HomeMy Public PortalAbout05/06/97 CCM89
MEDINA CITY COUNCIL MEETING MINUTES OF MAY 6, 1997
The City Council of Medina Minnesota met in regular session on May 6, 1997, at 7:30 p.m. in
the City Hall Council Chambers. Mayor John Ferris presided.
Members present: John Ferris, John Hamilton, Jim Johnson, Phil Zietlow and Ann Thies.
Also present: Public Works Director Jim Dillman, City Engineer Shawn Gustafson, Zoning
Administrator Loren Kohnen, City Attorney Ron Batty, and Clerk -Treasurer Paul Robinson.
1. Additions to the Agenda
A. Highway 55 water main extension.
B. City vehicle use policy.
C. Police statistical reports.
D. Police hiring update.
E. City Hall addition update.
F. Planning and zoning informational items.
Ron Batty said that APT asked to drop the temporary antenna lease from the agenda
Moved by John Hamilton, seconded by Ann Thies to approve the additions and changes to the
agenda. Motion passed unanimously.
2. Minutes
Moved by Ann Thies, seconded by Jim Johnson, to approve the minutes of the regular meeting
of April 15, 1997 as submitted. Motion passed unanimously.
Moved by Phil Zietlow, seconded by John Hamilton, to approve the minutes of the special
meeting of April 22, 1997 as submitted. Motion passed. Jim Johnson and Ann Thies
abstained since they were not at the meeting.
3. Consent Agenda
Moved by Jim Johnson, seconded by Ann Thies to approve the consent agenda as follows:
A. Approval of a Gambling Permit for the American Heart Association for June 16, 1997.
B. Approval for a 3.2 beer/liquor license for the Hamel Athletic Club baseball stadium from
5/7/97 through 9/1/97.
Motion passed unanimously.
4. Park Commission Comments
Hamel Legion Park Summer Work. Jim Dillman said that Tom Gregor could not make to this
meeting. Dillman said he would be addressing the issues in the memo included in the
council's information. Dillman said that grading would begin in the park around June 1, but
before grading begins he would like to install sewer and water lines in the Park. He said that
he would rather do this now instead of later so that the ballfield would not have to be dug up in
the future. He said that the question for the City Council was where the money for this project
should come from. Should it come from the City Park Fund(225) or from the Hamel Park
Fund(226).
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May 6. 1997
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Dillman said the cost of the sewer and water line was estimated to be around $2,500.
Moved by Phil Zietlow, seconded by Jim Johnson, to allocate $2,500 from the Park Fund for
the sewer and water line at the Hamel Legion Park. Motion passed unanimously.
Jim Dillman announced that the upcoming park commission meeting will include a tour of the
parks. This will take place at 6:00 p.m. on May 21.
5. Planning Commission Comments
Anne Heideman, planning commission chair person went through some of the
recommendations that the planning commission had for the ordinances that were to be
discussed later on the agenda.
Meeting at Corcoran City Hall. Anne Heideman said that several interesting items c me up
during the discussions at Corcoran City Hall. One concerned the updating of compre ensive
plans. This discussion was about increasing the frequency of the cycles in which cities update
their plans from 10 years to 3 to 5 year cycles. This would enable cities' comprehensive plans
to better reflect the development occurring in their cities.
Phil Zietlow said that the Metropolitan Council showed that a large portion of Medina would be
sewered by the year 2040. Zietlow said he asked the representative at the meeting if Medina
does not want to be sewered would there be a problem. The representative said that it would
not be a problem, the sewer units could go somewhere else.
NEW BUSINESS
6. Sally and Frank Pernat - 2937 Lakeshore Ave. - Side Yard Set -back Variance.
Loren Kohnen said that the Pernat's were requesting a variance to construct an
entryway/landing. The entryway/landing would be 4 x 8 feet in size. The house is in t e urban
residential zone which requires a 10 foot side yard setback. They are requesting a 8.1 foot
variance to that setback requirement. Kohnen said that if needed, the landing could b=
removed without causing structural damage to the house.
