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2008-06-24MOUND CITY COUNCIL MINUTES JUNE 24, 2008 The City Council of the City of Mound, Minnesota, met in regular session on Tuesday, June 24, 2008, at 7:30 p.m. in the council chambers of city hall. Members present: Mayor Mark Hanus; Councilmembers David Osmek, Mike Specht, John Beise and Greg Skinner Others present: City Attorney John Dean, City Manager Kandis Hanson, City Clerk Bonnie Ritter, Public Woks Director Carlton Moore, Kevin Wells, Greg Nybeck, Emillee Metcalf, Steve Johnson, Amanda Schwarze. Consent agenda: All items listed under the Consent Agenda are considered to be routine in nature by the Council. There will be no separate discussion on these items unless a Councilmember or citizen so requests, in which even will be remove from the Consent Agenda and considered in normal sequence. 1. Open meeting Mayor Hanus called the meeting to order at 7:30 p.m. 2. Pledge of Allegiance 3. Approve agenda Hanus requested the removal of Items 4C and 4D from the consent agenda. MOTION by Specht, seconded by Osmek to approve the agenda as amended. All voted in favor. Motion carried. 4. Consent agenda MOTION by Specht, seconded by Osmek to approve the consent agenda. Upon roll call vote, all voted in favor. Motion carried. A. Approve minutes of June 10, 2008 regular meeting B. Approve payment of bills in the amount of $469,696.88 C. (removed) D. (removed) E. RESOLUTION NO. 08-65: RESOLUTION ACCEPTING. DONATION F. Approve Garbage and Refuse Collection License for Vintage Waste Systems, Inc. 4C. Action on Ordinance Amending Ordinance No. 08-2003 Implementing Electric Franchise Fee 4D. Action on Ordinance Amending Ordinance No. 05-2003 Implementing a Gas Franchise Fee Hanus stated that, as expressed at earlier meetings, he is opposed to delaying the sunset of the franchise fees for electric and gas, and requested that they pulled from the consent agenda because he intends to vote against these ordinances. Mound City Council Minutes -June 24, 2008 MOTION by Osmek, seconded by Specht to pass the following ordinances. The following voted in favor: Osmek, Specht, Beise, and Skinner. The following voted against: Hanus. Motion carried. ORDINANCE NO. 08-2008: AN ORDINANCE AMENDING ORDINANCE NO. 08-2003 IMPLEMENTING AN ELECTRIC FRANCHISE FEE ON NORTHERN STATES POWER D/B/A/ XCEL ENERGY FOR PROVIDING ELECTRIC SERVICE WITH THE CITY OF MOUND ORDINANCE NO. 09-2008: AN ORDINANCE AMENDING ORDINANCE NO. 05-2003 IMPLEMENTING A GAS FRANCHISE FEE ON CENTERPOINT ENERGY MINNEGASCO FOR PROVIDING GAS SERVICE WITH THE CITY OF MOUND 5. Comments and sua~testions from citizens present on any item not on the agenda. -None were offered 6. Kevin Wells representing the VFW and Lesion on the veterans' monument and naming the road encircling the transit center Kevin Wells, 2205 Mill Pond Lane, presented a recap of a meeting held with city staff regarding the location of the proposed veterans' monument. It was found that the previous location at the Greenway was not feasible because of soil conditions, etc. The new proposed location is the area just to the east of the transit center. Wells stated that the goal is to have the monument completed so it can be dedicated on November 11, Veterans' Day. Carlton Moore stated that staff recommends having the concept plan reviewed by Hoisington Koegler and to use a structural engineer for design of the footings. MOTION by Osmek, seconded. by Skinner to approve the monument location on the grassy area to the east of the transit center, to have the concept plan reviewed by Hoisington Koegler Goup, and use a structural engineer for the design of the footings due to the weight of the monument. All voted in favor. Motion carried. MOTION by Osmek, seconded by Specht to adopt the following ordinance and authorize signage of Veterans Circle. All voted in favor. Motion carried. ORDINANCE NO. 10-2008: AN ORDINANCE AMENDING APPENDIX E OF THE MOUND CITY CODE AS IT RELATES TO STREET NAMING 7. Steve Johnson and Greg Nybeck on 2009 LMCD Budaet Steve Johnson stated that the proposed budget is at 5.8% increase right now but the board will be meeting tomorrow to carve more out of it. Their