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HomeMy WebLinkAbout1970-09-16 Council Minutese AGE?IDA — — — — — — REGULAR I'MTII7C, IMIIAI CITY CODUCIL SEM' Mr—M 16, 1970, 0 a 00 P. 11. s ROLL CALL E : PERS014C PR,EStE'UT TO BE HEARD `SCHEDULED C: f7INUTrS 001. P.egular fleeting of September 2, 1970 CORRESPONDENCE Es REPORTS j'l. City Manager ✓l. City Attorney .7. Mayor • . City Clerk rS. Vinanoe Director vfi. Advisory Planning 6 Zoning Commission ✓1. Borough Assemblymen Ps OLD DUSIiUrSS 1.. Wien Consolidated , Terminal Building Lease _ p/' 2. North Air, Terminal Building Lease Q. Budget Rer.,t A Car, Terminal Building Lease C: NLW WSIIIPSS C1. Assignment of Lease of Lot 1, Gusty Subdivision to LibeLM rty Leasing Company. 2. 3. a. HI PERSONS PRLSPIIT INOT SCHEDULED TO DE HEARD L/ 1.GYM k2'" 2. Y, % (� � MI14UTES OF KEWAI CITY COUWCIL MEETiNG 16 SEPTEMaER, 1970 A: Roll call: Members present - Charles A. Bailie, lames Hornaday, Mrs. Florine McCollum, Hugh Malone and Mayor Eugene 11. Morin. Members absent - Robert Bielefeld and James Doyle. 8-1: Jerry Willetis asked Council for assistance in charges brought against him for illegal parking and improper registration of a vehicle. tie had towed a car from Homer and left it on Birch Dr. on 29 August. The police claimed it had been there over six weeks. Council just adopted a new ordinance at its last meeting permitting impoundment of vehicles without warning. The old ordinance provided for five days notice before towing a car away. Willetts pointed out the Mayor had said the new ordinance should be given wide publicity and the public should be educated to the points in the new law, and he said this was not given any publicity except in the Council meeting. Council agreed the new laws should have been fully publicized and asked the City Manager to see that this was done. They felt the new ordinance should be enforced and the concept was good, but it was meant to protect the citizens - not harass them. however, they did not know how to grant relief from the charge. The Clerk read Sec. 9-4 of the City Charter setting forth the power of the Mayor to pardon any person ... and to commute sentences therefor. With consent of Council Morin ordered that Willetts be given back his vehicle and that Willetts pay part of the cost of towing in the amount of $11.25 and that Willetts refrain from parking the car on the road. Council also asked that proper measures be taken to remove the trailer that has been parked on Birch Drive for too long. City Treas., Ray Burt, said the police now have a warning citation to serve which will give a car owner 72 hours to remove a vehicle that is ob- structing traffic. C: The Clerk corrected item 6-1, 6th Para., next to last sentence by adding the words "for five years". D; Correspondence handled in rather items. E-1: City Manager Ormond 0. Robbins reported: 1. Three quotes had been received on the City's invitation for purchase of a transformer for KCL. Two.were received by phone and one in writing. Horn- aday questioned the terms - "Were they bids, or were they quotes?" Quotes could be changed any hour. Robbins said the quote recommended for acceptance was the one in writing. Quotes were: Northern Supply Westinghouse - $3,364.50; McGraw Edison - $3,495.00; G. E. Supply - $2,800.00. Hornaday pointed out the low quotation was considerably lower and questioned the possibility of a quote being changed by economic fluctuations. Percy Bergt, KCL Supt., and the City Manager recommended the low quote be approved. Malone moved, Bailie seconded, to accept the quotation of General Electric Supply in the amount of $2,800.00 for one 500 KVA 4160/2400 -4801/ 277 Volt Radial feed, pad mounted transformer. Motion carried unanimously by roll call vote. Robbins said there was money in the budget for this. 2. The fire rating inspector, Kenneth Long, has been here and made a thorough tour and examination of the City's latest improvements toward fire protection. It will be another three months before he submits his report, but Robbins is hopeful the fire rating can be substantially lowered with a resulting saving in fire insurance to our citizens. 