HomeMy WebLinkAboutCC MINUTES 02241988 Meeting Sheet
IIIIII VIII VIII VIII VIII VIII IIII IIII
iosav
Box: 35
Folder: CC MINUTES AND AGENDAS 1988
Document: CC MINUTES 02241988
• C=TY O F S rip ANTHONY
EX E C UT=VE S ESS 2 ON
O F THE C=TY C OUN C= L
FEBRUARY 2 4 , 1 9 8 8
1 The meeting was opened by Mayor Sundland at 10: 31 P.M.
2 Present: l Marks, Ranallo, Sundland, Enrooth, Makowske.
3 Also present: David Childs, City Manager
4 William South, City Attorney
5 STAFF TO SEEK HEALTH DEPARTMENT RECOMMENDATION RELATED TO RISING
6 LEVELS OF CONTAMINANTS IN CITY WELLS
7 Mr. Childs said the above meeting had been scheduled for Monday,
8 February 29th because the contaminant levels in Well #4 had increased
9 from the permitted 5 parts per billion to 15 . He said:
10 *staff wanted to find out whether the Health Department would
11 be insisting on immediate action in response to the raise or
02 would be pursuing the same policy of not taking action which
13 they had been following related to similar contamination pro-
14 blems in other communities;
15 *if the decision is that the City should immediately shut down
16 its wells there might be emergency Superfund dollars available
17 to the City to do that;
18 *the RCM quote the Council had been provided was for further
19 research related to carbon and airstripping vendors, etc. on
20 which Rieke, Carroll Muller could provide the engineering
21 expertise Mr. Hamer was not qualified to give;
22 *Mr. Hamer had recommended RCM be used because he perceived
23 they had the most respected water quality engineers around;
24 *he had delayed having the engineers start on the research until
25 after the Health Department meeting and would be happy to prov-
26 ide Councilmember Enrooth with Mr. Hamer ' s figures backing up
27 his claim.
28 The Manager warned that the Health Department might even be willing to
29 document their unwillingness to take action at this time, which would
30 leave it up to the City to decide whether or not to shut down the
31 wells on its own. He added that unlike the Pollution Control Agency' s
C32 change in personnel in the last year, the same people who had ordered
Well #3 be closed because of lower contamination levels were still at
34 the Health Department.
•1 Individual Lobbying Efforts to be Directed Towards Federal and State
2 Senators and Representatives
3 Mr. Childs indicated he believed individual Council discussions with
4 the above would be far more effective than continued staff efforts
5 towards the following goals:
6 1 . acceleration of the carbon plant timetable at both federal
7 and state levels;
8 2 . efforts to push the new staff at MPCA to move ahead, as
9 agreed to by their predecessors last fall, with
10 the plant design without waiting for the results of testing
11 related to the operation and maintenance of the plant once
12 it' s in operation;
13 3 . state and federal pressures to get the Army to admit respon-
14 sibility and to take action which would automatically speed
15 up the MPCA study.
16 The Manager indicated he perceived staff had a handle on the carbon
17 levels data but needed Congressman Sikorski ' s expertise when dealing
18 with the environmental technicalities and Congressman Sabo' s position
19 on the House Appropriations Committee could be utilized to overcome
20 the Defense Department ' s stalling tactics.
1 Marks suggested state legislators Marty and Rose might be invited to a
2 future Council meeting but perceived he would have to be able to
23 specifically tell Senator Marty just what the Council wanted him to do
24 when the Councilmember met with him.
25 It was agreed that the party in honor of Congressman Sabo' s birthday
26 Sunday night might give the Councilmembers the opportunity to present
27 their cases to the legislator.
28 Mr. Childs indicated he had decided to delay ordering the RCM study
29 until after next Mondav after he and Mayor Sundland had met that
30 morning with Mr. Wong of the EPA, representatives of the MPCA, CDM and
31 Liesch and Associates, as well as and Mr. McDonald of Briggs and
32 Morgan.
33 Mayor Sundland indicated he had perceived Mr. Wong had been quite
34 impressed with the call he had gotten from Congressman Sikorski ' s
35 office protesting the delays in getting the City' s water filtration
36 plant installed. He said he agreed with Mr. Childs ' perception that
37 individual conversations and not letters seeking legislative
38 assistance would be more effective and also knew how important it
39 would be for each Councilmember to be specifically schooled by staff
40 as to what the problems were and what action was being sought.
41 Respectfully submitted,
�2 Helen Crowe, Secretary
2
• C 2 TY O F S T . ANTHONY
C OUN C= L M 2 NUTE S
FEBRUARY 2 4 , 1 9 8 8
7 : 30 P _ M _
1 The meeting was opened at 7: 30 P.M. with the Pledge of Allegiance led
2 by Mayor Sundland.
3 Present for roll call: Marks, Ranallo, Sundland, Enrooth, Makowske.
4 Also present: David Childs, City Manager
5 William Soth, City Attorney
6 Larry Hamer, Public Works Director
7 FEBRUARY 9 , 1988 COUNCIL MINUTES
8 Motion by Makowske, seconded by Marks to approve with the following
9 changes:
10 Page 1 , line 6 : Indicate William Soth, City Attorney, was
11 present.
12 Page 8 , line 31: Substitute 11$2. 00" for "$3 . 00" .
13 Page 8 , line 35: Substitute "$7 . 50" for "$8 . 00" .
14 Page 9 , line 22 : Delete "the only gain would be that" between
405 "thinks" and "it would be. . " .
