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HomeMy WebLinkAboutCC MINUTES 11241987 Meeting Sheet IIIIIIVIIIVIIIVIIIVIIIVIIIIIIIIIII 101635 Box: 21 Folder: CC MINUTES AND AGENDAS 1987 Document: CC MINUTES 11241987 ' C=TY O F S T . ANTHONY . C OUN C 2 L M=NUT E S NOVEMBER 2 4 1 9 8 7 1 The meeting was opened at 7 : 35 P.M. with the Pledge of Allegiance led 2 by Mayor Sundland. 3 Present for roll call: Marks, Ranallo, Sundland, Enrooth, Makowske. 4 Also present: David Childs, City Manager 5 William Soth, City Attorney 6 NOVEMBER 10 , 1987 COUNCIL MINUTES 7 Motion by Marks, seconded by Enrooth to approve with the following 8 changes: 9 Page 5 , line 32 : Complete "before" at end of line. 10 Page 7 , line 12 : Correct typo "had" after "Childs" . 11 Motion carried unanimously. 12 LICENSES%PERMITS/PETITIONS 13 Motion by Ranallo, seconded by Marks to grant a contractors license to 14 the V.P.M. Corporation in Minneapolis, as listed in the November 24th •15 agenda packet. 16 Motion carried unanimously. 17 CLAIMS 18 Motion by Marks, seconded by Ranallo to approve payment of all liquor 19 and City accounts payable listed for October 31st in the November 20 24th Council agenda packet with the exception of the six payments to 21 Cindy Carpenter, on which the Manager will check and report further at 22 the next meeting. 23 Motion carried unanimously. 24 Motion by Ranallo, seconded by Makowske to approve payment of $4 , 000 25 to Rieke Carrol Muller Associates for engineering services on the 26 Kenzie Terrace traffic signal through October 31st. 27 Motion carried unanimously. 28 Motion by Marks , seconded by Enrooth to approve payment of $556 . 00 in 29 dues to the National League of Cities for membership from February 1 , 30 1988 through January 31, 1989. 31 Motion carried unanimously. • 1 1 Motion by Makowske, seconded by Marks to approve payment of $2 , 392. 50 2 to BWBR Architects for administration services on the liquor warehouse 3 addition through October 21st to be paid from the Liquor Fund. 4 Motion carried unanimously. 5 Motion by Ranallo, seconded by Enrooth to approve Change Order 02 for 6 $693 . 00 to include a ten day contract extension to Fullerton Lumber on 7 the above addition, as presented by the City Manager. 8 Motion carried unanimously. 9 Motion by Marks, seconded by Makowske to approve payment of $2,847. 39 10 to the Briggs and Morgan law firm for professional services provided 11 in connection with the City' s lawsuit against the U.S. Army et al 12 related to St. Anthony' s water contamination problems. 13 Motion carried unanimously. 14 Consultant ' s Bill To Be Submitted Later 15 Mr. Childs indicated he had held up a bill from Bruce Liesch As- 16 sociates for their services in preparing expert testimony related to 17 the above litigation because he had asked the attorneys to provide a 18 memo detailing those costs. 19 AGENDA ADDENDUM IW0 Councilmembers had been provided with copies of the November 24th 21 "Summary of Concerns" from the Brighton Village Homeowners Associa- 22 tion related to the development of common areas in the townhome 23 project on Old Highway 8 , which was presented by the Association Board 24 President, Norm Arne, and Secretary, Arne Sorlien. Staff was re- 25 quested to work with the Association and to keep the Council informed 26 related to those negotiations. 27 REPORTS 28 COUNCIL 29 Enrooth Reports Attendance at Very Informative Water Conference, 30 November 19th and 20th 31 The Councilmember indicated he perceived the other Councilmembers 32 would have the same interest in the proposals for funding storm sewers 33 and 509 projects as he had and said he would therefore be sending 34 around the materials related to those subjects which he had brought 35 back with him from the meeting in the Earle Brown Continuing Education 36 Center on the St. Paul Campus. 37 Ranallo Proposes Sharing Insurance Trust Refund with Employees • 2 1 Councilmember Ranallo indicated he had learned at the League of 2 Minnesota Cities Board meeting the previous Tuesday that the League ' s 3 Insurance Trust in which St. Anthony is a participant, had been able 4 to save 1 . 