City Council Minutes 09-28-1992MINUTES
REGULAR MEETING - MONTICELLO CITY COUNCIL
Monday, September 28, 1992 - 7 p.m.
Members: Ken Maus, Shirley Anderson, Brad Fyle, Clint Herbst, Dan Blonigen
Members Absent: None
2. Approval of minutes.
After discussion, a motion was made by Shirley Anderson and seconded by Dan
Blonigen to approve the minutes of the regular meeting held September 14,
1992. Motion carried unanimously.
3. Citizens comments/petitions, requests, and complaints.
None forthcoming.
4. Consideration of adopting assessment roll for Sidewalk Improvement Project
92-08SW.
John Simola reported that the total cost of the sidewalk project amounted to
$24,870. The estimate to complete the project was $26,553. Based upon the
assessable front footage of 1,686 feet, the price per lineal foot amounted to
$14.75. Under our City Sidewalk Policy, the City pays 75% of the cost, and the
property is assessed 25% of the cost. This results in a $3.69 per lineal foot
assessment against properties benefiting by the sidewalk.
Mayor Maus opened the public hearing. There were no comments from the
public regarding this item. Mayor Maus then closed the public hearing.
After discussion, a motion was made by Brad Fyle and seconded by Shirley
Anderson to adopt the resolution adopting the assessment roll as presented,
which includes a lineal foot charge of $3.69. Motion carried unanimously.
SEE RESOLUTION 92-28.
5. Consideration of final payment on Sidewalk Improvement Project 92-08SW.
John Simola reported that Schneider's Concrete Construction of Little Falls
has completed the work for Sidewalk Improvement Project 92-08SW. The total
value of the work performed was $20,947. Simola noted that there was an
overrun of approximately $2,400 due to the higher final quantities than was
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originally anticipated. The majority of the higher cost was due to the need for
additional sod. Simola reported that the contractor has been paid $16,392 to
date, leaving a balance due of $4,555.
Brad Fyle asked Simola to explain why there was a cost overrun. Simola
reported that the cost to complete final grading and sodding of areas around
the sidewalks was underestimated during the design phase. As the work was
completed, it became apparent that additional final grading and sodding
needed to be done to properly complete the project.
After discussion, a motion was made by Dan Blonigen and seconded by Brad
Fyle to authorize final payment on Sidewalk Improvement Project 92-08SW to
Schneider's Concrete Construction of Little Falls, Minnesota, in the amount of
$4,555. Motion carried unanimously.
6. Consideration of a written policy for tree chipping.
John Simola requested that Council consider adopting a written policy for tree
chipping service provided by the City. Simola noted that the current program
operates under a general unwritten policy that goes as follows: Residents call
the public works building to schedule tree chipping for their property. Home
owners are responsible for having branches placed on the curb side whenever
possible. The City would chip dead elm tree branches or any other
miscellaneous trimming from both residential and commercial property.
Chipping would be done as time would allow. Normal street maintenance,
park maintenance, and other activities would take precedence over the
chipping, and the City would charge a fee for this chipping. The City does not,
as a general rule, make this chipping service available to land developers or
contractors, but generally to individual property owners who occupy the lot.
The cost to have tree chipping done is set at $25 per half hour or fraction
thereof.
Simola reported that over the past 15 1/2 years, the system has worked well
with very few problems. Occasionally we would not be able to chip residents'
brush quickly enough, and we would get a complaint once in a while regarding
this. But overall, there were few problems. Simola also noted that on rare
occasions, the chipping at a particular site would exceed 3 hours.
The need for this policy stems from citizen complaints and the state auditor's
questions about a recent occurrence where a resident of the community, who
is also an employee, Jim Eisele, utilized the chipping service for a period of 8
hours. The tree chipper was used in this instance to clear cut land at a future
building site, which Mr. Eisele recently purchased. The majority of chipping
services provided to residents are for miscellaneous branch and diseased elm
tree cleanup. Simola noted that the City Council may wish to put a policy in
place which limits tree chipping to a certain time limit.
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Both John. Simola and Roger Mack stated that for a short time four employees
were at the Eisele site. This occurred when the four were returning to the
public works building from chipping boulevard brush on Fenning Avenue near
the middle school. It was an efficient use of manpower to have the four assist
with the cleanup in the short dead time between the end of the Fenning project
and the beginning of their break time.
Ken Maus stated that we have had very few problems in the past with the tree
chipping program. There have been a small percent of residents that have
used the tree chipper for more than 3 hours at any one time. It is good to have
the policy written down.
Clint Herbst agreed that the purpose of the tree chipping program is to assist
home owners with miscellaneous cleanup. He agrees that the use of the
chipper by any one property owner should be limited to 3 hours annually.
Dan Blonigen concurred that the tree chipping policy should be limited to 3
hours at any one property.
Clint Herbst noted that with regard to the Eisele case, he has a problem with
the level of supervision. He noted that someone should have been supervising
Eisele's use of the tree chipper.
John Simola added that the new policy does not allow any employee to chip
alone and provides for better control over chipping services in the future.
