Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAboutCC MINUTES 01242006I CITY OF ST. ANTHONY 2 CITY COUNCIL REGULAR MEETING MINUTES 3 JANUARY 24, 2006 4 5 CALL TO ORDER 6 Mayor Faust called the meeting to order at 7:00 p.m. 7 8 PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE. 9 Mayor Faust invited the Council and audience to join him in the Pledge of Allegiance. 10 11 ROLL CALL. 12 Present: Mayor Faust; Councilmembers Gray, Horst, Stille, and Thuesen. 13 Absent: None. 14 Also Present: City Manager Mike Morrison. 15 16 17 CONSIDERATION, DISCUSSION, AND POSSIBLE ACTION ON ALL OF THE FOLLOWING 18 ITEMS. 19 20 I. APPROVAL OF JANUARY 24, 2006 CITY COUNCIL MEETING AGENDA. 21 Motion by Councilmember Gray, seconded by Councilmember Stille, to approve the City 22 Council Meeting Agenda of January 24, 2006. 23 24 Motion carried unanimously. 25 26 I1. PROCLAMATIONS AND RECOGNITIONS. 27 None. 28 29 III. CONSENT AGENDA. 30 A. Consider January 10, 2006 Council meeting minutes 31 B. Consider licenses and permits. 32 C. Consider payment of claims. 33 34 Motion by Councilmember Thuesen, seconded by Councilmember Gray, to approve the Consent 35 Agenda items. 36 37 Motion carried unanimously. 38 39 IV. PUBLIC HEARINGS. 40 None. 41 42 V. REPORTS FROM COMMISSION AND STAFF. 43 A. Update on Emerald Park by Jean Garbarini Close Landscape Architecture 44 45 Mr. Morrison stated that in 2005, the Park Commission requested the City Council to set aside 46 funding for the hiring of a landscape consultant for Emerald Park. The City Council authorized 47 up to $10,000 for the park commission. The Park Commission retained the services of Close 48 Landscape Architecture to help prepare a concept plan for the redevelopment of Emerald Park. 49 City Council Regular Meeting Minutes January 24, 2006 Page 2 To date, there have been several meetings with the Park Commission, an open house with the residents, and a cost estimate prepared by Close Landscape. Representatives from Close are in attendance to review the plan with the City Council. Ms. Garbarini, Close Landscape Architecture, explained she was retained to look at a Master Plan for Emerald Park. Listening to concerns of the citizens is a starting point to develop work in the future and meet the City's expectations. 9 She showed an aerial photo of Emerald Park. The northern part is athletic fields. The southern 10 park has mature vegetation and would be something worth preserving. Some initial thoughts 11 were that it is laid out well. It does flow off its edges and doesn't have a lot of structure other 12 than the residential boundaries on the north and south sides. An open house was held September 13 28 with 50 people in attendance. She said they wrote down comments people made at the 14 meeting, and there were forms for people to fill out with comments. She brought the comments 15 with her and offered the Councilmembers the opportunity to look at them. She noted the first 16 comment was to upgrade the children's play area. The park gets more use in the winter and is 17 not as functional in the summer. 18 19 Ms. Garbarini stated the building in the park functions as a multi -use space, and as an open space 20 in the summer. People were enthusiastic about the skating and made it clear that this feature 21 needs to stay. There aren't many sidewalks in the park and there were comments that it is hard 22 to access the building in the winter. Access from all sides in all seasons seemed important. 23 24 She mentioned that a water park for children hasn't functioned for years and people were 25 interested in having it function for water play; not necessarily a pool. She said she has worked 26 with staff and provided a budget number for improvement. 27 28 Ms. Garbarini explained there were concerns about the picnic area. Comments had been made 29 that it could be used for a National Night Out even, or for renting it for family events. The 30 southeast part of the park has mature trees, and is supposed to function as a picnic area. 31 32 People were interested in better lighting at the meeting, stating that there should be more lighting 33 on the paths and on the perimeter of the park. Another common statement is that there are not 34 enough opportunities for seating. 35 36 She noted that comments were made regarding the baseball diamond. It is used frequently 37 starting in May for many practices. It is consistently busy in the evening. Soccer starts in 38 August. The athletic area is well used. 39 40 Ms. Garbarini said there were programs held at the park in the past, which made use of the 41 facilities. The recreation program staff had said the programs would resume if participants were 42 interested. She stated that given the comments from the residents and the Community 43 Recreation program, they developed a program to base their design on. The following are the 44 points covered in their design: 1) Retain the athletic fields, playground and picnic facilities. 