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HomeMy WebLinkAboutCC MINUTES 12131983 t Meeting Sheet 101987 r i z Box: 21 Folder: CC MINUTES AND AGENDAS 1983 Document: CC MINUTES 12131983 CITY OF ST. ANTHONY . • COUNCIL MINUTES December 13, 1983 The meeting was opened at 7: 30 P.M. with the Pledge of Allegiance led by Mayor Sundland. Present for- roll call : Ranallo, Sundland,. Letourneau, and Enrooth. Absent: Marks (.arrived at 7: 35 P .M. ) . Also present: David Childs , City Manager; .William Soth, City Attorney; and Judy Makowske , Councilman-elect. Motion by Councilman Ranallo and seconded by Councilman Enrooth to approve as submitted the minutes of the Council meeting held November 22 , 1983. Motion carried unanimously. Motion by Councilman Letourneau and seconded by Councilman Enrooth to approve payments of all verified claims listed for October 31, November 22-,and= 30,, :and: December_. 13 ; 1983, as listed in the December 13th Council agenda, as well as .the following: $1;047. 52 to Dorsey & Whitney for legal services during September, 1983; $535 to Short-Elliott-Hendrickson, Inc. for the feasibility report for the rehabilitation of the Edward Street sanitary sewer along 36th Avenue N.E. ; and $2 , 132 . 80 to Hennepin County for 1983 charges for mobile and portable radio units utilized by the Fire Department. Motion carried unanimously. Motion by Councilman Ranallo and seconded by Playor Sundland to approve payment of $9 , 000 to School District #282 for the use of the Park View facilities during October, November, and December, as per the state- ment provided by the City Manager. Motion carried unanimously. Don Mosher, 210 Bremer Building, St. Paul, indicated he was in attend- ance as a representative to Senator Rudy Boschwitz, who had requested he report to the Council on recent federal legislation the Senator perceived could affect the City and .to ascertain 'on what other matters the Senator could be of service to the Council . Mayor Sundland told Mr. Mosher .Councilmen Ranallo and Enrooth had just returned from the National League of Cities Conference in New Orleans where many of the same matters received full discussion. Councilman Ranallo told the Senator ' s aide .he--.perceves that if the $150 cap on • Industrial Development Bonds is retained, the City 's ability to proceed with the redevelopment of an economically distressed shopping center could be seriously limited since St. Anthony had already -2- approved IDB's for .a .new .business in the City, which had created a • number of new jobs , as well as the rehabilitation of another shopping center. Councilman Enrooth commented the proposed legislation appeared. to him to be- an overreaction .to a few instances of bond misuse which could only be perceived to be a .case of "throwing the baby out with the bathwater" . Mr. Mosher indicated Senator Boschwitz believes the proposed capping of the. funding could seriously harm Minnesota pro- jects like St. Anthony' s but is hopeful that, with the strong op- position, like the Leagues ' which has been generated towards that legislation, Congress might abandon the -per capita. limitations . When he indicated he didn' t know a lot about the City ' s project, Mr. -Childs was requested to inform him about the Kenzie Terrace Redevelopment Project and its importance to the City. The Mayor and Councilman Marks told Mr. Mosher how grateful they had been for the support they received when they were in Washington from all the Minnesota delegation when they had approached H.U.D. officials to find out why the 40 unit senior subsidized housing project had not been approved for St. Anthony and to establish just what the ground rules would be for submitting a similar project which is a vital part of the Kenzie Project again next year. The Mayor told the aide .he would again, be seeking Senator Boschwitz ' help with H.U.D. on that project when he is in Washington in March. Senator Boschwitz had been one of nine senators who had voted against Senate Bill #66 , the federal cable telecommunication. which would come • up again as soon- as Congress convenes, according to Mr. Mosher . He said the Senator believed that the control of cable franchises should remain in local hands and was hopeful that the full House would be more open to amending the bill before its passage. Councilman Ranallo requested that Mr. Mosher express. the. Council ' s gratitude to all those persons in the. Senator ' s office who had achieved what is almost impossible when they had secured passes for a family of 12 from St. Anthony to tour the White House while they were in Washington D.C. testifying before Senator Denton' s hearing on adoptions . Mr. Childs was directed to again write to the City'_s congressional representatives to indicate the City' s continued opposition to the proposed cap on Industrial Development Bonds . Mr. Mosher indicated he would personally deliver that message to Senator Boschwitz and urged the Council to keep the Senator informed related to the City ' s concerns about other proposed legislation. The continuance of the discussion of the conditional use permit request from Elmwood Lutheran Church was moved up on the agenda. The matter had been tabled at the Council 's August 23rd meeting to permit further negotiation of differences between