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HomeMy Public PortalAbout11/08/00 CCM235 MEDINA CITY COUNCIL MEETING MINUTES OF NOVEMBER 8, 2000 The City Council of Medina, Minnesota, met in regular session on November 8, 2000, at 7:35 p.m. in the City Hall Chambers. Mayor John Ferris presided. Members present: Ferris, Zietlow, Lane, Smith, and Johnson at 7:40 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, and Administrator - Clerk -Treasurer Paul Robinson. 1. Additions to the Agenda A. Canvass of the Municipal 2000 Election. Moved by Jim Lane, seconded by Carolyn Smith, to approve the agenda as amended. Motion passed unanimously. 2. Approval of the Minutes of September 19, 2000 There was one change. Jim Lane came in at 9:40 p.m. before the Elwell matter was voted on. Moved by Carolyn Smith, seconded by Phil Zietlow, to approve the minutes of September 19, 2000 as amended. Motion passed unanimously. 3. Consent Agenda A. Resolution 00-55 Approving Variances at 3120 Cedar Avenue. B. Gambling License for Pheasants Forever. Moved by Phil Zietlow, seconded by Carolyn Smith, 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 Phil Zietlow said they held a meeting with the Cherry Hill neighborhood. He said there was a fairly emphatic response from the people who live in Cherry Hill that they were not in favor of a park at this time. They were concerned about parking, safety and a number of other issues. They would, however, like some improved trails off of Evergreen Road. 6. Planning Commission Comments Loren Kohnen said at the next meeting the Commission will be working on the business park and urban commercial zoning ordinances. 7. Update on the Metropolitan Council Task Force Meeting Loren Kohnen said he and Jim Dillman attended a task force meeting regarding the Elm Creek Interceptor. He said the long and the short of it is that the Metropolitan Council is planning to bring the Elm Creek Interceptor to Medina by 2002. Loren Kohnen said more realistically he believed the interceptor would be here sometime in 2003. Medina City Council Meeting Minutes November ‘8, 2000 236 8. Rezoning Request - 805 Hamel Road Loren Kohnen said there was a request from Doug Hirsch to rezone his property from urban residential to multi -family residential. There was some discussion. It was decided this would require a Comprehensive Plan amendment. This was not something the Council would be interested in pursuing at this time. 9. Elwell Farm Matters Ron Batty said he has been working on the development agreement with Restoration Development, LLC. He said park dedication fees are one of the issues outstanding. He said he met with Dave Newman of Bancor about the development agreement and that Bancor is looking for some credit for the regional trail around the perimeter of the property as well as the trail going under 101 to the east. Batty said our assessor valued the land at $10,000,000, which would make a 5% park dedication fee, as was used with Foxberry Farms, $500,000. Phil Zietlow said he thought it should be the full 10% as allowed in the ordinance. He said that Plymouth is 10% and he does not see why this development would not be equal. Ron Batty said that Foxberry Farms was charged 5%, however, it is within your right to do 10%. There was a court case 30 years ago in the City of Bloomington that set a precedent allowing 10%. This may be a little different. It is not necessarily as urban a setting, however, it is something that the City Council can consider. Phil Zietlow said that we did authorize 30 additional units for the development which was a considerable of bonus for the property owners. Carolyn Smith thought the money could be used for a pedestrian bridge over TH55 to link this area to the Hamel Legion Park. At this time the Council felt that a 10% park dedication fee seemed reasonable and that is what the City should go forward with, however, the Council would give credit for the land being dedicated for trails and the cost of the trail development. Ron Batty said another issue with these types of agreements are the details. He said they are still working out the conservation easement arrangement which the City will have to work on at a later date. Moved by Carolyn Smith, seconded by Phil Zietlow, to require a 10% park dedication fee for the trails with consideration for offsetting costs for the amount of dollars for land and for the hard trail on the perimeter of the property. Motion passed unanimously. Ron Batty said at the upcoming meeting he will have information and authorization needed for the City to create a special taxing district. This district would be set up to in case the Wild Meadows' stormwater treatment system fails or does not work as is proposed. Hopefully this will never be used, however, if it does, we need to make sure that it is established. 