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01/03/2011 - 29389CITY COUNCIL MEETING CITY OF FRIDLEY JANUARY 3, 2011 The City Council meeting for the City of Fridley was called to order by Mayor Lund at 7:30 p.m. ROLL CALL: MEMBERS PRESENT: Mayor Lund Councilmember-at-Large Barnette Councilmember Saefke Councilmember Varichak Councilmember Bolkcom OTHERS PRESENT: William Burns, City Manager Fritz Knaak, City Attorney Darin Nelson, Finance Director Don Abbott, Public Safety Director Debra A. Skogen, City Clerk OATH OF OFFICE: Councilmember, Ward 1 Councilmember, Ward 2 Councilmember, Ward 3 PRESENTATION: James T. Saefke Dolores M. Varichak Ann R. Bolkcom Essay Contest Award from the Minnesota Chiefs of Police to Rosie Zakes. APPROVAL OF PROPOSED CONSENT AGENDA: APPROVAL OF MINUTES: City Council Meeting of December 6, 2010 Councilmember Saefke requested the following changes: (1) page 13, third paragraph from the bottom, second line, should read "most of the magic tricks have" instead of "has"; and (2) page 15, paragraph 3, second from last sentence, should read "The City has borrowed frost breakers, etc. to the City of Mounds View." FRIDLEY CITY COUNCIL MEETING OF JANUARY 3, 2011 PAGE 2 City Council Meeting of December 13, 2010 Councilmember Saefke requested the following changes: (1) page 8, should read "...the City has been criticized. .. enterprise funds as a business but we are. ..."; (2) "The City does not have the lu�ury to price water above its cost to produce"; and (3) at the end of the paragraph the word "needs" to be replaced with "means". APPROVED AS CORRECTED. NEW BUSINESS: 1. Resolution Designating Official Depositories for the City of Fridley. William Burns, City Manager, stated service from Wells Fargo, including their responsiveness to the City's inquiries, has been very good. Staff recommends Council's approval. ADOPTED RESOLUTION NO. 2011-01. 2. Resolution Designating an Official Newspaper for the Year 2011 William Burns, City Manager, stated staff is recommending that the Columbia Heights and Fridley Sun Focus be identified as the City's official newspaper for the year and the Star and Tribune be designated as the City's second official newspaper. ADOPTED RESOLUTION NO. 2011-02. 3. Resolution Authorizing a Change in Mileage Reimbursement Rates for the 2011 Calendar Year. William Burns, City Manager, stated staff recommends Council adopt the IRS mileage reimbursement rate for 2011. That rate has gone from $.50 per mile to $.51 per mile. ADOPTED RESOLUTION NO. 2011-03. 4. Resolution Imposing Load Limits on Public Streets in the City of Fridley, Minnesota. William Burns, City Manager, stated this resolution imposes the load limits on City streets. These limits shall be effective on the date ordered by the State's Commissioner of Transportation. They will be removed when Anoka County lifts load limits for county highways. Staff recommends Council's approval. ADOPTED RESOLUTION NO. 2011-04. 5. Resolution Requesting Municipal State Aid System Construction Funds for Other Local Use. FRIDLEY CITY COUNCIL MEETING OF JANUARY 3, 2011 PAGE 3 William Burns, City Manager, stated Minnesota Statutes require Council resolution for use of MSAS funds on our neighborhood street improvement projects. This resolution requests disbursement from the City's population portion of the MSAS funds for the local portion of the City's 2011 street rehabilitation project. Staff recommends Council's approval. ADOPTED RESOLUTION NO. 2011-05. 6. Approve 2011 City Council and Staff Appointments. William Burns, City Manager, stated the list includes the appointment of the Mayor Pro Tem, and that appointee again will be Robert Barnette. Others on the list are as follows: Anoka County Law Enforcement Council Councilmember-at-Large Barnette, Representative Councilmember Varichak, Alternate Metro Cities Mayor Lund, Delegate Councilmember Bolkcom, Alternate League of Minnesota Cities Councilmember Bolkcom, Representative Councilmember Saefke, Alternate School District No. 13 Councilmember-at-Large Barnette, Representative Councilmember Bolkcom, Alternate School District No. 14 Councilmember-at-Large Barnette, Representative Councilmember Bolkcom, Alternate School District No. 16 Councilmember Saefke, Representative Councilmember Varichak, Alternate Northstar Corridor Development Authority Councilmember-at-Large Barnette, Representative Paul Bolin, Alternate Minnesota Metro North Tourism Debra A. Skogen, City Clerk Mayor Lund pointed out that "Minnesota Metro North Tourism" is now changed to "Twin Cities Gateway." FRIDLEY CITY COUNCIL MEETING OF JANUARY 3, 2011 PAGE 4 Councilmember Varichak asked whether they needed to have an alternate for the Twin Cities Gateway. Mayor Lund stated he would be willing to serve as the alternate. APPROVED. 