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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMinutes - 1977/07/25PROCEEDINGS OF THE CITY COUNCIL CITY OF MOUNDS VIEW RAMSEY COUNTY, MINNESOTA A regular meeting of the Mounds View City Council was called to order by Mayor Pickar at 7:30 pm on July 25, 1977 at the Mounds View City Hall, 2401 Highway 10, Mounds View, Minnesota 55112. Members Present: Also Present: Mayor Pickar Councilmember Councilmember Councilmember Councilmember Rowley Ziebarth Baumgartner Hodges Clerk- Administrator Achen Engineer Hubbard MSP (Hodges Ziebarth) to approve the minutes of the July 11, 1977 meeting as presented. 4 ayes 1 abstain Councilmember Rowley explained that she had abstained since she was absent from the July 11 meeting. CITIZEN COMMENTS AND REQUESTS Mrs. Ernest Freyberger, 5178 Longview Drive asked to address the Council regard- ing some problems she and her husband were having with the police and the vehicles parked at their home. She explained that a neighbor was continuously calling the police and complaining about the number of vehicles parked in their yard and was claiming that they were operating a garage. She also explained that there is a law- suit pending now but that she would like the police harassment to stop. Mrs. Freyberger stated that they have several children in their family which accounts for a good deal of the cars parked at the home. She also stated that the neighbor had taken license numbers and pictures of the cars and that she did not like that type of harassment. Also, Steve Rose had recently stopped out to see her and inquired about the ownership of a van parked in her garage. Mrs. Freyberger stated that she did not feel it was the City's business whose vehicles were parked in her yard or garage, as long as they were not violating the law. Mayor Pickar explained that in order for the law to be violated as far as running a business out of their home, an exchange of money had to take place. He also stated that he had not received any police reports of the situation and was not aware that Mr. Rose had stopped out to see the Freybergers but that he would check into the situation and take the matter under advisement. Pauline Stauner, 2454 County Road H2 stated that she was present at the July 20 Planning Commission meeting and wanted to know why Commission Member Allen Zepper had not participated in the discussion of the O'Neal development request, being that Mr. Zepper was a resident of the area involved. July 25, 1977 Page 2 Councilmember Baumgartner stated that he had been present at the Planning Commission meeting and that although he had thought Mr. Zepper voluntarily stepped down from his seat during the discussion, he found out later, from Mr. Zepper, that he had been asked to step down by the Planning Commission as it was felt he had a conflict of interest. Councilmember Baumgartner stated that he thought it was highly irregular of the Planning Commission to do that and that if he had known that when the discussion began, he would have brought the issue up at that time. Mayor Pickar stated that generally in order to have a conflict of interest, there must be a financial interest in the subject and that in Mr. Zepper's case, he was merely a resident of the area. Mayor Pickar directed Administrator Achen to contact the chairperson of the Planning Commission and request a written response as to why Mr. Zepper was asked to step down from his seat during the discussion. APPROVAL OF CONSENT AGENDA MSP (Ziebarth- Hodges) to approve the consent except Item F, which will be placed on the regular agenda for discussion at the request of Councilmember Baumgartner: ITEM A. Set public hearing for 8:00 PM, August 8, 1977, on Stanley Fisher single family preliminary plat of property generally located at 8270 Groveland Road. ITEM B. Set public hearing for 8:10 PM, August 8, 1977, on PBK Investment Company industrial preliminary plat for property generally located at 2172 Mustange Drive. ITEM C. Set public hearing for 7:40 PM, August 22, 1977, on Fred C. O'Neal mixed commercial and residential preliminary plat and rezoning for property generally located at 2500 Highway 10. ITEM D. Set public hearing for 8:15 PM, August 22, 1977, on Pinecrest Properties concept plan for planned unit development of property generally located at 2245 Highway 