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HomeMy WebLinkAbout1995 [05] May 04 Page 2788 May 4, 1995 Pursuant to due call and notice thereof, the City Council for the City I of St. Joseph met in regular session on Thursday, May 4, 1995 at 7:00 p. m. in the City Hall. JŒMBERS PRESENT: Mayor Donald Bud Reber; Councilors Ross Rieke, Bob Loso, Ken Hiemenz, Cory Ehlert; Clerk/Administrator Rachel Stapleton. OTHERS PRESENT: Judy Weyrens, Joe Bettendorf, Dick Taufen, Dave Theisen, Dave Hinnenkamp, Brian Klinefelter, Dave Hanson, Brent Bechtold, Art Hiemenz, Edith Hiemenz, Art Reber, Steve Streng, Mike McDonald, Tillie Wasner, Elmer and Kelly Reber, Mary Reber Generous, Bert and Lou Zimmer. Mayor Reber called the meeting to order at 7:00 p.m. with Reber, Loso, Hiemenz, and Ehlert present. AGENDA: Loso made a motion to approve the agenda: seconded by Ehlert. Ayes: Reber, Loso, Hiemenz, Ehlert. Nayes: None. Motion carried. CONSENT AGENDA: Loso made a motion to approve the consent agenda consisting only of the minutes of the April 20, 1995 Council meeting; seconded by Ehlert. Ayes: Reber, Loso, Hiemenz, Ehlert. Nayes: None. Motion carried. BILLS PAYABLE: Deputy Clerk Judy Weyrens presented the bills payable. I Hiemenz made a motion to approve the bills payable check numbers 20909 -20981; seconded by Hiemenz. Ayes: Reber, Loso, Hiemenz, Ehlert. Nayes: None. Motion carried. Discussion of the need to clarify by written policy on payment f'or Department Heads attendance at Council meetings, because they only need to be in attendance during their scheduled portion of the meeting. Ehlert made a motion to approve the overtime and callouts as presented; seconded by Hiemenz. Ayes: Reber, Loso, Hiemenz, Ehlert. Nayes: None. Motion carried. ItAYOR'S REPORT: 1 ) The St. Cloud Area Planning Organization discussed supporting the abandonment of' the Railroad. St. John's Abbey and University are requesting to keep the railroad. Af'ter discussion of' the matter and options available (support abandonment, not support it, or do nothing), County Commissioner Rose Arnold made a motion to do nothing, which passed. She felt that the abandonment will go through anyway. 2) The f'lag pole could be adapted to have the mechanism inside the pole, and provide more security f'or the flag at a cost of about $300. I Loso made a motion to proceed with the adaption as presented; seconded by Ehlert. Ayes: Reber, Rieke, Loso, Hiemenz, Ehlert. Nayes: None. Motion carried. Page 2789 May 4, 1995 I 3) Mayor Reber read a complementary letter about the performance of Clerk/Administrator from an area resident. He commended Stapleton and placed the letter in her personnel £ile. COUNCIL REPORTS EHLERT: 1 ) The City quali:fies £or student employee workers. Ehlert has met with of£icials at the college and university and is in the process of getting workers through this program. 2) The Planning Commission met May 1 and discussed the addressing system. They requested to invite the property owners whose addresses are being reconsidered, and Joe Bettendor£, along with Ben Poepping, to the next meeting. There was £urther discussion on the costs to the property owners when addresses are changed. LOSO: 1) Area residents, outside the jurisdiction of the City of St. Joseph have requested to use the compost area. Mayor Reber will study the matter and report at the next meeting. Rieke arrived at 7:25 p.m. 2) Loso made a motion to send a memo to the Police Department and Maintenance Department reminding them to open the bathrooms in I Centennial Park daily. Maintenance opens the bathrooms and the Police Department locks them at 10:00 p. m. The motion was seconded by Ehlert. Ayes: Reber, Rieke, Loso, Hiemenz, Ehlert. Nayes: None. Motion carried. 3) The Fire Board met and approved a sealed bid received on the 1975 Ford Fire Truck. The City and Township need to accept the bid. Loso made a motion to accept a bid on the surplus 1975 Ford Fire Truck from Lancaster, Minnesota of $18,100 with 31- o£ this to be paid Mr. Bunker, £or his services in £inding a buyer; seconded by Mayor Reber. Ayes: Reber, Rieke, Loso, Hiemenz, Ehlert. Nayes: None. Motion carried. The Fire Board also approved purchasing 30 replacement helmets at $100 each¡ requested that any realtor's placed on the agenda for the next City/Township meeting should be deferred to a later date. The Fire Chief discussed with the Board that DNR Ordinance only allows open burning with a written permit. Loso did not feel that the City Ordinance allowing burning o£ leaves, with it's specific restrictions, was a problem. 