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HomeMy WebLinkAboutCC 06-26-2006 - . . ~ ~HILLS Approved: July 10, 2006 CITY OF ARDEN HILLS, MINNESOTA REGULAR CITY COUNCIL MEETING JUNE 26, 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 7:04 p,m, Present: Mayor Beverly Aplikowski, Councilmembers Gregg Larson, Brenda Holden, and Vincent Pellegrin, Absent: Councilmember David Grant (excused), Also present were City Administrator, Michelle Wolfe; City Attorney, Jerry Filla; Chief Financial Officer/Treasurer, Murtuza Siddiqui; Community Development Director, Karen Barton; Recreation Program Supervisor, Michelle Olson; City Planner, James Lehnhoff; and Recording Secretary, Kathleen Altman, 1. APPROVAL OF MEETING AGENDA MOTION: Councilmember Larson moved and CounciImember Holden seconded a motion to approve the meeting agenda as presented, The motion carried unanimously (4-0), 2. APPROVAL OF MINUTES A, June 12,2006 City Council Meeting B. June 12,2006 Work Session Meeting Councilmember Larson requested the following changes: June 12, 2006 City Council meeting, Page 8, 5th paragraph to read: Councilmember Larson believed we needed to do this street reconstruction and we had other sources of funding, such as the General Capital Fund, MOTION: Councilmember Pellegrin moved and Councilmember Larson seconded a motion to approve the June 12, 2006 City Council Meeting Minutes as . . . ARDEN HILLS CITY COUNCIL - JUNE 26, 2006 2 amended and the June 12, 2006 Council Work Session Minutes as presented, The motion carried unanimously (4-0), 3. CONSENT CALENDAR a, b, Claims and Payroll Motion to Approve the Cooperative Agreement with Ramsey County for Highway 96 Landscaping Improvements 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 None, " 5. PUBLIC INOUlRIES/INFORMATIONAL Kris Sanda, Metropolitan Council representative, introduced herself and stated she was available to assist the City, Roger Williams, 3450 Siems Court, thanked Ms, Sanda for her service on the Metropolitan Council. He stated the reason he was here was because at times either the audio or video of the Council meeting were not working on cable, Mayor Aplikowski responded the City was aware ofthis issue and staff had been working on getting it resolved, Mr. Siddiqui stated they had a number of parties involved in resolving this issue and they hoped they would be back up soon, Gail VanBuskirk, Arden View Drive, read from a prepared statement and thanked the Council for turning down the previous Royal Oaks proposal. She indicated the residents wanted a more environmentally friendly project. She stated this new development was very similar to the previous development and she asked Council to kecp in mind the residents' previous concerns regarding traffic hazards, access to Hamline Avenue, u-turns, increased traffic, negative impact on the neighborhood, increased noise, loss of trees, light pollution, impact on the Children's World business, loss of property values, loss of major green space, water issues, drainage issues, and business need, She asked the Council and the developer to talk to the residents about these issues before thc development was approved, . . . ARDEN HILLS CITY COUNCIL - JUNE 26, 2006 3 6. PUBLIC HEARINGS A. Abatement Hearinl! for 3150 Hamline Avenue Ms, Barton stated that over a period of several years, City staff has been working with Ms, Dorothy Stenberg, owner of 3150 Hamline Avenue and 1415 Glenhill Road to correct numerous code violations on her two properties, Of most serious concern for the City are the public health and safety concerns with the unsafe condition of the storage building located at 3150 Hamline Avenue, Ms. Barton indicated that Ms, Stenberg had been notified on numerous occasions that the building and surrounding debris required immediate attention, At this time, Ms, Stenberg has yet to comply with the written orders from the City regarding the unsafe structure, Ms, Stenberg was formally cited on August 4, 2004, for failure to comply, Subsequently, Ms, Stenberg pleaded guilty to the violations, The City agreed to stay imposition and sentencing provided Ms, Stenberg signed and adhered to a compliance agreement Witll the City, The compliance agreement gave Ms, Stenberg until September 1, 2005, to repair or remove the storage building and to clean-up the surrounding rubbish and debris, As of today, the storage building, rubbish, and debris remain, Ms. Barton stated that in light of these facts and that the building still poses a serious health and safety hazard, staff is requesting City Council authorization to continue with the abatement proceeding for the structure and surrounding debris and to allow for the assessment of the property for all costs associated with the abatement process, as allowed under City Code 600,06, subd, 2 and State Statute 463, Mayor Aplikowski opened the public hearing at 7:17 p,m, City Attorney Jerry Filla stated the City had received a letter dated June 18, 2006 from Mrs, Martin Stenberg, property owner. Mrs, Stenberg requested her letter be read into the record: Village of Arden Hills and Dave Scherbel, I'm writing this letter in answer to Mr. Scherbel's letter dated June 8, 2006, in regard to the property I own at 3150 North Hamline Avenue in Arden Hills, I'm requesting with this letter, that this letter be read aloud to the Council members at the hearing that Mr. Scherbel has scheduled on June 26, 2006, I want to be sure that every Council member hears the truth about all the complaints against me, The Arden Hills building inspector came to my home and told me that the storage building on the vacant lot that I own in Arden Hills was in disrepair, and that the neighbors were complaining, It was not at all true that the neighbors were complaining, That was totally false, My son came to check the building, and found the roof to need repair, but instead of having the roof repaired, we . . . ARDEN HILLS CITY COUNCIL - JUNE 26, 2006 4 decided to put on a totally new roof. I set out to find carpenters, I hired two carpenters after receiving an excellent reference for them from the Perkins Restaurant Manager. I then went to the Arden Hills Village office, requested and received a building permit to put on a new roof. The carpenters then went to the Village office, requested, and received instructions to put on the roof exactly to the Village requirements, The carpenters spent 3 days putting on the new roof, and a 4th day working on the outside of the building, There were no openings, no loose boards, - the building is not sagging, or leaning, even though 4 days were spent on the building, the building inspector did not come out in all that time, and when I called the Village office for inspection, the inspector came out, but would not go up to look at the roof. He wrote a letter saying that he did not have a way to get on the roof, and he then mailed a new listing of complaints against me that were false, I paid $2,000,00 to the carpenter for their work, which was totally satisfactory to my son and myself. Not until all of the work was completed on the building was I told that the building was unsafe and had to be taken down, It makes no sense to say that the building is unsafe, The carpenters weighed a total of 450 Ibs" and spent 3 days on the roof, The neighbor on the south side came to us twice, to assure us that he had not complained about the building, I called Lowell Anderson on the north side, and he said "absolutely not" to my question of whether he had a complaint against the building, He then wrote and mailed a letter to Mayor Aplikowski, expressing his feelings of what the Village was doing to me, Mrs, Aplikowski can show you that letter. My husband has passed away; I'm alone, in poor health, and bedridden much of the time, My son Marlin lives 50 miles away, and in the short time that he can be here, he is trying to empty our building. I have said over and over again that when we sell the property, the first thing the new owners will do is to take down the storage building to make way for their new home, There is absolutely no sense in taking that building away from me, There are so many people staying in touch with me about this, I'm in close contact with a well known building inspector from Minneapolis, and with an attorney recommended to me, Mrs, Martin Stenberg Mr. Filla stated in 2004 the City filed a citation in Criminal Court, which took an inordinate amount of time to resolve, He noted Mrs, Stenberg had pled guilty to the charges with conditions, but failed to sign the conditions and was therefore appearing before the judge again in the near future, He stated he did not believe the City could have done anything else to work with the property owner. He indicated this had been a six-year process and the property has not been cleaned up during this time period, Mayor Aplikowski stated sbe had looked at the property about a year ago and had requested Mrs, Stenberg remove the fence, which she had refused to do, She stated she had also offered to remove all of Mrs, Stenberg's personal property and take it to her, which she also refused, She believed this was an unsafe condition and sbe did not understand why Mrs, Stenberg was so resistant to accepting help, . . . ARDEN HILLS CITY COUNCIL - JUNE 26, 2006 5 Mr. Filla stated he believed the property owner was unable to deal with the cleaning up of this property and he too had offered to have the property cleaned up and her personal items delivered to her, which had been