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HomeMy WebLinkAbout1999/11/22 - ADMIN - Minutes - City Council - Study Session ST.CITY LOUISOF OFFICIAL MINUTES PARKCITY COUNCIL STUDY SESSION November 22, 1999 The meeting convened at 7 00 p m Present at the meeting were Councilmembers Jim Brimeyer, Ron Latz, Chris Nelson, Susan Sanger, Sue Santa, and Mayor Jeff Jacobs Staff present City Manager (Mr Meyer), Director of Community Development (Mr Harmening), Housing Supervisor (Ms Schnitker), Housing Programs Coordinator(Ms Larsen), Economic Development Coordinator(Mr Kleve), Director of Inspections (Mr Hoffman), Chief Building Official (Mr Shoppe), Environmental Health Officer (Mr Camilon), and Administrative Clerk (Ms Olson) 1. Louisiana Court Redevelopment Mr Harmening introduced Barb McCormick and Ron Price from Project for Pride in Living (PPL), and Steve Bubul of Kennedy & Graven Ms Larsen reported that the project had been presented to the Met Council and staff had recently received word that the project was one of the highest candidates to receive award money She also reported that a meeting was going to take place for the funders of the project Ms Larsen stated that staff was working to develop a preliminary agreement with PPL and a cooperative agreement with the Housing Authority to develop the Hollman Units Mr Harmening stated the upcoming dates and deadlines for the project and Council action Mr Bubul then gave a review of the responsibilities and roles of the City, Housing Authority, and PPL listed in the contract summary Councilmember Nelson asked if PPL felt condemnation was necessary for the properties that have not yet been acquired Mr Bubul felt that it was not necessary to decide at the present time Councilmember Nelson then asked if condemnation costs were included in the budget if condemnation was needed He also asked if the project would be scaled back if the properties were not acquired Ms McCormick replied that they may not be successful in acquiring all properties and the project would be most successful with all properties attained She would like to reevaluate the viability of the project with Council if all properties are not acquired She stated that the property owners would not consider selling if prices were not raised significantly, and that PPL had created a five- percent error margin in the budget in the event that appraisal values differed Councilmember Santa wondered if property owners felt that recent inspections and the ensuing improvements may have increased the property value Councilmember Latz was concerned that properties not acquired in the project would benefit in terms of higher rent rates due to the improvements in the other buildings Councilmember Sanger expressed her concern over eminent domain issues Mr Harmening stated that, similar to the Park Commons project, eminent domain can move quickly to the end of a negotiated settlement Ms McCormick stated that with the federal grant dollars, they would still be required to administer relocation programs Study Session Minutes -2- November 22, 1999 Mayor Jacobs felt there was not a consensus among the group He stated that perhaps they should explore the possibility of eminent domain Councilmember Latz felt the project was not feasible if all properties were not acquired Councilmember Nelson was concerned with the budget for the project and inquired about the quick take option versus slow-take domain Councilmember Brimeyer felt the project should be dealt with quickly and completely or it should not proceed He also pointed out that this project is much different from any in the past Councilmember Nelson asked if the budget provided for attorney fees if needed Mr Harmening stated that it was not a closed budget yet and alterations could be made He suggested that staff develop several scenarios that Council could review Councilmember Sanger was concerned about the continuing role of the City and liability issuesafter the project has been completed It was concluded that staff would return to Council with more information 2. Plumbing, Mechanical, and Electrical Fee Revisions Mr Hoffman introduced staff members George Shoppe and Manny Camilon, and their roles within the Inspections department Mr Hoffman stated that the current fee table increases the permit price as the cost the of work increases He mentioned that this sometimes causes incongruity with the value of the permits and is unfair to the homeowners who want higher quality work to improve their home He also stated that the proposed fee revisions will use a flat fee table for most single family permits with a standard State surcharge and overall revenue will be slightly increased Councilmember Sanger asked if the new fee table would cover all costs Mr Hoffman replied that if fees were further increased, it would discourage citizens from obtaining permits Councilmember Sanger then asked if there was a plan for future fee increases Mr Hoffman responded that they would use a fee appendix at regular intervals The Council agreed that the item should move forward at the next Council meeting 3. Philosophy of Code Enforcement Mr Hoffman began by stating that a new policy is needed to develop an easier process for dealing with code enforcement issues He emphasized the need to educate homeowners The policy outlines a three-tiered process of responding to all complaints, responding to focus areas of deterioration, and systematically inspecting the entire City to ensure fair and consistent enforcement Councilmember Santa and Mayor Jacobs both agreed with the plan Councilmember Brimeyer wondered whether the systematic inspections should begin now to determine the cycle length of such inspections He also felt that the major points of inspection should be defined before implementing the new policy Mr Camilon stated that during an inspection if obvious violations were visible they would have the ability to act upon it because the new policy involves a neighborhood inspection program Councilmember Brimeyer then asked if each violation was noted Mr Camilon replied that everyone in the neighborhood would Study Session Minutes -3- November 22, 1999 receive a letter indicating the violations for their home and that re-inspection would occur seven days later Mr Meyer stated that the policy is different from any used in the past The Inspections department will do a reasonable sweep first to catch the grosser violations He emphasized that inspections would not be used as a comprehensive sweep for punitive enforcement and the enforcement through the courts would be the last course of action Councilmember Sanger felt staff needed to address the standards for gross violations and set a timeline of steps taken for resolving such a problem Mr Hoffman said they would give a reasonable timeline but the end result would still be accomplished He pointed out that through the courts, it may take several months to resolve and the homeowner would usually pay a ticket without cleaning up the property Mr Meyer told Council that Mr Camilon's position would ensure regular management and follow-up Mr Brimeyer felt that the top ten violations to look for should be addressed in non-complaint inspections Councilmember Nelson does not want to see repeated sweeps of the City each time looking for different violations There was discussion that the Inspections Department already has a checklist in place where they look at certain things and they could adopt that for survey type enforcement Council agreed that the item come back with a resolution at the next meeting 4. EDA Budget Ms McGann gave a visual presentation outlining the significant aspects and changes in the budget She indicated there may be more revisions before the next Council meeting Mr Brimeyer asked if TIF money was used in the development fund Mr Harmening replied that due to State requirements, TIF money cannot go into the development fund Mr Latz asked how interest amounts were calculated Ms McGann replied that the amount was calculated based on past earnings Mr Kleve stated that staff hoped to further promote the loan program since there is currently only one loan recipient Mr Harmening stated that extra TIF money in Victoria Ponds would be used to pay for the Hutchinson Spur Trail project He then said that other T1F districts are being tapped in order to fund the Park Commons project He emphasized that there may seem to be a lot of funds in the budget but they are all obligated Mr Meyer stated the timeline for organizing the budget had been difficult, giving credit to both Mr Kleve and Ms McGann for their hard work 5. Communications Mr Meyer reported that Hopkins had reached a railroad agreement Study Session Minutes -4- November 22, 1999 Mr Meyer also described his meeting with the McKnight foundation and stated that the outcome was one of enthusiasm Council discussed plans for a retreat in the next several months Mr Meyer informed Council that the 2000 utility rate report would be addressed in the next several meetings 6. Adjournment The meeting was adjourned at 9 15 p m J Cit Clerk Ma o