City Of Morris Manager Brief

The time is getting close for the 2012 road projects to start.  The City will again try to do a number of improvements to include a major underground project on Pacific Avenue from County Road 22 to West 5^th Street/Highway 28 by Lake Crystal.  You may have noticed the uneven road surface as you drive down Pacific Avenue.

Next week, the City will have a pre-construction meeting for the Pacific Avenue Project.  The meeting is held so that all the key players in the project have a chance to sit down and talk about the way the project is going to be done.  Typically, the contractor, representatives from all the utility companies, the City’s engineer and the City’s engineer-inspector all discuss the project.  A schedule will be discussed and then everyone will agree on what is going to happen.  The City will then give notice to the property owners about the project.  We have also included a weekly meeting on site as a way property owners can bring up their concerns and learn about what will happen each week.

The City will also be completing the East 8^th, 9^th and Arizona Avenue Project that was started last year.  The final grading and planting of the boulevards has to be done and the last lift of blacktop will be put on.  The City’s engineer-inspector will also check the work from last year and give notice to the contractor to fix anything that failed.  It is common to see some cracks in the curb, gutter and sidewalks over the winter freeze/thaw cycle.

The City will be opening bids on May 3^rd for the 2012 Road Improvement Project.  This project is basically the major maintenance of roads in Morris.  The maintenance includes milling, overlaying, mud-jacking of curbs to align them, seal-coating, and in the case of State Aid Highway roads in Morris, the placement of handicapped sidewalk crossings.  The streets included in this project are:  South Street from Columbia Avenue to Atlantic Avenue, California Avenue from South Street to Elm Street, Meadow Lane, Ridge Road, Glendale Avenue, Wyoming Avenue from West 5^th Street to West 8^th Street, Iowa Avenue from East 7^th Street to MN Hwy 28, and the Fire Hall parking lot.

The City will also be doing the engineering study on the West 9^th, 10^th and 11^th Street Project.  This will be a complete rebuild and will also include all the avenues in that area, one block on Nevada Avenue between West 8^th and West 9^th, and one block of Pacific Avenue from West 5^th Street to West 6^th Street.  This street had the same problem as Pacific Avenue by Lake Crystal.  There will be a special assessment hearing on this project later this fall.         

The City of Morris is in the process of surveying its Citizens on the quality of service it provides.  The surveys are part of a Performance Measure Program the State of Minnesota implemented last year to determine how satisfied Citizens are with the services their City provides.

The surveys in Morris are being distributed through the utility billing system.  The surveys for the east side of town went out this week and the west side of town will be next month.  If you don’t get one and would like one, just stop in City Hall and pick one up.  All of the surveys will be returned to City Hall.

The survey looks at key areas of service in city government.  Most of the areas are prescribed by the Performance Measurer Program, but a couple of extra areas were added at the local level.  The areas of service include: appearance of the city, feeling of safety, quality of fire protection, condition of city streets, quality of snowplowing, dependability of city sanitary sewer, dependability and overall quality of city water, dependability and overall quality of city recreational programs and facilities, quality of City Hall administrative services, quality of transit services, overall quality of all services provided.

The results will be tabulated and reported back to the City Council and the State of Minnesota.  The overall goal is to determine what areas need additional attention and to determine how best to distribute limited resources.  The State of Minnesota will collect the data from all of the cities participating in this program and will report back to the Legislature.

The information should be tabulated just in time to use during the budget preparation process for the 2013 City Budget.  The City Council may also decide to do follow on surveys in an effort to refine the information to help make informed decisions about services and resources.

The 2012 Legislature is now in session, and despite the recent discussions about a Vikings Stadium, there is a lot more at stake.  I’m particularly concerned about the continued battle between the Democrats and Republicans and what now appears to be an effort to use constitutional amendments to run state government.  I don’t think it will end well.

As a student of political science, I believe the job of the Governor, Senators and Representatives is to conduct the business of the State.  They do this through many different means and using many different resources, but the most important thing they need to do is work together.  When it comes to having two different parties controlling one or more of the parts of the system, this means compromise.  Don’t draw a line in the sand.  Don’t threaten to take your ball home, if you don’t get your way.  Don’t circumvent the system by passing constitutional amendments that put the decision making process in the hands of voters.

