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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2005/09/26 - ADMIN - Minutes - City Council - Study Session CITY OF T. LOUIS OFFICIAL MINUTES RK CITY COUNCIL STUDY SESSION September 26, 2005 The meeting convened at 6:30 p.m. Councilmembers present: John Basill, Jim Brimeyer Phil Finkelstein, Paul Omodt, Susan Sanger, Sue Santa and Mayor Jeff Jacobs. Staff present: City Manager(Mr. Harmening), Community Development Director(Mr. Locke), Director of Technology and Support Services (Mr. Pires), Economic Development Coordinator(Mr. Hunt), Planning/Zoning Supervisor(Ms. McMonigal), Public Works Director(Mr. Rardin), and Recording Secretary(Ms. Stegora-Peterson). Others present: Carl Robertson and Claudia Johnston-Madison, Planning Commissioners; Wayne Norris and Tom O'Keefe, MnDOT; Paul and Mack Hyde, Representatives of Real Estate Recycling; Tom Asp, Virchow Krause 1. Zoning Code Updates Related to the Housing Summit Ms. McMonigal presented the report and explained the guidelines and criteria. Councilmember Santa asked about an occurrence in Councilmember Basill's ward with two lots? Ms. McMonigal responded there were two platted lots in conformance with zoning and consistent with other lots in the neighborhood. They could get two lots and build if the homes met the design guidelines. Councilmember Finkelstein expressed a concern about joining two lots and putting in houses that were not in character and believed this would allow that. Carl Robertson, Planning Commissioner, stated they would look at the surrounding houses and they couldn't be smaller. Councilmember Sanger felt this was a bad idea. There are zoning standards for lot sizes and she was concerned about people asking for variances and that they would squeeze houses in. Councilmember Bnmeyer believed they could do homes that would fit architecturally and could be start up homes. Councilmember Basill noted a 40' lot could hold a large house and they could build it to match the existing houses. What he believed needed to be included was that they have a 2-car garage, three bedrooms with a den and include additional amenities. Mr. Locke noted that a home would need to fit the existing character of the neighborhood, but they didn't want to get too specific to allow Council discretion. Councilmember Brimeyer believed at the Housing Summit they said to relax zoning and be more flexible. One way was to have a CUP. He believed they should move ahead and staff and Planning Commission could work out the details. The desired end result was more available land. Commissioner Carpenter suggested that staff research and identify the lots that could be impacted by this proposal and bring back that information for further review. Staffed agreed. Study Session Minutes -2- September 26, 2005 Claudia Johnston-Madison, Planning Commissioner, suggested that they get both the standards and design guidelines in sync. Councilmember Finkelstein suggested they review what authonty they would have with a CUP process. Mr. Locke replied staff would refine that. Mr. Robertson suggested they be held to a higher architectural design,with additional amenities. Mayor Jacobs believed the standards couldn't be too loose and there needed to be discretion and a basic criteria. He was concerned with big houses on small lots Councilmember Sanger asked how it would work with the subdivision ordinance and larger homes on big lots? Ms. McMonigal responded it land wouldn't be subdivided. These were existing lots. If it meets zoning, it can be built on. Councilmember Sanger asked what happens if a homes was destroyed? Ms. McMonigal indicated they wouldn't change the lot and the same rules would be applied. Councilmember Sanger was concerned about people teanng down homes to be able to build more on a lot and make a profit. Councilmember Basill disagreed and stated a home needed to be the same as those existing in the neighborhood. Councilmember Finkelstein requested finding out the underlying lots. Councilmember Basill suggested they look at the reverse, if someone wanted to build a larger home and if they could use a CUP process for that as well. 2. TH100 Interim Improvements Tom O'Keefe, MnDOT, discussed the project and indicated it would require municipal consent. The full build project is scheduled for 2014. A change since April was the advanced design project, which had funding assigned. If there is more funding, it will advance further. Wayne Norris, MnDOT, discussed the project design and schedule. Mayor Jacobs stated concerns about Hwy 7 believed traffic would back up. Mr. O'Keefe indicated that they keep the ramp in the SW quadrant. The outside nght lane will clog with traffic that wants to exit at Excelsior. This gives an opportunity for less volume interaction and the signal provides enough left turn capacity. Councilmember Brimeyer asked if it would be left turn only? Mr. O'Keefe replied it would be phased. Councilmember Sanger asked if there would be a buffer between the freeway and the residences? Mr. O'Keefe replied they were expanding to the West to the limits of the guardrail. They were not planning to install barriers. r Study Session Minutes -3- September 26, 2005 Councilmember Sanger asked if they were shortening the merge lanes? Mr. O'Keefe replied they were increasing them and would facilitate the shoulders as much as possible. The goal was to keep widening within existing pavement. Councilmember Finkelstein indicated he was concerned about the bndges and not enough room