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HomeMy WebLinkAboutCCMin_07Feb28Regular Meeting of the Falcon Heights City Council February 28, 2007 Members present: Mayor Gehrz, Council members Harris, Kuettel, Lindstrom, and Administrator Miller. Mayor Gehrz called the meeting to order at 7:00 p.m. The minutes of the February 14, 2007 council meeting were approved as submitted. Public Hearings: Hamline/Hoyt Sewer Assessments Presentation from staff member Deb Bloom, City Engineer At the beginning of the project, St. Paul notified homeowners of the opportunity for a sanitary sewer repair. Five owners took this opportunity and signed waivers for the work to be done. Estimated assessments equaled $12,290.20. This is based on a typical depth of five to six feet. The actual was $29,044.24 because depth was twenty-six feet. We met with the engineer from St. Paul and agreed to split this additional cost. We are still moving forward with original estimate to the home owners. Council Member Lindstrom asked how did this depth thing come about? Bloom answered that when St. Paul does their plan, they do not check the depth. It’s not very usual, but should have been anticipated. Mayor Gehrz asked that moving forward into the future with this depth issue, will it be entered in the GIS System so there is a clearer picture of what’s in the ground? Bloom answered that when an as-built (as constructed drawing) is created this should be included. In the future, this will be done. Council Member Kuettel asked if this will be in our records now for Hamline/Hoyt so that this is not a problem 30 years from now? Bloom answered that it would. Council Member Harris asked if regardless of whether we knew it in advance, the cost would have been the same? Bloom answered that it would and to keep in mind that this is a St. Paul main. We have a contract with St. Paul to pay for this flow for our residents. Public Hearing Phil Behrens of 1403 W. Hoyt Avenue submitted a letter, then he shared his concerns as follows: First, residents were not notified that they had this option. He only found out because the City of St. Paul or the contractor they hired found a rock down the sewer pipes. They assumed it was his and sent him the letter in error. From there he learned of this option, and was told that he had to request a form. Therefore he was not surprised that only five homes responded. He went ahead and did it because it is cheaper to pay what they were estimating than to pay approximately $10,000 to deal with it in the winter. Communication was definitely the issue. St. Paul never gave a real estimate on the form, but just gave a verbal amount of $1,300 for what he understood to be the first 33 feet, and $26 per foot there after. Administrator Miller clarified that it was $1,300 for the first 3 feet. All the same, he was told that he had 27 feet after their 26 feet. And then it was up to him to take it from his property line to his house. His issue is the communication, not understanding the whole process, and the depth. They knew it was that deep, so it’s a lack of communication between St. Paul and their contractor. He probably would’ve had it done no matter the cost, but the 25 % cost difference in what they presented to him is the concern. Whatever the Council ends up doing he wants the Council to know his stance. And his neighbors are in the same situation. He spoke with Bob Graham who was told it would be no more than $2,500. As you can see various homeowners were told different rates. No one else came forward so Mayor Gehrz closed the public hearing. Discussion At Mayor Gehrz’ request, Bloom addressed concerns mentioned. Bloom states that St. Paul informed us that the homeowners were notified. We learned of the rock through one of our informational meetings. Regardless, the sewer was repaired with great benefit. And we are trying to keep the cost as close to what was communicated to the residents. Council member Kuettel asked if by televising the sewer would shows the depth the Phil was talking about? Bloom answered that they should have known. Council member Kuettel asked if Greg Hoag was getting his information from St. Paul, to which Bloom responded yes. They gave us an estimate of $1,300 for the first three feet and $26 per additional foot, which is about $2,500. Council Member Harris asked what staff thought had been communicated regarding this $1,300 and $26? Bloom was told those amounts had been communicated to the residents. Administrator Miller added that they did not receive a written estimate saying this, but a verbal one. Mayor Gehrz asked if they had known about the depth a year in advance would the residents have been quoted a much higher price, to which Bloom answered yes. Council Member Lindstrom stated that if he put himself in the homeowners shoes, and the cost was 25% more, he would be upset. He added that we learned a few lessons we learn from this. Council Member Kuettel stated that unfortunately it wasn’t Falcon Heights doing the work, and that we usually go above and beyond to communicate with, and involve the residents. Council Member Harris asked if in spite of all this trouble, looking at the end product, is staff confident with the work that was done? Bloom stated that she is confident that it was done well. Resolution Mayor Gehrz stated that if we do adopt it with the said figures, then Mr. Behrens still has the opportunity to go another level to challenge the amount of the assessment in court. Administrator Miller added that the procedure will be to file in court within 30 days. The Court will look to see if the assessment matches the benefit received. Mayor Gehrz noted that a change needs to made in paragraph number four. We don’t have a City Manager, but a City Administrator. Council Member Harris asked if paragraph number two was true that we received no objections? It needs to be changed to receiving one objection. Mayor Gehrz asked for a motion that Resolution No. 07-04 be adopted, and then we can talk about it. Council Member Harris moved to have the resolution adopted with the changes that have been made. Council Discussion Council Member Lindstrom stated that he was in favor of it with the lessons learned. Council Member Kuettel noted that she supported it seeing that the City was willing to pay the $9,000 due to the mistaken information. The motion passed unanimously. Council Member Kuettel moved the following three items for approval. The motion passed unanimously. Consent Agenda: 1. General Disbursements through 2/22/07: $78,639.02 Payroll through 2/15/07: $14,958.87 2. 