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Council Minutes 9/12/2006 (47) CITY OF AMMON September 21,2000 I 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 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 I Others Present: Cathy, Geremy, and Faith Kimery Wendy and Andy Schoonmaker, 3330 Taylorview Lane, Ammon Garth Cunningham, Mountain River Engineering Alan Cunningham, Mountain River Engineering Daryl Kofoed, Mountain River Engineering George McDaniel, 2425 South 60 East, Idaho Falls Cindy Donovan, 3725 East Sunnyside Road, Ammon Tom Hunsaker, 2925 Carolyn Lane, Ammon Hazel and Brian Wilson . Dorothy McCarthy, lona Bonneville Sewer District David Benton, Benton Engineering Jeff Cole, 3724 Marlene Street, Ammon Absent: Councilmember Harvey L. Crandall Mayor Ard led the Pledge of Allegiance to the Flag, and Councilmember Hall offered a prayer. The Boy Scouts were welcomed. I Council member Folsom explained that she has been investigating the possibilities for obtaining postal service for Ammon. Postmaster Jeff Cole was introduced. Postmaster Cole is a resident of Ammon, and he realizes how much the residents want a post office. It will be five or six years before a permanent facility is likely to be a reality. In the meantime, he has been trying to come up with an acceptable temporary plan. The Idaho Falls post office is in the process of doubling their size with refurbishing and building an addition. There have been problems with contract postal services in Ammon, and the residents have been frustrated. One idea is a temporary post office. The intent of a temporary unit is for use in time of disaster. It is a mobile home with post office boxes and a retail station manned by a postal employee. Postmaster Cole has been trying to find a location with water and sewer services to rent or buy at a reasonable price to present the idea to his supervisor in Spokane. The mobile unit requires a 20'X30' piece of property. Ideas of a suitable location were suggested. The possibilities include Well NO.7 property, Kmart property, the corner of Ammon Road and Sunnyside Road, and the Quality Water building on Midway and 1 ih Street. Garth Cunningham of Mountain River Engineering addressed concerns about how the City of Ammon would be affected by getting the water and sewer to and from the Quail Ridge development. The developers have met with Engineer Bill Manwill to discuss the issue. Daryl Kofoed was introduced to explain the proposal for services and what the City can do and have. Daryl Kofoed presented a drawing to show the sewer plans with the connection to the Ammon sewer from Mason Street. Mason Street sewer should handle Ammon for a long time. For about every cfs of sewer capacity you can serve about 400 acres of small-sized City Council Meeting, September 21, 2000 - Page 2 I lots. As he looked down the Mason Street situation, it appears to have about 200 acres of that kind of density left. Most engineers build in a safety factor so Ammon may have more capacity. That does not mean a sewer will not fail. Sometimes odd circumstances cause problems. Everything shaded in on the drawing could be put in Mason Street without changes in an eight-inch line. There is a huge safety factor built in if it turns out to be hillside type development and only one house per half acre. The Mason Street line is adequate to handle development and the lift station should not need an upgrade this year. The next thing Daryl was asked to talk about was costs. Figures were based on today's prices. It is generally advisable for the City to oversize the line when possible. The cost to the City for materials only is a real bargain. Installation costs were estimated. A written report on the sewer capacity was submitted to the City Council. Mason Street should handle the Quail Ridge development. Ideas for sewer expansion to accommodate potential development were discussed. The City has an opportunity to get creative in extending the system. It was recommended that the City plan for the future. I Another concern of the Quail Ridge development is the water system. The water system can be anything you want it to be. According to Daryl Kofoed, he doesn't think it ought to be made too big. It does not have to be connected at this time. It can be a localized water system. It can have a huge water tank. About every 200 or 300 feet you will be looking at a pressure reducing system. A water tank on the hill can help the City a lot. You get into line transfer problems where you get the pressure by having the system, but it is hard to get the quantity out. He recommended installing good-sized pipe. The costs for waterlines are very similar to the costs for sewer lines. As a general rule, if you build the backbone out of eight-inch pipe and you circle every mile with twelve-inch pipe, you will be in good shape. If the City has plans for a water tank, then the City should look at eighteen or twenty-one inch pipe coming down off the hill. He further recommended doing a little at a time as the property is developed. Garth Cunningham advised they would like to work with Engineer Manwill on an agreement. Beverly Beck came as a concerned parent about the traffic situation at Hillcrest High School and Sandcreek Middle School. She wondered why the road at the school