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City Council Minutes 02-27-1984MINUTES REGULAR MEETING - MONTICELLO CITY COUNCIL February 27, 1984 - 7:30 P.M. Members Present: Arve A. Grimsmo, Jack Maxwell, Dan Blonigen, Fran Fair, Ken Maus. Members Absent: None. 1. Call to Order. 2 . Approval of Minutes. Motion was made by Maxwell, seconded by Blonigen, to approve the minutes of the regular meeting held February 13, 1984. Voting in favor was Arve A. Grimsmo, Jack Maxwell, Dan Blonigen, Ken Maus. Abstaining was Fran Fair due to absence at the last meeting. 3. Citizens Comments/Petitions , Requests and Complaints. Mr. Ed Schaffer appeared before the Council to express concerns over the following items relating basically to truck traffic within Monticello. His first concern was regarding truck routes within Monticello, as he felt large trucks and semi's were not using the designated City truck routes and were driving all over residential streets. He noted that the City Ordinance does limit truck traffic in residential areas only for making deliveries, etc., and not for general traffic purposes. In addition, he noted that Liefert Trucking was grandfathered in previously to have his trucking business located at his residential home, but he felt that Mr. Liefert should not be allowed to continue to expand his business by adding new trucks and semi's and be allowed to use the residential neighborhood for his business. Mr. Schaffer also expressed concerns over the former Teslow Auto Sales facility, now known as K & H Auto Repair, being allowed to park their vehicles on the residential streets rather than using their own parking lot, which the Ordinance required them to have. Mr. Schaffer also expressed concerns over the large amount of traffic on Broadway with vehicles making U-turns and continuously driving up and down Broadway. Mr. Schaffer requested that the Council look into these matters and if necessary, direct the Sheriff's Department to use better enforcement procedures to eliminate some of these problems. The Council took Mr. Schaffer's comments under advisement and will be reviewing the matter with the staff and the local Police Department. - 1 - Council Minutes - 2/27/84 4. Consideration of Approval of the Final Plat for Par West, Applicant - John Sandberg. Mr. John Sandberg presented his final plat for Council review and approval for Par West residential subdivision. Mr. Sandberg noted that the permits for the sewer and water crossings to serve this subdivision have been granted by the Burlington Northern Railroad and that the road access off of County Road 75 is in the process of being approved and shouldn't be a problem. All public improvements such as sewer, water, storm sewer, and street improvements will be installed by the developer with the City incurring no financial obligation with this project. The park dedication requirements consisting of approximately 1.6 acres of park land and $5,750.00 in cash has been agreed to by the developer and the City previously. As a result, motion was made by Maxwell, seconded by Fair, and unanimously carried to approve the final plat for Par West subdivision as presented but to withhold signing the recording documents until all public improvements are completed by the developer and accepted by the City. 5. Consideration of Approval of Plans and Specifications for Additions to Pump House #1 and #2. Public Works Director, John Simola, reviewed with the Council the plans and specifications for additions to both Pump House #1 and #2 and also discussed the reasons for the proposed additions. As part of the proposed addition to Pump House #2, concerns were raised by Fire Department members and Council members as to whether the proposed addition to this Pump House might affect future additions to the Fire Hall. The reason was that if an addition was built to the north of the present Fire Hall, the Pump House addition would interfere with the additional two stalls added to the Fire Hall. In light of these concerns, the Fire Department Building Committee met with City staff members to review three alternatives for housing the future Monticello Volunteer Fire Department equipment. One alternative would have been to build two new stalls to the north of the existing building, which would go right up against the existing Pump House. This alternative would cause the proposed addition to Pump House #2 to be changed. A second alternative was to build one stall on the north end of the building and to relocate the meeting rooms and sanitary facilities and construct six additional bays on the south end of the building exiting onto Third Street. This alternative would require major renovation of the building including bearing walls,as the building would not be designed to allow for this type of an addition without major changes. The third alternative - 2 - Council Minutes - 2/27/84 discussed by the Fire Department would be to build an entirely new Fire Barn at an undetermined location that could be constructed to have all doors facing in one direction and exiting onto one street. It appears that the long term solution for the Fire Department would be to construct