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HomeMy WebLinkAboutCC October 10, 1978 , CITY of ANDOVER CONTINUED REGULAR COUNCIL MEETING - OCTOBER 10, 1978 MINUTES The Continued Regular City Council Meeting was called to order by Mayor Windschitl, on October 10, 1978, 7:30 P.M. at the Andover City Hall, 1685 Crosstown Boulevard, Anoka, Minnesota. Councilpersons Present: Lachinski, McClure, Orttel. Councilpersons Absent: VanderLaan Also Present: City Clerk, Pat Lindquist and Fire Chief, Vic Evans. Item No. 6a - Interim Ordinance Mayor Windschitl outlined the steps being taken by the Planning and Zoning Commission to protect the City from less than 2.5 acre development in the rural area, noting that legally, the Interim Ordinance could not be extended, therefore, Ordinance No.8 and Ordinance No. 10 are being amended to include provisions to cover these items. The Planning and Zoning Commission has a public hearing sc;ocduled for Monday, October 16 to review the proposed changes; Council adoption is on the October 17 Agenda. Item No. 6b - Parking Ordinance (Amendment) A brief accounting on the complaints received relative to on-street parking of which the existing ordinance does not restrict in most instances. The primarv objection, both for safety and aesthetic reasons, has been that of parking semi traiLers on streets in residential areas. P & Z had recommended deleting Section 1 of the ordinance, i. e., prohibition of street parking for more than 24 hours; and amending Section 4 of the ordinance to allow no parking between the hours of 1:00 A.M. and 6:00 A.M. at any time. A lengthy discus sion was had on whether passenger vehicles should be allowed street parking, citing situations of residential visiting, parties, etc. Suggestions were made on limiting time for passenger vehicle parking and on setting weight restrictions for vehicles parked on streets. MOTION by Orttel, seconded by McClure to amend Ordinance No. 33 as follows: Section 1. It shall be unlawful for any person to leave, park, permit or allow any motor vehicle to stand or remain upon any City street or right-of-way or on the traveled portion of the road or to obstruct the flow of traffic, unless for an emergency (fo.p. -œ.spe..th...n-~w_ent;r_:fo.u.". "0''''' s .a,t....R y -tilue-). Section 4. (F-l:= -N OVSm.D."", .,¡..t -th-l:-ou.gh-A1»"Ü "¡,5t"-O-f-sae,,- y""p) it shall be unlawful for any person to park or permit to be parked any vehicle upon any City street between the hours of one Ç>'clock in the morning and(s.a.¥<m.o.!,,],.oGJ<.) sb<: o'clock (6:00 A.M.-) itithe morning of each day. Motion unanimously approved. Item No. 6c - Adoption of State Building Code (Amendment) MOTION by Orttel, seconded by Lachinski to amend Ordinance No. 19, 19A, 19B as follows: All references to the 1973 Uniform Building Code are hereby amended to read 1976 Uniform Building Code. Motion carried unanimously. Continued Regula:. -,ouncL .eeting October 10, 1978 Page 2 Item No. 8b - Volunteer Fire Department Mayor Windschitl explained that he had contacted the County Attorney pursuant to Council directive relative to the September 28 fire; and further that he did not feel that he would be receiving substantial information from the County Attorney and the County Sheriff until all the facts were in and a report filed. He also informed the Council that he was requesting the City Attorney to be present at all briefing sessions. Mayor Windschitl reported to the Council that a report had accompanied the $150.00 City of Anoka charge for the fire, said note stating in part that the Mayor and Fire Chief were considering charges. He stated that he had contacted the City of Anoka in an effort to determine where this information originated inasmuch as he had made no such statement, and as a result, a letter was forthcoming from the Anoka City Manager verifying the fact that the Mayor had not made such a statement to them. Mr. Evans also noted that he had talked to the Anoka Fire Chief who stated that the "note" was his wording only. Item No. 8c - Road Committee The item under discussion was the possible requirement of blacktopping streets prior to acceptance on all plats or subdivisions where the lot(s) were five acres or less. Mayor Windschitl noted that the Planning and Zoning Commis sion was recommending changing the 330' requirement on R_llots to 300', which he felt should remove the objections previously voiced by the Council when the blacktop requirement was first discussed; and further, that the placing of