Loading...
HomeMy Public PortalAbout10/17/00 CCM219 MEDINA CITY COUNCIL MEETING MINUTES OF OCTOBER 17, 2000 The City Council of Medina, Minnesota, met in regular session on October 17, 2000, at 7:30 p.m. in the City Hall Chambers. Mayor John Ferris presided. Members present: Ferris, Zietlow, Johnson, Smith, and Lane at 8:01 p.m. Members absent: None. Also present: Police Chief Ed Belland, Attorney Ron Batty, Public Works Director Jim Dillman, City Engineer Tom Kellogg, Planning & Zoning Administrator Loren Kohnen, Administrator -Clerk -Treasurer Paul Robinson. 1. Additions to the Agenda A. Approval to hire intern. B. Comments on Park Commission issues. C. To place item E before Item D. D. Comments regarding the department head review meeting next Wednesday. Moved by Phil Zietlow, seconded by Carolyn Smith, to approve the agenda as amended. Motion passed unanimously. 2. Approval of the August 15, August 22, September 5, and September 11 City Council Meetings There was one request to add the guide plan map to the August 22, 2000 minutes for the file. Moved by Carolyn Smith, seconded by Phil Zietlow, to approve the minutes as presented with the one change. Motion passed unanimously. 3. Approval of the Consent Agenda A. Resolution 00-49 Granting Setback Variances To Harvey Andersen For A Deck Replacement At 3121 Lakeshore Avenue. B. Resolution 00-50 Granting Setback Variance To Eric Strommen And Judith Strommen For A Deck/Porch Replacement At 2235 Co. Rd. 24 C. Resolution 00-51 Electing To Continue Participating In The Local Housing Incentives Account Program Under The Metropolitan Livable Communities Act Moved by Jim Johnson, seconded by Phil Zietlow 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 Jim Dillman said there would be a Park Commission meeting with the Cherry Hill residents regarding a potential park along Evergreen Road, at 7:00 p.m. this Wednesday. Medina City Council Meeting Minutes October 17, 2000 220 Phil Zietlow said he had one other additional item: in 1990 the City conducted a survey which was developed by an Eagle Scout. He said this survey was used quite extensively by the City thereafter to make decisions on a number of different issues regarding parks and other issues. He said that Andrew Gustafson, a current Eagle Scout, is interested in doing a similar project and would like to know if the City would be willing to have him conduct the survey and fund its production, which would cost somewhere between $600 and $1,200. Andrew Gustafson gave some comments regarding what he would like to do. It was decided that Mr. Gustafson look into examples of other cities' surveys and discuss potential questions with each of the department heads and bring back a draft copy to the City Council. Moved by Carolyn Smith, seconded by Phil Zietlow, to approve the expenditure of $600 to $1,200 for a survey. Motion passed unanimously. 6. Planning Commission Comments Loren Kohnen said there was nothing to report. Elizabeth Weir said the Planning Commission is not ready to take the Urban Commercial 1 or the Business Park ordinance to a public hearing and that they will be discussing the ordinance at one additional meeting. There were some concerns about getting this done and whether or not additional staff or some other consultant needed to be hired in order to get it moving. The consensus was to see how the next month went to make sure that the Urban Commercial ordinance made it through the Comprehensive Plan Implementation Committee at their next meeting and to have the CPIC discuss how to move this process forward. 7. Mohawk Sewer & Water Assessment Hearing Moved by Phil Zietlow, seconded by Carolyn Smith, to open the public hearing. Motion passed unanimously. Tom Kellogg discussed how the assessments were determined and described the project. He said the project consisted of a 10 inch sewer and 12 inch watermain. He discussed how the costs were determined for trunk area charges versus lateral charges. Kellogg said the total cost of the sanitary sewer main project was $186,475.00; of that $102,000 was for trunk costs and $83,000 was for lateral cost. He said the watermain project cost $175,025; of that $42,000 was for trunk costs and $132,000 was for lateral cost. There were some comments from Bill Cavanaugh regarding his assessment. He believed he was being assessed for a project that was basically put in for Polaris. He did not need the water at this time because he had already had water