10. Medina Morningside Pump Medina City Council Meeting Minutes November %8, 2000 237 Jim Dillman said the Medina Morningside pump stopped working and they believed that they had a bad pump. They had a company come out and assess the problem and have since found out that the screen was full of sand. He said they were able to fix the pump for around $10,000. 11. Holy Name Sewer Jim Dillman said they have had several calls from residents in the area about how the City is gong to bill for sewer usage. He said right now they could either take the total metered sewer flow and divide it by the number of units or they could require water meters to be placed on each individual household to meter the amount of water pumped and then determine the amount of water usage and bill based on the water usage as are a majority of sewer accounts in the City of Medina. There was some additional discussion about this. Jim Dillman wanted to set up a meeting between himself, the City engineer, and the residents to discuss these issues to see whether or not the residents had a particular desire on the method of billing. The consensus of the Council was to go ahead and have that meeting. At this time it seemed more difficult to implement the meter read version versus dividing it by 19, however, there was some consensus that it would be more fair if everyone installed meters. 12. Evergreen Road Assessment Jim Dillman said this is just a formalization of the assessment. He said the project is complete and the two parties being assessed have signed petition and waiver agreements agreeing to an assessment of 8% for 10 years. He said Rolling Green Country Club would be assessed $50,092, and the Elwell property $31,500. Moved by Carolyn Smith, seconded by Jim Lane, to approve Resolution 00-56 adopting an assessment roll for the Evergreen Road Improvement. Motion passed unanimously. 14. Traffic on City Roads Jim Dillman said the recent increase in traffic is just the tip of the iceberg. He said the increase in traffic on County Road 24, Willow south of 24, and a number of other roads has significantly increased. Willow north has not seen anywhere near the amount of increase in traffic that it will see over the next several years. Ed Belland said that he was told to expect a doubling in traffic over the next 10 years. Jim Johnson said that the amount of traffic increase on TH55 is going to cause some serious problems in the City in 10 years unless MnDOT does some type of upgrade to make TH55 four lanes all the way through Medina. There was some discussion about truck routes within the City. Loren Kohnen talked about the upgrade of TH55, and that at this time it was not in the MnDOTs 20-year plan for upgrade. John Ferris said that the City needs to do something about TH55. There was some concern about the amount of traffic that will be coming off of 494 and down through Medina. Medina City Council Meeting Minutes November t8, 2000 238 Phil Zietlow thought that a lot of recommendations within Jim's memo made sense, however, they may not be the most popular ideas for most of the residents. There was some additional discussion about the amount of traffic increase on a number of City roads. There was some suggestions that more trees along the roads could help to give it a more residential feel and potentially slow traffic. 