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04-24-1989 CC MIN e e e MEETING OF THE ELK RIVER CITY COUNCIL HELD AT THE ELK RIVER CITY HALL MONDAY. APRIL 24. 1989 Members Present: Mayor Tralle. Councilmembers Kropuenske. Schuldt and Holmgren Members Absent: Councilmember Dobel Also Present: Pat Klaers. City Administrator; Lori Johnson. Finance Director; Phil Hals. Street/Park Superintendent; Gary Groen. City Auditor; Stephen Rohlf. Building & Zoning Adminstrator; Russ Anderson. Fire Chief; Dick Fursman. Economic Development Coordinator; Tom Zerwas. Police Chief 1. Pursuant to due call and notice thereof. the meeting of the Elk River City Council was called to order by Mayor Tralle at 7:00 p.m. 2. Consideration'of 4/24/89 City Council Agenda COUNCILMEMBER SCHULDT MOVED TO APPROVE THE 4/24/89 CITY COUNCIL AGENDA. COUNCILMEMBER HOLMGREN SECONDED THE MOTION. THE MOTION CARRIED 4-0. 3. Consideration of 4/17/89 City Council Minutes COUNCILMEMBER HOLMGREN MOVED TO APPROVE THE 4/17/89 CITY COUNCIL MINUTES. COUNCILMEMBER KROPUENSKE SECONDED THE MOTION. THE MOTION CARRIED 4-0. 4. Open Mike No one appeared before the Council for this item. 5. UPA/NSP RDF Update Glen Kaas. Plant Superintendent of the Elk River Resource Recovery Operation. was present to update the Council on the progress of the RDF operation. Mr. Kaas indicated that the RDF plant is in start up activity. They have received material to process and acceptance tests are scheduled for May 22. He indicated that commercial operation is looking at a start up date of July 1. Mr. Kaas indicated that presently the plant is processing 400 tons per day and also that by July 1. they are hoping to be processing 1500 tons per day. Mr. Kaas indicated that the majority of the construction is complete. He stated that the construction rema1n1Dg to be finished consists of landscaping and the sprinkler system. He further stated that they are looking at the fire suppression water containment and will have this matter taken care of shortly. Steve Rohlf. Building & Zoning Administrator indicated that he has contacted the RDF Plant regarding the retension of the fire suppression water. He stated that NSP does have a plan which they have presented to the City and that the City's consultant is reviewing it at the present time. e e e Page 2 City Council Minutes April 24. 1989 Pat Klaers. City Administrator. stated that the City is having serious concerns as to whether or not the City's treatment plant should accept the water generated from the RDF plant which has come into contact with any RDF material. He indicated that the City has received a recommendation from the Engineer stating that there is a potential that this type of water could damage the City's treatment plant. The City is weighing the risk to the plant to the fees received. He indicated that the City is considering this. but at the present time. have a negative view of the proposal as they do not believe they would gain enough revenue to justify the risk to the treatment plant. Steve Shurts. representative of UPA. was present to update the Council of the status of UPA burning of RDF. Mr. Shurts indicated that UPA has been doing trial burns of RDF during the day from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. He stated that things have been going well. He further indicated that the maintenance people are working in the evening to repair. replace and update equipment. He stated that units 1 and 2 are both burning and unit 3 will be in operation for RDF within a week. Mr. Shurts further stated that by mid-May they are hoping to be burning 700 to 1000 tons per day. He indicated that the ash from the fuel is being delivered to the Red Wing landfill and that the material is being contained in the trucks as requested by Council. Steve Rohlf stated that the Elk River Landfill is bidding for the rejects from NSP and UPA. He indicated that in order for them to be allowed to receive these rejects at the landfill. NSP and UPA would require a change in their permits to allow this. Mr. Rohlf indicated that the staff had no problem with allowing the Elk River Landfill to receive the rejects. The City updates. future. Council thanked the representatives from NSP and UPA for the NSP and UPA invited the Council to tour the facilities in the A date of July 24. 