City Council Minutes 01-22-1990MINUTES
REGULAR MEETING - MONTICELLO CITY COUNCIL
Monday, January 22, 1990 - 7:00 p.m.
Members Present: Ken Maus, Warren Smith, Shirley Anderson, Dan
Blonigen, Fran Fair
Members Absent: None
2. Approval of minutes.
Motion made by Dan Blonigen, seconded by Shirley Anderson, to
approve the minutes of the regular meeting held January 8, 1990, as
presented. Motion carried unanimously.
3. Citizens comments/petitions, requests, and complaints.
Peter Bouley, 2780 Meadow Lane, reported to Council that he has
been informed that a real estate agency has purchased 19 lots in
the Meadow Oak development with plans to develop homes with
860 sq ft of finished space with single car garages. Mr. Bouley
and other residents expressed their concern that such a
development would undermine the value of the existing homes in the
area. Bouley and others went on to ask Council if the restrictive
covenants in the area could be amended. Assistant Administrator
O'Neill indicated that local ordinance requires that all homes
built in Monticello meet a minimum square foot requirement of
960 sq ft. Ken Maus noted that restrictive covenants cannot be
amended by a city government and can only be changed if all
property owners affected agree on the restrictive covenants;
therefore, any potential owner that has plans for development of
homes in the area must agree to any restrictive covenants suggested
by local residents.
At this point in the meeting, a general discussion ensued. Ken
Maus then requested that the citizens present meet with Building
Official, Gary Anderson, to discuss this matter further.
4. Public hearing and consideration to approve and adopt a resolution
relating to the modification by the Housing and Redevelopment
Authority in and for the City of Monticello on the Redevelopment
Plan relating to Redevelopment Project No. 1, the modification of
the Tax Increment Finance Plan relating to Tax Increment Financing
District Nos. 1-1 through 1-8, and the establishment of Tax
Increment Financing District No. 1-9, all located within
Redevelopment Project No. 1.
The public hearing was opened. There being no comments from the
public, the hearing was closed.
Council reviewed an HRA proposal to utilize tax increment financing
to assist in development of an expansion to the Martie's Farm
Service operation. Council was asked to consider the pay-as-you-go
TIF option at an assistance level of $2,500 annually over seven
years for a total of $17,500.
Council Minutes - 1/22/90
Dan Blonigen noted his concern that the City may be getting too liberal
with its use of tax increment financing and that in this situation, tax
increment financing is not appropriate, as a direct subsidy is being
provided to a business that competes with other businesses in the
community. Ken Maus noted that a portion of the project will include
warehouse storage and manufacturing; however, it was not clear to Ken
what portion of the project will actually include such uses.
After discussion, motion was made by Dan Blonigen, seconded by Shirley
Anderson, to deny use of tax increment financing in this case, as the
proposed use of tax increment financing is not consistent with the TIF
policy which limits expenditures that provide a direct subsidy or
assistance to a retail business. Such a subsidy provides no general
benefit to the community at large and, therefore, does not qualify as an
allowable TIF expense. In his motion, Blonigen noted also that use of
TIF in this case would set a poor precedent. Motion carried unanimously.
5. Consideration of authorization to purchase computer services from
Business Records Corporation of St. Cloud/IBM and consideration of
purchase of computer equipment from AmeriData, Inc.
Assistant Administrator O'Neill reported that in response to Council's
direction to move forward with computer application development by
refining the proposal for development of phase I applications (finance,
payroll, utility billing, word processing), staff has moved forward by
examining the information needs of the organization and evaluated two
basic hardware configurations, both having the potential of satisfying
the City's phase I computer application needs. As a result of the study,
staff recommends that the City purchase computer services, including
vendor support and software, from Business Records Corporation of St.
Cloud and hardware from IBM via the state purchasing contract. The
recommendation also includes purchase of personal computers to work
within IBM mini -computer equipment, the personal computer equipment to be
purchased from AmeriData via the state purchasing contract.
Shirley Anderson reported that she participated in the system review
process and noted her confidence in the recommendation made by City
staff. Ken Maus asked if the proposed configuration utilizing a
mini -computer for the finance applications would create a problem if the
mini -computer would go down. O'Neill reported that short periods of down
time experienced at the mini -computer level would not create a
significant problem. Under the configuration proposed, word processing
applications, which are vital to the operation of the organization, will
be conducted on four different micro -computers, which eliminates some of
the potential for word processing related operational problems caused by
any potential mini -computer malfunction or down time. Warren Smith asked
if the disk capacity is sufficient to handle the needs of the City for a
period of time to come. Alaine Aysta of Business Records Corporation
responded that she has reviewed the number of finance transactions made
by the City and incorporated that into the sizing of the equipment. She
reported that the system should be adequate to handle the disk
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capacity needs of a well managed system for time to come. O'Neill also
reported that the disk capacity can be extended by limiting the number of
word processing documents on storage at the mini -computer level.
