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HomeMy WebLinkAboutCCMin_82Mar24MINUTES REGULAR CITY COUNCIL MEETING MARCH 24, 1982 A regular meeting of the Falcon Heights City Council was called to order at 7:30 p.m. by Mayor Warkentien. Mayor Warkentien, Councilmembers Eggert, Larson, Ciernia and Chestovich. PRESENT Also present were Clerk Administrator Barnes ,. Attorney Swanson and Engineer Lemberg. None. ABSENT Councilmember Eggert moved, seconded by Councilmember Larson that the CONSENT Consent Agenda be approved as presented. Motion carried unanimously. AGENDA APPROVED 1. Lauderdale Fire Report 46L-02382 2. Falcon Heights Fire Report 4~F-00682 3. Rescue Reports 4~R-01982 - ~~R-02182 4. General Disbursements 3/11/82 - 3/24/82 $61,153.78 Sinking Fund $ 331.00 5. Liquor Disbursements 3/9/82 - 3/22/82 $17,220.83 6. General Payroll 3/1/82 - 3/15/82 $ 5,500.99 7. Liquor Payroll 3/1/82 - 3/15/82 $ 2,648.45 8. Human Rights Commission Minutes of February 18, 1982 9. Liquor Store Financial Report, February, 1982 Councilmember Larson moved, seconded by Councilmember Chestovich, that MINUTES OF the Minutes of February 24, 1982 be approved as corrected. Mot~.on 2/24/82 carried unanimously. APPROVED Councilmember Chestovich moved, seconded by Councilmember Larson, MINUTES OF that the Minutes of March 9, 1982 be approved as presented. Motion 3/9/82 carried unanimously. APPROVED After making a number of corrections the Minutes of March 10, 1982 3/10/82 were deferred to the April 14, 1982 meeting to allow time for Council- MINUTES member Chestovich to listen to portions of the tapes. DEFERRED Councilmember Larson moved, seconded by Mayor Warkentien, that the FINANCIAL Clerk Administrator be authorized to publish the Financial Statement STATEMENTS TO Balance Sheet and Liquor Store Financial Statement for the year 1981. BE PUBLISHED Motion carried unanimously. Clerk Administrator Barnes recommended that the 1982 spring dump be SPRING DUMP held May 8 to May 16 with the hours the same as in previous years. SCHEDULED FOR Councilmember Larson moved, seconded by Councilmember Eggert, that 5/8 THROUGH the dump be scheduled for May 8 through 16 and that Councilmember 5/16 Ciernia contact the State Fair to request the use of the north park- ing lot as a dump site. Motion carried unanimously. Councilmember Larson informed Council that the Fire Department is FIRE DEPT. purchasing a used rescue truck at a cost of $500.00 which will be PURCHASING used to transport additional rescue equipment when necessary. The USED RESCUE truck is being purchased with Relief Associations funds and the TRUCK Department will take possession late in the summer. The matter was deferred to the April 14, 1982 meeting in order that Chief Renchin or one of his assistants may be in attendance to answer questions. MINUTES `~ 1 REGULAR CITY COUNCIL MEETING MARCH 24, 1982 PAGE 2 Mayor Warkentien informed that Nordquist Sign Company has given an LIQUOR STORE estimate of $1,500 to add an "Off Sale" sign to the existing Municipal "OFF SALE" Liquor Store sign. Council concurred that the cost was exhorbitant SIGN and directed the Clerk Administrator to investigate other possibilities DISCUSSED such as replacing the opaque panes on the existing sign or installation of a wall sign. Councilmember Eggert explained that Joint Powers Agreement #2 is for CABLE TV the purpose of monitoring the cable TV operation, grants, and rate DISCUSSION OF regulation, and that he had requested Council review the agreement in JOINT POWERS order to discuss the matter and be prepared to vote on the agreement AGREEMENT ~2 in the near future. Councilmember Ciernia questioned the statement in the agreement indicating that the 5~ would go to the Cable Commission rather than to the in- dividual communities. Councilmember Eggert explained that the SY on- going franchise fee (5% of the gross revenues excluding pay cable) by State Law goes to the municipalities to cover expenses to the cities such as legal fees paid to a City Attorney, rate hearings and any on- going expenses related to Cable. Any amount left over is to be used for Cable related purposes and the plan was to use the funds for support of access. Councilmember Eggert reminded that at a previous discussion it was decided it would be more efficient if only