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HomeMy WebLinkAboutCC MINUTES 05131986 Meeting Sheet: 101740. 60x::"2"1 Folder: CC MINUTES AND AGENDAS 1986 Document: C,C,M IN UTES 05131986 i • CITY OF ST. ANTHONY COUNCIL MINUTES May 13, 1986 The meeting was opened at 7:30 P.M. with the Pledge .of Allegiance led by Mayor Sundland and Commander and Vice Commander John Hearn and Ron Hansen of the American Legion Post -#511. The latter were -in attendance for presentation of three American flags to be flown at City Hall , the Fire Station and Trillium Park. Present for roll call : Marks, Ranallo, Sundland, Enrooth, and Makowske. Also present; David Childs, City Manager; and Ray Nelson Liquor Manager. Motion by Councilmember Makowske and seconded by Mayor Sundland to approve the minutes of the April 22, 1986 Board of Review with the following change Page 3, para. 1 : Correct type "would" in line 16. Motion carried..unanimously. Motion by Councilmember- Marks and seconded by Mayor Sundland to approve the minutes of the April 22, 1986 Council meeting with the following changes: Page 5, para. 5: Correct typo "adversarial" before "position" in line 4. • Page 3, para. l : Delete "efficiency and" before "effectiveness" in line 3. Motion carried unanimously. Motion by Councilmember Marks and seconded by Councilmember Makowske to approve the minutes of. the April 29.th Board of Review with the following addition: Page 1 , para. . 7: Add before-the motion for adjournment, It was noted there would be no need for the Board of Review scheduled for. May 12, 1986." Motion c,arr.i-ed unanimously. Motion by -Councilmember Makowske and seconded by Councilmember .Marks to approve as submitted the minutes of the Special Council meeting on the liquor operations changes which. was held April 29-, 1986. - Motion carried unanimously. Motion by Councilmember Marks. and seconded by Councilmember Enrooth to grant the following licenses as listed in the May 13, 1986 Council agenda packet: Rubbish Removal Twin City Sanitation, Inc. • Cigarette Theisen Vending for Scarpelli 's. Restaurant, Apache Plaza -2- Contractors • Woodmark Builders, Inc., St. Paul Richard Hastings Co., Fridley Hage Construction Company, Edina Lofgren Remodeling, St. Anthony Patio Enclosures, St. Louis Park American Remodeling, Inc. , Irving, Texas Motion carried unanimously. Motion by Councilmember Marks and seconded by Councilmember Makowske to approve payment of the verified claims listed for April 30 and May 13, 1986 in the May 13th Council agenda packet, subject to verification by the City Manager that there were no duplications of payments in the April 30th listing. Motion carried unanimously.. Motion by Councilmember Enrooth and seconded by Councilmember Marks to approve payment of $25,108.11 for March sewer service charges to the Metropolitan Waste Control Commission. Motion carried unanimously. Motion by Councilmember Marks and seconded by Mayor Sundland to approve payment of $89.1 .80. to Briggs & Morgan for legal services during March, 1986, related to the City's water contamination suit against the U.S. Army et al . • Motion carried unanimously. Motion by Councilmember Marks and seconded by Councilmember Ranallo to approve pay- ment of $85.45 to the Dorsey & Whitney firm for legal services during March, 1986. Motion carried unanimously. Motion by Councilmember Makowske and seconded by Councilmember Ranallo to approve payment of $5,30.0 to Stuart J. Bonniwell as a progress payment towards the .firm's examination of the City's 1985 financial statements, as submitted to the Council , May 13th. Motion carried unanimously. Commander Hearn told the Council that, as proof the Legion had not forgotten its origins, a check for $500 had been recently given to Chief Hickerson towards the City participation in a national child safety program and the Commander said, the following day members of his organization would be selecting one from five District #282 high school seniors for a $500.. scholarship award. He also mentioned that his conversations with.. the Mayor before the meeting had presented the possibility that the Legion might also consider donating towards the St. Anthony school district's handicapped students' program in the future. The flag presentation was photographed by Larry Jones, staff writer for the Bulletin, and Mayor Sundland expressed the City's appreciation of "the community-service Post #513 had always provided". The Mayor then commented that though the Legion's presence in St. Anthony would be • missed, the Council had been happy the Legion post had been able to expand its -3- boundaries with its move to New Brighton and he had recently heard from the Mayor of that City that he was very appreciative of the work the Legion was doing in his • community as well . Mayor Sundland indicated he perceived Columbia Heights would also benefit from the move, He had received calls from the administrator of the St. Anthony Health Center and from a Wilshire School official expressing concerns about the delays in the re- construction of 37th Avenue N.E., the Mayor reported, and he requested that the Manager see if he could get some sort of a project completion schedule from Ramsey County. Mr. Childs indicated he would do so but indicated the constant rainfalls the area had been experiencing were to a great extent responsible for slowing up this project as well as the Kenzington and Walker on Kenzie projects on the other end of the City. Mr. Childs said the Mayor had been correct