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HomeMy WebLinkAbout07.28.03 Work Session Minutes City Council Workshop Project Updates Minutes July 28, 2003 Mayor Ristow called the meeting to order at 7:00 p.m. Present: Absent: Ristow, Fitch, Fogarty, Soderberg Cordes Also Present: Dan Siebenaler, Interim City AdministratorlPolice Chief; Robin Roland, Finance Director; Kevin Carroll, Community Development Director; Randy Distad, Parks and Recreation Director; Ken Kuchera, Fire Chief; Lisa Shadick, Administrative Services Director; Brenda Wendlandt, Human Resources Director; Cynthia Muller, Executive Assistant MOTION by Soderberg, second by Fogarty to approve the agenda. APIF, MOTION CARRIED. Proiect Updates The purpose ofthe meeting was to discuss ongoing projects and make sure Council agrees with the direction staff is taking. City Hall Task Force After the Maintenance and Police Facilities the 1999 Task Force identified City Hall as the 3rd facility needed. After City Hall, they listed a Parks facility and Satellite Fire Station. As far as City Hall, the task force has recommended 3rd and Spruce Street as the site for a new City Hall. Soils testing has been completed on that site and a clean report was received. The goal was to decide by the end of July. There has been a change in funding options for City Hall. The legislature approved a new rule that if you bond for a City Hall, Police, or Public Safety facility you do not have to have a referendum. You could issue G.O. bonds and not have to go out for referendum and it can be done without an election and still get the G.O. bond rate. Staffhad advocated for lease revenue bonds which is still an option. G.O. bonds provide a better rate rather than lease revenue bonds. If CDBG funds were used to acquire property and the original intention was for the property to be used for private use and ends up being used for public use you have to figure out what amount of money was used and it has to be repaid, but you do not lose the money. The money is recycled and used for other CDBG projects in town. If the 3rd and Spruce Street site is chosen, this will have to be done unless an exception is found. The CDBG money was used to clean up blight. The total cost of the project was approximately $110,000 and the city paid $40,000, so there would be $70,000 to be used for another CDBG project. At the last discussion regarding City Hall, Council had some concern about the 3rd and Spruce Street site. The Task Force has turned the decision over to the Council, however the Task Force would like to be kept informed. Council Workshop Project Updates July 28, 2003 Page 2 Staffhas had ongoing discussions with Mr. Blaha regarding acquiring his property. The City Attorney was concerned as to how that was approached. If it was apparent that the city was interested in acquiring the property, and there was a tenant in the building, it could subject the city or HRA to relocation expenses. The Attorney suggested staff talk with Mr. Blaha regarding terminating the lease with the tenant and have the tenant vacate the property. The HRA would then enter into a purchase agreement. Mr. Blaha will talk with the tenants. He is very interested and did not want to wait 60 days. Staffhas agreed on a purchase price with Mr. Blaha. Mr. Blaha has asked his attorney to draw up an agreement to be given to the tenant whereby they would agree the lease would be terminated by a certain date. There will also be a provision where the tenants will agree not to seek a claim for relocation expenses. The question is whether that would apply to claims made against Mr. Blaha or Mr. Blaha and the city. He will discuss this with his attorney. Councilmember Soderberg stated the HRA would be purchasing the property anyway. If not for a City Hall, then some other project. He felt any shortcomings with the site could be overcome for a City Hall. The HRA is 60 days away from a signed Purchase Agreement plus 60 days for closing, for a total of 120 days. The options are: 1. Continue on track and bring a Purchase Agreement to Council. 2. If Council is not interested in the site for a City Hall, then other sites will have to be reviewed. For purchase purposes it is a good idea to purchase the site regardless whether or not City Hall will be built there. Mayor Ristow stated he is not in favor of City Hall being on the site. It is a bad site and he has not had any good comments from residents about putting City Hall there because of the space and location. He thinks it is a poorly designed site for the environment. The accountant's letter stated we should be looking at a site for 50 years in the future, not 20 years. We would also be taking more taxable land off the property taxes. Residents have commented they would have to pay more taxes. Staff asked the Mayor if it was his opinion we should abandon the idea of City Hall completely or look for a different site. Mayor Ristow replied a different site. Councilmember Fitch stated he is not 100% sold on the site. Staff asked if there was any objection to construction of a City Hall or ifthe objection was purely to the site. Councilmember Soderberg stated City Hall is a very necessary facility. According to the 1999 Task Force, City Hall is the next facility. It will not get any cheaper. He has no objection to the site. Councilmember Fogarty felt it is proactive to