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HomeMy WebLinkAbout1999/10/04 - ADMIN - Minutes - City Council - Regular jirrCITY OF OFFICIAL MINUTES T. LOUIS CITY COUNCIL MEETING RK ST. LOUIS PARK,MINNESOTA October 4, 1999 1. Call to Order Mayor Jacobs called the meeting to order at 7 30 p m 2. Presentations a. Karen Elg Recognition Mayor Jacobs presented a plaque to Karen Elg in recognition of her excellent and dedicated service to the City of St Louis Park from August 31, 1965 to April 16, 1999 b. Fred Stimson Proclamation Mayor Jacobs read a proclamation thanking Fred Stimson for his 32 years of service to the St Louis Park Police Department and declared October 7, 1999 Fred Stimson Day 3. Roll Call The following Councilmembers were present at roll call Jim Brimeyer, Ron Latz, Chris Nelson, Sue Sanger, Sue Santa, Robert Young, and Mayor Jeff Jacobs Also present were the City Manager(Mr Meyer), City Attorney (Mr Scott), Community Development Director (Mr Harmening), City Planner (Ms Erickson), Planning Associate (Ms Peterson) and Recording Secretary (Ms Olson) 4. Approval of Minutes 4a. City Council Meeting of September 21, 1999 With a minor change to Item 8d the minutes were approved as presented. Councilmember Latz asked that motion in Item 8d be changed to state"It was moved by Commissioner Nelson, seconded by Commissioner Latz, to direct staff to reconsider the language and defer second reading until the City Council meeting of October 4, 1999" 5. Approval of Agendas 5a. Consent Agenda Councilmember Latz asked to remove Item 8f from the consent agenda It was moved by Councilmember Young, seconded by Councilmember Nelson, to approve the consent agenda with the removal of Item 8f The motion passed 7-0 Council Meeting Minutes -2- October 4, 1999 5b. Agenda It was moved by Councilmember Santa, seconded by Councilmember Sanger, to approve the agenda with addition of Item 8f The motion passed 7-0 5c. Resolutions and Ordinances By consent, Council waived reading of resolutions and ordinances 6. Public Hearings 6a. Amendment to Special Permit for Groves Academy to permit a major building expansion 3200 Highway 100 99-23-CUP. Resolution # 99-112 Sacha Peterson, Planning Associate presented a bnef staff report and stated that staff was proposing an additional condition that the elevations would be revised so that no more than 10% of Class III materials would be used on any facade per the ordinance requirements and also that building material samples would be submitted and approved by staff prior to any site work Ms Peterson recommended approval subject to conditions outlined in the staff report Mayor Jacobs closed the public hearing subject to the right of the Council to reopen it at a future date It was moved by Councilmember Sanger, seconded by Councilmember Santa, to adopt a resolution approving a Special Permit Amendment subject to the conditions in the resolution and the new condition identified by staff The motion passed 7-0 Councilmember Latz was encouraged the Groves Academy was in favor of making the proposed gymnasium available for public use ' 7. Petitions, Requests, Communications -None 8. Resolutions and Ordinances 8a. Miscellaneous Zoning Ordinance Amendments - CASE NO. 99-12-ZA Judie Erickson, City Planner presented a staff report Councilmember Nelson questioned what the proper procedure was to handle the provisions that were deleted from the staff report The Council discussed the procedural options with the City Attorney It was moved by Commissioner Nelson, seconded by Commissioner Sanger, to approve second reading as presented and adopt Zoning Ordinance Amendments, adopt Subdivision Ordinance Amendments, approve summaries, and authorize publication of summary ordinances Councilmember Nelson made a friendly amendment to the motion to defer the provisions that were deleted from the staff report indefinitely Council Meeting Minutes -3- October 4, 1999 The motion passed 7-0 8b. City Land Sale at Southwest Corner of Highway 7 and Louisiana Avenue It was moved by Commissioner Santa, seconded by Commissioner Young, to continue second reading of an ordinance authorizing the sale of City owned property to the Economic Development Authority to facilitate the development of the site located at the southwest corner of Highway 7 and Louisiana Avenue The motion passed 7-0 8c. Application for the 1999 Livable Communities Demonstration Account (LCDA) of the Metropolitan Livable Communities Fund Resolution # 99-113 Mr Harmening, Community Development Director presented a staff report Councilmember Young questioned the component outlined in the staff report to pay off assessments for previous sidewalk improvements for PPL properties Mr Harmening indicated that some of the property owners in Louisiana Court requested that the City install sidewalk and street lighting and the City pay for part of the cost using block grant funds and the other portion was paid using special assessments PPL properties has made an assumption that as a part of any acquisition the land owners may not agree to include the payment of special assessment in the sale of their properties and as such in order to keep the cost of the project down in terms of taxes and special assessments due on the property in the future, they are hoping that the LCDA funds could be used to pay off those assessments Councilmember Young believed that the current landlords have this obligation and he would not like to see that the City was bailing them out through the PPL partnership and this along with a risk of default was further evidence to oppose the project Councilmember Latz asked for clarification that this would only apply to those owners that agreed to sell their property to PPL He questioned if the City would want to continue to allow properties to deteriorate and become a greater blight on the St Louis Park Community or whether this Council desired to take affirmative action steps to try to deal with this situation He believed that given the structure of this particular proposal and designs for this location that this would be a tremendous gain for the St Louis Park community and area around Louisiana Court far in excess to any detriment to the City Councilmember Latz noted that at an extensive study session with advisors and consultants it was determined