3. Claims (149019 — 149223) APPROVED. 4. Licenses APPROVED THE LICENSES AS SUBMITTED AND AS ON FILE. 5. Estimates APPROVED THE FOLLOWING ESTIMATE: Hard Drives, Inc. 14475 Quiram Drive Rogers, MN 55374-9461 2009 Street Rehabilitation Project FINAL ESTIMATE .....................................................................$ 10,965.13 APPROVAL OF PROPOSED CONSENT AGENDA: MOTION by Councilmember Barnette to approve the consent agenda. Seconded by Councilmember Varichak. UPON A VOICE VOTE, ALL VOTING AYE, MAYOR LUND DECLARED THE MOTION CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY. ADOPTION OF THE AGENDA: MOTION by Councilmember Bolkcom to approve the agenda. Seconded by Councilmember Saefke. UPON A VOICE VOTE, ALL VOTING AYE, MAYOR LUND DECLARED THE MOTION CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY. OPEN FORUM: Bruce Nelson, 350 Osborne Road, stated he was there to communicate the problems he is FRIDLEY CITY COUNCIL MEETING OF JANUARY 3, 2011 PAGE 5 experiencing as a direct neighbor of the new Multicare Associates Fridley Medical Center megaplex. He lives directly across from the clinic on Fifth Street with his brother. He is seeking a resolution to the problems which arose after a special use permit was granted to Multicare Associates to build their megaplex in the residential zone they currently reside in. They firmly believe the special use permit was issued with total disregard for the neighborhoods affected. Mr. Nelson stated they had planned on attending the Council meeting when the permit was issued. The original meeting was postponed because Multicare was not prepared is what they were told. They believe they were not informed of the rescheduled date. At that time, however, they would not have been able to anticipate the problems they are currently experiencing. They also had faith their City leaders would not impose such a large industry in a residential zone. Mr. Nelson stated they are seeking resolution to the problems that arose by putting such a huge complex directly across from them with no buffer zone. They tried to address these issues with Mr. Hickok but were unable to come to a resolution. In November they complained about Multicare's dumpster being left open. The person he spoke to replied it is okay that the dumpster is open because it had a fence around it. Mr. Nelson was shocked so he called Mr. Hickok and he did rectify this issue. Mr. Nelson stated they feel that now the City is more prepared to defend the clinic instead of its residents. The first problem they are experiencing is with the location and the design of the primary entrance and exit. It is located directly across from their driveway. There is a problem with the design. The exit was designed with a curve so cars could accelerate onto Fifth Street. This would be okay if it were not for the "stop" sign that most traffic disregards. Basically it is like having an uncontrolled intersection in front of their driveway. He has reported it to the Police, but they will not enforce the stop sign. Mr. Hickok told them he would remind the Police of this problem; but they have seen zero enforcement. Large delivery trucks and semi-trucks are included in this issue of vehicles not stopping. Therefore, they are seeking resolution of traffic not stopping before entering Fifth Street. Mr. Nelson stated the second problem with the exit is that the amount of traffic is e�tremely heavy. At times it is very difficult for them to back out of their own driveway. Sometimes the traffic backs up from the intersection of Osborne and Fifth Street all the way back to Multicare's parking lot. This traffic jam includes large, noisy, and smelly trucks and other vehicles. They are seeking resolution of too much truck and vehicle traffic in front of their home which he thought was in a residential zone. Mr. Nelson stated the third problem is with the exit. They now have vehicle headlights in their front room and other windows of their home. This is in direct violation of Fridley's Zoning Code. The Code states that a business must provide a headlight barrier to prevent headlights from flashing into adjacent homes. Multicare Associates did acknowledge the problem by offering to build them a privacy