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HomeMy WebLinkAbout03-26-07-R ~ ~HILLS Approved: 4/9/07 CITY OF ARDEN HILLS, MINNESOTA REGULAR CITY COUNCIL MEETING MARCH 26, 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, Councilmembers David Grant, Brenda Holden, David McClung, and Fran Hohnes. Absent: None. Also present were City Administrator, Michelle Wolfe; City Attorney, Jerry Filla; Public Works Director, Gregory Hoag; Finance Director, Susan Iverson; Community Development Director, Karen Barton; Civil Engineer, Kris Giga; Assistant City Administrator, Schawn Johnson; and Recording Secretary, Kathleen Altman. 1. APPROVAL OF MEETING AGENDA MOTION: Councilmember McClung moved and Councihnember Holden seconded a motion to approve the meeting agenda as presented. The motion carried unanimously (5-0). 2. PUBLIC INOUlRIES/INFORMATIONAL Richard Wenzel, 1931 Noble Road, stated he was having a problem with code enforcement. He asked why the City selectively enforced the codes. He noted it appeared the City picked and chose the ones they wanted to enforce. He noted that there were two homes on County Road D, west of Prior, that looked like junk yards. He indicated he had been calling on these homes for two years, but nothing had been done. He asked why those homes were not required to go by the codes. He stated the City should enforce all of the codes fairly or not enforce any of them. ARDEN HILLS CITY COUNCIL - MARCH 26, 2007 2 Councihnember Holmes stated one of the things the City tried to do was to enforce all of the laws, but they do it in a way when someone came forward and told them about it. She noted they did not have the staff to go out and enforce every single code enforcement issue. She stated now that they knew about these homes, they would look into this. Councihnember Grant asked him to leave the addresses of the homes with the Assistant City Administrator. Mr. Wenzel noted they did not have any addresses on the homes. Mayor Harpstead requested staff research this and bring it back to Council at a work session. 3. APPROVAL OF MINUTES A. March 12, 2007 City Council Meeting B. February 27, 2007 Joint City CouncillPlanning Commission TCAAP Master Development Planning Meeting Councilmember Holmes requested the following changes: March 12, 2007 Regular Council Meeting, Page 4, Peggy Hamel is incorrect. The correct name is Peggy Magnuson. Mayor Harpstead requested the following changes: March 12,2007 Regular Council Meeting, Page 8, the two motions need to be reversed (first Motion placed under second Motion). Page 10, last Motion to be moved to Page 11 under the second Motion before item A.2. February 27, 2007 Joint City CouncillPlanning Commission Master Development Planning Work Session Meeting, Call to Order/Roll Call change the motion was convened by Bruce Chamberlain of Hoisington Koegler Group, Inc. to Councilmember Grant. MOTION: Councilmember Holden moved and Councilmember McClung seconded a motion to approve the March 12,2007 City Council Meeting Minutes as amended and the February 27, 2007 Joint City CouncillPlanning Commission TCAAP Master Development Planning Minutes as amended. The motion carried unanimously (5-0). 4. CONSENT CALENDAR a. Claims and Payroll b. Motion to Approve Planning Case 07-003 for a Planned Unit Development Amendment at 3717 Lexington Avenue South Based on the Findings of Fact and the Submitted Plans as Amended by the Three Conditions in Planning Case 07- 003 c. Motion to Approve Planning Case 07-004 and the Site Plan Agreement for a Site Plan Review and Variance at 3900 Bethel Drive Based on the Findings of Fact and the Submitted Plans as Amended by the Eleven Conditions in Planning Case 07-004 ARDEN HILLS CITY COUNCIL - MARCH 26, 2007 3 d. Resolution 07-42: Approving Planning Case 07-005 for a Minor Subdivision at 1401 Skiles Lane Based on the Findings of Fact and the Submitted Plans as Amended by the Five Conditions in Plauning Case 07-005 e. Motion to Authorize Additional Funds for the Legal Services of Mr. Jeffrey W. Coleman for the City Hall Arbitration Case in the amount of$15,000 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 None. 6. PUBLIC HEARINGS None. 7. NEW BUSINESS A. Motion to Approve Ordinance #359 Amendinl! the City's Tobacco Ordinance Mr. Johnson stated City Staff and the City Attorney reviewed the City's tobacco ordinance and noticed that a few changes were needed to bring the ordinance into compliance with State Statute. City staff is also recommending changes to the administrative fines, suspension, and revocation section of the tobacco ordinance. The City's current tobacco ordinance has not been updated for a number of years. Councilmember Holmes asked