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HomeMy WebLinkAboutCCWS 09-18-2000 . MEETING MINUTES eITY eOUNeIL AND PLANNING eOMMISSION JOINT WORKSESSION MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 18, 2000 4:45 P.M. - elTY HALL, 4364 WEST ROUND LAKE ROAD eALL TO ORDER Mayor Probst called the meeting to order at 4:47 p.m. Those present included Couneilmembers Beverly Aplikowski, David Grant, Gregg Larson and Lois Rem. Staff present included City Administrator, Joe Lynch; City Accountant, Terry Post; Public Works Director, Dwayne Stafford; Parks and Recreation Director, Tom Moore; Recreation Program Supervisor, Michelle Olson; and Planner, Jennifer Chaput. Others in attendance included the City's Cable Commission representative, Dave Sand; Cable Executive Director, Coralie Wilson; the City's Website Task Force representative, Craig Wilson; and City Planning Commissioners Therese Galatowitsch, Stephen L. Baker, and David Sand. NORTH SUBURBAN eABLE eOMMISSION UPDATE David Sand appeared before the City Council and distributed a Cable Representative . Report dated September 18, 2000. In Section One, the Report discussed past and present issues, including the system upgrade and channel realigmnent; the transfer of ownership from MediaOne to AT & T; a second and third competitive franchise application, which Coralie Wilson would address further; broadcasting of Council meetings, indicating that Council meetings will be available on Channels 16 and 98, which means one would be able to view other city's Council meetings; and the Telecommunications Advisory Committee. The second section ofthe Report contained information about continuing and future issues, which included the City Hall and cable tie-in to the City Hall; right-of-way ordinance, for which Mr. Sand emphasized the importance to the Planning Commission and City Council' action; and candidate's speak out debates for local elections. There were no Council questions of Mr. Sand. eABLE eOMMISSION, COMPETITIVE FRANeHISE UPDATE Coralie Wilson, Executive Director of the North Suburban Cable Commission (NSCC), presented information on the second and third competitive franchise applications they had received from "Wide Open West" and "Everest Connections." Ms. Wilson indicated two advantages to a competitive franchise are better customer service and competitive rates. Disadvantages she pointed out were clutter aestlletically and construction issues, . ARDEN HILLS eITY COUNeIL WORKSESSION - SEPTEMBER 18, 2000 2 . such as the number of utilities in a right-of-way, and establishing and enforcing fees for restoration. Ms. Wilson indicated that it would be perhaps as many as three (3) months before more information would be getting back to the City Councils regarding the competitive franchise process and the outcome ofthe applications. Ms. Wilson and Mr. Sand cmphasized for the Council that it would be perhaps as many as two (2) years before the City of Arden Hills, and surrounding communities, would see the impact of a second competitive franchise (i.e., installation of cabling and optional choices for service providers, and capital equipment installation). Mayor Probst inquired what was driving the channel realignment issue. Ms. Wilson responded that she thought that the channel realigument was going to remain steady. She thought that, now that the channels had been grouped by type, there would be less fluctuation. She indicated that some of the realignment was due to customer demand, and some due to the technology ofthe company and their ability to deliver the specific channels. LOGO DESIGN PROeESS . Derek Hames, Shikari Designs, Inc. appeared before the City Council with three (3) options for the City Council to consider related to a new logo. Mr. Hames went through various aspects of each design, and indicated his preference for the logo design that did not include the capture of a tree or the environment within a circle. The Council discussed looking at various setups of the logo, and the possibility of having the design stand alone without the words. Mr. Hames indicated that, before he went to that next step, he wanted the City Council to choose their preference from the three (3) options presented. Mayor Probst indicated that he wanted the logo to be flexible and usable on all kinds of applications, and indicated a preference for seeing the tree moved to the left or the right ofthe scrolled City name to detennine if he liked that effect. Mr. Hames produced a proposed letterhead, which included the logo and then the City name and address on the lower portion of the page, with a watermark tree logo in the center of the page. Mr. Hames explained that the watermark was at a higher resolution than you would find on a typical letterhead. Councilmember Aplikowski inquired about the ability to use different colors. She expressed a preference for the current green, but didn't know if tan or beige needed to be the choice for the second color. . ARDEN HILLS eITY eOUNeIL WORKSESSION - SEPTEMBER 18, 2000 3 . Council directed Mr. Hames to come back with three options for color; the green on white, the green on tan, and the green on sage green, as indicated by the watermark on the proposed letterhead, as offered by Mr. Hames. Mr. Hames was directed to provide optional alignments of the script, as well as movement of the logo within the script, and work with the three colors as previously identified. Mr. Hames is to attend the October 16,2000 Council Worksession