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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2017/08/07 - ADMIN - Minutes - City Council - RegularAll St. Louis Park MINNESOTA Call to Order OFFICIAL MINUTES CITY COUNCIL MEETING ST. LOUIS PARK, MINNESOTA AUGUST 7, 2017 Mayor Spano called the meeting to order at 7:30 p.m. Councilmembers present: Mayor Jake Spano, Tim Brausen, Steve Hallfin, Gregg Lindberg, Anne Mavity, and Susan Sanger. Councilmembers absent: Thom Miller Staff present: City Manager (Mr. Harmening), and Recording Secretary (Ms. Pappas). Guests: Jayne Stevenson, a former youth member of the Environmental and Sustainability Commission, SEEDS student members. Ia. Pledge of Allegiance lb. Roll Call 2. Presentations 2a. Westwood Hills Nature Center Junior Naturalists Recognition Will Hayek, Westwood Hills Nature Center Activity Specialist, introduced 25 of the 60 volunteers in the Junior Naturalists program. He noted that the student volunteers range in age from 7th grade to college freshman and bring a lot of energy to the children's camp programs at Westwood Hills. He added that over 1,600 volunteer hours were donated this summer, and invited all to recognize their accomplishments. Mayor Spano thanked all the parents in attendance, noting the support from family is so important to the program's success. He stated that the program is a crown jewel in the west metro and added that the volunteers come from all over the metro area. He thanked them all on behalf of the City St. Louis Park for their work in the program. 2b. Recognition of Donations Mayor Spano noted there are two donations and expressed thanks and appreciation on behalf of the city. The donations are from Beth Hagen in the amount of $2,200 for the purchase and installation of a memorial bench in Dakota Park honoring Aaron Hagen. Mayor Spano also noted a donation in the amount of $300 from Cub Foods Knollwood and Cub Foods West End for food and supplies for the Fire Department Open House. 2c. SEEDS Equity and Resilience Presentation Ms. Stevenson, a former youth member of the Environment and Sustainability Commission (ESC), presented information to the council on her work related to equity and resilience through the lens of food and sustainability. Ms. Stevenson presented background and several recommendations which resulted from the community visioning City Council Meeting -2- August 7, 2017 process conducted with the ESC. She noted the importance of having a food charter or council for St. Louis Park, stating this would help to raise equity and resiliency of the city. She also noted it would be very important and helpful if a food task force could be created in St. Louis Park, pointing out an area in the city at Texas and Minnetonka that could be developed for a green house or community center. Ms. Stevenson mentioned leading examples of great projects related to sustainability in other cities around the country and also noted the work being done by St. Louis Park on Green Step Cities and a Climate Action Plan. She thanked the council for their attention and asked them to consider creating a task force to address sustainable food security, passing a food security resolution, establishing a green house, applying for grants to support equity and resilience initiatives, and joining Harvest Festival. Councilmember Brausen thanked Ms. Stevenson for her great report addressing food stability and all the work that went into it. He added that he is in favor of further discussion and also consideration of developing a task force to move into the future on this issue. Mayor Spano added that he will be curious to see if this topic comes out of the current visioning process. He thanked Ms. Stevenson for her presentation and hard work on the topic. 3. Approval of Minutes 3a. Special City Council Meeting Minutes June 26, 2017 Councilmember Sanger noted on page 3, she did not say "...raising the tcbwecc ydEehase age should be done on a cit; by city basis", and it should read "Councilmember Sanger prefers this he done on a state by state basis, but it does not seem that the legislature is taking any action in this regard, so it seems cities will do need to do this. " Mayor Spano noted on page 5, 2nd paragraph, the statement the legal autherity to ban cigarettes..." should read, "Mayor Spano did not believe Hennepin County has the authority to ban cigarettes... " Mayor Spano noted at this point he asked the person present at the meeting from public health if the county has this authority, and the person from public health indicated this was not clear. Mayor Spann added his comment "...tobacco industry's Q^ sill.,. YHR44Pfifig budget..." should read "...tobacco industry's $4 billion marketing budget..." However, he pointed out, according to the CDC, the tobacco industry's marketing and advertising budget is closer to $8.5 billion per year. It was moved by Councilmember Mavity, seconded by Councilmember Lindberg, to approve the Jame 26, 2017 Meeting Minutes as amended The motion passed 6-0 3b. City Council Meeting Minutes July 17, 2017 City Council Meeting -3- August 7, 2017 It was moved by Councilmember Lindberg, seconded by Councilmember Sanger, to approve the July 17, 2017 Meeting Minutes as presented The motion passed 6-0. 4. Approval of Agenda and Items on Consent Calendar 4a. Approve for filing City Disbursement Claims for the period of July 1, through July 28, 2017. 4b. Authorize execution of a professional services contract with Kimley Horn in the amount of $242,372.50 for the Municipal State Aid (MSA) Rehabilitation Project - Louisiana Avenue (500 feet north of Oxford Street to Excelsior Boulevard) Project No. 4018-1700. 4c. Moved to 8b. 4d. Approve a Temporary On -Sale Intoxicating Liquor License for Church of the Holy Family at 5900 West Lake Street for their event to be held September 9, 2017. 4e. Approve a Temporary On -Sale Intoxicating Liquor License for the Frank Lundberg American Legion Post 282, 6509 Walker Street in St. Louis Park, for an event to be held on September 9, 2017, at The ROC, benefitting the St. Louis Park Hockey Association. 4f. Authorize approval of change order with C & L Excavating, Inc. in the amount of $136,386.62 for the 2017 Pavement Management Project, City Project No. 4017- 1000. 4g. Adopt Resolution No. 17-118 approving acceptance of a $2,200 donation from Beth Hagen for the purchase and installation of a memorial bench in Dakota Park ($2,200) honoring Aaron Hagen. 