Kohnen said that removal of the landing did not seem nor did not appear
to be necessary since the city owned a 10 foot easement on the other side of
the property line from this landing. This would be a large enough area to
provide access to the rear and side of the property. The hardships to the property for
this variance were:
A. To insure safety. Since the current entryway door swings inward it could potentially block
access to the downstairs. Kohnen mentioned several other safety considerations ith the
current entryway design.
B. Placement of the existing house. The house was close to the property line and did of
allow for easy entry within the setback requirement.
C. The main entryway for the house was on the side of the house.
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Moved by Ann Thies, seconded by Jim Johnson, to approve the variance with the hardships
recommended by the planning commission.
Phil Zietlow asked if safety was really a hardship and would rather not use safety as a
hardship and set a precedent for other variances in the future.
Jim Johnson said that odd lot sizes in the Independence Beach Area had been used for
variance hardship stipulations rather than safety in the past.
Loren Kohnen said that safety was a significant concern in this case.
Ann Thies withdrew the safety hardship from the motion and added the odd lot size.
Motion passed unanimously.
7. Foxberry Farms 4th Addition Final Approval
Loren Kohnen said that he had reviewed all the information and recommended approval of the
Foxberry Farms 4th Addition with the inclusion of the city engineer's recommendations as
outlined in the letter attached to the city council's information packet.
Shawn Gustafson said that one of the issues in his letter was that the homes included on Lot 1
Block 1 and Lot 14 Block 3 were set back a long distance from the street and because of this,
the distance from the fire hydrant to the rear of the property exceeded 250 feet. The distance
was 360' for Lot 1 Block 1 and 330' for Lot 14 Block 3. Gustafson said that he recommend the
city council check with the fire department on how they would propose to fight a fire on these
properties before giving final approval to Foxberry Farms 4th Addition.
Moved by Jim Johnson, seconded by John Hamilton, to direct the city attorney to prepare a
resolution for Final Plat Approval for Foxberry Farms 4th Addition with the contingency that all
of the issues raised in the engineer's letter be addressed before final approval. Motion
passed unanimously.
8. Ordinance Amendments - Telecommunications Towers and Facilities.
Ron Batty said that he had been working with the planning commission to create amendments
to the city's ordinances. This ordinance adds telecommunication towers and facilities as a
conditional use in four of the city's zoning districts. These include the rural industrial(RI), the
urban industrial(UI), rural commercial(RC) and urban commercial(UC) districts.
Batty reviewed other additions to this ordinance: section 828.75 dealt primarily with the health,
safety, and welfare issues;, section 828.77 outlined the applicable definitions needed to
explain this ordinance;, 828.79 outlined the application process;, 828.81 the performance
standards, including the capacity or the capability for co -location, the setback requirements,
camouflaging, and exterior finish of the tower;, and, Section 828.83 outlined maintenance and
other ongoing requirements.
Batty said that approval of this ordinance would remove the city's moratorium on construction
of telecommunications towers within the city.
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May 6, 1997
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Phil Zietlow asked if this ordinance regulated towers on both private and public prope y.
There was some discussion on this issue and Ron Batty said that yes this did regulat towers
on both private and public property. The only exception to this was a federal law prey nting
cities from regulating ham radio antennas.
There was some discussion about whether or not the city could limit the eventual num er of
towers. Ron Batty said that this would probably not be possible. He said that this ordi ance
attempts to be more restrictive in the placement of towers and by limiting it to certain z ning
districts but that they had not looked at how many potential antenna sites would be av ilable
within these districts.
Phil Zietlow asked if the city should then do that now.
Ron Batty said that this would entail a lot of staff work and time.
Jim Dillman said that he believed there were enough existing sites to cover the city an
there would not be a great number of additional communication tower requests.
that
Ron Batty said that the requirements of this ordinance were reasonable and that they ere not
unique to the City of Medina. He recommended that the city council pass this ordinan e.