10 and known as Northcrest Park. ITEM E. Set public hearing for 8:30 PM, August 22, 1977, on James Refrigeration conditional use permit to develop commercial property generally located at 27411 Highway 10. ITEM G. Approve, as recommended by the Planning Commission (July 20, 1977), the minor subdivision request of Ben Peichel to create two lots from property located at 8408 Long Lake Road. The west lot, fronting on Greenwood Drive, shall be 170.00 feet deep. The east lot, fronting on Long Lake Road, shall he 102.82 feet deep on the north lot line and 174.27 feet deep on the south lot line. July 25, 1977 Page 3 ITEM ITEM ITEM H. Appoint Margaret A. Long to the position of senior accounting clerk effective July 25, 1977, to be paid at the rate of $4.30 per hour. I. Approve the July 25, 1977, bills for payment. J. Approve the following licenses: AMUSEMENT DEVICES expires 12 -31 -77 Twin City Novelty for operation of one 9549 Penn Ave. S. amusement device Bloomington, MN 2400 County Road RESTAURANT expires 6 -30 -77 Best Steak House 2555 Highway 10 Mounds View, MN 55432 CONTRACTORS expire 6 -30 -77 General renewal Sunnyside Builders 5237 Sunnyside Road Mounds View, MN 55112 Tom Hansen Construction 8715 W. River Road Minneapolis, MN 55430 D. C. General Builders 9919 206th St. Forest Lake, MN 55025 Sewer Water renewal Beyer Excavating 2742 County Road J Minneapolis, MN 55432 Masonry new Jedneak Bros. Construction 9188 Cottonwood Lane Osseo, MN 55369 Masonry renewal Leo Sanders Concrete Co, 7813 Jackson St. N.E. Spring Lake Park, MN 55432 general at Anchor Inn H -2 General new Consumer's Building Service 3238 N. Highway 61 St. Paul, MN 55110 Valley Pools 14192 Garrett Avenue Apple Valley, MN 55124 Riggs Construction Co. 2200 Erin Court New Brighton, MN 55112 Aqualand Pools 3400 Dakota Ave. S. Minneapolis, MN 55416 Erickson Home Builders 7658 Hampshire Ave. N. Minneapolis, MN 55428 Excavating new Julian M. Johnson Construction 1229 Osborne Road Minneapolis, MN 55432 Moving renewal Badger Movers 3550 Grimes No. Minneapolis, MN 55422 July 25, 1977 Page 4 Masonry renewal (continued) Gresser, Inc. 1971 Seneca Road Eagan, MN 55122 Masonry Services 1030 Edgewater Ave. N. Shoreview, MN 55112 Asphalt renewal T. A. Schifsky Sons 2370 Highway 36 Fridley, MN 55432 Heating renewal St. Marie Sheet Metal 7940 Spring Lake Road Minneapolis, MN 55432 American Burner Service 10101 Naples St. N.E. Minneapolis, MN 55434 Soderville Plumbing 17616 Highway 65 Soderville, MN 55303 WELLER MINOR SUBDIVISION Councilmember Baumgartner stated that approval of this subdivision should include a variance of the garage side yard setback for the south lot. Admin. Achen stated that because the Planning Commission has authority to grant the setback variance and did so at its July 20th meeting, it was not included in the consent agenda motion. MSP (Baumgartner- Hodges) to approve Item F of the consent agenda as follows: Approve, as recommended by the Planning Commission (July 20, 1977), the minor subdivision request of Joseph Weller to create two lots from property located at 7959 Sunnyside Road. The north lot shall be 76.00 feet wide and the south lot 89.00 feet wide. A variance of the 85 foot minimum frontage requirement is hereby authorized for the north lot. SEAL COATING PROJECT 1977 -5 Engineer Hubbard reported that bids for the 1977 street seal coating project were opened at 10:00 AM on July 25 and that only two bids were received, one from Allied Blacktop Company, Inc. for $27,292.00 and the other from Bituminous Road- ways, Inc. for $32,252.00. The low bid from Allied Blacktop was $10,608.00 less than he had estimated it would be. Last year's low bid for the same area was $43,915.00 but also included several street repairs. This year the City's Public Works Department has repaired some of the bad areas and contracted out several of the larger repairs. The City has spent approximately $2,000 on these repairs. Eng. Hubbard reported that Allied Blacktop Co. has performed seal coat work in Mounds View previously and is qualified to undertake the project and recommended that the Council approve awarding the project to Allied Blacktop. Mayor Pickar asked Eng. Hubbard why there could be such a large difference between his estimate and the bid, even though the bid was lower rather than higher. Eng. Hubbard explained that bidders may be more anxious for work this year, the material prices bid were significantly lower than last year, and this year the miscellaneous repair work is not included. MSP (Pickar Rowley) to award the contract for the seal coating project, 1977 -5, to Allied Blacktop Company, Inc. at a cost of $27,292.00. 