Don’t get me wrong, I have no problems with the voters making decisions, but they should be the most important ones.  This isn’t the case right now in the legislature.  The new Supermajority Amendment will hurt us out here in Morris, Minnesota.  The idea that we will, according to the Coalition of Greater Minnesota Cities, “start budgeting through the popular vote system instead of a thoughtful, studied legislative process that balances revenues with expenditures”, worries me.

The biggest reason is that the majority of voters in Minnesota aren’t here in rural Minnesota, but in the suburbs of Metro Minnesota.  They don’t have our needs, don’t share our concerns, and in many cases don’t need any help from the State.  Local Government Aid isn’t an issue for them.

I think we will lose Local Government Aid, tuition at the University of Minnesota Morris will go up, aid to nursing homes will be cut, and education funding for K-12 education will be cut.  This means local property tax payers will be required to pay a bigger share of the costs of services, or the services themselves will be cut.

Every Citizen in Minnesota should pay particular attention to the activities at the Capitol this year.  Ask your legislators to do their job and work together to come to good, common sense solutions to our problems.  Do their homework and understand the issues and compromise when the time comes.  Don’t shift decisions to the ballot box.

Recently I was approached by a local resident and questioned  about parking in front of her house.  Does the City require people to park in front of their own house and what happens with rental units full of college students?

She was very nice about our discussion, but I don’t think my response was exactly what she wanted.  We do regulate some of the things you can park on city streets, but the fact is
that the City doesn’t regulate parking spots for residential property.  Neighbors need to be aware of each other, and hopefully common courtesy and Minnesota nice will take care of things.  I know that doesn’t happen all the time, but as a general rule, I think most people are good to their neighbors.

Here is my idea about how it should work.  Everyone in a neighborhood should realize that there is a generally understood expectation that you can park in front of your house.  This may include overnight parking, day parking, stopping in for your lunch break, or maybe even the occasional visitors or family members returning home.  I try to stay away from my neighbors parking spots (no, they are not marked or designated) unless it is absolutely necessary and then only for a short period of time.

There are exceptions to my generally understood expectations.  Garage sales come to the
top.  Everyone knows that a garage sale in the neighborhood will pretty much disrupt parking for a numbers of hours, but the times for garage sales tend to be somewhat consistent and everyone knows they are temporary.  Occasional birthday and other parties also fall into the exceptions.  And of course holidays always mean additional parking issues.  Again these are all temporary.

I encourage people to talk to their neighbors.  College students don’t bite and probably aren’t aware they are causing you problems.  This is particularly true if you have health issues and are handicapped.  I’ve never had issues talking with my neighbors and certainly not college students.

In the winter, snow removal dictates some changes to parking in residential neighborhoods to include many people parking on their yards.  This is acceptable and usually only happens in the winter.

The City tries its best to limit the amount of time people are restricted from parking on streets.   A good rule of thumb is to stay off the road until maintenance is done,
but sometimes the plows come back to clean the streets again if it is still snowing during the first cleaning.  This year has been surprisingly free from snow and snow removal.  I think the plows have only been out once.

I hope we can learn to live with each other and understand that everyone probably needs some parking in front of their house.  If you try to stay in front of your house as best as you can, everyone should be happy.  Oh, and if you have an aunt and uncle that you visit, stay out of the driveway in front of their garage.  Then he doesn’t have to have a chat with you.

Remember what I said about not getting sticker shock when your property tax statements came out.  Oh, and by the way, they aren’t property tax statements, they are proposed property tax statements.  The actual tax statements will come out next year.  Well, the proposed property tax statements did come out and a new question has been raised about property tax values in Morris.  The answer is no, as a rule, property values did not drop in Morris.  

I received a call from a homeowner because they got their proposed property tax statement and their home value dropped, they thought.  They were very concerned.  I explained that their home value did not drop, but an artificial adjustment, mandated by the State Legislature, reduced the market value of their property for taxing purposes only.  In other words, their taxable home value drop.  This is different then their actual home value.  

