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HomeMy WebLinkAboutCity Council - 10/16/2001 APPROVED MINUTES EDEN PRAIRIE CITY COUNCIL TUESDAY, OCTOBER 16,2001 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 Attorney Ric Rosow and Council Recorder Peggy Rasmussen I. ROLL CALL/CALL THE MEETING TO ORDER Mayor Harris called the meeting to order at 7:07 p.m. H. PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE M. 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. APPROVAL OF AGENDA AND OTHER ITEMS OF BUSINESS Tyra-Lukens added Item XIIH A.2. Report on Southwest Metro Transit, and Item XHII A.3. Hennepin County Emergency Management Systems. Mosman added Item XHII A.4. Report on the Water Management Planning Task Force. Case added Item XII.A.5. Council Open Forum. MOTION: Mosman moved, seconded by Case, to approve the agenda as published and amended. Motion carried 5-0. V. MINUTES A. COUNCIL WORKSHOP HELD TUESDAY, OCTOBER 2,2001 MOTION: Tyra-Lukens moved, seconded by Butcher, to approve the minutes of the Council Workshop held Tuesday, October 2, 2001, as published. Motion carried 5-0. B. CITY COUNCIL MEETING HELD TUESDAY, OCTOBER 2,200 Mayor Harris made a correction on page 5,the 6th paragraph,which should read "Mayor Harris believed one important issue . . ." CITY COUNCIL MriT ES October 16,2001 Page 2 MOTION: Case moved, seconded by Mosman, to approve the minutes of the City Council Meeting held Tuesday, October 2, 2001, as published and amended. Motion carried 5-0. VI. CONSENT CALENDAR A. CLERK'S LICENSE LIST B. ADOPT RESOLUTION NO. 2001-155 APPROVING FINAL PLAT OF IDLEWILD 2 ADDITION C. RELEASE OF LAND FROM SPECIAL ASSESSMENT AGREEMENT 99-12 PERTAINING TO TRUNK SEWER AND WATER CHARGES AGAINST LOTS 1 THROUGH 9,BLOCK 1, SHADY OAK ESTATES D. ADOPT RESOLUTION NO. 2001-156 REQUESTING PERMIT TO CONSTRUCT PHASE I E%IPROVEMENTS TO THE PURGATORY CREEK RECREATION AREA ENTRANCE ON MNDOT PROPERTY, I.C. 93-5306 E. ADOPT RESOLUTION NO. 2001-157 AUTHORIZING PREPARATION OF A FEASIBILITY REPORT FOR INFRASTRUCTURE IMPROVEMENTS TO SERVE EDEN PRAIRIE ROAD AREA SOUTH OF RILEY CREEK,I.C. 01-5537 F. ADOPT RESOLUTION NO. 2001-158 CALLING FOR A PUBLIC HEARING ON DECEMBER 4, 2001, FOR APPROVAL OF AN AMENDED REDEVELOPMENT PLAN FOR REDEVELOPMENT PROJECT AREA NO. 5 AND AMENDMENT OF THE TAX INCREMENT FINANCING PLAN FOR TAX INCREMENT FINANCING DISTRICT NO. 13 MOTION: Tyra-Lukens moved, seconded by Butcher, to approve Items A-F on the Consent Calendar. Motion carried 5-0. VII. PUBLIC HEARINGS/MEETINGS A. SPECIAL ASSESSMENT HEARING FOR THE APPROVAL OF THE 2001 SPECIAL ASSESSMENTS (Resolution No. 2001-159) Jullie said official notice of this public hearing was published in the September 27, 2001, Eden Prairie News, and notices were sent to all those on the special assessment roles. Each year, at this time,the City Council holds a public hearing to consider levying the special assessments that have been identified over the previous 12 months. He asked City Engineer Al Gray to summarize the projects being assessed. Gray said approximately 30 properties are being assessed for trunk or lateral utility improvements. Thirteen of those properties are being assessed for trunk sewer and CITY COUNCIL ME UTES October 16,2001 Page 3 water. These are properties that came through the process for subdivision development this year, and through that process the City has determined the appropriate level of trunk assessment based on acreage. Residential properties from the Highview and Cedar Forest neighborhoods that have already connected to the lateral utilities are being assessed. One property from Sunnybrook Road has reached the five-year time limit on exclusions and will be assessed this year. Three properties located on Pioneer Trail south of Riley Lake are being assessed as part of the Highview neighborhood project on a unit basis, based on development potential. Another group is being assessed for tree or grass trimming and removal this summer. Mayor Harris asked if anyone wished to address the Council about special assessments. No one did. MOTION: Butcher moved, seconded by Tyra-Lukens,to close the public hearing; and adopt Resolution No. 2001-159 approving all Special Assessments presented in the fall of 2001. Motion carried 5-0. VIII. PAYMENT OF CLAIMS MOTION: Tyra-Lukens moved, seconded by Case, to approve Payment of Claims. The motion was approved on a roll call vote, with Butcher, Case, Mosman, Tyra-Lukens and Harris voting"aye." IX. ORDINANCES AND RESOLUTIONS X. PETITIONS,REQUESTS AND COMMUNICATIONS A. PRESENTATION BY EDEN PRAIRIE PUBLIC SCHOOLS — UPCOMING REFERENDUM Bill Gaslin, Superintendent of Eden Prairie Schools, spoke about the referendum being held on Tuesday,November 6,2001. He said the theme of this referendum is "Our Children, Our Schools, and Our Future." There are four items being put to the voters: 1. Additional levy authority to meet operating expenses (roughly $3 million annually for 10 years, or$263.51 per pupil unit). 2. A bond issue of $18 million over 15 years for deferred maintenance of the district's buildings,which range in age from 12 to 70 years old. 3. A down-payment levy over seven years of$2 million to $3 million annually to meet technology needs. 