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Home My WebLink About1995 [05] May 18 Page 2794 May 18, 1995 Pursuant to due call and notice thereof, the City Council for the City of St. Joseph met in regular session on Thursday, May 18, I 1995 at 7:00 p. m. in the City Hall. MEMBERS PRESENT: Mayor Donald Bud Reber; Councilors Ross Rieke, Bob Loso, Cory Ehlert; Clerk/Administrator Rachel Stapleton. OTHERS PRESENT: Judy Weyrens, Brad Lindgren, Art Hiemenz, Edith Hiemenz, Steve Streng, Josh Rieke, .James Kacures, Greg Kacures. Mayor Reber called the meeting to order at 7:00 p. m. with Councilors Loso and Ehlert present. AGENDA: Loso made a motion to approve the agenda as presented; seconded by Ehlert. Ayes: Reber, Loso, Ehlert. Hayes: None. Motion carried. CONSENT AGENDA: LOBo made a motion to approve the Consent Agenda as follows; seconded by Reber. t. Minutes of the May 4, 1995 City Council meeting. 2. John Rassier Variance as requested :for Lot 4, Block 1, Original Townsi te of St. Joseph, 310 Minnesota Street West, and recommended by the Planning Commission - a two hundred eighty four (284) square foot variance on the size limitation of accessory buildings in a I Single Family, R-1 zone, and one hundred thirty nine (139) square foot variance in the maximum allowable lot coverage by accessory buildings. This request is to construct a covered patio on the side of the existing garage. The approval includes the Planning Commission's restriction on enclosing the patio. 3. Bradley and Joyce Lindgren Variance as requested, for Lot 8, Block 3, Clinton Village; 140 - 6th Avenue NW, a four (4 ) foot variance on the side yard setback and a four (4 ) foot variance on the rear yard setback in a Single Family, R-1 zone, to allow placement of an accessory building, as recommended by the Planning Commission. Discussion - Loso requested to briefly discussion variance fees in relation to the variance requests. He recommended waiving :fees :for variances on accessory buildings on both set backs and size, except :for special meetings. After a discussion of costs to the city :for variance requests the Council asked that the Clerk/Administrator's o:f:fice present them with information on past variance requests of this nature and a ball park figure of the associated costs. This matter will be considered at a future meeting. Ayes: Reber, Loso, Ehlert. Nayes: None. Motion carried. Rieke arrived at 7:05 p. m. I BILLS PAYABLE: Deputy Clerk Judy Weyrens presented the bills payable. Page 2795 May 18, 1995 I bills payable check numbers 20985 - 21020; seconded by Rieke. Ayes: Reber, Rieke, Loso, Ehlert. Hayes: Hone. Motion carried. Rieke made a motion to the overtime and callouts as presented; approve seconded by Ehlert. Ayes: Reber, Rieke, Loso, Ehlert. Nayes: None. Motion carried. DEPARTMENT HEAD REPORTS: Bradley Lindgren, Chie:f of Police, gave his monthly police report, reported of a noise violation at 105 W. Ash Street, and discussed the "Use of' Force" training for the Of'ficers. He stated that the Pinestock event went well, with close to 100 tickets written, but only minor incidents of violence and vandalism. He felt that the information to the students recommending acting responsibly and the rainy weather helped control the situation along with a saturation of' law enf'orcement. The County and State Patrol centralized quite a few cars in our area along with our additional o:ff'ice:c's making law enforcement very visible in St. Joseph. Mayor Reber discussed a parking problem by on Date Street by single f'amily residences and Floral Arts, an established business. Residents of the nearby apartments park their cars on the street rather than in the parking lot provided for them. This causes parking problems :for the business customers including access and safety problems f'or the I residents. Mayor Reber asked the Chief' of Police to discuss this situation with the City Engineer for possible solutions. Lindgren stated that the signing by Grand Slam is incorrect and needs to be changed as well as the No Parking informational sign in front of' the Police Department. TREASURER'S REPORT: Deputy Clerk Judy Weyrens presented the April Treasurer's report. After short discussion Loso made a motion to approve the report as presented; seconded by Rieke. Ayes: Reber, Rieke, LOBO, Ehlert. Nayes: None. Motion carried. Weyrens also discussed that Pat Schneider on behalf of the Mayor's Task Force, requested to seek donations f'or baseball activity improvements. They requested that a :fund is set up for these donations for lights, a youth athletic field, and a concession building. Loso made a motion to establish a Special Revenue Fund called Athletic Facilities for these donations; seconded by Ehlert. Ayes: Reber, Rieke, Loso, Ehlert. Hayes: None. Motion carried. OLD BUSINESS PARKING LOT SURFACE: Mayor Reber requested that the Planning I Commission review the proposed ordinance and recommendations f'rom the City Attorney, and make a recommendation to the Council. OPEN BURNING: Council considered the open burning information Page 2797 May 18, 199=1 I our tax base. LOBo stated that the Indust:cial Park is not city owned property, but privately owned. Before development can occur a commitment needs to be obtained from the property owners. Additionally Mayor Reber questioned if the new fire hall proposal for architectural plans includes allowances for future expansion for city facilities. 3) Requested the City Engineer review the intersection of 91st Avenue and Baker Street to consider a four way stop traffic control. 4) Several requests have been received for Senior townhome type housing, with a separate entrance and garage for each unit. Terry Schmid has stated that there is funding available for this type of construction, but it is economically prohibitive for the developer currently. Loso stated that Clara City has this type of housing. Stapleton will contact their city officials and get information. After information is received and reviewed Terry Schmid will be invited to the Council meeting to discuss this need. 5) The Stearns County League met and discussed solid waste disposal. Currently being studied are ways to control and reduce tipping fees, fill the NSP contract Íor solid waste disposal to their plant, and prevent hauling out oÍ state. 6) Because requests to use the compost area have been received from I Township residents, Mayor Reber discussed the impact this would have on the compost area with it's attendants. The compost attendants Íelt that allowing use by a greater number oÍ people could become unmanageable. Rieke stated that if township residents need to use a compost area, they should go to their Township Boards. The Council would be open to considering this request from an adjacent Town Board. The adjacent Town Boards should be notified that the Council is willing to consider this request. 7) A letter of thanks will be sent to the St. John's and St. Ben's students that participated in the post Pinestock cleanup. They did an excellent job. MEMBERS OF THE COUNCIL REPORT RIEKE: 1) At the CORE meeting the students discussed their post Pinestock cleanup plans and agreed to begin at 6:45 a.m. They worked in three shi:fts, had tee shirts Íor the cleanup and refreshments donated by the local businesses. 2) The Third Annual Community Day is being planned by CORE. Because of the past experience with it we expect this years to be better than ever. I 3) Rieke stated that he still recommends listing the Roske property with a realtor. If the property is ready Íor sale it needs to be on the market. There is no cost to the seller' and if a prospective buyer is interested, we could then consider the sale. Loso agr'eed and stated that any sale oÍ a portion oÍ the property could counter the Page 2799 May 18, 1995 - cz - Rachel Staplet Clerk/Administrator - -