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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2023.05.15 CC MinutesMINUTES City Council Meeting City Hall Council Chambers Monday, May 15, 2023 7:00 p.m. Call to Order Mayor Weidt called the meeting to order at 7:00 p.m. Roll Call COUNCIL PRESENT: Klein, Petryk, Miron, Strub, Weidt COUNCIL ABSENT: None OTHERS PRESENT: City Administrator Bryan Bear, City Engineer Mark Erichson, City Attorney Dave Snyder, Community Development Director Rachel Juba, Finance Director Anna Wobse, City Clerk Michele Lindau Approve Minutes for the May 1, 2023, City Council Meeting Klein made motion, Petryk seconded, to approve the minutes for the City Council meeting held on May 1, 2023, as presented. All Ayes. Motion carried. Approval of Agenda Weidt made motion, Klein seconded, to approve the agenda as presented. All Ayes. Motion carried. Approval of the Consent Agenda Klein made motion, Strub seconded, to approve the following Consent Agenda: 1.Approve Claims Roster 2.Approve Annual Performance Review for Public Works Parks Lead Worker Rick Kieffer 3.Approve Special Event Permit for North Star Gay Rodeo for July 29-30, 2023 4.Approve Temporary Liquor License for North Star Gay Rodeo on July 29-30, 2023 5.Approve Hugo Historic Site Lease Agreement for Hopkins Schoolhouse and Heritage Center 6.Approve Ordinance Amending Chapter 10, Article II, Dogs Regarding Violations and Penalties 7.Approve Pay Request No. 9 to Peterson Companies for Downtown Improvement/Lions Park 8.Approve Advertisement for Public Works Utility Lead Worker 9.Approve Purchase of Loggers and Scope of Work from WSB for North Star Wetland Bank Data Collection 10.Approve Wetland Replacement Plan for Oneka Prairie – Oneka Parkway Extension All Ayes. Motion carried. Council Meeting Minutes for May 15, 2023 Page 2 of 7 Approval of Claims Adoption of the Consent Agenda approved the Claims Roster as presented. Approve Annual Performance Review for Public Works Parks Lead Worker Rick Kieffer Rick Kieffer was re-hired by the City of Hugo as a Public Works Worker on May 31, 2005 returning after a short period of time in the private sector. Rick was promoted to Public Works Parks Lead Worker on April 17, 2023. Adoption of the Consent Agenda approved the Annual Performance Review for Public Works Parks Lead Worker Rick Kieffer. Approve Special Event Permit for North Star Gay Rodeo for July 29-30, 2023 The North Star Gay Rodeo had applied for a Special Event Permit to hold a regional rodeo at the Dead Broke Arena site at 5676 170th Street North on July 29-30, 2023. A SEP was required because there would be amplified sound and alcohol served outside. Adoption of the Consent Agenda approved the SEP for the North Star Gay Rodeo as outlined in their application. Approve Temporary Liquor License for North Star Gay Rodeo on July 29-30, 2023 North Star Gay Rodeo had applied for a Temporary On-Sale Liquor License to serve beer and seltzer at their rodeo event on July 29-30, 2022. Staff had received the completed application, payment, fee, and proof of liquor liability insurance. Adoption of the Consent Agenda approved the Temporary On-Sale Liquor License for the North Star Gay Rodeo. Approve Hugo Historic Site Lease Agreement for Hopkins Schoolhouse and Heritage Center The Hopkins Schoolhouse and Heritage Center proposed to enter into a 15-year lease for the premises to restore, manage, preserve, use and otherwise interpret the site for historical, educational and other compatible purposes for Fiscal Years 2023-2038. The site would be occupied by the HSHC and the Forest Lake Historical Society. The lease involved no payment of rent but conferred responsibility for repairing and maintaining the site to the Society and the HSHC with clear mileposts and requirements for progress on updating the site to be determined and specified in the lease (subject to later Council approval). Adoption of the Consent Agenda approved the lease in principle subject to finalization by staff of particular details of it to include: enhanced specification of goals and remedies, specification of insurance responsibilities, and other matters as is necessary and advisable to the HSHC and the Society and the City of Hugo. Approve Ordinance Amending Chapter 10, Article II, Dogs Regarding Violations and Penalties Due to an increase in public nuisance violations involving dogs, staff had determined that there was a need to revise the City’s procedure for dealing with dog nuisance violations. The proposed ordinances would revise Chapter 10, Article II, Section 32 of the City Code to remove the notification