4. A bond issue of$5.5 million over 15 years to build a multi-purpose room at Central Middle School and make traffic improvements to the CMS and Central Kindergarten Center sites. The multi-purpose room would be added to the front of the building,making it more accessible to the parking lot. CITY COUNCIL NHNUTES October 16,2001 Page 4 Total tax dollars raised from all four questions, if approved,would be$27.5 million in the first year. If all four measures are approved, the tax increase in the first year would be $104 for a $100,000 house, $260 for a $250,000 house and $520 for a $500,000 house. However, with property taxes being reduced by 15 to 20 percent, many residents would see an overall reduction in the school portion of their taxes, as follows: $51 on a$100,000 house, $823 on a$250,000 house, and$2,260 on a$500,000 house. B. PRESENTATION BY MINNETONKA PUBLIC SCHOOLS — UPCOMING REFERENDUM Tom Berge, Director of Finance and Operations for Minnetonka Schools, explained the Minnetonka School District referendum being brought to the voters on November 6,2001. There are two items on the referendum: 1. An operating levy for ten years(about$2.7 million a year for 10 years). 2. A down-payment levy to fund technology for ten years (about $2,520,000 a year for 10 years). He explained the operating question is on the ballot in the Minnetonka School District because of major changes in the way schools are being funded since the 2001 Minnesota Legislative Session. The state determined the amount schools could ask the voters to approve for operating referendums. In the Minnetonka School District for next year, the per-pupil increase will be just over two percent. However, operating costs are going up about four percent a year. The down-payment levy to fund technology is on the ballot in the Minnetonka School District because the current referendum is due to expire, and the district reviewed its technology program and assessment of future needs. Without the funding, the Minnetonka School District is facing an operating deficit of $1 million in 2002 and $2 million in 2003. In order to balance this year's budget, the school district went through a cost-containment process to reduce expenses by $2.2 million. If both issues are approved, the cost to the taxpayer would be$267 a year on a house valued at$200,000. XI. REPORTS OF ADVISORY BOARDS & COMMISSIONS MI. APPOINTMENTS A. APPOINTMENT OF STUDENT REPRESENTATIVES TO COMMISSIONS Jullie said there were a total of nine applicants who asked to be appointed as Student Representatives to various City commissions. He asked the City Council to make these appointments. The students will begin serving on these commissions at the November meetings and continue through May 2002. They will be invited to a future Council meeting for an introduction. CITY COUNCIL MINUTES October 16,2001 Page 5 MOTION: Mosman moved, seconded by Tyra-Lukens, to appoint Paul Hanna, Jennie Liu, and Karen Seidenstricker as Student Representatives to the Parks and Recreation Citizen Advisory Commission to a term beginning November 2001 through May 2002. Motion carried 5-0. MOTION: Mosman moved, seconded by Case, to appoint Diane Fit, Rachel Harlos, and Amber Swiggum as Student Representatives to the Human Rights and Diversity Citizen Advisory Commission to a term beginning November 2001 through May 2002. Motion carried 5-0. MOTION: Mosman moved, seconded by Butcher, to appoint Jane Field, Timothy Roth, and Ross Viland to the Heritage Preservation Commission to a term beginning November 2001 to May 2002. Motion carried 5-0. XIII. REPORTS OF OFFICERS A. REPORTS OF COUNCILMEMBERS 1. Recommendation on Executive Search Firm for City Manager Tyra-Lukens reported that the City received nine proposals from executive search firms interested in helping with the search for a City Manager. The Council selected four of those to interview: Brimeyer Group, Inc; Personnel Decisions, Inc.; Springsted, Inc.; and The Oldani Group, Inc. Because of the September 11 terrorist attacks the interviews were delayed, putting the process behind schedule. Tyra-Lukens said the Council team of Jan Mosman and herself, along with staff members Carl Jullie, Mike Barone and Don Uram, interviewed the four executive search firms during the week of October 1. All four made good presentations, and their costs were similar. They were analyzed in terms of experience, references, enthusiasm for the job,resources within the company, etc. It was determined that they were all competent to do the work. The team selected Personnel Decisions, Inc. of Minneapolis. Because of the delay in the interview process, the upcoming holidays and advertising deadlines, a new City Manager will probably not be hired until the latter part of March. Mr. Jullie has said he is committed to staying as long as needed. Mosman said one question that came up was whether an applicant from a private firm could be interviewed for the position of City Manager. The search firms informed the City that a public entity operates very differently from a private business, so the pool of candidates would come from the public sector. The executive search firms talked about looking for candidates who are already employed. Eden Prairie is a desirable location to work, so there should be a good number of applicants. CITY COUNCIL MMWTES October 16,2001 Page 6 MOTION: Tyra-Lukens moved, seconded by Mosman,to select Personnel Decisions, Inc. to conduct the executive search for a new City Manager. 