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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2014/06/02 - ADMIN - Minutes - City Council - Regular Jfl St. Louis Park OFFICIAL MINUTES MINNESOTA CITY COUNCIL MEETING ST. LOUIS PARK, MINNESOTA JUNE 2, 2014 1. Call to Order Mayor Jacobs called the meeting to order at 7:30 p.m. Councilmembers present: Mayor Jeff Jacobs, Steve Hallfin, Gregg Lindberg, Anne Mavity, Susan Sanger, and Jake Spano. Councilmembers absent: Tim Brausen. Staff present: City Manager(Mr. Harmening), Deputy City Manager/Human Resources Director (Ms. Deno), Director of Inspections (Mr. Hoffman), Fire Chief(Mr. Koering), Controller (Mr. Swanson), Finance Supervisor (Mr. Heintz), Planning and Zoning Supervisor (Ms. McMonigal), Assistant Zoning Administrator(Mr. Morrison), and Recording Secretary(Ms. Hughes). Guest: David Mol, CPA (HLB Tautges Redpath, Ltd.). la. Pledge of Allegiance lb. Roll Call 2. Presentations 2a. Presentation Accepting Monetary Donation from Loop Minnesota and Hearing Loss Association of America ($1,000 each) Mr. Hoffman stated that the City developed a partnership with Loop Minnesota and the Hearing Loss Association of America-Twin Cities through the St. Louis Park Business Council and staff has been working with these organizations on the installation of a Hearing Induction Loop in the Council Chambers that provides a direct signal for people with hearing loss. He then introduced Ms. Kim Fishman. Ms. Kim Fishman introduced Mr. Rick Nelson, Loop Minnesota President; Mr. Dick Davis, Loop Minnesota Treasurer; and Mr. Ross Hammond, Loop Minnesota Secretary. Mr. Ross Hammond explained that the Hearing Induction Loop takes the signal from the PA and routes it to a copper wire running around the room that people with telecoils can pick up and the big advantage is that it shuts off the microphone in the hearing aid. He expressed appreciation to the City for working with them on this project. Ms. Monique Hammond presented a check for$1,000 from the Hearing Loss Association of America-Twin Cities and stated she was currently listening through the loop and the sound is crisp with no background noise. She thanked the City for getting involved and for making the Council Chambers accessible to everyone. She introduced Mr. Bob Knoll, HLAA-TC Treasurer, and Ms. Carole Blowers, past President of HLAA-TC. Mr. Rick Nelson, Loop Minnesota President, presented a check to the City for$1,000. Mayor Jacobs expressed the City Council's thanks and appreciation for the donations. City Council Meeting -2- June 2, 2014 2b. Beyond the Yellow Ribbon Coalition Update Mr. Jason Gad, Southwest Twin Cities Beyond the Yellow Ribbon Coalition, thanked the cities of St. Louis Park, Hopkins, Edina, and Minnetonka for being a part of the coalition and providing resources to veterans. Ms. Jocelyn Northenscold, Chair of the Southwest Twin Cities Beyond the Yellow Ribbon Coalition, thanked the City for its support and stated they hope to raise awareness about the Coalition over the summer months, including participation in local parades. She indicated they are looking for volunteers for their programs and encouraged residents to visit the website at www.swtcbeyondtheyellowribbon.org. Ms. Heather Shue, Volunteer Liaison to the Coalition, stated the Coalition meets on the third Thursday of the month at Hopkins City Hall and their next meeting is on June 19t. 2c. Retirement Recognition Resolution for Assistant Fire Chief Mark Windschitl Mayor Jacobs recited the resolution recognizing the contributions of and expressing appreciation to Assistant Fire Chief Mark Windschitl and presented a plaque to Mr. Windschitl in recognition of his service from August 16, 1987 to May 30, 2014, and expressed the City Council's thanks to Mr. Windschitl for his years of service. Mr. Windschitl stated it has been an honor to serve the community and it has been very rewarding. He stated he has worked with some great people and he is very proud of the work that went into building the new fire stations. 