City Council Meetings

MINUTES OF THE Mayor Steve Washburn WATERTOWN CITY COUNCIL Deborah Everson Regular Meeting Tuesday, October 23, 2018 Lindsay Guetzkow Adam Pawelk Michael Walters 1. Call to Order and Roll Call Pursuant to due call and notice thereof, the regular meeting of the Watertown City Council was called to order at 6:30 p.m. Tuesday, October 23, 2018 in the Council Chambers of City Hall by Mayor Steve Washburn. Council Members present: Washburn, Deb Everson, Mike Walters, Lindsay Guetzkow and Adam Pawelk. City Staff present: City Administrator Shane Fineran, City Planner Mark Kaltsas, City Engineer Andrew Budde, Fire Chief Ryan Schroeder, and Clerk/Treasurer Lynn Tschudi. Those who signed in were: Steve Erhard, Rose Rosedahl and Chris King. 2. Adopt Agenda GUETZKOW MOVED, EVERSON SECONDED A MOTION TO ADOPT THE AGENDA AS PRESENTED. MOTION CARRIED 5-0. 3. Consent Agenda Discussion and Approval All items listed under the consent agenda are considered to be routine by the City Council and will be enacted by one motion on an affirmative vote by roll call of a majority of the members present. There will be no separate discussion of these items unless a Council member or citizen so requests, in which event, the item(s) will be removed and discussed prior to the adoption of the consent agenda. EVERSON MOVED, WALTERS SECONDED A MOTION TO APPROVE THE CONSENT AGENDA AS PRESENTED. MOTION CARRIED 5-0. A. Adopt a motion to approve City Council Work Session Minutes from October 9, 2018 B. Adopt a motion to approve City Council Meeting Minutes from October 9, 2018 C. Consider Resolution #2018-132, Appointing Fire Chief 1 and Fire Chief 3 D. Consider Resolution #2018-135, Accepting Donation and Directing its use for the Watertown Fire Department 4. Open Forum 5. New/Old Business A. 409 Jefferson Ave SW - Site Plan & Conditional Use Permit City Planner Mark Kaltsas re-introduced the conditional use application for 409 Jefferson Ave SW. This item was originally discussed at the October 9th council meeting. Since that meeting, staff has met with the applicant and received the following additional information: 1. The facility will be staffed 24 hours a day. After visitation hours, the doors will be locked from the outside. Page 1 of 4  2. Staff regularly monitors patients around the clock. 3. Applicant will update all required lighting. Chris King with River Oaks addressed council to provide additional information. King stated the facility is categorized as senior assisted living for ages 55 plus. They provide housing with services as well as home care. Staff is trained and licensed for distributing medications and assisting patients. King explained there is a wide range of needs from patient to patient. The facility specializes in caring for seniors with mental health issues. King explained that this is nothing to be fearful of. It means the patient may experience depression, anxiety and other typical diagnosis. It is not a requirement that patients have a mental health diagnosis to live at River Oaks. All clients have background checks prior to being accepted. King explained that their clients are more vulnerable to the outside rather than the outside being vulnerable to them. King detailed the required licenses that will be obtained by River Oaks in order to operate in Watertown. King said they plan to bring a number of full-time positions to Watertown. He said payroll in the first year will be about a million dollars and he is estimating 60 full time equivalent employees. King emphasized safety and security being a priority. Walters commended King on bringing additional information forward for council to discuss. He explained that he made the original motion because River Oaks meets all requirements for a conditional use permit. Everson and Washburn thanked King for providing the additional information. Washburn said it is important for the community to understand what the River Oaks’ business is about. WALTERS MOVED, GUETZKOW SECONDED A MOTION TO ADOPT RESOLUTION 2018- 125, APPROVING SITE PLAN REVIEW AND A CONDITIONAL USE PERMIT AS REQUESTED BY RIVER OAKS AT WATERTOWN, LLC FOR THE PROPERTY LOCATED AT 409 JEFFERSON AVENUE SW. MOTION CARRIED 5-0. B. Deferral of Utility Trunk Charge Fineran explained that the Highland Business Center is looking for deferral of utility trunk charges for additional tenants in the subway building. Steve Erhard addressed council. The future tenant will be the Cookie Store of MN. The Store would be assigned one bathroom and a future tenant for the vacant suite would be assigned another bathroom. Erhard stated he is looking to defer charges for utility trunk charge until the final tenant is determined. Guetzkow asked about assigned ERU’s (equivalent residential units) for the Cookie Store. Fineran said it would be one. Everson asked when the trunk charges will be assessed and who will be paying them. Fineran stated that fees are usually collected at time of permit. Pawelk asked how the city would charge for the deferred trunk charge. Fineran said charges will be due at the time of permit issuance for the third suite. GUETZKOW MOVED, WALTERS SECONDED A MOTION TO ADOPT RESOLUTION 2018- 127 DEFERRING WATER, SEWER, STORM UTILITY TRUNK CHARGE. MOTION CARRIED 5-0. C. Reduction of Utility Trunk Charge Assignment Page 2 of 4  Fineran stated that the city is in receipt of building permit plans for a 5 exam room dental office in the Highland Business Center. Per City