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HomeMy WebLinkAboutCC MINUTES 03081988ANT MONY C O UN C= L M I N U T E S MARC H 8 1 9 8 8 1 The meeting was opened at 7:30 P.M. with the Pledge of Allegiance led 2 by members of the Fourth Grade Wilshire School Campfire Girls and 3 their leader, Dayle Boyce. 4 Mayor Proclaims Week of March 17th Campfire Girl Week in St. Anthony 5 Before a packed audience of kindergarten through fourth grade Campfire 6 girls, their leaders and parents, Mayor Sundland read the Proclama- 7 tion which observed the 78th birthday of the national Campfire 8 organization and enumerated the many community services the St. 9 Anthony Campfire Council had provided over the years. The Proclama- 10 tion was given to the girls, who had led the Pledge of Allegiance. A 11 number of persons who were present for the ceremony stayed to par - 12 ticipate in the discussion of the "Parkview" issue, which followed 13 later in the meeting. 14 The agenda was resumed with the roll call. 15 Present for roll call: Marks, Ranallo, Sundland, Enrooth, Makowske. 16 Also present: David Childs, City Manager 17 William Soth, City Attorney 18 FEBRUARY 24, 1988 COUNCIL MINUTES 19 Motion by Makowske, seconded by Marks to approve with the following 20 changes: 21 Page 1, line 13: Substitute "$6.00" for "$7.50". 22 Page 5, line 17: Substitute "could result" for "meant". 23 Page 6, line 38: Correct typo "still". 24 Page 9, line 19: Substitute 11R-1" for "R-11". 25 Page 10, line 37: Insert "on" between "insisted" and "the 26 fact". 27 Page 11, line 32: Delete "was worked on". 28 Page 11, line 36: Insert "Board" after "Bureau". 29 Page 12, line 11: Substitute "they" for "them". 30 Page 13, line 32: Delete "all of" and insert "with" between 31 "which" and "the tonnage" 32 Page 17, line 17: Insert "who" at end of line. 33 Page 17, line 40: Correct typo "there". 34 Page 17, line 46: Substitute "did not" for "did" between "they" 35 and "feel". 36 Page 18, lines 18 Reposition "in the neighborhood north of 37th 37 through 21: Avenue N.E." after "their own homes" in line 38 18, and correct typo "there" in line 19. 39 Motion carried unanimousl I FEBRUARY 24, 1988 EXECUTIVE SESSION MINUTES 2 Motion by Marks, seconded by Enrooth to approve with the following 3 changes: 4 Page 1, lines 26 Substitute "the figures Mr. Hamer used to 5 through 27: support his recommendation" for "Mr. Hamer's 6 figures backing up his claim." 7 Motion carried unanimously. 8 LICENSES/PERMITS/PETITIONS 9 Motion by Marks, seconded by Enrooth to grant the following licenses 10 as listed in the February 24, 1988 Council agenda packet: 11 Contractors 12 DuAll Service Contractors, Inc. 13 Feekut Home Builders, Inc. 14 Amusement Devices 15 St. Anthony Lanes (6, 2 available did not renew) 16 St. Anthony Liquor (5) 17 American Amusement (23) 18 19 Vending Machines 20 St. Anthony Lanes 21 Minneapolis Bowl -O -Mat 22 23 Bench 24 U.S. Bench Corporation 25 Bowlina Allev 26 Minneapolis Bowl -O -Mat, Inc. 27 St. Anthony Lanes 28 Cigarette 29 Woodside Enterprises at Bakers Square Restaurant 30 St. Anthony Lanes 31 Minneapolis Park & Recreation at Gross Golf Course 32 Juke Box 33 American Amusement 34 2 1 Service Station 2 Dick's Amoco 3 Dick's 66 4 Motion carried unanimously. 5 Motion by Ranallo, seconded by Sundland to grant an off -sale 3.2 beer 6 license to Red Owl Country Store and on -sale 3.2 beer licenses to 7 Pizza Hut, Inc., and Minneapolis Park & Recreation for Gross Golf 8 Course. 9 Voting on the motion: 10 Aye: Ranallo, Sundland, Enrooth, Makowske. 11 Nay: Marks. 12 Motion carried. 13 Motion by Ranallo, seconded by Sundland to grant a beer in the park 14 permit to Bob Verkins, 2870 Highway 88, for the 16 team softball 15 tournament to be held May 7th and 8th in the Central and Silver Point 16 Parks. 17 Voting on the motion: 18 Aye: Ranallo, Sundland, Enrooth, Makowske. 19 Nay: Marks. 20 Motion carried. 21 Mr. Childs indicated he would research the fees which the Community 22 Services charges for softball tournaments as requested by Councilmem- 23 ber Makowske. 24 CLAIMS 25 Motion by Marks, seconded by Enrooth to approve payment of all the 26 City accounts payable listed for January 31st and March 8th and the 27 liquor accounts payable for February 17th and 29th in the March 8, 28 1988 Council agenda packet, with insertion of the names the computer 29 had missed as provided by Councilmember Makowske. 30 Motion carried unanimously. 31 Motion by Makowske, seconded by Enrooth to approve payment of 32 $3,242.00 as the balance due Decision Resources Ltd. for their 33 residential survey on City services and needs. 34 9 Motion carried unanimously. 1 Mr. Childs explained the City had gotten a check for $13,568.00 for 2 1987 franchise fees from Cable TV North Central and after making the 3 contribution to fund North Suburban Cable Commission operations, there 4 would be $3,690.00 left for the City to use for its own cable ac - 5 tivities. 