when he told the proprietor of the shoe repair shop in the St. Anthony Village Shopping Center that he would probably have to be out of his shop early next year because the agreement with the redevelopers of that. center called for a takedown between January and May. The Manager indicated the Mayor had also been correct in telling the shop owner that in order for him to receive relocation compensation, he would bevrequired to stay in his location until he receives a notice from the City to vacate. Mayor Sundl.and then stated that he perceived the City had lost a good friend with the untimely death of Karol Hertog of Hertog Floral , Inc. the previous week and indicated he had sent an expression of sympathy from the Council to Mrs. Hertog's family. • Councilmember Makowske had distributed�copies-of a.letter"she had received from a St. Anthony resident. who had concerns about the St. Anthony Boulevard reconstruction project and the Councilmember indicated she had been unsuccessful to date in setting up an appointment with those residents to talk over their concerns. Councilmember Makowske said, as she was certain had been true for other Council members, she had received numerous calls from 27th Avenue N.E, residents about the commercial facility the META Partnership proposes to construct along their alley and indicated she perceived it had been "a very wise decision" to table any further action on the project until after the meeting META has scheduled with those neighbors next Thursday to explain just what the developers proposed to do when they redevelop the Legion Club. site, H-owever, the Councilmember said she had been very surprised to hear from one of those residents that as of the previous evening, no invitation had been received. Mr. Childs reported the City had received their notice only that day. When the Manager indicated the invitations had only been extended to those property owners who live within 200 feet of the subject property who would normally receive a notice Qf a variance request, Councilmember Ranallo indicated that, because he perceived all the residents on 27th Avenue could be affected to some degree by the I ncrease in traffic on the alley behind the proposed project, he believed they should all be given the opportunity to express any concerns they might have to the developers. Councilmember Marks agreed that it would be better to "err on the side of too many people than not enough. Councilmember Enrooth commented that the City had fulfilled its legal requirements • for notification when the variances for the project had been approved in December and he perceived the City should not now become involved in the public relations work the Council had requested from the Developers, April 22nd. Mayor Sundland -4- agreed, saying the City had advised META to contact the neighbors about their pro- - ject long before the City had been requested to give their approval and, if at this late date the developers are unable to convince those residents that their retail center would be a benefit to the neighborhood, those residents should have every right to challenge the project at the Council 's May 27th meeting when the Council would be taking final action on META's request. Councilmember Marks concurred that, although the Council was anxious to have the redevelopers clear up any misunderstandings about their project, they were unwill- ing to have staff take over META's responsibilities for seeing to it that all affected residents have an opportunity to provide input to the proposal . Councilmember Makowske indicated she expected no Council representation at the May 21st Ramsey County League of Local Governments meeting because City officials would in all probability be in attendance at the Northern Suburban Gavel Association dinner where Mayor Sundland would be the recipient of a special award for out- standing leadership in community volunteerism that same evening. However, the Councilmember indicated she perceived there might be some interest in the RCLLG meeting in June where various issues affecting only Ramsey County would be explored and in the annual picnic to be held in July. Councilmember Enrooth reported taking courses in "water hydrology" and "limnology (study of lakel" which he considered quite relevant to the City's water contamina- tion problems and concerns about Silver Lake. Councilmember Ranallo said he had been misquoted in the last Bulletin and because of the way his quote had been reported, had received several calls from residents • who questioned why the Councilmember considered "boats, campers and trailers to be 'trash' or 'junk", However, he said a redeeming feature of the article had been that it had also generated support for his own concerns about the unsightly appear- ance of some City property. The Councilmember said one person who had responded to the article by letter had encouraged him to "pursue the issue until all the Council gets behind you and takes actions which will have a real and lasting effect on some St. Anthony properties whose appearance is less than desirable" . The writer had indicated she did not consider "neatness to be dependent on a person's financial standing or the number of persons living together, but rather, on attitudes or habits, which it may be necessary for the City to try to change". The same type of comment was made by other callers, Councilmember Ranallo said, and one complainant specifically pointed out residences where garbage cans are left at the curb for