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MEDINA CITY COUNCIL MEETING MINUTES OF JUNE 16, 1998
The City Council of Medina, Minnesota met in regular session on June 16, 1998 at 7:30 p.m. in
the City Hall Chambers. Mayor John Ferris presided.
Members present: Ferris, Zietlow, Hamilton, Johnson, and Thies.
Members absent: None.
Also present: Attorney Ron Batty, Public Works Director Jim Dillman, Zoning Administrator
Loren Kohnen, City Engineer Glenn Cook, and City Clerk -Treasurer Paul Robinson.
1. Approval of the Agenda
Items taken off agenda:
A. Items 6B, 8B4, 9 and 10 were pulled from the agenda.
Items added to agenda:
A. Lake Minnetonka Communications Commission Franchise Agreement update.
B. Information on the Schubert sign.
C. Discussion about Willow and Highway 55 intersection.
D. Bids for sale of vehicle.
E. Approval of Medina Road seal coating bids.
Moved by Jim Johnson, seconded by Phil Zietlow, to approve the agenda as amended.
Motion passed unanimously.
2. Approval of the Minutes from June 2, 1998
There was a correction on page 5, number 15, seventh paragraph, remove "of" after "hearing",
and Ron Batty was not present.
Moved by John Hamilton, seconded by Jim Johnson, to approve the minutes as amended.
Motion passed unanimously.
3. Consent Agenda
A. Approval of 1997 Audit Report.
Moved by Ann Thies, seconded by Jim Johnson, to approve the consent agenda as presented.
Motion passed unanimously.
4. Comments from Residents in Attendance on Items Not on the Agenda
There were none.
5. Park Commission Comments
There were none.
6. Planning Commission Comments
Bruce Workman said that the planning commission was continuing to work on the
comprehensive plan and that he would be representing the planning commission's intent on
the moratorium agenda item.
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June 16, 1998
132
7. Flagship Utility Easement Vacation Public Hearing
Loren Kohnen said that the utility easements on the Flagship property needed to be vacated
and rearranged.
Moved by Jim Johnson, seconded by Ann Thies, to open the public hearing at 7:40 p.m.
Motion passed unanimously.
There were no comments.
Moved by Jim Johnson, seconded by John Hamilton, to close the public hearing at 7:41 p.m.
Motion passed unanimously.
8. Resolution 98-28 Vacating Utility and Drainage Easements
Moved by Phil Zietlow, seconded by Ann Thies, to approve resolution 98-28, Vacating Utility
and Drainage Easements. Motion passed unanimously.
OLD BUSINESS
9. Alpine Farms Pumping Agreement
Loren Kohnen said that a copy of the new agreement was included in the council packet. This
was an informational item. He said he and Ron Batty worked on this and incorporated the
changes made at the previous meeting.
10. Tree Program
Jim Dillman handed out a memo recapping the city's tree program. He said that they were still
working on receiving a $2,500 grant for the program. He said he would recommend next year
reducing the number of residents involved in the planting portion of the tree program from 15
to 10.
There was some discussion about how many of the trees survived.
Jim Dillman said that those who took the program to heart had a better success ratio than
those who didn't.
Jim Dillman said that they made 116 truckload deliveries of wood chip mulch to 64 residents.
11. Mohawk Drive
Ron Batty said all of the property owners on Mohawk Drive except for the Cavanaugh property
signed petition and waiver and agreements. He said Mr. Cavanaugh believes he has 10
parcels based on his original deeds. However, the county records show only three parcels.
Ron Batty said the city can go forward with the project and can deal with the allocation of this
assessment after the fact. Batty said he didn't think the city would have a problem showing
benefit in the amount of $20,000.
There was some discussion about the subdivision of the property.
Jim Dillman said they will work with Mr Cavanaugh. If it doesn't work out the city will have to
hold an assessment hearing for this property.
Ron Batty said he and the public works director would continue to work on this issue.
