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HomeMy Public PortalAbout01/07/97 CCM1 MEDINA CITY COUNCIL MEETING MINUTES OF JANUARY 7, 1997 The City Council of Medina, Minnesota met in regular session on January 7, 1997, at 7:30 p.m. in the City Hall Council Chambers. Mayor Anne Theis presided. Members present: John Ferris, John Hamilton, Anne Theis, Ann Thies, and Phil Zietlow. Members absent: Jim Johnson. Also present: Public Works Director Jim Dillman, Police Chief Rick Rabenort, City Engineer Shawn Gustafson, Zoning Administrator Loren Kohnen, City Attorney Ron Batty, and City Clerk -Treasurer Paul Robinson. 1. Minutes Moved by Thies, seconded by Zeitlow, to approve the minutes of the regular meeting of December 17, 1996, with the following changes: • Page 3, paragraph 6 - change in the middle of to under • Page 4, item 7, paragraph 1 - end first sentence after previously and delete second sentence. • Page 6, item 14, paragraph 3 - Change first sentence to read Zeitlow said he did not feel many residential developments paid for themselves. • Page 6, item 14, paragraph 3 - add to last sentence ....when considering large developments. • Page 7, item 15, - change first sentence to read John Ferris said that due to the death of his mother he did not complete the appointment recommendations. After the holidays he will be getting in touch with people about the 1997 appointments. Motion passed unanimously. 2. Ceremonial Matters Anne Theis directed the City Clerk -Treasurer to give the oath of office to the new City Councilmembers and Mayor. The City Clerk -Treasurer gave the oath of office to John Hamilton for City Councilmember and to John Ferris for Mayor. After John Ferris was given his oath he said that it was a privilege to work with Anne Theis during the past 4 years and in that time he found Anne to be very thoughtful and fair. Ferris stated that he has learned a lot from Anne and that he will try to live up to her standard. 3. Consent Agenda Moved by Zeitlow, seconded by Thies, to approve the consent agenda, as follows: 1. Resolution 97-01 Granting a Variance to the Front Yard Set Back of the John Polker American Legion Post # 394. 2 2. Approval of Gambling and 3.2% Malt Liquor Licenses for Holy Name of Jesus of Medina Catholic Church Motion passed unanimously. ANNUAL BUSINESS 4. Designation of Official Newspaper There was some discussion with John Costello, the reporter with the Lakeshore Weekly News about a promise that the paper had made to add drop boxes for their newspapers in other areas of the city, such as, in the Morningside and Independence Beach Areas of the city. Moved by Thies, seconded by Hamilton, to approve the Lakeshore Weekly News as Medina's official newspaper. Motion passed unanimously. 5. Designation of Official Depositories. Moved by Thies, seconded by Ferris, to approve the following list as Medina's official depositories. 1. Farmers State Bank of Hamel 2. State Bank of Loretto 3. Bank of Maple Plain 4. Prudential Securities 5. Smith Barney 6. First Bank of Minneapolis 7. Juran & Moody 8. Minnesota Municipal Money Market (4M) Fund 9. Norwest Bank 10. Dain Bosworth Motion passed unanimously. 6. Designation of Institutions for Investment. Phil Zietlow stated that he thought this was a good idea but that in the third paragraph of the resolution Lauderdale should probably be changed to Medina. Zeitlow added that it would be nice if Lauderdale would allow Medina to invest their funds. Moved by Thies, seconded by Zeitlow, to approve Resolution 97-02 Designating Institutions for Investment of the City's Idle Funds. Motion passed unanimously. 7. Appointments to Offices and Commissions. Phil Zietlow suggested that the City Council may want to change the weed inspector from John Hamilton back to himself. He stated that this position did require some training that he already had and that it may make more sense to have him continue in this position. 