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HomeMy WebLinkAboutCC May 17, 1977 CITY of ANDOVER REGULAR CITY COUNCIL MEETING - MAY 17, 1977 MINUTES The Re~ular Bi-Monthly Meeting of the Andover City Council was called to order by Mayor Jerry Windschitl on May 17, 1977, 7:30 p,m" at the Andover City Hall, 1685 Crosstown Boulevard NW, Anoka, Minnesota, Councilpersons present: Lachinski, McClure, Orttel, VanderLaan Councilpersons absent: None Also I'resent: City Attorney, William G, Hawkins; City Engineer, Rex Stockwell, Planning and Zoning Chairman, Don Jacobson; City Clerk, p. K, Lindquist; and interested residents There was no statement in the Residents Forum section of the meeting, A~enda A'P"Proval MOTION by Lachinski to approve the agenda as written with the additions of Item 9a, Systems Statement correspondence, and Item 9b, Committee Appointments, Motion dies for lack of a second, Discussion was that these items should be postponed until the next meetin~, MOTION by VanderLaan, Seconded by McClure, to approve the agenda of May 17, 1977, as l'ubl1shed, Motion carried unanimously, Mattson/De~ardner - Preliminary Plat This matter was referred to the Council because of the time problem, There are a number of additions that must be made, so it should be referred back to the P & Z, MOTION by Orttel, Seconded by McClure, that the City Council return the Mattsonl De~ardner Crooked Lake Addition Preliminary Plat back to the Planning and Zoning Commission for further consideration, Motion carried unanimously, Kennel Licenses MOTION by McClure, Seconded by VanderLaan, that the Council approve the Kennel License for Bayers, Motion carried unanimously, , MOTION by Orttell, Seconded by Lachinski, to approve the Kennel License for Huttner contingent on the purchase of individual licenses and payment of the license fee, Motion carried unanimously, , MOTION by McClur~, Seconded by LaChinski, that the Council approve the individual Kennel License of Morris, Motion carried unanimously, I Ci~arette License - Nemeth Grocery MOTION by Orttell, Seconded by McClure, that the Council approve the cigarette license for Nemeth Grocery for the period June 1, 1977, through May 31, 1978, for a fee of $12, Motion carried unanimously, I Regular City Council Meeting May 17, 1977 - Minutes Pal!;e 2 Mobile Home Permit - French They applied for their building permit today, The septic system and water must be in, The building official has looked at the property, MOTION by Orttel, Seconded by McClure, that the City Council grant a permit for Mr, and Mrs, Raymond C, French to allow them to place a mobile home on their property, Block 2, Lot 1, White Oaks Country Estates, for a period of 90 days providing that the on-site septic system and well system are brought up to code, Motion carried unanimously, Approval of Minutes April 7, 1977: Correct as written. April 19, 1977: Correct as written, April 21, 1977: Page 3, top: (Fire Protection Committee, continued) should read: (Road Improvements Committee, Continued) May 3, 1977: Pal!;e 1, Easements of Prairie Road: LeRoy Anderson (sp) MOTION by Orttel, Seconded by Lachinski, to approve the Minutes of April 7, April 19, April 21, and May 3, 1977, as corrected, Motion carried unanimously, I Harold Thimmesch - Variance Reouest I Mr, Jacobson, Chairman of the Planning and Zoning, explained that 28 acres of land on Constance Boulevard is being divided into two parcels of 14 acres, Tract A has 335 feet of frontalÅ¡e', but Tract B has only 269,95 feet of frontage on the road, He is requestinlÅ¡ a variance because our Ordinance requires 300 feet of road frontage, The Commission felt it is consistent with the area as it is today, is consistent with the Comprehensive Plan, the variance would not have a detrimental affect on the local community, and it offers no health or welfare detrimental to the City, There was Some discussion as to: whether or not our Ordinance requires that the 300-foot lot width be on a public road, The question was the definition of "width", The 300 feet is to be measured at the setback line 40 feet back from the road, MOTION by Orttell, Seconded by Lachinski, that the City Council, City of Andover, grant a Variance to Harold J, Thimmesch from Section 6,02 of Ordinance 8, lot width, This use complies with the housing density in the area, and it complies with our Comprehensive Development Plan' for rural areas, The Variance is necessary for the reasonable use of , the land, and gr~nting of the Variance will not adversely affect the existing or