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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2012 [01] Jan 05 January 5, 2012 Page 1 of 4 Pursuant to due call and notice thereof, the City Council for the City of St. Joseph met in regular session on Thursday, January 5, 2012 in the St. Joseph City Hall, opening the meeting with the Pledge of Allegiance. Members Present: Mayor Rick Schultz, Councilors Dale Wick, Renee Symanietz, Steve Frank, Bob Loso and City Administrator Judy Weyrens City Representatives Present: City Finance Director Lori Bartlett, Police Chief Pete Jansky and City Engineer Randy Sabart Others Present: Tom Klein PUBLIC COMMENTS No one present wished to speak. Approve Agenda: Loso made a motion with the addition of the following: 5.5 City Engineer Randy Sabart — Resolution for trail for Co Rd 2 The motion was seconded by Wick and passed unanimously. Consent Agenda: Symanietz made a motion to approve the consent agenda as follows: a. Minutes — Requested Action: Approve the minutes of December 14 and December 15, 2011. b. Bills Payable — Requested Action: Approve check numbers 044834 - 044939 and EFT # 000619 -00628 (payroll) and payable EFT #001561. c. Transfers — Requested Action: Authorize the annual end of year transfers for the calendar year 2011. d. Liquor License — Requested Action: Approve the non - intoxicating liquor license for the St. Joseph Recreation Association. The motion was seconded by Wick. Discussion: Loso questioned why the budget transfers are done at the end of the year versus recording the funds directly upon receipt. Finance Director Bartlett stated that because of budget cuts at the state level shifting of funds may be necessary which is easier to do at the end of the year. Weyrens stated that revenue streams for debt service accounts are transferred at the end of the year to make sure that the funds are needed, as one funds are transferred into debt service accounts they cannot be removed until the debt service is closed. The budget transfers are used as a management tool. The motion was passed unanimously. CITY ENGINEER/CITY ADMINISTRATOR REPORTS Co Rd 2 Trail Proiect: Sabart presented the Council with the final grant application for the extension of Co Rd. 2 Trail. The application must be submitted to the St. Cloud Area Planning Organization no later than January 20, 2012. The application includes a project budget, narrative detailing why the project is important and a resolution of the governing body indicating support of the project, and the intent of the City of maintain the trail once constructed. Loso made a motion authorizing the Mayor and Administrator to execute Resolution 2012 -001 supporting the project, appoint an agent on behalf of the city, and agree to maintain the Trail upon completion. The motion was seconded by Frank. Discussion: Frank questioned what the match of funding might be. Sabart stated the submittal would ask for 80 percent federal funds and 20 percent local funds. The lowest the APO would come back with would be 30 percent federal funds and 70 percent local funds. The Co Rd 2 Trail project is projected to cost approximately one million dollars. Frank questioned if there are enough funds in the sales tax fund to cover the expenses if the project is accepted. Weyrens stated even with how much we committed already, there would be enough to fund this project. Sabart also stated the City would have the opportunity to decline and award if the project is funded. Loso questioned how the projects are chosen. Sabart stated an APO committee as well as a region 7W committee start with the review. The decision January 5, 2012 Page 2 of 4 then goes to the APO Executive Board. If this project is not selected for the funding, an application can be submitted again in two years. It is not uncommon to reapply. The motion was passed unanimously. North Corridor: Weyrens questioned if the City wanted pursue an application for funding for the North Corridor. Staff wanted to confirm it is not a priority to the Council to commit dollars to this project. St Cloud has indicated they are not in support of the extension. A full application would need to be completed to move forward with this project. The Council agreed if St Cloud is not in support, it does not make sense for St Joseph to go forward with this project. Continuation of working with St Cloud is • possible for future plans of the North Corridor. The Council concurred to not move forward with a funding application at this time. Unresolved proiects from 2011: Weyrens reviewed a list of unresolved projects from 2011. All items have been scheduled to be revisited in upcoming meetings. The list is as follows: • Park Terrace — will be bringing back to council and possibly getting some legislative changes on it. • St. Cloud Partnership /Greater MN Cities - Schultz stated he would like to schedule representatives to come back from the St. Cloud Partnership to let the Council know what their organization has been doing and how it can benefit St. Joseph. • Coalition of Greater MN Cities — The Coalition is offering reduced fees for Cities that are not members and are reduced 50 percent the first year, 25 percent the second year, and full price the third year. Wick stated we should have the Coalition of Greater Minnesota Cities come to see what they have to offer as well and make a decision at that point. • The Noise Ordinance — Potential amendment. • The Transportation Corridor Overlay — Currently will be brought back in February at the Planning Commission level. • The compost site — Currently in the process of finding land. Sartell, Waite Park, St Wendell Township, and St Joseph Township have all expressed interest in participating. • Parking Pad Amendment - Will be brought back at the next Council meeting with information to be considered. • Electronic scoreboard and installation at Schneider Field — This will be going back to the