COUNCIL MEMBERS PRESENT: Don Dahl, Judy Leland and Mike Misowic

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1 CITY OF EAST HELENA REGULAR COUNCIL MEETING PUBLIC HEARING CITY HALL September 19, PM COUNCIL MEMBERS PRESENT: Don Dahl, Judy Leland and Mike Misowic EXCUSED/ABSENT: City Attorney Elverum and Kit Johnson PRESENT FROM CITY: Mayor James Schell, Public Works Director Scott St. Clair, Clerk Treasurer Gena Berry, Fire Chief Troy Maness, Police Chief Dale Aschim OTHERS PRESENT: Blaine Verbanac, Cheryl Verbanac, Myrna Verbanac, Sally Nyland, Kelly Harris, Mark and Tobie McDonnell, Jess Hegstrom, Jamie Eastwood and David Jensen PUBLIC HEARING CALLED TO ORDER / PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE: Mayor Schell called the hearing to order at 7:00 pm. The Pledge of Allegiance was led by Councilmember Dahl. PUBLIC HEARING: 1. Zoning Variances 2 North Thurman Avenue - Mayor Schell read a portion of the public notice and presented this item to the City Council and public. Mayor Schell asked Clerk Treasurer Berry if any written comments had been received. There were none. None had been reported by Zoning Officer Fadness either. He then called for public comment in support of the variance this three times. None given. Next Mayor Schell called for public comment opposed to this variance three times. None given. Finally, Mayor Schell called for public comment neutral to this variance. Again, none were given. The hearing portion of this meeting was then closed. 2. Zoning Variances 2 North Thurman Avenue - Mayor Schell read portions of the staff report provided by Zoning Officer Jeremy Fadness of WWC Engineering. No public comments Action: Councilmember Dahl made a motion to allow the variance. Councilmember Leland seconded. Motion carried unanimously. PUBLIC COMMENT: Public comment on non-agenda items. None were given. APPROVAL OF MINUTES: The minutes of the September 5, 2017 Regular Council Meeting and Public Hearings for a public agency exemption for the new school and for the budget were reviewed for approval as presented. Mayor Schell asked to correct language under the Public Works Department Report bullet point five. It said Repair needed on Montana where main was put in at Lewis Street corrected to say Repair needed on Montana where main was repaired years ago. A question was asked by Councilmember Leland for clarification. Action: A motion was made by Councilmember Leland to approve as amended. The motion was seconded by Councilmember Misowic. All councilmembers except Councilmember Johnson, who was absent, voted aye. Motion carried unanimously. CITY COURT REPORT: None 1

2 MONTANA ENVIRONMENTAL TRUST GROUP (METG)/EPA UPDATE: No update. DEPARTMENTAL REPORTS: City Clerk Treasurer: Clerk Treasurer Berry spoke of the following items: Upcoming training for Court Clerk and general Montana League of Cities and Towns. Working our way through the hiring process of a Utility Clerk. Interviews later this week. The heat is now on in the building! Yay! Police Department: Chief Aschim spoke of the following items: We are continuing our way through the hiring process for a new officer and having a lot of overtime as a result. Many dogs at large. The contract will be reviewed with the Humane Society this year. We are supposed to collecting a $35 fee per animal but have not been getting it. Smoke and gray skies have attributed to tons of domestics totaling 4 or 5 since last report. Two officers were previously granted time off by Chief and this also attributes to the overtime. Chief gave an opinion to make Manlove no parking and sign it as such. Chief Aschim departed at that time. Public Works Department: Public Works Director St. Clair spoke about the following items: Reject pumps continue to fight us. Diaphragms were supposed to be lasting 6x longer than they have been. METG is working on property line location on Manlove and a plan for remediation. The jersey rails will be moved onto the trust group property. PWD St Clair will be on tour at a ford brass fittings manufacturer facility in Indianapolis October 17, City Hall roof has been resealed as it had leaked in the Council room last week. The McClellan Creek wells are performing better with the increased moisture. Fire Department: Chief Maness reported: The fire department was called out 13 times in August. The calls were mostly medical. Department membership is up and down. Some left, some new. The building expansion is still with the structural engineer for review. Trucks are doing ok right now. Chief has been kept busy at the VA due to short staffing. Councilmember Misowic asked for more details about the calls out. 1 fire, 1 gas leak, 1 traffic accident and the rest were medical. Councilmember Misowic also reminded the Chief about the Council s request to know more about current retirees and when there would likely be more members retiring for budget planning and MCA compliance purposes. COMMITTEE REPORTS: Street Safety Committee: PWD St Clair stated that Jeremy will be doing an analysis soon. 2

