HomeMy WebLinkAbout2000 [11] Nov 16
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November 16, 2000
City of St. Joseph
City Council Meeting
11116100, 7:00 PM
1. Call to Order. Pursuant to due call and notice thereof, the City Council for the City of St.
Joseph met on Thursday, November 16, 2000 at 7:00 p.m. in the St. Joseph City Hall.
-Members Present: Mayor Kenneth Hiemenz, Cory Ehlert, Ken Twit, Mary Niedenfuer, Bob
Loso, Clerk-Administrator Cari Schmidt and Deputy Clerk Judy Weyrens.
Others Present: AI Rassier, Larry Hosch, Public Works Director Dick Taufen, Rep. Steve
Dehler, City Attorney John Scherer, City Engineer Joe Bettendorf, Police Chief Gary Will,
Bud Reber, Karen Klein, Savanna Klein, Kyle Schneider, Paul Rutzenthaier, Doris Johnson,
Marie Krebsbach, Mark Zimmer, Tom Skahen, Stephanie Howe and Pete and Lisa Walz.
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2. Approve Agenda - Schmidt stated that there are a few changes to the agenda. Tom
Borresch's variance request will be on the next meeting. The Pianning Commission tabled
the Pondview 6 Final Plat so that has been taken off the agenda. Finally, item 18, the letter
from Linda Sniezek can be removed. Linda called and requested that out of respect for her
family that the Council not discuss the item tonight. She is unable to attend because she is
having surgery, Also, her mother was taken to the hospital this morning and may have had a
stroke. Loso stated that the Council doesn't need to act on it tonight, but he would like to
discuss it briefly. Niedenfuer made a motion to approve the agenda, seconded by Ehlert. The
motion passed unanimously.
3. Special Order of Business - Presentation by MADD - The President of MADD addressed
the Council. She stated that she and her group are here from the Stearns County chapter of
MADD to show their support of the work of the St. Joseph Police Department. They would
also like to present the department with three portable breathalyzers and a video camera
system. She stated that the video camera has already been put to use by the department.
The Councii thanked them for their support and contributions.
4. Approve Consent Agenda -
a. Resolulion annexing properties abutting County Road 121.
Hiemenz stated that the Township Board approved this on Monday night. Loso made a motion to
approve the consent agenda, seconded by Ehlert. The motion passed unanimously.
5. Liquor Violations - Chief Will addressed the Council. He stated that this item is before
them as they have requested that they receive monthly updates on bar violations. Loso's has
had three after hours violations since April. The incident at the La Playette was for an
underage woman in the bar over homecoming weekend.
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John Scherer added that if the Council wishes to take any action with regard to these two
licenses they would need to set a hearing for that (suspension, revocation etc.) The hearing
would have to be held at a future meeting. Loso made a motion to set a hearing for Loso's
Bar for the next meeting on December 1n. The motion was seconded by Niedenfuer. It
passed unanimously. Will stated that they would publish the notice and notify the bar owner.
Loso stated that he didn't feel that the incident at the La Playette warranted any further
review.
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November 16, 2000
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Loso stated that he has heard that the Alcohol Compliance Committee is fairly split on the
matrix system they have been working on. Loso made a motion to have the committee come
up with a recommendation within the next thirty days or that the Council would take Chief
Wiff's recommendation. Ehlerl stated that he didn't think that was possible. They have only
had two meetings and there were also some that he wasn't notified of. Thirty days is too
short of a time period. Mark Zimmer added that he didn't think that they were that split on the
matrix. He also stated that Officer Windels is out with a broken leg. Chief Will added that he
would be taking over the meetings now. Will stated that he would worlk with the Committee to
help them come up with a recommendation.
Scherer asked if the Council had anything else for him before he left. Schmidt asked him to
comment on the letter from Linda Sniezek's attorney regarding this as an unconstitutional
taking. Scherer stated that the letter from Linda Sniezek's attorney verifies what he figured
was happening. She isn't legally prohibited from selling the house. She doesn't want to
because she will lose money. Her attorney argues that it would be an unconstitutional taking.
