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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2004/09/07 - ADMIN - Minutes - City Council - Regular CITY OF OFFICIAL MINUTES ST. LOUIS CITY COUNCIL MEETING PARK ST. LOUIS PARK, MINNESOTA Tuesday, September 7, 2004 - 7:30 p.m. 1. Call to Order Mayor Jacobs called the meeting to order at 7.30 p.m. Present at the meeting were Councilmembers John Basil!, Phil Finkelstein, Paul Omodt, Susan Sanger, Sue Santa, Sally Velick, and Mayor Jeff Jacobs Staff present City Manager(Mr. Harmening), Community Development Director (Mr Locke), Assistant Zoning Administrator(Mr Morrison), Finance Director(Ms McGann), Fire Chief(Mr. Stemmer), City Attorney (Mr Scott), and City Clerk (Ms. Reichert) 2. Presentations a. St. Louis Park Soccer Association —by Mayor b. Evergreen Awards—by Jim Vaughan c. Resolution Recognizing Bruce Johnson — by Mayor 3. Approval of Minutes a. City Council Minutes of August 16, 2004 Page 2, Paragraph 3 Councilmember Finkelstein wanted the minutes to reflect that he asked for copies of all exit interviews from persons moving away from Louisiana Court Page 11, Paragraph 2 Councilmember Finkelsteinremoved the comment that he vaguely remembers the discussion in September of 2003. Page 13, Paragraph 3 Councilmember Basil! changed "he went on to say" to "Mr. Davis' letter went on to say". b. City Council Study Session Minutes of August 23,2004 Page 1, Paragraph 5, Councilmember Santa stated that the comments had been made by Councilmember Sanger. Page 1, Paragraph 6, Councilmember Santa clarified that the street was Webster Street. Page 1, Paragraph 6, Councilmember Basil! removed the sentence dealing with density and profit c. City Council Study Session Minutes of August 9, 2004 Item 2, Councilmember Santa replaced `cluster housing" with "concentrating housing types in the area". City Council Minutes -2- Sept. 7, 2004 d. City Council Study Minutes of July 12, 2004 he minutes were approved above noted corrections 4. Approval of Agenda and Items on Consent Calendar 4a Motion to adopt Resolution 04-109 authorizing installation of permit parking in front of 2716 Dakota Avenue South 4b Motion to authorize the Mayor and City Manager to amend a contract with WSB and Associates Inc. (Contract No. 100-00) to provide professional services for the Louisiana Avenue Traffic Improvement Project- City Project No 00-17 4c Motion to adopt Resolution 04-110 authonzmg continuation of temporary permit parking in front of 3128 Idaho Avenue South 4d Motion to designate EnComm Midwest, Inc. the lowest responsible bidder and authorize execution of a contract with the firm in the amount of$338,338.00 for Water Treatment Plant No. 10 Filter Rehabilitation Project—Project No. 20041300 4e Motion to designate Ron Kassa Construction, Inc. as the lowest responsible bidder and authorize'execution of a contract with the firm in the amount of$40,461.49 for Alley Improvement Project-W. 42nd Street and Ottawa Avenue, Project No 04-16 4f Motion to designate Ti-Zack Concrete, Inc the lowest responsible bidder and authorize execution of a contract with the firm in the amount of$58,851.50 for the 2004 Annual Sidewalk Maintenance Project—City Project No. 04-0003 4g Motion to accept for filing the Board of Zoning Appeals Minutes of July 22, 2004 4h Motion to accept for filing the Planning Commission Minutes of July 7, 2004 4i Motion to accept for filing the Planning Commission Minutes of July 21, 2004 4j Motion to accept for filing the Planning Commission Minutes of August 18, 2004 4k Motion to accept Vendor Claims for filing (Supplement) 41 Motion to accept resolution recognizing Bruce Johnson 4m Motion to accept for filing the Park and Recreation Advisory Commission Minutes of April 21, 2004 4n Motion to accept for filing the Telecommunication Advisory Commission Minutes of May 6, 2004 4o Motion to accept for filing the Fire Civil Service Commission Minutes of August 16, 2004 It was motioned by Councilmember Veltck, seconded by Counctlmember Sanger, to approve the agenda as presented and to approve items listed on the consent calendar. The motion passed 7-0 5. Boards and Commissions City Council Minutes -3- Sept. 7, 2004 It was motioned by Councilmember Finkelstein, seconded by Councilmember Santa to appoint Robert Kramer to the Planning Commission for a term ending on December 31, 2006 The motion passed 7-0. 