HomeMy Public PortalAbout11/02/99 CCM189
MEDINA CITY COUNCIL MEETING MINUTES OF NOVEMBER 2, 1999
The City Council of Medina, Minnesota met in regular session on November 2, 1999 at 7:30
p.m. in the City Hall Chambers. Mayor John Ferris presided.
Members present: Ferris, Zietlow, Hamilton, Johnson, and Smith.
Members absent: None.
Also present: Police Chief Ed Belland, Attorney Ron Batty, Public Works Director Jim Dillman,
City Engineer Glenn Cook, Planning & Zoning Administrator Loren Kohnen, and City Clerk -
Treasurer Paul Robinson.
1. Additions to the Agenda
A. Review of Department Head Reviews.
Moved by John Hamilton, seconded by Carolyn Smith, to approve the agenda as amended.
Motion passed unanimously.
2. Approval of the Minutes from October 5, 1999
There was one correction to the October 5, 1999 minutes. Page 3, paragraph 9, second
sentence, remove the word "a" after "become" and the word "compatible" after "rural'.
Moved by Phil Zietlow, seconded by Jim Johnson, to approve the minutes of October 5, 1999 as
corrected. Motion passed unanimously.
3. Approval of the Minutes from October 19, 1999
There was a change on page 5, first paragraph, add to the final sentence, "and satisfaction of
doing the right thing for the right reason". Additional correction on page 5, change under Item
13, fifth paragraph after training, remove the word "be", after possible, replace "eliminate" with
"elimination of".
Moved by Carolyn Smith, seconded by John Hamilton, to approve the minutes of October 19,
1999 as corrected. Motion passed unanimously.
4. Consent Agenda
Item I was pulled from the consent agenda.
Moved by Jim Johnson, seconded by Phil Zietlow, to approve the remaining item on the consent
agenda.
A. Resolution 99-60 Granting Final Plat Approval for Ridgeview Farm.
B. Resolution 99-61 Denying Rezoning - Rolling Green Business Park LLP.
C. Resolution 99-62 Denying Subdivision - Rolling Green Business Park LLP.
D. Resolution 99-63 Denying Conditional Use Permit - Rolling Green Business
Park LLP.
E. Extension of Preliminary Plat Approval - Gary Kirt.
F. Resolution 99-64 Granting a Variance Request to Thomas and Lorri Underwood
at 1325 Elsinore Circle.
G. Resolution 99-65 Granting a Conditional Use Permit to Thomas and Lorri
Underwood at 1325 Elsinore Circle.
H. Resolution 99-66 Granting an Amended Conditional Use Permit to Woodridge
Church.
Medina City Council Meeting Minutes
November 2, 1999
190
Motion passed unanimously.
5. Item I from Consent Agenda Resolution 99-67 Granting a Side Yard Set -Back Variance
to Ken Darula at 4737 Medina Drive
There was significant discussion about whether or not to approve this variance.
Phil Zietlow said that he opposed the variance especially since this was a new subdivision and
he could not see any reasonable hardships for request.
Carolyn Smith said she was concerned about it as well. She said after further consideration she
thought there were other options for placement of the deck.
Jim Johnson asked the City Attorney whether or not when the City Council looks at variances if
each situation is looked at as a unique situation or if they are all the same.
Ron Batty said that each situation is looked at uniquely, however, after a period of time, you
may as a Council create the expectation for a certain type of variance based on previous
actions.
There was some discussion about the neighbors being okay with this variance.
Phil Zietlow asked if the neighbors would not have been in favor, would we then have turned
this variance down and are the neighbors now making the decisions on whether or not a
variance is approved or denied.
Moved by Jim Johnson, seconded by John Hamilton, to approve Resolution 99-67 granting the
variance. Those in favor: Jim Johnson, John Hamilton, and John Ferris. Those
opposed: Phil Zietlow, Carolyn Smith. Motion passed.
6. Park Commission Comments
There were none.
7. Comments from Residents in Attendance on Items Not on the Agenda
There were none.
