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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2013/01/28 - ADMIN - Minutes - City Council - Study Session I/I St. Louis Park OFFICIAL MINUTES MINNESOTA CITY COUNCIL STUDY SESSION ST. LOUIS PARK, MINNESOTA JANUARY 28, 2013 The meeting convened at 6:35 p.m. Councilmembers present: Mayor Jeff Jacobs, Steve Hallfin, Julia Ross, Susan Sanger, Sue Santa, and Jake Spano. Councilmembers absent: Anne Mavity. Staff present: City Manager (Mr. Harmening), City Attorney (Mr. Scott), Communications Coordinator (Mr. Zwilling), Communications Specialist (Mr. Rose), Chief of Police (Mr. Luse), Director of Inspections (Mr. Hoffman), City Engineer(Mr. Brink), and Recording Secretary(Ms. Hughes). Guest: Mr. John Basill (President, Discover St. Louis Park). 1. Future Study Session Agenda Planning—February 11,2013 Mr. Harmening presented the proposed study session agenda for February 11, 2013. He stated the agenda for the February 4, 2013, City Council meeting does not contain any pressing items and suggested that Council cancel the February 4, 2013, City Council meeting and schedule a special City Council meeting before the February 11, 2013, study session. It was the consensus of the City Council to cancel the February 4, 2013, City Council meeting. 2. Annual Update—Discover St. Louis Park Mr. Harmening presented the staff report. Mr. Basill presented a summary of Discover St. Louis Park's activities over the past 16 months and recited the organization's mission. He discussed the marketing strategy tactics and advised that the website had approximately 16,000 unique visits in the first year, which ranks high compared to other similarly sized CVBs. He stated that social media, including Facebook, Twitter, and Linked In would continue to play a significant role in the organization. He presented the 2013 budget and also presented examples of advertisements and rack cards placed in kiosks. He discussed the organization's aggressive digital marketing, which had 21 million total impressions delivered and 8,100 total clicks recorded. Councilmember Sanger asked if there was any way to determine what percentage of those 8,100 total clicks actually booked a hotel room or meeting. Mr. Basill explained that a study conducted by the University of Minnesota indicated that approximately 20% of visitors who are driven to the website and request visitor guides are captured. He discussed the marketing and trade shows planned in 2013 and stated that 296 groups contacted the CVB in the first year and 6,688 total leisure leads have been generated to date. He stated that 2,420 visitor guides have been emailed and 4,268 visitor guides have been mailed and added the 2013 visitor guide is in the process of being finalized. He indicated that the Discover St. Louis Park kiosks are well positioned throughout the City, including locations at the Rec Center, Shops at West End, and Excelsior and Grand, and they are working to place kiosks at Miracle Mile and Knollwood. He stated the CVB recently received a $4,500 grant Study Session Minutes -2- January 28, 2013 from the State that will be used for an additional marketing campaign and added the CVB sold approximately$5,000 worth of advertising in the visitor guide. Councilmember Spano requested further information about the CVB's presence at the airport as well as the current light rail stations. Mr. Basill advised the CVB is present in all rack card kiosks at the airport but transportation to and from the airport is the single biggest reason the CVB has not secured some groups, where this transportation was essential. He stated that local hotels have to use a third party transportation company and the hotels have been unwilling to provide transportation to and from the airport due to the cost of providing such shuttle service. He advised that the CVB plan to further discuss this issue with the City and will continue to look for creative solutions, but we need to be careful not to spend too much in this area that will take significantly away from other essential marketing efforts that dnve awareness. He then presented a copy of the CVB's meeting and event space planning guide. Mayor Jacobs expressed the City Council's thanks to Mr. Basill for his efforts on behalf of the City. 3. Pedestrian and Bicycle System Implementation Plan Update Mr. Harmening presented the staff report. Mr. Brink explained that the plan was revised following Council's last discussion and stated that certain segments including 31S` Street have been deleted from the plan as shown on Exhibit A2. He indicated other segments highlighted in green on Exhibit A2 are being recommended for further discussion, e.g., areas in Ward 4 that