Ramsey Resident - 1987 - January

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MEETING CALENDAR January 1987 Feb. 3 Tuesday Planning & Zoning Commission City Hall 7:30 p.m. Feb. 5 Thursday Economic Development Company City Hall 7:30 a.m. Feb. 11 Wednesday Airport Commission City Hall 7:30 p.m. Feb. 12 Thursday Park & Recreation Commission City Hall 7:00 p.m. Feb. 18 Wednesday Economic Development Commission City Hall 7:30 a.m. Feb. 24 Tuesday City Council City Hall 7:30 p.m. Feb. 26 Thursday Board of Adjustment City Hall 7:30 p.m. Agendas for all Council, Commission and Committee meetings are available at City Hall two working days prior to the date of the meeting. ITEMS TO BE PLACED ON THE COUNCIL AGENDA MUST BE SUBMITTED TO CITY STAFF BY NOON ON MONDAY OF THE WEEK PRECEDING THE SCHEDULED COUNCIL MEETING. NOTE: RAMSEY MUNICIPAL CENTER WILL BE CLOSED ON MONDAY, FEBRUARY 16, IN OBSERVANCE OF PRESIDENT'S DAY. COMMISSION MEETING NEWS The Planning and Zoning Commission met on December 16 and the Commission recommended approval of Mr. Joel Thomsen's request for a metes and bounds subdivision of 16 acres along Cty. Rd. #5 with a common access onto #5. The Commission recommended approval of Mr. Power's site plan to construct a concrete block building for storage in HY-10 Ramsey. The Commission recommended ap- proval of Ms. Ella Pomeraning's request for a metes and bounds subdivision to split off a 69 acre parcel from her 80 acres. The Planning and Zoning Commission met on January 6 and appointed Ken Peterson as Chair- man and Gerry Zimmerman as Vice Chairman for 1987. Mr. Vagle was present requesting preliminary plat approval for Autumn Meadows. The plat has been revised from 8 to 4 lots with a cul-de-sac of Nutria Street less than 600 feet long. The Commis- sion recommended approval of the preliminary plat provided the drainage plan for the original plat is re- tained. Mr. Raudio was present and explained his proposal for a planned unit development for residen- tial and home occupation uses south of 149th and west of Cty. Rd. #56. Mr. Joel Thomsen was present and requested that the recommendation granted to him on December 16 to subdivide 16 acres by metes and bounds into two 8 acre parcels be revised to one 3 acre parcel and one 13 acre parcel; the Commis- sion granted Mr. Thomsen's request. The Economic Development Commission met on January 5 and discussed the fact that a petition has been received opposing the proposed extension of sewer and water into the Industrial area. According to the City Charter, when a sufficient petition is received opposing a project, the City cannot act on that same improvement for one year from date of the last public hearing on the project. The City's options now are: 1) Drop the project entirely; 2) Amend the project so that it is no longer the same improvement and process it again through the special assessment procedure or use Chapter 444. The Commission in- dicated to Council that they are still interested in pro- ceeding with a sewer and water project to promote development in Ramsey and request that Council amend the project and proceed through the pro- cesses rather than drop the project entirely. It was also the Commission's opinion that the City conduct another informational meeting with the affected pro- perty owners to obtain their suggestions for ways in which a sewer and water project would be more workable and acceptable to them. The Economic Development Commission met on January 14 and directed Ms. Norris to draft letters to and arrange meetings with Senator Greg Dahl, Representative Ernie Larsen, Chairman of State Tax and Finance Committee regarding Ramsey's con- cern with tax relief for commercial/industrial property and platted vacant land. The Airport Commission met on January 14 and reviewed the proposed Airport zoning Ordinance. The Commission then recommended that City Coun- cil adopt a resolution establishing themselves as the Airport Zoning Board and adopt the Airport Zoning Ordinance. WHERE ARE YOU? There are any number of homes in Ramsey which still do not have house numbers, either on the house or on a mailbox or post. Now, while we all enjoy our privacy, ~e als~ all enjoy our lives and property. And If the police, fire and ambulance cannot find your house and several minutes are lost you may end up losing your life and/or. property to fire, injuries, stroke, heart attack, laceration, burglars, theves etc., etc. Often times we find a row of mailboxes and they are nicely numbered and even have names on them. This is wonderful and looks ever so nice, but unless you put up arrows and signs pointing towards which house is yours, such markings don't help a bit. And the two inch letters intertwined in the rosemaling alongwise your entryway at the end of 100 foot driveway leaves much to be desired. Please put up some nice, visible house numbers. It will be you who benefits! RAMSEY MUNICIPAL CENTER 15153 Nowthen Blvd. 427-1410 COUNCIL Mayor Gary Reimann Councilmember Alan Pearson Councilmember Arnie Cox Councilmember AI Sorteberg Councilmember Steve Deluca COMMISSION CHAIRPERSONS Ken Peterson, Planning & Zoning John Lichter, Park & Recreation Jack Beissel, Cable T.V. Don Greenberg, Economic Development Jack Ippel, Airport Dick Sieber, Charter CITY STAFF Administrator David Hartley Assessor les Wirz Attorney Bill Goodrich Building Inspector Elvin Erickson Development Director Anne Norris Engineer Peter Raatikka Finance Officer Noel Graczyk Public Works Supt. Merle Mevissen Police Chief Mike Auspos HOME PHONE 753-1566 427-8198 753-1610 421-1848 427-1254 427-3844 427-1654 753-1041 441 -1 939 753-4165 421-2161 427-1410 427-1 41 0 421-5424 427-1410 427-1410 427-5860 427-141 0 427-4180 427-1 41 0 WHAT'S HAPPENING AT CITY HALL Council met on December 16 and presented let- ters of appreciation to secretary Arlene Stafford for extra effort and cooperative attitude displayed in her employment with Ramsey; to Officer Bob Kuhn for initiative and accomplishments with respect to officer training programs; and to Jean Schlueter for dedica- tion to public service in her