church officials and the abutting neighbors related to the church ' s request to construct a 75 foot addi- tion to. the existing church structure at 3615 Chelmsford, which had also been conditionally permitted in a residential district. • The Planning Commission had taken testimony .on .the proposal at both their July 19th and August 16th meeting and when the church officials and neighbors had failed to compromise their differences , had -3- recommended the request be denied. In August, the Council had • deferred a decision on the project with the hope that through nego- tiation the differences would be resolved, thereby avoiding a win/lose Council decision. In his December 9th memorandum, 'Mr. Childs had reported the two parties had failed to reach an understanding but, because on October 25th the church had submitted revised plans for the project which could be perceived to substantially soften the impact of the addition on the neighboring property, the Manager indicated he believed it -would be difficult to make a concrete rec- ommendation for denial since the proposal would now meet all applicable City codes and regulations . Attached to Mr. Childs ' memorandum were copies of the October 25th letter from Elmwood, the sketch of the new design for the building, and a copy of the neighbor' s September 12th letter indicating they still .found the 15 foot sanctuary addition "unacceptable" , although -the church' s new proposal to resite the educational building 57 feet further back from the neighbor's property would be less objectionable. Dick Jones , church trustee and chairman of the building committee , again gave the church' s position on the addition. He told the Council that, even though the addition size had.:been cut down from 75 to 15 feet, the revised plans would probably be much better for Elmwood because two more classrooms than originally proposed and seating space for another hundred people in. the sanctuary could still be provided. With the revised plan, the existing altar could be moved to the other side of the sanctuary , 'freeing up the space now occupied by two unused rooms behind the. altar. He later explained that the 15 .foot addition • represented the space between .two laminated beams . Erling Weiberg--, who had become the objecting neighbors ' spokesperson at the first hearing, read a prepared statement in which he had reported on the difficulty his group had experienced in trying to contact Mr. . Jones• and the misunderstandings which had developed between the church officials -and the neighbors through this lack of communication. Por. Weiberg insisted the position the neighbors had taken in their September 12th response to revised plans submitted by the church had only been intended to represent their "first position decision" which they had anticipated compromising after further negotiation. However, he conceded it had been a mistake not to have indicated suchwas the case in the letter. The - neighbors never knew anything at all about the church' s October 25th letter to 'Mr.- .. Childs , with revisions in the plans until Mr. Weiberg had happened to meet Mr. Childs in Apache shortly after Thanksgiving and was told of the letter's existence and they never saw the letter - until the Manager sent it to them early in December. when he told the neighbors the plans would be discussed at the Council ' s December. 13th meeting. When a -meeting of the neighbors was finally possible, December 11th, Mr. Weiberg said there was agree- ment that the siting of the classroom addition would be acceptable butthe group had serious misgivings about the sanctuary expansion because it still posed "a serious problem for the Esau and Antczak • families" . -4- Reverend Joseph O. - Valtinson, Jr: , pastor of Elmwood, was present and indicated he and Mr. Jones had assumed upon receiving the • neighbors ' September -12th letter, that further negotiation would probably be unproductive since one of the persons present at one of the hearings .had stated "even one foot more would be too much He concurred with Mr. Jones ' position that the .church had already made important concessions which should be matched . by .the neighbors . The pastor said he perceives the church is suffering its own devaluation in property values when they are forced to rent classrooms for $4 ,000 this year just because they are not permitted to -build on their own property. He said he doesn't perceive a 15 foot addition as dif- fering much from permitted decks -on homes. throughout the City. How- ever, Reverend Valtinson and Mr . Jones indicated they would be willing to, continue to negotiate with the neighbors . Mr. Weiberg reiterated that the September 12th letter had never been intended to be the final position of the neighbors .and indicated the church ' s October 25th proposal appeared .to be a reasonable one which the neighbors might come' to accept if they .could just have the opportunity of exploring with the .project architect the possibility of an inventive treatment of the proposed sanctuary addition, perhaps with curves and angles , which would not have such an adverse impact on the abutting properties . The owners of .the two homes directly behind the church, Mr. and Mrs . Donald Esau and Mr. and Mrs . Lawrence Antczak, 3505 and 3501 - 36th Avenue N.E. , were