HomeMy WebLinkAboutCCMin_57Apr11X06
REGULAR MEETING, THURSDAY, APRIL 11, 1957
.Meeting called to order at 7:30 P.M., the following council members being present:
William R. Utecht, Mayor; Harold C. Nilsen, Trustee; Willis Warkentien, Trustee;
Clyde J. Stewart, Clerk. Absent: George J. Shavor,.Trustee. Also present:
William E. Olsen, Treasurer, and Frank N. Graham, Attorney,
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On motion by Utecht, seconded by Nilsen, it was ordered that reading of the minutes
of March 28, 1957 be omitted and. that same be approved as submitted..
St Paul Park's Letter was read from Mayor William J. Fastner, Village o£
survey re St Paul Park, under date of April 8, as to mat pillage's
building trades proposal to revise its laws referring to building trades,
together with questionnaire in this connection. Utecht
moved that we respond to Mayor Fastner's request and indicate
our interest in seeing the results of the survey and
attending any meeting on the matter. Seconded by Warkentien
and motion carried unanimously.
Salary increases Letters expressing thanks for their salary increases effective
appreciated by recently, were received from our three paid firemen,
Bertrand
paid firemen ,
J. Slama, Stanley P. Schultz and Donald W. Schoen.
Smoke-Eat~;r On recommendation of the Fire Chief, Warkentien moved that
subscriptions renewal of 22 subscriptions to the Smoke-Eater be authorized
for members of our Fire Department on a one year basis,
beginning June 1, 1957. Nilsen seconded and motion carried
unanimously.
Mrs. Kjelland Letter dated April 2, 1957, from Veronica S. Kjelland,
resigns as Women's requesting that she be replaced as Women's Civil Defense
Civil Defense Director, was read. Utecht moved acceptance of Mrs.
Director Kjelland's resignation and that she be written an
appropriate letter of thanks. Seconded by Warkentien and
motion carried unanimously.
Hazel V.Sorensen Warkentien nominated Hazel V. Sorensen for the office of
appointed Women's Women's Civil Defense Director, Village of Falcon Heights.
Civil Defense There being no further nominations, Stewart moved that
Director Mrs. Sorensen be appointed to office for the term expiring
December 31, 1957. Nilsen seconded, motion carried
unanimously, and Mrs. Sorensen de~~:aredcsflul3~:- appointed to
said office.
Municipal Store The Mayor reported that a bill (H.F. 829) was introduced in
bill killed. the House of the Minnesota Legislature on February 13, 1957,
and referred to Committee, requesting permission to establish
a municipal liquor store in Falcon Heights. After holding a
series of weekly meetings on the matter, the Committee voted
on April 3, 1957 for indefinite postponement, Utecht said.
The only opposition at the meetings, he stated, came From
groups located outside of the Village. Local people who put
in much time and worked hard for the legislation, the Mayor
said, are: Ralph Van Hoven, Bernard Rechtiene, Howard
Christensen, William Korstad, David Cartwright and Edwin
Johnson.
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Special Meeting to After discussion as to when Mr. Steffes would have ready for
consider plans & conncil consideration the proposed plans and specifications
specs.,Sanitary for Sanitary Sewer System Improvement No. I, Part II, dealing
Sewer Syst. Impvt.#1, with resurfacing of streets, Utecht moved that a special
Part II. meeting be set up for Tuesday, April lb, 1957, at 7:30 P.M.,
and if the plans and. specifications for road resurfacing
are not completed by that time, that a special meeting be
held Monday, April 22, 1957, at 7:30 P.M. to consider this
matter. Seconded by Nilsen and motion carried unanimously.
Sewer Project - Letter of April 10, 1957, from Mr. Steffes, covering estimated
Estimated Cost emnstrnc~,ion costs of Sanitary Sewer System Improvement No. I,
Part I, was reviewed by the council and. discussed with our
attorney. (Mr. Steffes not present). It was agreed to ,
furnish a copy of the letter to each council member.
Power Company plans The Clerk reported. receiving two sets of plans from the
showing location Power Company shov~ring the location of gas mains in the
gas mains Village area. Agreed to furnish one set of the plans t.o
our sanitary sewer engineers.
