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City Council Minutes 10-28-1991MINUTES REGULAR MEETING - MONTICELLO CITY COUNCIL Monday, October 28, 1991 - 7:00 P•m• Members Present: Ken Maus, Shirley Anderson, Clint Herbst, Brad Fyle, Dan Blonigen Members Absent: None 2. Approval of minutes. After discussion, motion was made by Dan Blonigen and seconded show by Brad Fyle to modify ltem #4 of the from the vote, n minutes and to adopt the that Clint Herbst abstained meeting minutes of the regular meeting held October 15, 1991, as modified. Motion carried unanimously. 3. Citizens comments/petitions, requests, and complaints. None forthcoming. 8. Information Center/Chamber Office update. John Simola reviewed the Information Center Chber t theilding remodeling project budget and informed Council cost of the project will amount to $16,182. He to $a5 at the cost could be reduced to an amount ceramic the is not used in the bathroom the thefacility. tile noted that it may make sense to pay more for because it is easier to maintain than other types of less expensive floor coverings. Council reviewed the budget and discussed the matter with Chamber President, Bob Dawson, and Executive Director, Cindy Johnson. After discussion, a motion was made by Dan the remodeling seconded by Brad Fyle to order completion project subject to development of a lease agreement guaranteeing payback over ten years of City expenses associated with the remodeling. Motion carried unanimously. Rick wolfsteller also noted that it his understanding that the Chamber of Commerce will be paying B b Dawsonlconcurred costs associated with operating the building. that it was his understanding that the Chamber would be paying utility costs. Page 1 Council Minutes - 10/28/91 4. Public hearing on proposed assessment roll for delinquent charges, and consideration of adopting an assessment roll for certification with the County Auditor covering delinquent charges. Mayor Ken Maus opened the public hearing on the proposed assessment roll for delinquent charges. Steve Anderson of 1809 West River Street voiced his concern regarding the City's plan to place a delinquent utility bill on his taxes. He noted that the bill stems from use of the city water and sewer by a previous property owner. The previous property owner did not pay the bill prior to moving. Anderson, as the new owner, indicated that he did not feel that he should be required to pay this bill of $90. Dan Blonigen noted that our ordinance says that we must collect this from the property owner, and it is not the taxpayers' responsibility to pay this bill. He went on to note, however, that the City should be willing to work with the homeowner to assist in recouping the money from the individual that moved from the house without paying. Finally, Blonigen noted that the realtor should have the responsibility of making sure that all costs are accounted for prior to each sale. He also noted that he feels bad that this has happened, but the City cannot set a precedent here. If the City were to pay this bill, then people might not feel compelled to pay their final utility bill prior to moving. Ken Maus then closed the public hearing. After discussion, a motion was made by Brad Fyle and seconded by Shirley Anderson to adopt the assessment roll with Anderson's delinquent charges to be modified to include elimination of penalty and interest charges. City staff is to provide whatever assistance it can to Anderson in collecting from the previous property owner. Motion carried unanimously. SEE RESOLUTION 91-37. Council also discussed problems in getting homeowners to pay utility bills on time. It was the consensus of Council to be more aggressive on collecting utility bills through the normal City collection process rather than through the County Auditor. It was determined that the City should seriously consider turning individual water supplies off if the utility bills are not paid within an acceptable time frame. Page 2 Council Minutes - 10/28/91 5. _Consideration of adopting an ordinance amendment amending certification dates for delinquent accounts. Rick Wolfsteller noted that this item is a housekeeping item. Wolfsteller informed Council that state legislators amended Chaper 429.061, Subdivision 3, of the state statutes that extended the date for certification of delinquent accounts by municipalities until November 30 of each year. As a result of this change, the City now has additional time to certify delinquent accounts, and it is now recommended that we amend our ordinance sections to correspond with the amended state statutes. Wolfsteller noted that he could see no reason why the amendment should not be adopted. The additional time provided by the state statutes will allow the City to have an up-to-date list of delinquent accounts for certification annually. The amendment calls for changing the certification date from October 10 to November 30. After discussion, a motion was made by Clint Herbst and seconded by Dan Blonigen to approve the proposed ordinance amendment as submitted. Motion carried unanimously. SEE ORDINANCE AMENDMENT NO. 214. 