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HomeMy WebLinkAboutCC MINUTES 05101988C= TY O F S T. ANTHONY C O UN C S L M S N UT E S MAY 1 0, 1-988 1 The meeting was opened at 7:30 P.M. with the Pledge of Allegiance led 2 by Mayor Sundland. 3 An Executive Work Session with David McDonald of the Briggs and Morgan 4 law firm had preceded the meeting at 6:45 P.M. 5 Present for roll call: Marks, Ranallo, Sundland, Enrooth, Makowske. 6 Also present: David Childs, City Manager. 7 APRIL 26, 1988 BOARD OF REVIEW CONTINUATION MINUTES 8 Motion by Ranallo, seconded by Makowske to approve as presented. 0 10 APRIL 26, 1988 COUNCIL MINUTES Motion carried unanimously. ll Motion by Marks, seconded by Enrooth to approve with the following 12 changes: 13 Page 6, line 22: Correct "came" after "undeveloped properties". 14 Page 6, line 36: Correct "the" between "because" and "pro - 15 perty". 16 Page 12, line 6: Correct "Councilmembers" at end of line. 17 Page 12, line 20: Correct "Award" after "Recycling". 18 Page 15, line 20: Insert "Special" between "City's" and 19 "Assessment". 20 Page 15, line 44: Substitute "General Obligation" for "GO". 21 Page 16, line 35: Capitalize "School" before "Board". 22 Page 16, line 41: Delete "the" between "said" and "Community 23 Services". 24 25 LICENSES/PERMITS/PETITIONS Motion carried unanimously. 26 Motion by Marks, seconded by Makowske to grant the following as 27 listed in the May 10, 1988 Council agenda packet: 28 Multiple Housing Registration 29 Kleinman Realty Co. (3200-3225 Diamond 8 Terrace) 30 1 I Contractors 2 Universal Sign Company, St. Paul 3 Asphalt Specialties Co., Lakeland 4 Inter -City Builders, New Brighton 5 Westphal Roofing, Moundsview 6 Cigarette 7 Dick's Amoco Station 8 Heating 9 Metro Bros. Heating 10 11 CLAIMS Motion carried unanimously. 12 Motion by Marks, seconded by Ranallo to approve payment of all City 13 Accounts listed for April 30th and liquor accounts payable listed for 14 April 19th in the May 10, 1988 Council agenda packet with instructions 15 that all the City accounts denoted as H.R.A. accounts be paid from 16 that fund. 17 Motion carried unanimously. 18 Motion by Marks, seconded by Makowske to approve payment of $800.31 19 to Short -Elliott -Hendrickson, Inc. for administration of the City's 20 1988 MSA Account through March 19, 1988. 094 Motion carried unanimously. 22 Motion by Ranallo, seconded by Marks to approve payment of $1,054.10 23 to the Dorsey & Whitney law firm for legal services through February, 24 1988. 25 Motion carried unanimously. 26 Motion by Ranallo, seconded by Enrooth to approve payment of 27 $13,600.00 to the Layne Minnesota Company as recommended by Public 28 Works Director Hamer for Well #5 modifications including the rebuild - 29 ing of the right angle drive which Mr. Hamer considered to be superior 30 to what was available with a trade-in. 31 Motion carried unanimously. 1 Motion by Makowske, seconded by Marks to approve payment of $2,162.97 2 to Bruce A. Leisch Associates as the City's share of costs for 3 consulting services provided by the firm through April 26, 1988 in 4 conjunction with St. Anthony's lawsuit against the U.S. Army et al 5 related to the City's water contamination problems. 0 Motion carried unanimously. 7 Motion by Marks, seconded by Sundland to approve payment of $6,114.00 8 to the Briggs and Morgan law firm for legal services rendered through 9 March 31, 1988 relative to the above litigation. 10 11 AGENDA ADDENDUM Motion carried unanimously. 12 Mr. Childs had distributed copies of the March 30th billing invoice 13 from Polar Chevrolet & Mazda for the 4 -door Caprice squad car pur- 14 chased by the City Police Department which he recommended the Council 15 approve for payment. It was noted that $720.35 of the price was for 16 sales tax municipalities now have to pay. 17 Council Action 18 Motion by Ranallo, seconded by Enrooth to approve payment of 19 $12,006.00 to Polar Chevrolet & Mazda. 20 Motion carried unanimously. 21 REPORTS 22 COUNCIL REPORTS 23 Enrooth Proposed for _Hennepin County Water Conservation Aavisory 24 Commission 25 Motion by Marks, seconded by Ranallo to nominate Richard Enrooth to 26 serve as Commissioner Sivanich's district representative on the above 27 Commission. 28 Aye: Marks, Ranallo, Sundland, Makowske. 29 Abstention: Enrooth. 30 Motion carried. 31 Sundland said he had recently learned there are six students from 32 other countries going to school in St. Anthony and he planned to 33 present each of them with a certificate granting them honorary 34 citizenship in St. Anthony as well as a tee shirt with the City's 35 insignia at the High School Awards night, May 12th. Councilmember 36 Ranallo indicated he would be presenting a $1,000 donation towards the 3 1 scholarship program on behalf of the Fridley BVM Knights of Columbus 2 Council the same night. 5 The Councilmember indicated she and Councilmember Enrooth had attended 6 the above May 5th meeting and had brought back a copy of the annual 7 report which she was circulating among the Councilmembers who had been 8 unable to attend because of the conflict with Cities Week activities. 