HomeMy WebLinkAbout2014/07/14 - ADMIN - Minutes - City Council - Regular Jif St. Louis Park UNOFFICIAL MINUTES
MINNESOTA SPECIAL CITY COUNCIL MEETING
ST. LOUIS PARK, MINNESOTA
JULY 14, 2014
1. Call to Order
Mayor Jacobs called the meeting to order at 6:30 p.m.
Councilmembers present: Mayor Jeff Jacobs, Tim Brausen, Steve Hallfin, Gregg Lindberg,
Anne Mavity, Susan Sanger, and Jake Spano.
Councilmembers absent: None.
Staff present: City Manager (Mr. Harmening), City Attorney (Mr. Scott), Director of
Community Development (Mr. Locke), Planning and Zoning Supervisor (Ms. McMonigal), and
Recording Secretary(Ms. Hughes).
Guests: Mark Fuhrmann and Jim Alexander(Met Council Southwest LRT Project Office).
1. Call to Order
la. Pledge of Allegiance
2. Resolutions, Ordinances,Motions and Discussion Items
2a. Southwest LRT Municipal Consent Resolution. Resolution No. 14-090.
Mr. Locke presented the staff report and proposed Southwest LRT Municipal Consent
Resolution and stated that action on the Municipal Consent Resolution was continued
from July 7th in light of the announcement last week that Met Council and the City of
Minneapolis had reached agreement on changes to the Southwest LRT plan, making it
possible for the project to move forward with Minneapolis intending to pass its municipal
consent resolution at the end of August. He advised that the Corridor Management
Committee (CMC) for the SW LRT project met last week to review the changes and
expressed support for those changes. In addition, Met Council approved the changes, and
Hennepin County also took action approving the SW LRT plan, with the exception of the
Minneapolis portion of the plan that is being proposed to be changed. Hearings were set
for Met Council, Hennepin County, and Minneapolis related to approval of the revised
SW LRT plans. He noted that the Municipal Consent Resolution being acted on this
evening by the City Council is the same Resolution that was presented to Council last
week.
It was moved by Councilmember Spano, seconded by Councilmember Hallfin, to adopt
Resolution No. 14-090 Approving the Physical Design Component of the Preliminary
Design Plans for the Southwest Light Rail Project within the City of St. Louis Park,
Minnesota.
Mr. Thom Miller, 2900 Yosemite Avenue, asked Council to consider taking action on
another resolution in the near future indicating that the City would not cooperate with any
future reroute studies onto the MN&S by other entities, e.g., Hennepin County, Mn/DOT,
or Minneapolis.
Special City Council Meeting -2- July 14, 2014
Mayor Jacobs agreed that Council should take up this issue at a future meeting.
Councilmember Sanger stated that she was pleased to support municipal consent for
Southwest LRT and felt the project would benefit St. Louis Park and the region, would
aid mobility, take vehicles off the streets, and spur economic redevelopment. She stated
that shortly after joining the City Council in 1995, she learned of Hennepin County's
intent to move freight rail traffic from the Kenilworth corridor to MN&S in St. Louis
Park in order to make room for light rail, and she felt the decision-making process for
Southwest LRT has been riddled by poor judgment, factual errors, and political
machinations that resulted in a plan that is expensive and resulted in delays to
construction, as well as community distrust in government decision-making. She stated
that Hennepin County decided to move freight rail onto the MN&S line without the
benefit of any engineering or environmental studies or public input, which resulted in
significant negative ramifications. She stated that Met Council has done a good job
coming up with a plan that may not be ideal but she was hopeful that all cities would
approve the plans.
Councilmember Mavity stated this is a momentous vote, and she was excited that the
entire community would benefit from everything that Southwest LRT will bring and was
honored to be a part of this vote.
Councilmember Spano thanked Mr. Locke and Mr. Harmening for their invaluable
assistance to him during his work on the CMC and throughout the entire process.
