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1991-01-07 CC Minutes . . . COUNCIL MINUTES JANUARY 7, 1991 Prior to the start of the meeting the two of the new members of the Council were sworn in by lOth District Court Judge Gary Meyer. Persons present for the Swearing In Ceremony included the City Council members, Maureen Andrews, Gary Barthel, Mark Barthel, Don Berning, Bob Braun, Keith Franklin, Gary and Juanita Hurberts, Jim Krystosek, Ken Lindsay, Judge Gary Meyer, Jackie Peterson, Pat Walsh, Kim Walsh and Jon Walsh. Before the swearing in, Judge Meyer made a few comments to those present. He thanked the Ci ty for allowing him to do the ceremony and that he was glad to be back. He stated that unlike the past he was at the meeting to swear in the new members of the Council instead of in the capacity as City Attorney. He noted that he saw some of the same faces at the meeting as he had when he was the City Attorney, noting however that some of them were now in a different capacity. Judge Meyer first swore in Duane Berning with Duane's father, Don Berning, holding the Bible. He then swore in Jim Walsh with his wife Pat holding the Bible. After the Swearing In Ceremony, Gary again thanked the Council and then left the meeting. The first meeting of 1991 was called to order by Mayor Jim Walsh. Members present included Duane Berning, Don Cornelius, Donatus Vetsch. The fourth seat on the Council was vacate due to Mark Daleiden's decision not take his Council seat. Others present included Maureen Andrews, Mark Barthel, Ken Lindsay, and Jackie Peterson. The agenda for the evenings meeting was reviewed by the Council along with the following additions: 1 . . . 1. Request for additional lighting at the city Park so that Broomball can complete their last games of the evening. 2. Need to change the meeting dates for the following two meetings: January 21st to January 22nd for the Martin Luther King's Holiday. February 18th to February 19th for the President's Holiday. A motion was made by Donatus Vetsch and seconded by Don Cornelius to approve the agenda with additions. All were in favor and the motion carried. The minutes of the December 17th Council Meeting were reviewed for correction. Ken noted that on Page 3, Paragraph 4 the sentence should read, "There was also some discussion regarding the fact that some snow mobile are harassing getting in the way of the City Crew when they are attempting to clear the streets of snow". Duane noted that his name had been misspelled as well. Hearing no other comments regarding the minutes a motion made by Don Cornelius to approve the minutes with corrections. motion was seconded by Duane Berning. All were in favor and motion carried. was The the The first item on the agenda was Maintenance. Ken informed the Council that he had received a requested from the Broomball Association requesting that the lights not be turned off until at least 10:30 so that they could finish their last games in the evening. Ken noted that he could not remember the contact person's name, but pointed out that when he had spoken with the person he had told him that the Broomball League would need to contact Maureen so that the matter could be put on the Agenda. The Council was informed that at the time of the meeting, no contact had been made. The Council discussed the matter, noting they did not have any objection to the additional half of hour if the neighbors did not. Mark Barthel who was in the audience and is also a neighbor noted that he did not have a problem with the extra time and that the League had been real quiet to date. It was noted that the timer would set for every day instead of just Broomball evenings. There was a motion to approve the additional one half hour at this time but that the timer would be set back to 10:00 p.m. if there were any complaints from neighbors. The motion was made by 2 . . . Don Cornelius and seconded by Donatus Vetsch. All were in favor and the motion carried. The Council had copies of the Snow and Ice Removal Policy in their packets for review. Duane Berning asked about the property damage issue. He wanted to know what happens if the City would do damage in the area beyond the 5 to 11 1/2 feet (which is considered street easement). It was pointed out that if damage is done in the area beyond the easement that the City would be liable for the damage and it would be the responsibility of the City to make or cause to make the repair. The Council was also informed that they had received copies of the Complaint forms so that if members of the Council received any complaints at home that they would be able to properly document them so that staff could respond to them. Mayor Walsh requested that if residents had any questions regarding the policy that the City make available to them a copy of the policy. Hearing no other questions or comments on the policy and the complaint form a motion was made to approve the