City Council Minutes 01-27-1992MINUTES
REGULAR MEETING - MONTICELLO CITY COUNCIL
Monday, January 27, 1992
Members Present: Ken Maus, Shirley Anderson, Clint Herbst, Brad
Fyle, Dan Blonigen
Members Absent; None
2. Approval of minutes of the regular meeting held January 13,
1992.
Ken Maus noted that Parks Commission member Fran Fair's term
should be'revised to show an expiration of 1994 rather than
1991, as noted by mistake in the meeting minutes. After
discussion, a motion was made by Shirley Anderson and seconded
by Clint Herbst to approve the meeting minutes with the change
as noted. Motion carried unanimously.
3. Citizens comments/petitions, requests, and complaints.
Area residents representing the Hockey Association were in
attendance to voice their concern regarding the possibility of
the development of an aquatic center without first reviewing
the potential for the development of a hockey arena. It was
noted by other representatives from the group that the growth
and popularity of hockey has been tremendous in the area.
Other communities have responded to the popularity of the
sport by developing hockey arenas. These arenas help draw
businesses to the area and if operated properly can be self-
supporting. Maryann Porter voiced her opposition to the
aquatic center concept because the aquatic center cannot be
used all year around. It was her view that the hockey arena
should take priority over an aquatic center. Marianne Foldesi
noted that development of a hockey arena could include an area
for meeting rooms and senior citizen areas. The facility
could be used for a wide variety of community events.
Ken Maus suggested that the question of whether or not the
City should be participating in the development of a hockey
arena should be passed on to the Parks Commission for comment
and then referred to the Council for later review. Shirley
Anderson wondered, "Why can't the development of a hockey
arena be a combined effort between neighboring townships and
the City of Monticello?" Ken Maus also noted that the City
will work closely with townships or the school district when
it's time to move ahead on development of a hockey arena.
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Brad Fyle noted that the school district has a larger taxing
area that matches the population that will be using the arena;
therefore, it is his view that the school district be the
entity that funds development of a hockey arena.
4. Consideration of a resolution adopting an ordinance requiring
licensing businesses conducting adult use/principal or adult
use/accessory activities.
Assistant Administrator O'Neill reminded Council that at the
previous meeting Council adopted the zoning ordinance
amendments defining and regulating adult uses and tabled
consideration of the companion ordinance requiring licensing
of adult use as principal and adult use as accessory. The
Council tabled the matter pending development of a resolution
outlining findings supporting the establishment of the
ordinance. In addition, few modifications to the ordinance
were needed in response to Council discussion.
O'Neill outlined the proposed amendments to the ordinance and
requested that Council consider adoption of a resolution
supporting establishment of the ordinance. Paulette Conroy
and others were in attendance to request that the City Council
consider increasing the fee for adult/use accessory from $50
to a higher number to reflect the fact that the City spends
more than $50 to process each adult/use accessory license
application. She noted that extensive background checks are
done on each applicant, public hearing notices must be sent,
a business site inspection must be conducted, and, on
occasion, it is probably likely that legal fees are spent in
review of the application. Therefore, when looking at these
costs, it appears that it could be justified that the City
should increase the fee above $50.
Assistant Administrator O'Neill noted that it is very possible
that the fees could be increased to reflect the actual City
costs. He noted, however, that the City Attorney indicated
that the City must be careful to avoid using the licensing as
a revenue -raising measure or as a method to make it difficult
for this type of use to locate in the city. If the court
finds that the City is charging a high licensing fee as a
cover for trying to keep this type of use out of the city, the
ordinance could be thrown out, and then there would be no
regulations governing this activity. O'Neill noted that it
was the City Attorney's view, therefore, that the fee be
relatively low so as to assure the City that the ordinance is
viable.
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Council Minutes - 1/27/92
Council then reviewed the costs associated with processing an
adult use/accessory license. After reviewing the costs in
detail, it was determined that the costs do exceed $250 per
license application and, therefore, the licensing fee as
proposed should be revised from $50 to $250 and the proposed
resolution supporting the ordinance should be amended by
including a listing of all the expenses associated with
processing an adult accessory use license.
