[MissoulaGov] committee update 12-10-08

[Patrick Klemz]

I'm hearing everything but justification for why the city needs to  
know what's in my garage. The fact that it's a law doesn't cut it-- 
Missoula has a wealth of laws it (thankfully) can't enforce.

Incidentally, I speak only for myself.

On Dec 11, 2008, at 2:45 PM, Phil Smith wrote:


> Just for information:  all bike licenses sold get entered into the  

> computer; the records are kept indefinitely.  When the police  

> recover a licensed bike, we make every effort to find the owner  

> (although many owners have sold their bike to someone else and  

> moved away).  The bike shops (like Open Road) have a card they have  

> agreed to give to every bike purchaser.  The card says that

> “…City Ordinance requires that all bikes ridden in the city be  

> licensed.  If your bike is stolen and the police recover it, the  

> license number enables City staff to return your bike.”  It then  

> directs the purchaser  to go to City Hall to get a license.   When  

> we set this up in the past year, shop owners told us it would be  

> much easier to handle than a license form and a cash transaction.   

> Frankly, we were getting VERY low compliance with the old system of  

> shops selling licenses.  I don’t know how good a job shops are  

> doing with this newer card system.

>

>

>

> However, it does allow shops to provide information about bike  

> licenses easily and in a non-pushy way to their customers, and puts  

> the burden on the bike owner to actually get a license.

>

>

>

> Phil Smith

>

> Missoula Bike Ped Program Manager

>

>

>

> From: missoulagov-bounces at cmslists.com [mailto:missoulagov- 

> bounces at cmslists.com] On Behalf Of Ethel MacDonald

> Sent: Thursday, December 11, 2008 2:27 PM

> To: Marilyn Marler

> Cc: missoulagov at cmslists.com

> Subject: Re: [MissoulaGov] committee update 12-10-08

>

>

>

> Re bike licensing -- I'll respond to this list to encourage broader  

> discussion.  I just left my licensed bike in France with friends to  

> avoid the hassle and expense of shipping it next time I go, and  

> bought a nice new one at Open Road.  I didn't even think to license  

> it!  Why not?  Because in the past, bike shops sold licenses with  

> the bike.  That is absolutely the best way to get people to license  

> bikes as a matter of course.  And the reason for licensing?  So if  

> the bike is "borrowed" and abandoned, the City Bike-Ped office can  

> easily find the owner.  If that hasn't been happening -- i.e. if  

> "found" bikes are not examined for a license, and the owners  

> contacted, that would be an oversight in the Bike-Ped office.

>

>    The longevity of bike licenses has never been clear -- I've  

> always assumed the bike license is "forever."  And the record of  

> license numbers should be retained forever.

>

>      Because $20 seems a little steep -- i.e. unless there's  

> enforcement, people would not pay it -- I would recommend $10 for 5  

> years and hope that people would renew,  but also hope that the  

> Bike-Ped office would keep the old records anyway.  A simple  

> postcard reminder like the dog license ones should work -- after  

> all, we at least don't have to go through the hassle of getting a  

> rabies shot for our bikes before licensing them.

>

>      I think licensing bikes is a good idea.  Ethel MacDonald

>

> On Thu, Dec 11, 2008 at 7:48 AM, Marilyn Marler <marler at bigsky.net>  

> wrote:

>

> Thanks Bob for the weekly updates.

>

>

>

> A clarification on the Conservation Committee- we did not approve  

> the new Parks fee schedule.  We just set a public hearing for  

> January 12th.  So people can comment on it before we approve it.  

> Also, I think it's worth mentioning that some folks from the swim  

> team community were there and they spoke in favor of the new 50 m  

> pool rental fees. It's nice that there has been some improvement in  

> communication between Parks and the swimmers, and everyone seems  

> happy.

>

>

>

> Also, I'd like to hear from cyclists about their positions on the  

> $10 for 4 years ($15/family) bike license. How do you think we (as  

> the city) could encourage more cyclists to purchase bike licenses?  

> What we came up with in committee as suggestions were:

>

> -Make available on the new city website

>

> -Give out freebies or Bike Benefits stickers with the license

>

> -Have the summer Bike Ambasssadors sell them occasionally

>

> -Better marketing of how the proceeds are spent (on programs that  

> benefit cyclists)

>

> -Make the license more expensive (like $20) but have it be permanent

>

> -Work with local non-profits to spread the word to their  

> memberships and audiences

>

>

>

> Email me off list if you like, marler at bigsky.net, or send ideas to  

> all of council at council at ci.missoula.mt.us  And if you don't  

> already have a bike license, maybe you should go get one! Although  

> it's a little inconvenient- you have to physically go to the  

> Treasurer's Office on the 2nd floor of city hall.

