HomeMy Public PortalAbout11/06/96 CCM169
MEDINA CITY COUNCIL MEETING MINUTES OF NOVEMBER 6, 1996
The City Council of Medina, Minnesota met in regular session on November 6, 1996, at
7:30 p.m. in the City Hall Council Chambers. Mayor Anne Theis presided.
Members present: John Ferris, Jim Johnson, Ann Thies, and Mayor Theis.
Members absent: Phil Zietlow.
Also present: Public Works Director Jim Dillman, Police Chief Rick Rabenort, City
Engineer Shawn Gustafson, Zoning Administrator Loren Kohnen, City Attorney Ron
Batty, and City Clerk -Treasurer Paul Robinson.
Before the meeting began Mayor Anne E. Theis presented the Mayor Elect John Ferris
with the honorary wienie roasting tongs. Mayor Theis stated that the Mayor has the
actual and ceremonial duty to roast the wienies at the City's annual clean-up day and
wished John Ferris the best of luck.
1. Adoption of the Agenda
Moved by Ann Thies, seconded by Jim Johnson, to adopt the published agenda with
the following additions:
1. Snowmobile Trail at Hamel Park.
2. Executive Session - Police Investigative Matter.
3. Letter of Credit Reduction Update - Foxberry Farms.
Motion passed unanimously.
2. Minutes
A. Moved by Ann Thies, seconded by Mayor Theis, to approve the minutes of the
regular meeting of October 15 , 1996, with the following corrections: Page 1 item # 3
change approval to request for approval, Page 3 item # 11 add capital in front of
revolving fund, Page 6 # 11 add sentence - ...This will be discussed at the upcoming
Northwest Hennepin League of Municipalities meeting. Motion passed
unanimously.
B. Moved by Johnson, seconded by Thies, to approve the minutes of the special
meeting of October 17, 1996, as submitted. Motion passed unanimously.
C. Moved by Johnson, seconded by Mayor Theis, to approve the minutes of the special
meeting of October 23, 1996, with the following corrections: Page 2, 5t paragraph
from bottom change Theis to Thies. Motion passed unanimously.
3. Consent Agenda
Moved by Johnson, seconded by Thies, to approve the consent agenda, as follows:
A. Approve City Assessor 1996-97 Contract.
B. Approve City Auditor 1997 Contract.
C. Resolution Authorizing Publication by Title and Summary the Pool
Ordinance Amendment. Motion passed unanimously.
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4. Approve Hiring and Advertising for a Police Officer and Community Service
Officer.
Jim Johnson asked if this was to approve hiring or to approve beginning the hiring
process. Rick Rabenort answered that this was to approve the hiring process.
Moved by Johnson, seconded by Ferris, to approve the beginning of the hiring process
for a police officer and a community service officer. Motion passed unanimously.
PRESENTATIONS
5. Tom Caswell(Metropolitan Council) - Council Update.
Tom Caswell introduced himself as Medina's representative from the staff of the
Metropolitan Council. He stated that the Metropolitan Council was beginning a new
program to get out into the cities. The Metropolitan Council used to do more outreach
into the cities but recently they have gotten away from being more present and
available in the local communities.
Tom Caswell stated that this program is an attempt to give cities a place for "One Stop
Shop" for answers. It may be that he cannot answer all questions but he can put cities
in touch with the right people. Recently there have been problems with Comprehensive
Plan Amendments going back and forth between the Metropolitan Council and the
Communities. This program will also attempt to minimize or stop this from happening.
Tom Caswell then updated the City Council on several issues that the Metropolitan
Council is working on. Among these he showed the City Council a map of the
Metropolitan Council's current 2020 and 2040 Municipal Urban Service Area(MUSA).
There was some discussion between Tom Caswell and the City Council about the
Metropolitan Council's current MUSA line projections. The map showed the MUSA line
encompassing a large portion of Medina.
