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HomeMy WebLinkAboutCC 08-27-2001 . . . CITY OF ARDEN HILLS, MINNESOTA REGULAR CITY COUNCIL MEETING AUGUST 27, 2001 7:30 P.M. - ARDEN HILLS CITY COUNCIL CHAMBERS CALL TO ORDER/ROLL CALL Pursuant to due call and notice thereof, Mayor Dennis Probst called to order the regular City Council meeting at 7:38 p.m. Present: Mayor Dennis Probst, Councilmembers Beverly Aplikowski, David Grant, Gregg Larson, and Lois Rem. Absent: None. Also present were City Administrator, Joe Lynch; City Attorney, Jerry Filla; Interim Public Works Director and Parks & Recreation Director, Thomas Moore; City Planner, Aaron Parrish, and Recording Secretary, Nancy Czajkowski. APPROVAL OF MEETING AGENDA Mayor Probst requested removal of Agenda Item 6 C. Mounds View High School Parking Request per the applicant's request. MOTION: Councilmember Aplikowski moved and Councilmember Grant seconded a motion to adopt the agenda for the August 27,2001, regular City Council meeting as amended. The motion carried unanimously (5-0). APPROVAL OF MINUTES A. July 30, 2001 Regular Council Meeting, Pavement Management Plan (PMP) Discussion B. July 30, 2001 Regular Council Meeting C. August 20,2001 City Council Worksession Councilmember Rem stated the date for the Pavement Management Plan Discussion was not correct. She noted they were not the correct minutes. Councilmember Rem added the following comments about the July 30, 2001 Regular Council Meeting Minutes: 1. On page 4, in the first paragraph, Councilmember Grant was discussing the County Maintenance Facility. 2. On page 5, under Council Comments, in the first paragraph, the meeting discussed was about the County Maintenance Facility. 3. On page 7, at the top, the comments were all in reference to the new city hall dedication. . . . ARDEN HILLS CITY COUNCIL - AUGUST 27,2001 2 MOTION: Councilmember Larson moved and Councilmember Aplikowski seconded a motion to approve the July 30, 2001 Regular Council Meeting minutes as corrected above and the August 20,2001 City Council Worksession minutes as submitted. The motion carried unanimously (5-0). CONSENT CALENDAR A. Claims and Payroll B. City Planner, Probationary Appointment, Aaron Parrish MOTION: Councilmember Larson moved and Councilmember Aplikowski seconded a motion to approve the Consent Calendar and authorize execution of all necessary documents contained therein. The motion carried unanimously (5-0). PUBLIC COMMENTS Mayor Probst invited those present to come forward and address the Council on any items not already on the agenda. No public comments were made. UNFINISHED AND NEW BUSINESS A. 2002 Budget Mr. Lynch explained the Truth in Taxation Public Hearing was not required this year, but the City Council considered it important. He recommended the initial hearing be held December 10, 2001, at 6:30 p.m. and the subsequent meeting be held before the regularly scheduled W orksession on December 17, 2001. MOTION: Councilmember Grant moved and Councilmember Aplikowski seconded a motion to schedule the Truth in Taxation Public Hearing initial meeting for 6:30 p.m. on December 10,2001 and the second meeting for 6:30 p.m. on December 17,2001 and to authorize staff to proceed with all the necessary notifications, as recommended by Staff. The motion carried unanimously (5-0). B. Pay Request #1 (Final), Champion Coatings, Water Tower Maintenance Mr. Moore explained Pay Request #1. He noted Change Order #1 was approved at the June 25th Council meeting. He added that the project had been completed. He stated he had BRW check the inspector's work and Pace Analytical Services, Inc. conducted all the drinking water tests. He noted both companies approved the work. He added a retainage fee of 5% would be held for 25 days. ARDEN HILLS CITY COUNCIL - AUGUST 27,2001 3 MOTION: Councilmember Aplikowski moved and Councilmember Rem seconded a motion to approve Pay Estimate # 1, which includes Change Order # 1, for Champion Coatings Inc., of Lakeville, Minnesota in the amount of$61,678.75, as recommended by staff. The motion carried unanimously (5-0). . ADMINISTRATOR COMMENTS Mr. Lynch stated that the Ramsey County Public Works draft RFP had been received, but was not ready for publication yet. He noted as soon as the city received the final version to be presented to the County Board, he would present it to the council. Mr. Lynch explained that he had met with the Contractor on the drainage problem with the new city hall. He stated they would remove the old system, extend the foundation drains, install another drainage device, and then back fill the foundation. He noted the Contractor believes it should be compensated for this work. He added Mr. Filla would write a position letter and the Architect would be the arbitrator. Mr. Filla stated the process was well defined in the contract and contained several stages. He noted the process starts with a statement of claim. He added the work would continue and the city would continue to make payments. He stated the process had to begin soon so an amount could be retained. He noted the city's position was that it had no responsibility for this problem. . Mr. Lynch noted the city was pursuing another bid for the Mounds View High School water line connection work. He added they would still install the water line in the city's ten-foot easement. He stated the Fire Marshall had indicated the school would need to have adequate water sprinkling before it could open. Councilmember