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HomeMy WebLinkAbout03/13/2007MINUTES OF THE LAUDERDALE CITY COUNCIL TUESDAY, MARCH 13, 2007 7:30 p.m. Lauderdale City Hall, 1891 Walnut Street Mayor Dains called the meeting to order at 7:30 p.m. and asked City Administrator Heck to call the roll. Council members present: Karen Gill -Gerbig, Denise Hawkinson, Karen Doherty, Clay Christensen and Mayor Jeff Dains. Also present for the meeting: Assistant to the City Administrator, Jim Bownik and Heather Butkowski, Deputy City Clerk. Mayor Dains asked if there were additions or deletions to the agenda. Council member Christensen requested the addition of a discussion regarding e-mail communications. Mayor Dains requested adding a discussion on snow removal and legislation on road funding. Council member Gill -Gerbig moved to approve the agenda. The motion was seconded by council member Hawkinson and carried. Mayor Dains asked if there were any comments or changes to the council meeting minutes of February 27. There were none. Council member Christensen moved approval of the minutes and council member Doherty seconded. The motion carried. Mayor Dains asked if there were any questions on the claims. Council member Gill -Gerbig moved approval of the claims in the amount of $70,488.93. Council member Doherty seconded the motion and it carried. The mayor stated this was the time established for members of the public to address the council with issues not present on the agenda. There were no members of the public who wished to address the Council. The mayor asked if the Council wished to remove items from the consent agenda. No one wished to remove items from the consent agenda. Council member Gill -Gerbig moved approval of the consent agenda approving rental housing licenses; authorizing attendance of staff and council at the 2007 Legislative Conference on March 28th and 29th; authorizing staff and council attendance at the LMC Annual Conference in Duluth from June 27-29; and authorizing an increase in petty cash from $200 to $400. Council member Christensen seconded the motion and it carried. Mayor Dains moved to the reports section of the agenda. - 1 - Jim Bownik reported on the recent meeting of the Lauderdale Parks and Community Involvement Committee. Bownik said the committee discussed Snow*Commotion and agreed no changes were necessary. Bownik reported the committee discussed the off - leash dog park and the idea of using the hockey rink as a temporary site to evaluate the use and care. He said the PCIC recommended the council move forward with this idea. Bownik then reported on the tennis and basketball court progress and said the PCIC narrowed the colors of the tennis court to dark green on the inside and light green for the border. Bownik said the PCIC likes the idea of new city tee shirts and polo style shirts. He said the committee recommended light gray shirts with "The City of Lauderdale" printed on the upper left in blue. He ended by mentioning the city-wide garage sale. Ms. Jean Blat addressed the council about the off -leash dog park and wanted to express her support for the proposal and stated her understanding of the recommendation. The Council thanked Bownik for the report. The Council next addressed the two public hearing items on the agenda. Heck said the city is required to hold a public hearing on its storm water management plan as part of the city's municipal storm water permit. Mayor Dains opened the public hearing 7:45 p.m. There being no one present for the public hearing, the hearing was closed at 7:46 p.m. Council member Gill -Gerbig stated the Mississippi Watershed Management Organization can assist Lauderdale in developing educational material and can also work with Lauderdale on the inflow/infiltration issues regarding the sanitary sewer system. She said being proactive in this area can save Lauderdale and its residents' money in the long run. Bownik outlined the variance request applied for by Boyer Ford. Bownik said Boyer Ford wants to add additional signage to the east side of their building. He informed the council Boyer has an existing variance for signage allowing them to have 400 square feet of signage. This amended variance request would allow the company to have 500 square feet of signage. Mayor Dains opened the public hearing at 7:54 p.m. Heck read a letter received from Mr. and Ms. Martinson of 1941 Walnut Street who are opposed to the amended variance request. Mr. Gary Lee, General Manager for Boyer Ford, addressed the Council. He told the council the company is seeking greater visibility and a better way to identify the building as a retail business and not a warehouse type building. He went on to say the monument sign at the corner of 280 and Broadway is easily obstructed by vehicles stopped at the light. He also wanted to address the comments in the letter regarding additional security lighting. He said this lighting was added following three thefts from their facility. He said he spoke to Mr. Martinson about this after they lights were installed. -2- There were no others present to comment on the request so the Mayor closed the meeting at 8:00 p.m. Council member Gill -Gerbig suggested the company remove the existing monument sign at Highway 280 and Broadway and replace it with the proposed wall sign. Doing this would not require an amendment to the current variance. Council member Christensen asked if the