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HomeMy WebLinkAbout11.21.05 Council Minutes COUNCIL MINUTES PRE-MEETING November 21, 2005 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 Andrea Poehler, City Attorney; Robin Roland, Acting City Administrator/Finance Director; Kevin Carroll, Community Development Director; Dan Siebenaler, Police Chief; Randy Distad, Parks and Recreation Director; Lee Mann, Director of Public Works/City Engineer; Lisa Shadick, Administrative Services Director; Brenda Wendlandt, Human Resources Director; Cynthia Muller, Executive Assistant 2. APPROVE AGENDA MOTION by Pritzlaff, second by McKnight to approve the Agenda. APIF, MOTION CARRIED. 3. CITIZEN COMMENTS 4. COUNCIL REVIEW OF AGENDA Councilmember Fogarty asked about item 7f) Funding for Metro Watershed Partners, and she noticed the City and the Watershed gives a donation. She did not see Lakeville, Hastings, or other members of the Watershed mentioned in the letter as giving donations. City Engineer Mann will research the item. Councilmember McKnight asked about item 7e) Change Order Fire Station No.2 and asked staff to review the changes. City Engineer Mann replied some projects go out for bid before they have final Engineering approval. There were some minor pond adjustments that were needed after the bid came in. This change reflects the difference in pnce. Councilmember Pritzlaff asked about approving the various licenses and permits and noted some of the businesses had a violation for selling cigarettes to minors. He asked if this affected their renewal. Police Chief Siebenaler replied not in the number of offenses that have occurred. Denial of a license is not part of the penalty. Councilmember Pritzlaff asked about Police Chief Siebenaler's donation of a taser to the Police Department and noted there were four participants in the training. Police Chief Siebenaler stated the other three participants will retain ownership of their tasers. Mayor Soderberg thanked Police Chief Siebenaler for his donation. Council Minutes (Pre-Meeting) (November 21,2005) Page 2 5. STAFF COMMENTS Acting City Administrator Roland stated there is the potential for a closed session to discuss ISD 192 litigation. It was decided to hold the closed session after the December 5 Council Meeting. Parks and Recreation Director Distad stated they have officially collected 5,124 pairs of shoes for the Reuse-A-Shoe program. This was due to the hard work of a number of staff and Community Ed staff. Human Resources Director Wendlandt gave Council a list ofthe top five candidates to be interviewed for the City Administrator position. Interviews have been scheduled for December 8,2005 and the reception has been set for December 7,2005. One candidate asked ifthe City would pay for an overnight stay as he is from further away in Minnesota. It was determined the City would make the hotel reservation and pay for it. Human Resources Director Wendlandt informed the Council she could submit interview questions to the Councilor help them compile a list of questions to make sure they are appropriate questions to ask. Mayor Soderberg suggested Council forward any particular questions they would like to ask to Human Resources Director Wendlandt. She noted Council needs to ask each candidate the same question. Council can ask follow-up questions as long as they ask the same question of each candidate. It is best to work off a prepared list of questions. Administrative Services Director Shadick received an e-mail from the Cable Coordinator regarding PEG fees. Subscribers are charged a .50 PEG fee. This was implemented in 1999 and is part of the Franchise Agreement. In August this fee was inadvertently discontinued on the billings. Charter will be making up for this on subscribers bills. For the next 12 months there will be a .67 PEG fee on the bills. 6. ADJOURN MOTION by McKnight, second by Pritzlaffto adjourn at 6:50 p.m. APIF, MOTION CARRIED. Respectfully submitted, ~/rl~ Cynthia Muller Executive Assistant COUNCIL MINUTES REGULAR November 21, 2005 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 Andrea Poehler, City Attorney; Robin Roland, Acting City Administrator/Finance Director; Kevin Carroll, Community Development Director; Dan Siebenaler, Police Chief; Randy Distad, Parks and Recreation Director; Lee Mann, Director of Public Works/City Engineer; Lisa Shadick, Administrative Services Director; Brenda Wendlandt, Human Resources Director; Cynthia Muller, Executive Assistant Melinda & JeffBlansit, Bev Preece, Muoi & Raymond He, Randy Oswald, William Cassell, Carolyn Papke 4. APPROVE AGENDA Councilmember Fogarty pulled item 7f) Funding for Metro Watershed Partners for staff to obtain information from other cities. MOTION by Pritzlaff, second by McKnight to approve the Agenda. APIF, MOTION CARRIED. 