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HomeMy Public PortalAbout06/01/99 CCM95 MEDINA CITY COUNCIL MEETING MINUTES OF JUNE 1, 1999 The City Council of Medina, Minnesota met in regular session on June 1, 1999 at 7:30 p.m. in the City Hall Chambers. Mayor John Ferris presided. Members present: Ferris, Zietlow, Hamilton, and Johnson. Members absent: Smith. Also present: Police Chief Ed Belland, Attorney Ron Batty, Public Works Director Jim Dillman, City Engineer Glenn Cook, Planning & Zoning Administrator Loren Kohnen, and City Clerk - Treasurer Paul Robinson. 1. Additions to the Agenda A. Update on a police department appeal. Moved by John Hamilton, seconded by Phil Zietlow, to approve the agenda as amended. Motion passed unanimously. 2. Approval of the Minutes from May 18, 1999 Moved by Phil Zietlow, seconded by Jim Johnson, to approve the minutes of May 18, 1999 as presented. Motion passed. John Ferris abstained. 3. Approval of the Consent Agenda A. Resolution 99-33 Granting Setback Variances to Harvey Andersen for a Deck Replacement at 3121 Lakeshore Avenue. B. Resolution 99-34 Granting Variance to Tom Turnham for the Property at 1512 Deerhill Road. C. Resolution 99-35 Granting Preliminary Plat Approval to Gary Kiri D. Resolution 99-36 Granting Preliminary Approval to a Plat for Maureen Connolly and Beth and Finn Haug. Moved by Phil Zietlow, seconded by John Hamilton, to approve the consent agenda. Motion passed unanimously. 4. Comments from Residents in Attendance on Items Not on the Agenda Ramona Steadman of 210 Cherry Hill Trail said she had spoken several times with Jim Dillman as well as the city council about paving Evergreen Road. She said when their homes were built, 1990 through 1999, the residents paid an assessment to have Evergreen Road paved. She said each year that she comes to the city council they say that they will pave it the next year and then each year it is postponed. Jim Dillman said that has been true. He said things keep coming up that postpone this project. This year it was the construction of the Rolling Green Country Club. He said next year should be the year this project is done. There was some discussion about the original assessment. Fifty-five of the properties were assessed $620 and 25 were charged $ 670 for a total assessment of $50,350. Jim Dillman thought the assessment was to be divided equally between the Cherry Hill Development, the golf course and the Elwell property. Medina City Council Meeting Minutes June 1, 1999 96 Ramona Steadman said the residents of Cherry Hill are willing to do what is fair. They just want the road to be paved and since the city is discussing other road projects tonight she wanted to make sure that the city did not forget about Evergreen Road. Steadman said she wanted to leave on a positive note. She said she was happy to see the city promoting family events such as the Wolsfeld cabin social event. She thought it was going to be a good event and thanked the city and others for their efforts. 5. Park Commission Comments There were none. 6. Planning Commission Comments There were none. 7. Chippewa Road Public Hearing John Ferris opened up the public hearing. He said he was sorry he missed the previous public hearing. He said because he had missed the last public hearing he prepared some thoughts to let everybody know where he stands on this issue. Ferris said when the city council was first considering this issue, Polaris Industries had cancelled their groundbreaking because they were concerned about the paving of Chippewa Road. He said at the next city council meeting, the city council voted to make the paving of Chippewa Road their number one priority. Based on this action, Polaris rescheduled their groundbreaking and commenced construction. He said he attended the groundbreaking and reaffirmed the city's support for paving of the road. He said it is a poor road that needs upgrading with or without Polaris. He said the cost of this improvement was primarily being born by the city and Polaris Industries. He said a signal light at Willow is expected to result from the city taking this initiative to improve Chippewa and close accesses to Highway 55. He said that improvement to the eastern portion of Chippewa Road would be very costly and not necessary at this time. John Ferris gave an example of a similar assessment that he went through when Tamarack was paved. Ferris said fairness is always a concern in the city. However, the city has made an obligation to support all of its inhabitants whether they are commercial or residential. Ferris said this road improvement needed to be done and was desirable from public policy standpoint. The cost allocation is fair, given that the residents are bearing the smallest portion of the cost. He said that the city should commit to this project and get it done as we said we would. Moved by John Hamilton, seconded by Phil Zietlow, to open up the public hearing. Motion passed unanimously. Glenn Cook updated the council on information concerning the feasibility of paving Chippewa from Mohawk east to Arrowhead and Arrowhead south to TH55. He said the cost of the project is dependent upon the amount of fill required for the low areas of the road. Their initial cost estimate was $416,000. He said one of the issues of paving Chippewa east is that it would lower the warrants for a signal light at Willow. This would make