3 Gazebo Committee: Public Works Director St Clair stated that the gazebo meeting was held and location at the back mid of the park was chosen. Funds in the amount $15,000 or $20,000 still needed. Sidewalks and electricity contracting still need to be added into that. Mark s Lumber will be contacted for engineering for the footings. He would like to see the footings in the ground this fall. The next meeting will be in a week or two. Councilmember Misowic would like to see a Future Site of sign or something of the like on the site. Benchmarking Committee: Clerk Treasurer Berry stated that there is no update at this time. We will begin in earnest early October. NEW BUSINESS: 1. City Hall Space Usage Request Suicide Bereavement & Support Group for Youth Jess Hegstrom asked the Council for use of the council room at no cost for a suicide bereavement youth group to be held the first Wednesday of the month starting October 2017 for one year. No public comment. Action: Councilmember Misowic made a motion to grant the request. Councilmember Dahl seconded. Motion passed unanimously. 2. East Helena Historical Society Update East Helena Historical Society Representative Diane Potter schedule this, unavailable at this time. No public comment. This will happen at a future meeting. Action: Information Only 3. Eagles Gazebo Fundraising and Eagles Brick Sales for Gazebo Bill Semenza presented the Council with a list of questions regarding future efforts including: Looking at the budget again for the last $15,000 needed to complete this project. Which brick should be used for the brick sales part of the project? Should there be a big plaque with high dollar donors listed? Who will take over the brick sales and project coordination? Can the City store the bricks? Can bricks be sold at City Hall? Action: After Council discussion and a few public comments Councilmember Dahl made a motion to table. Councilmember Leland seconded the motion. Motion carried unanimously. 4. Main Street Park Gazebo Grant Application Approval Mayor Schell asked for Council permission to submit a grant to the Treacy Foundation to help fund the rest of the gazebo project. Mia Whitfield will be writing this grant for the City. No public comment. Action: Councilmember Dahl made a motion to allow from the grant application to be submitted. Councilmember Misowic seconded. Motion carried unanimously. 5. ROW Committee Ordinance Update Introduction Order Mayor Schell presented this item to the Council for an assessment of what order the updated ordinances should be put through the Public Hearing process. Councilmember Leland had no preference. Councilmember Dahl had no preference. Councilmember Misowic would like to see the ordinance pertaining to the methods of parking processed first. Sally Nyland agreed. Mayor Schell thought maybe this could be started at the October 17 th meeting. Councilmember Misowic stated that he will be out of the country. PWD St Clair would like the nuisance vegetation ordinance processed first. Blaine Verbanac reminded the room that the ordinances were revisions and not brand new. Action: Councilmember Misowic made a motion to table this until the City Attorney Elverum and Councilmember Johnson are in attendance. Councilmember Leland seconded. Motion carried unanimously. UNFINISHED BUSINESS: 3

