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City Council Minutes 02-27-1989MINUTES REGULAR MEETING - MONTICELLO CITY COUNCIL Monday, February 27, 1989 - 7:30 p.m. Members Present: Fran Fair, Warren Smith, Shirley Anderson, Dan Blonigen Members Absent: Ken Maus 2. Approval of minutes. Motion was made by Dan Blonigen and seconded by Shirley Anderson, and unanimously carried to approve the minutes of the meeting held February 13, 1989. 3. Citizens comments/petitions, requests, and complaints. None forthcoming. 4. Discussion of City involvement in Monticello Foodshelf location - Pat Offendahl. Pat Offendahl was present to discuss her concern over the potential loss of the fire hall as the site for the foodshelf. It was her concern that the effectiveness of the structure as a foodshelf site will be reduced if a portion of the structure is used as a billiard room. She also was concerned that the foodshelf program might be displaced entirely without adequate time to move to another location. Administrator Wolfsteller reported that there are no immediate plans to sell the fire hall and that the foodshelf will not be displaced in the near future. Fran Fair expressed her support for the work of the foodshelf and asked Offendahl if she had approached a local church regarding a church contribution of space for foodshelf use. Offendahl responded that contacts have been made with churches, and most churches do not have extra space to spare for the foodshelf operation. It was then suggested that the foodshelf organization contact the Temple Baptist Church congregation regarding potential use of their space. As the discussion came to a close, Offendahl thanked the Council for continued support and noted that she will make further contacts in an effort to find a new site for the foodshelf. 5. Consideration of Karen Hanson litigation update. City Attorney, Tom Hayes, recommended that Council consider establishing a full time position for Karen Hanson. Tom Hayes explained that however justified in maintaining the position that Hanson is a part-time employee of the Senior Center, the City must be cognizant of the Commissioner of Human Rights' findings of fact that Ms. Hanson is an employee of the City, and the City should view it as a 1 Council Minutes - 2/27/89 prediction of what an objective third party might conclude. Hayes further noted that a complete job description should be prepared for Council review and ratification. Motion made by Dan Blonigen and seconded by Shirley Anderson to establish a full-time position to be occupied by Karen Hanson. Based on the comparable worth study, the salary for the position to amount to $1,728 per month with full City benefits. Motion carried unanimously. 6. Consideration of additional payment request by City Engineer - OSM. Administrator Wolfsteller informed Council that Mr. Badalich is requesting additional compensation above the quoted amount of $2,000 to cover the extra work that OSM had to perform because they under -estimated the original cost. Wolfsteller noted that he does not dispute that additional costs may have been incurred by OSM in performing this work; but at the same time, City Council authorized the expenditure of $2,000, and no more, for the ground control work based on his letter of April 27, 1987. Furthermore, until the project was completed and the billing was received in September of 1987, Wolfsteller noted that he was not aware that the engineering services were exceeding the $2,000 quote, especially by almost $4,000. Wolfsteller reported that he indicated to Mr. Badalich that a formal request before the City Council would have to be made if their firm expected any payment above the $2,000 quote. With the absence of John Badalich, Council elected to take no formal action regarding an additional payment request for preparation of OAA topographic maps. Council did reaffirm staff's position to withhold payment of additional costs pending additional input from the City Engineer at a future Council meeting. 7. Consideration of adopting resolutions authorizing the preparation of assessment rolls and setting a public hearing date on the Streetscape Improvement Project. Administrator Wolfsteller reported that the Streetscape project is essentially complete and it is the appropriate time to call for development of an assessment roll. In reviewing the project, Wolfsteller noted that, except for some minor concrete work and possibly an additional replacement or added bridge railing installation, the project cost should be easily obtainable in time for a public hearing at the March 27, 1989, meeting of the City Council. He went on to note that staff is in the process of totaling the project cost, including all indirect engineering and planning fees, and calculating an assessment roll that would be mailed to all benefiting property owners based on the 20 percent assessment ratio two weeks ahead of the proposed public hearing date. At the present time, the project appears to be on budget. Council Minutes - 2/27/89 After discussion, motion by Warren Smith and seconded by Dan Blonigen to adopt a resolution ordering preparation of proposed assessment roll and setting the public hearing for March 27, 1989. Motion carried unanimously. SEE RESOLUTION 89-7 and RESOLUTION 89-8. 