Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAbout10.16.06 Council Minutes COUNCIL MINUTES PRE-MEETING OCTOBER 16, 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, McKnight, Pritzlaff, Wilson Fogarty Joel Jamnik, City Attorney; Peter Herlofsky, City Administrator; Robin Roland, Finance Director; Brian Lindquist, Interim Police Chief; Lee Mann, Director of Public Works/City Engineer; Lisa Shadick, Administrative Services Director; Brenda Wendlandt, Human Resources Director; Tony Wippler, Assistant City Planner; Cynthia Muller, Executive Assistant 2. APPROVE AGENDA MOTION by Pritzlaff, second by Wilson to approve the Agenda. APIF, MOTION CARRIED. 3. CITIZEN COMMENTS 4. COUNCIL REVIEW OF AGENDA Councilmember McKnight asked about the contract with Peer Environmental for environmental investigation on the tax forfeited property along 2nd Street recently acquired by the City and asked if staff knew about the contamination when it was first presented to Council. City Engineer Mann replied yes, but it as not yet been acquired. Staff did not inform Council because staff first wanted to determine if Council wanted to acquire the property. Staff assumed there was contamination and subsequently brought this forward to decide if the City actually wants the property. Councilmember McKnight would have liked to have known everything at once. He asked if there was any estimate for potential additional costs. City Engineer Mann replied the only additional costs staff is aware of are in the proposal. The documentation described is a way for property owners to document and not be responsible for something they have not done. City Attorney Jamnik stated the MPCA has a program by which an innocent landowner that undertakes voluntary clean-up actions or acquires property does not acquire the liability with the property. A parking lot would be a good use ofthis property as it provides a seal. Councilmember McKnight then asked for a summary on the change orders for the fire station. Finance Director Roland stated $8,000 is a credit to the City for non-conforming Council Minutes (Pre-Meeting) October 16,2006 Page 2 block work and unfinished landscaping. There was $2,000 worth of requested changes by the Fire Department. The other $11,000 was due to a variety of items found upon inspection which were missed in the original specifications. Councilmember Wilson stated the information he just heard suggests that Council would not be aware of individual departments making changes to plans and receiving Council approval before hand. City Administrator Herlofsky stated when change orders occur, some are an obvious adjustment that need to be made. Councilmember McKnight was concerned with something being changed and the City being charged for it. A general rule in construction is if it is a change initiated by the owner that generates an additional benefit to the owner, the owner will be required to pay for it. Ifthe architect designs something in error, that is when you have options. Councilmember Wilson stated in this case, there was a previous City employee involved in the project and things were not coordinated as they should have been. City Administrator Herlofsky stated depending on when change orders occur and staff's involvement, there are weekly meetings with Councilor staff. In other cases, as project manager, he has been authorized to approve change orders when the item occurs. If it will be done later, it can be brought to the Council. Councilmember Wilson asked if additional landscaping will be done. Finance Director Roland stated it has already been done at a cost of $2,400. Councilmember Wilson noted the final cost for the Ash Street project is under budget. The original estimated project cost was $6,605,000. To date the total costs are $5,700,000, which is $567,000 below the budget. The City will be acquiring the lot from Castle Rock Bank for pond 8 and that will be brought to the Council. Councilmember Pritzlaff commented on the change orders for the Fire Station. He hoped Wold would be present to answer questions. Regarding the egress windows, the project was under budget and Council initiated completion of the two rooms for sleeping quarters before the project was started. Finance Director Roland agreed it was an addendum to the contract, but the plans were already completed. Councilmember Pritzlaff stated if we initiated the completion of the two rooms before the project was started, who missed updating the windows. If it was the architect, he needs to be here to explain it. If any of the money for the windows is because of extra labor for changing them rather than just the difference of a stationary window to an operating egress window, that is all he would have wanted to approve. He feels this should have been caught by the architect and it should be paid for by the architect. He wanted the architect to come to a meeting to answer these questions. He also noted a change for the roof. Councilmember Pritzlaff asked about an item on the bills concerning a payment to the City of Apple Valley, cable communications project. Finance Director Roland replied that is the quarterly cable fees. Councilmember Pritzlaff then asked about the blacktopping service for the mill and overlay project. He was reluctant to pay it as there is no blacktopping done yet. Mayor Soderberg noted there is a contractual obligation to pay as the project progresses. City Administrator Herlofsky stated this is for the work done so far such as curbing. Council Minutes (Pre-Meeting) October 16, 2006 Page 3 5. STAFF COMMENTS 6. ADJOURN MOTION by McKnight, second by Pritzlaffto adjourn at 6:52 p.m. APIF, MOTION CARRIED. Respectfully submitted, ~)77~ Cynthia Muller Executive Assistant COUNCIL MINUTES REGULAR OCTOBER 16, 2006 1. CALL TO ORDER The meeting was called to order by Mayor Soderberg at 7:00 p.m. 