Councilor Amundson moved, Councilor Brooks seconded, that the consent agenda items be adopted. On roll call vote, all councilors voted in favor of said motion. Mayor Eaton declared the motion carried and the consent agenda items adopted.

Mayor Eaton opened a public hearing for the proposed parking changes to Fountain Street. The necessary notice for this hearing was published on May 14, 2003. City Manager Sparks explained that the proposed parking restrictions would affect parking on Fountain Street between North Broadway and Vine Avenue. He went on to explain that the changes would either remove parking completely or eliminate it between 8:00 a.m. and 4:00 p.m. on weekdays only.

Hugh Hall, 515 West Fountain Street, requested that the City consider restricting parking to two hour parking in the area in question. Mr. Hall stated that this would allow people that live in the area to have visitors park in front of their homes during the day rather than park four to five blocks away and walk.

Alice Hanson, 612 East Park Avenue, stated that she doesn’t believe it is fair that the residents along Grace Street cannot park in front of their homes because the Albert Lea Medical Center employees are parking there. Ms. Hanson suggested that the City restrict parking in the area to permit parking only. She went on to explain that this would entail issuing permits to the residents in the neighborhood and ticketing those vehicles not possessing a permit. Ms. Hanson also stated that the Albert Lea Medical Center employees are continuously jay-walking creating a very hazardous situation.

Karen Szymanowski, 608 West Fountain Street, stated that she is in favor of an 8:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. parking restriction because it is very difficult to see coming out of driveways making it very dangerous.

Mark Fenstermacher, a representative from the Albert Lea Medical Center, stated that the Medical Center has put out several messages to their employees regarding the parking issue. Mr. Fenstermacher stated that the Medical Center does not have the authority to regulate public parking but that they are willing to work with the City to correct the problem.

David McPherson, 502 Water Street, stated that he believes that if the Council were to restrict parking on Fountain Street the problem would simply be moved further away to other streets, such as Water Street, West Avenue, St. Mary Avenue, and Park Avenue. He believes that the solution would have to come from the ALMC by way of providing more parking spaces for their employees and encouraging them to be good citizens and park where it is recommended.

Mayor Eaton asked City Attorney Steve Schwab whether permit parking is illegal or not. Mr. Schwab stated that permit parking is extremely difficult to enforce and would be almost impossible because the City of Albert Lea does not have a parking enforcement officer at this time due to budget constraints.

Councilor Brooks asked Mark Fenstermacher if all of the employees of the ALMC have parking permits to stick on their vehicles. Mr. Fenstermacher stated that all employees are required to post either a purple or a green sticker on their vehicles when parking on the Medical Center’s property. He stated that the Medical Center does not regulate anything off private property. Councilor Brooks asked Mr. Fenstermacher whether or not the guards in the ALMC parking lot would be willing to police the area and report the names to the Medical Center, which would in turn reprimand the violators. Mr. Fenstermacher stated that he did not believe that they would be able to legally enforce parking on public property.

Alice Hanson, 612 East Park Avenue, suggested that the money generated from the parking violations be used to pay for a parking enforcement officer. City Manager Sparks stated that the City of Albert Lea had a parking enforcement officer before and the tickets did not generate enough revenue to pay the officer’s salary.

Councilor Erdman explained that he met with Steve Waldhoff and Steve Underdahl from the ALMC. The representatives stated that the hospital has plenty of parking for their employees and that they have also offered to run a shuttle down to the West Clinic so employees could park there, which the employees rejected.

Councilor Brooks moved that the Council take no action on restricting parking on Fountain Street. There was a lack of a second and therefore the motion failed.

After Council discussion, Councilor Kron moved, Councilor Brooks seconded, that a representative of the City meet with representatives from the ALMC to research the problem in more detail in order to resolve the problem. On roll call vote, all Councilors voted in favor of the motion with the exception of Councilors Erdman and Fjelstad who voted nay. Mayor Eaton declared the motion carried, the public hearing closed, and requested a meeting be scheduled with the ALMC.

Mayor Eaton opened a public hearing for the adoption of Miscellaneous Special Assessments Roll 42. The necessary notice for this hearing was published on May 7, 2003. Letters regarding the public hearing were also sent to the affected parties.

No one appeared to be heard. Councilor Brooks moved, Councilor Marin seconded, that Resolution 03-109 adopting Miscellaneous Assessment Roll 42, be approved. On roll call vote, all Councilors voted in favor of said motion. Mayor Eaton declared the motion carried, the public hearing closed, and the assessments levied.

(See Secretary's Original Resolution 03-109 included with these minutes.)

City Manager Sparks explained that the Albert Lea Business Development Center has put together a project to encourage small entrepreneurs. He further explained that the project is a business competition program in which applicants wishing to start a business would submit a complete business plan for review by a panel. The incentive for participating in the program would be that the winners of the competition would be offered a low interest loan for start-up costs. City Manager Sparks stated that the ALBDC requested support from the City of Albert Lea. Mr. Sparks explained to the Council that the City of Albert Lea received $10,000 from Wal-Mart Corporation for economic development purposes. City Manager Sparks suggested that the Council use $5,000 from the money provided by Wal-Mart to support the business plan competition.

