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Home My WebLink About2010/04/26 - ADMIN - Minutes - City Council - Study Session »l St. Louis Park OFFICIAL MINUTES MINNESOTA CITY COUNCIL STUDY SESSION ST. LOUIS PARK, MINNESOTA APRIL 26, 2010 The meeting convened at 6:31 p.m Councilmembers present: Mayor Pro Tern Susan Sanger, Phil Finkelstein, Anne Mavity, Paul Omodt,Julia Ross, and Sue Santa. Councilmembers absent: Mayor Jeff Jacobs. Staff present: City Manager (Mr. Harmening), Deputy City Manager (Ms. Gohman), City Clerk (Ms. Stroth), Communications Coordinator (Mr. Zwilling), and Recording Secretary (Ms. Hughes). Guests: Ginny Gelms, City of Minneapolis Director of Elections, and Roger Knutson, Minneapolis City Attorney's Office 1. Future Study Session Agenda Planning— May 10, 2010 Mr. Harmening presented the proposed study session agenda for May 10, 2010 2. Ranked Choice Voting Ms. Stroth presented the staff report and introduced Ginny Gelms, City of Minneapolis Director of Elections, and City Attorney Roger Knutson. Mayor Pro Tem Sanger stated updated information on Ranked Choice Voting (RCV) has been requested for council discussion particularly due to the 2009 Minneapolis RCV Election and the related Minnesota Supreme Court ruling. Councilmember Omodt stated the City has always run a good election with high integrity and he did not feel St. Louis Park should be a further testing ground for hand counting of ballots. Councilmember Finkelstein stated he did not feel that RCV would work well in the City and suggested the City consider eliminating the requirement for municipal primary elections. He stated he felt that RCV would add another level of confusion for voters. Ms. Gelms provided historical background regarding the 2009 Minneapolis RCV election. She stated that Minneapolis put out a request for proposals for equipment required to hold the RCV election, but no proposals received met the State and Federal certification requirements. She discussed the implementation activities since 2006 involved in the adoption of the ordinance, ballot language and design, feasibility testing, public education, development of hand count procedures, and development of an equipment and process testing plan and protocol. Ms. Stroth stated that the City conducts the School Board elections. If the City chose to use Ranked Choice Voting, it would result in voters voting two different methods for city offices and school board offices on the same ballot. Study Session Minutes -2- April 26, 2010 Ms. Gelms indicated the voter survey results which showed that by and large, people liked the experience, they understood the process, and voters who turned out were not confused. She discussed the spoiled ballot and error rates and the administrative costs involved. Discussion took place regarding other St. Louis Park election regulations of signatures required for candidate filing, municipal primary elections, and municipal elections being held in the odd years. It was the consensus of the City Council that no changes would be made to the City's voting method at this time, and to continue with the current regulations and requirements for St. Louis Park municipal elections as stated in the City Charter. 3. Communications (Verbal) Mr. Harmening reminded Council of the 2010 Home Remodeling Tour scheduled for Sunday, May 2nd from 12:00-4:00 p.m. Mr. Harmening reported that staff met with the School District on Friday to discuss the process for Eliot and Cedar Manor schools. He advised that a neighborhood meeting will be scheduled in mid to late May for the purpose of explaining the process, including the formation of a task force. He stated the goal is to have the task force work through the summer months and to have something for the School Board and Council in September or October. He added that the City has sent a letter to property owners around the Eliot and Cedar Manor properties informing them of this process. Mr. Harmening discussed the sex offender issue in the Minikanda Vista and Browndale neighborhoods and reported that a neighborhood meeting was held with residents; following that meeting, staff invited representatives from the Department of Corrections to meet with leaders of the two neighborhoods on May 5 to allow them to ask further questions. Councilmember Ross stated that an issue has been raised with respect to the dog park in her ward, and a resident is complaining about noise as�well as the lack of privacy. She stated she has met with city staff regarding the possibility of raising the level of the berm and planting additional shrubbery. She indicated that staff researched the possibility of installing an approximate 100' fence, which would cost between $5,000 and $6,000. She stated one of the concerns raised by the resident appears to be that people are not observing the posted hours in the dog park. The Council asked that staff place this on the May 1st Study Session for further discussion. The West End Redevelopment Contract Report Based on a staff report in the agenda packet on the West End project, Councilmember Mavity requested that the Council have a further discussion regarding how and when it is appropriate for the City to promote affordable housing units in large scale developments. She also requested that staff address industry standard definitions for affordable housing during this discussion. Study Session Minutes -3- April 26, 2010 Councilmember Omodt stated that the last time the Council reviewed its affordable housing criteria, the City was oversubscribed pursuant to Met Council guidelines. He indicated he is opposed to concentrated affordable housing because it appears to segregate the City's schools. Mayor Pro Tern Sanger stated it would be helpful for Council to have the most current data regarding the scope and to what extent affordable housing exists in the community. Councilmember Finkelstein stated he felt the issue was worthy of a policy discussion by Council. Mr. Harmening stated that based upon the previous policy direction of the Council, staff does not believe there was a policy direction to somehow incent or require the West End developer to put in some affordable housing or workforce housing component. He advised that staff will be bringing to the Council a request to amend the Development Agreement to allow housing as a land use option in this development. He stated if the Council, as part of that decision, wants to consider an affordability component, that represents a shift in policy on this project and the need for further Council discussion to occur. He added this policy discussion can focus on the West End project alone, or also in terms of citywide affordable housing. It was the consensus of the City Council to have this policy discussion brought forward at a future meeting. Councilmember Mavity stated she would like to look at exploring what it means to have a policy in place that provides incentives for developers to put in scattered site affordable housing as a way of avoiding a project-based concentration of poverty. Councilmember Ross stated she would like to have some information regarding Federal government guidelines. Mayor Pro Tem Sanger acknowledged Councilmember Omodt's valid concerns. She indicated she would like an update from staff on whether the City has a surplus of affordable housing. She stated it is difficult to know how to approach the West End project without knowing the bigger picture city-wide. Councilmember Finkelstein stated that it would be helpful for Council's discussion to have a definition of affordable housing, how affordable housing is defined and by whom, as well as a definition of work force housing. He stated it would also be helpful to have statistics regarding how much low income or affordable housing has been created in the City in the last five years Mr. Harmening stated that staff will provide a housing affordability report to Council in May or June; in the meantime, staff will advise the West End developer that the Council is giving consideration to housing in this project. Councilmember Omodt called for a point of order and stated that the Council should wait to have further discussion on this topic at a future study session. Study Session Minutes -4- April 26, 2010 Communications continued Councilmember Omodt stated that he, along with Councilmembers Finkelstein and Ross, attended the emergency exercise last Saturday. He stated it was great to see how well the fire departments and other agencies interacted. He congratulated City staff on their planning and execution of the emergency exercise. Mr. Harmening stated that the City needs to update its emergency plan and as that is done, staff will work with Council on roles and responsibilities of elected officials and staff. Mr. Zwilling stated that all of the partners involved in the exercise wanted to document the exercise, including the planning process; as a result, staff will be producing a 20 minute documentary film to be used as a training tool for all the agencies involved. The meeting adjourned at 8:18 p.m. Written Reports provided and documented for recording purposes only: 4. March, 2010 Monthly Financial Report 5. First Quarter Investment Report (January— March, 2010) 6. Fire Station Project Update 7. The West End Redevelopment Contract Update 8. Minority-owned, Women's Business Enterprises and Small Business 9. Redevelopment Project & EDA Contract Status Rs e. • : 1°` Quarter 2010 Nancy Stroth, C(4 Clerk Jeff Ja .br ayor