Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAbout2014/02/24 - ADMIN - Minutes - City Council - Study Session Jft St. Louis Park OFFICIAL MINUTES MINNESOTA CITY COUNCIL STUDY SESSION ST. LOUIS PARK, MINNESOTA FEBRUARY 24,2014 The meeting convened at 6:37 p.m. Councilmembers present: Mayor Jeff Jacobs, Tim Brausen, Steve Hallfin, Gregg Lindberg, Anne Mavity, and Susan Sanger. Councilmembers absent: Jake Spano. Staff present: City Manager (Mr. Harmening), Director of Community Development (Mr. Locke), Chief Information Officer (Mr. Pires), Director of Engineering (Ms. Heiser), Planning/Zoning Supervisor (Ms. McMonigal), Communications & Marketing Coordinator (Mr. Zwilling), Technology/Web Coordinator(Mr. Huber), and Recording Secretary(Ms. Hughes). 1. Future Study Session Agenda Planning—March 3 and 10, 2014 Mr. Harmening presented the proposed special study session agenda for March 3rd and the proposed study session agenda for March 10t. He requested input regarding Council's interest in a study session discussion about the City's off-sale liquor licenses. Councilmember Mavity stated she would like to explore potential impacts and the City's choices as it relates to creating spacing requirements for granting liquor licenses. Councilmember Sanger stated that Council had an earlier study session discussion on this topic and felt there was no reason why the City should limit liquor licenses unless there are safety issues associated with a liquor store. She felt when a city starts limiting liquor licenses it limits competition for existing businesses and ups the ante when they sell the business because of scarcity of the resource. Councilmember Mavity stated the issue for her has more to do with how the City promotes local businesses and wanted to make sure the City has policies in place to both support and attract locally owned businesses, adding that her concern is the City has seen a pure straight market approach that could knock out the local business flavor in the community. Councilmember Sanger agreed that the City should have a more local flavor and she was fine with Council having a discussion about what it can do to promote locally owned businesses but did not see any reason to tie that discussion to liquor licenses. Councilmember Hallfin stated it appears that liquor-type warehouses are moving in and crushing the locally owned businesses and he would like to have a conversation about that. He added he would also like to revisit the 50-50 food/liquor requirement. Councilmember Lindberg agreed with Councilmember Sanger and stated he was not interested in a study session discussion at this time, adding that if the issue becomes more of a small business issue, he would rather talk about promoting locally owned businesses than about limiting distances for off-sale licenses. He also questioned whether on-sale licenses should be included if the City is going to consider limiting off-sale licenses, adding that he understood Councilmember Mavity's concerns but felt there were different ways to address her concerns. Councilmember Brausen agreed with Councilmember Lindberg. Study Session Minutes -2- February 24, 2014 It was the consensus of the City Council to not have a further discussion regarding limiting liquor licenses at this time. It was also the consensus of the City Council to have a further discussion about promoting locally owned businesses and to have this discussion later this year. 2. Comments on SWLRT/TranSystems Report Mr. Locke presented the staff report and draft comments prepared in response to the TranSystems Reroute Plan. Councilmember Sanger presented her written comments to staff and stated she felt the City's comments regarding the taking of six homes should be expanded to point out that the TranSystems plan did not propose to take the two homes on Minnetonka Boulevard that were proposed to be taken with the other reroutes, as well as the additional homes taken along the MN&S as part of the mitigation plan. She also felt the comments should address the costs and derailment issues associated with the new bridge structures proposed in the TranSystems plan. She requested that the City expand its comments regarding the conflicts with Highway 7 at Wooddale and Louisiana Avenues and the implications of lowering the roadway. She requested that the City contact Xcel Energy about the safety risks associated with trains traveling next to its substation and to note that the costs of any alteration to the substation were not included in this estimate. She requested that the comments also spell out why the curves and elevation changes are unsafe and to make a comparison with the curves in the Kenilworth route as well as to point out that the railroad has talked about why it is a problem for them to get clearance from two railroads to merge onto their tracks. She stated the cost and source of funding for maintenance of the new infrastructure was not included in the overall cost estimate and the cost comparisons that TranSystems put in the report are wrong and do not