potential use of adjacent land, and it is not inharmonious with the surrounding neighborhood, The , Variance is to be granted on the property described in the Planning and Zoning Com- mission's recommendation to the City Council, dated April 26, 1977, Discussion: The variance proposed was to lot width, which Ordinance 8 requires 330 feet at the setback line, State law; on metes and bounds is that it be 300 feet in width, There's no definition of width in the State Statutes, so it becomes a question of the City trying to come up with a definition, Attorney Hawkins recommended that Ordinance 10 also be referenced. Regular City Council Meeting May 17, 1977 - Minutes Page 3 (Harold Thimmesch Variance Request, Con~inued) AMENDMENT TO THE MOTION by VanderLaan, Seconded by McClure, that the City Council advises a Variance from Section 7,01 requiring a width of 300 feet in Ordinance Number 10, (Resolution R58-7 attached) VOTE ON AMENDMENT: Carried unanimously VOTE ON MOTION: Carried unanimously Final Plans and Specifications - Prairie Road Engineer Stockwell reviewed the Prairie Road Project explaining the items that were changed on the final plans, Tbe northern 1650 feet of the road has been changed to an urban section with bituminous surface 44-foot wide road with concrete curb and ~tter to conform with State Aid requinments in meeting the intersection of Prairie Road, Crosstown Boulevard, and 157th Avenue, Two minor storm sewers need to be in- stalled in that area also, The additional cost for the road in the urban area for concrete curb and gutter would be approximately S2,475, Because the storm sewer system is a simple one, it will increase the cost only slightly, Four easements are left to be obtained, and Attorney Hawkins felt they should be acquired within the next two weeks, The reason for the delay was the City is trying to negotiate with these people without the necessity of going to condemnation, There should be no problem with these easements, and the project should be able to begin on time, Mr, Stockwell anticipated the project would be completed this year, I Some concern was, expressed about the intersection of Prairie Road, Crosstown, and 157th Avenue. 157th Avenue already has a tremendous water problem just east of the inter- sectio~and at many times it is impassible, Would the intersection aggravate the water situation? There is no place for this water to go, Mr, Stockwell felt the intersection shouldn't cause further runoff than there is now, The final plans cannot be changed without State approval, but he would look at this problem during construction, I MOTION by VanderLaan, Seconded by Orttel, that the Council direct the staff to prepare a Resolution to accept the Final Plans and Specifications as presented by the City I Engineer for the, Minnesota State Aid Highway Improvement of Prairie Road from CSAH No, 18 to CSAH No, 16, and to direct the City Clerk, upon notification of approval of the Minnesota State Highway Department, to advertise for pUblic bids as required by law, with such bids to be opened on June 30, 1977, 2:00 P, M" at the Andover City Hall, (Resolution R59-7 attached) Discussion: No modifications can be made to the final plans without State approval, Again, concern was expressed that the intersection at 157th must not aggravate the water problem there, If it does create a problem, the City has an obligation to do something to fix it, Motion carried unanimously, I Final Plans and Specifications - Northwoods , Engineer Stockwell explained the minor changes in the final plans, One, an alternate storm sewer system was made which results in a savings:,of about S6,000 by uSing the outlet south of l38th A~ue and Crocus past the last house on Crocus and discharge into the creek there'l No easements will need to be obtained because the property is owned by the City, and 1 less pipe is needed for this plan, Two, the Park Board was not re- ceptive to having an open ditch across the park land to drain into Mr, Slyzuk's ditch, So all three of the discharge points from 140th Lane will be a pipe system directly into the ditch, Mr, Slyzuk wants us to realign about 400 feet of the ditch, which would cost about $Roo for the ditch construction, This also involves the removal of some trees, which would cost about $2,500, Mr, Stockwell felt this was a reasonable compensation Regular City Council Meeting May 17, 1977 - Minutes Page 4 (Final Plans and Specifications - Northwoods, Continued) for the use Of his ditch, Third, Mr, Slyzuk felt there should be a control gate