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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2007-02-08 - Council Minutes CITY OF CORCORAN CITY COUNCIL MEETING February 08, 2007 CALL TO ORDER AND ROLL CALL Call to Order The Corcoran City Council met on February 08, 2007, at city hall in Corcoran, Minnesota. Present were Mayor Guenthner, Councilor Grabowski, Councilor Jacobs, Councilor Hudok, and Councilor Thomas. Also present were Police Chief Roll Call Gormley, City Engineer Vander Top, City Planner Lindahl, Special Counsel Kundrat, Special Planner Gartner, Administrator Vergin, and Clerk Lindberg. Mayor Guenthner called the meeting to order at 7:02 p.m. followed by the Pledge of Allegiance. AGENDA APPROVAL Agenda Approval MOTION by Grabowski, seconded by Thomas, to approve the agenda with adding “Parks Planner Consultant Discussion” to agenda item 6.b. and “No Meeting Due to Lack of Quorum” discussion to agenda item 10.a. Voting Aye: Guenthner, Grabowski, Jacobs, Hudok, and Thomas. (Motion carried 5:0) OPEN FORUM & ANNOUNCEMENTS Open Forum & Education Director Tanya Welsch explained that MN LINC (Minnesota Linking Announcements: Individuals, Nature & Critters, Inc.) was a nonprofit organization that specialized in animal-assisted mental health therapy (AAT) and educational services for clients of all ages. Welsch stated MN LINC was exploring the possibility of renting an 82- acre parcel within the City of Corcoran to base their services from. Welsch also said MN LINC was looking forward to working with the City of Corcoran to make these services available in the Corcoran area. Welsch was directed to present the business plan to staff for recommendations regarding zoning and other issues pertaining to MN LINC’s intended uses. Tom Cossette - 9200 Shannon Lane – requested time to inquire of the council members in favor of changing the contracted staff to explain why they thought the change was necessary at this time. Guenthner anticipated a discussion concerning the topic would be included later on the agenda. Public Hearing – 2007 Public Hearing – 2007 Land Use Fees Land Use Fees Called to Order at 7:15 p.m. Staff Report: Administrator Vergin explained the land use fees are required by statute to be adopted by ordinance. Vergin referred the council members to the cost analysis included in the meeting’s packet. Most of the land use fees were being increased to accommodate the increased city expense to process the applications; four of the escrows were increased to cover contracted staff’s estimated time. Public Comment: Stan Chastek – 7600 Maple Hill Road – asked how the fees compared to fees from other neighboring cities. Patrick Hank – 9425 Trail Haven Road – questioned how the $50 per lot charge was equitable for large developments versus small lot splits. MOTION by Thomas, seconded by Grabowski, to close the public hearing at 7:28 p.m. Voting Aye: Guenthner, Grabowski, Jacobs, Hudok, and Thomas. (Motion Page -1- CITY OF CORCORAN CITY COUNCIL MEETING February 08, 2007 carried 5:0) Council Discussion / Action, Ordinance No. 214 MOTION by Thomas, seconded by Grabowski, to adopt Ordinance No. 214 with changing Area Transportation Fees to be determined at a later date. Administrator Vergin explained that the fees for land use applications must be compensatory to actual costs; therefore, city to city comparisons would not be applicable. Guenthner commended Administrator Vergin on the detailed cost analysis included with the fee schedule agenda item. Voting Aye: Guenthner, Grabowski, Jacobs, Hudok, and Thomas. (Motion carried 5:0) UNFINISHED UNFINISHED BUSINESS: BUSINESS: Legal Counsel, Attorney Kundrat Legal Counsel, Attorney Kundrat Special Legal Counsel Attorney Kundrat stated the Hedgestone Project would involve more in depth research of records than first anticipated and said, due to the Hedgestone Preliminary time required to complete the request, he would not be able to render an opinion as Plat Extension previously requested by the Council. Kundrat recommended handing the research over to his successor. Kundrat continued to say he would be able to complete a written opinion regarding the conflict of interest issue, but due to the time that would be needed to follow up, to implement a policy, to draft an ordinance for council