of authorities, second complaint, and failure to correct subsections relating to reporting dog public nuisances. Chapter 10, Article II, Section 39 would also be revised to classify violations of any section underneath Chapter 10, Article II as misdemeanors. The intent of these revisions was to simplify the violation process while allowing for higher enforceability. Council Meeting Minutes for May 15, 2023 Page 3 of 7 Adoption of the Consent Agenda approved ORDINANCE NO. 2023-524 AMENDING HUGO CITY CODE, CHAPTER 10, ARTICLE II – DOGS, SECTION 10- 39 – PENALTIES and ORDINANCE NO. 2023-525 AMENDING HUGO CITY CODE CHAPTER 10, ARTICLE II - DOGS, SECTION 10-32 - NUISANCES. Approve Pay Request No. 9 to Peterson Companies for Downtown Improvement/Lions Park Project Peterson Companies, Inc. had submitted Pay Voucher No. 9 in the amount of $157,733.32 for work certified through April 30, 2023, on the 2021 Downtown Improvement/Lions Park Project. Substantial work had been completed on the project. Pay Voucher No. 9 covered installation of the fence around the playground and along the retaining wall within the playground. Punch-list items were currently on-going. Adoption of the Consent Agenda approved payment to Peterson Companies, Inc. in the amount of $157,733.32. Approve Advertisement for Public Works Utility Lead Worker The City Council, at their February 6, 2023, meeting, approved the job description for a Public Works Utility Lead Worker and gave authorization to advertise for an internal candidate to fill the position. This position was not filled by an internal candidate. Adoption of the Consent Agenda approved the advertisement for the position of Utility Lead Worker. Approve Purchase of Loggers and Scope of Work from WSB for North Star Wetland Bank Data Collection At the meeting of February 6, 2023, Council heard an update on the North Star Wetland Bank. WSB and Associates had prepared the draft prospectus which was reviewed by the Technical Evaluation Panel. They had not yet made a decision on the project, but it was likely that the TEP would require additional data. WSB had provided a scope of work for hydrology monitoring and soil investigation between May and September 2023 for a cost of $9,294. WSB ahd recommended the City purchase data loggers, in lieu of renting them, as it is likely that monitoring would be required from now through potential construction and maintenance phases. Purchase of six Rugged TROLL 100s was estimated to cost $3,260.00. Adoption of the Consent Agenda approved the purchase of the data loggers and the scope of work from WSB for North Star Wetland Bank data collection. Approve Wetland Replacement Plan for Oneka Prairie – Oneka Parkway Extension Southwind Holdings, LLC, was proposing to develop a 25-acre property located at the north end of Oneka Parkway to be known as Oneka Prairie. The development would include 59 residential lots and a public park, with a short extension of Oneka Parkway to the north. Where the extension was proposed to be constructed small wetland impacts were proposed. The applicant was proposing to replace the impacts to the wetland basin though the purchase of wetland credits from an approved wetland bank. Adoption of the Consent Agenda approved the wetland replacement plan, subject to final Technical Evaluation Panel issuance of the Notice of Decision for the wetland replacement application. Council Meeting Minutes for May 15, 2023 Page 4 of 7 Resolution to Order Repair or Removal of a Hazardous Building at 14197 Forest Boulevard North Community Development Director Rachel Juba explained that on September 21, 2022, there was as structure fire at the property located at 14197 Forest Boulevard North. The house on the property was substantially damaged due to the fire. The house was in a state of dilapidation and hazardous to the health and safety of the public. In addition, Washington County Sheriff’s Department had informed staff that there had been reports of people breaking into the building. Staff had been in contact with the owners and were not aware if the owners had decided on how to abate the violations and remove the hazardous building. Juba presented three options available to the City. The City could do nothing, provide the owners more time to make a decision, or use statutory authority to order repair or removal of the hazardous building. She provided information on the Minnesota State Statute that provided the authority and process to deal with hazardous buildings. The order would go through the court system. The City would first need to identifying the house as hazardous and adopt an order