City of St. Mary’s Point
City Council Meeting – June 3, 2008
St. Mary’s Point Web address:  http://stmaryspoint.org

PRESENT:  Mayor Jones, Councilmembers Jacobson, Williams and Theede
ABSENT:  Councilmember Franham

CALL TO ORDER.
Mayor Jones called the meeting to order at 7:00 p.m.  The City Clerk took roll call.

PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE.
The Pledge was recited by everyone in attendance.

INTRODUCTION OF MEGAN RUCKER AS NEW CITY CLERK.
Councilmember Jacobson reported on the recruitment process for the City Clerk position.  Megan Rucker was then introduced as the new City Clerk.

APPROVAL OF CONSENT AGENDA.
Motion by Councilmember Jacobson, seconded by Councilmember Williams, to approve the Consent agenda.  Motion passed 4-0.  

PUBLIC CONCERNS.
A concern regarding vandalism, including throwing rocks, was addressed by a resident.  The resident noted that the Sheriff’s Office has been made aware of this problem; and the resident was pleased by the response by the Sheriff’s Office.

A concern regarding a fire was addressed by a resident.  The resident stated that they will watch carefully for future fires.  The Sheriff’s report indicates a burning complaint on May 25th that relates to this concern.

SHERIFF’S REPORT.
Deputy Wick appeared at City Hall prior to the meeting and provided the Council with a copy of the May report.

PLANNING COMMISSION / PLANNING.
Cell Tower Application – update

Tom Niedzwiecki reported that the application is no longer being pursued by St. Mary's Point or the applicant.  The application is being closed and the application fee will be refunded.  The variance and local ordinances were researched by the City Planner, John Glomski.  The applicant was billed for this time.

Comp Plan – request by Lakeland Shores to excerpt SMP plan

Mayor Jones reported that he received an e-mail outlining a request from Lakeland Shores to excerpt portions of the St. Mary's Point comp plan to use in the Lakeland Shores comp plan, specifically the water planning portion. Mayor Jones reported that the St. Mary's Point comp plan was copyrighted and verified this with the City Attorney, Cameron Kelly.  

Mayor Jones reported St. Mary's Point would potentially be compensated for allowing Lakeland Shores to use the information.  City Planner, John Glomski distributed the plans to Lakeland, Afton and the Met Council.  Feedback was received from the Met Council stating that it met most requirements and asking for clarification on a few issues.

This item will be re-visited in our July meeting.

Holmer property – planned meeting in June regarding City Ordinances

In mid-June Scott Holmer will be in town and on the property.  Mayor Jones and other councilmembers are going to meet with him and inform him he may not be in compliance with city ordinances.

City Attorney, Cameron Kelly, viewed the property today with Councilmember Jacobson and Mayor Jones.  Mr. Kelly reported the property may have code and permit issues.  Councilmember Williams reported he would like the property to be re-assessed due to a residence dwelling on the property.  Councilmember Jacobson reported the lot will need to be brought into compliance.

Local Surface Water Plan – planned meeting in June regarding next steps

Councilmember Farnham, City Engineer John Parotti and Mayor Jones will meet in June to discuss next steps.    

STANDING COMMITTEES – UPDATES.
Fire District – Councilmember Williams reported that he and Councilmember Theede attended the meeting finalizing the upcoming budget.  An increase of just less than 5% will take place.  This increase does not require approval from the cities.  Councilmember Williams voiced concern about the increase and the long term sustainability.  Originally the increase was proposed to be 13%, and this percentage was brought down to just under 5%.

Cable Commission – Mayor Jones reported he attended the last meeting and received a budget update.  Mayor Jones reported he will work with Councilmember Jacobson to request funding for the new DVD equipment.

Middle St. Croix WMO – Councilmember Jacobson reported she attended the last meeting.  The Afton/Lakeland gully was discussed, and a 10% budget increase was proposed but has not been accepted.  

LSCV Alliance – Mayor Jones reported he did not attend the last meeting.  The meeting was not well attended. Mayor Jones plans to attend the next meeting.

CITY STAFF REPORTS.
Building Inspector
Duane Stensland was not present.  A packet was distributed to the Council outlining ongoing projects.

City Engineer
John Parotti reported that he was copied on the e-mail from the Met council Mayor Jones had referenced earlier. Mr. Parotti stated comment letters on the water plan are starting to be received and the information will be gathered.  Mayor Jones and Councilmember Farnham are planning to meet in June to review these comments and determine next steps.

John Parotti reported on the estimates to fix the cracks on the streets citywide, as a follow-up from last month.  Mr. Parotti reported the cost can vary greatly; the range would be $9,000 to $22,000.  Mr. Parotti stated the he would estimate St. Mary’s Point to be toward the lower end of that spectrum.  To do a more in depth estimate, he will need to further investigate and mark the roads.
        
