Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAbout1998/09/14 - ADMIN - Minutes - City Council - Study Session Item#4b TY F 11 ffISCT.I Louis OFFICIAL MINUTES ARK CITY COUNCIL STUDY SESSION September 14, 1998 The meeting convened at 6 06 p m Present at the meeting were Councilmembers Jeff Jacobs, Chris Nelson, Robert Young, Sue Sanger, Jim Brimeyer, Ron Latz and Mayor Gail Dorfman Staff present City Manager(Mr Meyer); Director of Community Development (Mr. Harmening), Planning Coordinator(Ms Erickson), Economic Development Coordinator(Mr. Anderson), Planning Manager(Ms Jeremiah), Communications Coordinator(Ms Schwartz), Police Captain (Capt. Walker)Police Officers (Ofc Fitzgerald and Ofc Meyer) and City Clerk(Ms Larsen) 1. Trail and Sidewalk Study Judie Erickson, Planning Coordinator and Barry Warner, Consultant, met with Council in a II workshop discussion facilitated by Bob Close of Close Landscape Architecture Council reviewed a draft Mission Statement, goals and objectives of the program Mayor Dorfman asked that an indication of time frame be added to the statement Councilmember Sanger asked that it be rephrased without defining"groups" Ms Erickson, Mr Warner and Mr Close reviewed findings about the St Louis Park existing system of walks and trails and some of the key issues Council needed to consider as the study went forward Some of the issues were the fact that the current system is sporadic and there are many gaps throughout the community Major highways and high density streets present a major barrier He pointed out that there are many different perceptions on the part of the public as to what a trail system should be Some of the different systems include regional connections to other systems, natural resource based systems most often utilized for recreational use , transit or commuter systems and cultural and social systems used to connect neighborhoods, parks, and public gathering places Mr Warner informed Council that at the open house recently held they had received no negative comments from the public Councilmember Nelson asked if we are designing the trail/sidewalk system for now or for the future He felt that Council could approach the question based on what the people want or based what the Council felt the trail system would be needed for in the future Ms Erickson presented a draft list of Task Force members for council to consider Councilmember Latz expressed concern that too many bike enthusiasts would be placed on the Task Force He said that he wanted that group well represented, he also hoped for balance between various groups to be represented Mayor Dorfman indicated that she felt some of the names on the list were already participating in several other groups and thought that others who are not called upon as often would add a new perspective Discussion focused on constituent groups to be represented The following groups were identified as desirable School District, Parks and Recreation Commission, Business Community, Planning Commission, NRC Commission, Community Youth, Community Seniors, Bike Enthusiasts and Neighborhood Representatives Council also reviewed survey questions to be used in a telephone survey to take place Results are expected to be available in mid-October 2. Housing Authority Board Members of the Housing Authority, Bill Gavzy, Catherine Courtney and Walt Hartman met with Council to discuss the work plan and action items already underway Mr Hartman said that the community was in need of more housing for seniors and handicapped individuals and also that the HA wanted to be pro-active in working to utilize available funding Mr Harmening and the HA outlined specifics of some changes to the city's Housing plan which would make it easier to access available funding Councilmember Brimeyer said that he felt the Council should not be designing details, but should provide the Housing Authority with direction and ask them to come back with a feasible plan to achieve those goals Councilmember Sanger stated that she was opposed to using Holman funds to create more low-income housing and felt we were letting other cities off the hook Both Councilmember Brimeyer and Councilmember Jacobs disagreed, saying they felt the demand for low-income housing is already much higher than the availability Councilmember Jacobs stated that he did not want concentrated low-income housing, but felt it was an important component of the overall plan Councilmember Nelson said that he felt St Louis Park did not need more multi-family housing, and endorsed the idea of scattered site housing as an alternative Mr Gavzy said that scattered site housing is preferable and said that despite initial opposition from the residents, most sites have become well integrated into the community Screening of occupants for suitability in a neighborhood is never a 100%guarantee of success, but for the most part the program is working. Mr Harmening described the TRAILS program which helps families to become more self- sufficient The program has been very successful, but funding has become a problem. The HA currently carries a burden of about $15,000 from their fund balance to support this program The HA has some ideas for changes in funding the program such as grants. Staff and the HA will be working with the Employment Action Center on obtaining those grants Ms Courtney stated that the first two projects in the Home Renewal Program have gone very well Mr. Gavzy said that he felt the Housing Authority's action plan was ambitious, but that all felt it was a good plan with attainable goals Mr. Harmening indicated that there were changes needed in the organization of the Housing Authority staff He felt the HA needed more leadership, but as Community Development Director he was not able to devote the time needed to make those changes A consultant has been brought in to help plan the reorganization He indicated a need for an Executive Director which would be a new position He also felt that a dedicated Executive Director would be better able to bring in funding from other sources The Housing Authority members said that they would be returning to meet with Council again in six months 3. Human Rights Commission Proposed Bias/Hate Crime Response Plan Lynn Schwartz, Acting HRC Staff Liaison, and members of the HRC, Jon Archbold, Herbert Isbin and Judith Moore, met with Council to discuss the Bias/Hate Crime Response Plan which had been drafted by the commission Councilmember Latz