Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAbout1988/01/04 - ADMIN - Minutes - City Council - Regular-111111 !MINUTES CITY COUNCIL MEETING ST. LOUIS PARK, MINNESOTA January 4, 1988 1 . Call to order The meeting was called to order at 7:30 p.m. by Mayor Lyle Hanks. 2. Presentations Mayor Hanks presented to representatives of Lenox Community Center a proclamation declaring ,1988 the Year of the Lenox Foundation. 3. Roll call The following Councilmembers were present at roll call : Bruce Battaglia Keith Meland Thomas Duffy Larry Mitchell Allen Friedman David Strand Lyle Hanks Also present were the City Manager, City Attorney, Director of Planning and Director of Public Works. III 4. Approval of minutes It was moved by Councilmember Mitchell , seconded by Councilmember Duffy, to approve the minutes of the December 21 , 1987 meeting. The motion passed 5-0-2 (Councilmembers Meland and Strand abstained) . It was moved by Councilmember Mitchell , seconded by Councilmember Strand, to approve the minutes of the December 31 , 1987 year-end meeting. The motion passed 5-0-2 (Councilmembers Friedman, Mayor Hanks abstained) . 5. Approval of agenda it was moved by Councilmember Strand, seconded by Councilmember Meland, to approve the consent agenda for January 4, 1988 with the following correction: Item 9e. , change 23rd St. to 242 St. The motion passed 5-0. It was moved by Councilmember Strand, seconded by Councilmember Duffy, to approve the agenda for January 4, 1988 with the following addition: 10a(2) , appointment to Human Rights Commission. The motion passed 7-0. PUBLIC HEARINGS None. -1- City Council meeting minutes January 4, 1988 PETITIONS, REQUESTS, COMMUNICATIONS None. 411111 RESOLUTIONS AND ORDINANCES 8a. Water/sewer/refuse ratees It was moved by Councilmember Ordinance No. 1729-88 Duffy, seconded by Councilmember Mitchell to waive reading and adopt Ordinance No. 1729-88 entitled "An ordinance amending the St. Louis Park Ordinance Code: Section 9-101 , water rates; Section 9-231 , sewer rental rates; Section 9-307, garbage/refuse service rates." Councilmember Battaglia asked how it would be determined who would be billed for recycling. The City Manager said staff was working on that aspect now, that statistical data was being gathered. Currently, staff is looking at recycling a minimum once monthly to be eligible. The yard waste recycling is an option a resident may take advantage of. The object with yard waste collection is to make recycling of it mandatory in terms on not having it in the regular waste stream. The motion passed 7-0. 8b. Air conditioning units Second reading of an ordinance Ordinance 1730-88 re air conditioning units in setbacks It was moved by Councilmember Strand, seconded by Councilmember Battaglia, to waive reading and adopt Ordinance 1730-88 entitled "An ordinance amending the St. Louis Park Ordinance Code relating to zoning by amending Sections 14-109(b) and 14-109(d) to permit air conditioning units in setbacks." The motion passed 6-1 (Councilmember Meland opposed) . 8c. Ord. transfering funds First reading of an ordinance authorizing transfer of funds and providing appropriation for salary adjustments for year ending Dec. 31 , 1988. It was moved by Councilmember Strand, seconded by Councilmember Duffy, to waive first reading and set second reading for January 19, 1988. The motion passed 7-0. REPORTS FROM OFFICERS, BOARDS, COMMITTEES 9a. Computer study C lgAkirm. Computer equipment site alternatives study It was moved by Councilmember Meland, seconded by Councilmember Mitchell , to authorize execution of an agreement with Albers Associates not to exceed $3,000. Councilmember Friedman asked if this firm were able to assist in the conversion to the City's existing system. -2- City Council meeting minutes January 4, 1988 MIS Coordinator, Clint Pires, responded that distributed site equipment would irbe in the same family as what the City now has and programs already in use would be loaded onto the present equipment without a major conversion. Councilmember Friedman asked what happens to LOGIS. Mr. Pires responded the City would conduct operation and maintenance and LOGIS' role would be that of technical support. The City would no longer be using LOGIS' mainframe, that the City would be using their staff more than their machines. Councilman Friedman had a problem with the suggested firm recommending the City go to a distributed system because it would enhance its own abilities to do it. He said he would feel more comfortable with a firm doing strictly an analysis of systems and then turns it over to another firm for puttin it into operation. In clarifying the role of the consultant, Mr. Pires said they would outline what it would take in terms of spatial needs, power requirements and other environmental concerns. At that point, the consultant, basically, leaves the picture. At that point, the City would be dealing with a vendor for the purchase of