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HomeMy Public PortalAbout10/23/96 Special CCM165 MEDINA CITY COUNCIL MEETING MINUTES OF OCTOBER 23, 1996 The City Council of Medina, Minnesota met in Special Session on October 23, 1996, at 7:00 p.m. in the City Hall Council Chambers. Mayor Anne Theis presided. Members present: John Ferris, Jim Johnson, Ann Thies, Phil Zietlow, and Mayor Theis. Members absent: None. Also present: Public Works Director Jim Dillman, Police Chief Rick Rabenort, and City Clerk -Treasurer Paul Robinson. 1. Meetings With Consultants and Providers of Contracted Services A. City Assessor - Rolf Erickson Rolf Erickson explained his proposed increase for 1996-97. The increase was broken up into three areas. One was a 2% cost of living increase, the other was for additional homes and the third was because of new legislation. Rolf stated that since they stopped the sending out the homestead cards it has been more work to keep track of homesteaded properties. Rolf talked about some large issues that will be affecting Medina's property values. The issue that received the most discussion was the county's recent position on green acres properties. During the next few years they will begin taking properties off green acres that do not qualify. For example, this will include properties that do not use a majority of their land for farming or have their operations on their land that provide a significant portion of their household income. There was some discussion about the number of parcels and other statistical information. Rolf stated that he keeps his costs competitive with Hennepin County. For example, next year he said Hennepin County's fees would have been $ 35,000. Rolf thanked the City Council for their support. B. City Planning and Zoning Consultant/ Building Inspector - Loren Kohnen Ann Thies began by asking Loren what his plans were for 1997. Loren Kohnen stated that at the beginning of the year he would be lowering his fees on plan review by 25% (at the time he believed this to be from 75% to 50%). He was 166 doing this in part to help the City with its 1997 budget and because the City has adopted the 1994 building code which allows the City to charge more for building permits. Loren then updated the City Council on current and future building activity in the City. Jim Johnson asked Loren Kohnen how he manages to have enough time in the day to take care of all his duties. Loren stated that he is very busy but that he has a number of people working for him and that he is not the only person making inspections in Medina. Ann Thies asked what type of follow up is performed on Conditional Use Permits. Loren stated that as he is driving around the City he checks out areas that have had conditions attached to their use. He gave a recent example of how this has worked. The example was the business north of the Walter G. Anderson company, Twinco. They had to adjust the lighting on their property to comply with their permit. Ann Thies told Loren that she had been told that he was hard to get a hold of. She asked when Loren kept his office hours. Loren stated that he is usually in the office Monday through Friday from 9 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. but that if he has no meetings or calls to return he may leave early. He said that he did not want to charge the City for just sitting in his office. There was some discussion about septic systems. Ann Thies stated that she had asked all the department heads and is asking Loren to provide a clear recommendation for action in the memos written to the City Council. Phil Zietlow asked Loren what his rationale was for reducing his fees and if the fees were paying for his services. Loren stated that the City was more than making enough money to cover his fees and the expenses of the department. He was able to reduce the fees based on the anticipated increase in work, because of the City's use of the 1994 fee schedule, and because the City has been good to him so he would like to be good to the City. There was some discussion about the Hennepin County Public Works facility and their proposed use of a water recycler. Loren thanked the City Council and made additional positive statements about the City's Public Works Director and Engineer. 167 C. City Prosecutor - Steve Tallen Steve was asked to talk about what was going on with the City's prosecution. Steve stated that the prosecution services are somewhat reactive and the more arrests and tickets the City produces the more the cost to the City increases. Since the City was basically short one officer in 1996 the prosecution fees have been lower than in previous years. Steve talked about how he tries to be fair but that he does look out for the City's interests. One example he gave was the cost for keeping someone in jail. If the crime is a gross misdemeanor the county pays for the jail time. Therefore, he tends not to plea bargain on issues where the City may have to pick up the tab for the jail time. Jail time can cost up to $5,500. Steve also mention that he represents several other jurisdictions and this often saves the City money since he can take care of a number of issues at the court house at one time. Since Steve has been the prosecutor the City has always received more in fine revenue than he has charged in prosecution fees. Steve closed his presentation by stating that his role as a prosecutor is to be fair. D. City Engineer - Shawn Gustafson Shawn stated that recently most of his time has been spent on developments, which are reimbursable costs to the City from developers. Phil Zietlow stated that the engineers should reduce their cost to the City as low as possible and have the engineers make the majority of their money from the developers. There was some discussion about the additional charges for reviewing private developers' work. Phil Zietlow stated that he does not want the engineering firm to create a very expensive surface water management plan, especially since there is such a small potential need for one. There was a lot of discussion on this issue. There was some consensus that the plan only needs to be designed for the area north of T.H. 55 (1,900 acres) that may some day be sewered. Shawn agreed with the City Council that the engineering firm should try to keep the costs low on this project and focus on areas where it would be used. 168 Shawn suggested that someone else from his firm could come and discuss the surface water management plan with the City Council at a future date. Shawn suggested that since he has not done as much work recently in the City that he would be willing at no charge to the City to meet with the City Staff once a month to discuss what is going on in the City. John Ferris stated that the City Council and the engineer need to work together to reduce costs. He stated that it is easier to determine the cost than the benefit but none the less the engineer needs to keep more money going towards projects and not plans. There was some discussion about the Minnehaha Creek Watershed pond project. Shawn said he will continually work to improve the relationship between himself and the City Council and Staff. 2. Adjourn Moved by Zietlow, seconded by Thies, to adjourn the meeting at 9:53 p.m.. Motion passed unanimously. Anne E. Theis, Mayor Paul Robinson, Clerk -Treasurer