2) 45 Renovate the play area. 3) Add and renovate lighting. 4) Improve the walking path. 5) Create a 46 picnic pavilion. 6) Seating improvement. 7) Drainage area improvement. 8) Consider a new City Council Regular Meeting Minutes January 24, 2006 Page 3 1 building. She stated that this land was previously an orchard, and suggested it may be nice to 2 address that in the renovation of the park and acknowledge the cultural history. 3 4 She explained they had a meeting with the Park Commission, and the first option in designing 5 the park includes parking to the west. The number of parking spots remains the same. The 6 building is oriented between the playground and the hockey rink. There would be an arbor with 7 a small picnic pavilion coming off it. It includes a meandering perimeter path. She explained 8 that preliminary option 2 starts to structure items in the park based on the orchard. More 9 plantings are around the center of the park. Instead of having parking on one side of the park, 10 they extended parking into the park and added a lane for backing up. Parallel parking would be 11 on both the east and west sides of the park. There would be continuous pedestrian circulation 12 around the park. She noted the Park Commission seemed to prefer this option. Based on this 13 plan with the split parking, some things needed to be moved over to accommodate the soccer 14 field. 15 16 Ms. Garbarini showed a preliminary idea for the equipment for the park. It ranges from toddler 17 equipment to the elementary aged structures. The focus is more on nets for safety. Water play is 18 based on the square footage that is allocated to this park, and what is most popular today. She 19 said this is what they used to develop a budget. She pointed out that schematic design would 20 need to continue with an architect. Schematic and design would continue into May. Bidding 21 would be from December to March, with a spring 2007 completion. 22 23 Ms. Garbarini provided a preliminary cost estimate. She highlighted the major categories of Site 24 Preparation/Demolition; Earthwork; Bituminous; Concrete; Site Electrical; Miscellaneous Site 25 Improvements; Miscellaneous Landscape Improvement. The total is $1.2 million. She said they 26 are prepared to meet whatever budget requirements the city has. She noted that if the decision is 27 to move ahead with the schedule with the architect as mentioned, and an aquatic director should 28 be brought on board. She said they would like to hold another open house to get feedback and 29 make sure they are fully endorsing this as well. 30 31 Councilmember Thuesen asked if during this process there were further studies on the potential 32 usage and if the need is there to upgrade the park. Ms. Garbarini said they did not receive 33 numbers from the recreation program specifically about winter sports. However, there was a 34 strong idea from the residents that they wanted to keep the park. 35 36 Jay Hartmann noted that Emerald Park clearly is one of the highest users for the hockey rink and 37 recreational skating. 38 39 Councilmember Thuesen asked if there could be surprised in the soils and in the performance of 40 moving it. Ms. Garbarini said the history that this was an orchard at one time is one indication 41 that there could be problems. She said they would look into that. 42 43 Councilmember Thuesen questioned if the main building would act as a warming house. Ms. 44 Garbarini said it would work as a multi -use structure. 45 46 Councilmember Thuesen inquired how open the area of trees and vegetation would be. Ms. 47 Garbarini responded there are trees there that would be limbed up. She said they would be very City Council Regular Meeting Minutes January 24, 2006 Page 4 1 cognizant of the line of sight. She said not all the trees were intended to grow all the way to the 2 ground. 4 Councilmember Gray asked what the feasibility is of dividing this into several phases over 5 several years. Ms. Garbarini responded it is very feasible. There are four quadrants the way the 6 park is now and this lends a good possibility to doing this. 7 8 Councilmember Stille noted the parking is sufficient, though he said he was curious to see what 9 this would do to traffic and usage. Ms. Garbarini said this was discussed at the open house. At 10 one point, it was discussed to remove the parking lot all together. She said her firm works in a 11 lot of Minneapolis parks and they have been removing parking. She noted they heard from a lot 12 of residents that they wanted off - street parking. They wanted to accommodate as many parking 13 spaces on the park as off the park. 14 15 Mayor Faust asked how many parking spaces are on Macalester. Mr. Hartmann said there are 16 18. 