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HomeMy WebLinkAbout02/04/2004 Council Minutes• 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 •25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 • CITY COUNCIL WORK SESSION APPROVED DATE TIME STARTED TIME ENDED MEMBERS PRESENT MEMBERS ABSENT CITY OF LINO LAKES MINUTES FEBRUARY 4, 2004 February 4, 2004 6:13 p.m. 9:30 p.m. Councilmember Carlson, Dahl, Stoltz and Mayor Bergeson : Reinert Staff members present: City Administrator, Gordon Heitke; Administration Director, Dan Tesch (part); Community Development Director, Michael Grochala; City Engineer, Jim Studenski; Chief of Police, Dave Pecchia (part); City Planner, Jeff Smyser; Officer Mike Rumpsa (part); and City Clerk, Arm Blair (part) Councilmember Stoltz suggested the Council discuss the board interview questions at a future Council work session. He also requested the Council discuss meeting purposes along with the better utilization of Council and staff time at a Council work session in March. CONDITIONAL USE PERMIT/PRELIMINARY PLAT, EAGLE BROOK CHURCH, JEFF SMYSER/MICHAEL GROCHALA City Planner Smyser advised the Planning and Zoning Board considered the Eagle Brook project at the January meeting. The Planning and Zoning Board recommended approval based on many conditions. The most important condition was the findings of the traffic analysis that had not yet been completed. The Planning and Zoning Board recommended staff analyze the traffic information and makes a recommendation based on that report. Staff received the additional traffic information two days ago. City Planner Smyser advised the information indicated the freeway ramp on I -35E would be backed up during church services. Staff cannot recommend approval of the project because the stacking on the freeway ramp is a public safety issue. City Planner Smyser stated staff has not yet discussed possible road improvements with Eagle Brook Church. Staff has asked the church for an extension on the application to discuss possible improvements that will eliminate the traffic problems. However, the Council must take action on the application by Tuesday if the church does not allow an extension. All other issues with the project have been resolved. If the City receives an extension, this item will be pulled from the regular Council agenda. City Planner Smyser advised staff has suggested a 60 -day extension. Action on the application would then be taken at an April Council meeting. Eagle Brook Church has proposed a two-week extension to determine what exactly has to be done to resolve the issues. The church would then determine if another extension would be allowed. Staff has made it very clear that the issues will not be resolved within two weeks. CITY COUNCIL WORK SESSION FEBRUARY 4, 2004 APPROVED 1 • 2 Community Development Director Grochala stated residents did raise many other issues. 3 Staff believes all issues other than the traffic issues have been resolved. 4 5 City Planner Smyser noted the interchange is exempt from the levels of service standards. 6 Staff is not as concerned with the levels of service on the freeway. The big issue is 7 vehicles being stacked on the freeway ramp. There would, however, be delays at other 8 intersections in the area. 9 10 Mr. Steve Elmer, TKDA, advised he looked at the information that was just received and 11 has evaluated it. Levels of service and delays were also reviewed. It has been 12 determined that there would be significant delays and lowered levels of services at several 13 intersections. There would also be quite extensive stacking problems, public safety 14 concerns and access issues. 15 16 Councilmember Carlson stated the Environmental Assessment Worksheet (EAW) was 17 completed in October 2002. The church also completed a traffic analysis. She asked 18 why neither of those reports including issues about stacking on the freeway ramp. 19 20 City Planner Smyser reviewed the process the project has gone through noting none of 21 the agencies involved mentioned stacking issues. Staff received that information on 22 Monday. The important thing is that now the City knows about the stacking issue. As 23 the application went through the City process additional information continued to be 24 pulled out and the stacking issue was identified. • 25 26 Mayor Bergeson suggested it is the responsibility of MnDOT to raise the stacking issue. 27 City Planner Smyser stated the stacking issue remained under everyone's radar. 28 Something was not identified until recently resulting in an additional issue with the 29 project. 30 31 Community Development Director Grochala stated staff is evaluating the additional 32 information along with possible options. Without further time review time, staff cannot 33 recommend approval of the project. 34 35 Mayor Bergeson requested Eagle Brook Church advise staff regarding the extension by 36 noon on Friday, February 6, 2004. 37 38 Ms. Sue Steinwell, attorney for Eagle Brook, stated she has talked to staff regarding a 39 possible extension. She indicated she would let staff know if the extension would be 40 granted. She asked the engineer to discuss the traffic issues further. 