6 Motion by Ranallo, seconded by Enrooth to approve payment of 7 $9,878.52 as the City's 1988 contribution towards North Suburban Cable 8 Commission's operations. 9 Motion carried unanimousl 10 Motion by Makowske, seconded by Marks to approve payment of $1,101.85 11 to Bruce A. Liesch Associates, Inc. as the City's share of costs for 12 consulting services provided by that firm in connection to St. 13 Anthony's lawsuit against the U.S. Army et al related to the City's 14 water contamination problems. 15 Motion carried unanimously. 16 Motion by Enrooth, seconded by Marks to approve payment of $2,200.00 17 to the Hance and Levahn law firm for legal services relative to St. 18 Anthony prosecutions rendered for the month of March, 1988. 19 Motion carried unanimously. 20 Motion by Marks, seconded by Makowske to approve payment of $3,288.65 21 to the Briggs and Morgan law firm for professional services rendered 22 through January 31, 1988 relative to St. Anthony's TCAAP litigation. 23 Motion carried unanimously. 24 Motion by Makowske, seconded by Sundland to approve payment of $649.03 25 to the Dorsey & Whitney law firm for legal service rendered St. 26 Anthony through January 31, 1988. 27 Motion carried unanimousl 28 29 30 About a dozen Campfire girls and parents had remained to get the 31 City's side of the controversy which had arisen over the possibility 32 that the City's fire and emergency services would be moved from the 33 outdated Kenzie Terrace location into the space now used for a 34 gymnasium in Parkview where the City now rents space from the school 35 for its administrative and police services. Strong opposition to 36 locating a fire station in the same building from which the early 37 childhood program is run had been expressed during the February 24th 38 School Board public hearing on the disposition of Parkview, held the 39 same evening as the Council met in the Council Chambers in Parkview. 4 1 Mayor Sundland opened the discussion by reporting he and every other 2 Councilmember had, since the hearing, received letters expressing the 3 same type of opposition. He said he perceived it might be more 4 productive to first set the record straight on the City's position 5 before he opened the meeting to expressions of what he expected might 6 be misconceptions of that position. The Mayor stated that: 7 *he was not denying that during the preliminary discussions the 8 Council had related to the school's suggestion that the owner 9 ship of Parkview might be transferred outright to the City that 10 the relocation of the fire station had not been one possibility 11 among several the Council explored for the City's future housing 12 needs; and 13 *the School District has not made a final decision on whether 14 they want to make the transfer at all; 15 *although the City is certainly ready to consider the possibility 16 of such a transfer, there are no plans now to move the Fire 17 Department to Parkview, even if that happens. 18 Fifth Grader Read From a Prepared Text 19 Michelle Helfrey said her parents had built the home she lives in at 20 3645 Roosevelt Street in 1973, three years before she was born. She ;1 said she had attended preschool and dancing classes in Parkview. The 22 fifth grader said she had played basketball in the Parkview gym the 23 last three years when her mother had told her the City and School 24 Board wanted to put fire trucks in the gym, she had become very 25 worried about where she could continue to play the sport she loved 26 because the "big kids use the Wilshire gym now and I know there's no 27 room for us." 28 The young basketball player indicated her whole family, including her 29 grandparents, aunts, uncles, and cousins, all came to cheer her on 30 when she played. She added that her Uncle Johnny "who doesn't even 31 live in St. Anthony" had been helping out her coach, Mr. Kramer, 32 in the absence of her father who had died when she was two. Michelle 33 said St. Anthony would no longer be a "special place" for her if she 34 couldn't play basketball anymore, echoing somewhat the same message 35 her mother, Barbara Helfrey, had attempted to convey in her letter to 36 the editor, which had been published in the Bulletin the previous 37 week. 38 Mayor Sundland thanked Michelle for sharing her concerns, which now 39 had no base in fact since the City would not be moving the fire 40 station to Parkview. He said no doubt the same misconception had 41 existed in the mind of the letter writer, whose letter to him had 42 upset him a great deal because he perceived an inference that "the 43 City was making a lot of effort to increase business in the St. 14 Anthony Shopping Center", which, the Mayor indicated, was somewhat .5 refuted by all the steps the Council had taken over the years to 1 convert a major portion of that shopping area into alternative housing 2 for elderly and "empty nesters" in the hopes of freeing up housing 3 stock for younger families with children. The Mayor added that 4 because the Council can't force people to move out of their homes, 5 those efforts might not have been as successful as had been hoped for, 6 but he assured those present that the Council was doing everything 7 they could to make the transition easier for all concerned. 