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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2001/06/18 - ADMIN - Minutes - City Council - Regular CITY OF OFFICIAL MINUTES ST. LOUIS CITY COUNCIL MEETING PARK ST. LOUIS PARK, MINNESOTA June 18, 2001 1. Call to Order and Roll Call Mayor Jacobs called the meeting to order at 7:30 p.m. The following Councilmembers were present at roll call: Jim Brimeyer, Chns Nelson, Susan Sanger, Robert Young, Ron Latz, and Mayor Jeff Jacobs. Councilmember Susan Santa was absent. Also present were the City Manager (Mr. Meyer); City Attorney (Ms. Poehler); Director of Community Development (Mr Harmening); Director of Public Works (Mr. Rardin); Superintendent of Engineering (Mr. Moore); City Clerk (Ms. Reichert); and St. Louis Park City Housing Coordinator (Kathy Larsen). 2. Presentations a. Wallace Sanford Recognition Mayor Jacobs presented a resolution and plaque to Wallace Sanford in recognition of 33 years of service to the City of St. Louis Park and Public Works Department. 3. Approval of Minutes a City Council Minutes of June 4, 2001. The minutes were approved with the following changes: Councilmember Nelson noted that where the corrections called for on June 4th to the minutes of May 21' read: "Page 16, item 7c, the vote was missing from the minutes. The clerk offered to review the tape and make corrections." The minutes should be corrected to continue with the following statement: "The review of the tape showed the following and the minutes of May 21, 2001 have been corrected to read, `It was moved by Councilmember Santa, seconded by Councilmember Latz, to approve Resolution No. 01-045 allowing Sholom Community Alliance to issue up to $19,000,000 in Private Activity Revenue Bonds and approve all documents in connection with the bond issue. Motion passed 7-0'." 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 Council Meeting Minutes -2- June 18, 2001 4a. Agenda It was moved by Councilmember Nelson, seconded by Councilmember Sanger, to approve the agenda The motion passed 6-0. 4b. Consent Agenda It was moved by Councilmember Nelson, seconded by Councilmember Latz, to approve the following Consent Agenda Items The motion passed 6-0. 1. To accept the following reports for filing: a Planning Commission Minutes of May 16, 2001 b. Housing Authority Minutes of May 9, 2001 c. Vendor Claims 2. To approve Second Reading of an ordinance to vacate portions of streets, an alley, and a sidewalk easement in Park Commons East, to adopt Ordinance No. 2200-01, approve the Summary ordinance, and authorize publication. Case No. 01-08-VAC 3. Removed from Consent to Agenda Item 7b. (To authorize Hennepin County to initiate a consultant selection process for the Elmwood Area Study. Case Nos. 01-29-CP) 4. To designate Ron Kassa Construction, Inc the lowest responsible bidder and authonze execution of a contract with the firm in the amount of $30,269.40 for City-wide random curb and gutter and gutter repair work— City Project No. 01-01. 5 To adopt Resolution No. 01-052 for authonzation to enter into a lease agreement between the City and Spnnt Spectrum L.P. (Sprint) for space on the water tower at 2500 Nevada Avenue for communications antenna for an initial lease term of five (5) years with option for four (4) additional five (5) year renewal terms. 6. To adopt Resolution No. 01-051 recognizing Wallace Sanford for 33 years of dedicated service to the City of St. Louis Park in the Public Works Department, Operations Division. 5. Public Hearings 5a Public Hearing to consider reallocation of Community Development Block Grant Funds and authorize execution of any Third Party Agreements. Resolution No. 01-053. Kathy Larsen, Housing Coordinator, reported the deadline for contracting 1999 CDBG funds is June 30, 2001. Currently, there is $52,000 in 1999 CDBG funds to be recaptured by the county. The following reallocation would prevent this: Allocate the 1999 Home Renewal Funds to two previously approved projects, Prospectives, which was approved for grant year 2001; and the Cash Emergency Repair Program, which was allocated in 2000. In turn, the 2000 Cash Emergency Repair Program and the 2001 Prospectives allocations Council Meeting Minutes -3= .,June 18, 2001 would be reallocated to the Home Renewal Program The funding level of the three projects would remain unchanged, only the grant year status would change. According to Ms. Larsen, if the Home Renewal monies allocated for 2001 were available, the City would be able to purchase blighted properties when those properties are identified. It was moved by Councilmember Latz, seconded by Councilmember Young, to adopt Resolution No. 01-053 approving reallocation of Urban Hennepin County Community Development Block Grant funds, and authorizing execution of any related Third Party Agreements. The motion passed 6-0. 