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HomeMy WebLinkAbout05-17-21-WS,!It -ARQEN_,HILLs Approved: June 28, 2021 CITY OF ARDEN HILLS, MINNESOTA CITY COUNCIL WORK SESSION MAY 17, 2021 5:00 P.M. - ARDEN HILLS CITY COUNCIL CHAMBERS CALL TO ORDER/ROLL CALL Pursuant to due call and notice thereof, Mayor Grant called to order the City Council Work Session at 5:00 p.m. Note: On March 20`h, 2020 the Mayor signed a determination allowing Councilmembers to participate in City Council meetings via telephone pursuant to State Statute 13D. 021 Present via telephone: Mayor David Grant, Councilmembers Brenda Holden, Fran Holmes, Dave McClung and Steve Scott Absent: None Also present: City Administrator Dave Perrault, Interim Public Works Director David Swearingen, Senior Planner Jessica Jagoe, Finance Director Gayle Bauman, Deputy City Clerk Jolene Trauba and Ramsey County Traffic Enforcement Deputy Sheriff Mike Casey Also present via telephone: Bolton & Menk Planning Consultant Jane Kansier, U + B Architecture & Design Partner Paul Udris, U + B Architecture & Design Representative Andy Fest, Wold Architects Partner Paul Aplikowski, Mounds View School District Superintendent Chris Lennox, Mounds View School District Representative Michael Schwartz, Mounds View School District Director of Facilities Chris Paquette, Bolton & Menk Traffic Engineer Jacob Bongard, Anderson Johnson Representatives Dave Rey and Doug Hall, HR Green Regional Transportation Director John Morast 1. AGENDA ITEMS A. Lifelong Wealth Advisors Concept Plan Planning Consultant Kansier stated that Lifelong Wealth Advisors applied for a Concept Plan Review, for property located at 1150 County Road E. It is currently a vacant lot and they are proposing a 5,600 square foot office building on an approximately 28,000 square foot lot. In 2009 the City Council approved the Arden Plaza Master PUD. In 2011 the plan was amended to reduce the number of new buildings to three: Walgreens, the Tavern Grill, and a future building on Lot 2. In 2016, the City Council approved an amendment to the PUD to allow a neighborhood medical ARDEN HILLS CITY COUNCIL WORK SESSION - MAY 17, 2021 2 clinic on Lot 2, but the clinic chose not to build on the site. The property is currently zoned B-2 (General Business District), which permits financial institutions & services as well as offices. The applicant is anticipating a total of 12 full-time employees at the site with 9-5 office hours. The access point to the parking lot will be located on the south side of the property. Planning Consultant Kansier continued saying they will need to make a full application for a Planned Unit Development. In addition, a PUD would allow the Council to grant flexibility. Current City Code states "at least fifty percent (50%) of the largest building on each site shall be constructed at the front setback line." The applicant is requesting flexibility on this requirement, as they are not proposing to place the building at either the 20-foot setback line from County Road E or the setback line from the internal property line facing Arden Plaza. Planning Consultant Kansier stated a building of this size requires one parking stall for every 250 square feet, for a total of 23 stalls. The Applicant is proposing 20 parking stalls, with proof of parking for an additional 3 stalls. Based on preliminary landscaping plans, the Applicant will likely meet all requirements. The Applicant is proposing two wall signs on the south and north elevations of the building. Both proposed signs are less than 25 square feet in area which is consistent with sign criteria. Planning Consultant Kansier said the Applicant is requesting flexibility on building transparency. City Code states that 50% of all first level building facades that front a public street shall be comprised of transparent windows or doors. On the north elevation they are showing 37% of transparency. The second building requirement involves building materials. The City Ordinance requires at least seventy-five percent (75%) of the exterior building materials be of brick masonry, tile masonry, natural stone, decorative concrete plank, transparent glass or any combination thereof. The majority of the proposed elevations will be constructed out of patterned cement rainscreen, anchored stone masonry veneer, and transparent glass. Planning Consultant Kansier noted the last piece of possible flexibility is pedestrian and bicycle circulation. City Code requires a six-foot concrete sidewalk adjacent to or in the right-of-way. There is an existing bituminous path from Walgreens to the access road to the west. An eight -foot concrete sidewalk is on the west. The applicant would prefer to maintain the five-foot bituminous pathway, rather than provide a six-foot concrete sidewalk. Planning Consultant Kansier said discussion items for the Council include the items of potential flexibility: parking requirements, front setback line, building elevations and building materials, and pedestrian and bicycle circulation. Councilmember Holden asked if the north side of the building would be parallel with Walgreens. Planning Consultant Kansier said the north side of Walgreens is closer to the property line. The proposed building is south of the storm water pond. U + B Architecture & Design Representative Udris responded the existing biofiltration swale on County