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HomeMy WebLinkAboutCC MINUTES 09271977 Meeting Sheet IIIIIIVIIIVIIIVIIIVIIIVIIIIIIIIIII iossn Box: 35 Folder: CC MINUTES AND AGENDAS 1977 Document: CC MINUTES 09271977 • CITY OF ST. ANTHONY COUNCIL MINUTES September 27, 1977 Mayor Pro Tem Stauffer called the meeting to order at 7: 32 p.m. and announced the Oktoberfest as an addendum to the Agenda. Present for roll call: Sauer, Stauffer and Sundland Absent: Haik and Miedtke Also present: Jim Fornell, City Manager Larry Vickrey, City Attorney At the request of Mr. Vickrey, the following correction was made to the minutes for the Council meeting held September 13, 1977. Page 2, Paragraph 2 : The words "easily" and "in a short time" should be eliminated from the reference to clearing title for replatting the Hedlund property. • Motion by Councilman Sundland and seconded by Councilman Sauer to approve the minutes of the September 13, 1977 Council meeting, as corrected. Motion carried unanimously. Actions taken by the Planning Board during their meeting September 20 , 1977 were reported by Dick Letourneau. Included was the recommendation for approval of a Conditional Use Permit and a Variance for commercial property as specified in the City Zoning Ordinance for a banking facility to be built by the State Bank of St. Anthony at the property adjacent to the intersection of Stinson Boulevard and Kenzie Terrace. However, the project planner, Wil Johnson, decided that in view of the lack of quorum of the Council, which made a decision on the Conditional Use Permit im- possible, he would rather wait until such time as the complete proposal could be acted upon by the Council. Motion by Councilman Sundland and seconded by Councilman Sauer to table action on a new banking facility at 2401 Lowry Avenue N.E. until such time as there is a Council quorum present. Motion carried unanimously. Mr. Letourneau then gave the Board's thinking regarding the two planning studies proposed by them for the community. The Board will interview planners who may be able to provide the City with some guidance in re- lation to a commercial planning study to be made of the southern quadrant of the City. He said the Board was in agreement that a consultant-planner 0 should be utilized only on a minimal basis for the comprehensive plan of • the community with the bulk of the work done by the City staff to meet the requirements of the Metropolitan Land Planning Act. The Mayor Pro Tem who serves on the advisory committee said that that body was formulating guidelines and setting up workshops which might be helpful to the City in determining what will be necessary to meet the require- ments. She also expressed an interest in participating in the antici- pated meeting with one of the shopping center owners regarding a co- ordination of renovation efforts. The meeting was recessed from 7: 43 p.m. and reconvened at 7:45 p.m. for the hearing on the allocation of Revenue Sharing Funds . Mr. Fornell discussed his proposal that some of the $79, 000 which will be available to the City as of September 30, 1977 could be allocated in the 1978 budget for capital expenditures for those vehicles and equip- ment which will meet the requirements for permissible expenditures for local governments of the Revenue Sharing Funds. Consideration of alterna- tives could be discussed during the Council 's next budget hearing. The hearing was closed at 8: 50 p.m. An addendum to the agenda, the Oktoberfest celebration, was then dis- cussed. Tony Strouth, one of the coordinators of the event, identified the various civic organizations who will sponsor the celebration in the City and asked permission that the proposed activities be held in Central • Park October 15th. He also requested a license be granted for a four piece kiddy concession and that the required license fees as well as the clean up deposit be waived. Mr. Strouth asked that the City's liability insurance cover the use of the Ramsey County showmobile as had been done in the past. Since none of the sponsoring organizations have dram shop insurance it would appear there will be no beer served during the event. The coordinator said events to be held in the City in conjunction with the Oktoberfest would include a Monte Carlo Night at Apache on Friday and a skating event for youngsters sponsored by Disco Skate. At 8: 00 p.m. the Mayor Pro Tem opened the Assessment Hearing on Street Improvement 1976-1 which was scheduled for that time but then recessed the hearing for ten minutes to allow Council action on the Oktoberfest. Motion by Councilman Sundland and seconded by Councilman Sauer to grant permission to the St. Anthony Jaycees to hold the requested Oktoberfest celebration in Central Park October 15, 1977 subject to an insurance rider being attached to the Jaycees ' liability insurance naming the City as an additional insured. Motion carried unanimously. Motion by Councilman Sauer and seconded by Councilman Sundland to author- ize the City at no extra cost to acquire an insurance binder to cover the Ramsey County showmobile on which Ramsey County will be listed as an additional insured. (2) • Motion carried unanimously. Motion by Councilman Sauer and seconded by Councilman Sundland to grant a permit for the kiddie concessions to be operated as requested in the park proper and to waive the license fees as well as the clean up deposit normally required for such events. Motion carried unanimously. The assessment hearing for the rebuilding of 29th Avenue N.E. was opened at 8: 10 p.m. with the Manager reporting that, in conformance with the City's Assessment Policy for 29th, $107, 652.48 is to be assessed against the benefited properties. He said $200 ,123. 