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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2005/09/06 - ADMIN - Minutes - City Council - Regular CITY OF OFFICIAL MINUTES JST. LOUIS CITY COUNCIL MEETING PARK ST. LOUIS PARK, MINNESOTA September 6,2005 1. Call to Order Mayor Jacobs called the meeting to order at 7:30 pm. Council members present: Mayor Jeff Jacobs, John Basill, Jim Brimeyer, Phil Finkelstein, Paul Omodt, Susan Sanger and Sue Santa Staff present: Associate Planner(Mr. Fulton), City Manager(Mr. Harmening), City Attorney (Mr. Scott), Civic TV Coordinator(Mr. Dunlap), Community TV Coordinator(Mr. McHugh), Director of Technology and Support Services (Mr. Pires), Environmental Coordinator(Mr. Vaughan), Finance Director(Ms. McGann), Planning/Zoning Supervisor(Ms. McMonigal), Public Works Director(Mr. Rardin), Public Works Operations Superintendent(Mr. Hanson) and Recording Secretary(Ms. Stegora-Peterson). 2. Presentations a. Evergreen Awards Mr. Vaughan presented Evergreen awards to Kay Wolfe and Gary Opperman, Steven and Sandra Katkov and Wayne and Deborah Johnson. b. EVR Grant Award—Commissioner Dorfman Commissioner Dorfman presented a check for$4.75 million to the City of St. Louis Park for clean up of the Golden site. The Council thanked staff and Commissioner Dorfman for working to obtain the funds. Councilmember Basill indicated that the Elmwood neighborhood had already publicized how pleased they were about this and had watched this carefully. He thanked Commissioner Dorfman on behalf of the neighbors. 3. Approval of Minutes 3a. City Council Minutes of August 15, 2005 The minutes were approved as presented. 3b. Study Session Minutes of August 15, 2005 The minutes were approved as presented. 3c. Study Session Minutes of July 25, 2005 Councilmember Santa indicated she should be shown as absent. The minutes were approved as corrected. 3c. Study Session Minutes of August 1, 2005 The minutes were approved as presented. Council Meeting Minutes -2- September 6, 2005 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 appropnate section of the regular agenda for discussion. 4a Approve a contract with Three Rivers Park District to clear and remove snow from the LRT and Cedar Lake Extension Trails through the City of St. Louis Park for 2005-2006 winter season 4b Adopt Resolution No. 05-117 approving a Minor Amendment to Park Tavern's Special Permit to allow a change in security requirements relating to an approved building addition 4c Bid Tabulation: Designate Cool Air Mechanical, Inc. the lowest responsible bidder and authorize execution of a contract with the firm in the amount of $85,200.00 for the 2005 Police Department HVAC Upgrade Project - Project No. 2005-1600. 4d Bid Tabulation: Designate Total Construction & Equipment, Inc. the lowest responsible bidder and authorize execution of a contract with the firm in the amount of$553,740.00 for the purchase and installation of standby natural gas generators at Water Treatment Plant No. 1 &4 including ASD Alternate#4 - Project No. 2005-1500. 4e Adopt Resolution No. 05-118 approving the preliminary and final plat of Belt Line Industrial Park Third. Case Nos. 05-38-S. 5100 36th Street 4f Adopt Resolution No. 05-119 rescinding parking restrictions along the north side of Walker Street adjacent to Louisiana Oaks Park. 4g Removed from agenda 4h Approve plans and specifications for the reconstruction of the parking lot at Cedar Knoll Park and authorize solicitation of bids for the project 4i Approve plans and specifications for the purchase and installation of a generator for the Rec Center and authorize solicitation of bids for the project 4j Accept Housing Authority Minutes of June 8, 2005 for filing 4k Accept Planning Commission Minutes of August 3, 2005 for filing 41 Accept Vendor Claim Report for Filing(Supplement) Mr. Harmening indicated item 4g should be pulled from the agenda which may result in the project not getting built this year. A neighborhood meeting is scheduled with impacted residents to discuss the timing. Councilmember Sanger asked when a decision would be made if the project gets paved this year? Mr. Harmening responded staff will recommend it be built in 2006. If the Council chooses to do something differently, they will look into it. The concern was it was late in the year and they didn't want a partially completed project in the winter. Councilmember Sanger indicated residents were eager to have this done. Mr. Harmening stated the applicant requested item 8c be removed from the agenda. It was moved by Councilmember Santa, seconded by Councilmember Finkelstein, to approve the Agenda and items listed on the Consent Calendar. Council Meeting Minutes -3- September 6, 2005 The motion passed 7-0. 