HomeMy WebLinkAbout1994/06/13 - ADMIN - Minutes - City Council - Study Session MINUTES
CITY COUNCIL STUDY SESSION
ST. LOUIS PARK, MINNESOTA
June 13 , 1994
1 . Call to order
The meeting was called to order by Mayor Pro Tem Allen Friedman
at 7 : 35 p.m.
The following Councilmembers were present : Jeff Jacobs , George
Haun, Ron Latz , Robert Young, Gail Dorfman and Allen Friedman .
Also present were City Manager (Mr. Meyer) ; Director of Parks and
Recreation (MT . Gears) ; Director of Finance (Ms . McBride) ;
Director of Public Works (Mr . Grube) . Director of Community
Development (Mr. Hagen) and Personnel Officer (Mr. Wysopal) .
1 . Trail system
Mr. Gears explained that the City' s ISTEA application for trail
construction is not among the projects being recommended for
funding. Staff was seeking Council commitment to this project and
what means might be employed in an attempt to acquire funding.
Mr . Gears said a number of agencies have supported this
application and suggested the City could seek additional support
from those agencies in an effort to persuade the Met Council that
this project is worthy of funding.
Councilmember Haun said he would be happy to serve as liaison
from the Council in the pursuit of funding.
It was the consensus that staff pursue efforts to secure funding.
2 . Review of Ward boundaries
Councilmember Haun said residents north of Excelsior Blvd. are
often confused as to whether they are in Ward 1 or Ward 2 . He
felt both Wards would be better served if there were a minor
realignment of Ward boundaries . It ha's been determined that the
numbers involved would be modest . He noted that Councilmember
Friedman was in agreement with such realignment .
It was the consensus that Councilmembers Haun and Friedman get together
and bring a recommendation back to Council .
3 . Capitol Improvement Program
There were no questions nor disagreements with the CIP as
presented. Next step is for the document to come to the June 20
Council meeting.
Two items of interest : Councilmember Haun said the City of
Minneapolis is interested in signalizing the intersection of W.
39th and France ; and Councilmember Latz hoped a stop sign in
front of Lenox can be addressed in 1995 .
4 . Parkshore Place - Access across Park Center Blvd.
Senior citizens have been concerned about crossing Park Center
Blvd. to get from Parkshore Place to Target .
Observation of the area on two occasions yielded light pedestrian
travel and installation of traffic controls is not warranted.
Staff ' s report presented four options for consideration should
Council wish to pursue this matter. .
Mayor Pro Tem Friedman felt Target should be involved in a
solution to this problem since the majority of persons
crossing were going to Target . Councilmember Haun thought maybe
the signals at W. 36th and Park Center Blvd. could be retimed,
allowing more time for people to get across Park Center Blvd.
Consensus was for staff the pursue a solution with the
involvement of Target .
5 . Reauest from STEP - Financial support from the City
Hank 'Shea was present from STEP to discuss this item. STEP was
seeking a one-time financial assistance of $15, 000 and waiver of
building construction permit fees of $1500 .
Councilmember Friedman was concerned about the food shelf
operation at STEP with monies being directed to renovation of the
facility, purchase of furniture, etc . Mr . Shea said they were
looking at a bare bones project . Any additional donations would
be directed to the food shelf program
It was the consensus to put this item on the June 20 City Council
agenda . with Council expressing favor of waiving the
building construction permit fees .
6 . Honeywell t esentation
Sue Nelson, Brenda Powell and others from Honeywell were present
for their presentation.
Councilmember .'acobs said he would like to see a copy of the
audit of City facilities when it is available .
Councilmember Friedman asked how long a delay there would be
getting Honeywell on board vis-a-vis the construction currently
underway at C:ty Hall . Ms . Nelson said Honeywell was very
flexible, probably within two months . ,
Councilmember Latz said he'd like to see projections on what the
costs would be .
Mr. Meyer said staff has been conducting energy saving projects
as various renovations have been conducted, i . e . , in the fire
stations and MSC.
111 It was the consensus that this item should come to :he June 20
agenda with staff reporting on what they want to do and how long
it will take . Also provide a cost analysis of doing needed
improvements in-house .
7 . Human Rights Commission By-laws
Councilmember Jacobs questioned why the HRC felt it necessary to
make amendments to its By-laws . It seemed to him the commission
seeks to become quasi-judicial . -
Mayor Pro Tem Friedman noted modifications to the By-laws must be
made within 30 days by the Council . He also said changes to the
By-laws should really come to the Council first for review.
Councilmember Dorfman asked if the City Attorney had reviewed the
By-laws and Mr. Wysopal said no.
Councilmember Jacobs noted that the commission is given its
charge by the City Council and he was concerned about the Mission
Statement .
Mr . Meyer suggested a letter be sent from the Council to the
commission raising its concerns and its desire to meet with the
III commission to discuss them. This was agreeable to the Council .
8 . Supervisory life insurance
Staff has raised questions with the current supervisory life
insurance program and would like to replace the program with one
that is more equitable .
It was Council ' s consensus to direct staff to seek alternatives
to the current supervisory life insurance program and report back
to Council .
9 . Victoria Village
Harold Teasdale was present to discuss this item.
r
The proposal is for the construction of single-family attached
elderly housing on the site near Lake Victoria .
There was discussion about the creation of a tax increment
financing district .
Councilmember Young felt there was some opposition to subsidized
housing in the City and was concerned about any cost benefits to
the City when public safety expenditures are factored in.
III It was noted the properties will eventually be on the tax rolls ;
that older citizens will buy at Victoria, freeing up their homes
to sale to new families; that the area is deteriorating and any
proposal to upgrade would be good.
Consensus was to further work on a cost benefit analysis and
begin work on a tax increment financing plan.
10 . Development agreement with Frauenshuh Companies
would
Mayor Pro Tem Friedman said he/ like to see an addition to the
hold harmless agreement wherein Frauenshuh would pay the City' s
legal fees in the event of litigation.
It was the consensus that this agreement be placed on the EDA
agenda for Monday, June 20 .
11 . Underground relocation of electrical lines
Mr . Hagen said it made the most economic sense to lay conduit
when road construction projects are being done . Further study
needs to be done with potentially an amendment to the.ordinance in
the future to cover this .
12 . Expansion of redevelopment prolect area
There were mixed feelings about pursuing this at this time .
Councilmember Haun felt an economic development plan was needed.
Mayor Pro Tem Friedman felt potential development should come on
a case-by-case basis until other decisions are made .
13 . Status of redevelopment projects
It was the consensus that this item should be more fully
discussed in detail at an upcoming meeting, perhaps June 27 .
14 . Municipals
A request for $300 to assist in the hosting of the Municipals
Fall Banquet by the City was discussed and to be placed on June 20 agenda.
The meeting adjourned at 9 :45 p.m.
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