HomeMy Public PortalAbout12/02/97 CCM239
MEDINA CITY COUNCIL MEETING MINUTES OF DECEMBER 2, 1997
The City Council of Medina, Minnesota met in regular session on December 2, 1997 at 7:30
p.m. in the City Hall Chambers. Mayor John Ferris presided.
Members present: Ferris, Hamilton, Johnson, and Thies.
Members absent: Zietlow.
Also present: Police Chief Ed Belland, Attorney Ron Batty, Public Works Director Jim
Dillman, City Engineer Glenn Cook, and City Clerk -Treasurer Paul Robinson.
1. Approval of the Agenda
Added were approval of the minutes from the special meeting of November 19, 1997 and
recognition of donations to the city.
Moved by Ann Thies, seconded by Jim Johnson, to approve the agenda as amended.
Motion passed unanimously.
2. Approval of the Minutes from November 18, 1997, City Council Meeting
Ann Thies said she would like to add to the presentation by Joyce Flurry, that money given
to Senior Community Services would not only support the Tamarack Senior Center but also
the Hamel Senior Group.
Moved by Jim Johnson, seconded by John Ferris, to approve the minutes of the November
4, 1997,City Council meeting as amended. Motion passed unanimously.
3. Approval of the Minutes from the Special Council Meeting of November 19, 1997
John Ferris summarized the meeting. He said the department heads had an excellent year
and each department head had completed a number of projects this past year to warrant an
increase in their salary. He handed out a memo summarizing the recommendations of the
city council.
Moved by Ann Thies, seconded by Jim Johnson, to approve the minutes as presented.
Motion passed unanimously.
4. Consent Agenda
A. Resolution 97-58, Approving C.U.P. for Thorpe Distributing.
B. Resolution 97-59, Ratification of Cleanup Assessment Certification.
Moved by Jim Johnson, seconded by Ann Thies to approve the consent agenda. Motion
passed unanimously.
5. Comments from Citizens - There were none.
6. Park Commission Comments - There were none.
7. Planning Commission Comment
Susan MacKay, Planning Commission Member, reminded the City Council about a joint
work session with the Planning Commission on Saturday, December 6, at 10:30 a.m.
Medina City Council Meeting Minutes
December 2, 1997
240
OLD BUSINESS
8. 1998 Budget — Wage and Salary Increases
John Ferris said there were a number of recommendations presented by each department
head for salary increases for their employees.
Jim Dillman said he would present his recommendations verbally. Dillman said he
recommended a 3% increase for Bob Dressel, 5% increase for Steve Scherer, and 5%
increase for Sandie Larson based on good performance during the past year and where
this would put each employee on the step increase chart.
John Ferris asked if there were any questions.
There was some discussion about the step increases and an explanation of the pay scale
chart.
Jim Dillman said Larson and Scherer were receiving a 2% increase over the cost of living.
Next Ed Belland was requesting a 7% increase for Cec Vieau.
John Ferris said that Cec Vieau was the lowest paid of the three support staff employees
and that her job was very comparable to the other three. Ferris said Belland was proposing
a larger increase for her this year in an effort to bring Vieau up to the level to the other two
employees. In addition, Belland was also requesting to move Scott Kroeger up to the next
step at the beginning of the year rather than waiting for his anniversary date.
Ed Belland referenced his memo included in the council packet. He said that this would
move Scott Kroeger up to the second step six months earlier than if they were to wait for his
anniversary date.
John Ferris said that the last employee was Laura Sulander, in the Clerk -Treasurer's
department.
Paul Robinson said that in his memo he had referenced a number of the performance
issues that had led him to request a 5% increase for 1998.
Moved by Jim Johnson, seconded by Ann Thies, to approve the pay increase requests as
submitted. Motion passed unanimously.
9. 1998 Budget Review of Final Budget Draft
John Ferris said the current budget draft was basically the same as the last budget draft.
Ferris said health insurance costs went up a little, and, as a result of the hiring of the police
chief, the net difference in wages was the city saved a little bit of money and is in a better
position than it was before.
Paul Robinson said that in addition to the decrease in expenditures, there was also an
increase in revenues from a final calculation of the special assessment amounts for 1998.
Medina City Council Meeting Minutes
December 2, 1997
241
Robinson said that the net difference, around $25,000, increased the contingency
expenditure in the 1998 budget.
Jim Johnson had questions on the year to date expenditures and revenues. He asked why
the interest and building permit revenues were so much higher than projected in the budget.
