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HomeMy WebLinkAbout02-12-07-R ~ ~~HILLS Approved: 2/26/07 CITY OF ARDEN HILLS, MINNESOTA REGULAR CITY COUNCIL MEETING FEBRUARY 12, 2007; 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 Stan Harpstead called to order the regular City Council meeting at 7:01 p.m. Present: Mayor Stan Harpstead, Counci1members David Grant, Brenda Holden, David McClung, and Fran Holmes. Absent: None. Also present were City Administrator, Michelle Wolfe; Public Works Director, Gregory Hoag; Finance Director, Susan Iverson; Community Development Director, Karen Barton; City Engineer, Kris Giga; Assistant City Administrator, Schawn Jolmson; and Recording Secretary, Kathleen Altman. 1. APPROVAL OF MEETING AGENDA Mayor Harpstead moved Public Inquiries/Informational up on the agenda. MOTION: Mayor Harpstead moved and Councilmember Grant seconded a motion to move Public InquirieslInformation to before approval of the Minutes. The motion carried unanimously (5-0). Mayor Harpstead added under New Business Item 7C: Offer to Purchase Extension with the Two Amendments Previously Approved and an Additional Approval of Amendment No.3 based upon the January 12 Letter by Jolm Kelly. MOTION: Councilmember Grant moved and Councilmember Holmes seconded a motion to approve the offer to purchase extension with the two amendments previously approved and an additional approval of amendment no. 3 based upon the January 12 letter by Jolm Kelly. ARDEN HILLS CITY COUNCIL -FEBRUARY 12, 2007 2 Councilmember McClung stated he was concerned about taking both of the actions tonight because they received the documents only today and he believed they needed more of a discussion on approving amendment number 3 without having a signed copy of the GSA. Conncilmember Holden asked which letter from Mr. Kelly. Ms. Wolfe responded it was not a letter from Jolm Kelly, but a letter to Jolm Kelly. She stated the GSA had requested an update of the letter of January and they would be willing to sign off on that. Mayor Harpstead stated he did not believe it was appropriate to have this on tonight's agenda. The motion failed (0-5). Conncilmember McClung requested item 3D be pulled from the Consent Calendar and added as item 4A. MOTION: Councilmember Grant moved and Councilmember Holmes seconded a motion to approve the meeting agenda as amended. The motion carried unanimously (5-0). 2. PUBLIC INOUlRIESIINFORMATIONAL None. 3. APPROVAL OF MINUTES A. January 22, 2007 Work Session Meeting B. December 11, 2006 Work Session Meeting C. October 30, 2006 EDC/City Council Work Session Meeting Councilmember Holden requested the following changes: October 30, last line on Page 5, strike the word Text Councilmember Holmes requested the following changes: January 22,2007, work Session, Page 7, open space not common meeting MOTION: Councilmember Holden moved and Councilmember Holmes seconded a motion to approve the January 22,2007 Work Session Meeting Minutes as amended; the December 11, 2006 Work Session Meeting as presented; and the October 30, 2006 EDC/City Council Work Session Meeting Minutes as amended. The motion carried unanimously (5-0). 4. CONSENT CALENDAR a. Claims and Payroll bl. Motion to Adopt Ordinance #383-Amending the City of Arden Hills Charitable Gambling Regulations ARDEN HILLS CITY COUNCIL -FEBRUARY 12, 2007 3 b2. Motion to Approve the printing of a Legal Notice Surmnarizing Ordinance No. 383- Amending the City of Arden Hills Charitable Gambling Regulations c. Motion to Approve Payment of $21,201.52 to the Lake Johanna Fire Department for Reimbursement Costs for Purchasing 800 MHz Radios d. Resolution No. 07 29: Revising tlie City's 2007 Utility Rates e. Resolution No. 07-28: Appointing Andy Holewa to the Planning Commission MOTION: Councilmember Grant moved and Councilmember Holden seconded a motion to approve the Consent Calendar and to authorize execution of all necessary documents contained therein. The motion carried unanimously (5-0). 5. PULLED CONSENT ITEMS 4a. Resolution No. 07-29: Revisinl! the City's 2007 Utility Rates Ms. Iverson stated in 2004, Council hired Abdo, Eick, and Meyers (consultants) to perform a Utility Rate Study for the City. Based upon the findings of the utility rate study, the City Council adopted a four year (2005-2009) implementation plan to increase the City's utility rates for residential and commercial customers. Staff figures that the standby rate had not been increased, based upon the utility rate study, since 2005. MOTION: Councilmember McClung moved and Councilmember Holmes seconded a motion to approve adopt Resolution No. 07-29, Revising the City's 2007 Utility Rates. The motion carried unanimously (5-0). 