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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2004/10/18 - ADMIN - Minutes - City Council - Regular CITY OF OFFICIAL MINUTES ST. LOUIS CITY COUNCIL MEETING PARK ST. LOUIS PARK, MINNESOTA October 18, 2004 1. Call to Order Mayor Jacobs called the meeting to order at 7.30 pm. Councilmembers present Mayor Jeff Jacobs, John Basill, Phil Finkelstein, Paul Omodt, Sue Santa, and Sally Velick Councilmembers absent: Susan Sanger Staff present: City Attorney (Mr. Scott), Finance Director(Ms McGann), Human Resources Director (Ms. Gohman), Public Works/Engmeering Coordinator (Mr Merkley), Superintendent of Facilities Maintenance (Mr. John Altepeter), and Recording Secretary (Ms Stegora-Peteison) 2. Presentations - None 3. Approval of Minutes 3a. City Council Minutes of October 4, 2004 The minutes were approved as presented. 4. Approval of Agenda and Items on Consent Calendar NOTE The Consent Calendar lists 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 4a Approve Amendment No. 1 to Contract No. 29-03 with Howard R Green Co. for consultant services related to the upgrade of Water Treatment Plant No 10 4b Adopt Resolution No. 04-129 appointing student judges and additional judges needed to staff the polls at the Presidential Election to be held November 2, 2004 4c Approve second reading of Ordinance 2280-04 vacating an easement to construct slopes and erect and maintain temporary snow fences associated with the reconstruction of Cedar Lake Road created in Document No 2826324 on June 11, 1953 at Cedar Lake Road and Park Place Blvd, approve summary, and authorize publication. 4d Authorize the Mayor and City Manager to execute an Encroachment Agreement with the Johnson's, 7115 23rd Street West, for use of City right-of-way for placement of a fence. 4e Authorize the Mayor and City Manager to execute an Encroachment Agreement with Graphco Securities, Inc., 5330 Cedar Lake Road, for use of City right-of-way for a parking lot. 4f Approve Resolution No. 04-124 for a minor amendment to the Final PUD for Rottlund Homes for property located at 3630 Wooddale Ave, 5951 and 5957 W 37`h Street, 5912 Oxford Street, 5916 Oxford Street, 5920 Oxford Street, 5926 Oxford Street to reduce the size of the senior condo building from 4 stones to 3 stones and to decrease the number of senior condo units from 80 to 60. Case Nos 04-53-PUD Council Meeting Minutes -2- October 18, 2004 4g Authorize the Mayor and City Manager to execute an Encroachment Agreement with Ms. Laura Stahnke, 4100 Sunset Boulevard, for use of City right-of-way for a sprinkler system 4h Adopt Resolution No. 04-123 to request funding from the Minnesota Department of Transportation through the Municipal Agreement Program for intersection improvements at Trunk Highway 7 and Wooddale Avenue 4i Adopt Resolution 04-130 Authorizing Special Assessment of Dutch Elm Diseased Trees 4j Accept Park and Recreation Advisory Commission Minutes of May 19, 2004 4k Accept Vendor Claims (Supplement) 41 Adopt Resolution No. 04-131 authorizing final payment to Pearson Brothers, Inc. for satisfactorily completing sealcoating and fogsealing, as per Contract No 66-04 It was moved by Councilmember Santa, seconded by Councilmember Velick to approve the Agenda and items listed on the Consent Calendar The motion passed 6-0. 5. Boards and Commissions a. It was moved by Councilmember Santa, seconded by Councilmember Velick to appoint Jeff Jacobs to the Community Education Advisory Council. The motion passed 6-0, with 6. Public Hearings 6a. Public Hearing on the Levying of Assessments for Delinquent Fees and Charges Resolution No. 04-125 Ms McGann presented the staff report Mayor Jacobs asked if the fees were typically utility bills and those sorts of fees9 Ms McGann replied delinquent utility bills, nuisance abatement, false alarm charges and things of that nature Mayor Jacobs asked the range of individual charges Ms McGann replied it could be from $100 up to $600, and some could be more Mayor Jacobs asked if these would be attached to the property taxes for next year. Ms. McGann replied yes, they would be attached to the individual property owners property tax bill It was a one-year assessment. Mayor Jacobs opened the public hearing. There being no persons wishing to speak, the public hearing was closed. Council Meeting Minutes -3- October 18, 2004 It was moved by Councilmember Santa, seconded by Councilmember Finkelstein to adopt Resolution No. 04-125 to assess delinquent water, sewer, refuse and other fees and charges. The motion passed 6-0. 