Centennial Library

September 19, 2022 Regular Meeting

City Council met in regular session on September 19, 2022 at 6:00 P.M. in the Council Chambers of City Hall.

Mayor Lester presided:

Councilmembers present:
Mike Peterson
Beryl Grant
Scott Winkler
Dylan Canaday
Pete Lane
Amy Farris

City employees present were City Administrator Kennedy, Public Works Director Mager, Chief Newman and Attorney Green.

MINUTES: The meeting was called to order and the Council minutes of September 6th were approved as presented by Councilor Peterson, second by Councilor Canaday. Motion carried by a unanimous vote of the Council present.

POLICE AND ANIMAL CONTROL REPORT: Chief Newman reported the City had 89 calls for service and 31 reports taken. Logan Pittman starts next week as the newest officer.

PUBLIC WORKS REPORT: Public Works Director Mager stated Jane Carlson needed curb, gutter and sidewalk. The city had settling in the road and she couldn’t do anything so that portion is now done. City and homeowners partnered to complete 130’ curb and gutter above Court Street and on South State above Bell Equipment the department fixed a culvert and got the ADA finished. There was 200’ of culvert on N. Florence completed between homeowners and the Jehovah Witness. The City had a section on S B Street which washed out during storms so 30’ of curb, gutter and sidewalk were completed. A sewer was installed from Mountain View Trailer Park across the creek to Jim Schmidt and the icehouse was connected, which was possible with an agreement with Schmidt. They are worked on cleaning up drainage ditches, raised a manhole, worked at the Hall Street booster and installed a new entryway to the new well site on Clearwater Lane. They are getting the shop yard put back together from the floods last spring. The railing is installed at the back entry of the library. The Wellard sidewalk is done and the Bullock one will be done this week. The new pump at Eimers well is installed and running. Spencer well is running but it’s not online yet. Half of Cornerstone Christian Learning Center school signs are up and they are just waiting for the rest to come in. Councilor Grant questioned the trees coming down by the red house at the park. Mager stated they took a beating last winter during the ice storm and then discovered they were rotten. Mager is helping Finley with them as they are causing issues in the pool.

FIRE MINUTES: On motion by Councilor Peterson, second by Councilor Farris to accept the Fire Minutes of July 11 and 25th and August 8th and 22nd, 2022. Motion carried by a unanimous vote of the Council present.

PETITION TO ALLOW RABBITS AND CHICKENS IN ALL ZONES: At the August 15th meeting, Ashley Szudajski presented a petition signed by multiple people to allow chickens and rabbits in all zones in the city. Attorney Green stated the Council needed to discuss and decide if they want to act on the petition.

Councilor Grant stated Ashley did present the petition with approximately 50 signatures. She was well versed and wanted chickens and rabbits in all zones. Grant felt the rights of everyone need to be protected and that includes those that purchased property knowing animals were not allowed.

Councilor Canaday didn’t feel it would be a blank slate across town. If it was open to other zones maybe the restrictions would be tighter in these zones than in zone B and D. Councilor Grant stated if you open it to zones A and C, then everyone in town can have chickens and rabbits. The City received multiple letters from people that don’t want things changed to allow them.

Councilor Winkler talked to a lot of people that live in zone A and many of them choose to live there so they don’t have to have animals. Zone B & D usually have larger areas. Those in zone A bought property without animal rights and are protected. Winkler stated he received an unfavorable response from people about changing those zones.

Councilor Canaday asked if they could get a letter from adjoining property owners saying it was ok to have them. Mayor Lester stated property owners change. There are a lot of lots in zone A that are big enough.

Councilor Grant stated that is why the conditional use process is available because the lots can be looked at individually. The last person on Hall Street was also told she could do a conditional use.

Councilor Lane had a phone call from a citizen that said leave it as it is. He wants zones A and C chicken free. His son lived by someone that had chickens illegally and he couldn’t sleep because of the noise they made. Councilor Grant stated she had a call from Tracy Bush about chickens at his house. They cluck and coo but they are just noisy.

Councilor Peterson doesn’t have a problem with rabbits. He did some research on the costs to build a coop and doesn’t see how people can afford the first couple years with how much it costs to build the coop.

Councilor Farris went through the petition. There were several signatures from people that couldn’t vote, and two people used an address that didn’t belong to them. She currently lives in a zone that can have chickens and her neighbor’s chickens are out all that time.

A member of the audience wanted to comment. Mayor Lester stated we are not taking public comment tonight.

Councilor Winkler was in favor of leaving it alone and not changing it. If people want to go through the conditional use process they can.

Administrator Kennedy explained the difference between conditional use and variance.

ON STREET PARKING OF TRAILERS 9-2-15: The draft ordinance was submitted to the Council. Councilor Grant asked what the current infraction is and if the police department could give warnings. Attorney Green stated it is $67 right now and the officer has the discretion to give a warning, just as the prosecutor and judge have discretion on how they handle it. Councilor Lane questioned if 20’ feet from the intersection was enough. City Administrator Kennedy explained she read wrong the truck parking code incorrectly and clarified truck parking is 40’ not 20’ from the intersection. Councilor Peterson questioned what snowmobile trailers do from November 1 – April 30. Kennedy stated there is not exception for them in the code and the only permit available as written is for construction services. Councilor Farris thought Attorney Green did good job writing it. Councilor Winkler asked what is the timeframe for parking if you pull up to your house to load a trailer or do something? Mayor Lester stated there is no timeframe. The Council could choose a time limit, but who will check when the trailer is parked. There isn’t a way to know when it arrives. Councilor Peterson stated if the ordinance is for snow, what if there is no snow on Nov 15th, then is it not in effect? Currently it has specific dates. Councilor Lane felt the Council should wait to adopt in case people want to comment. Kennedy stated they could do the first reading if they chose.

