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City Council Minutes 10-22-1979MINUTES REGULAR MEETING - MONTICELLO CITY COUNCIL October 22, 1979 - 7:30 P.M. Members Present: Arve Grimsmo, Dan Blonigen, Fran Fair, Ken Maus, Phil White. Members Absent: None 1. Consideration of Approval of Purchase Agreement for Oakwood School Property. A purchase agreement had been prepared by the City Attorney, Gary Pringle, and reviewed by the School District's Attorney, Jim Metcalf, in regards to the exchange of the Oakwood School Block for $100,000 between the School District and the City of Monticello, with the City agreeing to assume the responsibility of providing a public library in Monticello. The purchase agreement indicates a closing date has been set for August 31, 1980, or at a time that the legal issues are resolved, whichever comes later. The primary reason for the closing date being set in 1980 is that the School would then be responsible for the maintenance, heat and janitorial services for the building through the time that they vacate their administrative offices, which should occur in the Fall of 1980. As part of the agreement, the School District does retain the right to rent from the City from August 31, 1980 to November 30, 1980 in case they are unable to vacate their administrative offices. After reviewing the rental charge that the City would require from August 31st until November 30th should the School decide to rent, a motion was made by Phil White, seconded by Fran Fair and unanimously carried to enter into the purchase agreement to buy Oakwood School for $100,000 with $1,000 earnest money down and also to set a rental charge of $500 per month to the School District if they need to rent the School from August 31st until November 30th. (See Supplement 10/22/79 #1). 2. Consideration of Accepting Transfer of Ownership of Montissippi Park from Wright County for $1.00. Mr. Mike Schmidt, Wright County Park Administrator, reviewed with the Council the County's intent to transfer ownership of the Montissippi Park to the City of Monticello for $1.00. Mr. Schmidt indicated the primary reason for the County offering the City the land is that it was the policy of the County Park Department to transfer parklands initially acquired by the County to the City when they become part of the City. In addition, Mr. Schmidt indicated that the County is not currently in a position to develop the park now and felt that the City should own the park and develop it as they desire in the future. COUNCIL MINUTES - 10/22/79 As part of the development of the Montissippi Park, the County has received a $40,000 grant from the State for adding restroom facilities, parking area and trails, etc., but this $40,000 grant would require a matching $40,000 amount from the owner of the park. Should the City take over the Montissippi Park, the grant would be transferred from the County to the City, but Mr. Schmidt indicated that if the City does not decide to take over ownership of the park, in all likelihood the grant would not be used by the County at the present time for development in the area. Although the County Park Administrator estimated that the maintenance cost would only amount to approximately $1,400 a year, the Council's main concern was with the large amount of area to maintain and the resulting increase in taxes for the residences of Monticello to be able to maintain the park and develop its size. The park is currently approximately 170 acres and questions were asked as to whether the City, if they owned the park, would be able to sell off portions of the parkland to enable them to perpetually maintain the park. It was the opinion of Mr. Schmidt and also County Commissioner Lowell Zachman, that public parkland could not be sold by the City and that all the land must remain for park purposes. It was the concensus of the Council members that at the present time, unless the City had more control of the parkland, and would be able to sell off some portions of it to set aside in a certain fund to help maintain the park at a desired level, they would not be interested in pursuing ownership at this time. Mr. Schmidt indicated that he would contact the County Park Board and County Commissioners to see if any type of an agreement could be made whereby the City would have the right to dispose of part of the land if they did take over ownership, and would report back to the Council at a later date. (See Supplement 10/22/79 #2) 3. Consideration of Approval of Preliminary Subdivision Plat - Curtis Hoglund's Macarlund Plaza. A preliminary plat was submitted by Mr. Curtis Hoglund of approximately 9.4 acres in size. The property is located where Curt's Storage and Sales is currently situated on East County Highway 75 and the proposal is to use part of the land for townhouses with the balance being zoned for commercial use. As part of the park dedication for the subdivision, the developers propose to give to the City Lots 13 & 14 of Block 3 in Hoglund Addi- tion abutting Mississippi Drive. The preliminary plat has been approved by the Planning Commission and also reviewed by the City Engineer. City Engineer proposed that