Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAbout02.19.08 Council Minutes COUNCIL MINUTES PRE-MEETING FEBRUARY 19, 2008 1. CALL TO ORDER The meeting was called to order by Mayor Soderberg at 6:30 p.m. Members Present: Members Absent: Also Present: Soderberg, Fogarty, McKnight, Pritzlaff, Wilson None Joel Jamnik, City Attorney; Peter Herlofsky, City Administrator; Robin Roland, Finance Director; Brian Lindquist, Police Chief; Randy Distad, Parks and Recreation Director; Kevin Schorzman, Interim City Engineer; Lisa Shadick, Administrative Services Director; Tony Wippler, Assistant City Planner; Cynthia Muller, Executive Assistant 2. APPROVE AGENDA MOTION by Fogarty, second by McKnight to approve the Agenda. APIF, MOTION CARRIED. 3. CITIZEN COMMENTS 4. COUNCIL REVIEW OF AGENDA Councilmember Fogarty pulled the February 4,2008 minutes to abstain. She had a question regarding the agreement with the YMCA. The FYHA had a concern with the fees the Y is being charged versus the fees the hockey association pays. Their concern was regarding the staff time. Parks and Recreation Director Distad stated the rental fee is based on what the school district charges which is $6/hour. The City's fee ordinance does not address an hourly rental fee for the arena without ice. Regarding staff, during the daytime fulltime staffwill be on duty, but they will not be working in the arena. They are working in other City facilities. Staff is opening the arena for the Y to have access to the building. The Y will be using their own staff. Seasonal staff will be on duty from 3:30 - 6:00 p.m. to lock the building. The Y will cover that cost. Councilmember Fogarty asked if there had been any communication with the hockey association. Staff noted they have been in contact with the school district rather than the hockey association. All previous communication has been through the high school hockey coach. Councilmember Fogarty asked ifit is possible to keep ice in the arena in the summer. Staff removes the ice in the spring and can put it back in in the summer. Once the ice is in place it costs $6,000/week to maintain. Halfis salaries, and the remaining portion is utilities and other costs. This would average 38 hours/week to cover costs. The hockey association would have to rent it for 38 hours/week. Last year, they could not cover that many hours. With having ice in the summer, the current equipment should last for five years. Council directed staff to look at the fee ordinance for dry floor rental for a long-time event. Council Minutes (Pre-Meeting) February 19, 2008 Page 2 Regarding the Toro agreement, Councilmember Wilson asked staff to bring back a cost analysis in September. Councilmember Pritzlaff noted the warming house is closed this week. Parks and Recreation Director Distad noted the warming house hours were extended three days this year past the normal schedule. Staff will maintain the ice, but the warming house is closed and staffhas left for the season. 5. STAFF COMMENTS City Administrator Herlofsky noted the City has been having some discussions with the school district regarding transportation issues. Hwy 50 and Flagstaff Avenue is the major intersection. For the March 10 workshop he suggested meeting with the school district and Dakota County to discuss the planning process as a result of the location of the new high school. Parks and Recreation Director Distad stated the Parks and Recreation Commission requested having a workshop with the Council in May to discuss long-term financial planning and postpone the parks tour until fall. Council agreed. 6. ADJOURN MOTION by Pritzlaff, second by McKnight to adjourn at 6:47 p.m. APIF, MOTION CARRIED. Respectfully submitted, 7Z~ ?r7~ Cynthia Muller Executive Assistant COUNCIL MINUTES REGULAR FEBRUARY 19, 2008 1. CALL TO ORDER The meeting was called to order by Mayor Soderberg at 7:00 p.m. 2. PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE Mayor Soderberg led the audience and Council in the Pledge of Allegiance. 3. ROLL CALL Members Present: Members Absent: Also Present: Audience: Soderberg, Fogarty, McKnight, Pritzlaff, Wilson None Joel Jamnik, City Attorney; Peter Herlofsky, City Administrator; Robin Roland, Finance Director; Brian Lindquist, Police Chief; Randy Distad, Parks and Recreation Director; Kevin Schorzman, Interim City Engineer; Lisa Shadick, Administrative Services Director; Tony Wippler, Assistant City Planner; Cynthia Muller, Executive Assistant Shannon Walsh, Mark Bubbers, Erik Starkman, Todd Arey 4. APPROVE AGENDA Councilmember Fogarty pulled the February 4,2008 minutes to abstain. MOTION by Pritzlaff, second by Wilson to approve the Agenda. APIF, MOTION CARRIED. 