5. Boards and Commissions - None 6. Public Hearings 6a. Time Warner Cable TV Franchise Renewal Update Mr. Pires updated the Council. Mayor Jacobs opened the public hearing. Mark Scott, 3236 Jersey Av. S, indicated community access was important in this community. If a change in cable providers occurs, what happens to Internet service? Mr. Pires replied if Comcast takes ownership of the system, they would have the option of providing Internet service or having partners. His understanding was they were the sole provider. Mr. Scott expressed concern of Email addresses changing and having to make people aware of the new address, especially affected businesses. Councilmember Brimeyer indicated he asked about that at the last meeting and didn't get an answer. For a business with an Email address all over the country, it was a big issue. Mayor Jacobs stated that pertained to the sale and didn't have to do with the franchise. Mr. Pires responded with other franchises, the domain names had to be transitioned. They had not heard what Comcast planned to handle the transition,but expected it would be similar to what was done when they acquired AT&T. Staff can find information on what customers should expect. Councilmember Brimeyer indicated they should keep the option open of a municipally operated cable company. Councilmember Finkelstein asked staff to provide a written idea of how Time Warner and Comcast planned to deal with this issue and how much notice they would provide users. Mayor Jacobs suggested they consider having messages forwarded to a new address. Mr. Pires believed that was possible and would research it. Councilmember Finkelstein asked if they could require a condition of the transfer that they have a"cooperation"requirement where they assist people? Mr. Pires replied they could ask. Mr. Scott suggested they get information about how many businesses would be affected by this and how much it would affect them monetarily. Councilmember Basill believed they should run in parallel for a time and be an automatic notification when people send messages to the old address. They need to manage expectations and make residents aware some issues were controlled by Federal law. They can ask for some things,but the companies are not required to do it all. Councilmember Sanger requested staff provide answers to the following questions at the next meeting: Why is Time Warner balking at passing through reasonable costs of local origination to users? Is there any evidence that Comcast charging higher rates for local origination, has discouraged subscribership? Council Meeting Minutes -4- September 6, 2005 It was moved by Councilmember Santa, seconded by Councilmember Finkelstein, to continue the public hearing and extend the term of the franchise agreement to September 19, 2005. The motion passed 7-0. 6b. Public Hearing to consider a wine and beer license for YUM!, Inc.,operating at 4000 Minnetonka Blvd. Ms. Reichert presented the staff report. Mayor Jacobs opened the public hearing. Diane Pecoraro, 2900 Glennhurst Av, stated a neighborhood meeting was held and neighbors welcome a business and hope it does well. Concerns were registered at the meeting about traffic and parking. There are issues with traffic on the block and they have requested a traffic study for the area. Mayor Jacobs closed the public hearing. Councilmember Sanger stated the neighborhood meeting focus was on issues concerning traffic and parking. Some concerns were raised about the liquor license and others thought it was a fine. The City doesn't have discretion once all of the requirements for granting a liquor license have been met. She supported the application. She would try to find ways to ameliorate the situation. It was moved by Councilmember Sanger, seconded by Councilmember Omodt, to approve the wine and beer license for YUM!Inc. Councilmember Basill indicated the last time a liquor license came up, they discussed the number of licenses in the City and wanted this to be put on a study session. He was in favor of this,but they needed to look citywide at how many they felt were appropnate. Councilmember Finkelstein noted when they asked staff to discuss this issue, they were only looking at off-sale, but he agreed on-sale should also be considered. Ms. Reichert responded she was planning to bring a report to the next study session regarding proximity of retail liquor stores and could provide more information. Councilmember Brimeyer recalled legislation a few years ago for more liquor licenses? Ms. Reichert replied that was correct, they got twelve more liquor licenses. Last year the ruling was abolished by Statute. They do not currently limit on-sale intoxicating liquor stores, per Statute. As long as they are restaurants, there are an unlimited number allowed. Councilmember Finkelstein indicated they were concerned about the number of off-sale liquor stores in one area and proximity to schools and other types of uses. The motion passed 7-0. 