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<DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>I live on McLeod and would like to see the
roundabout built starting in summer 09 when the impacts to the surrounding area
would be the least. </FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>BTW, is this the "progressive" version of the
Fox News channel? Personally I appreciate Bob's weekly posts which are
long on information and usually devoid of the political bashing.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Paul Sopko</FONT></DIV></DIV>
<BLOCKQUOTE
style="PADDING-RIGHT: 0px; PADDING-LEFT: 5px; MARGIN-LEFT: 5px; BORDER-LEFT: #000000 2px solid; MARGIN-RIGHT: 0px">
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial">----- Original Message ----- </DIV>
<DIV
style="BACKGROUND: #e4e4e4; FONT: 10pt arial; font-color: black"><B>From:</B>
<A title=JWiener@ci.missoula.mt.us
href="mailto:JWiener@ci.missoula.mt.us">Jason Wiener</A> </DIV>
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>To:</B> <A title=missoulagov@cmslists.com
href="mailto:missoulagov@cmslists.com">missoulagov@cmslists.com</A> </DIV>
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>Sent:</B> Thursday, July 10, 2008 12:45
AM</DIV>
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>Subject:</B> [MissoulaGov] Committee Update
7-9-08</DIV>
<DIV><BR></DIV>
<DIV class=Section1>
<P class=MsoNormal>Bob is on vacation this week so I wrote up the committee
meetings today.<o:p></o:p></P>
<P class=MsoNormal>J.<o:p></o:p></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></P>
<P class=MsoNormal>*****<o:p></o:p></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></P>
<P class=MsoNormal>When I was a kid, Nickelodeon ran this show called “You
Can’t Do That On Television.” In addition to dropping green slime on people
when they said “I don’t know” and sporting a regular skit with a line-order
cook named Booger, the show featured a recurring bit called opposite sketches
where the normal order of things would be turned on its head—the stingy would
become generous, the refined uncouth. This morning turned out to be
opposite-sketch time at 140 W. Pine.<o:p></o:p></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></P>
<P class=MsoNormal>Dave Strohmaier was out for work and Ed Childers and Bob
Jaffe were both on vacation which meant Pam Walzer, John Hendrickson, Jon
Wilkins, Lyn Hellegaard, Dick Haines, Renee Mitchell and I made up the Public
Safety & Health Committee. With the self-style conservative minority
firmly in control of the votes, I’d venture to guess we got a taste of their
governing style.<o:p></o:p></P>
<P class=MsoNormal>Police Chief Mark Muir and Chief Administrative Officer
Bruce Bender presented the first item: an $18,000 contract for cost estimating
with MacArthur Means and Wells (MMW) as the lead architect and police station
specialists Wilson Estes providing specialty support. MMW was given the
contract by the administration, following on preliminary work they did on the
downtown site that everyone seems to prefer. <o:p></o:p></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></P>
<P class=MsoNormal>John Hendrickson raised an issue with the selection of MMW,
asking if the project was bid. Dick Haines asserted that the entire project
would face an uphill battle because MMW has "zero credibility" because of
their work on the aquatics project. They didn’t seem bothered by the fact that
the job wasn’t advertised with an RFP since its size didn’t merit that. They
just flatly objected to MMW. The principal architect is different and the
subcontractors, too, but merely the letters MMW were enough to precipitate
some ensuring shenanigans. There was a motion to approve the contract and a
call for a show of hands on it. Pam and I voted in favor. Jon W., Lyn
and Renee voted against it while John H. and Dick abstained. Pam tried to call
the count 2-3-2 but John H. told Jon W. to change his vote to yes and Jon W.
obeyed, making the vote 3-2-2. Then John H. changed his vote from abstain to
no so the vote would be 3-3-1. The objective was to tie the vote because,
under a poorly constructed Council rule, a tie in committee is the only way to
keep an item from moving to the Council floor. Of course, we can just take it
up next week unless the administration decides to pick another architect for
this $18,000 piece of a likely $40 million project. I got frustrated with all
the puppeteering and offered to change my vote as well, which prompted John H.
to offer to change his back. It finally stopped when City Clerk Marty Rehbein
pointed out that minute-taker Lesley Wills had no idea how anyone was voting.