to represent the various alignments and color schemes. STAFF REPORT - PARKS AND REeREA TION DEPARTMENT Parks and Recreation Director, Tom Moore, provided a department update to the City Council, including a tree inventory of the City's parks performed by S & S Tree and related budget considerations for forestry and maintenance. This would be brought forward to the City Council in the form of a recommendation from the Parks, Trails and Recreation Committee, on how to address the needs within the parks system for forestry management. JOINT DIseUSSION - eITY eOUNeIL AND PLANNING eOMMISSION Zoninl!: Ordinanee Amendments . Planning Commission members, Dave Sand, Stephen Baker, and Therese Galatowitseh, were in attendance to discuss the Zoning Ordinance amendments that had been previously discussed at the August 14, 2000 regular City Council meeting, and proposed amendments to the antenna section ofthe Zoning Ordinance, as well as discussion of potential future amendments and work projects for the Planning Commission. Section II (0), Definitions: Familv; Dwellinl!: Unit: Familv; Household and Seetion VI (F), eonstruction Standards and Drivewavs Councilmembers discussed with the Planning Commission their concerns regarding the definitions and the number of unrelated persons, as well as the number of vehicles allowed parked on a driveway. Councilmember Grant expressed concern because it seemed to limit the number of unrelated persons that might be able to occupy a household. He cited an example of a family offour (4) taking in an Exchange Student. Couneilmember Larson indicated that he did not want to see neighborhoods compromised because of the two (2) colleges in the City of Arden Hills. He felt that student overflow housing was an issue for the colleges to resolve. Councilmember Rem indicated that the City does allow the possibility for this type of housing by zoning. . ARDEN HILLS eITY eOUNeIL WORKSESSION - SEPTEMBER 18, 2000 4 . Councilmembers then discussed, and tried to come to consensus, on the number ofumelated persons within a home. Councilmember Grant indicated that he could be persuaded that four (4) was a more appropriate number. Planning Commissioner Galatowitsch inquired why there couldn't be three (3) family types; the first being a related family (all persons are related by blood or marriage, adoption, etc.); a second family type could be a combination of persons related to each other and umclated persons, such as Exchange Students; and a third family type being all umelated persons. Councilmembers indicated that they wanted to try to hold down the number, rather than increase the number to deal with this particular situation. Commissioner Sand pointed out that the definition in the City of St. Peter's Zoning Ordinance, talking about family and relationships, was a good one. However, they agreed that the definition for the City of St. Peter did not include relationships by virtue of adoption or foster family situations, and those should remain a part of the definition for the City of Arden I-Ells. Councilmembers then continued discussion regarding the number of parked vehicles in driveways. Discussion ensued on how the number vehicles should be related to the number of related or umelated persons in the household. . Councilmember Aplikowski would like to see the language revert back to its original intention; whereby, a property could have a number of vehicles parked in the driveway, as long as it wasn't on a regular basis. Planner Chaput indicated that City Attorney Filla felt that language was too vague and unenforceable. Discussion then centered on the fact that, from a practical standpoint, by the time the process had happened and been completed, the original complaint would probably no longer be valid. Chaput went through a scenario, where if she received a complaint call, she would investigate and if she found that there were grounds for enforcement, she would send a letter to the homeowner requesting that they remedy the situation and give the property owner a specified number of days to remedy the situation. After that time, she would do a follow-up site visit and, if at that time, the situation had not been remedied, the next step would be taken which would be potential tag of the violation and then on to prosecution. In almost all instances, this has not taken place. Council agreed that Planner Chaput should bring back a recommendation similar to what she had originally proposed, with the number ofumelated persons being set at four (4) and the number of vehicles set at three (3) . ARDEN HILLS eITY eOUNeIL WORKSESSION - SEPTEMBER 18, 2000 5 . Proposed Amendments to Antenna Section of Zoninl! Ordinanee Mayor Probst, before discussion began, noted that he was concerned that not all parts of the antenna section, nor all concerns, had been addressed but that focus had been specifically provided on the City water tower sites. Planner Chaput explained that the City Council had passed a resolution delaying cellular or wireless companies from making application for location of antennas or related equipment on the water tower sites until such time that the City had decided how it was going to handle the proliferation of applications and the potential for overloading on the water tower sites. Planning Commission members agreed that the other parts of tile antemla ordinance did need to be addressed and they intended to do so in their work before the end of the calendar year 2000. Council agreed