REGULAR MEETING OF THE MONTGOMERY CITY COUNCIL MONTGOMERY CITY HALL 7:00 P.M. MONDAY, OCTOBER 19, 2015 MINUTES Call Meeting to Order Mayor Jean Keogh called the City Council meeting to order at 7:04 p.m. in the Montgomery City Council Chambers. Roll Call Council Members present: Bob Taraba, Jim Mladek, Mick McGuire, Dennis Lambrecht and Mayor Jean Keogh. Also present were Brian Heck, City Administrator, Heather Slechta, Clerk-Treasurer, Shane Oksanen, Public Utilities Director, Jake Keohen, Montgomery Messenger, John Schmidt, Police Chief, Chris Cavett, SEH, City Engineer, Lynn Lambrecht, PUC, Tom Eisert, PUC, Diane DeWitte, PUC, John Morgan, and Jim Filipek. Pledge of Allegiance was recited. Public Comment Jim Filipek voiced his concern on Variance 2-2014 that was approved for Clarence Hruby. Filipek felt that a currently building on the property was going to be removed when the new building that the variance allowed was built. Hruby has not taken the old building down and has been given a building permit to work on that building. Filipek would like the Council to get a second opinion on whether or not the building should be removed, since it was presented as so to the Planning and Zoning Commission. John Morgan requested that when a street project is done in the golf course area that the Council addresses the storm water run-off that drains onto the golf course from the city streets. He also stated that he likes the City Highlights Newsletter. Adopt Agenda Motion by McGuire to adopt the agenda as presented. Seconded by Taraba and carried unanimously. Consent Agenda The Consent Agenda consisted of the Minutes of the September 21, 2015 Council Meeting, claims in the amount of $54,979.48, the appointment of Chris Roemhildt to the position of Public Works Supervisor effective 10/30/15 at a wage of $25.74 as recommended by the Personnel Committee, to set Budget and Levy Hearing for Monday, December 21, 2015 at 7:00 p.m., to set November Work Session for Monday, November 2 at 6:00 p.m. for discussion with Public Utilities Committee on utility rates,
pay the Fire Relief Association Second Half Contribution of $5,000.00 and to accept resignation of Kevin Novotny from the Fire Department effective October 19, 2015. Motion by Lambrecht to approve the consent agenda as presented. Seconded by Taraba and carried unanimously. Reports and Presentations Parks Slechta informed the Council that the Parks and Recreation Board met early that evening, to discuss the active living plan that the Board and Region 9 have been working on. The active living plan will be presented to the Council at the November meeting for approval from the Council. The Board will use this information when making decisions regarding trails. This will also be beneficial to the Public Utilities Commission when planning future street projects. EDA Heck stated that the EDA is currently looking at funding options for the hotel project as well as purchasing the land near traditions from the County, which would then be sold to the development company for the hotel. The EDA was also approached by an individual interested in purchasing the land at the end of 1 st Street. Heck also provided the Council with the status of the Cemstone land sale. Public Hearings-None Administration Ordinance #8-2015 Storm Water Utility The council held a public hearing on the draft ordinance and proposed fee at their September 21, 2015 council meeting. The council discussed the proposed ordinance and specifically asked Heck to contact the cities of Blue Earth and Glenco to find out what their storm water charge is for Seneca and for Heck to advise Seneca of the program being proposed in Montgomery. The Council also asked Heck to review the proposed fee for the golf course. Heck and Chris Cavett, SEH looked into the fee charged by Blue Earth and Glenco and found that their charge is minimal in comparison to the impact on the system. Blue Earth may be reviewing their fee based on conversations with our engineer. Both cities have a $5.00 base fee. The review of the golf course showed that the only water entering the city s system comes off the cul-de-sac which consists of about.23 acres. Using the calculation in the proposed ordinance, the monthly fee for the golf course would be $9.20. The rest of the storm water drains on to the course and then flows through ditches toward the northwest.