policy. A motion was made by Don Cornelius and seconded by Donatus Vetsch to approve the RESOLUTION ESTABLISHING A SNOW PLOWING AND ICE CONTROL POLICY. All were in favor and the motion carried. In a related matter, Donatus Vetsch asked about the complaint that the City had received from the Westwind Subdivision. The Council was informed that a letter would be sent to Mr. Anderson of 6019 Kalland Drive regarding the snow removal policy. Ken also noted that the street sign is in at the proper location and that it was damaged by the party doing the site landscaping and that at the time it occurred they had been asked to correct the situation. He noted that the Maintenance Department will take care of the sign as soon as weather is permitting in the spring. It was noted to the Council that there was no Engineering for the evening's meeting. Included in the Council's packet were letters prepared by City Attorney, Bob Miller. The information included the letter to Loren Kohnen regarding the final bill for $10,453.51, a letter to Mr. Steve Berkel and regarding the ill egal storage and material s on premises and finally a letter to Mr. Clem Marx regarding a meeting on the proposed storm water project. Mayor Walsh requested that the issue be tabled and the meeting postponed unti 1 after the new members of the Counci 1 have an opportunity to review the project. A motion was made by Duane Berning and seconded by Donatus 3 ~ Vetsch to table the Marx issue. Due to the fact that Staff could not determine who had voted a roll call vote was asked for. Duane Berning -- aye, Donatus Vetsch -- aye and Cornelius -- aye. All were in favor and the matter was tabled and Maureen was asked to contact Mr. Marx and relay the information to him off the delay. The next matter discussed was Income Received and Bills to be Paid. The Council reviewed the bills. Issues discussed included the bill for Meyer-Rohlin, Saxon Motors, Wright Recycling, United Telephone , Harmon GI ass, Breze Industries and Albertvi II e Auto Parts. The Council was informed that the bill for Meyer-Rohlin was incorrect and should have been in the amount of $9,498.93 and the there should have been a check for Dennis Fehn for $6,727.40. The matter regarding the 01 d bi II for Saxon Motors was discussed. The Council was informed that the bill was for deduction for the alignment kit and idler arm that needed to be replaced in Chevy Pickup. . Donatus Vetsch asked about the Wright Recycling bill. He questioned why there was another bill at this meeting when it had been on the last bill list. It was pointed out that normally the bill is on the Bills for the first meeting of the month, but that in December the bill was not received until after the December 3rd Council meeting. Duane asked if the bill for United Telephone was unusually high or normal. It was pointed out that this bi II is about average. Don Cornelius asked about the Harmon Glass bill. it was for the repair made on the snow plow truck. Ken stated Jim Walsh asked about the Breze Industries bill. that this bill was for welding rods and supplies. Ken noted Duane Berning asked what was on the Albertville bill. Maureen reviewed the bill with the Council and the two largest bills were for materials needed to make equipment. Auto Parts noted that repairs on . At this time Mayor Walsh asked about the use of Purchase Orders (P.O. 's). It was noted that at one time P. o. 's were required for items over $25.00, but that it had been the Council's decision to discontinue the use of them. Mayor Walsh stated that he felt that P.O. 's were a good idea because it is the best way to keep track of money being spent by the City, instead of waiting until after the expenditure has been made. Donatus Vetsch agreed with Mayor Walsh, stating that at one time it had been recommended by the Auditors that the City implement the practice. 4 . It was suggested that petty cash could be used to reimburse employees for items that they purchased personally as long as a receipt was attached to the invoice. Don Cornelius suggested that he felt that there should be a set amount established by the Council so that the small items could be purchased, noting that in the past all large expenditures have been approved by the Council prior to the purchase anyway. Mayor Walsh stated that he disagreed with this practice and that he wanted to see the P.O. 