Road E would remain and the building will be behind that. Councilmember Holden asked what materials would be facing County Road E. ARDEN HILLS CITY COUNCIL WORK SESSION - MAY 17, 2021 Mr. Udris said it would be a combination of stone and panels that resemble wood. All facades will have windows. Mr. Fest added that the main entrance faces south. Mayor Grant asked what is the nature of the business of the Applicant. Mr. Udris said they are a financial investment company, wanting to move their headquarters from Minneapolis to Arden Hills. Mr. Udris explained the height of the window placement is for privacy in the offices, especially those on County Road E. Councilmember Holden asked if the HVAC would be on the roof. Mr. Udris said it would be, but set back as far as possible. Mr. Fest added the unit heights would be four to five feet. Councilmember Holden asked what kind of brick material they will use. Mr. Udris said it the darker material is a stone material, the lighter is patterned like brick. It will be full depth stone, similar to brick. Councilmember McClung asked if they would they meet the landscape requirements if they required to install 23 parking stalls. Planning Consultant Kansier responded that she didn't have enough information to answer that at this time, but it would be part of the approval review process, and they would be required to meet the landscape requirements. Mr. Udris explained that there will be about 12 people working in the building and a few clients throughout the day and they would rather have more landscaping than parking. Councilmember Holmes mentioned that they are considering changing the B-2 Zoning Ordinance to have the front of the building toward the street. Mr. Udris said the owners are happy with the building facing south and away from the street, for southern light and to shield noise from County Road E. Mayor Grant asked how tall the building will be. Planning Consultant Kansier replied that the building will be approximately 17 feet tall. County Road E is about 2 feet higher than the grade of the lot where the building will sit. Mayor Grant asked about screening for the HVAC system. ARDEN HILLS CITY COUNCIL WORK SESSION - MAY 17, 2021 4 Planning Consultant Kansier said they will have to provide screening, probably similar to what they see at Walgreen's. Mr. Fest mentioned there is another retention area in the southwest corner of the lot that the parking lot drainage will go to. Mayor Grant said he would go through the discussion items, starting with parking. Councilmember McClung said he'd like the drainage to not be impacted if they need to add the additional parking. Everyone was OK with 20 stalls. Mayor Grant moved on to the front setback line. Council did not object to the request. Mayor Grant continued with building elevations, to reduce the required window area from 50% to 37%, and to allow patterned cement and anchored stone masonry veneer. Planning Consultant Kansier explained it was 37% on the elevation facing the public right-of- way, or only the north elevation. Councilmember McClung commented that he was fine with the 37% but that he'd like to see the faux wood and know more about how it would stand up. Councilmember Holden agreed and she would want to see a materials board. Councilmember Scott said given the nature of the company he felt they wouldn't put up a building that would start looking shoddy. He was comfortable with the window transparency issue. Councilmember Holmes felt they needed to look at the materials carefully. Mayor Grant said he had concerns about the materials as well. Mr. Udris said they can provide better renderings. He noted they are vacating their office space in Minneapolis in order to build in Arden Hills. Mayor Grant said the pedestrian and bike circulation item was requesting to reduce the minimum trail size from six feet to five feet and allowing the existing bituminous versus concrete. Councilmember Holden didn't have an issue with that but wondered if they would put a bike rack on their property. Mr. Udris felt they would be happy to do that. Councilmember McClung had concerns with reducing the trail size and not using concrete. He felt this was an area they shouldn't allow flexibility. Councilmember Scott said he would like to see the concrete sidewalk for ease of use, maintenance and ADA issues. ARDEN HILLS CITY COUNCIL WORK SESSION - MAY 17, 2021 5 Mayor Grant would also like to see the concrete sidewalk. Mayor Grant recapped that they were good with parking, setback line, probably OK with windows, concerns about building materials, and they'd like to see a concrete sidewalk. Councilmember Scott added that he'd be thrilled to see a business relocate from downtown. Further discussion ensued regarding parking spaces. B. MVHS PUD Update/Crossing Light Planning Consultant Kansier stated that Mounds View High School is asking for input on a potential amendment to the Lake Valentine Road layout and to the timing of construction. A PUD was approved in 2019, in order to develop property on the north side of Lake Valentine Road in conjunction with the high school remodeling. Most of the parking was moved to the north parking lot. There was a lot of discussion about traffic and pedestrian issues and the improvements that needed to be made. The pedestrian signals were installed last year. The final piece is changes