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MINUTES–MORRIS
CITY COUNCIL–REGULAR MEETING–FEBRUARY 27, 2007
The
regular meeting of the Morris City Council was called to order at 5:15 p.m.
this 27th day of February, 2007, by Mayor Giese in the Council
Chambers of the Morris Senior Citizens/Community Center.
PLEDGE
OF ALLEGIANCE: The Pledge of
Allegiance was recited.
ROLL
CALL: Roll call was taken with
the following members present:
Council member Webster,
Miller, Storck and Mayor Giese. Council
member Carrington arrived at 5:16 p.m.
Also present was City Manager Larson and Finance Director Krosschell.
READING
AND APPROVAL OF MINUTES: 2/13/07
Regular Meeting Minutes:
Council member Storck moved, seconded by Miller, to approve the 2/13/07
regular meeting minutes. Motion
carried.
2/13/07
Condensed Version Minutes:
Council member Webster moved, seconded by Miller, to approve the 2/13/07
condensed version minutes. Motion
carried.
AUDIT
OF CITY BILLS: Council member Miller
moved, seconded by Webster, to authorize payment of the City bills dated
February 27, 2007. Motion carried.
CITIZEN'S
COMMENTS: School Reuse
Committee Report: Sue Dieter
was present at the meeting representing the school reuse committee. Dieter explained that last month
representatives from the Minnesota Green Communities took a tour of the
building and site. Dieter
indicated there is a lot of interest in the housing study. Dieter noted there will be a
presentation of the results of the housing study on March 19th at
4:30 p.m. at the Soils Lab. Dieter
stated they are still plugging along on the options for reuse.
Council
member Storck stated he doesn't want the building to stand still for a long
time. Dieter indicated no one
wants the building to get to a point of disrepair because there are no
options. David Fluegel indicated
there has been some interest expressed in the building by an architect from
Litchfield.
Council
member Webster asked if there was any idea how long it would take the building
to be at a point of no return.
Dieter noted Bob Claybaugh from Claybaugh Preservation Architecture
stated the building is structurally sound and the cosmetic problems are
probably as bad as they will ever be.
Sue Granger stated they have been told five years as long as the roof
doesn't leak. Webster asked what
attracts architects to the property.
Granger and Dieter indicated it is the location, right at the head of 6th
Street and in physical proximity to so many places.
Dieter
agreed that the building dominates the property right now and that something
needs to happen soon.
Bike
Path – Pat Hein: Pat Hein was
present at the meeting and stated two years ago she came before the council
requesting that there be a two block extension of the bike path in Shorewood
Addition. Hein stated to date
nothing has been done and she wanted to know why it hasn't been extended. Hein noted there are many bike paths on
the east side of town.
Larson
explained this type of project would have to be included in the capital
improvement plan. Webster asked if
the plan was ever considered for inclusion in the budget. Larson indicated it was not. Larson stated it is a project that
would totally be funded by the city, with the city possibly doing some in-kind
work. Mayor Giese indicated the
request should be noted and brought up for budget purposes during
worksessions.
Dave
Aronson, who also lives in this area, reiterated what Pat Hein had stated. Aronson stated he appreciates that
there are a lot of walk/bike paths in the city but most of them are located on
the east side of town.
Hein asked
if it would be another year before anything would happen. Giese stated it wouldn't be this
year. Hein asked what assurances
she would have that it would happen because she has been calling every six
months about this and hasn't gotten anywhere. Larson indicated it needs to be looked at in relationship to
other projects. Hein stated they
pay their taxes and it is a priority to them. Hein indicated she feels the ball has been dropped and she
will come back to the council every single year until this gets done.
Council
member Carrington moved, seconded by Miller, to have City Engineer Fier look
into the costs of doing this project and also to look at the current budget and
see what it would take to get things rolling on this. Motion carried.
Larson
reminded the council that they would soon be issuing a $2 million bond for West
6th Street. Storck
asked if the project could be done in two parts. Webster indicated he would like to see if work could get
started so the city could show an earnest attempt at the project. Hein asked when she should come back
and talk to the council about getting it in the budget. Giese suggested she come back in
September.
Boy
Scouts: Mayor Giese welcomed
the Boy Scouts to the meeting.
PETITIONS,
REQUESTS AND COMMUNICATIONS: SCMC
Administrative Report: Council
member Storck moved, seconded by Webster, to accept the January administrative
report from SCMC. Motion carried.
Raffle
License Report: Mayor Giese
moved, seconded by Council member Carrington, to accept the raffle license
report from the UMM Baseball Team.
Motion carried.
Gambling
Reports: Council member Storck
moved, seconded by Miller, to accept the gambling report from the American
Legion. Upon a roll call vote
taken with four voting in favor and Mayor Giese abstaining, motion carried.
Council
member Webster asked how long gambling has been going on in the city. Miller estimated it has been since 1985
or 1986. Webster stated he is
concerned about gambling in communities spiraling out of control.
Mayor
Giese moved, seconded by Council member Miller, to accept the gambling reports
from the Met Lounge, West Central Trailblazers and Eagles. Motion carried.
ORDINANCES
AND RESOLUTIONS: Resolution
to Enter Into a Mutual Aid Agreement:
Larson explained the Morris Police Department has been involved in
planning for a multi-agency special weapons and tactics task force, better
known as a S.W.A.T. team. Larson indicated because it will involve
personnel operating outside of the city's jurisdiction, it is important that
the council approve this resolution.