17 18 Councilmember Stille asked what constitutes athletic lights. Ms. Garbarini responded there is 19 some athletic lighting now, primarily for the skating rink. She said they would anticipate putting 20 in ball field lighting. 21 22 Ms. Garbarini stated this plan is strictly in response to requirements given by staff and from a list 23 given by the residents. 24 25 Councilmember Horst if more than the already paid $10,000 would be used. Ms. Garbarini said 26 the $10,000 includes the schematic design. The numbers for the lighting is for replacing what is 27 in the park now. 28 29 Councilmember Horst said the main park building is an estimate of $300,000. Ms. Garbarini 30 explained that number was provided by architect, Jeff Artell. He compared this building to 31 others he had designed recently. 32 33 Councilmember Horst questioned if we were to give you a reasonable budget and work 34 backwards could you design based on that. Ms. Garbarini said that is what they would like to do. 35 Their goal is to establish a budget. 36 37 Mayor Faust asked what she would project the number to be. Ms. Garbarini said for $300,000 38 they would focus on the play equipment, though these are decisions that need to be made. 39 40 Mayor Faust asked what the current building is used for. Mr. Hartmann replied it is used as a 41 warming house in the winter, and summer programs are held in the summer with Community 42 Services. 43 44 Mayor Faust questioned how a type of structure for $135,000 would fit and if it would it take out 45 the summer activities. Mr. Hartmann said it would there would not be sufficient room for the 46 summer activities. 47 City Council Regular Meeting Minutes January 24, 2006 Page 5 1 Mayor Faust asked Ms. Garbarini to explain the active and passive portions of the park. Ms. 2 Garbarini said the passive area would mean the adults would use it, and the active area would be 3 the area kids would use. 4 5 Mayor Faust asked if a study has been done to determine the density of the children using the 6 park. He added that he was concerned that those in attendance at the open house were interested 7 residents. Ms. Garbarini said they were. She added that there could be questionnaires to 8 determine who would be using the park. 9 10 Erich Young, Parks Commission Vice Chair, said there are a lot of apartment buildings in New 11 Brighton, and those families could use this park. 12 13 Councilmember Horst asked how the building is utilized in the summer. 14 15 Mr. Hartmann explained it is scheduled through Community Services. Classes are held inside it 16 and outside. 17 18 Mr. Young said Emerald Park is a larger park. People from Roseville and New Brighton use the 19 park because it is the best maintained rink in the area. 20 21 Jeff Reynolds, 4009 Shamrock Drive, said the park is across the street from him. He said they 22 do get a lot of people from both ends. The biggest use is in the winter time. He said they have d 23 done a great job in maintenance. He said it should be made more inviting to use in the summer. 24 There is not much lighting and people like to be able to see their kids. He thanked the Council 25 for considering renovating Emerald Park. 26 27 Mayor Faust said a budget must be determined. He asked the City Manager what needs to be 28 done to move the process forward. 29 30 Mr. Morrison said we are working with staff at Ehlers to come up with a strategy for all 31 improvements. He said this would be put on the list and a budget would be drawn up. If all the 32 funding isn't used, we could have the consultant continue to work with the Parks Commission. 33 He said we will work with our financial consultants to see how far we can afford to go. 34 35 36 B. Presentation of 2006 Goals by Mike Morrison, City Manager. 37 Mr. Momson addressed Council and explained the Council and Staff attended a retreat to work 38 on identifying goals for the next year. He added that it may take more than a year to accomplish 39 some of them. 40 41 The first item they discussed is the strategic profile. He said they devised a vision and core city 42 values which are: Community, collaboration, resident focus, safe and secure environment, the 43 feel of a village and fiscal responsibility. He pointed out the mission, which appears on the 44 letterhead and web page. The Key Action Areas drive what the goals are. These are: flood 45 protection, redevelopment, welcoming image and appearance, strong infrastructure, a safe and 46 secure environment, and clear and open communication. 