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MEDINA CITY COUNCIL MEETING MINUTES OF DECEMBER 15, 1998
The City Council of Medina, Minnesota met in regular session on December 15, 1998 at 7:30
p.m. in the City Hall Chambers. Mayor John Ferris presided.
Members present: Ferris, Zietlow, Hamilton, Johnson, and Thies.
Members absent: None.
Also present: Police Chief Ed Belland, Attorney Ron Batty, Public Works Director Jim Dillman,
City Engineer Glenn Cook, Planning Commission Representative Carolyn Smith, and City Clerk -
Treasurer Paul Robinson.
1. Additions to the Agenda
A. Discussion concerning the intersection of Trunk Highway 55 and Willow Drive.
B. Minutes of the December 7 Truth in Taxation Hearing.
Moved by Jim Johnson, seconded by Ann Thies, to approve the agenda as amended. Motion
passed unanimously.
2. Approval of the December 1, 1998 Minutes
End the first sentence on page 3 ninth paragraph at "lighting" and strike the remainder of the
sentence.
Moved by Jim Johnson, seconded by John Hamilton, to approve the minutes of December 1,
1998 as amended. Motion passed unanimously.
3. Minutes of the December 7, 1998 Truth in Taxation Hearing
Moved by Jim Johnson, seconded by John Hamilton, to approve the minutes as presented.
Motion passed unanimously.
4. Minutes of the November 17, 1998 Council Meeting
Approval was tabled until the January 5, 1999 meeting.
5. Comments from Residents in Attendance on Items Not on the Agenda
There were none.
6. Park Commission Comments
There was some discussion about the ballfields and dedication of the trail.
7. Planning Commission Comments
There were none.
8. Woodlake Sanitary Landfill Update
John Baxter of Schoell and Madson made a report on the status of monitoring at the closed
landfill. He said that the PCA will be assuming responsibility for maintaining and updating the
sanitary landfill. He said, often times the PCA hire the previous operator to continue operating
the landfill. He said that residences in the area will continue to be sampled. He said the PCA
will be doing a majority of the sampling work so the city would not need to have Schoell and
Madson continue this portion of the monitoring work.
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December 15, 1998
260
However, Baxter did have some recommendations for what Schoell and Madson could continue
to do. He said the PCA will put together an annual report. He recommended that the city have
Schoell and Madson review this report. He also suggested that Schoell and Madson review the
data on the residential wells and send out a letter to all of the residents that had wells tested
explaining the purpose and meaning of the test. Additionally he asked to send a letter to homes
within the one year and five year radiuses that have not been tested and offer them the
opportunity to have their wells tested.
Moved by Ann Thies, seconded by Phil Zietlow, to accept the recommendations of John Baxter.
Motion passed unanimously.
9. Elm Creek Knoll
Glenn Cook said a resolution for the preliminary plat approval for Elm Creek Knoll was included
in the council packets. Cook read through the conditions of that approval.
Jim Johnson asked if the lots were going to extend through the outlot as discussed.
Ron Batty said that he, Jim Dillman, Loren Kohnen, and Glenn Cook got together and changed
that portion keeping the wetlands and the NURP pond in the outlot.
Ron Batty said that part of the problem with extending the lots into the outlot was that one
person would end up being responsible for the pond for the entire development.
There was some discussion about the homeowners association.
Ron Batty said that the homeowners association is a legal entity that needs to be formed with
article of incorporation and by-laws. He said he would need to see this documentation before
the plat is finalized. He said there will also be a complicated set of cross easements needed for
use of the driveway. He said the city would not be obligated to maintain the pond and the
driveway.
There was some discussion about the risks involved in having the road be private versus public,
or a public road being maintained by a private entity.
Ron Batty said if the homeowners association does not maintain the public road, eventually the
city could be forced to maintain it.
There was some additional discussion about designating the road as a public road and about
how it would be maintained.
Jim Johnson said he was concerned that the city would not be maintaining a public road, but
was willing to see if this setup will work.
There was some discussion about condition number 9 leaving the amount of the park dedication
fee up to the assessor.
Ron Batty said that they had not yet had a problem with this condition.
Moved by Ann Thies, seconded by Jim Johnson, to approve Resolution 98-73 granting
preliminary approval for the plat of elm creek knoll with the recommended conditions. Motion
passed unanimously.
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December 15, 1998
261
8. Holiday Lighting
Greg Ebert wanted to know if the city council was going to change the ordinance.
John Ferris said that right now they have not given this issue to the planning commission. He
said after recent light testing he thought it might be possible to change the ordinance or
recommend changing the ordinance to a 1.2 candlepower requirement at the property line.
Phil Zietlow asked what Holiday had done to change the lighting since the last meeting.
Greg Ebert said they have spent three nights testing and they have shielded some of the lights.
