HomeMy WebLinkAbout07-11-2011 Council Minutes (2) CITY COUNCIL WORK SESSION July 11, 2011
APPROVED
CITY OF LINO LAKES
2 MINUTES
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4 DATE : July 11, 2011
5 TIME STARTED : 5:00 p.m.
6 TIME ENDED : 6:25 p.m.
7 MEMBERS PRESENT : Council Member O'Donnell,
8 Rafferty,Roeser and Mayor Reinert
9 MEMBERS ABSENT : Council Member Gallup
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12 Staff members present: Administration Director Dan Tesch; City Engineer Jason Wedel;
13 City Planner Jeff Smyser; City Planner Paul Bengtson; Police Captain Kent Strege;
14 Economic Development Coordinator Mary Alice Divine; Community Development
15 Director Mike Grochala; City Clerk Julie Bartell
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17 The city's new engineer, Jason Wedel, introduced himself to the council, informed them
18 of his accessibility and thanked the city for the opportunity to serve. The council
19 requested that Mr. Wedel send them each an email so they will have his contact
20 information.
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22 1. Charter Commission Appointment Process - City Clerk Bartell noted that the
23 Lino Lakes Charter Commission will have terms expiring at the end of this year so staff is
24 providing a report on the appointment process including how the openings are advertised,
25 how applications are received and the appointment process. There is some guidance for
26 the process included in the state statutes and the charter commission by-laws. This is
27 brought forward for council review. She added that the city administrator has suggested
28 that it makes sense that this year the application process should be centralized at city hall,
29 meaning applications will be received at city hall and submitted by the city clerk to the
30 appointing authority(the chief judge). It was noted that the process in the past was
31 centralized at city hall and so this would be returning to that practice.
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33 The council discussed the appointment process in general and posed questions about
34 tracking applicants, eligibility requirements for appointment, how a dual process (both
35 charter and council submitting applications)would work, if a recommendation process is
36 appropriate, whether individuals could apply directly to the chief judge, and how the
37 application itself would be impacted. The council received input from former Lino Lakes
38 Charter Commission member Robert Bening.
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40 The council also discussed the status of the commission's minutes, noting some concern
41 that the minutes of several meetings are not posted on the web. A council member
42 offered assistance to the commission in the form of city staff or web assistance to get the
43 minutes up to date.
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CITY COUNCIL WORK SESSION July 11, 2011
APPROVED
45 Regarding this year's Charter Commission appointment/reappointment process, the city
L 46 clerk is directed to centralize the appointment process at city hall. Therefore the
47 application form will direct applicants to submit their information to city hall and the city
48 clerk will submit applications received to the chief judge.
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50 The council will further discuss the appointment process at the August work session.
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52 2. 7301 Apollo Ct. (Open Mike 6-13)-Community Development Director
53 Grochala recalled that the council heard at a recent open mike from the property owner
54 and owner's attorney of 7301 Apollo Drive. They expressed concern that the business
55 there is not being allowed to store materials and products outside of the building. The
56 council has heard that the zoning of the property does not allow outdoor storage and does
57 not meet the requirements for a conditional use permit. Therefore staff has initiated an
58 enforcement action asking the owner to correct the violation. Mr. Grochala said he is
59 aware that there has been some action taken but they are still in violation. If the council
60 feels that the use is appropriate,they would have to move to change the city ordinance
61 overall but that would impact all light industrial zoning.
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63 The mayor noted that he sees that the city's ordinance is appropriate overall and he
64 doesn't see the need to change it.
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66 Community Development Director Grochala remarked that the owner is planning on
L 67 attending a future work session(he was not able to make tonight's meeting)to further
68 discuss the matter with the council.
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70 3. Weekly Progress Report-Administration Director Tesch reviewed the weekly
71 progress report.
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73 Although it was not an item included on the report, a council member noted that there has
74 been some misconception about the community garden project. Specifically it should be
75 clear that the city has not funded the garden project and rather the small amount of
76 funding involved came through a grant from Anoka County. Also the plots were made
77 available to everyone for a small fee (and they were not all taken). The council suggests
78 that a sign at the gardens would be helpful in informing the public about the details of the
79 project.
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81 4. Review Regular Council Agenda-The agenda was reviewed with comments as
82 follows.
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84 Item 1A,Expenditures-A council member asked that he be provided with an
85 explanation of the software maintenance fees associated with the city's utility billing
86 system.
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88 Item 6B, First Reading of Ordinance amending the zoning code relating to variances
89 - City Planner Smyser explained that numerous amendments to the zoning code are in the
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CITY COUNCIL WORK SESSION July 11, 2011
APPROVED
90 works relative to the city's comprehensive plan update and those amendments will be
91 coming forward for council consideration as they go through the process. In the
92 meantime,however, there has been a change to the area of variances instituted by the
93 state legislature. New criteria will lead findings of fact for variances and new language is
94 called for in the city code.
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96 Item 8A, Emergency Ordinance amending the city code to establish an electrical
97 inspections program—Community Development Director Grochala distributed a letter
98 and proposed ordinance. He explained that with the current state shut down, cities are
99 looking at picking up electrical inspection duties that were performed by the state. He is
100 there proposing that the council approve an emergency ordinance (under the charter
101 allowance that the situation is a health safety matter) adding an electrical inspection
102 program. The language would sunset when the state shut down ends. In the future, the
103 council may want to consider making it a permanent situation but that is a discussion for
104 the future. Since the city doesn't have staff to accomplish the electrical inspection, the
105 action requested includes authorizing a contract with a private inspector.
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107 Sign Regulations—A council member noted that there seems to be many signs popping
108 up that wouldn't be allowed under city regulations. Community Development Director
109 Grochala replied that city staff isn't able to actively look for sign violations—there is not
110 enough personnel. If a violation is reported, it is checked out and illegal signs are
111 confiscated.
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113 The meeting was adjourned at 6:25 p.m.
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115 These minutes were considered, corrected and approved at the regular Council meeting held on
116 July 25, 2011.
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120 .�.1
121 Julian e Bartell, City lerk Jef'Reinert, Mayor
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