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12-04-07 Council December 4, 2007 A regular meeting of the Scandia City Council was held on the above date. Mayor Seefeldt called the meeting to order at 7:02 p.m. The following council members were present: Council members Pete Crum, Michael Harnetty, Dolores Peterson, Mayor Dennis Seefeldt, and Donnette Yehle. Staff present: Administrator Anne Hurlburt, City Attorney Dave Hebert, Deputy Clerk Brenda Eklund. APPROVAL OF AGENDA Mayor Seefeldt added discussion of a performance review regarding Bonestroo Engineering to the agenda. Councilmember Yehle added discussion of a Building Official report to the agenda. Donnette Yehle, seconded by Dolores Peterson, moved to approve the agenda as amended. The motion passed unanimously. FOREST LAKE CABLE COMMISSION APPOINTMENTS: RESOLUTION 12-04-07-01 The Joint Powers Agreement with the Forest Lake Cable Television Commission requires the city to appoint two directors to 2-year terms, one of which must be a councilmember. The other must be a qualified voter residing in the city. Scandia has been represented on the Commission by Mike White. Pete Crum, seconded by Michael Harnetty, moved to approve Resolution 12-04-07-01 Appointing Directors to the Forest Lake Cable Commission with the addition of Councilmember Donnette Yehle and resident Mike White to serve as Directors. The motion passed unanimously. DESIGNATE CITY AUDITOR FOR THE FISCAL YEARS 2007-2009 th At the November 6 Council meeting, Administrator Hurlburt and Treasurer Colleen Firkus were authorized to interview firms based on responses to a Request for Proposals for Auditing th Services. Three firms were interviewed on November 26. Administrator Hurlburt reported on the results and recommended the selection of Larson Allen. The cost proposal was the most favorable and the level of effort in the proposal (205 hours) appeared to be the best value of those submitted. Administrator Hurlburt contacted 5 city references and all reported favorable results of Larson Allen’s services. Dolores Peterson, seconded by Michael Harnetty, moved to designate Larson Allen as the city’s auditor for the fiscal years 2007, 2008 and 2009. The motion passed unanimously. MEETING DATE OF FINAL BUDGET WORK SESSION th Prior to the adoption of the 2008 budget/levy at the Council meeting on December 18, it was rd suggested that a final work session be held to consider input from December 3’s Truth in Taxation hearing and to review more detailed estimates of the 2007 year-end figures. Donnette Yehle, seconded by Dennis Seefeldt, moved to schedule a Budget Work Session for December 17, 2007 at 5:00 p.m. The motion passed unanimously. EMPLOYEE HEALTH INSURANCE BENEFITS FOR 2008: RESOLUTION 12-04-07-02 The Human Resources Committee (Councilmembers Crum and Peterson, Administrator th Hurlburt) met on November 14 to review the health insurance plan for 2008. Currently the city provides Blue Cross Blue Shield coverage through the Southwest/West Central Services Cooperative, a pool of cities, counties and other government units. It is a high deductible December 4, 2007 Scandia City Council Page 2 plan paired with a Health Savings Account to help pay the deductible. In 2008, the monthly premium rates will increase by 17.6%, including an increase in the deductible. A resolution incorporating the increased rates was discussed among the council. The city would continue to cover 100% of the monthly premium for single coverage and 80% of the premium for family coverage. Donnette Yehle, seconded by Michael Harnetty, moved to approve Resolution 12- 04-07-02 Establishing City Contributions to Employee Health Insurance Benefits for 2008. The motion passed unanimously. EMPLOYEE PAY RATES FOR 2008: RESOLUTION 12-04-07-03 th The Human Resources Committee met on November 14 to review employee pay rates for 2008 and various parts of the personnel policy. The Committee agreed that a 3% cost-of-living adjustment be given for 2008. Following a more-than-satisfactory performance review at Maintenance Worker Mike Egelkraut’s six month mark, an increase of $1.00 per hour effective on his six-month anniversary date (12-11-07) was recommended. Councilmember Yehle questioned the timing of this increase. It was explained that Mr. Egelkraut was hired at the low- to-mid pay range, with an adjusted pay increase based on a positive performance at six months. Councilmember Yehle suggested that timing of pay increases be made clear in the Employee Policy. The