2d. 2013 Financial Statements—Auditors Presentation Mr. Swanson presented the staff report and introduced David Mol, CPA. Mr. Mol explained that five reports were issued at the conclusion of the 2013 audit that resulted in a clean or unmodified opinion with no findings of noncompliance. He congratulated the City on its receipt of the Government Finance Officers Association 2012 award for excellence in financial reporting and noted that the City has received this award for the previous 30 years. He advised they did not audit the City's internal controls, rather, the report on internal controls is intended to identify where there are material risks and there was one minor item noted regarding timing of reporting of the City's antenna lease revenue. He stated they sampled several transactions to test for compliance with the Minnesota legal compliance audit guide and there were no findings of noncompliance. He stated that a Federal single audit was required because the City exceeded $500,000 in Federal funds dunng 2013 for the Highway 7/Louisiana Avenue project and the FEMA grant and reported there were no findings of noncompliance. He stated they are required to issue a communication to those charged with governance and this report references a change regarding GASB No. 65 as well as an OPEB obligation of $1.9 million. He stated they are also required to communicate any immaterial adjustments that were not made and there was an understatement of property taxes receivable. He advised they encountered no disagreements with management and no difficulties were encountered in performing the audit. City Council Meeting -3- June 2, 2014 Mayor Jacobs expressed the City Council's thanks to Mr. Mol and the Finance Department staff for their efforts. Mr. Swanson stated that the financial statements will be posted on the City's website this week and residents may contact him if they have questions. Mr. Harmening commended Mr. Swanson, Mr. Heintz, and the entire Finance Department staff for doing a great job. 3. Approval of Minutes 3a. Study Session Minutes May 12, 2014 The minutes were approved as presented. 3b. City Council Meeting Minutes May 19, 2014 The minutes were approved as presented. 4. Approval of Agenda and Items on Consent Calendar NOTE: The Consent Calendar lists those items of business which are considered to be routine and/or which need no discussion. Consent items are acted upon by one motion. If discussion is desired by either a Councilmember or a member of the audience, that item may be moved to an appropriate section of the regular agenda for discussion. 4a. Adopt Resolution No. 14-073 to recognize Assistant Fire Chief Mark Windschitl for his 27 years of service to the City of St. Louis Park. 4b. Approve a Temporary On-Sale Intoxicating Liquor License for Parktacular, Inc., for their Annual Parktacular Celebration Block Party to be held June 13, 2014, at the Town Green located at Excelsior and Grand, 3815 Grand Way in St. Louis Park. 4c. Adopt Resolution No. 14-074 approving acceptance of a monetary donation from Loop Minnesota and Hearing Loss Association of America in the amount of $1,000 each for the installation of a Hearing Induction Loop in the Council Chambers 4d. Accept for filing City Disbursement Claims for the period of April 26 through May 23, 2014. It was moved by Councilmember Mavity, seconded by Councilmember Sanger, to approve the Agenda and items listed on the Consent Calendar; and to waive reading of all resolutions and ordinances The motion passed 6-0 (Councilmember Brausen absent). 5. Boards and Commissions 5a. Appointment of Representative to the Human Rights Commission City Council Meeting -4- June 2, 2014 It was moved by Councilmember Spano, seconded by Councilmember Mavity, to appoint citizen representative Will Poulter as Youth Commissioner to the Human Rights Commission for a term that expires August 31, 2015. The motion passed 6-0 (Councilmember Brausen absent). 6. Public Hearings-None 7. Requests, Petitions, and Communications from the Public—None 8. Resolutions, Ordinances,Motions and Discussion Items 8a. Conditional Use Permit—D & D Autoworks. Resolution No. 14-075 Mr. Morrison presented the staff report and stated the applicant is proposing to construct two additional service bays, add landscaping, screen the rooftop equipment, meet current architectural materials regulations, and rescind the existing Special Permit in favor of the proposed CUP. He stated the property has two access points with onsite parking around the periphery of the property and some on-street parking on Wooddale. He presented a survey of the site and stated the property meets all minimum required setbacks. He advised that City Code requires four parking spaces per service bay for a total of 20 parking spaces and