fence. However, if they were to install a fence, they would no longer be able to see backing out of their driveway. Their neighbors have complained about this also. Mr. Nelson stated they are having a problem with the excessive snow removal noise. They do FRIDLEY CITY COUNCIL MEETING OF JANUARY 3, 2011 PAGE 6 understand it has been a record year for snow. However, it would be a problem under even normal conditions. They are no longer able to sleep at night during the plowing. Multicare uses loud, construction-type snow removal equipment instead of normal pick-up plow trucks. They have ATVs, loud bobcats, and encased tractors. All of this equipment is operated at times less than 200 feet from his bedroom. Some of the equipment vibrates their home which is another violation he believed in the Fridley Code. "No noise, odors, vibrations, smoke, air pollution, solid waste, heat, glare, dust, or other such adverse influences shall be permitted in any district that will in any way have an objectionable affect upon adjacent or nearby property." Another possible reason for the excessive noise is that Multicare was built on an elevation, and he believes the noise reverberates. He does not believe anyone would appreciate ATVs and construction-type equipment outside their bedroom window at 3 a.m. or all night. It is a huge problem. One suggestion they have is restricting the hours of snow removal. Other communities impose these restrictions when a business interferes with a resident, especially in a residential zone. They would like to see no snow removal done between the hours of 12 a.m. and 6 a.m. Mr. Nelson stated the ne�t problem they are experiencing is the employees of Multicare now come and stand in front of their home to smoke their cigarettes. The employees are there most of the day. They feel it is an intrusion of privacy. When the wind is right, the non-smokers at their home do not appreciate the smell either. They believe this to be either a loitering or public nuisance issue. Mr. Nelson stated the ne�t problem they have is during certain times of the year they have sun reflecting off of Multicare's windows into their windows and those of their neighbor. It is possible it may also affect eastbound traffic on Osborne. They believe the only resolution is for Multicare to replace the windows on the west side of the building. Mr. Nelson stated those are the main issues they are having trouble with. They would just like to see some regulation. It appears there has been "zero" regulation as far as the neighborhood impact. They would like to live peacefully with the clinic as a neighbor, but some changes are needed. They appreciate that the clinic is an asset to the community. They also believe that the sacrifice of the few to benefit many is okay. However, they believe that the sacrifice that the City has put on them is an e�treme overburden. Please assist them in resolving these issues so their household can once again be a positive asset to the community. Mayor Lund asked Mr. Nelson if he provided the letter he read to the City prior to tonight. Mr. Nelson said no. Mayor Lund asked Mr. Nelson whether he had any documentation of his conversation with Scott Hickok. Mr. Nelson replied, yes. He did not have it with him. Mayor Lund asked if he had spoken to Mr. Hickok about all of the items. Mr. Nelson replied, yes. FRIDLEY CITY COUNCIL MEETING OF JANUARY 3, 2011 PAGE 7 Mayor Lund stated Mr. Nelson is saying staff has received the six problem issues he has identified; and he is not satisfied with any of the responses. He asked if staff had responded. Mr. Nelson replied, yes. Mayor Lund asked if he had any discussions with the clinic people. Mr. Nelson replied, no. Mayor Lund stated typically what they do is take the complaints. He asked for a copy of the letter. Mr. Nelson provided the copy. Mayor Lund stated they would see if they can get some responses from staff. Some of those issues are not going to be so easily resolved. Mr. Nelson replied, he knows. Mayor Lund stated and some of them may never be resolved to Mr. Nelson's liking. Mr. Nelson replied he understands. Mayor Lund stated he would like to have staff be given an opportunity to what they can do. He would expect they would have some discussion with the clinic. He knows that the clinic and the hospital as a whole have always wanted to be very neighborly. It is great we have a hospital in our community. He thinks the expansion was a good thing for this community. They needed a new building. He