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01-10-2005 CC MIN . . . MEETING OF THE ELK RIVER CITY COUNCIL HELD AT THE ELK RIVER CITY HALL MONDAY, JANUARY 10, 2005 Members Present: Mayor Klinzing, Councilmembers Farber, Gumphrey, and Morin Members Absent: Councilmember Dietz Staff Present: City Administrator Pat Klaers, Environmental Technician Rebecca Haug, Police Chief Jeff Beahen, Fire Chief Bruce West, Fire Inspector Cliff Anderson, Fire Prevention Specialist Jeff Smith, Director of Planning Michele McPherson, Street Superintendent Phil Hals, Assistant Street Superintendent Mark Thompson, and City Clerk Joan Schmidt 1. Call Meeting To Order Pursuant to due call and notice thereof, the meeting of the Elk River City Council was called to order at 6:57 p.m. by Mayor Klinzing. 2. Consider Council Agenda MOVED BY COUNCILMEMBER FARBER AND SECONDED BY COUNCILMEMBER MOTIN TO APPROVE THE AGENDA AS PRESENTED. MOTION CARRIED 4-0. 3. Consider Consent Agenda MOVED BY COUNCILMEMBER MOTIN AND SECONDED BY COUNCILMEMBER FARBER TO APPROVE THE FOLLOWING CONSENT AGENDA: 3.1 1/3/05 Council Minutes 3.2 Check Register. MOTION CARRIED 4-0. 4. Open Mike Noone appeared for open mike. 5. Worksession 5.1 Swear in New Police Officer Mayor Klinzing administered the oath of office to Officer Adam Bebeau and congratulated him. . . . City Council Minutes January 10, 2005 Page 2 5.2 Council Open Forum There were no additional items for discussion. 5.3 Apartment Inspection Program Update Fire Chief Bruce West introduced recently hired Fire Prevention Specialist/Housing Inspector Jeff Smith. Mr. West explained that the Elk River Fire Department has taken over the apartment inspection program from the Building and Environmental Department. This program was started in 1995 and there are 1080 units within 53 apartment buildings. License applications are sent out to the apartment owners along with a license fee of $15 per unit to be paid to the City of Elk River. After the receipt of the rental dwelling license application and the license fee, Jeff Smith will set up inspection times with the apartment owner or the apartment owner's representative. This program will be using the 2000 International Property Maintenance Code as its guideline for all apartment inspections. Fire Chief West explained that Fire Inspector Cliff Anderson and he will work together during the first year of transition from the turnover and will be assisting Mr. Smith in the learning process. Mayor Klinzing stated that people living in low rent apartments don't always know that they have recourse and some don't even have copies of their lease. She inquired as to what process is in place for compliance. Fire Chief West responded that they would be working with the building owners to make sure that they do get into compliance with the International Property Maintenance Code. Fire Inspector Anderson responded that there is recourse through the city attorney if the owners don't submit the paperwork. Also, in a year's time they will have to be re-licensed again and the city will be looking at their past record. Mayor Klinzing inquired if there is anything in our code that talks about rights of renters and the responsibility of owners. Chief West responded that this could be brought up during the apartment coalition meetings. Fire Inspector Anderson stated that there is nothing under the fire code but Minnesota Statutes do apply. Councilmember Motin asked if it is standard to do these inspections on an annual basis. Mr. Anderson responded that it is common practice to do them annually or on a bi-annual basis. Councilmember Gumphrey asked what the time frame would be to get these done. Fire Chief West responded that corrections could be done within 24 hours up to six months depending upon the issue. Councilmember Gumphrey asked if there is a fine in place and if a $15 inspection fee was sufficient. Fire Chief West responded that they will be looking at a fine amount in the future and they will be evaluating if $15 is enough. Councilmember Farber asked if the owners are given a chance to get items resolved. Fire Chief West responded, yes, they are given a week or longer lead-time prior to inspections. . . . City Council Minutes January 10,2005 Page 3 Out-of-State Conference for Training Officer Fire Chief Bruce West explained that Phil Collins has been assisting Assistant Chief Mike Trunnel in the role of Lead Training Officer. He was requesting Mr. Collins be approved to attend training in Indiana. He stated this is an unusual scenario since Mr. Collins is not a department head. MOVED BY COUNCILMEMBER GUMPHREY AND SECONDED BY COUNCILMEMBER FARBER TO SEND ELK RIVER FIRE DEPARTMENT CAPTAIN/TRAINING OFFICER PHIL COLLINS TO THE FIRE DEPARTMENTS INSTRUCTORS CONFERENCE IN INDIANAPOLIS, INDIANA APRIL 11-16, 2005. MOTION CARRIED 4-0. 