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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2008-04-24 - Council MinutesCITY OF CORCORAN CITY COUNCIL MEETING April 24, 2008 CALL TO ORDER AND ROLL CALL The Corcoran City Council met on April 24, 2008, at city hall in Corcoran, Minnesota. Present were Mayor Guenthner, Councilor Jacobs, Councilor Hudok and Councilor Thomas. Also present were Interim City Administrator Bodem, City Planner Gartner, and City Engineer Rhein. Also present for the joint meeting were Planning Commissioners Hank, Milbrandt, Laddusaw, Ellinger and Krueger. Chad Robran from the Parks and Trails Commission was also present. Councilor Grabowski excused absence. Mayor Guenthner called the meeting to order at 7:00 p.m. followed by the Pledge of Allegiance. AGENDA APPROVAL MOTION made by Thomas, seconded by Hudok to approve the agenda with the following modification: Move Item 5 — Consent agenda between Items 7 and 8. Voting Aye: Guenthner, Hudok, Jacobs and Thomas (Motion carried 4:0) UNFINISHED BUSINESS Reconvening of Local Board of Review & Equalization The Local Board of Review was continued from April 10, 2008. Assessor Ann Risch provided the Council with recommendations on the properties that objected to their valuations. The recommendations were based on review of the properties and discussions with the property owners. MOTION made by Hudok, seconded by Thomas, to accept the City Assessor's recommendations, regarding valuations, with respect to all property owners appearing of record before the Board of Review. Voting Aye: Guenthner, Hudok, Jacobs and Thomas (Motion carried 4:0) MOTION made by Thomas, seconded by Hudok, to adjourn the Local Board of Review. Voting Aye: Guenthner, Hudok, Jacobs and Thomas (Motion carried 4:0) Joint City Council/Planning Commission 2030 Comprehensive Land Use Plan — Land Use Planning Public Meeting Mayor Guenthner reviewed the process of the Comprehensive Plan update and explained what the bulk of the discussion will be. Mayor Guenthner suggested that after discussion staff separate the items into two categories. The categories being "major policy issues" and "individual specific property issues." He then explained the process that would take place after the items are categorized. Mayor Guenther invited audience members to voice their concerns or questions. An audience member questioned what the council's intent is for adding more commercial use north of County Road 30. He has concerns with the increase of traffic. - -- _ .. _ There was some discussion about the System Statement in regards to the Call to Order Roll Call Agenda Approval Unfinished Business: Local Board of Review Comprehensive Land Use Planning Public Meeting Page -1- CITY OF CORCORAN CITY COUNCIL MEETING April 24, 2008 population projection. There was a suggestion made to adjust the phasing to make it more consistent. Mayor Guenthner explained the process of calculating the population projection and the approval process of the System Statement. This lead into a discussion about removing the "Permanent Rural" classification from the Comprehensive Plan. Another audience member explained that her property is south of Larkin and she understands that the zoning is high density north and south of Larkin, and below her property is zoned protected green space. She explained where the MUSA line will be ending and expressed her concerns with it ending so soon and the value of her property decreasing. She suggested bringing the line further south to give them the option of doing something with that part of their land to increase the value. She also expressed her concerns with having high density bordering her property and how it may also affect the value of her property. Mayor Guenthner explained the elements that went into the discussion to determine where the MUSA will start and end. An audience member questioned what mechanics are involved for making a zoning change. Mayor Guenthner explained the process of requesting a zoning change. He explained that the City needs to publish and send out notices of hearing to property owners near the requested zoning change property and they are able to appear and make a record of their thoughts about the zoning change. Then the council has the chance to approve or disapprove the request of zoning change. This lead into discussion about what the process is if the Council sought to change a guided land use under the Comprehensive Plan. A question was asked on what presence was set when the current Comprehensive Plan was approved with regards to issue of zoning changes. Mayor Guenthner answered that his recollection is that changes can be made comprehensively. The changes that are to be made would be direct city wide land use and zoning changes. The changes could be made as part of the Comprehensive Plan approval process. A question was asked regarding the comment "More land should be considered for addition to the Rural Service /Commercial district in the Burshville area." The question was who would be doing the consideration of this and will local residents be notified and able to express their concerns before it actually happens. Mayor Guenthner answered that the Planning Commission and City Council would be the ones examining the topic. There was some discussion about the density proposal's and the minimum lot size requirement. This lead into a discussion about building rights. A question was raised from an audience member regarding if the issues documented are in the system. Mayor Guenthner answered that all of the issues documented