Tom Caswell stated that these projections are intended to be adjusted by the
communities.
Jim Johnson asked why the Metropolitan Council did not just use the City's
Comprehensive Plan. Tom Caswell replied that the current Comprehensive Plan
needed to be updated soon and the Metropolitan Council was trying to accommodate
growth in this area.
Mayor Theis asked Mr. Caswell if he really believed that the Elm Creek Interceptor
would be coming to Medina.
171
Tom Caswell said that yes he believed it was coming but he was not sure of the exact
time. He believed the interceptor was projected for around 2000 to 2001 unless the
City said it did not want it.
There was some additional discussion about the problems that Medina will have
increasing the density of its development based on the extent of the City's wetlands
and soil types.
Tom Caswell could not answer directly several questions and stated that he will get
back to the City Council on those issues. He thanked the City Council for their time.
6. Tom O'Keefe(MnDOT) - Highway 12 Update.
Tom O'Keefe said that he was at the meeting to update the City Council on the
progress with Highway 12 reconstruction. There had been a number of changes to the
plan since his previous presentation.
MnDot eliminated all 4 lane alternatives and they eliminated the interchange at
Ferndale Road and at Watertown Road. Another noteworthy change was the
elimination of a 14 million dollar tunnel alternative. MnDot decided to move the railroad
instead of the tunnel which will eliminate 3 at grade crossings.
Tom O'Keefe stated that there were a number of municipalities that will need to
approve to this concept. They included Long Lake, Wayzata, and Orono. Mr. O'Keefe
stated that there will be a public hearing on the current alternatives at the Orono Public
High School on November 21.
Ann Thies asked what the next steps were in the approval process.
Tom O'Keefe stated that after the comment period of 120 days they were going to
proceed with an Environmental Impact Statement(EIS) and if all goes well they would
proceed to design a preliminary layout. He said that they project that construction
would begin sometime in 2001 and go through 2003.
Ann Thies asked what the likelihood would be that this plan would change.
Tom O'Keefe responded that it was possible but that they are farther ahead with this
plan than any other plan to date.
Ann Thies asked what MnDot wanted from the City since the portion of Highway 12 that
goes through Medina is not part of this improvement.
Tom O'Keefe stated that they would like a resolution approving the report.
There was some additional discussion on the details of the plan.
172
Shawn Gustafson asked what was the projected service level for this road.
Tom O'Keefe stated that it was projected for twenty years of service and that the
current 2 lane proposal had a greater carrying capacity than the proposal for a four
lane highway using the current alignment.
Tom O'Keefe thanked the City Council for there time and questions.
PARK COMMISSION COMMENTS
7. Snowmobile Trail in and Around Hamel Park.
Tom Gregor updated the City Council on where the proposed snowmobile trail was to
go. He, representatives of the snowmobile club, and the City Council discussed the
current proposal.
The City Council raised a number of concerns about the need for good signage and the
need for strict enforcement in order to keep the snowmobiles out of the park, especially
off the sledding hill.
The City Council then discussed how the trail was to be designated and other liability
issues.
The City Council directed the City Attorney to look into the legality of designating a trail
and bring this issue back to the next City Council meeting.
PLANNING COMMISSION COMMENTS - There were none
OLD BUSINESS
8. Summary of Department Head Evaluations
Ron Batty stated that the City Council held evaluations of the three department heads
in a closed meeting. According to state law the City Council needs to summarize the
evaluations.
The summary was moved to between item 9D1 and 9D2.
9. Experimental Septic Systems
Loren Kohnen stated that in 1994 a bill passed that changed rule 7080. This change
made mound septic systems the standard system and any other system would be
classified as experimental. This rule also made it difficult to approve existing systems
since there are now only two designations, Conforming and Failing.
173
John Ferris asked what were the implications of this rule.
Loren Kohnen stated that there were none except that if you were to sell a house with a
failing system it may reduce the value of the home. However, no corrective action is
being required.
