Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAbout2000-01-19 Council MinutesAGENDA KENAI CITY COUNCIL - REGULAR MEETING JANUARY 19, 2000 7:00 P.M. KENAI CITY COUNCIL CHAMBERS htt-p: Z /wvwv.ci.kenai.ak.us ITEM A: CALL TO ORDER 1. Pledge of Allegiance 2. Roll Call 3. Agenda Approval 4. Consent Agenda *All items listed with an asterisk (*) are considered to be routine and non- controversial by the council and will be approved by one motion. There will be no separate discussion of these items unless a council member so requests, in which case the item will. be removed from the consent agenda and considered in its normal sequence on the agenda as part of the General Orders. ITEM B: SCHEDULED PUBLIC COMMENTS (10 minutes) 1. Mark Schrag -- Appointments to Commissions, Committees and Boards ITEM C: PUBLIC HEARINGS 1. Ordinance No. 1845-2000 -- Amending KMC 1.05.010 to Delete the Requirement for the City Manager to Hold Weekly Staff Meetings With Department Heads. 2. Ordinance No. 1846-2000 -- Repealing and Eliminating References to the City Health Department in KMC 1.50.010-020 and 12.05.010. 3. Ordinance No. 1847-2000 -- Repealing KMC 12.15 Relating to the City's Inspection and Permitting of Restaurants Within the City. 4. Ordinance No. 1848-2000 -- Increasing Estimated Revenues and Appropriations by $4,350 in the General Fund for Investigative Equipment. 5. Resolution No. 2000-3 -- Supporting Legislation for Mortgage Loans Covered Under the Alaska Housing Finance Corporation Housing Assistance Program to be Equal Among All Geographic Areas of Alaska Within the Specifications of the Funding Program. a. Remove from table. b. Consideration of Resolution No. 2000-3. 6. Resolution No. 2000-4 -- Transferring $3,400 in the Water and Sewer Special Revenue Fund to Replace the Sewer Treatment Plant Deionization System. 7. *2000 Continued Operation of Liquor Licenses Kenai Joe's Don Jose's Restaurant & Cantina Pizza Paradisos The Rainbow Bar BPO Elks Lodge #2425 Peninsula Moose Lodge # 1942 Oaken Keg Spirit Shop #58 Kmart Liquor Eadies Frontier Liquor Peninsula Oilers ITEM D: COMMISSION/ COMMITTEE REPORTS 1. Council on Aging 2. Airport Commission 3. Harbor Commission 4. Library Commission 5. Parks 8. Recreation Commission 6. Planning 8v Zoning Commission 7. Miscellaneous Commissions and Committees a. Beautification Committee b. Historic District Board C. Kenai Visitors 8. Convention Bureau Board d. Alaska Municipal League Report ITEM E: MTNTITES 1. *Regular Meeting of January 5, 2000. ITEM F: CORRESPONDENCE ITEM G: OLD BUSINESS ITEM H: NEW BUSINESS 1. Bills to be Paid, Bills to be Ratified 2. Purchase Orders Exceeding $2,500 3. *Ordinance No. 1849-2000 -- Finding That Certain City -Owned Lands Located in Inlet Woods Subdivision, As Shown on the Attached Exhibits A and B, Are Not Required for a Public Purpose. 4. Approval -- Airport Terminal Car Rental Counter Space a. Space Remodel b. Revising Lease Documents 5. Approval -- Amendment to Lease/NW 1/4 of Government Lot 4, Section 3, TSN, R 11 W, Seward Meridian - Kenai Peninsula Oilers Baseball Club, Inc. 6. Discussion -- Council Policy/ Work Sessions for Commissions and Committees. ITEM I: ADMINISTRATION REPORTS 1. Mayor 2. City Manager 3. Attorney 4. City Clerk 5. Finance Director 6. Public Works Managers 7. Airport Manager ITEM J: DISCUSSION 1. Citizens (five minutes) 2. Council EXECUTIVE SESSION - None Scheduled ITEM K: ADJOURNMENT KENAI CITY COUNCIL - REGULAR MEETING JANUARY 19 2000 7:00 P.M. KENAI CITY COUNCIL CHAMBERS h-/ /www.ci.kenai.ak.us MAYOR JOHN J. WILLIAMS, PRESIDING ITEM A: CALL TO ORDER Mayor Williams called the meeting to order at approximately 7:02 p.m. in the Council Chambers in the Kenai City Hall Building. A-1, PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE Mayor Williams led those assembled in the Pledge of Allegiance. A-2. ROLL CALL Roll was taken by the City Clerk. Present were: Frazer, Williams, Bookey, Swarner, Moore, Porter and Bannock. � A-3. AGENDA APPROVAL Mayor Williams requested the following changes to the agenda: ADD TO: D-2, Christopher G. Copple application for appointment to Airport Commission. D-7a, Ficola Wilson application for appointment to the Council on Aging SUBSTITUTE: H-2, Purchase Orders Over $2,500 -- (Substitute List includes Kenai Auto and Honeywell purchase orders.) Williams also requested to hear C-5 before C-1. MOTION: Councilwoman Swarner MOVED for approval of the amended agenda and Councilman Bookey SECONDED the motion. There were no objections. SO ORDERED, A-49 CONSENT AGENDA Mayor Williams noted he had no changes to the consent agenda. KENAI CITY COUNCIL MEETING MINUTES JANUARY 19 2000 PAGE 2 MOTION: Councilwoman Swarner MOVED to approve the consent agenda as presented and Councilman Bookey SECONDED the motion. There were no objections. SO ORDERED, ITEM B: SCHEDULED PUBLIC COMMENTS B-1, Mark Schrag -- Appointments to Commissions, Committees and Boards Schrag stated his address as 312 Princess Lane, Kenai. Schrag explained he was speaking to council in order to answer a letter from the city asking whether he was still interested in consideration of an appointment to the Planning & Zoning Commission. He noted, he understood the letter was a formality, but he was not interested in being just a formality. Schrag stated he was not interested in remaining on the list at this time. He added, over a year ago council told him and five or six others that council was not interested in having them serve on the Planning 8. Zoning Commission. The seat was left open for a year which, in essence, told them they were worth less than zero. Schrag noted, a newspaper article stated they didn't have the right philosophy. He added, the people who had applied were good people and qualified. Though there were reasons to appoint or not appoint someone, he added, he felt philosophy was low on the list. Schrag continued, people who live in the city did not have one philosophy and asked why only allow people with a certain philosophy represented on an important commission. He noted, it drained a person's energy to volunteer your services and be told the council would rather have nobody than fill the position with the applicants. Schrag stated he recently saw an advertisement requesting volunteers on commissions, committees, etc. He added, he believed to be fair to the citizens, all qualifications and restrictions should be advertised as well so people wouldn't waste their time to become a formality. Schrag requested council give serious thought to his comments. ITEM C: PUBLIC HEARINGS KENAI CITY COUNCIL MEETING MINUTES JANUARY 19, 2000 PAGE 3 C-5. Resolution No. 2000-3 -- Supporting Legislation for Mortgage Loans Covered Under the Alaska Housing Finance Corporation Housing Assistance Program to be Equal Among All Geographic Areas of Alaska Within the Specifications of the Funding Program. C-5-a. Remove from table. MOTION: Councilman Moore MOVED remove Resolution No. 2000-3 from the table and Councilman Bookey SECONDED the motion. There were no objections. SO ORDERED. C-5-b. Consideration of Resolution No. 2000-3. MOTION: Councilman Moore MOVED for approval of Resolution No. 2000-3 and Councilman Bannock SECONDED the motion. Williams noted there were local realtors as well as representatives from the Alaska Housing Finance Corporation (AHFC) in the audience to speak to the resolution. Daniel R. Fauske, CEO/Executive Director of AHFC -- Fauske thanked council for delaying action on the resolution and distributed some handouts with information regarding rural lending issues, AHFC loan activity on the Kenai Peninsula (1997 through 1999), and conceptual changes to the Rural Loan Program. Fauske explained AHFC's Rural Mortgage Loan Program was developed in 1979 and the loan fund was purchased by AHFC in 1992 as part of legislation merging the housing functions of DCRA into