refused, Councilmember Pellegrin asked if the Fire Department had made any comments regarding the safety of this structure, Ms. Barton stated she did not believe the Fire Department had inspected this, but she had been out to the property and believed this structure was in imminent threat of collapse, Mayor Aplikowski closed the public hearing at 7 :28 p,m, MOTION: Councilmember Larson moved and Councilmember Holden seconded a motion to authorize staff to begin abatement at 3150 Hamline Avenue and to authorize staff to assess the property at 3150 Hamline Avenue for all costs incurred in relation to the abatement process, The motion carried unanimously (4-0), 7. NEW BUSINESS A. Community Foundation Ms. Wolfe stated Mayor Aplikowski has been successful in gathering a group of residents who are interested in an effort to form a community foundation, They held their first meeting on June 4 and a future meeting is scheduled for July 5, She indicated in August 2004 the Council discussed the possibility of establishing a community foundation, A representative from the St. Paul Foundation attended the meeting, Mr. Bob Lawson from the St. Paul Foundation recommended a feasibility study as a good first step towards establishment of a foundation, Council expressed an interest in the concept, and thought it would be helpful to have a feasibility study done, Staff informed the St. Paul Foundation of the interest in such a study but they did not respond, She stated Mayor Aplikowski was able to gather a group of interested residents, Most of these residents have experience working with foundations or serving on foundation boards, At the first meeting there was general discussion about different approaches to establishing a foundation, In general the group agreed that they would like to pursue this endeavor and do some research with other communities to try and determine the best way to get started, While there was some discussion about the foundation needing to be separate from the City, there is probably a need for City support, especially in the beginning, The group requested that the Mayor and City Administrator approach the City Council about Council's willingness to support this effort, Support could include, but not limited to: Providing meeting space; providing a staff liaison to the Committee; providing staff assistance in setting agendas for meetings, conducting research, preparing meeting notes, and other related tasks; Finance Department assistance, . . . ARDEN HILLS CITY COUNCIL - JUNE 26, 2006 6 She requested Council give direction to the Mayor and herself regarding support for the Community Foundation Committee, Councilmember Larson stated he believed this was a good idea for the City to pursue and a foundation could help out with the City, He believed there were long-time residents of Arden Hills who would be willing to contribute to this foundation, It was the consensus ofthe Council to proceed, 8. UNFINISHED BUSINESS A. Motion to Approve the City's New Sil!n Code Mr. Lehnhoff stated over the last several years, a lawyer from Georgia has been working with various sign companies to find new locations to construct billboards along major highways in many states, The proposed billboards have been reported to be as high as five to seven stories and have included the "tri-vision" types, which is a billboard with rotating panels, However, many cities do not pennit new billboards or pennit billboards of that size, The City of Arden Hills does not pennit the construction of new billboards, He indicated despite the restrictions on billboards in many cities, the lawyer applies for the sign pemlit with the expectation of denial. Once denied, the lawyer files a lawsuit against the City claiming that the sign regulations are unconstitutional and should be deemed unenforceable, If the sign regulations are deemed unconstitutional, a City may be obligated to approve the billboard or come to a negotiated settlement. He noted while the results of the lawsuits have been mixed, the sign regulations in some cities and counties have been deemed unconstitutional because sign content was inadvertently regulated, He stated although the City has not received any requests for new billboards, the City's frontage on Interstate 35W, Interstate 694, and Highway 96 makes this an important issue, He indicated on March 13, 2006, the City Council adopted a sign moratorium to allow time to remove potential constitutional issues without the pressure of facing a costly lawsuit. He stated the Planning Commission reviewed the proposed Sign Code at their June 7, 2006 meeting, Since the meeting was not a public hearing, an official motion was not made. Nevertheless, the entire Sign Code was reviewed and public comment was accepted, Most of the Planning Commission discussion focused on the proposal to move the sign regulations from the Zoning Ordinance to the City Code and how to deal with temporary off-premise signs, He stated if the public hearing provision is included with the Sign Code, a public hearing would not be required with the Planning Commission before the City Council can adopt the Sign Code, . . . ARDEN HILLS CITY COUNCIL - JUNE 26, 2006 7 Staff recommends adopting the Sign Code, subject to resolving the following: . Moving the sign regulations to the City Code or keeping the regulations in the Zoning Ordinance, . Finalizing the provisions for temporary off-premises signs, . Determining if a public hearing process should be required for future changes to the Sign Code, . Resolving any final questions or concerns, Councilmember Holden stated she agreed this should be an Ordinance and believed there should be a public hearing scheduled, Councilmember Larson stated he agreed this should be a codified Ordinance and while some of this did not need a public hearing, he believed there were parts that should have a public hearing, Councilmember Larson stated he had reservations about approving signs in the right-of-way, Mayor Aplikowski asked if the Council had any preference as to how long the temporary off- premise signs could remain up, Councilmember Larson stated he preferred the three consecutive days in any seven-day period, Mr. Lehnhoff asked if they were going to allow off-premise signs at all and would they be allowed in the right-of-way, Mayor Aplikowski stated because the yards were so deep, it would be a disadvantage to not permit garage sale signs in the right-of-way, Councilmember Holden agreed they should allow temporary off-premise signs, She stated she would rather go with the consecutive days also, Councilmember Pellegrin stated he agreed with the consecutive days and the size requirements. Mayor Aplikowski stated she did not want off-premise signs to be permitted only in residential areas, Councilmember Pellegrin stated he also did not see any problem with this, Councilmember Larson stated he was in disagreement and believed the off-premise SIgnS should he permitted only in residential areas, Mayor Aplikowski stated she had a concern on Subd, 4, Impoundment of Signs, She suggested the first notice be a warning and the second notice be an impoundment fee, Councilmember Larson stated he was comfortable with the language as presented, He suggested they not use the words property owner, hut rather the sign owner or their agent. . . . ARDEN HILLS CITY COUNCIL - JUNE 26, 2006 8 Mayor ApIikowski stated she still had a concern regarding the impoundment fee, Ms. Wolfe stated the inspectors made every effort to notifY people of impoundment of their signs, Mayor ApIikowski asked if the signs needed to be marked with the sign owner's contact information, Ms. Barton responded the real estate agents had indicated it would be difficult to mark their signs with their names and contact information, She stated they could have firm language in the Code and as a policy that they would make an effort to contact the sign owner, Councilmember Holden asked why the real estate agents could not tape their business card to the back of the sign, Councilmember Larson stated he believed it was a good idea to have the signs marked with the sign owner's contact information, Mayor ApIikowski stated she was hearing that the Council agreed with the impound release fee, Mr. Filla revised the second sentence of Subd, 4 to read: The Community Development Director or the director's designee may, at any time and without notice, authorize impound signs which have been installed on public property, within a public right-of-way or within a pubic easement that are in violation of this Chapter. The sign owner or agent may retrieve an impoundment sign subject to the following rules: Mayor ApIikowski stated she would like a discussion on the graphics clause at some point in the future also, Councilmember Holden stated they also needed to look at signs on large bases and a lot of decoration around the sign, Mr. Lehnhoff stated staff could bring these back to the Council at a future time for discussion, He suggested next winter when things were slower for staff. MOTION: Councilmember Holden moved and Councilmember Pellegrin seconded a motion to approve the New Sign Code as amended, The motion carried unanimously (4-0), MOTION: Councilmember Larson moved and Councilmember Pellegrin seconded a motion to publish a summary of the New Sign Code as amended in the City's official newspaper. The motion carried unanimously (4-0), B. Motion to Approve the Parks and Trails Stratel!:V Plan Ms. Olson stated at a work session following the May 22, 2006 City Council meeting, the Parks, Trails, and Recreation Committee (PTRC) presented draft Strategies for Parks and Trails for the City of Arden Hills, The City Council and the PTRC discussed and revised the strategies, She recommended Council approve the Strategies for Parks and Trails for the City of Arden Hills, ARDEN HILLS CITY COUNCIL - JUNE 26, 2006 9 . Bill Henry, Chair of the Parks, Trails, and Recreation Committee, summarized the strategies for the Council. Councilmember Holden asked if this strategy could be revised to whatever was needed, Mr. Henry responded that was correct. Councilmember Holden asked if the PTRC had any strategies on how to build committees for City events, such as the Celehrating Arden Hills event. Mr. Henry replied they did not, but they could look at this and come up with some suggestions, Mayor Aplikowski stated she had received a call about the City's recent decision on not plowing all of the City's trails and this person did not believe the safety concern was a valid reason not to plow the trails. She stated they needed to explore this, She indicated she had also received another call regarding the muddy trails and this was also something they needed to look at. MOTION: Councilmember Pellegrin moved and Councilmember Larson seconded a motion to approve the Strategies for Parks and Trails for the City of Arden Hills, The motion carried unanimously (4-0), Mayor Aplikowski thanked Recreation Program Supervisor, Michelle Olson, for her hard work . and the success of the Celebrating Arden Hills event held this past weekend, C. Motion to Approve the Purchase Al!reement with Roval Oaks for the Old City Hall Property Ms. Barton stated based on the offer submitted by Royal Oaks Realty, Inc" on April 27, 2006, as amended June 6, 2006, and Council direction, a Purchase Agreement between the City of Arden Hills and Royal Oaks Realty, lnc, for the sale of the old City Hall/Public Works site has been submitted, She indicated it was staffs understanding that Royal Oaks was intending to make a planning application in July for review at the August Planning Commission meeting, She recommended Council approve the Purchase Agreement between the City of Arden Hills and Royal Oaks Realty, lnc" for the purchase ofthe old City Hall/Public Works site, MOTION: Councilmember Larson moved and Councilmember Pellegrin seconded a motion to approve the Purchase Agreement between the City of Arden Hills and Royal Oaks Realty, lnc" for the purchase of the old City Ha11lPublic Works site pursuant to the terms of the real estate Purchase Agreement contained in Council's packet. . . . . ARDEN HILLS CITY COUNCIL - JUNE 26, 2006 10 Councilmember Holden asked if there was a reason they had not required the developer to work with the neighborhood regarding their concerns, Ms. Wolfe stated typically they had meetings when there was a site plan submitted, She indicated they always encourage the developer to meet with the neighbors, which was separate from the public hearing process, Councilmember Larson stated the one distinguishing characteristic was that until tonight this individual did not have an interest in the property and now they had an interest in the property and he hoped the developer did have discussions with the neighborhood, The motion carried unanimously (4-0), D. TCAAP Update Ms. Barton updated the Council on recent TCAAP developments, She noted if an agreement was not made with the GSA for the land purchase with the City by August 1, the GSA had indicated the property would be put up for public auction, which would be a detriment to the City, She recommended if this did go to public auction, the City pass a development moratorium, Ms. Wolfe requested Council support the process of starting to work with the attorney on a possible development moratorium, Council gave their support, Councilmember Larson stated he did not want the residents to think the City had given up on the purchase of this property and noted the GSA had made previous timelines that had been broken, 9, PUBLIC COMMENTS Dave Ehresman, 1481 Arden View Drive, stated they did not have open meetings with the developer regarding the Old City Hall property and believed such meetings were important. David McClung, stated he was disappointed there was no ability for the public to comment on the sale of the Old City Hall site, Councilmember Larson moved the agenda to Council Requests, . . . ARDEN HILLS CITY COUNCIL - JUNE 26, 2006 11 10. COUNCIL REQUESTS None, Mayor Aplikowski adjourned the Regular City Council Meeting meeting at 8:58 p,m, - ~~a~' Beverly A Iko ski Mayor 1i~~ City Administrator NOTICE OF MEETINGS The next Council Meeting will be held Monday, July 10, 2006 at 7:00 p,m, at the Arden Hills Council Chambers,