ORDINANCE NO. ___

(Ordinance No. _____ in its entirety on file in the City’s Ordinance File)

AN ORDINANCE OF THE CITY OF GRANGEVILLE PROVIDING FOR THE AMENDMENT OF TITLE 9 CHAPTER 2 SUBSECTION 15 (9-2-15) OF THE MUNICIPAL CODE OF THE CITY OF GRANGEVILLE RELATING TO THE ON STREET PARKING OF TRAILERS; PROVIDING FOR THE REPEAL OF ORDINANCES OR PARTS OF ORDINANCES IN CONFLICT HEREWITH; AND PROVIDING FOR THE ORDINANCE BECOMING EFFECTIVE UPON ITS PASSAGE, APPROVAL, AND PUBLICATION.

On motion by Councilor Peterson, second by Councilor Canaday that the first reading be approved, and the ordinance pass to the second reading. ROLL CALL VOTE: YES: Canaday, Farris, Winkler, Lane, Grant, Peterson. NO: none. The motion passed.

ANIMALS IN ZONE B AND D: Councilor Lane stated under 4A the he would recommend increasing it to 30’ instead of 10’ to the neighbor. Councilor Grant would like it to be 50’. Councilor Canaday stated if you change it to that you are taking away people’s lots. For example a 50’ wide lot may not have the required distance. Councilor Peterson felt Lane’s 25’ recommendation was a good idea. Councilor Winkler stated the ordinance could read 10’ from property line which would make it at least 15’ from the neighbors when considering the 5’ setback of the neighbor too. Mayor Lester stated people don’t always know where their property lines are. Councilor Canaday questioned on the fire pit, should it be non-movable? For example what if the neighbor kept moving it closer to the property line. Administrator Kennedy confirmed there are many lots in zone B that are only 50’ wide. Councilor Winkler suggested keeping the wording the same but bump it to 15’ instead of 10’. Councilor Lane felt you need to be considerate of neighbors and maybe 15’ could be a problem if someone was allergic. Mayor Lester stated animals are already allowed in zone B so if they are allergic, they need to know that before they buy there. Councilor Lane would still like it to be 30’. Mayor Lester stated if you have a 50’ lot and 30’ is required, there is no room for a hutch or coop. Councilor Grant questioned why the 25 rabbits. Councilor Peterson stated they may want to eat them. Councilor Canaday felt the 25 rabbits should be kept. Councilor Grant asked if you clean pastures? Councilor Farris stated they would harrow it. When questioned, Attorney Green saw no need for enhancement of the infraction by increasing on multiple offenses. He felt a ticket would probably resolve the issue. Councilor Canaday questions where coop and hutches need to be in a rear and side yard for residential but not industrial. Is it ok in industrial? Everyone felt it was fine as is.

Attorney Green stated this ordinance is a zoning ordinance. It will go to Planning and Zoning for a hearing and then come back to the Council.

BILLS: The bills, in the amount of $259,238.12 were approved and ordered paid out of their respective funds, on motion by Councilor Peterson, second by Councilor Grant. Motion carried by a unanimous vote of the Council present.

ICDBG FUND REQUEST #2: On motion by Councilor Winkler, second by Councilor Peterson to authorize the Mayor to sign ICDBG Fund request #2 in the amount of $7,159. ROLL CALL VOTE: YES: Canaday, Farris, Lane, Grant, Peterson. NO: none. The motion passed.

ARPA FUND: Councilors Peterson and Grant are in favor of using ARPA funds for Snowhaven. Councilor Canaday saw online that people think the bandshell should get some of the funds. It was stated the City has already pledged $30,000 for the bandshell. On motion by Councilor Winkler, second by Councilor Grant to use the remaining amount (full amount less the 10% for broadband) at Snowhaven. ROLL CALL VOTE: YES: Canaday, Farris, Lane, Grant, Peterson. NO: none. The motion passed.

SNOWHAVEN PROJECT STEERING COMMITTEE: Mayor Lester asked the council to approve the following steering committee for the Snowhaven project.

• Mayor Lester, Councilor Scott Winkler, Snowhaven Manager Gabe Forsmann and Assistant Manager Scott Wasem, City Administrator Kennedy, and community representative Tara Connolley.

On motion by Councilor Winkler, second by Councilor Grant to accept the appointments to the steering committee as indicated by the mayor. Councilor Peterson asked if we needed an engineer on the committee to see what can or can’t be done to the building. Mayor Lester stated the City planned to work with an architect. City Administrator Kennedy explained the City would need to advertise for architects using a qualification-based selection process. After completing the process and ranking them, an architect would be selected. Councilor Grant felt the city should start with this committee and add people if necessary. Councilor Lane felt it may be valuable to have an engineer on the committee. Councilor Canaday felt the committee should come up with ideas and then bring it to an engineer or architect to see if it’s possible. Canaday felt the committee should be left as is. ROLL CALL VOTE: YES: Canaday, Farris, Grant, Peterson. NO: Lane. The motion passed.

ITEMS TO NOTE: Former fire chief Roy Powell and former Councilor Jeff Kutner both passed away. Mr. Harold Miltenberger, father of Brad Miltenberger also passed away.

The meeting adjourned at 7:14 P.M.

_________________________________
Wes Lester – Mayor
ATTEST:

_________________________________
Tonya Kennedy – Clerk

 

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