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HomeMy WebLinkAbout01.18.05 Council Minutes COUNCIL MINUTES REGULAR January 18, 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: Soderberg, Fogarty, McKnight, Pritzlaff, Wilson None Joel Jamnik, City Attorney; David Urbia, CityAdministrator; Robin Roland, 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 Audience: Wendy Wustenberg, Bill, Lauren and Russell Wustenberg, Cindy, Kent, and Elise Schroeder, Jordan Olson, Mike Heinzerling, Tom Wartman, Farmington Police, Roger Solem, John McNamara 4. APPROVE AGENDA City Attorney Jamnik pulled item 7d) Reapportionment of Levied Assessment- Charleswood Development and it will be re-submitted at the February 7,2005 meeting. City Administrator Urbia added item 5b) Proclaim National Mentoring Month and item 10h) Adopt Resolution - 2005 Community Development Block Grant Application Reprogramming of Undisbursed Funds from Prior years. MOTION by Wilson, second by Pritzlaffto approve the Agenda. APIF, MOTION CARRIED. 5. ANNOUNCEMENTS / COMMENDATIONS a) Swear-In New Police Officer - Administration Officer Jason Fox was sworn-in as a new Police Officer. b) Proclaim January as National Mentoring Month Mayor Soderberg proclaimed January as National Mentoring Month. 6. CITIZEN COMMENTS / RESPONSES TO COMMENTS a) Mr. James Steurbaut - Finance Staff mailed a response to Mr. Steurbaut regarding the issue with his well. Council Minutes (Regular) January 18, 2005 Page 2 7. CONSENT AGENDA Councilmember Pritzlaff pulled item 7h) Acknowledge Resignation Community Development. He was sorry to hear Assistant City Planner Atkinson was leaving. Regarding item 7m) Adopt Resolution - Mattson Farm Final Plat and Wetland Conservation Act Permit, he asked if there was water and sewer on that side of Akin Road. City Engineer Mann replied they will bore under the road to bring it to the other side. Community Development Director Carroll stated regarding MUSA for that area, the Council adopted a policy regarding the administrative granting of MUS A to parcels that are 5 acres or less. This parcel is 5.09 acres. Staff subtracted the outlot to be used for ponding purposes and wetland. This leaves the developable portion under 5 acres. Staffwill bring a request to a future agenda to grant MUSA. MOTION by McKnight, second by Fogarty to approve the Consent Agenda as follows: a) Approved Council Minutes (1/3/05 Regular) b) Received Information Parks and Recreation Commission Minutes - Parks and Recreation c) Approved Consultant Proposal - Council/Management Retreat - Administration e) Set February 22,2005 Public Hearing for 2004 NPDES Phase II Permit- Engineering f) Approved Change Order - Southeast Trunk Utility Project - Engineering h) Acknowledged Resignation Community Development - Human Resources Mayor Soderberg was also sorry to see Assistant City Planner Atkinson leaving. He was a quality employee and appreciated his service to the City. i) Approved Appointment Recommendation - Fire Department j) Approved Temporary On-Sale Liquor License - Administration k) Approved Temporary On-Sale Liquor License - Administration (Supplemental) I) Received Information Capital Outlay - Arena n) Adopted Joint RESOLUTION R2-05 - Cumpston Annexation - Community Development 0) Received Information 4th Quarter Building Report - Community Development p) Approved Bills APIF, MOTION CARRIED. m) Adopt Resolution - Mattson Farm Final Plat and Wetland Conservation Act Permit - Community Development City Attorney Jamnik suggested adding a fourth contingency to the resolution granting MUSA required to serve the plat. The MUSA issue will not have to be brought back to Council. MUSA will be granted contemporaneous with the final plat approval. MOTION by Fogarty, second by Wilson adopting RESOLUTION R1-05 approving final plat and Wetland Conservation Act Permit Mattson Farm with the above addition. APIF, MOTION CARRIED. 8. PUBLIC HEARINGS 9. AWARD OF CONTRACT Council Minutes (Regular) January 18, 2005 Page 3 10. PETITIONS, REQUESTS AND COMMUNICATIONS a) Rambling River Chair Fund Raising Marketing Plan - Parks and Recreation Council approved a fund raising project for the Dakota Dreamcatcher 4-H Club to raise funds to purchase new chairs for the Rambling River Center. Ms. Elise Schroeder, President of the club, along with other club members presented the club's marketing plan. The chairs will be purchased from Happy Harry's Furniture of Farmington and will cost $60 each. The slogan of the fund raising project is "Show You Care, Buy a Chair." Donations will be accepted in any amount - $60 buys a full chair, $30 buys a half chair, $15 buys a seat, and $5 buys a leg. Those buying a full chair will have their name appear on the Honor Plaque and all sponsor recognition materials. They hope to raise $9,000 for 150 chairs by March 27,2005. Sponsor forms are available in various locations throughout the City. The proj ect has been approved by the Parks and Recreation Commission. Council was very impressed with the club's presentation. b) Progress