Snelling Avenue In connection with the 3610,000.00 certified check to be
Sewer work - X610,000 posted by the Village with the State Commissioner of Highways
certified check for permit to do the necessary sewer work on Snelling Avenue,
our attorney said~tha~E the contractor could be required to
put up this money as part of the bidding on the job, but that
he would not recommend doing it that way. He felt that a
saving could be effected by the Village posting the 3610,000.00
when necessary, probably in June. This amount, he said, would.
be out-of-pocket until we get our first sale of bonds and
received money from the first sale. He said the amount posted
would not be returned by the-State until all of the Snelling
Resolution - Avenue work was completed. Stewart moved that the Mayor,
Treasurer and Clerk be authorized when notified by the engineer
to procure a certified check for $10,000.00, payable to the
Commissioner of Highways, to be tendered to the Commissioner
of Highways in accordance with the conditions outlined to get
the permit from the State of Pdinnesota to do the necessary
sewer work on Snelling Avenue. Seconded by Nilsen and motion
carried unanimously.
Proposed Maple Ott 8:40 P.M., about 12 residents of the ~4aple Knoll Addition,
Knoll Water Mr. Morton Berland of the Cardinal Construction Company, and
Connections the Construction Company's attorney, Mr. Harold Shear, appeared
before the council in connection with a proposal to make water
connections to four additional homes in the Ma~„l.e Knoll area.
The Clerk read a letter, dated. April 5, 1957~,~°Pdr. Thompson,
General Manager, V~ater Department, St Paul, in response to
an~-isiquiry as to whether there had been any improvement in the
St Paul water system since Mr. Thompson's letter of June 13,
1956, that could be utilized to better the water situation in
the Maple Knoll area.
Harold Shear, Attorney Shear, representing the Construction Company, said
Attorney that the question of water pressures in the Maple Knoll area
is not a new one. When the system was installed, he said,
the pressure was 20 lbs., and that it has been continued and
maintained 'at those pressures. He said the addition of four
homes would not affect the pressure; that he had talked with
the Water Department people and Mr. Thompson, who told him
J
~o~
Maple Knoll
water (cont'd)
Atto rney Shear that the addition of four homes will not affect the pressure
in the system. Mr. Shear said the system was purchased and
installed under the supervision of the City of St Paul and
the mains paid for with the idea of this many homes using it;
that the pressure is not what they would like it to be, but
that it will not be affected by the addition of four homes.
He said there were other solutions which could be explored by
the residents or the council, but that the present system was
installed by trained personnel and is working according to
requirements at the time it was installed.
Leo Ohman, Stated that everything Mr. Shear said was true, but that he
1635 Garden is speaking of the best conditions. Mr. Ohman said the
greatest pressure Maple Knoll users can get is 20 lbs., and
at times last summer they had no pressure. Mr. Ohman stated
that five homes have been added since residents complained
last year, and the proposed four homes would make nine.
He said if any more homes are added there wont be any pressure.
Attorney Shear said when the four homes were built they were informed that
pressures would improve in the spring and. that they would have
permission to make connections. He said that the residents
should direct their efforts to ways of remedying-the situation,
and if pressure should be put on St Paul that should be done,
but that this was not the Construction Company's problem, He
said the Construction Company was told that water woulri be
provided and that they paid a considerable amount of money to
build, and that the four homes will not change the situation.
Morton Berland, Mr. Berland said the homes were built in accordance with the
Cardinal Construction .building code; that on September 22, 19511, they were notified
Company that if so much money was paid, theywould have the privilege
of making 23 connections on the water line. Said he had talked
with Mr. Thompson amt at the time the water main was designed
by the City of St Paul, and was told they could tack on 23 homes.
Mr. Berland said. the -static water pressure when no one is using
it, is 15 to 20 lbs. Said he felt the problem was between
Falcon Heights and the City of St Paul, and that a booster pump
to take care of the area or each home individually should be
installed. Said he had asked the engineers to flush out the
system more often to get rid of sand in the line and improve
the pressure. .
Mr. i~illiam Korstad, inquired as to what the additional cost would be to put in
1625 Garden four wells. Also expressed his interest in possible solutions
and asked if Messrs. Berland and Shear would be willing to
get together with residents of Maple Knoll regarding the matter.
Mr. Shear replied that it was a matter between the Village and
the residents.
Village Attorney Asked for his opinion as to the council's responsibility in
Graham this matter, the Village attorney pointed out that Falcon Heights
has not undertaken to supply water to any of the homes in Falcon
Heights, but that in this situation, where the council's
permission must be obtained before connections to an existing
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Maple Kno7~l water private. system can be made, the council must base its
(cont'd). determination on whether or not the connections proposed
are in the best interests of all residents of the Village.
