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HomeMy Public PortalAbout08/18/98 CCM171 MEDINA CITY COUNCIL MEETING MINUTES OF AUGUST 18, 1998 The City Council of Medina, Minnesota met in regular session on August 18, 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: Police Chief Ed Belland, 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 A. Items A2 and 3 were pulled from the agenda. B. Discussion on zip code issue. C. Discussion about an experimental septic system D. Schubert billboard Moved by Jim Johnson, seconded by Phil Zietlow, to approve the agenda as amended. Motion passed unanimously. 2. Approval of the Minutes from August 4, 1998 Moved by Ann Thies, seconded by Phil Zietlow to approve the minutes as presented. Motion passed unanimously. 3. Consent Agenda A. Approval of 1998 Election Judges. Moved by Jim Johnson, seconded by John Hamilton, 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 Elizabeth Weir said they were still working on the comprehensive plan. She said the commission recently had a public meeting that went very well. 7. Public Hearing to Vacate a Drainage and Utility Easement, 760 Tower Drive Moved by John Hamilton, seconded by Ann Thies to open the public hearing. Motion passed unanimously. There were no comments. Moved by Phil Zietlow, seconded by Ann Thies, to close the public hearing. Motion passed unanimously. 8. Resolution 98- 46 Approving Easement Vacation for 760 Tower Drive Moved by Jim Johnson, seconded by Ann Thies to approve resolution 98-46 vacating the easement at 760 Tower Drive. Motion passed unanimously. Medina City Council Meeting Minutes August 18, 1998 172 9. Final Plat Approval for Lance Beaulieu Loren Kohnen said the city council approved the preliminary plat two years ago and now Mr. Beaulieu would like to complete that plat. Moved by Jim Johnson, seconded by Phil Zietlow, to authorize the city attorney to draft a resolution approving the final plat. Motion passed unanimously. 10. Experimental Septic System — 255 Lakeview Road Loren Kohnen said that the homeowners of 255 Lakeview Road would like to remodel their home. Loren Kohnen said their current septic system is a non -conforming system. The owner's would like to construct a mound system away from the lake but one that would be considered an experimental system since it would use fill soils. John Ferris asked if it would work. Loren Kohnen said it has a good chance of working. Phil Zietlow asked what happens if it doesn't work. Loren Kohnen said the city would have a hold harmless agreement with the residents. The system would be checked once ever three months if it failed they would have to install holding tanks. Phil Zietlow asked if the residents knew that at some point there may be sewer provided to these properties. Loren Kohnen said they did know that. There was some discussion about the size of the home and the number of bedrooms. Loren Kohnen said that he recommended the city council approve an experimental septic system. Ron Batty said in this instance city council approval is not required. There was some discussion about the timetable for providing sewer to this area. Sewer would be provided once residents requested sewer which may not be soon. There was some discussion about the number of sewer units that would be allocated to this area from Plymouth, and whether or not it made sense to provide sewer sooner rather than later to protect the lake. Ann Thies was concerned that residents were being required to spend between $10,000 and $15,000 to replace non -conforming septic sites when they may not be failing, just non- conforming. She believed this law often made people fix septic systems that were not broken. No council action was necessary. 11. Schubert Billboard Loren Kohnen said he received a letter from Diane Hoey, of the Schubert Sign Company, and her attorney stating they would not be able to comply with the 10 day removal order and would Medina City Council Meeting Minutes August 18, 1998 173 like their attorney to meet with the city's attorney to discuss some of the issues related to the removal of the billboard. She asked if the council would postpone the removal order until mid September. Ron Batty said this seemed like a reasonable request and said he would like some time to review the letter before meeting with their attorney. The consensus of the council to was to wait until mid September. 12. Equipment Purchase Jim Dillman said he included a memo concerning a truck purchase in the council's packets. He said the city used to have two trucks, a single axle truck and a tandem truck. Now they have two tandems and a single axle. He said this has worked out really well for the city and helps them with winter snow removal. He said he would like to replace the older tandem axle truck purchased by the city in 1972. He said if they ordered it now, it would be delivered some time next year. It would then be available for the next winter season. Ann Thies asked if there was enough money in the equipment fund for this and if there was a schedule for equipment replacement. Paul Robinson said there was around $130,000 in the equipment fund. Jim Dillman said there was no schedule for equipment replacement. Phil Zietlow said that money had been earmarked for equipment replacement from previous budget surpluses. Moved by Jim Johnson, seconded John Hamilton, to approve the tandem axle truck purchase with the money from the equipment fund. Motion passed unanimously. 