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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2012/10/22 - ADMIN - Minutes - City Council - Study Session III St. Louis Park OFFICIAL MINUTES MINNESOTA CITY COUNCIL STUDY SESSION ST. LOUIS PARK,MINNESOTA OCTOBER 22, 2012 The meeting convened at 6:30 p.m. Councilmembers present: Mayor Jeff Jacobs, Steve Hallfin, Anne Mavity, Julia Ross (arrived at 6:40 p.m.), Susan Sanger, Sue Santa, and Jake Spano (arrived at 6:37 p.m.). Councilmembers absent: None. Staff present: City Manager (Mr. Harmening), Director of Public Works (Mr. Rardin), City Engineer (Mr. Brink), Chief Information Officer (Mr. Pires), Civic TV Coordinator (Mr. Dunlap), Communications Coordinator (Mr. Zwilling), Director of Parks and Recreation (Ms. Walsh), Planning/Zoning Supervisor (Ms. McMonigal), Assistant Zoning Administrator (Mr. Morrison), and Recording Secretary(Ms. Hughes). Guest. Joanne Hovis (CTC Consulting), Mr. Toby Keeler, Mr. Bruce Browning and Mr. Rick Dworsky (Telecommunications Advisory Commission), Susan Schneck and George Hagemann (Friends of the Arts Board Members), and April Crockett (Mn/DOT). 1. Future Study Session Agenda Planning— November 5 & November 13, 2012 Mr. Harmening presented the proposed special study session agenda for November 5, 2012, and the proposed study session agenda for November 13, 2012. Councilmember Sanger suggested moving the Highway 7/Louisiana discussion to the special study session on November 5th or to a different date because the Community Recreation Facility Task Force and SWLRT DEIS discussion on November 13`h will take a majority of the time. Mr. Harmening stated the special study session on November 5th could start at 6:00 p.m to allow time for the sidewalks and trails update as well as the Highway 7/Louisiana update. It was the consensus of the City Council to start the November 5th special study session at 6:00 p.m. 2. Fiber Optic Study Mr. Pires presented the staff report and introduced Joanne Hovis, President of CTC Consulting, and Mr. Toby Keeler, Mr. Bruce Browning, and Mr. Rick Dworsky from the Telecommunications Advisory Commission (TAC). He also acknowledged Mr. Martin Ludden and Mr. Emmett Coleman from Comcast. He provided a brief history of the fiber optic study and stated that CTC interviewed multiple stakeholders, including Comcast, and also reviewed City-related data and conducted a survey of businesses to prepare its recommendations and cost estimates. Ms. Hovis advised that the most important study finding is that the City has a tremendous asset in its existing fiber network and is using it remarkably well. She stated over the years, the City has incrementally and cautiously built 30 miles of public fiber and is delivering state of the art services at a relatively low cost. She stated the survey showed that the availability of broadband service in the small business community is better than in 2006 and the City has a very solid record and is ahead of most local governments in the country. She stated the gaps in serving Study Session Minutes -2- October 22, 2012 public institutions are modest and a majority of public buildings are being served. She indicated the library is a singular situation because it is not a City facility but the County has not had fiber deployment of its own as a high priority and recommended exploration of a partnership with the County where the City's fiber infrastructure could serve the library. She stated that private anchor institutions are an essential part of the community and even though they are not public, they are being increasingly recognized on a national level, e.g., Park Nicollet, Benilde, and Hamline, as serving substantial community needs that could be supported at a relatively modest cost. She stated the prospect of extending fiber to those institutions would fill gaps and would be in keeping with the idea of a public broadband communications network that serves the community. She indicated that one way to maximize existing fiber to the private sector is to use the City's excess fiber capacity and look for private partners that are willing to pay to lease some of that fiber. She advised that an emerging business model being tested by the current administration uses public investment in the middle mile of fiber, adding that the potential use of existing fiber in this way would be of low risk to the City. She stated there are approximately one hundred municipal networks that have fiber ownership all the way into the home and for the most part these networks are located in rural areas where there is not as much private sector competition, adding that this is capital intensive and expensive to build. Councilmember Sanger stated she would be interested in further information comparing public ownership versus leasing. Ms. Hovis stated there are different business models and bringing fiber to the home will deliver enormous benefits to a community but those benefits will be challenging and require a $30 million capital investment as well as requiring