City Council Minutes 07-29-1985 SpecialMINUTES
SPECIAL MEETING - MONTICELLO CITY COUNCIL
July 29, 1985 - 6:30 P.M.
Members Present: Mayor Grimsmo, Council Members Jack Mxwell,
Fran Fair, Dan Blonigen, and Bill Fair.
Members Absent: None
Also in Attnedance: City Administrator Eidem, John Uban representing
Dahlgren, Shardlow and Uban, and John Badalich representing
Orr-Schelen-Mayeron & Associates.
1. Call to Order.
2. Annexation Study Proposal - DSU & OSM
Mayor Grimsmo explained that the sole agenda item was to discuss
the proposal submitted by DSU and OSM for preparing an annexation
study. He asked that Eidem provide a brief background on
the question.
Eidem explained in May that a meeting was held with the Mayor,
the Town Board Chair, the County Zoning Administrator, Mr.
Uban, Mr. Badalich, Mr. Wolfsteller and himself to discuss
the existing conditions in the Orderly Annexation Area, and
whether or not some annexation would be appropriate. Eidem
noted that the net results of the rather lengthy conversation
was that without an in-depth study a firm conclusion could
not be made with respect to annexation. Eidem noted that
at the conclusion of that May meeting, he requested Mr. Dahlgren
and Mr. Uban prepare a cost proposal for the preparation of
the annexation study. That proposal was then presented to
the City Coundil at their regularly scheduled meeting of July
22. This then led up to this special meeting where the Council
may discuss the proposal in-depth with the consultants. At
that point, Eidem turned the discussion over to John Uban
of Dahlgren, Shardlow and Uban to review the proposal.
John Uban provided a general explanation of the proposal noting
that the 13 items highlighted in the proposal coincided with
the crucial criteria as laid out in Minnesota Statutes regulating
annexation. He noted that in order to go before the Minnesota
Municipal Board, these 13 areas needed to be discussed and
explored at length in order to presnet an in-depth case to
the Board. Mr. Uban cited an example of a North Dakota Community
that approached annexation unsuccessfullly simply because
they had not prepared in a thorough enough fashion to state
their case. It is his contention that if one is going to
prusue annexation the data and all other related elements
need to be firmly established in order to state ones case
efficiently, and in the long run the performance of such a
study is more cost effective than going through the process
and being unsuccessful in the attempt to annex.
Special Council Minutes - July 29, 1985
Uban went on to note that the cost estimate was based on the
total project, but such cost could be substantially reduced
provided a large amount of data could be supplied by City
Staff. Uban noted that consultant hours could be substantially
reduced by avoiding duplication of effort.
Mayor Grimsmo provided a brief background of the Orderly Annexation
Area and the joint Planning Board that has regulated growth.
He noted that the Towship has been extremely cooperative in
directing urban type development into the City and the OAA
as it was originally disigned. He agreed that due to the
rapid development over the last 10-11 years it is time to
evaluate the growth patterns and the effect of services within
the area. Mr. Badalich representing OSM discussed their portion
of the Annexation Study and emphasized that the engineering
firm would concentrate on the physical improvements required
to provide services. He noted that the water study that was
done previously for the City provided substantial data with
respect to those types of public improvements, but the City
needed to study sanitary sewer, storm sewer, traffic patterns
and streets, and make physical planning decisions. He also
noted that a good deal of the information would already be
on hand based on earlier public facility studies.
Council Member Bill Fair asked whether or not the entire Orderly
Annexation area would be studied. Mr. Badalich responded
that the proposal addressed only the OAA and not the entire
Township. Going a step further Eidem asked how the scope
of the study was originally determined. He asked whether
or not some kind of determination had been made to direct
the study inside of a boundary line that was established in
1974. He wanted to know if it was accurate to say that this
boundary line is effective and we will study only the area
inside of it. Badalich and Uban both indicated that the City
primarily had to arbitrarily and artificially select an area
suitable for study. Since this line was determined in 1974
by the City and the Township, that would be the appropriate
area to research.
Council Member Fran Fair asked the question that if the City
does annex, then is a new Orderly Annexation area created
on the new perimeter of the City. Eidem explained that a
new OAA is an option, but because the CIty has extra territorial
development powers,
an OAA would not oe required. Whether or not sucn an area
would be established would have to be done jointly through
the annexation negotiation process.
Special Council Minutes - July 19, 1985
A question was raised with respect to the development proposal
being constructed by the Osowski Orchard/Flea Market. Eidem
indicated that a very small portion of the Osowski's property
currently lay withing the OAA, but that their recreational
proposal encompasses all 440 acres of their property. Eidem
noted that Osowskis had expressed an interest in having their
entire parcel annexed even though it goes beyond the lines
of the OAA. Council Member Bill Fair asked how much the cost
of the proposal might increase in order to look at all of
Osowski's property. John Uban indicated that it might increase
approximately 10%. Council Member Blonigen indicated that
it was his preference the City study what currently exists
and that if greater study is required for the benefit of Osowski's
development they would have to assume financial responsibility
for that portion of the study. Council Member Bill Fair agreed
that the approximate 400 acres of Osowski's property lying
outside of the OAA should be excluded from the study, and
that when the development project is at a significant stage
then the Osowskis can petition for annexation and would assume
financial reposibility for that portion of the study.
Both Uban and Badalich indicated that in the course of the
study if a major physical feature lying outside of the OAA
presented itself as a significant issue, the study of that
feature would have to be included to ensure thoroughness of
the results.
The Mayor asked if there were other concerns about the study.
He indicated that the proposed 4-6 month term seemed reasonable,
and that he favored engaging the consultants to do the work.
He noted that he felt confident Staff could do-- the lion's
share of the work, but saw no reason to create additional
burdens on the Staff. Council Member Bill Fair indicated
that it was his preference to postpone a final decision authorizing
the study until after the City meets with the Township Representatives
in Special Session on August 7. He indicated that there may
be certain areas or issues that the Township would like addressed
in the study, and these matters could be inserted after the
Special Meeting. There was general concurrence on postponing
action amongst all Council Members.
The Mayor acknowledged Stewart Hoglund, a member of the Monticello
Town Board, who was sitting in the audience during this meeting.
The Mayor asked if Mr. Hoglund had any comments or any specific-.
concerns that the Council should be alert to. Mr. Hoglund
responds that he tends to favor annexation in the highly developing
areas so long as the process does remain orderly. Mr. Hoglund's
concern was that the unregulated development of sewer and
septic systems could eventually jeopardize the ground water
quality.
Special Council Minutes - July 29, 1985
Mr. Hoglund indicated that in order to protect ground water
the City might have better control in terms of extending sanitary
sewer.
3. Adjourn.
Thomas A. Eid m
City Administrator