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City Council Minutes 01-22-2001MINUTES REGULAR MEETING - MONTICELLO CITY COUNCIL Monday, January 22, 2001 - 7 p.m. Members Present: Roger Belsaas, Roger Carlson, Clint Herbst, Brian Stumpf and Bruce Thielen. Members Absent: None. 1. Call to Order: Mayor Belsaas called the meeting to order at 7 p.m. and declared a quorum present. 2. Approve minutes of January 8, 2001 regular Council meeting. ROGER CARLSON MOVED TO APPROVE THE MINUTES OF THE JANUARY 8, 2001 REGULAR COUNCIL MEETING AS PRESENTED. BRIAN STUMPF SECONDED THE MOTION. MOTION CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY. 3. Consideration of adding items to theagenda. Jeff O'Neill requested that an update on the scattered housing program be added to the agenda. 4. Citizen comments/petitions, requests and complaints. None. 5. Consent Agenda A. Consideration of recommendation from Personnel Committee on establishment of full-time liquor store clerk/stock person position. Recommendation: Authorize the establishment of a full-time liquor store clerk/stock person position to cover afternoons and weekends. B. Consideration of approving appointment of Assistant Director for Monticello Community Center. Recommendation: Approve the hiring of Kate Broman to fill the Assistant Director position. C. Consideration of approving new hires and departures for the Community Center. Recommendation: Ratify the hiring of the part-time employees for the Community Center as identified. BRUCE THIELEN MOVED TO APPROVE THE CONSENT AGENDA. ROGER CARLSON SECONDED THE MOTION. MOTION CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY. Council Minutes - 1/22/01 6. Consideration of items removed from the consent agenda for discussion. None. 7. Public hearing - Consideration of a resolution adopting proposed assessment roll for delinquent utility bills and certification of assessment roll to County. Mayor Belsaas opened the public hearing on the proposed assessment roll for delinquent utilities. There was no one present who spoke for or against the proposed assessment. Mayor Belsaas then closed the public hearing. BRIAN STUMPF MOVED TO ADOPT THE ASSESSMENT ROLL FOR DELINQUENT UTILITIES AS PRESENTED. BRUCE THIELEN SECONDED THE MOTION. MOTION CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY. Res. 92001-4. 8. Review contract and policies governing; the operation and maintenance of the Riverside Cemeterv. Roger Belsaas and Bruce Thielen reported on the Personnel Committee's discussion of this item and their recommendation to establish an interim committee to update the policies. It was noted that the policies had not changed since the City had taken over the operation of the cemetery. Because of discrepancies between state statutes and the cemetery policies it was felt an update of the policies was necessary. It is hoped that once the update of the policies is completed. the Cemetery Committee will be set up within the Park Department in a fashion similar to the Recycling Committee and the committee would meet as needed to review issues relating to the cemetery operation. It is proposed to have six members on the committee: Roger Carlson, John Simola, Gregg Engle, Scott Hill and Rick Traver and another citizen to be selected later. BRUCE THIELEN MOVED TO SET UP A RIVERSIDE CEMETERY COMMITTEE CONSISTING OF SIX MEMBERS, COUNCILMEMBER ROGER CARLSON, PUBLIC WORKS DIRECTOR JOHN SIMOLA, PARK SUPERINTENDENT, GREGG ENGLE, PARKS COMMISSION REPRESENTATIVE RICK TRAVERS, SCOTT HILL AND AN ONE ADDITIONAL VOLUNTEER. CLINT HERBST SECONDED THE MOTION. MOTION CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY. 9. Review and discussion of Cijy snowplowing policies and consideration of it request for desio-nation of a commuter narking area - east end of town. John Simola, Public Works Director provided the background information on the City's snow removal policy noting that because the City has grown some adjustments to the snow plowing and snow removal policy were under consideration. Council Minutes - 1/22/01 1) Adding all the public parking lots in the downtown area to the category of being plowed by 8 a.m. on normal working days. The Council felt that it was a priority to the businesses in the downtown area to have the parking lots cleared and recommended including the public parking lots in the downtown area in the category of being cleared by 8 a.m. John Simola indicated that to accomplish this, personnel would be taken off sidewalks and pathways. 2) Pathways - The city had received a request to plow the pathway on the east side of TH 25 from Kjellberg's Mobile Home Park to Oakwood Drive and the pathway on the north side of School Boulevard from Service Drive on the west side of TH 25. There was also a request to plow the 6' wide pathway in the Meadow Oaks area. John Simola reviewed with the Council the segments of pathway and sidewalk that the City currently clears. The consensus of the Council was that the segments of pathway on TH 25 and School Boulevard be included and as time permits the staff should be encouraged to open other pathways segments. 