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HomeMy WebLinkAboutCity Council - 02/01/2000 - Workshop APPROVED MINUTES EDEN PRAIRIE CITY COUNCIL WORKSHOP/FORUM TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 1,2000 5:00- 6:55 PM, CITY CENTER HERITAGE ROOM H CITY COUNCIL: Mayor Jean Harris, Councilmembers Sherry Butcher,Ronald Case,Ross Thorfinnson, Jr., and Nancy Tyra-Lukens CITY COUNCIL STAFF: City Manager Chris Enger, Parks & Recreation Services Director Bob Lambert, Public Safety Director Jim Clark, Public Works Services Director Eugene Dietz, Asst. City Engineer Rod Rue, Community Development -and Financial Services Director Don Uram, Management Services Director Natalie Swaggert, Personnel Coordinator Michael Barone, and Council Recorder Peggy Rasmussen I. CALL MEETING TO ORDER—MAYOR JEAN HARRIS Mayor Harris called the meeting to order at 5:30 p.m. Councilmember Tyra-Lukens was absent. H. APPROVAL OF AGENDA Swaggert added information to the Strategic Plan status that pertains to the City Manager's performance review. III. STRATEGIC PLAN STATUS AND DIRECTIONS FOR 2000 A Status Report has been prepared on the 23 strategies in the 1999-2000 Strategic Plan. This is a two-year plan, and Enger asked the area directors to describe the progress that was made on the strategies in 1999 and what is planned for 2000. Strategy No. l Traffic Demand Management(TDM) Dietz explained the work being done to implement the strategy for Traffic Demand Management. A private Traffic Management Organization will be organized as part of the TDM demonstration program in the Golden Triangle Area. The City expects to receive a grant to pay the salary of a TMO Executive Director for one year, after which it is planned to have the salary paid by the private sector. A job description has been written for that position and will soon be advertised. Staff has interviewed one candidate for the position of Traffic Engineer. There has been the only candidate so far. CITY COUNCIL WORKSHOP/FORUM MINUTES February 1, 2000 Page 2 Dietz said a proposal has been developed to do a traffic study for the Golden Triangle Area. The cost will be shared equally between the City and the Metro Council. Strategy No. 2 Develop A Fljmg Cloud Airport City Protection Plan Enger reviewed this strategy. The City has a committee member on MAC's EIS Advisory Committee and EIS Noise Mitigation Committee, and helped develop language for an amended MAC Ordinance 51. The public hearing on the Draft EIS will include City comments. Staff believes the Draft EIS did not adequately answer a number of the City's questions. Strategy No. 3 Establish a Process for Design Review of Road Projects Dietz said, with regard to the upgrade of Highway 101, Chanhassen is in the process of holding another round of neighborhood meetings; however, there is no new information to provide residents. Eden Prairie received no requests for small neighborhood meetings. Eden Prairie is hoping to arrange a joint meeting with Chanhassen, or at least to narrow the scope of the alternatives. It will likely be 60-90 days before Eden Prairie begins .another round of public meetings. Strategy No. 4 Public Safety Training Center Clark discussed the plans for a Public Safety Training Center. They are looking for a place to train police and firefighters. The former police building was looked into, but was dropped from consideration and has been sold. The need for a training center will become critical. Clark said a piece of property has been identified near Braemar. The owners are willing to sell that property, but funding has become a problem. It is hoped that money will be available out of a bonding bill from the State Legislature. A number of cities say they will come and train from a facility once it is built,but don't want to participate in the cost of building it. Strategy No. 5 Increase Visibility of Traffic Enforcement Clark said Public Safety has identified the traffic problems they want to concentrate on. Their intention is to prevent traffic violations through a higher visibility of enforcement. They are using different kinds of signs for pedestrian crossings that are more visible. The department is trying to find unique ways of enforcing the law. They now have a centralized complaint process; when complaints come in they decide if it is an engineering issue or an enforcement issue. Public information is carried out through the City's web site, which indicates hot spots where there will be a concentration of enforcement. The intent is to get people to slow down and to stop for stoplights. The department works with students who are in Driver's Education classes. They look for opportunities to do things to prevent violations. Plans are underway for citizen neighborhood enforcement to begin next spring. CITY COUNCIL WORKSHOP/FORUM MINUTES February 1, 2000 Page 3 Strategy No. 6 Upgrade Eden Prairie Mall and Downtown Area Development Uram spoke on this strategy. In December 1999 the final documents were approved by the City Council, authorizing up to $10 million in TIF financing for the Eden Prairie Center project. The TIF allocation was reduced from $15 million to $10 million. A building permit for the Von Maur department