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, McKnight, Pritzlaff, Wilson Fogarty Joel Jamnik, City Attorney; Peter Herlofsky, City Administrator; Robin Roland, Finance Director; Brian Lindquist, Interim Police Chief; Lee Mann, Director of Public Works/City Engineer; Lisa Shadick, Administrative Services Director; Brenda Wendlandt, Human Resources Director; Tony Wippler, Assistant City Planner; Cynthia Muller, Executive Assistant Nick Schultz, Jerry Sauber, Julie May 4. APPROVE AGENDA Councilmember Pritzlaff added 5a) Update on Mill and Overlay Project. City Attorney Jamnik added 13a) to receive feedback from Council on the City Administrator's evaluation concerning which form to use and when it should be returned. Councilmember Pritzlaff pulled item 7 g) Approve Change Order Fire Station #2 from the Consent Agenda. MOTION by Wilson, second by McKnight to approve the Agenda. APIF, MOTION CARRIED. 5. ANNOUNCEMENTS a) Update Mill and Overlay Project Councilmember Pritzlaff asked for a timeline on the proj ect. From October 16 - 20 class five and grading would be performed. Paving would be done October 23 through November 1. 6. CITIZEN COMMENTS Mr. Adam Blahnik, Attorney for Mr. Mike Kiser, stated there is an issue on the Consent Agenda regarding the termination of Mr. Kiser. City Attorney Jamnik suggested pulling this item from Consent, and adding it to the agenda to determine if it should be discussed in closed session as it involves a personnel matter. Council agreed to add this as item 12b). Council Minutes (Regular) October 16, 2006 Page 2 7. j) k) CONSENT AGENDA MOTION by Wilson, second by McKnight to approve the Consent Agenda as follows: a) Approved Council Minutes (10/2/06 Regular) c) Received Information September 2006 Financial Report - Finance d) Received Information Third Quarter Building Report - Engineering e) Approved Temporary On-Sale Liquor License - Administration f) Adopted RESOLUTION R117-06 Approving Gambling Event Permit - Administration Approved School and Conference - Fire Department Adopted RESOLUTION R118-06 Accepting Swim Bus Program Donation from Marschall Bus Lines - Parks and Recreation Mayor Soderberg thanked Marschall Bus Lines for their generous donation to the swim bus program. Approved Assessment Agreement Ash Street Project - Engineering Approved Contract with Peer Environmental for Environmental Investigation - Engineering Amended ORDINANCE 006-564 Drainage and Utility Easements - Community Development m) Approved Bills APIF, MOTION CARRIED. h) i) 1) g) Approve Change Order Fire Station #2 - Finance Councilmember Pritzlaffhad two remaining issues from the pre-meeting. Additional concrete was added near the flagpole and the length of the hose tower was increased. He asked if increasing the height ofthe tower made the cable short. He would like to have someone from Wold attend the next meeting to answer these questions. Councilmember McKnight asked for an explanation on all change order items from Wold. Council reached a consensus to table this item to the next meeting. 8. PUBLIC HEARINGS 9. AWARD OF CONTRACT 10. PETITIONS, REQUESTS AND COMMUNICATIONS 11. UNFINISHED BUSINESS a) Ash Street Project Phase 2 Final Pay Request - Engineering The final pay request for phase 2 brings the total construction contract cost of phase 2 to $2,559,813.43. The original budget for phase 2 was $3,165,000. The overall project is $568,000 below budget. There are a few minor items remaining. Council Minutes (Regular) October 16, 2006 Page 3 Councilmember McKnight noted there is a salary and benefits line item and asked who that referred to. Finance Director Roland replied that is for City engineering staff. Councilmember McKnight stated there is an adjusted budget amount of $672,000 for engineering services compared to the total of$917,000 and asked what that is attributed to. Finance Director Roland stated the City is also responsible for paying for the Castle Rock portion of the engineering costs due to the Joint Powers Agreement of2003. City Engineer Mann added these engineering costs reflect back to 2000. Councilmember McKnight asked if that agreement was entered into before the project budget was compiled. Finance Director Roland stated there were many different project budgets and it was a reconstruct. The project budget is a flat 17% of the construction cost. Mayor Soderberg stated Castle Rock wanted to verify the City's engineering calculations. This was the only way they would agree to the project. Councilmember McKnight asked if the minor issues included sod issues by the Fairgrounds. City Engineer Mann stated they are reviewing how to resolve that Issue. Councilmember Pritzlaff stated the issue of the sod was brought to staff earlier this summer. He was told the project is done and this is how it is going to be. That does not sit well with him. There are several areas where the sod is dead and it is not because of not watering. The roots are not taking. He cannot support a final pay item for a project that is not complete. Ash Street does need to look nice with the amount of money spent on it. City Administrator Herlofsky stated many of the complaints had to do with the late installation of the sod, so staff felt it would not be appropriate to do anything this year. Staff has estimates of$5,000- $7,000 to look at most of what needs corrections. Spring would be