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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2020 [01] Jan 27 January 27, 2020 Page 1 of 3 Pursuant to due call and notice thereof, the City Council for the City of St. Joseph met in workshop session on Monday, January 27, 2020 at 6:00 PM at the St. Joseph Government Center. Members Present: Mayor Rick Schultz. Councilors Anne Buckvold, Brian Theisen, Bob Loso, Troy Goracke. Administrator Kris Ambuehl. City Representatives Present: Police Chief Dwight Pfannenstein, Public Works Director Terry Thene, Finance Director Lori Bartlett, Community Development Director Therese Haffner, Deputy Clerk Kayla Klein Others Present: Kathy Parker, Abby Faulkner CSB – Staff Discussion: Parker asked the Council a series of questions for ways to improve the relationship between the Council and the College as well as what the College can do to make their mission known. Discussions were had regarding the community center, rental housing, future City growth, challenges the college is facing, challenges for non-profit organizations in the community, and future partnership opportunities between the College and City. Staff will forward the recently completed Comprehensive Plan to the college so they can see the City’s direction. The College is looking for ways to recruit and make St. Joseph a destination while sustaining the Monastery. Parker asked if given a million dollars, what would be a project that would benefit the college and city. Ideas given included: hotel, pool, contributions to public safety department, downtown revitalization, public transportation, parking ramp, youth activities. The vision for St. Joseph in 2030 is to continue to be a safe community where people want to raise their families. Water and Sewer Fees: Summit Companies owns the manufactured home community in the City and requested staff lower the utility rates. They provided different cities charges for comparisons. St. Joseph charges per unit per trailer and the City charges a per unit fee for apartments as well. The fixed charges are there as the services are provided to each unit. Suggestions were made to have Summit come up with the reasons why their charges should be less than other residents who are provided with the same surfaces. Wood Boiler Discussion: A cease and desist letter was sent to the owner of the wood boiler. Staff will be creating a nuisance ordinance that will take care of the issue. The current ordinance does not guidelines around enforcement. Staff will model the nuisance ordinance after other area cities and the amendment will be brought to the Planning Commission and then to the Council. Township Road Maintenance: Part of the Orderly Annexation Agreement is that the township maintains some of the roads. At some point the city is going to have to takeover full maintenance of the roads in the OAA. Should there be a phased takeover? Goracke suggested doing the takeover in the same percentages as the tax rate is being implemented. January 27, 2020 Page 2 of 3 Complaints are being received about the road conditions and Thene is concerned for the safety of the public. The city has paid ASTECH about $20,000 this year. Prior discussions were had regarding the costs of township road maintenance. Staff and Council agreed to have ASTECH maintain the roads utilizing the same contract that the Township had. At the time, it appeared that having public works maintain the roads and buying a new truck would be costlier. Direction was given to staff to find out the annual amount the Township paid for ASTECH to maintain the newly annexed roads. The maintenance not only includes snowplowing, but general street maintenance as well. How are these costs going to be funded? St. Cloud – Foley Wastewater: The City of Foley wants to connect to the St. Cloud Sewer System. They looked at constructing their own facility and decided that connecting to St. Cloud was the better option. St. Cloud hired a company to study how they could incorporate another city and if they have the capacity to do so. The area cities met and it was discussed if the area cities were in support of the addition or not. When the system was last upgraded, there was 1.3M gallons per day of treatment that the area cities could purchase. St. Joseph bought high and other cities bought low. Some of the cities that bought low are nearing their capacity and will need to purchase additional units at a much higher rate. The next expansion will take place in 2030. In the meantime, it has been suggested that Foley buys capacity from cities that have a surplus. Sabart noted that the recommendation is typically not to sell your extra capacity. The city purchased the capacity at a minimal price. If the city were to sell it and buy additional in the future, the costs would be much higher. The pipes from St. Joseph to St. Cloud are larger pipes and they were built to handle current and future capacity. If they will be connected, construction will start in 2021. The year 2030 will be used as a benchmark for growth and development. Currently the city uses minimal capacity. Ambuehl suggested having a commission with one representative from each of the area cities and he would work on seeing if there is any interest. Streetscape Funding: SEH, Inc. is working on 3 options for the streetscape and will bring to the Council at a later date. CIP Projects: Staff presented the 2020 Capital Improvement Plan (CIP). The Council discussed what projects should take priority for 2020. Below are the projects the Council would like to see brought back at a regular meeting. st  1 and Fir St E sewer improvements th  18 Ave SE Improvements  Alley Improvements  Millstream Parking Lot & Baseball Parking Lots Improvements th  The MN Streetscape and 20 Avenue Improvement options will be brought back as well. SEH is th currently working on a Feasibility Report for 20 Ave SE and options for the MN Streetscape. thth  With regards to 20 Ave SE, there are two options: 20 Ave SE improvements to dale street th (rural road), and 20 Ave SE improvements constructed as a corridor street. Solar: Ambuehl will invite two solar companies to present at a future council meeting to see if solar would be for the city. ½ Cent Sales Tax: Schultz reported that Waite Park and St. Cloud are pursuing their own ½ cent sales tax rather then continuing to be part of the six cities group. Schultz will discuss with the area mayors. Schultz is hopeful that the cities can agree to extending the current sales tax option that includes all area cities. January 27, 2020 Page 3 of 3 Adjourn: Schultz made a motion to adjourn at 8:19 PM; seconded by Goracke and passed unanimously. Kris Ambuehl City Administrator