They also pulled a van up along the parking lot to see if a fence or some type of barrier on the
property line would lower the impact of the lights on the neighbors property. What they found
out from their testing was that the lights from underneath the canopy were hitting the concrete
and bouncing up across the street onto the neighbor's property.
John Hamilton said he was there one evening with Greg Ebert when they were testing the
lighting. He said that with all of the penaflex lighting off, Holiday was still not able to meet the
requirement and the problem seemed to be coming from the lights from under the canopy.
Greg Ebert said what they are going to do now is to rewire the lights under the canopy so that
they could turn off one or two of the rows of lights underneath the canopy. He said they will see
how close that brings them to the proposed 1.2 candlepower requirement at the property line.
There was some discussion about how the testing was done.
John Ferris said when he was testing he held the light meter between waist high and eye level
with the meter facing the lights. Greg Ebert said he laid the meter down on the ground at the
property line.
There was some discussion about standardizing the testing method and making that a part of
the ordinance. The city council preferred the method used by John Ferris.
There was some discussion about how to reduce the amount of light bouncing off from
underneath the canopy. It was suggested that they paint the concrete to limit the reflection of
light.
Joe Francis said they got bids for putting on an additional layer of vinyl onto the back of the
panaflex lighting boxes. The bid was for $28,000 with no guarantee that it would work.
Jim Johnson said the issue with the panaflex lighting is that it is not downcast lighting so no
matter what they do it will always be out of compliance.
Phil Zietlow said the first issue was reducing the impact of the panaflex lighting for the
immediate neighbor, the second issue was how does the lighting affect properties farther away.
There was some continued discussion about options for reducing the amount of light on the
property.
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December 15, 1998
262
Dan Obraisley who owns the Subway Store on Trunk Highway 55, said he was concerned about
the reduction of lighting and its potential impact on businesses. He said that lighting is critical to
retail stores and that it helps to create safer environments around their stores.
Carolyn Smith of the planning commission asked if the city council was going to address the
panaflex lighting since it was not downcast and since the planning commission was not
informed that this type of lighting would be used. She thought Holiday should be forced to
comply. She thought the planning commission was concerned that the Trunk Highway 55
corridor not end up with a lit up "Las Vegas" type look. She wondered why the city was giving
Holiday the impression they could keep the panaflex lighting.
John Hamilton said the city gave them a permit and inspected their building and plans. He said
that the city also has some obligation or responsibility here to look for alternative solution.
Greg Ebert said they were sorry. He said they also had an oversight. They did not think that
this lighting would be so bright. He said if the Holiday colors were yellow instead of red, white,
and blue they would probably be in compliance.
Jim Johnson said that he did not like the fascia lighting. However, in fairness to the applicant,
he said it looks like the city should be willing to work with Holiday to figure out some type of
solution.
There was some discussion about the number of lights under the canopy.
Phil Zietlow said that added up to 17,000 watts of lighting under the canopy. He said that is a
lot.
Joe Francis said they were going to reduce the amount of light underneath the canopy and see
what impact that had on the overall candle power at the property line.
Phil Zietlow said they cannot tell what will be in the ordinance at this point, however, for the next
meeting in January, three weeks from now, they are asking Holiday to attain at least a 1.2
candlepower at the property line. Until the next meeting the council requested that Mr. Francis
to keep the east facade lights off.
9. Interim Ordinance Protecting Properties in Northeast Quadrant of City
Ron Batty said in the council packets there was an interim ordinance that basically declares a
moratorium on development of property in the northeast quadrant of the city. He said this
ordinance was probably longer than what the council had initially thought of. He said he wanted
to include in the ordinance a history and reasons for why this property was being placed on a
temporary moratorium. He said the main reason was to protect and preserve the planning
process of the city. He said this ordinance would be in effect for one year from the date of the
adoption.
Moved by Ann Thies, seconded by Phil Zietlow, to approve the Ordinance 305 as presented.
Motion passed unanimously.
Moved by Ann Thies, seconded by Phil Zietlow, to approve the Resolution 98-74 resolution
authorizing publication of ordinance no. 305 by title and summary. Motion passed
unanimously.
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December 15, 1998
263
10. Subdivision Ordinance
Jim Dillman said he and Loren Kohnen went through the map and determined how many
additional lots could be developed in the rural residential area with a minimum lot size of eight
acres requiring at least two and half acres of good soil versus five acres of good soil as will be
required in July 1999. He said this proposed change would add an additional 160 lots to the
rural residential area.
There was some discussion about the amount of good soil needed to prevent septic problems.
Phil Zietlow said that technically they believed that two and half acres would be enough
contiguous good soil to prevent septic problems and that a five to eight acre lot size would be
large enough to protect the density of the city. He said the two issues were protecting septic
systems and protecting density.