ones body, not ten, were dispensing access money. He felt the concept is not bad but it is complicated by proportionate voting and that most of the small cities in the Commission would prefer a one vote per one community voting procedure rather than proportionate voting. For example, the way the agreement is structured, Falcon Heights could submit a bill for expenses and it can be approved by the majority and the majority could be only 3 out of the 10 cities with the proportionate voting method. He also stressed that if the North Suburban Cable Commission ~~2 selects the members of the Public Access Corporation, again, the smaller cities may be left out of the decision making process. He indicated that some other councils have expressed similar concerns. Mayor Warkentien suggested that, perhaps, a compromise could be made by stipulating that half of the members on the executive committee be from the smaller communities. Following the discussion Councilmember Ciernia moved, seconded by Council- member Chestovich, that Councilmember Eggert be directed to indicate Council's preference for a 1 city 1 vote voting procedure for the North Suburban Cable Commission ~~2 and that if proportionate voting should be adopted the City would like to look at other methods of making contribut- ions other than the ones specified in the draft. Motion carried unani- mously. Russell Bierbaum, Chairman of the Human Rights Commission, presented RUSS a plaque to Paul Ciernia for his dedication while serving on the Human BIERBAUM, Rights Commission. HUMAN RIGHTS COMMISSION Mr. Bierbaum then requested Council's authorization to pt~~mit the REQUESTS Commission to prepare a brochure.explaining the"No-Fault Grievance Procedure, which would be delivered door-to-door, possibily with the April newsletter. He also requested additional funds (approxi- MINUTES REGULAR CITY COUNCIL MEETING MARCH 24, 1982 PAGE 3 mately $100.00) should it be necessary to cover the cost of printing the brochure. Clerk Administrator Barnes indicated that the staff would attempt to have the printing done with the newsletter which would alleviate the need for additional funds. Councilmember Eggert moved, seconded by Councilmember Larson that the preparation and print- ing of the brochure be approved. Motion carried unanimously. Council- member Eggert moved, seconded by Councilmember Larson that the request for additional funds (if necessary) be approved. Motion carried unani- mously. Mr. Bierbaum then informed Council that the local Commission had been asked to take a stand on the ERA issue and that the.Commission felt, after reviewing the charter, that there were some questions regarding whether or not they should be dealing with such an issue. The Commission requested Council's opinion on such matters. Mayor Warkentien stated he did not feel the Ordinance provides for that type of activity and Mr. Bierbaum said the Commission had come to the same conclusion on the ERA issue. Councilmember Eggert explained that lthe Commission would like to know if it should take its own initiatiive, if its ini- tiative is to be taken with Council approval, or is it inappropriate for the Commission to address such matters. Councilmember Ciernia drew attention to the portion of the Ordinance (Sub-Paragraph C) which provides for the Human Rights Commission to advise the Mayor, Council and other agencies of the government on issues of civil and human rights and recommend adoption of specific policies or actions as needed to provide for full equal opportunity in the community. Mr. Bierbaum stated that he could not foresee the Commission taking action on such matters without Council input and consent. Councilmember Ciernia inquired as to the status of House File 3737, (State Fair Legislation which relates to the Fairgrounds becoming detached for any politicial subdivison and repealing the negotiating statute) to which Mayor Warkentien replied that it definitely had passed the House and that he was informed by an employee of the Fair- grounds that it had also passed in the Senate. Councilmember Ciernia commented on the fact that at the last meeting with Fair personnel it was agreed, that regardless of the legislation, there are some areas which need to be discussed. For that reason he drafted a letter to the State