3 Ann Thies asked how many calls he received a year. Zeitlow responded that he received about 3-4 weed calls and about the same number for trees each year. Most of the weed calls were disputes between neighbors and many of the tree calls were about dying trees. Moved by Thies, seconded by Zeitlow, to approve the 1997 Appointments as follows: Office or Committee 1. Acting Mayor 2. Public Safety Commissioner 3. Public Works Commissioner 4. Planning & Zoning Commissioner 5. Parks Commissioner 6. Commissioner of Administration 7. Finance Committee 8. City Attorney 9. Prosecuting Attorney 10. City Engineer 11. Building Inspector 12. WHRC Representative 13. Lake Minnetonka Cable Commissioners (2) 14. NWS Chamber of Commerce Representatives 15. Fire Marshal 16. Weed and Tree Inspector 17. Elm Creek Watershed Rep. and alternate 18. Pioneer Creek Watershed Rep. and alternate 19. Minnehaha Creek Watershed Rep. and alternate 20. Suburban Rate Authority and alternate 21 NW League of Municipalities 22. Communities in Collaboration Council Motion passed unanimously. 1997 Appointment Ann Thies Phil Zietlow John Hamilton Ann Thies Jim Johnson John Ferris John Ferris Phil Zietlow Ron Batty Steve Tallen Shawn Gustafson Loren Kohnen Sandie Larson Ann Thies Kevin Wagmen John Ferris Jim Johnson Loren Kohnen Phil Zietlow Patrick Klise Bill Waytas Donald Johnston Mary Ann Huseth Phil Zietlow John Ferris Jim Johnson Jim Dillman John Ferris Jim Johnson 8. Approval of Cigarette Licenses. There was some discussion about the cost of the licenses and that this should be reviewed next year. 4 Moved by Thies, seconded by Hamilton, to approve the following list of cigarette licenses pending receipt of payment . 97-01 Mayer Mobil 97-02 Rolling Green County Club 97-03 Stop-N-Go Liquor & Video Corp. 97-04 Medina Recreations 97-05 The Medina lnn 97-06 Holiday Companies 97-07 Big Woods, Inc. 97-08 CDL, Inc. D/B/A lnn Kahoots 97-09 Olsen's Mercantile Motion passed unanimously. PARK COMMISSION COMMENTS - There were none. PLANNING COMMISSION COMMENTS- There were none. NEW BUSINESS 9. Request from the Spring Hill Golf Club to Designate the City of Orono as the Responsible Governmental Unit for Purposes of Creating an Environmental Assessment Worksheet(EAW). Ron Batty stated that for the purposes of an EAW there can be only one local government designated. Since a majority of the proposed golf course is located in Orono, Orono is requesting that they be designated the responsible unit of government. Designating Orono does not jeopardize any of Medina's substantive rights in reviewing the application for the golf course. Ann Thies asked what would happen if the city would want to have input into on the EAW. Batty stated that the city could submit comments on the EAW just as any other interested party could. Moved by Thies, seconded by Zeitlow, to approve Resolution 97-03 Designation the City of Orono as the Responsible Governmental Unit for Purposes of a Environmental Assessment Worksheet for the Spring Hill Golf Club. Motion passed unanimously. 10. Approval of Gambling License for Minnesota Motorcycle Riders Association. Paul Robinson stated that this request did not arrive in time to be approved within the 30 days required by state law and that if the City Council would approve this license they would also need to waive the 30 day waiting period. This organization has had approved events in the city in the past. 5 Phil Zietlow stated that this was not the first late request from this organization for a license. He said he would vote to approve this license but in the future the Minnesota Motorcycle Riders Association would need to have its application in on time. Moved by Zeitlow, seconded by Thies, to approve a gambling license and to waive the 30 day waiting period required for gambling licenses for Minnesota Motorcycle Riders Association with the stipulation that next year there will be no reason not to apply within the required 30 days. Motion passed unanimously. 