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HomeMy WebLinkAboutCC 04-24-2006 . . . ~ /]'\~ HILLS Approved: 5/8/06 CITY OF ARDEN HILLS, MINNESOTA REGULAR CITY COUNCIL MEETING APRIL 24, 2006; 7:00 P.M. ARDEN HILLS CITY COUNCIL CHAMBERS PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE CALL TO ORDER/ROLL CALL Pursuant to due call and notice thereof, Mayor Beverly Aplikowski called to order the regular City Council meeting at 7:03 p.m. Present: Mayor Beverly Aplikowski, Councilmembers David Grant (arrived at 7:14 p.m.), Gregg Larson, Brenda Holden, and Vincent Pellegrin. Absent: None. Also present were City Administrator, Michelle Wolfe; City Attorney, Jerry Filla; Director of Operations & Maintenance, Thomas Moore; Chief Financial Officer/Treasurer, Murtuza Siddiqui; Community Development Director, Karen Barton; City Engineer, Kris Giga; City Planner, James Lehnhoff; and Recording Secretary, Kathleen Altman. 1. APPROVAL OF MEETING AGENDA Mayor Aplikowski requested item B be pulled from the Consent Calendar and added as item 4. MOTION: Councilmember Larson moved and Councilmember Pellegrin seconded a motion to approve the meeting agenda as amended. The motion carried unanimously (5-0). 2. APPROVAL OF MINUTES A. April 10, 2006 City Council Meeting Councilmember Holden requested the following changes: Page 8, fourth paragraph, add "Councilmember Grant inquired if the financial resources would involve a tax increase, and Mr, Henry replied No." Mayor Aplikowski requested stafflook at the tape to confirm this. . . . ARDEN HILLS CITY COUNCIL -APRIL 24, 2006 2 Councilmember Larson stated he was not comfortable amending Councilmember Grant's statement when he was not present at the meeting. Councilmember Holden requested they table the approval of the minutes until Councilmember Grant was in attendance. 3. CONSENT CALENDAR a. Claims and Payroll b. MotioH to Appro'{e Smnmer Homs for City Staff c. Motion to Amend and Restate the Joint Cooperation Agreement with the Ramsey County Housing and Redevelopment Authority d. Resolution 06-30: Consolidation of Capital Funds e. Motion to Approve the PTRC Vision Statement f. Motion to Approve Special Assessments for Nuisance Abatement MOTION: Councilmember Larson moved and Councilmember Pellegrin seconded a motion to approve the Consent Calendar and to authorize execution of all necessary documents contained therein. The motion carried unanimously (4-0). 4. PULLED CONSENT ITEMS b. Motion to approve Summer Hours for City Staff Mayor Aplikowski corrected the staffs report by noting under the maintenance facility staff hours on Friday would be from 6:30 a.m. to 10:30 a.m. MOTION: Councilmember Pellegrin moved and Councilmember Larson seconded a motion to approve the Summer Hours for City Staff as amended. The motion carried unanimously (4-0). Councilmember Grant arrived at 7:14 p.m. 5. PUBLIC INOUIRIES/INFORMATIONAL Paul and Heather Paradise, 1366 Indian Oaks Trail, stated they had an issue regarding flooding in their home. He stated they had contacted Mr. Moore and Ms. Giga had come to their home to look at their drainage problem. He noted he had also left messages on various Councilmembers' voicemails. He stated he wanted this fixed and this was a big issue for them. He indicated he has been waiting for three months with no response. Ms. Giga stated there was a concern with the Indian Oaks pond and they planned on addressing this at the same time they addressed the entire pond. . . . ARDEN HILLS CITY COUNCIL -APRIL 24, 2006 3 Mr. Paradise stated he was under the impression he would receive a response in two weeks and now it has been a montb. Mr. Moore stated staff has been working on the Indian Oaks Court pond for two years and the pond issues have now been resolved, but this was an entirely different issue. Mayor Aplikowski asked if they bad looked at this issue. Ms. Giga stated she had been out to this property and she would give them a call this week to discuss this issue. 6. PUBLIC HEARINGS None. 7. NEW BUSINESS A. Award Bids for the Hil!hwav 96 Landscapinl! Improvement Proiect Ms. Giga stated bids were received and opened for the CSAH 96 Landscape and Irrigation Improvements on April 13, 2006. Bids were received from four (4) contractors with Margolis Company having the lowest bid of $176,732.50. She indicated the low bid was approximately $92,000 lower than the Engineer's Estimate. The plant prices were significantly lower than estimated, resulting in the majority of the savings. Engineering costs for the project are estimated at $34,385, resulting in a total project cost of $211,117.50. Ramsey County's portion of the costs is estimated at $71,052 for construction costs and a proportional amount of engineering costs, estimated at $17,052, totaling $88,104. She recommended Council award the contract for CSAH 96 Landscape and Irrigation