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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2006/12/04 - ADMIN - Minutes - City Council - Regular ffCITY OF OFFICIAL MINUTES SATil,(OLIISCITY COUNCIL MEETING ST. LOUIS PARK, MINNESOTA December 4, 2006 1. Call to Order Mayor Jacobs called the meeting to order at 7:33 pm. Council members present: Mayor Jeff Jacobs, John Basill, Phil Finkelstein, Paul Omodt and Susan Sanger. Council members C. Paul Carver and Loran Paprocki were absent. Staff present: City Manager (Mr. Harmening), City Assessor (Mr. Bultema), City Attorney (Mr. Scott), Community Development Director (Mr. Locke), Finance Director (Mr. DeJong), Park & Recreation Director (Ms. Walsh), Technology Services Director (Mr. Pires) and Recording Secretary(Ms. Stegora-Peterson). 2. Presentations- None 3. Approval of Minutes 3a. City Council Minutes of November 6, 2006 Councilmember Basill noted on page 6, paragraph 3, to insert, "He thanked the Park and Recs. Commission, the Housing Summit, the Excess Land Task Force, the previous Council and the Planning Commission for their hard work through the process Mobility in the schools is high. Leading school officials are letting them know that the number of kids, has decreased over the last ten years. There is a shortage of move up housing in the community. Every house can make a difference and that was the purpose of the Excess Land Task Force He talked about compassion for families and the passion for the schools. This was the nght thing and the fair thing, and was a vote for the families, stability, their children and the schools." The minutes were approved as amended. 3b. Study Session Minutes of November 13, 2006 Councilmember Sanger requested on page 2, in the third paragraph to add, "She also requested consideration of an indoor park, and avoidance of big box retail." The minutes were approved as amended. 3c. City Council Minutes of November 20, 2006 The minutes were approved as presented. City Council Minutes -2- December 4, 2006 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. Adopt Resolution No. 06-181 calling for a public hearing on the proposed adoption of a modification to the Redevelopment Plan for Redevelopment Project No. 1 and the proposed Modification of the Park Center Boulevard, Excelsior Boulevard, Oak Park Village and Highway 7 Tax Increment Financing Districts. 4b. Approve Resolution No. 06-182 and 06-183 to Purchase Vacant Tax Forfeit Parcels relating to the Excess Land Sale process. 4c. Approve Resolution No. 06-184 in Support of Continued Livable Communities Levy. 4d. Authorize execution of a one (1) year extension to Contract No. 122-04 with ENSR Consulting and Engineering for consultant services related to the implementation of the Reilly Tar & Chemical Corporation (Reilly) Remedial Action Plan (RAP) during year 2007. 4e. Authorize execution of a contract extension to Contract No. 1893 with Severn Trent Services (STL - Denver) for laboratory services related to the Reilly Tar & Chemical Corporation groundwater sampling program through year 2007. 4f. Moved to item 8d. 4g. Adopt Resolution No. 06-186 accepting the Project Report, establishing and ordering Improvement Project No. 2006-1800, approving plans and specifications, authonzing advertisements for bids 4h. Adopt Resolution No. 06-187 approving the Final Plat of Gateway Lofts. 4i. Adopt second reading of Ordinance No. 2322-06 and 2323-06 amending the Zoning Ordinance and Zoning Map to create a POS - Park and Open Space Zoning Distnct, approve summary, and authorize publication. 4j. Adopt Resolution No. 06-188 that declares the petition adequate for the purposes of preparing a formal Project Report on the feasibility and costs associated with a proposed alley paving project in the 2900 block of Raleigh and Salem Avenue. 4k. Adopt Resolution No. 06-189 Authonzing Special Assessment of Dutch Elm Diseased Trees for Property at 4123 Alabama Ave. South. 41. Adopt Resolution No. 06-190 accepting this report, establishing and ordenng Capital Improvement Project No. 20081300, approving plans and specifications, and authorizing advertisement for bids to replace the roof system on the City Hall building. 4m. Amend Professional Services Agreement with Campbell Knutson to increase rates paid from $135 to $140 per hour for city attorney services. 4n. Housing Authority Minutes of October 11, 2006. 