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Home My WebLink About2015-10-22 Council MinutesCity of Corcoran City Council Meeting Minutes October 22, 2015 - 7:00 PM The Corcoran City Council met on October 22, 2015, at City Hall in Corcoran, Minnesota. Present were Mayor Guenthner, Councilor Hank, Councilor Keefe, Councilor LaFave, and Councilor Thomas. Also present were City Administrator Martens, City Attorney Carson; Director of Public Safety Gottschalk, City Engineer Torve, and City Clerk/Administrative Services Coordinator Beise. 1. Call to Order / Roll Call Mayor Guenthner called the meeting to order at 7:00 pm. 2. Pledge of Allegiance Mayor Guenthner invited all in attendance to rise and join in the Pledge of Allegiance. 3. Agenda Approval MOTION: made by Thomas, seconded by Keefe to approve the agenda as presented. Voting Aye: Guenthner, Hank, Keefe, LaFave, and Thomas (Motion carried 5:0) 4. Open Forum Danielle Paulson, 6564 Carriage Way, addressed the council on the sewer billing item on the agenda tonight. Specifically Ms. Paulson raised concerns on the sewer rate and sewer base fee compared to the rates of surrounding cities. John Newstrom, 6471 Carriage Way, addressed the council on the sewer billing item on the agenda tonight. Mr. Newstrom requested that the City utilize a flat rate for water billing as the current fee is high. Mr. Newstrom requested that the City reduce the base fee for sewer to $7.21 per month for the marketability of the City. Mr. Newstrom requested that the City change the sewer tier to calculate a fee applied every 5,000 gallons. 5. Presentations No presentations were heard. 6. Consent Agenda a. Draft Minutes of the October 8th, 2015 Council Meeting b. Hennepin County User Agreement — Pictometry Councilor Hank asked that item a. be considered separately. Councilor Hank noted a clerical change to the date in the October 8' minutes. MOTION: made by LaFave, seconded by Hank to approve the item a. as amended. Voting Aye: Guenthner, Hank, Keefe, LaFave, and Thomas (Motion carried 5:0) MOTION: made by Thomas seconded by Keefe to approve the item b. as presented. Voting Aye: Guenthner, Hank, Keefe, LaFave, and Thomas (Motion carried 5:0) 7. Claims as Presented a. Escrow Claims (Fund #500) MOTION: made by LaFave, seconded by Thomas to approve the escrow claims as presented. Voting Aye: Guenthner, Hank, Keefe, LaFave, and Thomas (Motion carried 5:0) b. All Financial Claims MOTION: made by Keefe, seconded by Thomas to approve all other financial claims as presented. City of Corcoran City Council Meeting Minutes October 22, 2015 - 7 :00 PM Voting Aye: Guenthner, Hank, Keefe, LaFave, and Thomas (Motion carried 5:0) 8. Staff Reports / Memos /Commissions a. Planning Update received, no action required. b. Code Compliance Report received, no action required. c. Tax Increment Financing Report Councilor LaFave inquired about the land acquisition allocation. Mayor Gunthner noted the City had TIF funds available and in order to utilize funds in the future, the City had to designate uses for the funds. City Administrator Martens noted the decision for the use of land acquisition funding should be decided before the City issues debt for the downtown sewer and water project in February. 9. Planning Business / Landform No planning business was presented. 10. Unfinished Business No unfished business was presented. 11. New Business a. Public Hearing — Downtown Utility and Street Improvement Project Assessments City Administrator Martens presented the report. City Administrator Martens outlined the history of the project from 2013 and noted the community outreach activities including surveys and public meetings. City Administrator Martens outlined the financing mechanisms of TIF Funds, trunk fees, utility funds and assessments. City Administrator Martens outlined the types of assessments and payment scenarios of payment up front or financing through the City over a 10 year period for all City fees. Mayor Guenthner opened the public hearing. Diane Benton, 20037 County Road 10 (Stanchion), requested that the City only consider the access onto the county road as her access, Ms. Benton noted that the secondary access was not supposed to be an access. MOTION: made by LaFave, seconded by Thomas to close the public hearing. Voting Aye: Guenthner, Hank, Keefe, LaFave, and Thomas (Motion carried 5:0) Council discussed Ms. Benton's request for assessment modification and how to ensure the City is paid for improvements when County