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HomeMy WebLinkAbout~Master - Special Meeting of the Ames City Council 01/17/1995MINUTES OF THE SPECIAL MEETING OF THE AMES CITY COUNCIL AMES, IOWA JANUARY 17, 1995 The Ames City Council met in special session at 5:30 p.m. in the City Council Chambers in the City Hall, 515 Clark Avenue, pursuant to law with Mayor Curtis presiding and the following Council Members present: Brown, Campbell, Hoffman, Parks, Tedesco, and Wirth. JOINT MEETING WITH HISTORIC PRESERVATION COMMISSION: Historic Preservation Commission Chair Dave Delagardelle said the Commission had established a subcommittee for the purpose of detailing proposed revisions to the Historic Preservation Ordinance to comply with Certified Local Government (CLG) requirements. Phil Poorman, Chair of the Subcommittee, said Staff will present those revisions to Council at some future date. Mr. Poorman said in the subcommittee's meetings, there was discussion regarding public facilities and activities the City might undertake within the Historic District which might have a significant impact upon the District. He referred to a November 28, 1994 letter to the Mayor, Council Members, and Historic Preservation Commission members from former Commission member Patricia Burgess which addressed activities such as parks, street lights and paving, sidewalks, parking meters, telephone booths, bus shelters, fire hydrants, parking lots, and structures relating to public or regulated utilities such as water, electricity, cable TV, and satellite dishes. He said the Commission sought direction from the Council as to whether the issue of compatibility of such improvements within the District should be addressed in the ordinance, and whether the City departments should consider compatibility prior to construction or installation of facilities. He stressed the Commission members were not suggesting such improvements or developments not occur, but only that consideration be given to keeping improvements compatible with the historic theme of the area. Coun. Campbell said she felt these issues were worthy of consideration, but added they were not unique to the Historic District and perhaps the compatibility issue needed to be considered on a Citywide basis. Mr. Poorman said other types of neighborhoods could be potentially affected as well, and said what may be appropriate for one neighborhood may not be for another. Coun. Hoffman questioned the availability of historic items for services such as fire hydrants, and Mr. Poorman discussed how facsimiles of such items are available. He described experiences of other communities in dealing with these issues. He said another policy decision for the Council to consider regarded not changing the present infrastructure for ultra-modern facilities, and cited modern-looking bus shelters as an example faced by other communities. He said such items have a very strong visual impact. Coun. Wirth asked whether a cost comparison had been done to determine the difference between historic facilities vs. those the City presently uses. Mr. Poorman said it was his experience that in some cases, there would be no extra cost for historic facilities, as long as they met certain standards. He said the question would be whether various departments could have different standards for different neighborhoods. Coun. Tedesco asked how the Commission proposed handling any cost differentials that might occur. Mr. Poorman said in other communities, the historic district has offered to pay the differential through a special levy or assessment. Mr. Delagardelle said CLG status would also provide availability to grants to subsidize some items. Coun. Parks said he could understand the Commission's request concerning structures and equipment relating to the appearance of the District, but felt the request was written too broadly, and was concerned about public policy decisions that might be involved in the request as it was currently written. Mr. Delagardelle said the Commission's request involved structures and equipment as opposed to underground infrastructure. He said the Commission wished to meet with various City departments to discuss what facilities might be available. Coun. Wirth said she felt it made sense to be considering these types of facilities within the Historic District, but felt more research was needed to quantify what types of items the Commission was talking about. She suggested cost differentials could be researched, and said some visual aids would be helpful as well. Coun. Parks agreed, and said he would like to see a more narrow definition of the request. Coun. Hoffman said the Commission had raised some good questions for the City to be thinking about when planning infrastructure improvements. Mr. Poorman said the Commission would continue to work with Staff on these issues, and return to Council at a future date. Coun. Hoffman asked whether the City Code addressed satellite dishes, and City Attorney John Klaus said there was an ordinance regarding parameters and standards for satellite dishes. RECESS: The special meeting recessed at 5:50 p.m. RECONVENE: The special meeting reconvened at 6:00 p.m. LIQUOR LICENSE RENEWAL FOR UNIVERSITY