Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAbout2008-09-24 CC - ApprovedCITY OF CENTERVILLE CITY COUNCIL MEETING September 24, 2008 Pursuant to due call and notice thereof, the City of Centerville held its regularly scheduled meeting on September 24, 2008, at 6:30 p.m. PRESENT: Mayor Mary Capra Council Member Linda Broussard-Vickers ~~ ~ Council Member Michelle Lakso ~~ Council Member Tom Lee ~ ~ 0 Council Member Jeff Paar STAFF: City Administrator Dallas Larson City Attorney Kurt Glaser City Engineer Mark Statz L CALL TO ORDER Mayor Capra called the September 24, 2008, City Council Meeting to order at 6:35 p.m. II. PUBLIC HEARING(S) None III. APPROVAL OF AGENDA Mayor Capra made the following additions to the Agenda: Pa.~e 2, Consent A.~enda, Added Item 5: -Request For Extension of Hanzal Variance to December 31, 2008 Pa.~e 4, Old Business, Added Item 2: Res. #08-OXX -Resolution Revising Hearing Dates for Truth and Taxation Hearings on the 2009 Budget & Tax Levy Pa.~e 9, New Business, Added Item 5: Res. #08-OXX -Approving Plans & Specifications and Ordering Bids for the 2009 Street Improvement Project. Pa.~e 10, Announcements/Updates, Added Item lb: LaserFiche User Instructions Pa.~e 10, Announcements/Updates, Added Item 2a: Update on Citizen Corps Council Pa.~e 10, Announcements/LJpdates, Added Item 2b: Alexanda House Page 1 of 11 City of Centerville City Council Meeting September 24, 2008 Motion by Council Member Paar, seconded by Council Member Lee, to approve the September 24, 2008, Agenda as amended. All in favor. Motion carried unanimously. IV. APPROVAL OF MINUTES September 10, 2008, City Council Work Session Meeting Minutes Motion by Council Member Broussard-Vickers, seconded by Council Member Lee, to approve the September 10, 2008, City Council Work Session Minutes as presented. All in favor. Motion carried unanimously. 2. September 10, 2008, City Council Meeting Minutes Mayor Capra made the following change to the September 10, 2008, City Council Meeting Minutes: Page 2, Addition to the Agenda, 3rd Paragraph, should read "CERT/Citizen Corps Council (Capra)" Page 3, Motion under Awards/Presentations/Appearances, should read "approve the Centerville Lions Club's request to use the Warming House at Laurie LaMotte Park for the 2008 Haunted House..." Page 4, Motion under New Business, Item 2, change to read "Council Member Broussard- Vickers opposed. Motion carried (4/1~" Motion by Council Member Broussard-Vickers, seconded by Council Member Paar, to approve the September 10, 2008, City Council Meeting Minutes, as amended. All in favor. Motion carried unanimously. V. CONSENT AGENDA 1. City of Centerville September 10, 2008, throu.~h September 24, 2008, Claims 2. Centennial Fire District Claims throu.~h September 16, 2008 3. Centennial Lakes Police Department Claims throu.~h September 11, 2008 5. Consent Agenda Request for Extension of Hanzal Variance to December 31, 2008 Motion by Council Member Broussard-Vickers, seconded by Council Member Paar, to approve Items 1, 2, 3, and 5 of the Consent Agenda as presented. All in favor. Motion carried unanimously. 4. Water Tower Annual Maintenance Proposal - (Cathodic Protection Corrosion Control Equipment) - Corrpro Waterworks - $520/year Councilmember Lakeo questioned why Public Works cannot do this annual maintenance. Page 2 of 11 City of Centerville City Council Meeting September 24, 2008 City Engineer Statz replied that sometimes there is a need to enter the tower, which requires specialized people. He stated that this is done on an ongoing basis to protect the water tower from corrosion and to prevent the steel inside the water tower from corroding. He added that, for the price they pay to have it done, it is pretty good insurance. Councilmember Broussard-Vickers inquired whether they should allow all the waiver language. For example, it says $520 is the max for their liability. She recommended that they strike some of this language. City Engineer Statz stated that this quote is a lot less expensive than some others. Mayor Capra inquired as to when this is scheduled to be done. City Engineer Statz replied that he did not know. Councilmember Broussard-Vickers recommended putting in language that states the responsible party be held responsible -whether it is the City or the Contractor. Motion by Council Member Broussard-Vickers, seconded by Council Member Lakso, to approve Item 4 of the Consent Agenda, subiect to City Attorney Glaser's review and revision of some of the language. All in favor. Motion carried unanimously. VL AWARDS/PRESENTATIONS/APPEARANCES None VII. OLD BUSINESS Fall Cleanup Days -Household Hazardous Waste -Report of SCORE Funds Councilmember Broussard-Vickers recommended giving aone-time credit to residents for recycling. Mayor Capra inquired whether this could be done. City Administrator Larson replied that yes, that very likely could be done. Councilmember Broussard-Vickers stated that, if they got $9,000, they could send it back to residents. Mayor Capra stated that having a hazardous waste pickup had been discussed. Motion by Council Member Broussard-Vickers, seconded by Council Member Lee, to table the discussion on use of SCORE funds until they know how a refund or rebate could be structured. All in favor. Motion carried unanimously. Page 3 of 11 City of Centerville City Council Meeting September 24, 2008 2. Res. #08-025 -Resolution Revising Hearing Dates for Truth and Taxation Hearings on the 2009 Budget & Tax LevX