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2006-11-14 MOUND CITY COUNCIL MINUTES NOVEMBER 14, 2006 The City Council of the City of Mound, Hennepin County, Minnesota, met in regular session on Thursday, November 14, 2006, at 7:30 p.m. in the council chambers of city hall. Members Present: Mayor Pat Meisel; Councilmembers Bob Brown, Mike Specht, John Beise and David Osmek. Others Present: City Attorney John Dean, City Manager Kandis Hanson, City Clerk Bonnie Ritter, Community Development Director Sarah Smith, City Engineer Dan Faulkner, City Engineer Tech Ray Hanson, Rick & Cheryl Libra, Jason Graves, Donna Smith, David Babler, Matt & Kelly Princivalli, Taylen Thorstenson, Kathy & Dan Rice, Cheryl Hibbard, Steffan Madsen, Steven Eichens, Brian Welch, Greg Smith, Mark McNeil, Marcia Jerdee, Cheryl Martin, Scott Sprague, Mike Schoephoerster, Larry Connolly, Bruce Dodds, Chris Loew, Perry & Dorene Hanson, Chuck O'Grady, Dave & Gloria Briggs, Betsy Brady, Mark Hanus, Jon & Justine Goode, Doug Dahm, John Turnacliff, Ted Manly, Katrina Wolf, Chad & Sheila Reuter, Michael Colestock, Dorothy Gray, Orella Hanson, Gene Hanson, Ray Salazar, Darlene Bjork, Dean Swanson, Steve Lievers, Dean and Laura Sulander, James Murphy, Dave Hunt, Mike Colestock, Jeff Anderson. 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 the item will be removed from the Consent Agenda and considered in normal sequence. 1. Open Meeting Mayor Meisel called the meeting to order at 7:30 p.m. 2. Pledge of Allegiance 3. Approve Agenda John Dean requested the addition of Item 7A, Consideration of Directing the City Attorney to submit a request for an Attorney General's Opinion relating to the question if the Public Works Superintendent and City Council Member are incompatible. MOTION by Beise, seconded by Osmek to approve the agenda as amended. All voted in favor. Motion carried. Mound City Council Minutes -November 14, 2006 4. Canvassing and Declaring Results of November 7, 2006 Municipal Election MOTION by Osmek, seconded by Beise to adopt the following resolution. all voted in favor. Motion carried. RESOLUTION NO. 06-126: RESOLUTION TO CANVASS RETURNS AND DECLARE THE RESULTS OF THE MUNICIPAL GENERAL ELECTION OF NOVEMBER 7, 2006. 5. Consent Agenda MOTION by Osmek, seconded by Beise to approve the consent agenda. All voted in favor. Motion carried. A. Approve minutes of October 24, 2006 regular meeting B. Approve payment of claims in the amount of $1,439,559.79. C. Approve payment of claims: 1. Payment Request No. 6 from Hardrives, Inc., in thea mount of $383,395.74 for the 2006 Street Improvement Project 2. Final payment to Veit & Company in the amount of $139,323.84 for the Lost Lake Dredge 3. Payment Request No. 3 from Magney Construction in the amount of $152,127.85 for the Well #3 Pumphouse Improvement D. RESOLUTION NO. 06-127: RESOLUTION TO APPROVE REQUEST FROM JOHN AND CHERYL HIBBARD FOR WAIVER OF PLATTING AND VARIANCE(S) APPROVAL FOR PROPERTY LOCATED AT 3206 WESTEDGE BOULEVARD, TO CREATE TWO (2) LOTS. PID #23-117-24-33-0028. E. ORDINANCE NO. 22-2006: AN ORDINANCE AMENDING SECTION 365 OF THE CITY CODE AS IT RELATES TO SIGNS 6. Comments and suggestions from citizens present on anv item not on the agenda. -None were offered. 7. Public Hearing: Improvement Hearing for 2007 Street Proiect Dan Faulkner, City Engineer from Bolton & Menk, gave the history of the overall street project and reviewed the specifics of the 2007 Street Improvement Project, along with estimated project costs and assessments. Mayor Meisel opened the public hearing at 7:49 p.m. 2 ^ Mound City Council Minutes -November 14, 2006 Steffan Madsen, 2586 Avon Drive, asked about the apron concept because he will be putting in a paver driveway and didn't want tar going in the last 3' of his driveway. He was told that the apron is concrete and they join the street to the driveways. Kathy Rice, 2044 Arbor Lane, asked if her street would get new curb and gutter if there are none there now. Ray Hanson answered that a new watermain is being proposed for Arbor Lane, and it is still to be determined if they will put in one continuous driveway apron, regular curb and gutter, surmountable curb, or a combination. Rice also expressed concern over having access to their properties, with Arbor being a dead end and a narrow street. Ray Hanson stated that they want to stage the work so they start on the end and work their way out, and will always be mindful to keep one side open for emergency vehicles and access. Dan Faulker explained that the plans are to have the contractor drill under Harrison Bay from Arbor Lane to the Three Points area, so residents will likely see that construction before the actual street work begins. Donna Smith, 2531 Avon, questioned if watermain work was going to be done in her area and she was informed that the utilities will be evaluated and repaired as needed. Jason Graves, 4861 Edgewater, stated he would like to reconfigure his driveway at the same time the project is being done. Ray Hanson stated he will visit the property and determine if this is feasible. Steve Lievers, 5115 Bartlett Blvd, stated his driveway is at the end of Channel Road and asked if this street was going to be widened. Ray Hanson informed him that drainage has to be taken into consideration in that area and they won't know until it is looked at more closely. Mark McNeil, 5054 Bartlett Blvd., stated he is surrounded by three streets, Bartlett, Fairview and Chateau, and asked how he will be assessed. He was informed that he will get assessed for 2/3 of a unit and the other 1/3 when Bartlett is improved. Osmek then explained about the process when MSA roads are improved. Laura Sulander, 2524 Emerald Drive, asked about the cost for mill and overlay and stated that her street is not that bad and she doesn't feel it needs to be improved at this time. 3 Mound City Council Minutes -November 14, 2006 Jim Murphy, 5045 Avon Drive, asked about the cost of overlay vs. replacing the total surface, and now many lineal feet are in