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HomeMy WebLinkAboutCity Council - 08/02/2005 APPROVED MINUTES EDEN PRAIRIE CITY COUNCIL TUESDAY,AUGUST 2, 2005 7:00 PM, CITY CENTER Council Chamber 8080 Mitchell Road CITY COUNCIL: Mayor Nancy Tyra-Lukens, Councilmembers Brad Aho, Sherry Butcher, and Ron Case. Councilmember Philip Young arrived at 7:08 p.m. CITY STAFF: City Manager Scott Neal, Parks & Recreation Director Bob Lambert, Public Works Director Eugene Dietz, City Planner Michael Franzen, Community Development Director Janet Jeremiah, City Attorney Ric Rosow, and Council Recorder Deb Sweeney. I. ROLL CALL/CALL THE MEETING TO ORDER Mayor Tyra-Lukens called the meeting to order at 7:03 p.m. II. PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE III. COUNCIL FORUM INVITATION IV. APPROVAL OF AGENDA AND OTHER ITEMS OF BUSINESS Neal added an additional item to his report. Tyra-Lukens added an item on the LRT Southwest Trail Advisory Committee under Reports of Councilmembers. Lambert added an item on the Veterans' Memorial to his report. MOTION: Aho moved, seconded by Case, to approve the agenda as published and amended. Motion carried 4-0. V. MINUTES A. CITY COUNCIL WORKSHOP HELD TUESDAY,JULY 19, 2005 MOTION: Butcher moved, seconded by Aho, to approve the Council Workshop minutes as published. Motion carried 4-0. B. CITY COUNCIL MEETING HELD TUESDAY,JULY 19, 2005 Butcher requested the spelling of Neal's name be corrected on page 4. MOTION: Case moved, seconded by Butcher, to approve the City Council minutes as published and amended. Motion carried 4-0. VI. CONSENT CALENDAR A. CLERK'S LICENSE LIST CITY COUNCIL UNAPPROVED MINUTES August 2, 2005 Page 2 B. EAGLE RIDGE AT HENNEPIN VILLAGE - SIX by Pemtom Land Company. Second Reading of the Ordinance for Planned Unit Development District Review and Zoning District Change from Rural to R1-9.5. Preliminary Plat of 16.9 acres into 40 single-family lots and 4 outlots. (Ordinance No. 10- 2005 for PUD-6-2005 District Review and Zoning District Change) C. APPROVE TRAIL EASEMENT AGREEMENT WITH EDEN BLUFF HOLDING LLC D. APPROVE ADDITIONAL CONSTRUCTION BUDGET FOR ADMINISTRATION AND INSPECTION WITH SRF CONSULTING GROUP FOR TH 212/PRAIRIE CENTER DRIVE IMPROVEMENTS, I.C. 01-5527 E. APPROVE PURCHASE OF ONE NEW TOP MOUNT RESCUE PUMPER (FIRE TRUCK) F. AWARD CONTRACT FOR ENGINEERING CONSULTANT TO DESIGN AUDIOVISUAL CONTROL ROOM MOTION: Butcher moved, seconded by Case, to approve Items A-F on the Consent Calendar. Motion carried 4-0. VII. PUBLIC HEARINGS/MEETINGS A. MAINTENANCE OUTDOOR STORAGE SITE by the City of Eden Prairie, Request for Site Plan Review on 17 acres. (Resolution No. 2005-100 for Site Plan Review) Neal said the request is to approve an 11,700 square foot building, grading plan and landscape for the maintenance outdoor storage site. The site is located east of the airport and north of the former landfill site. There were no comments from the public. MOTION: Aho moved, seconded by Case, to close the Public Hearing and adopt Resolution No. 2005-100 for Site Plan approval of Maintenance Outdoor Storage on 17 acres. Motion carried 4-0. B. CABLE TV FRANCHISE TRANSFER FROM TIME WARNER TO COMCAST Neal explained federal law requires the City to hold a public hearing regarding Time Warner Cable's requested transfer of its cable franchise within the City of Eden Prairie to Comcast Cable Communications, LLC. The Southwest Suburban Cable Commission requests its member cities extend their public hearings and final actions on the franchise transfer request until after September 1. This will CITY COUNCIL UNAPPROVED MINUTES August 2, 2005 Page 3 allow the City Council to have the benefit of the Commission's recommendation before taking final action on the matter. There will be a full presentation at the September 6 meeting and additional public testimony will be taken at that time. Staff will also collect any written comments from the public through September 6. There were no comments from the public. MOTION: Case moved, seconded by Aho, to continue the Public Hearing until September 6, 2005. Motion carried 4-0. VIII. PAYMENT OF CLAIMS Councilmember Young arrived at 7:08 p.m. MOTION: Aho moved, seconded by Butcher, to approve Payment of Claims as submitted. The motion carried on a roll call vote with Aho, Butcher, Case, Young, and Tyra-Lukens voting "aye." IX. ORDINANCES AND RESOLUTIONS X. PETITIONS, REQUESTS AND COMMUNICATIONS XI. REPORTS OF ADVISORY BOARDS & COMMISSIONS XII. APPOINTMENTS A. SENIOR ISSUES TASK FORCE CHAIR AND VICE CHAIR Neal noted the Council must approve the Senior Issues Task Force chairs. The task force members unanimously selected Marvin Cofer