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HomeMy WebLinkAboutCCMin_03Aug27CITY OF FALCON HEIGHTS COUNCIL MINUTES August 27, 2003 Mayor Gehrz convened the regular City Council meeting at 7:00 PM. PRESENT: Mayor Sue Gehrz, Council members Laura Kuettel, Robert Lamb, Peter Lindstrom and Richard Talbot Also present: City Administrator Heather Worthington, City Attorney Thomas Scott and Deputy Clerk Mary Shea Kodluboy COMMUNITY FORUM: There was no commentary from the audience. PRESENTATION: Introduction of City’s First CERT Team Mayor Gehrz introduced the City’s first CERT team. She said these residents met for three hours a week for seven weeks to complete a training program sponsored by FEMA. They learned about the different kinds of disasters, fire suppression, medical triage, etc., and will be able to assist their families, neighbors and perhaps the Fire Department, in the event of an emergency. The City hopes to sponsor a second CERT training program for the community in late fall. She presented each of the CERT graduates with a CERT pin and they introduced themselves, as outlined below: Sue Majerus, Iowa Avenue Janet Olstad, Simpson Lee Griffith, West Roselawn Linda Fite, St. Mary’s Street Dick Wallrich, West Roselawn Christine St. George, Arona Street Jo Waage, Albert and Ruggles Bob Gehrz, Folwell Avenue Gretel Keene, Iowa Avenue Marty Everest, Holton Street Dale Huff, St. Mary’s Street Dan Johnson-Powers, a member of the Falcon Heights Fire Department, and a CERT trainer, introduced himself and said the classes were a lot of fun. He thanked the CERT graduates for their time and patience with the lectures and said it is very reassuring to know there are knowledgeable people out there. Mayor Gehrz said there were three CERT graduates who were unable to be in attendance this evening: Valerie Wallrich, Jennifer Monson and Veryl Andre. Two of the three trainers were also unable to attending this evening’s meeting: Kris Grangaard and Tim Knautz. APPROVAL OF MINUTES: The Council minutes dated August 13, 2003 were unanimously approved as submitted. PUBLIC HEARINGS: None Scheduled FALCON HEIGHTS CITY COUNCIL MINUTES -2- August 27, 2003 CONSENT AGENDA: Mayor Gehrz said there is an item on the Bill List, in the amount of $8,547.28, for the Ramsey County Library Foundation. She explained that when MCAD was organized about fourteen years ago, a fund drive was held and the funds from that private fundraising were kept in a separate account. MCAD’s goals were met and the MCAD Board decided that the money in that separate account should be donated to the Roseville Area Library. Kuettel moved that the Consent Agenda, outlined below, be approved as submitted. The motion was unanimously approved. General Disbursements through August 21, 2003: $ 162,775.21 Payroll (8/01/03-8/15/03) $ 14,932.82 POLICY AGENDA: Resolution 03-14 Accepting a DNR Trail Grant and Recognizing the Matching Requirement Administrator Worthington said that on February 26, 2003, the City Council passed a resolution authorizing staff to apply to the Department of Natural Resources for a Local Trails Connection Grant to make improvements to the Trolley Line trail adjacent to the Grove neighborhood. The DNR has preliminarily awarded Falcon Heights a matching grant of up to $54,000. The DNR requires a resolution from the governing authority that accepts the grant, recognizes the matching requirement, and assures that the trail will be maintained for at least twenty years. This resolution accepts the grant, but does not commit the City of Falcon Heights to making any trail improvements until there is a plan that has been approved. This trail is located on a common area of the Grove and will require complete agreement from the adjacent leaseholders. Council member Lamb asked how much time the City will have to complete the trail and Administrator Worthington said the City has until the end of 2004. Council member Lindstrom asked if the work will be done by next summer and Administrator Worthington said yes. Council member Talbot asked about the matching funds and Administrator Worthington explained the funding sources built into the City’s budget for this purpose. Council member Kuettel asked who will be on the Trolley Path Task Force. Administrator Worthington said that Parks Chair Long and staff will be assisting the Task Force. The individuals on the Task Force live in the University Grove neighborhood. Mayor Gehrz said there is great expertise available to the City in the University Grove neighborhood. She asked if the city has an estimate about the ongoing maintenance costs. FALCON HEIGHTS CITY COUNCIL MINUTES -3- August 27, 2003 Resolution 03-14 Accepting a DNR Trail Grant and Recognizing the Matching Requirement (continued) Administrator Worthington said that ongoing maintenance costs will depend upon the surfacing. Extensive runoff issues will be addressed. In response to a question from Council member Talbot, Administrator Worthington said the City has easement rights over the trail, but has never been involved in the upkeep or maintenance