11. Community Oriented Policing Services(COPS) Grant. Rick Rabenort said that approximately 6 months ago he received approval from the City Council to apply for the COPS grant. Recently the city received notification that its application was accepted. This application would pay a portion of the salaries for a full time officer and up to four part-time officers. The cost to the city was included in your packets. Even though the city has been awarded this grant the City Council is not under any obligation to use these funds. Rabenort said that tonight he would like to know if the City Council would like to take advantage of this grant and hire additional officers. John Ferris stated that if the city took this grant they would have to commit to maintain the positions for at least three years. Rick Rabenort stated after talking with John Ferris and the City Councilmembers he had applied for one full time officer and four part-time officers. Rick Rabenort said that staffing was being evaluated at the time the application was submitted. John Hamilton said that with this grant this city would be adding a seventh officer. He asked if this would allow the city to have 24 hour coverage. Rick Rabenort said it would come close but that he did not believe it would provide complete 24 hour coverage. He then listed some examples of why this would not fully cover that period. John Ferris said that earlier this year they conducted a financial study and from that study it appeared that 24 hour coverage could be achieved with 7 officers if the chief were used for coverage. However, the city would need 8 officers, especially considering the amount of square miles that the police force is required to cover, to have Medina's police department provide 24 hour police coverage. Rick Rabenort stated that the union has raised issues about scheduling that may make it difficult to have 24 hour coverage. John Ferris said that he was not making an argument for or against this issue but if the city would like 24 hour coverage then this would be a step in the right direction. The city's portion for an extra officer would be $ 58,000 over the next three years. 6 Phil Zietlow stated that the actual long term cost would be more than that since the officers position continues after the third year and the city will need to pay the entire cost of the officer thereafter. John Ferris stated that after the third year the officer position would cost somewhere between $ 50,000 and $ 60,000 annually. John Hamilton stated that if residents want 24 hour coverage this would be a good program to take advantage of and would, at least, ensure 24 hour coverage on weekends. Phil Zietlow stated that currently the police budget is the largest part of the city's budget and he would like to raise three issues. 1. Medina's police department has the highest per capita cost of any city in Hennepin County except maybe the Minneapolis police department. 2. He did not know of one person in Medina who wanted more police coverage. 3. The current perception of the Medina police department is very good. Zeitlow said that he believes the city has begun addressing the need to increase its coverage/service by approving the hiring of a part-time CSO. John Hamilton stated that scheduling is difficult and suggested that if the city scheduled fewer hours with two officers on duty the city could cover more hours of the day. John Ferris stated that two officers are only on during critical times. John Hamilton said that if the city turns down the grant now they may never get it. Phil Zietlow said that nothing is free. John Hamilton said that if the city would like 24 hour coverage by the year 2001 then the city could take advantage of these federal dollars to help pay for this. Ann Thies stated that right now the city does not need 24 hour coverage and one of the reasons for that is expense of providing that service. Yes, this grant would get the city started but what happens when the grant money ends? Thies said she would rather wait and see what the department was like after hiring the two replacement officers and a part-time CSO. She would consider adding a part-time officer after that. John Hamilton asked why the City Council went forward with this grant if they did not expect to use it. 7 Phil Zietlow said that at the time the City Council was discussing this grant they were considering many options, including using the county for covering the city's policing needs. The City Council applied for this grant to keep the city's options open. John Ferris said that he agreed with Ann Thies that we should get the police department up to full strength, which it has not been at for almost a year, and hire a part-time CSO. Ferris