8. Planning Commission Comments
There were none.
9. Presentation from Amy Klobuchar, County Attorney
Amy Klobuchar introduced herself, and described some of the activities that the county
attorney's department had been doing since her election. She said a liaison attorney has been
assigned to each of the cities. She said that the liaison for Medina was David Genrich and
described some of his qualifications.
Klobuchar said the liaison gives the chief of police someone to call in order to track ongoing
cases in the system. She said there have been a number of criticisms about the county
attorney's office and how difficult it is to find information on active cases. At least with the
liaison, you will have somebody to call to find out that information. She said they are working on
a new computer system which will allow better tracking of active cases.
Medina City Council Meeting Minutes
November 2, 1999
191
She said they targeted a number of items in her first 100 days, one was to increase the
departure rate of drug dealers and gang members convicted of first and second degree crimes.
Since she took office, they have brought this number up to the state average. She said they
also have been targeting felons in possession of a gun. They have been aggressively pursuing
a five-year minimum sentence. In the first 100 days they saw a 40% increase in this type of
prosecution. She described some additional initiatives, one of them was a safe school initiative
where they work with school officials and police to charge juveniles that have committed a
serious crime within a day of the crime and other crimes within a week.
Ed Belland said that every felony case that they have sent to the county has been charged out.
He said this is a significant change. He said they used to get a significant amount of rejection
letters for their county felony cases.
Phil Zietlow asked about the processing of child custody cases. He said in some cases it does
not always make sense to speed these cases up.
Amy Klobuchar said that they are looking at some of the more difficult cases where multiple
guardianship options need to be looked at.
Carolyn Smith asked about repeat drunk driving offenders.
Amy Klobuchar said they currently have no jurisdiction over that. She said DWI convictions are
not felonies. She said that one of their legislative initiatives is to work towards creating a felony
conviction for this type of crime.
Mayor Ferris thanked Amy Klobuchar for her presentation.
10. Clarification of the Conditional Use Permit for Holy Name Church
Doug Cooley, representing Holy Name Church said condition number 8 in their conditional use
permit required two rows of eight -foot high spruce trees, twelve -foot on center. He said they
have exceeded the CUP's requirements by placing four -foot trees on a four -foot berm.
He said they were asking the City Council to accept this modification of the conditional use
permit as a different, but similar method for screening the residential properties. He said he
included letters from the neighboring properties which the berm and the trees were to screen.
He said that all three of the property owners were elated with the screening.
John Ferris clarified that the only issue tonight is the north side of the parking lot along County
Road 24, not the east side of the parking lot. He said the conditional use permit required eight -
foot spruce trees, twelve -foot on center, and that the church is now requesting that the City
Council accept in lieu of that condition, four -foot trees on a four -foot berm.
Phil Zietlow said that he walked the property and the trees are thirty-foot on center, not twelve
foot on center, so there is not the density of trees as required by the CUP.
Doug Cooley said that they could provide additional trees, whatever the City Council would like.
Loren Kohnen said that he had taken some pictures of areas where the City Council had
required similar screening to show the difference between the screening that had been provided
by Holy Name Church and the screening provided by others with the same or similar CUP
Medina City Council Meeting Minutes
November 2, 1999
192
condition. He showed examples from Flagship Technologies, Polaris, Woodridge Church, Twin
City Monorail, and others.
John Hamilton said the examples showed that the screening provided by the church was not as
significant as the screening provided by other properties with the same condition.
Doug Cooley said they did not know that they were to have screened the entire side of the
parking lot. They thought they were only to have screened the area that was adjacent to the
residential property and not the property adjacent to the cemetery.
Carolyn Smith said that the screening would have to go along the entire side of the parking
area, not just along the adjacent residential property. She said the entire parking area that is
visible from the residential property needs to be screened.
There was some additional discussion about the wording in the conditional use permit and the
implementation of that condition.
