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HomeMy WebLinkAbout01-19-88 CCMLAKE ELMO CITY COUNCIL MINUTES JANUARY 19, 1988 Mayor Arlyn Christ called the City Council meeting to p.m. in the City Council chambers. Present: Christ, Graves, and City Attorney Knaak. Absent: Armstrong 1. Agenda order at 7:00 Johnson, Moe, Add: 10. City of Lake Elmo Expenses, 13. 1988 Planning Commission Work Plan; Delete: 6. Planning Commission Reappointments, 7. Parks Commission Reappointmensts M/S/P Graves/Moe - to approve the January 19, 1988 City Council meeting agenda as amended. (Motion carried 4-0). 2. Claims Councilmen Moe and Graves questionned the authorization of claim #89773 for painting of the mural in the entryway. Finance Director Marilyn Banister explained that this could be considered part of the total Building package that was authorized two years ago. The mural was not approved specifically when the building was initially speced out. Moe felt the mural was distasteful and felt $500 was too much to pay. Finance Director Banister reported that the welder for the Maintenance Dept. (claims #89720) will be taken out of the 1988 Budget because they (Maint. Dept.) do not have enough money for payment in the 1987 Budget. M/S/P Moe/Graves - to approve the January 5, 1988 Claim #89720 (Northern Gas Inc.-Maint. Dept. Welder) to be paid out of the 1988 Budget and to approve the January 19, 1988 Claims #89763 thru #89812 as presented with the exception of #89773 Twin Gables Ent. -painting of mural in entry way. (Motion carried 4-0). 3. Minutes: December 1, 1987 M/S/P Johnson/Graves - to approve the December 1, 1987 City Council meeting minutes as presented. (Motion carried 3-0-1 <Abstain: Graves>). Minutes: January 5, 1988 Councilman Graves asked to insert the discussion between himself and Building Official McNamara on inserting Appendix E into the Building Code. M/S/P Moe/Grave - to approve the January 5, 1988 City Council meeting minutes as amended. (Motion carried 3-0-1 <Abstain: Christ>). LAKE ELMO CITY COUNCIL MINUTES JANUARY 19, 1988 PAGE 2 4. Site G Landfill I Todd Williams - E.A.W. Public Scoping Meeting Dan Novak reported that the Stillwater Council unanimously voted to pass a resolution to the Washington County Board of Commissioners opposing the landfill in the park. This brings the total to 7 or 8 resolutions from 30 townships and cities within the County. One of the RE.A.P.P members, Gary Carlson, has applied for a County Waste Management Committee position. If he is appointed, this will give them some influence in the County Waste Management decision -making process. In the first meeting of the new year, RE.A.P.P. made some New Year Resolutions in terms of objectives and priorities. Dan passed out to the council RE.A.P.P.'s objectives and priorities for 1988. In summary, aside from the EAW/EIS which is top priority, the #1 priority will be fundraising. They are also thinking seriously about another legislative effort this year. This time they will handle it differently and will be meeting with Gary Laidig and Harriet McPherson next week or the following week to discuss this. A petition encouraging the City to use all resources available to oppose the landfill including spending a percentage of the budget surplus has been circulating in the City. Just over 37 percent of all the residences are represented by his petition and will be presented to the Council at a later date. The Tri-Lakes Board unanimously passed a comparable resolution opposing the landfill earlier this month. Copies were given to the City Council. The Tri-Lakes Association has donated $200 to RE.A.P.P. for their fight in opposition of the Site G landill. Funds raised to date as a result of the recent phone campaign are $2,306. They have a checkbook balance currently of $2,680. ban informed the Council of the Public Scoping meeting set for Monday, January 25th at the Washington County Government Center Boardroom. Dan felt this meeting was extremely critical and felt it was important that the City, besides REAPP, is represented at this meeting. Dan suggested that the Council authorize City Engineer Larry Bohrer and City Attorney Fritz Knaak to be present at the public hearing. He felt it would be appropriate for the CouncilmembXs to be there and added that Leslie Davis from Earth Protectors, members of the Sierra Club and possibly the Audubon Society will be there in opposition of the Site G landfill. Invitations have been extended to Gary Laidig and Harriet McPherson. Todd Williams explained that this meeting is to get input as to issues to be covered uder the Environmental Impact Statement. The Council felt that City Engineer Bohrer was well -qualified to