1989. was tentatively set up for this tour. 6. Audit Presentation Mr. Gary Groen of Abdo. Abdo. and Eick presented the 1988 Audit to the City Council. Mr. Groen briefly reviewed the audit with the Council and discussed several issues including the fund balance. Fire Relief Association. and liquor and sewer profits. Mr. Groen indicated that the City's fund balance has increased since 1987. He indicated that the fund balance for 1988 was $530.986. Mr. Groen discussed the Fire Department activities with the City Council. He indicated that the Fire Department is a department of the City and, therefore. the funds received by the Fire Department should come through the City. Councilmember Holmgren expressed his concern that the Council is responsible for the Fire Department funds yet they never see any actual numbers or dollar amounts from the Fire Department. He indicated that this has been brought up for three years in a row yet nothing has changed regarding this matter. Councilmember Holmgren stated he would like the City Administrator to get a legal opinion on how to handle this situation. Page 3 City Council Minutes April 24, 1989 e Councilmember Kropuenske indicated that he felt the finances of the Relief Association were a priority. As indicated by Gary Groen, the liability of the Association exceeded the assets as of December 31, 1988. Councilmember Kropuenske indicated that this was a concern and he would like to see the Council have some control over this area. Councilmember Tralle thanked the Finance Department and the Auditor for the excellent job. 7. 1989 Equipment Certificate Lori Johnson, Finance Director, indicated that she is requesting authorization from the Council for the issuance of $101,500 in General Obligation Equipment Certificates for expenditures approved in the 1989 Budget. She stated that the issue will be placed with the Bank of Elk River at a 7.2% interest per annum and that the certificates would be repaid in five equal annual installments. COUNCILMEMBER HOLMGREN MOVED TO ADOPT RESOLUTION 89-22, A RESOLUTION AUTHORIZING ISSUANCE. AWARDING SALE PRESCRIBING THE FORM AND DETAILS AND LEVYING TAXES FOR THE PAYMENT OF $101.500 GENERAL OBLIGATION EQUIPMENT CERTIFICATES. SERIES 1989A. COUNCIL MEMBER KROPUENSKE SECONDED THE MOTION. THE MOTION CARRIED 4-0. e 8. Consideration of Letter Quality Printer for Display Write 36 Wordprocessor Lori Johnson, Finance Director, indicated that she has contacted Fred Watts of Computer Satisfaction regarding the purchase of a letter quality printer. She noted that the Council had tabled the purchase of this printer and had requested her to see if she could get a better price for the printer from Computer Satisfaction. She noted that after contacting Computer Satisfaction the price has not changed. Ms. Johnson explained that she could get the printer from another company for a cost savings of $195.00. She indicated that if the Council chose to go with this other company, the most important part of the package, which is the interface, would not be available and the City would still have to purchase this part from Computer Satisfaction, and if this were the case, the City would be responsible for properly installing the interface to make the printer operable. Ms. Johnson indicated that if the City purchased the printer from Computer Satisfaction, it would be installed by Computer Satisfaction. Mayor Tra1le stated that he felt in this case, it would be appropriate to purchase the printer from Computer Satisfaction. He further indicated that he would like to be better informed of the City's purchase of computer products in the future. e OOUNCItJ.mMBER KROPUENSKE MOVED TO APPROVE THE PURCHASE OF A LETTER QUALITY PRINTER FOR THE PRICE OF $2,215 FROM COMPUTER SATISFACTION. COUNCILMEMBER SCHULDT SECONDED THE MOTION. THE MOTION CARRIED 4-0. Page 4 City Council Minutes April 24, 1989 e 9. City Council Staff Discussion 9.1. Boulevard Trees Phil Ha1s, Street Superintendent, indicated that Sherri Borgquist, Landscape Consultant, has made a recommendation for boulevard trees to be planted along Main Street. which is part of the Main Street Project. He indicated that the trees would be purchased from the Dutch Elm Reforestation Fund and will be planted by the Street Department. COUNCILMEMBER PLANTED FOR THE MOTION. HOLMGREN MOVED TO APPROVE THE PURCHASE OF THE TREES TO BE THE MAIN STREET PROJECT. COUNCILMEMBER KROPUENSKE SECONDED THE MOTION CARRIED 4-0.. Street Department. Phil Ha1s Phil Ha1s, Street Superintendent, Household