City Council Minutes 08-11-2003 Joint TownshipMinutes Special Meeting - 8/11/03
MINUTES
SNI+aC'IAL MEETING - MONTICELLO CITY COLINCIL
JOIN'I~ MI~.1{,"1'INC~ WI"I'FI 'I}OWNSIIIF' OFFICIALS
Monday, August 11, 2003 - 7 p.m.
Council Members Present: Roger Carlson, Glen Posusta, Robbie Smith, Brian Stumpf and Sruce
'l~hiclcra.
Coutlcil Members Absent: None.
Township Officials Present: Franklin Denn, Brett Holker, Ted Kopt'1~, Ketz Seadden anal Bill
Youngs.
1. Welcome and Introductions;
I3rttce 1$ielen called the meetitlg to order and welcomed those present. Introdtrciiotls of city
and township officials were txtade. Bruce Thieleti explained the purpose of the rnccting was to
discuss gt•owth and annexation issues.
2. .Review of recentgrowth and discussion of I;rowth pressures.
Deputy City Administrator, Jeff O'Neill, pointed out where development is taping place in the
city and areas where the C"ity has received regttests for annexation. Although most of tl~e
developtnetit pressure is residential, acff O'Neill painted out that CSAH 18/I-94 interchange
project could bring ~:tbottt some commerci~:tl development as well.
"I'hc criteria the City Iollows in allowing property to be annexed was also rcvicw. ^I'his
criteria. includes a concept plan submittal, annexation request trust be it-titiated by tl~e property
owner; availability of utility service and the property must be contiguous to city limits.
The township officials indicated that at the present time the township is under tl.~.e Wright
Couttty Planning Ordinance and that periodically that plan is reviewed by the township.
Currently the township is in the rcvicw process but h'ranklin Denn itxlicated that. nothing
concrete has happened on that. Bruce Thieletl asked wh;:tt specilic changes wet•e being
lookcct at. 1~'ranklin Denn responded they wer-c lookitlg at the A-K (Agricultural/Residential)
district which allows single family development with a lot sire of 10 acres unless in an
approved rural plantled unit. development and some developti~ent with 5 acre lot site. Bruce
'l hiclcn asked if the township's A-R district would overlap with what the City is lookitlg at as
future annexation area. Pranl:lin Demo indicated that it possibly did. 1~'ranlclta Uenn stated
there at'e two basic policies in the county plan which are the preservation of agrict.tltttral land
and tesidential developt~~etlt adjacent to city limits. City Ad-Ttinistrator, Kick Wolfstellcr
• gt.restioned whether the County's pl~:tn wanted residential development to tale place in tl~e city
Minutes Speci~:tl Meeting - S/1 1/03
or adjacent to it. h'rarlklin [)cnn stated that whatever the township does with their land use
plan will be in the best interest. of the township.
3. lieview of current annexation process and discussion of whether there is an interest in
develpping_a new annexation agreement.
Bruce Thielen asked if the township officials felt there was support to come up with a new
orderly annexation agreement and if so what would the township look for. h'ranklin Dcnn
responded that the township officials had asked the City what they did not like about the
previous annexation agrccnlent but the City never responded. Bruce Thielen stated that there
was no advantage for the City in going back to the previous agreement and that previous
agreel77ent was not. a sl77oothly operating agreement. Rick Wolfsteller stated that the biggest
problem with the old agrccnlent was when the land use designation from the City's plan was
chal7ged. Tlie City ciid not feel it was appropriate for allother° entity to cl7angc the land Llse
classification of the City's land use plan. Bill YoLU7gs and Ken Scadden stated that township
had offered control of the coning to the City as long as there was Ito leapfrogging but the City
had rejected the offer. Bill Youl7gs indicated this type of agrccnlent would be similar to what
Bulf~llo and Buffalo Township have. The current City Council was not aware of when t.ha1
township offer was made or why it was turned dowt7.
Rick Wolfsteller asked aboLlt the MUAA boundary line and whctllcr there had to he a set
boundary line in order to have an agreement. Franklin DenI7 stated that with the township it
was a matter of trust. Jeff O'Neill stated that by not leapfrogging developlnel7t or grabbing
big chunks of land the City has demonstrated that they aI'e Cot7C1LICt111g thG171SE'1VCs 111 all
appropriate I77aIU7er. Bruce Thielen stated that trust goes both ways and the City doesn't feel
like they get full cooperation from tl7e township.
Rick Wolfsteller asked if the township had any problems with t17e process Ior annexation that
was outlined by JelfO'Neill and il`so, what would. they like changed. >~~ranklin [)ctln stated
that with an agreement if the City doesn't Iilce it they can go by state statutes. Bruce "l,hiclcn
asked at what point does the City f:tl7d the township talk <:tbout n1el'ger or consolidatiol7. He
noted that a nLU77ber of communities have been doing this anti noted cost efliciel7cies by
combining services. Bruce Thielen l:elt they should be doil7g sonlctlling to pull the
comrnLU7ities together instead of creating division.
Brett Holkcl~ gLtestiol7eci the concept of annexation by ordinance: whel7 thel-e Was an
agl'eenlellt. Brlall ~tLllllpf-slated 117(: Clty dId Ilo1 Wa17t aI7 agreetllent that would give thetll less
th~.u7 the state statutes. Roger C'arlsol7 felt if'thcre was an agrccmcnt it should have a sunset
elate anal be reviewed periodically dLLring the period it was in effect. Rick Wolf'stellel- asked
agG1111 what W()Lllci the tOWtlShlp 111<e to see. Franklin Denn slated that towtship would 17avc to
have 1:1SSUrdl7ce that there would be sol77e advantage to the township to have an agrccmcnt.
Ric1 Wolfsteller replied that the city wants tl7c sank.
•
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Minutes Special Meeting - 8/1 1./03
"I~hcrc was so-ne additional. discussions o-~ what advantage there would be for the township if
there was consideration of consolidation. Franklin Donn stated there is a lot land chat should
never have been brought into the city. He also i-idicaied that there are ordinances that allow
for consolidation of townships. Again the township officials asked how consolidation would
benefit them. Hill Youngs pointed out that other than the (fold Nugget develop-nent, the
township slid not stand in the way of previoc.-s annexations by the City.
Bruce Thielen stated there is much to discuss and no resolution would conic tonight. He
suggested that if there was a consideration of consolidation, there slwi.-lc1 be an ad hoc
committee set up of two tow-lship residents (not township officials) and two city residents
(not officials) and the city planner to look at the pros a-ad cons of consolidation. Brett I-lolkcr
stated the township would lil.c to do some research on that before they make a. decision and
indicated the township officials are a little gun shy about going down that road again in any
joint venture with the city.
4. Adjournment.
"1'he joint meeting was adjourned at 6:30 pan. with. no date set for any additional -nectings.
;~
Recording Secretary
Ir 1