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HomeMy WebLinkAbout1998/02/09 - ADMIN - Minutes - City Council - Study Session Minutes fiCTYCity Council Study Session T.ILOU°1FS RK February 9, 1998 7:00 p.m. The meeting convened at 7 00 p m Present at the meeting were Councilmembers Jeff Jacobs, Chris Nelson, Sue Sanger, Ron Latz, Jim Brimeyer and Mayor Gail Dorfman. Staff present. City Manager(Mr Meyer); Deputy City Manager(Ms. Kutzler); City Attorney (Mr. Scott); Director of Community Development (Mr. Harmening), Housing Coordinator (Ms. Brownstein); Planning Coordinator(Ms Erickson), Director of Public Works (Mr Rardin); Community Television Coordinator(Mr. Dunlap), Facilities Maintenance Superintendent (Mr. Altepeter) 1. Housing Authority Mission Members of the St. Louis Park Housing Authority met with Council to discuss a draft Mission and Vision Statement. Bill Gavzy gave a brief introduction, introduced fellow board members and informed Council about a retreat held last November where the mission of the Housing Authority was discussed Catherine Courtney told the Council that the main goal of the statement is to identify issues important to the Housing Authority not just in terms of structures, but in terms of the people who inhabit them as well. After going through the mission statement, a set of proposed vision elements and a table of suggested activities for the Housing Authority, Mayor Gail Dorfinan requested that language pertinent to Livable Communities principles be added to the mission. She stated her concerns that some of the activities and areas of concern identified (such as safety and transit) may be outside the scope of the Housing Authority's mission. Joanna Brownstein stated that in this context, the activities identified by terms such as"safety" or"transit" would apply specifically to housing-related issues. Catherine Courtney pointed out two housing programs previously identified as those Council endorsed for continued action by the Housing Authority Those two programs were the First Time Home Buyer and the Habitat for Humanity programs In response to a questions raised by Councilmember Latz, Tom Harmening indicated that as the Community Development Director he felt more comfortable overseeing activities of the Housing Authority because he simply did not have the time to administer them personally He would like to reorganize Housing Authority staff to better handle some of these issues. Mr 1 Meyer endorsed redirection of duties performed by the Community Development Director Mr. Harmening indicated that he felt more strategic planning should take place in this area Mayor Dorfman inquired about contacts the Housing Authority had made with other social 111 service providers Ms. Brownstein responded that many referrals are given to other agencies by the Housing Authority She also felt that changes taking place in the welfare system will seriously impact how the City interacts with these other agencies Mr. Gavzy felt that for the Housing Authority to do housing advocacy would be in conflict with their role as landlords and asked for Council's opinion on the issue Councilmember Sanger stated that she felt the discussion clearly pointed out two policy issues. The HA's role in delivery of social services; and, the HA's position on low income housing which should not be focused on more low income housing, but should focus on preservation and improvement of existing affordable housing. It was determined after further discussion that it would be logical for very limited delivery of these services to clients as an adjunct to the HA programs. Mr. Harmening stated that though it is not unusual for a Housing Authority to deliver some social services, it can be a real drain on financial resources. Councilmember Brimeyer stated that he felt services related to providing transitional housing and developing financial independence in Housing Authority clients should be provided. He felt that the HA should focus on partnerships with other agencies to ensure that HA clients received the assistance and encouragement they needed to be successful. Councilmember Nelson said that he felt a priority should be the improvement of the housing stock and to provide assistance to those persons who needed assistance to become independent. Mr. Meyer said that in order to reach housing goals, some portion of privately developed multi-housing should be set aside for low income housing. Ms. Brownstein pointed out that several cities are exploring the use of"Holman Funds" in a variety of ways including rehabilitation and new construction. One option she is investiaging is the use of Holman funds to create a lease purchase program which would allow the City to purchase some of the less desirable multi-family housing located in St. Louis Park. Councilmember Latz stated that he would like the Housing Authority to become more active in advocating affordable housing. He felt that St. Louis Park has already met and exceeded housing goals for low income housing and would like to see more move up housing located here. He also felt that the provision of social services by the HA would be a huge financial drain. II 2 Walt Hartman cautioned Council that a large amount of Holman dollars are waiting to be expended He expressed concern that if Cities did not expend the funds soon, the legislature may redirect how those funds should be spent Councilmember Latz stated that he felt St Louis Park should upgrade or replace affordable housing with more affordable housing Councilmember Nelson encouraged the Housing Authority to become more active in state legislative initiatives regarding housing Council directed Housing Authority members to revise the mission and vision statement and to create a detailed and realistic one year work plan specifically tied to their budget They also requested that the Housing Authority create a 3-5 year long term plan Councilmembers commended HA members for their efforts and asked that they meet again following development of the short and long term work plans. 