I, Stacy Bloomberg, >> do solemnly swear
» do solemnly swear >> that I will support, protect, and defend
» that I will support, protect, and defend >> the Constitution of the United States,
» the Constitution of the United States, >> and the Constitution of the State of
Montana, >> and the Constitution of the State of
Montana, >> and that I will discharge the duties
» and that I will discharge the duties >> of my office of city councilor
» of my office of city councilor >> with fidelity, so help me God.
» with fidelity, so help me God. Thank you.
» All right. Moving on, we have a volunteer firefighter appointment. We'll
go to the fire chief. >> Councilman Chase Conway put his
application in almost two months ago now,
and since then he's attended every training, he's came and helped us at the
practice. And I'm really going to be a great
addition, so I'd recommend him. He's sworn in as a probationary member.
» All right. Thanks to you. >> [clears throat]
» Swear him in.
» Raise your right hand. Repeat after me. I, Chase Conway,
» I, Chase Conway, >> do solemnly swear
» Do solemnly swear >> That I will support protect and defend
» That I will support protect and defend >> The constitution of the United States
» The constitution of the United States >> And the constitution of the state of
Montana >> And the constitution of the state of
Montana >> And that I will discharge the duties of
my office >> And I will discharge the duties of my
office >> As a probation probationary volunteer
fireman >> As a probationary volunteer fireman
» With fidelity so help me God >> With fidelity so help me God
» All right Is there any other business is there any public comment?
If you're not on the agenda you can uh address council
I would >> [clears throat]
» Uh Kyle Slaughter uh 626 7th Avenue West
was just curious if there was any updates on the road construction
um I haven't
looked into it so I apologize if there's information that's out there
but just hearing a lot of frustrated uh
community members so just was curious if there's any official
update on what the heck is going on in this mess up there
» The I I believe we're looking at an update when you get to the manager's
report
No I didn't see it's in manager's report I didn't see it on the agenda so that
would be uh We're in the meeting
See the manager's report Okay see
Okay, that on his agenda. Anyone Anyone else who wishes to address
council?
You're ready. Seeing none.
We'll move on. Uh
next is continuing our efforts concerning the uh
the budget for 2023. With this year
and coming year we'll go to city manager.
The mayor and council are extending the uh
the budget hearing and shifting it to the final budget uh process.
Uh today we'll talk through the different mill levies and the different
tax collection uh collections and also give some education on the new tax code
uh and overview for the council and residents.
Reminder of the mission statement and budget message
and the council priorities that are in the packet and available for everybody
to review. So, the 2025 legislative session uh
there were significant changes to the property tax system for tax year 2025
and tax year 2026. Those tax years uh
are related to fiscal year 2026 and then fiscal year 2027 revenues for the city.
So, in 2025 uh tax year, the graduated tax rate will be replaced with a
standard 1.35% uh standard tax rate for all all um
all residential properties. And in 26, they uh uh
um voted to break that down into a more graduated system. Um those are
displayable for right now. And then commercial and industrial at
the bottom. Um but we're seeing significant tax savings. Uh for
residential, there's tax savings up to about 2.5 million dollars. Yes, there's
tax savings up until that point. And then after that, it's actually tax
increasing. Uh the significant increase you'll see
in is second homes, uh which will be taxed at a 1.9% rate, which is the same
as the 1.5 million dollars or above rate. A significant increase in taxes
for those second homeowners. Uh the the difference if the home is a
long-term rental, they still get the primary residential rate. Um so this is
only for short-term rentals or truly second homes. That we're not a long-term
Long-term rentals are taxed at the same rate as uh
primary residence. Any questions on that uh
statement? I have one until we uh >> You You live here as a year-round deal
for 6 or 7 months and you're not there. Is that considered a
second home or is that still your primary residence even if you're living
in a camper trailer?
» I I can't speak with absolute certainty on that scenario, but you I know you
can't Your primary residence is well identified by Department of Revenue. Um
but if that second home is being used as a either
second home or a cabin or something like that, and/or VRBO, then it would be at
the 1.9% only if you have a long-term tenant in
that home, would you have the residential rate is my understanding.
