Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAbout2013/05/13 - ADMIN - Minutes - City Council - Study Session f/f St. Louis Park OFFICIAL MINUTES MINNESOTA CITY COUNCIL STUDY SESSION ST. LOUIS PARK, MINNESOTA MAY 13,2013 The meeting convened at 6:04 p.m. Councilmembers present: Mayor Pro Tern Susan Sanger, Steve Hallfin, Anne Mavity, Julia Ross, Sue Santa, and Jake Spano. Councilmembers absent: Mayor Jeff Jacobs. Staff present: City Manager (Mr. Harmening), Deputy City Manager/Director of Human Resources (Ms. Deno), Director of Operations and Recreation (Ms. Walsh), Director of Engineering (Mr. Rardin), Director of Community Development (Mr. Locke), Planning/Zoning Supervisor (Ms. McMonigal), Senior Engineering Project Manager (Mr. Sullivan), Economic Development Coordinator (Mr. Hunt), Recreation Superintendent (Mr. Birno), Controller (Mr. Swanson), Finance Supervisor (Mr. Heintz), Rec Center Manager (Mr. Eisold), and Recording Secretary(Ms. Hughes). Guests: Victor Pechaty(HGA), Stacie Kvilvang(Ehlers), and Marie Cote(SRF). 1. Environment& Sustainability Commission: Sustainable SLP Applicant Review Mr. Harmening presented the staff report and list of 21 candidates for the Environment and Sustainability Commission for review by Council. Councilmember Mavity suggested that Council undertake the same process previously used for filling Commission seats where candidates are ranked with a goal of having the top two candidates from each ward selected so that all wards have representation on the Commission. Mayor Pro Tern Sanger stated there were two business candidates on the list so those candidates should automatically be selected for the Commission. She noted there was a geographic imbalance by ward. Councilmember Santa agreed that the two business candidates should be selected for the Commission. She stated Council established priorities for selecting candidates and felt Council should revisit those priorities as it reviews the resumes so that the Commission is not heavily weighted one way or the other as it relates to area of expertise or interest. Councilmember Spano suggested that Council rank all of the candidates and select the top two candidates from each ward resulting in eight seats being filled. He stated that would leave five seats to fill and suggested that Council interview these five candidates. Councilmember Hallfin stated if Council ranks the candidates before interviewing them, those rankings could change after interviewing a candidate. Councilmember Ross agreed and stated she did not want to rule out any of the candidates who might fall into a lower ranking. Councilmember Mavity suggested that Council rank the candidate list and then come back next week for further discussion. Study Session Minutes -2- May 13, 2013 Mayor Pro Tern Sanger suggested Council divide the candidate list into three categories of 1- strong preference, 2-moderate preference, and 3-no preference. Councilmember Ross felt it was important to give all the candidates an equal opportunity and thought it would be difficult to interview some candidates and not others without specific criteria. It was the consensus of the City Council to rank the Commission candidates into three categories of 1-strong preference, 2-moderate preference, and 3-no preference and to meet in special study session on May 20`h to review the rankings. Mr. Harmening requested that Council provide staff with its rankings by Thursday morning. Mayor Pro Tern Sanger requested that staff provide Council with a grid that includes a candidate's primary area of interest or expertise. 2. Future Study Session Agenda Planning—May 28, 2013 Mr. Harmening presented the proposed study session agenda for May 28, 2013 and stated the agenda item regarding the Knollwood stormwater plan will be moved to a later date to allow sufficient time to discuss SWLRT and the sidewalk and trail plan. He advised that the SWLRT freight rail alternatives are being introduced on May 23rd and representatives from the Met Council Project Office have been invited to attend the May 28th study session meeting. Councilmember Santa asked when the Watershed District study at Knollwood would be done. Mr. Harmening replied the study would begin this summer. Councilmember Santa requested further information regarding the scope of work when this item is brought back to Council. 3. Petition for Street Lights—Joppa Avenue Mr. Harmening presented the staff report and advised it is the City's policy to provide streetlights at all intersections at the City's cost. He stated that from time to time, the City receives requests for midblock streetlights and it has been a longstanding policy of the City to provide midblock lights at resident's expense. He explained that in this case there are some unique land uses in the area with a tendency for high concentrations of traffic and pedestrians and the residents have submitted a petition for midblock streetlights. He felt the residents have made a compelling argument and staff believes it is reasonable to install midblock streetlights at the City's expense. He noted there is a two-block segment in this area scheduled for sidewalk installation in 2014 and the area residents have requested that the City expedite the sidewalk installation to 2013, adding the residents have been informed that the City will try to install the sidewalk in 2013 but cannot promise that it will be done in 2013. Councilmember Hallfin stated that some