's implemented. Hearing no other comments or questions a motion was made to approve the bills. A motion was made by Donatus Vetsch and seconded by Don Cornel ius. All were in favor and checks 11214 through 11257, excluding check numbers 11231,11232,11249 -- 11254 were approved. The next item on the agenda was the 1991 Appointments. The list included the following recommendations from the Mayor: . ACTING MAYOR PARK BOARD REPRESENTATIVE PLANNING COMMISSION HEALTH BOARD ADMINISTRATOR/CLERK/TREASURER BUILDING INSPECTOR WEED INSPECTOR CITY ATTORNEY JOINT POWER'S REPRESENTATIVE DON CORNELIUS DUANE BERNING DONATUS VETSCH DONATUS VETSCH MAUREEN ANDREWS LOREN KOHNEN DONATUS VETSCH BILL RADZWILL DON CORNELIUS & JIM WALSH MEYER-ROHLIN JURAN & MOODY NORTHWEST ASSOCIATED CONSULTANTS (DAVID LICHT) BILL RADZWILL BILL RADZWILL PATTY SATZWEDEL (CATCHER) & MONTICELLO DOG POUND (KENNEL) JIM WALSH DR. DAVID EHLENZ GREG BERNING JIM WALSH & MAUREEN ANDREWS CROW RIVER NEWS SECURITY BANK NORTH- WEST TWIN CITY FEDERAL STATE BANK OF ROGERS ENGINEER FINANCIAL ADVISOR PLANNER TAX INCREMENT CONSULTANT BOND COUNSEL DOG CATCHER BOARD OF VARIANCE MEDICAL OFFICER CIVIL DEFENSE DIRECTOR FIRE DEPARTMENT REPRESENTATIVES OFFICIAL NEWSPAPER OFFICIAL DEPOSITORY . 5 . MIDWEST FEDERAL Mayor Walsh stated that he two additions he would like to add to the list. The first being Accounting, he noted that he was recommending Barthel and Monsford Accounting of Monticello as a replacement for Bob Minkema as City Accountant, pending a meeting with the firm. Secondly is recommended that Donatus Vetsch, Jim Wal sh and the person fi II ing the Counci I seat vacancy serve as Liaison with the st. Michael/ Albertville School Board. Don Cornelius questioned why there had been a recommendation to change Building Inspector, Bond Council, Tax Increment Specialist and City Attorney. Don Cornelius asked what was wrong with the current Building Inspector. No response was given regarding the Building Inspector's position, instead Jim Walsh went on to talk about the appointment of the City Attorney. . Mayor Walsh stated that he had talked to Bill Radzwill regarding the city Attorney's position and that it was his opinion that Radzwill would save the City money. He noted that in speaking with Bill that he would be able handle the issues which are currently being preformed by the Tax Increment Specialist and Bond Counsel through his office, noting that he would obtain certification of bond structure through a recognized Bond Council. Bob Braun, who was in the audience, stated the he felt that the appointment of Radzwill as City Attorney would be a conflict of interest because he currently serves as Legal Counsel for the City of otsego and he felt that the City will have problems in the future because of it. Mayor Walsh stated that he felt that there was same type of conflict with Bob Miller because he is the Attorney for the City of Rogers as well as the City of Albertville. Bob Braun stated that he felt that there is a potential for problems because there are several issues that are pending between Albertville and otsego. He also noted that he felt that there was a difference between Bob Miller representing Albertville and Rogers compared to Bill Radzwill representing the City and otsego because otsego is a neighboring city and we share a common property line with otsego and that Frankfort Township separates Albertville from Rogers. . Mayor Walsh stated that he felt there was the same possibility for the probl ems wi th Rogers because Bob Mi II er represent two cities that are competing for development. He also noted that he felt that Bill Radzwill was qualified to be the City Attorney, since he was dually sworn as an attorney in the State of Minnesota and that he had been on both sides of the fence with Bill. First during the time that the City was involved in an Annexation Hearing wi th otsego and then working wi th Bi II through the Development 6 . Corporation. Mayor Walsh noted that if a problem of conflict of interest between the two cities does occur that a change can be made at that time. Don Cornel ius stated that he fel t that things were going smoothly with Bob Miller and did not see that there was any need for a change. Don also noted that Jim or the new Council members had not ever worked with Bob Miller and suggested that the appointment of City Attorney be delayed until the new members of the Council had had a chance to work with Bob Miller for a few months. Jim Walsh again noted that he was comfortable with the appointment of Bill Radzwill as City Attorney and he did not feel that it was necessary to delay making the change. Don Cornelius state that not appointing Bond Counselor a Tax Increment Specialist scared him because too many issues could arise that the City Attorney may not be able to handle. Jim Walsh stated that he did not think change was bad, noting that with the swearing in of a new Governor the State of Minnesota will see changes due to Governor appointments and that this is not a problem on the State level. . Don Cornelius stated that he felt that there was a conflict with Bill Radzwill as City Attorney, noting that he was in agreement with Bob Braun's statement. Mayor Walsh state that he felt that there had been a mandate for change at the November 6th election and that he was making the changes he felt necessary. Duane Berning asked how the City would deal with a possible annexation from Otsego in the event that the matter would arise. Mayor Walsh stated