15. TH55/Arrowhead Frontage Road Agreement Jim Dillman said this project will upgrade TH55 and construct the first part of the frontage road off of Arrowhead to the east. He said this was to be done without any cost to the City, however, there will be some cost, around $10,500, to move the water line at Tamarack and 55. Ron Batty said that on the last page it is misleading to determine the amount of cost the City is going to be required to pay because it is listed as 100% county, when in essence, it is actually going to be City cost. The total cost of the project is $3,300,000, however, the portion of the cost that was for the frontage road was around $175,000. There was some concern with the agreement. Jim Dillman said the County had a number of concerns with the agreement and was requesting that staff be authorized to sit down with the County and MnDOT to work out some of the details of this agreement before it was brought back to the City Council for approval. Moved by Jim Johnson, seconded by Phil Zietlow, to direct staff to meet with Hennepin County to come up with a new document for approval by the City Council. Motion passed unanimously. 16. Acceptance of the Donation Moved by Carolyn Smith, seconded by Phil Zietlow, to accept the $100 donation from Mr. Lopesio. They were thankful for Officer Priem and Officer Nelson for giving a Halloween presentation at their residence. Motion passed unanimously. 17. Approval of the Siren Maintenance Contract Moved by Carolyn Smith, seconded by Phil Zietlow, to approve the contract. Motion passed unanimously. 18. Overall Review of the Performance Evaluations of the Department Heads John Ferris said we met in the cabin and discussed various performance issues the department heads. He said that there were a lot of good ideas generated from the discussion and that the Council was very happy with the overall performance of the department heads. 19. Proposed Employee Wage Increases Moved by Jim Johnson, seconded by Carolyn Smith, to approve the wage increases as proposed. Phil Zietlow said that he was not able to make the meeting, he was unfortunately in Atlanta. However, he was concerned about some of the trends and history of the double digit increases for certain employees. He noticed that several employees increased significantly and wanted to Medina City Council Meeting Minutes November143, 2000 239 know what rationale was. He thought the City needs to be careful because some of these increases do not necessarily relate to the original job classification. John Ferris said the larger increases for the police assistant's position was based on fairness and equity. He said they were bringing that position up equal with the other supporting staff positions. Phil Zietlow said that he cannot see these types of increases continuing. Ed Belland said that he checked with other departments for assistants salaries. For example, West Hennepin, needed to hire a new person for $38,000. He said if Cec Vieau left today they would have to pay between $35,000 and $38,000 to replace her. He felt that the increase was warranted. Paul Robinson said there are some issues with the changes in classifications. He said when the City has to do its next pay equity compliance it is going to have to show that the job classifications are in line with the pay scale. He said job description revisions are going to need to be done. Last year when Steve Scherer was moved up to another level within the classification scale, a job description was needed to be able to justify that. So, within the coming year, the job descriptions are going to need to be updated. Phil Zietlow asked about the police chief's salary which has gone up 7, 11, and 10% over the past several years. Ed Belland said that he had looked at other departments in the area, Corcoran at $65,000, West Hennepin $69,000, Mound $73,000, Orono $69,000. He said that is what he presented to the Council as kind of comparable salaries in the area. Ed Belland said that in justifying these types of increases, it would be pretty much like the officers who, over the first four years have 11-13% increases each year, plus the cost of living until they reach their top pay scale. Ed was saying that this would put him at the top pay scale where he would not expect those types of increases in the future. Ed Belland said that he has eight full-time people, one part-time, and five reserves, and that the pay scale that he had talked about is within the range of other chiefs in the area. After some further discussion there was a call for the vote. Motion passed unanimously. 