Ann Thies asked if there were any changes coming.
Loren Kohnen stated that yes he thought there may be a change in the designations to
Conforming and Non -Conforming. This would cause fewer problems than requiring the
non -mound systems or non -conforming mound systems as failing. Since most systems
that don't meet the current standards are working fine.
Loren Kohnen stated that rule 7080 allows experimental septic systems where no other
options will work, such as on a small lot or on a property with a steep slope. The issue
here is that experimental systems require monitoring. Loren Kohnen asked who would
be the one to monitor the system.
John Ferris asked if experimental systems work.
Loren Kohnen stated that yes they do work but no one will sign off on them.
Loren Kohnen said that there was an existing home that wanted to develop an
experimental system. The problem this raises is who will police it and should the City
Council approve it.
Ron Batty asked if the City's current ordinance allows this type of septic system and if
the City can use the existing ordinance or if the City was going to need to amend its
ordinance.
There was some additional discussion which ended by the City Council directing Ron
Batty and Loren Kohnen to work on this issue.
10. Equipment Purchase - Truck.
Jim Dillman stated that the truck purchase he was requesting for next year was going to
cost $20,000 more than what he had originally budgeted. He stated that he was asking
the City Council for two things. One was to spend $20,000 more than originally
budgeted and the second was to purchase the truck this year. This would save the City
$5,000 since next year's model will cost that much more.
Ann Thies stated for clarification that if the truck was purchased now it would cost
$5,000 less than if it were purchased in January of next year.
Paul Robinson stated that the funding for this truck was coming out of the Revolving
Capital Improvement Fund.
174
There was some discussion and the overall opinion was that if the City needed the
truck it would be better to purchase it now.
Moved by Johnson, seconded by Ferris, to approve the purchase of a truck and
necessary attachments up to $100,000 from the Revolving Capital Fund and authorize
the City Clerk -Treasurer to make out a check for $ 60,591 for the truck purchase.
Motion passed unanimously.
11. Discussion with Nextel Representative.
This was a long discussion about the conceptual and technical aspects of the current
telecommunication industry with a focus on the wireless cellular phone.
Jim Dillman introduced the speaker and told the City Council that this group would like
to build a stand alone tower next to the Hamel water tower.
Bill Buell, a representative of the Nextel Company, described some of the
phenomenon's that are currently going on in the industry. He said that in 1982 there
were 2,000,000 users of cellular phones and today there are 40,000,000 and it is
predicted that in another year there will be an additional 10,000,000 users.
He stated that nobody can predict where this is industry is going and that long term
thinking is about four years in this industry.
He then presented the difference between the current wireless technologies.
There are basically three main areas for wireless technology: Cellular - Personal
Communication Services(PCS) and Enhanced Specialized Mobile Radio(ESMR)
Each of these systems work on the some principal of combining cells via antennas to
link together a service area.
Cellular is doing this using two different technologies: one is analog and the other in
digital. Digital is the latest technology and allows for a better signal, increases the
amount of information that can be transmitted on each signal and allows phones to
have more features.
PCS is not much different from cellular but they operate on a higher frequency which
allows them to transmit even more information on each signal and they the analog
stage and went directly to using digital. Since they are using a higher frequency they
need to have their towers or antennas closer together than cellular which uses a lower
frequency.
175
The final technology is ESMR which uses digital technology at the same frequency as
digital but has the capability to allow conferencing. These phone combine the
capability of two way radios, cellular phone and pagers into one.
After some additional discussion the presentation ended with the point being stressed
was that the demand for wireless phones is increasing and that wire line phones will
soon be a thing of the past. The catch is you need antennas for this to become a
reality.
12. Sprint/Spectrum - Antenna Site Lease Agreement.
Ron Batty stated that a copy of the lease agreement was in the packet and that this
agreement was similar to the current agreement on the Hamel water tower. If the
proposed lease agreement was acceptable to the City Council it could be approved this
evening. The applicant is in attendance and is ready to sign the agreement.