>

>

>

> Thanks again, Marilyn Marler

>

>

>

>

>

>

>

>

>

> ----- Original Message -----

>

> From: Bob Jaffe

>

> To: missoulagov at cmslists.com

>

> Sent: Wednesday, December 10, 2008 11:23 PM

>

> Subject: [MissoulaGov] committee update 12-10-08

>

>

>

> Greetings,

>

> This morning I found out we have a cat ordinance.  We were amending  

> it to limit the number of cats a person can own to 5. If you want  

> more you are supposed to get a cat breeders license. We also  

> considered revisions to the dog ordinance. The only one I really  

> wanted to see more discussion on was the part about doggy day care  

> facilities. In the past these types of businesses were not  

> addressed by any of our ordinances. The zoning office had made the  

> interpretation that they were the equivalent of vet clinics. The  

> new ordinance defines doggy day care and exempts it from the  

> nuisance barking rule. I'm not so sure I am in favor of this.  We  

> have one down the street from us on second. It is in a D zone along  

> the tracks but is very close to a number of homes and other  

> businesses. I have received complaints about the barking but they  

> have been exempt from the rule that says you can't let your dogs  

> bark all day. That may be changing soon. The public hearing will be  

> on 12/22.

>

>

>

> In Conservation we covered a few items. We approved an agreement  

> where the County pays us about $65,000 per year to maintain fort  

> Missoula park. Once you subtract out all the fees we collect for  

> use of the park it ends up costing the city about an additional  

> $35,000 to run that park.

>

> We also approved an easement for Northwest Energy to put in a  

> Cathodic Well along a pipe line in the north hills.  That is a deal  

> to help the steel pipe from rusting by changing the way  

> electrolysis would naturally work against the pipe.

>

> We also approved the new parks fee schedule. Everything is going up  

> a few percent.

>

>

>

> In PAZ we took up the Clark Fork Terrace number one subdivision.  

> CFT #2 is the one where we are being sued for asking the developer  

> to put in trails.  There were two issues that came up in the  

> discussion. The trail easement and the SID waiver for off-site  

> improvements. Parks would like to assure that we will secure a  

> trail easement along the southern edge of the property that  

> parallels the Milwaukee trail. If we can't get an easement on the  

> actual old rail line we want to at least get something parallel to  

> it. Considering the likelihood of  litigation I probably shouldn't  

> say any more about the project outside of the public meeting.

>

> We were also planning to have an update on the zoning rewrite but  

> our consultant got stuck somewhere do to the weather.

>

>

>

> In A&F we made a modification to our agreement on the repayment of  

> the brownfield revolving loan fund for the millsite project. The  

> $1.25 million loan is supposed to be paid back from tax increment  

> from the project over a number of years. During the interim period  

> while the clean up is happening MRA has been paying interest only  

> on the loan. There was a clause in the agreement that said that if  

> the property isn't closed on by 1/1/09 then principal payments need  

> to start. It was assumed that if the deal didn't go down by then  

> that the options to purchase would expire and the deal would be  

> dead. But as we have it we are still waiting for DEQ signoff on the  

> clean up. The property can not be financed and purchased until this  

> is done. The Millsite people have negotiated another extension on  

> the option and DEQ approval is expected this winter.  So we took  

> out the 1/1/09 deadline from the agreement.

>

>

>

> We also had an interesting discussion about our bike license  

> ordinance. We did some housekeeping on the language and then  

> discussed how we could make the bike license program effective.  

> Phil Smith, our bike ped coordinator was extremely pessimistic  

> about the possibility that licensing bikes would ever be embraced  

> by the community and the whole thing was a big waste of time. It  

> was tried 10 or 15 years ago and was a lot of work and never really  

> took off.  I'm a little more hopeful that folks can get behind the  

> idea of paying a small fee that would go towards supporting bicycle  

> programs in the city. The current fee is $10 for four years. $15  

> for families and $5 for children. Bikes with wheels under 24" do  

> not need to be registered. I'm thinking the cycling community in  

> Missoula has a high level of civic engagement and would eventually  

> be supportive of this program. There could also be incentives  

> thrown in to get it going. We will also want to work with the  

> retailers to find a way to make the program work for them.

>

>

>

> The other A&F item we discussed was the sewer rate increase. The  

> general consensus was that we wanted to wait to approve any rate  

> increase until the study on flow based billing was complete. I will  

> be more comfortable voting for the rate increase if it is combined  

> with the new billing based on usage. That way the low users of the  

> system will hopefully see a rate decrease. It is possible we will  

> have the information needed some time this spring.

>

>

>

> In Public Works we approved the request to make changes to our  

> rules on deicer. We removed the restrictions on corrosiveness and  

> we now allow solid products.  The argument was that our streets  

> department will do everything possible to find the best solutions  

> and we shouldn't tie his hands. Stacy and I voted for an amendment  

> that would make the change sunset next fall but that failed.

>

>

>

> Thank you for your interest,

>

>

>

> Bob Jaffe

>

> Missoula City Council, Ward 3

>

> bjaffe at ci.missoula.mt.us

>

> 406-728-1052

>

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>

> -- 

> "Rocks in the water do not know the suffering of rocks in the sun."

> Haitian proverb, www.GrassrootsOnline.org

>

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Patrick M. Klemz
Missoula Independent
w: 406.543.6609 x109
c: 406.214.2425
pklemz at missoulanews.com



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