6b. 2005 Budget and Property Owner Service Charge for Special Service District No. 1 Resolution No. 04-126 Mr. Merkley presented the staff report. Mayor Jacobs indicated that all three of the Special Service Districts were along Excelsior Boulevard and this was an additional charge that the property owners within the district would pay for enhanced services for things such as: snow removal, street cleaning, maintenance of the sidewalks and streets, vegetation, streetscaping and lighting. In his opinion, the special service district program has been very successful and has really helped spruce up Excelsior Boulevard and make it look very good. He wanted to thank the property owners in all three districts for doing a remarkable job of making Excelsior Boulevard a special place Mayor Jacobs opened the public hearing There being no persons wishing to speak, the public hearing was closed. Councilmember Santa clarified that these are business districts and not residential districts as residential properties are not eligible to participate in the special service district program. It was moved by Councilmember Basill, seconded by Counctlmember Santa to approve Resolution No. 04-126 setting the 2005 Budget and Property Owner Service Charge for Special Service District No. 1 and directing staff to certify the annual service charge to Hennepin County The motion passed 6-0. 6c. 2005 Budget and Property Owner Service Charge for Special Service District No. 2 Resolution No. 04-127 Mr. Merkley presented the staff report. Mayor Jacobs opened the public hearing David Payne, President of Special Service District No. 2, thanked Mr. Merkley and John Altepeter for doing such a wonderful job. They were looking into fiber optic lights in place of the Tivoli lighting. The bollards would now be plastic instead of concrete. They were doing a tremendous amount of research and they did a very good job, which helped the City. Someday many other cities would be using special service districts because they were a good way to go. They could control what was going on in their district and it was fully funded Council Meeting Minutes -4- October 18, 2004 Mayor Jacobs commended the owners along Excelsior Boulevard for understanding what Mr. Payne was talking about. It was a tremendous enhancement to the boulevard and made it look very good. He had someone in from out of town who drove along Excelsior Boulevard at night and was very impressed with the up lighting on the trees and the vegetation. It added a touch of class. Mayor Jacobs closed the public hearing. It was moved by Councilmember Basill, seconded by Councilmember Velick to approve Resolution No. 04-127 setting the 2005 Operating Budget and Property Owner Service Charge for Special Service District No. 2 and directing staff to certify the annual service charge to Hennepin County. The motion passed 6-0. 6d. 2005 Budget and Property Owner Service Charge for Special Service District No. 3 Resolution No. 04-128 Mr Merkley presented the staff report. Mayor Jacobs opened the public hearing. There being no speakers, the public hearing was closed. It was moved by Councilmember Basill, seconded by Councilmember Santa to approve Resolution No. 04-128 setting the 2005 Operating Budget and Property Owner Service Charge for Special Service District No. 3 and directing staff to certify the annual service charge to Hennepin County. The motion passed 6-0. 6e. Public Hearing to Consider 2005 Fees Ms. McGann presented the staff report. She pointed out one notable change related to the fee schedule under the multi-family rental housing license fee, the fee was increased from $100 per building and $6 per unit within the building to $125 per building and the $6 per unit remained the same. With the exception of that change, all of the fees were remaining stable from the 2004 fee schedule The Finance Department was working with individual departments to ensure that the costs associated with the fees were appropriate As they went into the 2006 budget year, they may recommend some changes Mayor Jacobs hoped people realized that they attempted to cover the costs of the administration of the program for whatever the fees were covenng. Ms McGann replied that was correct. They do an analysis to look at the direct and indirect costs associated with each individual fee. They only charge the amount that it actually costs for the individual program. Mayor Jacobs opened the public hearing. There being no speakers, the public hearing was closer' Councilmember Omodt noted on page 5, 8-258, regarding the restaurant smoking area surcharge, they discussed this at a study session and he asked how that would be handled going forward. Ms. McGann replied that her understanding was that it was in the fee , Council Meeting'Minutes -5- October 18, 2004 schedule now, however they had the authority and ability to amend the fee schedule at any time. The fee will be charged quarterly this year Councilmember Finkelstein noted that Hennepin County's fee didn't go into effect on the no-smoking ban until March 31st. They had at least the first quarter. Mayor Jacobs understanding was that they talked about not imposing any additional fee after March 315`of 2005 and he assumed that the ordinance was going into effect and there wouldn't be much reason for them to enforce the ordinance after that time Ms. McGann indicated in the first quarter of 2005, this fee ordinance would be amended to reflect those adjustments to be effective