available at the corner of his property. Medina City Council Meeting Minutes October 17, 2000 221 There was some discussion about how he believed that his property had been platted into separate five -acre parcels. The consensus of the Council was this matter was not being addressed this evening. Ron Batty added that he had sent the letter to Mr. Cavanaugh opening up the possibility of discussing with the City or showing the City how that property was previously platted. He said that, to this date, he has not heard from Mr. Cavanaugh regarding that letter. There was some additional discussion regarding the assessment. It was to be a 7-year assessment at 8% interest. Ron Batty said that if Mr. Cavanaugh or anybody would like to contest the assessment, they would have to do so in writing now to the Mayor. No objections were filed with the Mayor. Moved by Jim Johnson, seconded by Carolyn Smith, to close the hearing. Motion passed unanimously. 8. Adoption of the Assessment Roll Moved by Carolyn Smith, seconded by Phil Zietlow, to approve Resolution 00-52 Adopting assessment roll for Mohawk Sanitary Sewer and Water Main Improvement Project. Motion passed unanimously. 9. Setback Variance for Roger Vieau - 3121 Cedar Avenue Loren Kohnen said that Mr. Vieau was requesting a variance to construct a detached garage and add a porch to the front of his home. The proposed garage was 20 x 24 in size. Mr. Vieau's stated hardship was the slope of the property, the mature trees, and that he had a double front frontage lot. Kohnen said Vieau was requesting a 15 foot rear yard variance and a 15 foot side yard variance. In addition, for the 12 x 12 porch on the front, he was requesting a 5.5-foot front yard variance. Kohnen said staff did not support these variances since no hardship shown. Kohnen said the Planning Commission denied the front yard variance for the porch because no hardship was demonstrated. There was also a motion to deny the rear yard setback for the variance because the criteria for variance were not met. However, they did recommend a variance for the side and front yard of 15 feet in that both the garage and the porch could be located there and that the hardship was that this was corner lot in which two front yard setbacks were being imposed. This was approved with one condition that no improved access be given to the garage. Roger Vieau said the reason he had requested the rear yard setback variance was that there is an opening between the trees that would be the perfect location within his yard to place this garage. Medina City Council Meeting Minutes October 17, 2000 222 There was some discussion about the different variances. Mr. Vieau said that he was interested in receiving the variances that he had requested. There was some discussion about other locations for the garage or the porch and the rationale from the Planning Commission. There was some discussion about whether or not a variance would be needed to have two driveways. Paul Robinson said the Planning Commission was told that staff recommended against a variance for two driveways. Elizabeth Weir said that the Planning Commission said that this would be an unapproved driveway especially since it would mainly be used for storing boats and as a workshop. Jim Dillman said that it depends on the use. That eventually over time it probably would be turned into a driveway no matter what was approved at this time. John Ferris said that it sounds like there is consensus to approve the variance as approved by the Planning Commission with the access left unimproved to the street. Moved by Phil Zietlow, seconded by Jim Johnson, to authorize the City Attorney to draft a resolution approving a 15-foot side yard variance. Zietlow, Johnson and Ferris voted in favor. Smith and Lane were opposed. Motion passed. 