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MEDINA CITY COUNCIL MEETING MINUTES OF JULY 18, 2000
The City Council of Medina, Minnesota met in regular session on July 18, 2000 at 7:30 p.m. in
the City Hall Chambers. Mayor John Ferris presided.
Members present: Ferris, Hamilton, Johnson, and Smith.
Members absent: Zietlow.
Also present: Police Chief Ed Belland, Attorney Ron Batty, Public Works Director Jim Dillman,
City Engineer Tom Kellogg, Planning & Zoning Administrator Loren Kohnen, and Administrator -
Clerk -Treasurer Paul Robinson.
1. Additions to the Agenda
A. Loren Kohnen wanted to update the City Council on a meeting that he and Jim attended.
Moved by, seconded by, to approve the agenda as amended. Motion passed unanimously.
2. Approval of the July 5, 2000 Regular City Council Meeting Minutes
Moved by Jim Johnson, seconded by Carolyn Smith, to table approval of the minutes. Motion
passed unanimously.
3. Consent Agenda
A. Gambling License and 3.2% Malt Liquor License for Church of St. Anne.
B. Motion Extending Scherer Plat.
Moved by Jim Johnson, seconded by John Hamilton, to approve the consent agenda. 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
There were none.
7. Holy Name Sanitary Sewer Improvement Hearing
Moved by John Hamilton, seconded by Carolyn Smith, to open the improvement hearing.
Motion passed unanimously.
Tom Kellogg said he would give a shortened explanation of the project since it has been
recently explained. He said there was a new map showing the 19 units to be assessed as a
part of this project. He said unit number 18, owned by Holy Name Church, would like to be
excluded from the project, leaving one less unit. He said the plans and specifications have
been ordered, and they have begun to do soil borings. He said residents have probably seen
some activity. He said at the last meeting it was decided to go forward with the gravity sewer
option, which includes a mixture of gravity mains, forcemains, and a lift station. He explained
the process used for installation of the gravity main and an overhead showing the general
location of the project. He said the total project is proposed to cost around $420,000, with 19
lots, that would be $22,105 per unit.
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July 18, 2000
142
Al Whealy of 335 Lakeview Road asked if this was for water and sewer.
Tom Kellogg said the petition was for sewer only. He said the water option had never been
studied.
Whealy asked if there were any big mature trees that would be taken out as a part of this
project.
Tom Kellogg said trees are not currently showing on the map, but that as a part of the survey,
they will be shown. He said they will take trees into consideration, but that it is possible that
some larger trees will need to be taken down as a part of this project.
Loren Kohnen said that the church was not interested in having their home receive sewer
because they were planning to extend the cemetery into that lot at some point.
There was some discussion about the impact of removing one of the lots from the assessment
role.
Carolyn Smith said that would bring each assessment up to $23,333.
There was some discussion about whether or not a 19th unit should be sought or whether or not
the Council should go forward with 18 units or postpone this hearing until a 19th unit could be
found or this issue resolved.
There was talk about increasing the assessment amount. Batty said an additional notice would
need to be sent out for a different hearing in order to increase the assessment amount.
Tom Kellogg said another issue was the timing for the project. Initially they were looking to try
to get the project done this fall. He was concerned that may be too optimistic of a time table
and may increase the cost of the project. He said it may be better to put together the plans and
specifications and bid for the project right now, but allow the construction company to complete
the project by some time next year (e.g. June 15, 2001). He thought this would provide for the
best bid and also allow for more flexibility in the construction of the project, especially, since the
weather getting into October and November can be quite iffy in Minnesota.
Tom Kellogg wanted to reiterate that the cost of the assessment would cover the sewer system,
lift station, the forcemains, and a stub to the property, and that the property owner would need
to provide a connection from the stub to their home and deal with the removal of their septic
systems. He said that what they are learning through their surveying and boring is that it is
going to be difficult to go through the backyards of certain homes and that they will be getting
into some drainfields. He said they may need to bid out hooking up homes as a part of this
project in case of emergency or in case of a situations where they inactivate a drainfield and
need to hook up a system immediately.
Carolyn Smith asked how that would work for different homes with different connection lengths.
Tom Kellogg said that they would bid it on a lump sum basis. He said that would take care of
some of the differences.