for its repair or removal. This order would be served to property owners and lien holders, and they would be given a specified amount of time to repair or remove the building. If the owner did not do the work, the Court could grant the City authority to remove the hazardous building and charge all the costs against the property as a special assessment on their property taxes. Staff recommended Council approve the resolution to order repair or removal of the building. Miron asked about interactions with property owners and the due process. Juba replied staff had talked to both owners several times and had contacted the insurance company. The order would be for the repair or removal of the structure, and staff would work with the property owner if they decided to obtain a building permit to repair. Petryk asked how much time the property owner would have. Rachel responded there would be a specified time in the order. Snyder added that if it resulted in a court order, they would have another 30 days to bring it into compliance. If it is not brought into compliance within that time, it is filed with the district court. The shortest amount of time would be 21 days after filed with district court, but 60 days could easily be added to that depending on court scheduling. He said there was plenty of due process and opportunities for the resident to get this taken care of voluntarily. Juba added that a letter that was sent out to the property owner, mortgage company, and insurance company informing them of this meeting tonight if they wanted to provide any documentation or attend. No one was in attendance. Miron made motion, Petryk seconded, to approve RESOLUTION 2023-7 RESOLUTION APPROVING AN ORDER OF THE CITY OF HUGO REGARDING HAZARDOUS AND SUBSTANDARD BUILDING LOCATED AT 14197 FOREST BOULEVARD NORTH, HUGO, MINNESOTA. All Ayes. Motion carried. Council Meeting Minutes for May 15, 2023 Page 5 of 7 Discussion on Use of American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) Funds to Fund Road Maintenance Projects Finance Director Anna Wobse reminded Council that the ARPA funds were discussed at the goal setting workshop in January, and Council showed interest in using ARPA funds for the construction of the North Star Wetland Bank. To date, the City received the full allocation of $1,668,411.91 of ARPA Funds and had until December 31, 2024, to spend them. In January 2022, the US Treasury Department released the final rule that allowed the City to use these funds to fund general government services and specifically recognized road building and road maintenance as a government service. Wobse explained that since the goal setting workshop, Public Works staff had completed a comprehensive review of the roads in the City and found that because of the continuous freeze- thaw that took place Spring of 2023, many roads in the City were in worse condition than expected. Staff worked together to re-evaluate the Street Capital Improvement Projects (CIP) and found many of these roads were not on the upcoming CIP and were in worse condition than some roads currently on the CIP. There were four streets that rated the same and should be completed over the next two years. The current street fund only funded one project each year. Staff recommended using ARPA funds to do the 2023 Birch Tree Street Improvement Project, which would free up the street funds to be used for the additional road maintenance projects that needed to be completed. Staff requested Council adopt the resolution authorizing road maintenance expenditures from the America Rescue Plan Act Funds. If approved, staff would present to Council a new CIP at an upcoming meeting. Weidt said he thought it was a good idea since there were current government negotiations to take back some of the unused funds. This would also help the City catch up on road projects. Strub said he was still concerned about the wetland bank construction and asked if there was another way to fund that. Wobse replied that the City could possibly use Capital Facility Funds since the City would get most of the money back when selling credits. Bear added that it was very easy to see delays in the wetland bank. Now extra data needed to be collected to prove hydrology, which was just one little delay in the project. There was only so much time to spend the ARPA Funds. He said staff would come back with an alternate funding path for the wetland bank, and would come back in June with a new CIP, which was being prepared by staff. Klein made motion, Petryk seconded, RESOLUTION 2023-8 RESOLUTION AUTHORIZING ROAD MAINTENANCE EXPENDITURES FROM THE AMERICAN