March 4, 2013 Council Meeting

  1. CALL TO ORDER – Mayor Reinhardt called the meeting to order at 7:30 p.m.
  2. ROLL CALL – Sippel, Williamson, Bren, Hughes, Reinhardt.
  3. INTRODUCTIONS – Mayor Reinhardt introduced the council and staff to the viewing public.  Administrator Tolsma, Clerk Lewin, Attorney Beck, Engineer Pearson, Jerry Strand from MillerBernd.
  4. PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE
  5. ADOPT AGENDA – Williamson makes a motion and Hughes seconds to adopt the agenda.  All votes ayes, motion carries.
  6. ADOPT CONSENT AGENDA – Williamson has changes to item b.  Williamson moves to amend the minutes from the work session and refers to the corrections.  Bren seconds, all votes ayes, motion carries.
    1. City Council Regular Meeting Minutes from February 4, 2013
    2. City Council Work Session Minutes from February 25, 2013
  7. PUBLIC FORUM – No one.
  8. PRESENTATIONS & GUEST SPEAKERS – No one.
  9. PETITIONS, REQUESTS & APPLICATIONS

a.  Linder’s Temporary Greenhouse Permit -  Reinhardt said this is an annual request for Linder’s Flower Mart for a temporary greenhouse and CUP permit.  Tolsma confirms there are no changes from last year.  Sippel moves adoption and Williamson seconds.  All votes ayes, motion carries.

b.  Lord Fletcher’s Live Music Permit – Reinhardt said this was reviewed at the study session with two Lord Fletcher’s employees in attendance.  She said it’s the same as last year except for monitoring from the island.  Tolsma said Fire Chief Pederson noted there will be an inspection performed this year.  Police Chief Farniok requested in his approval that the last condition regarding neighborhood meetings be expanded to include Orono residents affected.  Williamson said he wonders what is meant by neighborhood.  Hughes wonders if a 350’ radius could be used.  Williamson thinks it should be extended to 1000 feet.  Reinhardt said a formal measurement might be concerning.  She doesn’t like to pull a number out of the air.  Reinhardt said this has been something that has been ongoing as a neighborhood good-will gesture, long before music permits ever started.  She agrees it might be nice to extend it to Fagerness Point but she doesn’t feel prepared to define a specific area.  Hughes thinks it might be necessary to refer this to employee Tom Emer and have him define the area.  Williamson thinks this should be laid over and he makes a motion to lay this over until the next regular meeting to focus on neighborhood definition.  Motion dies for lack of a second.  Hughes suggests not to change the conditions but to ask Emer to include the Orono residents.  Reinhardt asks for a motion to adopt and Sippel moves adoption of the Live Music Permit and to include neighboring affected Orono residents in the twice yearly meetings.  Hughes seconds.  All votes ayes, motion carries.

  1. ORDINANCES & RESOLUTIONS

Resolution 13-11: Awarding Bid for Street Light Improvement Project – Reinhardt said there is a new copy placed in front of the council.  She said much work has been done on this.  She asked Tolsma for an overview.  Tolsma said a deadine for bids was last week.  He said three bids were received at 11 a.m., the deadline, and one received at 11:01.  He said the bids were relatively close.  Tolsma said the proposals were being reviewed by the engineer when the low bidder called to state there was an error in their pricing.  A unit price for each light pole was underbid by $1,000.  The late bid was opened and tabulated and they were the highest bidder on all options.  Tolsma said he’s open for questions.  Tolsma’s recommendation is all options are on the table, nothing has really changed and it shouldn’t determine the decision.  Hughes asked how to proceed.  He said he’s in favor of eliminating the banner poles and wonders if it should be done by a motion.  Reinhardt said she did speak with the Westonka school superintendent and they are a group interested in the banner. She said the take is the over-the-road banner feeds into the image of the small town atmosphere.  She did inform the superintendent about the potential for a dynamic sign instead.  She said he was agreeable to that but hopes the banner system doesn’t die until they’ve had a chance to explore it further.  Hughes said sometime in the future is always an option.  He said for tonight, he feels it should be dropped.  Sippel is concerned about easements for the banner poles and he likes the idea of partnering with others to explore the dynamic sign idea. 