residents have expressed frustration that people are not using the existing sidewalks in this area and was hopeful that installation of the additional sidewalk in this area would help alleviate the congestion and safety issues. Study Session Minutes -3- May 13, 2013 Mayor Pro Sanger stated that a meeting was held recently with the synagogues and Torah Academy where people were asked to use the sidewalk and hoped that this request was honored. Councilmember Ross supported the installation of midblock streetlights in this case. She asked if the City would be setting a precedent for other religious institutions with a similar argument for additional streetlights. Mr. Harmening stated he felt the City would accommodate such a request if the circumstances were similar adding the City would have to review any requests on a case-by-case basis. Councilmember Santa urged the City to do whatever it can to encourage people to use the sidewalks in this area. Mr. Harmemng felt it was best to work with the religious institutions in this area and to ask them to continue to encourage their congregants to use the sidewalk. It was the consensus of the City Council to direct staff to install two midblock streetlights on Joppa Avenue between Minnetonka Boulevard and 28th Street. 4. Community Center Planning Check-in Ms. Walsh presented the staff report and introduced Mr. Birno, Mr. Eisold, and Mr. Victor Pechaty. Mr. Eisold announced the City recently received the James Padgett award from the Minnesota Ice Arena Managers Association for its skate sharpening shop. Ms. Walsh advised the City has been going through the program components identified by the Task Force and will explore working with a physical therapist to determine whether there is interest in having office hours at the Community Center. She stated that Mr. Basill has indicated they are not interested in moving from the West End and Fnends of the Arts has indicated they may be interested in having an office at the Community Center. She requested that Council let staff know if there are other partners the City should pursue. Councilmember Ross suggested the City consider having a nutritionist at the Community Center. Mayor Pro Tern Sanger urged the City to make sure that program components at the Community Center meet the criteria of insurance companies who provide credit to their members for participating in selected programs. Councilmember Mavity suggested the City pursue a Nice Ride kiosk at the Community Center. Ms. Walsh stated the gymnasium is proposed to hold two full size court areas with a drop down curtain and a set of bleachers. She stated the proposed flooring is a multipurpose surface rather than a traditional wood floor. Mr. Pechaty explained the industry leader in poured polyurethane multi-purpose flooring is a company called Pulastic and this flooring consists of a granule crushed layer of recycled material that is meant to work well for many sports and is easy to,maintain. He stated a wood floor is more expensive to install at approximately $10-$14 per square foot while the synthetic flooring Study Session Minutes -4- May 13, 2013 is approximately $7-$10 per square foot. He agreed to provide anecdotal information regarding flooring options at a later date. Councilmember Mavity requested staff provide information regarding current participation in the City's various sports. Ms. Walsh advised the trend in pool construction is to have 2 pools - one for lap swimming and the other for leisure that included slides and other fun amenities. She felt it will be important to have lap swimming available as much as possible. She stated the School District offers swimming lessons and the City might consider a partnership with the School District at some time. She advised that full time childcare is not proposed and the facility would have drop-in childcare only, adding there are many requirements associated with day care that the City will have to work on. She stated the proposed community room would include an area larger than the City's current banquet room at the Rec Center and would hold approximately 55-60 round tables. She stated the Community Center's front entrance is proposed to include a gathering area for people in the community. Mayor Pro Tem Sanger stated there was also some discussion about including small alcoves throughout the Community Center for people to gather. Councilmember Hallfin stated a resident asked him if the Community Center would include a teen safe center specifically for teens to have a place to go before or after school. Ms. Walsh indicated the City proposes to include a gathering area similar to a college commons area where kids can be together in a safe environment and/or do their homework. Mr. Pechaty advised that HGA is currently doing some preliminary planning for Shakopee after they asked HGA to find a way to repurpose their teen center to make it a multigenerational space that is more inviting for a wider demographic. Ms. Walsh advised that a kids play area is difficult to keep clean and the City is continuing to work on this type of play area. Councilmember Ross asked if there was a way to use UV lights after hours to sterilize a kids play area. Mr. Pechaty agreed to research this possibility. Councilmember Mavity stated she would prefer to keep the kids play area in the plans as long as possible given the high demand for this type of use. Ms. Walsh stated the goal is to make the track as large as