3. The National Guard has assured the City the clans for the Armory have been approved and advertising for construction should proceed on schedule for the Nov. 1971 deadline. Kenai Council Minutes 9/16/70 Page two City Mgr.'s report, Cont'd. 4. Harold Strandberg and the Dept. of Rivers and Harbirs representative met with the City Administration and has assured the City there will be a small boat harbor for Kenai. Meanwhile., there will be an interim arrangment for facilities until a permanent installation is made. The City is going to have to provide land,and budget for operation and maintenance for such a facility. 5. In his bid for obtaining international carrier traffic for the Kenai Air- port, Robbins said there are no plans for a 3,000 ft. extension of the run -way. He does not anticipate wooing the jumbo jets to Kenai - but he hopes the smaller carriers can be brought in. Many people are working to get a customs agent for Kenai to handle aircraft and ships. The City of Anchorage is resisting this bid for Kenai as an alternate airport, pointing out that a Customs agent is sent to the Peninsula whenever the need arises - which was 34 times the last fiscal year. Robbins said there were 19075,000 short tons of shipping in the Kenai area last year, but did not breakdown foreign or domestic registration. 6. Robbins read the City's letters of application to the Dept. of Housing and Urban Renewal and to the Dept. of Health & Welfare for grants-in-aid for the City's planned improvements to its water and sewer systems. Total construc- tions costs are $3,500,000 to be paid for by assessments, bonds and, hopefully, grants from the State and Federal Governments. (truce Massey, Water A Sewer Supt., briefly outlined the City's proposed improvement plans, and said he would go to Planning Commission to get their ideas. The application will be flexible and will be reviewed by Council for final decisions. Plans can be seen at City Hall. The present construction of the water trunk line is proceeding better than expected and might be completed by 5 October. Mayor Morin commentedt 1. He had talked with several citizens concerned over the City's bid to funnel aircraft traffic through Kenai to the North Slope. He said there were 10 such landings in Fairbanks last winter, and questioned the feasibility of the City's spending money for a set up to handle such a small amount of traffic. He asked if Council initiated this policy. Robbins said he had done it as an adminis- trative function; that the revenues would be nominal, and the City would do better on long range freight hauls. 2. The City will have to provide ingress and egress for the people to use a small boat harbor. Land and money will have to be provided and budgeted. He asked the City Treasurer to come up with money now, if at all possible, so the harbor can be constructed before next June - we shouldn't wait until next Spring to get started. Hornaday said Council, the Chamber, and everyone wants to expand the airport, but hoped the noise factor would be kept in mind - he finds the scream- ing jets, etc., very distrubing. Malone said he didn't think there was a chance in the world of Kenai's being a major airport, but we might attract the smaller carriers. E-2: City Atty. James E. Fisher reported: 1. He has been heavily involved with efforts to pin down the status of CUL - to assure that they would operate and could provide emergency power for 1970-71. The Court ordered the Public Service Commission's hearing stopped and ordered the City to come up with names of people to act as hearing officers within 3 days. Fisher immediate suggested the PSC as hearing officers, but Judge Plummer said no deal. The City is now furnishing names of experts - mostly HEA men. Kenai Council Minutes 9/16/70 Page three City Atty.'s report, Cont'd. There was considerable discussion on the City vs. CUL court case, etc. Morin said he has had some, incompleted calls from Von Radics and what should he do? Fisher said there could be considerable harm to the City thru unilateral discussions. Chicago Pneumatic has asked for a negotiating session with Council. There was no decision on this request. Fisher is hoping to get the P5C to order an inner tie with HEA or CEA. 2. Responding to a request from the City Mgr., Fisher said it is his opinion the Kenai Shopping Center has the authority to designate the manner in which their lease money may be spent, either on E tolin S/D or that portion on which they terminated their lease. . There was considerable discussion as to the Shopping Centert requests for improvements. In the opinion of George L. Jaynes, Asst. Dir. of Public Works, most of their requests were more in