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Home My WebLink About1964-06-24 Council MinutesIn :_ _. L. _ •a�•� _•.o.e.�c� --:•-.-��ii PiC�G�.+avC ate, _ _aria-�� .� � _ �. • ice► KENAI CITY COUNCIL AGENDA 24 JUNi 1964 ROLL CALL j PERSONS SC, DULED TO HP HEARD: ��a MINUTES CORRESPONDENCE: Letter of thanks from Wildwood re Courtesy Station; Memos from Kuchta- one re Garbage Dump -the of,�eX pointing out the need for a Health Officer here; Lette{ from Div. of Lands re the gravel permit requested by the Dept. of iiwys.-- the City had requested it be put adjacent to the present San- itary Fill --Keenan says this would mean added expense to High- ways so they have issued the permit where originally requested - (Sec. 36, T6N, RIM) Letter of resignation from KCL Mgr. All letters will be circulated at the Council table. REPORTS: 'I ayor / Attorney ✓ Clerk; Memo from Office of Emergency Planning --they will allow the bills for shoring the School chimney, and for work on the D-7; but cannot allow money for additional cost of repairs to the Cat. Pitney Bowes, (Postage Neter people) have issued a courtesy dis- play plate for all Postage meters in Alaska as their contribution to help- ing the eco�nnomy after the Earthquake --Plate says 'Tour Alaska in 1964". ✓The quarterly inspection for buildings for Fire Insurance shows no legal fire extinguishes in the Civic Center, and the one in the Jail was taken from the Police Car --Clerk can order extinguishes --how many should we have for the two buildings??? ✓Ue have exactly eight days to get the tax bills typed and mailed if the people are to have 30 days notice of property taxes due; the tax levy cannot be eet until the budget is finalized. UNFINISHED BUSINESS: 11P4ointment of Airport Commission member ✓ Bid forms - Gas & Oil ???? Application forms - Water & Sewer??? NEW BUSINESS: PERSONS NOT SCHEDULED TO BE HEARD: 4.t:.v,1I (ll Y [L .tI.+JITS 24 'UNE 1964 Formal opening of the meeting was delayed until 3:4S p.m. when laud Lofstedt came in completing; a quorum. •temuers absent were: gene 'florin, Billy •icCann and Ernie Knackstedt. John Warren presented a Final Plat for Youngblood -Warren Subdivision, Sec. 31 Lct 30, T6N, RIM, S.M. Homer Swires moved, Lofstedt seconded, to adopt Res. #64-13 re Youngblood -Warren Sub. Passed unanimously. I Ron Thiel renorted on progress of Water £, Sewer Systems: No.l well is being surged for 48 hours --it is pumping 125 Gal. ner minute --hasn't been tested for hardness yet --the pump is designed for 120 gal. per minute. 1400' of line has i been tested --they are testing Kenai Spur and Main St. lines now. All other Cu work will be stopped to concent rate on this testing so as to allow access to i a Archer's Grocery store as soon as possible. 4r. Archer said his business had j fallen to a minimum since the first of the month when east access had been cur- tailed. Thiel said it was time to get application forms to the people --that .o+ permanent connections for Sewer should be made very soon --that costs for hook- ups should be determined --Council will take this up at the Budget meeting on v Friday, 26 June at 7:00 p.m. Theil said when all the line is in, only 21% of it will be USPHS. ;ir. Nissen inquired if Navarre can hook into his line-- .., multii le use of lines will also be decided by Council at the later meeting. 14 Chatles Archer also reported a house belonging to R.C. Duncan of Spenard had .+ burned [owner later proved to be Harold Gilbert.] due to fireworks being set c off inside the house. tie presented an ordinance taken from the National Fire %,. Code which would prohibit fireworks being burned in the City other than on the Fourth of July --or by special permit from the Fire Chief. This restriction y does not apply to Blocks 11, 12, and 13, which is the property below the Bluff and on the Inlet side of the Creek, otherwise known as "The Spit". Trooper; oa Eckhoff, John Coveyou and John Neilson also spmke in favor of adopting the Ord- inance siting the danger of fire and the scarcity of volunteer firemen now mthat the Fishing Season has started; also the danger to the child when shoot- ing fireworks is unsupervised. Swires moved, Roger Meeks seconded. to accept Ordinance 067. Passed unanimously. Swires suggested the Atty. should draft an Ord. prohibiting the sale of Fireworks except on the Fourth --this would 44 c be effective next year. 0 U Allan Corthell reported work on the Airport project is proceeding nicely and a picking up speed daily. Of the 5000' to be cleared, 3600' has been done. The y paved run -way should be open to traffic this year. The new lighting should be in by the end of September. 