possible in the range of 8-10 laps per mile. She indicated the fitness classroom space would be multi-purpose with storage available for equipment. Mr. Pechaty stated that trends in community center programming are being reviewed to make sure the programming serves a wide generational demographic. He indicated the most successful community centers have top-notch fitness and aerobics instructors and offer classes at a lower price point than traditional fitness centers and that cater more to wellness without high-end amenities. Study Session Minutes -5- May 13, 2013 Ms. Walsh stated the Community Center would include party rooms that can be repurposed for other uses. She stated that HGA is currently reviewing the"back of house"areas and noted these areas will increase the footprint of the building. She advised that the next phase includes site analysis on the Rec Center site and the West 36th Street site. She asked if staff should continue to explore the Carpenter Park site, noting that Council felt this site was a viable option only if Raleigh Avenue was a through street connecting to CSAH 25. It was the consensus of the City Council that the Carpenter Park site should not be pursued as a viable option for the Community Center. Councilmember Santa requested further information regarding parking. Ms. Walsh stated that a ramp-type parking facility is likely at either location and Council will be provided with alternatives for parking at both sites. Councilmember Spano stated Council has previously talked about finding opportunities to further collaborate with the School District and requested that staff see if the School Distnct is interested in pursuing the idea of allowing the School District to use one of the larger rooms to bring in a teacher to staff the room after school to help with homework. Ms. Walsh agreed to speak with Lisa Green about this. 5. Annual TIF Management Report Mr. Hunt presented the staff report and introduced Ms. Stacie Kvilvang with Ehlers. Ms. Kvilvang presented the Management Review & Analysis of the City's Tax Increment Financing Districts and advised the City currently has eight Redevelopment TIF Districts, two Housing TIF Districts, one Soils TIF District, one Renewal and Renovation TIF District, one Economic Development TIF District, and one Hazardous Substance Subdistnct. She reviewed the historical tax capacity captured by TIF stating the City's average tax capacity captured by TIF is approximately 9-10%. She pointed out that St. Louis Park has the shortest terms on its TIF Districts and has a history of providing 15 years or less for most developments. She indicated the Victoria Ponds District and Excelsior Boulevard HSTI District will decertify this year and in 2014, approximately $1,280,000 of tax capacity will no longer be captured by TIF. She presented a comparison of tax capacity captured by TIF of other communities and stated it was interesting to note that peer communities with a AAA rating are not as aggressive as St. Louis Park in terms of generating redevelopment in their cities. She also presented information regarding the increase in tax base based upon pay 2013 values and stated the City has seen an approximate 617% overall increase in value of the City's TIF Districts. Councilmember Mavity indicated the layman's takeaway is that the City's investments in TIF are paying back at approximately 600%representing a substantial return on investment. Ms. Kvilvang reviewed the City's existing obligations including ten pay-as-you-go obligations and four outstanding bond issues. She then presented recommendations for the City stating the City has several TIF Districts with cash balances and recommended using approximately $490,000 at Victoria Ponds, adding they will come back to Council with a plan for utilizing these funds. She also recommended the City transfer $500,000 from the Park Center TIF District to Study Session Minutes -6- May 13, 2013 the HRA development fund to pay for housing rehabilitation programs and to transfer $185,000 annually through the term of this TIF District to pay for these programs, which will serve to stabilize this funding source until 2023. She stated the recommendations also include utilizing approximately $370,000 per year from the Elmwood TIF District to pay on the City's interfund loan and to pay for future public improvements. She advised the Park Nicollet HSTI TIF District has a potential liability of $145,000 and recommended the City keep that money in the TIF account until all tax petitions are settled and to return the remaining balance to the County for redistribution. She stated the Victoria Ponds obligation will be paid off in August 2013 and recommended the City decertify this district and return the remaining funds to the County for redistribution. She indicated the Oak Hill district was created under the JOBS bill and because construction was not commenced by July 1, 2012, the district needs to be decertified because it no longer qualifies as an economic development TIF District. She noted the City can utilize its portion of the returned TIF receipts from the HSTI and Victoria Ponds TIF Districts of$912,200 and those dollars are unrestricted. She stated the look back calculation is required for Aquila Commons and should be completed as soon as possible. She advised that future actions include approval to pay off the 2004A bonds, approval of early decertification resolutions for the HSTI, Victoria Ponds, and