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HomeMy WebLinkAboutCC MINUTES 091320112 4 5 6 10 11 12 13 14 15 CITY OF ST. ANTHONY CITY COUNCIL REGULAR MEETING MINUTES SEPTEMBER 13, 2011 CALL TO ORDER. Mayor Faust called the meeting to order at 7:00 p.m. PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE. Mayor Faust invited the Council and audience to join him in the Pledge of Allegiance. ROLL CALL. Present: 16 Absent: 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 Also Present: Mayor Faust; Councilmembers Gray, Roth, and Stille. Councilmember Jenson. Interim City Manager Jay Hartman and Finance Director Roger Larson. CONSIDERATION, DISCUSSION, AND POSSIBLE ACTION ON ALL OF THE FOLLOWING ITEMS. 1. APPROVAL OF SEPTEMBER 13, 2011, CITY COUNCIL MEETING AGENDA. Motion by Councilmember Gray, seconded by Councilmember Roth, to approve the City Council Meeting Agenda of September 13, 2011. Motion carried 4 -0. II. PROCLAMATIONS AND RECOGNITIONS. A. Kiwanis Peanut Day September 23, 2011. Councilmember Stille recited the proclamation designating Friday, September 23, 2011, as St. Anthony Kiwanis Peanut Day. Mr. John Dierbeck, President, Kiwanis Club of St. Anthony, thanked the City Council and the City for its ongoing supportt and for the contributions from all the volunteers and members that support the Kiwanis community programs in the City. He advised that the Kiwanis have started a new program called " Aktion Club" and introduced Mazy Dierbeck, lead adviser for Aktion Club. He also introduced Mr. Tom Miller, Kiwanis Club of St. Anthony fundraising chairman. Ms. Mary Dierbeck explained that Aktion Club is a program for adults with disabilities that started in May and meets on the first Tuesday of every month at 6:30 p.m. She stated that Aktion Club held a special charter night on Tuesday, September e, and she thanked the Mayor for his public address that evening. Mayor Faust expressed the City Council's thanks and appreciation to the Kiwanis members for their dedicated service. City Council Regular Meeting Minutes September 13, 2011 Page 2 III. CONSENT AGENDA. 10 11 12 13 14 IV. 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 V. VI. A. Consider August 23, 2011, Council meeting minutes; B. Consider licenses and permits; C. Consider payment of claims; and D. Consider Resolution 11 -052: Recognizing the Arthur Motion by Councilmember Stille, seconded by Councilmember Roth, to approve the Consent Agenda items. Motion carried 4 -0. PUBLIC HEARING. None. REPORTS FROM COMMISSION AND STAFF. None. GENERAL BUSINESS OF COUNCIL. A. Resolution 11 -053; Authorizing the Mayor and Interim City Manager to Execute the Agreement between Hennepin County and the City of St. Anthony for Road Maintenance Services. Jay Hartman, Interim City Manager, presenting. Interim City Manager Hartman presented the proposed five year agreement for road maintenance with Hennepin County commencing January 1, 2012. He advised that the City has enjoyed a good working relationship with the County since 1994 and the agreement provides payment to the City for snow removal, street sweeping, mowing, flushing, and disposal of debris on County State Aid roads within the City. Councilmember Stille asked if the proposed agreement adequately reimburses the City for the road maintenance services being provided. Interim City Manager Hartman replied that the agreement has been reviewed with the Finance Director and staff is pleased with the amount of payment. Motion by Councilmember Roth, seconded by Councilmember Gray, to approve Resolution 11- 053; Authorizing the Mayor and Interim City Manager to Execute the Agreement between Hennepin County and the City of St. Anthony for Road Maintenance Services. Motion carried 4 -0. City Council Regular Meeting Minutes September 13, 2011 Page 3 B. Resolution 11 -054; Proposed 2012 Tax Levy and Budget in Compliance with the Truth in Taxation Act_ Roger Larson, Finance Director, presenting. 4 Finance Director Larson presented the proposed 2012 tax levy and budget and stated that eight 5 meetings have been held to date as part of the overall budget process. He advised that Truth in 6 Taxation notices will be mailed to property owners on November 15th and the final presentation 7 and approval of the 2012 budget and tax levy by the City Council will occur on December 13tH 8 He explained that the proposed 2012 budget of $5,498,650 represents an increase of $20,650 or 9 0.38% over the 2011 budget and the 2012 proposed general operating levy of $3,045,166 10 represents an increase of $99,655 from 2011. He reviewed the .proposed 2012 General Fund 11 revenues and expenditures as well as the 2012 total proposed levies. He advised that the 12 proposed increase in all levies to $5,223,089 represents an overall increase of $239,344 or 13 4.80 %, and noted that the City had the same levy for 2009, 2010, and 2011. He also explained 14 what the General Fund levy supports, the City's issuance of debtilevy impact, and grant monies 15 received by the City, and encouraged residents to contact him with any questions. 16 17 Councilmember Stille stated that the three year averaging method used by the City to prepare its 18 budget is intended as a tool to figure out what makes sense for budgeting purposes, and it is 19 important to recognize that the budget always contains some anomalies. He indicated that the 20 proposed capital equipment budget includes some big ticket items as well as some deferred 21 maintenance on other assets and this has been a challenge with the City's levy being kept flat. 22 He noted that the City resists debt and pays cash for things and added that the City staff has done 23 a good job in preparing the budget. 