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City Council Minutes 06-22-2009 1 MINUTES REGULAR MEETING – MONTICELLO CITY COUNCIL June 22, 2009 – 7 p.m. Members Present: Clint Herbst, Tom Perrault, Glen Posusta, Brian Stumpf, Susie Wojchouski 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 recited. 2A. Approval of Minutes – June 8, 2009 Special Meeting BRIAN STUMPF MOVED TO APPROVE THE MINUTES OF THE JUNE 8, 2009 SPECIAL MEETING. SUSIE WOJCHOUSKI SECONDED THE MOTION. MOTION CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY. 2B. Approval of Minutes – June 8, 2009 Regular Meeting BRIAN STUMPF MOVED TO APPROVE THE MINUTES OF THE JUNE 8, 2009 SPECIAL MEETING. GLEN POSUSTA SECONDED THE MOTION. MOTION CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY. 3. Consideration of adding items to the agenda The following items were added to the consent agenda: H) Donation of $250 to general fund by Tom Perrault. The following items were added to the regular agenda: 10) Letter of Support for DNR Metro Greenways Grant request; 2) Mowing at Sixth and Elm Street; 3) Parking on Meadow Oak Drive along the neighborhood park. 4. Citizen comments, petitions, requests and concerns a. Jim Knutson from the MN Government Finance Officers Association made a presentation to City Council and awarded a plaque for the Distinguished Budget Award to Finance Director Tom Kelly. He congratulated the City and noted that this is the first time that the City has received this prestigious award. 2 b. Public Service Announcements: 1) Bertram Family Fun Day – Angela Schumann summarized the activities held at Bertram Chain of Lakes on Saturday, June 13, 2009 and presented a slide show. Approximately 1400 people attended. Angela thanked the many volunteers and event sponsors: Xcel Energy ($1000), TDS Telecom ($1000), Cargill Kitchens ($1000) and Wright-Hennepin Electric (seedling handouts). 2) Walk & Roll – Angela Schumann reported on the 2009 Walk & Roll held on Saturday, June 20. 3) Upcoming public forums – Wright County and the City of Monticello are sponsoring two open houses to receive comments on the Bertram Chain of Lakes Regional Park. They are scheduled for June 23 at the Monticello Community Center and June 25 at the Robert Nye Regional Park. Both meetings run from 7 to 9 p.m. c. Library update - Suzie Wojchouski reported that usage of the Library has been increasing since the beginning of the year. Over 53,000 items were checked out for March, April and May. The 6 internet stations have been in use from open to close. Patrons can bring in their own laptops to use wireless service at no charge. Over 400 children are signed up to participate in summer programs at the library. d. Fiber optics update – Jeff O’Neill outlined the steps in place to move forward on the FiberNet Monticello project now that the Supreme Court has dismissed the lawsuit in favor of the City. Construction planning is underway with MP Nexlevel in place as the construction contractor. Don Patten continues to serve as General Manager of the system with HBC providing technical and administrative expertise. The City will begin the process of hiring several employees for the FiberNet system (technical and customer support). City staff will provide resources to FiberNet through marketing, personnel, engineering, finance and some administrative support with costs charged back to FiberNet Monticello. The City intends to apply for Broadband Stimulus grant funds to support an expanded footprint for the fiber project. e. No citizen comments. 5. Consent Agenda: A. Consideration of approving new hires and departures for MCC, Liquor Store and City Hall. Recommendation: Ratify the hires/departures for MCC, Liquor Store and City Hall as identified. B. Consideration of appointment of Chris Kruse to the Industrial and Economic Development Committee (IEDC). Recommendation: Approve the appointment of 3 Chris Kruse for a three year term starting August 1, 2009 and terminating December 31, 2012. C. Consideration of approval of final payment for City Project #2006-32C, Construction of Monticello FiberNet Head End Building. Recommendation: Approve the final payment for City Project #2006-32C, Construction of Monticello FiberNet Head End Building. D. Consideration of establishment of Utility Department Foreman. Recommendation: Approve the establishment of Utility Department Foreman and authorize appointment of an internal employee to this new position. E. Consideration of appointment of Beth Metzger to Library Board. Recommendation: Approve the appointment of Beth Metzger to fill the position vacated by Claudia Tollefson. F. Consideration of bids for stucco, doors and