City of St. Mary’s Point
City Council Meeting – February 12, 2008
St. Mary’s Point Web address: http://stmaryspoint.org
PRESENT: Mayor Jones, Councilmembers Farnham, Jacobson, Williams,
and Theede
ABSENT: None
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.
APPROVAL OF CONSENT AGENDA.
Councilmember Williams requested a change to the list of 2008 City
Appointments. Mike Theede should not be considered an alternate
to the Fire District Representative. He is the 2nd member.
Motion by Councilmember Theede, seconded by Councilmember Williams to
approve the Consent agenda as amended. Motion passed 5-0.
PUBLIC CONCERNS.
Bill Baglio appeared before the Council. He paid the remaining
balance regarding his application.
He questioned the Council about the speed limit along St. Mary’s
Drive. He feels that 35 MPH is excessive for that road.
Mayor Jones replied that the City looked into that issue several times
and have been unsuccessful in finding a way to lower local speed
limits. Councilmember Farnham reported that in the new
Comprehensive Plan, city streets will be designated as residential
streets which gives the City more flexibility in changing the limits.
John Parotti, the City Engineer, reported that speed limits are set
according to State statute. He believes the only way to lower the limit
is through MNDOT with a speed study. Councilmember Farnham
reported he was told something different and will look into the issue
further.
SHERIFF’S REPORT.
There was not a Deputy at the meeting to give a report, but the Council
did receive a copy of the calls during the month of January.
PLANNING COMMISSION / PLANNING.
A.) Councilmember Farnham reported that an application was
received from Cingular Wireless to put a cell phone tower up next to
the ice rink. That application has been returned by the City
Planner for 3 reasons. The application needs to be signed by the
property owner. They need to submit a radio frequency search area
that shows what area the tower will service. The third item that
is needed is a visual impact image which will show what the proposed
tower would look like.
The application for a cell phone tower would require a variance plus a
change to City Ordinances. The earliest this would be before the
Planning Commission is April because the February and March Planning
Commission meetings are devoted to dealing with the updates to the
Comprehensive Plan. Mayor Jones, Councilmember Farnham, and John
Glomski will meet with the applicant next week to give them the
background.
B.) Overview of draft Comprehensive Plan update
Mayor Jones reported this is a requirement from the Met Council of all
Government entities in the seven county area. Some of the new
requirements are for water management, open space, transportation
etc. This updating process was begun last June, and the Comp Plan
team includes John Glomski, John Parotti, Mayor Jones, Councilmember
Farnham, Planning Commission Chairperson Louise Russell, and Cameron
Kelly. They are hoping to release a finished draft in April.
Councilmember Farnham provided the Council with a copy of the schedule
they are hoping to follow. A notice of a quorum will need to be
posted for the Planning Commission meetings in February, March and
April.
John Glomski, the City Planner, then proceeded to walk the Council
through the draft of the Comprehensive Plan. John Parotti, the
City Engineer, walked the Council through the draft Local Surface Water
Management Plan.
WASHINGTON COUNTY – NEW SEPTIC SYSTEM REGULATIONS.
Mayor Jones reported that there is a workshop tomorrow at Washington
County on the new regulations for septic systems. John Parotti
commented that Chris LeClair from Washington County would be more than
willing to come down and talk to the Council about the changes that are
taking place. The City Clerk will contact him about coming to a
future meeting.
CONDITIONAL USE PERMITS.
Mayor Jones suggested this issue be tabled to the March meeting.
2008 DONATIONS.
The Council agreed to discuss this issue at the March meeting.
STANDING COMMITTEES – UPDATES.
Fire District – Councilmember Williams reported there is a Board
meeting tomorrow night. He informed the Council that for the year
2007 there was a total of 354 calls.
Cable Commission- Mayor Jones reported that he did attend the last
meeting and the focus was on finances. He asked for a more
detailed break-down on the revenues and expenses for the year at the
next meeting.
Middle St. Croix WMO – Councilmember Jacobson reported there is a
meeting on Thursday. She informed the Council that the
administrator, Melissa Lewis, is leaving that position.
LSCV Alliance – Mayor Jones informed the Council that the Washington
County Department of Public Health and Environment is conducting an
online survey regarding health and environment concerns. It
was reported at the meeting that there are some concerns about the
parking situation at Afton-Lakeland. Mayor Jones reported that he
also attended the MPCA public hearing on the proposed Xcel fly ash
disposal site.
CITY STAFF REPORTS.
Building Inspector
Duane Stensland reported on the status of the current projects in the
City.
City Engineer
John Parotti reported that there is a deadline of February 14th for
sending in any written comments to the MPCA about the fly ash site
proposal.
Regarding the FEMA map updates, SHE will need to compare the new maps
with the old maps and identify the changes.
Last month the Council asked that he look at when the City last did
sealcoating. The last City-wide map that he found for sealcoating
was from 2003. It could be considered this year, but we should
wait until the snow is gone to see how the roads are.
City Attorney
The City Attorney, Justin Bonestroo, did not have a report.
City Treasurer
Tom Niedzwiecki gave his financial report for the month of January,
2008.
Motion by Councilmember Williams, seconded by Councilmember Farnham to
pay the bills with checks numbered 3026 through 3047, and the 7
electronic payments for a total of $15,377.52. Motion passed 5-0.
E.) City Clerk
The City Clerk reported that there will be no office hours next Monday
since it is President’s Day.
COUNCIL REPORTS.
Mayor
He had nothing additional to report.
Councilmembers
Councilmember Farnham
He commented that during the last hockey tournament at ice rink the
roads were blocked because cars were parked on both sides. He
would like to see “no parking” signs put up on one side of the
street. This issue will be addressed at the next meeting with the
City Attorney, Cameron Kelly.
2. Councilmember Jacobson
She had nothing additional to report.
Councilmember Williams
He asked the City Treasurer about home foreclosures in the area and if
he has any information where we might stand. Mr. Niedzwiecki
responded that the County just published the delinquent reports and he
does review those every year. It might be too early to see a
trend yet though.
He commented that in Afton there are some upset residents that may be
seeking to annex to St. Mary’s Point.
Councilmember Theede
He asked the Council to talk about City Clean-Up day next month.
ADJOURNMENT.
Motion by Councilmember to adjourn the Council meeting at 9:19
p.m. Motion passed.
Respectfully submitted,
Donald R. Jones, Mayor
Holly A.
Morley, City Clerk
St. Mary’s Point web address: http://stmaryspoint.org