HomeMy WebLinkAbout2007 06-19 CC MINUTESCITY OF GEM LAKE
4707 Hwy 61. # 253
White Bear Lake, MN 55110-3227
emeai; Mager
Minutes of the Gem Lake City Council meetng
19 June 2007
The June 2007 regular meeting of the City Council of the City of Gem. Lake was called to order by Mayor
Emeott on Tuesday, January. 16, 2007 at 7:05 pm in the first floor meeting room of Tousley Ford. Mayor Emeott,.
Councilors Rasmusssen, Shilling,; and Artig-Swomley were present. Also present were Justin Gese-SEH City
Engineer, Brady Halverson-SEH, Marc Putman -Putman Planning/Design, and City Attorney Patrick Kelly. Other
members of the public were also in attendance per the sign in sheet sent around the room.
APPROVAL OF AGENDA. AND MEETING MINUTES
Mayor Erneott called for additions, deletions and corrections to the agenda. Changes were made to the agenda as
follows: 1) Two public notices will be discussed. The first being a letter from Lake Area Bus and the second beinga
brochure from SEH about Rain Gardens. 2) A.closed session will occur prior to adjournment for legal discussion
regarding status of annexation procedures, .Motion by Schilling, Second. by Rasmussen to accept the changes to the
agenda. PENDING. Minutes from City Councilworkshop on June 4, 2007 and Minutes of City Council Meeting. of
May 2007 were tabled until next meeting.
PUBLIC NOTICES
Letter from the Lake. Area. Bus. Mayor Erneott receiveda letter of thank you from the Lake Area Bus for the
donation of.$500.
Brochure from SEH. Mayor. Erneott handed out a brochure from SEH that included an article on Rain Gardens.
A Rain Gardenis planned at the new city hall to act as a storm water pond.
PRESENTATIONS FROM THE FLOOR
There were no presentations from the floor
COMMITTEE REPORTS
Planning Commission report: The Planning .Commission Chair was not present. Mayor Erneott reported that
the Planning Commission sent out their reportvia. email. The Planning Commission allowed time on the agenda for
the White Bear Montessori school to come and report, but they did not attend. Section 6 (transportation) and 7
(utilities) of the Comprehensive .Plan were worked on at thelast meeting. Motion by. Schilling, Second by Artig-
Swomley to receive Planning Commission report was unanimously approved.
Building Committee (City Hall) report: Mayor Emeott passed around a 3-D rendering of the anticipated City
Hall. He reported that work has begun on the new site of the :City :Hall andthat trees have been taken out so that site
cleanup andgrading work can begin. A Gantt chart has been received from the contractor outlining the time frame.
Work completion is indicated on the chart as October 7,2007. Mayor. Emeott is meeting with the contractor on.
Friday and weekly construction meetings will be heldto update progress. A coloredrendering of the City Hall will
be placed in the City newsletter.
Presentation by Land Planning advisor candidates: At the last Council Workshop it was decided to invite
Page 1 of 4
Look for us on the World Wide. Web at gernlakemn.org
land use planners to the next. City Councilmeeting to present how they could help the city and what they would
charge to do that.
Marc Putman of Putman Planning & Design was the first presenter. He explained his company's approach and
why he believes Putman Planning&Design is a good fit for the. City of Gem Lake. Per the request of the Council, he
outlineda menu of services and work product outcomes the city can choose front The menu choices include the
following:
1. "Best Practices" Planning and.Photogrraphic Manual-Casestudy examples from around the country and
locally, providing visionary approaches of land use (est. 60 pages).
2, Design Quality Guidelines (DQG) Manual -A condensed version. of Option 1 compiling historical
background, lessons, opinions and guidance applicable to the city(est. 75 pages).
3.. Public Policy Guidelines (PPG) Manual -Recommendations on consensus -building and incentives for
improved development quality (Includes 10 copies).
4. Sketch Plan; Application of Guidelines to Selected Sites: Concept Site Plan. and Building Footprint. Offers
a vision of how the property could be woven into the city.