2 million dollars last year, a good portion of which could 5 be attributed to the loss prevention programs adopted by most of the 6 municipal participants. The City had been issued a check for $5,700 7 and Mr. Childs indicated he expected future checks would probably 8 exceed the $15,000 Councilmember Ranallo had estimated. 9 Perceiving these refunds would never have been possible without the 10 strong safety measures undertaken by City employees to keep the 11 claims down, Councilmember Ranallo said he would like to see them 12 share in some of the money which had already been sent and he 13 suggested that if the City Attorney' s research showed it would be 14 legally permissible, $750 be spent towards food purchases for the 15 employees ' Christmas party, December 13th. 16 Carol Johnson, the City' s Finance Director, was present to provide 17 input towards other matters on the agenda and she indicated she agreed 18 with Mr. Childs that this indication of the Council' s appreciation for 19 employees ' efforts would be well received. 20 The suggestion was greeted with enthusiasm by the other Councilmembers 21 who perceived that since the City is unable to give bonuses and safety 22 award programs had not yet been established, this would be one way of 23 letting the employees know their efforts were really appreciated. 4� 24 Council Action 25 Motion by Ranallo, seconded by Marks as a token of the Council' s 26 appreciation of employees ' efforts to keep insurance claims down, to 27 direct $750 of the League Insurance Trust refund be spent to under 28 write part of the costs of the employees Christmas Party, December 29 13th. 30 Motion carried unanimously. 31 Marks Continuing Planning and Zoning Institute Service 32 He had the opportunity of conducting the government training seminar 33 in New Ulm last week and the Councilmember reiterated the schedule of 34 institutes which would include training sessions at the Earle Brown 35 Continuing Education Center on the St. Paul campus in which he would 36 be involved during December and January. 37 DEPARTMENTS AND COMMITTEES 38 *The October Financial Report was ordered filed without comment. 39 *During the consideration of Prosecutor Hance' s November 10th 40 report on matters his firm had handled for the City at Hennepin 41 County District Court, November 4th, Councilmember Marks drew 3 • 1 attention to the number of bench warrants issued for non-appear- 2 ance, saying they averaged three per day in this report. He 3 also found the number of complaints filed by the St. Anthony 4 police to be "incredible" . The Hance & LeVahn, Ltd. report was 5 then ordered filed for future reference. 6 Council Perceives Too Many Problems Involved in Allowing Pull Tabs in 7 City 8 Because the City Attorney' s services were only required in conjunction 9 with the continuance of discussions about amending the City' s charita- 10 ble gambling ordinance and the Lions Club proponents were present, the 11 Mayor, with the Concurrence of the other Councilmembers, moved the 12 matter up on the agenda. 13 The existing ordinance had originally been adopted in response to 14 proposals that a professional fund raiser operate a Bingo Hall to 15 include the sale of pull tabs on behalf of a consortium of charitable 16 organizations, including the March of Dimes and Sister Giovanni ' s 17 activities in St. Paul. 18 Since that time, the Council had received written requests to amend 19 the ordinance to allow the sale of pull tabs in municipal liquor 20 stores from the St. Anthony Lions Club and the Hennepin County Humane 21 Society. The St. Anthony Boosters Club had verbally requested the 0-2 same from Mayor Sundland. In the meantime, members of the Lions Club 23 had vigorously lobbied each Councilmember at home and the 24 organization' s President, Ken Girard, as well as Lions members Oscar 25 Norgren and Wes Henry, were in attendance for further input to the 26 discussions. 27 The Mayor recalled for the benefit of those present that the City of 28 Minneapolis had officially accepted this form of charitable fund 29 raising recently and said Ray Nelson, the City' s Liquor Manager, had 30 indicated he perceived the activity might benefit his operation. 