are in the system and will be categorized. There were some concerns expressed about rural areas being surrounded by high density. There was some discussion more about the future of the MUSA line and - commercial development in the downtown district. Page -2- CITY OF CORCORAN CITY COUNCIL MEETING April 24, 2008 A member of the audience expressed his concerns regarding the city being in the dark ages and not keeping up with neighboring communities with lack of growth and services provided for the community. A discussion was started regarding the difference between the western and eastern side of the city with regards to developments versus open space. A member of the audience expressed her concerns with wanting to keep some of the open space and that she would like to see the city concentrate on providing service in the northeast, downtown and southwest part of the city. A member of the audience noted that sewer will not be brought to areas of the city unless a developer comes in and wants to develop the area. This lead into a discussion about what caused the delay in getting sewer services to specific areas. There were some suggestions made on ways to be able to get Met Council to agree to provide sewer services to specific areas. Providing of municipal sewer services is critical for future development. A member of the audience questioned about building rights and this lead into a discussion about the purpose and process of determining the number of the building rights allowed. A member of the audience explained that he has a home based business that he would like to move into a commercial district, but financially that isn't possible right now. He expressed his concerns that he isn't able to expand his home based business due to the restrictions of the home occupation. He would like the council to consider setting up a zoning that allows for a home based occupation to be expand into a bigger business. There was some more discussion about developing the downtown area. Mayor Guenthner announced that there will be another meeting on May 8th to discuss the categorized issues. He noted that for the next couple of months the second meeting of the month will be for discussion of the update of the Comprehensive Plan. Mayor Guenthner recessed the meeting at 9:00 pm. Mayor Guenthner reconvened the meeting at 9:30 pm. CONSENT AGENDA 5a. April 10, 2008 Pre -Audit Work Session Meeting Minutes MOTION made by Thomas, seconded by Hudok, to approve the April 10, 2008 Pre -Audit Work Session Meeting Minutes with the following modifications: Page 1, Paragraph 5 — Strike "It is their responsibility to inform the city that this deficiency could result in a material misstatement to the financial statements that could have been prevented or detected by city's management." Page 1, Paragraph 5, 4th sentence — "agree" should be "reconcile" Consent Agenda Items Approved: April 10, 2008 Workshop Minutes Page -3- CITY OF CORCORAN CITY COUNCIL MEETING April 24, 2008 Page 2, Paragraph 3 — "has" should be "had" Page 2, Paragraph 4 — add a "," after audit. Voting Aye: Guenthner, Hudok, Jacobs and Thomas (Motion carried 4:0) 5b. April 10, 2008 Council Meeting Minutes MOTION made by Hudok, seconded by Thomas, to approve the April 10, 2008 Council Meeting Minutes with the following modifications: Page 4, Motion under NW Chambers Office Space — Jacobs voted Nye Page 5, Paragraph 7, "deter ate" should be "deteriorate" Page 6, under Claims, paragraph talking about Gartner Engineering — after "payment" add "and the fact that three months billing was received at once, with the oldest billing being four months old and no staff can attest as to whether the billing is accurate and justified. And there was further discussion..." Voting Aye: Guenthner, Hudok, Jacobs and Thomas (Motion carried 4:0) CLAIMS a. Escrow Claims (Fund #500) $2,133.22 MOTION made by Hudok, seconded by Thomas, to approve the escrow claims as presented, totaling $2,133.22. Voting Aye: Guenthner, Hudok, Jacobs and Thomas (Motion carried 4:0) b. Building Inspection Claims $17,251.62 MOTION made by Hudok, seconded by Thomas, to approve the building inspection claims as presented, totaling $17,251.62. Voting Aye: Guenthner, Hudok, Jacobs and Thomas (Motion carried 4:0) c. All Other Claims $22,882.36 MOTION made by Thomas, seconded by Hudok, to approve the all other claims as presented, totaling $22,882.36. Voting Aye: Grabowski, Guenthner, Hudok, Jacobs and Thomas (Motion carried 4:0) Council and Staff Reports Miscellaneous Correspondence Interim Administrator Bodem presented more letters to the council regarding the Comprehensive Plan update. A question was asked on what the status is of hiring a CPA firm to look at the process and get the accounting straightened out. Interim Administrator Bodem answered that he has received a proposal and is in the process of reviewing it and working with the firm. Interim Administrator Bodem presented a letter from the previous building inspector regarding outstanding building permits. Planning Commission No report at this time Parks & Trail Commission Meeting Councilor Hudok gave a report of the last Parks and Trail Commission Meeting. April 10, 2008 Council Minutes Approval of Claims Council and Staff Reports: Miscellaneous Correspondence . Parks & Trails Commission Page -4- CITY OF CORCORAN CITY COUNCIL MEETING April 24, 2008 ADJOURNMENT MOTION made by Hudok, seconded by Jacobs, to adjourn at 9:47 p.m. Voting Adjournment Aye: Guenthner, Jacobs, Hudok and Thomas (Motion carried 4:0) Todd Bodem, Interim City Administrator Page -5-