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HomeMy WebLinkAbout1998/03/23 - ADMIN - Minutes - City Council - Study Session CITY OF Minutes ST. LOUIS City Council Study Session PARK March 23, 1998 7:00 p.m. The meeting convened at 7 05 p m Present at the meeting were Councilmembers Chris Nelson, Ron Latz, Jeff Jacobs and Mayor Gail Dorfman Staff present City Manager (Mr Meyer), Deputy City Manager(Ms Kutzler), Director of Community Development (Mr Hannerung), and City Clerk (Ms Larsen) 1. Home Renewal Program Councilmember Sanger brought up the issue of the appropriateness of home selection for homes to be part of the Home Renewal Program She began by pointing out the exterior architectural features of a home located on Blackstone Avenue which had been slated for demolition and redevelopment of the site She stated that, in her opinion, the home exhibited architectural significance and she believed it should be removed from the program and remodeled Joanna Brownstein informed the Council that though the home looked acceptable from the outside, the interior had been severely damaged by water from the leaky roof and structural problems relating to the settling of the foundation She indicated that the City's Chief Housing Inspector, Tom Wigfield, felt the home's useful lifetime would be a maximum of five years Due to the functional and physical condition she and the Housing Authority board felt the home met program eligibility guidelines Mayor Dorfman said that the issue speaks not only to whether a home should be eligible for the Home Renewal program, but also spoke to the process used by staff once direction is given by Council She and other members of Council felt that staff had exhibited good judgment in qualifying the home from the program and did not wish to see Council become involved in making those determinations once a program had been approved Mr Harmening said that the Housing Authority administers this program and also spoke about the City's cost and interest in the purchase of part of the lot by the next door neighbor Councilmember Sanger felt that City housing programs should place more emphasis on rehabilitation and questioned whether Habitat for Humanity would be interested in the home She also felt that housing programs should always be approached in terms of historic preservation and questioned how housing programs could be effective if we always view them in terms of new construction as opposed to rehabilitation of existing structures 1 Councilmember Brimeyer indicated that he felt this home met all qualifying criteria for the program Councilmember Jacobs agreed and cautioned against"second guessing" staff once program policy is in place Councilmember Nelson said that he was very sensitive to architectural significance, but wanted programs to run successfully He felt that staff and the Housing Authority had the necessary tools and knowledge to make determinations as to program eligibility Mayor Dorfman said that City Council had developed the program with the intent that it would be administered by Housing Authority and City staff She did not feel it is Council's job to assess viability of each house for the program Councilmember Sanger asked that staff modify the City's housing inspections program to allow a period of time for new owners to rehabilitate deteriorating properties Staff indicated that such a program was already in place Councilmember Sanger also brought up public notice issues Joanna Brownstein and Tom Harmening explained the current procedures and offered to make changes to allow for more public input prior to acquisition and demolition 2. Cable Television Commission Discussion with Council Tony Raiber, Chair of the Cable Television Commission, Reg Dunlap, Cable TV Coordinator, and Joanne Kutzler, Deputy City Manager, presented a report to Council in which the Commission requested that the City reimburse all or a portion of commissioners' cable television service fees Mayor Dorfman said that she felt this would be viewed by the public as a"perq" and that she would prefer not to honor the request Mr Raiber responded that he felt commission members were asked to perform many complex tasks and that the reimbursement would be well received by commission members Mr Meyer expressed concern that granting this request would set precedent for other types of requests in the future Councilmember Bnmeyer and Councilmember Sanger also expressed similar concerns Mr Dunlap indicated that there were educational opportunities for commission members to assist them in dealing with the complex issues relating to cable television franchises Councilmember Bnmeyer said that he would endorse providing commission members with funds to attend educational programs, but did not support the request for reimbursement of cable service fees Mayor Dorfman thanked commission members for the contnbutions they make to the City's decision making process and spoke for the entire council in saying they were valued members of the community 2 3. Highway 7/Louisiana Ave S Task Force Report Greg Ingraham, the City's design consultant for this project, and Janet Jeremiah presented to Council the preferred alternative of the Task Force and asked for feedback prior to formalizing its recommendations Ms Jeremiah also informed Council of an open house to be held at the Recreation Center on March 25th Mayor Dorfman first asked Mr Ingraham about the make-up of the Task Force He said that the 15 members included representatives from neighborhood groups, business owners, property owners, the soccer association, property managers, the parks and recreation advisory commission and the planning commission He said that they had become very well educated on site history and related issues He then reviewed the existing comprehensive plan and pointed out differences between that plan and the task forces' preferred alternative In the new proposal, more land would be dedicated as park land and less housing would be included in the development of the area The new plan also included more mixed use and the development of a business/medical office facility Councilmember Latz said that he would not support development in the Oak Park Village"Park" area, but did indicate that he would support a medical office complex on the south side of Highway 7 Ms Jeremiah asked that Council provide some direction as to that development because the developer and his partners needed to make progress toward building that development very soon Councilmember Nelson suggested that the medical office complex on the south side of Highway 7 be removed from the study so that they could proceed Councilmember Jacobs agreed that it would make sense to build the medical facility now, rather than waiting to include it in development of the entire area Councilmember Jacobs also said that he wanted to leave adequate access to the soccer fields and that they should remain