5. ANNOUNCEMENTS Mayor Soderberg noted Council viewed the new rescue truck. He stated it is a nice step forward and well done to those involved in the Fire Department. 6. CITIZEN COMMENTS 7. CONSENT AGENDA MOTION by Wilson, second by Pritzlaffto approve the Consent Agenda as follows: a) Approved Council Minutes (11/7/05 Regular) b) Approved Various Licenses and Permits - Administration c) Adopted RESOLUTION R128-05 - Approve Gambling Event Permit- Administration d) Adopted RESOLUTION R129-05 - Accepting Donation - Police Department Mayor Soderberg thanked Police Chief Siebenaler for his donation of a taser gun. e) Approved Change Order Fire Station No.2 - Engineering Council Minutes (Regular) (November 21,2005) Page 2 g) Received Information Reuse-A-Shoe Program Update - Parks and Recreation Mayor Soderberg noted in December 2004 Council approved a collection agreement with the National Recycling Coalition and Nike to participate in a recycling program for used athletic shoes. The Park and Rec staff, the school district, Community Education staff, and surrounding cities collected 5,124 pairs of shoes to be sent to Nike for recycling. He thanked staff and all who participated in this program. h) Received Information October 2005 Financial Report - Finance i) Approved Bills APIF, MOTION CARRIED. 8. PUBLIC HEARINGS a) Approve 2006 License Renewals - Administration A public hearing was held to renew licenses for On-Sale Liquor, On-Sale Sunday, Club, On-Sale Intoxicating Malt Liquor and On-Sale Wine, and Sauna and Therapeutic Massage for various businesses. New licenses were issued for the Ugly Mug and Farmington Barber and Beauty. MOTION by Wilson, second by Pritzlaffto close the public hearing. APIF, MOTION CARRIED. MOTION by McKnight, second by Pritzlaffto approve the 2006 licenses for On-Sale Liquor, On-Sale Sunday, On-Sale Intoxicating Malt Liquor and On-Sale Wine, Club, and Therapeutic Massage for various businesses. APIF, MOTION CARRIED. b) Adopt Resolution - Approve Certification of Delinquent Municipal Accounts - Finance On November 5, 2005 a letter was sent to property owners who had delinquent utility bills. There were 610 accounts which were delinquent which amounts to $225,915. As of today there are 400 accounts totaling $196,771 still delinquent. Any accounts not paid by December 5,2005 will be certified to the property taxes at 5% interest. Mr. William Cassell, 48 Pine Place, stated he learned a couple months ago there is a delinquency of $186.70 for water and garbage. They purchased the home in October 2003 and the previous owner is responsible for this. He has tried to contact the previous owner through the title company, but could not locate him. Mr. Cassell did not understand how he could be responsible for the previous owner's delinquency. Finance Director Roland stated if the home was purchased in 2003 she would need to do some research. She will contact Mr. Cassell to resolve the situation. Mr. & Mrs. Raymond He, owners of 18257 Emerald Trail, received a delinquency notice for the previous renters of$468.53. They were not aware the renters had not paid the bill. Mr. He felt the renters should be responsible for paying this bill. Finance Director Roland stated the landlord is the property owner and is the responsible party. Any agreement between the landlord and the renter is between them and is not the responsibility of the City. Ifthe City is aware it is a rental Council Minutes (Regular) (November 21,2005) Page 3 property, the City sends a bill to the renter and the landlord. Otherwise, the bill would just go to the renter. Any claims against the renter would have to be handled in small claims court. MOTION by Pritzlaff, second by Wilson to close the public hearing. APIF, MOTION CARRIED. MOTION by McKnight, second by Pritzlaffto adopt RESOLUTION R130-05 certifying the delinquent accounts as special assessments to the 2006 taxes ofthe appropriate properties. APIF, MOTION CARRIED. 