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City Council Minutes 03-09-2009Council Minutes: March 9, 2009 MINUTES REGULAR MEETING - MONTICELLO CITY COUNCIL Monday March 9, 2009 - 7 p.m. Members Present: Clint Herbst, Tom Perrault, Glen Posusta, Brian Stumpf and Susie Woj chouski. Members Absent: None 1. Call to Order and Pledge of Allegiance. Mayor Herbst called the meeting to order at 7 p.m. and declared a quorum present. The Pledge of Allegiance was said. 2A. Approve minutes of February 9, 2009 Fiber Optics Workshop BRIAN STUMPF MOVED TO APPROVE THE MINUTES OF THE FEBRUARY 9, 2009 FIBER OPTICS WORKSHOP. SUSIE WOJCHOUSKI SECONDED THE MOTION. MOTION CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY. 2B. Approve minutes of February 9, 2009 Regular Meeting. Tom Perrault clarified that on item #8, page 7 relating to the appointment to the Police Commission he had stated that one Council member should be appointed as a voting member and the other as a Council alternate and not as a liaison as noted in the minutes. SUSIE WOJCHOUSKI MOVED TO APPROVE THE MINUTES OF THE FEBRUARY 9, 2009 REGULAR MEETING WITH THE CLARIFICATION NOTED. GLEN POSUSTA SECONDED THE MOTION. MOTION CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY. 2C. Approve minutes of February 23, 2009 Regular Meeting. BRIAN STUMPF MOVED TO APPROVE THE MINUTES OF THE FEBRUARY 23, 2009 REGULAR COUNCIL MEETING. SUSIE WOJCHOUSKI SECONDED THE MOTION. MOTION CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY. 3. Consideration of adding items to the agenda. Brian Stumpf added parking on School Boulevard to the agenda. City Engineer Bruce Westby asked that the Council amend their motion of February 9, 2009 changing the public hearing date for the River Street access closure to the last meeting in May. This will give staff adequate time to get additional traffic data. BRIAN STUMPF MOVED TO AMEND THE COUNCIL MOTION OF FEBRUARY 9, 2009 CHANGING THE DATE OF THE PUBLIC HEARING ON THE RIVER STREET ACCESS CLOSURE TO THE SECOND MEETING 1N MAY. GLEN POSUSTA SECONDED THE MOTION. MOTION CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY. Council Minutes: March 9, 2009 4. Citizen comments, petitions, requests and concerns. Chad Gessler, Director of River Rider Transportation spoke to the Council regarding their program and its operation in the community. The River Rider program is a joint venture between Sherburne County and Wright County to provide transportation. The program is funded by the federal government and MnDOT. However, the counties participate in the funding if there is a shortfall in the operating budget and they also participate in capital purchases providing 20% of the cost of a capital purchase. The program provides two types of service: 1) Dial-A-Ride where the person calls in requesting a ride and 2) Route deviations which are contract routes that River Rider does from a specific industry such as Functional Industries in Buffalo. River Rider has seven full-time drivers and six part-time drivers operating from their facility in Big Lake. At the present time River Rider has 14 buses on the road. Their board is made up of two County Commissioners from Sherburne County and two from Wright County and a representative from one of the cities in the service area. This year that representative is the Mayor of Cokato. Chad Gessler reviewed the level of service and the number of riders served. He noted that the 2009 budget he submitted was just under $1,000,000 but added that MnDOT could cut back on the amount of their funding. The North Star rail service is to suppose to begin operation in November and Chad Gessler was requested to plan feeder routes for the rail service. River Rider looked at the site of the commuter parking lot in Monticello but decided against it as it didn't make sense to have a bus take people to the station when they could get there in their cars just as fast. He stated he would like to see the hours of service extended so River Rider could provide evening and weekend service. 5. Consent Agenda: A. Consideration of ratifying hires and departures MCC and Parks. Recommendation: Approve the hires and departures as identified. B. Consideration of approving contributions for the Fire Department from Untiedt's Vegetable Farm and an anonymous donor. Recommendation: Approve the contribution and authorize the use of funds as specified. Res. #2009-10. C. Consideration of approving a three year contract for fireworks for RiverFest celebration. Recommendation: Approve entering into a three year agreement with Melrose Pyrotechnics, Inc. for the Riverfest fireworks display in the amount of $8,000 per year. D. Consideration of authorizing advertisement for bids for fiber optic build out. Recommendation: Approve authorizing advertisement for bids seeking contractors interested in constructing the fiber optic network. 