include the extra costs the SPO has identified. She stated the reference to the 1999 study left a false impression because TranSystems did not note that this study resulted in official opposition to the reroute. She requested further information about the proposed new roadway referenced in the TranSystems report and whether it will solve the traffic problems created by closing road crossings and to address the negative impacts on business operations left behind in this area, adding that there appears to be an inherent presumption that dislocated businesses could find equally advantageous sites within St. Louis Park,but the report fails to mention that shutting off roads will mean longer route times for cars and pedestrians. She stated the TranSystems report does not mention the impact on wetlands in St. Louis Park or the impact on parklands adjacent to the reroute. She requested that the City challenge the statement that Kenilworth was planned as a temporary route because Mn/DOT has clearly stated that is not true, as evidenced by the Mn/DOT memo where Mn/DOT told Hennepin County to get rid of any references to temporary. Councilmember Mavity stated it might be useful to submit an executive summary with key points, rather than submitting another lengthy report. She wanted the City's comments to be concise on each point and backed up by facts and research that can be referenced back to the DEIS comments. She requested that the City include a table outlining the costs and shared costs as a way of showing an apples-to-apples comparison and to point out that the costs associated with the tunnel option represent a mitigation cost. Study Session Minutes -3- February 24, 2014 Councilmember Brausen felt the City should frame its comments with its strongest point, i.e., the negative impacts to the community and to contrast clearly the human cost the City is going to experience with a reroute. He requested the comments also include a comparison of freight rail going through the Kenilworth corridor and how many homes would be impacted versus how many homes would be impacted by a reroute through St. Louis Park. Councilmember Lindberg felt that the statements made by Mayor Jacobs at the community open house should be continued in these comments, adding that he agreed the City's comments should include an executive summary with concise factual details. Councilmember Hallfin agreed with all the comments made by his colleagues, but felt that the City should simply restate its resolution and state that the City's position has not changed, and that this plan will not result in municipal consent from the City of St. Louis Park. He felt that the City's comments should be concise and to the point instead of providing mass information. Councilmember Sanger strongly disagreed and stated the City has been asked and given an opportunity to comment on the TranSystems plan and the City should provide sufficient data to the CMC and Met Council. Mayor Jacobs felt it was appropriate to set forth some additional details and facts, adding that there was a lot of information in the TranSystems report that was factually wrong and should be pointed out. He agreed that an executive summary should be included stating that the City's position has been clear for a long time, that the TranSystems plan will not work, and that the City will not give municipal consent. After further discussion, it was the consensus of the City Council to include sufficient factual detail and data in the City's comments. Mr. Harmemng agreed to send the City's comments to Council for review prior to the March 3rd deadline. He referenced the SWLRT report rollout schedule and advised that a meeting has been scheduled with the Governor next week; in addition, there will be a meeting with the local STB staff on Wednesday. 3. 2014-2015 Communications Plan Mr. Pires presented the staff report and the 2014-2015 Communications Plan. Mr. Zwilling stated that the website continues to be a driving force of the City's communications and the Communications Plan includes an analysis of the City's website development needs, staffing, and future of website administration, adding that the City has one of the best websites in the nation. He stated that staff will begin planning for the next redesign anticipated in 2015 and will include improved search capabilities. He presented statistics for the City's website that indicate the City has 20,000-30,000 unique visitors to the website per month, with the three most popular days in 2013 being July 4th, June 22nd after the storm/power outages, and June 22nd, the Monday after the storm. He stated'that another area of focus is improving customer service throughout the City, including implementation of a Citizen Response System (CRM) where residents can call, text, or email the City to report a problem and the information is then put into a central database that tracks the reported problem and assigns the issue to an appropriate staff member. He stated that residents would get an immediate automated response and staff