since they were updating the fines for tobacco violations, did the State Statute have any administrative fines in them. Mr. Filla responded the State Statute did have administrative fines, but that each City can deal with the fine issue as they see fit. MOTION: Councihnember McClung moved and Councilmember Grant seconded a motion to approve Ordinance #359 Amending the City's Tobacco Ordinance; amending Section 350.03, 350.09, and 350.11 to the Arden Hills City Code; adding Sections 350.14 and 250.15 to the Arden Hills City Code; and authorize the printing of a Legal Notice Summarizing Ordinance No. 359 - Amending the City of Arden Hills Tobacco Products and Licensing Regulations. The motion carried unanimously (5-0). B. Motion to Award the Community Survey Contract to Decision Resources in the amount of $10,500 ARDEN HILLS CITY COUNCIL - MARCH 26, 2007 4 Mr. Johnson stated the City last conducted a community survey in 1990. Because of the changes in the community since 1990, $10,500 was included in the 2007 budget for conducting a community survey. The intent of the community survey is to evaluate existing City programs, services, and quality of life issues that have an impact on the residents of Arden Hills and to receive input on possible new services, projects, TCAAP, or other items of interest to the City Council. Councilmember Holden noted 50 questions were a lot of questions to be doing on the phone. Ms. Wolfe noted it was up to 50 questions and they could do less. Councilmember Holden asked if the City of New Brighton had used this company and was it on their last survey. Mr. Johnson responded they had, but he was not sure ifthis company had been used the last time they conducted a community survey. Councilmember Grant noted this survey would be a different type of survey than they had done previously. He believed there would be a more uniform, representative sample with this survey. Councilmember Holmes stated she would be interested in which would be the best way to conduct the survey (i.e., phone, mail, internet, etc.) She asked if there was any flexibility, or were they set on a telephone survey of 50 questions or less. Mr. Johnson responded they prefer the phone survey method as they had the most success with this method, but he could ask them if they had other methods they could use. He stated he would check with Decision Resources as to if there was any flexibility. Councilmember McClung stated they needed to get a baseline they could use in the future and they needed to be careful that the methodology was correct. He noted they did not only want people who were very happy or very unhappy with the City and he believed the random phone method was probably the best way to go and he would support it. MOTION: Councilmember Grant moved and Councilmember McClung seconded a motion to approve awarding the Community Survey contract to Decision Resources in the amount of$10,500. The motion carried unanimously (5- 0). C. Motion to Award the Job Classification and Compensation Stndv to Rilev, Dettmann & Kelsev LLC in the Amount of $10,535.00 Mr. Johnson stated the City last completed ajob classification and compensation study in 2002. In January, 2008, the City is required by state law to submit a pay equity report to the Minnesota Department of Employee Relations. To assist City staff with completing the State of Minnesota mandated pay equity requirement and evaluate the City's existing compensation system, staff is proposing the hiring of an outside consultant to assist with completing this project. In 2007, the City budgeted $15,000 for this project. The intent of the job classification and compensation study is to ensure that the City is in compliance with the State of Minnesota's pay ARDEN HILLS CITY COUNCIL - MARCH 26, 2007 5 equity standards and to evaluate the City's existing compensation structure to ensure that the City is comparable and competitive with other cities that have similar demographics. Councilmember Holden asked how many job classifications needed to be analyzed. Mr. Johnson responded it was either 14 or 15 job classifications. MOTION: Councilmember Holden moved and Councilmember McClung seconded a motion to approve awarding the Job Classification and Compensation Study to Riley, Dettmann & Kelsey LLC in the amount of $10,735.00 with mileage reimbursement included. The motion carried unanimously (5-0). D1. Motion to Approve the Request for Oualification Process for Enl!ineerinl! Services D2. Motion to Apurove tbe Termination of the Al!reement between the City and URS, Inc. for Professional Enl!ineerinl! Services Ms. Giga stated the City has contracted with URS, Inc. for engineering services since 1998. Until 