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City Council Minutes 08-22-1983MINUTES REGULAR MEETING - MONTICELLO CITY COUNCIL August 22, 1983 - 7:30 P.M. Members Present: Arve Grimsmo, Fran Fair, Dan Blonigen, Fran Fair, Ken Maus. Members Absent: None. 2. Approval of the Minutes. A motion was made by Maus, seconded by Blonigen and unanimously carried to approve the minutes of the regular meeting held on August 8, 1983. 4. Consideration of Information Relating to the Condition of City Hall Roof. Since the City Hall was completed in 1978, the City has experienced some leakage problems on numerous occasions which have not, apparent- ly, been rectified to date. On August 12, 1983, the City Staff held a meeting with the representatives from the Herbert Mikkel- son Company, general contractor for the building, Mr. Herb Ketcham of Architectural Alliance, the architect for the City Hall project, and two gentlemen representing the company, Ettel and Franz, who were the roofing subcontractors. The purpose of the meeting was to try and resolve the roof leakage problem along with some other apparent defects in the building. After inspection of the roof, it was noted that the flashing was installed on the roof under the shingles for appearance sake which may not have been the best installation. One possible solution was to install a rain gutter to catch some of the water coming off that portion of the Council Chambers roof to divert some of the water directly to the ground rather than having a large quantity of water running off over the vestibule or front entrance. The group also discussed the scaling or chipping away of the brick that has occurred on parts of the building due to excessive water aborption and the constant build up of ice during the winter. It was noted by the architect that the City should have been aware that the type of brick used is very porus and would absorb water and that it would have to be treated with some type of sealant to prevent problems with this type of brick. Additionally, it was noted that there were cracks on part of the roof line near the eaves in the shingles which may be the result of excessive ice accumulation. Council Minutes - 8/22/83 It was the architect's recommendation that minor repairs be done in a phased project to see how each step might solve the leakage problem and the architect was working on obtaining price quotes for the various improvements. It seemed apparant from the meeting that the general concensus of the contractors involved was that it was no longer their problem with the roof leakage or any problem and that their warranty has expired and it would be the City's problem. Building Inspector, Gary Anderson, noted that he is in the process of receiving a pro- posal from a contractor to seal the brick with a sealant to stop water absorption. It was also noted that while a firm price had not been established to install additional flashing and rain gutters to help alleviate the leakage, these quotations should be coming in the near future. After considerable discussion on the problems, it was the con - census of the Council to have the work done yet this year and try to solve the leakage problems throughout the building regardless of what the general contractors or roofing con- tractors agree to do,and suggested that the City Staff try to get some sort of settlement from the contractors involved. A motion was made by Blonigen, seconded by Maus and unanimously carried to consult with the City Attorney to see whether the City has any legal recourse from the contractors involved for the problems and to start immediately with the repairs to the brick and flashing, subject to the legal advice as to whether these repairs should be done prior to reaching a settlement. 5. Consideration of Appointing Gary Anderson as City Assessor. On June 30, 1983, the City received permission from the Com- missioner of Revenue to re-establish the office of City Assessor. The job description has been prepared for the position and it was the recommendation of the administrator that the City's Building Inspector, Mr. Gary Anderson, be appointed also as City Assessor. A motion was made by Fair, seconded by Maxwell and unanimously carried to appoint Gary Anderson as City Assessor with a salary adjustment effective September 1, 1983, to $23,000 annually. 6. Consideration of Final Appointment for a Secretary in City Hall. Mr. Tom Eidem noted that approximately 60 applications were received for the secretary position that was open. After review of the applicants, Mr. Eidem recommended that Karen Doty be hired as the new secretary. A motion was made by Blonigen, seconded by Maxwell and unani- mously carried to hire Karen Doty as the new secretary for City Hall. - 2 - Council Minutes - 8/22/83 7. Consideration of Municipal Liquor Store Financial Statements for the First Six Months of 1983. Mark Irmiter, Liquor Store Manager, was present at the Council Meeting to review the financial statement for the first six months of operation for the off -sale Liquor Store. Mr. Irmiter noted that sales were down approximately 4% from last year's figures which has been the trend in other communities during the past six months also. The resulting net income was only $400 lower than last year's income for the same period. It was noted that some possible improvements to the Liquor Store in the future could be parking lot expansion and the addition of new cash registers which will be budgeted for in 1984. No other action was taken other than the review of the state- ments as presented. 8. Consideration of a Request from the Housing and Redevelopment Authority for a Loan to Acquire Land. Last fall, the Monticello HRA provided tax increment financing for IXI Corporation on Lots 7, Block 3, Oakwood Industrial Park. During the original negotiations, it was apparent that Lots 5 and 6 were also intended to be purchased for future enlarge- ment of the IXI Corporation's building complex. The City's HRA originally only purchased Lot 7, but it was the intent of the HRA to obtain an option on the two additional lots so that this land would be available once IXI started to expand their complex. IXI Corporation recently approached the Oakwood Industrial Park Partnership to request permission to begin construction of their berm around all of Lots 5, 6 and 7, even though they do not have ownership of Lots 5 and 6 yet. From the financial standpoint, IXI's plan is to bring in the heavy dirt moving equipment and have them dig all of the foundations, move all of the fill, and do all of the grading at one time rather than have to hire machinery to come in on several other occasions to do parts of the job. The Oakwood Partnership is uncomfortable with allowing land that they still own to be graded and bermed and would like to see the HRA acquire the land first. The total purchase price of the remaining two lots would require a loan from the City in the amount of $154,800.00. Once the land was acquired by the HRA, portions of the lot would be resold to IXI Corporation in phases with the loan being repaid to the City from the tax increments generated on future building projects. A motion was made by Maus, seconded by Fair, and unanimously carried to authorize the HRA to borrow $154,800.00 from the City to be repaid with the tax increments generated from IXI's expansion projects with an annual interest rate of 8% per year. - 3 - Council Minutes - 8/22/83 9. Consideration of Authorizing the Submission of an Urban Develop- ment Action Grant Application. Recently, the City of Monticello has been notified that it would no longer meet the criteria established by HUD to be eligible for future UDAG grant money after August 31, 1983. An Urban Development Action Grant is basically a grant to the City which in turn lends money to an economic developer at a reduced interest rate. When the money is repaid back with interest, the community is allowed to keep the funds and reuse the money in a similar fashion to help other development within the City. The program requires substantial commitment from the developer, with the higher ratio of private sector dollars to public dollars creating a greater chance for grant approval. In the last few weeks, Fulfillment Systems of Monticello has approached the City in order to relocate their business within the corporate limits and they have expressed an interest in trying to meet the August 31, 1983,deadline to apply for the UDAG grant funds to help them establish their business in the City. The City Staff has been working on trying to get the applications submitted prior to August 31st and would require Council authorization to apply. A motion was made by Blonigen, seconded by Maxwell and unani- mously carried to authorize the submission of an Urban Develop- ment Action Grant application for FulFillment Systems Develop- ment Plan. (See Resolution 1983 #77). 10. Consideration of Rescheduling the First Meeting in September from Monday,�September 12th to Tuesday, September 13, 1983. Due to the annual Industry Day banquet scheduled for Monday, September 12, 1983, it was the concensus of the Council to hold its first regularly scheduled Council meeting of the month on Tuesday, September 13th, 1983. In addition, the first regular meeting in October was rescheduled from Monday, October 10th (Columbus Day) to October 11, 1983. 11. Approval of the Bills. - A motion was made by Maxwell, seconded by Fair, and unani- mously carried to approve the bills for the month of August as presented. Rick Wolfstel r r Assistant Administrator - 4 -