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HomeMy WebLinkAbout02.17.04 Council Minutes COUNCIL MINUTES REGULAR February 17, 2004 1. CALL TO ORDER The meeting was called to order by Mayor Ristow at 7:00 p.m. 2. PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE Mayor Ristow led the audience and Council in the Pledge of Allegiance. 3. ROLL CALL Members Present: Members Absent: Also Present: Audience: Ristow, Cordes, Fitch, Fogarty Soderberg Joel Jamnik, City Attorney; David Urbia, City Administrator; 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; Brenda Wendlandt, Human Resources Director; Jim Atkinson, Assistant City Planner; Cynthia Muller, Executive Assistant Dwayne Maier, JeffOlinghouse, Randy Oswald, Cheryl Retterath, Scott Retterath, Douglas Bonar, David Thorn, Nancy Anderson, Corey Wood, Laura Willenbring, Dawn Johnson, Kim & Bob Kamen, Betty & Mark Goldberg, Robin Hanson, Kate Peterson, Jody Arman-Jones, Mike Eckert, Steve Strachan, Renee Meyers, Terri Meyers, Michael Pierce, Brad Todd, Jim Dunn, Paul Sand 4. APPROVE AGENDA Item 12c) Title Matters Duo Plastics Inc. was added to the agenda. MOTION by Cordes, second by Fogarty to approve the Agenda. APIF, MOTION CARRIED. 5. ANNOUNCEMENTS 6. CITIZEN COMMENTS Representative Steve Strachan spoke about the Met Council grant. The Met Council gave out $6.2 million total in Livable Communities Demonstration Grants for the entire metro area. Farmington received $995,000 for the Spruce Street bridge and connection. We have less than 1 % ofthe metro area in population. At the hearing where this was awarded, one of the Met Council commissioners from the north metro said they were not sure if Farmington was in the metro area. This is the largest grant we have gotten from the Met Council. Farmington's new commissioner, Brian McDaniel fought very hard to get the grant for us. Representative Strachan also mentioned the very hard work of Community Development Director Kevin Carroll who was instrumental in getting the grant, and also then Interim City Administrator Dan Siebenaler who kept things moving. Council Minutes (Regular) Februa~ 2004 Page 2 I 7 The Council did a very good job of planning ahead and this is one of the outcomes. People do notice good planning. 7. CONSENT AGENDA MOTION by Fitch, second by Cordes to approve the Consent Agenda as follows: a) Approved Council Minutes (2/2/04 Regular) b) Received Information Parks and Recreation Commission Minutes - Parks and Recreation c) Approved Appointment Recommendation Heritage Preservation Commission - Administration d) Approved On-Sale Liquor License Transfer - Administration e) Received Information Capital Outlay Parks - Parks and Recreation f) Received Information Capital Outlay Arena - Parks and Recreation g) Approved School and Conference Recreation - Parks and Recreation h) Approved School and Conference Parks - Parks and Recreation i) Received Information School and Conference - Police Department j) Approved School and Conference - Community Development k) Adopted RESOLUTION R13-04 - Ash Street Project - Finance I) Adopted RESOLUTION R14-04 - Capitalization Policy GASB34 - Finance m) Approved Bills n) Adopted RESOLUTION R15-04 - Approved Bid for Solid Waste Truck - Parks and Recreation (Supplemental) APIF, MOTION CARRIED. 8. PUBLIC HEARINGS a) Liquor License Suspension B&B Pizza - Police b) Liquor License Suspension Kwik Trip - Police On December 29, 2003 as part of a routine compliance check, a 19-year old under the direction of a police officer entered B&B Pizza and asked for a beer. The clerk asked for identification, looked at it and sold the buyer a beer. The police officer observed this through the window and approached the clerk, informing her she had just sold beer to an underage person. At K wik Trip, the officer observed as the underage buyer took beer from the cooler, walked up to the checkout counter, the clerk looked at the identification and sold him the beer. Again the officer approached the clerk and said they had just sold beer to an underage person. It is the city's responsibility to ensure the liquor license holders comply with the laws of the state. Compliance checks are part of the city's obligation. In each of these situations this is the second violation of a compliance check. On the first violation they were given civil penalties of $400 each. In this instance, staff recommended a two-day license suspension for March 2 and 3, 2004. Staff did some research on the range of possibilities. In some cases violators are given a larger penalty and in some cases a combination of penalty and suspension. Some suspensions go up to three days. Staff felt a two-day suspension was reasonable Council Minutes (Regular) February..2; 2004 Page 3 17 and would stand up to any challenge. Councilmember Fogarty asked do licenses for people under 21 currently say under 21 at the top ofthe license? Police