AHFC. Qualifications and guidelines were established under state law which, he noted, was different from most loan programs where qualifications and interest rates were set according to bonds issued to fund the program. Fauske continued, under state law, small communities with a population less than 6,500 not connected by road, and communities with less than 1,600 and connected by road, qualify for the program and the law states the interest rate for the program would be one percent (1%) below the taxable loan rate. He added, Senate Bill 150 was introduced last year in an effort to completely repeal the one percent interest rate differential. He noted, the bill was currently pending in the Senate Finance Committee and was largely being pushed as an issue of equity. Fauske added, AHFC did not believe their program was negatively impacting the local market when compared to the KENAI CITY COUNCIL MEETING MINUTES JANUARY 19, 2000 PAGE 4 interest rates of all home loan programs. He noted there were some AHFC program interest rates lower than the Rural Loan Program was currently. He added, their information showed there was no more loan activity inside the city than outside the city. Fauske stated they believed the best approach would be to expand and not eliminate the opportunity for housing development. In reviewing Resolution No. 2000-3, they believed some of the language in the resolution could potentially be used to support existing legislation that would completely eliminate the program. He continued, the Rural Loan Program was not bond funded and in order to fund the program with bonds, some of the parameters of the program would need changing in order for the bonds to be rated. Also, if a change were to be made in the program, they would like to base the definition of rural on the USDA definition which classified everything outside of Anchorage, Juneau and Fairbanks as rural. He added, they didn't want to be doing anything that would cause harm to the Kenai market. Fauske stated he didn't want to see SB 150 pass because the elimination of the rural program would be devastating to rural Alaska as well as the corporation. He added, he wanted to find a way to make the program more equitable, expand their business base, and eliminate any concerns that the loan program was disrupting the market in Kenai. Williams stated it was not council's intention to cause any of the programs to be eliminated or diminished. He noted, the primary body of the resolution spoke to eliminate the preferential interest rate between outside and inside municipalities. He added, in discussions with him, a point was made that it wasn't necessarily the amortization of the loan that caused people to buy outside a municipality than inside. However, the amenities to the size of the house or the living comfort made a difference and it represented a disadvantage to the city if that home could be built outside the city for less than it could inside the city. Williams added, he wasn't sure that people who bought homes outside the city clearly understood the ramifications of costs when factoring in taxes, public services (fire, ambulance, etc.), insurance, etc. Those items, added to the mortgage, would offset the one percent differential. Fauske noted he did not mean the resolution was directed at elimination of the program. He clarified, during the last legislative session, a legislator commented the loan program was causing harm in communities in Alaska. He added, they supported the rural and the expanded rural, but there were costs associated with it and they were willing to discuss those concerns. Dave Feeken -- Stated his address as 37295 Cetacea Lane, Kenai and that he was representing the Kenai Peninsula Association of Realtors and Alaska Association of Realtors. He added, because the Alaska Association of Realtors had taken no action on the resolve of the one percent issue, he introduced a motion last year at a legislative meeting at the Alaska Association of Realtors to eliminate the rural KENAI CITY COUNCIL MEETING MINUTES JANUARY 19, 2000 PAGE 5 program. The outcome of the motion was that the Alaska Association of Realtors did not support SB 150 and was in favor of the rural housing program being expanded to include the city limits of Kenai, Soldotna, Homer, Kodiak, Sitka and Ketchikan through the modification of the definition of a rural community. This would be done by changing the population limits to 8,000 where roads existed and 11,000 where there were no roads. He added, that was the Association's position at the end of the last legislative session and continued to be their position. Feeken added, the Association would be attempting to modify SB 150 to reflect those changes. Feeken continued, analyzing of markets involved creating a ratio from how many houses sold in a year and how many were on the market. He discussed concerns of the markets on the Peninsula and the economy in the areas if the one percent was to change. Another item to review, he noted, was that 10% to 15% of the current market represented foreclosed homes. He added, two other lower interest loans included first- time home buyers and military personnel out of the service for less than 30 years which had specific criteria. Feeken added, anyone could qualify for a rural housing loan if they lived outside a city. Feeken stated he supported a lot of the loan programs of the AHFC, but if the rural loan program caused one of the houses to go into foreclosure, the owner would be strapped with credit problems for the remainder of his life. Fauske stated they were opposed to expanding the program to 8,000 and 12,000 only because they didn't think the revolving loan fund could absorb it. The discussion continued, wherein comments and concerns were expressed about the inventory of homes on the market as well as the amount of lots now available in the city on which homes could be built. Because there was now an inventory of lots available in the city, a differential could cause the city not to be able to compete against an area outside the city's boundaries. Discussion also followed regarding the cash position of the AHFC. Frazer asked what the chance was for redefining the population issue and would it fit to exclude Anchorage, Fairbanks and Juneau. Fauske stated it would, population wise, but there were still areas that were defined as a distance from Anchorage, etc. Frazer asked if the redefinition was tied into SB 150. Fauske answered no, and added, SB 150 would eliminate the program. Frazer asked if it was realistic to think the definition of rural would be changed. Fauske answered, he believed the board would agree with it, however the change would have to be approved by the Legislature. He added, with enough communities gathering on the fact that revenue sharing, etc. were declining, the idea of expanding and protecting the real estate or tax base was a compelling argument. Frazer asked if it would be wiser for the resolution to be specifically directed to the population portion in order to include Kenai, Soldotna, etc. as a rural area. Fauske KENAI CITY COUNCIL MEETING MINUTES JANUARY 19, 2000 PAGE 6 stated he was concerned that the population would be changed without structuring the program to successfully enter the bond market so the program can be funded. Swarner asked if Fauske had any suggested changes for the resolution. John Bittney -- Legislative Liaison for AHFC. Bittney stated the most concerning language was the "resolved" paragraph where it supported legislation to create equality in financing among geographic areas. He added, they were concerned that language could be used to support the current SB 150 (by repealing the program, it would create equality) . Swarner noted that was not the council's intent. Additionally, Swarner noted, council did not want to tie their resolution to any particular legislation