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HomeMy WebLinkAbout1999/06/14 - ADMIN - Minutes - City Council - Study Session CITY of ST. LOUIS OFFICIAL MINUTES PARK CITY COUNCIL STUDY SESSION June 14, 1999 The meeting convened at 7 00 p m Present at the meeting were Councilmembers Susan Santa, Susan Sanger, Robert Young, and Mayor Jeff Jacobs Councilmember Chris Nelson arrived at 6 25, Councilmember Jim Brimeyer arrived at 7 38 Staff present. City Manager(Mr. Meyer), Director of Community Development (Mr Harmening), Director of Inspections (Mr. Hoffman), Planning Coordinator(Ms Jeremiah), Economic Development Coordinator(Mr Anderson), Community Television Coordinator(Mr Dunlap); Facilities Superintendent (Mr Altepeter), Deputy City Manager(Mr Pires) and City Clerk (Ms. Larsen) 1. EDA Financial and Park Commons Update Staff and Financial Consultant Rusty Fifeld of Ehlers and Associates met with Council to discuss the status of EDA financial planning and how it relates to funding the Park Commons Phase One project Mr. Fifield provided the Council with an overview of the current financial status of TIF Districts that can be used to help fund projects such as Park Commons Phase One The presentation focused on project revenues over the remaining life of the TIF Districts, flow of funds needed to support existing debt, potential revenues available for other development projects such as Park Commons and future strategies to consider Councilmember Latz stated that he wanted money available for other projects in the city and did not want to expend all the City's resources on one project Mr Meyer said that the City's Development Fund could be left untouched and that funds needed to complete Park commons could likely all come from TIF proceeds Mr Harmening offered to come back at a later meeting with a refinement of the TIF analysis and more details about the project size, cost and the amount of public dollars that would be needed to complete Phase I Councilmember Sanger asked what role tax abatement could play Mr Harmening replied that the focus will be in reducing the LGA/HACA penalty She suggested that the City may want to lobby the legislature to reduce penalties for districts with livable community projects in them Councilmember Nelson asked what percent of the project would be funded with public dollars Ms. Jeremiah stated that the current estimate was 30% with more firm projections to be communicated to Council in July Councilmember Nelson thought that the design should be taken to the public prior to committing I/ more public dollars Councilmembers Sanger and Jacobs disagreed saying that they did not want to raise public expectations They felt there had been ample opportunity for public input throughout the planning process Study Session Minutes -2- June 14, 1999 Mr Harmening informed Council that the project was at a point where the single family homes needed to be moved or demolished The Police Department had started receiving nuisance calls related to the vacant property and wanted the homes removed as soon as possible Mr Anderson suggested that Public Works put together the bid specs and leave it up to the contractor as to whether they wanted to move or demolish the homes The bid package would be prepared in late July for an August approval Demolition could begin by September 15th and would be completed in November 2. JCC Campus Expansion Staff and representatives of the Jewish Community Center(JCC) met with Council to review interest in recommencing discussions regarding the purchase of City property located just south of the JCC Campus The JCC is interested in purchasing part or all of the property for the purpose of accommodating an expansion to their facility Councilmember Sanger suggested that if the JCC did choose to expand, they do neighborhood outreach and obtain traffic and noise studies She also encouraged the JCC to move trees rather than simply cut them down Councilmember Nelson had questions regarding the market value of the property, soil testing, financing contingencies and surface water Staff and the JCC representatives stated that because the property has previously been zoned at a higher density, the value had been larger in the past Regarding surface water, a pond was shown in the plans and all felt it should be adequate to meet the need One of the parcels in question had been identified as a storm water holding pond Council was inclined to sell both parcels to the JCC rather than retaining the storm water area which will be made inaccessible if JCC goes forward with the development plan 3. Inspections Department Reorganization Mr Hoffman presented a revised organization plan and respond to Council's inquiries from the April 26 study session discussion on reorganization of the Inspection Department Since that meeting, Inspections and community Development had been working together and had decided that it would be logical to move the Zoning Administrator from Inspections to community Development This structure has existed informally for some time, and if formalized would free up the Inspections Department Director's time and reduce the number of direct reports Council discussed performance measurement and public opinion of the Inspections function 4. Remodeling Updates Mr Pires, Mr Altepeter and Mr Dunlap met with Council to discuss three remodeling projects, the Council chambers, 3`d floor of City Hall and relocation of the main entrance and reception area They pointed out some of the features to be included in the remodeling and discussed time frames Study Session Minutes -3- June 14, 1999 5. Recodification As the next step in the recodification process, staff asked council to provide direction on several issues They were informed that some more substantive issues will be brought forward to future meetings Council discussed youth membership and voting status on city boards and commissions, the Building Codes Construction Advisory Commission and Neighborhood Revitalization Commission, fowl and other domestic animals in city limits, undergrounding of electrical lines, youth curfew, snow and ice removal and recreational fires 6. Adjournment The meeting adjourned at 10 00 p m 0?4414 C y Clerk M„yo