 

Reinhardt asked about bid prices for banner poles and Tolsma said as a stand alone project it would be about $15,000.  Sippel asked about exploring Hennepin County’s involvement for a dynamic sign and Tolsma said some information has been received about location and setbacks.  The other option was control panels  Tolsma said. 

He said the control panels are adequate for the lights being installed and may be for a while into the future.  Tolsma said price savings was the reason for bidding the control panels at this time.  Tolsma said they work today and could feasibly work 10-15 years in the future.  Tolsma said two control panels are elevated and need a ladder to access.  Tolsma said Goman prefers the control panels to be at ground level for maintenance.  Pearson said he thinks they are about eight feet from the ground judging from the photos.  Reinhardt thinks this is a major project and it should be done right now.  Sippel asked if that includes enclosures or just hardware.  Tolsma said it will include a new enclosure.  Tolsma said one of them won’t be done.  He said three total, two are elevated and going to be put on a pad and one is ground level but going to also be put on a pad.  Williamson asked about securing easements from adjoining property owners.  Tolsma said research hasn’t been done on the easements already in place and whether the current easements would work. 

 

Williamson asked if they are relocated, will that affect the wiring.  Pearson said with the control panels there is wiring included in the specifications and plan so the bids include this.  Williamson is wondering if this would include additional wiring.  He said he’s looking for the unexpected.  Pearson said if there is something not in the plan, it will have to be addressed but, he doesn’t expect anything.  Williamson said he is concerned about this as it was discussed at the beginning of the project.  Hughes said there is money being spent on the high pole wiring.  He said there is the potential of wiring needing to be replaced.  Williamson is concerned about replacing the control panels and if that would trigger new wiring which adds to the costs.  Reinhardt said the best they can do is to anticipate and she doesn’t believe control panels should be removed in fear of new wiring.  Sippel has a question about pad mounted service panels and how it was worded.  Reinhardt asked for more comments about control panels.  She also asked about options 1,2 and 3.  

 

Hughes asked about the number of bases being placed.  He said in number one, he thought 50% were going to be assumed needed replacement.  Pearson said they requested the foundations be specified with the bids.  Granite Ledge is proposing poured concrete.  Hughes wondered about the actual number to be replaced.  Pearson said a 30% number was discussed but it was increased to 40%.  Hughes said the total cost is about $1700.  Hughes questions if all of them should be done.  Williamson believes in if it isn’t broke, don’t fixit.  He said the money has to come from somewhere and that needs to be considered.  He said he doesn’t want to run the price up on this.  He prefers to do as needed, not what is appealing.  Sippel would leave it up to the superintendent’s discretion.  Bren said when spending this much money she believes in doing it right the first time and let the contractor weigh in on the decisions.  Bren believes the control panels need to be replaced. 

 

Reinhardt said for light style option one, two or three, option two and three are close in price and she is in favor of two or three.  Hughes said he is in favor of option one.  He would rather put the extra money and replace existing lights with LED because of the cost savings.  Bren said she never noticed light poles before.  She thinks option one is fine with her.  Reinhardt said she disagrees because a more decorative light will be up for 25 years. She thinks the residents and businesses will appreciate this.  She doesn’t think a utilitarian light pole is an attractive option.  Sippel thinks the price difference is tough to swallow.  Reinhardt said she’s not certain the residents are looking for a lighting change.  She said the CIP plan hasn’t addressed lighting change.  She doesn’t believe in cheapening this project to do another project.  Williamson said the genesis of this project was old lights deteriorated and represented a public hazard.  He said the interest should be reliability and safety and makes good economic sense.  Williamson said they’d save $100,000 by going with option one and then there is wiggle room with foundations and control panels.  Williamson said he is concerned about living with this for 30 years.  He said redevelopment will come and there is a quaintness to the community that Spring Park has strived for.  Reinhardt said while option two and three are decorative they are not the high end options. She said they are basic decorative and affordable poles.  Reinhardt said there is community pride and a lot of thought and effort has been put into the beautification.  Williamson said something to be considered is the LED lighting costs will save money and that might be enough to offset the cost of decorative poles. 