Documents that are not needed regularly can be stored off line on disk.
After discussion, motion was made by Shirley Anderson and seconded by
Fran Fair to approve a contract with Business Records Corporation/IBM
authorizing purchase of computer services in the amount of $42,455.
Motion to include purchase of computer equipment and software from
AmeriData, Inc., in the amount of $9,500 via the state computer
contract. Council directed staff to attempt to recover salvage value of
existing computer equipment to be replaced and be reimbursed for
undelivered software. Motion carried unanimously.
Based on the advice submitted by the City Attorney, further legal action
against DMDI or the City's consultant for problems associated with the
purchase made in 1987 was tabled. This item will be addressed after the
City has converted the existing utility billing system to the new
system.
6. Consideration of extending Monticello Heartland Express service to
Kjellbergs Mobile Home Park West.
Assistant Administrator, Jeff O'Neill, reported that the Monticello
Transportation Advisory Committee recommends that the City Council modify
its management plan to allow service to be provided to Kjellbergs West
Mobile Home Park. O'Neill noted that a formal written request was
received from the board members of the Senior Center and that a
considerable number of individual requests have come from Kjellbergs Park
West. In response to these requests, the Monticello Transportation
Advisory Committee recommends that service be provided at double the base
fare. It was the view of the MTRAC group that there is sufficient
capacity to service the new demand created by the 200 households existing
in Kjellbergs Park West and that delivery of such service should not
undermine the present level of service provided to the citizens of
Monticello. O'Neill also noted that doubling the base fare will recover
a portion of the City portion of the local share necessary to operate the
transportation system.
Shirley Anderson explained that the MTRAC group requires a $2 fare from
individuals living outside the city that use this transportation
service. A $2 fare is not charged to residents within the city that
utilize services outside the city limits such as trips to the River Inn,
Monte Club, and Gould Brothers Chevrolet.
After discussion, motion was made by Fran Fair, seconded by Warren Smith,
to provide Monticello Heartland Express service to the Kjellberg West
Mobile Home Park, the base fare for this service to be established at $2
per ride paid in cash. Discount tickets do not apply. Motion carried
unanimously.
7. Approval of bills.
Motion made by Shirley Anderson, seconded by Dan Blonigen, to approve the
bills for the month of January as presented. Motion carried unanimously.
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8. Other Matters.
Council discussed a petition for a feasibility study which would examine
the cost of public improvements to the Sandberg East development.
Assistant Administrator O'Neill reported that John Sandberg has
re -acquired the Sandberg East development and wishes that Council examine
the feasibility of providing public improvements to the development.
O'Neill reported that Sandberg prefers that the development be served
across the front of the lots as they now exist. O'Neill went on to
report thast Sandberg requested that the cost of services not exceed
$5,000 per lot. According to the estimates prepared by staff, it appears
that the cost to service the lots across the front will amount to $7,000
per lot if the City utilizes the area assessment policy to finance the
cost to extend the sewer and water service from its present location to a
point where it can be used in the Sandberg East development. O'Neill
went on to note that serving the property across the rear of the existing
lots will cost approximately $6,500; and by reconfiguring the lots,
services may be installed at a cost of approximately $4,500 per lot.
Robert Krautbauer was in attendance and asked why the area assessment
policy was not applied to the East County Road 39 project. Mayor Maus
indicated that the East 39 project was established prior to the creation
of the area assessment policy; however, Maus suggested that the City look
at re -assessing the Krautbauer property based on the new policy. John
Simola discussed the importance of serving the Sandberg East area with
public utilities. Simola reported that the City has made a significant
investment in utilities to get them to a point where they can be easily
used by homes in this area.
After discussion, motion was made by Fran Fair, seconded by Shirley
Anderson, to authorize the study of the feasibility of extending sewer
and water services to the Sandberg East development and across the front
of the platted lots. The study will also include development of a plan
for replatting the lots in a manner that would allow for the cost
efficient extension of public utilities. Motion included a request that
staff prepare information regarding potential retroactive application of
the area assessment policy to the East County Road 39 project assessment
roll. Motion carried unanimously.
City Council set a special meeting for January 29, 1990, at 7:00 p.m., at
which time The Lincoln Companies' K -Mart addition project will be
discussed. The purpose of the meeting is to accept the feasibility
report and review the finance plan and proposed use of tax increment
financing.
Jeff O'Neill
Assistant Administrator
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