5. Photographic and Video Inventory of existing Buildings and Site Conditions: An electronicsurvey of the
siteidentifying landforrns, bodies, vistas, and the unique characteristic of the site.
b: 3.-D "Virtual Reality Models" of the Site and Biding. Massing: From sketch plan in Option 4, a 3D rendering
of the proposed land use/site plan/building designs (4 colored display).
7. Meeting & Stakeholder Workshops. for City Council, Public & Private Leaders and Citizens: Using the.
graphic imagesandtools prepared above to enable participants to "see" theproposed plan.
8. Funding Methods Manual: Address immediate and long term method city can use to fund costs.
9. Coordinated Ordinance Writing and Consultant Assistant: A. unified report bringing consistency between.
Guideline intent and the Ordinance content.
10. Example "Mutual Exchange of Mutual Benefits" List: A narrative list that ties the Guidelines to the concept
design.
11. Comprehensive Plan Preparation Assistance: We will work with your other consultants to assure
consistency in land -use sketch plan and Guidelines, fulfilling necessary filing requirement with Met
Council.
Mr. Putman described some of the local projectsthat they have been working on (including downtown Hudson,
WI, Lake Elmo Events Center, . Stone Mill Farm in Woodbury, Cobblestone Lake). When questioned about the Lake
Elmo Events Center and if they used all of the Menu items listed above, Mr. Putman indicated they used all of the
above and more. Mr. Putman indicated that he couldmeet the timedeadline that the City would like to meet. Pricing
for this service would depend totally on the menu items selected above.
The Council also invited Mr. Dennis Welsch of Barsness Counsulting Services to present. Councilor Artig.-
Swornley passed to everyone a copy of a letter from Barsness'Consulting Services (BCS), who declined to submit a
proposal due toother time commitments, scheduling, and related staffing. BCS did suggest the city contact. the
Center for Neighborhoods (C4N), a non-profit organization that specializes in helping to solve difficult or unusual
problems in development.
Presenting next was Grady Halverson of SEH. Mr. 1-laiverson apologized for not having an elaborate slide show
as he received a late .invitation to present at this meeting. Mr: Halverson explained that they are currently working
with the City on various projects and have the ability to integrate ona daily basis. Hewould use a'simpler approach
because of budget and time constraints. He anticipates putting togethera concept plan including sketches, photos, 3D
Page 2 of 4
Look for us on the World Wide Web at gemlakemn.org
photography and is able to do 3D modeling, They would participate at a public open: houseat the end of the. project.
Total cost would not exceed $ 19,500.
Mr. Halverson. wasasked how busy they were and if they could meet the. City's deadline. He replied that yes,
SEH is large enough and has enough experience to do. it, The question was asked why the City didn't know about the
ability of SEH to provide this service. early, Mayor Emeott responded that he justlearned about this at the last
Planning Conunission meeting.
OLD BUSINESS
Cern Lake 2006 SWPP and MS4 report — Chuck Watson: Mayor Emeott reported that the deadline for this
report was June 30, 2007. A. review of the White Bear Township report is underway. There was discussion about the
fact that White Bear Township normally does not meet this. deadline. Attorney Kelly suggested that if the city was
not goingto be able to meet the June 30th deadline that a letter is written to that effect. This topic will remain on the.
agenda until completed.
SEH feasibility study for water, sewerand roads for land parcels in. city: No discussion. Agenda .item is
tabled until next meeting.
Should Gera Lake join the Ramsey -Washington. Cable Commission? The city was unable to make contact
with the Ramsey -Washington Cable Commission. Agenda item is tabled untilnext meeting,
NEW BUSINESS
Resolution 2007-12 Ramsey County request for support of .CSAH funding for county roads (Goose Lake
and Otter Lake Roads). Mayor Emeott stated that he a request from Ramsey County asking forcity support CSAI-I
funding to improveand upkeep county roads.. Themoney comes from state funds that pays forcounty roads and isno.
additional cost to the city. Motion.. by Rasmussen, Seconded by. Schilling to send a letter of support Ramsey County
to improve and upkeep county roads was unanimously approved by voice vote.