9 Councilmember Makowske said she had found the report very interesting, 10 particularly as to just how Community Services utilizes its funds. 11 Little Interest in Allowina_Balloons or Streamers on Garage Sale Sians 12 Makowske reported a resident had complained to her that the City had 13 forced the removal of balloons flying from a garage sale sign because 14 the City Ordinance viewed them as "too distracting for motorists."The 15 Councilmember pointed to several recent instances where balloons had 16 been used to advertise City Department activities and wondered if 17 there was any Council interest in modifying that particular restric- 18 tion. She indicated she recognized any change would have to be 19 applied evenly to commercial as well as residential signage to avoid 20 discrimination. 21 Mayor Sundland said the timing for expanding neighborhood signage 22 would be particularly bad for him in view of the recent conversation 23 he had with a resident who considered the Boulevard signs pointing in 24 the direction of various community churches to be "very unsightly" and 25 wanted them all removed. The Mayor said he had told the complainant 26 he would never vote for taking those signs down. 27 Councilmember Marks indicated he could see the Mayor's point, but 28 perceived it was too bad the City couldn't just "let common sense 29 reign" when dealing with these sorts of issues. 30 Mr. Childs pointed out that many of the non -conforming garage sale 31 signs aren't put up until the start of the weekend when the Public 32 Works people who usually remove that type of signage are off work. 33 Councilmember Ranallo said he agreed that balloons and streamers could 34 be distracting for motorists and thought the ordinance should remain 35 as written. 36 Citv Can't Leaislate Cleanliness 37 Makowske said that is what she had to tell the caller who had 38 contacted her to complain about neighbors not spraying their dan- 39 delions. The Councilmember indicated she just wished there was some 40 way for the City to request such offenders to clean up their 41 yards. 1 Mayor Thinks Legion Post Might Provide Bullet Proof Vests for Police 2 Reserves 3 When Councilmember Makowske reported having the above need brought to 4 her attention during the dinner for volunteers, May 1st, Mayor 5 Sundland suggested Commander Hearn of the Tri -Metro Legion Post #573 6 might be able to come up with the funds to cover a $440.00 vest for 7 each of the eight Reserve officers. Councilmember Ranallo said he 8 thought if the Legion couldn't make that big a donation at this time, 9 the Fridley Knights of Columbus might be able to come up with some of 10 the funds. 11 Makowske Reports "No Thru Traffic" Sians Un on St. Anthony Boulevard 12 The Councilmember reported the signs which had gone up this week 13 indicated the Boulevard reconstruction would commence May 16th. Mr. 14 Childs said all through traffic from Highway 35 would be detoured but 15 an access to both the golf course and cemetery would be provided most 16 of the time, except when the contractor would have to close the road 17 completely for the final paving processes. 18 Metropolitan Airport Commission Telephone Number to be Publicized to 19 Enable Residents to Make Personal Objections to Increased Air Flights 20 Over St. Anthony 21 Makowske reported she perceived the above was necessary because of the 22 number of calls she had received related to resident unhappiness with 23 the noise generated by low flying jets over the City now that the 24 flight patterns have been changed. The City Manager agreed to insert 25 the MAC number in the City Newsletter which goes out with the July 26 water bills. 27 Mayor Sundland reiterated that he perceived the more calls the 28 residents made, the less chance there was that St. Anthony's problems 29 would be ignored as they have been in the past. 30 Enrooth Reports Recycling Task Force to Start Work, May 18th 31 The Councilmember said letters inviting all the appointees to this 32 first meeting had all gone out and he would be keeping the Council 33 apprised of how soon they could expect a recommendation related to 34 setting up a recycling program for St. Anthony. 35 Fire Station Draws Biggest Open House Crowd 36 Councilmember Ranallo said about 30 people, mostly young families, had 37 turned up to look over and climb up on the fire trucks. Because the 38 parents had all seemed so appreciative of their children being able 39 to see a fire station for themselves, the Councilmember suggested it 40 might be a good thing to hold open houses like this one several times 41 a year. 5 1 Councilmember Marks commented that, although the other department open 2 houses might not have been as well attended, he perceived it had been 3 very beneficial for the Councilmembers to be able to interact with the 4 department personnel in this manner. 