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HomeMy WebLinkAboutCC MINUTES 04231985 Meeting Sheet r 101823 BOX: 21' Folder: CC MINUTES AND AGENDAS 1985 Document: CC MINUTES 04231985 i 1 '3 CITY OF ST. ANTHONY COUNCIL MINUTES • April 23, 1985 The meeting was opened at 7:30 P.M. with the Pledge of Allegiance led by Mayor Sundland. Present for roll call : Sundland, Marks, Ranallo, Enrooth, and Makowske. Also present: David Childs, City Manager; and Edward Hance and Patrick O'Meara, City Prosecutors. The following changes were accepted in the April 9th Council minutes: Page 3, para. 3: 'Substitute "Mr.- Childs" for "Mr. Soth" in line 8. Page 3, para. 8: Correct spelling of "affected" in line 5. Page 8, para. 3: Substitute "Rockford" for "Rock Island in line 3. Motion by Councilman Marks and seconded by Councilman Makowske to approve as amended the minutes of. the Council meeting held April 9, 1985. Motion carried unanimously. Motion by Councilman Marks and seconded by Councilman Makowske to grant the following • licenses as they were listed in the April 23, 1985 Council agenda: Contractors Twin City Professional Builders, White Bear Lake Norsk Concrete Construction, Inc. , Minneapolis Carlson-LaVine, Inc. , Minneapolis Joe Nelson Stucco Co. , Inc. , Coon Rapids Exterior Design Studio, St. Paul Raylauf & Son, Minneapolis Service Station St. Anthony Standard, Inc. Juke Box Advance Carter Co. , Minneapolis, for various locations. Motion carried unanimously. Motion by Councilman Ranallo and seconded by Councilman Makowske to approve payment of $5,219 to School District #282 for the senior citizens programs conducted by the Community Services Department for which the City would be reimbursed from Community Development Block Grant funds. • Motion carried unanimously. -n -2- Motion by Councilman Marks and seconded by Councilman Ranallo to approve payment of all verified claims listed for April 23, - 1985 and submitted by the City Manager • during the Council meeting the same date. Motion carried unanimously. Motion by Councilman Enrooth and seconded by Councilman Makowske to approve payment of the March billing of $26,813.15 from the Metropolitan Waste Control Commission. Motion carried unanimously. Motion by Councilman Makowske and seconded by Councilman Marks to approve payment of $6,000 to School District #282 for the City's use of the Park View facilities during January, February, and March, 1985. Motion carried unanimously. Councilman Enrooth told attorneys Hance and O'Meara their detailed report on disposition of prosecutions in the agenda packet, 'had helped him to better under- stand why the law firm was requesting a raise in their monthly contract. Mr. Childs indicated the law firm had been submitting this type of listing for a long time but for reasons of confidentiality the reporthad been given only to the Police Department and not included in the Council agenda packets. He said he would be happy to include it. in future packets if that is the desire of the Council . Councilman Marks asked the attorneys why there were so many instances where DWI fines and sentences had been reduced by the judges.; Mr. Hance reiterated, as stated in • his April 19th letter to Mr. Childs, that he perceived many times the reduction had resulted from the judge's response to the City's position that all DWI cases where blood alcohol readings were more than- .12 should not be plea negotiated down to careless driving charges, where Minneapolis prosecuting attorneys have accustomed the same judges to reductions in charges when readings were lower. than .15. The,.; attorney said. the judges were also more apt to lower fines and don't seem to like to impose court costs where lower blood alcohol readings are involved leaving the City with less reimbursement to cover the costs of jailing the offender. Mr. O'Meara said Ramsey County judges 'do accept the lower readings and some Judges even ask prosecutors to reduce first offense charges. However, Mr. O'Meara told Councilman Enrooth he does perceive the judiciary understands the City is the big loser if fines and court costs are not set- high enough to cover incarceration costs for the City, and the attorney indicated he believed Judge Farrell , who tried the March cases, tries to impose court costs which would allow St. Anthony to recoup its costs. The judges often base the fine and sentences on whether or not the offender is going into a treatment program, and, Mr.. O'Meara told the Council , he knew of no reliable statistics which indicated there were more DW-I repetitions for those undergoing treatment. Mr. Hance added the sentence and fine would most likely be reinstated with a repetition but he agreed that would probably only happen if the offender were picked up ,in' the same county. The general consensus was to support Councilman Makowske's perception-- that public opinion would be with City policy to prosecute DWI cases to the limit. The Hance firm • request for a raise in their contract with the City was acted on later in the meeting. Motion by Councilman Makowske and seconded by. Councilman Marks to approve payment of $1 ,525.05 to Edward J. Hance for City prosecutions and copying charges from March 8 through April 3, 1985. r. -3- Motion carried unanimously. • The Planning Commission had tabled the three sign ordinance variance_�requests before them April 16th so the minutes of that meeting were ordered filed as informational , as was the March Financial Report after Mr. Childs had clarified several questions Councilman Makowske had about the computer classifications. The Mayor reported the committee formed to select a Sister City for the Village had picked a city in Finland and copies of -the resolution which would authorize that designation had been distributed to the Council members. Motion by Councilman Ranallo and seconded by Councilman Marks to adopt Resolution 85-023. RESOLUTION 85-023 A RESOLUTION OF THE COUNCIL- OF THE CITY _OF ST. ANTHONY, EXTENDING AN INVITATION TO THE CITY- OF SALO, FINLAND TO BECOME A SISTER CITY AND INVITING THE PEOPLE OF SALO, FINLAND TO PARTICIPATE IN SAID PROGRAM Motion carried unanimously. Councilman Marks reported meeting with the new- Youth Service Bureau Director and participating in the Government Training Service seminar held April 11th at Macalaster College where perspectives on how city administrators provide service to communities were given. • Several items in the April 17 .