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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2007/12/10 - ADMIN - Minutes - City Council - Study Session CITY OF OFFICIAL MINUTES ST. LOUIS CITY COUNCIL STUDY SESSION PARK DECEMBER 10,2007 The meeting convened at 6:30 p.m. Councilmembers present: Mayor Jeff Jacobs, C. Paul Carver, Phil Finkelstein, Paul Omodt, Loran Paprocki and Susan Sanger. John Basill arrived at 7:30 p.m. Councilmembers absent: None Staff present: City Manager (Mr. Harmening), Council Attorney (Mr. Scott), Public Works Director (Mr. Rardin), Community Development Director (Mr. Locke), Planning/Zoning Supervisor (Ms. McMonigal), Administrative Specialist (Ms. Hellekson), Public Works Coordinator (Mr. Merkley), Economic Development Coordinator (Mr. Hunt), Finance Director (Mr. DeJong) and Recording Secretary(Ms. Schmidt). St. Louis Park Authority Housing Commission Members: Steve Fillbrandt, Anne Mavity, Shannon Bodnar, Catherine Courtney and Judith Moore. Guest: Jennifer Klennert, Waste Management 1. Future Study Session Agenda Planning Mr. Harmening and Council discussed study session agenda planning. 2. Housing Authority Report Ms. Schnitker presented the staff report. Council complimented the Housing Authority Commission for the amount of work they had accomplished. Mayor Jacobs asked Council if they had any questions or concerns or if the Commission needed anything further from Council. Ms. Mavity stated that the Housing Summit provided a lot of information for their strategies on how to work with affordable housing, and integrating incentives and programs to work in the City. Councilmember Finkelstein stated he didn't realize all the efforts that went into making moderate and low income housing available and suggested they look into the possibility of using small home acquisition and excess land funds to experiment with small home owner occupied housing for some assistance. He asked if there was a program where the City purchased foreclosed homes and sold them as-is for future buyers to bring them to code, providing affordability and the opportunity to work with people. Ms. Schnitker stated the Commission was looking at: 1) purchasing previous rental property and reselling, 2) a live where you work matching type grant program, 3) working with housing providers for citizens living within the City that would like to move up or down in house size, 4) possibly having a specified amount of condo units being reserved as affordable units, and 5) simply just providing down payment and/or closing cost assistance for first time homebuyers. Councilmember Sanger asked if there were any programs the Commission were not using that Council should consider. Ms. Schnitker stated they were using a lot of Federal assisted Study Session Minutes -2- December 10, 2007 programs and stated the Section 8 program is being looked at. She further stated the problem with the Section 8 program is that the properties are usually so high priced that they wouldn't be economically feasible. Councilmember Sanger stated concern with foreclosed houses being bought below their valuation and asked if there would be an opportunity for the City to purchase the houses and resell them at some type of affordability level. Ms. Schnitker stated they were researching land trust type houses and that they had been contacting lenders for purchase opportunities. Ms. Schnitker further stated on the sites she's viewed that there had not been any St. Louis Park homes listed on their inventory lists. Councilmember Carver reiterated that there were very few foreclosures in the City of St. Louis Park, stating its location, location, location and people want to live in St. Louis Park. Ms. Schnitker stated with the minuet amount of foreclosures that happened, they have not seen any impact on the value of homes. Councilmember Carver suggested investigating property tax assistance. Ms. Mavity stated it would be a challenge to find a strategy for affordability. She also stated that with the other strategies they've used the policy had been to try and attract young families. Councilmember Carver suggested looking at getting retirees into smaller housing and young families into those available houses. Councilmember Paprocki stated Council was geared toward home ownership to help provide success in the school system. Councilmember Sanger stated that adding condos wouldn't enhance kids. Councilmember Finkelstein asked how the City foreclosure rate compared to the surrounding suburbs. Ms. Schnitker stated it was about the same as last year. Council suggested factoring in joint marketing with schools, branding and transportation marketing strategies to getting people to purchase in the City. Councilmember Sanger thanked Commissioner Mavity for her six years service on the Commission. 3. Capital Improvement Program(CIP) Review and Final Budget Review Mr. DeJong presented the staff report explaining the updated projected increases for Park Place Boulevard, West 36th streetscape, 7th and Louisiana, Wooddale Avenue reconstruction and West 36th Street reconstruction. Mr. Harmening asked if the 2008 projects were acceptable or if Council wanted any changes. Councilmember Paprocki felt $20,000 for four WiFi cameras would be inefficient and $50,000 for a frisbee golf course was too high and suggested a dog park instead. Mr. DeJong stated with the current WiFi situation, the cameras were put on hold; however there would potentially be an alternative funding source through the E911 funds, since it would be dispatch related. Councilmember Paprocki stated if it didn't make sense on one budget it didn't make sense to take them from another budget, stating he didn't feel it was a good value. Councilmember Sanger asked why the City would pay to upgrade school tennis courts and to upgrade traffic signals on County roads (CSAH 25 @ Beltline Blvd). Mr. Harmening stated it was part of the joint recreation programming. Councilmember Sanger asked if the money for the Study Session Minutes -3- December 10, 2007 tennis courts were a fraction of the costs or the entire amount. Mr. Harmening stated he would check on the amount. Mr. Rardin stated Council asked to have the Beltline Blvd funds put back in for future consideration when the bridge crossing was approved. He stated the County was willing to do one or the other, but Council seemed to want both issues rectified. Mr. Harmening suggested staff could request the County try to program it into their capital plan. Councilmember Carver stated if they chose not to do the projects this year, it would need to be