speak on technical issues and should present this data on behalf of the City. Mayor Christ suggested Attorney Dayton attend this meeting. Novak felt it would be very appropriate for City Attorney Knaak or Attorney Chuck Dayton to speak on the legal issues that should be resolved LAKE ELMO CITY COUNCIL MINUTES JANUARY 19, 1908 PAGE 3 before we invest a half a million dollars in this study. Knaak responded that he would be happy to do it, but Chuck Dayton has done some preliminary legal work and felt it would make sense to have him present this. Knaak felt this was an important part in the process and technical issues could be raised. Knaak was willing to approach Attorney Dayton and would be perfectly willing to let this be Dayton's show. Mayor Christ felt we had better take all the expertise we can get and that he was prepared to do whatever we have to do to stop this thing. M/S/P Graves/Moe - to direct City Attorney Knaak to interact with Attorney Chuck Dayton to attend the Public Scoping Meeting set for January 25th at a fee of up to $600. (Motion carried 4-0). M/S/P Graves/Moe - to direct City Engineer Bohrer to review the EAW in detail and prepare his comments accordingly. (Motion carried 4-0). The Council authorized Todd Williams and Dan Novak to interact with the City Engineer and City Attorney for issue coordination in order to avoid redundancy. 5. Selection Process for New City Administrator The City Office has received 73 applications for the City Administrator position. Mayor Christ has suggested that each councilmember select five applications that they feel would qualify for the position. The Council should then be able to reach a consensus as to which candidates should be interviewed. Councilman Moe stated that he has yet to figure out why we even need a City Administrator and asked if it was written in stone that we have to have one. Moe felt that every time we don't have one, everything still moves. He asked what major things is a City Administrator going to do in a city of 6,000. Moe suggested that they might look at another clerk typist to help with the workload. Graves felt that someone was needed who would have the responsibility to act in this function of an office manager and referred to the correspondence that Bob Overby had prepared directed towards other agencies and responsibilities. Mayor Christ stated that what Lake Elmo needed is a unified administrative front instead of several employees working without much coordinating. Strong issues like the Site G landfill need a strong city administrator to handle them. Christ added that maybe 5 or 6 years ago a strong administrator could have nipped it in the bud before it got to the point of the county approving it. Councilman Johnson agreed with Moe, but felt with a strong administrator or good manager some of the rougher spots the city experienced in the last year may have been avoided if he was on top of things. Johnson added "If a city manager can keep us out of one lawsuit, it might pay his salary for several years." Moe responded that he didn't buy his particular argument. He doesn't see any city LAKE ELMO CITY COUNCIL MINUTES JANUARY 19, 1988 PAGE 4 administrator keeping them out of a lawsuit --they are the only ones that can do that. Moe again stressed that the office staff is short of help. He doesn't see a city administrator being the type of help that is needed. Mayor Christ agreed that maybe the Council should authorize some needed part time clerical help. City Attorney Knaak thought it would be helpful if he looked into the state statutes and legal ramifications of not having a city administrator which the Council agreed to. The Council decided to continue reviewing the applications and continue discussion on what the Council wants in a City Administrator as far as duties and responsibilities. 6. Planning Commission Appointments There is one vacancy on the Planning Commission for the Second Alternate position. Joseph Kieffer had withdrawn his application. Two applications have been received: Linda Stone Applied 11-9-87 2390 Legion Lane N. Dean Johnston Applied 1-13-88 8200 Hill Trail Councilman Graves felt that both applicants were qualified candidates. Graves favored the appointment of Dean Johnston based on the fact that he served previously on the Planning Commission and had contributed greatly to the Planning Commission and took his position responsible. Mayor Christ agreed with Dean's statements in his application about preserving the fine quality of life in Lake Elmo and work towards that. Councilman Johnson agreed with the appointments, but warned the Council against putting a diproportionate number of people from the northern end of the city of the commission. Graves expanded this to include other people from the community such as business owners, farmers, from the Section 32-33 area, and the northeast part of the community. M/S/P Graves/Moe - to appoint Dean Johnston, 8200 Hill Trail, as Second Alternate of the Lake Elmo Planning Commission, but at the same time recognizing the fine credentials and earnest interest on the part of Linda Stone. DeaRt�, A-1 rep].aoe(AL-^-^KMde as 2nd Alternate (Motion carried 4-0). Rob Enes will move up to ull voting member replacing Steve Raleigh. 