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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2004 [11] Nov 18 I I I I November 18, 2004 Page 1 of 4 I Pursuant to due call and notice thereof, the City Council for the City of St. Joseph met in regular session on Thursday, November 18, 2004 at 7:00 PM in the St. Joseph City Hall. I 1 ¡ Members Present: Mayor Larry Hosch. Councilors Gary Utsch, AI Rassier, Dale Wick, Ross Rieke. City Administrator Judy Weyrens. Others Present: Tom Moore, Richard Carlbom, Jen Hitzemann, Matt Milbert, Chad Michelson, Josh Sherlin, Joe Mckean, Barb Schloemer, Angela & Ryan Conroy APprove Aoenda: Wick made a motion to approve the agenda with the following changes; seconded by Rassier and passed unanimously. Delete 3b Add 10b Add 10c Bills Payable Wireless Communications Update of Meetings Consent Aqenda: Rassier made a motion to approve the consent agenda as followed; seconded by Rieke. a. Minutes - Approve the minutes of November 4, 2004 b. Development Plan - Accept the findings of the Planning Commission and deny the Development Plan of David Puchalla, 32 - 2nd Avenue NW. c. Grant Contract - Authorize the Mayor and Administrator to execute the grant agreement between the MN DNR and City of St. Joseph accepting the matching funding in the amount of $200.00. The funding will be used for Hydrant Adapter fittings. d. Stearns Cooperative Donation - Accept the $600.00 donation from Stearns Electric Association. I e. Interim Use Permit - Accept the recommendation of the Planning Commission and I extend the Interim Use Permit allowing an owner occupied rental unit for Brandon Kappes, 32 - 1st Avenue SE. I f. Capital Purchase _ Replace the existing play equipment at Hollow Park Tot for a cost not to exceed $10,000 of which $5000 is donated. I , 1 Discussion: Rassier raised some questions regarding the Development Plan submitted by Da~id Puchalla and questioned if he will be submitting a new development plan. Weyrens stated th~ property owner is attempting to purchase the adjoining property and will then submit a revised plan. The motion was passed unanimously. Public Comments to the Aqenda: No one present wished to speak. Noise Violation. Ask Manaqemenl. 446 _1't Avenue NE: Weyrens stated thaton November 7, 2004" the Police were called to 446 - 1 51 Avenue NE for a noise complaint. The property owner, ASK Managem'ent, received a notice of the alleged violation and they did not request an evidentiary hearing. Not reque~ting an evidentiary hearing is the same as admitting guilt. Therefore the Council must acknowledge that a violation occurred and then consider the disposition. Rassier made a motion acknowledging that a noise violation did occur on November 7,2004 at 446 _1st Avenue NE. The motion was seconded by Wick and passed unanimously. i , Weyrens stated that when noise violations are received, the files are checked for past violations. ShJ stated that they can review the entire property history. In reviewing the file for ASK Management, they did have a noise violation on April 3, 2003, but it was for a different unit. In a previous case similar to this, it was determined that each unit would be dealt with on a separate basis. ' November 18, 2004 Page 2 of4 Matt Milbert approached the Council on behalf of the residents at 446 - 1st Avenue NE. He stated that it was 2: 15AM and there were only four people present when the police arrived. The officer told Milbert that I he could hear their music outside when he stepped out of his car. According to Milbert, they did not think the music was that loud and no one asked them to turn their music down. He also stated that there was no party, it was just four guys sitting around listening to music and talking. Hosch stated that a noise violation can be enforced whether there are two people present or two hundred people present. According to City Ordinances, if the music or noise can be heard from the property line, it can be considered a noise violation. He also stated that with the windows open, noise carries so the students need to be careful. Barb Schloemer, manager of Campus Park Villas & Townhomes, approached the Council. Hosch stated that he understands that the students already received a citation for the violation. The next step would be to issue an administrative fine to the property owner. Schloemer stated that their leases discuss noise violations. As a result, she stated that the tenants will receive an additional $750 fine from the property owners. She also stated that the fine from the City was also be passed on to the residents. Rassier and Hosch both commented that the managers have done a good job managing the apartments. Rassier made a motion to fine the property owner $150 for the noise violation that occurred on November 7, 2004 at 446 _1st Avenue NE. The motion was seconded by Rieke and passed unanimously. The Partnership: Through the budget process, the EOA has requested to become members of the Partnership. During the discussion of the preliminary budget, the Council requested that a representative from the Partnership appear before them and discuss the benefit of the membership. Tom Moore from the St. Cloud Area Economic Development Partnership appeared before the Council to discuss what they do and what benefit they could be to the City. The Partnership is an organization I consisting of public and private sector entities whose mission includes helping companies locate and expand in the St. Cloud area. Some of the partners include City of St. Cloud, City of Sartell, City of Becker, City of Waite Park, City of Sauk Rapids, Stearns, Benton and Sherburne Counties, public utilities such as Qwest Communications, Excel Energy, Stearns Electric, Con nexus, East Central Energy, St. Cloud State University, St. Cloud Technical College, and Resource Training and Solutions. Moore stated that St. Joseph was a partner in the past, however due to LGA cuts the City was unable to continue its membership. While St. Joseph was a partner, Hosch served on their board. Moore stated that membership dues are $7500 annually. This amount has not increased over the past 15 years and is not scheduled to increase in 2005. There are two full time and one part time employees working for the partnership. Currentiy, they rent space from the St. Cloud Chamber of Commerce located in downtown St. Cloud. The Partnership has been working on some key items: 1. They have developed a strategic plan for the time period from now until 2006. Moore stated that this plan is not city specific, so it would not be affected if St. Joseph were to join. 2. They are looking at job opportunities in the bioscience industry. The St. Cloud area has 20% more manufactures than the State average. As a result, they are working on the medical device industry with the idea that these manufacturers could possibly build parts or components of medical devices. 