City Council

September 8, 2011 CITY COUNCIL AGENDA Monday, September 12, 2011 5:30 p.m. Council Chambers, 315 N. Broadway 1. Call to Order 2. Agenda Additions or Deletions 3. Approval of Minutes – 8/30/11 4. Approval of Accounts Payable Listing 5. Utility Superintendent Report 6. Library Report 7. Police Chief Report • Traffic Signs 8. Street/Park Superintendent Report 9. Financial Report 10. Public Hearing – Proposed Prj. No. 78 – 6:00 p.m. 11. AP Wireless Proposal 12. Fire Department Donation Letter and Grant Application Approval 13. Set 2012 Preliminary Budget and Levy 14. Engineering Request for Qualifications 15. Resolutions for Prj. No. 77 Assessment Hearing  CITY OF PELICAN RAPIDS COUNCIL MEETING MINUTES – 09-12-11 The City Council of Pelican Rapids met in regular session at 5:30 p.m., on Monday, 09-12-11, in Council Chambers, City Hall. Mayor Ben Woessner, Council Members James Strand, Steve Foster, Kevin Ballard and John Waller, III, were present. No one was absent. Administrator Don Solga, Clerk-Treasurer Glenys Ehlert, Police Chief Jeff Stadum, Street and Park Superintendent Brian Olson, Utilities Superintendent Brent E. Frazier, Library Director Annie Wrigg, City Engineer Bob Schlieman, Ulteig Engineers, David Gottenborg, Phil Stotesbery, Robert Erickson, Vickie Bittner, Dean Smischny, Bob Lindstrom, Dwayne Wick, Gary Peterson and Lou Hoglund of the Pelican Rapids Press were also present. Mayor Ben Woessner called meeting to order. Agenda additions and deletions were considered. Motion by Foster, seconded by Strand to approve addition of Improvement Project No. 77 Pay Request No. 4 - $24,668.21 and approve the balance of the agenda as presented. Motion carried. Motion by Ballard, seconded by Strand to approve the minutes of 08-30-11 as presented. Motion carried. Motion by Strand, seconded by Waller to approve Accounts Payable Listing of 09-12-11 as presented for City bills in the amount of $50,780.12, Library bills in the amount of $4,204.90 and Liquor Store bills in the amount of $67,367.10 with addition of three Liquor Store accounts to Central Park Liquors, $600.00, Pelican Rapids Chamber, $274.00 and Pelican Rapids Liquor Store for gift card promotions, $280.00. Motion carried. Utilities Superintendent Brent Frazier presented his report. Library Director Annie Wrigg presented her report. Police Chief Jeff Stadum presented his report. Street and Park Superintendent Brian Olson presented his report. The City no longer uses the city grader and it is parked at the City Shop. He has obtained a quote from a Brainerd salvage yard to purchase the grader for $175 per ton with a mileage charge of $450.00 to collect the machine. Council requested additional information about repair costs prior to making a decision. Superintendent Olson said the 2011 park vehicle has been delivered and is in service, replacing a 2001 vehicle. Police Chief Jeff Stadum opened discussion of traffic concerns and signs. He said that for the east bound traffic on the avenues it would be helpful to have additional speed signs at entry from Broadway to avenues. The Police Department has been running additional speed checks with radar. Mayor Woessner suggested that Council consider reducing the speed limit in residential areas from present 25 miles per hour to 20 miles per hour. Chief Stadum said that for safety reasons, he would like 20 miles per hour. Administrator Solga suggested Council Members drive 20 miles per hour to see what that feels like. Another consideration is to add stop signs every couple of blocks which will slow traffic down. City staff will check on obtaining speed count devices, continue running radar speed checks in areas with complaints about speeding and report to Council on 10-10-11. Motion by Waller, seconded by Foster to approve Pay Request No. 4 in the amount of $24,668.21 to Mark and Brenda Construction for Improvement Project No. 77 construction as recommended by City Engineer Bob Schlieman and Administrator Don Solga. Motion carried. Mayor Woessner called the Public Hearing on Improvement Project No. 78 to order pursuant to due call and published notice thereof: Notice is hereby given that the City Council of Pelican Rapids, MN will meet in the Council Chambers of the City Hall at 6:00 p.m. on September 12, 2011, to consider the making of an improvement on Fifth Street SE from Second Avenue SE to a point approximately 175 feet south of Eighth Avenue SE; Eighth Avenue SE from Maplewood Drive to Fifth Street SE; Seventh Avenue SE from Fifth Street SE to a point approximately 245 feet to the east of Fifth Street SE; Fifth Avenue NE from Broadway (Trunk Highway 59) to First Street NE; and the Trunk Highway 59 Frontage Road from Eleventh Avenue SE to a point approximately 400 feet north of Tenth Avenue SE by making street, drainage, and underground utility improvements, pursuant to Minn. Stat §§ 429.011 to 429.111. The area proposed to be assessed for such improvement is described above. The estimated cost of the improvement is $1,502,586. A reasonable estimate of the impact of the assessment will be available at the hearing. Such persons as desire to be heard with reference to the proposed improvement will be heard at this meeting. City Engineer Bob Schlieman presented information on Improvement Project