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HomeMy WebLinkAbout10-18-21-WSI't -AI�QEN HILLS Approved: November 8, 2021 CITY OF ARDEN HILLS, MINNESOTA CITY COUNCIL WORK SESSION OCTOBER 18, 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. Present: Mayor David Grant, Councilmembers Fran Holmes, Steve Scott, and Brenda Holden (attending remotely) Absent: Councilmember Dave McClung (excused) Also present: City Administrator Dave Perrault, Public Works Director/City Engineer David Swearingen, Finance Director Gayle Bauman, Senior Planner Jessica Jagoe, Deputy City Clerk Jolene Trauba, and HR Green Regional Manager John Morast Councilmember Holmes requested to add additional items for Mounds View High School (MVHS) and Parks, Trails and Recreation Committee (PTRC). 1. AGENDA ITEMS A. Speed Limit Discussion Public Works Director/City Engineer Swearingen noted that in a previous meeting staff gave a list of City streets that are eligible to have speed limit changes. Cost estimates are broken down into material costs, and crew time and cost. Material costs are around $3,500. Consultant time costs will take include finalizing sign locations, getting permits required by Ramsey County, and communicating with residents. Mayor Grant asked who would be making sure the sign location sites are ok. Public Works Director/City Engineer Swearingen recommended it be an engineer. He is asking to have HR Green proceed with the rest of the project. Mayor Grant asked if the Council wants to change to 25 mph. Council agreed to 25 mph. ARDEN HILLS CITY COUNCIL WORK SESSION — OCTOBER 18, 2021 2 Councilmember Holden commented that they could reuse some of the 30 mph signs. Public Works Director/City Engineer Swearingen added that there is no proposal at this time, but HR Green gave an estimate between $3,00045,000. HR Green Regional Manager Morast confirmed that the cost would include coordination of the entire project, visiting sign locations to be sure there are no conflicts or sign pollution, and determining what can be re -used, in addition to the work they've already done. They will coordinate permitting with Ramsey County and provide communications. Mayor Grant if HR Green would give them a proposal. Mayor Grant suggested they provide information to major employers. Councilmember Holden felt postcards could be sent. Mr. Morast said most of the cost of the proposal will be for staff time to look at signs and locations, that and other costs will be itemized on the proposal. Mayor Grant said they will need to review the proposal and decide if they will give the work to HR Green or have staff complete the work. Discussion ensued regarding the timeline of the project. It was decided that the proposal could be reviewed in November, approval in December, with work beginning as soon as possible in the spring. B. State of the City Update City Administrator Perrault distributed an updated slide deck for the State of the City. He would like to have Council decide what categories they will each take. The pre -recording is set for October 28 at either City Hall or NineNorth. Councilmember Scott recommended making a short mention of the National Guard's new headquarters. Mayor Grant suggested additional wording to the TCAAP update. During discussion other changes to the slide deck were suggested. It was decided that Mayor Grant would take the COVID-19 and City Operations slide, TCAAP Overview, and TCAAP Update. Councilmember Holmes would do Planning, Developments, and Code Enforcement Complaints. Councilmember Scott was assigned the Census, Building Inspections and Public Safety slides, and Councilmember Holden would take Public Works, PMP, and Trail Priorities. Mayor Grant would finish with Finances and Property Taxes. City Administrator Perrault said he would have the scripts to the Council by Friday, he would incorporate changes on Monday and get a master slide deck sent for final review. Further discussion ensued on individual slides and changes requested. ARDEN HILLS CITY COUNCIL WORK SESSION — OCTOBER 18, 2021 C. Water Meters Update Mayor Grant stated the City should absorb the costs as outlined on the memo. Councilmember Holmes disagreed. She felt the charges should be assessed. She referred to an email from the City Attorney. Finance Director Bauman said the units in question had not been sold in the three years under discussion. She hadn't contacted any of the residents yet, and there would be 15 in total affected. She also has a couple of commercial accounts she'd like review. Councilmember Holmes felt they should charge the customers. Councilmember Scott said he initially thought it should be absorbed but because we don't know what the total amount is they should be given a generous payment schedule. Councilmember