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HomeMy WebLinkAboutCC 07-26-2004 . . . ~ ~~HILLS Approved: Au~ust 9, 2004 CITY OF ARDEN HILLS, MINNESOTA REGULAR CITY COUNCIL MEETING JULY 26, 2004, 7:00 P.M. CITY HALL COUNCIL CHAMBERS, 1245 WEST HIGHWAY 96 PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE CALL TO ORDERlROLL CALL Pursuant to due call and notice thereof, Mayor Beverly Aplikowski called to order the Regular City Council meeting at 7:05 p,m, Present: Mayor Beverly Aplikowski, Councilmembers David Grant, Gregg Larson, and Lois Rem, Absent: Councilmember Brenda Holden (excused), 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 Hellegers; and Recording Secretary, Kathleen Altman, 1. APPROVAL OF MEETING AGENDA Councilmember Larson requested item 3F be pulled from the Consent Calendar and added as item 7C. MOTION: Councilmember Grant moved and Councilmember Rem seconded a motion to approve the meeting agenda as revised, The motion carried unanimously (4-0), 2. APPROVAL OF MINUTES A, June 15,2004 Special Council Work Session Minutes B, July 12, 2004 Council Minutes Councilmember Grant requested the following changes: None, Councilmember Rem requested the following changes; July 12, 2004 Council Minutes, Page 5, first paragraph under number D, last sentence, insert the following after the first encroachment "on land owned by the City at Hazelnut Park and along the Diagonal Trail..," Page 6, sixth 1 \Earth \Admin ICouncilIMinutesIRegular12004 107 -26-04 ,doc . . ARDEN HILLS REGULAR CITY COUNCIL MEETING MINUTES JULY 26, 2004 2 paragraph from the top, add the sentence: "The Recording Secretary read from the Minutes of the Planning Commission and they had approved six feet", Councilmember Larson requested the following changes: None, Mayor Aplikowski requested the following changes: None, Ms. Wolfe requested the following changes: None, MOTION: Councilmember Larson moved and Councilmember Grant seconded a motion to approve the June 15, 2004 Special Council Work Session Minutes as presented and the July 12, 2004 Council Minutes as amended, The motion carried unanimously (4-0), 3. CONSENT CALENDAR a, b, Claims and Payroll Transportation Task Force Approval of Electrical Inspector Services Approval of Purchasing Policy Approval to Purchase Storm Water Stencils Finn Driyeway Easement Moved to Item 7C c, d. e, f. MOTION: Councilmember Grant moved and Councilmember Larson 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. PUBLIC INOUIRIES/INFORMA TIONAL Carol Linders, 1945 Glen Paul Avenue, stated she supported the Planning Commission's recommendation regarding the Presbyterian Homes (Triangle Property), She indicated the decision that was made was a good one for the neighborhood, She asked the Council not to forget about the neighborhood and hoped something good would come onto that property that fit the current zoning requirements, David Wunderlich, 1871 Glen Paul Avenue, stated he was a long-term resident of the City, He stated he disagreed with the residents in the area and he supported the Presbyterian Homes project. He believed Presbyterian Homes was a good and positive business for the City, 5. PUBLIC HEARINGS . None, . . . ARDEN HILLS REGULAR CITY COUNCIL MEETING MINUTES JULY 26, 2004 3 6. NEW BUSINESS A. Utility Fund Rate Study Mr. Siddiqui stated the City has not reviewed or adjusted its water, sewer and storm water rates since 2001. Currently, the enterprise funds are breaking even from a routine operational perspective, This did not take into account major maintenance projects, The existing rate structure does not appear to be adequate and is not able to accommodate maintenance of the sewer, storm water, and water infrastructure in the long-term, He recommended a utility rate study be performed. Mr. Siddiqui recommended that the Council engage in a relationship with Abdo, Eick & Meyers to conduct a utility rate study at an estimated cost of $7,500. Mayor Aplikowski asked if the City could do this study in-house, Mr. Siddiqui replied it could be done, but at this time, staff did not have this type of specialized knowledge, Councilmember Rem asked if the study could include some type of a plan to review this periodically, Mr. Siddiqui replied the firm would provide a template for the City so this would be possible in the future, Councilmember Grant asked what percentage of the study was for analyzing debt. Mr. Siddiqui replied there would not be much spent for this, Councilmember Larson stated he believed they needed to look at this every year and possibly make it a part of their annual audit reports, Mr. Siddiqui agreed, Councilmember Grant requested they look at these rates every year as a part of the Council's budget discussions, MOTION: Councilmember Grant moved and Councilmember Rem seconded a motion to engage in a relationship with Abdo, Eick & Myers to conduct a utility rate study at a cost not to exceed $7,500, The motion carried unanimously (4-0), Mr. Siddiqui stated he believed the report would be prepared in the next six weeks, 7. UNFINISHED BUSINESS A. Policy Discussion Rel!ardinl! Planninl! Case Time Extensions Mr. Clark stated the City Council had requested a review of planning case time extensions for Master and Final Plan PUDs, He indicated that currently the Zoning Ordinance stated that the maximum time between filing the Master Plan and Final Plan shall be within 6 months or whatever times the Council agrees to, After an applicant received Final Plan approval, the . . . ARDEN HILLS REGULAR CITY COUNCIL MEETING MINUTES JULY 26,2004 4 applicant then has I year to apply for a building peDTIit. Therefore, the current timeline allows up to 18 months between