9. AWARD OF CONTRACT 10. PETITIONS, REQUESTS AND COMMUNICATIONS a) Approve Park Master Plan - Parks and Recreation The Parks and Recreation Commission has approved three Park Master Plans for Evergreen Knoll Park, Depot Way Arts Park and Meadow Creek Third Addition Park. Mr. Paul Paige of Hoisington Koegler presented the plans for the three parks. Staff informed the Council that this is an overall Master Plan and would be phased in over time. A budget will be developed and brought to the Council for approval. Mayor Soderberg suggested researching a referendum for these improvements. By paying as we go, today's amenities might be worn out by the time the project is completed. Staff estimated it will take five years to get through all the Park Master Plans. They will be revisited in eight years as the needs change. They will obtain estimates and ifthere is money left in the budget, they will do more. MOTION by Wilson, second by Fogarty to approve the Evergreen Knoll Park, Meadow Creek Third Addition Park and Depot Way Arts Park Master Plans. APIF, MOTION CARRIED. b) Approve Facilities Master Plan - Parks and Recreation A committee reviewed the City's facilities. Mr. John McNamara, Wold Architects presented the findings from the committee. They reviewed the Ice Arena, First Street garage, pool building, downtown garage, Senior Center, liquor store, and the Blaha property. The report documents the condition of the facilities and what it would take to either fix the facilities and to meet the needs of additional equipment needed to service the buildings. In the Ice Arena the biggest item was the mechanical and electrical systems. Some equipment and systems need to be replaced. The First Street garage is centrally located in downtown, but the age of the facility needs to be considered as storage needs expand. The pool building needs to be replaced. There is an old barn that is used for storage of supplies and old bikes. As facilities are consolidated, this needs to be considered. The Blaha property is part ofthe new City Hall property. When the City Hall project begins, the storage in this building needs to be considered. The Senior Center is in good condition and is serving the City well. The downtown Parks and Engineering storage building is being used for storage of equipment. As plans move forward for new facilities this building should be replaced. The liquor Council Minutes (Regular) (November 21,2005) Page 4 store is being rebuilt. The committee also reviewed storage needs and it was determined 21,000 sq. ft. would be needed to accommodate all of the equipment. Mr. McNamara reviewed costs of replacing the various facilities. Councilmember McKnight thanked staff and Mr. McNamara for their hard work. He noted this is one piece of a three-piece plan for our future facilities along with the City Hall study and the Community Center study. MOTION by McKnight, second by Wilson to approve the Facilities Master Plan Study. APIF, MOTION CARRIED. c) 210th Street Road Ali~nment - Community Development The connection of 21 ot Street to hwy 3 is an important transportation connection. This alignment involves the Perkins property and the Reagan property. The owners of the Perkins property have brought in concept plans for medium to high density residential and the plan shows 21 oth Street would be constructed as part of that project. Staff has discussed the Reagan property with the owner. He has moved his bus garage business to the industrial park and he is planning to lease the site for storage use. Mr. Reagan is not interested in having the road go through his property which would follow the previous railroad right-of-way. There are three options to preserve the right-of-way. 1. Negotiate with the property owner and acquiring the right-of-way. Based on discussions with Mr. Reagan staff is not certain this is a viable option, but staff is willing to continue discussions. 2. Official mapping which would allow the right-of-way to be mapped and would prohibit certain types of uses in that area. However, it does not complete the transaction for the right-of-way. 3. The City could use its powers of eminent domain and condemn the right- of-way. This would be the only way to obtain the right-of-way if the property owner is not willing to negotiate. Mayor Soderberg would prefer to reach an agreement with Mr. Reagan. Eminent domain is an issue of last resort and should only be used for public purpose. He felt staff should pursue official mapping at a minimum. He would support eminent domain as a last resort. Councilmember Wilson felt staff should make a strong effort to discuss this further with Mr. Reagan and report back to Council. City Engineer Mann asked if Council has a consensus that the right-of-way needs to be obtained at some point. Council agreed. Councilmember McKnight was not ready to talk about official mapping yet. He would like discussions to continue with Mr. Reagan. City Engineer Mann clarified that Council wanted staff to continue discussions with Mr. Reagan and report back to Council and that further options would be explored if and when necessary. Community Development Director Carroll stated staff needs clear indication from Council for Mr. Reagan's benefit that 210th Street needs to go through. Councilmember Fogarty felt it is an important connection and if the City cannot reach a deal with Mr. Reagan we should move forward with eminent domain. She