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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2015/02/23 - ADMIN - Minutes - City Council - Study Session `f! St. Louis Park OFFICIAL MINUTES MINNESOTA CITY COUNCIL STUDY SESSION ST. LOUIS PARK, MINNESOTA FEBRUARY 23, 2015 The meeting convened 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), Director of Operations & Recreation (Ms. Walsh), Director of Engineering (Ms. Heiser), Senior Engineenng Project Manager (Mr. Sullivan), Public Works Supenntendent (Mr. Hanson), Utilities Supenntendent (Mr. Hall), Public Works Services Manager (Mr. Merkley), Solid Waste Program Coordinator (Ms. Fisher), and Recording Secretary (Ms. Hughes). Guests: Mr. Charles Nauen and Mr. David Zoll (Lockndge Gnndal Nauen PLLP). 1. Future Study Session Agenda Planning—March 9, 2015 Mr. Harmening presented the proposed study session agenda for March 9th . Councilmember Brausen advised that he was recently contacted by someone interested in the 5205 Parkdale property which is zoned Industnal Park and there was a question about whether Council would consider changing the zoning and whether Council would consider placing a moratorium on the zoning. He requested that Council place this matter on a future study session agenda for further discussion 2. Update on Reilly Site Ms. Walsh presented the staff report and introduced Mr. Charles Nauen and Mr. David Zoll Mr. Hanson provided brief historical background regarding the Reilly site and explained how the ground water contamination occurred on the site and the resulting 1986 Consent Decree He presented several maps of the site and advised there is some concern that contaminants are traveling in a southerly direction towards Edina and Hopkins. He stated that the 1986 Consent Decree indicates that Reilly is responsible for all capital costs and the City is responsible for all operational, maintenance and monitonng costs to make sure the system is functioning properly. He also discussed the City's annual costs and descnbed the functions of source control and gradient control. Councilmember Sanger asked if there was any way to completely remove the contaminants. Mr. Hanson replied there was no monetarily feasible way to remove all contaminants and stated there is no new technology that would change the overall process for treating and removing the contaminants from the site. Mr. Nauen explained that they were retained to assist with reducing the City's ongoing costs associated with monitoring and pumping by having modernized parameters in place for testing and by reducing the pumping in the shallow aquifers. He discussed the actions taken by the EPA in August 2013 whereby the EPA began to process a referral to the Department of Justice for Study Session Minutes -2- February 23, 2015 enforcement action against the City for not complying with the Consent Decree and advised that since that time, they have worked to reestablish a relationship with the EPA, MPCA and Department of Health. Mr. Zoll discussed the testing required under the Consent Decree and stated that 31 compounds are required to be tested while typical testing that would be required today would test for 16 of those compounds instead of 31, adding there are very few labs that can test for these 31 items. He stated currently those items are compared against the dnnkmg water standards established in the Consent Decree from 30 years ago and a lot of research has been done since that time with the general consensus being that these chemicals are less nsky than assumed 30 years ago. Mr. Nauen advised that the City has proposed a gradient control plan that includes pumping at wells W23 and SLP 10/15 with the idea of mitigating movement of substances south and east toward Edina. He stated the EPA initially rejected this plan and the EPA wanted pumping done at the Methodist Hospital well but this well has been shut down by the hospital so this will require reanalysis by the EPA. He advised that they anticipate receiving a response from the EPA regarding the City's request to update the testing parameters by mid-year; in the meantime, the City has drafted proposed changes to the Consent Decree. He stated they have established a good relationship with the Region 5 EPA administrative lawyer who is referring this matter to the Department of Justice so that the Department of Justice can approve the changes to the Consent Decree, however, that referral has not yet been made. He also discussed the rationale for reducing or eliminating pumping in the aquifers and the associated costs. Councilmember Mavity acknowledged that one of the goals is cost reduction related to the testing required under the Consent Decree but it was important to remember that the #1 pnonty has been and continues to be environmental safety and purity of the dnnking water Councilmember Sanger stated it appears that the status quo is not serving the City's needs or the needs of the EPA and questioned why the EPA appears to be dragging its feet on updating the Consent Decree and agreeing to modernize the testing standards. Mr. Zoll explained that there are some professional differences between the agencies and the EPA has authority under the Consent Decree to require additional actions and to modify the status quo. He stated they have been having discussions with the EPA about making sure the best science is being utilized and then figuring out what makes the most sense in terms of the updated standards. Councilmember Spano noted that the City's