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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2003-03-27 Council Minutes CITY OF CORCORAN REGULAR COUNCIL MEETING MARCH 27, 2003 H:\City Hall Information\CITY GOVERNMENT\Council, Commissions & Committees\Council Information\Council Minutes\Previous Years\2003 - Need to PDF\03.27.03 Council Minutes.doc 1 The City Council met in regular session on March 27, 2003 at City Hall in Corcoran, Minnesota. Present were Councilors Bucher, Gageby, Lymangood and Thomas. Mayor Guenthner was excused absent. Also present were Administrator Vergin, Clerk/Treasurer Tillmann, Attorney Carson, Planner Lindahl, Engineer Vander Top, Public Works Director Meister, and Police Chief Schutte. Acting Mayor Gageby called the meeting to order at 7:02 p.m., followed by the Pledge of Allegiance to the flag. MOTION by Thomas, seconded by Bucher, and carried unanimously to approve the agenda with the following amendments: • Consideration of Items 5.b. and 5.c separate from the consent agenda • Report from Engineer Vander Top regarding discussions with the City of Maple Grove Open Forum – There were no requests from the public to speak during open forum. MOTION by Bucher, seconded by Thomas, and carried unanimously to approve the consent agenda with the exception of items 5.b. and 5.c as follows: 5.a. Approve the Regular City Council meeting minutes of March 13, 2003, as presented. 5.d. Adopt Resolution #2003 – 18, authorizing the gambling application submitted by the United Foundation for Disabled Archers for a raffle to be conducted at Country Pizza Parlor. 5.e. Adopt Resolution #2003 – 19, authorizing the Mayor and the City Clerk to enter into contracts with the lowest responsible bidders (on file in the City Clerk’s Office) on behalf of the City of Corcoran for 2003 Street Maintenance Projects, and directing the Clerk to return any bid bonds submitted to all other bidders. Discussion was held regarding item 5.b. of the consent agenda. Councilor Lymangood advised that he would abstain from approving the sale of investments to Salomon Smith Barney as listed in the claims for approval. He also advised the Council that staff is identifying payments or reimbursements made by the City to employees separately, for informational purposes. MOTION by Bucher, seconded by Lymangood, and carried unanimously to approve claims #1194 – 1222, in the amount of $88,066.14, with the exception of the purchase of investments from Salomon Smith Barney, as presented. MOTION by Thomas, seconded by Bucher, to approve the purchase of investments from Salomon Smith Barney as presented. Roll call: Bucher, aye; Gageby, aye; Lymangood, abstained; Thomas, aye. Motion carried. Acting Mayor Gageby read aloud a proclamation declaring April as Child Abuse Prevention Month in the City of Corcoran. Call to Order Roll Call Pledge of Allegiance Agenda Approval Open Forum Consent Agenda Approval March 27, 2002 Claims Approval of Claims Approval of Investment Purchase Proclamation of Child Abuse Prevention Month CITY OF CORCORAN REGULAR COUNCIL MEETING MARCH 27, 2003 H:\City Hall Information\CITY GOVERNMENT\Council, Commissions & Committees\Council Information\Council Minutes\Previous Years\2003 - Need to PDF\03.27.03 Council Minutes.doc 2 Audit Presentation – Steve MacDonald, Abdo, Eick & Meyers. LLP Steve MacDonald, City Auditor, Abdo, Eick, & Meyers, presented the 2002 City Audit Report and Management Letter. Discussed the segregation of duties due to the size of the City staff and reported that staff is drafting policies to furth er address the segregation of duties and other accounting functions. Councilor Bucher stressed that this is not a material weakness and MacDonald agreed. Auditor MacDonald has also reviewed the draft policies and feels that they are appropriate. Discussed an appropriate level of fund balance. The City has actively worked over the past two years to increase the fund balance, making significant improvements to bring it to an appropriate level. Recommended pre- paying the 1996 Road Improvement Debt. MOTION by Lymangood, seconded by Thomas, and carried unanimously to adopt Resolution #2003 – 20 as amended, accepting the 2002 Audit Report as presented by Abdo, Eick & Meyers, LLP. MOTION by Bucher, seconded by Thomas, and carried unanimously to adopt Resolution #2003 – 21, authorizing staff to pay off the outstanding debt for the 1996 Road Improvement Project in the amount of $50,000 plus any accumulated interest, designating any remaining funds to the Asphalt Maintenance Fund. Public Hearing – Chisholm Trail Improvement Project Acting Mayor