Master Plan approval and the issuance of a Building PeDTIit. If the Council grants the applicant additional time there may be more than 6 months between the Master Plan and the Final Plan without requiring the applicant to reapply, The Council may also approve a Master or Final Plan without an extension and the applicant could come back at a later date to request a new application. He stated language could be added to the Zoning Ordinance to limit the timelines for the Master and Final Plan by adding caps to the amount of time peDTIitted or adding caps for the amount and time of extensions, Language could also be added to differentiate between single-phase developments and larger, phased, multi-building developments, He presented six alternatives for Council's consideration. Mr. Clark recommended the Council's discussion revolve around what a fair amount of time is for handling the Master and Final Plan process and whether the current process was adequate or whether changes need to be instituted, Councilmember Larson stated he believed staff had recognized that there were differences between the various campus developments, but his concern was the North Heights project where they were requesting approval for a project six or seven years in advance before they intended to build, He noted they needed to structure their approach differently to address this type of a request. He was concerned that over the last year the Planning Commission, Council and neighborhood was engaged in this process when North Heights had no intention of building for a long time. He indicated this was not a good use of the City's resources. He asked ifthere was some way they could put in the Zoning Code or some other document some type of a good faith intention on the part of the applicant that they were going to act within a certain period of time, If they could not act within that certain period oftime, they would be told they needed to come back when they could build within that period of time, Councilmember Grant asked how many situations like this the City had, Mr. Clark replied Chesapeake was one situation where there were a couple of extensions given, Mr. Hellegers replied the County Road D and Cleveland property would also fit in this situation, Council member Grant stated while some of the statements are very good from a logical perspective, he wanted to be careful that they did not use the North Heights project as a precedent, which would disadvantage another business, He stated he wanted to see something that was reasonable. Mayor Aplikowski asked if a plan was not ready, would it be it be allowed to go to the Planning Commission, Mr. Clark replied if a plan were not complete, it would not be brought to the Planning Commission, Mr. Filla stated according to the Code, amendmcnts to PUD's had to be processed in the same manner as applications, . . . ARDEN HILLS REGULAR CITY COUNCIL MEETING MINUTES JULY 26, 2004 5 Councilmember Larson stated his concern was not with extensions, but what North Heights had proposed and what they had dealt with in other extensions, He indicated when Council acted on those other extensions it was the Council's understanding that the applicant intended to perform within a certain period of time, where North Heights was requesting an unreasonable period of time, He stated he did not want the City to be used in a speculative manner. He believed what the church was doing was speculative, He stated extensions were important, but he wanted some type of an indication that applicants intended to go forward and do something within a reasonable time rrame, Mayor Aplikowski disagreed with Councilmember Larson's comments, She stated North Heights did intend to do something and she did not see anything wrong with them coming to the City to see if what they were proposing was feasible and then raising the money, She asked how the Council wanted the City to be viewed, Did they want to take a firm stand or be more flexible? She stated she wanted the City to be flexible and open to new projects coming in, especially with TCAAP coming, Councilmember Grant stated an owner of a parcel of property had the right to develop the property as long as it followed the City Codes, He noted an owner also had a right not to develop their property if they chose not to, Mayor Aplikowski asked how long of a period of time should an applicant have to keep extending the plan before Council did not allow any more extensions. Councilmember Grant replied he believed 48 months was reasonable, as long as a second extension had a public hearing. Councilmember Rem stated there were a few large non-profit entities in the City and they needed to realize that these types of entities needed time to raise funds for their developments, She askcd the City to maintain some flexibility in this process, Mr. Clark stated staff could look at this again and come up with some type of an end process, He stated he was not sure there was a solution to Councilmember Larson's concerns, Councilmember Larson stated he was not against extension requests, He realized it was important for businesses to see if a development they wanted to build was feasible and maybe the City should be looking at some type of a concept plan for these types of developments without going any further until applicant was ready to build, Mr. Clark asked what period of time that would be deemed to be reasonable, Councilmember Larson stated he was interested in what happened up rront. Mr. Filla stated the City could revise their completed application standard to include the concerns Councilmember Larson had outlined, including an intention to develop, However, if they were