it less likely for a signal to be Medina City Council Meeting Minutes June 1, 1999 97 installed by the state at that intersection. He said the signal project had been discussed with the businesses at that intersection during the past year. Bruce Workman asked what warrants the signal currently met. Glenn Cook said they recently put together a signal justification report (SJR) which showed that it met warrants two and nine or eleven. Two being a major warrant and nine or eleven being a minor one. He said these projections were based upon traffic flows. If Chippewa east was built, the traffic flows at that intersection would be reduced and not justify a light. Cook said when traffic on gravel roads has exceeded 300 cars per day the city has used that as a standard for paving them. He said based upon the additional traffic from Polaris, Chippewa Road would then exceed the 300 cars per day standard. Glenn Cook said they looked at three options. One was to do nothing. That would require Polaris to create a turn lane at Mohawk and may create a bigger safety concern at the intersection of Mohawk and TH 55. The second option was upgrading Chippewa Road all the way over to Arrowhead. He said this would not change the traffic issues on the eastern portion of Chippewa since W.G. Anderson and M & P Utilities would go across Chippewa to Arrowhead keeping the amount of traffic on Chippewa the same or slightly increasing it. The third option was to do what the city originally proposed which was pave Chippewa west of Mohawk to Willow. This would give the city its best opportunity for a signal at Willow and TH 55. Jim Dillman said the cost of residential assessments if the entire project was done would be $5,500 per residential unit, an increase of $1,000 from the current proposal. Bruce Workman, 2212 Chippewa Road, said he had been following this project very closely. He said he had several key points. He said none of the residents on the road have asked for the road, have complained about the road, would like the road or want to pay for the road. Workman said the city has always been fair with its residents and he is not aware of any road that was paved where none of the residents wanted the road paved. He was also not aware that there had been a vote guaranteeing this road for Polaris. Ferris said that no one guaranteed the road, however, the city did make this road its number one priority. Workman said the estimated tax revenue for the city from Polaris was between $50,000 and $60,000. He said the city should use that additional money to solve the problem of paving the road to the east. He said as a planning commission member he did not speak against the Polaris project. However, he is on the other side of the fence now and wants the city to be fair and to consider the option of paving Chippewa east and to the west of Mohawk. Glenn Cook said the city does plan to eventually pave that section of Chippewa. Bruce Workman said that paving Chippewa Road to the west of Mohawk does not guarantee that a signal light will be placed at the intersection of Willow and TH 55. Jim Johnson said that the residents along Chippewa have always been aware that the property to the south of them was zoned commercial/industrial. He said the paving of this road is being done because of the development of commercial property. However, it also benefits the residents. Medina City Council Meeting Minutes June 1, 1999 98 Phil Zietlow said the basis for paving Chippewa Road to the east or west of Mohawk depends on whether or not it made sense to do that. It may or may not. There was significant amount of discussion about the potential for the stop light at Willow and TH 55. Glenn Cook said that the comprehensive plan has always called for a stop light at this intersection. He said recently they met with businesses at that intersection including, QX, Temroc, Walter G. Anderson, and others about their concerns and their desire to have a stop light at that intersection. He said that if Chippewa was paved all the way over to Arrowhead, it would probably be a long time, 10 years or more, before a stop light would be placed at that intersection. He said this would not benefit those businesses on the south side of TH 55. John Hamilton said it sounds like option number one is not an option. Doing nothing is not something that the city council is willing to do. The other two options would be paving Chippewa west from Mohawk to Willow or paving Chippewa all the way over to Arrowhead. Marlene Scherber, 2120 Chippewa Road, said it was unfair that residents are caught up in a commercial development problem. Bruce Workman said the residents did not create this problem, the commercial development did and it should be their problem to rectify. Jim Johnson said that the residents are only paying a residential road assessment. The majority of the burden of the roadway is not being placed on the residents. Someone asked how much it would cost for the signal and related intersection improvements at Willow and TH 55. Glenn Cook said that initial estimates were around $600,000. Bruce Workman asked how long it would be until the stoplight would be in place. Glenn Cook said that they would apply in July 2000 for funding in 2001. There was some additional discussion about when the city would know or have a better idea. Glenn Cook said they may have some additional information about