HomeMy WebLinkAbout2008 08-26 CC MINUTESCITY OF GEM LAKE
4707 Hwy 61 #253
White Bear Lake, MN 55110-3227
Yard .&neoh Mascaf
Minutes of Gern Lake City Council Meeting
26 August 2008
The regular meeting of the City Council of the City of Gem Lake was called to order by Mayor Emeott on
Tuesday, August 26, 2008 at 7:08 pm in the Gem Lake City Hall meeting room. MayorEmeott, Councilors Artig-
Swomley, Rasmussen and Shilling were. present. Also present was City Attorney Trevor Oliver and City Treasurer
Jessie Hart. Other members of the public were also in attendance per the sign insheet sent around the room.
APPROVAL OF AGENDA AND MEETING MINUTES
Minutes of City Council meeting of July 2008: Minutes from the July 2008 City Council meeting were
reviewed by Council members. Motion by Artig-Swomley, Second by Schilling to approve the July 2008 City
Council minutes wasunanimously approved by voice vote.
City Council Agenda for this meeting: Mayor Emeott calledfor additions, deletions and corrections to the
agenda. No changes were made to the agenda. Motion by Rasmussen, Second by Schilling. to approve agenda with
the above additions was unanimously approved by voice. vote.
PUBLIC NOTICES
None
PRESENTATIONS FROM THE FLOOR
Mark Sweet approached the floor requesting 30 minutes of time fora power point presentation regarding possible
development of senior housing on the Tom Hansen parcel. on County Road .Eat the next city council workshop.or
meeting.
COMMITTEE REPORTS
Planning Commission (Jim Lindner): Finishing touches were made on the Comprehensive Plan at the last.
planning commission meeting. The Planning Commission is turning the 2008 Comprehensive Planover to. the City.
Council. A motion was made by Artig-Swomley to accept the 2008 Comprehensive Plan from the Planning
Commission, Seconded. by Schilling. The motion was approved by voice vote with Councilor Rasmussen abstaining
from the vote ashe has been out of thecountry and not able to review the Plan.
OLD BUSINESS
A) City Newsletter (Artig-Swomley): Topics proposed for future editions of the city newsletter to include a
review of National Nightout and a review of the Gem Lake Comprehensive Plan.
B) City MS4 report for 2006 (Watson): No change.
C) Gem Lake National Night -Out — Report: Gem Lake held its first annual NationalNight-Out celebration at
the Gem Lake City Hall on Tuesday, August 5th. About50-60 residents attended. Many signed up for. the
Neighborhood watch program.
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NEW BUSINESS
A) Approval of payment of.claims for July -August 2008: Mayor Emeott referred the Council to the listing
of payments requiring. approval. Just under $19,000still left to pay out on the construction of the City Hall.
Anticipate about $25,000 due to Gem Lake from White Bear Township. Payment of claims for time period above
was unanimously approved as indicated by Councilor's signatures on this document.
B) Gem Lake July Balance Statement (Jessie Hart): City treasurer. Jessie Hart submitted a. cash and
investment balance statement as of July 31, 2008. The new financial software has now been purchased and will be
used. The old software was only able to track expenditures on. a quarterly basis. Itcan now be tracked monthly. So
Hart will be able to compare income/expenditures on a month to month basis, and on a year to date basis.
C) 2009 City Budget review and preliminary approval — September 15th Deadline: City treasurer Jessie
Hart submitted to the City Council a preliminary budget of $496,534 which includes a proposed General Tax Levy
of $420,089 .and a Debt Tax Levy of .$53,200 for fiscal and calendar. year 2009 and reviewed anticipated revenue and:
expenditures in detail. (The 2007 actual tax levy amount was $411,197 witha tax capacity rate of 39.5582%. The
actual 2008 tax levy amount was$449,255 with a tax capacity rate .of:39:5954%.The preliminary 2009 tax capacity
rate is 38.099.6. %) The tax capacity of the city rose from, $1,051,000 in 2007. to $1,135,000.in 2008.and is
projected at 1,212,826 in 2009. Hart reminded the council that the preliminary Levy amount that is approved to
meet the. September 15th deadline is the highest amount that property owners can be taxed. The numberscan be fine
tuned and reduced prior to the December final approval of the budget.
