HomeMy WebLinkAbout11/09/2005 Council Minutes•
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COUNCIL WORK SESSION NOVEMBER 9, 2005
APPROVED
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2 CITY OF LINO LAKES
3 MINUTES
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6 DATE : November 9, 2005
7 TIME STARTED : 5:45 p.m.
8 TIME ENDED : 8:40 p.m.
9 MEMBERS PRESENT : Councilmember Carlson (6:36 p.m.), Reinert,
10 Stoltz, and Mayor Bergeson
11 MEMBERS ABSENT : Dahl
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13 Staff members present: City Administrator, Gordon Heitke; Community Development
14 Director, Mike Grochala (part); City Planner, Jeff Smyser (part); Economic Development
15 Assistant, Mary Alice Divine (part); City Engineer, Jim Studenski (part); Sergeant Bill
16 Hammes (part); and Chief of Police, Dave Pecchia (part)
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19 HARDWOOD CREEK DEVELOPMENT
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21 City Planner Smyser advised the City received an application from Village of Hardwood
22 Creek, LLC, to amend the Comprehensive Plan. A comprehensive plan amendment
23 requires a formal vote. The application also includes a general concept plan for a planned
24 unit development. The concept plan review is informal and does not require a vote. It is
25 important to note that approval of this comprehensive plan amendment does not grant or
26 imply any right to an approval of the PUD application that likely will follow.
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28 City Planner Smyser advised there are three parts of the plan amendment relating directly
29 to the application: changing the land use, adding MUSA, and addressing the growth
30 management issues. Because the Comprehensive Plan is a citywide document, the City
31 needs to ensure that amendments to the document support future planning needs in this
32 area and elsewhere in the City.
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34 City Planner Smyser noted the issues that were raised at the last meeting and indicated the
35 developer is present this evening to address those issues.
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37 Mr. Greg Hayes, Hardwood Creek, LLC, came forward and reviewed the revisions that
38 have been made in the plan to address Council's concerns. He noted one level town
39 homes have been added to the plan causing the unit number to drop.
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41 City Plan Smyser reviewed the Growth Ordinance Management Policy in terms of the
42 project, MUSA availability and conservation development. Because more MUSA is
43 needed, a comprehensive plan amendment is necessary. He noted there is nothing in the
44 City ordinances that prohibit the requested comprehensive plan amendment from coming
45 before the Council again if the request is denied on Monday.
COUNCIL WORK SESSION NOVEMBER 9, 2005
APPROVED
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• 2 Mr. Hayes stated he is concerned about support from the Councilmembers that are not
3 present this evening.
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5 Councilmember Reinert asked City Administrator Heitke to speak to the absent
6 Councilmembers regarding any additional concerns or questions for the developer prior to
7 the meeting on Monday.
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9 Mr. Hayes suggested adding an agenda item asking if there is enough information to act
10 on the project. He stated he does not want to get a no vote due to lack of information. He
11 indicated he would prefer this item be delayed until all concerns have been addressed.
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13 This item will appear on the regular Council agenda Monday, November 14, 2005, 6:30
14 p.m.
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16 LOIS LANE UTILITY EXTENSION
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18 City Engineer Studenski advised the public hearing for the Lois Lane Utility Extension
19 was closed August 22, 2005. As required by the City Charter, 60 days have elapsed
20 following the hearing: therefore action can now be taken on this project.
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22 City Engineer Studenski stated a letter from Chad Borsheim, at 554 Lois Lane, received
23 by the City on October 20, 2005 stated his lack of support of the project. A second letter
24 from Tim Anderson, 547 Lois Lane, was sent to the Council on October 20, 2005 further
25 expressing his support (and four neighbors) of the project.
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27 City Engineer Studenski stated it appears the majority of residents are in favor of the
28 project. It is a Council decision whether or not to assess those that are opposed to the
29 project. Staff is recommending the City move forward with the project.
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31 It was the consensus of the Council to direct staff to move forward with the project
32 providing all signatures are in fact in favor of the project. Staff will also submit dollar
33 breakdowns in terms of deferments and assessments.
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35 LAKEVIEW DRIVE UTILITY EXTENSION
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37 City Engineer Studenski advised the City received a petition dated June 1, 2005 from
38 Lakeview Drive residents requesting sewer and water to be extended from Elm Street to
39 North Road along Lakeview Drive. Council directed staff to provide more information to
40 the residents and receive more feedback from the residents.