After discussion, a motion was made by Shirley Anderson and
seconded by Dan Blonigen to approve the resolution adopting an
ordinance requiring licensing businesses conducting adult use/
principal or adult use/accessory activities with the exception
that the proposed ordinance be amended to include a $250 fee
for licensing rather than a $50 fee as proposed. In addition,
the resolution should be modified by including the following
list of expenses associated with processing of the license
application:
5. The cost to the City of conducting investigations
and issuing licenses for adult use/accessory are as
follows:
Police investigations: $175
Cost of Assistant City Administrator: $30
Publication costs: $80
Cost of City Administrator: $50
Legal fees: $0
Motion carried unanimously.
SEE RESOLUTION 92-3. SEE ORDINANCE AMENDMENT NO. 219.
At this point in the meeting, the Monticello Hockey team
arrived. A number of members were given the floor and they
expressed the desire that the City consider development of a
hockey arena. They are tired of being on the bus 1-1/2 hours
every day to practices and games. Ken Maus thanked them for
their comments and noted that the matter has been referred to
the Parks Commission for further review.
Consideration of ordering plans and specs for new warming
house/community buildinq/year-round restrooms for West Bridge
Park.
John Simola presented a warming house plan for West Bridge
Park and noted that the plan has been reviewed and approved by
the Parks Commission. In his review, Simola noted that this
item has been in the City budget since 1988 with no action
taken on it. Simola reviewed the concept which included the
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possibility of using an A -frame construction in the park to
take advantage of the view of the river along with providing
an aesthetically -pleasing building at the entrance to the
community. Some of the features of the building would be as
listed below.
1. A -frame construction using standard shingled roof.
2. Incorporation of a loft over the restroom area for
a view of the river.
3. The use of 4 -foot high burnished block on the
exterior walls and burnished block on the interior
walls to provide durability and low maintenance.
4. The use of pine or popple 6 -inch wide paneling in
the community room area, loft, and ceilings to add
warmth to the building.
5. Low -maintenance concrete floors throughout.
6. Handicapped -accessible year-round restrooms,
accessible when the community room/warming house
area is locked.
7. Cross-flow ventilation using openable windows and a
ceiling -mounted exhaust fan.
8. A two -zone gas-fired boiler heat system to provide
cooler temperatures in the community room/warming
house area when not in use.
9. A central woodburning stove such as used at the
state park building at Lake Maria State Park. The
woodstove could be utilized when the skating rink
attendant is on duty.
Simola noted that the cost to build this structure is
estimated at $70,000, including all site utility work and soil
investigation. Simola stated that it is staff's opinion that
the addition of this building to Bridge Park will enhance the
winter usage as well as summer usage at the park. Simola then
requested that the City order the preparation of plans and
specs from either TKDA or RCM. Both proposals are reasonably
priced and will result in a quality product.
Clint Herbst liked the design of the building; however, he
noted that there is too much money in it. Just because the
money's in the budget doesn't mean it should be spent. Ken
Maus asked if an activity or attendance log has been taken for
that park. He was concerned that we're developing a warming
house for a park that may not get much use. Dan Blonigen
noted that he has a little bit of a problem with the proposal,
as the warming house costs too much money for the area. Brad
Fyle stated that the Parks Board went overboard on the design.
Herbst stated that the structure should be more practical and
less expensive. After discussion, it was the consensus of
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Council that staff review the concept plans and look at
reducing the scope of the structure. The new design should
allow the structure to be enlarged at a later date.
6. Consideration of authorization of soils investigation for new
public works building.
John Simola recommended that the Council authorize staff to
conduct a soil investigation performed in the area of the
public works building by Braun Intertec at an estimated cost
of $1,150. This investigation is necessary in order to
properly plan for public works building construction. The
cost would be higher if unstable soil conditions were
encountered below 15 feet which is not expected, as the
maximum depth of the gravel pit in the area was believed not
to exceed 15 feet. At the same time, Braun Intertec would
perform the soil boring for the Bridge Park warming house at
a cost of $775 and perform soil borings for the School
Boulevard project to be used in development of the feasibility
study at a cost of $500.
After discussion, a motion was made by Brad Fyle and seconded
by Shirley Anderson to authorize a soil investigation to be
conducted by Braun Intertec at an estimated cost of $1,150.
