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HomeMy WebLinkAbout02-18-86 CCMs 4) , B , �f LAKE ELMO CITY COUNCIL MINUTES FEBRUARY 18, 1986 Mayor Morgan called the City Council meeting to order at 7:00 p.m. in the City Council Chambers. Present: Armstrong, Dunn, Mazzara, Christ, City Administrator Overby, City Engineer Bohrer, and City Attorney Knaak. 1. Agenda Delete 10A. Bids received for dump truck, underbody plow, sander and reversible snow plow. Add 11A. Respect for Lake Elmo Citizen's Privacy. M/S/P Dunn/Morgan - to approve the agenda for the February 18, 1986 City Council meeting as amended. (Motion carried 5-0). 2. Minutes: February 4, 1986 M/S/P Dunn/Armstrong - to approve the February 4, 1986 City Council Minutes as presented. (Motion carried 5-0). 3. Claims Dunn questionned Claim #87042 - Eckberg „ Lammers, Briggs - legal letter to auditor as to why we didn't use our legal firm. As to Claim #87062 Minn. Good Roads and #87071 AWWA, Dunn would like the City Administrator toscrutinize these memberships and see what each membership is worth. M/S/P Dunn/Christ - to approve the February 18,1986 Claims 87032 thru 87088 as presented. (Motion carried 5-0). 4. Public Inquiries There were no public inquiries. 5. Opening Ceremony for Regional Park - Gary Horning The opening ceremony is scheduled for June 21, 1986. The opening social hour will be at 9:00 a.m. and the festivities will start at 10:00 a.m. There will be a fishing contest for the kids, a marathon for bike riders, and horseback riders. Mayor Morgan was asked to be a guest speaker and the City was asked if they would like to share in any of the expenses (they estimate about $1,000 in expenses). They estimate about 500-1,000 people at the opening ceremony. The swimming facility will be available and some of the picnic grounds, camping area and the group shelter will be open. There will not be a charge for the opening day, but there will be a $2 daily charge or, a $10 seasonal charge for a 21 month sticker. 6. Parks Commission Vacancy A. Candidate Interview and Appointment LAKE ELMO CITY COUNCIL MINUTES FEBRUARY 18, 1986 Page 2 Scotty Lyall was not available for an interview for the Parks Commission. His application and Gloria Knoblauch's application will be kept on file. M/S/P Christ/Mazzara - to appoint Robert Haacke as 2nd Alternate on the Parks Commission. (Motion carried 5-0). 7. PLANNING AND LAND USE A. Zoning District Amendment - A.M. and Paul Palzer This rezoning was tabled from the 2-4-86 meeting to allow for further consideration. Additional information regarding clustering 6 lots, each 1 1/2 acres, along Keats Avenue was brought in by the Palzer's. Because of this new information, it was suggested that the Planning Commission take a look at the application. M/S/P Dunn/Armstrong - to remand the Palzer rezoning request to the Planning Commission based on the additional information acquired. (Motion carried 4-1<Mazzara-felt there was enough information to make a decision>). B. County Solid Waste Master Plan - Landfill Site in Lake Elmo Mayor Morgan stated that there is already one landfill failure in our City that is contaminating private wells and that has not been corrected. Many citizens were forced to leave their homes to make room for the Regional Park with the understanding that the land would be forever in park land. The proposed landfill site is dangerously close to Eagle Point Lake which, with the modified 509 Plan drains into areas not only in Lake Elmo, but communities downstream. Mayor Morgan feels that there is no such thing as a "safe" landfill, which unfortunately is only discovered after the hazard has been created. It also was suggested that when the County does an Environmental Impact Statement the City should get a copy and be informed. Councilman Dunn will voice these City's strong objections against the proposed landfill site at the meeting on Wednesday, February 19th. M/S/P Punn/Mazzara - to dref.t.a resolution condemning the proposed landfill site in the Regional Park based on the objections stated. (Motion carried 5-0). 8. CITY ENGINEER'S REPORT A. Oakdale Comprehensive Plan Amendments City Engineer Bohrer reported that the City has been provided with a copy of Oakdale's proposed comprehensive plan amendment. The purpose of the Oakdale amendment is to update their Comprehensive LAKE ELMO CITY COUNCIL MINUTES FEBRUARY 18, 1986 Page 3 Plan to the year 2000. In that regard they want the Metropolitan Urban Service Area (MUSA) line to be extended east to include the entire City. Oakdale's present MUSA line excludes Sewer Service Districts 18, 19 and 12A. Districts 18 and 19 cannot be served without constructing a new metropolitan interceptor sewer through Woodbury and the central portions of Lake Elmo. The extension of this interceptor sewer may force premature development in the central portion of Lake Elmo along its route. City Engineer Bohrer stated that it would be very unlikely that Oakdale would be able to receive approval for revision of the MUSA line to include Sewer Districts 18 and 19. In the past, the Metropolitan Council would not allow MUSA line changes if it requires extension of Metro facilities