Minnesota State Wire

The City of Ramsey held a swearing-in ceremony for Councilmembers. Chris Riley, At-Large Councilmember and Dan Specht, Ward 3 Councilmember, are returning to their council seats and Michael Olson is the new Ward 1 City Councilmember.

During the Citizen Input, the Mayor and Councilmembers heard from citizens about approving a tobacco shop business license. After listening to residents, case 5.3 was pulled from the consent agenda for further investigation.

Twenty Consent Agenda items were passed by the City Council after case 5.3 was pulled from the items.

Two issues were brought up during the Public Hearing.

The first was the matter of Home Occupation and Interim Use Permits for Sewer Works, LLC on Nowthen Boulevard. The Planning commission recommended that the City Council grant both permits to the home business. The Interim Use Permit is for a semi-trailer used as a storage unit on the property. The owners will be allowed to have the trailer for however long they are in business or until they sell their property, then it must be removed. The Council unanimously approved the permits.

The second issue was the Charter Commission’s recommendation that the City Council amend the charter by Ordinance #22-29 under M.S. 410.12, subdivision 7. The recommended ordinance is to amend Section 2.4 of the Charter so that no member of the Council may serve on the Charter Commission or other Board or Commission unless required by the state of Minnesota. The Council unanimously approve staff to proceed forward with the procedure. A final vote will be taken on January 24.

Council Business consisted of hearing from Interim Public Works Director/City Engineer Bruce Westby and Advanced Engineering and Environmental Services Project Manager Aaron Vollmer on the Centralized Water Treatment Plant, final adoption of the Mobile Food Units Ordinance and approval of the Verizon Cell Tower Term Sheet.

The Centralized Water Treatment plant would be the largest capital project that the City has undertaken. Interim Public Works Director/City Engineer Bruce Westby came before the City Council to get approval to bring plans and specifications for the water treatment plant to the January 24 City Council meeting. Advanced Engineering Environmental Services Project Manager Aaron Vollmer made a presentation on what cost savings could be made with adjustments to the plans and design revisions that have been done. He gave an estimated cost and timeline for the project. By consensus, the City Council supported bringing plans and specs as presented to the January 24 Council meeting for approval.

The Mobile Food Truck Ordinance was revisited for final approval. With the removal of background checks vendors and not requiring licenses for a private event, Ordinance #23-01 was adopted with a six-to-one vote.

City Administrator Brian Hagen ran through the Verizon Cell Tower future terms adjustment. He was seeking approval from the City Council to send out a proposed term sheet to the firm handling the renegotiation. The City Council unanimously approved the motion.

To see the entire agenda of this meeting, please visit https://agendas.cityoframsey.com:8085/agenda_publish.cfm.

To watch the City Council meeting on QCTV, please visit http://qctv.org/city_meeting/ramsey-city-council-01-10-2023.
Original source can be found here.