goal is to get it down. to 3.9%. Greg Nybeck reviewed the proposed 2009 budget, as well as the adopted 2008 budget. He explained that before 2008 enforcement was done on a complaint basis only, and since then they've added '/z person for pro-active enforcement. Hanus stated that the LMCD's philosophy is now more on control and less on service, which is just the Mound City Council Minutes -June 24, 2008 opposite of his thinking. Nybeck stated that this was the decision of the 14-member board on how they want to deal with code violations. More discussion occurred relative to the treatment and harvesting of milfoil, as well as the method of code enforcement. Osmek polled the council to determine if the consensus was to relay to the LMCD that the City Council of Mound's preference is that if it costs more for them to be proactive rather than reactive at less money, we prefer they be reactive, and react on a complaint by complaint basis. Osmek, Hanus, Specht and Beise preferred them to be reactive, and Skinner stated that he prefers that they continue to be proactive so things don't build up. Steve Johnson stated that he will carry the message back to the board that Mound's direction is to be reactive. Osmek stated that the LMCD is developing the same reputation that the Watershed District had when trying to enforce Rule M, and that cities are ready to get rid of the LMCD over enforcement, meandering shoreline rules that reducing access to the lake by residents, and he won't take it and will sue if he have to. Also, wetlands rulings that won't allow shoreline counts when there are certain situations restrict lake access to people that live in Mound. He asked Johnson to take a warning to the board to enforce what's there and don't go looking for trouble. Skinner left the council chambers at 8:34 p.m. Nybeck stated that there is now a technical committee that was formed to evaluate the issues brought up by Osmek. A discussion took place as to the statute that created the LMCD and the provision that talks about the rules, and Hanus asked if the city has a zoning ordinance, whether it follows the LMCD rules or not, are they obligated to abide by the city's ordinance, and Nybeck answered no. The land issues are the city's and the water issues are the LMCD's. He also stated that some of the statutes are almost 40 years old and need to be amended and updated. 8. Miscellaneous/Correspondence A. Comments/reports from Councilmembers: (1) Hanus stated that on top of the agenda it states: Please turn off cell phones & pagers in council chambers. He asked if there were exceptions to this because cell phones were answered and emails answered by Councilmembers earlier in the meeting resulting in Skinner now being gone from the meeting. Beise and Specht stated that they feel that it just means to shut off ringers so as to not disturb the meeting, and is not policy, but a suggestion. Hanus stated that he feels that Councilmembers should have them off so as to not be distracted from peoples' business. Beise stated that Skinner is going over and above his employment contract by providing 24- hour service to the City of Mound and he knew we were near the end of the meeting. Hanus stated he has back-up just as if he's on vacation or sleeping, and Beise stated that Skinner does come in Mound City Council Minutes -June 24, 2008 when he's sleeping at night, also. He believes he goes over and above what he is required to do as a city employee. MOTION by Hanus, seconded by Osmek to remove that line from the top of the agenda. Hanson questioned if action can be taken on this because it was not on the agenda. Motion was ruled out of order by Hanus. Hanus stated he expects the City Council give all of its attention to the meeting and the business at hand and Beise stated that emergencies arise that need immediate attention, as did tonight. Specht feels that as long as ringers are off, phones can be left on. (2) Specht highlighted an award that Kandis Hanson recently received from the Mound Business Council. 9. Adiourn MOTION by Osmek, seconded by Specht to adjourn at 8:50 p.m. All voted in favor. Motion carried. Mayor Mark Hanus Attest: Bonnie Ritter, City Clerk J