16 Motion carried unanimously.
17 LICENSES/PERMITS/PETITIONS
18 Motion by Marks, seconded by Enrooth to grant a new heating license to
19 Market Mechanical and to renew the remainder of the licenses and
20 permits listed in the February 24th Council agenda packet as follows:
21 Off-Sale Beer Rubbish Removal
22 Country Club Market `Taste Management
23 Speedy Market #7 Twin City Sanitation
24 Keith Krupenney & Son Disposal
25 On-Sale Beer
26 Minneapolis Bowl-O-Mat Contractors
27 Cigarette American Remodeling, Inc .
28 Twin City Exteriors Co. , Inc.
29 Mico Oil Company, Inc. Suburban Lighting, Inc.
30 Get It For Less, Inc.
31 Service Station
0.s 2 Mico Oil Co. , Inc.
3 Speedy Market #7
34 St. Anthony Standard, Inc.
35 Dave ' s Apache Auto Wash
36 Motion carried unanimously.
•1 CLAIMS
2 Motion by Marks , seconded by Enrooth to approve payment of all the
3 City accounts payable listed for December 31 , 1987 and liquor accounts
4 payable for January 31 , 1988 in the February 24th Council agenda
5 packet and the February 24th listing of City accounts payable which
6 were distributed before the meeting.
7 Motion carried unanimously.
8 Motion by Makowske, seconded by Enrooth to approve payment of
9 $26 ,082 . 04 to the Metropolitan Waste Control Commission for February
10 sewer services.
11 Motion carried unanimously.
12 Motion by Marks, seconded by Makowske to approve payments of
13 $1 ,127 . 09, $3 , 621.04 , and $3 ,840 to Rieke-Carroll-Muller Associates ,
14 Inc. for engineering services through January 30 , 1988 on the City' s
15 sanitary and storm sewer studies as well as the study for completing
16 the reconstruction of St. Anthony Boulevard to the City boundaries,
17 respectively.
18 Motion carried unanimously.
409 REPORTS
20 FEBRUARY 16 , 1988 PLANNING COMMISSION MINUTES - RICK WERENICZ
21 Application: from Gene Happe of EFH Company, 1601 East Highway 13 ,
22 Burnsville, Apache Squares Center owners, who was pre-
23 sent but didn' t speak;
24 for the proposed 80 square foot pylon sign the ordin-
25 ance allows each shopping center as well as 88 square
26 feet of wall signage for four businesses in the center,
27 all of whic'1-1 meet the City Sign Ordinance regulations.
28 Commission
29 recommendation: approval.
30 Marks Fears Jungle of Pylon Signs in Apache Area
31 Because of this perception, the Councilmember indicated he believed
32 action was necessary at this time to prevent every building in that
33 retail center from seeking its own pylon sign. He mentioned the
34 Firestone store and "stilt building" as examples.
35 He was told the ordinance interpreted buildings with multiple
36 businesses but different ownership to be shopping centers. The
407 Country Store building, on the other hand, did not meet that criteria
8 because it had single ownership with Apache Plaza.
2
•1 The City Zoning Ordinance only made a generic reference to shopping
2 centers and the City Attorney indicated it was up to the Council to
3 interpret whether or not this building fell under that
4 classification. The suggestion was made that the Planning Commission
5 might want to research the issue to see if the criteria needed
6 tightening up.
7 Mayor Sundland recalled the involved discussions between the Council
8 and Planning Commission about the signage allowed the Apache Medical
9 Building, which he perceived once it was up was hardly noticeable at
10 all.
11 Council Action
12 Motion by Makowske, seconded by Ranallo to accept the Planning
13 Commission recommendation to approve the request for signage under
14 Section 430: 40 Subdivision 8b ( 3 ) of the City Sign Code as presented
15 for the Apache Squares Shopping Center, 2504-2524 - 39th Avenue N.E. ,
16 finding, as did the Planning Commission, that:
17 1 . Staff had indicated the proposed free-standing center
18 identification sign and the comprehensive plan for indivi-
19 dual business signage in the center would meet all the Sign
20 Ordinance requirements and would provide the type of sign-
21 age St. Anthony desires for the community.
02 2 . No public opposition was expressed during either the
23 Planning Commission or Council considerations of the
24 application.
25 Voting on the motion:
26 Aye: Makowske, Ranallo, Sundland, Enrooth.
27 Nay: Marks.
L8 Motion carried.
29 Council Directs Non-Conforming Signage Off Dairy Queen
30 Application: from Albert Plaisted, owner of the St. Anthony
31 Dairy Queen, 2612 Highway 88 ;
32 for a sign variance for the existing signage put up on
33 the building after it was leveled and rebuilt in 1986 ,
34 including:
35 1. One 4 foot X 6 foot rotating roof sign with
36 Dairy Queen logo which was originally allowed
37 on the building as "non-conforming, but grand-
38 fathered in with the 1973 Ordinance;
•
3
• 1 2 . Two ( 2 ) wall sign units on each side of the
2 building with 3 X 5 foot Dairy Queen logos and
3 individual lettering "Dairy Queen" , 22 inches
4 X 14 feet each in size.
5 Documentation: same as presented at February 12 , 1988 hearing plus
6 minutes of that meeting.
7 Commission Werenicz noted the history of the controversy around
8 report and this signage which he considered would be unproductive
9 recommenda- to go into again;
10 tion
11 reported that the Planning Commission was recommending
12 to the City Council that the proposal for a sign vari-
13 ance to allow the signage which is currently on the
14 Dairy Queen after the store was "remodeled or rebuilt"
15 as the Council chose to interpret it be granted;
16 reported the Commission recommendation which acknow-
17 ledged this would involve a variance of approximately
18 92 square feet over what the Ordinance allowed a
19 building of that size;
20 reiterated the Commission findings that the signs were
21 in good taste; precedents had been established for
2 allowing businesses with multi-frontage exposure addi-
3 tional signage; and that there had been. no expressions
24 of public opposition to the proposal.
25 Ranallo Recalls Similar Cases where Signage Was Disallowed
26 The Councilmember told Commissioner Werenicz that another precedent
27 had been set for disallowing existing signage when the Council made
28 the owner of the barber shop on Lowry Avenue take down his non-
29 conforming signage when he redid the whole front of his building. He
30 was concerned that merchant ' might perceive unequal treatment if this
31 merchant were a11cu:ea tc keep his non-conforming signage after making
32 the improvements to the extent he did of his building.