to the road configuration. Originally the access road was to be moved to the west to provide a better alignment. The School District has been working with the State on the property purchase, the State has indicated they are at another year out in considering the sale of this land. In light of that, the School District would like to discuss a revised layout for the Lake Valentine Road improvements. The current timing, for either the approved or revised alignment, does not allow the School District to complete this construction in 2021. The applicant is also requesting the Council consider extending this deadline to 2022. Councilmember Holmes wondered if they were trying to move the parent drop off farther east to line up with the parking lot exit. Wold Architects Partner Aplikowski said the primary revision is the access to the turnaround on the south side of the road to be relocated about 70 feet to the east to line up with the driveway on the north. He noted that the process of buying the land from the State is going so slow that they are fearful that if they wait another year they still won't get answers. Mr. Aplikowski explained that the only real changes from the last plan that was approved was that the driveway on the parking lot side was going to move west, and the existing driveway would stay where it was. The new version brings both of those driveways to the east. Alignment across the street was always a concern and they hope to facilitate that within the property the school district owns. The driveway on the school district property will be a little steeper, but manageable and stacking headed west will get shortened slightly. Councilmember Holmes wondered if they realized there was still a crosswalk painted on the road and people are crossing there. She felt people were crossing there and not crossing at the light. Mounds View School District Director of Facilities Paquette said he has no problem working with contractors to get the crosswalk blacked out. Mounds View School District Representative Schwartz said they currently have two dismissal times, and the majority of kids leave the building at 2:45, and cross at the light. He reviewed the ARDEN HILLS CITY COUNCIL WORK SESSION — MAY 17, 2021 6 numbers of people he counted crossing at the light during different time periods and felt most students cross at the light. Councilmember Scott agreed the old crosswalk markings should be removed. Councilmember Holden suggested they make removal of the old crosswalk a part of the approval. Mr. Paquette said he could have it removed right away. Mayor Grant asked how they could stop students parking on the west side from crossing where they want. Mr. Schwartz replied that it takes time and training but the kids will do what they tell them. Unfortunately, it's more adults that cross there than students. He can get more firm with them. Mr. Paquette added that at the last meeting they had with the State they thought it would be another nine to 12 months before they would review it, and couldn't guarantee there would be a sale. The school district would like to get the rest of the project done within their own property, along with reroofing and residing the former bus garage and the parking lot cleaned up. Councilmember Holden asked for an explanation of how much safer completing the project this way would be versus with the State property. Bolton and Menk Traffic Engineer Bongard said the average queue westbound into the site during site observations was one or two vehicles and the maximum was five. From what they see it is functioning well and the patrol officer on site is optimistic about how traffic is moving. Relocating the access further to the west on the State site was the preferred option, but with the current locations with the driveways offset makes for a little uncomfortableness for people trying to turn left from the west to east because of the overlap. Eastbound into the site will be cleaner with dedicated right and left turn lanes. After revisiting options after receiving the news on the State site they feel the current proposal is the best option. Councilmember Holden wondered if it was worth making this change now or wait until they acquire the State property and do it right for the long term. Mayor Grant said if they could educate the kids to use the appropriate crossing, then why would they not wait to buy the property from the State. Mr. Paquette responded that there is no guarantee that they get the property, so they would be back at square one. They would like to get the turn lane changes done, so if the City accepts the plan they are putting forth they could stop pursuing the State land. Mayor Grant asked if they would be losing parking stalls in the general area. Bolton & Menk Traffic Engineer Bongard said he didn't have an exact answer but he will quantify the parking counts when they come back with a full plan. ARDEN HILLS CITY COUNCIL WORK SESSION - MAY 17, 2021 7 Councilmember Holden would like to stipulate that if they get the State property they have no left hand turns out of the parking lot as they exist now. Mr. Paquette clarified that if the Council approves the solution being presented they won't pursue the State property. Councilmember McClung said his preference would be to get the State land, but he would begrudgingly agree that this is probably the best alternative, although not as safe. Councilmember Holmes asked if traffic was held and stopped for all the buses to leave, and asked for clarification. Mr. Schwartz said in the morning the buses drop and go, and in the afternoon they depart at approximately 3:14, are out in 90 seconds. If buses are queued in the morning they will stop traffic to let them in. They don't have room to back up so they all have to leave at the same time in the afternoon. Mayor Grant summarized that some want to evaluate this further when it comes forward but have concerns. Several would have liked to see the State property be used. Pedestrian safety is still the goal, along with traffic flow. Mr. Schwartz said the timeline is a problem, they want to get it completed by the end of next summer, and go one more year as is. C. Speed Limit on City Streets HR Green Regional Transportation Director Morast explained that the Minnesota Legislature changed the local road speed limit rules in August, 2019. In the new process, Cities now can lower speed limits only on City streets. Cities must develop procedures to set limits based on safey, engineering and traffic analysis. Surrounding cities have made some changes, the biggest being St. Anthony Village. They changed to 25 mph right away, Public Works made and installed the signs. Falcon Heights is looking at changing or reducing speed limits. Other cities are waiting for a variety of reasons. The City of Minneapolis decided in March, 2020, reduced speed limits in November and launched a Slower is Safer campaign. St. Paul essentially did the same, passing their ordinance in October 2019. The Minnesota Local Road Research Board (LRRB) has two studies underway. They are studying guidelines for determining speed limits on municipal roadways, and the impact of speed limit changes on urban streets. Arden Hills can choose to do nothing and make no changes, reduce City speed limits to 25 mph, wait for the LRRB study results, wait for other cities to act, do safety, engineering and traffic analysis or develop procedures to reduce speed limits. Councilmember Holden wondered why the City would need a safety, engineering and traffic study. Mr. Morast replied that the analysis was required in the Statute. Not all streets would need to be lowered, the analysis would help with determining that. Councilmember Holmes asked when the studies will be completed. ARDEN HILLS CITY COUNCIL WORK SESSION - MAY 17, 2021 Mr. Morast thought it would be sometime this summer. He can take a closer look and let staff know. Mayor Grant asked if the city was required to follow the results of the studies. Mr. Morast said the studies will be guidelines for cities to use, they will not be required to follow the results. Councilmember Holden felt it was important they move forward. She thought speed was the number one complaint in the City. Mayor Grant commented there were 13 distinct neighborhoods in Arden Hills so he wasn't sure how much the LRRB results would apply. Councilmember McClung said he supported moved forward but would like a map of which streets that they have authority to make changes to along with which ones are residential and which ones are feeder streets. Mr. Morast noted that counties don't have authority to change speed limits without speed studies and DOT approval. D. State Fair Parking Interim Public Works Director Swearingen stated that around the City of Arden Hills there are multiple locations for park and rides to the State Fair. Over the last several years Council has developed a parking restriction plan to mitigate the issues that arise from people parking on City streets while utilizing the park and ride locations. This year the 2021 PMP project is within the Hazelnut neighborhood and will be in full effect at the time of the fair. Parking will be prohibited throughout the site and must be restricted completely to not interfere with construction activities. It is recommended that large signs are posted at all construction entrances specifically calling out "No State Fair Parking". The project's inspection staff has been informed that this will be an issue and they will be monitoring the construction site since they will be present every day. Interim Public Works Director Swearingen said in 2019 the Sheriff reported approximately 50 citations on New Brighton Rd for State Fair parking. There was a request for no parking along Stowe Avenue east of New Brighton Road and there were cars parked in the right-hand turn lane of Pine Tree Drive. Councilmember Holden was confused if cars were allowed to park on the County Road (New Brighton Road) or not. Interim Public Works Director Swearingen said he was waiting for a return call from a traffic engineer to answer that question. Ramsey County Traffic Enforcement Deputy Sheriff Casey said he hadn't seen cars parked on New Brighton Road as overflow from the church parking lot until the day he wrote all the citations. They were parking on both sides of the road and in the old fire hall. He issued citations for parking on the grass. He tried to check with the County to find out if parking was allowed but didn't get an answer. He would like to see no parking signs on New Brighton Road like the City ARDEN HILLS CITY COUNCIL WORK SESSION - MAY 17, 2021 9 does on the side streets. He would be OK with one side of New Brighton Road marked no parking. The corner of Pine Tree Drive needs to be shut down because of the buses taking that route. Mayor Grant noted that Jerrold, Edgewater, Glen Paul and Prior are all being redone and the construction will coincide with State Fair parking. No vehicles can be parked on those roads. Deputy Sheriff Casey felt there wasn't a lot of State Fair parking on Glen Paul or Prior. Jerrold and Edgewater are used heavily. Mayor Grant said they are probably going to have to tow vehicles in the construction area. Deputy Sheriff Casey recommended the signs in the construction area be marked "No Parking, Tow -Away Zone". After discussion, the Council was in agreement to mark the construction area as a tow -away zone. Staff will discuss wording with the City Attorney. Councilmember Holden asked if the Sheriff's office would be open to having parking on one side of New Brighton Road. Deputy Sheriff Casey said they would need to talk to the County. City Administrator Perrault asked if the County is open to the City signing one side of the road, would that be the Council's directions to staff? Mayor Grant said that was the general consensus. If they notify the State Fair that the surrounding neighborhood will be under reconstruction they may choose to not operate that particular park and ride. Councilmember Holden added that there should be signs a little farther north on Benton Way. E. PTRC Discussion City Administrator Perrault noted that trail priorities and work plans will be brought forward to a future meeting. This discussion is for current issues with the PTRC. Mayor Grant said there were issues in regard to a park bench donated by State Farm, and appropriateness of what some of the PTRC members are doing. Councilmember Holden was surprised to find out the PTRC is limiting themselves to trails. She has a list of 13 things she believes should be in the work plan for PTRC. She assumes the Council liaison will bring those issues to them. Mayor Grant said he could bring the list to the PTRC. Councilmember Holden didn't like the PTRC assigning staff work when they are supposed to be a working committee. She felt there was more the committee could be doing in recreation areas. ARDEN HILLS CITY COUNCIL WORK SESSION - MAY 17, 2021 10 Councilmember McClung agreed in Councilmember Holden's suggestions, and felt they don't have a PTRC committee, they have a T committee. He is glad they are advocates for trials but the need to also show enthusiasm for parks and recreation. He thinks they need a direct work plan along with a refresher about what it means to be an advisory committee to the Council. Mayor Grant said they do review the parks annually. They assigned everyone a trail but not a park. Councilmember Holden said going to the parks once a year isn't showing interest in the parks. They should be reporting things as they see them, not just once a year. Councilmember McClung said he was on the PTRC previously and been Council liaison. He remembers discussions about how to improve the parks and he would like to have more of a balance from the committee now. For example, what should the recreation programs post COVID look like, and how can they work cooperatively with other cities. Councilmember Scott commented that he spent eight years on the PTRC and felt they were fairly balanced at that time. The focus has become more trail centric, but they do need to focus on parks and recreation. He had no problem redirecting the group. Councilmember Holmes agreed with the points in the email. Mayor Grant added there was a member of the PTRC who approached another city, he didn't think that was appropriate. There were also certain things with a park bench that also weren't proper. Councilmember Holden said it was at a Council meeting that she learned a member of PTRC approached another city instead of that city dealing with Arden Hills, and she felt that was inappropriate. Councilmember Holmes added that she was trying to figure out what the donation was and if the wording on the plaque. She said there was a notation on the donation application to have staff inquire about a second plaque. The donor said he was pressured to have a plaque on the front and on the back in order to get a better location in a park, but he really only wanted his own plaque. The application says the City will contact them to discuss the location of the bench, but apparently the PTRC member designated the bench to be in Crepeau Park. Councilmember Holden said telling someone "if you do this, we'll give you a better location" is totally inappropriate. She felt the person that did this should no longer be on the PTRC, between bribing the donor and adding to the form. She felt that is not what the City should have as a representative. Mayor Grant said he didn't know if they had actually approved that individual to be on the PTRC, at one point he had resigned. Mayor Grant added the same individual is the one that talked with the City of Roseville. He learned about that during a PTRC meeting. During the meeting it was conveyed the bench was to have a plaque in regard to Don Messerly. So, people were pressured, forms were altered, and they tried to represent the City about putting in a trail to another city. ARDEN HILLS CITY COUNCIL WORK SESSION - MAY 17, 2021 11 Councilmember McClung said he was just hearing about the bench issue tonight. He felt they can't have someone representing the City and saying the City would support a project. Councilmember Scott said they operate under a set of bylaws and serve at the pleasure of the Council, so if people are stepping outside of those boundaries the Council is justified in taking appropriate action. If the allegations are sound, he would support removing this person from the committee. Councilmember Holmes said she has a copy of the bench application everyone could see if they wanted to see there were two different handwritings on the form. She texted and exchanged voicemails with the individual and felt he was a bit glib. But she felt maybe they needed to let him give his side of the story. Councilmember Holden asked if here were other instances where the person had told staff what to do. Interim Public Works Director Swearingen replied that this individual has made multiple requests over the last few months. Interim Director Swearingen has been working with the City Administrator to know what is proper procedure, and the Mayor made an announcement regarding this at a PTRC meeting. But the actions they are discussing now came after that announcement. Mayor Grant asked if staff was asked to go into a park to pick up buckthorn. Interim Public Works Director Swearingen said that was the initial request, but the Public Works Superintendent spoke with them and explained they needed to haul it as close to the park entrance as possible. Mayor Grant said there are issues, but he didn't know if there were procedures for removing a member. He asked if they would like him to have a meeting with Council before they make their decision. Councilmember Holden suggested it be a meeting with the Mayor. Mayor Grant proposed that the individual meet with the Personnel Committee and instructed staff that they could have a special meeting. Councilmember Holden added that she'd like to see more benches on the Elmer Anderson Trail. F. Water Meters Discussion (Discussed after Item G) Mayor Grant asked that they only discuss the two specific water bills in question. He didn't know if the reads were correct or not; did the water really go through the meter? There are some issues with water meter readings right now. One of the customers makes a pretty good case that you can't get that much water through a meter in a townhome over the course of an hour. He thought staff should bill them an estimated amount based on previous usage. ARDEN HILLS CITY COUNCIL WORK SESSION - MAY 17, 2021 12 Councilmember Scott agreed. Councilmember McClung said he lives right across from the resident and that amount of water coming through would have damaged the unit and the two neighboring units. He didn't notice any type of work going on at the home so he is inclined to believe her. Finance Director Bauman clarified the property they were talking about was 1400 Arden View Drive. The 3,000 gallons per hour she said went through her meter in an hour was incorrect, that was over a 13-hour period. The bill for the 3rd quarter in 2020 was just over $750. Councilmember Scott said because she was never sent a leak letter he was willing to write it off and bill her at the nominal rate. City Administrator Perrault added that they have nothing to indicate they had a bad reading from the property on Arden View Drive, or that the meter wasn't working or transmitting properly. The meter bench tested within 1 %. The other account was a renter/landlord situation and they weren't getting a read in November/December. It is unclear if there was a problem the tenants or landlord fixed or if the tenants notified the landlord. There was nothing to indicate the meter was registering the water incorrectly, it was an issue of the transmitter not receiving the reading. Councilmember Holmes stated that she was hesitant to write the bills off, being as the meters were tested and reading correctly. She isn't convinced that the meters weren't properly measuring water, and she'd like to probe it a little further. Mayor Grant asked if there was a leak, what is the frequency that the City contacts the residents. Finance Director Bauman responded that when they go through the leak letter process they are only looking at the previous 24 hours. They only go through the leak alert process as a courtesy six to 12 times a year. If a leak is off during the time the data is pulled they wouldn't get a letter even if they do have a leak happening. Arden View Drive never showed a leak, and wouldn't have received a letter. Councilmember Holden mentioned that it is a courtesy to send the letters, it's not mandated so it's not that they didn't receive a letter so they shouldn't get billed. Mayor Grant asked if a read on a house is abnormally high, do they determine the number of gallons sent during the read is actually what is on the meter. Finance Director Bauman said that was correct. City Administrator Perrault added that staff would only go into the house to physically look at the meter if the resident thought there was an issue with the meter. Typically for just abnormal water usage staff is not sent to the house. Councilmember McClung said they do have some drainage issues in the area of the house and some people have sump pumps. The amount of water that would need to come out of a hose to generate that reading would have pooled and become very noticeable. ARDEN HILLS CITY COUNCIL WORK SESSION - MAY 17, 