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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2000 [08] Aug 17 I , i i Page 3772 August 17, 2000 I City of St. Joseptl City Council Meeting 6/17100, 7:00' PM Call to Order. Pursuant to due call and notice thereof, the City Council for the City of St. Joseph met on Thursday, August 21, 2000 at 7:00 p.m. in the St. Joseph City Hall. Members Present: Cory Ehlert, Ken Twit, Mary Niedenfuer, Bob Loso, Clerk-Administrator Cari Schmidt and Deputy Clerk JudyWeyrens. Members absent: Mayor Kenneth Hiemenz. Others Present :Police Chief Gary Will, Cress Gackle, Brian Rubin, Joan Vincent, Tim Borresch, William Tallman, Herb Bechtold, Joe Bettendorf, Jamie Phenow Approve Agenda -Acting Mayor Twit stated that there is one change to the agenda. Schmidt stated that Item a on the consent agenda will be moved to the first meeting in September. Loso made a motion to approve the agenda, seconded by Ehlert. The motion passed unanimously. Approve Consent Agenda - Approval of election judges Schmidt stated that there are two additional names that should be added to the election judge list: Leander Meyer and Caroline Trinkline. Loso made a motion to approve the consent agenda with the additions, seconded by Niedenfuer. The motion passed unanimously. , Bills Payable and Overtime - Loso made a motion to approve the bills payable 28681 through 28723, seconded by Niedenfuer. The motion passed unanimously. I Seren - Public Hearing - Franchise Agreement - Cress Gackle, from Seren Innovatiöns addressed the City Council. He stated that Seren applied for a franchise with the City back in April. Since then, they have met with staff, Council, and the cable commission on severa! occasions. Gackle stated that after speaking with staff about the desires of the Cable Commission and in an effort to enter into the City on a level playing field with in incumbent, he would like to take the former offer off the table and replace it with an offer of $10,000 cash. Gackle introduced Joan Vincent, the Government Relations specialist for Seren Innovations and Astound. 1 Vincent stated that she has great affection for the City of St. Joseph as her son is a student of St. Johns University. She stated that she called each member of the Council individually and met with several to discuss their concerns about thiS project. After these meetings, she stated that it is obvious that Seren and the City got off on the wrong foot last year. At that time, they were offered by another company to joint permit and trench with them. They made a mistake and apologize for that. They hope that they can move forward from here. Concern for the incumbent cable company was also a reservation that was expressed. Vincent stated that aKhough she appreciates this, she firmly believes that competition is a (¡ood thing. She hears comments and questions all the time about when Seren is going to come to St. Joseptl. Vincent indicated that Brian Rubin, their construction manager is also here to answer any questions the Council may have. She stated that generally their first step is to do a walk out and preliminary design of the community. Second, construction permits are applied for. Informational brochures are mailed or tlung on the door. Before construction would begin, Seren would call for utility locates. They would also schedule community meetings. After locates are done (flags and paint) construction usually begins within four days. Vincent stated that generally where utilities are underground, they go underground. When they are aerial. they usually like to go aerial. If they are working underground in the Public Utility Easerpent, they usually are in and out of one yard within about four days. Restoration of lawns is usually complete within about two weeks, depending on the weather, ground conditions and season. Ooce restoration is complete, if the residents of the businesses aren't satisfied, they will work iNI"th them to complete it to their satisfaction. Vincent joked that she calls herself th~ "sod queen" Sometimes because of all of the grass and landscaping issues that she <Thais with. Page 3773 August 17, 2000 Twit asked whether the residents would have any say in the location ofthe power boxes in and through their yards. Rubin stated that this would be covered at the community meetings, and that they usually design their plan so that power follows power: They like to match their lines with other utilities wherever possible. They want it to be aesthetically pleasing too. Twit asked whether or not they do it in phases or all at once. Rubin indicated that they do it in phases! per neighborhood. Rubin stated they will most likely use their plans for Sartell and $auk Rapids as the model for St. Joseph. Rubin stated that they are willing to do whatever it takes to make the citizens comfortable with the process. Twit stated that in many parts of town, the poles are crowded and there are clearance problems Restoration will be a huge factor to the citizenry. Twit asked if in the situation where they had to rip out a driveway if they would replace it with the same material that was there previously. Rubin stated that they would replace it with the exact material that was there before. 