windows at DMV Building. Recommendation: Accept the lowest stucco quote of $29,950 from Progressive Stucco which includes a decorative border on all west and south walls. Secondly, accept the lowest quote of $4921 from RAS Glass for three doors and jambs and one window, all aluminum clad to match existing. G. Consideration of accepting donation of $7000 from Land of Lakes Choirboys for fire department equipment. Recommendation: Approve the contribution and authorize use of funds as specified. H. Consideration of accepting donation of $250 from Thomas Perrault for the General Fund. Recommendation: Approve the contribution and authorize use of funds as specified. TOM PERRAULT MOVED TO APPROVE THE CONSENT AGENDA AS RECOMMENDED WITH THE REMOVAL OF ITEM 5F. GLEN POSUSTA SECONDED THE MOTION. MOTION CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY. 6. Consideration of items removed from the consent agenda for discussion. #5F Accept bids for stucco, doors and windows for DMV Building: Glen Posusta questioned the stucco bids as there were only two received and there was a significant difference in quotes. Bob Paschke explained that he had contacted four contractors of which two returned quotes and one declined. Glen also asked Bob about the decorative 4 finish. Glen noted that the bids did not mention insulation and he inquired whether that would be an additional cost. Bob Paschke noted that the insulation was installed on the interior so no update is needed for that. Bob noted that the total cost for the stucco work plus the doors and windows would be within the budgeted amount including the work already completed on the interior remodel. There is an option to replace one additional door on the Clothing Center for approximately $1200 to have it match the other doors. GLEN POSUSTA MOVED TO ACCEPT ALTERNATIVE #1 WITH A STUCCO QUOTE OF $29,950 FROM PROGRESSIVE STUCCO AND QUOTE OF $4,921 FROM RAS GLASS FOR THREE DOORS AND JAMBS AND ONE WINDOW. MOTION SECONDED BY BRIAN STUMPF. MOTION CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY. 7. Review of request for City action relating to Downtown Block Party on July 8, 2009 by Monticello Downtown Business Association. a) Approval of street closure b) Use of municipal parking lots The Monticello Downtown Business Association (MDBA) is proposing to hold a Block Party on Wednesday, July 8, and is asking to have Walnut Street closed off from 9 a.m. to 11 p.m. that day. The Public Works Department would place barricades on Walnut at Broadway and at Third Street. The MDBA is also requesting approval to use the municipal parking lots along Third Street for participant parking. The MDBA will be obtaining insurance to cover the event and activities. Cornerstone Café will have additional insurance as they will be catering food and beverages for the event. The activities will take place from 5:30 to 9:30 p.m. Brian Stumpf commented that he thought set up should start at a time closer to block party activities. Clint noted that it was timed to catch interest of passers-by during the day. Lynne Dahl-Fleming explained reason for early closure in order to allow enough time for setup and to close the street before a lot of cars were parked along the street. Brian asked if Public Works had been contacted to take care of closure of Walnut Street from Broadway to Third Street. They will bring barricades to the site and provide picnic tables, which will be picked up the next day. Doug Schneider of MDBA explained intent of block party to get people into the downtown area. They would not be promoting downtown businesses directly; rather the focus is to encourage people to come downtown by providing family activities such as games, a band, firetruck tours, and food. The MDBA will be responsible for clean up at end of the block party. They are also looking for volunteers for dunk tank, with Mayor Clint Herbst volunteering. Tom Perrault asked 5 how far ahead they will put out the word that Walnut Street will be closed. The Sheriff’s Department has been notified and there will also be information on the city website. TOM PERRAULT MOVED TO APPROVE CLOSING WALNUT STREET FROM 9 A.M. TO 11 P.M. FOR THE DOWNTOWN BLOCK PARTY ON JULY 8, 2009 AND ALLOW USE OF THE MUNICIPAL PARKING LOTS DURING THAT TIME FOR PARTICIPANTS. MOTION WAS SECONDED BY SUZIE WOJCHOUSKI. MOTION CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY. c) Approval of temporary liquor license TOM PERRAULT MOVED TO APPROVE A TEMPORARY LIQUOR LICENSE FOR CORNERSTONE CAFÉ & CATERING FOR THE DOWNTOWN BLOCK PARTY ON JULY 8, 2009. MOTION WAS SECONDED BY SUZIE WOJCHOUSKI. MOTION CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY. 