February 21, 2017Regular CC Meeting

City of Oronoco

Tuesday, February 21, 2017

Regular City CouncilMeeting @7:00pm

I.CALL TO ORDER

Mayor Ryland Eichhorst called the Regular City Council meeting to order at 7:01pm.

  1. ROLL CALL

Members Present: Mayor Ryland Eichhorst, Councilor Beau Hanenberger, Councilor Carl Krause, Councilor Trish Shields, Councilor Nancy Quimby, Attorney Fred Suhler, Engineer Joe Palen and Assistant Clerk Rebecca McGuire

Absent: none

  1. APPROVAL OF AGENDA

Change in agenda: Move up item X.3 after EOC

Councilor Trish Shields motioned to accept the agenda with the change of moving line item X.3 after EOC, Councilor Carl Krause second; all in favor, motion carried.

  1. PUBLIC FORUM

Leanne Lokken – Resident in River Wood Hills subdivision.She presented her concerns at the Planning and Zoning meeting too. Leanne was not satisfied with the procedure and feels no public hearing was held.Leannetalked about her findings in her research. Making the comment “This does not follow state statue”. She requested the city attorney to review the process to make sure this was done correctly.

David (General Manager at Advanced Disposal): Thank you for the last three years. We are in attendance if you have any questions. We appreciate the relationship we have with you.

Mayor Ryland Eichhorst called for 3rd call and closed the Public Forum at 7:09pm

  1. DEPARTMENTS & COMMITTEE REPORTS
  1. OCSO ~ Sgt. Rick Carmack
  1. FIRE DEPARTMENT* ~ Dan Sundt, Fire Chief
  1. Runs:0
  2. Meeting Minutes
  3. People’s Coop Grant $1000: smoke generator $1075.00. Mayor Ryland Eichhorst motioned to accept the People’s Grant for the smoke generator, Councilor Carl Krause second; all in favor, motion carried.
  4. Fire Relief Dept. Logo Flags: $852.00 (OFR pay $497). Mayor Ryland Eichhorst made a motion to accept the purchase of the logo flags for Fire Relief, Councilor Beau Hanenberger second; all in favor, motion carried.
  5. 10 years of service recognition: Jeff Allhiser, Adam Schaefer, Michelle Schumacher, Kevin Wollschlager
  6. Kevin Wollschlager retired. Council: Pass on that we reallyappreciate all the years of service from everyone. Please share that with all of them.
  1. FIRST RESPONDERS* ~ Jeff Allhiser, 1st Responder Director
  1. 2 Runs: 1city, 1township
  2. Meeting Minutes
  3. Chris Inman: Acting Assistant Director.
  4. New Member: Joe Carlson (1st Resp. only) & Erik Imme (1st Resp. & FD). Councilor Trish Shields made the motion to approve Chris Inman as acting Assistant Director and approving new members Joe Carlson for 1st Responders and Erik Imme for 1st Responders Fire Department, Mayor Ryland Eichhorst second; all in favor, motion carried.
  5. Dan was on the news last night. It was a little blurp about requesting new members.
  1. EOC ~ Pat McGovern, Director

Storm spotter training in March if anyone wants to attend. They do it every year. Dan will send over the dates so it reflects in the minutes. It will be posted once received. Dan will have a few people going.

There are two Skywarn storm spotter training classes in our area:

  • Thurs March 16, 6:30 p.m., Mazeppa, MN, Mazeppa Community Center, 278 1st Street
  • Monday April 24, 6:30 p.m., Rochester, MN, Rochester International Event Center (near RST airport)

The website below has the complete list and there are also two online webinars being offered.