There was some discussion about the order of the improvement and assessment. One option
was to postpone the assessment and building the project first. Then come back and assess
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July 18, 2000
143
which would allow the City to determine the exact amount of the assessment. However, the risk
in doing this was that the City may not be able to collect an assessment for the project. By
assessing first based on a proposed cost, the City will know that all the assessments have been
approved.
Ron Batty explained the process for appeals for assessments.
Carolyn Smith said that all of the owners signed a petition to ask for sewer.
Ron Batty said that did not limit their right to appeal the assessment.
There was some additional discussion about the cost of the project.
Tom Kellogg said they estimated the cost based on projects they had seen this year. They
hope they estimated high. However, when the bids come back, if they are too high, it will still be
possible for the City Council to reject all bids.
One of the residents asked if there were any grants available for cities or for homeowners in this
type of predicament where there are some environmental problems where septic systems are
failing.
Tom Kellogg said that he was not aware of any. He said they have been doing a number of
similar large projects like this in the City of Orono without receiving any type of grant.
Tom Kellogg said that it sounds like there are three options: complete the plans and
specifications, then bid the project this fall for completion in June; complete the plans and hold
off entirely; or complete the plans and bid the project to be done this fall.
John Ferris said that in order to keep the cost down, what you are recommending is that we bid
the project right now for the completion in mid summer of 2001.
Brian Raskob, 365 Lakeview, said if the bids are higher, can the City turn this project down.
Yes, that would be a possibility.
Tom Kellogg said the $420,000 estimate was based on there being no costs for easements
through the residents' properties, otherwise that will increase the overall cost of the project.
The consensus of the Council was to move forward with the improvement at this time.
Moved by Jim Johnson, seconded by Carolyn Smith, to end the improvement hearing. Motion
passed unanimously.
8. Holy Name Sanitary Sewer Assessment Hearing
Moved by Carolyn Smith, seconded by John Hamilton, to open the assessment hearing for the
Holy Name Sewer Project. Motion passed unanimously.
John Ferris said that it looks like the issue here is whether or not we are going to have 18 or 19
units and whether or not we need to readvertise to include an additional unit or to subtract one
of the units and raise the unit cost of the assessment.
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144
Ron Batty said it would be possible, if the City can identify a 19th unit, to get a petition and
waiver agreement from that 19th unit and not require a public hearing.
After some additional discussion the Council decided to go ahead with the assessment role as
proposed, and that Staff work with the church to consider an additional 19th unit as a trade or to
go ahead and assess the church.
John Ferris said that seems like the most economical way to proceed is to have the bids go out
this fall for the project to be completed by next June.
Moved by Jim Johnson, seconded by Carolyn Smith, to close the public hearing. Motion
passed unanimously.
Ron Batty said that the City Council would need to now adopt a resolution ordering the
improvement and a resolution adopting the assessment role for either 18 or 19 units.
Moved by Jim Johnson, seconded by Carolyn Smith, to approve Resolution 00-31 ordering the
improvement for the Holy Name Sewer Project. Motion passed unanimously.
Moved by Carolyn Smith, seconded by Jim Johnson, to approve Resolution 00-32 adopting
the assessment role for the 19 units at $22,105.00 per unit. Motion passed unanimously.
8. Public Hearing on the Vacation of the Easements for the Frizzel/Enge Plat
Moved by Jim Johnson, seconded by Carolyn Smith, to open the public hearing. Motion
passed unanimously.
Loren Kohnen said that Enge and Frizzel were present, that basically they are doing a lot line
rearrangement and they would like to vacate the easements from the old lot line and the new
drainage and utility easements will be added as a part of the new plat to be approved later this
month.
Moved by Jim Johnson, seconded by Carolyn Smith, to close the public hearing. Motion
passed unanimously.
Moved by Jim Johnson, seconded by Carolyn Smith, to approve Resolution 00-33 vacating the
easements on the Frizzel/Enge plats as designated. Motion passed unanimously.
9. Amendments to the Comprehensive Plan
Paul Robinson said the City Council gave the Planning Commission a number of amendments
to the Comprehensive Plan to consider. He said the Planning Commission held a public
hearing to address these changes and the memo included in your packets is a summary of their
recommendations and an outline of the issues. The Planning Commission approved most of
the items addressed. There was only one item that came back with a different recommendation
than what was proposed. He said this dealt with the 2020-2040 area.