2007 Licenses 3. Appointment of Diane Ross to Environment Commission Policy Agenda: Mayor Gehrz – If no one is opposed I would like to switch the order of the policy agenda. No objections were heard. Policy G2 - Consider Sanitary Sewer Televising and Cleaning Proposals Administrator Miller provided the background information: One of Tim’s first duties on his first day was to deal with a clogged sanitary sewer. This peaked his interest in the quality of our system. He found that we do not have a comprehensive plan for the televising and cleaning of our sanitary sewers. Based on our last issue we can see how important this is. Our liability insurance carrier League of Minnesota Cities advises cleaning every three years. Therefore we would like to propose a contract to televise and clean, then get on a three year program. Pittman solicited four bids, and Midwest Trenchless Technologies Inc. came in with the low bid of $53,655. Staff recommends that the city council approve the bid along with a $5,000 contingency in case of unforeseen problems. Council member Kuettel stated that it’s about time. She has been asking for a maintenance schedule since day one of her being on the Council more than ten years. She then asked if staff had any experience with the contractor. Pittman stated that they were recommended to him by a sales rep that he deals with. They have up to date equipment and will be submitting references. Council member Harris stated that those references are important especially when their bid came in significantly lower than the others. Administrator Miller stated that if the council approves it tonight, we will not proceed without getting those references and checking them. If we learn of unfavorable reports we will bring this back o the Council, and look for a better option. Administrator Miller added that he is a bit concerned that when we start televising what we will find. If we do find some problems we’ll have to come back and talk about those. Council member Harris asked if the $53,000 is in our budget? Administrator Miller answered that it is not, but funds are available in the Sanitary Sewer Fund. Mayor Gehrz stated that is a good point, the public will wonder where the funding came from. The quarterly water bill has a charge for sanitary and storm sewer which is a fund to maintain them. Hopefully they won’t find too much wrong. Council Member Lindstrom asked if we will be able to look at connections? Tim Pittman answered, yes we’ll be able to look at the services that come in; the homeowners will be notified if they have problems, where their connection comes into the city. Then the homeowners can call a company to repair it, i.e. tree roots. The majority of the city has clay. We will know for sure who has clay and concrete. We will get a hardcopy and DVD or VHS, whichever we choose. Council member Kuettel moved to approve the 2007 Sanitary Sewer Televising and Cleaning Project to Midwest Trenchless Technologies, Inc. in the amount of $53,655 plus a $5,000 contingency pending the checking of their references. The motion passed unanimously. Policy G1 - Consider adoption of Resolution requesting Comprehensive Transportation Funding in 2007 Mayor Gehrz stated that this request is primarily through the League of Minnesota Cities. They are asking all of the cities to consider this same resolution. We are considering this due to a stalemate of funding packages for transportation through to the Governor Administrator Miller added that one way we receive transportation funding is by Municipal State Aide (MSA), via gas tax. We receive $120,000 a year with $80,000 going towards construction, and $40,000 to maintenance. This has stayed pretty flat through the years; thereby buying us less and less projects for those amounts. Yesterday The League of Minnesota Cities held a press conference advocating an increase on the sales tax dedicated towards transit. That’s just one item on the table right now. Numerous cities have adopted this resolution or a modified form of it. Mayor Gehrz stated that although this is a State issue it is also a local issue, especially as it involves the reconstruction and maintenance of the streets in Falcon Height without any additional money. Last time a gas tax increase passed was in 1988, by 2004 the costs have more than tripled. Cities have been asked to bear more of the cost load. Deb Bloom commented that Administrator Miller is correct with the figures he gave. In about 20 years Falcon Heights is going to be faced with a mill and overlay. This is a redoing of streets that were done in 1999 as we just did in Roselawn. She estimates the cost is going to be about $4,000,000. This will probably be about a five to six year project. If we have $120,000 a year we won’t have enough in the budget for the project. We keep getting less and less, because we are not growing. We still have the same needs, but more residents drive on them. Now, if we don’t see a gas tax increase, there won’t be enough to fund it, even with bonding. The County is looking at this, but there is a downfall. The State and County is looking for more City funding. For example to do Hoyt, they could ask us for 25 percent. The Governor’s bonding bill that went out was for new projects. There is a definite need. There is a need for transportation and transit. But we need to find new money. Mayor Gehrz thanked Deb for being able to look out 20 years at our needs. Deb Bloom added that this is looking at today’s dollars, not taking into consideration inflation, so very likely it will be more. Mayor Gehrz stated that this is very much a local issue as residents often have complaints about traffic amounts and speed. And with sprawl more people will be using Snelling and Larpenteur. Improving transit and construction options affects the quality of life and viability for companies to move through our area. For example, businesses needing to get their trucks to their destinations. Council Member Lindstrom stated that we are the only state sending money back to the federal government. We are lagging behind the other states. Council Member Harris doesn’t like the resolution because of the seven bullet points