Holden thought they should pay the full amount for 2021 only. Councilmember Holmes suggested 50/50. Mayor Grant said he was ok with 50/50. Councilmember Scott agreed but with a generous time allowed for payment. Finance Director Bauman said they could be given the same length of time as it took them to accrue. She also noted that as of that morning 50 people had signed up for EyeOnWater monitoring. D. Sale of City Owned Parcel at 3588 Ridgewood Road Senior Planner Jagoe stated that based off of the direction given by the Council, Staff presented this item to the Planning Commission for review of consistency with the City's Comprehensive Plan. At their October 61h meeting, the Planning Commission motioned by a 5-0 vote that a potential sale of City owned property at 3588 Ridgewood Road would be in compliance with the City's Comprehensive Plan. The City Attorney has confirmed that the Planning Commission does not have the authority to add conditions to direct the terms of the sale and that type of action would fall under the purview of the City Council. Staff is bringing this discussion back to the City Council for direction on next steps for listing the parcel. The City Attorney has confirmed that a competitive bidding process for the sale is not required. Possible actions for consideration: • Conduct an appraisal of the property to determine listing price. Ramsey County records show the value of the parcel at $68,400. • Market the property to adjacent Property Owners similar to the right of first refusal, or broaden the sale to the general public. Any future listing would clearly outline the conditions of sale as previously discussed. • If public listing, Staff would ask for direction on staff marketing the property or contract with a licensed real estate agent/broker. Staff has been approached by a realtor about the process for agent/broker selection. List the property and allow a defined period of time for offers to be submitted. ARDEN HILLS CITY COUNCIL WORK SESSION — OCTOBER 18, 2021 4 Councilmember Holmes suggested the property be put up for auction and specify that variances would be unlikely to be granted. Councilmember Scott felt it would look poorly if the public couldn't bid on the property. Councilmember Holden agreed that they should make it available to anyone, and sell it at market rate. Mayor Grant asked how they would like to sell the property; he felt they should list it on the MLS where they would have more control over traditional transactions. Councilmember Scott said a realtor needed to be someone totally independent from the City. Senior Planner Jagoe confirmed that the agent that approached the City also represents one of the potential buyers. Councilmember Holden suggested that if they use a realtor they should ask for a reduced rate. Councilmember Scott felt it was important to list the property on the MLS. Mayor Grant said the Council would have to decide which offer to take. Senior Planner Jagoe mentioned that per City Code, a driveway would need to come off of Ridgewood Road. Discussion ensued regarding placement of a potential driveway and home, and the placement of the current neighboring driveway. Mayor Grant directed staff to have a realtor evaluate the property and bring the information back to Council. E. 2022 Liquor and Tobacco License Fees Mayor Grant asked if they wanted to raise liquor and license fees. Fees are currently in the middle range compared to surrounding cities. After discussion, staff was directed to leave liquor and tobacco license rates as is for 2022. F. LJFD Update City Administrator Perrault stated he took the Council's recommendation for a 1-1-1 vote to the other two cities, Shoreview wasn't comfortable with it and presented a 2-1-1 voting structure for the JPA only. The JPA would be used to acquire funding. Discussion ensued, Council agreed to a 2-1-1 voting scenario for the JPA. ARDEN HILLS CITY COUNCIL WORK SESSION — OCTOBER 18, 2021 5 G. Community Development Staffing City Administrator Perrault said they had received two applications for Community Development Director, interviews were held but staff is not bringing a recommendation to the Council. After discussion with the Personnel Committee an option would be to elevate the current Senior Planner to City Planner and hire a new Senior Planner, which would leave the Community Development Director position vacant. He would bring back discussion on a Building Official at a later time. Councilmember Holden said the Personnel Committee would want a high quality Senior Planner, and she wondered about a combination City Planner/Community Development Manager. City Administrator Perrault said the Community Development Manager duties had been taken off of the City Planner posting, but