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HomeMy WebLinkAbout11/14/2006MINUTES OF THE LAUDERDALE CITY COUNCIL TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 14, 2006 7.30 p.m. Lauderdale City Hall, 1891 Walnut Street Mayor Dains called the meeting to order at 7:35 p.m. and asked Assistant to the City Administrator Bownik 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 Gill -Gerbig added discussion on the proposed reduction in funding for the Met Council's Livable Communities Program. Council member Christensen moved to approve the agenda as amended. 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 October 24, 2006. There were none. Council member Hawkinson moved and council member Doherty seconded approval of the October 24, 2006 meeting minutes. The motion carried. Mayor Dains asked if there were any questions on the claims. Council member Hawkinson asked about the payment to 1922 Malvern Street. Butkowski said the report only listed the address, but the payment is to Michelle Krug (for reimbursement of Halloween expenses). Council member Gill -Gerbig moved approval of the claims in the amount of $67,224.28. 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. Harvey Skow, of 1931 Carl Street addressed the council regarding the 2002 street and utility improvement project as it relates to the alley adjacent to his property. Mr. Skow stated he had several concerns about the work including lack of lateral support for his property due to the removal of a retaining wall and claimed that the alley was constructed partly on his property. Mayor Dains stated he would like to add this item to the next council agenda and asked Mr. Skow to provide the city with a written copy of his concerns before the next meeting. Bownik suggested a motion to add this item to the next agenda. Council member Christensen moved to add a discussion of a retaining wall for Harvey Skow,1931 Carl Street, to the next council agenda. Council member Doherty seconded the motion and it carried. Council member Gill -Gerbig moved approval of the consent agenda approving the first group of tier one rental housing licenses, and approving the contract with CCS Contracting to complete improvements to the seminary storm water pond in the amount of $8,795. Motion seconded by council member Hawkinson and carried. Chief John Ohl from the St. Anthony Police Department talked about the recently completed citizen's police academy that was held. Chief Ohl and Mayor Dains then presented the following academy graduates with a certificate: council member Hawkinson, John MacLean, and Lara MacLean. Council member Gill -Gerbig expressed her gratitude to the police department. Council member Hawkinson thanked the police department for holding the academy and encouraged people to attend the next academy. Bownik stated that the City of Falcon Heights will be holding another Citizens Emergency Response Training (CERT) starting in January and encouraged residents to consider that as well. Bownik provided the council with a post Halloween report. He indicated that the event was well attended and 186 bags of candy were given out. He also thanked the volunteers for their help with the set up, working at the event, and their help cleaning up after the event. Council member Gill -Gerbig wanted to recognize Casey Goodmanson for the good job he did preparing the maze. Mayor Dains thanked the committee and those that donated candy or money for the event. Bownik addressed the progress of the tennis and basketball, court project. He stated that the contractor is almost done working this year except for the base course, which is scheduled for Thursday. The rest of the work will be completed in the Spring. He explained that the contractor excavated eight inches deeper than expected under the tennis courts to find good base soils. Since the basketball courts had better base soils than expected, only 8 inches of sand was used under the basketball courts and the rest (2 feet, 8 inches) was used under the tennis courts. Council member Christensen moved to adopt Resolution No. 111406A accepting 2007 SCORE funding from Ramsey County for Lauderdale's recycling program. Motion seconded by council member Doherty and carried with council members Gill -Gerbig, Hawkinson, Doherty, Christensen and Mayor Dains all voting yes. Council member Gill -Gerbig provided information on the Met Council's proposed reduction in funding for their Livable Communities Program. She stated that this is a program that has benefited the city in the past, including funding to study redevelopment of Larpenteur Avenue. She asked staff to investigate the information and provide feedback to the council. The Council moved into the work session portion of the agenda at 8:14 p.m. The council discussed the memo from Chief Ohl regarding the proposal for increased law enforcement coverage. The Mayor stated that the council is committed to 24 hour coverage. Chief Ohl said that 2 officers will need to be hired, which is expected to take 6 months. Until then, overtime would be used to bridge the gap in coverage from 16 to 20 hours. After the new officers are hired, 24 hour coverage would be in effect. Council member Christensen asked about the proposed cost for 2007. Chief Ohl explained that there would be a substantial cost for training the new officers and for new equipment and that the proposal is the most workable and equitable arrangement financially. Mayor Dains asked that the Chief or the Captain attend Lauderdale's Truth in Taxation hearing to help explain to the residents the cost and benefit of increased police coverage because it is one of the main reasons the city is proposing an increase to the tax levy. Dave Callister from Ehlers and Associates was in attendance to discuss the Larpenteur Avenue project with the council. Callister said that he has met with Verde Construction regarding redevelopment of the New Mech site. He said that New Mech is looking to relocate within 2 years and will be looking at the site for housing. They said they are also looking at the Larpenteur Avenue sites so they can include a retail component to the proj ect. Callister said he has added an option for the council to consider, which is to work with existing owners on private redevelopment efforts that address the whole southwest quadrant. This would be a coordinated development approach where the city does not play the role of developer and stays out of negotiations with private property owners. Instead, the city would encourage the property owners to coordinate their efforts so that the entire quadrant is redeveloped. This is easier than trying to redevelop one piece at a time and can maximize the use of the property, tax base, retail, and housing. In doing so, the city may want to offer incentives such as Eustis Street improvements, sidewalks, driveway access, decorative street lights, or other street-scaping. This can be done through the use of tax increment financing, tax abatement, or grants. The council decided to think about Callister's suggestions and discuss it further at their next meeting. Mayor Dains suggested having Callister attend the January 9th council meeting for a follow-up. The council discussed a draft of the proposed 2007 fee schedule. Butkowski stated that the fee schedule should be adopted as an ordinance. She said that the only proposed changes from last year are the mileage reimbursement rate and the sewer access charge. The city typically follows the IRS and Met Council rates for these items. Mayor Dains asked for clarification on adding a fee for park reservations. Butkowski said that the issue is with large groups that reserve the park onthe weekend and whether we should have staff available to take care of excess trash, etc. Mayor Dains said that he is against charging residents for reserving the park, but he would be open to charging a fee to non- residents. He suggested we have a policy on this before setting a fee. The council discussed the draft RFP for audit services. Mayor Dains moved to directed staff to send the Request for Proposals for auditing services as presented. The motion was seconded by council member Hawkinson and carried. There being no further items to discuss, the meeting adjourned at 10:12 on a motion by Christensen and a second by Gill -Gerbig.