ranked low on the list and these areas have been pushed back to 2023. He stated the segments highlighted in yellow have been accelerated on the schedule, e.g., 41st Street, based on overwhelming response from residents and which ranked high on the priority criteria. He stated the segments highlighted in blue are suggested to be delayed or pushed back on the schedule, e.g., the west side of Virginia Avenue from Cedar Lake Road to 28tn because of the significant barrier created by the railroad bridge. Councilmembers Santa and Ross disagreed with delaying Virginia Avenue sidewalk and strongly urged the City to fix the east side at this time. Councilmember Ross agreed with most of the suggested revisions particularly in Ward 4. She expressed concern about the sidewalk at Virginia Avenue and stated this area needs attention to make sure it is safe for people coming from Cedar Lake Road up to the regional trail. She stated she would like to see sidewalks along Louisiana Avenue but recognized that residents have expressed concern about losing boulevard trees and about their small lot sizes. Councilmember Sanger expressed general agreement with the proposed revisions and advised she received a request to accelerate the addition of a sidewalk on the west side of Joppa Avenue from Torah Academy to Minnetonka Boulevard because of the new synagogue opening in that location. She requested that the City provide assurance to residents that the City will not take any trees unless they are diseased. Study Session Minutes -3- January 28, 2013 Mr. Brink stated the City works hard to avoid removing trees dunng sidewalk construction but acknowledged there are some sidewalk segments where the City may not be able to avoid taking trees. Councilmember Santa agreed with deleting the sidewalks on 31st Street and 33`d Street from Aquila to Texas Avenue. She stated she did not agree with the recommended further discussion for the sidewalk (331d Street) from Texas to Rhode Island and felt this segment should be taken off the list. She requested that the City accelerate the sidewalk segment along the back end of 36th Street behind Knollwood. Councilmember Spano agreed with the proposed revisions and urged staff to work with the affected neighbors to come up with decisions and finality to the plan. He felt the momentum being built around this plan should be harnessed at this time to provide finality to the process. Councilmember Hallfin stated he felt there would be some segments that will need to be revisited particularly if a neighborhood comes back to Council at a later date requesting a sidewalk. He stated he would be okay with the 41st Street sidewalk being placed on the north side of the street and asked if the City has considered accelerating this sidewalk to 2013. Mr. Brink replied that the City will begin engineering on the 41st Street sidewalk but was not sure if it would be built this year. Councilmember Sanger asked how the City would be addressing those areas where people asked the City to add sidewalks. She also asked about the City's process for communicating with residents about certain segments being left on the plan even though there was some opposition received from residents. Mr. Harmening advised that those segments might be somewhat delayed because the City will need to continue the public process on those areas. He requested input from Council regarding a public hearing or forum for residents to review and comment on the revised plan. Mayor Jacobs expressed support for holding an open house to show residents the revisions made to the onginal plan and to obtain feedback from residents. Councilmember Sanger suggested the revised plan be posted on the City's website and in Park Perspective to allow residents an opportunity to provide feedback. Mr. Harmening agreed to provide Council with a communication plan for obtaining feedback on the revised plan. 4. Amending Chapter 18 — Offenses and Miscellaneous Provisions to Include Regulations for Drug Paraphernalia Mr. Hoffman presented the staff report and proposed ordinance amending Chapter 18 to address drug paraphernalia. He explained that`in the past, the City has not had a lot of businesses selling paraphernalia but the City has received some complaints in the last year about a convenience store in the Texa-Tonka area selling drug paraphernalia. He noted he has met with the store's new owner and learned that the stock is diminishing and not being replenished. Study Session Minutes -4- January 28, 2013 Councilmember Sanger requested clarification regarding what the ordinance is trying to address and stated if a store is selling a legal product the City does not have the right to say the product cannot be sold and the