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HomeMy WebLinkAboutCCMin_96Jun26CITY OF FALCON HEIGHTS REGULAR CITY COUNCIL MEETING 2 MINUTES OF JUNE 26, 1996 Mayor Gehrz convened the meeting at 7:00 p.m. PRESENT Gehrz, Gibson Talbot, Hustad, Jacobs, and Kuettel. Also present were Hoyt, Asleson, and Engineer Maurer. COMMUNITY FORUM There was no one wishing to take advantage of the community forum. MINUTES OF MAY 9, 1996 AND MAY 22, 1996 Minutes were approved by unanimous consent. CONSENT AGENDA APPROVED Mayor Gehrz requested that the item concerning the personnel policy be removed from the consent agenda. Councilmember Gibson Talbot moved the adoption of the amended consent agenda. Motion passed unanimously. 1. Disbursements 2. Licenses 3. Accept resignation of Mr. Jay Morgan, Parks and Public Works Maintenance Worker 4. Approve hiring Mr. Dave Tretsven as full-time Parks and Public Works Maintenance Worker 5. Awarding of sealcoating contract 6. Appointment of City Administrator as the city representative to board of commissioners of three watershed districts 7. Award contract for the 1996 sidewalk replacement and repairs 8. Request for variance of eleven feet from the required front yard setback for the construction of a wheelchair ramp at 1806 Pascal Street, Chapter 9-2.05 subd. 2(a) POLICY AGENDA INFORMATION ON FINANCING THE LARPENTEUR AVENUE IMPROVEMENT PROJECT City consultant Jim Casserly gave a brief presentation as to a hypothetical bond issue with to finance the Larpenteur Avenue improvement project. He noted that, given the city's tax increment fund balance, the bond issue could be structured in a manner to pay off the bonds over a fourteen year period. Mayor Gehrz inquired as to the risk level to the city. Casserly responded that the main risk would be if, for some unforeseeable reason, that TIF revenue didn't come in as expected, although revenue stream has been steady in the past. A reserve fund is left in the account to deal with City Council Minutes June 26, 1996 Page 2 `sr `~ this possibility. REQUEST TO PROCEED WITH THE PREPARATION OF FINAL PLANS AND SPECIFICATIONS FOR THE LARPENTEUR AVENUE STREETSCAPE PROJECT Michael Schroeder, the city's consulting landscape architect for the Larpenteur Avenue streetscape project, reported that the streetscape design has now been reviewed with a number of community groups at an open house. Ramsey County is near the final stage of designing the construction aspects of the Larpenteur project and Mr. Schroeder will be coordinating with county officials and with other interested entities to complete the final design plans and specifications. A number of items still need to be addressed at the design level, such as plant materials, re-routing of electrical lines, and sign locations. These can be addressed in conjunction with the design firm's review of the final construction plans. The city council would have the opportunity to review the final streetscape design plans during the plan preparation process and once again before the bidding process is authorized. Motion was made by Councilmember Kuettel to proceed with the next step of the streetscape design process and authorize a final design fee of 580,000 to cover design, civil, structural, electrical engineering, surveying, and lease/easement definition costs. Motion passed unanimously. RECOMMENDATION FROM THE EMS TASK FORCE Mayor Gehrz gave a brief background regarding the formation and composition of the Emergency Medical Services Task Force. The city's medical director has recommended that the city consider providing Advanced Life Support (ALS) service from the point of dispatch for its ambulance patients. The city council determined that it was important for Falcon Heights to have this service, and appointed a task force to determine a service delivery model that met the following criteria: 1) medical dispatching with pre-arrival information; 2) adding ALS from the point of dispatch; 3) guaranteeing a response time that meets current EMS standards in an urban area; 4) following the city's policy as closely as possible that provides for ambulance users to cover the costs of the service through a fee for service; and 5) as a starting point, investigating how EMS might be shared and contracted with the St. Paul Fire Department. Councilmember Jacobs, chairman of the EMS task force, reported the task force's findings and recommendations: • To contract with St. Paul Fire for ALS service and medical dispatching; • To arrange for Ramsey County Dispatch to "push a button" to send callers to the St. Paul Fire medical dispatcher; City