RESCUE PLAN ACT FUNDS UNDER THE STANDARD ALLOWANCE ELECTED UNDER THE REVENUE LOSS PROVISION OF THE CORONAVIRUS LOCAL FISCAL RECOVERY FUND. All Ayes. Motion carried. Council Meeting Minutes for May 15, 2023 Page 6 of 7 Resident Kayte Barton – Transportation for People with Disabilities and Seniors Resident Kayte Barton had contacted City staff requesting to speak to Council regarding equitable transportation services in Hugo. She explained she was high function autistic and wanted to help create transportation for people with disabilities and seniors like she did in Woodbury. She talked about having issues being a part of a Special Olympics team and getting to church because of the lack of transportation. She provided reasons transportation was important to people with disabilities and seniors and statistics on the population with disabilities. She talked about Transit Link, which doesn’t have a schedule, and Metro Mobility that would involve a transit tax. New Trax picks her up on Wednesdays. This is a free service that runs off grants from the state. Council discussed those options with each having their limitations. City Administrator Bryan Bear explained that New Trax is funded through state resources as well as cities and senior facilities. They had a route in Forest Lake and White Bear Lake, and do a circular with senior citizens in those towns. The City of Hugo does not have enough of those types of facilities to make a route feasible. The City has had good conversations with them, and they have made special accommodations for Kayte. Transit Link is a service that links to other transit services. Metro Mobility has service areas set by the legislature, and he believed all cities in that area were part of the Metro Transit Taxing District. That taxing district tax could create approximately $300,000 City wide, and there was a lot that could be done with that money. It was also possible to be in the taxing district and not have Metro Mobility in the area. He pointed out that many of the Metro Transit Park and Rides were underutilized. Council thanked Katye for bringing this forward. They talked about the need to start looking at options as the City grows saying it would be a good time for staff to talk to the new Met Council representative regarding transportation. It was generally agreed that joining the taxing district would not be beneficial. Bear reminded Council of the Highway 61 visioning plan that Kayte has been participating in. A portion of that vision was transit. Weidt made motion, Miron seconded, to direct staff to continue to work with the City’s Metropolitan Council representative to look at transportation options to come up with solutions for transportation issues. All Ayes. Motion carried. Approve Change in June Council Meetings to One Meeting on Monday, June 12, 2023 Approve Change in City Administrator’s Performance Review to Monday, June 12, 2023 Approve Closing City Hall on Monday, July 3, 2023 Approve Change in July Council Meetings to Monday, July 10 and Monday, July 24, 2023 City Administrator Bryan Bear explained the MN State Legislators declared June 19 as a State holiday, Juneteenth. The seconded meeting of the Council in June fell on that date. In anticipation of it being a state holiday beginning this June, he recommended Council reschedule the meetings in June to one meeting on June 12. Council Meeting Minutes for May 15, 2023 Page 7 of 7 If Council rescheduled the June meetings, he recommended the Council reschedule the city administrator’s performance review for June 12. In addition, according to the City’s Personnel Policy, each regular, full-time employee who had worked for the City for one calendar year was allowed one day of their choosing as a personal holiday. Staff had collectively requested to use their personal holiday on Monday, July 3, and requested Council close City Hall on that date. Also, there were five Mondays in the month of July. Staff wanted to reschedule the July meeting dates to July 10 and 24 instead of July 3 and 17. This would allow for the cancellation of the July 3 meeting and keep the July meetings two weeks apart. Weidt made motion, Petryk seconded, to approve one meeting in June on June 12, rescheduling the city administrator’s performance review to June 12, rescheduling the July meetings to July 10 and 24, and closing City Hall on July 3, 2023. All Ayes. Motion carried. Adjournment Miron made motion, Klein seconded, to adjourn at 7:48 p.m. All Ayes. Motion carried. Respectfully Submitted, Michele Lindau, City Clerk Council Meeting Minutes for May 15, 2023 Page 7 of 7 Michele Lindau, City Clerk