this project. Faulkner answered the cost question and that there are approximately 19,000 lineal feet in this project. Steffan Madsen, 2586 Avon Drive, asked if the estimate given included interest, and he was told that it does not. Mike Schoephoerster, 2550 Lakewood Lane, stated that Lakeview Lane used to be a shortcut and heavily traveled when the liquor store was located there and traffic still tends to be fast through there. He asked if speed bumps could be put in and Brown stated that speed bumps create problems for snow plows and informed him to contact the Police Department regarding the speeding traffic. Upon no further public comment, Mayor Meisel closed the public hearing at 8:15 p.m. MOTION by Osmek, seconded by Specht to adopt the following resolution. All voted in favor. Motion carried. RESOLUTION NO. 06-128: RESOLUTION ORDERING IMPROVEMENT AND PREPARATION OF PLANS FOR 2007 STREET RECONSTRUTION PROJECT 2007 RETAINING WALL RECONSTRUCTION PROJECT, AND LOST LAKE GREENWAY EXTENSION TO CYPRESS LANE 7A. Consideration of directing the City Attorney to submit a request for an Attorney General's opinion relating to the question if the Public Works Superintendent and City Council Member are incompatible. John Dean stated that results of the election brought into focus an issue that had been earlier brought to his attention, and that is whether or not election to the City Council of an individual who is also the Public Works Superintendent creates incompatibility of offices. He is recommending that the City Council direct him to make a request an opinion from the Minnesota Attorney General to determine if these are incompatible offices. Specht stated that he contacted the League of Minnesota Cities and was informed that they cannot give an opinion but there are other cities where employees are members of the City Council. Osmek stated that the Attorney General's opinion will protect the city. If the Attorney General says the positions are compatible, that's the end of it. Mayor Meisel stated that she feels that this opinion should have been asked for in September when it was first brought up, and not after the election has been held and the candidate put forth all the campaign expense. 4 ^ Mound City Council Minutes -November 14, 2006 Mayor Meisel stated was informed that there are citizens in the audience that would like to speak on this issue. Jeff Anderson, 2221 Southview Lane, stated that he can't believe that this is taking place. He indicated that the only person that can contest this election is Bob Brown and he has never made an attempt to do so. In his opinion this is back-door politics to try to remove a person from office that the public voted in. He indicated that Mayor Elect Hanus and Councilmember Elect Osmek are behind this and he feels it's pathetic. The city had an ection and now they are trying to replace a man that has served this community and served it well. Bruce Dodds, 3021 Dickens Lane, stated to Osmek that all his campaign literature stated that he was the fiscal hawk and asked then why is he in favor of wasting tax payer dollars when the taxpayers voted someone in. He asked why this was not addressed before the election. Doing it now makes a farce out of our elections. Osmek stated that this was brought up in September but the issue didn't exist until the candidate won. He is just making sure that the city doesn't get drug through the courts because of not following statutes. If the Attorney General's office says it's legal, then it's legal and the case is over. He's not getting anyone thrown out of office, just asking if compatibility exists based on state statute. Mike Colestock, 6261 Deerwood Drive, stated that he believes the incompatibility is not the issue, because the city could have gone to the Attorney General prior to this, but the issue is the use of city money. He doesn't believe that there is a conflict, because, for example, school board members have children in the schools, etc. The people who voted for Greg Skinner, as those that didn't, were aware that he was a city employee. Those that voted for him didn't feel there was a conflict. He's accountable to the voters, not fellow councilmembers. The voters are best able to determine who they want to represent them. Meisel stated that she also wishes the issue was handled back in September. Specht asked the City Attorney what the cost would be to obtain this opinion and John Dean answered that his costs would range from $1500 to $2000. MOTION by Osmek, seconded by Brown to direct the City Attorney to prepare and submit a request to the Attorney General as to the compatibility of office for the Public Works Superintendent and City Council member. Meisel stated that she would love to vote against this motion because of the dollars involved and that it's for others' political gain, but she feels the city owes it to Greg to get a determination so that his job as Public Works Superintendent is not jeopardized. 5 Mound City Council Minutes -November 14, 2006 The following voted in favor: Osmek, Beise, and Meisel. The following voted against: Specht. Brown abstained from voting. Motion carried. Mayor Meisel turned the meeting over to Acting Mayor Beise for the next item. 8. Action on resolution authorizing disbursing agreement for Villas on Lost Lake MOTION by Brown, seconded by Osmek to adopt the following resolution. The following voted in favor: Osmek, Brown, Specht, Beise. The following voted against: none. Mayor Meisel abstained from voting. Motion carried. RESOLUTION NO. 06-129: RESOLUTION APPROVING DISBURSING AGREEMENT REDUCTION REQUEST NO. 3 FOR VILLAS ON LOST LAKE CONSTRUCTION PROJECT Mayor Meisel returned to preside over the balance of the meeting. 9. Miscellaneous/Correspondence A. Comments/repots from Councilmembers: none. B. Reports: None C. Correspondence: Gillespie Gizette: Mediacom 10. Adjourn MOTION by Brown, seconded by Osmek to adjourn at 8:50 p.m. All voted in favor. Motion carried. i~ C~ Attest: Bonnie Ritter, City Clerk Mayor Pat Meisel 6