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City Council Minutes 12-11-1978MONTICELLO CITY COUNCIL REGULAR MEETING December 11, 1978 - 7:30 P.M. Members Present: C. 0. Johnson, Dan Blonigen, Arve Grimsmo, Gene Walters, Philip White. Members Absent: None Citizens Comments: Mr. Mike Beck asked the Council why he had received a ticket for parking on the street during the night recently. Mr. Beck was informed by the Council that the City has an ordinance against parking on City streets between the hours of 2 A.M. and 6 A.M. Mr. Beck felt that the ordinance was unfair and that he being a new resident of Monticello should have been told of this ordinance. Mr. Beck also indicated that he would take the matter up when it comes to court. 1. Public Hearing on Consideration of Variance from Minimum Lot Size Standards and Consideration of Rezoning Request - Richard and Delores Guille. Richard and Delores Guille requested to have their property at 806 East River Street rezoned from R-1 to R-2 so they could rent out their basement as an apartment. In addition to the rezoning request, a variance from minimum lot size for a duplex which requires 5,000 square feet per unit was also requested since they have only 9,7872 square feet of lot area. The Council noted that at the time the original building permit was taken out to add the second story to the basement house, the Guille's were informed that this building could not be made into a duplex unless the property was rezoned. At that time, Mr. Guille indicated that the building would be used only as a single family residence and would not be rented out. In addition, it was noted that if the rezoning request was granted, the ordinance still requires two off-street parking spaces for each unit, or in this case, four off-street parking spaces would be required to be located off of the right- of-way and may not be any portion of the front yard except the driveway. The following citizens were heard: Mr. Ken Holker, speaking for himself and for Dick Topel, a neighboring resi- dent, was concerned about what future changes may result in the area if this property is zoned to R-2 to allow a duplex. Mr. Holker felt that the area is now R-1 Single Family and that by allowing a duplex of this nature, other requests for similar duplexes may be the result. Mr. Bill Sandberg was opposed to the rezoning and also indicated that he thought any rezoning to R-2 would affect the entire neighborhood. Mr. Sandberg indicated that at the present time, the basement is rented out and at times there are as many as five or six cars parked on the street because of this. Council Minutes - 12/11/78 As a result of the opposition voiced and of the variances required, a motion was made by Phil White, seconded by Gene Walters and unanimously carried to deny the rezoning request and variances. 2. _Public Hearing for Consideration of a Variance Request to Exceed 1,000 Square Foot Maximum on Accessory Building - James Murray. Mr. Jim Murray of 524 West Fifth Street requested a variance to allow him to construct a garage of approximately 1,700 square feet on his property. City ordinances restrict a garage in residential areas to 1,000 square feet or less, and Mr. Murray indicated the purpose of this garage would be to house his semi cab and trailer along with his other miscellaneous lawn and garden equipment. Mr. Murray has stated that there would be no repair work done within this building, but it would be strictly used for covered off-street parking. Darwin Straw, an abutting neighbor, indicated opposition to the garage structure because he felt it would be of a commercial type structure and also because of its large size in a residential area. It was also noted by the Council that trucks exceeding 9,000 pounds are not allowed on the City residential streets except in the case of deliveries. Although Mr. Murray could park his truck or van on his own property, he may be subject to a fine for driving on the City streets to get to his property. Motion was made by Gene Walters, seconded by Phil White and unanimously carried to deny the variance request for the 1,728 square foot garage. 3. Public Hearing on Variance Request to Allow the Display on a Permanent Basis of Pennants by Monticello Ford, Inc. The City Council had previously decided that all existing pennants or banners used by car dealerships should be brought down within 30 days as City ordinances prohibit the use of pennants and banners except on a temporary basis of seven days or less. Mr. Larry Flake was informed of the Council's decision to remove his pennants and applied for a variance request from this provision to be allowed the permanent use of the pennants at his new Ford dealership site at the Intersection of I-94 and Highway 25. This request has now been revised by Mr. Flake for the purpose of allowing the pennants to be displayed for up to two years at his present site to enable him to recover the cost of the new pennants. Mr. Flake indicated that he was not aware that this type of flags and pennants were not allowed when he pur- chased them for his new building. Motion was made by Arve Grimsmo, seconded by Dan Blonigen and unanimously carried to allow a two-year extension of time for the banners to be removed from Teslow Auto Sales and Monticello Ford, Inc. It was noted by the Council that no additional new pennants will be allowed by any business. - 2 - Council Minutes - 12/11/78 4. Consideration of Public Hearing on Variance Request for Off -Premise Sign - St. Peter's Lutheran Church. The St. Peter's Lutheran Church's representative, Paul Klein, was not at the meeting and this item was tabled until a future meeting. 