  1. PERSONNEL:
  1. Personnel Policy is being updated.FYI: the final will be brought to City Council after the personnel reps approve it.
  2. Close office March 1st for approx. 2 hours GIS training. For Sandy and Rebecca. Councilor Beau Hanenberger motioned to close the City Hall office March 1stfor a few hours and to post it & also close the office all day March 7th, Councilor Trish Shields second;(discussion on what the training is for and why it’s important to attend)all in favor, motion carried.
  3. Close office March 7th for Shoreland / Floodplain training. Approved above.
  1. ORDINANCES & RESOLUTIONS
  1. Ordinance 2017-1: 611 Floodplain Management. Letter in the packet explains the need to do this. It is necessary for FEMA. Fred explained the process. Councilor Beau Hanenberger made a motion to approve Ordinance 2017-1 – 611 Floodplain Management, Councilor Trish Shields second;voice vote all ayes, Ordinance 2017-1 passed.
  2. Ordinance 2017-2 Summary Floodplain Management Ordinance for publication. Councilor Trish Shields made the motion to approve the summary for publication of the Floodplain Management Ordinance, Councilor Beau Hanenberger second; all in favor, motion carried.
  1. DOWNTOWN ORONOCO GOLD RUSH DAYS* ~ Chair: Councilor Beau Hanenberger,
  2. Meeting Minutes:February 13, 2017. Received the wrong minutes in the packet. Beau handed out the correct minutes to Council. Beau summarized the DOGR meeting. Councilor Trish Shields had a correction for the meeting minutes. Beau will get it adjusted.
  3. Outstanding Citizens: Table till next month so Skyler could be present for this first one. He has worked hard on this and council feels he should be here for it.
  1. PARKS & TRAILS*- Parks & Trails Chair*
  1. MeetingMinutes: February 6, 2017
  2. Combine Lake Shady and Parks. Named Parks and Trails. Councilor Trish Shields motioned to combine the Lake Shady Committee and the Parks Committee into one committee named Parks and Trails, Councilor Carl Krause second; all in favor, motion carried.
  3. Katie Dudley, ChairPeter Sanders, Vice Chair & Secretary. Councilor Trish Shields motioned to approve Katie Dudley as Chair of the Parks and Trails Committee & Peter Sanders as Vice Chair and Secretary of Parks and Trails, Councilor Beau Hanenberger second; all in favor, motion carried.
  4. By laws;requires vote.Councilor Trish Shields motioned to accept the new by laws for Parks and Trails, Mayor Ryland Eichhorst second; all in favor, motion carried.
  5. Proposal for People’s Coop Grant: received $5000. Councilor Trish Shields made a motion to accept the People’s Grant with intent to spend as expected towardsGarden Park, Councilor Nancy Quimby second; small discussion as to the timeline and possibly getting STS help or help from the boy scouts, all in favor, motion carried.
  6. Pickle Ball: FYI - brought to Parks attention; Parks is looking into it.
  7. Tree budget:FYI - they would like to add a tree budget at budget time. City has lost some trees and removed lesser desired trees with the hope to plant better trees. Put an item in the budget for purchasing trees. There are options depending on the amount. This is for next year’s budget. This needs to be kept on the radar.
  8. River Wood Hills trail: Feasibility study / CEDA grant application. Starting discussion on this. Ryland: It was obvious that this is something we need to consider to provide good access. Recommend to bring this to Parks for a proposal. There are 4 main trails. All in different forms, some are rock, grass, etc.
  9. Dumpster @ Garden Park: $150 + disposal of $175.11 per ton- both companies (VEIT & Advanced Disposal)were the same cost. This will be in April. One is already on site. Mayor Ryland Eichhorst motioned to accept rental with Veit at $150 plus $175.11 per ton disposal this spring, Councilor Trish Shields second; all in favor, motion carried.We have a good relationship with Veit. Pray for cold! They will seed and mulch with the restoration of the river.
  1. LAKE SHADY ~ Katie Dudley, Lake Shady Committee Chair*
  2. Weekly Construction minutes. Mayor Ryland Eichhorst went over some of the discussion that has been going on. There is no access to the site right now. The water is coming up. They are still trying to complete the project. Next meeting is Monday, February 27 at 10am. Joe: Road ban went into effect last Friday for the next 6 weeks.
  1. COMMUNITY CENTER
  1. CC desks (repair or replace) -Cain is going to try to stabilize them but Berkley had some on their website, replacement would run about $2000. Ryland: Desks have been around awhile. Cain is continuing to work on them. Looking at alternatives. Will let Cain and Jim come back with suggestions and play it by ear.
  1. PUBLIC WORKS
  1. Shop Tools: $899.50. Will come out of tool budget. This will be ongoing with oxygen and so forth. (Discussion on amount and checking with Gopher for pricing. Discussion on how long tanks last.)Requesting Cain to check with insurance to make sure it is ok. Trish: How much do we do that we need all this. Is this needed? Councilor Trish Shields would like to table for more information from insurance and a second bid and if this is a need/ not a want.
  1. STREETS & ROADS*
  1. Zumbro Hills Drive SW: in progress
  2. Street Signs: $2000 -this is part of the city plan of replacing and bringing the signs up to the new standards. Councilor Beau Hanenberger made a motion approving to continue the project, Councilor Trish Shields second;small discussion as to why we have to do this, all in favor, motion carried.
  1. PLANNING & ZONING*
  2. Meeting Minutes:February 9, 2017. Councilor Beau Hanenberger went over the summary of the meeting. A few members were absent. They had a discussion on an ordinance issue on the abandoned property. Council reviewed the situation in question. Council asked Attorney Fred Suhler if anything can be done before a bank takes it over. Fred is requiring more information on the property to see if the City can do anything. P&Z is also re-evaluating a few different ordinances,re-looking at secondary access stuff, and had adiscussionon land use training. Mayor Ryland Eichhorst recommends this training to all for going forward.
  3. 611 Floodplain Ordinance Public Hearing. Passed above.
  1. WATER & SEWER*
  1. Meeting Minutes: postponed toFebruary 23, 2017
  2. Riverwood Hills looping feasibility report
  • Phase I: $147,048
  • Phase II: $38,337.75
  • Phase III: $56,908.50

