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HomeMy WebLinkAboutCCMin_77Apr14MINUTES CITY OF FALCON HEIGHTS ~ . APRIL 1l~, 1977 A regular meeting of the Falcon Heights City Council was called to order by Mayor Warkentien at 7:30 p.m. Mayor Warkentien, Councilmen Black, Ecklund, Steele and Labales- tra. Also present Were Clerk-Administrator Barnes, Engineer Leuaberg and Attorney I~enefick. Moved by Councilman Steele, seconded by Councilman Labalestra to approve the items on the Consent Agenda as follows: 1. Falcon Heights Company Fire Reports, Nos. 2l~, 25, 26, 27, 28, 31, and 32. 2. Basic Field Incident Reports, Nos. 29 and 30. 3. Building Inspector's Report, 1st Quarter, 1977. !~. General payroll (3/16-31/77) in the amount of $3,886.65. 5. Liquor payroll (3/16-31/77) in the amount of $1,795.95. 6. General Payroll (1.i/1-15/7 7) in the amount of $3, 670.52 7. Liquor payroll (!t/1-15/7?) in the amount of $17,905.80. 8. General disbureaements in the amount of $17,905.80 9. Liquor disburseusent,$.~in the amount of $25,891.18. Upon a vote being taken the following voted "aye": Mayor Wark- entien, Councilmen Black, Ecklund, Steele and Labalestra and the following voted "nay": None. Motion carried. Approval of the minutes of March 2l~, 197?, was deferred until the next meeting. Mr. Malcom Sugden, 1718 Lindig appeared before Council to pro- test the City's order that he remove his beehives. City Ha11 had received two complaints from neighboring residents that they felt the bees to be a nuisiance and a health hazard. The Clerk's office therefore sent Mr. Bogdan a notice to remove the hives, citing 0 rdinance #20. Mr. Bogdan stated he did not agree that his hives were a health hazard. He said he has maintained hives for the last 6 years. He presently has one hive, licensed and inspected by the Minn- esota Departaaent of Agriculture and that to his knowledge no one has ever been stung in his neighborhood. Mr. Bogdan also stated that Dr. French, City Horticulturist, has stated the bees are beneficial to pollination and would like to see them stay. ~~ .7 DEFERRAL OF MINUTES OF 3/2!i/77 MALCOM SUGD~i ~IIDES KEPT IN CITY MINUTES R~ULAR COUNCIL MEETING APRIL 1l~, 1977 page 2 Mayor Warkentien moved and it was seconded by Councilman Labal- estra to refer the matter to the Board of Health Director, Dr. Duane Ausman, and get a determination as to whether or not the bees constitute a health hazard. Upon a vote being taken the fol- lowing voted''"'aye": Mayor Warkentien, Councilmen Black, Ecklund, Steele and Labalestra and the following voted "nay": None. Mo- tion carried. Mr. and Mrs. Norbert Hermes, 1755 St. Mary's Avenue appeared before Council to request a variance to erect a 6' fence along the northerly and westerly line of Lot 7 of the Crossroads Ad- dition, adjacent to 1729 No. Shelling, property owned by Stanley R. Strummer. Mrs. Hermes stated they are going to have additional parking for the shopping center on Lot 7. Council determined that a variance was not necessary for a 6' fence but as Mrs. Hermes stated the fenced area would be used for parking. Section 1lt.2 (3.7) of Ordinance 61~ would apply. It was determined a variance would then be required since the Hermes' intended to erect a cyclone fence which would not be 7596 opaque. The Hexses' decided to submit the variance request for a 5' cyc- lone fence, not 75~ opaque, to the Planning Commission. Mayor Warkentien opened the public informational meeting for Tatum Street Improve¢nent at 8:00 p.m. Engineer Lemberg went over the various plans. He told residents that in order for a street to be designated as a State Aid Street it must begin and end at a State Aid Street, County State Aid Road or State Highway. Roselawn Avenue at present has been re- moved as a County State Aid Road, therefore the project would have to run either Cleveland or Snelling Avenue. Engineer Lem- berg then went through the fact sheet and imrited comments from the residents. Comments from the residents were as follows: VARIANCE TO ERECT A 5' CYCLONE FENCE AROUND PARKING AREA - FENCE TO BE LESS THAN 7596 OPAQUE NORBERT HERMES PUffi.IC INFORMA- Ti9NAL HEARING ON TATUM STREET IMPROVEMENT Mr. and Mrs. Curtis L. Larson. 