33 The Commission representative responded that "to be honest, the
34 Commissioners felt they had been taken" in this instance, having had
35 no prior notice that the building would be leveled instead of just
36 having an addition put on when the drive-through facility was added.
37 Parallel Drawn to Mickey D' s Restaurant Signage
38 Commissioner Werenicz indicated he perceived Commissioner London' s
39 comments after the Commission had voted 5 to 2 to recommend approval
40 of all the signage on the building accurately reflected the majority
41 of the Commissioner ' s feelings of frustration after the reception
42 their recommendation to deny in the above case had been overturned by
�3 the Council.
4
� 1 Applicant' s Wife Gives Their Side of the Controversy
2 Janet Plaisted reacted to the statement that the Dairy Queen building
3 had been completely removed by stating the foundations had been left
4 intact. She was told that with no basement under the building, it
5 would be hard to calculate the foundation as more than 30% of the
6 building.
7 Werenicz indicated that from the elevations the Commission had been
8 furnished at the first Commission meeting, as well as the impression
9 both the applicant and contractor left with the Commission that
10 evening, the Commissioners believed the building was only going to be
11 remodeled for a drive-through addition and all were shocked to see the
12 building leveled the next day. He added that he perceived these
13 impressions were accurately reflected in the minutes of the
14 Commission' s October 21, 1987 meeting in the Council' s agenda packet.
15 Ranallo said it was clear to him that at least 70% of the building had
16 been removed, which meant the roof sign was no longer grandfathered
17 in, which could result in other merchants who had been denied signage
18 might be asking to have it reinstated if the rotating sign was left up.
19 Makowske indicated she didn' t think a parallel could be drawn between
t220 this store and the Lowry Avenue barbershop which fronts on only one
1 street. She said that, in spite of the "bad taste" she also shared
2 about the way the Dairy Queen owner had handled the matter, she still
23 thought there were some good reasons for allowing this roof sign to
24 remain, including the fact that the Commission had recommended the
25 Council do so.
26 The Councilmember then made a motion which granted a variance for all
27 the existing signage on the Dairy Queen building, which Mayor Sundland
28 seconded for purposes of discussion.
29 Marks offered as a "different perspective" in the issue, "the fact
30 that there had been cases in the past like the Mickey D' s Restaurant
31 where the Council had chosen to overlook whether or not the City had
32 been taken" in favor of basing their decisions on whether or not a
33 particular building needed more signage than the ordinance allowed.
34 Ranallo objected to the terminology inferring the City had "been
35 taken" in this case because up to now, the Council, who makes the
36 final decision, had only given approval to the drive-through Addition,
37 October 28 , 1986 and denied a companion request for a free-standing
38 sign in front of the store.
39 In reference to the connection drawn between this signage and Mickey
40 D' s, Councilmember Ranallo said he thought the Dairy Queen building
41 was a sign in itself where the Council had recognized it would be
2 difficult for persons driving by the restaurant to know what business
3 was conducted there without signage. The Councilmember added that
5
1 there had been miscommunications between staff and the applicant in
2 the case of Mickey D' s which, as far as he could tell, had not been
3 true with the Dairy Queen.
4 As far as he was concerned, the rotating sign on top of the Dairy
5 Queen had to come down, the Councilmember said.
6 Mrs. Plaisted disputed these remarks, saying the tall copper colored
7 roof on the St. Anthony Dairy Queen was completely new to this area
8 where all other stores of this kind still retain the red barn mansard.
9 She reiterated the roof and signage on her store is the only type
10 Dairy Queen sells at this time, so she and her husband had no choice
11 but to buy or forget it altogether. She continued to insist her
12 husband and his contractor believed the building permit issued by Mr.
13 Hamer covered the signage as part of the building plans.
14 Werenicz told Mrs . Plaisted the only recommendation the Commission
15 had made to the Council after the firstOctober 21 , 1986 hearing had
16 been to deny the pylon sign requested in front of the store. As the
17 minutes of that meeting clearly show, although his options for signage
18 were discussed at that meeting, Mr. Plaisted had been warned by two
19 Commissioners that the rotating roof sign would lose its
20 grandfathered in status and was told that although the City ordinance
21 only allowed one sign per store, he might be allowed "one additional
22 sign because of his location. " The Commissioner commented that was
certainly not the same as the current signage on both sides of the
*23
4 building as well as the rotating sign on the top of the building,
25 which he agreed, should come down.
26 The Commissioner also told Mrs . Plaisted the difference between the
27 plans presented at the first hearing and those Mr. Plaisted brought to
28 the July 21 , 1987 meeting with the Commissioners certainly confused
29 the issue and reinforced the Commissioners ' recollection that the
30 applicant and his contractor ' s presentation at the October hearing had
31 given them the impression that only a remodeling job was contemplated.
32 Childs , who had not been present for the first hearing, commented that
33 he perceived from reading those minutes that Commissioner Hansen had
34 told Mr. Plaisted that although he might be able to put his revolving
35 sign back up on the roof, he would still have to apply for a variance
36 "for any additional wall sign. "
37 Hamer who had taken the City Manager ' s place at the first hearing,
38 told Mrs. Plaisted she and her husband were still mistakenly insisting
39 the building permit, which he had issued for the structure alone,
40 covered signage as well. He indicated he always tells applicants
41 signage is a separate issue and perceived the very fact that the
42 applicant had submitted an application for the free-standing sign,
43 which had been denied, indicated he and his contractor knew they had
44 to come to the Commission and Council for sign approval.
46
6
• 1 Werenicz confirmed Mr. Childs ' report that much of the same ground
2 being plowed that evening had been part of the "heated" hour and a
3 half discussion the Commission had with the applicant July 21 , 1987 .
