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HomeMy WebLinkAbout03-29-2021 Council Minutes MINUTES OF THE ORONO CITY COUNCIL MEETING Monday,March 29,2021 6:00 o'clock p.m. ROLL CALL The Orono City Council met on the above-mentioned date with the following members present: Mayor Dennis Walsh,City Council Members Matt Johnson,Aaron Printup. Council Members Richard Crosby, III, and Victoria Seals were absent. Representing Staff were City Attorney Soren Mattick,Public Works Director/City Engineer Adam Edwards, Interim City Administrator/Finance Director Ron Olson, and Community Development Director Jeremy Barnhart. Mayor Walsh called the meeting to order at 6:00 p.m.,followed by the Pledge of Allegiance. APPROVAL OF AGENDA CONSENT AGENDA Printup asked to add items 16 and 17 to the Consent Agenda. 1. MEETING MINUTES OF MARCH 8,2021 2. COUNCIL WORK SESSION MINUTES OF MARCH 8,2021 3. CLAIMS/BILLS 4.APPOINTMENT OF CITY ADMINISTRATOR 5. CITY CLERK POSITION EVALUATION 6.APPROVAL OF LAWFUL GAMBLING PERMIT—RESOLUTION NO. 7180 7.APPROVAL OF MASSAGE LICENSE RENEWAL—MK NAILS 8.APPROVAL OF RENTAL LICENSE 9. LIFT STATION 15 BACK UP GENERATOR 10.2021 SEWER TELEVISING 11.APPOINTMENT OF SEASONAL EMPLOYEES 12. RANDY O'BRIEN RETIREMENT—RESOLUTION NO. 7181 13.APPOINTMENT OF PLANNING ASSISTANT 14.APPOINTMENT OF PLANNING COMMISSIONERS,CONFIRM PLANNING COMMISSION CHAIR,VICE CHAIR RESOLUTION NO.7182 15. AMENDMENTS RELATED TO BUILDING CODE ADMINISTRATION ORDINANCE NO. 255,THIRD SERIES 16. PUBLIC WORKS FACILITY ARCHITECTURAL/ENGINEERING RFP 17. HENNEPIN COUNTY YOUTH SPORTS GRANT APPLICATIONS RESOLUTION NO. 7183 Printup moved,Johnson seconded,to approve the Consent Agenda.VOTE:Ayes 3,Nays 0. Page 1 of 4 MINUTES OF THE ORONO CITY COUNCIL MEETING Monday,March 29,20222. 6:00 o'clock p.m. PUBLIC COMMENTS There were no public comments. CITY ATTORNEY REPORT Mayor Walsh noted earlier in the week a brush fire was started and all the fire stations were called out. He said someone went into their house,did not pay attention to the fire and it spread quite a ways; apparently this was admitted.He asked under circumstances like that, does the City have the ability to charge the cost of services to go out versus the residents having to pay for it in a case like this when someone did not pay attention to their fire. Attorney Mattick replied in some communities the statute allows them to adopt an ordinance. He said in the past when communities would respond to a fire or a medical,they would charge a flat rate($300 or $500,for example)and the statute was clear they could set up an ordinance to establish that kind of rate. Orono does not have that,in part because the fire department is through Long Lake. If they were to pursue costs associated with this,they would have to be costs related to Orono,so one avenue is that Long Lake could conceivably pursue the costs involved in what they had to spend to respond to the fire. Attorney Mattick does not necessarily think the City could respond for the personnel involved in Long Lake because it is not a direct expense to Orono. His understanding is that some other things were impacted-perhaps some road,curb,or gutters. Attorney Mattick_said,granted,Long Lake's fire department is the one that did that but it was in response to a call; if the City wanted to pursue that he thinks they could involve the resident for that but the question becomes if the resident does not pay,what does the City do? The City does not have the right to assess it to their property but depending on the amount they could bring a conciliation court action. He noted the damage to the City's infrastructure would be a legitimate thing to pursue. Mayor Walsh said it is not just"there was some damage, should we go get it,"but it is more of a philosophical issue. In the future if something like this happened,where someone is causing issues and public works,fire, or police have to respond, and whatever damage is done because of the negligence of the homeowner—does the City want to be able to solve that by being able to chase them for the money. He said putting an ordinance in place that says the City will do this so other residents don't come in and say someone did all this and then they just walk away and now the residents are paying for other people's negligence. Printup asked what infrastructure was damaged and how great it was. Edwards would have to run more detailed calculations but basically the overweight tanker trucks that responded to the fire on Fox Street caused a pretty decent section of the roadway shoulder to slough and slide. The City has done patching for it but they would still have to work up the cost for a professional patch which may be in the$10,000 range. Johnson noted at the Police Commission meeting this week,that was a topic and he was surprised to find out there was not a penalty to the property owner. He could see the fire from his house,and it looked like it was about to get to another neighbor's house—he called the neighbor who was in Arizona so they had their caretaker drive over to see what was happening. Johnson noted the City received a thank you note from a parent whose daughter went off into the ditch on Fox which was because of the section of the road Page 2 of 4 MINUTES OF THE ORONO CITY COUNCIL MEETING Monday,March 29,2021. 