Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAbout12-16-19-WS'It -ADEN HILLS Approved: January 13, 2020 CITY OF ARDEN HILLS, MINNESOTA CITY COUNCIL WORK SESSION DECEMBER 16, 2019 5:00 P.M. - ARDEN HILLS CITY HALL CALL TO ORDER/ROLL CALL Pursuant to due call and notice thereof, Mayor Grant called to order the City Council Work Session meeting at 5:00 p.m. Present: Mayor David Grant, Councilmembers Brenda Holden, Fran Holmes, and Steve Scott Councilmember McClung arrived at 6:40 p.m. Absent: None Also present: City Administrator Dave Perrault, Interim Public Works Director/City Engineer Todd Blomstrom, Senior Engineering Technician David Swearingen, Community Development Manager/City Planner Mike Mrosla, Associate Planner Joe Hartmann, GreenCorps Member Danica Mooney -Jones and Deputy Clerk Jolene Trauba 1. AGENDA ITEMS A. Recycling Contract and Cleanup Day Community Development Manager/City Planner Mrosla stated Republic Services has been the city's recycling hauler since 2015. The contract was set to expire in May 2020. However, at their November 12, 2019 meeting, the city Council extended the contract until May 4, 2021. The current contact may be extended four (4) more times under the same terms and conditions. The intent of the extension was to take time and reevaluate the city's recycling needs. Community Development Manager/City Planner Mrosla explained prior to extending the contract with Republic Services, the City was notified by Shoreview that they won't participate in the joint cleanup day moving forward. Given the general growth seen in vehicle counts for the two city event, together with the increase of diverse and oversize loads being brought in, customers have increasingly shared their frustration with longer waiting times. Shoreview will explore having an event for their residents only. Also, the unpredictability of the site logistics is likely to increase due to growth in the activities associated with the new Red Bulls and other facilities ARDEN HILLS CITY COUNCIL WORK SESSION — DECEMBER 16, 2019 2 onsite, which also weighed into Shoreview's decision. Staff commented further on the recycling and cleanup day options available to the Council and requested feedback on how to proceed. Councilmember Holmes asked what the cost was for a cleanup day. Community Development Manager/City Planner Mrosla estimated this to be about $21,000 per event. Councilmember Holmes suggested the City hold a cleanup day every other year and that the program be similar to Brooklyn Park where items are picked up curbside. Associate Planner Hartmann explained the City of Brooklyn Park charges each resident $13 to $15 per year in order to cover the expense of the city-wide cleanup events. Councilmember Holmes supported the City holding its cleanup events curbside. Councilmember Scott asked if the City should conduct a survey in order to see if residents are interested. Mayor Grant stated he did not believe a survey was necessary. He commented he supported a curbside cleanup event. Councilmember Holden indicated she supported the City staying with Republic for another year. She noted they were providing really great service to Arden Hills residents. GreenCorp Member Mooney -Jones stated she spoke to Republic about a curbside pickup event and noted their concern was that residents would be putting items on the curb that could not be picked up. City Administrator Perrault recommended the Council direct staff to pursue an RFP for recycling for 2021 and beyond. He believed this would allow the Council to better plan for recycling and independent cleanup events. Councilmember Holmes suggested staff speak with Republic to see if they can do an add -on to the current contract for a 2020 cleanup event. Mayor Grant supported breaking the City into two parts (north of 96/south of 96) and that one curbside cleanup event be held in 2020 and the next in 2021. He commented the City could see how much residents participate in the curbside cleanup event, prior to hosting more. Councilmember Scott supported a curbside cleanup event as well. Community Development Manager/City Planner Mrosla said he would ask Republic if they could complete this type of cleanup/recycling event for the City and would report back to the Council in January. ARDEN HILLS CITY COUNCIL WORK SESSION — DECEMBER 16, 2019 3 B. National Recoveries/Arden Hills Corporate Center Parking Community Development Manager/City Planner Mrosla stated National Recoveries is a debt recovery service, which operates a call center at 4265 Lexington Avenue North within the Arden Hills Corporate Center. National Recoveries has been a tenant of Arden Hills Corporate Center since 2015 and has approximately 350 to 400 employees. This past summer the City Council and staff received a complaint about National Recoveries staff parking on Wyncrest Court. The residents concern corrected itself