47 City Council Regular Meeting Minutes January 24, 2006 Page 6 1 The City of St. Anthony 2006 goals include a solution for inflow and infiltration — which 2 basically is the problem with storm water going into sanitary sewer systems. The met council 3 came up with a program wherein 2007, those communities that exceed their excess flow will be 4 fined by the Met Council. Articles explaining this program will be put in the newsletter. 5 6 A second goal is automatic water meters — a new water meter will be put in each house. 7 Someone will read the meters from driving in a car. The goal is to put this into effect in 2006. 0 9 The third goal is the Silver Lake Road Project — the Council meeting on February 14 will include 10 a presentation on the preliminary plan for Silver Lake Road. Construction will take place from 11 May to October 2007. 12 13 The fourth goal is Comprehensive Plan Amendments with an emphasis on sidewalks and street 14 lighting. Our Comp Plan will be 10 years old in 2008. Each city must amend their Comp Plan 15 every 10 years. We have been talking about street lights and sidewalks. Since the Comp Plan 16 looks at this, we would recommend a task force for this to recommend improvements on this. 17 18 The last goal is the Emerald Park Plan, which was kicked off tonight. 19 20 Councilmember Thuesen asked Mr. Morrison explain more about the fine from the Met Council 21 on the inflow and infiltration. Mr. Morrison indicated there will be a surcharge, and the Council 22 will give the money back if the City creates a program to reduce the excess flow. If we reduce 23 the excess flow now, we will avoid the charge. 24 25 Mr. Morrison said we are always improving communication, and we want to introduce the goals 26 to the public. In order to do that, there will be a January meeting with the School Board to 27 present our goals. They will be presented to the Park Commission in March. There will be an 28 April meeting with Former Elected Officials, and also a meeting in April with the Planning 29 Commission. There will be regular updates with the City Council. Public meetings on the goals 30 throughout the year will be held. We will recommend a task force for the Comp Plan. The web 31 site, cable access channel and newsletter are always available. Special newsletters may be part 32 of the infrastructure update this summer. 33 34 The next steps include a preliminary concept plan presentation to the City Council at the 35 February 14` meeting. A resolution establishing a task force and request proposals from 36 planning firms regarding the Comprehensive Plan will be done sometime between February 14 37 to March 14. At an April Council Meeting, a request from Ehlers on a funding plan for these 38 goals, as well as a snapshot of other financing issues will be presented. For the inflow and 39 infiltration and automated water meter goals, a suggested program with costs will be presented 40 by Todd Hubmer, WSB, in April or May. 41 42 Mr. Morrison read the 2006 "To Do List' from goal setting. This will be put in the Council 43 Packet for each meeting. These items include the smoking ban; expenditure policy; 10 p.m. 44 closing for liquor stores; emergency phone system; grant for ladder truck; Falcon 45 Heights/Lauderdale Contracts; Communication to Community Like Value of Services, Former 46 Elected Officials, Newsletters; Sister City Rock Dedication; Security Improvements to 47 Community Center, which is actually completed; Emergency Operations Exercise; Speed Cart, City Council Regular Meeting Minutes January 24, 2006 Page 7 1 Review Planning and Zoning Ordinances Clean-Up; Improvement to AV Room; Council 2 Chambers Kiosk. He pointed out that these goals are listed on the web page. 3 4 Mayor Faust noted the security cameras are outside and improvements have been made to the 5 community center. He asked for further clarification on the speed cart. 6 7 Mr. Mornson said this program is in conjunction with Columbia Heights and New Brighton. 8 This cart flashes the speed of the car going by. It will monitor the traffic and staff will get a 9 printout at the end of the day in order to keep track of whether there are a lot of speeders on a 10 particular road. 11 12 VI. GENERAL BUSINESS OF THE COUNCIL. 