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June 16, 1998
133
12. Seal Coating Bids for Medina Road
Glenn Cook said he recommend the low bidder, Astech Corp., with a bid of $25,188.
Moved by Phil Zietlow, seconded Ann Thies, to approve the seal coating bid. Motion passed
unanimously.
13. Police Exterior Improvements
Jim Dillman said they're moving along on this project. The flagpoles are on the way. There
was some discussion about when the project would be done. Jim Dillman said in the next few
weeks.
14. Lake Minnetonka Communication Commission Update
Ann Thies said the LMCC was renegotiating their franchise agreement with Triax Cable. Thies
said she lobbied for decreasing the density requirement for extending cable service but she did
not prevail. It remains at 30 homes per mile. However, there is an agreement to provide
access to city halls and other public places. Since the nearest cable run is quite a distance
from the city hall, she asked the council if they would consider working with the commission to
provide cable access to city hall by sharing a portion of the cost.
There was some discussion about what benefits cable access could provide to the city.
Paul Robinson said it could give the city a very fast Internet connection.
There was some discussion about where the closest cable access was. It was either by
Medina Morningside or along County Road 24.
15. Parks and Park Maintenance
Jim Dillman said he brought this issue to the city council rather than the park commission since
there were significant financial implications to maintaining Hamel Legion Park.
Jim Johnson said currently there were seven acres, and when the park is complete there will
be 30-40 acres to maintain at the park.
There was some discussion about the level of service that would be expected.
Ann Thies said what needs to happen is to get people together to work on the issue.
Jim Dillman said this would be an issue to address as a part of the 1999 budget.
Ann Thies said Jim Dillman recommended in his memo that Jim Johnson and John Hamilton
work on this issue.
Phil Zietlow said that the city could hire a student for $3,000 a summer to maintain the park.
He said there still would be other costs such as another lawn mower for $20,000.
Jim Johnson said we need to address how the park will be maintained before it becomes an
issue.
The council designated Jim Johnson and John Hamilton to work on a committee addressing
the maintenance of Hamel Legion Park.
Medina City Council Meeting Minutes
June 16, 1998
134
16. Sign Ordinance
Ron Batty said he received a copy of the sign ordinance a month ago. He said this ordinance
had been discussed by the planning commission on a couple of occasions. He said they
wanted some clarification or direction from the city council on a couple of the provisions
contained in the ordinance. However, when he looked through the minutes he could not
decipher exactly which provisions needed to be addressed.
John Hamilton said that flashing signs, except those that show time and date or advertised
notice of civic or community event, would not be allowed. Hamilton asked if the existing signs
would be grandfathered in. He asked if the issue was to restrict all flashing signs.
Ann Thies said she would like to not see Medina look like the 494 strip. She said that she liked
smaller signs like the McDonald's sign in Long Lake. She said that smaller and fewer signs
would limit the clutter you see when driving down roads, especially highways. That's what she
would like the sign ordinance to accomplish.
Ron Batty talked about billboards and other large signs and issues pertaining to free standing
signs. He said currently gas stations are allowed to have two signs as are shopping centers
and industrial parks.
Batty said one issue that received a lot of discussion at the planning commission meeting was
whether or not to include or even allow interior signs that could be viewed or seen from the
exterior, such as a sign painted on the inside of a window. He said in the current draft of the
ordinance this area would be considered a part of the total sign square footage allowed on a
property.
There was some discussion about whether or not to include signs painted on the inside of a
window as a part of the total square footage for signs on a property.
John Hamilton said he did not think this was a problem. He said if they have glass they should
have the right to place any sign they would like on the inside of their glass.
Phil Zietlow said that the city restricts businesses in a number of ways. The city does not allow
sheet metal buildings, it requires block buildings. Including signs on the inside of windows as a
part of the total square footage would just be another restriction.
Jim Johnson said he was also concerned about how the ordinance addressed temporary
banners and other temporary signs.
There was some discussion about how this regulation would be enforced.
