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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2004 [10] Oct 21 I I I October 21 , 2004 Page 1 pf4 Pursuant to due call and notice thereof, the City Council for the City of SI. Joseph met in regular sessidn on Thursday, October 21, 2004 at 7:00 PM in the St. Joseph City Hall. I Members Present: Mayor Larry Hosch. Councilors Gary Utsch, AI Rassier, Dale Wick, Ross Rieke. City Administrator Judy Weyrens. Citv Representatives Present: City engineer Trac!( ~ko!a, Police Chief Peter Jansky, Public Works Director Dick Taufen. Others Present: Kevin Carpenter, Roger Schleper, Adam Hanna, Mike Houle, Darryl Smoleroff, Tom Hartman, Mike Ellers, Ian Carpenter, Chris Baldwin, Mark Loso, Ken Loso Approve Aoenda: Utsch made a motion to approve the agenda with the following changes; seconded by Rassier and passed unanimously. Delete 5 St. Joseph American Legion Add 12 Park Board Consent Aoenda: Rassier made a motion to approve the consent agenda as follows; seconded by Wick and passed unanimously. I a. Minutes - Approve minutes of Octc¡;"r?, 2004 b. Bills Payable - Approve check numbers"34850-34905 I c. Application for Payment - Authorize the Mayor to execute the Final Pay Application for the 2002 Interior Street Improvement and authorize payment in the amount of $67,542.07 to R.L. Larson Excavating. Public Comments to the Aoenda: No one present wished to speak. DEPARTMENT HEAD REPORTS - POLICE Citizen's Police Academy: Chief Jansky reported that he attended the 2nd Citizens Police Academy on ~his same date and stated that they are half wa¥ through the program. There are six participants from the SI. Joseph area who are participating in the 2" Citizens Academy. Tonight the academy is working on I felony traffic stops and pursuits. According to Jansky, the academy will finish by November 15th at which time he will provide an update for the Council. New Patrol Car: Rassier questioned whether or not the new Patrol Car has arrived and if it is on the road. Jansky stated that it has arrived and the equipment has been transferred. The car has been on the road for approximately one week. 1 MAYOR REPORTS I Meetinos: Hosch stated that he attended two meetings. I . Stearns Municipal League Meeting: Hosch stated that at this meeting they discussed 1 transportation issues. I . APO Executive Meeting: They discussed the 2030 Transportation Plan which will be ready for presentation the last week in October. COUNCIL REPORTS RIEKE EDA: Rieke stated that the EDA met on Wednesday at which time they were informed that Midnight Haulers has withdrawn their application for Tax Increment Financing. At the same meeting the EDA Board also discussed a possible amendment to the Buettner Business Park Covenants. SI. Cloud Economic Partnership: Rieke stated that the SI. Cloud Economic Partnership will appear before the Council to discuss the benefits of membership to the Partnership. October 21, 2004 Page 2 of4 RASSIER Meetinos: Rassier stated that he too attended the Steams Municipal League meetings and finds them I very informative. He appreciates the opportunity to meet with area decisions makers to discuss pending issues. In addition to transportation matters as reported by Hosch, the Board also discussed a proposed Meth Lab Ordinance as presented by Stearns Gounty. When the draft Ordinance if finished it will be forwarded to Police Chiefs and Cities for review and commenl. WICK - No Report UTSCH - No report Noise Violation - 29 Minnesota Street East: Weyrens reported that the Police Department responded to a noise complaint at 29 Minnesota Street East on October 2, 2004. The property is owned and managed by Rock Properties. Weyrens stated that the tenants have contacted her regarding the violation and they do not dispute that a violation occurred, they dispute that they are being fined both through the City and the landlord. Since an evidentiary hearing is not being requested the Council must acknowledge that a violation did occur. After acknowledgment the Council then must decide the disposition. Utsch made a motion acknowledging that a noise violation occurred on October 2, 2004 at 29 Minnesota Street East. The motion was seconded by Rassier and passed unanimously. Roger Schleper, owner of Rock Properties, appeared before the Council on his own behalf. Schleper stated that he has discussed the violation with the tenants and they are aware of the consequences for violating the Ordinance and challenging the Police Officers. According to Schleper, he has talked to the neighbors and he received no other complaints about the tenants. He also stated that Rock Properties is using this incident as an example to show other tenants of the consequences of violating City Ordinances. Darryl Smoleroff, one of the renters at this property also approached the