Update on Second Fire Station - Wold Architects Mr. John McNamara updated Council on the progress of the second fire station. The original plan was for 9400 sq. ft. The committee has made some minor changes to the administration area, larger training and meeting space, larger sleeping area for ALF, and the vehicle space remains the same. Currently the building is at 9515 sq. ft. The building will be located at the municipal campus with the Maintenance Facility and Police Facility. The front entrance will be off of 197th Street. Mr. McNamara discussed the various areas on the plan. The project would go out to bid in the coming months, finishing the design by the end of April 2005 and construction through March 2006 with occupancy in April/May 2006. The estimated budget is $2.176 million. Total project cost is estimated at $1.424 million in construction, with the project currently being under budget by $72,000. c) Set Date for Community Center Presentation - Parks and Recreation Staff requested to set a date to present the results of the survey for the Community Center. Leisure Vision used a list from the U.S. Post Office that included addresses for non-residents. Usually there is a question on the survey asking if they are a resident or non-resident, however this was removed as the steering committee thought the survey would be sent to residents only. Leisure Vision offered to send an additional 750 surveys for $750. 1600 surveys were mailed, 30 returned as non-deliverable with 589 surveys returned which is a 40% return rate. Normally they receive 15-17%. 47% of the respondents said they would use the facility at least once a week, 23% said they would use the center a few times a month, and 10% said they would never use it. More than 70% felt fees should cover 100% or a majority of the cost. 50% would be willing to pay $3.00-$5.00 more per month in property taxes to fund the construction of a community center. 83.5% of the respondents have visited a City park during the past year. The average is 72%. Staff requested Council set February 2,2005 to present the results to the public. The survey was paid for through park improvement funds. Council Minutes (Regular) January 18, 2005 Page 4 MOTION by Pritzlaff, second by Wilson to set February 2, 2005 for the presentation of the survey results for the Community Center. APIF, MOTION CARRIED. d) Pre-Council Meeting Proposal - Administration Council requested staffto review the possibility of holding pre-Council Meetings. The purpose ofthe pre-Council meetings would be to allow Council to interact informally with staff and citizens prior to the regular Council Meeting. The pre- Council Meetings would begin at 6:30 p.m. and then recess and reconvene at 7:00 p.m. for the regular Council Meetings. The Council By-laws would need to be amended. These meetings would begin February 7,2005. Councilmember McKnight suggested reviewing this at the end ofthe year to see how it is working. Council also discussed holding the pre-meetings at just the first meeting of the month. It was decided to hold the pre-Council meetings prior to all meetings. MOTION by Fogarty, second by Wilson to begin pre-Council meetings on February 7,2005 by approving the changes to the Council By-laws and to provide notification of the meetings accordingly. APIF, MOTION CARRIED. e) Downtown Liquor Store Lease - Finance Staff has pursued a lease with City Center Development LLC (Mr. Tom Wartman) for a new downtown liquor store. The location is in the City Center next to Pellicci Hardware. The building would be 12,800 sq. ft., possibly one- story in the front and two-story in the back. Retail would be on the first level and office space on the second level. The space for the liquor store would be 5,000 sq. ft. The lease is for 7 years with a 3-year option to renew. There is a $40,000 tenant allowance and an initial lease rate of $18.00 per square foot for the first two years. Construction would begin soon and opening approximately August I, 2005. The current downtown store is 2100 sq. ft. In November 2003 sales for the downtown store were $95,000. In November 2004 sales for the downtown store were $101,500. The Pilot Knob store which opened in mid-November 2004 went from $119,000 in November 2003 to $123,000 for half of November 2004. In December 2003 the downtown store sales were $117,000. In December 2004 the sales were $118,000. The sales at the Pilot Knob store in December 2003 were $146,000. In December 2004 sales were $200,000. Staff requested approval of the 7-year lease agreement with City Center Development LLC. MOTION by Pritzlaff, second by McKnight to approve the lease agreement with City Center Development LLC for the new and expanded lease space for the downtown liquor store. APIF, MOTION CARRIED. f) Adopt Resolution - Call for Sale of Refunding Bonds - Finance Staffis proposing to refinance the improvement bonds of 1998 and 1999. The bonds of 1998 are the bonds that helped pay for the expansion and extension of Pilot Knob Road. The bonds of 1999 were the streetscape