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011209 CC WS MinCity Administrator/Clerk Brian Heck administered the Oath of Office to newly elected Mayor Christine Lizee and Council Members Jeffery Bailey and Laura Turgeon (two-year term) and Richard Woodruff and Scott Zerby (four-year term). 1. CONVENE CITY COUNCIL WORK SESSION Mayor Lizee called the meeting to order at 6:20 P.M. A. Roll Call Present. Mayor Liz6e; Councilmembers Bailey, Turgeon, Woodruff and Zerby; Administrator Heck; Planning Director Nielsen; Director of Public Works Brown; and Engineer Landini Absent: None B. Review Agenda Turgeon moved, Woodruff seconded, approving the agenda as presented. Motion passed 510. 2. WATER SHUT OFF ORDINANCE Administrator Heck reviewed the City's current water shut-off policy. If the City does not receive full payment for an account within 45 days of the day on which the account was due, the property owner or user (the subscriber) is sent a delinquent notice. The notice informs the subscriber of the delinquency and unless the account balance is paid in full within 15 days the water will be shut off by Public Works staff and a shut- off fee will be assessed to the account. Heck explained there have been instances where the Public Works staff have been harassed and/or threatened when they went to shut off or turn on the water. Therefore, Staff recommends the policy be changed to be more permissive; rather than requiring the water to be shut off the policy should allow the delinquent charge, including associated penalties and fees, to be certified to the property owner's tax roll at year end. They have researched other communities' policies and found they allow for the water to be shut off but do not require it, and they certify the delinquent charge to the property tax roll. The proposed change would be accomplished by making a change to the City Code, Chapter 903.09, Subd. 3, Delinquencies and Subd. 3, Discontinuance of Service where the statements the water will be shut off' will be changed to the water may be shut off'. He noted the City already certifies other delinquent utility charges to the tax roll. He also noted if Council chooses to make the change to the Code a public hearing must be held. Mayor Liz6e stated Staff has discussed the health and safety issues for Public Works staff with regard to the policy. The proposed change is simple and she is in support of it. Councilmember Woodruff stated lie was in support of Staff scheduling a public hearing. Councilmember Zerby stated changing the policy puts the responsibility for how to handle the delinquency on the Staff. He questioned if this type of ongoing issue should not be brought to Council's attention. He asked what happened if the property owner did not pay their property taxes. Administrator Heck explained that if a property owner does not pay their property taxes for a number of years, then the property can go into tax forfeiture. CI'T'Y OF SHO WOOD WO SESSION MEETING MINUTES January 12, 2008 Page 2 of 4 Councilmember Bailey stated the code would state the water may be shut off but it does not say delinquent charges outstanding at year end will be certified to the property tax roll. He questioned if it should. Administrator Heck stated the intent of the change is to say the City has the right to turn water off. If there is a delinquent water charge at year end that charge, including fees and penalties, will be certified. Councilmember Zerby questioned if there is any type of notice from the City to the subscriber that defines the fee structure and delinquency policy. Director Brown stated that is done by City Ordinance. Administrator Heck stated Staff will schedule a public hearing for this matter. 3. CITY HALL BUILDING SIGNAGE Administrator Heck stated the renovation of City Hall calls for a shadow box style sign on top of the archway extension on the main entrance. He had provided Council with a copy of the proposed lettering a few weeks ago and asked Council for feedback on lettering styles. He noted the font used for the lettering is Bernhard Modern Standard and is the same style as on the City's water towers. He stated he received one response suggesting a monument sign be installed instead. He explained the proposed sign would be visible from Country Club Road and the City Hall parking lot; it would face east and west. The location of the sign is wired so the sign can be illuminated, and the lettering for the sign will actually be cut out of the aluminum. Heck asked Council what type of font it wanted to use for the lettering. Councilmember Woodruff stated he envisions an aluminum box on top of a nice wooden archway. Councilmember Zerby commented he thought that area was stone. Woodruff stated he did not think the proposed sign was consistent with the design of the building. He questioned if a monument sign close to Country Club road should be considered instead along with a plaque on the building. He expressed concern about the image the proposed sign would convey. Councilmember Zerby stated there are three entities around the City Hall location; City Hall, the Southshore Center and Badger Park. A monument sign could possibly serve all three of them and it could direct people where to go. He thought the proposed sign was quite large and could possibly be downsized. Turgeon stated the Southshore Center has its own sign, and there is also the Historical Society. Turgeon questioned where the monumental sign would be located. She thought including the names of all four entities could crowd a monument sign. Zerby stated if there is not one sign serving all four entities then there would have to be four individual signs. Councilmember Turgeon questioned if the lighted monument sign would have interchangeable lettering. For example, could the sign identify what meeting was being held? Administrator Heck stated