Loading...
2007-01-02 City Council minutesPursuant to due call Heights, Minnesota Heights, Minnesota. OATH OF OFFICE CALL TO ORDER January 2, 2007 Page 1 CITY OF MENDOTA HEIGHTS DAKOTA COUNTY STATE OF MINNESOTA Minutes of the Regular Meeting Held Tuesday, January 2, 2007 and notice thereof, the regular meeting of the City Council, City of Mendota was held at 7:30 o'clock p.m. at City Hall, 1101 Victoria Curve, Mendota PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE AGENDA ADOPTION Ayes: 5 Nays: 0 APPROVAL OF MINUTES Ayes: 5 Nays: 0 CONSENT CALENDAR Administrator Danielson administered the Oath of Office to Mayor John J. Huber, who was re- elected on November 7, 2006 to a two -year term of office, and to Councilmembers Ultan Duggan and Mary Jeanne Schneeman, who were re- elected to four -year terms of office. Mayor Huber called the meeting to order at 7:30 p.m. The following members were present: Mayor Huber, Councilmembers Duggan, Krebsbach, Schneeman and Vitelli. Council, the audience and staff recited the Pledge of Allegiance. Councilmember Duggan moved adoption of the agenda as presented. Councilmember Schneeman seconded the motion. Councihnember Duggan moved to approve the minutes of the December 19, 2006 City Council meeting minutes as presented. Councilmember Krebsbach seconded the motion. Councilmember Duggan moved approval of the consent calendar for the meeting as revised with the removal of item 6.a and 6.f, along with authorization for execution of any necessary documents contained therein. b. c. Authorization for Execution of 2007 Joint Powers Agreement for Traffic Markings, Street Sweeping, Crack Sealing and Seal Coating. Authorization for Joint Pandemic Grant Application. Approval of the Public Works Labor Contract. Ayes: 5 Nays: 0 ITEMS PULLED FOR DISCUSSION Ayes: 5 Nays: 0 Ayes: 5 Nays: 0 SERVICE AWARDS January 2, 2007 Page 2 d. Approval of Citizen-Assisted Lake Monitoring Program. e. Adoption of Resolution No. 07-01: "A RESOLUTION RE-APPOINTING ADVISORY COMMISSIONERS". f. Adoption of Resolution No. 07-02: "A RESOLUTION ACCEPTING PLEDGED SECURITIES FOR 2007 Adoption of Resolution No. 07-03: "RESOLUTION ESTABLISHING 2007 CITY DEPOSITORIES OF FUNDS." h. Approval of the List of Contractors. Approval of List of Claims dated January 2, 2007 and totaling $1,410,411.89. Councilmember Schneeman seconded the motion. g. Item #6.a.: Councilmember Duggan said the community is about 98% developed and valuations of property have doubled in one year. Councilmember Duggan congratulated staff and the city for keeping in the black. Councilmember Duggan moved approval of the Building Activity Report for 2006 as presented. Councilmember Krebsbach seconded the motion. Item #6.f.: City Engineer Sue McDermott reviewed the revised Snow Plowing Policy, indicating that there have been routes added and newspaper notification process in place. Councilmember Duggan moved adoption of the revised Snow Plowing Policy as presented. Councilmember Krebsbach seconded the motion. Mayor Huber presented recognition certificates to the following employees for their dedication and service to the City: 5 Year Awards Teresa Gangelhoff, Recreation Programmer Jennifer Fordham, School Resource Officer Patrick Noack, Firefighter Steve Boley, Firefighter 10 Year Awards Scott Henning, Captain Fire Depannent John Larrive, Police Sergeant APPOINTMENT OF ACTING MAYOR Ayes: 5 Nays: 0 DESIGNATION OF OFFICIAL NEWSPAPER Ayes: 5 Nays: 0 January 2, 2007 Page 3 Robert Lambert, Police Officer 25 Year Awards Guy Kullander, City Operations and Projects Coordinator John Lapakko, Fire Department Mario Reyes, Police Department — Investigator 30 Year Awards Terry Blum, Public Works Park Leadperson 35 Year Awards Fire Chief Maczko made a special presentation to Firefighter Marc Connolly who retired from the Mendota Heights Fire Department, effective December 31, 2006. Those employees who will be receiving their certificates as they were not in attendance at the meeting are as follows: Richard Gapinski, Firefighter (5 years) Jeff VonFeldt, Police Officer (5 years) Chad Willson, Police Officer (5 years) John Boland, Public Works Department (15 years) Tom Knuth, Senior Engineering Tech (25 years) George Noack, Maintenance Department (30 years) State statutes requires the appointment of a Council Member to serve as Acting Mayor during any absences of the Mayor in the coming year. Councilmember Schneeman moved to appoint Councilmember Krebsbach to serve as the 2007 Acting Mayor, and Councilmember Ultan Duggan to serve as the 2008 Acting Mayor for the City of Mendota Heights. Councilmember Vitelli seconded the motion. State statutes requires that the City Council designate a local newspaper to serve as the Official City Newspaper for the upcoming year. Councilmember Duggan moved to designate the South -West Review as the city's official newspaper for 2007. Councilmember Vitelli seconded the motion. ROGERS