consideration, and etc. he suggested his successor should be given this task also. Statement of Economic Interest Kundrat did offer his thoughts regarding the conflict of interest issue. He said the conflict of interest statement was a statutory requirement for metropolitan cities with a population of over 50,000. However, Kundrat did not find anything that would prohibit any other city from requiring the submittal of similar information by the elected officials. Kundrat suggested the City ordinance may need to be amended if the Council wanted to proceed with requiring stricter requirements than the State statutes of the boards, commissions, and elected council members. Thomas asked if Kundrat knew of any non-metro cities that have used questions similar to the ones added to the City of Corcoran’s commission applications. Kundrat responded he had knowledge of cities questioning members of a potential conflict, but not any cities other than metro area cities that implemented the questions as an official policy. Guenthner affirmed that Kundrat did not find any prohibition of requiring commission members to complete the conflict of interest statements on the application, but had expected a written memo or opinion as to whether council members could legally impose the completion of statement of economic interest on themselves. Thomas suggested that if the completion of the statement of economic interest was not going to be imposed on the council members, then the money to acquire a written opinion should not be spent. Grabowski, Hudok, and Jacobs stated they would voluntarily complete the statement of economic interest. Guenthner considered the additional information Page -2- CITY OF CORCORAN CITY COUNCIL MEETING February 08, 2007 required of the commissioners as overkill; any commissioner expected of a conflict of interest should be asked to address the issue before Council in the open meeting format. Guenthner stated as a matter of principle he would probably not complete the form; he had publicly stated many times what his interests in the City of Corcoran were. Guenthner would consider voluntarily completing the form if the committees or groups formed within the City for the purpose of influencing the outcome of an election would fully disclose who was financing the committee or group to do so. Thomas agreed with Guenthner and also stated he would disclose where all his campaign contributions came from. Consensus of the Council was to not request a written memorandum concerning the statement of economic interest, but would request a written opinion regarding the Hedgestone development. Kundrat stated he was referring his municipal clients to the law firm of Ratwick, Roszak & Maloney (RR&M) and introduced Attorney Joseph Langel to the council, who was present to answer questions. When asked by Thomas if Kundrat received compensation for transitioning work to the firm, Kundrat replied affirmatively. Thomas confirmed with Kundrat that RR&M rates would be the same as the current City attorney’s 2007 schedule. While discussing the resolution proposed by Kundrat, Thomas and Guenthner were opposed to abandoning the Request for Proposal (RFP) as described in item #1. Grabowski stated the Council could hire whomever it feels and was in favor of appointing RR&M as the City’s attorney. When asked by Guenthner, Jacobs and Grabowski stated they had discussed with Kundrat the splitting of criminal and civil matters between law firms as addressed in the draft resolution. Guenthner was concerned with actions of the council being predetermined before discussion among all of the council members. Hudok stated he had not discussed the resolution with anyone prior to the meeting and would favor the resolution as presented. Grabowski said he had lost confidence in the current City attorney; he cited Hedgestone development and the conflict of interest with the merger of DSU and Bonestroo. Thomas said the issues were reasons to go out for a RFP, but could not understand abandoning the RFP process. Grabowski stated concern with the fact that 30 days had passed and the RFP process had not been started and Kundrat had to contact the City to find out what duties had been delegated to him. MOTION by Grabowski, seconded by Hudok, to authorize Ratwick, Roszak & Maloney to review Resolution