13. Wetland Mitigation Glenn Cook said the city has been working with the Wessins to enlarge a wetland on their property. As a part of the Wessins allowing the city to enlarge wetlands on their property, they would like the small triangular piece of property along Highway 55 which the city owns. The city would like to conduct this swap for wetland banking credits to offset construction projects in the city. He said that in order to determine the value of this property exchange the city needs to hire an appraiser to determine the value of the Wessin property and the city property. Phil Zietlow asked if the cost of the appraisal was going to be added into the total cost of completing this project. Glenn Cook said that yes, it would. John Ferris asked if the city council needed to do anything. Glenn Cook said to authorize hiring an appraiser. Medina City Council Meeting Minutes August 18, 1998 174 Moved by Jim Johnson, seconded by Phil Zietlow, to approve hiring an appraiser for between $1,000 and $1,500. Motion passed unanimously. 14. Wolsfeld Cabin Jim Dillman said the West Hennepin Pioneers Museum has secured enough funds to complete this project. He said tomorrow they will be putting in a concrete slab and by mid September the log cabin should be built. 15. Resident Request for Sewer Loren Kohnen said the resident requested this item be pulled from the agenda. 16. Resolution 98-47 Approving Industrial Development Revenue Refunding Bond Series 1998 for Temroc Metals Ron Batty said currently the bond interest rates are lower and Temroc Metals would like to refund their current bonds as they had done in 1992 to take advantage of the lower rates. He said basically the city is a conduit for these bonds. The city's name allows them to secure a lower interest rate, but this in no way costs the city anything, nor does it obligate the city in any way. Ron Batty said this is a no risk proposition to the city. There was some discussion about what industrial development bonds were. Paul Robinson said basically they are an economic development tool that cities can offer to businesses to allow them to secure bonds at a lower interest rate than what they could receive on the open market. Moved by Jim Johnson, seconded by Ann Thies, to approve the resolution 98-47 approving industrial development revenue bonds, series 1998 for Temroc Metals. Motion passed unanimously. 17. Discussion on Zip Code Issue John Hamilton said he added this item to the agenda to discuss the issue raised in the Friday report. Paul Robinson said he received a call from Paddy Theis, a resident at the Independence Beach area, who was concerned about the use of the city name Medina for the for the zip code 55340 instead of Hamel. He said that Mr. Theis found that confusing and would like it changed back. Robinson said that the reason they changed Hamel to Medina on the city's utility bills and letterhead was to designate the actual city in which the residents reside and limit the confusion about exactly what city the 55340 zip code was in. Phil Zietlow said that he often receives mail with Medina listed on it with his zip code which is actually a Wayzata zip code. Ann Thies said she also receives mail with Medina listed on it in her zip code which is a Long Lake zip code. Phil Zietlow said the zip code number is what the mail people are looking for. Medina City Council Meeting Minutes August 18, 1998 175 John Hamilton said that it makes sense to just leave it as Medina. The overall consensus was to leave Medina 55340 on the city's letterhead, utility bills, and other correspondence. 18. Police Defibrillator Ed Belland said he applied to the state for a grant to purchase a defibrillator. Two days later he received a call from Rick Hatcher of the Loretto Fire Department saying that they would like to donate their defibrillator, which they've used only four to five times, to the City of Medina. UMC, a business out of Corcoran, donated a one year service contract worth $450 to the city of Medina. Belland said he and the mayor accepted the donation. He said he will be setting up a training session with North Memorial. Belland said this is the same defibrillator that saved Mr. VanBeusekom's life in the city of Loretto. Jim Johnson asked if the new defibrillator Loretto was buying was better or just different. Ed Belland said that the new ones were smaller. He said they still would like to get another defibrillator for the second squad. Ann Thies said that she thought that was great. John Ferris also thought this was good. 19. Emergency Preparedness Ordinance Ed Belland said Ron Batty reviewed the ordinance. He said the cities of Mound and Shorewood, also represented by Kennedy & Graven, had this ordinance reviewed. Belland listed a number of cities who had already passed the emergency preparedness ordinance. There was some additional discussion about the ordinance. Ed Belland said that a draft for approval will be on the next city council agenda. 20. Letter about the Girl Hit by Lightning in the Friday Report Jim Johnson said he arrived on the scene of the lightning strike shortly after it happened. He was impressed with the response time from everybody: the city's police department, Plymouth's department, and the Hamel Fire Department. He said when he got there, Mrs. Bendell and the victim's aunt were performing CPR. He said he was impressed with Mrs. Bendell, who was a registered nurse in the area. He said that she really helped and she was the one responsible for saving the girl's life. There was some discussion about the number of people who participated in saving the girl's life. Medina City Council Meeting Minutes August 18, 1998 176 Phil Zietlow said to make sure to keep an accurate account of what took place during this incident. Ed Belland said that he would like to set up a time and a place to formally recognize the people involved. 