31 The legal ramifications of having pull tabs sold in municipal liquor 32 stores had been fully explored in memoranda from both the City 33 Manager and Attorney, which had been included in the Council' s October 34 22nd agenda packet. However, a decision had again been deferred for 35 further information from the Lions Club related to the international 36 organization' s activities in Kenya, which had been of particular 37 concern to Councilmember Makowske. 38 Mr. Soth added to the information he had previously given by saying: 39 *if the Council simply approved the sale of pull tabs in 40 St. Anthony, Minnesota law would permit any applicant to get a 41 license from the state unless a resolution against that license - 42 were adopted within 30 days; 4143 4 • 1 *however, that veto power would have to be supported by very 2 good reasons for denying a license to only that applicant; 3 *the City could conceivably establish regulations and restric- 4 tions to limit the locations, and even restrict the operations 5 to local organizations, but the basis for those distinctions 6 would have to be specifically defined, not arbitrary. 7 Councilmembers acting as "devil' s advocates" proposed various worst 8 case scenarios related to what could happen if the pull tab sales were 9 restricted to municipal on-sale liquor stores. 10 Ranallo: wondered if the two bowling alleys where the City permits 11 the sale of 3 . 2 beer would question the City' s allowing 12 pull tabs to be sold only in their own on-sale establish- 13 ments. 14 Childs: indicated he had given some thought to that happening and 15 had concluded 3 . 2 beer did not meet the qualifications for 16 alcoholic beverages which the City desires to control by 17 restricting sales to only municipally operated facilities; 18 said the same argument could probably be made related to the 19 Council' s desire to control gambling activities by limiting 20 such operations only to locations which the City controls. W1 Soth: agreed that the City might be able to legitimately argue 22 that it would only be in municipally run locations that the 23 City could oversee gambling operations; but 24 another interpretation might be made that St. Anthony was 25 limiting the operation to its own .facilities for its own 26 gain. 27 Sundland: suggested the response to that interpretation would probably 28 be that state law already established that rents which the 29 City may charge may not exceed those which would be reason- 30 ably charged for the square footage the pull tab operation 31 used and not based on a percentage of the profits. 32 Soth: said he didn' t think the issue was quite that simple because 33 someone might then make the argument that by restricting the 34 operation to only municipally run facilities, St. Anthony 35 might be trying to circumvent the law which says the City 36 can' t issue a license for the sale of pull tabs. 37 Childs: said he understood New Brighton had restricted the pull tab 38 operations to only on-sale and not 3 . 2 facilities in their 39 city, which include charitable organization restaurants and 40 41 bars as well as private establishments which are licensed to •42 sell liquor. 5 • 1 Ranallo: asked whether the City could limit the causes which would be 2 supported by pull tab profits to only those which benefit 3 St. Anthony citizens. 4 Soth: told him. the law had just been amended to prevent cities 5 from "requiring an organization to make specific expendi- 6 tures of more than ten percent from its net profits derived 7 from lawful gambling. " 8 Enrooth: said he understood the City could only direct that ten per- 9 cent stay within the municipality but could not specifi- 10 cally direct to which cause it would go. 11 In view of the above restrictions, Councilmembers indicated their 12 intent related to changing the ordinance as follows: 13 Marks: perceived the Councilmembers had already made an ordinance 14 decision that to avoid giving only one or a few organiza- 15 tions the right to- conduct charitable gambling in the City, 16 it would be better just to say "no" to all of them; and 17 he personally thought that should be the Council' s stand 18 at this time no matter what pressures are applied or what �19 good causes are involved. 