5.4 Update on Environmental Issues/Activities Wetland Buffer Ordinance Environmental Technician Rebecca Haug reviewed with the Council her memo in regard to the technical evaluation panel which meets monthly to discuss projects in the city that affect wetlands. A suggestion that came from the panel and that came out of the Natural Resources Inventory was that the City adopt a wetland buffer ordinance. She stated that the purpose of a wetland buffer is to provide a vegetative area that surrounds a wetland and reduces the negative impacts to wetlands from adjacent developments. She reviewed the recommendations from her memo and stated that she was looking for comments from the Council. Mayor Klinzing stated that she feels 45 feet is a reasonable amount, however, she doesn't know of any remaining large area that this will affect within the City. She wished that this ordinance had been in place a couple years ago. Councilmember Farber asked if this would be used with current homes. Ms. Haug stated, no, it would only be used with new plats and staff felt that it was not fair to apply this to those plats that are in the process of approval. Councilmember Gumphrey inquired as to who determines what is a native plant. Ms. Haug replied that the inquirer would need to talk to her. The developer would be responsible for removing exotic and invasive species in the wetlands in their project. Councilmember Motin stated that he wanted to be sure that local developers would have a chance to see this draft ordinance and an opportunity to provide comments prior to adoption. Old City Dump Environmental Technician Rebecca Haug reviewed with the Council the results of samples taken at several sites at the old city dump location. It is staff's recommendation to 1) continue annual monitoring until future plans for the site are known; 2) continue to send results of the private well-testing to the individual residents. Councilmember Farber asked at what point could we feel that this area will be safe. Ms. Haug replied when there are no VOC levels. . . . City Council Minutes January 10, 2005 Page 4 MOVED BY COUNCILMEMBER MOTIN AND SECONDED BY COUNCILMEMBER FARBER TO CONTINUE THE ANNUAL MONITORING AND TO SEND RESULTS TO THE INDIVIDUAL RESIDENTS. MOTION CARRIED 4-0. 2004 NPDES Permit Update Environmental Technician Rebecca Haug updated the Council on the goals that are necessary to put into place in order to comply with the National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System General Stormwater Permit. She stated that city staff would continue to improve the storm water permit program by implementing several more goals. She noted that goal #10 had the building inspectors issue "stop work" orders if a silt fence was not installed. No stop work orders had to be issued on commercial or industrial sites. Three were issued to residential sites and the builder given 24 hours to comply. Wetland Conservation Act Policies Ms. Haug also reviewed with the council the policy that was in place on the Wetland Conservation Act. Some discussion occurred as to the wetland bank issue. MOVED BY COUNCILMEMBER FARBER AND SECONDED BY COUNCILMEMBER GUMPHREY TO APPROVE THE CITY OF ELK RIVER POLICIES ON THE WETLAND CONSERVATION ACT. MOTION CARRIED 4-0. Composting Update Environmental Technician Rebecca Haug eXplained that currently Sherburne County allocates a total of $50,000 of SCORE funds to four cities with Elk River being one of those cities. This amount is to cover contract brush grinding and some of the hauling costs that each city incurs. There is concern among the group of cities that the County will re-allocate the SCORE monies and reduce or eliminate funding for the local programs. Staff is looking at possible solutions which could include the following options: a landfill in Becker, however, we would have to truck to Becker and pay to dump it there and the landfill owner would make money on it; talk to the County about purchasing a truck and going to the communities and picking up the debris; or allowing the cities to pick up by using the county truck. Street Superintendent Phil Hals has been talking with Plaisted Companies on having the compost facility at their location but nothing has been finalized. Also, he stated that there is concern about the number of trips that would be required in regards to using the land around the sludge land. City Administrator Klaers stated that if the County doesn't step up, the city will need a bigger truck, and that we can't afford 400 trips to Becker. He stated that it would depend upon what the County does as to how it affects staff's recommendation. . . . City Council :Minutes January 10,2005 Page 5 HPC Event Ms. Haug stated that there would be an event on Saturday, January 22, to be held at 1:30 p.m. at Lions Park Center. This event will discuss the archeological work that was done this past summer. Citizens may bring artifacts