» Okay. >> you.
» I and I do believe the Department of Revenue says 7 months or more to to
qualify for our our room city tax.
» There was some question if the house is on the long-term market
and it's not rented, how's that work? And is there loopholes for that? You
know, there's so many different scenarios that people are looking
through and I'm sure CPAs are advising their
clients accordingly. But
that's my understanding of the tax code.
So, city received a certified tax values a
week ago. Our total
taxable valuation has doubled from fiscal year '21 from 8.3 million to 16.6
million. And then our tax increment financing
districts, which reminder is one block on each side of New Place
and then two blocks on each side of Highway 2 and also the Cedar Palace
Medical Center area. Um that incremental growth and incremental growth reminder
is uh the amount of growth that happened from
the base year of all our different tax increment districts or any tax increment
financing districts. So, that's what an increment of growth is. So, from my 2014
to 2021, we had an incremental growth of about 635,000.
And in these last 6 years, the growth has been another 3 million dollars worth
of taxable growth in that district.
Um >> [clears throat]
» So, another thing in the legislation
25 expanded the levy authority this year um which will allow us to tax uh raise
our tax revenue to full rate of inflation. It used to be limited to half
the rate of inflation. Um, but it also removes 75% of new lit
taxable class four properties, which pretty much all our properties are class
four properties. So, we actually, as a growing city, actually
are losing in this new formula
uh for growth. Um, so, we'll we'll see what the impacts
of that are. We're trying to run some calculations, but um
um but a reminder uh property tax revenue is a minor part of our overall
budget. Um, less than 6% of all our revenue gained
across the city. And if you take out the grants,
um it's less than 10% of our entire revenue that runs the city is property
taxes. So, it's minor in the grand scheme of things.
Uh the the 2.97% full inflation factor, uh you know,
increased our tax revenue by $35,000 total.
So, it's a minor
Uh also, highlight the average inflation comparisons uh for the last 10 years.
Um, e- be it consumer price index, the municipal cost index, or um construction
cost index, clearly the rate of inflation that we're
limited by and the fact that we're at at half the rate of inflation you can make
worse to keep up with the significant cost to
run the city and uh with construction.
» [snorts]
» Uh by statute, we have to uh provide estimated taxes for three phases:
$100,000, $300,000, and $600,000 homes. We've also included million-dollar homes
on this chart um to show how the new property taxes work. Um
it's pretty interesting that um if you look at the bottom of the screen for
fiscal year '25, there's a typo there, uh to '27 tax comparison,
um primary residents are still paying less
in taxes um over the last couple years.
Um but you can kind of see where that
non-primary residency tax is actually going to pay significantly
more taxes over that a $600 or $558 gain for
average home price of $600,000 in the city.
Any questions on that breakdown of
average home price to square average tax value?
So, for a tax bill in um 20 tax bill for tax year 20
um the 2025 tax bill, which is associated
with fiscal year 26, so the tax bill hasn't come out yet.
Um gives a representative representative um distribution of our taxes and where
that money goes for a $600,000 home. Uh the city is about 25% the schools are
about 40% the county's state around 16% and then other being cemetery district
and um conservation district and a few other
smaller districts are in the other portion. And then our city tax breakdown
uh you can see where there's this resort tax relief
um provides
um about $212 of relief for a $600,000 home.
And then the mental health, lighting district, and street maintenance. The
lighting district and street maintenance uh changes with each property. The rest
of them should stay the same based on value, but the lighting district is
based on how much linear footage you have uh facing a road that is lit. And
then a um street maintenance is based on the
amount I'm pretty sure. So, those numbers will change based on the
individual property. And then anybody can look up their taxes
at find it county.gov and then pull up there.
Are there any questions on this workout or distribution?