almost the entire week. Councilmember Enrooth agreed that there were still some areas in the City which would require some sort of enforcement, specifically, where vehicles are parked on residential property for more than a year at a time. Mr. Childs indicated he anticipated some of these concerns would be addressed in the ordinance amendment staff had been requested to develop. However, the Manager said, the City already has an ordinance to enforce cutting grass which has grown too high. Councilmember Ranallo told the Bulletin reporter he understood many of the residents are not getting their papers on a regular basis and some had even suggested it might be better for the paper to return to the "subscription rather than donation" system • which would assure that everybody who wanted the paper would get it regularly. -5- Councilmember Marks introduced the two members who had served with him on the planning committee "charged with reorganizing the St. Anthony Chemical Abuse Aware- ness Committee to better serve the community"; Janet Kallestad, a 1975 graduate of District #282 High School who is associated with her parents in Print Craft, Inc. in New Brighton; and Tom Fruth, a New Brighton resident whose three children attend the District.•Middle School and High School . Under the reorganization plan, the three would serve as the Board of Directors for the Committee as a whole and would provide individual representation and direction to the subcommittees formed to achieve the various goals and objectives of the Committee, according to Council- member Marks. Ms. Kallestad told the Council of some of the events in her own life which had led her to want to do anything she could to help families understand and cope with chemical addiction. The new Board member read various passages from the little booklet "Awareness", which. had been produced at no cost to the Committee by her family, which the Committee plans to distribute throughout the community, which along with the projects planned for the Committee, Ms. Kallestad said, she hoped "would make people more aware of the scope of the chemical abuse problem in St. Anthony and would help break down the system of 'denial ' which often prevents action being taken When questioned as to the scope of the problem in the City, Ms. Kallestad indicated she perceived the "scariest" thing about the problem here and in other communities was that "the age range of youngsters who are involved in drug and alcohol abuse is getting lower and lower each year until there are even ten and eleven year olds using now" . As reported in the booklet, the Committee planner reiterated that one of the most accessible drugs was cocaine "crack". Ms. Kallestad urged the Council to give the requested monetary support to the program. • Mr. Fruth said the mission which his group had now defined for the Committee was, as stated in the booklet, "to provide information and education on chemical abuse and its effect on the community", in a manner which would be more effective than in the past, the Board member said, because membership on the Board and Committee itself would require full attendance and participation in the projects now set for accomplishment. "Just warming a chair" would no longer be acceptable and Mr. Fruth distributed copies of the listing of responsibilities both Board and Committee members would be expected to assume with membership. Mayor Sundland indicated he agreed that it made no difference how many persons served on the committee as long as the ones who did serve were. all willing to do what would be required of them to fulfill the committee's mission. The Mayor said he perceived the three had done a "magnificent" job of reorganizing the organization and redefining its mission. Councilmembers Enrooth and Ranallo agreed, saying they especi.ally appreciated the leadership they perceived Councilmember Marks had provided. Council- member Ranallo indicated he knew from personal experience of having served on the committee eight years ago that the mission of the committee had not really been c-learly defined up until now, but, he added„ he certainly would not want to take away from efforts made in the past by committee members who he knew had, in fact, worked very hard to accomplish the projects they had achieved. Mayor Sundland offered to use any contacts he had with other service organizations, indicating it might be a good idea to make an immediate "pitch" to some of those groups who he knew were "always looking for a worthwhile project to support" . Mr. Childs told the Board members that if they made the same presentation to other groups they had that evening, he perceived "your sales job would be done for you" . -6- -When Councilmember Enrooth asked about the connection between this organization and the Youth .Service Bureau for whom support is also being sought, Councilmember Marks • told him .he knew from having participated in the planning for both organizations, the intent was- to coordinate and not duplicate both activities. The Councilmember said after the May 15th meeting of the Executive Board of the Youth Service Bureau, he should be prepared to make a -presentation of that organization's new goals and to seek Council support of the. projects the Bureau would be undertaking in the future. Motion by Councilmember Ranallo and seconded by Councilmember Enrooth to appropriate $1 ,200 towards the support of the St. Anthony Chemical Awareness Committee projects. Motion carried unanimously, After the