Chief Siebenaler replied they do, and they are a different color. Councilmember Fogarty stated then this could not have been a math mistake. Police Chief Siebenaler said it actually says under 21 across the top and then gives the date the license holder will turn 21. Councilmember Fitch asked how long ago it was they had the first violation. Police Chief Siebenaler thought Kwik Trip's violation was in 2001, and thought B&B's violation was last year. Mayor Ristow stated certain businesses are not being targeted, all businesses have compliance checks. Police Chief Siebenaler stated every licensed liquor establishment in the city has a compliance check done on the same date and they are consecutive. Compliance checks are done at least once a year. Mr. Mark Goldberg, 1855 Summit Lane, owner ofB&B Pizza, stated they are sorry this happened and have taken steps to make sure this does not happen again. They have sent their servers to tips class, they have met with the servers explaining the differences in the licenses, they have a calendar on the wall saying ifborn before this date do not serve alcohol. They are also teaching them how to read the I.D.' s. Mr. Duane Maier, District Manager for Kwik Trip, stated they take this violation very seriously. All workers are required to take a complete alcohol and tobacco training course on the computers at the store. It goes through the differences on the licenses and what to look for. The registers are equipped with a scan where they can scan the ill and it would tell them the age. Unfortunately, the worker did not use this equipment when she sold the alcohol. Company policy for tobacco and alcohol is anybody under the age of 30 must be carded. To monitor this, they have four secret shoppers employed by the company that do random alcohol and tobacco purchases. They are all under the age of 30, but oflegal age to purchase alcohol and tobacco. Last year at this location, they did 23 checks and had 100% compliance. The workers who do pass are rewarded with $10 every time they pass a compliance check. Those who fail receive an unpaid suspension. If they fail 3 ill checks within 24 months they are automatically terminated from employment with Kwik Trip. The store leader also receives disciplinary action if a worker does not have appropriate alcohol and tobacco training. When there is a violation, the workers are retrained through the computer training. Right now Kwik Trip has an 88% compliance rate so far this year in the state in all stores. Some workers are still not using the tools available for them to use. Mayor Ristow shared Councilmember Soderberg's comments as he was unable to attend the meeting. Councilmember Soderberg agreed with the staff recommendation of a two day suspension. He reminded Council this action is setting precedence. He suggested the two days should be a Friday and Saturday two weeks after Council action. Ifhe were in attendance, he would offer a stern warning that he favors escalating penalties for continued violations. Council Minutes (Regular) February,l; 2004 Page 4 /7 MOTION by Fogarty, second by Cordes to close the public hearing. APIF, MOTION CARRIED. Council discussed escalating penalties for further violations. Police Chief Siebenaler informed Council that the state would recommend a longer suspension ofthe license. A third violation would be in the range of5-7 days. That would also be the staff recommendation. MOTION by Fitch, second by Cordes to suspend the liquor license for B&B Pizza for March 2 and 3, 2004. Mayor Ristow stated he appreciated the compliance and thoughts of both businesses. It was lucky it was a compliance check, how many other minors could have gotten away with this? He stated he appreciated their businesses and taking the right precautions to prevent this from happening again. APIF, MOTION CARRIED. MOTION by Fogarty, second by Cordes to suspend the liquor license for Kwik Trip for March 2 and 3, 2004. APIF, MOTION CARRIED. 9. AWARD OF CONTRACT 10. PETITIONS, REQUESTS AND COMMUNICATIONS a) Accept Final Report Recreational Facilities Task Force - Parks and Recreation Mr. Randy Oswald, Chair ofthe Parks and Recreation Commission, gave a presentation and introduced the Task Force Consultant, Mr. Greg Ingraham. Mr. Oswald thanked the Council for allowing the Parks and Recreation Commission to form a Recreational Facilities Task Force. The first meeting was held June 17, 2003 and adopted several goals. On July 7, 2003 Mr. Ingraham was hired to aid the Task Force through the study. Mr. Oswald then thanked the citizens who served on the Task Force. Mr. Greg Ingraham presented the final report. There were 100 people that came to two public meetings and 158 people completed a public opinion survey. The Task Force took an inventory of current facilities and conducted a needs analysis. They found that Farmington has fewer facilities than