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City Council Minutes 07-25-1983MINUTES REGULAR MEETING - MONTICELLO CITY COUNCIL July 25, 1983 - 7:30 P.M. Members Present: Arve Grimsmo, Jack Maxwell, Fran Fair, Dan Blonigen, Ken Maus. Members Absent: None. 2. Approval of the Minutes. A motion was made by Blonigen, seconded by Fair to approve the minutes of the regular meeting held on July 11, 1983. Voting in favor were Blongien, Grimsmo, Fair and Maxwell. Ken Maus abstained due to his absence at the last meeting. 4. Public Hearing - Tax Increment Finance District #2 - Jim Powers Proposal.- "Powers Strength and Health Club!'. 5. Consideration of Adoption of a Resolution Giving Final Apj2roval to Tax Increment Finance District #2. The Monticello HRA has been working with Mr. Jim Powers on his proposal to construct and operate an indoor athletic facility. The basic development proposal entails total expense to the developer of $1,250,000 of which $150,000 would be for land acquisition. Tax incre- ment Financing District #2 would involve the HRA in purchasing the land for the athletic facility for $149,000 and in turn sell the property to Mr. Powers for the athletic club for the price of $12,500. The balance, plus all administrative, legal and contingent expense would be recovered by the HRA over the eight year life of the tax increment district. The HRA and the City Council expressed concern over the feasibility of such a club and how the City could be protected in recovering its cost of writing down the land to Mr. Powers. Because of this, the HRA has initiated a policy that will require the developer to supply a letter of credit from a bona fide lending institution, the proceeds of which will be assigned to the HRA to cover the total amount of any bond issue including interest that the City would have to pay over the eight year life. This, along with other provisions of the developer's agreement makes the overall project risk minimal to the HRA. - 1 - Council Minutes - 7/25/83 In lieu of selling bonds on the open market to finance the land acquisition for the athletic club, the HRA has nego- tiated a private placement with the Wright County State Bank who has agreed to purchase the bonds in the amount of $167,000.00 for a period of 912- years at 9% interest rate. The additional $18,000 over the purchase price of the property is needed by the HRA to pay the first annual interest installment as the HRA would not receive any tax increments from real estate taxes until 1985. Hearing no comments from the public in regard to the Tax Increment District #2, the public hearing was closed. It was noted by the Council that approval of the Tax In- crement Financing Plan for district #2 does not in any way guarantee that the project will proceed and Mr. Powers was informed that his building and project must still meet all City codes and regulations regarding the building permit and zoning regulations, etc. before it can proceed. As a result, a motion was made by Fair, seconded by Blonigen and unanimously carried to adopt a resolution authorizing the certification of the Tax Increment District #2 and the financing plan as presented. (See Resolution 1983 #75). 6. Final Consideration of Rehabilitation of Pedestrian Lighting on the Mississippi River Bridge. During the past month, the Council has been discussing whether the City should fix the bridge lighting over the pedestrian walkway on the Mississippi River bridge. John Simola, Public Works Director, initially received a quote from Olson Electric for approximately $2,180 to repair and replace 5 fixtures. The Council requested that Mr. Simola obtain additional quotes from other electricians to see if the cost could be lowered. Mr. Simola noted that for approximately a month he has been trying to obtain quotes from other electricians and did receive a quote Friday morning from Heskin's Electric for $1,985, if five fixtures are needed for replacement. In addition, Mr. Dick Oslund from Double "D" Electric has decided not to bid on the lighting project since he already knew what Olson Electric's bid was. It was noted that it is still the State of Minnesota's in- tention to start construction ofanew bridge possibly as early as 1985 and as a result, a motion was made by Blonigen, second- ed by Grimsmo to drop the entire lighting rehabilitation project for the present time. Voting in favor were Grimsmo, Fair, Maxwell and Blonigen. Opposed was Maus. - 2 - Council Minutes - 7/25/83 7. Consideration of a Resolution to Continue the Cable Fran- chising Process. The Minnesota Cable Communications Board requires that each City participating in a Joint Power's Agreement adopt a resolution stating the advisability of continuing on with the franchising process. The Joint Cable Commission, of which Monticello is a part, has met on a regular basis and is proceeding with the pre- paration of a request for a proposal that would be used to select a cable franchise company. A motion was made by Fair, seconded by Maus and unanimously carried to adopt the resolution approving the continuation of the franchising process,for cable television. (See Resolution 1983 #76). 