equipment while continuing to work with LOGIS to set up the existing programs to run at the City's site. He did not think the potential conflict as indicated by Councilmember Friedman necessarily existed. Councilmember Friedman asked if the hypothesis were that the City could do more or save money in becoming a distributed site. IIIMr. Pires responded that was one of the primary objectives. Given the rate structure at LOGIS, the more applications that a particular city has, the more they are charged. He said savings would also be realized as telephone lines now used for transmission between the City and the mainframe would no longer be needed. The City Manager said that the City has been studying over the past four years the potential of withdrawing from LOGIS and that the latest figures compiled showed that the City was within ten percent of staying or withdrawing from LOGIS. Councilmember Friedman also pointed out that if systems are becoming more and more inexpensive, why not wait a little longer. Councilmember Strand asked if the long-range plan was to bring all computer functions in-house. The City Manager said this was a very definite consideration given the decreasing cost of equipment. Also, one has to look at turnaround time - what is one's time worth when you send an inquiry into a central system and instead of getting an immediate response, one is told the system is down and please recontact. Councilmember Battaglia asked if the study was done in-house in 1985-86, why is a consultant now needed. The City Manager responsed that in order to do an objective analysis, the use of an outside consultant always seems beneficial . 1111/ Councilmember Friedman felt, as an alternative, it would be appropriate for staff to go ahead and do the study and if they could make it convincing enough to Council , then we can accept their judgment. -3- City Council meeting minutes January 4, 1988 The City Manager said the only problem was time in which to fit a study in. Councilmember Meland assumed the consultant did not sell equipment to which 1111 the City Manager said that was correct. The motion passed 5-2 (Councilmembers Battaglia and Friedman opposed) . 9b. BRW contract Increase in engineering services contract: Resolution 98-1 BRW It was moved by Councilmember Duffy, seconded by Councilmember Meland, to waive reading and adopt Resolution 88-1 entitled "Resolution amending City contract No. 1618 with Bennett, Ringrose, Wolsfeld, Jarvis, Gardner, Inc. for engineering services related to the improvement of T.H. 100/W. 36th St. interchange." Councilmember Strand asked why this was being approved by Council rather than waiting for the Department of Transportation to actually approve the increase. The Director of Public Works said MnDOT needs to have all the figures before they will look at the request. Councilmember Strand found it curious the public body is responsible for this increase rather than the private entity or why it was not shared by the two. The City Manager responded that the City was the lead agency in the project and therefore responsible for complying with all the regulations. Councilmember Friedman asked if the contractor maintained all records and notes, why it took $14,700 to reconstruct the details. The Director of Public Works said this was due to the number of agencies with which the consultant had to deal , both state and federal . One of the problem areas was relative to landscaping where FHWA said they had no documentation and going back to provide all necessary documentation was time consuming. The motion passed 6-1 (Councilmember Friedman opposed) . 9c. Traffic study 383 Parking restrictions on Parkdale Dr. Resolution 88-2 from Vernon to Hwy. 100 By consent, motion to waive reading and adopt Resolution 88-2 entitled "Resolution authorizing the installation of "No Parking" signs on Parkdale Dr. from Vernon Ave. to T.H. 100." 9d. Ottawa Ave. parking Traffic study 384: Ottawa Ave. parking restrictions Bea Skinner and Greg Nelson from the neighborhood addressed Council . They felt things should remain as is and that Park Hill apartment dwellers should park in the lot provided or the underground garage. Also visitors to the Diabetes Foundation are routinely parking along the west side. There also had been some discussion about making the street one-way heading south. lilt -4- (01* City Council meeting minutes January 4, 1988 '. 11111 Councilmember Strand wanted to note that it was just the east side restrictions being considered this evening. The situation on west side would be coming back to Council . He didn't want the residents present to think they were going to be left with the current problem on their side. Councilmemberw ur/ fe ed to take no action on this was not the answer. He noted only 100 ft. 