5 aye3 July 25, 1977 Page 5 SUBURBAN RAMSEY COUNTY EMERGENCY COMMUNICATIONS BOARD JOINT POWERS AGREEMENT Admin. Achen reported that the joint powers agreement for Suburban Ramsey County Emergency Communications Board had been reviewed and approved by the City Attorney and recommended adoption of the enabling resolution submitted at the July 11, 1977, Council meeting. Mayor Pickar asked if the problems that had been previously noted had been worked out satisfactorily. Admin. Achen replied that the only problem had been a question of participation by Spring Lake Park and that they would be added under Article V, Section 3. MSP (Ziebarth- Hodges) to adopt Resolution #845 for the joint powers agreement for the Suburban Ramsey County Emergency Communications Board. 5 ayes MINNESOTA BENEFIT ASSOCIATION EMPLOYEE PAYROLL DEDUCTIONS Mayor Pickar stated that he had put the item back on the agenda after the Council had turned it down because he had spoken to representatives of the Minnesota Benefit Association (MBA) atthe League of Minnesota Cities in Rochester and that he now understood the program better. He had been under the impression that the MBA was a profitable organization but after speaking to representatives of MBA, learned that it is a non profit organization who represents several insurance companies and whose purpose is to find the best insurance available for each employee at the best cost. Mayor Pickar stated that he felt the MBA should be approved for payroll deductions if an employee should choose. Councilmember Ziebarth asked if there was presently a payroll deduction system for the City employees. Admin. Achen replied that there are presently payroll deductions taken for group health, the credit union, union dues and the United Fund. Councilmember Ziebarth stated that he was concerned with how the contract reads and wondered if the expense of payroll deductions would have to be negotiated with the unions before being approved. Admin. Achen replied that it was not negotiable, to his knowledge, based on past discussions. Councilmember Ziebarth asked what the expense would be to the City to have another payroll deduction taken. Admin. Achen replied that would be the responsibility of the City bookkeeper, and it would depend upon the number of employees who signed up to participate. If just a few employees chose to have the deduction taken, the cost would not be great. However, if a good number of employees went with the program, the cost and time spent could become considerable. Councilmember Ziebarth asked where it would stop if the payroll deduction was approved and stated that he felt it should be a negotiable item if there was going to be an expense to the City. Mayor Pickar stated that MBA would not be contacting employees until the City had approved a payroll deduction and thus, there would not be employee requests for this until the City had approved it, and consequently, they would not know in advance of employee interest. July 25, 1977 Councilmember Ziebarth stated that it had been his experience that any expenses incurred for the City had to be negotiated by the locals. Admin. Achen stated there was nothing stated in the contracts presently with either local regarding payroll deductions. Mayor Pickar pointed out that the MBA is State supported and he felt the City should also support it by approving a payroll deduction. He also stated that he felt it would be very beneficial to be able to offer the services of the MBA tc City employees. Councilmember Baumgartner stated he felt the City should not get involved with payroll deductions for MBA. If they did, it would in a sense indicate the City's approval of the MBA and could result in the City being sued by an employee who was not satisfied with the MBA if they refused to honor a claim, or something similar. Mayor Pickar pointed out that the MBA is a non profit organization. Councilmember Baumgartner stated that it was a matter of opinion if they were non profit since there were employees of the MBA who were salaried. Councilmember Baumgartner stated