that persons wishing to "detach" would first have to appear in front of the Otsego City Council and then in front of the Albertville City Council. At this time then the matter would be settled. In a related matter, Mayor Walsh stated that Bill Radzwill would charge $100.00 an hour, which is the standard going rate for legal fees. It was asked of Maureen what Bob Miller charges she noted that it was $100.00 an hour for general I egal work and $300.00 a month or $150.00 per meeting for at tending Counci I meetings. . Jim Walsh stated that he did not feel that there was a need for the City Attorney to be at every meeting, instead would rather only have him present on an as needed basis. He state that he felt that the Council should be able to have time to thing for themselves without being pressured into making a quick decisions. Mayor Walsh assured the Council that there would be no difference in services by making the change. 7 . . . Don Cornelius again stated that not having Bond Counsel scared him because of the fact that they are self insured in case of a problem with a bond structure and again asked that discission be held off on for the time being. Jim state that the City would try it without Bond Counsel and if it does not work that a change can be made. Donatus Vetsch noted that having Bond Counsel does not cost the City any money because this cost is passed back to the project as part of the bonding cost. At this time it was decided that the Council should table the matter of the appointment of a Tax Increment Specialist and Bond Counsel so that Bill Radzwill could explain how he could save the City money. Don Cornelius requested that the City keep the present City Attorney. Jim Walsh stated that he was against that option. The issue of the Building Inspector was again raised by Don Cornelius. He noted that he could not see any way of going back to having Loren Kohnen, Metro West Inspection Service, do the building inspection because of the problems that the City had in the past. Mayor Walsh suggested that maybe the only way to resolve this issue was to have the two Building Inspectors into a meeting so that they could meet face to face. It was suggested that a meeting be set up so that Council could come to a final decision on the matter. At this time the Council was asked to review the fax received from Loren Kohnen, which included a cover letter, resume and references as well as a list of cities that Loren currently works in. Mayor Wal sh stated that he was not disqual i fying Kevin Mealhouse as a Building Inspector, but he fel t that wi th the construction of a new high school that Loren would be more qualified. Mayor Walsh also noted that Loren is proposing to charge 60% of the building permit fee and 100% of the Plan Review. Noting that this is 15% less than what Kevin Mealhouse charged in 1990. He also noted that Loren is currently working 23 cities and has a list of references. Relating to the issue of the number of ci ties Loren works for, Duane Berning stated that it was his opinion that Loren was to big and that there are problems with some of the inspectors. He also stated that with Kevin you know what you are getting because he is the only one doing the work. Again Jim Wal sh suggested that the issue be tabl ed and a 8 . meeting scheduled between the two inspectors and the City Council. At this time Mr. Gary Herbert,6030 Kalland Drive, was recognized from the audience. He noted that he had purchased a home from Gardner Brothers and that there have been major problems with the home since the t~me of the purchase. He noted that the problems that existed could have been eliminated if proper inspections had been done on the house. Problems noted to the Council include the following: * No firewall between the garage and the house. * Improper completion of the installation of the fireplace, including exposed wood, which resulted in not being able to use the fireplace. * No insulation in some of the walls. He noted that they had had a company out to preform a infra-red heat loss test on the house and found several walls with little or no insulation in them. He was informed by the company testing the house that it was likely that 60% of his gas bill use bogus because of heat loss that they are currently experiencing do to the improper installation of insulation. . * Fire alarm did not work when they first moved into the house. Mr. Herbert noted that within the past year, they had hired two separate building inspectors to check the house for deficiencies and that they have hired an attorney to get the problem resolved. Mrs. Juanita Herbert noted that there 4 or 5 other property owners in the subdivision that have problems with the their homes. Mr. Herbert stated that it was likely that there was enough evidence for a class action suit regarding their house and possibly some of the others as well. Donatus Vetsch asked when the house was constructed. He