We eventually moved on to the other item, a towing contract extension sent
back to committee because it the extension was offered without an RFP. The
Police agreed to advertise the RFP and asked for an extension with the
existing company in the interim, which the committee agreed to. We came back
to the vote on the police station but stand-in chair Pam ended up continuing
the item to another meeting because of the obstruction and
irresolution.<o:p></o:p></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></P>
<P class=MsoNormal>PAZ followed, albeit starting late because of PS&H’s
pile-up. We talked about the Office of Planning & Grants Urban Initiatives
task list for the next fiscal year, which lays out the non-project priorities
of the department. The biggest tasks (with hours allocated) were as follows:
zoning revision (2400 hrs), application of UFDA work including a plan for
Orchard Homes (2000 hrs with the county collaborating), Mayor's Housing
Initiative (1000 hrs). The whole list is here: <A
href="ftp://www.ci.missoula.mt.us/Packets/Council/2008/2008-07-07/UITaskList.pdf">ftp://www.ci.missoula.mt.us/Packets/Council/2008/2008-07-07/UITaskList.pdf</A><o:p></o:p></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></P>
<P class=MsoNormal>Everything in the plan was funded except for a revision to
the Rattlesnake Comprehensive Plan. Partly in response to some development
pressure on unzoned land, a group from the Rattlesnake, including people from
both Neighborhood Councils has been working to update its 1995 plan to create
tools that would inform resource decisions on specific land-use matters and
highlight missing infrastructure. The item was assigned 2000 hours by a scope
of work drawn up this year. Pretty much everyone agrees that’s too much time
but right now none of it is funded anyway. The people in that area are looking
for money outside government. I’d like to see a fraction of the money and
staff time made available by the city so the community can leverage it.
Otherwise, the community people working on this will have wasted many hours
and, after having their hopes raised by OPG drawing up a scope of work, their
cynicism will simply be stoked by the lack of any movement on it. Other areas
of the city are under greater development pressure, of course, and I recognize
the need to prioritize based on need. I think desire, expressed with genuine
grassroots effort, should also merit support.<o:p></o:p></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></P>
<P class=MsoNormal>About an hour was left for a discussion of stacking lots.
Roger Millar from OPG made a presentation about the practice, which allows the
redrawing of lot lines in established subdivisions without undergoing
subdivision review as long as the number of lots after the redrawing is no
greater than before and the parcels, buildings, setbacks, etc. conform to
zoning. If the stacking results in lots arranged under a PNC, the requirement
that the redrawn parcel conforms to zoning doesn’t mean that they have to meet
minimum lot size, setback and the like for the existing zoning because the PNC
is a zoning regulation. At least that’s what I took away. If you are
interested in the intricacies, you can download the presentation (over 3 MB)
at <A
href="http://www.jasonwienerforcouncil.org/stacking.ppt">www.jasonwienerforcouncil.org/stacking.ppt</A><o:p></o:p></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></P>
<P class=MsoNormal>Most of the Council questions, and all the public comment,
centered on the Lincoln School, a historic school that’s being converted to
what looks a lot like a 13-lot subdivision using the planned neighborhood
cluster tool. Very quickly, familiar sounding complaints about PNCs, zoning
overlays, and neighborhood protest filled the committee room. None of it had
much to do with Roger’s suggestion on how Council could rewrite local
subdivision regulations so future attempts at stacking would have to go
through subdivision review. Even if we did adopt his suggestion, there are a
number of other loopholes in state law that would probably still allow such
projects to be exempt from subdivision review, like condominium ownership.
