HomeMy WebLinkAbout04/10/2007MINUTES OF THE LAUDERDALE CITY COUNCIL
TUESDAY, APRIL 10, 2007
7.3Op. m. Lauderdale City Hall, 1891 Walnut Street
Mayor Pro -tem Karen Doherty called the meeting to order at 7:30 p.m. and asked City
Administrator Heck to call the roll. Council members present: Karen Gill -Gerbig, Denise
Hawkinson, Karen Doherty, and Clay Christensen. Administrator Heck said Mayor
Dains called to state he would be late to the meeting.
Also present were staff members Jim Bownik, Assistant to the City Administrator and
Heather Butkowski, Deputy Clerk.
Mayor Pro -tem Doherty asked if there were any additions or deletions to the agenda.
Council member Hawkinson moved approval of the agenda as presented. Council
member Gill -Gerbig seconded the motion and it carried.
Mayor Pro -tem Doherty asked if there were any additions or corrections to the minutes of
the March 27, 2007, City Council minutes. There being none, council member
Christensen moved approval. Council member Hawkinson seconded the motion and it
carried.
Mayor Pro -tem Doherty asked if there were any questions on the claims. Council
member Hawkinson asked if staff had arrived at a satisfactory and comfortable uniform.
Heck stated that several shirts were tried. Bownik stated the City is purchasing new tee
shirts and polo shirts and staff will be able to wear those.
There being no further questions or comments on the claims, Council member
Hawkinson moved to approve the claims in the amount of $66,396.02. Council member
Christensen seconded the motion and it carried.
Mayor Pro -tem Doherty asked if there was anyone present who wished to address the
Council on issues not on the agenda.
Gail Strain — 1805 Fulham Street addressed the Council and asked about the nuisance
ordinance and how long a nuisance was allowed to exist. She also asked if the Council
could define a nuisance. Finally, she commented that something should be done about
the dilapidated fences along highway 280.
Heck said the Council will be reviewing and updating the nuisance ordinance, and at this
time, it is unknown if there will be provisions to address property maintenance type
issues such as dilapidated fences, pealing paint and such.
The Council thanked Ms. Strain for her comments.
Steve McDonald of Abdo, Eick and Meyers addressed the Council to discuss the results
of the yearend 2006 audit.
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Mr. McDonald stated the City is in good shape from a financial standpoint. He indicated
the City increased the over all balance in most funds. After he walked the Council
through the management letter, he discussed some of the changes found in the report. He
highlighted the graphs that showed how Lauderdale compares to Abdo's other clients in
areas such as debt ratio, per capita tax, and per capita spending.
He stated the sewer fund needs to be monitored as the operating costs are getting close to
the actual revenue and the funds cash flow needs to be maintained through the possibility
of a rate increase.
Mayor Pro -tem Doherty asked if the auditors worked with staff to teach them procedures
to limit the number of end of year journal entries.
McDonald responded their goal is to keep journal entries between 12 and 15. He said the
auditors did not change where staff credited or debited funds.
Gill -Gerbig suggested staff prepare an article for the City Newsletter regarding the
outcome of the audit and the financial status of the city.
Mayor Dains arrived and addressed the rental housing hearing for 1936 Walnut and 1793
Pleasant. Butkowski provided a brief background on the status of the license
applications. Heck stated the owner provided a letter that the smoke alarms will be
installed and the work on the steps will be completed by May 31, 2007.
Based on the information provided, Council member Gill -Gerbig suggested agreeing to
the extension request on the condition smoke alarms are installed immediately and the
other work is completed by the date provided.
Staff is to bring the Findings of Fact to the next meeting with the conditional license
language for adoption by the Council.
The Council discussed when to hold the joint meeting regarding Fulham Street. Heck
stated Falcon Heights holds regular Council meetings on the second and fourth
Wednesdays and a work session on the first Wednesday of each month. After consulting
calendars, the council recommended meeting with Falcon Heights on Wednesday, June 6,
2007. Heck is to coordinate with Justin Miller, Falcon Heights Administrator, on the
meeting.
Bownik presented the proposed change order to add an 8x20 fiberglass practice board to
the tennis court. He stated the engineer confirmed the design they propose will be
sufficient to support the practice board. Bownik informed the Council the posts for the
fence will be driven through the tennis court surface and down 5'. He outlined the
additional cost for the practice board installation as designed by the engineer. He then
discussed the alternative to have the posts holding the practice board installed with
concrete footings. He stated the additional cost would be approximately $600.
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Bownik recommended installation of the practice board without the concrete footings.
He stated there should be little problem with wind as the courts are partially sheltered by
a hill and trees. He also stated this type of installation is rather common and the footings
might result in cracking and heaving of the tennis court surface.
Council member Hawkinson didn't feel the wind would be a major factor; her concern is
the potential cracking of the court surface around the posts with the footings.
Council member Christensen said he is ok with the engineers' recommendation and is
also concerned about possible heaving and future maintenance.
Council member Gill -Gerbig moved to approve the change order as recommended.
Council member Christensen seconded the motion and it carried on a roll call vote
with all members voting yes.
Heck went over the possible items for the next meeting and added Senator Marty and
Representative Greiling are scheduled to be at the meeting.
Heck provided the administrator update. He stated he spoke to Mr. Skow about the
answer to the question he raised in the last letter. Heck said he informed Mr. Skow to
provide the City with a counter proposal if he was unsatisfied with the City's offer. Heck
also informed the Council he worked out an agreement with Mr. Barlow on compliance
issues regarding his rental situation.
Mayor Dains followed up on the comments Heck made regarding Mr. Skow and wanted
to provide direction to Heck regarding this issue. The Mayor commented that his issue is
taking up a lot of staff time.
The meeting adjourned at 8:30 p.m. on a motion by Gill -Gerbig and a second by
Hawkinson.
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