a 50-60% penetration rate to cover operating expenses. She explained that changes in technology are primarily driven by consumer electronics but the roads over which these devices operate do not change and fiber has infinite potential to expand. She stated that an expansive strategy to bring fiber to the home would drive enormous benefits but those benefits are not easy to quantify at this point. She stated there are incremental steps the City could take that are not risky and recommended extensive additional analysis of any more aggressive options including robust survey work in the residential and business markets where there appears to be some interest. She added that in order to get a picture of the potential additional benefit to the public and private sectors from the fiber network, the City might consider an RFI process that could yield significant information for the City, again with low risk. She stated that the survey work also revealed that the small business market is better served now than in 2006, but that there is a satisfaction gap between price and service speed. Mr. Pires stated that an RFI would allow creative ideas to come to the table and would be non- binding on the City. He indicated they have also talked about expanding the study to a master plan to look at the big picture, long term and to consider what incremental expansions to pursue. Mr. Browning stated technology is changing at breakneck speed and the City is poised to consider some options not available to other cities. He indicated there are places within Minneapolis that have fiber to the home now and felt it was appropriate for the City to be looking at this. Mr. Keeler stated this has the potential to replace the revenue coming in from the City's existing franchise agreements if traditional delivery methods are replaced by broadband. He indicated the City will probably not see fiber to the home for a number of years but felt that some of the Study Session Minutes -3- October 22, 2012 study's recommendations could be acted on with the help of the City's consultant and third party providers. Ms. Hovis stated that the concept of requiring installation of conduit in new developments or in substantial redevelopment of existing buildings is a new strategy that has been tried in a few communities and agreed to provide further information to Council regarding cost implications to builders, noting that the cost of putting fiber in new construction is marginal. Councilmember Mavity agreed with expanding the fiber between Park Nicollet's facilities and felt that $85,000 was affordable. She stated she was unclear about what was included in the recommendation regarding the park and rec and public works facilities, adding that the rest of the recommendations make sense particularly regarding fiber redundancy. She stated she was less concerned about providing fiber to single family homes given the amount of multi-family and office building development going on in the City. Councilmember Sanger stated she was not certain that the suggestion about undertaking an RFI process made sense until there are clearly stated goals and strategies, which should be part of a separate discussion. She indicated the recommendation about building a fiber connection between Park Nicollet and Methodist raised concerns for her and she did not want to do something special for Park Nicollet and Methodist that the City would not do for other businesses. She indicated she would rather develop a model where the City specifies what it will do for governmental purposes or for private entities. She added she was supportive of requiring installation of fiber conduit in new construction or significantly remodeled buildings. 1 Councilmember Santa stated that many of the City's public buildings and water towers are near business nodes so the City is building the backbone, which is the direction the City needs to be thinking about. She agreed with Councilmember Sanger's comments about having clearly stated goals and strategies. It was the consensus of the City Council to explore incremental improvements to the City's fiber network. It was also the consensus of the City Council to further explore an RFI process after development of a master plan with clearly stated goals and strategies. It was also the consensus of the City Council to develop a Code requirement for installation of fiber conduit in new or significantly remodeled construction. 