1 Schmidt stated that the franchise fee is 3%, but that the maximum is 5%. The CitY can only impose the same fee that the incumbent is paying. US Cable is currently paying 3% and their franchise agreement was just re-awarded for the next 15 years. Noreen Loso addressed the Council and stated that the Cable Commission is very excited about having Seren in the City. They had the opportunity to tour the fadlitY and were very impressed. They are excited about the $10,000 donation from Seren and would recommend approval of the Seren franchise. Loso stated that he doesn't have any terms in front of him to approve. Gackle stated they would be looking forthe standard 15 year agreement and would pay the 3% franchise fee. Loso stated that he would like to see Seren have the same time frame as the incumbent, US Cable, so that they can be negotiated at the same time. Niedenfuer made a motion to approve the franchise agreement for Sereno The motion was approved by Ehlert and passed unanimously. I County Road 121 - Request for Annexation - Herb Bechtold addressed the Council. He stated that he is bringing forward petitions from the residents along Highway 121 who are seeking annexation into the City. He received positive petitions from 213 or the residents along Highway 121. Bechtold indicated that money is a major concern. There are many people on the list that are on fIXed incomes that this will hit pretty hard. Bechtold expressed some concern that the CitY would annex the area and not offer water and sewer if the cost is too high. Ehlert stated that the City wouldn't do that. Bechtold asked whether it was a possibilitY for those residents who don't need it right away if the lines could be put in and they wouldn't have to hook up right away. Bettendorf stated that there is a formula to figure how long you have to hook up. The CitY has been experiencing some problems with past projects where the lines were run to the house but were not hooked up. The City has no way to determine when someone hooks up to the system. The Council is trying to begin implementing a new policy whereby the lines will be run in front of the house but not to the house itself. This will prevent any of the problems that the Cityhas been experiencing. Bettendorf stated that he is very optimistic about the City's chan~a!ob1laining this grant. The intergovernmental relationship aspects of this project give us an excellent,cI!¡i!Qçe" óf being approved. We will know about the grant in February. ' . The Council asked if this annexation would help the CitY with our MSA status. Bettendorf stated that it would. If we become a Municipal State Aid CitY, we are eligible for around $150,000 for streets. The money has to be used for designated state aid streets but this would free up dollars for use in other areas. The Council accepted the petition from Bechtold. Schmidt stated that she would arrange a joint meeting with the Township and the City to approve it. I C;:ity Engineer Report Grant application- Bettendorf stated that he would like authorization from the Council to proceed with the grant application. The preliminary work and the survey were done at no cost to the CitY. '¡, '.-~ \ I I 1 Page 37 4 August 17, 200~ i SEH would be seeking a flat fee. of $5000 for the professional services of applying for the grant. i Twit asked if Bettendorf had an idea of how much money the City could receive. He indicated I that we could get three quarters of a million dollars. Ehlert stated that if he ,understands correctly" Dick Grabko, the individual writing the grant has been very successful in the past. In fact, he has' received 20 grants of the 22 that he has applied for. Bettendorf slated that this is correct. Loso made a motion to authorize SEH to continue with the grant application for à fee of $5000, seconded by Niedenfuer. The motion passed unanimously. Sanitary Sewer Televising - Bettendorf stateathat he has been including the televising of sanitary sewer after initial construction in the recent construction contracts. This is to provide a permanent visual record of the pipe condition and location of all the service lines. He did not include this in the contract for the Business Park and Joseph Street. He simply missed this. He still thinks it should be done. He indicated that Dick Taufen and he would like to clean and televise the 15 inch sanitary sewer installed for DBL Labs in 1992; this is the sewer line that the Business Park and Joseph Street drain into. He has discussed this with Infratech and they have agreed to add this work to their contract if approved by the City Council. The televising would be at the same unit cost of $.50 per foot, regardless of pipe size. The total project would cost $5,462. Ehlert stated that although he thinks this is a good idea in the older parts of town, these Jines are new and should be clear. Perhaps this is something that could wait a few years. Loso stated that he agrees and that these new lines should have drawings and diagrams that are sufficient for maintenance purposes now. Loso suggested we wait and talk to Dick aboùt this. This should be something that we can wait on for now. The Council agreed. County Road 133 Contract - Bettendorf stated that the City's share of the County Road Project totals $133,559.55. The City is agreeing to finance: all of the right of way or easements, 14% of the total storm sewer costs, pro-rated share of engineering cosls and a few others as laid out in the contract. Bettendorf stated that the County would be working on Minnesota Street 300 feet into the business park. He is also going to see if they will re-build Elm by the Comer as part of the project. The majority of these costs were included in the assessments to the business park. This number is well within what was estimated for the project. Loso made amotion to approve the contract for County Road 133, seconded by Niedenfuer. The motion passed unanimously. 