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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2000/10/16 - ADMIN - Minutes - City Council - Regular CITY OF OFFICIAL MINUTES ST. LOUIS CITY COUNCIL MEETING PARK ST. LOUIS PARK, MINNESOTA OCTOBER 16, 2000 1. Call to Order and Roll Call Mayor Jacobs called the meeting to order at 7.40 p.m The following Councilmembers were present at roll call Jim Bnmeyer, Ron Latz, Chns Nelson, Sue Sanger, Sue Santa, Robert Young, and Mayor Jeff Jacobs Also present were the City Manager (Mr. Meyer), City Attorney (Ms. Poehler), Director of Community Development (Mr Harmening); Director of Inspections (Mr. Hoffman); Public Works Director (Mr Rardin), and Recording Secretary (Ms. Olson) 2. Presentations - None 3. Approval of Minutes a. City Council Minutes of October 2, 2000 Page 4, Item 4a change the paragraph to read. Page 8, Item 8b, add to Councilmember Sanger's comments "Councilmember Sanger withdrew the motion and then offered a new motion to amend the resolution with the modified weekend hours stated above Mr. Palmatier indicated his acceptance of this amendment It was seconded by Councilmember Nelson, and the motion passed 5-0. Councilmember Sanger then offered another motion to amend the resolution to limit construction vehicles on W 16th Street as stated above and then withdrew the amendment". Page 4, Item 4b, change the paragraph to read Page 13, Item 6, Paragraph 3, change to "Councilmember Sanger felt construction money was needed for playground and other equipment for the Blackstone Park". Page 8, Item 8b, Paragraph 4, delete "He simply felt that benefits were not compensation" and add "He felt that benefits were not pay and that benefits for marned people were frozen or reduced from pnor years". Change "Goham" and "Gohman" throughout the minutes 4. Approval of Agenda and Consent Items NOTE Consent items are those items of business which are considered to be routine and/or which need no discussion Consent items are acted upon by one motion. If discussion is desired by either a Councilmember or a member of the audience, that item may be moved to an appropriate section of the regular agenda for discussion. a. Approval of Agenda - Council Meeting Minutes -2- October 16, 2000 It was moved by Councilmember Nelson, seconded by Councilmember Sanger, to approve the agenda with the addition of Item 7c. The motion passed 7-0 b. Approval of Consent Items It was moved by Councilmember Sanger, seconded by Councilmember Nelson, to approve the following Consent Items The motion passed 7-0. 1. Waive reading of resolutions and ordinances 2 Motion to award a contract to Custom Products and Services for sidewalk snow removal services in the Excelsior Boulevard Special Service District No 1 in the amount of$70,275 for each of the next three (3) snow removal seasons, 2000-2003. 3. Motion to award a contract to British Landscapes Ltd for sidewalk snow removal services in the Excelsior Boulevard Special Service District No 2 for each of the next three (3) snow removal seasons, 2000-2003 4. Accept the following reports for filing a Vendor Claim List b Planning Commission Minutes of September 6, 2000 5. Public Hearings 5a. Public Hearing and First Reading of Three Ordinances Relating to Licensing of Contractors, Businesses, Temporary Uses, Animals and Courtesy Benches, Amendng Cbapters 8, 11, 13 and Adopting Chapter 16 on Licensing Regulations. Brian Hoffman, Director of Inspections explained that this was an overhaul of the entire Licensing Chapter of the City Code He presented a staff report and recommended approval. Mayor Jacobs opened the public hearing. Len Thiel, 5643 Green Circle Drive, Minnetonka, governmental liaison for US Bench, presented some handouts to the Council. He explained the important service that was being provided by US Bench and was concerned about the fee increase for a license renewal, but was in favor of an increase for a new license or transfer Mr Hoffman explained the changes to the bench license fees Mr. Meyer, City Manager stated that there were not any fees purposed to be adopted at this time, but just the licensing ordinance which would state that all of the licensing fees be adopted separately by resolution Councilmember Latz recommended reviewing some of the fee structures that might require some analysis at the next study session Dan Kaster, 577 Grand Avenue, St. Paul, stated that he was concerned about Section 16-203, Mechanical Contractor, E2. He stated that there was no procedure for the approval of classes or what type of classes and requirements that would be accepted by the Director of Inspections. He was concerned that the procedure would be arbitrary Council Meeting Minutes -3- October 16, 2000 Mr. Hoffman, Director of Inspections stated that mechanical contractors were not licensed by the State