Moved by Ferris, seconded by Johnson, to approve the Antenna Site Lease Agreement
on Willow Drive Water Tower with the Sprint/Spectrum company. Motion passed
unanimously.
13. Antenna Moratorium.
Ron Batty stated that a copy of a moratorium ordinance was included in the information
the City had in their packets. This issue was raised at the last regular City Council
meeting and the information in the packet was prepared by Daniel Greensweig.
Ron Batty stated that this issue is a land use concept and according to Minnesota State
Statutes the City Council is allowed to declare a moratorium on this type of activity.
Batty stated that he believed a 90 day moratorium would allow enough time for the City
to put in place a way to regulate this activity.
Jim Johnson stated that there were a number of organizations working on ordinances
for regulating antennas and other telecommunication issues. Because of this felt the
City may not need to do as much to create this ordinance if the City decides to wait.
Ron Batty confirmed that there were a lot of efforts on -going and that it will be worth it
for the City to wait. By waiting the City will be able to get 100% of the product at 5% of
the cost.
Bill Buell the representative of Nextell stated that a moratorium would lock their
proposal. He asked the City Council if they would consider exempting City owned
sites.
176
Bill Buell also noted that the current five players for antennas were already in the City
and that a for awhile there would be no more requests.
Moved by Johnson, seconded by Ferris, to approve a moratorium on transmission and
reception facilities of commercial wireless telecommunications services exempting city
owned sites. Motion passed unanimously.
14. Canvas 1996 Municipal Election Results
Moved by Mayor Theis, seconded by Ferris, to approve the 1996 Municipal Election
canvas as follows:
Mayor
Tom Anderson 1
Mike Fegers 1
John B. Ferris 1037
Dan Iverson 1
Charles E. Pangier 1
Matt Smaciarz 1
Mike Sime 1
David Usset 1
Bruce Workman 785
City Council (2 seats)
Tom Cartier 1
Don DesLauries 1
Robert Franklyn 2
Debra Jambrogevitz 1
James R. Johnson 990
John Hamilton 931
Avis Laurent 1
Frank Mignone 761
Robert Miller 1
Bullwinkle J. Moose 1
Charles E. Pangier 1
Matt Smaciarz 1
Susan Tarnowski 1
Phill Zeitlow 1
Bruce Workman 1
Motion passed unanimously.
177
15. 1997 General Fund Budget
Paul Robinson began by highlighting the main issues in the memo giving to the City
Council. He stated that the current draft of the General Fund Budget would keep the
City's Tax rate at the same level as in 1996. He then talked about two areas of the
budget that were changed to better reflect the relationship between the revenues and
expenditures.
The first area Robinson described was the relationship between permits and plan
review revenues and the expenditures for the Building Inspector. Robinson stated that
the expenditures were increased to more accurately reflect the amount of expenditure
crested by the permit and plan review revenues.
The next area that Robinson described was the relationship between the zoning and
subdivision fees and the costs in the planning department for the Zoning Administrator,
City Engineer and City Attorney. Robinson stated that it was difficult to determine how
much the City was spending for the Zoning Administrator, City Engineer, and City
Attorney and how much is being reimbursed by developers through zoning and
subdivision fees. For the 1997 budget three additional objects have been added to
allow the City Staff to keep these two issues separate.
Robinson stated that there was no revenue budgeted in the line item for Community
Development Block Grant(CDBG). There was some discussion about this and the City
Council directed City Clerk -Treasurer to look into this issue further.
Robinson then described the changes in the Homestead and Agricultural Aid(HACA)
that the City receives and mentioned that 1 % of this money or approximately $3,900 is
coming to the City in the form of Local Performance Aid. Robinson mentioned that if
the City did not create a performance budget they would not be eligible for this aid in
the future.
