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HomeMy WebLinkAboutCC 05-31-2005 . ~ ~HILLS Approved: June 27, 2005 CITY OF ARDEN HILLS, MINNESOTA REGULAR CITY COUNCIL MEETING MAY 31, 2005, 7:00 P.M. CITY HALL COUNCIL CHAMBERS, 1245 WEST HIGHWAY 96 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: II p,m. Present: Mayor Beverly Aplikowski, Councilmembers David Grant, Gregg Larson, Lois Rem, and Brenda Holden. Absent: None. e Also present were City Administrator, Michelle Wolfe; City Attorney, Jerry Filla; Director of Operations & Maintenance, Thomas Moore; Finance Director/Treasurer, Murtuza Siddiqui; Community Development Director, Scott Clark; City Planner, Pete Henegers; Assistant to the City Administrator, Schawn Johnson; and Recording Secretary, Kathleen Altman, 1. APPROVAL OF MEETING AGENDA MOTION: Councilmember Larson moved and Councilmember Grant seconded a motion to approve the revised meeting agenda as presented, The motion carried unanimously (5-0). 2. APPROVAL OF MINUTES A May 9, 2005 Councilmember Holden requested the following changes: None Councilmember Grant requested the following changes: None Councilmember Rem requested the following changes: None Councilmember Larson requested the following changes: None . Mayor Aplikowski requested the following changes: None Ms. Wolfe requested the following changes: None I \Earth \Admin ICouncillMinutes IRegular\2005105- 31-05 ,doc . e . ARDEN HILLS REGULAR CITY COUNCIL MEETING MINUTES MAY 31, 2005 2 MOTION: Councilmember Grant moved and Councilmember Holden seconded a motion to approve the May 9, 2005 City Council Meeting Minutes as presented, The motion carried unanimously (5-0), 3. CONSENT CALENDAR a. Claims and Payroll b. Approve the City's 2004 Audit Report c. Resolution No. 05-37: Approving the Appointment of Arlene Mitchell to the Communications Committee d, Payment No, 4 to MC Builders, mc, for the Perry Park Pavilion e. Approval of Goodpointe Technologies for PCI Ratings f. Liquor approval for Great China MOTION: Councilmember Larson moved and Councilmember Grant seconded a motion to approve the Consent Calendar and to authorize execution of all necessary documents contained therein. The motion carried unanimously (5-0). 4. PUBLIC INOUlRIES/INFORMATIONAL Sharon Klumpp, 1278 Wyncrest Lane, presented a letter to Council informing the Council that her family would be moving out of the City in June in part due to regulatory matter involving her husband and the family, She requested that the City agree to settle the matter without her husband going forward with an appeal. Mayor Aplikowski stated she was not sure the City Council had this authority, but she would ask the City Attorney and/or staff to look into this request. 5. PUBLIC HEARINGS A. Planninl! Case #05-15: Vacatinl! Pedestrian Wav East of 1104 Amble Drive Mr. Hellegers indicated that the Council should consider vacating all or part of the Pedestrian Way located in Block 2 of the Karth Lake Hills plat, east of 1104 Amble Drive (Lot I, Block 2). He indicated staffs recommendation was to not grant this request. Councilmember Grant asked if this had been heard by the Planning Commission. Mr. Hellegers replied this had not gone before the Planning Commission. Mr. Clark stated the Ordinance was silent on this type of a situation and it had been his decision that this not go before the Planning Commission. . e . ARDEN HILLS REGULAR CITY COUNCIL MEETING MINUTES MAY 31, 2005 3 Mayor Aplikowski asked if the conditions listed in Resolution 05-38 had been shared with the applicant and were they willing to do this? Mr. Hellegers replied they had been informed and they were willing to do this. Councilmember Larson asked if it made sense to wait until the end of the season when a variance would be necessary, instead of getting a temporary easement right now. Mr. Hellegers responded that was a good idea, but the applicant would like to see this resolved and they were willing to grant a temporary easement. Councilmember Larson asked if there should be any consideration given to selling the property. Mr. Hellegers responded this was similar to vacating a street and if vacated, it would revert back to the owner; it can not be sold. Mr. Filla stated the City has a use right and once they decided not to use it for that purpose, the underlying property owner retained full title to the property. Mayor Aplikowski opened the public hearing at 7:30 p.m. Leonard Gallus, 1104 Amble Drive, thanked the Mayor and Councilmember for considering this request. He stated he believed the partial abandonment of the property would benefit the City as well as him because the property would be fully developed with nice landscaping. He agreed with all of the conditions as presented. He stated he was not interested in obtaining any compensation for a temporary easement. He did not believe the road would ever be widened, but there was the possibility of the addition of a sidewalk. He stated he could wait until next spring for the easement, if necessary. He requested the Council approve this request. Mr. Filla stated if the Council was interested in pursuing this, they should add in the Resolution condition C: Granting of a temporary easement for a time period to be determined by the Ramsey County Engineer and City notified in writing of such time limit. Councilmember Holden asked what some of the problems were with the building code setbacks if Mr. Gallus was to sell this property. Mr. Hellegers replied this would not bring the property into conformance, but the issue was a side yard comer setback. Mayor Ap1ikowski asked why Mr. Gallus was coming forward with this. Mr. Gallus replied this was the ideal time to request this because of the construction along Lexington Avenue. Mayor ApIikowski closed the public hearing at 7:45 p.m. MOTION: Councilmember Larson moved and Counci1member Holden seconded a motion to adopt Resolution No. 05-38 vacating the City of Arden Hills' Interest in a Pedestrian Way in the Karth Lake Hills Plat with the addition of paragraph Ie, Granting of a temporary easement for a time period to be determined by the Ramsey County . e . ARDEN HILLS REGULAR CITY COUNCIL MEETING MINUTES MAY 3], 2005 4 Engineer and City notified in writing of such time limit. The motion carried unanimously (5-0). 6. NEW BUSINESS A. Rezoninl! of City Hall ProDertv Mr. Hellegers requested Council consider rezoning the westerly portion of the old City Hall/Public Works site from R-1: Single Family Residential to NB: Neighborhood Business. He stated the Planning Commission unanimously recommended approval of the rezoning as proposed and staff was recommending approval of the rezoning. He noted he had received an email from David McClung, 4370 North Snelling Avenue North, in which Mr. McClung requested the Council deny the rezoning. He stated he had distributed this email to Council with a copy being placed in the City's file. Mayor Aplikowski stated it made sense to rezone this to the Neighborhood Business zoning and that the merits of this zone had been discussed, in the past, at great length. MOTION: Councilmember Grant moved and Councilmember Larson seconded a motion to approve rezoning the old City Hall/PW site from R-]: Single Family Residential to NB: Neighborhood Business. The motion carried (4-]) (Councilmember Holden opposed). B. ADDointment of New City Health/Insurance Broker Mr. Johnson stated in March, City staff began the search for a new health/insurance broker and mailed out eighteen requests for proposals (RFP's). Out of the eighteen RFP's that were mailed out, ten health insurance brokers expressed interest in the contract. In order to narrow down the field of potential candidates, the City Administrator, Finance Director, and Assistant to the City Administrator asked each of the ten potential brokers to give a verbal presentation on the services that their company provided. After meeting with the potential brokers, City staff contacted the different references that were submitted by each of the ten individual brokers. After reviewing and discussing the interview process, reference checks, and bid proposals, City staff believed that Financial Concepts, Inc. of Minnetonka was the company that would best serve the health and insurance needs of the City and its staff members. He recommended the Council approve Financial Concepts, Inc. as the City's health/insurance broker. Councilmember Grant requested if applicable, the Council discuss at a Work Session the impact of potential cost savings. MOTION: Counci]member Larson moved and Counci]member Holden seconded a motion to approve Financial Concepts, Inc. as the City's health/insurance broker effective June 1,2005. The motion carried unanimously (5-0). . e . ARDEN HILLS REGULAR CITY COUNCIL MEETING MINUTES MAY 31, 2005 5 C. ADDroval of Ordinance No. 360-Rel!ulatinl! Peddlers. Solicitors. and Transient Merchants Mr. Johnson stated in 2004, City staff received a number of inquires from peddlers, solicitors, transient merchants, and political organizations regarding the process and procedures involved in the distribution of goods, services, and political literature to the residents. After reviewing the City's current ordinance, it was determined by the City Attorney and staff that the creation of a new ordinance may be more advantageous to the City. The existing ordinance can be very difficult to interpret and some of the information that was being regulated was outdated or no longer applicable. The proposed Ordinance more clearly defined the application process and the City's regulations regarding the selling or distribution of goods, services, advertisement, and political literature. City staff was also attempting to minimize confusion by clearly defining what organizations were exempt from the permitting process. He reviewed the groups or organizations considered exempt from the permitting process. He noted although the groups were considered exempt from the permitting process, the City would still require that the activities be registered on an application form provided by the City ten days prior to the event. He recommended Council approve the Peddlers, Solicitors, and Transient Merchant Ordinance No. 360. Mayor Aplikowski asked if there would be a time limit with respect to when the peddler could operate. Mr. Filla responded peddlers were allowed to operate between 9:00 a.m. and 7:00 p.m. Mayor Aplikowski stated the time limit concerned her because this was not what was happening in the "real world". She asked if they put this in, how they would police this. Councilmember Grant stated in reality, the general rule was until "dusk". Mayor Aplikowski stated she would like to see the hours from 9:00 a.m. - 9:00 p.m. Councilmember Rem requested the application form set out the rules and restrictions for both the exempt and non-exempt organizations. Mayor Aplikowski stated she believed this was restrictive and she could not vote in favor of this unless they changed the time to 9:00 p.m. MOTION: Councilmember Aplikowski moved to amend 340.05, paragraph D to change 7:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m. Motion died for lack of a second. Mr. Filla noted politicians did not fit the definition of peddlers or transients, but politicians did apply to 2, 3, 4 and possibly to parts of 5, but if politicians were just going door to door campaigning, that did not fit the definition of the three organizations and therefore, politicians were not subject to the 7:00 p.m. time limit. . e . ARDEN HILLS REGULAR CITY COUNCIL MEETING MINUTES MAY 31, 2005 6 MOTION: Councilmember Larson moved and Councilmember Holden seconded a motion to approve the Peddlers, Solicitors, and Transient Merchant Ordinance No. 360. The motion carried (4-1) (Mayor Aplikowski opposed). D. ADDroval of Resolution No. 05-39 SUDDortinl! the Consolidated DisDatch Services in Ramsev County Ms. Wolfe stated over the past few weeks information had been distributed regarding the consolidated dispatch center. The general concern was that suburban taxpayers would be paying a larger share for dispatching services under the proposal approved by the County Board. Ramsey County was taking on the costs for operating the dispatch center over an eight-year time frame. The taxpayers would still be paying for these services, but would be paying through County taxes instead of City taxes. Many believe that a disproportionate share would be paid by suburban taxpayers vs. City of St. Paul taxpayers. The primary rationale for this belief was that the County proposes that the cost for the consolidated center would be paid from the general county taxes, which are based on property value. This was different than how most suburbs currently pay for dispatch services, which was based on calls/usage. The way the proposal was explained at a recent meeting with the County Administrator, and as she understood it, the materials that were presented to the County Board, every city brings to the table what they are currently paying. That amount was then decreased over an eight-year period until the County takes over the costs completely. She recommended Council adopt Resolution No. 05-39, a Resolution Regarding Consolidated 911 Dispatch Services in Ramsey County. Councilmember Holden asked why they needed to pass this Resolution. Ms. Wolfe responded it would send the City's concern regarding the funding formula, but if the funding formula was fair, it could be supported. Councilmember Holden stated she liked the Roseville Resolution. MOTION: Councilmember Grant moved and Councilmember Rem seconded a motion to adopt Resolution No. 05-39: A Resolution Regarding Consolidated 91 I Dispatcb Services in Ramsey County. The motion carried unanimously (5-0). E. City Council Chamber ComDuter-Technolol!V UDl!rades Mr. Siddiqui stated the Council Chambers was in need of updating/enhancing some of the audiovisual equipment. The reasons for the replacement were due to failure of some of the existing equipment and to enhance the quality of video and audio transmission over the cable network. Mr. Siddiqui mentioned that a digital recorder would enhance the picture quality. He also mentioned that nine display monitors have to be replaced due to the damage that was perhaps caused by a power surge. Councilmember Holden left the meeting. . e . ARDEN HILLS REGULAR CITY COUNCIL MEETING MINUTES MAY 31, 2005 7 MOTION: Mayor AplikowskI moved and Councilmember Larson seconded a motion to approve purchasing of Video Deck in the amount of $3,200. The motion carried (3-1) (Councilmember Grant opposed. Councilmember Holden was absent for the vote). MOTION: Mayor Aplikowski moved and Councilmember Larson seconded a motion to approve the purchase of nine monitors, including surge protectors in the amount of $2,715. The motion carried (3-1) (Councilmember Grant opposed. Councilmember Holden was absent for the vote). Councilmember Holden rejoined the meeting. MOTION: Mayor Aplikowski moved and Counci1member Larson seconded a motion to amend the 2005 Cable budget by $5,915. The motion carried (4-1) (Councilmember Grant opposed). F. LED Traffic Lil!hts Mr. Siddiqui stated staff had presented to Council a previous memorandum regarding the replacement of the existing traffic signal lamps with energy efficient LED lamps. Mr. Siddiqui mentioned that the City will save 25%-30% in utility bills and the payback period will be about two years. He recommended Council authorize staff to replace the existing traffic signal lamps with the energy efficient LED lamps at a total cost of $10,400 before rebates and to authorize staff to amend the general fund budget in the amount of $5,400 (net ofrebate). MOTION: Councilmember Holden moved and Councilmember Grant seconded a motion to authorize staff to amend the general fund budget in the amount of $5,400 (net of rebate) and to approve replacement of existing traffic signal lamps with the energy efficient LED lamps at a total cost of $10,400 before rebates. The motion carried unanimously (5-0). G. ADDrova1 of Chanl!es to the EDC Bv-Laws Mr. Clark stated the City Council recently directed staff to revisit the Economic Development Commission By-Laws to expand membership. Acting upon the Council's direction, the EDC looked at the By-Laws and recommends that membership be expanded to an odd number (seven to nine). The EDC also recommended that a specific reference be made to have a real estate representative on the Commission. He recommended an amendment to Subd. 2 Composition. He recommended Council adopt the amendment. Councilmember Grant stated he would be voting against this because he did not believe they should be expanding enrollment for committees. Mayor Ap1ikowski noted when the EDC was . e . ARDEN HILLS REGULAR CITY COUNCIL MEETING MINUTES MAY 31, 2005 8 formed originally, it had nine members, with one member being a real estate professional, so this proposal was going back to the original size of the committee. MOTION: Mayor Aplikowski moved and Counci1member Larson seconded a motion to amend the Economic Development Commission By- Laws, Subd. 2 Composition by expanding the current membership from 7 to 9 and to have a real estate representative on the Commission. The motion carried unanimously (4-1) (Councilmember Grant opposed). Mayor Aplikowski recessed the Regular Council Meeting at 8:37 p.m. to go into Closed Session to discuss offers and counter offers for the purchase or sale of the TCAAP property. Mayor Aplikowski reconvened the Regular Council Meeting at 9:34 p.m. 7. UNFINISHED BUSINESS A. Action on GSA's Offer to Purchase Mayor Aplikowski stated they had come to an agreement for GSA's Offer to Purchase. MOTION: Councilmember Grant moved and Councilmember Larson seconded a motion to authorize the Mayor to sign and send the letter dated May 31, 2005 to John Kelly, General Service Administration, as amended for purchase of the TCAAP property. Councilmember Larson requested the Council fully state what this motion was proposing. Mayor Aplikowski read the letter to John Kelley, General Services Administration, dated May 31,2005. The motion carried (4-1) (Councilmember Holden opposed). B. TCAAP UDdate Mr. Clark had no update. CITY COUNCIL REPORTS Ms. Wolfe - Stated Ramsey County would be having building tours for the partners, excluding the Sheriffs Department, on June 22 from 4:00-7:00 p.m. She noted they would also be having a more formal open house in the fall. Councilmember Holden - Stated the Newsletter Committee meets tomorrow. She noted there were two students named as National Merit Scholars from the Mounds View School District and . e . ARDEN HILLS REGULAR CITY COUNCIL MEETING MINUTES MAY 31, 2005 9 asked if they should be honored in some way. She asked if they were still pursuing webcasting. Ms. Wolf replied they were still pursuing webcasting and she anticipated it would be starting sometime in June. Councilmember Grant - Stated last Wednesday he attended the Ramsey County League of Local Governments presentation regarding local government finance. He noted this was a good session. He stated the Planning Commission meets tomorrow and next week the Maintenance Facility Task Force will meet. Councilmember Rem - Thanked Mr. Siddiqui and staff for the Municipal Code updates and the covenng memo. Councilmember Larson - Stated the Fire Board reached an agreement among the three cities for a proposal for financing capital improvements and general fund revenues in the future. He stated he had asked this be put on a Work Session agenda for discussion. Mayor Aplikowski - Stated there was a June 6 Arden Hills library bench dedication for the public. She thanked all ofthe volunteers who planted flowers. Mayor ApIikowski adjourned the regular City Council meeting at 9:48 p.m. /) .-- ,. ,,' /1/ i ../ IV! jll.[{/Ifil'" " , Vv.. L/ ' "", Michelle A. Wolfe City Administrator " i t' 1/ '~f I ' ! i .' L'_, t //,1,-,,,( " ~ : .) i Ch-Nv,,& ski NOTICE OF MEETINGS The next Council Meeting will be held Monday, June 13,2005 at 7:00 p.m. at the Arden Hills Council Chambers.