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HomeMy WebLinkAbout04/20/1994 Council Minutes71 CITY COUNCIL WORK SESSION CITY OF LINO LAKES COUNCIL MINUTES APRIL 20, 1994 Staff members present: City Administrator, Randy Schumacher; City Engineer, Darrell Schneider; Community Development Director, Brian Wessel; Chief of Police, David Pecchia; Planning Coordinator, Mary Kay Wyland and Clerk -Treasurer Marilyn Anderson. Council Member Bergeson added an item to the agenda, Item No. 10A. Update of Facilities Study. Regular Agenda, April 28, 1994 - The City Council reviewed each item on the proposed agenda. Ms. Wyland explained the reason for the dog kennel request at 154 Pine Street and noted that the request includes a provision for an invisible fence. The Planning and Zoning Board questioned the effectiveness of the invisible fence and placed some conditions on the permit. Mayor Reinert asked Ms. Wyland to check with some surrounding cities to see how they have dealt with invisible fences. Ms. Wyland addressed the easements for trail purposes over the private streets in Wenzel Farms Town Homes. She explained that since the streets are private streets an easement would be required to allow trail users from other areas of the City to use this portion of the trail system. Mayor Reinert asked Mr. Schneider if he has received any calls from persons along Hodgson Road who have not received notice of the watermain improvement. Mr. Schneider said yes and explained that none of the residents will be assessed for the improvement so they will not be sent notices of the public hearing. However, there will be a neighborhood meeting with all the residents in the affected area along Hodgson Road and Linda Avenue. Utility companies have started locating existing utilities and the PAGE 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 CITY COUNCIL WORK SESSION APRIL 20, 1994 developer of Fox Trace has started work on a portion of Linda Avenue prior to notifying any of the residents. This has been a cause of concern for the residents. Mr. Schneider noted that this is a disadvantage when a project is a developer improvement rather than a City improvement. In this case the developer will be putting utility connections on Linda Avenue and fixing the street as part of the platting at no cost to the residents. This information will be given to the residents during the neighborhood meeting. Council Member Bergeson said that he had heard some residents along Hodgson Road talking about being assessed for the watermain. Mr. Schneider said that he has already talked to many of them and assured them they will not be assessed. Agenda Item No. 5, Consideration of a Proposal to Increase Election Judges Salaries was addressed by Mr. Schumacher and the City Clerk. Anoka County will not subsidize Judges salaries that are less than $7.00. The City Clerk is proposing to increase the salaries to $7.00 per hour using the Anoka County subsidy and a transfer from other salaries to finance the increase in the budget. Peddler's Ordinance, VFW Poppy Sale Request for Waiver - Mr. Bohjanen, representing the VFW asked the City Council to consider waiving two (2) provisions of the Peddler's Ordinance. One provision would allow the VFW to start selling Poppies before 9:00 A.M. and the second would allow them to sell Poppies in the right-of-way. Police Chief Pecchia said that he had talked to his staff about the situation and they agreed that there would not be a problem provided that the persons selling Poppies wear an approved orange vest. It was the consensus of the City Council that they would waive the two (2) ordinance provisions. The matter will be placed on the April 25, 1994 Council agenda. Petitions for Trapper's Crossing - Ms. Wyland provided copies of four (4) petitions received from the area residents along Holly Drive. The petitions give input from the neighborhood but do not necessarily impact the proposed Trappers Crossing subdivision. The City Council is not obligated to take action on any of them. One petition calls for the improvement of Holly Drive east of 12th Avenue. Staff was instructed to contact the affected property owners along that portion of Holly Drive and ask them to begin the process for a public improvement. Mr. Schneider explained that he has heard a lot of opposition to upgrading this portion of Holly Drive Council Members and staff have received numerous telephone calls PAGE 2 CITY COUNCIL WORK SESSION APRIL 20, 1994 on this matter. The petitions express dissatisfaction with the manner in which the original rezone of the area was handled Ms. Wyland noted that the Planning and oning Board is in the process of reviewing the preliminary plat for Trappers Crossing. Alarm Policy - Chief Pecchia explained that the City Attorney is in the process of preparing a false alarm policy. In 1993 there were 235 false alarms and this year the number of false alarms has increased. Every time a false alarm comes in to the officers, they respond with sirens and red lights. After a certain period of time, officers become so familiar with particular false alarms that they do not respond as required and could be placed in a