4 He indicated confusion as to what should be done now that the
5 expensive signage is all up, had led to the Commissioners, without
6 taking a vote, indicating to Mr. Plaisted that if he would make a
7 formal application for the existing signage, although there was no
8 guaranty, the Commission would probably look favorably upon
9 recommending he be allowed to keep the signage.
10 The Commission representative told the Council that what had happened
11 at the Dairy Queen had a lot do with the Commission' s taking a hard
12 line on the Mickey D' s signage where they perceived a direct
13 parallel.
14 Enrooth commented that even though the perception might now be that
15 the City hadn't really "been taken" on the Dairy Queen signage, he
16 certainly hoped the steps staff had taken to tighten up variance
17 processing procedures would help to prevent future problems like those
18 experienced with the Dairy Queen and Mickey D' s Restaurant signage.
19 Makowske drew attention to page 5 of the October 21st minutes which
20 talked about the pylon sign the Council denied as well as "the logo to
21 be added to the new mansard roof" which she now had no trouble with
22 and although she said she was bothered by having the revolving sign on
43 the roof put back up after the structure was more than 70% changed,
4 called for . a vote on her motion to allow all the signage to remain on
25 the Dairy Queen as recommended by the Planning Commission.
26 Voting on the motion:
27 Aye: Sundland.
28 Nay: Makowske, Ranallo, Enrooth, Marks.
29 Motion not carried.
30 The original plans were compared to those in the agenda packet which
31 had been submitted for commission and Council consideration in 1986
32 before a vote was taken on Councilmember Ranallo' s motion, which he
33 said he was going to make because he perceived the signage on both
34 sides of the building more than adequately identified the Dairy
35 Queen.
36 Mr. Soth suggested it was unnecessary in this case to specify signage
37 size and suggested the Council be very specific in their findings for
38 signage they proposed disallowing or retaining.
39 Council Action
40 Motion by Ranallo, seconded by Marks to grant the necessary variance
it1 to the City Sign Ordinance requirements which would allow the Dairy
7
• 1 Queen owners to keep the signage they have on the two sides of the new
2 mansard roof on their building at 2612 Highway 88 but to deny the
3 retention of the rotating roof sign on top of the building. In
4 granting the variance for the logos and lettering on the mansard roof,
5 the Council finds that:
6 1 . A particular hardship to the applicant would result if the strict
7 letter of the ordinance regulations are adhered to because the
8 building' s size seems to call for more signage for a building
9 which fronts on two platted streets and has traffic flowing
10 around three sides, making that parcel unique to that particular
11 area and neighborhood;
12 2 . Granting this variance will not be detrimental to the public
13 welfare or injurious to other properties in the same area;
14 3 . No public expressions of opposition to the variance being granted
15 had been presented during the Planning Commission or Council
16 hearings on this issue.
17 In denying the retention of the 4 X 6 foot rotating sign on the roof,
18 the Council finds that:
19 1 . The grandfather clause under which the Dairy Queen had been
20 allowed to keep the sign after the new Sign Ordinance had been
1 written, no longer applies because the building had been com-
2 pletely leveled and rebuilt in 1986 ;
23 2. This parcel could not be considered to be unique enough to over-
24 ride possible injury to other property owners in an area where a
25 strong precedent for disallowing that type of signage had
26 already been established; and
27 3 . Sufficient hardship had not been demonstrated to justify granting
28 a variance for a type of signage not allowed other property
29 owners in the same area.
30 Voting on the motion:
31 Aye: Ranallo, Marks, Enrooth, Makowske.
32 Nay: Sundland.
33 Motion carried.
34 Council Concurs With Commission Tabling TCF Expansion Request
35 The general consensus was that allowing the proposed expansion would
36 probably not cure the parking and traffic problems at the Silver Lake
37 Road site and that further study of those problems was necessary.
•
8
• 1 Mayor Sundland commented that he agreed with the Commission perception
2 that the increase in business since the institution became a checking
3 as well as savings bank should not become a burden for the neighbors.
4 Vacant Lot to Retain R-1 Zoning
5 The Council agreed with the Commission recommendation that the request
6 from Reliable Builders to rezone the lot left vacant when the
7 intersection of Silver Lake Road and 37th Avenue N.E. was
8 reconstructed for a double bungalow be denied. Commissioner Werenicz
9 reported neighbor opposition had also played a major part in the
10 Commission' s recommendation. He said the Commissioners also agreed
11 with the neighbors who were present that changing from a single family
12 dwelling on that corner could be expected to add to rather than
13 diminish the existing traffic congestion in that area. He reiterated
14 his own perception that keeping the zoning R-1 would not have too
15 great effect on its marketability.
16 Mayor Sundland indicated that by following the Commission
17 recommendation the Council would be in conformance with the
18 Comprehensive Plan for that area which called for the retention of-
19 R-1 zoning for all the properties on 37th Avenue, east of Silver Lake
20 Road.
21 There was no one present from Reliable Builders. No further input was
2 given by neighbors Roger Rafferty and Bruce Anderson, who were present
3 and later expressed satisfaction with the manner in which the rezoning
24 request had been handled.
25 In his February 23rd memorandum on the matter, which had been
26 distributed to the Council prior to the meeting, Mr. Soth had advised
27 that any motion to deny the rezoning should go beyond just neighbor
28 approval and should include some of the good reasons reported in the
29 Commission minutes but not included in their recommendation to deny.
30 Council Action
31 Motion by Ranallo, seconded by Marks to affirm the Planning Commission
32 recommendation to deny the Reliable Builders ' request to rezone the
33 property at 3657 Silver Lake Road from R-1 , single family
34 residential, to R-2 , two family residential, finding that:
35 1. The City' s Comprehensive Plan designates R-1 zoning for this and
36 other property on 37th Avenue N.E. , east of Silver Lake Road.
