Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAboutCity Council - 09/03/1991 EDEN PRAIRIE CITY COUNCIL • APPROVED MINUTES TIME: 7:30 PM Tuesday, September 3, 1991 LOCATION: City Hall Council Chamber, 7600 Executive Drive COUNCILMEMBERS: Mayor Douglas Tenpas, Richard Anderson, Jean Harris, H. Martin Jessen and Patricia Pidcock CITY COUNCIL STAFF: City Manager, Carl J. Jullie, Assistant to the City Manager Craig Dawson, City Attorney Roger Pauly, Finance Director John D. Frane, Director of Planning Chris Enger, Director of Parks, Recreation & Natural Resources Robert Lambert, Director of Public Works Gene Dietz, and Recording Secretary Roberta Wick PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE ROLL CALL All Councilmembers present. I. APPROVAL OF AGENDA AND OTHER ITEMS OF BUSINESS MOTION • Pidcock moved, seconded by Anderson, to approve the agenda. Jessen requested the addition of the following items under X. A. Reports of Councilmembers: (1) CPT Building; (2) Rowland Road Improvements; (3) Minnesota Milestones Meeting; (4) Meeting Regarding Flying Cloud Airport. Pidcock requested the addition of the following item: (5) Timeliness of Letters forwarded to Councilmembers. Anderson requested the addition of (6) Appointment to Nine-Mile Creek Watershed District by Hennepin County Board of Commissioners. Jullie requested the addition of Item X.B.1. under Report of City Manager: Change of location for the September 17, 1991 Council meeting. He also requested the addition of Item VI. A. under Ordinances and Resolutions: Resolution No. 91-213 Relating to Financing of Certain Proposed Projects to be Undertaken by the City; Establishing Compliance with Reimbursement Bond Regulations under the Internal Revenue Code. Jullie also requested the addition of Item VIII.A. Appointment to the Parks, Recreation, and Natural Resources Commission. Jullie stated that on Item III.A. Clerk's License List, the owner's name should be listed instead of the Amoco Corporation. Agenda approved as amended 5-0. • Eden Prairie 2 September 3, 1991 City Council Minutes Approved • II. MINUTES OF THE CITY COUNCIL MEETING HELD TUESDAY, AUGUST 20, 1991 MOTION Harris moved, seconded by Jessen, to approve the minutes of the City Council meeting held Tuesday, August 20, 1991. Jessen requested a correction on page 13 of the Minutes concerning the Bluffs E. 10th Addition Public Hearing as follows: "lessen asked Dietz if the properties being assessed for the Bluffs E. 10th Addition would be subject to the $15,000 assessment limit and if the assessments were limited to this amount, would this cover the cost of the project so there would be no additional costs to the City. Dietz said the properties were subject to this limitation but that the total cost of the project would be covered from the assessments levied against property in the project area, and the amount would not exceed $15,000 for each parcel involved." Pidcock said that on Page 1 of the minutes, the third line under the Commendation to Angela Tetrault should read "Heimlich maneuver to a person who was choking at the Bent Creek Golf Course." Minutes approved as amended 5-0. III. CONSENT CALENDAR • A. CLERK'S LICENSE LIST B. RESOLUTION NO. 91-200 APPROVING THIRD PARTY AGREEMENTS FOR THE YEAR XVII COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT BLOCK GRANT (CDBG) C. AUTHORIZE ACQUISITION OF EASEMENT FOR OUTFALL STORM SEWER FOR CEDAR RIDGE 2ND ADDITION, I.C. 52-225 (Resolution No. 91-201) D. SET SPECIAL ASSESSMENT HEARING FOR TUESDAY, OCTOBER 22, 1991 E. REVISIONS TO THE HOUSING REHABILITATION PROGRAM (Moved to XI.A. for discussion) F. FINAL PLAT APPROVAL FOR BOULDER POINTE 2ND ADDITION (Resolution No. 91-203) MOTION Pidcock moved, seconded by Anderson, to approve the Consent Calendar. Jessen requested that Item E., Revisions to the Housing Rehabilitation Program, be moved to XI.A. for further discussion. Consent Calendar approved as amended 5-0. • Eden Prairie 3 September 3, 1991 • City Council Minutes Approved IV. PUBLIC HEARINGS V. PAYMENT OF CLAIMS MOTION Pidcock moved, seconded by Anderson, to approve payment of claims. Motion for payment of claims approved with Anderson, Harris, Pidcock, Jessen and Tenpas all "AYE". VI. ORDINANCES AND RESOLUTIONS A. Resolution Relating to Financing of Certain Proposed Projects to be Undertaken by The City of Eden Prairie; Establishing Compliance with Reimbursement Bond Regulations Under the Internal Revenue Code. (Resolution No. 91-213) Pauly explained that the Resolution represented a ruling by the Treasury Department for the purpose of assuring that tax free bonds were used only for the payment of traditional city capital • expenditures such as roads, sewer, and water, and not for private development projects. It now wanted the City to declare that it was planning to bond for a particular project in order to keep the accountability in order and to be sure that bonds were actually sold for a particular project. MOTION Harris moved the Resolution Relating to Financing of Certain proposed Projects to be Undertaken by the City of Eden Prairie. Seconded by Pidcock. Motion approved 5-0. VII. PETITIONS, REQUESTS & COMMUNICATIONS A. SINGLETREE PLAZA (Continued from August 27, 1991) Kelly Doran, representing the Robert Larsen Partners, Inc., said there were two issues: (1) Status of the "hold-still" agreement; and (2) Extension of 'Regional Center Road/Columbine Road along the southern edge of the property. Concerning the status of the hold-still agreement, he presented several analyses of the cost of obtaining property along Highway #169 and putting the Wal-Mart building on that location. He stated the total cost of the net land area would be- $5,071,768, or $10.74 per square foot. He said that the net subsidy required from the City • would total $3,133,971 or $7.28 per square foot. Eden Prairie 4 September 3, 1991 City Council Minutes Approved • He also spoke about the timing of the "hold-still" agreement. He said that before work could begin, an environmental assessment would be needed which would require four to six weeks to prepare. It would then be necessary for the City to start condemnation proceedings on any properties not previously agreed upon which would take approximately 120 days. In addition it would be necessary to consider the requirements and the needs of the tenants after the 120-day time period. He believed this was a monumental task to accomplish in six months because, in addition to relocating tenants, it would be necessary to demolish buildings and utilities would have to be moved. Enger concurred that the figures presented by Doran were accurate. Jessen asked what the value of the property was that would be traded to the City. Doran said it was $3.6 million. Harris said she found it difficult to justify the cost of the alternative Highway #169 site. She believed the original project was a good one, and would favor proceeding with the project as approved at the August 20, 1991 Council meeting. She said she would be in favor of the elimination of the "hold-still" agreement provision. Pidcock agreed with Harris's position. • Anderson said he was concerned about spending the extra money to locate the facility on the Highway #169 property. Tenpas said he believed it had been a good idea to look at the alternative of putting the Wal-Mart building on the Highway #169 property, but believed the cost was too high. For this reason, he saw no need to pursue the "hold-still" agreement. Jessen believed that the quality of advice the City received from consultants was poor and the Council had not received enough information. He favored the project as approved on August 20, 1991, except for the purchase of the Columbine Road which he viewed as a direct subsidy. Enger he believed the City and the proponent had come to an agreement in principle on the road. The principle agreed to on the road was that Wal-Mart would build the road as a public road to public road standards, would make certain modifications in the site plan to accommodate grade changes thereby reducing the cost of the intersection at Regional Center Road and Commonwealth Drive, and provide some capabilities for storm sewer on the site rather than on Columbine Road. There were also some cost reductions by having the granular subgrade material on-site rather than off-site. The City's • contribution would be to purchase the right-of-way for the road, Eden Prairie 5 September 3, 1991 • City Council Minutes Approved handle the off-site construction, construct the intersection at Regional Center Road and Commonwealth Drive as well as the intersection of Columbine Road and Prairie Center Drive, and any off-site work that would be necessary with the Lariat Center II such as securing of temporary or permanent easements. Harris said she was pleased with the progress that had been made in the agreement, and would strongly support the completion of the project. Pidcock agreed. Nancy Heuer, representing Strgar, Roscoe, Fausch, reviewed the traffic study. She said the initial purpose of the study was to show how the extension of Columbine Road would fit with the Lariat Center II site plan. She pointed out that there were very few local streets by which to access the Major Center Area and this would be an opportunity to provide another access point. In regard to the Wal- Mart project, Strgar, Roscoe, Fausch had been asked to review what purpose Columbine Road would serve in providing relief for Highway #169. She said there had been conflicting forecasts for traffic on the portion of Highway #169 south of Prairie Center Drive. The question was how many trips could be diverted from Highway #169 to Columbine Road if Columbine Road were to be extended between both • Anderson Lakes Parkway and Prairie Center Drive, as well as from Anderson Lakes Parkway up to Regional Center Road and on up to Highway #169. She said the estimate included in the traffic study for the Wal-Mart Center was 6500-8500 trips per day, which would represent a significant relief to Highway #169. She explained the discrepancy in the forecasting figures for traffic on Highway #169. She said the Metro Council had suggested using the 30,000 trips per day figure found in the trunk Highway #212 EIS rather than the 9,000 trips per day found in the regional forecast. The regional study had not taken into consideration ramps being built to connect with Highway #494 and had not considered Highway #169 to be a through route. Also, some of the studies done had assumed that the improvements on County Road 18 and Highway 4212 would divert some of the traffic from Highway 0169. Jessen asked Heuer about the statement in the SRF report that said "we can expect 20,000 trips per day on Highway #169 in the year 2010 unless the Columbine Road extension was built, in which case 11,500 trips a day could be expected." Heuer said these figures were based on the 1988 Major Center Area Traffic Study Forecast. Jessen asked why the study was not based on the updated figures. He said he was concerned that the City would be spending about $2 million to reduce the volumes on existing Highway #169 to one-third of its current volume. • Tenpas said he also.questioned the conclusions in the report and the validity of the numbers used. Eden Prairie 6 September 3, 1991 City Council Minutes Approved • Dietz said * he believed the only number at question was whether or not there would be 30,000 trips on Highway #169 or 11,000, and that Strgar, Roscoe, Fausch had not been instructed to investigate the accuracy of these figures. It had been instructed to take the 1988 BRW traffic study with the forecasted volumes on Highway #169 with the assumption that Highway #18 and Highway #212 would upgraded. The traffic study was done only to see how many trips a day would be diverted if Columbine Road were built and the answer was 6500- 8500. Enger pointed out that the reason for Columbine Road was not to provide a diversion from Highway #169, but rather to provide an alternative way out for the Douglas Corporation development on the former Northrup-King property other than Anderson Lakes Parkway or Highway #169. He urged Council to keep in mind that the reason for the extension of Columbine Road would be to increase the flexibility of the City's road system. He also pointed out that this would be the City's last opportunity to put the road through because the Bermel property was for sale. Tenpas asked Councilmembers for opinions on the road issue. Anderson said he favored going ahead with the road per the agreement that staff had reached with the proponent. Harris and • Pidcock said they favored the road. Jessen said he was not persuaded about the need for the road and was not in favor of the City purchasing right-of-way at $4.50 per foot. He said he viewed this as a subsidy to Wal-Mart. Tenpas said he had not thought through all of the issues to decide whether he would favor the road as agreed upon by staff and proponent. Council agreed that it might be helpful to investigate why the process on this project was so long, and possibly determine what could have been handled differently to make the process more efficient. MOTION Harris moved to remove the condition of the "hold-still" agreement. Seconded by Jessen. Motion approved 5-0. VIII. REPORTS OF ADVISORY BOARDS COMMISSIONS & COMMITTEES A. Appointment to the Parks, Recreation, and Natural Resources Commission. This appointment was to fill an unexpired term of Ms. Joyer who had resigned from the Commission. After discussion, Council agreed to review the resumes of candidates who had previously expressed an _ interest in serving on the Parks, Recreation, and Natural Resources • Commission and discuss the qualifications at the Council meeting on Eden Prairie 7 September 3, 1991 • City Council Minutes Approved September 17, 1991, and possibly make an appointment at that time. Council requested staff to determine which of the applicants were still interested on serving on the Commission. IX. APPOINTMENTS A. GLEN LAKE AREA TASK FORCE - Appointment of one member to the Glen Lake Area Task Force Laura Ronbeck, representing the Gatewood-Glen Lake Homeowners Association, said that a strong task force was needed to resolve issues and develop a long-term master plan for the Hennepin County property at the former Glen Lake Sanatorium, and she urged the City to appoint a representative to this task force. MOTION Harris moved to appoint Mayor Tenpas to represent the City on the Glen Lake Task Force. Seconded by Pidcock. Motion approved 5-0. X. REPORTS OF OFFICERS • A. REPORTS OF COUNCILMEMBERS 1. CPT Building Jessen said he would like to investigate the possibility of the purchase of this building by the City. Tenpas requested staff to prepare a report on what the baseline cost for the building would be and encouraged Councilmembers to look at the property if they had not already done so. Harris said she would like to identify how the City could put the space to use. Pidcock agreed that the City should consider whether or not it would be able to make use of the building. Anderson said he would like to investigate the purchase of the building after the study of the Naegele property was completed. 2. Rowland Road Improvements Jessen referred to the letter all Councilmembers had received from Sandra' Landucci. He said he had contacted all Hennepin Parks Board members and all members had agreed to hold a neighborhood meeting on this subject. This meeting will be scheduled as soon as possible. Eden Prairie 8 September 3, 1991 City Council Minutes Approved . 3. Minnesota Milestones Meeting Jessen asked if someone would represent the City at this event. Anderson said it was an open meeting and all public officials had been invited. Pauly said there were no restrictions on all Councilmembers attending an event of this type because Councilmembers would not be at the meeting for the purpose of conducting City business. 