8 Councilmember Makowske indicated she had found "quite exciting" the 9 portion of the report on the survey of the community the Council had 10 received the same night as the school hearing, which revealed there 11 are many more young families living in St. Anthony than the Council 12 had thought there were before the survey was taken. 13 Councilmember Enrooth commented that a lot of the misconceptions 14 related to the City's intent towards Parkview could have been 15 instantly cleared up if residents who were upset had just phoned 16 Councilmembers to get their perspectives on the issue. He pointed out 17 that all Councilmember's telephone numbers are listed in both the St. 18 Anthony and Bell Telephone directories and the Council has always had 19 a policy of making themselves as accessible as possible through that 20 medium. 21 Mayor Sundland agreed that if residents had approached the Councilmem- 22 bers directly, they would have found out right then and there what the 23 Council planned or didn't plan for Parkview which "might have thrown 24 some water on the issue before it had progressed to the point 25 it had." He then echoed Councilmember Enrooth's invitation to "call 26 us up anytime you have concerns about what we're doing". 27 Legislative Session Report Given by State Representative John Rose 28 The legislator indicated a coronary in October had somewhat curtailed 29 his activities and delayed his giving the Council the report he likes 30 to give at least twice each session. However, he assured the Council - 31 members that the "clean bill of health" his doctor had recently given 32 him allowed 'nim to resume his legislative and sports activities "full 33 tilt." 34 Representative Rose said he thought the booklet he had distributed, 35 which had been put out by the League of Municipal Legislative Commis - 36 sion, contained a good characterization of the tax property issues 37 the legislators are facing this session. He also indicated both he 38 and Senator Marty appreciated being kept fully informed by Mr. Childs 39 related to the City's water contamination problems being presented to 40 the Minnesota Health Department at this time. He said he had been 41 working closely with School District #282 on legislation which would 42 fund a study of cooperative efforts between St. Anthony, Fridley, 43 Columbia Heights, and Spring Lake Park. 44 The legislator did not anticipate any wine in grocery stores legisla- 15 tion this session, but, as a member of the House Regulated Industries C 1 Committee, said he certainly wasn't going to support a later closing 2 time for Minneapolis bars, perceiving an adverse impact on St. 3 Anthony if that bill passed and perceiving this type of legislation to 4 be the wrong approach to drunken driving. 5 Except for the reinstatement of the renters credit, Representative 6 Rose said he didn't expect much from this session relative to property 7 tax reform, but hoped the next time around the legislature would 8 address that issue the way it should be. He told Councilmember 9 Ranallo he believed it was better to wait for tax reform legislation 10 because there wouldn't be enough time left this session to give proper 11 airing to testimony from the Minnesota Taxpayers Association, 12 homeowners, and officials like the City Council related to the impact 13 reform would have on the different groups. However, Representative 14 Rose said, he anticipated there would be some across the board school 15 aids which along with the $200,000 grant to help the school district 16 in its cooperative efforts, should alleviate some of the financial 17 problems for the whole Village. 18 Councilmember Marks sought the legislator's perspective on future aids 19 to local governments, Representative Rose told him he personally was 20 waiting to see the study being done to eliminate those aids altogether 21 at the same time the state took over all school aids, leaving property 22 taxes to be used exclusively by the municipal governments to fund the 23 services they alone provide. The legislator said school districts 24 are finding that only 18% of their residents have students in the 25 public schools so when they come to the taxpayers for support, there 26 is little there to support what is a real societal need, a strong 27 educational system. 