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HomeMy WebLinkAboutCity Council - 02/25/1986EDEN PRAIRIE SPECIAL r11 57 COUNCIL MEETING TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 25, 1986 7:30 PM, SCHOOL ADMINISTRATION BOARDROOM COUNCIL MEMBERS: Mayor Gary Peterson, Richard Anderson, George Bentley, Patricia Pidcock and Paul Redpath CITY COUNCIL STAFF: City Manager Carl J. Jullie; Assistant to the City Manager Craig Dawson; Planning Director Chris Enger; Director of Community Services Robert Lambert, and Recording Secretary Karen Michael PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE ROLL CALL APPROVAL OF AGENDA DISCUSSION ON CITY HALL SITE SELECTION NEW BUSINESS ADJOURNMENT. MEMORANDUM TO: THRU: FROM: DATE: SUBJECT: Mayor and City Council Carl Jullie, City Manager Bob Lambert, Director of Community Services February 21, 1986 City Hall Site Selection The City Council has been provided with extensive information regarding several potential City Hall sites. In January the Site Selection Committee recommended the City continue to consider three sites. The first two sites, the MTS site and the Naegele site, were unanimously selected by the committee. The third site was adjacent to the Library. At the January 29th Council meeting, staff was directed to provide additional information on the City owned property south of the Public Safety building, and additional information on the MTS site in order to allow the Council to compare acquistion and developmemt costs of that site with the Naegele site. The Council also requested staff to provide a memorandum stating the impact moving the major access from the east to the north would have on the Purgatory Creek Recreation Area. In a February 11th memorandum, Craig Dawson provided the Council with a summary of the information requested on the City owned property south of the Public Safety building. The Director of Community Services provided a February 11th memorandum to the Mayor and Council regarding a staff opinion on the location of the Purgatory Creek Recreation Area major entry. The Council also received a soil boring report, dated February 7th, on the MTS site. This memorandum attempts to summarize information regarding the MTS site and the Naegele site, which were the two preferred sites by the City Hall Site Selection Committee. MTS SITE S oi ls The soil boring report did not provide any surprising information. As expected, the soils adjacent to the floodplain are marginal; whereas, the further away from the floodplain the borings are taken the better the soil conditions were. If the City were to acquire 10 acres south of Technology Drive and west of Purgatory Creek floodplain, it is extremeley likely the City Hall building could be placed on the site with little or no soil correction required for the building. This site could be developed with relatively little grading and there would be no off site fill required. Price The MTS officials have had only a few hours to discuss a report they received regarding the value of their property. They indicated to City staff that MTS would consider selling developable property outside of the floodplain to the City for approximately $4/sq. ft. Their asking price is 1.7 million-dollars for 10 acres. Location The MTS site is located on the north end of the Purgatory Creek Recreation Area. The Guide Plan depicts land to the north and west as industrial, land to the northeast as commercial, land to the east as park. Staff would recommend acquiring sufficient property to provide a major access to the Purgatory Creek Recreation Area, as well as providing a site for future government buildings. The original site reviewed by the City Hall Site Selection Committee was a 28 acre site, of which approximately 12 acres was in the floodplain and 16 acres lying west of the floodplain. If the City wished to acquire 16 acres at this site, and if the final price was $4/sq. ft., the cost would be $2,787,840. NAEGELE SITE Soils The entire Naegele site consists of poor soils ranging in depth from 4' to over 20'. The entire site consists of 11.54 acres, of which .645 acres is west of the 660' setback from Prairie Center Drive, the buildable line established by the Watershed District. Approximately 4.2 acres is presently above the 826 contour, which is the minimum floor elevation for any structure on the site. As the Febraury 18th memorandum regarding Naegele property soil corrections indicates, this site will require between 110,000 and 150,000 yards of fill to develop this site at a cost that could range between $110,000 and $520,000 depending on where the fill is acquired and how it is moved to the site. Price The owner of this site has quoted the City a cost of $3.70/sq. ft., plus $10,000 for planning costs he has invested in the site. If the City purchased 10 acres of this site at $3.70/sq. ft., the cost would be $1,611,720, plus $10,000 for the planning costs, plus $100,000 to $500,000 for fill. The range for the acquisition and development costs of this site is $1,721,720 to $2,121,720. Staff would recommend budgeting 1.9 million, if this is the preferred site. Location This site best location for a City Hall of the sites considered if the Council chooses to acquire sufficient property to ultimately develop a government center complex within the downtown area, and adjacent to a major entry to the Purgatory Creek Recreation Area. The Site Selection Committee recommended the MTS site and the Naegele site because both sites fit that description. The committee recognized that the MTS site is on the extreme fringe of Eden Prairie's future downtown; however, they were assuming the City would be able to acquire more land for less money on the MIS site, and that the soil conditions would be much better than the Naegele property. The soil conditions are better on the MTS site, however, the acquisition and development costs are relatively equal. The major decision between these two sites is whether or not the location on Prairie Center Drive is worth the problems the City will face developing on unstable soils. Unstable soils do cause some extra construction costs to the building. (Mr. Brauer estimates 5% of the building cost.) The hard edge plaza, fountain and amphitheatre concept would have to change or would have to be constructed on pilings. All of these problems can be solved through common' engineering and architectual procedures. MEMORANDUM TO: Mayor and City Council THRU: Carl Jullie, City Manager FROM: Bob Lambert, Director of Community Services 1 14/ DATE: February 18, 1986 SUBJECT: Naegele Property Soil Corrections The Naegele property consists of approximately 10.6 acres located north of the Flagship Athletic Club, west of Prairie Center Drive. Approximately half of this property has been filled to some extent with soils from the Flagship site and granular fill from the Teman property on the east side of Prairie Center Drive. It has been stated in previous reports that any buildings located on this property would have to be constructed on pilings. It should also be noted that in order to develop this site, additional fill will be required to raise the western portion of the site above the flood elevation and to provide some surcharge on the portion of the site that will be developed. Approximately 4.2 acres of the 10.6 acre site is presently above the 826 contour (the 824 contour is the hundred year flood elevation). In order to make the existing 4.2 acres buildable for parking lots, etc., City staff estimate that approximately 4 of surcharge will be required to be placed on the 4.2 acres. Staff would estimate approximately a 1' settlement in this area during surcharge and that approximately 3' of the surcharge would be removed and placed on the western portion of the site below the 826 contour. In order to make the remaining portion of the site (within 660' of Prairie Center Drive) usable for park purposes, staff estimates that portion of the site should be filled to the 828 contour, which would eventually settle to approximately the 826 contour. In order to accomplish the filling described above, the City would have to place approximately 110,000 cubic yards of fill on the site. The estimated cost for placing that amount of fill could range from $110,000 to approximately $380,000 depending on whether or not fill was available free and could be moved by scraper ($1.00 per yard), or whether fill would have to be purchased and trucked to the site (estimate $3.50 per square yard if purchased within three mile radius). If the City wished to correct the entire site (660' from Prairie Center Drive) for parking lots, etc., staff estimates that approximately 150,000 cubic yards of fill would be required on this site. The estimated cost for this improvement would range from $150,000 to $520,000 depending on the $1.00 per square yard for moving free fill by scraper or $3.50 per yard for purchasing fill within a three mile radius. If the Council decides to purchase the Naegele site, staff would recommend budgeting approximately $300,000 for fill, as it is likely there is some free fill available on the west side of Prairie Center Drive; however, the City has no written commitments from any property owner to that fact. The proposed fill will not negate the need for piling for construction of any structure. This memo is filled with the two words "staff estimates". The only way to accurately provide a figure is to have a site plan prepared by an architect and reviewed by a soils engineer. The soils engineer would tell exactly how much fill is required and then the City would have to negotiate acquisition costs for the fill and costs for placing the fill on the site. At this time, staff only wants to point out that there will be some additional costs, other