have a new City Hall and in keeping with what we need to do for the city. Her biggest concern is where else to look for another site. The Spruce Street Corridor area has been mentioned, but that could take years. Interim Administrator Siebenaler stated the city owns a large lot on the Spruce Street Corridor next to the arena, the old Frontier site. It has to be as big as the 3rd and Spruce Street site without the drawbacks. It will not have the accessory parking like 3rd and Spruce, but it is across from the High School. Otherwise, the city would be looking at some major renovation or redevelopment downtown or waiting for the Spruce Street Corridor. The original concept for that property was for a second sheet of ice. The city is Council Workshop Project Updates July 28, 2003 Page 3 a long way from supporting a second sheet of ice. The city cannot support one sheet. Community Development Director Carroll provided a map of the area. At one time that area was shown as flood plain. Staff is not sure where the flood plain line is currently. If it has not changed, staff could apply to FEMA to get the line changed. Mayor Ristow would like a campus area for City Hall, a Fire Station, and the Library. He would like to see this planned in the Spruce Street Corridor area. Community Development Director Carroll stated staff could talk with the Knutsen's about their plans for the area. Their plans for the area closer to Hwy 50 are more firm than the area to the south. Mayor Ristow stated the Peterson property is open further to the west. Staff replied that could take some time for development to go that far west and for a road to be built. Mayor Ristow also suggested the area south of the Fire Station. If the county looks at a new Library, he would like to see it by City Hall. It would also be good to have a Community Center or YMCA. Unless buildings are torn down in downtown, there will not be room. Community Development Director Carroll felt the Frontier lot is twice the size of 3rd and Spruce Street. Councilmember Fogarty was not set on a specific site, but it does need to tie in with the Spruce Street Corridor. She would be very open to looking into the vacant lot. This could solve the parking issue. It is more important to link City Hall to Spruce Street rather than having it next to the Library. Mayor Ristow mentioned the area draws a lot of traffic for hockey games. If there is a Council Meeting at the same time, it could cause problems with parking. Staff stated there would be parking across the street at the High School. Interim Administrator Siebenaler asked if Council would like them to reconvene the Task Force and ask them to broaden their horizons. The Task Force was limited in their parameters to keeping City Hall downtown. Staff could ask them to move out of the immediate downtown. The Task Force might not have viewed it within their right to move City Hall out of downtown. Council agreed to have staff check with the Parks and Recreation Commission to see what they think. Park Facilities Task Force There are 17 members on the Parks Facility Task Force. They have identified 8 goals and 2 rules which are everyone is allowed an opportunity to speak and the final report is supported by everyone. The Task Force will do a needs assessment to see where we are. Location has not been discussed yet. First they will identify needs and set priorities. They have developed a timeline with completion in December 2003. The have started working with the consultant who has begun putting together a list of different facilities, in both the school district and citywide. Councilmembers Cordes and Fogarty are also on the Task Force. Mayor Ristow would like to see the facilities tied in with the school district and other groups such as the YMCA, Lifetime Fitness, etc. Partnering with the school district which would allow outlying communities to participate through the school. Council felt staff is going in the right direction. Satellite Fire Station Staffhas been reviewing budgets and one of the needs that has been identified is a satellite fire station. Fire Chief Kuchera stated in 1989 a need was addressed for a Council Workshop Project Updates July 28, 2003 Page 4 satellite station to the north. This is an ongoing desire. The Eastern portion of the city has also grown since then. The railroad tracks were also an issue. When the land was purchased for the Maintenance and Police facilities there was supposed to be room for a satellite fire station. What he has in mind for a Fire Station would fit on the site depending on placement of the building. The need is there. Response times to the north are about 15 minutes. A third to half of the fire fighters are coming from the north. They have to come south for the apparatus and then go north again. Fire Chief Kuchera stated he understands the needs of Parks and Recreation and Administration, but does not want Council to forget to move in the direction of public safety. Staff would like direction from Council if whether staff should develop a task force for the satellite fire station to determine the best location and a timeline for construction. According to the 1999 report the city should be starting this process now for a 2005 move-in date. Mayor Ristow stated his records show that after the Police and Maintenance facility, it was the Fire Station, Park and Rec facility and