LAKE REPORT LILYDALE EAW January 2, 2007 Page 4 During the summer of 2005, Rogers Lake experienced an overabundance of aquatic plant growth. Doug Hennes, a resident on Rogers Lake, received support from property owners to hire Steve McComas of Blue Water Science to complete lake monitoring and aquatic plant inventory. The City Council also partnered in this effort by committing $2,000 towards the monitoring and reporting. Mr. McComas gave a presentation on his findings and made the following recommendations on plant management: • If plant management is considered, a mechanical harvester is recommended because it will pick up the plant material. This material is then moved to a nearby location for drying and further disposal. A mechanical harvester could be contracted to create navigational channels to allow boating and fishing. The estimated cost of hiring the harvester for a single day is about $1,000. Blue Water Science would be able to provide this service. • Plant control with herbicides would cost about $700 for the area along the eastern shoreline of South Rogers. • Lake residents are allowed to remove excessive aquatic plant growth themselves. Up to 2,500 square feet of plants can be cut or raked out of the lake without a permit. Councilmember Duggan gave a presentation regarding concerns, comments and questions that he identified in going through the EAW. Councilmember Duggan's comments included (but are not limited to) needing more back -up documentation for several claims made, questions on the status of project approvals, and ensuring that measures to protect the bluff and control stolin water are implemented. Councilmember Krebsbach said she is concerned about the bluff and that the residents of Mendota Heights have worked hard to protect the bluff. Councilmember Krebsbach said Lilydale has been a much more urban style development which started in the 1970's and is a beautiful city, but she thinks that the three communities are at a very pivotal point where the bluff will either be protected or become an urban area. Councilmember Krebsbach said she is concerned that if Lilydale and Mendota both keep developing the bluff areas in their communities, then perhaps Mendota Heights is holding their residents to higher standards than anyone else January 2, 2007 Page 5 and may be unfairly forcing residents to comply with those standards. Councilmember Krebsbach is also concerned about the environment and the proposed underground garage parking in the proposed development, the height of the building, and the ability of the developer to follow through on the restoration of the land as he has done a terrible job in another development in Mendota Heights where he had to shore up the ground and there was no completion of landscaping. Councilmember Schneeman said it is important to keep in mind that this EAW was prepared for Lilydale and all comments need to be passed along to them. Councihmember Vitelli said he does not understand what authority Mendota Heights has on this, and in some cases they may have some leverage with this proposed development as Lilydale has been asking for extension of the water mains. City Attorney Tami Diehm said the only real ability the City has is to send comments to the RGU, which is the responsible governmental unit, as an interested party. The RGU will also be gathering comments from many other groups. Mendota Heights does not have any authority to make any changes and force Lilydale to make those changes. Councilmember Duggan introduced Barb Lowe, who had sued the City of Lilydale and requested the EAW be perfoinied. Ms. Lowe said the City of Mendota Heights does have control over the access to the city water connection which the developer has requested be extended to the construction site. Ms. Lowe talked about the Indian burial mounds and some endangered species of wildlife in the river area. Jerry Steinke, a long temu resident of Mendota Heights and environmentalist, talked about the energy plant across the street from the proposed project and expressed his concerns for safety. Councilmember Vitelli said the City has a lot of leverage with Police, Fire, and Water services. COMMISSION APPOINTMENTS ADJOURN Ayes: 5 Nays: 0 January 2, 2007 Page 6 Administator Danielson informed the audience that the city's Commission appointments run through January 31 of each year. This year there will be five (5) vacancies to be filled. Announcements for Commission vacancies have been advertised in the Height's Highlights, the South -West Review, and the Sun Current newspapers. He recommended that Council schedule interviews of commission candidates for January 16 beginning at 5:30 pm at City Hall. There being no further business to come before Councilmember Duggan moved to adjourn to 5:30 p.m. on January 16 for commission interviews. Councilmember Schneernan seconded the motion. Time of Adjournment: 7:55 p.m. Rebecca Shaf Recording Secretary