In my case, the “Taxable Market Value” on my proposed property tax statement was $111,800 for 2011.  For 2012, it is $84,600.  The difference is not a reduction in the value of my home, but the net result of a value credit that was mandated by the State.  If I go to the County web site, www.co.stevens.mn.us and click on the Real Estate Tax Info section and follow the links, I will find the tax information for my property.  It indicates a Market Value of $111,800, not $84,600.  If yours did change, it may actually be from a market shift from last year.  Some values do change.  Typically, it is based upon actual sales of property like yours.    

The overall proposed tax increase for my property was 4.3%.  My county taxes appear to be going up less than 1%.  My city taxes appear to be going up almost 11%, but since the original information was sent to the county for this proposed statement, the city has decided to freeze its taxes.  The original increase request was 7.6% .  With the freeze, this proposed tax number should come down to almost nothing.  My school district taxes appear to be going up about 1%.  The actual tax statement that comes out after the beginning of the year will probably show an increase of less than 1%.

Keep in mind that I have a homesteaded property and the State Legislature gave the value reduction credit to homesteaded property.  Non-homesteaded property, commercial property and agricultural property didn’t get that break and will probably see higher taxes.  However, they shouldn’t have the confusion over the value reductions.

As we get closer to the holiday season, and the wonder “Black Friday” brings to those who want to shop at midnight, the price tag of government will come to the forefront.  Why?  Because Minnesotans will receive their proposed property tax statements from their CountyAuditors and they probably won’t be happy.

Keep in mind when the sticker shock hits, you many local governments set higher than needed tax levies in September, just because they are required to set one so early in the budget process.  There is always the opportunity to reduce the levy prior to the start of the budget year, but you can’t raise it. 

Set it as high as you can and then drop it back down.  I usually subscribe to that planning strategy, and in Morris, we set our initial tax levy at about a 7.6% increase.  The good news, as you may know by now, the final tax levy will be set at a 0% increase.  When you receive your tax statement, keep that in mind.  Nevertheless, your taxes will still be going up.  You will see a tax increase on the City tax line and it is due to the Market Value Homestead Credit program changes enacted by the 2011 Legislature and signed into law by Governor Dayton. 

The State Legislature is responsible for that change and increase.  Don’t let anyone tell you any different.  It is a complicated discussion that brings into play a very important lesson on government spending, or “the price tag of government”.

I recently had a Citizen tell me they didn’t want to pay for a service and then made a comment I’ve heard before, “why doesn’t the City pay for it.”  I resist the urge to look behind me to see who the “City” is, but I don’t.  I explain the City is you.  The City is me.  If you don’t want to pay for it, then you will have to pay for it.  It doesn’t make sense when you say it, but that is how it works.

The State of Minnesota realized a long time ago there wasn’t enough “City” to pay for the basic services needed in places like Morris, so they decided to increase the sales tax to take in money on a state-wide level and return it to those cities that needed it.  Morris was one of the poorest and received a lot of aid.  Now they are keeping that same money at the State level to pay for other things.  Instead of saying “sorry, we can’t afford to help you out”, they are saying, “you need to make your own decisions, and by they way, you need to quit spending so much money and become more efficient.”  It’s out fault, “the City”, and not theirs.  Any tax increase here is the result of mismanagement, the failure to become efficient, or over spending. 

Well……I believe the City of Morris does a fantastic job of providing the basic services the Citizens in Morris need and it is simply a matter of the “price tag of government”.  Think about what it costs for cable TV, cell phone service, a flat screen TV, vehicles, entertainment and all the other things we want?  Then think about what it costs for police officers and equipment, firefighters and equipment, a snowplow with an operator to plow your snow so you can get to work, election officials, people and equipment to mow the parks and all the other things the City does. 

What do you pay a month for these services?  $25 a month?  $50 a month?  $100 a month?  When you get your property tax statement, divide the City tax by 12 and see.  Then compare it to other things you spend money on.  You may be surprised.  Citizens NEED things we provide, but they want to spend their hard-earned money on the things they WANT.  In the end, there isn’t enough local money to pay for what we do anyway and the State has to help us.  If not, then raising taxes won’t be the answer, it will be a loss of some of those basic services we need, or at least a severe reduction in them.

