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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMinutes - 1998/02/09February 9, 1998 Mounds View City Council PROCEEDINGS OF THE CITY COUNCIL CITY OF MOUNDS VIEW RAMSEY COUNTY, MINNESOTA Regular Meeting February 9, 1998 Mounds View City Ha11 2401 Hwy. 10, Mounds View, MN 55112 1. CALL MEETING TO ORDER: • The Mounds View City Council was called to order by Mayor McCarty at 7:00 p.m. on February 9, 1998. 2. ROLL CALL: MEMBERS PRESENT : Mayor McGarry, Council members Koopmeiners, Quick, Gunn and Stigney ALSO PRESENT: Chuck Whiting, Clerk Administrator Mary Saarion, Director of Parks & Recreation Rick Jopke, Community Development Director Steve Dorgan, Housing Inspector Bob Long, City Attorney 3. APPROVAL OF MINUTES: A. Regular Meetings of January 26, 1998. MOTION/SECOND: Gunn/Stigney to approve the minutes of the January 26, 1998 City Council Meeting as presented in writing. VOTE: 5 ayes 0 nays Motion Carried 4. SPECIAL ORDER OF BUSINESS: Mayor McCarty gave the Mayor's State of the City Address, providing a summary of the city's progress over the past year in terms of development, the status of the city's community center, implementation of various local housing programs, administrative changes - which have ultimately resulted in lower administrative costs, and the city's continued active involvement in the issues relating to the Blaine/Anoka • • Page 2 February 9, 1998 Mounds View City Council APPROVED County Airport. He took this opportunity to thank city staff and resident volunteers for their involvement and dedicated service. S. CONSENT AGENDA: MOTION/SECOND: Quick/Stigney to Approve the Consent Agenda as presented. VOTE: 5 ayes 0 nays Motion Carried 6. RESIDENTS REQiIESTS AND COMMENTS FROM THE FLOOR: Mayor McCarty explained that this is the time for residents to address the council with concerns on items that are not on the Agenda. Cameron Obert, 8315 Greenwood Drive, noted that he believes the city has done things in the past year that are steps in the right direction, however decisions need to be made on issues in a timely fashion and the council needs to move on. He noted the importance of getting the community center completed on schedule as well as his concerns about the continual changes brought to the city from the contractors and architect. Mr. Obert stated he is also concerned about the test scores of the students at Edgewood Middle School. He asked Mayor McCarty to inquire with the Mounds View School District as to why the scores are so much lower than at Highview and Chippewa. Mayor McCarty stated the School Board would be interested in hearing these comments and concerns, noting that everyone is concerned about the success of the students. Dan Mueller, 8343 Groveland Road, noted that he came before the council several months ago to address a traffic speed problem on Groveland Road. He noted that for a short period after his complaint, things seemed to have improved. However, he feels the problem has resurfaced and is concerned about the safety of the children. Mayor McCarty stated he would talk with the Police Chief to see if the city can implement a "No Tolerance" policy for speed violators in Mounds View. Robert Marty, 2626 Louisa Avenue, asked about the status of the proposed townhome project on County Road H2 and Greenwood/Long Lake Road. Mayor McCarty stated he believes that the developer would need to approach the Planning Commission to discuss a zoning change in order to proceed and at this point no decision has been made. Residents in the area will be notified in the event that it comes before the council. Mr. Marty also asked what additional approvals need to be obtained for the proposed theater project on Highway 10. Mayor McCarty noted that the developer would need to go through the fmal step process. The only thing that has been done to this point is the conceptual approval. Final decisions will be based upon the fmal plans. Mr. Jopke, Community Development Director, noted that the developer is putting together the fmal plans and he anticipated that they will be submitted in March for consideration by the Planning Commission and City Council in April. LJ • Page 3 February 9, 1998 Mounds View City Council APPROVED Wendy Marty, 2626 Louisa Avenue, asked if an Environmental Work Assessment has been completed on the theater property. Mr. Jopke explained that if one is required, it will be completed. 7. COUNCIL BUSINESS: A. Consideration of Resolution No. 5209, Amending the Waste water Operations Budget. Mr. Mike Ulrich, Director of Public Works, explained that this item was discussed at the last council work session. He noted that the current state of the city's sanitary sewer system requires more man hours than what is available to clean and cannot be met with the current staffmg level. Staff is recommending a budget amendment in the amount of $29,940. to fund an entry level position in the waste water division. Council member Stigney stated he feels it is premature to fill the position, considering that the person will not eligible to retire unti12000. Council member Quick stated he feels it is necessary to hire someone now to give them adequate time to learn the job and be fully knowledgeable of it before the retirement of the other employee. Council member Stigney responded that he does not believe it takes two years to train someone for the position and that he would support aone-year training period. MOTION/SECOND: Quick/Koopmeiners to Approve Resolution No. 5209, Amending the Waste water Operations Budget. VOTE: 