John Ferris said he would let Jim Johnson speak first on this issue.
Jim Johnson said, basically, removing the 2020-2040 area from the MUSA was his idea. To
make a long story short, he believed that when he was voted in, he was voted in for no growth
and that they(the City Council) had replaced a City Council that was pro growth. He believed
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145
this was one of the first opportunities the Council has had to actually reduce the area that would
ultimately be provided with sewer and thereby reduce future growth in the City. He believed that
was something that he was voted in to do. However, he also has friends that are included in
this area and others he knows, and he did not want to aggravate a whole bunch of people who
have been planning on receiving sewer to their property. He still believes that the City Council
should limit growth in this area, but he is willing to yield on this point, except for the Hennepin
County Public Works property.
John Hamilton said he agreed with Jim Johnson, however, he has always been outspoken that
there would be some growth in the City and that he was not voted in on an absolutely no growth
platform.
After some additional discussion, there was no dissention from the Planning Commission's
recommendations on the remainder of the points.
Moved by Carolyn Smith, seconded by John Hamilton, to approve the recommendations as
brought forward from the Planning Commission for amendments to the comprehensive plan and
to pass these on to the Metropolitan Council. Motion passed unanimously.
10. Lake Names
Paul Robinson said there were three lakes that had various names over the past 100 years. He
said as a part of finalizing the comprehensive plan, he would like to include lake names for
these particular lakes. He said there was documentation provided to the Council from Tom
Turnham concerning Lake 1. He said there seemed to be a pretty convincing argument that it
should be named School Lake. He said with the other two lakes, Lake 2 and Lake 3, there was
a little bit of confusion. If you look back at the old plats, you can tell that the Millers owned a
great deal of property around both lakes. So it would seems appropriate that one of those lakes
be named Miller, however, it is not clear where the name Krieg came from.
The City Council decided that School Lake for Lake 1, Krieg for Lake 2, and Miller for Lake 3,
however, before making final determination, the property owners surrounding those lakes
should be notified that the City Council will be taking this action.
11. Meeting Update
Loren Kohnen said as a part of the Elm Creek Interceptor study area, the Metropolitan Council
is putting together an RFP to hire an engineering firm to work on figuring out what the
Metropolitan Council is going to do about providing sewer service to this area. He said the
ultimate capacity of the Elm Creek interceptor is 14,000,000 gallons and they have 19,000,000
of requests.
Loren Kohnen said this is a process to get all of the cities involved to look at their land use,
transportation, sewer use; all of the facilities that need to be provided.
Loren Kohnen said that one of the problems is the Metropolitan Council's requirement of three
units per acre. He said this is increasing the density and the amount of sewer capacity needed.
He said the Metropolitan Council put themselves into a position where they have to figure out a
solution for a problem they created.
12. Resignation of Officer Kroeger
Ed Belland said Officer Kroeger has taken a position with the City of Plymouth. He said Kroeger
had been an officer for the City of Medina for three years. Belland said that Officer Kroeger was
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146
a great officer. He was very well liked. He said he came from the McLeod County where he
was the firearms trainer and part of the SWAT team. He said Kroeger is looking forward to
getting into an active role with the police department as part of the SWAT team and the
opportunity to advance his career.
Ed Belland said that he would like the Council's approval to move forward with hiring a new
officer to fill this position.
Moved by Jim Johnson, seconded by John Hamilton, to authorize the Police Chief to move
forward with hiring an officer to replace Scott Kroeger. Motion passed unanimously.
13. Safe and Sober
Ed Belland said that Hennepin County was not going to be applying for the Safe and Sober
Grant this year. Therefore, he would like to apply for the grant with the City of Corcoran. He
said that they would like to get together and do 150 hours of traffic enforcement. He said that
they have had a number of traffic complaints. Last year, that was their number one issue. He
would like permission to go forward and have the Council pass a resolution authorizing him to
do so.
Moved by Carolyn Smith, seconded by Jim Johnson, to pass the Resolution 00-34 authorizing
application for the Safe and Sober Grant. Motion passed unanimously.
