The URL can be used to link to this page

Home My WebLink About2007-10-11 - Council Minutes CITY OF CORCORAN CITY COUNCIL MEETING October 11, 2007 CALL TO ORDER AND ROLL CALL Call to Order The Corcoran City Council met on October 11, 2007, at city hall in Corcoran, Minnesota. Present were Mayor Guenthner, Councilor Grabowski, Councilor Jacobs, Councilor Hudok and Councilor Thomas. Also present were Administrator Roll Call Vergin, Police Chief Gormley and Public Works Superintendent Meister. Mayor Guenthner called the meeting to order at 6:30 p.m. followed by the Pledge of Allegiance. AGENDA APPROVAL Agenda Approval MOTION by Thomas, seconded by Grabowski, to approve the agenda as presented. Voting Aye: Grabowski, Guenthner, Hudok, Jacobs and Thomas (Motion carried 5:0) Open Forum & OPEN FORUM & ANNOUNCEMENTS Announcements: Mr. Ebert, expressed his views and concerns with the 2008 budget and questioned if he or others in the audience would be allowed to address various items of the budget during the council’s discussion. Mayor Guenthner responded that public comments on the budget will be taken at the Truth in Taxation hearing held in December. 2008 Budget 2008 BUDGET Suggestions were made and discussed on the best way to discuss and approve the budget. It was concluded that a motion would be made to approve the budget, and then councilors could provide amendments to the motion to change line items within the budget. MOTION made by Thomas, seconded by Guenthner to approve the 2008 budget as presented by staff. Clarification was needed from some staff members on how the money is spent and why there is a need for an increase in the budget in regards to operating supplies, professional services, training and maintenance. There was discussion about an article that was in the League of MN Cities magazine about neighboring community population and their levy amounts. Discussion was started about the building of the 24-hour Police Department and because of the increase in hours and building of this department the public safety budget is 50% of the overall increase to the 2008 budget. A question was asked if the Code Enforcement Officer is needed, and it was suggested that the police department handle code enforcement. This lead into a discussion about staffing in the police department. Council Thomas left the meeting 7:51 pm A truck enforcement pilot project has presented itself. Chief Gormley explained more about this project and how it affects the 2008 budget. A suggestion was made to eliminate the City Charter budget. The advantage of this is a savings in the budget, but there is also a disadvantage if ever there was a petition brought forward. Council Thomas returned to the meeting 7:55 pm Page -1- CITY OF CORCORAN CITY COUNCIL MEETING October 11, 2007 Suggestions were made and discussed on items that could be eliminated to reduce the budget. MOTIONTO AMEND made by Guenthner, seconded by Grabowski to eliminate Line Item 9 –Operating Supplies and Line Item 10 – Professional Services under City Charter, to reduce the budget $650. Voting Aye: Grabowski, Guenthner, Hudok, Jacobs and Thomas (Motion carried 5:0) MOTION TO AMEND made by Hudok, seconded by Grabowski, to eliminate Line Item 17-Training under City Council, to reduce the budget $500. Voting Aye: Grabowski, Guenthner, Hudok, Jacobs and Thomas (Motion carried 5:0) MOTION TO AMEND made by Grabowski, seconded by Thomas to incur the savings in Line Item 62 – Professional Services under Assessor by staying with the current assessor. Voting Aye: Grabowski, Guenthner, Hudok, Jacobs and Thomas (Motion carried 5:0) MOTION TO AMEND made by Hudok, seconded by Grabowski to reduce Line Item 35 – Training under Administrator by $500. There was discussion about what training is needed and the importance of the training. VOTE ON MOTION: Voting Aye: Grabowski, Hudok and Jacobs Voting Nay: Guenthner and Thomas (Motion carried 3:2) MOTION TO AMEND made by Thomas, seconded by Grabowski to reduce Line Item 90 – Professional Services under Comprehensive Plan for Economic Development to $4,000, reducing the budget by $8,000. Voting Aye: Grabowski, Guenthner, Hudok, Jacobs and Thomas (Motion Carried 5:0) MOTION TO AMEND made by Thomas, seconded by Grabowski to eliminate Line Item 172 – Bridge Repairs under Streets to reduce the budget by $60,000. Voting Aye: Grabowski, Guenthner, Hudok, Jacobs and Thomas (Motion Carried 5:0) MOTION TO AMEND made by Thomas, seconded by Grabowski to reduce Line Item 89 – Comprehensive Plan Update to $12,000, a reduction of $24,050. Voting Aye: Grabowski, Guenthner, Hudok, Jacobs and Thomas (Motion Carried 5:0) MOTION TO AMEND made by Guenthner, seconded by Thomas to reduce line Item 112 – Operating Supplies under City Hall Operating by $5,500. Voting Aye: Grabowski, Guenthner, Hudok, Jacobs and Thomas (Motion Carried 5:0) MOTION TO AMEND made by Guenthner, seconded by Grabowski to eliminate Line Item 183 – Facility Analysis – Professional Services, reducing the budget $12,000. Voting Aye: Grabowski, Guenther, Hudok, Jacobs and