City should be targeting those individuals who are using the product for drug consumption. Mr. Scott explained there is a State statute that makes drug paraphernalia illegal but the statute is vague and the statute is not being enforced. He stated there have been a number of court cases over local ordinances and the proposed ordinance goes into a lot of detail in defining drug paraphernalia, adding that the key is to show that the person selling it knew or had reason to know the product would be used for illegal purposes. He added the proposed ordinance was modeled after a Moorhead, Minnesota, ordinance and a Federal Judge recently upheld a challenge to the validity of the Moorhead ordinance. Councilmember Hallfin felt that Council should wait to see if the Moorhead decision is appealed and then make a decision on whether to adopt the ordinance. Mayor Jacobs and Councilmembers Ross and Santa stated they preferred to adopt the ordinance now. Councilmember Spano stated he would be amenable to adopting the ordinance at this time. It was the consensus of the majority of the City Council to support the amendment of Chapter 18 to address drug paraphernalia. 5. Communications Plan Update Mr. Zwilling presented the staff report and introduced Communications Specialist Mike Rose. He advised that the City recently concluded its comprehensive marketing and branding plan for Westwood Hills Nature Center that includes a new website for the Nature Center and its own social media presence that will complement the City's brand and elevate the Nature Center's programs. He also advised that the City wants to expand its communications with residents and will unveil an "Ideas in the Park" web-based tool that can be used as an online idea box where the City can interact with residents. He demonstrated an aspect of this tool that will allow residents to provide feedback on specific projects, e.g., the possible community recreation facility, and that will allow residents to have online discussions and forums about City projects. Councilmember Ross commended Mr. Zwilling on the communications plan and asked what he will need in terms of resources. Mr. Zwilling stated he felt that the Communications Department was well positioned for the future with the recent addition of Mr. Rose. Councilmember Sanger requested further information about how the City will make sure that the online conversations and forums are not dominated by any groups or residents and how the City will address the potential for abuse. She also asked how Council will get feedback about suggestions that residents are making and how the City will make use of those suggestions. Mr. Zwilling stated it will be important to let conversations happen and the City will monitor all conversations based on the abuse policy in place. He advised that regular reporting would be provided to Council and the process is intended to be very transparent. Study Session Minutes -5- January 28, 2013 Councilmember Sanger stated if residents are going to be invited to comment the City should be prepared to respond to every comment made. Mayor Jacobs agreed. Councilmember Sanger requested further information regarding the development of a more robust email distribution list for residents. Mr. Zwilling agreed that the City should continue to address this issue and agreed to investigate it more thoroughly. Councilmember Santa commended Mr. Zwilling for his work on the communications plan. She agreed that every comment should be responded to so that people know they are being heard and requested that the City have a policy for responding to all comments within a set time period. Councilmember Sanger requested that the City further research the issue of unpaid interns and indicated that unpaid interns could present a legal issue for the City. It was the consensus of the City Council to support the current Communications Plan goals and objectives. Communications/Meeting Check-In (Verbal) Mr. Luse provided an update to Council regarding a recent incident involving a contractor hired by the City of St. Louis Park and the City of Edina. He indicated the Hennepin County Sheriff's Department is currently investigating the matter. The meeting adjourned at 9:00 p.m. Written Reports provided and documented for recording purposes only: 6. December 2012 Monthly Financial Report 7. Fourth Quarter Investment Report(Oct—Dec 2012) 8. Proposed Allocation of 2012 Community Development Block Grant(CDBG) Funds 9. Planned Unit Development(PUD) Amending to Zoning Code 10. Proposal to Rezone Property at 3700 State Highway 100 11. Update on SW LRT Preliminary Engineering,(' ) and Transitional Station Area Action Plans (TSAAP) Nancy Stroth, City Clerk Jeff Jaco,s, . or