then City Hall. Finance Director Roland stated the Task Force report which was present to Council in April 2000 lists the recommendation and prioritization. The Fire Station is the last priority based on the Task Force's recommendation as far as need. Mayor Ristow asked what the Task Force was established for. Finance Director Roland replied this was the Public Facilities Task Force established in 1999. Mayor Ristow stated the Task Force was for the Police and Maintenance facilities. Staff replied no, it was for all facilities. The creation of the Facilities Task Force was authorized by the City Council in 1999 to commission an independent study of city public facility needs. Public facilities under study by the Task Force included a Central Maintenance Facility, a Law Enforcement Center, a Satellite Fire Station, an outdoor athletic complex and City Hall offices. Upon conclusion ofthis effort the task force was assigned the responsibility of prioritizing the facilities under the study and developing recommendations on city facilities space needs and public financing strategies. The report was issued in 2000 and includes all of the meeting minutes, maps, and reports. Each department had their report as well as information on population growth, staffing growth, etc. Councilmember Fitch asked if a task force was needed. We have the site, and know what is needed. Fire Chief Kuchera replied they have reviewed the plans from Apple Valley and Lakeville. He can see questions developing whether the station is placed in the north or to the east. If the campus will accommodate a fire satellite station, then he did not feel a task force was needed. If we need to look at other options, then he would like a task force. Interim Administrator Siebenaler felt the Fire Department needed to decide if the city is better served by a satellite on the west or the east side ofthe tracks given a 5-year timeline on the bridge for 195th Street. Councilmember Fitch felt ifthe satellite is placed to the east of the city it would be locked in for 5-7 years until 195th Street is extended. Fire Chief Kuchera stated their preference would be to have a satellite station by the Police and Maintenance facilities. Interim Administrator Siebenaler stated issues to be reviewed would be soils correction, storm water and whether the current pond is big enough. They would come up with a plan for the satellite and then make sure it fits there. The site is located on the corner of 197th Street and Pilot Knob Road, just to the west of the Maintenance facility. Fire Chief Kuchera stated the estimate to build the building is $500,000. They would have to Council Workshop Project Updates July 28, 2003 Page 5 shuffle some equipment. The Fire Department has been discussing new rescue equipment. They would have to decide on a place for the rescue truck ifthey stay with one truck. Councilmember Fitch asked ifthe satellite would have to grow beyond this point. Fire Chief Kuchera replied no, having a satellite station to the north would cut the response time by 1/3. Councilmember Soderberg would like staff to look at the campus site rather than develop a task force. Ifthe site does not work, then form a task force. Staffwill draw up a plan with a footprint of the building and work with Engineering on the soils. MUSA Review Committee It has been discussed to reconvene the MUSA Review Committee to determine the next allocations for MUSA. Options are: 1. Go to the Planning Commission to discuss composition ofthe committee, talk about criteria used last time, and discuss the timetable and the process. Recommendations would be brought to the Council for final decision. 2. Not go to the Planning Commission, but go directly to Council and have staff make the recommendations and have Council make the final decision. 3. Not go to the Council and just reconvene the committee. Have the committee decide for itself if it wants to change the criteria, work out a timetable and the process. The advantage of using the Planning Commission is that they are very dedicated members with a lot of experience. They would be involved in implementing any decisions made by the Council with regard to MUSA extensions. There are 212 acres of MUSA left until 2005, then there is another allocation that goes until 2010. That would be another issue, whether to limit the committee's work to the 212 acres, or extend their scope to include the additional acreage available until 2010. The Met Council is not as intent on having the MUSA contiguous to other sections. Whether to look at the 212 acres or look at a larger amount of acreage over a longer span of time would need to be addressed at the beginning. Interim Administrator Siebenaler stated the 2005 timeline is starting now. In order to have lots available starting in 2005 the process needs to begin now and do the allocations. By the time 2005 gets here, there may not be any lots left. Mayor Ristow replied the city will have lots. He has talked to builders and they are just building models and they are hard to sell. The boom is not what we had and there is no rush. Residents say there is too much growth already to accommodate what we have. Weare looking at a Fire Station and a City Hall. You have to provide the services. Mayor Ristow then stated he received a call from a resident regarding the water restrictions. The water restriction is