City Council Minutes 08-08-1988MINUTES
REGULAR MEETING - MONTICELLO CITY COUNCIL
Monday, August 8, 1988 - 7:30 p.m.
Members Present: Arve Grimsmo, Fran Fair, Warren Smith, Dan Blonigen,
Bill Fair.
Members Absent: None
2. Approval of the regular meeting minutes held July 25, 1988.
Council member Smith requested that the last item on the previous meeting
agenda be updated to included the second to the motion and the vote. That
motion was seconded by Warren Smith and passed unanimously. There being
no further additions or deletions from the previous meeting minutes,
motion made by Warren Smith to approve the meeting minutes as updated,
seconded by Fran Fair, motion passed unanimously.
4. Review results of citizen survey.
Steven Frank of St. Cloud State Survey provided a presentation which
outlined the opinions and attitudes regarding city services reported by
Monticello residents. After the presentation, Council directed staff to
prepare a cross tabulation data for use in budget preparation and long
term planning.
5. Consideration of participation in "Celebrate Minnesota".
O'Neill reported to the City Council that the Celebrate Minnesota program
is built around the U.S. Olympic Festival being held in the Twin Cities in
July 1990. He went on to say that through the Celebrate Minnesota program
matching grant money is available which can be used for clean up and fix
up projects, landscaping of community entrance and public activity areas,
preserving historic structures, or a variety of other projects geared to
the 1990 celebration. It was the consensus of the Council to participate
in the Celebrate Minnesota program.
Motion made by Bill Fair to direct Assistant Administrator, O'Neill to
develop an Advisory Committee for the purpose of establishing and
implementing Celebrate Minnesota program in Monticello. Staff to report
back to Council on the 22nd of August, 1988. Motion seconded by Fran
Fair, motion passed unanimously.
6. Consideration of lending support to Robert Leathers Play Structure
Development
A short video presentation describing a play structure which was
constructed utilizing the Robert Leathers, community based approach was
provided to Council. Cheryl Fuller and Merit Henningson of the Community
Playground Committee in the Pinewood Elementary School area presented the
community groups proposal for development of a large play structure on the
Pinewood Elementary schoolground utilizing a community based approach to
development of the structure. Fuller report the following reasons why
the Robert Leathers program was selected by the Playground Improvement
Committee.
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1) Community involvement and pride. The entire community from senior
citizens to pre-schoolers can be involved in the process.
2) Children involvement and pride. The Leathers process offers children
a unique learning experience which emphasizes the values of commitment
cooperation and hard work.
3) Handicap accessability.
4) Creative play. Leathers play structure incorporates many wooden
towers, stairways, mazes, tunnels, and platform areas, which encourages
creative play.
5) Better value. Leathers program utilizes donated materials and
volunteer labor, which keeps costs down while maintaining high quality and
excellent safety standards.
After the presentation by the Playground Committee Representatives,
Council discussion insued. Council member Blonigen opposed the idea of
City participation in the project because the facility will be entirely on
school grounds and under school control. Provision of a recreation
facility on this site is the responsibility of the school district and not
within the domain of the City, stated Blonigen. Mayor Grimsmo noted that
Pinewood Elementary School is a community school and instead of putting up
a red flag, we should think of this as an addition for the community and
for people of all ages. Warren Smith noted that the concept of developing
community support and utilizing volunteer labor in accomplishing this
project is a good one, and that he supports projects that tap various
resources. Council member Bill Fair indicated general support of the
project, but recommended that the Council withhold establishing a
contribution amount until after the budget process of 1989.
Motion made by Fran Fair to contribute funds to the Robert Leathers
project proposed for Pinewood Elementary School, but to defer discussion
on the amount of contribution until the 1989 budget setting session.
Motion seconded by Bill Fair. Voting in favor, Mayor Grimsmo, Bill Fair,
Fran Fair, Warren Smith, opposed, Dan Blonigen.
Consideration of establishing meeting for goals and objectives of the 1989
budget.
The 1989 budget meeting for setting goals and objectives was set for
August 18, 1989, at 7:00 a.m.
Consideration of approval of site plan for 44 unit multi -family housing
unit. Applicant, Dave Hornig.
Fran Fair asked for a report regarding the landscaping of the proposed
site. Staff reported that the developer is exceeding the city landscaping
requirements, and at this stage a method does not exist which allows the
city to mandate proper maintenance of landscaping beyond two growing
seasons. Assistant Administrator, O'Neill noted that the financing
entity (MN Farmers Home Administration) requires a certain percentage of
the revenue generated by the development to be used towards maintenance
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of the facility. He also reported that the developer must convey a
portion of the proposed Seventh Street right of way to the City.
Motion made to approve the site plan for the 44 -unit multi -family
housing development submitted by Dave Hornig by Bill Fair, seconded by
Dan Blonigen, motion passed unanimously.
9. Consideration of appointment of judges for 1988 primary and general
election.
