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City Council MInutes 10-25-1982MINUTES REGULAR MEETING - MONTICELLO CITY COUNCIL October 25, 1982 - 7:30 P.M. Members Present: Arve Grimsmo, Fran Fair, Ken Maus. Members Absent: Phil White, Dan Blonigen. 2. Approval of the Minutes for October 12, 1982. A motion was made by Maus, seconded by Grimsmo to approve the minutes of the regular meeting held October 12th, as present- ed. Voting in favor were Maus and Grimsmo, abstaining was Fair as she was not present at the last meeting. 3. Citizens Comments. Mr. W.J. Murphy, owner of the new Monti Motel,requested a temporary variance on the completion of his landscaping plan at the motel in order to obtain an occupancy permit to allow him to open next week. Mr. Murphy presented a plan to the Council indicating how the proposed landscaping and shrub- bery will be installed, but indicated that not all of the plantings will be installed before he would like to open. A motion was made by Fair, seconded by Maus and unanimous- ly carried to grant a temporary variance from the land- scaping requirements prior to the issuance of the occupancy permit contingent upon Mr. Murphy providing a bond for the value of the landscaping not completed at the time he opens. The variance would be good until June 1, 1983. 4. Continuation of Public Hearing on Meadow Oak Proposed Public Improvements. It was noted by the Mayor that the developers of the Meadow Oak Subdivision have not been able to work out all the details regarding fee ownership of the property and getting permission from the current fee owners for petitioning of improvements and as a result,the public hearing on the proposed improve- ments was continued until the next regular scheduled Council meeting of November 8th, 1982. - 1 - Council Minutes - 10/25/82 5. Consideration of Revising Policy on Snow Removal from Downtown Parking Lots. Presently, the City of Monticello has funded the entire process of snow removal from downtown parking lots and questions have been raised as to whether all or part of the cost should be assessed to the downtown business owners. Current city snow removal policy has been submitted to the Downtown Parking Committee for their review and recommendations and as of this date, the parking committee has not completed their review and made recommendations to the City Council. As a result, it was the concensus of the Council to table any action upon revising the snow removal policy until the full Council can meet to discuss the issue and after a recommenda- tion is received from the Downtown Parking Committee regard- ing the policy. 6. Consideration of a Request by John Sandberg for the City to Re- imburse him for Sewer Repair Expenses. On September 15, 1982, Mr. John Sandberg experienced sewer back up problems at his home on 1025 Oak Lane. After attempt- ing to rod or flush the sewer lines several times, which was not successful, Mr. Sandberg had Gene Fyle begin excavating the sewer line in the area of his property line near the street. During the excavation, Mr. Fyle found that the service between the main and the street and the property line was sagged a few inches causing the sewage to back up into the house. Mr. Sandberg requested that since the sagged sewer line was in- stalled by the City in 1975, it should be the City's responsi- bility to pay for all expenses incurred by himself to repair the line. Total expenses amounted to approximately $860.00 for sewer rodding and repairs to the line. City Engineer, John Badalich, noted that since Mr. Sandberg and the previous owner, Blair Lampert, apparently experienced problems right after hooking up in 1976, the City of Monticello should have been notified at that time that there might be a problem as the contractor on the project would have been responsible for one year to fix any problems. By waiting six years to approach the City, the City has no recourse against the contractor. In addition, Mr. Badalich felt that the main reason that the property owner is experiencing some problems is that the sewer service has to run from the back of the house around the house all the way to the street which is approximately a couple hundred feet and that the line probably does not have enough fall for the distance involved. Mr. Badalich felt that the original installation of the pipe was correct. - 2 - Council Minutes - 10/25/82 Councilmember Maus indicated his concern over whether the service line on the property from the house to the street was installed correctly with the proper amount of grade as he felt this infor- mation was necessary before he could make a decision as to whether or not the small sag near the street was sufficient to cause problems. Other concerns noted pertained to the time limit between initial construction in 1976 and the request for repairs in 1982. Should the City of Monticello be liable for these repairs even though the City was never notified of any previous problems. It was noted that after initially revealing the problems Mr. Sandberg was having, the City offered to split the cost of re- pairs with the property owner and Arve Grimsmo made a motion which was seconded by Fair to again offer Mr. Sandberg reim- bursement for one half of his cost incurred,totaling approxi- mately $430.00. Voting in favor were Grimsmo and Fair, opposed was Maus. 