2 Council Minutes: March 9, 2009 E. Consideration of approving contribution from Tom Perrault to the general fund. Recommendation: Approve the contribution and authorize use of funds as specified. Res. #2009-11. Jeff O'Neill requested that item #SC be tabled since the City had received a letter from someone who had not been able to submit a bid. GLEN POSUSTA MOVED TO APPROVE THE CONSENT AGENDA WITH THE TABLING OF ITEM #SC, CONTRACT FOR FIREWORKS FOR THE RIVERFEST CELEBRATION. TOM PERRAULT SECONDED THE MOTION. MOTION CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY. 6. Consideration of items removed from the consent agenda for discussion. None. 7. Consideration of adopting 2009 Monticello Transportation Plan. City Engineer Bruce Westby briefly reviewed the Council agenda report and introduced Wayne Fingalson, Wright County Highway Department Engineer and Terry Humbert from MnDOT. He stated the current transportation plan was adopted in June of 1994. Growth provided the impetus to update the plan and in 2007 the City began the update. Various entities, city boards and commissions, MnDOT, Wright County and Sherburne County have reviewed the plan. In addition there was a public hearing held by the Planning Commission on the Transportation Plan on February 3, 2009. The Monticello/Big Lake Joint Transportation Committee reviewed a portion of the plan as it related to the river crossing and TH 25 improvements. The Council was being asked to adopt the 2009 Monticello Transportation Plan and to amend the Comprehensive Plan to include the adopted Transportation Plan as Chapter 6 of the Comprehensive Plan. Chuck Rickart from WSB & Associates did a presentation outlining the purpose, objectives and issues relating to the Transportation Plan. The Transportation Plan is a planning document for staff and other entities to use but it is also an information resource for residents. The goal of the Transportation Plan is to aid in the growth of the community, provide access to all types of land uses, allow for ease in the movement of traffic both pedestrian and vehicular and to complement the transportation system of state, county, and local entities. In preparing the 2009 Transportation Plan they used the 2005 draft plan as the base and looked at the Comprehensive Plans for Monticello and Big Lake as far as land use designation. Data on traffic was collected and needed improvements were identified. The Transportation Plan also addresses financing for the improvements. TH 25 is a major consideration as it is a very congested corridor. Even with the construction of the Fallon Avenue overpass it is anticipated that traffic will reach 45,000 vehicles per day on this road. Chuck Rickart discussed various improvements proposed which would meet some of the immediate needs and also address some of the long range issues. The improvements considered include changes to the signal timing which is proposed to be done by MnDOT in 2009. Another option is constructing additional lanes and modifying access points such as the modification that was done at River Street. Council Minutes: March 9, 2009 Among the other options reviewed were adding roundabouts, one-way pair, river crossings and additional interchanges. It was noted that the FHWA would require that the Fallon Avenue overpass be completed before any additional interchanges would be approved. An interchange in the general location between County Road 39 and Orchard Road was proposed but no specific location was identified in the plan. Siting an interchange is an item that would require more detailed study. Although an interchange would divert traffic off TH 25 the issues with TH 25 would not improve until there is a second river crossing since all traffic must cross the TH 25 bridge. There are a number of options for a river crossing all of which present certain challenges. One would be to widen TH 25 and construct aone-way pair. The negatives to this would be the acquisition of additional right-of--way and the creation of another high volume barrier in the city. A proposed river crossing at Orchard Road that would connect CSAH 75 to Sherburne CSAH 11 would divert traffic from the TH 25 river crossing but it does not connect future growth areas of Monticello or Big Lake. The extension of Washington Street would connect CSAH 75 to Sherburne CSAH 14 and would connect the future growth areas of Monticello and Big Lake. Another option would be the extension of CSAH 18 to connect with Sherburne CSAH 14. This option also connects the future growth areas of Monticello and Big Lake. Because of the existing interchange at CSAH 18 and I-94 this river crossing could be considered to provide regional benefit. Glen Posusta stated the position of Sherburne County is that the county will not take any land from private citizens for roadway purposes. Chuck Rickart concurred that while condemnation of land for roadway may not happen in Sherburne County at this time, there may be willing sellers through which the right of way could be acquired. The 2009 Monticello Transportation Plan also addressed the collector road system looking at collector streets such as School Boulevard, 7~' Street, Chelsea Road, 85~' Street and the North Frontage Road. Another area of