HomeMy WebLinkAbout2012/09/24 - ADMIN - Minutes - City Council - Study Session JJf St. Louis Park OFFICIAL MINUTES
MINNESOTA CITY COUNCIL STUDY SESSION
ST. LOUIS PARK, MINNESOTA
SEPTEMBER 24, 2012
The meeting convened at 6:30 p.m.
Councilmembers present: Mayor Jeff Jacobs, Steve Hallfin, Anne Mavity, Julia Ross, Susan
Sanger, Sue Santa, and Jake Spano.
Councilmembers absent: None.
Staff present: City Manager (Mr. Harmening), Deputy City Manager/Director of Human
Resources (Ms. Deno), Director of Parks and Recreation (Ms. Walsh), Communications
Coordinator(Mr. Zwilling), and Recording Secretary(Ms. Hughes).
1. Future Study Session Agenda Planning— October 8, 2012
Mr. Harmening presented the proposed study session agenda for October 8, 2012. He indicated
that Professor Myron Orfield recently published "America's Racially Diverse Suburbs —
Opportunities and Challenges" and asked if Council was interested in discussing the report at a
future study session.
It was the consensus of the City Council to add Professor Orfield's report to a future study
session agenda.
Councilmember Sanger requested that Council have a study session discussion regarding the
Planning Commission's rejection of the proposal for the Eliot School site. She also requested
that Council have a study session discussion regarding the SWLRT DEIS scheduled to be
released in October.
Mr. Harmening agreed to add a discussion regarding the Eliot School site to a future study
session agenda. He advised that staff will provide Council with a report in its next study session
agenda regarding the SWLRT DEIS, including an overview of the DEIS process and how the
comment period works. He stated the City is interested in bringing in technical assistance to
assist the City in its formulation of comments and will then come back to Council in late October
or November to further discuss the DEIS process. He indicated he would provide Council with a
link to the DEIS and will check to see if an executive summary of the issues relevant to the City
will be prepared.
2. Toby Keith's Liquor License
Ms. Deno presented the staff report and stated representatives from Toby Keith's were in
attendance this evening. She advised that data received from Toby Keith's indicates that for the
period ending August 31, 2012, Toby Keith's met the Ordinance requirements for food and
liquor sales, with 51% food sales and 49% liquor sales.
Councilmember Ross commended Toby Keith's for exceeding the City's requirements and was
happy to see the numbers contained in the report. She stated she was amenable to removing
Toby Keith's probationary status at this time and felt they were working hard to comply with the
City's Ordinance requirements.
Study Session Minutes -2- September 24, 2012
Councilmember Sanger commended Toby Keith's for making progress on meeting the Ordinance
requirements and did not have a problem with taking Toby Keith's off probation. She stated she
did not want to see Toby Keith's or any other licensee fluctuate in meeting the City's requirement
for food and liquor sales and asked if the Ordinance requires a licensee to stay off probation for a
certain length of time once they come off probation.
Ms. Deno stated this is the first time the City has dealt with this issue and the Ordinance does not
contain a provision that requires a licensee to stay off probation for a certain length of time. She
added the City will review food and liquor sales again at the time of liquor license renewal.
Councilmember Sanger indicated she would like to see an Ordinance requirement that states
once an establishment comes off probation there can be no second probationary period within a
certain penod of time so there is no fluctuation in compliance with the food and liquor sales
requirements.
Councilmember Ross stated that the issue raised by Councilmember Sanger is totally separate
from the Toby Keith's matter and felt Council should review the overall ordinance in a separate
discussion.
Councilmember Santa stated she was confident that Toby Keith's will sustain its food and liquor
sales and commended their efforts in getting to this point. She asked if the six-month probation
will expire or whether Council needs to take formal action.
Ms. Deno stated she would check with the City Attorney about whether Council needs to take
action or whether the six-month probation will simply expire.