INN: Motion by Parks, Second by Tedesco, to approve renewal of Class B Liquor License for University Inn, 316 South Duff. Vote on Motion: 6-0. Motion declared carried unanimously. DECLARATION OF DEDICATION OF FLOOD BUY-OUT PROPERTIES TO OPEN SPACE USE: Motion by Wirth, Second by Tedesco, to adopt RESOLUTION NOs. 95-011 and 95-012 dedicating flood buy-out properties to open space use. Roll Call Vote: 6-0. Resolutions declared adopted unanimously, signed by the Mayor, and hereby made a portion of these minutes. CONTRACT AND BOND APPROVAL FOR ELECTRIC UTILITY NO. 7 AUXILIARY TRANSFORMER REPAIR PROJECT: Motion by Hoffman, Second by Campbell, to adopt RESOLUTION NO. 95-013 approving contract and bond in amount of $38,862.00 for Electric Utility No. 7 Auxiliary Transformer Repair Project. Roll Call Vote: 6-0. Resolution declared adopted unanimously, signed by the Mayor, and hereby made a portion of these minutes. AUTHORIZATION OF FUNDING FOR ADDITIONAL TRIPS FOR LAND USE POLICY PLAN CONSULTANT: Motion by Brown, Second by Campbell, to adopt RESOLUTION NO. 95-014 approving appropriation of $8,000 for additional trips for Land Use Policy Plan consultant. Coun. Hoffman said while she felt the consultants' trips were of value, she wondered if the costs couldn't be scaled back somewhat, i.e., taking advantage of cheaper airfare costs on weekends. Coun. Tedesco said he too had initially had concerns, and had discussed them with Staff. Planning and Housing Director Brian O'Connell said the $8,000 was a high-end estimate for costs for two trips in addition to those in the original contract with the consultants. He said Mr. Raby was amenable to weekend flight options, but schedules for meetings have conflicted with that option in the past. He noted the February 7 community workshop on the Land Use Policy Plan was not included in the original contract, and said Staff felt it was of value to have Mr. Raby present at that meeting. He said the requested funds were for either of the two consultants. Coun. Brown said she agreed it was important to have Mr. Raby present at the community workshop. Coun. Parks asked what was included in these costs, and Mr. O'Connell responded the costs included airfare, rental car, living expenses, and the consultant's fee. Coun. Parks asked that Staff provide the hourly rate or per diem cost of each consultant. Coun. Campbell said there was already much at stake in the LUPP project, and felt it was poor economy to start worrying about the costs of the consultants' trips at this point. She said she felt it was possible additional funds may be needed in the future for extra trips for legal consultant Dwight Merriam, as well as for Mr. Raby. Mr. O'Connell said that may well occur. Coun. Wirth said she felt it would be valuable to have another meeting with both consultants. City Manager Steve Schainker said the original project was financed out of the Hotel/Motel tax fund, and noted Staff was recommending this additional cost be financed from the Council Contingency Fund. Roll Call Vote: 5-1. Voting Aye: Brown, Campbell, Hoffman, Tedesco, and Wirth. Voting Nay: Parks. Resolution declared carried 5-1, signed by the Mayor, and hereby made a portion of these minutes. WORKSHOP ON FIVE YEAR CAPITAL IMPROVEMENTS PLAN: Mayor Curtis noted tonight's meeting was a worksession on the CIP, and said the January 24 meeting would be a public hearing when citizens could provide input on the Plan. City Manager Steve Schainker reviewed the recommended Capital Improvements Plan for FY 1995- 2000. He said the Plan reflected the effects of anticipated growth of the City. He said in addition to maintaining and restoring existing infrastructure, the expansion of the City created additional responsibility to construct new roads, water and sewer lines, and other facilities. He said while the benefits of the growth would lead to a better quality of life for Ames residents, there would also be significant upfront costs that would require higher property taxes or utility rates in order to finance these projects. Mr. Schainker said approximately $19,443,000 had been earmarked for road improvements in the next five years, with $3,912,400 identified for FY 1995-96. He said a combination of Road Use Taxes, Local Option Taxes, and General Obligation bonds would finance maintenance, repair, and new construction of roads. Mr. Schainker said the CIP itself represents $112 million of expenditures. He reviewed General Obligation bond debt for increased infrastructure demands to meet growth needs, saying he wanted to make the Council aware of the tax implications of any decisions made regarding the CIP. He said the proposed projects would result in a property tax increase of 40 cents per $1,000 Assessed Valuation for FY 1995-96. Mr. Schainker noted in the past, the City had issued approximately $2 million of G.O. bonds per year. He said however, to meet obligation of repairs, maintenance, and future growth, up to $4 million of G.O. bonds were projected in the first 3 years of the CIP. He said that figure did not include any capital improvements for a parking structure in Campustown or Downtown, which may result from the Council's Downtown Redevelopment Plan. There was discussion