the plan covered the bike and pathway system and also public transit. It was noted earlier by Chad Gessler of River Rider that there was no feasible way to provide bus service to the Big Lake Commuter rail system. It was also determined after study that community transit service into the metro area was not feasible. Chuck Rickart discussed funding options which included cooperative agreements with MnDOT and/or the county. There may be local or regional agreements for ventures with cost sharing opportunities. Other options were federal funding including opportunities provided with the stimulus package and assessments by the local entity to cover some of the costs. Chuck Rickart also covered the public input process for the Transportation Plan. As part of the plan review by the public and other entities, there are clarifications that will be made to the Transportation Plan. Chuck Rickart briefly reviewed these clarifications. If the Transportation Plan is adopted at this meeting, the clarifications will be incorporated into the plan and the revised plan would be distributed by the end of March. Items designated in the plan for further study would be done in the spring and summer of 2009. The areas for further study include: 1) TH 25 Improvements; 2) River Crossing and 3) Fallon Avenue Overpass. Clint Herbst commented on the need to make the Fallon Avenue overpass a top priority. In 4 Council Minutes: March 9, 2009 order to identify what needs to happen on TH 25 the City has to know what is going on around TH 25. Clint Herbst said a river crossing is needed but he didn't know if it should be located in the City limit. He believes people would resist using the crossing if they have to snake through the city to access it. He didn't want to rush through improvements on TH 25. He also felt the Washington Street extension was not a good option for a river crossing since it would push traffic through residential property in both Big Lake and Monticello. Glen Posusta agreed that the river crossing should be on either the east side or west side of the city. Brian Stumpf felt the issue should be studied but not at this point in time because nothing will be done for 10-15 years. He felt it would be premature to look at a river crossing especially since MnDOT cannot give any assurance as to funding for the project. Glen Posusta agreed that it was unlikely any crossing would be agreed on for at least 20 years. He felt if the City was going to do something they should try to get an additional lane or two on the TH 25 bridge crossing. Jeff O'Neill stated there is a big area between Monticello and Big Lake where Big Lake is planning for infrastructure improvements to handle the growth. That is where the local crossing idea came up. Brian Stumpf stated he felt Monticello was taking the bull by the horns to take care of a problem created somewhere else. Bruce Westby said the purpose of the study is to start looking at the river crossing because the City realizes it will take considerable time before any crossing is approved. MnDOT plans showed a crossing was needed somewhere between Monticello and TH 101. Bruce Westby said no matter where the crossing is located it will impact people on both sides of the river. Clint Herbst felt the TH 25 river crossing should be the local crossing. Susie Wojchouski said she did not get the feeling that Big Lake or Big Lake Township representatives were interested in looking at a river crossing at this time since they have some growth capacity yet. She felt instead of specifying where the crossing should be located the plan should just specify a general area. Bruce Westby responded that it is the City's Transportation Plan and the plan does not address areas outside the City limits and the orderly annexation area. He added until you indentify a location you cannot address how to finance it or get the wheels in motion to make it. Glen Posusta felt Sherburne County should be saying where they think a crossing should go. Sherburne County does not identify a bridge crossing in this area and is in opposition to taking land for transportation purposes. Brian Stumpf brought up the point that if the City pursues this crossing other entities impacted by the crossing will expect Monticello to pay for it. There was considerable discussion on what the role of the City should be in selecting a crossing. Terry Humbert of MnDOT was asked what the odds were of getting a river crossing. He discussed the river crossing study done in 1995 that looked at a crossing between St. Cloud and Anoka which was just finalized in 2007. The result of the study identified that two additional crossings will be needed to meet demand. A local crossing was identified for the Monticello/Big Lake area and another crossing by Kadler Avenue. Glen Posusta asked about the crossing between Clearwater and Monticello. Terry Humbert indicated that four crossing sites were looked at in that study. The proposed crossing is 1 '/s miles downstream from the current bridge crossing in Clearwater. Terry Humbert stated in selecting a crossing they looked at state travel and future growth. He said the traffic they looked at was driving from the St. Cloud/Brainerd area. Terry Humbert said Monticello is getting local traffic and not long distance traffic on the TH 25 bridge. 