a new building to meet its present needs and future expansion. Until a firm direction is decided on regarding a new Fire Hall or Fire Hall expansion at the present site, it was the consensus of the Council that proposed additions to Pump House #2 be tabled. It was noted by the Public Works Director that if a decision is made to pursue a feasibility study for a new Fire Hall at a different location, he would still recommend that both additions to the Pump Houses be completed in 1984 as planned. The Fire Department Building Committee will be working with the City staff to locate possible sites for a new Fire Hall. 6. _Consideration of a Request for a Conditional Use and a Variance to Allow Signs in Excess of Ordinance Requirements, Applicant - Metcalf and Larson. At their February 14, 1984, meeting, the Planning Commission approved a Conditional Use and Variance Request for outside signs in excess of the amount stipulated in the Zoning Ordinance. Upon adjournment of the meeting, it became obvious to all members of the Planning Commission that they were uncomfortable with the final determination that was made, and the members indicated their desire to again review the request. The Zoning Ordinance currently stipulates that a building which houses more than one business is only allowed 50 of the silhouette wall square footage for wall signs. If a building of similar size has only one occupant, that business would be allowed up to 20% of the silhouette wall square footage for a sign. There appear to be concerns over whether the Ordinance's intent was to limit multiple occupants to only 50 or whether this segment of the Ordinance was meant to deal with large shopping centers only. As a result, motion was made by Maus, seconded by Blonigen, and unanimously carried to direct the Planning Commission to have a special meeting to again review this Conditional Use and Variance Request and to review the Ordinance pertaining to sign usages amongst buildings with more than one occupant and to report back to the Council by March 12, 1984. If the Planning Commission felt the Ordinance was unclear, the Planning Commission could adopt a resolution putting into effect an interim rule addressing the Conditional Use Permits for signs on buildings that have two or more businesses. - 3 - Council Minutes - 2/27/84 7. Consideration of Approving a Proposal to Replat Lots 1, 2, and 7, Block 1, Holker's Hillside Addition, Applicant - Hal Wehman. Mr. Hal Wehman presented a proposal to replat Lots 1, 2, and 7 of Block 1, Holker's Hillside Addition into four building lots. Previously, the Council indicated that Mr. Wehman should consider purchasing Outlot A of Lauring Hillside Terrace, a small triangular piece, and incorporate it into his overall building proposal so that he could achieve the square footage requirements needed for his 4-plex projects. In preparing to build a duplex, Mr. Wehman ran across some problems with financing and title and siting of the building. It seems that Lots 1, 2, and 7 are in torrens title and, as such, must have only one building per lot rather than parts of more than one building on a single lot. As a result, Mr. Wehman presented a proposal for replatting the property in order to accommodate the torrens title. Upon reviewing the proposed plat, it was discovered that the triangular Outlot A had not been included in the replat because this parcel is in abstract title while the balance of the land is in torrens title and, as such, cannot be platted together. In addition, the replatting would have a lot called B, which was totally land locked without frontage on any public street. Without some kind of guaranteed ingress/egress easement, the City could not approve a plat that contained a lot no one could reach from a public street. A recommendation was made by the staff that either Lot B be altered to provide some sort of access onto a public street, or an easement be included in the replat so that this parcel would have access. According to Mr. Wehman's attorney, an easement could be provided for this lot but only after the plat was recorded and not as part of the recording. Although this would provide a solution to the problem, it appears that the City would still have to approve the replatting first before they could obtain an easement. Motion was made by Maus, seconded by Blonigen, and unanimously carried to adopt the following Resolution vacating all existing utility and drainage easements currently on Lots 1, 2, and 7, Block 1, Holker's Hillside Addition. See Resolution 1984 #3. Motion was made by Fair, seconded by Maus, and unanimously carried to approve the replat creating four new parcels called Lots A, B, C, and D as proposed provided an easement is recorded across Parcel C for ingress and egress to Lot B. As part of the approval, it is to be understood that no building permit for a duplex on Parcel B will be issued until all drainage and utility easements along with the ingress and egress easement for Lot B are submitted to the City. - 4 - Council Minutes - 2/27/84 8. Consideration of Entering an Annual Maintenance Contract for City Hall Furnace./Air Conditioning Unit. It was recommended