Fair addressing protocol on Fire and Rescue, as he felt that was an important issue which should be addressed first. Councilmember Ciernia requested comments from Council on the letter and Council indicated they had no objections to the letter, that it could be mailed and requested that Councilmember Ciernia report back to Council at a later date. Councilmember Ciernia indicated that other areas will be addressed in the future. A letter from the Ramsey County Engineer dated March 10, 1982 re- garding the possible reconstruction of Hamline Avenue in 1983 was discussed. Councilmember Larson inquired as to what effect the con- struction would have on any street improvements on the side streets to which Clerk Administrator Barnes replied that it would be practical to coordinate upgrading of the side streets with the Hamline project. In reply to an inquiry fron Councilmember Larson, Engineer Lemberg informed that if improvement of the side streets is postponed one year to correspond with the Hamline construction the cost would in- crease approximately 10%. ~~ HUMAN RIGHTS (cont.) STATE FAIR DISCUSSION RAMSEY COUNT` PLANS TO UPGRADE HAMLINE AVE. IN 1983 MINUTES REGULAR CITY COUNCIL MEETING MARCH 24, 1982 PAGE 4 Engineer Lemberg reported that the contractors are working on the new Community Building,. the excavation for the basement area has~been com- pleted, and they plan to pour the footings by the end of the week. Harold J. Westin presented a plat for single family residences on the 3.38 acres adjacent to Falcon Woods. He explained that they had attempted to make a lay out which would give the maximum efficiency in the use of utilities and roads in order to provide housing that is affordable. Mr. Westin requested response from Council in accordance with Ordinance ~~69 and Section 14.6 of Ordinance ~t64 (which provides for variances) and explained that with this proposed plan the density would be 4.14 which is less than in other areas of the community. Mayor Warkentien moved, seconded by Councilmember Larson, that the plat be accepted under the provision of the ordinance and that the matter be referred to the Planning Commission requesting that body to take specific recommendations as to lot size, etc. Motion carried unanimously. Councilmember Ciernia inquired as to whether the plat implies there will be an exit to Cleveland to which Mr. Westin replied that the development carries out an existing plat of a road on Prior and the traffic for this particular development would not justify a road to Cleveland. Mayor Warkentien informed that he had been in contact with a Vice President of Planning at the University of Minnesota, a University Planner and a member of the Plot Committee from the School of Agriculture in regard to a Cleveland access. That group agreed to discuss the matter with Dean Hueg and an answer is expected soon. If the administration does approve the access to Cleveland it would still be necessary to obtain approval from the Board of Regents. Mayor Warkentien informed that as of this date (March 24, 1982) at 4:23 p.m. the Clerk Administrator was served with a summons by American Shelter Corporation as Plaintiff versus City of Falcon Heights as Defendant. Attorney Swanson explained that it will be necessary to defend the City Council and the Zoning Ordinance. It is a question of whether the action of the Council was proper or whether the court may direct that the rezoning take place. He stated that in zoning matters of this type the Plaintiffs have a heavy burden to show that the action was arbitrary and capricious. as they have to show that by denial of the rezoning it, in effect, amounts to a spot zoning contrary to the City Plan and to the development area. ~~ COMMUNITY BUILDING UPDATE HAROLD J. WESTIN PRESENTS PLAT FOR SINGLE FAMILY HOMES SOUTH OF FALCON WOODS AMERICAN SHELTER FILES QUIT AGAINST CITY Councilmember Larson moved, seconded by Councilmember Eggert, that the matter be referred to the City Attorney for answer. Motion carried unanimously. Councilmember Larson moved, seconded by Councilmember Chestovich, ADJOURNMENT that the meeting be adjourned at 9:14 p.m. M ion carried un i s ~. Atte ~~~~' y~ Willis C. A. Warkentien, Mayor Dewan B. Bs..rnes, Clerk Administrator. Regular City Council Meeting of March 24, 1982