3. They have an ethics policy, which discourages Cities from bringing companies from area cities across jurisdictional boundaries. 4. In early 2005, they are going to have a ·site selector" come to the area and evaluate the area industrial parks. 5. There will be an area summit to allow the partners to talk about how they can work together on I community and economic issues. 6. Hosch questioned how the Partnership can help the City with our Industrial Parks as St. Joseph may possibly have two more industrial parks in the City. They are working with four counties I I I , I , I November 18, 2004 ! page30f4 i (quad counties) and they have been mapping out all of the industrial areas. Those areas along with all available land and buildings will be shown on the Partnership's website. 7. Every month a prospect list is generated. It is both general and city specific. They get an average of about 30 prospects on their list yearly. That does not include any retention or expansion I contracts. i I Hosch stated that the Membership dues have been included in the Preliminary Budget which was approved by the Council. The City will be conducing the Truth and Taxation Hearing on November 29, 2004. It is anticipated that the budget will be approved on December 2, 2004. MAYOR REPORTS Coalition of Greater Minnesota Cities: Hosch stated that he attended the CGMC meeting. There were members from the Senate and the House of Representatives present. They discussed LGA and they stated that they do not plan to cut local government funding. COUNCIL REPORTS UTSCH Snow Removal: Utsch stated that a resident who lives on the corner of Minnesota Street and 12th Avenue approached him requesting that the City plow the sidewalk on one site of their property. Utsch stated that this is a legitimate issue due to the fact that they are the only residents in the City who havé a sidewalk on both sides of their property. This is also an intersection where a lot of snow is pushed. Hosch stated that this issue should be addressed with the Public Works Director before making any decisions. WICK School Committee: Wick stated that the school committee would like to be on the agenda for the December 200 City Council Meeting. They would like to present their findings from the survey that was, completed in June of 2004. i 1 1 Park Board: Wick reported that the Park Board met again with ARCON to review their preliminary plat as it relates to park development. The plat is somewhat problematic as the plat indicates a considerable amount of parkland, but the majority of it is not qualified for parkland use as it is wetland or ftood fringe. The Park Board will meet with them one more time before they present their plan to the Planning Commission. RASSIER ~ No Report RIEKE Mavor's Prayer Breakfast: Rieke stated that he attended the Mayor's Prayer Breakfast. This was the largest turnout yet for this event. EDA: Rieke stated that he missed the EDA Meeting. Hosch updated the Council by stating that the EDA renewed the contract with MDG with a reduction in hours from 40 hours/month to 35 hours/month. Ahy additional hours will be billed an hourly rate. I ADMINISTRATOR REPORTS AFSCME NeootiatinQ Committee: Weyrens stated that she has received a request to negotiate the i employment contract between the City of St. Joseph and AFSCME. Weyrens requested the appointment of two Council Members to assist with the negotiations. Rassier and Wick volunteered to be part of the Committee and the Council concurred. November 18, 2004 Page 4 of 4 Wireless Communications: Weyrens reported that Qwest Communications is in the process of selling their tower equipment to T-Mobile and they are requesting the Council approve the reassignment. Weyrens stated that approval should include the requirement to fence the equipment to match the existing fence constructed by Cellular 2000. Rieke made a motion authorizing Weyrens to execute the agreement reassigning the tower agreement from Qwest Communications to T -Mobile. Execution of the agreement will include the provision to fence the equipment. The motion was seconded by Wick and passed unanimously. Meetinqs: · The joint meeting with the Township will be on November 23'" at 8:00PM at the Fire Hall. The Truth and Taxation meeting will be held on November 29th at 7:00PM. The Intergovernmental meeting will be on November 30th, dinner at 5:30 and the meeting will begin at 6:00. This meeting will be held at the Haehn Student Center at the College of St. Benedict. The regularly scheduled Council meeting on December 16 will not be held. Instead the Council will be meeting with Bond Counsel Monte Eastvold to discuss Utility extension to the St. Wendel area. · · · January 6. 2005 Council Meetinq: Hosch requested the Council consider scheduling a special meeting on January 3, 2005 so that he can finish his term without resigning. Hosch stated that he will be accepting the Oath of Office for Representative on January 4, 2005 and cannot hold two public offices. The Council agreed to conduct all old business on January 3, 2005 and administer the Oath of Office to the new Members at the end of the meeting. The Council further agreed to conduct the regularfy scheduled meeting on January 6, 2005 conducting new business. Adiourn: Rassier made a motion to adjourn at 7:55; seconded by Utsch and passed unanimously. ~dV £uli?Æ U;Z:~::fo~s /-- I I I