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City Council Minutes 01-24-1983MINUTES REGULAR MEETING - MONTICELLO CITY COUNCIL January 24, 1983 - 7:30 P.M. Members Present: Arve Grimsmo, Jack Maxwell, Fran Fair, Ken Maus, Dan Blonigen. Members Absent: None. 2. Approval of the Minutes. A motion was made by Blonigen, seconded by Fair, and unani- mously carried to approve the minutes of the regular meeting held on January 10, 1983 as presented. 3. Citizens Comments. Ms. Candy Benoit, Assistant Community Education Director, was present at the meeting to formally invite the City Council members to a Community Vorum meeting on Monday evening Jan- uary 31, 1983 for the purpose of evaluating Monticello's Chemical Awareness and Prevention Program. Ms. Benoit noted that this is the first time in the State of Minnesota that a Community Forum will be used to look at the pros and cons of a community's effort to prevent alcohol and drug abuse. The community form is meant to provide a basis for planning future prevention activities of a chemical awareness and prevention program task force. 4. Continuation of Public Hearing - Meadow Oak. A motion was made by Fair, seconded by Maus and unanirtlously carried to continue the public hearing on the proposed ex- tension of public utilities to the Meadow Oak Subdivision until the developers of the property finalize their owner- ship in the land involved. 5. Consideration of Advertising for Bids for Public Improvements for Meadow Oak Subdivision. Up to this point, the City Council has authorized a feasibility study and the preparation of plans and specifications for pub- lic improvements to Meadow Oak Subdivision but the Council has not authorized the making of these improvements. An authori- zation to actually commence construction would not be ordered by the Council until after the actual recording of the new plat is made. However, the City Engineer has prepared final - 1 - Council Minutes - 1/24/83 plans and specs for the proposed improvements and in order to expedite the project, the developers are requesting that the process be started for advertising for bids on the project. John Badalich, Consulting City Engineer, gave a brief review of the proposed sewer, water and storm sewer improvements that are planned for the Meadow Oak Subdivision. Mr. Badalich indicated that the estimated cost would be as follows: Water Lines $357,000 Sewer Construction 238,000 Storm Sewer and street improvements 248,000 TOTAL CONSTRUCTION COST $843,000 25% indirect costs - 210.,750 TOTAL ESTIMATED COST $1,053,750 Mr. Badalich noted that this project provides services to the plat boundaries and also will provide some improvements to 29 lots of the first stage of the executive home site platting with the first stage of the manufactured home site platting to be done by the developer's own contractors. It was suggested by the Council that possibly the City should require some sort of guarantee from the developers that their improvements of sewer, water and street construction into the manufactured home site phase will be done at the same time that the City's construction takes place and that this could be resolved either by written agreement or possibly bonding by the developers. Mr. Badalich noted that this project would have to be advertised in the local newspaper and Construction Bulletin for a minimum of three (3) weeks prior to the bid opening which has been sche- duled for 10:00 A.M. on February 22, 1983. If the final owner- ship of the property has been resolved by the February 28th Council meeting, at that time the bids could be awarded. A motion was made by Maus, seconded by Fair to adopt a resolu- tion approving the plans and specifications and ordering the advertisement for bids for the improvements for the subdivision to be known as Meadow Oak. The motion also included a stipu- lation that the developers of Meadow Oak be advised as to the cost incurred so far in the preparation of plans and specifi- cations and that the City receive a written commitment from these developers agreeing to reimburse the City for all expenses incurred to date. Voting in favor of the motion were Maus, Fair, and Maxwell. Opposed was Dan Blonigen with Mayor Grimsmo absent during this portion of the meeting. (See Resolution 1983 - #66). - 2 - Council Minutes - 1/24/83 6. Consideration of a Personnel Issue Concerning Loren Klein. The Mayor began discussion of the issue saying that the course of action seemed fairly clear to him and that he felt that it was unfortunate that this issue had developed to this point. He asked if any one had anything further to say before official action was taken. Administrator Eidem began his discussion by introducing Mr. Frank Madden, Attorney at Law, who Eidem had retained for the purpose of investigating legal implications and legal options with regard to this matter. He noted that he had arrived at his own recommendation based on the legal opinion that Madden had submitted to him. Eidem noted that there was a copy of a resolution that would state the City's intent to terminate Klein and he recommended the adoption of that resolution. Eidem