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HomeMy WebLinkAbout11-02-2015 Council Work Session MinutesCITY COUNCIL WORK SESSION APPROVED DATE TIME STARTED TIME ENDED MEMBERS PRESENT MEMBERS ABSENT CITY OF LINO LAKES MINUTES November 2, 2015 : November 2, 2015 . 6:00 p.m. . 9:15 p.m. : Council Member Stoesz, Kusterman, Rafferty, Roeser and Mayor Reinert : None Staff members present: City Administrator Jeff Karlson; Director of Public Safety John Swenson; Community Development Director Michael Grochala; City Engineer Diane Hankee; Finance Director Sarah Cotton; City Planner Katie Larsen 1. John Commers, Lake Amelia Project — Community Development Director Grochala has provided the council with a written staff report including some history on the subject matter. The council heard from John and Patricia Commers, property owners. The council had received a project location and land use map in the staff report. They have owned the property for twenty years with aspirations to development it. There is a real need for senior housing so they propose a development to meet that need. They are working with a builder and have discussed that the development would probably be phased. They do not have utilities to the area and want to get an idea of support from the city. Community Development Director Grochala explained that development of the property is really not a question of if but rather when. He noted how the property is guided under the current Comprehensive Plan and the impact of the proximity of utilities to the area. The property is actually at the end of the development line for utilities. As laid out in the staff report if the Commers are interested in moving forward they would have to go through an official request for amendment of the Comp Plan and staff would provide a recommendation through that. Mayor Reinert noted that the regular city Comp Plan update process will be starting soon and there will be an opportunity for the Commers to speak about their plans through that process. Community Development Director Grochala explained briefly the types of studies (i.e. traffic, environmental impact) that would be a part of a Comp Plan amendment process. The Commers asked about the possibility of beginning the Comp Plan update process earlier than 2017. Mayor Reinert said he can see the value of the development. He discussed further with the Commers their vision for the development and how it would fit into the city. He 1 CITY COUNCIL WORK SESSION November 2, 2015 APPROVED 45 suggested it would be helpful if the council could view a like development to get an idea 46 of the plans. 47 48 Mr. Grochala said that staff could also have discussions with White Bear Lake about the 49 feasibility study that was done for the area and look at uses and changes in the area. 50 There is some due diligence required of the property owners as far as moving ahead and 51 they have received specific directions on how to move forward on a Comp Plan 52 amendment. He believes the Commers do understand the process that would be required 53 to move forward and they are seeking the council view of the proposal. 54 55 Mr. Grochala mentioned that there is another development of a similar type proposed by 56 North Oaks Development that the council will be seeing in the next month or so. 57 58 2. American Legion Parking — Representatives of the American Legion on Lake 59 Drive were present to discuss parking issues. They have a long standing need to add to 60 their existing parking and it's coming down to a safety issue with cars sometimes needing 61 to park on Lake Drive. They are interested in the possibility of utilizing the city owned 62 land adjacent to the Legion facility. Extra parking is needed mostly for special events and 63 event nights and they would be responsible for monitoring that use and cleaning up. 64 65 The mayor confirmed that the city owns three acres next to the American Legion and it is 66 designated to be developed as commercial. If a temporary use is what is needed, that can 67 be discussed but if there are long term needs maybe the American Legion should think 68 about buying a piece of the city land. American Legion representatives suggested that 69 the cost may be prohibitive right now but suggest an option for them to purchase and in 70 the meantime allow them to use it for parking. 71 72 The mayor asked staff to respond on the possibility of allowing use of the land for 73 parking short term. Community Development Director Grochala suggested that a lease 74 agreement would be called for. That does raise the question of the need for 75 improvements to the property to meet city requirements (curb, gutter and blacktop). 76 Under a lease agreement responsibility for those improvements could fall to the city. 77 78 The idea of including the planned veterans' memorial at the site was mentioned. Mayor 79 Reinert remarked that locating the memorial near city hall is the architect's 80 recommendation. 81 82 There was discussion about the Fire Station parking next door to the Legion. The Legion 83 has been managing by using that parking when able and trying to be respectful that it is 84 parking for the fire station first. They hope that arrangement won't change after the 85 station is managed by the city's public safety division. 86 87 There was discussion about the possibility of a lease including associated costs. Mr. 88 Grochala suggested there would be land costs, the cost of improvements and taxes spread 89 out over a term. Based on the value of the land noted in 2011 when this issue was 2 CITY COUNCIL WORK SESSION November 2, 2015 APPROVED 90 discussed before and the figure $30,000 ($2.00 per square foot) was mentioned. The 91 Legion representatives said their parking need is in the area of 40 to 50 additional spaces. 92 93 Mayor Reinert asked Mr. Grochala for his best case scenario for getting parking. Mr. 94 Grochala said to set up a lease of property for parking with a city option to get the 95 property back if needed such as for development. There would be the question of 96 funding. Council Member Roeser remarked that it may not be the best option for the 97 Legion to have parking that could be taken back at any time by the city. 98 99 The mayor discussed the square footage that would be available minus the setbacks to 100 give the Legion an idea of the possibilities and cost. He sees that the Legion would have 101 the opportunity to grow its business with more parking. He is interested in solving this 102 for the Legion. Staff anticipates that the Legion will approach the city with their 103 proposal. 