going to grant extensions, at some point they needed to look at changes in law, and they should include criteria for requested extensions and the applicant should agree to comply . . . ARDEN HILLS REGULAR CITY COUNCIL MEETING MINUTES JULY 26, 2004 6 with any current legislation. He indicated it was important the City did not lock itself into old legislation. He noted if they were granting an extension it was important to be looking at current data, such as current traffic analysis, etc, and they should build that into some criteria for extensions, Mayor Aplikowski asked if 48 months was a reasonable time period to obtain a final plan, Councilmember Larson stated he was comfortable with 48 months, as long as the City Attorney's recommendations were part of the conditions of granting an extension, Councilmember Aplikowski asked ifthey wanted to look at a 36 month time period, She stated she liked the 36 month time period. Councilmember Rem stated she did not have a strong preference for either 36 or 48 months, but she agreed they needed to ensure that applicants realized when applying for extensions, there might be one or more reasons that had come to pass where they would no longer get the City's pernnSSlOn, Mr. Filla stated based upon this discussion, staff could come back with a draft of recommendations He stated right now one of the things that did not discourage people from submitting applications before they are ready to develop was because of the unlimited extensions and ifthe City had a certain end date, the applicant would know they needed to be serious about submitting an application, He stated he liked the idea of having an end date, However, Council also needed to realize that there would be exceptions to end dates, Councilmember Larson stated he wanted applicants to realize there might be a price to be paid when requesting extensions, such as the laws changing and the development no longer having Council's approval. Mr. Filla stated this process would apply more to PUD's rather than variance requests. He indicated this would apply to long-term projects and not the smaller residential applications, He suggested they have some type of an Extension Agreement signed by both the City and applicant. He stated this would clearly indicate what would be required of each party, Councilmember Larson requested staff to develop language for a PUD that the applicant would not move beyond a concept plan until there are firm plans to build the development. Couucilmember Grant stated he believed they would have the same issues they have right now even with a concept plan, Councilmember Larson agreed they would have the same issues, but Council would not be approving a project when it was not ready to be built. B. Karth Lake: Approve Appointment of Board Members Mr. Siddiqui stated in September, 2003, the City Council established the Karth Lake Improvement District and adopted its By-Laws, The District would have a Board of Directors ARDEN HILLS REGULAR CITY COUNCIL MEETING MINUTES JULY 26, 2004 7 . who would serve in an advisory capacity to the City Council. The Council would appoint the Board, The Board would be responsible for making recommendations to the Council for matters related to this specific district. He noted earlier tbis month, staff had sent a letter to all residents of the district, re-informing them about the district and its By-Laws, The mailing also included an application for those who are interested in serving on the Board, In response, the City had received seven applications from interested residents to serve on this Board, Mr. Siddiqui recommended Council consider amending the Karth Lake District By-Laws to appoint seven members to the Board of Directors; amend the Karth Lake District By-Laws to change or advance the Terms of Office by one year; amend the By-Laws and give authority to the newly appointed Board to appoint their own individual expiration terms; and appoint seven residents (Ron T, Hagkull, Linda K, Hansohn, Richard F. Klick, Steven p, Marino, Albert L. Nienaber, Thomas R. Smith, and Janet 1. Stodola) to the Kart Lake District Board, Councilmember Larson asked if there was some expiration for this Board, or was it intended to continue for a long period oftime, He asked what the Board's duties were, Councilmember Rem stated it was her understanding that they had agreed it was a good idea to have a Board in place to deal with any issues that came up, . Mr. Moore replied it was intended that the Board be a liaison between the Council and Karth Lake, and it was the intended that the Board be in place for three years, which was the assessment period, Mayor Aplikowski stated it was her impression that the Board was permanent, Mr. Filla replied the Board could last indefinitely until there was a petition to terminate the Board, or the City Council could make a determination that the Board was no longer necessary and therefore could terminate the Board, Councilmember Larson stated he was a strong believer in lakeshore associations, but he believed those associations worked better when the City was not involved, Mayor Aplikowski noted the City was only appointing the first Board and after the three-year period, it was up to the Karth Lake residents to continue the Board, She stated it was her understanding that the City was only going to help the Board get started, Mr. Filla stated the initial Board was to be appointed by the Council with staggered terms, Mayor Aplikowski stated they could appoint seven members, or they could appoint five members with two alternates, or they could appoint five members only, She stated she believed it was a good idea to appoint seven members