'a d iia the safety considerations were very evident. He said the remaining problems on the street would be solved, that there are options available for addressing those problems. Giles Stabilk, Director of the' Diabetes Assoc. , located in the neighborhood, said he felt they were surely a part of the problem. They had a lot of people parking on the street at night and a number of people parking during the day. He said they support eliminating the on-street parking as recommended. He said they were looking very seriously at locating to a facility where their parking requirements could be better supported. They would support anything that would improve the traffic situation. Councilmember Strand felt everyone knew there was going to be a problem when Ottawa Ave. was opened up over the tracks. He moved that the item be deferred and that staff complete the recommendation with respect to parking restrictions on the balance of the street and also to review the possibility of a one-way street and its effect not only on Ottawa 11111 Ave. but the surrounding neighborhood if that could be implemented and to bring it back to Council for consideration. His motion wassecondeiby Councilmember Mitchell . To clarify, Mayor Hanks restated the motion to defer the item until they get a full report from staff discussing a one-way street before they take any further action on any parking restrictions leaving the streetasisat the present time. Mayor Hanks asked about procedure for holding neighborhood meetings. Councilmember Strand said he would prefer that staff come up with an internal recommendation for Council adoption which then would go to the neighborhood for consideration. On further reflection, he said he would rather have made part of the motion that staff be directed to hold a neighborhood meeting to indicate to the neighborhood that there is consideration of some traffic changes on Ottawa Ave. to find out what their response would be. At the same time, staff would be working up an analysis of what the effect would be on those streets if that were to occur. Councilmember Mitchell asked if such a discussion had taken place in the neighbor- hood. Mayor Hanks responded to his recollection after Ottawa was open, there was discussion about looking at what the impact would have. The motion passed 7-0. -5- • City Council meeting minutes January 4, 1988 " 9e. Modification to highway access Highway 100 Resolution 88-3 By consent, motion to waive reading and adopt Resolution 88-3 entitled "Resolution supporting the amendment of the design concept for T. H. 100, southerly of its intersection with I-394." 9f. Water reservoir agreement On the Avenue project No action required. 9g. 4600-4608 Excelsior Blvd. Modification of building exterior and driveway connection to municipal parking lot It was moved by Councilmember Strand, seconded by Councilmember Mitchell to deny the request. Michael Jennings spoke for the request. Councilmember Strand said he supports staff's recommendation. Mr. Jennings noted the lack of parking spaces for businesses all up and down Excelsior Blvd. He said that particularly in the evening as the Classic and Red Coach lots fill up, cars spill out onto Excelsior Blvd. while the liquor store parking lot with 26 stalls remains virtually empty. In answer to a question from Councilmember Battaglia, Mr. Jennings said they were not adding an additional entrance; they were looking for access from the municipal parking lot. Councilmember Strand said he had two reasons for denying: a reasonable alternative will work very well which is to post signs near the establishment referring patrons to the available parking and secondly, the request puts the Council in an anomolous situation to be a co-applicant on an application which will result in the reduction in parking of six stalls on the property resulting in a larger variance_i n tie parking requirements for that piece of property . Councilmember Meland asked if the request were denied, would that be grounds for not giving this property a benefit in the event of an assessment for the upgrading of the municipal parking lot. The City Manager said all of the properties along that block pay for the municipal lot. • Mr. Jennings said that as far as the co-application was concerned, all expenses incurred would be paid by Jennings. Councilmember Strand called the question. The motion passed 7-0. The motion to deny passed 4-3 (Councilmembers Battaglia, Duffy, Meland opposed) . 