Some of the rhetoric got overheated; at one point the Lincoln School project
was compared to murder, at another a puss-oozing blight. So I was surprised
when we ended early. During public testimony, which stand-in chair Marilyn
Marler limited to three minutes so everyone could speak, Lee Clemensen took
more than twice her allotted time, ignoring four-minute and six-minute warning
and ultimately refusing to yield the microphone. Without a sergeant-at-arms to
enforce the chair’s ruling, Marilyn adjourned the meeting at that point. It
was the right move, in my opinion, but, regrettably, two people who wanted to
testify were not allowed. Odds are good that they wouldn't have gotten to
anyway because of the filibustering.<o:p></o:p></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></P>
<P class=MsoNormal>I was glad lunch time had arrived. We accomplished precious
little during the morning but expended plenty of energy.<o:p></o:p></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></P>
<P class=MsoNormal>After lunch, A&F met briefly to set a public hearing on
park maintenance districts. There are two on the south side of town and the
assessments fund the improvements instead of the general fund. It is an
unusual arrangement but no one had an issue with it. I guess someone could
voice one at the public hearing though.<o:p></o:p></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></P>
<P class=MsoNormal>In Public Works, we approved a pair of purchases for sewer
and streets. We also approved an encroachment permit for an alley skywalk
between the current Garlington Lohn and Robinson building at 199 W. Pine St.
and their new building, planned for 138 W. Broadway, where Scooterville
currently is. (Someone in a position to know tells me Scooterville is eyeing
the proposed green mall as a new location. They were offered ground-floor
retail in Garlington’s new building but need to locate somewhere during the
year that will take to build anyway.) The skyway plans call for more than just
a connection between buildings, with the skyway to contain a conference room
and break room. We talked about the criteria for approving the request since
there is only one skywalk in Missoula, between the Palace Apartments and
Central Park. Basically, there is no entitlement to encroach so the decision
is discretionary. We aren’t setting a binding precedent by saying yes. The
vote in favor of the permit was unanimous but the architect will be available
Monday if there are questions. Some plans are visible at <A
href="ftp://www.ci.missoula.mt.us/packets/council/2008/2008-07-07/Referrals/ROWEncroachSkywlkPlan.pdf">ftp://www.ci.missoula.mt.us/packets/council/2008/2008-07-07/Referrals/ROWEncroachSkywlkPlan.pdf</A><o:p></o:p></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></P>
<P class=MsoNormal>The final item was a discussion of the interminable
Higgins-Hill-Beckwith construction project. Delays in acquiring right-of-way
in front of the Grizzly Grocery have pushed the project to a schedule where
construction could not begin until late fall. That’s frustrating, of course,
because this project has been going on for a long time. It also means the
project should probably wait until spring. If construction doesn’t begin until
the fall, the 45-day schedule could be interrupted by winter weather, which is
highly undesirable since the finished product is a bit of a prototype in
Missoula. Steve King and Kevin Slovarp from Public Works said MDT wants the
project to be built first thing in the spring, April 15. This will mean
closing the intersection for over six weeks while school is in session and
detouring the traffic associated with the street and Paxson School through the
neighborhood. The alternative is waiting until school lets out to start
construction, which adds uncertainty to the cost of the project because the
bigger the gap between bidding and construction, the greater contingency a
contractor is likely to insist on for changes in material costs. Stacy
expressed a preference for waiting until school is out but there was no vote
on the matter as it is an administrative decision. I’m inclined to defer to
the ward reps but would like to hear from people in the area about their
preferences for construction: fall 08, spring 09 or summer 09.<o:p></o:p></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></P>
<P class=MsoNormal>We looked at the BID budget in Budget Committee of the
Whole. They are enjoying a lot of success, winning over even people who
thought the district—funded assessments on downtown property owners—was a bad
idea when it was created. The clean team and downtown ambassadors have done a
lot to help with that. Success with Downtown Master Plan is likely the
linchpin of renewing the BID when it comes up for renewal, which will be in