that the language that would be proposed to them at this time was acceptable, and that the Plmming Commission should address other issues through further changes in the antenna section. Potential Future Amendments and Work Proiects Chaput indicated that she would like to put together a proposed work plan for the Planning Commission, and have them review it, adopt it and present it to the City . Council so the City Council will be aware of the projects before the Planning Commission during the course of a calendar year. Council advised that the right-of-way ordinance that had been previously discussed during the course of the cable discussion should be a priority work item for them to consider, and pass along a recommendation to the City Council, prior to a second or third competitive cable franchise being awarded. Councilmember Aplikowski brought up the memorandum that Planner Chaput had passed along regarding banners for the Fiftieth Anniversary celebration. Councilmembers discussed that fact that there were exceptions and exemptions that may apply to special civic events, but did direct that the Planning Commission take a look at that part of the Sign Ordinance, to ensure the City's consistency in its application and allowances for banners. A third item that the City Council mentioned was the housing maintenance code, in conjunction with the 1-35W Corridor Coalition, and potential individual changes to that proposal. The last item Planner Chaput brought up was addressing the fact that, although the Neighborhood Business District Zone had been established on a map, no language had been written around it and better defined. If it was the intention of the City Council to consider going ahead with and continuing these zones, work would need to be done almost immediately shoring up the written portions of the Neighborhood Business District Zone. . I ARDEN HILLS eITY eOUNelL WORKSESSION - SEPTEMBER 18, 2000 6 . WEBSITE DEVELOPMENT TASK FOReE Craig Wilson, representing the City's Website Development Task Force, was in attendance and addressed tile City Council on the recommendations of the Task Foree. Mayor Probst inquired as to what progress had been made to-date with the City of Roseville and their ability to provide services related to website development and maintenance. Terry Post indicated that the Joint Powers Agreement (JPA) had been signed with the City of Roseville, and staff was currently exploring the possibility of use of installing a radio system the Roseville SCADA flillctions. Also, a workstation was set up at the Arden Hills City Hall to tryout a financial software package system that the City of Roseville recently purchased. Mr. Wilson went on to explain that most of the cost related to a website was out-of- pocket costs for maintenance and labor. Couneilmember Larson related his experience in a previous position, and indicated that if the City needed help in setting up the site, or explanations on how to do something, he would be willing to provide that assistance. Mr. Larson stated that he believed that there was enough local expertise in various corporations throughout the City of Arden Hills that could be called upon to assist with the development, maintenance and modifications to a City website. . Mr. Wilson agreed that there is much expertise within the community. City Council consensus was that the Website Development Task Force should further explore answers to the questions that were posed as part of their recommendation. (i.e., develop a budget for initial costs and ongoing costs; make recommendations on responsibilities for development of a website; consider ongoing maintenance; identify oversight that needed to be provided and how that could be provided; and ongoing and operational issues related to the website). STAFF eOMMENTS Public Works Director, Dwayne Stafford, provided a department update, including the progress and process for replacement of light poles on County Road E. He stating that all tile light poles had been repaired with the exception of onc that they had cncountered a problem with, and he was seeking alternative ways for that repair. Mr. Stafford updated Councilmembers on the Highway 96/10 interchange, indicating that he would like to speak with City Councilmembers to get their views on the proposed project. Planner, Jennifer ehaput, provided a department update to Councilmembers on upcoming Planning Cases; the application made for a Class II Home Occupation on New Brighton Road at the intersection with County Road E-2, and the antenna section of the . Zoning Ordinance, coming before the City Council on September 25, 2000. ARDEN HILLS elTY eOUNeIL WORKSESSION - SEPTEMBER 18,2000 7 . City Treasurer/Accountant, Terry Post, reported to the City Council on the loan request made for reimbursemcnt of the money owed by Ramsey County for the development of the West Round Lake Road intersection. The loan request was in the amount of$1,019,000.00. Mr. Post indicated that he would be gone on Wednesday, September 20 through Friday, September 22, 2000 at the Minnesota Government Finance Officer's Association (MGFOA) annual meeting in Alexandria, MN. Mr. Post further reiterated the wireless node for financial systems software demonstration that the City had received from the City of Roseville. Mayor Probst inquired about the options that are available to the City of Arden Hills on the sound wall tllat would be constructed just north of the intersection of Highway 96 and l-35W, with