7. Requests, Petitions, and Communications from the Public- None Council Meeting Minutes -5- September 6, 2005 8. Resolutions, Ordinances,Motions 8a. Approve preliminary property tax levy and budget for the 2006 fiscal year, revisions to the 2005 adopted budget, set Public Hearing date for proposed budget and property tax levy, and approve HRA levy for taxes payable in 2006 Resolution No.'s 05-114 and 05-115 Ms. McGann presented the staff report. Councilmember Brimeyer requested a summary of additional staff positions. Ms. McGann replied they were intending to bring that information back. Mr. Harmening clarified they will not have adopted a final budget. It sets a preliminary budget and the maximum levy. There will still be budget discussions relative to the CIP and operating budget in the coming weeks and months. Councilmember Finkelstein asked if 4% remaining amount, which included the pavement management system, also included retirement of general obligation debt? Ms. McGann replied yes. There are three general obligation bonds that the City has outstanding. Councilmember Finkelstein asked what other cities were doing for levy amounts? Mr. Harmening replied the average was around 7%, and they were in the middle. Of the 7%, 3%was for operations and inflationary costs. 4%was for reinvestment in the community and the infrastructure. The retirement of debt is related to borrowing they had done to pay for infrastructure improvements around the City. It was moved by Councilmember Brimeyer, seconded by Councilmember Finkelstein, to adopt Resolution No. 05-114 establishing the preliminary tax levy and budget for 2006, approves revisions to the 2005 adopted budget, sets public hearing date for proposed budget and property tax levy, and approve Resolution No. 05-115 preliminary HRA levy for taxes payable in 2006. The motion passed 7-0. 8b. First Reading of an Ordinance amending Section 24-342 of the St. Louis Park Code of Ordinances relating to snow removal on public sidewalks revising effective accumulation depth to reflect current and past city practices. Mr. Hanson presented the staff report. Mr. Harmening added in the special service district, the policy for snow removal was that they were not required to remove snow until 2"had fallen. They were putting the practice into policy to make enforcement with the ordinance consistent. It was moved by Councilmember Brimeyer, seconded by Councilmember Finkelstein, to approve First Reading of proposed Ordinance Code text amendments related to Snow Removal on Public Sidewalks and set Second Reading for September 19, 2005. Council Meeting Minutes -6- September 6, 2005 Councilmember Sanger thought this was a public safety matter. She was concerned this sent the wrong message and may encourage people to slack off. They need to encourage people to try to keep their sidewalks clean. She had gotten calls from people saying they didn't do a good enough job keeping their sidewalks clean. With decreased bus service, people were walking further for stops. A resident volunteered to sit on a task force to come up with solutions to keep sidewalks cleaned, which was a constructive way to address the issues. She was not in favor of the motion. Mr. Harmening stated some people in neighborhoods are not clearing their sidewalks. There are city sidewalks that the City cleans or through special service districts and there are neighborhood sidewalks that residents clean. There were discussions in the past of the City cleanng all sidewalks in the city. They chose not to do that. He committed to bring back to the Council discussion about revisiting the policy for snow removal of city sidewalks versus neighborhood sidewalks. Staff would maintain they need to have a minimum standard when sidewalks are cleaned, otherwise they would be creating an expectation when there is a dusting, the City would be cleaning the sidewalks or that residents have to do that, which would be hard to live up to. Councilmember Finkelstein agreed and thought otherwise they would have an ordinance the City wasn't enforcing people weren't following which could lead to liability for individual homeowners and the City. Until they discuss the issue further at study session, they need to revise the ordinance to reflect the practice. Councilmember Sanger thought there may be a need for a common standard,but it was the "cart before the horse"to do the standard first. They should look at the expectations in terms of how could they best assure sidewalks were cleaned to a standard that is safe. Once they do that, possibly with help of a resident task force, then they can get to a standard. Mayor Jacobs indicated he heard concerns from kids about the walk to the bus stop. If they have a 1" snowstorm and three days later there is another and yet another, you get an icy sidewalk, which was dangerous. Kids walk in the streets and he worried about safety. He wanted sidewalks clear and couldn't support this. It needed more discussion. Councilmember Basill was also concerned and believed this needed more discussion. It was difficult to get ice off. It was reasonable to ask people to clear