Engineer Joe Palen went over the map. The map shows the different looping by phases. Joe went over how the systems work and what the issues are. We may need to increase the pipe size slightly to increase the flow. Joe also explained how River Wood Hills is supplied currently and went over what is proposed. He feels Phase 1 would be the most beneficial first. There is a spot where City would need to require an easement from the 2 property owners. Joe went over a few other issues with easements that need to be permanent easements. Mayor Ryland Eichhorst requested to move the line away from the playground. Clarify that an easement isa utility easement. The property owner would not be losing that land. Joe: First thing I would do is meet with these folks. Councilor Trish Shields made a motion to direct city staff to contact the affected property owners and to see if they would grant a utility easement to the City, Mayor Ryland Eichhorst second for discussion;(discussion continued about - if this is the cheapest way. Joe stated that this will be better for the system. Parts 1, 2, and 3 can be done at different times but 1 needs to be priority. Cost was reviewed – cost includes engineering, construction, documents, etc. Joe went over options to fund this project. Phase 1 can be done with the water fund. Assessing could be considered with the benefiting property owners. It’s a unique situation because the residents are requesting better service be provided because of the developer. Council needs to review how to fund this and how many phases they would like to improve at a time. Options are explained in the feasibility report. First step is contact owners. Next step is to see if you want to assess. What phases you would like to complete and then funding. Beau asked about boring. Joe said it would depend on landscaping and rock. He also explained the difference between this project and the 3rd Ave looping. Discussion continued about piping ((6in vs. 8in and why we wouldn’t put in 8in to bring it up to standard – Joe explained why 6in will be ok in a few spots)), valves, and cost. We would also have to remove and replace the trail in a certain spot.) All in favor, motion carried.Table funding and bring to March meeting with proposals after the Water & Sewer Committee has reviewed it at their next meeting.

