City Council Minutes 10-10-2011MINUTES
REGULAR MEETING — MONTICELLO CITY COUNCIL
Monday, October 10, 2011 — 7 p.m.
Mississippi Room, Monticello Community Center
Present: Clint Herbst, Lloyd Hilgart, Tom Perrault, Glen Posusta, Brian Stumpf
Absent: None
1. Call to Order and Pledge of Allegiance
Mayor Herbst called the meeting to order at 7:00 p.m. and declared a quorum present.
The Pledge of Allegiance was recited.
2A. Approval of Minutes — September 26, 2011 Regular Meeting
BRIAN STUMPF MOVED TO ACCEPT THE MINUTES FROM THE SEPTEMBER
26, 2011 REGULAR MEETING AS PRESENTED. GLEN POSUSTA SECONDED
THE MOTION. MOTION CARRIED 5 -0.
3. Consideration of adding items to the agenda
• Hawk's Bar complaint (Glen Posusta)
• Sidewalk maintenance (Glen Posusta)
• Block 35 dumpsters (Tom Perrault)
• School student volunteers (Jeff O'Neill)
4. Citizen comments, public service announcements, and staff updates
a. Citizen Comments: None
b. Public Service Announcements:
1) Embrace Downtown Workshop (10/24) — Angela Schumann invited the
public to attend the upcoming Embrace Downtown Workshop at MCC
Mississippi Room starting at 5:30 p.m. on October 24`x'. Open house
format with presentation at 6:30 p.m. This is final chance for the public to
provide comments.
2) Beyond the Yellow Ribbon Committee meeting (10/25) — Ditty Baltos
introduced the kickoff meeting on October 25 to provide information and
create a steering committee to develop resources for services for deployed
soldiers and families. The meeting is at 6:30 p.m. at MCC Mississippi
Room.
3) Hi Way Liquors Wine Tasting (10/28) — Jeff O'Neill noted that event
tickets are on sale right now at Liquor Store for the wine tasting on
October 28th.
City Council Minutes — October 10, 2011 Page 1
4) MCC Halloween events — On October 29, the Halloween Kiddie Parade
and trick or treat activities runs from about 10 a.m. to noon. Spooky Skate
at Moose Sherritt Arena takes place on October 30 from noon to 2 p.m.
5) Leaf Pickup (1115) — Bob Paschke explained that residents should have
leaves curbside in bags by 7 a.m. on November 5`I' for Veolia to pick up.
Can also drop off at Public Works or the Compost facility during the
week.
C. Staff Updates:
1) Blue Ribbon Commission (nuclear waste) - Jeff O'Neill outlined the
agenda for the regional workshop for the Blue Ribbon Commission to
study the draft report and make recommendations for nuclear waste
storage. Workshop on October 28 in Minneapolis runs full day. Jeff
O'Neill would like a Council member to volunteer to attend with him.
Glen Posusta commented that the ability to find a solution for nuclear
waste storage is dependent on change at the federal level to come on board
with this process. Jeff O'Neill noted that the purpose of this is to open
discussion and present this to federal officials.
2) FiberNet Monticello — Ben Ranft provided an update on FiberNet
progress. About 25% of city businesses are now FiberNet customers.
FiberNet serves about a third of the city's residential customers and staff is
working on bringing service to several apartment buildings. They are
currently highlighting a new project, Monticello Air; testing is underway
and they hope to start providing service in another month. Whole -home
DVR is being turned on for customers; any current customers can contact
the FNM office and add it to their services. Current promotion is a triple
play bundle for $99 a month with 170+ digital channels.
5. Consent Agenda:
A. Consideration of approving payment of bills for October 10th. THIS ITEM
WAS REMOVED FROM THE CONSENT AGENDA.
B. Consideration of approving new hires and departures for City departments.
Recommendation: Ratify terminations for MCC, FiberNet, and Street
Department.
C. Consideration of adopting Resolution # 2011 -95 approving the correction to the
Morning Glory Final Plat. Recommendation: Adopt Resolution #2011 -95
approving the Final Plat revision for Morning Glory Addition with corrections to
Lots 5 through 8 of Block 1.
D. Consideration of approving Change Order #1 for TH 25 /CSAH 75 NE Quadrant
Improvements, City Project No. 100005. Recommendation: Approve Change
Order #1 for TH 25 /CSAH 75 NE Quadrant Improvement, City Project No.
100005 in the amount of $25,112.68 for Hardrives, Inc.; NLD Holdings X, LLC
City Council Minutes — October 10, 2011 Page 2
(the developer) shall bear $25,000 of the change order costs per the terns of the
executed Developer's Agreement, with costs to be assessed beginning with the
2012 taxes.