that he also felt it was the responsibility of each individual employee to seek out additional insurance from his own insurance agent or any other insurance agent on his own, rather than rely on the City to find it for him. MS (Pickar- Hodges) to authorize the Minnesota Benefit Association the power to solicit payroll deductions from Mounds View City employees for insurance. A rollcall vote was taken: Councilmember Councilmember Councilmember Councilmember Mayor Pickar Motion defeated. Rowley nay Ziebarth nay Baumgartner nay Hodges aye aye Mayor Pickar expressed his displeasure at the issue being vetoed by the Council and stated he thought it deprived City employees of additional benefits. Page 6 3 nays 2 ayes INTERNATIONAL UNION OF OPERATING ENGINEERS LOCAL NO. 49 MODIFICATION OF 1977- 1878 LABOR AGREEMENT Admin. Achen reported that the contract for Local No. 49 had been modified in that the original contract the Council had approved stated that overtime would be distributed equally. The modification states that overtime will be distributed on a seniority basis whenever practical to the extent that the overtime will be given to an individual who is qualified to do the work. Admin. Achen recommended the Council approve the modifications. MSP Pickar- Ziebarth) to approve the 1977 -78 labor agreement with the International Union of Operating Engineers Local No. 49 with the modification of the overtime section as recommended by the Administratnr. 5 ayes July 25, 1977 Page 7 ADMINISTRATOR ACHEN'S REPORT Admin. Achen reported that in response to the City's request, Ramsey County has approved a four -way stop at Spring Lake Road and County Road J but not at Red Oak Drive. The stop will be installed on a two -year trial basis. The County has also requested that the State do a speed zoning study of County Road J and that new T.H.10 be given top priority for speedy construction. Admin. Achen also stated that the City must formally execute a resolution to approve the final plans and specifications for the noise barriers to go in along Interstate 35W. The construction will be starting soon and must be completed by June of 1979. MSP (Hodges Pickar) to authorize execution of Resolution #841, approving the final plans and specifications for noise barriers to be constructed along Inter- state 35W. 5 ayes Admin. Achen reported that Banister Short Elliott Hendrickson Associates have changed their name by dropping off the Banister. Mr. Banister has left the firm, which will now be known as Short Elliott Hendrickson, Incorporated. Admin. Achen reported that the City is in the process of hiring a replacement for Deborah Schultz, effective August 1, 1977, and requested Council authority to hire an individual. He did not have a name available yet but asked for authorization to hire someone by August 1, since the next Council meeting would not be until August 8. The position is for a senior clerk- typist for the Inspection Department and Housing Program and will be paid $3.25 to $3.50 per hour. MSP (Ziebarth- Rowley) to authorize Admin. Achen to hire a replacement for Deborah Schultz effective August 1, 1977. Admin. Achen reported that a staff budget session will be held at 8:30 A.M. Friday, July 29. The Council is welcome to attend as observers. So far budget requests from department heads have totaled $999,000. Projected revenues are $903,000 assuming a 1.1 mill increase in the city property tax. ENGINEER HUBBARD had no report. COUNCILMEMBER ROWLEY'S REPORT Councilmember Rowley reported that there would be a meeting of the Lakeside Park Committee on Thursday, July 28, and that they have requested Doug Bryant and the Spring Lake Park City Park Director to give them some ideas of how their budget could be scaled down. COUNCILMEMBER ZIEBARTH'S REPORT Councilmember Ziebarth stated that there would also be a meeting of the Parks and Recreation Commission on Thursday, July 28. 