in case other legislation would be introduced. Dave Feeken -- Stated he spoke with Senator Torgerson and Representative Smalley and they were in agreement with changing the population limits and they felt getting the changes through the Senate Finance Committee was a good place to start the process. Feeken added, he requested the legislators to introduce an amendment to that effect. Williams suggested a break be taken after any additional public comments and during the break Fauske and Bittney could make recommendations for amendments to the resolution to Swarner. After the recess, amendments to the resolution could then be considered by council. Debbie Sonberg -- 410 Cinderella, Kenai. Sonberg noted, Williams had stated in the past that he believed the population of Kenai was more than noted in the state's revenue sharing population and asked when Williams thought the city population would exceed 8,000. She noted, Kenai could be back in the same situation it was now in if the rural definition was changed to 8,000. Williams stated he believed Senator Torgerson would prefer the number be set at 10,000. Dave Keating -- Broker/ Owner of Freedom Realty and Freedom Mortgage. Keating stated he had been a realtor in the area for 30 years and this year served as president of the Kenai Realtors Board. He noted another area of concern was the Legislature's desire to get back in control of Alaska Housing. Keating stated, in the 1970's he and others worked very hard to get Alaska Housing developed in order for the people of Alaska to have adequate financing for sale and purchase of homes. He cautioned council to keep an eye on the Legislature and not let them get control back of AHFC. BREAK TAKEN: 8:00 P.M. BACK TO ORDER: 8:16 P.M. MOTION TO AMEND: KENAI CITY COUNCIL MEETING MINUTES � JANUARY 19, 2000 PAGE 7 Councilwoman Swarner MOVED to amend Resolution No. 2000-3 in the second whereas, changing "existing legislation" to "state law"; the third whereas, changing "this discrimination and type of regulation" to "this program"; and in the Now Therefore paragraph, inserting "by redefining the definition of small communities to mirror USDA/ Rural Development's definition." Councilman Moore SECONDED the motion. VOTE ON AMENDMENT: Councilwoman Swarner requested UNANIMOUS CONSENT on the amendment. There were no objections. SO ORDERED. VOTE ON MAIN AMENDED MOTION: Councilwoman Swarner requested UNANIMOUS CONSENT on the main amended motion. There were no objections. SO ORDERED. C-1. Ordinance No. 1845-2000 -- Amending KMC 1.05.010 to Delete the Requirement for the City Manager to Hold Weekly Staff Meetings With Department Heads. MOTION: Councilwoman Swarner MOVED for adoption of Ordinance No. 1845-2000 and Councilman Moore SECONDED the motion. City Manager Ross explained the ordinance was one of those to come forward to council in an effort to update portions of the city code. He noted, in his history with the city, weekly staff meetings were never held. Currently, Ross added, the staff meets twice monthly prior to council meetings in order to review the packets, etc. Ross supported the amendment of the ordinance. There were no public comments. VOTE: Frazer: Yes Williams: Yes Booke Yes Swarner: Yes Moore: Yes Porter: Yes Bannock: No MOTION PASSED. KENAI CITY COUNCIL MEETING MINUTES JANUARY 19 2000 PAGE 8 C-2., Ordinance No. 1846-2000 -- Repealing and Eliminating References to the City Health Department in KMC 1.50.010-020 and 12.05.010. MOTION: Councilwoman Swarner MOVED for adoption of Ordinance No. 1846-2000 and Councilwoman Porter SECONDED the motion. There were no public comments. Williams stated, amending the ordinance would put everyone on notice that the city was not in the health department business and didn't intend to be in it. Ross added, the ordinance was also one of those brought forward to update the code. He added, this section had been included in the code for 30 years, though there had never been utilized. VOTE: Frazer: Yes Williams: Yes Booke Yes Swarner: Yes Moore: Yes Porter: Yes Bannock: Yes MOTION PASSED UNANIMOUSLY. C-3, Ordinance No. 1847-2000 -- Repealing KMC 12.15 Relating to the City's Inspection and Permitting of Restaurants Within the City. MOTION: Councilwoman Porter MOVED to adoption Ordinance No. 1847-2000 and Councilwoman Swarner SECONDED the motion. Amy Jackman -- Jackman noted her address as 1505 Fathom Drive, Kenai. Jackman asked who would be inspecting and permitting restaurants to keep residents of the city safe. Williams explained, the responsibility of the public health rested with the State of Alaska. He added, most municipalities were trying to shed issues rightfully belonging to the state because the state, due to budget issues, had been transferring responsibilities to municipalities. Williams stated, if the city eliminated reference to this service from the code, it would not be able to take on the responsibility if the state tried to push it off to the city. Jackman asked what would be the procedure if there was a problem, would the city go to the state on its own. Williams answered, the Department of Environmental Conservation had the responsibility for over 30 years, but would be making fewer inspections, etc. due to budget constraints. He added, he was not aware of how the KENAI CITY COUNCIL MEETING MINUTES JANUARY 19, 2000 PAGE 9 program would be handled, but citizens needed to learn about restaurants before going to them and if there were a problem, they should report it to the DEC. Bannock stated he spoke with a representative from DEC who did the inspections and was told the city's eliminating the section of the code was a good idea as the state would be looking for these types of areas in municipalities' codes in order to turn over some of their responsibilities. If the code did not speak to the task, the responsibility would have to stay with the state. VOTE: Frazer: Yes Williams: Yes Booke Yes Swarner: Yes Moore: Yes Porter: Yes Bannock: Yes MOTION PASSED UNANIMOUSLY. C-4, Ordinance No. 1848-2000 -- Increasing Estimated Revenues and Appropriations by $4,350 in the General Fund for Investigative Equipment. Williams explained the increase was being made from funds seized in an investigation. It was noted, the Police Department recently seized a pick-up truck as well. MOTION: Councilman Bookey MOVED for adoption of Ordinance No. 1848-2000 and Councilwoman Swarner SECONDED the motion. There were no public or council comments. VOTE: Frazer: Yes Williams: Yes Booke Yes Swarner: Yes Moore: Yes Porter: Yes Bannock: Yes MOTION PASSED UNANIMOUSLY. C-6. Resolution No. 2000-4 -- Transferring $3,400 in the Water and Sewer Special Revenue Fund to Replace the Sewer Treatment Plant Deionization System. KENAI CITY COUNCIL MEETING MINUTES JANUARY 19 2000 PAGE 10 MOTION: Councilwoman Swarner MOVED for approval of Resolution No. 2000-4 and requested UNANIMOUS CONSENT. Councilman Frazer SECONDED the motion. There were no public or council comments. VOTE: There were no objections. SO ORDERED, C-7, 2000 Continued Operation of Liquor Licenses Kenai Joe's Don Jose's Restaurant & Cantina Pizza Paradisos The Rainbow Bar BPO Elks Lodge #2425 Peninsula Moose Lodge # 1942 Oaken Keg Spirit Shop #58 Kmart Liquor Eadies Frontier Liquor Peninsula Oilers Approved by consent agenda. ITEM D: COMMISSION/ COMMITTEE REPORTS D-1. Council on Aging -- Porter reported no meeting had been held recently. She noted there were two vacancies on the Council on Aging and that there were several applications included in the packet from which appointments could be made. Porter recommended Dick Fields and Fiocla Wilson as both had been participants of the senior programs for years, Wilson was a member of the Council in the past, and Fields lived at Vintage Pointe. There were no objections to the appointment of Fields and Wilson to the Council on Aging. It was noted, a