1987-11-10 Special Council mtg minutesCITY OF MENDOTA HEIGHTS
DAKOTA COUNTY
STATE OF MINNESOTA
Minutes of Special Meeting
Held Tuesday, November 10, 1987
Pursuant to due call and notice thereof, the special meeting of the City
Council, City of Mendota Heights, was held at 5:00 o'clock P.M. at City
Hall, South Plaza Drive, Mendota Heights, Minnesota.
Mayor Mertensotto called the meeting to order at 5:08 o'clock P.M. The
following members were present: Mayor Mertensotto, Councilmembers Blesener,
Cummins, Hartmann and Witt.
Mayor Mertensotto began by indicating that he thought it would be
inappropriate for the Council to vote on item 7, Discussion of potential
offer to School District 197 regarding development of Henry Sibley athletic
complex. Mertensotto said that the meeting had been called as a special
meeting for the awarding of the City Hall bid, and he thought that the
Council should not take action on other items, however, he indicated that he
was not opposed to discussing the issue.
AGENDA ADOPTION Mayor Mertensotto moved adoption of the agenda.
Councilmember Witt seconded the motion.
Ayes: 5
Nays: 0
CITY HALL BID AWARD
Architect Bob Pierce gave a recap of the bids that
had been submitted to the Council on Tuesday,
November 3, along with a recommendation on the low
bids.
The Council and Architect had general discussion
about the alternatives that would be desired. It
was indicated that there was consensus under the
general contract to award alternates 1 for the
canopy and soffit and alternate 2 for soffits, on
the mechanical bid to award the alternate for the
lawn sprinkler, and on the electrical bid to award
the alternates for the canopy lighting and site
lighting.
City Treasurer, Larry Shaughnessy, then gave some
comments on the two financing proposals submitted
by Juran & Moody, and Dougherty, Dawkins. Each
proposal was for financing $1.5 million, and
Shaughnessy went over his handouts explaining that
the total cost of the Juran & Moody proposal would
be $2,694,156.25 over the 16 year life of the
arrangement, while the Dougherty, Dawkins proposal
would cost $2,760,915.60. The net interest rate
Ayes: 5
Nays: 0
for the two proposals was 7.914% and 8.56%
respectfully.
Mayor Mertensotto explained to those in the
audience that the City is financing construction of
the new City Hall through a lease financing
arrangement, and not a general obligation bond
issue.
Steve Fenlon of Juran & Moody explaining that under
their proposal the City takes title to the
property, and that Juran and Moody has a mortgage
interest against the property with a ground lease.
The City satisfies the end of the lease purchase
arrangement with a $1.00 payment.
Larry Helmin from Dougherty, Dawkins indicated that
their proposal included a private placement of the
lease financing, rather than a certificate of
participation as proposed by Juran & Moody. He
indicated that this would provide the City with an
alternative pay back option. Treasurer Shaughnessy
said that he recommended the Juran and Moody
proposal, which provided the option to refund the
bonds after nine years.
City Administrator Frazell informed the Council
that he had been contacted by a representative of
the Electrical Worker's Union during the day, who
expressed dismay that the City was awarding the
electrical contract to a out of town non union
contractor, however, Frazell indicated that there
was no legal basis for the City to reject the
lowest responsible bid of Thomas Electric.
Councilmember Cummins moved to award the general
construction contract to the firm of Joseph,
Incorporated for a base bid amount of $1,026,000,
plus alternate 1 for canopy and lighting in the
amount $21,000 and alternate 2 for soffit in the
amount of $7,000, to award the mechanical contract
to award Doody Mechanical, Incorporated for a base
amount of $278,869 plus alternate 1 for a lawn
sprinkling system in the amount of $8,578, and to
award the bid for electrical construction to Thomas
Electric in the base bid amount of $144,900 plus
alternate 1 for canopy lighting of $990 plus
alternate 2 for site lighting for $6,690.
Councilmember Hartmann second the motion.
Councilmember Blesener moved to accept the proposal
of Juran & Moody for lease purchase financing for
Ayes: 5
Nays: 0
AGREEMENT WITH
EUGENE LANGE TO
SERVE AS CITY HALL
PROJECT MANAGER
DISCUSSION OF
POTENTIAL OFFER TO
SCHOOL DISTRICT 197
REGARDING DEVELOPMENT
OF HENRY SIBLEY
ATHLETIC COMPLEX
the City Hall, and to direct the City's Bond
Counsel, Briggs and Morgan, to prepare the
necessary legal documents for execution of the
agreement.