the nature of maintenance work than public improvements. Morin suggested no money be spent until the Urban Ilwy. section is completed. lie and Malone were especially concerned over the; request to extend First Ave: -from- Willow Street. toward the.West+ thus creating double frontage lots by NBA, etc. 3. Fisher presented a draft of an ordinance requested by Councilman Malone as the result of the Borough's plan to provide tax relief for aged or disabled citizens. City Treas. Burt was asked to determine how much such relief would cost the City. This applies to City taxes only, and action must be initiated by a City within the Boro before the Boro can act. Fisher said we would know whether or not Kenai was going to get a ` Judge here when, and if, he moves in. Hornaday will write a letter of thanks to the Chief Justice for the Judicial Council's favorable vote; Mayor Morin will sign the letter. Morin also suggested the City should have its annual election the same time as other Cities on the Peninsula, i.e. the first Tuesday in October. Kenai tried this years ago, but by that time most of the people were gone Outside for the winter, and flay was thought better as it just proceeded the fishing season. Kenal's economy and population is not fish -oriented now, so this reasoning no longer holds. Morin says new Councilmen come in during budget hearings and presentations and a new man can be completely bewildered without a working knowledge of municipal government. If he were elected in October, he would have some months to become +Indoctrinated. He asked the Clerk it there was time to get this on the ballot for the November election. The Clerk read from the Charter, Sec. 10-1, wherein annual election dates must be approved by a vote of the people, and a Charter Change must be initiated at least two months prior to an election. (Sec. 12-1 of the Charter.) Thus, it is too late to get a proposition before the people by Nov. 3rd. Special elections can cost as much as 4 or $500, depending on how much advertising the City does. Fisher said the City should also coordinate its voter registration requirements with that of the State's. The Municipal Clerks of Alaska have been working for a uniform election law for several years. E-3: Mayor Morin reported: 1. J.W. Thompson cannot serve on the Governor's committee re AARP programs as he is going Outside for some months. 2. A communique from the Alaska Conference of Mayors has reminded him of the coming Alaska Municipal League Convention in Fairbanks Oct. 21 to 24. He can- not attend himself, but urges that the City have a representative there. 3. He reiterated his idea that policy concerning development of the airport should come from the Council. Malone said there should be a resolution for the Council so all Civic groups would be on the same footing and have the same aim. P-. Kenai Council Minutes 9/16/70 Page four E-4: The City Clerk had no report. E-5: City Treas., Ray Burt, reported: 1. The auditors were supposed to be here tonight to make a report, but they are still digging into things. Auditors were also supposed to be here to make their proposals for next year's audit, but most of them are very busy at this time of year, and will have to come at a later date. ending 9/30/70 2. He presented Council with some figure:, for period,/ . and invited questions. Malone asked how come so much overage on the Administrative budget? Burt attributed this to the increased cost of the audit, and to rent for office space for the Terminal Building. The Street Dept. was 50% over its budget be- cause of salaries (overtime) not budgeted and capital equipment not budgeted. Morin asked if storage for the crash truck had been provided. hurt is working to use the Chris -Berg building, but they want $900 a month and we pay the heat. The Library was over its budget because the City picked up the tab for the telephone. The City has received $165,000 of its tax revenue money and 1/2 of the State's revenue sharing funds. We have paid off some loans and current bills and have $116,000 for payroll and bills. He hopes to convert the many accounts of the City into 4 major accounts, and has asked Bond Counsel Thorgrimson for an opinion concerning the accounts set up by bond ordinances. He says we are close to coming even with our deficit. A group of 11 bank presidents were here last week and expressed a keen interest in Kenai. They will be back to discuss