Grant stated the school could not open until September 10. He asked if this was due to a lack of water. Mr. Lynch responded the water was not the reason for the delay. Mr. Filla stated the property owner was asked for a value ofthe property necessary for additional easement and it had not been forthcoming. He noted the last information they had was that the property owner was going to hire an appraiser. He added that was before the city made the decision it could go into its existing easement. COUNCIL COMMENTS Councilmember Grant stated there was no Operations and Finance Committee meeting this month. He noted the next meeting was scheduled for September 20, 2001 to look at the draft RFP. Councilmember Larson stated the Park, Recreation, and Trails Committee would meet august 29, 2001 at 7:00 p.m. He noted his concern about the striping on Old Snelling Road and Bethel Street, and where those lanes ended up. He added traffic had been pushed to the edge of the road . with very little room for pedestrians. He stated it was not safe. ARDEN HILLS CITY COUNCIL - AUGUST 27,2001 4 . Councilmember Larson noted his concern that there was not a lot a progress on the Pavement Management Plan after several meetings. He added they should set aside a Saturday morning. He stated he was concerned they would run out of time and the lack of progress frustrated him. He noted at the end of the day they should all be comfortable with whatever plan they devised. Mayor Probst stated they would be able to find a Saturday. He noted that if they did not do something soon they would not have a project for next year. Councilmember Aplikowski stated she thought they were closer than they think they are. She agreed it was time to get to the core issues. She noted her problem is that what they currently have and the model do not fit. Councilmember Grant stated one advantage of holding them before a council meeting was that they knew all Councilmembers would attend. Mayor Probst noted the next meeting would be at 5:30 p.m. on Wednesday, September 12, 2001. Councilmember Larson stated the Community Development Director of Mounds View sent him a study that they working on for Old County Road 10. He noted the Director indicated in the letter, that if the Arden Hill's cutoff was only to serve local needs it did not seem to be in conflict with their plan. He added there was still a lot of work to be done on the plan yet. . Councilmember Aplikowski stated her concern about the dedication of the new city hall being in limbo. She noted the plans were going forward, but they needed a parking lot. She added the business luncheon was the easiest thing to get together. She stated the dinner would not be hampered by weather, but weather would affect the open house for the public. She suggested doing the formal dedication for the residents with the town hall meeting in March of the next year. She stated that after October 15 the weather was unpredictable. Mr. Lynch stated the developer had indicated it would be ready for move in at the end of September. Councilmember Aplikowski asked if County Road E2 would have curbs. Councilmember Grant responded the County was to get back to him on the date that they would be back to finish this work. He noted they had left quite a dip at the intersection ofE-2 and Chatham. Councilmember Aplikowski asked if they were all right with the 2002 budget. Mayor Probst stated the Taxpayers League's letter stating they feared taxes would be raised angered him. He noted difficult issues were being borne by local government. He added there was a logical explanation for why the city was where it was on raising taxes. Councilmember Grant stated there were no levy limits this year, but in future years, there might be levy limits. He noted his concern that if they try to pull back the city might not be able to . recoup the loss. ARDEN HILLS CITY COUNCIL - AUGUST 27,2001 5 . Mayor Probst stated his expectation that there would be levy limits and local government would be blasted for not monitoring taxes. Councilmember Aplikowski stated the city should protect itself. She noted they could always reduce the levy. She noted people have liked the activities and liked being served. She added this was what they have heard all summer. She stated she felt more comfortable with raising the levy than she might have been. Councilmember Rem stated the newsletter committee meeting would be on Wednesday morning. She noted the front page would deal with the tax levy issue. She added she had several concerns regarding the budget. She stated there needed to be a discussion on several issues including the Day in the Park Budget, staff reorganizations, increases in insurance for staff, and loss of some economic development funds. She noted she was concerned about the staff reorganization. She asked if it could be postponed. She added they needed to give serious consideration that someone should be in the public works position to give them feedback from the people doing the work. She stated they needed someone to pull that information together and put it before council. She noted Mr. Moore had done a fine job on the park side, but public works was a full time job previously. She added the longer this went on they would be hurting themselves. She stated they do not know if the streets and water mains were having problems. She noted they were not able to make decisions without all of the information. Mayor Probst stated they should to stay the