John Parotti recommends we begin to implement this project in 2008.  Mr. Parotti reported that seal coating will usually sustain for the duration of approximately 7 years; and the last seal coating project for St. Mary’s Point was done in 2001.  Direction was given by the Council to continue with a more in depth estimate on the crack sealing and patching.

John Parotti reported on the “No Overnight Parking” at City Hall signs. Two quotes were received: Erloff Anderson - $360 and Northern- $220; these estimates were for a total of two signs for the parking lot.  Mayor Jones authorized moving forward with Northern to make the signs.

John Parotti also commented on the FEMA open house.  Approximately 25 people signed in, some of whom were subject to changes.  Residents were informed of changes to their property and the impact of the new FEMA maps.  City Council will forward any appeals/challenges to FEMA directly.  The forms will be submitted to the city hall.  The City Clerk was provided with handouts to provide residents that have inquires or would like to appeal or challenge.

City Attorney
Cameron Kelly informed the Council, as requested, of the new ordinance amending section 1004.020.  Ordinance was outlined and section 10 was highlighted, which allows temporary official signs to prohibit stopping.  

Councilmember Williams inquired as to the definition of the word “boulevard” in section 11; Mr. Kelly suggested we change the language to “roadway”.  The ordinance will be reviewed again at the July meeting.

Cameron Kelly reported on nuisance ordinances that could be enforced on residents who may have something like an unlicensed boats or vehicles on their property.  Mr. Kelly reported a possibility would be to send a letter to the resident, outlining the violation.

Councilmember Jacobson stated that she would like the letter to state the next step, should the resident not comply.  Councilmember Williams stated he would like to see a form letter drawn up to use as a general letter.  Mayor Jones agreed that this is a good approach and Cameron Kelly will bring a draft to the July meeting.

Councilmember Williams inquired about conditional use permits. This topic was discussed at the meeting in February.  Councilmember Williams inquired about the status of this.  Cameron Kelly suggested going through the files at the city hall to identify conditional use permits to verify that residents are in compliance.  This information will be brought to the July meeting to review.

City Treasurer
Tom Niedzwiecki gave his financial report for the month of May, 2008.

Delinquent taxes were reviewed as follow-up from the May meeting.  

Motion by Councilmember Williams, seconded by Councilmember Theede to pay the bills with checks numbered 3090 through 3109, and the electronic payments for a total of $28, 745.32.  Motion passed 4-0, as outlined by the City Treasurer.

E.)    City Clerk
        The City Clerk had nothing additional to report.

COUNCIL REPORTS.
Mayor
Mayor Jones outlined road construction information brought forward by the County and identified that there is a meeting in Afton on the evening of June 4, 2008 to talk about these projects.  
Mayor Jones received a letter from Minnesota Pollution Control accepting the Environmental Impact Statement for the proposed Xcel disposal site.  They are now moving forward to the permit process.
Mayor Jones attended the Met Council workshop on population estimates. The workshop outlined new population estimating methodologies. Mayor Jones has the information that was provided at that meeting.  The estimated population for St. Mary’s point in 2007 is 405.  This information will be on file at City Hall.
Mayor Jones reported the City Beach gate is falling down and needs to be repaired and placed back up.

Councilmembers
Councilmember Farnham
Councilmember Farnham was not present

2.    Councilmember Jacobson
Councilmember Jacobson reported she is attending a meeting at the Met Council on June 19th.
Councilmember Jacobson reported numerous complaints have been received pertaining to a dog and the upkeep of various houses.  Ms. Jacobson also reported that a diseased tree on city property needs to be removed and Cameron Kelly is looking up tree ordinances which will be brought up at the July meeting.  Mayor Jones instructed Councilmember Jacobson to get an estimate before the city decides on removing the tree from the property.

Councilmember Williams
Councilmember Williams reported he’d like to thank Louise Russell for her landscaping work at city hall.  
Councilmember Williams asked about the upcoming Arts in the Park program, and Mayor Jones informed him that he has spoken to Kris Blake and came to a verbal agreement.  
Councilmember Williams is encouraging people to attend the road construction meeting on June 4, 2008- to be informed of preliminary surveys and final design of upcoming projects.  Councilmember Williams brought up a proposal to the Fire Department regarding the responsibilities of the Marina and their responsibilities in paying for rescue boats.  Councilmember Williams believes a dockage fee should be imposed to help offset the expenses.

Councilmember Theede
Councilmember Thede had nothing additional to report.

Motion by Councilmember Jacobson to change the July meeting to July 8th as opposed to July 1st, seconded by Councilmember Theede Motion passed 4-0.


ADJOURNMENT.
Motion by Councilmember Theede to adjourn the Council meeting at 8:55 p.m.  Motion passed.



Respectfully submitted,


                                
    Donald R. Jones, Mayor                Megan R. Rucker, City Clerk



St. Mary’s Point web address:  http://stmaryspoint.org