3. Friends of the Arts Annual Report and Update Ms. Walsh presented the staff report and introduced Susan Schneck and George Hagemann. Ms. Schneck presented the annual report and stated that Friends of the Arts (FoTA) has worked hard to support art as an integral part of the community and has developed programs that serve individuals, artists and organizations along with the entire community. She indicated the Beats and Streets program was very successful and FoTA is now looking at doing an organizational audit and strategic plan to build on its current foundation. She advised that FoTA has partnered with several organizations including Shalom Home, Meadowbrook, and Partnership Resources and opportunities exist for further private/public partnerships. F Councilmember Ross agreed with the idea of incorporating public art into architecture and stated she would like to see FoTA partner with the Parks and Recreation Department on a program Study Session Minutes -4- October 22, 2012 involving dance or exercise to get people involved in something that is fun and healthy and is a low cost option for families. Mr. Hagemann indicated the town hall meeting scheduled for October 25th will allow community members to be heard and FoTA has tried to make sure its programs and events have a good outcome and include a component of education for participants and audience members. He added FoTA has applied to the Minnesota Regional Arts Council for a $10,000 grant to fund a more thoughtful process after the town hall meeting. Councilmember Sanger thanked Friends of the Arts for all its good work and encouraged FoTA to consider programs that focus on dance in general and to focus on programs that enhance the community's appreciation of quality and aesthetic architecture. Mr. Hagemann stated the City's website has a public art section that includes information on each of the public arts projects; in addition, FoTA has reached out to Park Nicollet to see if they have any interest in showcasing private installations of public art. Councilmember Mavity agreed with the suggested focus of public art in architecture. She stated that FoTA board member Mark Hauck is the driving force behind Shakespeare in the Park and the possibility of having a permanent home at Wolfe Park and asked if this was something that FoTA would consider supporting. Ms. Schneck stated that FoTA provides fiscal sponsorship for a number of arts organizations in the City including three theater groups. She indicated FoTA's vision allows them to work at different levels, e.g., the Film Festival, and the strategic planning process will help FoTA figure out its relationship with the City and other major organizations. She added that the Shakespeare in the Park concept presents a great opportunity and FoTA will need to determine how it fits into the big picture. Councilmember Hallfin expressed thanks to Friends of the Arts and asked if FoTA needs anything else from the City. Mr. Hagemann indicated that City has been responsive to FoTA and added FoTA would like to have more early input on public art in architecture. Ms. Schneck stated that one of FoTA's 2013 goals is more outreach and marketing to get more visibility in the community regarding its scholarship programs and the arts and culture grants. She thanked Mr. Zwilling for his assistance and added they could use more help with social media. She indicated the School District has been providing office space for FoTA but they are being squeezed out and FoTA is looking for a larger office with storage space. Councilmember Ross indicated that Shakespeare does not appeal to everyone and preferred to have a rotation of other theater companies. Councilmember Spano stated he would like to see if an opportunity exists where FoTA arranges for artists to work with the schools to select students who can be mentored by a professional artist. Ms. Schneck and Mr. Hagemann explained that it is already possible to fund that within the framework of the Arts for Life program Study Session Minutes -5- October 22, 2012 Mr. Hagemann felt that FoTA could have an artist in residence type of program and FoTA would be happy to help tailor its programs to meet a particular need. Councilmember Santa felt it was important for FoTA to focus on those areas where it can be most effective and was happy to see FoTA engaging in a strategic planning process. 4. Project Update—Highway 100 Reconstruction Project Mr. Rardin presented the staff report. Mr. Brink stated that Mn/DOT will be hosting an open house on October 24th, from 5:00-7:30 p.m. in the Council Chambers and the public hearing for the municipal consent will be held at the November 5th City Council meeting. He added that the noise wall voting process has begun with ballots sent to residents and Mn/DOT held informational meetings last week where there was light turnout. He stated that there will continue to be a lot of public input as part of the process once municipal consent occurs, including input on noise walls, design and aesthetics. Councilmember Sanger requested further information regarding the Project Advisory Committee. Mr. Brink explained the Project Advisory Committee will include a variety of business and community-wide interests to discuss access to businesses, including construction staging, signage and traffic flow, and ultimately what will happen long term. Mr. Rardin stated the Project Advisory Committee will include public safety, schools, and businesses to make sure their stakeholders are being accommodated throughout the project and to provide feedback to the entire project management team during construction. Ms. Crockett stated that Mn/DOT will have someone involved on a weekly basis and added any questions can be directed to her. She stated that construction of the ramps will begin in the fall of 2014 and the bridges will be done in 2015. She indicated that funding for the project has been committed and municipal consent is needed for approval of the final design. Councilmember Mavity stated the City has many large projects occurnng in 2014 including Highway 7/Louisiana and light rail and requested a timeline that lays out all these projects. Mr. Rardin stated the CIP includes a timeline and agreed to provide Council with a calendar, pointing out that the City cannot control everything and that light rail is still uncertain. 