6. Requests and Communications from the Public--None 7. Resolutions, Ordinances, Motions 7a. Miscellaneous Zoning Ordinance amendments to Sections 14:6-2.6, 14:6- 6.2(F)(1), and 14:912 (F) to consistently classify a sign as a structure instead of a use, establish a 1 year time limit for the installation of exterior finishes for single and two family homes, and lengthen the time to file the final plat from 60 days to 6 months. Mr Harming, presented a staff report summarizing proposed amendments to the ordinance, and noted that two sections pertaining to shed permits and certificates are being pulled for further review. The remaining items pertain to consistently referencing a sign as a structure instead of a use, setting a time limit for the installation of exterior finished and setting a time limit for filing a final plat. Councilmember Latz questions the provisions regarding the 60-day time limit. Mr. Harmening responded that the purpose of a time limit is to ensure that approved plats are recorded in a timely fashion. It is at the City Council's discretion to determine the length of time to allowed to file the final plat, and 60 days has proven to be inadequate for developers working on complicated projects. Ms Poehler concurred that 60 days is an inadequate time period. Typically, she has seen time limits from 90-120 days, considered 6 months to be a reasonable time period Councilmember Latz commented that if progress is inadequate in regard to a final plat deadline, the City has the option of not granting an extension. It was moved by Councilmember Latz, seconded by Councilmember Sanger to adopt first reading of the proposed Zoning Ordinance amendments and set second reading for the July 2, 2001 City Council Meeting The motion passed 6-0. 7b. To authorize Hennepin County to initiate a consultant selection process for the Elmwood Area Study. Case Nos. 01-29-CP. Councilmember Sanger had requested that the Elmwood Study be placed on the regular agenda for discussion due to concerns that conflict of interest may exist in having the Hennepin County Railroad Authority pay for a study in which railroad issues could play a fairly predominant role She noted that the rail bridge replacement has been a subject of Council Meeting Minutes -4- June 18,2001 study for the railroad task force for some time and did not think that it should be included in the scope of a study given the fact that the study is to be funded by the Hennepin County Railroad Authority. She believed the type of bridge built or rebuilt over Highway 100 is an issue of construction, engineering, and railroad operations and not a question of land use in the Elmwood Area. City Manager, Mr. Meyer, stated the type of railroad bridge to be built over Highway 100, to some extent, dictates the type of rail traffic that will occur in the vicinity of Elmwood; and freight, commuter, or light rail will have some bearing on how the planning is done. The scope of study could be further clarified to call for study of each type of rail use and how each use would affect the redevelopment of the Elmwood Area. Councilmember Sanger asked it the revised draft would come back to the Council for approval. Mayor Jacobs responded that the document itself does not require council approval. The intent of the council's action at this time would be to authorize Hennepin County to initiate a selection process, and ultimately there would be a contract between a consultant and Hennepin County Councilmember Sanger asked if the Council will have further input into the scope of the study and, if so, how and when. Mr. Meyer stated that it was his understanding that the Council could provide further input and that the document could be redrafted to satisfy Councilmembers' concerns. Councilmember Nelson stated his concern that the document is too heavily oriented toward transportation issues. The first five of the study issues, relate to transportation, and it is only the sixth and final area that addresses redevelopment interests. He felt more balance should be provided by the desired study outcomes Mr. Meyer said that in light of Councilmembers' concerns he would like to redraft sections of the document The redraft will not be sent to Hennepin County until the Council is satisfied, and the redraft could be provided at a Study Session as a written report or attachment to the City Manager Digest for council review. Mr. Meyer agreed with Councilmember Nelson's concern that the document is heavily oriented towards transportation Mr Meyer wants to show that a focus is being placed on some problems that are facing the City as opposed to simply looking at opportunities Councilmember Brimeyer agreed but for different reasons. He said from the standpoint of a consultant it would be difficult to respond because there are so many "what ifs" that will have an impact on land use. Perhaps the focus should be a land use study first. Councilmember Nelson moved approval to authorize Hennepin County to initiate a consultant selection process for the Elmwood Area Study.with the understanding that Council will have an opportunity to see another draft of the scope of study prior to requesting proposals from consultants. Council Meeting Minutes -5- June 18,2001 Councilmember Sanger did not feel it was appropriate to move approval to initial at a consultant selection process until the draft scope of,study had been finalized. She suggested continuing to a subsequent meeting to give council an opportunity to further review the draft Councilmember Brimeyer moved continuance of the item to a future meeting. The motion was seconded by Councilmember Latz. Motion passed 6-0. 8. Boards and Committees - None 9. Communications From the City Manager—Mr. Meyer distributed a brief report compiled on June 18, 2001 regarding the impact of an impending shutdown of State government on St. Louis Park services and employees. From the Mayor—Mayor Jacobs commented that Parktacular was a wonderful success. He thanked those on the Parktacular committee who helped to fund and put it together 10. Adjournment Mayor Jacobs adjourned the meeting at 8 12 p.m D. A Cit/Clerk •yor