5 Ranallo Gets Complaints About Park Restrooms Being Closed 6 The Councilmember reported that the previous evening, during the 7 meeting of candidates for the District #282 School Board, someone had 8 raised the question of why the park restrooms were locked. He said 9 he had told the questioner after the meeting was over that the City 10 certainly wanted to make the facilities available to the public, but 11 because of the severe vandalism, etc., which had resulted when they 12 were left open in the past, had offered to give the coaches keys and 13 the responsibility for the facilities, which they had not wanted to 14 assume. The City had then gone to satellites instead, because it was 15 found to be much less expensive to have satellites versus the costs of 16 cleaning and repairing the permanent facilities. 17 Mr. Childs indicated he now understood that Larry Hamer had made keys 18 for them last week. The Manager also said the Public Works Depart - 19 ment had decided to take the walls off the picnic shelter in Silver 20 Point and the restroom facilities are now kept open all the time and 21 lit all night. 22 DEPARTMENTS AND COMMITTEES 23 *The City Prosecutor's report on matters conducted at the Hennepin 24 County District Court on April 20, 1988, in which Hance & LeVahn, 25 Ltd. had represented the City, was ordered filed; 26 *Before the April Fire Department Report was filed, Councilmember 27 Enrooth commented that he perceived medical emergencies continu- 28 ed to be the reason for most of the runs; 29 *During the discussion of the April Liquor Operations Sales Sum - 30 mary, it was noted that the 133% increase in the Stonehouse on - 31 sale operation sales offset lower figures on some of the other 32 City operations. Mr. Childs said he thought the restaurant 33 operation in the Stonehouse was close to reaching sales figures 34 the owner perceived necessary to be a success at that location. 35 April 19, 1988 Chemical Health Environmental Management Council of St. 36 Anthony and New Brighton 37 Councilmember Makowske commented that it looked like most of the 38 C.H.E.M. membership were members -at -large who had been recruited with 39 only Councilmember Marks and Dorothy Fleming being the appointed by 40 the St. Anthony City Council. Since the City appeared to be the only 41 source of Commission funding, the Councilmember said she thought it 42 was necessary for the City to keep close watch on how its monies are 43 being spent. 2 1 Councilmember Marks reported there had been several presentations made 2 to the New Brighton Council within the last few months with no success 3 when it came to participation. He said he thought one of the reasons 4 might have been the perception that there was little an organization 5 like this one could do to really make a difference when it came to 6 stopping chemical abuse. The Councilmember said one of the major 7 problems was getting active people to serve on the C.H.E.M. Council. 8 Councilmember Marks acknowledged that an effective Drug Abuse Resis- 9 tance Education program could only be run by having a full time 10 officer in this area and the only feasible way of getting that done 11 would be to have a statewide program. D.A.R.E. legislation had been 12 in the works this session, he added. However, that would take at 13 least a year and in the meantime drugs are being pushed to kids in 14 the schools on a daily, sometimes hourly, basis. The Councilmember 15 also pointed out that in addition to himself and Dorothy Fleming, who 16 represented St. Anthony, Shelley Freeman and John Pugleasa both 17 worked for School District #282. 18 Councilmember Ranallo commented that he had become very aware while 19 talking to other Minnesota League of Cities members that St. Anthony 20 is one of the cities who sponsor social programs like the C.H.E.M. 21 Council and the Youth Service Bureau, with other communities sticking 22 to basic City services instead. Councilmember Marks told him New 23 Brighton and other northern suburban cities like Roseville and 24 Shoreview are heavy supporters of the Youth Service Bureau. 25 CITY MANAGER REPORTS 26 May 3, 1988 Staff Meeting Notes 27 *Software Validation Delays Voting Machine Demonstrations 28 During the discussions of the above, Mr. Childs told Councilmember 29 Enrooth the demonstrations of the new voting machines had been 30 delayed because the County had not yet validated the software system 31 which was also true of all other community systems. He was hopeful 32 that the system would be in operation before residents brought in 33 their water bills in July so they could see for themselves how the 34 balloting procedure worked. 35 *Applicant Being Tested for Police Department 36 Mr. Childs reported there had been four applicants interviewed May 37 5th and one was being given the psychological tests and background 38 check necessary for City employment as a police officer. He re - 39 iterated that a real effort had been made to recruit a female 40 officer, but since such applicants are few and far between, they are 41 snapped up quickly by the larger communities who, although they 42 might not pay any more, might be perceived to offer more prestige 43 with the job. 7 1 *Administrative Intern to Assist Citv Manaaer This Summer 2 The University student Mr. Childs thought had been hired for the 3 position had found a higher paying job with Minnesota Mining but 4 the City Manager reported he had found another political science 5 student, Dick Buendorf, who is also on the Gopher football