bituminous on the streets should aid substantially in the drainage and possibly prevent the many problems faced by the City. Council person Lachinski stated that he did not see how the drainage would be improved just by adding blacktop; and felt that some type of better storm sewers/drainage would also then have to be required. He further stated that he did not object to the proposed requirement, however, he was very concerned about future maintenance costs of bituminous-and whether the City could afford those costs, citing the estimates on annual sea1coating costs. Councilperson Orttel mentioned the possibility of using the first sea1coating as a required sealant, and therefore, a part of the actual installation rather than maintenance, making it possible to assess the developer for the cost. After more discussion on the advantages and disadvantages of blacktopped streets, it was agreed that before any decision could be made it would be necessary to secure an actual life cost analysis on both bituminous and gravel and make comparisons. Sowada and Lindquist were directed to contact Columbia Heights, Coon Rapids, and Anoka County and whomever else was necessary to secure these costs. This item is to be placed on the October 17, 1978 Regular Council Meeting. Item No. ;3d _ Personnel Committee Council person/Committee Chairman Lachinski asked the Council to review the Committee's August 30 Minutes and recommendations. The first item discussed was that of a "Policy for Employees' Membership in the Volunteer Fire Department". Continued Regular \Òuncil ,,~eeting October 10, 1978 Page 3 Personnel Committee (continued) T"e proposed policy contained seven items -each were reviewed by L,e Council, witn comments as follows: (The proposed wording on each item is listed first.) 1. When hiring equally qualified candidates, preference should be given to: a) residents of Andover, b) members of the A VFD, and c) those willing to serve on the Fire Department. Comments- This item gave rise to the question of whether the City could be violating the Equal Opportunities Act. Mayor Windschitl noted that it was his understanding that "veterans" were the only acceptable preference item in the Act. It was agreed that an attorney's opinion should be secured on this provision prior to adoption by the Council. 2. Employees should be allowed to attend training and drill sessions. on Wednesday mornings wheneve r pos sible. No more than five meetings per year should be mis sed because of other City busines s. Comments-After discussion, it was agreed that "on Wednesday mornings" shoüld be deleted. 3. Employees shall be required to make up drill time in a manner approved by their supervisors. Comments - Questions were raised on whether this should be part of the work week and if this could create a need for overtime pay. Also discus sed was ti,e fact that the Department was volunteer and drill time should be volunteer. To eliminate added overtime costs and associated problems, the following sentence was added to this item: "Attendance at drills and training sessions shall be on a volunteer basis and shall not be considered part of the normal work week. " 4. Employees should be allowed one paid day (8 hours) per year for special training. Comments - Again the questions came up as to whether this item could conflict with the Equal Opportunities Act provisions inasmuch as the same benefit was not extended to all employees. Mentioned was the existing policy of allowing employees to attend job-related seminars, schools and workshops such as I)Building Officials North Star Meetings, 2) Public Works Schools, and 3) Clerks and Finance Officers Meetings. All discus sed was including all employees and adding "public safety" special training. The attorney is to present an opinion on this item prior to adoption by the Council. 5. When a fire occurs during City working hours, two employee volunteers are automatically relieved of t>ther duties and will immediately respond to the fire call. If more than two City employees are available, the Building Inspector may exercise his discretion in meeting his previously scheduled appointments. Once on fire call, City employees are responsible only to the Fire Chief or Fire Officer in charge and shall remain under his /her charge until relieved by the Fire Officer. Comments - Accepted as written. Continued Regula ity C, cil Meeting October la, 1978 Page 4 Item 8d - Personnel Committee (continued) 6. Time spent by City employees on fires will be charged to the Fire Department. Comments - Acceptable as written. 