John recommended that Mr. Eisele be billed the $400 per the existing policy.
Simola also recommended that Council approve the new policy as drafted
limiting chipping to a maximum of 3 hours per property. Under the new
policy, chipping for miscellaneous tree trimming or land clearing will be as
time schedules and priorities allow and shall be at the standard fee for the
first two hours and twice the standard fee for the next hour. At no time shall
the City chip miscellaneous and land clearing material more than 3 hours per
year per property.
Brad Fyle stated that he is comfortable with charging Jim Eisele $25 per half
hour for the 8 hours that he used the tree chipper. He also agreed that tree
chipping at any one site should be limited to 3 hours and that with this policy,
we will not get into a project of this size in the future.
After discussion, a motion was made by Shirley Anderson and seconded by
Brad Fyle to approve the written policy as proposed for tree chipping and bill
Mr. Eisele $400 for chipping services at his property. Motion carried
unanimously.
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7. Consideration of extra engineering charges for the County State Aid
Highway 75, East County Road 39, and County Road 118 signal system.
John Simola reported that we recently received a final billing for the signal
system engineering from OSM. The City contracted with OSM to provide
engineering services for the signal system; and as with the signal system
construction, the County is paying one-half the cost. Simola noted that the
original estimate was $8,800 for the signal report and design engineering, and
$4,000 for construction observation engineering. OSM requested an additional
$1,200 due to unforeseen traffic signal light controller problems and due to
other problems with the contractor during construction. If the City approves
the additional payment of $1,200, the City would be requesting reimbursement
from the County for one-half this cost. Simola noted that Dave Montebello, the
Wright County Assistant Engineer, does not have a problem with the $600 in
additional fees.
John Simola also went on to inform Council that both the City and the County
believe the estimate provided by OSM was a not -to -exceed number; however,
he felt it was reasonable to increase the engineering fees because there were
extenuating circumstances that gave rise to the need for OSM to spend
additional work on this project.
After discussion, a motion was made by Brad Fyle and seconded by Clint
Herbst to approve payment of $1,200 in additional fees to OSM for their work
on the signal system. This payment is contingent on the County reimbursing
one-half of this cost to the City. Voting in favor: Brad Fyle, Clint Herbst,
Shirley Anderson, Ken Maus. Opposed: Dan Blonigen.
8. Consideration of change order #3 for City Project 92-06, vehicle storage facility.
John Simola reported that change order #3 involves two separate items with
the new public works building. The first item is a change in the roof flashing.
Simola reported that in order to prevent the possibility of wind-blown ballast
or rock coming off the roof, it is necessary to pre -form the roof flashing in such
a way as to provide additional protection for the rock. The cost of this change
is $580.
The second change calls for installing a water line in the building. Currently
the water is located in only one location at the far west end of the building.
It would take 175 feet of hose to reach the other end of the building. The cost
of the water line, including a change for the contractor allowing him to install
plastic roof drains in lieu of cast iron, would be $1,500; therefore, the total cost
of change order #3 is $2,080.
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City Council reviewed the status of the project. It was noted in the review that
at this time, the current estimate to complete the project is $621,661, which
is below the original estimate of $637,050.
After discussion, a motion was made by Shirley Anderson and seconded by Dan
Blonigen to authorize change order #3 for roof flashing and a water line in the
amount of $2,080. Motion carried unanimously.
9. Consideration of modifications and incentives for the recycling program.
John Simola reported that the City of Monticello's recycling program statistics
have taken a slightly downward trend and leveled off. Simola requested that
Council consider making amendments to the policy in an effort to boost citizen
participation. Simola also noted that the garbage haulers are seeing an
increasing amount of recyclables in the garbage. He noted that one of the
proposed methods for discouraging this is to have the garbage hauling service
place a sticker on the garbage cans containing recyclable materials. The
sticker would be bright red and would inform the home owner that they are
throwing recyclables away and that they can call city hall for more information
regarding the recycling program.
In addition, Simola noted that the apartment complexes do not appear to have
as much initiative to do a good job of recycling compared to individual
residents. Simola stated that the recycling committee considered changes in
the methods used to give apartments credit for recycling. It was suggested
that the apartments be required to reach a higher standard of participation in
the program. The committee recommended, however, to work with the
apartments a few more months before considering point changes.
Ken Maus noted that the City should require that apartments recycle at each
opportunity. The apartment owners should be given plenty of warning that
the City will be requiring full participation, and if the apartments do not
participate, they will be charged for garbage service. In addition, the City
should provide containers to make it easy for the apartment owner. The
apartment owner then can place the tenants on notice that if the tenants do
not participate in the program, the added cost suffered by the apartment
owner due to nonparticipation by tenants will be translated into higher rents.
It was Maus's view that this would motivate higher participation among
apartment tenants.
Maus also suggested that the City needs to increase program advertising.
Publicity efforts have dropped off, and maybe it's time to start up with a
program heightening awareness of the need to recycle.
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Maus completed his comments by noting that the proposed sticker stating "You
are throwing it all away" should be changed to "You are throwing away
recyclables."
After discussion, a motion was made by Shirley Anderson and seconded by
Clint Herbst to approve the 5 -point program for improving recycling
participation, which includes an additional container for apartment buildings,
dumpster decals, red stickers for single family residents, recycling exemption
amendments, and separate recycling newsletters. In addition, a letter should
be sent to apartment owners indicating that they should improve participation
in the recycling program or face an increase in the minimum standard and the
possibility of having the City withdraw the current service of providing garbage
collection to apartments at no charge. Motion carried unanimously.
10. Consideration of adding lighting for the sidewalk under the bridge at Bridge
Park.
John Simola reviewed the problem with vandalism in the area of the sidewalk
underneath the bridge at Bridge Park. Simola outlined a plan for installation
of lighting intended to discourage vandalism in this area and enable the
Sheriffs Department to see anyone in the bridge areas at night.
Simola went on to state that the cost to install the lights is $995. The cost of
this preventative measure could be shared with the Department of
Transportation, as it is their expense to repaint the portions of the bridge that
are vandalized by spray painting.
Clint Herbst thought it was a good idea to install the lighting as long as it is
high enough and far away enough from the ground so as to be unreachable.
He was concerned that if the lights were too close to the ground, they could be
easily damaged by vandals.
After discussion, a motion was made by Clint Herbst and seconded by Dan
Blonigen to approve installation of four lights underneath the bridge on the
sidewalk at Bridge Park at a cost of $995 contingent on the State of Minnesota
funding one-half of this cost. Motion carried unanimously.
11. Consideration of purchasing scissor lift and chain hoist for new public works
building.
John Simola reported that with the construction project for the new public
works facility, phase I construction did not include any equipment. The
provisions, however, were installed for a future overhead chain hoist to raise
equipment from the main floor to the garage area above the mezzanine. In
addition, a cutout in the concrete floor has been provided for the installation
of a scissor hoist to be used for unloading and loading freight and for unloading
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and loading city equipment. These items were placed in the preliminary 1993
budget for consideration for purchase next year. Simola noted it may be to our
benefit to purchase these two items of equipment now so that we may utilize
them during the move into the facility.
Simola noted that both of these items may save time and will add convenience
to operators at the public works facility; however, the overriding factor is
workers' safety. City employees over the years have had a number of back
injuries, and anything we can do to provide a more safe work environment in
regard to this issue would, indeed, have far reaching effects.
Rick Wolfsteller noted that the saving of a single injury from utilization of this
equipment could potentially save the City far in excess of the cost of the
equipment.
Simola completed his report by recommending that the City authorize the
purchase of a scissor hoist from Progressive Handling for $5,425 and the CM
chain hoist from Grangers through Olson & Sons Electric in the amount of
$1,374.
Dan Blonigen was concerned that the purchase of this equipment would not
result in an actual time savings to complete work duties. John Simola
concurred that time savings will be minimal; however, the potential savings
will come from a reduction in the possibility of back injuries due to heavy
lifting.
After discussion, a motion was made by Shirley Anderson and seconded by
Brad Fyle to authorize the purchase of the scissor hoist from Progressive
Handling for $5,425 plus tax and the CM chain hoist from Grangers through
Olson & Sons Electric of Monticello for $1,374 plus tax. Motion carried
unanimously.
12. Consideration of bills for the month of September.
After discussion, a motion was made by Brad Fyle and seconded by Shirley
Anderson to approve the bills as submitted. Motion carried unanimously.
13. Other matters.
A. Ken Maus reviewed the proclamation made by Governor Arne Carlson,
which proclaims October 23, 1992, to be Monticello All Star Day. Maus
noted that according to the proclamation, the City has been recognized
as an All Star City due to demonstrated outstanding performance in
meeting its economic development goals during the last year and has
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responded favorably to opportunities. The All Star Award is provided
to the City in recognition of its exemplary efforts during the last year in
their star economic development efforts.
011ie Koropchak, Economic Development Director, reported that the
exemplary efforts came in the area of coordinating the efforts of the
IDC, Planning Commission, HRA, and City Council.
Assistant Administrator O'Neill added that the State was impressed
with the cooperative planning process used to develop plans for the
Chelsea corridor industrial area. The process brought community
commissions, the school district, property owners, and the City Council
together in identifying land use and transportation issues relating to
industrial development.
B. Ken Maus noted his concern regarding the potential for parking on
Fallon Avenue in front of Little Mountain School. He noted that the
road surface at this location on Fallon Avenue is narrow and that any
overflow parking from the Little Mountain School onto Fallon could
create safety problems.
After discussion, a motion was made by Dan Blonigen and seconded by
Brad Fyle to authorize City staff to post "no parking" signs along Fallon
Avenue in the area of Little Mountain School due to the concern for
traffic safety along Fallon Avenue. Motion carried unanimously.
There being no further discussion, the meeting was adjourned.
* K4
0r& �,
Jeff O'Neill
Assistant Administrator