the Minnesota Department of Transportation (MnDOT) holding the City responsible for any costs. Mr. Post stated that he would inquire about that, as he had a meeting scheduled on Tuesday with a MnDOT engineer. His understanding was that there was a basic plan that MnDOT would implement, and if the City of Arden Hills wanted to see something different, the City would need to pick up the cost differential. Mr. Post also indicated that he and Mr. Stafford had met and were preparing a proposal for recycling contractors. The recycling contract was up for renewal, and they would like to determine the cost of what is available. Mr. Post indicated that therc was a balance in . the Recycling food, and inquired of the City Council what they ought to do with that money. Mr. Post indicated that the City Council could offset the cost of recycling by reducing the cost to each ofthe residents; or they could put the money into promotional materials, such as recycling bins; or provide educational information. Mr. Post stated that the City does not currently have an active information resource for its citizens regarding thc rccycling program. Mayor Probst inquired if some of the fund balance couldn't be used to ofT-set the costs of the newsletter containing either an entire document about recycling, or ongoing information about recycling in each issue. eity Administrator, Joe Lyneh, updated the City Council on the Vaughan tower situation and the meeting that was to take place on Tuesday, September 19,2000 with City Attorney Filla and Mr. Vaughan. Mr. Lynch inquired if there was a consensus ofthe City Council on what their preference would be in terms of enforcement issues. The consensus of the City Council was that the tower should come down. Mr. Lynch reported that the Fire Inspector and the Lake Johmma Volunteer Fire Department (UFVD) had parted ways, and the Fire Department was currently in the process of hiring a new inspector. Mr. Lynch also reported that the Feasibility Study, which had previously been discussed . being available at the September 25th regular City Council meeting, would not be ARDEN HILLS eITY eOUNeIL WORKSESSION - SEPTEMBER 18,2000 8 . available until the October 10, 2000 regular City Council meeting. This information would be passed along to affected residents and they would be notified that the information would not be available until that time. eOUNeIL eOMMENTS Councilmember Grant reported that the Association of Metropolitan Municipalities (AMM) had finished their work and would be forwarding their general policies to the Board for their consideration. Councilmember Rem reported that Operations and Finance Committee would meet on Thursday, September 21 st to discuss a variety of issues. Councilmember Rem also stated that the Northwest Youth and Family Services Board meeting was held on September 13th, and the McKnight Foundation Grant award was announced. Councilmember Aplikowski also reported that the AMM Policy group had finished its charge, and the Board would be deciding on policies for 200l at their November 19,2000 meeting. Councilmember Aplikowski also noted that she had received information on the Light Rail Transit demonstration and inquired if other City Couneilmembers had been invited, and if not, she had information to share. Couneilmember Aplikowski inquired what was happening with the Ramsey County League of Local Governments (RCLLG) as she had not received any information lately, and wondered if she had been missing any meetings. Councilmember Aplikowski inquired as to the candidates that had filed for . oflice and staff provided information on those four (4) who had filed for office; Michael Coopet, John Friemuth, and incumbents Aplikowski and Grant. Couneilmember Aplikowski further reported that the City Events Task Force would be meeting on Wednesday, September 20th at Tony Schmidt Park to review the facilities and site; in case of inclement weather, the group would meet at City Hall. Councilmember Aplikowski reported that there is not yet a complete budget for each of the programs of the Fiftieth Anniversary celebration. Councilmember Larson reported that he had attended a Fire Relief Association meeting, and they had talked about the hiring process for the new Fire Chief. Councilmember Larson had met with a consultant hired by the LJVFD to inquire of local elected officials, as well as City Managers, about how to look at the organization and potential changes that may need to be made in order to bring a full-time Fire Chief on board. Councilmember Larson then expressed concern and inquired about the process that the City had just experienced regarding the Ingerson Neighborhood Review Group, and the neighborhood, to try and make determinations on what to do about that project. Councilmembers discussed Mr. Larson's points, and concluded that perhaps another Retreat was necessary in order to talk about how and why policies are made, and the decision-making processes. . ARDEN HILLS eITY eOUNelL WORKSESSION - SEPTEMBER 18, 2000 9 . Councilmember Larson's greatest concern about tile outcome of the meeting was the fact that it had been an apparent change in direction from previous Council direction where they would try to approach the Pavement Management Program (PMP) rather than on a worst first scenario. Councilmember Larson inquired as to whether the City was changing its mind about the direction of the PMP. ADJOURN MOTION: The meeting was adjourned by consensus at 10:04 p.m. . .