City Administrator Larson explained that there is a date conflict, so they need a resolution to revise the dates. He stated that this would necessitate a special meeting; however, that the Truth in Taxation hearing is not required because the proposed levy is below the threshold amount. He added that, it has been practice to have the budget hearing and recommended the dates contained in the resolution which are December 2"d and December 10. Councilmember Paar requested that another memo be sent to Council members reminding of the meeting dates in November and December.. Motion by Council Member Broussard-Vickers, seconded by Council Member Paar, to approve Res. #08-025 Revising the Hearing Dates for Truth and Taxation Hearings on the 2009 Budget & Tax Levy. All in favor. Motion carried unanimously. VIII. NEW BUSINESS 1. City Communications City Administrator Larson reported that there have been a lot of questions from citizens as a result of the flyer that was sent to them. Comments regarding the first item in the flyer state that the City is exceeding its debt limit. City Administrator Larson stated that that is not correct. There were also negative comments regarding the colored concrete, crosswalks and streetlights. Mayor Capra reported that the 1998 Minnesota Design Team came up with a plan and vision for the City. Councilmember Lee stated that he is partial to the downtown redevelopment design. He stated that this would attract businesses, which would in turn lessen the tax burden on the citizens. City Administrator Larson stated that eminent domain is not outlawed in Minnesota. City Administrator Larson stated that there is a $700,000 grant for the trails, as well as $350,000 from park dedication fees. City Administrator Larson stated that there have been complaints that real estate taxes have skyrocketed. He had Finance Director Meyer look at this issue. City Administrator Larson displayed slides showing that the School District received a much larger tax increase than the City, and those taxes were voter approved. He added that most of the tax increase did not come from the City. He stated that, in terms of the budget and the levy, the dollars have been extraordinarily flat and that the example property paid only $60 more in 2008, than it did in 2002. Page 4 of 11 City of Centerville City Council Meeting September 24, 2008 Councilmember Broussard-Vickers inquired whether this information will be on the website, in case someone would like to look at it. City Administrator Larson replied that they can put it on the website. He added that Centerville received very little Local Government Aid (LGA), because their formula does not work to Centerville's advantage. Councilmember Paar stated that the downfall with LGA is, if they relied on it for their budget and the Aid was cut, they would run into problems. Mayor Capra stated that Circle Pines is receiving $350,000 in Local Government Aid, and the only difference between Circle Pines and Centerville is that there are older houses in Circle Pines. She stated that the citizens of Centerville support their community with their dollars. Mayor Capra stated that she has talked to Senator Vandeveer about reforming Local Government Aid. City Administrator Larson showed slides of where the tax dollars go. He showed that 44% of the tax dollars go to Public Safety. Councilmember Lee stated that the police contract is "carved in stone" for the next 20 years. He stated that the cost to contract those services would not be much cheaper, and then they would have no control of what kind of policing is done. He added that Centerville's policing is above and beyond anywhere else in the state. Their police rank third or fourth in the State with the "Click it or Ticket' campaign. Councilmember Paar stated that people move to the suburbs to be in a safe neighborhood, so their Police Department is necessary. Mayor Capra stated that there were people who would have died if Centerville did not have such good response. There have been several times when the police revived someone and kept them alive. Councilmember Broussard-Vickers stated that the Council is hearing a lot of negative comments. She suggested that, if Citizens want to be involved, they should be involved in upcoming things -not things already done, that they did not take a part in. She stated that it is hard to question someone's decisions, when you do not have all the information that was used to make those decisions. She stated that, going forward, citizens should be more involved and active. She added that the State Auditor would not second-guess spending decisions as long as the decisions were legal. Information is available to every citizen, if needed. If a citizen needs information, they need to be specific. Councilmember Paar stated that he will not respond to an email that has curse words in it. Bloggers and citizen groups are not thinking about how they are selling the residents short. Councilmember Paar added that he gives residents a lot more credit than these bloggers and citizen groups do. Page 5 of 11 City of Centerville City Council Meeting September 24, 2008 City Administrator Larson showed the last slide, which included a breakdown of the City's Current Debt, and the Debt Breakdown by Project Funds. He stated that special assessments account for two-thirds, one-third is from levies, and most of it is improvement debt. He added that any growing city will have higher than average debt. Centerville