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HomeMy WebLinkAboutCCMin_03Mar12 CITY OF FALCON HEIGHTS COUNCIL MINUTES March 12, 2003 Mayor Sue 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 and Deputy Clerk Mary Shea Kodluboy COMMUNITY FORUM: There was no commentary from the audience. APPROVAL OF MINUTES: The Council minutes dated February 26, 2003 were unanimously approved as submitted. PUBLIC HEARINGS: None scheduled. CONSENT AGENDA: Kuettel moved approval of the Consent Agenda, as presented and outlined below. The motion was unanimously approved. General Disbursements through March 7, 2003 in the Amount of: $ 16,475.93 Payroll, 2/17/03-2/28/03: $ 11,585.58 Licenses – The Council, to encourage residents to patronize local businesses, read aloud the names of the businesses renewing their City licenses for 2003. 3. Step Increase and Compensation Increase for Deborah Jones, Zoning and Planning Coordinator Appointment of Robert Thompson, 1845 Moore Street, to the Neighborhood Commission Resolution of Support for Sherman and Associates’ Application to Ramsey County Community Development Block Grant and Dakota County Consortium Home Investment Partnership Programs FALCON HEIGHTS CITY COUNCIL MEETING -2- March 12, 2003 POLICY AGENDA: Approval of the Memorandum of Agreement with the Capitol Region Watershed District Administrator Worthington said the City has been negotiating the Memorandum of Agreement with the Capitol Region Watershed District (CRWD) for approximately one year. The agreement will create a framework for future interaction with the newly created (2001) District, and will facilitate statutory review processes between the two local units of government. Similar agreements are in place with Roseville and Saint Paul, and are also being negotiated with the State Fair and the University of Minnesota. The next step in this process will be for the City to adopt a local watershed management plan (LWMP). This is required under the statute that creates watershed districts. This MOA will allow the City to work with the CRWD and the Rice Creek Watershed District to draft a LWMP that will satisfy those requirements. The District’s primary focus is water quality and storm water management, but they will not have any regulatory authority. They will be restricted to review and providing advice regarding projects that are in excess of one acre. The City has already involved them in several issues during the past year. They will be involved in the Serita wetland restoration on the State Fair and University of Minnesota properties. Council member Lamb asked if there would be any costs associated with them and if they can/will help the City with the NPDES. Administrator Worthington said there would be no City costs. The NPDES rule making did not involve the watershed districts and that would have been a nice feature to have. However, they can assist cities and their expertise can be utilized. Council member Kuettel asked how many watershed districts affect Falcon Heights and Administrator Worthington said that before there were three, now there are two: Capitol Region and Rice Creek. Mayor Gehrz said she is thrilled to see this in the form that it is. Administrator Worthington and City Attorney Knutson worked very hard with the governing board of this organization and their staff to formulate a cooperative agreement. They have to respond to City requests within 15-20 calendar days from receipt of those requests. What happens, from a budgetary standpoint, if they want more street sweeping? Administrator Worthington said she had serious concerns because cities are under statutory time limits of 60 days – the 60-day rule. Those concerns were addressed quite nicely in the final product. Watershed districts can levy and if they were to request more street sweeping, the City would request that they share in the costs. Like most cities, Falcon Heights sweeps twice a year. FALCON HEIGHTS CITY COUNCIL MEETING -3- March 12, 2003 Approval of the Memorandum of Agreement with the Capitol Region Watershed District (continued) Lamb moved approval of the Memorandum of Agreement with the Capitol Region Watershed District and authorization for the Mayor and City Administrator to sign the agreement on behalf of the City of Falcon Heights. The motion was unanimously approved. Consideration of an Ordinance Amending Chapter 5 of the Falcon Heights City Code Concerning the Indoor Display of Fireworks and Use of Pyrotechnic Equipment and Materials Administrator Worthington said that because of the recent nightclub fire in Rhode Island, staff asked the city attorney, Roger Knutson, to draft an ordinance that would address the issue of pyrotechnic use in unsprinklered buildings. Current State fire codes require the issuance of a permit by the Fire Chief of the city in these cases; however, this may not be adequate due to the burden of proof being on the business owner, and not on the city. In order to ensure that the city has adequate safeguards in place, it is prudent to have an ordinance that specifically disallows the use of pyrotechnics or indoor fireworks in buildings that are not equipped