Gageby opened the public hearing for the Chisholm Trail Improvement Project at 7:38 p.m. Engineer Vander Top provided a brief overview of the Chisholm Trail road project scheduled to be completed in 2003. The project is similar in scope to the Hage Drive Improvement project completed in 2002. This project involves ½ mile of roadway and affects 18 property owners. Fourteen of 18 property owners have signed a petition in favor of the project. The City is proposing to assess the project equally among all 18 property owners, and City Public Works will be doing the prep work for the project. Costs are estimated high, but could be reduced due to the timing of the bids. A letter of support was received into the record from Mel and Marilyn Bahr, 9940 Chisholm Trail. A letter of opposition was also received into the record from Roger and Janet Hanson, 21650 County Road 30. Engineer Vander Top feels that assessing Hansons for the project is appropriate because they have a driveway access to their shed off Chisholm Trail, they were not assessed for the County Road 30 Improvement Project and they would be assessed for the improvement if the project was assessed based on front footage, with assessed costs higher if that were the case. The following public comments were heard: Richard Roberts, 9723 Chisholm Trail – Questioned if the assessable indirect costs in the amount of $18,850.00 were negotiable. Engineer Vander Top advised that the 20% was an industry average and costs include estimates for design, construction, and inspection services for legal and engineering services. 2002 City Audit Presentation Adopt Resolution #2003 – 20, accepting audit report Adopt Resolution #2003 – 21, authorizing debt payment Public Hearing – Chisholm Trail Road Improvement Public Comments CITY OF CORCORAN REGULAR COUNCIL MEETING MARCH 27, 2003 H:\City Hall Information\CITY GOVERNMENT\Council, Commissions & Committees\Council Information\Council Minutes\Previous Years\2003 - Need to PDF\03.27.03 Council Minutes.doc 3 Don Hemming, 9801 Chisholm Trail – Questioned if Public Works would require overtime to complete the Project. Public Works Director Meister advised and Administrator Vergin concurred that no overtime would be used for this project. It would be conducted during regular hours of operation. If the Public Works Department did not participate in the project, estimate assessments would increase to approximately $11,000 per property. Phil Kariniemi, 9807 Chisholm Trail – Questioned what the impact would be on the market value of property if on a gravel road versus a paved road. Attorney Carson advised that state law requires that there must be an increase t o the market value of a property with a road improvement project. Appraisers can do estimates of property values on gravel roads versus paved roads. Engineer Vander Top advised that the City could hire an independent appraiser to perform this service, but this cost would affect the amount of the assessment. Acting Mayor Gageby closed the public hearing at 8:07 p.m. Further discussion was held regarding the improvement project. Council was advised that they City does not need 100% consensus by the resi dents in order to proceed with the project. Nor does the City have to prove the benefit to the property owners at this meeting. That would be done at the assessment hearing. MOTION by Bucher, seconded by Lymangood, and carried unanimously to adopt Resolution #2003-22, ordering the improvement to Chisholm Trail, approving the plans and specifications prepared by the City Engineer, and authorizing the advertisement of bids for the project. Unfinished Business HRUA Attorney Carson advised that the Findings of Fact and Order had been revised based on comments received from Council at the prior meeting. Also advised that Building Inspector Kohnen had reviewed the documents and was satisfied with their content. Council made additional minor revisions. MOTION by Thomas, seconded by Lymangood, and carried unanimously to adopt the Findings of Fact and Order as amended. MOTION by Thomas, seconded by Bucher, and carried unanimously to authorize staff to send the MPCA correspondence drafted by Attorney Carson as presented with a copy of the Findings of Fact and Order. Facility Committee Recommendation Discussion was held regarding the recommendation from the Facility Committee for the proposed Police Department Expansion. At this time, the Committee is recommending that the City does not move forward with the expansion project due to the current budgetary impacts of the proposed state budget, economic conditions and proposed legislation regarding