[MissoulaGov] Committee Update 1-14-09

[Thomas Orr]

As an attorney, I find that many people do not pick up certified mail
because it is generally something bad.  I believe that the added expense
does little to forward the objective.  If people are interested,
reasonable and normal channels of communications should be sufficient.
 

Thomas C. Orr

torr at missoula-law.com <blocked::mailto:torr at missoula-law.com> 

Orr Law Offices, P.C.
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P.O. Box 8096
Missoula, Montana 59807
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________________________________

From: missoulagov-bounces at cmslists.com
[mailto:missoulagov-bounces at cmslists.com] On Behalf Of Ryan Morton
Sent: Thursday, January 15, 2009 9:59 AM
To: 'Bob Jaffe'; missoulagov at cmslists.com
Subject: Re: [MissoulaGov] Committee Update 1-14-09



Bob:

 

As the link to Jon's referral was working prior to the meeting, I didn't
realize that the issue of a fee increase was coming and didn't attend
the hearing.  Instead I watched you on television.  If I had attended
the meeting, I would have said:

 

"Applicants are not financially responsible for people not reading their
mail.  Even with certified mail, people will insist they were not
notified."

 

In fact, I could walk in and say that since the link for this referral
wasn't working, MBIA was not properly notified of the fee increase
hearing.  I'm not belittling people's concerns, but things go wrong.
People throw away mail.  Links don't work.  I don't think applicants can
be held responsible for that.  Missoula already goes above and beyond
letting people know what happening.  Often, applicants themselves will
even knock on doors.  

 

Perhaps a compromise would be to post notices on neighbors' doors as
well as the onsite signs notifying there will be a subdivision.

 

Ryan Morton

Government Affairs Director

Missoula Building Industry Association

406.543.4423 or 406.546.0902 (cell)

community at buildmissoula.com

________________________________

From: missoulagov-bounces at cmslists.com
[mailto:missoulagov-bounces at cmslists.com] On Behalf Of Bob Jaffe
Sent: Thursday, January 15, 2009 9:00 AM
To: Jim McGrath; missoulagov at cmslists.com
Subject: Re: [MissoulaGov] Committee Update 1-14-09

 

Jim,

When you say "we stopped using certified mail.." are you referring to
the housing authority?

I'm interested in hearing more about that.

 

As a demonstration, OPG staff and I sent certified letters to all of the
council members prior to the committee meeting.  I had received one
recently and thought it was a good idea for everyone to know what it
meant on the receiving side.

We don't actually have a legal obligation to make sure everyone has been
notified. The expectation for public participation in Missoula is just
way beyond the state requirements.

 

 

 

From: Jim McGrath [mailto:jmcgrath at missoulahousing.org] 
Sent: Thursday, January 15, 2009 7:35 AM
To: Bob Jaffe; missoulagov at cmslists.com
Subject: RE: [MissoulaGov] Committee Update 1-14-09

 

Bob,

It might be a good idea to explore an understanding of exactly what you
get when you pay for a certified letter. There is a misunderstanding,
perhaps, that certified mail guarantees that people get the notice. We
stopped using certified mail for critical notices because it didn't
provide that assurance but cost a pile. So a conversation with the city
attorney's office and the post office on what the various means actually
get you would be a good idea.
Realistically, two first class mailings, two weeks apart, will catch
more people.

On the signs, I really don't understand how creating a traffic hazard is
going to rescue the economy. I remember the first time I saw a huge
full-color high resolution moving sign in Lolo. It was like a drive-in
movie! Even during the daylight in the summer, it was actually hard to
see the road because the sign was so bright. But I'm really sure I never
made the decision to give my business to a certain retailer based on
their animated sign.


-----Original Message-----
From: missoulagov-bounces at cmslists.com on behalf of Bob Jaffe
Sent: Wed 1/14/2009 11:06 PM
To: missoulagov at cmslists.com
Subject: [MissoulaGov] Committee Update 1-14-09

Greetings,

This morning in Public Safety and Health we reviewed the contract being
developed between the fire department and the ambulance service.  Our
ambulance service is a private company. It is not regulated by the PSC.
Efforts began six or eight months ago to develop a policy with some kind
of backup plan in case we lose the private service and to develop some
kind of performance contract for the service. The parties have made a
lot of progress and there are only a few outstanding issues to be
settled. If you would like to read more here is a link to the proposed
contract:

ftp://www.ci.missoula.mt.us/Packets/Council/2009/2009-01-12/MESIPerforma
nceContract090107.pdf



In PAZ we started with a discussion to change the way neighbors are
notified about subdivision and zoning projects. Currently we send first
class mail to the people within 150 feet of the project. On average this
is 15 mailings.  For projects in ward four Mr. Wilkins makes a point of
getting the list from the planning department and calling the people on
the phone. He says that they frequently claim to have not received the
mailing.  He wanted us to change the rule so a certified mailing would
be required.

