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HomeMy WebLinkAbout1998/10/26 - ADMIN - Minutes - City Council - Study Session Item #4c OF 1 ifi ST.CITY LOUIS OFFICIAL MINUTES PARK CITY COUNCIL STUDY SESSION October 26, 1998 The meeting convened at 7.00 p m. Present at the meeting were Councilmembers Chris Nelson, Susan Sanger, Ron Latz, Robert Young, Jeff Jacobs and Mayor Gail Dorfman. Staff present. Deputy City Manager(Mr. Pires); Director of Community Development (Mr Harmening), Planning Coordinator(Ms. Erickson); Public Works Director(Mr. Rardin), Public Works Administrative Assistant (Mr. Roth), Director of Parks and Recreation(Ms. Walsh); Community Outreach Coordinator(Ms McDonnel), and City Clerk(Ms. Larsen) 1. Sidewalk and Trail Study Update Community Development Staff arranged for updates to Council regarding the Sidewalk and Trail Study Update Phone Survey-Bill Morris and Diane Traxler of Decision Resources, Inc presented the results of a telephone survey conducted to determine residents' views on trails and sidewalks in the community. Council asked questions of clarification throughout the presentation. Mayor Dorfman asked what the primary reason why people might not want sidewalks. Mr. Morris stated that of those who expressed opposition to sidewalks, the primary reason was that a sidewalk would change the"look" of the neighborhood Landscaping is a problem and many felt a sidewalk would be an intrusion on their property Mayor Dorfman also asked how the results of this survey compared to similar surveys conducted in other cities. Mr Morris responded that St. Louis Park is in line with other cities. One difference was that of those opposed residents of other cities expressed that financial reasons would be their main reason for opposition. St Louis Park was unusual in that our residents were more interested in preserving a"rural look" than saving tax dollars Task Force Activities -Bob Close presented materials to Council that were to be used at the open house which was being held the day following the study session He reported that the Task Force was very active and shared picture boards created by the Task Force members. Each Task Force member had been given a camera and asked to identify different aspects of trails and sidewalks that could be focused on during the study Task Force members had also created maps indicated where they felt trails and sidewalks where they saw barriers or need for improved conditions Staff was working to create a composite map derived from all the individual Task Force maps to display at the open house. He also presented a list of"implementation issues" such as budget, maintenance, technical construction, phasing priorities and public notification. Mr. Close indicated that they were still very much in the phase where they were receiving input and said that he would report back to the Council after the open house Council also requested that staff provide to them a list of the Task Force members. Ms Erickson stated that it would be provided to Council along with their packets the following Thursday. 2. Vision St. Louis Park Presentation Larry Karkela, Barb Person, Mark Schwartz and Roger Israel of the Vision St. Louis Park Outcomes Committee presented to Council the proposed outcomes and indicators for measuring progress and performance Mr. Israel stated that the purpose of the outcomes and indicators was to provide a tool which could be used to "take the temperature" of the community now and into the future. The document will be used over time to determine whether changes completed as a result of Vision St. Louis Park are making a positive impact on quality of life in St. Louis Park. Mr Israel stated that he was continually impressed by the quality of the vision materials they were working with He also said that the project had been a learning opportunity and that he really felt as if their efforts were"pioneering" in nature Mr Schwartz said that the next phase was to gather data from various sources to be used in creating benchmarks The data exists in many forms and he did not envision gathering large amounts of new data Councilmember Nelson expressed a concern that this data gathering may be a burden on staff The Outcomes Committee members expressed that they were very sensitive to this issue and would make every effort to minimize staff impact Mayor Dorfman stated that the perception on part of staff and the community is that Vision St Louis Park is good for our community She felt there would be great support during the process. She also cautioned all to keep the goals realistic so as to not discourage support for continued efforts Councilmember Nelson said that he supports the process but had questions about specific indicators. Mayor Dorfman said that Council should have a chance to digest the materials presented to hem and that it would be a good idea to engage in further conversation at a future study session Councilmember Sanger said that she wanted more specifics laid out in some of the indicators. Discussion ensued about whether indicators should be specific or general in nature. Mr. Israel said