4) The pay phone will be installed the week of May 10th in Centennial Park. I 5) The Design Team Town Meeting did not provide a f or'um to request they consider an area £or an additional ball £ield as previously discussed, £or "pickup" ball games. The Rec Association also has discussed the need for an additional ball field. Page 2790 May 4, 199~1 6) The Baseball Task F01"Ce meeting will be held with Pat Schneidel" on I Sunday, May 7th. HIEIŒNZ: 1) During the Design Team visit Hiemenz received comments and calls from concerned citizens about the plans to divest the Roske property, without :further planning. Gerry Klaphke, local residential realto:c, would like involvement in choosing a realtor. 2) The TRAM group will arrive in St. Joseph on July 26th. Organization for this event is in process. DEPARTMENT HEAD REPORTS: Dave Theisen, Fire Chie:f, appeared before the Council to discuss the status o:f choosing an architect for the Fire Hall. He stated that they have sent Requests for Proposals to all seven St. Cloud firms. They were requested to have the proposals to the City by May 8. The Fire Department will review them and eliminate all but three. Then the Fire Board and Building Committee along with Bernie Schloemer will meet May 16. The final architect will be picked on June 6th. The Council generally agreed that since Bernie Schloemer ìs no longer on the Town Board but has much expe:r,tise in the building field, they would allow payment for his services if he requests it. Chief Theisen also informed the Council that the Fire Department has been working on an application form for membership in the Department. The Fire Board agreed to have the City Attorney review it and comment. I CLERK/ADMINISTRATOR REPORTS: 1) The Mayor and Clerk/Administrator have been contacted by the Director of AmericaFest, an International Festival of Young Singers. They intend to hold the festival at St. John's University in the summer o:f 1996 with participant contact with the local communities a major part o:f the festival. The intent is to expand their horizons and build international fr'iendships. The organization is requesting $750 of funding assistance from the St. Joseph community. Mayor Reber exp:c'essed support for this worthwhile project and will contact the local organizations for funding. 2) The Senior Citizens would like to have doors with locks installed on the shelf area in the storage room. Council was in general agreement to have this constructed as requested. Mayor Reber agreed to follow through on the project. 3) The City of St. Joseph's 1994 population, as established by the State Demographer, is 4,132 with 920 households. 4) An Resolution o:f support to abandon the Railroad was approved with a motion by Loso; seconded by Rieke. Ayes: Reber, Rieke, Loso, Hiemenz, Ehlert. Nayes: None. Motion carried. 5) The St. Ben's and St. John's organizations that plan the Pinestock I Event are considering the request to assist the City in funding the additional costs related to Pinestock. Also the students are organizing a cleanup for Sunday morning after the event. Page 2791 May 4, 199=1 I POLICE RESERVE OFFICERS: Brian Klinefelter intl~oduced the newest Reserve Officers to the Council. Mark Hanson and Brent Bechtold were presented to the Council and welcomed. The Council thanked them for their time and efforts on behalf of the City. OPEN TO THE PUBLIC: Tillie Wasner reiterated the Senior Citizens' needs for securing their storage area. She also questioned if anything can be done to require the property owners of a group home to clean up the property and keep it in better condition. Steve Streng questioned if there would be a summary report on the Design Teams visit, survey results, and recommendations. Hiemenz stated that articles will be in the paper and when all the materials are back from the Design Team an open forum will be held. People can still sign up for the committees. Mike McDonald thanked the Street Department :for their excellent job o:f snow removal. Loso made a motion to recess at 8:03 p. m. ; seconded by Rieke. Ayes: Reber, Rieke, Loso, Hiemenz, Ehlert. Nayes: None. Motion carried. Mayor Reber reconvened the meeting at 8:20 p.m. I OLD BUSINESS DRIVE OVER CURBS: Council discussed changing standards for developments to drive over curbs as are installed on Old Highway 52 with last year's reconstruction project. Council will discuss this matter with the maintenance department and get further information. PROPERTY CLEANUP: Loso stated that the property with abandoned construction in progress is in the process of being sold with the intention of a house being built