whether or not it will be feasible next year based on MnDOT's review of their signal justification request for this year. Bill Cavanaugh, 2015 Aquila Ave., Golden Valley, said that he was not interested in paying for the road. He said he did not want the road to the east at this time. All he wanted was the road to be upgraded to the point where it was when he first purchased the property. Rayburn Roy, 1952 Chippewa Road, expressed his concerns about the road project and asked how much he would be assessed. Cook said that he would be assessed for one residential unit. Medina City Council Meeting Minutes June 1, 1999 99 He said he had 80 acres and was concerned that he would only get one residential assessment. He said that the road was only a two -rod road and that the city would need to acquire more right of way in order to do the project. After some further discussion, the council and residents in attendance discussed the importance of MnDOT's reaction to the signal justification request. If MnDOT felt the request was not likely to be approved with in the next few years then more consideration should would be given to paving Chippewa Road east to Arrowhead. Moved by John Hamilton, seconded by Phil Zietlow, to continue the public hearing on July 6, 1999 with the purpose of hearing more about MnDOT's reaction to the signal justification request. Motion passed unanimously. 8. Foxberry Farms 6th Addition Loren Kohnen said that staff had reviewed the final plat for Foxberry 6th and recommended approval. He said there are seventeen lots with three outlots. Marc Anderson, Lundgren Brothers, said this was the last addition to the Foxberry Farm development. He said this addition was a little different than the other additions. They minimized the impact along the border between the residential and commercial zones in two ways: acquiring a 30-foot easement from the Juberts for the installation of a berm, increasing the setback of the homes abutting the commercial/industrial area. John Hamilton asked if Lundgren would let new prospective buyers know that the property to the soi.i}h was zoned for commercial use. Marc Anderson said they go to the "nth" degree to notify people about these types of conditions. He said that new buyers sign a disclaimer that says that they realize the land is guided for commercial/industrial use. Bill Ciora, 915 Sunset Court, said when they signed that disclaimer it was with 20 other documents at closing and included in that disclaimer was a stipulation that the Rolling Green Golf Course could one day be rezoned. He said the disclaimers were not as obvious as Mr. Anderson is letting council believe. Marc Anderson said as they are working on any development they try to make the disclaimers clearer and better as they go along. He said for example in the new disclaimer they are making sure that residents know that Lundgren Bros. does not control the level of Lake Medina. Phil Zietlow asked how high the berm would be between the commercial/industrial property and the residential property. Marc Anderson said that it would vary between 16 feet and 3 to 4 feet and would be around 30 feet wide. Jim Dillman said that there is going to be a little bit different arrangement for street lights in the 6th Addition. Batty said that could be worked out as a part of the developer agreement. Medina City Council Meeting Minutes June 1, 1999 100 Moved by Jim Johnson, seconded by Phil Zietlow, to direct the city attorney to draft a resolution approving the final plat for Foxberry Farms 6th Addition. Motion passed unanimously. 9. Squad Replacement Ed Belland said currently they have three squad cars that are being used for patrol on a daily basis. Of these, two are approaching 100,000 miles. He said that both of these squads are reaching a point where major repairs will be needed. He said that Superior has four extra 1999 models on order that would be available in June. He said after 2000 the cost will be approximately 1 % higher than it is currently. He said he would like to replace the squads when they are around 100,000. He said the last squad car, with a cracked windshield, was sold to a taxi company for $3,800. He said squads with approximately 100,000 miles on them usually sell between $4,000 and $5,000. Ed said that he had spoken with John Hamilton before the meeting and John had expressed concerns about the lack of a capital improvement program. He said he would be developing one but basically they would need to replace two squads in 1999, one squad in the year 2000 and two squads every year thereafter. Moved by Jim Johnson, seconded by John Hamilton to approve the replacement of the two squads when practical, with funds from the equipment fund. Motion passed unanimously. 