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HomeMy WebLinkAbout~Master - Special Meeting of the Ames City Council 01/31/1995MINUTES OF THE SPECIAL MEETING OF THE AMES CITY COUNCIL AMES, IOWA JANUARY 31, 1995 The Ames City Council met in special session at 5:10 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, Parks, Tedesco, and Wirth. Coun. Hoffman arrived late. PUBLIC INFORMATION REGARDING POSSIBLE CODE REVISIONS PERTAINING TO HOSPITAL GOVERNANCE: Public Relations Official Pam Reinig reviewed concentrated public education efforts on the proposed Municipal Code revisions regarding Hospital Governance, including the City Attorney's appearance on "A.M. Ames" radio program, Channel 12 informative video, and press releases and public service announcements sent to all Story County media. She asked if the Council wished to consider paid advertising to reinforce those efforts, and noted that since the Public Relations budget cannot cover these costs, the funds would have to come from another source. There was discussion of advertising costs and what the advertising would say that could not be covered in the already-in place strategies. Motion by Wirth, Second by Brown, to adopt RESOLUTION NO. 95-053 denying funding for paid advertising to provide public information regarding possible Code revisions pertaining to Hospital Governance. Roll Call Vote: 5-0. Resolution declared adopted unanimously, signed by the Mayor, and hereby made a portion of these minutes. ENCROACHMENT PERMIT FOR AWNING AT 409 DUFF: Motion by Campbell, Second by Wirth, to approve request for encroachment permit for awning at 409 Duff (Cyclone Abstract). Vote on Motion: 5-0. Motion declared carried unanimously. RESOLUTION RECONSTITUTING THE AMES HUMAN LEAGUE: Motion by Tedesco, Second by Brown, to adopt RESOLUTION NO. 95-051 Reconstituting the Ames Humane League. Roll Call Vote: 5-0. Resolution declared adopted unanimously, signed by the Mayor, and hereby made a portion of these minutes. AWARD OF CONTRACT FOR ELECTRIC DEPARTMENT POWER PLANT NO. 8 REPAIR WORK: Motion by Brown, Second by Wirth, to adopt RESOLUTION NO. 95-052 awarding a firm contract to Heartland Energy Maintenance in amount of $73,400.00 for Boiler #8 Superheater Repair Work. Roll Call Vote: 5-0. Resolution declared adopted unanimously, signed by the Mayor, and hereby made a portion of these minutes. WORKSHOP ON RURAL ZONING AND RURAL WATER ISSUES: Assistant City Manager Bob Kindred said in the past, the traditional mindset that the City has been the only potential provider of water services has given the City a strong handle on controlling growth that occurs in the 2-mile fringe area surrounding the City. He said with the advent of rural water systems, that mindset is changing. He reviewed policy issues that may need to be reevaluated and possibly changed as rural water and other zoning changes occur in the fringe areas. He said rural water bringing development within the fringe area is basically a landuse issue. He provided an overview of the basic landuse issues involved, such as whether more intense types of development should be encouraged to occur inside, rather than outside, the City limits. There was discussion regarding this basic assumption and how efforts to "downzone" within the City encourage less intense development within the City and force expansion to the outer fringes. Coun. Hoffman arrived at 5:25 p.m. There was discussion regarding the reasons behind this basic assumption, such as 1) increasing the tax base within the City; 2) equity argument; 3) wanting to control development; and 4) the cost of bringing infrastructure of newly-annexed areas up to urban standards. Planning and Housing Director Brian O'Connell reviewed how the City of Ames currently exercises subdivision authority in Story County within 2 miles of its corporate limits, but does not have subdivision authority in Boone County. He said the City's practice has been not to require rural property owners to install full urban infrastructure when dividing a parcel into a small number of lots. He said however, with the advent of rural water infrastructure, there could be many more small subdivisions in the fringe area. He said therefore, the potential for further intensification in the 2- mile fringe is greatly increased. There was discussion regarding the cost differential between the City providing the water to the subdivision versus selling the water to a rural water district. Coun. Parks said if the City provided the water to the subdivision, there should be a 2-tiered rate structure to ensure that urban customers were not subsidizing rural customers. There was discussion that if the City chose to sell the water on a wholesale distribution basis, they could or could not require the subdivision to have the distribution system up to the City's standards. There was discussion regarding who had "first rights" to distribute water in the rural fringe area. City Attorney John Klaus discussed the "non-impairment" feature of federal law that occurs when rural systems have a federal loan. He said when a federal loan is involved, the City could not do anything that would impair the projected stream of revenue from the water service area. There was discussion regarding whether annexing land brought revenue equal to the cost of providing the services required versus selling the services without increasing the City's size and obligation to provide services. There was discussion regarding how the water district areas are determined. City Attorney Klaus noted that if a loan were obtained, the map would be a part of the loan documents with the Farmer's Home Administration. Water Department Director Tom Neumann