the developer add additional storm sewer easements from their property to tie into the storm sewer along Mississ- ippi Drive as part of the development. As part of the storm sewer improve- ments necessary, an easement would be necessary from Maurice Hoglund, who owns Lot 14 in Block 3 of Hoglund Addition to enable the storm sewer pipe to tie into the current system on Mississippi Drive. The developers agreed to work out a solution to providing the proper easements if the - 2 - COUNCIL MINUTES - 10/22/79 plat is accepted. In addition to the storm sewer improvements necessary, sewer and water can be served to this property by coming from Mississippi Drive through the proposed parkland to the property. In addition, John Badalich, City Engineer, will be preparing cost estimates for extending sewer and water along County Highway 39 and County Highway 75 as an alter- nate route to provide sewer and water. Motion was made by Ken Maus, seconded by Dan Blonigen and unanimously carried to approve the preliminary plat for Macarlund Plaza as presented with park dedication to be made by giving Lots 13 & 14 in Block 3, Hoglund Addition, with an additional cash requirement as needed. It was noted that the proposed parkland has current assessments owing against the property, and a decision will have to be made by the time the final plat is presented as to whether the assessments are paid by the developer or are assumed by the City. 4. Consideration of a Conditional Use Permit for Townhouses by Curtis Hoglund. As part of the preliminary plat presented in Agenda Item 3 in regards to Macarlund Plaza, Mr. Curtis Hoglund applied for a conditional use permit to construct five townhouse complexes of six units each for a total of thirty townhouses. The townhouses proposed are approximately 1,500 square feet each with one garage unit that would be attached to the Townhouse and an additional unattached garage for each unit. In accordance with City Ordinances, an association has been presented by Mr. Hoglund's attorney and reviewed by the City Attorney. In addition, the Planning Commission voted to recommend approval of the conditional use permit contingent upon City Engineer approval of sewer and water services to the property. Hearing no comments, motion was made by Phil White, seconded by Fran Fair and unanimously carried to approve the conditional use permit for townhouses in Macarlund Plaza. 5. Public Hearing on Consideration of Variance Request for a Beauty Shop within an R-2 Zone. Lori Vogt, on behalf of a client, requested a variance to allow an individual to operate a beauty shop within their own home located in Block 38, Lots 4 & 5 Lower Monticello. Although some residential property does allow for a home occupation, a variance in this instance would be necessary to allow mechanical equipment other than normally found in the home to be used for a beauty shop, and also a variance would be required for the sign to advertise the beauty shop operation. - 3 - COUNCIL MINUTES - 10/22/79 City Ordinances require that any home occupation only have one person employed in the business who lives at that residence which Mrs. Vogt indicated would be the case in this situation. No comments, pro or con, were heard from the neighboring property owners, and a motion was made by Fran Fair, seconded by Phil White and unanimously carried to approve the variance request for a beauty shop within an R-2 Zone for Lots 4 & 5, Block 38 Lower Monticello. 6. Consideration of Approval of Simple Subdivision_ of Land by Troy Chaplin and Lawrence Hoyt. Mr. Troy Chaplin, who owns Lot 1, Block 1 in Hoglund Addition and Mr. Lawrence Hoyt, who owns the lot immediately east of Mr. Chaplin, requested permission to exchange portions of their lot to resolve a problem which came about after it was found out that Mr. Hoyt's driveway was on a part of the land owned by Mr. Troy Chaplin. Mr. Hoyt has agreed to exchange a triangle parcel from his lot which is approximately 1,675 square feet in exchange for a triangle parcel that would be approximately 700 square feet from Mr. Chaplin. This exchange would neither reduce anybodys lot size less than the minimum require- ments nor would it reduce the minimum width that is required by City Ordinances, and would resolve a current non -conforming use in that Mr. Hoyt's home is less than 10' from the sideyard line. Motion was made by Phil White, seconded by Dan Blonigen and unanimously carried to approve the subdivision as proposed by Mr. Hoyt and Mr. Chaplin. 