2006, URS had served as the City Engineer. In 2006, the City entered into a Joint Powers Agreement (JP A) with the City of Roseville for engineering services, designating the City of Roseville as the City Engineer. It has been about 10 years since the City conducted a process regarding engineering consulting. Staff feels that in order to provide the City with the best service at competitive rates, it is appropriate to conduct a Request for Qualification (RFQ) process for engineering services at this time. The City Council has approved construction agreements with the City of Roseville to complete the feasibility report, design, and construction engineering for the 2007 and 2008 Pavement Management Program projects. These larger projects were typically completed by outside consultants. With Roseville completing this work, there is not an immediate need for a consultant to be heavily involved with Arden Hills projects. As a result, the timing of this RFQ process will not impact the current workload. Ms. Giga discussed the differences in using a single consulting firm versus a pool of consultants. She stated that staff recommends the City put together an RFQ with the intent to develop a consultant pool of three to five engineering firms. Ms. Giga stated that as a part of this process, staff recommends that the City terminate its current contract with URS. Most of the conditions of the existing contract are not consistent with the proposed terms of the RFQ. Staff does expect to continue working with URS on existing projects, as well as some future projects they have had some involvement with. Staff also anticipates relying on URS for historical information as new staff continues to gain knowledge about Arden Hills. ARDEN HILLS CITY COUNCIL - MARCH 26, 2007 6 Councilmember Holden noted it had been over ten years since the City had issued an RFP for engineering services. She asked if there had ever been a cost analysis of using the City of Roseville Engineering services to other engineering services. Ms. Wolfe noted they had not done an RFP at that time because the City had included in the budget to hire a City Engineer, but was unsuccessful in the hiring process so other options were evaluated. She noted she had inquired with to other cities besides Roseville to see if they would be interested. Councilmember Holden asked how taking URS out of the picture would affect the 1&1 project. Ms. Giga noted that would possibly be one ofthe areas where they would still use URS. Councilmember Grant asked ifthere would be a financial savings as a result of this. Ms. Giga stated if staff felt they needed to get an outside consultant and if they went out within the pool of selected firms and requested proposals, at that time, the proposals would tend to be more competitive and may result in a potential cost savings to the City. Councilmember Grant asked as they went out for a RFP would URS be one of the engineering firms in the pool. Ms. Giga responded that was possible. Councilmember McClung asked if there would be enough firms to provide the City with a qualified pool. Ms. Giga responded affmnatively. Councilmember Grant asked if there would be different rates for different items. Ms. Giga responded her past experience has been that these types of arrangements are mainly on a time and materials basis with a not to exceed amount as opposed to the current contract with URS where it was based on a percentage of the project cost. MOTION: Councihnember Grant moved and Councihnember McClung seconded a motion to approve the Request for Qualification Process for Engineering Services and to approve the Termination of the Agreement between the City and URS, Inc. for Professional Engineering Services. The motion carried unanimously (5-0). E. Motion to Adout Resolution 07-40: Awardinl! the 2007 Pavement Manal!ement Prol!ram Ms. Giga stated the 2007 Contract B consists of Roseville mill and overlay projects and the Arden Hills 2007 Pavement Management Program. Bids were solicited during February and March. The bids were opened on March 13. She recommended Council approve the Resolution awarding the 2007 Pavement Management Program. Councilmember Holden asked if they had received unit prices. Ms. Giga responded they did have unit prices and would provide them to Council ifthey wanted. ARDEN HILLS CITY COUNCIL - MARCH 26, 2007 7 MOTION: Councilmember Holden moved and Councihnember McClung seconded a motion to approve Resolution 07-40, Awarding the 2007 Pavement Management Program to Midwest Asphalt Company in the amount of $1,106,991.85. The motion carried unanimously (5-0). Councilmember Grant asked what the Enterprise Fund balance would be. Ms. Iverson