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2000-01-04 City Council minutesPage No. 1 January 4, 2000 CITY OF MENDOTA HEIGHTS DAKOTA COUNTY STATE OF MINNESOTA Minutes of the Regular Meeting Held Tuesday, January 4, 2000 Pursuant to due call and notice thereof, the regular meeting of the City Council, City of Mendota Heights, Minnesota was held at 7:30 o'clock p.m. at City Hall, 1101 Victoria Curve, Mendota Heights, Minnesota. Mayor Mertensotto called the meeting to order at 7:30 o'clock P.M. The following members were present: Mayor Mertensotto, Councilmembers Dwyer, Huber, Krebsbach and Schneeman. AGENDA ADOPTION Councilmember Schneeman moved adoption of the revised agenda for the meeting. Councilmember Krebsbach seconded the motion. Ayes: 5 Nays: 0 CONSENT CALENDAR Councilmember Krebsbach moved approval of the consent calendar for the meeting, along with authorization for execution of any necessary documents contained therein. a. Acknowledgment of the minutes of the Building Activity Report for December, 1999. b. Authorization for the probationary appointment of Eric Petersen, Tanner Spicer and Todd Rosse as Mendota Heights Police Officers with employment start dates of 1/18/200, 1/19/200 and 1/20/2000 respectively. c. Authorization for the purchase of three Ford Crown Victoria squad cars from Superior Ford for a total price $62,685.00. d. Authorization for the payment of 2000 dues to the Association of Metropolitan Municipalities in the amount of $3,319. e. Adoption of Resolution No. 00 -01, "RESOLUTION ESTABLISHING 2000 CITY DEPOSITORIES OF FUNDS." f. Adoption of Resolution No. 00 -02, "RESOLUTION ACCEPTING PLEDGED SECURITIES FOR 2000." Page No. 2 January 4, 2000 g. Adoption of Resolution No. 00 -03, "A RESOLUTION APPROVING A CONDITIONAL USE PERMIT AND VARIANCES FOR A DETACHED GARAGE." (Planning case No. 99 -36, Salmen.) h. Approval of the list of contractor licenses dated January 4, 2000. i. Approval of the List of Claims dated January 4, 2000 and totaling $778,853.39. j. Acknowledgment of the minutes of the unapproved minutes of the December 1, 1999 NDC 4 meeting and the agenda of the January 5, 2000 NDC4 meeting. Councilmember Huber seconded the motion. Ayes: 5 Nays: 0 EMPLOYEE RECOGNITION On behalf of the City Council, Mayor Mertensotto presented plaques to the following city employees in recognition of their years of service and dedication to the community: Public Works Superintendent Tom Olund, 25 years; Public Works Director Jim Danielson, 20 years; Code Enforcement Officer Paul Berg, 20 years; Firefighter Ted Husnik, 20 years; Fire Captain Jamie Lerbs, 20 years; Firefighter Randy McNamara, 15 years; Firefighter Tim Oster, 10 years; Firefighter Tom Shields, 10 years; Custodian Lambert Derks, 10 years; and City Administrator Kevin Batchelder, 10 years. ACTING MAYOR Council acknowledged a memo from Administrator Batchelder regarding appointment of an Acting Mayor for 2000. Mayor Mertensotto recommended that Councilmember Huber be appointed as Acting Mayor for 2000 and expressed his appreciation to Councilmember Krebsbach for service as Acting Mayor during 1999. Councilmember Krebsbach moved to appoint Councilmember Huber to serve as the Acting Mayor during any absences of the Mayor in the year 2000. Councilmember Schneeman seconded the motion. Ayes: 5 Nays: 0 OFFICIAL NEWSPAPER Council acknowledged a memo from the City Clerk regarding designation of an official city newspaper for 2000. Council Ayes: 5 Nays: 0 Page No. 3 January 4, 2000 acknowledged letters of request from Lillie Suburban News (Southwest Review) and from Minnesota Sun Publications. Councilmember Schneeman moved to designate the Southwest Review as the city's official newspaper for the year 2000. Councilmember Huber seconded the motion. Staff was directed to also publish notice on items of community wide interest in the Sun Newspaper as well as the Southwest Review. CDBG BOARD Council acknowledged a memo from Administrator Batchelder regarding the annual appointment of a city representative on the Dakota County HRA's CDBG Review Board. Councilmember Schneeman moved to reappointment Councilmember Dwyer to serve as the city's representative of the CDBG Review Board for 2000. Councilmember Huber seconded the motion. Ayes: 5 Nays: 0 i NDC -4 ISSUES Council acknowledged a memo from Assistant Hollister regarding a request from NDC4 for city support NDC4 in its opposition to proposed legislation that would consolidate local cable television franchises and franchise fees under state control. Council also acknowledged a draft of the cable franchise