that there was no real risk of default, but rather a good step for the City to take to accomplish its goals Councilmember Nelson agreed and indicated that the financial advisor had found that the project stretches feasibility, but without grant there was no feasibility He was in support of the grant application Mr Harmening explained that this was an important piece because part of the funding was proposed to be used for a debt service reserve that would be one of the safeguards for the project Councilmember Sanger was in support project She believed the area clearly needed help and risk of a default was low Council Meeting Minutes -4- October 4, 1999 Councilmember Brimeyer had a few concerns, but believed that when this works it would represent a model for the broader metropolitan community that this was what livable communities was all about and truly public private partnerships would be leveraged to make 111 improvements Mayor Jacobs supported the project because the risks of this program were minimal compared to the risk of the City not doing anything It was moved by Commissioner Latz, seconded by Commissioner Santa, to adopt a Resolution authorizing application for the Livable Communities Demonstration Account Program for the PPL Louisiana Court Redevelopment Project The motion passed 6-1 Councilmember Young opposed 8d. Resolution approving the City of St. Louis Park's participation in the relocation of railroad switches on the Canadian Pacific (CP) rail line in Minnetonka. Resolution #99-114 Mr Meyer, City Manager presented a brief background on the issue of railroad noise in the South Oak Hill neighborhood due to blocking operations by Twin City and Western Railroad which took place on Canadian Pacific (CP) rail line trackage Councilmember Sanger asked what percentage of the blocking would actually be reduced and if the number of cars per train would be reduced Mr Meyer indicated that this agreement essentially required them to change their operations to keep the size of the trains under 60 cars Councilmember Nelson stated that although this solves one problem it doesn't solve the problem of switching in the Elmwood neighborhood Councilmember Latz asked that hours of night time operations (8 00 p m ) be clarified and referenced consistently in the resolution He commended the members of the Railroad Task Force for their work in developing solutions to address this issue and indicated that the City of Hopkins continues to be willing to work with St Louis Park to accomplish this project Councilmember Brimeyer believed that the City of St Louis Park has an obligation to the other cities and asked what was the next step to get the operations out to Glencoe Mr Meyer indicated that the core issue for the long term solution was who was going to pay and negotiations with Mndot would continue It was moved by Commissioner Latz, seconded by Commissioner Brimeyer, to adopt the resolution approving the City of St Louis Park's participation in the relocation of railroad switches on the CP rail The motion passed 7-0 8e. Livable Communities Resolution to participate in the Metropolitan Council Local Housing Incentives Account Program in 2000. Resolution # 99-115 By consent, Council adopted a Resolution electing to participate in he Local Housing Incentives Program during 2000 Council Meeting Minutes -5- October 4, 1999 8f. Resolution Designating Polling Places and Appointing Election Judges for the General Municipal/School District Election on November 2, 1999. Resolution # 99-116 Councilmember Latz was concerned that in two of the precincts not all of the major political parties were represented among the election judges that were listed and asked for clarification The Council discussed the issue of appropriate party balance in the polling places as required by State statute Mr Meyer, City Manager indicated that he assumed the City had the ability of shuffle judges around, but would research this issue and report back to Council It was moved by Councilmember Latz, seconded by Councilmember Brimeyer to adopt the attached resolution designating polling places and appointing election judges for the General Municipal/School District Election on November 2, 1999 with the additional provision that prior to the election, the staff achieve the appropriate party balance as required by statute in the polling places The motion passed 7-0 9. Reports from Officers, Boards, Committees b. Vendor Claim Report By consent, Council accepted report for filing 10. Unfinished Business a. Board and Commission Appointment(s) - None - 11. New Business l la. Notice for Consideration of the 2000 Budget for Excelsior Boulevard Special Service District No. 1 and No. 2 Mr Meyer, City Manager presented a brief staff report It was moved by Councilmember Latz, seconded by Councilmember Brimeyer, to set two (2) public hearings the date of November 1, 1999 The first to consider the 2000 budget and property owner service charge for Special Service District No 1 The second to consider the 2000 budget and property owner service charge for Special Service District No 2 The motion passed 7-0 12. Miscellaneous - None 13. Claims, Appropriation, Contract Payments a. Contract Payments Partial Council Meeting Minutes -6- October 4, 1999 Valley Paving $ 23,320 64 Watermain replacement, pavement milling, curb & gutter Contract No 19-99 Nadeau Utility, Inc $ 20,874 25 Entry signage and site improvements Contract No 54-99 By consent, Council approved and authorized payments 14. Communications From the Mayor -None From the City Manager-Mr Meyer commented on the following items • The retirement of Sergeant John Fitzgerald from the Police Department • Upcoming Neighborhood Forum on Wednesday, October 6th at the Rec Center - Upcoming block captain training at the Jr High School cafeteria on Thursday, October 7th and Saturday, October 9th — • Upcoming City Council joint meeting with the School Board on October 11th at 5 30 p m prior to Study Session Councilmember Nelson commended,the Fire Chief, Bob Gill and the entire Fire Department for hosting a successful Open House at Fire Station No 1 on Sunday, October 3rd 15. Adjournment It was moved by Councilmember Sanger, seconded by Councilmember Santa, to adjourn the meeting at 8 36 p m The motion passed 7-0 11111 I / C. y Clerk *6 p