City Council Minutes 03-24-1980MINUTES
REGULAR MEETING - MONTICELLO CITY COUNCIL
March 24, 1980 - 7:30 P. M.
MEMBERS PRESENT: Arve Grimsmo, Dan Blonigen, Fran Fair, Ken Maus, Phil White.
Members Absent: None
1. Public Hearing on the Consideration of a Variance Request for a Beaut
Shop in an R-1 Zone at 1305 West Broadway - Barb Soucy.
Barb Soucy requested a variance to allow her to operate a beauty shop
in her home at 1305 West Broadway (Lot 9, Block 1, Doerr Estates).
City Ordinances do allow for home occupations under certain circumstances,
but a variance would be needed in this instance since a beauty shop
is not one of the home occupations allowed under current ordinances.
According to Ms. Soucy, she would have no employees and no more than
one appointment at any time unless there might be an overlap of one
person leaving and a new appointment arriving.
Arlene McIntyre spoke in favor of allowing Barb Soucy to have a beauty
shop, indicating that other operators have been granted permission to
operate out of their home in the past, and felt that Pts. Soucy would
provide a service that is much needed in Monticello.
Councilman Maus questionned why certain home occupations are allowed
under City Ordinances, while others are not, and felt that maybe this
entire definition should be reviewed in the future. Mr. Maus also
indicated that he was not convinced that everyone needed to be in the
downtown business area to provide a service or conduct business within
Monticello. Councilman Blonigen felt that the ordinance should also
be reviewed and indicated that in his opinion beauty shops and other
small businesses should be allowed to start in a persons residence
because, if not allowed there, these services may not be provided at
all within a City. Councilmen Fair and White expressed concern over
where does the city draw the line as to the number of beauty shops that
would be allowed if the variances are continued to be approved. It was
felt by these two councilmen that if variances -are continued, the Ordinance
might as well be changed to allow all people to open beauty shops if they
request.
Planning Commission recommendations were to deny this variance request based
on the fact there are areas properly zoned for such use in the downtown
area and felt this would be an unfair advantage to those businesses and
beauty shops that were operating out of the home as opposed to those that
were in a business location paying real estate taxes, etc. The Planning
Commission has noted they will be reviewing the entire definition of
allowable home occupations in a residential zone in the future to deter-
mine whether the ordinance should be changed to allow more uses or restrict
uses at all in a residential area.
COUNCIL MINUTES - 3/24/80
Motion was made by Dan Blonigen, seconded by Ken Maus and unanimously
carried to grant Barb Soucy a variance to allow her to operate a beauty
salon in her home at 1305 West Broadway, provided there is only one
operator with only one customer at a time with one off-street parking.
Motion was also made by Fran Fair, seconded by Ken Maus and unanimously
carried to have a City-wide moratorium on all future variance requests
for beauty shop operations and all other home occupations until the
Planning Commission has had time to review the ordinance in detail and
submit their recommendations on possible changes.
2. Public Hearing on the Consideration of a Variance Request on Rear
Yard Setback and Minimum Lot Width and Subdivision of Lots - Lee Hatfield.
'Mr. Gary DeBoer, on behalf of Mr. Lee Hatfield, requested the Council
approve a simple subdivision of lots 4 & 5, Block 39, Townsite of Monticello,
into two lots. Currently, there is a home located on the southerly part
of Lots 4 & 5, and the proposal was to divide off the northerly part of
Lots 4 & 5 into a separate buildable lot.
The proposed newly created lot would be 10,032 square feet, and the
remaining existing home would have 11,728 square feet. Both of these
lots would exceed the 10,000 square foot minimum requirement necessary
in an R-2 zone.
Variances were requested in that City ordinances require a 30' rear yard
setback, whereas, only 27' would be provided on the existing house and
also, City ordinances require a minimum of 80' street frontage lot width,
while the proposed lot would provide only 76'.
The Planning Commission, at their last meeting, recommended unanimously
to approve this subdivision since both lots did meet the minimum square
footage requirement, and the variances needed were very close to the
actual requirements of the City ordinances.