5 Council Minutes: March 9, 2009 Bret Weiss said getting the funding in place for a river crossing takes a long time. He felt it was important to plan for soliciting federal funding. Glen Posusta said he agreed that a decision should be made but it should not be just a city decision but a county one as well. Wayne Fingalson, Wright County Engineer echoed what was said by others as far as the need to do the study and planning. He emphasized the City needs to think about what the situation will look like in 15 years. He said any river crossing would bring challenges. Tom Perrault noted that the Planning Commission and IEDC talked about Fallon Avenue needing some development in the area before it can be labeled a top priority. Clint Herbst asked about the time frame if the City decides to put in Fallon Avenue overpass. Bruce Westby felt it would take 2-3 years and Brett Weiss added that getting the right-of--way would be a big issue on the project. The City told the FHWA it would be done within five years after the interchange was completed. Glen Posusta asked for an estimate for adding two lanes across the bridge. The estimate range from $4,000,000 to $6,000,000. There was additional discussion on the river crossing and what option the Big Lake representatives favored. Bruce Westby said for they next meeting they could come back with what the studies will cover and cost estimates for the items covered. He noted that #17 on the list of comments and revisions which indicated that MBL Joint Transportation Committee preferred the Washington Avenue location for a river crossing was not a required revision but just a comment the City had received. The consensus of the Council was to bring this information back at a workshop session. Bruce Westby said the information could be ready for the April 13th meeting which is the earliest date a workshop could be scheduled. Bruce Westby asked if the Council wanted Sherburne County and Wright County officials and representatives from MnDOT at the workshop. Clint Herbst indicated the workshop should be for to just the local officials since they need some time to digest the information in the plan. Brian Stumpf asked if the meeting with Big Lake, Big Lake Township, Monticello Township and Otsego should take place before the City adopts the Transportation plan. Bruce Westby said MnDOT, Wright County and Sherburne County support a local crossing. Jeff O'Neill felt the local crossing was to handle growth far into the future. Glen Posusta felt it should be the people who cross the bridge to use the freeway that should be paying for the crossing. Susie Wojchouski felt the Council needed more information on this. Staff felt chances were better for getting funding if several entities worked together. Bret Weiss felt the City needs to take the lead on this project because Big Lake cannot control what happens in Monticello. He reiterated that planning has to start early. GLEN POSUSTA MOVED TO TABLE ADOPTION OF THE 2009 TRANSPORTATION PLAN UNTIL THE CITY CAN MEET WITH BIG LAKE, BIG LAKE TOWNSHIP, SHERBURNE COUNTY,WRIGHT COUNTY, MONTICELLO TOWNSHIP AND OTSEGO TO SEE IF THEY CAN REACH A CONSENSUS ON WHERE A RIVER CROSSING SHOULD BE LOCATED. SUSIE WOJCHOUSKI SECONDED THE MOTION. MOTION CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY. 8. Consideration of approving four Public Works employees to attend regenerative air sweeper school and training. Street Superintendent Tom Moores explained that Tymco in their bid included the cost of training for four individuals at their site in Texas. The City's cost would be the wages for the four individuals. Tom Moores was requesting that the Council approve four Public Works 6 Council Minutes: March 9, 2009 employees to attend this training with one of the four attendees being the mechanic. BRIAN STUMPF MOVED TO ALLOW FOUR STREET DEPARTMENT EMPLOYEES TO ATTEND THE TYMCO SCHOOLING AND TRAINING SESSION 1N WACO, TEXAS FROM APRIL 27-APRIL 30 WITH THE CITY PAYING EACH EMPLOYEE 8 HOURS PAY PER DAY WHILE ATTENDING. SUSIE WOJCHOUSKI SECONDED THE MOTION. MOTION CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY. 9. Consideration of approving appointment of consulting engineer. City Engineer, Bruce Westby reviewed the fee comparison done of the fees charged by the City's current consulting engineer and seven other consulting engineering firms. WSB & Associates is in line with the fees compared. Many of the consulting engineering firms charge for mileage and reproduction costs while WSB & Associates includes them in their hourly rate. Bruce Westby felt it was a good opportunity to review the fees charged and asked that staff be allowed to continue this type of evaluation on a regular basis such as every two years. Clint Herbst noted the value that WSB & Associates has in the