» [clears throat] >> So, the uh determination of tax revenue
and mill levy, this is the form that the state provides us uh and then on the
left is our certified tax values. There are the summaries uh in the top-left
corner between last year and this year. Um
we expect to see significant new growth next year as Stockton Bank gets
finished. Uh the hotel probably won't be finished with the next certified tax
value, but there'll be some um some more businesses that are
um are complete by then. So, we'll we'll
see over the next couple of years uh significant growth in um
newly taxable properties. >> Eric, I have a question for you, though.
The new bank that we have uh Parkside Parkside, has that been our tax revenue?
Is that reflected in our taxes here? >> Uh the Stockton Bank is not. It's not in
the mill. It's There's There's at some rate, but
there's not their full, you know, 9 or 10 million dollar, you know, valuation
added. >> Who said it was?
I'm I was talking about Parkside.
» Oh, Parkside then, I'm sorry. It's operational. I'm sorry. I thought you
were talking about Stockton, which is finishing up right now.
» Yeah, that's I was going to ask you about that. Uh
we were getting I mean, we needed How I don't even know how long Parkside's been
there. I know it takes but a year and a half before we started seeing any
uh revenue.
» I'm I'm not 100% positive. I would have to to take a look at what the last
couple of years have been for that property
to see where the jump happened.
The resort tax impact of property taxes uh
is highlighted here. Um this year um we finally caught up to where we were in
fiscal year '22 on actual property taxes collected. So, you can see the resort
tax uh offsetting uh
the overall collections of um our property taxes.
Uh and meanwhile, obviously I with that resort tax also added
uh the growth of parks park department and uh police and uh some infrastructure
to money flow.
Uh overall, the last um uh since the history of the resort tax is $2.2
million in tax reductions have happened uh with that collection.
Any questions?
These are just the forms that'll be mandatory that we have to uh provide to
the state um that how how we calculate the mill levy.
Um and it shows that we're in balance
uh within the general fund. Uh
our minimum reserve for a 20% um is $1,025,000.
Our reserves will be uh $1.374 uh million dollars above our 20%. Um
what we're asking, something that's new this year, um
with the significant amount projects are capital improvement plan,
the intent from the staff is to not to
transfer the additional reserve into the capital programs. However, put a
restricted cash or restricted surplus capital account in our general fund um
that will then restricted, but we're not ready to decide where that money needs
to go, but with so many projects coming forward, we'd rather have that
restricted cash in the general fund, so we have a lot more flexibility to move
it to the right capital program as we, you know, go out to bid on a lot
of different projects. To increase flexibility, we'll still
reserve it. We're recommending we reserve a $300,000
in that restricted surplus cash. Um that compared with about maybe
$115,000 that we transferred from the general
fund or recommended transfer from the general fund to capital this year. So,
our capital program will grow by uh uh $415,000
basically with that
this year. So, are there any questions
on that or comments on the restricted cash?
This is uh all the non-levy funds uh to share
balance. Um as you can tell, um
total appropriations uh within the general fund is just over $5 million and
then the non-levy funds our appropriations this year $20.6 million.
Of that um is $6.3 million for the race project and
then $2.3 million uh for the projected uh congressional uh project funding
um that we're
hopeful for that has passed through the US House
um and is waiting for Senate approval on the Agriculture Act.
But so, that $20 million budget uh or $26 million budget overall uh is what
we're looking to execute this year.
And then once again, a mandatory form that we have to include in the budget
book uh included here it shows you the history and as the
as our mill levies
our value per mill goes the number of mills we can
assess go down and it shows for a healthier
city that's a good factor to be on and this kind of shows that history.
» [snorts]
» And that concludes my brief anything I missed or didn't
include? >> Um
no. I think I covered everything.
» Okay. All right,
at this time thank you for that. At this time did any one of the council
have any questions for manager
» [clears throat] >> or finance director concerning the
budget? Anybody in the audience have any
questions for finance [clears throat] director or the
manager? If not we'll open or we'll reopen the
hearing evening
preliminary budget.
» If you have public comments or if you wish to testify please do so now.
» Anyone here? We'll continue this this hearing.
We will will be going to final approval of the budget instead of December.