The consensus of the City Council additional of $ 3,900 in aid would not warrant the
time involved in creating a performance budget.
Robinson then stated that the number of outstanding assessments was decreasing and
therefore the amount of revenue coming in to the general fund for special assessments
was decreasing significantly.
Robinson stated that due to a change in the way LOGIS bid its health care costs, the
rates for 1997 will drop for the second year in a row from $449.32/mo. to $ 417.43/mo.
which equals a 7% decrease in cost from 1996. He also stated that worker's
compensation insurance rates declined significantly.
There was some discussion about budgeting for contributions to the Suburban Alliance.
The consensus of the City Council was not to budget for it.
178
Robinson stated that he increased the amount of contingency dollars budgeted by
$10,750 to give the City Council and Staff more flexibility when coding unexpected
expenditures. He stated that this amounted to less than 1 % of the total General Fund
expenditures.
16. Summary of Department Head Evaluations
Mayor Theis stated that the City Council had a conversation with each department
head and discussed with them concerns about the City and the operation of their
departments.
17. 1997 Salary Increases
John Ferris stated that a few years back the City had the League of Minnesota
Cities(LMC) create job descriptions and pay ranges etc. for each employee and that
this information presented in spreadsheet included in their information. He stated that
the was purely meant as a reference and that the City Council had a bad experience
trying to follow this step program verbatim. The scale presented included a 3% cost of
living increase and the proposed pay increase and approximate location on the step
spreadsheet for each employee was highlighted.
Jim Johnson asked why the officers got such large pay increases.
Rick Rabenort stated that it was a part of the contract.
Jim Johnson asked why Rick Rabenort was proposing a 8.9% increase for the Police
Assistant. Rick Rabenort stated that this position had an increasing responsibility and
was on the low end when compared with similar jobs.
John Ferris stated that this would also bring Cec closer to Sandie and Laura.
John Ferris stated that the City Council needs to look at the department heads in light
of their performance evaluations.
Ann Thies stated that Jim Dillman did an excellent job building Pioneer Trail this year
and that Rick Rabenort kept the police department running smoothly while being short
handed.
After some discussion the consensus of the City Council was to give the Police Chief
and the Public Works Director each a 5% increase for 1997.
Moved by Johnson, seconded by Thies, to approve a 5% increase for the Police Chief
and the Public Works Director Motion passed unanimously
179
18. Foxberry Farms
Shawn Gustafson stated that he was going to authorize a letter of credit reduction for
the Foxberry Farms addition for up to 85%. He stated that the remainder of the project
was to be completed this spring. The Final reduction will be brought to the City Council
for approval in June.
19. Joining the Suburban Rate Authority
Moved by Thies, seconded by Johnson, to approve a free trial membership to the SRA.
Motion passed unanimously
Moved by Mayor Theis, seconded by Ferris, to Jim Dillman and Jim Johnson as the
City's representatives to the SRA. Motion passed unanimously
20. Suburban Alliance
After some discussion the City Council decided to wait before acting on this issue.
21. APPROVAL TO PAY THE BILLS
Moved by Mayor Theis, seconded by Thies, to approve payment of the bills. Motion
passed unanimously
22. EXECUTIVE SESSION
At 11:15 p.m. the City Council closed the meeting at to discuss the following: Police
Contract Negotiations, Update on Roach Litigation, and Police Investigative Matters.
At 11:58 p.m. the City Council came out of closed session.
23. Adjourn
Moved by Thies, seconded by Johnson, to adjourn the meeting at 12:01 a.m.. Motion
passed unanimously.
