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Council Minutes 01/04/2001 CITY OF AMMON January 4,2001 Minutes of the Regular Meeting of the Mayor and City Council: The meeting was called to order by Mayor C. Bruce Ard at 7:30 P.M. in the City Building, 2135 South Ammon Road, Ammon, Idaho, with the following City Officials present: Mayor C. Bruce Ard Councilmember W. Lee Bean Council member Harvey L. Crandall Council member Leslie Folsom Council member Ira K. Hall Attorney W. Joe Anderson Engineer Bill Manwill Public Works Director David Wadsworth Fire Chief Clarence Nelson City Clerk Aleen C. Jensen Deputy Clerk Connie R. Guymon Others Present Tom Hunsaker, 2925 Carolyn Lane, Ammon Ron Folsom, 2750 Sawtooth, Ammon Steve and Val Loveland, 3325 Rawson, Ammon Cindy Donovan, 3725 East Sunnyside Road, Ammon Bud Langerak, Bonneville County Sheriffs Department, Reserve Officer Council member Hall led the Pledge of Allegiance to the Flag, and Councilmember Bean offered a prayer. Ron Folsom explained the reason for requesting the development of the Beck et al property as an agenda item. When Planning and Zoning made their recommendation on the Beck property, they made their recommendation to annex contingent upon an acceptable development agreement to include landscape buffers and screening. The City Council approved the annexation of the Beck et al property and now has approved the Final Plat for Majestic Acres, which abuts up to Hitt Road. There is a concern about what kinds of buffers are planned for that area. The Beck et al property was addressed as one piece of property. It has been broken down to Majestic Acres and to Lincoln Industrial Park. One of the things Planning and Zoning favored about the annexation was the property was already zoned I&M in the County and the County had no control regarding buffers. If Ammon annexed the property, Ammon could require buffers. This was brought to the Council's' attention because annexation has been approved and development appears to be moving forward without regard to buffers. The recommendation of Planning and Zoning was for landscaping buffers along Hitt Road and screening fences along the properties in any areas developed industrial that might have unsightly materials. Majestic Acres is planned for an auto City Council Meeting, January 4,2001 - Page 2 body facility. Engineer Manwill did not see a problem with Majestic Acres because there is three hundred (300) feet of nursery property before the residences and where the nursery property stops there is Burgener property which did not annex. Ron Folsom said he did not have a problem with the screening but his main concern was Hitt Road. Hitt Road is an arterial leading into the City, and it should look good. The new Comprehensive Plan, if approved, states that arterials leading into the City should be landscaped. There was a question about whether or not newly adopted requirements would apply to the Beck property development. Attorney Anderson advised that anything in place would be "grandfathered", but anything not developed would be subject to the new ordinance. The majority of the Beck et al property is undeveloped. The Planning and Zoning Commission is considering zoning ordinance changes which would include landscaping as a requirement for all streets. This is a good time to move ahead with a recommendation on landscaping and screening. Steve Loveland, 3325 Rawson Street, owns a four-unit apartment building on Romrell Lane. He collects from his renters and pays the City for water, sewer, and garbage services. In the past, if one unit was vacant, he notified the City and did not pay for City services during the vacancy. According to the newly adopted rate schedule, he will be required to pay for services for four units each month whether or not they are rented or vacant. Steve objected to the new policy. He believes, if you pay for service, you need to receive service. Councilmember Folsom responded that the City provides the service. The service is there and the lines are there. The only option the City has is to shut the service off. Otherwise the service can be used at anytime. If the unit is going to be vacant, the landlord can disconnect and reconnect when occupied. The City provides the service at all times. Everyone is treated the same. Steve does not think the charge is right. There is only one shut-off for the four units. The apartments have been there for twenty-three years. He is bothered that the City is charging for something he is not using. He is collecting for the City. The City provides a service and the City is not in a business for profit. Steve stated he has been doing his service to the City for no profit. Actually, it is at a loss. The City will bill the individual tenants, but when a vacancy occurs, the bill will revert back to the landlord. Other cities follow the same policy. Val Loveland, Steve's wife, commented that when the City first proposed to make the landlord responsible to pay, they were given no choice. Lovelands have faithfully conformed to the City's request, and they should not be penalized for those who abuse the system. Debate on the issue continued. Steve collects his rent, and it is up to the City to collect theirs. Lovelands try to treat the people they deal with fairly. The do not believe the City is being fair. Lovelands have being doing the collection and now they are expected to guarantee. Steve Loveland had another concern regarding parking. Robin Knight, 3275 Owen Street, had two vehicles parked out in the public right-of-way on Owen Street. Lovelands had a little problem with their renters pulling out so they could see up and down the street. Knight moved the vehicles from Owen Street right-of-way and put them right up against Loveland's fence on Romrell Lane. One of the vehicles is a van City Council Meeting, January 4,2001 - Page 3 with no windows. The two vehicles are out in the right-of-way six (6) feet. If the renters want to go south, they practically have to pull out in the street to see where they are going. Now there is a safety issue, and the vehicles are trash. The Council agreed to address the parking problem. The minutes of City Council Meetings held October 5, October 19, December 7, and December 21,2000, were reviewed. Councilmember Folsom had a problem with the minutes concerning cellular towers. She quoted from the State rules and regulations, and it is not recorded in the minutes. She would like the quote to be included. The minutes in question are probably for October 5,2000. Councilmember Folsom moved to approve the minutes of October 19, December 7. and December 21. 