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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2007-11-08 - Council Minutes CITY OF CORCORAN CITY COUNCIL MEETING November 8, 2007 CALL TO ORDER AND ROLL CALL Call to Order The Corcoran City Council met on November 8, 2007, at city hall in Corcoran, Minnesota. Present were Mayor Guenthner, Councilor Jacobs, Councilor Hudok Roll Call and Councilor Thomas. Also present were Administrator Vergin, Police Chief Gormley, City Engineer Rhein and City Attorney Langel. Excused Absence: Councilor Grabowski. Mayor Guenthner called the meeting to order at 7:00 p.m. followed by the Pledge of Allegiance. AGENDA APPROVAL Agenda Approval MOTION made by Thomas, seconded by Hudok, to approve the agenda with the following changes: Add “Notification to Council” to Unscheduled Items Add “Animal Density” to Unscheduled Items VOTE ON MOTION : Voting Aye: Guenthner, Hudok, Jacobs and Thomas (Motion carried 4:0) Open Forum & OPEN FORUM & ANNOUNCEMENTS Announcements: Darrel Krueger asked if the public would be allowed to address agenda item 5.b. regarding the Parks & Trails Commission and Planning Commission. Tom Cossette questioned what the best procedure audience members could take in order to speak about an item that is on the agenda. Mayor Guenthner answered that open forum was for audience members to speak to the council about items that are not on the agenda, limited to five minutes per item Unfinished Business: or issue. Individuals can request to be placed on the agenda to address topics if they wish. When an agenda item is being discussed and the council feels that it is TH 55, Resolution No. important for there to be public input then the council can ask the Mayor to allow 2007-85 some public input on that certain agenda item. Does not want open forum to be an intimidating setting. UNFINISHED BUSINESS TH 55, Resolution No. 2007-85 At the last meeting when the Council reviewed the concept plan for TH 55 the issue of access roads was discussed. The City is bringing forward the issue of the importance of having better direct connections to TH 55 in Resolution No. 2007- 85. By the time of implementation of the TH 55 vision, it will be important for the few other major north/south corridors in the Corcoran Comp Plan to also have much better direct connections to TH 55. Staff was directed to format the issue Resolution to Simplify into the resolution in an outline statement, stating the concerns and impacts to the Land Use, 2007-86 city residential and collector gravel roads on creation of the improved highway and limited access. The study should adequately consider the impact of the areas outside the highway right a way. If there is going to be elimination of access’s to TH 55, there needs to be alternative routes to TH 55. Resolution to Simplify Land Use, 2007-86 Councilor Jacobs had previously provided the Council with a resolution to consider combining the Parks & Trails Commission into the Planning Commission. This subject had been tabled at the October 25 meeting to allow time for staff to compile data regarding costs associated with the Commissions. Because it is important to Page -1- CITY OF CORCORAN CITY COUNCIL MEETING November 8, 2007 get thoughts from all of the council members on this item it was suggested to not take any action on this item again until all council members are present. There was some discussion between the council and City Attorney Langel regarding the 2/3 majority votes. The Parks and Trails Commission are considered an advisory board, not an independent board, which means the council can dissolve it. It was created by an ordinance so the ordinance will have to be amended, which requires a simple majority vote. The Planning Commission conducts public hearings and makes recommendations for approval to the council. Discussion took place regarding the cost breakdowns and how much involvement the Parks and Trails Commission versus the Planning Commission have with an application. Chad Robran, Chair to the Parks and Trails Commission, explained that there was a national poll done and in that poll Minnesota was ranked number two for parks and trails. Meaning the state is doing a great job creating a great environment for the communities and he would like the council to think about what will happen to the 2008 Budget/Levy parks and trails if the commission is to be eliminated. He also suggested that staff check with other communities surrounding the city to see how many of the other cities in the area have a Parks and Trails Commission. MOTION made by Councilor Hudok, seconded by Councilor Jacobs to table Resolution 2007-86, A Resolution to Simplify Land Use. Voting Aye: Hudok, Thomas, Jacobs and Guenthner (Motion carried 4:0) 2008 Budget/Levy There was discussion about the revised 2008 budget spreadsheet, comparing the budget adopted in September, to the budget changes that have been made to