10. Request from Qwest to Expand Telecommunications Facility - 3585 Pinto Drive Loren Kohnen said Qwest would like to add an addition to the west side of their building. He had said they need additional space to be able to handle the increasing capacity needs of this area. There was some concern about whether or not Ron Batty's firm was representing Qwest. Batty clarified that Jim Strommem, of Kennedy and Graven, actually represents the utility interests for a number of cities and was an expert in utility issues, therefore, had responded based on that, and that the outcome of Mr. Strommen's recommendation was that there was support in lifting the moratorium for Qwest and that refusal to lift the moratorium could potentially result in litigation which could be unfavorable to the City. Ron Batty raised a concern about what types of standards would be used to guide the expansion of this facility since the code for the urban commercial area was being modified. Carolyn Smith was concerned about lifting the moratorium for any one person and did not see necessarily the urgency in this issue. Jim Lane also was concerned about lifting the moratorium. He had a number of difficulties with Qwest and did not have sympathy towards their current predicament. Medina City Council Meeting Minutes October 17, 2000 , 223 Moved by Jim Lane, seconded by Carolyn Smith, to deny lifting the moratorium for this purpose. Motion passed unanimously. 11. Approval of the Bids for the Holy Name Sewer Project Tom Kellogg said at the last meeting he presented a bid tabulation with seven bidders. The engineer's estimate was $280,000. The low bid was $222,000. They asked the City Council at the last meeting to postpone approval so they could check out some of Design Excavating's references. They checked out a number of the references and are now comfortable in recommending the low bid from Design Excavating of $222,965. Moved by Jim Johnson, seconded by Carolyn Smith, to approve Resolution 00-53 awarding the Holy Name Sewer Project to the low bidder, Design Excavating. Motion passed unanimously. 12. Proposed Ordinance #323 regarding Truck Traffic & Road Restrictions Within the City Ron Batty said this draft was a compilation of thoughts from Council and staff. He said it was, in part, based on input received at recent meetings. Batty said this draft repeals the current truck ordinance 430 and merges it with ordinance 415, seasonal weight limits. He said this was done to give the City some authority to limit truck traffic on roads especially for emergency situations such as the pond incident on Jack Wahlfors property or other potential issues where a large amount of truck traffic may be generated by a large project. There was some discussion about the percentage needed in order for residents to be able to petition the Council for road restrictions. 35 percent of the residents fronting the road did not seem restrictive enough. Ron Batty said in order for the Council to approve these road restrictions, they would have to consider the factors listed in the ordinance. He said this was an attempt to lay out some issues for the Council to consider, but not necessarily mandating that they meet all the criteria. It could be considered strict or, depending on the precedent set by the Council, could be considered fairly easy to adhere to those standards. Carolyn Smith thought that the standards were fairly strict. She believed it was a good effort though and thought the ordinance was good enough to implement. Phil Zietlow thought that the Council should wait. He said that there would be a can of worms with implementing this type of ordinance. He would rather wait until there is more of an issue with any particular roadway. Carolyn Smith thought that the Council should be more proactive. That the City needed some type of ordinance in place that would allow the City to restrict truck traffic on certain roads. Medina City Council Meeting Minutes October 17, 2000 224 Paul Robinson said that he believed that 35% of the residents on the road would be too easy to achieve. He said having multiple petitions come to the City Council could end up taking quite a bit of time at the Council level. He thought the threshold should be higher. Jim Lane said that he would be okay with 50% as long as all those assessed for any particular road project would be included in the 50%. Jim Johnson was concerned about placing any road restrictions on any City road, since it would just move the problem from one City street to another City street. Moved by Carolyn Smith, seconded by Jim Lane, to approve Ordinance #323 as presented with the only change requiring 50% of the residents on the road that have been a part of any road assessment to petition the City Council for enacting road restrictions. Voting in favor: Smith, Lane, Ferris, and Johnson Opposed: Zietlow. Motion passed. 13. Resolution 00-54 Allowing Publication by Title and Summary Moved by Carolyn Smith, seconded by Jim Lane, to approve Resolution 00-54 authorizing publication of Ordinance #323 by title and summary. Smith, Lane, Ferris, and Johnson voted in favor. Zietlow opposed. Motion passed. 