was blocked off. She has listened to both sides of the issue. The traffic study should be completed within two or three weeks. When the traffic study is final, the City and the School District will try to implement a solution. Bill Manwill advised that the intersection of Hitt Road and Sunnyside Road would become a four-way stop within a short time. Councilmember Bean encouraged the residents to get the School District to have the City put Owen Street through. It would put the traffic to a stoplight. Residents on Carolyn Lane are upset at all the traffic on their street. Council member Bean moved to approve the minutes of City Council Meeting held July 20, 2000. Council member Folsom seconded the motion. Roll call vote: Bean - Yes; Folsom - Yes; Hall- Yes. The motion carried. I There was a question about whether of not the development agreement for the Pheasant Estates Twin Homes had been accepted. Attorney Anderson checked the agreement about a month ago. Engineer Manwill reviewed the agreement this week. Council member Hall moved to approve the development agreement for Pheasant Estates Twin Homes. Councilmember Bean seconded the motion. Roll call vote: Hall- Yes; Bean - Yes; Folsom - Yes. The motion carried. The City Clerk received a request from Idaho Department of Corrections Probation and Parole to use the City Council room on October 13, 2000, from 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. for a meeting of the District Judges and District Court Clerks. The City Council gave their approval to use the City Council room. Council member Bean updated the Council on the sewer agreement with Idaho Falls and lona Bonneville Sewer District. There have been a number of conversations with Public Works Director Chad Stanger to indicate that City of Ammon is agreeable as discussed. lona Bonneville Sewer District has met, and they too are agreeable. Chad Stanger will City Council Meeting, September 21,2000 - Page 3 develop a written form according to our discussions. It is probably not necessary to enter into a new sewer agreement at this time. The one in place is adequate. I We are agreeable to pay at the rate of $1.13 per 1000 gallons of flow with the understanding that the rate is not forever. There will be changes. There is to be rate equity with Idaho Falls, Ammon and lona Bonneville Sewer District. City of Idaho Falls implemented their rates a year ago and they want to make ours retroactive to July 1999. This amounts to $131,000. Payment of this amount can be made over a period of time. They will grant Ammon connection to the sewer line on Hitt Road provided Ammon installs the metering station at our expense. Idaho Falls and Ammon will share the costs for an eight-inch line from Mesa Street passed the Beck property. Idaho Falls will pay for the oversized line. There are two connections that need to be brought up to code. In the future the Engineer will be responsible to go to City of Idaho Falls with sewer plans for review and to get their stamp of approval. City of Idaho Falls probably will not have problems servicing the sewer areas east of Hitt Road, but they would like to be informed of the areas that Ammon is annexing. They want to be aware of what is going on. This is a communication measure, and it is already stated in the agreement. I Regarding the Impact Area, another meeting is scheduled with Idaho Falls' officials on September 27. If there is concern about Idaho Falls reviewing our annexations, then we need to build into our impact agreement that they do not annex into our impact area and we do not annex into their impact area. There was discussion about how to treat the area on the north end of Hitt Road, the Applewood Addition and Stafford Smith's property. Stafford Smith does not care. If Idaho Falls is agreeable to work with Applewood Addition and Stafford Smith, Ammon may want to back off and consider Hitt Road as the impact area line. No action can be taken by the entities at the special meeting unless they individually advertise it as a special meeting with an agenda. Probably they will reach a consensus at the meeting, and the attorneys will work up a memorandum of understanding. Hazel Williams lives in McDonalds Farm. She was surprised that McDonalds Farm is not in the City of Ammon. She wondered why. The subdivision was developed as a Bonneville County plat and was not contiguous with City of Ammon until recently. She was advised that if she would like to be in Ammon, she should promote a petition to request annexation. Reports: Council member Folsom discussed items brought to her attention as she has worked with the computer update on utility billing. The City has no interest penalty on our water, sewer, or garbage if people are late making payment. She would like to implement a 1.5% penalty or fifty cents minimum charge on past due accounts. The new computer program has been programmed to handle this charge. Councilmember Folsom moved to add an interest penalty of 1.5% on late utility payments with a minimum late fee of fifty cents to be effective beginning with the new fiscal year, October 1,2000. Council member Hall seconded the motion. Roll call vote: Folsom - Yes; Hall- Yes; Bean - Yes. The motion carried. Council member Bean suggested a work session to review our rate structure. This