on the 48-inch culvert on his ditch on 141st Avenue in Green Acres so that he can raise the water for his fields as he needs it, Discussion was on the liability of damage involved in case the gate was closed during a rain storm, the fact that Mr, Slyzuk would be responsibile for the opening and closing of the gate, and desig~and constructing the gate,ngt tð ~168e eeffi~lçLvlý. Mr, Stockwell estimated the cost of this gate would be about $500, Mr, Stockwell was directed to prepare a report explaining the total amount of compensation to Mr, Slyzuk for using the ditch, MOTION by Lachinski, Seconded by Orttel, to direct the City Clerk to prepare a Resolution to accept the Final Plans and Specifications as prepared by the City Engineer for the improvement of bituminous streets with concrete curb and gutter, and storm sewers ~n the NorthwQods Addition, and to direct the City Clerk to seek public bids as required by law, with such bids to be opened on June 10, 1977, 2:00 p. M., at the Andover City Hall, (Resolution R60-7 attached) Motion carried unanimously. Final Plans and Specifications _ Red Oaks Mr, Stockwell explained that the system in Red Oaks is very similiar to the one proposed at the Public Hearing, At the north end of Raven, there will be a square turnaround for cars. This will extend about 40 feet into the park that is being developed there, Tom Cherney, Raven Street, felt the turnaround would not interfere with anything that is being planned for the park and that it would provide a parking area for it, Attorney Hawkins informed the Council that the appraisals for the land for the three proposed ponds have not been received, He personally felt there was no excuse for the delay in receiving these appraisals and stated he will personally get this information within the next couple weeks, The final plans include the three ponds originally proposed, Should there be some problem purchasing the Conroy property for that pond, the plans could easily be converted to ditch the storm sewer system into Northwoods, This should still be agreeable with the Coon Creek Watershed Board, There was also some discussion on the pond on the north end of Nightengale next to the landfill, Afte~ Mr, Stockwell met with the PCA and Mr, Hutchinson of the Anoka Health Department and explained that the pond will be only a maximum Of 2 or 3 feet deep and only during the ,100-year storm and that we are not draining.· any more water into the , . pond than we ar~ today, they didn't feel there would be any problem with that pond, Mayor Windschitl recommended we get that approval in writin~ that based on these plans , there is no potential for ground water pollution, I MOTION by Vande~Laan, Seconded by Orttel, that the City Council request the City Clerk and staff to pr~pare a Resolution to accept Final Plans and Specifications as prepared by the City Engineer for the improvement of bituminous streets with concrete curb and , . gutter and storm sewers ~n the Red Oaks Addition in the northwest quarter of Section 34, , Township 32, Range 24 and the northeast quarter of the northeast quarter of Section 33, Township 32, Range 24; and to direct the City Clerk to seek public bids as required by law, with such bids to be opened on June 10, 1977, 2:00 p. M" at the Andover City Hall, (Resolution R61~7 attached) Discussion: Engineering costs at this point are about , maximum, approximately $43,000 based on estimated construction costs, No more additional work needs to be done until we get into construction, I VOTE: YES-Lachinski, Orttel, VanderLaan, Windschitl; PRESENT.McClure as he is a resident of Red Oaks, Motion carried, Ten-minute recess at 9 p,m, Re~ular City Council Meeting May 17, 1977 - Minutes Pa~e 5 University Avenue Extension Eldon Hentges, Mayor of Ham Lake, su~gested the improvement of University Avenue as a joint project between Ham Lake and Andover be classified as a maintenance project and was thinking of putting Class 5 on it, The only difficulty with Class 5 is that it is extremely dusty, mostly because of the dry weather now, Cost estimation is about $10,000 a mile, Mayor Hent~es' idea would be to bring in the shoulders and till up the vegeta- tion, water and pack it; then make a determination whether to leave the road in that condition or whether to stabilize it with Class 5, Ham Lake is working on a project to put calcium chloride in front of residents' houses at a cost, The cost is prohibitive to put this on all roads, Discussion was on alternatives to using Class 5 to eliminate the dust