SUNFISH LAKE CITY COUNCIL MEETING - DECEMBER 5, 2023

SUNFISH LAKE CITY COUNCIL MEETING

Tuesday, December 5, 2023

First Calvary Baptist Church – 5495 S Robert Trail

7:00 P.M.

 

 

Attendants

Mayor:                              Dan O’Leary

Councilmembers:           Present:  Steven Bulach, Mike Hovey, Shannon Nelson

                                           Absent:  Shari Hansen

City Attorney:                  Timothy Kuntz

City Forester:                   Jim Nayes

Police Chief:                     Brian Sturgeon

City Engineer:                  Justin Messner

City Planner:                    Lori Johnson

City Clerk:                         Christy Wilcox

City Treasurer:                Ann Lanoue

 

 

  1. Call to Order

 

  1. Approve Agenda

 

Mayor O’Leary asked if there were any additions or corrections to the agenda.  Mayor O’Leary moved to amend the agenda to move Item #6 - Planners Report to right after the consent agenda, seconded by Councilmember Bulach.  Motion carried (4-0).

 

Mayor O’Leary moved to add item #8K- Appointment to NDC4 Commission, seconded by Councilmember Nelson.  Motion carried (4-0).

             

              Councilmember Hovey moved to adopt the agenda, seconded by Councilmember Bulach.  Motion carried (4-0).

 

  1. Consent Agenda

 

              Councilmember Nelson moved to approve the consent agenda, seconded by Councilmember Hovey.  Motion carried (4-0).

 

  1. Approve Regular Minutes of August 1 and November 7, 2023
  2. List of Bills
  3. Monthly Financial Statements
  4. Removed (No Building Inspection Report Received)
  5. Receive City Forester Report
  6. Receive Public Safety Report

 

 

 

 

 

  1. Planner’s Report

 

  • 415 Salem Church Road: An application has been received for major site plan approval for the construction of an inground pool at this address.  The application has been deemed incomplete due to the lack of the required information such as storm water management and grading information.
  • 389 Salem Church Road: Staff has been in talks with the contractor for the proposed additions to the building/site.  They have applied for a major site plan approval.  They will be adding onto the garage and constructing a pool.  This application has been deemed incomplete because plans have not yet been submitted.
  • 2058 Charlton Road: The owner of this property would like to install a split rail fence on the site.  The owner will most likely be applying for a minor site plan approval to install the split rail fence.
  • 2570 Delaware: The homeowners are contemplating the installation of a pool, bocce ball court and putting greens, as well as entry monuments/gates.  The potential contractor recently submitted an application for major site plan approval and a conditional use permit for this work.
  • 3 Sunfish Lane: Staff have inspected the demolition work for this address, and the project is now complete.  An escrow return will be processed for the applicant.
  • 205 Salem Church Road: Staff inspected the work that has been completed at this address and found that there is still work to be done regarding the rain garden that was shown on the site plan.  Staff will monitor the situation and re-inspect when necessary.
  • 114 Salem Church Road: The escrow that was submitted for the major site and building plan approval (granted by the City Council in October) has been depleted.  The owner and applicant have been notified that an additional escrow must be submitted by January 2, 2024.  Staff will monitor this situation to ensure that additional funds are received to close this project.  The home construction has just begun so it is likely that this project will take some time to complete.
  • Escrow reconciliation from 2021-2023: WSB has been working on going through old files to help reconcile the escrows/refunds/payment for the years between 2021 and 2023.  This will help the treasurer assess how to review the escrow sheet from Abdo for these years.  This work has now been completed.
  • Ordinance Updates: Several chapters have been redlined and the Mayor and I will be meeting to discuss the proposed ordinance changes.
  • The Planner went over the Planning Commission deadlines for the meetings.

 

 

  1. Comments from the Public

 

              There were no comments from the public.

 

 

  1. Public Hearing/Presentations

              Treasurer Lanoue gave a presentation on the 2024 Budget and Tax Levy.  Ann highlighted the major expenses to the 2024 increase that was prepared by Mayor O’Leary which included:

 

 

 

 

 

Category and Description

Amount of Increase

The costs of printing quarterly newsletters and publishing of legal notices and ordinances and other City correspondence increased to $5,000 from $2,400 in 2023

 

$2,600

Digitization of records in order to safeguard the City records and make them more accessible to residents is a new line item

 

$15,000

Because it will be a presidential election year, elections increased to $3,000 from $600 in 2023

 

$2,400

Our City Attorney for civil matters increased to $40,000 from $35,000 in 2023

 

$5,000

Our City Planner increased to $48,000 from $45,000 in 2023

$3,000

Updating our ordinances which have not been done since the 1950s is one of the necessary upgrades for the City

 

$30,000

Code Enforcement is a new line item as indicated above to keep current with any construction problems

 

$10,000

Fire protection increased 12.03% this year, increasing to $90,000 from $80,339 in 2023. The City investigated whether we could obtain services at a lesser cost. Because the City of Sunfish Lake has no hydrants, a fire department must have a water tanker to support our fire protection. The only two adjacent cities that can provide such a water tanker are Mendota Heights, who we currently use, and Inver Grove Heights. The Council checked with Inver Grove Heights and their costs of fire protection would be even greater.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

$9,961

This year the City had to repair a sinkhole adjacent to a road and in addition we have costs of signs, culverts and other road maintenance not part of capital improvements. The 2024 budget increased to $22,100 from $14,200 in 2023.

