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HomeMy WebLinkAboutCC 11-13-2001 CITY OF ARDEN HILLS, MINNESOTA REGULAR CITY COUNCIL MEETING NOVEMBER 13, 2001 . 7:30 P.M. - ARDEN HILLS CITY COUNCIL CHAMBERS CALL TO ORDER/ROLL CALL Pursuant to due call and notice thereof, Mayor Dennis Probst called to order the regular City Council meeting at 7:31 p.m. Present: Mayor Dennis Probst, Councilmembers Beverly Aplikowski, David Grant, and Lois Rem. Absent: Councilmember Gregg Larson. Also present were City Administrator, Joe Lynch; City Accountant, Terrance Post; City Planner, Aaron Parrish; Planing Consultant, Mike Cronin; and Recording Secretary, Nancy Czajkowski. APPROV AL OF MEETING AGENDA MOTION: Councilmember Aplikowski moved and Councilmember Rem seconded a motion to adopt the agenda for the November 13,2001, regular City Council meeting. . The motion carried unanimously (4-0). APPROVAL OF MINUTES A. October 9,2001 Regular Council Meeting Councilmember Grant requested the following change: on page 5, in the second to the last paragraph, in the last line, delete "A". Councilmember Rem requested the following changes: on pages 1 and 2, under the motions, the unanimous votes should be reflected as "4-0" and not "5-0". Mayor Probst requested the following changes: 1. On page 3, in the third paragraph from the top, in the first sentence, replace "Lexington Avenue" with "County Road I". 2. On page 5, in the fifth paragraph, in the fourth sentence, insert "Mayor of Minnetonka" after "Ms. Karen Anderson". 3. On page 5, in the fifth paragraph, in the fifth sentence, replace "Minnetonka" with "New Brighton" . . ARDEN HILLS CITY COUNCIL - NOVEMBER 13, 2001 2 MOTION: Councilmember Aplikowski moved and Councilmember Rem seconded a motion . to approve the October 9,2001 Regular Council Meeting minutes as corrected above. The motion carried unanimously (4-0). CONSENT CALENDAR A. Claims and Payroll MOTION: Councilmember Grant moved and Councilmember Aplikowski seconded a motion to approve the Consent Calendar and authorize execution of all necessary documents contained therein. The motion carried unanimously (4-0). PUBLIC COMMENTS Mayor Probst invited those present to come forward and address the Council on any items not already on the agenda. No public comments were made. UNFINISHED AND NEW BUSINESS A. Plannine: Cases . 1. Case #01-23, City of Arden Hills, Sign Ordinance Mr. Cronin explained the changes to the draft ordinance because of city council comments. MOTION: Councilmember Grant moved and Councilmember Aplikowski seconded a motion to approve the First Reading of Ordinance 333 and to direct staff to bring it forward for the Second Reading at the next regularly scheduled City Council meeting as recommended by Staff. The motion carried unanimously (4-0). 2. Case #01-15, City of Arden Hills, Adoption of Flood Plain Ordinance and Ordinance Summary No. 331 Mr. Parrish explained the only difference in the Ordinance from its first reading was that it includes a map. He stated the map indicates the areas designated as flood plain. Councilmember Grant asked if the city would in any affect people who wished to apply for the Floodplain Assistance Plan. Mr. Parrish responded the city is required to have these types of regulations. He stated there are existing regulations. He noted this is part of the re-codification process. He added there is a federal Floodplain program, in which the city does not participate. . Mayor Probst stated the City of Eagan had a significant flooding problem several years ago. He noted that city did not take a certain action that was required for the Federal Floodplain ARDEN HILLS CITY COUNCIL - NOVEMBER 13, 2001 3 Assistance Program. He added staff should research this issue to find out what action was . required. Councilmember Aplikowski noted that on page 5, under permitted uses, in c), it discussed things not permitted in Arden Hills by other ordinances. She asked if those uses should be listed. Mr. Parrish responded this is an overlay district so the more restrictive of the zoning would apply. He stated it was boilerplate language. Mayor Probst stated he was not sure that all ofthe uses were precluded in other parts of the ordinance. He noted the National Guard might find some of these uses things possible. Mr. Lynch stated special legislation passed last year did preempt local governments from restricting schooting clubs, etc. He questioned the possibility of two parks shown in the Floodplain. Mr. Parrish responded there would be some parks contained in the Floodplain. He stated this was not the official flood map of the city. He noted FEMA puts out panel maps that the city uses for that purpose. Councilmember Rem noted Valentine Park was not in the Floodplain. She added the upper part of Ingerson Park would be in the Floodplain. Councilmember Grant stated Ingerson Park and Valentine Park were not in the Floodplain. . MOTION: Councilmember Grant moved and Councilmember Aplikowski seconded a motion to approve the Second reading of Ordinance #331, to adopt the summary publication thereof, and to authorize publication of the preliminary summary without the map. The motion carried unanimously (4-0). B. Cancellation of December 26, 2001 Regular Council Meeting Mr. Lynch explained that in past years the Council has considered canceling the last meeting in December. He stated the work session could be used as a special meeting if needed. MOTION: Mayor Probst moved and Councilmember Aplikowski seconded a motion to cancel the December 26,2001 Regular Meeting and schedule a Special Council Meeting on Monday, December 17, 2001 at 4:45 p.m. to be immediately followed by the Council W orksession as recommended by staff. The motion carried unanimously (4-0). ADMINISTRATOR COMMENTS a. Army National Guard Property Mr. Lynch stated the Planning Commission Chair and one other Commissioner have resigned. He noted he sought Council direction to publish the openings and seek applications. . ARDEN HILLS CITY COUNCIL - NOVEMBER 13,2001 4 MOTION: Councilmember Aplikowski moved and Councilmember Grant seconded a motion . to publish the two Planning Commission Openings and to accept applications, as recommended by staff. The motion carried unanimously (4-0). Mayor Probst stated he would bring forward his recommendation for Planning Commission Chair to the next council meeting. Mr. Lynch stated Mr. Brown would be putting together a package of information on the TCAP site to enable the Army National Guard to approach Representative McCullum about special legislation for the City of Arden Hills. Mayor Probst stated he spoke to Representative McCullum about the special legislation the last time she was in Arden Hills. He noted Representative McCullum requested a package defining the property and what the Council was seeking. He added Mr. Lynch and he talked further with the Army National Guard regarding where the lines would be drawn and where its plan did not agree with the city's plan. He stated it appeared that with the exception of two parcels, the line would basically be in the same place. He noted the National Guard believes the other two sites are on top of the contamination and are not developable. He added staff should proceed with putting together a package and scheduling a meeting with Representative McCullum. He stated the National Guard is willing to work with the city. He noted Representative McCullum's staff has agreed to a meeting once the package is done. He added he requested an estimated cost for preparing the package from Mr. Brown so it could be brought to the Council for further . discussion. Mr. Post stated this was not in the budget, but there are some TCAP funds for general planning. He noted there was $10,000 budgeted in that fund for 2001. Mayor Probst stated the Council and the National Guard would review the package before it would be sent out. He noted the purpose of the package would be to create exhibits to show where the contamination is in relation to uses of the property and other requested information for Representative McCullum. MOTION: Councilmember Aplikowski moved and Councilmember Rem seconded a motion to authorize staff to spend up to $2,5000 from the TCAP fund to prepare a package as recommended by staff. The motion carried unanimously (4-0). Councilmember Aplikowski stated her concern that the Council is going around in a circle. She noted the whole world changed after September 11, 2001. She added she did not have the faith in this whole process that the Mayor did. Mayor Probst stated that was a legitimate concern. He noted he did not know what affect recent events would have on this exercise. He added it might affect the timing, but would not change . the outcome on the process. He stated there are people out there that want to partner with the city to move this forward. He noted the city also needed to speak to one or both Senators. He added ARDEN HILLS CITY COUNCIL - NOVEMBER 13,2001 5 if they turned down all requests, the Council needed to decide what other avenues they wanted to . pursue. COUNCIL COMMENTS Councilmember Grant stated the Operations and Finance Committee meeting would be held on November 15,2001. Councilmember Rem stated there was a resignation from the Communications Committee. She noted there is one person willing to fill out an applicant. Mayor Probst stated that historically he has a proposed list of appointments together before the last meeting in December. He noted this allows the Council to be able to adopt them at the first meeting in January. He added he would appreciate any comments the Councilmembers had on these appointments. Councilmember Aplikowski stated the Association of Metropolitan Municipalities is having a meeting on the ramifications on the upcoming blueprint and natural resources inventory on November 29,2001. She noted it was to be held at City Hall. She added the Association's staff was concerned that cities were unaware of the impact of this blueprint. She stated the meeting would be from 7:30 a.m. to 9:00 a.m. She noted it would be nice to have Councilmembers present since Arden Hills was hosting the meeting. . Mayor Probst stated the information from Mills Corporation was a response to a request he made about a listing of facilities they have done. He noted that he urged Councilmembers to visit these sites if they were traveling. Mayor Probst noted the 35W Corridor Coalition was continuing to meet on a monthly basis. He added the focus of discussion was to plan for the legislative agenda for next year. He stated the Coalition received some funds last year, but not the amount they had requested. He noted the Coalition was putting together a proposal to do