it could be reassessed in six months to a year. He noted that he has been very pleased with Senior Planner Jagoe's performance. Council was in agreement to promote the Senior Planner to City Planner. City Administrator Perrault said he would put the promotion on an upcoming Council meeting under Consent along with the request to authorize a search for the vacancy. H. Mounds View High School (MVHS) (Added by Councilmember Holmes) Councilmember Holmes stated that the SRO has been directing traffic at Lake Valentine Road and Fairview and that area seems to be under control. But on the west side of the property where parents come out of the circle and students are coming out of the parking lot there is a traffic jam. Currently the assistant principals are directing traffic. The PUD suggests that the City may require them to hire the Sheriff to direct traffic instead of their staff. Councilmember Holden said it is the City's liability and so they should have the Sheriff direct traffic. Public Works Director/City Engineer Swearingen noted that the improvements on that stretch of road aren't complete but the newer design will have better alignment. Mayor Grant felt the school should hire a Sheriff because they created the traffic problem. City Administrator Perrault read the applicable section of the PUD. Councilmember Holden expressed interest in having a meeting with the school, engineer and Council. Mayor Grant said staff could meet to review per the PUD agreement and discuss if the SRO is sufficient given what they are currently experiencing. Discussion ensued about getting a letter of support from Bethel University regarding the new trail along Lake Valentine Road. ARDEN HILLS CITY COUNCIL WORK SESSION — OCTOBER 18, 2021 I. Parks, Trails and Recreation Committee (PTRC) (Added by Councilmember Holmes) Councilmember Holmes wondered why PTRC was looking at staffing and a destination park and if Council was going to have a joint meeting with them. Mayor Grant responded that staffing is not a concern of PTRC. If they want to talk about a destination park they can but it would be up to the Council to decide on funding. PTRC wants to talk about a work plan and have the Council approve it. Councilmember Holden felt staffing should be off the table for PTRC. Mayor Grant agreed and said the PTRC Chair put the item on the agenda. Public Works Director/City Engineer Swearingen said he had asked staff what the item was about. He was told the Chair wanted it on the agenda but there was no background information. J. Council Tracker After discussion, Mounds View High School Traffic Meeting was added to the tracker. County Sidewalk on Lexington Corner and Official Controls and B2 Zoning Setback Requirements were removed from the tracker. 2. COUNCIL/STAFF COMMENTS Councilmember Holden said there has been a white car in the northwest corner of the parking lot at Hazelnut Park and wanted the Sheriff to patrol the park after 9 p.m. Mayor Grant suggested the Sheriff park their vehicle there to watch them. Councilmember Holmes wondered if there were plans to have the NYFS director speak to the Council. She would like to know if Arden Hills residents get any services that are different from someone that lives in a city not donating to NYFS. Mayor Grant proposed they do a presentation at a Council meeting outlining their services. Councilmember Holden said she would like to know what other organizations give the same things to the community. Mayor Grant said they will decide on a work session to have NYFS present to the Council. Councilmember Scott said he was disappointed there would not be a Public Works lunch. Also, he went to the Parks and Rec Pumpkin Hunt and it was a great event. Mayor Grant noted that some parents with children attending Valentine Hills Elementary don't want them to ride the bus, so at the end of the school day County Road E2 is parked with cars on both sides of the road, so there are issues there along with the high school. ARDEN HILLS CITY COUNCIL WORK SESSION — OCTOBER 18, 2021 Mayor Grant mentioned there are no parking signs on Chatham that were covered with garbage bags and duct tape, he would like staff to look into it. City Administrator Perrault stated that he sent an updated draft of the park ordinance letter to the Council and asked if they would let him know if they have additional comments. Also, there will be a virtual Lake Johanna Fire Department Relief Association meeting the same night as the Snelling Avenue Open House at City Hall. Councilmember McClung would not be attending so if another Councilmember wished to attend they would be welcome to do so. ADJOURN Mayor Grant adjourned the City Council Work Session at 7:40 p.m. Jo ene Traub . David Grant Deputy City Clerk Mayor