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02-11-2002 CC MINMEETING OF THE ELK RIVER CITY COUNCIL HELD AT THE ELK RIVER CITY HALL MONDAY, FEBRUARY II, 2002 Members Present: Members Absent: Staff Present: Mayor Kflinzing, Councilmembers Dietz, Kuester, Motto, and Tveite None City Administrator Pat I~aers, Director of Planning M/chele McPherson, City Engineer Terry Maurer, Chief of Police Tom Zerwas, City Attorney Peter Beck, Assistant Police Chief Jeff Beahen, and City Clerk Sandra Peine o Call Meeting To Order Pursuant to due call and notice thereof, the meeting of the Elk River City Council was called to order at 6:35 p.m. by Mayor K2inzing. Consider 2/11'/2002 Agenda COUNClLMEMBER T.VEITE MOVED TO APPROVE THE AGENDA. COUNCILMEMBER MOTIN SECONDED THE MOTION. THE MOTION CARRIED 5-O. Consider Consent Agenda COUNCILMEMBER KUESTER MOVED TO AP.PROVE THE CONSENT A.GENDA AS FOLLOWS: 3.1. 3.2. 3.3. 3.4. 3.5. 3.6. CITY COU'NCIL MINUTES · 1/28/02 CITY COUNCIL MINUTES · · 2/4/02 CITY COUNCIL MINUTES CHECK REGISTER TRANSIENT MERCHANT LICENSE FOR SHIRLEY MADLAND TO SELL FLOWERS AT HUNTS FEEDS RESOLUTION 02-10 APPROVING PREMISES PERMIT RENEWAL FOR ELK RIVER YOUTH HOCKEY RESOLUTION 02-11 APPROVIONG PREMISES PERMIT RENEWAL FOR ELK'S QUARTERBACK CLUB REQUEST TO HIRE LANA HUBERTY FOR PART TIME OFFICE ASSISTANT POSITION IN THE CITY RECREATION OFFICE COUNCILMEMBER DIETZ SECONDED THE MOTION. THE MOTION CARRIED 5-0. 4. Open Mike No one appeared for open mike. City Council M. inutes February 11, 2002 5.1. Consider Hiring Po[ice Officer Assistant Chief Jeff Beahen in&cared that the city staff has completed the preliminary selection process for the position of police officer. The Assistant Chief recommended making a conditional offer of employment to Jason Anderson. Page 2 COUNCILMEMBER DIETZ MOVED TO HIRE JASON ANDERSON CONTINGENT ON A SUCCESSFUL PSYCHOLOGICAL EVALUATION, MEDICAL EXAM, AND BACKGROUND CHECKS, EFFECTIVE FEBRUARY 28, 2002, AT THE FIRST STEP OF THE POLICE OFFICER PAY PLAN. COUNCILMEMBER TVEITE SECONDED THE MOTION. THE MOTION CARRIED 5-0. 5.2. Consider Meeting Date for Board of Review COUNCILMEMBER DIETZ MOVED TO CALL A SPECIAL MEETING FOR APRIL 29, 2002, AT 6 PM TO BE HELD AT THE SHERBURNE COUNTY GOVERNMENT CENTER FOR THE PURPOSE OF MEETING AS THE BOARD OF EQUALIZATION. COUNCILMEMBER MOTIN SECONDED THE MOTION. THE MOTION CARRIED 5-0. 5.3. Consider Purchase of Document Ima~ng System The City Clerk indicated that staff is requesting to purchase a document imaging system for approximately $50,000. She noted that $53,000 has been budgeted in equipment reserves for this purchase. The City Clerk indicated that a committee has been researching document imaging systems for the last six months. The Clerk stated that the committee ended up seriously looking at four systems (Minolta DocXnet, Docuware, Imageflow, and LaserFiche). She indicated that the committee felt that Laserfiche would best meet the City's needs, and it was the least expensive of'~he four systems. COUNCILMEMBER MOTIN MOVED TO AUTHORIZE THE PURCHASE OF THE LASERFICHE DOCUMENT IMAGING SYSTEM FROM EDP COMPUTER SYSTEMS FOR $41,164 PLUS $4,614 FOR YEARLY MAINTENANCE AND SUPPORT AND $3,000 FOR THE PURCHASE OF TWO COMPUTERS TOTALING $48,778. COUNCILMEMBER DIETZ SECONDED THE MOTION. THE MOTION CARRIED 5-0 It was noted that the maintenance expenses will be ongoing and will need to be part of the 2003 budget. 5.4. Discuss Land Exchange with D.R. Horton Michele McPherson reviewed the background pertaining to the proposed land exchange. The Council indicated its support for the concept. Michele stated that the Park and Recreation Commission would review this issue on Wednesday evening. She noted that staff would continue discussions with D.R. Horton. 6.1. Consider Changes to Snowmobile Rules, Trail Director of Planning Michele McPherson indicated that the Snowmobile Task Force met on January 28th to review the comments and issues that had been raised at the January 22nd City City Council M_mutes February 11, 2002 Council Meeting. Michele indicated that she .thought that staff and the Task Force had reached an agreement that contained 5 items of recommendation to t~e City Council. Page 3 Nfichele reviewed the five items: 1. Remove the Waco Street/Mississippi road/Joplin Street loop. 2. Remove the 193,d Avenue link, thereby removing the Highland Street segment. Establish a moratorium prohibiting snowmobiling south of County Road 33 except on the noted trail segments on the amended map, on property you own, and on property for which you have written permission in your possession to ride Require riders to trailer their sleds to the noted trailheads in order to access the trails. 