Robinson said that the interest amount was higher because interest is accumulated in the
general fund for all of the funds until the end of the year. At that point it is distributed to all
the different funds. The net amount, as shown in the 1996 actual amount, will be much
closer to the budgeted amount. The excess building permit revenue came from a $70,000
permit for the Hennepin County Public Works building. Robinson said this was an anomaly
and was not included as a part of the regular budget process.
Jim Johnson also asked why there was so little spent under capital improvements in the
public works department.
Jim Dillman said that the Evergreen Road project was postponed to another year. Dillman
said there were $30,000 of expenditures in the street materials line item that needed to be
moved into the capital improvement line item.
John Ferris asked if there were any further questions.
There were none.
10. Sign for the Farmers State Bank of Hamel Parking Lot
Robinson said at the last meeting the City Council directed staff to prepare information on
the cost of the signs and on the sign language. Robinson said there were two alternatives
listed in his memo. He asked the City Council which alternative they preferred.
There was some discussion about the two alternatives.
Moved by Ann Thies, seconded by Jim Johnson, to allocate up to $225 for the signs for the
Farmers State Bank of Hamel parking lot, selecting option 1 as the sign of choice. Motion
passed unanimously.
11. Police Garage Addition
Ed Belland said that carpenters had spent the last two days framing up the interior rooms
and that the brick had been delivered for the outside walls. He said they should have the
walls done by next City Council meeting.
12. Donations
Jim Dillman said he wanted to recognize a couple of people who recently made donations
to the City. The first person was Bill Nikko, from H.L. Johnson, who donated dirt for Maple
Park, and the second was Fortin Hardware who donated a pony grader. At one time this
grader was given to Fortin Hardware, by the City, to use for maintaining the ballfields at the
park. It was now given back to the City and it will be on display.
Medina City Council Meeting Minutes
December 2, 1997
242
NEW BUSINESS
13. Approval of the Metropolitan Council Planning Grant Contract
Robinson said the City was awarded a grant from Metropolitan Council to offset the costs
involved in creating the comprehensive plan. Robinson said that the amount awarded to
the City was $11,310. Robinson said that as a part of signing this contract the City was
agreeing to submit a mid point and final progress report to the Metropolitan Council and
match the grant with at least $3,770. Robinson said this would not be a problem.
Moved by Ann Thies, seconded by Jim Johnson, to approve the Metropolitan Council
Planning Grant Contract. Motion passed unanimously.
14. Sathre Bergquist Request for Extending Sewer to Medina Parks Property
Rick Sathre of Sathre Bergquist said that he was working for a partnership called Medina
Parks. He said they were looking to develop 100 acres south of the railroad tracks from
Highway 55. He said the City has an easement on this property for the City's water tower.
He introduced and discussed the various partners involved in this property. Sathre
explained some of the property's characteristics using an overhead. He said there were a
large amount of wetlands on the property leaving a net of 62 developable acres. Sathre
said the partners he was representing were very interested in developing this property and
would like to have access to City sewer and water.
Sathre said this property had already been assessed for water, but that they were interested
in receiving sewer service. He said they wanted to check with the City council on the
staging for sewer for this area. Sathre said they were considering an industrial
development that would use between 48,000 and 50,000 gallons per day of the remaining
City capacity of 100,000 gallons per day.
John Ferris said currently the city council cannot provide direct answers to these questions.
Ferris said that the city council and planning commission are currently in the process of
updating the comprehensive plan. Ferris said that it is obvious that the property along
Highway 55 would be best developed at its highest and best use as commercial property,
however, right now the city council is not in the position to determine when this area would
be staged for sewer. He said that these comments and concerns would be passed on to
the planning commission.
There was some discussion about the Elm Creek Interceptor. At this point, nobody knows
for sure whether or not the City will select or decide to use that capacity.
Rick Sathre asked to be informed when the city council and planning commission would be
discussing the staging of sewer and development of the area concerning this property.
Medina City Council Meeting Minutes
December 2, 1997
243
15. Approval to Close City Hall on December 26, 1997
Robinson said a number of City staff would like to take a vacation day on the day after
Christmas. Robinson said that since the day after Christmas was a Friday he was not
expecting a large demand on City services. Robinson said this did not mean that some
employees may still decide to come in and work, it's just that City Hall would not be open for
active business on that day.
Moved by Jim Johnson, seconded by Ann Thies, to approve the closing of City Hall on
December 26, 1997. Motion passed unanimously.
