HomeMy WebLinkAboutCouncil Information Memorandum 07-12-1985uv'
CITY O�
PUMOUTR
CITY COUNCIL INFORMATIONAL MEMORANDUM
July 12, 1985
UPCOMING MEETINGS AND EVENTS......
1. PLYMOUTH FORUM -- Monday, July 15, 7:00 p.m. Plymouth Forum in
Council Conference Room.
2. REGULAR COUNCIL MEETING -- Monday, July 15, 7:30 p.m. Regular City
Council meeting in City Council Chambers.
3. BOARD OF ZONING ADJUSTMENTS AND APPEALS -- Monday, July 15, 7:30
p.m. The Board of Zoning Adjustments and Appeals will meet in the
large office conference room. Agenda attached. (M-3)
4. PARKERS LAKE CONSULTANT INTERVIEWS -- Tuesday, July 16, 6:00 p.m.
The Council will interview consultants for the Parkers Lake City
Park beginning at 6:00 p.m. in the Council Conference Room. A
buffet dinner will be available for the Council at 5:30 p.m.
5. MLC LEGISLATIVE APPRECIATION DINNER -- Wednesday, July 24. The MLC
will be hosting an appreciation dinner for legislators serving MLC
communities on Wednesday, July 24 at 6:00 p.m. at the Decathlon Club
in Bloomington. Attached is a letter of invitation from June Demos,
Chair of the Municipal Legislative Commission. If you are
interested in attending, please let Laurie know Monday evening so
reservations may be made. (M-5)
3400 PLYMOUTH BOULEVARD, PLYMOUTH, MINNESOTA 55447, TELEPHONE (612) 559-2800
CITY COUNCIL INFORMATIONAL MEMORANDUM
July 12, 1985
Page 2
FOR YOUR INFORMATION.....
1. 1985-1986 ASSOCIATION OF METROPOLITAN MUNICIPALITIES LEGISLATIVE
COMMITTEEPOLICY -- Attached is a burTetin from t o
Association of Metropolitan Municipalities requesting that Mayors,
Councilmembers, Managers and Administrators in the metropolitan area
volunteer to serve on one of the five AMM legislative policy
committees. The standing legislative committees for the AMM are:
Metropolitan Agencies, Municipal Revenues, Housing Committee,
General Legislative, and Transportation. Councilmembers interested
in serving on one of these committees should fill out an application
and return it to Laurie Houk in order that we can return it by the
deadline of duly 24. The City is currently represented on the
following AMM legislative committees:
Municipal Revenues Committee - dames Willis
Housing Committee.- Blair Tremere
General Legislative Committee - Frank Boyles
Metropolitan Agencies Committee - Frank Boyles
Unless Councilmembers express a desire to serve, applications will
be submitted to continue staff membership on these committees.
(I-1)
2. CHURCHES AND RELIGIOUS INSTITUTIONS -- Attached is a memo which
Blair Tremere prepared at my direction regarding the possible need
to consider the status of churches and religious organizations
within the City's zoning code. I have developed some concern
regarding the conditional use nature of churches in all residential
zoning districts. Churches no longer directly serve a residential
neighborhood, but rather, tend to draw from a larger portion of the
community. In some instances, very large churches are constructed
which draw from several communities. It appears to me that the
Planning Commission and Council may want to give this matter some
consideration at their duly 29 Joint meeting. The attached memo
could serve as a departure point for those discussions if the
Council deems such a discussion to be worthwhile. I have also
attached a memo from Scott Hovet discussing the treatment of tax
exempt properties. (I-2)
3. FLOODING OF ELM CREEK AT COUNTY ROAD 47 -- Attached is a letter I
wrote to the Elm Creek Watershed Management Commission petitioning
the Commission to undertake a study of the water levels of Elm Creek
between County Road 47 and Elm Road. The letter sets out the
purpose of the report and the reasons for making the request. On
July 10, the Elm Creek Watershed Management Commission met and as a
result of the meeting, the Chair was directed to receive proposals
from Barr Engineering and Hickok and Associates as requested in my
letter. It is expected that the proposals will be received and that
the commission will act on them at their August 14 meeting. Howard
Hunt was present at the meeting and encouraged the greatest possible
speed in resolving this issue. (I-3)
association of
metroaolitan
municipalities
BULLETIN!
July 9, 1985
TO: AMM Member City Officials
FROM: Ji5�$heibel, President
RE: Membership on AMM Legislative Policy Committee _
THE AMM NEEDS YOUR HELP!
The Board of Directors will be making two year appointments to
the Policy Study Committees which are the backbone of developing
organizational goals, positions on issues, and determining the
future role of cities in our Metropolitan Area. It is important
for your ci.Ly to be represented on one or more of these
committees so that your views can be expressed in a positive and
forceful manner at the Legislature and Metropolitan Council.
Only through active participation by elected and appointed city
officials, such as yourself, can decisive and insightful
positions on the many critical problems facing our cities be
developed, put forth, and won.
Some of the critical issues facing our cities now are
implementation of initiatives for reduction and separation of
solid waste, development of a local aid formula since the
current formula was passed for one year only, reaction to a
legislative study commission looking at local government finance
and accountability, light rail transit, highway jurisdiction and
funding, Metropolitan Council initiatives for increased planning
such as aggregate preservation, ground water protection, and
many others.
We, as city officials, cannot afford to be silent. Please take
a few minutes to read the brief description of the five standing
committees and volunteer a small amount of your valuable time to
make an impact by filling in and returning the attached form.
The committees will meet in September and October approximately
four times each year. The -Board of Directors would like a clear
indication of all persons who are willing and able to give a
small part of their time and energy to serve on one or more of
these committees.
Mayors, Councilmembers, Managers, and Administrators will
receive this Bulletin individually. However, if other city
employees such as finance directors, housing officers, planners,
etc. would like to serve, please submit their names.
The Board would also welcome any suggestions for specific issues
or concerns to be studied by the committees. If you have
questions, please contact either Roger Peterson or Vern Peterson
in the AMM Office (227-5600).
(
IS3 university avenue east, st. paul,vm4 nesota 55101 (612) 227-5600
COMMITTEE DESCRIPTIONS:
1. Metropolitan Agencies Committee - The Chair of this
Committee is Kevin Frazell, Mendota Heights Administrator.
Considers legislative issues and non -legislative issues
related to the Metropolitan Council and Metropolitan
Commissions. The Committee looks at the structure and
relationship between these regional entities and local units
of government. Reviews amendments to Metropolitan
Development Guide Chapters and any new chapters developed.
In past years, the Committee has developed policy on land
use planning, metropolitan significance, solid waste
management, Met Council selection process, etc.
2. Municipal Revenues Committee - The Chair of this
Committee is Walt Fehst, Robbinsdale Manager.
Considers any matter concerning revenues, taxes, and city
expenditures. Included are state aid formulas, state aid
dollars, levy limits, property tax assessments, tax
increment financing, fiscal disparities, and re -development
funding methods. The Committee will be looking very
carefully at the effects of the state aid formula and levy
limit modifications.
3. Housing Committee - The Chair of this Committee is Leslie
Turner, Edina Councilmember.
Concerns itself with all issues related to housing including
subsidized housing, affordable housing, and activities of
the Metropolitan HRA. Reviews amendments to the Metropolitan
Council's Housing Guide Chapter with particular emphasis on
low and moderate income housing concerns.
4. General Legislative Committee - The Chair of this
Committee is Gary Bastian; Maplewood Councilmember.
Examines issues which have impact on metropolitan area
cities outside the scope of other AMM committees. In the
past, this Committee developed policy on municipal self
insurance, municipal consolidation, pensions,cable
communications, PELREA Amendments, etc.
5. Transportation Committee - The Chair of this Committee is
Bob Benke, New Brighton Councilmember.
Studies major issues related to transportation and transit
at the metropolitan, state and federal levels. The ten (10)
elected officials who represent the AMM on the
Transportation Advisory Board (TAB) and the eight (8) city
staff officials who represent the AMM on the Technical
Advisory Committee (TAC) are automatic members of this
Committee. Other city officials may also serve.
-2-
CMUNICIPAL
LEGISLATIC7E
COMMISSION
July 9, 1985
The Honorable David Davenport
Mayor of Plymouth
515 Narcissus Lane
Plymouth, Minnesota 55447
Dear Mayor Davenport:
7900 Xerxes Avenue South
Suite 1500
Bloomington, Minnesota 55431
(612) 338-6610
On behalf of the Municipal Legislative Commission, I would like to
extend an invitation for you, your city manager, and councilmembers to
join me for an appreciation dinner being given for the MLC Legislative
Delegation on Wednesday, July 24, at the Decathlon Club in Blooming-
ton. The social hour will begin at 6:00 p.m., followed by dinner at
7:00 p.m. in the Javelin Room. Representative Bill Schreiber has
agreed to be our guest speaker for the evening.
Please extend this invitation to your city manager and councilmembers,
and RSVP by contacting Deb Luebke at 349-9549 by Wednesday, July 17.
Sincerely,
� r,
une Demos
Mayor of Roseville
Chair of the Municipal
Legislative Commission
RGR:ACO
AGENDA
Board of Zoning Adjustments and Appeals
Monday, July 15, 1985
1. CALL TO ORDER
2. ROLL CALL
3. APPROVAL OF MINUTES
4. NEW BUSINESS
WHERE: Plymouth City Center
Large Conference Rm.
3400 Plymouth Blvd.
Plymouth, Minnesota
7:30 P.M.
June 17, 1985
A. Kenneth Peterson. Variance from the required side yard setback for
property is located at 10727 32nd Avenue North. (06-04-85)
B. George & Bonnie Lambertz. Variance from the required front yard
setback for property located at 4005 Revere Lane. (07-01-85)
C Edward Kiepert. Variance from the required side yard setback for
property located at 2901 Comstock Lane. (07-02-85)
D. Don Colpitts. Variance from the Shoreland Management setbacks for
property located at 2255 Highway 101. (07-03-85)
E. Walser Corporation. Variance from the maximum sign square footage
and maximum height for property located at 9825 56th Avenue North.
(07-04-85)
F. Charles Morris. Variance from the required rear yard setback for
property located at 14515 13th Avenue North. C07-05-85)
G. Mike Terry. Variance from the required front yard setback for
property located at 18530 22nd Avenue North. (07-06-85)
H. Zaudtke Homebuilders, Inc.. Appeal of an Administrative deter-
mination to correct a field error for property located at 1235
Sycamore Lane. (07-07-85)
5. OTHER BUSINESS
6. ADJOURNMENT
CITY COUNCIL INFORMATIONAL MEMORANDUM
July 12, 1985
Page 4
9. MINUTES -- The following minutes are attached:
a. Planning Commission, dune 26, 1985 (I -9a)
b. Board of Zoning Adjustments and Appeals, dune 17, 1985 (I -9b)
c. Bassett Creek Water Management Commission, dune 20, 1985 (I -9c)
10. MLC "UPDATE" -- Attached for your information is a copy of the MLC's
newsletter "Update". (I-10)
11. EMPLOYEE RIGHTS -- Mayor Davenport has provided the attached article
from the July 8 issue of Business Week entitled, "BEYOND UNIONS - A
Revolution in Employee Rights Is In The Making". (I-11)
12. CORRESPONDENCE:
a. Letter of congratulations to new TwinWest Chamber President
David Olson from Mayor Davenport. (I -12a)
b. Letter to Dr. Roger Adams, Superintendent, Wayzata School
District, from City Manager, requesting a meeting to review the
status of the Beacon Heights School site. (I -12b)
c. Letter of appreciation to Barbara Willis, Chairperson, 1985
Music in Plymouth, from City Manager. (I -12c)
d. Letter of appreciation to Barbara Hetland, Floral Affair, for
floral arrangements provided at Music In Plymouth. (I -12d)
James G. Willis
City Manager
CITY COUNCIL INFORMATIONAL MEMORANDUM
July 12, 1985
Page 3
4. FISCAL NOTES REQUIRED -- Attached is a letter from Senator Duane
Benson informing the City of new legislation which will have the
effect of requiring "fiscal notes" being attached to all executive
orders and rules issued by the Governor and the state agencies. The
purpose of these notes will be to clearly point out the impacts of
such rules and regulations upon those who are responsible for the
implementation of such rules. With this information being made
available to us in advance of the adoption of such rules, we will
have the opportunity of examining the proposed impact from a finan-
cial standpoint and thereby be in a position of taking. appropriate
action to raise our concerns. (I-4)
5. MOPED INFORMATION -- Attached is memo I received from Councilmember
asiliou dated July 9 with respect to mopeds. Also attached is a
letter from Mayor Davenport which was sent to the presidents of all
homeowner associations sharing with them information with respect to
the rules and regulations governing the use of mopeds in the
community. (I-5)
6. ORGANIZED REFUSE COLLECTION REPORT -- The attached organized
collection study has been prepared by a special task force of the
Metropolitan Council. This report will provide us with good
information on effective techniques for meeting our responsibilities
under the terms of the 1984 amendments to the Waste Management Act.
You will note that Councilmember Pat Hoyt Neils serves as a member
of this committee. (I-6)
7. RESIDENTIAL BUILDING PERMITS -- Late last month, Blair Tremere and
Joe Ryan took steps to expedite the review and issuance of single
family building permits by hiring on a temporary/seasonal basis Mr.
Gene Soboy, a former city building inspector, to perform single
family dwelling plan checks for us. From June 20 through July 9,
Gene has reviewed a total of 52 plans with a turnaround time of
approximately two days. The turnaround time for a new single family
dwelling building permit is just under five business days. Our goal
has been to insure that these permits are turned around within seven
days of receiving a completed application.
8. COUNCIL FOLLOW UPS:
a. James Olsen Storm Sewer, 1506 Weston Lane -- Fred Moore advises
that all work has been completed with regard to the installation
of the storm sewer adjacent to the James Olsen property, 1506
Weston Lane. Attached is a copy of a letter sent to Mr. Olson,
dated July 2, 1985, informing him that the work had been
completed. The work which was required to be completed was
outlined in a letter dated May 30, 1985 from Mr. Olsen's student
attorney. (I -8a)
b. Maria Vdsiliou Memos -- Attached is memorandum sent to Maria
asiliou responding to her memos of July 8 and 9 concerning the
Dorothy Krekelberg's special assessments, extension of the
Oakwood Shores 2nd Addition development contract, and various
miscellaneous matters. (I -8b)
DATE:
TO:
FROM:
SUBJECT
CITY OF PLYMOUTH
3400 PLYMOUTH BLVD., PLYMOUTH, MINNESOTA 55447
TELEPHONE (612) 559-2800
MEMO
July 5, 1985
City Manager James G. Willis
Community Development Director Blair Tremere
CHURCHES AND RELIGIOUS INSITUTIONS
This is in response to your June 19, 1985 memorandum asking my thoughts on your thought
that it might be appropriate for us to consider looking at the Zoning Ordinance to
determine whether or not an approach should be taken to define between the small
church and the large church, especially with respect to what is allowed in the Residen-
tial Zoning Districts.
I have researched our Comprehensive Plan and our Zoning Ordinance on this matter and I
have deliberated the subject. I have not conducted any comprehensive research relative
to how other communities deal with the subject.
COMPREHENSIVE PLAN
Churches are addressed as a feature of both walking and driving neighborhoods, particu-
larly in the context of residential amenities. Interestingly however churches are not
addressed as a specific land use type in any of the Living Area categories. I don't
view that as an omission, but I find it interesting since churches are mentioned as
specific possible land uses in three of the commercial categories. The CL (limited
business) Area recognizes religious and philanthropic institutions. The CN (neighbor-
hood shopping center) category recognizes religious and philanthropic institutions as
conditional uses. The CC (community center) category recognizes churches as either a
conditional use or a permitted use.
The lack of a specific reference to churches in the Living Areas is not unusual in that
churches have been traditionally assumed to be a normal neighborhood residential ameni-
ty. The specific reference to them in the commercial district is evidence of that in
that the planning doctrine was to assure that these institutions could be found in dis-
tricts other than residential. Significantly, a distinction is not made, in any case,
between churches and religious institutions. The reference to philanthropic institu-
tions is a generic one, i.e., it is a typical planning term used to create an umbrella
over charitable institutions which are in the business of dispensing and/or receiving
aid from funds set aside for humanitarian purposes. They are often equated with relig-
ious institutions as a land use.
ZONING ORDINANCE
"Churches or other religious or philanthropic institutions" are allowed in all of the
residential zoning districts, R -1A through R-4, but are not allowed in the FRD
District.
NAME
ASSOCIATION OF METROPOLITAN MUNICIPALITIES
(Please return by not later than July 24th.)
CITY POSITION
CITY
PREFERRED MAILING ADDRESS
(street)
(city) (zip code)
PREFERRED TELEPHONE CONTACT NUMBER
PLEASE INDICATE COMMITTEE CHOICE
1st. and 2nd.
Municipal Revenues
Metropolitan Agencies
Housing
General Legislation
Transportation
SUGGESTED ISSUES TO BE STUDIED
PLEASE RETURN TO:
Association of Metropolitan Municipalities
183 University Ave., East
St. Paul, Minnesota 55101
Attention: Carol Williams
-3-
Page two ,--
Memorandum to City Manager RE Churches
July 5, 1985
I recall several years ago that the City Council deliberately deleted churches (as well
as schools) from the FRD District because they were found to be representative of
urbanization which was not deemed to be appropriate for the FRD District. The Zoning
Ordinance also allows "religious or philanthropic institutions" as conditional uses in
the B-1 (office limited) and B-2 (retail) Zoning Districts. They are not allowed at
all in the B-3 (service business) District. Churches, per se, are not mentioned in the
business districts at all. We have had at least one church approved as "religious
institution" in the B-1 Zoning District.
The Ordinance addresses the parking requirements of churches in conjunction with audit-
oriums and other places of assembly under the category of education, cultural, and
institutional uses. Religious and philanthropic institutions, per se, are not addres-
sed, but typically would be categorized under their most typical land use type, i.e.,
if not as a church, as an office building or other place of assembly.
The Zoning Ordinance therefore tends to equate churches, religious institutions, and
philanthropic institutions regardless of size or scope.
COMMENTS
My experience and observations, to date, suggest that there are several issues which
probably should be addressed. First, do we want to distinguish between "large" church-
es and "smaller" churches, and if so, on what basis or bases do we do that? The key to
this question is how churches are defined and I suspect that once we define them, we
would not be so concerned with the actual magnitude of a bona fide church.
If there were a concern about the magnitude in the sense that larger churches should be
only allowed in certain Zoning Districts, we could perhaps consider a classification
such as we have for restaurants, i.e., Class I and Class II. I am not sure at this
stage how we would distinguish between them other than the number of seats or the num-
ber of parking spaces. Perhaps the size of the site would be the guiding criterion.
The more relevant issue may be the need to distinguish between churches, regardless of
size, and other institutions, be they "religious" or "philanthropic".
We recently have reviewed concept plans for a religious organization who has represent-
ed an actual campus consisting of several functions ranging from a church, to an elder-
ly housing cluster, to a facility for educational purposes. The size of the site is
almost 40 acres, and by their own definition this religious organization is more than a
"neighborhood church". Their scope is regional as the intensity is much different than
the traditional suburban neighborhood church.
I believe that the Ordinance could be amended to make that distinction. Religious and
philanthropic institutions would for example be reserved for only non-residential zon-
ing districts and/or perhaps for higher density residential areas.
Churches would continue to be allowed in all of the residential districts and perhaps
in the non-residential districts as well (although the definitions would perhaps be ex-
clusive and churches would not be recognized as religious institutions for zoning
purposes).
Clear definitions of all the various terms would be required and my cursory examination
of some other zoning ordinances suggest that this would probably be a pioneer effort on
our part. Everyone knows what a church is and everyone probably thinks they know what
a philanthropic institution is.
Page three
Memorandum to City Manager RE Churches
July 5, 1985
There is another factor that should be discussed and it is one that often is not. The
issue is the tax exempt status of bona fide religious institutions and I would suggest
that you might have the City Assessor develop a memorandum on that subject. The scope
of the memo would be exactly what the State law exempts. The relevance of this is
somewhat ironic. If there is a concern about the tax exempt status of bona fide relig-
ious land uses, then it probably makes more economic sense to have them occupy residen-
tial land rather than allowing them in non-residential districts which typically carry
a higher per acre land value. This concern was discussed to some degree when the
Episcopal church at Hamel Road and Nathan Lane was considered. That site is zoned B-1.
I am not suggesting that individual churches be evaluated in terms of their statutory
ability to have a tax exempt status. I am suggesting that that status could determine
where throughout the City the City would deem churches to be an appropriate land use
relative to the overall economic impact.
Bona fide churches should be considered as necessary amenities to a community and are
compatible with residential neighborhoods. If the zoning standards are effective rela-
tive to screening and transition, I believe that the magnitude of bona fide local
churches is not an issue even if that church does grow to be the size of say the Wayz-
ata Evangelical Church on Highway 101, or the size of the church you mentioned at
County Road 9 and County Road 18.
The land uses which do not involve churches or which involve churches only incidental-
ly, but which are primarily institutional in character with a clear scope of influence
directed beyond the local community, should be classified as non-residential or perhaps
classified in the multi -residential districts.
The religious institution northeast of Medicine Lake is in a single family residential
area and it is my understanding this institution has been located there for many
years. I think it is not obtrusive because of its physical location and apparent low
activity level.
Large churches which are either built initially as large structures, or which expand to
a large size over the years, are often viewed as having a higher impact because of
their proximity within a residential neighborhood. They are more visible and, in our
society, large churches require large parking areas.
My experience in Plymouth has led me to believe that the level of complaints about
churches is related to the size of the parking lot, the amount of screening around the
parking lot, the size of the church building, and the level of activity, especially at
times other than Sunday.
Other factors which have been introduced into churches and which our Ordinance recog-
nizes as conditional uses, are day care centers and Montessori Schools. Such activi-
ties actually are efficient uses of existing physical plants which typically stand idle
during the week. On the other hand, they generate traffic and parking activities which
otherwise would not occur and therefore can be viewed as "disruptive" to the adjacent
residential neighborhoods. It is not coincidental that zoning ordinances, such as
Plymouth's, often equate churches with cemetaries.
roNC1 USTONS
Serious consideration of amending the Zoning Ordinance and/or Comprehensive Plan to
distinguish between churches and other religious institutions should be preceded by
focusing on issues. Are we concerned about the size of bona fide churches in the sense
Page four
Memorandum to City Manager RE Churches
July 5, 1985
of physical structures and site? Are we prepared to define one type of church over
another? Should a distinction be drawn between churches and religious institutions?
Should religious institutions perhaps be reserved for higher density/ intensity zoning
districts and not allowed at all in lower density residential neighborhoods? I do not
doubt that we can give definition to various terms. I do believe it might be
worthwhile to investigate other suburban experiences from a zoning and planning
standpoint. I will therefore pursue that as a research effort; I would suggest that we
prioritize it so that it would not commence until after our development season peak,
i.e., this fall.
Perhaps this would be a valid topic for the Joint Planning Commission and City Council
meeting; if you agree please let me know and I will prepare a summary memo for that
meeting.
BT/gw
cc: Sara McConn
Al Cottingham
File
CITY OF PLYMOUTH
3400 PLYMOUTH BLVD., PLYMOUTH, MINNESOTA 55447
TELEPHONE (612) 559-2800
MEMO
DATE: July 11, 1985
TO: James G. Willis, City Manager ��1.!"�
FROM: Scott L. Hovet, City Assessor )
SUBJECT CHURCHES AND RELIGIOUS INSTITUTION EXEMPTIONS
All real property in the, state is taxable except such as is by law exempt.
Exemption laws are to be construed strictly, not broadly. The assessor
has an extremely important responsibility in Vestigating and extending
exemption while conducting his annual assessment. Ownership, use, or
amount of use, and necessity of ownership are key elements in determining
exemption.
Minnesota statute #272.02 Sub 1 and 2 states only 7 major types of
property can qualify for exemption s,:atus listed as follows:
1. Public Burying Grounds
2. Public School Houses
3. Public Hospitals
4. All Academies, Colleges, and Universities
5. Institutions of Purely Public Charity
6. All public property. (Used exclusively for any
public purposes.)
7. All Churches, Church Property and Houses of Worship
The laws defines the exempt status for churches as ...."All churches and
church property including personal property owned and used for religious
purposes are exempt." This includes the parsonage and all property
therein if actually owned by the church organization and used by the (one)
priest or minister as his/her residence.
A general statement would be that church property including that of a
parsonage, is not exempt if it is rented out to private individuals or
corporations or when the property is used for purposes other than those
for which the church was established. This brings in the increasing
questions of the operation of day care centers etc, out of religious
properties. Our assessors association has discussed this increasing
problem many times and the general consensus is if a portion of a church
property is being rented and used more than 50% of the time (32 days per
week) for a use other than a religious purpose; that portion of the
property is segregated out and placed on the tax rolls.
CHURCHES AND RELIGIOUS INSTITUTION EXEMPTIONS
Page 2
Because of the delicate nature of particular religious beliefs it
sometimes becomes difficult to judge the merits of whether a property
should be allowed exemption or not. In any case we as assessors in the
metro area allow only that portion of the property used for worship
purposes to be exempt. Any portion of the property owned by a church and
used indirectly is taxable such as apartments, farmland, or retail
buildings to give an example. Each property has to be analyzed
individually on its own merit.
As far as allowing a church to be constructed in a higher zone, the more
intense the zoning, the more land value lost from the tax rolls.
cc: Blair Tremere
f x
J 7 -
"It
-"It is a rather unusual design, but I haven't
paid any taxes on it yet!''
i
L1
Z
k[ F
July 10, 1985 CITY OF
PLYMOUTR
Mr. Fred G. Moore, Chairman
Elm Creek Watershed Management Commission
3030 Harbor Lane
Suite 100
Plymouth, Minnesota 55441
Subject: Flooding of Elm Creek at County Road 47
Dear Fred:
In November, 1984 the Elm Creek Conservation Commission had a report prepared
with regard to flooding along Elm Creek at County Road 47 within the City of
Plymouth. This report was prepared for the Watershed Commission by the
Hennepin Conservation District.
One of the recommendations in that report was channel cleaning along Elm Creek
between the Plymouth City limits and Elm Road within the City of Maple Grove.
Sediment had been deposited in the creek channel from a gully that was eroding.
This channel cleaning was performed by Maple Grove in June.
Although some channel cleaning work has been performed, this has not had a
major effect on the water levels along Elm Creek south of County Road 47.
The City of Plymouth is hereby petitioning the Elm Creek Watershed Management
Commission to undertake a study of the water levels on Elm Creek between County
Road 47 and Elm Road. The purpose of this study would be to conduct the
necessary investigation in order that recommendations could be made with regard
to the following:
1. The effect existing channel conditions are having on the water levels.
2. Alternate channel improvements to lower the water levels, the
estimated cost of these improvements and the effect they would have on
areas downstream from Elm Road
3. Other recommendations which would eliminate the flooding problem.
Since the Watershed Commission has the authority over the Watershed area, we
believe this study should be undertaken by the Commission. It would further be
our request that this study be conducted by a consulting engineering firm with
expertise in stream hydralics. Before the Commission agrees to undertake the
study, I believe the City of Plymouth and the City of Maple Grove would be
willing to enter into an agreement with the Commission to pay for the cost of
the study. We would need to know the estimated cost of the study before this
commitment could be made.
3400 PLYMOUTH BOULEVARD. PLYMOUTH, MINNESOTA 55447, TELEPHONE (612) 559.2800
Mr. Fred G. Moore
July 10, 1985
Page Two ---------- -
The City of Plymouth would appreciate prompt action on this request in order
that a cost sharing agreement could be reached on the study and the study
completed within a reasonable time.
Thank you for your consideration of this petition.
Very truly yours,
C
mes G. Willis
city Manager
JGW:kh
DIANE BENSON
Scnatr, I)i�?rig? '_
RUI':,I R„utk: I R11•.
Ianc�hoi,. Minnc,ona 5594y
and
109 State Office Ruildinc
Si. Paul. Mlnnc>ort
Phonc:(612129F-390
July 8, 1985
Dear Mayor and Council Members:
Senate- ---
State
of Minnesota,
The 19E5 lecislature has passed a law which may help you
control rising costs for your city.
In the future, almost all proposals for new state mandates
must be accompanied by an estimate of the costs to local
government.
Bills before the legislature and proposed executive orders
including orders, plans, requirements or rules issued by the
governor or state agencies must be accompanied by a cost
estimate or "fiscal note." Such a "note" will (1) cite the
effect in dollar amounts; (2) cite the statutory provisions
affected; (3) estimate the increase or decrease in revenues or
expenditures; (4) include the costs which may be absorbed
without additional funds; and (5) specify the long range
implications, if any.
The importance of this new law to your efforts to control
costs is early warning. If a legislator proposes a new costly
mandate or if a state agency proposes an administrative rule
that carries new expenses for you, you'll have the opportunity
to know about it before the mandate goes into effect. That
means you'll have some chance of either defeating or modifying
the mandate.
I urge you to contact lobbyists for associations to which your
city belongs and your legislator. Ask them to let you know when
they learn of fiscal notes for new mandates.
As a state senator, I've heard repeatedly from local officials
that they feel it is unfair for the state to impose a
continuing series of costly new mandates on local government.
They feel it's especially unfair when local rather than state
government must pay.
COMMITTEES • Economic Development & Commerce • Governmental Operations • Health &
Human Services • Taxes and Tax LaNs
SERVING: Fillmore. Mower. Winona and Olmsted Counties
Pag- 21
Jul, 8, 19E5
I introduced my reform effort in 1983 as part of tr.e Senate
Indepenc_nt- epub_ican Caucus' legislative program. The
Senate _R policy proposals placed a strong emphasis on the
value of 2aaving significant freedom and flexibility for to -al
elected officials to make judgments for their ccr- ur_ities.
Where possible, they should be making local policy, not s4m-ly
impler:.enting state mandates.
Although my proposal received little support in 1983, the new
1985 Legislature treated this c_-icern far more seriously and
enacted the enclosed law.-ucc.;ss is due in large part to
Rep. Virgil Johnson (IR -Caledonia) who shepherded the measure
throuch the House of Representatives and through the conference
committee process.
:o hope this Iaw affords ,you a better opportunity to orevent
state government from imposinz new mandates area ne%: c,:--ts on
you without your knowing beforehand.
S' rely,
uane Benson
Sta- Senator
(Ii -_.�nesbor-
Enc isure
A
19 Sec. 34. (3.981) [DEFINITIONS.]
20 Subdivision 1. (SCOPE.) The terms used in sections 3.9E1
-------------- -------- -----------------------
21 to 3.983 and 14.131 have the meanings given them in this secticn.
-----------------------------------------------------------------
22 Subd. 2. [COSTS MANDATED 5Y THE STATE.) "Costs mandated by
-------- ------------------
23 the state" means increased costs that a local agency or a school
----------------------------------------------------------------
24 district is rec'sired to incur as a result of:
---------------------------------------------
25 (a) a law enacted after June 30, 1985, which mandates a new.