Hazardous Waste Day. successful day and was pleased particiapted in the collection. updated the City Council on the He indicated that it was a very to see the number of citizens that e Phil Ha1s discussed with the Council the possibility of contracting some of the Street Department services such as street sweeping and snow removal. Phil Ha1s indicated that Street deterioration. get a long term warranty the City is working with PCI to correct the Main He indicated that the City's main concern is to on the streets. Liquor Store, Fritz Do1ejs Fritz Do1ejs, Liquor Store Manager. discussed the building plans with the Council, which include stuccoing and new facing. Building and Zoning, Steve Rohlf Steve Rohlf. Building and Zoning Administrator, updated the Council on Building and Zoning activities. He indicated that commercial permits are heavy at the present time, and residential permits are lower than last year. Dick Fursman. Economic Development Coordinator e Dick Fursman. Economic Development Coordinator, updated the Council on Economic Development activities. He indicated that the Finance Committee has met a couple of times and they have developed a Revolving Loan Fund policy. a TIF statement of goals and objectives. and a TIF application. Mr. Fursman updated the Council on the motel proceedings and stated that nothing has been finalized as of this date. Page 5 City Council Minutes April 24. 1989 e Sewer Department. Darrell Mack Darrell Mack. Sewer Superintendent. indicated to the Council that the center column has been installed and is ready to run. He further updated the Council on the long range need for a site to haul sludge. Fire Department. Russ Anderson Russ Anderson. Fire Chief. indicated that the building plans for the Fire Department are about two weeks behind schedule. He informed the Council that he has been looking at demo trucks and that he will have one for the Council to look at soon. Mr. Anderson indicated to the Council that he has removed the civil defense siren from Proctor Avenue and the Railroad tracks. He stated that they will be moving it to the McChesney Industrial Park. Police Department e Police Chief. Tom Zerwas. indicated that they have recently hired a new Police Officer and Community Service Officer and so far both are working out well. He indicated that they will be hiring Bike Patrol people in the summer. He further indicated to the Council that they have started having the Community Service Officers handle lock-outs. because they are so demanding. The Council discussed the lock-out situation. Police Chief Zerwas indicated that the Police Department handles about 1.000 lock-out calls per year. The Council discussed whether or not to charge for the lock- out calls. No recommendation was made regarding this matter. Also discussed was the Broadway Bar and Pizza outdoor party. Police Chief Zerwas indicated that he is working with the owner of Broadway Bar and Pizza regarding two outdoor parties which they are requesting to have this year. Finance Department. Lori Johnson Lori Johnson. Finance Director. indicated to the Council that the City is hosting our first BRC User Group meeting for the financial software. She further indicated to the Council that she is working on a comparison of 1988 and 1989 taxes which would show how much is attributable to the City and mentioned proposed tax legislation which would affect the City. 10. Other Business e Pat Klaers. City Administrator. handed out appraisals to the Council for the City Hall site, Pete Wuorio site. and the Morrell site. He indicated that the bill the for appraisals came out higher than what he had informed the Council. e e e Page 6 City Council Minutes April 24, 1989 The City Administrator informed the Council that the Utility Commission wishes to increase their wages due to the fact that they have not been increased for a long time and more time is required of the members. COUNCILMEMBER HOLMGREN MOVED TO INCREASE THE UTILITIES COMMISSION WAGES TO $100.00 PER MONTH EFFECTIVE JULY 1, 1989. COUNCILMEMBER KROPUENSKE SECONDED THE MOTION. THE MOTION CARRIED 3-0-1. MAYOR TRALLE ABSTAINED. There being no further business, COUNCILMEMBER SCHULDT MOVED ADJOURN THE MEETING, COUNCILMEMBER KROPUENSKE SECONDED THE MOTION. THE MOTION CARRIED 4- o. The meeting of the Elk River City Council adjourned at 10:55 p.m. Respectfully submitted, ~.~ Sandra Thackeray ~ Deputy City Clerk