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MEDINA CITY COUNCIL MEETING MINUTES OF JANUARY 2, 2001
The City Council of Medina, Minnesota met in regular session on January 2, 2001 at 7:30 p.m.
in the City Hall Chambers. Mayor John Ferris presided.
Members present: Ferris, Lane, Smith, Workman, and Zietlow.
Members absent: None.
Also present: Police Chief Ed Belland, Attorney Ron Batty, Public Works Director Jim Dillman,
City Engineer Tom Kellogg, Planning & Zoning Administrator Loren Kohnen, and Administrator
Clerk -Treasurer Paul Robinson.
1. Additions to the Agenda
A. Resolution 01-04 Approving Final Plat Approval - Wetterstrom Addition to Consent Agenda.
B. Oath to swear in the Mayor.
C. Lake Mooney Update.
Moved by Phil Zietlow, seconded by Carolyn Smith, to approve the agenda as amended.
Motion passed unanimously.
2. Swearing in of the Mayor
Mayor John Ferris introduced his family members and then was given the oath of office by Paul
Robinson.
3. Swearing in of New Council Members
Jim Lane and Bruce Workman were given the oath of office by Paul Robinson.
4. Consent Agenda
Item B was pulled.
A. Designation of Official Depositories.
B. Resolution 01-01 Designating Institutions for Investment.
C. Designation of Official Newspaper.
D. Approval of Gambling License for Minnesota Motorcycle Riders Association.
E. Resolution 01-02 Granting Preliminary Approval of a Plat for Raymond P. Wald
and Michael R. Ahlstrom.
F. Resolution 01-03 Regarding Variances at 2971 Ardmore Avenue.
Moved by Carolyn Smith, seconded by Phil Zietlow, to approve items A, C, D, E, and F. Motion
passed unanimously,
Resolution Designating Institutions for Investment.
Phil Zietlow asked some questions about the institutions that we use for investments.
Bruce Workman wanted to know what we paid in commissions.
Paul Robinson said that basically when we buy investments, we bid out the investments and
take the best rate. That levels the commissions. All of the investment firms that we use are
fairly large and competitive.
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January 2, 2001
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Robinson said that they are the same firms that we have used for a number of years.
Moved by Phil Zietlow, seconded by Carolyn Smith, to approve the Resolution designating
institutions for investments. Motion passed unanimously.
5. Comments from Residents in Attendance on Items Not on the Agenda
There were none.
6. Park Commission Comments
Jim Dillman said the skating rink and the sledding hill are getting a lot of use at the Hamel
Legion Park.
7. Planning Commission Comments
There were none.
8. Planning Commission Appointments
Loren Kohnen said there are five people who would like to be appointed to the Planning
Commission. He said the location of the people applying was provided in the memo.
Paul Robinson said in recent years the Council has kept the Planning Commission
appointments to seven. He said if that were the case then the City Council could only appoint
one additional member, and should probably direct the staff to revise the ordinance to allow only
seven commissioners. He said of those that applied, only Jerry Brost is a current
commissioner. However, if the Council wants to go back to nine commissioners, they could
appoint three commissioners.
The consensus of the Council was to appoint Jerry Brost to the one position, and to then vote
via ballot for two additional positions bringing the Planning Commission back to nine members.
The Council voted.
John Ferris said that Robert Hopper and Mary Verbick were the two top candidates. The two
were then appointed to the Planning Commission.
9. Park Commission Appointments
There were two people who applied for the two positions.
Moved by Phil Zietlow, seconded by Jim Lane, to appoint Hughes and Gregor to the Park
Commission. Motion passed unanimously.
10. Wetlands Setback Variance for 1840 Buckskin Drive, Nicholas Lindahl
Loren Kohnen said that Mr. Lindahl owned a parcel at 1840 Buckskin, which is zoned Rural
Residential. He would like to sell this parcel. Kohnen said, at the time, the lot was being tested
for two septic sites, it was discovered that the sites were within 50 feet of a wetland.
He said that this is an existing parcel that did meet the City's ordinances when it was divided,
but during the testing it was discovered that there were slopes exceeding 12%, plus they had
some wetlands to work around. He said that the City's ordinance requires a 75-foot setback
from the wetlands for septic system. This request would be a 25-foot variance.
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Kohnen said that more important than a horizontal separation is a vertical separation to mottled
soil and that the three-foot vertical separation will be met with the mound system design.
He said that staff recommended approval with a maximum of a four -bedroom design, and the
system would need to be installed within a year of City Council approval.
Phil Zietlow had a number of questions regarding the soils. He said he would like to see the
soils map. It looked to him that there were adequate soils outside of the 75-foot setback.
Loren Kohnen said that based on the soil survey they had done, there were not adequate
unless they went within 50 feet of the wetlands. He said that PCA requires a 50-foot setback,
but the City went further than that when they adopted the ordinance.
The Council wanted the staff to verify the soils and that this lot met all the requirements at the
time it was subdivided.
Ron Batty said that normally setbacks are in the zoning ordinance, not in the septic. He did not
have a chance to research this before the meeting, however, what has happened is that this lot
is now non -conforming.
There were a number of other questions. In the end, the Council asked staff to do some
additional research and bring this back at a future Council meeting.
There needs to be some research done on the setback from the wetland, on how the wetland,
was delineated, the history of the ownership, and whether or not the property owner created the
hardship by modifying the ponding areas.
The Lindahl's requested that the item be tabled.
Moved by Jim Lane, seconded by Phil Zietlow, to table this request. Motion passed
unanimously.
It was also noted that the neighbors be notified again of this when this particular item is
discussed again.
11. Transportation Study
Loren Kohnen said they are moving forward with Bonestroo to complete the traffic study.
12. Conditional Use Permit Conformance Inspections
Loren Kohnen said he recently sent out four letters regarding CUP violations, two are working
on it and have taken care of the problems and another two have not responded to the letters or
returned his calls. He said the two he is having issues with are D & D Jordan Automotive at
3600 Hickory Drive, and Hays Drywall at 3525 Hickory Drive. He said he is advising the Council
that he will be asking the City Attorney to start the proper procedures to enforce these
conditional use permits and bring these properties into compliance.
Jim Lane asked about compliance issues regarding Loram and Temroc and others.
There was some discussion about the number of other businesses that may not be in
compliance with their conditional use permits.
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Loren Kohnen said that he would prefer to go at this a few at a time, based on severity, and
tackle these CUP issues over time, rather than all at once.
Carolyn Smith said her only concern with doing only a few at a time is that some businesses
may believe that we are picking on them and that we are not treating them equally.
Ed Belland said that they have the same comments when they pull over somebody who is
speeding. They ask why they are stopped and not other folks that are speeding. That is the
way it goes with enforcement.
Jim Lane wanted to know what the remedies were for those who were not in compliance.
Ron Batty explained the process. He said ultimately he would revoke the conditional use
permit, however, that is a death sentence to a business and is very serious. So you usually use
tools to bring them into compliance along the way.
Jim Lane asked what those tools were.
Ron Batty said that there are civil and criminal ways to go about seeking compliance.
There was some discussion about the typical violations. It was mentioned that 90%, or a
majority of the violations, concern outside storage.
Bruce Workman said the City has set a policy over time of allowing violations to exist, therefore,
it takes a while to bring them back into compliance. What bothers him is the potential cost to
the City of doing this. He would like to find a way that these costs could be assessed to the
property owner.
Basically, staff was requesting authorization to send the letters to the violators.
Moved by Bruce Workman, seconded by Jim Lane, to send these letters giving them 30 days to
come into compliance before moving the legal process forward. Motion passed unanimously.
13. Update on Urban Commercial and Urban Residential Ordinances
Robinson said at the last meeting the City Council discussed the Urban Commercial and
Business Park ordinances. He said one of the more significant issues concerned the number of
existing businesses in the Business Park that would become non -conforming.
Robinson said that staff addressed this issue and is bringing to the Council an alternative to
consider before moving forward with the entire ordinance.
Ron Batty said staff is looking for direction in regards to establishing two separate districts. He
said he was comfortable with the legality of this option and believed that it did help to clarify the
situation. He said it constitutes a zoning that takes into account the existing development
patterns.
There was some concern about allowing any new warehousing in the area.
Jim Johnson said he supported the proposal, but that staff should develop it further and bring it
back to the Council.
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Jim Lane said that this is an issue that he would like staff to pursue. However, he would like to
have more information provided about distances to the residential districts for the meeting when
this is discussed.