2021 13 City Administrator Perrault said the interesting thing about these readings was that generally speaking the leak would start happening at night and shut off during the day. Councilmember Holden proposed that they do a 50% split on anything above the normal average. Councilmember Holmes agreed. Councilmember Scott still felt they should write it off. Councilmember McClung said that by not being able to point to exactly what went on, he felt that would be a little too much to charge. He suggested they take an average cost over a number of quarters. Councilmember Holmes suggested they should be consistent with both addresses, and split it down the middle. Finance Director Bauman said the Cleveland address total bill was just under $3,000 and their normal bill was around $250 - $300. Councilmember McClung thought they should write off the majority of the bill. Councilmember Scott wanted to charge the nominal rate. Councilmember Holden wanted to split the difference. Councilmember Holmes was willing to split the difference. Mayor Grant instructed staff to split the difference from the average bill amount and the higher one for the Arden View Drive address. Council agreed to extend the meeting an additional ten minutes. Mayor Grant asked how we got a reading on the Cleveland Avenue home. Finance Director Bauman said they requested a read from the tenants and they sent it in to the City. The City did get an actual reading in January and February and the number they submitted was in line with those reading. They would have intermittent reads of approximately 259 gallons an hour, sometimes for hours. Councilmember McClung asked if this would have been something that would normally have been flagged and a leak letter sent. Finance Director Bauman replied that because it was intermittent they may or may not have caught it when they were running the report. There is a possibility they may have gotten a notification if we had been receiving the readings. Councilmember Holden suggested they split 50150 on anything above the normal average. ARDEN HILLS CITY COUNCIL WORK SESSION - MAY 17, 2021 14 Councilmember Holmes agreed. Councilmember Scott said he wasn't ready to make a decision. Councilmember McClung agreed to 50150 on anything above the normal average. G. MnDOT Highway 51 Speed Sign After discussion, Council was in support of a sign, prioritizing the southbound lane first. Staff was directed to work with MnDOT for a southbound sign, and a northbound sign would be discussed at a future meeting. H. Met Council Regional Bicycle Transportation Network (RBTN) Trail Corridor Realignment Interim Public Works Director Swearingen said the City of Roseville contacted Arden Hills staff with the proposed change in alignment for the Regional Bicycle Transportation Network (RBTN). Attachment A showed the existing alignment and the surrounding pink area is the corridor in which funding from the Met Council will be considered. The shift takes the alignment to the west off Lydia and continues north connecting Old Snelling/Highway 51. With this shift, the corridor would then cover Highway 51 from Lydia to Roseville's border. Roseville has a proposed route along this segment which would connect to a proposed trail in Arden Hills, Glenhill up to Old Snelling. A letter of support does not commit the City construction of a trail, but the alignment shift opens up additional sources of funding for Roseville. There is no current time frame for construction of the trail but MnDOT indicated they would be repaving Hwy 51 in 2026. Roseville will be submitting the application to Met Council for the proposed alignment shift and has asked Arden Hills for a letter of support. Mayor Grant noted that the Arden Hills section is already in the RBTN. Roseville wants to adjust the boundaries so they can make the segment along Lydia part of the RBTN trail. If we send a letter of support they may or may not build a trail, but it doesn't affect our portion of the trail. Councilmember McClung gave his support, but residents think this is happening in a year or two so communications needs to be made that this isn't a current project. Interim Public Works Director Swearingen noted that a trail could be built anywhere within the buffer zone and receive funding. Councilmember Holden said she was for this but wondered if there was land in the buffer zone that wasn't owned by private residents. Interim Public Works Director Swearingen said the red line on the map doesn't necessarily show exactly where the trail will go, it's just showing the general direction of where they'd like travel for bike transportation. Mayor Grant said a letter of support will be drafted for Roseville. Mayor Grant noted that the hour was late and so Items I and J would be discussed at another time. ARDEN HILLS CITY COUNCIL WORK SESSION - MAY 17, 2021 15 Councilmember Scott said he'd also like to have a more in-depth conversation regarding technical side of the water meter issues. Mayor Grant instructed staff to plan a discussion regarding hardware, software and other water meter related items. I. Food Truck Ordinance Discussion Not discussed, moved to a future meeting. J. Council Tracker Not discussed. 2. COUNCIL COMMENTS AND STAFF UPDATES None. ADJOURN Mayor Grant adjourned the City Council Work Session at 9:05 p.m. Jolole Traubk David Grant Deputy City Clerk Mayor