dangerous situation. Chief Pecchia explained that he has worked with similar false alarm ordinances in the past and they do work well. One provision of the ordinance would require that the Police Department would keep a record of the number of false alarms and then start charging after receiving three (3) false alarms from the same alarm in a year. The fine for the fourth false alarm would be $50.00, after ten false alarms $100.00 and fifteen false alarms $150.00. Mayor Reinert suggested that a home owner be notified after the second false alarm to let them know that they may be facing a fine after three (3) false alarms. Chief Pecchia explained that violations of the proposed ordinance would be a petty misdemeanor and if the fine is not paid, it would be assessed to the property taxes. He also noted that the ordinance does have provisions for false alarms that are "acts of God" or weather related disturbances. Council Member Kuether asked if Chief Pecchia could tell which alarms caused the most problems. Chief Pecchia explained the problem is not with the alarm but with the operator. Occasionally false alarms are weather related. Chief Pecchia will proceed with completing the draft of the ordinance and present it to the City Council for their approval. Chief Pecchia explained that the Police Department Mission Statement has been completed and posted throughout the department. The Value Statement which is the foundation by which the Department is operating and contains rules and regulations has been prepared. The officers have copies of the Value Statement and have two (2) weeks to digest the material. A staff meeting will be held at the end of the two (2) weeks and the concerns of the officers will be discussed. Mr. Schumacher explained that this is a policy that the City Council should also PAGE 3 1 1 1 1 CITY COUNCIL WORK SESSION APRIL 20, 1994 be familiar with. Chief Pecchia explained that the new Field Training Officer (FTO) manual referred to in the monthly reports is available and is being used as a guide to train new officers. He explained each section of the manual and indicated that if this manual is followed by the training officer, there will be no surprises for the new officer. Chief Pecchia noted that this manual is used in Police Department meetings so that everyone is brought up to date. This manual is available to the City Council for their review. Chief Pecchia noted that the Lino Lakes Police Department will be receiving a traffic safety award at the Governor's office. Assessment Policy Amendment for Existing Industrial Businesses - Mr. Wessel explained that he is in the process of developing an assessment policy for existing businesses which would include an incentive policy. He noted that utilities are being extended in the Apollo Business Center north on 4th Avenue past several existing business. These business have expressed interest in connecting to the services but are objecting to the present assessment policy. The major objection is to the current surface water management assessment policy. There has been some discussion of extending the assessment period to 20 years rather than the current 15 years and reducing the interest to 7%. He will be proposing that the business assessment policy be an amendment to the current assessment policy. Mayor Reinert noted that Anoka County may be building additional cottages at the Correctional Facility. Mr. Schneider explained that the new services will be available for the new cottages. Mr. Wessel asked for direction from the City Council in the matter of offering incentives to existing business. Mayor Reinert said he would not be opposed to some incentive for existing businesses only. Council Member Bergeson said he felt that the new policy should be available to existing businesses when services are extended into other business areas. Mr. Wessel will prepare a draft and present it to the City Council for their input. North Oaks Inspection Billing Amendment - Mr. Schumacher explained that a good relationship has been established with the City of North Oaks and all is going well. However, the current billing system is burdensome and it is proposed to go to a system of charging $40.00 per hour. The proposal has been reviewed and accepted by the City of North Oaks. It was noted that the rate PAGE 4 ts CITY COUNCIL WORK SESSION APRIL 20, 1994 is very reasonable. Disbursement List Change - Mr. Schumacher noted that the new software has made it necessary to change the current Disbursement List format. He gave the City Council a draft of the proposed Disbursement Listing and asked for their comments and suggestions. It was suggested that the name of the department be in bold type and that there be more space between the department title and the last department total. There was also a suggestion that the departments be listed in alphabetical order. Mr. Schumacher asked the Council Members to call Mary Vaske if they wanted other changes. District Memorial Hospital Update - Mr. Schumacher read a letter from Yvonne Hendricks regarding the present status of the Hospital District. Mr. Schumacher was asked to write a letter to Ms. Hendricks acknowledging