5. Adopt the amended map. Michele noted that the River City Snow Riders have now indicated that they oppose items 2 and 3 of the recommendations. Michele McPherson noted that the e,,dsting ordinance is very clear as to where snowmobilers can ride. She showed pictures of recent snowmobile tracks of snowmobilers who neglected to ride on designated trails and that were riding on private property. Michele indicated that staff is recommending a stricter ordinance and a moratorium on snowmobiling south of County Road 33. She noted that the moratorium would allow staff time to rewrite the ordinance to severely limit the use of snowmobiles within the urbanized part of the. City. Gregg Strommen, Trail coordinator for River City Snowriders indicated that the River City Snowriders have spent much time identifying alternatives for trail corridor connections. He requested time to identify the issues and work them out one at a time. Mr. Strommen suggested closing 193~d trail during peak school hours when children are on the trail with signage that would allow the police force to monitor the trail. He suggested slowing the speed on the trail to 10 mph. Mr. Strommen indicated that County Road 30 did not work as planned and suggested closing the loop but keeping Joplin open. He noted that there are many members of the Club and other snowmobilers who are obeying the rules and suggested raising the fines for violators. Lori Collins, member of River City Snowriders and a citizen of Elk River indicate that signs have been up, but some riders are ignoring the signs. She suggested posting a map and rules on the trails. She noted that the Snowriders would like to keep the trails through town. Councilmember Kuester questioned how the snowmobiles are identified and the guidelines for licensing. Gregg Strommen stated that the DNR sets the standards on size and placement of license. Todd Bouma, Elk River resident, stated that snowmobiles are designed for use in the open country and not made for downtown locations. Mx. Bouma talked about some snowmobile incidents he has seen since the last snowfall. He recommended .that the Council proceed with placing a moratorium on snowmobiles in the City. Mr. Bouma thanked the City Council and staff for the hours put into this issue. City Council Minutes Page 4 February 11, 2002 Councilmember Tveite indicated that he supports staff's recommendation and noted that it is unfortunate that responsible riders will be penalized. Councilmember Kuester indicated that one thing the City has learned is that snowmobiles should not be allowed on a pedestrian trail. She also commented on the need to fred solutions as to how to deal with people who don't follow the rules. Councilmember Dietz questioned the issue of enforcement of the proposed recommendation. Assistant Chief Beahen indicated that it would be difficult to enforce. The Assistant Chief indicated that the City is working with Judges to try to establish higher fines for snowmobile violators. Councilmember Motto stated that having a larger area where sleds are not allowed helps with enforcement. Councilmember Kuester indicated that it would be hard to enforce people riding on their own property or property with permission. Michele McPherson suggested having written permission on their person while riding on the property. COUNCILMEMBER TVEITE MOVED TO ACCEPT STAFF'S RECOMMENDATION AS FOLLOWS: IMMEDIATE CLOSURE OF THE TRAIL SEGMENTS ON MISSISSIPPI ROAD AND 193em AVENUE. AS A RESULT OF THIS, SNOWMOBILE TRAFFIC CANNOT TRAVEL FURTHER EAST ON HIGHWAY 10 THAN LAKE ORONO. THEY WILL ALSO BE LIMITED TO THE HIGHWAY 169 CORRIDOR. STAFF HAS AMENDED THE MAP WITH THE RECOMMENDED TRAIL CORRIDORS AND TRAIL HEADS ON THEM. IMPLEMENTATION OF A MORATORIUM ON SNOWMOBILING SOUTH OF COUNTY ROAD 33 EXCEPT ON PROPERTY YOU OWN OR PROPERTY FOR WHICH YOU HAVE WRITTEN PERMISSION. THE MORATORIUM WILL ALLOW STAFF TIME TO REWRITE THE ORDINANCE TO SEVERELY LIMIT THE USE OF SNOWMOBILES WITHIN THE URBANIZED PART OF THE CITY. MAYOR KLINZING SECONDED THE MOTION. Councilmember Motto suggested that the groups continue checking for alternative areas to ride without going through the urban area. Councilmember Kuester suggested trails on road easement and suggested exploring the possibility of a snowmobile reserve group to help enforce the rules. THE MOTION CARRIED 5-0. Mayor Klinzing thanked the Riverider Snowmobile Club for their efforts. City Council Minutes Page 5 February 11, 2002 6.2. Consider Final Plat Request by Dynamic's Design and Land Company for Park Pointe 6.3. Consider Petition for Public Improvements 6.4. Consider Future Sewer/Water Assessments on 175th Avenue Michele McPherson indicated that the petitioner has requested to table items 6.2, 6.3 and 6.4. COUNCILMEMBER KUESTER MOVED TO CONTINUE ITEMS 6.2, 6.3, AND 6.4 TO MARCH 11, 2002. COUNCILMEMBER DIETZ SECONDED THE MOTION. THE MOTION CARRIED 5-0. The City Administrator discussed the City's past practices and policy for funding public improvement projects over the past few years. He noted that it has always