the best time to deal with it. The cost will come out of the project as there is $568,000 left in the project budget. Councilmember Pritzlaff stated when a project comes in under budget, he does not want to throw the money out there because it is under budget. City Administrator Herlofsky stated this will be brought back in the spring and it will be made clear to both the contractor and the owners when the responsibility for the sod needs to be initiated. Councilmember Pritzlaff did not want the City to pay for this. Councilmember Wilson asked if it was normal to have a line item for salary and benefits. Finance Director Roland stated staff chose to separate this item out because of the scrutiny it has been receiving on an ongoing basis as far as what are staff costs and what are consulting costs. City Administrator Herlofsky explained in the past salaries and benefits paid to City employees were included in the engineering costs. Councilmember Wilson noted the cost is $568,000 below budget and stated we have bonded for the full amount. Finance Director Roland stated that money goes back to the fund balance to cover future payments on the bonds. This would not reduce the cost of the assessment as the assessment role was 35% of the project cost and the City paid 65%. Council Minutes (Regular) October 16, 2006 Page 4 b) Schedule Joint Informational Meeting Bugbee and King Properties- Community Development Two properties located in Empire Township have petitioned for annexation. One is from Richard and Sarah Bugbee, 21030 Chippendale Court and from David and Gina King, 3245 Vermillion River Trail. Both petitions are ready to be finalized. Property owners have come to an agreement as to how the properties will be served with water and sewer. New legislation requires a joint informational meeting between the Council and the township prior to approval ofthe annexation agreements. The meeting will be held on October 24,2006 at 7:45 p.m. Both properties have failing septic systems and would like to connect to City services before winter. Utility lines for the King property will come from the Sauber property and extend under CSAH 66. Staff recommends the King's contractor be allowed to immediately extend the sewer lines under CSAH 66 provided the Council has no objection. This would be with the understanding that no physical connection would be made to the King residence until the Council and Town Board have approved the joint resolutions. City Engineer Mann noted the King's have discussed putting in two service lines in case the lot is split in the future. The township has not objected to the annexations. Service will be extended to the Bugbee property through the Hometown development. Other properties in Chippendale Court have other options for service. Mayor Soderberg and Councilmembers Wilson and Pritzlaffwill attend the October 24 meeting. MOTION by Pritzlaff, second by Wilson to approve extending the sewer and water lines under CSAH 66 in expectation of approval of the annexation. APIF, MOTION CARRIED. 12. NEW BUSINESS a) Consider Concept Approval of Red Wing Incinerator - Administration A proposal has been received from the City of Red Wing regarding solid waste services. The Red Wing costs are a little more expensive than current costs. The distance to the Red Wing incinerator is a little further, but staff would prefer to bring the garbage to a hard surface at Red Wing as opposed to the landfill. Staff will discuss costs with Red Wing. City Administrator Herlofsky wanted to know if Council was in favor of this idea before continuing discussions. Mayor Soderberg noted a benefit is decreasing the amount going into the landfill. City Administrator Herlofsky stated recycling efforts could also be combined. Councilmember Pritzlaff asked how many tons the City trucks haul as opposed to another close City where it could be hauled in a semi and save the amount of trips. City Administrator Herlofsky stated we are a good option for Red Wing because we have control of all of our waste. We do not have sufficient quantity to make a transfer station a good investment at this time. Surrounding cities use private haulers. Councilmember McKnight liked the concept and the tip fee increase maximum per year. The bottom line for him will be the dollars. Council was in favor of continuing discussions. Council Minutes (Regular) October 16, 2006 Page 5 b) Approve Personnel Change Fire Department Mr. Adam Blahnik stated they would prefer to have a closed meeting to discuss this item. 13. COUNCIL ROUNDTABLE City Attorney Jamnik: He sent Council two options for the City Administrator evaluation. He asked Council to select one ofthem. Council agreed to use the previous version. Attorney Jamnik recommended Council complete the old version and add notations for any future changes. Forms should be returned to Attorney Jamnik by November 1,2006. Mayor Soderberg: Winter parking restrictions start November 1,2006. There is no parking from 2:30 a.m. to 5:30 a.m. and no parking at any time ifthere is a plowable snowfall. Warnings will be given the first two weeks. At the last meeting he noted the food shelves were bare. Homecoming had a food drive and they received a lot of food. Residents showed their generosity. McDonald's will have their grand opening this Friday at 5:30 a.m. He attended the 60th Anniversary of the VFW. It was a treat to visit with hometown heros. Council recessed at 7:48 p.m. for Executive Session. 14. EXECUTIVE SESSION a) Approve Personnel Change Fire Department 15. ADJOURN Respectfully submitted, C ~~.;vr7~ i~ Cynthia Muller Executive Assistant