how cities may incur debt. The current facility can handle current conditions for the short term. Close Public Hearing Adopt Resolution #2003 – 22, ordering improvement and authorizing project bids HRUA Issues Adopt Findings of Fact and Order Send MPCA correspondence CITY OF CORCORAN REGULAR COUNCIL MEETING MARCH 27, 2003 H:\City Hall Information\CITY GOVERNMENT\Council, Commissions & Committees\Council Information\Council Minutes\Previous Years\2003 - Need to PDF\03.27.03 Council Minutes.doc 4 Facility Committee Recommendation Councilor Lymangood applauded the efforts of the committee and suggested that this topic be added to list of discussion items for the City’s State Elected Officials. The Council agreed by unanimous consensus to accept the Facility Committee report and recommendations as presented. New Business Waste Water Commission Issues Administrator Vergin advised that the Waste Water Commission (WWC) has been discussing the imposition of a penalty for non-compliance with the septic maintenance program. As of the end of 2002, approximately 570 residents out of 1801, or 31% have not complied with the program. The WWC has come up with several alternatives for penalties and would like Council input before the Open House scheduled for June of this year. Even though the Open House will be open to all residents, the WWC would like to target the residents that have not complied in order to further educate people on the importance of appropriate septic maintenance. Discussion was also held regarding Hennepin County’s enforcement of ISTS as opposed to the City doing the enforcement. Comments were heard from the following: Stan Chastek, 7600 Maple Hill Road – Mr. Chastek is the Vice Chair of the WWC. Advised that non-compliance is a problem in other cities as well. On average, non-compliance is approximately 30% of residents. Jim Bullert, 6900 Old Settlers Road – Mr. Bullert is the Chair of the WWC. Advised that the County is not giving any pressure to take over enforcement of the City’s ISTS, but they do enforce such things. The City actively took on the role of enforcement by Council resolution several years ago. Hennepin County can take the program back, but do not have adequate resources to do so. The MPCA could issue some type of corrective action against residents because they are the governing body. Greg Ebert, 6503 County Road 101 – Hennepin County has no flexibility when it comes to enforcement. Questioned what the Council wants in respect to enforcement from the WWC. The current ordinance has no teeth and no direction. Council discussed the possibility of withholding building permits in an instance of non-compliance if the usage changes (i.e. adding another bedroom which would require an upgrade to the septic system), or requiring a septic inspection at the time of sale of a property. The Council directed the WWC to offer a recommendation to the Council regarding penalties for non- compliance and to focus the Open House towards educating residents that have not complied with the maintenance program. Further discussion was held regarding the Council liaison to the WWC. Councilor Bucher offered to attend regular meetings of the Commission with Councilor Lymangood acting as an alternate. Accept Facility Committee Recommendation Waste Water Commission Issues CITY OF CORCORAN REGULAR COUNCIL MEETING MARCH 27, 2003 H:\City Hall Information\CITY GOVERNMENT\Council, Commissions & Committees\Council Information\Council Minutes\Previous Years\2003 - Need to PDF\03.27.03 Council Minutes.doc 5 Council Liaison to WWC CITY OF CORCORAN REGULAR COUNCIL MEETING MARCH 27, 2003 H:\City Hall Information\CITY GOVERNMENT\Council, Commissions & Committees\Council Information\Council Minutes\Previous Years\2003 - Need to PDF\03.27.03 Council Minutes.doc 6 Feltl Home Occupation Re-Application Discussion was held regarding the reconsideration of the Feltl Home Occupation Application. Staff is looking for clarification regarding whether the application must be paid again since the Feltl’s were asked to re -submit their application in a modified form. Council advised that there was no intention to charge the Feltl’s with an additional application fee to re-submit their application. No action taken. Northwest Trails Collaboration MOTION by Thomas to adopt Resolution #2003 – 23, authorizing the City to apply to the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources for financial and technical assistance on behalf of the Northwest Trails Association for trail construction and maintenance within the City of Corcoran. Motion died for lack of a second. Administrator