Ron Batty said that currently a 100 square feet of sign are allowed, that includes the exterior
box and any interior signage that you could see from the outside.
Phil Zietlow said that he would want the same square footage of sign for everybody.
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June 16, 1998
135
John Ferris said it would be better for everybody to have access to the same square footage
and then let them to decide where to put it, whether it is an outside sign, inside sign, viewed
from the outside.
John Hamilton asked if a sign saying open and closed would be counted as a part of the 100
square footage of sign allowed.
Jim Johnson was concerned about completely eliminating the ability to have signs on the
inside facing out.
There was additional discussion about the square footage allowed for signage. The general
consensus of the council was to keep the amount of square sign footage available to each
business the same, but to allow some flexibility for interior signs as well as exterior permanent
signs. The council directed the zoning administrator to bring this back to the planning
commission.
17. Tour Request
Loren Kohnen said Susie Mackay would like to organize a visit to a clustered housing
development in Lake Elmo for the planning commission.
There was some discussion about who would like to attend.
Ann Thies said she would like to attend. A number of other council members said they would
not like to attend or would not be able to attend.
Ron Batty said he was concerned that potentially a quorum of planning commissioners and
council member could visit this development. He said that in order not to be in violation of the
open meeting law the commission would have to go in a bus so that there would be access for
residents and others to attend.
After some discussion the council decided not to allocate money towards a bus tour since less
than a quorum of planning commissioners and council members wanted to go.
18. Moratorium Request on Elwell Property
Loren Kohnen said the planning commission wanted the council to place a moratorium on the
Elwell property to allow them to study the property in more depth so that development doesn't
occur before the comprehensive plan was completed. He said that usually this is done when
pending development occurs and his recommendation was to leave it zoned as Rural
Residential. He said this would be restrictive enough and any development proposal would
probably be done using a planned unit development(PUD).
There was some discussion.
Bruce Workman said the planning commission was concerned about other uses, such as a
church, that may be developed on the property. He said since this property was one of the
nicest pieces of property in the city of Medina, the commission would like the opportunity to
consider a different type of zoning for the property or additional performance standards before
the property is developed.
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June 16, 1998
136
Phil Zietlow said if there was a moratorium, it would have to be a moratorium on all building
and all zoning changes. He said that on tonight's agenda there are 2-3 requests for zoning
changes for businesses.
Bruce Workman said the risk is if a use that is currently permitted is proposed, the planning
commission and council would have limited control over the development of the property.
There was some discussion about whether or not a church would locate there. The council
said that there is no way to eliminate churches from locating on that property.
Jim Johnson said that it's not the city's responsibility to make the property sellable by allocating
additional sewer units to it. He advocated keeping the current zoning on the property and not
placing a moratorium on the property.
John Ferris said if the property were developed using a PUD, the city could negotiate how the
development was to occur.
Bruce Workman said he believed that people had a right to develop their property.
Ann Thies said this property is owned by the county and not by a private party.
Bruce Workman said there was some discussion about clustering homes on the property.
Phil Zietlow said that clustering could be done today with a PUD.
John Ferris asked if there was any support for a moratorium.
There was no support for passing a moratorium.
19. Resolution 98-30 Approving Final Plat for Regency Estates
The amount required for park dedication was corrected to $5,000 from $500.
Phil Zietlow asked if there were any hardships listed for the variance. He said that during the
discussion there were some hardships discussed.
Ron Batty said that he would change the $500 to $5,000 and add language for the hardships.
Moved by Jim Johnson, seconded by John Hamilton, to approve Resolution 98-30 approving
the final plat with the above corrections and additions. Motion passed unanimously.
20. Rezoning Ordinance #300 Rural Commercial/Industrial to Urban
Commercial/Industrial for Kimmes Properties
Moved by Jim Johnson, seconded by Phil Zietlow, to approve the rezoning. Motion passed
unanimously.
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June 16, 1998
137
21. Resolution 98-31 Approving Final Plat for Kimmes Properties, LLP
Moved by Jim Johnson, seconded by Phil Zietlow, to approve resolution 98-31. Motion
passed unanimously.