Council to represent the property in violation. He did not dispute whether or not a violation did occur; however, he did mention that this house is not a party house and that they do not want to become a party house. The tenants are aware of the consequences that they face from school, the landlord and the City. Smoleroff also gave an apology for what happened and stated that it would not happen again. I Hosch stated that he understands what it is like to be a college student and also understands that sometimes it is easy to let the music get too loud or the noise get out of hand. Hosch explained that he thinks it is a good idea for students to go around and meet their neighbors, so that they can deal with issues like this without getting the police involved. He also stressed that when the police are called to this type of incident, they are just doing their job and the students need to cooperate with them. Utsch stated that the incident before the Council at this meeting is similar to the violation that the Council dealt with on October 7, 2004 and the Council needs to be consistent in the disposition. Utsch made a motion to fine the property owner $250, with $ 100.00 of the fine an additional penalty for not being cooperative with the officers at the scene. The motion was seconded by Wick and passed unanimously. DEPARTMENT HEAD REPORTS - PUBLIC WORKS Old Fire Hall: Taufen approached the Council to discuss the heaters in the garage at the old Fire Hall. Currently, the garage is being used to store the police vehicles and some of their equiprnenl. There are five gas heaters that are used to heat the building and right now, only two of them are working. Taufen contacted Metro Plumbing & Heating for a quote and they submitted a quote for repairing the two heaters as well as replacement of the five heaters with one new heater. Before making a decision as to whether they are going to fix the heaters or replace them, Taufen questioned what the intended use was for the property. Rassier and Utsch stated that there are no long I I I I I October 21, 2004 Page 3 of 4 ~ I term plans for the building, so it would make more sense to fix the heaters and keep the building ¡ operating. Taufen stated that there is little insulation in the building and to keep it at the 55-60 degrees' that Jansky would like, all five heaters must be working. I I Rassier made a motion to repair the heaters not working in the former fire hall, accepting the quote of Metro Plumbing and Heating in the amount of $ 689.00. The motion was seconded by Wick and passed unanimously. I Sewer Jetter: Rassier questioned whether or not the sewer jetter has arrived. Taufen stated that the I machine has not arrived yet and he will report to the Council upon arrival. i I 2AM Bar Closino: Weyrens reported that when the Legislature changed the Statute allowing bars to bé open until 2AM the Council considered amending the St joseph Ordinance governing alcohol. The Council voted to keep the bar closing at 1AM and review the request again after six months. It was the intention of the Council to contact municipalities where bar hours were extended to see if they experienced any problems with enforcemenl. Weyrens stated that she was contacted by Mark Loso of Loso's Main Street Pub to request reconsideration of the closing time. I Mark Loso of Loso's Mainstreet Pub approached the Council to request the extended bar hours until 2AM. Loso stated that the majority of their customers are college students and that most of them do not go out until 11 :00. Extending the bar hours would provide him an extra hour of receipts and make hirn competitive with the surrounding bars in other municipalities. Loso stated that his weekend receipts have not changed since the legislature has allowed the extended bar hours. Loso further stated that he ha~ contacted all the Liquor License holders in SI. Joseph and only 11. of the holders are in favor of the I extended bar hours. However, they did indicate that if the bar hours are extended and they are trying 'to sell their establishment, the resale value wou!d be~ higher. i I Police Chief Jansky stated that he has some concerns about the potential 2AM bar closing. He doesn't have the staff to change the hours to allow for 3 extra hours of coverage per week. Rassier questioned Jansky if the police schedule could be modified, moving shift change back one hour. Jansky stated ttiat there are other issues to be dealt with and that he could not change the police schedule to accommodate the extended bar hours. Jansky stated that he has discussed this matter with the Police Chiefs of SI. Cloud and Moorhead. Both Chiefs indicate that extending the bar hours has shifted every1hing back one hour. Patrons are not spending additional money if bars, they are arriving one hour later. Both SI. Cloud and Moorhead have stated that they did not experience a negative affect with the change in bar hours. 