long range financing for the City's five year capital improvements programs. There was some discussion as to the proposed change in accounting pro- cedures. Morin repeated his idea that the City should subdivide and sell City owned land to get more revenue for the City - especially those lands adjacent to water and sewer. He asked the City Mgr. and Treas. to report on this pos- sibility. E-6: Fisher reported for Planning and Zoning: 1. He submitted a list of bird names for possible street names as requested by the Planning Commission. Malone said street names should be names easy to re- member. Morin asked about a site for the cemetery. Fisher will bring this up at the next Planning Commission meeting. E-7: Malone reported on the Borough Assembly meeting: 1. Meeting at 9 a.m. yesterday. the Assembly discussed sale of the Boro school construction bonds at 7.126 % to the Bank of America. 2. An Ordinance was passed -appropriating money to the school construction fund, and $336.000 was appropriated to school operations. 4. The Boro still hopes to get an appropriation from the State for school con- struction by a supplemental bill to the Legislature. The Boro should not be penalized for spending its own funds for school construction rather than bond- ing for it. 5. Ways and means of presenting the coming bond program for $3.500.000 was discussed. If this bond proposition doesn t pass, there's a strong possibility taxes will have to be raised nest year. This is not a threat - just a fact. 6. KSPJ1 can broadcast Assembly meetings at $10 an hour. The other news media is protesting a public entity subsidizing one media over another. The Boro Kenai Council Minutes 9/16/70 Page five Boro Assembly Y.-port, Cont'd. Assembly agm ed this should be sponsored by private parties. 7. There wi16' be a special meeting 9/21/70 to work on the bond presentation. Hornaday said: 1. lie thinks the W 26'A interest on bonds was outrageous. 2. The Boro is requesting the Atty. General to reconsider his opinion con- cerning the Boro's application for State funds for school construction. 3. A report was discussed concerning the protests on taxes on the pipe line. About $200,000 is involved. 4. It's almost impossible for the Boro to project costs for schools. It may be necessary for the Boro to hire its own architect. 5. Concerning the steel and footings of the Jr. Hi - some parts of the bldg. were designed to "give" during an earthquake. Bailie asked why uniform plans and design can't be used for schools? Hornaday said the problem was with the contractors. Morin agreed on the idea of standard design and asked for an executive session after this meeting. He said Assemblymen should represent the people. He also asked if our representatives would suggest to the Boro that we divide into three school districts, to be administered on the lines of service areas. This way there would be no travel costs and local people would decide on local problems. Malone and Hornaday will bring this up, but haven't much hope it will be accepted. F - 1 -2 and 3: The City Mgr. said these leases had been discussed in Council meetings and had been the subject of study sessions and recommended their ap- proval. Malone moved, Bailie seconded, to approve the leases in the T.c."minal Building to Wien Consolidated Airlines, Borth Air, Inc. and Budget Rent -a -Car. Motion carried unanimously. H-1: James England, replying to the Mayor's admonition to confine himself to parliamentary procedures, said his intent was to be constructive, not derogative. He said he lives here and doesn't like to see KCL involving itself in extremely costly installations when cheaper and better methods can be used. He has been an electrical engr.for;37years. He asked technical questions and suggested changes that could not be answered by Council. Hornaday said the man should have some answers and suggested he put his points in writing so they may be answered by the City's electrical engineer, Walt Steige. This way, the Council can also be better informed. Answering a question from Malone, England said he was not in the employ of CUL. Council agreed this was the best way to get his questions answered. H-2: Gene Merton asked if there was a working foreman with KCL and if so, how many man were under him. There is a working foreman with five men under him. Yer- ton read from the State Dept. of Labor Safety Code that no more than two line men shall