5. ANNOUNCEMENTS 6. CITIZEN COMMENTS a) Response to Ms. Shannon Walsh -Administration Ms. Shannon Walsh, 816 2nd Street, stated she did not receive a copy of the response to her comments. She noted after receiving a notice of public hearing for a variance at 808 2nd Street, she requested a copy of the variance application on February 2, February 5, and February 12, 2008. She sent a note to the City Planner and City Administrator requesting for a third time a copy ofthe variance application. She has yet to receive the information. Refusal to provide requested information in a timely manner could be considered a violation of the Minnesota Data Practices Act. It falls short of the City's commitment to serve the needs of the community. In City Administrator Herlofsky's response to her comments it states a tri-plex is a permitted non-conforming use. She believes it is an illegal non-conforming use as it does not have the code required zoning certificate as evidence that it was a legal non-conforming use when code changed. Not only has the zoning officer not based her decision that this property is legal non- conforming on the required evidence, no other evidence or documentation has been brought forth to support her decision. It remains an unproven assertion which she disputes. When Ms. Walsh originally contacted the City regarding the~ demolition underway at this property on December 27, 2007, Lisa Dargis Council Minutes (Regular) February 19, 2008 Page 2 confirmed that no permits had been issued. Permits have since been issued for the front two thirds of the property although the back third has been sided, windows and door replaced. The City did not issue interior demolition permits and it does not have any documentation that state electrical permits have been requested or what type of work is being done. In the City's response to Council, the zoning official determined that there were issues that allowed the non-conforming tri- plex use to continue. City Code 10-4-2b states in the event that a non-conforming use in a structure ceases for whatever reason for a period of one year, that such non-conforming use shall not be resumed. The non-conforming use ceased on December 31,2006. Furthermore, 2007 Minnesota State Building Code cites MN Statute 462.357 under non-conformities, non-conformity may be continued, improved and not expanded unless the non-conformity is discontinued for a year or more. Weare seven weeks past a year. When the zoning officer states there are issues which allow the non-conforming use of this property to continue, Ms. Walsh would like to know exactly what the foundation for that decision is. The response from the City is most unsatisfactory in terms of factual information. She has done nothing but quote code and the response has been nothing but fluff. If there is a legal or code basis for the conclusions reached by the City she is waiting to hear them. She has not brought forth a claim of abandonment. Code differentiates between abandonment and non-conforming use which is uncontested. Both City and state code are clear. Discontinued use for a period of a year shall not be resumed. The City's issues are less clear. It appears from the outside that the zoning officer has been somewhat circumvented on this issue by the City Administrator. She has not stated her findings, documented research, outlined investigations, stated conclusions, inspected the property or contributed to this memo in any tangible way. With the addition of windows, reframing, resizing openings for existing windows, adding new doors, eliminating doors, windows, all of these changes surpass the code defined limit of normal or incidental maintenance and non-structural alterations. As code violations at this property have not been abated, she is wondering how they have been addressed. Construction debris continues to be scattered all over the property, blowing throughout the neighborhood, there are non-operable vehicles on the property parking in the yard, and outside storage containers. The only change has been the removal of the refrigerator. There is no explanation from the City Administrator why it has taken more than three complaints in two months to address and abate these simple issues. City code 10-4-3-b-3 states that if a property is damaged beyond 50% of its value, if replaced, must be brought up to legal conforming use. The City has stated that their assessment has determined that the replacement is under 50%. It is not clear who did the calculating because evidence of calculations has not been provided. Adding together City building permits, you will note the interior model is valued at $20,000; roof, windows, siding $30,000; mechanical $13,000; plumbing $14,000, this totals $77,000 or 54% of value. Permits have not been issued for the necessary insulation work and no dollar figure has been stated for the interior demolition. Additionally, as the state issues permits for electrical work, these costs have yet to be added to the total replacement expense ofthe property. These are all estimates and not actual costs as required by code. Code 10-4-2-b-1 states a non-conforming use may be continued but may not be extended, expanded, or changed unless to a conforming use. It is her contention that apartment 1 has been subdivided into two units; one Council Minutes (Regular) February 19, 2008 Page 3 with a bedroom, bath and kitchen; and the other with a bedroom. While she has often complained to the City about this, no consideration for her concerns has ever been given and neither the zoning officer nor building inspector to her knowledge, has investigated the situation. Currently the tenant who lives in the west side of the building has been living there for a number of years, while the tenant on the east side of apartment 1 has been a revolving door tenancy. Several years ago when the window on the far west unit was removed and replaced with a door, she contacted the City and was told it was an exit door. This despite the fact the unit already had an entrance and an