felt the City should not spend money on official mapping. Community Development Director Council Minutes (Regular) (November 21,2005) Page 5 Carroll felt it was clear that the majority of Council intends to have the road go through and we should use the full range of options to make that happen if necessary, with the understanding the preference is to negotiate something that would be mutually acceptable. City Engineer Mann stated if the road will not be done for a few years, the official mapping option would be the best. If the road will be needed in 2-3 years it makes sense to go through the process now, as the land will not be cheaper later. Staffwill continue discussions with Mr. Reagan. d) Development Issues - Proposed Concept Review Process (for Southeast Region) and Proposed Criteria for Multi-Family and Medium-to-High Density Housing - Community Development The first issue deals with an area on the east side of Farmington. Staffhas divided the area into two areas. Zone A contains small parcels or parcels in the townships. The Perkins property has discussed annexation, and also the owners ofthe Corinthian Cemetery, small properties along hwy 3 and some properties covered by the Ash Street Annexation Agreement. The system plans for this area are in the process of being updated. Zone B properties are further to the east and the south and are larger parcels, primarily agricultural. Staff suggested dealing with Zone A properties differently than Zone B properties. Community Development Director Carroll outlined the process for dealing with concept plans for these properties. The Planning Commission recommended approval of the process. Councilmember Pritzlaff agreed with the process. Councilmember McKnight asked if Councilmember Pritzlaff would rather see a developer propose what will be out there or have the Council and Planning Commission say what will be there. Councilmember Pritzlaff replied he would like to have Council have the final say, but he would like to have a plan they can look at. Councilmember McKnight felt this process was pre-mature and it seemed we were moving away from the work the MUSA Committee did last year. He does not want to be in the same situation as they are with the Perkins property. He also does not want to get ahead of the process with the Castle Rock group. Council needs to figure out what they want and not let the developers push them. Mayor Soderberg stated we are focusing more on what to do with the parcels in Zone A. Councilmember McKnight noted his comments referred to Zone B. Councilmember Wilson noted Council has a meeting next week with the Planning Commission. He felt the pressure to define the region is based on the submission of one concept plan. He liked the type of buildings being proposed but was not sure if they should be in that area. Before establishing criteria he would rather continue the discussion with the Planning Commission and bring this back later in December or 2006. He would also like to reconvene the MUSA Committee. Councilmember Fogarty stated this is why she suggested having quarterly MUSA meetings so if property owners wanted to be considered they would not have to wait for the committee to reconvene. She understood the Perkins property brought this to the forefront, but she felt this is symptomatic of a larger problem. There is so much that needs to be reviewed Council Minutes (Regular) (November 21,2005) Page 6 there is no harm in improving the process. She felt Council needed to send direction to the MUSA Committee that Council needed help in creating a vision for the City. She does not want to leave it to individual property owners to plan what they want. Council should have a plan. She felt the process was basic and a good place to start. Community Development Director Carroll agreed with the need to look at MUSA again. The sequencing of the process is consistent with what was done in the MUSA Committee. Property owners presented concept plans to staff as part of the MUSA process. Staff wanted to be able to tell people what the sequence will be so they know what to expect. Mayor Soderberg stated this is a process for considering annexation of parcels. The state statute provides that annexation should not take place until development is imminent. There is a distinction between imminent development and immediate development. The Perkins property is immediate development. The Devney and Rother properties could be considered imminent development because they are planning for it. The current annexation policy is that landowners that want to petition to annex into the City, should contact their own town board. That policy does not address reviewing concept plans. He agreed we do not want to jeopardize