responded they had sufficient balances. She noted the PIR fund had a balance of over five million on March 7, not including the assessments. F. Motion to Award Contract to Buildinl! Restoration in the amount of $119,168 for repair and investil!ation of the City Hall Chimney Ms. Wolfe stated the City Hall had experienced numerous leaking problems in the chimney area. The City contracted with the engineering firm Wiss, Janey, Elstner & Associates (WJE) to investigate the cause of the water intrusion. The engineering firm has recommended removal of all the stone cladding on the chimney area and its associated flashing. The City has continued to experience water intrusion in the chimney area and regardless of the outcome ofthe arbitration proceedings, the City will have to repair the chimney area. The City Council previously approved a motion for Wiss, Janey, Elstner, Associates, to prepare bid documents for replacement of the stone in the chimney of City Hall. Additionally, the City Council authorized staff to advertise and request sealed bids for the chimney recladding proj ect. The City received three bids with Building Restoration Corporation coming in with the lowest bid. After the removal of the stone, WJE will do an examination ofthe existing conditions. Based on WJE's observations, there may be additional costs for repair. Since these repairs will be of a time sensitive nature, staff also seeks authorization to do additional repairs up to $25,000, which may be recommended by WJE. WJE had originally estimated the cost ofrepairs to be $105,000 to $125,000. Ms. Wolfe indicated staff was recommending funding for this project come from the PIR fund. Mayor Harpstead asked if the potential report would be done by Building Restoration Corporation. Ms. Wolfe responded that was correct. Mr. Scherbel explained the Building Restoration Corporation's restoration process. Councilmember Grant stated he would be abstaining from the vote due to a distant, but possible conflict of interest. MOTION: Councilmember Grant moved and Councihnember McClung seconded a motion to approve awarding the Contract for the Chimney Recladding Project-City Hall Building to Building Restoration Corporation in the ARDEN HILLS CITY COUNCIL - MARCH 26, 2007 8 amount of $119,168.00, including an additional $25,000.00 as may be recommended by WJE. The motion carried (4-0-1 Councilmember Grant abstained). G. Motion to Approve a Contract with HGKi for Consnltinl! Services Associated with the City's Comprehensive Plan Update Ms. Barton stated the City is required by Metropolitan Council to update the Comprehensive Plan every ten years. The last plan was completed and approved by the Met Council in 1998. The next update is due at the end of 2008. Staff has begun the process to update the City's Comprehensive Plan. Due to the scope of this update, staff anticipated the need for a consultant to assist with the preparation of the Plan and budgeted for this in the 2007 budget. Staff is recommending the City contract with Hoisington Koegler Group, Inc. (HKGi) to assist staff in this process. Ms. Barton recommended Council approve the contract with HKGi to assist with the City's Comprehensive Plan Update, in an amount not to exceed $36,900.00 to allow for unforeseen contingencies, such as an additional meeting. Councilmember McClung asked when the Comprehensive Plan was due to the Metropolitan Council. Ms. Barton responded it was due by the end of September, 2008. Councilmember Holden stated she had a problem with 3.3, Plauning Commission/City Council Meeting. Ms. Barton stated she would make a note of this. She stated she was sure they could do these as separate meetings, or provide another option for separate Council input. Councilmember McClung asked who from Hoisington Koegler Group, Inc. was going to be the principal working with them on the Comprehensive Plan update. He asked if it would the same people as on the Master Planning process. Ms. Barton responded there would be different people working on this project, but they would all work together. MOTION: Councilmember Grant moved and Councilmember McClung seconded a motion to approve the contract with HKGi to assist with the City's Comprehensive Plan Update, in an amount not to exceed $36,900.00 to allow for unforeseen contingencies, such as an additional meeting. The motion carried unanimously (5-0). H. Motion to Approve Resolution 07-39 Supportinl! the Trausfer of the Wildlife Corridor and Proposed Athletic Fields Ms. Barton stated the City submitted an Offer to Purchase (OTP) 585 acres of excess land on the former Twin Cities Army Ammunition Plant property in August, 2006. The OTP states in accordance with the Framework