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HomeMy WebLinkAbout07/16/2008 CITY OF APPLE VALLEY Dakota County, Minnesota July 16, 2008 Minutes of the special emergency meeting of the City Council of Apple Valley, Dakota County, Minnesota, held July 16, 2008, at 4:00 o’clock p.m., at Apple Valley Municipal Center. PRESENT: Mayor Hamann-Roland; Councilmembers Bergman, LaComb, Goodwin, and Grendahl. ABSENT: None. City staff members present were: Assistant City Administrator Grawe, Deputy City Clerk Murphy, City Attorney Dougherty, Finance Director Ballenger, Parks and Recreation Director Johnson, Police Chief Johnson, Acting Public Works Director Blommel Johnson, Fire Chief Wassmund, and Public Works Superintendent-Streets Glewwe. Mayor Hamann-Roland called the meeting to order at 4:00 p.m. STORM DAMAGE ASSESSMENT Mayor Hamann-Roland addressed the Council as to the necessity of today's special meeting. She reviewed the issues at hand, the resident concerns, and how the City has dealt with storm tree loss in the previous years. Ms. Blommel Johnson stated that the storm damage was previously discussed at the informal meeting and the regular Council meeting of July 10, 2008. She said Public Works crews cleared debris from the roads and hazardous areas until 9:00 p.m. the same night of the storm. She stated that only debris from trees in the boulevard was being cleared which is consistent with the current City policy. Mayor Hamann-Roland made comparisons to the 1998 storm where clean-up was considerable. She stated the City picked up tree debris for the residents in 1998 and this time residents assumed the same would be done, and they began placing tree limbs and branches on the boulevards. Councilmember Gendahl arrived at 4:10 p.m. Ms. Blommel Johnson stated not one particular area was devastated more than the other as it had been in 1998. She said some residents hired contractors on their own or cut up private trees themselves. She stated residents had notification on the City's web-site and cable t.v. that the City was only picking up debris from boulevard trees. She passed out a note that was given to approximately 300 residents stating the course of action Public Works was following. She addressed the number of man hours the department had been working over the weekend along with 12 hours days. CITY OF APPLE VALLEY Dakota County, Minnesota July 16, 2008 Page 2 Mayor Hamann-Roland read an e-mail from a resident who was asking what kind of precedence the City will be setting. She stated that Councilmembers have been taking phone calls from residents and asked if the City can look at the budget and plan for the future. Councilmember Goodwin stated he feels it is bad public policy to not help the residents at this time when they need help with tree removal. Storms can be traumatic for people and sometimes this is the only contact some residents have with the City. He stated other cities are providing the service and feels the current policy needs some research for the future. Councilmember Bergman suggested that the new Public Works Director might want to be involved in writing the new policy and possibly make comparisons to Rosemount and Burnsville who currently are helping their residents with tree removal. He showed concern for the number of people who had already spent vast amounts of money to haul trees away and those residents that would be looking for reimbursement from the City. He was also concerned about hauling branches from backyards that were not storm related. Councilmember Grendahl stated the Council did not have the estimates from the storm at the Council meeting of July 10, 2008, when the decision was made to only removed boulevard trees and she was sorry some people had to pay. Councilmember Goodwin stated they would not be taking trees down. just hauling the brush away for the residents. Mayor Hamann-Roland asked if this could be done case by case for each storm. City Attorney Dougherty answered the City can spend money as they see fit. Councilmember Goodwin stated he would like to just see it hauled away. He feels it is bad enough the resident already lost their tree. Mr. Grawe and Ms. Blommel Johnson identified tree costs for a future policy. They discussed clean-up and disposal costs. They addressed the existing clean-up policy that private property owners are responsible for damage located on their own property. Many property owners had completed their own clean-up of private property without City assistance. There remains considerable debris that residents have taken to the boulevards consisting of both storm debris and non-storm debris. This debris creates a health and public safety hazard. They stated staff would propose to remove tree and brush debris generated from the private properties from the boulevards beginning Monday, July 21, 2008. Completion is expected to take 10 to 15 business days. City workers and equipment would be used during normal working hours and some normal operational duties would be suspended. This time estimate could increase depending on the amount of non-storm debris that is carried out to the boulevards. City workers would collect debris from the right-of-way area, but would not cut down, trim, or remove trees, tree debris, or other debris from the private property itself. CITY OF APPLE VALLEY Dakota County, Minnesota July 16, 2008 Page 3 There would be some necessary equipment rental and disposal fees outside of the Public Works budget. This cost for clean-up of debris from private properties would amount to an estimated $94,120.00 proposed to be taken from the contingency and/or fund balance accounts. As disposal is a large part of this cost, staff continues to explore other disposal options and hopes to find a less costly alternative. Residents would be expected to haul any debris to the boulevard area and cut the debris into eight foot lengths or less. They addressed future storms and storm debris. They stated that until the Council adopts a new policy, the current policy of only cleaning the right-of-way and public property would remain. As there are very significant costs to storm clean-up, staff would recommend addressing a long-term policy as part of the annual budgeting process. Mayor Hamann-Roland stated that the storm removal policy could be turned over to the Urban Affairs Committee for research. Resolution 2008-132 MOTION: of Grendahl, seconded by LaComb, adopting to have City crews pick up any storm damage debris from the boulevards from both private and public property. Ayes - 5 - Nays - 0. MOTION: of Goodwin, seconded by Grendahl, directly staff to have the Urban Affairs Committee study the policy of tree pick up after a storm. Councilmember LaComb complimented the staff on the hard work preparing the background data for this special emergency meeting. MOTION: of Goodwin, seconded by LaComb, to adjourn. Ayes - 5 - Nays - 0. The meeting was adjourned at 4:50 o’clock p.m. Respectfully Submitted, /s/ Joan Murphy Joan Murphy, Deputy City Clerk Approved by the Apple Valley City Council on 7/24/08 .