41 42 Ms. Maureen Cody, Traffic Engineer for Eagle Brook, stated the main concerns are the 43 Saturday evening and Sunday morning church services. The analysis results are similar 44 for both days. The information in the EAW for Sunday morning has not changed since 45 the EAW was completed. The recommendation was for traffic control during the peak 46 times. The model was based on the worst-case scenario and based on a systems 47 perspective. That is how it was determined that there would be a 45% reduction in traffic • 48 with the traffic controls. MnDOT, Anoka County and the Metropolitan Council have • CITY COUNCIL WORK SESSION FEBRUARY 4, 2004 APPROVED 1 supported the use of traffic control officers. She referred to a memo dated February 3, 2 2004, from Anoka County. The memo indicated the traffic engineer from the County 3 supports the use of traffic officers and the County cannot demand other improvements. 4 5 Mr. Scott Anderson, Eagle Brook Church, stated the EAW did indicate there would be 6 long lines during peak traffic times. The church believes it will be able to further 7 mitigate the traffic issue but it is difficult to put that in a report. The church can ask 8 members to come to church earlier or take alternate routes. The problem is that the 9 church cannot prove that will happen or put those options into a report. 10 11 Ms. Cody stated that based on the current information, she believes there will be no 12 stacking on the freeway because the traffic control officers can control that. 13 14 Community Development Director Grochala stated staff needs to evaluate the 15 information that indicates what Ms. Cody believes will happen on that freeway ramp. 16 The information staff currently has clearly states there will be stacking on the freeway 17 ramp. 18 19 Mayor Bergeson stated staff needs to see if they can find a way to resolve this issue. 20 21 Community Development Director Grochala stated staff is requesting the extension to 22 further investigate the information and review options to resolve the issue. Until further 23 investigation is completed staff cannot make a recommendation for approval. 24 25 Katherine Leonidas, of BWBR Architects, representing Eagle Brook Church, stated it 26 seems that everyone agrees the church and the City have to get on the same page. She 27 requested all parties sit down together and come up with a definition of what is 28 acceptable along with a timeline. She stated the church would like to meet with the City 29 and the City's engineers to determine that definition and goals. 30 31 Community Development Director Grochala stated staff would like to work with the 32 church and its engineers to resolve the traffic issues. 33 34 Councilmember Stoltz stated the main issue is safety on the freeway. He stated he does 35 believe that a timeline to reach the goals of the church and staff is appropriate. 36 37 Ms. Steinwell advised Eagle Brook would extend the application for two weeks. If 38 progress is being made and there is a clear goal, another extension would be considered. 39 40 Mayor Bergeson stated the City must receive the approved extension in writing. The 41 expectation is that the church and staff would work together to resolve the traffic issues. 42 43 Ms. Barbara Bor, resident of Lino Lakes, came forward and distributed a folder of 44 information from the Heron Group, which is made up of concerned citizens. She stated 45 the group has spent a lot of time and money on this issue. A traffic study was completed 46 and presented to the Planning and Zoning Board. She stated the group has been very 47 frustrated with the lack of responses from City staff. She noted the Heron Group 48 requested a meeting with City staff and was denied. She stated the Heron Group has • • • CITY COUNCIL WORK SESSION FEBRUARY 4, 2004 APPROVED 1 issues with the entire process including the fact that an EAW is typically not done 2 without a plan for the project. 3 4 Ms. Bor continued stated the Heron Group has retained a lawyer. The lawyer's 5 recommendation is included in the folder of information. Traffic is an issue but there are 6 also many other issues. She distributed a letter from another law firm regarding water 7 quality. She noted staff has not responded to the group's concerns about water quality in 8 the area. She asked the Council to review the information in the folder. She also 9 requested time to present the issues to Councilmember Stoltz. 10 11 Community Development Director Grochala stated there was a plan in the EAW. What 12 was unusual was doing an EAW without a formal application for the project. The church 13 volunteered to do the EAW. Staff did receive a request for a meeting with staff, 14 engineers and Councilmembers Reinert and Stoltz from the Heron Group last Thursday. 15 Staff time was limited and staff was concerned about inviting partial Council to a 16 meeting. Also, if the group was going to have their attorney and engineers, the City 17 would also have to have its attorney and engineers present. Staff did make it clear that 18 the additional traffic information was being reviewed and addressed. He noted staff has 19 also talked to MnDOT and the County regarding the additional traffic information. The 20 application was also sent to the County and the County has received many updates from 21 staff. The County has indicated they have reviewed the project and are not requiring 22 additional roadway improvements. He also noted water quality would be improved at 23 Lake Peltier but not to the group's satisfaction. 24 25 Community Development Director Grochala stated staff is doing the best they can to 26 present accurate information, from both sides of the project, to the City Council so the 27 Council can make a responsible decision. 