DRAFT – These minutes are not official until approved at the next regular City Council meeting.

City of Bigfork

Special Meeting June 3rd, 2004

Except for Motions made by the Council this is not a verbatim record of every statement made during the Council meeting. Discussions have been paraphrased to give general direction and understanding.

Members Present: Mayor Lonnie Kacon, Bob Zimmer, Jean Lexvold, and Amy Tendrup Absent: Steve Grover Also Present: Curt Casper – Casper Construction, PW Super. Mark Maki, City Engineer Julie Kennedy, City Attorney Andy Shaw, Gus David, Bonnie Lovdahl, Gale Prato, and Connie Maki

Mayor Kacon called the meeting to order at 6:00 p.m.

Mayor Kacon explained that this meeting was called to discuss the Cedar Street sewer project. After the discussion with Orbin Holt at the last regular City Council meeting, the Council was under the impression that Holt would hold off on his part of the project until the City could further study the best way to go about the project as a whole. Kacon was surprised to find out the next morning that Casper Construction had instructions from Mr. Holt to proceed with the project as originally planned, running his line all the way to the manhole on Division Ave. If Holt did this, the City would be greatly restricted in their options for providing sewer service to the other lots on the street. Kacon called the special meeting to ensure that the project is done the way the City would like it to be done. Curt Casper was present with Orbin Holt’s application for wastewater connection.

Mark Maki had done some further research on the situation and found that in 1974, a sewer line was run to the LaTrace property from Division Avenue. In addition, service was brought to the next lot to the west. It is unknown what size this line is or the exact ending point of it.

Casper felt that the first step should be to get the line televised and find out what size it is and where it ends. Maki has had the line televised once, however it was with a push camera and they were unable to determine the size and could only get about 67’ out. He suggested hiring someone to come in with a roller camera and televise the line. Kennedy explained that if we find it is an 8” line and that it goes far enough to serve the two city-owned lots, there would be no need for the City’s portion of the project. The City could allow Holt to run his line from his lift station and install a manhole at the ending point of the existing line and tie in there. If the existing line is 6” or less, the City would have the option of proceeding with their original plans of replacing that with an 8” and adding services for the two new lots and the LaTrace and Gustafson properties.

There was some discussion about future development plans of the Lovdahl property and if there was a need for service there. Bonnie Lovdahl stated that they do not have any immediate plans for development on that property. Maki reviewed the as-builts of the utilities in that area and it was found that there are two existing services to the property that could be utilized in any future development.

Kennedy suggested that the Council approve the televising of the line to be done as soon as possible. In addition, she suggested approval of the plans and specs for the City portion of the project. That way, she can go out for bids and if we find that the line is not an 8”, we will have the bids ready to act on at the next meeting. The Council felt that it was extremely important to get sewer and water service to the two lots before trying to sell them. It was also felt that the monies gained from the sale of the lots could help cover the cost of the City’s share of the project expenses.

A motion was made by Zimmer and seconded by Tendrup to allow Maki to have the line televised as soon as possible, motion carried unanimously (MCU).

A motion was made by Tendrup and seconded by Lexvold to approve the plans for the project and to instruct Kennedy to solicit bids, MCU.

A discussion of providing water service to the city-owned lots took place. Kennedy explained that since the waterline servicing LaTrace, Holts, and Gunelius is only a 2” line, we would not be using it to provide service to any more lots. Zimmer asked if a watermain could be run on the north side of Cedar Street and service lines could be bored under the road to the lots. Kennedy felt that was a viable option. She also felt that the LaTrace property should be connected to any new main that goes in and taken off of the current 2” line. She stated that if the Council wishes, she could do a feasibility study on this project. This feasibility study would be a much less costly one than the one for the sewer project since much of the background work has already been done. Motion by Zimmer seconded by Tendrup to order a feasibility study for providing water service on Cedar Street, MCU.

Zimmer felt that the Council should not act on Holt’s wastewater connection application until such time as we know the full details of the project. Once the specifics are known, the application can be approved with the stipulations the Council chooses. Motion by Zimmer to table Holt’s wastewater connection application until the June 8th meeting, MCU. Kacon also brought up the issue of the application fee. At the time that Holt started this project, the fee was $100. At the time of his actual application, the fee is $500. Kacon questioned whether he should be charged $100, $500, or if the fee should be waived. City Attorney Andy Shaw stated that the fee should be waived if the Council felt that Holt was contributing to the City portion in an amount greater than the $500. This item was also tabled until the full details of the project are known.

Mayor Kacon adjourned the special meeting at 7:01 p.m.

Angie Storlie City Clerk

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