Home and business owners in Morris should be receiving a notice shortly from Ferguson Waterworks.  The notice is to inform you that the process of replacing your water meter with a computer read meter has started and telling you how you can make an appointment to let their workers into your house or business.  Everyone is required to do this to continue receiving water service.  It is not an option.

The City Council authorized the project several months ago and awarded a contract to Ferguson Waterworks.  They are required to coordinate with property owners directly.  The City is not the contact point.  They will give you a notice that provides a 1-800 number to call and make an appointment.  Then their service representatives will make arrangements to meet an adult at the property and do the change out of the meter.  In some cases, they only have to change out the meter head, since the meter is new enough to accept the new technology.  These service representatives will have identification badges and will be driving vehicles indicating the company name.  As part of the bidding and contracting process, they have had background checks done on them to ensure they are trustworthy. 

The new meter will have a new meter reading and that information will be given to the City Staff to load into the billing system.  One thing we need to warn you up front about is that the first billing under the new system may be higher.  The old system requires the property owner to read the meter, write the reading down on the payment return stub and then the reading is used for the next billing.  The usage is approximately two months old.  Under the new system, the reading will be taken electronically only days before the bills go out.  We can read the whole town in a few short hours.  The meter will transmit the reading to a computer billing program.  Depending upon when you have your meter changed out, the usage could be a lot higher, or slightly higher.

There are many positive aspects of this new system.  It is accurate and up to date.  We can find plumbing problems quicker and help prevent excessive bills due to running water.  We can also facilitate direct withdrawal of utility bills from your bank account because we don’t need a reading.  In addition, this may be the first step to going to a monthly billing system.  Monthly is easier to budget for and easier to pay.  We haven’t made that decision yet. 

The plan is to start with the east side of town first and then move to the west side.  The whole process should take only a couple of months, so look for your notice.  If you have problems, call their customer service number.  They are required to take care of you as part of the contract.  Going through the City will only take longer.

The Morris Planning Commission recently completed the Zoning Plan for the area just outside the City limits known as the Orderly Annexation Area.  The work on that plan also included a review of the Zoning Plan for the area inside the City limits.  The Planning Commission identified a number of changes and is now ready to present those changes to the public.  A public hearing is set for Tuesday, September 20, 2011 in the Council Chambers of the Morris Senior Citizens/Community Center at 5:15 p.m.  The purpose of the hearing is to consider amendments to the current zoning map and codes for selected areas within the City limits of Morris.  The City will send out a notice to every property owner in the City limits whether affected by the changes or not.  You are not required to attend the hearing.  A map showing the zoning is available on the City’s website at www.ci.morris.mn.us and at City Hall. 

The Zoning Plan addresses the future of Morris and the changes reflect some of the changing trends in how Morris has developed since the first plan was adopted.  An example of a change is that East 7^th Street used to be a main highway coming into Morris.  Part of this area was zoned Highway Business.  Now the highway is further out.  The new zoning for this area will be Multiple Family Residence.  The current businesses in this area are grandfathered in, but new businesses will have to locate in other appropriate areas of the City. 

The changes proposed by the Planning Commission are as follows: 