E. Consideration of approving reapportionment of special assessments for Lot 1,
Block 1, Prairie Ponds 3rd Addition (PID 155- 189 - 001010); Applicant: Brad
Larson and Steven Muth. Recommendation: Approve reapportionment of
special assessments for Lot 1, Block 1, Prairie Ponds 3`d Addition to new 15 year
terms beginning in 2012 with streetlight assessment at 6% and School Blvd
extension assessment at 5.5 %.
LLOYD HILGART MOVED TO APPROVE THE CONSENT AGENDA WITH THE
REMOVAL OF ITEM 5A. TOM PERRAULT SECONDED THE MOTION. MOTION
CARRIED 5 -0.
6. Consideration of items removed from the consent agenda for discussion
5A — Consideration of approving payment of bills for October 10th
Lloyd Hilgart pulled this item as he wanted to know about the payment to the Wright
County Auditor. Cathy Shuman explained that is for second half taxes on property owned
by the City, generally land held for resale or rental property. Clint Herbst asked about the
next item identified as "Fines & Fees." Staff will check and let Council know.
LLOYD HILGART MOVED TO APPROVE PAYMENT OF THE BILL REGISTERS
FOR OCTOBER 10TH TOTALLING $604,668.26. TOM PERRAULT SECONDED
THE MOTION. MOTION CARRIED 5 -0.
7. Consideration of approving the purchase of a new floor machine for the Monticello
Community Center
Kitty Baltos explained that she is bringing back this item that was previously turned
down by Council. Staff feels this purchase would produce great efficiencies in staff time
and is a worthwhile investment in purchase of a riding floor cleaning machine. Kitty
Baltos explained how the machine would work for both cleaning and waxing. It would
be used on all hard floors in open areas such as the gym and hallway.
Brian Stumpf asked what they are doing for cleaning right now. Kitty Baltos explained
that they don't have a machine right now so they are spot cleaning with mops.
Thankfully it has not been rainy so they have been able to keep up by spot cleaning and
dry mopping.
Glen Posusta commented that he didn't understand why they are not looking for a used
machine as they did originally. Kitty Baltos explained that they had checked with each of
the vendors that provided quotes and there are no used machines available. Glen Posusta
expressed his concerns about investing in a riding machine; he believes that it is more
City Council Minutes — October 10, 2011 Page 3
likely to have more parts that could break down. He feels there is not enough floor space
to justify a riding machine. Kitty pointed out that there is also an option for a walk
behind machine if Council does not feel they want to purchase a riding machine.
Jeff O'Neill asked Kitty Baltos to talk about some of the tasks that could otherwise be
done with the time saved with a new cleaning machine. Kitty Baltos talked about the
detail cleaning such as baseboards, walls where people leave marks, carpet spots,
windows, and bathroom grout lines. Clint Herbst asked if the new machine would be
able to strip floors such as the walking track. Kitty Baltos indicated that would be done
with the new machine.
Jeff O'Neill asked if complaints have been made about the upkeep while the machine has
been broken. Kitty noted that they don't typically get a lot of complaints because the
mission statement includes a commitment to keeping the building clean and the staff
focuses on that. With the machine broken, they are falling behind on cleaning of which
staff is aware.
Jeff O'Neill made some comparisons between the riding machine and time saved: for an
extra $1700 for a ride -on, they will save about half the time as a walk - behind. Kitty
anticipates a time savings of up to an hour a day.
Tom Perrault asked some questions about the machine related to fitting into the elevator,
weight in elevator, and possible effects if it hits the walking track railing. Clint Herbst
expressed his concern about not including used equipment in the quotes. Brian Stumpf
stated that he feels it is worth spending the extra $1700 for a riding machine.
Glen Posusta asked where the machine would be stored and would it take up more room?
Kitty Baltos explained it would not take up any additional space and would be stored in
the National Guard hallway where they stored the old machine.
BRIAN STUMPF MOVED FOR ALTERNATIVE #1 ACCEPTING THE QUOTES
AND APPROVING THE PURCHASE OF A RIDE -ON FLOOR MACHINE FROM
SPECTRUM SUPPLY COMPANY IN THE AMOUNT OF $8,136 PLUS TAX AND
DELIVERY. LLOYD HILGART SECONDED THE MOTION. MOTION CARRIED
3 -2 WITH GLEN POSUSTA AND CLINT HERBST VOTING IN OPPOSITION.
8. Consideration of approvins the purchase of security system equipment and cameras
for several City facilities
Jeff O'Neill introduced this item and noted that this was brought back as Council
requested with more information about how the cameras work and details about the
pricing. He explained that Doug Lyseng will demonstrate some videos about the
cameras. Jeff O'Neill noted that this system will tie in nicely with the City's fiber optic
backbone and could eventually lead to another business niche for FiberNet.