9h. Agreement with Golden Valley Re I-394 efrd. ) i14.7 41/1/ It was moved by Councilmember Mitchell , seconded by Councilmember Friedman, to authorize the Mayor to sign the Letter of Mutual Cooperation. -6- City Council meeting minutes January 4, 1988 - Councilmember Meland wondered if a disclosure should be made by both parties IIP as to whether there is any sense there might be some legal action pending, not necessarily as a result of this action. But he was aware there was possibly one item looming at the further end of the Golden Valley area that was in question. r".ayor Hanks asked for clarification of the phrase in item 2: "Cooperate in any judicial or administrative challenge. . ." Did this means in terms of one city cooperating in legal expenses should the other city be sued. Councilmember Friedman, as a member of the task force, said the committee wanted to avoid any whipsaw effect wherein a property owner would put pressure on one city, and then pressure on the other. The task force felt the only way the ordinance would have any effect would be for the two cities to stand together in all aspects in event of a challenge to the ordinance. As far as challenges individually, for example, the taking of property outside of the ordinance, that would be each individual municipality's problem. The City Attorney felt an addition to paragraph 2 clarifying that each city shall be responsible for its own attorney's fees in the event of any litigation should be initiated against one or both cities might be appropriate. Councilmember Strand amended the motion to authorize the City Manager and City Attorney to add language to paragraph 2 stating legal expenses remain with each respective city. 110 The motion passed 7-0. Councilmember Mitchell expressed his concerns relative to the frontage roads along I-394 and that some specific plan be developed to address this issue. It was moved by Councilmember Mitchell , seconded by Councilmember Meland, to direct staff to develop an action plan relative to the frontage roads along I-394. The motion passed 7-0. 9i . Risk management consultant Agreement I7®O By consent, motion to renew agreement with American Risk Services, Inc. 9j. HRA minutes Dec. 15, 1987 "linutes ordered filed by consent. UNFINISHED BUSINESS 10a. Boards and Commissions Council liaison appointments to boards and commissions was deferred to the January 11 study session. Tim Moran was unanimously appointed to the Human Rights Commission on a motion by Coumcilmember Strand. NEW BUSINESS ill lla. Pavement striping machine By consent, motion to designate Ruffridge- Johnson Equipment Co. as the lowest responsible bidder and authorize purchase not to exceed $49,995 C .- . ._ -7- City Council meeting minutes January 4, 1988 llb. ;Taxicab rates of fare It was moved by Councilmember Duffy, seconded by Councilmember Friedman, to waive first reading, and set second reading for January 19, 1988. The motion passed 4-3 (Councilmembers Meland, Mitchell , Strand opposed) . llc. Legion Auxiliary gambling license By consent, the American Legion Auxiliary' request for a gambling license renewal was approved. MISCELLANEOUS 12a. Claims Hans Kusserow Jim Miller Construction Arlene Berman Saliterman vs. City By consent, claims referred to City Clerk and City Manager. 12b. Communications from Mayor Mayor Hanks noted the City will be hosting a Model T convention in 1988 Mayor Hanks referred to the response from Mn00T re the Minnetonka Blvd./Hwy. 7 intersection. Councilmember Friedman commented he could only hope the letter was written 0111 by some aide, not the Commissioner. He felt the response was inappropriate and not in keeping with a City which pays taxes. Mayor Hanks said he had had an opportunity to talk with the Mayor of Rochester at the NLC on the top of minorities moving into communities, particularly the Asian population. The Rochester Mayor said his city has formed an intercultural mutual assistance association which has been very helpful to the incoming residents. He felt St. Louis Park should look at this program for potential use in the community. 12c. Communications from City Manager Relative to the proposed assessment settlement, it was moved by Councilmem- ber Meland, seconded by Councilmember Strand to accept the agreement of settlement with B'Nai Emet Synagogue. The motion passed 7-0. The City Manager said the meeting with state legislators on Feb. 1 at 6:30. The joint meeting with the Policy Advisory Board was set for Feb. 16 at 6:30. Items for the Feb. 11 study session were discussed. CLAIMS, APPROPRIATIONS, CONTRACT PAYMENTS 4111 13a. Verified claims By consent, the list of verified claims prepared by the Director of Finance and dated January 4, -8- City Council meeting minutes January 4, 1988 - 11111 1988 in the amount of $221 ,130.87 for vendor claims and $7,981 .86 for payroll claims was approved and the City Manager and City Treasurer authorized to execute checks in the appropriate amounts. 13b. Contract payments Resolution 88-4 1 . Final payment: E. H. Renner, monitor well construction. Amount: $15,552.50. #etmr" By consent, motion to waive reading and adopt Resolution 88-4 entitled "Resolution accepting work on Drift/Platteville aquifer monitor well construction. " 2. Partial payment: _. Envirgnmental Systematics, paint spray booth at MSC. Amount: $4,844.50 6 By consent, motion to approve and authorize payment. 14. Adjournment It was moved by Councilmember Meland, seconded by Councilmember Duffy, to adjourn the meeting at 9:25 p.m. , a) i\AAIL 111/1 MaA / Itr r eecording ecretary ii -9-