4o. Approve Vendor Claims for Filing. Councilmember Sanger requested item 4f be removed from the agenda. Mayor Jacobs moved 4f to item 8d. It was moved by Councilmember Omodt, seconded by Councilmember Sanger, to approve the Agenda and items listed on the Consent Calendar as amended. The motion passed 5-0 City Council Minutes -3- December 4, 2006 5. Boards and Commissions 6. Public Hearings 6a. Public Hearing - Utility Rate Adjustments Mr. DeJong presented the staff report Mr. Harmening clarified the action Council would be taking was to amend the code to set utility rates by resolution, not to set the rates That would be done at the next meeting. Mayor Jacobs opened the public hearing. No speakers present. The public hearing was closed. It was moved by Councilmember Basill, seconded by Councilmember Omodt to approve 1st reading of the ordinance amendments to Chapters 22 and 32 of the St Louis Park Municipal Code removing utility rates from the general fee schedule and set second reading for December 18, 2006. The motion passed 5-0. 6b. Truth-in-Taxation Public Hearing on the 2007 Budget and Property Tax Levy Mr. DeJong presented the staff report. Councilmember Finkelstein asked for further explanation regarding limited market value. Mr. Bultema replied in the 1990's the legislature attempted to mitigate the property tax impact when they were switching the class rates to have the residential sector pick up more property taxes in contrast to the commercial/industrial sector. They wanted to limit the market value increases because the market was rapidly appreciating. The market value in the true market of residential properties was increasing at a pace of 10-12%, so they put in a limiting factor. Since then, the Legislature realized that the limited market value statue had inequalities (such as with new construction and lower end stock). By expanding the limited rate to 15%, they were allowing it to compress gradually. This is a difficult situation for residential property owners, because their valuations for tax purposes go up quickly. The 2006 evaluation is relatively close to where limited valuations for the 2007 would be negated for the vast majonty of properties and limited taxable market values should be slowing down. Mr. DeJong concluded the staff presentation. Mayor Jacobs opened the public hearing. Willie Rahr, 4351 Coolidge Av, asked about fairness and how close home values should be to others in the neighborhood. His home is valued $110,000 higher than his neighbors and there are three comparable houses. Mr. Bultema replied staff could review it and could discuss evaluation at the local Board of Equalization, because they were past the deadline for valuation changes. Frank Motzko, noted his property address on the notice is listed as 5821 W 42nd St, but it was changed 36 years ago to 4201 Xarthon. He would speak to staff to get it resolved. City Council Minutes -4- December 4, 2006 Anatoly Feldman stated a concern about property taxes and the bubble in the stock market. His property tax increase was 15.7%. He asked that the Council not vote to approve this increase. Mr. Bultema described the property tax refund programs from the State. Peggy Weller, 4013 Basswood Rd, asked about people who were on reduced or fixed incomes. Mr. Bultema replied there is a State Program and they set the level at 12%. Councilmember Sanger asked if there was a mechanism from the State Department of Revenue to defer the increase for senior citizens. Mr. Bultema replied yes, the Senior Citizen Tax Deferral, and explained process. Councilmember Finkelstein requested more information be made available on that program at the next meeting. Michael Arvidson, 3031 Salem, asked about expenditures within the budget. Mr. DeJong replied there was an accounting change for tracking vehicle maintenance expenditures, which was a little higher increase in the general operations. They were not reducing expenditures in public safety and public works below where they were. Mr. Arvidson asked what adopted budget meant. Mr. DeJong replied that was the final budget numbers for 2006. Mr. Arvidson asked why they didn't use actual figures? Mr. DeJong replied they are projections. The actuals usually come in a little lower. With similar percentage of expenditures, it should be about the same in 2007. Mr. Arvidson asked who approved the increases in general government and Mr. DeJong replied the City Council. It was discussed during August through October. The increase is primarily tied to increased costs (i.e. Attorney fees). Mr. Harmenmg stated the primary increase related to legal fees for prosecution costs. The attorney fees had been suppressed for a number of years and the prosecuting attorneys asked for an adjustment to be more compatible with the market. Other increases related to adjustments to PERA (Public Employee Retirement Account). The state requires the city to contribute to PERA and they mandate what the city is required to pay into the fund. That