2008-01-08MOUND CITY COUNCIL MEETING
January 8, 2008
The City Council of the City of Mound, Hennepin County, Minnesota, met in regular
session on Tuesday, January 8, 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, Community
Development Director Sarah Smith, Finance Director Gino Businaro, Ken Perbix,
Amanda Schwarze
Consent agenda: All items listed under the Consent Agenda are considered to be
routine in nature by the Council and will be enacted by a roll call vote. There will be no
separate discussion on these items unless a Councilmember or citizen so requests, in
which event will be removed from the Consent Agenda and considered in normal
sequence.
1. Open meeting -Pledge of Allegiance
Mayor Hanus called the meeting to order at 7:40 p.m. followed by the Pledge of
Allegiance.
2. Approve agenda
MOTION by Beise, seconded by Specht to approve the agenda. All voted in favor.
Motion carried.
3. Consent agenda
Specht requested the removal if item 31, Osmek requested the removal of 3A, and 3U,
and Skinner requested the removal of item 3B.
MOTION by Specht, seconded by Osemk to approve the consent agenda as amended.
All voted in favor. Motion carried.
A. (removed)
B. (removed)
C. RESOLUTION NO. 08-01: RESOLUTION APPOINTING COUNCILMEMBER
OSMEK AS ACTING MAYOR FOR 2008
D. RESOLUTION NO. 08-02: RESOLUTION APPOINTING FINANCE DIRECTOR
GINO BUSINARO THE ACTING CITY MANAGER FOR 2008
E. RESOLUTION NO. 08-03: RESOLUTION APPROVING THE PURCHASE OF
AT LEAST A $20,000 BOND FOR THE CITY CLERK
F. RESOLUTION NO. 08-04: RESOLUTION APPROVING THE PURCHASE OF
AT LEAST A $20,000 BOND FOR THE CITY TREASURER/FINANCE
DIRECTOR
G. RESOLUTION NO. 08-05: RESOLUTION DESIGNATING THE OFFICIAL
DEPOSITORIES FOR 2008
H. RESOLUTION NO. 08-06: RESOLUTION APPOINTING PARKS
SUPERINTENDENT JIM FACKLER AS ASSISTANT WEED INSPECTOR FOR
2008
I. (removed)
Mound City Council Minutes -January 8, 2008
J. Approve reappointment of Planning Commissioners (3-year terms): Geoff
Michael, Christine Ebert, and Michael Paulsen
K. Approve appointment of Parks, Open Space and Docks Commissioner (3-year
term) Michael Wilkus
L. RESOLUTION NO. 08-07: RESOLUTION ADOPTING FEE SCHEDULE
M. Approve Pay Request No. 2 by Kusske Construction in the amount of $27,011.97
for work on the 2007 Storm Drainage Project (PW-07-04)
N. Approve Pay Request No. 9 and Final Pay Request by Hardrives, Inc. in the
amount of $59,649.51 for the 2006 Street Improvement Project (PW-06-01)
O. Approve Pay Request No. 1 from Widmer Construction in the amount of
$15,580.24 for work on the Auditor's Road Surcharge Placement (PW-08-06)
P. Approve Pay Request No. 1 by Widmer Construction in the amount of
$121,309.56 for work on the Sinclair/Baywood Shores Lift Stations (PW-07-05)
Q. Approve proposed 2008 Dock Location Map
R. Approve request for kennel permit by Mound Police Department
S. Approve "No U-Turn" signs, as submitted by Mound Police Department
T. RESOLUTION NO. 08-08: RESOLUTION MAKING A SELECTION NOT TO
WAIVE THE STATUTORY TORT LIMITS FOR LIABILITY INSURANCE
PURPOSES
U. (removed)
3A. Approve minutes
Osmek noted an added carriage return on page 5 of the Dec. 11 minutes.
MOTION by Osmek, seconded by Specht to approve the minutes of December 11, 2007
as amended. All voted in favor. Motion carried.
3B. Approve payment of claims
MOTION by Specht, seconded by Beise to approve payment of claims in the amount of
$1,106,248.47. Upon roll call vote, the following voted in favor: Osmek, Specht, Hanus
and Beise. The following voted against: None. Skinner abstained from voting. Motion
carried.
31. Adopt resolution appointing Councilmembers as Council representatives for
2008
Specht stated that with job time constraints he feels that another member should serve
as liaison to the Parks, Open Space and Docks Commission, and recommended John
Beise for this position.
MOTION by Specht, seconded by Osmek to adopt the following resolution. All voted in
favor. Motion carried.
RESOLUTION NO. 08-09: RESOLUTION APPOINTING COUNCILMEMBERS AS
REPRESENTATIVES OF THE CITY COUNCIL
Mound City Council Minutes -January 8, 2008
3U. Approve application to conduct excluded bingo by Knights of Columbus
Osmek indicated he would abstain from voting on this item because he is a member of
the organization.
MOTION by Beise, seconded by Specht to approve the application to conduct excluded
bingo by the Knights of Columbus. The following voted in favor: Specht, Hanus, Beise
and Skinner. The following voted against: None. Osmek abstained from voting. Motion
carried.
4. Comments and suggestions from citizens present on anv item not on the
agenda.
Ken Perbix, Watertown, MN, thanked the Council for their consideration regarding his
property.