Village Attorney He stated that in his opinion, if the council determined
Graham that the connections proposed would aggravate the present
water si~ur~ion, they would be justified in refusing to
approve. He also pointed out that the council could not
act arbitrarily in this. matter.
Mayor Utecht Summarizing, the Mayor stated that in view of the history of
this situation and the facts presented, he felt that additional
connections at this time would increase the shortage and lower
pressures. He felt that the water situation in Maple Knoll had
to be improved before any more connections should be made, and
that nothing should be done to make the situation worse. He
pointed out that theµ^building permits were issued only upon
the express understanding that no water connections were to
be permitted. The three other council members present
indicated their agreement with the Mayor's statement.
Conclusion No one else wishing to be heard, the hearing was concluded.
The council took no action to approve the permits, under-
standing that the City of St Paul would not issue the
necessary permits without the approval of the Village Council.
Don Julep re Don Julep, of the Stepni~z Agency, representing the owners
property managed of the business property at the southwest corner of Larpenteur
by Stepnitz and Snelling Avenues, appeared Before the council and was
Agency asked a~s to when conditions relating to the maintenance of
property along Arona and. south of the business block would
be taken care of. Mr. Julep reviewed matters pertaining to
working out a plan for the whole area which lead to rezoning
to business district of Tract I and opposition to parking on
Trait II, the lot east of the Ncr thern States Power unit.
After the stores were built on Tract I, the problems came up
on Tract II, he said. Julep stated that several of the stores
and employes having been using Tract II for employees' parking
for 10 or 12 years. He said the area back of the building was
a swamp at that time and that a lot of money was spent for fill
and for the ditch from Arona to where the apartments are a
When grading was being done, he said that entrances were cut
into the area to let corners drain, taking in water from
Garden Avenue, east on Calif ornia from Pascal, and. from behind
the apartments. Said the owners are not interested in the
rezoning of the lot, but. that they believe they have the right
to park employees' cars there, Julep said the owners want
to improve and maintain their property and will do what they can
with the funds available after paying taxes and other expenses.
They hope, he said, to put most of the plantings in this spring,
especially along Idaho so as to screen in the area on the south
side, and will plant grass after hauling in more dirt.-.
Street maintenance Vern L~ungren, of our Village Engineer's staff, reported that
program ~ the street maintenance program had been set up with the
County Engineer.
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Electrical inspection Copy of a letter dated January 18, 1957, from Stan Sayre,
matters, Maple Knoll Electrical Inspection Service, to the Cardinal Construction
Company, was read. The letter referred to an inspection at
1615 Maple Knoll where all of the electric switch, outlet
and ceiling lite boxes were filled with loose rock wool
insulation. The letter stated that other means of insulating
these homes must be found and that the insulation be removed
immediately from electric fixtures in this and other homes
in the area.
Mrs. Henry Van Hoven, reported that upon noticing smoke coming out of the switch
1615 Maple Knoll boxes in her home one evening, she had called St Paul regarding
the matter and also our Fire Department. Later, she said,
Mr. Sayre called and made an inspection of her home and found
the insulation in the outlet boxes and other electric code
violations.
Building Inspector said he phoned the Cardinal Construction Company at the time
Christensen and told them to remove the. insulation.
Resolution- Mr. Morton Berland, of the Cardinal Construction Company,
who was present, was asked by the Mayor if the Construction
Company had complied with the building inspector's request,
and Mr, Berland indicated they had not. Utecht then moved
that the correspondence be referred to the build ing inspector
with request to get in touch with Mr. Sayre as to the failure
to remove the insulation from electric outlet boxes in Maple
Knoll homes as ordered in Mr. Sayre's letter of January 18, 1957.
Seconded by Stewart and. motion carried unanimously.
3,000-gallon tank Building Inspector Christensen submitted an application for
installation permit- permit from the Pure Oil Company, together with plans,
Pure Oil Company for the proposed installation of a 3,000-gallon tank for
gasoline, to be located back of existing tanks at the Company's
service station at 1525 Larpenteur Avenue West. After dis-
cussion, Stewart moved that the building inspector be authorized
to issue the necessary permit, Seconded by Utecht and motion
carried unanimously.
