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HomeMy WebLinkAbout07/10/2012LAUDERDALE CITY COUNCIL MEETING MINUTES Lauderdale City Hall 1891 Walnut Street Lauderdale, MN 55113 Pagel of 3 July 10, 2012 Mayor Dains called the City Council meeting to order at 7:34 p.m. Councilors present: Mary Gaasch, Lara Mac Lean, Roxanne Grove, and Denise Hawkinson and Mayor Jeff Dains. Staff present: Heather Butkowski, City Administrator; Jim Bownik, Assistant to the City Administrator; and Kevin Kelly, Deputy City Clerk. Mayor Dains asked for changes to the meeting agenda. The Council offered no changes to the agenda. Councilor Grove moved to approve the agenda. Councilor Mac Lean seconded the motion and it passed unanimously. Councilor Mac Lean moved to approve the June 26, 2012, City Council meeting minutes. Councilor Grove seconded the motion and it passed unanimously. Councilor Hawkinson moved approval of the claims totaling $93,803.25. Councilor Grove seconded the motion and it passed unanimously. Councilor Hawkinson moved to approve the consent agenda approving city park applications, the Proclamation Policy, and the appointment of 2012 election judges. Councilor Mac Lean seconded the motion and it passed unanimously. Bownik addressed the Council regarding the second and final Music under the Trees event this year. Bownik stated the trio, Sweet Rhubarb, is the scheduled performer. The event will be on Monday, July 23 at 7:30 p.m. The Schwan's truck will not be at this event but Schwan's plans to donate frozen treats again. Discussion Items: The Council discussed purchasing "no fault" sewer backup insurance through the League of Minnesota Cities Insurance Trust (LMCIT). Currently, the LMCIT only pays out sewer back up claims if the City is at fault for the backup. The City may purchase a no-fault policy which would provide coverage even if the City was not at fault. No fault coverage pays homeowners who don't have or have inadequate sewer coverage on their homeowners' insurance policies. The Council asked who determined what was covered; Butkowski said claims are handled by LMCIT adjusters. LAUDERDALE CITY COUNCIL MEETING MINUTES Lauderdale City Hall 1891 Walnut Street Lauderdale, MN 55113 Page 2 of 3 The cost to the City for the no-fault insurance would be around $650 to $700 a year for $10,000 worth of coverage. The costs could be paid out of the Sanitary Sewer Enterprise Fund. There are just over 600 sewer connections in the city. The cost per sewer service would be around $1.00. All claims are subject to a $500 deductible paid by the City. The Mayor asked about the usage patterns of the no-fault insurance by other cities which have the insurance. Butkowski said she would ask LMCIT staff. Council consensus was to have staff apply for no-fault insurance and bring it back to the Council if the City qualifies. City staff asked the original tennis court surface contractor for the cost to remove graffiti or repaint the surface. The contractor said he was busy and it was difficult for staff to get information from him. Staff began looking for alternative tennis surfacing companies. The last week of June, staff noticed the graffiti had been covered and the cracks sealed. The work was done satisfactorily and within the expected price range. As the work was done without prior Council authorization, staff asked the Council if they would approve payment of the bill. Councilor Gaasch moved to pay the claim for the tennis court repair. Councilor Mac Lean seconded the motion and it passed unanimously. At the last meeting, the Council discussed Ralph Mikel's request for compensation to pave the area between the alley and his garage. Mikel felt the damage to his garage floor was due to not getting a cement wall between his garage and the alley during the street reconstruction project 9 years ago. The city engineer (Darren Amundson) from Stantec looked into these concerns with staff prior to the June 26 Council Meeting. The city engineer at the time felt the wall wasn't warranted. Amundson still believes the slope is within acceptable engineering standards. Councilor Gaasch moved to deny payment of $1,620 to install a concrete surface between the Mikel's garage and alley. Councilor Grove seconded the motion. Councilors Gaasch, Grove, Hawkinson and Mayor Dains voted yea and Councilor Mac Lean voted nay and the motion prevailed. Councilor Gaasch asked staff for clarification whether a resident could remove a boulevard tree. City ordinance is contradictory stating in one section that the city administrator can grant a resident permission to remove a tree and in another section only the Council has that authority. Similarly, staff said permission for planting smaller items in the boulevard is contradictory in city code. Staff asked the Council for guidance on the matters. Staff will update the ordinances based up on the direction given. The boulevard tree issue will be discussed at a future meeting. LAUDERDALE CITY COUNCIL MEETING MINUTES Lauderdale City Hall 1891 Walnut Street Lauderdale, MN 55113 Page 3 of 3 Agenda items for the July 10 Council Meeting include a discussion on the open burning and rental housing license ordinances and the 2013 budget. Mayor Dains explained the Council was moving into the work session. Work sessions are a continuation of the meeting but not aired on community television. The Mayor asked if anyone present wished to address the Council. Ralph Mikel from 1843 Malvern addressed the Council. Mikel was not present when the vote was taken regarding his property. Mikel stated he was not happy with the council's decision as his neighbors' received a concrete wall during the project. He said he would look into hiring an attorney as he felt he has a good cause for a law suit. Harvey Skow from 1931 Carl Street addressed the Council. He clarified that the adjacent homeowner owns the right-of-way on the boulevard with the City having access to the property for utilities. Crystal Wisen from 1765 Carl Street addressed the Council. She wanted to thank the City for the quick removal of a boulevard tree which went down in the storm in June. Colleen Dolphin presented to the Council logo designs from other cities. She likes designs with "simplicity" rather than designs with many elements. The Council gave input on the logo design. Dolphin especially wanted the council to think about the shape of the logo and the colors to be used as well. Dolphin also stated it is usually a good idea to limit the amount of edits to the logo design to two rounds. Dolphin stated she will work on the logo and submit her work to the Council for input. There being no further business on the council agenda, Councilor Grove moved to adjourn the meeting. Councilor Gaasch seconded the motion and it carried. The meeting adjourned at 8:31 p.m. Respectfully submitted, Kevin elly Deputy City Clerk