two committee representatives had gone, Councilmember Marks told the Council Mr. Fruth was a wine distributer and there had been some very lively discussions on the Committee about whether working in the industry could be con- sidered to be incompatible with the Committee objectives. Mayor Sundland said he saw no more incongruity with Mr. Fruth's job. and his service on the Committee than there was for the City to `support the committee concept at the same time. it sells_ liquor because "not everybody who drinks is an alcoholic Councilmember Marks said it was. his personal observation -that the "liquor industry were doing a wonder- ful job. tryingto educate, the public on the responsible use of alcohol ." Councilmember Ranallo commented that he knew Mr. Nelson was trying very hard to train his personnel not 'to contribute 'to the problem. The Liquor Manager said that was -certainly, correct and he indicated that even the ads he runs carry a message urging moderation in drinking and warning against driving after drinking. One of the biggest problems bar owners encounter, Mr. Nelson added, is the fact that some of the younger patrons are mixing chemical substances with alcohol because, if a problem arises later, it's very Bard to detect the drugs as readily as the alcohol when drugs may have actually incapacitated the user. The Edward J. Hance supplemental report, on pre-trial matters conducted at the Hennepin County Municipal Court April 28th and the March Financial Report were ordered filed along with a copy of the minutes of the April 21st meeting of the District #282 School Board following a short discussion of the anticipated meeting of representatives from the -Board and' City Council to negotiate a new lease for the City's use of the Park View facilities. As he had reported in his May 9th memorandum, Mr. Childs reiterated that the City auditor had indicated he .would be more comfortable if the policy the City had adopted in 1985 establishing a 35% level of financial reserves to be maintained with any excess to be appropriated to a fund fr=.jwhich capital equipment expendi-tures could be made, were put into resolution form in anticipation of the possibility that the City might accumulate more than 6` 35%:,reserve in 1986. Motion by Councilmember Ranallo and seconded by Councilmember Marks to adopt Resolution 86-0.20. RESOLUTION 86-020 A RESOLUTION ESTABLISHING A LEVEL OF FINANCIAL RESERVES a AND APPROPRIATION OF EXCESS THEREFROM Motion carried unanimously, -7- The April 30th letter from the Urban Hennepin County Citizens Advisory Committee • indicated that Committee could not recommend the use of Hennepin County Community Development Block Grant funds for the sidewalk the City proposed to construct along the west side of Stinson Boulevard because the project would be located in Ramsey County and was perceived would mostly benefit a senior housing project in Columbia Heights, a participant in the Anoka County CDBG program. Mr. Childs indicated the City could certainly apply to Ramsey County for the same allocation, although that county's system of fund allocation is from a competitive pool , if that was the Council 's desire, but his recommendation related to the funds available from Hennepin County would be to reapply to use the $5,000 towards the installation of the proposed traffic signal across Kenzie Terrace between the two senior housing projects in that area. Motion by Councilmember Marks and seconded by Councilmember Enrooth to reallocate $5,0.00. from Year XIII CDB.G funds towards the proposed traffic signal on Kenzie Terrace. Motion carried unanimously. The Manager indicated it was his understanding that North Suburban Cable Commission was recommending the City approve the transfer of ownership of Group W Cable, Inc. from Westinghouse Broadcasting Cable to the five company consortium of buyers but because insufficient information had been provided by the subsequent buyer, to deny the transfer of :assets to that firm until some of the questions the cable commission counsel has about that sale are satisfactorily answered. Mr. Childs said the City Attorney perceived the City has little or no choice when it came to the first transfer. • Motion by Councilmember Ranallo and seconded by Councilmember Marks to adopt Resolution 86-021 , RESOLUTION 86-021 A RESOLUTION APPROVING THE TRANSFER OF OWNERSHIP OF GROUP W CABLE, INC. Motion carried unanimously. Motion by Councilmember Marks and seconded by Councilmember Enrooth to adopt the resolution which denies the subsequent transfer of the cable company ownership from the above. RESOLUTION 86-022 A RESOLUTION DENYING THE REQUEST TO TRANSFER OWNERSHIP AND CONTROL OF GROUP W CABLE OF THE NORTH SUBURBS, INC. AND TRANSFER OF TKE CABLE COMMUNICATIONS FRANCHISE ORDINANCE TO NORTH. CENTRAL CABLE COMMUNICATIONS, L.P. Motion carried unanimously. The Council concurred with Mr. Childs" recommendation that their meeting with the META Partnership related to the redevelopment of the former Legion Club site be postponed • until after the developers had met with the neighbors, May 15th. The Manager said he would let META know that the Council wanted all the residents on 27th Avenue to be included in that meeting. _$_ Motion by Councilmember Makowske and seconded by Councilmember Enrooth to table final action on the variance request for the commercial facility proposed by META Partnership for 2701 and 2709 Kenzie Terrace until the Council 's May 27th meeting. Motion carried unanimously, The meeting