sidewalks for normal snowfall (1-1 %z"). There was merit in what staff did talking about the ice. Maybe it could be defined differently. The idea of the resident task force may be a good idea. Councilmember Santa agreed about the ice, as she had fallen and broken an ankle. Her sidewalk was bare the night before and things change quickly. When there are sidewalks, they want to keep them clean. She had concerns as well,but knew they needed to set a standard, which should be common practice. Mr. Harmening stated nothing mandated they did this now. They could hold off and tie this in with a larger conversation about sidewalk cleaning. They probably couldn't make changes to their policy for this year. Councilmember Finkelstein wanted this brought to a study session before mid- November. Nobody wanted someone to slip and fall, but if they didn't have a standard, City staff would be unsure what to enforce. Council Meeting Minutes -7- September 6, 2005 Councilmember Brimeyer withdrew his motion. He thought that they could only manage this to a certain degree. Mayor Jacobs believed they needed to talk about the result they were looking for. They wanted people to clean their sidewalks. By the time there is a complaint and staff goes out, it was very dangerous. Councilmember Brimeyer felt there were unreal expectations. It was moved by Councilmember Brimeyer, seconded by Councilmember Santa to defer the item to a study session. The motion passed 7-0. 8c. Removed from the agenda 8d. Request by Sam's Club for a Conditional Use Permit to allow a retail store in excess of 20,000 square feet in the C-2 General Commercial Zoning District Case No. 05-46-CUP 7115 W. Lake St. and 3745 Louisiana Ave. S. Resolution No. 05-116 Mr. Fulton presented the staff report. Councilmember Finkelstein asked if the addition of the gas station and liquor store would add pressure to Louisiana Avenue? Mr. Fulton replied the traffic study in 2004 determined that the only intersection impacted to an unacceptable level of service was Wooddale and Hwy 7. Councilmember Finkelstein indicated at the time the study was conducted, there wasn't a gas station and liquor store. Councilmember Santa clarified they had a liquor store in the past and the traffic study included the gas station. Mayor Jacobs added there was a sense that the gas station wouldn't be a destination trip, people would get gas while shopping. Councilmember Finkelstein indicated a concern about the pressure on Louisiana and Hwy 7. Mr. Harmening stated the EAW for the Methodist Hospital expansion looked at an assortment of traffic issues and assumed development throughout the area. They discovered Hwy 7 and Louisiana would break down in the future. Interim improvements were done by reconfiguring the intersection and putting in lights. Wooddale and Hwy 7 would get top priority. They made application for Federal funding to assist rebuilding that intersection. Councilmember Finkelstein stated there was also future development of the West side of Louisiana at Hwy 7 and the LRT stop. Councilmember Omodt asked with the new construction, were they requiring a new sidewalk from Lake Street to Oxford on the East side of Louisiana and what would be the Council Meeting Minutes -8- September 6, 2005 width? Mr. Fulton replied it would be reconstructed. The minimum width is five feet, but he was not certain of the exact width. It met City requirements. Councilmember Basill indicated in condition number 12, the applicant agreed to participate in the payment of a portion of the cost of future infrastructure improvements at Hwy 7 and Wooddale. Would it be a percentage of how much they use? Mr. Fulton replied it was included in the development agreement and was 15%of the cost of the improvement. Councilmember Omodt indicated parking was always an issue. What did it mean when they said they couldn't say where employees would park because of competitive reasons? Dave Sullergren responded they located five possible sites, but didn't want to solidify until this was approved. Councilmember Sanger asked where customers would park during construction? Mr. Sullergren replied they were short of spaces and they may drive by if they cannot park. They were trying to address it by having associates park off-site. Construction will start after the end of the retail season,when parking might be more of an issue. They would be short 100-150 spaces based on the existing store. They didn't think there would be an issue that often and didn't see a feasible way to provide off-site parking for customers. Councilmember Sanger asked if they should anticipate difficulties with customers parking on Lake Street or in the area? Mr. Sullergren responded he didn't believe it was likely that a Sam's Club customer,who generally buys large articles,would park that distance, but he wouldn't want to predict human behavior. Mayor Jacobs indicated concern that customers might park in the Knights of Columbus parking