because they had seven interested residents, . Councilmember Rem stated she would like to appoint seven people to the Board, Councilmember Grant agreed to the appointment of seven members, . ARDEN HILLS REGULAR CITY COUNCIL MEETING MINUTES JULY 26, 2004 8 MOTION: Councilmember Grant moved and Councilmember Larson seconded a motion to approve amending the Karth Lake District By-Laws to appoint seven members to the Board of Directors; amending the Karth Lake District By-Laws to change or advance the Terms of Office by one year; amending the By-laws and give authority to the newly appointed Board to appoint their own individual expiration terms; and appointing the following residents to the Karth Lake District Board: Ron T, Hagkull, Linda K. Hansohn, Richard F, Klick, Steven P. Marino, Albert L. Nienaber, Thomas R. Smith, and Janet J. Stodola, Mr. Filla noted the Board would come up with a schedule for their individual expiration dates and this would come back to the Council with their recommendation, The motion carried unanimously (4-0), Richard Klick, 1301 Karth Lake Circle, thanked the Council for setting this up and preserving this natural resource for the residents. c. Finn Drivewav Easement . Mr. Hellegers stated Mr. Finn was requesting a driveway easement at 333lNew Brighton Road, He stated the Council had requested this be brought back to them for approval. . Councilmember Larson stated they should add some type of an option for the City to terminate this easement ifit was in the best interest of the City, Councilmember Rem stated she understood this had been added to the Grant of Driveway Easement document. Mr. Hellegers replied staff had presented a sunset provision to the Grant of Driveway Easement to the Council as a bench handout tonight that addressed this concern, Mayor Aplikowski asked if the applicant agreed to this sunset clause, John Finn, 3331 New Brighton Road, replied he did not object to the sunset clause or the Grant of Driveway Easement document. However, he expressed concern about the 24 month time period and requested the 24-month time period be extended to 48 months. Mr. Filla stated if they were not going to have a sunset clause on the easement, they might as well just convey title, Councilmember Larson asked the applicant why he believed 48 months was a better time frame, Mr. Finn replied he felt more comfortable with 48 months, . . . ARDEN HILLS REGULAR CITY COUNCIL MEETING MINUTES JULY 26, 2004 9 Councilmember Rem asked if Mr, Finn could purchase the property from the City, Mr. Filla replied the City could deem the property to no longer have value to the City and they could sell the property if they wanted, Mayor Aplikowski asked staff if they saw any problem with extending this to 48 months, Mr. Moore replied he saw no reason this could not be extended and Mr. Finn had been a good neighbor to the park. MOTION: Councilmember Grant moved and Councilmember Larson seconded a motion to grant the Finn (3331 New Brighton Road) Driveway Easement as presented with the exception of altering number 4 to strike 24 months and insert 48 months in the Copy of Lie en singlSun set Provision Grant of Driveway Easement document. The motion carried unanimously (4-0), CITY COUNCIL REPORTS Ms. Wolfe - Stated the Library Task Force was having their first meeting this Thursday at City Hall at 4:00 p,m, She stated Councilmember Holden was out of town and therefore, not in attendance at tonight's meeting, Councilmember Grant - Stated it appeared there was an accident involving a youth on a bicycle using the new Highway 96 trail tonight. He requested staff draft a letter to the County requesting small stop signs for the pedestrians on the trails as they crossed busy streets, He stated the Assessment Task Force met this month and there would be final wording for the task force to review in the near future, Councilmember Rem - Stated tomorrow night was the joint PTRC and Planning Commission meeting being held at the City Hall at 6:30 p,m, She stated next Wednesday there would be a newsletter committee meeting at 5:30 p,m, and there was also a joint Planning Commission and City Council meeting at 7:00 p,m, Councilmember Larson - Stated the Lake Johanna Fire Department Board of Directors meeting was this Wednesday and the Lake Johanna Relief Association meeting was also going to be held this day, He stated if St. Paul went forward with a smoking ban, he would like to initiate a discussion regarding this. Mayor Ap1ikowski - Thanked the volunteer gardeners for watering and weeding the flowers, She thanked everyone for watching on cable at home for the comments the Council has received, She reminded everyone that she had City Hall hours on the first Wednesday from 4-7 p,m, She stated she had received a request for speed bumps on Lake Valentine Road and she was turning that e-mail over to staff for response, She stated she had also received an e-mail with a request to pass an Ordinance to forbid trucks from jake braking, She requested the Transportation Committee look at this request. . . . ARDEN HILLS REGULAR CITY COUNCIL MEETING MINUTES JULY 26, 2004 10 Mr. Clark - Stated there was a MNDOT open house this Thursday from 4-7 p,m, at the Shoreview Community Center to discuss the 694improvements from 35W to 35E, Mayor Aplikowski adjourned the Regular City Council Meeting at 9:12 p,m, , - ./ /.-'" /J' .,..' " 'J /" C 'J' ,/ 13~~;l;:;J:i~w:k?,jJ>hJ~'/~A" Mayor "A / /jI' f 1.1 i'!.; /_/) "J ~c "//,, 'It, it' / i i I.i ti tiliY ()f(lllJ1,;f:J Michelle Wolfe I' City Administrator NOTICE OF MEETINGS The next Council Meeting will be held Monday, August 9, 2004 at 6:30 p,m, in the Arden Hills Council Chambers,