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HomeMy WebLinkAboutCC MINUTES 08241976CITY OF ST. ANTHONY COUNCIL MINUTES August 24, 1976 The meeting was called to order by Mayor Miedtke at 7:35 p.m. Present for roll call: Sauer, Stauffer and Miedtke Absent: Haik and Sundland Also present: Jerry Dulgar, City Manager Larry Vickrey, City Attorney Motion by Councilman Sauer and seconded by Councilman Stauffer to ap- prove the minutes of the Special Council Meeting held on August 2, 1976. Motion carried unanimously. Councilman Sauer inquired whether the Manager had contacted Ramsey County as directed during the August 10th Council Meeting regarding the warning signs and flashers to be installed in front of Wilshire Park School this fall and Mr. Dulgar advised him that, before a letter could be sent, the County had informed him that the school officials had acquiesced to the requests of the residents of the townhouse across County Road D and had now requested that the County substitute for the proposed walkway, which the residents opposed, two crosswalks, one at Highcrest and the other at the Foss Road intersection to provide a safe crossing to students of the school. There will also be some readjustment of the signage on the road. The plans for restricting parking and setting the speed limits are proceeding as proposed. Motion by Councilman Stauffer and seconded by Councilman Sauer to approve the minutes of the August 10, 1976 Council Meeting. Motion carried unanimously. Mr. William Bowerman, Chairman of the Planning Board, then reported on the business conducted and the recommendations made by the Board during their meeting August 17th. He reported that since no information had been received regarding the request for a free standing sign at Pizza Hut, 3901 Stinson Boulevard, no action was taken. When the Mayor inquired whether the Board had set any specific guidelines for monumented type signs, Mr. Bowerman said the Board hasn't taken the project under active consideration and the following motion was made: Motion by Councilman Stauffer and seconded by Councilman Sauer to direct the Planning Board to draw up specific guidelines for monumented type free standing signs for possible inclusion in the City sign ordinance. Motion carried unanimously. When the Board's recommendation regarding the correction of the un- sightly appearance of the Sroga Standard Station at 3201 Stinson Boule- vard was being considered, the Mayor suggested the motion calling for staff action concerning the problem, to properly present the Board's authority in such matters, should have been phrased as a "suggestion" rather than "direction" to the staff. Mr. Bowerman agreed that the motion should have been so presented. Mr. Dulgar then said a determination is being made by Jim Fornell whether the City has facilities to store such abandoned vehicles for which the Sroga station is now providing storage and said there was some question whether the same degree of surveillance of impounded vehicles could be provided on the grounds of the Maintenance Department as is now provided by Mr. Sroga. He said there have been many instances where owners of such vehicles had been prevented by the station operator from removing evidence of crimes from the vehicles. The Planning Board representative said Gordon Hedlund had given supplemental data pertaining to the P.U.D. which he has proposed for the lots he owns between 39th Avenue and Silver Lane which the developer intends to present at the Public Hearing on his proposal August 31st. The Council then considered the request from Larry Hamer, Public Works Superintendent, for clarification of the Water and Sewer Ordinance to establish responsibility for the sanitary sewer lines which connect those lines to the main sewer lines. There have been many instances, Mr. Dulgar said, where the City has dug up such lines at the resident's insistance only to find them plugged as a result of an incomplete job done by a sewer cleaning company or by such cleaners pushing roots into the main line. He said there is a litigation pending now in the City against such a sewer cleaning firm for alleged damages to an individuals property. Motion by Councilman Stauffer and seconded by Councilman Sauer to direct the City Manager and Attorney to prepare a modification of the City's Water and Sewer Ordinance which will identify the location and ownership of sanitary sewer lines. Motion carried unanimously. The City Attorney read Ordinance No. 1976-008 which will bring the City into compliance with the State legislation regarding the consumption of alcoholic beverages by minors. Motion by Councilman Stauffer and seconded by Councilman Sauer to waive further readings and adopt Ordinance No. 1976-008. ORDINANCE 1976 - 008 AN ORDINANCE RELATING TO THE PURCHASE, CON- SUMPTION, OR POSSESSION OF ALCOHOLIC BEVERAGES BY MINORS: AMENDING SECTION 810:05 OF THE 1973 CODE OF ORDINANCES Motion carried unanimously. The meeting was recessed from 7:55 to 8:00 p.m. when the Mayor opened the Public Hearing on assessments for Sidewalk Improvement Project #1975-001 which he explained involved assessments to be levied against commercial property for concrete sidewalks along the west side of Silver Lake Road from 37th Avenue N.E. to Silver Lane. No one appeared to speak either for or against the assessment policy and the Public Hearing was closed at 8:05 p.m. Motion by Councilman Sauer and seconded by Councilman Stauffer to adopt the proposed assessment rolls for Sidewalk Improvement Project No. 1975- 001 and to establish an interest rate of 88 over a period of 5 years. Motion carried unanimously. Mrs. Jan Watson appeared to seek permission to have wine and beer served with a steak dinner on church property for which tickets are being sold by members of St. Charles Borromeo Church. The Chair ruled that since the beverages were not being sold but only served to the guests, the group would not need a license. Mary Pucel and two other Girl Scout Troop 1586 cadets presented to the Council a copy of "Yesterday and Today" a collection of recipes and civic historical events of St. Anthony which was organized as a Bicentennial effort by their troop. The girls and their leader were