8. Consideration of use of Cable Franchise Fees Finance Director Tom Kelly explained that the City received $24,575.43 in franchise fees from the Sherburne Wright Cable Commission for 1st quarter of 2009 and will receive additional funds for 3rd quarter. These funds were returned to the ten cities in the Cable Commission as a one-time contribution to help offset reductions in state aids. Tom recommended placing the money in the Capital Revolving fund for future use to help fund communications-related purchases. Clint suggested thinking about camera and supplies for public programming. GLEN POSUSTA MOVED TO APPROVE ALTERNATIVE #1 TO RESERVE THE CABLE FRANCHISE FEES IN THE CAPITAL REVOLVING FUND FOR FUTURE COMMUNICATIONS IMPROVEMENTS. MOTION SECONDED BY TOM PERRAULT. MOTION CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY. 9A. Consideration of Ordinance Amendment and Public Hearing relating to fee schedule for Excavation/Obstruction Permit for Public Right of Way and Easement. Under the current City fee schedule, the Excavation/Obstruction Permit consists of a single $50 fee for all excavation permit applications, regardless of the impact on the rights-of-way or easements. Private utilities have requested that the City adopt a tiered permit fee allowing for multiple service drops in a single permit. Bruce Westby explained that staff recommends changing the fee structure related to rights-of-way. A single Obstruction or Trunk Utility Excavation permit would remain at $50. Tiered 6 pricing for utility service drops would be changed to $75 for 2 to 13 drops and $100 for 14 to 25 drops, with a maximum of 25 drops per permit. Clint Herbst asked about the time frame involved for approving permits and allowing the work to be completed. Bruce estimated that it would take up to 2 weeks to approve and issue permits depending on how many drops. Permits would allot a certain time frame for the utility to complete the work (Ex. 2 weeks for 25 drops). Mayor Herbst opened the public hearing. Seeing there were no comments, the public hearing was closed. SUZIE WOJCHOUSKI MOVED TO ACCEPT ALERNATIVE #1 TO AMEND THE ORDINANCE FOR THE FEE SCHEDULE AS RELATED TO THE EXCAVATION/OBSTRUCTION PERMIT FOR PUBLIC RIGHT-OF-WAY AND EASEMENTS. MOTION WAS SECONDED BY GLEN POSUSTA. MOTION CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY. 9B. Consideration of ordinance amendment and public hearing on the revisions to 2009 Fee Schedule as related to Variances. At the request of a City Council member, staff completed a review of deposits related to applications for variance requests. Angela Schumann reviewed the planning application process for variance requests. Variance requests are relatively rare. Such requests require a non-refundable application fee for publishing and hearing notices, plus a deposit to cover staff and consultant time. Non-residential application costs tend to exceed the current required amount of deposit ($500) and Council may want to consider raising the deposit. Single family residential application costs vary case by case and sometimes exceed the amount of the deposit required ($300). Council could consider subsidizing a portion of the cost as a service to residents provided by the City, or they could raise the deposit requirement slightly. Staff recommends no change to the application fee of $200. Mayor Herbst opened the public hearing. There being no comments, the public hearing was closed. Glen Posusta commented that he thinks that $1000 is too high for a deposit; he does not think a variance request should cost that much. Clint Herbst explained that $1000 would lessen the impact if costs are higher. If total deposit is not used, the balance would be refunded. If the cost exceeded the deposit, the applicant would be billed the difference but it would probably be less likely with a higher deposit amount. Brian Stumpf noted that the single family residential deposit would go from $300 to $500. 7 BRIAN STUMPF MOVED TO ACCEPT ALTERNATIVE #1 TO AMEND THE ORDINANCE FOR FEE SCHEDULE AS RELATED TO VARIANCES TO INCLUDE A $200 FEE WITH A $500 DEPOSIT FOR SINGLE FAMILY RESIDENTIAL APPLICATIONS AND A $200 FEE WITH A $1000 DEPOSIT FOR ALL OTHER APPLICATIONS. MOTION WAS SECONDED BY SUZIE WOJCHOUSKI. MOTION CARRIED WITH GLEN POSUSTA VOTING IN OPPOSITION. 