bonds. Staff is able to secure a lower interest rate for both ofthese bonds, saving $120,000. The bond sale would be on Tuesday, February 22,2005. Staff would look at bonding for the capital improvement projects identified in the CIP in March or April. This Council Minutes (Regular) January 18,2005 Page 5 would include Ash Street, the Spruce Street bridge project, and the fire station. MOTION by Fogarty, second by Wilson adopting RESOLUTION R3-05 calling for the sale of $2,640,000 G.O. Improvement Refunding Bonds, Series 2005A on February 22,2005. APIF, MOTION CARRIED. g) Adopt Resolution -Approve Annexation Policy - Community Development Staff asked for Council's philosophy regarding annexation issues. There are procedural day-to-day issues that staffhas to handle. When township residents come to staff wanting to be annexed, staff informs them they should contact the township officials first. Staff prepared a resolution that reflects this process. MOTION by Wilson, second by Pritzlaff adopting RESOLUTION R4-05 regarding the processing of Petitions for annexation. APIF, MOTION CARRIED. h) Adopt Resolution - 2005 Community Development Block Grant Application and Reprogramming of Undisbursed Funds from Prior Years - Community Development The City is eligible to receive CDBG funds and the application must be submitted by the end of January. The amount of money available is $65,500. The HRA would like to see the money applied to a potential downtown redevelopment project. The project would include demolishing the Riste building and the building used by Xcel Energy and redeveloping that area. The CDA has some limitations for using all of the money for this project. They do not want to see more than 50% of a City's CDBG money used for slum and blight projects. Staff recommends using the other 50% for the redevelopment of the McVicker lot. This involves commercial or retail uses on the lower level and residential uses on the upper level, potentially 5 or 6 apartments. This could meet the CDA's requirement for low to moderate income assistance. The money could be shifted to another project if these requirements are not met, the City does not lose the money. There is also a backlog of unspent CDBG money in the amount of $32,750. Staff recommends taking the backlog and applying it to the same projects. MOTION by McKnight, second by Fogarty adopting RESOLUTION RS-05 approving the City's application for Program Year 2005 Community Development Block Grant funding and approving the reprogramming of unspent CDBG funds from prior years. APIF, MOTION CARRIED. 11. UNFINISHED BUSINESS a) Set Composition of Boards and Commissions - Attorney At the last meeting Council discussed the composition of the Water Board, Housing and Redevelopment Authority, the Rambling River Center Advisory Board and the Heritage Preservation Commission. State statute states the Water Board shall consist of three members. The HRA statute states it shall consist of up to seven members. The RRC and HPC boards are not specified by statute. The ordinance for the RRC indicates the board shall consist of seven members and the HPC ordinance states up to seven members. City Attorney J amnik did not recommend any changes. The HRA is considering revising its structure and Council Minutes (Regular) January 18, 2005 Page 6 whether an EDA should be added. Council agreed to leave the composition of the boards as is. b) Approve Council By-Laws Amendment -Administration City Administrator Urbia reviewed changes to Council policies and by-laws. The changes were made to make the by-laws consistent with current practice. MOTION by Fogarty, second by Pritzlaff approving the amendments to the Council By-laws and policies. APIF, MOTION CARRIED. 12. NEWBUSINESS a) Approve Appointments to Boards and Commissions - Administration (Supplemental) Interviews for vacant seats on boards and commissions were held on January 15, 2005. Appointments are as follows: Parks and Recreation Commission - Paula Higgins and Karen Neal Planning Commission - Dirk Rotty and Chaz Johnson Rambling River Center Advisory Board - Charlie Weber and Sarah Miller Water Board - Tom Jensen Housing and Redevelopment Authority - Todd Arey and Yvonne Flaherty MOTION by Wilson, second by McKnight approving the appointments to the various boards and commissions. APIF, MOTION CARRIED. 