Vision, the Wildlife Corridor and Athletic Fields have been ARDEN HILLS CITY COUNCIL - MARCH 26, 2007 9 rendered economically unviable for development and that the Government and Purchaser have recognized this in the valuation of the property as a whole. Additionally, when the Third Amendment to the OTP was drafted, the GSA stipulated that by March 30, 2007 the Purchaser and the Government must reach agreement on the proposed terms and process necessary to ensure that the Purchaser of its assignee will (a) transfer the Wildlife Corridor and the Athletic Field for use for public purposes, including but not limited to public parks, recreation and open space in perpetuity and (b) remediate the Wildlife Corridor and the Athletic Field as required by the Remedial Action Plan approved by the MPCA in accordance with the Response Action Agreement for Public Use of such property. She recommended Council adopt Resolution 07-39, Supporting the Transfer of the Wildlife Corridor and Proposed Athletic Fields for Public Purposes. Councilmember Holden asked if they would be held to the approximately 75 acres. Ms. Barton responded in the Offer to Purchase she believed it did layout the acreage with respect to the Wildlife Corridor and the Athletic Fields. She stated they would be held to the acreage. She noted they would need to obtain a final survey, which would indicate where the Wildlife Corridor and the Athletic Fields would be. Councilmember Holmes inquired about the last paragraph. She asked who the willing transferee was going to be. Ms. Barton responded they did not specify that because they did not have that information at this time. Mayor Harpstead noted this was saying that this land would be set aside for public use, but they did not know who the entity would be at this time. Ms. Barton noted a private entity could own the property as long as it was set aside for a public purpose. She stated at this time, they were not sure if the City should take title to the property due to liability issues. Councilmember Holmes asked if they could move the 75 acres for the athletic field to another location if they were saying the area was economically unviable. Ms. Barton responded she believed the GSA wanted the athletic field to be used for a public purpose, which made them economically unviable and it was not due to the land itself. MOTION: Councilmember Grant moved and Councilmember Holden seconded a motion to adopt Resolution 07-39, Supporting the Transfer of the Wildlife Corridor and Proposed Athletic Fields for Public Purposes and direct staff to provide copies of Resolution 07-39 to the Army, GSA, RRLP, and the Congressional Delegation. Councilmember McClung stated he did not understand why they had to do this. He noted he understood why the GSA wanted this, but they had already signed a legal document stating they would be transferring the land for public purpose. Mayor Harpsted noted that in the last Agreement, the GSA noted the City had an obligation to meet these criteria on this land formally by March 30, 2007 and this would meet those criteria. ARDEN HILLS CITY COUNCIL - MARCH 26, 2007 10 Councilmember Holmes questioned the meaning of Clause 3. She noted that clause said if there was nobody to transfer the property to, the property would not be used for public purpose. Mr. Filla noted the City had already agreed to do this, so this was not adding an additional burden on the City, but why the GSA wanted this he did not know. Mayor Harpsted stated he read Clause 3 as two separate clauses. Ms. Wolfe stated they were correct that item 3 was included at the suggestion of legal counsel in Kansas City and she believed if they did not have a willing transferee, potentially the transfer of that piece would not occur. She indicated she believed this was done for liability purposes and to not hold the City liable. Councilmember Holmes stated the City was not a willing transferee. Mr. Filla stated this was partially a timing thing. He indicated they can close on the transaction with the GSA even if they did not have someone to transfer the athletic field to. Councilmember Holmes stated she did not understand the purpose of Clause 3; she did not believe it was necessary, and she did not know why it was there. Ms. Wolfe responded the reason it was in there was that there may be reasons discovered as they went through the process up until closing and, if there was not a willing transferee, this would give them the ability to have further discussions about that. She noted the property would need to get transferred back to the City from the developer because the developer would have it for remediation. Ms. Barton stated this would all be spelled out in the Master Development agreement as to who RRLD would be transferring the property to after it was cleaned up. Councilmember Holden noted they had a workshop meeting on Thursday night and asked if they could have an emergency session to approve this on Thursday night to give the staff time to talk to legal counsel as to the need for Clause 3. MOTION: Councilmember McClung moved and Councilmember Holden seconded a motion to table the current motion to an Emergency Council meeting on March 29,2007. The motion carried unanimously (5-0). 