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HomeMy WebLinkAboutCCMin_06Jun28Regular Meeting of the City Council June 28, 2006 Members present: Mayor Gehrz, Council members Kuettel, Talbot, Lindstrom, and Harris, Administrator Miller, Assistant City Administrator/Deputy Clerk Kreuser, Parks and Public Works Director Hoag, Engineer Schwartz, and Fire Chief Kurhajetz. Mayor Gehrz called the meeting to order at 7:00 p.m. Presentation: Cor Wilson, Executive Director of the North Suburban Communications Commission and CTV, made a presentation to the council regarding current cable issues, legislation, and an overview of the workings of CTV and the cable commission. Minutes: The meeting minutes from June 14, 2006 were approved as corrected by Mayor Gehrz. Consent Agenda: Council member Kuettel moved the following five items for approval. The motion passed unanimously. 1. General Disbursements through 6/21/06: $109,017.40 Payroll through 6/15/06: $14,304.90 2. Appointment of Gretel Keene to Environment Commission 3. Step increase for Dave Tretsven, Public Works Lead Worker 4. Appointment of new volunteer firefighters 5. Approval of license Policy Agenda: 1. Approve the sale of 1978 American La France Fire Truck Fire Chief Kurhajetz began by stating the department tried to donate the truck to a southern city in need and advertised it, but the offer of $4,000 was the only one that came in. No city was interested in the donation. Council member Lindstrom asked where the truck had been advertised. Mayor Gehrz replied it was advertised in a clearinghouse through the National League of Cities after the hurricanes. Administrator Miller added similar makes/models of fire trucks were for sale on e-bay, and the prices there were in line with the current offer. Mayor Gehrz stated it was the City’s preference to donate the truck, but now the $4,000 will be used for fire department needs. Council member Talbot moved to approve the sale of the 1978 American LaFrance Fire Truck. The motion passed unanimously. Resolution adopting a Cooperative Construction Agreement between the City of Falcon Heights and Capital Region Watershed District (CRWD) Administrator Miller began the item by giving a brief overview of the agreement between the cities in the watershed district and the CRWD for a new facility. He explained the funding was based on the stormwater production from each city, with 11.15% as Falcon Heights share. Along with the 10% construction costs, the “not to exceed” amount is roughly $109,000. In response to Council member Talbot’s question, Engineer Schwartz stated there are two areas of discharge in Falcon Heights, one near the Snelling/Larpenteur area and the Godfried/Pitt area. He reiterated the flow calculations are not determined by acreage, but by total flow, based on direct discharge rates. He added Roseville approved the agreement. Council member Harris stated the agreement was to construct a new building, but wanted to know if the cities then own a portion of the building. Schwartz answered the cities do not. He also stated the CRWD is talking about adding a maintenance agreement that is not currently in place, but will be drafted this fall. Council member Talbot pointed out the watershed has levying authority, and if more dollars are needed, they do not necessarily have to come back to the cities for funds. Mayor Gehrz noted the watershed district has the authority also to deny permits and approvals for construction projects if water is not managed. Council member Harris pointed out the wording in the agreement stated an amount not to be exceeded “unless written approval by the council” is granted. She asked Schwartz if he presumed any increases. Schwartz answered the engineer’s estimate was completed this spring, but that an increase and request for further funds could happen. Council member Lindstrom asked about preliminary engineering costs and why engineering is often separate from the actual costs of projects. Schwartz answered that most of the time there are two different parties incurring those fees, but the construction observation is not preliminary. He added the wording was tweaked by City Attorney’s, and this language was what come out. Council member Talbot stated the estimated cost was $99,565, not including project construction observation, which could amount to not more than 10% of the 99,565. The total not to exceed number is $109,521.50. Administrator Miller stated the watershed has to come back before council if they increase costs. He added that July 14 is the open of bids. Hoag added that if CRWD gets a higher bid, there would be no further funding without council consent. Council member Lindstrom asked if this was common practice for watershed agreements. Administrator Miller replied that yes, every city belongs to a watershed district, and often are asked to contribute to projects. Mayor Gehrz stated that the watershed has taxing and