13. COUNCIL ROUNDTABLE Councilmember McKnight: He attended the Rambling River Days meeting last week. There was excellent attendance and he encouraged anyone interested to attend the next meeting on January 24, 2005 at 7:00 p.m. at the Eagle's Club. He hoped the City would continue to support this event as they have in the past. Councilmember Wilson: Thanked the applicants for boards and commissions. For those that were not selected, he hoped they would look for other ways to serve the community, such as the community celebration. He thanked Fire Chief Kuchera and the Fire Department for hosting their annual banquet. It was a class act and it was great meeting the new and retired members. He thanked Parks and Recreation Director Distad and the Parks and Recreation Commission for a successful neighborhood meeting regarding new parks and changes to current parks. Councilmember Pritzlaff: Commended Community Development Director Carroll for his presentation at the Great River Energy meeting. He asked the Council to e-mail him their views on this issue that he could take with him to the next meeting. He spoke with a couple residents that are not happy with the site of the new high school. He also is not happy with this site. As the referendum will be voted on February 15,2005, he asked Council to take a position of opposing or supporting the referendum. If it fails, the school board would look at a different site and a different means of finding a site. Councilmember Pritzlaff showed a map with an area containing ballfields that may not be needed, which he felt would allow more room for a high school. He asked residents to e- mail him as to what their feelings are on the location for the new high school. He is for Council Minutes (Regular) January 18,2005 Page 7 education and for the kids, for that he would want the referendum. But for the fact the school is going in a location where the residents may not get their money's worth, he would oppose the referendum. He will make his final decision at the February 7,2005 Council meeting. He would like to get as many residents' opinions as possible. Mayor Soderberg asked Council to consider whether it is appropriate or proper for Council to take a position on this type of issue. Council should make sure they have all the information regarding this. Councilmember McKnight felt it was not the City's place to have a public opinion on the school board's bond referendum. It is up to the voters. He will have no further comments. It is not the City's place to say yes or no. Finance Director Roland: Reminded Council there is a workshop on January 19,2005 at 5:30 p.m. Community Development Director Carroll: Regarding the EQB issue, there was a modification to the routes previously considered. The original route was coming from the new substation east to a substation in Empire Township. The eastern portion goes through property owned by the Rother family and the western portion goes through property formerly owned by Babe Murphy. Mr. Rother suggested a number of alternate routes. The Administrative Law Judge combined suggestions by Mr. Rother for a proposed route. Another modification was made by the EQB staff at the meeting last week. This route cuts across the river further north, behind Pellicci Hardware to Pine Street and hooks up with the original route. This affects businesses and residents that were not involved in the original route. Staff feels they should install power lines where there is no development currently. When development does occur, owners will be aware of the power lines. He and Councilmember Pritzlaffwill be attending the next meeting on January 20,2005. He would like to receive comments from Council, staff, and residents to take to the meeting. Councilmember Wilson stated we have an appointed state board making decisions that are clearly not in the best interest of the residents. Mayor Soderberg: He attended the MN Chamber of Commerce meeting where the Governor outlined priorities for the legislative session. At this time they are not targeting local jurisdictions, however the chamber is favoring a .05 gas tax. He addressed the VFW at their second district meeting. The VFW is an incredible giver to our community. Last year they had excess of 13 million volunteer hours, 43% of which came from MN VFW posts. They have an incredible array of programs. There has been some effort to establish a veteran's memorial. Mayor Soderberg pledged he would support the efforts of the VFW and the American Legion in establishing a memorial. He asked Council to direct staff to have the City support that establishment. Parks and Recreation Director Distad spoke with Mr. Howard Miller of the VFW. The WWII veterans are dying so there is a sense of urgency to get something in place in Farmington. A park seemed to be the best location for a veteran's memorial. Council reached a consensus to support the establishment of a veteran's memorial. Aprille's Showers Tea Room has a program they call Operation Candlelight for families of active military. The third Sunday of each month they hold a high tea luncheon for families of the military or the soldiers themselves at no charge. At the Fire Department Annual Meeting Mr. Mark Jacobson Council Minutes (Regular) January 18, 2005 Page 8 received the Firefighter of the Year award. Since the election he has been asked ifhe will be having an inaugural party. He has decided to have a Mayoral Charity Ball with proceeds going to charity. They are limited in space, but anyone in the community is invited. Tickets are available throughout the City. 14. ADJOURN MOTION by Fogarty, second by McKnight to adjourn at 9:45 p.m. APIF, MOTION CARRIED. Respectfully submitted, ~?r7<d/~ Cynthia Muller Executive Assistant