problem, Crushed limestone is just as expensive and just as dusty, and flyash also is approaching the cost of Class 5, The proposed maintenance project would include the 1 5/8 mile of University Extension from Andover Boulevard to 157th Avenue, Under a maintenance project, no additional information is needed, The cost is considerably less than a construction project, and the work is done strictly from a field survey standpoint, Ham Lake is not planning on assessing their residents for this road and will be taking the funds from their general maintenance funds. Hope fully, this project could begin within a month, Mayor Hentges explained that the quality of Class 5 gravel they have been getting has deteriorated, He proposed we would prefer a higher percentage of clay in the gravel and that we may want to negotiate with the suppliers to get a different specification of Class 5 for cur purposes. That may have an impact on the cost, Mayor Hentges also explained that the shoulders on University Avenue are higher than the center of the road and that the road cannot be maintained adequately in this condition, Mayor Hentges felt that any time two municipalities can improve a road, it should be done simply because both municipalities share the cost, It seems that too many times border roads get 'tossed back and forth between cities, leaving the residents without an improved road! Ham Lake Councilmembers inspect the roads periodically and generally give priority to Ithe roads in the worst condition for maintenance projects, Mr, Kraabel also gives them a considerable amount of input, I MOTION by Lachin~ki, Seconded by McClure, that the upgrading of University AVEnae Extension from Andover Boulevard to 157th Avenue as a joint project with the City of Ham Lake be referred to the Road Improvement Committee for their recommendations, Discussion: , . The Road Improvement Committee is scheduled to report to the Council by September 1, A decision on this should be made before this, Added to the Motion: within 30 days, Second still stands, Hotion carried unanimously, I nonald Hallblade - Variance Reouest , Mr, Jacobson explained that Mr, Hallblade of 14165 Ivywood is requesting splitting his piece of propert~ into three tracts, The Commission approved because of the financial hardship against Ithe assessments levied against the property, The resul t1ng lots would be in character with the rest of the lots in the area, The Commission would like to see the required drainage area on tract No, 1 be included in the motion, In order to maintain the natural drainage, there can be no excavation, improvements, or changes made with this easement area, I Don Hallblade asked if there would be a problem with taking down the trees in the ease- , ment area, There's no problem as long as the drainage is not blocked on the easement. Regular City Council Meeting May 17, 1977 - Minutes Page 6 (Donald Hallblade - Variance Request, Continued) Mr, Jacobson explained that the financial hardship resulted because of the sewer and streets put through the area, The amounts Mr, Hallblade has to pay is such that by allowing the lot split it would alleviate a financial hardship on his part, and it wouldn't be detrimental to the surrounding area, MOTION by Lachinsk1, Seconded by Orttel, that the Council approve the variance request of Don Hallblade under Section 14,02 of Ordinance Number 10, The financial hardship was incurred because of the special assessments incurred because of the sanitary sewer and street imþrovement projects in the area, The lot split is compatible with the surrounding area regarding lot size and usage, and this variance is subject to the attached drawing of the engineer regarding a drainage easement on the northeast proposed lot,. reference to the legal description, (Resolution R62-7 attached) Motion carried unanimously, I.and Conveyances _ Tax Forfeit Discussion was on the 5 parcels of tax forfeit properties, The question was whether the Park Board was interested in retaining any of these parcels for park purposes, There was also some question as to whether or not this land was offered to the City on a gratus basis should the City want it, This item was postponed until the end Of the meeting to give the Attorney time to study the situation, Sewer Pumping Permit Requirements - Contractors , Contractors present at the meeting: James Kopet, Northern Cesspool; Elmer Dargis, Ace Cesspool; Dale Neizert, Dan's Cesspool; Henry Shephard, Bud's Cesspool; and Jerry Patterson, Dependable Sewer Service, Attorney