-----------------------------------------------------------
26 program or an increased level of service of an existing program.;
----------------------------------------------------------------
27 (b) an executive order issued after June 30, 1985, which
--------------------------------------------------------
28 mandates a new program;
-----------------------
29 (c) an executive order issued after Jure 3C, 1985, which
--------------------------------------------------------
30 implements or interprets a state statute and, by this
31 implementation or interpretation, increases procrar, levels atove
32 the levels required before July 1, 1985-
------------- : ------------------------- :
33
985;----------------------------------------
33 (d) a statute enacted after June 30, 1985, or executive
-------------------------------------------------------
34 order issued after June 30, 1985, which implements or interprets
----------------------------------------------------------------
35 a federal statute or regulation and, by this implementation or
--------------------------------------------------------------
36 interpretation, increases program or service levels above the
-------------------------------------------------------------
1 levels required by this federal statute or regulation;
2 (e) a statute enacted after June 30, 1985, or executive
-------------------------------------------------------
3 orderissued after June 30, 1985, which implements or interprets
-
4 a statute or amendment adopted or enacted pursuant to the
---------------------------------------------------------
5 approval of a statewide ballot measure by the voters and, by
------------------------------------------------------------
6 this implementation or interpretation, increases program or
-----------------------------------------------------------
7 service levels above the levels required by the ballot measure;
---------------------------------------------------------------
8 (f) a statute enacted after June 30, 1985, or executive
-------------------------------------------------------
9 order issued after June 30, 1985, which removes an option
---------------------------------------------------------
10 previously available to local agencies and thus increases
11 program or service levels or prohibits a specific activity and
--------------------------------------------------------------
12 so forces local agencies to use a more costly alternative to
------------------------------------------------------------
13 provide a mandated program or service;
14 (g) a statute enacted after June 30, 1985, or executive
-------------------------------------------------------
15 order issued after June 30, 1985, which requires that an
--------------------------------------------------------
16 existing program or service be provided in a shorter time period
----------------------------------------------------------------
17 and thus increases the cost of the program or service;
------------------------------------------------------
18 (h) a statute enacted after June 30, 1985, or executive
-------------------------------------------------------
19 order issued after June 30, 1985, which adds new requirements to
----------------------------------------------------------------
20 an existing optional program or service and thus increases the
--------------------------------------------------------------
21 cost of the program or service as the local agencies have no
------------------------------------------------------------
22 reasonable alternatives other than tn •w. ,..,.,,,,,,i
23 program; —`-
24 (1) a statute enacted after June 30, 19E5, or executive
-------------------------------------------------------
25 order issued after June 30, 1985, which create_ new revenue
-----------------------------------------------------------
26 losses stemming from new property or sales and use tax
------------------------------------------------------
27 exemptions; or
--------------
28 (j) a statute enacted after June 30, 1925, or executive
-------------------------------------------------------
29 order issued after June 30, 1985, which recuires costs
------------------------------------------------------
30 previously incurred at local option that have subsequently been
---------------------------------------------------------------
31 mandated by the state.
----------------------
32 Subd. 3. [EXECUTIVE ORDER.) "Executive order" means an
-------- �� --------------------------
33 order, plan, requirement ----- y ..
, or rule issued b the goveror, an
---
-----------------------------
-----------------
34 official serving at the pleasure of the governor, or an agency,
---------------------------------------------------------------
35 department, board, or commission of state government.
-----------------------------------------------------
36 "Executive order" does not include an order, plan, requirement,
---------------------------------------------------------------
1 or rule issued by a regional water quality control board.
---------------------------------------------------------
2 Subd. 4. (LOCAL AGENCY.] "Local agency" means a home rule
-------- --------------------------------
3 charter or statutory city, county, town, or special district.
-------------------------------------------------------------
4 Subd. 5. [MANDATE.] A "mandate" means a recuirement which
-------- -------------------------------------
5 applies to a local agency or school district and which, if not
--------------------------------------------------------------
6 complied with, results in civil liability, criminal penalty,
------------------------------------------------------------
7 substantial economic sanction such as loss of funding, or severe
----------------------------------------------------------------
8 administrative sanctions such as closure or nonlicensure of a
-------------------------------------------------------------
9 facility or program. "To mandate" means to impose such a
---------------------------------------------------------
10 requirement.
------------
11 Subd. 6. (REQUIRING AN INCREASED LEVEL OF
12 SERVICE.) "Requiring an increased level of service" includes
--------------------------------------------------
13 requiring that an existing service be provided in a shorter time.
-----------------------------------------------------------------
14 Subd. 7. [RULE.] "Rule" means a rule, order, or standard
-------- ---------------------------------------
15 of general application adopted by a state agency to implement,
--------------------------------------------------------------
16 interpret, or make specific the law it enforces or administers
--------------------------------------------------------------
17 or to govern its procedure. "Rule" includes an amendment to a
--------------------------------------------------------------
18 rule. "Rule" does not include rules that relate only to the
------------------------------------------------------------
19 internal management of a state agency.
--------------------------------------
20 Subd. 8. [SAVINGS.) "Savings" includes budget reductions
-------- ------------------------------------
21 and the freeing of staff or resources to be reassigned to a
-----------------------------------------------------------
22 local agency's or school district's other areas of concern.
-----------------------------------------------------------
23 Subd. 9. [SCHOOL DISTRICT.] "School district" includes
-------- --------------------------
24 school districts, community college districts, and county
---------------------------------------------------------
25 superintendents of schools.
---------------------------
26 Sec. 35. f3.9821 f FISCAL NOTES FOR STATE-M.;%rATED
27 ACTIONS.
28 When the state proposes to mandate that a local agency or
---------------------
29 school district take an action, and when reasonable ccmpliance
--------------
30 with that action would force the local agency or school district
-------------------------------------------------------------
31 to incur costs mandated by the state, a fiscal note shall be
------------------------------------------------------------
32 prepared as provided in section 3.98, subdivision 2 and shall be
-----------------
33 made available to the public upon request. If the action is
------------------------------------------------------------
34 among the exceptions listed in section 3.983 a fiscal note need
35 not be prepared.
----------------
36 When a bill proposing a mandate is introduced and referred
-------------------------------------------------------
' 1 to a standing committee, the chairman of the standing committee
------------------
----------------
t 2 to which the bill is referred shall request the appropriate
-----------------------------------------------------------
3 state agency or department to prepare a fiscal note before the
---------------------- ______
4 bill is heard in the committee ----
------ a proposed mandate is
-----------------------------------
------------------
5 issued in an executive order, the governor or appropriate agency
----------------------------------------------------------------
6 head assigned b the
---------Y- governor shall prepare the fiscal note and
7 make it available to the --
_ public.
8 Sec 36 (3.983) [EXCEPTIONS TO FISCAL NOTES.)
9 Subdivision 1. [COSTS RESULTING FROM INFLATION.) A fiscal
10 note need not be
--prep-
for increases in the cost Of providing
-----------------------
11 an existing service if the increases result directly from
------------------
---------------------
12 inflation. "Resulting directly from inflation" means
-----------------------------------------------------
13 attributable -to- --
maintaininganexisting-level-of-service-rather
14 than increasing the level of service
A cost -of -living increase
----------------------------------
-----------------
15 in welfare benefits is
an example --
---
of a cost resulting directly
---------------
16 from inflation.------
-- -
---------------
17 Subd_-2_ [COSTS NOT RESULT OF NEW PROGRAM OR INCREASED
18 SERVICE.) A -fiscal -note -need not be prepared for increased local
------
19 costs that do not result
----- --- ---------
--------from a new r
progam or an .ncreased-----
20 level of service. -'-""--"---
-----------------
21 Subd_-3. [MISCELLANEOUS EXCEPTIONS.) A fiscal note need
22 not be prepared for the ------------
--------------------
----cost-of-a mandated action if the law
23 containing the mandate:
-----------------------
24 (a)accommodatesa specific local request;
25 (b) results in no new local
--------------------------------------- governr•entduties;
26 (c) leads to re
__ __ _venue losses from exemptions to taxes other
27 than sales use or property taxes --
-----------------------------------
28 (d) -provides only clarifying -or -conforming, no ---------
- nonsubstantive
29 changes on local government;-
----------------------------
30 (e) imposes additional net local costs which minor
---------------------aa
-------
31 (---less than $200 for any single local government if the mandato
----------------------------------------------------------- -------------------- _
32 does not apply statewide or less than o a m� one-tenth f 11 times
----------------------------
33 the entire value of taxahle property in the state if -h
�e mandate
-----------------------
34 isstatewide)anddo- - -- -
notcauseafinancialburden on local
- - -
35 government; --
36 (f)isalegislativemandateorexecutiveorderenacted
--- - -- - -
1 before July 1, 1985, or a regulation initially implementing
-------------------------------------
----------------------
2 legislation enacted before July 1, 1985;
----------------------------------------
3 (g)implementssomethingother than a state statute or
-----------------
- -
---------------------------
4 executive order, such as a federal, court, or voter -approved
------------------------------------
5 mandate; -------
6 (h) appears in rules that are permissive or discretionary
--------------------------------
-------------
7 in nature;
8 (i) -------------------------------------------------------- -- - --
definesanewcrimeorredefines-an existing crime or
------------------
9 infraction;
10
(j)
provides
-------------------------------
or falls within the purview of existing,
11
revenue-
sourcesorotherfinancing
--
-------------
or
12
(k)
results in
-mechanisms;
- - -
savings that equal or exceed costs.
CITY OF
PUMOUTR
July 9, 1985
Memo to : Jim Willis
From: Maria Vasiliou
Subject: Moped information
JUL 9 -1985
CITY OF ft%l I -
Jim, thank you for asking Dick Carlquist to provide us with the
moped information.
I was surprised to learn from you today that this information is
being mailed out to the homeowners associations with a cover letter
from the Mayor. You will perhaps recall that I have brought this up
at the past two council meetings and it died a very quiet death and
was greeted with indifference.
Because the mayor and council showed no interest in answering the
inquiry I mailed out copies of the memo to any individual or home-
owner who inquired. I think it would be helpful in the future if
we coordinate our efforts. Two copies to any one person certainly
can't hurt but I object to public indifference followed by a flury
of behind -the -scene action.
Let's touch bases if this occurs again. Thanks for your cooperation
and for getting the ball rolling.
cc: Mayor Davenport
3400 PLYMOUTH BOULEVARD, PLYMOUTH, MINNESOTA 55447, TELEPHONE (612) 559-2800
NO/
July 9, 1955
CITYOF
PLYMOUTH+
Robert Scribner
AMLAC HOA
2015 Lancaster Lane
Plymouth, M 441
Dear Mr cribner:
Recently the City has received a number of inquiries regarding the traffic
regulations associated with mopeds or motorized bicycles. Normally, infor-
mation of this type would be contained in our Plymouth on Parade newsletter,
but because our next issue is not scheduled for delivery to the home until
September 6, I want to take this opportunity to share this information with
you. I am attaching a memorandum from Field Supervisor Larry Holzerland to
Public Safety Director Dick Carlquist which addresses this subject. Please
share this information with members of your Homeowners Association. Please
post the memorandum at your common meeting place if applicable or publish it
in your Association newsletter for your members. Any questions should be
addressed to Pug,147 Safety Director Dick Carlquist at 559-2800, Ext. 350.
Sin
D( vid J. Wdvenport
Mayor
DOD:jm
attach
cc: City Council
Public Safety Director
3400 PLYMOUTH BOULEVARD. PLYMOUTH. MINNESOTA 55447. TELEPHONE (612) 559.2800
CITY OF PLYMOUTH
3400 PLYMOUTH BLVD.. PLYMOUTH, MINNESOTA 55447
TELEPHONE (612) 559-2800
MEMO
DATE
TO
FROM
July 1, 1985
Chief Carlquist
Larry Holzerland
SUBJECT Motorized Bicycles
Moped or Motorized bicycles as they are referred to in State Statutes are
defined as bicycles with fully operable pedals which can be propelled by
human power, a motor or by both. The moped's engine must have a capacity
of less than 50 cubic centimeters displacement and a maximum of two horse
power. The engine must be capable of a speed no more than 30 MPH on a flat
surface.
Operation of a moped is permitted by anyone who possesses a valid drivers
license or has a moped operator's permit. To be eligible for a moped
operator's permit, a person must be at least 15 years of age, and successfully
complete an examination consisting of an eye check and a written and skill
test. Also, operators under 18 years of age must present a written parental
permission slip before the moped operator's permit can be issued.
Generally, the rules that applied to bicycle riding also apply to the operation
of mopeds. Mopeds however, are not allowed on bicycle lanes or bicycle trails.
They also cannot be operated on any sidewalk or on freeway designed roads such
as County Road 18 and Interstate 494.
Equipment requirements are the same for mopeds as they are for motorcycles,
except that motorcycles are required to have their headlights on at all times.
The equipment requirements for a moped are basically a headlamp, red taillight,
rear license plate light, brake light, rear view mirror, an adequate muffler,
and a horn. Moped drivers are not required to use protective head Qear or eye
protection. Mopeds may carry one passenger if the moped is adequately equipped
with a permanently installed passenger seat and passenger foot rests.
Mopeds must be currently licensed to be operated on any public highways and that
license must be permanently attached and displayed at all times.
Mopeds may be operated on the street at any time of day except for operators under
the age of 18 who are restricted by the midnight curfew.
LH:tw
STUDY OF ORGANIZED REFUSE COLLECTION
in the
Twin Cities Metropolitan Area
Metropolitan Council of the Twin Cities Area
300 Metro Square Building, 7th and Robert Streets
St. Paul, Minnesota 55101 Tel. 612 291-6359/TDD 291-0904
June 1985
Publication No. 19-85-079
yam. 1
A special thanks to the Organized Collection Task Force.
Mary Ayde, Chair, National Solid Wastes Management Association
Shirley Brantingham, Minnesota Association of Commerce and Industry
Charles Kutter, President, Minneapolis Refuse Inc.
Terry Miller, Waste Management Inc.
Ron Moening, Browning-Ferris, Inc.
Patricia Hoyt Neils, Plymouth City Council
Luther Nelson, Hennepin County
Bob Orth, Ramsey County Commissioner
Vern Peterson, Association of Metropolitan Municipalities
Betty Sindt, Lakeville City Council
Carolyn Voss, Coon Rapids City Council
Pat Scully, Metropolitan Council
CONTENTS
Paae
ABOUT THIS STUDY .................................................... 1
INTRODUCTION........................................................ 2
DESCRIPTION OF EXISTING COLLECTION SYSTEM ........................... 4
Introduction..................................................... 4
Regulatory Requirements. �
...................................... 6
Profile of the Refuse Collection Industry ........................ 6
Service Levels and Geographic Area...............................10
EVALUATION OF NEED FOR ORGANIZED COLLECTION .........................12
Can
Organized Collection
Improve Productivity and Reduce
CollectionCosts?....
..... .......... .................12
�Environmental �Impacts
Can
Organized Collection�
Reduce and
Improve rublic Safety?
........................................20
Can
Organized Collection
Facilitate Implementation of the
Council
Solid 'Taste Guide
Chapter? .............................21
Can
Organized Collection
Integrate or Enhance Existing County
and
Local Authorities for
'Waste Management?....................22
LIABILITIES AND DISADVANTAGES OF ORGANIZED COLLECTION...............24
FINDINGS AND CONCLUSIONS ............................ ..............26
BIBLIOGRAPHY........................................................27
APPENDIX............................................................28
FIGURES
1. Market Structure of Refuse Collectior: Residential Service....... 4
2. Market Structure of Refuse Collection: Residential Service....... 5
3. Size of Metropolitan Residential, Comercial and Industrial
Refuse Collection Companies by Number of Collection Vehicles..... 9
4. Percent Metropolitan Residential, Commercial and industrial
Refuse Collection Companies by Number of Collection Vehicles..... 9
5. Frequency of Residential Refuse Collection Charges...............18
TABLES
1. Selected Municipal and Township Licensing Requirements for Refuse
Collection....................................................... 7
i
ABOUT THIS STUDY
This study fulfills the legislative requirement that the Metropolitan
Council prepare a study on the need for a system to implement organized
collection of residential, commercial and industrial refuse in the
region. Organized collection, as defined by the Council in its Solid
Waste Management Develooment Guide/Policy Plan, means a solid waste
collection system wherein overlap of collection service areas and types
of collection services is prevented or controlled. The organizing body
may be public or private and may exert its control by directly pro-
viding the collection service or contracting for collection services.
This definition of organized collection covers all of the potential
methods available for organizing collection services.
The Council established a task force to help it prepare the organized
collection study. The task force met over a period of two months
reviewing the collected dataand preliminary draft of the study. Task
force members were selected to assure that county, municipal and busi-
ness concerns were addressed in the study.
The data used in the study were obtained from a number of sources
including municipal ordinances and licenses, refuse collection com-
panies operating in the region and national, county and other reports
and studies. Some of the data, particularly price information, will
become dated quickly given the nature of the market and industry.
The study has five sections. The first section.identifies the ques-
tions the study will ask in its attempt to determine whether a system
is needed to implement oreanized collection in the region. The second
section describes how refuse collection services are currently deliv-
ered in the region. The third section evaluates the need for organized
collection. The fourth section identifies the liabilities and disadvan-
tages of organized collection. The final section provides the reader
with the study's findings and conclusions. The appendix contains a
listing of all known refuse collection companies operating in the
region.
1
2. Commercial Refuse Collection Charges in the City of St. Paul,
1985, Monthly Charges for 'Weekly Pick Up.........................12
3. Monthly Single -Family Dwelling Residential Refuse Collection
Charges..........................................................13
4. Carver County Residential Refuse Collection Charges to
Households.......................................................14
5. Metropolitan Area Municipalities with Contracted Residential
Refuse Collection: April 1985 ....................................16
6. Metropolitan Area Municipalities with Franchised Residential
Refuse Collection: April 1985 ....................................19
ii
1
INTRODUCTION
In 1984, the state legislature amended the Waste Management Act (WMA)
to require the Metropolitan Council to conduct a study on the way
refuse is collected in the Metropolitan Area. Specifically, the
Council is to "study the need for a system to implement organized col-
lection of residential, commercial and industrial solid waste in the
Metropolitan Area."
Organized collection refers to the manner in which refuse is collected
from the waste generator. Organized collection means a solid waste
collection system wherein overlap of collection service areas and types
of collection services is prevented or controlled. The organizing body
may be public or private, and may exert its control by directly
providing the collection service or contracting for collection
services. Organized collection does not mean that refuse collection is
mandatory or that the county or cit;; will direct where the waste will
be delivered or that a public agency will necessarily perform the col-
lection service.
The different methods to organize refuse collection are contract, fran-
chise, municipal or other private arrangement. The contract method is
where a municipality contracts with one service provider to collect
refuse in a specific area and the city pays the contractor for the
service. The franchise method is where the city permits one service
provider to collect refuse in a specific area and establishes the price
but the service provider retains responsibility for collection of the
service fee. Municipal collection is where the city provides the ser-
vice with public employees. Private arrangements include neighborhood
groups contracting with a refuse collector for the service or several
refuse collectors forming a new company in order to organize their
collection routes.
Currently few areas or municipalities in the region have organized col-
lection of residential solid waste. Fewer still have organized collec-
tion of corrnercial and industrial wastes. =+s a rule, most waste gener-
ators arrange directly with a waste hauler for refuse collection
services. Questions have been raised about this type of arrangement
for refuse collection and whether imorovements can be made to the col-
lection system with implementation of organized collection.
To determine the need for a system to implement organized collection in
the Metropolitan Area, this study will ask four questions. First, can
organized collection improve productivity and reduce collection costs?
This study will evaluate the costs of refuse collection under several
different market arrangements. And if there are cost savings to the
household or business with an organized collection system, the study
will attempt to identify where those cost savings are achieved.
J
Second, can organized collection reduce environmental impacts in the
neighborhood and improve public safety? This study will evaluate to
what extent organized collection reduces air pollution, fuel consump-
tion, wear and tear on city streets and county and state roads, litter
complaints, rodent harboraces and vehicle accidents involving refuse
collection trucks.
Third, can organized collection facilitate implementation of the
Council's Solid Waste Manaeement Development Guide/Policy Plan? This
study will explore what organized collection can do to reach the objec-
tives for abatement programs and obtain information about waste
generation reduction or recovery.
Fourth, can organized collection integrate or enhance existing county
and local authorities for waste management? The study will evaluate
whether organized collection can replace or complement waste designa-
tion. Waste desienation is the same as flow control.
These issues will be discussed to better understand what organized col-
lection can and cannot do for improving waste management inthe
region. They will also help to determine whether there is a need for a
systematic process to organize refuse collection services in the
region. The report will becin with an evaluation of the existinc col-
lection system. This evaluation will serve as the basis for ccrparison
with organized collection systems and with the findings of other
national and local studies that have evaluated refuse collection sys-
tems and costs. The study will also discuss the liabilities.and d'sad-
vantages associated with organized collection.
The final chapter contains the conclusions regarding organized collec-
tion of refuse. The appendix contains a comprehensive list of the
refuse collection companies licensed by municipalities in the region.
3
DESCRIPTION OF THE EXISTING COU ECTION SYSTEM
INTRODUCTION
The refuse collection industry in the Twin Cities Metropolitan Area is
quite unlike the industry as it exists in most other major metropolitan
areas. Most metropolitan areas have fewer, generally larger refuse col-
lection firms servicing the region, or rely extensively upon municipal
collection.
In regards to residential refuse collection, the Metropolitan Area uses
three different methods or structures for ensuring refuse is col-
lected. The predominant method that is used is where each household by
itself arranges for refuse collection services. The household verbal
arrangement system serves approximately 500,000 households, or 69 per-
cent of the region (see Figures 1 and 2). The role of the municipality
is limited and typically requires a household to remove wastes at least
once a week from the property. Some municipalities have mandatory col-
lection which means that the household must hire a collection firm to
provide the service. Enforcement occurs on an as needed basis.
FIGURE 1
frig--; I
hMKET SinUCTLIRE OF RErUSE COLLECT.GN: RESIDENTIAL SERVICE
Number of Households Served
total heusshotds In reQle199 721.3e0S
b00. 000...........................................................................
sag. led
499. a00 .... `.............................................................
228.199 .. .....................
0'\�\\�\�j] 63.700
� \�\\\\Y C.Tr[4 9. Si0
Housshatd Contract MIA" lelpat :ranshiso
Agrsement
i April 1. 1904 Prov 101onal 4iau7ehetd Estimates. Me trace LI tan
Council of the Twln Cltles Area
4
FIGURE 2
MARKET S O E :irN l OREFUSE OOLLE71ON; RESiDE'iIk- SEEVOE
Percent Municip.aiities Served
1% Municipal
9% Franchise
2br Contract
64;: Household
C) Agreement
Numeric Totals
Household Agreeteents 1:1 Franchises b2
Contracts 231 Municipals 2
Percent Households in Region
9% Municipal
1% Franchise
20: Contract
70% Household
Agreement
1'wo municipalities contract for cmamercial refuse collection.
2 Four municipalities franchise for eonmrcial refuse collection.
The second largest method for provision of refuse collection services
is where a city contracts or franchises with one company for collection
services. There are 23 cities that contract for refuse collection ser-
vices with a private firm and six cities that franchise or license one
collector. The only difference between contract and franchise collec-
tion is the method of billing for the services. Under a contract the
city is responsible for billing whereas the waste hauler is responsible
for billing under the franchise arrangement. Of the municipalities
that have contracts, 21 are competitively bid and two are negotiated.
Of the cities with franchises, one is competitively bid, and five are
negotiated. Cities that have contract collection serve about 145,000
or 20 percent of all the households in the region. Cities with fran-
chises serve about 9,000 or one percent of the households.
The method which serves the least number of households, 62,000 or nine
percent of the region's households, is for the city to provide for
refuse collection services itself. Only two municipalities in the
region currently provide for municipal collection of refuse, the cities
of Minneapolis and Farmington. Minneapolis provides collection ser-
vices to half of the city or about 62,000 households and Farmington
provides collection services to about 1,500 households.
In regards to commercial and industrial refuse collection, waste gen-
erators typically arrange for collection service on their own with a
waste hauler. Four of the municipalities that have franchise arrange-
ments for residential collection also franchise for commercial refuse
collection. Two municipalities that have contracts for collection also
provide for commercial refuse collection in the contract. All of these
municipalities are relatively small, consequently, the commercial ref-
use collection system is less organized than residential collection.
L -r -
Less is known about the manner in which industrial wastes are collected
than for residential and commercial collection. Because no city pro-
vides for industrial collection, it appears that industrial waste gener-
ators rely completely on arrangements between themselves and waste
haulers for refuse collection.
REGULATORY REQUIREMENTS
Most cities license refuse collectors operating within their jurisdic-
tion; however, towns are less likely to license collectors. The pur-
pose of licensing is to ensure that collectors operating within the
city are reputable business operators and carry the appropriate per-
sonal injury, accident and property damage insurance. Based upon infor-
mation received from municipalities, Table I highlights the number of
refuse collection companies that operate within a given municipality
and their license fees and insurance requirements. Where information
was available, the table indicates the number of collection firms col-
lecting from the residential_and commercial sectors.
Refuse collection companies must comply with other transportation re^_u-
lations. Generally, these focus upon the vehicles operated by the com-
pany and include requirements on the size, weight and safe operations.
By far most waste haulers complain about the weight restrictions in the
springtime. They are often subject to fines because it is frequently
impossible to operate a packer and comply with the weight restric-
tions. Transfer staticns would reduce total vehicle mileage and may
permit collectors to use smaller trucks and remain competitive. Cur-
rently, many haulers use very large packer trucks because they are more
efficient if they must travel a great distance to the landfill.
PROFILE OF 71HE REFU'S'E COLLECTION INDUSTRY
In the Twin Cities the industry can be characterized as very decentral-
ized, with concentration of companies at the small and of the spec-
trum. Information obtained from listings of municipal licenses indi-
cates there are at least 225 refuse collection firms in the region.
A listing of all known refuse collection companies operating in the
region is included in the appendix. Most of these collectors have less
than four refuse collection vehicles. Figures 3 and 4 provide a break-
down of company size by number of collection vehicles. Although the
breakdown is imperfect because the Council was not able to obtain
information from all of the collection companies, it provides a good
perspective of the make up of the industry. Several firms are very
large and can be characterized by the considerable investment of capi-
tal in equipment such as packer trucks, debris boxes, roll -offs or
other containers.
The data shows that companies with more than 40 trucks make up two per-
cent of the total number of firms in the refuse collection business.
Though the international firms collect residential, commercial and
industrial wastes, other large local firms compete with these companies
for collection of waste from the commercial and industrial sectors.
U
C
a
p
p
O
O
S
8
C c O
C O
C
m
L
S
y
0
u'i O
�n 0 0 0
u+Cn O
O O
p
1pn
U N
C"A"
N Ln
N 1n
L
x d
M
C
O
S SSS
SSS
SSSSS
SSS
SSS S
SSSSS
qv
e„1
e"1
en en
�S
en
rn
f�
en
L V
7 Q
N
C
N
p
SSC SS
p
SOS
SEE
pp
«O+ O
O S
SO
Occ
S 00pp 0
SEE
O
CCSSS
4 L�
W
S
J
J
y
r
x X X
W
aJ di
W
CG
O N�
S
U
I
W
w
N
O
2
L NI
0! OI
x x
x.
x x
x x x
x x
X x X X
x
x x x
x x x x
y�
Y
C C_ 1
f C
D•
W
^ c
x x
x
x x x x
x x x x
^ 2
G ql
W
J
yl
;nl
X X X
XX
XX
X XXX
X XX
XXXXX
x
xX x X
XX XX
N
_G
J1
O'
O
W I
~
t
Q
G ql
X X
X
X
X X x
X X X
x x X
J
o cc
CL
d
N Y I
O
4n
Pf
Ln
aj a)
HI
C
O+
W
H
L
C
N
W
I
�
Ci
N 1
1n O C Q
1/'f
In
1n C f�
LL'1 O O
Ln N7 p p
1n In 1n
to Ln O to
C �n c� O
tAJ
y�
U
q
N P1 In h
N
N
N 1nr')
N
�C N
a7
N
w ^
d A
.r O�"
CO
9
N �N
!� r+ of
N N^ O •r
� Ln N
C% m^ Q
Q O R f�1
^ Q y
NN
'Q �. ..
^ ..N
N N
7 v O
A NH�
S C
�► V
Q ..i
N
J
O
�O
OD ^
1n
Ch Ln
.Nr
N
L
♦+
ar
j
y
y Y
aJ
O
V
A
L
>'
C L
N N O
T y ^
aJ
a! A
+
O
U d
C
T L
a7 L
Y ^
>
aJ N C
> a7 A a+
A
A •^ O O
C C
N
d
V
C) O A O L
S j C
O+ A
^ m G
W C
W A
Cm J a!
3 �+ r+ ••'
C a! L E
l A A
Y Y d Y
a7 C CC
^ O
A
n q
O h a!
v L
> N C
U
O^ 6J U 0
0 0 > C v+
v o c .q.+ N
E y C C
d
U ar
Lr^
O d d d
^o+>YY
d •r O +�
^.1 r-C
Gnccc
c
.+ncLoAOS
^ ^
Yoxc.+
g q y r •r
t
q q C •- •r
S
Q Q 4 w w
aD O u U U
U u U V U
> W W W W
W W Y. O
J J J J
S SSS S
vi
`�
O�
pCS
pp 8Qp
�O^C
8
0
•O+ �
�.
•
00
^
at.1
d
r
�
O
C
d
Q C
N Off O
O FOCI s
u1 N
6Ofl �i!
�Lf N
Si
IWO
N5t
Ln
^
L
R �
M
C
L
41
C
p ppo
O O � �
� � �
S 8 8
8
Q o
A �
^
�
A
iJ
f •f ���'''''�"1111
`O
fn
f�f e•'1 f"1
9"
en in
L u
7 <
L
N
C
_
A
�0
8I808
8888
88 8
?8888
88N88
8 8
89
7 N
N ^N^
..r ... ^ ~
•�� ^.r
^
.r ti
N
V
W
< L
d
Q
C
J
L
+
O
C
�
W
N+�
C
V
X X x
x X X X
X X
K K K
X K X fC
X
W
_ '1
O
U
L.v
�
u
6
W
a
N
.-� I
07a
01
X X X
X X X i[
X X
X X i[
>[ 7 K X
X
X
^
r
W
N
Y
�
Y
Iv
J
N
v
O G7
_G
C.rl
X X X
X xXx
X X
X X X
K KK
X
X
L
O. Of
L
N
N V
^ G
r. N
C
^ =
Y
C Y
A
6l
^
x x x
x x x x
x x x x
x
X x
V)
Psi
v u
W
C 7 4
7
Ni y
u
C
Z
N1.