does not mean for Mr. Nelson to be the lone sufferer in this. There may be some issues. They have offered to put up a fence. Maybe there needs to be some landscaping. Because there is not a 90-degree exit coming out of the parking lot getting on to Fifth Street, people are disregarding the stop sign. Mr. Nelson stated in his opinion if it was just a straight 90-degree corner, it would be less of an issue. As it is now it is like an acceleration ramp onto Fifth Street. Councilmember Bolkcom stated she thought the truck traffic was supposed to be on a different route. Mayor Lund asked if there was a stoplight at Fifth and Osborne. Mr. Nelson replied, no. Mayor Lund stated so it is partially an unrestricted intersection. Especially at busy times he would expect most of the employees and truck traffic would not want to use that route because it might take them a long time to get across Osborne if they want to go westbound. FRIDLEY CITY COUNCIL MEETING OF JANUARY 3, 2011 PAGE 8 Mr. Nelson stated it does but he does not know how many options they have. Councilmember Bolkcom asked if it is possible for City staff and someone from the Police Department to meet with Mr. Nelson and a representative from the Clinic to talk over some of these issues. They have had so many additions there and probably a fair amount of that traffic is actually patients. She knows as a hospital they would be concerned about smoking ne�t to Mr. Nelson's property. Mayor Lund stated some of these things can be mitigated to lessen the negative impact that is occurring. Mr. Nelson said that is all they are looking for. He realizes that some of these changes are financially or legally not able to happen. Some of the issues he believes are in contrast to the zoning laws and he hopes they get addressed. They just hope that some regulations come into place. He does not know how a person can get up for work when there are bobcats outside the window all night. Mayor Lund stated staff will contact Mr. Nelson. NEW BUSINESS: 10. First Reading of an Ordinance Amending Fridley City Code, Chapter 901, Creating Petty Misdemeanor Violations. Don Abbott, Public Safety Director, stated they are presenting Council with a proposal for an ordinance to amend the Fridley City Code designating certain violations as a petty misdemeanor. Chief Abbott stated currently the City Code designates all violations as misdemeanors. A maximum sentence is $1,000 and/or 90 days in jaiL Most of the violations they are talking about are already being sentenced within petty misdemeanor limits. However, by Code definition they are misdemeanors. Many of them require mandatory court appearances, even if the person would prefer to send in the fine and waive their right to appear in court. Chief Abbott stated if someone does not appear, for instance on a snowbird parking ticket, the court notifies the City's prosecutor, and the prosecutor's office has to prepare a formal complaint. That is a multi-page document specifying the charge against the individual. That formal complaint is then reviewed and signed by a police officer. The complaint is then notarized within the Police Department and then hand-delivered to the court usually by a CSO, oftentimes by a detective. There is a court date set for the person. A summons is delivered to that person, notifying them of the court date. They appear in court and resolve their charge, ask for a trial, or go to trial. If they fail to appear, that results in an arrest warrant, which results in paying for jail, imposition of bail or a bond to be released and the setting of a new court date. Chief Abbott stated his staff inet with the City prosecutor's office and the Clerk of Court and reviewed over 140 Code violations and selected 42 they felt was appropriate for petty misdemeanor designation. Regarding an overview of petty misdemeanors penalties, there is no FRIDLEY CITY COUNCIL MEETING OF JANUARY 3, 2011 PAGE 9 jail time imposed, there is a maximum of $300 fine (set by State statute and levied by the court), and non-appearance would automatically result in the entrance of a guilty plea into the person's record. Therefore, not appearing would basically make the person guilty. They do have a ten- day period which is fairly standard and they will include that language in the proposed ordinance as well which would allow the person to provide the court with a reason for why they were unable to appear. If the court finds it a reasonable reason, they can then re-offer them another court date and