than land costs, for developing this site. BL:md MEMORANDUM TO: THROUGH: FROM: SUBJECT: DATE: Mayor and City Council City Manager Carl J. Jullie Assistant to the City Manager Craig W. Dawson 0,15 Land Price and Taxes at 8000 Mitchell Road February 11, 1986 At its February 4, 1986 meeting the City Council requested information about the price paid by the City for property at 8000 Mitchell Road and the amount of property taxes which would have been paid had it not become tax exempt. The City executed a purchase agreement with a warranty deed with the former owner of the property, Mrs. Madeline Schultz, for $230,000 on September 23, 1982. The taxes payable in the following years would have been levied had the assessed value of the homesteaded property remained the same: Year Amount 1983 $2,320 1984 2,380 1985 2,300* 1986 2,400* *approximate $9,400 The City portion of these taxes, roughly 20 percent, would have been $1,880. CWO:jdp - MEMORANDUM TO: THRU: FROM: DATE: SUBECT: Mayor and City Council Carl Jullie, City Manager Bob Lambert, Director of Community services February 11, 1986 Location of Purgatory Creek Recreation Area Major E n t r y In late 1985, the City Council appointed a City H a l l S i t e S e l e c t i o n C o m m i t t e e t o review six potential City Hall sites, and to m a k e a r e c o m m e n d a t i o n t o t h e C i t y Council prior to their January 29th meeting. D u r i n g t h e r e v i e w p r o c e s s , s t a f f developed a list of pros and cons for each of t h e s i x s i t e s , a s w e l l a s i n f o r m a t i o n regarding the asking price for the property, an d i n f o r m a t i o n a v a i l a b l e o n s o i l conditions, special assessments, etc. While revie w i n g t h e p r o s a n d c o n s o n s i t e # 2 , located on the west side of the Purgatory Creek R e c r e a t i o n A r e a , s t a f f b e g a n t o notice the impact of the property west and no r t h o f t h e M i l l e r H o m e s s i t e . S t a f f decided to provide information on a 28 acre si t e o w n e d b y M I S C o m p a n y , l o c a t e d o n the north side of Purgatory Creek Recreation A r e a . T h e e a s t e r n b o u n d a r y o f s i t e 7 is located approximately 1300 feet west of the w e s t e r n b o u n d a r y o f s i t e 3 . The initial review of this site indicated that t h e s o i l s w o u l d b e b e t t e r t h a n e i t h e r of the other two sites (site #3 and site #2) pro v i d i n g a c c e s s t o t h e P u r g a t o r y C r e e k Recreation Area, and the site would be less tha n h a l f a m i l e w e s t o f P r a i r i e C e n t e r Drive on Technology Drive. After visiting the site and discussing pros and c o n s o f t h e v a r i o u s s i t e s , t h e S i t e Selection Committee recommended three sites t o t h e C i t y C o u n c i l f o r f u r t h e r consideration. The first priority site was the M I S s i t e . T h e s e c o n d p r i o r i t y s i t e was the site north of the Flagship. The third p r i o r i t y s i t e w a s t h e s i t e a d j a c e n t to the library. The site adjacent to the librar y w a s r e c o m m e n d e d o n a s p l i t v o t e . The first two sites were a unanimous decision b y t h e c o m m i t t e e . T h e c o m m i t t e e recommended that prior to making a decision on e i t h e r s i t e t h e C i t y C o u n c i l o b t a i n soil boring information on the MIS site and obta i n a f i r m c o m m i t m e n t o n p r i c e f r o m both property owners. TTe committee felt that by p r o v i d i n g t w o h i g h p r i o r i t y s i t e s , the City Council would be able to negotiate a fai r p r i c e f r o m e i t h e r p r o p e r t y o w n e r . The City Council's major concern regarding the M T S s i t e w a s t h a t t h e m a i n e n t r a n c e to the park would now be from the north, rathe r t h a n f r o m t h e e a s t . T h e C o u n c i l requested staff to provide a memo outlining the i m p a c t t h i s c h a n g e w o u l d h a v e o n t h e character of the park, the park design, etc. It should be understood that although a master p l a n w a s a p p r o v e d f o r t h e P u r g a t o r y Creek Recreation Area depicting four entry po i n t s , a s w e l l a s a n amphitheater, plaza, golf course, trails and specific locations for open w a t e r a r e a s , t h e P a r k Planner developed the initial concept for the dev e l o p m e n t o f t h e p r o p o s e d a r e a b a s e d on several assumptions regarding soils and w a t e r e l e v a t i o n s d u r i n g f l o o d i n g conditions. The planner indicated the park pl a n w o u l d u n d o u b t a b l y c h a n g e w h e n detailed information was made available regarding f l o o d e l e v a t i o n s , s o i l s a n d g r o u n d water conditions. There is no doubt both sites have potential for developing different types of entryways due to their location, and to the soils on or