47 or 74 . 20 of the M.S .A. funds now held by the City will also be used to defray the rebuilding costs . Mr. Fornell then advised approximately 30 residents of the street who were present that the amount assessed to their property could be paid off within 30 days without incurring penalty and that the City is consider- ing a policy for deferring payment of the assessments with interest paid for those over 65 years of age who can prove hardship. Councilmen Sundland and Haik have been requested by the Council to re- search how other communities handle such deferments and Councilman Sund- land said they had found no consistency in other communities ' policies • in this regard and only arbitrary figures for setting the qualifications for determining such deferments . The City Attorney then said it was imperative that some sort of standards of hardship be adopted by the Council -to be applied to applicants for such deferments. The Mayor Pro Tem informed the residents that the deferment policy would be acted upon when the Council received the final recommendations from Councilmen Sundland and Haik establishing guidelines for granting such deferments and she also advised them that the question of traffic re- strictions could properly only be considered after the purpose of the hearing, which is to hear objections to the particular assessments from the property owners, is accomplished. I.C. Comstock, project engineer was present and was consulted at various times during the proceedings. Mr. Shaffer protested the average unit assessment of $1 ,545. 25 saying he felt the amount "should be closer to $1,000 .00" . He contended there was no evidence to prove "who had originally installed or paid for the cowpath between St. Anthony and St. Paul which is now 29th Avenue" . When it became apparent that the figures he was quoting differed from those of the Manager ' s and another resident, Leonard Toth, requested "specific figures" for the assessment totals, the hearing was recessed from 8: 30 p.m. to 8: 40 p.m. to allow Mr. Fornell to put the supporting • computations on the board. The recess also afforded the residents an (3) • opportunity to discuss their differences with Council members and staff. Mr. Fornell 's figures supported the $107, 652. 48 to be assessed to the property owners . Upon hearing no additional comments , the following motion was made. Motion by Councilman Sauer and seconded by Councilman Sundland to adopt Resolution 1977-047 setting the assessment rolls for Street Improvement Project 1976-1 as proposed and establishing an interest rate of 6% for any unpaid balance and repayment period of ten years . RESOLUTION 77-047 A RESOLUTION ADOPTING THE ASSESSMENT ROLL FOR STREET IMPROVEMENT PROJECT 1976-1 Motion carried unanimously. The meeting was recessed from 8: 56 p.m. and reconvened at 9 : 10 p.m. for a hearing on the proposed reassessments and apportionment of assessments for improvements made in 1960-1962 in the Apache Plaza and Diamond 8 area. John Drawz who had been appointed as a special counsel to the Council on this matter because the City Attorney had a -possible conflict of inter- est told those present how land divisions of the property in question which were not approved by the City had resulted in the County 's failure • to certify the assessments for improvements for collection. Several attorneys representing those whose property was being assessed gave their clients ' objections to the assessments . Loren Gross, 8609 Lyndale Avenue South, representing Mr. and Mrs . Edwin Beutz who recently replatted the property they purchased from the Apache Corporation in the manner required by the City, said there had been no legal papers discovered by him (which indicated there were any such assessments owing on the property) when he conducted a title search of the property. He also said he did not believe the previous owners were cognizant of the existence of such assessments when they sold the pro- perty to the Beutzes. He said the couple felt the additional $4 , 600 which the City is reassessing to this property really represented an addition to the purchase price which they might have not wanted to pay if they had known about its existence. Mark Jacobson, Suite 337, 7200 France Avenue ,South, presented the ob- jections of the Apache Corporation to the reassessment of their property. He felt the City was not following proper procedures set by the State for collection of such reassessed amounts. He did not believe the City had met any of the three conditions set by the State under which