• staff notes were discussed with the Manager who said the Public Works Director would be observing Well #4 closely because he suspected the reason the well is running 10% over power might be that the motor is wearing. Mr. Childs indicated the weather would dictate the date the water service in the southern end of the City is connected to the Roseville system and the Manager promised both the Council and affected residents would be notified well in advance. In a related matter, Mr. Childs reported attending a Minnesota Pollution Control Agency meeting with Army representatives where the Army response to MPCA's request for quicker action on the water contamination problem had been that red tape had prevented the Army from moving faster. However, the Manager indicated he is certain eventually the Army would- take responsibility for the contamination leaks from the arms plant. Councilman Makowske said she had heard from several sources what an excellent job Mr. Childs had done testifying against the sale of wine in grocery stores legisla- tion which had been defeated by an 8 to 3 vote. Councilman Ranallo recommended continued vigilance by City officials, perceiving it is possible the bill could be reintroduced from the floor. The Manager reported Rick Lundeen had suffered a cardiac arrest while fighting a grass fire in the City, Sunday, and had been revived at the scene with the use of the heart aid defibrillating machine. Mr. Childs promised to keep the Council informed regarding Rick' s condition. In his April 18th letter to the Manager, Chuck Wiger, who represents District #3 • of the Metropolitan Council , had urged the City to establish a citizen advisory committee on waste management to aid the City in planning for and encouraging -4- residents to get involved in a community effort to keep trash out of landfills so there would be no need for imposition of mandatory programs to get the job done. • The Metropolitan. Councilman had thanked Mr. Childs for his input towards a solid waste management plan which had been modified to allow counties and cities to reach recycling goals with voluntary programs. before 1988, when mandatory programs for separation of recyclables would have to be adopted, if the voluntary programs have not succeeded. Councilman Marks recalled that the City Girl Scouts had at one time been paid for separating the recyclables the residents brought to the Recycling Center. Council- man Ranallo said, since the change in garbage haulers and the lower value of some recyclables, ' the Public Works Director had taken over that job. He and Councilman Makowske indicated they had several persons in mind who might be willing to serve on such a board. Mayor Sundland reiterated, as he had told Mr. Wiger in the past, that he personally had. serious reservations about the City being able to force our elderly and other residents to separate their trash. Motion by Councilman Ranallo and seconded by Counc-ilman Makowske to defer any .action on the April 18th request from Metropolitan Councilmember,Wiger that the City set up a waste management advisory board until the Public Works Director had indicated he would have the time to set up that committee. Motion carried unanimously. The Council next considered the Hance firm request for an increase in monthly contract payments for City prosecutions from $1 ,500 to $1 ,800. Councilman Ranallo noted there had consistently been monthly copying charges of around $25 from the • firm and asked Mr. Hance if including that. amount in the monthly payment would cover any future copying costs. Mr. Hance promised to never again bill the Village for copying costs, if that were done. Motion by Councilman Ranallo and seconded by Councilman Marks to raise the monthly contract for City prosecutions with the Edward J. Hance Law Offices, Ltd. to $1,825 to cover copying costs in addition to legal services by the firm. Motion carried unanimously.. The Manager had presented for initial discussion, the proposed public improvement assessment policy developed by staff to establish uniform allocation of costs for _ watermain; storm and sanitary sewer; curb and gutter; sidewalk or alley; coh-str.uction. or reconstruction projects well in advance of the City's need for undertaking the projects themselves. In his April 23rd memorandum, Mr. Childs underlined the importance of having uniform cost estimates of the various types of improvements as well as some determination of the different sources of funding from which the proposed improvements would be paid. The rough draft of a proposed resolution establishing *such an assessment policy had been attached to the memorandum and several items were given cursory attention that evening, including special cases like cul-de-sacs and MSA roads, which .Mr. Childs indicated could be made addendum to the resolution. Staff was requested to pull , for the Council consideration, all minutes of Council or Commission meetings where policy related to the .assessment of street;l-and sewer projects had been discussed. Mr. -Childs told Councilman Ranallo the City has a revolving fund into which funds left over from previous bond issues have been collected and recommended the practice be continued for future improvement projects. He also explained that the City could levy for reconstruction only in the years in which St. Anthony had not levied to the limit, which is now not the case. The I -5- Councilmembers agreed with Mr. Childs' assessment that the residents should be educated about the establishment of a uniform assessment policy since up to now,. • most of them had not had to pay assessments for reconstruction of existing facilities. The Manager reported the City Attorney had asked him to remind the Council that the City would have to prove the benefit of each project to the individual property owner who would be assessed. Mr. Childs was instructed to pursue the matter of the assessment policy further with final adoption of the resolution within the- next few months.. Motion by Councilman Marks and seconded by Councilman Enrooth to approve the second reading of Ordinance 1985-002. ORDINANCE 1985-002 AN ORDINANCE RELATING TO ACCESSORY BUILDINGS; AMENDING SECTION 12, SUBDIVISION 2, ITEMS 2 & 4, OF APPENDIX I (.ZONING 'ORDINANCE) OF THE 1973 CODE OF ORDINANCES Motion carried unanimously. Motion by Councilman Ranallo and seconded by Councilman Marks to adjourn the meeting at 8:35 P.M. for the Housing and Redevelopment Authority meeting which followed immediately. Motion carried unanimously. • Respectfully submitted, Helen Crowe, Secretary ay r ATTEST: City Clerk