Roads 10 and 50 are improved. City Attorney Carson noted if the City would adopt the assessment the City could abate the fee if it was determined a lower fee should be paid. City Administrator Martens noted the City could look at other options such as a deferred assessment for future improvements. Councilors discussed if future improvements are made to County Roads 10 and 50 access would change and at that time the City would assess those affected property owners. Blocking off the secondary access on Ms. Benton's property was discussed as a condition of removing the street assessment. City Administrator Martens noted the change to language in the resolution for the start date of interest assessed to the assessment. MOTION: made by Thomas, seconded by Keefe to approve Resolution 2015 -52 Adopting the Assessment Roll for the Downtown Street Utility and Street Improvement Project as presented in the redline version with the modification to PID 26- 119 -23 -11 -0007 amended to $15,000. Voting Aye: Guenthner, Hank, Keefe, LaFave, and Thomas (Motion carried 5:0) Staff was directed to work with Ms. Benton to block of the secondary access onto Commerce Street. City of Corcoran City Council Meeting Minutes October 22, 2015 - 7:00 PM b. Ordinance Amendment Request — Ground Mounted Solar City Administrator Martens presented the report and asked council if they are in favor where ground mounted solar should go and who should pay for the ordinance amendment. Council discussed the zoning, the size of the projects. City Administrator Martens noted that this would not change the property valuation and there are funding incentives currently in place for ground mounted solar that will be expiring. Nathan Rogers from Ecoplexus discussed solar gardens, the size limitations of a solar garden being 40 acres of solar panels and items that may be considered with the ordinance such as screening and setbacks City Administrator Martens noted that we would look to other cities ordinances get most of the core issues addressed in an effort to stay within the escrow amount. In response to Council questions, Mr. Rogers discussed the following items: the solar garden would require a 30 year lease of the property; ground maintenance would be required; the garden has minimal impervious surface; the garden offers possible local tax impacts of the solar garden. MOTION: made by LaFave to direct staff to draft an ordinance for consideration and require a $5,000 escrow. (Motion Failed, no second) Councilors noted that this would be an opportunity for education on the topic. MOTION: made by LaFave, seconded by Guenthner to direct staff to draft an ordinance for consideration and require a $5,000 escrow. Voting Aye: Guenthner, Hank, Keefe, LaFave, and Thomas (Motion carried 5:0) c. Utility Billing Process — Sewer Billing City Administrator Martens presented the report outlining the history of how the billing was created, the need to covering expenses and compared an average bill with the City's process and other processes. Council discussed that there is an issue billing and that they are interested in reviewing options that would address new sod watering and while continuing to address water conservation. Per consensus, Council directed staff to bring different philosophies for the Council to review in the non - growing season. d. City Council Email Addresses City Administrator Martens presented the report noting that the email from the City can't be forwarded to a personal email. Council discussed the positives for communication. Per consensus, staff was directed to initiate City Council email addresses with a request for additional information on how to best implement. e. Grant Opportunity— 2015 Business District Initiative City Administrator Martens presented the report, noting minimal staff time would be required and that the market study would be a useful tool. Per consensus, staff was directed to apply for the grant. 12. Unscheduled Items No unscheduled items were presented. 13.2015 Council Schedule City Administrator Martens reviewed the draft upcoming council schedule. 14. Council Liaison Calendar Council calendar was not reviewed, but available in the Council packet. 15. Adjournment MOTION: made by LaFave, seconded by Thomas to adjourn. Voting Aye: Guenthner, Hank, Keefe, LaFave, and Thomas (Motion carried 5:0) City of Corcoran City Council Meeting Minutes October 22, 2015 - 7:00 PM Meeting adjourned at 8:44 pm. W ssica Beise — City Clerk /Administrative Services Coordinator