letter would be sent to the other applicants to tell them their applications would be kept on file for future consideration. D-2. Airport Commission -- Swarner reported a meeting was held on January 13 at which the Commission discussed the personal property tax on airplanes and the airport terminal carpet replacement. Swarner added, a committee was requested to review carpet costs, samples, colors, etc. and make a recommendation to the Commission. Members of the committee would be Swarner (chair), Dan Van Zee (Airport Commission representative), Dottie Fischer (Alaska Best Travel), Judy Erickson (ERA Airlines), Gary Schnelting (Wings Cafe) and one other council member. There were no objections to the setting a committee. KENAI CITY COUNCIL MEETING MINUTES JANUARY 19, 2000 PAGE 11 Swarner also reported there were two vacancies on the Commission; one seat designated as CAP and one designated as FAA. She noted, a suggestion would be to change Commissioner Knackstedt's seat designation as the CAP representative and leave the openings as FAA and at -large. There were several applications included in the packet from which to choose. It was noted two of the applicants were in attendance at the meeting; Christopher Copple and Doug Haralson. It was noted the Airport Commission did not have residency requirements for any of its seats. Christopher Copple -- Stated he wanted to hopefully bring fresh ideas to the airport in order to bring the airport back to how it had originally been envisioned. He added, he was a private pilot, leased a tie -down at the airport and had been a resident of the city since 1980. Doug Haralson -- Stated his address as P.O. Box 2881, Kenai. He explained he was interested in filling the FAA seat. He noted, he was not a city resident, but his involvement on the Commission would allow him to be involved in the city with FAA background. Haralson noted, his background was extensively in relation to aviation, governmental accounting, etc. Porter commended both applicants for taking an interest and attending the council meeting. It was noted, the other applicants were not present. When asked for comments or recommendations from council, Councilman Moore stated he believed the applicants attending the meeting were well -qualified and showed interest in the work of the Commission and recommended their appointments. Williams clarified that Knackstedt's seat designation would be changed to the CAP representative, Christopher Copple to the at -large seat, and Doug Haralson as the FAA representative. There were no objections from council. Swarner also reported the Commission discussed the automobile rental spaces remodeling plan and Mr. Chord from the tower attended the meeting. Williams noted he had heard comments about developing an airport authority which would then operate the state's airports. He added, the city had no interest in divesting itself of the airport. D-3. Harbor Commission -- Bookey reported the Commission met on January 10 and discussed the Kenai Coastal Trail/ Bluff Erosion Project. He noted, the Commission felt the project appeared to be a public -accepted project as they had not heard objections at any of the hearings. He added, the Commission was looking forward to the funding of the project. KENAI CITY COUNCIL MEETING MINUTES JANUARY 19 2000 PAGE 12 Williams reported he made a presentation about the project at the Chamber luncheon and heard no negative comments. Moore reported a comment made at the last hearing was a concern that the project would be "messing with Mother Nature." Another comment was "as long as we don't have to pay for it." D-4. Library Commission -- Moore reported the minutes of the last meeting were included in the packet. He noted, the next meeting was scheduled for February 1. D-5. Parks & Recreation Commission -- Frazer reported the minutes of the meeting were included in the packet. He added, a lengthy discussion about the Inlet Woods lots was held. A motion was unanimously passed to reserve lots for a future neighborhood park. Parks & Recreation Director Frates reported the ice rink dedication was scheduled for February 5, beginning at 11:00 a.m. He noted, the AmVets would present the flags and the KCHS choir would be singing the National Anthem. Other activities would include a hockey game, figure skating presentation, and a broomball game between the Kenai Lions and Rotary Clubs. Williams referred to the application from Chuck Rogers which was included in the packet. It was noted there were no vacancies currently on the Commission and the application would be kept on file for future reference. Williams reported he was approached by Ryan (Huss) Green regarding replacement of fencing between the park and the new construction. He suggested he speak with Frates about the suggestion. D-6. Planning & Zoning Commission -- Bannock reported the Commission met on January 12 at which the Commission discussed and made a recommendation about the Inlet Woods lots. He added, the minutes from that meeting would be included in the next council packet. D-7. Miscellaneous Commissions and Committees D-7-a. Beautification Committee -- Swarner reported the Committee met on January 11 and reviewed new banner designs which would be brought to the next Parks & Recreation Commission meeting for their review. She added, the Committee also discussed developing a flower bed in front of the cemetery and a yard -of -the -week program. It was noted a letter of resignation from Barb Nord was included in the packet. D-7-b. Historic District Board -- Moore reported there was no quorum for the January 17 meeting and Chairman Huhndorf requested Moore to ask council to set another meeting for January 24 at 6:00 p.m. in the council chambers. KENAI CITY COUNCIL MEETING MINUTES JANUARY 19, 2000 PAGE 13 Moore referred to applications included in the packet and it was noted there were two vacancies on the Board. Porter stated it seemed the Board had difficulties making quorums for meetings and asked if the responsibilities of the Board could be transferred to the Planning & Zoning Commission. A brief discussion followed regarding the original organization of the Board, changes made to meeting dates and times in order to help the Board be successful, etc. It was noted, the Board currently met quarterly. Williams stated he would leave it to the council as to how to proceed with the Board. Williams added, he remembered the Board was put in place in order to be eligible for a particular grant. Bookey stated he had made a recommendation two years prior to sunset the Board. He added, he believed if council wanted to maintain a Townsite Historic District, it would be necessary to maintain a Historic District Board. Bookey stated, he agreed with Williams that the city's history was very important, but the Board had never been successful. Porter requested the issue be placed on the February 16 meeting and invite the board members to the meeting to defend whether or not the Board should be sunsetted. Bookey requested administration research why the Historic District Board was developed and refresh their memories of what was and wasn't. Ross noted, approximately two years prior research in regard to meeting requirements, responsibilities, etc. of the board was discussed in a memorandum from Marilyn Kebschull. He stated he would have Kebschull review the memorandum to be sure the information was current and send it out to the council again to review prior to the February 16 council meeting. Bookey stated he believed if the Board were to be sunsetted some regulations may have to be amended or reevaluated. He added, nothing could take place in the Townsite Historic District without the Board. Moore disagreed and reminded council one of the past issues was that a matter could go before Planning & Zoning without the Board reviewing it because of scheduling. The