6. Public Hearings - None 7. Requests,Petitions,and Communications from the Public - None 8. Resolutions, Ordinances,Motions 8a. Approve preliminary property tax levy and budget for the 2005 fiscal year, revisions to the 2004 adopted budget, set Public Hearing date for proposed budget and property tax levy, and approve HRA levy for taxes payable in 2005 Ms. McGann stated that a six percent property tax levy increase is proposed to cover general operations, park improvements, and some allocation to the Park and Recreation Division She stated that the property tax increase will allow restoration of some services such as weed control, public property tree trimming, funding to non-profit organizations, funding for neighborhood grants, weekend maintenance at the Police Department, and funding for technology. She stated that a portion of the property tax levy is for two outstanding general obligation bonds. Ms. McGann stated that the Economic Development Authority has previously approved the HRA levy and that Council approval is also required . Ms. McGann recommended setting December 6, 2004 as the date for the public hearing for the proposed budget and property tax levy Councilmember Sanger asked for clanfication on the change in tree tnmming as the public has shown interest in it Mr. Harmening replied that last year the City removed itself from the tree tnmming business and placed the responsibility on residents. He reported that they are experiencing problems with this arrangement and staff is proposing to restore tree tnmming service. However, they would be bidding out the service to a contractor rather than hiring back staff. Mr Harmening stated that the estimated cost of restoring tree trimming service would be about$60,000. Mr. Harmening clarified that the proposed property tax could not be set any higher during future deliberations, but could conceivably go lower as we move toward setting the final figure Motion by Councilmember Santa, seconded by Councilmember Omodt, to adopt Resolution 04-105 establishing the preliminary tax levy and budget for 2005, approve revisions to the 2004 adopted budget,and set the public hearing date for proposed budget and property tax levy for December 6, 2004 The motion passed unanimously. City Council Minutes -4- Sept. 7, 2004 Motion by Councilmember Fmklestein, seconded by Councilmember Velick to approve the HRA property tax levy for taxes payable in 2005 The motion passed unanimously. 8b. Linda Sandbo's application for an amendment to St. Louis Park Ordinance Code (Zoning) to allow group day cares in the industrial districts that are not intended solely for the use of employees. Case Nos. 04-39-ZA Mr. Morrison stated that the current Zoning Code does not allow day care that is open to the general public in the Industnal distnct He clanfied that the intent of the Zoning Code was to restnct day care to those companies that would provide day care solely for its employees Ms. Linda Sandbo, 4205 Webster Ave S, has applied for an amendment to allow group daycare in the industrial areas. Mr. Momson stated that there are two resolutions, one for the requested changes by the applicant and one recommended by the Planning Commission that would allow the group daycare to be approved by Conditional Use Permit. Ms. Sandbo inquired why it would change to the Conditional Use Permit process. Mr. Morrison replied that concerns were raised about the appropnateness of daycare in the Industrial distnct and other such concerns as truck noise, odors, matenals, etc Upon discussion, the Planning Commission felt that it should be approved by Conditional Use Permit which allows public review He stated that if it was permitted by conditions, there would be no public review Councilmember Velick inquired why the fence was proposed to be lower and not higher. Mr. Morrison explained that a three foot fence would allow a view of activities in the yard and would prove to be the safest option for the children. Councilmember Sanger felt the Planning Commission changes were appropnate She understood the need for a daycare to be at least 350 feet from a sexually onented business and inquired if they could also add the reverse of that to state that once a daycare is established a sexually onented business cannot move within that same distance to the daycare. Mr. Momson stated that there already are stipulations that keep sexually oriented businesses away from sensitive uses. Councilmember Sanger asked Ms. Sandbo if her intent was to move into a light or heavy industnal area and Ms. Sandbo replied that they were looking at light industrial areas. Councilmember Sanger inquired if they could limit daycare to the light industrial areas. Mr. Harmening stated that by doing so, they may be limiting some of the heavier uses in the Industnal Park distnct. Councilmember Basill asked if they used to allow daycare in the industnal parks prior to 1992. He stated that since then the area has become cleaner. Councilmember Basill had concerns about including the Conditional Use Permit and felt it was somewhat of a double standard to have one daycare go through the CUP process and not require others to do so He did not feel they needed to