21. Cop's Grant John Ferris said it was going to be difficult to resolve this year's budget until this issue has been decided. John Ferris said this issue requires a council decision tonight. Basically the COPS grant would add another officer to the police force and subsidize that officer for the next three years. At the end of three years, the city would have to pay for the entire salary of the officer and make a good faith effort to retain this position. He said that most of the council members know his position on this. He believes that the city needs another officer. He said the question is do other council members believe that another officer on the force is needed. Ed Belland said adding another officer was not going to be cheap and will eventually end up costing the city money in order to have guaranteed 24-hour service. He said that ever since June 1st when they changed their schedule to cover 24 hours, there have been a number of positive comments from residents about the work the police department is doing. He said that adding another officer would give him more flexibility in scheduling officers. It would also allow one of the officers to perform investigations three days a week. He said that other cities which have investigators increased their number of crime solved from 10-20% to 50%. He said that this would provide residents with a much better service. It may not get the person their items back or their money back, but it will bring resolution to a number of cases. Ed Belland said that adding another officer also gives him more flexibility in scheduling. Currently if an officer is sick, often times that portion of the schedule is not filled, or he has to call somebody in to work overtime, or he needs to work it himself. Ed said that adding another officer basically gives the city a solid base service which includes 24-hour coverage. He said this would remain a no frills service. There was some discussion about when Mike Rouillard may retire. Ed Belland said that Rouillard may retire some time after he turns 55, which is in the next three years. He said if the city council were to approve going forward with this grant, they would start the hiring process some time in late September and hire the officer to start January 1, 1999. Phil Zietlow asked John Hamilton what the police budget was in the city of Corcoran. Hamilton said total expenditures were around $280,000, $40,000 of which were pass through, for 18 hours a day coverage. Phil Zietlow asked how many people lived in Corcoran. John Hamilton said that the population is approximately 6,000. Phil Zietlow said that brings the cost per person to around $46 per person, as compared to $150 to per person in the city of Medina. He wondered how so many cities get by with far less cost. Medina City Council Meeting Minutes August 18, 1998 177 John Hamilton said there are other examples that show a higher per capita cost such as the Deephaven Police Department who have 7 officers and a budget of around $550,000 budget, and the West Hennepin Public Safety which budgets $850,000 and serves around 5,000 people. He said these figures do not include all of the pass through costs, but in show a per capita cost that is more similar to Medina. Jim Johnson said in three years we have a police officer coming up for retirement. If at that point the city doesn't believe they need an additional officer, they wouldn't necessarily have to replace Mike Rouillard's position. Phil Zietlow said he doesn't feel people in Medina have a sense of fear. He has never had any calls that there is a problem with police service and that residents want 24-hour coverage versus 20 or 18 hour coverage. There was some discussion about the Community Service Officer(CSO) position. Jim Johnson said the COPS grant would enable the city to add an additional officer at much less cost than it would typically cost the city. He said that the overall increase to the budget was around 1-2%. He does not see a problem with adding an additional officer at this point. Phil Zietlow said if you take an officer's salary of 1,840 hours a year and multiply it times $50, that equals $92,000 per officer. John Ferris said that adding an additional officer would not cost the city $92,000. He said you would have to separate out the incremental costs. There was a lot of discussion about the amount of incremental costs. They took the base salary and added FICA and PERA and health insurance and uniforms, the portion of the car that would be used and came up with an estimate of $50,000 to $75,000 a year for an officer, depending on the increases for an officer which can bump it up higher. John Ferris said that at some point in the future, that number needs to be better refined. John Hamilton said that residents expect a good police department. He said that since Medina borders Plymouth and Maple Grove, a lot of people pass through the city of Medina and even if Medina's population is small, the populations around Medina won't be small and that means that