37 2 . Rental property with transient inhabitants is not therefore
38 appropriate for this location.
39 3 . Surrounding property values will be adversely affected by
40 changing the zoning.
•
9
1 4. Neighbors have every reason to expect the zoning in their neigh-
2 borhood would remain R-1 and several of these were present at the
3 February 16, 1988 Commission hearing to express opposition to the
4 proposed rezoning.
5 5. R-2 zoning would be likely to increase traffic and congestion in
6 an area where there are already traffic concerns.
7 Motion carried unanimously.
8 Discussion About Difference in Recommendations Related to Mickey D' s
9 Signage
10 Commissioner Werenicz explained some of the Commission concerns
11 reported in the minutes by saying there was a perception on the
12 Commission that they might be getting "mixed signals" from the Council
13 related to planning issues. He said this uncertainty as well as the
14 realization that the Planning Commission is only an advisory board had
15 played a big part in the Commission' s reluctance to suggest a harder
16 stance related to the excessive signage on the Dairy Queen after what
17 had happened to their recommendations related to Mickey D' s Signage
18 where the Commissioners were convinced the City "had really been
19 snowed. "
20 Ranallo assured the Commissioner that the Council thought they were
4*23
1 doing a fine job and benefited from their input. He reminded him
2 that the Council has legal guidance the Commission doesn' t have and
often in cases like the Mickey D' s signage the Council may have
24 predicated its decision on the legal ramifications of that issue.
25 Marks told the Commission representative the Council relies on the
26 Commission' s best possible interpretations and findings on issues even
27 if they get overturned. He said the Council doesn' t want the
28 Commission to be driven by what they think the Council wants to hear
29 but rather wants their best independent thinking on every matter
30 which comes up for their recommendations. He said he continued to
31 believe that in both the Dairy queen and Mickey D' s matters , the
32 Council had tried to get past the differences and to grant signage
33 based on what signage was really needed for those two different
34 locations. He said in the case of Mickey D' s signage, a photo of how
35 the restaurant looked as you approached it from the east had
36 convinced at least some of the Councilmembers that the businesses
37 needed signage on that side. He insisted on the fact that the applicant
38 had already bought the sign had really not been a factor in that
39 decision.
40 Sundland indicated the Council ' s minutes accurately reflected the
41 Council' s skepticism about the sign company' s sign measurements but
42 at the same time recognized the restaurant needed better
43 identification.
16
10
� 1 Enrooth agreed, and added the Council had certainly wanted to do
2 anything it could to have a business succeed in that troubled location
3 where an empty building would certainly not be good for the
4 community.
5 COUNCIL REPORTS
6 Constituents Calling About Sewer and Aircraft Noise Concerns
7 Makowske reported receiving calls from residents about storm and
8 sanitary sewer problems which she had indicated the City would have a
9 better handle on after receiving the Rieke-Carroll-Muller engineering
10 report and recommendations. She said she was also receiving
11 complaints about the increase in air traffic over St. Anthony.
12 The Councilmember also indicated she had learned there had been
13 motions related to the City' s water contamination problems passed at
14 both the IR and DFL caucuses the previous evening which should
15 generate support from both parties.
16 Consensus Hard to Get On Tax Issues
17 Ranallo reported the LMC Board was having difficulty agreeing on a
18 recommendation to the legislature related to reclassifying the
19 property tax base because of the three way split between the five
10 largest cities, smaller cities, and suburbs, and the outstate cities
21 from which mixed messages are going out to the legislators. It is
22 hoped some consensus can be reached during the next Board meeting
23 which is scheduled for March 3rd so the League can get out the cities '
24 needs for reclassification.
25 Some Movement Perceived Related to Carbon Plant Schedule
26 Sundland briefly drew the Council' s attention to the draft of the
27 minutes they had been provided for the meeting he, Mr. Childs, and
28 Mr. Hamer had attended that day with Gene Wong of the EPA; Maureen
29 Johnson of the MPCA; Tim Henning of CDM; David McDonald the City' s
30 attorney from Briggs and Morgan; and Ken Olson from Bruce Liesch where
31 those present discussed ways to expedite the proposed schedule for
32 completion of the City' s carbon filtration plant. He said he
33 perceived from Mr. Wong' s attitude that he had been impressed by the
34 call from Congressman Sikorski ' s staff expressing the Congressman' s
35 strong interest and concern about the process.
36 Marks to Head Youth Service Bureau Board for Another Year
37 The three top officers for the above organization were re-elected
38 during a meeting of the full Board last week, Marks reported.
39 Councilmember Receives Calls About School Board Meeting
10
11
1 Marks indicated he told callers that the Council meeting that evening
2 had prevented him from attending the school ' s meeting, which he
3 wouldn' t have gone to anyway not wanting to bias in any way the
4 decision which the School Board has to make on its own related to the
5 use of Parkview.
6 County Commissioner Sivanich Welcomed by Second Precinct Caucus
7 Marks indicated the above action had been taken by resolution.
8 As an aside to Councilmember Makowske ' s report on the caucuses , he
9 said there was certainly a lot of interest in the City' s water
10 contamination problems where concern was expressed that the Army
11 wasn't moving fast enough to correct the problem they had caused.
12 DEPARTMENTS AND COMMITTEES
13 The Hance & LeVahn, Ltd. , report on cases they had prosecuted at the
14 Hennepin County District Court, February 3 , 1988, was ordered filed
15 after a brief discussion of the phone call Councilmember Makowske
16 reported receiving expressing concern about the number of arrests
17 for marijuana possession recently reported in the Bulletin. She said
18 she had received assurances from Chief Hickerson that the incidents
19 didn' t indicate "crack houses in St. Anthony" but only involved
20 persons picked up for DWI ' s or some other crime who were only passing
•21 through the Village.