Loren Kohnen said he was concerned if this condition was not implemented the way it was
stated in the conditional use permit with eight -foot trees, twelve -foot on center, that it would
make it difficult for him to require others to provide that type of screening when required.
Doug Cooley said that the condition of the screening was to satisfy the three neighbors. He
said that they have accomplished that and they have letters from the three neighbors saying
that the screening is adequate.
Jim Johnson said that the church agreed to the condition of eight -foot trees, twelve -foot on
center, and that is what should be done.
John Ferris said it sounds like the church is willing to add trees to the berm.
Carolyn Smith said that trees also need to be added where the berm ends between the berm
and the church.
Phil Zietlow said that on the site plan there are 35 trees. He said that as laid out in the site plan
it looked good.
Loren Kohnen said that had been modified.
Doug Cooley said that they had submitted a landscaping plan that did show the berm and the
trees as to where they are currently.
Carolyn Smith said it is difficult to require one thing for one property and another thing for
another property when the condition is exactly the same. She thought that this condition should
be implement as written, or modified to require an eight -foot overall height where the berm is
located and eight -foot high trees between the berm and the church.
Moved by Jim Johnson, seconded by Carolyn Smith, to direct the City Attorney to draft a
resolution modifying the conditional use permit to allow the berm and four -foot trees, twelve -foot
on center, along the berm and between the berm, and the church to still require two rows of
eight -foot trees, twelve -foot on center. Motion passed unanimously.
Medina City Council Meeting Minutes
November 2, 1999
193
11. Designating Alternates to the Comprehensive Plan Implementation Committee
Moved by Carolyn Smith, seconded by John Hamilton, to designate City Council Members and
Planning Commissioners not designated to the committee as alternates.
Motion passed unanimously.
12. Request from John Beasley to Place a Pond on City Property
Loren Kohnen said Mr. Beasley would like to place a 30 by 80-foot pond to hold rainwater and
to help dry out a portion of his and his neighbor's property. He said a portion of this pond would
be located on a City right of way that has never been vacated.
There was a significant amount of discussion about the size of the pond, the location of the
pond, the precedent of where this had been done in other locations in the City, who would be
liable for any incident involving the pond, and how the City would accommodate it if they would
need to vacate the right of way.
After some additional discussion, the consensus of the Council was to look at the option
vacating the Cedar Street right of way the length of the back of John Beasley's property, 260
feet which would provide a 260 by 60 foot wide area where the pond could be placed. They
directed City Staff to send out announcements for a public hearing to vacate this right of way. In
the meantime. Staff would look at where the pond should be located and exactly how this
should be vacated and whether or not the residents in the area have any issues with this
vacation. In addition the property owner would be contacted to see if he would like to pursue
this option.
Moved by Carolyn Smith, seconded by Jim Johnson, to set a public hearing for December 7,
1999, to address the vacation of Cedar Street for 260 feet by 60 feet. Motion passed
unanimously.
13. Resolution 99-69 Designating a No Parking Area Along Holy Name Drive
Moved by Jim Johnson, seconded by Carolyn Smith, to approve Resolution 99-69. Motion
passed unanimously.
14. Change Order to Mohawk Drive Sewer and Water Project
Glenn Cook described the project. He said the sewer line would jog through the Johnson
property allowing Tracy Johnson to have the three -car garage. He said this is not the ideal
solution but it will work. He said the total cost is $22,000.
Phil Zietlow asked if this would change any of the Mohawk Drive assessments, he was
confused about why this was part of that project.
Glenn Cook said the same company doing the work on Mohawk, therefore, they used the same
project title, however, it is a different location and will not affect the assessments for Mohawk
Drive.
Ron Batty said that the City will also need to obtain a petition and waiver agreement from Tracy
Johnson for the amount that he agreed to pay for this project.
Medina City Council Meeting Minutes
November 2, 1999
194
Glenn Cook said that in order to accommodate Tracy Johnson's wishes, they would have to
take out one large oak tree in the area.
Carolyn Smith said she did not believe that it was necessary to remove the tree.