7. Consideration of Change Orders #55 through #61 on the Wastewater Treatment Plant Construction Project. John Simola, Public Works Director, and Jerry Corrick, Project Engineer, reviewed with the Council the following recommended change orders on the Wastewater Treatment Plant construction. Change Order #55 pertains to a 45 working day extension in the time to complete the project to December 31, 1982. Change Order #56 would provide for a gybson board enclosure over the panel in the control room at an additional cost of $236.00 Change Order #57 pertained to drilling three additional drain holes in the existing digester foundation to facilitate drainage of water for an additional $425.00. Change Order #58 pertained to upgrading some painting and coat- ing for the floors, etc. for an additional $6,510.00. Change Order #59 pertains to the installation of fencing around the entire complex for an additional $9,250.00. Change Order #60 pertained to replacing two existing older doors and frames and one window in the control building with new doors and windows for an additional $2,475.00. Change Order 461 pertains to adding additional reserve air storage capacity to the existing high pressure air system for an additional $12,750.00. A motion was made by Maus, seconded by Fair and unanimously carried to approve change orders #55 through 61 with the Paul A. Laurence.Company on the Wastewater Treatment Plant Project for an additional amount totalling $31,646.00. - 3 - Council Minutes - 10/25/82 8. Consideration of a Resolution Amending the 1983 Municipal Budget. At the September 27th meeting, the City Council adopted the 1983 budget setting a total tax levy of $1,227,064 which included a $79,340 levy within the sewer fund. Since that time, it was discovered that erroneous rate schedules were used in the sewer fund resulting in less revenues than will actually occur. By using the new proposed rate schedule of a $1.28 per 100 cubic feet of sewage, sufficient revenue will be generated to cover the existing expenses within the sewer fund, thus the $79,340 levy could be eliminated and transferred to the Capital Outlay Improvement Fund. A motion was made by Maus, seconded by Fair and unanimously carried to adopt a resolution amending the 1983 budget set- ting the tax levy at the same figure of $1,227,064, but transferring the $79,340 from the Sewer Fund to the Capital Improvement Revolving Fund. (See Resolution 1982-#57). 9. Quarterly Head Department Meeting. Various department heads within the City met and reviewed items with the City Council as follows: Mike Melstad gave a summary of the YMCA Detached Worker Program. Karen Hansen, Senior Citizen Center Director, noted that their recent remodeling project has now been completed. Willard Farnick, Fire Chief, noted that the Fire Department members are reviewing the City's plans for a proposed addition to the Fire Hall which would temporarily be used for ambulance housing. In addition, he noted that recently he has had many inquiries about inspecting fire places and wood burning stoves, but noted that he has not been pro- viding the inspection services as he felt he was not qualified and did not observe the actual construction in most cases. It was noted that the building inspector, in most cases, does inspect fire places if he is aware that they are being con- structed. Mark Irmiter, Liquor Store Manager, reviewed with the Council the 9 month financial statement for 1982. It was noted that sales have increased approximately 8% over the same period in 1981 and operating income has increased almost 10% over 1981 figures for the first nine months. == Council Minutes - 10/25/82 Loren Klein, Building Inspector and Zoning Administrator, reviewed with the Council that the general contractor on the recently built Library has asked for his final payment of $20,000. Mr. Klein noted that it was his recommendation and that of the architect that not all of the funds should be paid at this time since there is a problem with the roof leaking and this has not been repaired satisfactorily yet. A motion was made by Fair, seconded by Maus and unanimously carried to authorize that $15,000 of the remaining $20,000 be paid to Cates Construction Company with the remaining 45,000 being withheld in an escrow account with passbook interest until the leaks in the roof are repaired. John Simola, Public Works Director, gave a brief review of the Public Works Department's activities. John Badalich, City Engineer, noted that the City should be considering updating its comprehensive plan, especially in regard to its water system and plans for possible, addition- al wells or storage facilities. Tom Eidem, City Administrator, noted that the Housing and Re- development Authority Committee will soon be activated to work on the tax increment financing plan that is forthcoming. Mr. Eidem noted that several individuals on the HRA Committee have indicated they will be resigning from the committee and in the near future the Council will have to be appointing new members to fill these vacancies. 10. Approval of the Bills for the Month of October, 1982. A motion was made by Fair, seconded by Maus and unanimously carried to approve the bills for the month of September as presented. See Exhibit 10/25/82 #1. Meeting Adjourned. Rick WolfstellerJ Assistant Adminis ator - 5 -