28 When Councilmember Makowske raised the question of whether eliminating 29 local support might also mean complete loss of local input into school 30 affairs. Representative Rose told her that although a lot of con - 31 troversy has grown up around that point, most legislators had to 32 acknowledge that control had already eroded so much in the last 20 33 years that they now had to seriously consider the trade-offs. He 34 pointed to legislation which will probably pass this session which 35 mandates AIDS education in the schools in spite of the fact that all 36 the school districts already have the capacity to take care of that 37 themselves without direction. 38 C H E M Council to Take More of an Advocacy Role Than Predecessor, 39 Chemical Awareness Committee 40 John Pugleasa, 2948 Pierce Street N.E., newly selected President of 41 the St. Anthony/New Brighton Chemical Abuse Information Committee 42 (C.H.E.M. Council) indicated he was present to thank the Council for 43 the support they had always given the Chemical Awareness Committee and 44 to report the reorganization of that group resulting from the strate- 45 gic planning the Committee had done in January. 7 1 Mr. Pugleasa introduced other members of the Committee who were with 2 him as Jack Griffin, vice President; Rose Mary Hannon, Treasurer; 3 Dorothy Fleming, Secretary; and Barb Olsonoski, who he said had also 4 been very active on the Committee. 5 The speaker told the Councilmembers: 6 *the funds the City had provided in the past had been well spent to 7 get chemical abuse awareness information out to the community and 8 into the schools; 9 *new members, many of them chemical health professionals themselves, 10 had brought more energy and different perspectives on chemical 11 health issues to the organization, including those related to insur- 12 ance, lack of awareness of intervention skills for adults, and the 13 need for inexpensive chemical free recreational alternatives for 14 youths; 15 *as indicated in the information sheet given the Secretary, rather 16 than just dispensing information, "the Committee will concentrate 17 on working with individuals and groups to explore and examine the 18 chemical health system, acting as an informal 'trouble shooter'." 19 After identifying a problem, the Committee will form networks of 20 individuals and groups who may be able to implement solutions; 21 *said the Committee would not be looking for problems and no effort 22 would be made to duplicate the excellent professional services al - 23 ready available but rather the Committee hopes to help those who may 24 have fallen through the cracks; 25 *indicated that to give better visibility to the new goals, Committee 26 members are giving this type of presentation before the various 27 organizations like the New Brighton and St. Anthony Councils and 28 School Boards who have supported their efforts in the past in the 29 hopes that those and other organizations might channel some of the 30 problems brought to them to the Committee for referral. 31 Mayor Sundland indicated he was happy to see the organization 32 changing its focus from just handing out pamphlets to more of a pro - 33 active role and he complimented them for recognizing their role would 34 be to help funnel people who need help to the professionals, rather 35 than trying to complete with those services. The Mayor said the only 36 concerns the Council might have had about funding this Committee over 37 the years was that it appeared to be only another layer of available 38 chemical abuse awareness services and it now appeared they were on 39 track in changing their focus. 40 Float Idea Given Enthusiastic Receptions 41 Barb Olsonoski indicated she was present to get the Council's reaction 42 to an idea originating with the Apache Merchants Association and taken 43 to the St. Anthony Village Chamber of Commerce, that it might be the E 1 right time for the City to have a float in the Aquatennial parade 2 since the City already has an Aquatennial Queen candidate and this 3 year's Queen of the Snows was also Miss Apache. 4 The last time anybody could recall that St. Anthony had a float had 5 been 1949 when it received an award. Ms. Olsonoski indicated the 6 Aquatennial Committee was pressuring Apache management to get 7 together with the N.E. Minneapolis park boards and City officials to 8 provide the float. She said she recognized a lot of expertise would 9 be necessary to get a professional looking float and said she would be 10 willing to attend the planning seminar the Aquatennial Committee had 11 instituted to help float sponsors get that expertise. 12 Besides some financial help, the float proponent indicated a garage 13 would be needed somewhere in the City to construct and store the 14 float. In return, Ms. Olsonoski perceived the Village and School 15 District would get some really good exposure, not only through the 16 Aquatennial parade, but in other communities where the float would 17 also be competing. 