Mayor Jacobs and Councilmembers Spano, Hallfin and Mavity were also in favor of removing
the probationary status of Toby Keith's. It was the consensus of the City Council that Toby
Keith's had met conditions of probation and are removed from the probationary status.
Councilmember Spano stated there was a charitable gambling request that was denied by
Council based on Toby Keith's probationary status and asked if Council will revisit the charitable
gambling request now that Toby Keith's is off probation.
Mr. Harmening advised that Toby Keith's was told the City would review any chartable
gambling request after the probationary status was removed.
It was the consensus of the City Council to have a study session discussion regarding the liquor
Ordinance related to the 50-50 ratio provision and the issue raised by Councilmember Sanger.
3. Use of City Portion of Lodging Tax Revenue
Mr. Harmening presented the staff report and stated the City has approximately $48,000
available and can expect up to $35,000 per year to use for special projects, such as public art,
special City marketing initiatives, or City festivals and events.
Councilmember Santa stated the public art is great but if the art is not taken care of, it is a waste
of money and becomes a huge disappointment to the community at large. She indicated she
would like to see some of the funds used toward maintenance of the public art.
Study Session-Minutes -3- September 24, 2012
Councilmember Sanger stated she was okay with using some of the funds for events if it is an
event that draws visitors to the City. She indicated she has had some concerns about the negative
comments received about the City's public art and would rather see the money used for enhanced
design or architectural upgrades of bridges or public buildings. She added she would like
Council to have a separate discussion about the City's public art program.
Councilmember Ross stated she liked the idea of using the money for enhanced design or
architectural upgrades of bridges or public buildings and agreed Council needed to have a
broader discussion on public art. She stated she would also like to see some money put into
some type of advertisement to draw people into the City.
Councilmember Mavity stated she has not heard that maintenance of the City's public art has
become a problem. She liked the idea of using funds for enhanced architectural design, noting
that if a developer is engaged in investing in this she did not want to dissuade that and the City
should continue to encourage developer involvement. She indicated she was also in favor of
doing some marketing initiatives and felt the City should do more to get its name out there.
Councilmember Hallfin stated he liked the ideas in general and suggested using some of the
funds for youth sports or events because these types of events bnng a lot of people into the City.
Councilmember Spano stated he felt the City does not currently do all it can to support artists
and the arts community and suggested Council consider a scholarship-type mentoring program
for young artists. Cindy Walsh, Director of Parks and Recreation talked about the art grant and
scholarship program through Friends of the Arts and that they provide funding for scholarships.
Councilmember Mavity stated she did not think that was an appropriate role for the City and
asked whether money could be given to Friends of the Arts for that type of program. She added
the organizers of the Shakespeare Festival at Wolfe Park are trying to turn the event into a
premiere Shakespeare festival for the region and felt this was something the City could invest in
because it brings people into the City.
Mr. Harmening agreed to draft a policy for Council consideration that addresses public art and
maintenance of public art, marketing initiatives, and promoting high quality architecture in
public architecture.
Councilmember Ross requested that the policy provide Council with flexibility for using the
funds so that dollars can be moved around to other projects as determined by Council.
Mayor Jacobs stated he would like to see public art installed at the light rail transit stations.
4. Council Reports—Executive Summary
Ms. Deno presented the staff report and stated an executive summary page is intended to provide
Council with a one-page snapshot followed by background material in Council reports. She
stated that the main issues for Councilconsideration would be contained on the first page and the
reports would include hyperlinks in the executive summary to help quickly direct Council to
relevant background information.
Councilmember Spano stated he suggested using an executive summary because the current staff
reports go right into a significant amount of detail and an executive summary could provide brief
Study Session Minutes -4- September 24, 2012
information about the history of an issue and what action Council is being asked to take on a
particular issue. He stated what he has found missing in the reports is a top-level view of the
larger issue being considered by Council.
Councilmember Sanger expressed concern that an executive summary might make it too easy to
just read the executive summary and not get into the details. She felt an executive summary
might also make more work for staff.