13 A. Consider Resolution 06 -015 re: Changing Hennepin County Precinct 1 polling place 14 Mr. Mornson reviewed the resolution with the Council and indicated that the polling place has 15 been at St. Charles Borromeo Church for the past few years. With the many groups using their 16 facilities, committing to elections has been difficult. A couple possible sites were reviewed, and 17 Autumn Woods was found as an appropriate location. 18 19 Mayor Faust reiterated that we don't pay these places for the use of their facilities. It is out of 20 their good civic nature that we are allowed to use their places. 21 22 Motion by Councilmember Gray, seconded by Councilmember Thuesen, to adopt Resolution 06- 23 015 re: Changing Hennepin County Precinct 1 Polling Place to Autumn Woods. 24 25 Motion carried unanimously. 26 27 B. Consider Resolution 06 -016 re: Calling for a public hearing on the modification for 28 Redevelopment Project Area No 3 Chandler Place Tax Increment Financing District and 29 the modification of Tax Increment Financing District No 3 -5 (Silver Lake Village) 30 Mr. Mornson reviewed the resolution with the Council and indicated that this is the second 31 presentation. The public hearing will be March 14, at 7 pm. The HRA meeting will start first 32 that night since it has to approve the modification first. 33 34 Motion by Councilmember Stille, seconded by Councilmember Horst to adopt Resolution 06- 35 016, re: Calling for a Public Hearing on a Proposed Modification to the Redevelopment Plan for 36 Redevelopment Project Area No. 3, the Proposed Modification to the Chandler Place Tax 37 Increment Financing District and the Proposed Modification to Tax Increment Financing District 38 No. 3-5. 39 40 Motion carried unanimously. 41 42 VII. REPORTS FROM CITY MANAGER AND COUNCILMEMBERS. 43 City Manager Mornson reported the following: 44 • There is no Planning Commission report because there were no action items. Joel and 45 Todd were appointed Chair and Vice Chair. The February 14 meeting we can make a 46 decision of whether to hold the next meeting since the Planning Commission has no 47 hearings for mid February. The February 14 meeting will have about 10 resolutions. City Council Regular Meeting Minutes January 24, 2006 Page 8 1 • Tomorrow night is the neighborhood meeting for the '06 project. 2 • March 30 is the Legislative Day with the League of Minnesota Cities at the capital. We 3 can visit with our house and senate members. 4 • Mr. Morrison was appointed to the Metro Area Managers Association Board is now the 5 secretary. 6 • The Northeast Diagonal project will be presented to the Council possibly at the February 7 14 meeting. This is a walkingibike path proposed along the cemetery, golf course and 8 industrial area. 9 • Jean Garbarini presented the City with the plaque won last year as a merit award for 10 landscaping. 11 12 Councilmember Horst had no report. 13 14 Councilmember Stille reported the Family Services Collaborative met. It is funded through 15 Hennepin County. Because of the scarce funding, they are trying to focus on where they should 16 spend the money. They will have some focus groups and will ask for volunteers from those that 17 have children in the school district. You would have input as to where the dollars could be best 18 used. Shelly Freeman would be receptive of a call to volunteer: 612 - 706 -1036. 19 20 Councilmember Thuesen had no report. 21 22 Councilmember Gray reported Dr. Michael Osterhohn, expert of infectious diseases and is with 23 the U of MN, was on the Oprah show today. He saw the last half hour. The Dr. encouraged 24 everyone to read as much as they can on the real threat we have of a pandemic. He said is not a 25 matter of if it will happen, but that we will be faced with a pandemic in the near future. It may 26 not necessarily be the bird flu, but he is quite certain it will happen. 27 28 Mayor Faust indicated that on January 12 and 13, the City Council and Staff attended a 2 -day 29 retreat for goal setting. It was 2 days of hard work and effort. He appreciated everyone's work 30 and feedback. He also noted that the entire Council attended the Silver Lake Road open house. 31 32 VIII. COMMUNITY FORUM. 33 Mayor Faust invited residents to come forward at this time and address the Council on items that 34 are not on the regular agenda. 35 36 Hearing none, Mayor Faust moved forward with the agenda. 37 38 IX. INFORMATION AND ANNOUNCEMENTS. 39 Mayor Faust thanked the Silver Lake Road Task Force for their hard work. 40 41 X. MISCELLANEOUS INFORMATIONAL DOCUMENTS. 42 None. 43 44 XI. ADJOURNMENT. 45 Mayor Faust adjourned the meeting at 8:29 p.m. 46 47 City Council Regular Meeting Minutes January 24, 2006 Page 9 Respectfully submitted, Chris Moksnes 5 TimeSaver Off Site Secretarial, Inc 6 8 ATTEST: i 9 City Clerk Mayor