22 CITY MANAGER REPORTS
23 Mr. Childs explained that the February 22nd staff meeting had been
24 held after the agenda had been put together so the meeting notes
25 would be held over until the next agenda packet.
26 St. Anthony Faces Stricter Recycling Requirements
27 The City Manager had advised in his February 18th memorandum that
28 staff was under great pressure from both Hennepin and Ramsey Counties
29 to get with the curbside recycling program aspects of which he
30 discussed at some length as an aid to the Council' s giving him
31 guidance on how to proceed. In his memo he discussed the different
32 county approaches to the problem, indicating that:
33 *in spite of the fact that the City has one of the most suc-
34 cessful and profitable dropoff recycling centers with much of
35 the material collected coming from outside St. Anthony, it will
36 be very difficult to meet the 16% goal set for us ;
37 *the two proposals from Recycling Unlimited and Waste Management
38 were very different and would require close study by the Council
39 members before a choice is made; however,
0
12
• 1 *they had been included in the agenda packet that night as a
2 basis for preliminary guidance as to how staff should proceed;
3 *the Mayor had suggested a citizens task force to study the
4 issue because state law mandates a public hearing before all
5 residential pickups could be transferred to one hauler;
6 *even though 85% of the hauling is done by Waste Management now,
7 St. Anthony residents are very covetous of their right to
8 select their own hauler.
9 Hamer warned it wouldn' t be very long before sorting at the source
10 would become mandatory and even if that didn' t happen, hauling costs
11 would be rising so dramatically it would become too expensive not to
12 comply.
13 Sundland pointed out that dump sites now have to take out expensive
14 insurance to cover damage done if leaks occur.
15 Makowske wanted to be sure the haulers would take cardboard wastes.
16 Enrooth suggested the recycling center start taking cardboard, which
17 if all the rubbish from supermarkets, etc. were counted, could help
18 the City a good deal to meet its goal. The Councilmember wondered
19 whether making the residents more aware of the City' s goal might
20 avoid having to go to a mandatory program.
•
21 Childs told him the last four Newsletters had carried that message
22 with little response and although St. Anthony is already far ahead of
23 other communities in its voluntary efforts, it might still be tough to
24 triple those efforts without some type of curbside program. He also
25 agreed that although there' s not much market for shiny cardboard,
26 those products are easily burned and could be acceptable for the
27 waste-to-energy plants.
28 Hamer reported the City had earned $5 , 000 from its recycling center
29 last year and with a substantial percentage coming from outside the
30 City. He said he is in the process of surveying the City' s business
31 establishments and stores to find out how much of their wastes are
32 being recycled which with the tonnage given to paper drives can be
33 calculated to help meet the 16% goal.
34 Marks indicated that on an average, every person in Hennepin County
35 generates a ton of garbage a year and with 8 ,000 people in St.
36 Anthony, there would be a lot of tonnage included in City' s goal
37 amount.
38 Ad Hoc Committee to Study Recycling to be Formed
39 Sundland said he would like to see both residents who support
40 recycling and those with reservations about the program on the Ad Hoc
�1 study group. There was general consensus to use this approach. Mr.
13
1 Childs said that was the direction he was looking for and would
2 proceed to make preparations.
3 NEW BUSINESS
4 $5, 160. 00 Deducted From Stonehouse Addition Contractor' s Charges
5 Motion by Marks , seconded by Enrooth to approve Change Order #5 on the
6 above contract amount on the project in accordance with discussions at
7 previous Council meetings.
8 Motion carried unanimously.
9 Foss Road Lift Station Ordered Replaced and Financing to be Studied
10 Mr. Childs asked for direction related to how the $198 ,000 project
11 would be paid for. He indicated:
12 *this was the first time in many years such a large sanitary
13 sewer project had been undertaken; and he wanted to know
14 whether the Council wanted to finance the construction by
15 ( 1) direct assessment to the Ramsey County users or ( 2 ) to
16 increase the sewer rate to all City users;
17 *confirmed that Happy Potato Chip plant was a major user and
18 their rates reflect that;
•
19 *was directed to get not only the comparisons between their flow
20 and those of the area residential users but also the figures for
21 different scenarios related to assessing by use or over the
22 whole City anticipating similar projects in other parts of the
23 Village.
24 Council Action
25 Motion by Marks, seconded by Enrooth to adopt Resolution 88-009 and to
26 direct stafflergineers to research specific methods of financing the
27 lift station.
28 RESOLUTION 88-009
29 A RESOLUTION AUTHORIZING SHORT-ELLIOTT-HENDRICKSON, INC.
30 TO PREPARE THE PLANS AND SPECIFICATIONS FOR THE
31 PROPOSED FOSS ROAD LIFT STATION
32 Motion carried unanimously.
33 Lease Approved for LaMere Barber Shop in Fire Station Building
34 Motion by Marks, seconded by Makowske to adopt the resolution
35 authorizing execution of the four year lease with the owner of the
�6 barber shop as negotiated by staff subject to additional language in
14
• 1 the lease which establishes compensation for renter should the City' s
2 Parkview lease be terminated, causing the City to need that space.
3 RESOLUTION 88-010
4 A RESOLUTION AUTHORIZING THE MAYOR AND CITY MANAGER
5 TO EXECUTE THE OFFICE SPACE LEASE WITH PHIL LAMERE,
6 dba BARBER STYLISTS FOR RENTAL AT
7 2800 KENZIE TERRACE
8 Motion carried unanimously.
9 Survey Shows Community With Very Positive Feelings About St. Anthony
10 A summation of the results of the above survey had been distributed
11 and were discussed with Bill Morris and Diane Traxler of Decision
12 Resources Ltd. , the firm who had conducted a telephone survey of 400
13 randomly selected residents of St. Anthony between December 14-21 ,
14 1987 .
