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HomeMy WebLinkAbout08.07.06 Council Minutes COUNCIL MINUTES PRE-MEETING AUGUST 7, 2006 1. CALL TO ORDER The meeting was called to order by Mayor Soderberg at 6:30 p.m. Members Present: Members Absent: Also Present: Soderberg, Fogarty, McKnight, Pritzlaff, Wilson None Joel Jamnik, City Attorney; Peter Herlofsky, City Administrator; Robin Roland, Finance Director; Kevin Carroll, Community Development Director; Dan Siebenaler, Police Chief; Randy Distad, Parks and Recreation Director; Lee Mann, Director of Public Works/City Engineer; Lisa Shadick, Administrative Services Director; Brenda Wendlandt, Human Resources Director; Lee Smick, City Planner; Cynthia Muller, Executive Assistant 2. APPROVE AGENDA MOTION by Wilson, second by Pritzlaffto approve the Agenda. APIF, MOTION CARRIED. 3. CITIZEN COMMENTS 4. COUNCIL REVIEW OF AGENDA Councilmember McKnight noted the proposed Council Workshop date will not work for him. It was agreed to have the workshop on August 15,2006 at 7:00 p.m. Councilmember McKnight noted on the request for capital outlay for parks and recreation, the equipment is over budget. Parks and Recreation Director Distad noted there are future projects where they are anticipating being under budget. Councilmember Wilson asked about the Orderly Annexation Agreement with Castle Rock. Staff had provided the same document in a different presentation. Councilmember Pritzlaff asked about Daisy Knoll Park and what is scheduled to be in the park. Parks and Recreation Director Distad replied the third draft of the park master plan is not the same as the second draft. Council will be seeing the master plans in September. Mayor Soderberg noted the Tae Kwon Do studio won 12 medals in the Junior Olympics held in Atlanta. They will be present prior to the Council Meeting for a picture with Council. Council Minutes (Pre-Meeting) August 7, 2006 Page 2 5. STAFF COMMENTS City Administrator Herlofsky stated the Fire Department has had an agreement to provide services at the Dakota County Fair. Finance Director Roland prepared a continuation of the contract at an appropriate rate to provide services this year. This item was added to the Consent Agenda. City Engineer Mann stated the payment to Friedges should be pulled off the list of bills for further review. 6. ADJOURN MOTION by McKnight, second by Pritzlaffto adjourn at 6:39 p.m. APIF, MOTION CARRIED. Respectfully submitted, {/ ~.rY7~ /r {,/,/ Cynthia Muller Executive Assistant COUNCIL MINUTES REGULAR August 7, 2006 1. CALL TO ORDER The meeting was called to order by Mayor Soderberg at 7:00 p.m. Mayor Soderberg called for a moment of silence for Jacque Devney. 2. PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE Mayor Soderberg led the audience and Council in the Pledge of Allegiance. 3. ROLL CALL Members Present: Members Absent: Also Present: Audience: Soderberg, Fogarty, McKnight, Pritzlaff, Wilson None Joel Jamnik, City Attorney; Peter Herlofsky, City Administrator; Robin Roland, Finance Director; Kevin Carroll, Community Development Director; Dan Siebenaler, Police Chief; Randy Distad, Parks and Recreation Director; Lee Mann, Director of Public Works/City Engineer; Lisa Shadick, Administrative Services Director; Brenda Wendlandt, Human Resources Director; Lee Smick, City Planner; Cynthia Muller, Executive Assistant Bryce Olson, Tami Zakoski, Chad Collignon, Dustin Hanson, Mark Kragness, Russ Zellmer, Cheryl Wade, Lois Lotze, Nancy Norton, Randy Oswald, Michelle Franke, Julie Blomster, C. Rosenthal, USA Tae Kwon Do, Wendy Steffen, Colin Garvey, Gary Pipho, Arlen Lamb, Brad Meeks, Mike Pierce 4. APPROVE AGENDA City Administrator Herlofsky added item 7u) Fire Service Agreement for Dakota County Fair. City Engineer Mann pulled the payment for Friedges Landscaping from the list of bills. Mayor Soderberg noted the date of the Council Workshop was changed to August 15,2006 at 7:00 p.m. He added a proclamation to item 5c) Acknowledge Retirement Police Department. MOTION by Pritzlaff, second by Wilson to approve the Agenda. APIF, MOTION CARRIED. 