store is being processed. Target has plans for a building extension into the mall. The developers said the renovation of the interior of the mall would begin this spring. Strategy No. 7 Foster and encourage competition between private vendors to provide a high-speed information network for the City and school facilities Uram said an agreement has been reached with KMC to provide fiber optic cable service to the City. Purchase of electronics for City facilities is on the Council agenda for February 1. KMC will provide local and long-distance service at great savings to the City. Strategy No. 8 Develop a Program to Manage Cell Towers Enger said the City has had some difficulty in dealing with so many cell tower applicants and their desire to locate throughout the community. Standard procedures and forms for cell tower applicants have been developed. Clark said Jean Johnson and others developed a policy relating to licenses to use City property for cell towers. Application fees were incorporated into the•City's 2000 Fee Structure. Enger said this is the administrative process that will be used to implement Council's adoption of the ordinance change to Chapter 11. Towers that are too tall or don't meet the ordinance will go through the public hearing process. Strategy No. 9 Implement Liquor Enterprise Business Plan Uram said the preliminary figures for 1999 show $6.7 million in sales. He will bring recommendations to the Council on options for using the profits. In 1999 an inventory- control person and another liquor store manager were hired. The wage levels were reviewed and changes made. They are now looking at the pricing of their products and how to increase wine sales. The City's web site is being used as a marketing tool. They are considering expansion of the liquor store at the intersection of Highways 4 and 5. They are also looking for other locations for a liquor store. Cub Foods has the largest volume of sales,but Rainbow Foods was up 20 percent in January. Case said he has been asked why the City is in the business of selling liquor. He inquired if a philosophy statement answering this question could be placed on the web site. Enger agreed this would be a good idea. Strategy No.10 Preserve Natural Resources through Development of Partnerships, Regulation,Education,Management and Land Use Planning CITY COUNCIL WORKSHOP/FORUM MINUTES February 1,2000 Page 4 Lambert reviewed the accomplishments of 1999 and work to be done in 2000. • The City received a Greenway Planning Grant for $25,000 to assist in the development of a management plan for the remaining conservation areas along Riley and Purgatory Creeks. This amount will be matched by the City and Watershed District for Phase I of the project. The City has applied for another $20,000 grant to finish the project,which will be awarded in April or May. • Lambert is working with citizen volunteers who are interested in establishing new prairie areas. He will encourage that group of citizens to stay interested and involved. • The second reading of the Wetland Plan and Ordinance is on the agenda for the February 1st Council meeting. • The Local Drainage Plan has been completed. We are in the proposal phase for the final element of a local Water Management Plan. • The Round Lake beach will be closed this year and interim measures will be taken to allow swimming at Round Lake in 2001. Council and Staff will meet April 18 with Barr Engineering and the DNR at a Workshop to explore long-range options for maintaining swimming at Round Lake. • An Environmental Fair is scheduled for spring 2000. • The City is working in partnership with the Watershed District and City of Chanhassen on a pilot project to offer rebates to homeowners who participate in a Shoreland Landscaping Plan for Lake Riley. The rebate will be for a portion of the cost of landscaping. Strategy No. 11 Update the Comprehensive Park Plan to reflect the changing demographics Lambert said the department is working on an update, with a number of chapters completed. Staff plans to finish the Park and Open Space Plan and submit it, along with the updated Guide Plan for review by December 2000. Strategy No. 12 Investigate Opportunities for Leisure Facilities City Staff has talked to General Growth regarding partnerships in development of the Eden Prairie Center site. Ideas to get the best community use of 5,Q00 square feet of space in the mall will be developed through workshops, etc. Staff is talking to MAC staff about possible uses of their buffer space near the airport, and asked if they would consider use of that space for golfers or as an open space with a trail. Special uses might be possible, such as dog training or letting dogs run off their leads. However, MAC is waiting to see how much land they need to acquire before committing to anything. The City has received approval for the ball field improvements and plan to begin work in May and complete by Labor Day. Strategies 14-23 have been reviewed at previous workshops. Swaggert distributed information pertaining to the City Manager's annual performance review. Evaluation questionnaires will be completed by representatives of the CITY COUNCIL WORKSHOP/FORUM MINUTES February 1, 2000 