2. Update on Southwest Metro Transit—Councilmember Tyra-Lukens Tyra-Lukens reported Southwest Metro Transit recently solicited bids for construction of a new parking deck. They were pleased with the bids that came in and the cost should be under the amount anticipated. It would accommodate 500 to 600 cars. The deck would have footings deep enough to secure additional parking levels. Also, in response to customer requests, Southwest Metro is adding more mid-day service this fall, including a mid-afternoon run to the University of Minnesota. Jack Provo was appointed by the Metropolitan Council to the Transportation Advisory Board (TAB), which oversees expenditure of federal funds for transportation in the area. 3. Hennepin County Emergency Medical _Systems — Couneilmember Tyra-Lukens Tyra-Lukens said that at a recent meeting of the Emergency Medical Systems Operations Committee, they reviewed the response time standards instituted January 1, 2001. They had six months of data to compare with the previous year's response times. Communities were tiered into urban core, larger urban cities with different response times, and then smaller urban communities and rural areas. Eden Prairie has traditionally been outside their ideal range for responding to Code 3 emergencies. However, now Eden Prairie is in the cluster of larger urban cities, which is supposed to have a response time of under 11 minutes 80 percent of the time. Eden Prairie is now in that group. It is a difficult community to serve because of all the cul de sacs, so this is a big improvement. Mayor Harris said the responders in Eden Prairie should receive a note of congratulations from the Council. 4. Report on Water Management Planning Task Force— Councilmember Mosman Mosman said Minnesota requires the City to have a task force to set goals for water management. Two kinds of water management are involved: (1) underground water or drinking water, known as the Well Head Protection Plan(WHPP) and(2) surface water,moving and non-moving,known as the Lake Water Management Plan(LWMP). Eden Prairie staff coordinated these two into one task force. The first involves looking into protection of underground water from any possible CITY COUNCIL AUNUTES October 16,2001 Page 7 contamination and monitoring the source of the ground water. The second is studying a major Eden Prairie project involving the City's drainage ponds. There are 200 to 300 ponds collecting stormwater. With that runoff comes sediment that settles, and contaminants and nutrients that float. These ponds are designed to a certain depth. A pond should last 20 to 25 years before it needs to be dredged. Montgomery Watson was hired by the City to inventory the ponds. The task force is prioritizing which ponds to work on first. Certain ones will be done each year. The task force has very qualified hydrologists and engineers, a representative from the Bureau of Mines, owners of well- drilling operations, City residents, and a representative from the Riley- Purgatory-Bluff Creek Watershed District. Leslie Stovring, Environmental Coordinator,is the staff liaison. Mosman said a related subject involves the Riley-Purgatory-Bluff Creek Watershed District, which gets involved with most of the development projects in the City and, specifically, water quality and wetland projects. The Council needs a good understanding of how the watershed district functions in relation to the City, what they control,what they can do for the City and what the City can ask of them. They have offered to come to one of the Council Workshop meetings and have an informal discussion. Mayor Harris said that would be highly desirable and asked Jullie to add this to one of the future Workshops. 5. Council Open Forum—Councilmember Case Case said he would like to resolve the open forum question. At the last Council retreat it appeared they were formulating a consensus on some alternatives. He requested that staff locate the information concerning Council's discussions at the retreat, and have it available for the Council meeting on November 6 for evaluation, in order to reach some conclusion of this issue. Butcher said she believed that information is in the report that was prepared by Carl Neu following the retreat. Jullie replied staff was planning to schedule a discussion of the whole report at the December 4 Council Workshop,but the topic of the open forum could be pulled out and placed on the agenda for the November 6 meeting. B. REPORT OF CITY MANAGER C. REPORT OF PARKS AND RECREATION SERVICES DIRECTOR 1. Eden Prairie Baseball Association Request CITY COUNCIL NIINUTES October 16,2001 Page 8 Lambert said the City received a request from the Eden Prairie Baseball Association (EPBA) for a co-funding partnership to construct a building at Miller Park. City staff supports the request and the funding from cash park fees. He introduced Drew Bartley,President of the EPBA for the past seven years. Drew Bartley said after the City completed work on Miller Park they informed the athletic associations the City would provide co-funding for facilities if the athletic associations would provide a significant contribution toward the cost. For the past six years the EPBA has raised funds for baseball field improvements through the sale of coupon books. Each year they have spent 25 percent on needed field improvements and have set aside 75 percent of the funds raised toward a building that would provide restrooms, a concession stand, space for storage of equipment, shelter from the weather and a location for baseball trophies. There are over 1,800 baseball players participating in the EPBA program. In addition there are many traveling teams coming to Miller Park that would enjoy the use of this facility. Every year tournaments are held. This building would provide a concession stand where the EPBA could sell food, drink, and possibly hats or other items, to raise funds for improving the fields. The upper level of the building would provide storage of baseball equipment. The association and members have worked very diligently to raise the funds, and have committed to provide$150,000 toward the project. Lambert explained this building is just one of several planned for eventual construction in Miller Park. Water, sewer and electrical were stubbed in at various sites. The athletic associations were told whoever comes up with the money first would get the first building. The City recently received a cost estimate from an architectural firm for$350,000. So far there is only a concept design of the building because they have not had approval from the Council to proceed with the project. If approval was obtained, the architect could prepare plans and specifications, and it would be built next summer. Tyra-Lukens commended the baseball association on its accomplishment in raising these funds. MOTION: Butcher moved, seconded by Case, to approve the request of the Baseball Association to accept their donation of $150,000 toward the construction of a concession stand/storage building between baseball fields 1 and 2 at Miller Park and to fund the balance of the cost from cash park fees. Motion carried 5-0. Mosman asked how the warming house was being used. Lambert replied it is primarily for the hockey rink and skating rink. It was in the original plan but was not built for about five years after Miller Park was completed. It is used as a warming house but can be rented in the summer months for picnics. The City uses the building for the summer playground program. CITY COUNCIL MEWTES October 16,2001 Page 9 2. Crestwood Park Revised Development Plan Lambert said this proposed park is in the southwest corner of Eden Prairie south of County Road 1 off old Dell Road. The City purchased 11 acres for the park in 1984. Its development has been delayed while waiting for additional development of homes in the area and the utilities needed for the park. The park is intended to meet the recreational needs of the residents within a half-mile radius. Over the past winter and spring three small wetland areas developed on the property, and the plan for the park had to be revised to minimize the impact on these wetlands and to mitigate those that are impacted. The revised park design has moved the access and parking lot to the south, moved the hockey rink further to the south, and clustered the higher use activities toward the center of the park. There will be two soccer/football fields, a playground area, tennis court, basketball court, sand volleyball court, a park shelter, a free-skating rink and hockey rink. The majority of the park boundary will be screened by berms and landscaping material. A NURP pond will be located in the northwest corner of the park. There will be natural plantings around one of the natural wetlands. A trail connecting to the residential neighborhood to the west is included in the design. In order for that trail to be built, it will be necessary to acquire an easement over private property to the north. The parking lot will accommodate 60 cars. This is in line with providing 30 parking spaces for each recreational field at a park facility where league play is anticipated. The parking lot and hockey rink would be lighted. Cost estimates for development of this park are approximately $700,000. The cost of development will be paid out of cash park fees. The project will be bid in February 2002, with construction beginning in the spring. Grading would be completed by August and seeded at that time. It is planned to have landscaping done both in the fall of 2002 and the spring and fall of 2003. Before the trees are planted, stakes will be put in where the trees are to go, and City staff will meet with each property owner to discuss their placement. If the property owners want more screening the City will accommodate them,within the limits of the budget. Butcher asked if there is a potential drainage problem because of clay soils. Lambert said there is a mix of sand and clay in this area, so there should not be a problem with drainage. Plans show drainage will run off the parking lot into catch basins. MOTION: Mosman moved, seconded by Butcher, to approve the development of Crestwood Park as per the revised concept plan. Motion carried 5-0. CITY COUNCIL MINUTES October 16,2001 Page 10 D. REPORT OF COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT AND FINANCIAL SERVICES DIRECTOR 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 XIV. OTHER BUSINESS XV. ADJOURNMENT MOTION: Tyra-Lukens moved, seconded by Case, to adjourn the meeting. Motion carried 5-0. Mayor Harris adjourned the meeting at 8:20 p.m.