on it. CITY ENGINEER JOE BETTENDORF REPORTS WATER IMPROVEMENT PROJECT: Joe Bettendor:f discussed the need for easements to remove the iron filtration tank and install an under'ground reclamation tank. The plans are for the structures to all be on city property but would need easements from the adjoining neighbors for construction. Elmer Reber questioned the need to use the easement for future maintenance of the facility. Bettendorf stated that there would not be a need to use the easement for future maintenance of equipment. Additionally the easement property would be restored. Bert Zimmer questioned the area needed for the easement. Bettendorf discussed the area needed on both properties. Elmer Reber questioned if the tank I could be placed where the old water tower was lC1cated, between the pumphouse and the alley. Bettendorf stated that they would look at that area for size. He also asked Mr. Reber i:f he would be opposed to the easement if the structure would not fit on the old water tower site. Mr. Reber indicated that he would be opposed to the easement. PagE' 2792 May 4, 1995 Bettendorf indicated that the Rebers' and Zimmers' would be asked to I come back and discuss the matter further with the Council if the new proposed site is not adequate. The City would have to be St. Ben's system during the construction on phase of the water treatment project. St. Ben's will only accept this use o:f their system during the summer vacation period. Also some water use ban may be required during this time. Bettendorf also discussed that there may be a need for additional equipment for benzene removal. The hose drying tower could be considered for this if it could be coordinated with the construction of the new fire hall. Council generally agreed to bid the project at the most advantageous time for construction the summer of 1996. SEAL COAT AND STREET IMPROVEMENT PROPOSAL: Bettendorf presented a seal coat and overlay proposal for specific streets and alleys. Mayor Reber' stated that with the tight budget it would be best to concentrate on the streets and omit the alley improvements unless the owners petition for it. Loso stated that we need to set up and adopt a street improvement plan for about the next five years. Council generally agreed to set up one and fold it into the Capital Improvement Plan and finalize the plan. Hiemenz TOade a motion to advertise for bids and proceed with the seal coat plan of Cloverdale Estates 3r'd, 4th and 5th I Additions; College Avenue, from Ash Street to Birch Street, and fr'om CSAH 75 to the alley between Date and Elm Streets; First Avenue NW from CSAH 75 north for one block; First Avenue NE from CSAH 75 north one half block; Date Street from First Avenue NW to First Avenue NE; Cedar Street :from First Avenue NE to East of Third Avenue. This approval also includes overlay of Baker Street East from Seventh Avenue SE to the north line of Pond View Ridge Addition. The motion was seconded by Mayor Reber. Ayes: Reber' , Rieke, Loso, Hiemenz, Ehlert. Nayes: None. Motion carTied. AGENDA ORDER: Council requested to change the order of the agenda for future meetings by placing the consultants and public requests earlier on the agenda. 1994 AUDIT REPORT: Dave Hinnenkamp, of Kern, Dewenter, Viere, Ltd. presented the 1994 Audit report to the Council. He reviewed it with the Council, discussing various specific details and stated that the City is financially sound. He discussed the investments and recommended setting up a committee to establish a formal investment strategy policy. Other r'ecommendations and suggestions were to go to a longer payroll period to save 3 to 4 hours per week on sta:ff time, dual signatures required on checks, and the segregation of duties, which the limited number of employees does not allow. Mike McDonald asked if any I investments are in derivatives. Hinnenkamp stated that none are. FINANCING MECHANISMS: Dick Asleson, representative of Juran & Moody, discussed with the Council mechanisms for releasing excess fund Page 2793 May 4, 1995 balances from debt service funds prior to the expiration o£ the bonds. He discussed with them a method called defeasance, prior to the call date of the bonds. Council generally agreed that when financing the water project they will consider supporting such mechanisms. At 10:00 p. m. the Mayor extended the meeting £ive minutes. Mr. Asleson further discussed the defeasance proposal. Hiemenz made a motion to adjourn at 10:05 p. m. ; seconded by Loso. Ayes: Re bel' , Rieke, Loso, Hiemenz, Ehlert. Nayes: None. Motion carried. V2 Rachel Staple on Clerk/Administrator