ridiculous it is a totally crazy thing for a city to be doing. The city has a service we cannot provide. They do not cut the gas or electricity. Weare charging the residents for this service and not giving it to them, we are giving tickets instead. It is not fun to listen to someone who has a $25 ticket and needs to water their lawn. Ifwe cannot provide the services, why continue to grow? Councilmember Council Workshop Project Updates July 28, 2003 Page 6 Fogarty stated she does not get those calls and hears the opposite. Her neighbors are water conservationists and glad people cannot water every day. Mayor Ristow stated if you put in a $5000 lawn and have to let it bum up, you would not be very happy. Ifwe are not going to provide the service, why have it? Councilmember Fogarty stated they are not paying for water they are not using. Mayor Ristow asked what kind of country are you in? You are in a free country. Are you going to dictate what they can use? They do not say you cannot use gas or electricity. Councilmember Fogarty stated we have an entire water tower dedicated to watering lawns in the summer and shut it down in the winter. Mayor Ristow stated so why can't they use it? They have pumps that keep the power up. He stated he is just saying what people tell him, he could care less. Residents want to use the water when they see fit. They are paying for it. It is a service the city provides. We have to say no, because we have a Water Board that issues a ticket. Let's make it an ordinance so we are all responsible for it, instead of three people residents cannot come back to like they do with the Council. If we pass an ordinance, the tickets could be challenged in court. This way, residents have no way to challenge the tickets. Fire Chief Kuchera stated residents have to understand that in the summer, there is a real concern with water tower levels today. There can be mechanical problems, we cannot plan for. Ifwe did not have those restrictions on today, there would be real problems. Mayor Ristow replied increasing by another 2000 homes is not going to help if we are not prepared. Finance Director Roland stated the Water Board asked Council to pass an ordinance for water restrictions and the Council chose not to pass the ordinance. That is when the Water Board adopted the administrative policy. Mayor Ristow replied we said it was fine the way it was to leave it odd-even days. The Water Board overrode Council. If we have to be accountable for it, we should take the heat. He is not going to take the heat for someone else when he has no say over it for something as ridiculous as a $25 fine. Do they need the money that bad? Let them challenge it in court, because 90% of them would be thrown out because it is ridiculous. They are paying for the service. Councilmember Fogarty stated she did not know if she would build another water tower for people to water their lawn all day. Mayor Ristow stated how can we add more houses when we cannot service what we have. Councilmember Fitch felt the odd-even restriction is great. People are having a problem with hours. Not everyone works 8:00 a.m. - 4:30 p.m. A lot of people work nights. They sleep in the morning and cannot water their lawn in the afternoon. Community Development Director Carroll stated the fact that we are starting the MUSA process does not mean anyone has made any decisions on how much growth if any, to accommodate. If Council does not want to allocate any of it, staff is fine with that. Mayor Ristow stated last time we did this everyone that owned land wanted it developed. Finance Director Roland replied at that time we encouraged them to do so as part of the dual track program. The purpose was to develop the MUSA Review Committee and making those people aware of what they had to do to be in place for MUSA. Mayor Ristow asked what has changed as far as transportation since then. The next two pieces of land were Murphy and Finnegan that was suggested to be developed. We need to have 20Sth Street done and a north-south connection. Mayor Ristow stated he is not opposed to reconvening the committee, but people hear it and everyone will want to get their land in. He wanted to have more transportation routes before more land is allocated. Community Development Director Carroll stated some people that apply get turned down. The Planning Commission can make a recommendation to Council as to the Council Workshop Project Updates July 28, 2003 Page 7 process. If Council wants to place restrictions on who can apply, that can be discussed. Staffwants to do this because every week people come in and ask about areas on the map that do not have houses, asking what is going to happen. Staff tells them Council needs to give direction as to how they want to phase future MUSA extensions. That is the reason for getting the committee together again. If Council only wants to allocate 50 acres in the next five years, that's fine. Then staff knows what to tell people. Mayor Ristow stated there are a lot of other factors that need to be considered. Transportation issues have always been the number one concern. We do not have the routes to keep traffic moving. If they develop Murphy and Finnegan land without additional routes, Akin Road will be suicide by putting more traffic on that road. Staff agreed 208th Street and 195th Street are critical routes. Council agreed to have