of it. The City became involved because of concern about the condition of the trail. The underlying land is owned by the University of Minnesota, with lease arrangements with the abutting homeowners. RESOLUTION 2003-14 Lindstrom moved adoption of Resolution 2003-14 accepting the DNR grant in the amount of $54,000 to offset costs associated with the improvement of the University Grove Trolley Path, and agreeing to provide a monetary match equal to the amount of the grant, as well as maintenance of the property for a period of at least 20 years. The motion was unanimously approved. Consideration of Resolution 03-15 Opposing the Closure of any Suburban Courthouse Administrator Worthington said that in 2002, the Ramsey County Court’s Head Judge declared the Maplewood Court facility “inadequate”, and moved to close the court. In the intervening year, the police chiefs, prosecutors, and city managers in the County held several meetings with Head Judge Mott, and did not reach an agreement to keep the court open. On August 11th, the city managers/administrators, police chiefs and prosecutors met again with Judge Mott, and he indicated at that time that it was his intention to close the court at the beginning of September. As a result, city managers in suburban Ramsey County were asked to bring forward a resolution in order to dissuade Judge Mott from closing the suburban court. Several reasons were discussed at the meeting on the 11th, including: Proximity of the court to suburban cities Cost of police vehicle parking downtown at the courthouse Time spent in transit and in court downtown compared with the suburban location Service delivery to victims and those called to testify in court Parking concerns downtown In addition, State statute requires that Ramsey County keep a suburban court location open, in addition to the downtown court at the Courthouse. Administrator Worthington distributed an amended version of the resolution that was originally included in the Council packet. FALCON HEIGHTS CITY COUNCIL MINUTES -4- August 27, 2003 Consideration of Resolution 03-15 Opposing the Closure of any Suburban Courthouse (continued) Council member Lindstrom said that he supports the resolution. He knows that Ramsey County courts are having their own budget difficulties, but by closing the suburban court location, the budgets for 12-15 jurisdictions could be increased. He recommended a wording change in paragraph 8 from “will be lost” to “will be more difficult”. Council member Lindstrom and Mayor Gehrz recommended changing the title of Resolution 2003-15 to read: “A resolution opposing closure of the Ramsey County Suburban Court. . .”. Council member Talbot said that this is the last suburban courthouse in Ramsey County. How many have been closed? Mayor Gehrz said there were five. Now there is one. Administrator Worthington said that Ramsey County processes 300 cases daily and 327,000 yearly. Some of the options include moving out of Maplewood to a new location or continuing to lease the existing space and renovate it. RESOLUTION 2003-15 Kuettel moved adoption of Resolution 2003-15 opposing closure of the Ramsey County Suburban Court and requesting the Ramsey County District Court to share information and cooperatively examine possible solutions for State funding cuts, incorporating the wording changes recommended by Council member Lindstrom and Mayor Gehrz. The motion was unanimously approved. Approval of Stipulation of Settlement Relating to the Acquisition of the Northome Shopping Center Property City Attorney Scott said the City is ready to enter into a stipulated agreement with the owner of the Northome Shopping Center as a result of the condemnation action undertaken by the Council in early June. The developer, George Sherman, has a negotiated settlement with the owner of the property, Jim Ladner, and this settlement covers everything but the Pizza Hut lease. The City will act as a pass-through for the purchase of the property and will hold title until the condemnation hearing in the latter part of September. All of the costs are being funded by the redeveloper. He gave a brief oral review of the document’s key points. Council member Kuettel asked if this will need to be done all over again with Pizza Hut. Who owns the underlying land? Attorney Scott said that Pizza Hut is a tenant and that he had he reviewed their status with Mr. Sherman earlier in the day. Dino’s is not part of this nor are they a part of the condemnation action. FALCON HEIGHTS CITY COUNCIL MINUTES -5- August 27, 2003 Approval of Stipulation of Settlement Relating to the Acquisition of the Northome Shopping Center Property (continued) Council member Lamb said that if the Council approves this, the document will be executed next week and the property transferred to the City. About six weeks later the property will be transferred to the redeveloper. What about liability? It is becoming an attractive nuisance. Attorney Scott said this has been discussed with Mr. Sherman. He has agreed to indemnify the City and this will be addressed in the access