16. Personnel Policy
John Ferris said that the City Clerk -Treasurer has his draft of the personnel policy and will
be reviewing that draft and updating it over the next several months.
17. Tobacco Ordinance
John Ferris said the last time the City Council discussed this issue they were made aware of
recent changes in the state law that required that cities update their tobacco ordinance or
the county would take over regulation of tobacco sales. One of the required changes
included compliance checks of all licensed tobacco retailers at least once annually.
Jim Johnson asked what the cost would be of this additional regulation.
Paul Robinson said the City would need to raise the license fee to around $125 per license
in order to recoup the additional cost of regulating tobacco sales.
John Ferris said that one of the issues was whether or not the City would eliminate direct
counter sales.
There was some discussion about the regulation banning single pack counter displays.
Currently retailers taping packs together so that they are selling more than one pack on
their displays to comply with the state law.
After some additional discussion, Ed Belland said that performing the compliance checks
would not take more than a day and would be relatively easy for the police department to
do.
Ron Batty said that if the City were to regulate the tobacco sales there were two basic
issues: 1. The development of an ordinance regulating tobacco sales that would comply
with the new state regulations, and 2. The additional administrative burden placed on City
staff to regulate and implement the ordinance.
The City Council decided they would like to continue to regulate tobacco sales and directed
the City Clerk -Treasurer to draft a tobacco ordinance to present to the City Council.
Medina City Council Meeting Minutes
December 2. 1997
244
18. Approval to Pay the Bills
Moved by Jim Johnson, seconded by Ann Thies to approve the bills, order check #17801 -
17835, for $76,900.62, and payroll check #15445 - 15462, for $12,164.83. Motion passed
unanimously.
19. Adjournment
Moved by Jim Johnson, seconded by Ann Thies, to adjourn the meeting at 8:25 p.m.
Motion passed unanimously.
John B. Ferris, Mayor
Paul Robinson, City Clerk -Treasurer
Medina City Council Meeting Minutes
December 2, 1997
245
ORDER CHECKS — DECEMBER 2, 1997
17801 Air Touch Cellular $35.86
17802 All Steel Products 2,659.14
17803 Allstar Electric 788.20
17804 American Liberty 28,122.46
17805 B & S Industries 154.86
17806 Banyon Data Systems 1,808.22
17807 Barton Sand & Gravel 1,242.70
17808 Brock White 2,771.13
17809 Bryan Rock Products 5,087.70
17810 Burton Equipment 672.90
17811 D'Fence Co. 1,162.95
17812 Delta Dental 640.40
17813 Doctor Floorcoat 1,200.00
17814 Document Resources 668.72
17815 Rolf Erickson Eng., Inc 3,003.62
17816 Fortin Hardware 96.83
17817 G. L. Contracting 3,182.36
17818 Great West Life Assurance 550.00
17819 Kasco Marine 572.04
17820 Kennedy & Graven 2,613.38
17821 Sandra Larson 15.60
17822 Long Lake Power Equipment 38.32
17823 Medina Choice 2,454.25
17824 Midwest Asphalt 104.90
17825 Minnesota Mutual 230.00
17826 Minnesota State Retirement Syst 155.00
17827 Northern States Power 2,206.49
17828 P.E.R.A. 2,294.41
17829 Postmaster 500.00
17830 Quill Corp 26.07
17831 Streicher's 59.95
17832 Twin City Water Clinic 20.00
17833 Unum 49.90
17834 Rodger Vieau 107.27
17835 Ziegler, Inc. 11.604.99
$ 76, 900.62
Medina City Council Meeting Minutes
December 2, 1997
246
PAYROLL CHECKS — DECEMBER 2, 1997
15445 John A. Hamilton $ 138.52
15446 Ann C. Thies 138.52
15447 John B. Ferris 207.79
15448 Philip K. Zietlow 138.52
15449 James R. Johnson 138.52
15450 Paul A. Robinson 704.71
15451 Steven T. Scherer 1,003.58
15452 Michael J. Rouillard 1,134.80
15453 Scott W. Kroeger 838.37
15454 James D. Dillman 1,183.14
15455 Robert P. Dressel 984.13
15456 Edgar J. Belland 1,426.11
15457 Cecilia M. Vieau 666.18
15458 Ivan Dingmann 48.48
15459 Laura L. Sulander 890.73
15460 Sandra L. Larson 733.04
15461 Jon D. Priem 900.37
15462 Jeremy L. Christenson 889.32
$12,164.83
Medina City Council Meeting Minutes
December 2, 1997