pay rate for Treasurer Colleen Firkus was increased to equal that of the Deputy Clerk, as this position has only received cost-of-living adjustments for many years. The Committee also recommended eliminating a provision for longevity pay from the personnel policy. Maintenance Supervisor John Morrison is the only employee affected by this. Mr. Morrison’s pay rate was adjusted to absorb this elimination of $600/year. One other change incorporated into the resolution is the elimination of meeting pay for hourly staff. Employees will receive their hourly rate for attendance at meetings outside of normal work hours, with a minimum of two hours pay. Councilmember Harnetty questioned the timing for a review of Administrator Hurlburt’s salary, as no pay adjustments have been made since the initial hire date of 9/5/06. The council scheduled a performance and salary review for Administrator Hurlburt on January 15, 2008 at 6:00 p.m. The meeting will be posted as a closed meeting. Donnette Yehle, seconded by Michael Harnetty, moved to approve Resolution 12-04-07-03 Establishing Employee Pay Rates for 2008. The motion passed unanimously. UTILITY PERMIT – FRONTIER COMMUNICATIONS/TII GAVO SUBDIVISION City Engineer Tom Peterson recommended approval of Frontier Communication’s utility permit application to install buried telephone cable to serve the Tii Gavo development. Dolores Peterson, seconded by Dennis Seefeldt, moved to approve the utility permit for buried telephone cable (work done by Wright’s General Contracting on behalf of Frontier Communications). The motion adopted unanimously. December 4, 2007 Scandia City Council Page 3 APPOINTMENT OF SEASONAL MAINTENANCE WORKERS Maintenance Supervisor John Morrison has recommended that the Council authorize the hiring of Robert Lindblom and Bruce Swenson as temporary Seasonal Maintenance Workers for the coming winter season, to work on an as-needed basis. Both have performed this work in the past. Dolores Peterson, seconded by Michael Harnetty, moved to appoint Robert Lindblom and Bruce Swenson as temporary, Seasonal Maintenance Workers for the 2007-08 snow plowing season. The motion passed unanimously. DISCUSSION OF BONESTROO ENGINEERING PERFORMANCE REVIEW A request for a performance review was recently received from Bonestroo Engineering. It was th agreed to have council forward comments to Administrator Hurlburt by December 18. A sub- committee to include Mayor Seefeldt, Councilmember Harnetty and Administrator Hurlburt will schedule a meeting with City Engineer Tom Peterson and Bonestroo supervisors to review this evaluation. Pete Crum, seconded by Dolores Peterson, authorized staff to schedule a performance review meeting with Bonestroo Engineering and to appoint a sub-committee of Mayor Seefeldt, Councilmember Harnetty and Administrator Hurlburt for this purpose. The motion passed unanimously. BUILDING OFFICIAL REPORTS Councilmember Yehle recommended that Building/Code Enforcement Official Steve Thorp provide a monthly update on issues in this department on a regular basis at the monthly council meetings. Councilmember Yehle felt that it may not be necessary for Mr. Thorp to be in attendance at each meeting, rather on an as-needed basis. Consensus of the council agreed on having Mr. Thorp provide a monthly update report. The Planning Commission meeting was called to order at 7:48 p.m. The following were in attendance: Commission Chair Chris Ness, Commissioners James Malmquist and Peter Schwarz. Absent: Commissioners Christine Maefsky and Kevin Nickelson. AMENDMENT TO DEVELOPMENT CODE, SHORELAND MANAGEMENT REGULATIONS – ORDINANCE NO. 107 Following review of the draft ordinance of the new Chapter 5 of the Scandia Development Code, Shoreland Management Regulations, at the October Planning Commission meeting, copies of the draft were sent to DNR staff, the Washington Conservation District and the city’s three watershed districts for comments. The transition from the County Ordinance to the City’s may be viewed as a “housekeeping” amendment and no substantive changes are necessary at this time. After the updated Comprehensive Plan is completed in 2008, the entire Development Code should be reviewed and amended. Administrator Hurlburt reported on the issues that DNR staff relayed concerning the draft ordinance. The definition of shoreland currently in place had not been approved by the DNR, and a change in the language is necessary. The revised definition December 4, 2007 Scandia City Council Page 4 includes “all land within 1,000 feet of the normal high watermark of a lake, pond or flowage, and land within 300 feet of a river or stream”. Without this change, the ordinance will not be acceptable to the DNR. The DNR has also recommended that additional requirements be placed on Open Space Conservation Subdivisions that fall within the shoreland. The following language was added to Section 6.1(4) to meet these two requirements: 1) at least 70 percent of the land area within the shore impact zone shall be maintained in its natural state and preserved as permanent open space; and 2) any shore recreation facilities, including but not limited to swimming areas, docks, watercraft mooring areas and boat ramps shall be centralized and owned in common by all residents of the development. Comments received from the Carnelian- Marine-St. Croix Watershed suggested more substantive changes which can be looked into after the Comprehensive Plan is adopted. Commissioner Malmquist questioned the inclusion of spring creeks as shoreland. Administrator Hurlburt stated that this would be beyond what the DNR requires and the consequences of including spring creeks needs to be thoroughly studied. th Chairman Ness opened the public hearing. Mike White, 13310 188 Street, felt that the Ordinance is acceptable and had no problems with it. As there were no other comments, Chairman Ness closed the hearing to the public. City Attorney Dave Hebert referred to Section 7-1, Tributary Stream Standards, and suggested that the minimum lot width standard be changed from 250 feet to 300 feet to remain consistent with the current lot widths for single family residential developments on Natural Environment Lakes. Consensus agreed that this would simplify the standards. The only water body classified as such is Falls Creek located on the Roger Bergman property. Commissioner Malmquist questioned if the weather situation on this night may have kept people from attending the hearing. Administrator Hurlburt felt that would be doubtful, as she received few inquiries or concerns from residents on this issue. The Planning Commission voted to recommend approval of draft Ordinance 107, Shoreland Management Regulations, with a change in the lot width standard to 300 feet in Section 7-1, Tributary Stream Standards. Dolores Peterson, seconded by Pete Crum, moved to accept the recommendation of the Planning Commission to approve Ordinance 107, Adopting a New Chapter 5 of the Development Code of the City of Scandia and Pertaining to Shoreland Management Regulations, as amended. The motion passed unanimously. December 4, 2007 Scandia City Council Page 5 REPORT ON CONSERVATION EASEMENTS AND OPTIONS FOR FUTURE MANAGEMENT – MINNESOTA LAND TRUST Last spring, Mayor Seefeldt and Planning Commissioners Malmquist and Maefsky met with a representative of the Minnesota Land Trust to determine if they could provide assistance with management of the six existing conservation easements currently held by the City of Scandia. A report from the Land Trust was recently submitted outlining several management options. The report was discussed and it was agreed that Option Three, creating an in-house management program, should be further studied. Administrator Hurlburt will refer this to Building Official Steve Thorp for his review and get a realistic idea of what he can do and in what areas he needs training. The hours and consulting expenses can then be further determined. Commissioner Malmquist felt that the Land Trust’s ability to train volunteers in the community to assist with the monitoring of the easements could be a practical approach. The Planning Commission recommended the City Council direct staff to develop a cost estimate of proceeding with Option Three for the monitoring of Conservation Easements. Dennis Seefeldt, seconded by Dolores Peterson, moved to approve the recommendation of the Planning Commission to authorize staff to proceed with developing a cost estimate for Option Three for the monitoring of Conservation Easements. The motion passed unanimously. RESCHEDULE THE JANUARY 1, 2008 PLANNING COMMISSION / CITY COUNCIL MEETING The first Tuesday of January, 2008 falls on New Years Day and must be rescheduled. Alternate dates were suggested. It was decided to reschedule the date of the Planning Commission / City Council meeting to January 8, 2008. Dolores Peterson, seconded by Donnette Yehle, moved to adjourn the meeting. The meeting adjourned at 8:30 p.m. Respectfully submitted, Brenda Eklund Deputy Clerk