regarding annual adjustment of the 1.5% growth rate factor used in the projections. Mr. Schainker reviewed the Projection of Bonding Capacity as contained in the CIP document. He said the State-mandated capacity limit was 5% of the Assessed Valuation, and the Council has set a policy of reserving an additional 25% of the State limit. He said bond capacity availability for FY 95-96 was $37,307,925, with an available debt capacity of $7,833,506. He said that was the closest the City has come to the debt capacity limit. He said the debt capacity issue needed to be considered for future projects that might require issuing G.O. bonds, including economic development incentives in the form of special assessments and tax increment financing. Coun. Parks said the Council might benefit from learning the implication of reducing their set 25% reserve to 20%, and that a larger growth factor might be needed. He suggested Staff ask the City's bond advisors for opinions on those issues. There was discussion regarding how the reserve affects the City's bond rating. Mr. Schainker reviewed the Public Safety portion of the CIP. There was discussion that the Plan did not include relocation of a fire station, which might result from Land Use Policy Plan discussions. Public Works Director Paul Wiegand reviewed highlights of Public Safety: Traffic, including U.S. 69 improvements. There was discussion regarding the Lincoln Way/Clark Avenue/Walnut Street intersection improvements proposed for FY 1995-96, and 24th and Grand intersection improvements proposed for FY 1996-97. Mr. Schainker noted the City has experienced an approximate $300,000 increase in Road Use Tax funds over last year, which would be used for some of these projects. There was discussion regarding railroad crossing improvements at various locations. There was discussion regarding bicycle path construction. Mr. Schainker noted that since $72,000 in State Transportation Program (STP) funding was projected, the proposed CIP recommended $8,000 in Local Option Tax funding for the proposed projects. He said rather than increasing the Local Option Tax amount, it was proposed that those funds be reallocated to other new projects. He said that recommendation has generated controversy, and noted the Council had received letters from residents regarding the proposal. He said the issue would involve a number of options and policy decisions for the Council. Coun. Hoffman noted the Council had received a letter stating the City had not met its commitment to spend $75,000 per year on bike path construction. She asked Staff to provide information as to whether or not that commitment had been met. Mr. Schainker noted the proposed CIP included $1,225,000 in FY 96-97 for preliminary estimates for streets and sidewalks included in the Downtown Redevelopment Plan. Mr. Schainker, Public Works Director Wiegand, and Water Department Director Tom Neumann reviewed major projects proposed for Utilities/Physical Environment, including Resource Recovery Center Improvements, High Service Pump Control renovations for the Water Treatment Plant, water supply expansion, lime sludge disposal, and Water Plant renovations. Mr. Wiegand reviewed water distribution projects and storm sewer projects, as contained in the CIP document, noting possible funding sources for the latter were G.O. bonds and the Storm Sewer Utility fee. During discussion of the Annual Residential Street Low Point Drainage Improvements, Coun. Campbell said she was not comfortable with Franklin Park being reprioritized when it had been one of the original projects identified, and Coun. Hoffman agreed. Coun. Parks said Staff had been directed to prioritize these projects. He said another option may be to accelerate the program. Mr. Schainker and Mr. Wiegand summarized the Sanitary Sewer projects, as contained in the CIP document, including the Downtown Sanitary Sewer Relief Line and the Lincoln Way Sanitary Sewer Line, both proposed for FY 95-96. Mr. Schainker noted the latter's estimated $1,400,000 cost was proposed to be financed from the Sanitary Sewer Utility Fund. During review of the Clear Water Diversion Program, there was discussion concerning Council's previous request that Staff provide information regarding payback of this program. Water Department Director Neumann reviewed proposed Water Pollution Control projects, including the new Wet-Weather Flow Treatment Project. Electric Department Director Merlin Hove summarized proposed Electric Department projects, including the Load Management Program, as contained in the CIP document. There was discussion regarding the possibility of bidding underground wiring as alternates on street widening projects. There was discussion regarding the timing of Bloomington Road 69 kV Line Relocation, and a new project, Wide Area Network Fiber Optics Network for communication between the Power Plant, the ISU Power Plant, and Dayton Avenue substations. Public Works Director Wiegand summarized Transportation Improvements: Streets, Engineering. There was much discussion regarding the Hyland Avenue Reconstruction Project proposed for FY 1995-96. Mr. Wiegand said Hyland Avenue has severe structural problems, and there was indication that ISU would