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HomeMy WebLinkAbout1994 10-17 CC MinutesMINUTES OF MEETING OF CITY COUNCIL OF CITY OF GEM LAKE The October meeting of the City Council of the City of Gem Lake was called to order on Monday, 17 October 1994, at 7:00 p.to, in the first floor meeting room of.Tousley Ford. Mayor Emeott, Councilmembers McPhil- lips, Birkebak, and Nielsen, and Treasurer Nordstrom. were present.. The minutes of the 19 September 1994 City Council Meeting were amended as follows: Also present was Planning Commission member Lloyd Niel- sen. Mr. Nielsen presented the findings of the I--35E Study Commission which after discussion and upon motion. duly Made and seconded were unanimously accepted. Upon motion duly made and seconded, the minutes of the September meeting were unanimously approved as amended. There was no meeting .of. the Planning Commission in October., The Recycling Report for September, a copy of which is attached hereto as Exhibit "A" was then presented. Mr. Nordstrom then presented a revision to the 1995 Budget For LaW Enforcement, a copy of which is attached hereto as Exhibit "B", which showed an additional $224 charged to the City of Gem Lake for an addi- tional dispatcher. After discussion and upon motion duly made and sec- onded, the additional expense was approved and ordered added to the city budget for 1995. Mr. Nordstrom thenpresented the 20 October 1994 agenda and 15 September 1994 minutes of the Contract Cities Law Enforcement Group, copies of which are attached hereto as Exhibits "C"and -UD". Mr. Nordstrom then reported that Fire Inspections have commenced and will be completed by the end of October. After discussion and upon motion duly made and seconded, the Road Maintenance Plan from T.A. Schifsky, Inc. a copy of which is attached hereto as Exhibit "E"; Was unanimously adopted. The Council recommended that Big Fox and Little Fox Road, Areas 1 and 2 in Proposal, be complet- ed in 1995 prior to the completion of County Road E resurfacing. Area 3 which includes Tessier Road and Haven Lane are. to be:completed in 1996. The Clerk is to advise Schifsky of approval, implement the plan by executing a contract with Schifsky, and add said items to the budgets for 1995 and 1996. Mr, Joel Anderson has requested that the. City place "Watch: For Children" ..sighs. on the south entrance to Big Fox Road and "Dead End" signs at the west entrance to Little Fox Road. Item was tabled. to Novem- ber meeting. Mayor Emeott then reported that Septic Inspections will commence this week and be completed within 1 week. Discussion of local surcharges for Cable TV subscribers was tabled to November. Discussion of Functional Consolidation of Roadways with Ramsey County was tabled. to November. Upon presentation of the request by VLAWMO that an Amendment To The Joint Powers Agreement for duration through. 01 January 2005, Mayor Emeott asked that the item be tabled until such a time as a representa- tive of VLAWMO meets: with the. Council to explaintheir.function and why we should. belong. The report from' School District #6.24 regarding amendments to be considered on the 08 November 19.94 General Election ballot was then presented Discussion of the Fire Inspection letter from the State Fire Mar- shall was tabled until November. The Treasurer's Report, a copy of which is attached hereto as Exhibit "F", and indicating a balance in the General Fund. of $74, 824.53 and in the Sewer Fund of $38,144.91 was, upon motion duly made and seconded, unanimously approved. Payment of bills, a copy of which is attached hereto as Exhibit "GT", and totaling $14,312.75 was, upon motion duly made and seconded,. unanimously approved. The next meeting of the. City Council will be on 21 November 1994 in the first floor meeting room of Tousley Ford at 7:00 pm. There being no further business, the meeting was adjourned by Mayor Emeott at 7 : 4.5 pm. AUTHORED: 20 November.1994 APPROVED: 21 November 1994 FredericC. Magnuson, City' Clerk RECEIVED OCT 6 M994 MINUTES OF A MEETING OF THE JURISDICTIONS WHICH CONTRACT WITH RAMSEY:COUNTYSHERIFF'S . DEPARTMENT FOR POLICE SERVICES September 15, 199.4 ++++-1+-1-++++++++++++++++++++++-{++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Joel Hanson, Chair, called the meeting to order at 736 a.m. The following members were present: - Jerry Bergeron, Commander, Ramsey County Sheriff's Department Bill Ecklund, City of North Oaks Joel. Hanson, City of Little Canada Dorothy Person, City of Arden Hills Terry Schwerm, City of Shoreview Bill Short, White Bear Township Gerry Urban, City of Vadnais Heights APPROVAL OF MINUTES The Minutes of August 18, 1994,.were approved as submitted. SUE ALLIEGRO. & DAVID LUNDSTROM It was noted that Judge Fitzpatrick was invited to today's meeting, but was not able to attend. Sue Alliegro, Ramsey County District Court Administrator, was present to discuss the court's fine practices. She