3) Parking lot by lift station - Meadow Oaks Area - The City had received requests to have the parking lot by the lift station and by Freeway Fields plowed for commuter use. The staff was hesitant to create additional commuter parking lots when there was an established lot on TH 25 for that purpose. In addition there was concern if commuter parking use would interfere with the use of the park especially in the summer. There was also concern about people parking vehicles there that they were trying to sell. The City staff suggested that commuters may want to just park their vehicle on the street. The Council generally discussed the snow plowing policies and the proposed changes. Brad Fyle spoke to the Council about the sidewalk in the area of St. Henry's Church on 3" and Maple Streets. He asked if the City would consider having the City maintain it or eliminate maintenance of it. There was some discussion on the amount of use the sidewalk gets. At the present time. those sidewalks not maintained by the City are maintained by the property owners The staff was concerned that eliminating any segments of sidewalk from the maintenance requirements of the ordinance would set a precedent. A resident asked what would happen to their vehicles if they were parked on the street during the snow removal period. City ordinance restricts parking on any street between the hours of 2 a.m. and 6 a.m. from November 15"' through April 15`' Other than those times parking is allowed. however, if there is a snowfall of 2" in accumulation, all vehicles are to be off city streets in order for snow removal to take place. This requirement would pose a problem for those commuters parking on the street. John Simola suggested that maybe the Parks Commission should make a determination on how much space they could allow for commuter parking without it interfering with park use. Clint Herbst suggested that the City could plow the lot for the balance of the winter and then look at this issue again. BRUCE THIELEN MOVED TO APPROVE THE AMENDMENTS TO THE CITY OF MONTICELLO SNOW PLOWING/REMOVAL POLICY AS OUTLINED BY THE PUBLIC V WORKS DIRECTOR AND TO ADD THE FOLLOWING ITEMS: J Council Minutes - 1/22/01 A. Switching the downtown area parking lots fi-om being plowed �N ithin 12 hours after an event to be being plowed by 8 a.m. after a T' accumulation of snow. B. Establishment of additional smaller commuter parking lot at the Meadow Oaks public parking lot for the balance of the winter season with the Council to look at this issue again. C. Plowing of the pathway on the east side of TH 25 fi-om Kjellberg's East Mobile Home Park to Oakwood Drive by McDonald's and the pathway on the north side of School Boulevard from Service Drive on the west side of TH 2> and including the ISTEA pathway when that is completed. D. Plowing of the 6wide pathway in Meadow Oak from Meadow Oak Avenue to Meadow Oak Drive not to be included as part of the snow removal policy but would be done it time permits. CLINT HERBST SECONDED THE MOTION. MOTION CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY. In additional discussion, Clint Herbst suggested that the staff look at the sidewalks segments to be added or taken off the snow removal policy. If the sidewalk is a vital pathway then may be it is something the City should be responsible for keeping open. 10. Consideration of proposal from HDR for request for proposal for design build of sludge thickener. The Council reviewed the proposal from HDR noting the cost was not to exceed S 19,733. BRIAN STUMPF MOVED TO APPROVE THE PROPOSAL FROM HDR FOR THE PRELIMINARY DESIGN AND PREPARATION OF DESIGN BUILD DOCUMENTS FOR A GRAVITY BELT THICKENER AT THE WASTEWATER TREATMENT PLANT AT A COST NOT TO EXCEED $19,733 WITH THE WORK TO BE COMPLETED IN THIRTY DAYS AND THE WORK TO CONFORM TO MINNESOTA STATE STATUTES FOR DESIGN BUILD. BRUCE THIELEN SECONDED THE MOTION. MOTION CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY. Update - Scattered Housing: Jeff O"Neill updated the Council on what had taken place with the Central Minnesota Initiative Fund as far as the scattered housing proposal. The HRA has been working on this and prepared a list of approximately 19 homes that could eligible for this program. The city is requesting Council approval to put an application in for grant approval. At this time the application is not completed and it may require a special meeting of the Council to review and approve the completed application. Jeff O" Neill stated that the City, as part of the grant proposal, may waive trunk and hookup charges for the property affected. BRUCE THIELEN MOVED TO DELEGATE AUTHORITY TO THE MAYOR TO REVIEW AND APPROVE THE GRANT APPLICATION INSOFAR AS WAIVING OF TRUNK AND HOOKUP V CHARGES. IF OTHER ISSUES ARE INVOLVED IT MAY NECESSITATE A SPECIAL E Council Minutes - 1/22/01 MEETING OF THE CITY COUNCIL. ROGER CARLSON SECONDED THE MOTION. MOTION CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY. 11. Approve payment of bills for January. BRUCE THIELEN MOVED TO APPROVE PAYMENT OF BILLS FOR JANUARY. CLINT HERBST SECONDED THE MOTION. MOTION CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY. 12. Adjourn. BRIAN STUMPF MOVED TO ADJOURN AT 7:50 P.M. ROGER CARLSON SECONDED THE MOTION. MOTION CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY. Recording Secretary 5