This isn't the case. She can certainly continue to rent it but the rental license will be subject
to the new ordinance which requires it to be owner occupied. Or, in the alternative, she could
certainly sell the house. In his opinion. this is not a taking.
6. Bills Payablel OT _ Loso made a motion to approve the biffs payable and Ehlen seconded
the motion. The motion passed unanimously. Ehlert asked about the refunds to Berscheid
Builders. Weyrens explained that they paid for a building permit and the hook up fees for a
lot. The lot was sold to someone else so they never built there. The permit is not refundable
but the hook up fee is. The new owner/builder paid the hook up fee.
Weyrens stated that they are just getting in the bond payments for DBL Labs. They need
$285,000 to pay it off. Weyrens stated she is looking for approval to make the bond
payments. Loso made a motion to approve Weyrens to make the bond payments. seconded
by Niedenfuer. The motion passed unanimously. Ehlert made a motion to approve the
overtime and callouts, seconded by Loso. The motion passed unanimously.
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7. Department Head Reports - Dick Taufen addressed the Council. He reported that in
January of last year Ray Bechtold injured his rotor cuff. He was out eight weeks and had
surgery in February. He came back in April for light duty. On October 11th he injured the
same shoulder. He has been cleared for light duty again but will have to have surgery.
Taufen asked the Council how they felt about Bechtold coming back for light duty before his
surgery. They indicated that they don't want to risk him making the injury worse. He should
stay out until he is healed from surgery. Taufen asked the Council for authority to hire a full
time temporary employee to fill in from December through April. Niedenfuer made a motion
to authorize Taufen to hire a temporary full time employee for December through April. Ehlert
seconded the motion and it passed unanimously. Ehlert asked for clarification on the time
frame. Taufen stated that they would need to be on through the snowfall season. As soon
as Ray comes back they would be done. Ehlert stated that the sooner Bechtold could have
his surgery the better so we can get him back.
Taufen stated that he was approached by the Legion about renting the back portion of
Stueve's garage for cold storage. They will rent it to us for $500lmonth plus utilities until
Spring. Taufen stated they could store the three generators. sweeper and trucks in the space.
Taufen stated that he would like to see it happen. Ehlert asked about the square footage and
also wanted to know what the going rate for cold storage is now. Taufen stated that they
could find out what the rate is and also see if the Legion would go any lower. The fee would
be paid out of three separate areas: water, wastewater and streets. Niedenfuer made a
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November 16, 200~
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motion to authorize staff to rent the back end of Stueve's garage until Spring. Twit seconded
the motion. Taufen stated that they might also be able to work out something with the Legiori
if they are still interested in the City Annex. Perhaps no money would actually have to
change hands. Ehlert stated that he would like to see this happen. Loso stated that he
doesn't want to muddy the deal with this though. This should be a straight rental and maybe
we can come back later and work something out. Niedenfuer amended her motion to have
staff look into the going rate of cold storage and determine if this is a good deaf. If it is, staff
can go forward with renting the facílíty. Twit seconded the motion and it passed unanimously
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Chad Carlson addressed the Council. He stated that Pondview 6 has been removed from the
agenda because the Planning Commission tabled the item. The hang up is whether or not I
the City approved two or three lots on the corner property. The Planning Commission asked i
Carlson to approach the Council about having a joint meeting with them to get everyone on '
the same page about this issue. The Council agreed to meet with the Planning Commission
on Thursday, November 30th at 7:30 PM. Twit asked for clarification on the plat. He stated
that it looks iike they have removed haif of the lots from the plan. Carlson explained that they'
have broken it out into phases for approval. Twit stated that is not clear from the plat and it I
should be labeied more clearly. He doesn't want them to come back and claim that the City I
approved more than they meant to. Twit also expressed concern that the lots with the i
wetlands are not on this plat. Are they waiting for the new Council in hopes that they will get a¡
different reaction. Carlson stated that they can't bring those forward yet as there is no lot of
record. Carlson reassured Twit that they are doing this correctly. They legally cannot ask for
a variance yet because they do not have a lot of record.