Improvements to the low bidder, Margolis Company in tbe amount of $176,732.50. Councilmember Larson asked if they were familiar with Margolis Company and has the City done any work with them in the past. Ms. Giga stated it was her understanding they had done previous work in the City. Mr. Moore stated Margolis Company had an outstanding reputation in the City and they where the company that redid the landscaping at City Hall. Councilmember Holden stated she would be voting against this not because she did not want the City to look beautiful, but because she believed they had other priorities and this would take a lot of staff time and expense to maintain the plants. Councilmember Grant stated he would also be voting against this for the same reasons as Councilmember Holden. He stated he would have preferred trees only and not the plants and he agreed there were other priorities that were more important. . . . ARDEN HILLS CITY COUNCIL -APRIL 24, 2006 4 MOTION: Councilmember Larson moved and Councilmember Pellegrin seconded a motion to award the contract for CSAH 96 Landscape and Irrigation Improvements to Margolis Company in the amount of $176,732.50. The motion carried (3-2 Councilmembers Grant and Holden opposed). B. Motion to Approve the Utility Hook-up Fees Mr. Moore stated staff was directed by the City Council to review the City's current utility hook-up fee structure. Staff conducted a utility fee hook-up survey of eight area municipalities. A review of the current City of Arden Hills' utility hook-up fee costs was than undertaken, and a cost comparison analysis was completed by staff. He stated staff was recommending Council approve the proposed 2006 Utility Hook-up Fees and authorize staffto implement said fees. MOTION: Councilmember Grant moved and Councilmember Larson seconded a motion to approve the proposed 2006 Utility Hook-up fees and authorize staff to implement said fees, The motion carried unanimously (5-0). C. Resolution 06-31 and 06-32: Approvinl! the Grant Application on Behalf of Chesapeake Companies for Brownfield Remediation at 1901 Gatewav Boulevard Ms. Barton stated in 2001 Chesapeake Companies received approval for a Master Planned Unit Development at 190 I Gateway Boulevard. Since that time, Chesapeake has had to request several extensions of the PUD due to difficulty in finding an interested buyer or major tenant for the site. In an effort to avoid having to request another extension, Chesapeake has opted to demo the site and build a spec building based on concept plans approved in the Master PUD. In preparation for demolition, Chesapeake became aware of soil contamination in the form of fly- ash directly beneath the former A TS building. Upon further investigation, it was determined that the cost to remediate the site would be approximately $1,500,000.00. In March of this year, Chesapeake also became aware of a number of grant opportunities through the State and the County to help offset the cost of this clean-up. However, the grant applications are required to be submitted by either a city, county, HRA, EDA, or Port Authority, Therefore, Chesapeake approached the City to request the City apply for these grants on their behalf. She recommended Council approve Resolutions 06-31 and 06-32 authorizing the application for contamination clean-up grants from the Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development (DEED), Ramsey County, and the Metropolitan Council on behalf of Chesapeake Companies for Brownfield remediation at the former ATS site, 1901 Gateway Boulevard, subject to the following conditions: I. Execution of a secured reimbursement agreement between the City and Chesapeake Companies, in a form approved by the City Attorney. ARDEN HILLS CITY COUNCIL -APRIL 24, 2006 5 . 2. Execution of a performance agreement between the City and Chesapeake Companies, in a form approved by the City Attorney; and 3. Chesapeake Companies must apply for a Final Plan approval prior to any grant- related remediation work being started on the site. She noted the grant applications were due by May 1. Councilmember Holden asked what the time frame was for the City to be reimbursed for the match. City Attorney Filla responded the City would not be using City funds for tbis project and the developer would fund this. Councilmember Larson asked where the contamination came from. Diane Fredeen, Chesapeake Companies, stated they were not positive where the contamination came from and they did not know about the contamination until they tested the soil under the building, which testing was required by the MN Pollution Control Agency. She stated they needed to remove the contamination from the site. She indicated this was not a high contamination, but it did need to be removed and brought to a landfill. Councilmember Grant asked if they were going with the three building approach. Ms. Fredeen replied they were proposing to build two buildings and not three, which she believed was one of the original proposals. She noted to begin with they would be building one building and adding the common area when the second building was built. . MOTION: Councilmember Grant moved and Councilmember Holden seconded a motion to approve Resolutions 06-31 and 06-32 Authorizing the Application for Contamination Clean-up Grants from the Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development (DEED), Ramsey County, and the Metropolitan Council on behalf of Chesapeake Companies for Brownfield remediation at the former ATS site, 1901 Gateway Boulevard, subject to the three conditions as noted in staff's April 20, 2006. The motion carried unanimously (5-0). D. PLANNING CASE 06-009: Motion to Approve a Variance Request: Vaul!hn Morin, 1889 Grant Road Mr. Lehnhoff stated the applicant proposes to construct a 1,224 square toot 34 'x36' accessory structure (garage) at 1889 Grant Road. Although the proposed garage would replace an existing 484 square foot 22'x22' structure, a portion of the foundation of the existing structure would be retained for the new structure. In the R-2 Zone, properties are allowed up to 1,456 square feet of accessory structure space; however, the Ordinance requires the 1,456 square feet to be divided into no more than two structures that do not exceed 728 square feet each. . According to the applicant, there was an attempt to formulate a design to attach the proposed garage to the existing dwelling. However, a design that attached the garage to the dwelling would have required a variance to encroach on the front line setback, a variance to encroach on . . . ARDEN HILLS CITY COUNCIL -APRIL 24, 2006 6 the side setback, or significant changes to the existing structure on the lot. If it were possible to attach the proposed garage to the dwelling and meet all setbacks, the 728 square foot limit for an accessory structure would not apply, He indicated the Planning Commission reviewed Planning Case No. 06-009 and unanimously recommended approval of the variance to construct an accessory structure that exceeds the 728 square foot accessory structure limit in the R-2 Zone. He recommended Council approve the variance subject to the four conditions noted in staffs April ] 7, 2006 report. Councilmember Holden asked if this prohibited him from another accessory structure. Mr. Lehnhoff responded they would be allowed an additional 200 square foot of accessory structure space. MOTION: Councilmember Larson moved and Councilmember Pellegrin seconded a motion to approve the variance request for Planning Case No. 06-009 at 1889 Grant Road to exceed the 728 square foot limit for an accessory structure in the R-2 Zone based on the submitted plans, the eight findings of fact, and the four conditions presented in the report to the City Council dated April 17, 2006. The motion carried unanimously (5-0). E. Planninl! Case No. 06-010: Motion to Approve a Master Plan Amendment and Site Plan Review: Guidant Corporation, 4100 North Hamline Avenue Mr. Lehnhoff stated the applicant is requesting a Master Plan PUD (6th) Amendment and Site Plan Review to complete the following projects: Construct a new 157 stall parking lot on the south side of Guidant Drive South; Remove a portion of the median on Guidant Drive South and replace the parallel parking spaces with 90 degree parking spaces on the south side of the road, which will increase the total number of parking spaces on Guidant Drive South from 88 to 99. The north side of the road would no longer have parking; remove 68 parking spaces from the eastern side of the Arden Woods office building parking lot (updated since the Planning Commission meeting); remove the access to Lexington Avenue from the Arden Woods office building; and construct a landscaped berm along Lexington Avenue in place of the removed parking spaces and access to Lexington Avenue. The Arden Woods office building, which was purchased by a subsidiary of Guidant Corporation, is not part of the Master Plan document prepared by Guidant in 2002. However, Guidant has indicated that the property will likely be incorporated into the Campus Master Plan. For the purposes of this application it is assumed that the Arden Woods property will become part of the overall Guidant Campus; however, the requests in this application do not preclude Arden Woods from acting as a separate conforming property in the future if necessary. . . . ARDEN HILLS CITY COUNCIL -APRIL 24, 2006 7 He indicated the Plarming Commission reviewed Planning Case No. 06-010 at their April 5, 2006 meeting and recommends approval (4-1) of the Plarmed Unit Development Master Plan (6th) Amendment and Site Plan Review. He recommended Council approve the Master Plan Amendment and Site Plan Review subject