Motion was made by Fran Fair, seconded by Dan Blonigen and unanimously
carried to approve the simple subdivision of Lots 4 & 5, Block 39, Townsite
of Monticello, for Lee Hatfield, contingent upon a certificate of survey
being presented and the recording of the subdivision with the County
Recorder. The motion included approving the variances of 3' for the
rear yard setback for the existing house, and allowing the lot to be 4' less
than the minimum lot width requirement.
3. Public Hearing on the 1980-1 Improvement Project Feasibility Report for
Sewer, Water and Other Improvements along East County Road 39 and East
County Road 75.
At the March 24, 1980 Council Meeting, a public hearing was scheduled to
review the feasibility report on the 1980-1 improvement project consisting
of sewer and water and other improvements along East County Road 39, East
County Road 75 and Macarlund Plaza Development.
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COUNCIL MINUTES - 3/24/80
John Badalich, City Engineer, reviewed with the Council the feasibility
report as prepared, which proposed the following assessments to the
following property owners:
Macarlund Plaza Townhouse Area $ 93,277
Remaining portion of Curt Hoglund Property 58,690
Maurice Hoglund Property 98,584
Lot 19, Blk 3, Hoglund Addition 5,485
TOTAL PROPOSED ASSESSMENTS $256,036
In addition to the assessable portion of $256,036, it was proposed that
a 16" watermain be installed along East County Road 39 from the Intersec-
tion of County Road 75 and East County Road 39 to the Intersection of
East County Road 39 with Mississippi Drive at a cost of approximately
$30,000, which was proposed to be picked up on ad valorem or general
property taxes.
Prior to the Council meeting, the City Engineer met and reviewed with the
property owners and the City Staff the feasibility report as presented.
At that meeting, Maurice Hoglund indicated concern over the amount of
assessments his property would have East of County Road 39. Mr. Hoglund
indicated he did not know at this time how he would plan to develop his
20 acre plat, and felt that the $98,000 in assessments as proposed
seemed quite high if he had to install additional sewer and water exten-
sions within his property in the future. In addition, Maurice Hoglund
would be assessed for water only at his home site, and indicated he would
like to see the sewer and water re-routed somehow so that the northerly
portion of his homesite property could be developed into additional
residential lots and be served by sewer and water.
As a result of these discussions with the property owners, Maurice Hoglund
will be determining what type of development he may be proposing for his
20 -acre plat along with a possible layout of a subdivision of his northerly
half of his homesite property. The engineer noted that it is possible that
sewer and water could serve the Macarlund Townhouse Development in a different
fashion as proposed in the feasibility study, and that the sewer and water
could be tied into Mississippi Drive through an easement through some of the
Lots in Hoglund Addition Plat. If this were feasible, the Macarlund Townhouse
Site would receive sewer and water as requested and possibly Maurice Hoglund's
Homesite could receive sewer and water, thus eliminating installing portions
of sewer and watermain along East County Road 39 and County Road 75 thus
reducing the cost of the project. If the feasibility study is redone to
figure rerouting of the sewer and water to Mississippi Drive, the watermain
would not be looped and as a result, Macarlund Plaza Townhouse development
would probably have to install booster pumps to provide adequate water
pressure throughout the development.
Because of the uncertainty from the property owners over how they would
like the sewer and water extended through the area and because of the
problem that exists today in that the City cannot sell bonds to finance
such a project unless the State laws are changed to allow a higher interest
rate on the bonds, motion was made by Dan Blonigen, seconded by Phil White
and unanimously carried to continue the public hearing on the 1980-1 project
until the next regular Council Meeting April 14, 1980 to give Maurice Hoglund
and other property owners in the area more time to decide how they would plan
to develop their property and to also see what happens in regards to the bond
interest rate limit in the State Legislature.
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COUNCIL MINUTES - 3/24/80
4. Consideration of Developinq Guidelines for Industrial Revenue Bonds.
Purpose of this item was to consider the development of guidelines to be
used by the City Council of Monticello when determining whether to issue
Industrial Revenue Bonds. Primary concern of the Council was whether
guidelines should be established before the City approves the issuance
of Industrial Revenue Bonds since more and more industries and businesses
are requesting such bonds to help make it economically feasible to develop
in a community.
