City of Randolph
Regular Council Meeting
May 10, 2023
The regular Randolph City Council meeting was called to order at 7:00 p.m. by Mayor Marie Jacob.
Roll Call
Present were Mayor Marie Jacob, Council Members Jacob Friedrich and Todd Carlock, Treasurer Sandy Nicolai and Clerk Mary Haro.
Also in attendance from LeVander, Gillen & Miller legal counsel, Korine Land and Greta Bjorkman, and Bolton & Menk engineer, Matt Blazer.
Approval of Agenda
We will scratch the County Road 88 Acquisition item under old business from the agenda as it is part of our closed meeting. Motion to approve the agenda was made by Carlock, seconded by Friedrich. All voting in favor, none opposed, motion passed 4:0
Public Comments
It was asked about the potholes in the city. Friedrich mentioned we could hire someone to fill the holes or he would be willing to buy some bags and do it himself.
Minutes
A motion to approve the April 12, 2023 regular council meeting minutes was made by Friedrich, seconded by Carlock. All voting in favor, none opposed, motion passed 4:0.
Approval of Treasurer Report and Payment of Bills
Sandy noted there were several Bolton & Menk invoices to be paid. Clerk Haro noted that we need to get reimbursed from the bond money for the Bolton & Menk invoices. The city CD’s are being prepared. We are just waiting for some papers that we need to get them processed.
Motion to approve the treasurers report and payment of bills as presented was made by Friedrich, and seconded by Haro. All voting in favor, none opposed, motion passed 4:0.
Old Business
Joint Powers Agreement with Randolph/Hampton Fire Department
Korine noted that an attorney from Kennedy & Graven (Troy Gilchrist) is willing to work with us on the JPA. He represents several fire districts regarding their JPA. He gave an estimate for the revisions of the JPA at $1,500.00 and anything extra would be at a rate of $160/hr such as attendance at any meeting. Motion by Friedrich to move forward with having Kennedy & Graven work on the JPA, seconded by Carlock. All voting in favor, none opposed, motion passed 4:0.
New Business
Dakota County Deputy
Officer Jake the K-9 handler was present and asked if there were any concerns. He had nothing to report. It was asked if they will be present during the summer with school out. He said they will be in the city as much as possible.
Vacant City Council Position
We had 3 individuals apply for the open city council position. We interviewed two candidates and one decided not to move forward with his application. After the interview process and questions from the city council, Jacob made a motion to appoint Tony Price to the open city council seat, seconded by Carlock. All voting in favor, none opposed, motion passed 4:0.
Tony will be sworn in at the June city council meeting.
Motion to close the regular city council meeting was made by Friedrich, seconded by Carlock. All voting in favor, none opposed. Motion passed 4:0.
PUBLIC HEARING on Zoning Ordinance Amendment
Dave Fellon asked for his 29 acres of property off of Dickman to be rezoned from Agricultural to Limited Industrial.
Our legal counsel, Korine explained with a Land Use Application especially a rezoning request that two things have to come into play for this request. One is our comprehensive land use zoning map and other our city codes. Since this land is labeled as limited industrial in our comprehensive plan they have the right to ask for it to be rezoned to LI. She explained that we have no legal basis to deny the application.
There were several complaints from citizens that this will add extra truck traffic and they were against this.
We could deny the application but we would need to go back and amend the comprehensive plan which would have to be approved the Met Council and they could deny it as they need a very good reason from us in order to amend it.
Motion was made by Jacob to approve the Ordinance No. 23-01 Rezoning PID 32-00500-51-020, Randolph, MN 55065 from AG – Agricultural to LI – Limited Industrial, seconded by Carlock. Voting in favor Jacob, Carlock and Friedrich. Voting against Haro, motion passed 3:1.
