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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2008-05-22 - Council MinutesCITY OF CORCORAN CITY COUNCIL MEETING May 22, 2008 CALL TO ORDER AND ROLL CALL Call to Order The Corcoran City Council met on May 22, 2008, at City Hall in Corcoran, Roll Call Minnesota. Present were Mayor Guenthner, Councilor Jacobs, Councilor Hudok Councilor Thomas and Councilor Grabowski. Also present were Interim City Administrator Bodem and City Planner Gartner. 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 Grabowski to approve the agenda with the following modification: Interim City Administrator Bodem requested that Agenda item 4.a. Open Forum, be taken off of the Agenda. David Parins septic system matter has been solved. City Planner Garner to add a 12 minute video under Agenda 7.a. Voting Aye: Guenthner, Hudok, Jacobs, Grabowski, and Thomas (Motion carried 5:0) 4. OPEN FORUM David Parins septic system matter has been solved. 5. CONSENT AGENDA MOTION made by Thomas, seconded by Hudok to approve the following Consent Agenda Items: 5b. Resolution 2008 -22 Appointing City Clerk 5c. Public Works Department — Tack Oil Tank Purchase Voting Aye: Guenthner, Grabowski, Hudok, Jacobs, and Thomas (Motion Carried 5:0) 5a. Resolution 2008 -23 Liquor and Tobacco Modification made on bottom of page 1 to change the name under St. Thomas Church to Father Michael Rudolf. MOTION made by Thomas, seconded by Grabowski to approve the Agenda Item 5a. Resolution 2008 -23 Liquor and Tobacco. Voting Aye: Grabowski, Guenthner, Hudok, Jacobs, and Thomas. (Motion carried 5:0) 5d. May 8, 2008 Council Meeting Minutes MOTION made by Thomas, seconded by Grabowski , to approve the May 8, 2008 Council Minutes with the following modifications: Page 1, Closed Session change "termination of Becky McNeill's" to "termination of employment of Becky McNeill's". Page 2, ls` paragraph, last sentence. Replace "Even more" with "Also ". Page 2, 7b. First sentence should state: Council by vote determines whether to continue discussion without any of the following record of final vote. Agenda Approval Open Forum Consent Agenda Items Approved May 8, 2008 Council Meeting Minutes Page -1- CITY OF CORCORAN CITY COUNCIL MEETING May 22, 2008 Mayor Guenthner had one modification for the City Administrator or City Clerk to check the requirements of public hearings. The question was raised if it was necessary to identify by name the individuals who commented. Minutes approved with the understanding that the staff will determine if it is necessary to identify by name the members of the public who commented. Voting Aye: Grabowski, Guenthner, Hudok, Jacobs and Thomas (Motion carried 5:0) 6. Plannine Business Planning Commission No new business to discuss. 7. Unfinished Business Joint City CounciUPlanning Commission 2030 Comprehensive Plan — Infrastructure. Topic for discussion - Infrastructure. Mayor Guenthner explained that in the City of Corcoran Infrastructure means water, sewer, and waste water management. The issues rose for discussion about municipal infrastructures item or as an individual property owner, how do we plan for managing waste water, clean water in the City going forward? City Planner Gartner presented a 12 minute video prepared by American Waterworks Association titled "Water Reuse for Sustainable Future ". The objective of the video is to show the potential of reuse for creating a more sustainable environment exploring the applications and benefits of water reuse and how this can affect Corcoran. Mayor Guenthner stated that no sanitary sewer exists in the city today. The Infrastructure baseline information obtains information on sanitary sewer and phasing plan in the service areas. There was a request from someone who suggested that the 2020 Comp Plan be put on the website. Staff responded stating it already is on a large file on the website but it may take time to download. There was some public comment about the question of the Mayor's Star Tribune editorial stating, "most residents want sewer." The resident thought the cost - benefit analysis should be done and posted. It was suggested by a resident that this could go to a referendum to let the citizens on the sewer question. The Mayor replied to the article in that he tried to express views he heard at the recent meetings. Ken Streeter representing the property next to City Hall believes the two 40 acre parcels on either side of the sewer phasing line should be completed in one phase. He feels the most pressing need is sanitary sewer. A citizen stated the most pressing need is sanitary sewer for downtown. A question was asked of the Met Council when the SE and NE interceptors would be to the border. Kyle Covin from the Met Council said the SE is in discussion with property owners Hustad. They plan to finish design by late 2008 for a construction in 2009 to where the