Page 5 community, the City Council and City Staff. An evaluation of performance objectives is to be completed only by the City Council. The Council team will be put together the final Summary Performance Evaluation. IV. IMMIGRANT COMMUNITY"CHANGING FACES, CHANGING COMMUNITIES, STUDY CIRCLES" The City is beginning to see the impact on City services of the emerging immigrant community. Staff is looking at the results of a study that was done last year. Enger said it is important to bear in mind the City has an existing structure meant to deal with social issues. Several initiatives have been started to focus attention on the immigrant community. The South Hennepin Immigrant Services Group meets each month with City Staff representation. A South Hennepin Regional Planning Agency Study was done in October 1999. The emerging immigrant community is a major area of focus in.2000-2001 for the City's Human Rights and Diversity Citizen Advisory Commission. This will also be discussed at an upcoming Council Workshop with the School Board. Barone reported on one initiative that is being started by the League of Women Voters called "Changing Faces, Changing Communities, Study Circles." It is a five-week series of community circle discussions to be held at the City Center, beginning with a kickoff general meeting on February 14. Mayor Harris said she plans to be in attendance. Regarding the discussion with the School Board, Mayor Harris said one workshop of 2-4 hours would appear sufficient. However, it will be necessary to define what the Council and Staff expects to come out of the meetings. Thorfinnson said he would like the agenda to be well defined. Enger said Staff would come back to the Council with information on the School Board's expectations. V. OTHER BUSINESS VI. COUNCIL FORUM A. Friends of Birch Island Woods — Jeff Strate, Dave Spoor, Bob and Rita Krocak,Mary Jo Bailey, and Terry Picha Jeff Strate spoke for the above group, which was formed after Hennepin County gave notice that it is planning to sell approximately 34 acres of land southeast of Birch Island Park. Strate thanked the City for applying for a Metro Greenway Grant and for sending a letter to the Hennepin County Board of Commissioners, asking that the County give the City two years to obtain funding to buy the property. His group is trying to convince the Commissioners that perhaps a simple conveyance would be in the best interests of all the citizens. They want to show the Commissioners that this area serves Minnetonka as well as Eden Prairie; it is important to keep Birch Island Woods free of development. Strate recently met with people from Eden Woods Center and Bob Lambert to discuss this. CITY COUNCIL WORKSHOP/FORUM MINUTES February 1, 2000 Page 6 The County gave Eden Prairie 60 days to come up with the money to purchase the land for $1,032,000. This subject is expected to be discussed at the County Board's February 14 meeting. Strate asked City Councilmembers to assist by requesting that County Commissioners give the City more time. The Friends of Birch Island Woods are planning to continue meeting with members of the Board of Commissioners. State Senator Ed Oliver and others are helping the group. Terry Picha, who operates Heritage Farm, said the development of Birch Island Road would probably force Heritage Farm out. Five-and-a-half acres are south of Birch Island Road and five acres are north. He has restored the buildings and may allow it to be used as a community history farm. Mayor Harris said she has talked to Commissioner Randy Johnson. He made it clear the County is not in the business of developing parks and does not intend to give the land away. However, he is sensitive to the concerns that citizens have. He indicated the deadline of February 14 could be changed to enable the City to obtain funding. Harris said the question is how much can the City come up with. Perhaps it could negotiate to retain part of the land for conservation. Commissioner Johnson promised Mayor Harris he would talk to others at the County, and it might be well to follow up with him to see if the City can get the date extended. Enger said he would pursue this. B. Shoveling of Snow on Sidewalks—Lori Walker Lori Walker has found that many homeowners in her neighborhood do not shovel snow from the sidewalks adjoining their property. She was surprised to learn that Eden Prairie does not have an ordinance requiring that homeowners shovel their sidewalks. Lambert explained the reason Eden Prairie does not have an ordinance is that only 20 percent of the houses in the City have sidewalks adjacent to their properties, and it was considered unfair to have an ordinance that only affected such a small number of homeowners. Basically there are sidewalks or trails on both sides of the major roadways, but otherwise they are only on one side. The City is committed to plowing trails and sidewalks where it is dangerous to have people walking in the road. Mayor Harris said the City has to deal with issues of equity for all of its residents and determined many years ago that it was inequitable to ask 20 percent of the people to shovel sidewalks. VII. ADJOURNMENT Mayor Harris adjourned the meeting at 6:55 p.m.