put daycares through the CUP process each time. Mayor Jacobs would rather retain the CUP level of scrutiny. He had concerns about what uses would come into the area in the future. Councilmembers Finkelstein and Santa agreed with Mayor Jacobs. Councilmember Basill inquired how long the CUP process takes and Mr Momson replied that it takes one to two months. Councilmember Velick stated her support for the ordinance as recommended by the Planning Commission. City Council Minutes -5- Sept 7, 2004 Councilmember Basill inquired if they need to add the extra language that was recommended by the Planning Commission. Mr. Scott felt they needed the language included and stated that there are general conditions that apply to every CUP but they do not quite address the details as much as needed. Councilmember Basill stated that he received a call from a business owner who asked what would happen if a hazardous site moved in. Mr. Mornson stated that he did not think they would be able to deny an industnal use if it were permitted by the Zoning Code. Councilmember Basill stated that the business owner was in support of the daycare but did not want to see future industnal uses limited to the area. It was motioned by Councilmember Sanger, seconded by Councilmember Velick to approve 1st reading of an ordinance amending Sections 36-243(d)and 36-244(d) to add day care as a Conditional Use in both the Industrial Park and General Industrial Districts, as recommended by the Planning Commission. The motion passed 6-1, Councilmember Basill opposed. Councilmember Basill wanted to state for the record that he is opposing the ordinance because he felt that the delay of the CUP process could be a hardship in certain cases 8c. Ratification of Aquila Commons Tax Increment Finance District . Mr. Locke stated that the August 2°d City Council's action creating the Tax Increment District (TIF)for the Aquila Commons Project was conditioned on Council approval of the Comprehensive Plan amendment necessary for the Aquila Commons project to go forward. He stated that the Comprehensive Plan amendment was approved August 16, 2004, which made it somewhat unclear as to when the official start date of the tax increment district is. Based on the advice of the Redevelopment/Tax Increment Financing attorney, the'City Council is being asked to adopt a ratification resolution establishing the official approval date for the TIF district for the Aquila Commons project on the Talmud Torah school site. Mayor Jacobs wanted the record to show that Council received and reviewed a letter from William Watson, 3200 Virginia Ave S #302 (Clerk's File No. 24). It was motioned by Councilmember Finkelstein, seconded by Councilmember Santa, to adopt Resolution 04-107 ratifying adoption of Modification to the Redevelopment Plan for Redevelopment Project No. 1 and establishment of the Aquila Commons Tax Increment Financing District therein and ratifying adoption of tax increment financing plan therefore The motion passed 5-2, Councilmembers Sanger and Omodt opposed. 8d. Purchase of tax forfeited property, 1600 Hampshire Ave South,from Hennepin County. Case No. 04-45-RE Mr. Locke stated that the parcel is in the Eliot neighborhood and is an opportunity for the City to acquire and then sell a site for move up housing. In order for that to happen, Council would be required to adopt a resolution stating the intent to purchase the property and to clarify that the property is suitable for use other than conservation. The purchase would be City Council Minutes -6- Sept. 7, 2004 through the Housing Authority and the funds would come from the Housing Rehab fund. Dispersal of the property would be done under the Home Renewal project. It was motioned by Councilmember Velick, seconded by Councilmember Basill, to approve Resolution04-108 approving designation of non-conservation land shown on Classification List "1297 C/NC" by Board of County Commissioners of Hennepin County. The motion passed unanimously. 9. Communications Mr. Harmening informed the Council and public of the Susan B. Koeman Breast Cancer 3-Day Walk to happen Sept.10-12. The walkers will be staying in St. Louis Park at the Junior High School Mayor Jacobs urged the public to be cautious when traveling in that area as there will be many walkers. Councilmember Santa encouraged everyone to use great care when using any street that crosses the Hutchinson Spur or Cedar trail. Mr Harmening stated that staff was hoping to tour some of the Capital Improvement Plan sites with Council in the next few weeks. Councilmember Finkelstein gave a reminder about the fundraiser for the senior center at Lenox. It will be held Friday, September 10 and will be a Belgian waffle dinner. 10. Adjournment The meeting was adjourned 8:30 p.m. v w city Clerk Ma or