N
_>
L
OW
rv+
x
x
x
x
xx x
XX
' U
G
J
O 6
^ L a
d
•
C C
Ci D
N Y
O
`•, � q
d LL. Y
v?N
6n
6n�
o
Lnu�OO
O
w Y ^
u• L Lj
�N
N
of
N
Q
6.7
W
J
�„�
cu
N
O O u! N
O
coos 0
'n O 6n
N
O Q =;,n
N
O O s u•� ,,
O 1n N N
O
^
^
e N N
y�
A
J m
O of N t•f
u't in e�
N^
v
.0.. .�
~
W +
N '
Z
d+ o
N
y
Nu1r 1►m
^Nw
^
f" 6n
f�f
m�rn<+�Du:
"n
N
Nw.
Y
N CT
Cr
7 QC
.r
^• �r
E +
4 Nr�
^ C
a 6 U
Y O
�r y
�
•mow
r y L
Q 4..
..
M
M
CC
NCC
Z C
i
L
N
A
Y
C
id
L
C
y
A
L
J
C�'
yyyCai
L
6 OY
`
N q
7 E
6Y
Y
^
W6 7
^-p77
J C
N
!�
:L
u
O
01
N L O L
N �+J
7
>,r O N O
+ C L g A
y im.=r.I
N
C
77 CD O
L 'e O Q L
^V
v•r •r L F.
N L �[ L 'J
v
>6t� S G
v
C'�
.V L ++ .� .r
O
C r+ �
L a
L a+ 7
�.r
_V
C
.+ 7 ?E•
O10 6_+
E J :7 N
N • •
CNNNN
3.1g 7 LaL
2OOLS
cc L'aL2
NV/NNN
iia=33
^ N
FIGURE 3
SIZE OF METROPOLITAN RESIDENTIAL, COMMERCIAL AND INDUSTRIAL
REFUSE COLLECTION COMPANIES'
BY NUMBER OF COLLECTION VEHICLES
1ie......................................................... ..
I '
58 -j{.............43...................................................
e 2
e'
1-2 3-45-10 11-40 40+
trucks trucks trucks trucks trucks
1154 responses out of 195 haulers ccntacted. (total number of
regional haulers is approximately 215.) Please note that various
different collection vehicles are used with a wide range of capa-
cities. Also many of the smaller firms work on a part time basis.
FIGURE 4
PERCENT METROPOLITAN RESIDENTIAL, COM11ERCIAL AflD INDUSTRIAL
REFUSE COLLECTION COMPANIES'
BY NUMBER OF COLLECTION VEHICLES
SX 11-40 2% 4e+
12X 5-10I
63X 1-2
2eX 3-4
1154 responses out of 195 haulers contacted. (total number of
regional haulers Is approximately 215.3 Pleas* note that various
different collection vehicles are used with a wide range of capa-
cities. Alga many of the smaller firms work on a part time basis.
9
It should be noted that in recent years there has been an increase in
the number of local companies that have been acquired by the interna-
tional companies, especially those local firms that have a significant
percentage of their business collecting commercial wastes.
About 79 percent of the companies have four trucks or less and their
business appears to be concentrated in the residential collection busi-
ness. However, many of these firms do collect from commercial waste
generators. The small firms appear to compete effectively in this mar-
ket only if the commercial stops are near their other accounts and are
not significant waste generators. Specialized equipment is needed to
handle wastes from large commercial waste generators.
SERVICE LEVELS AND GEOGRAPHIC AREAS
There does not apoear to be any difference in the type or levels of ser-
vices offered by most of the refuse collection firms under either of
the three methods for the provision of collection services. In gener-
al, residential refuse collection occurs once a week. For commercial
and industrial waste generators, refuse is picked up on a more frequent
schedule or as needed.
The collection of large, bulky items such as white goods, furniture,
etc. will vary depending upon the market structure. For example, in
Minneapolis the contract specifies that everything a homeowner puts out
for pick uo will be collected, even large, bulky items. usually, under
the household arrangement, households are limited to two or three 30 -
gallon cans. Bulky items cost extra, although leaves and other vard
wastes are usually collected provided it is properly packaged for col-
lection. `"any cities with contracts generally provide for spring and
fall clean up days to manage leaves, brush and bulky items.
Some cities may require special types of pickup services for senior
citizens. These arrangements are often specified in the contract where.
a municipality contracts for the collection services. It is not
unheard of that collectors operating under the household agreement mar-
ket arrangerent will provide cost differentials to senior citizens.
A significant percentage of large household goods are handled through
other collection service providers such as Goodwill, Salvation Army or
American Council for the Blind. In essence these organizations provide
for recycling and capture of significant quantities of white goods,
textiles, furniture, shoes and a myriad of household items.
A number of the smaller refuse collectors focus upon particular waste
streams. It is difficult to quantify but it appears that some haulers
work on a part-time basis and collect, possibly salvage, and dispose of
demolition wastes, construction materials and other items. In our con-
versations with the collectors, the Council found that some collectors
who handle residential wastes are part-time too.. These collectors work
primarily in the evenings or Saturdays in addition to their regular
job. A small number of collectors are primarily in,other business such
10
as landscaping, and collect refuse on the side. It is difficult to
quantify the percentage of collectors who operate in the refuse collec-
tion business on a part-time basis.
Most collection companies operating under the household contract
arrangement try to keep their business within a certain geographic
area, for example the Midway area of St. Paul, or North St. Paul,
Maplewood and parts of Roseville. It is to a collectors advantage to
keep travel time at a minimum for efficiency. In some cases there may
be five to 10 companies operating in a particular neighborhood. As
can be seen in Table 1, some municipalities have up to 12 different
companies operating in the city collecting residential refuse. A simi-
lar situation exists for collection of commercial wastes.
Most haulers under any of the service arrangements provide good service
to their customers or at least satisfy the expectations of their cus-
tomers for refuse removal (out of sight, out of mind). Local surveys
indicate that most people are satisfied with refuse collection ser-
vices. So do national studies which show that everyone is satisfied
with refuse collection a tribute to the industry.
11
EVALUATION OF NEED FOR ORGANIZED COLLECTION
1
CAN ORGANIZED COLLECTION IMPROVE PRODUCTIVITY AND REDUCE COLLECTION
COSIS?
Collectors use a variety of ways to establish a price for waste dis-
posal. The costs of refuse collection and disposal may depend on the
type of material; its location in relation to the landfill and on the
collector's route; the size of the collection crew; frequency of pick-
up; the type and size of container the refuse is in; the need for any
special collection equipment; and whether the pick up is curb -side,
alley or walk-up, and the pricing of competitors.
Prices for commercial and industrial waste collection vary. Based on
information taken from license applications from the City of St. Paul,
commercial rates vary from S23 per month for weekly pick-up from a
one cubic yard container to $220 per month for a 40 cubic yard con-
tainer. Table 2 identifies the range of prices for collection of
commercial wastes within the City of St. Paul.
Table 2
COMMERCIAL REFUSE COLLECTION CHARGES IN THE CITY OF ST. PAUL, 1985*
MONTHLY CHARGES FOR WEEKLY PICK UP
Cubic Yard Capacity
Rate
Range
of Containers
Low
Hich
0.5
S 30.00
1.0
23.00
- 37.00
1.5
22.50
- 4C.00
2.0
27.50
- 46.00
3.0
32.00
- 42.00
4.0
40.00
- 50.00
6.0
60.00
- 65.00
8.0
75.00
10.0
100.00
15.0
125.00
- 150.00
20.0
140.00
- 170.00
25.0
150.00
30.0
170.00
- 200.00
40.0
190.00
- 220.00
*Source: Licensing applications for refuse haulers
in the city of St. Paul, Minn. 1985.
For residential waste generators, the price for collection services
depends upon many factors including the market structure for delivery
of services, the type of service (alley, curb or walk-in) and level of
12
service (bulky items, recycling service). Table 3 shows the differ-
ences in costs to the household as a consequence of the different
market structures, that is, household verbal agreements, franchise,
contract or municipal. For those households where the municipality
contracts for waste collection, total costs to the household (TCHS)
averages $6.03 per month. TCHS with a franchise arrangement averages
$7.03 per month. Where an individual household arranges with a waste
hauler for refuse collection, the TCHS averages $8.21 per month. Under
the municipal collection arrangement in Minneapolis, the TCHS averages
$7.02 per month whereas the TCHS for municipal collection in Farmington
is $8.67 per month. These costs are averages and do not reflect differ-
ences in the type of services provided for or whether the service is
curb -side, alley or walk-in.
It should be understood that all households will pay for refuse collec-
tion when the city contracts for refuse collection. Under the system
where each household arranges for refuse collection services, only
those households desiring the service will pay and oftentimes two or
more households will double up on one account. Some haulers estimate
that about 10 percent of the households in the St. Paul area do this.
Table 3
MONTHLY SINGLE-FAMILY DWELLING
RESIDENTIAL REFUSE COLLECTION CHARGESI
Mean Monthly
Mean Seniors/Disabled
Market Structure Monthly Charqe Charge
Household agreement2
$8.21
$5.57
Franchise2
7.03
4.44
Contract3,4
6.03
3.64
Municipal:
Farmington24
8.67
N/A
Minneapolis
7.02
N/A
1Mean monthly base rate for weekly collection of a 60 -gallon
refuse contain (or the equivalent) curbside.
2Not including walk-up service, bulky items, extra collection.
The majority do not use transfer stations.
3Approximately half include bulky items, spring clean up. Only
Minneapolis includes walk-up service. The majority do not use
transfer stations.
4Minneapolis includes walk-up service, bulky items, extra col-
lection, but not commercial or industrial wastes.
13
Why is it that refuse collection is more expensive when the household
arranges for collection services than when the municipality contracts
for it? For
studies completed by the Center For Government Stud-
ies of the Graduate School of Business at Columbia University have
shown that prices paid by households for contract or franchise collec-
tion where it was mandatory to use the designated private collector are
lower than those prices paid by households who use a private firm which
is not under contract to the city or which does not have an exclusive
franchise. The studies noted that the difference in price can be
attributed to economies of scale and economies of contiguity (for
example, the ability to service all households along a given route,
thereby reducing travel time between stops) achieved by firms under
contract and exclusive franchise as well as lower billing costs
associated with firms under contract. The study was based upon a
survey of 2,060 cities with a combined population of 52 million people.
A recent study completed for Carver County by John and Michele Genereux
described the refuse collection industry in the county. Although stat-
istical tests were not completed on comparing the costs of providing
refuse collection services among the municipaiities within the county,
Table 4 shows that monthly costs to the household are about SI -5C to
3.20 per month less where organized collection exists. For example,
households in the cities of Mayer, Hamburg and New Germany pay S5.73
per month for refuse collection as opposed to households in the cities
of Chanhassen, Chaska, Carver, Victoria, Cologne and Waconia, which do
not have organized collection, pay S7.80 to 9.50 per month. All the
waste in Carver County is disposed of at the Louisville landfill.
*Source: A description of the private was
Carver County. For the county of Carver.
Michele Genereux. Feb. 26, 1985.
14
hauling system in
Table 4
CARVER COUNTY RESIDENTIAL
REFUSE COLLECTION CHARGES
TO HOUSEHOLDS*
Number of
Median Monthly
Community
Haulers
Residential
Rate
Carver
2
8.00
Chanhassen
7
7.00 -
9.50
Chaska
5
8.00 -
9.50
Coloone
5
7.80 -
9.50
Mayer/Hamburg/'dew
Gerrnany 1
5.73
Norwood
1
6.60
Victoria
3
7.80 -
9.50
Waconia
2
7.80 -
8.00
Watertown
1
6.30 -
8.00
Young America
1
6.30
*Source: A description of the private was
Carver County. For the county of Carver.
Michele Genereux. Feb. 26, 1985.
14
hauling system in
The elimination of overlapped collection routes provides for increased
efficiency for collection of wastes. It allows a collector to pick up
refuse from more households within the same amount of time. The city
of St. Paul, when it considered oraanized collection of refuse, esti-
mated that a collector could do at least 50 more pickups in an eight-
hour day, an increase of 20 percent. Waste collectors in Minneapolis
noted similar increases in efficiency when collection services were
organized.
Additional efficiencies could be achieved with the establishment of
transfer stations in the region. Even if collection routes were organ-
ized, all haulers in St. Paul for example, must still travel at least
30 miles to the landfill. Each collector spends at least one hour and
20 minutes on the average delivering waste to the landfill. A transfer
station would permit a hauler to collect from more households if less
time is spent traveling to and from the landfill. Similarly, labor
costs are reduced because more households can be serviced within the
same amount of time by one person.
Transfer stations significantly reduce operating and maintenances costs
of refuse collection. However, they do increase the capital costs of
solid waste management. These costs should be considered in view of
the reduced mileage and travel time spent by refuse trucks going to the
landfill. Currently, there are few transfer stations in use in the
region. The travel distance to the landfill is an important factor in
the costs of solid waste management.
All the municipalities in the region that have some form of organized
collection system with a contract are listed in Table 5. Costs per
household range from 53.88 for Wayzata to $8.50 for St. Bonifacius.
There does not appear to be any substantial difference in the type or
level of service provided to Wayzata or St. Bonifacius. Other fac-
tors, such as the distance from the cities to the landfill, the one con-
tractor might have bid the job at a loss, may play a role in the differ-
ence. Some of the differences in costs among the cities with contract
collection are attributable to different levels of service (curbside or
alley pickup versus walk-up); collection of bulky items; distance to
the landfill; recycling programs; and profit percentages. Administra-
tion and monitoring costs amount to about five percent of the total
cost of the contract according to the study be Ecodata, Inc. It is
unclear whether cities recover their costs for billing expenses. Some
contracts specify the company to provide an on-call supervisor for
handling complaints.
Altogether, cities that have organized refuse collection have service
costs about one-fourth to one-third less than those relying on individ-
ual households to arrange for collection services. The cost for refuse
collection to households in contract cities is consistently less expen-
sive than for households that make their own arrangements for refuse
collection. It appears these cost differences can be accounted for by
the market structure of the collection services, that is, organized
versus unorganized. Other unknown factors may play a role in the cost
15
16
"�
to e••f
�a
oovoo
a v cNi
o ooaNi
oaNi aNi o
000
L
2 2 Y 2 2
r Y a
2 Z Z >•
Z Y r 2
Z Z r
m
A O
J
y�y
nvI
T i �
V
lY
,J!
CC
N
N N
N N
d d
YZ SY>
Y-
Y 2 2
Z ZY Z
Y Z2 Z Y
Y 2Y
L
y�
m=UI
Li
37
W
N
7
w
_
n++ C
L d
d d
d a v
d d d
d
C C O
L
C- c
O
OC
C C O
O C C =
C,
=
E y ;� ►
V a --1
C C r..o
2 2
17 cO
2 2
2 2 2
2 2 2
Z
q
XCL 'al
t!f
CL
A d •C �I
S c..1 �••
C
d
W
z
•
v
N
�
V
N N N N
N N • N
L L i L
• N N N
L L L L
N N N N
L L L L
N N N
i L L
L
C.i
U
e
L L L L L
>.TTTT
L
TTTT T
TTTTT
T TTT T
�•`TT
d
C S
f L
d C C
N I['1 In
N to
n N t�f t-1
en est PY
d
H~
U V
u
A C
r
L O
n V
L^ dl
O
O
OL9,u9
^
Jr
N
N
V q q
NCyI
r+
yr
6
d
V
V d L
y�
1�
N
In
X I� I"� O �G
InGc�
1'S 1 N .G �L"
� P•1
y 61
r
�
t "1I
C iO)
C C •O r� f"1
f� �O �O 4] •O
If'1 e� � .r
u'1 � C �'1 IL1
h- '1'1 �O f� u7
.a la7 �n P� C
e•'1 !� �O
� a+ .1
O.t
C O
W
2
�
O
L >+++
_
7-
T
yI
N 07<�
f•'1 :l.N G N
CONT O
r• ri�N O
f•1 CC N
K1O N
L O
y.� 6.
n N en f� �•.
�G e� T N N
.••. C K'f In f�
N 10 en e•'1 N
r r^I f"
�I C
y
O N lu
'L.
7
r C N d
�O N N N O
�C �O C In O
.• �G N •G
N C
e OO In
C
...w�
7 ++L
EN +
e�uf u's�0
O�^O
�O C
^�vloe c
N .�• -• O R7
e•1 O r. In u'1
L
Ne^
r � X15 r� r�
A ..n
l*1 ...
•..• !�
�.•i �••• 47
P'1 f
^r f�
N 1 }4 N
W
A
V
N
t
t
y41
A •�
N Y
L
W
2 A
1
0
V A
0
!fid
aCL.
J
N E
A
y q A
U
r
AL2
d
T O
n
Y
C N
G rl L L
.r y T
C O 6J q O
61
e m■1
_
O
L y .0 q
N L C a
�•+ d A C
O O
y
L 6! O
N N NN Y
3 2>
"•'!V
<m clay D
W
16
differences. Figure 5 highlights the differences in cost to the house-
hold per month for refuse collection when there are one or more haulers
servicing a municipality. The increased costs in the household agree-
ment system which averages $8.21 per month are due to the extra costs
associated with the non -exclusivity of collection in a given area.
Municipalities or townships with franchise collections are listed in
Table 6. The costs to the household per month under a franchise
arrangement range from a low of $4.32 for Jordan to a high of $8.75 for
Afton. The average cost per month for all the franchise arrangements
is $7.03. All but one of the franchise agreements are negotiated
between the waste hauler and the city.
There is little information available to document whether organized
collection of commercial and industrial refuse could result in cost
savings to the waste aenerator. Based upon the available data from
residential refuse collection, it is reasonable to infer that some of
the diseconomies associated with each commercial waste generator
arranging for refuse collection exist as it does for the residential
sector. Presumably, some cost efficiencies could be achieved if ser-
vice to commercial waste venerators could be provided for in conjunc-
tion with organized collection of residential refuse. Additional study
is needed to document whether a reduction in costs is realistic. Fur-
thermore, the practicality of an organized collection system for comrer-
cial waste generators depends on several factors including the type of
waste requiring disposal, frequency of service, proper collection equip-
ment and suitable pricina arrangements. Appropriate commercial estab-
lishments could be folded into an organized residential collection
route.
Refuse collection services are in many ways similar to a utility's
function and services such as water, sewer, or electricity. The demand
for refuse collection services, as for most utilities, is inelastic,
that is people have a need for the service but do not demand more ser-
vice if the price goes down. If demand is inelastic, economic theory
says that tax increases will pass through to the consumer of the ser-
vice or goods. Households in the region have experienced increases in
their bills as a direct result of the surcharge on tipping fees at the
landfill. Most increases were about 50 cents per household per month
or $6 annually. This is approximately the increase that could be
expected as a consequence of the surcharge if it were all passed
directly back to the consumer based upon the amount of waste generated
by a typical household in one year. At least one contract between a
municipality and hauler, Hastings, was recently renegotiated as a
direct result of the surcharge on disposal fees according to a city
official. Columbia Heights provided a clause in its contract for com-
plete reimbursement of additional landfill fees approved after 1985.
17
Figure 5.
FREQUENCY OF RESIDENTIAL REFUSE COLLECTION CHARGES
(MAY 1985)
40
35
30
10
5
L
3.0 4.0 5.0 6.0 7.0 8.0 9.0 10.0 11.0 12.0 13.0 14.0
Monthly Single Family Collection Charge in DoAars
(rounded to nearest half—dollar)
Source: Metropolitan Council survey, May 1985.
18
✓ N
c E
E S. O o O O d O
�i 2 2 22 Y2
A Lj
19
GC)
N � N
C C 7
0 0 N O N O
•�• A^••
Z Z Y 2 Y 2
i N U
NU
�I
lA
m
Q
.•.
N N1
G A
N N O N C N
Y Y 2 Y 2 Y
m � 51
C
�
O
N V '•-
F—
E A N
v
W
> a c
E A^
N N d
O O C O c C
J
O C ^
2 2 2
A G A
y v
W
H
d
LL
W
C
N
QI
W
C
�p C
W
✓
=
C
N • N N
Y C
H O L
... •-•• tL1 �..• N In
T
C
07
✓
L
a
3
� Cl Ni
•e
N
W
A OI
f'1 :!1
✓
r U
F-
C N L
lm m
V A
N•� Uj
C
Q
O U
y
U N
J
NI
Ln
m N
✓ L'
O L
OO
CL C
C
L >
Q
✓ A
N
N E
r
Q
N 01Q
n N Q R1 O Q
NIC
C.
C C
N•r L
rn NN
✓ N C'
C N
C
C N CJ
L ^
O
wiN
W C �
T
✓ N
N N t1
N en co N{V
✓ �J
A '^•
Om NKf C,0
N
cu
++SON
Cr+N
G
NI >�E
N
W
C ^ V
S A
U i
p � O
O r.
O� •^ C
G✓
A
_a
L
•� N A
� � A
Q+ N N
� N✓
i C C m
L y
m cua
S
✓ i C N L^
r + N AO =
6 m L) S ••� S
.••i N Rf
19
CAN ORGANIZED COLLECTION Rf
DUCE ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACTS AND IMPROVE \
Organized collection does reduce nuisance impacts associated with sev-
eral refuse collectors picking up waste on the same block. Organized
collection reduces wear and tear on roads and improves air quality
because fuel consumption is reduced. Organized collection improves
public safety because fewer miles are traveled by garbage trucks
thereby decreasing the potential for accidents.
The expected life of any street or alley surface is related to the traf-
fic which is carried by the street or alley. The roadway surface is
particularly affected by heavy wheel loads. The effect on a roadway of
one refuse truck is equivalent to 1,500 automobiles. This figure has
been documented by the Research Section of the Minnesota Department of
Transportation (Mn/DOT) and is currently used by Mn/DOT in street and
highway design.
In its organized collection efforts, St. Paul estimated to what degree
the life of a street can be extended if refuse collection were organ-
ized. The city assumed that if under the current system, where each
household arranges for collection, traffic volume on.a given street is
500 cars per day and five refuse trucks per'week, the equivalent traf-
fic on the street amounts to 11,000 cars per week. Under an organized
collection system with only one refuse truck per week, the equivalent
traffic on the street is 5,000 cars per week. The comparison shows
that the effect on the roadway by traffic may be substantially
reduced.
Realistically, all streets might not last substantially longer under an
organized collection system because roadway life is dependent upon many
other factors than traffic. However, traffic does have a significant
effect upon roadway life. These additional roadway costs are external
costs passed on the the city as a consequence of each household arrang-
ing for refuse collection.
The reduced mileage that refuse trucks travel can reduce the potential
number of accidents involving garbage trucks. Reducing the number of
miles traveled by garbage trucks reduces traffic congestion and may
reduce the number of accidents.
Emissions of air pollutants would be reduced because garbage trucks
would reduce total mileage. The precise reduction in pollutants as a
result of moving to an organized collection system is difficult to
predict because there are both gasoline and diesel powered collection
vehicles, and it is difficult to estimate the reduction in traffic
congestion and miles traveled by garbage trucks that would be achieved
by organized collection. The emission rates of pollutants vary accord-
ing to the speed of the vehicle with more emissions at lower speeds.
Emissions of importance include hydrocarbons, carbon monoxide and
nitrogen oxides. Heavy duty diesel trucks also emit particulates,
20
sulfur oxides, aldehydes and organic acids. Of particular concern are
particulate emissions from diesel engines because they contain poly-
nuclear aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH) which are known carcinogens.
Organized collection is one of several methods that could improve
neighborhood aesthetics. It could eliminate the unsightliness of
containers set out for collection sometimes every day of the week on
some blocks. Organized collection could discourage illegal dumping and
stockpiling of unwanted and unsightly items in backyards because the
costs of removal are generally extra where a household arranges for
collection with a waste hauler. Reducing litter, dumping and stock-
piling could contribute to public health and safety.
CAN ORGANIZED COLLECTION FACILITATE IMPLEMENTATION OF THE COUNCIL'S
OLID WASTE GUIDE CHAPTER?
This section of the report will evaluate to what extent organized col-
lection can facilitate attainment of the objectives for waste manage-
ment contained in the Council's solid waste policy plan. Three main
areas of concern are the objectives for recycling, management of house-
hold hazardous wastes and improved data collection and management.
Organized collection of mixed municipal solid waste will not necessar-
ily increase participation in recycling activities or the amounts of
materials recycled. The hauler providing collection services for recy-
clables, if operating under the system where each household arranges
for collection services, is at a competitive disadvantage because the
revenues from recyclables may net cover the additional collection
costs. This is one reason why few refuse haulers in the Metropolitan
Area provide for comprehensive recyclables collection. If a hauler
does provide for recyclables collection,, it is probably for a limited
number of materials, that which can be collected in racks attached to
the packer truck.
In some communities in the Metropolitan Area where franchises or con-
tracts are provided for by the municipality, some haulers are providing
for recyclables collection or separate collection of yard waste to
reduce their cost at the landfill. A municipality can more easily pro-
vide monetary or other incentives to the hauler, household or business
to participate in source separation activities if collection is
organized.
Under the system where each household arranges for collection service,
haulers have the opportunity to assess the household's fee based upon
the volume of refuse collected. As land disposal fees rise and become
a greater percentage of total cost of solid waste management, one would
expect differences in monthly rates attributable to the amount of
refuse generated. This provides direct feedback to the household or
waste generation as opposed to most existing contract arrangements
where all households pay the same monthly fee regardless of the volume
of waste generated. However, a variable rate could be established
under a contract arrangement if so desired by the municipality.
21
In regards to data collection and management, a municipality with organ-
ized collection, depending upon how it is implemented, more easily can
facilitate the development of a comprehensive data collection and man-
agement system for solid waste. Organized collection could facilitate
collection of information about the quantities of waste generated,
recycled or processed in municipalities by population or households, or
businesses. This information could be used by the Council and counties
to target incentives for abatement programs and focus the direction of
the Metropolitan Abatement Fund grant and loan program administered by
the Council.
CAN ORGANIZED COLLECTION INTEGRATE OR ENHANCE EXISTING COUNTY AND
LOCAL AUTHORITIES FOR 'WASTE MANAGEMENT?
Currently, municipalities have the authority for provision of waste
collection services. Municipalities have the authority to implement
resource recovery facilities by virture of its authority over collec-
tion of waste. Counties, on the other hand, have responsibility for
overall waste management within the county but may not have the
authority for requiring collection services. Consequently, in the
past, development of resource recovery facilities by the counties is
made more tentative because of their lack of authority to ensure a
waste flow to the facility.
Currently, state law provides counties with the authority for waste
designation. This authority enables the county to direct the flow of
refuse to a designated resource recovery facility. The provisions
enabling county designation were adopted in 1980.
The general issue of need for designation (flow control) has been
debated by the legislature -or the past 10 years. When the Legislative
Commission on 'Taste Management was created in 1980, it was charged in
part with studying alternative methods of insuring adequate waste
supplies for resource recovery facilities. The Commission's report,
completed in 1982, concluded that the feasibility of resource recovery
facilities is dependent upon waste supply, the soundness of the tech-_
nology and markets for the recovered product. The Commission found
that the waste stream must to assured in some manner to assure _financ-
ing and to permit efficient operation. Generally waste is assured by
requiring delivery to a facility, but the Commission recognized that
under rare circumstances, such as the lack of any other disposal alter-
native, explicit waste assurance might not be needed.
The system of refuse collection where each household and business inde-
pendently arranges for waste collection service makes the development
of resource recovery facilities more complicated because an individual
hauler cannot guarrantee delivery of waste to a resource recovery
facility. From day-to-day or month-to-month, the waste generator's
decision on which hauler to use can change. Though the waste is still
there and must be collected, there is no assurance that the new waste
hauler will deliver the waste to the same facility the previous
collector used.
22
In other parts of the country, several resource recovery facilities
rely on long-term contracts with municipalities for their waste sup-
ply. In some cases the municipal workers collect the waste and in
others, the city contracts with private haulers for the service. In
these cases organized collection merely substitutes municipal designa-
tion for county designation. Because few Twin Cities communities pro-
vide collection service, this approach is not available in our region.
There is only one municipality in the region that generates enough
waste by itself to construct even a medium-sized resource recovery
facility, that is a facility that could manage about 500 tons per day.
Currently, none of the Metropolitan Area communities that contract for
service specify where waste is to be delivered for disposal; that
choice is left to the hauler. Specification of a disposal site,
however, could be incorporated as part of the service agreements. This
is one way in which organized collection could potentially be a strong
complement to wase designation. If successfully negotiated, contracts
between resource recovery facilities and municipalities could provide
for delivery of adequate waste supplies. In a parallel vein, haulers
operating under collection service agreements would have an enhanced
capability to contract with recovery facilities for delivery of waste.
In either case, the effort and complexity required to enforce waste
designation could be substantially lessened. The degree of this effect
would be directly proportional to the length of the contracts.
23
LIABILITIES AND DISADVANTAGES OF ORGANIZED COLLECTION
There are four potential liabilities or disadvantages to organized
collection of refuse. Organized collection reduces an individual's
choice of garbage collectors, requires additional municipal involve-
ment, broaches anti-trust issues and could potentially adversely affect
existing refuse collection companies.
Households that currently arrange with a hauler for refuse removal
would no longer be able to select the hauler of their choice. This
runs counter to the nationwide trend of permitting individuals more
choice in the type and level of services desired. However, a survey by
the Minnesota Center for Social Research completed Mar. 29, 1985,
showed broad-based support for municipal control, with 77 percent of
those respondents who now select their garbage hauler willing to let
the city decide, although some agree only if it reduces their cost.
There was a small minority,_ about 11 percent of the population, or
about 20 percent of the respondents who selected their garbage hauler,
who felt strongly that they wanted to retain choice. The study sug-
gested that this group be studied further to identify their concerns.
Organized collection will require municipalities with unorganized
refuse collection to become more involved in refuse collection issues.
Because there is a great deal, of satisfaction among households and bus-
inesses about the manner in which refuse is handled, it may be diffi-
cult to explain why additional government involvement is necessary..
Municipalities will have to overcome the concern, "If it ain't broke,
why fix it?" Although the cost differentials to the households of the
different market structures is not great, the sum of the costs to all
the households in the city over a period of a year's time can be signif-
icant.. For exanole, if St. Paul went to an organized collection sys-
tem, it could expect an annual savings of at least 51 million based
upon 64,986 single-family housing units and a 51.50 differential in
cost per household per month.
Municipalities will incur costs associated with administration, billing
and monitoring performance of the contract. Billing can be done in con-
junction with other municipal billings such as property tax statements
or utility bills. National studies show that billing expenses are much
less if handled by the municipality rather than the waste hauler.
Administration and monitoring costs amount to about five percent of the
total cost of the contract according to the study by Ecodata, Inc.
How organized collection is implemented in the region may be affected
by anti-trust law. This matter requires additional study.
Implementation of organized collection by municipalities has the poten-
tial to adversely impact some refuse collection companies. An increase
in productivity means that fewer people are needed to perform the same
24
function. Consecuently, fewer collection crews would be needed to col-
lect refuse under an organized collection system. Whether this means a
reduction in collection companies depends upon how organized collection
is implemented. The businesses of some waste haulers, particularly
those operating part-time or collecting waste as a job on the side, may
be adversely affected.