course with the staff reorganization. He noted if they had concerns, they needed to get the consultant in and get going on it. . Councilmember Larson concurred with the Mayor on the staff changes, but agreed with Councilmember Rem on pavement management. He stated he did not see how they were going to get to a pavement management project this year. He noted he would rather do what needs to be done to have a good project next year. He added he agreed with Councilmember Rem's observation that having no public works director had made this more difficult. Councilmember Grant concurred with Councilmember Rem's comments on the reorganization and its timing. He stated it was discretionary. He noted it was a sizable sum of money relative to the budgetary needs and the loss of state aid. Councilmember Aplikowski stated she was more concerned with getting something up and running. She noted they were limping along although people were working hard. She added she wished it did not take so long. She stated when they approved this back in February or March it seemed simple. She noted it would take another three months before they received the information and three more months to hire someone. She added it was taking so long, but they had all agreed to it. . Councilmember Aplikowski stated there was a bigger issue there on the Day in the Park. She noted the event as they had known in the past could happen again. She added if they needed to go out every year and solicit funds for extra things, they would have trouble getting volunteers to do that. She stated they would need to look to setting up a volunteer group or have staff do it. ARDEN HILLS CITY COUNCIL - AUGUST 27,2001 6 . She asked if they wanted to collect $10,000 each year from businesses. She stated they could do it with less money if they wanted to back to the old Day in the Park. Mayor Probst stated he did not expect the magnitude of positive response they got from the community. He noted they should build on it. He added there were enough persons interested in doing it again. He stated they ought to do some fundraising for the fireworks. He noted if they could continue to raise the good feelings in the community, he did not think it would be very difficult. Councilmember Larson stated he thought there should be a continued event of some kind. He noted it should be bigger than what they had in the past, but smaller than this year. He added the event needs a home and Tony Schmidt Park was a good place for that. He stated it had good facilities. He thought they should be able to raise the money. He added that if they could not raise the money that then they would have learned something. Councilmember Grant stated they had some great momentum from the 50th Anniversary and he would like to see them build on it. He noted he would like to see some money in the budget and an attempt to raise additional funding. He added he would not like to see them raise all of it the first year. He stated he would like to ensure that they were able to continue the positive momentum gained from the 50th Anniversary. . Councilmember Rem stated she agreed they should have money in the budget. She noted the difficulty in raising money and volunteers each year. Mayor Probst asked if the seven- percent would cover all those items except the raise in staff compensation by three percent or an increase in healthcare. Mr. Lynch responded that essentially the Day in the Park was the only issue. Councilmember Aplikowski stated she would be comfortable increasing it to eight percent because they were moving into a new building. She noted she would rather have it there and not use it then not have it and have to scramble. Councilmember Larson stated he liked where they were now. He noted he liked the rationale they were replacing money lost. He added if they increased costs, they should try to find a place to make it up during the year. Mayor Probst stated the newsletter article was fine. The other Councilmembers concurred. Mayor Probst explained an award related to a near drowning on Lake Johanna a couple of weeks ago. He stated at the beach a young woman stepped on a 6-year-old boy under the water. He noted the four young women and the lifeguard were able to resuscitate the boy. He added the boy appears to be fine. He stated the award was for the four girls. He noted it was scheduled for 1 :00 p.m. at Tony Schmidt Park. He noted that Ramsey County would do the presentation. . Mayor Probst referenced the Arden Towers' correspondence. He noted if this constituted a proposal, the Council would need to discuss it further. . . . ARDEN HILLS CITY COUNCIL - AUGUST 27, 2001 7 Mr. Lynch stated Mr. Vaughan would be attending the September Worksession. He noted the only way staff was aware he could come into compliance was to rebuild the structure. Mayor Probst directed staff to look into the proposal. Mayor Probst stated they should reinvigorate the TCAAP discussion. He noted he received a telephone call that one developer was still interested in pursuing something. He directed staff to move forward so they could consider whatever development opportunities were available and select a path in October. ADJOURN MOTION: Councilmember Aplikowski moved and Councilmember Grant seconded a motion to adjourn the meeting at 9: 12 p.m. The motion carried unanimously (5-0). 'W~~~ NOTICE OF MEETINGS The next Council Meeting will be held Monday, September 17,2001 at 7:30 p.m. at the Arden Hills Council chambers.