bonding authority, and if they come back to Falcon Heights, the City can say no and that would not stop the project. Council member Harris added the maintenance agreement clause is so vague it doesn’t hold the City to anything legally. Mayor Gehrz also stated for the record that the stormsewer utility has adequate funds, and preparations for funding have been occurring for over four years. Council member Kuettel moved to approve the resolution adopting a cooperative construction agreement between the City of Falcon Heights and Capital Region Watershed District. The motion passed unanimously. Resolution adopting Traffic Signal Maintenance Agreement between the City of Falcon Heights, City of Saint Paul, and State of Minnesota Parks and Public Works Director Hoag stated this was the final issue related to the Hoyt turn back from the County. The agreement is similar to that of the Roselawn agreement approved earlier, except that St. Paul is responsible for costs associated to ¼ of the intersection. Hoag explained that for the electrical Falcon Heights will invoice St. Paul for ¼ the costs each month. For re-lamping, cleaning and painting St. Paul will invoice Falcon Heights for ¾ of the actual costs. Council member Kuettel asked if that was too much paperwork to do monthly, but Administrator Miller replied it is standard to send billing monthly and won’t be too much of an effort. Miller also answered Council member Talbot’s question on estimated costs by stating ¾ of the re-lamping, cleaning and painting would amount to roughly $1,500 per year. He also stated Hoag was looking to LED type, which would defray the costs by about half. Council member Lindstrom and Mayor Gehrz both instructed Administrator Miller to approach the State Fair about perhaps taking on some of the cost burden for that signal. That agreement, if drafted, would be a separate contract with the State Fair and would come before council at that time. Council member Lindstrom moved to approve the resolution 2006-17 adopting traffic signal maintenance agreement between the City of Falcon Heights, City of Saint Paul, and State of Minnesota. The motion passed unanimously. 4. Adoption of City goals for 2007 Mayor Gehrz began the item by giving a brief overview of the process of goal setting. She stated some of the goals would be incorporated into the City’s comp plan. She asked the council to go over the changes. Council member Harris stated the council added into the goals of the Park/Rec Commission an Adopt-a-Park program, which would not only allow of monetary donations, but also for time spent at park clean up or other ways parks need help. She added the commission is also creating a new version of the Park/Rec Master Plan from 1989. The commission is also updating since the plan only deals with parks and not recreation. She added some kind of survey would be completed to make sure the commission gets it right. Harris also mentioned there are some human rights commission changes, since now the commission meets regularly. Mayor Gehrz said that as the City works on the comp plan, they will use the Active Living Ramsey County information from the student intern team and walkability workshops. A new section added in the goals is to promote the unique assets of Falcon Heights and to promote the new unique assets. After a short reminder that residents can call Metropolitan Mosquito Control for tire pick-up, residents were also encouraged to give their e-mail addresses to City Hall for a quadrant database from Council members Talbot and Lindstrom. Mayor Gehrz added the City assessment manual was written 20 years ago, designed with fairness in mind across the City, and now is the time to look at it and update since no assessments are foreseen for some time. Council member Kuettel moved to adopt the City goals for 2007. The motion passed unanimously. 5. Discussion of Public Participation Plan for the 2008 Comprehensive Plan Mayor Gehrz began a presentation on the updating the City’s comp plan and engaging the public in the process. She stated the process of inviting the public gives the City opportunities, but the process is getting a bit of a late start since the City wanted to wait until the new City Administrator started. Mayor Gehrz presented her plan to the council and went through the process: Public Participation Plan Step One - Organize a Steering Committee to assist with the public participation process. Their role and responsibilities would be: Review suggestions from the Walkability Workshops and the Humphrey Institute Student Intern Team and determine which should be considered for inclusion in the revised Comp Plan. Serve as facilitators and/or note takers for small group discussions to gather the suggestions and opinions of residents about comprehensive planning issues. Promote participation in the planning process to their neighbors. Steering Committee Membership Maximum of 14 members plus the