Motion carried unanimously.
7. Consideration of ordering plans and specs for ballfield
lighting for two or four of the City's fields.
John Simola reported that participation in softball and
baseball at all levels has increased in recent years, and the
present ballfield facilities are not sufficient to keep up
with the demand, and therefore it is being proposed that the
City consider lighting two or four of the City's ballfields,
which would allow these fields to be available for more hours
and thus allow the City to avoid the expense of developing new
ballfields.
Simola went on to request that Council authorize City staff,
with OSM's assistance, to prepare and distribute a request for
proposals for lighting two or four fields at the City's
ballfield complex near the NSP Training Center. It is
estimated that the technical assistance from OSM to complete
the RFP would be in the area of $1,000. Proposals would be
ready for Council review on February 24, 1992.
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Members from the Softball Association were present. It was
noted that the fields are in constant use. If all fields were
lighted, it would double the capacity of the NSP ballfield
facility.
Clint Herbst noted that the school uses the fields on occasion
and might be willing to step in to help with paying for the
lights. Herbst noted that we should try to spread the cost to
other jurisdictions that have citizens that use the
ballfields. Brad Fyle concurred that we need to look at a
wide variety of sources to pay for the lighting. Dan Blonigen
stated that the school should be involved with financing of
lighting if their teams are using the fields. Ken Maus
observed that the school use may be very limited. The school
district may not wish to pay much to see that the fields are
lighted. Dan Blonigen also noted that we need user fees to
help finance installation of the lights. John Simola reminded
the Council that the City does receive $3,000 a year for
maintenance of the fields from the Softball Association, and
the association has agreed to pay for all electricity needed
to run the lights.
After discussion, the motion was made by Clint Herbst and
seconded by Shirley Anderson to authorize City staff to
prepare and distribute a request for proposals for lighting
for two or four fields at the City's ballfield complex near
the NSP Training Center at an estimated cost of $1,000 to
complete the RFP. Motion carried unanimously.
8. Consideration of a request to abate special assessment
penalties and interest on 82-2 Improvement Project --Ultra
Homes, Dickman Knutson.
Rick Wolfsteller outlined the circumstances leading to the
accumulation of $515,304 of interest and penalties against
Outlots C and D and other lots located in the Meadow Oaks
subdivision. Wolfsteller noted that the owner of this
property, Dickman Knutson, has not paid any of the assessments
against this property. He went on to note that the City
Attorney is presently in the process of completing the
foreclosure documents, as no payments have been made.
Wolfsteller requested that the City Council consider abating
a portion of the delinquent taxes and assessments as was done
with the delinquent taxes and assessments against the land
owned by Farm Credit. Wolfsteller noted that our previous
settlement with Farm Credit Systems amounted to approximately
15-1/2 percent reduction.
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Dan Blonigen stated that it was a mistake to assess this
undeveloped property in the first place, as the assessment and
interest quickly exceeded the value of the land. It was Dan
Blonigen's view that the City should continue with the
foreclosure and not offer a 15 percent reduction in the
assessment amount. Rick Wolfsteller was concerned that we
look at providing the same reduction to Knutson as was
provided to Farm Credit. It was his view that if we could get
Knutson to pay off his debt at a 15 percent reduction, the
City would be money ahead.
After discussion, a motion was made by Shirley Anderson and
seconded by Brad Fyle to agree to accept a reduction of
special assessments against all the land owned by Ultra Homes
equal to the penalties and interest that have accumulated
against the parcels, contingent upon Ultra Homes paying off
all remaining assessment balances within 30 days, along with
deeding to the City the remaining park dedication
requirements. The special assessment penalties and interest
reduction would total approximately 15-1/5 percent or
$106,141.
9. Consideration of bills for the month of January.
After discussion, a motion was made by Clint Herbst and
seconded by Dan Blonigen to approve payment of the bills as
submitted. Motion carried unanimously.
10. Other matters.
Shirley Anderson noted that she is aware of an interesting
program in another city whereby certain businesses that
maintain exceptional landscaping are given a plaque in
recognition of their efforts to beautify the city. Anderson
thought that the City should consider starting a similar
program.
There being no further business, the meeting was adjourned.
Jeff O' N'e -11
Assistant Administrator
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