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HomeMy WebLinkAboutCCMin_03May28CITY OF FALCON HEIGHTS COUNCIL MINUTES MAY 28, 2003 Mayor Sue Gehrz convened the regular City Council meeting at 7:00 PM. PRESENT: Mayor Sue Gehrz, Council members Laura Kuettel, Robert Lamb, Peter Lindstrom and Richard Talbot Also present: City Administrator Heather Worthington and Deputy Clerk Mary Shea Kodluboy Mayor Gehrz, for the benefit of the television audience, described the beautiful quilt on the wall behind the Council dais, and said that it has been donated to the City. Last summer, young people enrolled in the City’s quilting class made the quilt and it received a second place award of $250 in a contest sponsored by Colorful Quilts. COMMUNITY FORUM: There was no commentary from the audience. APPROVAL OF MINUTES: The Council minutes dated May 14, 2003 were unanimously approved as submitted. PUBLIC HEARINGS: None Scheduled CONSENT AGENDA: Lindstrom moved that the Consent Agenda be approved, as presented and outlined below. The motion was unanimously approved. General Disbursements through May 23, 2003 in the Amount of: $ 79,031.25 Payroll (5/01/03-5/15/03) $ 10,345.48 2. Licenses – The Council, to encourage residents to patronize local businesses, read aloud the names of the most current businesses renewing their licenses for 2003. POLICY AGENDA: Request for Authorization to Use a Portion of the City’s Population Allocation Funds from the Minnesota State Aid Account for the 2003 Seal Coating and Crack Sealing Project Administrator Worthington said that Falcon Heights is one of three cities in the state that has a fully certified local street system. Consequently, the City is allowed to use a portion of its MSA funds to cover the repair of local streets not on the State aid system. The resolution being proposed authorizes City staff to go forward with a request to MN DOT for those funds, which will be used to pay for the 2003 Seal Coating and Crack Sealing Project. FALCON HEIGHTS CITY COUNCIL MINUTES -2- May 28, 2003 Request for Authorization to Use a Portion of the City’s Population Allocation Funds from the Minnesota State Aid Account for the 2003 Seal Coating and Crack Sealing Project (continued) Administrator Worthington said the funds would be used to crack seal and seal coat streets in the North home area, the area where the streets and alleys were reconstructed last year. Council member Lindstrom asked if every street in that area will be covered and Administrator Worthington said all of the streets would be done, but not the alleys. Council member Lindstrom asked when the project would begin and how long it would take. Administrator Worthington said the project would be done in late July-early August because there needs to be a sustained temperature of about 85 degrees for the emulsion to adhere and solidify. The project will take a couple of days. Council member Talbot asked if the City will be using chipped granite and Administrator Worthington said yes, it is far superior. The City will try to get pink granite. Council member Kuettel asked when the Curtiss Field pond will be dredged because she is concerned about the effect the heavy trucks will have on the newly seal coated streets. Administrator Worthington said the dredging won’t occur until later and the trucks will be directed to the Snelling service road. Council member Talbot said that earlier City Councils were careful and planful when the City’s streets were redone. Property owners were assessed for their share of the cost of the improvements, but because a majority of the City’s streets are now completely redone and meet State aid standards, the City is eligible to use part of the Municipal State Aid System construction appropriation of the City State Aid allocation for street maintenance purposes with no assessments. The work done by Councils so many years ago is letting us benefit today. Mayor Gehrz and Administrator Worthington reminded the television audience that toilet paper is used to cover the crack sealing material to protect it and keep it from adhering to tires. RESOLUTION 2003-09 Kuettel moved adoption of Resolution 2003-09 authorizing usage of a portion of the City’s Population Allocation Funds from the Minnesota State Aid Account for the 2003 Seal Coating and Crack Sealing Project. The motion was unanimously approved. Request to Adopt Resolution 2003-10, Accepting Low Bid from Jay Brothers, Inc. for the 2003 Street and Utility Improvements Administrator Worthington said that six bids were received for the 2003 Street and Utility Improvements and the low bidder is Jay Bros., Inc., in the amount of $210,587.39. FALCON HEIGHTS CITY COUNCIL MINUTES -3- May 28, 2003 Request to Adopt Resolution 2003-10, Accepting Low Bid from Jay Brothers, Inc. for the 2003 Street and Utility Improvements Administrator Worthington said the six bidders were: 1. Jay Bros., Inc. $210,587.39 4. Hardrives, Inc. $249,486.15 2. North Valley, Inc. 247,793.10 5. Bituminous Roadways, Inc. 271,247.20 3. Northwest Asphalt, Inc. 247,752.00 6. Midwest Asphalt Corp. 289,903.00 The engineer’s construction cost estimate for this project was $230,052.50 and the low bid from Jay Brothers, Inc. is approximately 8.5% below the engineer’s estimate. The City bid the Sheldon Avenue street improvements and the Folwell water main replacement jointly, and the City will only be responsible for $59,998.04 of the total cost as the St. Paul Water Utility will pay the balance for the Folwell water main portion of the overall project cost. The City will bill the Utility upon being billed by the contractor. Council member Lindstrom asked if the City is mandated to go with the lowest bidder and Administrator Worthington said that by State statute, the City has to accept the lowest reasonable responsible bid. There will be an inspector from Howard R Green in the field daily. Mayor Gehrz asked how long it would take to be reimbursed by