Loading...
City Council Minutes 08-27-2001MINUTES REGULAR MEETING - MONTICELLO CITY COUNCIL August 27, 2001 - 7 p.m. Members Present: Roger Belsaas, Roger Carlson, Clint Herbst, Brian Stumpf and Bruce Thielen Members Absent: None 1. Call to Order. Mayor Belsaas called the meeting to order at 7 p.m. and declared a quorum present. 2. Approve minutes of August 13, 2001 regular Council meeting. BRIAN STUMPF MOVED TO APPROVE THE MINUTES OF THE AUGUST 13, 2001 COUNCIL MEETING AS PRESENTED. BRUCE THIELEN SECONDED THE MOTION. MOTION CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY. 3. Consideration of adding items to theagenda. The Council added to the consent agenda: 1) To accept staff recommendation to place the play structure for the West Bridge Park a nominal distance off the utility lines; 2) Cancellation of the sprinkling ban effective at 12:01 September 1, 2001. 4. Citizen comments/petitions, requests and complaints. Brad Fyle representing the Monticello Fire Department came before the City Council to request that the Fire Department has an opportunity to review the plans for the proposed bike park for the Community Center before it is constructed. He also requested that the Fire Department receive maps for the new developments as soon as addresses have been assigned. Brad Fyle expressed concerns about the manner in which streets are named and house numbers assigned. 5. Consent Agenda: A. Consideration of ratifying new hires for Monticello Community Center. Recommendation: Ratify the hiring of the part-time employees for the Monticello Community Center as identified. B. Consideration of adopting a resolution approving Monticello Heartland Express 2002 Budget and Transit Assistance Application. Recommendation: Adopt resolutions approving the Heartland Express 2002 Budget Plan and Transit Assistance application as well as the Drug and Alcohol Policy. Res. 42001-58 and 2001-59. C. Consideration of accepting job description and authorize posting of vacancy - Planner II/GIS Technician and authorize hiring process. Recommendation: Approve the establishment of a Planner II/GIS Technician and authorize the hiring process. Council Minutes - 8/27/01 D. Consideration of alternatives dealing with upkeep of mailboxes in Monticello. Recommendation: Motion to send a letter to homeowners whose mailboxes are in need of maintenance asking them to fix the problem. E. Consideration of a request for a license for property encroachment onto city right -of -way - Kevin Olson. Recommendation: Motion to approve a license to this property indicating that encroachment is acceptable to the City until the building is removed or demolished. The license shall indicate that no expansion would be allowed unless the property conforms to the proper setbacks and that the property owner pay for all legal costs in preparing the license document. BRUCE THIELEN MOVED TO APPROVE THE CONSENT AGENDA AMENDED TO INCLUDE NOT PLACING WEST BRIDGE PARK PLAY STRUCTURE OVER THE UTILITIES AND LIFTING THE SPRINKLING BAN EFFECTIVE SEPTEMBER 1, 2001. CLINT HERBST SECONDED THE MOTION. MOTION CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY. 6. Consideration of items removed from the consent agenda for discussion. None. 7. Consideration of accepting Gillard Avenue pathway feasibility study and call for a public hearing on improvement. City Engineer, Bret Weiss, presented preliminary information regarding construction of a pathway along Gillard Avenue from 95'1' Street to County Road 39. Two options were considered when looking at the pathway location. One option would be to widen the shoulders of the road and pave to a 6' width. The estimated cost for this option would be $51,000. The second option would be to construct the pathway off the existing pavement. However this option would be more difficult because of the topography of the area and the presence of the ditch. At this time there was no specific information on amount of filling required, amount of landscape restoration or whether additional easements would be needed. It is estimated that this option would run approximately $67,000. The Council would need to determine which design option is preferred and then set a public hearing. Clint Herbst suggested this information be presented to the property owners to determine their interest in pursuing this. John Young a resident on Gillard Avenue, stated that since this segment of pathway would be on the City's plan the City would be picking up 75% of the cost and the homeowners 25%. He felt that if the homeowners didn't have to pick up 100% of the cost they would be more receptive to the trail construction. Mr. Young also stated that the residents in the area waited a month for the feasibility study and City is still not sure what they are going to do. City Engineer, Bret Weiss responded that he was not authorized to spend the money to do the survey work necessary to come up with an exact trail alignment. Since the trail in this area would be carrying primarily local traffic it may not qualify for the 75%-25% cost split. Clint Herbst questioned whether the residents would want the trail constructed if they had to pay the full cost of it. 2 Council Minutes - 8/27/01 John Young asked that when the Council voted on this item, that Clint Herbst be requested to abstain from voting. The Council indicated that there was no conflict of interest for Councilmember Herbst on this item and therefore no reason for him to abstain from voting. Mayor Belsaas felt the public hearing should be set as he didn't feel the City should authorize the additional survey work and plans and specifications, if there wasn't interest by the residents. Deputy City Administrator, Jeff O'Neill spoke expressing his concern about the range of the cost estimates for the pathway ($51,000 to $67,000). Bruce Thielen stated an argument could be made that it is appropriate for this segment of trail to be on the pathway system because it does provide a connection for this portion of town. He would prefer, however, to see an off road pathway along County Road 39 before one on Gillard Avenue but noted that County policy regulates what happens on County Road 39. BRIAN STUMPF MOVED TO SET A PUBLIC HEARING ON THE PROPOSED PATHWAY FOR THE SEPTEMBER 10, 2001 COUNCIL MEETING. John Young stated that the Parks Commission had recommended that this be included as part of the pathway system and that he thought the Council had done that also in previous action but now the Council appears to be saying it is not on the system. It was noted in the minutes that previous Council action only called for a feasibility study and had not authorized placement of the trail segment on the pathway system. Mayor Belsaas stated that after the public hearing, if the project proceeds. the additional work will be done to firm up project costs and trail alignment. CLINT HERBST SECONDED THE MOTION. MOTION CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY. John Young made some additional comments on how this matter was handled by the City. Clint Herbst responded that the Council represents the interests of the entire City. It was noted that there are two additional options that could be considered which would be: 1) Although the segment is not on the pathway, the City could still consider some type of cost participation and 2) the City could take no action on the pathway request. 8. Approve payment of bills for August. BRUCE THIELEN MOVED TO APPROVE PAYMENT OF BILLS FOR AUGUST. ROGER CARLSON SECONDED THE MOTION. MOTION CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY. 9. Adjourn. BRUCE THIELEN MOVED TO ADJOURN AT 7:45 P.M. BRIAN STUMPF SECONDED THE MOTION. MOTION CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY. AAs �-� Recording Secretary J