22. Resolution 98-32 Approving Conditional Use Permit for Kimmes Properties,
LLP/Flaqship Technologies
Moved by Jim Johnson, seconded by John Hamilton to approve resolution 98-32. Motion
passed unanimously.
23. Liquor License Renewals
Paul Robinson said he received license information from all of the license holders except
Baker National Golf Course. He said he expected to receive their information soon.
There was some discussion about the fees the city charged and the number of licenses. The
city clerk was directed to add this issue to the 1999 budget discussion.
Moved by Jim Johnson, seconded Ann Thies, to approve the liquor licenses as proposed.
Motion passed unanimously.
24. Liquor License for the Holiday Station and North American Liquors
Paul Robinson said Joe Francis applied for liquor licenses for the Holiday Station and the
North American Liquor store. He said the police department had done a thorough background
investigation and found no reason to deny this application.
Moved by Ann Thies, seconded by Jim Johnson, to approve the liquor licenses. Ann Thies,
Jim Johnson, John Hamilton, John Ferris voted in favor. Phil Zietlow was opposed saying
there were too many liquor licenses in the city. Motion passed.
25. Intern Position
Paul Robinson said included in the 1998 budget was $4,000 for an intern position to help with
general administrative tasks, but primarily to help work on scanning in documents and
organizing city records. He said scanning in minutes and resolutions would make city
information more accessible, easier to search, and available for the city's web site. He said he
had checked around to see what other interns were being paid in the area and currently $10
an hour seemed to be to going rate. He said he would like to advertise between $8 and $10
based on experience. He said it would not affect the total amount of dollars budgeted it would
just give the city a fewer hours of time to work with if the city paid more.
Robinson said in order to effectively scan the city's documents he would need another
computer to use as a scanning workstation. This could also be used as an additional
computer for public to access city information. He proposed two options for a computer
purchase costing between $1,000 and $2,500.
He said currently $5,500 was included in this year's budget for replacing the city's server.
John Hamilton suggested that the server be purchased in the beginning of 1999 when NT 5.0
is available, and that the city use the money budgeted for the server this year for computer.
Medina City Council Meeting Minutes
June 16, 1998
138
There was some discussion about the amount of time involved with mapping, what exactly the
city was going to hire the intern for, if the city needed to hire an intern.
John Ferris directed the city clerk to take another look at this issue and come back with a more
specific recommendation for council action.
26. Bids for Sale of Vehicle
Since Ed Belland was not available, it was moved by Phil Zietlow, seconded by Jim Johnson,
to table this issue until the next city council meeting. Motion passed unanimously.
27. Willow and TH55 Intersection
There was some discussion about problems at the intersection of TH55 and Willow Drive.
Loren Kohnen said he and the public works director were setting up a meeting about the
intersection with businesses in the area.
28. Discussion about Billboard
Loren Kohnen said he had an engineer determine the extent of the damage to the Schubert
billboard. He said the engineer determined that it was, indeed, damaged in excess of 50%.
There was some discussion about the sign. Two people from Schubert and their attorney
believed that it was not damaged more than 50%.
There was some additional discussion about the sign and the letter.
Ron Batty believed the letter from the engineer needed to include language that better related
to the city's ordinances. He said the beginning of the letter makes it sound like the sign was
repairable. However, the engineer's conclusion stated that it was more than 50% damaged.
Batty said he would like to have the engineer rewrite the letter addressing the areas of the
city's ordinance that the sign is currently in violation of.
Loren Kohnen said he and the city attorney would review this issue and come back to the city
council.
29. Approval of the Bills
Moved by Ann Thies, seconded by Jim Johnson to pay the bills, order check # 18508-18569
for $96,913.24 and payroll checks #15662-15680 for $14,153.09.