8. Discussion on City use of official depositories. Council discussed the conditions that might cause the City to move its checking account from one bank to another. It was the general consensus of Council that changing checking accounts should be considered at such time when the higher interest rate gained via a new account outweighs the administrative problems created in making such a change. In adddition, such a change should be made at such time that the current inventory of checks is diminished. It was also suggested by Council that other business that the City does with local lending institutions be distributed equally when possible. 9. Consideration of purchasing spare parts for electronic control system at the Waste Water Treatment Plant. Public Works Director Simola informed Council that he has been informed that Edison Controls, Inc., the company that manufactured one-half of the electronic controls at the Waste Water Treatment Plant, has declared the control system at our Waste Water Treatment Plant obsolete. What this means is that they will no longer manufacture or stock parts for this control system. The parts, specifically printed circuit board plug-in units, will be extremely difficult to get and will have to be custom manufactured upon order. If a custom order can be put together at all, the minimum waiting period will be 12 weeks. In response to this situation, Simola recommended that the Council authorize an expenditure of $6,294 for purchase of existing inventory of spare parts necessary to stretch the life of the remaining equipment. Simola went on to recommend that funds for the purchase be derived from the hookup fund. After discussion, motion was made by Warren Smith and seconded by Dan Blonigen to approve the purchase of recommended printed circuit cards and test set from Edison Controls, Inc., in the amount of $6,294. Motion carried unanimously. 10. Consideration of authorizing hiring of part-time temporary clerical position for assessor's office. Administrator Wolfsteller informed Council that for the past several months, the City has been utilizing a part-time high school student through a vocational work program for clerical duties in the assessor's office working with Gary Anderson. The hours have been very limited, and the assessment books are being required by the Wright County Assessor's office to be updated as soon as possible for the 1988 assessment. Wolfsteller reported that there are many clerical figures that have to be transferred from a computer printout supplied by the 3 Council Minutes - 2/27/89 County to the actual assessment books on approximately 1,600 parcels in the city of Monticello. This is a very time consuming duty which the present City staff has not had the ability to help with. Wolfsteller went on to note that since Mr. Anderson has been busy with building inspection activities, he has not had the time to devote to the clerical portion of the assessment duties; and as a result, we are requesting authorization to advertise for a temporary, minimum wage, 2-3 month position. Shirley Anderson noted that she does not oppose development of the position so long as it is short-term in nature. After discussion, motion by Warren Smith and seconded by Shirley Anderson to authorize the hiring of a temporary clerical position for the assessor's office. Motion carried unanimously. Other business Fran Fair suggested that Council review OAA agenda items and provide a recommendation to its representative regarding such items. Dan Blonigen concurred that the individual representing the City Council on the OAA Board should gain Council input prior to participating in OAA decision making. John Simola informed Council that in the last 10 years, during the course of employment, City maintenance men made a significant effort to recycle by collecting waste copper from non -City sources. Collection of the materials from non -city sources was conducted during normal work activities and did not take employees away from work activities. Simola went on to inform Council that the majority of copper collected came from the waste copper resulting from the installation of private water meters. Recently, the copper collected was sold to a salvage yard for $600, with the check being made to the City of Monticello. Simola asked Council if all or a portion of the revenue could be used by employees for Christmas or retirement parties? Council commended employees for efforts to recycle and indicated that the expenditure of funds gained via recycling for such purposes would be acceptable with the approval of the City Attorney. There being no further business, the meeting was adjourned. Respectfully Submitted, Jeff Neill Assistant Administrator 4