metro standards. The public is very interested in high-quality facilities. There is an over-reliance on school facilities. It should be a 50/50 ratio. He recommended the city pull more of its own weight. There should be one small baseball field for every 2500 people. The facilities need to be distributed well, and within walking distance of a neighborhood. He recommended the city act now. The need will not go away. The city should focus on land acquisition. Recreational facilities are consistently listed as one of the top three reasons people move to a community. The priority of facilities are: 1) Community Center; 2) Adult and Youth Sports Complex; 3) Focus on land acquisitions; 4) Add gymnasiums; 5) Add trails. The number one priority for adults and teens was land acquisition. The Task Force's three key recommendations are: 1. Focus on land acquisition 2. Prepare a feasibility study for a community center 3. Prepare a strategy for funding Council Minutes (Regular) February"l'; 2004 Page 5 t7 The Task Force recommended the Council adopt the Recreational Facilities Needs Study and move forward with the three key recommendations. Councilmember Fitch asked regarding the needs study and moving forward with the recommendations, if Mr. Ingraham would be doing that. Mr. Ingraham stated there are other companies that specialize in that. It also takes internal resources. Parks and Recreation Director Distad stated the first and third recommendations could be done inhouse. Staff is currently developing a systems plan, a trail plan, and working with the Parks and Rec Commission to identify future park/open space locations. The Parks and Rec Commission would need to rely on Finance for the funding portion. The feasibility study would have to be done by a professional consultant. Councilmember Fitch asked if we have enough money to fund the study. Parks and Recreation Director Distad has contacted a few companies, and their estimate is $25,000 - $50,000. Staffhas asked the City Attorney about the use of park dedication funds and he will have to research that. Mayor Ristow asked if this would have to go to referendum. City Attorney Jamnik replied it would depend on the financing. If cash was available, a referendum is not needed. If you want to bond for it, that would be through a referendum. Mayor Ristow asked if we have the funds on hand for a consultant. Parks and Recreation Director Distad stated the fee would be separate. If the referendum passed, a consultant would be hired to design the facility. They are paid on a percentage of the cost of the facility. After it was presented to Council, the consultant would be done. Staff is comfortable with the steps necessary to complete that process. The feasibility study would pole the public for interest. After the study is completed, the Council can decide. Councilmember Cordes stated a lot of work went into this report and it was very nicely done. Everyone is to be commended. Councilmember Fogarty has a lot of support for this. The Task Force was great about knowing when to put their hats on as to what group they were from and giving information from their group, and take that hat off and decide what was best for the community as a whole. The amount of surveys returned and the open houses were great. Mayor Ristow also thanked the Task Force and residents for sending in e-mails. Ms. Robin Hanson, 18880 Elgin Avenue, was a member of the Task Force and thanked Council for the opportunity to participate. There was an enormous amount of information shared. She and Jody Arman-Jones represented the Farmington Youth Athletic Association. FY AA represents 11 different sports. As President ofFY AA, a Task Force member, a member ofthe Parks and Recreation Commission, and a resident she encouraged Council to approve the report and advance to the next steps. MOTION by Fogarty, second by Cordes to adopt the Farmington Recreational Facility Needs Study. APIF, MOTION CARRIED. MOTION by Fogarty, Council Minutes (Regular) February );'2004 Page 6 ';7 second by Cordes to approve the request to move forward on the three key recommended actions. APIF, MOTION CARRIED. 11. UNFINISHED BUSINESS a) Main Street Project - Hwy 3 Considerations - Engineering At the public hearing held April 7, 2003 a decision to close the Main Street connection to TH3 was deferred. In the Access Management Study closing Main Street was an identified goal. Staff recommended the closure be implemented. Staff will need to determine if MnDOT will participate in the closure. Traffic would still have access to the frontage road from Main Street. Traffic would not be able to access the frontage road from TH3 at Main Street. Traffic could access the frontage road from TH3 at Willow Street and also from Pine Street. The median could stay open because of the traffic to/from 213th Street. The left turning lane to Main Street would be