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Carlson stated that he would also iike to address the Joseph Street iighting issue now.
Stearns Electric is recommending that five lights be installed on Joseph Street. Weyrens
informed him previously that there is no money left in the street iighting budget for this year,
but that this could be put into next year's budget. Stearns Electric has given two options:
pay a one time aid to construction charge in the amount of $1190 for the five iights; or pay a
monthly facility charge for each iight in the amount of $4.00 per month per iight as long as the
facilities exist. The monthly usage charge for each 150 watt HPS will be $7.25. Loso made a
motion to approve option one for 2001, seconded by Ehlert. The motion passed
unanimously.
Chief Gary Will addressed the Council. He stated that they respond to quite a number of
false alarms. He has enclosed an alarm ordinance for the Council's review. Will stated that
he has talked it over with Dave Thiesen, the Fire Chief and he agrees with it. The ordinance
would require a free permit. It would establish the Council for poiice and the fire board for fire
false alarms as the review board. The establishments would get two free false alarms per
year and after that the administrative fines leading up to revocation of the license until the
alarm is fixed. It would be a petty misdemeanor for most of the ordinance except for the
license itself. Will stated that there were 64 emergency false alarms in 1999. They
responded to one this year that was real and because they had no information on file they
had no-one to call. Ehlert asked how the people with alarms would be notified about this.
Will explained that they already know where most of the alarms are in town and they will use
cable and the newspaper to notify the rest. The police department would administer the
permit system. Niedenfuer made a motion to hold a public hearing on December 7'h to
consider the proposed alarm ordinance. Twit seconded the motion and it passed
unanimously.
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Will reported that the 1994 Patrol Car is dead. This is the car that was overhauled. The
warranty on the car was for 24,000 miles or 12 months. The City hit the 24,000 mark on May
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November 16, 2000
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31st There is no further warranty. It is in the shop again. The transmi,ssion has some
serious problems and he has received a quote to fix it for $1,200 to $1,400. The question is
do we want to spend the money to fix the car to use it for the next 1-3 months whiie we are
waiting for the new car to come in or not. The problem with not fixing the ear is that this gives
us oniy two cars. The miles will go up dramatically for those cars and the maintenance will
decline on them as we need them out on the street. The 96 is having serious problems and
the 90 is over 80,000 miles now. We are putting 25,000 +1- per year on each ear when we
are using three ears. Fixing the car will cost money and will not greatly increase the value of
the car for resale. The question before the Council now is whether we fix the ear or strip it
and get rid of it as best we can.
Ehlert said that we probably would only make back what we spent to fix the ear if we junk it.
It would be better to spend the money than to drive up the miles on the other two ears or to
end up having the officers use their own cars. Loso asked how they went out. Will stated that
they heard some rattling in the cars and the mechanic was actually pulling out broken pieces
of metal from underneath the hood.
Ehlert made a motion to have it fixed and get it back on the road for an amount not to exceed
$1,500. Loso seconded the motion and it passed unanimously.
Will reported that the Council will be seeing a lot of overtime in the next few months. There is
a lot of mandatory training that is coming up.
Weyrens addressed the Council. She gave them the treasurer's report and told them they
could discuss it now or could do it at the next meeting. They decided to discuss it at the next
meeting. Weyrens stated that one thing to keep in mind is that the City has not set aside
funds for the 133 expensesl Joseph Street project. Our costs should be close to $75,000.
Weyrens stated that with so many entities involved in the project it just fell through the cracks
(City, EDA, Bond Counsel and Engineering). Weyrens stated that we will have funds left
from the closing of the DBL Lab funds. The Council could designate sewer funds and use it
for this type of thing later. Only bond funds are restricted in terms of their use. You could
designate it sewer and use it for something else later.