Moved by Jim Johnson, seconded by Phil Zietlow, to approve the amendment to the ordinance
amending sections 826.49, 826.55, 826.61, and 826.65 and adding a new section 828 75 ET
SEQ. to the Medina Code of ordinances relating to telecommunications towers and fa lities,
and also adding the recommended wording change to the camouflage section as intro uced
by Anne Heideman, the chair of the planning commission. Motion carried unanimo ly.
9. Ordinance Amendments - Land Excavation and Reclamation.
Ron Batty said that this ordinance came from a moratorium that the city passed when working
on the Minnehaha Creek Watershed District's(MCWD) proposed pond. This ordinance was
meant to help the city control the amount fill that is brought into and removed from the city.
Batty said that this ordinance divides regulations into three groups: one - those removi g or
transporting 300 yards or less, no permit would be required for this group; second - tho e
removing or transporting between 300 and 1,000 yards, a permit from the zoning admi istrator
would be required for this group; third - those transporting more than 1,000 yards, app val
from the city council would be required for this group.
Jim Johnson asked if this ordinance would allow wetlands to be filled in.
Ron Batty said that this ordinance would not regulate wetlands. He said another ordin
will be addressing that issue.
nce
Jim Johnson asked about the contents of the fill coming in and if it would be required to be
clean fill.
Ron Batty said that he could add a clean fill requirement into the ordinance.
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May 6, 1997
93
Phil Zietlow asked if damage to roads would be taken into consideration in this ordinance and
if the zoning administrator or city council could be more proactive and require repair of any
damage/wear and tear to roads.
Shawn Gustafson asked if this would apply to the ravine project or other projects the city would
be undertaking.
Ron Batty responded that yes, it probably would.
John Ferris said there were several issues that needed additional attention: clean fill; effect of
transporting material on city's roads; restricting hauling routes; and, designating who would be
responsible for repairing any damage.
Moved by Jim Johnson, seconded by John Hamilton, to table this issue to the next city council
meeting in order to allow the city attorney to respond to the additional concerns raised at the
meeting. Motion passed unanimously.
10. Ordinance Amendments - Subdivision and Zoning Ordinances Regarding Individual
Sewage Treatment Systems.
Ron Batty said this ordinance was being amended in order to respond to changes in the state
law regarding individual septic systems. The main change was the distinction between
conventional and innovative septic systems. Under the previous law conventional systems
were trench systems and innovative systems were mound and other systems. The new law
will put trench and mound systems under a new designation called standard systems and any
other type of system would be considered alternative or experimental. This ordinance uses the
term alternative.
Phil Zietlow said that the amount of acreage required for a mound or conventional septic
system was the most important density control that the city had.
Loren Kohnen said that this draft of the ordinance would be more restrictive than the current
ordinance.
Ron Batty said that this draft gives property owners a limited window to create standard
systems on a two acre lot. After July 1, 1998, only lots that are on record as of that date would
be able to put a standard system on a two acre lot.
Loren Kohnen said that this ordinance would continue the requirement that two septic sites be
available per lot.
Since the council members received this information only a day before the city council meeting
(because of the breakdown of the city's copy machine) the city council discussed tabling action
on this issue until the next meeting.
Moved by Phil Zietlow, seconded by Jim Johnson, to table action on this agenda item until the
next city council meeting. Motion passed unanimously.
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94
11. Setting Up Joint Work Session Between the City Council and Planning Commission
The council discussed a date for a work session between the planning commission ard city
council. The city council decided that Thursday, May 29, would work best. There wa some
discussion about the structure of the meeting.
Loren Kohnen said that he would set up the agenda for the meeting.
Moved by John Ferris, seconded by Phil Zietlow, to set up a joint city council/planning
commission work session for Thursday, May 29 at 6 p.m. Motion passed unanimou ly.