or if Oakdale still has a five-year supply of vacant, developable land. In this case, both criteria would be met and most likely Oakdale would not receive approval. Realizing this the City of Oakdale has revised its Comprehensive Plan Amendment to exclude Sewer Districts 18 and 19. This should remove Lake Elmo's primary objection. Sewer Districts 12 and 12A have service available today by means of a sewage lift station on Stillwater Boulevard. This station pumps to the WONE interceptor. If service becomes available through central Lake Elmo, Oakdale would like to eliminate this lift station. Oakdale would also like to route Sewer District 13 through new pipes to be constructed by Lake Elmo through Section 32. In this way they could also eliminate two lift stations in this District. This item is discussed, in more detail in Lake Elmo's Comprehensive Sewer Plan. The consensus of the Council was to defer their comments until after the Improvement Hearing for Section 32-33 on February 25, 1986. B. Section 32-33• Service Feasibility Study and Comprehensive Sanitary Sewer Plan A draft copy of the proposed Lake Elmo Comprehensive Sewer Plan was included in the Council packets. City Engineer Bohrer stated that the purpose of the Comprehensive Sewer Plan is to satisfy the Metropolitan Agencies' requiremets to povide estimates of anticipated sewage flows. In this way, the Metropolitan Agencies can plan for any needed metropolitan sewers or sewage treatment. In this case, the expansion of sanitray sewers into Lake Elmo will have no affect on metropolitan facilities. A reserved capacity of 458,000 gallons/day has been set aside by the MWCC for Lake Elmo's use. The Comprehensive Sewer Plan shows that this quantity will not be exceeded. Bohrer brought special attention to the Table of Projected Flow on page 4 of the Plan. He assumed straight-line growth, beginning in the year 1987, through the year 2000. At the year 2000 it is LAKE ELMO CITY COUNCIL MINUTES FEBRUARY 18, 1986 Page 4 anticipated that Section 32 will reach its capacity sewage flow. Bohrer also pointed out that this is equivalent- to a yearly development of 27 acres. City Engineer Bohrer stated that if Lake Elmo predicted that it would not use all of its sewer allocation by the year 2000, the Metropolitan Agencies may consider giving some of the sewer allocation to another City which has already requested additional capacity. On the other hand, if Lake Elmo showed that it would need more capacity before the year 2000, it is unlikely this would be approved. After some discussion regarding the timing of the projected flows, and the discussion on the pipe sizing tables in the back of the report, the City Council approved the Comprehensive Sewer Plan with the following change: "in the seventh sentence on page 2, under the title "Background" the words 'year 2000 "and beyond" should be added. City Engineer Bohrer distributed the feasibility reports prepared for the installation of sanitary sewers, water system and storm drainage system for Section 32 and the South 1/2 of the Southwest 1/4 of Section 33. This review is in preparation for the public hearing scheduled for February 25, 1986. The City Engineer reviewed in detail the proposed improvements, the estimated cost, and the recommended method of financing the project. He stated that because of the extensive nature of the proposed improvements and the complexity of the financing plan, he could have several copies of the feasibility report made available for area residents. C. 1985 Municipal State Aid Project Update The 1985 MSA Project list included the upgrading of Lower 33rd Street from Klondike Avenue to Lake Elmo Avenue. As the road is bounded on its north side by the C&NW railroad tracks and private right-of-way on the south side, there is not sufficient land along the corridor to obtain the amount of right-of-way required by State standards. To obtain the additional right-of-way, it would be necessary to acquire the Joshua Taylor commercial building and one house. It would also make another house severely non -conforming for the front yard setback. The City requested a variance from the road right-of-way requirement. In a letter from Transportation Commissioner Braun, it was stated that the variance request was denied because of the restricted sight distance at the intersection of Lower 33rd Street and Lake Elmo Avenue caused by the location of the Taylor Building. City Engineer Bohrer stated three options in his letter to the City Council dated February 13, 1986. 1. Discontinue consideration of improving Lower 33rd Street with State aid funds. Consider improving Laverne Avenue from LAKE ELMO CITY COUNCIL MINUTES FEBRUARY 18, 1986 Page 5 Upper 33rd Street to TH5, which is the next priority in the 10-year plan. 2. Have the Taylor Building appraised and try to negotiate a lower price with Mr. Hagstrom. State aid funds can be used for the land and building purchase. 