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8. Public Comments to the Agenda - Cory Ehlert stepped down from the dais and addressed
the Council. He stated that he would like to present two clocks, one to Kurt Schneider of
Concrete Plus and one to Clint Bogart of Granite City Ready Mix for their help and
contribution to the City in laying concrete in the ice arena. The Park Board would like to
express their deepest appreciation to these two organizations.
Steve Dehler addressed the Council. He asked whether the property tax percentages refer to
the rate at the time of annexation. Weyrens stated that it refers back to the Orderly
Annexation agreement.
Marie Krebsbach addressed the Council. She stated that she is a lifelong resident of St.
Joseph. She has worked for the College of St. Benedict for many years. She stated that she
does not believe that the students should be allowed to vote in the City elections and that the
elections should be held during the summer.
Hiemenz stated that unfortunately at this time the students ean vote in the CitY because they
are considered residents of St. Joseph.
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November 16, 2000
Doris Johnson addressed the Council. She asked that the Council consider changing the
City elections to June and July. She believes that the City issues get pushed into the
background when they are posed at the same time as the other national issues.
Steve Dehler addressed the Council He stated that he is investigating this issue already. He,
has asked House Research for some information on this topic already. He indicated that he i
believes that in the past there was quite a diligent task to try and get aU of the elections in the!
state on to the same cycle of being held in November. This may not be an easy task. He I
' stated that it might be easier to have an election in an odd year and then it would be off the ,
Presidential and Gubernatorial caiendars. Dehler stated that the citizens could petition him or
the City Council to ask him to proposed such a bill at the Legislature. '
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Hiemenz asked Dehler why the City was never made aware of a bill that was in the last
session that would have required students to vote in the City of residence of their family.
Dehler stated that the City usually gets publications like the Senate Weekly or the Senate
Briefly that would tell them of such bills. Dehler added that many bills never go anywhere
and are simply introduced to make a statement.
9. GL T Change Orders - Stephanie Howe addressed the Council. She stated that the building
is moving along quite nicely. They are anticipating a partial move in on December 15th She
stated that she has a few change orders to go over with the Council. Proposal request # 15 is
for electrical items as a result of the previous mechanical modifications. Loso made a motion
to approve proposal request #15, seconded by Niedenfuer. The motion passed unanimously.
Ehlert asked what the role of the general contractor is? Howe stated that they coordinate the
schedules at the subcontractors and oversee the whole project. Generally their fees are 10%
on every change order.
Howe stated that proposal request #16 is for installing two additional exit lights in the
basement corridor as required by the building official. Niedenfuer moved to accept proposal
request #16, seconded by Loso. The motion passed unanimously.
Howe stated that proposai request #23 is for installation of additional outlets and
telephone/data boxes in the squad room area. The pricing to provide the boxes and outlets is
$732. If the City should decide to provide wire mold for greater flexibility, this would be an
additional $284. Loso made a motion to approve proposal request #23 with the additional
$284 for the wire mold. The motion passed unanimously.
Howe stated that proposal request #24 is for installation of four outlets in the Council table for
$255. Loso moved to approve proposal request #24, seconded by Ehlert. The motion
passed unanimously.
Howe stated that proposal request #25 is for connecting the existing exterior drive up canopy
lights to an existing time clock that is controlled by the time of day. This item has a cost of
$289.00. Twit made a motion to approve proposal request #25, seconded by Loso. The
motion passed unanimously.
Howe stated that proposal request #26 is for adding a chase around the existing electrical
conduit which is now located in the elevator equipment room. The state of Minnesota
Elevator Inspector required this modification. Loso made a motion to approve proposal
request #26, seconded by Niedenfuer. The motion passed unanimously.
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Howe pointed out that the City received a credit of $490 from proposal request #22.
Proposal request #27 is for a partial wall in the main floor evidence room as requested by the
Chief of Police. Chief Will explained that the wall is necessary to protect the chain of custody
and to keep everyone who enters the room from being subpoenaed to testify in cases
disputing evidence. Ehlerl made a motion to approve proposal request #27, seconded by
Niedenfuer. The motion passed unanimously.
