakan, Wells, and Blacker. Those voting no: none. Absent and not voting: none. MOTION CARRIED (COUNCIL COMMENTS) Council members recognized the passing of former Mayor Al McClusky and Councilman Dakan commented on how much Al meant to this community and how much this community meant to Al. Councilwoman Ozuna stated that she really enjoyed the Fair and that it was very nice of them to offer the VIP seating. (MAYOR'S COMMENTS) The Mayor stated that this Saturday is the City's Challenge Softball Tournament where Nampa, Caldwell, Meridian, and Boise Fire Departments and Police Departments get together and play one another. The City of Caldwell is the defending champion and will be playing again on Saturday. It is at the Armory Field at 10:00 a.m. The Rodeo is one of the elite rodeos in the nation. This Friday night is the Extreme Bull riding. This is the first time we have had this in the city. Because of Caldwell's reputation with the rodeo and the great job that the Rodeo Board does, Caldwell was awarded a tour city for the extreme bulls and it will be covered by ESPN. The arena has been refurbished with new metal seating that is a partnership between the rodeo and the Urban Renewal Agency. It was a $200,000 project. The Rodeo begins Tuesday. Wednesday night is the Mayor's night at the rodeo and the Council is all invited to attend. The Mayor asked that the members notify Susan if they plan to attend. Friday and Saturday of next week will be the Sage Community Resources Annual Meeting and Strategic Planning Session at Hell's Canyon Dam. The Mayor will be attending that. -i. . . . . . . .... VW-1 P" I r�r M1y '��.