Councilmember Brausen stated he was excited to cast his vote in favor of municipal
consent and complimented Met Council staff for their hard work as well as the hard work
of City staff.
The motion passed 7-0.
Mayor Jacobs thanked City staff, Met Council staff, and Met Council Chair Susan Haigh
and the Met Council Board for all their efforts throughout this process.
2b. Southwest LRT Memorandum of Understanding
Mr. Locke presented the proposed Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) and stated
that additional changes to the MOU have been made following the study session earlier
this evening. He explained that the last "WHEREAS" clause has been revised to add "of
the SW LRT Project" at the end of the sentence in order to make it clear that this
reference is about Southwest LRT and not some future project, in light of the fact that the
record of decision by the Federal Government and the FEIS are not done yet. He stated
that the Locally Requested Capital Investments referenced in paragraph A have also been
revised by removing the word"potential" in the second line of paragraph A; and, revising
paragraph (4) and adding a new paragraph (5) to clarify that both a structured park and
ride at the Beltline Station and "a joint development project at the Beltline Station,
including a structured park and ride" are desired by the City. The result is that there are
now 8 items listed in paragraph A, whereas previously there were only 7.
Special City Council Meeting -3- July 14, 2014
It was moved by Councilmember Mavity, seconded by Councilmember Sanger, to
approve the Memorandum of Understanding and authorize the Mayor and City Manager
to execute and submit the Memorandum of Understanding to the Metropolitan Council.
Councilmember Mavity stated the Southwest LRT plans represent approximately 15%
engineering, and a lot more work needs to be done to create a walkable, sustainable
community that reflects the planning work being done around the station areas. She
stated that the City's list of Locally Requested Capital Investments are not just a wish list,
and the City will need to begin the important work to make sure each station area is
sustainable and safe. She stated that the Locally Requested Capital Investments are not
in the Southwest LRT base budget, and the MOU provides for continued discussion of
these items between Met Council and the City. She requested further information about
the decision-making process as it relates to the Locally Requested Capital Investments.
Mr. Fuhrmann, with the SPO, thanked the City for providing municipal consent and
stated they look forward to a continued partnership with the City. He advised that after
municipal consent is obtained from all the cities, Met Council will create an inventory of
items requested by each city and Hennepin County for inclusion in the overall SW LRT
project scope, noting that the eight items listed in the MOU with the City are not part of
the base scope or base budget. However, Met Council will prioritize these items, along
with the items presented by each city, so that they can be incorporated as potential add
alternatives in the overall SW LRT construction bid specifications. That will enable
bidders to offer line item bid prices for these items, at which point cities will need to
make a decision about whether they can guarantee that these items can be funded. These
items should be incorporated into the project if a city can bring 100% local funding. He
stated that the cities, Hennepin County, and Met Council staff would identify
recommended contingency funding items and provide recommendations to HCRRA and
the Transit Improvement Board with the final decision being made by Met Council.
Councilmember Brausen stated that Southwest LRT is a 100 year infrastructure project
and the City has worked hard to develop improvements it believes are essential to the
project. He challenged Hennepin County, HCRRA, the County's Transit Improvement
Board, Met Council, and City and Southwest LRT project staff to work hard to make sure
these improvements are done so that Southwest LRT is successful and functional.
Councilmember Hallfin stated that Council has received a lot of emails and phone calls
about making sure a reroute does not happen in St. Louis Park, and the MOU was revised
accordingly to reflect that at the end of the Southwest LRT project there will be no
further study of a freight reroute in St. Louis Park.
Councilmember Sanger stated that the City's residents have immersed themselves in this
issue for many years and thanked them for all the time and energy they have put into this
process, adding that she felt their involvement has resulted in a better project.
The motion passed 7-0.
3. Adjournment
The meeting adjourned at 7:00 p.m.
1 /I
Nancy Stroth, ity Clerk Jeff 11ac;•s, ► ayor