with an automatic fire suppression system. The State Legislature is considering legislation that would ban the display of indoor fireworks or other pyrotechnics. The status of this bill is unclear at the moment, and it may be advisable for the city to act independently in order to ensure that this potential problem is addressed now, rather than later in the year. This ordinance does not address the use of outdoor fireworks, which are already regulated by State law. This ordinance would not impact too many businesses in Falcon Heights. Consultations were held with Tom Brace, the State Fire Marshal, the City’s Building Official/Fire Inspector, and the City’s Fire Chief. All three think it is a good idea to bring this forward at this time. Council member Lindstrom said that initially he wanted to wait until the Legislature completes its work in this area, but he is open to moving forward on this tonight and revisiting it again, if necessary, after the Legislature is done. He reviewed the proposed ordinance amendment and recommended the following changes: Keep Subsection E. 1-Indoor use limited, but change the last sentence of that section to read: as defined by State law; eliminate Subsection E. 2-Definition; eliminate Subsection E. 3-Permit Required; and eliminate Subsection E. 4-Permit Fee. Current State law says that a person has to get a permit. There is a lot of discretion as to whether the Fire Chief will recommend granting a permit or not. State law gives a lot of discretion on what to do. This would eliminate discretion. This is more restrictive than current State law. FALCON HEIGHTS CITY COUNCIL MEETING -4- March 12, 2003 Consideration of an Ordinance Amending Chapter 5 of the Falcon Heights City Code Concerning the Indoor Display of Fireworks and Use of Pyrotechnic Equipment and Materials (continued) Council member Lamb asked if there shouldn’t be some type of penalty indicated or is the City just saying it’s illegal. The City needs to be clear about what it is doing. He is not in favor of passing this ordinance. It is redundant, repetitious and creates another unnecessary level of law. There is a mechanism under State law that requires permits to be applied for from the Fire Chief. He would rather see the City send letters to the venues in the City, reminding them that State law requires that they obtain permits from the Fire Marshal. He supports the changes recommended by Council member Lindstrom. Council member Talbot said that everyone has had good questions and comments, and has pointed out the same concerns he has. Mayor Gehrz said she supports this ordinance for the reasons Council member Lindstrom stated. It is most relevant for places where there is live music, bands. If the City can, through passing this ordinance, be absolutely clear about what is and is not allowed, that will help, it won’t be burdensome. She is not a big fan of enacting a lot of ordinances. She would support it with the changes recommended by Council member Lindstrom. Council member Kuettel said that ordinarily when the City Council passes an ordinance it goes into the book. Will the City send a letter out? Is this more restrictive for indoor use? Administrator Worthington said the plan is to notify business owners of this change and yes, it is more restrictive. Lindstrom moved that the following changes be made in the proposed ordinance amendment of Section 5-1.02: The last sentence of Subsection E. 1-Indoor use limited be changed to read: As defined by State law; eliminate Subsection E. 2-Definition; eliminate Subsection E. 3-Permit Required; and eliminate Subsection E. 4-Permit Fee, and that Ordinance Amendment #03-03 be approved as amended. Ordinance Amendment #03-03 was approved as amended, and outlined below, by a vote of 4-1, with Lamb voting no. ORDINANCE NO. 03-03 AN ORDINANCE AMENDING CHAPTER 5 OF THE FALCON HEIGHTS CITY CODE CONCERNING THE INDOOR DISPLAY OF FIREWORKS AND USE OF PYROTECHNIC EQUIPMENT AND MATERIALS THE CITY COUNCIL OF FALCON HEIGHTS, MINNESOTA ORDAINS: SECTION 1. Section 5-1.02 of the Falcon Heights City Code is amended by adding a subparagraph “E” to provide as follows: FALCON HEIGHTS CITY COUNCIL MEETING -5- March 12, 2003 Consideration of an Ordinance Amending Chapter 5 of the Falcon Heights City Code Concerning the Indoor Display of Fireworks and Use of Pyrotechnic Equipment and Materials (continued) INDOOR FIREWORKS DISPLAYS OR USE OF PYROTECHNIC DEVICES. Indoor use limited. It is unlawful to conduct any indoor fireworks display or to use any pyrotechnic device including smoke pots, flash pots and theatrical flash powder indoors if the structure or area in which the display or use is being conducted is not protected by an automatic fire suppression system. This section shall apply to the use of fireworks or pyrotechnic equipment and materials for ceremonial, theatrical and musical productions, but does not apply to “Legal fireworks” as defined by State law. SECTION 2. This ordinance shall be effective immediately upon its passage and publication. ADOPTED this 12th day of March, 2003 by the City Council of Falcon Heights, Minnesota. Consideration of a