also stated that he could see John Hamilton's point that the federal grant did provide the city with an attractive option for increasing the force to 24 hour coverage but Ferris said he would rather wait. Ferris stated that if one more officer would allow the city to get the coverage it would like then the city could pay for it with or without a federal grant. John Hamilton asked at what stage the police department was in hiring a CSO. Rick Rabenort stated that he had been using a volunteer CSO and that the police department was in the process of developing a policy for using reserves and a job description for the CSO position. Phil Zietlow said that he had a draft of the reserve and CSO job description with him this evening. John Ferris asked if the City Council would like to discuss this issue this evening. Phil Zietlow said that he would pass out a draft of the policy this evening and that he would put it on the agenda for discussion at another City Council meeting. Rick Rabenort discussed how he currently schedules the officers and asked if the City Council was directing him to change that schedule to eliminate the overlapping of officers. There was some discussion about the police department scheduling practices. John Hamilton said that the police could eliminate double shifts on days if they wanted to extend the coverage closer to 24 hours. John Ferris said that this may be a good idea but suggested that since the police department had been short this year and since the police department was hiring a CSO he said felt the City Council should wait before making any decisions on scheduling. Phil Zietlow stated that it would be helpful to see the schedule on paper. Rick Rabenort asked the City Council if he could wait before contacting the COPS grant administrators about the City Council's current position. 8 John Hamilton said that in the information given to the City Council it stated that the city only had 45 days. Phil Zietlow asked Rick Rabenort to see if the police department could get an extension. Ann Thies said that the City Council would be better able to make a decision on this issue six months to a year from now. Phil Zietlow said to Rick Rabenort that he could tell the grant administrators that the City Council was not able to make a good decision right now and see if they would allow an extension on the grant. 12. Joe Heyman's Resignation Phil Zietlow stated that Joe Heyman would be leaving the city to become a Minnesota State Trooper. Rick Rabenort said that they were planning a party for Joe between 3-4 p.m. the following day and asked the City Council to call Cec in the morning to check for an exact time. John Hamilton said that Joe Heyman would have liked to stay and that Joe said he will miss us. Rick Rabenort stated that prior to hiring Joe Heyman the city had activated Joe's license as a favor to him. Rick Rabenort said that John Hamilton had already talked to Joe Heyman about an exit interview and a leave of absence. John Hamilton said that he thought it would be nice to offer Joe a 60 day leave of absence. Rick Rabenort said that he would like the City Council to approve replacing Joe Heyman's position. This way he could hire and train two officers Rick Rabenort said that they have already lost the top 3 out of 4 candidates to other departments and that the problem with waiting to hire a replacement for Joe would be that they could lose more candidates. There was discussion about the problems involved in training two officers at once. John Ferris asked what the odds were of Joe Heyman not wanting to stay with the state patrol. 