team, 6 who would be starting work with the City next week. Mr. Childs 7 said Bob is in the Army Reserves and does a lot of intelligence 8 work for the Army which requires good reporting skills. However, 9 the student perceived no conflict with his Army duties and the 10 City's suit against the Army. 11 Council Authorizes Briggs and Morgan to Proceed with Partial Settle - 12 ment in TCAAP Water Contamination Litigation 13 Discussion on the above matter had been held during the closed 14 Executive Session with David McDonald of the law firm, which preceded 15 the Council meeting that evening. For the benefit of the Bulletin 16 newswriter and others who were not in attendance, Mr. Childs explained 17 that: 18 *the major defendants in the City's and other class action plain - 19 tiff's lawsuit are the U.S. Army, Federal Hoffman (Federal Cart - 20 ridge) and Honeywell, but Minnesota Transfer Railway and Walburn 21 Ltd. who also had contact with what is called the trio -solvent 22 site, had also been named as minor defendants in the litigation; 23 *Mr. McDonald had reported reaching a tentative settlement agree - 24 ment with the latter two which he said he was recommending be 25 accepted because no real data had been found to indicate the 26 trio -solvent site to be a contributor to the City's groundwater 27 contamination; 28 *Mr. McDonald had indicated the settlement had been at the urging 29 of Judge Renner who wanted to remove as many of the side issues 30 as he could, so he could focus on the main issue which is the 31 City's suit against the three major defendants for contaminated 32 groundwater coming from the Twin Cities Army Ammunition Plant 33 in Arden Hills; 34 *if the initial settlement is formally approved by the Council 35 that evening, Mr. VandeNorth of Briggs and Morgan would be able 36 to accept settlement during the hearing before Judge Renner the 37 following day; 38 *the attorney had also suggested the lump settlement of $82,500.00 39 could be transferred into the fund from which the lawsuit against 40 the major defendants could be continued. 41 Council Action 3 Motion by Marks, seconded by Makowske to direct Briggs and Morgan to accept the partial settlement of $82,500.00 offered by defendants, Minnesota Transfer Railway and Walburn Ltd. in the TCAAP groundwater contamination suit. 5 Motion carried unanimously. 8 Mr. Childs commented that although there had been a lot of publicity 9 about the Army settling with New Brighton on its water contamination 10 suit, nothing in the way of a formal settlement or any cash payment 11 had yet been made by the Army to New Brighton at this time. There - 12 fore, if the City gets a cash settlement from the minor defendants, it 13 would be the first tangible settlement made to either city so far. 14 He said he seriously doubted whether the City would ever get any firm 15 settlement with the Army before New Brighton signs on the dotted line. 16 17 18 As the President of the Metro Area Managers Association, Mr. Childs 19 said he was proud to present to the Mayor the plaque from the interna - 20 tional organization honoring this form of government in St. Anthony. 21 He said the St. Anthony voters had chosen the Council/Manager form 22 of government in November, 1963. He perceived the City had made its 23 best efforts to uphold the highest standards of professionalism in 24 government ever since. 25 City Projects Underway 26 Mr. Childs reiterated that the St. Anthony reconstruction project 27 would be started next week and that the Kenzie Terrace traffic signal, 28 which is being erected in conjunction with that project, is already 29 under construction and should be up by the end of May or the first 30 of June. 31 NEW BUSINESS 32 33 34 Two residents, Maurice Ruch and Dorothy Fleming, had indicated an 35 interest in filling the second vacancy on that Committee and their 36 interviews were scheduled to be conducted by the Council at 7:15 37 P.M., just prior to their regularly scheduled meeting, May 24th. 38 Contracts Awarded for Road Materials 39 Motion by Marks, seconded by Ranallo to accept the low bids and award 1 the contracts to the following as recommended in Public Works 2 Director Hamer's April 26th memorandum: 3 Blacktop Midwest Asphalt 4 Aggregate Barton Sand and Gravel 5 Oil Koch Materials Co. 6 Concrete Wyatt Bros., Inc. 7 Motion carried unanimously. 8 Manager Expects City Insurance Costs to be Lower for 1988-89 Period 9 The insurance package had not come back from the underwriters in time 10 for the meeting that evening, but Mr. Childs said he knew those 11 figures would be available long in advance of the Council's May 24th 12 meeting. Now that there's more competition in the liquor liability 13 insurance market, the City Manager indicated he anticipated a 14 substantial reduction in those quotes and that the City shouldn't 15 have the difficulty it had a couple of years ago placing that in - 16 surance. 