is an expanding community, and parts are being reconstructed. Mayor Capra stated that, when she and Councilmember Broussard-Vickers first came into office, there were problems with the finances. A lot of things maybe fell through the cracks at that time. In July 2002, the City hired a Finance Director, who had the expertise to handle the City's finances. In July 2002, there were a lot of debts related to developer projects that the City had to go back and collect. Without the Finance Director, the City would not have been able to collect those accounts. Mayor Capra stated that she has great confidence in the City's staff and its Finance Director. She stated that, anything anyone would like to know, the staff and Finance Director are there to answer questions. She added that every check register the City does is available to view on line. Councilmember Lee stated that he was amazed at how things were out of line at that time. He added that they are now crystal clear, compared to what they were. City Administrator Larson stated that he will post his research information on the website. Motion by Council Member Broussard-Vickers, seconded by Council Member Paar, to table the Draft 2009 Fee Schedule until the next City Council Meeting. All in favor. Motion carried unanimously. 2. Request for Budget Amendment (Bonestroo~ a. CSAH 14 City Engineer Statz stated that they were initially provided with $55,428 for this project. At that time, their assumptions were that seemed reasonable, and they thought they would have a Public Works Inspector on site for two half-days. However, the City lost a staff member and the hailstorm hit, so they had to fill in gaps. The reality is that time proved the initial amount was significantly less than what they really needed. They are requesting to increase the initial amount by $35,000 dollars. He added that this additional amount should take them to the end of the project. Councilmember Lee stated that is a huge increase in that budget. City Engineer Statz replied that he has figured what they have been averaging - about 20 hours per week - to figure what they will need. He added that they have done the best they could to limit the budget. Page 6 of 11 City of Centerville City Council Meeting September 24, 2008 City Administrator Larson stated that the City staff is so short-handed that they were not able to do it. He stated that the contractor proved early on that overseeing the project is needed. He added that maybe they could supplement some with City staff to reduce the costs. Councilmember Paar inquired whether the budget increase is because of the inability of City Public Works employees to help as much as needed, or whether there would have still been an increase. City Engineer Statz replied that the increase would have been a lot less if they had been able to use their Public Works employees as much as needed. Councilmember Paar inquired whether they could go to Anoka County for additional cost. City Administrator Larson stated that Anoka County never intended to provide detailed inspection of the project. City Engineer Statz stated that part of this was a pure under-estimation. He added that it is difficult to estimate accurately when they are not in charge of the project. Mayor Capra agreed that they have been short staffed. Councilmember Lee stated that he would like to give it more thought and ask more questions. Mayor Capra inquired whether they are way over budget now. City Engineer Statz replied that yes, they are over budget, mainly because of the storm and the loss of a City staff person. Mayor Capra stated that there is no question this needs to be done. Councilmember Lee stated that he would still like to get more questions answered. Motion by Council Member Lee, seconded by Council Member Lakso, to table consideration of the CSAH 14 Budget Amendment until the next City Council Meeting. All in favor. Motion carried unanimously. 3. 2009 Street Improvement City Engineer Statz stated that it was discussed, at the last City Council meeting to ad some storm pond cleaning and rear-yard easement, drainage work to the project. He stated that there is a proposal in the Councilmembers' packets to complete that preliminary survey work and design, and the budget for fees would be $15,000. Costs for the work is Page 7 of 11 City of Centerville City Council Meeting September 24, 2008 slated to come out of the Storm Water Utility Fund. He stated pond and drainage work could be done in the Winter of 2008-2009 or the following year. Councilmember Broussard-Vickers inquired whether some notice had been sent to property owners about the need to move fences and other rear-yard conflicts. City Engineer Statz stated that most people should have received a flyer indicating survey work was being done, but that the rear-yard drainage work would be done next summer so there was plenty of time for that notice.. Councilmember Lee stated that there is some work that citizens need to do to avoid additional assessments. Mayor Capra stated that they should send residents a copy, showing where easements are on their property. Discussion ensued. Councilmember Paar stated that City Administrator Larson talked to Public Works Director Paul Palzer about using some funds for rear-yard drainage problem areas. Public Works Director Palzer was going to work on making this an on-going process, identifying problem areas and doing a little one year and then some more the following year, etc. He added that Public Works Director Palzer currently has 5-10 problem areas that need to be resolved. Councilmember Broussard-Vickers stated that is a small number. She inquired whether maintenance of rainwater ponds is part of the Storm Water Project. She stated that they would have to be proactive to get funds to take care of these things. Motion by Council Member Broussard-Vickers, seconded by Council Member Lee, to approve a maximum of $15,000 for preliminary survey and design work. All in favor. Motion approved unanimously. 