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42 City Engineer Studenski stated a more detailed questionnaire was sent to the residents, in
43 which 39 residents of the 78 abutting properties responded. There were only 5 responses
44 in favor of the project, which is 6.4%.
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COUNCIL WORK SESSION NOVEMBER 9, 2005
APPROVED
1 City Engineer Studenski advised the City does not have enough support to move forward
2 with the project.
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4 Council directed staff to send a response letter to the residents indicating there was not
5 enough support to move forward with the project.
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7 DONATED LEAVE POLICY
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9 City Administrator Heitke stated a potential situation of an employee prompted staff to
10 request that Administration consider initiating a policy that would allow City employees
11 to donate accrued leave to a fellow employee in cases where a major medical event would
12 cause the employee to face unpaid leave as the result of having depleted all of his/her
13 accrued paid leave. Staff subsequently discussed this request with the City Council,
14 which directed staff to develop a policy for consideration.
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16 Councilmember Carlson arrived at 6:36 p.m.
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18 City Administrator Heitke reviewed a draft policy that was formulated following the
19 review of several policies from within and outside of Minnesota. The policy is fairly
20 detailed in response to the many questions, which arise when contemplating such a
21 program. The approach taken was to attempt to minimize uncertainties when
22 administering the program.
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24 City Administrator Heitke reviewed the two major policy considerations to assist in the
25 Council review including what types of accrued leave shall be allowed to be donated and
26 if the transfer of leave is based on hours or pay.
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28 After much discussion, the Council directed staff to work up a worst-case scenario if the
29 plan were to be implemented. This issue will be discussed at the next Council work
30 session.
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32 Councilmember Carlson requested information on the history of when the policy would
33 have been utilized in the past ten years.
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35 EMPLOYEE RESIGNATIONS
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37 City Administrator Heitke advised a question was raised at a Council meeting as to
38 whether there is any reason for the number of employee resignations within the last two
39 years. It was suggested that this be discussed at a work session.
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41 Councilmember Carlson stated there have been nine resignations since March 2005. She
42 asked if there is something the City could be doing; such as a donated leave policy, to
43 better keep employees at the City.
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COUNCIL WORK SESSION NOVEMBER 9, 2005
APPROVED
1 Chief Pecchia advised Officer's are on 24/7. However, Officer's are very involved in the
2 scheduling. He also explained the policing philosophy within the Department noting that
3 after the recent event, more resignations may be submitted.
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5 Chief Pecchia advised the Department does not have Officer's resigning because of
6 compensation, work conditions or organizational issues.
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8 RESCHEDULE NOVEMBER 23 COUNCIL WORK SESSION
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10 It was the consensus of the Council to change the regular Council work session from
11 Wednesday, November 23 to Tuesday, November 22, 2005.
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13 I-35W/LAKE DRIVE INTERCHANGE PROJECT
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15 Community Development Director Grochala stated in July of 2005, the Council
16 authorized final design of the I-35W/Lake Drive Improvements. The City has also
17 submitted an application to obtain federal funding for the improvements from the state's
18 Surface Transportation Program (STP). This funding becomes available in 2009.
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20 Community Development Director Grochala advised the proposed project includes
21 reconstructing CSAH 23/Lake Drive from Apollo Drive to approximately 1,000 -feet
22 south of Marshan Lane. The proposed improvements include a four -lane roadway with
23 right and left turn lanes, replacement of the bridge over I -35W, and installation of three
24 additional traffic signals. The purpose of the improvements is to reduce traffic
25 congestion and improve safety along the project corridor. Construction is anticipated to
26 start in June of 2006.
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28 Community Development Director Grochala reviewed the project funding noting the
29 extent of improvements is directly affected by the availability of federal funding for the
30 project. He explained the two track process staff is following due to the availability of
31 federal funding. He also explained the land acquisition process noting every effort will
32 be made to acquire property through direct purchase. It is anticipated the acquisition
33 process will be completed by mid January.
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35 REGULAR AGENDA ITEMS
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37 Item 3B, Donated Leave Policy — this item was removed from the regular agenda.
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39 There were no other changes to the Council agenda.
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41 The meeting was adjourned at 8:40 p.m.
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43 These minutes were considered, corrected and approved at the regular Council meeting held on
44 November 28, 2005.
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COUNCIL WORK SESSION
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4 Acti ► Ci Clerk
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6 Tr. c ' . ed by:
7 Kim Points
8 TimeSaver Off Site Secretarial, Inc.
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APPROVED
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NOVEMBER 9, 2005