No. 2006-75 passed on 12/28/06 extending preliminary plat approval for Laurent Development Companies for the development known as “Hedgestone” by special city legal counsel; specifically, what authority the Council had to extend a plat under the current City ordinances, statements in applicant’s request letters, filing for extension more than one year after granting preliminary plat, proper notices to adjoining parcels in adoption of underlying zoning of the parcel, failure to pay outstanding escrow cost charges, and statements to withdraw application if payment demanded. Guenthner stated he would vote to support the action in order to resolve the Hedgestone issue so the Council could move forward with other matters. Thomas agreed. Voting Aye: Guenthner, Grabowski, Jacobs, Hudok, and Thomas. (Motion carried 5:0) Page -3- CITY OF CORCORAN CITY COUNCIL MEETING February 08, 2007 MOTION by Jacobs, seconded by Hudok, to approve Resolution 2007-12 appointing legal counsel as presented. Jacobs stated the City had retained Attorney Carson for nearly 30 years without a contract on file until 2005 and with no RFP being issued during that time. MOTIONTO AMEND by Grabowski, seconded by Jacobs, Resolution 2007-12 to appoint Ratwik, Roszak and Maloney, P.A. as interim City attorney pending the outcome of the RFP process and eliminating item #1 to abandon the RFP process. Voting Aye to Amend the Motion: Voting Aye: Guenthner, Grabowski, Jacobs, and Hudok. Voting Nay: Thomas. (Motion carried 4:1) MOTIONTO AMEND by Grabowski, seconded by Hudok, Resolution 2007-12 item #4 with changing “transferred directly” to “made available or transferred” and ending the sentence after the word “possible”. Voting Aye to Amend the Motion: Guenthner, Grabowski, Jacobs, Thomas, and Hudok. (Motion carried 5:0) Voting Aye to the Motion as Amended: Voting Aye: Grabowski, Jacobs, and Hudok. Voting Nay: Guenthner and Thomas. (Motion carried 3:2) Commission Appointments, Resolution No. 2007-09 Commission Appointments, Resolution MOTION by Jacobs, seconded by Grabowski, to merge the Planning Commission No. 2007-09 and Parks & Trails Commission together as one commission and direct the interim City attorney to draft an ordinance amendment. Jacobs considered the two commissions were both planning commissions and should be combined into one commission. The merger would eliminate the need to have 16 volunteer commissioners and staff time and resources to facilitate both commissions. Thomas stated the Parks & Trails commission had an incredible team of volunteers that have dedicated many hours working on the long term needs and future of the City. Grabowski said the paving of City streets should be a priority and suggested merging the two commissions would save funding that could be allocated to the streets. Guenthner did not consider a smaller group of people a benefit to the City and its process. Guenthner suggested the outcome of fewer people involved in the process would create a tailored group that would reflect the thinking of like-minded people; a larger group would offer different perspectives on issues important to the City. Grabowski changed his opinion and recommended the two commissions should remain as currently established. Hudok suggested the discussion of combining the two commissions should be part of a goals and objectives meeting. Voting Aye: Jacobs. Voting Nay: Guenthner, Grabowski, Hudok, and Thomas. (Motion failed 1:4) A ballot process was conducted to determine the Planning and Parks & Trails commissioners. MOTION by Hudok, seconded by Grabowski, to approve the appointment of the Page -4- CITY OF CORCORAN CITY COUNCIL MEETING February 08, 2007 Planning commissioners as follows: Planning Commission Term Ending Name # of Points Dec-07 Patricia Ellinger 21 Dec-07 Rosalyn Milbrandt 18 Dec-08 Robert Laddusaw 25 Dec-08 Kevin Casserly 23 Dec-09 Pat Hank 35 Dec-09 Michael Osterberg 25 Dec-07 Tom Cossette (Alternate #1) 16 Dec-07 Dennis Stieg (Alternate #2) 13 Voting Aye: Guenthner, Grabowski, Jacobs, Hudok, and Thomas. (Motion carried 5:0) MOTION by Thomas, seconded by Grabowski, to approve the appointment of the Parks and Trails commissioners as follows: Parks and Trails Commission Term Ending Name # of Points Dec-07 Val Nybo 27 Dec-07 Dennis Stieg 25 Dec-07 Steven Weros 23 Dec-08 