PUBLIC HEARING on Variance for Eric and Michelle Brochman
Eric and Michelle Brochman asked for a variance to build a second detached building with a 7 foot setback from the alley and 25 feet from Dickman Avenue. Our building inspector indicated that we need to determine what the alley way setback is and noted there is also setbacks for septic systems that need to be followed. The neighbors septic is in the backyard and any building has to be 10 feet off of the septic tanks and 20 feet off a drain field. He would have to move his building 5 feet to the East to be compliant. Our legal counsel indicated that we do not have to approve a variance as we have rules and setbacks for a reason. If we do grant a variance then it has to meet the practical difficulties test under the statutory requirement which three items are (i) property is put to a reasonable use; (ii) that it is unique to the property and the property owner did not create the problem; and (iii) it will not alter the character of the neighborhood. She indicated what we need to look at and if it is unique to the property. The entire property meets the square footage requirement for not exceeding 30% coverage but it’s the size of the garage that is creating the cause for the variance. He could build a garage to completely conform to our setbacks that would be away from the septic and away from Dickman Avenue and needs to be 5 feet off of the alley which is a side lot line. It was noted that we could give a variance for the 25 feet from Dickman rather than the setback of 30 feet but we cannot change the variance from the septic which is state mandated which is 10 feet from septic tanks. If he wants to keep the same size of the building he would need to move the building closer to the alley way which could be 5 feet.
Motion to approve the variance but needs to be 10 feet of the septic and 30 feet off of Dickman Avenue was made by Friedrich. After discussion it was noted that our building inspector was recommending the denial of the 25 feet setback from Dickman. So it was noted he does not need a variance if he stays 30 feet off of Dickman and 5 feet of the alley which is a side yard. Motion was made by Friedrich to deny the variance because he does not need the variance, seconded by Carlock. All voting in favor, none denied, motion passed 4:0.
Motion to close the public hearing was made by Friedrich, seconded by Carlock All voting in favor, none opposed, motion passed 4:0.
Resolution re Revised Fee Acquisition for Sewer Project
Our legal counsel was seeking a resolution to resize the property that we had already approved for the holding ponds. The original resolution was to acquire 80 acres of land but now we will be purchasing 76 acres in order to accommodate their irrigator.
Motion by Friedrich to approve Resolution No. 23-07 Amending Resolution No. 22-07 Authorizing Fee Acquisition For City’s Sanitary Sewer Project, seconded by Jacob. All voting in favor, none opposed, motion passed 4:0.
Bolton & Menk Sewer Update
Matt Blazer of Bolton & Menk discussed that the bids were opened; however, we will not be awarding the bid tonight as they are still working with the PFA on some items that need to be finalized. The lowest bid was Northland Grading & Excavating for $14,425,409.45. That amount includes Dakota County’s portion for the road project in the amount of $6,523,544. There will be a contingency of approximately $1.5 million. He will be meeting with the contractor next week to discuss the schedule of the project. They also want to have one more public meeting to discuss the project. He has been discussing the project with the fire department regarding the annual Chicken BBQ and will keep them informed.
Council Reports
Pot Holes
Friedrich talked with Bill’s Blacktop and he said depending on how much money we want to spend he will fill that amount of potholes. We feel that is not the best solution since we don’t know what we would get for the money. It’s also hard to spend money when the roads are going to get tore up. Friedrich indicated he is willing to buy enough bags to fill the holes himself. He would just need a packer and we can find one for him to use. We feel this is the best option.
Community Service Projects
It was noted that the senior class spread mulch in the city park for their community project. So a thank you goes out to them. Walco picked the bags up at the garage with their fork lift and delivered them to the park to be spread. So a thank you to them also.
Mowing
Mayor Jacob talked to Progressive Rail about the property that they are responsible to mow. Progressive Rail indicated that they will spray the grass so that they won’t have to mow it. We decided that we will continue to mow it.
Chickens
It was noted that someone was building a chickencoop in town and asked if they had acquired a permit. Clerk Haro will check if we received an application and if not, she will send them a letter letting them know about the ordinance.
City Codes
We will have a hearing at next month’s meeting to adopt the recodified city codes.
Adjournment
Motion to adjourn the meeting made by Friedrich, seconded by Jacob, the meeting was adjourned at 9:03 p.m. All voting in favor, none opposed, motion passed 4:0.
Closed Meeting
Motion by Mayor Jacob at 9:09 p.m. to close the meeting pursuant to Minn. Stat. 13D.05 subd. 3(c)(3) to consider offers or counteroffers for the sale of real property identified as the 6 parcels of land owned by the City including the water tower site, City Hall, Fire Station, entrance to Divers Path from CR 88, the vacant 0.13 acre parcel of land across CR 88 from Duncan Avenue, and the vacant 0.36 acre parcel of land across CR 88 from the school, seconded by Friedrich. All voting in favor, none opposed, motion passed 4:0.
Mayor Jacob moved to reopen the meeting at 9:31 p.m., seconded by Friedrich. All voting in favor, none opposed, motion passed 4:0.
Respectfully submitted,
Mary Haro