commended for their efforts following picture taking by the Sun Newspaper reporter. Dick Klick, Chairman of the 1976 St. Anthony Wrangler Days, briefed the Council on the plans for the celebration which will be held September 11th and 12th. Plans include a 6/10 mile parade with 40 or 45 units and a number of celebrities scheduled to participate; an "Anything Goes" event; several teen events; a historical play and a Casino Night which had been tailored to meet all State regulations concerning gambling. He said the traditional dance had been eliminated from the program in the interest of cutting expenses and then the Chairman requested he be grant- ed any licenses which would be required for the celebration. Motion by Councilman Sauer and seconded by Councilman Stauffer to grant all the licenses necessary for the Wrangler Days September 11th and 12th (except Bingo) and to waive the fees for the same. Motion carried unanimously. Motion by Councilman Stauffer and seconded by Councilman Sauer to grant a permit to the Wrangler Days Committee to hold the parade with horses as proposed on September 11th. Motion carried unanimously. Following a discussion with the City Attorney of how the games of Bingo could be legally permitted under the new State regulations, the following motion was made: Motion by Councilman Sauer and seconded by Councilman Stauffer that the City does recognize the 1976 Wrangler Days as a civic celebration which be of benefit to and will promote the City to residents and non-residents alike. Motion carried unanimously. Mr. Klick then said the committee was purchasing liability insurance to cover the event and Mr. Vickrey suggested the City be named as an addition- al insured. The Council members were invited to join the picture taking for the celebration on August 31st. At 8:30 p.m. the Mayor opened the Public Hearing on Street Improvement Project No. 1976-2 and explained that this involved concrete curb and gutter, catch basins and bituminous paving of Stinson Boulevard from Silver Lane to the City limits. No one appeared to speak either for or against the project and the hearing was closed at 8:35 p.m. The resolution was tabled until the next regular meeting. Mr. Dulgar said the City Attorney had provided an encroachment agreement by which the City could grant temporary permission to the property owner at 517 -15th Avenue S.W., New Brighton to install a fence on the City's property around Mirror Lake. However, the Manager said he was disap- pointed to learn that this property owner had torn down the retaining wall in the same area. Action on the agreement was tabled until the next Council Meeting. Councilman Sauer suggested that the Parking Lot Ordinance not be put into effect for existing lots until June 20, 1977 to provide more time for those owners to comply with the regulations. Motion by Councilman Sauer and seconded by Councilman Stauffer to waive the first reading and give first approval to Ordinance No. 1976-009 which will be effective immediately upon adoption for new parking lots but for which the effective date for existing parking lots will be set for June 30, 1977. ORDINANCE NO. 1976 - 009 AN ORDINANCE RELATING TO ZONING AND TO THE CON- STRUCTION, MAINTENANCE AND REPAIR OF COMMERCIAL PARKING LOTS: AMENDING SECTION 12 OF SECTION 300 OF THE 1973 CODE OF ORDINANCES BY ADDING A NEW SUBDIVISION 13 THERETO Motion carried unanimously. The request from Chief of Police, Edwin Brown, that parking be prohibited on both sides of St. Anthony Boulevard from the bridge to the end of the parking lot serving Gross Golf Course because of the hazardous increase in traffic in that area, resulted in the following motion: Motion by Councilman Stauffer and seconded by Councilman Sauer to add to the No Parking Resolution the prohibition of parking on both sides of the St. Anthony Boulevard from Highway 8 east/southeast to and in- cluding the bridge and on the north side from the bridge to 100 feet east of the southeast entrance to Gross Golf Course. Motion carried unanimously. Mr. Klick who was still present then questioned whether traffic is im- peded at all times by the parked cars of persons using the golf course and wondered whether parking could instead be restricted on only one side to avoid adverse reactions of the golfers to the new regulations. He felt there were times when the golf course parking facilities were not adequate to handle all the golfers' vehicles. Mr. Dulgar said there had been two instances of personal injuries in the area in the last year. Councilman Stauffer and Sauer wondered whether it was necessary to pro- hibit all parking on Sunday but the Mayor said he felt the Police De- partment was in a position to know best what measures had to be taken to provide vehicular safety in the City and the motion should stand as made. The Manager said he had included the NCR Letter regarding mechanical versus electronic data processing because he wanted the Council to know that the servide costs for the mechanical could increase as much as 50% from the present $1,200 to $1,500 now paid for those services. The staff will report later on the feasibility cost and benefits of alternative systems of processing. Plans were made for attendance at the meeting of the Metropolitan Council where the Metro Planning Actwill be discussed. Councilman Stauffer was complimented on the work her committee had done on this legislation. Consideration was given to the letter from the Dorsey Law Firm which details the new State laws regulating Bingo games. There was speculation that some organizations which now hold licenses allowing Bingo might find the regulations too stringent and cumbersome to make continuance of the games desirable. There was also a discussion of the necessity of raising the license fees to cover the cost of administering such licenses under the conditions set by the State Legislature. Mr. Dulgar was scheduled to meet with American Legion representatives and he will ascertain whether that group is interested in continuing the games they now hold in their clubrooms. Motion by Councilman Sauer and seconded by Councilman Stauffer to table action on the granting of licenses allowing Bingo games for further