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Doug Lyseng showed a video of the P -6032 camera that he is proposing to be used at
Groveland Park and Xcel Ballfields and explained some of the options such as panning,
detection, and sending alerts. He talked about how the camera could be programmed.
Doug also showed a remote view of the liquor store security system to demonstrate the
power of the software.
Clint Herbst stated that he is not sold on putting cameras into the parks but feels there is
merit in making sure we have quality cameras installed in certain city buildings. Clint
Herbst feels that we should have the Sheriff s Department physically watch the parks as
we are already paying to have them in town. Brian Stumpf commented that maybe the
camera in the park could be viewed remotely by the Sheriff s Department to watch for
trouble. Glen Posusta does not really like the idea of setting up cameras to record activity
in the parks. Lloyd Hilgart is concerned that if we put cameras in a couple of the park
that the troublemakers would move to a different park. Tom Perrault concurred that he
does not feel the camera purchase for the parks is necessary. As long as the Swan Park
camera is paid completely by donations, he is okay with that.
Jeff O'Neill added to comments regarding security cameras for city buildings noting that
it would be important to centralize a server for a security system at the Head -end
building. He feels it also important to work with Wright County Sheriffs Dept in the
future to utilize portable surveillance cameras. Glen Posusta asked what is meant by
portable cameras; Jeff commented that they could be located in squad cars and powered
wirelessly or with batteries.
Clint Herbst reiterated that he would prefer to upgrade and enhance security cameras in
city buildings. He is okay with the possibility of working with portable cameras in the
future but does not favor permanently affixing cameras in the parks. Glen Posusta
reiterated that he preferred that the City focus on security cameras for city buildings
rather than in the parks.
GLEN POSUSTA MOVED TO DENY PURCHASE OF SECURITY CAMERAS FOR
THE PARKS AT THIS TIME, AND DIRECTED STAFF TO BRING BACK A
PROPOSAL FOR EQUIPMENT AND CAMERAS FOR ENHANCING SECURITY
WITHIN CITY BUILDINGS SUCH AS LIQUOR STORE, DMV, CITY HALL, AND
MCC. BRIAN STUMPF SECONDED THE MOTION. MOTION CARRIED 5 -0.
Jeff O'Neill asked Council if they were okay with moving ahead with the Swan Park
camera. Clint Herbst concurred with Tom Perrault to go ahead with that camera if the
costs are covered by donations.
9. Consideration of revisiting the retired Junk Amnesty Day event
Bob Paschke talked about the previous Junk Amnesty Day program which was run by the
City to provide disposal options for city residents. Bob Paschke explained that Council
had dropped Junk Amnesty in 2010 due the high cost and the fact that there were other
options available for people to get rid of items they did not want.
City Council Minutes — October 10, 2011 Page 5
Brian Stumpf asked Bob to explain the number of staff hours such as the 200 hours by
the office personnel. Bob explained some of the tasks they did to prepare for Junk
Amnesty Day, such as mailings, phone calls to vendors and to arrange pickups from
residents, and prepare flyers. Bob Paschke noted that out of the total hours invested in
Junk Amnesty, 180 of those hours by 23 employees were on the day of Junk Amnesty.
The rest of the hours were advance preparation and pickups and follow -up after the event.
Bob Paschke introduced Jason Warehime from Metro Appliance & Sales who is
interested in setting up a recycling day that would be of no cost to the City. Glen Posusta
asked Bob Paschke how he would reduce the preparation costs that were incurred
previously if they held an event like this. Bob explained that the City would provide the
site and do a limited amount of advertising such as the website, electronic sign at the
Liquor Store, and city newsletter. The cost would be very minimal.
Jason Warehime explained how they have approached this with other cities. He
explained that the City of Otsego used to do an event that ran about $20,000; he now runs
a recycling day for their and the City spends under $200 to print cards for city residents.
If a City wishes to restrict their recycling event to residents only, they print vouchers
which residents can pick up at certain places in town and use on the day of the event. His
company provides this type of service year round. If Monticello were to host such an
event, the City could get the word out through newsletters or website. On the day of the
event, Metro Appliance would accept drop offs at a designated site in the City or at their
place in Otsego and would charge a fee to the person bringing items for recycling. Jason
explained that this would not be a Junk Amnesty event, which allows people to drop off
items at no charge. It would be a recycling day where his company would set up at a site
closer to the City and would accept items for a preset fee from both city residents and
surrounding area. His company can accept many types of items but there are some things
that they don't handle currently such as used oil. He handed out copies of brochures to
Council.