14. Request from Maple Plain Fire Department for Additional Funding Dave Eisinger of the Maple Plain Fire Department said when they previously requested additional funding for a new fire truck they thought the City of Maple Plain would continue to contribute an additional $30,000 to the fire department as in they had in the past. This was not so. Maple Plain is not going to be providing the additional funding, therefore, Medina's share of the cost of the fire engine would increase from $504.00 over the next 10 years to $1,114.00. Moved by Phil Zietlow, seconded by Carolyn Smith, to approve the additional expenditure. Motion passed unanimously. 15. Approval to Sell a Snowmobile Ed Belland asked for approval to sell an impounded snowmobile. He thought that it would sell between $1,800 and $2,000. Moved by Phil Zietlow, seconded by Carolyn Smith, to authorize selling the snowmobile. Motion passed unanimously. 16. Lake Minnetonka Communications Budget Sally Koenecke of the Lake Minnetonka Communications Commission introduced the budget. Phil Zietlow asked why there was going to be an 8% increase from the previous year to this year. Medina City Council Meeting Minutes October 17, 2000 225 She said the salaries increased quite a bit because they hired another full time person to help out in the studio with the local public access channels 8, 19, and 21. Phil Zietlow asked who benefited from that. She said anybody who used the public access channels. She said that was open to all residents. There was some comments about letting residents know about this more specifically. She said that she does distribute the newsletter through the City's newsletter. There was some additional discussion. Moved by Phil Zietlow, seconded by Carolyn Smith, to approve the 2001 Lake Minnetonka Communications Commission's Budget. Motion passed unanimously. 17. Approval for a Liquor License at the North American Liquors 200 TH 55 Paul Robinson said he received an application for a liquor license for North American Liquors. He said Joe Francis was selling the business and this application is for the new owner. He said a background check had been completed and was included in the packet. He said the application is complete. Moved by Jim Johnson, seconded by Jim Lane, to approve the liquor license. Motion passed unanimously. 18. Holiday Station Lighting Issue Ron Batty said Joe Francis was sent a letter requesting him to provide a timeline and chosen method for bringing the station's lighting into compliance. He said Mr. Francis provided the City with a response and is here this evening to discuss that with you. There was some discussion about the response. Joe Francis said they are currently in compliance with both a horizontal and vertical light reading with the east canopy off. He said he was proposing to light only the Holiday lettering on the east canopy. With this on they are very close with a horizontal reading and a little bit over with a vertical reading. He said there is quite a bit of misunderstanding and confusion about how you read the meter. He said he has been told by many engineers that you read the meter on a horizontal plane versus a vertical plane facing the light. Phil Zietlow asked what the vertical reading was. Pat Hunt said 0.62 and it was supposed to be 0.4 at the residential property line. There was some discussion about readings that they had taken. Joe Francis asked why he was being singled out when there are other commercial businesses in the City that are in violation of this ordinance. He was told at this time the City is taking care of this issues on a complaint basis. Medina City Council Meeting Minutes October 17, 2000 226 Phil Zietlow said it seemed pretty easy, if you leave the canopy light off, you are in compliance. There was some concern about an issue raised in Francis' letter regarding the potential for a change in the use of the property across the road from single-family to multi -family residential. He said if this occurs, he would like to turn his lights back on. Carolyn Smith and others had made it clear to Joe Francis that it would still be considered residential property and the same lighting requirements in effect now would still hold true. The Council wanted to see a 0.4 candle power reading at the property line with a vertical reading. Joe Francis described some of the activities that they had done earlier to reduce the amount of light on the