Vergin advised that the City had been approached by the Northwest Trails Association to sponsor a grant for the construction and maintenance of approximately 125 miles of trails within the City of Corcoran. The City would not be financially liable, merely administer grant funds from the State to the Trail Association. The intent of the resolution is to express the intent of the City to participate in this capacity. Council requested additional information regarding what the City’s obligations would be, any overhead expenses and what burden this would place on staff, why the program was discontinued in the City of Brooklyn Park, and any safety concerns for the trail system. Police Chief Schutte advised that he felt the NW Trails Association is a benefit to the City because there is less driving on private property if the trails ar e open. Staff will report back to Council at a later date once all requested information has been compiled. Proposed Policies and Procedures for Accounting and Personnel Expenditures Discussion was held regarding draft policies relating to accounting functions and personnel expenditures. Administrator Vergin advised that she is seeking direction on how to proceed with these polices, via committee review or staff preparation. Councilors Lymangood and Bucher offered to serve on an Audit Committee. Staff Reports Park Place Storage Engineer Vander Top advised that Park Place Storage has recently requested approval to continue storage condominium construction on the west portion of their lot. Advised that it is important to establish a schedule for the next phase of work on the property. The applicant has submitted a general schedule for completion, with enforceable deadlines. Council advised that they support Engineer Vander Top’s recommendation. CEO Monthly Report Council agreed by unanimous consensus to accept the monthly Code Enforcement Officer’s report as submitted. Council was advised that an April meeting will be scheduled with downtown property owners to discuss issues relating to the area. Council will be advised of the date once it is determined. Feltl Home Occupation Application Northwest Trails Association Proposed Accounting and Expenditure Policies Park Place Storage CEO Monthly Report CITY OF CORCORAN REGULAR COUNCIL MEETING MARCH 27, 2003 H:\City Hall Information\CITY GOVERNMENT\Council, Commissions & Committees\Council Information\Council Minutes\Previous Years\2003 - Need to PDF\03.27.03 Council Minutes.doc 7 Police Department Monthly Report The Council agreed by unanimous consensus to accept the monthly Police Department Report as submitted. Council was advised that road restrictions are currently in effect and the new scales have been working very well. Staff from the Police Department, Public Works, and Code Enforcement has developed a process to follow for overweights and are working well together. Hennepin Conservation District Status This issue was discussed at the Hennepin County Board meeting earlier today. Therefore, sending additional correspondence at this time would be unnecessary. Several other cities had submitted similar letters of concern. Meeting with City of Maple Grove Engineer Vander Top advised that a meeting between the Mayors of Corcoran and Maple Grove has been scheduled for April 9 to discuss sewer services to the intersection of County Road 30 and 101, and other pertinent issues. Further clarification is needed from the City of Maple Grove before this meeting. Engineer Vander Top will contact the City and report to City staff before the Mayor’s Meeting. Meeting with Corcoran Elected Representatives. Council reviewed a list of proposed topics for this meeting. Discussion centered on how to facilitate the meeting and coordinate schedules of invited representatives. Administrator Vergin will make the initial contacts to check availability and discuss preliminary topics. Sewer Task Force Meeting Engineer Vander Top attended the Sewer Task Force meeting with Councilors Thomas and Lymangood and other local municipality representatives. The Met Council is asking for the capacity along the line from Highway 55 to the Elm Creek Interceptor to be quantified. The Met Council does not anticipate services along this line until 2020. Discussed an open house with residents to discuss a time frame for services. MOTION by Thomas, seconded by Lymangood and carried unanimously to adjourn the meeting at 10:20 p.m. _____________________________ Kary Tillmann, City Clerk/Treasurer Police Department Monthly Report HCD Status Maple Grove Sewer Services Elected Representatives Meeting Sewer Task Force Meeting Adjourn