5. ANNOUNCEMENTS a) MRPA Award of Excellence Presentation The MRPA presented an Award of Excellence to the Parks and Recreation Department and the Dakota Dreamcatcher's 4H Club for the chair project for the Rambling River Center. Council Minutes (Regular) August 7,2006 Page 2 b) Northern Dakota County Chamber Ms. Ruthe Batulis, President of the Northern Dakota County Chamber, Mr. Chad Collignon ofthe EDA and Mr. Mark Kragness, the Farmington Area Business Council Chair spoke regarding establishing a collaboration between the City and the area business community regarding economic development and community issues. They presented the process and rationale for development of a draft resolution for a proposed Economic Growth Committee. They propose the EGC be made up of representatives from the private sector businesses, schools, townships, Chamber and the City. They would like this committee to serve as an advisory body to the Council. City Administrator Herlofsky provided the Council with a draft showing the relationship between the EGC, the EDA and the Council. He recommended staff review the resolution to make sure it works consistently with the proposed relationship which shows the EGC reporting to the EDA. The resolution will be brought back to the August 21, 2006 Council meeting. The Council unanimously supported the resolution. c) Acknowledge Retirement Police Department Sgt. Brian Lindquist stated for the past 17 years the City of Farmington has known one Police Chief. Chief Siebenaler is responsible for hiring 20 members of a 22-person department. This is his legacy to the department. He asked that August 11, 2006, Chief Siebenaler's last day with the City, be declared as Chief Dan Siebenaler Day for the City of Farmington. MOTION by Pritzlaff, second by Fogarty to approve the proclamation. APIF, MOTION CARRIED. Mayor Soderberg presented Police Chief Siebenaler with a plaque recognizing his 27 years of dedicated service. d) Citizen's Police Academy Councilmember Pritzlaff acknowledged the Police Department for their service and for the information provided in the Citizen's Police Academy. e) USA Tae Kwon Do Group This group of students was recognized by the Council for receiving 12 medals in the Junior Olympics held in Atlanta. 6. CITIZEN COMMENTS a) Response to Mr. Jerry Ristow - Engineering Mr. Ristow received his response by fax today. He suggested sending responses sooner than Thursday prior to a Council Meeting. At the last meeting he spoke regarding the mill and overlay project and all Councilmembers responded to him except for Councilmember Wilson. He was disappointed when he got home and noticed Councilmember Wilson played a political role and responded under Council Minutes (Regular) August 7, 2006 Page 3 Council Roundtable where Mr. Ristow felt it should not have been done. He felt Councilmember Wilson should have answered to the people that were in attendance. He received answers to his questions from City Engineer Mann. He noted the mill and overlay project was accepted by Council in December 2004. He asked City Administrator Herlofsky for information on the pavement management policy and received it. There was a rating on the feasibility report and in the policy which states 0-35 indicates a failing system, 35-55 indicates poor to moderate, 55-100 the street is in good condition. The document on the mill and overlay project shows Heritage Way and Sunnyside Drive are at a 62 and a 63. This leaves him to question what is going on. Centennial Circle is an 80, Lower Heritage Way is also an 80. Either the pavement management policy is faulty or he is reading it wrong, but it raises questions for him and goes back to his original theory of is this money being spent wisely by replacing curb to curb and back to back and some approaches to driveways. Mr. Ristow stated he totally disagrees with the answer to one of his questions and the rest are an Engineer's way of saying things he would disagree with, but he is not an Engineer. Mr. Ristow said that City Engineer Mann states in Centennial Circle that the storm water drains to a swale at the end of the circle and that is why they are replacing all the curbing and the pavement itself. That has nothing to do with pavement management, that is a storm water issue and road issue. Instead of assessing those residents for this type of a project, it should be been taken care of through the storm water utility fund or the road and bridge fund. From reading the information he received, he found nothing that said they would totally tear a road apart or tear continuous curb out. It was fixing curb that had a light sound to it. It brings him to the big question, are our tax dollars being spent wisely. He noted Council stated they are not professionals, but he expects them to do some research and be independent thinkers and think wisely for their tax dollars. In mid-July there was a problem with tearing out the curb and some damages occurred. His driveway and some others had some damage. He called City Administrator Herlofsky to come out to see the damage to his driveway. He stated City Administrator Herlofsky called him and said we will see what happens at