Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAbout09-14-09-TCAAP WS -� �HILLS Approved: October 12, 2009 CITY OF ARDEN HILLS, MINNESOTA CITY COUNCIL TCAAP WORK SESSION MEETING SEPTEMBER 14, 2009 5:00 P.M. - ARDEN HILLS CITY COUNCIL CHAMBERS CALL TO ORDER/ROLL CALL Pursuant to due call and notice thereof, Mayor Stan Harpstead called to order the City Council TCAAP Work Session meeting at 5:04 p.m. Present: Mayor Stan Harpstead Council Member David Grant Council Member Brenda Holden Council Member Fran Holmes Council Member Dave McClung Absent: None Also present: City Administrator Ron Moorse Finance Director Sue Iverson Community Development Director James Lehnhoff - City Attorney Jerry Filla 1. AGENDA ITEMS A. TIF Legislation City Administrator Moorse presented the City Council with information on the TIF legislation the City worked on with the former TCAAP developer. He explained the legislation was passed and needed work on several items should the City wish to use the special legislation in the future. Community Development Director Lehnhoff stated that the Council needs to accept the special legislation through a resolution. The resolution does not create a TIF district. After the City has passed a resolution, the City will need to work with the school board and County to approve a similar resolution. All three ARDEN HILLS CITY COUNCIL TCAAP WORK SESSION-SEPTEMBER 14 2009 2 government units need to approve the special legislation in order to be able to use it in the future. Community Development Director Lehnhoff explained that Steve Bubul recommended getting the resolutions approved before the start of the 20 10 legislative session. Councilmember Holden stated she was not interested in creating a 30-year district and did not see this as an advantage as there was no longer a partner. Mayor Harpstead indicated the resolution would simply approve the ability to use the site through special legislation. He explained the TIF legislation was an asset. Councilmember McClung noted the City did not have to use the special legislation, but felt it was an available tool. Councilmember Holmes agreed. It was the consensus of Council to direct staff to bring forward a resolution regarding approval of the special TIF legislation. B. TCAAP Reuse Planning Process and Timeline Community Development Director Lehnhoff reviewed past discussions on the reuse of the TCAAP site, along with the continued planning process for a regional park. He stated a general timeline would assist with this planning. - Community Development Director Lehnhoff reviewed the timelines for the two simultaneous planning processes the City is following. He noted one of the planning processes relates to the public sale and reviewed how this may affect the 2030 Comprehensive Plan. The second reuse planning process was a regional park through special legislation. Community Development Director Lehnhoff explained that with either plan the Council may need to address the 2030 Comprehensive Plan to make adjustments, if necessary, or have it remain as the default. He reviewed the Comprehensive Plan amendment timeline and questioned if the Council was considering modification or keeping the current 2030 Comprehensive Plan as a default. Discussion ensued regarding the amount of work that would be needed from staff to address the Comprehensive Plan before the public land sale would begin. ARDEN HILLS CITY COUNCIL TCAAP WORK SESSION-SEPTEMBER 14 2009 3 Mayor Harpstead questioned if the current staff could complete the work explained in the timeline, or if additional staffing would be needed. Community Development Director Lehnhoff indicated staff may need assistance on certain parts. Councilmember McClung asked how a public sale would affect park dedication. Community Development Director Lehnhoff explained that the park dedication fee depends on the land use and, for residential, the number of units. The City could charge a park dedication fee or require a land dedication. City Attorney Filla explained that the City would need to determine how the park dedication requirement would be applied. It could be a for a larger centralized park, a number of smaller parks, or a combination. Councilmember McClung questioned if this plan could be worked into the closing of the public auction. City Attorney Filla stated the plan could be completed at that time, but if zoning changes were needed the Council should address this prior to the public auction. Councilmember Holmes questioned if the City had a specific land use for parkland. - Community Development Director Lehnhoff indicated at this time all parks were zoned residential and did not have a separate zoning district. Councilmember Holmes asked if the City had funds set aside for planning within TCAAP. Community Development Director Lehnhoff reviewed that funds were set aside for future planning which could be used for TCAAP or Red Fox/Grey Fox small area plan. Mayor Harpstead reviewed the three options before the Council tonight as being: 1.) implement