Howe stated that she has two other items. There are some cracks in the wall in a vestibule
and there is a hole in the wall in the conference room that needs to be fixed. The quote they
received to take care of both items is for $176. Niedenfuer made a motion to approve the
fixing of both of these items. Ehlerl seconded the motion and it passed unanimously.
Howe stated that there is one last item. The plastic laminate on the window sills is bubbling
in spots. They would like to re-glue it and clean it up. Niedenfuer marie a motion to approve
this item, seconded by Loso. The motion passed unanimously.
10. Cable Commission Report - Noreen Loso and Tom Nahan addressed the Council. They
reported that they met the previous year's goals. They presented their accomplishments to
the Council earlier this year and requested direction for new goals. They wanted to buy
robotic cameras and a character generator but were held back due to budget constraints.
They did a lot of research on the type of equipment they wanted. They did a number of site
visits, including SI. Cloud, Sauk Rapids and Steams County. They also got some great
suggestions from Sue Ressemann, from District 742 Media Services. They did an analysis of
the equipment that they would like: 3 panasonic cameras, mounts. and power supplies, 1
panasonic switcher, 1 panasonic controller, 1 panasonic triple monitor, 2 panasonic color
monitors, 1 panasonic video mixer and 1 character generator. They received two bids for the
equipment only. EPA Audio Visual of Rockford bid $13,040. Complete Electronics of St.
Joseph bid $12,498.00. The Cable Commission is also looking at some additional costs for 9
new gooseneck microphones ($2,250), cable, cords, connectors and jacks ($552.50). There
will also be some costs associated with moving equipment into the new CitY hall ($1,300)
They would also like to build and install a new workstation for approximately $1,580. The total
costs of the project are $12,498 for video equipment, $2,586 for audio equipment, $1,300 for
moving and installation and $1,580 for a new work station. The current budget rollover is
$6,334.16. The Seren agreement gave the Cable Commission $101,000. They also received
a donation from the Jaycees for $2,000. They have $18,334.16 available. The Cable
Commission is proposing that the Cable Commission budget pay for the new video
equipment and installation for a total cost of $12,998. They proposed that the new audio
equipment and installation come from the City hall project budget ($3,085.50). They also
proposed that the movement of the existing equipment, set up, and workstation to come out
of the City Hall project budget ($1,880).
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Weyrens stated that the funds for the City Hall project budget would be coming out of
contingency. The City is already looking at only around $12,000 left and that doesn't include
some of the items that will still be coming forward.
Loso made a motion to approve the expenditure of $12,998 from the cable budget and
moved that the City pay for $3,086.50 for the new audio equipment and installation, as well
as the moving costs (with the work station to come out of the Cab/19 budget) Niedenfuer
seconded the motion and it passed unanimousiy.
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11. 90 minute Parking Request - Sunset Manufacturing - Will reported that Tom Skahen' of I
Sunset Manufacturing has requested some type of change in the 90 minute parking in front of
his business. He has people occasionally there for more than 90 minutes. He is asking for !
some way to allow them to issue a permit of some type of the service persons who visit his
business. Will stated that there are a couple of options. First, The Council could remove the
90 minute parking. This may cause people to park there all day and not allow business
patrons to stop there. They could change it to permit parking in a couple of spaces with the
rest at 90 minutes. The third option would be to leave it as is. Will stated that he does not
know the history of the 90 minute zone. Skahen indicated that the signs went up when the
buiiding was built. I
Ehlert asked about permits. Will stated that the Council could do a permit system that would I
be reiatively easy. It would require a minor ordinance change. They could establish a certain
number of permits, although they wouldn't be able to limit them to just businesses. Hiemenz i
stated that permits might be difficult as the students could fabricate them pretty easily and I
use it for rental housing parking. Will stated that even with the permits, it wouldn't allow for
overnight parking. Ehlert suggested doing this on a six month trial basis. Will stated that the I
adoption of this ordinance change would require a public hearing. Ehlert made a motion to
set a public hearing for December 1h to consider this ordinance change to affow for permit
parking. Niedenfuer seconded the motion and it passed unanimously.