14. Speed Limits and Weight Restrictions
Ed Belland said as a part of the Willow paving project, there have been a number of inquiries
about regulating the speed and weight on City roads. He said he talked to Dan Brennen of the
State of Minnesota, their speed expert and the one who conducts speed studies. He said that
the speeds set on most of Medina roads was done in 1960. At that time, they were set at 40
mph. He said that there was one done more recently for Hackamore in 1986.
He said part of the speed study includes driving down a road and seeing what speed feels
comfortable. He said if you feel like you are flying down the road and it is uncomfortable, then it
is probably too fast a speed a limit. But, if you feel like you are just crawling, then it is probably
too slow. He said that there is a wide range of speeds. He said that roads are designed for
vehicles and not for pedestrians, and that a roadway is never safe for pedestrians and in
crashes between vehicles and pedestrians, the vehicles always wins.
There was some discussion about the speed study, and that a speed study at this time would
more than likely increase the speed of those roads.
The next issue was the weight limit.
Ed Belland said that generally they look at the engineering standards. If it is a 9-ton weight limit,
then that is what the City road could handle, however, he had also talked to the City of
Minneapolis who does have truck routes and restricts truck traffic on a number of the roads,
unless they are making deliveries specific to a home.
Ed Belland said that the City's ordinance 430 does not address one of the main problems, which
is truck traffic that is originating in the City. He said 430 only addresses truck traffic originating
out of the City and going to a place out of the City which is less of a problem.
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147
Ron Batty said that one of the problems with the ordinance is that it is contradictory. He said
the first provision requires trucks to travel on truck routes and the second provision says trucks
cannot travel on roads that are posted no trucks. Based on this you would not be sure if a road
that was not posted "no trucks" was a truck route. He said there is some internal inconsistency
with this ordinance.
There was significant discussion about truck traffic. The alternatives that were talked about
were modifying the ordinance to eliminate the inconsistencies, not do anything, or to create a
truck route through the City and post all other City roads no trucks. At this time, there was no
consensus for action.
15. Ordinance #320 Changing the Mayor Term from Two to Four Year
Moved by Jim Johnson, seconded by John Hamilton, to approve Ordinance #320 extending the
term of the mayor from two to four years. Voting for: Jim Johnson, John Ferris, John Hamilton.
Voting against: Carolyn Smith. Motion passed.
16. 2001 Budget Process
Paul Robinson said this was a similar schedule to the one that had been followed in previous
years. He said a special meeting needed to be set up for department heads reviews. He
suggested Wednesday the 25th of October.
Moved by Carolyn Smith, seconded by Jim Johnson, to set a special meeting for Wednesday,
October 25, 2000, from 6:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m. for department head reviews. Motion passed
unanimously.
17. Approval for the Goose Roundup in Baker Park
Moved by Jim Johnson, seconded by John Hamilton, to approve the goose round up. Motion
passed unanimously.
18. Approval to Begin Hiring Process for Intern
Moved by John Ferris, seconded by Carolyn Smith, to authorize the Administrator -Clerk -
Treasurer to move forward with the process for hiring an intern. Motion passed unanimously.
19. Conveyance of Tax Forfeited Land
Moved by John Hamilton, seconded by Carolyn Smith, to approve the Resolution 00-35
conveying tax forfeited property. Motion passed unanimously.
20. Discussion on Council Vacancy
There was some discussion about how to go about filling the upcoming Council vacancy. The
consensus of the Council is to go ahead and appoint someone.
There was some discussion as to how to go about this process, whether or not to advertise. In
the end it was decided that each Council Member would bring forth a recommendation for a
Council Member and at the next Council meeting, they would address those candidates and
decide on someone to appoint to John Hamilton's position.
21. Pay the Bills
Moved by Jim Johnson, seconded by Carolyn Smith, to approve the bills, order check numbers
21242-21298 for $57,126.37, and payroll check numbers 16659-16673 for $17,040.82. Motion
passed unanimously.
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148
22. Adjournment
Moved by John Hamilton, seconded by John Ferris, to adjourn the meeting at 10:00 p.m.
Motion passed unanimously.
