HomeMy WebLinkAboutCCMin_02Apr10City of Falcon Heights
Council Minutes
April 10, 2002
Mayor Gehrz opened the meeting at 7 p.m.
PRESENT: Gehrz, Kuettel, Lamb, Lindstrom, Talbot. Also present was Heather Worthington,
City Administrator and Pat Phillips, Deputy Clerk
COMMUNITY FORUM: There was no one present wishing to speak before the council.
MINUTES: The minutes of March 27, 2002 were approved as written.
CONSENT:
Councilmember Talbot moved to approve the following consent agenda. The motion
passed unanimously.
General disbursements and payroll
Licenses
Authorize staff to award 2002 streetsweeping contract to Mike McPhillips, Inc.
POLICY
Proclamation of June 17 through June 23 as the Minnesota Street Rod Association’s
“30th Annual Back to the 50’s Week”.
Mayor Gehrz said this event is held annually at the State Fairgrounds and draws spectators from around the state and region. The event has over 10,000 registered collector vehicles
from the
U.S. and several foreign nations. A member of the group asked the city to proclaim this event
at its formal meeting and send the signed proclamation to them. Councilmember Talbot made
a motion to proclaim June 17 through June 23 to be MSRA’s Annual Back to the 50’s Week.
The motion passed unanimously.
Falcon Heights Fire Department’s participation in the 3D Hazmat Team for Ramsey County
Administrator Worthington said staff is recommending that the city send a letter to the Ramsey
County Fire Chiefs declaring its intent to participate in the 3D HazMat team in 2003. The team is trained to attain the level of a HazMat specialist and Mayor Gehrz said the costs are
reasonable. After brief discussion, councilmember Kuettel moved to approve sending a letter
advising of the fire department’s intent to participate in the HazMat team beginning in 2003. The motion passed unanimously.
Consideration of a new Right of Way ordinance for Falcon Heights
Administrator Worthington said a draft of a new Right of Way ordinance is being presented to council for their permission for staff to mail to public utilities and sewer contractors
for their
review over the next two weeks. The ordinance will be brought back to council at the April 24th meeting for further action. Worthington said the main reason for this new Right of Way
ordinance is to control
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Council Minutes
April 10, 2002
access to rights-of-way (roadways, boulevards and sidewalks) by utility companies. Worthington said the city would be insured by a variety of ways including a permit fee, degradation
fee and insurance. The new ordinance is more comprehensive than the current ordinance and is based on Ramsey County’s Right of Way ordinance which had passed review by the Public Utilities
Commission. Worthington also noted the fee schedule is an exact replication of the County’s fee schedule with one exception. The city wanted to delineate between large scale projects
and small contractor projects so their insurance and bonding requirements would be different.
Mayor Gehrz went through each section of the draft ordinance to allow councilmembers time to ask questions of Administrator Worthington. Gehrz said the fee schedule would be discussed
after the ordinance. After considerable discussion and a few minor changes to the ordinance, council agreed to have staff mail the draft ordinance to public utilities and sewer contractors.
They will be encouraged to call, fax, write or email Administrator Worthington with their comments. Mayor Gehrz invited the public utilities and sewer contractors to the next council
meeting on April 24th for their in-person comments at which time final action will be taken by the council.
Appointment of Neighborhood Commission
Mayor Gehrz said she is happy to recommend eleven persons who have expressed an interest to be on the Neighborhood Commission. Mayor Gehrz said six persons would fill a one year term
and five would fill a two year term commencing with the first meeting on April 16, 2002.
Commissioners are eligible for re-appointment of up to three consecutive terms. Approval of this recommendation is required by council. After brief discussion, councilmember Lindstrom
made a motion to approve the appointment of eleven persons identified by Gehrz to be on the commission. The motion passed unanimously.
Yearly evaluation of the city administrator
Mayor Gehrz said there were three factors that went into the assessment of Administrator Worthington’s evaluation this past year. One was councilmembers’ input; the second was interviews
with staff department heads and the third was a written survey of all staff conducted by an independent consultant. All the information that came back indicated Worthington to be an
outstanding administrator. Gehrz said her recommendation for a salary increase would be given at the next council meeting on April 24th.
ADJOURN
The meeting adjourned at 9:10 p.m.
Respectfully submitted,
Pat Phillips
Deputy Clerk