MONTGOMERY CITY COUNCIL MONTGOMERY MUNICIPAL BUILDING REGULAR MEETING TUESDAY, JANUARY 22, :00 P.M. Minutes

Transcription

1 MONTGOMERY CITY COUNCIL MONTGOMERY MUNICIPAL BUILDING REGULAR MEETING TUESDAY, JANUARY 22, :00 P.M. Minutes CALL TO ORDER Mayor Jean Keogh called the City Council meeting to order at 7:03 p.m. in the Montgomery City Council Chambers. ROLL CALL Council members present: Jean Keogh, Jim Mladek, Bob Taraba, Tim Siebsen, Bill Wencl. Also present was Steve Helget, City Administrator, and Heather Slechta, City Clerk-Treasurer, Wade Young, Montgomery Messenger, Lisa Hoefs, TCU School, Matt Helgerson, TCU School Superintendent, Kevin Krohn, TCU School Board, Amy Barnett, TCU School Board, Liz Krocak, TCU School Board, and Chris Cavett, City Engineer, SEH. PLEDGE OF ALLEGIENCE WAS RECITED ADOPT AGENDA Motion was made by Mladek to adopt the agenda with the addition of 8-D-1. Seconded by Wencl and carried unanimously. PUBLIC FORUM-None CONSENT AGENDA Motion was made by Mladek to approve the Consent Agenda which consisted of the minutes from the January 7, 2013 City Council Meeting, Department Monthly Reports and Monthly Bills. Seconded by Wencl and carried unanimously. PUBLIC HEARINGS OR PRESENTATIONS Matt Helgerson, Superintendent, gave a presentation to the Council on the Building Projects planned for throughout the TCU School District in In addition, Lisa Hoefs of the Agribusiness Career Academy provided a short presentation on building local partnerships and providing students with an "internship" based education in an Agricultural related field. The TCU School District will be rolling the program out in the near future. REPORTS AND ACTION REQUESTS FROM DEPARTMENTS Administration 1. Resolution , Pheasants Forever Gambling Application

2 The Council reviewed an application from the Pheasants Forever to hold a raffle at the American Legion on April 13, Motion by Siebsen to approve Resolution Authorizing a Gambling License for the Pheasants Forever Raffle. Seconded by Wencl and carried unanimously. 2. Montgomery Messenger Articles At the January 7, 2013 meeting, the Council discussed doing letters to the editor this year. In past years, we've tried to have an article in the paper almost every month. The Council again discussed continuing these articles and establishing a schedule for this year. Chief Schmidt will be doing his article in February, Heather Slechta will be doing hers in June, Jim Mladek will be doing his in August and Bob Taraba will be doing his article in September. Mayor Keogh, Steve Helget, Nancy Noffke and Council member Wencl had already signed up for articles at the January 7, 2013 meeting. 3. Reschedule Regular Meeting The consensus of Council was to table rescheduling the February 18, 2013 meeting until the February 4, 2013 meeting. 4. Assessing a Fee for Vacant Buildings At the November 26, 2012 regular meeting, the Council discussed establishing a fee for monitoring vacant buildings and to discuss possibly establishing a subcommittee. The Council reviewed a sample ordinance from the City of Blue Earth who currently imposes an annual $ fee on all vacant buildings. Blue Earth defines a vacant building as one that has been vacant for one-year, all utilities are disconnected, and the property is not listed for sale/rent with a realty company. The EDA has set up a revolving loan program, owners of commercial buildings could apply for these funds to clean up these buildings if a business will be going in the building. Keogh does not see a need for the Vacant Building Fees. Mladek would like to pass this on to the Planning and Zoning Commission for a recommendation. Motion by Mladek to have the Planning and Zoning Commission review this item and provide a recommendation to the Council on assessing a fee for vacant buildings. Seconded by Siebsen and carried unanimously. 5. Code of Ethics for Public Officials The Council discussed establishing a Code of Ethics for the Council, boards and commissions, and staff. Essentially, it is to establish a standard of conduct and values that would promote the faith and confidence of Montgomery's citizens in its government and those that represent them. Mayor Keogh stated that this is another tool that sets the parameters for the Council, it would also keep rogue members in-line. Mladek and Siebsen did not see the need for this policy as it appears state statute covers it. Also the question was raised as to who would enforce it. The Council directed Helget to contact the League of MN Cities to determine if there is any difference in their template and state law. Police Department 1. Police Chief Monthly Report