line will terminate near Lions Park and Larkin Road /101. The NE interceptor is finalizing the alignment and hope is that it will be design/bid in 2009 Unfinished Business Page -2- CITY OF CORCORAN CITY COUNCIL MEETING May 22, 2008 for a 2010 construction to where the line will terminate near the 4 city corners. A question was asked about how much capacity is available to the NE area and wondered if it is a "first- come - first- serve" basis? Mr. Covin said the SE area can serve approximately 600,000 gallons per day in Corcoran. The NE area is a larger pipe but is intended for use by 4 cities. There is approximately 3 million gallons per day capacity provided to Corcoran. Another question posed was that if the City identified more area in the 2030 Plan, would Corcoran obtained more capacity. Mr. Covin stated yes, if feasible. The Mayor asked how capacity calculates to area/units. Mr. Covin said that it translates to 250 gallons /HDME /day -1 million gallons per day equals 4,000 single family homes. Will lift stations be necessary? Answer, yes. What is the obligation for Corcoran to connect to the line? Mr. Covin said the Met Council planned their faculties based on the 2020 Comp Plan. Funds were committed to build those facilities with the expectation the City will connect when available. Planner Gartner commented on water reuse stating Corcoran has poor aquifers in this area. Water reuse would reduce the number of wells needed and allow MUSA to extend further with same pipe capacity. He suggested the Met Council revisit the water re -use issue for Corcoran. A resident asked if it is possible for sanitary sewer for the east side of Rolling Hills Road. The Mayor stated that has already been noted and will need to address as the SW District develops. This will require updated policies. A resident asked about water supply. This is preliminary and discussion will be needed for supply, distribution etc. The Mayor referred to City Engineer Joe Rhien who stated this is referred to the concept utility plan from January 2005. A property owner from the address at 8115 CR 16 who represents 6 owners within the MUSA wants to see MUSA expanded to allow more people to capitalize on this opportunity. This person also expressed concerned with recent firings, hiring's and agenda of city officials. Council member Jacobs rebutted by stating there is no financial interest. A resident recalls that during the last Comp Plan discussion from some members of the Council about alternatives to MUSA service seams a bit unclear and believes until a concrete plan for proven alternative to MUSA, than we are all wasting our time. Mayor Guenthner stated he was heavily involved in the current 2020 Comp Plan along with others and defends its content. He now is seeing a shift in discussion/sentiment over last 6 -12 months versus 8 years ago acknowledging that people want sewer to maximize its potential. Originally people came to Corcoran with ideas of local sewer and water. Over time this idea of the people became less enamored. There is no question sewer is needed for meaningful commercial development. Also, there is a sense of economic proximity. The Mayor goes on to state he sees the possibility of a local facility in greater Corcoran but the challenge is how. Council member Grabowski stated that it is not a question of whether we are getting sewer but on how, when and financing, etc. He does not see significant Page -3- CITY OF CORCORAN CITY COUNCIL MEETING May 22, 2008 changes to the existing Plan, but we need to review the dates, phasing, projections etc. Council member Jacobs talked about areas outside the MUSA, nodes for smaller systems in isolated areas. He suggested we allow for development in those areas until a "bigger system" is available and can be connected. He does not believe in local government financing for the sewer systems in a way that burdens the tax payers. He feels the developer should pay for improvements. Council member Thomas feels the 2020 Plan did a good job of representing the public's feelings at that time. He sees the possibility for private systems outside of MUSA. The lines do not need to access all of Corcoran for a long time. He said he would like to see representatives of private systems approach the City with workable plans in the rural Corcoran, for the Interim. A real estate agent wants to see sewer and water extended to downtown immediately so that businesses can "hit the ground running" within the next 24 to 36 months. The Mayor stated that previous Council prevented past developments. We are looking for property owners to come forward and help the City implement progress. Planning Commission member Casserly disagrees deeply with the Mayor and does not want to see sewer pipes in Corcoran. Casserly talked about the character of Corcoran and what the cost will be with sewered developments, open space and natural environment. He