Moved by Jim Johnson, seconded by Phil Zietlow, to approve the change order. Those in favor:
Johnson, Zietlow, Hamilton and Ferris. Those opposed: Smith. Motion passed.
15. Light at Hamel Legion Park for the Skating Rink
The recommendation from Jim Dillman was to place a light in the middle of the rink and then put
a bench around the base of the light. He said since there will be a circular skating pattern
around the rink, he did not believe this would create a hazard, but would provide the best
lighting. He said the light would be on a timer so that the light would go off at a certain time
each night.
John Hamilton suggested that the timer be accessible to those using the rink so that when
somebody is there the light is on, but that they are off when no one is using it.
There was a significant amount of discussion about where the light should be placed. Some
thought that there should be lights on each end of the rink, and some thought that the picnic
shelter and the parking lot should be lit by the same light. In the end, the City Council approved
the implementation of the lighting.
Moved by Jim Johnson, seconded by Phil Zietlow, to approve the installation of a light at the
Hamel Legion Park, leaving the location of the light up to the Public Works Director. Motion
passed unanimously.
16. Variance for a Driveway
Jim Dillman said this was a borderline request for a variance. He said the applicant would like a
horseshoe driveway that would actually tie into an existing road, which is a field entrance to his
property.
Phil Zietlow asked if the property owner owned Parcel 6 as shown on the map.
Jim Dillman said that he did.
Moved by John Hamilton, seconded by Carolyn Smith, to approve the variance. Motion
passed unanimously.
17. Community Service Officer (CSO) Hiring Process
Ed Belland said that after their interviews, they picked two candidates, each was to work 15
hours a week. After calling the two finalists, one of the finalists had already accepted a full time
job with another department, therefore, he recommended using the one full time CSO to see
how that goes before looking for another.
Ed Belland was looking for approval to hire the one CSO.
Moved by Phil Zietlow, seconded by Carolyn Smith, to approve hiring the CSO. Motion passed
unanimously.
Medina City Council Meeting Minutes
November 2, 1999
195
18. Reduction of the Woodridge Letter of Credit
Moved by Carolyn Smith, seconded by Phil Zietlow, to consider release of a bond held for
Woodridge Church. Motion passed unanimously.
Glenn Cook said a $25,000 bond has been held until Woodridge Church had completed its
project. He said that everything is completed and it is time to release the bond.
Moved by Carolyn Smith, seconded by Phil Zietlow, to release the bond. Motion passed
unanimously.
19. Review of the Department Head Reviews
John Ferris said that the department head reviews were held on October 20th. He said it was a
very positive experience, that all the department heads were performing well. He said that the
outcome of this meeting will be addressed at the next meeting with the modifications to the 2000
budget.
20. Select Five of the Top Policies for the League of Minnesota Cities to Pursue in the
Year 2000
Of the 97 total policies, the City picked five:
1) Removal of the sales tax on local government purchases,
2) Payment for services for tax exempt properties,
3) Implementing a time limit for the office of the state auditor when reviewing tax increment
financing districts and other violations,
4) Protection of the right of way management for cities,
5) Removal of unfunded mandates by the state and federal government.
21. Extension of the Data Base Agreement With Hennepin County
Moved by John Hamilton, seconded by Jim Johnson, to extend the agreement. Motion passed
unanimously.
22. Approval of the Livable Communities Act Resolution 99-68
Moved by Carolyn Smith, seconded by Jim Johnson, to approve Resolution 99-68. Motion
passed unanimously.
23. Designation of another Resident to the Elm Creek Watershed District
Council directed Staff to advertise for this position in the City newsletter.
24. Pay the Bills
Moved by Carolyn Smith, seconded by Phil Zietlow, to approve the bills, order check numbers
202993-20342 for $ 99, 702.90 and payroll check numbers 16308-16236 for $15,156.98.
Motion passed unanimously.
25. Executive Session
Moved by Jim Johnson, seconded by John Hamilton, to close the meeting and go into executive
session to discuss the police labor union negotiation. Motion passed unanimously.
