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City Council Minutes 10-26-1981MINUTES REGULAR MEETING - MONTICELLO CITY COUNCIL October 26, 1981 - 7:30 P.M. Members Present: Arve Grimsmo, Fran Fair, Dan Blonigen, Ken Maus. Members- Absent: Phil White 1. Review of Liquor Store Report for 9 -Months Ending September 30, 1981. Mr. Mark Irmiter, Liquor Store Manager, reviewed with the City Council financial statements for the first 9 -month period ending September 30, 1981. It was noted by Mr. Irmiter that overall sales were up approximately 13.6% over the same period in 1980 with the operating income also increasing approximately 13.3%or $5,774.00 over the previous 9 months. A motion was made by Blonigen, seconded by Fair and unanimously carried to accept the Liquor Store Financial Statements for the period ending September 30, 1981 as presented. 2. Consideration of Change Order #19 and #20 with the Paul A. Laurence Comj2any on the Wastewater Treatment Plant Construction Contract. A motion was made by Fair, seconded by Maus to approve the following change orders with the Paul A. Laurence Company for an additional $3,228.00 and approximately $13,000 respectively. - #19 - Review of electrical equipment final shop drawings resulted in equipment larger than shown on design drawings and this requires revisions to existing lavatory room and existing electrical equipment room. - #20 - The addition of 2- 4' 8" walls on the 42 foot diameter trickling filter tanks and 1 - 4' 8"..x 16" poured concrete wall where the tanks join along with 2 - 3 x 4 foot 6" aluminum doors to enclose and protect the trickling filters from freezing and for easy access for maintenance. It was noted by the public works director that this Change Order #20 would cost approximately $13,000 and is still being negotiated by the engineer with the contractor. Voting in favor was Fair, Maus and Grimsmo.with Dan Blonigen abstain- ing due to a possible conflict of interest on the construction bidding. - 1 - Council Minutes - 10/26/81 3. Consideration of Adopting New Schedule for Sewer and Water Rates. The purpose of this item was to consider adjusting the sewer rates to match expenditures as proposed in the 1982 City Budget. Along with the increase in sewer rates recommended, a different rate schedule for water was also being proposed in order that the rates may be based on increments of 100 cubic feet instead of 1,000 cubic feet as previously used. Listed below are the current schedules for sewer and water rates along with the proposed schedule: Q'F'G7VV VnTPC Currently $5.00 Minimum - lst 1,000 cubic feet Pro2osed $8.00 Minimum - lst 500 cubic feet 6.50 /1,000 cubic feet or portion 1.05 /100 cubic feet or portion thereof for 1,001 - 30,000 cubic feet thereof for 501 - 30,000 cubic ft. 3.25 /1,000 cubic feet or portion thereof over 30,000 cubic feet Tn7AT7V PATPq Currently $6.00 Minimum - lst 1,000 cubic feet 3.50 /1,000 cubic feet or portion thereof for 1,001 - 4,000 cubic feet 1.80 /1,000 cubic feet or portion thereof for 4,001 - 75,000 cubic ft. 1.05 /1,000 cubic feet or portion thereof for over 75,000 cubic feet .55 /100 cubic feet or portion thereof for over 30,000 cubic ft. Proposed $6.00 Minimum - lst 500 cubic feet .35 /100 cubic feet or portion thereof for 501 - 4,000 cubic f t . .18 /100 cubic feet or portion thereof for 4,001 - 75,000 cubic ft. .105 /100 cubic feet or portion thereof for over 75,000 cubic ft. It was noted that the sewer rate schedule as proposed would result in an approximate 60 percent increase with no percentage increase in water rates. By combining the sewer and water rates, the overall increase would be approximately 32 percent. The primary reasons for the rate increase were due to the following factors: - Necessity of having an A Operator for the Wastewater Treatment Plant. - Increased operating costs due to inflation. - 2 - Council Minutes - 10/26/81 - Increased operating costs for a part of the year due to the fact that the city will be operating the new expanded plant for at least two months according to the current schedule. It was noted that although the water rates have not been proposed for an increase, the increments will now be based on 100 cubic feet instead of 1,000 cubic feet which should encourage conserva- tion and is more fair and equitable than the current schedule. A motion was made by Maus, seconded by Blonigen and unanimously carried to adopt a sewer and water rate schedule for 1982 as indicated above. 4. Approval of Bills and Minutes for the Month of October, 1981. A motion was made by Blonigen, seconded by Maus and unanimously carried to approve the bills for the month of October as presented and the council minutes for the regular meeting held on October 14, 1981. (See supplement 10/26/81 #1) 5. Review of Ellison Park Improvement Project. Public Works Director, John Simola, informed the council that the State of Minnesota has indicated that Buffalo Bituminous is the apparent low bidder on the Ellison Park Improvement Project in the amount of $49,236.80. This improvement to Ellison Park will consist of a boat launching ramp along with bituminous parking areas and playground equipment and restroom facilities. The Minnesota Department of Transportation has indicated that the city's share of the project will be 122% totalling $6,154.60 which must be paid to the State prior to the awarding of any contract. Although council members questioned why the city's share had to be paid in advance, a motion was made by Fair, seconded by Maus to approve the expenditure of $6,154.60 as the city's share of the Ellison Park Improvement Project. Voting in favor was Fair, Maus, and Grimsmo with Blonigen abstaining due to a possible conflict of interest.* *The contract for construction was awarded to Buffalo Bituminous in the amount of $54,620.00 after an error was found in the bids. The city's share (122%) was changed to $6,827.50. - 3 - Council Minutes - 10/26/81 6. Discussion on Possible Storm Sewer Construction by the Monticello - Big Lake Hospital. John Badalich, city engineer, informed the council that the Monti- cello -Big Lake Hospital has indicated a desire to expand their parking lot located between Hart Blvd. and County Road 75. This expansion of the parking lot in an easterly direction would be done on property acquired from John Bondhus and also property acquired from the City of Monticello recently. As part of the property transfer from the city, the city had kept an easement for possible storm sewer construction to provide drainage from County Road 75 through the parking lot area proposed extending under Hart Blvd. towards the Mississippi River. Mr. Badalich explained that if the city was interested in installing the storm sewer pipes prior to the construction of the parking lot, it would cost approximately $53,000 to extend the storm sewer pipes from the north side of County Road 75 to the north side of Hart Blvd. It was noted by Mr. Badalich that the proposed storm sewer route may not be needed for five, ten, or fifteen years depending upon the development within the city and indicated that the water now flows through the Bondhus property which is presently better than directing the flow into the Mississippi River. In addition, Mr. Bondhus has indicated no problem with the water taking its natural route through his property into his ponding areas and as a result, Mr. Badalich recommended that possibly the storm sewer construction should wait until further development indicates it is necessary to install. 7. Discussion on Possible Purchase of Kermit Lindberg Property Mr. & Mrs. Kermit Lindberg were present at the meeting to indicate that they were willing to sell their property to the City of Monti- cello located next to the Wastewater Treatment Plant. Previously, Mr. Lindberg had obtained an appraisal on his property valued at $100,500 and the City of Monticello had obtained an appraisal placing the value at $88,000. Mr. Lindberg indicated that he would be agreeable to selling his home and five acres located directly east of the present Wastewater Treatment Plant for $100,000 if the city would assume all outstanding assessments against the property. By concensus of the council, Mr. Lindberg was requested to present a formal offer on selling his property for presentation at the next meeting and to work with the City Administrator in preparing the formal documents as necessary. Meeting adjourned. - 4 - Rick Wolf stel er Assistant Administrator