 

 

 

$7,900

Capital improvements for roads increased by $64,630, which is part of our ongoing repair of roads according to need. Last year it was zero dollars.

 

 

$64,630

Our new three-year snow removal contract increased to $45,000 from $39,000 in 2023

 

$6,000

Insurance coverage increased to $4,000 from $2,800 in 2023

$1,200

 

_________

                                               Total of above Increases for 2024

$157,691

             

  • Pam Bennett asked how the write-offs of the escrow balances affect the proposed budget. Mayor O’Leary explained that this does not affect the proposed budget because the dollars are taken out of the surplus funds.
  • Jeannine Nayes, 5900 Zehnder Road asked about the dollars budgeted for Code Enforcement and the amount shown on the proposed budget sheets. Mayor O’Leary explained that there were dollars budgeted in 2023 in which not all the $58,000 were spent.  There were additional dollars added to 2024 to hopefully complete this project. This is why it shows there is an increase in 2024.  Jeannine also asked about the tax capacity information that was submitted and asked what the columns were as they were not labeled.  Treasurer Lanoue explained that each column represented the percentage of the budget.

 

 

Mayor O’Leary asked if there were any additional comments from the public.  Hearing none, the Mayor closed the public hearing.

 

 

  1. Engineer’s Report:

 

  • Engineering Activities Undertaken in the Month of October

 

  • No new engineering activities were undertaken in November.

 

 

  • Building and Site Reviews in the Month of October

 

  1. Staff conducted reviews for the following properties this past month:

 

  • 3 Sunfish Lane – Staff conducted an onsite inspection of the garage and pump house demo. Following the inspection, staff requested that the applicant provide additional turf establishment and erosion control.  Staff revisited the site following the installation of erosion control and accepted the site.
  • 205 Salem Church Road – Staff conducted an onsite inspection of the project with the applicant and the contractor to review the project for final acceptance. All turf establishment and trees have been installed; however, review of the rain garden proposed on the north side of the property was not installed.  A follow-up email and phone conversation with the contractor and applicant were made to notify them of the need to correct the site and install the rain garden as noted on the approved plans.

 

  • Public Works Activities Undertaken in the Month of October

 

  • No new public works activities were undertaken in November.

 

  1. 8. NEW/OTHER MATTERS:

 

  1. Payable Tax Levy and Budget for the Year 2024

 

Mayor O’Leary moved to adopt Resolution No. 23-30, adopting the General Fund Operating Budget for the City of Sunfish Lake for the year 2024, seconded by Councilmember Hovey.  Motion carried.  (4-0).

Councilmember Bulach moved to adopt Resolution No. 23-31, Levying and Adopting the Tax Levy for Collection in the Year 2024, seconded by Councilmember Nelson.  Motion carried (4-0).

 

  1. Setting Dates for City Council Meetings for 2024

 

Councilmember Bulach moved to adopt Resolution No. 23-28, setting the dates of the regular City Council meetings for the year 2024, seconded by Councilmember Hovey.  Motion carried (4-0).

 

  1. Setting Dates for Planning Commission Meetings for 2024

 

Mayor O’Leary moved to acknowledge and recommend the dates for the Planning Commission meetings for 2024, seconded by Councilmember Nelson.   Motion carried (4-0).

 

  1. Setting Dates for 2024 Planning & Land Use Application Deadlines

 

Councilmember Hovey moved to adopt Resolution No. 23-35, Setting the Dates for the Planning & Land Use Application Deadlines for the Year 2024, seconded by Councilmember Nelson.  Motion carried.  (4-0).

 

  1. WSB 2024 Rate Schedule

 

Mayor O’Leary moved to approve the WSB 2024 Rate Schedule as presented this evening, seconded by Councilmember Hovey.  Motion carried.  (4-0).

 

  1. Discuss Appointment of City Treasurer

 

Mayor O’Leary thanked Ann Lanoue for her dedicated years of service to the City of Sunfish Lake and wished her best of luck in her retirement.

 

At this time Mayor O’Leary went over the process that was used to find a replacement for Treasurer Lanoue.  Mayor O’Leary recommends that Char Stark be appointed as Treasurer.  At this time, Mayor O’Leary introduced Char Stark and asked her to give a little bit of her background.

 

Mayor O’Leary moved to adopt Resolution No. 23-34, appointing Charlene Stark as City of Sunfish Lake City Treasurer, and approving the employment agreement with Charlene Stark, seconded by Councilmember Nelson.  Motion carried.  (4-0).

 

Mayor O’Leary moved to accept the resignation of Ann Lanoue effective January 2, 2024, at the same date that Charlene Stark is appointed, seconded by Councilmember Bulach.  Motion carried. (4-0).