property and felt they had done a lot to reduce the overall light under the canopy and around the building. Carolyn Smith said she believed the City's letter was clear that 0.4 candles is what they are requiring on the property line. However, Mr. Francis should be commended for the items that he has done to date to bring his property into compliance. She said the amount of money and time spent of this issues is unfortunate. However, the Council's position at this point is quite clear. Phil Zietlow said he wanted to find an option that would solve the problem. That is why we hired a lighting consultant to help out Mr. Francis. He said we would rather not spend the $30,000 or whatever it takes to take this court. Zietlow said he believed there are several very doable options that have been presented to Mr. Francis to reduce the lighting. He said at this point it is up to Mr. Francis to implement one of these solutions. There was some discussion about how you measure the light. Phil Zietlow said it does not make sense to measure light on the ground. It makes sense to measure it as the eyeball would see it and that is how it is being done. Another significant amount of time was spent about other options, and ways to reduce the amount of foot candles, however, the consensus of the Council was that they were requesting a 0.4 reading as stated in the ordinance and, at this time, Mr. Francis was not providing a solution that would bring his building into compliance. Jim Johnson said he believed Mr. Francis was providing a reasonable solution. The Council thanked Mr. Francis for coming to the meeting, however, they would be going into executive discussion to discuss their alternatives and get back to Mr. Francis tomorrow. Moved by Jim Johnson, seconded by John Ferris, to accept the proposal as presented. There was some discussion. Those in favor: Johnson. Those opposed: Smith, Ferris, Zietlow and Lane. Motion failed. Medina City Council Meeting Minutes October 17, 2000 227 Moved by Carolyn Smith, seconded by Phil Zietlow, to not approve the proposal as presented by Mr. Francis, where he would have all of the canopy lit except for the 75% of the canopy facing the east and where the 25% would only be lighting the Holiday that would bring it to .63 candle power at the property line not .4. This was not good enough. Those in favor: Smith, Ferris, Zietlow and Lane. Opposed: Johnson Motion passed. 19. Proposal to Hire Kern, DeWenter and Viere to do an Internal Control Analysis Moved by Jim Johnson, seconded by Phil Zietlow, to approve Kern, DeWenter and Viere to do this for up to $1,500. Motion passed unanimously. 19. Approval for 2000 Budget Expenditures Robinson explained there were a number of expenditures coming, most of which have been budgeted for. He said the expenditures for carpeting and painting were more than what had been budgeted for and Robinson was requesting to take the additional amount needed out of the contingency line item. The other expenditures were for some technology upgrades, furniture, and filing cabinets, all of which were budgeted for. Robinson asked for some discussion on whether or not he should proceed with purchasing a laser printer or a plotter that could produce larger maps. The consensus of the Council was to move forward with looking at a plotter, and if feasible purchase a laser printer as well. Moved by Jim Johnson, seconded by Jim Lane, to approve the purchases and the additional amount needed for the painting and carpeting for City Hall from the contingency fund. Motion passed unanimously. 20. Proclamation Supporting the Activities Affordable Housing Week Moved by Phil Zietlow, seconded by Jim Johnson, to approve the proclamation. Phil Zietlow said that this is a good event, that he knows the gentleman who camps out all winter in a tent and he thinks it is a real good group to support. Motion passed unanimously. 21. Approval of the Data Sharing Agreement with Hennepin County Moved by Carolyn Smith, seconded by Phil Zietlow, to authorize the Administrator -Clerk - Treasurer to sign the data sharing agreement for 2000-2001. Motion passed unanimously. 