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HomeMy WebLinkAboutCCMin_94Nov9~~~ CITY OF FALCON HEIGHTS REGULAR CITY COUNCIL MEETING MINUTES OF NOVEMBER 9, 1994 Mayor Baldwin convened the meeting at 7:02 P.M. PRESENT Baldwin, Gehrz, Gibson Talbot, Hustad and Jacobs. Also present were Hoyt, Maurer and Phillips. COMMUNITY FORUM Councilmember Hustad introduced two scouts, Alan Kwong and Ian McCain, who were in attendance to observe an official proceeding as part of their requirement towards receiving a merit badge. MINUTES OF OCTOBER 26, 1994 Minutes were approved unanimously as presented. CONSENT AGENDA APPROVED Councilmember Gehrz requested that C-3, Scheduling of Public Hearing on Delinquent Utility Payments, be removed from the consent agenda and added to the policy agenda as Item P-7. The remainder of the consent agenda was approved by unanimous consent as follows: 1. Disbursements: a. General disbursements through 10/31 /94, 56,225.14 b. General disbursements through II/4/94, 584,681.60 c. Payroll, 10/16/94 to 10/31/94, $9,596.19 2. Licenses 3. Appointment of Tai Shigaki to the Human Rights Commission 4. Proclamation of Minnesota Chemical Health Week 5. Approval of contract renewal with Transworld Systems POLICY AGENDA Baldwin noted the addition of Item P-6 to the policy agenda as an addendum. REQUEST TO HIRE MR. JOSEPH RIGDON FOR THE POSITION OF CITY ACCOUNTANT Administrator Hoyt introduced Joseph Rigdon, the candidate staff recommended to fill the position of city accountant. Fifty-four resumes were received and • ~. v ~~~ Page 2 Council Minutes November 9, 1994 0 ~J Mr. Rigdon was one of four candidates appearing before the interview committee. Hoyt gave a brief review of his work experience and the fact that he exhibits a strong understanding of financial information as well as a wide variety of other accounting skills. Councilmember Jacobs moved to hire Mr. Rigdon and the motion passed unanimously. Start date will be Dec. 5, 1994. REQUEST TO SEEK DONATIONS FOR THE PURCHASE OF CPR MANNEQUINS Terry Iverson, Fire Marshal, presented information on how donations have been used in the past toward the purchase of various fire/rescue equipment. There are six organizations that are currently being trained by our CPR instructors. They are (1) Harvest States Cooperatives, (2) Goodwill Industries, (3) Hewlett Packard, 14) Falcon Heights/Lauderdale Lion's Club, 15) Falcon Heights Fire Department, and (6) 1666 Coffman Condominium Association. The CPR instructors would like to approach these organizations to request donations toward replacement of three mannequins that have been in use since 1982. Iverson indicated the cost would be approximately 51200 and they would be requesting 5200 from each group. Councilmember Hustad moved to approve the request to seek donations from the six organizations and motion passed unanimously. REQUEST FOR SUPPORT FOR THE NW YOUTH AND FAMILY SERVICES BOARD OF INNOVATION AND COOPERATION GRANT APPLICATION Administrator Hoyt explained that Northwest Youth and Family Services is planning to submit a grant application for 5100,000 to fund a Youth Activity Center and is asking for the city's official support in this endeavor to strengthen its application. Councilmember Gehrz asked about the accessibility of the center in Shoreview to youths from this and other areas. Mayor Baldwin indicated that the organization is aware of that issue and will be discussing it in the future. Gehrz moved to support the grant application and motion carried unanimously. DISCUSSION ON THE PROPOSED 1995 ALLEY RECONSTRUCTION PROJECT AND THE RELATED ASSESSMENT POLICY Administrator Hoyt presented council with an alley update which included the fact that letters to all property owners adjacent to the alleys proposed for reconstruction had been sent; survey work had begun, etc. Hoyt also mentioned that questions have been received about reducing the number of garbage haulers going down an alley and ~.v Page 3 Council Minutes November 9, 1994 said the city has a policy of allowing residents to choose their own garbage hauler and, given this, it is important that the city not get involved in organizing residents around one hauler. However, information about haulers would be given residents so they can organize themselves on a block-by-block basis. Hoyt also said the current assessment policy is 100% of the cost of reconstruction or about $25 per front foot for alley reconstruction. Council desires to keep the total property assessments in the Northome area similar to total assessments for pavement work in other areas. The 1993 street assessment in the Falcon Woods area was $24.00 per front foot resulting in a typical assessment amount of $2400 per lot. Maurer recommended that 90% of the cost be assessed to the homeowners and the