HomeMy WebLinkAboutCity Council Committees - Public Works/Planning - 11/05/1991 Y
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CITY CL3CRK
PUBLIC WORKS COMMITTIE'E'
NOVEMBER 5, 1991
PRESENT: JIM WHITE CAROL MORRIS,
LEONA ORR TONY MCCARTHY
STEVE DOWELL JOHN BOND
DON WICKSTROM TIM HEYDON
TOM BRUBAKER JACK SPEN40ER
GARY GILL
Bill Doolittle, Russ Stringham, Mr. and Mr. Jim � Rust, Don Rust,
Mike Spence, Brian Lawler, Mike Pintar, Jean Parietti
Street Lights at The Lakes
Jim White stated he had received a petition regarding; j3treet lights
at The Lakes. Apparently some are not working. :He indicated he
would be giving the petition to Don Wickstrom and i%ked that staff
look into the problem.
Fee Schedule - Street Occupy on Ordinance
Wickstrom explained that the schedule of fees incVUdes a "no fee"
recommendation for real estate signs in keeping With the Mayor's
request. Leona Orr said she doesn't have a concern about no fee
for them but was wondering about the ,legality of thope Signs on the
sidewalks. She said she had noticed in three different locations
within the city limits real estate signs that-w%*re completely
blocking the sidewalk access. She questioned it We would be
condoning such actions. Carol Morris responded th*t'tbay would not
be exempt from the requirements of the ordinance;,w4iph gives the
Director authority to tell them where they can plane the signs.
They shouldn't be blocking sidewalks. Orr Red if City
personnel would still have authority to pick up :tfi4,.'signs if they
were illegally placed. Morris confirmed it would not dive the real
estate industry carte blanche to put signs wherever they wanted.
Morris added that we can not regulate signs as to content in the
ordinance. Political signs would be allowed in the right of way if
they obtained the required permit and paid tfees. Bill
Doolittle questioned if real estate signs include4,Ithe signs used
by apartment complexes to advertise their unit av".4a,bilities. He
also questioned the fee for garage sale signs. Orr. goncurred and ,
added that the garage sale signs are usually up only, for a weekend
and it is unrealistic to expect them to pay $75-for; a ;permit. She
continued that many garage sales don't even Z4ke $75. She
recommended the fee for garage sale signs be eliminated. Morris
clarified that removing the reference of garage sale signs in the
resolution would prohibit them from being in- the right of way and
Public Works Committee
November 5, 1991
Page 2
that would give staff authority to remove them if they are
illegally placed. Simply removing the fee would mean that they are
allowed and would still need to apply for a permit. It was
determined that the garage sale signs would be removed from the
resolution.
Dowell referred again to the reasoning for exempting real estate
signs from a fee. He continued that he felt the ordinance creates
a situation impossible to police. He commented that he felt the
ordinance has a lot of holes in it. Now signs are allowed on
public property but they are not allowed on private- property. He
suggested that the ordinance and fees be eliminated entirely.
Morris commented that the ordinance covers a lot more than just
signs - house moving, etc. She added that if they wished to amend
the ordinance regarding signs that was possible. Don Rust stated
he was going to continue to work with the Planning Committee to
change the ordinance concerning signs on private property. Jim
White questioned whether we needed fees on any of permits. It was
determined that the permit fees were established `-,to' cover the
administrative costs of issuing the permit and enforcement of same.
Wickstrom suggested a $75 permit fee per each real estate office
which would provide them with "stickers" for up to a certain number
of signs. It was further suggested that if the read. --estate office
wished to permit more than the initial number of signs, they could
purchase stickers for the additional number of sighs 'at the City's
cost to produce the stickers. Mike Spence stated that the real
estate brokers did not have a problem with a yearly fde per office.
Their major concerns were the $5.00 per sign and the process for
getting a permit. Leona Orr Is motion was to eliminate yard, moving
and garage sale signs and to charge a $75 per office;hermit fee for
real estate signs which would entitle them up" to - 10 signs.
Stickers for additional real estate signs would be, a .ilable at the
City's cost to produce the stickers. After discus0icn, the motion
was further amended to allow up to two signs for� tbe, $75 fee for
portable signs. The Committee unanimously approve&Ithe motion.
MCI Franchise
Carol Morris explained the draft franchise ordliaZice has been
negotiated between MCI and the City to allow MCI!, ter place their
fiber optic cable in the city's right of way. Sho;.06htinued that
because MCI is a telephone company, they are exempt!"#= paying any
annual franchise fee. MCI had previously been constructing their
facilities under a right of way permit. The Committee, "unanimously
recommended approval.
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Public Works Committee
,- November 5, 1991
Page 3
Surplus Vehicles
Jim White expressed concerns about surplusing vehicles with only
85,000 miles. He asked if there were maintenance problems. Tim
Heydon explained that it is hard on vehicles to 4ave .a number of
drivers. Some of the vehicles have been used as construction
vehicles and have experienced a lot of hard wear.; Jack Spencer
explained• that the on-going maintenance of these vehicles is more
than they are worth. Tim Heydon explained that mileage is not the
only element to determine if a car should be surplused or not.
Many of these run 24 hours a day so have a lot of hours on the
engine and go through several drivers each day. Tt was explained
they would be sold at the State auction. occasionally, if we are
purchasing other vehicles, we have been able to use a surplus
vehicle as a trade-in. Bill Doolittle asked how much some of these
vehicles might be worth. Tim Heydon replied that we have
previously gotten good value for the vehicles at the auction. He
offered to review previous auction results with Mr.' Doolittle. Mr.
Doolittle suggesting rebuilding some of the old police cars and
putting them back into the fleet. Jack Spencer added that the cost
of a new transmission is about $7-800 and a new computer for the
pollution control would run about the same. Don W'ickstrom added
that we are short a mechanic now so the daily maintenance is hard
to keep up with and we certainly would not have suffi.c'ient manpower
to start rebuilding vehicles to keep them in the fleet. The
Committee unanimously recommended approval to surplus the vehicles.
Drainage Problem - Charles Tiffany
Leona Orr inquired about the drainage problem that the Tiffany's
have reported. She indicated that she had suggested to the
Tiffany's that she would bring it before the Committee. Gary Gill
explained that the City's survey crew is scheduled to do a
topographic survey along the road to determine if McCann's proposal
will solve the problem. McCann has worked with. the Planning
Department and since his business has been in operation since 1955
it has been grandfathered in. A fence has been ;installed which
defines the area that is allowed for the topya6il operation.
Anything outside that would require a separate , Vade and fill
permit. Jim White asked if Gary would be ablik to bring some .
proposed solutions to the Committee at their next`4ting.