criminals will be passing through the city and if Medina gets a reputation for not having coverage, we may end up having more problems without adequate coverage. Jim Johnson said he compared the amount of police officers per population, he said typically its around 1-2% of the overall population, in Plymouth 1.5% of 50,000 would be around 75 officers, so relating that to the city of Medina, with close to 4,000 population, that would be between 6-7 officers, so based on that type of projection, asking for an additional officer or having 7 officers doesn't seem outrageous for the city of Medina. Moved by Jim Johnson, seconded by John Hamilton, to approve adding an additional officer for the 1999 budget, taking advantage of the COPS grant. Those in favor: Thies, Johnson, Ferris and Hamilton. Those opposed: Zietlow. Motion passed. 22. 1999 Budget Medina City Council Meeting Minutes August 18, 1998 178 Paul Robinson said that included in the packet was the first draft of the 1999 budget. He said this budget proposes the lowest levy increase since 1994. He said this was a very modest budget, there were not a lot of frills. He said that outlined in the memo were a few of the larger dollar items that were being requested. In the public works department there were some road issues and in the police department there was the year 2000 bug issue. There was some discussion about the road improvements. Jim Dillman said he put an extra $20,000 in this year's budget to cover the cost of Meadowwoods Trail. Phil Zietlow said this project would be split 50/50 between the residents and the city. $20,000 would make up the city's half. Jim Dillman said he believed that the city council had made a mistake when making that policy. Currently, when through roads, like Holy Name, Tamarack, need an overlay, the city pays for 100%, back roads like Oakview where there's local traffic only, he believed should be assessed at 100%. However, the city council decided to split that with the residents 50/50. John Hamilton asked if there was a plan for when roads would be paved and if the city was scheduling a certain road at a certain time. Jim Dillman said he used to put that together, but because of changing circumstances, they didn't follow that schedule and now they work with paving issues on a year to year basis. There was some additional discussion about the budget. John Ferris said this would go back to the finance committee to refine a bit further and see if they could reduce the levy amount a little further. 23. Pay the Bills Moved by Jim Johnson, seconded by John Hamilton, to approve the bills, order check numbers 18730-18775 for $82,094.08 and payroll check numbers 15751-15765 for $13,181.21. John Hamilton had a question about B & B Products. He said the police department should consider using Streicher's for supplies and service of the police vehicles. He believed they provide excellent service, they're much closer to the city and they are probably lower priced. Motion passed unanimously. 24. Adjournment Moved by Ann Thies, seconded by Jim Johnson, to adjourn the meeting at 8:50 p.m. Motion passed unanimously. John B. Ferris, Mayor Att Paul Robinson, City Clerk -Treasurer Medina City Council Meeting Minutes August 18, 1998 179 ORDER CHECKS - AUGUST 18, 1998 18730 Air Touch Cellular $ 45.15 18731 American Express 131.00 18732 B & B Products 863.11 18733 Bryan Rock Products 4,411.51 18734 Budget Printing 230.15 (..,- - 18735 Camas - Shiely Division 15 213.52 * cuicilej 18736 Case Credit Corp. 820.14 18737 Chicago Title 6,310.64 18738 Comp USA 520.36 18739 Culligan 64.22 18740 Davies Water Equipment 522 5 18741 Elk River Concrete 842.62 18742 Fortin Hardware 684.96 18743 Geosynthetics 4,120.83 18744 Glenwood Inglewood 83.00 18745 Gopher State One Call 124.25 18746 Great West Life 901.00 18747 Hamel Building Center 73.44 18749 Hennepin County Support 18748 Hawkins Water Treatment 40.00 595.00 18750 Hoffman Filter Service 50.00 18751 Interfaith Outreach 3,000.00 18752 Kuechele Underground 3,420.00 18753 L. I. C.A. 1,600.00 18754 Law Enforcement Labor Svc. 66.00 18755 Long Lake Tractor & Equipment 351.77 18756 Medina Police Dept. - Petty Cash 89.21 18757 Medtox Labs 46.00 18758 Midwest Automotive 601.82 18759 Minn Comm 30.69 18760 Minnesota Mutual 375.00 18761 Minnesota State Retirement 205.00 18762 Modern Office 51.37 18763 North American Foods 400.00 18764 North Memorial Medical Center 490.00 18765 Northern States Power 975.76 18766 Office Max, Inc. 51.94 18767 P. E. R.A. 2,861.33 18768 Tallen & Baertschi 1,898.86 18769 Thorpe Distributing 17,838.71 18770 Tri State Pump 127.80 18771 Twinco Automotive Warehouse 7,326.55 18772 U.S. West Communications 34.60 Medina City Council Meeting Minutes August 18, 1998 180 ORDER CHECKS -, AUGUST 18, 1998 (CONT'D) 18773 Warning Lites 172.78 18774 West Henn. Co. Pioneers Assn. 500.00 18775 P. E. R.A. 2, 931.45 $82, 094.08 PAYROLL CHECKS — AUGUST 17, 1998 15751 Paul A. Robinson 925.76 15752 Steven T. Scherer 969.67 15753 Christopher R. McGill 977.69 15754 Michael J. Rouillard 673.50 15755 Scott W. Kroeger 959.60 15756 James D. Dillman 1,182.62 15757 Robert P. Dressel 989.01 15758 Edgar J. Belland 1,454.79 15759 Martha C. Lundell 296.10 15760 Cecilia M. Vieau 709.17 15761 Laura L. Sulander 930.97 15762 Sandra L. Larson 709.21 15763 Jon D. Priem 1,089.59 15764 Jeremy L. Christenson 816.21 15765 Scott W. Raines 497.32 $13,181.21 Medina City Council Meeting Minutes August 18, 1998