proposed wall mounted sign square footage is the logo part only or does it include the red lines? Mr. Lee stated the calculation only includes the logo part of the sign. Council member Hawkinson said she agrees with the comments made by Council member Gill -Gerbig. She stated she didn't want to see this area become lit up like 35W with all the auto dealerships. She said she understands the light issue and would not want to add additional light issues in the area. Council member Doherty asked if the company has considered painting a sign on the building or placing an unlit sign on the building as the building is already quite well lit. Mr. Lee said an unlit sign is possible and it would cost less, but the company still feels a lit sign is better. He added the sign could be placed on a timer to shut off at a specific time. He also stated the monument sign could also be turned off. Council member Christensen asked if the company would be willing to take the comments made by the council and prepare an amended application. Mr. Lee said the company's first choice is a lighted sign, next is an unlit sign, and beyond that the options become less desirable. He said he is willing to work with the City and their neighbors to arrive at a reasonable solution. Council member Christensen moved approval of the variance application with the condition the sign be shut off at the end of business hours. The motion was seconded by Council member Doherty. The motion carried on a roll -call vote with members Gill -Gerbig, Doherty, Christensen, and Dains voting yes and council member Hawkinson voting no. The council moved on to consider action items. Heck presented the resolution outlining the finding of fact for the denial of a rental license for 1768 Eustis Street. Council member Hawkinson moved Resolution No. 031307A A Resolution Related to City Council's Findings Related to the Denial of a Rental License for 1768 Eustis Street. The resolution was seconded by council member Doherty and carried on a -3- roll call vote with council members Gill -Gerbig, Hawkinson, Doherty, Christensen, and Mayor Dains all voting yes. Mayor Dains mentioned the issue of snow removal along Larpenteur Avenue and said that following this last storm, snow was piled up at the corner of Larpenteur and Eustis covering the bus bench and making it difficult for people to access the crosswalk button. He suggested contacting Super USA and requesting they clear the area in the winter when there is a large storm. Items for the next agenda were mentioned by Heck and included the goal setting session, discussion of the nuisance ordinance and a potential update on Larpenteur Avenue. Heck provided the Administrator update. He outlined the status of legislation that might impact Lauderdale. He outlined a proposal for allocating more state aide to local governments. He said one proposal would increase Lauderdale's aid by just over 50%. He discussed some transportation issues pending and Mayor Dains added discussion on legislation introduced by representative Greiling that provides small metropolitan cities grants from a county's County State Aid Highway (CSAR) allocation. Heck then updated the council on discussions with Roseville and other cities on a potential subscriber wireless internet option. He said there is a company that has existing infrastructure on the city's light and power poles. He said the company is interested in working with several cities to power up this system and sell access to residents at a low monthly fee. The city would provide access to the existing infrastructure and right of way as well as providing funds for improvements where necessary and ongoing management and support of the system. The council would like staff to continue to attend meetings and report back when more details on costs and such are ready. Heck then told the council of the proposal sent to Mr. Skow regarding the retaining wall issue. He stated the letter reaffirmed the denial of the claims previously made by Mr. Skow and offered a proposal to replace the retaining wall. Mr. Skow was present and said he has information to show the City is wrong in its denial of the claims he made and that the city illegally took his property. He referenced language in MS Chapter 160. Mayor Dains requested Mr. Skow provide his material to the Administrator. Mayor Dains addressed the issue of Fulham Street and suggested a joint meeting with the City of Falcon Heights to discuss this issue. The council agreed with this and asked staff to work with Falcon Heights in establishing this meeting. Mayor Dains then updated the council on a discussion he had with Shawn at the BP gas station. Heck added that he spoke to Steve Oberaigner. Heck said Mr. Oberaigner decided to put the remodeling plans on hold due to the cost of the project. Council member Christensen indicated he is concerned about the e-mails that are sent to all council members, especially when the e-mails ask questions as to a council member's possible position on an issue. He is uncomfortable with these e-mails and his personal preference is not to respond, but rather, have the information come from staff in the Friday report. Council member Gill -Gerbig stated she acknowledges receipt of messages. There being no further business for the Council to consider, the meeting adjourned at 9:20 p.m. on a motion by council member Gill -Gerbig and a second by council member Christensen. -5-