» Right, it'll be the the next uh council meeting we'll have the budget message
and then final product to to approve. Tonight we'll send uh we're recommending
that you approve the resolutions that will set levies so we can get those to
the county so they can >> So the first so the first meeting in
September we will approve our our budget approve the final budget which is like
18th. >> I believe that cuz we have we have a
Tuesday. Yeah. >> Okay, thank you.
You're welcome. You know I guess we can move on.
» Resolution ordinances and resolutions. Resolution number 1973.
Levy and assessments on property within special assessment districts.
» Also, Mayor, I'm going to reset this.
Uh Mayor and Council, uh resolution 1973 uh sets the
um
the levy from assessment for street lighting. Uh street lighting is based on
the linear uh footage of frontage along the streets. City Clerk, uh by statute,
calculates the uh new properties that have been
annexed into the city in these districts, and then uh assesses those
values based on uh
The staff recommendation um was to keep the lighting district the
same as uh previous years uh as we were able to meet meet our lighting
requirements. to meet our lighting costs. So, uh no
changes in the lighting district. The street maintenance district, if you
recall, um several council sessions ago highlighted
how we calculated the street maintenance based on acreage, and then that's on a
five-year program. We're in year four, I believe, of that growth, and the council
staff had recommended we continue on that 5% growth.
It is still grossly insufficient to actually pay for
all uh requirements for the street department, which is all made in gas tax
fund instead of general fund. Uh so,
uh at some point we'll we'll need to make a decision on you know, asphalt on
our streets, it's just not this year that we recommend to change that
schedule up. So, we're recommending uh approval of
resolution 1973 levying the uh assessments upon light district
treatments. Any questions [clears throat] for the council
concerning this?
Seeing none, may I have a motion, please?
Motion to approve resolution 1973. Second.
Motion has been made and seconded to approve resolution 1973
levying assessments upon local improvement district. May I have a
roll call, please? Councilor King? I.
Councilor Piper? I. Councilor Price? I.
Councilor Robinson? I. Councilor Stubbs? I.
Councilor Bloomberg? I. Mayor Burnette? I. Resolution 1973 is
approved. Uh next item is resolution 1974
redefining the area included within the Columbia Falls Street Maintenance
District and the method of assessment. Mr. Mayor, council, um this is pretty
straightforward. This is the list of new properties that have been added to the
register that that's used in the calculations of the local
street. Okay. Do you have any questions for the council?
Seeing none, may I have a motion? Make a motion that we approve resolution
number 1974. Second. Motion has been made and
seconded to approve resolution number 1974 redefining the area included within
the Columbia Falls Street Maintenance District and method of assessment. Um
may I have a roll call, please? Councilor Piper?
» Aye. >> Councilor Price?
» Aye. >> Councilor Robinson?
» Aye. >> Councilor Stubbs? Aye.
Councilor Bloomberg? Aye. Councilor King?
» Aye. >> Mayor Barnhart?
» Aye. >> Resolution number 1974
is approved. Next is resolution number 1975, city
property tax levy. >> And we are Council, this is following
today tonight's brief uh in the calculation that we used to
calculate the total mills staff recommends that we levy 140.64
mills. Um that includes the resort tax offset
as well as uh the uh fire relief mills and permissive medical levy mills.
» Any Council?
» I'm good with that explanation. All right.
» Uh may I have a motion, please?
» Motion to approve resolution 1975. >> Second.
» Motion's been made and seconded to approve resolution number 1975
setting the city property tax levy. May I have a roll call, please?
» Councilor Price? >> Aye.
» Councilor Robinson? >> Aye.
» Councilor Stubbs? >> Aye.
» Councilor Bloomberg? >> Aye.
» Councilor King? >> Aye.
» Councilor Piper? >> Aye.
» Mayor Barnhart? >> Aye.
» Resolution number 1975 is approved.
All right. Reports from Council and Mayor.
John, what do you have for us this evening?
» I I have absolutely nothing, Mr. Mayor.
» Boy, there's got to be something bouncing around.
» Well, there was, but but I didn't do any measurements, I'm
going to hold my peace until next meeting.
Thanks. >> Stacy.