64 Minutes of the last meeting (10 .June) were approved. a Correspondence on the Agenda was read and discussed. The R.E.A. loan -request is dependent on the decision of the director in V shington, D.C. whether or not the City pursues this approach. Some discussion was held on a replacement for u d Howard Crinklaw, who has resigned as P•10. for Kenai City Light. In considering a mtce. and operation agreement with Ii.E.A. Crinklaw suggests asking them for ,. a pay -scale and equipment rental listing. He also warned against spending money that doesn't exist --that it doesn't pay to put in a $50,000 line for ten cus- tomers. Bonding, etc. was also touched on. Crinklaw will stay on until the City can arrange for a new Ntgr. •*' The Attorney submitted a report on the Court Case with Kenai Packers; this is included with the minutes; also submitted gas and oil contract bid -forms. - ; These will be mailed to Standard, Union, Texaco and Northern Gas Co., Inc. He • had sent another legal opinion of Hater and Sewer Sites to HHFA. Vie will send a night letter re man hours worked to HIJFA. The Chamber of Commerce has de- } Council Minot 21 June 64, Page two R clared Wednesday 1 July, 1964 to be Richard I. Morgan Day in appreciation of the sincere and valuable aid he has rendered the City of Kenai before and after incorporation. The Atty. inquired if the requested letter had been received from Odin Strandberg --Fisher will request such letter from W.C.Arnold, CUL's Atty.; The Committe headed by Dwight Int,is due here Sat. [Actually showed up Thursday at 3 p.m.] Recommended the Lease agreement between the City and National Guard be executed; Clerk will check with Leo on insurance for the Armory [Leo says it has been included with insurance on City buildings.] Asked if the City had received formal notice of the court action from Lease Co --no notice has been served. Fie is drafting the application forms for Water and Sewer. Swires moved, Meeks seconded, the Mayor be authorized to sign the lease agree- ment between the City and the :National Guard to use the Old Drug Store Bldg. as an Armory. Passed unanimously. Clerk will contact the Auxiliary and the :"oung Democrats regarding getting the Armory cleaned up. In addition to the Clerk's report appearing on the Agenda :sir. Smythe of ASHA had called --he will submit a resolution for Council next week which would give the City an updating of the Gen. Plan with emphasis on the Oil Industry, Tourism, Deep Draft Harbor, as well as disposition of the Airport Lands. The City's share will be $3833.00. If Council approves this contract they can have a man in the field in two weeks. The cost of installing the culvert for Boyer at the Hotel was $140.00. Clerk urged constructive thought be given to a possible plan for taking ad- vantage of Federal Aid to Libraries as a possible means of solving the acute shortage of City office space. When KCL undertakes administration of Water and Sewer, they will be working against themselves in the present office -- this same condition holds true for Clerk's office. The Lib. Board has about $2500 -- if labor and equipment and cash could be contributed to equal about $13,000; the City would be able to double the size of the present Civic Center as the Federal Govn't. would furnish one third of the cost. Meeting adjourned at 12 mid -night. Respectfully submitted, AM71orkilsen City Clerk i R _ __ r W 1! . OW% JAMES E. FiSHER ATTORNEY TRADE SU'"O - P O BOx 307 KtNA! ALAsMA 1ELEo 0N9 281- 7555 24 June 1.964 Mayor & City Council Box 580 Kenai, Alaska Re: Report on City of Kenai vs. Gentlemen: Kenai Salmon Packing Co. On 10 June 1964, I traveled to Anchorage for the trial of the case of City of Kenai vs. Kenai Salmon Packing Co. (Kenai Packers). The case had required appearance at four previous preliminary hearings whic:i resulted in various Court orders requiring Kenai Packers to furnish their records so an appraisal of their opera- tion could be made for sales tax purposes. When preliminary motions and arguments were considered it became apparent that the possibility of an