4. Meeting Regarding Flying Cloud Airport Jessen reported on a meeting that he and Tenpas had attended with residents of the area near Flying Cloud Airport. He said he and Tenpas had stressed that much of the decision-making on the proposed airport expansion issue was not done by the City and there were questions as to who really had authority. The people attending the meeting requested information on which agencies had decision-making authority with regard to the Airport. He said the extension of the runway and plans for the light tower to be placed on a nearby hill were major issues with the residents, and a large effort was being made to organize opposition to the runway expansion. Pauly said case law indicated that a municipality, as an owner of • an airport, had authority to impose limitations on times of flights and noise regulations. However, the City did not own Flying Cloud Airport, and therefore did not have authority to regulate noise. This interpretation did not encompass other issues being raised such as state building codes and zoning. He said these matters were being reviewed, but basically the MAC had control because it owned the airport. Tenpas encouraged Council to be prepared for questions and concerns about the airport at the next council meeting. 5. Timeliness of Letters Forwarded to Councilmembers Pidcock referred to a letter which had been included in the packet dated August 22, 1991, in which a response was requested by September 5, 1991. She asked if there was a way that letters such as this- one could be received by Councilmembers earlier. Anderson suggested that Councilmembers could stop by City offices to pick up the mail or call to see if there was any mail for them. • Eden Prairie 9 September 3, 1991 • City Council Minutes Approved 6. Discussion of the Appointment to the Nine-Mile Watershed District by Hennepin County Board of Commissioners. Anderson said that he would like the City to protest to the Hennepin County Board of Commissioners for its failure to appoint a representative from Eden Prairie to the Nine-Mile Creek Watershed District. Since a considerable portion of Nine- Mile Creek was located in Eden Prairie, he believed it was unfair that the qualified applicants from the City for this position were not chosen. He pointed out that Bloomington had two representatives, Hopkins had one, Minnetonka now had one, Edina had one, but no one had been chosen from Eden Prairie. Council agreed to send a letter to the Commissioners stating that the City would like to be represented on this Watershed District. B. REPORT OF CITY MANAGER 1. Change in location of September 17, 1991 Council meeting. Jullie suggested holding the September 17, 1991 Council meeting at the Eden Prairie High School Auditorium because a large number of people was expected because of the Flying Cloud • Airport issue. It was agreed that the meeting with the Eden Prairie School District should be held at this location also at 6:00 PM on September 17, 1991 as well. C. REPORT OF DIRECTOR OF PUBLIC WORKS 1. AWARD CONTRACT FOR MEDIAN OPENING ON PRAIRIE CENTER DRIVE AND JOINER WAY, I.C. 52-229 (Resolution No. 21-202) Dietz said bids for this project had come in higher than the estimated $28,000, with the low bid being $38,000. He said the City had not had an opportunity to discuss this with the property owners and would like concurrence from them for the extra $10,000. His recommendation was to award the contract to Bituminous Consulting and Contracting Company, Inc. with instructions to staff to find out whether or not a majority of the property owners wished to proceed with this project this fall. MOTION Harris moved, seconded by Pidcock, moved to approve Resolution 91-202 accepting the bid from Bituminous Consulting and Contracting Company, Inc. contingent upon agreement from the major of the affected property owners. Motion approved 5-0. • Eden Prairie 10 September 3, 1991 City Council Minutes Approved • XI. OTHER BUSINESS A. Revisions to the Housing Rehabilitation Program (Item III.E. from the Consent Calendar) Jessen asked how many persons were recipients under this program, who administered it, and why it not had been shown in the budget. Enger said the intent and guidelines for the program had been established by the City Council with guidance from the Human Rights and Services Commission. The grant was administered by the Planning Department within the parameters of the Community Development Block Grant program. It was used for helping income- qualified persons make home improvements and repairs. which they otherwise would not be able to afford. He said 30 homeowners in the community had participated since 1982. The revision included raising the income limits in order to help more people in the community, and to make the money a loan rather than a grant in order to recoup the funds. The advantage to the City of such a program was to assure that its housing stock was kept in good repair. Jessen asked if a bank could handle this for the City. Enger said that the staff could investigate this suggestion; however, the City was required to administer the contracts for the work and set the specifications. • MOTION Jessen moved to continue the item for 30 days and refer the changes to the Human Rights and Services Commission for its review and suggestions. Seconded by Harris. Motion approved 5-0. XII. ADJOURNMENT MOTION Pidcock moved, seconded by Harris, to adjourn at 10:05 PM. Motion approved 5-0.