9C. Consideration of amendment to Chapter 6 of the Monticello Subdivision Code and public hearing as related to Parks, Open Space and Public Use. Under State Statute 462.358, the City has the option to require developers to dedicate land for parks or can collect park dedication fees for purchase of park land at another location. From time to time, the City adjusts the park dedication requirement to match state statute requirements and meet evolving needs of the City for park land. Steve Grittman of NAC explained that the City is proposing a change to park dedication requirements based on a change in state statute requirements. The adjustment in land dedication or fees would be based on the new requirements for calculating park dedication fees and changes in the City’s park plans. Current park land and trails dedication totals 9% of total city land. The proposal projects a park dedication amount of 11% for future development including the city’s share of Bertram Chain of Lakes. The 11% value would then be used in calculation of land or fees owed when land is developed. Fees could be estimated based on value of raw land and established at an annual per unit fee. Fee schedule should be updated annually under this scenario. Brian Stumpf asked why the City would include land within the annexation area in the calculation instead of establishing park dedication on a case-by-case basis. Steve explained that the state statute requires establishing a nexus between dedication requirements and need for parkland and spreading those costs proportionately. This proposal would meet the state requirements. Staff recommends adopting the amendment to the subdivision ordinance and changing the fee schedule. Mayor Herbst opened the public hearing. There being no comments, the public hearing was closed. Tom Perrault noted that he would prefer to lower the percentage from 11% to closer to 5% for land area dedication for parks. BRIAN STUMPF MOVED TO ACCEPT ALTERNATIVE #1 OF DECISION #1 T O ADOPT THE AMENDMENT TO CHAPTER 6 OF THE MONTICELLO 8 SUBDIVISION ORDINANCE. MOTION SECONDED BY SUZIE WOJCHOUSKI. MOTION CARRIED WITH TOM PERRAULT VOTING IN OPPOSITION. SUZIE WOJCHOUSKI MOVED TO ACCEPT ALTERNATIVE #1 OF DECISION #2 TO AMEND THE ORDINANCE FOR FEE SCHEDULE FOR PARK DEDICATION SETTING A 2009 RATE OF $1704/ACRE AND $757/UNIT AND TO STRIKE THE TRAIL SURCHARGE. MOTION SECONDED BY BRIAN STUMPF. MOTION CARRIED WITH TOM PERRAULT VOTING IN OPPOSITION. 10. Consideration of adoption of a letter of support for 2009 Department of Natural Resources Metro Greenways Grant request as related to acquisition of Bertram Chain of Lakes property. The City of Monticello and Wright County continue to pursue all available funding options for the acquisition of Bertram Chain of Lakes Regional Park. The City plans to submit an application to the Department of Natural Resources Metro Greenways program. Under this request, the City would be indicating intent to contribute a 50% in- kind or cash match if the grant were awarded. The funding of the match would be coordinated with Wright County according to the Memorandum of Understanding and agreement with Wright County. BRIAN STUMPF MOVED TO ACCEPT ALTERNATIVE #1 FOR A LETTER OF SUPPORT FOR APPLICATION TO THE DNR METRO GREENWAYS GRANT PROGRAM FOR THE BERTRAM CHAIN OF LAKES PROJECT. MOTION SECONDED BY GLEN POSUSTA. MOTION CARRIED WITH TOM PERRAULT VOTING IN OPPOSITION. Added Items: Mowing at 6th and Elm – Brian Stumpf noted the blight situation at a vacant house at Sixth and Elm Streets. He asked Gary Anderson who is in charge of vacant homes taken over by a bank. Gary explained the process of noticing owners before City can clean up a blighted situation. If the owner cannot be contacted, they would leave a 24-hour notice in the door before starting the mowing. Brian asked to have the City work on getting the property in question cleaned up. The property is not livable and neighbors are complaining because it has become an eyesore. Parking on Meadow Oak Drive adjacent to neighborhood park – Brian Stumpf said he has heard some concerns from residents near the commuter parking area that cars are parking along the street adjacent to the park and obstructing the view when driving in the area. Brian asked if the Sheriff’s Department could be contacted to check out the problem and see if there is a remedy to the problem. 9 13. Approve payment of bills. Tom Perrault asked about the cost for fencing for community gardens. Suzie Wojchouski asked about expenses related to bathroom repairs at Ellison Park. Glen Posusta asked about watering at community garden and who pays for watering. SUZIE WOJCOUSKI MOVED TO APPROVE PAYMENT OF THE BILLS. BRIAN STUMPF SECONDED THE MOTION. MOTION CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY TO PAY THE BILL REGISTERS TOTALING AS PRESENTED. 14. Adjourn TOM PERRAULT MOVED TO ADJOURN AT 9:05 P.M. GLEN POSUSTA SECONDED THE MOTION. MOTION CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY. ___________________________________ Approved: