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HomeMy WebLinkAbout08/14/2007MINUTES OF THE LAUDERDALE CITY COUNCIL TUESDAY, AUGUST 14, 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 Administrator Heck to take the roll. Members present: Council members Karen Gill -Gerbig, Denise Hawkinson, Karen Doherty, Clay Christensen, and Mayor Dains. Also present were staff members Jim Bownik, Assistant to the City Administrator, and Heather Butkowski, Deputy City Clerk. Mayor Dains asked if there were any additions or deletions to the agenda. Mayor Dains requested adding an update by the Administrator on the TH280 / I35W situation to the reports section. Council member Gill -Gerbig requested addition of MWMO information on TH280 and I35 issue. There being no further additions or deletions from the agenda, council member Christensen moved to approve the agenda. Motion seconded by council member Hawkinson and carried. Mayor Dains asked if there were any additions or corrections to the July 24, 2007, City Council minutes. There being no amendments to the minutes, council member Hawkinson moved approval. Council member Doherty seconded the motion and it carried. Mayor Dains asked if there were any questions on the claims. There being no questions, council member Gill -Gerbig moved to approve the claims in the amount of $102,459.21. Council member Hawkinson seconded the motion and it carried. Mayor Dains asked if anyone present wished to address the Council on issues not on the agenda. There being none, the Council took up consideration of the consent agenda. Mayor Dains asked if the Council wished to add or remove items from the consent agenda. Council member Doherty asked to remove the park change order item and Gill -Gerbig requested the removal of the rental licenses. There being no further items to remove from the consent agenda, council member Doherty moved approval of the consent agenda consisting of the following: accepting and awarding the social room floor removal to Williams Brothers Contracting in the amount of $5,200; approving Community Park Improvement pay request #3; authorizing Administrator Heck to attend "General Mediation Skills" at Hamlin University from September 13 —15 at a cost of $810; and authorizing park use application. Council member Christensen seconded the motion and it carried. Bownik discussed Day in the Park preparations and provided a brief public announcement on the day, time, location, and events. Bownik said the day will start with a fun run / walk around Lauderdale. The route will start at the park and end at the park. Bownik also summarized the National Night Out events. He said there were eight registered parties. Mayor Dains thanks residents for their participation and encouraged other residents to organize and get involved. - 1 - Heck updated the Council on the status of TH280. He received a call from Council Member Gill -Gerbig that Mn/DOT spoke to the MWMO and informed them the ramp configuration at the Larpenteur / Hennepin Avenue Bridge is scheduled to be done next weekend. Heck said he has not been contacted by Mn/DOT but called Roseville and Ramsey County to see what information they had regarding the proposed work. Council member Doherty wanted to know what other change order resulted in more sod for the present change order. She thought the only change order was for the practice board. Bownik stated there was additional grading needed to soften the slope going west toward the picnic shelter. He further said that rather than using seed and sod, it was decided to use all sod. Council member Doherty moved and council member Hawkinson seconded a motion to approve the change order. Motion carried. Council member Gill -Gerbig raised several concerns over the application used for the rental license. She is concerned with allowing owners to use a post office box as their address and asked about the number of adults and children, which was not completed, on one of the applications. She suggested staff look over some of these issues and bring recommendations back to the council for consideration. Council member Gill -Gerbig moved approval of the rental licenses as presented. Council member Hawkinson seconded the motion and it carried. The Council set the agenda for the next meeting: 1) Larpenteur Avenue 2) Nuisance Ordinance Discussion 3) TH280 4) Day in the Park Update 5) Nuisance Abatement 6) Comprehensive Plan Steering Committee Update 7) Possible legal issue update — closed session 8) Speed limits, signage, road marking / striping The Council entered the work session at 8:00 p.m. Mayor Dains opened the discussion stating that he spoke to several neighbors along Malvern during National Night Out and the comments were not about speed bumps in the street, but rather to have speed bumps in the alley. He also said the individuals he spoke to that night were in favor of the 25 mph speed limit and painting crosswalks. Mayor Dains wanted the Council to address the issue of conducting a speed study as outlined in the letter from the City Engineer. Council member Doherty asked about the small radar speed signs. Heck said he didn't have prices but would get them. Council member Christensen asked about getting the information -2- from the sign to our computers for analysis. Heck said he didn't know how the devices communicated but would find out. Council member Hawkinson asked about placement of traffic devices. She indicated that Summer Street was not included in the locations suggested. Heck said locations are not set and other areas can be identified for study. The consensus of the Council was not to pursue the study with Bonestroo, but to look into the cost of the radar speed signs and to work with Falcon Heights to use their speed cart. Mayor Dains asked about lowering the speed limit to 25 miles per hour. Council member Christensen indicated that the streets where speed is perceived to be a problem are the county roads. He said he isn't convinced lowering the speed limit will have an impact. Council member Doherty agreed with council member Christensen. Council member Doherty asked about stripping cross walks at intersections. Heck said that he forgot to get that information for the council. After additional discussion, the council directed staff to get information on the cost and capabilities of the radar speed signs, painting of crosswalks, and possible signage warning of crosswalks. Heck discussed the budget with the council. He said the new figures showed that Lauderdale would receive an additional $55,000 in state aid for 2008. Heck said he adjusted the budget to reflect this additional aid and moved funding for park improvements from $25,000 to $55,000 and dropped the levy to $551,634. Council member Doherty asked about the debt service funds and questioned if there will be enough in the fund balance in the coming years to avoid a significant tax increase to fund the payments. After additional discussion, Heck was directed to develop a couple of budget options that included some funding for the debt service accounts. Butkowski went through the next section of the nuisance ordinance. The council recessed at 9:31 p.m. and reconvened at 9:35 p.m. Mayor Dains asked the council to develop a list of potential issues and concerns to share with Mn/DOT regarding the ongoing emergency changes with TH280. He said he has been contacted by residents regarding the installation of sound walls. He said sound walls are not considered emergency fixes to improve traffic safety and flow. He suggested storm water be listed as a concern. Council member Gill -Gerbig discussed the idea of forming a group consisting of representatives of Lauderdale, St. Anthony Park Community Council, and the MWMO as well as inviting -3- Roseville to meet with Mn/DOT regarding the issues associated with TH280 and the concerns these groups have about its use as an alternative route to I35 as well as to plan and gather information for the reconstruction of the Larpenteur / Hennepin Avenue Bridge. She felt it is better to be on top of design issues and let Mn/DOT know about the issues Lauderdale and others have with storm water, especially the run off from Walsh Lake and the golf course and potential flooding of residences near the Lake. Council member Doherty said she is not opposed to working with Mn/DOT on the issue of bridge design and storm water management and that such a group might be beneficial; however, she is not comfortable with this type of group meeting now and using the I35 Bridge collapse as leverage or to impede the emergency needs Mn/DOT has to create a safe and efficient alternative route. The council discussed the matter for several more minutes. Council member Christensen made a motion to adjourn the meeting and council member Doherty offered a second and the motion carried. The meeting adjourned at 10:07 p.m. Respectfully Submitted, Brian W. Heck City Administrator