5. Zoning Ordinance Amendment Regulating Outdoor Lighting Ms. McMonigal presented the staff report and proposed Outdoor Lighting Ordinance. Councilmember Sanger stated that most of Council's discussion at the first reading of the ordinance centered on the issue of controlling glare and felt that the issue was not adequately addressed. She indicated the ordinance deals with glare by requiring that light fixtures be changed out to include a glare package, which has been pointed out as very expensive to replace. She felt that other alternatives should be considered and stated other communities have required the existing shield around the light to be painted black, which does not completely eliminate glare but will significantly reduce glare onto neighboring properties. She requested that this Study Session Minutes -6- October 22, 2012 requirement be incorporated into the ordinance as a first step and to provide "x" number of months for the fixture to be painted. She also stated there may be no need to replace lights to control glare and it might be possible to replace or augment the shields around the lights and proposed that the ordinance include a date certain by which the fixtures have the shields replaced with glare packages or in the alternative to add visors onto the shields to help control the direction so glare does not go into neighboring houses. She stated that another provision should require the operator to replace the shields or augment the shields by a date certain, e.g., two years if they have not already been replaced. She stated Council also talked about the number of times per week the fields are used and suggested adding a requirement that if shields are not installed or painted black then those fields should be restricted to no more than two nights per week. She felt these requirements would achieve a better balance because the proposed ordinance does not balance the rights of property owners and added these additional requirements would be cheaper, more effective, and provide an immediate way of dealing with the issue of glare. Ms. McMonigal indicated staff would need to research the issue of adding visors to make sure no weight issues are raised. Councilmember Sanger stated she understood this has been done elsewhere and felt it was worth researching further. Councilmember Mavity agreed that further research to consider the addition of visors was reasonable and asked that staff explore if there are best practices related to this adding she would like to see evidence that it actually works to control glare; if it does and the cost is fairly minimal she felt this would achieve a good balance. Councilmember Sanger stated that Council might want to consider the question of distance because lights glaring 300' from people's homes is different than lights glaring 700' from someone's home and suggested using a tiered approach where changes are required, i.e., in those places closest to people's homes. She stated there are people who cannot use their patios or decks because they are most directly in the line with the lighting on the fields. Ms. McMonigal stated that the idea of distance might not matter because they have to light the fields for safety of the sport. Mayor Jacobs expressed concern about how the City would enforce the ordinance and the burden on staff. Councilmember Sanger stated if there is a concern about requiring compliance for all fields at once, the ordinance could be structured to require compliance for the closest fields first. Councilmember Spano felt it was a good idea to look into the idea of painting the fixtures. He agreed with Mayor Jacobs's concern about the ordinance becoming very cumbersome. Councilmember Sanger stated the problem specific to Benilde is that they agreed to the requirements when the City granted their permits and by staffs admission Benilde has not complied with the glare problem. She added that regardless of what comes out of the ordinance discussion, the City needs to be more proactive in addressing the Benilde situation and addressing complaints. Study Session Minutes -7- October 22, 2012 Mr. Harmening stated that Councilmember Sanger's statements were not accurate and advised there are provisions in the current ordinance that are not enforceable and are not reasonable He stated that provisions in the existing code cannot