current annual cost of$700,000 is about 2.2% of the City's annual budget and asked about the annual cost when the Consent Decree was negotiated and the corresponding percentage of the budget He also asked if the City has ever quantified the amount of money it would take to completely remove the contaminants Mr. Hanson indicated that every aquifer has a different geological structure and there is no way to attach a dollar figure to eliminating the contamination, adding that containment and natural attenuation of contaminants is the best process along with continued technological progress and updating of standards. He stated that the City is spending a lot of money to mitigate or control contamination to a nominal unit level of one (as required by the Consent Decree) when the standard would be closer to a unit level of 1,000 if more modern science were used. Study Session Minutes -3- February 23, 2015 It was the consensus of the City Council to direct staff to continue efforts to amend the Consent Decree related to the Reilly site to lower the City's annual cost while continuing to be environmentally responsible. 3. 2015 Connect the Park! Update Mr. Sullivan presented the staff report and proposed 2015 Connect the Park! projects and segment amendments. Mayor Jacobs supported the proposed 2015 Connect the Park! projects. Councilmember Hallfin also supported the proposed 2015 Connect the Park! projects Councilmember Sanger supported the proposed 2015 Connect the Park! projects and stated she felt the proposal to add a sidewalk through the Lake Forest neighborhood was a good idea but this sidewalk has not yet been through a public process and there are a number of people who will be upset about the proposed sidewalk. She stated she was okay with discussing this sidewalk on March 2nd but it needs to have a neighborhood meeting soon. She thanked staff for their willingness to move up the construction of the Barry Street segment and stated that the adjacent townhome association has asked that the sidewalk be moved to the east side of Barry and she supported that change. Councilmember Lindberg reiterated his concern about the incremental creep cost of continuing to add segments to the Connect the Park! plan and wanted to make sure the City is making the wisest big picture policy decisions and not rubber stamping requests for additional segments. Councilmember Mavity supported the proposed 2015 Connect the Park! projects She requested that Council be provided with an overview of planned projects in the outer years of the CIP and discuss whether there is any room for moving projects around. Councilmember Brausen stated he has attended the public meetings regarding the sidewalk on 16th and Flag and also Texas Avenue where some of the neighbors have opposed the plan. He stated he would not be present at the March 2"d Council meeting and requested that Council postpone action on that segment and the Texas Avenue segment until his return. It was the consensus of the City Council to receive public comment on March 2, 2015, including the public opposition referenced by Councilmember Brausen related to the Flag Avenue and Texas Avenue segments and to direct staff to prepare a resolution authorizing advertisement for bids on the 2015 Connect the Park! projects with the Flag Avenue and Texas Avenue segments done as a bid alternate 4. Recycling Efforts and Goals Ms. Walsh presented the staff report and introduced Ms. Kala Fisher, the City's new Solid Waste Program Coordinator. Ms. Fisher discussed the three proposed goals and supporting objectives and explained that only an estimated 2% of residential and business waste is comprised of polystyrene food containers and an estimated 3% is single use plastic bags. She explained the rationale for not focusing on only these two materials and for making sure the City provides assistance to businesses to Study Session Minutes -4- February 23, 2015 provide better recycling options and making sure resources are aimed at reducing the solid waste stream, adding that those focuses have helped staff shift away from a matenals ban and instead suggesting that a targeted education campaign be pursued. She stated a large portion of the business community is not ready to comply with the State's recycling mandate effective on January 1, 2016, and the City is ready to leverage County resources to begin this education process related to recycling and organics, including incentives to recognize St. Louis Park businesses for their recycling efforts. Councilmember Sanger agreed with the suggested approach regarding organics but did not support the approach regarding single use plastic bags or polystyrene. She stated there has been decades of public awareness about the problems caused by plastic bags and Styrofoam and did not think their use would be eliminated unless it was mandated. She suggested the City conduct a year of education and then implement a total ban on polystyrene and plastic bags, either by banning them or charging extra for these items and requiring businesses to remit the fee back to the City to use for environmental improvement programs. She stated that Byerly's keeps track of customers who bnng in reusable bags and donates 50 for each reusable bag to Second Harvest and she felt this represented a good promotional opportunity for companies and would allow them to take credit for their recycling efforts. Councilmember Brausen agreed with Councilmember Sanger and stated that evidence confirms that polystyrene is