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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2001/06/11 - ADMIN - Minutes - City Council - Study Session ST.CITY Louis OFFICIAL MINUTES PARK CITY COUNCIL STUDY SESSION June 11, 2001 The meeting convened at 7 00 p m Present at the meeting were Councilmembers Jim Bnmeyer, Ron Latz, Chris Nelson, Susan Sanger, and Mayor Jacobs. Staff present Deputy City Manager(Mr. Pires), Director of Community Development (Mr. Harmening), Economic Development Coordinator (Mr. Kleve), Planning and Zoning Supervisor (Ms Jeremiah), Planning Coordinator(Ms. Erickson), Director of Inspections (Mr. Hoffman), Environmental Health Officer(Mr Camilon), Recreation Supervisor (Ms. Wynn-Kienenberger), and City Clerk (Ms Reichert). 1. St. Louis Park Historical Society Richard Lang of the St. Louis Park Historical Society was present at the meeting. He presented a request from the St. Louis Park Historical Society for funding to create an updated book on the history of St. Louis Park Councilmember Sanger inquired about the proposed focus of study. Mr. Lang replied that the book would focus on the most recent twenty-five years. Discussion took place on existing publications about St. Louis Park Councilmembers questioned what format the results would be published in. Councilmember Bnmeyer suggested that the primary focus be on compiling the City's history, with the production format as a secondary focus Council expressed interest in including the city's history in the public arts program currently being developed. Councilmember Nelson asked what kind of staff support would be needed. Mr. Lang felt that there would be opportunity for involvement by city staff in all phases of the project. Councilmember Nelson felt that creating an archive of the city's history is an important activity. Ms Reichert offered to discuss the project with the City Manager to consider additional staff involvement with the project. Ms. Sanger asked representatives of the St. Louis Park Historical Society to review and reconsider some of the publication costs they had cited to the Council. 2. Public Art Jack Becker of FORECAST was present at the meeting. After listening to the previous presentation, Mr. Becker felt confident that history could be incorporated in the public art program He also reported that the public art survey is currently underway and a report on the survey's results will be available in late July 2001. He also reported that Requests for Quotations will be going out for artists to be included in the Park Commons design team The design team will then bring design feasibility and construction information to Council. Study Session Minutes -2- June 11, 2001 Councilmember Young inquired about the possibilities for temporary art installations like the project in Meisner Park in Boca Raton Mr Becker replied that the use of borrowed and temporary are will both be options they'll be looking at. He outlined some of the issues that would arise in developing those programs such as funding and artist incentive to participate. Mr. Becker stated that development of the strategic plan for art will provide a structure within which many forms of public art can be developed. 3. Dan Patch Commuter Rail Stephanie Eller, Consultant with Parsons Bnnkerhof, and Scott Peters, Dakota County Project Manager, were present at the meeting to proved council with results of their research to date. The presentation included information about projected ridership, cost of the system, safety concerns, public feedback, station location, funding, infrastructure and development issues. Ms Eller also encouraged the council to consider location of stations in St. Louis Park as they move forward with development over the coming years. Staff informed council that copies of the technical reports which form the basis for the report are available in the Community Development Office. 4. Park Commons East Ms. Jeremiah discussed the realignment of the Park Edge Road and the location where stakes had been set. She stated that in fact this would not be the place of the road and the stakes would be moved to the proper location. Council would like to be notified when the new stakes are set. Ms Jeremiah also informed council that the Parks and Recreation Department was very concerned that the road would adversely affect Wolfe Park and every effort is being made to mitigate that effect Ms Jeremiah spoke about the entrance to ramps from Excelsior Blvd. and 38`/39` St. She added that if Council directed a change in the access to the ramps, it would significantly impact the project. Dennis Sutliffe, ES&G Architects, spoke about the design of the sidewalk and pedestrian movement The signage plan will be submitted with the final PUD and safety will be addressed throughout the design. Ms. Jeremiah reported that Hennepin County had accepted the plan without comment and thought it a major improvement over existing conditions. Bob Cunningham explained the parking configuration as well as materials to be used for the facades. Mr. Sutliffe spoke about the design of the facades Study Session Minutes -3- June 11, 2001 Councilmember Latz said he does not,feel itis necessary to make everything look the same in this development and wanted it to show variation in design Mr. Sutliffe agreed, stating that he did not want to see a conglomeration of disparate parts, but vanation in design was a desired goal. He believed that a great deal of interest would also be created by facades, signage, displays, awnings, etc. Council agreed to discuss the Park Commons project at the next meeting and place the Final PUD on the first meeting in August if not earlier. Mr. Kleve stated that the legislature was in session again and there may potential hits to the project funding He informed Council that more news would be available later as the legislature continues. Mr. Kleve gave options for recovering funding that would be lost, such as applying for grant funds for which the City may qualify. Mr Harmening replied that the City would like to fill the 1 million dollar gap but is in the same position as the developer, having difficulty fulfilling its TIF obligations. Staff will continue to work toward resolution of the issues 5. Snow Removal Enforcement Ordinance Revisions Mr. Rardin met with Council to discuss possible changes to the snow removal enforcement ordinance. Council agreed with the concept of authorizing non-police staff to issue citations for violations of parking restriction for a snow fall. Council discussed a possible administrative process to impose penalties for failure to maintain sidewalks free of ice and snow. Council instructed staff to move forward with the process and develop a plan for future discussion. They also urged staff to develop an educational program for homeowners on snow removal 6. Point-of-Sale Home Inspection Program Mr Hoffman presented a brief overview of the history of this program and asked the council what kinds of feedback they had received about the program. Mr. Hoffman pointed out some problems with the program as currently structured and informed council that he would be incorporating their comments into a plan for restructuring which would be brought back for discussion at a future meeting. 7. Communications Councilmember Sanger raised concerns about the Elmwood Study Program and possible a possible conflict of interest Staff agreed to follow up on those concerns. S. Adjournment The meeting was adjourned at 11:19 p.m. `�• �� / j C y Clerk ay"