17 UNFINISHED BUSINESS 18 Council to Wait for Further Research Before Taking Action Related to 19 Channel 34 Programming 20 A copy of the legal opinion from the North Suburban Cable Communica- 21 tion Commission Attorney regarding what was perceived to be por- 22 nographic programming on the North Central Cable Company's system, 23 had been included in the Council's agenda packet. Dennis Murphy, who 24 represents St. Anthony on the Cable Commission, had been invited to 25 comment on that opinion. 26 Mr. Murphy reported he had just taken over his responsibilities on 27 the Cable Commission when this issue had surfaced. He indicated he 28 personally found it hard to understand why, when the original cable 29 franchise agreement had expressly said "the cable company shall not 30 cablecast any programming which would be considered in the sole 31 opinion of the City to be X-rated or pornographic", there should be 32 any question that programming like that on Channel 34 would not be 33 allowed. However, he had been told the cable company was arguing that 34 provision was unconstitutional because the First Amendment "not only 35 allows them to have such programs, but their viewers have the same 36 right to view those programs." 37 The Cable Commission Attorney had perceived both the City and Cable 38 Commission had some options when it came to indicating their dis- 39 pleasure with the cable company programming. Mr. Creighton had rated 40 these in his memorandum according to how he thought each would be apt 41 to risk a legal battle which he had concluded would in all likelihood 42 be lost in the courts. 10 1 The North Suburban Cable Communication Commission had passed a 2 resolution based on #3 at their April meeting, which said "the North 3 Suburban Cable Communication Commission wishes to express its objec- 4 tions to adult unrated programming on Channel 34 and specifically 5 requests that the company remove the adult programming from Channel 6 34." Mr. Murphy said the resolution had been sent to the cable 7 company in May with a letter requesting a reply before the Commiss- 8 ion's June meeting. 9 Research Related to Stronger Request Advocated by Makowske 10 The Cable Commission representative told the Councilmembers the Cable 11 Commission resolution certainly didn't pre-empt the City from taking 12 stronger action, but it was his own perception that if St. Anthony 13 adopted option #4 which "ordered" the cable company to remove Channel 14 #34 from its system, they might as well go to #5 which threatened 15 legal action if the company didn't comply since the consequences of 16 either decision would be litigation. He also agreed with Councilmem- 17 her Ranallo that the City's resolution should say adult programming 18 should be removed from the entire system since Channel #34 ads 19 referred to similar programming on Channel #58. 20 At Least One Commission City Advocates Stronger Action 21 Councilmember Makowske asked Mr. Murphy if he thought the action taken 22 by the Cable Commission might have been somewhat constrained by the 23 fact that they weren't really certain just what the various cities 24 they represented wanted them to do. He replied that certainly would 25 have been true in his own case where he would never have voted for a 26 measure stronger in tone without first consulting the City Council. 27 The Commission representative added that the Little Canada representa- 28 tive had indicated he expected his own city to go a lot farther than 29 the Commission, and had asked for a report from each Commission 30 representative on how their city viewed the issue to be given at the 31 next Commission meeting. 32 Makowske Wants Council to Hear What Other Attorneys Say 33 The Councilmember indicated she would hate to see the Council pass 34 such a weak resolution without first hearing from some people with 35 fairly good legal backgrounds who are fighting this kind of thing on a 36 daily basis, who don't believe Miller vs California case had really 37 been tested yet. Councilmember Makowske said she recognized there 38 were economic limits on how far the City could go but she thought it 39 would be helpful to find out how far some legal minds thought the City 40 could go. 41 Mayor Sundland indicated he perceived it would then be necessary for 42 the Council to hear from some of those who had already fought and lost 43 that battle. PON 1 Councilmember Marks reported he had never viewed what is carried on 2 Channel #34 but people who had had assured him it was "patently 3 offensive". 4 The Councilmember reported that during his visit to the National 5 League of Cities headquarters in Washington, D.C., he had learned that 6 one city in Michigan had handled this problem by entering into joint 7 ownership of the cable franchise with the cable company. Councilmem- 8 ber Ranallo said he would check the Minnesota League of Cities to see 9 if a copy of that franchise had been sent to them as promised. 10 11 Mr. Childs wondered whether the Council could threaten in their 12 resolution not to renew the North Central's franchise when it ran out 13 because they had not kept their promise to keep such materials out of 14 their programming. Mr. Murphy indicated that when the same suggestion 15 had been made while the Cable Commission was writing its own resolu- 16 tion, the Attorney had indicated the court would probably come back 17 and say that portion of the franchise agreement was null and void 18 and not a valid contract because it inherently violated the cable 19 company and its subscribers' First Amendment rights. The Cable 20 Commission representative indicated he was telling the Council this 21 only because he wanted them to go into any legal action with their 22 eyes opened as to the probable result. 