» I'm grateful to be here and learning from all of you and thankful to be able
to serve our community. Nothing else. >> All right. Thank you.
» I'm good for this evening.
» I just wanted to welcome Stacy to the council and look forward to working with
you and thank you for throwing your hat in the ring.
That That means a lot to see so much interest in our community.
Um also, I just wanted to thank you uh Eric for getting the speed limits
painted on the walking path. Um that's a step forward, but we're
still installing the signs. Um we're still going to be doing that.
» Okay. They're on order. Picture of the signs is one of the budget brews. I
think we're going to do that. >> Okay. I think it just helps even having
them painted on there. It really does. So,
um but that was all I had. >> Nothing here.
» Alice. [clears throat] >> Other than sports and 11, which we've
already talked about that, so nothing else.
» I need to add a couple things. Um I was just wondering how we're doing on
uh working
forward to uh getting our bathrooms back in service.
And we've got uh Do we have here our own pieces and
orange? Do we still [clears throat] have the one down at the skate park open or
did they flood it again?
» I'm not sure about the skate park and I'll
um We can talk offline uh but we had some
problems with our plumber that was working on the project.
Um so, there's going to be a delay. Um
the valves that were brand new this year broke again, so that's why River's Edge
is down and so we're trying to come up with a
new plumbing solution different technology. But that's we've spent
significant amount of money in last couple of years, uh holding those
highly custom valves that cost about I think it's like $556 an hour. But, we do
have a delay right now on the issue.
» Um also, uh skate park antics. That's what I have.
And uh the reason we talked about the problems down at the skate park,
it became very personal to me. Well, my grandson, who's 11 years old,
and we're staying at the Albany, and mom came back from her meeting. She's a
school teacher in Mechanicsville. And he'd been looking forward to going
to the skate park all day. When she happened to live down there,
so [clears throat] they went to the skate park where he went and he had his
uh skateboard. And there was a group of I don't know what do you call them,
juvenile delinquents or whatever, that their language is so filthy and
dirty that
uh it uh [clears throat] made them uncomfortable. Also, they were
into marijuana and alcohol, uh smoking whatever they smoke.
So, um upon getting in touch with me, uh I told her to call 911 and let them
know. Um
but she said as soon as the uh hoodlums saw her on her phone, he
just got up, cussed her out, went and jumped on top of the dugouts.
So, I I guess we've talked about this before, but I think it's time we do
something. I don't know what it is. I mean, I'm ready to go down there and
and uh stand guard. I mean, it's at this point that why do we have all this money
putting here? It's supposed to be for the good of the community. If we can't
keep the bathrooms from being flooded by the same group. I know it's the same
group. The chief has said it's the same group. What can we do about stopping
this and letting the park become enjoyable and useful to all the people
of Cohoes? I mean, what do we do? I I don't know. I am I'm at a loss, but
something needs to be done. I realize if you put a police officer down there, he
comes in in his car, everybody are little angels. I totally understand
that. But somehow we have to get to the
parents or something in this group and we need to get it squared away where
they're not going to be allowed in that park
uh if that's if they're antics they're doing down
And again, I knew it was a problem. I've done it multiple times. But when it gets
personal, when it's your your daughter and your grandson down there, they can't
they can't enjoy the park after they've been looking forward to it until they
actually can. I would I would request that we uh
come up with something uh for the next meeting uh some sort of a plan that uh
we're moving forward with to uh reduce that an issue at that particular
» Could I add to that, Mr. >> Pardon?
» Could I add to that? >> You're first.
» I'll tell you what, Dad, something to that.
» Absolutely. >> Uh it it it started also in baseball
season. My kids were affected cuz they were
playing baseball. Uh
but I'm I'm almost guessing that it's the same group, Chief. I may be wrong.
But somehow they've got to have a way to handle those kids out of there if that's
the same group. Uh they have no respect for for grown-ups whatsoever.
I call the police, they they come down, handle great.
But somehow we got to tag these kids and and their parents. And
I I I know there's no easy solution, but but
it is a [clears throat] problem. >> Absolutely.