8:00 Noise Violation- 121 East Ash - Acting Mayor Twit opened the hearing. This hearing is for a noise viOlation at 121 Ash Street East on June 25, 2000. He stated that the owner, Mr. William Tallman has not requested an evidentiary hearing. This waiver of the hearing is the equivalent to an admission of the basic allegation alleged. Mr. Tallman, the owner of the property addressed the Council. He stated that he wasn't present the night ofthe incident, so he can't dispute whether or not the violation occurred. In the lease that his tenants sign, there are specific prohibitions against violations of City ordinances, parties and kegs. Mr. Tallman stated that he has a manager that lives in town, Tim Borresch. Mr. Borresch was not called the evening of the incident. If he had been called, this incident might have been avoided altogether. Schmidt stated that the police report indicates that Mr. Borresch was contacted. Mr. Borresch stated that there were three calls in two days. If he had been called the first time, he thinks he could have prevented the other incidents from happening. Chief Will stated that the officers did call Mr. Borresch. They left a message that evening, but got a hold of him on Monday. Mr. Borresch disputed this saying that he was home and has a machine. Mr. Tallman stated that he hired Tim to be the manager and had he' been given the opportunity, he would have dealt with the srtuation. : Twit stated that regardless of who was called when, there was still a noise violation and that is what they need to deal with. John Quinlivan, attorney for Mr. Tallman, stated that they weren1 in a position to stop the second incident as they didn1 know about the first one. . They want to be neighbor friendly and want to work with the City to achieve this. They didn't ask for an evidentiary hearing because they had no knowledge to dispute whether it did or did not happen. Page 3775 August 17, 2000 Chief Will stated the first violation was at 5:00 in the morning. The officer did not issue a violation for that incident. The second incident involved two houses. While they were at the first house, everyone left the second house. The normal method of operation for the Police Department is to issue a violation. The residents were actually lucky that the police didn't issue one the first time. The report indicates that the residents were not argumentative and that they cooperated fully with the officers. 1 Ehlert stated that normally a violation is always given, so he agrees that they were lucky that one wasn't issued on Friday night. There are some communication issues that need to be worked on but that is neither here nor there. Hindsight is 20/20 and we need to work from here. The goal is to stop the noise. Mr. Tallman stated that he has spoken with the neighbors over the years and requested that they call him or the manager if there is a problem. Ehlert stated that he may want to do this again as new people move into the neighborhoods every year. Niedenfuer made a motion to assess administrative costs and fees of $150 and the $162 legal fees to date. Loso seconded the motion. Ehlert stated that with each of these violations, the fine we give sets a preÅ“dent. He is concerned that we have given fines in almost all previous cases. Why not here? Last time we gave a $200 fine. Niedenfuer amended her motion to include a $200 fine on top of the $162 fegaI fee and $150 administrative fee. Ehlert seconded the motion and the motion passed unanimously. Department Head Reports - Chief Will stated that the CitY received a request for a four way stop at 12'" and Dale. The request was to help slow traffic. Will stated that he and T aufen agree that a four way stop is not the answer and that it would end up being more of a hazard than anything else, as it is at the bottom of a hill. There are also other issues to consider like how 133 will change the traffic patterns in the area. Will suggested that the CitY wait until the slow children signs are up and see how that affects the area traffic then. He will keep an eye on the situation. The Council agreed I Will reported that he is seeking authorization from the Council to apply for a grant for snowmobile enforcement and education. It isnl a matching grant and it's first come first served. Ehlert asked if Will has met with the SnowJoes yet. He hadn't yet but could use these funds to help in their efforts too. The Council agreed to let Will apply for