capacity as councilmember. Council declared Building Official Erickson's proba- tionary period as satisfactorily completed and directed that he be retained as a regular fulltime employee. The City Attorney reported on the meeting with property owners regarding a second access to the Front Street and Rivlyn Avenue area; staff was directed to schedule another meeting at which time there will be more detailed information available regarding possible frontage road and access alignments with respect to existing buildings in the area. Mr. Joel Thomsen was granted a metes and bounds subdivision of his 16 acre parcel located on the east side of Cty. Rd. #5 and north of 167th Ave. N.W. Mr. Powers received approval to construct a storage building in the Industrial District in the Hy-1 0 Plat. Council approved a metes and bounds subdivi- sion of a 19 acre parcel from a 39 acre parcel in the vicinity of 172nd and Variolite. The Pomeraning's received approval for a metes and bounds subdivi- sion to split off a 69 acre parcel from their 80 acre parcel. Staff was directed to interview and select a firm to perform the City's 1986 year end audit. Mr. Art Raudio presented Council with his concept for a planned unit development south of 149th, west of Cty. Rd. #56 and north of the proposed extension of Cty. Rd. #116. Mr. Raudio's proposal is for a residential development that would allow for home occupations and act as a buffer area between ex- isting residential and industrial development. Council approved execution of an agreement between the City and the Economic Development Company to use CDBG funds for a revolving loan fund for economic development activities. Mr. Raudio is developing 70 acres located south of 149th and in- quired if the City is interested in purchasing a por- tion of that property as a future site for the public works facility. Council directed staff to prepare an evaluation of the existing public works site and the Raudio site. Police Chief Auspos was present and stated that he and Council member Cox attended the Joint Law Enforcement Committee meeting and structure changes to MCIU (Major Crime Investiga- tion Unit) was adopted. Basically, there will be a name change from MCIU to ACCID (Anoka County Criminal Investigation Division) and communities will have the option to investigate their own felony crimes rather than having to pass them on to ACCID for in- vestigation. Council member Cox reported that he abstained from voting on the policy change and mov- ed to request that City Council review it's policy regarding representative voting on issues that have not had prior review by the full Council. It was reported that the precinct meetings were held and no citizens attended; Council directed that the Charter Commission review the necessity of that charter requirement calling for precinct meetings. Council authorized Change Order #2 to Municipal Well NO.2 for an additional $2950.00 for electrical pump installation, video of cavities, and 150 hours of testing to resolve sand problems. Council met on January 6 and City Attorney Goodrich gave the oath of office to newly elected of- ficials Mayor Gary Reimann, Council member AI Pearson and Councilmember Steve DeLuca. Coun- cilmember Arnie Cox was appointed Acting Mayor for 1987. The Council reappointed Mr. Jim Howell to the Planning and Zoning Commission for a four year term. The motion to reappoint Mr. Deemer to the Planning Commission for a four year term failed for lack of second, as did the motion to advertise the resulting Planning Commission vacancy; City At- torney Goodrich informed Council that ordinance states that an exiting commissioner must continue to serve until his successor is appointed. Council reappointed David Chapman and Dennis Donovan to the Airport Commission for three year terms; Virgil Barnes was appointed to the Airport Commission for a two year term. Council received two petitions, one in opposition of and one in favor of the proposed ex- tension of sewer and water to the Industrial area. The opposing petition prevailed and, according to city charter, the City cannot act on the same improve- ment for a period of one year. Mr. Goodrich stated Council's options as being: 1) Drop the project en- tirely; 2) Revise the project so that it is no longer the 'same project' and resubmit it through the special assessment process or Chapter 444. Staff was directed to obtain written confirmation from the bond counsel regarding whether or not tax increment financing can be used in conjunction with Chapter 444. City staff was also directed to schedule an in- formational meeting on January 20 with the affected property owners, and any other property owners that have expressed an interest in utilities, to discuss ways in which the existing proposal for the exten- sion of sewer and water could be amended to be more workable and acceptable. Staff was directed to prepare an ordinance for review and adoption that would limit the number of persons having dual com- mission roles to one person per commission. GOT SOMETHING TO SAY? Remember Citizen Input. The Ramsey City Coun- cil, Economic Development Commission, Park Board, Planning and Zoning Commission, Airport Commission and Charter Commission all have a "Citizen Input" time set aside at the beginning of each meeting. 'Citizen Input" permits citizens to ad- dress Councilor Commissions without first having to get on the agenda. If you have something that you would like to bring to the attention of Councilor Commissions, don't forget "Citizen Input". A NOTE FROM YOUR NEWSLETTER COORDINATOR The Ramsey Resident newsletter is paid for with public funds and is intended to provide public infor- mation about community events and local government. All inquiries and comments regarding the newslet- ter are welcome and should be directed to the newsletter coordinator. Articles to be included in the newsletter must be submitted to the newsletter coor- dinator at the Ramsey Municipal Center by the 10th of each month. Sylvia Frolik Ramsey Resident Coordinator 15153 Nowthen Blvd. N.W. Ramsey, Minnesota 55303 427-1410