been the policy for the developer to either wait for the utilities to come to their area or for developers to pay for the utilities to get to their site if they want them earlier than planned. The Council discussed the issue of how the City's policy pertains the Park Pointe Addition. CouncilmemberDietz stated that the issue is that the developers are seeing the sewer and water extension down 175th as a trunk line and the City considers Tyler Street as a trunk line and anything that goes off of Tyler Street a lateral Line. The City is requesting approximately $6,500 an acre for the trunk assessment and in addidon the developer must pay to bring the line down 175th to his property in order to develop. The developer sees this as double charging him. Councilmember Dietz indicated that the developer claims he was never told he would be responsible for both payments. Councilmember Dietz further stated that the people north of 175th should be assessed at sometime for the utility benefits. The City Administrator indicated that the city would not define the sewer utility as a trunk line based on the size of the sewer pipes and the development project being in the very outer edge of the urban district. It was further noted that part of the confusion with this proposal is that the developers volunteered to pay for the utilities under 175m Avenue. Terry Maurer stated that the sanitary sewer is clearly a lateral, but the water has changed from a lateral to a trunk water main because of the location of the water tower. In these cases, the city pays the difference in cost for the lateral line increasing to trunk size with the developer paying the typical lateral cost. Councilmember Motin indicated that he represents the Mitchell's, however, does not feel it is a conflict to discuss the issue but will not vote on the issue. Councilmember Motin stated that the developer should have been informed of his responsibility to pay for the trunk assessment and lateral lines prior to approval of the preliminary plat. Councilmember Tveite indicated the importance of communicating to the developer all costs. Finance Director Lori Johnson discussed the request by the developer for the city to finance the improvements. She also discussed the issue regarding the City not being able to finance the improvements in 2002 and retain the "bank qualified" status on the City's 2002 bond issues. She suggested that the developer pay additional interest costs incurred by the city due to financing the Park Pointe improvements. Councilmember Tveite felt the developer should f'mance the improvements. Councilmember Dietz concurred. City Council Minutes Page 6 February 11, 2002 Councilrnember Dietz indicated that the developer is requesting the city to finance the improvement. Councilmember Dietz stated that the city might not be able to finance the project due to the public safety facility building project and the fact that the city is close to its 10 million dollar bonding limit because of the public safety project. LoriJohnson indicated that she has spoken to the developer regarding this issue and that the developer seemed to understand why the City could not fund the project. She also noted that the City recently adopted a policy that does not allow for the issuance of bonds for development projects unless it is to the dty's advantage. Councilmember Tveite stated that he also spoke with the developer. He stated that the developer hasno problem paying for 175th as the trunk line. He noted that the developer felt he was paying for the trunk line in I/eu of the fee and not in addition to it. Councilmember Tveite indicated that he had no problem with the trunk assessments but stated the city must communicate this to the developer so that they know the up front costs. 7. Other Business Mayor Klinzing noted that she received a letter from Elk Ridge Health regarding their public opening. 8. Staff Updates The City Administrator noted that the HRA has requested the Council's attendance at the next HRA meeting at 5 pm next Monday. LoriJohnson informed the Council that staffwould soon be requesting permission to hire a full time Information Systems employee sooner than planned due to the timing of the public safety building project. She indicated that due to the many issues with new public safety building and City Hal/remodeling, staff feels that hiring a person up front would save the city money on the building project because of the expertise and time this person could dedicate to ensuring that the most efficient and effective voice and data systems are purchased. The Finance Director noted that this proposal would not interfere with the existing IS person that the City shares with the city of Andover. 9. Adjournment There being no further business, Mayor Klinzing adjourned the meeting of the Elk River City Council at 8:25 p.m. Sandra Peine City Clerk