B. Ferris, Mayor
At
Paul Robinson, City Clerk -Treasurer
Medina City Council Meeting Minutes
July 18, 2000
ORDER CHECKS - JULY 18, 2000
21242 A.T.& T $40.22
21243 ALBINSON $2,021.44
21244 AMERICAN EXPRESS $56.93
21245 ANDERSON, EARL F. $262.26
21246 ASPEN ENVIRONMENTAL $295.77
21247 BARCO MUNICIPAL PRODUCTS $211.94
21248 BRYAN ROCK PRODUCTS $11,954.85
21249 BUDGET PRINTING $315.18
21250 BUFFALO BITUMINOUS $2,150.87
21251 DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC SAFETY $270.00
21252 DILLMAN, JAMES $7.99
21253 ELK RIVER CONCRETE PROD. $2,719.38
21254 ESS BROS. & SONS, INC. $958.50
21255 FORTIN HARDWARE $21.58
21256 GENUINE PARTS $40.61
21257 GLENWOOD INGLEWOOD $93.70
21258 GOPHER STATE ONE CALL $240.00
21259 HAMEL BUILDING CENTER $95.97
21260 HAWKINS WATER TREATMENT GROUP $357.13
21261 HENN COOP. SEED EXCHANGE $89.41
21262 HENNEPIN CO. TREASURER $27.12
21263 HENNEPIN CO.TREAS.,ACCTG.SVCS. $197.00
21264 INTERSTATE BATTERY SYSTEM $103.25
21265 L & R GRADING $1,022.40
21266 LARSON, SANDRA $13.62
21267 LAW ENFORCEMENT LABOR SERVICES $165.00
21268 LAWN DETAILERS $1,520.00
21269 LAWSON PRODUCTS, INC. $111.61
21270 LEAGUE OF MN CITIES, FIN. DEPT $270.00
21271 METRO.COUNCIL ENVIRO. SERVICES $7,868.00
21272 METROPOLITAN COUNCIL WASTEWTR $3,267.00
21273 MIDWEST AUTOMOTIVE $1,028.96
21274 MINN COMM $30.69
21275 MINNESOTA STATE TREASURER $2,009.57
21276 NEXTEL WEST CORP $551.25
21277 NORTH AMERICAN FOODS $25.00
21278 NORTHERN STATES POWER $1,073.47
21279 ORCHARD TRUST CO $980.00
21280 PROTOCOL COMMUNICATIONS, INC. $150.00
21281 RECYCOOL, INC $99.00
21282 REYNOLDS WELDING $22.37
21283 ROBINSON, PAUL $9.30
21284 SKYWAY PUBLICATIONS, INC. $190.00
21285 STREICHER'S $79.90
21286 SUPERIOR FORD $75.25
Medliirna eCCetmnuadi Meeting Minutes
July 1I::,.. aro
150
ORDER CHECKS — JULY 18, 2000 (CONT'D)
21287 TALLEN & BAERTSCHI $6,992.41
21288 THIBAULT ASSOCIATES $1,138.50
21289 TOTAL OFFICE PRODUCTS & SVCS. $215.87
21290 TWIN CITY WATER CLINIC $20.00
21291 U.S. FILTER/WATERPRO $1,249.18
21292 U.S. WEST COMMUNICATIONS $100.42
21293 USPS $500.00
21294 VALVOLINE FLEET SERVICES $106.28
21295-96 VERIZON WIRELESS $226.13
21297 WRIGHT-HENNEPIN ELECTRIC $74.69
21298 P.E.R.A. $3,409.40
Total Checks $57,126.37
PAYROLL CHECKS — JULY 17, 2000
16659 ROBINSON, PAUL A. $1,103.30
16660 SCHERER, STEVEN T. $1,030.26
16661 MCGILL, CHRISTOPHER R. $1,397.27
16662 ROUILLARD, MICHAEL J $939.61
16663 KROEGER, SCOTT W. $1,303.90
16664 DILLMAN, JAMES D. $1,544.26
16665 DRESSEL, ROBERT P. $986.03
16666 BELLAND, EDGAR J. $1,880.62
16667 VIEAU, CECILIA M. $933.03
16668 SULANDER, LAURA L. $1,024.02
16669 LARSON, SANDRA L. $965.99
16670 BOECKER, KEVIN D. $355.53
16671 PRIEM, JON D. $1,170.99
16672 CHRISTENSON, JEREMY L. $1,059.56
16673 NYSTROM, JAMES $1,346.45
Total Checks $17,040.82
Medina City Council Meeting fRplirn+uVles
July 18, 2000