15 Mr. Morris hit the nine highlights of the survey as follows:
16 1. Resident makeup. City has an extremely high mobile segment as
17 compared to other first ring suburbs;
18 St. Anthony is an aging, middle income, white collar community of
1019 which 36% of those interviewed were new to the community within
20 the last two years and 31% intended to move within the next year;
21 most of these were renters in the northern apartment areas and
22 many of them indicated they would like to find permanent homes
23 in the southern sections.
24 2 . Quality of life rated excellent. Mr. Morris said this gave
25 St. Anthony the most solid rating of any community their firm had
26 surveyed in the metropolitan Twin Cities area, including "boom"
27 areas like Egan, Woodbury, Shoreview, who get better coverage but
28 are rated less positively by their residents than St. Anthony in
29 this respect;
30 80% take pride in their City; 3/4ths of the residents felt things
31 going in the right direction, and 93% view the City as a good
32 place to raise children;
33 health and vitality of community rated as one of the strongest
34 in the metropolitan area and clearly distinguishes the City
35 from lower norms for other first ring suburban communities.
36 3 . Location and small town spirit are key draws . One resident' s
37 classification of St. Anthony as "a small town close to a big
38 City" summed up most of the respondents ' attitudes. Thirty per-
39 cent of these indicated they were St. Anthony boosters , which
15
5
• 1 compares very favorably with norm of between 15% and 20% found in
2 other community surveys;
3 no single major problem was identified, but 7% reported concerns
4 about water and 8% complained about the condition of the streets.
5 No significant "dark clouds on horizon" that even a small number
6 of the residents are aware of.
7 4. Community not dogmatically anti-tax indicated that given the com-
8 munity demographics, would have expected to see fewer people
9 supporting a tax increase to maintain the current level of ser-
10 vices, but 53% of those contacted supported that concept and only
11 36% opposed. Most people consider taxes "about average" and
12 there weren' t a lot who consider the property taxes they pay
13 onerous. Two services which are definitely "sacred cows" which
14 the community would object cutting are snow plowing and park
15 maintenance. The message came over loud and clear that a prudent
16 approach when it came to taxes and spending really characterized
17 the St. Anthony residents because the moderate approach when it
18 came to the City Hall was the consensus choice of 47%. The
19 survey indicated the community perceived what was being proposed
20 was logical once they understood what was going to be done.
21 Community is prudent but certainly not opposed to taxing for a
22 good solid level of City services.
3 5 . City services given excellent ratings: park maintenance; snow
4 plowing; police and fire protection. Street maintenance, animal
25 control, and storm sewers were given slightly lower ratings but
26 still got 70% approval. What really split the community was
27 water.
28 Police patrolling considered adequate; City streets and storm
29 sewers posed only minor and not major problems; code enforce-
30 ment was considered to be about right in terms of toughness;
31 City parks are very well used and rated high with the exception
32 of playground equipment which still only attracted a minor
33 number of negatives i. the survey. The commercial areas were
34 the only ones who came under fire in terms of appearance. They
35 were termed "displeasing to neutral" by nearby neighbors. Over-
36 all in terms of performance, the City rated generally well.
37 6. City government and staff given highest rating compared to
38 other communities surveyed - considered to be most popular and
39 respected of any other of the Communities the firm has surveyed
40 the last few years. Forty percent knew a great deal or a fair
41 amount about what the Council and the Mayor were doing, which is
42 a very high number. The approval rating was 79% which topped
43 Decision Resource' s high and established a new norm for other
44 communities to meet. Also high were the 31% of the respondents
45 who had some interaction with the staff , which Mr. Morris in-
46 terpreted to mean that St. Anthony has a "very hands-on govern-
0
47
16
• 1 ment, which is very accessible. Staff got a positive rating of
2 71%, also the highest found in other suburban studies.
3 The City Hall staff was rated very favorably, the liquor store
4 was rated exceptionally high ratings , and all City employees
5 looked at in terms of their courtesy and performance were rated
6 enthusiastically. Conclusion: human side of City government in
7 St. Anthony is no problem at all and is probably one of its major
8 strengths.
9 7 . Economic development efforts. respondents generally agreed with
10 the direction the Council is taking, but there is a minority
11 opposition view that more emphasis should be placed on attracting
12 younger families to become residents. Shopping patterns split
13 the community with half shopping in St. Anthony and the other
14 half going elsewhere for most of the things they bought (most
15 mentioned Rosedale) . The reasons for going elsewhere were stores
16 and selections where half found the mall better.
17 8 . Recycling meets metropolitan norm. The 33% figure for residents who
recycle might be inflated. Most residents favor an incentive
19 program (over 70% support) but certainly don' t like the idea of
20 having garbage collected, separated, and then having everyone
21 charged after the fact. The big problem is the "unalienable
22 right to chose your own hauler" which is supported in most
W223 communities , where the same contradiction exists. A close look
4 at reaction to the water contamination issue indicates very
25 little behavioral change because almost 70% said they use
26 almost as much water now as they did prior to the crisis. Fifty-
27 six percent were satisfied with the proposed filtration system
28 but what appeared would be a calming effect would be to have
29 periodic testing because residents still harbor some suspicious
30 that the "untreated armory water might still be hanging around
31 out there. "
32 9 . No dominant source of information. Residents rely on the Bul-
33 letin. Thirty-eight percent readership is very low for a local
34 newspaper. Only 12% mentioned the City Newsletter, which is also
35 low compared to other suburban communities. 12% mentioned the
36 Star & Tribune. However, most of those surveyed considered the
37 newspaper coverage as "adequate" when that question was asked.
38 In fact, 81% were satisfied with the amount of information they
39 are getting, which seems to indicate that they' re picking up
40 enough pieces of information here and there, to satisfy them,
41 indicating they are very much in favor of the status quo with
42 substantial opposition to a new publication and very little
43 interest in cable television. The one problem area in communi-
44 cations is the reaction of the younger less informed and less
45 connected residents in the northern part of the City. Surveys
46 of these people indicated they did not =feel as, strongly ,connected
47 to the City or as knowledgeable about what was going on in the
048 City as other residents, making them less satisfied with their
17
*1 level of information about the City. Summarized that with one
2 exception, in spite of the disparate channels of information,
3 people seem to have accepted that and have gotten used to it
4 and appear to have their means of gathering information.