city fund the other 10%. Engineer Maurer explained that lots in the Northome area are typically 50 ft. wide but have frontage on both an alley and the street. This would break down to $22 per foot or $1100 fora 50 ft. lot and would keep the total assessment to property owners consistent with other street work. Councilmember Hustad asked why they would not be assessed at 60/40, the same as the 1993 street improvement project. Mayor Baldwin said that alleys are different in the way they are assessed because they are not considered to benefit the general public but only by the people who live there. Gehrz moved to amend the current assessment policy to show the 1995 alley reconstruction project be assessed at 90% to homeowners and 10% to the city. Motion carried unanimously. CONSIDERATION OF RESOLUTION NO. R-94-25, AMENDING THE CITY'S FEE SCHEDULE WITH RESPECT TO TOBACCO LICENSING FEES In August of this year, council passed new policies concerning penalties for vendors that sell tobacco products to minors. As a part of these policies, the city's contracted police department will conduct three compliance checks per year of all tobacco vendors in the city. To cover the costs associated with licensing and compliance checks, staff proposed raising the tobacco license fee to $250 per year. This was inadvertently left out of the final ordinance changes that were made in August and need to be formally approved via resolution. Jacobs requested that these compliance checks be monitored and then moved to approve resolution R-94-25 raising the annual tobacco vendor license fee from $40 per year to $250 per year effective with the 1995 calendar year. Motion carried unanimously. 1_~ Page 4 Council Minutes November 9, 1994 REQUEST TO SUBMIT A SERVICE SHARING GRANT TO THE BOARD OF INNOVATION AND COOPERATION FORS 100,000 FOR APPLYING COUNTYWIDE GIS (GEOGRAPHIC INFORMATION SERVICES) MAPPING CAPABILITIES TO RESCUE SERVICES Administrator Hoyt explained that the Ramsey County fire chiefs have prepared a grant application for the State Board of Government Innovation and Cooperation for funding to integrate the county's current GIS information with the existing fire and rescue response procedures. The grant request of 5100,000 would implement a GIS information system with the cities of Shoreview, Falcon Heights, Vadnais Heights, North Oaks, Little Canada, Roseville, New Brighton and the Ramsey County Sheriff. The grant would cover the hardware and software necessary for implementing the system in these communities. Administrator Hoyt said this would be useful for several aspects of city business besides the fire/rescue information. The grant application proposes a 51,000 contribution from Falcon Heights toward the equipment. An additional and undetermined cost in the grant is the purchase of the data from the county. After discussing what the possible effectiveness of this grant might be to the City of Falcon Heights, Councilmember Gibson Talbot moved to participate in the grant at a cost of 51,000. Motion carried unanimously. Councilmember Hustad requested that council obtain further details of this service grant at a future meeting. SCHEDULING OF PUBLIC HEARING ON DELINQUENT UTILITY PAYMENTS Councilmember Gehrz said that staff had reported that Ramsey County has begun adding charges to handle any type of assessment and would like to see these charges passed on to the property owner in connection with delinquent sewer/recycling bills. Council agreed that any additional fees incurred in this process should be passed on to the property owner. Council discussed the city's "late fee" charge on sewer/recycling bills and determined that charge to be adequate. Jan Gibson Talbot moved to schedule the public hearing for delinquent utility payments on December 7, 1994 on or after 7:45 P.M. Motion carried unanimously. CITY INFORMATION AND ANNOUNCEMENTS Councilmember Hustad reported that he attended the swearing in of a group of approximately 160 youth (Ameri-Corel. The youth were selected for their positive message and service to their communities. ~.~U Page 5 Council Minutes November 9, 1994 Mayor Baldwin reminded council of the retreat on November 1 1 and 12. Baldwin also thanked assistant administrator Carla Asleson, the judges and staff for a very well run election. Administrator Hoyt said election turnout for Falcon Heights was 70%. She also reported on several miscellaneous activities including tree trimming work being done in the Northome neighborhood, the fact that hockey boards are in place and seasonal part time help is needed for the ice rinks. Also, a white cockatoo that had been missing for several months was found and returned to its owner! ADJOURNMENT The meeting adjourned at 8:30 p.m. Tom Baldwin, Mayor Patricia Phillips Acting Recording Secreta