6:00 o'clock p.m. CITY ATTORNEY REPORT—Continued that collapsed away because people were swerving around that. He noted this has a lot of other ramifications other than just that direct police/fire response. Johnson does think they should have the capacity to be able to enforce it. Printup said then if they ever need it-wonderful. Mayor Walsh said it sounds like they could have a cause of action for this,but it may be good on top of it to put something in the ordinance they can point people to,versus the City Council just making a one-off decision here and there. Johnson asked if they know for a fact that it was an unattended fire. Attorney Mattick has not done any investigation into it. He has heard that the residents basically said they lit the fire,did not pay attention,went in to the house for a bit, and it got away from them. Johnson thinks there should be some sort of fine associated with that type of behavior. It does not make them a bad person but it was a poor choice that affected a lot of people. Attorney Mattick said every once in a while the DNR will have a story about a fire that got away and then it tears through a wetland or a forested area and DNR has to mobilize the choppers and buckets. His understanding is that they are pretty vigorous about going after the expenses associated with that;they do exercise some judgment on whether it was carelessness or if it was a different situation. In this case,it was the Long Lake Fire Department that did the damage,but it was in response to the fire. He noted they would have to walk people through that, show causation,and prove it up if they were to pursue it. Mayor Walsh thinks it would be worth a letter from the City Attorney and the City Administrator outlining the dollar amounts and that they would like to have a discussion about it and hopefully avoid any court issues. He asked Attorney Mattick if there is some model language they can put in the code to point people to. INTERIM CITY ADMINISTRATOR/FINANCE DIRECTOR REPORT Olson noted this would be his last time giving a report and he would gladly relinquish the City Administrator title to Mr. Edwards(who was appointed as City Administrator in the Consent Agenda). He noted at the last meeting it was said that the Planning Director should give a report at each meeting, so Jeremy Barnhart is present to share. Barnhart thanked the Council for hiring Katie Fitzsimmons as the Planning Assistant as they are now back to full staff and can get going on some other projects. They will be sending out septic pumping reminder letters in the next couple of weeks so people send in their pumping reports to keep records updated. He noted last year was the first year for the City docks on Crystal Bay Road where four private properties used City land to put a dock up. Two of those have paid for this year so far and Barnhart has asked them to pay before they put the docks in. Barnhart said MNSPECT has indicated a desire to review the fee schedule so they will incorporate that as part of their normal review in the fall. Walsh asked how it is going so far with MNSPECT. Page 3 of 4 MINUTES OF THE ORONO CITY COUNCIL MEETING Monday,March 29,2021 6:00 o'clock p.m. INTERIM CITY ADMINISTRATOR/FINANCE DIRECTOR REPORT—Continued Barnhart replied it is going pretty well and he is impressed with the amount of resources they have, such as a master plumber,septic people, erosion control,and etcetera. CITY ENGINEER REPORT Edwards said they have been focused on the transition to spring as far as public works—getting culverts unplugged and finding storm water issues,tree trimming throughout the City and the spring asphalt patching. On the engineering side,he has been focused on putting the RFP together, working some grants,and getting the new Parks Superintendent on board and up to speed. He is projecting Friday for the golf course to open up as things are drying out. He noted when they have a good April,they have a good year. MAYOR/COUNCIL REPORT Printup said a special thank you to Anna Carlson as City Clerk;he also thanked Ron Olson for stepping up and filling in as interim City Administrator. Johnson thanked everyone and said he is excited about getting the City's personnel in place. He noted the Police Commission meeting occurred and thanked the police who are out there every single day. Mayor Walsh thanked Anna Carlson,Ron Olson,and Adam Edwards for their good work. He is glad the kids are back to school five days a week. ADJOURNMENT Johnson moved,Printup seconded,to adjourn the meeting at 6:28 p.m.VOTE: Ayes 3,Nays 0. ATTEST: \ .• , Anna Carlson,City Clerk Dennis Walsh,Mayor Page 4 of 4