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12. Walz Variance - Carlson stated that the Walz's are constructing a new garage on their
property. They are requesting a variance to the exterior building material requirements which
states that the material must be similar in nature to the principal structure. In this case, the
house exterior is stucco. The Walzs would like to use lap siding on the garage. The color of
the siding will match the house color. There are other issues with this project that will require
a variance, but the Walz's will be coming forward in the near future with those separately.
Loso made a motion to approve the variance for the Walz's garage siding, seconded by
Ehlert. The motion passed unanimously.
13. City Engineer's Report - Bettendorf reviewed two maps with the City Council of the
proposed MSA routes. He explained that one of the routes has already been submitted to
the MSA engineer. He also wants him to look at the alternate route that shows the road that
is yet unbuilt. We can designate this route in order to park the mileage there and change it
later. We actually have to certify the mileage route each year.
Bettendorf explained that there is also a memo about proposed street addressing changes in
the packet for their review. Joseph Street would be renumbered to 19thÀve NE. This would
align it with the street grid and make it easier for emergency vehicles to respond, Twit
expressed some concern that the residents on East Callaway (1020d Ave.) are not going to
want to change their addresses as they are still in the Township. This is going to be very
controversial. Schmidt stated that none of the residents have been notified as of yet. They
were waiting for Council approval. Loso made a motion to approve the address changes as
presented by the City Engineer. Twit seconded the motion and it passed unanimously.
Bettendorf asked the Council if they had any questions of the development plan memo that
was in the packet. It just details the grading plan procedures that were adopted for all future
developments. The Council had no questions.
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Bettendorf reported that they received two bids for the Millstream culvert work. It came in
well below estimate ($30,000). Molliter came in with a bid of $10,800 and Lange bid $9,700.
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November 16, 2000
With engineering costs, the project should run around $15,000. Taufen added that with this
low bid, there should be enough money left over to repair the bridge.
Hiemenz asked Bettendorf about the short stretch of road on the north side of College
Avenue and whether or not it was going to be included in the County project Bettendorf
stated he would approach the County on the matter.
Ehlert asked Bettendorf how the $75,000 of right of way acquisition for the County Road 1331
Joseph Street project was missed in the bond. Bettendorf apologized 'if that is something that
he shouid have caught. He stated that it might still be possible to roll it into the County Road
121 project. He stated that he would speak with Monte about coverin!~ it short term.
Loso asked Bettendorf about the possibility of getting a railroad crossing opened. We were
given two crossings before: Northland and 133. Bettendorf stated the he will dig out the
paperwork to see if we can open up the other crossing into Northland. Bettendorf said he
would check into it, although personally he would not like to see it happen.
14. Approve Minutes of November 2,2000 - Twit made a change in the minutes in the sewer
hook up discussion from "Joseph Street" to "Minnesota Street." Ehlert made a motion to
approve the minutes of November 2, 2000 with the change, seconded by Loso. The motion
passed unanimously.
15. Miscellaneous and Announcement Items - Letter from Linda Sniezek's attomey-The
Council agreed that Sniezek should be asked to come to the next meeting. They reiterated
that it was clear that she agreed to abide by the new ordinances after the moratorium. Also,
she informed them that she was legally unable to sell the house. The letter from her attorney
seems to indicate otherwise.
16. Reports _ Mayor Hiemenz reported that he had attended a number of meetings. He has a
number of things that he would like to discuss from the APO but in light of the late hour will
bring them up at the next Council meeting. Twit, Ehlert and Loso had nothing to report.
Niedenfuer reported that the HCP will be meeting again in December and have invited
Michael Doyle to come and speak on parks and trails. Schmidt reported on a number of
upcoming meetings.
17. Adjourn _ Loso made a motion to adjourn at 10:15, seconded by Twit. The motion passed
unanimously.
Respectfully Submitted,
Cari Schmidt
Clerk/Administrator
City of St. Joseph
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