was informed that the Herbert's had closed on their house July of 1989 and that Loren Kohnen was the Building Inspector responsible for the inspection of the construction of the house. . Duane Berning again stated that he felt that Loren's business is too big. He also asked what Kevin charged for inspection services. Maureen informed him that Kevin's rate were 100% of the Plan Review; 75% of the first 2 million dollars of valuation and 65% for all valuation above the 2 million dollars. Duane asked when did the City reach the 2 million dollar mark, suggesting July. Maureen noted that it was earlier than that, suggesting possibly early June, because of the construction of the Westwind Apartments 9 . and Fraser Steel. Judy Roden, present in the audience stated that she has heard that Kevin is strict instead of being really laxed, which noted was not all bad. Don Cornelius pointed out that Loren's billing practice was terrible and questioned why the City would want to get back into that situation again. Mr. Herbert stated that if contractors are complaining about the building inspector then it means he is doing his job, but if the home owners are complaining about the building inspectors work then it means he is not doing his job. Again there was discussion regarding having a meeting. The Council discussed having the meeting on Tuesday, January 15th at 7:00 p.m. After some additional discussion it was decided to change the meeting date to Monday, January 14th at the same time. The issue of Bond Counsel and Tax Increment Specialist would be discussed at the same time. . At this t~me Don Cornel i us made a motion to accept the reappointment of Kevin Mealhouse as the Building Inspector. Mayor Walsh stated that he would not recognize the motion and no further action was taken on the matter. Don Cornelius then made a motion approving the 1991 Appointments excl uding the appointment of Ci ty At torney, Ci ty Building Inspector, Bond Counsel and Tax Increment Specialist. Before a second was made Donatus Vetsch asked if there was in fact going to be a meeting wi th the two candidates for Ci ty Attorney and the two candidates for City Building Inspector. He was assured that there would be a meeting. Hearing this, Donatus Vetsch seconded the motion. in favor and the motion carried. All were Mr. Gary Herbert asked why changes are being made when there are no problems with the current people. Mayor Walsh stated that the appointments are made on his prerogative and that he did not base his choice on personality or ability to do the work. At this time Gary Barthel, a member of the audience, asked how the Counc~l would handle the interviews. He asked if each person being interv~ewed woul d be asked the same sets of questi ons or what. To this question Mayor Walsh stated that it could come down to being a personality contest. . The next issue d~scussed was the approval of the increase in Sewer Availability Charges (SAC) from $675.00 to $775.00. 10 . . . Jim Walsh questioned why there was to be an increase in this charge. Maureen noted that according to the bond documents for the 1988 Sewer Revenue Bonds, a $100.00 increase per year has been schedul ed to support the bond payment. I t was noted that the $100.00 increase ~s scheduled for approximately 10 additional years. Donatus Vetsch stated that this schedule was established for the bond that financed the construct~on of the lift station on the west end of town. Jim Walsh requested that this matter be tabled until after he had had an opportunity to review the bond documents. A motion was made by Duane Berning to table the increase until the next meeting. The motion was then seconded by Donatus Vetsch. All were in favor and the motion carried. The Council next reviewed the 1991 Sheriff's Contract. The contract reflects a $3.00 an hour increase for police protection. Donatus Vetsch stated that he thought this was a fairly steep increase. Maureen noted that the $3.00 increase was much less than what had been recommended by the firm hired to do a study on the police protection service. The contract is for a total of $23.50 an hour and reflect no other changes from contracts in previous years. Hearing no other questions or comments a motion was made to approve the 1991 Sheriff's Contract. The motion was made by Donatus Vetsch and seconded by Don Cornelius. All were in favor and the motion carried. The next matter on the Council Agenda was the vacancy of a Council Seat due ~o Mark Daleiden not qualifying himself for the post. Mayor Walsh was stated that he had reviewed the matter and noted that after the 1984 Election when Ken Wacker did not qualify himself for the Council seat that the Council appointed the next highest vote receiver, Don Cornelius. He state that it was his feeling that the City should follow this practice again at this time. Donatus Vetsch pointed out that the Council has also noticed the vacancy of the seat in the