Jerold McGee represented the contractors who operate cesspool services for the City, He explained that the argument against the $2,50 pumping permit was three fold, One, they are d~livering a service to the community, They feel it is unconstitutional and prohibitive to require a permit for merely pumping a cesspool, They can understand I the $25 fee for repairing the cesspool, The City of Brooklyn Center has ceased to collect I - this fee because they felt it was a service and was unnecessary, Neighboring communities also have a similiar ordinance for þumping permits, but they are not being enforced, Secondly, the fact that they have to get these permits is passing costs on to the community, Writing in for permits is also impractical because of the time factor, If costs become too high, more and more residents will be buying $25 pumps and pumping , their own cesspools, Possibly on a monthly or quarterly basis, the contractors could send in a list of peoþle, Thirdly, they feel the community is getting nothing for the payment Of the fee. They take the pumpage and deposit it in the Coon Rapids System, , Since part of Andover is serviced by the sanitary sewer, they should be allowed to dump here, saving both time and money, 1 Mayor Windschitl explained that the Ordinance was passed because the Metropolitan Council , . is requiring th~ City to have definite information about sewage systems, wh~ch includes frequency of failures, Another reason is the area in the northern part of the City has a very high density of homes; and if there was ever any trouble with these sewage systems, the cost of running the sanitary sewer line to them would be prohibitive, Therefore, I the City was trying to insure that the people would look at their system and take measures ahead of time rather than leaving the system fail, The thing that is happening is that þeople aren't getting their systems repaired, They are haVing them pumped repeatedly, If this would spread in that northern area, there would be a huge problem, Regular City Council Meeting May 17, 1977 - Minutes ~~7 (Sewer Pumping Permit Requirements - Contractors, Continued) The collection of the fee is for the service the staff performs, There is a certain amount of cost the office goes throu~h to keep records, The $2,50 is not an unreason- able cost, Hr, McGee asked if a compromise could be made so the contractors could report on a monthly or quarterly basis and send in a flat fee to cover this rather than running for a permit for every pumping job, They are interested in making the system work, Ms, Lindquest explained we have allowed a pumper to deposit an escrow account where he reports at the end of the week or bi-weekly and lets us know where .~ did the pumpin~, We're not requiring they come in prior to pumping, Our Ordinance also requiring pumping a cesspool every 4 years, and this permit helps us doublecheck that a system has been pumped, We need the names and address of the people and the date it was pumped for our records and to meet Metro Council requirements. James Kopet - Would get more results if pumpers were allowed to submit a list every month rather than charging for a permit, This would be the best way of getting information, Ms, Lindquist stated that the people in the nonsewered area feel they shouldn't have to pay for all the work involved in keeping records for this, This fee pays for our record- keepin~ and the fee justifies this to the other people in the community, People in the sewered areas pay $5 a month and have nothing to do with enforcing this Ordinance, Ms, Lindquist also explained that 6 months ago the engineer said when we get more houses on the system to increase the flow, we should have some place in the City to dump, Mr, McGee - You're required to take the sewage of the people in the community, Presently the contractors are dumping in Coon Rapids, who charges $1,50 per load, In Coon Rapids there is also a $1,50 charge for the building inspector, The contractors explained that with the increase of gas, etc" they are going to have to charge the people more, Mr, Shephard - You can recommend that people have their tanks pumped every four years, but you can't tell them to do it, Also, people call us and think we're behind this permit, and we are not~ Mr, Dargis - Metro Sewer told him that anywhere past the school on Bunker Lake was a third of a line flow, and Hr, Thurston said it was adequate also, If we have to get permits, any place over in that area would be sufficient for dumping, That would be a big improvement