on how to get the money. Maybe we can resolve that there is a need without agreeing to this paragraph. It is presumptuous to agree to these funding sources without being experts on them. Administrator Miller read the paragraph in question. Council Member Harris stated this is a list of options that someone put in here, but they are probably not all of the options. Mayor Gehrz remarked that it’s worded, “including but not limited to”. Council Member Harris stated, if we pass it we are agreeing to these options. Mayor Gehrz shared that she belongs to the Regional Council of Mayors which has a representation of mayors from the seven county metro area. They supported a previous constitutional amendment that she did not participate in, because the Falcon Heights Council did not vote in favor of it. So whatever the Council decides to do tonight will guide her in how she and Administrator Miller represent the wishes of the City Council on this issue to other mayors and legislators. We didn’t want to do that before this discussion. One option is to adopt general resolution cutting off that paragraph with specifics. If we adopt the resolution up to that point we are recognizing the need going into the future for a more stabilized form of transportation and transit funding instead of the uncertainty of that makes it difficult for projects to get done and also cities like ours providing for future needs without further burdening our local property tax base. This enables us to state that this is important to our community and residents without any specifics; we can leave that up to the Legislature and Governor to figure that out. Council Member Harris stated that the constitutional amendment that passed, she reluctantly voted for it because she felt that it was inappropriate to place it in the constitution. She did it because she thought it was going to fix this problem. The minute that it passed we started hearing about how transportation funding was in a disastrous position. Mayor Gehrz responded that it was stated that the funding was necessary, but not as a fix. Others may feel differently. Council Member Lindstrom stated that he is in favor of it with the bullet points. He is familiar with how the League comes up with these things with an extensive team of people looking at it. After spending a little bit of time at the Capital, it is counter-productive to say to the Legislature, “here’s a problem, but you all are the experts who know how to fix it.” He thinks that we’d be better off to pass it as it stands, and do a better service to the Legislature. Council Member Kuettel stated that she agrees with Council Member Harris. She doesn’t know if there is enough information to leave those bullets in. Mayor Gehrz responded that as the Mayor she wants to accurately represent the Council in what we say we support. She thinks we should go forward with something that we can all endorse instead of a tie, where it won’t pass. As far as how it actually happens, she thinks there are a lot of people working on this who know what’s going on. Council Member Lindstrom had some suggested changes, but as those were in the bulleted section being removed they do not need to be mentioned. Council Member Harris moved that Resolution Number 07-05 Requesting Comprehensive Road and Transit Funding in 2007 with the removal of the second to the last paragraph which has the bullets in it be approved. The motion passed unanimously. Administrator Miller stated that copies will be made of this and send to both of our legislators, the Governor’s office, and the League of Minnesota Cities. Information/ Announcements: Council Member Kuettel shared that the Planning Commission met yesterday and held workshops to initiate new commissioners into variances. Council Member Lindstrom wanted to thank resident Manly Olson who called me about a $1,500 Fiskars Grant for Community Gardens. Administrator Miller submitted it, and we’ll wait to see if we receive it. Council Member Harris stated that a non-resident told me that they noticed they were in Falcon Heights because of the new signs. Also, she joined League of Minnesota Cities task force on demographics. There are thirty members from all over the state. They are meeting monthly. They have an interest area on aging which is an interest area of mine. So it is very interesting; she is happy to be a part of it. Mayor Gehrz stated that we received a letter from the New Brighton Dept. of Public Safety addressed to Fire Chief Clem Kurhajetz. Basically it is saying thank you the Fire department for participation with their hazardous materials incident that they had at St. John’s the Baptist School. A number of our firefighters trained to serve as the hazardous materials team assisted. It’s nice because we pay for that extra training, and when we need help that team will serve our city. Administrator Miller announced the Council Workshop next Wednesday, March 7. We will continue the assessment policy. Mayor Gehrz mentioned the RACE Exhibit being held right now at the Science Museum of Minnesota. The Human Rights Commission along with Falcon Heights Elementary has partnered to acquire reduced rate tickets for that event. The tickets are $4.00 for adults, and $3.00 for children. You can purchase them at City Hall or Falcon Heights Elementary with the caveat that you attend a Falcon Heights RACE Talking Circle. This is actually being held at the Science Museum, but we will hold our own. Human Rights Commissioner Colette Campbell Stuart, one of the trained facilitators will conduct ours on April 17. We want to remind residents to remove cars off the street with snow that came and is yet to come this next week. We had some equipment failure last week, but that has been repaired. So removal should take place faster this time. Finally we completed the Comprehensive Planning Steering Committee neighborhood meetings. Out of nine meetings we had 80 people showing up. We received very good feedback. We will put it in a presentable format to be presented to the steering committee in March, and the Council at a future date. Mayor Gehrz announced that normally the second meeting in March we devote to a workshop with our Commissions. This year we will hold it on April 11 to devote plenty of time to the Commissions. The meeting was adjourned at 8:22 p.m. Respectfully submitted, Melanie Leehy Office Assistant