be met by Benilde or by the school distnct and the City Attorney has indicated if the City wants him to go to court to enforce the ordinance, it will not work. It was the consensus of the City Council to direct staff to provide Council with research regarding the question of painting the light shields including information regarding best practices and to provide this information in a study session pnor to second reading. It was also the consensus of the majonty of the City Council that the Outdoor Lighting Ordinance should not contain a limitation on the number of evenings per week for lighted athletic fields. It was also the consensus of the majority of the City Council that the current provision regarding hours of operation should not be changed. 6. Zoning Ordinance Amendment Pertaining to Mobile Food Vehicles and Catering Mr. Morrison presented the staff report and proposed revisions to the Mobile Food Vehicles and Catering Zoning Ordinance amendment. He described the changes made to the ordinance to address Council's concerns regarding signage, noise, hours of operation, and alcoholic beverages, as well as additional provisions that restrict lights and provide shielding. He stated that overnight parking is not allowed with the exception of vehicles under long-term contract such as the hot dog trailer outside of Cub Foods for example. He indicated that festivals like Parktacular would fall under a special category because these are private events. He stated that an additional provision was added requiring all litter to be kept in sealed leak-proof containers and vendors must provide their own trash receptacle. He added the ordinance also contains a provision requiring only non-alcoholic beverages to be sold. He advised that the Catering Ordinance has not been revised since the first reading and stated the City Assessor calculates the taxes due by comparing the ratio of for profit activities to nonprofit activities. Mr. Harmening stated the second reading of the ordinance is scheduled for November 5th 7. City Manager's 2012 Performance Evaluation Mr. Harmening presented the staff report. Councilmember Sanger felt that Council's work with J. Forrest in the past has worked well. Mayor Jacobs and Councilmembers Ross and Mavity agreed. Councilmember Santa agreed that J. Forrest has done a great job and suggested that Council consider taking a different approach in the future, stating she felt it was important to get a different perspective. It was the consensus of the City Council to use consultant J Forrest to assist Council with the City Manager's 2012 performance evaluation Communications/Meeting Check-In (Verbal) Mr. Harmening advised that the City will be partnering with the County on a multi-family recycling initiative and stated a recycling tote bag containing recycling information will be Study Session Minutes -8- October 22, 2012 provided to multi-family properties to encourage voluntary participation in the recycling program. Mr. Harmening stated that the City is planning to conduct an analysis of the public works operations similar to the analysis being conducted of the police and fire departments. He indicated there are a lot of changes occurring in the community as well as increasing demands and the analysis will make sure the City's resources are being deployed in a way that best meets the needs of the City and its residents. Mr. Harmemng referenced an earlier email from Andy Ewald asking if the City was interested in participating in improving the amenities at the football stadium. Councilmember Sanger indicated she has no interest in paying any capital costs for improvements. Councilmember Mavity stated the question of domed turf will arise when discussing community recreation facilities and she would be interested in that discussion, but'felt it needs to be done in the context of the community recreation facility discussion. Councilmember Spano felt there may be opportunities that are mutually beneficial to the School District and the City and felt it was worth pursuing further discussion with the School District. Mr. Harmening distributed a list of major projects and initiatives in the City and stated that City staff is working hard to keep up with all the projects. Councilmember Sanger urged Mr. Harmening to let Council know if additional staff is needed. Councilmember Mavity stated there are numerous redevelopment projects coming on line and there are at least seven large sites in play in Ward 2. She urged the City to creatively design these projects so that they are interesting, unique, and attractive and that include an affordability component to provide some balance in affordability. Mayor Jacobs suggested that this topic be included on Council's 2013 retreat agenda. The meeting adjourned at 9:37 p.m. Written Reports provided and documented for recording purposes only: 8. September 2012 Monthly Financial Report 9. Third Quarter Investment Report (July—Se mber, 2012) 10. Open to Business Program Update (; b$,L,N Nancy Stroth, City Clerk Jeff Ja bi)M yor