adjacent to each site. The major question regarding the two different locations is: "Will moving the location of the entryway from the east to the north change the character of this park from a regionally used, urban community park to just another city community park? It has been stated that if the park entrance is not located on the east side, the park merely becomes another community park, rather than a regionally used urban park; however, the 200 acres of parkland will not be moved to the country somewhere, it still will remain directly adjacent to our urban center. The use of the plaza and entryway may change by moving it from the east to the north, but the major impact on how the entry plaza will be used will depend directly on how the adjacent land is developed. The use of the remaining portion of the park, the trails, the open space areas, the ponds, and the golf course, if it is developed, will not be greatly affected if the major entry is moved from the east to the north. The original concept was that small retail shops would be located in this area and hundreds of people would be constantly shopping around the entry plaza area. If the City believes the Feeders property and the Teman property, east of Prairie Center Drive, will be developed as commercial with retail shops, staff would agree that a high percentage of the people that use this park would be people shopping in the area; however, if those sites are developed as office sites, the major pedestrian use would be office workers during noon hours, whereas, the evening or weekend users would come to the park via automobile. On page 6 of the approved plan, under the title Main Entrance, the plan states the following: "development adjacent to the entrance plaza should be designed to "tie into" the plaza area using similar surface paving and design motifs. Continuity of materials and design will unify the entire area and create a pleasing space for human activity. Adjacent developers should be encouraged to incorporate small, intimate shops into developments that will face the plaza area and create a main street, mall effect." On page 14 of the design analysis for the Purgatory Creek Recreation Area under Park Access, the planner states the following: PARK PLAZA - This is a major entrance and a focal point of public facility development. As a major activity center for public enjoyment, it is complimented by adjacent retail/commercial facilities. Nearby high capacity parking facilities serve the area for special event occasions. If the park is located on the north side of the park and the land to the west is developed as either office or "high tech industrial" the majority of the pedestrian traffic would come from people working in the area that would visit the park during the noon hour, but again the majority of the people using the park in the evenings or weekends would be people arriving via automobile. In any case, this park should have access from the north, east, west and south for both pedestrian and people arriving by car. The major land use change affecting this plan occurred in the development of the Flagship to the south and the consideration to develop a government center to the north, both uses contain large scale buildings that will abut the entry plaza. This is a major change from the concept of the master plan which states "Adjacent developers should be encouraged to incorporate small, intimate shops into development, that will face the plaza area and create a main street, mall effect." The location of small shops around the entry plaza would ensure people constantly using the plaza throughout the day. If the plaza is surrounded by large scale office buildings and an athletic club, the major users would be people working nearby at noon hour, and residents arriving at the site by car in the evenings and on weekends. Unless the Council wants to consider purchasing additional property and developing the site as originally planned, the entry plaza use will be similar whether it is located on the north or on the east because the vast majority of the people using the plaza will arrive by automobile, at least for the first 15-20 years. As the City matures and our "downtown" becomes more urban than suburban, the benefit of having the park located on the east side of the park will increase. Considering location alone, site #3 is the best site if the City is able to acquire the entire site; however, site #7 is in very close proximity to site #3 and does have better soil conditions. The Council will have to determine if the soil conditions and the cost differences are worth locating the major entry and the Government Center on the north side, adjacent to proposed industrial uses, or on the east adjacent to proposed office and commercial uses. BL:md MEMORANDUM TO: Mayor and City Council TRHU: Carl Jullie, City Manager FROM: Bob Lambert, Director of Community