The implementation of the waste management system envisioned by the
Council's solid waste policy plan may work to offset any negative
impacts upon the collection industry as a result of organized collec-
tion. The provision of collection services for yard waste, recyclables
and household hazardous wastes may compensate for the reduction in the
labor force if organized collection were implemented by a significant
number of cities in the region. Also, there is an opportunity for new
business ventures into management of the yard waste compost sites or
recyclables processing facilities. The expansion or development of new
industries as a result of increased recycling activities could also
increase the demand for labor.
25
FINDINGS AND CONCLUSIONS
I: Organized collection may reduce the costs of residential refuse col-
lection by increasing collection efficiencies. Additional study is
needed to determine if organized collection may benefit commercial
and industrial waste generators.
2. Organized collection reduces adverse environmental impacts when
more than one hauler services a given area or provides the same
type of collection service.
3. Organized collection does not inherently increase participation
in recycling or other abatement programs. It can be implemented in
ways that would help to achieve the abatement objectives of the
Solid Waste Management Guide/Policy Plan.
4. Organized collection cannot substitute for waste designation by
the county, but can complement it.
5. Municipalities and towns have adequate authority to organize col-
lection of residential refuse.
6. Organized collection of residential refuse may be a net benefit to
solid waste management because it may reduce costs and environ-
mental impacts; help implement abatement programs.; and improve
information about waste generation, composition and abatement.
7. There is no need for a regional system for implementation of
organized collection. However, individual communities should
consider the potential benefits of organized collection.
26
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Annual Report, Sanitation Division 1983. Minneapolis, Minn.
Taking the 'Waste Out of Minnesota's Refuse. Citizens League,
Minneapolis, Minn. Aug. 1975.
Keeping the Waste Out of Waste:A Proposal to Minimize the Risks by
Decentralizing the Solid Waste Disposal System. Citizens League.
Minneapolis, Minn. May 1981.
Comparative Study of Municipal Services Delivery, Refuse Collection.
ed. 6
arbara Stevens. tcodata, inc. New York N.Y. 1984.
John P. and M. Michele Genereux. A Description of the Private Waste
Hauling System in Carver Countv, Minnesota and Preferred Landfill
Abatement Options for Private Haulers: ; esu is of Interviews with 'Waste
Haulers Conducted in Feb. 1985. Carver County, Minn. 1985.
Pr000sed Residential Solid Waste Collection Plan for St. Paul, Minn.
Citizens" Solid Waste Committee and Dept. of Public Works, St. Paul,
Minn. 1979.
E.S. Savas and Barbara Stevens. Evaluatino the Oroanization of Service
Deliverv: Solid Waste Collection and Disposal. Center for Government
Studies, Columbia University. New York, N.Y. 1976.
Barbara Stevens. "Scale, Market Structure and the Cost of Refuse Col-
lection." Review of Economics and Statistics. Aug. 1978. 438-448.
Dennis Young. How Shall We Collect the Garbage? The Urban Institute.
Washinoton, D... 197.
27
APPENDIX
R6EFUSE COLL=..T:G"i
=S CP 1`13 .' -H=
RSC: C. __. ,..
A ' A Rubbi sii R e M C V a
Amer i can Sys .ems Inc .
�
Bateman' s Rubb4 s^ ..Nova'
21 _ - 3Gt� AV. . S .
8- W. Wa ter St .
2239 �,a :terror^ .
minneapol s, M,';='G5
St. Paul , ''",i Sc1_07
St. Paul, MN 55:19
AA Rubbish Service, :rc.
Ray Anderson & Sons Cos. Inc.
Bautch Disposal Ser••/ice
1300 Winslow AV.
930 Duluth St.
10264 Xylite St. NE.
:lest St. Paul , MN 55113
St. Paul, MN 5510'
Minneapolis, MN 5541.:-
A & B Trucking
Anderson's Hauling
Beckers Sanitation
187 James A./ N.
6925 Humbolt Av. `i.
18681 Yakimna
neApol'S, ;i 1 55�CS
Brockl yn Center, MN 55429
Anoka, M` 55303
^t�Ce 'RU:b
rIr5r ..
Beer—mann Services
72V Sunr.y ..-cres
6900 Dixie ,v.
B u r n s v i',' ? , >.tN 5 -
St. R u . , "",'; '^102
Inver /. ^rove
Aagarc Sacita:ic�-
;;rdy's 04soosal Ser,/,. C-2
Be' I Aire San", or _ery c
33C8..- _ �n ;v. =.
781 En^ eN ct A:.
86-8 N. 7: St.
_
M e a o c 5,PA+:,
„ ��1
J�ill'r/a�c", :'""i ��.?=
-c 50 s_
-r N v'
M
B :st„m uck4n _ ; _
_C ..a.
3.18 '0
-J4.
17 CG 5.8z.n St.
5860 - 73 Av. N.
A.noxa, ,, 55303
Minnea^o.is, ,A.! 5,-2C
Brooklyn Park,, -MAI
:, ---
Acticn C4sc::sa. �;;s:e�^s, :nc.
Art :r'illman 1 Son. 7ruc'king
Ken Sercuist & Son
4300 E. c_.
52 - 25th :mss. N.
1232 Ju1 ie� A.v.
Inver :r:ve 'e, ^ �s , ''+N :,EG _ 5
_
;+,, r,1eapa' i s , YIN' .._' _ _
St. Paul , MN 57 _C5
Adams Disposal
Baldy Sanitation
Big Garbar,co
?. 0. Box 73'42
5906 Henry St.
15238 Central Av. N,
Mi nneapo i i s , ;IMN 55107
Maple Plain, Mill 55355,
03
Ham Ake M l 53��
Admiral Waste Management
Barnes Sanitary Service
Bi11's Sanitation
8275 Tamarack Trail
1917 Emerson Av. N.
1570 Waterloo
Eden Prairie, MIN 553414
Minneapolis, MN 55403
South St. Paul, MN CC'C
Al's All Season
Bateman's Rubbish, Inc.
Blakowiak & Sons
114 Russell Av. N.
520 White Rear .4v. N.
1195 Sunny`ield Rd. N.
Minneapolis, MN 55411
White Bear, '"N 55119
Mound, Mil 5536=
28
Block Sani :at" :n
Jimmie Cas ni 11, Inc.
57''1 - t0 1,'J. NI.
533 S. Victcr'a S'..
a-rcC:<iyn ?ark, MM 5:-
St. Paul , M 51 2
5cx inc.
Chaska Sanitation
X010 Concord 3 1 v d .
1239 Valley St.
-r
Inver Giv =alerts, MN 555'0;5
C:aska, MIN :5313
3r=nnar ?u_44s^
City Clear, -U o
21-15 Univers'zy Av. '.4.
145. Perron d.
s_: Paul, Mil 551,
1", Pau", , 'd''! 5512
5r^,,ckI jn Ji S ccsal
City Clean -U:
73358 N:,. 1:: '_a.
2841-1 Surns :_ „v.
Anoka, �-1N :S3C0
Eagan, 11?1 55121
_25x5'.hcc-a :s'-nc ;v. S.
Box 220
Sava -_e ,°X .0 3;S
_ore L a<e, N!N
Joh.nr.'e Cc:)i
'Ui':c'' .=V
Sti ..'rte:=r, r`.'i .�C�2
St. Paul
Caron =; o s.- :erva
�1552
Carrow Sani = .ion
ndala _a.
ZA.; .r...:32-
_ .t.
Ken Carlscn Cis.:OSal _er'/"Ice
Countrywide Sanita_40n
P. 0. Box 32:
= Inver Cr.
Isant' MN 350=0
Circle Pines, 11"! 55104
,
Car::enter
Countrywide_ Sani _ati,n
;^-=3 ;nail inc AV.
Box 11
St. ?.�' , m:44 :5112
Montrose,XN .57 53
Dana's ECO ._rvt-_s
3313 Valley Vlew .r.
Burnsville, mm
Dan's 04ssposal
309 4W. 202 La.
Cedar, MN 5.2011
Jave's 4o11
Service
3301 Lovell Rc
Mew Bri _''ton,.
Dave's Sani:a:ior
/1072 am_'
-ame' , ilii 55.23
'annY'S =ci
oependa5lc S. _-S
105 C-11 o'/er L_ .
r2 i !
0 1 U � a U
6J7 - 1?
0 & 0 Haul in;
123; Farri rs:or.
St. Paul, MN 5511_
Dick Cl eenmer Sanitatici Serv. .
21.338 Codd Blvd.
Lakeville, Mil
Casarcva 3r, ^ars 7r;c:rir_ Cross.oNr. Sar ; ::.:icr,, .r,C. Oirty Jim's aut6%1sn a-movai
515 06,40 10110 - 33 .;v. N. 751 i0wa Av. 1:1.
Sc. Pa..;, , Ali! 5!1,67 Pl ymou MP! :31'=; St. Paul, M:;
29
IL posal Systems, Inc.
Expert Disposal, Inc.
Gun de -so r Ru1Wt;
915 IN. Al:ert
1320C Pilo, Knob Rd.
1385 - 2nd Av.
St. Paul , VIN 5512.
Apple '.alley, MN 551241
Newport, M.N 55055
Do All Service
Forest Lake Sanitation
Gustafson Sanitary Serv-1ce
12863 Keller Av. N.
8247 - 178 La.
2741 - 12 Av. S.
Hugo, MN 55038
Forest Lake, MN 55025
Minneapoli is, MN 55407
Dugan Sanitation Service
Fragrance Solid 'Taste, Inc.
Willia,,, Guy Sar;tation Se'. _
4070 Cavell Av. N.
99 - 99th La.14.
Box 23, Rout= :
New Hope , MN 542°
Coon Rapids, MN 55433
Stacy, `^N;
Eagle Sani_at -
Franck's Sanitatior.
-loyd . �.
P. 0. Box 125
131 Casper St.
1355 F s^ems are
Ne.vp^tet,
Norwood, '`1,; 55358
aiiite Eear _ake, ''tl
E,a . e Sari �C: _
Gall3C'?er's Sarv,ce, TnC.
Hastings San i = =.'gin
='`
1 9V N E.
a01. Ins .'1l cnG
-ury,inn2apoi
.s, 'a. 5=4 ^
=ast;ncs,
E3s -onfs Sa^ i �.t' o^
Gene's Oi s_posa i Servo _e
Ha'u1-r.-Ila ; System. s
8100 Ocn e_�,`J. Nc-.
DOUG it. 1_i St
ALJ Jin 4. tal
cI.t Ri�'Jer, �.�4 ,552_^U
Jlhite Be=r �z{e> "111 H"
St. PcU�, i`��i
Coen Pr? . r-11 e 'rasa:r:.^, i cs
Govner soosal
Hi C h I d 'ark _.:.. a _ ... . „Z
7298 ?ra'ri; =_w 3r.
Z. 0. Box 6
1801 Cent.;ry Avceil .
,._en e, ,.. __ , -
NewportIIS �G,_
Newport,, MN
Ed's Trucking
Gordy's Roll Off
Hiiger Transfer
333 E. Lawson Av.
402 N. Main St.
8550 Zachary La.
St. Paul MIN' 55101
Stillwater, MN 55082
Maple Grove, MPJ 55309
,
Eisinger Sanitation
15843 S. 45 St.
Afton, Mil 55001
Gordy Rubbish Removal
637 - 4th Av. S.
South St. Pau i , M-11 55075
Hillcrest Sanitation
6743"i 1 i tart' Rd.
Woodbury, M,11 55125
Elk River Sanitation W. 0. Gray Trucking Holiie's Rubb'sh Service,.
14889 NZ. 81 St. 1036 Central Av. W. 2109 Lowry Av. N.
Elk River, MN 55330 St. Paul, 'AN 55104 Minneapolis, MN 55411
joii'e's tu�bisn Service, :nc
3 33 : ". 'M
ice - crr•:an
321 E Arling.3n Av.
St.. Pau; , MM
ZUl"ph-ey's pu3 v45'
970 Cer:ral ;=v. °/i.
Dunker CBnjtatiCr
417 -Mar I a 1
Stillwater, t•!it,
Ben Kar -as Trucking
515 Century Av.
Mewport, 'MM 55055
H. P. Kelley Hauling :er/ice
3930 - 3 A . S .
Minnea^olis, mm,
ac;,�s� :-•"•� == :', :nc.
dear -"i:
7Sol^:,_.,_ �/.
10010 -rerzon La.
ai_, .,; 5.'2.
Gssec15736;
/i n ,:
.,
0 • ;ox 22-
�� a �'/e .•r. '�.
_ $5v - �• Av.
_u i , ;!i+, 33 _ 3
;'!i nneaco i i s , MIN :3-=
4.mes _c' ._ 'ate,__ S;c'sa
s�
31
5"*scayre IV.
1 i A,1 V ♦ .;' \ I.;♦ r r V
C i C V U+ , i .! 1 1 r r
Its Inc.
St. rtilcn•/
S • ?atll , M1, rr/J�
Krause Ru' --b i iii Pe:-ova1 ' •.2
1:20 .i• 7 Ste.
St. Paul , XN 53102
Kieth Kr=jpenny & Sors
1211 Hail Av.
West St. Paul, ".?, :3'.__
Kubas- i Scn5 Sari =at4on,
Rt
Lake Sani :a.�on
1201 Pl. 8ircn Lake 3''/C.
White Sear Lake, '•!i: 5 ;_11.0
LakerS 4,3=oS2
3275 E. 2.m S .
,rebs tN, ,•,, ::39S
Lakeville San' _ary, i.^•C.
1020G :'i. 1:9 .,i3 Sox 335
Lakeville-, MM --
G. u. La?'ant _-ZQ3".'-..:'�' :^c
?. J. :viC -
'
vvv
Anoka .t
Sr..5C ,
ndari4Ln
nnea :c i . s
L b M OiSOSal
3417-a5tv. M.
M i nnearc i i s , W' 55-?
Krupenny
Sons Ois:osal Serv.
Le rourrm.,r',ck-.*ry
iZ5 3unker _a:<e _ t
133 .a':
/i n ,:
.,
0 • ;ox 22-
,;roza , tt!:. :3303
.yes S
_u i , ;!i+, 33 _ 3
;'!i nneaco i i s , MIN :3-=
31
uon
20'Marsha';nAv
55' r, 1
i _Sar .,Cu' i n:
13 : /tor Av .
Paul MN' 551 '
Loren's Rubbish Removal
3946 Washington Av. N.
minneapol is, 111M 55412
Steve Mat ei ;is.:osa'
2024 - 1 Av. S.
Minneapolis ,•
cC=
a rv' _ s .c s a'
-_res=
rv' s C s:os=
1395 `01iyN ,Od
r... Paul
Mel's Trucking Service
127 W. Spruce St.
�.
St. Paul, M;11 55075
Service
Mendota Heights RUdb'S, Serv.
Route 1, Box 1_20
Farm4ngt3n, M'; 5301 -
Mickey s J ,; .e __:ce
1250 S. Pc4n'. Rt,
y .
i1 1.. -
Midwes: Re"ase
Minneapolis Reuse inc.
46 -`9 -Bloomington „v.
Minneapolis, MN 55407
tii & 1 Sani tat ion
Rush City, MN 53C69
2=3_ _
Cesar YN 5:_G1:
tek S ^!
_YOU ,Ko -yS.
New:ory,
"•ucek 7r,�c'• r.c.
St. ?�ui , iii :,5__'7
rrar.c�5 .:. .aSFI
3208
Mi nnea po", i s , ".'1 55 JG
Nistler Rubbish Rerova'
21203 Horseshoe Trail
Hamel , MN 55320
Nitta Disposal, Inc.
5539 = Concord Blvd.
InverGrove..e i g^ts ,".`J 55075
arc transfer r
8580 ?acnary
r- `f-
cSseO7 Y.?
Ben OenrI n & Sons
Cauchter, inc.
9091 Conc-rd pl'd�.
1 nv er Grove iHe lzhtS, ;'I
Ken Oehrlein Sanitation �Cr:
1800 Century Av.
Newport, MN 55055
Ost San __t -on & Landsca:•,
280 'Vincent Av. N.
MI n n e a c.. s
OX fo rd s s:0sa• erv�
2305 =. L i n"'iocd Av.
(Z Pa . , '""; 5 51. .
?astCre:k? �;, i s
63CC =OVY 1C'.
_c361
,�ap.e ur-ve, ,.., __
-and �n�yJl S S"'oSa
729 - 109+r.v.
n
Peterson Rrr,t^erc
18505
Cedar, MN
Fete's Rubish Hauling
6360 N. 190 St.
Forest Lake, MN 55025
Piekert's Sanitation
RR #2, Box 139
monticell0 M -N 55362
Metro Haul-A-'riay Systems, _nc. `forth End Sanitation Poor Richard's, Inc.
8158 W. 125 S` 1127 Albemarla 400 Whital
Savage, M 55378 St. Paul
,N M _ 1_ cCI
I �5.,_•.- $+ Paul , MIN S.,i
S _ _ _ .r•
Ray's 7r-ickin0 Service Sa: s 3 1 s m,.:a'
15:23 c- s-, S 1 "J, ='.3 Crz'.v-c rd 1307 - o All
Mncca, ";; .33Cs tlir,ne.na, 5533 South St. ?at;i , :•I 55075
PriCr _a K8 .�^i:3:i�n
?. 0. tax __
Prior lar_, '•'.ti 5537_
Re-mova l Cc
:, GxceI s 4 o 10 .
_
•��G�tiCr '+'� __32�
-�szidi 'na•
SCS - _3 rev . M1.4.
Coon Rani is , •.a: 35633
."•ler !':.2 �_':'�5, �•!': :�� �
o .-I.rrvoi 1.4a5__ 5_OSa:
14 C. AC'.C_r
St.
Re^'e-'ern i ng Sanitary Service
2075 County R,4. S0
luaple ?lain, mm 5535;
780 :Irene C,,ur:
3 S:rr.S
2 e :.
e'IaOI_'nCC_ ��.• '__..
f
r'c:tie'; Zu•:��5� S_^v•.', .^c.
'•+enc;. _a -__=.^_-, .•:;; __ --
Roba1ns%da?e -rans.er crica"y
5232 :arson Czurt
Crys to i , MM 55429
ion's Sam i -3:i0. Ser ice?
'13 M-- ry .
,
.-.Ierer Sa^i _:jC^
0. CCx i
Ce?ano MiM ___2?
0. Shoete i Sl -.n Oisposa'
Service, inc.
3621 - 8= A;. V.
Minneapolis, It1m 55=29
Lenny Sa�Oka
=8 3 - 23
.O• i'` '.Jas_. j��'• �, i��.
12.16 rCQ^a .-.'f . �.
Szzva;e
=0u::S..;x
"ECSC.^
Suturban Saml
570 S. Orono
Uro no,:732:-
Sun, se Ca^:..2..-r
Sox 307 , -•�L - 2�3z
Exce "IN
c!'> >' .'r;... �a�'. Suoer;.or
nv± S� 730 -ars ���. ':!. Route 3, BOX
'!:v
;f,neapc''s, 5�atcc, 33
T & L �an'ta=!On:
8201 L Scr AV. N.
B. 0k,yri . ate;,
7.
.' S S a n' t 2 �� v r
82= - ;
.yl it ie•s .u�?pste ,=."d'c -::acwav u, •,moi j^ __Y•J,�e
7300 C. Buen .:<a 003 =ai_ yCourt
iarn 1 Sen %c:•: -"ng
9G A%
A & E Rubbish Removal
nn„ •� =-_.. _
18610 Excelsior Blvd
Minnetonka, Mn 55345
Blake & Son, Inc.
3461 Upper 143rd Street
;h S.
Rosemount, Mn 55068
Fore5.
Elvine Disposal
15200 Northern Blvd.
Anoka 55303
::COCA 3'.:- Sa^' : :-• ! _,
-�• -*.�i_ .~'
Kucter's Rubbish Removal
_zan pea4rie. .,M -=- _
4649 Bloomington Avenue S
Minneapolis Mn 55407
SAS Hauling
.00=• _ '- == := =3r', ==
4900 31st Avenue S
____• �_
*00
Minneapolis 55417
Suburban Sanicacion Inc.
? 0 Box 188
Wayzata 55391
- :`
Waste Conversion
;:•
6630 N Cortlavn Circle
Golden Valley 55426
:
Browning-Ferris, inc.
., e-=_
9813 Flying Claud Dr.
„_,�l. _� ..•-.:._.
Eden Prairie, Mn »34=
:.t?nnS - n •.3,
1.4 vnne' S s..' s-
.t. Pau* ::...
I:UncIS ser.,ice
�a3Z:1 M!Y yV
.mend' S - i .�,5. • �.�.
w
CITY
PLYMOUTR
July 2, 1985
Mr. James Olsen
1506 Weston Lane
Plymouth, Minnesota 55447
Dear Jim:
During the week of June 17th Otten Brothers, who were haired by the City of
Plymouth, completed the restoration and minor drainage corrections that we had
previously discussed. The City feels that this project is now finally complete
and no further work -is necessary. Only one item remains to be done and that is
cleaning out the storm sewer pipe under Weston Lane. This will be done by a
City crew as part of our regular maintenance.
Sincerely,
Daniel K. Campbell
Senior Engineering Technician
DKC:kh
cc: Fred G. Moore
Bill Latour
Jerry Benito, Student Director
Legal Aid Clinic Law School
('.';)UTH. MI%* :3OTA 55447 T;7�CPH, NZ
LMUNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA
TWIN CITIES '
May 30, 1985
Dan Campbell
City Engineer
3400 Plymouth Boulevard
Plymouth, Minnesota 55447
Re: Jim Olsen Property
Dear Mr. Campbell:
I
Legal Aid Clinic
Law School
190 Law Building
229 19th Avenue South
Minneapolis, Minnesota 55455
(612)373-9990
I want to thank you for meeting with Mr. Olsen and me last week. I am
pleased that there is no disagreement concerning what work still needs
to be completed.
As we discussed at the meeting, the fencing along the east edge of
Mr. Olsen's property needs to be repaired. At the southern portion of the
property, as you saw; a trench or other type of natural drainage system
needs to be created so that water flowing from the higher ground will flow
into the storm drains rather than pool on Mr. Olsen's property. Also, as
you saw and we discussed, the "hill" created around the southeast corner
of the property must be contoured and seeded to prevent further erosion of
the hill onto sir. Olsen's land. Hopefully, the mulching method you dis-
cussed will be successful. The fill dirt used contains large pieces of
asphalt which, as you saw and agreed, are quite unsightly and may create
difficulties with seeding. In addition, we discussed the completion of
sodding along the east edge of Mr. Olsen's property. Finally, please let
me know what your department decides concerning what should be done with
the damaged tree.
Cetting the work finished as soon as possible will be beneficial to all
parties involved. As we all agreed, this dispute has been going on much
too long. Perhaps with your personal supervision of the work, we can
put the matter to rest quickly. I will keep in touch with you concerning
the progress being made. Again, thanks for your cooperation.
Sincer�ly,
JerX Ben o
Student Director
JB/sw
r4' JUN1985
N City of Plymob.
s
a C`
�eeeleoZ G�%
CITY OF PLYMOUTH
3400 PLYMOUTH BLVD.. PLYMOUTH, MINNESOTA 55447
TELEPHONE (612) 559-2800
MEMO
DATE: July 12, 1985
TO: Maria Vasiliou
FROM: James G. Willis, City Manage
SUBJECT JULY 8 & 9 MEMORANDUMS
Shown below are responses to your inquiries from your July 8 and 9
memorandums:
1. Dorothy Kreckelberg
Mrs. Kreckelberg's letter to Fred Moore asks when steps will be
taken to remove the sewer assessments from her property. The
Council took action on July 1, 1985 to accomplish this action.
In Mr. Kreckelberg's letter to John Sweeney she asks about the
extension of the development contract for Oakwood Shores 2nd
Addition. In her July 2 letter to you, Mrs. Kreckelberg states
that before she files the plat, the City would require a bond or
letter of credit to guarantee installation of sewer, water and
street. This statement is incorrect. The bond or letter of
credit is not required until the first building permit is
requested. The City will require no money for filing the plat.
The original development contract for Oakwood Shores 2nd Addition
was executed June 29, 1982, with work scheduled for completion
under the contract terms, by December 31, 1982. By Resolution
82-562 the contract deadline for completion was extended to
October 1, 1984. On May 20, 1985, the contract was once again
extended to October 1, 1985. The plat approval will similarly
expire on that date. The fact of the matter is, with respect to
this plat, we have not held to the one year approval maximum on
plats. The reason we do not allow for contract and plat extension
is that City requirements and standards change over time. If the
plat was approved under old requirements and constructed some four
years later, the developer would argue that it should be subject
to the old standards and not the new ones. Consequently, it has
been our practice to require reapproval of the plat after a
maximum of year and one-half period and reexecution of the
development contract. In this case, if Mrs. Kreckelberg fails by
October 1 to file the plat and complete improvements, it will be
necessary for the Planning Commission and City Council to confirm
their original approvals. This requires comparatively little time
and processing and the fees involved are one-half the normal
amount as authorized by recent City Council action. The only
.July IL, 17OD
Page 2
instance where additional survey and engineering fees would be
incurred by Mrs. Kreckelberg is if revisions to City ordinances or
standards require revisions in the plat.
2. Other Matters
An updated attendance list for various commissions will be pro-
vided with the duly 12 agenda. We do not maintain any form of
record on Council Coordinating Representative attendance.
The City is presently a member of the following "lobbying" groups:
Municipal Legislative Commission
League of Minnesota Cities
Association of Metropolitan Municipalities
Municipal Caucus
National League of Cities
1985 fees for membership to each group are as follows: Municipal
Legislative Commission - $12,970; League of Minnesota Cities -
$8,070; Association of Metropolitan Municipalities - $4,191; and
National League of Cities - $1,620.
The City would reimburse expenses incurred by an employee attend-
ing a lobbying meeting such as meal or parking expenses, Council
expenses are covered by the Council policy on reimbursement of
expenses.
I am advised that the dead evergreens at Holiday Plus store are to
be replaced this fall or next spring since the mortality rate on
evergreens replanted in the summer is very high. The bond will
not be fully released until they have been replaced and survive!
Let me know if you have additional questions.
JGW: jm
CITY OF
PLYMOUTR
July 8, 1985
Memo to: Jim Willis
From: Maria Vasiliou
Subject: Dorothy Krekelberg letter
RFCF!Vr
JUL 9 -1985 I
CITY OF PLYIN10di P
f : l
Jim, attached is a copy of my letter to Mrs. Krekelberg along with
copies of letters she sent to me last week.
I would like to draft a reply to her no later than Friday of this week,
July 12th.
If you have any questions or if there's anything I can do please don't
hesitate to call.
Mayor/Council
3400 PLYMOUTH BOULEVARD, PLYMOUTH. MINNESOTA 55447, TELEPHONE (612) 559-2800
_pourcy 4 4jf' Con.
tzuction (70.
6150 B HEMLOCK LANE NORTH
PLYMOUTH, MINNESOTA 55442
X*A J11"X
559-0085
DOROTHY M.KREKELBERG
559.5563 0 559.3652
BERNARD BARR
559-460B
Mrs. Marie Vasiliou
18325 - 31st Ave. N.
Plymouth, NPN. 55447
Dear Marie:
July 2, 1985
BRA M OFPICE
3900 8 _ AV E. NC
BROOKLY ARK 5544?
55
Thank you for offering to help us before—but I did not want to bother
you. However, it has now been 2 months since I wrote Fred Moore—and
I still have not heard from him. Realize now—both Bernie and I had
talked to him about this over the past previous years—about two years..
I am enclosing a cop), of the letter I sent him May 2, 1985.
I am also enclosing a copy of my letter to John Sweeney relative to
filing the plat for the Second Addition for Oakwood Shores. Marie,
before we file the plat, the City would require us to post a bond or
letter of credit to guarantee putting in the sewer, water and street.
All of this costs money—and we do not think the timing is right to
file the plat now. Why would it hurt the City to grant us extensions?
Here we have spent hundreds of dollars doing the surveying and
engineering to complete the plat. What would happen if the City did
not grant the extension of the development contract? Where we have
all of the surveying and engineering done on the hard shells—those
would not have to be done over, would they? What would happen?
I would appreciate hearing from you, and thank you in advance for
your cooperation.
DMK:a
Enc.
Very truly yours,
LOWRY HILL CONSTRUCTION CO.
D othy M. K3'ekelberg (Mrs.)
CITY Of
PLYMOUTI+
July 8, 1985
Mrs. Dorothy M. Krekelberg
LOWRY HILL CONSTRUCTION CO.
6150 B Hemlock Lane North
Plymouth, MN 55422
JDear Mrs. Krekelberg,
Thank you for your letter of July 2, 1985. Please do not feel that
you are bothering me. I'm happy to expedite the information that you
have requested.
I did not receive your letter until Saturday, July 6th because I was
out of town . Copies of your letter to me and the additional corres-
pondence you included have been forwarded to Jim Willis as well as
the mayor and members of the council. As soon as I receive their input
I will respond to your questions.
Thank you for your letter and, most of all, your patience. I believe
an answer will be forthcoming immediately.
Sincerely,
Maria Vasiliou
cc: Mayor Davenport
Councilmember Schneider
Councilmember Neils
Councilmember Crane
Jim Willis
3400 PLYMOUTH BOULEVARD. PLYMOUTH. MINNESOTA 5547. TELEPHO��E 612 =r! 2300
_Zoaty Cf jff ConsttuctCon eo.
6150 B HEMLOCK LANE NORTH
PLYMOUTH, MINNESOTA 55442
559-0085 ,
DOROTHY M. KREKELBERG BRANCH OFFICE
559.5563 • 559-3652 May 2 1985 3900 - 5Th{'VE N 7
BERNARD BARR y BROOKS N PARK 554x3
559-4608 4 5
Mr. Fred Moore, City Engineer
City of Plymouth
3400 Plymouth Blvd.
Plymouth, MN. 55447
Dear Fred:
This will confirm our conversation of the other day wherein
I asked you to take whatever steps were necessary to have
the sewer assessments taken off from my lot and the tax rolls
because the sewer is not presently available to me.
We talked about Lowry Hill making it available to ny land
when they develop Oakwood Shores Second Addition, and it
would be agreeable to us to have our Dcvelopment Contract
amended to reflect this.
As I told you, I would like to pay my real estate taxes, but
have been unable to do so until this assessment is removed..
because once I paid it..I felt I probably would never get it
back. Therefore I would appreciate whatever you can do to
expedite matters.
Thank you in advance for your cooperation.
Very truly yours,
DMK: a Do;;r✓✓✓oothy M. K,rekelberg (Mrs.)
DOROTHY M.KREKELBERG
559-5563 0 559-3652
BERNARD BARR
559-4608
-20"My C#iff 60n1ttUCtL0n 60.