City Administrator had gathered criteria established in three other
communities who issued industrial revenue bonds, and the following basic
requirements were recommended by the City Administrator if adoption of
guidelines were established by the City Council.
A. Copy of the last two certified annual audits, if available. If a
Company has not previously had a certified audit, a copy of the un-
audited financial statements should be made available.
B. Dunn & Bradstreet rating, if available.
C. Realistic forecast for the next three years.
D. Ratio of long term debt to equity after issuance of proposed bonds
should not exceed 2 to 1.
E. Net earnings before taxes and depreciation should cover long term
requirements by 2 to 1.
F. If a certified audit is not available for the last two years because
the company is either a new company or has not had a certified audit,
an opinion should be obtained by the CPA stating that the applicant
does have the ability to meet the debt service requirements based on
past and/or future earnings.
The above six guidelines recommended were a combination of the require-
ments used by other communities to help establish that industries granted
industrial revenue bonds would be of a reliable nature, thus helping
reduce the possibility that they would default on the bonds, which would
in turn, give the City a bad name as far as bonding issues goes.
Although the Council felt developing guidelines should be accomplished
in the near future, this item was tabled for further review to enable
Councilmen and City Staff to meet with bonding consultants to discuss
additional guideline procedures and recommendations to set up realistic
guidelines for the City. It was noted that too harsh of a guideline
would possibly eliminate the entire purpose of industrial revenue bonds,
and that is to create new jobs and employment and increase the tax base
in rural communities.
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COUNCIL MINUTES - 3/24/80
5. Consideration of Resolution for Life Insurance Coverage through Payroll
Withholdinq - City Administrator.
Purpose of this item was to consider a resolution for life insurance
coverage for Gary Wieber, City Administrator, through a payroll withholding
type plan. The City Administrator had indicated he would like to purchase
a life insurance policy whereby the City of Monticello would pay the premium
on the life insurance for a $50,000 policy, and this premium amount would,
in turn, be deducted from his gross salary. The City, in effect, would be
the owner of the life insurance policy, but the resolution would authorize
any proceeds from the policy to be paid to the City Administrator's beneficiary
as named. By using this method of payment whereby the City would make
the payment in lieu of the individual, this amount would not be taxable
income to the City Administrator.
Motion was made by Fran Fair, seconded by Ken Maus to make available life
insurance coverage as an elective for any non-union employee and to have
the City pay the premiums involved with the amounts deducted from the
salaries of the employee. It was noted that this motion would be subject
to approval of the legal opinion of the City Attorney.
Voting in favor: Fran Fair, Ken Maus, Arve Grimsmo, Phil White.
Opposed: Dan Blonigen.
(See Resolution #1980 #7).
6. Approval of Bills & Minutes.
Motion was made by Phil White, seconded by Fran Fair and unanimously
carried to approve the Minutes of March 10, 1980 regular meeting and
the bills for the month of March 1980, as presented. (See Exhibit
3/24/80 #1).
7. Discussion on Floodinq Problem in Balboul Estates.
City Engineer, John Badalich, reviewed with the Council the present
flooding problem incurred in the ponding areas between Anders -Wilhelm
Estates and Balboul Estates. Currently, because of the frozen ground -
and the water runoff, the ponding area between these two developments
has caused flooding to a couple of homes in Anders Wilhelm Estates and
Balboul Estates. City Engineer, John Badalich, indicated that the ponding
area was supposed to be graded to a 9-14 elevation by the developer,
Marvin George of Princeton, and although elevations have not been established
by the engineering staff, it is assummed that the grading was not completed
according to the grading plan. An item that compounded the problem is
that a couple of the homes in the area did not conform to the individual
plat grading plan, whereby some homes have walkout basements that according
to the grading plan should not have. It was noted that the developer,
Marvin George, will be informed that the grading of the ponding area was
not completed according to the grading plan, and he will be notified that
this procedure should be corrected.
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8. Miscellaneous.
It was noted that the Board of Review meeting will be held on Tuesday,
May 13, 1980 at 7:00 P.M. by the Wright County Assessor's office to
review with Citizens of Monticello any questions they may have in
regards to the market value of their property established for the year
1980.
Meeting adjourned.
Z�x
Rick Wolfste er
Assistant Administrator
RW/ns
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