7. Parks Commission Appointments The City received one application for the open seat on the Parks Commission: Gary A. Lee Applied 12-24-87 8251 Deer Pond Ct. N. LAKE ELMO CITY COUNCIL MINUTES JANUARY 19, 1988 PAGE 5 M/S/P Moe/Craves - to appoint Gary A. Lee, 8251 Deer Pond Ct. N., to i' the'Lake Elmo Parks Commission as Second Alternate. Gary will rej?lane Sharon Simpson as Second Alternate. (Motion carried 4-0). . -e IIDJU i ILI 8. Lake Jane Landfill Update - County Staff Mary Luth and Paul Josephson, Washington County, were present to answer questions on the 1987 Evaluation Report on the Lake Jane Landfill. Mary Luth explained that the counties' short-term goals include the prevention of further migration of the pollutants and the continued clean-up and monitoring of residential -area wells. Luth stated that they have seen significant improvement in this area and the levels of contaminants are generally down and, in some places, are now undetectable. Another short term goal is to restore the landfill area to a community park facility, Luth said. The Counties also will continue using the two gradient -control wells aleeady working inside the landfill, and they may add a third gradient -control well in the future. Councilman Graves asked about new contaminants showing up in the NW wells that were not there before. Josephson responded that the two NW wells have exceeded the criteria before and still do. Graves asked if new contaminants have been found there. Josephson answered that vinyl chloride was detected this past summer. The MPCA may have tested for this, but he would have to check the records. Long-range goals for the landfill clean-up are continued monitoring, maintenance and pumping of contaminated wells. Mary Luth reported that it would take up to 30 years for the project to be shut down, or "final site disposal" and that the 30-year timeframe is consistent with other projects around the country. Luth stated that by the year 2018 all residential wells would be clean. Councilman Graves was surprised at the time span necessary to clean up the landfill and asked if this was acceptable. Luth responded that 30 years is probably not acceptable to anyone affected by the contaminated wells, but it's the best the counties can do in terms of this project. Councilman Johnson asked how "clean" is clean. Luth responded that in terms of addressing the long term, they are talking about no levels of contaminants being found in the year 2018. BecaUSe of a snowstorm making the roads drift over and causing hazardous driving, the City Council decided for safety reasons to adjourn the meeting. The Council asked the county staff to come bank and finish their presentation at the February 2nd City Council meeting which they agreed to. M/S/P Graves/Moe - to adjourn the City Council meeting at 8:40 p.m. (Motion carried 4-0). Since we do not have time to discuss every point presented, it may seem that decisions are preconceived. However, background information is provided for the City Council on each agenda item in advance from City Staff and appointed Commissions; and decisions are based on this information and past experiences. In addition, some items may also have been discussed at previous Council meetings. If you are aware of information that hasn't been discussed, please fill out a "Request to Appear Before the City Council" slip; or, if you came late, raise your hand to be recognized. Comments that are pertinent are appreciated. Items requiring excessive time may be continued to another meeting. AGENDA LAKE ELMO CITY COUNCIL MEETING JANUARY 19, 1988 7:00 p.m. MEETING CONVENES 1. AGENDA 2. CLAIMS 3. MINUTES: DECEMBER 1, 1987 JANUARY 5, 1988 7:10 P.M. 4. SITE G LANDFILL TODD WILLIAMS - E.A.W. PUBLIC SCOPING MEETING 7:40 P.M. 5. SELECTION PROCESS FOR NEW CITY ADMINISTRATOR 6. PLANNING COMMISSION APPOINTMENTS 7. PARKS COMMISSION APPOINTMENTS 8:00 P.M. 8. LAKE JANE LANDFILL UPDATE COUNTY STAFF 9:00 P.M . .............. BREAK ....................... 9:10 P.M. 9. CITY ENGINEER'S CONTRACT (CONTINUATION) 10. MAINTENANCE REQUESTS (CONTINUATION) 11. CURBSIDE RECYCLING PROPOSAL (CONTINUATION) 12. CITY HALL POLICY