explained that some Ramsey County Judges do not assess full fine levels to all violators because they don't think that they can afford to pay them, and also because of poor collection results. Under a new fine collection procedure, Judges have now been taken out of the process. David W. Lundstrom, Ramsey County Court Administrator (Criminal & Traffic Division), explained the new two -phased approach to collecting fines as follows: Phase 1: The County has hired a professional Fine Collection. Manager from the private sector, who follows up non -payments with phone calls and can put violators on a payment schedule. Since hiring the Fine Collection Manager, fine collections have increased by 24%. This collection process reduces the need to issue warrants to the violators who don't pay their fines. Phase 2: Utilizes the State of Minnesota Revenue Department (Minnesota Collection Enterprises), to collect fines, by way of access to income tax returns. They can also perform "skip" tracings to find valid addresses. Ramsey County is the first "pilot" project to utilize this approach to collection. The goal will be to collect fines as Sheriff Contract Group Minutes September 15, 1994 soon as possible, as the longer it takes to collect, the less the chance that it will ever be collected. Ramsey County Judges have approved this new two -phased approach. Mr. Lundstrom indicated that Ramsey County will soon be using a voice/audio information system, where defendants can call the courts to get the status of their fines/violations. Ms. Alliegro suggested that Ramsey, and maybe Hennepin Counties, have been known for being more "understanding" to violators by giving lower fines. They are not known for being as tough as. Washington, Chisago and Anoka Counties. Mr. Lundstrom explained that the fine schedule was adjusted up slightly in August, 1994. Prior to that, it had been many years. since the last adjustment. He explained that additional assess- ments which are imposed by and transmitted to the State are taken. off the top of the fines and have. grown significantly (i.e. relief funds, library fees, etc.). It is his opinion that the increase in these assessments has had significant impact on the fine revenues actually collected by the Contract Communities. Ms. Alliegro explained that urban counties with large cities are finding that the large city police departments are writing fewer citations for the types of crimes committed in suburbs. This has resulted from their focus on the growing number of more serious crimes. Consequently, Judges are serving more and more of the serious crimes, which may cause them to deemphasize traffic and other suburban crimes. Mr. Lundstrom explained that violators who go to the Traffic Violation Bureau have the choice of either paying the fine or appealing to a Hearing Officer. He also noted that Hearing Officers tend to reflect the fine philosophy of the Judge. Ms. Alliegro suggested that the Sheriff's Contract Group meet with the Bail Relief Committee (which includes Judges Faricy, Wilson & Klas). ANIMAL CONTROL SERVICES, INC. - PROCEDURES Rick Ruzicka, President, ACSI, provided hand ❑uts containing the following information: 1) Animal Control Procedures; 2) Kennel Hours; 3) Patrol Schedule; 4) National Animal Control Association Training Institute. The handouts were discussed and Mr. Ruzicka answered questions regarding his service. NUISANCE .ORDINANCE REVIEW Commander Bergeron requested that discussion of the Nuisance Ordinance be postponed until the October or November meeting. 2 Sheriff Contract Group Minutes September 15, 1994 COMMUNITY POLICE SHARING. CONFERENCE Commander Bergeron handed out information describing a Community Policing Conference which will be held on October 27-29, 1994, in St. Cloud,MN. He suggested that some or all of the Sheriff. Contract Community representatives attend, in that matters proposed to be discussed at this conference are applicable to the contract communities interest in strategic planning. STATUS OF GEM LAKE LAW ENFORCEMENT CONTRACT Commander Bergeron mentioned that Gem Lake had been contacted by the City of WBL with an interest in submitting a bid to provide them police service. The members of the Group suggested that. Commander Bergeron inform Gem Lake that they would like them to continue to contract with the Sheriff's Department and that he emphasize the Group's willingness to work with them on service and cost. OTHER MATTERS Person mentioned that she had been contacted by Jim Tolaas, Ramsey County Department of Public Works., regarding renaming Highway 96. She said. that the. communities abutting the highway will be asked to submit candidate names, and. select a preferred name. The meeting adjourned at 9 : 20 a.ni. The next meeting is scheduled for 7:30 a.m., October 20 , 1994, at the North Oaks Country Club. Respectfully submitted, William F. Short Recording Secretary 3 DATED:: October 4, 1994