Pat Hank 36 Dec-08 Rosalyn Milbrandt 34 Dec-08 Liane Laddusaw 29 Dec-09 Chad Robran 39 Dec-09 Kevin Dale 38 Dec-09 Thomas Anderson 37 Dec-07 Trish Krueger (Alternate #1) 19 Dec-07 Tom Cossette (Alternate #2) 9 Dec-07 Vacant (Alternate #3) Voting Aye: Guenthner, Grabowski, Jacobs, Hudok, and Thomas. (Motion carried Area Transportation Fees 5:0) – Presentation by Area Transportation Fees – Presentation by Engineer Vander Top Engineer Vander Top As previously requested by Council, Engineer Vander Top presented a PowerPoint presentation explaining how the area transportation fees were established. In summary, using $125 a lineal foot to pave all collector roads outside the MUSA divided by the remaining 8,030 developable acres calculated to $2,000 per acre. As discussions of street improvements move forward, the Council would need to discuss the assessment policy, bonding requirements, MSA funds, and maintenance costs. The council members acknowledged the difficult task to determine how much can be expected from today’s development to finance tomorrow’s street improvements. Page -5- CITY OF CORCORAN CITY COUNCIL MEETING February 08, 2007 Guenthner mentioned that perhaps changing the $2,000 per acre to a lot fee may be a moot point since the lot fee would have to be much higher than the current $2,000 fee. Meanwhile, the pavement management committee would be directed explore the possibilities and make recommendations to the council regarding the area transportation fees. MOTION by Grabowski, seconded by Hudok, to extend the meeting ending time by 20 minutes. Voting Aye: Thomas, Guenthner, Jacobs, Grabowski, and Hudok. (Motion carried 5:0) Connie Jones, property owner requesting relief from the area transportation fees applied to the development known as Hodgin Acres, said the final plat filing would happen in March or April of 2007. Guenthner suggested there would be some time for Council to review the current policy which might affect the development fee for Hodgin Acres. 2007 Fee Schedule, Resolution No. 2007-10 2007 Fee Schedule, Resolution No. 2007-10 MOTION by Grabowski, seconded by Thomas, to approve Resolution No. 2007- 10 setting fees for the City of Corcoran. Voting Aye: Thomas, Guenthner, Jacobs, Grabowski, and Hudok. (Motion carried 5:0) NEW BUSINESS: NEW BUSINESS: Letter of Termination of Letter of Termination of Contract, Landform Contract, Landform Special Planner Gartner suggested Planner Lindahl continue the planning process for the United Properties’ business park. Lindahl stated she would be willing to continue working with United Properties through the final plat approval and release of the final plat of the Corcoran Business Park development on an hourly basis with full support of the Council. MOTION by Jacobs, seconded by Grabowski, to accept the letter of resignation from City Planner Lindahl effective February 9, 2007, with the exception to continue through the final plat approval and release of the final plat of the Corcoran Business Park development on an hourly basis. Voting Aye: Thomas, Guenthner, Jacobs, Grabowski, and Hudok. (Motion carried 5:0) MOTION by Jacobs, seconded by Grabowski, to retain Engineer Gartner to provide planning services for both the Planning Commission and the Parks & Trails Commission at the standard hourly rate. Voting Aye: Thomas, Guenthner, Jacobs, Grabowski, and Hudok. (Motion carried 5:0) Transportation Funding Transportation Funding Support, Resolution No. 2007-11 Support, Resolution No. MOTION by Thomas, seconded by Hudok, to table Resolution No. 2007-11 to the 2007-11 February 22, 2007, Council meeting. Voting Aye: Thomas, Guenthner, Jacobs, Grabowski, and Hudok. (Motion carried 5:0) Request For Proposals, Request For Proposals, Administrator Vergin Administrator Vergin At the January 11, 2007, Administrator Vergin was directed to draft Request for Proposals (RFP) for the City building inspector, City attorney, and City planner within 60 days. Vergin requested council member comments regarding the draft RFPs that were included in the meeting’s packet. Comments included the insertion of “as directed by council”, “list of license certifications”, and “ability and Page -6- CITY OF CORCORAN CITY COUNCIL MEETING February 08, 2007 willingness to provide on-site services at city hall during regular