Um the the other thing I had
uh was uh kind of a report. I used to I used to
live in that apartment a lot. And man, it looks really good last week.
Once the uh parks department quit getting overwhelmed, cuz they were we're
all the random along. Yeah, they were really good down there.
The park looks good. I don't I don't see a whole lot of extra dog with laying
around. I think people and I, there's still the
issue of people with their dogs off leash.
I'm not absolutely against that as long as
they're on voice control. But, we go down there and you have a big
dog come charging up at you and you're whether it's his new or your dog, I I
think that they need to be reminded of that. I did
remind him and gentleman, he wasn't very happy.
But, so that comes back to giving our signs of making sure that everybody
[clears throat] understands. I mean, we've got a whole bunch of
signs. I understand it would be a big but our signs is still important.
That's all That's all I have. >> Um,
can I make a comment in regards to that? Um,
you know, back in the day we used to have a a crime stoppers like somebody
could call in and report if they saw something.
Um, after one of the meetings and the vandalism that was happening after
council, I drove down there and there was a whole bunch of kids at the skate
park. I just sat there for a little while and
then I just walked out and talked to a couple of kids and they say there's
really just three or four that bully them that
fist fight like hit them in the head. He showed me a video of another kid getting
hit in the head with a skateboard. And it's just really
few that maybe if we had a a tip line or a reward or something that
these kids could call without being the narc. Um,
that we could maybe try to keep the majority safe.
Um, some kind of a crime stopper idea.
Uh, just throwing it out there because it's small few that are ruining it for
everyone. And if they felt safe in reporting it, that it wouldn't be
retaliated. You might get assistance from some of those kids. So.
» I would I would also ask that uh it be put out on social media or
whatever. So that the parents are aware of where your kids are.
What are they doing? >> It's 10:00.
» We know we've got these problems. They're ruining They're ruining uh the
experience for all the good kids that that want to use this facility. And then
parents need to step up and parents know someone
they know these kids. They need to You need to get in touch with our
police department and let them know. So as far as what we can do to help, I
don't know what you do, but Mark with the red accent sitting there.
» You need to say something. You know, I haven't really said
anything. That's I would like to hear something from on the next meeting
scheduled of what we're doing about them.
» Okay. >> Um anything else, Council?
» All right. City Manager report. >> Yeah, so we'll just stay on that topic
for a little bit longer. Our skate park is closed.
» Um >> Um Jean and I talked about that this
morning. She has She's starting to work with some draft language and Chief has
been She's been coming out of work for like
for the last 6 months. So the intent was to do some kind of policy once we had a
city attorney in line. Um and we'll work through that and what
that means. We can have a better discussion.
» Um >> Next council meeting unless Chief wants
to share a little bit. Actually, I'll ask Chief to share some
his views on during this time of how he goes and stuff that we've talked about
this and some good some good options. And then then later on the attorney can
tell us we can't do that. But anyway, um
Um I think everything's going to be fine and we'll be
So uh we finished a successful the season. I'm
still not where exactly where we want to be, but it's a lot better than it was
the year before and and we're making progress. Had a lot of
good community feedback. Had a good season.
We will continue to look for ways to be more inclusive of different
opportunities.
Various requests from the community. This year we we went through the whole
pool season with our pool manager managing the schedule. I don't think
there was any overtime spent at all because of the the level of oversight
and management which saves us money so we can use that money for other causes
at the pool. So that was very successful and
Amy did a great job and we put money back in that
year.
With that there's going to be a lot of Pine with Park projects over the next 6
months with the fitness court. That fitness court will be blue and adhesive
on the on the surface. It will be
It's temperature sensitive. So I think we're going to
shoot for the spring instead of trying to rush it this late September or
October. We'll [clears throat] probably get the pad concrete laid when we do
some other parking lot improvements and the sidewalks in there.
But that fitness court should be available in the spring time as well as
the basketball court that we do. But and then
we're working with the engineers now on the design to expand the parking lot.
Hopefully you know, 30 40 more vehicles.