No. 78. The purpose of the hearing is to inform property owners of proposed project, meet Minnesota Statute 429 requirements and gain public comments and input. The project purpose is to construct utility and street improvements to Fifth Street SE, Seventh Avenue SE and Eighth Avenue SE along with street improvements to Fifth Avenue NE and T.H. 59 Frontage Road. Estimated cost sharing and assessment rates for Fifth Street SE, Seventh Avenue SE, Fifth Avenue NE, Eighth Avenue SE would be $888,458 for city share and $471,128 assessable. Estimated cost sharing and assessment rates T.H. 59 Frontage Road (North) is $30,000 for city share and $50,000 assessable. This portion would cost an additional $46,000 to reconstruct which is the engineer’s recommendation. Estimated cost sharing and assessment rates T.H. 59 Frontage Road (South) is $57,600 for city share and $38,400 assessable. Members of the public asked various questions about the scope of the project and proposed costs and assessments to individual properties regarding replacement service lines which will be at the property owners’ expense and replacement of water and sewer mains. Administrator Don Solga presented additional information regarding structuring the debt repayment to have lower debt service in the beginning years to permit paying off existing debt and the City’s bond consultant expects interest rates to go up so accomplishing the project now would be at a lower interest rate than would be available in future years. Council discussed whether to reconstruct the north side of T.H. 59 Frontage Road. Motion by Strand, seconded by Foster to do a full reconstruct of T.H. 59 Frontage Road north and south. Motion carried. Motion by Waller, seconded by Strand to introduce the following written resolution, entitled: RESOLUTION ORDERING THE IMPROVEMENT AND PREPARATION OF PLANS ON IMPROVEMENT PROJECT NO. 78 IN THE CITY OF PELICAN RAPIDS. (A complete text of this resolution is part of permanent public record in the City Clerk’s office.) Motion passed unanimously and resolution declared duly adopted. Council Member Foster thanked Engineer Schlieman for a good presentation. Motion by Strand, seconded by Ballard to approve the 08-31-11 Financial Reports presented by Clerk-Treasurer Glenys Ehlert. Motion carried. Administrator Don Solga reviewed a revised offer regarding water tower lease from AP Wireless Infrastructure Partners (APWIP) to pay the City of Pelican Rapids $165,000.00 in six equal installments of $27,500, with the first payment delivered at closing and subsequent payments every six months thereafter. Agreement includes revenue sharing of 75% to City of Pelican Rapids and 25% to APWIP for any collocations originated by APWIP. Administrator Solga recommended accepting this offer if the Council Members decide that having the money to paint the water tower on hand is more important than future income. Motion by Strand to authorize signing this agreement to move the process forward. Motion died for lack of a second. No action was taken. Administrator Don Solga discussed assistance for Firefighters Grant in the amount of $30,000 for auto extrication equipment. The City will be required to match 5% of the funds. Motion by Waller, seconded by Foster to approve the Fire Department Firefighters Grant Application. Motion carried. Administrator Don Solga distributed the proposed 2012 General Fund Budget and Levy. There are two dramatic changes from the original proposed budget. One is a reduction in the proposed levy from $650,000 to $551,128. This is due to the state legislature’s decision to discontinue the homestead credit program and change to homestead value exclusion. “We’re looking to reduce the levy enough to minimize the increase due to the state’s change,” Solga explained. The corresponding expense of $100,000 in capital equipment funds was eliminated from the budget. Motion by Foster, seconded by Strand to accept the preliminary 2012 General Fund Budget in the amount of $1,585,142.00, setting a preliminary levy of $551,128.00 for General Fund and $143,277.00 for Special Levy. Motion carried. Administrator Don Solga reviewed the engineering request for qualifications required for the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) project. Solga reviewed the firms submitting qualifications and said all were qualified. However, Ulteig Engineering has done the City’s work for the past 75 years and has records of the City’s infrastructure. He said it would save the City time and money to continue with their services. Motion by Ballard, seconded by Waller to approve Ulteig Engineering with Short Elliot Hendrickson (SEH) as the engineers for the USDA project. Motion carried. Motion by Waller, seconded by Strand to introduce the following written resolutions, entitled: RESOLUTION DECLARING COST TO BE ASSESSED, AND ORDERING PREPARATION OF PROPOSED ASSESSMENT FOR IMPROVEMENT PROJECT NUMBER 77 and RESOLUTION FOR HEARING ON PROPOSED ASSESSMENT FOR IMPROVEMENT NUMBER 77. (Complete texts of these resolutions are part of permanent public record in the City Clerk’s office.) Motion passed unanimously and resolutions declared duly adopted. Motion by Strand, seconded by Ballard to adjourn the meeting at 7:55 p.m. Motion carried. Glenys Ehlert, CMC Clerk-Treasurer