rate has gone up and is paid out of general government. Councilmember Sanger asked if it was correct that some of the costs that were accounted for under Public Works were transferred to Parks and Recreation, which is was why it went down in Public Works and up in Parks? Mr. DeJong replied yes. Councilmember Finkelstein stated if they compared the budgets from this year and last year and they hadn't made that change, they would look at 2007 without the MSC (Municipal Service Center) changes? Mr. DeJong replied correct. Mr. Harmening noted they had reorganized the operations of the Municipal Service Center to be simplified. There were initial up front costs, but they expected to have a better cost control approach because of the reorganizing. The responsibilities for oversight were moved out of Public Works to the Parks and Recreation. Mr. Arvidson asked about the percentage increase for investment earnings Mr. DeJong replied last year the investment earnings were budgeted with a target of 2% return based on the government T-bill return. In the past two years there were significant changes, so they raised the target to 4% on investment earnings. City Council Minutes -5- December 4, 2006 Louann Lammng, 7318 22nd St W, stated her tax increase was 19.5% and asked about the effect of the current State budget surplus on this process. Mayor Jacobs thought it was a legislative issue. The budget is a policy statement, about where they are going to spend money and what they are going to do. The policy is a question of what people want the City Council to do and what level of service they want. Government Services and public safety are some of the great benefits of living in St. Louis Park. Ms. Lanning appreciated living in St. Louis Park, but property taxes were raising quickly. Mayor Jacobs agreed Through some of the legislative changes, for years residential property taxes were held artificially low and commercial/industrial property paid a higher percentage. Over the course of the last 6-8 years, that had been changing. Councilmember Finkelstein noted the government had a tax freeze and cut LGA, which was a loss of over $2 million, which had to come from somewhere. This community had been progressive in areas such as pavement management and sewers. The City had some cost savings and they were paying attention to costs. Only one third of the property taxes are the City portion. Mayor Jacobs closed the public hearing. 7. Requests, Petitions, and Communications from the Public—None 8. Resolutions, Ordinances, Motions 8a. Watershed District Creek and Trail Construction Ms. Walsh introduced Mike Wyatt, Minnehaha Creek Watershed Distnct who presented the report. Councilmember Basill indicated he attended a meeting with Methodist staff and they were excited about this project. Methodist sees this not just for patients, but also for the community. It was a nice project and addition to the trails. Councilmember Sanger believed it was a great idea and liked the increased public access. She suggested this was an opportunity to improve public information about trail access and encouraging canoeing and rafting on the creek She requested they publicize how the access worked and information be put on the web site. Ms. Walsh responded she would put it in the Park Perspective when they had definite time lines and send information to the Sun Sailor. Councilmember Finkelstein asked where people could park, and if it would it be in the Methodist ramp. Ms Walsh replied that would need to be worked out with Methodist Councilmember Sanger noted they should encourage people to walk. It was moved by Councilmember Basill, seconded by Councilmember Omodt, to approve a temporary easement for Methodist Hospital and the MCWD to realign a portion of Minnehaha Creek; construct trails, boardwalks and other related improvements;perform other hydrologic and ecosystem improvements, and install educational signage (together, the "Project'); all in accordance with the terms of a Funding Agreement executed by the Parties and pursuant to the water resource purposes of the MCWD as set forth in Minnesota Statutes §103B 201 and 103D.201 ("Construction Easement'); and a perpetual easement allowing for inspection, maintenance, repair and replacement of the Project ("Permanent Easement") The motion passed 5-0. City Council Minutes -6- December 4, 2006 8b. Second Reading of an Ordinance Establishing Criteria and Procedural Requirements for Sale of City Park Land Ordinance No. 2321-06 Mr. Locke presented the staff report. Councilmember Sanger stated in the event that parkland was leased to another government agency or non-profit for park purposes, if they ceased to use the parcel for park purposes, would that automatically terminate the lease? Mr. Locke replied it depended on how the lease was written. Under this ordinance, if they do something different with the property, they would have to meet these requirements or give the land back. It was moved by Councilmember Finkelstein, seconded by Councilmember Bascll, to adopt second reading of Ordinance No. 2321-06 establishing criteria and procedures for the sale of City owned park and open space; authorize summary ordinance and authorize publication. The motion passed 5-0 Mayor Jacobs thanked staff and members of the public who helped create this ordinance. Mr. Harmening concurred. 