feels most people commenting at the meeting to get municipal sewer are the ones with the most financial gain. He also thinks that the fact Council has prevented development is because the public has put that majority view on the Council. The Mayor talked about process and sees the infrastructure section proceeding like it did for the land use component. Council, will by consensus, vote at the June 12th meeting for which comments are in or out. The next happening is that each item will required in depth review for the alignment of city goals, impact on other components and benefit to the community, etc. Council indicated they are not going to rush the Comp Plan in that it would rather be late with a good document than be on time with a worthless document. A resident indicated she would like to see the developer finance 100 percent of the utilities. The Mayor responded that it cannot be financed fully by the developer. City taxpayers will have to carry some of the cost for the some time until more development momentum gets going. The City needs to ensure there is a sound economic model /analysis to support any proposals. A resident raised the question on why the entire City taxpayers have to finance utilities that only serves 20% of the City. This does not seem fair! The Mayor's rebuttal is only if it reduces the overall tax burden on the community. Some want to see the entire City included in the MUSA. A resident asked if the City could utilize TIF to extend sewer to downtown. There was some additional discussion about TIF and other financing tools. Another resident heard about how MCES sewers will get to the borders but is wondering how it will get into the City? There was some discussion about development practices, assessments, etc. A resident stated he heard a few years ago that the Pig's Eye pipe is full. Does it Page -4- CITY OF CORCORAN CITY COUNCIL MEETING May 22, 2008 have the capacity to serve all of Corcoran? The Mayor deferred this to Mr. Covin who responded that the Interceptors are near capacity and the Met Council is looking at some "expensive" modifications to increase it, but in all likelihood cannot serve all of Corcoran through Pig's Eye. Another resident asked where western Corcoran will get served? Mr. Covin said that the Met Council is looking at the long range plans beyond 2030 in possibly building a new plant, etc. Mr. Jack Curley asked if the SW sewer pipe has capacity. Another resident thinks more attention needs to be given to water supply. We need to discuss the possibilities of municipal wells versus supply from other cities. He believes the lull in the housing and land development industry provides opportunity to explore water supply (test wells) and acquisition of property for wells. Mayor Guenthner recessed the Comprehensive land use meeting at 9:18 p.m. 8. New Business Kern - Dwenter Audit Engagement Letter Consulting firm proposal to help with financial processes at City Hall. • Review and agreement of the City of Corcoran's preliminarily drafted and audited 2007 financial statements to the City of Corcoran's financial records for the purpose of assisting the City in understanding its acceptance of responsibility for the 2007 audit and the auditor - required City letter of representation. • Documentation and development of accounting and finance policies and procedures. Timing of services would be 56 — 104 hours for a ballpark figure of $7500 — $14,000. MOTION made by Grabowski, seconded by Hudok to authorize signing engagement letter on behalf of city to approve consulting services of the first two bullet points with periodic updates at council meetings. Voting Aye: Grabowski, Guenthner, Hudok, Jacobs, and Thomas (Motion carried 5:0) 9. Claims Council has concern with the Building Inspection Claim for Waldron being too high of an amount. Therefore, Council will not approve the amount until they see more detail for this claim. Interim City Administrator Bodem addressed the concern of the amount being different on the Claims Listing sheet versus the Detail page for the vendor Paychex. It was determined that the detail was entered in Banyon after the check had been paid and recorded on the Claim Listing for May 8'2008 Meeting Packet as a manual check Council suggests more detail in description of claims. Also would like to update some of the accounts to be more accurate to purchases. MOTION by Thomas, seconded by Hudok to approve all of the claims as presented but not the Building Inspection Claim for Waldron. Voting Aye: New Business Approval of Claims Page -5- CITY OF CORCORAN CITY COUNCIL MEETING May 22, 2008 Grabowski, Guenthner, Hudok, Jacobs, and Thomas (Motion carried 5:0) ADJOURNMENT MOTION made by Hudok, seconded by Grabowski, to adjourn at 10:00 p.m. Voting Aye: Guenthner, Jacobs, Hudok, Thomas, and Grabowski (Motion carried 5:0) Kim Bachmeier, City Clerk Treasurer Adjourn Page -6-