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05102012CouncilMinutes CITY OF AMMON CITY COUNCIL MINUTES –WORK SESSION THURSDAY, MAY 10, 2012 AGENDA: CITY OF AMMON 2135 SOUTH AMMON ROAD CITY COUNCIL AGENDA – WORK SESSION THURSDAY, MAY 10, 2012 – 4:30 P.M. DISCUSSION ITEMS: 1.17th Street Reconstruction 2.City of Idaho Falls Memorandum Of Understanding 3.Zion’s Bank Investments Presentation 4.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 Steve Fuhriman Councilmember Dana Kirkham (Arrived at 5:00 p.m.) Councilmember Rex Thompson (Left the meeting at 6:00 p.m.) Councilmember Sean Coletti Councilmember Russell Slack Councilmember Brad Christensen City Attorney Scott Hall City Clerk/Administrator/Planning Director Ron Folsom Deputy Clerk Rachael Brown City Treasurer Jennifer Belfield City Engineer Lance Bates Public Works Director Ray Ellis City Officials Absent: Councilmember Brian Powell DISCUSSION ITEMS: Mayor Fuhriman opened the meeting at 4:30 p.m. at the City building located at 2135 South Ammon Road. 1. 17th Street Reconstruction: Lance said the City had a bid opening for reconstructing 17th Street last Friday. Lance said the bid is just for the asphalt replacement, and staff will be taking out the asphalt and preparing the base for the asphalt placement. The Mayor asked how many feet wider will the road be than it is currently. Lance said four feet wider with two additional feet on either side. Lance said the total width will be 28 feet. Lance said the City received three bids; HK Contractor for $82,028 DePatco for $88,786and AMCfor $97,690. Lance explained the bids are just the asphalt cost and not some of the other things we asked for, and that it is a pretty cheap price for asphalt with a three inch mat at only $1.31 per square foot. Councilmember Slack said he liked that price and thought it would be a good idea to possibly reconstruct all the way to Crowley Road. Councilmember Thompson asked about putting in turning lanes in certain places along that section. Lance said it is not wide enough for a turning lane without getting into some right of way conflicts. Lance said the spots that would need a turning lane are down close to the Cellar. Discussion ensued about the possible placement of turn lanes in that area. Lance explained it might work, but it would look strange. Lance said the way it has been bid out is to do a straight line plane, and to get into turning lanes the City would have to re-bid. Councilmember Slack said the City could make a change order. Councilmember Slack asked about the cost to chip seal the road. Ray said chip sealing won’t happen until next year. Ray explained that Intermountain Gas has a project going down half of 49th South so they will be paving back th half of 49 South. Ray said he has talked to the County but none of this is finalized. They are proposing to pull the asphalt out, prep the bed and let Intermountain Gas proceed with their project and Intermountain Gas will pay for half of the road and the City of 13 Council Minutes 5-10-12 Page of Ammon pay for the other half. Councilmember Slack asked how long would it take for 17th Street on the east side of railroad tracks to deteriorate if we didn’t reconstruct it now. Ray said approximately three to five years. Discussion ensued about which road had the greater need; 49th South or 17th Street. Ray said Councilmember Powell wanted a section done in the Original Town Site. Councilmember Christensen asked about the cost efficiency of doing both the east and west side of 17th Street together. Lance said he doesn’t know if there would be much of a benefit doing both at the same time. Councilmember Slack said just do what was bid for until we find out what Costco is doing. Ron said they are going to award the contract for 17th Street west of the railroad tracks and then it would be a change order to add the east side. Councilmember Slack said we should hold off on the east side of the railroad tracks on 17th Street. 2. City of Idaho Falls Memorandum Of Understanding: Scott Hall said this document is written more like a contract and not a memorandum of understanding. Scott said he would advise the Council against it, because it has a 10 year provision binding the future council. Scott suggested a two year period, subject to automatic renewal if not cancelled within 60 days prior to expiration. Scott said with what the Council has been discussing with proposed changes to Hitt Road (including Hackman Road), he doesn’t know how they go forward with a (Memorandum of Understanding) MOU. Scott said this agreement, in his opinion, causes problems with where the City is, in regards to the negotiations with Costco. Scott said the current MOU says the City can go into Hitt Road and can develop it.Scott said with the Costco deal hanging out there, he doesn’t know how the Council can make the kind of commitments specified in the proposed MOU, because the Council has made commitments to Costco that they may or may not be able to fulfill under the proposed MOU. Scott said with the current MOU, the City has a right to put the roadway in and develop and get credit for its 50% share of the development costs. Councilmember Kirkham said wants to go back to them with a counter offer. Councilmember Slack said the gist of what is in there is what has been agreed upon, but some of the strong wordage needs to be removed. Discussion ensued regarding issues and suggested changes to the MOU. Scott does not like the definition of “existing” in the new MOU, and feels the boundaries need to be better defined. Scott said the most difficult issues the Council has had to deal within last 15 years is the square mile where Wal-Mart and K-Mart are located because it was zoned in a way that no one is