ServicesU... DATE: February 18, 1986 SUBJECT: City Needs Study Committee Recommendation Attached are minutes of the February 6, 1986 meeting of the Subcommittee on Recreation Facilities and the Febraury 13, 1986 meeting of the City Needs Study Committee regarding a review of the 1985 report and recommendation to the City Council. Council members will note that the subcommittee and the main committee were consistent with their recommendation of 1985. The subcommittee believed that the recreation facilities were just as important as the City Hall and the Fire Hall and should be presented in a referendum either with the City Hall and Fire Hall or prior to the City Hall and Fire Hall. The subcommittee recommended a single question referendum in the spring of 1986 that would include all four issues, the Fire Hall, the City Hall, the Community Center addition, and the park improvements. The City Needs Study Committee unanimoulsy agreed that all four issues are needed by the community at this time; however, the City Hall and the Fire Hall were a higher priority if the City could not afford all four issues at this time. The committee unanimously voted to recommend the City Council include all four issues in a single question referendum in the spring of 1986. The committee also unanimoulsy recommended that if all four issues could not be included in a single question, then the City Hall and Fire Hall be included in a referendum in 1986 and the park and recreation improvements be included in a referendum in 1987. The committee felt both the referendum in 1986 and if one is required in 1987 should be single question issues if at all possible. BL:md- MINUTES CITY NEEDS STUDY COMMITTEE THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 13, 1986 COMMITTEE MEMBERS PRESENT: COMMITTEE MEMBERS ABSENT: ALSO IN ATTENDANCE WERE: 7 P.M. EDEN PRAIRIE CITY HALL LUNCHROOM Carolyn Lyngdal, Moe Cook, Bob Hallett, Merle Gamm, Fred Hoisington, Skip Lane, John Parrington, Gary Soderbern, Bob Lambert Rich Anderson, Swede Rasmussen, Sue Osberg, Gene Haberman Jerry Wigen, Mark Weber Lambert reviewed the City Needs Study Committee final report and the Recommendation from the City Needs Subcommittee on recreation facilities that was presented to the City Council in 1985. The report recommended the City consider a referendum in the Spring of 1986 for a City Hall and Fire Hall and a referendum in the spring of 1987 for a Community Center addition and park improvements. Lambert also explained a group of citizens approached the City Manager in late 1985 and requested City staff to ask the City Council to consider presentinn the Community Center addition and park improvement questions on the same referendum with the City Hall and the Fire Hall in the spring of 1986. On January 29, 1986, the City Council reviewed that request and directed staff to meet again with the City Needs Study Committee and the subcommittee on recreation facilities to determine their opinion regarding the referendum and what should be included in the spring of 1986. Lambert then reviewed the action of the City Needs Subcommittee on Recreation Facil- ities from the meeting of February 6, 1986. The Subcommittee confirmed their pre- vious recommendation that the recreation facilities were needed as badly as the City Hall and the Fire Hall, and recommended that the City consider all four issues in a single question in the spring of 1986. Lambert reviewed the status of the City Hall, the Fire Hall, Miller Park acquisition and developement, softball field acquistion and developement and the Community Center addition. The approved concept plan for Miller Park was reviewed, a concept plan for softball fields, and a concept plan for a Community Center addition were also re- viewed. Jerry Wigen, Co-Chair for the 1979 Park Bond Referendum Committee spoke to the com- mittee regarding the pros and cons of a single question versus multiple question referendum. Mr. Wigen handed out a list of reasons why the city should consider in- cluding all four issues on a single question. This committee discussed at lenoth the pros and cons of a single question versus multiple question referendum. The com- mittee unaimously agreed a single question issue was preferable, however, Lambert indicated that according to our City Attorney the four issues are not related and therefore should be separate questions. Skip Lane indicated that he felt many people in the community would be negative to- ward a City Hall and urged the City to find a way to include all four issues on a single question. -2- John Parrington felt there were perhaps two issues rather than four issues. He believes the Park improvements and the Community Center addition are leisure ser- vice improvements, while the City Hall and Fire Hall are social service issues. He suggested the issues could be reduced to these two questions, but did not believe the park and recreation issues could be very directly associated with the public service issues. Fred Hoisington requested the committee get back to the three questions the Council has asked the committee to consider: 1. Has anything changed since the committee made the recommendation in 1985? 