Council Minutes June 26, 1996 Page 3 n 27 • To provide a transition model of dual ALS/BLS (Basic Life Support) response to all emergency medical calls for a period of three months. During this time, both St. Paul Fire and Falcon Heights BLS will respond to all calls, with the ALS unit in charge at the scene when both units respond. • To review the arrangement after the first three months with the task force. • After the three month transition period, the service model will provide either as BLS or ALS response as deemed appropriate by the St. Paul Fire dispatcher. Councilmember Jacobs moved that the task force's recommendations be adopted, with the following amendment and additions: • That the transition model be reviewed by the task force after two months, rather than three months; • That a representative from the city's first responders, the St. Anthony Police Department, be added to the task force; • That the "treatment/no transport" fee be eliminated during the three month transition period and be reviewed for inclusion again after the three month joint response model; and • That the financial status of the rescue fund be examined six months after the start of the ALS service to determine if any financial adjustments are necessary to keep within the council policy of providing ambulance service on a fee-for- service basis. • That the City Administrator be authorized to proceed with administrative actions related to implementing this decision, including: sending a letter of request to the City of St. Paul, submitting an ALS license application with the State of Minnesota, and directing the City Attorney to work on the contract. • That the Fire Department be authorized to purchase the necessary radios to communicate with St. Paul Fire for a sum not to exceed 56,000. Mayor Gehrz noted for the viewing audience that the proposal at hand concerned only the city's emergency medical service. The task force is not proposing changes to the city's fire service delivery. After a brief discussion among the council, the motion passed unanimously. REQUEST TO APPROVE THE DRAFT LIVABLE COMMUNITIES HOUSING PLAN Administrator Hoyt explained that the city is required to submit a housing plan to the Metropolitan Council, explaining how the city will meet its required affordable housing benchmarks. Since the city is already very close or exceeds all of the benchmarks, and is fully developed, the draft plan primarily addresses housing rehabilitation programs offered by the State and Ramsey County. Motion was made by Councilmember Hustad to approve the draft housing plan for submission to the Metropolitan Council. Motion passed unanimously. City Council Minutes June 26, 1996 Page 4 27 REQUEST TO PAINT WARNING SIGNS ADJACENT TO STORMSEWER DRAINS IN TWO CITY NEIGHBORHOODS Administrator Hoyt reported that the city has received a request from the District 10 Environmental Committee to paint warning signs near the stormsewer drains that drain into Lake Como. These signs would read "Please Don't Pollute, this runs into Lake Como." The project would be done by youth volunteers and painted with donated supplies. The paint would wear off within a two year period. The council reviewed a map of the proposed sign sites and discussed whether the signs would be effective at deterring polluters. They also discussed city's general approach to signs, which is to avoid them whenever possible so as to not clutter an already crowded urban landscape. Mayor Gehrz stated that, although she supports the idea of youth working on community projects and curbing pollution in local bodies of water, she is not enthusiastic about this particular proposal. Past practice has been to have the city avoid putting up signs that are not essential. In addition, the city has an active anti- graffiti program in place and it seems inconsistent to allow painting of the streets in this instance while trying to discourage other kinds of street paint. However, Mayor Gehrz said she was enthusiastically encouraging other educational methods, such as an article for the city's newsletter or a video to put on cable produced by volunteers. As there was no motion for approval, the project was not approved. REQUEST FOR AN ADDITIONAL CONTRIBUTION TO NORTHWEST YOUTH AND FAMILY SERVICES Councilmember Hustad, the council liaison to Northwest Youth and Family Services, reported that Northwest Youth and Family Services is in the midst of an extensive upgrade to their computer system. The computers will enable staff to more efficiently process data requests, keep accurate statistics, and process