a dirty process that fills up the landfills and he continued to strongly favor banning these products, adding he was happy to devote the necessary staff resources and money to promote business recycling and organics recycling. Councilmember Mavity stated she supported the targeted education on recycling and organics She agreed with Councilmembers Sanger and Brausen about banning these products and requested further information about staff capacity. She suggested that Council support the proposed targeted education and have further discussion about what it would take to impose a ban at some point in the future. Councilmember Lindberg supported the proposal laid out in the staff report. He questioned how a materials ban would be enforced and questioned the City's role. Councilmember Hallfin felt that the City needed to put pressure on the State and County to take action on banning these matenals, adding he agreed with Councilmembers Sanger and Brausen that the City needs to move forward with pursuing a ban on these products. Councilmember Spano spoke in favor of Councilmember Sanger's suggested approach Mayor Jacobs stated the goal is to get rid of single use plastic bags and Styrofoam but there needed to be a more robust public process on this matter. He also agreed with the targeted education approach suggested in the staff report Mr Harmening stated the overall goal of solid waste and organics recycling is to reduce the volume of matenal going into the burner or landfill and when staff developed its recommendations, it considered what impact a matenals ban would have in terms of reducing the material going into the landfill and determined the impact would be very small and the City could have a greater impact by growing its organics and recycling programs. He suggested that Council implement the targeted education campaign and voluntary effort to ban plastic bags and polystyrene and later decide whether to implement a matenals ban Study Session Minutes -5- February 23, 2015 Councilmember Sanger felt that banning plastic bags and polystyrene were equally important as organics recycling. She stated she has repeatedly questioned why the City cannot have curbside pickup of plastic bags and have been told there is no place to recycle them but there are retailers who take plastic bags for recycling so there is some means of getting nd of these bags Ms. Fisher stated that plastic bags create havoc for Materials Recovery Facilities (MRF) when these items go through the system so Waste Management's MRF does not collect plastic bags for recycling. She stated the City could encourage businesses to offer plastic bag recycling through the education campaign. Councilmember Mavity supported staff's proposal and stated it will be important for the City to be strategic in its direction and figure out who will help the City and be a champion for this cause. Councilmember Brausen felt it was a moral imperative to ban this unhealthy substance in the community and stated he did not believe that enforcement would be a significant issue. Councilmember Lindberg stated if a materials ban is going to be implemented, it would be important to consider the staff resources required and how a ban would impact the average St. Louis Park resident and small business owner Council continued its discussion about targeted education and a public process toward implementing a matenals ban. Mr. Harmening suggested that the City's message to various stakeholders indicate that the City Council is considenng a ban on polystyrene and single use plastic bags and articulate the reasons why Council is considering the ban, followed by a robust public process including communication with residents and businesses. He suggested that the City also talk to County and State officials encouraging them to get on board with a materials ban and to have a public heanng where Council receives public testimony on the issue. He suggested that staff prepare a document outlining next steps and a timeline for review with Council at a future study session. It was the consensus of the City Council to support staff's proposal regarding organics and recycling. It was also the consensus of the City Council to support Mr. Harmemng's suggested approach regarding next steps. Communications/Meeting Check-In (Verbal) Mr. Harmening advised that the League of Minnesota Cities has drafted a resolution and is encouraging municipalities to adopt a resolution supporting a comprehensive transportation funding package. It was the consensus of the City Council to place the resolution supporting a comprehensive transportation funding package on the March 9` City Council agenda for adoption Mr. Harmening stated that Council recently received an email from an organization asking Council to adopt a resolution supporting a day without violence and asked if Council was interested in adopting this resolution. Study Session Minutes -6- February 23, 2015 Councilmember Sanger pointed out that in the past, Council adopted resolutions only if it was directly related to the community. It was the consensus of the City Council to not take action on the resolution supporting a day without violence. Mr. Harmening stated the Home Remodeling Fair was held yesterday and approximately 1,000 people attended the event. Mayor Jacobs adjourned the meeting at 9:01 p.m. Written reports provided and documented for recording purposes only: 5. SWLRT Updates 6. January 2015 Monthly Financial Report --Y7 G'2i2 G� Nancy Stroth, y Clerk Jeff Ja o 'sa or