noted that upon adoption, he would then direct the appropriate letter be sent to Klein notifying him of his legal rights and of the City's intent to discharge. Eidem went on to state that based upon investigation into case law, there was serious doubt that Klein would be eligible for Veteran's Preference Treatment under Minnesota Statutes. He noted that the termination proceedings would proceed according to the personnel policy established in Title 1, Chapter 6 of the City Code. Finally, Eidem noted that because there was serious doubt regarding Klein's Veteran's Preference status, that Klein should be paid through the end of January during which time we could approach Klein and his counsel concern- ing which remedy they intended to seek. Joseph Kaminsky, Attorney at Law, representing Klein addressed the Council and Eidem to ask the question, whether or not the Council wanted their determination at that time. Frank Madden said that it was not necessary to have an answer at this time, that the City should proceed with the resolution and notice of intent to discharge and after that Klein could respond. Council Member Maus raised the question whether or not Klein was prepared to submit his doctor's certificate that was originally to be presented to the Council on January 10th and for which he was granted an extension. Mr. Kaminsky stated that they had talked to John Huffaker, the therapist, today and that Mr. Huffaker had said he had just that day received information from Eidem. Kaminsky asked whether Eidem could shed any light on that. Eidem stated that al- though he had the authorized release of information signed by Klein he had never had the information requested by Huffaker. In fact, he said that he called Huffaker to ask him if he wanted any information. A motion by Blonigen, seconded by Ken Maus and carried unanimously to adopt the following resolution: - 3 - Council Minutes - 1/24/83 RESOLUTION WHEREAS, the City Council is the appointing authority for all employees of the City of Monticello (hereinafter re- ferred to as the "City"); and WHEREAS, Loren Klein (hereinafter referred to as the "employee") has been employed by the City since April, 1978; and WHEREAS, a review of various matters relative to the employee's work performance and conduct indicate evidence of sufficient cause for dismissal of the employee; NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the City Council directs that a notice of discharge be directed to the employee and that said discharge be effective on the date of such notice, pending any hearing to which the employee may be entitled by law. CITY COUNCIL Eidem stated that because this issue may go to hearings and/or litigation, his recommendation would be for the Council to formally retain Frank Madden as legal counsel so that he would be involved from the very beginning. A motion by Blonigen, seconded by Fran Fair and carried unanimously to hire Frank Madden as legal counsel in the issue relating to the termina- tion of Loren Klein. - 4 - Council Minutes - 1/24/83 7. Consideration of Setting a Special Meeting for the Purpose of Conducting Evaluation Sessions with Various City Consultants. It was the consensus of the Council to hold a special meeting Tuesday, February 15, 1983 at 7;00 A.M. for the purpose of conducting evaluation sessions with the City Attorney, Consul- ting City Engineer, and Consulting City Planner. 8. Consideration of an Option from the HRA for the purpose of a Housing Development. Recently, Mr. Joe Poehler appeared before the City Council with a presentation for a proposed elderly housing project on Lots 13, 14 and 15 in Block 51. This was the property the City re- cently acquired an option on from the Monticello Development Corporation. At that time, Mr. Poehler was directed to go to the HRA since he indicated he may be looking at tax increment financing as part of the project. Mr. Poehler presented an in depth presentation of his proposal to the HRA Committee and received a favorable recommendation to proceed with his project. As part of Mr. Poehler's application process with Farmer's Home Administration, he would have to obtain an option on the prop- erty from the HRA Committee. The HRA Committee adopted a motion offering the City of Monticello $1.00 and other good and 1 valuable considerations to purchase a contingent option on Lots 13, 14 and 15 in Block 51. After the option is granted to the HRA, :they will in turn offer a contingent option to Mr. Poehler' for a price of $200. The final sale price of the land from the City to the HRA would be approximately $50,350 and then the HRA would sell the land to Mr. Poehler for approximately $32,000 to $33,000 leaving approximately $17,000 to $18,000 to be re- covered through tax increment financing. A motion was made by Maus, seconded by Maxwell and unanimous- ly carried to grant a contingent option to the HRA for $1.00 and other good and valuable considerations with the total sale price of the land being $50,350 for Lots 13, 14 and 15, in Block 51. The contingent option to the HRA would be good for one year regardless of whether Mr. Poehler's development pro- ceeds as planned. 