reimbursement requests for managed care and Medical Assistance reimbursement. The computers are also needed because NWYS is taking over accounting functions from the City of Roseville, who performed the service in the past. Administrator Hoyt noted that NWYS is requesting additional contributions from a number of people and organizations in the community. Any contribution could be made on a one-time basis and would not automatically be added to next year's contribution amount. The city's budgeted donation account has about S 1100 remaining in it; all budgeted donations have been paid for the year, so the $1 100 is available for new, one-time requests. After discussion by the council, Councilmember Hustad moved to authorize aone-time donation of S 1,000 to Northwest Youth and Family Services, to be designated for City Council Minutes c~ r~ `' June 26, 1996 Page 5 computer system upgrades. Motion passed unanimously. CONSIDERATION OF ORDINANCE 96-04 ESTABLISHING A MORATORIUM ON RADIO, TV, AND COMMUNICATIONS TOWERS/ANTENNAS Administrative Assistant/Planner Asleson reported that, due to recent changes in the telecommunications field, a number of companies have approached the city regarding its regulations for rooftop antennas and communications towers. Although most of the companies are primarily interested in the University of Minnesota and State Fair lands, due to their elevation and water tower availability, staff and the planning commission have recommended that a moratorium on the placement of new towers and antennas be enacted for a period of three months. This will allow time for the city to determine if its current zoning requirements are adequate for this changing technology. The moratorium would pertain only to antennas and towers that would require a conditional use permit. Antennas that would not require a conditional use permit would not be affected by the moratorium and would require only a building permit. Motion was made by Councilmember Kuettel to approve Ordinance 96-04, imposing a moratorium on the placement of radio, TV, and communications towers/antennas that require a conditional use permit through September 30, 1996 or upon the enactment of a zoning ordinance concerning the matter, whichever comes first. Motion passed unanimously. CONSIDERATION OF ORDINANCE 96-03, AMENDING CHAPTER 5 OF THE CITY CODE RELATED TO THERAPEUTIC MASSAGE ENTERPRISES Administrative Assistant/Planner Asleson reported that staff had recently determined that the city code requires a public hearing to approve a therapeutic massage enterprise license. Staff is recommending that the public hearing requirement be deleted, for two reasons. First, this is the only type of city license that requires a public hearing and secondly, a public hearing is not appropriate since a license must be granted if the applicant is able to meet the licensing criteria as specified in the city code, regardless of public testimony. Motion was made by Councilmember Gibson Talbot to approve Ordinance 96-03, deleting the public hearing requirement for therapeutic massage enterprise licenses. Motion passed unanimously. PROPOSED CHANGES TO THE CITY'S PERSONNEL POLICIES The proposed changes to the city code were comprised primarily of items that were in conflict with recent state legislation and with the county's insurance carrier. Mayor Gehrz asked that the travel policy also be amended to make it optional and not City Council Minutes June 26, 1996 Page 6 27 required for employees to spend additional time in a destination city when a cheaper airfare is available. Motion was made by Councilmember Hustad to approve the personnel policy changes as amended above. Motion passed unanimously. INFORMATION AND ANNOUNCEMENTS Mayor Gehrz asked that the council work with the Administrator to establish a date for a goal setting session. She also congratulated Administrator Hoyt on her election to the League of Minnesota Cities board. Councilmember Hustad reported that Keeping Connected brochures would soon be distributed to homes. Administrator Hoyt made the following announcements: • Thank you to resigning employee Jay Morgan for past service and welcome to new full-time employee Dave Tretsven. Dave is "new" in name only, as he has worked for the city in some capacity (seasonal, part-time) since 1980. • Thank you to the Lions for donating bike helmets to area children in need of them. • Recreation programs started the week of June 17. • Sealcoating starts the week of July 10. ADJOURNMENT The meeting adjourned at 9:04 p.m. ~~ .[~~w, Susan L. Gehrz, Mayor Carla Asleson Recording Secretary