Contract with the North Suburban Communications Commission (NSAC) to Provide Web Streaming Services Administrator Worthington said that last year, the CTV (NSAC) began offering web streaming and channel programming services to cities and school districts. This service will be billed quarterly at a rate of $163.69 per month when franchise fee checks are issued. The city can continue with this service, or opt out at this time. This service plays back the bi-weekly City Council meetings on the internet, allowing residents and others with access to the Internet to view the meetings online. Meetings will also continue to be broadcast on Channel 16, independently from this service. Council member Kuettel said that she spoke with Administrator Worthington about this. It will cost the City about $2,000 a year to web stream the Council and Planning Commission meetings. Council member Talbot said the Council isn’t asking taxpayers to support this service. It will be paid for with monies collected from cable and high speed modem internet subscribers. About 50% of the residents of Falcon Heights are subscribers. This lets people watch meetings at their convenience and is paid for by the people who use it. It is a useful service and he endorses signing the agreement. Administrator Worthington said that she knows that on Council meeting days, there are twice as many hits on the home page. On the average day, there are between 20-30 hits and on Council meeting days there are between 45-50. FALCON HEIGHTS CITY COUNCIL MEETING -6- March 12, 2003 Consideration of an Ordinance Amending Chapter 5 of the Falcon Heights City Code Concerning the Indoor Display of Fireworks and Use of Pyrotechnic Equipment and Materials (continued) Mayor Gehrz said that she supports doing this. It is consistent with the Council’s desire to make every reasonable effort to make sure residents can communicate with the City. Kuettel moved approval of a contract with the North Suburban Communications Commission (NSAC) for web streaming services. The motion was unanimously approved. H. REPORTS FROM COUNCIL MEMBERS: Council member Lamb said that under the 2003 recycling contract, residents will be able to have used reusable clothing, textiles, shoes and boots picked up with their recyclables. The clothing, textiles (sheets, towels, blankets, tablecloths), and footwear must be clean, usable and bagged in clean sealed plastic bags. Dirty, wet clothes, sewing scraps or rags will not be accepted. All items will be recycled for use and will not be shredded for fiber. This is being offered as an additional no-cost service to the residents. Informational flyers will be distributed the latter part of this month and information will also be published in the upcoming City newsletter. Also, over the next few months the Solid Waste Commission will be looking at open versus organized hauling because of refuse collection costs, environmental impacts, quality of service, road wear and impacts. There will be a lot of public study and opportunity for public input. Council member Lindstrom said the City of Lauderdale decided to not pursue a DNR grant for their local trail connection. He said he wanted to reiterate what a fine job Deb Jones does for the Planning Commission. She is invaluable. Northwest Youth and Family Services will be putting an informational insert in the next City newsletter. Council member Talbot said the Ramsey County League of Local Governments held a meeting on Saturday, March 8, to look for ways to share strengths and economize. Formation of an I T Coalition was the number one idea and it was put forth by Administrator Worthington. Mayor Gehrz read aloud a letter from the Governmental Accounting Standards Board that recognized the City and Roland Olson, the City Finance Director, for the early implementation of GASB 34. The letter stated that “implementation of Statement 34 will result in better financial information to a government’s taxpayers, governing board, and other financial statement users. Early implementation of Statement 34 is a testament to the City’s professional leadership, initiative and commitment to improving public accountability.” FALCON HEIGHTS CITY COUNCIL MEETING -7- March 12, 2003 H. REPORTS FROM COUNCIL MEMBERS: (continued) Mayor Gehrz said the City will be receiving most of the CERT grant that was applied for. The original grant request was for $10,137 and the City was awarded $9,807. Twelve out of twenty-two grant applications were accepted and about $300,000 was awarded. She showed the Council members and cable audience the Governor’s Community Leader award that had been given for emergency preparedness. She commented that everyone has worked together and it is wonderful that the City continues to be recognized. She said that in April, all of the City commissions will be invited to come to a Council meeting. The Commission chairs will be asked to give ten minute presentations about what their commissions are working on, their accomplishments, and what they hope to accomplish. The regular City Council meeting was adjourned at 8:20 PM. Respectfully submitted, Mary Shea Kodluboy Deputy Clerk