9. Consideration of Mutual Aid Agreement with the City of Clear- water. A motion was made by Fair, seconded by Maxwell and unanimous- ly carried to approve entering into a mutual aid agreement for fire protection services with the City of Clearwater and author- ize the City Administrator to work with the Fire Department Chief Willard Farnick in establishing and upgrading all mutual aid agreements with any community abutting the Monticello Fire districts. 71= Council Minutes - 1/24/83 10. Consideration of an Application for a Conditional Use Permit - Michael DeBoer. Mr. Michael DeBoer, who currently resides at St. Michael, Minn- esota, requested a conditional use permit to be allowed to operate a minor repair body shop on a portion of Lot 10, Block 16, Townsite of Monticello. Mr. DeBoer plans on temporarily renting the garage from Mr. Clifford Olson, who owns the prop- erty, for,the purpose of operating a body shop. As part of the conditional use requirements, Mr. DeBoer re- quested a variance from the minimum lot size requirements of 22,500 square feet as the proposed site only contains 10,890 square feet. In addition, a variance from curb, gutter and hard surfacing of the parking lot requirements was also re- quested on a temporary basis of one year to see if the busi- ness can be established. At the public hearing held by the Planning Commission on Janu- ary 11th, 1983, concerns were expressed by some of the commission members regarding outside storage of cars or parts and the pos- sible odors that could result from spray painting in this loca- tion. As a result of these concerns, the Planning Commission recommended on a three to two vote that the conditional use permit be denied. Mr. DeBoer presented to the Council additional references re- garding his past body shop operations in St. Michael and also sketches showing how he proposed to improve the building along Hwy 25 along with the screening proposals. Mr. DeBoer noted that he would be putting up a six foot fence for screening from Hwy 25 and there would be enough space to store a number of cars outside without being seen from Hwy 25. As a result of the information presented, a motion was made by Blonigen, seconded by Maus and unanimously carried to grant a conditional use permit to Mr. DeBoer for the operation of a minor repair body shop for one year and to grant a variance from the hard surfacing requirements for the parking area for one year at which time it will be reviewed. 11. Ratification of the Membership of the Senior Citizen Council and the Historical Society. A motion was made by Fair, seconded by Blonigen and unani- mously carried to ratify the 10 Board of Directors for the Senior Citizen's Center as presented and the 10 members of the Historical Society Committee as presented along with by laws submitted by the Senior Citizens Council. See supplement #1 for complete listing. - 6- Council Minutes - 1/24/83 12. Quarterly Department Head Reports. Quarterly department head reviews were held with the YMCA Detached Worker, Mike Melstad, Fire Department Chief, Willard Farnick, Law Enforcement Representative, Buddy Gay, Public Works Director, John Simola and Department Heads, Rick Wolfsteller and Tom Eidem. Willard Farnick, Fire Department Chief,reviewed with the Council the status of the new fire pumper that the department will shortly be receiving from the manufacturer. Mr. Farnick noted that when the truck chassis was ordered from Monticello Ford, the color provided from the factory did not match the ,yellow color of the existing fire truck and as a result, Gen- eral Safety Equipment Company, the body manufacturer, request- ed an additional $550 for repainting the cab to match the color specified. Mr. Farnick also noted that the Wright County Parks Depart- ment is currently setting up fire protection districts for all their county parks and the City of Monticello would be responsible for 2 county parks in the City's fire district. A motion was made by Maus, seconded by Blonigen and unani- mously carried to authorize the fire chief to notify the County that the City will provide fire protection services for the Montissippi County Park and the Larsen County Park located in Monticello's fire district at no additional charge. Wright County Sheriff's Deputy, Buddy Gay, was present and suggested that the City Council give some thought to the possibility of licensing arcades. In addition, it was sug- gested that in the future, the City Council may want to con- sider a loitering ordinance to be established. Public Works Director, John Simola, along with Jim Miller, Wastewater Plant Superintendent, requested that the Council extend Sean Hancock's probation on the position of Waste- water Lab Technician for an additional 3 months due to the fact that the lab has not been in operation yet and this would give the supervisors additional time to evaluate Mr. Han- cock's performance. A motion was made by Blonigen, second- ed by Maxwell to extend Mr. Hancock's probation for an ad- ditional 3 months. Voting in favor were Blonigen, Maxwell, Grimsmo, and Fair. Ken Maus was absent from the meeting from