6150 B HEMLOCK LANE NORTH
PLYMOUTH, M(NNEBOTA 55442
7Pjt TCX' �X
559-0085
July 2, 1985
Mr. John R. Sweeney, Asst. Engineer
City of Plymouth
3400 Plymouth Blvd.
Plymouth, ISN. 55447
BRA f+ O«ICE
3900 B M AVE. Ni.
BROOKLY ``ARK $5443
4 5.955
Re: Development Contract Extension for Oakwood Shores 2nd Addition (79034)
Dear John:
We have your letter of July 1st relative to the extension of the
above development contract,. In my letter of May 2, 1985, we
requested an extension to October 1986. Perhaps it was a typographical
error stating October 198S..and meant to be October 1986.
John, it is now July and there is no way we would be in a position t6
file the plat for the second addition prior to October 1985. I cannot
see what possible bad effect it would have on the City if the plat
were not filed this year. However, I can see what possible bad
effect it would have on us.
The housing market has been down. If we were to file the plat, the
sewer and water would have to be put in; our taxes on developed land
would be higher. I am afraid the lots would not sell in the market
we are now in.
Therefore, we would respectfully request that our request be granted
and that the extension be extended to October 1986.
Very truly yours,
LOWRY HILL CONSTRUCTION CO.
Dt4C: a rothy M- rekelberg (Mrs.)
construction (7o.
zowry
6150 B HEMLOCK LANE NORTH
PLYMOUTH. MINNESOTA 55442
W11)"x
559-0085
DOROTHY M. KREKELBERS BRA H ^rricE
559.5563 • 559.3652 3. • B H AVE I -
BERNARD BARR .July 2, 1985 BROOKLV ARK 55443
559-4608 ♦ s• '55
Mr. Fred Moore, City Engineer
City of Plymouth
3400 Plymouth Blvd.
Plymouth, MN. 55447
Dear Fred:
I wrote you May 2, 1985 relative to your taking whatever steps
were necessary to have the sewer assessment taken off from my
lot and the tax rolls because the sewer is not presently available
to me, and there is no way I can presently be hooked up.
As I told you, I would like to pay my real estate taxes, but have
been unable to do so until this assessment is removed, because I ,
feel that if I pay it, I probably would never get it back—and
as long as it was put on there in error, it should be removed.
You told me you probably could not get it done before the taxes
for this year would be due..and this I could understand. However,
it is now two months since we again discussed this—and I have
not heard from you.
I would appreciate whatever you can do to get this matter resolved.
Very truly yours,
r
DMK:a Dorot y M. KreVelberg (Mrs.)
CITY OF
PLYMOUTR
July 9, 1985
Memo to: Jim Willis
From: Maria Vasiliou
Subject: Various
Jim, at the last council meeting Irequested an updated attendance
report of the various commissions. Also, is there any form of record
-,aeping of the CCR attendance? This would include outside agencies
as well as our advisory commissions.
At one point the council discussed the merit of Plymouth belonging
to various lobbying groups. My recollection is that we were going
to solicit input from our state representative as well as members of
these organizations. Do you recall what ever happened to this ?
Lastly, I would like to see an accounting of the money it costs the
city to participate in these various groups. Is that a line item in
the budget that I could find myself? Please provide me with directions
of where to look: Does the city reimburse expenses for attendance at
these "meetings".?
May I have the information requested by the end of July ?
Thank you for your cooperation.
P.S. What's the status of the landscaping
problems at the Holiday store?
Mayor Davenport
3400 PLYMOUTH BOULEVARD. PLYMOUTH, MINNESOTA 55447, TELEPHONE (612) 559-2800
y
CITY OF PLYMOUTH
PLANNING COMMISSION MINUTES
JUNE 26, 1985
The regular Meeting of the Plymouth Planning Commission was
called to order at 7:30 P.M.
MEMBERS PRESENT: Vice Chairman Pauba, Commissioners
Wire, Stulberg, Magnus, and Mellen
MEMBERS ABSENT: Chairman Steigerwald and Commissioner
Plufka
STAFF PRESENT: Community Development Coordinator
Sara McConn
City Engineer Sherm John Sweeney
Community Development Director
Blair Tremere
Community Development Secretary
Grace Wineman
CONSENT AGENDA
MOTION by Commissioner Wire, seconded by Commissioner MOTION TO APPROVE
Stulberg to adopt the Consent Agenda. Vote. 5 Ayes. CONSENT AGENDA -
MOTION carried. CARRIED
MINUTES
MOTION by Commissioner Wire, seconded by Commissioner *MINUTES - JUNE 19,
Stulberg to recommend approval of the June 19, 1984 Minutes 1985
as submitted.
VOTE. 5 Ayes. Commissioner Mellen abstained MOTION VOTE - MOTION CARRIED
carried.
PUBLIC HEARINGS:
NONE
NEW BUSINESS
Vice Chairman Pauba introduced the application and requested VANTAGE COMPANIES
an overview of the June 11, 1985 Staff Report by Coordinator SITE PLAN do VARIANCES
McConn. Vice Chairman Pauba introduced Mr. Bruce Watson, (85047)
representing Vantage Companies, and Tom Sopoci, Architect.
Mr. Watson stated they take no exception to the staff report
as prepared and complimented the work done by staff. He
stated they would let the project stand on its own merits
and on the recommendations made by staff.
-149-
Page 150
Planning Commission Minutes
June 26, 1985
Commissioner Wire inquired if they had considered reducing
the size of the building and thereby reducing the vari-
ances. Mr. Watson stated they did consider this, however
they feel there is justification for the larger building on
a unique site and are following the recommendation of staff
to provide increased landscaping and berming as compensatory
measures. He commented that the larger building is neces-
sary to make the project economically feasible; that there
will be extensive grading because of poor soils; and, that
the cost of utility development is set. Mr. Watson stated
this is the fourth plan they have prepared over the last ten
years and this plan is the most workable and feasible for
this site.
Commissioner Wire inquired about the exterior color scheme
for the building. Mr. Watson this has not been definitely
decided, however it may be dark anodized metal fascia, or
a copper color. Vice Chairman Pauba confirmed with Coordin-
ator McConn that detailed plans would be part of the Build-
ing Permit application review.
Commissioner Mellen inquired about the types of tenants for
the building; Mr. Watson stated it would be a mix of ware-
housing, light manufacturing in the northerly portion of the
building; and office/showroom and light service businesses
in the southerly portion. He noted that Research & Design
(high tech and electronic, non -retail oriented) firms are
particularly interested in space available. He further com-
mented that they are cautious in interviewing prospective
tenants so that they will be compatible with their
neighbors.
Vice Chairman Pauba introduced Mr. Richard Conlin,
President, MetroBank, Plymouth, who inquired about road
design and improvements in the area. Mr. Watson stated a
meeting was held with the City about existing traffic prob-
lems in this area; that there had been discussion of upgrad-
ing Xenium Lane and the possibility of signalization at 24th
and Xenium and traffic controls at 26th and Xenium. He
understood that the City was looking at alternatives in
design for solutions to the existing problems; and, that the
County would be installing a median in County 61/Xenium
Lane. Mr. Conlin stated it was his understanding the City
has no current proposal. He is concerned that the City, in
considering development and alternate roadway designs, makes
sure that the traffic pattern and circulation is the best
possible for all businesses in the area. He stated that a
median in County Road 61 could be detrimental.
Page 151
Planning Commission Minutes
June 26, 1985
Further discussion ensued on roadwav improvements. Vice
Chairman Pauba advised Mr. Conlin and the representatives
for Vantage Company to keep in contact with the City Engine-
ering Department regarding their specific concerns regarding
roadway design and traffic circulation in this area.
MOTION by Commissioner Magnus, seconded by Commissioner Wire
to recommend approval for the Site Plan and Variances for
Vantage Companies subject to the conditions as stated in the
June 11, 1985 Staff Report.
VOTE. 5 Ayes. MOTION carried.
MOTION by Commissioner Wire, seconded by Commissioner
Stulberg to recommend approval of the Site Plan for Advance
Machine Company, Phase II, subject to those conditions as
stated in the staff report.
OTHER BUSINESS
Vice Chairman Pauba called on Director of Community Develop-
ment Blair Tremere to review the updating of the Goals,
Objectives, and Criteria portion of the City's Comprehensive
Plan. Director Tremere stated that the draft documents pre-
pared for the Commission reflect the consolidation of all
Commission, Council, and the Mayor's input to this section.
He advised that the Commission will hold a Public Hearing in
July to discuss these and make final recommendations. The
Commission and Council will meet jointly in late duly and
this will be an agenda item. He stated that in addition to
the legal notice in the newspaper for the Public Hearing,
the Homeowners Associations and other groups will be noticed
and will be provided copies of the draft for their
information.
Commissioner Wire commented that some of the earlier recom-
mended changes were not incorporated in this draft. He
noted on page 16, under the objective for adequate transpor-
tation system, under Air, that changes had been made but
were not reflected regarding the State Aeronautic Regulation
and the statement on the need for study on a heliport. Dir-
ector Tremere explained that seaplane landings are under the
jurisdiction of the State of Minnesota Department of Trans-
portation (MnDOT), and lake traffic is under the jurisdic-
tion of the Hennepin County Sheriff's Department. The
statement had been changed to read "Support safety standards
consistent with . . . . .;" Director Tremere and Coordinator
McConn confirmed the discussion that took place supporting
the need for No. 16, "Study future needs for Plymouth heli-
port", relative to those businesses who had stated their
possible future plans for helipads.
MOTION TO APPROVE
VOTE - MOTION CARRIED
*ADVANCE MACHINE CO.
SITE PLAN (85046)
GOALS, OBJECTIVES,
AND CRITERIA OF THE
CITY'S COMPREHENSIVE
PLAN
Page 152
Planning Commission Minutes
June 26, 1985
Commissioner Wire stated that on page 12, Criterion No. 3,
i., the "Elimination of likely hiding spots for concealment
of undesirable individuals . . ." should be deleted. Direc-
tor Tremere stated there had been no comments made regarding
this Section. Commissioner Wire stated he is concerned that
the City would not be able to "eliminate" such things as
trails, pathways, or parkland that would constitute "hiding
spots for concealment of undesirable individuals in areas
subject to pedestrian travel".
Commissioner Stulberg stated that he believes the purpose of
the objective is to keep in mind that these areas should not
be created by the development, as development proposals are
reviewed.
Commissioner Wire stated that perhaps the words "assure/
assuring" used throughout should be changed, because the
City may not be able to "assure" certain aspects of the
objectives and criteria. Director Tremere stated that this
is not an Ordinance that regulates or "prohibits", but is a
statement of the City's goals for Plymouth. Vice Chairman
Pauba suggested that the wording could be softened, using
"Attempt to avoid" such as in the case of the creation of
unsafe areas during the planning process.
Commissioner Wire suggested that the personal safety factor
should be reviewed along with development proposals, con-
sidering the landscaping, berming, and screening to insure
that areas that would be detrimental to public safety would
not be created.
The Commission and staff discussed the Luce Line and other
trail systems throughout Plymouth. Commissioner Wire stated
his concern that trail construction may be contradictory to
good planning in providing potential hazards to pedestrian
travel.
Commissioner Mellen suggested the statement could read
"Minimize exposure of the traveling pedestrian to undesir-
able conditions". It was the concensus that this language
should be used for Criteria 3., i., on page 12.
Director Tremere stated these recommendations would be in-
corporated for further discussion at the Public Hearing and
with the City Council at the joint meeting. Coordinator
McConn discussed the duly 9, 1985 Planning Commission
agenda.
As there was no further business, Vice Chairman Pauba called
for adjournment.
ADJOURNMENT
The Meeting adjourned at 8:20 P.M.
THE CITY OF PLYMOUTH
BOARD OF ZONING ADJUSTMENTS AND APPEALS
June 17, 1985
The Regular Meeting of the Board of Zoning Adjustments and
Appeals was called to order at 7:30 P.M.
MEMBERS PRESENT: Chairman Marofsky, Commissioners Quass,
Victor, Musatto, Cornelius, Bigelow and
Plufka
MEMBERS ABSENT: Quass
STAFF PRESENT: Building Official Joe Ryan, and
Associate Planner Al Cottingham
MINUTES
MOTION was made by Commissioner Plufka, seconded by MINUTES MAY 13, 1985
Commissioner Cornelius to approve the May 13, 1985 Minutes
as amended.
VOTE. 6 Ayes. MOTION carried.
NEW BUSINESS
Chairman Marofsky introduced the request submitted by Mr.
Leonard Busch for a variance from the front yard setbacks
for property located at 4045 Highway 101. Chairman Marofsky
introduced the Board members and explained to the audience,
the duties of the Board. At this time, Chairman Marofsky
stepped down from the chair and turned the meeting over to
Commissioner Cornelius.
Mr. Busch reviewed his request, showed drawings of the
lay -out and explained why he thought this variance should be
granted. Since a variance was granted for a greenhouse
building in 1980, and the proposed greenhouse is similarily
located, he thought he would not need a variance for this
request. Acting Chairman Cornelius, introduced Mr. Hughes, a
neighbor to the north of Mr. Busch, and asked him to explain
his presence at this meeting.
Mr. Hughes stated he was here to object to Mr. Busch's
proposal regarding any future buildings on this land, due to
the fact that there is a problem with drainage spilling onto
his property. The polluted water from the greenhouses is
causing a problem on his property. He would like this
problem resolved prior to any future building permits being
issued for this property. Commissioner Musatto inquired as
to what would be the use of this addition. Mr. Busch stated
the addition would be for wholesale, storage and packaging
of his roses and not used as a greenhouse.
Page 2
Board of Zoning Minutes
June 17, 1985
The Board discussed with Mr. Busch the drainage problem and
the water discharge from the greenhouses to determine if the
drainage problem that Mr. Hughes is speaking to can be
resolved. They discussed the alternative of lengthening the
existing draintile to the west, located on the north side of
the building, so the flow would be closer to the storm
ponding area which is part of the City's storm drainage
system.
Commissioner Musatto asked what was to be the height of the
new structure. Mr. Busch stated it would be approximately 20
feet.
Questions arose regarding how large the existing drainfield
is and if it could handle the number of men that Mr. Busch
employs. Mr. Busch stated that. to date there has been no
problem with the septic and drainfield system. Acting
Chairman Cornelius asked what the hardship is for this
property since Mr. Busch has a number of acres available for
expansion. Mr. Busch answered that he would need to relocate
the packaging and storage facility which would not be
feasible considering where the existing loading dock is
located for the wholesale buyers.
Commissioner Musatto noted that this appears to be a rapidly
growing business for Mr. Busch and questioned what would
happen if a heavy traffic situation arose due to his
increased business. Mr. Busch explained that in the
wholesale operation there is not as much traffic as what a
retail operation would have. He stated that he sees no plans
in utilizing the whole proposed building, but wishes to have
it large enough in the event he will need the extra space.
The building will be used for the packaging process and
shipping of the roses. It is vital to the operation that
this process be kept at one location rather than in two
areas.
MOTION by Commissioner Plufka, seconded by Commissioner
Musatto to approve the variance request for Leonard Busch,
located at 4045 Highway 101, for the following reasons and
subject to the following conditions:
1. The variance request is within the intent of Policy
Resolution 481-126.
2. The minimum 77 foot front yard setback must be
maintained so that future right -of way need of 27
feet can be met, leaving the minimum 50 foot front
yard setback.
3. The property is on a public street identified on the
Thoroughfare Guide Plan.
MOTION TO APPROVE
VARIANCE
Page 3
Board of Zoning Minutes
June 17, 1985
4. The proper draintile to the buildings shall be
provided in order to appropriately direct the run-off
and divert the run off to the future ponding area
located to the west. This shall be accomplished as part
of the proposed structure construction.
VOTE 4 ayes, 2 abstained, Commissioner Victor (arrived late)
and Chairman Marofsky. MOTION CARRIED.
VOTE ON THE MOTION
MOTION APPROVED
Chairman Marofsky introduced the request submitted by James JAMES LAUER
Lauer for a variance from the front yard setback and from 2810 EVERGREEN LANE
the 20% maximum lot coverage, for property located at 2810
Evergreen Lane.
Commissioner Marofsky stated there was an error in the Staff
Report regarding the size of the existing home and that this
proposed garage would not exceed the Ordinance allowed 20%
on lot coverage. Staff reviewed their notes on the lot
coverage and concurred with Chairman Marofsky. The only
variance being sought is from the front yard setback.
Mr. Lauer reviewed his request, stating this garage would be
large enough to hold the three cars that he currently owns
if this variance were granted. He also stated he has two
boats one of which would be kept in the garage and the other
would be stored outside.
Discussion among the Board members ensued as to the
possibility of turning the proposed garage 90 degrees thus
making it the same width as the home. Mr. Lauer said that
this would not allow him to use the garage as a three car
structure since it would not allow proper access at 90
degrees.
MOTION was made by Commissioner Musatto, seconded by
Commissioner Bigelow to approve the variance request for
James Lauer, located at 2810 Evergreen Lane for the MOTION TO APPROVE
following reasons and subject to the following conditions: VARIANCE
1. The variance is approved based upon the findings
that the Petitioner has satisfied the Ordinance
standards.
2. The variance is for a 15 foot encroachment into the
Ordinance required front yard setback; allowing a 20
foot setback.
3. No other variances are granted or implied by this
actions.
4. The maximum lot coverage shall be the Ordinance
allowed 20%.
VOTE 6 ayes MOTION carried. VOTE ON THE MOTION
MOTION APPROVED
Page 4
Board of Zoning Minutes
June 17, 1985
Chairman Marofsky introduced the request of Mrs. Cynthia
Deem for a variance from the required front and side yard
setbacks for property located at 11917 23rd Avenue North.
Mrs. Deem reviewed her request for the additon of a porch
onto their existing home, which would allow for a safe
location for her children to play.
Commissioner Musatto inquired as to the current use of land
on the south side of the home. Mrs. Deem replied that there
is an eight foot enclosed porch that extends the width of
the house. They will have French doors open from this
enclosed porch onto the proposed porch.
Chairman Marofsky stated that if the stairs were to extend
six feet out from the proposed porch rather than 7 feet, the
Board would have less of a variance to grant. Mrs. Deem said
that she had no problem with this as long as there was
enough room between the stairs and existing house to work.
MOTION by Commissioner Plufka, seconded by Commissioner MOTION TO APPROVE
Cornelius to approve the variance request for the reasons VARIANCE
and subject to the following conditions:
1. The variance is approved based on the findings that
the Petitioner has satisified the Ordinance
standards.
2. The variance being granted is for a 23 foot
the front yard setback and for a•four foot side yard
setback.
3. No other variances are granted or implied by this
action.
VOTE 6 ayes MOTION carried. VOTE ON THE MOTION
MOTION APPROVED
Chairman Marofsky introduced the request submitted by Mr. KENNETH PETERSON
Kenneth Peterson for a variance from the side yard setback 10727 32nd AVE.N.
for property located at 10727 32nd Avenue North.
Mr. Arnie Weinhold was present at the meeting to state that
he could not represent Mr. Peterson on this item and
requested that the Board table this request until the July
15, 1985.
MOTION by Commissioner Musatto, seconded by Commissioner VOTE TO TABLE MOTION
Victor to table the request of Kenneth Peterson until the MOTION TABLED
July 15, 1985 meeting.
VOTE 7 ayes.
The petitioner should be notified of the action and
requested to attend the next meeting.
Page 5
Board of Zoning Minutes
June 17, 1985
ADJOURNMENT:
Meeting was adjourned at 9:45 P.M.
THE BASSETT CREEK WATER MANAGEMENT COMMISSION
MINUTES OF THE MEETING OF JUNE 20, 1985
CALL TO ORDER:
The Bassett Creek Water Management Commission was called to .order
by Acting Chairman Donald Asmus, Tuesday, June 20, -1-985, 11:35
A.M., at the Minneapolis Golf Club.
ROLL CALL: CRYSTAL - Commissioner William Sherburne
GOLDEN VALLEY - Commissioner Ed Silberman
MEDICINE LAKE - Not represented
MINNEAPOLIS - Alternate Commissioner Marvin Hoshaw
MINNETONKA - Commissioner Don Asmus
NEW HOPE - Commissioner Peter Enck
PLYMOUTH - Alternate Commissioner John Sweeney
ROBBINSDALE - Commissioner Lee Gustafson
ST. LOUIS PARK - Commissioner Don Rye
Counsel: Curt Pearson
Engineer: Len Kremer, Barr Engineering Co.
Recording Secretary: Elaine Anderson
APPROVAL OF MINUTES:
It was moved by Mr. Silberman and seconded by Mr. Rye that the May
21 minutes be approved. Carried unanimously.
PRESENTATION OF FINANCIAL STATEMENTS:
Mr. Silberman presented the treasurer's report of June 20, 1985,
showing a checking balance of $97.92, a savings account balance of
$3,281.88, and an investment balance of 5223,374.69. He moved its
approval subject to audit. Seconded by Mr. Gustafson and carried
unanimously. Mr. Silberman also presented the budget report for
informational purposes.
PRESENTATION OF INVOICES FOR PAYMENT APPROVAL:
Mr. Silberman moved the approval of the Barr Engineering Co. in-
voice of $8,848.16 for the period covering April 28 through June 1
subject to arithmetical verification. Seconded by Mr. Gustafson
and carried unanimously.
COMMUNICATIONS
Counsel:
Mr. Pearson indicated that copies of pertinent communications had
been included in the agenda packet. He explained that, as of yes-
terday, the House and Senate bills are entirely different, the
House bill including 31 projects and the Senate 29. President
Reagan has threatened to veto the bill because of costs and cost-
sharing. Mr. Stockman is not backing down and the bill has an
excellent chance of passing. This led to a discussion of the need
to resolve the right-of-way and easement questions because that
has to be a part of the agreement before we receive a dollar. The
City of Minneapolis will have to be the signers. If the bill
passes, money would be ready immediately. Mr. Asmus asked if we
would have the option to drop certain parts of the project. Three
areas discussed were Brookview, the Golden Valley Golf Course, and
BC Minutes - 6/20/85 - Page 2
the Theodore Wirth Park. When we make the agreement with the
Government, we will have to determine where the project is. Mr.
Kremer stated that he thinks the Wirth Park part could be modified
to provide less storage as the new pipe will have a larger ca-
pacity. It was then questioned whether anything north of Theodore
Wirth Park could be dropped? Mr. Pearson stated that we should
not try to answer that question today. When asked who would con-
demn the Park Board land, Mr. Pearson said it would be a question
of superior use. Mr. Hoshaw thinks they will compromise. While
we are talking about funding, the Corps is completing their evalu-
ation of our request for credits for land acquired for flood stor-
age. Mr. Kremer said that Mr. Raasch of the Corps of Engineers
has a draft report ready. Mr. Pearson asked if he and Mr. Kremer
could meet with Mr. Raasch to discuss the draft report.
(Chairman Enck assumed the chair.)
Chairman:
1. Mr. Enck had received a copy of a letter to Commissioner
Richard Braun of the Minnesota Department of Transportation
from State Senator Jim Ramstad expressing support of the
Bassett Creek Water Management Commission's request concerning
the proposed design and construction of the tunnel along the
Third Avenue Distributor.
2. Copy of a letter to Commissioner Braun from Sally Olsen, State
Representative, expressing support for the above.
Commissioners:
1. Mr. Silberman indicated that he had talked to representatives
of the Corps and had received essentially the same message as
Counsel Pearson. Mr. Stockman says we must have cost sharing.
Engineer:
1. Mr. Kremer had met with the Minnesota Department of Transpor-
tation (MnDOT) regarding the design of tunnel - Third Avenue
Distributor. They will have to have direction from the Com-
missioner but they are willing to do it. They will not start
that design until late this Fall. If funding is made avail-
able by Congress this summer, the Corps could complete the
design of the project.
2. Mr. Kremer will be meeting with the Department of Transporta-
tion tomorrow. Mr. Crawford will be at that meeting also.
Mr. Crawford had indicated that sometime during the next few
weeks he would 'Like to set up a meeting with the Corps, the
City of Minneapolis, a Commission representative, and a MnDOT
representative. Mr. Enck indicated that would like to attend
this meeting and that a representative of the City of Minne-
apolis should attend plus Mr. Kremer and Mr. Pearson.
BC Minutes - 6/20/85 - Page 3
3. Had a discussion with the Department of Natural Resources
(DNR) regarding the construction of a fish barrier on Plymouth
Creek. They would contribute up to $25,000 towards that con-
struction.
4. Talked to Hennepin County staff regarding funding from the
Lake Improvements Funds for construction of the fish barrier.
A member of the staff said they would recommend that $25,000
be committed from that fund for that structure.
5. Had a call from the Pollution Control Agency (PCA). The EPA
has conducted a preliminary investigation of the Irving Avenue
Dump area and has indicated that there is no need to change
the ranking of that site. The PCA has authority to issue per-
mits so we can bypass the EPA when the channel of the conduit
entrance must be enlarged. We will need temporary facili-
ties to store hazardous materials until the EPA decides what
to do with the area as a whole.
6. Minnesota' Water Resources Board did issue an order changing
the boundary between the Minnehaha Watershed and the Bassett
Creek Watershed. That does not change anything as far as
assessments are concerned.
NEW BUSINESS
1. Assessments. Mr. Asmus moved that the assessments be set up
to represent the $149,600 as outlined in the budget. Seconded
by Mr. Rye and carried unanimously by a roll call vote (8 af-
firmative votes).
2. Plans for the Meyer Gonyea addition, a 15 -acre site in Plym-
outh at upstream end of North Fork, were submitted by Plymouth
for review. There is 30 AF of flood storage upstream of this
location. The plan has been accepted by the City of Plymouth.
The normal water elevation will be 890, the flood elevation
895. The question was raised as to what is being done for
water quality. It is proposed to direct everything directly
to the creek. Mr. Enck expressed objections to the plan.
After discussion, it was recommended that: a) The proposed
control structure should have a skimmer, b) All runoff from
the site should be discharged upstream of the control struc-
ture, c) The drainage from the parking lot to the ditch should
be through a flume or storm sewer to prevent erosion.
Mr. Asmus moved that a letter should be sent to the City of
Plymouth indicating that a skimmer would have to be added and
that provision be made for a storm sewer to carry runoff to
the creek. Approval would also be contingent upon provision
for upstream storage as proposed by the City of Plymouth.
Seconded by Mr. Rye and carried unanimously.
BC Minutes - 6/20/85 - Page 4
3. Request by Hennepin County to approve a new channel crossing
for replacement at Douglas Avenue in Crystal, south of 36th
and downstream of the Edgewood Dam. Am existing double box
would be replaced by a 4x12 box. Their flood level is
slightly higher than the Corps level but is consistent with
the management plan. Upon the Engineer's recommendation, Mr.
Asmus recommended approval. Seconded by Mr. Silberman and
carried unanimously.
4. Request by the City of Golden Valley to review plans for
Valley Village, Second Addition. This is a 9.4 acre feet site
immediately adjacent to South Fork of the creek immediately
upstream of Sweeney Lake. There are five buildings with eight
units in each building. It is a multiple residential site
with low density development. The flood level is 837. The
Commission requirements are that water quality storage with
sedimentation and skimming be provided. They are several
hundred feet away from water. The surface water will travel
over rock to a sedimentation basins. They are working with
Westwood Engineers. Mr. Enck said they were short on water
quality. Over half of the site is flood plain. It is zoned
for basically M-1, 3 -story apartment building. This will be a
PUD project, but the City of Golden Valley requires prior
Commission approval. It may be to the advantage of Golden
Valley and the Commission to have an easement over those por-
tions of the site below elevation 837. It was suggested that
Golden Valley be asked to request the easement for water
quality or drainage purposes. Mr. Kremer said that there is
no skimmer provided in the plans. Mr. Silberman moved that a
letter be sent to the City of Golden Valley indicating our
approval subject to clarification by Golden Valley that there
is an easement so that we may go in there to make modifica-
tions in the easement for water quality, that it be clear what
is and what is not in the easement and that water quality
storage be provided. Seconded by Mr. Asmus and carried unani-
mously.
OLD BUSINESS
Water Quality:
Mr. Enck asked why monitoring of Medicine Lake had been dropped in
the 5 -year water quality plan in favor of having the Metropolitan
Council do the monitoring. Mr. Kremer indicated that it was his
intention to avoid duplication of effort and that the data col-
lected by the Metropolitan Council would be shared with the Com-
mission.
It was agreed that 1987 and
should be the responsibility
Metropolitan Council. It was
to the Metropolitan Council
collect data during those ye
their data collection progran
with the Metropolitan Council.
1989 water quality data collection
of the Commission rather than the
agreed that a letter should be sent
indicating that the Commission will
!ars to maintain the consistency of
and that they will share that data
BC Minutes - 6/20/85 - Page 5
It was moved by Mr. Rye and seconded by Mr. Asmus that we communi-
cate with the Metropolitan Council and indicate that we request
their cooperation in the monitoring program which we are con-
ducting on Medicine Lake and that we will share the results of the
monitoring with them. Carried unanimously.
A discussion of the water quality portion of the management plan
followed:
1. Past water quality problems.
2. An identification of future water quality problems based on
runoff from future development.
3. A classification of stream segments and water bodies according
to the level of water quality needed to support the intended
use.
4. A definition of management practices which could be used to
attain the water quality level required by the classification.
5. A water quality management envelope for wetlands and water
bodies to preserve water quality storage until a final water
quality enhancement plan is developed for the watershed.
6. Criteria for the design of water quality enhancement and ero-
sion control features to serve as an example to developers and
communities in the watershed.
7. An outline of an active educational program to be developed by
the Commission which will promote citizen concern for water
quality in the watershed.
8. The establishment of a 5 -year plan for water quality enhance-
ment projects in the watershed.
9. An outline of a program to measure the effectiveness of the
management practices which are implemented by the communities
and the Commission.
It was moved by Mr. Hoshaw and seconded by Mr. Asmus that the re-
port from the Water Quality Committee be accepted and adopted for
inclusion in the Water Management Plan for Bassett Creek.
ADJOURNMENT
It was moved by Mr. Gustafson and seconded by Mr. Rye that the
meeting adjourn. Chairman adjourned the meeting at 1:50 P.M.
W. Peter Enck, Chairman
Elaine Anderson, Recorder
Donald Asmus, Secretary Date:
ILMUNICIPAL
L�IS�TInE
COMMISSION
Vol. II No. III July 3, 1985
MLC -supported LGA bill becomes law
Legislative action this year in Minnesota will bring increases of
more than $1,600,000 in local government aids (LGA) to the 16
member suburbs of the Municipal Legislative Commission (MLC).
The formula finally agreed upon by the Tax Conference Committee
is a slightly modified version of the proposal first introduced
by Rep. Bill Schreiber (IR -Brooklyn Park), chairman of the House
Tax Committee- The bill received MLC backing because it reduces
disparities in local government aid distributions of state funds
to Minnesota cities and because it rewards efficiencies in local
spending.
Local government aid is a state program which in 1985 will
distribute $265 million of state tax dollars to Minnesota cities,
which the cities use for property tax relief.