Code, the ERU assignment would be a 5 unit trunk fee; calculating to $50,341.25. The dental clinic has requested reduction of trunk charges. Fineran explained this was done for the Lakeview Clinic in which the Met Council calculation method was used rather than the City Code. He said if the Met Council method was used for the dental clinic, the calculation would be reduced to one ERU. Fineran explained that the method used by the city dates back to the 1990’s. Technology and water use have both changed in the medical field. Fineran stressed the importance of being competitive in fees to neighboring communities. Pawelk asked for clarification on the monthly billing process as it relates to ERU’s. Walters asked about the time frame for opening the dental clinic. Everson asked if the trunk charge calculation needs to be revisited. Pawelk stated that the ERU calculations are important for future capital planning. PAWELK MOVED, EVERSON SECONDED A MOTION TO ADOPT RESOLUTION 2018-134, APPROVING UTILITY TRUNK ASSIGNMENT REDUCTION. MOTION CARRIED 5-0. D. Authorization to Solicit Quotes for Pagers & Portable Radios Fire Chief Ryan Schroeder addressed council stating that the fire department has determined equipment that needs replacement. The pagers and portable radios are used on each fire call. The equipment has reached its usable life. There have been malfunctions of both the pagers and portable radios. Schroeder said the radios will no longer be repairable by any vendor. He listed the benefits of purchasing new equipment. The fire department has tested equipment and decided on Motorola radios and G5 pagers. All tests have been completed to determine the equipment is due for replacement. The fire advisory board approved the solicitation of quotes for the equipment. Schroeder said they are anticipating using the state cooperative purchasing process to replace the equipment. He stated the department is looking at purchasing 35 pagers (current number) and 29 portable radios (two more than current). Everson asked when the new equipment would be purchased. Schroeder said within twelve weeks. Fineran clarified that this is a 2019 budget item, but equipment would be purchased as soon as possible into the New Year. EVERSON MOVED, GUETZKOW SECONDED A MOTION TO ADOPT RESOLUTION 2018- 133, AUTHORIZING THE SOLICITATION OF QUOTES FOR PAGERS AND PORTABLE RADIOS. MOTION CARRIED 5-0. E. City Standard Construction Detail Update City Engineer Andrew Budde said the city maintains a set of city standard detail plates. These plates were last updated in 2008. Since then, construction standards have changed as well as required products. Some of the updates include: bituminous pavement mix design, allowing recycled aggregate for aggregate base, allowing plastic water main and services, and additional details for items that typically receive questions during construction. Budde compared the new materials versus the old materials used. Everson asked if by making some of these changes the city could reduce future construction costs. Budde replied yes. Washburn asked about heaving manholes and if the proposed changes will help Page 3 of 4  with this. Budde explained that the pavement aggregate is what heaves in the winter. He detailed the construction of manholes for Washburn. Guetzkow clarified that standard street requirements will allow for streets that will not deteriorate early. Budde said yes. GUETZKOW MOVED, EVERSON SECONDED A MOTION TO ADOPT THE CITY STANDARD DETAIL PLATES. MOTION CARRIED 5-0. F. Employee Handbook & Payroll Update Fineran explained to council that the employee handbook was last updated in 2015. Changes proposed are driven by operational changes. Most of the changes are clarifications, however payroll would be changed from bi-monthly to bi-weekly in order to assist with better PTO tracking. The city is also looking to require direct deposit as presented by MN statute 471.426. WALTERS MOVED, GUETZKOW SECONDED A MOTION TO ADOPT RESOLUTION 2018- 124, APPROVING EMPLOYEE HANDBOOK UPDATES. MOTION CARRIED 5-0. 6. Other Reports Fineran shared the thank you card made by the Watertown Mayer second graders. The card was from the civics tour at the fire station. Fineran updated on the Chamber trick or treat event from 4-6 pm on October 31st. City Staff will also be dressing up in costumes in a competition against the City of Waconia. He reiterated the winter parking policy beginning November 1st. No parking on city streets from 2:30am - 6am. Pawelk updated on the Evergreen Park ribbon cutting ceremony held October 16th. Guetzkow updated that the EDA will be meeting November 1st at 8:30 am. Walters updated on the December 1st tree lighting presented by the Chamber of Commerce. Washburn recognized Susan Hoese for completing her Municipal Clerks certification. He also recognized Jim Nash for being recognized by the League of MN Cities. The city is making progress on the FEMA updated flood plain map. Washburn also thanked all of the German students who visited today at City Hall. 7. Claims EVERSON MOVED, PAWELK SECONDED A MOTION TO ADOPT THE 2018 CLAIMS AS PRESENTED. MOTION CARRIED 5-0. 8. Adjournement Members of the City Council and City staff may convene directly following the adjournment of the meeting at the Luce Line Lodge in a purely social event. Membes of the public are welcome to attend. PAWELK MOVED, WALTERS SECONDED A MOTION TO ADJOURN THE MEETING AT 7:53 P.M. MOTION CARRIED 5-0. Page 4 of 4