23 Mr. Murphy added that he perceived what Channel #34 subscribersin St. 24 Anthony were doing by paying for that programming was "voting with 25 their pocketbooks" when it came to applying contemporary community 26 standards as to whether or not the programs are obscene. He per - 27 ceived that it was up the St. Anthony residents to take the issue on 28 themselves by not subscribing for cable. 29 Councilmember Enrooth told him the City's cable T.V. penetration was 30 only between 28% and 30% and only one St. Anthony Councilmember had 31 cable at all and he said that was only because that was the only way 32 he could get the type of sports telecasts he wanted. 33 Councilmember Ranallo, who said he was that person, wondered whether 34 the Council could legislate "morality" any more than it could "clean - 35 liness" when it came to trying to get residents to clean up their 36 property. However, he thought the Council should at least pursue the 37 suggestion about getting another opinion on the issue by having 38 someone come to a Council meeting to give a different perspective than 39 had been given by the Cable Commission Attorney. The Councilmember 40 speculated that there might even be some law firm around who would 41 want to undertake a test case on the issue without charging. 42 Councilmember Marks said he wanted to be certain that the City at 43 least took a strong stand on the issue. Mayor Sundland commented that 44 he had thought the Council had taken a very strong stand against 45 pornography when they had written the franchise agreement in the first 46 place. 12 1 Councilmember Enrooth pointed out that even if the City won all the 2 way to the Supreme Court on one program, determination of what's 3 obscene would have to be made again and again for each individual item 4 of the programming. 5 The matter was deferred to a future meeting with Councilmember 6 Makowske being asked to discuss the issues with other commission 7 cities like Little Canada at the next meeting of the Ramsey County 8 League of Local Governments. 9 St. Anthony is Only North Suburban Cable Commission City Who Doesn't 10 Broadcast Council Meetings 11 When Mr. Murphy made the above comment, Councilmember Enrooth told him 12 that had certainly not been a big issue with the residents who had 13 responded to the recent community survey. Councilmember Ranallo 14 indicated the lack of quality in equipment as well as programming when 15 combined with the absence of cable company cooperation had caused the 16 Council to wonder if they even wanted to be associated with such a 17 poorly run operation. 18 The Cable Commissioner acknowledged that the entire Commission 19 recognized that North Central had done such an unsatisfactory job when 20 it came to providing either equipment or staff for public access 21 programs and he expected that would be an issue which had to be 22 resolved when it came to updating the cable equipment. 23 Judith Petrie, 3505 - 31st Avenue N.E. , who said she was present to 24 discuss the Parkview transfer issue further, was asked if she would 25 ever watch a televised Council meeting. She said her family already 26 watched too much television and she wouldn't allow cable to come into 27 her home. However, she said there were probably residents who would 28 watch the meeting's telecasts and she knew a lot of the younger 29 generation of parents considered cable to be very beneficial. 30 Councilmember Ranallo told her he thought it was a lot better for 31 residents to have immediate interchange with Councilmembers during an 32 actual meeting than to watch a delayed broadcast where the Council 33 might have already taken actions they didn't agree with. 34 Mayor Sundland observed what happened related to the Parkview issue 35 during a recent Council meeting where residents had given the Council 36 the benefit of just how they felt about that particular matter. He 37 recalled Council meetings in the past where a large attendance of 38 interested persons had even changed some minds on the Council about 39 the issue being discussed at that meeting. 40 David Pricket, 3424 Croft Drive, who was also present for another 41 reason, indicated he would only watch a live Council meeting, but 42 agreed with the suggestion that agendas of future City meetings be 43 broadcast on Channel #16 so residents could attend the meetings where 44 matters on which they had a particular interest were to be acted on. 13 1 Sports Boosters Didn't Get Full Story About Their Equipment Carrier's 2 Car Being Towed 3 Mr. Pricket recounted the incident where Jerry Hansen's automobile 4 which had been parked next to the Booster's storage building near the 5 water filtration plant had been towed, costing the Booster Equipment 6 Manager $55.00 to get it back. The Sports Booster spokesman suggested 7 the City Police be given the license numbers of the two vehicles which 8 transport Boosters' equipment so they would know they were legitimate - 9 ly in that particular location in the future. 