date. The total budget cuts to date, by the council, are $155,896 and the corrected new tax rate is 32.313. The Truth and Taxation Hearing will be held on December 3, 2007 at 7:00 p.m. It was asked why the administrator would have to attend the commission meetings if a minute taker was to be hired. Administrator Vergin explained the importance of the administrator being at the commission meetings. This lead into a discussion between the council members on whether or not the administrator is needed at the commission meetings. Pavement Management There was some discussion about code enforcement and staffing needs. Area Charges During the last budget discussion it was suggested that the server maintenance budget amount be reduced. It was suggested that it be re-examined because if the server goes down, the staff can’t do their jobs. There was a question about flexibility in changing the budget after it is approved. Staff was directed to find that information and submit it for the next meeting. Pavement Management Area Charges At the last meeting it was asked if the city could have an advisory election to ask residents their opinion about the pavement management area charge. Attorney Langel informed staff and council that the city cannot have an advisory election. The council cannot put a question before the voters on an issue that is the prerogative of the council. Decisions on how to pay for collector roads need to be made by the council because there is no authority to have the people make the decisions for them. This led into a discussion on different ways to get feed back from the residents. Page -2- CITY OF CORCORAN CITY COUNCIL MEETING November 8, 2007 Administrator Vergin explained that she received three different financing options. It was suggested that this item be added to the November 19 meeting and the scenarios be in the agenda packet for the council to review. Due to some letter of credits expiring soon it is important to get this resolved soon. A suggestion was made that the council set a pavement area charge per acre. Another option is that a development zone be pointed out on a map and any development that touches that development zone, then a pavement area charge is charged and that money will go into a dedicated road fund. These suggestions led New Business: into a discussion about the different ways this could be handled and how the development zone can be determined. The consensus was for staff to provide the council with a map that outlines the various collector roads. League of MN Cities There was some discussion about selling of building rights and the building site 2008 Policies being consistent with the zoning ordinance. Staff was directed to come up with an outline or model ratio for selling of building rights at a certain amount per building right but only allowing so many building rights per parcel to stay consistent with the zoning ordinance. Fall Newsletter It was suggested that this information be reviewed by the Pavement Management Consent Agenda Items Committee prior to the Council making a decision. Approved: NEW BUSINESS Corcoran Lions League of Minnesota Cities 2008 Policies Gambling License Renewal Administrator Vergin presented a draft of the 2008 City Policies drafted by the League of MN Cities. There was some discussion about how the policies affect Certification of the community, but no comments will be sent to the League. Delinquent Recycling Fall Newsletter Reschedule Regular Council Meeting Administrator Vergin presented a draft of the Fall Newsletter. The Council had no changes; printing of this newsletter is to begin on November 9, 2007. October 25, 2007 Council Minutes CONSENT AGENDA MOTION made by Thomas, seconded by Hudok, to approve Consent Agenda: 7b. Corcoran Lions Gambling License Renewal, Resolution No. 2007-87 7c. Certification of Delinquent Recycling, Resolution No. 2007-88 7d. Reschedule Regular Council Meeting due to Thanksgiving Holiday 11/19 @ 7:00 pm Voting Aye: Guenthner, Hudok, Jacobs and Thomas (Motion carried 4:0) 7a. October 25, 2007 Council Minutes There was discussion about Ali Durgunoglu’s suggestion made under the Heitke Request for Proposal – Final Plat discussion. Consensus was that the minutes were correct. Auditing Services MOTION made by Thomas, seconded by Hudok to approve the October 25, 2007 Council Minutes with the following changes: Changing the word “efficient” to “sufficient” on the top of page 5. th Deleting the word “the” between what and each on page 5, 4 paragraph. th Changing the word “combing” to “combining” on page 5, 7 paragraph. Page -3- CITY OF CORCORAN CITY COUNCIL MEETING November 8, 2007 Voting Aye: Guenthner, Hudok, Jacobs and Thomas. (Motion carried 4:0) Approval of Claims 7e. Request for Proposal – Auditing Services There was discussion about the contents and the requirements presented in the request for proposal and whether or not it is required to be so