18 Mr. Childs explained that the Chamber had been willing to give 19 financial support to the float but would not be able to do the whole 20 project themselves. Chamber members had thought maybe the City 21 Council could get a notice out to the community through the newspapers 22 that a float committee was being formed for which volunteers were 23 needed to spearhead the project and to approach the various other 24 civic and municipal organizations for donations and help in getting a 25 float built. The Manager said the thought that the St. Anthony 26 School District might have space available to construct and store the 27 float this summer. He agreed that if the project were well done, it 28 could be a real asset to St. Anthony and said he would expect the 29 project to get support from local organizations like the Lions Club, 30 Kiwanis, Knights of Columbus, etc. Ms. Olsonoski indicated the 31 Apache management were willing to help fund and work on the endeavor. 32 She agreed that what was needed first was a committee to come up with 33 some creative ideas and to coordinate the construction and float 34 scheduling. 35 Councilmember Enrooth recalled that it had been 20 years since the St. 36 Anthony Kiwanis had sponsored Mary Williams, who had gone on to 37 become Miss Minnesota that year. He agreed it was time for St. 38 Anthony to have another community event like the fall funfests the 39 City used to have and he said he perceived from what the survey had 40 told the Council, that there were a lot more younger families living 41 in St. Anthony that the Council had ever suspected, so it should not 42 be too hard to get volunteers with different perspectives from that 43 group to work on the float. 44 Larry Jones indicated he would write an article on the float project 45 in the Bulletin. Z 1 Councilmember Ranallo suggested contacting the Rochester Mayor to find 2 out who the Rochester official was who could professionally design the 3 float. He agreed that it was high time the City had another float 4 and an Aquatennial Queen candidate to give St. Anthony better 5 exposure than its getting now with a school band who rarely appears in 6 the metropolitan area and "residents have to go to Fargo to see them." 7 The Councilmember was certain there would be a lot of St. Anthony 8 people who would be happy to work on a project which promoted the 9 community like this one would. Ms. Olsonoski indicated she would be 10 able to discuss the project one on one with Councilmembers after the 11 Apache Polish Days were over. 12 City Research Funding for Pedestrian Signal at 39th and Stinson 13 Ms. Olsonoski reported a group of senior residents from Heights Manor 14 had been lobbying the new manager of the Apache J. C. Penney store and 15 herself to see what they could do to get a pedestrian crossing signal 16 on that busy intersection where the three way stop signs aren't very 17 helpful for getting the blind and handicapped residents in their 18 apartment building across Stinson to shop at Apache. 19 A bus load of Manor seniors had gone to the Columbia Heights Council 20 meeting the previous night to request the Council's aid in getting 21 some type of Community development or County funds to pay for the 22 signal. The Apache representative said she was bringing the matter 23 up to the St. Anthony Council that evening because she expected 24 Columbia Heights officials would be contacting the City to share the 25 costs. 26 Councilmember Ranallo recalled there had been some talk about having a 27 study of that crossing made years ago even before Mr. Childs' arrival 28 but he didn't know what the results of the study had been. 29 Councilmember Enrooth told Ms. Olsonoski the City had used most of its 30 available CDBG funds for the traffic signals on Kenzie Terrace, which 31 had cost about $80,000 and, from what the engineers on that project 32 had told the Council, he was afraid the cost of even a pedestrian 33 signal in this location probably wouldn't be much less. 34 The matter was laid over for further research by staff. 35 REPORTS 36 COUNCIL 37 Councilmembers Do Some Politicking_ for City at 38 Birthdav Partv. February 7Rth 39 Makowske said she had an opportunity to speak not only to Congressman 40 Sabo but also to Congressman Bruce Vento about the City's water 41 contamination problems and perceived from he conversation with the 12 latter, that the City might have missed a good bet by not getting WC 1 Congressman Vento involved in the City's difficulties with the Army 2 sooner. Besides talking with Congressman Sabo, she said she and 3 Councilmember Enrooth had also been able to broach the subject with 4 State Senator John Marty while they were at the party. 