the next 12-18 months if I am not mistaken.<o:p></o:p></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></P>
<P class=MsoNormal>We also finished up Parks. Marilyn asked that we come back
later to an item funding various management plans, beginning with Conservation
Lands, continuing on through Turf Management, which is probably as far through
the list as Parks can expect to get in one year. The Conservation Plan came in
as the top priority because turf has good science associated with it and
public buy-in for the techniques indicated. Conservation lands management
needs more original work and includes a public process to determine how to
balance tolerance for pesticide and antipathy toward noxious weeds or the
desires of recreational users with the health of the land. A half-dozen new
requests were turned down – the list of funded and unfunded new requests in
the budget is at <A
href="ftp://www.ci.missoula.mt.us/Documents/Council_Review_Budget_FY09/New%20Requests%20From%20All%20Departments%20FY%2009-ForCouncil.xls">ftp://www.ci.missoula.mt.us//Documents/Council_Review_Budget_FY09/New%20Requests%20From%20All%20Departments%20FY%2009-ForCouncil.xls</A>
– including one to keep good behaviors at the skate park by hiring some young
people to be good role models by wearing helmets, doing awesome tricks, and
living clean. Apparently, this was a strategy that historically succeeded in
roller rinks. Marilyn remembered the people in the roller rink of her youth
who fit this profile and was shocked to learn they were likely planted. It
seems like a good idea and not too expensive. It would be nice to fund but
there’s unlikely to be enough money this year since the item is currently
unfunded. That wrapped up Parks although we will be returning for Marilyn’s
conservation lands discussion and Stacy’s request that we revisit the Park
Maintenance budget, which was reduced by over half, meaning that improvements
at several existing parks will not be funded id the status quo
prevails.<o:p></o:p></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></P>
<P class=MsoNormal>Finally, we considered non-departmental budget items,
including the legislative agenda ($27,500 for a lobbyist, intern and
expenses). There was money for a legislative reception in there; Mayor Engen
estimated about half the delegation comes down to hear from Council and
administration. I hope we rate better than 50% attendance next time. How the
state behaves or doesn’t is critical to how well the city serves its
constituents. We also discussed the city’s pay structure for non-union
employees, including how cost-of-living adjustments (3%) and step increases
(2%) for employees making below the midpoint for their pay grade, which
reflects pay in similar cities, combine to keep city employees interested in
working with us. There was also some discussion about a plan to add
skill/competency-based pay. It was ensconced in a bunch of bureaucratese that
translates the sensible substantive goal of paying people for adding skills
into a neutral procedure for figuring out when that has happened. We also
talked about taking a look at the distribution of salaries again down the
line, since the last salary survey was completed in 2004. Probably, there will
be a referral on that when budget season winds down.<o:p></o:p></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></P>
<P class=MsoNormal>There will be a special budget hearing Thursday night from
7-9 p.m. in City Council Chambers. We will be discussing the remainder of the
non-departmental items, everything from the Missoula Cultural Council to the
Missoula Area Economic Development Corporation to the Missoula Ravalli
Transportation Management Association.<o:p></o:p></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></P>
<P class=MsoNormal>Thanks for your interest.<o:p></o:p></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Franklin Gothic Demi Cond','sans-serif'"><o:p> </o:p></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Franklin Gothic Demi Cond','sans-serif'">*******<o:p></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Franklin Gothic Demi Cond','sans-serif'">Jason Wiener,
Alderman, Ward One<o:p></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Franklin Gothic Demi Cond','sans-serif'">1238 Jackson
St.<o:p></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Franklin Gothic Demi Cond','sans-serif'">Missoula, MT
59802<o:p></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Franklin Gothic Demi Cond','sans-serif'">(406)
542-3232<o:p></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Franklin Gothic Demi Cond','sans-serif'">jwiener@ci.missoula.mt.us<o:p></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></P></DIV>
<P>
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