Revenue:. A conservative estimate of 2009 Gem Lake City revenue sources was projected at $496,534. Actual
revenues for 2008 totaled $435,779. License and permit revenue is proposed. at 2008 levels lntergcrvernmental
revenues increased from 2008 adopted due to the actual programming of HACA. Fines and forfeitures revenues are
budgeted as less for 2009 as thestate is keeping a larger share of the fine revenues. Miscellaneous revenues include.
the rental of the Gem Lake City Hall and revenue from White Bear Township as they reimburse Gem Lake for 25%
of the operating cost of the City Hall.
Expenditures: Included in expenditures are the City Council contingency fund, Clerk salary, Capital outlay, Election
costs, Financial administration (audit), Legal services including: a transfer to the sewer fund to pay back an interfund
loan, General government,. Planning and Zoning (decreasing as Comp Plan is completed), Special projects .(Highway
96 right away), Sheriffs services (yet tobe determined), Dispatch costs (nochange anticipated), Fire services
(increasing 10%), Animal control (no change), Building inspection,. Road maintenance (repair, patching, right of way
signage, SEH surface watermanagement plan, catch basin on Tessier Road), Public works, Heritage Hall and Park
maintenance (zero budget):
Action requested tonight is to review and discuss the proposed 2009 budget and preliminary tax levy and adopt
resolution certifying preliminary 2009 property tax levy.
D) Resolution 2008-02B adoptingthe preliminary budget for 2009: Mayor Emeott asked for any questions
or discussion regarding` the preliminary 2009 budget and levy. Discussion whether enough money was projected for
the potentiallyhigh. heat costs this winter. Hart statedthat she feltconfident that the amount proposed in the budget
should cover the anticipated rate.. increases. Discussed whether money was in the.. budget for a building replacement
or repair fund. This hasalso been anticipated. Councilor Rasmussen thanked Jessie. Hart for all of the work shehas
done preparing the 2009 budget. Motion made by Schilling, Seconded by Artig-5womley to approve a 2009
preliminary budget of $496,534 which includes a (Proposed) General Tax Levy of $420,089and a Debt Tax. Levy of
$53,200 as proposed by Jessie. Hart: was declaredadopted based upon thefollowing vote:
Councilor Rasmussen - Aye
Councilor Schilling — Aye
Councilor Artig-Swoinley Aye
Councilor Watson —Not present
Mayor Emeott — Aye
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Additional workshops will focus on the details of the budget.
E} 2008 Comp.. Plan approval and release for comments: Mayor Emeott stated that printed copies of the 2008
Comprehensive Plan have been made available to Council Members. The Plan will he published on the Gem. Lake
web site for residents. Copies on CD. have been submitted to. the. Met Council and neighboring cities for their
feedback and comments: Motion made by Artig-Swomley, Seconded by Rasmussen to approve and release the 2008
Comprehensive PIan. The motion was unanimously approved with thefollowing recorded votes:
Councilor Rasmussen Aye with margin proofing
Councilor Schilling — Aye
Councilor Artig-Swomley — Aye
Councilor Watson — Not present
Mayor Emeott — Aye
li} VLAWMO Concurrence on parcels: Mayor. Emeott reported that VLAWMO has surveyedtheir boundary
edges looking for parcels where the storm water flow wasidentified incorrectly. They found approximately 45
parcels incorrectly identified. VLAWMO is requesting that cities in their watershed district concur with the survey
findings of theadded/deleted parcels. Mayor Emeott called for a motion to accept the changein the Joint Power of
Authority that defines VLAWMOs boundaries. Motion by Rasmussen, Seconded by Artig-Swomley for concurrence
on parcel additions/deletions and toaccept the change in the Joint Power of Authority that defines VLAWMOs
boundaries was unanimously approved by voice vote.