5 Makowske Appointed to National League of Cities Human Development 6 Steering Committee 7 The Councilmember said she would be attending her first Committee 8 meetings March 20th while attending the NLC conference in Washington, 9 D.C., March 18-20 along with Mayor Sundland and Councilmembers 10 Ranallo, Enrooth, and Marks. The Mayor noted that St. Anthony would it certainly be well represented on commissions with his serving on the 12 Transportation and Communication Steering Committee and Councilmember 13 Ranallo also serving on the Human Development Steering Committee. 14 Councilmembers to 15 Settlement of Wate 16 Mayor Sundland indicated the above meetings were scheduled to be held 17 while he and the rest of the Councilmembers were in the Capitol City 18 for the League Conference. 19 DEPARTMENT AND COMMITTEE REPORTS 20 Neighborhood Crime Watch Might Have Prevented Eleven Larcenies in 21 January 22 Most of the above crimes listed in the February Police Department 23 Report involved simultaneous car break-ins on driveways in one 24 residential area and might possibly have been thwarted under the Crime 25 Watch surveillance program, Mr. Childs speculated. Mayor Sundland 26 agreed that the program couldn't help but become more effective now 27 that the City has seven new police reserves on the street. 28 The Police Department as well as the February Fire Department Report 29 were ordered filed. 30 96% Sales Increase for Stonehouse 31 Before the February Liquor Sales Summary was ordered filed, Council - 32 member Ranallo drew attention to the improved figures that location 33 was experiencing over those for the first two months in 1987 before 34 the building was remodeled and dancing and a restaurant were added. 35 The Councilmember reminded all present that the Stonehouse Grand 36 Opening was scheduled for March 26th. 37 Following a brief discussion, the February 18th report from the Hance 38 & LeVahn Ltd. law firm on crimes they had prosecuted for the City 39 during the February 17th Hennepin County District Court session, that 40 report was ordered filed. 11 CITY MANAGER REPORTS 2 February 22 and March 1st Staff Meeting Notes 3 Residents Get to Practice on New Voting Machines 4 Carol Johnson had reported the new voting booths had arrived and 5 the machines were expected to be delivered around the first 6 of April. Mr. Childs said both would be set up in the front 7 entry of the City Administrative Offices to give residents an 8 opportunity to learn how to operate them before the pri- 9 mary elections. 10 Balloons to Fly_Over St. Anthonv, Mav 4th 11 In reference to Mr. Childs' report on the City's participation in 12 Cities Week to be held May 1-7, Councilmember Enrooth commented 13 that, if the City had a float by that time, it could be tied 14 in with the City's observance. Councilmember Ranallo explained 15 to the Bulletin newswriter that a number of balloons would be 16 released from St. Anthony at 1:00 P.M. that Wednesday in unison 17 with those to be released by other cities all over Minnesota. 18 Plans for Ad Hoc Recycling Task Force Finalized 19 Recognizing just how imperative it was for the City to get started on 20 a recycling program and perceiving the need to get resident input on 21 how that should be handled, the Council concurred with the following: 22 *a news story in the next week's Bulletin; 23 *ten persons, including Councilmember Enrooth as Council liaison, 24 would be appointed by the Mayor and Councilmembers during the 25 March 29th Council meeting; 26 *duties of the Task Force should include the seven recommended in 27 Mr. Childs' memorandum; 28 *deadlines for this ad hoc commission should begin by April 1st 29 and their initial recommendations and conclusions reported out 30 no later than June 1, 1988, with further activities as necessary 31 and as Council directs, thereafter; 32 *staff support would be provided by the Public Works Director, 33 Larry Hamer. 34 NEW BUSINESS 35 Layne Minnesota Selected to Make Necessary Modification to Well #5 12 1 Motion by Marks, seconded by Makowske to accept the low bid of 2 $14,045.00 and award the contract for making the necessary modifica- 3 tions to Well #5 to Layne Minnesota, as recommended by staff. 4 Motion carried unanimously. 5 UNFINISHED BUSINESS 6 Water Rate Ordinance Adopted 7 Motion by Makowske, seconded by Enrooth to approve the third reading 8 and adopt Ordinance 1988-003. 9 ORDINANCE 1988-003 10 AN ORDINANCE RELATING TO WATER RATES; AMENDING 11 SUBDS. 2 ANDS OF SECTION 550:00 OF THE 1973 12 CODE OF ORDINANCES OF THE CITY OF ST. ANTHONY 13 Motion carried unanimousl 14 Several people were still sitting in the chambers and they were asked 15 if they had any further business to bring before the Council. 