5. Public Hearing on Vacation of That Portion of Palm Street Lying South of Fourth Street. Mr. Thomas Havrilla requested that the City vacate a portion of Palm Street because his garage is situated within the 80' right-of-way of the platted street. Mr. Havrilla requested that 42' of the 80' wide street be vacated and deeded to him to allow his garage and an area in front of his garage to be entirely on his own property. Additionally, he requested an additional 20 feet as a lifetime easement so that he may get to his garage and also has an access for the abutting property owner, Mr. Bill Jamison. Mr. Havrilla indicated to the Council that he thought his lot was 108' wide when he purchased his property years back, and also thought that the street was vacated already by the previous owner, Roy Carlson. Abutting property owner, William Jamison, informed the Council that he did not want to see the street vacated as this would eliminate any access to the back lots near the railroad tracks. Because the Council majority felt that the use of this street may be needed in the future, a motion was made by Dan Blonigen, seconded by Arve Grimsmo to leave the street as is and not vacate any portion of it to Mr. Havrilla. Voting in favor: Dan Blonigen, Arve Grimsmo, Con Johnson, Gene Walters. Opposed: Phil White. It was noted by the Council that the garage that is now 16.8' onto the right-of-way can remain where it is unless the property is needed by the City in the future. 6. Consideration of the Sale of the Former Senior Citizen Center Site. At a previous Council Meeting, it was requested that a new appraisal be obtained on the old senior citizen center site to determine whether or not this property should be offered for sale. Discussion by the Council centered on whether the property should be put up for sale or whether it should be kept for possible use as an access to a future alley or even could be used as a parking lot. After studying the alternatives, motion was made by Phil White, seconded by Dan Blonigen and unanimously carried to not consider the sale of the senior citizen center site at the present time. 7. Consideration of Approval of Authorizing OSM to Update City of Monticello's Base Map. Base maps for the City of Monticello, including the newly annexed areas, were prepared in 1974. Since that time, approxiamtely thirteen new plats have come into the City, and consulting engineering firm, Orr-Schelen-Mayeron & Associates, has estimated that new updated base maps would cost approximately $1,600 to prepare. - 3 - Council Minutes - 12/11/78 The new maps would include all the new subdivisions along with lot dimensions. In addition, Orr-Schelen-Mayeron indicated that for approximately $800, all existing sanitary sewer, watermain and storm sewer maps would be updated. Motion was made by Phil White, seconded by Arve Grimsmo and unanimously carried to authorize consulting engineer OSM to update the existing base maps with lot lines shown, along with new utility base maps at an estimated cost of $2,400 with a provision for the cost not to exceed 100 of the extimate. 8. Consideration of Reduction of Retainer and Extension of Time on 77-3 Project. The City's engineering firm, Orr-Schelen-Mayeron & Associates, recommended that the City of Monticello make payment to Arcon Construction Company in the amount of approxiamtely $223,000. As part of this recommended payment, the City Engineer is recommending that the reduction in the retainage from loo be reduced to 3%, or approximately $78,500. According to the estimate of the engineer, there is approximately $50,000 of work left to be done on the street project, and he felt that this would be more than adequate to cover the final completion of the project. In addition, Arcon Construction requested that an extension of time for the project completion be granted from November 1, 1978 to May 15, 1979. After discussion by the Council, motion was made by Gene Walters, seconded by Phil White and unanimously carried to keep the retainage portion of the contract at 100, but move the completion date to May 15, 1979 as requested by Arc on . 9. Consideration of Approval of Transfers. Motion was made by Gene Walters, seconded by Arve Grimsmo and unanimously carried to approve the following transfers of funds: FROM TO AMOUNT COMMENTS A. '64 Water Revenue Water Fund $ 362.35 To transfer funds per Fund bond agreement from water sinking fund to water operating fund. B. Revenue Sharing City Hall Con- 71,013.00 At our Sept. 26, 1977 struction Fund meeting $127,513 was appropriated, and $56,500 of this was transferred in 1977. The balance should be transferred in 1978. C. Capital Outlay City Hall Con- 6,450.92 This is the amount needed Revolving Fund struction Fund to balance out the City Hall Construction Fund. - 4 - Council Minutes - 12/11/78 10. Consideration of Deedinq East Half of Oak Street. In September of 1976, Oak Street was vacated and it was agreed upon at that time to vacate the entire street and deed the westerly half to the Hospital for $1.00 and deed the easterly half of the street to the abutting property owners, Mr. & Mrs. Pat Donahue. The agreement for the easterly half was that a defeasible deed would be created whereby the Donahues would have up to two years to pay an approved appraisal amount of $3,000 for the property. Since that time, Dr. Donahue has decided to locate a medical clinic in Big Lake, and Monticello Clinic Ltd. has bought the property from the Donahues. The Monticello Clinic now has requested that they be allowed to purchase the east half of Oak Street for $3,000. Motion was made by Arve Grimsmo, seconded by Dan Blonigen and unanimously carried to deed the east half of vacated Oak Street to the Monticello Clinic for $3,000 providing the City keeps all utility easement rights. It was also a recommendation of the Council that if in the future the Monticello - Big Lake Community Hospital would ever build a clinic on this property, consideration be given by future councils to return the $3,000 to the Hospital. 11. Approval of Minutes. The Minutes of the regular meeting held November 27, 1978 and the special meeting held November 30, 1978 were approved as presented. 12. Miscellaneous. The Council recommended that the City's representative on the orderly annexation area board bring to their attention the possibility of Monticello's building official being allowed to do the inspections in the OAA area. The board's representative will bring this up to the OAA board at a future meeting. A suggestion was made that the possibility of additional lighting be installed at the Municipal Liquor Store to light the sign currently located on the base of the building. Hearing no other business, the meeting was adjourned. r isk Wolfstelle Assistant Administrator RW/ns - 5 -