Motion made by Bill Fair, seconded by Warren Smith, to approve the
appointment of judges to 1988 primary and general election as listed.
Marvel Trunner, Joanne Link, Jeanette Host, Ruth Harstad, Fern
Anderson, Rosemary Dahl, Lucille Clausen, Anne Fair, Bette Grossnickle,
Leona Kline, Betty Lund, Florence Mayer, Yvonne Smith, Rita Soltau, Don
Nagle, Kay Gauthier, and Marie Toenjes. Motion passed unanimously.
10. Consideration of options for financing new aerial fire truck.
Administrator Rick Wolfsteller reviewed the options for financing the
aerial fire truck. Wolfsteller noted that net funds needed for the
purchase of the truck amount to $272,840. Wolfsteller recommended that
the city finance the aerial truck through use of the $200,000 remaining
in the fund balance of the Fire Hall construction fund as a downpayment
and finance the balance over a three-year lease purchase agreement
arranged by the manufacturer.
After discussion, motion made by Warren Smith to use the entire
construction fund balance of approximately $200,000 as a downpayment
and finance the balance over three years as a lease purchase
arrangement with the manufacturer, seconded by Dan Blonigen. Motion
passed unanimously.
11. Consideration of awarding bid on sealcoat project SC 88-1.
Public Works Director Simola reviewed the bid tabulation. Simola went
on to recommend the alternative that included sweeping and recommended
that the City contract with the low bidder, which was Allied Blacktop,
for the amount of $21,279.18. Motion made by Fran Fair, seconded by
Warren Smith, to award the bid on sealcoat project SC 88-1 to Allied
Blacktop for the bid amount of $21,279.18. Motion passed unanimously.
12. Consideration of maximizing water pressure and establish related
policies.
John Simola provided an outline of issues associated with the increased
water pressure expected to Monticello residents. Simola presented
Council with potential policies as follows: The City should inform the
public of the proposed water pressure increase and ask that they
evaluate their existing plumbing and service lines; Any home built
before 1963, who's water pressure is expected to be above 60 pounds per
square inch, would be supplied free of charge with a pressure reducing
valve.
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He went on to say that the city should not be involved with installing the
pressure reducing valves and should be the responsibility of the homeowner
or plumber to install these valves in the piping after the water meter.
Also, since it appears that pressure reducing valves are not easily
obtainable, the City should stock spare valves as well as spare parts and
supply homeowners with replacement valves and parts for a number of years
to allow them to upgrade their plumbing systems. Finally he noted that
the city should not guarantee the operations of pressure reducing valves
and that the homeowner is soley responsible for plumbing problems which
occur in the service of the home with or without the pressure reducing
valves.
The final suggested policy would be to provide the homeowner with an
expansion tank in the home if the plumbing is so designed as to require
one to prevent over pressuring in the home system due to heating of hot
water.
Council discussed the policy issues presented by John Simola. Bill Fair
noted that it would be very important to educate the public in terms of
the impact of the higher water pressure, but not necessarily provide
installation of equipment. Council indicated general agreement with the
policies suggested by John Simola and directed Simola to further define
the policies and prepare them for Council action.
In a related matter, Staff and Council reviewed a table outlining
estimated project cost. City Engineer, John Badalich updated the table to
show an increase in the proposed water standpipe on the Shultz property
from $274,000 to $350,000. At this point in the meeting Council discussed
methods by which the project costs could be reduced. It was the general
consensus of Council to reduce the cost of the tower by eliminating tower
features that provide asthetic value only. Motion made by Bill Fair,
seconded by Warren Smith to direct City Engineer to prepare plans for
development of a standpipe reservoir. Motion passed unanimously.
13. Review of Liquor Store financial statements and authorization purchase of
cooler shelving.
After discussion, motion made by Dan Blonigen to accept Liquor Store
financial statement and authorize purchase of cooler shelving, seconded by
Bill Fair. Motion passed unanimously.
14. Consideration of change order #3 for project 88-01B.
Public Work Director, Simola informed Council that at the completion of a
large water main crossing at Burlington Northern Road and County Road 75
at the new intersection of County Road 39, an omission was noted in the
plans and specifications. The standard practice in the previous work
designed by OSM has been to have the contractor fill the air space between
the outside of the water main and the inside of the larger diameter
highway crossing casing with sand. No reference was made in the plans or
specifications to have LaTour Construction perform this filling
operation. LaTour Construction has indicated that if this feature would
have been noted in the original plans and specifications, he would have
increased his bid in the amount of $2,440.
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After discussion, motion by Bill Fair to approved Change Order #3 for the
amount of $2,440 for project 88-01B, seconded by Fran Fair. Motion passed
unanimously.
In other matters....
Mayor Grimsmo announced that he is not intending to file for another term as
Mayor. He went on to note that he might bring up the issue of raising the
stipends for the Mayor and Council members before he leaves the Council.
There being no further discussions, meeting adjourned.
Respectfully Submitted,
Jeff O'Neill,
Assistant Administrator
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