close Bissell Road to through traffic with the exception of service vehicles and Cy- Ride. He said that would severely impact traffic volumes on Hyland/Sheldon. He said Staff had originally recommended constructing a 4-lane facility, due to forecasts of 1200 vehicles per day travelling on Hyland. He said after meeting with neighborhood representatives and hearing their concerns, Staff had revisited the traffic volume projections. He said the segment of Hyland north of Sheldon showed traffic volumes of over 10,000 vehicles per day. He said however, based on traffic volumes and anticipated growth, with the exception of that segment, it might be 20 years before a 4-lane facility was needed. He said Staff wished to develop a street program that met current needs, and could be changed in the future if needed. He reviewed the proposed project to add bike lanes to either side of Hyland Avenue, creating a two-lane facility that was 37 feet wide, and which could be created into a 3-lane facility in the future. He said the proposal would not allow parking on either side of the street because of conflicts between parked vehicles and biking. He said concerns have been raised by members of the Unitarian Church regarding the loss of parking spaces for Church members. He noted at present, there is no parking in the area, except on Sundays and evenings. Coun. Campbell suggested they consider constructing a 9-ft. bike path rather than a 6-ft. one, to allow for parking at designated times if the City wished to do so. Mr. Wiegand said while possible, that option would add to construction costs, as it would not result in a standard-width street. Mr. Wiegand discussed accident data contained in Staff's study report, and said Staff was not justifying this proposal through an accident analysis. Coun. Wirth left the meeting at 8:25 p.m. Coun. Brown left the meeting at 8:30 p.m. City Manager Schainker discussed Staff's proposal that the incremental costs of Cy-Ride Route Reconstruction on non-arterial streets be funded out of the Transit Levy. He reviewed prioritized arterial street rehabilitation proposed to begin FY 96-97. Mr. Schainker noted Staff was proposing a major policy change to use Local Option Tax funds for Parking Lot Rehabilitation, as the net revenues of the Parking Fund were not sufficient to cover the operating costs plus improvement costs. Cy-Ride Director Bob Bourne reviewed Transportation-Transit projects, noting the proposed acquisition of 12 new buses over the next five years. He discussed service buses for "Transit Corridor" expansion. Parks and Recreation Director Nancy Carroll reviewed highlights of Parks and Recreation projects, noting it was proposed that improvements to Homewood Golf Course be funded from Local Option Taxes rather than through an enterprise fund as proposed in previous years. There was discussion regarding the future return on Homewood Golf Course, and Coun. Parks suggested the issue be discussed with the Parks and Recreation Commission. Mr. Schainker noted the three-phase plan for Bandshell Park Building Renovation was included in the CIP. Mayor Curtis suggested the costs of well Rehabilitation and expansion of utility lines at the old Water Pollution Control site as requested by the Ames Youth Sports Complex, Inc. be added to the Plan. Coun. Hoffman agreed and distributed a letter dated January 17, 1995 to the Mayor and City Council from Harry McMaken, President of AYSC, Inc. Coun. Tedesco questioned whether there would be difficulty regarding the acquisition of Department of Transportation land adjacent to the land leased to AYSC, Inc. for access to the proposed Complex. Mr. Schainker said discussions with the DOT regarding purchasing this property were ongoing. Ms. Carroll reviewed other Parks and Recreation projects, such as Municipal Pool and Carr Pool repairs. She noted Staff had received word from Helen Daley Smith regarding her desire to contribute to the Bentwood Park Greenway project. Ms. Carroll said subject to GSB approval, ISU administration proposed that contributions from both the City and ISU to the Ice Arena be increased to $25,000 annually. City Manager Schainker reviewed Community Enrichment projects, including Phase II of Library carpeting, and funds for consultants to help accomplish the Downtown Redevelopment Study. Mr. Schainker noted copies of the CIP document were available for public review at the City Clerk's office and at the Public Library. COMMENTS: Mayor Curtis noted he had received a request from the County Board of Supervisors to add a member of the County Planning and Zoning staff to the City's Planning Policy Committee, and suggested the request be placed on the Council's January 24, 1995 agenda. Coun. Hoffman noted the Council had previously received a letter regarding the lack of sidewalks at two locations along the south side of 13th Street. Motion by Hoffman, Second by Campbell, to place consideration of the request concerning continuous sidewalks along 13th Street between Curtis and Northwestern on one of the March 1995 Council agendas. Vote on Motion: 4-0. Motion declared carried unanimously. ADJOURNMENT: The meeting adjourned at 9:14 p.m. Sandra L. Ryan, City Clerk Larry R. Curtis, Mayor