Statement of Support - OK for VLAWMO. to use Storm Water Utility (SWU) for funding of Operations:
Mayor Emneottstated that VLAWMO is asking for an opinion from the city on a new way to fund operations.
Currently funding comes from the. City's General fund. The recommendation is to move this to themiscellaneous tax
line on. the sewer bill. Every parcel of land will be examined to determine if good management of water is occurring
and will get billed accordingly. Currently the cost is $14/1.5 per parcel and it is anticipated that under the.. new billing,
some will pay $10/11 a parcel and some more. The total contribution the city ctuxently pays changes every year and
this will not change. Other projects VLAWMO is workingon istocleanup the sewage that is. in Goose Lake. The
city anticipatesminimal liability in this cleanup as it is charged back to the city's that are in that water shed district.
Another VLAWMO planned projectisthe cleanup of Gem Lake, CurrentlyTousley.Ford's water run.. off drains into
the lake. Motion by Rasmussen, Seconded by. Schilling. to use SWU for funding operations was unanimously
approved by voice vote.
Selection of Land. Planning advisor: Mayor Emeott opened to topic of the selection of a land planning advisor
for discussion. Mayor Emeott stated that $30,000 was available in the engineering fund to pay for this advisor,
Councilor Artig-Swomley stated she liked the idesof a coordinated focus and: the presentation by Putman. She
suggests going with Options #2, 4, and 7. Councilor Rasmussen stated he also thinks theidea of hiring a planning
advisor is prudent. He also likes the creativity of Putman, Councilor Schilling. stated he felt that both Putman and.
SEH could do the job but he has hopped SEH would come in with a.price under $.15,000.Additional discussion
around topic of sharing costs concluded that currently can't share this cost with a developerbecause currently the
city does not have one selected. Mr. Putman suggested to the Council that Option #10 coupled with Option #3 has
Page 3 of 4
Look for us on the World Wide Web at gemlakemn.org
great value. Thecouncil further discussed using Option #2, 4 and 7. City Attorney Kelly brought to the Council's.
attention the fine print of the Putman contract indicatingthe other expensecosts that could run several thousands of
dollars. Discussion on the need for a cap on costs occurred and regular accounting to ensure that the project doesn't
go over in costs. Residents will not be involved in the planning phase but residents will. be able to see the plan at an
open house sessionin the fall. Residents are asked to voiceany suggestions or concerns to one of the city council
members. Motion by Schilling,
Seconded by Artig Swomley to select Putman todothis land planning study with a maximum cost. of $1.8,000 with a
deadline by the middle of.November after ieview ofthe contract by the City, Attorney was unanimously approved by
voice vote.
Approval for payment of claims for May -June 2007:. Motion by Artig-Swomley,.Seconded by Schilling for
approval of payment of claims for May -June 2007 was unanimously approved by voice vote.
FUTURE CITY COITNCIL MEETINGS:
Next City Council Workhop — Monday, July 9, 2007 at 7:00 p.m.
Next City. Council Meeting — Tuesday, July 17, 2007 at 7:00 p.m.
The council will begin discussions on budgeting and should. bringtheir lists of budget additions: or subtractions
to that meeting.
The meeting closed at 9: 03 p.m. and the City Council went into closed session with. City Attorney Kelly.
The meeting came out of closed session. at9:27. City Attorney Kelly surnmarized the closed session as a discussion
of the pending litigation on Annexation. City Attorney Kelly advised the Council and the. Council gave the City
Attorney direction on action.
ADJOURN: The June :2007.regular meeting of the City Council was adjourned at 9:28. p.m.
AUTHORIZED: June 19, 2007
APPROVE: July 17, 007
ATTEST:
ATTEST:
Teresa Tice Paul Emeott
Recording Secretary Mayor
Certified Copy.
Page 4 of 4
Look for•us on the World Wide Web at.gemlakemn.org •