the end. That was unacceptable to Mr. Ristow. Mr. Ristow contacted the cement contractor and he agreed to cut the approach and pour it. Mr. Ristow showed some examples of how driveway approaches were repaired. Some go from nothing to 2 ft of blacktop to 1 ft of concrete to a quarter section if no one complains and some are getting more. He felt someone is getting some special treatment. If the City is going to start fixing approaches to driveways, they should stay within the right-of-way. One picture showed 5 ft was replaced, another was 6 ft, and another was 8 ft, which happened to be Mayor Soderberg's driveway. He noted that driveway was in tough shape because he took pictures before and after. Mr. Ristow stated if we are going to fix someone's driveway, we need to do it fairly. Mayor Soderberg stated he told the contractor's not to do anything special or over and above. He had no conversation with the contractors about how much to do or what to do. If Engineering wants to address that, they can. Mr. Ristow stated it Council Minutes (Regular) August 7,2006 Page 4 looks skeptical with some people getting hardly 1 ft and some getting 8 ft. Mr. Ristow stated what they should do now that a precedent has been set, there are a lot of approaches and this is City property. Maybe everyone's driveway should have 8 ft. replaced. Let's play fair. Are we playing fair or what is going on here? Mayor Soderberg stated he has not heard a new question other than what Mr. Ristow has repeated for the last three meetings as to whether this Council thinks the tax money is being spent properly. Council answered that question after the first time. Mr. Ristow replied are we going to get consistency? Are we going to get new curbs all the way like Centennial Circle? Is this a mill and overlay project or is it a piece work project like was originally said. Mayor Soderberg stated the City Engineer answered the question. Mr. Ristow stated he did not, he was asking the Mayor. Mayor Soderberg repeated the City Engineer answered the question. 7. CONSENT AGENDA MOTION by McKnight, second by Wilson to approve the Consent Agenda as follows: a) Approved Council Minutes (7/17/06 Regular) b) Received Information June 2006 Financial Report - Finance c) Acknowledged Retirement Police Department - Human Resources d) Approved Appointment Recommendation Parks and Recreation - Human Resources e) Acknowledged Resignation Finance - Human Resources f) Adopted RESOLUTION R81-06 Appointing Election Judges - Administration g) Received Information Capital Outlay - Parks and Recreation h) Adopted RESOLUTION R82-06 Accepting Donation Pollution Prevention Day - Parks and Recreation Mayor Soderberg thanked Dakota Electric for their donation. i) Adopted RESOLUTION R83-06 Accepting Donation Rambling River Center- Parks and Recreation j) Adopted RESOLUTION R84-06 Scheduling Assessment Hearing - 2006 Seal Coat Project - Engineering k) Adopted RESOLUTION R85-06 Scheduling Assessment Hearing - 2006 Mill and Overlay Project - Engineering I) Adopted RESOLUTION R86-06 Scheduling Assessment Hearing - Hill Dee Reconstruction Project - Engineering m) Adopted RESOLUTION R87-06 Authorizing Advertisement of Bids 208th Street Project - Engineering n) Received Information School and Conference - Police 0) Approved Appointment Recommendation Interim Police Chief - Administration p) Adopted RESOLUTION R88-06 Identifying Voting Member for Dakota Communications Center - Police q) Received Information 2006 State of Dakota County - Community Development r) Set August 15,2006 Council Workshop - Administration s) Received Information Cataract Relief Association Pension Request- Administration Council Minutes (Regular) August 7, 2006 Page 5 t) Approved Bills u) Approved Fire Department Contract with Dakota County Fair Board - Administration APIF, MOTION CARRIED. 8. PUBLIC HEARINGS a) Approve Grading Conditional Use Permit - Christensen Property- Community Development Jay and Patricia Christensen have applied for a conditional use permit to allow the school district's contractors to utilize a portion of their property for staging the grading project. They are proposing six construction trailers, poles for electricity, etc. The hill will be pushed west and east to flatten the site and then they will apply class five. This is a 4.5 acre site. Conditions include: 1. The applicant must obtain final City approval of the grading operation and the rough grading plan from the City Engineer. 2. The applicant must pay any applicable fees, provide adequate surety in an amount and form approved by the Director of Public Works and comply with any other reasonable conditions. 