Called the Variable Effort Local Government Aid Formula, the new
bill was passed with an 8 percent appropriation and a 12 percent
cap. Twelve of the 16 MLC -member suburbs will receive the
maximum percentage increase; the average increase was 11.14
percent. Minneapolis, on the other hand, will receive 2 percent
and St. Paul receive 8.1 percent.
Legislators included a sunset provision with the enactment of the
new formula, so it will be in effect only a year. The issue of
local government aids will have to be re -addressed in next year's
session.
The new local government aids formula differs from old formula
in two significant respects. Under previous law, the amount of
aid given to a city was based on that city's expenditures. The
new formula bases the amount of aid on a city's certified
levy instead of on spending. This excludes federal and state
funds that cities spend but don't levy.
The new formula also provides a disincentive to spend by
implementing a sliding mill rate to determine state aid. Under
previous law, the amount of money raised by levying 10 mills was
subtracted from a city's expenditure base to determine its state
LGA allocation. As spending increased, this amount remained the
same. Under the new formula, the number of mills subtracted
increases as spending increases, which increases local
accountability, according to MLC members.
Continued on next page
T,'.'!,-INICIPAL Page Two
LEGISLATIVE
COMMISSION
LGA continued from page one
The general effect of the new formula is to increase the amount
of aid given to most suburbs and larger outstate cities, and to
slow the increases in Minneapolis and St. Paul.
Under last year's law, Minneapolis received $159 per person,
compared with an average of $27 per person for the 16 MLC
members. The new bill will increase the MLC figure to about $50
a person over time, and is a "step in the right direction" toward
eliminating an imbalance that has developed over the past 10
years, according to MLC members. The total population of MLC
cities is about 530,000, or 16.5 percent of the state's
population, yet the group received only about 5 percent of the
state's total local government aids payments last year.
Minneapolis, on the other hand, has a population of 364,000,
which is less than 9 percent of the state's population, but
received about 22 percent of the state's aid.
The attached charts summarize the impact of the new formula on
MLC suburbs, and show the historical impact of the aids.
MVNICIPAL LEG:SLA-:VE CODi.ISS3ON
LO`.AL GC%ER9k'ES7 AIC SUK4AFY 298E LOCAL GOVERNMEA: AIDS
il M.L. S'—r—
1981 LGA 1962 ICA 1983 ICJ. 1984 LGA 1985 IGA 19" IGA
614,882,000 613,966,000 $16,119,000 613,934,000 514,501,000 $16,116,000
1 1 I I T LTJ rJ
-6.02 .15.25% -13.56% +4.07% -11.144
2a.
198A
Tffu—
% Increase
S Increase
Blaine
S 1,266
9.5 1110,24E
Blooranctor.
2,710
12.0
29L,36f
Brooklyn Park1,994
12.0
2'13,66E
Burnsville
1,598
12.0
171,23:
Bacaa
315
12.0
3 -,,7E -
Eder, Prairie
307
12.0
32,9vC
Edina
551
0 *
C
Maple Grove
59E
12.0
63161-
Maple-ood
1,430
12.0
-53,259
Minnetonka
1,703
7.6
i2C,E'`
Mounds Vie-
546
12.0
58,495
Plymouth
388
12.0
41.53-
Roseville
804
12.0
86,09
Shorevie-
422
5.8
23.20°
White Bear Lake
947
12.0
10:,425
Woodbury
481
12.0
,5E`
TOTAL
516,05E
11.14%
51,614,54E
Duluth
$11,792
12.0 %
$1,2E3,443
Minneapolis
59,186
2.0
1,145,514
St. Paul
36,592
8.1
2,729,27f
Included in this bill are provisions to increase the
homestead credit by 550 to a maximum of S70C and tc
reduce the assessment ratio on home values over
$64,000 from 30% to 29% in 1986,and 28% ir. 196
MUNICIPAL Page Three
LEGISLATIVE
COMMISSION
Property -tax changes to aid suburbanites
Property tax changes enacted as part of the 1985 omnibus tax bill
should reduce or allow homeowners' real estate taxes to remain
constant in 1986.
The legislation enacted two major changes in the property tax
system which will reduce property taxes on higher -valued homes.
First, the homestead credit -- that portion of a homeowner's
property tax bill paid for by the state -- was increased from
$650 to a maximum of $700.
Most houses with values of more than $65,000 are currently
homesteaded at the maximum credit. This change will provide many
suburban residents with an additional $50 property tax credit.
The second significant change will reduce the assessed value of
higher -valued homes from 30 percent to 29 percent in 1986 and to
28 percent in 1987.
Homes valued at $64,000 and more are assessed at a 30 percent
rate. The reduction in this top rate will reduce the assessed
value against which the net property tax is computed. However,
preliminary estimates by the Department of Revenue reveal mill
rate increases in 14 of the 16 MLC suburbs. Although many
factors enter into the reasons for those increases, evidence
provided by the Department of Education shows that school
district spending levies will increase significantly for many
cities.
Landfill -abatement laws approved
Legislation was signed by Governor Rudy Perpich May 31 which
will prohibit the disposal of mixed municipal solid waste in the
seven -city metropolitan area after Jan. 1, 1990.
This far-reaching legislation was supported by the MLC.
The Metropolitan Council took the lead by proposing and lobbying
this progressive piece of legislation. The initial drafts of the
bill proposed by the Met Council included mandating recycling by
cities. The MLC was successful in convincing the Met Council
that mandatory recycling should not be a part of the legislation,
because voluntary recycling efforts had not been tested. The Met
Council conceded with the MLC's wishes and removed that provision
from its bill prior to introduction.
After Jan. 1, 1990, only waste that has been transferred from a
resource recovery facility can be disposed in
landfills. Hennepin, Ramsey and Washington counties are presently
in the process of constructing two resource recovery facilities.
MUNICIPAL Page Four
LEGISLATIVE
COMMISSION
Minnesota passes largest tax cut ever
In what Governor Rudy Perpich calls the "return of the golden
days for Minnesota," the Minnesota legislature passed an $881
million personal tax cut as a part of its three -inch -thick,
534 -page omnibus tax bill.
The effect of the cut takes Minnesota out of the number two rank
for state tax burden and drops it to number six on a per capita
basis.
Taxpayers now have the option of paying a 9.9 percent maximum
state tax rate -- if they choose not to deduct federal taxes --
compared with the previous national high of 16 percent with
federal deductability. If they choose to continue to deduct
federal taxes, the top rate has been reduced to 14 percent. It
is estimated that 46 percent of Minnesota taxpayers will benefit
from the lower rate without deductability and 34 percent benefit
from continuing to use the federal tax deduction. The remaining
20 percent will see no effect of the changes, and can use either
method.
The bill takes major steps toward increasing the simplicity
of filing for income tax returns. The new Minnesota income tax
return will be only one page.
1985 INCOME TAX CUT
Assumptions: All taxpayers $20,000 and above itemize deductions; IRA deduction would
increase tax cut; reduction amounts assume most beneficial deductibility
option is taken; tax cut is retroactive to January 1, 1985.
Continued on next page
Married,
Two Wage Earners
Married, One Waae Earner
70/30
Income Split
Income
Sincie
Family
of Four
Family of Four
$ 7,500
S -31
-12.38
No Tax
Liability
No
Tax Liabilitv
10,000
-50
-11.4
$ -25
-33.68
5 -45
-59.75
12,500
-64
-10.1
-247
-55.1
-88
-34.1
15,000
-80
-9.3
-305
-45.2
-110
-25.4
20,000
-73
-6.8
-335
-36.5
-58
-10.1
25,000
-73
-4.9
-420
-30.9
-75
-8.1
30,000
-61
-4.2
-564
-30.1
-99
-7.6
35,000
-94
-4.0
-643
-27.6
-127
-7.6
40,000
-98
-3.6
-698
-25.3
-156
-7.6
50,000
-130
-3.7
-803
-21.9
-202
-7.1
75,000
-325
-6.0
-996
-17.2
-314
-6.6
100,000
-567
-7.9
-1269
-16.3
-555
-8,4
Assumptions: All taxpayers $20,000 and above itemize deductions; IRA deduction would
increase tax cut; reduction amounts assume most beneficial deductibility
option is taken; tax cut is retroactive to January 1, 1985.
Continued on next page
MUNICIPAL Page Five
LEGISLATIVE
COMMISSION
Tax cut continued from page four
The bill also eliminates numerous adjustments to federal adjusted
gross income, the starting point for determining the Minnesota
tax base. Further, it adopts federal definitions of itemized
deductions and eliminates the differences between federal and
state law on the charitable contribution, adoption and estate tax
deductions.
A major change which will provide significant tax relief is
conforming to federal law on IRA reductions. Minnesotans will no
longer have to add back their IRA contribution on their state
returns. This change will provide about $70 million in tax
relief in 1985.
The included chart shows the effect of the personal income tax
cut.
Dedicated tax passed for sewer separation
A state financial assistance program to aid in the abatement of
combined sewer overflow to the Mississippi river has been enacted
by the legislature.
The program, which affects Minneapolis, St. Paul and South
St. Paul, will provide loans, and in come cases, matching grants
to the three cities over the next 10 years.
A total of $6.75 million has been dedicated to this effort.
Minneapolis will get $1.6 million, half in loans and half in
grants; St. Paul, an estimated $4.8 million in loans and grants,
and South St. Paul will receive $300,000 in grants only.
Increases in cigarette taxes will help fund the overflow
assistance -- four of the five -cent increase will go directly to
combined sewer overflow assistance and outstate sewer grants; the
other one cent will be credited to the public health fund, which
will go toward anti-smoking programs, a lead contamination study,
mosquito research and maternal and child health programs. If the
state tax revenues increase as a result of a decrease in the
federal tax, the revenue generated by an additional 2 cents per
pack will be credited to the pollution control fund for sewer
grants and to the public health fund.
The MLC adopted a position of supporting the cigarette tax
increase as a funding mechanism for the sewer separation projects
for all three cities in April. The commission supported funding
for all three cities because it is concerned about resolving the
problem; if it isn't solved, according to MLC members, it will
have an eventual impact on MLC cities, most likely in the form of
hookup or construction moratoriums.
MUNICIPAL Page six
LEGISLATIVE
COMMISSION
New legislation approved for IRB distribution
A new method for the distribution of industrial revenue bonds
will be in place in 1986, legislators decided this year.
In an obvious compromise between House and Senate versions of
industrial revenue bond financing bills, the new law provides
that beginning in 1986, only six cities will be classified
"entitlement" users. Three of those cities -- Rochester,
St. Cloud and Duluth -- will be entitled for $5 million each;
three others -- Minneapolis, St. Paul and Duluth -- will be
entitled $200 per capita.
All other cities will be included in a common pool; IRB
allocations will be distributed on a first-come, first -serve
basis. A priority system wil be used to determine allotment
amounts. Manufacturing will receive first priority, followed by
pollution control facilities. Commercial properties, which
historically have had the greatest IRB allotments, will have the
least priority. No more than 35 percent of this pool can be used
for commercial development.
Because of a diversity of member opinion, the MLC decided early
in the legislative process to monitor, but stay neutral on IRB
legislation.
Regional parks changes enacted
New money and a new structure for the regional parks board are a
part of the legislative package this year.
The legislature appropriated $2 million a year to fund the
operation and maintenance expenditures of regional parks. The
metropolitan council will distribute the money as follows:
40 percent based on the use that the area gets in proportion
to the use of the total system;
40 percent based on the previous years' expenditures
in proportion to the expenditures of the total system;
20 percent based on the acreage of the area.
The MLC opposed this type of funding for the operations and
maintenance of the regional park system in the seven -county
metropolitan area. Its opposition was based on the belief that
when a regional park was acquired, there was an understanding
that the city would pay for future operations and
maintenance. This direct appropriation is contrary to that
belief.
Continued on next pace
MUNICIPAL Page Seven
LEGISLATIVE
COMMISSION
Regional parks continued from page six
The MLC was in support, however, of the Metropolitan Council's
bonding request of $25 million for capital improvements and land
acquisitions within the regional park system. That request was
modified to $12.75 million and passed.
Uses of those bonds include systemwide research and planning, a
new regional park on the east and west banks of the Mississippi
river north of the Camden area of Minneapolis and south of
Interstate 6^4, as well as numerous improvements to existing
regional parks.
The Hennepin County Park Reserve District's composition and name
have been changed by the legislature. Two park district
commissioners will be appointed by the Hennepin County Board of
Commissioners. These commissioners must reside in suburban
areas.
Minneapolis, which currently has three members on the
seven -member board, will have none after Sept. 1, 1985. In
exchange for this lack of representation, the city of Minneapolis
will no longer have to levy for the Hennepin county park system.
The new composition will include two park district commissioners
from suburban areas appointed by the Hennepin County Board and
five commissioners elected from suburban areas.
The Hennepin County Board of Commissioners has the opportunity to
veto or modify the park reserve district's budget under the new
legislation; however, a two-thirds majority of the park district
commissioners can overrule the veto.
It is estimated that because Minneapolis will no longer be
required to levy for the park system, an additional one-third
to one-half mill will have to be levied among all other Hennepin
county cities.
The new name of the Hennepin County Park Reserve District is the
Suburban Hennepin Regional Park District.
Briefly
New MLC Executive Board
The process for new leadership has begun. Committees to nominate
candidates for MLC president as well as commission treasurer and
secretary have been formed, and nominations and the election of
new officers are expected at the July 24 MLC board meeting.
Continued on next page
MUNICIPAL
EGI TI�7 .
LSLA E
COMMISSION
4.u` 11' .� `
Briefly continued from page seven
Next MLC Meeting
The Municipal Legislative Commission will conduct an operating
committee meeting, board member meeting, social hour and dinner
for mayors, cit council members, city managers and legislators
July 24 at the Decathlon Club. The operating committee will
convene at 3 p.m., the board meeting at 5 p.m. and the social
hour will begin at 6 p.m. Discussion of the MLC's 1986 budget
will be included in the operating committee meeting; Rep. Bill
Schreiber, chairman of the House Tax Committee, will be the guest
speaker at the dinner. Schreiber will comment on the results of
the 1985 legislative session.
MLC welcomes new Burnsville city manager
The city of Burnsville has a new city manager. Linda Barton
came to Minnesota from Corvallis, Oregon, where she spent the
last five years as deputy city manager. Barton, who has a
masters degree in public administration from the University of
Colorado, came to Burnsville June 3, with more than 10 years
experience in city government. She spent her first five years in
Lakewood, Colorado. Now she is learning, she says, that metro
government, and local government aids in particular, are much
different in Minnesota from those of other states.
uNioNs
A REVOLUTION IN EMPLOYEE RIGHTS IS IN THE MAKING
The growth of unions... -means that
W United States is gradually shifting
from a capitalistic community to a
laboristic one—that is, to a communi-
ty in which employees rather than
bumnessmen are the strongest single
influence.
—Sumner H. Slichter, Harvard Uni-
versity, 1946
Oncehailed for its foresight, this
provocative statement by the
most prominent labor economist
of his time now seems merely another
example of clouded vision in academia.
Although unions had organized 307, of
the nonfarm work force by 1946—up
from only 13.5% in 1935 --they declined
just as fast in the 1970s and 1980s. Obvi-
ously, Slichter didn't anticipate the huge
shift of employment from manufactur-
ing to services, among other things. But
his assertion that an "employee class"—
union and nonunion—would be influen-
tial in shaping public policy on employ-
ment practices is truer today than ever.
The weakening of unions is stimulating
the growth of an embryonic employee -
rights movement that will forge revolu-
tionary changes in the workplace and in
the way companies manage people.
Workers are not yet clamoring for
these rights through collective action.
The movement has no picket lines and
no Walter Iteuthers or Jimmy Hoffas.
But employee dissatisfaction with the
boss -worker relationship in many compa-
nies is showing up clearly in polls, sur-
veys, and a growing volume of court
suits. In today's nonunion climate, the
courts and state legislatures are becom-
ing the most effective champions of em-
ployee rights.
tw"M KMm, Organized labor's share of
the work force is down to 19% and drop-
ping fast. If this trend persists—and
nothing on the horizon appears likely to
change it—by the year 2000 unions will
represent only IV- of all nonfarm work-
ers. Labor's political and bargaining
muscle will continue to atrophy.
PERCENT OF NONFARM WOiU!
FORCE ORGANIZED IN THE U.S.
32
30
2s
26
14
22
20
1e
16
11
1
12
10
19x0°S� '65 '70 '75 'M 't5 11 '9s 2000
I Est----�
DATA: LEO TROY AND NEIL SHEVLPI. UNION SOUROEBOOI( IRDIS, WEST ORANGE
N.J.; 19852000 PROEICH
CT04& RICHARD B. FREEMAN OF HARVARD UNIVVr Y, -
72 BUSINESS WEEK/JULY 8, 1985
COVER STORY
Employer,' have gained the upper
hand in par" by using sophisticated tac-
tics, sometimes illegal, to defeat organiz-
ing attempts. But a rude shock is in
store for managers who think that fad-
ing union strength Rill enable them to
deal with workers in a free and unfet-
tered way. Says Paul C. Weiler, a labor
law specialist at Harvard: "Some busi-
ness leaders think they will get a union -
free environment, but what they may
get is a legalized environment."
In the pact, labor has won its broadest
rights and protections from the federal
government. The Reagan Administra-
tion, however, is moving in the opposite
Employee rights are being expanded at the
state and local level by:
• Right -to -know laws requiring companies to di-
vulge information on hazardous substances
used in the workplace (25 states)
• laws protecting corporate and government
whistleblowers (21 states)
• Court decisions eroding employment -at -will
doctrine (30 states)
• Laws prohibiting any mandatory retirement
age (19 states)
• Laws requiring notice of plant shutdowns and
severance pay for affected workers (3 states)
Employee privacy is protected by:
• Limits on data about individuals that govern-
ment can disclose to employers (10 states, plus
Federal Privacy Act of 1974)
• Laws limiting use of polygraph tests for job
applicants (20 states), giving employees ac-
cess to their personnel files (9 states); restrict-
ing use of arrest records in hinng process
(12 states)
Standards for a safe and healthful work-
place are established by-
• Occupational Safety 8 Health Act of 1970; 24
state laws
• Federal Mine Safety 8 Health Act of 1977
SWI =—
direction: It has stopped issuing new
safety- and health regulations and is dis-
mantling laws dealing with wages paid
by government contractors. But this
hasn't dampened a growing desire for
new job rights as the baby -boom genera-
tion takes over the workplace. And now
the states are stepping forward to take
up employee causes (table).
VneSTLEBLOwom Many states are pass-
ing laws protecting whistleblowers—
workers who report legal violations by
their emplover or who refuse to carry
out orders that violate a public policy,
such as an environmental law. Right -to -
know laws requiring employers to identi-
Basic protection against discrimination in
hi ing, promotion, and discharge is granted
• Civil Rights Act of 1964
• Age Dtscnrrrrm on in Employment Act of
1967; 1978 amendment disallowing mandatory
retirement before age 70
• State and bcal laws, some of which add pro-
tection for marital status and sexual orientation
Sex discrimination in pay is prohibited by:
• Equal Pay Act of 1963
• Sorne federal court decisions requiring equal
pay for cornparable work
Funding, vesting, and other standards for
pensions and other benefft plans are set by:
• Employee Retirement Income Security Act of
1974; state taws
National minimum gage, 40 -hour work
creek for reg" pay, and ottner working
conditions are set W.
• Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938; state wage
and hour Laws (all states)
Company abiifty to discharge and discipline
employees for union activity is limited by:
• National Labor Relations Act of 1935; Rail-
way Labor Act of 1926
DATA OW, PRIVACY JOURNAL, BUREAU OF NATCNAL AFFAIRS
fy hazardous substances used on the job
are spreading. Nineteen states have al-
ready decreed that companies may not
force workers to retire at any age Doz-
ens of states have statutes protecting
employee privacy, including restrictions
on using polygraph tests to screen job
applicants.
These state laws add an important
new layer to the major antidiscrirnina-
tion laws and other labor legislation of
the 1960s and 1970s. Employers may no
longer hire, fire, and promote people on
the basis of skin color, sex, age, religion.
or—in some states and cities—marital
status or sexual orientation. Other laws
require that companies meet govern-
ment safety and health standards, vest
and fund benefit plans under federal and
state rules, and adhere to complex rules
for scheduling hours of work and bar-
gaining with unions.
At the same time, state courts are
opening up a new area of company deb
sion-making to review by judges and ju-
ries: Management's ability to fire em-
ployees for reasons unrelated to discrim-
ination. The time is coming when
nonunion employees will no longer serve
entirely at the employer's will—the so-
called employment -at -will doctrine that
has prevailed in the U. S. since the late
1800s. California is likely to pass the
fast state law prohibiting unjust dis-
missal by private emplovers, and similar
legislation is pending in four other
states. Slowly but inexorably, judicial
and legislative law is recognizing that
even nonunion employees have an implic-
it employment contract that is enforce-
able in the courts.
vapucwtAwr IlIOT10k Judges, in particu-
lar, appear to be changing the law to
reflect the values of "a nation of em- II
ployees," as Slichter put it in the 1940s.
Indeed, the New Jersey Supreme Court
two months ago used this precise phrase I
to help explain why it departed from the
employment -at -will doctrine in ruling
that an employee was wrongly dis-
charged (box, page 74). Concludes John
T. Dunlop, the economist and former La-
bor Secretary, who was a colleague of
Slichter. "I think the notion that an em-
ployer can get out of bed and fire any-
body for any old reason is repugnant to
a society of employees, whether they are
organized into unions or not."
This trend is moving the U. S. closer
to the European practice of legislating
many of the terms of employment_ In
the process, the U.S. is drifting away
from the collective bargaining system
that has dominated employee relations i
and wage patterns since the 1930s. It
was set in place by the National Labor
Relations Act of 1935, which encouraged
peaceful bargaining as a national pol-
COVER STORY BUSINESS WEEK; JULY 8, 1985 73
icy. Government acted only as an exter-
nal regulator of the system, while
unions and companies negotiated the
terms of their employment relationship
in private. And organized labor became
so firmly entrenched in leading indus-
tries that its wage bargains tended to
set pay levels throughout the economy.
The new state statutes and court rul-
ings deepen government involvement in
the workplace. Except for setting the
minimums for hourly wages and over-
time rates, the government still doesn't
determine pay levels. But all the other
rules combined do more than simply nib-
ble around the edges of employer deer
cion -making: They add up to important
limits on management. "This represents
a very dramatic shift in philosophy,"
says Theodore J. St. Antoine, a law pro-
fessor at the University of Michigan.
Now government is imposing substan-
tive terms on the conditions of employ-
ment" F rthermore, warns John T.
Joyce, president of the International
Union of Bricklayers. employers face "a
choice between collective bargaining or
public laws regulating the workplace."
Emplovers both gain and lose flexibili-
ty because of this shift On the one
hand, they need no longer base their
wage and salary decisions primarily on
remaining competitive with union pat-
terns. But increased government regula-
tion in other areas will be costly. Unjust -
dismissal laws alone could have an
enormous impact on management meth-
ods, forcing changes in hiring, evalua-
tion, and termination procedures. '"Phe
cost to employers would be gargan-
tuan," says Philadelphia attorney David
F. Girard-diCarlo of Blank, Rome, Co-
miskv & McCaulev, which represents
about 100 large corporations.
urllE HEADWAY. Despite the steady ero-
sion of union power, organized labor will
remain deeply embedded it industries
such as autos, mining. steel, construc-
tion, retail food, railroads, airlines, and
trucking. But while these old bastions of
strength are crumbling, unions are mak-
ing little headway in organizing such
growth industries as financial services
and high technology. Union membership
in private industry has been dropping
even faster than in the economy as a
whole, plunging from 35.7' of the non-
governmental work force in 1953 to less
than 17% today.
Labor's membership problem can be
simply put: Its share of the nonfarm,
private work force is shrinking annually
by 3", per year as members retire or
lose their jobs in the smokestack indus-
tries, according to labor economist Rich-
ard B. Freeman of Harvard. But unions
are winning only 0.3`� of the work force
every year in representation elections.
Unless something unanticipated—such
as another depression or dramatic break-
throughs in organizing white-collar and
clerical employees—broadens labor's ap-
peal, the long-term decline will continue.
Several factors explain the unions'
dwindling ability to organize newmem-
bers, according to Freeman and Henry
S. Farber of the Massachusetts Institute
of Technology. Unions currently- are win -
ROLLING BACK THE BOSS'S RIGHT TO FIRE AT WILL
One day in 1978, engineer Rich-
ard M. Woolley got the kind of
news most of us dread. His
boss at Hoffmann -La Roche Inc. had
lost confidence in him. After nine years
the Nutley (N. J.) company wanted
Woolley out When he refused to re-
sign, Hoffmann -La Roche fired him.
Woolley sued, but he didn't seem to
have much of a case. For a century,
the law in New Jersey—and in the rest
of the U. S.—had held that companies
had an absolute right to fire workers
at will. Only a specific contract provi-
sion could limit a company's options.
On May 9, 1985, New Jersey's high-
est court changed the law. It decided
Hoffmann -La Roche could be held to
job -security assurances implied in its
employee manual. The old rule, said
the court, "must be tested by its legiti-
macy today, and not by its acceptance
yesterday."
06%JMMA RULE. The decision adds
New Jersey to a list of six influential
states, including California and Michi-
gan, where courts have declared broad
new limitations on the power that em-
ployers have to dismiss workers. It's a
legal revolution—and it's spreading.
Everywhere, says New Jersey lawyer
Marvin Goldstein, fired employees are
forcing courts to reevaluate the Us&
tional rule. Judges, says Goldstein,
"feel some wrong has been done, and
the only way they can solve the prob-
lem is to change the law. And that is
what they are doing—very radically."
American law took its sharp turn in
favor of emplovers in the late 1800s,
when other industrialized countries
were recognizing job -security rights.
U. S. courts found support for a differ-
ent approach in the writings of Horace
G. Wood, a legal scholar whose 18W
treatise stated that the "rule is inflext
ble" in America: Without a specific
contract, all employees can be fired
without cause.
Many experts today say "Wood's
nile" was wrong—that it was an incor-
rect interpretation of earlier court deci-
sions. But it suited the laissez-faire
mood in the late 1800-,, and American
courts quickly adopted it. Let R. Lar-
son,
arson, a North Carolina law -ver who has
just published his own treatise, Unjust
Dismissal, says the rule "was adopted
because U. S. business liked it."
OTHER EXCEPTIONS Manv courts are
still resisting the pressure to change.
But, though few have gone as far as
the leading states, 23 others have al-
ready recognized more limited excep-
tions to the old "employment at will"
approach. Many courts and legislatures
have declared that employees can't be
fired for disobeying an order that vio-
lates public policy. In April, for exam-
ple, the Texas Supreme Court ruled for
the first time that a company can't fire
a worker "for the sole reason that the
employee refused to perform an illegal
act" John E. McFall, a Dallas business
lawyer, points to the decision as evi-
dence that pro employee rulings else-
where "are pulling the rest of the
country along."
The Hoffmann -La Roche case was
typical of the claims employees are
now mustering. The company's person-
-.nel handbook seemed to promise em-
gtoyees would be fired only for
cause --end then only after detailed
procedures had been followed. But
Hoffmann -La Roche contended that
the language didn't constitute a prom -
74 BUSINESS WEEKiJULY 8, 1985 COVET STORY
ning only 45` to 5(1`!' of representation
elections. down from 75`;< in 1950. The
shift of employment from manufactur-
ing to services, and from the Northeast
to the South, along with the increase in
white-collar and female employment, ac-
counts for about 40'- of this declining
success rate, the economists say. Some
20r, is attributable to the unions' re-
duced organizing efforts. But 40`� of the
problem, Freeman says, comes from in-
creased management opposition. This in-
cludes the illegal firing of union activists
to defeat organizing campaigns.
The perception that unions are declin-
ing as a force in society may be one
reason state courts are increasingly will-
ing to put the employee above the pri-
vate property interests of employers.
Rarely before, for example, had compa-
ny officials been held criminally liable
for job-related health problems. But in
an unprecedented verdict on June 14, a
county judge in Chicago found three
company executives guilty of murder in
the death of a worker who had inhaled
cyanide fumes.
Growing numbers of well-educated,
ise. And even if it did, the company
argued, it wasn't legally binding.
The New Jersey Supreme Court de-
clared that companies can no longer
have it both ways. From now on, if a
personnel manual offers job security,
the company may be stuck with an en-
forceable obligation. "All that this
opinion requires of an employer," said
the court, "is that it be fair."
touam TAm Large companies with op-
erations all over the U. S. are particu-
larly concerned about the develop-
ments. Since thev can't tailor their
policies to each state's laws, they are
being forced to conform to the most
liberal interpretations. Some are trying
to avoid the problem by eliminating
any promise of job security from em-
ployee handbooks. Other companies,
such as Sears, Roebuck & Co., have
long talked tough to prospective em-
ployees. The retailer has applicants
sign a form declaring that their jobs
can be terminated at any time "with or
without just cause." The form has
helped Sears win court cases.
Many personnel managers are build-
ing new systems to document their
cases. Says Mark A. Jacoby, who
heads the employment -law practice at
Weil, Gotshal & Manges in New York:
"To minimize liability, corporations
have to treat each dismissal as though
it were under a 'just cause' provision
of a contract." As companies devise
defenses, one new reality confronts
managers: More than ever, firing deci-
sions are likely to be second-guessed.
By lVilliam B. Glaberson in Neu York
white-collar employees are adding to the
pressures for protective labor laws,
notes Denver attorney Warren L. Tom
linson in the May issue of the Labor
Lou Journal. He predicts an increase in
state laws on health and safety and em-
ployee privacy. In mid-June, Oregon be-
came the first state to pass a law setting
health guidelines for the use of video
display terminals by state and municipal
employees. The Service Employees In-
ternational Union and 9 to 5, National
Association of Working Women cam-
paigned for the law and are pushing
similar legislation in 19 other states.
Dimr Duwowrotr. However, nonunion
employees are also making themselves
heard on work issues, through company
surveys and public opinion polls. A re-
cent BUSINESS WEEK/Harris Poll re-
vealed a startling undercurrent of dis-
satisfaction with management, even
among professional employees and exec-
utives (page 76). Only 365, of the profes-
sionals and 35% of executives who ap-
proached management with work-related
problems were "very satisfied" with the
solution. Indeed, 387, of the professional
people polled said they had protested
work conditions as members of a group.
but only 24`,, had received real satisfac-
tion. 'The lack of satisfaction is ample
evidence that the seeds of discontent are
very deep," Harris says.
Company surveys show that employ-
ees want more than pay, benefits, and
job security. Today's workers. says Wal-
ton E. Burdick, personnel vice-president
at International. Business Machines
Corp., are interested in "participation in
the destiny of the company, the public
responsibility of the firm, the quality of
management, and the content of the
job." These demands are converging
with competitive pressures to produce a
trend that is related to the employee -
rights push. It involves reorganizing
work and giving workers more control
over their jobs. The movement is taking
place in thousands of factories, stores,
and offices, and it is likely to become a
permanent part of the U. S. industrial
relations system.