24 25 Mayor Faust stated that the City has been able to increase its bond rating to the highest possible 26 rating based on the City's size and this is because the City does not issue debt along with the 27 City's long range planning efforts. 28 29 Motion by Councilmember Gray, seconded by Councilmember Roth, to approve Resolution 11- 30 054; Setting the City of St. Anthony Village Proposed 2012 Tax Levy and General Operating 31 Budget. 32 33 Motion carried 4 -0. 34 35 VII. REPORTS FROM CITY MANAGER AND COUNCIL MEMBERS. 36 37 Interim City Manager Hartman reported on the following: 38 • A new outdoor warning siren has been installed and was funded through the Minnesota 39 Department of Homeland Security using FEMA grant funds. He noted that the old siren 40 was located on the south side of well house #4 and the new siren is 250 feet north of that 41 location to take advantage of the back -up generator at the fire station. He commended 42 Fire Chief Malenick for securing the $19,000 FEMA grant for the siren. 43 Staff will begin contract negotiations with the Police and Public Works bargaining units 44 and anticipate completing those negotiations the end of October. 45 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 City Council Regular Meeting Minutes September 13, 2011 Page 4 Mayor Faust expressed the City Council's thanks to Fire Chief Malenick for securing the grant for the siren and for locating it next to the fire station to take advantage of the back -up generator. Councilmember Roth reported on his attendance at the following: • September 6th City Council work session. • September 8th Cable Commission meeting. He advised that the Cable Commission is currently engaged in a three year renewal of the contract with Comcast. • Participation in Cable Commission Finance Committee monthly meetings to take a closer look at financing in the contract renewal process and to make sure all necessary controls are in place to maintain a solid organization for all ten cities. Councilmember Stille reported on his attendance at the following: • August 30th City Council work session. Councilmember Gray — No report. Mayor Faust reported on the following: • August 30°i joint meeting with School Board. • August 30th MWMO executive committee. • September 6'h meeting with Kiwanis regarding their Aktion charter. • September 8'h MWMO executive committee. • September 12'h Regional Council of Mayors meeting with keynote address by Tina Smith, Chief of Staff for Governor Dayton. • September 13tH MWMO meeting. He stated that another turf maintenance class is scheduled for September 27tH 27 VIII. COMMUNITY FORUM. 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 Mayor Faust invited residents to come forward at this time and address the Council on items that are not on the regular agenda. Mr. Ken Brown, 3422 Silver Lane NE, appeared before the City Council and requested that the City address a landscaping problem caused by the Silver Lane project. He presented pictures of the area and stated that in the past he and his neighbors have always maintained this area. He explained that following the road construction projects, the area was seeded last fall which was unsuccessfiil because nothing was done to prepare the soil, then this summer, the City came back and seeded agaiti but the area was only watered once. He indicated that the City is close to sign - off on the project and based on discussions with the Project Engineer last year, the City agreed to deliver sod - quality turf and some sodding was done along the boulevard. He added that he has teamed that the area will not be restored to where it was before the Foss Lane project. He requested that the City bring in top soil and seed the area again to eliminate the eyesore. He also asked if the City is going to mow and fertilize this area. He suggested that landscaping on future projects include more than just the Engineer's sign -off and felt that taxpayers should not have to pay twice to get this area looking decent. City Council Regular Meeting Minutes September 13, 2011 Page 5 I Ms. Dayna Goebel, 1040 181h Avenue NE, appeared before the City Council and stated that she 2 and her husband are currently looking to buy a home and are considering moving to St. Anthony. 3 She advised that they have a 30 pound miniature pot belly pig as an indoor pet and stated that 4 they do not want to purchase a home if they cannot get a permit for their pet. 6 Mayor Faust suggested that Ms. Goebel leave her contact information with the Interim City 7 Manager and requested that staff research this issue and follow -up with Ms. Goebel. 8 9 Mr. Thomas Goebel, 1040 18`h Avenue NE, appeared before the City Council and stated that he 10 previously spoke with Councilmember Gray who indicated that they could not get a permit until I 1 they were residents of the City. He requested an informal opinion from the City Council 12 regarding their permit request. 13 14 Mayor Faust stated that the Goebel's first step is to talk to staff because the City Council cannot 15 commit to anything without the research from staff. 