these amounts can be collected and he enumerated these. He contended that the City's failure to collect the assessments was a result of its own re- fusal to confirm to the County the property which was conveyed and recog- nized by the County Court. He then disputed the City 's contention that • (4) • the land description was by metes and bounds and thereby violated State statutes and he finished by saying "such reassessing can't be done 10 years after the fact" . Mr. Fornell responded to the attorney's contention that the same reassess- ment notice had been sent to the property owners before the Beutz plat had been filed. Bruce Odlaug, 332 Hamm Building, St. Paul, identified himself as repre- senting the interest of Northern Gopher Enterprises who are protesting the reassessments against the Diamond 8 property. It was his contention that the City was negligent in responding to Ramsey County's inquiries regarding the original assessments . He cited a case in Hennepin County where Minneapolis has certified an error in street assessments and where the court had upheld the rights of the property owner. He felt it was "grossly unfair to make the present owner pay for assessments which were not collected because of the City's negligence" and also insisted the assessments should be the prior owner's responsibility. The City' s counsel responded to this by saying "assessments are made against property and not owners" . He contended that the only way the City will determine where its rights lie is to adopt the assessments rolls and certify them to the auditor for collection. He said the City had pondered during many public meetings what disposition should be made of the unpaid improvement costs and finally had concluded it was the • responsibility of the City in fairness .to all its residents to collect the amounts still owing. R.J. Kleinman, manager of the Diamond 8 Apartments said the City also had a responsibility to its residents who live in those apartments and who will have to pay an additional $83.00 a year in rent for the next 10 years since this amount was not included when the rentals were established for those units. Mr. Drawz 's response was "Diamond 8 has been enjoying the benefits of those improvements for all these years without paying" . Laura Sultze, 2808 Silver Lane, was also present but did not speak. Later she indicated she would voice her objections to the reassessments against the Equinox property at the next meeting. Brad Bjorklund, 3416 Roosevelt Street N.E. , who was present as an ob- server for the League of Women Voters, identified himself as an "inter- ested taxpayer" and questioned whether the recovery costs of the liti- gation might not exceed the $42, 000 the City hopes to collect as reassess- ments and thereby result in increased costs rather than benefits to the taxpayers. Motion by Councilman Sundland and seconded by Councilman Sauer to adopt Resolution 77-048 setting the reassessment rolls for unpaid improvements as listed. RESOLUTION 77-048 • A RESOLUTION ADOPTING THE ASSESSMENT ROLL FOR THE REASSESSMENT AND APPORTIONMENT OF MISCELLANEOUS IMPROVEMENT PROJECTS (5) 67/,� '7/7 a • Before voting on the motion, Councilman Sundland suggested that, though he doubted any change in the outcome would result because the decision to collect the assessments had been made by the full Council during many public deliberations on the matter, he would prefer having the absent Council members hear- the objections raised that evening before a final decision was made. Because the regularly scheduled Council meeting will be one day too late to have the assessments certified for payment in 1978, the following action was taken: Motion by Councilman Sauer and seconded by Councilman Sundland to adjourn the hearing until 7: 00 p.m. October 4, 1977 . Motion carried unanimously. The meeting was recessed from 9 : 48 p.m. to 10: 00 p.m. when Mr. Vickrey who had been absent for the above hearing, returned to join in the discussion of an application for a club liquor license which had been submitted by the St. Anthony Legion Post #513. He reiterated the points he had made in his memorandum of September 21st regarding the City's authority to issue such a license and said he felt it might be advisable to make the license "nonrenewable" since it cannot be revoked "without cause" if it is made "renewable" . This will allow the City the discre- tion of not issuing a new license if any conditions of the license are not met or the club operation should prove to be the cause of diminished municipal liquor receipts. • Council members indicated the reasons they wanted conditions attached to the license were to "guaranty the Legion will (1) remain a bona fide 'club ' (2) not expand its present operation nor (3) add a public restau- rant to its existing facilities and (4) to assure the City ' s municipal liquor income is not jeopardized by competition from within the City" . Len Bisanti, the Legion's Facility Chairman, assured the Council that the organization "intends to remain a private club and has no intention of going public" :after Councilman Sundland had expressed his concerns that