to the conditions as noted in staff s April 17, 2006 report. CounciImember Grant stated he believed taking the access off of Lexington Avenue was a good thing and reducing the number of stalls helped mitigate the traffic pattern and he was in favor of this planning case. Councilmember Holden stated County Road F was a very busy intersection with no left turn signals and this was a concern for her. She inquired about Guidant occupation of the building. Dan Riehle, Guidant Corporation/Boston Scientific Company, responded as leases expired, they would be occupying more of the building space. He believes this would increase the safety of the intersection, but he agreed it would put more traffic on County Road F. He noted, however, there would be a limit of 250 people in the building, so the additional vehicles on County Road F would not be substantial. Councilmember Larson asked why they were putting in a new lot instead of expanding the existing lot. Mr. Riehle replied this was primarily due to the contours of the land. He noted this was a temporary lot, which would be used for approximately three years. He stated by putting in this new lot, it would minimize the amount of dirt they would need to bring in. Mayor Aplikowski expressed concern about what happened with the traffic going west on County Road F. Mr. Riehle stated there were some long-term plans to make changes to the County Road F and Hamline intersection, but this would be up to MnDOT to make those changes. Councilmember Grant noted the amount of traffic being added to County Road F would not be substantial even when the building was one hundred percent occupied. Mayor Aplikowski stated her concern was adding to the conflict on Hamline Avenue and the inconvenience of taking away the exit onto Lexington Avenue. Councilmember Holden agreed with Mayor Aplikowski's comments. MOTION: Councilmember Grant moved and Councilmember Larson seconded a motion to approve the Master Plan PUD 6th Amendment and Site Plan Review for Planning Case No. 06-010 at 4100 N. Hamline Avenue and 4105 N. Hamline Avenue to modify parking and driveway access based on the submitted plans and the findings of fact with the thirteen conditions presented in the report to the City Council dated April 17, 2006. The motion carried unanimously (5-0). ARDEN HILLS CITY COUNCIL -APRIL 24, 2006 8 . F. Motion to Approve Ordinance No. 376 - Front Porch Zoninl! Ordinance Amendment Mr. Lehnhoff stated in May, 2005, the City Council adopted an amendment to the Zoning Ordinance that allowed covered front porches to encroach into the front setback under certain conditions without a variance. One of the conditions for approval was that the covered front porch could not be any closer than 30 feet to the front lot line. However, in certain parts of the City (e.g. Chatham neighborhood), many of the homes were built 30 feet or less from the front lot line, which precludes many of the dwellings from constructing a front porch under the current front porch encroachment ordinance. Although the 2005 amendment did increase flexibility for many of the dwellings in the City, entire neighborhoods were still unable to construct a front porch. In September 2005, the Planning Commission reviewed a Zoning Ordinance amendment proposal to allow the construction of a front porch for homes that were closer than 40 feet to the front lot line in the Chatham subdivision. Based on a review of the minutes from that meeting, the Planning Commission was concerned with the proposal because it singled out a specific neighborhood and may not have resolved the issue for most of the dwellings in Arden Hills. At that time, staff was requested to revise the proposed amendment with the intent ofresolving the issue for as many dwellings as practical in the City instead of an ordinance for a specific neighborhood. He noted he has not had any comments from residents who were not in support of this proposal. . Councilmember Grant commended staff and the Planning Commission for their work on this Ordinance. He noted one of the driving forces behind this was the Chatham neighborhood and he lived on Chatham and if this did not require a 4/5ths vote, he would abstain from the vote, but he would be voting in favor of this. Mayor Aplikowski stated this ordinance affected the entire City and not just the Chatham neighborhood and she believed Councilmember Grant should not abstain from the vote. MOTION: Councilmember Larson moved and Councilmember Holden seconded a motion to approve Ordinance No. 376 to amend Section 6.C.2.d. of the Zoning Ordinance regarding covered front porch setbacks as proposed by Staff and recommended by the Planning Commission and to publish a summary of the Ordinance in the official City newspaper. The motion carried unanimously (5-0). 