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Home My WebLink About1995/02/13 - ADMIN - Minutes - City Council - Study Session MINUTES CITY COUNCIL STUDY SESSION ST. LOUIS PARK, MINNESOTA February 13, 1995 Call to order Councilmember Haun called the meeting to order at 7 00 p m In attendance were Councilmembers Jeff Jacobs, Ron Latz, Gail Dorfman and George Haun Also present were the City Manager (Mr Meyer), Director of Parks and Recreation (Mr Gears); Director of Finance (Ms McBride), City Clerk (Mrs Flanagan), Director of Inspections (Mr. Petersen), Personnel Officer (Mr Wysopal) and Director of Community Development (Mr Hagen) I Hutchinson spur Many residents of the neighborhoods along the spur were present Ms Ballweber spoke for the group indicating their concerns about any development along the trail so close to existing homes and that the land is more appropriately designated for a trail system Mr Gears reviewed his report Alternatives to the proposal for single-family, multiple-family and senior citizen housing presented in his report restriction of development to single-family units, acquisition of the property via purchase, eminent domain or trade/swap, options should the property be purchased were also discussed If Council desires to retain this property for public use, either as open space or as a trail corridor, two issues need to be addressed method of acquisition and designation of a funding source Mr Meyer said no one has presented any formal application for development proposal as yet, so he was unable to comment The Council was not here this evening to discuss the proposal but to discuss alternatives for acquisition It was the consensus of Council that staff pursue getting specifics from all available sources to get control of the property 2 Party in the Park Mr Gears explained the Party in the Park committee has found a carnival operator they feel will be an asset to the summer celebration, however, the carnival operator requires that his operation be run in conjunction with the city's annual fireworks display It is felt that Aquila Park is not an adequate location to accommodate a successful five-day carnival operation It has been proposed the celebration be moved to Oak Park Village Council had a number of concerns including pedestrian safety along Louisiana Ave., traffic demands and adequate early publicity so people would know of the change in location were it to occur Staff was directed to continue to research this possibility, with Mr Gears continuing dialogue with departments in the City that would be directly affected should Oak Park Village continue to be considered as the site for Party in the Park 3 Development of conceptual designs for Rec Center Renaissance Mr Gears reviewed his report wherein it was suggested a task force be created to assemble input for the consultants. He said Councilmember Young had agreed to serve as the City Council representative on the task force. It was suggested residents who regularly attend the Rec Center might be asked if they would be interested in participating on the task force 4 Request for amendment to 1980 $900,000 Industrial Development Revenue Bond (Gottstein project) Ms McBride said Mr Gottstein had requested Council consideration of an amendment to the bond issued in 1980 Two individuals had expressed interest in purchasing the mortgage note from TransAmerica Corp. Paul Tietz, the City's Bond Counsel, had determined that a public hearing must be held on such a request because of a 1982 change in IRS regulations It was the consensus a public hearing on the matter be scheduled for the March 6 Council meeting 5 American Legion The American Legion has executed a lease for lawful gambling with Minnetonka Voiture and has applied to the City for a premises permit to sell pulltabs Staff has advised the Club that the application is ineligible for Council review because residences are located within 200 ft of the Club and the applicant was not grandfathered in 1990 Tom Shottenbauer, of the American Legion, speaking in support of their request for an ordinance amendment, said the current ordinance hinders the Club's ability to continue to do business. He noted that the Club has been a generous contributor to scholarships and many City programs from its profits It was the Council's consensus to direct staff to prepare two alternatives, i e retain the 200-ft prohibition but allow clubs which had gambling in 1990 (as the Club did) to substitute organizations and to prepare a similar ordinance allowing only the one current license to substitute It was noted in either case only the American Legion would be affected Staff was directed to prepare an ordinance amendment,for consideration at the February 21 I; it Council meeting. 6 Special assessments - Private sprinklers Mr. Peterson reviewed his report which dealt with consideration of a special assessment procedure to assist in the installation of automatic fire sprinkler systems in privately-owned buildings He outlined the items which would need to be addressed if the City were to pursue such a program as authorized by State Statute It was Council consensus this was a worthwhile program but that first preference for sprinkling go to those buildings required to do so Staff was directed to prepare a special assessment policy for installation of sprinkler systems for Council consideration at its March 6, 1995 meeting 7 Community Development Block Grant allocations Mr Wysopal reviewed his report which concerned allocations of CDBG funds to various social service agencies from whom proposals had been solicited as well as City Departments of Inspections, Parks& Recreation and the Housing Authority The report reflected requests exceeding funds to be disbursed to the City by Hennepin County It was the consensus that before discussing CDBG next year that Council sit down and structure a plan for the allocation of CDBG funds Councilmembers discussed the proposals and reworked the figures so they would fit within the cap as set by the County The item will be placed on the March 6 agenda for a public hearing and formal action 8 Honeywell site Comprehensive Plan amendment request. Traffic and economic impact analysis Councilmember Haun felt that economic impact was different from alternative uses consideration and felt the two could be a parallel study Mr Meyer felt the proposed timeframe relating to alternative uses was unrealistic He stated that if the Council feels we must meet the April timeframe then it would be more realistic to work with Ryan on alternative uses than to bring in another consultant Bill McHale, Ryan Construction, felt that industrial or retail were the only uses that can support this property. He questioned what alternative uses were perceived which would not require City assistance He noted that in meetings Ryan has held with MEPC, Paul Klodt, the Blackstone neighborhood and Northwest Racquet Club there had been no objection to the proposed project Councilmember Latz said he would like to be able to tell his constituents projects were being considered other than what just one developer is proposing It was the consensus of the Council to do a study limited to the economic impact of the Ryan proposal taking into consideration the impact on City services and do not undertake an alternative uses study at this point 9 Amendment to Zoning Ordinance to permit motor vehicle service repair as a principal use in C- 1 District As was requested at the February 6 City Council meeting, Mr Hagen provided a definition of "motor fuel station" from the Zoning Ordinance (The term"full service gas station" is not defined in the ordinance.) The Council discussed this issue in light of the facility on Minnetonka and Hwy 7 which was recently required to install a fuel pump when it was remodeled This item will be placed on the February 21 agenda for continued discussion No recommendation was made to staff. The study session adjourned at 10:40 p m 111 V- 4 I I 1 ecording Secretary