1885 Tatum - Councilman Ecklund TATUM STREET read their letter which stated they are satisfied with Tatum RESIDENT'S Street as it is. They do not want sidewalks or arty significant COMHErTTS widening. They feel the availability of State Aid funds is not a good reason to go ahead with the project. Al Nelson 180 Tatum - He stated the street already has to much traffic which travels at exorbitant speeds and that improvement of the street would only make the problem worse. G_ear~;e Kilgriff, 1739 Tatum - Wants the street left as is - agrees with Al Nelson. MINUTES R~civI~AR eouNCIL MTETING APRIL 114, 19 7? ~ ~ ~. Pie 3 Warren Fall, 1837 Tatum -Not in favor of a mayor improvement. TATUM STREET Cant the funds be used to simply bring the street back to the RESII)ENT~S condition it was before it was torn up the last time. He is COMMENTS (CONT.} basically opposed to the plan. Miles F. Aiken. 1849 Tatum - He is against 'the proposed pro3ect as he feels speeding will increase and he would like th retain the parking. _Howard ailbertson,1725=Tatum -Wants the street left as it is because he feels it keeps the speeding dawn. Elsie M. Finn, 1892 Tatum -Called Councilman Ecklund and stated she is for the proposed imporveanent. Hans Schirrmeister, 1779 Tatum - He is for the pro3ect and doesn~t belive the traffic will be aqy faster. Ray Brown, 181,414 Tatum - In favor of the proposed improvement with scene parking. Stated it will have to be done eventually so why not do it now when the :funds are possible available. John Kiel. 18142 Tatum - Is in favor of the proposed pro3ect but would definitely like to have some parking available. Quenther Behrens, 181b Tatum -Against the proposed irnpz°ove~aent. Robert Beck, 1776 Tatum - Heis in favor of the improve~ttent with street width not over 36~. Maxine Harlmess, 1879 Tatum - Is in favor of the project if only for esthetic reasons. Leonard Nielsen, 1831 Tatum -Can live with what is there now but if .improvement is going to have to be done in the future then it might as well be done now. Florian Lauer, 1736 Tatum -Feels there will be increased spe- eding but the street needs improvement so we might as well go ahead. Shirley Johnson, 1815 Tatum -She is in favor the improvement with a ~ street. The final tabulation for or against is - 10 against, 114 for, after a show of hands at the meeting. Of the people present, 15 would be fora 3b~ width,l fora 32~ width and none for a 141a,~ width. Mayor Warkenti®n thanked the residents for their in put and the orderly way they presented their opinions. MINUTES R&3ULAR COUNCIL MEETING APRIL 1lt, 197? page !~ Councilman Ecklund informed the citizens .of the rash of recent INFORMCNG CITI- robberies and stressed the importance of a neighborhood watch ZENS OF RECENT to protect each others property. He alao stated he was pre- RASH OF ROBBERIES paring some crime watch information for the citizens. Robert Shrum, plant pathologist, appeared before Council to re- PROPOSAL TO RE- quest approval for his plan tc> remove Dutch Elm diseased fire- MOVE DISEASED wood from the City. He informed Council he had discussed the $LMWOOD - idea with Dr. French and that Dr. French agreed with the plan. ROBERT SHRUM Councilman Steele suggested that Mr. Shrum attend the next Tree Committee meeting on April 21 and discuss the idea further. Mr. Shrum stated he would be in attendance at that meeting. Fire Chief Renchin appeared before Council to discuss the pur- REQUEST TO PUR- chase of a new fire truck. He stated a new truck would cost CHASE NEW FIRE approximately $62,000.00. Chief Renchin stated the old truck TRUCK -CHIEF is a 19l~7 model and ~.s becoming a maintenance problem. There RENCHIN is a pressure problems and problems with the radiator. Councilman Blaek inquired whether there was ate real effort being made to get estimates on the cost and feasibility of overhauling the truck. Chief Renchin said he would get more information on overhaul- ing and come before Council again in the future. He also in- formed Council that he and his men had condudted a sucesaful fire drill at~the elementary school. Mr. Nelson, representing Embers appeared before Council to VARIANCE FOR request a variance to erect a sign, 20 square feet (2~ x 10') EMBERS SIGN on top of the existing pylon sign. The proposed sign would (DENIED) read "Open 2!~ Hours"..Councilman Black moved and it was seconded by Mayor Warkentien to approve the request. Counci].maa Steele, Ecklund and Labalestra all e~xpresaed opin- ions that the City alreact}r has too mai'~r signs and the cio not see the need for as additional sig. It is well known that Ea~bera is opern 2!