6. PUBLIC HEARINGS A. Continuation of the Public Improvement Hearinl! for the 2007 Pavement Manal!ement Prol!ram Ms. Giga reviewed the revised 2007 Pavement Management Program. The proposed changes included deleting Katie Lane and Katie Court from the project, and adding watermain replacement to Connelly A venue. She reviewed the revised project costs based on the change in scope ofthe project. Mayor Harpstead continued the public hearing at 7:25 p.m. There were no comments made. Mayor Harpstead closed the public hearing at 7:26 p.m. 7. NEW BUSINESS A1. Adoption of Resolution 07-30: Orderinl! Improvement and Preparation of Plans and Specifications for the 2007 Pavement Manal!ement Prol!ram ARDEN HILLS CITY COUNCIL -FEBRUARY 12,2007 4 A2. Adoption of Resolution 07-31: Approvinl! Plans and Specifications and Orderinl! Advertisement for Bids for the 2007 Pavement Manal!ement Prol!ram A3. Motion to Approve Amendment to Construction Services Al!reement with the City of Roseville Ms. Giga stated on January 29,2007 a public improvement hearing was opened for the 2007 PMP project and continued to the February 12, 2007 Council Meeting. Once the hearing is closed, the next step in the process is for the City Council to order the improvements and preparation of plans and specifications. Councilmember Holden asked what the status of Katie Lane is. Ms. Giga responded they planned on reviewing the conditions and possibly include it in the seal coat project, which is a separate contract and will be advertised separately. Councilmember Holden asked if there was a reason they were putting the cost of the additional street work on Connelly Avenue into the water main fund instead of putting additional costs into the PMP. Ms. Giga responded that City staff would look into the funding aspect for Connelly Avenue. MOTION: Councilmember Grant moved and Councilmember McClung seconded a motion to approve adopt Resolution No. 07-30, Ordering Improvement and Preparation of Plans and Specifications for the 2007 Pavement Management Program and adopt Resolution No. 07-31, Approving Plans and Specifications and Ordering Advertisement for Bids for the 2007 Pavement Management Program, and approve the Amendment to the Construction Agreement with the City of Roseville. The motion carried unanimously (5-0). B. Motion to Approve or reiect Preliminarv Development Al!reement and first Amendment to the Fundinl! and Guaranty al!reement between the Citv and CRR. LLC for the purchase and redevelopment ofthe TCAAP property, subiect to Council approval of proposed budl!et (Exhibit D) and final approval bv lel!al counsel Mayor Harpstead stated he wanted Council to discuss this in public and this was not an item that could be addressed in closed session. However, it could be referred to worksession or a future agenda if necessary. Ms. Wolfe surmnarized the purpose of the Preliminary Development Agreement. Mayor Harpstead introduced Mr. Stephen Burbul of Kennedy & Graven. Mr. Burbul reviewed the Preliminary Development Agreement for Council. Councilmember Holmes stated she was confused about the Framework Vision. She understood that vision had been thrown out. Mayor Harpstead stated there had not been formal Council action to eliminate the Framework Vision. ARDEN HILLS CITY COUNCIL -FEBRUARY 12,2007 5 Councilmember Holmes stated there seemed to be other things that needed to take place, such as remediation and insurance and asked why those were not in Section 1. Mr. Burbul responded those were things that were part of the implementation process and those were handled in the scope of the OTP. He stated they had to determine what were the final land uses they wanted also. He stated if they did not like the current framework vision, then they can develop a new framework vision. Councilmember Holmes stated she agreed they did not need all of the detail in this document, but she did not understand why they needed all of the financing information up without bringing up some other important parts also. Ms. Wolfe responded a lot of those items would be covered by other documents, such as the Memorandum of Understanding, the Action Agreement, etc. She noted the financing would not be addressed in those documents, so it was addressed in this document. Councilmember Grant stated it appeared the developer would be approaching insurance companies to purchase liability insurance. If they are not able to do that for whatever reason that was a hurdle they needed to get over and the project had to have insurance. Councilmember Holmes asked why financing set out in two separate bullets but insurance was not addressed. Mr. Bubul responded this was talking about private financing and unless they can show if can be privately financed it will not be developed. He noted the Army had the ultimate environmental liability. Councilmember Holmes stated she did not believe that was a correct statement. Mr. Bubul responded he saw insurance as a part of this document, even if it was not specifically addressed. He noted everyone understood insurance would be necessary. Councilmember Holmes questioned the wording of the "developer shall" on page 4, (b). Mr. Bubul responded they would look at that and reword it. Mayor Harpstead stated the last sentence on Page 4 ifthey end up reimbursing them, they should then own the product. He requested that be put in this section. Mr. Bubul indicated that was a good point to include. Councilmember McClung stated with respect to the Public Financing Policy, he understood that the Council had not committed themselves to any level of funding or any method of financing. Mr. Bubul responded that was correct. Councilmember Holmes stated she was not sure what kind of Public Financing did not fall of the shoulders of the taxpayers. Mayor Harpstead noted the document did specifically state it would not become a burden to the taxpayers. Councilmember McClung stated he wanted to leave all of their options open considering that was a lot they did not know yet and he wanted to make sure the City's