to this event as well. Council recessed at 7:40 p.m. The meeting reconvened at 7:45 p.m. 5.5 RequestPartner Update Director of Planning Michele McPherson demonstrated the RequestPartner software program. She illustrated with the example of a barking dog if a citizen wanted to send this complaint to city staff. She informed the Council that currently there are 73 requests in the system, but some of these are from last year's snowplow complaints that were entered into the system to enable staff a practice format. Staff in the future will be able to put this information into a spreadsheet for statistical purposes. Staff will have a running history of what was asked for, can do an analysis of the workload, illustrating completion time, etc. She stated that forms could be modified depending on the needs of staff and Council. She stated that she could give council the ability to go into the system via the "back door" to see if neighbor's complaints have been taken care of. Mayor Klinzing noted that the City needs a form to report illegal burning. Councilmember Motin was concerned whether the citizen would realize that a request for service is the same as a request for information. He was concerned too whether the citizen would realize that a request for service is the same as a complaint. Michele McPherson stated that perhaps the verbiage should be changed and perhaps a third box that the resident could check should be added. 5.6 Public Works Master Plan Street Superintendent Phil Hals explained that there is a Public Works Master Plan to accommodate building, staffing and equipment needs for the continued growth of the city. The current Public Works facility is comprised of 38.3 acres of which 14.3 are useable due to the presence of wetlands and athletic facilities. This site is used for the Public Works shop, a fuel-dispensing island, outdoor storage, and the leaf, brush and oil drop off areas. Also three baseball fields and two soccer fields are located on City property and are part of the larger Oak Knoll complex. He stated that currently city equipment is stored outside primarily during the summer months. In winter park maintenance and miscellaneous and unneeded street equipment are stored offsite in four locations, two of which are water tower bases. Staff has identified the need for cold and tempered storage. The existing building could be utilized for summer equipment storage so that all the equipment is on site and under cover which will prolong the life span of the equipment. In addition to the cold storage noted, the south storage building is an immediate replacement request. This is due to the condition of the existing storage building, which is nearing collapse and the changes in salt storage requirements by the EP A/MPCA. These storage requirements require mixing and storage to occur under cover to eliminate salt-laden water run-off into adjacent water bodies / wetlands. . . . City Council Minutes January 10, 2005 Page 6 In order to implement the proposed Master Plan, Oak Knoll #3 would need to be discontinued. In order to continue to offer compost drop-off, staff is recommending re- locating the composting from its current position to the area occupied by Oak Knoll #3. Mayor Klinzing inquired as to the timeline and the funding available. City Administrator Pat Klaers stated that the government-building fund would be the main source. He stated the City would have about $500,000 in revenues available in 2005. He stated that we also could use funds from the street improvement fund. He noted that by 2008 there could be over $1 million in the government-building fund. Mayor Klinzing stated that she was comfortable with what staff has put together and doesn't feel the need for a consultant at this time. Councilmember Motin stated that he doesn't feel at this time we need a consultant and that the bigger issue was the timing and how to get funding. Mr. I<laers stated that financing of the 2008-09 projects would be part of the City Council CIP discussion that will take place this spring. Also, it was noted that landfill abatement money may be available for the compost related expenses. MOVED BY COUNCILMEMBER GUMPHREY AND SECONDED BY COUNCILMEMBER FARBER TO APPROVE THE PUBLIC WORKS MASTER PLAN (PROJECTED YEAR TO BE STATED ON THE CHART). MOTION CARRIED 4-0. MOVED BY COUNCILMEMBER MOTIN AND SCONDED BY COUNCILMEMBER FARBER TO APPROVE THE CLOSURE OF OAK KNOLL #3 AND AUTHORIZE THE RECONFIGURATION OF THE COMPOST DROP-OFF AND PROCESSING OPERATION IN 2005. MOTION CARRIED 4-0. Councilmember Gumphrey felt that quotes should be obtained for the master-grading plan. Mayor Klinzing stated that she was comfortable getting quotes. She feels that it is a simple project and was surprised at the $38,000 price submitted from H.R. Green. MOVED BY MAYOR KLINZING AND SECONDED BY COUNCILMEMBER MOTIN TO GET TWO OTHER QUOTES FROM LOCAL FIRMS FOR THE MASTER GRADING PLAN. MOTION CARRIED 4-0. MOVED BY COUNCILMEMBER MOTIN AND SECONDED BY COUNCILMEMBER FARBER TO AUTHORIZE STAFF TO PROCESS A CONDITIONAL USE PERMIT FOR CONSTRUCTION OF SALT /SAND AND COLD STORAGE BUILDINGS IN 2005. MOTION CARRIED 4-0. 