as Chair and Bette Anderson as Vice Chair. Staff supports this recommendation. Case said the City is lucky to have such high quality people serving on the task force. Butcher noted Anderson has served on the School Board as well. MOTION: Case moved, seconded by Butcher, to appoint Marvin Cofer Chair and Bette Anderson Vice Chair of the Senior Issues Task Force. Motion carried 5-0. XIII. REPORTS OF OFFICERS A. REPORTS OF COUNCILMEMBERS 1. LRT Southwest Trail Advisory Committee (Tyra-Lukens) Tyra-Lukens said she and Aho attended this meeting and shared an update. Input from a series of open houses has been uniformly positive. Having CITY COUNCIL UNAPPROVED MINUTES August 2, 2005 Page 4 the new highline trail open has helped. Maps and a schedule are provided on a new website, www.southwesttransitway.org. The group is incorporating Staff suggestions that it should go around EP Center near TH 212 rather than Prairie Center Drive, in accordance with the Major Center Area study. 2. MLC Wrap-Up of Legislative Session (Tyra-Lukens) Tyra-Lukens referred Councilmembers to the report and highlighted a few items. The salary cap has been raised to 110% of the governor's salary. Eden Prairie's legislators did not uniformly support the measure despite the City's lobbying. Bonding for transit($64 million) passed,but the Met Council says it will not issue all that debt. The City still will not get all the money needed. Limits on out-of-state travel for elected officials have been passed. The City will need to develop a travel policy. The City must also publish the salaries of its three highest paid officials. As part of the omnibus tax bill, the State will be studying fees and taxes and how these two revenue streams are being used,particularly for school funding. Tyra-Lukens noted some bills the City supported did not pass, including a street utility fee bill and a sales tax exemption for local government. Butcher said she was disappointed the fiscal disparity measure did not pass. Next year will be a bonding year with the session due to start March 1. 2. Report on Sundance Summit (Tyra-Lukens) Tyra-Lukens explained the City was invited to the Sundance Summit, sponsored by the International Coalition for Local Environmental Initiatives. All expenses were paid by the Summit. About 45 representatives of a wide variety of cities attended. The one-and-a-half day Summit included education on global climate change and what cities are doing at the local level to impact it. Tyra-Lukens said she went as a skeptic but returned better educated and inspired with many ideas. She gave a "crash course" on global warming. Carbon dioxide levels in the atmosphere have increased dramatically since the industrial revolution. When third world countries (and their skyrocketing populations) gain access to technology, emissions will skyrocket. Temperatures correlate almost perfectly with carbon dioxide and methane levels. Tyra-Lukens showed slides showing impacts on glaciers and forestation patterns that are already occurring. Because both ice fields and trees mitigate the effects of warming, their loss creates a vicious cycle. While the issue is complex, a review of articles published in scientific journals revealed 950 that agreed humans are affecting global climate, and none that disagreed. Both the process and the results are pretty well understood. CITY COUNCIL UNAPPROVED MINUTES August 2, 2005 Page 5 The next question is how to deal with the issue. Over 140 nations are working together to impact global warming, but the US and Australia are not among them. The U.S. recently reached agreements with India and China,but they are voluntary. Neither of the past two administrations has managed to take action on the national level. The International Coalition for Local Environmental Initiatives seeks to make an impact on the local level instead. City governments are more nimble and can make a difference. For example, Burlington, Vermont has used "green buildings" and alternative energy so that it uses less energy today than it did in 1989. Pittsburgh has more than 50 LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) certified buildings. Many of the changes are very cost-effective. Tyra-Lukens said she had already met with Jeremiah to promote the first LEED certification in Eden Prairie and met with Neal to review what the City is already doing. Much can be done at the Staff level. Tyra-Lukens also expressed a wish to reinstitute the City's environmental commission, which was absorbed into the Parks and Recreation Commission twelve years ago, and to hold a town meeting. She noted Hennepin County has taken the lead with the fuel cell at