person of Bret Weiss who is skilled in negotiating with other entities such as government agencies and property owners. Glen Posusta said the reason he brought this up was that he wanted to make sure the fees were reasonable and that the City was getting good value for their dollar. Susie Wojchouski felt the firm did a good job for the City and Brian Stumpf added that he felt WSB & Associates had Monticello's best interest at heart. GLEN POSUSTA MOVED TO APPOINT WSB AND ASSOCIATES AS THE CITY'S CONSULTING ENGINEER FOR 2009. BRIAN STUMPF SECONDED THE MOTION. MOTION CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY. 10. Consideration of approving appointment of consulting planner. Community Development Director, Angela Schumann reported that the staff had reviewed information received from five consulting planning firms and compared them with Northwest Associated Consultants (NAC). In 2 out of the 3 categories NAC came out with the lower rate. The staff recommendation was to appoint NAC as consulting planner based on quality of service, commitment to the community and factors related to conflict of interest. Staff also realizes the Council may want a fresh look and if that is the case staff would recommend setting up a committee to look at other planning firms. It is also recommended that staff would continue to review the consultant planner every two years and to send out RFP's for any large scale planning projects. Glen Posusta felt because the planning area is not a cut and dried area it is some times the opinion of the planner that sets the direction the City takes. NAC has been here over 15 years. He feels from where the City is standing it would be a good idea to have a different set of eyes looking at things. While he is not saying that NAC didn't do a good job he felt a fresh perspective was needed. Glen Posusta said it is not the price being paid to the consultant but rather it is the things that are being brought up year after year. It seems like the City is spinning its wheels. He felt NAC always did what the City wanted them to do rather than what they thought was right for the City to do. Brian Stumpf had a concern about pulling the pin out from someone who was here for a number of years. He suggested that the City interview a 7 Council Minutes: March 9, 2009 couple of firms to see what is out there before a decision is made on NAC. Angela Schumann suggested when the RFP's come in on the zoning ordinance it would give the City an opportunity to interview several firms. Susie Wojchouski said it seems like there is nothing new or innovative being presented and that is why she would like to talk to other planning firms. Clint Herbst likened the situation to city employees where the City should be providing some response back to the employee on what they should improve upon. Brian Stumpf pointed out that the planner follows the planning documents that are in place. He felt that NAC doesn't seem to have the flexibility to make adjustments. He suggested that perhaps the planner didn't feel they had the right to do anything but interpret the ordinance. Jeff O'Neill said when the evaluation of the planner was done none of the Council participated in the evaluation and he felt it was important that members of the Council be involved as well. Clint Herbst said now that development is slow it is a good time to look at this matter. He suggested the City continue with NAC until the RFP's for the zoning ordinance are in and reviewed. GLEN POSUSTA MOVED TO DO FURTHER STUDY OF THE CONSULTING PLANNER POSITION. SUSIE WOJCHOUSKI SECONDED THE MOTION. MOTION CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY. Added Items• It was noted that with the training being done at Eastview School for the Xcel plant shut down, vehicles were parking on both sides of School Boulevard. Street Superintendent Tom Moores said Xcel is conducting training for the upcoming shut down and asked to be allowed to park along School Boulevard. Originally the training was scheduled to last two weeks. Tom Moores okayed covering the "No Parking" signs and notified the Wright County Sheriff's Department of the change. The City was asked to extend this for another two weeks. Tom Moores noted that originally the "No Parking" signs were put in place so vehicles would not have to worry about children running out between parked cars. The Council suggested that may be the church would allow Xcel to use their parking facility. Tom Moores said if the training goes beyond this week he would talk to the church about parking. Glen Posusta asked what happened to the proposed lights for School Boulevard. Jeff O'Neill responded that would be part of the goal setting workshop. 11. Approve payment of bills for March. TOM PERRAULT MOVED TO APPROVE PAYMENT OF BILLS. CLINT HERBST SECONDED THE MOTION. MOTION CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY. 12. Adiourn TOM PERRAULT MOVED TO ADJOURN AT 9:35 P.M. GLEN POSUSTA SECONDED THE MOTION. MOTION CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY. Recording Secretary 8