the existing 2030 Comprehensive Plan; 2.) review the regional park concept; or, 3.) have staff find a combination of the first two options. ARDEN HILLS CITY COUNCIL TCAAP WORK SESSION- EPTEMBER 14 2009 4 Community Development Director Lehnhoff indicated that staff was moving forward on the regional park planning as directed by Council but noted the public sale process was also moving forward and stated that there may be advantages to modifying the 2030 Comprehensive Plan. Mayor Harpstead explained the Council had informed the GSA the zoning would be brought into compliance within the 2030 Comprehensive Plan. He questioned if this would then be changed again. Councilmember Holden expressed concern for the residents living south of CR 96 and questioned if a trail could be created to reach the Rice Creek corridor. Mayor Harpstead asked if the Comprehensive Plan had to be amended to create a trail in this area from CR 96 to the Rice Lake corridor. Community Development Director Lehnhoff stated the Comprehensive Plan would not need to be amended but would be a stronger Plan with this level of detail included. He stated staff was looking for guidance on the possibility of amending the 2030 Comprehensive Plan since developing zoning requires a significant amount of work. - Further discussion ensued regarding the Comprehensive Plan amendments versus zoning changes and the level of detail needed within these plans. Mayor Harpstead suggested staff seek information from other communities on - how a large parcel of land has moved without completed zoning and report back to the Council. Councilmember Holmes indicated the transportation plan for the site would vary greatly due to the density changes of a new development with reduced access to the site. Mayor Harpstead explained the Council would need to address access issues with a potential buyer. City Attorney Filla stated the City would greatly benefit by reviewing the Comprehensive Plan, determining if amendments are needed, and developing zoning regulations before the public sale. Community Development Director Lehnhoff suggested he create a summary of Comprehensive Plan details with regard to TCAAP, to see what parts are valid and ARDEN HILLS CITY COUNCIL TCAAP WORK SESSION-SEPTEMBER 14 2009 5 which may need to change. He indicated the City was under a bit of pressure to gather the information needed by the GSA as they proceed with the public sale. The first bidder's conference was estimated to be held at the end of October. Community Development Director Lehnhoff explained that once the land use was further determined it would be easier for bidders to move forward on the property. However, the City needs to determine what the best uses were for the site. Mayor Harpstead questioned if staff had the time to pursue the reality of a regional park. Councilmember Holden stated that if staff did not have the time, the Council would have to live with the current state of the Comprehensive Plan, as there would not be a 4/5's agreement to make amendments. City Attorney Filla reviewed the votes needed for various zoning and land density changes with the Council. Community Development Director Lehnhoff suggested that Council continue to email him with questions or comments on this issue. It was the consensus of Council to direct staff seek information on large parcel land zoning, along with a summary of the TCAAP Comprehensive Plan details and - report back to Council. C. TCAAP Reimbursable Expenses City Administrator Moorse presented the City Council with information on the TCAAP reimbursable expenses. He noted the City has been working with Ryan Companies to resolve differences related to reimbursable expenses. The Finance Director and City Administrator met with Eric Anderson, a representative from Ryan Companies on Thursday, September 10, 2009. City Administrator Moorse indicated the City presented Ryan Companies with specific information on expenditures and activities to show they were TCAAP related and authorized by Ryan Companies. Mr. Anderson's focus was that several items were over and above the budget set out in the PDA. ARDEN HILLS CITY COUNCIL T AAP WORK SESSION-SEPTEMBER 14 2009 6 City Administrator Moorse explained that Mr. Anderson proposed a settlement having the City cover half of the expenses over the PDA budgetary amount and that Ryan Companies would pay for the rest of the expenditures that are currently outstanding. He indicated he would like general comments from the Council on how to proceed on this issue to continue to resolve this issue. Mayor Harpstead questioned if staff was looking for a resolution from the Council. He asked if this would be premature if the negotiations were still open. City Administrator Moorse indicated this would be an option if the Council would like to take specific formal action and provide direction. City Attorney Filla agreed that the City was still in negotiations and did not feel the Council should create a resolution until further details have been worked through. Mayor