the library and a microturbine at the Home School that uses waste heat to heat the building. Tyra-Lukens said she would bring a proposal at the next meeting. B. REPORT OF CITY MANAGER 1. Chanse Date of First Council Meeting for December (Resolution No. 2005-101) Neal said by statute, The Truth-in-Taxation Hearing must be held Monday, December 5. He proposed saving a meeting by holding Tuesday's scheduled Council meeting a day earlier and combining the two. Butcher suggested also switching the date of next year's Council Meeting away from National Night Out, as this presents such a good opportunity to get citizen input. MOTION: Case moved, seconded by Young, to adopt Resolution No. 2005-101 amending Resolution No. 2005-10 Setting Times for City Council Meetings for 2005. Motion carried 5-0. 2. Gifts from Other Cities Neal noted he had given sister cities in England "keys to the City" during his visit and received a piece of crystal and a silver plate in return. Case asked what happens to such items, and Neal said they could be recorded and arranged more formally. Case agreed. CITY COUNCIL UNAPPROVED MINUTES August 2, 2005 Page 6 C. REPORT OF THE COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT DIRECTOR D. REPORT OF PARKS AND RECREATION DIRECTOR 1. Eagle Field Baseball Stadium Bids Lambert said the City received 11 bids for the stadium project, all quite close,but significantly over the original cost estimate ($106,000 over). Cost increases and supply difficulties in the steel industry would have pushed the project back and required winter concrete work, which is expensive. Also, a major contributor from the Baseball Association has pulled $100,000 from the project. With a new board due to be elected in September, the Baseball Association does not want to tie a future board into a large financial commitment at this time. If steel could be ordered next spring, the project could be worked on during summer and fall. The Parks and Recreation Commission recommends delaying the project and then talking to the new Baseball Association board to see what can be worked out. The Council would see the proposal again before any rebid. Aho asked if the stadium could be put on the referendum. Lambert said the stadium was not strongly supported, so including it would not serve the City well. MOTION: Aho moved, seconded by Case, to reject bids for the Eagle Field Baseball Stadium for Miller Park due to the cost of the project compared to the cost estimate. Motion carried 5-0. 2. Veterans Memorial Task Force Lambert noted the Council had requested citizen involvement in this idea. A notice in the paper drew one application. Lambert asked for Council direction on whether to recruit more members, or to shelve the idea. The cost of the study for a veteran's memorial, including site selection and memorial design, came in under$10,000. Case said the Task Force should be shelved, but supported the idea of an all-purpose Memorial Park. He wondered if Parks and Recreation could examine the idea. Young said any work on the project should be internal, with no consulting fees. Staff could look at the concept. Tyra-Lukens asked if the Parks and Recreation Commission could look at the concept. Lambert asked for clear direction on what the Commission should do. Butcher suggested pulling back and asking much broader questions whether the City should have such a park, what its function would be, and where. CITY COUNCIL UNAPPROVED MINUTES August 2, 2005 Page 7 Tyra-Lukens said she was struggling with the lack of community support. She hated to use Staff or the Parks and Recreation Commission's time to prepare for an unknown future. Aho agreed. Case agreed no one seemed to resonate with his idea for a memorial park and said the project should be put on hold. 3. Referendum Flyer Lambert asked for Council input by the end of the week. Flyers will be distributed in mid-September. Young asked for clarification on the ballots, since Question#1 (Community Center improvements) must pass for Question#2 (pool) to pass. Would ballots that voted no to#1 and yes to #2 be counted, or considered spoiled? Lambert said they would still be counted. The total vote must carry on Question#1 for Question#2 to carry. E. REPORT OF PUBLIC WORKS DIRECTOR F. REPORT OF POLICE CHIEF G. REPORT OF FIRE CHIEF H. REPORT OF CITY ATTORNEY XIV. OTHER BUSINESS A. CLOSED SESSION (Review of City Manager's Performance/Compensation) XV. ADJOURNMENT MOTION: Butcher moved, seconded by Case, to adjourn the meeting and go into a closed session to review the City Manager's performance and compensation. Motion carried 5-0. The meeting adjourned into closed session at 8:05 p.m.