discussions with the townships. The idea of having a concept plan with the level of detail as the Perkins property is pre-mature until that property is annex,ed into the City. However, he liked the concept because it will help get 210th Street through. Councilmember McKnight stated regarding Zone B, once the agreement is done with Castle Rock, he would not be concerned with saying this is what we want to see in general. Mayor Soderberg felt once annexation agreements are in place they can say this is the density we would like to see. He would like to hold off on a decision until the process is discussed further with the Planning Commission. Council's options were to adopt this as an interim policy, or not take action and discuss it at the November 30,2005 workshop, or suggest specific modifications to the process. It was decided to wait until after the Joint Council/Planning Commission Workshop. The next issue is what to do about multi-family and medium-to-high density housing. Staff does not have any criteria to provide guidance regarding where and when Council would be receptive to this housing. In the future, some developers may want to know where medium-to-high density will go. Some developers are proposing densities different than the Comp Plan, but there is no criteria showing where it should go. Community Development Director Carroll reviewed the proposed criteria for determining densities. The Planning Commission recommended adopting the criteria. Councilmember McKnight asked what if we don't meet the Met Council's goals for housing density. Staff noted there is not a simple answer, however they are concerned about the lack of high density. Council supported the criteria, but wanted to discuss this with the Planning Commission. Council Minutes (Regular) (November 21,2005) Page 7 11. UNFINISHED BUSINESS 12. NEW BUSINESS 13. COUNCIL ROUNDTABLE Councilmember Fogarty: She asked when we receive applications for boards and commissions are they given information as to when their first meeting will be. Staff replied after they are chosen they are given that information. All appointments are February 1. Councilmember Fogarty stated there is the potential ofthe HRA moving their meetings and suggested a list of meetings be given when they apply. She then asked if we have any training on the Open Meeting Law for boards and commissions and felt this should be considered. She thanked Ms. Anna Achtenberg and Police Chief Siebenaler for presenting a meeting on safety for kids. It was a great meeting. The Vermillion Watershed was awarded a $675,000 grant from the federal government. This will help them finish up some of their capital improvement projects. Councilmember McKnight: An issue raised at Coffee with Council was now that Ash Street is almost done, what is the schedule for Elm Street and the potential for a stop light at City Center. City Engineer Mann replied engineering work would be done in 2006 and construction in 2008. The stop light location would be at 1 st Street and Elm Street if warrants are met. Police Chief Siebenaler: Reminded residents winter parking restrictions are in effect. For out of town guests, temporary parking permits are available, but they do not include a snow fall event. City Engineer Mann: There has been a significant amount of street mileage added to the City and if cars are present during plowing, they have to be towed. Ash Street is almost finished. Mayor Soderberg: A resident asked if it was possible for Council to consider licensing rental properties. The concern was to identify difficult housing. There are pro's and con's to this. This would involve a yearly inspection to make sure rental housing is up to code. If a renter is behind in utility bills, the landlord is notified before it is certified to the taxes. Police Chief Siebenaler noted each rental unit is licensed separately so in the event of code violations, the whole property does not become unoccupied. The loss of license is based on ordinance. Community Development Director Carroll stated staffhas surveys from other cities regarding this issue and will try to find this information. Licensing rental properties would be a significant staff commitment. Mayor Soderberg stated the grant for the Vermillion River Watershed is great news and he attended the presentation. The Governor picked two projects out of the state to be presented to the EP A. The EP A picked 12 proj ects nationwide. Part of the selection was due to the proactive approach the watershed is taking. Council Minutes (Regular) (November 21,2005) Page 8 14. ADJOURN MOTION by Fogarty, second by McKnight to adjourn at 9:51 p.m. APIF, MOTION CARRIED. Respectfully submitted, ~~;rv;~ Cynthia Muller Executive Assistant