Board didn't want that to happen, but council disagreed because of their concern that development in Old Town, etc. could be slowed. He added, the Board is to be notified about an issue, but no special meeting would be scheduled to discuss or take action on the matter. Moore asked if council had objections to rescheduling the meeting. Council had no objections. D-7-c. Kenai Visitors & Convention Bureau Board -- No report. D-7-de Alaska Municipal League Report -- Williams reported he would be traveling to Juneau on January 24 to attend AML/Alaska Conference of Mayors meetings during that week. He invited other members of council to go too if they � desired to do so. KENAI CITY COUNCIL MEETING MINUTES JANUARY 19, 2000 PAGE 14 ITEM E: MINUTES E-1. Regular Meeting of January 5, 2000. Approved by consent agenda. ITEM F: CORRESPONDENCE -- None. ITEM G: OLD BUSINESS -- None. ITEM H: NEW BUSINESS H-1. Bills to be Paid, Bills to be Ratified MOTION: Councilwoman Swarner MOVED to pay the bills and Councilman Frazer SECONDED the motion. There were no objections. SO ORDERED. Frates was asked if he had a cost estimate for electricity use at the ice rink. Frates stated he did not, but that he and Public Works Manager La Shot were working on a solution on the issue. H-2. Purchase Orders Exceeding $2,500 MOTION: Councilwoman Swarner MOVED for approval of the purchase orders exceeding $2,500 substitute. Councilman Moore SECONDED the motion. There were no objections. SO ORDERED, H-3. Ordinance No. 1849-2000 -- Finding That Certain City -Owned Lands Located in Inlet Woods Subdivision, As Shown on the Attached Exhibits A and B, Are Not Required for a Public Purpose. Introduced by consent agenda. H-4. Approval -- Airport Terminal Car Rental Counter Space KENAI CITY COUNCIL MEETING MINUTES JANUARY 19, 2000 PAGE 15 H-4-a. Space Remodel -- Ross explained, the bidders of the car rental counter space in the airport terminal requested to speak to the Airport Commission and the council regarding issues of space and declining enplanements versus the number of concessionaires. Airport Manager Cronkhite researched other airports in this regard and that information was provided to the bidders. He added, the bidders spoke to the Airport Commission who unanimously supported their request that the counter space area at the terminal be reconfigured to four spaces. Ross noted, council had debated this subject in past years. Dan Van Zee -- Van Zee reported his address as 325 Airport Way, Kenai and noted he was representing Hertz Rent-A-Car and the Kenai Airport Commission as its vice - chair. Van Zee referred to research information included in their packets in regard to the car rental concessions and lease bid process. He noted, a two-part request was being submitted to council for their approval: remodeling and revision of lease. Van Zee noted (referring to packet information) the airport's floor plan, compared to the rest of the state's airports, was the smallest and especially when compared to Fairbanks and Juneau counter space which had back offices. He noted Anchorage's spaces were similar size, but their market was large enough that the agencies had offices and garages elsewhere on the airport property. Van Zee stated the current 100' layout was not adequate to accommodate the current tenants' needs. He added, if council chose not to approve the plan, there would be one empty space and dissimilar -sized counters for the existing tenants. Van Zee stated, the approval of the remodeling plan would give Kenai a better presentation to the traveling public than an empty space or unequal counter space. Van Zee requested the proposal be approved by council. H-4-b. Revising Lease Documents -- Van Zee explained the second part of request was to limit the number of rental car agencies for the life of the five-year lease. He noted, council had been reluctant to do this in the past. Van Zee stated he would address this portion of the request as a member of the Airport Commission. Van Zee explained the Kenai Airport was mandated by the FAA to operate as a for - profit enterprise and make the best and highest valued use of the resource, to help support itself, etc. through income from rents and concessions. In order to accomplish this, the airport was bound by the rules of free enterprise, controlled by supply and demand. He added, the supply and demand would control the value of the product in the marketplace, including rental counter space. He noted, the rental car concessions represented the supply side and enplanements represented the demand side. He referred to the information included in the packet KENAI CITY COUNCIL MEETING MINUTES JANUARY 19, 2000 PAGE 16 and noted, Kenai's supply side of the equation was too large and that lowered the value of the concessions at the airport. He noted, this was evident by the recent bid process only producing four bidders for the five available spaces. Van Zee noted, there were more than four bidders who showed interest, but the others decided the demand side of the equation was too low for them to be profitable in Kenai and they didn't submit bids. He continued, four concessionaires still left Kenai heavy on the supply side in comparison to the other airports included in the research information and that was why they were requesting the limiting of concession spaces at the airport. Van Zee noted, the demand in Kenai had been dropping and because nothing on the horizon would create a drastic change in the forecast, he believed the high would be similar to 1995 with a high number of enplanements at 130,000. He added, at the end of the five-year lease, the question would be brought to council again to decide what the current market would dictate to be best for Kenai at that time. Van Zee added, if the number of enplanements were divided by the number of concessionaires, it would show Kenai with 26,668 enplanements for each concessionaire; Anchorage would show 303,696 enplanements; Fairbanks 67,249; Juneau 127,706; Spokane 245,368; Missoula 50,569 enplanements for each concessionaire. Noting Ketchikan as closest to Kenai's enplanements, Kenai had a supply side imbalance of a factor of two. Van Zee asked, why the City of Kenai should care how many concessionaires there were at the airport if those concessionaires were willing to take the risk and pay the price. He added, he believed it was in the best interest of the city to have healthy businesses with current model cars for the customers. Van Zee noted, healthy businesses help support many community efforts, buy real estate off the airport, build offices, employ more people. He added, weak businesses would not. Van Zee stated, healthy rental car agencies at the airport raise the value of the rental concessions at the next lease term. He also noted a question could be, would limiting the number of car rental agencies at the airport be contrary to the concepts of free enterprise. He explained, the commonly held understanding of free enterprise was that government should not stand in the way of someone operating business. Van Zee added, there were more people renting cars from off -airport businesses than on -airport businesses. If another car rental business wanted to open in Kenai in the next five years, he believed they would be welcome to do it. If the proposal of limiting the number of car rental businesses at the airport, they just wouldn't be able to do it at the airport. Van Zee requested council to accept the Airport Commission's recommendation to approve both the proposals. KENAI CITY COUNCIL MEETING MINUTES JANUARY 19, 2000 PAGE 17 Porter asked for Ross' comments. Ross explained, a bid was advertised for five spaces. Only four bids were received. Based on current enplanements research (which was given to the bidders for their review as it supported their arguments) and comments of the Airport