20. Merit Pay System John Ferris said as a part of the performance evaluations it was mentioned that the City should consider implementing a merit pay system. Ron Batty put together some information on the types of merit pay systems and what is allowed under those systems. Tonight the question is whether or not the City Council is interested in moving forward with developing a merit system and if the Council would like to incorporate any merit pay into the 2001 pay increases. This would have to be done before the end of the year. Jim Diliman said that one of the examples that seem to provide a good model was an example from the City of Bloomington. Medina City Council Meeting Minutes November 1.8, 2000 240 John Ferris said that if the City Council was interested he would sit down with Paul Robinson to address the merit pay issues and come back to the Council with a recommendation on how to proceed. Phil Zietlow said that it sounded reasonable. The consensus of the remainder of the Council Members was to proceed with implementing a merit pay system and have it brought back to the Council before the end of the year. 21. Formalization of the Organizational Chart John Ferris said the organizational chart was put together by Paul Robinson to clarify some of the roles and responsibilities. This chart shows the Administrator/Clerk as having direct responsibility over a majority of the contracted services, as well as the planning and zoning assistant. Phil Zietlow said that he would need some more discussion on this issue. He was not sure that the City engineer necessarily would be directly under the Administrator/Clerk. He felt that it would be better suited under the Public Works Director. Jim Lane said that he was not comfortable delegating those responsibilities outside the administration. He thought that it was much clearer to have a direct line of responsibility and accountability. He felt that from a business perspective, he would support this proposal, especially with contracted services. There was some more discussion. Phil Zietlow was opposed to that change in the organizational chart. There were some examples of how different issues would be handled based on the new arrangement. Jim Dillman asked how park maintenance would be handled. Paul Robinson said that had not been considered as a separate item but that it would easily fit within the public works department. Phil Zietlow thought that park maintenance would be one of the contracted services that would be directly under public works. The consensus of the Council was that it would be true. Paul Robinson said that as far as other contracted services were concerned, there were a lot of issues that related to administration that involved the planning and zoning administrator and the City engineer, as well as the City attorney. Approval of a conditional use permit or approval of a development involves all those activities and in this case there would be one person who would be in charge of monitoring and making sure that those issues were followed up on. There was some confusion about whether or not contracted services involved any type of contract. The consensus was that for any ongoing type of contracted service, such as the City engineer, attorney, planning and zoning administrator, building inspections, etc. Medina City Council Meeting Minutes November`1.8, 2000 241 Jim Dillman asked if he had a problem with a sewer pipe and needed to call up someone to get a repair, would he then have to call Paul first in order to get that done. Consensus was that no, in that instance, whether he had to call Tom or a contracted service to repair, that would be part of his job that he would get done in the course of business, but if there was a problem with the contracted service, then it would be discussed with the Administrator - Clerk -Treasurer. Jim Lane said that in this instance if some emergency came up, that the administrator/clerk would not need to be notified immediately, but you would have to tell him at some point or forward the information on at some point that it has happened. Other examples were discussed. There was not a consensus exactly about how the relationship between the engineering services and the Administrator -Clerk -Treasurer would be arranged. Moved by Jim Johnson, seconded by Carolyn Smith, to approve the organizational chart as presented. Those in favor: Smith, Ferris, Lane and Johnson. Those opposed: Zietlow. Motion passed. 