4h. Approve the agreement to allow Fire Department personnel to have access to the electronic patient record system within Park Nieollet. 4i. Adopt Resolution No. 17-119 accepting donations to the Fire Department. 4j. Approve for filing Board of Zoning Appeals Minutes of June 22, 2017 41c. Approve for filing Telecommunications Minutes of February 8, 2017 41. Approve for filing Planning Commission Minutes of June 21, 2017 Mayor Spano asked to make a comment regarding Consent Calendar item 4c. It was moved by Councilmember Brausen, seconded by Councilmember Mavity, to approve the Agenda and items listed on the Consent Calendar as amended and to move Consent Calendar item 4c to the Regular Agenda as item 8b; and to waive reading of all resolutions and ordinances. The motion passed 6-0. 5. Boards and Commissions — None 6. Public Hearings — None 7. Requests, Petitions, and Communications from the Public — None 8. Resolutions, Ordinances, Motions and Discussion Items City Council Meeting -4- August 7, 2017 8a. Solar Panel System at Fire Station #2 Mr. Hoffman presented the staff report. He explained that when making application for the Made in Minnesota Solar Incentive Award during 2016, the city proposed using a developer model for the system. Apex (Viridi) would design, finance, purchase, install, and own the proposed Fire Station solar energy system for a period of ten years, taking advantage of federal tax credits and depreciation. The city entered into a 10 -year power purchasing and lease agreement with Apex for Fire Station 92. The advantage of this model was generating renewable energy with no out-of-pocket expenditures for the city. However, there would be at best minimal cost savings from reduced energy usage until after the 10 -year period. Mr. Hoffman explained that Apex recently notified the city that they were unable to ensure installation of the system this year in time to qualify for the awarded incentive funding. They agreed to forgo any investment made on this project and have signed a Termination of Agreements. This allows the city to assume the development role and proceed with the project. No city funds have been used to date. Mr. Hoffmann noted that the Department of Commerce has confirmed that the original Made in Minnesota Award application will be honored without change if the city proceeds as the system developer, provided that the specified installation contractor TruNorth Solar is used and the same Minnesota made panels from Itek are purchased. A purchase order for the panels was previously submitted by Apex and is currently on hold. He explained that to qualify for the benefits of the award, the system must be operational by December, 2017. To accomplish this requires the city's purchase of the panels/equipment, with the total cost of the installation being approximately $120,000. At current electric rates, a 12 -year payback is expected from the reduction of electrical use by Fire Station #2 and the state paid Made in Minnesota incentive over 10 years. Mr. Hoffman noted that additionally, the city's Capital Improvement Plan does not take into consideration this expenditure of funds. However, for 2017 the Council levied $198,000 for unspecified initiatives related to the climate action plan and/or race equity. Staff feels this would be an appropriate one-time use for a portion of these funds while still providing dollars for race equity initiatives in 2017. Mr. Hoffman stated that the Termination of Agreements is before the council tonight. If the council wants to move forward on this project, it would need to be now, as it takes several months to go through the permitting process. Councilmember Hallfrn asked if the city has any recourse with Apex. Councilmember Brausen stated that the city would have to establish that it has had actual damages in order to file a claim against the company. He added that the city has actually benefitted from the contract, so would not be entitled to any recourse. Councilmember Mavity stated this is an unfortunate situation; however, she applauds staff for getting this problem solved in line with the city's goals on sustainability. Councilmembers Brausen and Sanger agreed, adding they want to move forward City Council Meeting -5- August 7, 2017 It was moved by Councilmember Sanger, seconded by Councilmember Mavity, to approve Termination of Agreements with Viridi Investments (Apex), LLC, and authorize the city to purchase and install the photovoltaic energy production system at Fire Station 92 as approved in the Made in Minnesota Solar Incentive Award from the state. The motion passed 6-0 8b. Adopt Resolution supporting the designation of PCs for Recycling & Re -Use of Outdated Computer Equipment from St. Louis Park. Mayor Spano stated that he is supportive of the intent of this designation; however, he would like to bring it back to a study session for further discussion. He noted that city staff has access to very sensitive resident information, and he has concerns about recycling hard drives, even if they have been cleaned. He added that he has concerns about data privacy and would like staff to look further into the process of wiping the hard drives. Councilmember Brausen agreed and added that he would like the city attorney's opinion on this, and also if the information is considered public or private data. Councilmember Mavity stated that she was not aware of the city having residents' social security numbers on its computers and hard drives. She added that more discussion is needed before a decision should be made on this. It was moved by Councilmember Brausen seconded by Councilmember Mavity, to continue to discuss this issue further on an upcoming council study session agenda. The motion passed 6-0. 9. Communications Mayor Spano noted that the Primary Election in Ward 1 is tomorrow and reminded residents of Ward 1 to vote. Councilmember Mavity added that former city councilmember Phil Finklestein will be performing this Saturday and Sunday as part of a musical comedy troupe at the Phoenix Theatre in a play called The New Gig Economy. She encouraged all to attend. Councilmember Brausen thanked city staff on the fine work they did for National Night Out. He noted that throughout Ward 4, staff were out and about, and this is truly appreciated. 10. Adjournment The meeting adjourned at 8:17 p.m. AMelisKennedy, City Clerk