Anne E. Theis, Mayor
Attest:
Paul Robinson, Clerk -Treasurer
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ORDER CHECKS - NOVEMBER 6, 1996
16431 Air Touch Cellular
16432 AWWA
16433 Bonestroo, Rosene, Anderlik 5,138.
16434 Brock White 4,153.5
16435 Bryan Rock Products 36,154.00
16436 Classic Cleaning 191.70
16437 Commercial Life
16438 Commissioner of Revenue
16439 Delta Dental
16440 Ditter, Inc.
16441 E-Z-Recycling
16442 Egan Oil
16443 Rolf Erickson Ent.,Inc.,Southwest Assessing
16444 Farmers State Bank of Hamel
16445 Fortin Hardware
16446 Gary's Diesel
16447 Glenwood Inglewood
16448 Gopher State One Call
16449 Jim Hatch Sales
16450 HealthPartners
16451 HealthPartners
16452 Hennepin Co.
16453 Hennepin Co. Treas., Acctg. Svcs
16454 Humane Society of Wright Co.
16455 Kustom Signals
16456 Sandra Larson
16457 Lucent Technologies
16458 M.E.M.A.
16459 Mayer Mobil
16460 Medica
16461 Metro.Council Wastewater Svcs.(Treatment Chgs
16462 Metro.Council Wastewater Svcs.(SAC Charges)
16463 Midwest Asphalt
16464 Minnegasco
16465 State of Minnesota - BCA
16466 N.W. Chapter, FBINAA
16467 Northern States Power
16468 Northwest Suburban Chamber
16469 Office Max
16470 P.E.R.A.
16471 Postmaster
16472 Prolawns Assn. on the Lake
16473 Quill Corp
16474 Randy's Sanitation
16475 Reynolds Welding
16476 Schoening Exc.
16477 Specialty Radio
16478 Streicher's
16479 superior Ford
16480 U.S. West
16481 Uniforms Unlimited
16482 University of Minnesota
16483 Warning Lites
16484 Waterpro Supplies
16485 Wright -Hennepin Electric
16486 Wright -Hennepin Security Svcs
16487 Zep Manufacturing
16488 Ziegler, Inc
lea
$ 100.62
45.00
71.60
1,538.10
765.60
107.50
2,132.58
300.57
2,473.46
6,372.40
64.56
1,177.76
51.65'
119.00
85.03
1,706.09
1,329.96
50.00
1,861.04
127.50
1,039.64
93.81
13.30
25.00
18.00
2,881.46
7,803.00
2,673.00
87.36
85.08
270.00
20.00
2,654.75
79.00
295.91
4,297.35
532.00
1,635.00
25.38
80.83
73.26
8,977.50
48.00
153.36
17.07
339.05
88.95
155.00
120.94
2,344.45
1,019.77
52.18
47.77
70.40
$104,235.65
C
PAYROLL CHECKS - NOVEMBER 6, 1996
14982 Paul A. Robinson $ 933.34
14983 Steven T. Scherer 948.00
14984 Richard R. Rabenort 1.416.60
14985 Michael J. Rouillard 1,037.79
14986 James D. Dillman* 1,315.78
14987 Robert P. Dressel 1,120.76
14988 Edgar J. Belland 1,159.45
14989 Cecilia M. Vieau 723.94
14990 Laura L. Sulander 885.78
14991 Sandra L. Larson 819.34
14992 Joseph R. Heyman 899.95
14993 Jon D. Priem 851.36
14994 Anne E. Theis 207.79
14995 Ann C. Thies 138.52
14996 John B. Ferris 138.52
14997 Philip K. Zietlow 138.52
14998 James R. Johnson 138.52
14999 Paul A. Robinson 773.34
15000 Steven T. Scherer 448.33
15001 Richard R. Rabenort 1,191.60
15002 Michael J. Rouillard 1,049.17
15003 James D. Dillman 1,141.28
15004 Robert P. Dressel 574.13
15005 Edgar J. Belland 1,200.78
15006 Cecilia M. Vieau 304.63
15007 Laura L. Sulander 473.74
15008 Sandra L. Larson 396.14
15009 Joseph R. Heyman 861.95
15010 Jon D. Priem 799.66
$22,088.71