introduced Dan Miller from Xenia Rural Water District, and Jim LaPlant from the Central Iowa Rural Water Association. Mr. LaPlant said the County Board of Supervisors designated the areas. Coun. Parks asked if a map of the districts could be provided to the Council. Mr. Miller explained how Xenia Rural Water District had petitioned the Story County Board of 2 Supervisors in 1990 for areas west of I-35 and south of Ames. He said in 1992, they petitioned for a portion of the area north of Ames, west of I-35. He said the criteria used by the Board was the percentage of rural residents expressing interest in obtaining the service. There was discussion regarding whether it was feasible to require water districts to build infrastructure up to the City's standards. Mr. Miller said from his standpoint, it would not be practical to do so. He said currently, a family of 4 pays $48/month for their water from his district. He said upgrading the system to the City's standards would increase that cost considerably. Jim LaPlant, Central Iowa Rural Water Association, said his corporation was a non-profit corporation, with facilities east of I-35, with exception of north on Dayton Road, Hickory Grove Trailer Park, and North to McFarland Park. He said their lines are all in place and in service. He said the City can deny a water district or non-profit corporation from coming within the 2-mile fringe, but must then provide the facilities into that area themselves within 4 years. He said his corporation has developed districts around Newton, Marshalltown, and within Polk County, and have not encountered any problem interfacing with those communities. He said he understood the dilemma and policy issues the City faces, and to him, it made sense to provide infrastructure in areas close to the City, in anticipation of annexation. He said however, there was a need to be flexible the further out from the City one went. Mr. LaPlant said currently, all of Central Iowa Rural Water Association districts within Story County are served by water from Marshalltown water works, and his corporation was seeking to purchase water from the City of Ames. He said in the future, he foresaw regional points of supply for water throughout the State, due to water quality standards being high enough to force smaller providers out of existence. There was discussion regarding what happens when a City wants to annex an area which has rural water service. Mr. Miller discussed 2-mile agreements that Xenia Rural Water District currently has with various communities. Planning and Housing Director Brian O'Connell said Staff recommended the Council initiate meetings with Story County to review the acceptability of policies of both the City and the County now that rural water infrastructure is affecting both areas. He said Staff also recommended the City renew its commitment to the current policy requiring urban infrastructure for urban fringe subdivisions. He said Staff believed an amendment to the subdivision ordinance should be adopted to require full urban infrastructure for subdivisions containing lots of 10 acres or less. He said Staff felt the Council should initiate a joint meeting with the Boone County Board of Supervisors to create a strategy to better manage urban fringe development in Boone County. He said the City could exercise subdivision authority within Boone County, and zoning authority as well, since Boone County has no zoning regulations. Coun. Parks noted the Staff Report indicated that in order to exercise zoning authority in Boone County, the City would have to increase the size of its Planning and Zoning Commission and the Zoning Board of Adjustment by 2 members each, to be appointed by the Boone County Board of Supervisors. Coun. Brown said she felt regionalization was going to bring major policy questions in the future, regarding how the City would govern a number of services. She said the trend was already established, and they should look at taking a leadership role. Motion by Parks, Second by Hoffman, to direct Staff to arrange meeting withStory County 3 Board of Supervisors for review of development regulations; toarrange meeting with Boone County Board of Supervisors for review of development regulations; and to affirm requirements for infrastructure in 2-mile area. Vote on Motion: 6-0. Motion declared carried unanimously. Water Department Director Tom Neumann reviewed economic issues of providing water to areas in the urban fringe. He distributed additional Page 13a and revised Page 16 to the report entitled "Projected Impact of Rural Water Sales on City of Ames, Iowa Water Utility." He said the key question was whether the City of Ames has the water supply, treatment, and distribution capabilities to provide service to areas outside the corporate limits, or if the facilities can be expanded to do so, versus whether they should sell the water, if they have that capacity. He noted in the Report, the following assumptions were made: 1) a water supply under drought conditions similar to 1976/77; 2) service level goals as currently budgeted; 3) same level of state/federal regulations; 4) City growth per Land Use Policy Plan estimate; and 5) rural water projections as received from rural water systems. Mr. Neumann said the three basic components of water capacity were 1) water supply (wells), 2) water treatment, and 3) high service pumping. He said last summer, a City-initiated research study on potential water supply development capabilities identified three more well-field potential development areas to increase water supply. Mr. Neumann discussed what could be included in an agreement to sell water to a rural water district. Assistant