104 105 4a. Garage Variance at 6262 Otter Lake Road (no report attached) - City Planner 106 Larsen introduced the property owner and noted his contact with staff about construction 107 of a garage on this currently garage -less property. There is a variance on record to build 108 a certain size garage. There is a pad in place also but it was put in without a permit and it 109 does not meet with setback requirements. Historically there is an approval in place for a 110 certain size attached garage. At this time the property owner is interested in a different 111 variance to allow for a garage that would not conform to the approval already issued. 112 The council saw an overhead photo of the property in order to understand the owner's 113 request. The property owner explained that he has a garage ready-made and paid for to 114 install if he can get permission. There was discussion and arrangements for the garage at 115 the closing when he purchased the property, but he eventually found out that the garage 116 isn't permitted. The council discussed the location and condition of the existing pad 117 where the owner would like to place the garage. The owner added that the cost of the 118 garage that was prepaid at closing is non-refundable no matter what the situation. The 119 mayor suggested that there are details that can't be changed now and the question to the 120 council is what to do to move forward. 121 122 Staff is not recommending that the city vary from the setback. The mayor spoke on 123 behalf of the council in saying they really want to help work this out but there is no 124 apparent compromise. Legally the situation calls for the owner to put in a 20 by 20 125 attached garage. The mayor recommended that the owner check out the possibility of 126 working a deal for a different garage that would meet city requirements to understand the 127 costs involved. 128 129 4. Floodplain Ordinance Amendment — City Planner Larsen introduced Katy 130 Thompson of WSB and Associates who has worked on this project to update the city's 131 floodplain ordinance that was last updated in 1982. The updates are required by FEMA 132 to be in place by December 16, 2015. Ms. Thompson indicated the inclusion of new 133 flood plain maps that are updated and more consistent with FEMA standards and across 134 the nation. The ordinance itself gets into three different flood districts: floodway, flood 3 135 136 137 138 139 140 141 142 143 144 145 146 147 148 149 150 151 152 153 154 155 156 157 158 159 160 161 162 163 164 165 166 167 168 169 170 171 172 173 174 175 176 177 178 179 CITY COUNCIL WORK SESSION APPROVED plain and flood fringe. There are currently no floodways in this city. of elevation changes, as requested by the mayor. November 2, 2015 There was review The update is required for the city to remain eligible for the FEMA flood insurance program. The mayor asked to see a map of the whole city. Council Member Kustethtan asked if residents could be negatively impacted as far as flood insurance premiums and Ms. Thompson said staff hasn't looked at that detail but generally it impacts rates both going up and down; she added that there is an appeal process for homeowners. Ms. Larsen added that communication with residents will be important. The council concurred to consider 1st Reading of the ordinance at the next council meeting. 3. Cedar Street Improvements (Road North of Clearwater Creek Development) — Community Development Director noted the location of this portion of Cedar Street (on the east side of the city bordering the City of Hugo). The street has appropriately been included in capital improvement plans for reconstruction for quite some time. WSB has put together some initial estimates on an improvement project and it is coming in around $900,000. Some of that funding has been set aside and the rest would have to be covered by municipal state aid, perhaps in year 2017. There will be additional development in the area that could help with funding. 5. Business Issues — ADA and Commercial Recycling Law - Council Member Roeser said he brought this forward because he'd heard about matters that have arisen in some other cities where the ADA is being used to raise legal issues. He has brought forward some information that could be adopted by the City in order to avoid some of those difficulties. He pointed out that there are implications for airports of which there are some in Lino Lakes. The mayor was supportive of the effort. On the matter of commercial recycling, Mr. Karlson explained that the city's Environmental Coordinator is on top of the matter and will be working with the city's businesses on it. 6. Council Updates on Boards/Commissions — Anoka County Fire Protection Council — Director Swenson reported that there was no quorum present to adopt the budget so that will be rescheduled for December. North Metro Telecommunications — Council Member Stoesz said that the city will be considering a franchise agreement with Century Link in the very near future. He is supportive. 7. Monthly Progress Report — No discussion 4 CITY COUNCIL WORK SESSION November 2, 2015 APPROVED 180 8. Review Regular Agenda 181 182 Lino Lakes Ambassadors Program — Council Member Roeser noted that the group is still 183 looking for storage for the float. The mayor suggested that Rick DeGardner be asked 184 about any available space in city facilities. 185 186 Centennial Fire District Quarterly Payments — Administrator Karlson reviewed the three 187 quarterly bills due to the district for fire services in 2015. There has simply been a delay 188 in getting the billing in place. The mayor asked about discussing the payment for services 189 from the District for that small portion of 2016 before the city takes over services and 190 Administrator Karlson said he will bring that up at the operations group after going over 191 the figures with the Public Safety Director. 192 193 2016 Fee Schedule — Finance Director Cotton explained that the schedule is coming 194 forward for 1St Reading after having been circulated to staff; changes are highlighted in 195 the ordinance. 196 197 Beyond the Yellow Ribbon Community — Administrator Karlson explained progress in 198 efforts to have Lino Lakes designated as this type of community that provides support to 199 veterans and their families. 200 201 Joint Powers Agreement — West Cedar Street — City Engineer Hankee noted this follow 202 up item regarding maintenance of a joint street. There wasn't an agreement on cost 203 sharing. 204 205 The mayor requested an update on the Bald Eagle paving project. Ms. Hankee explained 206 how the project is being monitored and how punchlist items will be fully handled, even if 207 it is necessary to go into the spring. The mayor requested that residents receive full 208 communication on what will happen. 209 210 The meeting was adjourned at 9:15 p.m. 211 212 These minutes were considered, corrected and approved at the regular Council meeting held on 213 December 14, 2015. 214 215 216 2 218 �3uriaane Bartell, Ci Cler 219 5 Jeff Re' e ', ayor