John B. Ferris, Mayor
Paul Robinson, City Clerk -Treasurer
Medina City Council Meeting Minutes
June 16, 1998
ORDER CHECKS —JUNE 16, 1998
18508-10 Voided Checks $0.00
18511 Great West Life 950.00
18512 Minnesota Mutual 205.00
18513 Minnesota State Retirement 130.00
18514 Air Touch Cellular 180.22
18515 American Express 67.77
18516 Barton Sand & Gravel 293.04
18517 Big A Auto Parts 3.60
18518 Bryan Rock Products 800.51
18519 Budget Printing 274.19
18520 Connelly Ind. Electric 271.45
18521 Construction Market Data 188.50
18522 Culligan 64.22
18523 Dept. of Natural Resources 260.00
18524 Egan Oil Co. 537.25 t
18525 Elm Creek Watershed 2,912.90
18526 Fortin Hardware 98.60
18527 G & H Distributing 67.85
18528 Genuine Parts 55.90
18529 Glenwood Inglewood 57.65
18530 Hamel Building Center 720.77,
18531 Hamel Fire Dept 17,105.0
18532 Hawkins Water Treatment Group 1,900.32
18533 Healthpartners 2,260.87
18534 Hennepin County Support 595.00
18535 Kern, DeWenter & Viere 2,275.00
18536 Lake Business Supply 13.18
18537 Lakeshore Weekly News 131.25
18538 Law Enforcement Labor 66.00
18539 Lawn King, Inc. 470.73
18540 Long Lake Fire 3,290.50
18541 Long Lake Power Equipment 33.31
18542 Long Lake Tractor 89.61
18543 Loretto Fire Dept 9,140.00
18544 Maple Plain Fire 815.00
18545 Metro West Inspection 8,484.80
18546 Metro Council Env. Svc.(Treatment Charges) 8,096.25
18547 Metro Council (SAC Charges) 5,940.00
18548 Midwest Asphalt corp. 160.00
18549 Midwest Automotive 447.93
18550 Minn Comm 30.69
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Medina City Council Meeting Minutes
June 16, 1998
140
ORDER CHECKS — JUNE 16, 1998 (CONT'D)
18551 Minnegasco 15.98
18552 Mothers Motors/Loretto Towing 19.91
18553 Northern States 953.64
18554 Northern Waterworks 13,206.49
18555 Old Tyme Henn. Co. Fair 75.00
18556 P.E. R.A. 2,966.95
18557 Pioneer/Sarah Creek Watershed 908.00
18558 Prolawns Assoc. on the Lake 2,180.00
18559 Quill Corp 260.70
18560 Southern Minnesota Const. Co. 2,700.00
18561 Tallen & Baertschi 1,814.99
18562 Twin City Water Clinic 40.00
18563 U.S. Filter/Waterpro 587.67
18564 U.S. West Communications 34.60
18565 Uniforms Unlimited 134.95
18566 Warning Lites 73.95
18567 Wright/Hennepin Electric 1,261.23
18568 Wright/Hennepin Security Services 76.14
18569 Zep Manufacturing 118.18
$ 96,913.24
PAYROLL CHECKS —JUNE 8, 1998
15662 John A. Hamilton $ 138.52
15663 Ann C. Thies 138.52
15664 John B. Ferris 207.79
15665 Philip K. Zietlow 138.52
15666 James R. Johnson 138.52
15667 Paul A. Robinson 925.76
15668 Steven T. Scherer 961.06
15669 Christopher R. McGill 868.82
15670 Michael J. Rouillard 1,167.15
15671 Scott W. Kroeger 1,102.34
15672 James D. Dillman 1,115.60
15673 Robert P. Dressel 991.47
15674 Edgar J. Belland 1,493.29
15675 Martha C. Lundell 240.07
15676 Cecilia M. Vieau 717.32
15677 Laura L. Sulander 930.97
15678 Sandra L. Larson 709.21
15679 Jon D. Priem 1,177.46
15680 Jeremy L. Christenson 990.70
$14,153.09
Medina City Council Meeting Minutes
June 16, 1998