Council member Storck asked if there would be any dues associated with
this. Larson noted the agreement
mentions that each entity provide personnel and resources, so there may be a request
for some funds.
Council
member Webster indicated he is glad the city is being proactive. Webster asked if the city would be
short personnel if two people were pulled off for this type of activity.
Larson
stated he didn't believe this would be a problem since there are eight officers
and the chief. Mayor Giese
indicated he talked with Chief Beauregard who indicated some officers have
already been in situations where they could have used this training and
equipment.
Council
member Webster moved, seconded by Storck, to adopt Resolution #2701-2-07,
Resolution to Enter Into a Mutual Aid Agreement for S.W.A.T. Team
Activities. Voting was as follows:
Council
member Webster aye
Council
member Carrington aye
Council
member Storck aye
Council
member Miller aye
Mayor
Giese aye
With all
voting in favor, motion carried.
CITY
MANAGER'S REPORTS & RECOMMENDATIONS: Clean Up/Spruce Up: Larson indicated at the last meeting the council asked for
some information on clean up spruce up.
Larson indicated some information was obtained from the list serve as
far as what other communities are doing.
Mayor Giese stated the city did catch some heat for not having it last
year and there were some areas of the city that probably showed it.
Council
member Miller stated he would like to see the program brought back. Miller indicated it costs the city some
money but feels it is well worth it.
Larson noted there are some restrictions as to what can and cannot be
picked up.
Discussion
was held on what type of plan to use for clean up spruce up.
Council
member Webster moved, seconded by Mayor Giese, to reinstitute clean up spruce
up and to authorize city staff to develop a plan for it that is the most
beneficial for the citizens.
Motion carried.
Date and
Time for Meeting at High School:
Council member Miller moved, seconded by Storck, to approve holding a council
meeting at the high school on April 24th, beginning at 8:30
a.m. Motion carried.
Planning
Commission Minutes, 1/16/07:
Council member Storck moved, seconded by Carrington, to accept the
1/16/07 planning commission minutes.
Motion carried.
Notice
of Annual Apportionment:
Larson indicated the city wouldn't actually receive this amount as they
have borrowed ahead. The allotment
of $126,094 was used for East 10th Street. The remaining $42,031 is for the capital improvement
fund. Larson noted the city should
see some changes in the coming years with the addition of streets because of
annexation. This was informational
for the council.
Delinquent
Water Bill List: The following
list of delinquent water bills was presented to the council:
David
Windingstad 118
South Co Rd 22 79.38
Brian
Moser 101
West 4th Street 94.40
Rodney
Giese 411
West 5th Street 115.20
The
Body Shop 107
West 6th Street 21.30
Lane
Lesmeister 505
West 6th Street 51.29
Don
Ritter 704
Lyndale Avenue 30.25
Eric
Bungarden 707
Pacific Avenue 72.44
Ron
Davis 404
West 7th Street 173.68
Morris
Properties 405
West 8th Street 141.49
Tom
Fangmeier 308
West 9th Street 138.60
Paul
Pederson 1019
Pacific Avenue 105.14
Lisa
Vanhorn 1007 Albany Avenue 68.24
Kelly
Ramthun 1131
Park Avenue 76.28
Mayor Giese moved, seconded by
Council member Miller, to follow the usual procedure of turning off the water
at the above locations until the bill has been paid. Motion carried.
NEW BUSINESS: Appointments to Library Board: Mayor Giese moved, seconded by Council
member Miller, to appoint Susan Jost and Pam Solvie to the Library Board. Motion carried.
OLD BUSINESS: Lease with Senior Center: Mayor Giese indicated he doesn't see a
problem with people using the room as long as it gets reserved through City
Hall. Giese suggested that there
be no food or drink and the room be secured. Miller indicated when it is used people need to be accountable. Miller stated the carpet may need to be
cleaned every six months or so.
Council member Webster asked who is
responsible if a two wheeled cart ruins the carpet. Larson indicated historically the city has taken care of it. Bob Rose indicated it has worked well
to drop the commodities off in the dining room. Rose stated without having some type of runner they probably
wouldn't use the room for deliveries.
It was noted there is a privacy issue with picking up of the
commodities. Giese suggested the
seniors get some runners so the deliveries could be made in this room. Giese indicated the lease would remain
as is, provided people using it maintain the integrity of the room and keep
city hall informed.
Snow Removal: Larson asked the council if anyone had
received complaints on snow removal during the weekend storm. Mayor Giese noted the only complaint he
received was about the Otter Tail parking lot. Larson indicated the city received a number of
complaints. Larson presented the
council with a handout which showed the number of public works employees. In 1981 there were 18 employees and it
is down to 11 for 2007. Larson further
explained the number of obligations has increased substantially since that
time.
Council member Webster asked what
methods are taken to let people know about a snow alert. Larson indicated there are five radio
stations which air the announcement and an e-mail is sent to all students at
UMM. There was also a section
about snow alerts in previous newsletters. Finance Director Krosschell also noted the police department
website has notification of a snow alert and a link to the full verbiage of the
ordinance.
Broadcasting of Meetings: Council member Webster pointed out he
contacted Federated Telephone to set in motion the broadcast idea.
ADJOURNMENT: There being no further business, Mayor
Giese adjourned the meeting at 6:30 p.m.
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