will be able to report back to the resident. Study Session Minutes -4- February 24, 2014 Mr. Pires stated that the CRM can tailor the response based on the type of complaint so that if there is going to be a delay, the automated response can mention that in the response. Councilmember Sanger asked if phoned-in calls can be entered into the CRM as well. Mr. Zwilling replied in the affirmative and stated that anyone who answers the phone can type the message into the system and send the work order to the appropriate staff member. He added that a note can be put into the CRM requesting that the resident receive a call back if they do not have access to a computer. He presented an example of the resident kiosks available at City Hall and stated that consideration is being given to adding the kiosks to other City locations, e.g., the Rec Center. He discussed the City's marketing and branding efforts and advised that dunng the next two years staff will be updating the brand and considenng changes to the brand messages. He also discussed the joint marketing efforts with the School District including the City/School calendar, adding that consideration is being given to the concept of a joint Parks and Recreation/Community Education guide. He stated that the Communications Plan includes a community survey of residents and businesses about their use and access to technology, City communication tools, and communications preferences, adding that Council will be asked for input on the types of questions to include in the survey. He advised that another component of the Communications Plan includes an analysis of the current role of the Telecommunications Advisory Commission(TAC). Councilmember Sanger requested that the City consider how it can upgrade its notification system related to zoning, etc., so that these notices can be sent by email rather than mailed. She suggested having a calendar posted on the website and updated regularly rather than sending out a paper calendar. She also requested information about the anticipated decline in funding for cable and adjustments to the budget. Mr. Zwilling advised that staff lowered the long-term revenue projections through 2021 and staff believes the fund is in good shape through 2021. He stated that the survey will address the question about notification preferences and how the City should send notifications to residents. Councilmember Mavity asked if the City is laying new fiber in its construction projects. Mr. Pires replied that the City adds conduit and/or fiber as construction projects are being completed throughout the City and the City continues to leverage the fiber that already exists, e.g., wi-fi supported by fiber was recently added at the West End Community Room. He suggested that staff come back to Council and discuss how much it wants to expand the fiber network and the role the City should play in that expansion. Councilmember Mavity expressed concern about Nextdoor.com and stated it feels exclusive and she did not like it. Mr. Zwilling stated that the City does not put anything on Nextdoor.com that is exclusive, adding that staff learned that 50% of neighborhoods were already using this tool and neighborhood leaders were asking for it. He stated that staff would monitor Nextdoor.com to see if it is effective and watch for feedback from neighborhoods. Councilmember Brausen requested that the website include information on the City's history and past elected officials. Study Session Minutes -5- February 24, 2014 Councilmember Mavity stated the City received a suggestion to add signposts in neighborhoods and encouraged the City to use signposts in neighborhoods for posting of events. Communications/Meeting Check-In (Verbal) Councilmember Mavity stated she currently serves as one of the two councilmembers on CEAC and asked that another councilmember be appointed to CEAC because her schedule does not permit her continued attendance at the meetings. Councilmember Hallfin requested an update regarding the odd side parking restrictions. Mr. Harmening advised that approximately twelve cars have been towed through Sunday. He stated that the number of streets being impacted by snow continues to increase and staff is considering whether to implement mandatory parking restrictions throughout the City. After discussion, it was the consensus of the City Council to continue to enforce the odd side parking restrictions and to ticket and tow as appropriate. Mr. Harmening stated that the Housing Authority 2013 Annual Report and 2013 Housing Activity Report including in the agenda contains useful information and urged Council to review these documents prior to the City Council workshop on Thursday. The meeting adjourned at 8:53 p.m. Written Reports provided and documented for recording purposes only: 4. Housing Authority(HA) 2013 Annual Report and 2013 Housing Activity Report 5. January 2014 Monthly Financial Report 6. Blake Road/Aquila Avenue Corridor Study T n ,---x7a4,,_ ad/r-Z/PeSoi L_. //14 , ,4 i , Nancy Stroth, City Clerk Jeff Ja ob,,VMa/or ,