this point on. - 7 - Council Minutes - 1/24/83 Council Member Fran Fair noted that the State Horticultural Society has indicated that some assistance may be available to the City of Monticello if the City should proceed with the acquisition and improvement of the park land located adjacent to the new public library. Currently, this park area is owned by the Monticello School District but the possibility exists that an agreement may be forth coming whereby the City will acquire the park property from the school and improve into the City's park system. Mrs. Fair presented the Horticultural Society's information to the City Administrator for his review. The City Administrator, Tom Eidem, noted that a Joint Cable T.V. Committee has been established between the communities of Big Lake, Buffalo, Elk River, and Monticello and requested that the Council authorize up to $500 be appropriated to pro- vide legal help in drafting a Joint Power Agreement for cable T.V. franchise. A motion was made by Fair, seconded by Maxwell and unanimously carried to allocate up to $500, total expendi- tures, with an initial expenditure of $250 to provide for legal consultant fees to help draft a Joint Powers Agreement. It was noted that after an agreement and franchise is established, some of this money may be recaptured by other communities that join the consortium. A motion was made by Blonigen, seconded by Maxwell and unani- mously carried to authorize the City Administrator to be the City's delegate for the Minnesota League of Cities legislative conference scheduled for Wednesday, January 26, 1983. 13. Consideration of Change Orders #81, #84, #85 and #86 on the Wastewater Treatment Plant Construction Protect. Public Works Director, John Simola, and Consulting Engineer, John Badalich, recommended that the following change orders be approved as part of the Wastewater Treatment Plant con- struction project with the Paul A. Laurence Company. Change Order #81 involved additional seeding and sodding at the Wastewater Treatment Plant for an additional cost of $6,468. Change Order #84 involves the construction of a hopper with drain at the lower end of a conveyer in the preliminary treatment room at an additional cost of $2,405. Change Order #85 involves the installation of a circular shield of steel around a pipe that entered into the aeration building at a cost of $391. Change Order #86 provides OSHA safety required signs in various areas throughout the plant at a total cost of $1,299. A motion was made by Fair, seconded by Maxwell and unanimously carried to approve Change Orders #81, 84, 85 and 86 for an additional $10,563 on the Wastewater Treatment Plant construc- tion project with the Paul A. Laurence Company. - 8 - Council Minutes - 1/24/83 14. Consideration of Approval of Fire Contract with Silver Creek Township for 1984 Through 1986. Recently, Silver Creek Township requested that the Joint Fire Board prepare a new fire contract to cover the years 1984 through 1986. Although the current contract does not expire until December 31, 1983, the Silver Creek Township Board re- quested that a new contract be prepared for 1984 through 1986 as they must set their budget for the year 1984 at their upcoming annual meeting in March 1983. After reviewing the anticipated cost of providing fire pro- tection service, the Joint Fire Board recommended that the City of Monticello enter into a three year agreement with Silver Creek Township at a flat annual charge of $7,250, which they felt would be sufficient to cover the anticipated fire calls in the future. This information was presented to the Silver Creek Board which recently approved the flat charge of $7,250 per year. A motion was made by Blonigen, seconded by Fair and unani- mously carried to approve entering into a extended contract with Silver Creek Township for fire protection services for the years 1984 through 1986 calling for an annual charge of $7,250 per year with no additional costs per fire. It was also noted that the recommended contract will now be for- warded to the Monticello Township Board for their approval as part of the Joint Powers Agreement. See Exhibit #2. 15. Consideration of an Appointment to Fill the Position of Wastewater Mechanic/Laborer. The Public Works Director, John Simola, noted that approxi- mately 216 applicants had applied for the position of Wastewater Mechanic/Laborer. Mr. Simola noted that himself along with the City Administrator and Wastewater Superin- tendent narrowed the applicants down to 10 individuals who were then interviewed. After reviewing the applicants, it was recommended that a Mr. John Hoffman, currently from Anoka, Minnesota, be offered the position of Wastewater Mechanic/Laborer. A motion was made by Maxwell, seconded by Fair and unani- mously carried to offer Mr. Hoffman the position of Waste- water Laborer/Mechanic. - 9 - Council Minutes - 1/24/83 16. Approval of January Bills. A motion was made by Fair, seconded by Maxwell and unanimously carried to approve the bills for the month of January as pre- sented. See Exhibit #3. Meeting Adjourned. 00/ Rick Wolfsteller Assistant Administrator J - 10 -