present and Mr. , Esau acknowledged there had been a "communication gap " in .the negotiations which he requested be resumed, with the architect present, because that 15 additional feet on the sanctuary "remains crucial to Larry and his property" . Mr. Esau recalled that during the hearings the' church officials had originally stated they could probably get by without making changes in the sanctuary as long as they got the needed classrooms . Mr. Childs agreed to serve as catalyst to get the parties together and to moderate the negotiations , "if both parties could accept him as an impartial party" . Those negotiations would have to be called well in advance of a Planning Commission meeting which would be rescheduled for January 3rd so the Commission' s recommendation on the new proposal could be presented to the Council at their -January 10th meeting. Councilman Marks indicated he- perceived from replies made by Reverend Valtinson and Mr. Weiberg to questions he had asked, that the "parties are not really that far apart" - on the .unresolved differences and it appeared to him that some accommodation was possible which would reduce the possibility of 'a win/lose Council -decision. However, he cautioned against writing anything down during the discussions so a hardening of positions could be avoided. The Councilman said he agreed with the Mayor that part of the blame for the communication failure might have been the Council ' s when they failed -to set a definite time frame for discussions between the parties . The Elmwood request was left on the table until January 10th. Mrs . • Makowske was urged to attend the Planning Commission -meeting even though her service on that body would have ceased with her assumption of a seat on the'`Council,JJanuary _.lst. 1. 1 -5- Mayor Sundland indicated he had realized how far ahead of other • municipalities St. Anthony was when it came to marketing the community when the main speaker at a .recent Mayor's Association meeting had emphasized that such marketing efforts had not been demonstrated by the majority of municipalities . Councilman Marks commended- George Wagner and Rosemary Franzese for attending the recent Planning Institutes for new commissioners , say- ing he believes their efforts to keep abreast of- new planning con- cepts could -be viewed as a real asset . for the entire City. He recommended encouraging more and more of those involved in City planning to become exposed to all the new aspects of planning which are available . Councilmen Ranallo and Enrooth were in agreement that the five day conference in Washington D.C. had been invaluable from the perspective of enabling them to compare the City 's problems with those experi- enced by municipalities all over the nation. Councilman Ranallo reported that after attending the conference, he saw some value in considering a City membership in the national league, having seen the values of workshops like the one which proposed ways of raising revenues other than taxes and because the City is not a member, we do not have voting rights . The main thrust of one session seemed to be that it was of vital importance that cities charge realistically for such services as sewer and water . Another workshop emphasized the importance of coming to grips with payment of equal pay for comparable work , which the Councilman said,. the City has already accomplished when it adopted the Stanton program. The conference had adopted a resolution recommending- more , not less , local control of cable franchises , but the resolution favoring -the retention of Indust- rial Development -Bonds with some restrictions , although passed unanimously by. the committee, was voted down on the floor, according to Councilman Ranallo. Councilman Enrooth agreed that it had been evident to him that in spite of the high investment .for joining the national league , it would probably be worthwhile for City officials to have the opportunity of getting different perspectives on vital issues . He said he certainly concurred with the seminar conclusion on risk management that there- should always be careful selection of City personnel to assure all are qualified for their jobs because he ,had some personal questions about whether that policy had been followed when he had witnessed some of the damage .to lawns following a recent snow plow- ing in his neighborhood. Councilman -Ranallo-concluded his report by reiterating the harm which he perceives for the .Kenzington Project 'if IDB funding is cut back too- drastically and urged the City to cooperate with the developer to 'get the first half of the Phase I units sold as fast as possible. The recent Planning Institute -in Owatonna had impressed Councilman Marks with the importance of setting .up periodic planning sessions with City staff, and business and school representatives to formulate • the strategic planning for the community and to update the City ' s Comprehensive Plan. -6- The Mayor reported that when he had noted that the City ' s recent appointee to the Chemical Abuse Information Committee had not been listed as present in the Committee ' s 'November 15th minutes , he had called Mr. Oliver who assured him, that omission. had been inaccurate since he had sat next to Chief Hickerson at that meeting. Those minutes as well as the