eliminated. The closure would take place at the end of the summer. Councilmember Fogarty stated she supported the closure. Councilmember Cordes asked if Dakota Lumber was contacted. City Engineer Mann stated they have spoken a lot with Mr. Finden about the project. He tries to access his business through Willow Street. The large trucks magnify the safety situation in the area. Councilmember Fitch objected to the closure. There are residential home owners, and he has not heard from anyone from the Chamber. Weare trying to build a viable downtown, but we are closing off roads to get traffic into downtown. He suggested making it a right-turn only offTH3. Elm Street in the next few years will be under construction. How will we get people in and out of downtown? He noticed the DOT proposed closing the Walnut Street access and opening Spruce Street. The purpose ofthe Spruce Street corridor was to go from East Farmington to the other side, however he has heard comments that the people that lived on Spruce Street before are still there. Are we going to close off all our streets and accesses to downtown except for one street? That is one of his concerns if we are going to build a viable downtown. Ifit is more convenient for people to go to the other side of town, that is where people will go. Elm Street between 6:30 a.m. - 9:00 a.m. is not easy to get through. At night or weekends it is packed. That is the reason for his objection to closing Main Street. Ifwe can agree we will open Spruce Street, he would not have a problem with that. City Engineer Mann stated the opening of Spruce Street has been discussed for a long time. There are difficulties with that. There are residents in the area that are not interested in seeing that done. As far as Main Street, it is a residential street and the traffic engineer does not see there is a lot of traffic that uses Main Street to access downtown. The people that use it, live there and they are in favor of the closure. Getting off and on the frontage road at Willow is safer than Main Street. People who use Main Street are familiar with the area, and they will see Willow is safer. If they are not familiar with the area they will not know that Main Street is a connection. Main Street is not perceived as a through street. Staff has the opportunity to do it now as part ofthis project. Councilmember Fitch stated as Council Minutes (Regular) FebruaryA 2004 Page 7 n streets become more congested and we have more traffic control, people will look for alternatives. Eventually 208th Street will be a collector, which will mean those people will bypass the downtown. He asked if we have heard from the business people if this is a good idea. When Elm Street is under construction, how will we get traffic in and out of downtown? City Engineer Mann replied that is a good question, the county will have to figure it out. Councilmember Fitch replied the county has to figure it out, but we are penalized if we do not have access to downtown. How do we attract people to Willow Street instead of Main Street? He is looking at what will happen if we close off streets without other options. Mayor Ristow stated at one time Main Street was open where it intersects with 3rd Street. Once you close an intersection, it is hard to get back. Council met with MnDOT about Spruce Street and with the intersection of Elm and Spruce so close, they would not allow having Elm Street open. To go through with Spruce Street, Elm Street would have to be closed. City Engineer Mann noted on the map from the Access Management Study, they do not have any plans for closing Elm and they do show opening Spruce, so there must have been a change in their plans. Elm Street has been identified as a needed east-west connection. Accesses to the downtown would be Elm and Spruce Streets. Everyone in the assessment area has been notified which included a few businesses. Mayor Ristow was concerned about the businesses being notified. Councilmember Fitch asked if input could be received from the Chamber at their next meeting. Staff stated at the March meeting, the topic is Ash Street and Main Street projects. It would make sense to discuss the closure and it would give the Chamber some time to contact the businesses. Mayor Ristow did not see any input from the Fire Department and wondered if there would be enough room for them to turn around. Staff replied the frontage road acts like a hammerhead and is actually larger. Staffhas not talked with the Fire Department. If there was a station on Hwy 3, the access at Willow would allow the same amount of response time. Mayor Ristow felt it would be common courtesy to include everyone. Staffwill contact the Fire Department. This item was deferred to the April 5, 2004 Council Meeting. 