there has not been any discussion regarding monument signage in construction meetings. He related the Architect for the project indicated that a monument sign constructed with materials similar to those on the building would cost $5,000 - $8,000 with a possible credit for the proposed sign. He stated a monument sign could be installed at a later date. He noted a monument sign would not have interchangeable lettering. Mayor Lizee stated the proposed sign was designed to fit with the design of the building, and she thought the size was proportional to the size of the building. She thought the back lighting for the sign was a nice touch. She agreed with the proposed font style because it is consistent with the lettering on the water towers. She stated the building needed to be identified. She suggested a monument sign be considered when landscaping for the property was discussed, and maybe that sign could direct people to all four entities. In response to a question from Councilmember Woodruff, Administrator Heck stated if the sign was not installed there would be a blank space above the archway on the entrance. Mayor Lizee stated the sign will finish the look of the building. Councilmember Woodruff stated the Park Commission wants to discuss consistency of signage in the City's parks and maybe a decision about City Hall signage could be delayed until that discussion has occurred. He did not want to spend money on a sign now only to spend money on a different sign latter, but the box and electrical could be installed during construction. He suggested a bronze plaque could be placed on the main entrance door. Councilmember Turgeon stated she agreed that monument signage should be discussed as part of the landscaping discussion. She supported delaying installing a new sign on the building until that discussion has occurred. Mayor Lizee stated she would prefer to have the proposed sign installed as part of the construction of the building, and for the lettering font to be the same as that on the water towers. She stated she could support delaying the installation of the proposed sign until landscaping decisions were made, but she did not want to incur redesign expenses for the sign on the building. In response to a comment from Councilmember Turgeon, Administrator Heck stated it's anticipated that construction should be done mid-March 2009. In response to a comment from Councilmember Woodruff, Director Nielsen explained the conditional use permit for City Hall requires the City to hire a landscape architect to prepare a landscape plan. Mayor Lizee asked Councilmember Bailey for his comments. Bailey stated he felt completely inadequate to make any decisions on lettering or anything else relating to City Hall signage; therefore, he deferred that to others. The continued discussion about signage will be part of the landscaping discussion. 4. 2009 GOALS Administrator Heck stated in the past Council has worked with Staff on establishing a "Goals and Priorities" list in March or April. Staff has drafted a very preliminary list for 2009. He thought the lists were more of a work program. It appears that the term goal has become synonymous with objective. The items on the 2009 Work Program to have a little more definition to them, noting that Staff has not put a great deal of effort into this as of yet. Heck then stated Staff is seeking Council's input. Such as, are there additional tasks or projects that should be added and what are Council's recommended priorities. If time had allowed, it would have been beneficial for Council to establish goals and then Staff could identify the objectives for each goal and establish a work program accordingly. That process should be used for 2010. Because the 2009 budget has already been established, any projects for 2009 have to be completed within budget constraints. Councilmember Woodruff suggested each item on the list have a description of what it is, identify how completion of the item will be determined, identify the benefits of doing it and have a cost estimate to do it. He stated it would be difficult to prioritize the items without more information. CITY OF SHO WOOD WO SESSION MEETING MINUTES January 12, 2008 Page 4 of 4 Councilmember Zerby stated the first thing that should happen is for Council to establish goals for the City and then Staff could identify how those goals could be achieved. The draft list for 2009 is what the Staff thinks they would like to accomplish; Council has not identified the direction for the City. Also, if an item on the list has a completion date assigned that would make it a goal. Mayor Lizee suggested a special work session be scheduled to discuss the 2009 goals and work program. Administrator Heck stated Staff will provide more information (e.g., what it is, what are the benefits, what will it take to complete it, etc.). He suggested that for 2010, this initiative should feed into the budgeting process. Councilmember Bailey stated that goals, objectives and strategies appear to be intermingled. He agreed a work session should be devoted entirely to discuss the work program. He would like to work within Administrator Heck's approach of defining goals, then objectives and then strategies. He encouraged the work session be scheduled sooner rather than later. Mayor Lizee suggested the work session be scheduled for a Saturday morning. Administrator Heck stated he was not able to attend Saturday meetings. There was consensus to schedule a work session for February 2, 2009, at 5:00 P.M. 5. OTHER There was no other business for discussion this evening. 6. ADJOURN Zerby moved, Woodruff seconded, Adjourning the City Council Work Session Meeting of January 12, 2009, at 7:04 P.M. Motion passed 510. RESPECTFULLY SUBMITTED, Christine Freeman, Recorder ATTEST: J% ~ J Laura Turgeon, Acting Mayor Brian Heck, City Administrator/Clerk