 

Mayor O’Leary moved to approve payment to Charlene Stark for hours worked at $75.00 for the months of October, November and December and direct a spreadsheet be provided itemizing the hours worked for each project, seconded by Councilmember Hovey.  Motion carried. (4-0).

 

Financial Software Program Update by Charlene Stark

 

The current software has a few issues that Finance Director Ann has been dealing with for quite some time. 

  • Ann indicates the current package is a business accounting package vs. a governmental accounting package.
  • Governmental accounting has some unique needs that the current package was unable to provide.
    • No separate fund for each of the funds the city reports for.
      • General fund
      • Capital fund
      • Debt service funds
    • Since the software is not a governmental accounting package, the fund breakdown for the debt service funds and capital funds vs the general fund does not take place within the software. Ann has been trying to keep it all tracked by using Excel.  Excel is not always user-friendly and thus trying to reconcile between the funds and the accounting package has added to the issues of being unable to report in a concise and easily readable document.
    • The software Ann is currently using is no longer supported, which means no updates are being made to the software. If there were to be a problem, Ann would have no one to turn to for help to get the software up and running properly again.

Ms. Stark has reviewed several software packages in order to find one that would best fit the city’s needs. Initially she checked into the State reporting system.  Unfortunately, that system did not have the ability to include the liability accounts the city will need for the Escrow fund – a fund that was recommended through the audit.  Ms. Stark and the Mayor sat down and talked about the auditor’s recommended update of SAGE, which would be a government accounting package.  This could be an online system which would provide extra security.  However, they felt that the price of the one-time cost and the annual maintenance cost was too expensive for the city.  Ms. Stark then sat through a demo of Banyon accounting software.  This was another recommendation of the auditor’s that many smaller cities use.  While the cost of this software is a bit higher than what was indicated in the budget, Ms. Stark believes the software will serve the city for many years to come. 

Ms. Stark recommends removing the payroll portion of the software, which can be done in-house.

Mayor O’Leary makes a motion to approve the purchase of the Banyon Financial Software to include the recommendations of Charlene Stark for the financial software and services and further, to authorize the purchase of a computer and SDD card using ARPA funds, seconded by Councilmember Hovey.  Motion carried.  (4-0).

 

  1. 2024 Community Waste Abatement Grant Agreement

 

Mayor O’Leary moved to adopt Resolution No. 23-29, approving the 2024 Community Waste Abatement Grant Agreement, seconded by Councilmember Bulach.  Motion carried. (4-0).

 

  1. No Parking on Salem Church Road

Mayor O’Leary moved to adopt Resolution No. 23-27, Prohibiting Parking of Vehicles on the North Side of Salem Church Road from Delaware Avenue to Windy Hill Road in the City of Sunfish Lake, Minnesota, seconded by Councilmember Nelson.  Motion carried. (4-0).

 

 

 

 

  1. Building Inspection and Related Services Agreement

 

Currently, the City of Sunfish Lake’s electrical inspections are conducted by the State of Minnesota.  Building Inspector Schilling explained that having the City of West St. Paul’s electrical inspector, who is a contracted employee, conduct SFL’s inspections would streamline the process.  The electrical inspector currently uses the software program that is used by staff at West St. Paul and is in the system.  Inspector Schilling said the State of Minnesota has been charging the same fee for the last 25 years and they are planning to increase it well over what West St. Paul will be charging.  Once an inspection is completed using the inspector with West St. Paul, the results are downloaded immediately into the system.  West St. Paul currently must contact the State of Minnesota to get the results of inspection permit for Sunfish Lake if they are needed sooner than later.  West St. Paul can not close out a permit unless it has been approved, so this could potentially hold up a project.

 

Mayor O’Leary made a motion to direct the City Attorney to prepare the necessary documents to allow the change of electrical inspection services from the State of Minnesota to the City of West St. Paul and to provide notice of the public hearing to be held on January 2, 2024, seconded by Councilmember Bulach.  Motion carried. (4-0)

 

Inspector Schilling provided an update relating to the building inspection software and was happy to inform the City Council that the only charge for the software program will be the hours he has spent on this process.  The original quote from the company was $38,000.  The Mayor and City Council thanked Inspector Schilling for his work on this.

 

  1. Designating Fund Depositories for the City of Sunfish Lake – Vermillion State Bank

 

Mayor O’Leary made a motion to adopt Resolution No. 23-33, designating fund depositories for the City of Sunfish Lake for 2024, seconded by Councilmember Hovey.  Motion carried.  (4-0).

 

City Treasurer was directed to review the percentages offered by Wells Fargo and Vermillion relating to CD’s.

 

  1. Appointment to NDC4 Commissions

 

Mayor O’Leary made a motion to reappoint Joel Arney to the NDC4 Commission for a term that expires in January of 2026, seconded by Councilmember Hovey.  Motion carried.  (4-0).

 

  1. Adjournment

              Mayor O’Leary adjourned the meeting at 8:38 p.m.

 

 

­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­_________________________________                     ___________________________________

Christy Wilcox, City Clerk                                                        Dan O’Leary, Mayor