3. All excavation activities must be consistent with plans submitted to and approved by the Director of Public Works. Grading can begin as soon as approval from the Council and the City Engineer is received. No work can be done on the high school site include putting sand piles on the site until the EA W has been completed and the Met Council has ruled. The first possibility for grading on the high school site is August 24, 2006. The EA W will be brought to Council on August 21, 2006 for review and approval. Mr. Doug Bonar stated the site will be restored to its earlier condition. The only thing that could change that would be the slope elevations needed to improve Flagstaff Avenue. Councilmember Pritzlaff stated he was not in favor of making a private person's property better than it was before with tax payer dollars. At the last meeting he asked how many thousands of yards of dirt would be hauled in. From the borrow pit it was 60,000 cubic yards. Mr. Dave Peterson, of Mortenson, stated there would be several hundred thousands of yards hauled to the site. It was discussed that there would be 800,000 - 900,000 yards of grading on the school site itself and that has gone up nearly 1,000 yards offill to be graded. He received a phone call from the Donnelly's that they had not been contacted regarding any grading adjacent to their property and a difference in slope of 10 - 15 ft. He had been told that the school district was considering buying 5 acres from the Donnelly's. Councilmember Pritzlafflearned the Donnelly's have not been approached about this. We have an outrageous amount of fill either moved in or hauled around on this site, which was the best site topography-wise to either buying more land. The Donnelly's are not willing to sell. Council Minutes (Regular) August 7, 2006 Page 6 MOTION by Fogarty, second by Wilson to close the public hearing. Voting for: Soderberg, Fogarty, McKnight, Wilson. Voting against: Pritzlaff. MOTION CARRIED. MOTION by Fogarty second by McKnight to approve the Conditional Use Permit for grading on the Christensen property. Voting for: Soderberg, Fogarty, McKnight, Wilson. Voting against: Pritzlaff. MOTION CARRIED. 9. AWARD OF CONTRACT 10. PETITIONS, REQUESTS AND COMMUNICATIONS a) Accept Results Community Survey - Administration CJ Olson Market Research conducted a telephone survey of 500 residents. The objective was to gain valuable feedback, identify issues and concerns faced by the City and its residents, to determine what residents like most about living in Farmington, what serious issues face the community, gather opinions on public safety issues, parks and recreation, determine what types of new or additional businesses residents would like to see in Farmington and demographic information. Mr. Wayne Ramaker, of CJ Olson presented the results of the survey. 90% of the people surveyed rated the quality oflife in Farmington as good or excellent. b) Consider Parks and Recreation Referendum Options - Parks and Recreation Staff presented four options for Council consideration for a possible referendum in 2006. The options include indoor recreational facilities, outdoor recreational facilities and park land acquisition. The Parks and Recreation Commission recommended option 1 which includes a four field youth baseball complex at the Newland Community site, five field soccer complex at the Newland Community site, concession, restroom and storage building for baseball and soccer complex, playground equipment for baseball and soccer complex, picnic shelter for baseball and soccer complex, two full basketball courts, two sand volleyball courts, two outdoor hockey rinks, finish trail connections (boardwalks and Lake Julia waterway pedestrian bridge crossing), purchase 25 acres of land for future expansion of adult softball field complex, purchase 5 acres of land for Middle Creek Park expansion, and finish development of Middle Creek Park. The cost of this option is $7,946,000. City Administrator Herlofsky recommended the following: 1. That the consideration of a referendum be tabled until the fall of 2007. 2. That following the receipt ofthe final plat from Newland for the Fairhill development, that the Parks Department initiate a planning process for the land dedicated for park purposes. 3. The request made by the Parks and Recreation Commission related to a variety of improvements would be best suited for the Newland property especially based on its size. Council Minutes (Regular) August 7, 2006 Page 7 Mayor Soderberg agreed we had a need for these facilities but a referendum at this time would be premature. Councilmember McKnight noted the City is not in a position to afford this now. Councilmember Wilson also agreed to table this and look at it again in 2007 for a 2008 referendum. If there is a referendum we have to be cognizant of informing the public. 