~ hours and the message could easily be ad- vertised on the message board on the existing sign. Upon a vote being taken the following voted "aqe": Councilmen Bllck, and the following voted "nay": Mayor Warkentien, Council- men Ecklund, Steele and Labalestra. Motion denied. Gregg Murphy, represent the fins of George M. Hansen, auditors RECAP OF 1976 for the City, went through the financial statement for 1976. FINANCIAI, STATE - Mr. Murphy answered all questions that the Councilmembers asked MENT of him and read his recommendations for improved record keep- ing procedures. MINUTES REQULAR COUNCIL MEETING APRIL l.l~, 1977 page 5 Mayor Warkentien moved and it was seconded by Councilmen Ecklund to continue the meeting beyond 11:30 p.m. Upon a vote being taken the following voted "aye": Mayor Warken- tien, Councilmen Black, Ecklund, Steele and Labalestra and the following voted "nay": None. Motion carried. Clerk-Administrator Barnes informed Council that he had bud- geted last year for a salary increase for the Maintenance Department but has held it back ~~r six months to check on their performance. He asked Council for their approval of a $10.00 increase for Vince Wright and a $30.00 increase for Bi11 Garlick, effective April 1, 1977. Upon a vote being takeao the following voted "aye": Mayor Warkentien, Council- men B1a,ck, Ecklund, Steele and Labalestra and the following voted "nay": None. Motion carried. Councilman Ecklund moved and is was seconded by Mayor Warken- tien to request approval of the purchase of 15~ booklets entitled "1;0 Ways. to Protect Your Home" at a cost of $225.00. Upon a vote being .taken the following voted "aye": Mayor Workentien, Councilmen Black, Ecklux:d, Steele and Labalestra and the following voted "nay" Non®. Motion carried. Councilman Black moved and it was seconded by Councilman Ecklund to approve the variance and conditional use request of Mr. Sam Spiegler to erect a steel. shed on the rear lot at 1717 North Fry Street for storage of l.awnmovers and gas. Upon a vote being taken the following voted "aye":.Mayor Warkentien, Councilmen Black, Ecklund, Steele and Labalestra and the following voted "nay": None. Motion carried. Mayor Warkentien noted that Clerk-Administrator Barnes was appointed as an ex-official member of the Board of Director of the Ramsey County Historical Society because they wish to have a working contact in connection with the Gibbs Farm. Mayor Warkentien noted that the Ramsey County ..League will meet on April 20th. The topic for discussion will be Emer- gency Medical Seririces. Councilman Steele moved and it was seconded by Mayor Warken- tien to approve payment for a course in Municipal Accounting for T.R. Williams, City Bookkeeper, if he maintains a "C" average. The motion was moved to be amended by Councilman Ecklvnd and seconded by Councilman Labalestra to Stipulate simply completing the course without any designation as to a grade average. Upon a vote being taken on the amended mo- tion the following voted "aye": CounciLnen Baack and Ecklund and the following voted "nay": Mayor Warkentien, Councilmen Steele and Labalestra. Motion denied. Upon a vote being taken on the original motion the following voted "aye"s i~yor Warkentien, Councilmen Black, Steele and Labalestra and the following voted'"'nay": Councilman Ecklund. Motion Carried. -~ CONTINUANCE OF MEETING BEY02h1 11:30 P.M. SALARY INCREASE FOR MAINTENANCE DEPARTMENT REQUEST TO PUR- CHASE 1500 BOOK- LETS FOR CRIME PREQENTION VARIANCE AND CONDITIONAL USE STEEL SHED - SAM SPIEGLER CLERK ADMIN. BARNES APPOINTED TO HISTORICAL SOCIETY RCL MEETING APPROVAL OF PAY- MENT OF ACCOUNT- ING COHSE FOR BOOKKEEPER 1 MINUTL~S RDGULAR COUNCIL MEETING APRSL 1lt, 1977 page 6 CounciLnan Scklund moved and it xas seconded by Council- man Steele to authorize Engineer Lemberg to attempt to ob- tain MSA designation for Tatun: Street between Larpenteur and Roaelaxn Avenue. Upon a vote beir~ taken the following voted "aye": Mayor Warkentiern, Councilmen Black, Ecklund, Steele, and Labalestra and the following voted "nay": None. Motion carried. Councilman Steele moved and it xas seconded by Councilman Labalestra to adjourn the meeting at 11:53 p.m. Upon a vote being takes the Polloxing voted "aye": Mayor Warkentien, Councilmen Black, Ecklund, Steele and Labalestra and the following voted "nay": None. Motion carried. n /~' WILLIS C.A. W ,Mayor 1 ~' Attest: swan B. Barnes, Clerk Ad~ainistrator 3 4 .~ ENGINEER TO AT- TEMPT TO ©BTAIN MSA DESIGNATION FOR TATUM STREET