  1. Cedar Woodlands looping estimate: $115,984.44. Addressing same issues as to what is going on. This will be a little bit more difficult due to future development. Joe: We could wait till the area develops further. Commercial rates for WAC / SAC are the same as residential. Mayor Ryland Eichhorst asked if other cities charge differently. Joe said cities vary in this. Cedar Woodlands would require more flushing during the summer months. Councilor Beau Hanenberger feels our money would be better spent in River Wood Hills right now. Council decided to leave this for now.
  2. Hydrant: $13,000 each (budgeted for one in 2017). Mayor Ryland Eichhorst made a motion to replace the hydrant on Shady Oak LN for $13,000, Councilor Beau Hanenberger second; all in favor, motion carried. Will be doing 1 per year as we go. Next we would be looking at River Wood LN in budget for 2018.
  3. Safety Equipment for River Park well house. About $700. Councilor Trish Shields motioned to approve up to $700 as needed for the River Park well house, Councilor Beau Hanenberger second; all in favor, motion carried.
  4. Thein well: check valve replacement (should be under $3000). Is leaking - making pump not work as efficiently. Councilor Beau Hanenberger motioned to approve the check valve replacement up to $3000, Councilor Carl Krause second; all in favor, motion carried.

VIII. PETITIONS, REQUESTS, & COMMUNICATIONS*

  1. Publish Tree Bids. Councilor Beau Hanenberger motioned to publish for 2017 Tree bids, Councilor Trish Shields second; all in favor, motion carried.

IX. UNFINISHED BUSINESS

  1. Southbound City Sign. D.O.T came back with a proposal. Ryland explained the proposals. Councilor Trish Shields asked if it’s standard to bill the City. Engineer Joe Palen said it doesn’t feel right. Discussion continued. Councilor Beau Hanenberger feels that we need the signs but doesn’t like the cost. Councilor Carl Krause doesn’t know if this is worth this amount of money. Mayor Ryland Eichhorst feels it gives us identity and helps with Gold Rush for the new people. Would like to emphasize both exits or direct to the gas station exit. Trish feels the sign at exit 68 should be removed. It has Oronoco going right instead of going left to direct them to downtown. Mayor Ryland Eichhorst made a motion that we proceed with the 2 signs from MNDOT on southbound exit 64, Councilor Beau Hanenberger second for discussion; Councilor Beau Hanenberger asked if there is any other rout we can take to help lower the cost but I feel it would benefit the town. Mayor Ryland Eichhorst said it’s a fixed cost and doesn’t see the cost to be adjusted from MNDOT and we are asking for them to be put up. We can’t ask Shad Tracy. Discussion continued on aiding signs that will help with these signs. Councilor Trish Shields feels that it should have been placed in the first place, we shouldn’t have had to ask for them and bear the cost. Maybe there is something they would do. Cannon Falls had 3 exits listed, not one exit like ours. Councilor Beau Hanenberger friendly amended to have Councilor Trish Shields contact MNDOT to see if the price could be adjusted and bring this back next month. Attorney Fred Suhler feels they have a lot of rules. Maybe call the state legislator to put heat on them. I suspect they don’t want to have to put up too many signs. Ask how much Plainview paid for theirs. Councilor Carl Krause friendly amended to have Mayor Ryland Eichhorst call the legislature; all in favor, motion carried.
  2. Rules of Conduct Meetings. Councilor Trish Shields likes it. It will be published on the website and bulletin board. Mayor Ryland Eichhorst made a motion to adopt the rules of conduct for a meeting, Councilor Beau Hanenberger second; all in favor, motion carried.