interested in. Councilmember Kirkham is having issues because the boundary line as written is what we agreed to and we should not go back and say now we don’t like it. Discussion ensued regarding the boundary line. Scott said the current MOU, even though it does not say how far south, does show the impact area. Scott said developers can give the reasons why they want to be in Ammon instead of Idaho Falls, or vice versa, even though their property is on the opposite side of Hitt Road. Scott explained the Council can then either agree or disagree with the developer’s decision and we would cancel the MOU. Councilmember Christensen asked if it would be better to use the existing MOU as a frame work for something new. Councilmember Thompson said it would be much easier to use the old MOU, and just tweak it a little bit. Councilmember Kirkham said the existing MOU has caused problems, because when there is an issue it goes back to interpretation. Scott said for the last quarter of a century he has become more cautious in trying to keep his clients at a minimal risk. Scott said he understands the value of the agreement, but if you look at Section 1.2 of the proposed MOU he reads it as the City gets hit for the cost, but has no control over the planning. Councilmember Christensen stated the Council needs to refine the MOU to address the issues the Council feels most strongly about. Scott said the Council needs to go through the MOU and decide what is reasonable and necessary. Councilmember Slack said it needs to be in there that the City of Ammon needs to be involved in the planning stages. Councilmember’s Coletti and Christensen are going to work on the MOU going line by line to rework it, and then bring it to Scott for review. 3. Zion’s Bank Investments Presentation: Craig Tibbitts & Scott Burnett from Zion’s bank said they wanted to update the Council about the investments and how things are going. Scott explained the funds have been moved over, and the majority of the funds have been invested. Scott directed the council to a document he handed out. He said about $3 million dollars have been invested in short term investments for 60 days or less, with the balance of $14 million invested in long term, 60 days to up to 5years. Scott explained the funds are fully vested and diversified across different categories. Scott said the funds are spread out in Corporate Bonds, Commercial Paper, CD’s, and Money Market Funds. Scott directed the Council to the 4th page of the handout, and explained the return on the long term is about 1.28 percent. Councilmember Slack asked what the difference was between our weighted average life and our weighted average maturity. Theaverage time in place is 1.8 years.Jennifer asked about the interest rate in regard to budgeting interest rates for the fiscal year 2013, and does Scott think it will be similar to the 1.28% or will interest go up very much. Scott said it will probably stay right where it is. Councilmember Christensen asked at what point would you decide to spread that out a little further. Scott said as they see a better indication of what is going to continue to transpire economically, incorporate global factors, and weekly discuss where we are in the economic cycle. Scott said right now he would not encourage adding much more duration to the portfolio. Councilmember Christensen said the principal value would fluctuate, but you look at pure yield and maturity assuming they are going to be taken out to par. Scott said as long as you are willing to hold securities to par you are fine, and as long as you are buying from entities with good credit quality you are fine. Discussion ensued regarding interest rates and the trends over the last three years. Scott explained rates are low, and Zion’s is always shopping for the best yield. 23 Council Minutes 5-10-12 Page of 4. Misc.: Councilmember Kirkham said she had spoken with the Costco broker and she was told things were as positive as they could be for the City of Ammon, but did remind us that they are looking at 40 markets and there is no guarantee that they will even come to this area at all, but they feel pretty confident about this area. Councilmember Kirkham said Allen Ball of the Snake River Landing is pushing very hard to get Costco. Councilmember Slack said he talked to Eric, and the fact is whatever happens either piece of land will be priced the same. Councilmember Kirkham said Costco will probably not make a decision for six months, and then wouldn’t begin construction for another year. Councilmember Christensen asked what else the Council can do. Councilmember Kirkham said we are pretty much waiting now. Councilmember Kirkham said Costco commended the City for being willing to work with them, and a positive for the City of Ammon is their recognition that the Hitt Road corridor is the major thoroughfare to pick up traffic from the North. Councilmember Costco’s main competition is Sam’s Club, and said if someone from Jackson Hole, Wyoming has limited time they will go to Sam’s Club and not Costco if Costco ends up at Snake River Landing. Councilmember Kirkham said Costco is aware of that, too. Councilmember Kirkham said she just wanted to know if everyone is still feeling good about making the road improvements to bring Costco here. Council agreed. 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 Slack seconded. Roll Call Vote: Councilmember Kirkham – Yes, Councilmember Slack – Yes, Councilmember Christensen – Yes, and Councilmember Coletti – Yes. The motion passed. The meeting adjourned at 6:15 p.m. _________________________________________________ Steve Fuhriman, Mayor _________________________________________________ City Clerk, Ron Folsom 33 Council Minutes 5-10-12 Page of