the club might later decide to include a public +restaurant in conjunc- tion with its liquor operation. He told Councilman Sauer who questioned why the club should retain its Set-Up license as well, that the organization felt it needed both licenses so it would encounter no difficulties with State liquor officials re- garding the rental of upper level space for wedding receptions, etc. These affairs are usually catered because of the limited cooking facili- ties in the club building which are normally utilized only for small internal club gatherings and occasionally by the auxiliary members when they entertain the patients from the St. Cloud Veterans Hospital. Motion by Councilman Sundland and seconded by Councilman Stauffer to grant an On-Sale Club liquor license to Legion Post #513 on the conditions that (1) the license be restricted to the existing basement area (2) the license is nonrenewable and (3) there shall be no restaurant in conjunc- tion with this liquor operation. (6) • Motion carried unanimously. The surety bond was deemed adequate since the Legion carried $100 ,000 dram shop liability insurance. The Manager requested that the above conditions were made a part of the license when it is granted and the Council concurred. Mr. Bjorkland then said he applauded the Council 's decision regarding the conditions since he didn't want to see "another Westphal or Richfield Legion operation in the City" . Mr. Vickrey left the meeting at 10: 25 p.m. after he introduced to the Council Steve Wolgamot his associate in the Dorsey Firm who he said handles the City' s prosecutions . Motion by Councilman Sauer and seconded by Councilman Sundland to adopt Resolution 77-042. RESOLUTION 77-042 A RESOLUTION MODIFYING THE 1977 BUDGET Motion. carried unanimously. Motion by Councilman Sundland and seconded by Councilman Sauer to adopt • the resolution increasing the appropriation to the gasoline purchase account, reflecting gasoline sale revenues received from Columbia Heights . RESOLUTION 77-046 A RESOLUTION MODIFYING THE 1977 BUDGET Motion carried unanimously. Councilman Sauer expressed surprise at the Metro Transit Commission communication asking designation of locations for their waiting shelters since he said he had understood funds for such improvements had been curtailed. Mr. Fornell felt there was a greater need for such shelters in Ramsey County where more apartment house inhabitants make use of bus transportation and there are greater ridership densities . He was re- quested to make the judgment as to location of such shelters. Mayor Pro Tem Stauffer said she would like priority given to using any grant money which might be available for bikeways to -provide safe cross- ing of the railroad bridge near Apache. Mr. Fornell will investigate whether the City' s needs for such bikeways meets the criteria for such grant monies and, - if so, will place the matter on a future agenda. The Chemical Dependency Task Force Report was discussed with the group' s Chairman, Councilman Stauffer who said the steps to be taken next would necessarily involve establishment of a committee to implement the task force recommendations and some financial support from the City to achieve the objectives. (7) • Councilman Sundland felt the full Council membership should be involved in any decision to provide financial backing or the establishment of a permanent committee to expedite the program. He said he thought the responsibility for appointing future representatives on the committee should rest with the sponsoring organizations and he wanted to assure there would be more self-direction from those groups. Action was de- ferred to the next Council meeting. Motion by Councilman Sundland and seconded by Councilman Stauffer to approve the listing of judges for the November 8th election as made in the September 27, 1977 Agenda. Motion carried unanimously. Councilman Sundland gave a report on the intergovernmental seminar he is participating in during the next few days. In reference to the Investment Report for January - August 1977, Council- man Sauer requested the Manager to ascertain whether sufficient securi- ties have been provided the City, as required, to cover the investments . Motion by Councilman Sundland and seconded by Councilman Stauffer to commend Larry Hamer for the informative and helpful report he had sub- mitted regarding the operation of the Public Works Department. Motion carried unanimously. The Council concurred with Mr.. Fornell 's suggestion that future Fire and Police Department monthly reports might be more narrative in nature so that some of the departments ' activities might be better highlighted. Motion by Councilman Sundland and seconded by Councilman Sauer to grant a Heating license to All Season Comfort, Inc. Motion carried unanimously. Motion by Councilman Sauer and seconded by Councilman Sundland to approve payment of all Verified Claims listed in the September 27, 1977 Agenda. Motion carried unanimously. Motion by Councilman Sundland and seconded by Councilman Sauer to adjourn the meeting at 10 : 50 p.m. Motion carried unanimously. Mayor ATTEST: &,w, a�, City Clerk (8)