7. Review of Proposal by Howard Dahlgren & Associates regarding School Property. At the time the City decided to purchase Oakwood School block from the School District, Howard Dahlgren & Associates were contacted on the possibility of studying the potential use of the Oakwood School Property along with the desirability of utilizing lots 13 & 14 in Block 51 for parking purposes. Mr. Dahlgren reviewed with the Council the scope of the proposed study which would indicate whether the building is suitable for rehabilitation or what purpose could be used of the block and whether the library site should be located at the present Oakwood Site or be situated in another area of the downtown area. Mr. Dahlgren indicated that the complete study including the downtown parking areas along with the Oakwood School site would take approximately 90 days, and a recommendation could be made to the Council by his firm in regards to whether the Oakwood site would be desirable for a library by November 13th as required in the purchase agreement recently signed by the City. As part of the original purchase agreement, the City must decide by November 13th whether they intend to utilize a portion of Block 17 for a new public library or whether they will be locating the library in another spot. - 4 - COUNCIL MINUTES - 10/22/79 In regards to the proposed new library for the City, Mr. Schneider of the Great River Regional Library System also reviewed with the Council his findings on the potential sites available for a new library. He indicated that his first choice would be to locate a new library in the Oakwood School Block on the northeast corner because of its location and visibility within the City. He indicated a second choice would be the northeast corner of Block 17, now owned by the School, and his third choice would be the northwest corner of Block 17. The remainder of the sites he looked at for a future library included the southeast corner of Block 17, next to the City Hall was a possibility, and the northwest portion of Block 15 which is owned by the City. Mr. Schneider indicated that if the City should decide to renovate Oakwood School building for library purposes, the Great River Regional Library System would be agreeable to this location as long as sufficient space is allocated for a library. Motion was made by Phil White, seconded by Fran Fair and unanimously carried to approve entering into an agreement with Howard Dahlgren Associates in the amount of $3,500 to study the proposed use of Oakwood School and other downtown parking areas. 8. Review of Off -Street Parking Requirements for a Commercial Office Build- ing Proposed by Sam Peraro. Mr. Sam Peraro has indicated that he would like to construct a 3 -story 13,500 square foot building on Lots 14 & 15 in Block 34. The area currently under consideration for this new building is the site of the Season All Sports building and the old Phillips 66 Station. As part of this development, Mr. Peraro wanted to get a preliminary indication of whether the Council would approve of a variance request relative to off-street parking spaces required for his proposed office building. If a building of this size were to be constructed in the downtown area, current ordinances would require 64 parking spaces for the building alone with additional parking spaces needed for the number of fulltime employees at the building. As a result, parking spaces could total up to 80 to_90 spaces depending upon the number of fulltime employees. Mr. Peraro's preliminary plans indicate that only approxi- mately 8 spaces would be provided on the site, thus leaving a large number to be used in the downtown parking lots. Although the City of Monticello does have parking lots which are assessed to the downtown businesses in this area, they would not be sufficient spaces to assess to Mr. Peraro for the additional parking he would require for his new building. It appeared that it would be almost impossible to assess Mr. Peraro's proposed building for the additional parking requirements under the 74-1 parking lot improvement project since his requirements exceed the available spaces without new additional parking lots being developed in the downtown area. It was the concensus of the Council to not consider a variance at the present time but to look at the situation with the downtown development committee in regards to possible solutions such as purchasing additional parking areas for development. If additional areas were acquired and developed, some sort of a solution could be arranged - 5 - COUNCIL MINUTES - 10/22/79 whereby possibly the additional parking requirements could be assessed to new developments to such as Mr. Peraro's. The Committee will be reviewing this possibility with Mr. Peraro and the City Planner, Howard Dahlgren, who will be reviewing the entire downtown parking situation and report back to the Council in November 1979. 9. Consideration of Extension of Time for Hook -Up to Sanitary Sewer System Completed in 1976. City Ordinances require that a property owner hook onto the City's sani- tary sewer system within three years after the sewer is made available to the property. Approximately six property owners who are served as part of the 1976-1 Improvement Project have not yet completed their sanitary sewer hookup and most have indicated they are having trouble obtaining contractors to do the work by the deadline. A similar situation occurred on the 1975-1 Improvement Project in that an extension was granted for an additional six months to people at that time who had difficulty in hooking up to the system. Motion was made by Phil White, seconded by Fran Fair and unanimously carried to extend the deadline for mandatory hook ups as part of the 76-1 improvement project until July 15, 1980, for the six people affected. 