Among nonunion companies, mean-
while, more and more managements are
patterning their labor policies on model
LANDMARKS IN THE MOVE TOWARD EMPLOYEE RMM 1!
rfir� TL arr1Rtl[ATmm
arorfflQsooff
OF rUMLSYM
CALIFORNIA, 1959
A union's business agent was called to testify
before a legesiative committee. His boss, he
said. told him to we when asked certain ques-
tions. He didn't, and he was fired.
DECts*N An appeals court declared: "It
would be obnoxaus to the interests of the
state and contrary to pudic policy and sound
morality to allow an employer to discharge an
employee on the ground that the employee
declined to comm it perjury."
Nos" 11& i llll R CO.
NEW HAMPSHIRE, 1974
Olga Monge operated a machine at $1.84 an
hour. When a job opened in the shop that paid
=2.79, she applied for it. Her foreman, she
testified, said that if she wanted the promo-
tion, she would have to be "nice" to him. She
wasn't interested --and she was fired.
DECtS*N A disimssai motivated by bad faith
is a ground for an employee to bring suit
FOti1AE VS. 1111011104M GSA REGiSM CO.
MASSACHUSETTS, 1977
NCR reduced a salesman's rank the day after
he placed a $5 millhon order.
DECISION There was enough evidence to ndt-
cate that the company took the action to pay
him as ithe as pDw&e in Commissions. An
ernployrnent contract contains an rr,pied
term that the employer will act in good farm
rOWAM 115. KIM CROSS & 9M SA
MICHIGAN, 1980
When Charles Toussaint was being nter-
viewed for a job at Blue Cross 8 Blue Shield,
he asked about job security. He was told, he
MW charged, he could stay with the company
"as " as I clid my job " He was given a
handbook mat Said the company ,,red em-
pk)yees for just cause only. Five years later
he was let go—without mise, he ctairned.
DECIMM Employees can use Printed compe-
ry staternarits and proof of oral assurances of
job security, said Michigan's highest coot, to
esfablid a cocrtraca,al right to be bred or*
for just cause.
!M VL SM CAMIS AK.
CAUFORNIA, 1981
After 32 years with See's Candies, Wayne
Rrgh had risen from pot washer to vice -pr
dent The company had just co rrpieted its
most successful season. He was caked into
the president's office and bold his services
were no longer needed. When he asked why,
Rtgh charged, he was told to "kook deep with. -
in [him)self."
DECLSM From the length of errlpbynnerrt
the series of promotions, and the lack of crt-
aism, a jury could reasonably conclude that
the company had obligated itself to deal with
Pugh only in good faith.
� RS. AICGRAIM4KL WIL
NEW YORK, 1982
A McGraw-Hill executive recruited Waftan
Lewis Werier from competitor Prentice tta _
One of the incentives mentioned, Werner lat-
er darned, was McGraw+W's pb-secuity
policy, sited dearty in the comparres em-
ployee handbook. Eight years later, warner
was dismissed for "lack of application."
DECISION The influential New York Court of
Appeals declared that the combination of fac-
tors cited by Weiner would have the force of a
contract obligating McGraw -FU not to bre
without just cause.
COVER STORY BUSINESS WEEK/JULY &, 19M 73
•
prodded by such leaders as IBM and
Hewlett-Packard Co., which have been
committed to good employee relations
from their founding. This means paying
competitive salaries and benefits, provid-
ing amenities such as recreation facili-
ties, involving workers in decision-mak-
ing, and treating them fairly. Nonunion
companies, in particular, are instituting
formal systems, similar to union griev-
ance procedures, that enable workers to
resolve job-related problems. And no -lay-
off policies are spreading.
Materials Research Corp., of Orange-
burg, N. Y., a supplier to such computer
manufacturers as IBM, adopted a no -lay-
off policy four years ago. During the
recession of 1981-82, MRC kept 100 excess
employees on the staff at a cost of $4
milbon, and the company vows to retain
the policy during the current computer
slump. The increased employee loyalty
to the company has reduced turnover
among the 1,000 employees to less than
1% per month, thereby cutting tae cost
of hiring new people. "I tell every new
employee that we have a contractual re-
lawnship," declares Sheldon Weinig,
chairman and founder of MRC. "If they
do a first-class job, pursue further edu-
cation, and are willing to work heavy
overtime, they have a job for life."
The U.S. has by no means seen the
end to management exploitation of
workers and labor conflict- However,
Alan F. Westin of Columbia University,
who has studied employee -rights issues
for 30 years, says companies won't be
able to return to the practices of the
1940s and 19.50s as the threat of union
organizing diminishes. Even then, the
employment -at -will concept was accepted
by workers and managers alike. But,
comments Westin, "there has been such
a deepening of the concept of employee
rights that even most managers believe
in it." Westin adds: "Todav the ordinary
American feels that fair treatment
means that he can be fired for lack of
business but not for lack of cause by
abusive managers."
Some 60 million nonunion workers are
employed "at -will," according to Jack
Stieber, director of Michigan State Uni-
versitv's School of Labor & Industrial
Relations. About 100,000 to 150,000 of
these workers are unfairly fired each
year, Stieber calculates, but few have
enough money or access to legal advice
to undertake a court fight. Most court
suits are brought by executives and oth-
er white-collar employees.
"MoTTawr Towc., Nevertheless, wrong-
ful -discharge suits are proliferating in
the courts. Richard G. Moon, a Portland
(Me.) management lawyer, estimates
that 5,000 to 10,000 such cases are initi-
ated each year. The majority are dis-
missed, but not without some expense
for the employer. "This is the hottest
topic in the law field," Moon adds. Mean-
while, the federal Equal Employment
Opportunity Commission and state and
local human relations agencies in fiscal
1983 received 120,000 complaints of job
discrimination, a 30% increase over 1982.
The increasing litigiousness on the
part of workers is sending a message to
the courts. "We get our social status,
our pension, and our ability to live a
decent life from work," says Columbia's
BWAARRIS POLL: CONFIDENCE IN UNIONS IS CRUMBLING
]though laws and court deci-
sions are beginning to assume
the task of defending—and ex-
tending—the rights of employees, a
role that's slipping away from the de-
clining labor movement, unions in fact
provided the model, and they do still.
To an astonishing degree, unions con-
tinue to be seen as the workers' proteo-
tor. According to a recent opinion sur-
vey of employed adults commissioned
by BUSINESS WEEK and conducted by
Louis Harris & Associates Inc., 73% of
Americans agree that unions improve
wages and working conditions. Even
people in the South, a region notorious-
ly hostile to unions, by and large as-
sent to that statement: 68% agree.
Curiously, Americans seem able to
hold a favorable view of the role of
unions while still finding fault with the
unions themselves. For example, a ma-
jority-54%–believe that unions stifle
individual initiative, an opinion held
uniformly around the nation. Men lean
toward this position more than women,
and executives and professionals hold
it in even greater numbers. So do the
fabled yuppies—people age 18 to 39
with some college education.
Similarly, about half the sample be-
lieve that unions increase the risk that
companies will go out of business, a
view strongly shared by people in up-
per-income groups. It's noteworthy
that Easterners, who endured the
wave of industrial desertions to the
nonunionized South three decades ago,
hold this view more strongly than Mid-
westerners, who suffered similar dislo-
cations much more recently.
But the finding that may reconcile
the contradiction in Americans' view of
unions is this: Asked to agree or dis-
WHAT WORIM WAR
FROM THEIR JOSS
Q. If you had to chop whieh two
or three of these are most
important to you on the job?
�. A good salary 63%
Job seauity 53
Appreciation for a M
job well done
A chance to use you
mind and abilities
Medical and other benefits 36
Being able to retire earl
with a good pension 20
A dean, quiet, comfortable 1!
place to work
Survey of 967 wr ayW advu, Owdwwd
MOW 3o,k9e 2. Ov" nwta ,nand be O=MW
ID wan k PWCWOge Pants edvr way
Wk IDIS M FF95 d kSMTE5 rG FOP BIHESS W&
agree with the statement that "most
employees today don't need unions to
get fair treatment from their employ
ers," 58% agreed. Whatever function
unions served, it's considered outworn,
since the battle has been won.
MONEY AND SECURITY. Not many
Americans are interested in unions any
longer. Asked if they would vote for a
union at their workplace "if an election
were held tomorrow," a solid 63% said
no. The only major exceptions: blacks,
who proved enormously receptive to
unions and their aims; and employed
women, 44% of whom said thev would
vote for a union. Significantly, both
groups are at the low end of the wage
scale.
What most Americans seem to want
from their jobs is a combination of
benefits and satisfactions, some of
which they believe unions are good at
getting and some of which seem to be
irrelevant to the union question. The
principal concern is money, followed by
job security (table). But the two items
that follow garner a surprisingly high
vote: appreciation from the boss, and a
chance to use abilities to the fullest.
One sidelight on this last item: The
lowest and highest income groups are
uniquely more interested in job satis-
faction, just as they are uniquely less
interested in job security.
By Ephraim L,-wis in Nein York
76 BUSINESS WEEK/JULY 8, 1985 COVER STORY
Westin. "So the courts are saying
there's a stigma to being discharged.
and today they're more and more willing
to protect individual employees from the
capricious actions of management."
The employment -at -will doctrine is
likely to remain, stubbornly alive in
many states. But the increasing court
action is putting pressure on legislatures
to codify the judicial law in statutes.
Bills prohibiting firings except for "just
cause" --criminal acts, drunkeness, in-
competence, excessive absenteeism, and
the like—are pending in California, New
York, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, and
to illegally fired people. In Britain, for
example, employees are seldom reinstat-
ed to their jobs: instead, they receive a
monetary award, which in 1978 amount-
ed to only five weeks' pay for the aver-
age wage earner. The widespread accep-
tance of these laws by employers,
Estreicher says, "may well be attributed
to their ability to insure themselves
without excessive costs." In the U. S.,
employers decades ago similarly escaped
huge damage awards for job-related in-
juries by supporting passage of state
workers' compensation laws.
The campaign for unjust -dismissal
WTINNI AND KM %OYUS OF MATQIAU R[MLARM LPWTWU DOU FOR FlfT-Mit 1MOR!=i
Massachusetts. One will be introduced
soon in Michigan. The bills are much
broader than the technical decisions so
far handed down by the state courts,
and most employers argue that this leg-
islation would force them to keep incom-
petents on the job.
WARDING OFF DAMAG[i. Kenneth J.
McCulloch, of the New York law firm of
Townley & Updike, believes that "a
large number" of states will pass unjust -
dismissal laws during the next decade.
By the mid-1990s, he predicts, there will
be a federal unjust -dismissal law. Other
experts doubt that the trend will go so
far so fast. Yet all agree that increasing-
ly large punitive damages awarded to
wrongly fired employees add to the pres-
sures for legislation. An unjust -dismissal
law would probably let workers appeal
to a mediation or arbitration agency but
would also bar them from suing the em-
ployer. "The smart employers are going
to start agitating for some kind of legis-
lation to manage these cases before they
find themselves socked with a lot of
damages," says Andria S. Knapp, a Uni-
versity of Pittsburgh law professor. The
cases often go to juries made up largely
of employees who are sympathetic to the
problems of other employees.
Indeed, notes Samuel Estreicher of
New York University, experience under
the wrongful -discharge laws in Europe-
an countries indicates that employers
generally make only modest payments
laws is furthest along in California,
where juries have granted generous
damage awards to many discharged em-
ployees. During a five-year period ended
in 1983, employees won 48 of 74 jury
verdicts, according to the State Bar of
California. Six of the plaintiffs were
awarded damages in excess of $1 million
each. Townley & Updike's McCulloch,
who represents company defendants in
California employment -at -will cases, de-
scribes the employment climate there
this way: "Our clients have more prob-
lems with employees in California than
any place else, because people there are
more oriented toward individual rights.
You could call them free spirits." In ad-
dition, he says, the liberal court attitude
on at -will cases draws lawyers to this
increasingly lucrative practice, and the
lawyers promote even more uses.
To avoid the possibility of such
awards, employer groups such as the
California Chamber of Commerce are
supporting one of two unjust -dismissal
bills pending in the legislature. This bill
reaffirms the principle of employment -
at -will, prohibits only the whistleblower
type of discharge, puts the burden of
proof on the employee, and prevents em-
ployees from suing for damages in most
cases. The second and more liberal bill
pending in California is sponsored by the
American Civil Liberties Union and al-
lows an employer to fire people only for
just cause. Moreover, the worker is pre -
sumed innocent and stays on the job un-
til the employer proves wrongdoing be-
fore a mediator or an arbitrator.
A compromise bill probably will be
passed in 1986. But the very introduction
of the bills raised a crucial and highly
sensitive question for organized labor.
Could it afford to refuse support for
legislation that would help 7 million non-
union workers, even though an unjust -
dismissal law might hurt union organiz-
ing efforts? In the end, the California
An,= decided to support the AcLu bill,
although it is not the top legislative p6
ority. Some union activists believe the
bill would help organizing campaigns be-
cause it would prevent dismissal for
union activity. In New York, Massachu-
setts, and Tennessee, state AFL-CIO offi-
cials;
gals say they are interested in support-
ing unjust -dismissal provisions, but the
bills are nowhere near passage. Pennsyl-
vania AFLOIO leaders are still studying
the bill in their state.
rART-TIRE LaADm& It seems unlikely,
however, that organized labor will actu-
ally lead the fight anywhere for such
legislation. Although opinion polls make
it clear that Americans favor a broaden-
ing of employee rights, there is as yet no
organization behind it. But such groups
may eventually spring up.
In New York State, an organization
called the National Congress of Employ-
ees was incorporated less than a year
ago. Its two part-time officers drafted
the unjust -dismissal bill now pending in
the New York legislature, and the NcE
has requited a few dozen members. It
could well be the first nonunion associa-
tion founded to represent all employees,
although not as a bargaining agency.
Members' dues would go primarily for
lobbying activities.
It is still questionable whether organi-
zations such as NCE can persuade &
verse groups of employees that they
have mutual interests. In February the
AFL -00's Committee on the Evolution of
Work suggested that unions might help
form such organizations, but some union
leaders strongly oppose the idea. As for
unjust -dismissal laws, the national AFI,
Cao hasn't developed a position on sup-
port
upport or opposition. Top federation offi-
cials refuse to accept the premise that
legislation is an acceptable substitute for
bargaining, or that unions are in a state
of permanent decline.
But with or without unions, an em-
ployee -rights movement will continue to
gather force. One way or another, em-
ployees will gain more influence over
their work lives. Companies that fail to
see that will be in trouble.
By John Hoerr in New York, with Wil-
liam G. Glaberson in Neu- York, Daniel B.
Moskowitz, Vwky Gahan, and Michael A
Pollock in Washington, Jonathan Tasini in
Loa Angeles, and bureau reports
COVER STORY BUSINESS WEEK/JULY 8, 1985 77
July 8, 1985
Mr. David C. Olson, President
Twin West Chamber of Commerce
Suite 352
400 South County Road 18
Shelard Plaza South
St. Louis Park, MN 55426
Dear David:
Let me warmly welcome you to Twin West. Congratulations on
being appointed President. Jim Willis, Plymouth's City Manager,
is a member of the Twin West Board of Directors and speaks very
highly of you.
Plymouth is excited to be one of the Twin West Chamber commu-
nities. Doug Ewald's shoes are large ones to fill but there
is great optimism that you are the one most capable of doing so.
I have marked off Wednesday, August 7th on my calendar and will
look forward to meeting you personally at The Marsh.
In the meantime, David, if I, any member of the City Council or
City staff can ---)>e of help to you to become more oriented to Twin
West, please, Q'al�, upon us.
SipcerelX,
Davfid J. DAvenport
o
Ma r
DJD: ca
3400 PLYMOUTH BOULEVARD, PLYMOUTH, MINNESOTA 55447, TELEPHONE (612) 559.2800
July 12, 1985
CITY OF
PUMOUTR
Dr. Roger Adams
Superintendent of Schools
Independent School District 284
210 Highway 101
Wayzata, MN 55391
Dear Roger:
I read in the Plymouth Post that the School District is considering offers
for the sale of the Beacon Height Elementary School. Last January 7, repre-
sentatives of the City and Beacon Heights neighborhood and Dr. Shirli Vioni
and Stan Tikkanen from the School District met to discuss the possible reuse
of the Beacon Heights site. At the conclusion of that meeting, we were
given the understanding that District officials would be giving additional
consideration to the possibility of moving the administrative office of the
district to the Beacon Height site and selling the Highway 101 property. In
any event, we have not heard further from the District with respect to that
concept.
In February, I met with Jim Kemp and also wrote him with respect to possible
uses of this site pursuant to the City's zoning code. A copy of my letter
of February 27 is attached.
Given the fact that the School District is again reviewing this matter, I
believe it is important for you to be aware of the City's previous posi•t.ion
with respect to the reuse of the property, specifically as it relates to a
possible rezoning.
Please give me a call at your earliest convenience in order that we might
sit down and review this matter more fully.
Yours truly,
S
G. Willis
City Manager
JGW:jm
cc: Mayor & City Council
3400 PLYMOUTH BOULEVARD, PLYMOUTH, MINNESOTA 55447. TELEPHONE (612) 559.2800
E
February 27, 1985 f
t
Mr. dim Kemp, Chair
Board of Education
Independent School District 284
210 Highway 101
Plymouth, MN 55447
RE: BEACON HEIGHTS SCHOOL SITE
Dear dim:
.�Y
CITY OF
PLYMOUTH+
I am writing this letter to follow up our meeting yesterday regarding the
Beacon Heights Elementary School property and its possible reuse by the
School District.
Earlier this year Mayor Davenport convened a meeting of the Beacon Heights
Elementary School Committee which had been formed as a result of the
previous Council consideration of a request of Mrs. fan Carlson to use the
property. This meeting was held on January 7. A copy of my meeting notes
are attached. You will note from a review of these notes that Mayor Daven-
port conveyed the Council's belief that the property should remain in its
present low density - single family residence (R -1A) zoning classification.
This zoning classification is consistent with adjacent land uses and clearly
represents the desire of those residing within the area. Schools are
commonly located within residential districts and we recognize the
difficulty this may create when the school is no longer needed and the
District seeks to convert the property to some other use.
The Plymouth Zoning Ordinance provides that within the R -1A zoning district
there are other non-residential uses which are allowed by conditional use
permit. The following is a list of those which are contained within the
City's zoning ordinance (Section 7, Subd. C)
1. Planned Unit Development (PUD) as regulated in Section 9.
2. Agriculture, *he keeping of one or more horses, nurseries, green-
houses for growing only, landscape gardening and tree farms, includ-
ing sale of products grown on premises.
3. Parks and recreational areas owned or operated by public bodies,
other than the City of Plymouth.
4. Private recreation including golf club house, country club, swimming
pool or tennis club.
5. Public schools or equivalent private schools.
6. Churches or other religious or philanthropic institutions,
cemeteries.
3400 PLYMOUTH BOULEVARD, PLYMOUTH, MINNESOTA 55447, TELEPHONE (612) 559.2800
- . vim r. filly
February 27, 1985
Page 2
7. Day care center and nursery school when operated in churches or
public or private schools.
S. Municipal, administrative or service buildings or uses including
public and semi-public institutions, libraries, museums, post
offices, etc., except industrial type uses.
9. Essential service buildings.
10. Home occupations as defined by this ordinance.
11. Railroad rights of way.
12. Cemetery
13. Mining or land reclamation.
Jim, that represents the entire list from the ordinance. A number of those
conditional uses are obviously not of interest to the School District. The
Planned Unit Development (PUD) requires a minimum of a 40 acre parcel unless
the petitioner can demonstrate that the minimum area requirement should be
waived because the PUD is in the public interest and that one or more or
both of the following conditions exist:
a) Unusual features of the property itself or the surrounding neigbor-
hood are such that development under the standard provisions of the
normal district would not be appropriate in order to conserve a
feature of importance to the neighborhood or community.
b) The property adjoins property that has been developed under the
provisions of the PUD ordinance and will contribute to the amenities
of the neighborhood.
In any event, the minimum project size cannot not be less than 15 acres
without a special variance approved by the City Council.
Other conditional uses within the present zoning provide the District with
the opportunity to have the facility converted to a private school and
nursery school or perhaps, administrative offices for the District. This
latter use was also one of the options considered by the District's Beacon
Heights Committee and is referred to in their report of February 22, 1983.
Mayor Davenport's committee is prepared to meet again to discuss the Beacon
Heights School use. As noted in my January 7 meeting notes, the Committee
anticipated meeting again after the School District had developed additional
information on the possibility or feasibility of moving the administrative
offices to the Beacon Heights site.
Mr. dim Kemp
February 27, 1985
Page 3
It is our desire to work closely and --
cooperatively with the School District
as you seek to find an appropriate use for your property. We are prepared
to meet at any mutually convenient time to further the achivement of this
objective, as well as to provide you or the District with additional
information you may need to facilitate your review of the options available.
Yours truly,
)Jas G.Willis
Manager
JGW:jm
attach
cc: Dr. Shirli Vioni
Mayor & City Council
Blair Tremere, Director
of Planning & Community Development
BEACON HEIGHTS ELEMENTARY SCHOOL COMMITTEE
January 7, 1985
Mayor Davenport and I met on January 7 with Lester and June Nielsen, and
Mrs. Pat Redick, representing the Beacon Heights neighborhood, and Shirli
Vioni and Stan Tikkanen of the School District. The purpose of this meeting
was to have the parties become acquainted with the topic and review the
history of the School District's desire to recycle the property into some
other use.
Mayor Davenport thanked the parties for getting together to discuss this
issue. He noted that the School District and its taxpayers have a consider-
able amount invested in Beacon Heights and that it would be to everyone's
advantage to insure that this asset was properly recycled. He noted that
Dean Fitch, representing the Board, was not present because he was out of
town and wondered whether or not the Board as a whole was endorsing the
meeting with the citizens and the City to seek to find ways by which the
School District could use its .property. Shirli Vioni noted that the Board
members were aware of the committee and endorsed its efforts.
Mayor Davenport noted that the City Council had previously received a
request for a land use guide plan amendment and rezoning for the property
from Ms. Jan Carlson (84060). This application had been denied by the City
Council and it was clear that it was the City Council's intention that the
property should not be rezoned from the R1 -A single family zoning classifi-
cation. The committee members should therefore consider uses for the
property which are either permitted or conditional under the R1 zoning
district. The City Manager reviewed these types of uses from the zoning
code. Mayor Davenport also indicated that the Beacon Heights Committee
report submitted to the District's Building and Grounds Committee in
February 1983, provided a rich background of possible alternative uses for
the site, and that this report should be used as a reference point. He
noted that the Building and Grounds Committee considered that rezoning of
the property would be "doubtful".
The Nielsen's and Mrs. Redick confirmed that the neighborhood would not
desire to see the property rezoned, but would prefer some permitted or
conditional use. They also would like to see the property utilized rather
than remain closed and therefore subject to deterioriation and vandalism.
Mayor Davenport suggested that the Beacon Heights Committee report of 1983
be re -reviewed to look at the feasibility of moving the District offices to
the Beacon Heights site and selling the administration site for housing.
That site is also zoned R1 -A. It was agreed that Stan Tikkanen would review
the 1983 report and the Wold Associates data on the economic viability of
such a move. The City will, upon request, assist in providing information
on possible development costs as well as land values at the request of the
District. It was suggested that the administrative office site would be
"choice" for residential development with Gleason Lake on one side, Burl
Oaks and Luce Line to the north, and the Kingswood Farm to the south. A
small neighborhood park might be required, but that could easily be
accommodated within a residential development.
January 7, 1985
Page 2
The School District also will look into determining whether or not the
Gullickson field on the site would constrain its use for other purposes.
Shirli Vioni noted that there had previously been some interest expressed in
using the Beacon Heights site for a church. She thinks this is still a
possible option, although it might be considered a long shot. Other
possible uses, assuming the present structures would remain, would be for a
private school, day care or senior citizen activity center. Any use of the
existing school site would require substantial investments to bring them up
to code depending on the type of occupancy.
It was agreed that the committee would get together upon request of the
School District officials after they have developed additional data on the
feasibility of moving the administrative offices to the Beacon Heights site.
July 12, 1985
CITY OF
PUMOUTR
Mrs. Barbara Willis
16511 - 26th Avenue No.
Plymouth, MN 55447
Dear Barbara:
The 13th annual Music in Plymouth was a rousing success! Each year the
program gets better and the turnout increases. This is possible only
because of the dedicated efforts of persons such as yourself, as well as the
members of the various Music in Plymouth committees, Plymouth Civic League,
and the community—at large.
Music in Plymouth has become THE community summer event. The fact that a
community such as Plymouth is able to host the Minnesota Orchestra annually
and put on a full evening's program, attracting thousands of community
residents, demonstrates the increasing sense of community within Plymouth.
The tireless efforts of many volunteers are required however to bring all
the pieces together into a coordinated whole. From all the comments we have
received, it is evident that the event was extremely well received by those
in attendance.
Please convey our appreciation and gratitude to the Music in Plymouth
Committees for a most successful 13th annual Music in Plymouth.
Yours truly,
Jas G. Willis
't Manager
OGW:jm
cc: Wes Clemens, President, Plymouth Civic League
Mayor & City Council
3400 PLYMOUTH BOULEVARD. PLYMOUTH. MINNESOTA 55447, TELEPHONE (612) 559-2800
July 12, 1985
CITY OF
PUMOUTR
Ms. Barbara F. Hetland
Floral Affair
4184 Lancaster Lane
Plymouth, MN 55441
Dear Ms. Hetland:
Thank you for the two beautiful floral arrangements which you contributed to
Music in Plymouth. Their placement on the Minnesota Orchestra stage was a
perfect accent to the evening's presentation. They added a particular touch
of "class" to what we believe is already a very first rate production.
Thank you again for your generosity.
Yours truly,
ames G. Willis
C'ty Manager
JGW:Jm
cc: Mayor & City Council
3400 PLYMOUTH BOULEVARD. PLYMOU T H. MINNESOTA 55447, TELEPHONE (612) 559-2800
CITY OF PLYMOUTH
3400 PLYMOUTH BLVD., PLYMOUTH, MINNESOTA 55447
TELEPHONE (612) 559-2800
MEMO
DATE: July 12, 1985
TO: James G. Willis, City Manager
FROM: i `/
Frank Boyles, Assistant City Manaa g
SUBJECT JULY 15 PLYMOUTH FORUM
1. MARCIA BREDLOW
Marcia Bredlow will be addressing the Council on behalf of Dorothy
Fjeren to discuss the possibility of adopting an ordinance which would
allow the operation of motorized golf carts on designated city road-
ways as a means of facilitating transportation by handicapped
persons. I am attaching background information from Mel Solberg,
together with State Statutes which authorize such action. Under State
Statute, the City Council may by ordinance authorize the operation of
golf carts on roadways under its Jurisdiction. Authorization to
operate is by permit only and restricted to physically handicapped
persons. The Council may designate roadways or portions thereof. The
statute (attached) provides for additional conditions governing such
authorization.
2. GEORGE WILSON
Mr. Wilson has asked to address the City Council at the July 15 Forum
to discuss problems he has encountered with Village Sanitation, the
refuse hauler for the Kimberly Meadows development adjacent to Mr.
Wilson's home. Periodically, Village Sanitation has collected trash
from Kimberly Meadows prior to 7:00 a.m. Under city code, persons are
prohibited from making, in any manner, any loud, unpleasant or raucous
noise disturbing others unless the same be reasonably necessary for
the preservation of life, health, safety or property. We have
generally used 10 p.m. to 7 a.m. as the time period after and before
which noise should be minimized. The ordinance does not specifically
address trash haulers or construction crews.
I have advised Mr. Wilson that if he desires to file a complaint
against Village Sanitation, he should do so with the Public Safety
Department. The City Attorney's office has advised us that for such
private complaints, it is desirable for at least two persons not from
the same household to file the complaint. Mr. Wilson objects to this
requirement. I have spoken with representatives of Village Sanitation
who have advised me that they will do their best to minimize such
JULY 15 PLYMOUTH FORUM
July 12, 1985
Page 2
occurrences in the future. Apparently the problem periodically occurs
because of substitute drivers. To eliminate the problem, the weekly
Village Sanitation route printout specifically indicates that Kimberly
Meadows is to be served after 7:00 a.m.
Under the terms of the ordinance the Council may act to revoke a
refuse haulers license. Suspension or revocation may be accomplished
following a public hearing. The ordinance provides that revocation or
suspension may be considered for "conducting licensed activity in a
manner as to constitute a breach of the peace or a menace to the
health, safety and welfare of the public, or disturbance of the peace
or comfort of residents to the City upon recommendation of the City
health authorities or other appropriate City officials." Should the
Council desire to conduct such a hearing, I will make the necessary
arrangements. The appropriate ordinance sections are attached for
information.
3. RALPH DURAND
Mr. Ralph Durand wishes to address the Council with respect to storm
water runoff problems at Bass Lake. Mr. Durand does not believe the
City has adequately carried out its responsibility for erosion
control. He requests the City correct current runoff as well as the
affects of previous runoff on the lagoon and lake. A letter from Mr.
Durand is attached together with a response to Fred Moore.
FB:Jm
attach
DATE: May 30, 1985
TO: Frank Boyles, Assistant City Manager
FROM: Mel Solberg
State Statute 169.045 states that the local governing body of
any city may by ordinance authorize the operation of golf carts
on roadways under its jurisdiction. Authorization to operate
is by permit only and is restricted to physically handicapped
persons.
Ms. Dorothy Fjeran, 3495 Pilgrim Lane, advised me that she has
a handicapped person living with her and requested that the city
adopt an ordinance permitting handicapped persons to ride golf
carts on city streets. She mentioned she would like to attend
an open forum meeting and discuss the statute with council members.
I have attached a copy of the statute and would appreciate if you
would pass this information onto the council members so that they
are aware of the statute, and request.
cc: Chief Carlquist
169.345 HIGHWAY TRAFFIC REGULATION
3990
municipal governing body may, by ordinance, prohibit parking on any street or
highway for the purpose of creating a fire lane, or to provide for the accommodation
of heavy traffic during morning and afternoon rush hours and the privileges
extended to such handicapped persons shall not apply on streets or highways where
and at such time parking is prohibited. The certificate specified in this section shall
also serve to identify vehicles properly parked in designated handicapped parking
spaces as provided in section 169.346.
Subd. 2. Definitions. For the purpose of this section physically handicapped
,C means any person who has sustained an amputation or material disability of either
or both arms or legs, or who has been otherwise disabled in any manner rendering it
difficult and burdensome for him to walk.