staff get a recommendation from the Planning Commission and bring it to Council. Council will see the recommendation in October or November. Councilmember Fitch felt the Council and Planning Commission do not talk enough and would like a joint meeting. He would like this meeting to be held in the middle to the end of the process. (Fire Chief Kuchera left the meeting at 8: 15 p.m.) Spruce Street Extension There will be a Community Meeting on July 31 for the community to ask questions, look at maps and hear a presentation. The comments received from the meeting will be used to finalize the draft of the Master Plan which will come to the Council August 18. The Planning Commission will review it at their August 12 meeting and make a recommendation to Council. There have been meetings with representatives of the Knutsen's and New Century. Discussions are being held on how to coordinate the AUAR and Master Plan process. They are also interested in what types of uses are allowed. Staff will make recommendations to the Planning Commission regarding permitted and conditional uses at the August, September, and October meetings. Right now there is a list of permitted uses in the Spruce Street district. Some ofthe things the developer wants to do are already listed as permitted, some are not. The Planning Commission and Council have to add them to the list. Once they are added to the list, it needs to be decided if they will be permitted or conditional uses. The developer wants them all to be permitted. Staff feels there are a couple uses that should be conditional to regulate traffic, etc. The goal is not to prohibit any businesses, just to make them permitted or conditional. If they are determined to be conditional uses it would be to allow some extra oversight. Council agreed with the direction staff is taking. Councilmember Fitch noted the Spruce Street corridor also goes to the east. He asked if there was any discussion regarding opening the area east ofHwy 3. Interim Administrator Siebenaler stated there was discussion of opening Spruce Street when East Farmington was developed. Walnut Street would have to be closed because of highway access issues. There was considerable resistance from residents along Spruce Street. The original study for East Farmington opened it all the way through to allow a gateway to the downtown area. It would take considerable will from the Council to open that up. Councilmember Fitch stated we are closing Main Street. That leaves Elm Street for a corridor. If we are trying to build a thriving downtown, we cannot limit the ways to get Council Workshop Project Updates July 28, 2003 Page 8 to downtown. Unless we look at a longer range plan we do not have a downtown. It will be too inconvenient to get downtown. Once that is done, you will kill the downtown. Some of the properties from 3rd Street west are not conducive to a corridor. How do you take care of some of those things while building a downtown that people want to come to? Interim Administrator Siebenaler asked if Council wants staff to explore that possibility with MnDOT. Mayor Ristow replied at a previous meeting with MnDOT, they would allow it, but the city would have to close Elm Street because of the location of the stop lights. That is why Elm Street was extended. The trucks are used to Elm Street, if we send them down Spruce Street, through a residential area, that will not go over well. Community Development Director Carroll stated the Hoisington people and most of the transportation people have liked the idea of having that longer east-west connection running through the community. They envision Spruce Street running all the way west to the border to alleviate some of the traffic on Hwy 50. Going to the east would be the same. People have discussed property to the east of East Farmington being annexed into the city. It would make sense for that new residential neighborhood to be able to connect along Spruce Street with the rest of the community. The Hwy 3 Access Management Study devoted some attention to intersections and what the spacing should be. There may be some information already regarding opening Spruce Street and what the spacing should be. Mayor Ristow suggested if it was toned down and made more like a parkway and restrict the trucks it might be better. Councilmember Fogarty has received inquiries as to whether there will be covenants in the Spruce Street Corridor area, such as strict aesthetics. Community Development Director Carroll replied there are some that exist now even though there are no buildings. The question is whether to keep them as is or modify them. As part of the process they will be reviewed. The Planning Commission and HRA would like to see high quality development. In some cases you have to have standards that are set high and require people to comply with them. Ash Street Proiect The township has not given the results of their review to the city yet. Their lawyer is reviewing the agreement first and then they want to have another meeting to make sure it is correct. The agreement should be available July 30, and will be in Council's agenda packets. Castle Rock is concerned the city will do a land grab for their commercial area. MOTION by Soderberg, second by Fogarty to adjourn at 8:31 p.m. APIF, MOTION CARRIED. Respectfully submitted, Jjn..,.~~ /7/7~~ Cynthia Muller Executive Assistant