3 Chief Schmidt gave the Council his 2012 annual report. Over all there were 630 less incidents in 2012 compared to The month of April, 2012 had the most reported incidents, and theft was the most reported incident in The Department also did 133 background checks, 50 criminal checks, 162 blight notices and follow up, attended to 119 medical incidents, gave out 82 parking tickets, and 86 traffic violations. Other activities that the Department participated in, included vehicle lockouts, pet licensing, animal control, NSF check collection assistance, house watches, and community and school events. 2. Declaration of Surplus Property The Council reviewed and discussed the recommendation of Chief Schmidt to declare all the Police Departments VHF portable and mobile radios as excess property, and to allow him to sell the radios for the highest obtainable amount. Schmidt recommended placing them on an online auction website such as EBay and selling them to the highest bidder. He recommended selling the portables in lots of three or four with one mobile unit at a time. Motion by Wencl to declare the Police Department's VHF portable and mobile radios as excess property. Seconded by Taraba and carried unanimously. Ambulance Service-None Economic Development 1. EDA Appointment The Council discussed the recommendation from the EDA Board to appoint Tim Rosival to the EDA Board. Motion by Wencl to appoint Tim Rosival to the EDA Board. Seconded by Mladek and carried unanimously. Financial-None Fire Department 1. Member Retirement The Council reviewed the letter of retirement from the Montgomery Fire Department submitted by Ron Pomije effective January 8, Pomije served for 22-years on the Department. Motion by Siebsen to accept Ron Pomije's notice of retirement from the Montgomery Fire Department and to thank him for his many years of service. Seconded by Wencl and carried unanimously. Library-None Parks & Recreation-None Planning and Zoning-None

4 Public Works-Utilities Departments 1. Resolution , Setting Septage Discharging Permit and Dumping Fees The Council reviewed and discussed the licensing fees and discharge rates for the Septage Dumping. As recommended by the Public Utilities Commission, the one change to the fees is to change the Holding Tank Disposal fee from $50.00 per load to $34.00 per 1,000 gallons. The Council would like more clarification on this fee from Dan DeRudder, Public Works/Utilities Director before making a decision. Motion by Wencl to table the discussion until the next Council meeting. Seconded by Taraba and carried unanimously. 3. Special Assessment Policy The Council discussed a Special Assessment Policy recommended by the Public Utilities Commission. The purpose of the Policy is to establish a fair and equitable means of levying the costs of public improvements to benefitting property owners. Chapter 429 of the state statutes grants cities the authority to use special assessments. The Policy identifies different methods of assessing, based on the property classification (i.e. residential, commercial, etc); improvements to streets and infrastructure that will be assessed; how assessments shall be paid; and deferment of assessments. Chris Cavett, City Engineer stated that if the City bonds for a project that at least 20% of the project cost must be assessed. Mladek participated in the Main Street project years ago and stated that this policy is laid out much better. Siebsen was wondering if we would run into the legal problems that the City of Le Center is currently working through and he also felt that $10, was a lot to ask a property owner to pay for a reconstruction project when everyone in the city benefits from it. Mladek felt that this was a reasonable amount to ask. Cavett also recommended that the Council look at these rates yearly and set the rates by the construction cost index. Helget stated the policy will be formatted into an ordinance and incorporated into Chapter 12, Subdivision Code. It was the consensus of the Council to set the public hearing at its next regular meeting on February 4, OLD BUSINESS-None NEW BUSINESS-None MISCELLANEOUS ITEMS AND INFORMATION A. Committee/Board Minutes B. Next regular City Council meeting February 4, 2013, 7:00 p.m. C. Special Council Meeting (2013 Goal Setting Meeting) January 30, 2013, 6:00 p.m. D. Le Sueur County Officials Association - January 31, 2013, 6:30 p.m., City of Elysian, please let Steve know if you are attending. E. Christmas Party - Saturday, January 26, 2013, 6:00 p.m., American Legion

5 MAYOR S REPORT Mayor Keogh read a thank you card from Emma Pomije who celebrated her 100 birthday. Keogh also updated the Council that a designer will be meeting with the EDA Board in February to work on the City of Montgomery entrance signs. The EDA Board also has two vacant seats. Donna Bendzick the winner of the Name the Newsletter Contest will be joining Keogh for breakfast at Kohout s Harness Shop Café on Sunday, January 27, Chat with the Mayor will be held on February 16, 2013 at Quilter s Dream, Keogh will also be featured on KCHK radio on February 8, ADJOURN There being no further business, motion was made by Taraba to adjourn the meeting. Seconded by Wencl and carried unanimously. The meeting was adjourned at 9:16 p.m. Respectfully Submitted, Heather Slechta