in- formation from the Manager on his discussions with present Bingo License holders. Motion carried unanimously. The July Police Report was filed. After a discussion of the Non -Collectible Check Report including the difficulty of getting notification from the bank in time to prevent a recurrence of those losses and a reassurance by Mr. Dulgar that the City will not drop its endeavor to make good the losses, the following motion was made: Motion by Councilman Sauer and seconded by Councilman Stauffer to authorize writing off all the checks on the 1975 Non -Collectible Checks listing. Motion carried unanimously. The budget for the Community Services Advisory Committee was the subject of discussion between Councilman Sauer and the Manager during the con- sideration of the July Financial Report with the Councilman reporting that his committee will be giving their Capital Improvement Findings be- fore December 1st. Mr. Jim Erickson, a resident of the Fosston Townhouses requested an op- portunity to resume the discussion of widening County Road D to a four lane roadway which he and other members of the townhouse association oppose. He and another townhouse resident, Margaret Michaels, reiterated the opposition they had voiced at the last Council meeting. Both in- sisted that none of the residents of the townhouses had received the notices which the staff's records indicate were sent for the Council Meet- ing where the preliminary approval was given to Ramsey County's grade and alignment plans for the roadway. They did however acknowledge being informed of the informational meeting November 19, 1976 where Ramsey County presented the plans to the residents and Wilshire Park School officials and members of the PTSA. The Manager pointed out that neither meeting was an official public hear- ing and said the Council has yet to give final approval to the plans when Ramsey County presents them which could be a year hence since the project if not budgeted for until two years from now. Mayor Miedtke suggested the residents should formally request they be notified when the final plans are presented. He and Councilman Stauffer took exception to the inferences made by the two townhouse spokesmen that action on the up- grading of the road was done hastily without due consideration of the residents interests, saying the City has acknowledged that the road had to be rebuilt for the last ten years because of its inability to handle the increase in traffic and had been discussing the project in open Council Meetings for over a year. Councilman Stauffer said it was unfor- tunate that the townhouse residents had been unable to attend the infor- mational meeting in November because it was then that the suggestions from the residents and school representatives were taken and later in- corporated into the County's plans. Ms. Michaels said she felt there should have been a series of such meetings held. However, she conceded that she had seen the effectiveness of suggestions made by residents at Council Meetings when she noticed the new public address system which had been installed in the Council Chambers since the last meeting when she had complained of not being able to hear the proceedings and she also felt what she considered an increase in police vigilance of drivers on the road had resulted from discussions held that same night. Mr. Bob Pulscher who is the financial consultant for the City but appear- ed as an interested resident to voice his concern and that of many other residents that the Council, because of fiscal restraints, had found itself unable to make any maintenance improvements in the City's parks. He asked that a comprehensive program for major improvements be put to- gether by 1977 and said he personally felt a professional planner could do a more effective job than any citizens group who would not have the expertise for the job. Councilman Sauer said that as a member of the Community Services Advisory Committee he had to admit that because of lack of funds, nothing had been done to add to the recreational facilities of the City. The Manager agreed that the parks are a long way from finished but said the levy limitations placed by the State have curtailed any capital expenditures for parks. Mr. Pulscher said he felt that, if a committee were formed which is a combination of all recreational in- terests in the City and they were to develop a reasonable plan, they could sell it to the community. However, he still felt the basic park planning and cost estimation would have to be done professionally. The Manager reported he had been contacted by residents on Skycroft Drive who had requested the City pay its share of a joint program to treat the elm trees on that street with a new chemical but he feared City partici- pation in the program on that street might set a precedent for paying for the treatment of all the elm trees on City boulevards. He pointed out that there seems to be no consensus of opinion that this particular treatment in its allowable strength will prove to be effective in pre- venting the spread of the elm tree disease. Councilman Stauffer wonder- ed if the City's share of costs of the project which could run to over $30 might better be spent to replace diseased trees. Mr. Dulgar then reported that letters had been sent to residents who are directed to remove diseased trees informing them of the subsidy program for such action and said information on the program will be included in the next newsletter. Motion by Councilman Stauffer and seconded by Councilman Sauer to approve payment of all Verified Claims listed in the August 25th Agenda. Motion carried unanimously. Motion by Councilman Sauer and seconded by Councilman Stauffer to approve payment of $8,965.22 to School District #282 as payment for utilities for the Civic Center for September 1, 1975 through June 30, 1976. Motion carried unanimously. Motion by Councilman Sauer and seconded by Councilman Stauffer to approve payment of $3,147.41 to Comstock & Davis for engineering services on Street Improvement Project 1976-1. Motion carried unanimously. Motion by Councilman Stauffer and seconded by Co`ntnan Sauer to adjourn the meeting at 10:10 p.m. A AU Motion carried unanimously.