2. APPROVAL OF MINUTES (CONTINUED) Mayor Aplikowski explained to Councilmember Grant the insertion Councilmember Holden had requested. Councilmember Grant stated he wanted this wording to read: Councilmember Grant inquired . about the financial funding resources clause in the vision and if the PTRC was asking for tax . . 4t ARDEN HILLS CITY COUNCIL -APRIL 24, 2006 9 increases. Mr. Henry responded that items would not be funded via taxes but rather grants that were presented to Council at their work session. Mayor Aplikowski requested stafflook through the meeting tape regarding this comment. MOTION: Councilmember Larson moved and Councilmember Holden seconded a motion to approve the amendment to the April 10, 2006 City Council Meeting Minutes. The motion carried unanimously (5-0). MOTION: Councilmember Holden moved and Councilmember Pellegrin seconded a motion to approve the April 10, 2006 City Council Meeting Minutes as amended. The motion carried unanimously (5-0). 8. UNFINISHED BUSINESS A. Motion to Approve the Blue CrosslBlue Shield Grant Application Ms. Barton stated on February 27, 2006 Blue Cross Blue Shield (BCBS) issued a request for proposals for a grant opportunity to encourage municipalities to incorporate Active Living Principles into their Comprehensive Plan Updates. Staff became aware ofthis opportunity on February 28th and Council authorized staffto proceed in preparing the application at their meeting in March. She recommended Council authorize staff to submit the Blue Cross Blue Shield Active Community Grant Application requesting funding and assistance to incorporate Active Living Principles into the City's Comprehensive Plan Update for 2008. Staff was also requesting the Mayor and Council sign a letter of commitment to be submitted with the grant application. Mayor Aplikowski stated she could see the City adding Active Living Principles to TCAAP, but she did not see how they could make these changes to the existing part of the City. She expressed concern that they would not be able to meet their obligations within a year. Councilmember Larson stated this would allow them to develop a plan for additional resources to promote active living in the City. Councilmember Holden inquired about the matching funds. Ms. Barton responded the matching funds would pay for utilities, phone lines, staff time, etc. Councilmember Grant stated he believed this fit in line with what the City wanted with respect to being an active community with trails and connections and he believed they could make this a part oftheir current community, as well as the TCAAP area. He stated it made good sense to apply for this. Couucilmember Aplikowski stated she did not believe a privately owned company had the right to tell a City what they should do and she was not in favor of signing a letter of commitment. . . . ARDEN HILLS CITY COUNCIL -APRlL 24, 2006 10 Councilmember Holden asked if the PTRC had agreed to this grant application. Ms. Barton responded they had. MOTION: Councilmember Larson moved and Councilmember Grant seconded a motion to approve submission of a grant application to Blue Cross Blue Shield for Active Community Planning in association with the City's Comprehensive Plan Update. Mayor Aplikowski asked if this could be submitted as a Resolution, instead of individual letters of commitment. Ms. Barton stated the application specifically requested a letter of support. However, if the Mayor was not comfortable signing the letter she was not required to. Members of the City Council could also sign the letter. The motiou carried (4-1 Mayor Aplikowski opposed). Councilmember Larson stated he believed it would be better to have Mayor Aplikowski vote in favor ofthis. Mayor Aplikowski stated she would not change her mind regarding her vote. MOTION: Councilmember Larson moved to reconsider the motion to approve submission of a grant application to Blue Cross Blue Shield for Active Community Planning in association with the City's Comprehensive Plan Update. Motion failed for lack of a second. B. TCAAP Update Ms. Barton updated the Couucil on receut TCAAP developments. CITY COUNCIL REPORTS Ms. Wolfe - None. Councilmember Holden - None. Councilmember Grant - Stated they would be adjourning to a Closed Work Session to discuss TCAAP Land Sale Negotiations, pursuant to MS 13D.05 SUED 3.c3. Councilmember Larson - None. Councilmember Pellegrin - None. ARDEN HILLS CITY COUNCIL -APRIL 24, 2006 11 . Mayor Aplikowski - None. MOTION: Councilmember Grant moved and Councilmember Pellegrin seconded a motion to adjourn to a Closed Work Session to discuss TCAAP Land Sale Negotiations, pursuant to MS 13D.05 SUED 3.c3. The motion carried unanimously (5-0). Michelle Wolfe City Administrator The meeting was adjourned at 8:25 p.m. /e:~ik~' Mayor ~ NOTICE OF MEETINGS The next Council Meeting will be held Monday, May 8, 2006 at 7:00 p.m. at the Arden Hills Council Chambers. . .