City Manager Kindred noted the City had received requests from the Cities of Kelley and Gilbert to purchase water from Ames as well. Coun. Tedesco asked whether the City had the capacity to allow it to sell water without damaging its position. Mr. Neumann reviewed Figure 8 of the Report, showing the City's Water Supply Capacity versus Demand, 6-month Well Supply under Drought Conditions. He said using the assumptions stated earlier, water supply, water treatment, and pumping have to be expanded by the year 2030 with no demand other than the City's. He said if the rural water demand were added, all three components would still have to be expanded, but roughly 7-12 years earlier. Mr. Neumann said under normal conditions, between now and the year 2010, the City could sell on an interruptible basis, up to 1-2 mgd to rural water. He said with restrictions under drought conditions, it could sell 1/2 to 3/4 mgd. He said under drought conditions, water supply was the weakest link of the 3 components of capacity. He reviewed Figure 10 as contained in the report, Water Treatment Capacity vs. Demand, and Figure 11 High Service Pumping Capacity vs. Demand. Mr. Neumann reviewed Water Utility Projects, Future Projects, and Estimated Costs as contained in the Report, showing when each of the three major components would be needed with only City demand and when they would be needed with rural water demand added. He reviewed Economic Contributions of Rural Water Sales as contained in the Report, showing the cost of the projected improvements with City payments only, and with rural water payments based on 1994 dollars. He noted the latter included revenues to the year 2030 of $6,010,000 plus CIP contributions of $1,375,000, for a net total of $7,385,000. He said in that instance, the citizens of Ames would experience an approximate $1.3 million present-worth net benefit by selling water to rural water districts. Mr. Neumann reviewed amended Page 16, Projected Revenue Increases through 2010, showing how 4 sales to rural water could allow the City to either buy-down water rate increases or postpone them. He said if the City sells to rural water within the next 15 years, with no limit caps, he would project $1.7 million extra income to the Water Utility because of sales to rural water. There was discussion regarding this benefit going beyond dollars and cents to the landuse issues previously discussed. Coun. Parks said his major concern was that the City had the capacity for the length of any agreement to sell water. He said some type of renegotiation factors or guarantee in terms of capacity should be important factors in any contract. Coun. Brown said she didn't think the economic benefits of selling to rural water districts was as great as taking a leadership role in regionalization. Mayor Curtis said the economic projections presented this evening were given under assumptions of a "worst cast" scenario, i.e., drought, population increases. He said in order to be fair, the best case scenario should be presented as well. Mr. Neumann noted the figures used in his projections included selling to rural communities such as Gilbert or Kelley. Coun. Tedesco asked if Staff had examples of contracts used by other communities who sell water, and if Council could be provided with copies. Motion by Campbell, Second by Hoffman, to authorize Staff to attempt to negotiate contracts with Xenia Rural Water District, Central Iowa Rural Water Association, and the Cities of Kelley and Gilbert. Vote on Motion: 6-0. Motion declared carried unanimously. The Council discussed areas they'd like to see addressed in any contract, i.e., regional control, ability to assess costs if infrastructure is not up to City's standards in the event of annexation. Mr. Kindred noted the City had received a request from Dr. Prim Sahai who wished to develop a housing complex west of the current City limits, regardless of whether City utilities are extended to his property. He said Dr. Sahai was requesting both water and sewer service, and noted it was a direct sale to a customer rather than a wholesale sale to a distributor. He said granting this request could lead to requests from others in the area. Mr. Kindred noted Dr. Sahai had expressed a willingness to have his property annexed to the City, but there was 1/4 mile separating his property from Ames. There was discussion regarding contacting the other property owners in the 1/4 mile area who might be interested in annexing to the City. There was discussion regarding how a key part of this decision tied in with the Land Use Policy Plan regarding where the City wants to grow. Coun. Parks said he was in favor of involuntary annexation when appropriate, rather than extending the City's utilities beyond its corporate boundaries. Motion by Parks, Second by Brown, to direct Staff to contact property owners in the 1/4 mile area between the City of Ames limits and Dr. Prim Sahai's property to ask what interest there 5 might be in annexing to the City. Vote on Motion: 6-0. Motion declared carried unanimously. Glenda Bradshaw, Route 3, Ames, said she lived south of the complex being discussed. She expressed concern about the agricultural areas in the urban fringe area, and said the City needed to think about how it would supply water to farmers with livestock at a reasonable cost. She said farmers with livestock cannot cut back on water like town people. She said in addition, the City should approach rural residents about the annexation issue with a desire for "cooperation" rather than "control." COMMENTS: There were no comments. ADJOURNMENT: The meeting adjourned at 8:15 p.m. Sandra L. Ryan, City Clerk Larry R. Curtis, Mayor 6