Councilmember Witt seconded the motion.
Council considered the proposal and recommendation
of staff to hire Eugene Lange to serve as City
Hall Project Manager. Architect Bob Pierce
indicated that since City staff does not have the
time to closely supervise the project, he strongly
concurred that it would be good to have Mr. Lange
as the City's representative. Mayor Mertensotto
raised a question about the agreement which
provided for independent contractor Lange to
provide his own worker's compensation coverage. He
questioned if it wouldn't be more cost effective to
simply add Lange to the City's insurance policy.
Council indicated its concensus to hire Eugene
Lange as City Hall Project Manager at the hourly
rate of $20.00 and mileage reimbursement at the
rate of 20.5 cents per mile, and further to direct
staff to research the issue of how best the
worker's compensation coverage should be handled.
Council discussed the latest proposal which had
been prepared by the City Attorney at the direction
of the negotiation subcommittee for a potential
arrangement for the construction of the athletic
complex near the Henry Sibley campus.
Mayor Mertensotto said that the City was going to
have to deal with development plans in the
Southeast area in the very near future, and he felt
strongly that the City should reserve land for a
sports complex in that area. He indicated that if
that does not work, the City can always go back to
the School District at a later date, therefore, he
recommended that the school option be put on hold
for the time being.
Councilmember Witt said that she felt strongly that
the Council should not lose track of the school
site. She felt that is was a very wise use of tax
payers dollars and a good way to provide an
athletic complex for both the Henry Sibley students
and the residents of the community. Witt said that
she did not like going to the voters to ask for a
higher amount on a referendum to acquire the
property in the Southeast area and she thought that
the Sibley site would serve the community well.
Councilmember Hartmann indicated that he was
concerned that the size of the Sibley Athletic
Complex would be only 10 acres, without a permanent
provision for parking. He felt that a community
athletic complex should have more acreage, and
therefore indicated that he was in favor of
pursuing the site in the Southeast area of the
City, and not sending the latest offer to the
school board.
Councilmember Blesener said that she thought that
the school site could be sold to the community for
a bond referendum, but that a referendum on the
Southeast area site could prove unsuccessful, since
it would be more costly. She said that she did not
agree it would be a good idea to think the City
could come back to the school district site after
the Southeast area site had been rejected by the
voters, as the school district site might then fail
as well. Blesener added she thought it was prudent
to make use of the school district's existing
parking lot at Henry Sibley rather than build
another one, and indicated that she thought the
latest proposal to be considered by the Council
backed off to what is a very simplified business
relationship.
Mayor Mertensotto responded that the City and
School District had not been able to reach an
agreement yet, and he was not optimistic that a
mutually acceptable agreement could me reached in
the near future.
Councilmember Cummins said that he had worked on
the committee for a couple of months trying to work
something out. He added that he thought it was
important that the Council be unanimous on the
site, and since the latest offer was apparently not
acceptable to the Mayor or Councilmember Hartmann,
he thought that the City should move forward on the
Southeast area site. He indicated that he thought
that it would be difficult to pass a referendum
with a divided Council, and therefore was in favor
of the Riley site. Cummins added that if that
referendum fails, the City can always go back to
the District as a backup alternative. Cummins said
that no one had called him opposing the Riley site,
but that he had had several calls in opposition to
the school district site. Councilmembers Witt and
Blesener indicated that their calls had run just
the opposite. City Administrator Frazell was
directed to convey to school officials that there
was not a majority concensus on the Council to
forward another proposal to them.
1
ATTEST:
Charles E. Mertensotto
Mayor
Architect Bob Pierce spoke again, indicating that
the general contractor wanted to get started on the
City Hall excavation as quickly as possible. It
was agreed that the City Clerk could provide the
contractor with a certification of the action taken
by the Council, pending the preparation and signing
of the actual legal documents.
There being no further business to come before the
Council, Councilmember Hartmann moved that
the meeting be adjourned.
Councilmember Witt seconded the motion.
TIME OF ADJOURNMENT: 6:59 P.M.
Kevin D. Frazell
City Administrator