22. Long Lake Fire Hall Update Paul Robinson said over the past several months he has provided the Council with information in the Friday reports regarding the construction of a fire hall in Long Lake. He said this evening he placed it on the agenda just to give a more personal update. He said recently there have been some public meetings and discussions regarding locations for the fire hall. Robinson said he has told the committee that the Medina City Council would probably not recommend condemnation of residential property if at all possible. Especially if there are other alternatives. Robinson wanted to make sure that the position was appropriately representing the Council. He also was concerned about the cost of the building and was trying to maintain some fiscal concerns as far as building materials and overall costs of the building. He said he would advocate for a nice building, but with more reasonable material costs. The consensus of the Council was that Robinson's representations on behalf of the Council were appropriate. Robinson said that he would keep the Council up to date in the Friday reports on these committee meetings, and if at some point if further Council involvement is needed, he would alert the Council. 23. Outstanding Planning & Zoning Fees Robinson said they have moved the process for billing planning and zoning fees to administration. He said that is going very well, however, there are still some older outstanding bills and he wondered if it would be possible or if the Council wanted to consider assessing these fees to the property taxes. Medina City Council Meeting Minutes November ig, 2000 242 Ron Batty said that would not be possible according to the State Statute. There were some ideas discussed of how the City could collect on those bills. In the end it was decided that Paul Robinson and Ron Batty would work together and come up with some other methods of collecting the outstanding bills. 24. Select 5 Important Policies the League of Minnesota Cities Should Pursue in 2001 There was some discussion. The Council picked the follow policies: 1. Elimination of sales tax on local government purchases. 2. To enact legislation allowing payment for services for tax exempt properties. 3. To encourage and promote laws that limit youth access to alcohol and tobacco products. 4. Actively oppose unfunded mandates from the state and federal. 5. Keep active membership in watershed management organizations within cities. 25. Canvass Election Results Canvas of the City Election Mayor (Vote for One) Votes Council (Vote for Members Two) Votes Don A Anderson 1 Dennis Anderson 1 Thomas Blanchette 1 Tom Blanchette 1 Tom Blanchette 2 BLANK 4 BLANK 2 Jerry Brost 1 Brost 1 Kirsten Chapman 1 Cousineau 1 Laurie Cousineau 1 Deslauries 1 Don Deslauries 2 Dillman 1 Ayellow Dog 2 Draz 1 Julie Dorweiler 4 Ferguson 1 Gerald Dykoff 1 John B. Ferris 1751` Ken Ferguson 1 Franklin 1 Robert Franklin 3 Garfield 1 Tom Gregor 1 Gus Hall 1 Gus Hall 1 Beth Haug 1 Jack Halverson 1 Jim Johnson 1 Stephen Hansen 1 Donald C Johnston 1 Susan Hartley 1 William T. Michalek 1 Erika Jeffrey 1 Conrad Miller 4 Jim Johnson 7 Helen Miller 1 Jones 1 Mickey Mouse 1 James S Lane 1243 Lonnie Noble 1 Tim Lautiner 1 Alan Noot 1 Madeleine Linck 1 Dick Picard 1 Mark Metzger 1 Harry Robinson 1 Frank Mignone 2 Hunk Scherer 1 Mickey Mouse 2 Mark Schimke 2 Dick Picard 1 Gordy Schmidt 1 Homer Simpson 1 Caroline Smith 1 Smith 1 Carolyn Smith 3 Tony Sundin 1 James Smith 1 Peter Vickerman 1 Jerry Laurie Don Jim Brad Ken Bob Medina City Council Meeting Minutes Novemberi8, 2000 243 Ramona Stedman 1 Robert Waag 1 Keith Stotts 1 Bill Wayttas 1 Sam Thompson 1 Elizabeth Weir 2 David Usset 1 Bruce D Workman 1358 Peter Vickerman 1 Kevin Wagman 1 David Wessin 1 XYZ 1 Moved by Carolyn Smith, seconded by Phil Zietlow, to approve the canvass results. Motion passed unanimously. 