Park Board given that they have raised about $5000 and need to decide if they want to use park funds before bringing it back to the Council. Wick questioned if there is a way to get quotes for this project versus going with only the $20,000 one. Loso stated there were three options with the lowest being around $7000 or $8000. • The transportation study — The study will be starting January 30, 2012 at 5:30 pm for the scope of work that was approved by the Council. • EDA RFPs - St Joseph received about 6 to 7 requests for proposals for EDA services. The EDA board will be setting up meetings to interview the candidates if they wish to. • Surplus Property — Staff is getting the list together to bring to the council of the surplus property to get approval to sell. Staff is yet unsure of what method will be used for the sale of the items. • Website — Schultz and Weyrens participated in a conference call with Civic Plus as a website provider. Weyrens also looked at one other provider. Information will be brought to a future meeting to see if the council would like to change providers. Schultz believes a more user friendly website is needed for St. Joseph. Weyrens stated that a company such as Civic Plus would be the type of company that would be beneficial as it works primarily with municipalities. She stated that staff and the Council would want to look into website companies and do an invite for RFPs otherwise they City would be inundated with proposals. Loso stated he would like to know what we have now compared to what is wanted. What is it that the community would like and what are the benefits of getting a new website. Schultz stated he sees our current website as someplace to store documents and would like it to be more informational and a place where people can get and submit forms, be notified of items they want, etc. January 5, 2012 Page 3 of 4 • Fence Ordinance — The Ordinance will be coming back to the Planning Committee. A request was made whether a fence should be right on the line or two feet back and who gets the right to the property line. • Housing Group — The group should start meeting in the next couple months on the provisions for renting. • Facility Committee - Interest has been shown by architects on the invites staff sent out in creatively planning the site. Interviews are scheduled for January 24 and 25 2012. The times will be set once it is known how many interviews there will be. • Electronic Council Packets Intergovernmental Meeting: The meeting is scheduled for Tuesday, January 31 in Waite Park. Development: There is a lot of development going on including the new fast food place, American Manufacturing's expansion, and the army building which had their informational meeting for bidders on design /build. The proposals are due at the end of January. Frank stated there is a new Italian restaurant that signed a lease for the corner of the Millstream Shops. Excel Energy: Weyrens asked Excel Energy to come talk to the council regarding burying the electric lines on Minnesota Street. The Excel representative will address what the options and difficulties are. There have been a lot of questions why other cities are doing it, what are St. Joseph's options. Mayor Schultz stated he would like all the items listed by Weyrens to either be worked on during a council meeting or working meetings. Frank stated he would like the Council to take a look at the mission of the different groups and boards in St Joseph and give them some direction of where the Council would like to see them go. CSAH 2: Loso questioned Sabart as to the status of the County Road 2 bids. Sabart responded that the county does not want to go out for bids until St. Joseph has a better handle on the right of way for the trail. However, he expects the process to being in the next 30 to 60 days. With regard to the ROW acquisition, staff has met with 3 out of 4 property owners and corresponded with the 4 via mail. All have been willing to listen, but it is believed that they don't want to sign anything until they know what kind of compensation they might receive from the county. It puts the city in a difficult position as the county wants to move forward on the bids and at the same time the city is not able to get the land owners to sign agreements. The city may need to come to a memorandum of understanding with the land owners to agree to a negotiated amount similar to what the county is agreeing to. Sabart stated he will keep the Council updated. Skating Rink Weyrens stated that with the warm temperatures and lack of snow, the skating rink has not been flooded. The extended forecast is not favorable to flooding rinks and it is the Public Works Director opinion that it may not be worth flooding rinks this year as the weather will deteriorate the ice. Staff is looking for direction from Council as to whether it would be worth flooding it at this point as the rink usually close the second weekend in February. Council agreed that the rink will not be flooded due to lack of snow and ability to create and maintain ice. MAYOR REPORTS No Report COUNCIL REPORTS SYMANIETZ — No Report WICK — No Report LOSO — No Report January 5, 2012 Page 4 of 4 FRANK — Sign Ordinance: Frank questioned where the Ordinance for signs in the right a way is located and who is responsible for enforcement. Lately he has notice business signs in the boulevards and they are a nuisance. Frank questioned if an individual removes a sign, does that person get in trouble? Chief Jansky stated that the police department and maintenance departments try to stay proactive and take the signs down when they are noticed. Adjourn: Loso made a motion to adjourn the City Council Meeting and go into closed session pursuant to MN State Statue 13(d) 03 at 8:07 PM. The purpose of the meeting is to discuss labor strategy. The motion was seconded by Symanietz and passed unanimously. • G� G /Z � Judy eyr ns Ad , nistrator