Manager, having an empty space at the airport was not esthetically pleasing. He noted, the number of spaces was a council decision. Ross added, he agreed with Van Zee that he was not aware of an event that would bring a large upswing in enplanements because as the highway is improved to Anchorage and airfares rise, the number of enplanements decrease. He added, even with a major event in the next three or four years, the enplanement figure would probably only get back to where it was. Ross continued, he believed the concessionaires had a strong argument and the Airport Commission supported their request. MOTION: Councilwoman Porter MOVED to accept the recommendation of the Airport Commission to make it four spaces for the remodeling project. Councilwoman Swarner SECONDED the motion. There were no other public comments. Councilman Moore reported one of the successful bidders was one of his clients. However, he would vote if there were no objections from council. Council had no objections. Bannock stated he saw two questions. The first question he supported. However, he strongly objected to limiting businesses in the city. He noted, the current lease proposal to the rental car companies limited the number to five, however the council was being asked to limit the number to four for the next five years based on the memorandum's information that the companies were absorbing the remodeling costs and requested the guarantee for the next five years to make their costs more feasible to amortize the costs. Bannock continued to say that if the limiting business was expanded throughout the city, it would be practicing isolationism and bordering on socialism. He noted that owning and operating a business was a huge risk and their failing or succeeding was affected by markets, economy, natural disasters, etc. Bannock stated he didn't believe the city should shelter or cap potential development in order to recover costs. Bannock reminded council they discussed the matter several years ago and decided they didn't want to limit business at the airport and encouraged council to say no to the request to limit the businesses in order for the competitive market to do its job. He noted a request came to council approximately one year prior from a person who wanted to have counter space at the airport and council approved including his business. Bannock added, that person was one of the successful bidders. Bannock requested council to support the first item and defeat item two. KENAI CITY COUNCIL MEETING MINUTES JANUARY 19, 2000 PAGE 18 Porter noted the present council was not the same one from a year ago. Swarner noted the Airport Commission voted unanimously to recommend the remodeling proposal and that the bid process was open and only four companies chose to bid. Porter suggested the issues be separated. Williams stated he thought the items were tied to each other because the limiting the number of concessions was tied to the remodeling proposal. Williams suggested more information from the bidders in order to separate the issues. Frazer suggested the two issues be voted on as one issue because if the first issue was approved and the second issue not approved, he doubted the first issue would happen. Bannock noted the same issue was discussed in prior years wherein the first issue was approved and the second issue was not approved. Further, the lessees were informed there could be additional car rental companies moving in. Williams stated when the city had the opportunity to guide its economic development, it should look at what serves the city's interests and those helping to serve the city's interest. He referred to the information included in the packet where the individual rental agencies served approximately 25,000 (per car rental agency) in a year, which seemed to be the lowest of the other airports listed in the information. He added, he didn't fault the car rental agencies for asking to limit the number of agencies in the airport to four based on that information. Williams noted, he was not aware of any major change in the city's economy before 2004 or 2005. Swarner asked if the lease bid was for a five-year lease. Answer was yes. Swarner noted, the city did not limit concessionaires because only four people bid for five spaces and were interested in a five-year term. Williams noted, council also directed administration to accept all offers. Ross added, all respondents would have been accepted, but the proposal limited it to five concessionaires of which only four bid for the five spaces. Swarner called of for the question. Williams noted the items would be separated. He noted, the first question was, "Does the council wish to approve the remodeling proposal?" VOTE: Frazer: Yes Williams: Yes Booke Yes Swarner: Yes Moore: Yes Porter: Yes Bannock: Yes* __:::J I I MOTION PASSED UNANIMOUSLY. KENAI CITY COUNCIL MEETING MINUTES JANUARY 19, 2000 PAGE 19 *Bannock voted no and then explained he thought the question was not being split and requested to change his vote. Williams allowed the change of vote by Bannock due to the misunderstanding of the question. Williams noted the second part of the question would be, "Does the council wish to revise the lease documents to limit the number of automobile concessions for the length of the lease to four." MOTION: Councilwoman Swarner MOVED to revise the lease documents to limit the number of automobile concessions for the length of the lease to four. Councilman Bookey SECONDED them motion. VOTE: Frazer: Yes Williams: Yes Booke Yes Swarner: Yes Moore: Yes Porter: Yes Bannock: No MOTION PASSED. Williams noted, council had changed policies for the next five-year period, anticipating there would be four spaces for car rental agencies. The four spaces would be remodeled and the cost for the remodel would be borne by the lessees. Airport Manager Cronkhite added, the remodeling would be done to the standards of the airport and the city. H-5. Approval -- Amendment to Lease/NW 1/4 of Government Lot 4, Section 3, T5N, R 11 W, Seward Meridian - Kenai Peninsula Oilers Baseball Club, Inc. Bannock reported he was a member of the Oilers' organization and requested he be allowed to participate in the discussion. Williams stated he had no conflict. Ross explained, the amendment to lease was one of two options council had if it chose to have the General Fund make the Oilers' water and sewer service; put in the lease agreement ($1.00 a year lease) or in the Legislative budget as a donation. He added, if put in the lease, it would be a donation, but it would be removed from further perusal by the present or future councils). If it was included in the Legislative budget donations on an annual basis, it would be evaluated yearly along with other donations. Ross added, either one could be done by the council and was their option. KENAI CITY COUNCIL MEETING MINUTES JANUARY 19, 2000 PAGE 20 Mike Baxter -- Baxter stated his address as 619 Fir Drive, Kenai. He explained, the organization had worked quite a bit with administration and council and they appreciated their cooperation. Baxter added, as lessees of the land over the years, they assumed the city, as part of the lease, was paying for their water. As an organization trying to build a quality ballpark, which eventually would revert back to the city, he requested council continue paying for the water/ sewer. He noted, over a long period of time, the amount was not large. However, when looking at it over the ±26 days of the year the field is used, it became quite costly. Porter noted Baxter mentioned the land on which the ballpark was situated would, in time, be turned back to the city. She asked how long before that would happen. Baxter answered, he believed the lease expired in 2035. Bookey asked Ross if there was an actual cost for the services. Ross answered, he met with the Oilers and discussed