7. The Fire Chief or Fire Officer will make every effort to relieve City employees as soon as possible after the fire call. Comments - Acceptable as written. Discussed were policies of private industry On their employees being released for fire duty. The Fire Chief was asked to secure the policies of neighboring municipalities. The City Clerk was directed to contact the City Attorney on Items 1 and 4 and based on his opinions, redraft the proposed policy for pre sentation to the City Council on October 17. C ityAdministrator / Engineer This item would be covered under the 1979 Budget discussions. Merit Raises Councilperson/Committee Chairman Lachinski requested that the Council review those items cited in the August 30 Minutes relative to merit increases. He emphasized the necessity for a formal and extensive review and rating process prior to approving any future increases. Also discussed was the Salary Schedule prepared by the Clerk, and its relationship to present staff salaries. The question was raised as to whether the recommendations for increases made by the Clerk were within the 1978 Budget allocation. It was determined that the four increases proposed by the Clerk were within this allocation, however, the City Council would have to make a determination from where funds would be derived sho"ld an increase for merit be given to the Clerk/Treasurer / Acting Administrator. Mentioned were 1) Surplus funds and 2) Engineer/Administrator allocation not used. The Clerk had recommended that the position of "Acting Administrator" be treated separately with a corresponding separate salary which would allow removal when the position is abolished. It was discussed, and generally agreed, by the Council that raises hereafter would only be once a year unless special Council action would deal with a specific individual. A brief discussion was had on the possibility of using computers should the need arise for another employee appear in an area where a computer could do the job more efficiently and at a lower cost. The Council reviewed the recommendation from the Clerk, the Personnel Committee, and the correspondence from the Recording Secretary, relative to the increase for the Recording Secretary. Discussion followed on the cost of outside help vs staff doing minutes, high City cost for meetings lasting less than one hour, and length of meeting s. It was agreed that Mrs. Peach has done an excellent job and the recommended raise was definitely deserved. Continued Regula. ';ity C. .dl Meeting October 10, 1978 Page 5 Item 3d - Personnel Committee (continued) The Mayor asked each member of the Council whether they wanted to act on any of the recommended raises at this meeting, or wait until all could be addressed at one time. Again, a once-a-year raise was discussed and its relationship to the Salary Schedule/maximum salary now being received. Also covered were 1) settlement of all 1978 raises prior to January 1, 1978, with any increase retroactive to July 1, 2) salary instead of hourly wage for Ray Sowarda and Dave Almgren, 3) pos s ibility of the present recommendations eliminating a raise in 1979, and 4)change in administrative structure. MOTION by Orttel, seconded by Lachinski, to approve the following merit raise s retroactive to July 1, 1978: Rae Bakke - 20~ per hour; Janett Eveland - 20~ per hour; Deloris Hanson - 20~ per hour; Marc·y Peach _ $2.00 for meetings adjourning prior to 11 :00 P.M. and $1. 00 per hour for each hour after 11:00 P.M. Motion carried unanimously. It was agreed to refer to the Personnel Committee the following: 1. Proposed Salary Schedule 2. Merit increases for R. Muscovitz and P. Lindquist 3. Adjustments /Triumver administration system Item 11 _ Approval of Minutes Due to the absence of a Coundlmember, this item was continued. Item 12 - Approval of Claims MOTION by Orttel, seconded by McClure to approve Claims #2083 through #2092 in the amount of $100,459.53 (General Fund). Motion carried unanimously. MOTION by McClure, seconded by Orttel, to approve Claims #232, #233 in the amount of $4,922.92 (1977-1 Improvement Fund). Motion carried unanimously. MOTION by McClure, seconded by Orttel, to approve Claim #234 in the amount of $48,798.45 (SA Bridge Fund). Motion carried unanimously. Adjournment MOTION by McClure, seconded by Orttel to adjourn. Motion carried unanimously. Meeting adjourned: 10:02 P.M. ---.. t· \/I~ ~.- , I ' /.....,Io\~. ,'b ~ ~. I I A r. r {' ist ¿fity Clerk 'v' f ,