8c. Agreement for citywide wireless management partner services provided through a private—public partnership. Mr. Pires presented the staff report. He addressed Councilmember Sanger's questions at EDA about the billing. They looked at providing a reward to pilot subscnbers, but it was a Council policy decision whether a reward was appropnate or perhaps something else. They could bill people for the month of December, but staff saw this as an opportunity to provide a reward to pilot customers. Paul Krelovic, President of Unplugged Cities, stated he appreciated the opportunity to present the proposal to the Council Councilmember Sanger indicated part of the contractual arrangement would be for Unplugged Cities to take over customer billing. If the risk of loss is on the City when customers do not pay, she was concerned they were losing the right to assess unpaid fees against property taxes? Mr. Scott replied that question came up in discussions and regardless of who did the billing, by state law they did not have the ability to assess for unpaid charges, unlike for water and utilities. They could disconnect services if they didn't pay. They could look into it further. Councilmember Sanger asked if they had the nght to have people voluntarily consent to that as part of signing up for a subscnption? Mr. Scott replied they could look into it further. At this point they had to work under the assumption they could not do that. Councilmember Sanger indicated it sounded like turning over the billing to Unplugged Cities didn't affect the rights they had. Mr. Scott replied correct. Mr. Pires indicated they could explore that option in the service agreement. City Council Minutes -7- December 4, 2006 Councilmember Sanger noted another concern was the holiday forgiveness for December bills. She was unsure it was the best use of the City's money or the right time for it. Mr. Pires noted the total amount was approximately$4,600 and would be for pilot subscribers only. They can do it at a different time, but it seemed like a good time during the transition. Councilmember Finkelstein asked: When does the revenue from Unplugged Cities come back to the city? What is the percentage guarantee? Failure rate, it won't fall under the percentage guarantee rate, but there may be a particular area where it doesn't work (i.e. particular neighborhoods)? Look into the use of data collected and privacy of citizens and what would be done with that. They wanted to make sure in the contract they retain the right to advertising or sponsorship, and other revenues collected —he wanted to make sure city gets that benefit. He wanted to make sure the city has a reasonable opportunity to review the books and finances in terms of how many people are subscribing and when they are starting to charge them. What are they going to do for billing disputes and if they have a process to handle those? Are they going to have something limiting the liability of the city when people sign up? Mr. Pires replied all of those issues had been incorporated and many are in the ARINC contract. The contractor is providing a two year performance bond, which addresses many of these issues. Staff would come back in the future to describe how these issues were resolved. It was moved by Councilmember Sanger, seconded by Councilmember Finkelstein, to approve attached agreement with Unplugged Cities, LLC to provide management partner services for citywide wireless broadband network. The motion passed 5-0. 8d. Resolution Approving Financing Approach for Wireless Project It was moved by Councilmember Sanger, seconded by Councilmember Finkelstein, to adopt the Resolution No. 06-185 approving financing approach for the Wireless Project The motion passed 4-1 with Councilmember Basall opposed. 9. Communications Report(No Discussion Required),Legislative Issues and Priorities for 2007 Councilmember Basill sent condolences to the family of former Mayor Frank Pucci who recently passed away. 10. Adjournment The meeting adjourned at 9:14 p.m. , City Clerk ayor