10 Mr. Childs told the Council the matter had been taken care of the 11 moment Mr. Hansen had called the City Hall to complain about what had 12 happened. He said Mr. Hansen had not had to pay the towing fee and 13 the tag had been forgiven. Councilmember Enrooth told Mr. Pricket 14 that given the circumstances, he perceived the officer in question was 15 only doing his duty. 16 Councilmember Ranallo wondered if this hadn't been one of the type of 17 instances where he had long advocated the Police Department might need 18 to get better trained to have greater "public relations sensitivity." 19 Mr. Pricket promised to see to it that the Sports Boosters knew the 20 whole story. 21 Residents Interested in Council Response to School Board's Suggestions 22 Related to Disposition of Parkview 23 Mrs. Petrie said she had missed the April 24th Council meeting because 24 it had not been listed on the Community Services calendar. She 25 suggested that when the City takes over Parkview it might be benefi- 26 cial to erect a sign in that location advising of community events. 27 She was told the Council had been meeting every second and fourth 28 Tuesday for as long as most Councilmembers could remember and meetings 29 were usually reported in advance on the Kiwanis Club sign at the 30 intersection of Kenzie Terrace and St. Anthony Boulevard. She was 31 also told it had been impractical for the Council to publish its 32 meeting agendas in advance in the newspapers since they are not 33 determined until the end of the week before they are held. Mayor 34 Sundland indicated he thought a service organization funded sign was 35 possible near Parkview once the building finally became the official 36 city Hall. 37 Mrs. Petrie gave the reasons she was present that evening to discuss 38 that transfer, including that: 39 *a great many people she knew had become somewhat skeptical about the 40 School District's dedication to keeping programs like Early Child - 41 hood, Sports Boosters, etc. in the building once the transfer is 42 completed; 14 1 *these persons wanted to know how much interest there was on the 2 Council to involve the City in a joint City/School District #282 3 Community Services management; 4 *some of the incidents involving the use of the Wilshire Park School 5 had reduced the level of trust between the parents and the School 6 Board; 7 *she found the differences in figures quoted by the City and School 8 District officials to be very confusing. 9 The resident was told: 10 *the predecessor to the Community Services, which was known as the 11 Parks and Recreation Department, had been under the auspices of the 12 City until those programs were expanded to include educational 13 classes and the school decided to take over the programs; 14 *some of the candidates for the School Board appeared to be under 15 the mistaken impression that Community Services Daycare programs 16 were paid for by the state when, except for programs paid for by 17 special grants, they are all paid for by St. Anthony taxpayers and 18 with users fees; 19 *the Early Childhood program had been one for which Tom McMullen, who 20 was especially good at that sort of thing, had gotten a grant which 21 is no longer available, leaving a program no one wants dropped; 22 *there is a perception that the reason the City's child care costs 23 are so much lower than similar programs in other locations is 24 because the school is subsidizing those costs for both resident and 25 non-resident users; 26 *the Council had agreed to initiate discussions of a joint City/ 27 School Community Services which the School Board had proposed. 28 Mr. Childs indicated he perceived there had to be a distinction made 29 between community education and what's commonly thought of as parks 30 and recreation programs. He said the City is qualified to run the 31 latter because that involves cutting grass, taking care of the ball 32 diamonds and things of that sort which the City employees normally do, 33 but the City is not qualified to run educational programs. The 34 Manager said it was his understanding that the day care programs had 35 started as a part of the continuum in education philosophy that 36 education should be an ongoing process where everybody would be 37 involved in the school system from infancy through the years after 38 retirement. Cities have traditionally resisted involvement in 39 educational programs although St. Anthony had perceived supporting 40 the Chemical Abuse Information Committee and Youth Service Bureau 41 might be somewhat tied in with the services offered by the Police 42 Department. 15 1 Mr. Pricket said he had moved his family from New Brighton to St. 2 Anthony a year ago because of the educational programs the City 3 offered. He thought the Council had to evaluate just how much the 4 Community Services programs were worth to the City. The resident 5 said he thought maybe subsidizing a few programs might keep St. 6 Anthony a vibrant city to which many former students would want to 7 return to make their homes. 