22. Approve the Hiring of the Intern for the City at $10.00 an Hour for 6 months Maximum Moved by Carolyn Smith, seconded by Jim Lane, to approve the hiring of the intern as proposed. Motion passed unanimously. Medina City Council Meeting Minutes October 17, 2000 228 23. Performance Evaluations Carolyn Smith said she would like the department heads to provide the Council with a list of accomplishments for the year before the department head reviews. She thought that would be a good way of starting out the reviews. The consensus of the Council was that the department heads should try to provide some information to the Council regarding their accomplishments before the reviews. 24. Pay the Bills Moved by Jim Johnson, seconded by Carolyn Smith, to approve the bills, order check numbers 21570-21634 for $74,188.54 and payroll check numbers 16768-16789 for $18,090.90. Motion passed unanimously. 25. Executive Session Moved by Carolyn Smith, seconded by Phil Zietlow, to close the regular meeting and go into executive session. Motion passed unanimously. Moved by Phil Zietlow, seconded by Jim Lane to reopen the regular meeting. Motion passed unanimously. 26. Adjournment Moved by John Ferris, seconded by Carolyn Smith, to adjourn the meeting at 12:05 a.m. Motion passed unanimously. -.s7 John : Ferris, Mayor A est: Paul Robinson, Administrator Clerk -Treasurer Medina City Council Meeting Minutes October 17, 2000 229 ORDER CHECKS - OCTOBER 17, 2000 21570 ORCHARD TRUST $880.00 21571 P.E.R.A. $3,322.11 21572 A.T.& T $39.40 21573 ALL SURFACE SPECIALISTS $3,200.00 21574 ALLINA MEDICAL CLINIC $119.50 21575 AMERIPRIDE LINEN & APPAREL SVC $57.95 21576 BOYER TRUCKS $69.27 21577 BRYAN ROCK PRODUCTS $346.44 21578 CHIEF SUPPLY CORPORATION $57.99 21579 CULLIGAN $69.49 21580 CY'S UNIFORMS $1,082.92 21581 DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC SAFETY $270.00 21582 DILLMAN, JAMES $75.00 21583 DRESSEL, ROBERT $75.00 21584 ELECTION SYSTEMS & SOFTWARE $17.18 21585 ERICKSON, ROLF ENT., INC. $3,509.50 21586 FIRSTAR BANK $218.38 21587 FORTIN HARDWARE $54.47 21588 GARY'S DIESEL SERVICE $122.11 21589 GENUINE PARTS $490.66 21590 GLENWOOD INGLEWOOD $50.85 21591 GOLDLEAF PLASTICS, INC. $850.00 21592 GRANDPRE DIGITAL PRINTING $359.34 21593 H & L MESABI $1,500.39 21594 HAMEL BUILDING CENTER $71.89 21595 HAMEL FIRE DEPT $18,546.00 21596 HAMMEL, GREEN AND ABRAHAMSON $1,485.04 21597 HAWKINS WATER TREATMENT GROUP $90.00 21598 HENNEPIN CO. SHERIFF'S OFFICE $100.00 21599 HENNEPIN CO.TREAS.,ACCTG.SVCS. $728.61 21600 HENNEPIN COUNTY SHERIFF $37.46 21601 JORDAN AUTOMOTIVE $381.67 21602 KD & COMPANY $532.50 21603 KUSTOM SIGNALS, INC. $1,930.93 21604 LARSON, SANDRA $65.39 21605 LAWN DETAILERS $1,520.00 21606 LEAGUE OF MN CITIES, FIN. DEPT $2,687.00 21607 MARTIN-MCALLISTER $304.50 21608 MAYER MOBIL $159.75 21609 MEDICA $226.20 21610 METRO WEST INSPECTION $8,537.50 Medina City Council Meeting Minutes October 17, 2000 230 ORDER CHECKS — OCTOBER 17, 2000 (CONT'D) 21611 METRO.COUNCIL ENVIRO. SERVICES $8,176.00 21612 METROPOLITAN COUNCIL WASTEWTR $2,178.00 21613 MINN COMM $30.69 21614 MINNEGASCO $43.08 21615 MINNESOTA STATE TREASURER $2,387.66 21616 MOTHERS MOTORS/LORETTO TOWING $20.00 21617 NEXTEL WEST CORP $551.25 21618 NORTHERN STATES POWER $1,576.55 21619 PRIORITY COURIER EXPERTS $21.55 21620 PROTOCOL COMMUNICATIONS, INC. $25.00 21621 PRUDENTIAL INSURANCE CO. OF AM $110.00 21622 REYNOLDS WELDING $22.37 21623 SCHERER, STEVEN $75.00 21624 SKYWAY PUBLICATIONS, INC. $147.50 21625 STREICHER'S $655.55 21626 TALLEN & BAERTSCHI $2,352.42 21627 THIBAULT ASSOCIATES $4,680.22 21628 TRUGREEN CHEMLAWN $713.85 21629 TWIN CITY WATER CLINIC $20.00 21630 U.S. WEST COMMUNICATIONS $104.00 21631 VALVOLINE FLEET SERVICES $79.71 21632 VERIZON WIRELESS $43.33 21633 VIEAU, CEC $59.84 21634 WRIGHT-HENNEPIN ELECTRIC $74.69 Totals $ 78 , 390. 6 5 Medina City Council Meeting Minutes October 17, 2000 231 PAYROLL CHECKS — OCTOBER 10, 2000 16768 VOID $0.00 16769 SMITH, CAROLYN A. $138.52 16770 FERRIS, JOHN B $207.79 16771 ZIETLOW, PHILIP K. $138.52 16772 JOHNSON, JAMES R. $138.52 16773 ROBINSON, PAUL A. $1,106.39 16774 SCHERER, STEVEN T $1,031.33 16775 MCGILL, CHRISTOPHER R. $1,357.46 16776 ROUILLARD, MICHAEL J $1,404.56 16777 DILLMAN, JAMES D. $1,548.34 16778 DRESSEL, ROBERT P. $941.87 16779 BELLAND, EDGAR J. $1,883.45 16780 VIEAU, CECILIA M. $933.63 16781 DINGMANN, IVAN W $0.00 16782 SULANDER, LAURA L. $1,025.71 16783 LARSON, SANDRA L. $1,066.60 16784 BOECKER, KEVIN D. $335.28 16785 PRIEM, JON D. $1,519.63 16786 CHRISTENSON, JEREMY L. $1,199.43 16787 NYSTROM, JAMES $1,304.21 16788 LANE, JAMES S. $138.52 16789 NELSON, JASON $671.14 Totals $18,090.90 Medina City Council Meeting Minutes October 17, 2000 232 (THIS PAGE LEFT BLANK INTENTIONALLY) Medina City Council Meeting Minutes October 17, 2000