take away the guilty plea. Chief Abbott stated non-payment of a fine once they are deemed guilty, instead of going through the formal complaint and warrant process, is referred to a collection agency which is selected by State's courts. The collection agency then follows normal collection agency processes and collects the fine money and all the surcharges for an additional fee to cover the expense. The charging entity (in this case the City) would receive its full fine payment. In other words, the City would not have to pay a collection agency. The violator is charged an additional fee to cover that. Chief Abbott stated the person does retain the right to a court appearance and a trial if they so desire. Doing this would improve the efficiency of processing citations, resulting in resource conservation by the Police, the prosecutor, and the courts. Lieutenant Monsrud estimates that he signs 80 to 100 of these types of complaints per year. They generally come in stacks of 10 to 20 at a time, and he spends a good part of the day going through them. Then there is the time for the prosecutor and the court. Chief Abbott stated defendants who wish to simply pay their fine in lieu of making a court appearance may do so, saving them the time and inconvenience of having to make a mandatory court appearance. Councilmember Barnette stated for a long time, they talked about administrative fines and supposedly, the State will not always let the City do that. Would that apply to this type of petty misdemeanor? Chief Abbott said the designation of these as petty misdemeanors has no direct relationship with the eventuality of administrative fines. They are still restricted or narrowly allowed to impose administrative fines on a traffic offense, whether or not our Code would designate those as petty misdemeanors. Councilmember Bolkcom asked about collection fees. Chief Abbott said there is an additional fee levied to cover the cost of collection on the defendant. The City is still forwarded the entire fine amount by the County. Councilmember Bolkcom stated if she received a citation for a loud muffler how much time does she have to pay it before it would actually go to court? Chief Abbott replied they typically set the court dates about four to five weeks after the violation. There is a process they have to follow so they do not overload the court. FRIDLEY CITY COUNCIL MEETING OF JANUARY 3, 2011 PAGE 10 Councilmember Bolkcom stated as long as she pays it before the court date she is fine. Chief Abbott replied correct. You can do that by mail, phone, or on-line. Councilmember Bolkcom asked what is "noise, vehicle horn, or signal device." Chief Abbott replied, it is sounding a horn when it is not necessary. For instance, honking incessantly at 3 a.m. for a non-emergency. Councilmember Bolkcom asked about the offense of "parking unattended." If someone has a car on the street for 24 hours, they would get a ticket? Chief Abbott replied you can. Typically they red tag but, yes, there is a violation after 24 hours of being unattended. Councilmember Bolkcom asked if she is also impeding snow removal, would that be two tickets. Chief Abbott stated she could but generally they ticket one offense at a time. Councilmember Bolkcom asked if she would have to go to court after receiving a certain amount of tickets. Chief Abbott replied generally with petty misdemeanors, especially of a parking variety, if you continue to pay the citations, that resolves the issue. If the Police Department, the prosecutor, or the court becomes aware of a habitual violator, the prosecutor can treat that case separately and ask the court to impose a greater fine up to the State maximum of $300. Councilmember Varichak asked, for example, can a person continue to get citations for leaving their car out during snow removal and pay the fine, or does it ever become an issue? Chief Abbott replied, even now, as a misdemeanor, snowbird or designated hours citations are one of those you can mail in a fine. Some of those ordinance violations you can do that. Even now you are able to basically park and pay those citations multiple times. If it happens close together, there can be an additional fee levied via tow charge if the City has to tow the vehicle out of the way. About the third time the City tags the same vehicle, it will be tagged and towed. Mayor Lund asked if it is a misdemeanor within a six-month period of time and you get two of the same thing is there usually a higher level of fines or does it