was recessed from 9:05 -to 9:10 P.M. at which time Mr. Nelson continued the discussion he had with the Counc.il .April 29th related to the reconstruction of the Stonehouse bar and the relocation of `the off-sale fat lityJ n Apache Plaia to the vacated LaB.elle's Store next to the Country Store: Mr,. Nelson. had.distributed copies of his May 13th recommendations in that regard along with the May 9th letter from the C. G. Rein Company setting forth- the terms and conditions under which the Apache owners would consider leasing that space and the' proposal' from,the Belair Construe- tion=Company for reconstructing 9,100 square feet of the LaBelle store for the liquor facility. Mr'. Nelson addressed his recommendation that the expansion plans for the Stonehouse bar include the addition of a kitchen which could be leased to Larry Manning as a franchise of Manning's Restaurant and Grill , which is now operating very successfully from a southeast Minneapolis location and is being opened at- another location across from Muff uletta's in St. 'Paul . . The Liquor Manager said the figure Mr. Manning had suggested he could do in business in the St. Anthony location, at a 6% of sales lease rate., could be translated into a return of between $18,000 and $30,000 for the City. In addit ion, national statistics show that for every $10 spent in a facility for food, $3can be- expected to be spent for• .some type of- beverage and St. Anthony would only be following the trend in liquor establishments today, to have food available for those who want a drink, according to Mr. Nelson who said the addition • of food might also decrease the premiums the City has to pay for dram shop insurance. There was a general agreement that there was a need to stimulate day business at the Stonehouse and that a good restaurant might draw back some of the customers from the adjoining industrial areas. Mr. Nelson speculated that even with an investment of $50,000 in the kitchen, . there would probably be only a two and a half year payback based on the sales Mr. Manning had projected and the Liquor Manager said he didn't see 'how .the City could lose with a restaurant manager like Mr. Manning. The Councilmembers indicated there would be no interest in a month to month arrangement with the restaurant owner. The project architect had not seen the revised site plans Mr. Nelson distributed, but the Liquor Manager said Wil Johnson had shown some interest in the concept when he had talked to him, The City Manager indicated the only purpose of the discussion that evening was to ascertain whether the food concept would be acceptable and if so, the staff would proceed with the planning_. which would be necessary to develop a firm proposal for the final reaction from the Council . Councilmember Ranallo said he perceived staff should Ilet Mr. Manning know "the City is not in the food business and doesn't want to be, but an agreement might be worked out whereby space could be .provided from which he could run a restaurant" . Councilmember Makowske indicated she perceived that, while the renovation of the Stonehouse is still in the planning stages, all reasonable suggestions should be pursued. Councilmember Marks said he personally thought having food along with the bar might alleviate some of the problems inherent • in operating a bar. Councilmember Enrooth indicated he didn't doubt Mr. Manning 's claim that he could serve 250 Lunches a day at that location. The Mayor said he perceived the restaurant might draw a whole new clientele who are looking for a good place to eat. Motion by Councilmember Makowske and seconded by Councilmember Enrooth to direct staff to pursue the concept of adding restaurant space to the reconstruction of the Stonehouse bar. Motion carried unanimously. Mr. Nelson then addressed his second recommendation to move the Apache liquor off- sale operation to 9,100 square feet of the vacated LaBelle store building. He indicated the rent had been raised from $3.75 per square feet to $4.50 when an inspection of the building had indicated to him that the City wouldn't need the 13,000 square feet originally proposed. He said the Apache Country Store manager "welcomed the City's presence next to him" and Mr. Collmann had told him he esti- mated he had about 15,000 customers at his store a week. The proposal to change the entry to the grocery store side and to install two 6 foot windows for better exposure in front, along with the costs for electric hookups would result in a total project cost of $18,98Q, not including the cost of a new cooler which would be about $40.,000, Mr, Nelson said. The Rein company hadn't gotten back to him regarding the feasibility of having diagonal parking in front of the store, the Liquor Manager added. Motion by Councilmember Marks and seconded by Councilmember Enrooth to direct staff to negotiate a lease agreement with the C. G. Rein Company for the use of 9,100 square feet of space next to the Country Store and to have the necessary preliminary specifications drawn up to relocate the SAV #2 liquor operation into that space. Motion carried unanimously. Mr. Childs reported he would be attending the Minnesota City Managers ' Association meeting in Brainerd the next two days and would not be back in the City until the first of the next week. Motion by Councilmember Enrooth and seconded by Councilmember Makowske to adjourn the meeting at 9;45 Q.M. Motion carried unanimously. Respectfully submitted, Hele Crowe, Secretary ay r 6/ ATTEST: City C er