 

Hughes said these probably should be handled separately and therefore makes a motion to remove the banner poles from the bid.  Sippel seconds.  All votes ayes except for Reinhardt votes naye.  Reinhardt next asks for a motion to replace the control panels.  Hughes moves to replace all three control panels and Bren seconds.  All votes ayes, motion carries. Regarding the light style, option one, two or three.  Hughes makes a motion for option one and Sippel seconds.  Sippel said there is a backlog of projects on the books and he is concerned about spending the money now on light poles.  Reinhardt asked about the last financial statement of the city and Tolsma said it’s close to four million dollars in all funds, including reserves.  Williamson said to keep a perspective it’s not dispensable money; he said it’s money that is allocated for operating costs.  Roll call vote:  Sippel, yes; Bren, yes; Hughes, yes; Williamson, yes; Reinhardt no.  Motion passes four to one.  Sippel asked if a motion is needed to accept the bid.  Hughes moves approval of Resolution 13-11 deleting the banner poles, replacing the control panels and choosing option one.  Bren seconds.  All votes ayes, except for Reinhardt votes no. 

b.  Resolution 13-12: LMCC Resolution of Support – Williamson said eight cities have adopted this resolution and a couple cities have adopted modified resolutions.  Williamson moves to adopt Resolution 13-12 and Hughes seconds.  Williamson said Orono has not adopted this resolution.  All votes ayes, motion carries.

c.  Resolution 13-13: Amending Resolution for Appointments – Planning Commission – Reinhardt said an applicant was interviewed for the position.  Hughes moves adoption for Kaczanowski's appointment and Bren seconds.  All votes ayes, motion carries.

 

  1. REPORTS OF OFFICERS & COMMITTEES
    1. Mayor and Council – Reinhardt said there is a letter from the City of Orono stating their position on AIS, herbicide treatments and harvesting and they are opposed.  Hughes referred to the same letter and he said where it refers to an undetermined agency it’s the LMA that is the other party in this.  Sippel wants to commend the staff on putting the detailed light pole project together and making a recommendation to the council.  Tolsma said MFRA did a lot of work and performed the background of Granite Ledge.
    2. City Administrator – Nothing.
    3. City Engineer – Nothing.
    4. City Attorney – Nothing.
    5. Utility Superintendent
  2. UPCOMING MEETINGS & TRAINING
    1. March 13, 2013 – Administration Committee – 11:00 AM
    2. March 13, 2013 – Planning Commission – 7:00 PM
    3. March 13, 2013 – LMCD – 7:00 PM
    4. March 18, 2013 – City Council – 7:30 PM – Reinhardt said she will be absent from this meeting so Williamson will be serving as acting mayor. 
    5. March 19, 2013 – LMCC – 5:00 PM
  3. UNFINISHED BUSINESS
  4. NEW BUSINESS & COMMUNICATION
    1. Bills & Payroll – Reinhardt said the claims were put in front of the council this evening.  Sippel moves to pay the bills.  Bren seconds.  All votes ayes, motion carries.
  5. MISCELLANEOUS (Information Only)
    1. Westonka Public Schools Update – Reinhardt said this is an update on the strategic plan and test scores. She said the school superintendent meant to discuss these statistics but was unable to make tonight’s meeting. 
    2. January 2013 Fire Report – Hughes said fire calls are going down and rescue calls are going up.   The duty officer program will be starting on May 1st.   He said this is shifting of dollars.  Hughes talks about their new technology and they’ll be able to determine responding officers and the nearest hydrant locations. 
  6. ADJOURNMENT – 8:54 p.m.  Sippel makes a motion and Bren seconds to adjourn the meeting at 8:54 p.m.  All votes ayes, motion carries.