12. Planning and Zoning Informational Items
A. Loren Kohnen said that the newspaper did not publish the notice for a new planning
commission member in time for this meeting. Therefore, this item was postponed until
the next meeting.
B. Loren Kohnen said he would be sending a letter to Kent Johnson about a fence
requirement around his pool. This issue would be coming up in the near future.
C. Loren Kohnen received notice from the City of Orono that they tabled action on the
Spring Hill Golf Course.
D. Hoover's property - Kohnen said that it looks like Hoover is moving stuff from ne
property to another property within the city. He said on Friday the judge gave oover
an additional two weeks to clean up the property. A memo regarding this actin is in
the packet. However, Hoover did sign an assessment waiver which will enable he city
to assess any clean up action taken.
E. Loren Kohnen said he was contacted by a firm who was looking to build a 800,l 00
square foot distribution center that would employ around 1,000 employees.
F. Loren Kohnen said that he was approached by a developer regarding the Cates
property. He was interested in developing apartment units on that property.
13. Highway 55 Water Extension Issue
Shawn Gustafson pointed out on an overhead the placement of the current water main and an
option for a proposed extension along Highway 55 and up 101. This proposal would to p the
TH 55 water main to the Cherry Hill water main and provide city water to the properties n the
corner of Highway 55 and 101.
Gustafson said this proposal included approximately 2,358 feet of 8 inch pipe at a cost of
around $40/foot. The total cost would be around $94,300.
Gustafson said that a request for this extension came from a proposal for a Holiday Station on
the corner of 101 and 55.
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There were a number of questions raised by the city council about the water main extension,
such as whether or not an 8 inch line could handle supplying a multi -family housing complex
on the Cates property, how this fit into the water distribution plan of the city, and how the
extension would be paid for.
John Ferris stated that this area would eventually need water. He said that the council needed
to better define this situation, but it was clear that it would be in the best interest of the city to
loop the water mains here. He said that eventually the city would need to provide water to
these properties. Ferris said that as with other projects those that benefit will need to pay.
Shawn Gustafson asked for further clarification on what additional information the city council
needed.
John Ferris said that they needed more information on the different alternatives and costs for
each alternative.
Jim Johnson asked for clarification on the pipe size and whether or not it needed to be larger
or smaller.
John Ferris added they would like more information on how this project would be financed.
14. Independence Beach Lift Station #1 Bid Results
Jim Dillman said that, as stated in his memo, the low bid for the Independence Lift Station was
$77,980. He said that according to the 1994 Tri-City Agreement with the City of Independence
and the City of Greenfield, the City of Independence will pay 80% of the cost, the City of
Greenfield will be 19% of the cost, and the remaining 1 % would be paid by the City of Medina.
At that time the agreement was made the estimated cost of the Independence Beach Lift
station was $70,000. The current cost with engineering and administration fees is
approximately $20,000 over what was stated in the 1994 agreement.
Jim Dillman asked the city council how they would like him to approach the other two cities
regarding this increase.
Phil Zietlow said that at the time the agreement was made the city gave up sewer units to
Independence and Greenfield to allow them to further develop their cities. For these sewer
units they agreed to pay for the replacement of the lift station.
There was some discussion about whether or not the city should go ahead and replace the lift
station regardless of the contributions from Greenfield and Independence.
Jim Johnson asked how long the bids were good for.
Jim Dillman said 30 days.
Moved by John Ferns, seconded by Ann Thies, to table any action on this bid until the next
meeting. Motion passed unanimously.
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May 6, 1997
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15. Street Light - Maple Street
Jim Dillman said there were two memos included on this issue, one from himself, and one from
council member Hamilton.
Hamilton said that in October he talked with several people in this area and a majority of them
said that they would like to have a light on the corner of Maple by the park.
Ann Thies said that the cost of the light would be approximately $1,500 and asked how much
per month it would cost to operate the light.
Dillman said that it cost approximately $ 11 a month to pay for the one street Tight.