The proposed and recommended base fee is $10.00 per acre with each residential equivalent being 1/3 of an acre or $3.33 per month and this would be the lowest rate attainable. This rate would generate approximately $105,000 annually to be used exclusively for storm water projects. Not moving forward with establishment of a storm water utility will keep all storm water related activities in the general fund and will pull dollars away from other priority projects such as road repair and maintenance, sidewalks, trails, parks, public safety, etc. Motion by McGuire to dispense with second reading, approve ordinance #8-2015, and authorize summary publication. Seconded by Mladek and carried unanimously. Local Board of Adjustment and Equalization Heck explained that every year the city is required to certify that at least one member of the Council has completed the appeals and equalization training within the last four years. Our information indicates that the only one to have gone through the training was Mayor Keogh and that was more than four years ago and expires on July 1, 2016. At past local boards of appeal and equalization, the council discussed the possibility of allowing this process to fall to the County and have the county assessor hold an open book forum so residents who have questions regarding their assessed property value can meet with the assessor one on one. If the property owner still wants to appeal their assessment, they would go to the County Board of appeal and equalization. If the council wants to keep holding the Local Board of Appeal and Equalization, at least one council member will need to complete the on-line training before January 31, 2016. Certification that the city has a member certified needs to be sent to the assessor by February 1, 2016. Mayor Keogh requested that a public hearing be scheduled. Motion by Mladek to turn the responsibility for the Board of Appeals and Equalization to the County to have an open book meeting. Seconded by Lambrecht and carried unanimously. Motion by Keogh to hold a public hearing on November 16, 2015 at 7:00 p.m. Seconded by McGuire and carried unanimously. Resolution #55-2015 Cemstone Plat The city executed a purchase agreement with Cemstone Concrete Products, Inc. for the sale of approximately 3.66 acres of property. The property is part of a larger 8 acre parcel located at 928 4th Street NW. Cemstone currently leases a portion of this parcel for their operations. To complete the transaction, the city needs to subdivide the property and create two lots and covert the parcel from a metes and bounds description to describe the parcel by lots and blocks. The city had a survey and plat prepared,
Cemstone Plat, and processed the request as a minor subdivision as provided in Montgomery City Code, Chapter 12. The planning and zoning commission reviewed the request at their October 8, 2015 meeting and recommended approval of the minor subdivision as presented. The one question raised by the Commission had to do with park dedication fees. According to Attorney Warnemunde, the minor subdivisions are exempt from the park dedication requirements. Heck will bring the park dedication fee information to the next meeting for further council discussion. Motion made by Lambrecht to amend to accept the recommendation of the planning and zoning commission without the park dedication fee and approve Resolution #55-2015. Seconded by Mladek and carried unanimously. Motion made by Lambrecht to accept the recommendation of the planning and zoning commission and approve Resolution #55-2015, Cemstone Plat. Seconded by Mladek. Position description for HRA Ex. Dir / City Planner Bob Rotter the current HRA executive director submitted his resignation to the HRA board at the September meeting. During the discussion regarding filling the position, it was suggested that since the city is going to be considering a part-time planning intern or position, that this position be combined with the HRA position. It was thought that offering a full-time position with benefits might help attract more candidates with experience in the area of housing. The council considered this proposal at their October meeting and the consensus was to move forward with the concept. Heck provided the Council with a draft position description. The HRA board will be reviewing the document at their meeting on Tuesday, October 20. If acceptable, the plan would be to advertise the position with the hope of filling the position before the end of the year. Heck anticipated that the annual salary would be between $45,000 and $50,000 to begin. The position is in the HRA budget and in the Planning budget so there should be little impact. Motion by Mladek to accept the position description as amended and authorize recruitment upon acceptance of the HRA. Seconded by Lambrecht and carried unanimously. Police Chief Schmidt stated that the new LEGT system is going well. The Department along with the Fire and EMS that service the TCU school district and the Le Sueur County Sheriff s Department sponsored a safety event prior to Homecoming. He also stated that it was fairly quiet in town during homecoming week, most of the issues occurred out
in the county. The Department will handing out goody bags to the k-4 th grade next week for Halloween. Mayors Report The Le Sueur County Officials meeting will be held on October 28, 2015 in Elysian. The League of Minnesota is still hosting their yearly regional meetings, there is on in Austin on October 28, 2015 and in Minneapolis on November 18, 2015, let Heather know if you would like to attend and she will get you registered. The Council was invited to participate in the 23 rd Annual Torchlight Parade. Mayor Keogh also will be on KCHK radio on November 9, 2015 at 9:00 a.m. She hosted her monthly Chat with the Mayor on October 18, 2015, during the chat she was told that the improvements a memorial field are impressive, Mladek and Heck were taken to the Minnesota Valley Electric Co-op coal mines in North Dakota on October 7, 2015. Mayor Keogh closed the regular meeting at 8:24p.m. and opened the closed session at 8:25 p.m. for the purpose of discussing union negotiations. Mayor Keogh closed the closed session and reconvened the regular meeting at 8:55 p.m. Adjourn There being no further business, motion was made by Taraba to adjourn the meeting. Seconded by Lambrecht and carried unanimously. The meeting adjourned at 8:55 p.m. Respectfully Submitted, Heather Slechta City Clerk-Treasurer