renewal ordinance for review and comment. Mayor Mertensotto stated that the draft ordinance is far more detailed than the original ordinance and he would like to have a copy the original ordinance to make comparisons for substantive changes. Councilmember Schneeman agreed, stated that the draft ordinance is very technical, and difficult and that she would like additional time to review it. Councilmember Huber informed Council that there are three months remaining before the existing franchise agreement expires and the commission wanted to get the draft out now to allow the member City Councils time to review and comment on it. Mayor Mertensotto stated that the ordinance is non - exclusive as far as the franchise is concerned but the franchisee has certain rights as Page No. 4 January 4, 2000 far as competitors. He would like to look at that portion of the agreement to be sure it is not overly restrictive. He asked if there has been a resolution regarding West St. Paul's withdrawal. Councilmember Huber responded that West St. Paul is looking for a larger share of the franchise fees. Currently the cities receive 15% of the franchise fees. The commission is negotiating with West St. Paul and the assumption is that West St. Paul will continue in the commission. Mayor Mertensotto responded that franchise fees are pass through fees from the subscribers and everyone knows that the non - profit corporation that runs the government channels must have a revenue stream. He further stated that Council has received a request from NDC4 for support in opposing new legislation that would consolidate franchise fees under state control. Most of the fees now go back to support the non - profit. Councilmember Huber stated that three or four cities have completed franchise renewals over the past couple of years and NDC 4 that the agreement the commission reaches with Media One is at least as good as the agreements reached by those cities. Mayor Mertensotto suggested that Council acknowledge receipt of the draft ordinance and table further discussion until Council receives the original ordinance for comparison purposes and until there is a proposal with regard to distribution of the franchise fees. Councilmember Huber responded that he will ask the commission staff to distribute copies of the original ordinance to Council. With respect to the proposed legislation, he sated that Senator Steve Kelly's proposal is to take the franchise fees and funnel them to the state rather than to the municipalities, as is currently the case. He did not believe that is appropriate and recommended that Council adopt a resolution proposing the legislation. Councilmember Krebsbach informed Council that she is a member of a League of Minnesota Cities task force that deals with telecommunications issues. The fees would go to the state and the cities would have to apply for distribution of those funds. While she felt the intended public purpose is good, it is a big change. She stated that if Council opposes the legislation, it should inform the League. Page No. 5 January 4, 2000 Mayor Mertensotto stated that he is always reluctant to adopt uniform documents that are prepared by someone else. He would rather that the city prepare and adopt its own resolution. Staff was directed to prepare a resolution for consideration at the next City Council meeting. Councilmember Krebsbach stated that Senator Kelley came to the League task force meeting and said that he was interested in receiving input. She further stated that while there is always a window of opportunity for input, the window will close. Councilmember Dwyer felt that the state panel is missing the mark on the proposed legislation. Councilmember Schneeman stated that Council does not want the money to go back to the state and then have to apply for it. GOAL SETTING Mayor Mertensotto stated that 1999 was one of the first years where Council did not conduct a goal setting session in order to give staff direction on programs to work on during the year. He recommended that Council set a goal setting workshop during January. Councilmember Schneeman moved that Council conduct a goal setting workshop on Saturday, January 22, at 8:00 a.m. in the lower level conference room at City Hall. Councilmember Huber seconded the motion. Ayes: 5 Nays: 0 ADJOURN There being no further business to come before Council, Councilmember Huber moved that the meeting be adjourned. Councilmember Schneeman seconded the motion. Ayes: 5 Nays: 0 TIME OF ADJOURNMENT: 8:08 p.m. Kathleen M. Swanson City Clerk ATTEST: Charles E. Mertensotto Mayor