exit door. Since that time each tenant in the west rear unit has always entered and exited by the exit door. In order for him to gain access to the bathroom and kitchen, he walks outside, crosses the driveway through the snow, rain and cold, enters the entrance for apartment 1, goes back out the entrance door, across the driveway and back into his unit by the exit door. Her contention of a fourth unit is further substantiated by an independent outsider's observation. The asbestos testing report commissioned by the property owner shows on page one and two of the report that it is a four unit apartment building located at 808 2nd Street. Later it states that a comprehensive asbestos inspection was conducted on four units. The report notes the building has a small basement with a newer forced air heating one apartment and the other three apartments are heated with space heaters. In the inspector's handwritten notes, he refers to a four unit apartment building and lists apartment by apartment what samples were taken and from where. Four separate units were sampled. This is an expanded use in violation of City code and a violation of the Certificate of Occupancy as well as State Statute which specifically states excluding expansion of non-conformities. She asked Council again, as she did at the February 4,2008 meeting, to take action under City code 10-3-14 enforcement remedies to institute in the name of the City any appropriate action or procedure needed to bring this property into compliance with City code. Mayor Soderberg directed City Attorney Jamnik to provide a response to Ms. Walsh. 7. CONSENT AGENDA MOTION by McKnight, second by Fogarty to approve the Consent Agenda as follows: a) Approved Council Minutes (2/11/08 Special) b) Adopted RESOLUTION R13-08 Accepting Donation Youth Scholarship Program - Parks and Recreation c) Adopted RESOLUTION R14-08 Accepting January 2008 Donations Rambling River Center - Parks and Recreation d) Approved Mowing Agreement with Toro Company - Parks and Recreation e) Authorized Park Planning Services Proposal- Parks and Recreation f) Approved School and Conference - Police Department g) Approved School and Conference - Police Department h) Approved School and Conference - Fire Department i) Received Information January 2008 Financial Report - Finance j) Authorized Professional Services Audio Visual Equipment - Administration k) Approved Bills APIF, MOTION CARRIED. Council Minutes (Regular) February 19, 2008 Page 4 a) MOTION by Pritzlaff, second by Wilson to approve the February 4, 2008 regular minutes. Voting for: Soderberg, McKnight, Pritzlaff, Wilson. Abstain: Fogarty. MOTION CARRIED. 8. PUBLIC HEARINGS a) Adopt Resolution - Amending Economic Development Authority Membership - Administration The purpose ofthe hearing was to evaluate the composition ofthe EDA and consider a change to five Councilmembers and no citizens. Mr. Erik Starkman, 5275 185th Street, a current member ofthe EDA, stated last month Council discussed the change and he mentioned how quickly it is happening. Approximately two years ago they were an HRA and discussed the merits of converting to an EDA. During this time it was done very carefully and deliberately. The composition ofthe board was discussed in great detail and it was decided that it would be five citizens and two Councilmembers. It does not seem like there has been a lot of thought process in changing the board. There was difficulty in finding two applicants, so the decision has been reached to change it to five Councilmembers. It is not a good precedent to take citizen participation away. Citizens are still able to come to the meetings and ask questions, but it changes the dynamics when citizens actually volunteer. It takes away some of their voice and power to help implement change in Farmington. He asked Council to look at this carefully, that this may not be the best approach to change the EDA to just Council. A lot of good things have come from having regular citizens on the board, participating and dedicating their time and effort. Mr. Todd Arey, 20651 Devonshire Avenue, current Chair of the EDA, stated having citizens on boards is a good thing. Council has the right to do whatever they want with the EDA. You do not just throw something away without a good reason. He has not heard anything that matches taking the current EDA members out and replacing them with Council. There were some openings that can be filled, but beyond that it is not making a good connection. Councilmember Pritzlaff stated they are not throwing anything away. Council will use what the current EDA has brought forward. He wanted to see Council continue to move forward. He wanted to be on the EDA and see some things come to fruition in a shorter time frame. There was an issue with two open seats and no applicants. That was not the reason for the decision, but does play into it because we need a full board. He has attended EDA meetings and a number of times EDA members ask questions and look to the current two Councilmembers for an answer which is not fair to them as they cannot answer for the rest of Council. When there are tough questions, it is better that all of Council is part of that. He would have been happy with three Councilmembers, but the majority of Council felt it should be five rather than three. He asked City Attorney Jamnik if there was