10. Consideration of Resolution to Grant Senior Citizens Hardship Special Assessment Deferral on the 1978-1 Im2rovement Project. At the last Council Meeting, a specific request was made by Mr. William Hoffman, representing Minnie Ruff, a senior citizen, in regards to defer- ring the assessments on the 1978-1 improvement project for her property. In reviewing the 1978-1 assessment rolls, the Council was informed that only two property owners would be eligible for a deferral if adopted by the Council. Although one property owner was granted a senior citizens deferral under the 1977-3 improvement project, the Council discussed whether a deferral was actually necessary in this case since the amount of the assessments under the 1978-1 project were somewhat less than the deferral granted under the street project. Motion was made by Fran Fair, seconded by Dan Blonigen and unanimously carried to adopt the resolution deferring assessments on the 78-1 improve- ment project for senior citizens since only two property owners would be affected. (See Resolution 1979 #20) 11. Quarterly Department Head Meeting with Paul Klein, Fire Chief. Mr. Paul Klein, Fire Chief, was in attendance at the meeting to review any particular questions the Council had in regards to the fire department operations. Mr. Klein informed the Council that the new mini -pumper should be delivered sometime in December 1979, and should be on schedule. - 6 - COUNCIL MINUTES - 10/22/79 Mr. Klein also asked that the parking lot located on the North Side of the fire hall be marked in some way to allow access to the garage door side where the new mini -pumper will probably be located. At the present time, the parking lot is always full of cars which block the entrance to the garage door. He indicated that once the new truck is delivered, this area will have to remain open or otherwise it would be impossible for the fire department to have access. 12. Approval of Bills for October, 1979. Motion was made by Ken Maus, seconded by Fran Fair and unanimously carried to approve the bills for October 1979 as presented.(See Supplement 10/22/79 #3). 13. Approval of Minutes. Motion was made by Ken Maus, seconded by Dan Blonigen and unanimously carried to approve the minutes of the Regular Meeting held October 9, 1979, as presented. 14. Discussion on Two -Way Radio Systems for Public Works Department. Mr. John Simola, Public Works Director, informed the Council that the public works department is planning on having a man on duty permanently during the Winter months from 12:00 Midnight to 8:00 A.M. He indicated that one man would be on duty for the purposes of snow plowing, maintenance and other situations which call for sanding of street corners, etc. during the middle of the night. As part of this new scheduling, Mr. Simola requested that the Council consider purchasing a two-way radio for this individual should an emergency arise. Mr. Simola indicated that if an emergency arose, this individual could contact the Sheriff's Department Deputy for assistance since he would probably be the only one on duty at that time. It was pointed out that if a radio was purchased, it would tie into the radio systems being purchased for the Civil Defense Department and also the three units being planned as part of the wastewater treatment plant operations. Motion was made by Fran Fair, seconded by Phil White to authorize the purchase of a two-way radio for the public works department in the amount of $665. Voting in Favor: Fran Fair, Phil White, Arve Grimsmo, Ken Maus. Opposed: Dan Blonigen. 15. Discussion on 1978-1 Storm Sewer Assessment - Sandberg South. At the original public hearing for the proposed 1978-1 improvement project assessments, John Sandberg, owner of property in Sandberg South, indicated his opposition to being assessed for storm sewer improvements to ponding areas he provided on part of his lots in that development. John Badalich, City Engineer, reviewed the assessments for these lots and prepared a new assessment roll for Lots 1 & 2 in Sandberg South amounting to a reduction of $2,611.27 for the storm sewer assessment. - 7 - COUNCIL MINUTES - 10/22/79 It was noted by the engineer that this reduced amount could be spread over the balance of the lots in Sandberg South, or deferred for these lots until such time as the easement was lifted and the lots were no longer required for ponding. The third choice would be to have the City put the $2,611.27 on Ad Valorem taxes as the City's share of the improvement. Motion was made by Phil White, seconded by Ken Maus and unanimously carried to approve the change on the 1978-1 assessments for Lots 1 & 2 in Sandberg South with the reduced amount being picked up by the City on Ad Valorem taxes. In regards to the entire storm sewer situation south of the Freeway, motion was made by Ken Maus, seconded by Arve Grimsmo and unanimously carried to have the City Administrator contact the property owners of the lowland area located south of I-94 and west of Highway 25 in regards to possible purchase of their land for future storm sewer ponding by the City of Monticello. Meeting Adjourned. P�4 �- "45 Rick Wolfstel r, Assistant Administrator RW/ns