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City Council Minutes 01-23-1979MINUTES REGULAR MEETING - MONI'ICELLO CITY COUNCIL Tuesday - January 23, 1979 - 7:30 P.M. Members present: Arve Grimsmo, Dan Blonigen, Fran Fair, Ken Maus, Philip White. Members absent: None. Oath of Office for the newly appointed Councilmember, Ken Maus, was given by the City Administrator, Gary Wieber. Citizens Comments: Mr. Paul Klein questionned the Council's recent decision to appoint the building inspector as the new Civil Defense Director. Mr. Klein felt that with the unique position Monticello has with the nuclear power plant, a local person who is more familiar with the power plant may be a better choice. He was also concerned that if the current building inspector should ever leave his position with Monticello, the City would be left again without a Civil Defense Director familiar with the plant. 1. Public Hearing - Consideration of Variance to Use a Portion of a Commercial Establishment for Residential Rental Purposes - Dr. Joel Erickson. Dr. Joel Erickson requested a variance to put a residential unit above the Monticello -Big Lake Pet Hospital, which is located South of I-94 on Highway 25. Since the area in question is zoned B-3, it was necessary to obtain a variance for any type of residential use. Mr. Erickson indicated that the small residential apartment would be used by an employee of the veterinarian clinic_ only. Because the residential use would seem to be a quite minor use in relation- ship to the size of the overall Monticello -Big Lake Pet Hospital, a motion was made by Dan Blonigen, seconded by Phil White and unanimously carried to approve the variance request. 2. Public Hearing - Consideration of Variance Request on Frontyard Setback for Lot 7, Block 1 of Sandberg's Riverside Addition - Mel Wolters. Mr. Mel Wolters requested a variance from the frontyard setback requirements of 30', and proposed to put a house 25' back from the property line. Mr. Wolters indicated that with the 50' setback from the rear lot line because of Otter Creek, he needed the additional 5' in the frontyard to build an adequate size house. Since this lot is on a cul de sac, the setback would not affect any adjoining properties, and the Planning Commission, at their last meeting, voted to recommend approval of this variance. - 1 - Council Minutes - 1/23/79 Motion was made by Dan Blonigen, seconded by Fran Fair and unanimously carried to approve a setback distance of 25' for Lot 7, Block 1, Riverside Addition. 3. Public Hearing on Consideration of Variance Request and Conditional Use Permit for Holiday Stationstores, Inc. Holiday Stationstores, Inc. requested a conditional use permit to build a combination gasoline station and convenience store on the easterly half of Lot 2 and all of Lots 3 & 4, and part of Lot 5, Block 5 in Monticello. Since the area in question was zoned B-3, a conditional use permit was necessary for approval of this request. In addition to a conditional use permit, the Holiday Stationstores requested four variances, as follows: A. A variance to allow two 30' driveway openings on Seventh Street, instead of the 24' openings allowed by City ordinances. B. A variance request to have the openings 25' from the property line on the east rather than the required 40' per ordinances. C. A variance request to allow the gasoline pumps to be located 19' from the frontyard property line, rather than the 30' as required. Also requested was a variance to allow the pylon signs to be set back only 15' from Seventh Street and 1012' from Highway 25, rather than the 30' from both directions, as required by the ordinance. D. A variance request to provide only 12 off-street parking spaces rather than the 18 required by the ordinances. At their last meeting the Planning Commission reviewed both the condi-- tional use permit and the variances and recommended that the conditional use permit be granted and also that the variances be approved except that the driveway openings be required to be 40' from Highway 25 rather than the requested 25', and that the Pylon sign be located 25=2' from Highway 25 rather than the requested 10=2' now that the driveway opening would be 40'. Motion was made by Phil White, seconded by Dan Blonigen and unanimously carried to approve the conditional use request for the Holiday Gas Station/Convenience Store and to approve the following variances recommended by the Planning Commission: A. Two 30' Driveway openings rather than 24' openings. B. Denied request for 25' opening from Highway 25, must be 40'. C. Variance to allow the gasoline pumps to be set back 19' from Seventh Street rather than 30'. Also, to allow the pylon sign to be located 19' back from Seventh Street, but 25=2' from Highway 25, rather than the 30' setbacks. D. Variance to allow 12 spaces for off-street parking rather than 18 as provided in the ordinance. - 2 - Council Minutes -- 1/23/79 4. Consideration of Rezoning Request from R-1 (Single Family Residential) to B-3 (Highway Business) for Property Owned by Olga J. Swanson Estate along Highway 25 in Monticello. A request was made by the personal representative of the Olga J. Swanson Estate to have a 20.16 acre parcel rezoned from R-1 to B-3. No specific use of the property has been proposed, other than the fact that the potential buyer of the land from the Estate felt that the use would be more suitable for commercial as opposed to single family residential since it did border along Highway 25. It was noted that approximately half of the parcel is in a low land or wetlands area, and it was also noted that the City's wetlands ordinances would apply, thereby not allowing any of the wetlands area to be filled in for commercial development. A public hearing was held at the Planning Commission level with no objections heard, and the recommendations of the Planning Commission were to approve the rezoning. Motion was made by Ken Maus, seconded by Fran Fair and unanimously carried to approve the rezoning from R-1 (Single Family Residential) to B-3 (Highway Business). (See Ordinance Amendment 1/23/79 #63). 