1. Change the Highway Business (HB) zone along East 7^th Street fromColumbia Avenue toIowa Avenue near the old elementary school to Multiple Family Residence (RM).
2. Leave the MorrisDentalBuilding, Schuster Agency, and Raymond James Office on East 6^th Street and the Professional Building on East 7^th Street andCalifornia Avenue as Central Business District (CBD) and change the rest of the lots on those two blocks to Multiple Family Residence (RM).
3. Change the Mohr Plumbing and Melchert properties along Hwy 28 from Highway Business (HB) to Single and Two Family Residence (R).
4. Change all Morris Public School Property near the University to Single and Two Family Residence (R).
5. Change the area along Iowa Avenuenear the Iowa Avenue Townhomes from Highway Business (HB) to Multiple Family Residence (RM).  This includes the apartment to the northwest of the Townhomes and the small triangular lot to the east of Iowa Avenuenear 7^th Street.
6. Change area north of the Elementary School from Farm Residence (RF) to Single and Two Family Residence (R).  This includes the small triangular area east of theColumbia AvenueandSouth Streetcorner.
7. Change the zoning for all railroad property northwest of the Denco II plant from Heavy Industrial (I2) to Light Industrial (I1).
8. Change the lots from West 5^th Street south to West 4^th Street on the west side ofPacific Avenue from Heavy Industrial (I2) to Highway Business (HB).
9. Change the lots from West 6^th Street south to West 5^th Street on the west side ofPacific Avenue from Heavy Industrial (I2) to Central Business District (CBD).
10. Change the area around Riverview Townhomes First Addition up to the rear lot lines from Single and Two Family Residence (R) to Municipal Conservancy (MC) coming up to the property lines.
11. Change the small triangular area north of Riverside Addition and east of the Highway 59 bypass, plus the small open area immediately across the Highway 59 bypass from Single and Two Family Residence (R) to Municipal Conservancy (MC).
12. Change the triangular parcel shown Light Industrial (I1) on the zoning map along South Highway 9 in the southeast part of the map to Highway Business (HB), along with a 600’ wide strip (from the front property line) extending diagonally to the southeast. The area north and east of this Highway Business (HB) strip should be Single and Two Family Residence (R). 
13. Change the Municipal Conservancy (MC) zoning in the southeast corner of the zoning map to include a Single and Two Family Residence (R) zone extension extending southeast along the area just east of the newly created Highway Business (HB) zoning area to the ½-mile line of authority.
14. Change the newly acquired school property near the water tower from Farm Residence (RF) to Single and Two Family Residence (R).
15. Change the single-family homes on the south side ofThomas Streetfrom Multiple Family Residence (RM) to Single and Two Family Residence (R), leaving the multi-family complex the same.
16. Change the south side of North Ridge Drive from Farm Residence (RF) to Single and Two Family Residence (R), except that a 600’ strip (from the front property line) in the southeast corner should be changed to Highway Business (HB) and should run in a line equal to another line of Highway Business (HB) property for the adjacent properties.
17. Change the land designations to Highway Business (HB) along a line east of and parallel to Highway 9 from the northwest line of authority running southeast to the east west line of the Highway Business (HB) property designation, which is northwest of Highway 28 as presented on the updated Zoning map.
18. Zone the Fairgrounds area Highway Business (HB) and add as a permitted use.
19. The area between Pacific Avenue and the Burlington Northern right of way north of 7^th Street should be Light Industrial (I1) all the way north to Park Avenue.  The area between Pacific Avenue and the Burlington Northern right of way between 7^th Street and 5^th Street should be Central Business District (CBD).
20. Move residential single-family homes from a permitted use to a conditional use in a Highway Business (HB) zone. 

The Planning Commission has been working on this plan to determine what the city should look like moving forward for a long time.  The zoning process included some deep discussions about where you put things and why.  What things? Things like homes, businesses, industry and nature areas.  The result of the process is the Zoning Map or the Planning Commission’s best determination as to where these things should go.  Residential in areas that are undeveloped, but near utilities and other resources.  Commercial in the Central Business District where other businesses are located or along the highway in the Highway Business District.  Industrial near other industrial properties and away from residential or commercial areas.  Finally, Municipal Conservancy (natural areas), where they located along creeks, streams and rivers.

The next step following the public hearing is a recommendation from the Planning Commission to the City Council.  Then the City Council will have to decide whether they want to approve the changes.  This approval is done through an Ordinance amending the Zoning Ordinance.  The Ordinance process includes a first and second reading of the ordinance and then upon approval of the City Council, publication of the new ordinance and a 30-day waiting period.  Then the new ordinance becomes law.

I met with an upset Citizen this week that couldn’t believe the City wacked her shrubs along the alley.  I could understand why she was upset and apologized for what happen.  Then I explained why we are doing the clearing.  The City maintains an alley right of way to allow for things like snow removal, garbage collection, utility company maintenance, and fire protection services.  

The standard alley right of way is 20 feet.  It usually falls 10 feet on either side of the alley, but anyone can drive around Morris and see that the alleys are nowhere near 20 feet wide and in some cases are not straight.  