12. NEW BUSINESS a) Adopt Resolution - East Farmington 8th Addition Preliminary and Final Plat - Community Development Mr. John Anderson and Mr. Tim Giles requested approval of the Preliminary and Final Plat for East Farmington 8th Addition. They propose to plat 33 single- family homes. There is an existing pond on the southeastern corner. A portion of that will be moved to the northern part. The property is zoned R-2 and the minimum lot size is 6,000 sq. ft. The lot coverage requirement is 30% which includes all buildings and decks. Given some of the lots and their size it may be difficult to add an accessory structure or deck in the future. It has been discussed to add a notification requirement to future purchasers that it may be difficult to build a deck. The second issue is access to the north. There are two access points Council Minutes (Regular) February?; 2004 Page 8 I along loth and 11 th Street that dead end at the St. Francis property. The developer proposes hammerheads which would serve as a temporary basis until that property is developed. Easements will need to be obtained from St. Francis. The documents will be needed prior to recording ofthe plat. Another issue is two lots on the west side of 9th Street. The Traffic Engineer was concerned with site distance. He recommended installing appropriate signage, install turnarounds in the driveways, and ensure boulevard tree placement does not interfere with site lines. There is a drainage and utility easement on the plat that exists on the 8t. Francis property. Similar to the hammerhead easement, documents will be required from St. Francis allowing the easement prior to recording of the plat. This plat is outside ofthe PUD for East Farmington. They are not proposing a home owners association. There will be a park dedication and staff prefers to take cash in lieu rather than land. The area is within walking distance of existing parks. Councilmember Fogarty was not comfortable with the plat. It has a lot of contingencies, especially lots 3 and 4. She did not know how to ensure 10 years from now people do not plant boulevard trees there. She is also concerned about not having enough room for a deck. One small miscommunication can create a big disaster. Perhaps a variance could be granted. Staff stated a lot will depend on the size ofthe house and how close it gets to the 30% maximum. Notification is the big issue. The developer has said they will include notification with the purchase agreement. Mr. Tim Giles stated they will be building the houses themselves. The information can be placed on the deed. Even if a deck is not allowed, a concrete patio would be. He will have different styles of houses. He is not selling the lots to other builders. City Engineer Mann stated regarding the boulevard trees, the city can control that. The city has the right to remove anything that would appear in the boulevard. In East Farmington, each of those lots had a backyard park and that was allowed as part of the PUD to allow decks. Trees will be planted just outside of the right-of- way and not in the boulevard. City Administrator Urbia stated staff will look at lot sizes in the future, and agreed the developer should have this information in the recorded documents. MOTION by Fitch, second by Cordes adopting RESOLUTION R16-04 approving the East Farmington 8th Addition Final Plat, changing the contingencies to read the developer shall provide documentation of the easements prior to recording. APIF, MOTION CARRIED. b) Spruce Street Commercial Area Design Standards - Community Development Staff has heard from a number of people very precise ideas as to what they want to see in this area. They want an area that is functional and aesthetically pleasing. One way to accomplish this is through design standards. They fall into two Council Minutes (Regular) February.2';"2004 Page 9 n categories, site development standards which talk about what the area will look like generally, and architectural standards which talk about what the building will look like. There are three zoning districts, the Spruce Street Commercial district, mixed-use and business/flex district. The north-south corridor and the mixed-use area are critical to the future ofthe area. This is the only opportunity to create what people like the best about a downtown. Staff showed photos of how mixed- use was in the downtown area many years ago, and also mixed-use buildings and architectural details in new developments in the surrounding area. One building along the north-south corridor covers % of a block. The building is 287 ft long and 80 ft deep. They are proposing four buildings like this along the north-south corridor. The buildings would be broken up into individual rental spaces. Site Development Standards: 1. Sidewalks will be 15 ft wide which allows for landscaping, benches, etc. 2. Screening to shield dumpsters 3. Lighting similar to downtown area 4. Required amenities are gathering places, patio, mini-park, walkway, water feature, any amenity staff feels is appropriate. The developer would be required to have one ofthese for every 10 acres. This allows the developer to select what the amenity will be and where it will be placed. Architectural Standards: 1. Unifying design theme proposed by the developer. This should make some sort of visual physical connection between the buildings. It could be recurring colors, design materials, windows, awnings with some variation of color, but would still look consistent. Back entrances could be just as aesthetically pleasing as the front entrances. 