their installing a meter to isolate their restroom. If that would be done, he noted, it would be a $40 per month charge a year for a two-inch line and then, a meter on the restroom only during the months of operation. Ross added, he believed the meter would be $56 a month and in use approximately four months a year. Ross noted, he believed the total yearly cost, with the metering, would be between $750 and $850 a year based on projected use. Bookey stated he was not in favor of amending the lease, but was intrigued with placing it as a donation on a line -item budget. He added, he did have concerns with binding a future council and thought it should be left open. Bookey stated, bottom line it was a cash outlay from the General Fund to the Water/ Sewer Fund and thought that should be decided by the individual Oilers' board members make presentations to council budget work sessions. Moore stated he appreciated Bookey's comments in regard to binding future councils. He asked if the amendment could include a clause to allow for a council to amend the lease or revert back to a donation, should council make that type of a future decision. City Attorney Graves stated, if the Oilers agreed to a modification of the lease, the clause could be made in the lease contract revocable at the determination of the council. He added, it would be unusual, but it could be done. Moore stated he would support that amendment to the lease, noting the park would revert to the city in the future. Frazer stated the original lease had been in place since 1982 and many councils had dealt with paying the Oilers water/sewer. He added, the Oilers was one of the many groups in town using recreational facilities. He noted, the Little League used city property which was maintained and watered by the city and they paid no fee for use of the facilities. Frazer also noted the softball organizations probably used the city KENAI CITY COUNCIL MEETING MINUTES } JANUARY 19, 2000 PAGE 21 facilities more than what the Oilers used their facilities. Additionally, over $800,000 had been spent on skating groups and probably more would be spent over the next four or five years. Historically, the Oilers developed the property and spent their money to improve the land which would revert to the city. Frazer added, that was an improvement and added value to the city. He added, he believed the amendment, as written, should be approved. Bannock noted, all leases bound the council from year to year. Porter stated she was in favor of the Oilers and most other non-profit groups. She added, the city was currently paying for water/ sewer on the Visitors Center; not paying for water/ sewer for the Women's Resource Center (also city -owned land) ; not paying for water/ sewer to the Art Council (situated in a city building); and not paying for water/ sewer for the Historical Society (situated in a city building) . She added, the only way she could support this type of donation was if all the other groups were treated equally either by them all having to pay water/ sewer or the city pay it for them. Porter added, she thought all the groups using city property should be treated the same or other agencies would be coming before council at the next budget session presenting the same argument. She noted, she was aware the Oilers, as well as the other groups she named were non -profits, however, they were in fact, businesses because they could not continue to function if they did not operate as a business. Williams stated he disagreed with discussing the issue as a donation because it would be hard to separate out a donation for the Oilers water/ sewer if another worthy organization with a deep financial need made a request. He added, he preferred approving the amendment to the lease. Williams noted, a former president of the Oilers signed a lease document indicating they agreed to pay the water/ sewer. However, the city never billed them which made it as much the city's fault as the Oilers. Williams stated, the council should not be concerned about that part of the lease, since it was abrogated many years before and the present council could determine an amendment. Williams stated he would support the amendment directing the water/ sewer charges be paid by the city. Swarner stated she felt badly about the city's lack of responsibility for billing the Oilers over the years. She added, she had heard from a number of constituents who asked why the Oilers would not have to pay for water/ sewer when other non -profits did have to pay. Swarner stated she would support a line item in the budget every year instead of an amendment to the lease. Mike Baxter -- Baxter stated, he didn't think comparing the Oilers to the Arts or other non -profits was accurate as they did something totally different (although the Arts and others were fine organizations). He added, the Oilers spent approximately $30,000 building a restroom at the park in the fall, which would eventually revert to the city. He noted, the Municipality of Anchorage includes funding in their budgets every year KENAI CITY COUNCIL MEETING MINUTES JANUARY 19, 2000 PAGE 22 for their ballpark and their park was available for only select groups. Baxter stated, the Oilers park was made available to any organization, as long as the game schedule allowed. He added, they were only asking for "business as usual." Porter stated she believed the city allowed the other organizations to operate on its property and they should all be treated equally. Frazer noted the lease amendment to which Williams referred was for use of a city ballpark (prior to the development of Oilers park). Baxter noted, the Oilers had also been notified of owing some assessments in the past, but never notified they owed water and sewer. Williams clarified the present lease did not state the lessee would pay water/ sewer to the city. Ross noted, the lease was a standard lease form and none of the city's standard lease forms stated who would pay for the water/ sewer. He added, the lease forms assumed the lessee to be responsible for all maintenance expenses. Ross noted, the words "water/ sewer fees" would not be found in any city leases with commercial or non-commercial non-profit properties and city ordinances rule on whether a body signs up for water/ sewer. MOTION: Councilman Frazer MOVED to approve the amendment of lease between the City of Kenai and the Oilers Baseball Club. Councilman Bannock SECONDED the motion. VOTE: Frazer: Yes Williams: Yes Booke No Swarner: No Moore: Yes Porter: Yes Bannock: Yes MOTION PASSED, H-6. Discussion -- Council Policy/Work Sessions for Commissions and Committees. Attorney Graves reviewed the draft policy as it was presented in the council packet. He noted the question arose in a December council meeting at which time he was requested to draft a policy. He reviewed the minutes of that meeting and tried to follow the points of the discussion in drafting the policy. Bannock explained the issue arose from a discussion during a Planning & Zoning Commission meeting. At that meeting, he stated a meeting outside the normal meeting time would require council permission for posting and advertising, etc. He added, the desire to set a work session prior to a regularly scheduled 7:00 p.m. KENAI CITY COUNCIL MEETING MINUTES JANUARY 19, 2000 PAGE 23 meeting would require council permission as well as a meeting on a date outside the normal meeting schedule. The council had no obj ection to the policy. ITEM I: I-11 Mayor ADMINISTRATION REPORTS a. Challenger Project -- Williams reported he and Councilman Bannock traveled to Anchorage in regard to the Challenger project. While there, he spoke with Governor Hickel as well as others in regard to the trans -Alaska gas line. Also, during his visit to Anchorage, he spoke with some developers in regard to a hotel/ convention center (Dave Pruhs and Bill