Harpstead questioned if some of the items were resolved and taken off the books right away. City Administrator Moorse indicated staff attempted to do that and Ryan Companies was not prepared to take anything off of the table at this time. They were looking to get to an overall settlement. Mayor Harpstead asked if Mr. Anderson would be going back and speaking with - his management team. City Administrator Moorse stated this was the case and that the spreadsheet discussed with Mike Comadeca was reviewed with Mr. Anderson in great detail and would be brought back to his management team. Councilmember Holden questioned what direction the Council should be taking at this time. City Administrator Moorse stated the Council could provide some general direction about areas of flexibility. Mayor Harpstead noted the Council did express some flexibility on the CR96 and TH 10 intersection. ARDEN HILLS CITY COUNCIL TCAAP WORK SESSION-SEPTEMBER 14 2009 7 Councilmember Holmes asked if the next step would be mediation and questioned the expense of this. City Attorney Filla stated this was the case and estimated the expense to be roughly $5,000. Mayor Harpstead suggested the Council allow staff some flexibility, potentially on the Bolton & Menk TH10/CR96 expenditures, which would allow for a $65,000 reduction. He stated he would like to see this issue move on and have the City resume its business. Councilmember Holden was in agreement with this suggestion regarding Bolton & Menk. City Administrator Moorse indicated staff may need to provide additional rationale when addressing this issue with Ryan Companies. Discussion ensued regarding the TIF expenditures, along with Bolton & Menk and Mike Comodeca. Mayor Harpstead suggested the City propose to cover TH 1 0/CR96 expenditures, the office support and half of Mike Comodeca's expenses, which would be roughly $70,000. Councilmember Holden indicated that Mike Comodeca was used by Ryan Companies over their own attorneys and felt that his expenses were all TCAAP related. Councilmember McClung agreed stating he would be in favor of getting rid of the Bolton & Menk TH 1 0/CR96 expenditures. He stated this would be a good starting point. It was the consensus of Council to direct staff to allow some flexibility with the Bolton & Menk expenditures and the office support expenditures when continuing discussions with Ryan Companies. D. Ramsey County Board Work Session Date ARDEN HILLS CITY COUNCIL TCAAP WORK SESSION-SEPTEMBER 14 2009 8 City Administrator Moorse asked that the Council select a date to meet with the Ramsey County Board to discuss the regional TCAAP park. He indicated there were two options, one being October 20th and the other being November l Ot''. The concern with waiting until November I oth was whether the County Board would have enough time to take action regarding the park concept. Councilmember McClung questioned what action would be needed from the County Board in order for this issue to proceed. City Administrator Moorse stated Betty McCollum's office would like to hear from the City and that we either have or do not have a partner to assume responsibility for the property. Councilmember Holmes expressed concern about waiting until November loth as it would run into the holiday season and there would be less opportunity for action to be taken. She indicated the Council was not trying to leave anyone out from the meeting but that the October 20th meeting was the first one that worked. Councilmember McClung indicated this would also be jeopardized if not all Councilmember's were present at the October 20th meeting. He explained that he had a vacation planned for that week and would not be able to attend. Mayor Harpstead noted it would benefit the City to show a united front before the County Board. He added however, that each Councilmember would be able to speak on their own behalf as elected officials of the City of Arden Hills. Mayor Harpstead suggested the residents weigh in on this issue to see how they feel about a regional park on the TCAAP site. He questioned if a public meeting should be held to discuss this further. Councilmember McClung was in favor of holding a public meeting and gathering comments from the residents. Councilmember Holden and Councilmember Holmes were not in favor of holding a public meeting. Councilmember Grant agreed. Councilmember Holden asked if there were funds available to prepare and hold such a meeting. She indicated so many differing opinions would be heard and that no clear direction may be gained. ARDEN HILLS CITY COUNCIL TCAAP WORK SESSION-SEPTEMBER 14 2009 9 Further discussion ensued regarding the potential meeting date and the TCAAP development concerns. It was the consensus of Council to direct staff to request a meeting with the County Board on October 20, 2009. 2. COUNCIL COMMENTS AND REQUESTS There was nothing at this time. Mayor Harpstead adjourned the City Council TCAAP Work Session meeting at 6:43 p.m. Stan 114sKeael Ronald J. ?&oorse Mayor City Administrator