2000. Councilmember Hall seconded the motion. Roll call vote: Folsom -Yes; Hall - Yes; Bean - Yes; Crandall- Yes. The motion carried unanimously. Mayor Ard explained about the waterline on Sunnyside Road across the school property. When Sandcreek Middle School was built and Owen Street was extended, the City agreed to take the building permit money out of the school and put the money back into the bridge and the extension of Owen Street. The City ended up in a lawsuit with Intermountain Construction over the school building permit. The City withheld $7800 and the rest was put back as agreed. The School District has not paid for the waterline across the school property to the Ricks' property in the amount of $7790. Mayor Ard recommended that the City pay for the waterline to cancel the old debt. The City cannot find a record that the $7800 was paid, and the School District does not show payment was received. A letter should be sent to the School District to acknowledge the City owes the $7800, but the School District owes Hawkins-Smith $7790 for the waterline. With the School District's approval, the City will pay Hawkins- Smith $7790 and we will both be even. The City should not pay Hawkins-Smith until the School District agrees in writing. The City Clerk asked for clarification of Ordinance No. 277 regarding massage therapy licensing. About the middle of December, The Center for Massage Therapy, 1747 Sabin Drive, was reminded that the owner needed to apply for an establishment license and. also, the therapists practicing in Ammon needed to apply for licenses for 2001. There was no response until December 29, and all the involved parties were immediately ready for licenses effective January 1, 2001. An application was converted from City of Idaho Falls. Amy Bradley paid $100 for the establishment license. Laural Botero, Marci Dansie, Tann Julius, Dena Brown, and Kevin Heath have each paid $50 for therapist licenses. The applicants questioned some of Ammon's requirements. The application requirements were reviewed with the City Council. Amy Bradley paid for an establishment license so she does not have to pay for an individual therapist license. The therapist license fee is $50 and the license period goes from the date of granting for one year. The renewal license fee for a therapist is $50. The applicants had each obtained a license from City of Idaho Falls, and they wondered why they needed to go for more pictures, another background City Council Meeting, January 4, 2001 - Page 4 check, and fingerprinting for Ammon. Some of the applicants realized that their Idaho Falls license was expiring, so they involved City of Idaho Falls. In a telephone conversation with the Idaho Falls City Clerk, it was agreed that entities need their own complete file on an applicant. Another issue came up. City of Idaho Falls charges $50 for a therapist's license. They have their own police department to work on the background check so the $50 fee covers the background check. City of Ammon's ordinance requires the applicant to pay a $50 fee for the license and an additional fee for the background check. The background check is done through the Bonneville County Sheriff's Department at a cost of approximately $40. There was a discussion on whether or not it would be possible to share information and only have one background check if an applicant applied for a therapist license in both cities. Bud Langerak, Bonneville County Sheriff's Department Resource Officer, was in attendance at the meeting and he provided input. The final decision was that each City does need to complete a background check. Bud Langerak agreed to take a copy of our massage therapy license to Bonneville County and to discuss the licensing procedures with the Sheriff. He will report back. Councilmember Folsom opened a discussion regarding an ordinance for communication towers. The committee has been working diligently on an ordinance, but they do not have it ready yet. Councilmember Folsom believed they would need to have an extension of time on the moratorium to allow for completion of the ordinance and for a review by the attorney. The moratorium expires on January 31, 2001. It was agreed to add consideration of extending the moratorium on communication towers as an agenda item for City Council Meeting of January 18, 2001. Engineer Manwill had received two questions from Mountain River Engineering on the Ammon Ranch improvements. One was what type of meter the City wants on the water system eight (8) inch line. You do not do a meter on an eight (8) inch waterline. There needs to be individual meters. Mayor Ard suggested individual meter boxes. Engineer Manwill suggested that the City may consider not requiring meters and to bill on the flow. The system will be a private system not dedicated to the City. It will be connected similar to the Creekside Apartments. It was agreed the manufactured home units would be billed at a residential rate on an individual basis. The commercial service lines for the development could be metered separately. The other question asked was on the improvements for Sunnyside Road. Does the City want the Sunnyside Road improvements built when the developer builds, with the knowledge that the rest of Sunnyside Road will be built at another time? Or, does the City want the money put in an escrow account and keep the money available to do the entire improvements when the City is prepared to do the road? Ammon Ranch is responsible for % the improvements on Sunnyside Road. Do you want them to build % of a street now? It may be a long while before the City does the other half of the road, and the Ammon Ranch improvements could need to be done over. The Council was in favor of the escrow account to be controlled by the City. City Council Meeting, January 4,2001 - Page 5 Mayor Ard met with Lee Gagner, Eagle Pointe developer, to do the paperwork for a park in Eagle Pointe subdivision. The City