City Council Minutes 09-08-1986MINUTES
REGULAR MEETING - MONTICELLO CITY COUNCIL
Monday, September 8, 1986 - 7:30 p.m.
Members Present: Arve A. Grimsmo, Fran Fair, Bill Fair, Dan Blonigen,
Jack Maxwell
Members Absent: None.
2. Approval of Minutes.
Motion was made by Fran Fair, seconded by Maxwell, and unanimously carried
to approve the minutes of the special meeting held August 25, 1986, and
the regular meeting held August 25, 1986.
3. Citizens Comments/Petitions, Requests, and Complaints.
Mr. John Sandberg appeared before the Council to question whether the City
will be responsible for expending large sums of money to serve the new
proposed middle school with sewer, water, storm sewer, roads, and other
utilities at taxpayers' expense. Mr. Sandberg noted that the City Council
has indicated it will be working with the school to supply utilities, and
he felt that the school district should be paying all costs associated
with roads and utilities for their school rather than City taxpayers being
responsible for the cost.
Mayor Grimsmo noted that it was his opinion the middle school should be
in the City limits and if services are needed by the school, they would be
extended by the City, but the school would pay its fair share of the cost.
Administrator Eidem noted that the past policy of the City has been to
assess benefiting property and in this case, the school district would be
responsible for a portion of cost associated with extending utilities and
also abutting property owners, which is currently Mr. Jim Boyle.
Petitions
City Administrator Eidem introduced a petition presented by property owners
Daniel Frie, Tom Holthaus, and Darryl Veches requesting vacation of utility
and drainage easements between Lots 1 and 2, Block 3, in The Meadows, for
the purpose of allowing construction of a zero lot line duplex.
Motion was made by Bill Fair, seconded by Blonigen, and unanimously carried
to accept the petition and to hold a public hearing on the vacation of
the utility and drainage easements on October 14, 1986.
Because of recent complaints by residents over the number of cruisers and
kids congregating on sidewalks on Broadway on weekends, the City Administrator
had met with the Wright County Sheriff to discuss the situation, and the
Sheriff's Department has agreed to increase foot patrols and add additional
squads for patroling on weekends. Sheriff Department representatives were
in attendance, and Chief Deputy Jim Powers indicated that one way to attack
the problem is through stricter enforcement of the traffic laws, etc. The
deputies noted that most of the kids cruising and congregating were not
necessarily causing a problem, but a lot of out-of-towners come to Monticello
Council Minutes - 9/8/86
for the main purpose of cruising down Broadway, etc. The Sheriff's Department
doesn't recommend at this time taking stricter action other than increasing
patrols in an effort to stop racing and squealing of tires, etc. If the
problem continues or becomes worse, other action may be necessary.
4. Consideration of Ordering the Improvement of Minnesota Street as Petitioned
by Installing Sanitary Sewer and Water.
Three property owners along Minnesota Street, Marvin Kramer, Tom Holthaus,
and Tom Brennan, have petitioned for extension of sanitary sewer and water
as part of the interceptor sewer project. The Public Works Director, John
Simola, noted that the project could be constructed with a shallow sewer
to serve only these three property owners with no future extension possibilities,
or the project could be installed in such a way that it could be extended
across the freeway in a southerly direction in the future at a very deep
depth to allow for gravity flow at a much greater cost. The third
alternative would be to install a shallower sewer at the present time
with the intention of installing a lift station on the south side of the
freeway in the future to serve this area by force main if needed. It was
his recommendation that a shallower sewer be installed along Minnesota
Street at an estimated cost of $31,152.00 to the property owners with an
additional $7,000.00 in oversizing being picked up by the City until it is
extended south of the freeway. At the time it would be needed on the south
side of the freeway, a lift station could be installed and connected to
the sewer on Minnesota Street. This alternative would keep the City's
oversizing cost to a minimum. The property owners have agreed to pay
the entire cost of a normal improvement and would be assessed at approximately
9% over 10-15 years as part of the interceptor sewer project.
Motion was made by Fran Fair, seconded by Bill Fair, and unanimously carried
to order the improvement as an additional add-on to the interceptor sewer
project with 100% of the normal cost being assessed to the three benefiting
property owners.