liquor operation 'November .sales summary, the October. financial report and the December 6th staff notes were ordered filed as. informational. Motion by Councilman Marks and seconded by Councilman Enrooth to follow the City Manager' s recommendation to accept the proposal from Adrian S. Helgeson to conduct the City 's 1983 audit for $10 , 400 . Motion carried unanimously . Mr. Childs assured Councilman Enrooth that all risk management princi- pals had been applied to the hiring of a new patrolman for- the City the previous week and the anticipated hiring of another that week because all the best hiring tools , including intensive research of qualifica- tions , service backgrounds as well as psychological assessments had been utilized before the candidates were selected. He then .reported he anticipates the Council should be :able to award the contract for the fire truck at their. January 10th meeting anticipating the questions of not -accepting low bids for the pruchase would be resolved before that date by the attorneys representing the various municipalities participating in the joint purchase. The. Manager then reported he had learned at the last Managers Associa- tion meeting that the League of Small Cities is still pushing for the rewriting of. the state aid formula and the emphasis had been on the continuance of municipalities ' efforts to let the legislators know that the smaller cities ' unhappiness with perceived inequities in the aid distribution. An update on recent developments �in the provision of cable service for the community was given by Al Kaeding, the City ' s representative on the North Suburban Cable Communication Commission. He reported that Roseville , New Brighton and Little Canada had all voted to take a hard line on the question of reaction to. Group W's failure to provide cable service in accordance with the timetable they had agreed to when seeking the. franchise. Mr. Kaeding indicated he was not in complete agreement that forcing the provider to either meet the terms of their agreement or pay for non-compliance was the wisest course and had come to the Council to ascertain what action he should take in their names . The Mayor indicated he would favor giving the cable company an extension rather than forcing litigation. Councilman Ranallo concurred, saying he feared any other course would only further delay the provision of cable service for the residents . • Councilman Marks said his own experience with corporate workings led him to• conclude a hard line might work with Group W. Councilmen Enrooth and Letourneau supported that position because they believed -7- the cable company should have to honor their contract. Mr. Soth indicated he would recommend actions forcing Group W to withdraw from its contract be only taken as a last resort, suggesting that the City should stay .with that provider until -doing so became completely intolerable. The attorney said he would favor trying to negotiate a reasonable construction schedule to going .into litigation with Group W. Motion by Councilman. Letourneau and seconded by Councilman Marks to adopt the resolution which. authorizes, the execution of the agreement with Ramsey County whereby the City would undertake the winter road maintenance of Silver Lane from Silver Lake Road to Stinson Boulevard. RESOLUTION 83-045 A RESOLUTION AUTHORIZING THE MAYOR AND -CITY MANAGER TO EXECUTE THE AGREEMENT BETWEEN RAMSEY COUNTY AND THE CITY OF ST: ANTHONY FOR 1983784 WINTER ROAD MAINTENANCE SERVICES Motion carried unanimously. In his December 9th memorandum, the Manager had addressed the con- tinuing problem with increasing levels of contamination in Well #3 and indicated the necessity for estimating the cost of. making a con- nection with Roseville before taking corrective action. Motion by Councilman Marks and seconded by Councilman Enrooth to follow. the . staff recommendation to accept the low .bid of $2 ,950 from Short-Elliott-Hendrickson, Inc. for a feasibility study of the City ' s connection to the Roseville water system. Motion carried unanimously . Motion by Councilman Marks and seconded by Councilman Letourneau to follow the recommendations of the Public Works Director.. and Manager that 39 days of accumulated sick leave be reinstated for Herman Weber, assuming the circumstances in this case to be very unusual and should not be expected to set a precedent for any other employee . Motion carried- unanimously . Councilman Letourneau had elected not to run for reelection to the Council and since this was the last regularly scheduled meeting at which he would serve, his colleagues and staff acknowledged that fact ,during a short, informal observance at which coffee and cake were served. The Mayor presented the departing official with a plaque commemorating his service on the Planning Commission from 1971 to 1977 and on the City Council from 1978 to 1983 . The Councilman responded by telling those present his decision not to run again had been a hard but necessary one he had to make. -8- Motion by Councilman Ranallo . and seconded by Councilman Marks to adjourn the meeting .at 10.: 30 P.M.. for the Housing and Redevelopment Authority meeting, which would follow immediately . Motion carried '.unanimously. Respectfully submitted, Helen Crowe , Secretary 4Maor ATTEST:, City Clerk 61 •