PUBLIC WORKS & SAFETY COMMITTEE MEETING
Wednesday,
February 6, 2008
Minutes
The
meeting was called to order at 1:30 p.m.
Mayor Paul Skrede, Jon Monson, Doug Lawver, Teresa Pendleton, Police Chief Cory Johnson, City Administrator Dana Young
Chief Cory Johnson stated that the Police Department has been offering a House Check Program for those residents who are out of town since 1999. He stated that his concern is that residents might be assuming the program provides a more comprehensive security check than is really the case.
He stated that the program includes a curbside inspection of the home with the occasional check of the doors. He stated that he proposed to provide interested residents with a memo outlining the House Check Program just to make sure that the residents have a better understanding of what the program provides.
The Committee reviewed the proposed memo and recommended that that the memo should be sent to all residents who have used the program on a regular basis in order to have memo reviewed, signed and returned to the Police Department. It was further recommended that a copy of the memo could be placed on the City’s website in the section on the Police Department.
The Safety Committee adjourned on a motion by Dana Young, seconded by Paul Skrede. Motion carried 6-0.
Old Building
Sewer Ordinance
Dana Young stated that the cities of Minnetonka and Shorewood have a policy that requires an old sewer connection to be removed and a new sewer connection installed when a home is demolished. He stated that Jerry Hudlow has recommended that the City of Deephaven should adopt a similar policy.
Jon Monson stated that he thought such a policy would be an undue burden on homeowners. He stated that there are a number of valid reasons why you would want to use the existing sewer connection. These would include the fact that the sewer line might be in good condition, trees might have grown up around the old line requiring their removal, and the existing line might cut across an adjoining property requiring permission from a neighboring property owner to relocate a new line.
Doug Lawver stated that he could certainly
understand why you would want to remove an existing sewer connection if the
line was a clay pipe or cast iron.
Paul
Skrede stated that the sewer system in Deephaven is only 35 or so years old,
which would lead one to believe that there were probably few clay service lines
in town.
The
Committee recommended that any proposed ordinance should allow the City to
consider evidence, such as from a televised report, that the existing sewer
connection is in adequate condition to be used.
January 29th
Stormwater Project Meeting
Dana Young provided a brief update of the January 29th Honeysuckle / Fairhomes Stormwater Project meeting and noted that there were no property owners in attendance at the meeting.
Dana Young stated that Hennepin County Engineer Bernie Johns has been contacted regarding two outstanding items concerning the County’s repair of the City Bridges:
Northome Bridge - the guardrail at Northome Bridge had been installed to hold the riprap for slope protection instead of using grout.
Vine Hill Bridge - the east ends of both pier caps were suppose to be repaired by sandblasting the rebar, and forming and pouring concrete over the rebar.
He stated that Mr. Johns has submitted a letter outlining the work that had been done by Hennepin County Transportation Department. The letter from Mr. Johns stated that they “did not grout the riprap” at Northome Bridge but rather “used limestone riprap that locks together and is more aesthetically pleasing without grout than crushed concrete with grout.”
In addition, the letter stated that in regards to the pier caps on Vine Hill Bridge, they had “removed loose concrete, sand blasted the concrete and exposed reinforcement bars, added concrete and reinforcement to the east end of the north cap, and painted the trail side of both caps.”
Paul Skrede stated that he was bothered by the fact that both Jerry Hudlow and City Engineer Dennis Saari reported that the pier caps have not been repaired by sand blasting the rebar and forming and pouring concrete over the rebar and Mr. Johns is reporting that it has been done.
Dana Young stated that City Engineer Dave Martini recommended reviewing the repair work that had been verified by Bernie Johns and report back to the Committee.
Paul Skrede stated that he was frustrated by having to spend more City money to have the City Engineer verify whether the work has been done and suggested meeting at Vine Hill Bridge to take picture of the pier caps and meet with Bernie Johns to resolve the issue.
Motion to adjourn by Dana Young, seconded by Doug Lawver. Motion carried 4-0. The meeting adjourned at 2:45 p.m. The next regularly scheduled meeting of the Public Works & Safety Committee will be held on Wednesday, March 5, 2008.