6. Other Business Meeting Schedule . . . City Council Minutes January 10, 2005 Page 7 City Administrator Klaers stated that the Council may wish to review the schedule and asked for their input as to when they would like to have the annual report. It was the consensus of the council to call a special meeting for March 28 and to have the annual report broadcast live from the council chambers on that evening. School District Use of Council Chambers Councilmember Farber stated that the school board meetings were moved from Tuesday to Monday because all school functions are Tuesday tl1tough Saturday and there are no school functions on Monday night. Mayor Klinzing stated that she was concerned that if we were to allow the council chambers to be used by the school district that there could be date conflicts if the council wished to have a special meeting on a fourth Monday night. Councilmember Motin stated that he is in favor of having the school district at our location, but felt that there could be a problem with Monday nights. MOVED BY COUNCILMEMBER MOTIN AND SECONDED BY MAYOR KLINZING THAT THE SCHOOL BOARD BE ADVISED THAT THE CITY COUNCIL PREFERRED THE SCHOOL DISTRICT USE THE COUNCIL CHAMBERS ON THE FIRST AND THIRD TUESDAY OF EACH MONTH IN CONFORMITY WITH THE REST OF THE AGREEMENT AND THAT IF THAT IS NOT ACCEPTABLE TO USE THE COUNCIL CHAMBERS ON THE SECOND AND FOURTH MONDAY WITH THE CITY COUNCIL RESERVING THE RIGHT TO PRE-EMPT THEM FROM THE USE OF THE COUNCIL CHAMBERS FOR A SPECIAL MEETING. IF THIS SHOULD OCCUR, THE SCHOOL BOARD COULD THEN USE THE UPPERTOWN CONFERENCE ROOM. MOTION CARRIED 4-0. Reimbursement Request Councilmember Motin eXplained that there were two homes in the Park Point Development on Grant Street that were told by staff that they needed an odd number address when they needed an even number. These residents have brick fronts with numbers placed in the brick and the post office is making them change the numbers. MOVED BY COUNCILMEMBER GUMPHREY AND SECONDED BY COUNCILMEMBER FARBER TO APPROVE THE EXPENDITURE TO REIMBURSE TWO HOMEOWNERS FOR THEIR OUT -OF-POCKET EXPENSES RELATING TO THE ADDRESS CHANGE. MOTION CARRIED 4-0. Discussion Regarding Changing the Zoning Ordinance Planning Director Michele McPherson distributed information regarding the current government offices and buildings/ facilities regulations. Staff is recommending to require a CUP for all of these uses, which would have to go before council for a public hearing and their approval. Mayor Klinzing inquired as to whether this would be allowed in all zones. She stated she would not want a correctional facility in every zone. . . . City Council f,illnutes January 10, 2005 Page 8 City Admimstrator Klaers stated that we would be allowing some government offices in residential zones. Mayor Klinzing inquired as to why we would allow government functions to exist in all zones. She stated that the city would not want a private office building in the middle of residential zoning. Ms. McPherson stated that historically these are allowed because communities do not have a public facility district zoning. Staff was instructed by the council to draft a new ordinance and to bring back to the Council for review at a work session. Transportation Proposal City Administrator Pat Klaers distributed information to the Council regarding the Tinklenberg Group. This group is a consulting service that assists cities in obtaining federal funding. The City of Anoka had been awarded federal solicitation funds of $500,000 for Highway 10 studies. It is the hope that if the City of Elk River were to hire the Tink1enberg Group that the City of Elk River would also qualify for some sort of federal funding. This group would be instrumental in getting the proposal sent to the appropriate agency; track the proposal through the cycle; and help us to obtain federal money. Tvfr. Klaers asked the Council to hire this group on a 45-day contract and that Mr. Elwin Tinklenberg would come back to the Council on February 14 to discuss the rest of the proposal. MOVED BY COUNCILMEMBER FARBER AND SECONDED BY COUNCILMEMBER GUMPHREY TO HIRE THE TINKLENBERG GROUP ON AN INTERIM CONTRACT OF 45 DAYS AT A COST OF SERVICES OF $5,000 WITH FUNDING TO COME FROM THE STREET RESERVES. MOTION CARRIED 4-0. Councihnember Gumphrey also asked staff to look at the cost of a full-time lobbyist for transportation and other issues. 7. Staff Updates None. 8. Adjournment There being no further business, Mayor Klinzing adjourned the meeting of the Elk River City Council at 10 p.m. c:4o~/U${ ./. , I. 6....[;1chmldt Citv lerk