5. Consideration of Reducing Retainage Amount on Contract with Arcon Construc- tion for 1977-3 Improvement Project. At the last Council Meeting, Mr. Herman Tews, Mice President of Arcon Construction Company, requested that the Council reconsider their action of December 11, 1978 whereby the retainage amount for this project was reduced to 10% rather than the 3% requested. Although the contract calls for a 10% retainage, a revised Minnesota State Statute has language requiring a City Council to reduce the retainage to an amount sufficient to protect the City. Consulting Engineers, Orr-Schelen-Mayeron & Associates, recommended that the City reduce the retainage to 3%, which in their opinion was sufficient to complete any work remaining. It was also the recommendation of the City Attorney, Gary Pringle, that the revised Minnesota State Statute requiring a lower percentage should have been written into the contract, and therefore recommended that a lower percentage would be applicable in this case. In light of the recommendations made, a motion was made by Dan Blonigen, seconded by Fran Fair and unanimously carried to approve lowering the retainage amount on the 1977-3 Street Improvement Project from loo down to 3%. 6. Consideration of Resolution Ordering Feasibility Report on Additional Area Petitioned For. - A petition was received on January 16, 1979, from Mr. Mike Rehrer to have the J. R. Culp farm served with sewer and water. Mr. Rehrer has an option - 3 - Council Minutes - 1/23/79 to purchase this parcel from Mr. Culp, and requested that he be included in the recently ordered feasibility report for 1979 improvements. Mr. Keith Nelson, consulting engineer with Orr-Schelen-Mayeron & Associates, indicated that if the Culp property were to be included in the feasibility report, most likely the area would be served by extending the improvements planned for the Oakwood Industrial Park from Dundas Road to the east, rather than coming South along Highway 25. Additionally, the feasibility of extendµ- ind Dundas Road along the alignment for the proposed sewer and water exten- sion for the area could also be considered at the same time. Mr. Keith Nelson also indicated to the Council that a number of alternatives were available for extending sewer and water and other considerations would have to be given to possibly oversizing some of the sewer lines for future developments. Motion was made by Phil White, seconded by Fran Fair and unanimously carried to approve a resolution ordering a feasibility report on extension of sewer and water to the J. R. Culp farm as part of the 1979 improvement project. (Resolution 1979 #2). 7. Consideration of Advertising for New Public Works Director. After reviewing a job description of the Public Works Director's position, a motion was made by Ken Maus, seconded by Fran Fair and unanimously carried to advertise for a new Public Works Director to replace Mike Rajala, who resigned January 15, 1979. The ad will be placed in the local paper, along with the St. Cloud Times and Minneapolis Tribune and League of Cities Magazine. 8. Consideration of Approval of Advertising for Bids for Mini -Pumper Fire Truck. ' Fire Chief, Paul Klein, requested that the Council consider advertising for the purchase of a new mini -pumper fire rescue truck. Mr. Klein indicated that the fire department has been reviewing other community's similar equipment and felt that the need with the Freeway does exist for the department to have a smaller mini -pumper with rescue abilities. At the time the 1979 Budget was adopted, the Council was aware that this item would be considered in 1979, and funds would possibly be available from the capital outlay revolving fund in the approximate cost of $35,000. The primary purpose behind this smaller fire truck would be the quick response time that a more mobil unit would offer. Additionally, with the addition of rescue tools, it would allow the fire department to use this piece of equipment to rescue victims of a vehicle accident and would always be the first fire truck to get to the scene of a fire. This item was previously approved by the Monticello Joint Fire Board, consisting of a fire department representative and a representative from both the Township and the City of Monticello. It was also noted that it - 4 - Council Minutes - 1/23/79 would be necessary to obtain approval on awarding a contract from both the governing bodies of the Township and the City once bids were received. Motion was made by Phil White, seconded by Dan Blonigen and unanimously carried to authorize the Fire Department to draw up specifications for a mini -pumper and present to the Joint Fire Board and Monticello Township for approval. If both the Joint Fire Board and the Monticello Township Board approves of the specs, advertisement for bids would proceed. 9. Quarterly Meeting with Department Heads. The quarterly meeting with various department heads was held by the City Council. The following department heads were in attendance at the meeting: Liquor Store Manager - Mark Irmiter Fire Chief - Paul Klein Senior Citizens Dir. - Karen Hanson Building Inspector - Loren Klein Wright County Sheriff's Dept. - Don Hozempa City Administrator - Gary Wieber Building Inspector, Loren Klein, informed the Council that the housing inspections on rental property will be started within the next few weeks. Mr. Klein also informed the Council that numerous items are available from the Federal government for use by the Civil Defense Department. The Council authorized Mr. Klein to make a list of any items he felt the City could use that may be available. Mr. Klein also indicated that an application has been made for additional sirens to be located in Monticello with possible 50% funding by the Federal government. City Administrator, Gary Wieber, informed the Council that the week of February 26th to March 2nd has been designated as Minnesota Cities Week. The League of Minnesota Cities has requested that the City of Monticello participate in support of Minnesota Cities Week and adopt the resolution recognizing Minnesota Cities Week and its promotional activities. Motion was made by Arve Grimsmo, seconded by Phil White and unanimously carried to adopt a resolution participating in Minnesota Cities Week of February 26 through March 2, 1979. (See Resolution 1979 #3). 10. Approval of Bills and Minutes for January 1979. Motion was made by Dan Blonigen, seconded by Ken Maus and unanimously carried to approve the bills for January 1979, and the Minutes of January 8, 1979, as presented. (See Supplement 1/23/79 #1). Meeting adjourned. ichard Wolfs ller Assistant Administrator RW/ns - 5 -