The support staff did an estimate of the time involved and came up with
some rough numbers showing that it costs about $15 to send a regular
mailing and $115 to send a certified mailing once you count staff time.
Making the change would require a number of revisions to subdivision and
zoning ordinances and our fee ordinances. We would charge the developer
for extra cost. Since we are in the process of revising the zoning and
subdivision rules anyway that simplifies the process some. We don't need
to do the whole rigmarole just for this one change.

Sentiment on the committee was that more notification and participation
are a good thing. There were a number of folks from the development
community in the audience who declined the invitation to comment on the
likely fee increase. So the motion passed to request that staff pursue
making these changes.



We then saw a presentation about electronic sign technology. This was an
informational piece to bring us up to speed on what the different kinds
of signs were and what they could do. It was essentially an industry
perspective on the devices. It was informative. There will be a work
session of the zoning rewrite team on Thursday Jan. 22 at noon in the
Jack Reidy conference room to try to hammer out the new ordinance. It
will be open to the public.

My take is that we should not allow messages that can't be displayed all
at once. Folks like these signs because they can say more on less real
estate. It's like the scrolling messages along the bottom of the TV
shows. But instead of distracting you from your program these messages
distract you from the road.  If they want to put up a message or image
and some number of minutes later change it to another message or image I
think that's fine. But messages that require scrolling or multiple
screens are a public safety issue and an aesthetic issue. Eventually
every business will have one of these signs and they will always be
pushing the envelope on how much information they can communicate and
how much they can grab your attention. That is their entire purpose. I'm
not looking to the vendors of these devices or the businesses that want
the focus of our eyes to set the standard here for the community.

This sort of talk clearly upsets some business owners. When Dave and I
raised this issue a few weeks ago we were accused of stabbing the
Missoula business community in the back and were pretty much blamed for
the demise of the US auto industry.  I am relatively certain that the
sky is not falling and keeping my eye on the long term big picture is
the way to go. The changes to the zoning code we are making today will
long outlast the recession.



We also revisited the Linda Vista Estates subdivision again.  The "Green
Streets" were less controversial this time and were approved. We argued
about block lengths for a while but the long blocks were ultimately
approved even though they shouldn't have been.  Arguments devolved to
things like "our kids need more exercise so it's good to make it a
longer walk from one block to the next." Our city engineer was even on
the right side of the issue testifying that shorter block lengths slow
down traffic. 

We also argued about having a park and ride parking lot (the project has
340 units).  Dick referred to our bus system as stupid and a joke. The
developer says he thinks a park and ride lot could go up on the top of
the hill on upper miller creek road and not in this subdivision. Maybe
so but there should be something in the conditions of this subdivision
that require it to happen. I'm hoping to take another stab at this one
on the floor.



At one point we had a procedural standoff where I had points of order
flying at me. Stacy asked to withdraw her motion on one of the above
issues but the others wanted to have the chance to vote it down. We
regularly allow people to withdraw their motions when they clearly are
no longer working and reflecting the direction of the committee. But
they saw that there was a chance to finally win a vote and they weren't
going to let me take it from them by allowing the motion to be
withdrawn.  They really wanted that vote as the proof that they were
right and we were wrong regarding block lengths or park and rides or
whatever it was. I still think it was OK to withdraw but there was more
work to get done and it wasn't worth arguing about so I conceded.
Surprisingly it was one of the more stressful PAZ meetings in a while.



After lunch I walked in a few minutes late and missed the confirmation
of the Mayor's appointment of Don MacArthur to the Missoula Urban
Transportation Board. From what I understand the vote did not pass.
There was concern over Don also being the planning board rep to the
Transportation Policy Committee creating some kind of conflict. I'm
expecting his appointment will be approved when it is considered on the
floor next Monday. We also approved this year's HOME and CDBG grants and
our 2009-2013 consolidated plan for home and cdbg funds.



In Public Works we covered a number of items including the approval of
an engineering contract for designing the sidewalk on California street
north of Dakota. That is now scheduled to be built in 2010.  We had a
review of the snow removal efforts in particular the treatment of bike
lanes.  The bottom line is that they are doing what they can but it is
impossible to get all the snow picked up when there is a lot of it.
Cycling after snow storms will continue to be dangerous. One issue that
needs ongoing attention is keeping people from plowing their private
lots out into the streets and bike lanes. There were a number of
problems with this during the recent snow event.  Much of the discussion
focused on problems on SW Higgins. Later this evening I was out there
and saw a grader at work pushing the remaining snow out of the bike
lane.

We also discussed the master sidewalk plan. They have a thorough
methodology of determining where to do the next sidewalk projects. There
was also a brief discussion on the inefficiencies of the financing
method we use. About 50% of the staff time spent on engineering and
planning sidewalk projects is dealing with the issues associated with
assessing home owners for the cost.  If we had street maintenance
districts paying for the work pretty much all of that could be dispensed
with.



Thanks for your interest,  





Bob Jaffe

Missoula City Council, Ward 3

bjaffe at ci.missoula.mt.us <mailto:bjaffe at ci.missoula.mt.us>

406-728-1052

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