business hours and relative fees”. Detailed Billing for St. Detailed Billing for St. John’s Sign VarianceJohn’s Sign Variance Hudok said he did not agree with the time spent on the St. John’s sign variance by the City’s planning firm was justified. Grabowski commented on the fact that St. Johns was a non-profit organization and suggested the applicant should have been told to come directly to the Council with the sign issue. Guenthner summarized that most people believe a variance would give relief from the law; often the law should be reviewed for possible change. Planner Lindahl explained the Planning Commission directed the applicant to forego the code change and to apply for a variance. Following a short discussion, the council members will examine the process and Subcommittee for Medina discuss the topic at a goals and objective meeting. Infrastructure Agreement Subcommittee for Medina Infrastructure Agreement Guenthner introduced the agenda item. A committee of council members and City staff representing the City of Medina and the City of Corcoran will be appointed to develop the utilities agreement. Council member Dan Johnson and Administrator Chad Adams will represent the City of Medina; council member Grabowski and CONSENT AGENDA Administrator Vergin were appointed to represent the City of Corcoran. January 11, 2007, CONSENT AGENDA Regular Council Minutes January 11, 2007, Regular Council Minutes MOTION by Grabowski, seconded by Hudok, to approve the January 11, 2007, Council minutes with changing the word “argued” to “stated” on page 5, changing “Thomas” and “Grabowski” to “Grabowski” and “Hudok” respectively on page 7, changing “be used for second opinions” to “advise the City on legal issues” at the bottom of page 7, and adding “Guenthner stated that Jacobs had attended the meeting and failed to voice any concerns what so ever regarding open meeting issues. He further stated that according to Jacobs’ standards the TIF meeting was in fact not a public meeting because Guenthner had not yet been sworn in.” on page 11, and deleting “He said that was horrible public policy.” on page 12. Voting Aye: Guenthner, Grabowski, Jacobs, Hudok, and Thomas. (Motion carried 5:0) CLAIMS CLAIMS Escrow Claims (Fund #500) $53,736.76 MOTION by Grabowski, seconded by Thomas, to approve Escrow Claims (Fund #500) as presented. Voting Aye: Guenthner, Grabowski, Jacobs, Hudok, and Thomas. Voting Nay: Jacobs. (Motion carried 4:1) All Other Claims $77,420.90 MOTION by Grabowski, seconded by Hudok, to approve all other claims as presented. Voting Aye: Guenthner, Grabowski, Jacobs, Hudok, and Thomas. COUNCIL AND STAFF (Motion carried 5:0) REPORTS: COUNCIL AND STAFF REPORTS: Planning Commission, Liaison Guenthner – No Planning Commission, Liaison Guenthner – No Meeting Due to Lack of Page -7- CITY OF CORCORAN CITY COUNCIL MEETING February 08, 2007 Quorum Meeting Due to Lack of Quorum Guenthner reported the Planning Commission meeting was cancelled due to a lack of quorum. Jacobs questioned the 60-day rule in relation to the Schendel Farms PUD sketch plan application. City Planner Lindahl explained sketch plans are not statutorily required to meet the 60-day rule; however, the City policy has been to apply the nd 60-day rule to sketch plans. Lindahl stated that due to the fact the February 22 Council meeting would have been beyond the 60-day limit, the PUD sketch plan was automatically extended to 120 days which would end sometime in April 2007; the cancellation of the Planning Commission meeting did not affect the 60-day rule. Guenthner cautioned the council members of sending broadcast emails; the proper Board of Adjustment way to communicate through emails would be through the City staff. Training, Councilor Jacobs Board of Adjustment Training, Councilor Jacobs Jacobs referenced an email included in the meeting’s packet regarding the cities that use Hennepin County for assessment services. Jacobs suggested using Hennepin County for the assessment services would provide greater accessibility Adjournment for Corcoran residents. ADJOURNMENT MOTION by Grabowski, seconded by Hudok, to adjourn at 10:50 p.m. Voting Aye: Guenthner, Grabowski, Jacobs, Hudok, and Thomas. (Motion carried 5:0) ______________________________ Susan Vergin, City Administrator/Acting City Clerk Page -8-