26. Pay the Bills Moved by Jim Johnson, seconded by Phil Zietlow, to approve the bills, order check numbers 21635-21691 for $112, 981.01, and payroll check numbers 16790-16804 for $16,488.34, and payroll check numbers 16805-16820 for $17,355.49. Motion passed unanimously. 27. Executive Session Moved by John Ferris, seconded by Phil Zietlow, to close the meeting and go into executive session for attorney/client privilege. Motion passed unanimously. Moved by Carolyn Smith, seconded by Phil Zietlow, to reconvene the regular session. 28. Adjournment Moved by Carolyn Smith, seconded by Jim Johnson, to adjourn the meeting at 10:35 p.m. Motion passed unanimously. n B. Ferris, Mayor Att Paul Robinson, City Clerk -Treasurer Medina City Council Meeting Minutes November 1,8, 2000 244 (THIS PAGE LEFT BLANK INTENTIONALLY) Medina City Council Meeting Minutes November '(8, 2000 ORDER CHECKS - NOVEMBER 8, 2000 21635 ORCHARD TRUST 21636 P.E.R.A. 21637 ASPEN ENVIRONMENTAL 21638-41 BONESTROO, ROSENE, ANDERLIK 21642 21643 21644 21645 21646 21647 21648 21649 21650 21651 21652 21653 21654 21655 21656 21657 21658 21659 21660 r $880.00 $3,255.96 J V M6 -44." $49.59 �0�ca LLg� $39, 976.31 % 04, �� BRYAN ROCK PRODUCTS $4,633.80 CLASSIC CLEANING $399.38 DELTA DENTAL $671.65 DITTER, INC. $349.25 E-Z-RECYCLING $2,552.22 ESS BROS. & SONS, INC. $538.36 FORTIS BENEFITS $459.94 G. L. CONTRACTING $1,615.75 GARY'S DIESEL SERVICE $452.11 GLEN LINCOLN PARTNERS $210.64 GOESSLING, TED $360.00 GOPHER STATE ONE CALL GRAINGER HAMMEL, GREEN AND ABRAHAMSON HAWKINS WATER TREATMENT GROUP HENNEPIN CO.TREAS.,ACCTG.SVCS HOME DEPOT/GECF KENNEDY & GRAVEN LAWSON, SANDRA $219.20 $520.83 $1,069.13 $1, 924.11 $954.50 $311.40 $7,327.56 $22.01 $132.00 $210.87 21661 LAW ENFORCEMENT LABOR SERVICES 21662 LAWSON PRODUCTS, INC. 21663 MAYER DISTRIBUTING $11,218.81 21664 MEDICA CHOICE $6,296.55 21665 METRO WEST INSPECTION 21666 METROCALL 21667 METROPOLITAN COUNCIL WASTEWTR $1,089.00 21668 MINNEGASCO $59.50 21669 MINNESOTA CHILD SUPP. PYT.CTR $630.00 21670 MINNESOTA STATE POLICE $221.30 21671 MOBIL $6.49 21672 MOTHERS MOTORS/LORETTO TOWING $20.00 21673 NORTHERN STATES POWER $3,016.33 21674 ORCHARD TRUST CO $880.00 21675 PRUDENTIAL INSURANCE CO. OF AM $140.30 21676 RANDY'S SANITATION $89.98 21677 RUFFRIDGE JOHNSON EQUIP. CO. $91.96 21678 SAFETY TRAIN, INC. $650.00 $12,682.80 - 0'.9 $88.21 Medina City Council Meeting Minutes Novembers 8, 2000 246 ORDER CHECKS — NOVEMBER 8, 2000(CONT'D) 21679 STREICHER'S $125.00 21680 TRI STATE PUMP $46.86 21681 TWIN CITY WATER CLINIC $35.00 21682 U.S. WEST COMMUNICATIONS $499.06 21683 UNITED RENTALS $387.39 21684 VALVOLINE FLEET SERVICES $35.33 21685-87 VERIZON WIRELESS $451.60 21688 WALDOR PUMP $236.25 21689 WESTSIDE WHOLESALE TIRE $205.56 21690 WRIGHT-HENNEPIN ELECTRIC $1,504.96 21691 P.E.R.A. $3,176.20 Totals $112,981.01 PAYROLL CHECKS — OCTOBER 23, 2000 16790 ROBINSON, PAUL A. $1,106.39 16791 SCHERER, STEVEN T. $1,031.33 16792 MCGILL, CHRISTOPHER R. $1,099.75 16793 ROUILLARD, MICHAEL J $996.02 16794 DILLMAN, JAMES D $1,548.34 16795 DRESSEL, ROBERT P. $987.97 16796 BELLAND, EDGAR J. $1,883.45 16797 VIEAU, CECILIA M. $933.63 16798 SULANDER, LAURA L. $1,025.71 16799 LARSON, SANDRA L. $913.83 16800 BOECKER, KEVIN D. $352.33 16801 PRIEM, JON D. $1,282.85 16802 CHRISTENSON, JEREMY L. $1,061.98 16803 NYSTROM, JAMES $1,148.91 16804 Nelson, Jason $1,115.85 $16,488.34 Medina City Council Meeting Minutes Novemberl8, 2000 247 PAYROLL CHECKS - NOVEMBER 6, 2000 16805 ROBINSON, PAUL A. $1,106.39 16806 SCHERER, STEVEN T. $1,031.33 16807 MCGILL, CHRISTOPHER R. $1,151.29 16808 ROUILLARD, MICHAEL J $1,299.11 16809 DILLMAN, JAMES D $1,548.34 16810 DRESSEL, ROBERT P. $951.10 16811 BELLAND, EDGAR J. $1,883.45 16812 VIEAU, CECILIA M. $933.63 16813 SULANDER, LAURA L. $1,025.71 16814 LARSON, SANDRA L. $868.91 16815 BOECKER, KEVIN D. $348.92 16816 PRIEM, JON D $1,282.85 16817 CHRISTENSON, JEREMY L. $1,061.98 16818 NYSTROM, JAMES $1,128.22 16819 NELSON, JASON $1,117.77 16820 LARSON, TODD A $616.49 $17,355.49 Medina City Council Meeting Minutes November' 8. 2000 248 (THIS PAGE LEFT BLANK INTENTIONALLY) Medina City Council Meeting Minutes November'18, 2000