Meeting Minutes for May 17, 1999
MOUNTAIN IRON CITY COUNCIL MEETING
The meeting was called to order at 6:30 p.m. by Mayor Brunfelt with the following members present: Carolyn Olsen, Stephen Skogman, Joe Matanich, Curt Piri, and Mayor Mitchell Brunfelt. Also present were: Craig J. Wainio, City Administrator; Jill M. Forseen, Deputy Clerk; Don Kleinschmidt, Director of Public Works; Larry Nanti, Recreation Director; Sam Aluni, City Attorney; and Greg French, City Engineer.
It was moved by Piri and supported by Olsen that the consent agenda be approved as follows:
1. Approve the minutes of the May 3, 1999, Regular meeting as submitted.
2. Approve minutes of the May 3, 1999, Committee-of-the-Whole meeting as submitted.
3. Approve minutes of the May 11, 1999, Board of Review meeting as submitted.
4. That the communications be accepted, placed on file, and those requiring further action by the Council be acted upon during their proper sequence on the agenda.
5. Authorize the payment of the bills and payroll for the period May 1-15, 1999, totaling $177,707.23, (a list is attached and made a part of these minutes).
6. Acknowledge the receipts for the period May 1-15, 1999, totaling $99,632.94, (a list is attached and made a part of these minutes).
The motion to adopt the consent agenda carried unanimously on a roll call vote.
At 6:31 p.m., it was moved by Skogman and supported by Piri to recess the regular meeting and reconvene the board of review meeting. The motion carried.
Rick Vidmar, St. Louis County Appraiser, was present to make his recommendations to the Board of Review for consideration.
It was moved by Brunfelt and supported by Matanich to accept the recommendation of the St. Louis County Appraiser and reduce the valuation of the improvements to Parcel 175-0071-05035, Gale Claesson, 4836 Butler Road, Mountain Iron, by $6,300 making the total valuation $75,000. The motion carried.
It was moved by Skogman and supported by Piri to accept the recommendation of the St. Louis County Appraiser and reduce the valuation of the improvements to Parcel 175-0071-05023, Harold McGregor, 4860 Butler Road, Mountain Iron, by $12,500 making the total valuation $141,000. The motion carried.
It was moved by Skogman and supported by Matanich to accept the recommendation of the St. Louis County Appraiser and reduce the valuation of the improvements to Parcel 175-0071-3310, Kenneth Dall, 8382 Southern Drive, Mountain Iron, by $8,200 making the total valuation $66,600. The motion carried.
The County Appraiser said that Arnold Suihkonen, Parcel 175-0071-01990, withdrew his request for review.
It was moved by Skogman and supported by Olsen to accept the recommendation of the St. Louis County Appraiser and reduce the valuation of the improvements to Parcel 175-0069-00935, Brian Zubert, Meadowbrook Apartments, West Virginia, by $624,400 making the total valuation $1,446,000. The motion carried.
It was moved by Skogman and supported by Matanich to accept the recommendation of the St. Louis County Appraiser and reduce the valuation of the improvements to Parcel 175-0071-05037, Brad Forseen, 8766 Luoma Lane, Mountain Iron by $6,900 making a total valuation $92,200. The motion carried.
It was moved by Skogman and supported by Piri to accept the recommendation of the St. Louis County Appraiser and reduce the valuation of the improvements to Parcel 175-0055-01275, Gerald Claesson, 16 Garden Drive South, Mountain Iron, by $7,100 making a total valuation of $86,200. The motion carried.
At 6:37 p.m., it was moved by Skogman and supported by Olsen to adjourn the Board of Review meeting and reconvene the Regular meeting. The motion carried.
During the public forum, Mr. Rick Vidmar, representing the Iron Trail Public Access Television, gave a presentation regarding televising City Council meetings through the public access cable channel. The group felt that it would cost approximately $2,500 to $3,000 to start televising the Council meetings.
The Mayor said that the Council does not know what is going to happen with City Hall, so the City Council will probably not be acting on the matter soon.
Mr. David Riddle, Director of Iron Trail Convention and Visitors Bureau, was present and updated the Council on the activities of the Bureau. He distributed the new visitor�s guide to the Council. He reviewed the banner advertisements with the Council.
It was moved by Skogman and supported by Matanich, to approve the following advertisement contracts with the Iron Trail Convention and Visitors Bureau for the Community page, $795; Web site, $50; and Campground page $300. The motion carried unanimously on a roll call vote.
Mr. Riddle requested residents of the community to submit pictures for use in the visitor�s guide.
During the public forum, Ed Roskoski, representing the Civic Association, asked where the afghan was that was given to the City by the Civic Association to display in the Council Chambers. The Recreation Director said that it has not been framed yet.
It was moved by Skogman and supported by Piri to approve the modification to the Hold Harmless Agreement with Independent School District #712, (a copy is attached and made a part of these minutes). The motion carried on the following roll call vote: Matanich, yes; Piri, yes; Olsen, yes; Skogman, yes; and Brunfelt, no.