and not required to complete any continuing education. He stated that the City would develop a handout that would be attached to the license application that would be sent out with the certificate of competency notifying the contractor of what classes with some type of continuing education were available. He stated that if a contractor wanted to attend something that was not on the handout, it would be a simple matter of inquiring if the class was accepted He stated that he would consider minor changes to the language before the second reading. Paul Hovde, 2222 Edgewood Avenue South, stated that he was a contractor and didn't believe this was going to work, because this would be unique in the metropolitan area for one municipality to start requiring continuing education requirements and may result in every City having different requirements which would be confusing for contractors. With no one else wishing to speak, Mayor Jacobs closed the public hearing. Councilmember Brimeyer asked if there were any incidence of mechanical contractors doing installation without proper license or qualifications. Mr. Hoffman stated that there has been a history of concerns with mechanical contracting which was why the ordinance was drafted as presented. Councilmember Sanger stated that she was in favor of providing sufficient authority to the Director of Inspections to develop a list of criteria that a class would be required to have to be an acceptable continuing education class. Mr Meyer, City Manager asked if the Council was looking for additional language to adopted into the ordinance or requesting that Mr. Hoffman develop something separately that would be used as guiding principles in evaluating different courses as to whether or not they would constitute continuing education Mr Hoffman stated that he would work with the Mechanical Association to come up with some guiding principles to put in the ordinance before the second reading It was moved by Councilmember Sanger, seconded by Councilmember Young, to approve first reading of an ordinance amending Chapter 11 of the St. Louis Park Municipal Code by adopting certain environmental and public health regulations by reference. The motion passed 7-0 It was moved by Councilmember Sanger, seconded by Councilmember Santa, to approve first reading of an ordinance amending Chapter 8 of the St Louis Park Municipal Code, concerning open burning within the City of St Louis Park. The motion passed 7-0. It was moved by Councilmember Santa, seconded by Councilmember Nelson, to approve first reading of an ordinance deleting portions of Chapters 11, 13, and 15 of the St. Louis Park Municipal Code and adopting a New Chapter 16 concerning licensing of businesses and activities within the City. The motion passed 7-0. 6. Requests and Communications from the Public - None Council Meeting Minutes -4- October 16, 2000 7. Resolutions, Ordinances, Motions 7a. First Reading of an Ordinance amending Sections 6-155 and 11-103 of the Municipal Code regarding declaration of snow and ice as a nuisance and notice to property owner Mr Rardin, Director of Public Works presented a staff report and recommended deleting Section 11-103 and changing the timeframe in section 6-151 for notice to property owners from 7 to 1 days. Councilmember Sanger was supportive of the change, but was concerned about what would happen if the City gave notice to a pioperty owner and they don't comply. Mr Rardin stated that the provisions were provided in the code. If a property owner didn't comply with notice, the City would have sidewalk cleaned and bill the property owner for the cleaning If the property owner chooses not to pay the bill the amount would be placed on the assessment list for Council review It was moved by Councilmember Sanger, seconded by Councilmember Nelson, to approve first reading The motion passed 7-0 7b. Approval of Contract for Organizational Development Services Charlie Meyer, City Manager briefly described the City desire to bolster the effort in the area of organizational development which included employee training and development Councilmember Latz recommended defering this item and discussing the issue more thoroughly at the next study session. Councilmember Young stated that he was in favor of approving the contract since it had already been discussed at a recent study session Councilmember Latz, seconded by Councilmember Nelson, to defer this item to the next study session The motion passed 6-1. Councilmember Young opposed. 