BRIAN STUMPF MOVED TO AUTHORIZE STAFF TO BRING BACK A
PROPOSAL FOR A SPRING RECYCLING EVENT WITH METRO APPLIANCE &
SALES. LLOYD HILGART SECONDED THE MOTION. MOTION CARRIED 5 -0.
Jason commented that this is also a good opportunity for the City and they can do it at
minimal cost to the City.
10. Consideration of approving purchase of two replacement vehicles for the Fire
Department and consideration of allowing Command Vehicle to be signed out to
Fire Department command staff for direct availability while off -duty
Steve Joerg introduced this item and noted that the used 1/4 ton red GMC Siena is no
longer available as it was sold. He explained that he would like to purchase through West
Metro; however it can be difficult to locate a vehicle and then wait for approval by
Council and hope the vehicle is still available. Glen Posusta asked why they need a' /a ton
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vehicle. Steve Joerg noted that they need to mount a water tank on it so they need at least
a' /a ton. Glen Posusta suggested that Cotmcil might need to approve a not to exceed
amount to allow more flexibility for West Metro to find a vehicle.
In regard to a command vehicle, Clint Herbst stated that he would not be in favor of
allowing a vehicle to be taken outside of the fire district by fire department staff, such as
into Big Lake Township. He noted they have had problems in the past with city
personnel driving vehicles home and do not want to create a similar situation again.
Steve Joerg explained that a command vehicle is meant to be checked out by a staff
member so that they can respond more quickly to a scene. The first officer is the one that
lays out the scene and places the trucks for best response in the situation.
Steve Joerg read through some guidelines he brought along that could be used as a policy
for the command vehicle. Steve explained that the main purpose of this vehicle is to
respond faster and review the scene before other firefighters respond. Glen Posusta asked
if this vehicle would have lights and sirens; Steve Joerg noted this would be fully
equipped for emergency response.
Brian Stumpf also noted that having an officer respond directly to a scene would also
allow the officer to cancel responders if the situation does not warrant additional help.
The department receives many of these "good intent" calls, which generate an emergency
response but responders are not always needed. This would generate a savings in payroll
costs.
CLINT HERBST MOVED FOR DECISION 1 TO ALLOW UP TO $35,000 FOR THE
PURCHASE OF 2 VEHICLES FROM WEST METRO AUTO SALES AND FOR
DECISION 2 TO BE TABLED UNTIL A POLICY CAN BE FULLY DEVELOPED TO
PRESENT TO COUNCIL. GLEN POSUSTA SECONDED THE MOTION. MOTION
CARRIED 5 -0.
11. Added items
a) Hawk's Bar —Glen Posusta mentioned that a complaint was received for loud music
from an outdoor event at Hawk's Bar that ran until midnight. Jeff O'Neill indicated
that staff will be following up on the complaint and talking to Hawk's about the
incident and the permitting process.
b) Sidewalk maintenance — Glen Posusta mentioned that the recent work on the
sidewalk along Walnut Street is completed but there is some maintenance that should
be done an a regular basis. Glen Posusta mentioned the control joints in particular.
Glen Posusta also noted that there have been some other places where sidewalk
segments were replaced. Glen also noted that it was reported to him that an employee
was seen observing the work all day from inside a city vehicle. Bob Paschke will
check on this.
City Council Minutes — October 10, 2011 Page 7
c) Dumpster roofs— Tom Perrault said that he was informed that the roof on the
dumpster did not allow enough clearance for the dumpsters to be opened all the way
while garbage is put into the dumpster. Bob Paschke noted that there is some work to
be done yet to provide hooks and bungees to hold open the covers while putting
garbage in.
d) School volunteers — Angela Schumann talked about the request from the school
district to provide opportunities to some groups of 8t" grade students to perform
volunteer work for a 2 hour block of time on October 18th. The City has come up
with projects for 2 teams of students to create a recycling video coordinated by Public
Works Director Bob Paschke, a team for clean -up at the Water Reservoir grounds, a
team to winterize the Help Center garden, and 2 teams to clean up around the
community center.
e) Brian Stumpf noted that the voices and monitor view at the Council dais are not in
sync. Jeff O'Neill stated that he had reported the problem and thought it was taken
care of. He will check again.
Mayor Herbst called for a recess to hove to a closed session at 8:35 p.m. for purposes of
discussing an offer made for purchase of a city -owned property.
12. Adiournment
BRIAN STUMPF MOVED TO ADJOURN THE MEETING AT 9:11 P.M. TOM
PERRAULT SECONDED THE MOTION. MOTION CARRIED 5 -0.
Recorder: Catherine M. Shuman . W
Approved: October 24, 2011 2j
Attest:
Cti inistrator
City Council Minutes — October 10, 2011 Page 8