1982-12-07247
December 7, 1982
REGULAR MEETING
OF THE
CITY COUNCIL
Pursuant to due call and notice thereof, a regular meeting of the City Council
of the City of Mound, Hennepin County, Minnesota, was held at 5341 Maywood Road
in said City on December 7, 1982, at 7:30 P.M.
Those present were: Mayor Rock Lindlan, Councilmembers Pinky Charon, Robert
Polston, Gordon. Swenson. Councilmember Donald Ulrick was late and arrived
at 7:35 P.M. Also present were City Manager Jon Elam, Police Chief Bruce
Wold, Finance Director Sharon Legg, Water Superintendent Greg Skinner, City
Clerk. Fran Clark and the following interested citizens: Dick Bialon, Harvey
Berquist, Paul Henry,. Mr. & Mrs. John Wagman, Gary Paulsen, Russ Peterson
and Carroll Womack of Avon Township (Rochester, Michigan).
The Mayor opened the meeting and welcomed the people in attendance.
MINUTES
The Minutes of the November 23, 1982, Regular Meeting were presented for
consideration. Charon moved and Swenson seconded a motion to approve the
Minutes of the November 23, 19$2, Regular Meeting as submitted. The vote
was unanimously in favor. Councilmember Ulrick was absent. Motion carried.
PUBLIC HEARING - STREET VACATION - PART OF SULGROVE ROAD
The Mayor explained that this is a continuation of this public hearing.
He then opened the public hearing to comments from the public. There were
none.
The Mayor then read the conditions that the property owner association has
agreed will be met. They are as follows:
a. Association .will grant an easement to gain access to Lots 1, 2, 3,
18, 19, 20 which are owned by Mr. Henry and Mr. Berquist.
b. Mr. Bialon will-give an easement to the City for access to other
homeowners.
c. Mr. Berquist will give an easement to Mr. Henry to gain access to
Lots 1, 2, 3, 18, 19 ~ 20.
d. All easements, quit claim deeds, etc. will be approved by the City
of Mound.
Councilmember Ulrick arrived.
The City Manager reported that the City Attorney has suggested the following
in addition to the above:
1. That the City also received the easement on the Bialon's property.
2. That the City not issue a final resolution until it receives the
easements and they are recorded.
3. That there be a summary abstract from the Bialons proving the
Bialon's ability to grant an easement.
There was discussion by the Council and the property owners on how to
make this vacation without landlocking any lots by retaining the street
easements to certain portions of Sulgrove Road.
Polston moved and Swenson seconded the following resolution.
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December 7, 1982
RESOLUTION #82-306 RESOLUTION APPROVING THE VACATION OF SU.LGROVE
ROAD IN FRONT OF .LOTS 13, 14, 15 & 16, BLOCK 28, WHIPPLE
WITH THE STIPULATIONS PROPOSED BY THE HOMEOWNERS
ASSOCIATION AND THE CITY ATTORNEY BUT RETAINING
THE STREET EASEMENTS FOR SULGROVE ROAD IN FRONT
OF LOTS 11., 12, 17, 18, 19 &20, BLOCK 28, WHIPPLE
The vote was unanimously in favor. Motion carried.
WATER FUND REPORT
The City Manager explained the present position of the Water Fund and
where it will be when Tonka leaves the City. It appears that the City
will have to generate about $60,000 in revenue in 1983 to cover the
projected expenses.. There was discussion on the painting and relining
of the two water towers that is projected in the 1983 budget. Council-
member Polston stated that he would like to see the towers done in
different years if the staff thinks doing both would short the fund.
The staff will hold off on any decision to do the towers until mid. 1983.
The City Manager explained that the study of the water rates that has
been done indicates that the City will have to raise its rates about
20o in order to meet the expenses. The loss of revenue from Tonka is
the cause of this shortfall. The Manager explained that the cost of
producing the water will not change when Tonka leaves the City.
The Council discussed increasing the water rates now or waiting until a
later date.
The City Manager gave the following comparison of the existing and proposed
water rates:
EXISTING
0 - 6,000 gallons
6,001 - 24,000 gallons.
24,001 - 44,000 gallons
44,001 and over
COST PROPOSED
$6.00 ($1.00/1000 gallons $ .80/1000 gallons
.60/1000 gallons .80/1000 gallons
.55/1000 .gallons .80/1000 gallons
.45/1000 gallons .$0/1000 gallons
Also proposed is a basic $1.OO per month service charge ($3.00 a quarter)
that would cover basic Water Department overhead.
This increase, if implemented now, would generate the funds necessary to carry
the Water Dept. through the 1983 calendar year.
Charon moved and Ulrick seconded the following resolution.
RESOLUTION #82-307 RESOLUTION TO APPROVE THE WATER RATE INCREASE
AS PROPOSED STARTING JANUARY 1, 1983
A roll call vote was 3 in favor with Councilmembers Polston and Swenson
voting nay. Motion carried.
WATER METER DISCUSSION
The City Manager introduced Mr. Carroll Womack of Avon Township (Rochester,
Michigan) who is the Water Superintendent. He is here to review his
experiences and the decision making process they used to select meters.
He explained that they had several problems, a water loss of 20% which
they could not put anywhere else but on the water meters, they .had 7 or 8 ,
different kinds of meters at that time, they had switched from a ground
water system to buying water from Detroit, they did not want to have to
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December 7, 1482
read meters manually. They are presently using a cassette tape reader
and will eventually be reading the 9000 plus meters by cable T.V.