You can get a good idea of where 20 feet might be by looking at the driveway going into the alley from the street.  If you stand on one edge of the driveway and look down the alley, you will notice that the gravel probably doesn’t come out that far, and in most cases, there are many things in the way.  Trees, shrubs, garbage can racks, garages and many other things.  

You might ask what the big deal is and I have to redirect you back to the beginning of the blog.  The alley provides access for things like snow removal, garbage collection, utility company maintenance, and fire protection services.  All of these require large pieces of equipment.  In the case of electric power, you may notice poles in your alley.  Utility companies typically place poles at the edge of the right of way to leave room to drive on the alley.  Step off 20 feet from a power pole to the other side of the alley and see what that looks like.  Also, look and see if any trees or shrubs are growing into the power lines.  This is another common problem we see.

City zoning rules allow property owners to put in things like fences, shrubs and trees, but it has to be done on private property, not on the right of way.  In many cases, we are seeing shrubs and trees outside of fences.  I’m pretty confident that most fences are on private property.  I’m also pretty confident that most fences are near the property line.  It follows in logic then that anything outside the fence is probably on a right of way of some type.

I’ve been asked why the City hasn’t notified individuals before clearing the right of way.  The easy answer may be that we don’t have to notify anyone about activities in the right of way, but that isn’t the case.  The answer is that it would be very time consuming to identify all the properties that have issues, find out who the owners are and then send a notice to each owner.  This Blog is being written to help inform people about what we are doing and why.  I’ve also discussed this several times at the City Council meetings.  I’ve also talked about it on the radio.

We are trying to provide the best service possible and maintaining the proper alley rights of way is a critical part of that process.  If every Citizen would make sure that things are kept away from the alley, then our job would be much easier.  Also, in the winter, it is very important that we have enough room to plow snow off to the side.  If not, then the alleys can’t be used properly.

Growing up in Morris, I enjoyed playing the game of kick the can.  However, the result wasn’t as serious as the one the Minnesota Legislature just played.  In one swift motion last night and the stroke of a pen today, Morris lost $524,647 over the next two years.  The bad news is that this action was the good news.  We knew it was probably coming and prepared for it, but by kicking the $2 billion can down the road to the next budget discussion in 2013, Morris is in some serious financial trouble.

Morris has various revenue sources, but the largest by far is Local Government Aid.  Approximately 70% for 2011.  LGA is the redistribution of sales tax to various communities in Minnesota that are property tax poor.  We just don’t have the tax base to support the basic services we provide.  The certified LGA for 2011 was $2,319,634.  Last night they set LGA at $2,110,244.  The Legislature has cut LGA by over $500,000 since the end of 2008 and last night’s action locked in those cuts for at least two more years.  On top of the LGA cuts, a little known tax break for homeowners has created another revenue loss for Morris. 

The Market Value Homestead Credit Program reduces taxes for local homeowners by reducing the amount of money levied by the City against their property.  In 2011, this amounted to $105,867.  The program was set up to replace the money the City was losing in levy through an aid payment from the State.  Unfortunately, after the first payment, the State stopped making them.  In 2012, this program will be gone, so the City will receive its full levy.  However, the County will now make an adjustment to the value of homesteaded property, so homeowners will still get the benefit.  How can the City receive its money and the homeowners still get the benefit you may ask?  The answer is that commercial taxpayers will pay a disproportionately larger amount of the levy.  Yes, commercial taxpayers will pay more in taxes starting in 2012 due to this legislative change. 

The serious financial trouble the City faces isn’t from the 2011 or even 2012 actions.  I think we will handle them ok with our current plans.  The real trouble comes when the Legislature negotiates the next budget and they start $2 billion in the hole.  We know we are at the bottom of the pile and we won’t get any more respect or support in the next legislative session.  By a doing a good job of managing these two years, the fire will be fueled to do even more cuts to cities.  Meanwhile, our costs will be going up.  We froze wages this year and will do the same for the next year.  We can’t keep doing this forever.  We will have to restructure even more of the services we provide.  We will have to ask the public to pay more for services or we will have to start cutting them.  It won’t be fun.