Jim Dillman said that Loren Kohnen had suggested that the septic sites be fenced in, in order to
protect them from being driven over or damaged.
There was some discussion about this. The planning commission would be directed to look at
ways to protect septic sites.
Moved by Phil Zietlow, seconded by Ann Thies, to have the planning commission, at their
January meeting, consider changing the current subdivision ordinance to include an eight acre
alternate minimum lot size and two and half acre contiguous soil requirement in the rural
residential area. Motion passed unanimously.
11. Wessin Property
Glenn Cook said they have been in the process of appraising the Wessin property for an
exchange of land so the city could create wetlands for wetland credits to offset the loss of
wetlands for city projects in other areas of the city. He said on the Wessin property there are
two small ponds and around five and half acres of existing wetland. He said the city is
proposing to obtain easements over 15.8 acres of the property to create an additional 10 acres
of wetlands.
Cook said the city property was assessed at $28,000 per acre and the Wessin property was
assessed at $11,000 per acre.
Phil Zietlow asked what the cost of creating the wetlands would be.
Jim Dillman said it will be minimal because there is a fairly clean edge around this area and all
they would need to do is dam the area to create the wetlands.
It was asked where the city would use these wetland credits.
Jim Dillman said that some of them would be used for a project on the Keller property, others
may be used for the frontage road on Chippewa and there will be a number of other projects
over the next several years where the city could use these credits.
Phil Zietlow asked if there should be a policy for how the city uses these wetland credits.
Medina City Council Meeting Minutes
December 15, 1998
264
Glenn Cook said that would probably be a good idea. He said he would put that together some
time. Cook said what he needed from the council was approval to go ahead and negotiate with
the Wessins for an agreement on this land trade.
The city council approved going ahead with the negotiation.
12. Signal at the Intersection of Highway 55 and Willow Drive
Glenn Cook said that recently the city staff met with MnDOT concerning a proposed traffic
signal at this intersection. He said that the city would need to submit a signal justification
request to see if it met MnDOT's warrants.
Cook said a signal at this intersection would include a cooperative agreement with some of the
businesses in the area. Muller Pribyl, the motel, and a number of other properties have an
interest in a signal at that intersection.
Glenn Cook said that MnDOT may be able to finance this project, however, the city would be
competing for funds in a metro wide pool. MnDOT said in 1998 they had $6,000,000 worth of
applications and only $3,000,000 worth of funds. Cook said that this request would probably
receive an okay ranking in the MnDOT system. He said if MnDOT would fund this project they
would cover 50% of the signal cost, 90% of the realignment, and 90% of the right of way.
Glenn Cook said the total cost of this project would be around $500,000 and the city would need
to pay around $200,000. He said of the $200,000 a portion would be assessed to the benefiting
businesses and properties.
Glenn Cook said he was asking the city council to direct the engineer to put together a signal
justification request for MnDOT.
Phil Zietlow asked how much this would cost.
Glenn Cook said around $2,500.
Moved by Jim Johnson, seconded Phil Zietlow, to direct the city engineer to put together a
signal justification request for the intersection of Willow Drive and TH 55. Motion passed
unanimously.
13. Park Commission Appointments
The city council decided to place an ad for park commissioners in the city's legal paper.
14. Approval of the 1999 Budget
Paul Robinson said that this is the final format of the 1999 budget as has been discussed at a
number of meetings.
Moved by Jim Johnson, seconded by Phil Zietlow, to approve the Resolution 98-75 approving
the 1999 budget and levy. Motion passed unanimously.
15. Donation Request for Communities in Collaboration
Jim Johnson said that this is a good organization, it works, and has big benefits for a small
amount of cost.
Moved by Phil Zietlow, seconded by Ann Thies, to approve a $295 the Communities in
Collaboration Donation Request as a part of the 1999 Budget. Motion passed unanimously.
Medina City Council Meeting Minutes
December 15, 1998
265
16. Discussion on Copier Purchase
Paul Robinson said city staff has been looking into a number of alternatives for copiers. He said
this purchase was originally budgeted for in 1998. He said he would like to postpone this
purchase until 1999. He also said that a part of the original plan was to move the current copier
from upstairs down into the police department. He said that will no longer work since the copier
upstairs has had increasing difficulties and has been breaking down almost weekly. He said
that the city will need to spend an additional $3,000 to $4,000 to replace that copier in addition
to the new copier for upstairs.
The city council was okay with postponing the purchase until 1999.
17. Y2K
Paul Robinson said that the year 2000 bug issue is being spearheaded by the city's insurance
company. He said they are requiring that the city do a complete inventory and testing all of its
equipment. He said that Jim Dillman and the public works department has been getting a
number of letters certifying that their equipment is Y2K compliant. He said that he is working on
the city's computers and in his memo he recommended that the department heads get together
to begin this process and designate a Y2K coordinator.