Gee, Hickel Investments) . b. Pipeline Committee -- Williams reported the committee had met and made tentative approval of the computer -generated program which would be used during presentations when the pipeline be built in Nikiski instead of Valdez. Williams added, the committee had been invited to make their presentation before the Oil & Gas Committee in Juneau, which he would be doing the week of January 24. C. Economic Development District -- Williams reported the EDD hired a new director. d. Alaska Fire Chiefs Association -- Williams reported he would meet with representatives of the Department of Transportation while in Juneau to discuss the continuation of development of the fire standards program, devising a method by a which a fiscal note could be developed. e. Kenai Coastal Trail/Bluff Erosion Project -- Williams stated he would also discuss the Kenai Coastal Trail/ Bluff Erosion Project with representatives of the Department of Transportation asking them to allow the city to assist them by designing the trail. He added, there was a tremendous amount of grant money available through the state. Because the state would not be able to develop the engineering for the trail in a timely manner to use the funding, he would suggest they grant $500,000 to the city for development of the design. The work would then be turned over to Petratrovich, Nottingham and Drage. f. Snowplowing at City -Owned Buildings -- Williams questioned why the city plowed the snow in front of the Visitors Center, Arts Center, wellhouses, city hall, etc., but not in front of the building leased to the Kenai Historical Society who in -turn leases the building to the oldest preschool non-profit in the city. Ross stated, to the best of knowledge, the only snow plowed by the city was in front of the buildings owned and directly related to the city. He noted, the Visitors Center was a city KENAI CITY COUNCIL MEETING MINUTES JANUARY 19, 2000 PAGE 24 building. Williams suggested the parking lot in front of the Kenai Historical Society building could be plowed easily at the same time the street is plowed. Ross noted, he was not aware there had been a request. Porter suggested a work session be held in regard to buildings and properties leased to non-profit groups and determine what the city wanted to do and did not want to do. She noted, the Historical Society paid for its water/ sewer. Williams suggested he would review the lease and noted it would take very little time to plow the parking area at the Historical Society building. Williams also stated his concern that the Historical Society leased the building from the city for $1.00 a year, and in turn leased the building to the Kenai Cooperative Preschool with the city maintaining the building, etc. I-2. City Manager a. Property Appraisal -- Ross referred to his memorandum included in the packet notifying council the appraisal on Lot 1, Spur Subdivision, Senior Citizen Addition, had been received and administration would be proceeding with the public sale process. He noted, FAA reviewed the appraisal and concurred with the value. Revenues from the sale would be deposited in the Airport Land Trust Fund. b. Congregate Housing Bond Question -- Ross referred to his memorandum and attachment included in the packet regarding the possibility of financing an addition to the congregate housing through AHFC financing. C. Multi -Purpose Facility -- Ross reported Mactel had entered into discussions with the LLC in regard to their sponsoring a $9,000 electronic scoreboard for the multi -purpose facility. He noted, the Mactel and LLC agreement was that Mactel's advertising logo would remain on the scoreboard for the next five years. The city's agreement with the LLC indicated the city could, at any time, abrogate their relationship with the LLC. The LLC requested that an agreement between the city and the LLC be formulated to state that if the relationship with the LLC was discontinued, Mactel's logo would be allowed to remain on the scoreboard for the five years. Ross continued, if the documents came to him as he represented, he intended to sign off on them on behalf of the city. d. Airport Bar Invitation to Bid -- Ross reported administration would be proceeding with an invitation to bid on the airport bar. He noted, he did not anticipate any changes from the present lease and the present lease rate would be indicated as the minimum acceptable bid. I-3, Attorney -- No report. I-4. City Clerk -- No report. KENAI CITY COUNCIL MEETING MINUTES JANUARY 19 2000 PAGE 25 I-5, Finance Director -- Finance Director Semmens stated he had planned to include a mid -year financial report at this meeting, but because of the issues on the agenda, the report was held and would be presented at the next council meeting. I-6. Public Works Managers -- Public Works Manager Kornelis reported he received the preliminary drawings from the Department of Transportation on the Kenai Spur Highway Milepost 10.6 to 22. He referred to his letter to the Department of Transportation which was included in the packet. Kornelis explained the letter noted items he wanted them to consider in the project. Since the date of his letter, additional items came up, i.e. slope cutback needed at the intersection of South Spruce and the Spur Highway and a reminder to replace informational signs in that area. Kornelis stated he would be attending their meeting on January 25 to emphasize those items. La Shot had no report. Bookey asked if there was an update of information on the Forest Drive project. Kornelis reported he understood the utility relocation agreements were being finalized. Also, he received information on a lift station that would be installed. No specific date had been set for the bid, however the state planned on bidding it and having it ready for construction in the spring. I-7. Airport Manager -- Williams referred to the enplanement report included in the packet. Airport Manager Cronkhite stated she had no report. Semmens thanked the council for their support of the Aurora Borealis Charter School which moved into the Kenai Elementary School. He noted an open house would be held in the next month and would be sure to have invitations sent to the council. ITEM J: DISCUSSION J-1. Citizens -- None. J-2, Council Bookey -- No comments. Swarner -- Stated she looked forward to working on the carpet problem at the airport terminal. Moore -- Stated that whatever mechanism was used for automatically turning lights off at the multi -purpose facility, it was important to have information posted for users to know how much time there would be before the lights turned off so they wouldn't turn off while there were skaters using the ice. Porter -- Reminded council of the employee appreciation dinner scheduled for Saturday, January 22. Porter also offered her assistance on the carpet committee as a KENAI CITY COUNCIL MEETING MINUTES } JANUARY 19, 2000 PAGE 26 member of council. She noted she would not be present at the next council meeting. Porter also reported she requested Clerk Freas to investigate whether teleconferencing council and/or commission/committee meetings is used in other municipalities. She noted, she planned to bring that information forward in February. Bookey stated, in reviewing the Charter, he understood it to say council members needed to be physically present at meetings and in order to change the Charter, a vote of the people was required. Williams stated he believed allowing teleconferencing meetings would need the input from the community as well as the council. Bannock -- No comments. Frazer -- He was looking forward to attending his first employee appreciation inner. EXECUTIVE SESSION - None Scheduled ITEM K: ADJOURNMENT The meeting adjourned at approximately 10:21 p.m. Minutes transcribed and prepared by: Carol L. Freas, City Clerk Arn.OVED BY COUNCIL Of ��W-CLERK