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City Council Minutes 09-26-1983MINUTES REGULAR MEETING - MONTICELLO CITY COUNCIL September 26, 1983 - 7:30 P.M. Members Present: Arve Grimsmo, Fran Fair, Dan Blonigen, Ken Maus, and Jack Maxwell. Members Absent: None. 1. Call to Order. 2. Approval of the Minutes. A motion was made by Maxwell, seconded by Blonigen, and unanimously carried to approve the minutes of the regular meeting held September 13, 1983. 4. Public Information Meeting - Minnesota Department of Transportation, T.H. 25 and Mississippi River Bridge. Mr. Jim Weingartz, Design Engineer for the Minnesota Department of Transportation, presented to the Council a summary of the proposed plans to upgrade Highway 25 from I-94 to the Mississippi River and the proposed replacement of the Highway 25 bridge. Mr. Weingartz noted that MN/DOT considers the two improvements as separate but related projects with one being improvements to Highway 25 for safety and traffic flow considerations, and the second item being the replacement of the deteriorating Highway 25 bridge. The City's responsibility before these two improvements take place would be to approve the layout of both the bridge and Highway 25 improvements and to enter into an agreement with the State of Minnesota to approve the construction plans and share in a portion of the costs. The present proposal calls for the new bridge to be built on the east side of the present bridge, ending up just east of the present River Inn property on Sherburne County side of the river. The present proposal for the bridge includes lighting of the traffic lanes and pedestrian walkways to be installed by the State of Minnesota, but presently the City would be expected to pay for operating costs and maintenance of the street lighting thereafter. In regard to the Highway 25 improvements from I-94 to the river, MN/DOT is proposing to widen the roadway to include four lanes of traffic plus right and left turn lanes at various intersections along the route. With this widening of the roadway and additional lanes, the present proposal would not allow any on -street parking along Highway 25. - 1 - Council Minutes - 9/26/83 Additional improvements along 25 include the installation of two additional signal lights, one at the intersection of Highway 25 and Seventh Street, and the second at the intersection of Oakwood Drive and Highway 25 just south of the freeway. Various alternatives for improving Highway 25 were reviewed with the Council with the State of Minnesota proposing a raised median divider strip to be constructed the entire length of Highway 25. This raised median plan is estimated to cost $800,000 with the City's share estimated at approximately $129,000 and the County's share $33,000. Another alternative presented by Mr. Weingartz would be to have only a striped median for a portion of the way, which would reduce the total cost to $747,000 with the City and County share being the same as the first plan. The installation of a raised median would eliminate traffic in many cases from making left or right turns in the middle of a block, which MN/DOT feels is a major cause of accidents and congestion problems. The State of Minnesota, according to their surveys, noted that this stretch of Highway 25 has twice the accident rate of similar type highways throughout Minnesota; and this is the reason MN/DOT is proposing the raised median for better traffic control and restrictive left and right turn accesses through- out the blocks. The proposed schedule at the present time calls for developing and designing the Highway 25 improvements during 1983 and 1984 with construction tentatively scheduled for 1985. The development and designing of the new bridge would be completed between now and 1985 with construction being proposed for 1986 and 1987. After the presentation was completed, the Council members discussed the proposed Highway 25 improvements in regard to the raised median that MN/DOT was proposing. Basically, the major concern of most of the Council members was that under the current MN/DOT proposal, traffic along River Street would not be able to cross Highway 25 due to the barrier that would be installed. Mr. Dale Lungwitz, of the Wright County State Bank, and Mrs. Brion, of the Riverview Clinic, both expressed complete opposition to the installation of the median barrier along Highway 25 that would eliminate both left and right turns on Highway 25 to their businesses. Mr. Lungwitz felt that the closing of cross traffic on River Street would be devastating to the bank in that all traffic coming from the north across the bridge would have very limited access to their banking facility without some sort of ability to either turn left on River Street or turn left into their bank