90 days before an election is not enough time to inform the public. He agreed we should wait to have the land in our possession. Councilmember Fogarty disagreed. She understood the financial impacts, but felt it is up to the residents to decide if they want to afford these parks. These types of issues have been tabled for ten years. The school district provides 80% of all the recreation facilities in the City. Usually it is 50%. We need to improve our parks. To put this off until 2008, there will also be an operating levy coming to the voters in 2008. She does not want people to have to choose between their schools and their parks. Councilmember Pritzlaff felt the City cannot afford this. MOTION by Fogarty to approve Option 1. Motion died for lack of a second. MOTION by Pritzlaff, second by McKnight to table the referendum issue until the Fall of 2007 including points 2 and 3 recommended by City Administrator Herlofsky. Voting for: Soderberg, McKnight, Pritzlaff, Wilson. Voting against: Fogarty. MOTION CARRIED. c) Consider One Year Extension of Recycling Contract - Parks and Recreation The current recycling contract with Dick's Sanitation expires at the end of2006. Staff requested permission to negotiate a one year extension to do a more thorough review of the contract before going out for a five year contract, to provide an opportunity to further analyze the solid waste operations, allow for the recycling schedule to be published in the new City calendar in 2007, and residents are satisfied with the current service. MOTION by Wilson, second by Pritzlaffto extend the contract with Dick's Sanitation for one year. APIF, MOTION CARRIED. 11. UNFINISHED BUSINESS a) Approve Castle Rock Township Orderly Annexation Agreement- Community Development The Castle Rock Town Board made some revisions to the version of the Orderly Annexation Agreement that was approved by the City Council. Therefore, the agreement was brought back to Council for approval with these revisions. Councilmember McKnight noted the agreement approved by the township added two roads for maintenance and one road was added for improvements. This is a concern because they have discussed the amount of money that would be shared and whether that would be enough to cover the initial roads. So we do not think we have enough money, but potentially we are expanding the number of roads to maintain or improve. The administrative fee negotiated from 5% to 7.5% is now Council Minutes (Regular) August 7, 2006 Page 8 15% in this agreement. That was a deciding factor for him. This document has been worked on during many meetings with the Castle Rock Discussion Group. Councilmember McKnight was also concerned that in 15 minutes a new document was handed out, discussed and approved at a Town Board meeting. He will not support this version. Councilmember Pritzlaff also would not support the agreement for the same reasons. Mr. Russ Zelmer, Castle Rock Town Board Chair, stated the agreement was discussed at length by the Town Board. The agreement approved by the Council was a generous offer. Some township residents see it as giving their property away. In order to ease those feelings, changes were made to the agreement. This is what the Town Board feels is fairer to them. Mr. Zelmer stated these are minor changes and would hate to see it go away after all the time spent on this. He realized talks can still continue. He was not sure how much more the Town Board is willing to give. Mr. Gary Pipho, Castle Rock Board of Supervisors, stated the 15% is not an increase or a change in the dollars allocated by the City. It allows more of the funds to come back to Castle Rock over a ten year period. They added a road to the maintenance along Berring Avenue because if there is any additional construction done that road will be heavily used by construction and residential increases. Also 230th Street was added for maintenance in case there is additional growth. Any funds remaining at the end ofthis agreement are returned to the City. They want to make sure they are able to spend the money that is on the table. Mayor Soderberg stated he would be willing to approve an amount equal to what they would statutorily get if annexed by ordinance. MOTION by Fogarty, second by McKnight to approve the Joint Resolution/Orderly Annexation Agreement between Castle Rock Township and the City of Farmington as amended by the Town Board