28 29 Mr. Anderson asked if it is appropriate for the church to request a meeting with 30 Councilmembers. Mayor Bergeson advised Mr. Anderson is free to contact 31 Councilmembers regarding a meeting. Individual Councilmembers would determine if 32 they would like to meet with representatives from the church. 33 34 Councilmember Carlson stated she had believed she could not meet with the church 35 individually. She advised she had been asked to meet with the church, and had been 36 advised not to, and she would be meeeting with the church if there is no issue with an 37 individual meeting. 38 39 Mayor Bergeson advised the purpose of an individual meeting with a Councilmember 40 would be for informational purposes only. He stated a meeting with a Councilmember 41 should not be for lobbying purposes. 42 43 Mayor Bergeson called for a short break at 8:03 p.m. 44 45 Mayor Bergeson reconvened the meeting at 8:20 p.m. 46 47 Councilmember Carlson inquired about measurement details on the plat and the status of 48 the homestead in the area. She also asked about a CEPTED report and who would be • • • CITY COUNCIL WORK SESSION FEBRUARY 4, 2004 APPROVED 1 paying for the intersection. City Planner Smyser advised the CEPTED report is in the 2 Planning and Zoning packet. 3 4 Community Development Director Grochala advised he would follow up on who would 5 be paying for the intersection improvements. 6 7 Councilmember Carlson asked if the City received a letter from Centerville. She stated 8 the City of Centerville is requesting that the church not begin construction until after the 9 heron -nesting season. She also requested a copy of the SRF report and the memo from 10 the County. Community Development Director Grochala advised he would also follow 11 up on the letter from the City of Centerville. He indicated he would also distribute the 12 SRF report and the memo from Anoka County to the City Council. 13 14 DISCUSS SALE OF KAISER PROPERTY (NE CORNER OF BIRCH/HUDSON) 15 TO ANOKA COUNTY, MICHAEL GROCHALA 16 17 Community Development Director Grochala distributed a memo regarding the sale of 18 City (Kaiser Property) to Anoka County. The memo indicated the EDA purchased a .7- 19 acre property known as the "Kaiser" property from Anoka County. The purchase price 20 was $61,400. 21 22 Anoka County needs the property for right-of-way purposes to complete the City's 23 proposed improvement of the Hodgson/Birch intersection and turn lanes. Anoka County 24 has indicated they would purchase the property at a price of $88,400. Staff is 25 recommending the City pursue the sale. 26 27 Community Development Director Grochala stated that because the Economic 28 Development Authority (EDA) is the property owner, it is necessary for the Authority to 29 hold a public hearing and act on the property sale. If the Council wishes to move forward 30 with the sale, staff will prepare the necessary public notices for an EDA meeting prior to 31 the February 23, 2004 City Council meeting. 32 33 Council directed staff to move forward with the sale of the Kaiser property to Anoka 34 County. 35 36 CONSIDER NON-UNION 2004 SALARIES, DAN TESCH 37 38 Administration Director Tesch distributed and reviewed the staff recommendation 39 regarding non-union 2004 salaries noting the salary implementation is the same approach 40 the City has taken for several years and is taking as negotiations continue with the four 41 union contracts. 42 43 Councilmember Carlson inquired about the increase in health care from last year to this 44 year. Administration Director Tesch advised he would include that information in the 45 Friday update. 46 47 Councilmember Stoltz asked if the salary figures are based on median salaries. 48 Administration Director Tesch advised the increases in current salaries would bring the CITY COUNCIL WORK SESSION FEBRUARY 4, 2004 APPROVED 1 City close to median salaries. Budget constraints are a problem with salary increases. 2 The City did want to get the new City Administrator in place before all salaries are 3 reviewed. 4 5 This item will appear on the regular Council agenda Monday, February 9, 2004, 6:30 6 p.m. 7 8 CONSIDER EDAC APPOINTMENTS 9 10 The Council determined a vote for Economic Development Advisory Committee 11 (EDAC) appointments would be taken on Monday evening when the full City Council is 12 present. Council directed staff to contact Councilmember Reinert and advise him he may 13 contact the two applicants if he has any questions. Council also directed staff to post a 14 special meeting at 6:15 p.m., prior to the regular Council meeting, Monday, February 9, 15 2004, to make the EDAC appointments. 16 17 REGULAR AGENDA, JANUARY 12, 2004 18 19 Item 1Aiii, Liquor Permit for the Lions Club special dinner in March 2004 was added to 20 the consent agenda. 21 22 Item 7C, Consideration of Resolution No. 04 — 17, Conditional Use Permit/Preliminary 23 Plat, Eagle Brook Church — This item was removed from the agenda. The Mayor 24 requested staff post that change at City Hall and on cable. 25 26 The meeting was adjourned at 9:30 p.m. 27 28 These minutes were considered, corrected and approved at the regular Council meeting held on 29 February 23, 2004. 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 Transcribed by: 38 Kim Points 39 TimeSaver Off Site Secretarial, Inc. 40 41 • 6 Ber son, ayor