8 Mr. Murphy stated that he thought one of the most valuable assets the 9 City had was its school system. He said he and his wife had come 10 from the southwestern portion of Minneapolis and had chosen St. 11 Anthony over Edina and Golden Valley because of the quality of life 12 St. Anthony offered as well as its school system. He anticipated that 13 when the older residents without children finally sell their homes, 14 it would probably be to families like his own with a 19 month old son. 15 Mr. Murphy perceived that if the school system ever went away, the 16 City would find that loss would have a big effect on the values of 17 homes in St. Anthony. 18 He was told the City had attempted to change the demographics of the 19 community fostering other types of housing like condominiums and 20 townhomes for the "empty nesters", perceiving that would help the 21 school district. Councilmember Marks said he perceived in the long 22 run those demographics would determine just what programs would remain 23 in the educational system and who would be running them. He said if 24 the City continues to get older and older, and there are fewer and 25 fewer kids and we have to do everything we can to keep the schools 26 open, it might well be that there would be a requirement program -wise 27 for the City to effectively take over. 28 The Councilmember reminded the visitors that the Council represents 29 all the residents and not just the 12% who have children in the St. 30 Anthony school system. The fact that some of the school taxes come 31 from New Brighton residents just complicates things all the more and 32 the Councilmember perceived was one of the reasons the Council wanted 33 to get the ownership of Parkview resolved and back in the hands of the 34 public who had made the original investment in the building. 35 When Mr. Pricket indicated that with 5 kindergarten classes in 36 Wilshire this year he would expect that the building would have to be 37 enlarged in the future, Councilmember Enrooth reminded him that the 38 Parkview building would not be appropriate and was already extinct at 39 the educational level. The Councilmember asked if the resident had 40 seen the school's student projections, which he perceived indicated 41 that even with open enrollment, there was very little possibility the 42 school district would be picking up the additional 30% necessary to 43 keep the system going. 44 Councilmember Marks told Mr. Pricket the state limits the City as to 45 how much taxes it can raise and he perceived that if all of the 46 sudden St. Anthony had to come up with an additional $200,000 or 47 $300,000 to operate the Community Services programs, he certainly owl 1 didn't know where that money could come from. Councilmember Enrooth 2 said he expected the fee structure for most of those programs would 3 then become prohibitively high. 4 Mr. Childs indicated the City had determined it was going to cost them 5 $300,000 to provide space for the existing programs for five years and 6 the building had been evaluated to be worth $300,000 by an outside 7 appraiser. He added that if, as one School Board member had sug- 8 gested, the City were to pay the school district $270,000.00, that 9 amount would only pay the school's rent for the space they wanted for 10 the next 5 years. The City Manager indicated he didn't perceive it 11 would be worthwhile for either the City or the school district to 12 raise taxes to pay the other for the building just to have that money 13 put in the bank. 14 Councilmember Ranallo said he wanted to see the St. Anthony school 15 system continue just as it was without merging or anything else with 16 another school district if the City can afford it. He reiterated his 17 perception that what had really thrown the whole issue out of perspec- 18 tive had been the school's telling the City at first that they didn't 19 need Parkview for anything at all because they could move all the 20 programs up to the High School building. By the time the Board had 21 realized that would be too expensive for them to do, considerations 22 had already begun about relocating the fire station to Parkview once 23 all the children were gone and it was empty, which then became a big 24 issue after the School Board had changed its mind. 25 Mayor Sundland said he perceived the City Council had always tried not 26 to be devious and to let the residents know just exactly how they felt 27 on the issue. He said he sensed that what was being said that night 28 was that some residents weren't completely trusting that the school 29 district really wanted to keep all the programs the Community Services 30 runs now. However, he thought it was up to those who thought that way 31 to convince the School Board of the programs' importance, because he 32 had to tell them honestly that he wouldn't personally be comfortable 33 about the City running educational programs. 34 ADJOURNMENT 35 Motion by Enrooth, seconded by Ranallo to adjourn the meeting at 9:50 36 P.M. 37 38 Respectfully submitted, 39 Helen Crowe, Secretary 40 41 42 ATTEST:_ 43 City 17 Motion carried unanimously.