6. _Review of bids and proposals for new snowplow truck and equipment and consideration of award. John Simola reviewed the bid tabulation and noted that the City received bids for the truck chassis from Boyer Ford, Hoglund Bus, and Lakeland Ford; and the City received bids on the hydraulic accessories and other snowplow accessories from Crysteel, MacQueen Equipment, and Schuster. Simola went on to recommend that the City purchase the single axle truck cab chassis and accessories from the low bidder, Lakeland Ford, in the amount of $40,342. The 12 -foot dump body with hydraulic accessories should be purchased from the low bidder, Crysteel, in the amount of $9,583; the snowplow should be purchased from the low bidder, Schuster, in the amount of $4,750; the wing and hitches from the lower bidder, MacQueen, in the amount of $5,920; and the sander should be purchased from the low bidder, MacQueen, in the amount of $2,209. Total cost of the truck and all of the accessories amounts to $62,804. Council then discussed whether or not to go ahead with purchasing the vehicle and associated equipment. Ken Maus noted that due to the long delivery time, it appears that the City may have already missed the entire snow season. Does it make sense to buy the equipment now? Perhaps we should wait until the spring and take delivery in the fall. Page 3 7. Council Minutes - 10/28/91 Dan Blonigen noted that there are other uses for the vehicle during the summer months, and the City is intent on buying it. It does not necessarily hurt to have the equipment early. It was also mentioned that the vehicle may arrive much sooner than the guaranteed 150 -day delivery time noted by the Lakeland Ford bid. After discussion, a motion was made by Brad Fyle and seconded by Dan Blonigen to purchase the snow removal equipment from the following vendors. Lakeland Ford, cab chassis $40,342.00 Crysteel, dump body 91583.00 MacQueen Equipment, snowplow 51920.00 Schuster, wing & hitches 41750.00 MacQueen Equipment, sander 21209.00 Motion carried unanimously. Consideration of final payment on annual sealcoating project, SC91-1. John Simola reviewed the project and noted that problems were encountered with the sealcoating on the north side of Broadway between Cedar Street and Dayton Street. A thunderstorm occurred within one to two hours after application of the sealcoat and rock. Since the oil is an asphalt emulsion and is somewhat water soluble during the first one to two hours after application, we experienced a darkening of the street surface and a staining of some of the curbs in the area. Simola noted that he contacted Gene Capistrant of Allied Blacktopping and suggested that we blot the areas with a clean fine sand. Capistrant indicated that by doing so, this would result in an extra charge on the project but that it would be minimal. Simola advised him to do what was needed to be done to control the leaching of the oil. He immediately dispatched several trucks with this material to Monticello, and it was effective in controlling any further leaching of oil. After discussion, a motion was made by Clint Herbst and seconded by Dan Blonigen to pay Allied Blacktopping the 10% remaining from the original contract of $3,804.33 but withhold payment of the $470 cost associated with the extra sand that was needed. Motion carried unanimously. Council elected to withhold payment of the $470 associated with the extra sand because the $470 expense should not be considered an added expense. Rather, it is a cost that the sealcoating company incurred to do the job right. Page 4 a Council Minutes - 10/28/91 Consideration of bills for the month of October. Motion was made by Shirley Anderson and seconded by Dan Blonigen to pay the bills as submitted. Motion carried unanimously. 10. Other matters. Shirley Anderson suggested the idea of developing a City newsletter that could be distributed to all residents on a periodic basis describing City programs, services, policies, etc. She noted that many communities provide information to its citizens on a regular basis through a newsletter, and it's something that the City should seriously consider. Ken Maus concurred that he has been behind putting a newsletter together for some time. It was the consensus of the Council to direct City staff to begin work on development of a newsletter. Assistant Administrator, Jeff O'Neill, was directed to lead the project. Coucil discussed philosophies toward advertising goods sold by the municipal liquor store. It was the consensus of Council that the municipal liquor store should advertise; however, all advertisements should focus on the importance of moderation. Council reviewed the preliminary budget prepared by City Administrator, Rick Wolfsteller. In his budget statement, Wolfsteller noted that the proposed tax levy needed to support the budget is $2,558,554, which represents a 1.4% increase over the previous year's budget. This amounts to a $38,495 increase over last year's budget. Most of the increase is due to inflationary pressures such as the increase in the law enforcement contract and an increase in the garbage and refuse department. The proposed budget includes major expenditures out of the capital outlay fund for the following: West Bridge Park restrooms and parking lot, $60,000; lighting of two softball fields at the NSP complex, $80,000; replacement for the 1981 Chevrolet truck, $62,000; one -ton truck with flatbed, $24,000; continuation of sidewalk improvement program, $28,500; and additional funds needed for County Road 75, County Road 118, and County Road 39 traffic signals, $12,500. Wolfsteller noted that the capital expenditures proposed in the fund do not leave us with any unallocated amount for unforeseen Page 5 Council Minutes - 10/28/91 expenditures, as the budget is actually proposing a transfer of $53,600 from the liquor fund to accommodate the capital outlay items. Dan Blonigen noted that the City should not dip into its reserve funds for nonessential purchases, as there will likely be necessary purchases in the future such as expansion of the maintenance building, and we will need as much of our reserves as possible to finance such purchases. He noted that the softball and baseball complex users should be supporting the cost of the installation of lights. Roger Mack noted that the existing fields are heavily used and installation of lights would enable these fields to be used more. This could result in a savings by eliminating the need to develop additional ballfields. After discussion, it was the consensus of Council to take no action on the budget as submitted and defer action until the formal hearing scheduled for November 25, 1991. There being no further discussion, the meeting was adjourned. Jeff O'Neill Assistant Administrator Page 6 t �- I'. -- c�- \