PRESENTATIONS FROM THE FLOOR
None.
FUTURE CITY COUNCIL MEETINGS:
Next City Council Workshop — Workshop. CANCELLED for Monday, September 8, 2008. Cancellation will be
posed onthe website, bulletin board and in the newsletter.
Next City Council Meeting — Tuesday, September .1 b, 2008 at 7:00 p.m. in the Gem Lake City Hall.
ADJOURN: The August 2008 regular meeting of the City Councilwas adjourned at 8:40 p.m.
AUTHORIZED: August 19, 2008.
APPROVED: September 16, 2008
ATTEST:
Teresa Tice, Recording Secretary
Certified Copy.
ATTEST:
Paul R. Emeott, Mayor
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Attendance List for Gem Lake City Council Meeting: August 26, 2008
Jim Lindner
Jessie Hart
Bob Uzpen
Tom. Hansen
Mark Sweet
Planning Commission
City Treasurer
Big Fox Road
Little Fox Lane
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CITY OF GEM LAKE; MN
4200 Otter Lake Road
Gem Lake, MN 55110-3227
Telephone. 651-747-2790
Planning Commission results, 8-5-2008
The August 2008.Gem Lake Planning. Commission meeting was called to order at about
7:06 by Chairman Lindner. Also present were commissioners Craig Rafferty and Derek
Wippich, alternate commission Beth Herzog, Mayor Paul Emeott and several members of
the community and distinguished guests. Tonight's meeting coincided with the city's
pre -planned participation in National Night Out.
Chairman Lindner. introduced the comprehensive planning process beginning with our
January 200.7 open forum meeting. that allowed the public to first voice their ideas for
what the coinprehensive plan should include. He then discussed how the. Metropolitan
Council has determined how the municipal plannning process .should progress.
Before the cam -I- ission. tonight was the final draft plan (missing minor edits. and the water'
managementconaponent). There were three comments from the. f loor. Jack Hoeschler
wanted assurance. that the sanitary sewer rnap did not. Overlook natural topographical.
features. of his parcel and that the. city would consider his. situation when working with
future developers who may install sewer in those areas of the oity that would best serve
Jack's. parcels. The commission responded by informing Jack the plan is subject to
annual review and that the plan itself is not a regulatory document (the zoning. ordinance
and subdivision ordinance provide regulatory statute.that developers Will need to follow.
Another comment concerned the extension of Goose Lake Road through to Hoffman
Road in White Bear Township to the east of Gem Lake. Paul Emeott explained that
Ramsey County likely will not be doing any new road construction for the next ten years
or so, as they instead focus work on maintaining existing roadways.
Finally someone inquired about the railroad crossing on Sheuneman Road. This has
fallen into disrepair especially with the influx of traffic diverted from the 694135E
MNDOT project. This crossing is owned by Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railroad
based in .Dallas, Texas and they have not expressed any interest in repairing this crossing.
It may become a road issue if a proposed trail is put in place along the existing railroad
tracks.
Chairman Lindner then .moved that the Planning Commission recommend to the City
Council that the plan be presented to those outside agencies (Met Council, water
management organizations, and surrounding municipalities) who are next in line to
comment upon it. (There are minor editorial changes such as changing some words to
plural and some text and graphic changes submitted to SEH but not part of the copies we
had before us tonight.) Derek Wippich seconded the motion. Following 'minor
discussion amongst the Planning Commission, the vote was 3-0 in favor of the motion.
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Lindner next discussed the comments received from the public on the plan and said that
not all could be incorporated into the document but there were some draft replies to those
comments received.
Finally he discussed in brief the next steps which include reworking the zoning ordinance
and possibly the subdivision ordinance that will allow the plan to be fully implemented.
Upon thanking all who attended tonight's meeting, which included citizens, landowners,
and people from as far away as Alabama; Lindner adjourned the meeting at 7:45.
Jim Lindner
Planning Commission chair.
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