that measurable goals need to be set eventually, but first a baseline should be established. Then policy decisions could be made about where we should go as a community. Councilmember Jacobs stated that the indicators should be general enough to be applicable of the life of the document which could be many years What may be an excellent strategy for achieving a goal may not be applicable 10 or twenty years from now He felt that we should set our goals so that specific strategies to achieve the goals can be changed as the needs of the community change. Mr. Pires said that more specificity can be added to the document as it evolves. Mr. Schwartz expressed his goal of creating a living document Many of the strategies from Vision St. Louis Park were important at that point in time This document needs to take a perspective which will continue to call for basic principles which are related but that can be meaningful in a long range vision 3. Amendment to Comprehensive Plan/Hwy 7 and Louisiana Ave S Mr. Harmening explained to Council that the purpose of the discussion was to prepare Council for a hearing to be held next Monday Ms. Erickson reviewed the recent history of the comprehensive plan designations Councilmember Young asked how many acres were in included in that portion of the area being designated as park. Ms Erickson replied that she believed approximately 40 acres Mr. Young went on to say that he believed the Council had made a poor decision to designate the entire area as park with no thought as to where badly needed move up housing could be placed. He felt that if Council truly believed in the need for move up housing, they should work harder toward finding locations and not be as easily swayed by the opinions of adjacent neighbors Councilmember Sanger asked if condos could be placed where the multifamily housing was planned Councilmember Nelson said that he felt Council needed to have a discussion to define what exactly was meant by the term"move-up housing". Councilmember Latz asked about notification Ms Erickson replied that notice had been sent to persons within 500 feet of the area to be redesignated Councilmember Latz asked that neighborhood leaders from those neighborhoods adjacent to the area be notified as well 4. Minnesota State Aid Revisions Mike Rardin asked Council to consider revisions to the City's Municipal State Aid (MSA) street system and asked for Council's comments Councilmember Sanger asked that certain streets be removed from MSA designation saying she believed there could be possible increases in traffic and also more restrictions for the City should design changes be desired in the future. Councilmember Jacobs stated that applying the MSA designation would not change traffic patterns but would allow the City to utilize MSA funding for routine maintenance such as plowing and repairs. Councilmember Sanger was concerned that MSA designation would dictate future expansion of the roads. Mr. Rardin reiterated that the City could use the funding for maintenance and the designation did not change how the street is to be used. If the city did plan changes for the roads in the future, they would not need to use MSA funding for those changes and could therefore circumvent possible state design restrictions Mr. Pires recalled the Louisiana Ave project between Cedar Lake Road and I-394, where the city chose to use it's own funding sources and therefore was able to avoid using the state mandated design specifications Mr Rardin said that there is definitely a financial benefit to the City if we can certify that the MSA route designations are complete and in place Mayor Dorfman asked if the City could receive funding for trails adjacent to MSA streets, or for that matter, within a certain distance of the MSA streets Mr Rardin agreed to investigate the options. Mr. Rardin said that this issue would come back to Council prior to final approval on March 1st. Councilmember Nelson asked that staff look into possibilities for completing the section which would connect Dakota and Edgewood across the railroad tracks. 5. Communications Mr Harmening informed Council that staff was very close to a purchase agreement with the Classic He also said that proceedings to begin condemnation on the homes in the Park Commons area were imminent Mayor Dorfman asked if there was any further action we could take to negotiate purchases for these homes Mr Harmening replied that nearly all avenues to negotiating a friendly transaction had been tried and expressed regret at needing to take this next step He said that staff was dealing with a very emotionally charged situation and that it certainly would be more desirable to finalize negotiations prior to initiating the process of condemnation. Councilmember Sanger asked if any of the homes could be removed. Mr. Harmening stated that in order to control costs, the City had entered into an agreement where all the homes would be removed at once following acquisition Mayor Dorfman gave an update on the progress of the City's Livable Communities grant application. The meeting adjourned at 10.05 p m. Com' i ty Clerk Mayor