Phil Zietlow said that the parks are not used at night and therefore did not always need to be
lit.
Jim Johnson said that the lighting at Hunter Park was used for security and said that he could
not remember ever having a request by residents for a light in a city park.
Phil Zietlow said that he would be okay with the project but that the people who benefited by
having the street light would have to pay for the street light.
Moved by John Hamilton, seconded by Jim Johnson, to place a street light on the corner of
County Road 19 and Maple Street.
John Ferris suggested that this issue be referred to the park commission in order for them to
determine whether or not it was reasonable to provide lighting at this park.
John Hamilton withdrew his motion.
Moved by John Ferris, seconded by Phil Zietlow to send this issue to the Park Comm' ion for
their recommendation. Motion passed unanimously.
16. Clean Up Day Discussion
Jim Dillman stated that the clean up day went very well and thanked all those who volunteered
and participated in the clean up day event.
John Hamilton added that he was very impressed with the turn out and participation of the
city's residents.
17. City Vehicle Use Policy
John Hamilton said at the League of Minnesota Cities conference it was recommended that all
city council's create a policy for use of city vehicles. He suggested setting up a work session
in order to discuss some of these policies.
Ron Batty said that he had been working on such a policy.
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May 6, 1997
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18. Police Statistical Reports
John Hamilton asked if he could get a fleet report from the police department. He said he
would like a list of all the squad cars, their ages, and the number of miles they have.
Rick Rabenort said that he could provide this to the city council.
Hamilton asked if the city council could receive the CAD reports on a more regular basis -
monthly was suggested.
Rick Rabenort said that yes, they could. Rabenort asked if it would be okay if they got the
monthly reports from the Leaders program instead. He said that one of the reasons he had
dropped some of the reports is that he was concerned about the privacy of information
contained in them.
John Hamilton asked if the police department planned to put together a 1996 annual report.
Rick Rabenort said that they were and that they usually do that in June.
19. Hiring Update
Rick Rabenort said that they had a positive candidate. His name was Scott Kroger. He said
that they had gone through a number of people in his background investigation and that Ed
and Jon were working very hard and doing very thorough background him and on other
finalists. They should be done soon. When they are finished, and if they receive a positive
report on Scott Kroger, the department will be offering him the position.
Phil Zietlow added that at that point they would do a physical and psychological examination
before bringing him to the city council for final approval.
20. Building Addition Update
Phil Zietlow said that the lowest bid for the building was $282,000 which was over $40,000
higher than what the city council had approved.
There was some discussion on whether or not they could find a way to do this building
cheaper. Zietlow said they would work out additional alternatives for lowering the cost for city
hall addition and come back to the next city council meeting with whether or not they should
accept the bids or once again revise the addition requirements in order to lower the cost to the
range that was budgeted by the city council.
There was some discussion about if the City Council was to go out for bid again they may want
to revise or renew their relationship with the current architect or consider looking for a new
architect.
21. Executive Session
The city council went into executive session at 10:55 p.m. to discuss potential litigation
regarding the Roach litigation and some aspects of the Sprint antenna lease.
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May 6, 1997
98
Moved by Ann Thies, seconded by Phil Zietlow, to come out of executive session at 11:07 p.m.
Motion passed unanimously.
22. Sprint Antenna
Ron Batty said that they were having difficulties in finalizing the antenna lease with Sprint on
the Willow Drive Water Tower. That water tower was built on a permanent easement.
Therefore, the city did not own the property beneath the water tower. This created some
problems with the lease to Sprint.
There was some discussion about the city's position on this issue and it was determin d that
the city would approach Sprint with the option of continuing the lease as stated. If the would
like the lease modified they would have to bring that issue back to the city council.
Ron Batty was to contact Sprint to discuss this issue.
23. Approval to Pay the Bills
Moved by Ann Thies, seconded by John Hamilton, to approve order check numbers 1 062-
17108 for$63,326.95 and payroll check numbers 15199-15224 for$19,126.08. Moti n
passed unanimously.