X. NEW BUSINESS.

  1. Prosecution Agreement: Fred reviewed this and it is consistent with other area cities. He was misinformed the last time council was together. It created confusion. Fred explained what this is for. City would get a share of the fine, they are asking they be compensated the city share. Attorney Fred Suhler recommends the City to do this. It would be cheaper going with the agreement. Councilor Carl Krause made a motion to accept the prosecution agreement, Councilor Beau Hanenberger second for discussion; Councilor Beau Hanenberger feels frustrated with this but it is more cost effective to go with the agreement. Mayor Ryland Eichhorst thanked Attorney Fred Suhler for looking into it. All in favor, motion carried.
  2. Advanced Disposal contract extension agreement request. Councilor Beau Hanenberger made a motion to approve the Advanced Disposal contract, Councilor Trish Shields second; all in favor, motion carried. Councilor Trish Shields said thank you for your good service. Mayor Ryland Eichhorst apologized for not moving them up in the meeting and thanks them for their service. David from Advanced: Any issues have Sandy call so we can resolve it.
  3. Banking Rates. Jeanette McNee from PI Bank: We have had some discussion. With your checking and savings, we carry collateral and sent out a letter. We have CD’s available also. They are FDIC insured also. We provide many different options. Other governmental units I work with, we always try to latter when payments come up. Rates are on the website. I just wanted to put a bug in your ear. Think about when you need money for street repair and other topics coming up. Ryland had a question about funds being insured. Jeanette explained how it works. She gave an example of what they did with Dover-Eyota. All your money is guaranteed. Mayor Ryland Eichhorst appreciated the information and Jeanette coming.
  4. Water fund partial repayment to general fund: $20,000 out of the $50,000 owed.The $50,000 was borrowed a few years ago to cover the water fund shortage.Mayor Ryland Eichhorst made a motion to proceed with approving $20,000 from the water fund to the general fund, Councilor Trish Shields second; all in favor, motion carried.
  5. Shop fund repay to general and investment fund: $12,000 & $1305.25.This was the balance of the amount borrowed from funds. There is enough in the fund to repay these accounts. Mayor Ryland Eichhorst made a motion to repay to the general and investment funds the 2 figures of $12,000 & $1305.25, Councilor Beau Hanenberger second; all in favor motion carried.
  6. Close out 302 Go Bond, transfer to 305 GO Bond.Final payment of the 302 has been made and the balance left in the account can be used towards the payment of other GO Bonds. Roughly $1000. Mayor Ryland Eichhorst motioned to close and transfer, Councilor Carl Krause second; all in favor, motion carried.
  7. Assessment Policy this was a template sent from David Drown and Assoc. Sandy highlighted the areas addressing the % to assess. State requires a 20% assessment rate but City Council can set it higher. Seen this used for other cities. It would be a true assessment policy for Oronoco. Mayor Ryland Eichhorst went over what was highlighted. Mayor Ryland Eichhorst motioned for a minimum of 20% and a max of 80% by the City - giving the City flexibility, Councilor Beau Hanenberger second for discussion;discussion if this could be used for looping. Joe said not for utility cost. Engineer Joe Palen went over the estimate of the project when you are looking at assessments with lot sizes equated in. Consider having a clause: Assumed rate and council reserves the right to adjust it. Councilor Trish Shields asked about using a min and max. Engineer Joe Palen said that usually you use a rate and stick to it. It would be at the whim of the council members otherwise. It makes it inconsistent. Councilor Beau Hanenberger said he sees both sides but we need consistency. Our LGA is so low. Engineer Joe Palen said he didn’t look at this but there is a place for some changes. Mayor Ryland Eichhorst withdrew the motion and requested Engineer Joe Palen to look at this and bring it back to the March meeting.
  8. St Paul Legislative Conference; $125on March 23. All day conference. Mayor Ryland Eichhorst will be attending. It’s on a Thursday. Councilor Trish Shields made a motion to approve Mayor Ryland Eichhorst to attend at $125 and an additional $125 if another councilor would like to attend. Councilor Beau Hanenberger second; all in favor, motion carried.
  9. April 24, 2017 @ 4:30 to 5:00pm Board of Appeal and Equalization. The County has set this meeting. Mayor Ryland Eichhorst motioned to post it, Councilor Trish Shields second; all in favor, motion carried.

XI.CONSENT AGENDA*