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1997-04-15 Council minutesPage No. 1 April 15, 1997 CITY OF MENDOTA HEIGHTS DAKOTA COUNTY STATE OF MINNESOTA Minutes of the Regular Meeting Held Tuesday, April 15, 1997 Pursuant to due call and notice thereof, the regular meeting of the City Council, City of 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 Koch, Krebsbach and Smith. Councilmember Huber had notified the Council that he would be absent. AGENDA ADOPTION Councilmember Krebsbach moved adoption of the revised agenda for the meeting, amended to remove item 8b, McNeill site acquisition, from the agenda. Councilmember Smith seconded the motion. Ayes: 4 Nays: 0 APPROVAL OF MINUTES Councilmember Krebsbach moved approval of the minutes of the April 1, 1997 regular meeting as amended. Councilmember Koch seconded the motion. Ayes: 4 Nays: 0 CONSENT CALENDAR Councilmember Smith 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 April 8, 1997 Parks and Recreation Commission meeting.. b. Acknowledgment of the Treasurer's monthly report for March. c. Acknowledgment of the unapproved minutes of the February 5, 1997 NDC -4 full commission meeting. d. Acknowledgment, with appreciation, of a $200 contribution from Thompson Lightning Protection and direction to staff to place the contribution in the Special Police Fund. Page No. 2 April 15, 1997 e. Direction to staff to prepare a Request for Proposals for ordinance recodification. f. Adoption of Resolution No. 97 -14, "A RESOLUTION ADOPTING DAKOTA COUNTY ORDINANCE NO. 113 INDIVIDUAL SEWAGE TREATMENTS SYSTEMS (ISTS)," along with direction to staff to do a follow -up on inspection costs. g. Acceptance of the Premium Refund Option for Worker's Compensation renewal. h. Approval of the list of contractor licenses dated April 15, 1997 and attached hereto. i. Approval of the List of Claims dated April 15, 1997 and totaling $303,910.81. Councilmember Koch seconded the motion. Ayes: 4 Nays: 0 SIBLEY HIGH SCHOOL Council acknowledged a letter from the school district requesting council support for their request to remove several fire pull stations at the Henry Sibley High School. Council also acknowledged an associated report and proposed resolution from Fire Marshal Kaiser. Assistant Superintendent Lois Rockney and Fire Chief Maczko was present for the discussion. Chief Maczko explained the request, stating that the pull stations were originally required at each exit when the building was constructed. A new fire code will be adopted soon and will remove the requirement if the building is fully sprinkled and has a smoke alarm system, as does Sibley High. The school district is concerned about the number of false activations of the system and requested a variance through the state fire code division to remove a number of stations, but that requires the city to adopt a resolution endorsing the district's request. Chief Maczko stated that since the building is very well protected, the pull stations are redundant and could endanger people. Councilmember Krebsbach asked what kind of alarm system there is in the building that would alert people of incidents that might occur which would require evacuation of the building. Page No. 3 April 15, 1997 Ms. Rockney responded that the school has a public address system, so there are ways to evacuate the building should an emergency occur. She stated that there will still be pull stations in the office area and other areas of the building, so if a teacher or custodian felt the need to pull an alarm, they could. Also, teachers in every room can contact the office immediately if there is a need. Mayor Mertensotto stated that he realizes that the Fire Marshal is responsible for ensuring compliance with the Fire Code in Mendota Heights, but felt that the city's resolution should endorse the school district's request to the state rather than resolving that the stations be removed. He further stated that he does not believe it would be in the city's best interest to authorize removal of the pull stations and suggested that the resolution be amended to endorse the school district's decision. Councilmember Krebsbach stated that she would like it to be on record that the district does have the ability to evacuate the school and asked that the school district provide specifics to the city. Action on the request was tabled to May 6. REVIEW BOARD Council acknowledged a memo from Treasurer Shaughnessy and a report from the Dakota County Assessor's office regarding the status of review and responses to property owners who expressed valuation concerns by letter or in person at the Review Board. Mayor Mertensotto stated that the does not like the idea that the CAMA system bases the valuation of homes in the entire city on 160 home sales in 1996 and then gives a 3.4% adjustment to all properties in the city. He pointed out that there are many senior citizens in the community who are on fixed income, and he appealed to the legislature to make changes in the property tax system. Councilmember Krebsbach stated that at least two of the people who spoke at the Review Board meeting were in their thirties. She pointed out that there is a concern by others in addition to seniors that the sale of other properties is the basis for valuation increases. Treasurer Shaughnessy responded that the tax value of homes has been increasing about 5% a year, yet at the same time the city has been reducing the tax capacity by about 5% each year, so the city share of property tax has no impact. Page No. 4 April 15, 1997 Mayor Mertensotto stated that he is concerned about people who have lived in the city for many years and have not modernized their homes yet their values keep increasing. He felt that CAMA is a very unfair system. He also stated that the assessor's office should provide Council with a summary schedule on all of the properties that were reviewed. Councilmember Smith moved that the Board of Review be closed. Councilmember Koch seconded the motion. Ayes: 4 Nays: 0 Councilmember Koch moved approval of the minutes of the April 1, 1997 Board of Review meeting, with the condition that the Assessor's Office provide the city with a full report on its responses to concerns expressed by Mendota Heights property owners. Councilmember Krebsbach seconded the motion. Ayes: 3 Nays: 0 Abstain: Smith COMPREHENSIVE PLAN Council acknowledged a memo from Public Works Director Danielson and proposed Request for Proposals for planning services in connection with the Comprehensive Plan update. Administrator Batchelder reviewed the memo and responded to Council questions. Councilmember Smith moved to approve the RFP and authorize staff to send copies to the firms recommended in the memo from the Public Works Director's memo. Councilmember Koch seconded the motion. Ayes: 4 Nays: 0 COUNCIL WORKSHOP Council acknowledged a memo from Administrator Batchelder regarding the Council's annual target issues /goal setting workshop. Councilmember Krebsbach moved to schedule the City Council workshop for its annual target issues /goal setting session for 8:00 a.m. on Saturday, May 3. Councilmember Koch seconded the motion. Ayes: 4 Nays: 0 Page No. 5 April 15, 1997 ADJOURN There being no further business to come before the Council, Councilmember Koch moved that the meeting be adjourned to closed session for discussion on labor negotiations and fuuther adjournment to the joint Council/Planning Commission workshop on telecommunication towers scheduled for April 19 at 8:00 a.m. Councilmember Smith seconded the motion. Ayes: 4 Nays: 0 TIME OF ADJOURNMENT: 8:37 o'clock P.M. athleen M. Swanson City Clerk ATTEST: Charles E. Mertensotto Mayor LIST OF CONTRACTORS TO BE APPROVED BY CITY COUNCIL Asphalt Contractor License Northwest Asphalt, Inc. Gas Piping Contractor License Fireplace Specialist Gilbert Mechanical Contractors, Inc. Red Rock Heating & Sheetmetal Inc. Southtown Plumbing, Inc. HVAC Contractor License Krinkie Heating & A/C Red Rock Heating & Sheetmetal Inc. General Contractor License Mulcahy, Inc. Performance Pool & Spa Sumco, Inc. Stern Drywall Inc.