agreement. Kraus Anderson is the general contractor. Administrator Worthington said the access agreement is being negotiated now. Mayor Gehrz asked about the possibility that the condemnation court will not approve. What happens? Attorney Scott said that is independent of this agreement. The City will be getting a quit claim deed from the owner and that will protect the City. Council member Kuettel asked what that means. Attorney Scott said that title to the property will transfer to the City and the City will receive a quit claim deed at the time the property changes hands. Mayor Gehrz asked who will represent the City in the closing. Attorney Scott said that his firm will. On Tuesday morning, Mr. Ladner and his attorney will finalize execution. Mayor Gehrz said this is a very exciting time. It has been three years. She thanked Administrator Worthington and Attorney Scott for their hard work. Lamb moved approval of the Stipulation of Settlement with JEMHAHS No. 3 Partnership to acquire the Northome Shopping center property, conditioned upon the redeveloper, Falcon Heights Town Square Limited Partnership, depositing with the City the acquisition costs pursuant to the development agreement, and authorizing the Mayor and Administrator to execute the Stipulation of Settlement upon such deposit of acquisition costs with the City. The motion was unanimously approved. REPORTS FROM COUNCIL MEMBERS: None. INFORMATION AND ANNOUNCEMENTS: Council member Talbot mentioned a recent article about the State Fair that appeared in the Park Bugle. He reminded the cable audience to call City Hall if they have any State Fair related difficulties. Council member Lindstrom said that earlier in the week the Falcon Heights Elementary School had their annual back to school parade. Everyone seemed happy that school is starting again. It was really a lot of fun. Mayor Gehrz commented that Falcon Heights Elementary is the only school that does this. Council member Kuettel said that Falcon Heights Elementary has received five stars from the Department of Education—one of only 53 schools in the state to do so. FALCON HEIGHTS CITY COUNCIL MINUTES -6- August 27, 2003 INFORMATION AND ANNOUNCEMENTS (continued) Council member Kuettel said that she receives calls, e-mails and letters from residents. If people wish to remain anonymous that is fine, but it makes it difficult to respond to them. Administrator Worthington described the code enforcement procedures the City follows when staff or residents observe violations. Residents who contact City Hall about code violations can choose to remain anonymous, but if they want a response, it’s nice to have a name or phone number. Under Minnesota law, the City cannot release names of residents or individuals making complaints. Staff, in response to a complaint, does a drive-by and, if necessary, takes pictures. Initially, the offending property owner or resident receives a phone call from the City. Then, if no correction of the situation occurs, a letter is sent. Ten days later, a second letter is sent. Ninety-nine percent of the code violation situations are resolved with a phone call from the City. The City has received a complaint about garbage containers. They just need to be removed from the curb and stored near the house or garage. There is a lot of information on the City’s web site, including information about code enforcement. Administrator Worthington said the City has been receiving queries about raccoons. There is a lot of wildlife in Falcon Heights---raccoons, rabbits, squirrels, wild turkeys, foxes, deer, woodchucks, etc. Some information about raccoons has been posted on the City’s web site. If the City finds raccoons living on public property, such as in catch basins, the City has them removed. On private property, it is the homeowner’s responsibility to have them removed. She reminded the cable audience to control storage and disposal of garbage, as raccoons are particularly dexterous with their paws. Council member Kuettel said that some people have compost piles in their yards and if they are not maintained properly, they are another food source for raccoons. Council member Talbot said that neighboring cities are having the same problem with raccoons and he suggested storing garbage containers in garages. Administrator Worthington said that with regard to the SE Corner, George Sherman is moving toward demolition. Asbestos removal will begin next week and will continue into the third week of September, followed by demolition of the building. Construction of the senior building’s parking garage will then begin. Once that occurs, the site will be fenced off. Kraus Anderson will be building the rental buildings and Craftsman Construction will be building the townhomes. Dino’s new building is to be completed by December and Pizza Hut should be resolved shortly. There will be another community meeting about the project soon and a groundbreaking ceremony will be held in late fall. The regular City Council meeting was adjourned at 8:10 PM. Respectfully submitted, Mary Shea Kodluboy Deputy Clerk