HomeMy WebLinkAbout05/08/2007MINUTES OF THE LAUDERDALE CITY COUNCIL
TUESDAY, MAY 8, 2007
7.30 p.m. Lauderdale City Hall, 1891 Walnut Street
Mayor pro -tem Doherty called the meeting to order at 7:30 p.m. and asked Administrator
Heck to take the roll. Members present: Council members Karen Gill -Gerbig, Denise
Hawkinson, Karen Doherty, and Clay Christensen. Mayor Jeff Dains was not present due
to illness
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.
Heck offered adding an update on the City Wide Garage Sale being held Saturday, May
19, 2007. There being no further additions or deletions, council member Hawkinson
moved approval of the agenda as amended. 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 April 24, 2007, City Council minutes. Council member Hawkinson stated page one
of the minutes in the paragraph about the Roseville Review, it there should be a "two"
between "previous" and "week" as she didn't receive her Review for two weeks. There
being no further amendments to the minutes, 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. There being no
questions or comments on the claims, Council member Gill -Gerbig moved to approve the
claims as presented in the amount of $59,277.48. Council member Hawkinson seconded
the motion and it carried.
Mayor pro -tem Doherty asked if anyone present wished to address the Council on issues
not on the agenda. There being none, the Council took up consideration of the Consent
Agenda.
Council member Christensen moved approval of the consent agenda authorizing Park
Reservations, approving rental housing license applications and training requests, and
authorizing participation and membership in "Minnesota Water — Let's Keep it Clean"
for 2007-2008. Council member Gill -Gerbig seconded the motion and it carried.
Mayor pro -tem Doherty introduced and welcomed Dan Johnson -Powers, the lead CERT
trainer. Dan told the Council about the CERT program. He said CERT stands for Citizen
Emergency Response Team. He went on to say the program is funded through a grant
obtained by the City of Falcon Heights and is designed to train citizen's how to respond
in emergency situations such as floods, tornados, etc., and to become citizen leaders to
organize the community and begin in the recovery process. Dan stated nine (9)
Lauderdale residents completed the training and four are present. Dan then read off the
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names of the participants and each came forward to receive thanks from the Council.
Recognized were: Mr. Peter McSwiggen, Mr. Dennis Dolphin, Mr. Jacob Kanake, and
Ms. Kamini Dalal.
Mr. Dolphin and Mr. Kanake both encouraged other residents to take the training.
Bownik informed the Council about the upcoming Community Garage Sale. He said the
garage sale will take place on Saturday, May 19. He went on to say there are over 15
residents signed up to participate. He said the Comp. Plan task force will be at city hall
for an "open house" to discuss with interested residents the progress of the
comprehensive plan.
Heck outlined the background of the issue stating that a request was made to a council
member if the city loaned or rented the tables and chairs. Heck said some residents
receive tables and chairs for events such as the National Night Out. Heck said there is no
policy covering the use of city equipment by the public. He said concerns include a fee
or deposit to cover damage or replacement of items and the drop off and pick up of the
items.
Hawkinson stated she likes the idea of allowing residents to reserve and use tables and
chairs; however, said a deposit would be needed and the resident needs to be responsible
to pick up and drop off the items.
Gill -Gerbig agreed with Hawkinson and added the deposit needs to be large enough to
cover the cost and staff time to obtain a new item.
Christensen indicated a deposit of $100 to $125 seemed a bit steep.
After further discussion, the Council directed staff to develop a policy on the use of
equipment by the public and recommend a deposit for said use.
The Council discussed the Administrator's wage.
Council member Gill -Gerbig moved to increase the annual wage of the
Administrator by 3% based on the Administrator's performance. Council member
Hawkinson seconded the motion and the motion carried on a roll call vote with
members Gill -Gerbig, Hawkinson, Christensen, and Doherty all voting yes.
Council member Gill -Gerbig moved to delete `Bakken-` from the Administrator's
name on the Agreement between the City and the Administrator. Motion seconded
by Hawkinson and carried with members Hawkinson, Christensen, Gill -Gerbig and
Doherty voting yes.
Bownik provided background on the proposal to have live music in the Community Park,
referred to as "Music Under the Trees," in July and as part of the annual Day in the Park
celebration in August. Bownik said Kathy Larfeld worked on this issue and contacted the
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Roseville community band who will play for $200 and the LexHam Community band
will play for $75.00.
Council member Hawkinson moved to try the Music Under the Trees on July 19
and during Day in the Park, to allocate funds to pay for the bands, and to have the
PCIC be responsible for organizing the event. Motion seconded by Gill -Gerbig and
the motion carried with Christensen, Hawkinson, Gill -Gerbig, and Doherty all
voting yes.
Bownik presented the tee shirt and polo shirt for review by the Council. He said the
PCIC didn't really like the tee shirt design and recommended going back to the old
design on the tee shirts.
Council member Hawkinson moved to change the tee shirt design to the old design
and approved the cost increase of $.50 per tee shirt as proposed. Motion seconded
by Gill -Gerbig and carried with Hawkinson, Christensen, Gill -Gerbig and Doherty
all voting yes.
Butkowski provided background and general information on the history of the Inflow and
Infiltration program and why the City needs to develop a plan to remedy the issue.
Christensen thanked Butkowski for the excellent report and added he liked the idea the
Comprehensive Plan suggested providing a sliding carrot and stick approach.
Doherty asked who would be responsible for doing the home to home inspections. Staff
responded that an outside contracted party would be the recommendation. Christensen
agreed saying a disinterested third party is needed for this process.
The council directed staff to work on updating the ordinance and to work with the
engineering firm in addressing this issue.
Mayor Dains joined the meeting at 8:50 p.m. and brought up the issue of Walsh Lake
water levels during storm events. He said he spoke to a resident in the area who states
the levels of the lake are much higher than usual during rain storms. The resident
suggested the new condos and town homes might be part of the reason for the added
water.
There being no further items for Council consideration, Christensen moved to adjourn the
meeting. Hawkinson seconded the motion and all voted in favor.
Meeting adjourned at 9:00 p.m.
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