would provide the Council an opportunity to make any adjustments in various areas and to include everything in one resolution. Any increase of 5% or more would require public notification. I Council member Folsom called attention to other areas that should be considered for adjustment. A deposit of $70 is required for new accounts. This hardly covers two months of service. She suggested this be increased to $100 or at least to $85. The deposit is refundable if the resident has a good payment record for one year. No deposit is required for commercial accounts. Commercial clients need to be accountable, so the Council should consider requiring them to pay a deposit. When a partial payment is made on an account, the office needs to determine how to apply it. Water is the only service we can disconnect for failure to pay. In view of this, a partial payment should be applied first to interest penalty then to sewer, garbage and last to water. This policy has been added to the new computer program. I City Council Meeting, September 21, 2000 - Page 4 The office has experienced problems in getting new residents to come in to sign up for utility services. Builders have not assumed any responsibility to notify a new occupant that they need to apply for service. It was recommended that the City make a builder accountable for new construction. When the building permit is issued, the builder would receive three months of no water charge during construction. At the end of three months, the City would bill the builder for service. That way the builder should be willing to cooperate in transferring the responsibility to the new owner. As long as the water is connected, an owner is responsible to pay for services even though the home or an apartment is vacant. Another area to consider is insufficient fund checks. The office has not redeposited a check after it bounces. It may be worthy to send the check back to the bank a second time. David Wadsworth reported for Public Works. There was a discussion regarding water leaks into the sewer system. There is irrigation water running into the sewer meter station on Sunnyside Road. Landon Excavating will repair the leak when they do some work in that area for the City of Idaho Falls. As soon as the irrigation water is turned out, the leak on Ammon Road needs to be repaired. This leak creates a problem. If the repair is made, the City will have to buyout a property owner's water right and put in a sprinkler system for him or do a rebuild across the road. It is important to get the sewer lines repaired. Engineer Benton explained about what City of Idaho Falls is doing with the sewer line in the vicinity of Hitt Road and Sunnyside Road. I Chief Clarence Nelson reported for the Fire Department. Engine 32 died and it has been repaired. It works fine now. The department appreciates the money put in their budget to build up a reserve. In October Zions Bank is having a ribbon cutting for their new facility in Albertsons. Along with the ribbon cutting, they have $250 to donate to the Fire Department. Councilmember Hall reported that he had sent a letter of objection to the proposal of EPA to change the safe drinking water requirements for testing for arsenic. City Clerk Jensen reported that the attorney for Ashley and Karen Roberts filed a Petition for Judicial Review regarding the request for a Conditional Use Permit to operate a daycare at 2255 Midway Avenue, which was denied by the City of Ammon. Licenses have been issued to A Express for a general business @ $10, beer by the can or bottle not to be consumed on the premise @ $50, and wine by the bottle not to be consumed on the premise @ $200. Originally Albertsons thought their store license in the Ammon Town Center would cover A Express, but it was determined that separate licenses would be necessary. Councilmember Bean moved to approve the licenses as issued to A Express. Councilmember Hall seconded the motion. Roll call vote: Bean - Yes; Hall - Yes; Folsom - Yes. The motion carried. I Johnny Carino's inquired if their liquor licensing would allow customers to order a bottle of wine to drink with their dinner and then recap it to take the unused part of bottle home. Attorney Anderson researched Idaho Code and determined this is allowable under their licensing. Jay Johnson continues to promote the City of Ammon to service the sewer in his new developments north of East 12ih Street. There was a discussion about the sewer servicing areas. It would be beneficial to work out a long-term plan on servicing the sewer in our impact area. Mayor Ard reported on the Legislative Meeting that he attended in Boise. He also reported that the Metropolitan Planning Organizations have come up with a plan if any one of the three organizations functioning in Idaho has unused funds, the funds can be loaned to one of the other areas. This would assure that all the available funds are used City Council Meeting, September 21,2000 - Page 5 each year. Ideas for projects are being accepted. The Mayor suggested that we consider a program for 17th Street from Ammon Road to Crowley Road. Claims were approved. Mayor Ard moved to go into an Executive Session to discuss personnel matters. The City Council voted all in favor. The regular meeting was adjourned. I ~- ATTEST City Clerk I I