for us so we wouldn't have to truck this stuff up and down the highway, The City will ge~ an answer on this for them, The Clerk might circulate a memo explaining the policy and forward to the people when they come in for their permits, I Councilperson Orttel - It seems the regulation for pumping so that the City has a record will eventually be to your benefit, Then only licensed contractors will be able to operate in the City, I Mr, Shephard - It is good to have the septic system pumped every four years, but there isn't such a law that you can make them pump it, You should recommend that they have them pumped, Mr, Neizert - Th~ cost involved with the inspection of a cesspool is about the same as to have it pumped and only takes a minute less than pumping, There would be no advantage to requiring inspections every two years rather than pumping every 4 years, I All licenses have been returned to the contractors except to Mr, Kopet because he has some permits outstanding, Mr, Kopet explained that from the beginning he wanted to send permits in everylmonth and the City told him he had to come in prior to pumping an individual tank, Because the cost was prohibitive, he did not, He stated now that there is a settlement, he will comply with the Ordinance, but there will be no back payment of permi~s,.hecause he did not collect for the permits, he will not go back and collect for Re~lar City Council Meeting May 17, 1977 - Minutes Page 8 (Sewer Pumping Permit Requirements - Contractors, Continued) them, and he will not take the money from his own pocket, He didn't feel it was his fault about the misunderstanding about the permits, He didn't feel that the City was providing for the health and welfare of the community by driving up pumping costs, Mayor Windschitl felt the City's expense was only $2,50, and this was a very nominal fee, We're not trying to drive the price up, just to comply with the Metro Council and to maintain some records on this, Mr, Kopet explained that by driving out of his way and the time involved, it costs approximately $45 to pick up a $2,50 permit, Councilperson McClure - People in the neighborhood have been paying much more to pump the septic tanks than the $38 the contractors have mentioned this evening, Mr' Kopet said there are many other factors involved, finding of tanks, digging them up, etc., that raise the price, After further discussion, it was agreed that the contractors could send in the list of names with the permit money on a weekly, bi-weekly or bi-monthly basis, Being able to dump into the Andover sanitary sewer system will be checked into and the contractors will be informed further on this matter, MOTION by Orttel, Seconded by McClure, to continue the meeting until 11 o'clock, Councilperson VanderLaan amended that the Council would take up Items 5g, Land Conveyances - Tax Forfeit, and Item 12, Approval of Claims, Second still stands, Motion carried unanimously, The question of the license to Mr, Kopet was discussed further, This issue must be resolved with the zoning administrator, Land Conveyances, Continued HOTTON by Orttel,' Seconded by McClure, that the City Council direct the City Clerk to attempt to obtain possession for the City of the tax forfeit parcels in the Nordeen Addition and also' Parcel 9500 and Parcel 7240 in Walt's Garden Acres subject to getting , them free of charge, Discussion: The small area for $5 is only 10 by 10 feet and the County wants to get it off their record, The people that have the lot thought it was theirs and have their garden on it, Attorney Hawkins recommended that a letter be sent to these people informing them that the land is available for $5 if they want to purchase it, The Council felt if they are free, the City should obtain them regardless of whether the Park Board,wants them or not, The Clerk is to check with the County to see if they are free, If they are, the City will take them, If they are not, the County should list them for sale, I Motion carried unanimously, If there is a fee for book work for obtaining these parcels, the City would have no objection to paying that, I Approval of Claims MOTION by Orttel,ISeconded by McClure, to authorize payment of claims number 1268 through 1288 in the amount of $14,513,71 and claims number 146 and 147 from the 1976 Improvement Account, totalingl $5,133,13 Motion carried unanimously, MOTION by MCClurel Seconded by Orttel, to adjourn, Motion carried unanimously, Meeting adjourned at 11:08 p,m, / \~~ C~"~~~ o!,6"1/¿ /11 Marcella A, Peach Recording Secretary