and forwarded to Council. Voting against: Soderberg, Fogarty, McKnight, Pritzlaff, Wilson. MOTION FAILED. Councilmember Pritzlaff thought they had a good agreement. There has been a lot of work done on the hard lines. He suggested removing the hard lines and let annexation petitions come to the Council along with any pending annexation petitions. He suggested for the properties with the Ash Street project which would have received revenue, taking the revenue off the table. Councilmember McKnight and members of the Town Board were willing to continue discussions to try and reach an agreement prior to the public hearing on September 18 for the annexations of the Mock and Olson properties. Council reached a consensus to continue to work on reaching an agreement. Council Minutes (Regular) August 7, 2006 Page 9 b) Consider Mock and Olson Annexation Petitions - Administration MOTION by McKnight, second by Pritzlaffto direct staff and the City Attorney to proceed with the scheduling ofthe public hearings that would be required to annex the Olson and Mock properties by ordinance. APIF, MOTION CARRIED. 12. NEW BUSINESS 13. COUNCIL ROUNDTABLE a) Liquor Store Check Acceptance Policy - Finance At a previous meeting Councilmember McKnight inquired about the Farmington only check policy at the liquor stores. This was due to the number and cost of NSF checks received. Within the month staffwill be instituting the Tele-Check feature which will allow staff to accept checks from everywhere. This would be an electronic funds transfer. Councilmember Fogarty: Thanked everyone who participated in National Night Out. She welcomed Interim Police Chief Brian Lindquist. She attended Dakota Electric's Night at the Zoo and it was a wonderful turnout. The County Fair is underway and on Wednesday there will be a ceremony to ask Congressman Kline to submit the legislation for the naming of the Post Office. In the past the area of 190th Street has been used as a staging area for seal coat projects. This area will no longer be used for staging. She thanked everyone at the Police Department for putting on the Citizen's Police Academy. Councilmember McKnight: He noted a donation was received for the Rambling River Center from the Jerry Wicktor family. Councilmember Wilson: Welcomed Sgt. Brian Lindquist as the Interim Police Chief. He heard from a number of residents who were pleased with his leadership in the Citizen's Police Academy. Regarding Mr. Jerry Ristow's item, Citizen Comments is an important component of meetings and that is the time for citizens to engage with the public. He does not believe that is the appropriate time for Council to make comments. That is why at the last meeting he waited until Council Roundtable to address Mr. Ristow's concerns. Councilmember Pritz/aft: Congratulated Sgt. Brian Lindquist on his appointment as Interim Police Chief and for his leadership in the Citizen's Police Academy. Council Minutes (Regular) August 7,2006 Page 10 He also attended National Night Out events and he will also be attending the Dakota County Fair. City Administrator Herlofsky: Thanked the Council for his first 99 days at the City. He appreciated their support and the support of staff. Interim Police Chief Lindquist: Thanked Council for their support and he will do everything possible to fill the biggest shoes he has ever had to step into. He encouraged Council to contact him at any time. Mayor Soderberg: Interim Police Chief. Congratulated Sgt. Brian Lindquist on his appointment as As he will be absent, Councilmember Fogarty will be attending the naming ofthe Post Office event during the fair. There is some neat history that goes along with that and there will be displays at the fair. National Night Out was a blast. Even with the rain there was a record number of block parties this year. He received a great letter from a nine-year old who thinks his two older brothers are too tough on him and thinks the Mayor has the authority to change that. Mayor Soderberg read the letter from Tanner Hockert and a letter from his parents. Mayor Soderberg stated to Tanner that everyone should be treated equally and with respect. If your older brothers and sisters require you to wait on them do it cheerfully and go the extra mile, because if you give them more than they ask for, they will realize you are a special young fellow. To Tanner's brothers, appreciate your younger brother. You are family. He looked forward to meeting Tanner. 14. ADJOURN MOTION by Fogarty, second by McKnight to adjourn at 9:23 p.m. APIF, MOTION CARRIED. Respectfully submitted, /l ~-./rJd~ ::7/'~/C-C00 u . CynthIa Muller Executive Assistant