16 Parkview Issue Revisited 17 David Petrie, 3505 -36th Avenue N.E. 18 *indicated he was one of the persons who had written letters on 19 the issue to the Mayor and Councilmembers; 20 *assured them that whatever initial impression they might have 21 gotten, he was not anti -business; 22 *perceived the 200 people who showed up at the February 24th 23 school hearing and the Councilmembers shared some of the same 24 concerns about what was going to happen to Parkview; but 25 *still wanted to know why, if moving the fire station to the 26 gymnasium was no longer being considered, the Council was still 27 interested in acquiring the building for the City. 28 Sundland told Mr. Petrie at $36,000 a year, the City has paid r 29 the school district $432,000.00 in rent over the last 12 years. He 30 said when the School Board first indicated they no longer had a need 31 for the building and offered to give it to the City, it sounded like a 32 good idea which would give continuity to Parkview's use as a Community 33 Center. 34 Marks said he perceived another reason the City wanted the building 35 had been to better distribute its services by consolidating the 36 office and other types of services. The Councilmember pointed out 13 1 that one of the most important services the City provides is emergency 2 service which is provided by both the Police and Fire Departments who 3 are now housed in different locations. He said emergency vehicle 4 runs up Silver Lake Road are now 2 to 3 times more apt to be medical 5 calls than response to fires and it seemed to him that more uniform 6 service could be provided if all emergency services were brought 7 together in one location. Councilmember Marks indicated he would also 8 suspect the City would operate more efficiently if all services 9 were consolidated, which in view of the loss of federal and state help 10 might in the long run lessen the City's need to raise taxes. 11 Ranallo reiterated that it had been at a time when the school had been 12 renegotiating a new lease with the City that the School Board had 13 indicated to the City negotiators that they needed no part of 14 Parkview. Then, after the City had indicated an interest, the school 15 amended that to say they needed the gym, and later, the day care 16 center. He said at first the school perceived all the services they 17 had in Parkview could be moved to the High School, but now that had 18 also changed. 19 The Councilmember pointed out that the City had already gone to the 20 expense of remodeling its administration and police space, which 21 continued to be separated from each other. 22 Enrooth indicated there were still almost $80,000 major repairs which 23 had to be made to the building, and the heating system, which have 24 caused problems for the City as tenants but which the school continues 25 not to deal with at all. 26 David M. Prickett, 3424 Croft Drive 27 *said it didn't matter who paid for the repairs since it was the 28 taxpayers who had to pay the bill in the end, anyway; 29 *disputed the lack of City exposure because "you have to go to 30 Fargo to hear the school band" and the City has no float by 31 telling the Councilmembers he had been amazed to see the young 32 people who came to the school hearing because they were thankful 33 the City had provided them with a community center which 34 "offered a day care center without fire station in it." 35 Mayor Sundland reiterated that he perceived it was now up to the 36 School Board to justify transferring Parkview to the City of St. 37 Anthony. He cautioned, however, that, if the school district retained 38 the building and then merged with another school district, the 39 expanded organization would then own all the Parkview property and 40 not just the St. Anthony taxpayers. He added that what he perceived 41 few residents realized was that the City's Comprehensive Plan dictates 42 that this property can be used for "public use only", which, in this 43 case, means either the school or the City, and not for homes or 44 offices as some have suggested. 14 1 The Mayor said he thought the Council owed it to its constituency to 2 listen to what the school offers, but at the same time also has the 3 responsibility of examining other options for housing the City's 4 services. 5 Judith Petrie, 3505 - 36th Avenue N.E. 6 *thanked the Council for letting them give their viewpoint on the 7 issue; 8 *admitted most of those present that evening had failed to try to 9 personally get in touch with Councilmembers; 10 *said they had found they had to dig out any information they it got from the School Board; 12 *thought the School Board should have been "exhilarated" to see 13 all the young couples who showed up at the hearing and spoke so 14 passionately about the programs offered at Parkview; 15 *said many of them had indicated they had bought their homes in 16 St. Anthony because of these programs; 17 *thought the school district would be better off keeping control 18 of Parkview so they could continue to offer the programs to many 19 of the young people who were at the hearing who are renters but 20 who the school should have an invested interest in keeping in 21 the district; 22 *said she had found out