to add lanes. Mr. O'Keefe replied they had 39' to work with. Mayor Jacobs was concerned about the width of the shoulders and if a car broke down. Could they make the medians wide enough for vehicles to get off the road? Mr. O'Keefe responded they looked at that issue and were designing curbs that could be driven over. The shoulders were fine South of the railroad and lighting was being considered for the bndge. The Council expressed concerns about the homeowners in the area who were waiting to sell. They were also concerned with noise and fumes. Residents were living in limbo and were not able to sell their homes. They didn't want to put money into improvements. Mr. O'Keefe stated this is an advanced design project and the City could design the layout and request funding from the Met Council to buy the houses. Councilmember Sanger stated that the project kept getting pushed out and wondered if they should wait until they had all of the necessary funding and the project could be done at once. Several Councilmember's also expressed concern that is temporary improvements were made, MnDOT might not return to do the final plan. Mr. O'Keefe indicated that the intenm project provided benefit for the city and the region. Councilmember Basill was concerned about a delay because of the temporary fixed and asked if there was a commitment and what the process was? Mr. O'Keefe noted that every project with advanced design had advanced. Councilmember Bnmeyer asked if the final design had noise walls? Mr. Noms replied yes, but not in the interim plan. Councilmember Bnmeyer believed the interim project should be done and they could commit to buy homes and pursue an agreement with MnDot to pay for homes and put up noise walls. Mr. O'Keefe encouraged the city to think about what they needed to approve the project. Councilmember Sanger was not in favor without funding for the whole project. Mayor Jacobs asked if they did this project, what would improve? Mr. Noms responded that currently the road handles 3500-4500 at peak. With the addition of the third lane, they would add an additional 1,000 vehicles per hour in each direction. There will be a traffic analysis done when they submit the layout. Councilmember Sanger suggested that the analysis be done independently. Mr. O'Keefe responded that a consultant was doing the traffic analysis and the safety assessment was being done internally. Study Session Minutes -4- September 26, 2005 Mr. Harmening clarified that staff would continue to work with MnDOT on the arrangements with the permanent project in consideration on the interim and explore options with MnDot. The Council felt this needed more discussion. Councilmember Basill asked what the staff perspective was and if it was a good design for the city? Mr. Rardin responded that they had begun discussions and there were not many options. 3. Real Estate Recycling Mr. Hunt indicated they needed preliminary TIF approval for redevelopment of the Golden Auto site and to pursue additional grant funds. He reviewed the staff report. Mack Hyde reviewed the project overview and contamination issues. They were proceeding as part of the States voluntary cleanup project and it was important to assemble all funding sources (State, Federal, local, etc.). Paul Hyde discussed the proposed development, which would include 99,000 sq. ft of office/warehouse. They received grant money and were submitting more applications. They were also addressing the lease with Methodist Hospital. Councilmember Finkelstein asked what happened if they didn't get all of the grant money? Paul Hyde responded that they were committed to the project and had a significant amount of money invested. Mr. Hunt continued with the staff report and reviewed the actions required by Council. Councilmember Basill asked what the value of the property would be when completed? Mr. Hunt replied $6.3 million. Councilmember Sanger asked why they were investing $12 million of tax money when it would only be worth half of that? Mr. Hunt responded that the site would not get cleaned up on its own. The grant money being provided was amazing. Mr. Harmening added to get anything of value on the site they would need to invest in it. Paul Hyde added the site was going from retail to industrial which also lowered the value. Mr. Hunt stated that if they didn't do it now, they would need to wait many years for the lease to expire with the hospital. Councilmember Sanger asked about the parking on the SW quadrant. Mr. Hunt responded they agreed not to use that property until the intersection was improved. Mr. Harmening added that interim parking was a reasonable use. Councilmember Sanger asked if there was a provision that the parking would change after they complete the intersection? Mr. Harmening responded it was in the agreement, although the property did not have a lot of value. Councilmember Sanger asked if this would interfere with the ability to do rail interconnects? Mr. Hunt replied they were providing for rail right of ways in the agreement and was subject to future discussion. Study Session Minutes -5- September 26, 2005 Councilmember Sanger indicated in the business points it needs to provide for future rail connections. Mr. Harmening indicated it would provide North and South interconnects. Councilmember Omodt asked if there would be more traffic than currently existed? Mr. Hunt responded it would be negligible. Councilmember Finkelstein asked why they weren't keeping the property at its highest use? Mr. Hunt replied that Council wanted to create industnal property. A retail use would affect Methodist Hospitals parking needs. They talked about the fact that they had conducted a study as to how much industrial property was left in the City. Councilmember Brimeyer asked what kind of tenants there would be? Paul Hyde replied tenants with office, showroom and warehouse space. There would be three to five tenants. Mayor Jacobs asked where the impound lot would go? Mr. Hunt responded it would remain where it was. Mr. Hunt stated the next step would be to continue working on the project and pursuing T1F. In October they would request authonzation to submit for grant funds and a letter of intent. 