10. Appeal Ed Belland said that Steve Tallen asked him a while ago whether or not he should proceed with an appeal concerning a plea bargain agreement that was reversed by a judge. Belland said a gentleman was caught speeding and driving on a suspended license. He said Tallen had made a plea bargain with the defendant that he would plead guilty to the driving after suspension and the city would drop the speeding charge. When this was brought before the judge the judge allowed the person to plead guilty to the speeding and dropped the driving after suspension charge. Steve Tallen appealed the judge's ruling based on the fact that the prosecutor is the one that should conduct the plea negotiations and not the judge. Tallen saw this incident as having greater implications. Ed Belland said at the time he told Tallen to proceed, the defendant was not represented by an attorney and Tallen believed he could proceed with a fairly low cost appeal. However, since that time the defendant hired an attorney. This increased the cost of this appeal to around $2,000. After some discussion the consensus of the city council was to ask Tallen not to proceed with this appeal. They thought it would not have a large impact on the judicial system. Belland was to contact Tallen to see if withdrawing the appeal was still possible. 11. Special Use Permit for Inn Kahoots Moved by Jim Johnson, seconded by Phil Zietlow, to approve the special use permit. Motion passed unanimously. Medina City Council Meeting Minutes June 1, 1999 101 12. Resolution 99-37 Authorizing City Clerk -Treasurer to Invest Moved by Jim Johnson, seconded by John Hamilton, to approve resolution. Motion passed unanimously. 13. 1999 Budget Paul Robinson passed out copies of the 1999 Budget. Robinson said this budget document included the final 1998 numbers. He said that this would give the city council additional time to review the 1998 figures before the audit presentation at the next council meeting. He said he wanted to touch on a few issues in the 1998 year end numbers. Robinson said there was significant increase in court fines based on the additional activity from the police department. He said 1997 court fines were $47,000 and last year's were $91,346 an increase of $44,346. Robinson said another item that may catch the council's attention was the increase in building permits. He said total building permits related revenue was around $300,000. He said this also increased the expenditure for inspections. Robinson pointed out a couple of additional items. He said the building inspection line item was wrong. He said the total cost for building inspections in 1998 was $167,285. 14. Resolution 99-38 for Participation in the Logis Health Care Group Moved by John Hamilton, seconded by Phil Zietlow, to approve the resolution. Motion passed unanimously. 15. Purchase of the Computer Server Paul Robinson said he ordered a new computer server for the city. $6,500 had been budgeted for the server. He said is was going to cost a couple hundred dollars less than that. He said this will allow them to install a number of the year 2000 compliant programs and should increase the speed of the city's network as well as take care of a number of the backup and security issues. 16. Resolution 99-39 for Participation in the CDBG Program Moved by Jim Johnson, seconded by John Ferris, to approve the resolution. Motion passed unanimously. 17. Approval to Pay the Bills Moved by Phil Zietlow, seconded by John Hamilton, to approve the bills, order check numbers 19720-19759 for $92,121.37, and payroll check numbers 16120-16140 for $15, 454.75. Motion passed unanimously. 18. Adjournment Moved by Jim Johnson, seconded by John Hamilton, to adjourn the meeting at 9:56 p.m. Motion passed unanimously. fiv?O . Ferris, ayor Att Paul Robinson, City Clerk -Treasurer Medina City Council Meeting Minutes June 1, 1999 102 (THIS PAGE LEFT BLANK INTENTIONALLY) Medina City Council Meeting Minutes June 1, 1999 19720 19721 19722 19723 19724 19725 19726 19727 19728-29 19730 19731 19732 19733 19734 19735 19736 19737 19738 19739 19740 19741 19742 19743 19744 19745 19746 19747 19748 19749 19750 19751 19752 19753 19754 19755 19756 19757 19758 19759 ORDER CHECKS — JUNE 1, 1999 Great West Life Assurance $ 882.00 Minnesota Mutual 275.00 Minnesota State Treasurer 155.00 P.E. R.A. 3,320.35 Canadian Pacific 1,000.00 All Steel Products 5,896.37 fl-A3^ ° S Earl F. Anderson 292.62 Biffs, Inc. 572.90 Bonestroo, Rosene, Anderlik 13,706.42 Bryan Rock 8,364.21 David Christianson 600.00 Classic Cleaning 191.70 Delta Dental 805.65 ) E-Z-Recycling 2,473.02 Rolf Erickson Enterprises, Inc 2,930.78 Gopher State One Call 176.75 Government Training Service. 107.00 Hamel Fire Lawson Products Legran Homes. Loretto Fire Maple Plain Fire Dept. MCFOA Medica Choice 6,855.17 Metrocall 58.05 Minnegasco 33.69 Northern States Power 1,911.18 Northwest Suburban Chamber 400.00 Randy's Sanitation 2,127.99 Schmidt Curb Co. 1,609.50 Steve Schmit Plumbing 65.00 Streicher's 462.81 ,,A ���II.'1.. Tight Rope 2,800.00f'^f^klf1" U.S. West Communications 493.62 Unum 77.50 USPS 500.00 Cec Vieau 62.71 Wright -Hennepin Electric 1,229.51 Zep Manufacturing 94.16 17,960.25 v I" 151.46 ��.j of-t ° 3,195.75 9,384.50 838.75 60.00 $ 92,121.37 %'"`' 0 Medina City Council Meeting Minutes June 1,1999 104 PAYROLL CHECKS — MAY 24, 1999 16120 John A. Hamilton 138.52 16121 Carolyn A. Smith 138.52 16122 John B. Ferris 207.79 16123 Philip K. Zietlow 138.52 16124 James R. Johnson 138.52 16125 Paul A. Robinson 940.39 16126 Steven T. Scherer 1,032.60 16127 Christopher R. McGill 953.66 16128 Michael J. Rouillard 611.00 16129 Scott W. Kroeger 1,126.75 16130 James D. Dil!man 1,279.52 16131 Robert P. Dressel 940.55 16132 Edgar J. Be!land 1,679.79 16133 Martha C. Lundell 221.15 16134 Cecilia M. Vieau 847.39 16135 Laura L. Sulander 981.66 16136 Sandra L. Larson 787.71 16137 Jon D. Priem 1,172.99 16138 Judd J. Harper 243.35 16139 Jeremy L. Christenson 835.59 16140 James Nystrom 1,038.78 $15,454.75 Medina City Council Meeting Minutes June 1, 1999