1 Another concern that Chief Jansky expressed is that of the community. Currently, the students create I noise at 1 AM when they leave the bars. Changing the time of bar closing would simply mean that they would create noise at 2AM instead. With the current 1AM bar closing, it is normally 3AM before all the noise is cleared. Changing the bar hours has the potential of creating disturbances until 4 AM. Loso i responded that in his opinion, it does not matter what time residents are disturbed, rather they are" II disturbed period. Therefore, the extension of bar hours would not have an additional affecl. . Jansky further stated that in his opinion, SI. Joseph is different that SI. Cloud and Moorhead. SI.Joseph has a high number of residential rental units throughout the City. When the bar is closed the students typically walk home, most having to go through a residential neighborhood. In addition, the bars are I located in close proximity to residential dwelling units. Utsch stated that the community should not be burdened by more noise from the students. ' , Utsch also stated that the 1 AM bar closing has been okay in the City for a long time. He does not see' any reason as to why it should be changed. Hosch stated that it would be safer for those who go to the bars if they didn't have to drive to another City to stay out until 2AM. According to Utsch, the students should know their limit and know when its time to step drinking. I I Hosch expressed his approval of the 2AM bar closing. He stated that we are the only city in the County that does not have the 2AM bar closing. Because the bars in SI. Joseph close earlier, he is concerned October 21, 2004 Page 4 of 4 that students are driving to other cities to go to the bars for an extra hour. One student who was present at the meeting did state that they do drive to SI. Cloud to go out for the extra hour due to the bars closing in SI. Joseph at 1AM. Wick questioned the liquor licensing period. Weyrens responded that liquor licenses are issued for 12 months, July 1 through June 30. If the Council is inclined to extend the bar hours, the Council most authorize the staff to prepare an amendment to the current Ordinance. This amendment must also discuss the time frame for which patrons must clear the liquor establishmenl. Rieke clarified that if the Council does not extend the bar hours, the Ordinance would not need amendmenl. Wick discussed the possibility of a trial period for extension. Weyrens stated that this method was used for the Cities of SI. Cloud and Waite Park. Utsch made a motion to keep the bar closing at 1 AM. The motion was seconded by Wick. Ayes: Utsch, Wick, Rassier, Rieke Nays: Hosch Motion Carried 4:1:0 ADMINISTRATOR REPORTS Proiect Update: Weyrens reported that the 295'" and Cloverdale utility extension projects are currently under design. As a result of the public hearing for 295'h Street, an open house is being scheduled for October 26, 2004. This open house will allow residents to view the location of the road and discuss utility placemenl. Weyrens stated that the proposed schedule presented to the Council includes the bid opening dates as well as a projected date for the assessment hearing. Park Board: Weyrens stated that there are currently two vacancies on the park board and Cory Ehlert and Lonnie Abbott have requested to fill those vacancies. Wick made a motion to appoint Cory Ehlert and Lonnie Abbott to the Park Board. The motion was seconded by Rieke and passed unanimously. Capital Expenditures: Wick stated that since the Park Board did not have a budget approved for 2004, all expenditures must be approved by the City Council. Therefore, the Park Board is requesting to expend the following funds from the Park Dedication Fund: Tree Planting - The Park Board is requesting to plant 10 trees in Memorial Park on the western boundary. When the city repairs the Hollow Park Storm Sewer system, additional trees will be planted around the perimeter of the park. The estimated cost, including staff time is $ 1,395.00 Parking 10tlTrail extension - Kleinfelter Park. The Park Board is requesting to connect a trail system from the current parking lot to the existing trail. Currently, it is hard for bikers, rollerbladers, and those with strollers to get to the trail. The improvements will also add a handicap parking space. The estimate cost for the improvement is $ 1,415.00. Wick made a motion to authorize the expenditures from the park dedication fees for the tree planting and parking lot/trail expansion as detailed above. Both projects will be completed in 2004. The motion was seconded by Utsch and passed unanimously. Adiourn: Wick made a motion to adjourn at 8:00 PM; seconded by Utsch and passed unanimously. tf:;:~rP~ I I I