3. Do nothing. However, the City is allowed to accumulate only 2 years of State Aid allotments before its needs are reduced by the amount of unused funds. The City's fund will exceed this two-year allotment amount in 1987 and will begin to be reduced unless it has a project in the works for 1987. Hugh Madson recommended looking at acquiring property and rerouting the easterly portion of Lower 33rd Street south of the Joshua Taylor building and vacating the unused portion of Lower 33rd Street. City Engineer Bohrer will look into this suggestion and will report back at a later meeting. D. Bellaire Sanitation - Request for variance from spring road weight restrictions. This request came before the City Council at its last Council meeting, and it was tabled until more information could be obtained City Engineer Bohrer contacted the County and found out they do not give out any exemptions on county roads. In the past the City has exempted septic haulers so Bellaire has never had a reason to come in and request a variance. City Administrator Overby pointed out that if you give an exemption to a certain tonnage level, it doesn't apply just.to Bellaire, but would apply to other haulers on those particular roads. City Engineer Bohrer asked if the City has the authority to exempt certain vehicles because they do have the authority to post and restd_ct the roads. Then, the only statutory exemption is given to school buses which is 7 tons per axle. Traditional restrictions are on from March 21 through May 15, 1986. M/S/F Armstrong/Dunn - to deny a variance request from Bellaire Sanitation from spring road weight restrictions. (Motion failed 2-3<Morgan, Mazzara, Christ>). M/S/P Christ/Morgan - to table this request until the next City Council meeting or until additional information on how it was handled in the past 9.s considered. (Motion carried 5-0). E. Office Space Project - Update On February 13, 1986, City Administrator Overby, City Engineer Bohrer and an architect from TKDA met to discuss the proposed office project and tour the Lake Elmo State Bank facility which LAKE ELMO CITY COUNCIL MINUTES FEBRUARY 18, 1986 Page 6 may become available to the City Council. Bohrer's observations are stated in his letter dated February 18, 1986. The bank must decide by October 31, 1986 whether to use the State's allocation of bonding authority to the Washington County Housing and Redevelopment Authority which was reserved for it. They have estimated a minimum of 18 to 24 months from now to vacate the present building. Therefore, the building may be available by February, 1988. The building appears to be well suited for City Hall use, wth some remodeling. The City presently leases 2,380 sq.ft. for City offices. A new building must have at least 3,100 sq.ft. to equal what the City now leases. An estimate for such a facility is $255,000. City Engineer Bohrer understands that the City has approximately $139,000 invested reserves which could be used for this project. Since the money available is less than the money required, a bond referendum will be needed. A bond referendum will have an impact on the project schedule. Requirements for a referendum will be looked into by the City Attorney. The following actions were asked to be considered by the City Engineer. 1. Negotiate a one-year extension of the present lease now for the period February 1, 1987 to February 1, 1988. 2. Ask the Bank to have a building appraisal done so that the City can evaluate the "buy and remodel" alternative. 3. A new building should be planned to met the City's need for 15-20 years and a building budget of $300,000 may be more realistic. City Attorney Knaak indicated that it was acceptable to trade park land for farm land owned by Mr. Friedrich. Councilmen Christ and Dunn brought up questions as to whether the sewer system is adequate at the bank and would the total cost of purchasing the bank building be too high. Mayor Morgan suggested the City Council review the office space recommendations and the City Engineer's recommendation. F. Proposed Metro Waste Control Commission Rate Changes The MWCC has proposed changes in the Rate Schedule for Sewage Treatment Users and the Sewer Availability Charge (SAC) for potential users and sewer service. These proposed MWCC rate changes are commented on in City Engineer's Bohrer letter dated February 11, 1986 to City Administrator Overby. The consensus of the City Council was that the increase in the rates were too high and City Administrator Overby will check into LAKE ELMO CITY COUNCIL MINUTES FEBRUARY 18, 1986 Page 7 this further. G. School Crossing Update At the January 21, 1986 City Council meeting the Council approved spending up to $2,000 in City funds in participation with the school district to install a flashing light at the school crossing and to negotiate the electricity costs for operation of the light with the school district. City Administrator Overby advised the Council that the District 834 School Board approved the request from the City for $2,000 to help offset the local costs for this flashing signal light on Highway 5 near the elementary school. 