Moved by Carolyn Smith, seconded by John Hamilton, to reconvene the regular session.
Motion passed unanimously.
Medina City Council Meeting Minutes
November 2, 1999
196
26. Adjournment
Moved by Jim Johnson, seconded by John Hamilton, to adjourn the meeting at 10:40 p.m.
Motion passed unanimously.
Attest:
Paul�ity Clerk -Treasurer
John B. Ferris, Mayor
Medina City Council Meeting Minutes
November 2, 1999
197
ORDER CHECKS — NOVEMBER 2, 1999
20293 P.E.R.A.(Balance Due 10/12 Payroll) 1,618.17
20294 Orchard Trust (Replaces Ck.#20233 — 10/12 Payroll) 1,312.00
20295 Orchard Trust (10/25/99 Payroll) 1,312.00
20296 P.E.R.A (10/25/99 Payroll). 2,890.57
20297 Ace Properties 1,400.00
20298 Channing L. Bete 392.15
20299-300 Bonestroo, Rosene, Anderlik 12,997.79
20301 Bryan Rock Products 27,066.12
20302 Classic Cleaning 191.70
20303 Connelly Ind. Elect. 178.33
20304 Cy's Uniforms 1.70
20305 Davies Water Equipment 5,773.78
20306 Delta Dental 805.65
20307 E-Z-Recycling 2,473.02
20308 Emery's Tree Service 186.38
20309 Gall's, Inc. 357.95
20310 Gary's Diesel Service 984.31
20311 Government Training Service 20.00
20312 Grafix Shoppe 345.00
20313 Hawkins Water Treatment 540.00
20314 Hennepin Co. Treas., Acctg. Svcs. 1,031.25
20315 Independent Curb Contractors 11,453.15
20316 Kennedy & Graven 10,866.14
20317 Kustom Signals 297.55
20318 Lake Business Supply 47.26
20319 Lakeshore Weekly News 26.25
20320 Larson Publications 137.70
20321 Sandra Larson 10.00
20322 Lawson Products, Inc 86.47
20323 Long Lake Tractor 53.25
20324 Medica Choice 5,281.04
20325 Medina Entertainment Center 25.00
20326 Metrocall 58.05
20327 Midwest Asphalt 57.77
20328 Minnegasco 29.07
20329 Minnesota UC Fund 30.03
20330 Norstan Communications 77.75
20331 Northern States Power 2,730.45
20332 Protocol Communications. 75.00
20333 Randy's Sanitation 81.27
20334 Skyway Publications 175.00
Medina City Council Meeting Minutes
November 2, 1999
198
ORDER CHECKS — NOVEMBER 2, 1999 (CONT'D)
20335 Streicher's 624.59
20336 U.S. West Communications 174.80
20337 U.S. West Communications 548.30
20338 USPS 500.00
20339 Warning Lites 304.84
20340 Westonka Computing 2,387.89
20341 Wright -Hennepin 1,323.31
20342 Ziegler, Inc. 363.10
$99,702.90
PAYROLL CHECKS — OCTOBER 25, 1999
16308 John Hamilton 138.52
16309 Carolyn A. Smith 138.52
16310 John B. Ferris 207.79
16311 Philip K. Zietlow 138.52
16312 Jame R. Johnson 138.52
16313 Paul A. Robinson $ 940.03
16314 Steven T. Scherer 990.25
16315 Christopher R. McGill 962.35
16316 Michael J. Rouillard 626.72
16317 Scott W . Kroeger 1,112.17
16318 James D. Dillman 1,281.86
16319 Robert P. Dressel 932.02
16320 Edgar J. Belland 1,702.26
16321 Cecilia M. Vieau 933.28
16322 Laura L. Sulander 987.03
16323 Sandra L. Larson 851.42
16324 Jon D. Priem 1,170.24
16325 Jeremy L. Christenson 844.13
16326 James Nystrom 1,061.35
$15,156.98
Medina City Council Meeting Minutes
November 2, 1999