mayor and City Administrator. One or two commissioners from each of the five city commissions (5 to 10 people) Volunteers appointed by the city council (4 to 9 people). Openings would be publicized on the city website, monthly flyer, and in the Roseville Review and Sun Focus. Interested residents would complete an application form and be interviewed by the mayor who will serve as Steering Committee Chair. Step Two – Develop questions and a participant recruitment plan for Small Group Discussions with: Businesses, i.e. breakfast meeting, interviews Residents in each of the following neighborhoods: ? Northome ? Northeast Quadrant ? St. Mary’s/Fry/Garden ? Hollywood Court ? Falcon Woods ? University Grove & 1666 Coffman ? Tatum/Fry/Lindig area (Questwood/Snelling) Questions should address both long-range vision development and reaction to specific possibilities. Step Three – Develop Survey Instrument & Plan Park and open space utilization and unmet need questions Community garden questions Other topics Step Four – Write preliminary 2008 Comprehensive Plan Contract with a planning consultant where needed. Use staff, council, and volunteer resources to write sections of the plan. Step Five – Schedule and publicize a minimum of two public forums Present the proposed land use changes in the preliminary plan. Request feedback on the preliminary plan. Step Six – Revise the preliminary plan. Step Seven – Submit the 2008 Comp Plan to the Metropolitan Council When asked by Council member Lindstrom if the neighborhood meetings would take place out in the neighborhoods, Mayor Gehrz replied it was her hope they would. Council member Harris pointed out the Snelling/Questwood area was missing from the list of residential neighborhoods. It was added to the final plan. Council member Talbot asked that the North Suburban Cable Commission be added to planning assumption four. Council members Lindstrom and Kuettel lauded the Mayor for her work, and stated there were great ideas in the plan. In addition, Kuettel said this process may be an opportunity to reach out to a new population in the City, and hopes there will be large citizen participation. Council member Harris suggested drafting a job description for those members on the steering committee. Staff will begin work on it, along with revision of the standard commission application. Council member Lindstrom asked about the timeline for the work. Mayor Gehrz replied it should begin in September 2006 and continue through November. She stated she would like a preliminary plan by the end of January for revisions and forums. In addition, she stated a survey to residents, perhaps written by university students, would help get information from residents. Mayor Gehrz stated the University would also be working on their master plan, but the timeline for theirs was close to two years out. She stated she would notify University master planners and ask them to interface with Falcon Heights when they are working on their plans. She stated the residents value heavily the agricultural fields along Larpenteur. Council member Harris moved to approve the Public Participation Plan for the 2008 Comprehensive Plan. The motion passed unanimously. Community Forum: Bryan Olson, 1592 Roselawn, stated he was at the clerk’s training in St. Cloud, and wanted to know why neither Falcon Heights clerk nor Little Canada’s clerk were present. He also asked when the required five hours of elections training would be completed. Assistant City Administrator/Deputy Clerk Kreuser replied she attended elections training in Maple Grove the previous week and had obtained the required hours. Olson then asked about the payout of $5,800 to Heather Worthington upon her departure from the City. The Mayor replied it was not severance pay, as questioned by Olson, however, it was accrued sick leave and accrued vacation hours. Olson stated the language in Administrator Miller’s employment contract differed from that of former Administrator Worthington’s contract. He asked if dues would be paid for the new administrator to belong to clubs/organizations such as Rotary. Mayor Gehrz replied they would because the organizations are professional enhancement organizations, and Miller is a professional. She added the expenses would not come before council for approval, as they are already part of the budget. Olson began speaking about a sale of a Roseville fire truck, but his five minutes had expired and he was asked to step down. Information/Announcements: Council member Kuettel stated the Planning Commission was beginning the process of recodification of the City Code. Council member Talbot reminded residents to slow down on neighborhood streets. Administrator Miller reported the MSRA 50s weekend went relatively smooth, and no major concerns were reported. Mayor Gehrz adjourned the meeting at 8:50 p.m. Respectfully submitted, Stacey Kreuser Assistant City Administrator/Deputy Clerk