facility. Mrs. Brion, representing the Riverview Clinic, expressed similar dissatisfaction and noted that virtually no access would be available to their clinic from the south off of Highway 25. - 2 - Council Minutes - 9/26/83 Other business owners along Highway 25 also expressed opposition to the raised median as they also felt this would eliminate left or right turns to their facilities and to the alleys currently situated on certain blocks. After a considerable amount of discussion regarding the raised median and the Highway 25 improvements, it was the concensus of the Council that MN/DOT should try and come up with some alternatives to present to the Council in regard to the closing of River Street cross traffic. In addition, it was recommended that Mr. Weingartz, if possible, have a special meeting with the group of affected property owners and business owners to receive their input to try and work out a compromise. Although the Council took no action in regard to the proposed plan for improvements, there seems to be some question whether the Council would approve the proposed plans as presented. The Council will again be reviewing this item at the next Council meeting after Mr. Weingartz has had a chance to set up a meeting with the affected property owners and present any alternatives to the closing of the River Street crossing if possible. The City's responsibility will be to draft a resolution supporting MN/DOT's design or adopt a resolution indicating what design the City would support. 5. Public Hearing - Consider Adoption of Tax Increment Finance District #2, Metcalf and Larson, Developers. The Monticello HRA recently gave approval to the Tax Increment Finance Proposal by attorneys Metcalf and Larson to build a 6,400 sq. ft. office building in Block 50. The Tax Increment District #2 would encompass the entire Block 50, but the project being proposed at the present time for the office building would be located on Lots 8, 9, and 10 of Block 50. The Tax Increment Proposal indicates that the City would acquire the northerly 50 feet of Lots 8, 9, and 10 in Block 50 and raze the existing blighted nonconforming structure to enable the office building to add additional parking to meet City requirements. The Monticello HRA will place tax exempt securities with Wright County State Bank in the amount of $32,000, which will be used to purchase the said property and demolish the house that sits on it. The land will then be sold to Metcalf and Larson for approximately $10-12,000, who will then construct their new split foyer office building. The Tax Increment generated from the new building will pay off the bonds for the HRA over a period of 12 years. Once approved by the City Council, the entire district would be certified to the County Auditor immediately so that the developers can begin construction yet this fall. - 3 - Council Minutes - 9/26/83 A motion was made by Fair, seconded by Maus, and unanimously carried to adopt the resolution approving the Tax Increment Finance Plan #2. See Resolution 1983-78. 6. Public Hearing - 1984 Municipal Budget. A preliminary 1984 Budget was previously presented to the City Council for review. The function of the public hearing is to meet statutory requirements allowing the public to comment on proposed expenditures and revenues for both the overall Budget as well as the specific Revenue Sharing Budget. Mrs. Judy Moody, representing the Monticello Country Club, requested that the City Council consider their previous request for funds in the amount of $30,000 from the Revenue Sharing allocation to be used by the Country Club to pay off their existing delinquent assessments and taxes against the Country Club Golf Course. The request for funds by the Country Club was noted and will be considered during the Budget session scheduled for Monday, October 3. Duane Gates, Monticello Community Education Director, also requested continued support by the City for the Chemical Awareness Program and the Community School Summer Recreation Program.The proposed Budget for 1984 includes expenditures in the amount of $13,500 for the Community School and Chemical Awareness Program. Hearing no other comments on the Budget or Revenue Sharing expenditures, the hearing was closed. The Preliminary Budget will be reviewed in a special session of the Council and City Staff on Monday, October 3, with the final Budget adoptions scheduled for October 11, 1983. 