visible from the street to create a visually open concept and to make them easily identifiable for users Councilmember Nelson said that he wants to preserve as much open space as possible but wants that space to be visible and accessible Councilmember Sanger agreed that the park area should be visible from the street She suggested that some retail on the west side of Louisiana Ave S could be moved to a more intensified development on the east Mayor Dorfman asked if pedestrian and transit linkages had been considered and questioned the impact of soccer on parking Ms Jeremiah said that Louisiana had been identified in the recently conducted transit study as a major circulator street , Councilmember Latz asked how the Parks and Recreation and Planning Commissions had reacted to the proposal Mr Gears said that the current proposal fit very well into the work that had been conducted during the Park and Open Space Study which was done recently He felt the commission members were very well educated about the current comprehensive plan and understood the issues involved 3 Mayor Dorfman said that she had heard many questions from the public about the issues of dedicated park space and how polluted land should be developed Ms Jeremiah reminded Councilmembers of the open house to take place and many indicated that they would be in attendance 4. Trail Planning/SW Regional Trail - Hennepin County Council heard a presentation by members of Hennepin Park District staff about the Distnct's plans for construction of the Southwest Regional Trail along a recently vacated rail corridor which parallels Highway 7 and has been designated as a future LRT route They indicated that Hennepin Parks plans to solicit bids this spring and have the project under construction this summer When completed the trail will provide a 10-foot wide paved pathway linking the existing regional trail-head near Knox Lumber in Hopkins with two regional trails and the chain of Lakes system in Minneapolis Council reviewed detail of the proposed trail route and discussed access points, at-grade crossings, safety issues, connections to other trails and pedestrian routes and bridges They also discussed funding and operations and maintenance issues Council and staff also discussed the need to develop a system of improved sidewalks, trails and pathways to provide better access to community facilities for pedestrians and bicyclists Mr Gears indicated to Council that City staff was not qualified to undertake such an extensive project and requested that Council retain the services of a consultant to conduct the study Mr Gears identified a consulting group that he felt would be more than adequate to conduct the study After some discussion, Mr Harmening suggested that the City issue an RFQ and that Council work with a consultant on the visioning process Mr Gears suggested that the study begin as soon as possible and agreed to bring an item to the next regular meeting authorizing the issuance of an RFQ to specified consulting groups 5. Tennis Court Project and Location Mr Gears and Mr Harmening, along with Jim Hamburge of Benilde/St Margaret's School addressed Council regarding possible relocation of six tennis courts from the damaged Wolfe Park site to anothcr site in St Louis Park Mr Gears referred to a matrix that had been completed showing an analysis of possible locations Mayor Dorfman questioned the amount of public interest in tennis and asked if six courts were really necessary Mr Hamburge responded that for league play at both youth and senior levels, six courts were necessary to complete matches in a reasonable amount of time She also questioned whether orientation of the courts to the sun was a real issue It was explained that orientation in relation to the sun is a major factor in play 4 Mr Hamburge indicated that he felt Bass Lake field was the best location for the proposed courts Mr Gears said that this location would fit well with other planned used such as housing and would be viewed as an amenity by the community Councilmember Sanger asked if there were environmental concerns with wetland in the area. Mr Gears responded that the location of the courts was outside the designated wetland area He also indicated that a funding source had not yet been identified Council directed staff to proceed with plans for tennis and housing at the Bass Lake site 6. Knives and Weapons in School Zones Officers Harcy and DiLorenzo presented to Council a draft ordinance regulating knives and weapons in school zones Because this offense is currently a felony level offense, it has placed offenders into the court system and severely inhibited the ability of officers to get offenders involved in diversion programs Councilmember Jacobs stated that he felt some of the language in the ordinance too broad The Officers responded that the wording was intentionally broad to allow for options in enforcement Much discussion ensued as to the "what ifs" of others in school zones, such as persons attending meetings, parents, etc , who may have in their possession pocket knives, or other implements which serve a specifically practical purpose Councilmembers expressed concern that these persons would be in violation of the ordinance and did not feel comfortable with selective enforcement of the ordinance's provisions Officers Harcy and DiLorenzo agreed that some changes could be made to the language and indicated that they would consult the City Attorney to assist them in making changes 7. Biodegradable Yard Waste Bag Program Joanne Kutzler and Mike Rardin asked Council to determine whether it was best for the biodegradable yard waste program to begin as a mandatory or voluntary program and to determine whether the bags should be provided free of charge and, if so, for how long Issues discussed were the cost of the bags, extent of the public relations campaign and costs passed on to the City from disposal sites Following this discussion Council directed staff to return to the next regular meeting with program details for a mandatory program which provides for free bags the first year and a strong informational campaign informing the public that residents would be required to purchase the bags in the future 5 8. Communications Mr Meyer asked Councilmembers if they felt it necessary to meet on Monday the 30th Members asked that they not meet until the next regular meeting in April Mr Meyer also informed Council of administrative hearings for liquor violations which had recently taken place He also asked Council if they approved of the process currently being used by staff Members present concurred that the waiver of hearings before Council was appropriate in these situations and directed staff to continue with administrative hearings. Motion to adjourn was made by Councilmember Jacobs and seconded by Councilmember Nelson The meeting adjourned at 10.20 p m ,ta , ov: . Mayor % - Ci4 Clerk • 6