24. Adjourn
Moved by John Ferris, seconded by Ann Thies, to adjourn the meeting at 11:20 p.m. Motion
passed unanimously.
John B. Ferris, Mayor
Atte
Paul Robinson, Clerk -Treasurer
Medina City Council Meeting Minutes
May 6, 1997
99
ORDER CHECKS - MAY 06, 1997
17062 Air Touch Cellular $ 84.29
17063 American Linen 42.72
17064 Classic Cleaning 191.70
17065 Construction Bulletin 193.20
17066 Continuing Education, CCJLE 570.00
17067 Delta Dental 599.25
17068 Ditter, Inc. 13.37
17069 E-Z-Recycling. 2,132.58
17070 Rolf Erickson Ent., Inc 2,605.92
17071 Firstar Bank 453.00
17072 Gary's Diesel Service 274.32
17073 General Security Services 263.58
17074 Grafix Shoppe 138.13
17075 Great West Life 1,015.00
17076 Hamel TV, Inc. 189.75
17077 HealthPartners 2,076.61
17078 Hennepin Co. Treas 117.00
17079 Henry & Assoc 652.40
17080 Humane Society of Wright Co. 42.50
17081 Kennedy & Graven 8,481.51
17082 Kern, DeWenter & Viere 2,550.32
17083 Kustom Signals 1,039.6
17084 Lake Business Supply 29.5
17085 Sandra Larson 161.41
17086 Long Lake Fire Dept. 3,010.88
17087 Lucent Technologies 326.90
17088 Medica 2,771.36
17089 Medina Police Dept. -Petty Cash 89.39
17090 Metro Council Wastewater Services 8,806.00
17091 Minnegasco 186.02
17092 Minnesota Mutual 193.00
17093 Minnesota State Retirement 117.00
17094 State of Minnesota - BCA 270.00
17095 Northern States Power 3,078.10
17096 City of Orono 95.00
17097 P.E. R.A. 3,848.14
17098 Pearson Brothers 2,175.00
17099 Pommer Co. 11.75
17100 Postmaster 500.00
17101 Michael Rouillard 19.15
17102 P.E.R.A. 1,750.00
17103 Tri State Pump 339.42
17104 Twin City Water Clinic 20.00
1
Medina City Council Meeting Minutes
May 6, 1997
100
ORDER CHECKS - MAY 6, 1997 (PAGE 2)
17105 U.S. West 433.23
17106 Unum 25.75
17107 Cec Vieau 11.25
17108 Ziegler, Inc. 11.331.89
$63,326.95
PAYROLL CHECKS - MAY 6, 1997
15199 Steven T. Scherer 987.60
15200 Richard R. Rabenort 1,510.05
15201 Michael J. Rouillard 1,050.56
15202 James D. Dillman 1,188.24
15203 Robert P. Dressel 1,092.98
15204 Edgar J. Belland 1,322.66
15205 Cecilia M. Vieau 784.10
15206 Laura L. Sulander 890.73
15207 Sandra L. Larson 836.77
15208 Jon D. Priem 1,008.06
15209 John A. Hamilton 138.52
15210 Ann C. Thies 138.52
15211 John B. Ferris 207.79
15212 Philip K. Zietlow 138.52
15213 James R. Johnson 138.52
15214 Paul A. Robinson • 324.91
15215 Steven T. Scherer 449.85
15216 Richard R. Rabenort 1,235.05
15217 Michael J. Rouillard 1,025.46
15218 James D. Dillman 1,013.54
15219 Robert P. Dressel 480.28
15220 Edgar J. Belland 1,189.53
15221 Cecilia M. Vieau 295.66
15222 Laura L. Sulander 462.42
15223 Sandra L. Larson 323.40
15224 John D. Priem 892.36
$19,126.08
Medina City Council Meeting Minutes
May 6, 1997