8. Consideration and Evaluation of the Conduct of the Monticello Jaycee Circus and the Subsequent Waiver of the Fee. At the June 27th Council Meeting, the Monticello Jaycees were granted a permit to sponsor a circus on the old Oakwood Block property Saturday, July 23, 1983. There was consider- able discussion at that time and concern expressed over parking problems that might occur during the circus perform- ances and the decision was reached to evaluate how the Jaycees handled the parking problem after the event to determine whether or not a traveling show fee would be waived for the non-profit Jaycees. A motion was made by Maus, seconded by Blonigen and carried unanimously to waive the fee for the Monticello Jaycee's traveling show permit in the amount of $100 since there were no problems with parking, etc. 9. Consideration of a Request to Relinquish an Easement for Street Purposes - Dale Lungwitz, Oakwood Industrial Park. In September of 1977, the Oakwood Industrial Park Partnership granted to the City an easement which runs over the northerly 40'of the north half of Lot 4 in Oakwood Industrial Park, the easement being permanent for roadway and utility purposes. The north half of Lot 4 is now up for sale to an industrial developer from Willmar who has concerns with meeting all of the City's set back requirements since the easement contains roadway possibilities. With the roadway being part of the easement, the City would require all set backs to be calculated from the ease- ment area which the developer feels might hinder his room for expansion in the future. - 3 - Council Minutes - 7/25/83 Mr. Dale Lungwitz, a partner in the Oakwood Industrial Park, noted that it was his understanding the easement should have been given for utility purposes only and requested that the City relinquish roadway easement on this property so that the set back requirements can start from the property line rather than the easement line. In addition, Mr. Lungwitz questioned the need by the City for a 40' roadway easement over the north half of Lot 4 as the property would eventually dead end into the freeway and there appeared to be no reason to develop a road in this area and would be of no benefit to Lot 4. It was noted that the easement over Lot 4 for roadway purposes would provide access to City property that may be developed in the future as a well site for water and also could be needed in the future if Lot 11 in Thomas Industrial Park should be subdivided. It was noted that since there appeared to be no benefit to the Oakwood Industrial Park for providing a roadway easement and if Thomas Industrial Park should subdivide in the future, the road could be placed entirely on Thomas Industrial Park property and as a result, a motion was by Maus, seconded by Blonigen to authorize the City Attorney to prepare a new quit claim deed limiting the roadway easement over the northerly 40' of Lot 4 to a 40 by 40 foot triangle in the northwest corner which should be sufficient to provide a road alignment in the future. All voting in favor were Grimsmo, Maus, Fran and Blonigen. Maxwell abstained due to a conflict of interest in the Thomas Industrial Park property. 10. Consideration of Revising the City's License Fee Schedule. Currently, the City's ordinances refers to fees and licenses that will be set from time to time by the City Council. The Council reviewed the fee schedules for various licenses such as liquor, beer, rezoning, conditional use permits, and other miscellaneous licenses and fees. The latest increase in the fees took place approximately November of 1981 and a recommenda- tion was made to increase the fees effective September 1, 1983. A motion was made by Blonigen, seconded by Fair and unanimously carried to adopt a new fee schedule for the various licenses and permits to be effective September 1, 1983. (See Exhibit #1 which is attached). 11. Consideration of an Ap lication for a 3.2 Beer On -Sale License - St. Henry's Catholic Church, Fall Festival. As in the past years, the St. Henry's Catholic Church requested a one day 3.2 beer license for their annual Church Fall Festival scheduled for September 18, 1983. - 4 - Council Minutes - 7/25/83 A motion was made by Maxwell, seconded by Maus and unanimously carried to approve the issuance,of the one day 3.2 beer license to the Catholic Church for September 18, 1983, contingent upon proper insurance coverage being provided. 12. Consideration of an Appointment of a Wastewater Treatment Plant Operator. The City Administrator, the Wastewater Treatment Plant Superin- tendent and Public Works Director recently completed interview- ing applicants for a new Wastewater Treatment Plant operator position. It was recommended by this group that Mr. Tony Strande be hired by the City as the new Wastewater Treatment Plant operator. A motion was made by Fair, seconded by Maxwell and unanimously carried to hire Mr. Strande as the new Wastewater Treatment Plant operator. 13. Consideration of an Initiatinga Permanent Clerical Position in City Hall. The City Administrator and the City Finance Director requested Council approval for a new clerical position at City Hall which would be a bookkeeper/secretary position. The new individual would be primarily responsible to the finance director and would also have duties including typing, filing, reception and deputy registrar duties. A motion was made by Fair, seconded by Maxwell and unanimously carried to approve of the new job description for a bookkeeper/secretary position at City Mall and to give this new position to Marlene Hellman. In addition, a motion was made by Blonigen, seconded by Maxwell and unanimously curried to authorize the City Administrator to advertise for the vacancy at City Hall to fill the typing, secretarial/clerical position created by Marlene Hellman's promotion. 14. Approval of the Bills for July. A motion was made by Maus, seconded by Maxwell and unanimously carried to approve the bills for the month of July as presented. See Exhibit #2. Rick Wolf ste Y,er Assistant Administrator - 5 -