that this year. He added this session was a bonding session. He stated they were also looking at potential grant possibilities. He noted staff had been given the assignment to heighten the level of activity. He added the transportation study is to be complete soon. He stated they need to have some notion of improvements at the Arsenal property as part of that process. Mayor Probst added the Council packet had the new water rates listed. He stated he found it frustrating that the city had no ability to affect those rates. He noted the rates were increasing agam. Mayor Probst stated he had received an invitation from Congresswoman McCullum to attend a seminar on homeland security. He noted Mr. Todd Jones moderated it. He added there were speakers from the Science museum and the Department of Health. He stated the St. Paul Fire Chief discussed an emergency response. He noted there was also a local prospective. He added . that no new information had been revealed. He stated it was a fairly comforting seminar. He noted he believed Minnesota was much further ahead than a lot of locations. He added Minnesota already knows how to deal with hazmat events. He stated there are some concerns ARDEN HILLS CITY COUNCIL - NOVEMBER 13, 2001 6 about gaps on the health side. He noted one such issue was quarantine. He added there is no . excess capacity in hospitals. He stated on speaker raised the concern about being locked out of building and not having access to computers or data. He noted they did not have a prearranged gathering place for all staff to meet so could communicate with them quickly. He added there also needs to be a plan to get back in business. He stated communication was the single greatest problem. He noted cell phones were a life saver, yet in New York the system was overloaded and useless. He added there has been some discussion of a priority for the Chief of Police, etc. He stated everyone should consider putting key numbers for people on their persons so as to be prepared. He noted it was time well spent. He added Representative McCullum started the meeting with news that an aircraft was down in New York. He stated there were certain risk issues that have to be dealt with. He noted the Postal Inspector pointed out that since September 11,2001,30 billion pieces of mail had been processed. He added yet only three pieces have been found to have Anthrax. He stated that out of 350 billion pieces of mail, there have been only three bombs. He noted that in all three cases a spouse was sending his wife a bomb through the mail. He added a lot of money has been allocated to the post office. He stated they were spending lots of money in response to the war. He noted there were some tough issues out there. Mayor Probst stated he had received calls from people curious about the location of the new City Hall. Councilmember Grant stated he would like the Council to look into that. He noted there were a number of people voicing their surprise at the location of the building so close to Highway 96. . He added staff should research the issue. He stated it would be a lot easier to research the issue now than later on. He noted he realizes that they cannot move City Hall. He added the decision about City Hall was made before he was on the Council. Mayor Probst stated he did not believe there was a change. He noted the location was controlled by the need to be 150 feet from Sunfish Lake. He added he was not sure what value there is to chase this issue too far. He stated that the only way to verify absolutely the location was to have a survey done. Councilmember Aplikowski stated the comment might have come from an earlier version of a mock up, which had a parking lot on south side. She noted this design brought the building closer. She added since people have been asking, the question has to be answered. She stated she did not want staff to do a lot of research. Councilmember Rem stated that was definitely one of the first questions she was asked. She noted even Planning Commission members have questioned it in Planning Commission meetings. She added since there was confusion, it would be nice to get an answer. Councilmember Aplikowski stated she had received an email from Phil Cranke that he was interested in reintroducing a bill. She noted the bill would require that local elections be on odd numbered years. She added that out of 800 cities, only 81 of them have this policy now. She stated Mr. Cranke is always trying to pinch pennies, but this would cost a lot of money to have . two elections. She noted she thought the city should formulate some response to this proposal. ARDEN HILLS CITY COUNCIL - NOVEMBER 13,2001 7 Mayor Probst stated this does raise an issue. He noted last year the city had invited him to come . in. He added it would be an opportunity for him to share his views and allow the Councilmembers to share their views. He stated maybe they could have a discussion at the December worksession on these issues and have staff try to schedule such a discussion. ADJOURN MOTION: Councilmember Aplikowski moved and Councilmember Grant seconded a motion to adjourn the meeting at 8:40 p.m. The motion carried unanimously (5-0). Lynch City Administrator NOTICE OF MEETINGS The next Council Meeting will be held Monday, November 26,2001 at 7:30 p.m. at the Arden Hills Council chambers. . .