City Council Minutes 02-26-1979MINUTES
REGULAR MEETING - MONTICELLO CITY COUNCIL
February 26, 1979 - 7:30 P.M.
Members Present: Arve Grimsmo, Dan Blonigen, Fran Fair, Ken Maus, Philip White.
Members Absent: None
1. Public Hearing on Sideyard Setback Request - Donald Q. Smith.
Mr. Don Smith, of 425 West River Street (Lots 1 & 10, Block 56), requested
a variance to build a garage to within two feet (21) of his easterly
property line.
There is currently a small garage on the site proposed for the new struc-
ture, which is right on the property line, and as a result, a variance
is necessary to build a new garage if it is less than 10' from the sideyard.
The abutting property owner, Kermit Benson, indicated he had no objection
to the new garage or the location thereof.
Hearing no opposition, motion was made by Phil White, seconded by Ken Maus
and unanimously carried to approve the sideyard variance of 2' for the
garage for Don Smith.
2. Consideration of Ordinance Amendment on Wall Signs.
Currently, City ordinances allow businesses to erect either one free-standing
sign and one wall sign, or, as an alternative, two wall signs. In the past,
wall signs have been allowed that meet the square footage requirement in
a particular area that may contain several messages along with the identifi-
cation of a business. If, however, an individual were to put up an
identification sign and in addition have other signs advertising brand names,
the City's policy has been to construe this as more than one wall sign.
In order to resolve this problem, an ordinance amendment was recommended
to simplify the procedure. The intent of the new ordinance would be to
allow a business which proposed to put up wall signs to allow up to four
brand identification signs and two premise identification signs in a case
where a business would apply for Option A allowing for only wall signs.
(In no case will there be more than two brand identification signs and
one premise identification s-gn on any one wall). Under Option B where
businesses would apply for the combination of both a pylon sign and a
wall sign, one pylon sign would be allowed along with one business iden-
tification sign and two brand identification signs.
At their last meeting, the Planning Commission recommended approval of the
new ordinance amendment.
Motion was made by Fran Fair, seconded by Phil White and unanimously carried
to approve a revising of the ordinance amendment pertaining to wall signs
and pylon signs. (See ordinance amendment 2-26-79 #64).
Council Minutes - 2/26/79
3. Public Hearing on Variance Request for Six Wall Signs by Marn Flicker.
Mr. Marn Flicker had requested a variance to allow two identification signs
and four brand identification signs for his new TV & Appliance building on
Highway 25 in Monticello. With the adoption of the ordinance amendment
in Agenda Item 2, this variance was no longer needed as Mr. Flicker's
proposal fell within the scope of the new ordinance.
4. Consideration of Scheduling Interviews for Public Works Director Candidates.
As of the Council meeting, 25 applications have been received for the
position of Public Works Director for the City of Monticello. The
City Administrator has reviewed the applications, and has recommended
that eight (8) individuals be interviewed further.
A special meeting of the Council was scheduled for March 8, 1979 at
7:00 P.M. to interview the eight selected candidates for the position of
Public Works Director.
5. Consideration of a Subdivision of Property - William Seefeldt.
Mr. Bill Seefeldt requested to subdivide a 1.28 acre parcel off of the
Electro Industries property of approximately 12.2 acres. This property
is currently zoned I-1 (light industrial) and if approved, Mr. Seefeldt
has arranged to sell this property to the Monticello area Alano Society
for use as a meeting room.
This simple subdivision requires only Planning Commission and City Council
approval along with a Certificate of Survey and a park dedication fee of
100 of the value of the land, or in this case, approximately $321.
Motion was made by Dan Blonigen, seconded by Fran Fair and unanimously
carried to approve the subdivision of the 1.28 acre parcel.
6. Public Hearing on Variances for Monticello Alano Society.
The Monticello Alano Society (Alcoholics Anonymous) plans to purchase the
1.28 acre parcel of property discussed in Agenda Item 5.
The Society would like to utilize the existing building on the property
as a meeting room, and also requested the following variances from
the City of Monticello:
A. Variance from minimum 22 acre requirements for a private sewer and
water system.
B. Variance from City provisions on parking lots requiring hardsurface
and concrete curb barriers around the perimeter of the parking lot.
Parking surface would be gravel and log barriers would be put around
the perimeter of the parking lot.
C. Variance to allow a Club within an I-1 (light industrial) zone.
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Council Minutes - 2/26/79
The Planning Commission, at their last meeting, approved all three var-
iance requests primarilly because of the nature of the club, which was
to be anonymous and it was felt that the particular area in question
would retain a low profile identity that the club seeks.
A motion was made by Dan Blonigen, seconded by Fran Fair and unanimously
carried to approve the three variances requested by the Alano Society
contingent upon the variances being effective only for the Alano Society,
and if the use of the building should change, the variances would be
terminated.
7. Approval of Bills.
Motion was made by Ken Maus, seconded by Phil White and unanimously carried
to approve the bills for February 1979 as presented. (See Supplement 2-26-79 #1)
8. Approval of Minutes.
The Minutes of the Council Meeting held February 12, 1979 were approved
as read.
9. Presentation of Preliminary Report on 1979-1 Improvement Project.
Mr. John Badalich, consulting engineer, presented to the Council the
preliminary feasibility study on the 1979-1 Improvement Project for the
Council reviewal. Mr. Badalich will review the report in detail at the
next Council Meeting.
10. Miscellaneous.
A. A joint meeting with the School Board and the City Council to
discuss the Worth Brasie Library situation as it pertains to Oakwood
School has been scheduled for March 13, 1979, at the administrative
offices of the Oakwood School.
B. The Council also discussed the potential hazards of spring flooding
and what procedures the Civil Defense of Monticello would take rela-
tive to flooding at the River Terrace Trailer Park. The City Council
also recommended that the River Terrace Trailer Park be contacted
and informed that they would be responsible for moving trailers from
the flood hazard area if flooding seems eminent.
Meeting adjourned.
Ric and Wolfst ler
Assistant Adm' istrator
RW/ns
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