9. FIRE CHIEF'S REPORT A. 1985 Annual Report Fire Chief Fran Pott presented the 1985 Lake Elmo Fire Department Annual Report. Chief Pott indicated that the department is an enthusiastic, well trained and a properly equipped department that is ready and qualified to deal with the emergency fire and rescue calls in the City. During 1985, the 18-member Department has had excellent support from the City and the community for its official and social functions and are committed to doing their part to maintain that environment in 1986. In 1985 the Fire Department responded to 108 rescue calls and 63 fire calls with a fire loss of $65,890. Of these losses, $36,610 were from 12 cars that were valued at $350 to $9,850, a garage-$14,940, a restaurant-$9,225, a lawn tractor-$3,000 and miscellaneous losses at $2,115. Mayor Morgan and the Council commended Chief Pott and the department for a job well done. 10. CITY ADMINISTRATOR'S REPORT A. Bids received on dump truck, underbody plow, sander, and reversible snow plow. Review of bids was tabled until the March 4th City Council meeting. B. Maintenance Department Equipment Needs - Dan Olinger Maintenance Foreman Dan Olinger had discussed a need for having an air compressor unit and air hammer. The City Council suggested tabling this issue until more detailed cost comparisons could be provided. C. Insurance Coverage The City Council reviewed the quotes on the renewal of insurance LAKE ELMO CITY COUNCIL MINUTES FEBRUARY 18, 1986 Page 8 coverage that the City has with the League of Minnesota Cities Insurance Trust. The General Liability coverage (on City land, building, equipment, etc.) increased 240% from last year's premium of $9,423 to this years premium of $22,650. The "Umbrella" coverage which provides $1,000,000 in excess liability coverage increased 800 percent from $1,550 last year to $12,414 this year. City Administrator Overby had talked to the League of Cities staff about the situation and their response was "you can either pay the premiums for the available coverage or risk not having insurance for some areas of City operations." M/S/P Armstrong/Dunn - to accept the quote for the General Liability insurance. (Motion carried 5-0). M/S/P Christ/Mazzara - to accept the quote for the "Umbrella" coverage. (Motion carried 3-2<Dunn, Morgany) . M/S/P Dunn/Morgan - to extend the City Council meeting until 11:00 p.m. (Motion carried 5-0). D. Governor's Budget Cuts - Reduction in Local Government Aids and Homestead Credits This was an informational item for the City Council. 10. CITY COUNCIL REPORTS A. Respect for Lake Elmo Citizen's Privacy Mayor Morgan proposed a resolution reprimanding Councilman Mazzara for the way he brought up the alleged code violations on the Tom Armstrong property, but no action was taken on this resolution. Mayor Morgan stated that the most blatant abuse of an elected official's power is to invade the privacy of an individual citizen. We have had many situations in the City and have handled them administratively. Regardless of how you feel on an issue, it is improper to call a reporter and to read an indictment against a citizen without following the administrative and legal procedures. Councilman Mazzara believes that this was a proper way of bringing up a concern on a code violation for discussion purposes. It was not handled administratively. I tried to address the issue and unfortunately had no response from any of the City Councilmembers. I still feel this concern has to be addressed instead of changing the code. This may also be the first time that a resolution has been put together to publicly reprimand any City Councilmember for doing his job. Fred Nazarian brought up the Leroy Rossow situation which was brought before the Council in exactly the same way: he built a LAKE ELMO CITY COUNCIL MINUTES FEBRUARY 18, 1986 Page 9 commercial business in his Rl zoning and was forced to tear down his building. Mayor Morgan stated that the Rossow situation was handled administratively and. legally. John Schiltz asked why he pays commercial taxes to run a commercial busiess and other people can pay Ag Preserve taxes to run their business. Councilwoman Armstrong stated that the people that put together the Ag Preserve Act had other uses in mind that people could do on their farms while they were maintaining their land. Councilman Christ stated that on more than one occasion the City Attorney had said that it is not a code violation. City Attorney Knaak advised that there is no code violation. In this instance I was asked to do an analysis and opinion with the facts I had on hand with those presumptions, if in effect. The code states that if there is a previous existing use (which I saw no evidence to indicate that there was not), then that is an allowed use and it is grandfathered in. If it is a common practice for other people to use farm buildings for similar purposes and it was argued that it was, and I saw evidence to suggest that it was, and again the presumptions are in effect, then I have to say that it is an allowed use. City Attorney Knaak advised the Council that he has discussed this with City Administrator Overby and has since worked out some language which would require an annual review for these kind of uses. As the code is currently worded, this is an allowed use with the facts that we got,. If you don't like it, change the code. M/S/P Dunn/Christ -• to adjourn the City Council meeting at 11:05 p.m. (Motion carried 5-0).