by the City staff that some sort of an annual maintenance contract be entered into with a service firm for servicing the City Hall furnace and air conditioning unit. Basically, the furnace and air conditioning unit would be checked four times a year with the major one being in the spring when the heating system is shut down and the air conditioning system is started. The second major check would be in the fall when the air conditioning unit is shut off and the heating system is started. Two additional checks would be performed during both the mid -summer season for cooling and mid- winter season for heating. Quotes for service contracts were received from three different companies including Pneumatic Controls, Comfort Craft, Inc., and St. Cloud Refrigeration. Comfort Craft, Inc., has recently worked on repairing the City Hall furnace and did an adequate job. Their quote is based on an estimated number of hours to do the four maintenance checks per year, although their actual billing would be less if less man hours were required. After reviewing the quotes received from the various maintenance firms, motion was made by Fair, seconded by Maxwell, and unanimously carried to approve entering into a one-year agreement with Comfort Craft, Inc., of St. Cloud for a maintenance program for the City Hall furnace and air conditioning equipment starting March 1, 1984. The agreement would call for an hourly charge for actual hours worked rather than a firm base price. 9. Consideration of a Proposal to Automate Elections. During 1983, the City Administrator and City staff investigated several automated election systems that could be used by the City for general and primary elections. The City Administrator felt the most appropriate system for the City of Monticello and the most efficient would be one distributed by E.L. Marketing, which uses a punch card voting system with a punch card machine reader. This semi -automated system would replace the current pencil ballots used by the City in the past years. The punch card reader is the most expensive piece of equipment listing at $5,795.00. The entire system including the punch card reader, 12 voting stations, and other miscellaneous items, would put the purchase cost at approximately $8,702.00. Council concerns were raised over whether an automated system as proposed would possibly be obsolete in a few years with the advancement in technology that is present today. It was noted by some Council - 5 - Council Minutes - 2/27/84 members that possibly the City should just consider adding extra election judges to help with counting of the ballots rather than expending $8,000 or $9,000 for materials that can only be used a few times every other year. Using $8,700.00 as a cost figure, the City Administrator estimated that it would take approximately 5� election years to recover the cost vs. using paper ballots. Although only $1,500.00 was budgeted for election equipment in 1984, motion was made by Fair, seconded by Maxwell, and unanimously carried to authorize the City Administrator to purchase the automated equipment from E.L. Marketing for $8,702.00 with the balance of the funds coming from the Capital Improvement Revolving Fund. 10. Consideration of Bids and Proi2osals for the Replacement Purchase of a Public Works Pickup Truck. Specifications were prepared by the Public Works Director, John Simola, for a new 4 -wheel drive, 3/4 ton pickup truck to replace the 1975 Ford Pickup Truck currently used by the Public Works Department. The specifications were given to five local area dealers with three bids being received by the City on Friday, February 24. After the bids were opened, a reverse bidding auction was available to each participant to give them an opportunity to lower their price if they so desired. The bids received also included a trade-in amount for the City's 1975 Ford Pickup Truck. The City also advertised the 1975 Ford Pickup for sale in the local newspaper and accepted bids until 4:30 P.M., Friday the 24th,from private parties. The highest private offer came from Steve Vollmer in the amount of $3,200.00. The bids received for the new pickup truck were as follows: Purchase Private Dealer Price Trade -In Net Offer Net Country Chrysler $10,053.00 $1,800.00 $8,253.00 $3,200.00 $6,853.00 Monticello Ford $10,683.90 $ 993.90 $9,690.00 $3,200.00 $7,483.90 Gould Bros. Chevrolet $11,045.15 $2,150.00 $8,895.15 $3,200.00 $7,845.15 The lowest net price for a new 4 x 4 pickup was from Country Chrysler of Elk River, assuming the City sold its 1975 Ford Pickup to the private party for $3,200.00 The net cost for the new pickup would then be $6,853.00. - 6 - Council Minutes - 2/27/84 Motion was made by Fair, seconded by Blonigen, and unanimously carried to award the purchase of a new 1984 Dodge, 3/4 ton, Pickup to Country Chrysler of Elk River for a purchase price of $10,053.00 and to sell the 1975 Ford Pickup Truck for $3,200.00 to Steve Vollmer. 11. Consideration of Approval of FebruarZ Bills. Motion was made by Blonigen, seconded by Maus, and unanimously carried to approve the bills for the month of February as presented. Rick Wolfstel r Assistant Administrator - 7 -