We we will also be expanding the trail along 11th Street
as well as putting in parking all along there. People are already parking in the
grass there so we'll do some angle parking in that area and now it
hopefully expanded but it also helps with Mary Kate events cuz the the walk
from Pine with to Mary Kate is not that bad and that would help.
Um you know, continue to connect
our parks as well as our hiking trails and you know,
sidewalks so that's Um Eric White, you there? I just have a
quick question. Got a Mary Kay play with a uh
um the Chambers building is there. Who owns that property? Is that city
property? That's city property. So it's good that we're using them for
parking. Right.
Um yeah, I'm not sure exactly how that
whole lease thing works or which park is Anyway, it's all city property that the
Chamber and we have a good relationship with the Chamber so it's not a big
problem. Um
the um So with Gateway Glacier safety mobility,
I'm not sure exactly where I need to catch the address
what level of impact I have had a conversation that you all saw where he's
referencing. Um the project from most people I've talked to that
were in the construction area um and uh the feedback we're getting is
generally positive. I mean the only negative comments in the last couple
weeks have, you know, this idea that Worth Avenue is too narrow.
Um just a reminder um I think I briefed you before but FHWA standards for a 35
mph zone road is 10 to 12 ft. Our roads will be 11 ft. Um right in the middle of
that so it could have been narrower by 2 ft total um but those things are
intentional there to slow down traffic. And especially now that we're in a
construction zone, they should definitely be slower um but
um and then along Fourth in front of the
elementary school, uh the second layer of asphalt has been put down today
um and then the concrete companies will uh will be uh filling in the driveways,
sidewalks so we have a steady path that the kids can use to get to school.
Um, and then that should open up towards um,
the Kids Foundation area. So, sidewalks as well uh, should be finished before
school [clears throat] starts. Um, once they get out
uh, everything in front of Gateway Gateway Gateway Gateway Elementary
School, then they'll start moving towards uh,
9th Street uh, along 4th with the curbing. Once the curbing's up, then
they can do final grading and then asphalt. That'll go pretty quickly. And
we're expecting 4th South um, in 2 weeks to start asphalting that. So,
uh, I would expect so well. And then [clears throat] go on to 7th
after that. So, uh, there's still a couple drainage things on 7th that you
know, we worked but other than that it's all road and surface work. So, they'll
finish from the elementary school moving from
4th to 9th. Uh,
um, and then finish that and then go south
of 9th Street. Uh, finish that and then over to 7th. Uh, overall they're about a
month ahead of schedule uh, and they continue to perform very well. And uh, I
think things will be good when it's done. But
it is a lot of work, it's a lot of impact but the community's been very
uh, flexible with us and uh, it's been good conversations over the last 6
months of this project. So, Any questions on the project on
specific? >> You know, it's 9 days till school
starts. >> Right.
» Okay. >> Why?
» I'm just curious cuz >> It's a lot of work.
» Yeah, a lot of work in that area that will have lots and lots of vehicles. So,
» No, it's um, yeah, there's Kids Foundation
uh, so it's at 5th Street or yeah, so
» 5th >> 3rd Street to 5th Street will be paved.
I think they're even going to have the um, traffic lights payment on it. Um
sidewalks will be done in that area. Um and then the school buses will be able
to come out and come in [clears throat] along Fifth Street entrance to the
elementary school. Um landscaping may be done in
you know, they're they're getting close. They can put some topsoil in already to
help fill the edges of the asphalt trail system, but that has to
happen during school. It's similar in that compared to
um elsewhere. >> All right. Thank
» Um and then finally um the legal assistant position where where
that's currently being advertised till the end of the month. Um and then I
won't steal Jean's thunder, but uh she'll share when she gets here, but
we'll be able to do the in-person interviews so we believe and it should
work out um for that as well. We've got a couple
of good candidates already. Still looking for more as we can hurry up and
set up interviews.
Well, that's it for me. >> Um
Council? >> You have anything for the manager?
» You're all done? >> Seems Seems
Start with parks. >> The skate park.