Oak Hill TIF Districts, and approval of a plan for use of the City's portion of returned increment of approximately $912,000. She indicated the City's TIF Districts are in good financial health and are performing well. Mayor Pro Tern Sanger thanked Ms. Kvilvang for her efforts on behalf of the City. 6. SWLRT Update Ms. McMonigal presented the staff report and Beltline Station Area Circulation Study. She advised that staff is reviewing park and ride models that indicate a requirement for up to 670 parking stalls at the Beltline station and up to 230 parking stalls at the Louisiana Avenue station. She noted staff is also reviewing alternatives for grade-separated trails at Beltline and Wooddale. She indicated Met Council is looking at some bridges at Beltline in particular and presented some examples of a trail underpass. She advised the Met Council Project Office is seriously considering the option of moving the Louisiana Avenue station platform south toward the hospital. She advised that seven sites were selected as possible OMF sites with one site located in St. Louis Park at the Hopkins border. She presented a graphic of potential OMF configurations and stated Met Council is hosting an open house on May 15`h from 4:30-7:30 p.m. at the Project Office to review the OMF sites. Ms. McMonigal stated that Met Council is continuing to work on the freight rail issue for both co-location and relocation and noted the railroad has indicated the LPA design is not acceptable because this design has too many reverse curves. She indicated that staff intends to invite the Project Office to the May 28th study session to discuss the routes with Council, adding that Met Council is planning to host open houses in mid-June on this issue. She presented a handout regarding the freight rail public outreach process prepared from information provided by the Project Office. Ms. McMonigal then presented information regarding the Beltline Station Area Advisory Committee's work on the circulation systems in this area that provides direction for moving forward noting all this work has to done in conjunction with the Preliminary Engineering and the Hennepin County Community Works station area planning process. Council held a lengthy discussion regarding the focus areas and recommended courses of action. Study Session Minutes -7- May 13, 2013 Mayor Pro Tern Sanger expressed opposition to putting Inglewood over the tracks and expressed concern about accommodating traffic on Beltline. She was concerned about cut through traffic spilling into the residential neighborhoods and having another at grade.crossing of the tracks. Mayor Pro Tern Sanger indicated the proposal to tunnel the bike lane does not provide anything for the vehicle traffic on Beltline and asked why there was no analysis of bridging Beltline over the tracks and bike trail at the same time. Ms. McMonigal responded that this is an option, and there are sketches depicting what this might look like. She added that it would be important to look at what this does for traffic, pedestrians, as well as place making of the area. Ms. Cote explained that the majority of the Advisory Committee initially thought it should be grade separated so they put more time into presenting information of what that would look like. She advised if Beltline were lowered, there is a significant issue with the water table and some members of the Advisory Committee did not like cutting off the east side to the west side or the large retaining walls that would be needed. She added they did some modeling to look at queuing and the impacts of light rail in this area and the advisory committee decided they wanted to keep both options on the table. Councilmember Mavity indicated the idea of having at grade at the station does not seem feasible. Ms. Cote stated that light rail is not going to cause significant congestion but freight rail will. Mayor Pro Tern Sanger thanked staff and Ms. Cote for the update. Communications/Meeting Check-In (Verbal) Mr. Harmening advised that Mr. Moore, the City's lobbyist, has indicated he believes the State's budget agreement will include a new LGA formula that will provide the City with $400,000- 600,000; in addition, the budget agreement is proposed to eliminate the sales tax paid by local governments. He stated that Mr. Moore has also indicated the conference committee has adopted the Special Service Districts and Housing Improvement Areas with a 15-year sunset. He added the Dan Patch lifting of the ban is not in the bill. Councilmember Ross stated she received a complaint from a resident about the Star Tribune's weekly advertising drop. Mr. Harmening advised that he contacted the Star Tribune about this advertising and received a response today indicating they want to resolve this problem and they seemed interested in addressing the complaints. a Councilmember Mavity stated she has noticed a lot of people have started planting in their right of ways and asked if the City has any guidelines regarding species and boundaries for planting in the right of way, adding she felt there should be some education for residents on this issue. The meeting adjourned at 9:35 p.m. Written Reports provided and documented for recording purposes only: Study Session Minutes -8- May 13, 2013 7. Refunding of 2007A and 2008A Utility Revenue Bonds 8. Knollwood Area Stormwater Plan --)'-)et -,-t .e. ), N'actp?"-. )"‘x‘ 11-- Nancy Stroth, Ci6 Clerk usan San er, Mayor Pro Tern