16 17 Mr. Tom Roepke, 3901 Foss Road, appeared before the City Council and stated that since the 18 last City Council meeting, he has had three inspections of his property for fire, housing, and 19 rental. He indicated that none of his previous requests for information have been met and 20 reiterated his three requests. He advised that the first request is for any permits for work done on 21 his storm sewer connection, the second request is for a memo from City Engineer Hubmer 22 stating the cause of the flooding on his property this summer, and the third request is for a 23 plumbing inspector or civil engineer to validate his storm sewer connection's code compliance. 24 He stated that he has five manila envelopes at his shop addressed to the Mayor and City Council 25 supporting his accusations. He added that he has been working in good faith with the City and 26 still has no answers. 27 28 Interim City Manager Hartman advised that he has not found anything in the commercial file that 29 talks about a new connection to the storm sewer. He stated that Project Manager Messner and 30 City Engineer Hubmer have met with Mr. Roepke a number of times and he is unsure whether 31 Mr. Messner or Mr. Hubmer can state whether the storm sewer connection is code compliant. 32 He agreed to follow -up on the code compliance issue. He stated that staff has also gone through 33 all the blueprints and provided Mr. Roepke with copies of everything on hand as far as the outlet 34 structure. He also agreed to follow -up with Fire Chief Malenick regarding the inspections. 35 36 Mayor Faust assured Mr. Roepke that the City will continue to work with him and will provide 37 the requested information to the extent the information is available. 38 39 Ms. Stephanie Roepke, 3901 Foss Road, appeared before the City Council and stated that she is 40 not sure how many people sustained damages caused by the natural disaster on July 16, 2011, but 41 because of the small value no one is receiving any assistance from FEMA, the County, the State, 42 or other agencies. She indicated that the people at Mirror Lake lost everything and have to pay 43 for the repairs being done. She stated that their business will show a $25,000 loss in inventory 44 and this does not include the extraordinary amount of time to clean up and repair the damages 45 and she questioned how to put a dollar value on time. She indicated that she has customers from 46 all over the metro area and these customers also go to Walmart, Cub, the liquor store, Culver's or 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 City Council Regular Meeting Minutes September 13, 2011. Page 6 Applebee's. She stated that she knows her business is helping to support other businesses in the City and it would be nice to get support from the City. She stated that most people have mortgage or renter's insurance, but most cannot afford flood insurance and most do not expect to need flood insurance. She indicated that engineers should plan for worst case scenarios and it is unacceptable what happened this summer. She referenced the City's business plan and the section concerning reserves which states that the City will establish and maintain a contingency reserve fund available for appropriation by the City Council for unanticipated expenditures. She questioned what the City considers an emergency if the July 16`b flood was not an emergency. She proposed that the City Council make funding available to people affected by this summer's flooding and added that the City's mission is to be a livable community, and if we as a community will not help our neighbors and businesses, we are not a village but just a collection of individuals. Mayor Faust stated that he empathized with Ms. Roepke. He explained that the City maintains a 30 -35% reserve fund partly because the City receives its property tax distributions from the County in June and December and the 30 -35% is intended to help the City meet its normal operating budget. He stated he does not know of anything in the statute that allows a city to make a gift to an individual. He added that there are remedies the City is pursuing which only apply to the homeowner's association at Mirror Lake. He indicated that these things do not get resolved overnight and the City is committed to a coordinated effort to solve the problem. He stated that there is a 48" pipe that carries the run -off, but if it goes north into Rice Creek and into New Brighton and then Fridley, there is nowhere for the water to go and the City needs to model something that allows for better storage. IX. INFORMATION AND ANNOUNCEMENT& Mayor Faust announced that the Mirror Lake condominium association is holding a benefit fundraiser at the Shorewood Bar and Grill on September 18`s from 2:00 -6:00 p.m. He stated that information is posted on the City's website and Wells Fargo Bank will also take donations. He encouraged everybody to support this and if someone wants to leave a donation at City Hall or Community Services, staff will ensure it gets into the proper hands. Councilmember Stille stated that one of the City's environmental stewardship goals relates to a single garbage hauler and wanted residents to know that this topic is still on the Council's radar. He referenced a 200 -page study dated June 2009 prepared by the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency as well as another study being done by a local research board regarding the impact of haulers on pavement performance, which will be completed in June 2012. X. ADJOURNMENT. Mayor Faust adjourned the meeting at 8:09 p.m. Respectfully submitted, Barbara Hughes Timesaver Off Site Secretarial, Inc. City Council Regular Meeting Minutes September 13, 2011 Page 7 2 ^ t 3 ATTEST: 4 City Clerk a Mayor