Councilor Erdman moved, Councilor Brooks seconded, that Resolution 03-110 authorizing support for ALBDC business plan competition, be approved. On roll call vote, all Councilors voted in favor of said motion. Mayor Eaton declared the motion carried and the resolution adopted.

(See Secretary's Original Resolution 03-110 included with these minutes.)

City Manager Sparks explained that the Board of Appeals heard an appeal of an interpretation of the Zoning Ordinance to allow a bait shop at 810 Madison Avenue. He went on to explain that the Board is recommending approval of the variance.

After Council discussion, Councilor Kron moved, Councilor Fjelstad seconded, that Resolution 03-111 granting a variance to 810 Madison Avenue, be approved. On roll call vote, all Councilors voted in favor of said motion with the exception of Councilor Marin and Mayor Eaton. Mayor Eaton declared the motion carried and the resolution adopted.

(See Secretary's Original Resolution 03-111 included with these minutes.)

City Manager Sparks explained that the City Council appropriated $25,000 for design services to be used for planning a new library in the 2003 budget. The library board is recommending Meyer, Scherer, and Rockcastle of Minneapolis to do a preliminary design for a new library. Mr. Sparks continued by stating that the design will take into account the needs of Freeborn County over the next 20 years. He stated that the current library is running out of space and is insufficient for the amount of use it receives.

City Manager Sparks stated that the Council should consider the downtown area as a possible site for the library for a number of reasons. He stated that if the City isn’t making an investment in downtown it will be difficult to get other people to do likewise. He also commented that the City should keep the library centrally located so that it is easy to get to. City Manager Sparks stated that other benefits of building the library downtown is that the City owns the property on the North end of Broadway, which would provide sufficient parking without acquiring additional land as well as the opportunity of joint programming of facilities with the theater.

Mr. Sparks stated that the design would include what amenities should be in the library, how big it should be, what might be some of its shapes, and how you would fit the building on the site.

Councilor Amundson stated that the City knows it needs a new library and he believes that the City should have the study done now because the fee will only increase as time goes on. He stated that the City would then at least have a rudimentary plan to work from.

Councilor Fjelstad stated that he feels the study would be of no use is the City is not going to be able build the library within the next five years. He stated that he believes having the study done at this time does not make any sense considering the current budget constraints.

Councilor Marin stated that he believes that simply because the City has the money appropriated does not mean that the Council has to spend it. He stated that he feels it is wiser to save up money for the library building until they have a better idea of where the library site will be.

Alice Hanson, 612 East Park Avenue, stated that she believes that there should be a committee made up of citizens to help decide where the library site should be before the study is done. She believes that the location on North Broadway could be used to build something that would attract people to Albert Lea that would spend money rather than government buildings. She also stated that she believes this issue has been dealt with and decisions were made before being presented to the public.

Tony Trow, 522 Park Avenue, stated that he believes a concept plan and model is developed for a specific site. He commented that once the public sees the plan, he believes that the plan will be unstoppable. He stated that there are many empty buildings downtown that would be suitable for a library.

Hugh Hall, 515 West Fountain Street, questioned why the City would consider building the library on the North Broadway location when we are currently having a parking problem even without a building there.

Councilor Marin moved, Councilor Fjelstad seconded, that the contract for preliminary design work for a new library, be denied. On roll call vote, all Councilors voted in favor of said motion with the exception of Councilors Amundson, Kron, and Mayor Eaton. Mayor Eaton declared the motion carried and the contract denied.

City Manager Sparks stated that the City is undertaking Jobs 0232 and 0238 to provide traffic signals for the Wal-Mart development area. He stated that the two signal projects combined approach a little over $500,000 and would be funded by special assessment to the benefiting parties.

Councilor Kron moved, Councilor Brooks seconded, that Resolution 03-112 authorizing Jobs 0232 & 0238, be approved. On roll call vote, all Councilors voted in favor of said motion. Mayor Eaton declared the motion carried and the resolution approved.

(See Secretary's Original Resolution 03-112 included with these minutes.)

City Manager Sparks explained that the passage of the new Conceal and Carry law has brought up a few issues regarding concealed firearms. The City would like to establish a policy prohibiting all employees other than sworn police officers from carrying or possessing firearms while acting in the course and scope of their employment. He explained that the policy would put restrictions on employees carrying concealed weapons when they are conducting City business.

Councilor Marin moved, Councilor Brooks seconded, that Resolution 03-113 approving the firearms policy for City employees, be approved. On roll call vote, all Councilors voted in favor of said motion. Mayor Eaton declared the motion carried and the resolution approved.

(See Secretary's Original Resolution 03-113 included with these minutes.)

Second Ward, Councilor Erdman: