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HomeMy WebLinkAboutCity Council - 09/04/2001 APPROVED MINUTES EDEN PRAIRIE, CITY COUNCIL TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 4,2001 7:00 PM, CITY CENTER Council Chamber 8080 Mitchell Road CITY COUNCIL: Mayor Jean Harris, Councilmembers Sherry Butcher,Ron Case,Jan Mosman, and Nancy Tyra-Lukens CITY STAFF: City Manager Carl Jullie,Parks &Recreation Services Director Bob Lambert, Public Works Services Director Eugene Dietz, Community Development and Financial Services Director Don Uram,Management Services Director Natalie Swaggert, City Planner Michael Franzen, City Attorney Ric Rosow and Council Recorder Peggy Rasmussen I. ROLL CALL/CALL THE MEETING TO ORDER Mayor Harris called the meeting to order at 7:00 p.m. Councilmember Sherry Butcher was absent. H. PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE III. COUNCIL FORUM INVITATION Mayor Harris said Council Forum is held the first and third Tuesdays of the month from 6:30 — 6:55 p.m. in Heritage Room II. This will be scheduled time following City Council Workshops and immediately preceding regular City Council Meetings. It is important if you wish to visit with the City Council and Service Area Directors at this time that you notify the City Manager's office by noon of the meeting date with your request. IV. PROCLAMATION OF LITERACY AWARENESS MONTH IN EDEN PRAIRIE Mayor Harris read the proclamation, declaring September 2001 to be Literacy Awareness Month. Rita Krocak of SHAPE received the proclamation from the Mayor. V. APPROVAL OF AGENDA AND OTHER ITEMS OF BUSINESS Case added an update from Bob Lambert regarding future plans for the skate park, under XIV. Reports of Officers. Tyra-Lukens added an update on Southwest Metro Transit. Jullie said Item I should be removed from the Consent Calendar. Julhe added appointment of a team of two Councilmembers to assist in the City Manager search process,under=. Appointments, and also added a resolution approving the preliminary tax levy, under XIV. Reports of Officers. Mayor Harris added a discussion about the desire to provide an opportunity to give additional information on the process by which the Council supported the resignation of the previous City Manager. She also added a question for discussion at a Workshop with regard to increasing the size of the Council to seven members because of the increase in the population of Eden Prairie. MOTION: Tyra-Lukens moved, seconded by Case, to approve the agenda as published and amended. Motion carried 4-0. CITY COUNCIL MINUTES September 4,2001 Page 2 VI. MINUTES A. COUNCIL WORKSHOP HELD TUESDAY,AUGUST 21,2001 MOTION: Case moved, seconded by Mosman, to approve the minutes of the Council Workshop held Tuesday,August 21, 2001 as published. Motion carried 4-0. B. CITY COUNCIL MEETING HELD TUESDAY,AUGUST 21,2001 MOTION: Tyra-Lukens moved, seconded by Mosman, to approve the minutes of the City Council Meeting held Tuesday, August 21, 2001 as published. Motion carried 4-0. VII. CONSENT CALENDAR A. RIDGEVIEW TECH BUILDING by Mount Properties, Inc. 2nd Reading for Planned Unit Development District Review with waivers on 1.6 acres, Zoning District Amendment within the Office Zoning District on 1.6 acres, and Site Plan Review on 1.6 acres. Location: 7544 Market Place Drive. (Ordinance No. 30- 2001-PUD-20-2001 for PUD District Review and Zoning District Amendment and Resolution No. 2001-131 for Site Plan Review) B. BLUFFS EAST 17TH ADDITION AMENDMENT by Hustad Land Company. 2nd Reading for Planned Unit Development District Review on 5.78 acres, Zoning District Amendment within the RM-6.5 Zoning District on 5.78 acres, and Site Plan Review on 5.78 acres. Location: South of Pioneer Trail at Franlo Road. (Ordinance No. 27-2001-PUD-17-2001 for PUD District Review and Zoning District Amendment and Resolution No. 2001-132 for Site Plan Review) C. WALGREENS DEVELOPMENT by Semper Development, LTD. 2nd Reading for Planned Unit Development District Review on 3.36 acres, Zoning District Amendment within the C-Comm Zoning District on 3.36 acres, and Site Plan Review on 3.36 acres. Location: Northeast Corner of Co Rd. 4 and Hwy 5. (Ordinance No. 31-2001-PUD-21-2001 for PUD District Review and Zoning District Amendment and Resolution No. 2001-133 for Site Plan Review) D. APPROVE DEVELOPERS AGREEMENT FOR THE ALM SUBDIVISION E. APPROVE 2ND READING OF ORDINANCE NO. 32-2001 AMENDING CITY CODE CHAPTER 9 RELATING TO WATER USAGE FOR SMETANA LAKE F. AUTHORIZE SUBMISSION OF PERMIT APPLICATION FOR 2001-02 WINTER USAGE OF THE LRT TRAIL G. AUTHORIZE ISSUANCE OF GRADING PERMIT TO MATT NH SEN FOR THE CONSTRUCTION OF A BERM AT 7368 WALNUT COURT CITY COUNCIL MEgT=S September 4,2001 Page 3 H. APPROVE VEHICLE LEASE AGREEMENT WITH JIM CARLSON LEASING CO. I. APPROVE PROPOSAL TO CONDUCT FEASIBILITY STUDY TO DECONSTRUCT THE OLD POLICE STATION J. ADOPT RESOLUTION NO. 2001-134 APPROVING PLANS AND SPECIFICATIONS FOR MITCHELL ROAD STORM SEWER IMPROVEMENTS,I.C. 01-5540 Tyra-Lukens inquired, with regard to Item F, whether it was correct that cities can regulate winter activities on the portion of the LRT corridor that goes through their cities. Lambert said that is correct. Eden Prairie does not allow motorized vehicles to use the LRT through Eden Prairie. MOTION: Tyra-Lukens moved, seconded by Mosman, to approve Items A-J,with Item I deleted, on the Consent Calendar. Motion carried 4-0. VIII. PUBLIC HEARINGS/MEETINGS A. TERREY PINE VILLAS by Matrix Development, LLC. Request for Planned Unit Development Concept Review on 6.39 acres, Planned Unit Development District Review with waivers on 6.39 acres, Zoning District Change from Rural to R1-9.5 on 4.97 acres and Zoning District Amendment within the R1-22 Zoning District on 1.42 acres, and Preliminary Plat on 6.39 acres into 13 lots and one outlot. Location: Terrey Pine Drive. (Resolution No. 2001-135 for PUD Concept Review, Ordinance for PUD District Review, Zoning Change and Zoning Amendment and Resolution No. 2001-136 for Preliminary Plat) Jullie said official notice of this public hearing was published in the August 23, 2001,Eden Prairie News and was sent to 79 property owners. Perry Ryan, Ryan Engineering, representing Matrix Development, said they are requesting approval to develop 13 single-family lots on 6.39 acres. The existing home will remain for Phase 1 of the development. The project is located on the south side of Terrey Pine Drive north of Mitchell Lake. They have included all significant trees, with a tree loss of only 15 percent. The proposed homes are rambler style with walkout basements. They will have 2,130 square feet on the main level and a total of over 3,000 finished square feet. The homes would be staggered so they are not right across from one another. They are requesting one curb cut for every two units. The proposed density is 2.03 units per acre. Waivers are requested for lot size and width, side yard setbacks and shoreland setback. However, he said those are offset by the low tree loss of 15 percent, and preserving the entire area within the 150-foot shoreland setback as Outlot A. Phase 1 and 2 are shown on the plans,with the first phase planned to occur within this construction season. Therefore,they are asking for an early grading permit. CITY COUNCIL NIEVMS September 4,2001 Page 4 Franzen said the Community Planning Board voted 7-0 to recommend approval at its August 13 meeting. There were two plan changes to be made before the Council meeting: one to move the boat dock to the west so there are no opposing docks meeting each other; and to stagger the buildings because of setback waivers. Those changes to the plan have been made. Mayor Harris asked if anyone wished to address the Council regarding this project. No one did. MOTION: Mosman moved, seconded by Tyra-Lukens, to close the public hearing; and adopt Resolution No. 2001-135 for Planned Unit Development Concept Review on 6.39 acres; and approve lst Reading of the Ordinance for Planned Unit Development District Review with waivers, Zoning District Change from Rural to R1-9.5 on 4.97 acres and Zoning District Amendment within the R1-22 Zoning District on 1.42 acres; and adopt Resolution No. 2001-136 for Preliminary Plat on 6.39 acres into 13 lots and one outlot; and direct Staff to prepare a Developer's Agreement incorporating Staff and Board recommendations. Case pointed out that the developer had asked for an early grading permit. Mosman agreed to add granting an early grading permit at developer's risk to the motion. Tyra-Lukens agreed to the addition. Motion carried 4-0. B. EDEN PRAIRIE AUTO CENTER by Westbrook Development Request for Guide Plan Change from Neighborhood Commercial to Community Commercial on 1.05 acres, Planned Unit Development Concept Amendment on 1.05 acres, Planned Unit Development District Review on 1.05 acres, Zoning District Change from Rural to Community Commercial on 1.05 acres, and Preliminary Plat on 1.05 acres into 1 lot. Location: West of Aztec Drive and east of T.H. 212. (Resolution No. 2001-137 for Guide Plan Change, Resolution No. 2001-138 for PUD Concept Amendment, Ordinance for PUD District Review and Zoning Change and Resolution No. 2001-139 for Preliminary Plat) Jullie said official notice of this public hearing was published in the August 23, 2001,Eden Prairie News and was sent to 23 property owners. Neil Weber, architect for the project, said they are proposing a 5,976-square-foot single-story building for an auto care center located between an existing car wash and an Amoco station. The building would have 12 bays. They have met with City staff and have agreed to provide appropriate screening of mechanical units and additional landscaping to meet the required standards. Franzen said this project required a guide plan change from Neighborhood Commercial to Community Commercial. The Community Planning Board voted 7-0 to recommend approval of the project to the City Council at the August 13 meeting, subject to additional landscaping and screening of mechanical units. The revised plans show these changes and staff recommends approval. CITY COUNCIL MINUTES September 4,2001 Page 5 Case said he assumed any petroleum spills inside the building would be taken care of onsite. However, considering that vehicles coming into the parking area may be leaking fluids, which would flow off the drainage area into the NURP pond, he wondered if anything additional is done with our NURP ponds to trap these fluids when they are around automobile sites. Dietz replied nothing unique has been done in these locations,but he wasn't aware of any problems. The fluids will go through the NURP pond adjacent to the site. Mayor Harris asked if anyone in the audience wished to address the Council regarding this proposal. No one did. MOTION: Case moved, seconded by Mosman, to close the public hearing; and adopt Resolution No. 2001-137 for Guide Plan Change from Neighborhood Commercial to Community Commercial on 1.05 acres; and adopt Resolution No. 2001-138 for Planned Unit Development Concept Amendment on 1.05 acres; and approve 1" Reading of the Ordinance for Planned Unit Development District Review with waivers and Zoning District Change from Rural to Community Commercial on 1.05 acres; and adopt Resolution No. 2001-139 for Preliminary Plat on 1.05 acres into 1 lot; and direct Staff to prepare a Developer's Agreement incorporating Staff and Board recommendations and any subsequent Council conditions that may result from further discussion. Tyra-Lukens said she generally didn't like Guide Plan changes and had voted against the car wash there because she wanted to see this area stay Neighborhood Commercial. However, she said she would support the motion because the precedent had been set to change the Guide Plan to Community Commercial in this area, so it would not make sense to force this property to stay Neighborhood Commercial. IX. PAYMENT OF CLAIMS MOTION: Tyra-Lukens moved, seconded by Case, to approve Payment of Claims. Motion was approved on a roll call vote, with Case, Mosman, Tyra-Lukens and Harris voting"aye." X. ORDINANCES AND RESOLUTIONS XI. PETITIONS,REQUESTS AND COMMUNICATIONS A. APPROVE PROPOSAL FOR FLYING CLOUD AIRPORT CITY WEBSITE DEVELOPMENT Rosow introduced Nancy Lyons, president of Bitstream Underground, to give background information on their firm and how they would go about developing a Flying Cloud Airport website for the City. Rosow said it is hoped the site will be up and running prior to the Metropolitan Airports Commission's September 19, 2001 public hearing, so there will be information available in preparation for that hearing as well as the ability to add information subsequent to it. Bitstream CITY COUNCIL MMWTES September 4,2001 Page 6 Underground was recommended to the City through Peter Kirsch's office. The cost for the website would be$14,100. Lyons explained that Bitstream Underground is a website developer, located in Minneapolis. She understood that the City would like to have her firm develop a centralized information hub for relevant public documentation about the Flying Cloud Airport. The client-maintained website would include a simple home page, a sub-page for a history of the Flying Cloud Airport and issues surrounding it, a sub-page for archived documents that could be downloaded, and a data-based news and information center, which could be updated as needed. It would have its own website name and be linked off the City's own website. She hoped to have the site ready by the end of the week. Uram suggested that Bitstream involve Lisa Woo, the City's Information Technology Coordinator, in the process. MOTION: Tyra-Lukens moved, seconded by Case, to approve the proposal by Bitstream Underground to create a Flying Cloud Airport website that will interface with the City's existing website, and would involve Lisa Woo in the development. Motion carried 4-0. XII. REPORTS OF ADVISORY BOARDS & COMMISSIONS XIII. APPOINTMENTS A. Appointment of Two Councilmembers to Assist City Staff in Selection of an Executive Search Firm Jullie requested, as part of the process for the City manager search program, that the Council appoint two representatives to work with City staff to review a number of applicants for coordination of the search process. The plan would be to come back to the Council in a couple of weeks with a recommendation of a search firm to go forward with the program of finding a new City manager. Mayor Harris appointed Councilmembers Jan Mosman and Nancy Tyra-Lukens to undertake this responsibility, and they agreed to accept it. XIV. REPORTS OF OFFICERS A. REPORTS OF COUNCILMEMBERS 1. Update on Plans for Expansion of Skate Parks—Councilmember Case Case asked Lambert for an update on any plans for expansion of skate parks in the City. Lambert responded that when a skate park was proposed,the Program Board had a number of concerns about skate parks. The Board was concerned about liability to the City because of broken bones. They wondered if skate parks were just a fad. They asked CITY COUNCIL N IT`i=S September 4,2001 Page 7 questions about plans for expansion and where other skate parks would go. They also asked if bicycles would be allowed to use the skate park. Lambert said that so far the skate park at Round Lake is getting a lot of use and he believed skate parks would continue to be popular. There have been a couple of broken wrists, in spite of warnings to wear protective equipment,but the kids are wearing helmets and wrist guards for the most part. There has been no graffiti sprayed on the facility since the first day after construction. The City removed it, and the kids on the site were told if they don't respect the facility,there would be no more built. The Recreation Association is holding a seminar later in September to talk about skate board parks and bicycle parks,what the trends are, etc. Lambert said before any recommendations for expansion are made, he would listen to what other communities say about it. The City would do a small expansion at Round Lake first. After that they would likely put a skate park in the north part of Eden Prairie and another in the south — perhaps in all four quadrants. Kids would want something unique in each of those areas and to see some new component added each year to keep it interesting. Case commended Lambert on understanding what kids want. He asked what the City has invested so far in the skate park at Round Lake, and Lambert replied $35,000. With regard to bicycles, Lambert said other municipalities discourage their use in skate parks. It is best to separate bicycles from kids on skate boards, so if the City decides to have a bicycle park it would be a separate facility. However, he believed there is more demand for expanding skate parks, so he would recommend doing that before adding a bicycle facility. 2. Update on Southwest Metro Transit— Councilmembers Tyra-Lukens and Case Tyra-Lukens said Southwest Metro is in the process of applying for Congestion Mitigation Air Quality federal grants to add 14 buses by 2006 and six mid-size buses by 2005 in order to expand their express bus routes. They are also seeking money to improve the Shady Oak Road park-and- ride facility to make it more accessible to the businesses and residents, because that is a critical need for businesses in the Golden Triangle area. Regarding the State Fair route, Southwest Metro carried 22,000 riders to and from the State Fair this year, compared with 14,000 last year, so the idea is catching on that the best way to go to the fair is by bus. Regarding a proposed development by North American Properties, no further work is being done right now, probably because the market is not as good as it was six months ago. CITY COUNCIL MINUTES September 4,2001 Page 8 Case, who also serves on the Southwest Metro Transit Board, pointed out that the state reconfigured how funding will be distributed, which directly affected mass transit. The new payment plan does not start for nine months, leaving each mass transit organization unfunded and having to use its own reserve funds. That will wipe out the reserves of all transit organizations, including Southwest Metro. 3. Future Statement on Separation of Chris Enter from the City Mayor Harris stated she had received numerous requests for a special meeting of the Council to give additional information on the separation of Chris Enger from the City. She inquired if the other Councilmembers desired to hold some type of presentation to provide this additional information and, if so,what format would they want to use. Mosman said it would be very limited in what they could say, so she didn't see the need for it. However, she would not be opposed to it. She wondered if people are questioning their motives, or if they think there are a lot of facts that have gone uncovered. Tyra-Lukens said she was not opposed to doing it, but didn't know what new information there would be because the Council wouldn't be allowed to answer most of the questions people have been asking. Case said if they give a report to the public, it would be appropriate to do that at a regular Council meeting. However, if people need a question and answer time, it would be more appropriate to use Council Workshop time. There are so many limits to what they are permitted to say, especially things regarding personnel matters, but he believed they would all be in favor of doing whatever they can do to bring more comfort and some closure to help people through this. Mayor Harris said she did not believe they should have an "event", but rather that this should be a part of the regular Council meeting under Petitions, Requests and Communications, and provide as much information as possible to the general public regarding the process that transpired. She asked the City Attorney to explain the limits to providing details to the public. Rosow said the Minnesota Data Practices Act severely restricts the type and amount of information about personnel that can be made public. The statute is very specific and itemizes a list of information that is public; everything else is then private. There is much related to personnel matters that the Council would not be allowed by law to say. His office has consulted with the Minnesota Department of Administration regarding what can be said. Because of the letters and phone calls the Councilmembers have received, and letters in the newspaper, the Council has a sense of the questions the public has asked and would be able to CITY COUNCIL MINUTES September 4,2001 Page 9 determine what they can say in response to them. That information could be aired at a regular Council meeting. It would be a challenge to do that in a question-and-answer format because of the limits of the law. All employees enjoy the same rights under that law. Anyone who is the subject of the data can say whatever they want, but as representatives of the City the Councilmembers are very limited in what they can say. Therefore, he would not recommend having a question-and-answer session because it poses too much of a risk of inadvertently violating the Data Practices laws. Mayor Harris said she believed the Councilmembers desired to bring as much clarity as they can to what has transpired and respond to the issues as much as possible. Case asked if each Councilmember should make a statement or the Mayor draft the statement for all of them. Mosman suggested all of them submit their statements to the Mayor and have Mr. Rosow look them over. Mayor Harris could then consolidate and read them at the meeting. Rosow asked to have the statements submitted to him. Tyra-Lukens said she would be comfortable having Mayor Harris make one statement for the Council. Case agreed, and asked that she give a synopsis of what occurred to the extent possible. Mayor Harris said she hoped that once this is done it provides a measure of comfort that this is the way things work and that the whole Council participated in the decision. Mayor Tyra-Lukens said the people need to be aware it's time to move on and that this was not a devastating event. The City has a strong leader in Mr. Jullie serving as interim City Manager. She was confident the process of finding a new City manager will be fruitful and they can look forward to a strong city. 4. Expanding the Council—Mayor Harris Mayor Harris said when she joined the Council the population of the City was 11,000-13,000, and there have been times over the years when expanding the Council has arisen. This City has been well served by five Councilmembers; however, the City now has a population of about 56,000 and the question reasserts itself. This may be the time to increase the size of the Council to provide the opportunity for additional representation. Her suggestion was to add two people. She suggested having a discussion at a Council Workshop about the pros and cons to decide if this is the time to do it and receive detailed information about the process that would be required. She believed this issue might have to go to a referendum. If so, as next year is an election year, a referendum should be done prior to that. CITY COUNCIL MINUTES September 4,2001 Page 10 Rosow she he would be prepared to supply a memorandum itemizing the process that would be needed to go from five to seven Councilmembers, including the legal framework and the time line. Mayor Harris asked Mr. Jullie to include this matter for discussion at a future Workshop. B. REPORT OF CITY MANAGER C. REPORT OF PARKS AND RECREATION SERVICES DIRECTOR D. REPORT OF COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT AND FINANCIAL SERVICES DIRECTOR 1. Adoption of Proposed 2002 Property Tax Levies and Acceptance of a Proposed Budget for General Operations and Tax-Supported Obligations for 2002 Uram reported that Minnesota Statutes require municipalities to certify a preliminary levy to the County by mid-September, which this year is September 17. He asked for a resolution adopting Eden Prairie's proposed 2002 property tax levies totaling $25,640,367 and accepting a proposed budget for general operations and tax-supported obligations for 2002, including debt service, of$31,963,956. MOTION: Tyra-Lukens moved, seconded by Case, to accept the 2002 proposed levy of$25,640,367 and proposed budget totaling $31,963,956. Motion carried 4-0. E. REPORT OF PUBLIC WORKS SERVICES DIRECTOR F. REPORT OF PUBLIC SAFETY SERVICES DIRECTOR G. REPORT OF MANAGEMENT SERVICES DIRECTOR H. REPORT OF CITY ATTORNEY XV. OTHER BUSINESS A. CLOSED SESSION ON LITIGATION Rosow proposed a closed session to discuss potential litigation. XVI. ADJOURNMENT MOTION: Tyra-Lukens moved, seconded by Mosman,to adjourn the meeting. Motion carried 4-0. Mayor Harris adjourned the meeting to a closed session at 8:05 p.m.