18. Pay the Bills
Moved by Jim Johnson, seconded by Phil Zietlow to approve the bills, order check numbers
19124-19191 for $66, 415.86 and payroll check numbers 15901-15915 for $13, 747.92. Motion
passed unanimously.
19. Adjournment
Moved by Ann Thies, seconded by Phil Zietlow, to adjourn the meeting at 9:40 p.m. Motion
passed unanimously.
B. Ferris, Mayor
Paul Robinson, City Clerk -Treasurer
Medina City Council Meeting Minutes
December 15, 1998
266
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Medina City Council Meeting Minutes
December 15, 1998
267
ORDER CHECKS - DECEMBER 15, 1998
19124 Great West Life Assurance $ 575.00
19125 Minnesota Mutual 275.00
19126 Minnesota State Retirement 155.00
19127 P.E. R.A. 2,908.69
19128 A T & T Wireless Services 36.27
19129 Airtouch Cellular 159.08
19130 American Express 126.23
19131 American Linen Supply 46.66
19132 American Planning Association 48.00
19133 Anchor Scientific 51.00
19134 Bonestroo, Rosene, Anderlik 3,888.79
19135 Budget Printing 220.69
19136 Casara Computer Systems 774.09
19137 Classic Cleaning 191.70
19138 Culligan 64.22
19139 Danko Emergency Equip. Co 251.11
19140 E-Z-Recycling 2,364.12
19141 Election Systems & Software 249.50
19142 ESS Bros. & Sons, Inc. 92.66
19143 Fortin Hardware 226.66
19144 Glenwood Inglewood 27.30
19145 Gopher State One Call 169.75
19146 Harmon Glass 20.00-
19147 Jim Hatch Sales 128.49
19148 Hawkins Water Treatment 1,060.00
19149 Hennepin Cooperative Seed Exchange 476.59
19150 Hennepin Co. Dept. of Property Tax 153.76
19151 Hennepin Co. Treasurer, Voter Registration 1,212.88
19152 Hennepin Co. Treas., Acctg. Svcs. 904.00
19153 Hennepin County Sheriff 6,790.30 P^Pid S
19154 Hennepin County Public Services 420.00
19155 Holiday 11.05
19156 International Inst. Of Municipal Clerks 90.00
19157 Interpretive Graphics 1,102.48
19158 J-Craft 203.37
19159 Jimbo's Windows 292.88
19160 Kennedy & Graven 6,183.37
19161 Kustom Signals 19.65
19162 Law Enforcement Labor Services 165.00
19163 Long Lake Photo Finishing 6.12
19164 Mayer Mobil 9.68
19165 Metropolitan Council Wastewater Svcs.(SAC Chgs.) 1,980.00
19166 Midwest Automotive 164.39
19167 Minn Comm 36.69
Medina City Council Meeting Minutes
December 15, 1998
268
ORDER CHECKS — DECEMBER 15, 1998 (CONT'D)
19168 Minn. Chief's of Police Assn. 120.00
19169 Minnegasco 149.70
19170 Minnesota Child Support Ctr 595.00
19171 MPCA 150.00
19172 Minnesota Rural Water 366.95
19173 Northern States Power 2,474.08
19174 Northern Tool & Equipment 199.87
19175 Jon Priem 47.89
19176 Protocol Communications 150.00
19177 Quill Corp 106.56
19178 Randy's Sanitation 81.27
19179 Schoening Exc. 19,745.00
19180 St. Paul Stamp Works 14.18
19181 Streicher's 324.72
19182 Tallen & Baertschi 2,868.25
19183 Tri State Pump 437.09
19184 U.S. Filter/Waterpro 35.57
19185 Uniforms Unlimited 124.15
19186 Village Store 7.84
19187 West Side Redi Mix 364.23
19188 Westside Maintenance 2,420.00
19189 Westside Wholesale Tire 53.72
19190 Wright -Hennepin Electric 1,171.43
19191 Wright -Hennepin Security Services 76.14
$ 66,415.86
PAYROLL CHECKS — DECEMBER 7, 1998
15901 Paul A. Robinson 925.76
15902 Steven T. Scherer 961.06
15903 Christopher R. McGill 887.83
15904 Michael J. Rouillard 1,202.54
15905 Scott W. Kroeger 1,077.00
15906 James D. Dillman 1,349.64
15907 Robert P. Dressel 894.71
15908 Edgar J. Belland 1,570.29
15909 Martha C. Lundell 196.98
15910 Cecilia M. Vieau 818.22
15911 Laura L. Sulander 930.97
15912 Sandra L. Larson 732.97
15913 Jon D. Priem 1,101.30
15914 Jeremy L. Christenson 865.33
15915 Judd Harper 233.32
$13, 747.92
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Medina City Council Meeting Minutes
December 15, 1998