now has grounded deeded to the City for a park. Lee Gagner suggested a name for the park. He would like to call it Homestead Park. The name will be decided later. Bud Langerak, Resource Officer, reported for the Bonneville County Sheriff. He has been keeping track on the citation money that is coming through for the City of Ammon. So far this fiscal year, the revenue is up over 400% from last year. An increase in revenue is a bitter/sweet deal because it means the citizens and citizens in surrounding communities are paying the bill. He says the officers have worked hard on traffic enforcement. He discussed responsible law enforcement versus technical violations. When Langerak reports back to the Sheriff, one of the things he plans to discuss is providing a new report form and format to provide the City of Ammon with meaningful statistics. It should provide the true hours that Ammon is getting. In the past, the report has only shown patrol hours, and it has not included detective hours, narcotic department hours, etc. Basically plans are to provide more information. One of the things, which will be covered, is the number of citations processed by the Court and the dollars. Ammon receives a monthly report and a monthly reimbursement check from Bonneville County. The new law enforcement contract shows an increase for a third officer. A section has been added concerning the City providing office space and making it accessible. The City's share of $30,000 is included in the contract, but the grant is over and above. Notice has been received that we are eligible for the grant, but distribution has not been made. The Sheriff's office is moving forward on the plans. Hopefully there will be a full time officer in Ammon by the end of January. The County has asked for the full $30,000 in this year's contract even though the officer would not be on site for a full year. The money will be used for equipment to get the program running, and the grant money will be used for salaries. The contract does not expand services. The increase is to expand the hours of service available. The contract still does not include animal control or parking. The law enforcement contract is paid quarterly. Bud Langerak asked about the Prosecutor who handles the City's cases. The Prosecutor is paid a retainer. Brian Tucker is responsible for the City's prosecuting work at this time. As the Sheriff's Department gets more aggressive, the Prosecutor's work may get more aggressive. The Chief Probation Officer wrote a grant and will have an extension for a full-time Prosecutor that does nothing but Domestic Violence cases. The County has been able to get continued renewal on the grant, which was written about three years ago. Domestic Violence cases are very involved and they take a lot of work. The City of Ammon has not had to bear the cost for Domestic Violence prosecutions because of the grant. Ammon benefits in this program because the prosecutions are handled on a County basis. Detectives spend a lot of time on City Council Meeting, January 4, 2001 - Page 6 Ammon cases. Bud Langerak is a Reserve Office, and he owns his own company. He is on contract with Bonneville County for special assignments. As he does his work, he is able to observe what is going on in the community. Reports: Fire Chief Nelson reported for the Fire Department. An Event Summary prepared by Dispatch for the month of December was distributed to the City Council. The carpet and tile work at the fire station is going very good. They ran out of carpet, but it will be completed as soon as additional carpet comes in. The trim work is being done. Jay Johnson contributed $1,000 for the trim work. Another donation check of $750 has been received for the fire station. It has been requested that it be used for tables and padded chairs for the training room. The design and the paperwork for a sign were reviewed with the City Council. The sign will read Bonneville County Sheriffs Office Ammon Field Office. The cost of the sign is $182. Chief Nelson was authorized to order the sign. Falls Water Company is willing to work with the Fire Department if they need water in the vicinity of Hitt Road and Lincoln Road. Councilmember Bean inquired if Jay Johnson had been billed for a share of the cost to extend the waterline on East 1 ih Street. The City Office was instructed to set up a tracking on the bill until it is paid for. Attorney Anderson has drafted the ordinance on the Impact Agreement with Bonneville County. The Commissioners have reviewed it, and there are changes as follows: "Section 5. Subdivision Ordinances: The subdivision ordinances as adopted by the County shall govern the development in the City of Ammon impact area and Bonneville County will amend its subdivision ordinance if necessary to cover such impact area and to be compatible with the City of Ammon subdivision ordinances. All improvements within such impact area shall be required to meet the standards and criteria of the City of Ammon in order to be compliant in the event of future annexations." "Section 4. Zoning Ordinances: The zoning ordinances, zoning map, as amended and any subsequent amendments thereto, as adopted by the County shall apply to the area of impact of the City of Ammon. The County shall amend its zoning ordinance and zoning map to be compatible with the City's zoning ordinance and comprehensive plan." "Section 3. Comprehensive Plan: The Comprehensive Plan as adopted and amended by the County, shall apply to the area of impact of the City of Ammon. The County shall amend the County's Comprehensive Plan to be compatible to the City's Comprehensive Plan." A revised copy of the ordinance on the Area of Impact has been sent to the County for approval. As soon as the County Commissioners complete their review, the ordinance is ready for adoption. No further Public Hearing is required. City Council Meeting, January 4,2001 - Page 7 Deputy Clerk Connie Guymon is working on a Web Page for the City of Ammon. She is accepting ideas. Claims were approved. Councilmember Hall moved to adjourn to an Executive Session to discuss personnel matters, and Council member Folsom seconded the motion. Voting was unanimous in favor. The meeting was adjourned to an Executive Session at 9:40 P.M. Mayor Attest: City Clerk