5. Discussion/action on accepting credit card payments at City Hall
Gino Businaro stated that the city receives numerous requests to pay by credit card and
asked the Council for their input. Presently only the liquor store accepts credit cards. He
stated that the cost to take credit cards is about 2'h%. Hanus stated that this was
brought up in the past and not approved due to added cost to the City. Businaro stated
he would like to use one account for the entire city, including the liquor store, to get the
best rate possible.
Beise stated that previously when the city did accept credit cards, it was presented to the
Council that a $50 utility bill costs the city $25 to process on a credit card, and that is
simply not true. That's the deal that they were told they had and why they discontinued
the credit card program. He suggested trying it for a year and track the charges so that
it can be budgeted for in subsequent years if feasible.
Osmek stated that if the surcharge could be picked up by the user, he'd be all for it, but
without that, it would cost taxpayers a lot of money.
Skinner feels that now a lot of people operate strictly with credit or debit cards and feels
that we should offer that option.
MOTION by Beise, seconded by Skinner to start accepting credit cards for 2008 and
track the income and exact usage charges per department so that at year end Council
can see what these expenses are. The following voted in favor: Beise and Skinner. The
following voted against: Osmek, Specht and Hanus. Motion failed.
6. Discussion/action on a resolution designating official newspaper for 2008
Kandis stated that in previous years it was determined that if you have a newspaper in
your community, that becomes your official newspaper. The Laker has not moved
outside of Mound, which opens the door for other options.
Osmek stated that being that the Laker does home delivery, along with price, makes him
lean in their direction.
Mound City Council Minutes -January 8, 2008
MOTION by Osmek, seconded by Specht to adopt the following resolution (naming The
Laker as the official newspaper for 2008). Skinner has issues with the errors that the
Laker has made in the past and doesn't think their editor is as objective as he should be,
and prefers to go with the Lakeshore Weekly. Hanus also agreed that there have been
some problems with the Laker and Hanson stated that omissions have been a bigger
problem that errors, especially when it comes to publication of public hearing notices
which are required by law. Osmek asked if there have been problems within the last
year and Hanson stated that there have been. Beise stated that the Laker does focus in
on our community. Specht stated that people are used to looking in the Laker for city
news.
Hanus asked what the Laker will change to reduce the error level, and was surprised
that errors/omissions were still occurring.
John Dean stated that he believes that if the Council wanted to continue to review the
situation, they could make an appointment of an official newspaper and indicate that
they want to meet with the publisher to see how problems can be addressed.
Osmek removed the above stated motion.
Hanus suggested appointing the Laker as the interim but request that the Laker editor
submit a plan to the city stating what they intend to do to better their service to the city,
and primarily reduce the level of errors that have been experienced.
MOTION by Specht to move forward with the Laker and after four or five issues we hear
from staff that we're all on the same page and if issues aren't addressed have right to
reconsider. Motion died for lack of a second.
MOTION by Osmek, seconded by Beise to approve the Laker as the temporary
newspaper of record through March 31, 2008, at which time the Council will review with
the Laker their remediation plan for making corrective actions as well as improving their
accuracy and quality, with city staff providing examples of quality issues that need to be
addressed and an action plan must be in place with the Laker to stop these from
happening. Hanus asked if this motion does require a response from the Laker as to
what their action plan is and Osmek stated that it did.
John Dean suggested wording provisionally appointing the Laker as the official
newspaper of the City, subject to an evaluation no later than the last meeting of March,
2008, at which time the Laker is to respond to a work plan for addressing specific
concerns to be provided to them by City Staff. If the Council determines that their
responses are inadequate, the Council reserves the right to consider terminating the
appointment.
Osmek withdrew his motion.
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Mound City Council Minutes -January 8, 2008
MOTION by Osmek, seconded by Specht to provisionally approve the Laker as
newspaper of record for 2008 subject to reevaluation no later than the second Council
meeting of March, at which time the Laker will respond with a remediation work plan to
address city staff's concerns to be highlighted to the Laker specifically, and that the
Council will determine at that second meeting subsequent action relating to extending
the newspaper of record status or making a selection on a secondary at that time. All
voted in favor of said motion. Motion carried.
7. Planning Commission recommendation
Setback determination/assignment for house addition at 1729 Gull Lane
Sarah Smlth reviewed that the owner's contractor submitted a building permit application
to do an upper-story remodel on lake side of the home. Staff didn't process, and
subsequently denied the permit because it was determined that review by the Planning
Commission and City Council was necessary to determine whether the setback along
the west property line in the subject area qualifies as the "rear" or "side" according to
City Code. Staff believes that the west setback is the "side", and when the dormer
permit was issued in 2004 Staff also determined it to be a "side".
The Planning Commission reviewed this request on December 17, 2007, and voted 3 in
favor and 2 opposed to recommend that the Council deem the setback for the house to
be a "rear".
MOTION by Osmek, seconded by Specht to confirm with the Planning Commission's
determination that the west lot is a "rear" lot line at 1729 Gull Lane. All voted in favor.
Motion carried.
8. Information/Miscellaneous
A. Reports: POSDC Minutes -December 13, 2007
B. Newsletter: Gillespie Center
9. Ad'ourn
MOTION by Specht, seconded by Osmek to adjourn at 8:55 p.m. All voted in favor.
Motion carried.
Attest: Bonnie Ritter, City Clerk
Mayor Mark Hanus