receipt of the letter. Council Member Neal expressed concern regarding the ambulance service. He said he would hate to see this service discontinued. Mayor Reinert suggested that the City Council not take any action on this matter until further action is taken by the Hospital Board. Increasing Water Connection Fees from $50.00 to $100.00 - Mr. Schumacher explained that the fee to connect to the City water system has not been increased in many years. He also explained that the utility department is using a new catch basin system to house the water shut off valve and this change is increasing costs to the utility department. Mr. Schumacher suggested that the water connection fee be increased to include the new costs. Mr. Schumacher was asked to put this suggestion into ordinance amendment form and put on the regular agenda. Annexation Update - Mr. Schumacher explained that on April 19, 1994 the Municipal Board took final action regarding the petition from the City of Centerville to annex property located in Lino Lakes. The preliminary action was to deny the petition for annexation and the final action confirmed the petition. A letter was submitted from the City of Centerville to the Municipal Board alleging some negative actions by the City of Lino Lakes. Mr. Schumacher asked for directions in regard to submitting a notice of facts to the Municipal Board. Mayor Reinert asked that a professional, factual letter be written to the Municipal Board. A copy of the letter from the City of Centerville will be obtained from the Lino Lakes City Attorney so that the response can be clearly written. Mr. Schumacher noted that the letter to the Municipal Board PAGE 5 1 1 1 1 1 CITY COUNCIL WORK SESSION APRIL 20, 1994 suggests that the City of Lino Lakes was not acting in the best interest of the City of Centerville regarding the proposal to place a temporary asphalt plant at the I35E and County Road 242 exit. The facts on the matter will be given to the Municipal Board. Facilities Study Update - Council Member Bergeson asked how soon the City Council expected the process of updating the current facilities study and preparation of recommendations to be completed. Mayor Reinert explained that the City Council must deal with the issue of space and hoped the open house set for May 21, 1994 will give the public the opportunity to see the present working conditions. He felt the urgency regarding space need is here. After further discussion, Council Member Bergeson said his committee would try to complete their work in 90 days. Council Member Bergeson explained that the committee is starting at the section in the old study titled 1989 Recommendations. He noted some of the options from that study and said the most critical issue will be the site for city hall. Issues raised in the 1989 study will be reviewed and recommendations prepared. Council Member Bergeson explained that the recommendations prepared for the 1989 study are based on population forecasts. He felt this part of the study should be updated based on current population information. It was noted that the current population is about 13,000. Council Member Bergeson explained one concept of the 1989 study was to address space needs for the next 15 years. He asked if this same concept should be used. Another concept was to base staffing needs upon the population ie. should there be "X" number of police officers for every 1;000 of population? After the number of staff was determined the space for the staff was detailed and the cost for the space was determined. This matter was discussed and it was presumed that the new study will be prepared in much the same manner. Council Member Bergeson said he would put a calendar together for this project and give it to the Council. He asked the City Council to think about how each Council Member would like the facilities to be grouped, should police, public works and administration be together or separated? Council Member Bergeson asked if the decision is to go to a new building, what type of an image should be displayed? He felt trucks and piles of dirt may not be what the City Council envisions as an image. City Council Members will give Council Member Bergeson their ideas on this matter. PAGE 6 CITY COUNCIL WORK SESSION APRIL 20, 1994 Consideration of Hiring Sandie Wood as Parks and Recreation Secretary - Mr. Schumacher explained that the current Parks and Recreation Secretary, Carole Kohler is terminating her full-time employment due to health considerations. Advertisement were placed in the local papers as well as the Minneapolis Star and Tribune. Approximately 60 applications were received for the position. Sandie has had experience working for another municipality in a similar capacity and has been hired to fill the position. This matter will be placed on the agenda for Monday so that the City Council can approve her employment. The meeting was adjourned at 6:45 P.M. and the City Council left to meet with the Hugo City Council at Trout Air. These minutes were considered, corrected and approved at the regular City Council meeting held on May 9, 1994. Mari1yn(G. Anderson, Vernon F. Reinert, Council Member Mayor PAGE 7