There was discussion on the differences in meters that we presently
have and what meters are available for future use. Also discussed
was the difference between the 2 wire and 3 wire systems and which
one would be the best for the City of Mound.
Greg Skinner, Water Superintendent, would like to stay with the two
wire system, replace the bad Neptune meters with Badger meters and
continue to use the Badger meter. He stated he has had the best
performance from the Badger meter which is a two wire system and if
the City went to a three wire system all the homes (approximately
2,300) would have to be rewired for the 3 wire system.
There was more discussion on the 3 wire system as a way to look toward
the future and a possible savings in costs years down the line.
There were several motions made and seconded and withdrawn.
Councilmember Ulrick moved and Charon seconded a motion stating that
the City adopt the policy decision to change to a 3 wire water meter
system. The roll call vote was 4 in favor with Mayor Lindlan voting
nay. Motion carried.
Ulrick moved anal Charon seconded a motion directing the staff to
obtain quotes on a 3 wire water meter system to replace the present
2 wire system. The vote was 4 in favor with Mayor Lindlan voting nay.
Motion carried. Mayor Lindlan stated that he voted nay because he
felt we should go back to the City Attorney and get an opinion on th.e
bid process.
The Council thank Mr. Womack for sharing his expertize with them.
SEWER FUND
The City Manager reported on the Sewer Fund and stated that with the
raise in rates we did at the end of 1881 we should have no need to
increase the rates in 1983•
He then reported that an error was found in September of this year
which resulted in Tonka Toys not being billed an esfimat~d $351;397 in
sewer charges from December, 1977 through August, 1982. The Council
discussed this loss and directed the staff to refer this to the City.
Attorney to see if it could be collected now.
The City Manager stated .that the Finance Di:rectoC h.as asked that an
amendment be made to Resolution #81-404 which %ncreased the sewer rates
for 1882. One part presently reads as follows;
"Single Family Dwelling - The sewer billing for all four (4) quarters
be based on the amount of water used the lst qua.rter.''
Proposed to read:
"Single Family Dwelling - The sewer rate shall be based on the actual water
usage or the first quarter actual water usage, whichever is less,"
Charon moved and Polston seconded. the following resolution
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December 7, 1982
RESOLUTION #82-308 RESOLUTION AMENDING RESOLUTION #81-404
RELATING TO THE SEWER RATE INCREASE
The vote was unanimously in favor. Motion carried.
M.S.A. MAINTENANCE FUNDS
The City Manager explained that in order to request additional M.S.A
Maintenance Funds for 1983, another resolution should be adopted.
Swenson moved and Ulrick seconded the following resolution.
RESOLUTION #82-309 RESOLUTION REQUESTING AN INCREASE IN M.S.A.
MAINTENANCE FUNDS DUE TO INCREASED MAINTENANCE
COSTS ON CITY OF MOUND M.S.A. STREETS
The vote was unanimously in favor. Motion carried.
SET DATE FOR PUBLIC HEARING - PRELIMINARY SUBDIVISION AND CONDITIONAL USE
The City Manager explained that the City Attorney has advised that if
we are going to allow conversions of duplexes to condominiums we need to
amend the Zoning Ordinance to cover these. He will be submitting information
on what should be inciuded in this amendment. In order to allow Mr.
Meinhardt to move along on his subdivision we can incorporate the things
that will be in the amendment to the Zoning Ordinance into the conditions
of his subdivision and then work on amending the Zoning Ordinance for
future subdivisions of this type.
Ulrick moved and Swenson seconded a motion to set the public hearing date
for the preliminary subdivision and conditional use of Ben Meinhardt for
January 4, 1983, at 7:30 P.M. The vote was unanimously in favor. Motion
carried.
PURCHASE OF 2 SQUAD CARS - HENNEPIN COUNTY BID
Police Chief Wold explained .that since we awarded the bid for 1 squad car
to Superior Ford in Resolution #82-276, Hennepin County Purchasing has
let their bids and awarded the contract to Jerry Palmer's Southdale Ford.
If we go with Hennepin County, the City can save $1,091.18 per car.
Superior Ford has agreed to let us cancel our order with them to take
advantage of the savings. We had budgeted 1 car in 1982 and 1 in 1983
so he is recommending that we purchase two at one time through Hennepin
County.
Charon moved and Swenson seconded the following resolution.
RESOLUTION #82-310 RESOLUTION TO APPROVE THE PURCHASE OF 2
SQUAD CARS ON THE HENNEPIN COUNTY BID AND
RESCINDING RESOLUTION N0. 82-276
The vote was unanimously in favor. Motion carried.
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December 7, 1982
ARCADE
The City Manager explained that the applicant, Tom Watson, has withdrawn
this item from the Agenda.
INFORMATION/MISCELLANEOUS
A. LETTER TO H.R.A. - supporting the Metro HRA Mortgage Revenue Bond
Program that is proposed.
B. PLANNING COMMISSION RESIGNATIONS:- 3 resignations have been received:
Russ Peterson, who will become a Councilmember January l; Roy O'Donnell;
and Bud Stannard. An ad has been placed in The .Laker asking for
candidates for the Planning and the .Park Commissions.
C. GAMBLING REPORT - AMERICAN LEGION POST #398 - report for month ending
November 2 19 2.
D. Calendar for December.
The Council and the City Manager briefly discussed the state and local
financial crisis and the special legislative session going on at the
State Capital.
Polston moved and Ulrick seconded a motion to adjourn at 11:.40 P.M. The
vote was unanimously in favor. Motion carried.
J Elam, City Manager
~/I .~3 M c Y~,1
Fran Clark, City Clerk