without city intervention. However, additional review was required to determine if the Arden Hills Corporate Center has sufficient parking to meet ordinance requirements. Councilmember Holmes asked if the City needed to reconsider its parking requirements for call centers. Community Development Manager/City Planner Mrosla explained the Council could consider making a change to the parking Ordinance. Mayor Grant stated he would also like to see the City addressing the parking restrictions on Wyncrest Court to ensure the residents in this area are not bothered by employees parking on the street. He also supported the Council reviewing the parking requirements for call centers. Councilmember Holden stated she was pleased Natural Recoveries was willing to work with the City. Community Development Manager/City Planner Mrosla indicated he would draw up language for call center parking requirements and would report back to the Council in January. H. Noise Wall Discussion Mayor Grant stated there were residents interested in having a noise wall in the Round Lake East area of the City, near Lakeshore Drive and Old Snelling Avenue. He noted MnDOT was taking applications for noise walls and would select which noise walls get built in 2020. He reported if a community signs up to cover 10% of the cost, this puts the application at the top of the list. He asked if the Council supported the City submitting an application. Interim Public Works Director/City Engineer Blomstrom provided the Council with information regarding noise walls and described how noise walls are funded. He estimated the proposed cost for the Lakeshore Drive noise wall would be $1.6 million based on MnDOT cost data. Mayor Grant questioned if the Council supported the City submitting an application for this noise wall if the City's expense could be $160,000. Councilmember Scott supported the City submitting an application. ARDEN HILLS CITY COUNCIL WORK SESSION — DECEMBER 16, 2019 4 Councilmember Holden commented she would like to understand if the residents could be assessed for this expense. She feared how the City could be impacted by future requests for noise walls if the City were to pay 10% for this project, but would not support other similar requests. Interim Public Works Director/City Engineer Blomstrom reported the City Council would have to pass a Resolution if the City wanted to pursue a noise wall for this area. Councilmember Holden asked if all 24 homes along Lakeshore Drive wanted the noise wall. Mayor Grant stated he has talked to residents who have talked to their neighbors and have voiced a need for a noise wall. Councilmember Holmes questioned how the noise wall locations were selected. Interim Public Works Director/City Engineer Blomstrom reported there were two programs used for noise walls. He discussed noise wall installations for federally funded highway expansion projects and the MnDOT Metro Standalone Noise Barrier Program to retrofit areas that exceed noise level criteria. Councilmember Holmes asked how much a sound wall along the Glen Paul neighborhood would be. Interim Public Works Director/City Engineer Blomstrom estimated this would be $1.9 million. Councilmember Holmes stated she did not see how the City could approve or apply for one and not the other. She commented unfortunately, the Council recently approved the 2020 budget and funds were not allocated for a noise wall. Interim Public Works Director/City Engineer Blomstrom suggested the Council survey the neighbors to see if there was support for a noise wall prior to beginning the application process. Councilmember Holden commented on how a noise wall would impact the view of the neighbors living adjacent to Lakeshore Drive. She thought it would be difficult for the Council to take action on this item in 2020 and the Council may have to wait until 2021. Councilmember Scott supported the City submitting an application. Councilmember Holmes stated she believed the noise walls were a good idea, but recommended the residents be contacted first. She recommended the City speak with the residents and pursue this project in September of 2020 with the project being done in 2021. Councilmember Holden agreed with this recommendation and stated she would also like to better understand if the City can assess for noise walls. ARDEN HILLS CITY COUNCIL WORK SESSION — DECEMBER 16, 2019 5 Interim Public Works Director/City Engineer Blomstrom reported he would investigate the City's assessment policy, would speak with the two neighborhoods and would request a sound study from MnDOT. C. Rice Creek Watershed District Grant Applications Senior Engineering Technician Swearingen stated the Rice Creek Watershed District plans to provide approximately $300,000 in Stormwater Management Grant funding in 2020 to assist cities, counties, school districts and other public and private entities with implementation