hands were not tied at this time. He wanted to make sure they had some ability to negotiate and deal with this in the future. Mr. Bubul responded it was typical among Cities to state the public fmancing documents in broad terms and to specifically set out that the financing would not impact the current taxpayers. ARDEN HILLS CITY COUNCIL -FEBRUARY 12, 2007 6 Councilmember Grant stated ifhe were the developer he would want significant TIP. He asked who would provide the rigors of the "but/for" test. Mr. Bubul responded it would be the City, City staff, and the consultants. Councilmember Grant noted under item J, on Page 6, he asked if the City wanted to send something of a legal nature which they do not want to make public, he asked if they had to provide a copy to CRR, which would then become a public document. He asked if there was an issue with this. Mr. Bubul responded he did not see this as an issue. He indicated they needed a free-flow of communication between the parties. Mayor Harpstead suggested instead of an actual document, would they consider taking a surmnary. He noted if this was under attorney/client privilege they would want it not included. Mr. Bubul responded they would look at this. Councilmember Holmes suggested they strike (I) on page 6 because it was vague. Mr. Bubul agreed. Councilmember Holden stated the prioritizing concerned her. She respect to 4a on page 5, how would they make City staff available for consultation. Mr. Bubul responded this was a general statement they were negotiating in good faith and as a practical matter this was not usually be a problem. He noted they would be paying the additional costs, as well as any additional staff. Councilmember Holmes recommended they add the language "reasonable". Mr. Bubul responded they could add that wording. Councilmember Holmes asked if they should add the OTP and the Memorandum of Understanding under section 5 on Page 7. She asked on the two business days, they could add in accrued reimbursable costs also. Mr. Bubul responded they could add those recommendations. Council Holden asked under 5(b) if there were any City staff costs reimbursed from May 2005 until now. She stated if the City was not being reimbursed, this is not in the best interest of the City. Ms. Wolfe responded that this has not been discussed yet. Ms. Barton noted on the spreadsheet of reimbursable costs, the City time would be added to Exhibit C. Councilmember Grant noted there were a number of bench handouts requested by Council and in the past Council has had a freestanding policy that they would not be basing their decisions on bench handouts. He stated that being the case, he believed they needed additional time to look at all of the information. Mayor Harpstead suggested they finish the review of the document, register questions, and requested this be brought back to Council in the future. Councilmember Grant asked if the term "master developer" had any legal significance. Mr. Bubul responded it did not and it just meant this was the developer they were dealing with on the entire TCAAP site. He indicated however if Council was uncomfortable with this wording, it could be changed. ARDEN HILLS CITY COUNCIL -FEBRUARY 12,2007 7 Councilmember Grant left the meeting at 8:31 p.m. and returned at 8:32 p.m. Mayor Harpstead recommended under Section 8 on page 10 they include public financing also. Councilmember Holden asked if there was depreciation of reimbursable costs of developer rescinds. Mr. Bubul responded there was not. Ms. Wolfe noted they had discussed this at length and that was part of the reason for the process they developed. Mr. Bubul responded the actual dollar amount would be determined by the expert advice. Councilmember Holmes noted what he was saying with respect to W(b) was reasonable, but the way the document was worded incorrectly. She noted there was nothing in there that the City could pay the developer, work with the government, etc. Mr. Bubul responded the reason for the time period was to allow the City to do this. Councilmember Holmes stated this had to be more clearly delineated. Mr. Bubul responded they would look at this. Councilmember Holmes stated it should not say the developer can require the City to rescind. She believed it was the City's discretion to rescind. Mr. Bubul stated he got the impression that the City did not want to go in that direction, but if they wanted this, it could be addressed. Mayor Harpstead recommended they work on the wording for this section. Ms. Wolfe stated it was under her direction that they went in this direction because she did not feel comfortable recommending something else, but if Council wanted to go in that direction, she would not have any issue with it. Councilmember Holden asked if the developer defaulted, would the City have to refund its earnest money. Mr. Bubnl responded if they rescinded, the City would need to refund the earnest money. Councilmember Holden asked if there was any reason at all the developer would not be returned his earnest money. Mr. Bubul responded the developer had to go through the process under Section 10, and once they followed that process the City would be required to return the earnest money. However, if the developer defaulted, that was a situation where the earnest money would not go back, but that was the only circumstance he could think of. Mr. Bnbul