caught up on at some point. Councilmember Sanger asked if the City would be funding the trail crossing by the Three River's Park District. Mr. Rardin stated he expected it to be at no expense to the City. Councilmember Omodt inquired about the MSC expansion. Mr. Harmening explained the storage bins and security were separate from the MSC expansion, further stating the expansion amount was a place marker for what the City may have to do because of the MSC impact for displacing utilities at the fire station#1. Mr. Rardin explained because of various unknowns in criteria, the replacement parking lots would most likely be pushed out further than 2008. Mr. Harmening stated staff is looking at internal ideas for the parking lots and adding more parking availability. Councilmember Finkelstein stated the City itself and staff has done a great job managing the assets they have and is looked upon as a rejuvenated City by other suburbs. Mr. Harmening complimented Mr. Rardin for his 12 years work on inventorying and asset management. 4. Contract Delivery of Solid Waste Services Mr. Rardin presented the staff report, explaining they were decreasing the responsibility for public education from the vendor and shift it onto the City. He suggested a staffing person for field quality assurance and suggested getting proposals with and without the position for comparisons. He also stated the City Attorneys were in the process of reviewing the RFP's, which would require further discussions. Mr. Rardin pointed out the paragraph on the RFP's state the City's designated contacts would be Mr. Merkley or Ms. Hellekson for purposes of the proposals and that any other unauthorized contact could be subject to company disqualification from further consideration. Councilmember Sanger asked for clarification on the private business contract stating limited to small businesses. Mr. Merkley explained that if it were a small business having the same service level as residential, they would allow them to use carts. Councilmember Sanger further stated concern with limiting service. Mr. Merkley stated multi-family and commercial use would be limited, but residential would not be restricted. Mr. Rardin stated the refuse and yard waste and recycle are aimed at cart usage. He further stated the multi-family and commercial would be dumpster business. Ms. Hellekson stated they could correct the wordage. Councilmember Sanger suggested noting a negotiated discount on the proposals if a vendor won multiple contracts. Councilmember Carver stated it should be listed in their competitive bid. Councilmember Sanger asked that there be a more defined definition on requiring vendors to use humans rather than voice mail systems to provide good customer service. Mr. Merkley stated that was their intent and they would modify the language. Councilmember Sanger asked about Study Session Minutes -4- December 10, 2007 charging penalties for missed pickups. Mr. Rardin stated they have included the industry standard terminology and by doing that it may cost more. Councilmember Sanger suggested also adding park recycling to the RFP, further stating she felt the field person should be a City person versus the vendor's person. Mr. Harmening stated that decision didn't need to be made at this point. Ms. Klennert asked Council if they would allow alternative RFP proposals. There was Council consensus to do both and then an alternative proposal. Mr. Rardin stated their intent was to have a consent report for the December 17t Council Meeting. 5. Update on Pawnshop Study Mr. Locke presented the staff report. Mr. Scott stated the discussion was to deal with the land use aspects of the regulations. Councilmember Sanger suggested a larger buffer zone to residential and asked if they could restrict land use for payday loans in the same building, banning access from residential streets and requiring the pawnshop be located within a certain amount of feet to a police station. Councilmember Carver asked if there were any pawnshops in Minnetonka. Mr. Locke stated nothing he's aware of. He also asked if the St. Louis Park setback requirements would apply to other surrounding suburb parcels. Mr. Scott stated they would still be regulating the parcel within the City, however Council could set up the requirements. Councilmember Carver suggested with the stipulations given, staff should look at the places where pawnshops could actually exist and any other possible scenarios they should be aware of, eliminating any possible future challenges. Councilmember Finkelstein stated the City has a legitimate health and a safety rational for reviewing the land use controls on the pawnshops. He further stated he felt it was timely needed and at a minimum they need to protect the health and safety of the residents and the commercial vitality of the neighborhoods and businesses. Council concurred. Councilmember Basill stated that because it's a destination site he felt it was appropriate for these type of requirements. Councilmember Finkelstein asked if there were businesses acting as pawnshops but were not licensed as such. Mayor Jacobs stated it would be an enforcement issue. Councilmember Omodt asked if there would still be places where the pawnshops could exist within the City. Mr. Locke stated the C-2 zoned areas. Councilmember Sanger suggested staff research banning entirely before setting the zoning limits. Councilmember Finkelstein stated he wouldn't like them banned completely, just require reasonable land use controls. Mr. Locke stated they could look at that in further detail, but suggested moving forward with the proposal. There was Council consensus to move forward and to have the Planning Commission review as soon as possible. Study Session Minutes -5- December 10, 2007 Mr. Locke stated it would be on the January 2n1 Planning Commission Meeting and could be brought back to the January 22nd City Council Meeting. 6. Communications (verbal) Mr. Harmening reminded Council of the soil vapor-testing meeting on Thursday, December 13, 2007 at 7:30 p.m. and Saturday, December 15, 2007 at 2:00 p.m. at the Rec. Center and encouraged Council to ask questions. He further stated the EPA is requiring additional five properties to be tested. The meeting adjourned at 8:41 p.m. Written Reports provided and documented for recording purposes only: 7. Request for Zoning Ordinance Amendment to allow Advertising Signs on Athletic Fields. 8. Beehive Relocation Project. 9. Fund Equity Transfers and Fund Closings. 10. Update on Redevelopment Contract with Duke Realty. Nancy Stroth, Cif)/Clerk Jeff Ja obs, Mayo"