4. Trail Grant Project - Approval of Budget for Surveying & Permit Process (Bonestroo~ City Engineer Statz stated that he would like to get the first steps taken on the Trail Grant Project, because federal funds are time-line driven. He stated that the first step would be doing the survey, and the second step would be the Project Memorandum, that would look at environmental issues, what the impacts would be, and how to handle them. He added that trails have to meet ADA requirements, because this is a Federal project. Mayor Capra inquired whether they could use park dedication fees, which were paid to the City by developers, for the engineering fees. Page 8 of 11 City of Centerville City Council Meeting September 24, 2008 Motion by Council Member Lee, seconded by Council Member Broussard-Vickers, to move forward with the preliminary survey. All in favor. Motion approved unanimously. Res. #08-026 - Approving Plans & Specifications and Ordering Bids for the 2009 Street Improvement Project. City Engineer Statz stated that they are requesting approval for Phase 1. He stated that the initial action was to pass a resolution, and only certain segments were in the second resolution. They are also requesting authorization to plan the specs and advertise for bids. They would like to open the bid on October 29. He stated that, once they receive the bids, they will tabulate them, and provide a recommendation to the City Council at the November 5, 2008 meeting. Councilmember Lee stated that he would like to put it on the record that he feels Center Street should be included in this project. Motion made by Council Member Broussard-Vickers, seconded by Council Member Lee, to approve Res. #08-026 Approving the Plans and Specifications and Ordering Bids for the 2009 Street Improvement Proiect All in favor. Motion carried unanimously. 6. Si~nage Mayor Capra reported that she had an update from Commissioner Sivarajah that the County is going to add additional signage marking the trail crossing on Centerville Road (CSAH 21). They are sending clearance requirements regarding trimming of brush and trees a the intersection of the trail and county road. Mayor Capra stated that tax dollars would cover the cost of the signs and that a refund would be made to the Comstock family of the donation they made toward solving the problem. IX. ANNOUNCEMENTS/UPDATES City Administrator, Mr. Dallas Larson a. Status of Comprehensive Plan City Administrator Larson stated that they are close to the point where they can adopt the Comprehensive Plan. He stated that he would expect, by mid-December, Planning and Zoning Commission could come forward with a recommendation for adoption. Mayor Capra inquired whether they would need a separate hearing. She stated that they should also think about curb appeal of homes that might include porches or other decorative elements. She has been asked by residents whether there are grant Page 9 of 11 City of Centerville City Council Meeting September 24, 2008 dollars to provide architectural design of split entry homes to give front porch appeal. b. LaserFiche User Instructions City Administrator Larson suggested that the Councilmembers review their access to the City's imaging system. He stated that each Councilmember will have their own password. He proceeded to show the Councilmembers how to use the system and where to find information. It was also pointed out that much of the information is available to the public by way of a link on the City website. Mayor Capra reported that the City had a high school student working on scanning old documents, and it took a couple years to get it set up. She stated that there is a lot of history out there. If residents cannot find what they are looking for there, they can call the Administrator or a Councilmember. 2. Mayor Capra a. Update on Citizen Corps Council Mayor Capra reported that Eaglebrook and St. Genevieve's like the plan Centerville has and have agreed to be affiliated partners with Centerville. This will be on the Police Governing Board Agenda in October. b. Alexanda House Mayor Capra reported that she attended the Alexanda House Open House. She stated that she cannot say enough about their work. They are set up for 35 residents, but they have 38 currently. She added that they should spread the word that one out of every three women experience some sort of physical abuse. c. Fire Steering Committee Councilmember Paar reported that the next meeting of the Fire Steering Committee will be the end of October 2008. X. ADJOURNMENT Motion by Council Member Paar, seconded by Council Member Lee, to adiourn the September 24, 2008, City Council Meeting. All in favor. Motion carried unanimously. Mayor Capra adjourned the September 24, 2008, City Council Meeting at 8:12 p.m. Transcribed by: Page 10 of 11 City of Centerville City Council Meeting September 24, 2008 Bonita Kaska, Recording Secretary Timesaver Off Site Secretarial, Inc Page 11 of 11