4 ayes 1 nay (Stigney) Motion Carried B. Set a Public Hearing Monday, March 9, 1998 at 7:30 p.m, in the City Council Chambers at Mounds View City Hall on Street Construction, Maintenance and Cost Assessment Policies. Barbara Haake, 3024 County Road I, on behalf of a group of citizens, expressed the need to change the city's current road policy and respectfully requested that the council consider delaying the street improvement project on Spring Lake Road/County Road I until the 1999 construction season. She proceeded to summarize various concerns residents in the project area had expressed in regard to the current road policy, noting that these are items which they would like to discuss, have answered and considered before their road improvement project proceeds. Council member Gunn stated part of the problem she sees happening is that there are so many options, there is no starting point. Therefore, it would be her recommendation that a starting point be established as follows: a 26 to 28 foot road with curb and gutter, storm sewer where needed, no sidewalk, turn back funds be applied to the project and then divide the cost of the project to assess. Council member Stigney stated he would recommend using Ms. Haake's letter, obtain answers to the questions addressed therein, and use that as a starting point. Mayor McCarty asked what will be discussed at the Public Hearing. Mr. Whiting explained that staff has met and discussed how to frame various options for the City Council and residents to consider. He noted that the city is limited by time and money to allow the possibility of exploring all of the options, however they hope to break down the viable options for the road itself, the storm sewer, holding ponds, and to review the policies which will need to be changed in regard to APPROVED Page 4 February 9, 1998 Mounds View City Council assessments. Additionally, he hopes to be able to address the time schedules for the various options, see how the policy was applied to other projects and how the assessment figures were derived. It is his intent to bring to the meeting some options to consider with evaluations as to estimated costs, time frames, etc. Council member Stigney stated he feels the key concern is the assessment cost to residents versus the benefit amount. Cameron Obert, 8315 Greenwood, stated he feels the starting point should be the city's current assessment and street policy and seeing that it is fair for the entire community. He wondered how much it is costing the city to drag out the project for another year. He stated there must be a policy in place that the city can live with and one that is fair for everyone. Additionally, the turn back funds belong to the entire city, not just one area. A discussion followed in regard to the Constitutional Petitioning Rights. Mr. Long, City Attorney explained that Charter requires a 60-day waiting period after a Public Hearing before any improvements can begin. If improvements do not begin within 12 months after the public hearing, the city would need to start over on the 60 day charter process. Mayor McCarty stated he feels the city should proceed with the Public Hearing on March 9th if for no • other reason than to let people know that the project is not likely to proceed in 1998. MOTION/SECOND: Stigney/Koopmeiners to Set a Public Hearing for Monday, March 9, 1998 at 7:30 p.m. in the City Council Chambers at Mounds View City Hall on street construction, maintenance and cost assessment policies. VOTE: 5 ayes 0 nays Motion Carried Ms. Haake asked what the Council expects to occur at the March 9th Public Hearing. Mayor McCarty stated he anticipates that there will be an official motion by council to deny the project at that time. C. Discussion of Community Center Advisory Committee and Youth Planning Council. Mary Saarion, Director of Parks aid Recreation, explained that she had a meeting with Mr. Whiting in regard to how citizen groups could be made part of the decision-making process for recreational and operational activities at the Community Center. Mayor McCarty noted that it was his intention to begin a commission on youth. He feels the Park and Recreation Commission could use this group as a sounding board as they develop programs for the community center. The commission on youth could help the Parks & Recreation Commission establish rules, regulations and policies for the operation of participation at the Community Center. Additionally, they could begin to look more at the overall problems that youth faces today. Mayor McCarty stated this will be a pilot group and will only work if the city receives enthusiasm back from the community. 8. REPORTS: There were no reports from Council members, the Mayor or the City Administrator. Page 5 February 9, 1998 Mounds View City Council APPROVED Attorney Long gave a brief update on the AnokaBlaine Airport issue, noting that a hearing has been scheduled for Thursday, February 12 at 12:30. Council member Stigney, in response to the concerns about the city's compensation policy, stated he would like to discuss this at the Council's next work session. MOTION/SECOND: Stigney/McCarty to defer discussion of proposed compensation policy changes to the Council Work session on March 2, 1998. VOTE: 3 ayes 2 nays (Koopmeiners/Quick) Motion Carried 9. NEXT COUNCIL WORK SESSION.• March 2. 1998 - 6:00 p.m. NEXT COUNCIL MEETING: February 23.1998 - 7: 00 p.~ 10. ADJOURNMENT: Mayor McCarty adjourned the City Council meeting at 9:00 p.m. Respectfully submitted, Tamara D. 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