2. Commercial Recreational Vehicle Storage At the public hearing and first reading of the proposed Commercial/RV ordinance held on January 20th, Council had asked staff to look at a number of issues and possible amendments to the ordinance prior to second reading. Staff brought these issues to Council so that appropriate amendments could be made to the ordinance Staff also requested that Council discuss the issue of enforcement in greater detail. Council focused on the following points: Temporary Parking to Load/Unload Several Councilmembers expressed concern as to whether a temporary 24 hour time period for loading/unloading RV's was long enough to suit the needs of families. Servicing of the units and the amount of time needed to charge batteries was discussed. Following that discussion, Council directed staff to change the temporary parking time period to 48 hours Enforcement Councilmember Latz asked whether the staff intended to perform enforcement by complaint only or whether they intended to patrol regularly. He stated that he favored active enforcement across the board Councilmembers Jacobs and Sanger agreed. Mr Petersen said that some discussion had occurred on a staff level and that a summer intern would be helping with enforcement this coming season. He stated that in the past, previous Councils had indicated their desire to enforce most nuisances by complaint. The current Council had indicated at an earlier study session that they wished to see stricter enforcement of ordinances and Mr. Petersen asked for direction. Councilmember Nelson stated that he would support"as observed' enforcement. 3 Councilmember Sanger asked why the City needed to specify their enforcement method at all Mr. Petersen stated that he felt it was important to dispel"impressions" that may exist in the public mind Councilmember Nelson responded that enforcement of ordinances is a policy decision and subject to change with the will of the Council Councilmember Jacobs felt that with most ordinances, education is the key to success. Councilmember Nelson suggested that staff conduct periodic sweeps to raise awareness in the community Mr. Meyer summarized the discussion and stated that he felt Council was indicating that they wished staff to use complaints as well as"reasonable other means" of detecting non- compliance with the ordinance. Service Vehicles Councilmember Jacobs said that he felt the revised language clarified temporary parking of service vehicles well There was no opposition on the Council as to the clarified language. Setbacks and Front Yard/Rear Yard Definitions Councilmember Nelson stated that he felt safety and sight line were key to development of a standard setback for parking of vehicles. Ms. Erickson expressed concerns regarding ease of compliance for residents with small lots and corner lots. She stated that 5 feet was a realistic distance Staff indicated that they would clarify language in regard to definitions of front and rear yard 30%Paving Area for Driveways Councilmember Sanger suggested using the standard of 30% of the front yard could be paved up to 20 feet wide-whichever is less. After discussion, Council agreed that this point should be considered in a different section of the Zoning ordinance. Three Vehicle Limit Councilmember,Sanger said that she felt the limits of 3 vehicles in the driveway in addition to space in garages was more than adequate to cover the number of vehicles needed in a household. Councilmember Nelson suggested that the number of vehicles could be increased in instances where more than 3 licensed drivers reside at a residence The number of driver's licenses registered to persons residing in the household could allow an affirmative defense and that it would then be the responsibility of the vehicle owners to prove that they are indeed residents and the vehicle is registered at that address. 1114 Mayor Dorfman stated that if our ordinances state that 4 unrelated adults may live in a residence, the City should not limit number of vehicles to 3. Discussion ensued regarding a number of"what ifs" that could cause confusion to the three vehicle limit section of the ordinance such as visitors, car pooling, several drivers in one family, the use of company cars, etc Tom Scott stated that if visitor parking were to be addressed in the ordinance, time limits would need to be imposed He also pointed out the difficulties of designing a piece of legislation able to cover all contingencies After discussion, Council concurred that the ordinance should be restated to allow more than three vehicles to be parked outside provided there is an equal number of licensed drivers residing on the premises. "Magic Box" Councilmember Latz asked if the Task Force had recommended that size be used as definition in this ordinance. Councilmember Nelson asked if we needed to determine the size of the "magic box" in order to make the ordinance enforceable Councilmember Jacobs stated that he felt determination of allowable size is important to enforcement and said that he felt use of the vehicle was secondary For example, would a van the same size as a family van be defined as a commercial vehicle if it had writing on the side, but was no larger? He also stated that size of the vehicle was inextricably linked to access to the rear yard and asked that research be done to determine the feasibility of allowances for residents with no access to their rear yards. He said that though he has disagreements with certain portions of the ordinance, he did not wish those disagreements to negate the entire ordinance Tom Scott pointed out the section in the staff report that indicated size is not arbitrary. He also said that it