Reqn. #113 for 18 light bulbs and one-half box of pencil carbon paper,
Fire Dept. was approved on motion by Nilsen, seconded by Stewart.
Reqn. #11l~ for 200 three-cent postage stamps, received approval on
Treasurer motion by Stewart, seconded by Utecht.
Mr. Berland, of At 10:50 P.M., after all Maple Knoll residents had left,
Cardinal Constr.Co. Mr. Morton Berland, of the Cardinal Construction Company,
& Attorney Shear and Mr. Harold Shear, his attorney, returned to the meeting
return to meeting and asked the Mayor if they could present some additional
information. They produced what purported to be permits, dated
April 5, 1957, issued by the City of St Paul and signed by
Mr. Thompson of the Water Department, authorizing water
connections to the four homes in Maple Knoll. They stated they
intended to go ahead and have the connections made. They were
asked why this information had not been presented while the
residents were present and the matter was being considered.
They stated that while they felt the Village had no jurisdiction
to refuse the connections, they felt that the council would
authorize the connections after the hearing. They started to
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"~Ir. Berland and Attorney go into an explanation of how they had obtained. these
Shear return to meeting permits from the Water Department without the Village's
(cont'd.) knowledge when the Mayor stopped them and explained. that
the council did. not want to hear any more from them abou t
this matter in the absence of the Maple Knoll reidents
because of the position the council had been put in by
their failure to discuss the existence of these permits
at-the time of the hearing when the Maple Knoll residents
were present. Messrs. Berland and Shear left the meeting
at this point.
Resolution - Utecht then moved that the Village Attorney be authorized
to check this matter with Mr. Thompson of the Water
Department and Commissioner Rosen, to see if the City of
St Paul intended to make these connections without the
approval of the Village Council. Seconded by Warkentien
and motion carried unanimously.
Mr. William Korstad Mr. Korstad was called back to the meeting at 11:30 P.M.,
called. back to as a representative of Maple Knoll, to explain to him
meeting what had happened, and it was decided to issue him a copy
of the minutes pertaining to this matter. Mr. Korstad
also indicated he would accompany the Village Attorney
the following mom ing when the matter was to be discussed
with Mr. Thompson and Commissioner Rosen.
Bills: On motion by Warkentien, seconded by Nilsen, the following
bills were ordered paid:
Henry J. Dachtera, policing & mileage, March, X176.89
LeRoy Humphrey, " " " " 79.73
Kenneth Schmidt, " " " " 165.83
Earl Smith, " " " " 198.59
Briggs ,Gilbert,Morton,Kyle & Macartney, legal services,
March, X404.75
Bachman Dohm Letter Service, 200 Treas.statements, X7.15
Paul Manke,supervising warming hse, 1-20-57 to 2-10-57,4k70.65
Northwestern Bell Tel, Co., Mi l~-5050, Apr 1, 9617.60
Vol. Firemen, basement ~ drainage area. pumping, '61[x.77
Milner W. Carley & Assocs.,engr.services 2-15 to ~-31-57,60.
Ramsey Co. Treas., street work, March, X6597.96
Amer. ILinen Supply Co., linen service, March, $66.71
Badens Pure ail Co., gasoline to Mar. 21, 930.78
Gen. Elec. Supply Co., light bulbs, Apr. 1, X4.18
Koehler Mfg. Co., repair chg. indicator, X5.40
Terrace Auto Supply Co., fuel pump &. gen. repairs, $15.87
Nor.States Power Co., electric service, 4-12, x.35.77
2~ prem. on In connection with the 2 per-cent of all fire insurance
Fire Insurance premiums which firetowns receive annually from the State;
a report was noted showing that Falcon Heights Fire
Department Relief Association (Firetown No. 606-C) had
received the following amounts over a six-year beriod:
195, X53.84; 1952, X131.01; 1953, X233.53; 1954, 9265.97;
1955, 357.67 and 1956, $500.77.
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Legislation re The Village attorney was asked to secure and report on a
abolishing office newly enacted state law relating to the abolishment of
of Constable the off ice of Constable.
Adjustment of In connection with the increased expenses of our Fire
Standby Fire Department; the matter of an adjustment of standby
Protection charges, fire protection charges under our contract with Lauder-
Lauderdale, proposed dale was discussed. The matter was referred to Trustees
Nilsen and Shavor for study and report.
Adjournment: On motion, the meeting adjourned at 11:50 P.M.
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Approved:
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Mayor