lot or the Methodist overflow lot. Mr. Sullergren suggested as part of their plan, they could add a policing element to assure they would not intrude on the neighbors. Mayor Jacobs added the other issue would be having carts all over. Mr. Sullergren indicated they had a normal pick up for carts and they would include that in their plan. Keeping the existing store open while the new one was being constructed was not the best of situations in terms of operations, however it made sense economically and they knew there would be substantial improvement when they get done. Councilmember Sanger indicated there would be 59 parking spaces more than necessary. Had they considered a proof of parking and not paving excess spaces to maintain more green space? Mr. Sullergren replied they added additional green space in parking islands. Their assessment of needs may be different than the code requirement. They thought they needed the spaces and hadn't discussed proof of parking. They were at 4.7 (per thousand sq. ft.) and they start with the premise that anything below 5 is not optimum. Councilmember Sanger indicated at other commercial developments a"sea"of parking and many empty spaces. If they needed the spaces they could pave them later. Mr. Sullergren stated when they discussed the rezoning, they talked about the benefit of having the building on the North to screen parking. No matter how much green space they have, it can't totally break up a parking lot. They attempted to address it by relocating the building and adding retaining walls, with substantial landscaping on Louisiana and other areas. They thought they had gone as far as they could and needed the 4.7 per 1,000. Council Meeting Minutes -9- September 6, 2005 Councilmember Sanger stated that bike and walking trails runs South of the site,but there is no access to this site. Had they considered creating a connection for customers to get there by foot or bike? Mr. Sullergren suspected someone else owned that right of way. They would look into it, although he didn't see people using the trail picking up their products. There were a lot of complexities with it that could make it difficult to accomplish. Councilmember Sanger noted she just wanted them to think about it. Councilmember Santa indicated a concern about construction parking. How that would that be addressed? Mr. Sullergren replied a staff condition required a parking plan for associates and mandated complete separation between the operations and the construction, including parking for construction employees. Councilmember Santa believed it made sense to have the building closer to Hwy 7 and the parking behind. She suggested there be signage during construction so people knew where to enter and that they were open. Mr. Sullergren responded they could provide directional signage as part of their plan. Councilmember Basill wanted to be sure that the sidewalk was planned. Mr. Sullergren replied it was a specific condition of staff approval. Councilmember Basill followed up on Councilmember Sanger's comments, although it may be difficult, her point was well taken about the trail. They should check with the Hennepin County Regional Rail Authority. There is a very steep path now. From a community standpoint, he agreed it was unlikely for someone to go to Sam's, but residents to the Southeast use the trail and could use a path there. It would be a safer way across Hwy 7. Mr. Sullergren replied that he hoped this would not be a condition of approval, but they would be happy to enter into a discussion with staff and those in charge for a public/private partnership to make that link work. Mayor Jacobs commented there was landscaping along the Louisiana side and sight lines are difficult to exit the site now. He would be careful about the vegetation there because it was difficult to see. Mr. Sullergren replied Councilmember Santa brought up the sight line issues and SRF looked at that closely. It was moved by Councilmember Santa, seconded by Councilmember Omodt, to adopt Resolution No. 05-116 approval for a Conditional Use Permit to allow a retail store in excess of 20,000 square feet in the C-2 General Commercial Zoning District, subject to conditions recommended by staff The motion passed 7-0 9. Communications Mayor Jacobs stated that recent events had demonstrated the importance of City, public safety and fire workers, and the entire community who had invested in infrastructure, and those who make the utilities function. People can walk around safely. He was proud of that. Councilmember Omodt added as they watch the aftermath of Katrina, it was a great community when kids stepped forward and assisted by collecting money and neighbors were willing to respond. Council Meeting Minutes -10- September 6, 2005 Councilmember Finkelstein encouraged people to donate and his prayers went out to everyone. 10. Adjournment The meeting adjourned at 9:12 p.m. /62—'- --iL- , ce,/4 Ci y Clerk May r 2