increase to a gross misdemeanor. Chief Abbott replied State law provides within the traffic code for moving violations that the fine does escalate for additional citations during a year. Under our current ordinance, they are typically fined at a petty misdemeanor level. There is no mechanism built in for the escalation of that fine. If the same person is coming back for the same thing, the City could request a higher fine or charge a different offense. FRIDLEY CITY COUNCIL MEETING OF JANUARY 3, 2011 PAGE 11 Councilmember Saefke said if a person pleads not guilty to a misdemeanor, how much time do the officers have to spend in court? Chief Abbott replied, he does not have the exact figure with him but, if someone goes to court and pleads not guilty and asks that the case be set for trial, the prosecutor will request the necessary officer(s) appear in court. Councilmember Saefke asked with some of these offenses turning into petty misdemeanors, will people be less likely to challenge the citation? Chief Abbott said he believes it will result in less court time by everyone. More than likely the reason is most people will react with less concern of a petty misdemeanor on their record. Councilmember Bolkcom asked how they arrived at the fine. It is only $30 when someone parks during snow removal. Chief Abbott replied the court sets the fines within the maximum. The maximum is $30 but the column where it says "typical fine" is what the Court is typically fining these offenses; and they basically follow a suggested fine scheduled presented to them by the Minnesota Clerk of Courts Association. That just happened probably 15 years ago in an attempt to standardize fines. Councilmember Bolkcom stated it is more than just a$30 ticket in Minneapolis. Chief Abbott replied those are the numbers provided our court administration in Anoka County and definitely for all the cities in Anoka County. Councilmember Varichak asked if he had any idea how much cost savings this would be for the Police Department. Chief Abbott replied, as far as Lieutenant Monsrud's time, every time he gets a stack of 10 complaints or so to sign, it takes two to three hours to read them. Then there is the notary time. If they do 80 to 100 a year, 30 hours of Lieutenant Monsrud's time, another 10 hours of notary time. Where it really would add up is at the City prosecutor's office where they have to prepare each one of the complaints. He would say an hour or so of prep time for a complaint. Councilmember Bolkcom asked if the prosecutor's fees will go down. Chief Abbott replied, right now the City is on an annual contract with our prosecutors. They will not see an immediate impact. A work reduction of this type, whether that will result in either a reduction in the fee or else putting off an increase that the City would otherwise see, they will have to wait and see what the prosecutor submits as a bid for his ne�t contract. Councilmember Varichak stated she thinks it is a really good idea that they do this. FRIDLEY CITY COUNCIL MEETING OF JANUARY 3, 2011 PAGE 12 Chief Abbott stated he thinks the biggest savings is at court. There are only 16 judges in Anoka County to handle everything, from a homicide trial to a divorce to a parking ticket. The court is a very strong proponent of the cities in our jurisdiction doing this. Councilmember Varichak stated if people want to pay it right now, they can't. They have to go to court. Chief Abbott stated under the current system, most of our violations require court appearances. Some you can pay by mail now but, once you fail to appear, it puts us right back into that complaint process. Under the new system, you have a court date and either you pay the fine by that date or, if you do not appear, it is automatically entered as a guilty plea for you. However, if within ten days of not appearing, you provide the court with a good reason for an excused absence, they would basically give you another court date. MOTION by Councilmember Barnette to waive the reading of the ordinance and adopt the ordinance on first reading. Seconded by Councilmember Saefke. UPON A VOICE VOTE, ALL VOTING AYE, MAYOR LUND DECLARED THE MOTION CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY 11. Informal Status Reports. None. ADJOURN. MOTION by Councilmember Barnette, seconded by Varichak, to adjourn. UPON A VOICE VOTE, ALL VOTING AYE, MAYOR LUND DECLARED THE MEETING ADJOURNED AT 8:35 P.M. Respectfully submitted by, Denise M. Johnson Scott J. Lund Recording Secretary Mayor