of stormwater management projects. This funding is intended for projects that provide stormwater quality treatment, runoff volume reductions, peak runoff rate control and reductions in ground water usage. Senior Engineering Technician Swearingen reported City staff has identified two potential grant applications for 2020 projects. The first application consists of slope stabilization located at the failing timber retaining wall within Cummings Park adjacent to Karth Lake. A representative from the State Institution Community Work Crew (ICWC) has reviewed the project and notified City staff that wall repairs are beyond their capability and are not an eligible work item for the ICWC program. The other potential application involves improvements to address excessive erosion near the south end of the Karth Lake caused by runoff from adjacent land uses. Councilmember Holden questioned if the catch basin would help eliminate the amount of salt getting into the lake. Senior Engineering Technician Swearingen discussed the two phases of the project and noted the parking lot runoff would be treated. He commented further on the expense to build a lifetime wall. Mayor Grant noted the Karth Lake community was willing to pay for the pump and a retrofit of the control panel so pumping could occur in 2020. He explained the expense for this would be paid for by the City and then assessed back to the Karth Lake neighbors. He indicated the expense for the retaining wall would be paid for by the City. Interim Public Works Director/City Engineer Blomstrom explained that part of the wall failure was water draining over the slope. He commented the City needed to redirect this water in order to protect the integrity of the slope. He commented further on the permits that would be needed for the retaining all. D. Elections and Polling Places City Administrator Perrault stated the City Council discussed potential polling places at their November work session. At that meeting, Council directed staff to work with Ramsey County on the following options: move the polling place for Precinct 2 to Valentine Hills Elementary, or the Anderson Center if the elementary is not available. The Council also directed staff to move the polling place for Precinct 3 to North Heights Lutheran (the current polling place for Precinct 2). Following discussions with Ramsey County, Valentine Hills is unavailable, but the Anderson Center is; Ramsey County is also in the process of confirming if North Heights Lutheran will be ARDEN HILLS CITY COUNCIL WORK SESSION — DECEMBER 16, 2019 6 available for Precinct 3. If Council is comfortable, staff will move forward to change the Precinct 2 polling place to the Anderson Center and Precinct 3 to North Heights Lutheran. Precinct 1's polling place will remain at the current location, Presbyterian Church of the Way. City Administrator Perrault explained the Council also requested staff address the placement of election signs, the Community Development Manager/City Planner will provide a brief verbal update on this item; to adjust the placement of signs Staff will likely need to do an ordinance update. He reported notices would be sent to residents regarding the proposed changes. Community Development Manager/City Planner Mrosla said by State statute political signs placed within a certain time frame can be placed anywhere as long as they don't impact driver safety. Staff would like to change the City ordinance to agree with State statute and also say political signs can't be placed within five feet of the curb for City owned roads. There is currently no language about the number of feet from the curb for political signs. Councilmember Holden requested staff be consistent with the placement of election signs. Mayor Grant recommended the City have a plan in place to ensure the City is communicating the same message to candidates. Council directed Staff to make necessary ordinance changes regarding placement of political signs and to bring the ordinance into conformance with State statute for when signs can be put out. E. Newspaper of Record Deputy City Clerk Trauba stated Lillie Suburban Newspapers (Shoreview -Arden Hills Bulletin) went out of business in October 2019. The City Council appointed the Pioneer Press as its newspaper of record for the remainder of 2019. Staff is asking for direction for the newspaper of record for 2020. Mayor Grant stated he wanted to stay with the Pioneer Press because of its large circulation. After discussion, Council consensus was to direct staff to keep the Pioneer Press as the City's newspaper of record. F. Council Tracker After discussion, no changes were made to the tracker. 2. COUNCIL COMMENTS AND STAFF UPDATES None. ARDEN HILLS CITY COUNCIL WORK SESSION — DECEMBER 16, 2019 7 ADJOURN Mayor Grant adjourned the City Council Work Session meeting at 6:51 p.m. JolVie Trauba David Grant City Clerk Mayor