that the school could legally only lease 23 to two affiliated school businesses but the City could rent to a 24 whole gamut of businesses from which it could probably get more 25 money than from a public agency; 26 *was concerned that, although the current City Council had 27 indicated it intended to uphold the Comprehensive Plan, a 28 different Council in five years might not underline its 29 importance; 30 *told the Councilmembers there's no place else for the early 31 childhood program to go because Wilshire is filled; it would 32 cost $277,000 to convert the empty room in the high school for 33 the program which was not acceptable; 34 *debated the assumption that there would never again be enough 35 students to fill the high school; 36 *agreed with the Mayor that persons like herself should be 37 dealing with the School Board; 38 *concluded by saying that was what they were doing and the Board 39 members "weren't too happy with them" as a result. 15 1 Ranallo reiterated that the Council hadn't gotten that type of 2 resident input when they sat down to discuss the same issues with the 3 School Board in the Council Chambers in September. He urged all 4 present to call the Councilmembers whenever they had a question the 5 Council could answer, cautioning them at the same time, to remember 6 that the Councilmembers couldn't answer for the School Board on some 7 of the questions they had raised that evening. 8 Sundland indicated he had been trying to tell school officials for 9 many years that one of the biggest mistakes they had made over the 10 last 16 years was to forget that only between 16% and 18% of the it homeowners had children in the District School and that any one who 12 hoped to convince those who don't that the school should be retained 13 should be careful not to alienate the majority. He indicated he 14 perceived from what the recent survey had told the Council that the 15 School District would have a hard time getting a referendum through 16 because people who don't have kids in the St. Anthony school don't 17 know enough about the school; don't understand it; or haven't been 18 given the opportunity of getting better acquainted. The Mayor said 19 he thought it would take a little extra massaging of those who don't 20 have St. Anthony students to get them to see the viewpoint of those 21 who do. 22 He and several of the councilmembers pointed to the fact that the 23 Focus newsletter sent to the parents of St. Anthony students could 24 have been distributed to the whole community over the years to let 25 them know what was going on in the school and to keep the residents 26 enthusiastic about their community school. 27 Ranallo indicated he had put three daughters through the St. Anthony 28 High School but now was facing having to get rid of a five bedroom 29 house whose value couldn't help but be diminished if St. Anthony had 30 no school. 31 Enrooth agreed that most of the Councilmembers had lived in the 32 community for more than 20 years so the issues raised that evening by 33 "a lot of you people who haven't lived here that long aren't really 34 new to us at all." 35 Marks reported he had got a number of calls before the school hearing 36 and to him the whole issue had taken a "rather interesting and 37 frustrating turn" because he and Councilmember Enrooth had been the 38 Council representatives who met with the School Board a year and a 39 half ago where a School Board member had just made the suggestion 40 that the City should take over the Parkview building outright because 41 the school district just didn't need it any more and now there's a 42 community perception that the City is "trying to put one over on the 43 school district" which causes him to take offense at some of the 44 comments he's heard lately to that effect. 45 *he had gotten a good number of calls before the February 24th 46 hearing; 8i: 1 *resented the implication that the Council "didn't care about the 2 school kids " when "we really do care a lot."; 3 *the Council had not been given all the facts by the school which 4 "they might not had themselves at that point."; 5 *that he perceived the job of scheduling the time for the various 6 gyms had to rest with the school administration and not the 7 City. 8 Sundland indicated that he had followed the urging of the rest of the 9 Councilmembers to "keep communications open" between himself and the 10 School Board members. That had not worked out too well, however, 11 because some people were now saying there was some sort of collusion 12 between the two bodies. 13 ADJOURNMENT 14 Motion by Ranallo, seconded by Marks to adjourn the meeting at 9:10 15 P.M. for the St. Anthony Housing and Redevelopment Authority which 16 followed at 9:20 P.M. 17 18 Respectfully submitted, 19 Helen Crowe, Secretary 20 (VSd z� 21 M or 22 ATTEST: A/Li�/ 23 City Clerk 24 :cjk 17 Motion carried unanimously.