detailed. Because of the details would it eliminate some of the responders or are the firms used to having to provide so much detailed information in their proposals. It was suggested that staff reformat the proposal including numbering the questions that require a detailed answer and include in the cover letter that the answers need to follow the same order of the number sequence of questions. CLAIMS a. Escrow Claims (Fund #500) $12,027.85 MOTION Council & Staff Reports made by Thomas, seconded by Hudok, to approve the escrow claims as presented, totaling $12,027.85. Voting Aye: Guenthner, Hudok, Jacobs and Thomas (Motion carried 4:0) b. Building Inspection Claims $0 c. All Other Claims $ 83,638.61 MOTION made by Thomas, seconded by Jacobs, to approve the all other claims as presented, totaling $83,638.61. Voting Aye: Guenthner, Hudok, Jacobs and Thomas (Motion carried 4:0) Councilor Hudok abstained from the disbursement of Jenelle Hudok’s reimbursement. COUNCIL AND STAFF REPORTS: Planning Commission Mayor Guenther gave a review of the last Planning Commission meeting. During the Planning Commission meeting there was a site plan review for a Gazelle Marketing and the conclusion was that the site plan was approved with a few minor changes. Also during the meeting there was discussion about consolidating the Planning Commission and the Parks and Trail Commission. Corcoran Business Park/Medina Infrastructure Mayor Guenthner updated the staff and council on a meeting that he attended regarding the Corcoran Business Park/Medina Infrastructure. The significant change to report is that United Properties will fund the construction of the Backage Road, rather than the city funding it and then assessing United Properties for the construction. This reduces the debt bonding by a significant amount. Mayor Guenthner also reported that he attended the City of Medina’s Council Meeting and relayed the message that the City of Corcoran was ready to draft a utility agreement with them. Some of the council members of Medina spoke their concern of the limited water capacity in that area. Staff and Attorney Langel were directed to start drafting the utility agreement with Medina. I-94 TAC City Engineer Rhein reported that Administrator Vergin and he attended a meeting on November 7 and the main items discussed were the County Road 117 extension, the Fletcher Lane overpass of I-94, and the potential river crossing. Without the CR 117 extension, volumes are predicted to be much higher on certain segments .There were some Corcoran residents at this meeting that voiced their Page -4- CITY OF CORCORAN CITY COUNCIL MEETING November 8, 2007 opposition to the County Road 117 extension. The goal of the Fletcher Lane overpass is to reduce traffic volumes at intersections with I-94 interchanges. There was no significant opposition noted to leaving the over pass in. There are two design options for the river crossing, a freeway design, and an arterial design. Analysis show the new bridge would draw more traffic from TH 169 than from TH 101. Volume from the arterial option would disperse into Unscheduled Item: Dayton and the freeway option of the bridge would have higher traffic volumes. Notifications to Council Systems in Dayton would need more improvements to accommodate this. Dayton is in favor of the arterial option. There will be an open house on Monday, December 10, 20007 at 5:00. There will be information regarding the CR 117 extension, the Fletcher Lane Overpass and the river crossing. Administrator Vergin has requested that the council have the opportunity to review the information before the open house. This point expanded Animal Density to include elected officials from all five communities: Dayton, Rogers, Hassan, Corcoran and Maple Grove. Staff from these cities will try to coordinate a meeting for the officials to review these items. UNSCHEDULED ITEMS: Adjournment Notifications to Council It was questioned as to the notification timeline to the council of the resignation of that City Engineer Vince Vandertop and that others apparently were notified of this resignation and his replacement at Bonestroo before the council. Animal Density An email was received from a concerned resident regarding a property having too many animals on the amount of property they have. Administrator Vergin provided the Council with background on the issue, that staff has been trying to work with the property owner to resolve the matter. It was suggested that the ordinance may need to be looked at and a definition of the number of animals units allowed be defined. Charter Commission Mayor Guenthner announced that there would be a meeting of the Corcoran Charter Commission on November 15 at 7:00 p.m. ADJOURNMENT MOTION made by Thomas, seconded by Hudok, to adjourn at 9:43 p.m. Voting Aye: Guenthner, Jacobs, Hudok and Thomas (Motion carried 4:0) ______________________________ Barb Larson, City Clerk Page -5-