It was moved by Piri and supported by Matanich to accept the recommendation of the City Engineer and approve the final payment request on the South Grove water tower demolition to Glenn Steeves Tank and Maintenance in the amount of $2,800.00. The motion carried unanimously on a roll call vote.
It was moved by Skogman and supported by Olsen to approve a variance for Minntex Investment Co., Inc., dba Valvoline Instant Oil Change, from the setback requirements of the Zoning Ordinance to construct a building at 5473 17th Avenue West, the property legally described as follows:
A parcel of land lying in the SE � of the NE �, Section 13, Township 58N, Range 18W of the Fourth Principal Meridian according to the United States Government Survey, thereof and being in the County of St. Louis and the State of Minnesota, and more particularly described as follows:
Assuming the south boundary line of said SE � of NE � to have a bearing of S 80 29�42″ W along said South boundary line for a distance of 458.31 feet to a point on the east Right-of-Way line of the Duluth, Winnipeg & Pacific Railroad; thence N 12 37�09″ W along said Right-of-Way for a distance of 577.89 feet to a point; thence N 75 55�05″ E 292.27 feet; thence S 14 04�55″ E 45.00 feet to the point of beginning of the parcel to be described; thence continue S 14 04�55″ E 125.00 feet; thence N 75 55�05″ E 115.76 feet; thence N 32 11�22″ W 82.93 feet; thence northwesterly 84.08 feet along a tangential curve concave to the southwest with a radius of 67.00 feet and a central angle of 71 54�05″; thence S 75 54�33″ W tangent to said curve 26.30 feet to the point of beginning, containing 0.26 acres more or less.
The motion carried.
It was moved by Skogman and supported by Piri to approve the building permit for Minntex Investment Company Incorporated, dba Valvoline Instant Oil Change to construct a commercial building at 5473 17th Avenue West, Mountain Iron, Minnesota. The motion carried.
The Council discussed the Nichols Drive vacation request. It was the consensus of the Council to refer the request to the City Attorney to provide a written opinion and recommend alternative ways to handle the situation.
The Council discussed the Community Center Site.
It was moved by Skogman and supported by Piri to adopt Resolution #13-99, authorizing the sale of property, (a copy is attached and made a part of these minutes). The motion carried.
It was moved by Skogman and supported by Matanich to adopt Resolution #14-99, authorizing the sale of property, (a copy is attached and made a part of these minutes). The motion carried.
It was moved by Skogman and supported by Piri to adopt Resolution #16-99, authorizing the sale of property, (a copy is attached and made a part of these minutes). The motion carried.
It was moved by Piri and supported by Skogman to adopt Resolution #15-99, calling for a public hearing on assessments, (a copy is attached and made a part of these minutes). The motion carried.
It was the consensus of the Council to refer the Michael Vidmar situation to the Personnel Committee to convene a meeting of all parties involved and make a recommendation to the Council for their next regular meeting.
The Council discussed the overlay for a portion of the street in Costin. Councilor Skogman said that he would like to have a meeting of the Streets and Alleys Committee and make a recommendation to the City Council at the first meeting in June and update the Council on the system for prioritizing street projects. It was the consensus of the Committee that a meeting be held for June 1st.
The Council reviewed the list of communications. The letter received from Cathy Neault was referred to the Sheriffs Department for a recommendation.
During the Mayor’s report, he said that he would like to televise the City Council meetings.
During the open discussion, Councilor Skogman said that the Civic Association was concerned with getting the equipment at the Downtown Historic Park painted. Councilor Skogman asked if the Council would allow the Civic Association to paint the equipment and get it ready for summer. Councilor Piri asked if there was funds budgeted for this.
It was moved by Skogman and supported by Olsen to have the Recreation Director look into the cost of having the equipment in the Downtown Historic Park painted by professionals or purchase the paint and have volunteers complete the work. And further, see if there are any funds in the budget to complete the work. The motion carried on the following roll call vote: Olsen, yes; Skogman, yes; Matanich, yes; Piri, yes; and Brunfelt, no.
During the open discussion, Councilor Olsen said that she received several comments regarding the picture of the City Council that was in the May 16th edition of the Mesabi Daily News, saying that the City had beautiful Council Chambers.
Also during the open discussion, Councilor Matanich said that he attended the Quad City Alliance panel discussion and he updated the Council regarding their activities. Councilor Skogman asked if other shared ideas were brought up other than a director for economic development and if there are additional meetings planned. Councilor Matanich said that they talked about basically the same things and there were no other meetings scheduled.
Also during the open discussion, Councilor Olsen asked what the status of Walmart was. The City Administrator said that he doesn’t feel that the legislation would pass.
At 7:27, it was moved by Olsen and supported by Piri that the meeting be adjourned. The motion carried.