unqualified judgment was remote. This was true because the basic foundation for the action, the sales tax ordinance itself was passed when express statutory authority was required (Kenai is now a home rule city). The ordinance, as became apparent in the lawsuit, did not conform in all aspects. Penalties should be permitted at the present time because the city is now a home rule city and should have the powers which are presently in force and would be exercisable by a home rule city. specific tax powers in this area have not been tested in Court, however, there have been other declarations cf the Alaska Supreme Court which have strongly supported the home rule city concept under the Alaska Constitution. At a conference in the Judge's chambers it was determined to be possible to settle the lawsuit with each party bearing its own costs. A settlement was agreed to for the following reasons: (1) The purpose of the action was to demonstrate that the City of Kenai could exercise control and investigate workings a` one of the sallers of the City who was not cooperating. The Defend- ants admitted the first year they did not cooperate, however, they have cooperated since that time. (2) The sales tax is presently being collected and was Ofb in cy'llefed in 1962 and 1963. This means that the objective t e aws t, i.e., to require compliance with the sales tax I ON, k A4" Mayor & City Council -2- 24 June 1964 ordinance has been substantially accomplished. (3) Insistance on trial of the action would have exposed the City to costs and attorney's fees for the defendant which were rather substantial (an estimated $800.00). If the lawsuit could have been settled prior to trial there would have been consultation with the Council before settling, however, such was not possible in the situation of the t0al so the settle- ment was accepted. The City is in a better position now as a home rule City, having reenacted the sales tax ordinance as a home rule city. This is true because it has greater powers than it did when the sales tax ordinance was first enacted. The precedent of suing Kenai Packers serves as an example to anybody else who might refuse to cooperate. After the trial the City Clerk and I conferred with Kenai Packers in order to attempt to clarify certain collection procedures. At the conference it seemed that Kenai Packers as an organization was complying more than its own President was aware it was complying! It also appears the company will comply in the future. Under the sales tax ordinance Kenai can't tax for things which are 1, sold outside the City of Kenai and transported on a common carrier. Such is the case with Kenai Packers because it has a public Service Permit and has had one since the 1962 fishing season. The lawsuit itself has demonstrated the fact that the City of Kenai can and will enforce its tax ordinances, It has also demonstrated :+ that certain procedures might be undertaken in order to strengthen our presort sales tax ordinance. I would not advise -it be done i' immediately, however, it should probably be done at some reasonable time in the future. I have charged for my attorney's fees the sum of $125.00, in accord- ance with a commitment made to the City back in 1962. There are other costs which have been required by this action and they are itemised on a statement which I have attached to this reawt. truly, Attorney l fTr JAMEs E. FISHER ATTO R W tY TRAOL OUILDINO - P.O. SOX 207 KCNAV ALA6KA T9L9PMON9 263- 7b68 24 June 1964 City of Kenai Box 580 Kenai, Alaska STATEMENT For representation in the matter of City of Rani vs. Kenai Salmon Packing Co., (Kenai Packers), including trial, appearance at four hearings prior to trial date, preparation of interrogatories and requests for admis- sions, attorney's fee per commitment to the City. $125.00 COSTS OF ACTION Court filing fee $25.00 Service fee 6.40 Long Distance Telephone calls (since last paid on 1/9/64) L/D - Calendar Clerk 3/26/64 .83 L/D - is " 6/9/64 .83 L/D - Gaines (at Anchorage) 6/9/64 2.75 L/D - Process server 6/10/64 (est.) 1.65 Copies 5/16/64 1.00 Witness fees - Gordon Baktuit (transportation, witness fee Kenai- Anchorage) 21.70 Service fee - Mike Burton 15.00 Service fee - Director Div. Motor Trans. 6.20 Misc. Expense in Anchorage for trial 9.25 TOTAL COSTS OF ACTION 90.61 TOTAL $215.61 Less Cost Deposit received 50.00 BALANCE DUS $165.61