4. Wireless Study Mr. Pires indicated the four main issues that had been raised were. legal, secunty, health and the role of government. Staff had found no harmful effects. Some believe the government does sometimes have a role. In the study, 36% of household believed there was a need. Councilmember Omodt stated he had been contacted by a Qwest lobbyist who indicated this would not have a sufficient cash flow. Mr. Pires believed that was a generality. The study indicated people were interested. Councilmember Sanger asked if they would consider doing a pilot project? Mr. Pires replied staff would recommend that. Mr. Pires stated that Qwest or Time Warner can make a proposal, although it seemed new entrants were more interested. The City also needs to have an exit strategy. Councilmember Santa stated in the past they had been approached by other providers (MetroComm), but they hadn't ever followed through. Mr. Pires responded that the system they offered was very slow. Mr. Asp added they had resurfaced and probably would contact the City. Mr. Pires indicated there were municipal and education benefits including: notifying the public of emergencies, public safety, public works and park and rec, meter reading, video monitonng, teacher/student/parent, and Powerschool. He suggested a pilot project be done so they can work through any issues. Councilmember Santa believed they weren't talking about competing. They were discussing a public/private partnership and Qwest could partner with the city. Study Session Minutes -6- September 26, 2005 Councilmember Brimeyer believed this could be used to improve public service. Many people can't afford this service. He believed they should do a pilot project. Councilmember Sanger had heard many positive comments and believed this was a good project. She also received an Email from Qwest and asked them what their plans were to establish DSL in the community and hadn't gotten a response. Councilmember Finkelstein thought the role of government was the most legitimate issue and there were many advantages to wireless. He believed wireless was such low wattage and it hadn't been proved that health issues existed. There is a role for government with a pilot project. Councilmember Sanger asked about the 1St amendment issue and if they would be filtering Mr. Asp replied other communities have done this. A municipality cannot chose programming line-up or block sites. The user chooses where to go and what to do. Councilmember Sanger asked if they would block illegal sites? Mr. Asp replied if they are known to be illegal. Councilmember Sanger suggested they have a clear policy if they block sites. Mr. Asp noted that there is a history in other communities. The Council agreed to move forward with a pilot project. Councilmember Santa requested more information on a pnvate partnership: Who? What to expect? What they would bring to the table? Councilmember Omodt stated he looked at the health information submitted and asked if there was a difference between what there is now and what they would add? Were they adding that much more and was there an incremental exposure? Mr. Pires replied that an accumulation was the concern. Councilmember Basill noted his concern was if the nsk for the city made sense from a financial standpoint. Technology changes very fast. He agreed with the other Councilmember's about health concerns. He asked how much they would spend on a pilot? Councilmember Sanger stated the intent was to finance this from user fees and subscriptions. The up front costs would be reimbursed and it was like a utility. A private company could buy them out down the road. Mayor Jacobs shared Councilmember Basill's concerns. They shouldn't be thinking about it to make money. He could support it if they were able to improve services and increase communication among city workers. Some areas have limited service. He was willing to support a pilot project, but believed if they did a public/pnvate partnership they should own the equipment. Mr. Pares replied that was what they were looking at. Study Session Minutes -7- September 26, 2005 Councilmember Brimeyer asked if they could sell commercial space? Mr. Asp responded there were additional revenue streams if they sold advertising and some cities did that. Mr. Pires stated staff would do additional follow-up such as: business models,partnerships, nsks, what the pilot project would look like and the down sides. They would return to Council on 10/24 with a follow up and recommendations and then in December for direction. Councilmember Finkelstein asked if they could work with those concerned about health issues on the location of the pilot project? Mr. Pires replied they could design the pilot areas. If they did it citywide, there would be a proliferation. The meeting adjourned at 9:32 p.m. ( i_a_44,66,61_,N1:212/ �--) (2((-(-6/1 City Clerk Mayor '