a problem with having two at-large people and labeling them as business representatives from the community. City Attorney Jamnik replied the labeling is not provided for in the statute. There can be three, five, or seven members of the EDA. Council does not have the authority to limit the members of the two other people. A subsequent Council could appoint anyone they Council Minutes (Regular) February 19,2008 Page 5 wanted. If you try to designate the demographics of those two seats, it is not provided for in the statute. Any Council can choose the appointments as it wishes using whatever non-discriminatory basis it wants. A subsequent Council would have that same right to select whoever they want within the parameters of the statute or change the ordinance. Councilmember Wilson asked Mr. Starkman and Mr. Arey how many years they have served on the EDA. Mr. Starkman has served for 3 ~ years and Mr. Arey for 10 years. Councilmember Wilson stated there are three individuals with a total of 16 combined years of service. He can see the wisdom of moving to five Councilmembers, but is concerned. He left the January workshop feeling they were moving in the direction of five Councilmembers and retaining the citizen representation. This would be his preference. There will be a period of time to stop and regroup and restart. His observation ofthe EDA over the past two years has been some stops and starts. When losing 16 years of wisdom in favor of an abrupt change, that concerns him as an elected official to try to move the economic development realm forward. He shared Mr. Starkman's and Mr. Arey's concerns. He felt Council was making an abrupt decision. He would prefer having five Councilmembers and two citizens. Councilmember McKnight stated his preference would be to go to five Councilmembers with direct input from citizens and especially business owners through the Economic Growth Committee. Having been to the two EGC meetings, he saw the excitement and energy. The first meeting the work plan was discussed with City staff and the second meeting the work plan was put in place. That is what he is looking for from citizen input. This is an issue the Council is being held accountable for the most from citizens. Using the EGC as public input gives Council the direct experience and impact the business owners have. He would prefer five Councilmembers with a direct connection to the EGC. Councilmember Fogarty stated at the January workshop she got the strong impression the majority of Council wanted five Councilmembers. Her comment was that five Councilmembers would drown out two citizens. She is not sure what Council wants out of this will happen. Council wants things to move quicker and they are being held accountable for economic development. She was not sure this Council can make it move faster than the EDA has. With that, she asked herself why change it and remove the citizen comment. She opposed re- organizing the EDA. If Council is going to remove the citizen comment, they need to be sure they can do it better or more effectively or faster. She was not convinced. Mayor Soderberg stated in talking with other Mayors and some citizens, there were arguments that favor the Council being the EDA. Other jurisdictions have found it works much better. There is continuity and consistency between Council goals and objectives. Even some members of the current EDA favor changing it to five Councilmembers. It provides an opportunity for input through the EGC. He does not disagree that citizen input is very valuable. It is not throwing the EDA out, it is just changing the composition. With going to five Councilmembers and two citizens, there are three EDA members remaining that Council Minutes (Regular) February 19, 2008 Page 6 are not Councilmembers. Which one do we cut? The two remaining EDA members indicated they would probably feel drowned out. It was not the intent of the Council at the January workshop to change the EDA. That is how the discussion evolved. Mr. Todd Arey stated Councilmember Pritzlaffmentioned it would be unfair to ask the two Councilmembers that do sit on the EDA for their opinions on what the Council wants. That is what they are there for; to bring continuity from the Council to what the EDA does and not speak for, but to add their input so it can be taken back to Council. Councilmember McKnight stated working with the EGC and EDA, that can happen with the current members or the Council as the EDA. MOTION by McKnight, second by Fogarty to close the public hearing. APIF, MOTION CARRIED. Councilmember Pritzlaff expressed his appreciation to the EDA members that currently serve on the EDA. He perceived Council would be using their information gained over the last several years to move forward. MOTION by McKnight, second by Pritzlaffto adopt ORDINANCE 008-578 and enabling RESOLUTION R15-08 to change the membership ofthe Economic Development authority to five Councilmembers. Voting for: Soderberg, McKnight, Pritzlaff. Voting against: Fogarty, Wilson. MOTION CARRIED. 