20 Enrooth: perceived the control the City could have would be only 21 minimal in terms of groups or numbers because there would 22 most likely be at least ten different local groups who 23 would qualify for licenses from the state while the City 24 would only be able to contract with one or two of these 25 if pull tab sales were restricted to only the two municipal 26 on-sale operations; 27 added that the Council had just made a substantial financial 28 investment towards upgrading the atmosphere in the Stoneho- 29 use and he could not see where pull tabs would lend themsel- 30 ves towards improving that image; 31 said he had not changed the perception he had when the 32 Council had originally taken a stand against pull tabs that 33 "this type of activity would not be one I want to see in 34 St. Anthony. " 35 Ranallo: indicated he understood the most lucrative locations for 36 pull tabs right now were bowling alleys and he anticipated 37 the owners of the two City alleys would be questioning the 38 City' s decision to keep the operations in their own facili- 39 ties ; 1040 41 perceived the City would probably be facing the same diffi- 42 culty saying no to an organization once this type of 6 • 1 activity is allowed in the City, as it now faced refusing 2 to let an amusement arcade go into Apache with the Fun 3 Center operating in another shopping center; 4 questioned whether the City might not be discriminating 5 against what is perceived to be a desirable thing for 6 St. Anthony, the non-alcoholic Alternative bar, when it 7 restricted the pull tabs to the municipal liquor establish- 8 ments; 9 concluded that the ten percent the City would get to keep 10 was not worth the hassle the City might expect to get from 11 very worthy applicants, including the City' s own Fire 12 reserves. 13 Makowske: agreed with Councilmember Marks that the whole process of 14 making a decision related to pull tabs had been "a very 15 painful one" ; 16 said she had gone from "not liking them at all" to being 17 educated to see them in a different light after attending 18 the Ramsey County League of Local Government' s meeting where 19 she had come to see that there might be some very worthy 20 organizations and causes which would gain from pull tab 21 profits; 0-2 reported she had also almost been convinced by the Lion 23 Club members she talked to that this might be an easy way 24 for the City to make more money, which had been reaffirmed 25 by the Liquor Manager, saying this type of activity might be 26 helpful to his operation; 27 however, after realizing how little control the City would 28 actually have over how the profits are spent, changed her 29 mind and was now leaning towards voting against the pro- 30 posal. 31 Girard Insists 50% of Pull Tab Profits Would Stay In St. Anthony 32 When Mayor Sundland asked the Lions members whether they had anything 33 new to add to what they had already told the Council which might 34 change what he perceived would be at least a 4 to 1 vote against their 35 proposal, the Lion Club President said: 36 *although the City might only be able to make 10% of the profits 37 through rents , there was nothing in the state amendment which 38 would prevent the Lions Club from giving St. Anthony 50% of the 39 profits the club members had already agreed should remain in 40 St. Anthony; 41 s 7 • 1 *said that money could underwrite projects like upgrading the 2 playgrounds, installing lights on the softball diamonds, or any 3 other improvements the City wants to make but can' t budget for; 4 *indicated their own budgets were also limited at this time and 5 the profits from the pull tabs could be used to augment many of 6 the local projects the Lions wanted to do more in; 7 *argued further that most of the profits used for improvements 8 in St. Anthony would come from bar patrons who live outside the 9 City. 10 When Mr. Girard said he had been told the City had the right to 11 direct by ordinance which organizations it preferred, Mr. Soth told 12 him the City couldn' t just arbitrarily choose the Lions Club over 13 other organizations who had indicated an interest, but would first 14 have to establish a class or category with criteria which would have 15 to be met by anyone who fell within that category. 16 17 Councilmember Ranallo indicated that, if that was the case. he 18 perceived it might be difficult to refuse an organization whose cause 19 might not be perceived to be good for the community. 20 Mayor Sundland told Mr. Girard he guessed the Council would have to 21 take the advice of the City Attorney which was based on research they 42 had asked him to do six weeks ago. He reiterated that there was 3 probably no use asking for a motion which four of the Councilmembers 24 had again indicated they would be voting against. He therefore ruled 25 that the Council would not be entertaining a change to allow pull 26 tabs in Ordinance 1987-001. 27 Mr. Girard asked that the Lions Club be included with other organiza- 28 tions to be considered if the Council ever changed its mind, reiterat- 29 ing that he continued to believe such action would benefit the City 30 just as much as his organization. 31 Mr. Soth left the meeting at 8: 30 P.M. 32 CITY MANAGER REPORTS 33 November 17 , 1987 Staff Meeting Notes 34 *Hamer Hopes to Get St. Anthony Boulevard Striped This Week 35 The Manager said the Public Works Director is trying to get 36 Ramsey County to do that work right away so the state engineer 37 can give final approval to the reconstruction project once that 38 is accomplished. 39 *Manager Directed To Prepare Proposal for Goal Setting Sessions 40 in February • 8 • 1 The Government Training Service offer to facilitate the above 2 had been included in the agenda packet as a reminder that pre- 3 parations should be made soon. Mr. Childs indicated he would 4 summarize what the 1986 session had cost and accomplished and 5 would contact the various facilitators Councilmembers had indi- 6 cated as soon as the Council had decided what the thrust of the 7 sessions should be. He requested Councilmembers let him know 8 which dates they had open for these meetings. 9 Impending Legislation Reported During Mayors Association Meeting, 10 November 18th 11 Mr. Childs said he had represented the Mayor at the above meeting 12 where the North Suburban Mayors Association members had been informed 13 that legislation addressing the costs counties incur with tax incre- 14 ment projects was being considered for the next legislative session. 15 Problems with soil corrections in this type of projects would also be 16 considered, he said. 17 No Action Taken Regarding Ramsey County Library Issue 18 There was no interest on the Council for getting involved in the 19 controversy about where the new library would be sited in spite of 20 the request from the Shoreview Mayor that St. Anthony support his 21 City' s position with the County Commissioners. 2 Childs Guardedly Encouraged After Meeting With Army in Washington, 3 D.C. , November 19th 24 This was the first time the Army representatives had specifically 25 discussed the costs of the damages St. Anthony had suffered from 26 TCAAP groundwater contamination, the Manager said. He indicated the 27 fact that the Army was now asking to see specific documentation 28 related to the City' s long term costs and indicated he perceived 29 their willingness to meet with City representatives in the near future 30 to discuss those hard figures might just possibly mean the Army 31 might at last be ready to settle with the City. He cautioned the 32 Council about being too optimistic, however. 33 First of _ Modeling_ Equipment for Carbon Filtration Plant Expected to 34 Arrive Next Day 35 Although the proposed carbon filtration plant would probably not be 36 fully operational next summer, Mr. Childs said indications now are 37 that there was a chance at least some of the equipment would be 38 delivered by then and work would be underway. He also reported that 39 the modeling equipment is expected to arrive on November 25th and 40 installation of this test equipment would start on December 1st. He 41 indicated it had taken some real effort to overcome some of the snags 42 which had occurred in the process. The Manager was thanked for all 43 he had done to get the project started. • 9 • 1 NEW BUSINESS 2 Council Adopts Resolution Approving budget Transfer for City Office 3 Remodeling 4 Motion by Marks, seconded by Ranallo to adopt Resolution 87-037 . 5 RESOLUTION 87-037 6 A RESOLUTION MODIFYING THE 1987 BUDGET 7 Motion carried unanimously. 8 City to Take Advantage Perceived Benefits of Investing in LMC' s Money 9 Market Fund 10 The Manager explained why he thought the City would be better able 11 to enhance its investment earnings by joining with other Minnesota 12 municipalities in the above program to be supervised by the League 13 Board of which Councilmember Ranallo is a member. 14 Council Action 15 Motion by Enrooth, seconded by Marks to adopt Resolution 87-038. 16 RESOLUTION 87-038 617 A RESOLUTION AUTHORIZING' ENTRY INTO A JOINT POWERS 18 AGREEMENT IN THE FORM OF A DECLARATION OF TRUST 19 ESTABLISHING AN ENTITY KNOWN AS "MINNESOTA 20 MUNICIPAL MONEY MARKET FUND" AND AUTHORIZING 21 PARTICIPATION IN CERTAIN INVESTMENT PROGRAMS 22 IN CONNECTION THEREWITH 23 Motion carried unanimously. 24 Councilmember Makowske left the meeting at 8: 45 P.M. to visit her 25 husband in the hospital. 26 Council Agrees with Finance Director ' s Recommendation Not to License 27 Condo and Apartment Laundry Facilities 28 Mr. Childs summarized Mrs. Johnson' s November 19th memorandum, which 29 the Council accepted as an addendum to the agenda, to mean staff had 30 changed its mind about "breaking ground" by licensing the above when 31 the survey she had taken indicated there were very few communities who 32 included this type of licensing in their current fee schedules. No 33 Council action was deemed necessary. 34 Council Concurs With Decision to Break Away from Hennepin County' s 35 Health Insurance Program • 10 • 1 Finance Director Johnson told Councilmember Marks because of its cost, 2 she was recommending this one time use of LOGIS to get the City into 3 the government information systems for participation in the new health 4 insurance consortium formed for that purpose after the County dropped 5 Physicians Health plan from its program. 6 Mr. Childs reported the background history of how the consortium had 7 been formed, indicating he agreed with Mrs. Johnson' s November 19th 8 memorandum recommending execution of the resolution and agreement for 9 membership in the new group. He indicated one paragraph in the 10 agreement would be modified to reflect the City Attorney' s concerns 11 about costs. 12 Council Action 13 Motion by Ranallo, seconded by Marks to adopt Resolution 87-039 which 14 authorizes the execution of the joint powers agreement to participate 15 in LOGIS to coordinate employee health care planning and serve 16 selection with the modification as recommended by the City Attorney. 17 RESOLUTION 87-039 18 A RESOLUTION APPROVING PARTICIPATION IN THE 19 JOINT POWERS AGREEMENT GOVERNING LOCAL 20 GOVERNMENT INFORMATION SYSTEMS (LOGIS) •21 BY THE CITY OF ST. ANTHONY 22 Motion carried unanimously. 23 Short-Elliott-Hendrickson, Inc. Again Selected to Maintain and 24 Administrate the City' s 1988 MSA Fund 25 Before taking action on the above, the Manager drew the Council' s 26 attention to the fact that the costs for the above service had not 27 gone up since at least 1983 . 28 Council Action 29 RESOLUTION 87-040 30 A RESOLUTION ACCEPTING THE PROPOSAL 31 FROM SHORT-ELLIOTT-HENDRICKSON, INC. 32 FOR ADMINISTRATION AND MAINTENANCE OF 33 CITY' S 1988 MSA FUNDS 34 Motion carried unanimously. 35 UNFINISHED BUSINESS 36 Motion by Ranallo, seconded by Marks to approve the third reading and 37 adopt Ordinance 1987-006 . • 11 J. ORDINANCE 1987-006 2 AN ORDINANCE ADOPTING THE MINNESOTA STATE BUILDING CODE: 3 PROVIDING FOR ITS ADMINISTRATION AND ENFORCEMENT: 4 REGULATING THE ERECTION, CONSTRUCTION, ENLARGEMENT, 5 ALTERATION, REPAIR, MOVING, REMOVAL, DEMOLITION, CONVERSION, 6 OCCUPANCY, EQUIPMENT, USE, HEIGHT, AREA AND MAINTENANCE OF 7 ALL BUILDINGS AND/OR STRUCTURES IN THE CITY OF ST. ANTHONY: 8 PROVIDING PENALTIES FOR THE VIOLATION THEREOF: AMENDING 9 SECTION 310 : 00 OF THE 1973 CODE OF ORDINANCES OF THE 10 CITY OF ST. ANTHONY AND ALL OTHER ORDINANCES AND 11 PARTS OF ORDINANCES IN CONFLICT THEREWITH 12 Motion carried unanimously. 13 Council to Hold Only One Meeting in December, Unless Special Meeting 14 is Required for Contract Award on Pedestrian Signal 15 16 The Council will decide whether a December 15th meeting is required 17 for the above at their December 8th meeting, when they will also 18 cancel the December 22nd meeting because of its proximity to the 19 holidays. 20 ADJOURNMENT 21Motion by Marks, seconded by Enrooth to adjourn the meeting at 8: 57 02 P.M. 23 Motion carried unanimously. 24 Respectfully submitted, 25 Helen Crowe, Secretary 26 ` �l 27 Kaydr 28 ATTEST: 29 .City Clerk 30 :cjk 12