City Council Minutes 08-17-1987 SpecialMINUTES
SPECIAL MEETING - MONTICELLO CITY COUNCIL
Monday, August 17, 1987 - 6:30 p.m.
Members Present: Arve Grimsmo, Fran Fair, Bill Fair, Dan Blonigen.
Members Absent: Warren Smith
1. Review of Goals and Objectives for the 1988 Budget.
Mayor Grimsmo opened the meeting noting that the primary purpose
was to review any goals and objectives the Council was interested
in seeing implemented in the upcoming year to enable staff to obtain
input for the preparation of the 1988 Budget. The Council was presented
with a possible list of capital outlay items the Public Works Department
and staff felt might be necessary to consider for the year 1988.
The capital outlay items included major improvements such as the
water tower and additional well previously discussed and equipment
needs along with street improvements planned within the city. It
was noted that many of the items may require the sale of bonds to
finance and would not necessarily be part of the tax levy for 1988
but were presented for comments from the Council. In addition, it
was the consensus of the Council that the City staff continue negotiations
with MN/DOT and the contractor for the new Highway 25 river crossing
bridge to determine if it would be feasible for the City to pursue
the idea of salvaging the existing river bridge for use as part of
our park system.
Councilmember Bill Fair suggested that the City should consider receiving
public input on what types of services or needs the public would
like the City to pursue. He felt there may be many issues or services
that the public in general were interested in seeing implemented but
staff may not be aware of.
It was noted by the Administrator that most cities are under stringent
levy limitations, including Monticello, which would limit the City
to approximately an 8 percent increase over last year's levy. Because
of the levy limitation, many improvement projects may have to be
financed by other methods than through tax levy, such as the sale
of bonds, etc. The staff was directed to prepare the preliminary
budget using the information received at the meeting where appropriate.
2. Discussion on Senior Citizen Center Human Rights Complaint.
The Council members discussed a letter received from the Minnesota
Department of Human Rights regarding a complaint filed by Senior
Citizen Center employee, Karen Hanson, regarding alleged unfair,
discriminatory practice regarding compensation. The letter received
indicates that the Department had made a determination that probable
cause existed to credit the allegation that an unfair discriminatory
practice has been committed by the City. Council members discussed
Special Council. Minutes - 8/17/87
what options were available to the City regarding an appeal and were
informed by the City Administrator that initially the City had the
option of requesting the Commissioner of the Human Rights Department
review the file and information presented by the City for a possible
reconsideration of their findings. Another alternative available
at the present time was for the City to indicate a willingness to
attempt resolution of the problem by agreeing to conciliate the matter
with the Department and Karen Hanson. Because the Council felt the
Human Rights Department's decision that Karen Hanson was actually
a full-time employee was incorrect based on the information supplied,
a motion was made by Fran Fair, seconded by Bill Fair, and unanimously
carried to authorize the City Administrator to request the Commissioner
reconsider its findings through an appeal process.
3. Review of Joint Meeting Between Municipal Board Staff and Township
Officials.
Mayor Grimsmo and Councilmember Fran Fair reviewed the outcome of
the joint meeting held between the Executive Director of the Municipal
Board and Township and City Officials regarding a possible solution
to the annexation question Thursday, August 13. Councilmember Fair
summarized that the City's position was made known to the Township
and Municipal Board Officials in that the City's previous proposal
regarding immediate annexation of approximately 2,200 acres out of
the total 5,700 acres in the OAA area would be the least that the
City could accept under a joint agreement without Municipal Board
action. It was noted that Township Officials were reluctant to commit
to any agreement on annexation at this time, and the Executive Director
of the Municipal Board requested that both parties review the matter
for 30 days at which time another meeting will be scheduled to see
if any solutions can be arrived at. The Executive Director of the
Municipal Board set September 15 as the deadline for reaching any
joint agreements; and thereafter if a resolution is not obtained
by both parties, the Municipal Board would proceed with its deliberation
on th nnexation question.
Rick Wolfstell"r
City Administrator
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