» Um obviously this isn't the first time that
these issues have been brought up and we've been working on them. Um one of
the things that we found effective in other
jurisdictions is a a proper way to exclude people from parks for a certain
period of time. Of course, when you exclude people from
uh public property, it comes with some some issues and and some procedures that
we have to properly do them. So, I've drafted up what I thought would be some
uh good processes for this and I've spoken to the city manager about it, and
also with our the city attorney about it. I
forwarded those to her further, and we're going to work on a
an ordinance to present to you
to be able to exclude people from the city parks for a certain amount of time,
whether it be 30, 60, 90 days progressively if there's continual
violations for park rule violations for rule violations, those things that take
place in parks. And there'll be a a process for appeal on
that if they want to. So, but
I don't want to get too much more into the details until the city attorney has
had the opportunity to go through it and modify it, make sure it's legal, we're
not going to get sued over any of that, and that
we'll administer it properly.
So, that's that's one of the ideas. Another one is that
we've also looked at the option of cameras.
We know some cameras in parks. That's
you know, there's some positives and negatives
that go along with that, but it's also another option if we can't
get a handle on it. I think I would agree with you that it is a few people
ruining it for the vast majority. We have had contact with some of who we
believe some of those people are and their parents
after speaking with their parents, it's very obvious why the kids are behaving
that way. So, so
I can say that confidently. >> I do have a question. Um
if they're juveniles can they be charged?
» Yeah, they can be charged with crimes. >> So, if if they were down there and they
were they could they be disturbing the peace or vandalism?
Or charges could actually be against them and they'd have to go to juvenile
court, but possibly that might get their attention,
too. Well, I know realizing it'd have to be
seen, witnessed, and everything else, but
if we could get a couple of these guys that's been obviously known or whatever,
and get them charged in juvenile court, it'd probably
straighten them up a little bit. >> Yeah, they
The officers are all well aware of this issue. We've discussed it at length. Um,
and uh believe me, if there's an opportunity
for enforcement action to be taken, it will be taken.
» [clears throat]
» Sergeant, got anything for us? >> Uh, not a whole lot. As you guys saw
last year, we came off our uh 5 for our busiest month ever, 65
calls last month. Hasn't really slowed down too much this
month. Um, Chance did the last meeting we had,
so we're now we have safety. Two people on our waiting list again, so
applications are right out, and it's slowed down.
» We got a couple in the long term. >> Did Did we have any uh
well, fire calls and whatever in the last I know it's going on here and it's
going everywhere else, I'm just curious if
» Yeah, [clears throat] we we had a few um, in our district, one in city limits,
right by Master Tech Repair. Um
and then we had a couple in the rural jurisdiction, and then we actually spent
one day on a scale fire doing structure connections, too.
Casey's. So, we had it on on the go. I think so. Five, maybe, somewhere
around there. Nothing big. We had one You guys last month, too, the one
in the fire service area, trouble with Hasty Basin area, but we were able to
shut that one down. And if I had to pick any one that would
have to be that half week period. We had helicopters and everything on that one,
so >> That's good.
» It's kind of busy here. >> Right.
Thank you. >> Yeah.
» [clears throat and cough] >> Uh anything from
the council? >> What about city
» I was going to get to the attorney if you don't mind.
» Oh, I'm sorry. >> Do you have anything for us, Jean, for
this evening? >> Well, just that I hope to be with you in
person permanently the first week of September. We will be traveling up.
» Thanks. >> All right. The weather's looking a lot
better for you guys. >> I It's the weather between here and
there that I'm concerned about. So many uh so many bad weather incidents in the
middle of the country we've got to cross through. So it may be a little bit
longer drive than we anticipated, but excited that our movers come on the 28th
and we will be out of here on the 29th and headed that way. So I look forward
to our next city council meeting being there in person.
» Thank you. Look forward to seeing you in person.
Any Any final remarks from the council? Seeing none, may I have a motion?
» Motion to adjourn. >> Second. [clears throat]
» Motion to remain adjourned. Do I hear a motion in favor?
» I have a question.
That is the afternoon.