7 & 8. Public Hearing - Sherburne/Wright Counties Cable Communications Commission Request for Proposals, & Consider Adopting SWC4 RFP Resolution. The Sherburne/Wright Counties Cable Commission has recently completed developing a request for proposals for Cable TV. It is the Commission's opinion that the RFP is realistic and will provide enough incentive for several companies to submit proposals. Hearing no comments from the public on the request for proposals, the Council considered adopting a resolution supporting the request for proposal as prepared. A motion was made by Maxwell, seconded by Maus, and unanimously carried to adopt the resolution supporting the Cable Commission's request for a proposal document. See Resolution 1983-79. - 4 - Council Minutes - 9/26/83 9. Consideration of Change Order #46. The City of Monticello was recently informed by the MPCA and the Corps of Engineers that the City has not formally executed Change Order #46. To clear up this matter, it was recommended by the City Staff and City Engineer that the City formally execute Change Order #46, which provides the City a $2,699 credit. A motion was made by Blonigen, seconded by Fair, and unanimously carried to approve Change Order #46 with the Paul A. Laurence Co. on the Waste Water Treatment Plant Construction Project. 10. Consideration of a Report Concerning Repairs to City Hall. During the past month, the City Staff has been consulting with Mr. Herb Ketcham, of Architectural Alliance, the architect on the City Hall construction project,in regard to some repair items that the City Staff felt should be taken care of. Basically, the City Hall building is experiencing continued leaking problems on the roof and maintenance problems on the exterior brick of the building. The architect was supposed to have the roofing contractor re -install a piece of flashing on the roof to alleviate some of the leakage problems, but to date has not initiated the work. Due to the upcoming fall weather, it was recommended by the staff that the City itself proceed to do some of the repair work by using City crews to do minimal repairs to stop the leaks in the roof. It was also recommended by the Council that the Building Inspector again contact the architect to pressure for some type of solution from the contracors involved to make repairs. 11. Consideration of a Proposal by Fulfillment Systems, Inc., to Issue Tax Exempt Mortgages Under Chapter 474 (The Industrial Revenue Bond Act)_ In August, 1983, the City Council adopted a resolution authorizing the submission of an application for an Urban Development Action Grant. The Grant Application was submitted to HUD on August 31, 1983, but additional information has been requested by HUD. HUD was requesting documentation that the private funding that would be used by Fulfillment Systems for their construction project will come through, and that if it was to be Industrial Revenue Bonds or a Tax Exempt Mortgage, a resolution of the City Council would be required. Up to this point, Fulfillment Systems and three banks have been negotiating the placement of a Tax Exempt Mortgage, which is a privately placed mortgage which must have City approval to be tax exempt. - 5 - Council Minutes - 9/26/83 In order to keep the UDAG Grant Application in process, a motion was made by Fair, seconded by Maxwell, and unanimously carried to adopt the resolution giving preliminary approval to the development concept presented by Fulfillment Systems and the calling for a public hearing for the purpose of issuing Industrial Revenue Bonds for Fulfillment Systems. See Resolution 1983-80. 12. Consideration of Authorizing the Preparation of Plans and Specifications for an Addition to Pump House #2. Public Works Director, John Simola, requested that the City Council authorize the preparation of plans and specifications for an addition to pump house #2 that would enable chemicals to be stored in a separate room adjacent to the pumps and controls. Currently, the City is experiencing considerable corrosion problems with the controls because of the chemicals being stored adjacent to the control panels. In addition, the pump house is becoming quite crowded and additional space is needed for storage of the chemicals. As part of the addition, the Public Works Director was requesting that the building addition be large enough to allow for future placement of a standby engine that could be used to power the pumps at full capacity during power outages. A motion was made by Maxwell, seconded by Maus, and unanimously carried to authorize the Public Works Director and Building Inspector to prepare plans and specifications for an addition to pump house #2 and to present the plans to the Council at the next meeting for approval. 13. September Bills. A motion was made by Maus, seconded by Maxwell, and unanimously carried to approve the bills for the month of September as presented. See Exhibit 926, #1. In addition, with Council consensus, City Administrator was authorized to purchase an additional typewriter for the City Hall for approximately $950 as part of the 1983 Budget. Ole - Rick Wolfstell Assistant Administrator