Subd. 3. Identifying certificate, (a) The division of driver and vehicle servic-
es in the department of public safety shall issue without charge a special identifying
certificate for a marked motor vehicle to any physically handicapped applicant upon
submission by the applicant of a certificate by a qualified physician to the division
that he is a physically handicapped person within the meaning of subdivision 2. (b)
Upon submission of satisfactory evidence that a motor vehicle is used for the
purpose of transporting physically handicapped persons within the meaning of
' subdivision 2, the division may issue without charge a special identifying certificate
or insignia for the vehicle. The operator of the vehicle, when displaying the
certificate or insignia, has the same parking privileges provided in subdivision 1 for
the physically handicapped during the period the vehicle is in use for transporting
Physically handicapped persons.
The commissioner of public safety shall determine the form, size and promul-
gate rules and regulations governing their issuance and use necessary to carry out the
provisions of this section. The physician's certificate shall specify whether the
disability is permanent or temporary, and if temporary, the opinion of the physician
as to the duration of the disability. The commissioner may issue special identifying
timeficates to temporarily physically handicapped persons for limited periods of
Subd. 4. Revocation, penalty. If the police of the state or any city, or other
local government shall find that the certificate is being improperly used, they shall
report to the division of driver and vehicle services in the department of public safety
any violation and the commissioner of public safety may, in his discretion, remove
the privilege.
Subd. 5. [Repealed, 1967 c 389 s 21
History: 1965 c 844 s 1-5; 1967 c 389 s 1; 1969 c 1129 an 1 s 15; Ex 1971 c 27
S 10, 1977 c 22 s 1,2; 1979 c 31 s 1; 1979 c 277 s 4
169.346 PARKING FOR PHYSICALLY HANDICAPPED; PROHIBITIONS;
PENALTIES.
Subdivision 1. Parking criteria. No person shall park a motor vehicle in or
obstfum
hand1� ams to a parking space designated and reserved for the physically
Aped, on either private or public property, or exercise the puking privilege
Provided in section 169.345, unless:
(a) that person is a physically handicapped person as defined in section 169.345,
subdivision 2, or the person is transporting a physically handicapped person; and
(b) the vehicle visibly displays the certificate or license plate issued to physically
handicappedi
persons or the certificate issued to persons transporting physically
capped persons by the department of public safety pursuant to section 169.345,
subdivision 3, or 168.021, or if the vehicle visibly displays an equivalent Certificate,
insignia, or license plate issued by another state or one of its political subdivisions.
~
Mr. Frank Boyles.
City of Plymout�
Plymouth, MN 55447
Dear Mr. Boyles:
17140 14th Avenue North
Plymouth, MN 55447
June 29, 1985
Asst. City Manager
had hoped that all my letters and telephone calls
woulu Ma/e brought a solution to the prob]en cf VILLAS''
SANITATION aL Kimoerly Meaoows. But it has nor! 2 "a:L.
awoke from e sounl sleep this morning, (SATURDAY), L� a
LOUD BANF outside my bedroom window aL 6:37 A.M.,
Village San5t8tior was at Kimber]y Meadows eo.pnnj the
trash dumpsters.
I now feel that Village Sanitation has been verr,
uncooperative. it seems to me that 14 ther car co^.e to
Kimber]y Meadows after 7 A.M. they do , But K there
schedules or routes make collection at 4, 1, 6 A.M.
then thats when the come.
The time ncs come to stop the letter writing ar.c tne
telephone calls. They have not worked, an I don't tnirk
they ars going zo. ] tnzn| we have three (3) courses of
action.
1 -We sign a complaint against Village Sanitation an
take them into court for continued violataon o+ the
City of Plymouth noise ordance. I have said before I
will gladly sign that complaint. Have the Police
Department contact me.
2.The city send Village Sanitation a registered letter
and advise them that upon the receipt by the city of
another violation, the city will take action to cancel
the permits which allow them to operate in our city.
3 -You write me a letter and tell me that you can not
get compliance and to stop bothering you.
�
You have beer very,very helpful and I thank you *or sA.
your time an ef+ort. I have enough letters from you on
this matter to fill a file. But I think the time for
talk is over. It time for action!
Sincerely yours,
George F. Wilson
July 1, 1985
Mr. George F. Wilson
17140 - 14th Avenue No.
Plymouth, MN 55447
Dear Mr. Wilson:
a
P f
`CITY OF
PUMOUTR
I agree with you, it is time for action. Our Public Safety Department
advises me that the most effective method to pursue enforcement of the 7:00
a.m. ordinance is to have you and one other person from another household
visit our office and fill out a private complaint against Village
Sanitation. You should contact Public Safety Director Dick Carlquist to
make arrangements for the complaint. A copy of your letter, together with
the complaint, will be placed in the Village Sanitation refuse haulers
license file. I am also providing a copy of this letter, excluding your
name and address, to the managers of Kimberly Meadows and representatives of
Village Sanitation.
Yours very truly,
Frank Boyles
Assistant City Manager
FB:jm
3400 PLYMOUTH BOULEVARD, PLYMOUTH. MINNESOTA 55447. TELEPHONE (612) 559-2800
Plymouth City Code 2005.01 (Rev. 1979)
Section 2005 - Misdemeanors; Special
Provisions
,2005.01. Making Unnecessary Noise. Subdivision 1. General Rule. No person, in
arty public or private place, shall make, or assist in making, by any manner or
Jmeans, any loud, unpleasant or raucous noise or odor disturbing the others
unless the same be reasonably necessary to the preservation of life, health,
safety or property.
Subd. 2. Noise in Residential Areas. No person shall, between the hours
of 10:00 p.m. and 7:00 a.m., congregate because of or participate in any party
or gathering of people from which noise emanates of a sufficient volume so as tc
disturb the peace, quiet or repose of persons residing in any residential area.
(a) A police officer may order all persons present other than the
owners or tenants of the building cr place to immediately disperse. Any
person who shall refuse to leave after being ordered to do so by a police
officer shall be guilty of a viola_ion of this Section.
(b) Any owner or tenant of the building or place who has knowledge of
the disturbance and fails to immed=ately abate said disturbance shall be
guilty of a violation of this Section. (Ord. 79-16, Sec. 2.)
Subd. 3. Unlawful Assembly on Private Property. No group of three or more
persons shall gather, assemble or congregate for any purpose on private property
which is not owned by one of them or with regard to which one of them is not
legally entitled to possession without written permission of the owner of such
property or the person who is legally entitled to possess such property after
having been ordered to disperse.
2005.03. Obscene Literature. No person shall bring or cause to be brought into
the City, or shall buy, sell or cause to be brought or sold, or advertise, give
away, offer, show, exhibit, post, distribute, design, copy, draw, photograph, print,
etch, engrave, cut, carve, make, publish, or otherwise prepare, or assist in pre-
paring, or receive subscriptions for, any indecent or obscene picture, book,
pamphlet or magazine.
2005.05. Resisting a Public Officer. __ is unlawful for any person to wilfully
resist, delay or obstruct a public officer in discharging or attempting to
discharge a duty of his office.
2005.07. False Statements. It is unla+rul for any person to make a false
statement in an application for any permit or license from the City.
2005.09. Fire Alarm System and False Alarms. It is unlawful for any person to
tamper with or in any way interfere with arW element of any fire alarm system
within the City. It is unlawful for any person to give, or cause to be given,
any alarm or other emergency condition when no fire or emergency condition exists.
2005.11. Obstruction of Fire Hydrants. It is unlawful to park any vehicle in
such a way as to obstruct a fire hydrant. The stopping or parking of a vehicle
within 10 feet of a fire hydrant is an obstruction of the hydrant and a violaticn
of this subsection.
r
Plymouth City Code
\ 1005.21
1005.21. Revocation; Denial; Suspension. A license issued or to be issued by the
City may be denied, suspended or revoked by the Council for any of the following
causes:
(a) Fraud, misrepresentation, or incorrect statement contained in the
application for license, or made in carrying on the licensed activity.
(b) Conviction of arjy crime, or misdemeanor, pertaining to license held
or applied for, subject to the provisions of Minnesota Statutes,
Chapter 361.
(c) Conducting such licensed activity in such manner as to constitute a breach
of the peace, or a menace to the health, safety and welfare of the public,
or a disturbance of the peace or comfort of the residents of the City,
upon recommendation of the City health authorities or other appropriate
City official.
(d) Expiration or cancellation of any required bond or insurance, or failure
to notify the Cite within a reasonable time of changes in the terms of the
insurance or the carriers.
(e) Actions unauthorized or beyond the scope of the license granted.
(f) Violation of any regulation or provision of this Code applicable to the
activity for which the license has been granted, or ashy regulation or law
of the state so applicable.
(g) Failure to continuously comply with all conditions required as precedent
to the approval of the license.
1005.23. Hearing. No license may be suspended or revoked until after a hearing
is granted to the licensee. Such hearing to be held before the City Council upon
due notice to the licensee stating the time and place of such hearing, together
with a statement of the violation alleged to be the cause for the revocation or
suspension of the license.
1005.25. Temporary Suspensions. The City Council may temporarily suspend a
license pending a hearing on revocation or suspension when in its judgment the
public health, safety and welfare is endangered by the continuance of the
licensed activity.
1005.27. Inspections. The City health authorities and other appropriate City
officials may enter upon the premises where any licensed activity is being
conducted for the purpose of inspection at any reasonable hour.
I ,
International Headquarters • 1455 W. Lake St., Minneapolis, Minn. 55408 * 612/827-3611
ALPH S. DURAND�
R Executive Officer
August 17, 1983
Mr. Fred :-Soore, City Engineer
City of Plymouth
3400 Plymouth Boulevard
Plymouth, I`IDI 55447
Dear Mr. Noore:
I am writing you regarding a problem with %%tdch I am sure you are already familiar.
It has to do with t.e Nater runoff into the Bass Lake Lagoon located off of
53rd Avenue North. I, personally, as well as the entire Bass Lake ImprovEament
Association, feel is extremely detrimental to both our Lagoon and Lake, and presents
a serious problem wh-'ch the City of Plymouth should address.
I called your office today and requested that a representative from your Engineering
Department make a personal inspection of the Lagoon to observe the mud and other
debris which flows into the Lagoon through a culvert constructed on its south end.
I have been assured this would be done.
The cause of the problem should be determined by experts, like yourselves. I, by
no means, am in a position to ascertain why, or from what source our Lagoon is
being polluted from rti:noff. It is my opinion, however, that a part of the problem
may be associated with residences south of our Lagoon either currently built or
in the process of being built. Enclosed is a partial list of residences which
you may find are contributing to the problem.
,%Ir. t•Ioore, I am of the opinion that your depa trent has been inforrmed in the past
of this problem by individuals in the Bass Lake area. Whatever has been done in the
past has not been effective, and I feel that we have reached the point where this
situation 77jst be ac -tressed and corrected i.-T,,ediately. I have little doubt that
the runoff into o�,r Lagoon is detrimental }o my property value, as :rel- u- to ` e
property values in �-e area, and, for this reason, I would like to request your
i.-nnediate attention -.o this matter. Would %*ou please let me knots of any appropriate
steps which I can take to cooperate with the City in correcting this problem. If you
wish to contact ne, address is 12000 53rd Avenue North, Pl�-%outh, .IDI 55442, Phone
Nb. 558-3389, Business: 827-3611.
71--.ank you for your consideration and I will await your reply.
Sincerely.
Pa 1ph S. Durand
IRSD/po
af7
Preserving a Heritage/Insuring the Future
SONS OF' NORWAY
International Headquarters • 1455 W. Lake St., Minneapolis, Minn. 55408 • 612/827-3611
RALPH S. DURAND, Executive Officer
June 4, 1985 NOTE: DICTATED BY MR. DURAND AND SIGNED
IN HIS ABSENCE.
Mr. Fred Moore, City Engineer
City of Plymouth
3400 Plymouth Boulevard
Plymouth, MN 55447
Dear Mr. Moore:
Attached is a copy of a letter I wrote on August 17, 1983 relative to a water
runoff problem that still have not been solved.
You may recall that almost three years ago, you and I met with other residents
of the Bass Lake area and talked about what might be solutions ---- which included
your putting up black plastic and working harder to police building sites that
were creating a water runoff problem. The problem at that time was felt to be
significant and in my opinion the solution you proposed consisted of a "band aid" ----
nevertheless, I felt you were justified in attempting to solve the problem as
you saw fit. If the problem was significant three years ago I can assure you
that today it is gigantic ---- if not out of control. I cannot speak knowledgeably
for other areas of the lake but, I am sure, others can, but as to the lagoon I
can assure you that mud and silt have been collecting to the point that boating in
the channel even with high water, now poses a problem.
Mr. Moore, I wish to inform you one more time that in my opinion the City has
not carried out its responsibility to the citizens in my area regarding runoff and,
as a result, I and others have incurred significant financial damage. At your
request in the past, I have identified offenders, pointed out specific pollution
flowing into the lake through creeks and storm sewers and, have, generally, coplied
with all of your requests to document our problem. I informed you in the past that
your remedies, in my opinion, were not adequate, and I wish once more to inform you
of this fact and request action by your department. Now that significant damage has
occurred, I must also request that future remedies provided by the City include not
only correcting the runoff, but also the damage that has been done to date to the
lagoon, as well as other areas of the lake.
Please give this serious matter your earliest attention, and contact me if I can
be of any further assistance. I look forward to your call.
Sincerely,
Ralph S.Durand
12000 53rd Avenue North
Plymouth, MN 55442
p519�5
cc: Mr. Virgil SchnKder,. 1152 54th 9yenue North P1 mouth, MN 55442
reserving a eritage nsur►ng the tutu e
July 5, 1985
Mr. Ralph S. Durand
12000 53rd Avenue North
Plymouth, Minnesota 55442
Subject: Bass Lake Lagoon
Dear Mr. Durand:
CITY OF
PUMOUTR
The Engineering Department is in receipt of your letter dated June 4, 1985. I
apologize for not responding sooner.
The drainage area tributary to Bass Lake is quite large. In the past several
years considerable land development and home building has taken place adjacent
to and around Bass Lake. Even though it may not be apparent, we have vigor-
ously inspected construction sites to ensure that erosion control devices were
in place. The developers are required to install erosion control fence, hay
bales, etc., as well as seed disturbed areas to prevent erosion from taking
place and depositing soils downstream. Contractors are also required to sweep
the streets as needed and to keep them as clean as possible. In some instances
we have required temporary sedimentation ponds.
Unfortunately, these measures have not and cannot ensure that some erosion will
not take place, thereby depositing soils downstream (in this case "the lagoon")
or stop the discolored water from entering the receiving body of water. When
we have the frequent summer "gully -washers" which cause the serious erosion
problems to take place, the "first flush" action takes the dirt with it; nor
can we guarantee that mud won't be dragged out into the streets after a rain-
storm and the contractors and/or suppliers resume work. The best we can do is
to ride herd on them so that they get the mud and dirt off the streets as soon
as possible.
I feel that the City has taken some positive steps in the fast developing areas
and to control erosion, as noted below:
1. Placed hay bales and/or silt fence in areas subject to erosion - this
keeps the dirt on the site.
2. Constructed sedimentation ponds to trap erosion materials.
3. Required seeding and mulching of disturbed areas as quickly as possible
after construction.
4. Placed hay bales around catch basins and their inlets to trap soils.
5. Required frequent cleaning of streets to remove deposited materials.
G.{ -i (jJL�j r� :�. ''LY''�O FC rG. 14!7
. _I C tic �1:
FJ
w
Mr. Ralph Durand
July 5, 1985
Page two
6. Have put pressure on developers and builders in order to get their yards
sodded as quickly as possible.
As to the question of damage to the lagoon, I am not in a position to make an
assessment at this time.
The question of keeping the lakes and streams "clean" is a very difficult one
to answer, especially to those people living around the receiving bodies such
as the lake and lagoon.
We will continue to stay on top of contractors in order to do the best job
possible in protecting the natural resources of the City.
Yours very truly,
Sherman L. Goldberg, P.E.
City Engineer
SLG:kh
cc: Virgil Schneider
Jim Willis
Fred G. Moore
F F. I El A y C)
SATUR'DAY 71
TH L Y 1 A
2010
SPSCjAL- :54,XCT/O,o-7 13 A 15 -77 25
ON &vP- R&-vT-E 5AfF,7-5. -DOE- —10 -rJ+f- Amouo-r of
mcw6c>A)s wc, h4we -rimis or yegoe, 4 saB.5-r;-rvrs
-j>4,%IEJL WAS ow 7)+4T P.&-"rL &VU :54-TVP—D�y 6/Cp9-
We Wr vil-LA irre- --5&01�760,0 C4,0 AtOPP-SC14T-IL T7+F-
IDEvr�s daxq2.A) WI*T* wk- RiolixvP -7-1 At C - J-'
4.ssvP—F, Llh; ujf, 14*4✓f. 7?q9eoU Svim XCAASUREE
76 73 1 79f- C i 7-q &F lot- y A&V T*
ec, C&,v A
Sy
Fo w%
CITY OF PLYMOUTH
3400 PLYMOUTH BLVD., PLYMOUTH, MINNESOTA 55447
TELEPHONE (612) 559-2800
MEMO
DATE: July 9, 1985
TO: ✓ Fred G. Moore, Director of Public Works
FROM: Sherman L. Goldberg, City Engineer
SUBJECT Drainage Problem - 9140 Garland Lane
Mr. Sweeney would like to be able to talk to the City Council about his
drainage problem. I suggested he appear at the Plymouth Forum on July 15,
1985. He feels the problem facing he and his neighbor is not caused by them,
but rather by the water running from a large drainage district. They would be
agreeable to a scaled down project for what is shown in your letter.
•(1� �A
Sherman L. Goldberg, P.E.
SLG:kh
CITY OF PLYMOUTH
3400 PLYMOUTH BLVD., PLYMOUTH, MINNESOTA 55447
TELEPHONE (612) 559-2800
MEMO
DATE: June 5, 1985
TO: red Moore, Director of Public Works
FROM: Sherman L. Goldberg, City Engineer
SUBJECT Drainage Problem 940 Garland Lane
On the attached map I have indicated a drainage swale that runs between two
houses and is the outlet for the outlined drainage area. I have reviewed the
matter with Mr. Thomas Sweeney at 940 Garland Lane and he has a real problem.
In order to solve tle problem it appears that a storm sewer will have to be
built along the common lot line between Lots 6 and 7. At this time our map
does not show a drainage easement in this area. I would suspect that a 15" to
18" pipe for approximately 200 feet would have to be constructed along with a
couple catch basins. The estimated costs might be in the neighborhood of
$5,000 to $6,000. It looks like there are probably about 30 lots that would be
effected by a possible assessment. This type of project might be one that is a
candidate for the funding being taken from the storm drainage account for that
Watershed District.
I would like to meet with you as soon as possible on this matter so that I
might get back to Mr. Sweeney as to a course of action we would take.
Sherman L. Goldberg, P.E.
SLG:kh
31 N. 114e SEC. 32, T. //8, R
200
scale
t �'•" LG9i ar RCD 1"`QI •CA9 .. _.
N
49 48
i ) ) ) ! ) s �
03) (:a st �) oo)�
(to) 11110) (
20 a() '
15)(50IaO)la);) f21olligi0!Mm0)011s��I0):11p1 IE0lm)MaON31 Nal 3�x
30
71
2
: 1
ie
(6)(5)� (4)
ilYm) 112110)@570117x0 18p lEoa0)ifNp�119t12820) i(.w 4=01 0•.09 (t!D 02q) 0.0)am) �91PD c• ry 135 „o
I `atcoeVi.'les) 00) l9) to) w (a) (ZOO OM; 0.) UH pxNO•aal x• �(241L
GLEASO
M111101 ,,
IES 40; ,9304) \NORTHSH
o+ t2/e AVENUE
rre u. < (X31 w �6 ?C•
;
s9) 3� I9a20) o p14y. (15). (s3> l3ti (3 1•o 3
(z
!!gc43) s+,j �
( o (9 (sq F 11�y '� i, HD (eoi 6i p�): ' (43) i p•i Cu) p41
istia ? : (zd • .�-. .`�\ ,
• 1— (549010*W) (SM) (5x0) C5120) 4900) INp)�M720$OMI!{I�'S)p4M01 M3g1 a1001 k i C3B20)z0710) ✓' �� +
x• 23 !! 11
o
"417910)I`� IeC9.1 Ie97Ji !dfr�) 101 i(�yy a) "M) 44700) t'..
) lf4m,1(4=.Ilw4(v,I al'rq i:ae� ve) w' `6 u»Mgl � �• n :.u: ;.,, W
s 27 J
3 11th AVENUE 313 Ole
191x) t y 1
(N)'. X
!o C,91 • (1. It hq (,•1 I (f15) Wel W» (6ln) •) I (69) l64) lei) Wa) i (s!') i ,. I (52= a 1
GGG'♦►rl 4 �y
t tri •I 1, is
14 ! 1a •I 12 1l ION 971 s ! • a S +n•
i+ )�
a .4
xs Ud ! p) p) (.p p„ pp 1 , (IL) (31).4 ha I Qs) H) M39 •'. (-1 ''• U 7
IGf ,1 2i 27 2.0 29 -"'> so� 31 32 .. 33� a1 35 r' 1 j. a1 37 �. (6�a.. •,^ - u�•
II
19 F - P I' 'b O
(x+) III
• v AV 'teer' •�jV
C ENUE � �. u•a ',9 _ �' +(z1N1�yy' / �, k-
s a
aJLu
Q'�/
h(31) xz Ii.eW i« a y y" .�., O,�* •1• 7 a•�` �� �i ,
z3 n}i•C1.I13�lag 11 is s!9' 7 97j9 •� a'1z(e) �3//�4) 5
7
1c55o) Com)
Ps R0�(ixs) 11.)(t1IU.! I )02)(lt1 Kq
I.DeW I /i-
w ue199
a wa. • lose 7s 193• 4 ----- _ b •_F'1
i (46 ) _ �T) ��3) 7� 5+ (4U (1!)31�
Y� ) (3 O rx)
i �" ev 4� poi . q.,o / 23
!' 400 a, " .s.,� � ` 3 e`P ��
�•• oiri ru (a + � • (µlo 0(4s
Cd) y r r5 (yu N� �•
i. 13 " E 9 3 .• W) 9)
•C'y!) �; pip) 7� _ S o 60} 2 1.dwa
' 3 • 5 73
(►A fi•TH ( �,, I eo, s„�cA+d, sM po) ,P p9� r"' � .'
an - 1E
1l[0 Pr10YMt'.'•
117►
r •.2
�0iM9talL.l. MO
- -- — — — — — - .� .ft eo w. w. .a A A a a A% At At A A\ A\ A\ Al
May 29, 1985
Mr. Sherman Goldberg
City Engineer, City of Plymouth
3400 Plymouth Boulevard
Plymouth, P1NI 55447
Dear Mr. Goldberg
On Sept. 30, 1934 we purchased our home in Plymouth (940 Garland Lane).
Since that time we noticed a severe erosion problem on the SW' property
line. This is a street drainage ditch where 9th St., 11th St., and
Garland Lane drain into Lake Gleason. The City of Plymouth had, in
the past, installed a bituminous ditch along the property line and ex-
tended it past the garages. This ditch has broken up and washed out
and subsequently has created a crevice approximately 40 feet long,
4 to 20 feet wide and 2 to 14 feet deep in places. Left alone this
has continued to widen and is a direct threat to the structural inte-
grity of both homes.
The most immediate problem is public safety. On many accasions we
have seen neighborhood children jumping this ditch on their bicycles,
definitely a serious hazard. With the numerous children in the neigh-
borhood and the fact that they use this route to go fishing on Lake
Gleason, and the fact that our own 2 children (ages 6 months and 3 yrs)
cannot be allowed to use our ownyard, I believe this needs immediate
attention.
I talked to Dan Campbell, of tie City Engineers office, several times
since my first call on April 9, 1985, and his position is that I must
petition you for action.
Sincerely,
i
Tho as P. Sweeney c1l
940 Garland Lane N.
Plymouth, VN 55447
Home: 476-2500
Work: 933-1442
cc: Fred Poore
x-1234
UN 1985
N City of plymobt, N
s,
��`�
9�n_ ,'<Q
yED 0
t
MINN4
4yA
MINNEH Ak c�EE�
W LAKE MINNETONKA
F'
P.O. Box 387, Wayzata, Minnesota 55391
F,NN �1•
BOARD OF MANAGERS:
David H. Cochran, Pres.. Albert L. Lehman . John E. Thomas . Barbara R. Gudmundson . Michael R. Carroll
April 25, 1983
Mr. Fred Moore, P.E. ;4l Ei!j;;r,,i'..;
Director of Public Works `C.
City of Plymouth
3400 Plymouth Boulevard
Plymouth, MN 55447
Re: 1983 Water Maintenance and Repair Fund
Dear Mr. Moore:
This letter is to advise you that your proposal for funding from
the District's Water Maintenance and Repair Fund was considered
by the Board of Managers at the regular April 21, 1983 meeting.
The Board of Managers reviewed twenty-three (23) potential pro-
jects throughout the District for funding in 1983. The Board
concluded that not all of these projects could be funded due to
budget constraints. Regretfully, your proposal for funding was
not approved.
The Board encourages you to submit proposals for worthy projects
in early 1984 when additional funds are available.
On behalf of the Board of Managers, thank you for your interest.
Very truly yours,
E.A. HICKOK AND ASSOCIATES, INC.
Engineers for the District
Clif d Reep
CDR/j s
cc: Board
G. Macomber
CITY OF
PLYMOUTH+
April 20, 1983
Mr. David H. Cochran, President
Minnehaha Creek Watershed District
P. 0. Box 387
Wayzata, Minnesota 55391
Subject: Minnehaha Creek Watershed District
1983 Water Maintenance and Repair Fund
Dear Mr. Cochran:
The City of Plymouth is requesting that the Minnehaha Creek Watershed
District consider two projects within the City of Plymouth for funding
as part of your 1983 Water Maintenance and Repair Fund. The City of
Plymouth is prepared to proceed with the work on both of these projects
in 1983, assuming that funding is received from the Watershed District.
Enclosed herewith is a location map, preliminary plan and cost estimate
for each project. Both projects are within the Gleason Lake drainage
area. The City of Plymouth would be the contracting and supervising
agency for the projects. The following is a description of each project:
Weston Lane Storm Sewer
There currently exists an open ditch between Vicksburg Lane and
Weston Lane, approximately 100 feet north of County Road 6. This
open ditch provides drainage between the outlet of a 24 inch
storm sewer under Vicksburg Lane and conveys the drainage to a
24 inch storm sewer under Weston Lane. From Weston Lane downstream
the drainage to Gleason Lake is via street culverts, drainage ways
and ponding areas.
At the present time the open drainage ditch between Vicksburg
Lane and Weston Lane has an erosion problem and, also, causes
flooding to the property immediately to the north. It is proposed
to enclose this open drainage ditch with a 15" storm sewer. The
Swale would remain over the new storm sewer to accommodate high
intensity storms. The estimated construction cost of this project
is $12,395.00.
3400 PLYMOUTH BOULEVARD, PLYMOUTH, MINNESOTA 55447, TELEPHONE (612) 559.2800
Mr. David Cochran
April 20, 1983
Page Two
Gleason Lake Storm Sewer
Presently the drainage ditch conveys storm water runoff from
Garland Lane directly into Gleason Lake. The first 100 feet of
this open drainage way easterly from Garland Lane is relatively
level and has been improved as an asphalt swale. The next 100
feet of this drainage way is very steep, approximately loo grade,
and has severe erosion problems. The ditch as eroded over 10 feet
deep in various places.
It is proposed to enclose this open drainage ditch by the instal-
lation of a 15 inch storm sewer. A siltation basin would be
installed adjacent to Garland Lane to remove the sand before
entering the storm sewer system. It is proposed that the storm
sewer would outlet approximately 50 feet from the shore of Gleason
Lake. The estimated constrcution cost of this improvement is
$19,267.00.
The City of Plymouth is requesting that the Minnehaha Creek Watershed
District consider both of these projects for 80% funding in your 1983
Water Maintenance and Repair fund. If there are any questions, please
contact me.
Sincerely,
Fred G. Moore, P.E.
Director of Public Works
FGM:bw
Enclosures
_ � � ,fes _— �-•: _. j ;,
1
1 T
rt'• / -
'� f • %�! ;�•�° �- �' •� ::�;�,__'�_' ; �' bilin - , � �� �` L
�MIlow
- -
Vve 640
J. Aire
ANt T
� . �-�- - Tf `✓ T r - ' - 1' -rte
X,
CITY i I,
CITY-.: = �:� -.�: ...,:.. _ ...J• ' f
J—CITY
VUNZATA -
CITY �
of
..w ' ....
.�+r :fes"' rr
GLEASON LAKE STORM SEWER
300 l.f. 15" RCP
@ 24.00/ft.
$7,200.00
1 15" flared end
section
400.00
2 catch basins @
800.00/ea.
1,600.00
2 standard manholes
1,600.00
2 cu. yds. riprap @ 40.00 cu. yd.
80.00
1 cu. yd. filter
blanket @ 20.00
cu. yd.
20.00
300 ft. mechanical
trench compaction
@ 1.50/ft. 450.00
Debris removal
1,000.00
Borrow material -
1,000 cu. yd. @
5.00/cu.
yd. 5,000.00
500 sq. yd. sod @
2.00/sq. yd.
1,000.00
$18,350.00
Contingencies
x 5%
917.50
$19,267.50
Engineering and
Administration 15% 2,890.12
$22,157.62
f9BP!
0
9Q3 t X
X a
O �
T s
9519 \.
o Q 960
is �
O
0
M
w
z W
cn
C
O
U Un
R W
i Z
C Q
C Z
O
N N
W
3
pY
3
M
W
UP)
O
CL
O
C
W
L�
O
F -
L7
O
U
O
u
r
W
0
z
<
U-)
7-
W
F -
F -
Z
W
W
F-
a
F-
0
o
O
o
O
o
O
o
r -
O
o
O
o
o
O
o
0
z
o0
0
0
of
v
fl-
N
O
O
O
rn
r�
r"
O
co
O
O
O
LO
M
q::r
00
Lt
W
~ V
O
O
O
O
O
U!)
O
O
O
Lo
z cr d
N
�
O
O
.-+
O
O
O
O
;7-
Ln
C'
O
C
m
C
C
�
�
O
Z
w
z
G
Q
—
M: w
O
u
w
=
�
Q
O_ Z
s
W C
'J
CD W
Q 3
Z w
«, Ln
Q
C �
p C
N
O
_W
w N
U
C
c
z
Ln
z
►-
W
O
Z
OU
F--.
C
U
Z
r+
O
p
CC
Z
¢
c�
N
F-
O
3
Un
O
Z
w
W
W
U
0.
7
3
N
p
rY
O
O
J
W
C'
C
w
Un
Z
Q
W
d
C
d
W
—
I --
-O
C:)
O
N
C:)
d
D_
Q
F-
C7
Q
W
Cfl
L!3
C]
Z
F-
C
Z
U
J
Z
O
W
O
lD
U
p
O
O
C
O
to
Q
Q
O
N
30
O
�
Z
W
d r
D32!