5 CITY SET NEW HIGH FOR FIRST RING SUBURBS
6 To support the excellent findings his firm had found related to St.
7 Anthony, Mr. Morris reiterated that the surveyors had contacted 400
8 randomly selected households throughout the community, which provided
9 a plus or minus accuracy rate of 5% of the feelings of the community,
10 or 95 out of 100 cases. Great precautions were taken with this
11 sampling by using a city map to keep track of where people were
12 located within the City to guarantee a good representative spread,
13 including apartments , was reflected in the results. The sample was
14 validated with available census and Metropolitan Council data, which
15 had resulted in Decisions Resources concluding they had a very
16 defendable and representative sample.
17 Mr. Morris told Councilmember Marks, it would be very hard to separate
18 out the response from the population who owned their homes in the
19 neighborhood north of 37th Avneue N.E. who represented a very small
20 sub-sample in the survey, but agreed there was a problem of perceived
21 estrangement from the rest of the City.
2 There was general agreement that the staff should look at individual
23 mailings of the Newsletter to the apartment dwellers. Mr. Morris
24 reported Plymouth' s success in bringing its high density apartment
25 residents in touch with the rest of the community after their
26 newsletter was delivered to each apartment and Plymouth had even held
27 a couple of council meetings in those areas. He said that in spite of
28 the fact that 60% of the people in the apartment area perceived they
29 were not a part of the city and planned to move elsewhere, a second
30 survey had found the disconnection problem had disappeared.
31 Councilmember Ranallo pointed to representation that area had with
32 Mayor Haik and Commissioners Jones, McGinn and Madden. Councilmember
33 Ranallo recalled that Karen Karkula of Mirror Lake Manor had been very
34 active on another City commission, but there had been little
35 interest on the part of apartment renters to participate.
36 Mr. Childs reiterated that whatever type of information the
37 residents are getting, they seem to be comfortable with it. The
38 Manager said if staff ' s plan to get the Newsletter into every mail box
39 is successful, he anticipated a second survey of that Ramsey County
40 section of the City might be as positive as Plymouth' s had been when
41 it came to elimination of feelings of alienation from the rest of
42 the community. Mr. Childs also reminded the Councilmembers that about
43 a quarter of the renters have the desire to obtain permanent housing
44 in the City, which they have been unable to do because there are no
#5 empty single family homes to move into, which may have contributed to
6 their feelings of frustration.
18
1 Councilmember Marks indicated the several attempts he had made to have
2 coffee parties in the apartments had been unsuccessful.
3 Mayor Sundland told Mr. Morris his was only one survey being made in
4 the City at this time, the other being that which the school district
5 mailed out to residents, a few of whom had told the Mayor they found
6 the questions too complicated to understand.
7 Mr. Childs, recalling discussions earlier that evening about the
8 City' s code enforcement, drew attention to the survey' s indication
9 that the average St. Anthony resident perceived the City is neither
10 too tough nor too lenient, but about right when it came to that. He
11 added that corrections had now been made at staff level which should
12 prevent recurrence of situations where "someone plays both ends
13 against the middle and gets away with something. " He said he
14 wouldn't expect a "flood of ordinance breakers" in St. Anthony in the
15 future.
16 The Decision Resources representatives were thanked for a good job and
17 Councilmember Makowske said she thought those thanks should also go to
18 the residents who took the time to answer the many questions in the
19 survey. In that respect, Ms. Traxler said her callers had found the
20 St. Anthony residents to be "as happy as any they had ever contacted
21 to be able to express their opinions" with many staying on the phone a
22 half an hour, where normally a survey of this length should take only
-3 15 minutes. One resident broke all the records , talking for an hour
24 and fifteen minutes.
25 Mayor Sundland said he had told one person who questioned the validity
26 of the survey that the TV networks had been able to base their
27 presidential election projections on a poll of only 300 voters as
28 they went into the polling places.
29 Mr. Childs and Mr. Hamer indicated staff was already using the survey
30 with the latter saying the Public Works people were looking for ways
31 to improve on any problem areas.
32 Mr. Childs added that in addition to improving current performance,
33 one of the purposes of the survey had been to get a handle on
34 information which could be used for long range planning and decision
35 on how the City' s resources should be channeled.
36 UNFINISHED BUSINESS
37 Motion by Marks, seconded by Makowske to approve the second reading
38 of the ordinance increasing water rates.
39 ORDINANCE 1988-003
40 AN ORDINANCE RELATING TO WATER RATES; AMENDING
�1 SUBDS. 2 AND 3 OF SECTION 550 : 00 OF THE 1973
19
• 1 CODE OF ORDINANCES OF THE CITY OF ST. ANTHONY
2 Motion carried unanimously.
3 Councilmember Enrooth explained that he had changed his mind on the
4 issue since the last meeting, having come to agree with the conclusion
5 of an article he had read in the Freshwater magazine, that "there' s no
6 free lunch and sooner or later we have to pay for water overuse we
7 haven' t paid for in the past. " He perceived the water rates the City
8 was adopting now would be paltry in the face of what would have to be
9 charged in the future.
10 ADJOURNMENT
11 Motion by Ranallo, seconded by Marks to adjourn the meeting at 10 : 30
12 P.M. for the St. Anthony Housing and Redevelopment Authority meeting
13 which followed immediately.
14 Motion carried unanimously.
15 Respectfully submitted,
16 Helen C we, Secretary
•
17
18 or
19 ATTEST: &Wv
20 •City Clerk
21 :cjk
22
23
•
20