the St. Paul Water Utility and Administrator Worthington said they presently reimburse within 60 days. The City could also possibly arrange for them to pay this up front. RESOLUTION 2003-10 Lamb moved adoption of Resolution 2003-10 accepting the low bid of $210,587.39 from Jay Brothers, Inc., for the 2003 Street and Utility Improvements Project. The motion was unanimously approved. Administrator Worthington said there are two neighborhood meetings scheduled regarding this year’s street and utility improvement projects. The first meeting is scheduled for Thursday evening, May 29, 7:00 PM, on Sheldon Street, to discuss the mill/overlay and curbing project. Sheldon, which is one block in length, will be blocked off and lemonade and cookies offered to residents. The second meeting will be held at City Hall on Thursday evening, June 12, 6:30 PM, with the residents living in the University Grove area, to discuss the water main replacement project. All of the residents living in that area have been invited because there will be times during the water main construction phase when their water will be turned off. FALCON HEIGHTS CITY COUNCIL MINUTES -4- May 28, 2003 Authorization for Mayor and City Administrator to Purchase LCD Projector and Laptop Computer for Training Purposes, not to Exceed $5,000 Administrator Worthington said the City is interested in acquiring a LCD projector and laptop computer to use for training purposes related to the CERT training, staff training, and fire department training. In addition, the LCD projector and laptop will be very useful for community meetings and for special meetings such as Truth in Taxation. The anticipated cost for these purchases is $5,000 and the cost can be covered by budget allocations for computer purchases in the Capital budget ($4,000), training costs budgeted through the communications line item in Public Safety Capital ($5,000), as well as through the Fire Department training line item ($15,000). Costs will be allocated equally between departments. Council member Lamb asked if money from the CERT training grant could be used toward this. Mayor Gehrz said the grant funds have already been designated for specific purposes. The City will be able to better inform the community with this equipment. Kuettel moved approval of authorization for the Mayor and City Administrator to purchase a LCD projector and laptop, not to exceed $5,000. The motion was unanimously approved. CERT Training Schedule Mayor Gehrz, for the benefit of the television audience, described the seven trainings, hosted by the Neighborhood Commission, that will begin in June. The trainings will cover basic skills that are important to know in the event of a widespread disaster when emergency services may not be immediately available. All of the sessions will be held at the Falcon Heights City Hall and will be taught by Dan Johnson-Powers, a member of the Falcon Heights Fire Department, and community volunteers Kris Grangaard and Tim Knautz, who have completed the CERT Trainer Program sponsored by FEMA. The cost for the seven trainings is $15.00 per person, and those who complete the training will be provided equipment and supplies worth approximately $100. New Brighton will be holding their trainings on Wednesday evenings and an agreement has been reached with them to permit their residents, and ours, to pick up trainings that might be missed because of vacation, illness, etc. There will be a fall session for residents and people representing businesses in the community. The businesses may be asked to cover the full cost of the $100 kit. REPORTS FROM COUNCIL MEMBERS: Council member Lindstrom said that a number of residents living on Garden Avenue in Falcon Woods brought a petition before the Planning Commission requesting permit parking on Garden. About 10-15 people came out to speak for/against the petition. FALCON HEIGHTS CITY COUNCIL MINUTES -5- May 28, 2003 REPORTS FROM COUNCIL MEMBERS (continued) Council member Lindstrom said that staff and police officers monitored the parking on Garden for about two months and found that, at maximum, about nine cars were parking on the street, with the average daily vehicular count being about 4-5. The Planning Commission recommended denial of the permit-parking request. Mayor Gehrz said that she watched the Planning Commission meeting on cable and noted the Planning Commission recommended denial but asked that staff check to make sure that fire engines, emergency vehicles, and snow plowing equipment can make the tight turns in that area when vehicles are parked on the street. Staff is also to check on the vehicle count in that area in about six months. Administrator Worthington said that she has asked Public Works Director Maertz to look at the parking on the curves. Mayor Gehrz said that she received a letter from Peter Bell, Metropolitan Council, confirming that the City has been awarded a grant of $150,000 to support the home ownership element for the SE Corner. This will assist with the redevelopment costs. She and Administrator Worthington attended the meeting where this was discussed, answered questions and showed City support for the project. The District 14 representative was very helpful to the City on this. Mayor Gehrz said the City has been notified by the police department that all of the City businesses passed the last tobacco compliance check. Letters will be going out to the businesses congratulating them. Administrator Worthington said the City will have an unpaid intern for the summer. His name is Dan Madsen and he is a first year law student at Hamline. He will be working on a wide variety of issues 20 hours a week. Mayor Gehrz said that he had also attended the University of Minnesota and had helped on an intergenerational dialogue a while back. He is a wonderful young man. The regular City Council meeting was adjourned at 7:40 PM. Respectfully submitted, Mary Shea Kodluboy Deputy Clerk