9. AWARD OF CONTRACT 10. PETITIONS, REQUESTS AND COMMUNICATIONS a) 2008 Budget Adjustment Commercial Vehicle Enforcement - Police Department In the interest of public safety, proper road maintenance and traffic enforcement are two key components. Commercial vehicle enforcement is a major component. In 2007 the City dedicated an officer to receive the proper training and focus on enforcement measures to ensure commercial vehicle compliance. Officer Amundson is a licensed commercial vehicle inspector. Due to staffing issues, the MN State Patrol has suggested that local law enforcement agencies take on more of a responsibility enforcing commercial vehicle violation laws. Officer Admundson has been in contact with local commercial carriers. Potential fines could result in an annual income of $24,000. In order to enforce commercial vehicle laws special equipment is required. A budget adjustment of$23,811 is requested to purchase four Portable Static WL 101 scales and upgrade the purchase of a Crown Victoria squad car to a Chevrolet Tahoe. If fines do not cover the cost, the savings in reconstruction of roads will help. The Tahoe is needed to carry the scales to properly weigh trucks and other equipment that will not fit in a squad car. MOTION by Pritzlaff, second by Fogarty to approve a budget adjustment of$23,811 to purchase four Portable Static WL 101 Scales and upgrade the purchase of a Crown Victoria squad car to a Chevrolet Tahoe. APIF, MOTION CARRIED. Council Minutes (Regular) February 19,2008 Page 7 b) Approve Agreement with Southwest Area YMCA - Parks and Recreation The City is entering into an agreement for the YMCA to rent the ice arena. The rental dates would be from June 23 - August 15,2008, from 6:00 a.m. - 6:00 p.m. The YMCA will run two of its summer programs out of the arena. The rental fee was based on what the school district is charging for the use of one gym. The fee is $6.00/hour which comes to $2,000. Ice is left in the arena until March and then put in again in June or July. Fulltime City staffwill not be in the arena, but working in other areas. The YMCA will provide their own staff. They will not be in the arena for the entire time as there will be field trips, etc. To run one week of summer ice it costs $6,000/week. An organization would need to commit to 38 hours/week of ice time to break even. The YMCA approached the City regarding using the arena. There have been no requests from the hockey association. MOTION by Wilson, second by McKnight to approve the agreement with the YMCA. APIF, MOTION CARRIED. 11. UNFINISHED BUSINESS a) Schedule Joint Meeting with Empire Township - Planning Staff has been working on an Orderly Annexation Agreement with Empire Township. The next step in the approval process is to hold an informational meeting with Council and the Empire Town Board. Staff proposed March 19, 2008 at 7:00 p.m. at Empire Town Hall. Mayor Soderberg noted this agreement is for when the property owners initiate action to annex into the City, the agreement is already in place. The City is not forcing anyone to annex. 12. NEW BUSINESS a) Council Salaries - Administration The last time salaries were reviewed for Council was in 1999. To bring Council to the average, it was proposed to increase salaries by $250 per month. This would bring the Mayor's salary to $670 per month and Councilmembers to $585 per month. Councilmember Pritzlaff would also like to look at stipends for boards and commissions. These salaries would take effect January I, 2009. Councilmember Pritzlaff noted for this amount the public gets two Council meetings per month, one workshop per month, and other committee meetings. The amount oftime for meetings comes to 45 hours/month which comes to $ 13/hour. He felt this is a fair amount for representation given to the residents. Councilmember McKnight noted they are giving the next City Council a raise. Boards and Commissions are paid $10-$30 per meeting. He would also like those stipends brought to a future meeting. He noted this was requested by Council, not the City Administrator. Councilmember Fogarty agreed there is a lot more time spent other than attending meetings. Some Councilmembers have to take personal time from work to attend events. Councilmember Wilson was opposed to the increase. Council is underpaid and over performs, but was concerned the rationale for the increase was to get them up to average. Council Minutes (Regular) February 19, 2008 Page 8 Mayor Soderberg noted the last time Council received a raise was in 1999. MOTION by Fogarty, second by Pritzlaffto adopt ORDINANCE 008-579 to raise Council salaries $250 per month. Voting for: Soderberg, Fogarty, McKnight, Pritzlaff. Voting against: Wilson. MOTION CARRIED. 13. COUNCIL ROUNDTABLE Councilmember Fogarty: Since the Council is now the EDA, she asked when the meetings would be. She suggested before a Council meeting. Councilmember McKnight suggested leaving it at the regular schedule to start. Councilmember Pritzlaff noted there would be meetings four Mondays a month and suggested a different day during the week. This will be placed on the February 25, 2008, EDA meeting agenda. Councilmember McKnight: Congratulated the girls' hockey team on going to state the second year in a row. Councilmember Wilson: He thanked the residents who attended the caucuses. He worked with Bob Erickson, an Apple Valley Councilmember, on the ALF Board. He passed away a few days ago. Councilmember Pritzlaff: He will be participating in a Special Olympics event on Saturday. 14. ADJOURN MOTION by Fogarty, second by McKnight to adjourn at 8:10 p.m. APIF, MOTION CARRIED. Respectfully submitted, ~ JYh~ Cynthia Muller Executive Assistant