9 John Hamilton said that 50% of the officers entering the academy do not make it through the training. Rick Rabenort said he would not have brought up the concepts of conducting exit interviews and offering leaves of absence if he was not in support of them, however, Rabenort was concerned that it may set a precedent that will require the city to offer leaves of absence to other officers in the future. Ann Thies said that there may not be enough good candidates left in the pool since 3 of the top 4 candidates were already hired elsewhere. John Hamilton said that a 30 day leave of absence would provide a safety net and help to ease the pressure. Mary Hamilton, a resident in attendance, said she was a union steward for the same union as Medina and they have drafted letters of understanding with officers to handle situations like this. These are one-shot deals which help not to set a precedent. Ann Thies said a 30 day leave of absence seemed O.K. to her. Rick Rabenort said that leaves of absence have not been offered before. John Ferris said that this was not to be a precedent. He was not ready to make this offer to everybody. Ferris said that a 30 day leave of absence would be O.K. with him. John Hamilton said he would recommend a 60 day leave of absence. Phil Zietlow asked how long it would take to hire and train an officer Rick Rabenort said it depends greatly on the amount of experience they have coming to the position. Phil Zietlow said that he would be willing to go with a 30 day leave of absence or whatever terminology the City Attorney believes to be the best for this situation and after that the City Council could look at extending the leave of absence another 30 days. There was some discussion about hiring a CSO in the mean time and about needing at least 30 days to finish the current hiring process. Ron Batty stated that Joe Heyman had resigned and that he had not asked for a leave of absence. It would probably not be appropriate for the City Council to be considering a leave of absence. Batty said he thought what the City Council was really talking about was a willingness to consider Joe for re -hiring if the state patrol did not work. 10 There was agreement that Batty's interpretation odd the City Council's intent was correct. John Ferris asked Ron Batty if a motion was needed. Ron Batty said that one would be needed. Moved by Hamilton, seconded by Thies, to offer Joe Heyman the option to return to a position if he seeks re-employment within 30 days. Motion Passed Unanimously. 13. Letter of Appreciation for CSO Eric Nielsen John Ferris read a letter of appreciation for Eric Neilsen who had gone on to become a full time officer for the City of Mora. Moved by Ferris, seconded by Zeitlow, to approve the letter of appreciation for Eric Neilson. Motion passed unanimously. 14. Prosecution Contract. Moved by Thies, seconded by Ferris, approve the 1997 prosecution agreement with an increase in the hourly rate for the city prosecutor from 80/hr to 82.50/hr. Motion passed unanimously. 15. Payment of Boster Easement. Shawn Gustafson read his report to the City Council and then stated that the two easements under discussion were from the 1993 T.H. 55 sewer project. These parcels were numbers 25 & 27. These easements were signed over to the city but the owners wanted fair compensation. The city used valuations from properties in the area to come up with a fair compensation amount of $ 0.01 per sq. ft. for temporary easements and $ 0.056 per sq. ft. for permanent easements. Gustafson said this amounted to $ 24.22 for parcel 25 and $ 917.25 for parcel number 27. This was offered the property owner in 1993 but he did not agree with the amounts. Gustafson said that recently Mr. Boster called him and wanted to know the city's position with regard to compensation for these easements. Gustafson said he related to Mr. Boster the city's original offer. Mr. Boster felt that the $ 917.25 was O.K. for parcel 27 but that he would like $200 for parcel 25. There was some discussion about a settlement agreement. 11 Ron Batty said that a short settlement agreement to memorialize this transaction would be appropriate. Moved by Ferris, seconded by Zeitlow to authorize payment for the Boster easement of $ 917.25 for parcel 27 and $ 200 for parcel number 25, with Ron Batty to draft a settlement agreement for this easement. Motion passed unanimously. 16. Scrap Metal Business Operation in a Residentially Zoned Area There was some discussion about a property operating a scrap metal business in one of the city's residential areas. This issue was tabled until the next meeting so that Ron Batty and Rick Rabenort could discuss options to take care of this problem. 17. Acknowledgement of donation from Loren Kohnen John Ferris said that he wanted to thank Loren Kohnen for his donation to the city which went to the police department and to the public works department. 18. Acknowledgement of donation from Tom Anderson John Ferris thanked Tom Anderson for his generous gift to Hamel Memorial Park. He said he would be sending a letter to Tom Anderson on behalf of the city. 19. Pay the Bills Moved by Zeitlow, seconded by Thies, to approve the approve order checks numbers 16624-16697 for $ 137,241.94 and payroll checks 15072-15101 for $ 23,264.95. Motion passed unanimously. 20. Adjourn Moved by Thies, seconded by Zeitlow, to adjourn the meeting at 9:11 p.m.. Motion passed unanimously. Attest Paul Robinson, City Clerk -Treasurer B. Ferris, Mayor 12 (THIS PAGE LEFT BLANK INTENTIONALLY) 13 ORDER CHECKS - JANUARY 7, 1997 16624 Commissioner of Revenue $ 988.15 16625 Farmers State Bank of Hamel 4,012.93 16626 P.E.R.A. 2,491.66 16627 Air Touch Cellular 59.49 16628 Allstar Electric 134.28 16629 Bonestroo, Rosene, Anderlik 4,646.98 16630 Business Records Corp. 237.50 16631 C.P. Rail System 150.00 16632 Classic Cleaning 191.70 16633 Commercial Life 71.60 16634 Commissioner of Revenue 634.87 16635 Cy's Uniforms 93.00 16636 Deko Factory Svc 51.73 16637 Delta Dental 706.10 16638 E-Z-Recycling 2,132.58 16639 Rolf Erickson Ent., Inc. 2,654.83 16640 Farmers State Bank of Hamel 2,760.38 16641 Firstar Bank 854.00 16642 Fortin Hardware 82.82 16643 Gary's Diesel 6,107.57 16644 Godfrey's Custom Signs 35.68 16645 Gopher State One Call 31.50 16646 Grainger 80.36 16647 Great West Life 845.00 16648 Hamel Fire Dept. 20,500.00 16649 Henn.Co. Chiefs of Police 40.00 16650 Henn.Co. Treas., Voter Regis 2,105.78 16651 Henn. Co.. Treas., Acctg. Svcs 638.00 16652 Henn. Co. Sheriff 311.20 16653 Henn. Co. Sheriff 5,681.7 16654 Henn. Co. Central Svcs 13.3 16655 Intl Assn., of Chiefs of Police 100.0 16656 Kennedy & Graven 6,147.37 16657 Kustom Signals 1,039.64 16658 Lakeshore Weekly News 22.50 16659 Larson Assoc., Inc 11,212.50 16660 League of Minn. Cities 2,148.00 16661 Long Lake Photo Finishing 43.42 16662 MCPA, C/O Rose Griep, Treas. 30.00 16663 Medica 3,132.26 16664 Metro Council (Treatment Chgs.) 8,806.00 16665 Metro Council (SAC Chgs.) 2,673.00 16666 Midwest Automotive 375.65 16667 Minnegasco 738.66 16668 Minnesota Dept. of Revenue 494.00 16669 Minnesota Dept. of Health 32.00 16670 Minnesota Mutual 108.00 16671 MPCA, Emily Armistead 250.00 16672 Minnesota State Treasurer 1,099.49 16673 Minnesota State Retirement Sys 82.00 16674 Minnesota Women's Press 112.50 16675 MN Chiefs of Police 120.00 16676 Moore Business Products 318.93 16677 MPCA 40.00 16678 North Memorial Medical 16.00 16679 Northern States Power 1,579.70 16680 Office Max 31.94 16681 P.E.R.A. 1,982.78 16682 Randy's Sanitation 80.83 16683 Paul Robinson 571.75 16684 Rockler Industries 6,634.18 16685 SOMA, Inc. 262.50 14 ORDER CHECKS - JANUARY 7, 1997 (CONT'D) 16686 St. Paul Stamp Works 22.64 16687 Star Tribune 330.00 16688 Streicher's 61.36 16689 Tanen & Baertschi 3,730.77 16690 Thorpe Distributing 20,092.51 16691 Twinco Automotive 1,414.52 16692 U.S. West 306.25 16693 Uniforms Unlimited 267.35 16694 University of Minnesota 37.00 16695 Westside Wholesale Tire 104.27 16696 Wright -Hennepin Electric 1,192.70 16697 Wright -Hennepin Security 52.18 $137,241.94 PAYROLL CHECKS - JANUARY 7, 1997 15072 Paul A. Robinson $ 933.34 15073 Steven T. Scherer 1,151.30 15074 Richard R. Rabenort 1,419.06 15075 Michael J. Rouillard 1,114.26 15076 James D. Dillman 1,318.24 15077 Robert P. Dressel 1,278.83 15078 Edgar J. Belland 1,465.89 15079 Cecilia M. Vieau 723.94 15080 Laura L. Sulander 888.24 15081 Sandra L. Larson 821.80 15082 Joseph R. Heyman 1,277.02 15083 Jon D. Priem 851.36 15084 John A. Hamilton 138.52 15085 Ann C. Thies 138.52 15086 John B. Ferris 207.79 15087 Philip K. Zietlow 138.52 15088 James R. Johnson 138.52 15089 Paul A. Robinson 800.71 15090 Steven T. Scherer 478.50 15091 Richard R. Rabenort 1,285.05 15092 Michael J. Rouillard 1,051.03 15093 James D. Dillman 1,175.46 15094 Robert P. Dressel 576.35 15095 Edgar J. Belland 1,281.25 15096 Cecilia M. Vieau 323.09 15097 Ivan W. Dingman 232.73 15098 Laura L. Sulander 455.79 15099 Sandra L. Larson 335.31 15100 Joseph R. Heyman 286.91 15101 Jon D. Priem 977.62 $23,264.95