as of the March 31st date. Councilmember Omodt indicated 30-158 on page 7, the snow fall parking permit, he knew they discussed this and came up with the off-street parking available charge of $125, but he thought that fee was too high. It was moved by Counctlmember Omodt to change the snow fall parking permit fee to $100 Councilmember Velick asked why he believed the fee was too high. Councilmember Omodt replied that in many neighborhoods in the City, such as the one he used to live in, there wasn't a lot of parking. People that have a one-car garage or lack of alley access, were penalized if they had a two-car family The same with neighborhoods such as 18`h and 19`h and Nevada with small lots where there was only one place to park. He thought $125 was a lot for people who were doing their best to find parking They didn't have the garage or street space to do it and they were charging them a lot of money to park. Councilmember Velick recalled when they discussed this that there were areas where people could park that weren't restricted. That was one of the justifications for the charge. Councilmember Santa added that in those instances when people did not have off-street parking, they had the option of a "no-charge," which was in the ordinance, no off-street parking available, no-charge for that permit. That was why she was open to the $125 fee when they did have off-street parking available Mayor Jacobs asked if there was a second to Councilmember Omodt's motion Councilmember Bastll seconded. Councilmember Basill wanted to be sure if someone had no off-street parking, they could still get a free permit. Ms. McGann replied that was correct. Councilmember Basill stated that the $125 fee was supposed to be reasonable to cover the costs of the snow plow going back to clean up if someone parked on the street when they shouldn't have. Ms. McGann replied she believed that statement was correct. Council Meeting Minutes -6- October 18, 2004 Ms. Gohman stated that at $125 or$100, it was a significant impact. If the Council chose to make an amendment to $100 it was still sufficient to cover what they needed to, although they were recommended $125 to adequately cover the costs. The motion failed 1-5 (Councilmembers Velack, Finklestein, Santa, Jacobs, Basall opposed). Councilmember Velick asked what a courtesy bench was and what the $35 fee was for' Ms. McGann replied that from time to time staff goes out to the different benches in the city to do clean up and garbage removal. Councilmember Basill asked about the change on the multi-family rental housing license fee, did that go up because it was taking more time for the Inspectors to go through') Ms. McGann replied yes. They went through the complete cost analysis to see how much time with both the direct and indirect costs it takes to do the multi-family housing inspections. That was why they were recommending the increases. Councilmember Basill thought they needed to keep that in mind as they looked to other non-homesteaded properties and that the fee that they had wasn't quite enough, as they looked at single-family and duplexes that were rented, they should keep that in mind It was moved by Councilmember Velick, seconded by Councilmember Santa to approve 1st reading and set second reading for November 1, 2004 The motion passed 6-0. 6f. Public Hearing to consider granting an off-sale liquor license to Chateau Louis, DBA WineStyles of Excelsior & Grand, 3840 Grand Way, St. Louis Park MN Ms. McGann presented the staff report. Mayor Jacobs opened the public hearing. Nancy Beskar, 3017 E Calhoun Pkwy, President of Chateau Louis, stated that this would be a retail wine store and their focus was to provide great wines at affordable prices. They were very excited to have their first store in Minnesota at this location This would be their flagship store and the development at Excelsior and Grand exceeded their expectations for what they wanted in a location. Mayor Jacobs closed the public hearing. It was moved by Councilmember Basill, seconded by Councilmember Santa to approve an off-sale intoxicating liquor license to Chateau Louis, DBA WineStyles of Excelsior & Grand. The motion passed 6-0. 6g. CANCELLED ITEM: Determination of public need of tax forfeit land 7. Requests,Petitions, and Communications from the Public—None Council Meeting Minutes -7- October 18, 2004 8. Resolutions, Ordinances,Motions - None 9. Communications Mayor Jacobs stated if people had not registered to vote, go out and do it. The City Clerk's Office was available to do that or people could contact the League of Women Voter's to get information If people were unsure of where their polling place was, they could contact the League or the City Clerk's Office and they would be able to tell them where the polling place was They were expecting a heavy turn out this year and if people would be unavailable on election day, they could get an absentee ballot from the City Clerk's office. 10. Adjournment The meeting adjourned at 7:58 p.m Ci Clerk Ma,or '