4 1. Review And/Or Approval Red Fox Meadows Water-Sewer District Interlocal Agreement City Attorney Elverum is excused. No update at this time. David Jensen asked about new users like this and the East Clark Street Sewer District paying their fair share towards future capital projects and future rate increases needed due in part to their added use causing wear on the plants. Action: Councilmember Dahl made a motion to table. Councilmember Leland seconded. Motion carried unanimously. 2. New East Helena School District Building Certificate Of Survey Approval No update as things are still being processed. No public comment. Action: Councilmember Dahl made a motion to table. Councilmember Leland seconded. Motion carried unanimously. 3. Designate Manlove Avenue West of S 5th Street No Parking Mayor Schell reviewed the satellite image presented to the Council showing the property lines and newly discovered current encroachment issue. Councilmember Misowic asked about title searching during sales and why this was never caught. He then pointed out that with the alley vacation request for 424 Manlove and the Council s determination that the City s property has a value which should be considered this 10 feet of encroached upon City property may have incredible value. PWD St Clair asked about what pins Tom Stark used as City Surveyor most recently. Blaine Verbanac expressed an opinion stating the City should move the jersey rail, widen the road, grade it and walk away. Councilmember Misowic asked what the cost to grade the street would be. Kelly Harris agreed with Blaine s suggestion. Mayor Schell would like to see anywhere else in town where a 10 foot encroachment was allowed with on-street parking. Blaine Verbanac asked what the pink dotted line is. He stated that the whole City seems to be off. Councilmember Leland commented that maybe she should plant grass and flowers in her right of way and claim it as her own then, moving her fence out and parking in the street too. Kelly Harris asked how long the Manlove fences in question have been there. Councilmember Dahl commented about having been gifted more road that the City has to pay to upkeep. Clerk Treasurer Berry commented about being careful about precedent setting here by what the Council chooses to do here. Councilmember Misowic stated that as it is now everyone parking on the north side they are parking in the driving lane of the street. The City or Trust group should move the jersey rails and allow for parking on the far side of the street in the true right of way. Kelly Harris said the public could park 10 feet into these people s fences if they wanted to. Sally Nyland said that is already happening in town. David Jensen likes this situation to the narrow street situation on Porter Street recently complained about by Mike Collins. Kelly Harris commented that it seem the least expensive solution here would be to designated the area no parking. Action: Councilmember Dahl made a motion to table. Councilmember Leland seconds. Motion carried unanimously. 4. Petition To Abandon/Vacate Alley East of 424 Manlove Avenue Mayor Schell had no update. Blaine Verbanac commented that the City does not need this alley and it is not of value to the City. Councilmember Misowic said that it has value to the owner of the adjacent properties and is an asset of the citizens of the City. Mayor Schell commented that the City of Helena recently sold right of way for $2.64 per square foot. David Jensen suggested a proportionate lien to collect monies from Michelle Anderson for the abandoned alley upon future sale as an option. Blaine Verbanac stated that the alley in 4

5 question has not been kept up by the City. Public Works Director St Clair commented that the property owners are responsible for the weed upkeep to the center of the alley. Action: Councilmember Leland made a motion to table. Councilmember Misowic seconded. Motion carried unanimously. MAYOR S REPORT: Mayor Schell included the following items in his verbal report: Capital Transit subcommittee CTA Lamping review Jaycee Hall interested buyer Wylie & Valley speed limit changes Late fee from WEX fuel card company waived October 4 th is walk to school day NAMI Walk in Helena Sunday the 24 th 90 th Birthday Party Saturday at the Eagles COUNCIL MEMBERS REPORTS: Don Dahl nothing to report. Kit Johnson excused. Judy Leland attended gazebo meeting, LEAP meeting. Mike Misowic attended gazebo meeting. LEGAL REPORT: Attorney Elverum was excused for Firefighting with the National Guard. PAYMENT OF BILLS: Councilmember Misowic asked about repairs done to the garbage truck. Councilmember Leland made a motion to approve claims for $35, Councilmember Dahl seconded. Motion carried unanimously. Councilmember Dahl made a motion to approve claims for $10, Councilmember Leland seconded. Motion carried unanimously. SPECIAL ANNOUNCEMENTS: 1. Eagles Gazebo Fundraising Event Saturday, September 23, 2017, 4PM to 8PM Eagles 14 W Main Street MEETING SCHEDULE: 1. Scheduled East Helena City Council Meeting Tuesday, October 3, 2017, 7PM, City Hall Rm 110 ADJOURNMENT: Mayor Schell adjourned the meeting at 8:49pm. ATTEST: Clerk Mayor 5