newspaper, requesting anyone wishing to be considered for the seat notify the City. Jim Walsh stated that he did not see the need to advertise for the position because there was another candidate who run for the seat at Election time. Don Cornelius noted that he was aware that Jim Krystosek had indicated that he would like to be considered for the vacancy and 11 . that it was his feeling that he should be considered. There was some question regarding whether or not Mark Barthel was interested in serving on the Council at this point. Maureen pointed out that Mark was in the audience, so the Council asked that he indicate whether or not he was willing to serve. Mark Barthel provided an affirmative response to the question. Mayor Walsh stated that regarding Jim Krystosek's interest in serving on the Council, that he made the choice when he ran for Mayor and that if Mark Barthel is interested in serving on the Council that he should be given the chance. Duane Berning agreed with this point, noting that Mark Barthel had taken the time to run for the Council seat and therefore should allowed to serve. At this point Donatus Vetsch made a motion to have a notice put in the paper advertising the vacancy. Don Cornelius seconded the motion. All roll call vote of the Council was called for and the results are as follows: Don Cornelius -- Aye, Donatus Vetsch -- Aye, Duane Berning -- Nay and Jim Walsh -- Nay. The motion failed for lack of major~ty. Duane Bern~ng then made a mot~on to appolnt Mark Barthel to the Council seat. The motion failed for lack of second. . The next matter on the agenda was the increase of the Joint Power's Board increase for Water Availability Charge (WAC). The Council asked to delay taking any action on this matter until they had a chance to review the matter in more detail. At this point Duane Berning asked how long the Council would be short a Council member. It was noted that the vacancy could last until there was a new motion carried regardless to which one was approved. Duane stated that he did not feel that the Ci ty could go without the fourth Council Member for very long, noting that the issues such as the appointment of the City Attorney and the Building Inspector needs the attention of a full Council and not just three members. At this time Maureen Andrews reminded the Council that they had not approved the Resolution Declaring the Vacancy and requested that they do so at this time. A motion was made by Duane Berning and seconded by Don Cornelius to approve the RESOLUTION ACCEPTING RESIGNATION OF COUNCIL MEMBER DALEIDEN AND DECLARATION OF VACANCY. All were in favor and the motion carried. . There was some additional discussion regarQ~ng the vacancy. I t was not ed that the Counci 1 has fill ed the vacancy in both manners described earlier in the meeting. Jim Walsh stated that he felt that if the Councll advertised the positlon that it would not entlce people to run for the office because if the Council decides to advertise that it g~ves the appearance that the vote of the people does not count. 12 . . . At this time Duane Berning made a motion to approve the RESOLUTION FILLING THE VACANCY ON THE COUNCIL, inserting Mark Barthel t s name for nomination. The motion was then seconded by Donatus Vetsch. All were in favor and the motion carried. At this time Mark Barthel was sworn in by Mayor Walsh and was asked to join the Council at the Council Table. Maureen remlnded the Councll tha~ Mark's appointment is for a per~od of two years and that at the time of the next election there would need to be have 1 Two Year Term on the ballot as well as the 2 Four Year Terms. The next item on the Agenda was the change of meeting dates. A motion was made by Donatus Vetsch to change the January 21st Council Meeting to January 22nd because of the Martin Luther King's Birthday and February 18th's meeting to February 19th because of the President's Day Holiday. The motion was seconded by Don Cornelius. All were in favor and the motion carried. Under the matter of other business, Jim Wa I sh had a few comments he wished to relay to the Council. The first issue was with regards to accounting. He stated that he felt that the City needed to look into a in-house accounting package to assist in saving on time getting monthly reports prepared. He noted that he was meeting with someone who has developed a package which is being used by several cities at this time. He noted that this package should help make the City run more efficiently. He also suggested that the City look at a modem for the computer so the information can be relayed back and forth between the Accountants and the City. And finally he would like to see the city purchase a Fax Machine to save time for the office. Hearing no other comments a motion was made to adjourn the meet~ng. The motion was made by Donatus Vetsch and seconded by Duane Bern~ng. All were in favor and the motion carrled. r~va VJJ'--- 13