2. Facades should have a 2-story appearance. The buildings could be set back or forward 6 inches from the next building. Have corner buildings more massive than the rest of the buildings, different roof lines, 2-story buildings should have windows. 3. Buildings should have awnings or projecting signs. 4. Public entrances - businesses should front the north-south corridor with entrances and have an additional entrance for the parking lot to the back. The developer has indicated that at least two of the buildings will have rental space on the second level. Staffwants to make this a pedestrian friendly environment. There was one point of discussion with the developer regarding the facades. The design standards read, "Unless otherwise agreed to in writing by the Community Development Department, developers of buildings located along the north/south corridor and within the Mixed Use District shall use fa~ade variations to differentiate separately leased commercial spaces." The developer had a little problem with this. This was recommended by the Planning Commission. Staff had drafted a version that developers would be encouraged to differentiate Council Minutes (Regular) February._212004 Page 10 17 between leased spaces. The Planning Commission felt it should be stronger. The developer has indicated when they have a building 50% leased, they will construct the building. The problem is they do not know where the interior walls will be, so how can they have the facyade reflect the inside. Staffhas told them they will not insist that if they have four rental spaces in a building, that there be four completely different fronts that parallel where the walls are. As long as there is some differentiation along the front so it is not one flat facyade that would be acceptable. MOTION by Fogarty, second by Cordes to adopt ORDINANCE 004-506 amending section 10-6-21 of the City Code by incorporating the proposed design standards for the Spruce Street Commercial zoning district, the mixed-use zoning district and the business/flex zoning district. APIF, MOTION CARRIED. c) Title Matters - Duo Plastics Inc. - Finance Duo Plastics is in the process of selling their building. The building is part of an old TIP district which has been certified by the county. As part of the title work for the sale they found the old Contract for Private Sale. There is a requirement that a Certificate of Completion be issued prior to the sale taking place. It must have clear title. Staff requested Council agree that the Certificate of Completion has been completed so the sale can be completed. MOTION by Fitch, second by Cordes approving the Certificate of Completion regarding the Contract for Private Sale between Duo Plastics, Inc. and the City of Farmington dated July 6, 1989. APIF, MOTION CARRIED. 13. COUNCIL ROUNDTABLE Councilmember Fitch: Regarding scheduling a Council Workshop, Councilmember Fitch spoke with City Administrator Urbia regarding Council meeting with him to talk about Council's expectations of him. There have been times when Council has had different ideas and expectations and he felt it would be fair to discuss it in public and understand everyone's expectations. Councilmember Fogarty felt the sooner the better. Mayor Ristow stated it would be best for him late in March. Councilmember Cordes stated she would be gone for two weeks in March. Mayor Ristow stated the City Administrator does need to understand our expectations. It is an important issue. Councilmember Cordes suggested looking at the first week in April. Council agreed. City Administrator Urbia: The League of Cities Day is March 3 and also Partners in Progress. Mayor Ristow: The State Auditor's press release applauds the Council and city for being good stewards of finances by maintaining the unreserved fund balance in the appropriate range for Minne~ota cities. The sound fiscal management of the city should be commended. Only 53 cities out of 854 received this recognition. February 25 Council Minutes (Regular) February..2:' 2004 Page 11 17 is the MUSA Review Committee meeting. Councilmember Fogarty will attend the meeting. 14. ADJOURN MOTION by Cordes, second by Fogarty to adjourn at 9:26 p.m. APIF, MOTION CARRIED. Respectfully submitted, ~..., " -,?" .,~ ,,' ~.0./ . /' --hr7<-<L~t/~ '__(..,< C-6!- .7" /<. //. Cynthia Muller Executive Assistant