Carolyn Smith was concerned that a new ordinance may not follow the principles of the
Business Park. She was not interested in opening up the door to more of the type of
businesses they are not looking for. She thought the new district should have some of the same
standards as in the Business Park.
Robinson said we need to be careful not to have everything be similar especially if the Council
wants to allow current businesses to add on their existing buildings. He said if the Council were
to have a stricter standard, but not apply it, it will be tougher to require those standards in the
Business Park especially if the requirements were similar.
The consensus of the Council was for staff to continue to develop a separate district for both the
Business Park and the Urban Commercial areas and to provide this information at the next
Council meeting.
14. Critical Issues List for the Comprehensive Plan
Paul Robinson said that Bill Thibault had put together a comprehensive list of all of the areas
where there may be most critical inconsistencies between our current ordinances and the
Comprehensive Plan. He asked if the Council wanted to go through these and discuss these.
Phil Zietlow said that he would be more interested in taking some more time to look through this
and not going through each one.
The consensus of the Council was not to through each one, but to ask Ron Batty to begin to
look through these issues and correct the inconsistencies.
15. Mooney Lake
Loren Kohnen said he has attended some meetings recently regarding Mooney Lake. He said
the alternatives that are being looked at include permanently pumping the lake and creating a
permanent drainage outlet for the lake. He said he is interested in advocating for the City's
position. Since we only have six residents on the lake which are not the primary contributors to
the problem, any assessment for a solution should be based on the amount of run-off
contributed by each property. The Council agreed.
16. Salary Recommendation
Ed Belland said that Officer Nelson has completed his training program. He said Nelson is
coming to the department with a number of years of experience and because of that and
because he would like to keep him in Medina longer, he would like to start Officer Nelson at the
second step of the pay scale.
Belland said Officer Nystrom came to the City with a number of years of experience as well and
the Council started him at step 3. Belland asked that he be able to start Nelson at step 2.
Moved by Phil Zietlow, seconded by Carolyn Smith, to authorize moving Officer Nelson to Step
2 on the pay scale. Motion passed unanimously.
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17. Formalize Merit Pay for the Public Works Employees
Jim Dillman said the Public Works employees stepped in and worked harder when he was
absent. He said he has written a letter to that effect and he would like to have the City Council
authorize an additional $2,000 for each of them for the extra work they needed to perform
during the time that he was gone.
Moved by Carolyn Smith, seconded by Phil Zietlow, to authorize an additional $2,000 for Steve
Scherer and Bob Dressel. Motion passed unanimously.
18.2001 Council Work Session
Robinson said on a number of occasions the Council had brought up the issue of starting to
meet outside of regular Council meetings in work sessions to be able to get in depth on fewer
issues.
Carolyn Smith was very supportive of that. She would like there to be a number of special
Council meetings.
Ron Batty said that in the number of cities he has seen work sessions become a regular part of
the routine and can often just be a third meeting a month. He cautioned the Council to make
sure if they were to establish work sessions, to keep them as work sessions and out of the
routine business.
There was some discussion about the type of work sessions that could be held. It was decided
that the Mayor and the Administrator would come back to the Council at some point after all the
ordinances were completed with a schedule for an occasional work session to work on an
issues in greater detail.
19.2001 Appointments
Moved by Carolyn Smith, seconded by Phil Zietlow, to approve the appointments. Motion
passed unanimously.
20. Set Date for Local Board of Review
Moved by Jim Lane, seconded by Carolyn Smith, to approve Wednesday, April 11 at 6:30 p.m.
for the Local Board of Review. Motion passed unanimously.
21. Appoint a New Council member to the Comprehensive Plan Implementation
Committee
It was decided that Bruce Workman be designated to the Comprehensive Plan Implementation
Committee.
22. Pay the Bills
Moved by Phil Zietlow, seconded by Jim Lane, to approve the bills, order check numbers
21876-21923 for $76,169.24, and payroll check numbers 16890-16910 for $17,302.46. Motion
passed unanimously.
22. Adiournment
Moved b _ . Smith, seconded by John Ferris, to adjourn the meeting at 11:15 p.m.
animously.
