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HomeMy WebLinkAbout10/17/2001 Council Minutes (2)SPECIAL COUNCIL MEETING OCTOBER 17, 2001 SPECIAL JOINT CITY COUNCIL/ENVIRONMENTAL BOARD MEETING MINUTES DATE : October 17, 2001 TIME STARTED : 7:15 p.m. TIME ENDED : 9:25 p.m. MEMBERS PRESENT : Councilmembers Carlson, O'Donnell, Reinert, and Mayor Bergeson ENVIRONMENTAL BOARD MEMBERS PRESENT MEMBERS ABSENT : Donlin, Kukonen, O'Connell, Trehus, and Grundhofer : Dahl Staff members present: City Administrator, Linda Waite Smith Development Director, Mike Grochala, Environmental Spec Associate Planner, Tanda Gretz WELCOME AND INTRODUCTIONS Members of the Environmental Board ncil introduced themselves. , kA Mayor Bergeson advised the purpo to discuss issues facing the Environmental Board and the BRIEF HISTORY A l ION OF ENVIRONMENTAL BOARD Mayor Bergeson g it was established i sub -board relating t story of the formation of the Environmental Board noting 998. He stated he believes the Environmental Board is a e Planning and Zoning Board that makes recommendations. CLARIFYING THE ENVIRONMENTAL BOARD'S ROLE Mayor Bergeson stated he does not know if the discussion regarding the role of the Environmental Board will be completed, but it has to be started. Mr. Rod Kukonen, Chair of the Environmental Board, read the Mission Statement of the Board noting the Board has not been able to accomplish that mission due to many factors that include the zoning ordinances. He stated there is a lot of frustration because the Board makes recommendations but those recommendations are not binding. He stated that hopefully this meeting will be a starting point to eliminate some of those frustrations. Ms. Grundhofer stated the Environmental Board has been laughed at by developers and told they do not have to do what the Board is recommending. SPECIAL COUNCIL MEETING OCTOBER 17, 2001 Councilmember Reinert stated the City has to get environmental ordinances in place and that will take some time. He suggested the Board take a list of main concerns and build from those. Councilmember Carlson suggested the Board work with the Environmental Specialist and the Community Development Director to determine what ordinances need to be developed. Community Development Director Grochala stated he believes the Environmental Board has two (2) objectives: one is the educational component and the other is to serve as an advisory board to the Planning and Zoning Board. The problem is the City has no concrete ordinances to follow. Developing ordinances is going to take a big commitment from all the City Boards to work together to build a consensus. Once the ordinances are established, recommendations that are possible to be carried out can be made. Ms. Donlin stated she has a lot of frustration because as the popul s the environmental assets are being destroyed. She believes develos is a stall and the City needs to establish a moratorium on developm Councilmember O'Donnell stated the development . ance '.'Ve appropriate but they do take time. He stated he has indicated he w oo each development in regards to the number of homes that can be built eac . p 'n the Comprehensive Plan. He stated he would also like to take reco ' a all the Boards and determine how they were incorporated into th + as the opportunity to pick and choose development and also n among developers. Ms. O'Connell stated t lot of plans that they do like back, but have been changed because � first doe n't meet the current ordinances. The question is what is the City going t� �til'ordinances are in place. Community Develo ent Director Grochala stated the City is in the process of getting the new ordinances in place. Staff has determined they would like to have a small work group developed with representatives from each City Board. The plan also needs to have a timeline in place to complete all the ordinances. He indicated he believes the ordinances should be completed within a year. Mr. Trehus distributed a handout that noted the Mission Statement of the Environmental Board and the recommendation regarding additional environmental staff positions within the City. He stated the problem is the Board does not get enough support and the City needs an ecologist on staff. Community Development Director Grochala stated staff will advocate conservation development with developers but the ordinances need to be in place. The challenge with that type of development is disregarding lot size. 2 SPECIAL COUNCIL MEETING OCTOBER 17, 2001 Environmental Specialist Asleson noted everyone involved can really get on the same page and learn a lot from the NEMO project. Mayor Bergeson added the City process for development needs to be changed to include some competition mechanism so the City can make choices regarding development. Councilmember Reinert suggested the possibility of an approval cycle possibly 2-4 times per year. City Administrator Waite Smith advised that is currently illegal. Mr. Trehus stated the Board feels they should be an advisory board to the Council. Councilmember Reinert stated recommendations from the Board need to go to the Planning and Zoning Board as well as the City Council. Mr. Trehus stated another issue relates to the Board tabling a project for more review time. The Planning and Zoning Board is able to table items. At o Environmental Board tabled an item and they never saw the pr City Administrator Waite Smith explained the laws relattg t: wry'; review time noting the City cannot delay that. Community Development Director Grochala if the applicant agrees. He noted ther plan within 30 days. review time can only be extended on that the City cannot review a Community Development . '$ "` rock i a stated the Environmental Board needs to comment to the Planni o Board on developments. There are also issues that the Board needs t. dvise City Council on. Once the ordinances are in place the Environmental Bo. ec° endation will have more substance. He added the City needs to get started s new ordinances as soon as possible. ENVIRONMENTAL BOARD MEMBERSHIP It was noted earlier in the meeting that the Board does not want to have any lapse in membership. A new appointee should begin right away in January of each year. MAINTAINING LINES OF COMMUNICATION The Environmental Board indicated they want their recommendations included in the staff reports and forwarded to the City Council. It was suggested that there be more frequent joint meetings with the City Council and also meetings to being work on the new ordinances. SPECIAL COUNCIL MEETING OCTOBER 17, 2001 There being no further business to discuss regarding this issue, the meeting was adjourned at 9:25 p.m. These minutes were considered, corrected and approved at the regular Council meeting held on November 13, 2001. Ann Blaif, 1City Clerk Transcribed by: Kim Points TimeSaver Off Site Secretarial, Inc. Johns g Mayor eresn