8. UNFINISHED BUSINESS A. TCAAP Ms. Barton updated on the Council on recent TCAAP developments. 9. COUNCIL REOUESTS A. Councilmember Grant asked when the street sweepers would be sweeping the streets. Mr. Hoag responded they started street sweeping a week ago Tuesday. He noted they were approximately half way done with the City as of today. ARDEN HILLS CITY COUNCIL - MARCH 26, 2007 11 B. Councilmember McClung noted April 2 was the Transportation Meeting on Highway 10 and 96 and April 6 was the TCAAP Open House. C. Councilmember Holmes requested an update on Clear Channel. Mr. Filla responded the City was determining whether they should proceed criminally or civil, but he expected ifthere was a citation, it would be issued this week. D. Councilmember Holmes noted there were two outstanding items they were waiting for: TCAAP risk issue and a timeline of documents. She asked what the status of these was. Ms. Wolfe responded the TCAAP risk document was anticipated to be done soon. The document timeline was delayed, but she anticipated this would be wrapped up this week. E. Councilmember Holmes noted they had also talked about making the parking lot bigger. She asked for an update. Mr. Hoag responded staff had been looking at different options, but they did not have a recommendation at this time. He noted they were looking at some environmentally friendly ways, instead of using asphalt. He noted the few times a year they actually need additional parking spaces; they wanted to look at other viable options instead of asphalt. F. Conncilmember Holden asked for the handouts of the CSAH 96/Highway 10 discussion regarding the traffic count before tomorrow's meeting. G. Conncilmember Holden asked the City Forester to determine what trees needed to be placed in the parks. She asked staff to follow through with this so people could donate trees to the parks. H. Councilmember Holden asked for an update on the sewer inspection. Mr. Hoag responded they were exploring the possibility of accelerating the inspection and possibly hiring an outside consultant to assist with the repairs. He noted they were approximately two-thirds of the way through the City on the televising. I. Councilmember Holden requested an update on the PDA. Ms. Wolfe responded they were continuing discussions. J. Councilmember Holden asked ifthere would be another letter to the Congressional Delegation regarding the TCAAP update and thanking them for their assistance. Ms. Barton responded they had not sent a letter since mid- January. Councilmember Holden stated they needed to send a letter as soon as possible. Ms. Wolfe stated staff needed direction as to how often a letter should be sent out. Councilmember Holden responded she wanted a letter to be sent when there was a milestone, such as the Offer to Purchase and when there were deadlines. Councilmember Grant stated he would rather see them update the Congressional Delegation on a scheduled basis. Councilmember McClung ARDEN HILLS CITY COUNCIL - MARCH 26, 2007 12 agreed with both Councihnembers Grant and Holden. He indicated there was something to be said for a regular update, but the Offer to Purchase being approved and signed was a major milestone and he believed it was important to thank them for their assistance with this. Mayor Harpsted suggested a monthly letter to the Congressional Delegation in addition to the items approved by Council resolution. The rest ofthe Council agreed to this approach. K. Conncilmember Holden stated people needed to call in to the City when they see a pothole in the road. She indicated some of the streets might benefit from a seal coat and requested the City Engineer look at this possibility. Mr. Hoag stated both the City Engineer and him were out last week looking at this possibility. L. Councilmember Holden stated her neighbor, 12 year old Emma Snyder, was doing a piano recital at Hyland Middle School on April 12. She encouraged everyone to ttend. . oumed the Regular City Council Meeting at 9:04 p.m. (~o~ Michelle Wolfe City Administrator NOTICE OF MEETINGS The next Council Meeting will be held Monday, April 9, 2007 at 7:00 p.m. at the Arden Hills Council Chambers.