Medina City Council Meeting Minutes
January 2, 2001
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ORDER CHECKS - JANUARY 2, 2001
21876 A.T.& T $5.06
21877 ASCOM HASLER MAILING SYSTEMS $715.68
21878 BANYON DATA SYSTEMS $1,808.21
21879 BCA/TRAINING & DEVELOPMENT SEC $360.00
21880 BONESTROO, ROSENE, ANDERLIK $10,414.16
21881 BRAUN, ROBERT $1,500.00
21882 CLASSIC CLEANING $399.38
21883. DAKOTA CO. TECHNICAL COLLEGE $170.00
21884 DELTA DENTAL $867.45
21885 DILLMAN, JAMES $75.00
21886 DITTER, INC $35.50
21887 DRESSEL, ROBERT $75.00
21888 ELM CREEK WATERSHED $2,947.01
21889 FACILITY SYSTEMS INC. $9,731.97
21890 FORTIS BENEFITS $266.14
21891 HAMMEL, GREEN AND ABRAHAMSON $618.97
21892 HENN. CO. DEPT. OF PROP.TAX $100.00
21893 HENNEPIN CO.DEPT.OF GEN.SVC $305.66
21894 HENNEPIN COUNTY PUBLIC RECORDS $150.00
21895 HENNEPIN COUNTY SHERIFF $8,070.67
21896 HIGHWAY 55 RENTAL $98.04
21897 INTOXIMETERS, INC. $213.00
21898 KENNEDY & GRAVEN $7,776.28
21899 LARSON, SANDRA $20.52
21900 LAW ENFORCEMENT LABOR SERVICES $165.00
21901 LEAGUE OF MN CITIES INS.TRUST $1,150.00
21902 MEDICA CHOICE $7,207.20
21903 MEDINA POLICE DEPT.-PETTY CASH $35.02
21904 METRO WEST INSPECTION $6,921.35
21905 METROCALL $120.10
21906 MINNESOTA CHILD SUPP. PYT.CTR $630.00
21907 MINNESOTA TAXPAYERS ASSN. $125.00
21908 ORCHARD TRUST CO $880.00
21909 PLEAA $30.00
21910 PROTOCOL COMMUNICATIONS, INC. $25.00
21911 QUILL CORP. $256.75
21912 QWEST $465.55
21913 RANDY'S SANITATION $89.98
21914 RELIANT ENERGY MINNEGASCO $1,110.64
21915 RETROFIT RECYCLING, INC. $131.53
21916 SCHERER, STEVEN $75.00
21917 ST. PAUL STAMP WORKS $95.07
21918 STREICHER'S $263.57
21919 THIBAULT ASSOCIATES $2,321.00
21920 WRIGHT-HENNEPIN ELECTRIC $1,042.63
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January 2, 2001
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ORDER CHECKS - JANUARY 02, 2001 (CONT'D)
21921 XCEL ENERGY $2,650.75
21922 XEROX CORPORATION $433.52
21923 P.E. R.A. $3,220.88
21924 P.E.R.A. $ 397.20
Total Checks $76,566.44
PAYROLL CHECKS - JANUARY 2, 2001
16890 SMITH, CAROLYN A. $138.52
16891 FERRIS, JOHN B $207.79
16892 ZIETLOW, PHILIP K. $138.52
16893 ROBINSON, PAUL A. $1,121.80
16894 SCHERER, STEVEN T. $1,028.96
16895 MCGILL, CHRISTOPHER R. $1,084.88
1689E ROUILLAR-D,6MIC-HAI=L J �r� :. Q 9- V� !
16897 DILLMAN, JAMES D. $1,527.31
16898 DRESSEL, ROBERT P. $1,163.31
16899 BELLAND, EDGAR J. $1,964.20
16900 VIEAU, CECILIA M. $927.49
16901 SULANDER, LAURA L $1,025.34
16902 LARSON, SANDRA L. $866.45
16903 BOECKER, KEVIN D. $332.96
16904 PRIEM, JON D $1,228.50
16905 CHRISTENSON, JEREMY L. $1,233.40
16906 NYSTROM, JAMES $1,077.05
16907 LANE, JAMES S. $138.52
16908 WORKMAN, BRUCE $138.52
16909 NELSON, JASON $950.01
16910 LARSON, TODD A $303.24
$17,302.46
Medina City Council Meeting Minutes
January 2, 2001