it. Niedenfuer asked if Will had been approached by the R.A.D instructors (Rape Aggression Defense). Will stated that he had and is in wholehearted support of it. Approve Minutes - Loso made a motion to approve the minutes of 8ßl[JO, seconded by Ehlert. The motion passed unanimously with Niedenfuer abstaining. Public Comments on the Agenda - There were no public comments to thle agenda. BFI _ Commingling and Cart Proposal - Jamie Phenow addressed the Council. He stated that BFI has switched the City residents from a source separated recycling collection system to a co- mingle two-sort arrangement. This change allows the citizens the opportunitY to mix all containers and all fibers in bags thereby eliminating the amount of time meeded for preparation of materials for collection. Ehlert stated that he was very excited to hear thè>. He was in favor of this back when the contracts were being negotiated. Phenow stated that he also wanted to talk to the CitY about switching St. Joseph to a standardized cart collection system of municipal solid waste. The BFI rollout carts are more aesthetically pleasing than having assorted trash cans around town. All the carts have lids that securely shut to keep out precipitation and animals. The residents would rent the carts from BFI, I I Page 3776 August 17, 2000 I and they would, in turn, maintain all carts and replace them if they break. There are a number of I different costs depending 011 the size ranging from $9.50 to $11.50. The Ctty's current contract is for 60 gallons of MSW collection at $10.50/month. Phenow stated that the administration of this could also be turned overto 8F!. The City is doing it currently. Phenow stated that he would be looking for $1 per cart to recoup some of his investment. Twit stated that he is assuming that this would be the whole Ctty that would have to do it so he would like to hear from the residents. Phenow suggested that he be allowed to work with Schmidt to get a survey out to the residents on their thoughts on this. The Council agreed. St. Cloud Library Cost Sharing Proposal -The St. Cloud Library Board is exploring the feasibility of having Sunday hours on a trial basis. The cost to fund the 9 month trial period is $75,000. They are asking that the City of St. Cloud and surrounding communtties provide the funds for the trial period. Depending on how many communities participate. this means around $2,458 for St. Joseph. Ehlert stated that this may be a good public relations move. Loso stated that at this point with the budget the way it is, we can't afford to participate. Schmidt stated that she would look into how many other communities have agreed to support the measure and report back to the City Council. I Sales Tax Issue - Schmidt stated that she would be meeting with the other community Administrators on Friday and would have more to report then. At this point it looks like St. Cloud may be moving forward without the other communities. Ehlert stated that he whole-heartedly supports this for St. Joseph and wants to be' a part of it. We're going to be paying for it anyway as we entertain and shop in St. Cloud. We should also reap the benefrts. One of the aspects of this project that made it so positive last time was the regional nature of it. That would be lost if St. Cloud does this alone. Schmidt stated that she would report more on this atthe next Council meeting. Loso stated that as long as we are talking about ballot questions, he would like to see the City change to a manager form of government. The Council talked briefly about it last year and said they would consider it next year. Loso thinks that it's time that the question go to the voters. Ehlert and Twit stated that if this is something that was desired, the education process should have started for the public months and months ago. This is too short of a notice to do it now. Miscellaneous and Announcement Items - St Cloud Area District Plan - Twit suggested that instead of a joint meeting, perhaps the Mayor should draft a summary of the plan and make some recommendations to the full Council. They could vote on it at the next Council meeting. The rest of the Council agreed. Mayor and Council Reports - Hiemenz was absent from the meeting. Ehlert stated that he would like to set up a meeting with the Chief to discuss the noise violation policy and the possibility of doing something with a warning system. Twit stated that he would not be present at the next Council meeting. Loso asked about the NSP study of lighting in Northland. Schmidt said she would bring the results to the Council once she receives them. Niedenfuer reported that the Farmers Market has been so successful that they have now been authorized to participate in the WlC program. Needy families can now get their produce through the Farmer's Market in this program. She reported that they lost their market manager and are working on a replacement for this position. Clerk! Administrator Report - Schmidt reported on a few upcoming meetings. I Adjourn - Loso made a motion to adjourn at 9:35, seconded by Ehlert. The motion passed unanimously. Page 3777 August 17, 2000 Respectfully Submitted, {2-~ I Cari Schmidt ClerklAdministrator I I