City Council Minutes 07-09-1997 SpecialMINUTES
SPECIAL MEETING - MONTICELLO CITY COUNCIL
Wednesday, July 9, 1997 - 8 a.m.
Members Present: Bill Fair, Roger Carlson, Bruce Thielen
Members Absent: Clint Herbst, Brian Stumpf
A special meeting of the City Council was held for the purpose of receiving updates
from City staff regarding storm damage and cleanup efforts.
CLEANUP EFFORTS
Public Works Director John Simola reported that he had hired eight contractors to
perform duties such as tree chipping, hauling brush, and stump removal. As of
July 8, the clean p cost to date was estimated at $57,000, excluding the cost of the
dumpsters brought in by the civil defense department. He noted that without the
help received from the National Guard, the Wright County Parks and Highway
Departments, and the Minnesota Department of Transportation, the cleanup
estimate would have been 3-4 times higher. It was estimated that the total cost
cleanup would be $100,000.
Simola went on to note that contracted services could probably be reduced at this
time. Trees have been chipped at the compost site, as well as hauled to the burn
pile at Schluender's site and to Superior FCR Landfill. Tree trimming will be
performed by NSP via Asplundh using a $5,000 credit the City has with NSP.
Simola estimated that approximately 75-80% of city cleanup has been completed;
however, quite a bit of cleanup remains to be done in residents back yards, behind
the hospital and nursing home, and at the wastewater treatment plant site. He
noted that the public works crews need to be removed from brush pickup duty in
order to begin cleanup and repair of city properties and street signs.
Councilmember Bruce Thielen suggested that the City try to obtain prices and
make it as competitive as possible if contracted help is continued.
STUMP REMOVAL
The Public Works Director noted that there are approximately 131 stumps that
need to be removed from boulevards and parks and that all of the stumps should be
removed from Ellison Park in order to facilitate reforestation of the park.
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DISASTER ASSISTANCE
The City Administrator reported that the Wright County Board of Commissioners
met to consider declaring Wright County/Monticello a disaster area and to request
assistance. If approved by Wright County, the request would be forwarded to the
Governor, who would then forward the request to the federal government. He noted
that the Wright County Civil Defense Director was confident the declaration would
be passed and that Wright County would likely receive 75% reimbursement for
cleanup efforts.
LEVY LIMITATIONS
Mayor Fair requested that City staff research whether it would be possible to
propose separate legislation such as a reforestation program in order to exempt the
City from levy limitations.
DAMAGE ESTIMATES
Chief Building Official Fred Patch reported that approximately 565 buildings have
been found to have significant damage, and a total of 156 buildings have been
determined uninhabitable. Approximate value loss of buildings and structures was
estimated to be $16-$20 million. He noted that the Wright County Civil Defense
Director is currently working on estimating the total loss to the community.
BUILDING PERMITS
The Chief Building Official reported that information packets have been distributed
to each local insurance company which describes the permitting process, notes that
fees will be waived on cosmetic repairs, and fees will be deferred for structural and
noncosmetic repairs. A temporary building inspector has been employed to assist
with field inspections, and a temporary clerical employee will be added to help with
storm -related paperwork.
Patch also noted that there will be controversial issues relating to storm damage
such as existing nonconforming uses and nonconforming signs that were damaged
more than 50% of the value of the structure. Because the current ordinance states
that those structures cannot be rebuilt, these properties will need to be dealt with
at future meetings.
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CITY PROPERTY DAMAGE
Public Works Director John Simola reported that the motor vehicle office building
lost one-third of its roof during the storm. The carpet and ceiling tile need to be
removed and the building dried out. Simola estimated that the building should be
able to be reoccupied within 7-10 days.
The Chief Building Official noted that originally it was not expected that the
building would be repaired so quickly, and Marquette Bank offered a free 30 -day
lease for the motor vehicle department to use the second floor of the bank building
while repairs are made. A longer lease could be arranged if desired until the City
makes a decision on whether to purchase the bank building.
It was the consensus of the Council that the motor vehicle department should move
back into their building as soon as repairs are complete.
Simola also reported that there was damage to the shop doors and roof, and damage
to the roofs of the public works office building, pumphouses #2 and #3, city hall,
and rental houses owned by the City. The roof at the wastewater treatment plant
has yet to be evaluated.
TREE DAMAGE
Simola requested that the Council consider reforestation of Ellison Park and
authorize a special meeting of the Parks Commission to create a plan for Ellison
Park in order to try and plant 25-50 trees prior to the Riverfest Celebration.
Additional reforestation for other parks and facilities could be discussed at a later
date. He also noted that there was a great deal of damage behind the hospital and
nursing home and that MN/DOT offered to help clean up those areas.
Councilmember Bruce Thielen suggested that staff forward information to the
Monticello Times regarding how to straighten and save trees so that residents are
aware that many tipped trees can be saved rather than cut down.
A MOTION WAS MADE BY BRUCE THIELEN AND SECONDED BY ROGER CARLSON
TO AUTHORIZE THE PUBLIC WORKS DIRECTOR TO USE HIS DISCRETION TO
REFOREST OR PREPARE ELLISON PARK FOR THE RIVERFEST CELEBRATION BUT
TO KEEP IN MIND THAT BARE ROOT PLANTING IN THE SPRING IS LESS
EXPENSIVE, AND TO DIRECT THE PARKS COMMISSION TO FOCUS ON A
REFORESTATION PLAN FOR ELLISON PARK. Motion carried unanimously.
Councilmember Thielen asked if the City can afford to leave trees on private
property that are considered to be hazardous. The Public Works Director noted
that in the past the City negotiated with the property owner, hired someone to
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remove the tree, and then assessed the property owner. Chief Building Official
Fred Patch noted that if a tree is considered a public nuisance and conforms to state
statutes (abatement of public nuisance), the cost would be assessable to the
property owner.
TEMPORARY HOUSING
Chief Building Official Patch requested clarification from Council regarding his
flexibility in enforcement of temporary housing in the Cardinal Hills area. He
noted that some residents are living in campers and trailers adjacent to their
damaged homes, and there are trailers parked on streets and right-of-ways which
are used for storage of personal belongings.
It was the consensus of Council to authorize the Chief Building Official to be
flexible in enforcement of temporary housing in order to avoid adding to residents'
hardships.
A MOTION WAS MADE BY ROGER CARLSON AND SECONDED BY BRUCE THIELEN
TO ADJOURN THE MEETING. Motion carried unanimously.
Karen -Doty
Office Manager
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