would be possible for staff to present to Council amendment language options at 2nd reading Council could discuss them, adopt the final amendments and approve the second reading. Councilmember Nelson pointed out that the ordinance required 5 votes for adoption and 4 votes for amendments. Effective Date Council discussed options for adopting different effective dates for different sections of the ordinance. Mr. Scott said that it was possible, but could prove to be problematic for enforcement Council asked staff to provide for a November 1st effective date. 5 Screening Requirements for screening were discussed with a focus on the logic of existing standards Mr Meyer suggested that the ordinance be passed without the section on screening requirements and said that language regarding screening could be added at a later date. Mr Scott pointed out that screening requirements are already included in a different section of the Zoning Ordinance Council asked staff to postpone the discussion on screening until the second reading. Following this discussion, staff and the attorney agreed to prepare the ordinance for second reading with choices for amending the language of certain sections. 3. CDBG Staff requested that Council engage in a discussion regarding funding priorities for the 1998/1999 CDBG program which runs from July 1, 1998 to December 31, 1999. Joanna Brownstein presented a brief review of the 1997 funding year and asked for Council's endorsement of this year's proposed objectives. Ms. Brownstein recommended that the strategies for comprehensive assistance including both capital improvement and support service components used in 1997 be continued for the '1998 funding cycle. She indicated that she felt it appropriate to continue the same funding approach employed in 1997 for one more year in order to allow enough time to fully assess its effectiveness. Councilmembers briefly discussed the recommendations in more detail Councilmember Brimeyer asked about progress of meetings with the management of Louisiana Courts Apartments. Ms. Brownstein replied that negotiations were moving forward, but at a slow pace. 4. Waste Management Service Issues Discussion Deb Osgood and Bruce Mallik of Waste Management Company presented to Council a report indicating service issues experienced since October 1, 1997 They felt most problems were related to start-up, but they also felt there were some issues that appeared to be on-going. Councilmember Sanger stated that she felt there were too many on-going service issues and that she expected WM to address those service issues immediately 6 Mr. Rardin indicated that the two largest areas of concern are the walk-up/handicapped services which are consuming a significant amount of Waste Management's resources and problems WM is experiencing with collection Disincentives for use of the handicapped designation and possible changes to the City's billing system to address uncollected fees were proposed as possible solutions for these proglems Ms Osgood and Mr Mallik asked that no changes be made at the present time so that WM could determine if these problems would be on-going 5. Biobag Plan Staff requested that Council review the proposed plan for the City's pilot bio-degradable yard waste program which was expected to begin in spring of 1998 Mr. Meyer urged Council to consider postponing the start of this program to allow additional time for the public to become accustomed to the many changes that had recently taken place He felt it very important that we not move forward with a mandatory program at this time and that we begin development of a voluntary plan Following a brief discussion, Council agreed to go ahead with the voluntary plan in spring of 1998 with plans to move to a mandatory program at a later date. 6. Third Floor/Council Chambers Improvements Mr. Altepeter, Ms. Kutzler and Mr. Dunlap requested that Council review a number of proposed improvements to the City Hall Council Chambers intended to enhance audio, video and other technology capabilities, allow for additional meeting space and provide for related infrastructure improvements A number of other issues were discussed including the need for a"security button", additional cabling to allow for enhanced use of technology by Councilmembers, location of the Recording Secretary station and the addition of a display area for public art Council also discussed location of the reception area in City Hall and agreed with staff that the logical placement of a reception station is near the first floor entrance. Location of a possible "Community Resource Center" was briefly discussed as well. Staff agreed to further develop the proposal and indicated that remodeling would take place during the month of June. I 7 7. Confirm Council Representative to CEAC Councilmember Nelson was asked to serve as City Council Liaison to the Community Education Advisory Commission 8. National League of Cities Attendance Councilmember Brimeyer polled the Council to determine who would be attending National League of Cities conferences in the near future He felt some coordination should occur in this area 9. Fire Service Consolidation Councilmember Brimeyer asked that Council consider the cost savings and political ramifications of establishing a Fire Service District rather than the current model of City specific fire departments He asked Councilmembers to contact their legislators and members of the Metropolitan council to ask that discussions be initiated on a legislative level. 10. Communications Councilmember Sanger asked about the progress of contract negotiations with Hennepin County regarding accessing funds for environmental remediation of the Golden Auto Site. Mr. Meyer indicated that he would apprise Council on developments in this area. The meeting adjourned at 11:20 p.m. • Gail Dorfman, Mayor J Re ording Secretary 8