5. Consideration of Approving Change Order No. 4 to Construction Project 86-1.
During the backfilling of the interceptor sewer line between Cedar Street
and Washington Street next to the railroad tracks, the contractor was
required to thoroughly compact the backfill materials to stabilize the
soil for support of the nearby railroad tracks; and as a result, is now short
of backfill material in this area. The area between Cedar and Washington
Street was originally somewhat low; and after grading the material, there
is currently no drainage outlet in this area and some water does pond on
the railroad right-of-way during heavy rains.
Public Works Director, John Simola, noted that the proposal is to haul
in some additional fill material to raise this area slightly and to install
a small pipe underneath the railroad tracks to drain to the railroad ditch
during heavy periods of rain. The estimated cost of the change order would
be $2,450.00 for the fill material and the drainage culvert.
Motion was made by Bill Fair, seconded by Maxwell, and unanimously carried to
approve Change Order No. 4 on the 86-1 Interceptor Sewer Project.
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6. Consideration of a Resolution Accepting Petitions from Kent Kjellberg for
Annexation and Requesting Action from the Minnesota Municipal Commission.
Administrator Eidem informed the Council that on September 3 the City
received two separate petitions for annexation of additional lands south
of the City lying adjacent to Highway 25 from property owner Kent Kjellberg.
The area requested for annexation consists of approximately 475 acres.
The Minnesota Municipal Commission has currently scheduled a public hearing
for September 10 to consider the annexation of 704 acres originally requested
by the City; and Mr. Eidem noted that the question now becomes whether the
Council should request that this additional 475 acres from Kent Kjellberg
be incorporated into the original request before the Municipal Commission.
The other alternative would be to present the annexation request from Mr.
Kjellberg as a separate petition to the Municipal Board, which would result
in separate public hearings on the annexation request.
Elizabeth Morrisson of Howard Dahlgren & Associates, the City's Consulting
Planner, noted that the City Council must decide what area it wishes to
pursue before the Municipal Board or whether it wishes to continue accepting
annexation request petitions on a piecemeal basis. She felt in this case
it would be better to incorporate Mr. Kjellberg's annexation petition with
the petition already before the Municipal Board rather than holding separate
hearings.
Council members Bill Fair and Dan Blonigen noted that the City will probably
continue to receive in the future separate requests by property owners
for annexation which will result in many public hearings being necessary
before the Municipal Commission. It was their opinion that the City should
consider going back to its original Planner's recommendation based on the
study the planning firm did of the Orderly Annexation Area which indicated
that the entire Orderly Annexation Area should be considered for annexation,
which would allow the City better control over planning its future utility
needs, etc. It was the general consensus of the Council that by accepting
individual piecemeal annexation requests, the City never really knows where
its eventual boundaries may be and that it is very difficult to continually
plan for providing services for future growth if the City does not know where
its boundaries may extend to. It was noted by the Council that because of
the original opposition by Township officials to the possibility of annexing
the entire Orderly Annexation Area, the City reduced its original scope to
only approximately 700 acres which now appears to be a mistake. Since the
initial request was made, additional property owners have requested to be
included in the annexation procedures which will always leave the City uncertain
over what areas to plan for in the future.
As a result, motion was made by Bill Fair, seconded by Fran Fair, and unanimously
carried to return to the recommendation of the Consulting Planner who prepared
the original study of the Orderly Annexation Area and to request that the entire
Orderly Annexation Area be considered for annexation and to request the
Municipal Commission for a continuance of the public hearing for annexation
past the October 15, 1986, scheduled date.
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7. Consideration of Granting Approval for an Application for 3.2 Beer/Wine
License - Applicant, Kenneth S. Chew.
Motion was made by Bill Fair, seconded by Maxwell, and unanimously carried
to approve the issuance of a 3.2 Beer/Wine License for Kenneth Chew for
a restaurant at the Monticello Mall contingent upon submission of surety
bond and liability insurance coverage as required.
8. Consideration and Review of the Proposed 1987 Budget of the SWC4.
Motion was made by Fran Fair, seconded by Blonigen, and unanimously carried
to approve ratification of the 1987 Budget for the Cable Commission, with
the City of Monticello's share being $4,170.00, which will be reimbursed
by Rite Cable Company.
9. Consideration of Setting a Special Meeting to Consider the 1987 Preliminary
Budget.
A special meeting was scheduled for 6:30 p.m. on September 22, 1986, for
the purpose of reviewing the preliminary 1987 Budget.
• L'tJ
Rick Wolfsteller
Assistant Administrator
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