Thomas (Motion Carried 5:0) MOTION TO AMEND made by Grabowski, seconded by Hudok to eliminate Line Item 110 – the position of Code Enforcement, reducing the budget $23,963. There was discussion on the duties the current employee has if these duties could be delegated to other departments. VOTE ON MOTION: Voting Aye: Grabowski, Hudok, and Jacobs Voting Nay: Guenthner and Thomas (Motion Carried 3:2) MOTION TO AMEND made by Hudok, seconded by Grabowski to reduce Line Page -2- CITY OF CORCORAN CITY COUNCIL MEETING October 11, 2007 Item 68 – Professional Services, to $5,000 and to reduce Line Item 69 – Software/Hardware Repairs/Parts to $2,000, reducing the budget By $6,885. There was discussion about the risks there would be with this reduction. VOTE ON MOTION : Voting Aye: Grabowski, Hudok, and Jacobs Voting Nay: Guenthner and Thomas (Motion carried 3:2) VOTE ON MAIN MOTION AS AMENDED: Voting Aye: Grabowski, Guenthner, Hudok, Jacobs, and Thomas. (Motion Carried 5:0) Unfinished Business: UNFINISHED BUSINESS Building Inspection Building Inspection Permit Fees, Ordinance No. 245 Permit Fees – Ordinance Waldron & Associates fees are different from the City’s existing fee schedule, and No 245 they will be providing electrical and plumbing review services, therefore there is a need for the council to adopt a new fee schedule. There was discussion about the difference in previous fees compared to the new fees. This lead to a discussion on whether or not the residents will be paying more for permits, and it was concluded that residents could be paying a little more on some permits. The fees in the ordinance are reflected on the contract with Waldron and Associates that was approved by the Council earlier. MOTION made by Grabowski, seconded by Jacobs to approve Ordinance No. 2007 – 245, An Ordinance Setting Fees. There was discussion about a need for the fees to be reviewed and modified. The Mayor and Council directed staff to provide them with a side by side comparison on the fees. VOTE ON MOTION : Voting Aye: Grabowski, Hudok and Jacobs Voting Nay: Thomas and Guenthner (Motion carried 3:2) Further discussion continued and staff was directed to provide a side by side comparison of the previous fees and the new fees, and the allocation of those fees between the inspector and the City based on the previous building inspection contract and the new building inspection contract. Provide assumptions that were used when creating the 2008 budget. Construction Site Erosion Construction Site Erosion Control Enforcement Policy, Resolution No. 207-77 Enforcement Policy – Under the current contract Waldron & Associates provides this service and in order Resolution No. 207-77 for them to provide the service for the City, the policy needs to be adopted. MOTION made by Grabowski, seconded by Hudok to approve Resolution No. 2007-77, A Resolution Providing For a Sediment and Erosion Control Enforcement Policy. Voting Aye: Guenthner, Grabowski, Hudok, Jacobs and Thomas. (Motion carried 5:0) CONSENT AGENDA Consent Agenda Items MOTION made by Grabowski, seconded by Hudok, to approve the consent Approved: agenda items: September 18, 2007 8a. September 18, 2007 Public Meeting Public Meeting 8c. Preliminary Plat Extension – Rush Creek Headwaters, Resolution No. Preliminary Plat 2007-78 Extension – Rush Creek Page -3- CITY OF CORCORAN CITY COUNCIL MEETING October 11, 2007 Voting Aye: Guenthner, Grabowski, Jacobs, Hudok and Thomas (Motion carried Headwaters – Resolution 5:0) No. 2007-78 8b. September 27, 2007 Council Minutes September 27, 2007 Council Minutes MOTION made by Grabowski, seconded by Hudok to approve the September 27, 2007, Council Minutes with the following changes: a. Page 3 – First Paragraph: Change the word “accessed” to “assessed” b. Page 6 – II – Chapter 40 Ordinance Amendment: add the Ordinance Title c. Page 7 – Planning Commission Meeting: Add “The Mayor and Council directed staff to provide them with copies of existing policies for review.” Voting Aye: Guenthner, Grabowski, Jacobs, Hudok and Thomas (Motion carried 5:0) CLAIMS Approval of Claims a. Escrow Claims (Fund #500) $ 3,097.70 MOTION made by Grabowski, seconded by Hudok, to approve the escrow claims as presented, totaling $3,097.70. Voting Aye: Grabowski, Guenthner, Hudok, Jacobs and Thomas (Motion carried 5:0) b. Building Inspection Claims $ 0 c. All Other Claims $ 84,129.66 MOTION made by Hudok, seconded by Grabowski, to approve the all other claims as presented, totaling $84,129.66. Voting Aye: Grabowski, Guenthner, Hudok, Jacobs and Thomas (Motion carried 5:0) COUNCIL AND STAFF REPORTS: Council & Staff Reports Thank You Letter from Corcoran resident Chief Gormley presented a letter from a resident in appreciation for the effort the police department is putting into their work to stop speeding vehicles on the roads. ADJOURNMENT Adjournment MOTION made by Grabowski, seconded by Hudok, to adjourn at 8:56 p.m. Voting Aye: Guenthner, Grabowski, Jacobs, Hudok and Thomas (Motion carried 5:0) ______________________________ Barb Larson, City Clerk Page -4-