7c. Agreement with CSM— Park Site Torn Harmening, Director of Community Development presented a staff report He described the background of the issue and stated that staff was concerned that CSM was not in total agreement with the language in the document that establishes a framework for the refilling of the site and posting of security by CSM to ensure that the work be completed. Councilmember Nelson asked if the excavation of material was included in the proforma as savings in construction costs of as a source of revenue Mr. Harmening stated that there was probably not a line item in the source and use statement that would have showed revenue associated with any mining activity on the property. Council Meeting Minutes -5- October 16, 2000 Councilmember Bnmeyer asked how was the soil that was removed used. Dave Carland, Vice President of Development of CSM, was confident that this understanding could be worked out. He stated that he believed there was a misunderstanding in the interpretation of what CSM's obligation was on the park land (suitable for park purposes) under the development agreement. He stated that the materials that were removed from the park were moved to other locations on the site and others left the site. He indicated that the good soils were moved to the hotel portion of the project. He stated that the materials that came from the park were not considered to be particularly good materials and provided a letter from a registered licensed soil engineering that stated that the soils when placed in designated location will be suitable for the park land purposes and agreed to pay a soil consultant from the City. He objected to the City holding an unconnected work permit for the hotel Councilmember Nelson asked why the soil was removed. Mr. Carland stated that the soils for entire site area were evaulated in order to minimize the materials that had to be taken off site and best utilize the good materials (compactable material) that were left on site. Councilmember Sanger questioned how much of the soil that was removed would be used at other CSM construction sites and how much was sold. Mr. Carland stated that CSM negotiated with several excavators, but the unsuitable material did not go to any CSM sites. Councilmember Sanger questioned if CSM was strip mining this area on the site. Mr. Carland stated that this was not the case. He stated that the site costs were an expenditure and would have actually cost less if the material was suitable for the site. Councilmember Sanger stated that the failure of CSM to disclose in advance that this action would occur has raised some trust issues She believed CSM had brought the stop work order upon themselves. Mr Carland stated that he didn't believe CSM had made any mistake except to be a little too aggressive in terms of getting started. Councilmember Latz stated that this issue raised a question of good faith and believed that in order to protect the interest of the City certain steps have to be made to make sure the outcome that was wanted will be the outcome that the City gets. He stated that CSM's interest in completing the project was leverage to make sure an agreement was made. Councilmember Bnmeyer asked if CSM was in favor of the agreement being proposed Mr. Carland stated that he thinks he could deliver the park plan, but needed to have the City's soil consultants agree with his consultant's soil standard results. Council Meeting Minutes -6- October 16, 2000 Councilmember Sanger stated that the City has the nght to have expectations that CSM would refill the property with soils that would be suitable for park purposes. Mayor Jacobs stated that it didn't serve anyone's purpose to hold up the construction, but it was important that the City have a developable and suitable park site and that the project gets completed. Mr. Harmening stated that it comes down to the definition of park purposes. Mr. Carland stated that he had no problem agreeing to deliver the soils suitable for what the City has on the park plan. It was moved by Councilmember Sanger, seconded by Councilmember Bnmeyer, to authorize execution of an agreement with CSM and any other necessary parties relating to the refilling of the proposed park site near 16th Street and Zarthan Avenue with the understanding that the draft contract may be modified to clarify the responsibilities of the parties relating to the contract and the filling operations, define park purposes, and include the expectation that staff will review the park plan so it could be developed as indicated. The motion passed 7-0. 8. Board and Committees a. Reappointment of Jim Lanenberg to the Police Civil Service Commission It was moved by Councilmember Young, seconded by Councilmember Santa, to reappoint Jim Lanenberg to the Police Civil Service Commission. The motion passed 7-0. 9. Communications From the City Manager—None From the Mayor— Mayor Jacobs gave an update on the repair to the Rec Center and gave notification that Roger Israel and guests from Taiwan would be present at City Council meeting on December 19, 2000. 10. Adjournment Mayor Jacobs adjourned the meeting at 9 45 p.m ///- Aid Cit Clerk May•