asked when the resource list would be given to victims of a hate crime The commission members said that it could be distributed right away by Police Officers or that victims could contact the HRC for the information Mayor Dorfman felt that the community's leadership groups should be involved in reporting bias and hate crimes to the media This would send a strong clear message that these types of crimes are not allowed in our city Commission members pointed out that confidentiality is a real issue Even though leadership may wish to send that a very public message, the victim may wish to remain anonymous and not invite public scrutiny There is even the possibility that acknowledging or reacting to the crime may entice the perpetrator to commit another crime Commission members offered to take the Council's comments into consideration and said that they would bring the plan back to Council at a later date 4. Louisiana Court Visioning Task Force The Louisiana Court Visioning Task Force had worked for several months to develop recommendations designed to create a vision for making Louisiana Court a good place to live and a good neighbor, to identify goals and build strategies to accomplish the vision Councilmember Latz updated Council on the progress of the Lousiana Court Visioning Task Force and said that not every member of the group is in agreement Task Force members Linda Parker, Vanessa Brown and Terry Warner were also present to discuss the issue with Council Ms Brown said that they had been working to involve residents and that their mission now was to determine where they were going from here She indicated that the Task Force would continue to meet and work toward completing the vision Mr Harmening said that Bill Morey of the Design Center was working on design plans based on the suggestions from the Task Force Councilmember Sanger asked if any work had been done on identifying resources to back identified in the vision statement that identified "City" as the responsible party Councilmember Latz said that that issue needed to be addressed Councilmember Nelson expressed concern that no property owners were present at the meeting Councilmember Latz said that the group of owners was very diverse and some were more responsive than others He said that a lot of work still needed to be done 5. Crime Free Multi-Housing Program and Texa-Tonka COP Shop Police Officers Meyer and Fitzgerald and Captain Walker met with Council to discuss City- wide implementation of the Crime Free Multi-Housing Program and to update Council on the development of a COP Shop at Texa-Tonka Shopping Center Dan Babcock, representing Fine Management, was also present at the meeting Mayor Dorfman asked how we could respond to critics who feel that the program can be used to unfairly persecute multi-housing building tenants Captain said that a clear set of rules had been spelled out that residents are asked to sign off on as part of their rental agreement Mr. Babcock also said that education is key for both residents and managers who must understand that becoming part of the coalition is in their best interest as landlords Councilmember Sanger asked how officers housed in the COP Shop will connect with neighbors Captain Walker said that the officers will be"out and about" a good deal of the time making contact with residents in the area Councilmember Brimeyer asked how we will be able to measure the success of the program Captain Walker said that reduction in crime and increase in public perception of safety will be good indicators 6. Park Commons Discussion Tom Harmening and Janet Jeremiah met with Council to provide updates on several items related to park Commons development Developer Selection - Councilmember Nelson gave a recap of the developer interviews that had been held recently He said that all who had been part of the interview process were very impressed with a company called Avalon Bay Mr Meyer and Mayor Dorfman also felt that the company had the skills, expertise and experience needed to do the kind of development Council and the community had envisioned The also felt that the company's financial structure would provide the capital needed for the development Also discussed was the need to incorporate both small and national retailers in the development, the need for the developer to work with Beard and Assoc , speed of the development, status of acquisition of single family homes and future development of other sections of the Park Commons area Staff indicated that a Development Agreement would be forthcoming "MX" Designation - Staff presented proposed Comp Plan designations showimg Civic and CMX and density designations Councilmember Sanger expressed concern in the Civic designation as it related to Wayside House Mr Harmening said that Park Nicollet may also be concerned with the designation Ms Jeremiah said that the Comprehensive Plan is the City's long range plan and did not mean that change in use was imminent Councilmember Brimeyer felt that existing land uses should not dictate long term vision Council discussed slowing down the process for assign Comprehensive Plan designations and staff agreed to bring this forward to another future study session before proceeding 7. Billboards in St. Louis Park Scott Moore, Zoning Administrator and Judie Erickson, Planning Coordinator gave a brief overview of the history of billboards in St Louis Park They also asked Council for clarification on their position regarding billboards in the community. Staff presented 3 options for dealing with billboards Councilmembers Jacobs, Nelson, Sanger and Mayor Dorfman said that they preferred an aggressive program to remove billboards Councilmember Young said that he preferred the option which would make billboards legal uses in the city 8. West Metro Education Program - SW Elementary School Mr Meyer informed Council of an issue that could potentially affect St Louis Park The Edina Board of Education had been considering placing a school in the area just south of Minikanda Vista Park The Edina Board of Education had not given a great deal of though to the public process and consequently, there are many concerned citizens in Edina and St Louis Park He said that he had informed Edina that the City of St Louis Park supported a public participation process to determine the feasibility of this location for a school 111 The meeting adjourned at 11 12 p m . pz° getj, .....,4 is.:><-0(utA/24.------ C ty Clerk Mayor