noted the reference to Section 11 would be struck. Mayor Harpstead asked if executing this document with an acknowledgement of the Developer's proposed property use commit the City to any specific land use outside of the normal and customary planned use or zoning processes. Mr. Bubul responded no. Mayor Harpstead asked if the Preliminary Development Agreement changes the City's obligation or options in the Offer to Purchase with the Department of the Defense and GSA in anyway. Mr. Bubul responded no. ARDEN HILLS CITY COUNCIL -FEBRUARY 12, 2007 8 Mayor Harpstead asked if the Preliminary Development Agreement, through its reference to the City's Public Financing Policy, obligate the City to any general or specific form of Public Financing Assistance, outside of the normal and customary processes utilized to consider any form of public financial assistance? Mr. Bubul responded no. Councilmember Holmes note unless they change their rescission requirement, she believed it would affect Mayor Harpstead's question number 2. Mr. Bubul responded this could be revised. Mayor Harpstead recommended they put a motion on the floor that they move this for approval with the understanding they will now discuss it and then move to refer it to either a work session or a subsequent Council meeting, which would put if off of this meeting's agenda without approval. Councilmember Holmes asked if they could not approve it. Mayor Harpstead responded it would make no difference. Councilmember Holmes stated she believed there were too many questions and it should not be approved. Councilmember Holden asked if they could refer this to a work sesSIOn directly. Mayor Harpstead stated this would not allow them to discuss this tonight. MOTION: Mayor Harpstead moved and Councilmember McClung seconded a motion to approve the Preliminary Development Agreement and First Amendment to the Funding and Guaranty Agreement between the City and CRR, LLC for the purchase and redevelopment of the TCAAP property, subject to Council approval of proposed budget and final approval by legal counsel to allow discussion. Mayor Harpstead asked if Council should entertain the option of the earnest money of 2.5 million dollars. Councilmembers Holden and Grant stated they would be in favor, but Councilmember Grant stated it should be noted that there had to be a "light at the end of the tunnel". Councilmember McCluug stated it was his opinion that he did not think they would get to this point where this would come into play, however, he wanted some flexibility for the City and he wanted to see language that would allow them to buy CRRs stake if they rescinded and assume the responsibility to continue on with the process. Councilmember Holden requested clarification on the timeline. Mr. Bubul explained the timeline. Chuck Diessner, CRR, stated the provision they proposed and negotiated basically gave the City 90 days. He indicated they would give the City a 90 day notice and if within the 90 days the City refunds the eamest money then the OTC would still stay in effect. ARDEN HILLS CITY COUNCIL -FEBRUARY 12, 2007 9 Councilmember Holmes stated she had a concern that the Department of Defense was responsible for the cleanup, but not the liability for any injuries and that was the reason they needed liability insurance. Mr. Bubul responded this was not his area, but everyone knows insurance was going to be required. Councilmember Holmes stated the residents were very concerned that insurance and remediation were being covered. She recommended insurance and remediation be covered in the document. Mr. Bubul responded those were good points. Ms. Wolfe stated this issue could be discussed with the GSA ill March when the City's environmental attorney was in town. Councilmember Holden stated if CRR was the purchaser of the insurance and they rescind, she wanted the City to be covered for a certain time period so the City was not scrambling to get illsurance. Councilmember Holmes stated what concemed her was that if they were going to put the financing in the document, the insurance and the remediation needed to be put in the document as well. Mr. Bubul responded based on this discussion that would be a good point of clarification. Ms. Wolfe suggested staff prepare a surmnary of the documents required for this process to happen and what each ofthe documents covered. MOTION: Councilmember Grant moved and Councilmember McClung seconded a motion to table the motion on the floor and instruct staff to bring this back at an appropriate time. The motion carried unanimously (5-0). 8. UNFINISHED BUSINESS A. TCAAP Ms. Barton updated on the Council on recent TCAAP developments. 9. COUNCIL REOUESTS Mayor Harpstead updated the Council on presentations put on by the Regional Conference of Mayors. Councilmember Holmes requested they discuss further the Community Survey at a future meeting. She suggested they discuss the parking at City Hall also. Councilmember Holmes stated she would be gone from March 18 through March 25. Mayor Harpstead responded he would also be gone during that time period. Mayor Harpstead adjourned the Regular City Council Meeting at 9:30 p.m. . :r~JLeeUNCIL-FEBRUARY 12,2007 10 .7 Z> Michelle Wolfe City Administrator NOTICE OF MEETINGS The next Council Meeting will be held Monday, February 26,2007 at 7:00 p.m. at the Arden Hills Council Chambers.