5 ayes July 25, 1977 Page 8 COUNCILMEMBER BAUMGARTNER'S REPORT Councilmember Baumgartner reported that the Planning Commission had approved many items at their July 20 meeting which were now on the consent agenda of the City Council and had just been approved, namely items A, B, C, D, and E and asked that the Councilmembers take time to review the information they have received from the staff and /or developers before the public hearings take place. He also reported that the Planning Commission had discussed off street parking of commercial vehicles and that while he had driven around the City prior to the Planning Commission meeting and looked at the vehicles, the other members of the Commission had not. So they are going to view the vehicles and will come to the next Planning Commission meeting ready to discuss and make a recommendation on this subject. Lee Watkins, 2609 Louise, asked what type of trucks Councilmember Baumgartner was referring to. Councilmember Baumgartner replied that they would be evaluating every type of truck. It is mainly the large semi' s that everyone is concerned with but that the Commission will attempt to define where the line should be drawn. Councilmember Ziebarth asked if there had been any changes made to the Northcrest Park concept plan since the Council had last seen it. Councilmember Baumgartner replied that the only change that had been made was that Raymond had been moved slightly to correspond to the proposed new Highway 10 crossing. Other than that, there were no changes. COUNCILMEMBER HODGES' REPORT Councilmember Hodges stated that there would be a Youth Service Bureau meeting on Thursday, July 28, at 7:00 PM. He also asked Eng. Hubbard if there were plans for doing repairs on the City streets, such as filling in chuck holes. Eng. Hubbard replied that the City crews were in the process of doing that now, that they had concentrated in the northeast corner of the City where the seal coating was going to be done but are now moving into other areas. MAYOR PICKAR'S REPORT Mayor Pickar directed Admin. Achen to study how much money is actually being spent on payroll deductions, with the idea that the City either charges a fee for collecting the deductions or eliminates them altogether, with the issue to be discussed at the next agenda session. Mayor Pickar again asked if there were any citizen comments. Darven Unruh, 5177 Longview Drive, identified himself as a neighbor of Ernest Freyberger and asked what constitutes a garage within the City. Mayor Pickar replied that to his knowledge, an exchange of money must take place. Admin. Achen added that the City ordinance prohibits the repair of vehicles at a home. July 25, 1977 Mr. Unruh asked if the ordinance was enforceable. Mayor Pickar stated that he would be checking into the issue. Mr. Watkins stated that he had heard the property south of Scotland Green apartments was going to be developed. Councilmember Rowley replied that she had heard the same thing and had made some calls that afternoon and that the city has not received a request yet for any type of development. To her knowledge this is just a rumor. Admin. Achen stated that he had some old business to bring up, the matter of Mr. Harstad's request for building permits on Bona Road and stated that some decision needs to be made. He stated that the staff was not sure where to proceed next and that he feels the City has a weak case for denying building permits to Mr. Harstad. Councilmember Rowley stated that she recalled Mr. Harstad had been on the agenda several meetings earlier but had not been present and that the issue had been tabled at that time until he contacted the City again. Admin. Achen replied that Mr. Harstad had informed him he would not be present at that meeting since he had nothing further to show the Council, and that the Council had directed the staff to deal with the issue, which brought him back to the Council presently with a request for direction. Mayor Pickar stated that the next step is up to the Council and that he would like Mr. Harstad to come back before the Council. Bud Hanson, 2605 Louise Avenue, stated that two years ago, Mr. Harstad promised to put in a ditch along the houses he had just built but that he had not done so. Mr. Hanson stated that the ditch was presently in his back yard and that his back yard line was on the other side of the ditch totally and that he would like something done as he plans to sell his home next spring. Councilmember Ziebarth stated that he would like to know what promises Mr. Harstad had made two years ago before proceeding further. Mayor Pickar asked that the issue be put on the next agenda, when it would be discussed further. MSP Ziebarth- Hodges) to adjourn at 8:55 PM. 5 ayes Respectfully submitted, Mark Achen Clerk- Administrator Page 9