the applicant has provided a total of 24 parking spaces. He stated the landscaping will be upgraded to meet the Ordinance with the addition of eight trees planted on site and the remaining four trees contributed to the City to plant elsewhere; in addition, the applicant will be providing shrubs and a fence to screen the property. He introduced Mr. Will DuBois, owner, and Mr. Loni Strassman, project architect. It was moved by Councilmember Sanger, seconded by Councilmember Lindberg, to adopt Resolution No. 14-075 Rescinding Resolution No. 7042 and Granting Conditional Use Permit Under Section 36-194(d)(3) of the St. Louis Park Ordinance Code Relating to Zoning to Permit Construction of Addition for Property Zoned C-2 General Commercial District Located at 6407 Lake Street. The motion passed 6-0 (Councilmember Brausen absent). 8b. Preliminary/Final Plat of Frauenshuh Addition. Resolution No. 14-076 Mr. Morrison presented the staff report and stated that the unplatted site includes a bank building on the west side and an imaging clinic on the east side and the applicant proposes to split the parcel into two platted lots. He stated that the imaging clinic has parking in front with access off Quentin Avenue and the bank is located on the south portion of the site with a drive-through exiting onto Excelsior Boulevard. He stated there is currently no sidewalk along Quentin Avenue and the proposed sidewalk is part of the Connect the Park plan that will fill the gap in this neighborhood. Councilmember Mavity requested clarification about the parking requirements and stated she wanted to make sure that the parking ratios are in conformance now as well as in the future in the event of redevelopment of the site adding she did not want to approve anything that would limit future use of the site. City Council Meeting -5- June 2, 2014 Mr. Morrison explained there are 33 parking spaces onsite for Lot 1 and the parking ratio is one stall per 250 square feet, which is the standard ratio for office and retail uses. Mr. Ross Hedlund, Frauenshuh, approached the City Council and stated there are cross easements currently in place for parking so that if Lot 1 were redeveloped, there would still be a cross easement for parking on Lot 2 and vice versa. He stated there are two unrelated entities on the site and the current owner of the property will continue to own Lot 1 and the building; Frauenshuh owns the building on Lot 2 and has a land lease and they are buying out the land lease. He stated the easements go with the properties and would continue with any redevelopment. Ms. McMonigal pointed out that every time a new use comes through, City staff reviews the proposal for parking and if there is not adequate parking provided, the proposed use would not be allowed. Mr. Morrison stated that under today's standards, the parking ratios are most likely short and if a new use were to come in, a legal nonconforming parking ratio cannot be made worse by the new use; in this case, the parking is not made worse because of the cross parking and access easements. He added that Lot 1 has rights for parking over Lot 2 and vice versa and the recorded easement would run with the property. It was moved by Councilmember Mavity, seconded by Councilmember Hallfin, to adopt Resolution No. 14-076 Approving the Preliminary and Final Plat of Frauenshuh Addition. The motion passed 6-0 (Councilmember Brausen absent). 9. Communications Mayor Jacobs reminded residents about Parktacular on June 13-15 and stated that buttons are available at the Rec Center or City Hall and a schedule of events is available at www.parktacular.org. He announced that the pool would be opening on Friday, June 6t. Councilmember Spano stated that Channel 5 aired a story yesterday about the recent flooding that featured Fire Chief Koering and several St. Louis Park residents who came together to help their neighbors. He stated the City Manager and Fire Chief organized the neighborhood efforts, including the CERT teams, who showed up in force and assisted with sandbagging and expressed the City Council's thanks to all the volunteers and to City staff. He added that residents can call 911 if they need assistance with any flooding issues and the dispatchers will route their call to the appropriate personnel. 10. Adjournment The meeting adjourned at 8:26 p.m. ---Yi 6Ekt.. - )61... .., 17-4 Nancy Stroth, City Clerk Jeff J o s, M yor