2. Are the priorities of the committee the same as they were in 1985? 3. Does the committee support bringing all four issues to the voters in 19867 Merle Gamin questioned how the committee can make a recommendation or have an opinion when the committee does not know the final costs at this time. He was concerned that the magnitude of the projects had increased greatly. John Parrington reminded the committee that the total of the original recommendation was $11.6 million di- vided into two referendums. Lambert indicated that if all four questions were ad- dressed in 1986, he believed the total would be in the neighborhood of $13 million. John Parrington asked the question "If the City Hall referendum fails will it come up again before the recreation facilites question?" Most committee members believed that it would. Fred Hoisington again asked the committee the following questions: 1. Has any real change occurred with the school needs since 1985? The answer is no. 2. Has the need for the City Hall lessened since 1985? The answer is no. 3. Has the fire response time in Southeast Eden Prairie lessened since 1985? The answer is no. 4. Has the projection for athletic needs increased since 1985? The answer is no. Wigen asked the committee if the committee felt the city could actually put together a referendum on a City Hall and Fire Hall that could pass. Parrington replied that the athletic folks are concerned that if a City Hall and Fire Hall fail the recrea- tion need will be put off after 1987, and that would be going head-to-head with the school bond referendums. Hoisington indicated that the city should make a committ- ment that wether or not the City Hall fails, athletic facility needs should be in- cluded in a referendum in the spring of 1987. Soderberg agreed with the comment of George Bently in a newspaper that perhaps a $15 million referendum would be difficult to pass, however he believes a $13 million referendum could probably pass. Skip Lane, a fireman, believes that the Fire Depart- ment could go a long way toward meeting all of their immediate needs with a $1.5 mill- ion referendum. Again the committee agreed if the referendum were a single question if could probably pass. Lyngdal reminded the committee that in 1985 committee members generally agreed that it would be ideal if the city could have all of the four issues on one refer- endum. Gam responded that the committee made the assumption last year that we could control the amount and that there would not be a shopping list included in the referendum. Parrington pointed out that municipal bonds are probably going to be less attractive in the future and therefore more difficult to sell. So perhaps it would make sense to pass the entire referendum in 1986. -3- Moe Cook indicated that the City Council will make that decision on the amount and whether or not the referendum can be a single question issue or not. He also questioned wether we are being fair to the residents of Eden Prairie by not allowing them to choose on a City Hall or Recreation Facilities. Lambert pointed out that the Council appointed this cross-section of people to serve on City Needs Study Committee so that the committe could be better educated than the general populace on cityneeds. This committee represents the general population of Eden Prairie and has 'a good concept of the needs of the city and therefore the Council will take the recommendation of the committee very seriously. The committee then voted unanimously to indicate to the City Council that the City Needs'Study Committee still considers City Hall and Fire Hall the first priority and the Community Center Addition and the Park improvements as a second priority. The committee then voted unanimously to recommend the City consider a single quest- ion fssue if at all possible for an amount for an amount not to exceed S13 million for a referendum in 1986. The committee further stated that if the City Council calloot include all four items on a single question issue then the City should attempt to have a single question issue on a Fire Hall and a City Hall in 1986 and a single question issue on a Community Center and Park improvement in 1987. The committee also believes very strongly that with the rieht emphasis, and getting the right people involved, this City could pass a single question referendum for all the issues in 1986. Lambert then thanked all the committee members for taking time out of their busy schedules to attend this meeting and provide the input requested by the Council on this very important question. Meeting adjourned. 9:00 P.M.