Ms. Deno felt in the long run, this type of report will make it easier for the City to track items.
She stated staff would like to try using the executive summary format and acknowledged it will
take a while to transition to this format.
City Council was in agreement in moving forward with the executive summary style of report for
Council agendas.
Communications/Meeting Check-In (Verbal)
Councilmember Mavity stated she felt the Beltline LRT written report contained in the agenda
did not nail down the key circulation issues that Council discussed with the consultants. She
expressed concern that the summary is still missing some key elements, noting that the report
indicates that Raleigh Avenue from Minnetonka Boulevard south to 36th Street over the railroad
tracks would be further reviewed. She stated when Council had this discussion, she indicated
she would not be supportive of a crossing over the railroad tracks and stated this felt like a setup
to analyze something that is a non-starter because she did not think going over the railroad tracks
was a viable option.
Councilmember Sanger agreed with Councilmember Mavity and stated the reference to studying
a route that is an at-grade crossing of the tracks, whether at Raleigh or Inglewood, is a non-
starter. She indicated she asked for additional study on Ottawa Avenue that dealt with the
parking issues if Ottawa ends up being chosen as the north-south connection.
Councilmember Mavity stated the report talks about the impact of new street crossings over the
regional trail and felt like this was also a set-up to why this will not work. She also questioned
why the discussions with Minneapolis about opening Park Glen were not included in the report
because this is probably the most viable of all the options.
Mr. Locke stated that staff attempted to capture what was in the minutes from the previous city
council discussion in the written report, noting that nothing in the written report is intended to
state these are the solutions; rather, staffs intent was not to eliminate anything that was discussed
at the last meeting, including connections into Minneapolis. He stated the goal was to make sure
staff captured all the questions raised to make sure those issues are addressed, recognizing that
some things went beyond the scope of this particular study. He indicated that staff is not asking
Council to endorse any of these ideas but to acknowledge that these were things that came up in
previous discussions. The goal is to make sure these issues are talked about with the Advisory
Committee with the intent of coming back with a recommended plan for Council to review.
Councilmember Sanger stated the point discussed at the last meeting was how a Birchwood or
Blackstone neighborhood resident who lives north of Minnetonka Boulevard would easily get to
the light rail station and the point was made that people who live in this area are not going to
Study Session Minutes -5- September 24, 2012
Inglewood to double back to the light rail station. She added it is not just about how to cross the
railroad tracks and the focus has to be Beltline and further west and north, not east.
Mr. Locke explained that this study is working on the Beltline LRT station area circulation plan.
It addresses the area immediately surrounding that station. The study is focused on the '/2-mile
radius around the Beltline LRT station. He assured Council that the study with the help of our
consultants as well as the Advisory Committee will, no doubt, generate additional ideas and will
not be constrained by what is contained in the current staff report.
Councilmember Sanger stated that the disconnect appears to stem from the Study being focused
on this %2 mile radius while Council is urging staff not to look at the '/i mile radius in a vacuum
and to look at the bigger picture of how to get people to the light rail station.
Councilmember Ross stated the Advisory Committee has been tasked with doing the "how"
work and it is up to the Advisory Committee to figure out how this can work.
Mr. Harmening suggested that he and Mr. Locke meet with Councilmembers Mavity and Sanger
to further discuss this matter.
Councilmember Spam requested that the Public Involvement Resident Summary on the solid
waste program changes be corrected to accurately state how many residents favored dual sort and
how many favored single sort.
The meeting adjourned at 7.15 p.m.
Written Reports provided and documented for recording purposes only:
5. Beltline LRT Station Area Circulation Planning and Advisory Committee Process
6. Pedestrian and Bicycle System Implementation Plan
7. Project Update—Highway 7/Louisiana Avenue Interchange Project
8. 2013—2018 Solid Waste Collection Program Updat•
9. August 2012 Monthly Financial Report j /
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Nancy Stroth, ity Clerk Jeff Jacob o