be under a working foreman. lie said if anything happened to one of these 5 men, the widow could sue the City into bankruptcy. Yerton also asked why the State safety inspector was not asked to inter- view the"KCL Five"? Their main complaint was violations of the safety code, yet they were not invited to talk with Don Smith. It was the City Manager's Job to see to it that Smith talk with the five men. Robbins said Smith would be here again next week and will look into all phases of safety for the City. Kenai Council Minutes 9/16/70 Page six 11-2, Cont'd. Hornaday said Yerton should ask his questions in writing of fir. Smith, and that fir. Smith be encouraged by the City Manager to talk with the five men. Council agreed this should be done. Yerton suggested the City should set up a different policy than the three-man personnel board. These men are good and sincere men, but laymen cannot always understand technical problems, and this puts them in a poor pos- ition. Yerton suggests City employs should be able to choose their arbitra- tion board. Malone said this was collective bargaining and something should be worked out along these lines, but not if people walk off the job. Yerton said no employee should be required to undertake employment under unsafe conditions. The State Safety Code requires the foremen and the men to thoroughly observe the safety requirements. The IBEW sees to it that these policies are followed. The City Manager said recognizing the Union would not have benefitted the City in any way and cited the case of Anchorage with electric employees out on strike. Yerton produced a newspaper announcing the proclamation of Anchorage Mayor Sullivan concerning Union Labor Week, and praising American Labor for trying to improve conditions. The Mayor said he wants to see things improved on and was not aware unsafe conditions were in effect. If he becomes aware of neglect, etc., he says the person responsible should be terminated, and unsafe conditions should immediately be stopped. The Mayor said Unions are not needed for job securi!Y1. All an employee needs to do is "do his job and communicate with his superiors'. Unions are a device designed against unscrupulous managers, but this does not apply to municipalities. H-3: Lurtis Barber of GHO asked if Council had done anything about the peti- tion presented at the last meeting. Robbins read the Clerk's report: "of the 170 signature on the petition 127 use Kenai City Light and 71 are property owners. Those using Kenai Power and also owning property number 64". Barber �- said these people deserved an answer to their petition. Barber said there had been three outages since the last Council meeting. Also that the power factor, which read 83% two weeks ago, is now down to 81%. He cannot complain to the PSC as they have no jurisdiction over municipally owned facilities. Who can he go to, if not to Council? The KCL Supt. said the problem causing the outages had been solved. Malone asked the Mgr. to have the Police Dept. to watch traffic on Forest Dr. in the mornings. Cars are not observing the speed signs and kids can get hit by flying gravel. Yerton also asked about the sign at the "Y" in front of the airport. It has been ordered. Morin suggested painting a temporary one until the order comes. Meeting adjourned, 11:20 p.m. Respectfully submitted, , % % , .J 4: rMA 44- - J Frances Torkilsen City Clerk RESOLUTION NO. 70-26 RESLUTION AU'TUORTZING 'Pill.; CTTV MATIArol.R, ORMOND ROBBINS TO SIGIJ UTILITY HL:LO('A'11013 Aril?I 1,MtJ,T i:a I'll THE ALASKA STATE DEPARTMI;WT OF HIGHWAY!, FOR UTILITIES IN, TllF: URBAN rXC TON. WIlLW AS, the City of Kenai is desirous to cooperate with the Alaska State Department of !Highways in the Kenai spur Highway realignments and WkILHLAS, the City has utilities in tlio rights -of way which should be relocated;, NOW THEREFORE 13I: IT RLSOLVE); ISY Till: CITY COUNCIL OF CITY OF KLNAI, ALASKA, that; 1. The (.it.y -Manager of the City of Kenai, Alaska, Mr. Ormond Robbins, is herOby authorized to sign the Utility Relocation Agreement with the Alaska State Department of Highways. Pacised thisday 'of , 1970. CITY OF KENAI ATTEST s IJ- -- SSharon Sterling Acting City Clerk I ;aht NA147al-p .................... . . . . . . . . . . . . . . � � s ..... ,.� ................................................................... Ib . PJ 74 V-itc ............ ................................. lit L/n