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HomeMy WebLinkAboutCity Council - 03/20/2007 APPROVED MINUTES EDEN PRAIRIE CITY COUNCIL MEETING TUESDAY, MARCH 20, 2007 7:00 PM, CITY CENTER Council Chamber 8080 Mitchell Road CITY COUNCIL: Mayor Phil Young, Council Members Brad Aho, Sherry Butcher, Jon Duckstad and Kathy Nelson 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 Jan Curielli I. ROLL CALL/CALL THE MEETING TO ORDER Mayor Young called the meeting to order at 7:03 p.m. City Planner Michael Franzen was absent. II. PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE III. COUNCIL FORUM INVITATION IV. PROCLAMATIONS/PRESENTATIONS A. PROCLAMATION IN SUPPORT OF MISS MINNESOTA Mayor Young read a proclamation in support of Miss Minnesota Alla Ilushka, a resident of Eden Prairie, who will be representing the State of Minnesota in the Miss U.S.A. pageant in Los Angeles, California, on March 23, 2007. B. PROPOSAL TO NAME PAVILION AT PURGATORY CREEK RECREATION AREA FOR BOB LAMBERT Neal said this is a requested action from last night's meeting of the Parks Commission. It is a request to name the picnic pavilion at Purgatory Creek Recreation Area in honor of Bob Lambert who is retiring at the end of this month. The Parks Commission thought this was an appropriate way to honor Bob for his years of service and to recognize the work he has put into the Eden Prairie park system. Neal said he agreed with the Commission's recommendation. MOTION: Butcher moved, seconded by Duckstad, to name the park picnic pavilion at Purgatory Creek Recreation Area in honor of Bob Lambert. Nelson said she thought it was appropriate for the community to say thank you in this way for all his years of work. Young concurred and noted our parks have been and continue to be a predominant reason people choose Eden Prairie. He said characterizing Mr. Lambert as the architect of the parks system we all enjoy is fairly said and even an understatement. CITY COUNCIL MINUTES March 20, 2007 Page 2 Aho thanked Mr. Lambert for his vision of the park systems and for giving the community an excellent and award-winning system. Butcher said the parks system has often been called the "jewel in the crown" of Eden Prairie. She thanked Mr. Lambert for his vision for the community and for carrying through with that vision. Duckstad thanked Mr. Lambert for all he has done and said he has been a credit to the City and this honor is well deserved. Vote on the Motion: Motion carried 5-0. V. APPROVAL OF AGENDA AND OTHER ITEMS OF BUSINESS Nelson said, at the Council meeting two weeks ago, the Council discussed having Commission Annual Reports and Work Plans as separate agenda items rather than being included as part of the Consent Calendar. She asked that Item VILJ. Receive the Flyer Cloud Airport Advisory Commission 2006 Annual Report and Approve 2007 Work Plan be moved on tonight's Agenda to be Item XILB. She hoped in the future all such reports would be on the regular Agenda. Mayor Young asked City Manager Neal if the Flying Cloud Airport Advisory Commission was equipped to present the Report and Work Plan tonight. Neal said he checked with Chair King and Staff Liaison Scott Kipp and they are prepared to do so. He said it was an error to have it listed on tonight's Consent Calendar. Neal said there are several additions before the Council. He noted one is Item IV.B. Proposal to Name Pavilion at Purgatory Creek Recreation Area for Bob Lambert. He said this is a requested action from last night's meeting of the Parks Commission. The Council Members concurred with addressing the item as Item IV. Proclamations/Presentations. Neal said he will add a couple of items under Item XIV.B. Report of City Manager. MOTION: Aho moved, seconded by Butcher, to approve the agenda as published and amended. Motion carried 5-0. VI. MINUTES A. COUNCIL WORKSHOP HELD ON TUESDAY, MARCH 6, 2007 MOTION: Duckstad moved, seconded by Butcher, to approve the minutes of the City Council Workshop held Tuesday, March 6, 2007, as published. Motion carried 5-0. B. CITY COUNCIL MEETING HELD TUESDAY, MARCH 6, 2007 MOTION: Aho moved, seconded by Duckstad, to approve the minutes of the City Council Meeting held Tuesday, March 6, 2007, as published. Motion carried 5-0. CITY COUNCIL MINUTES March 20, 2007 Page 3 VII. CONSENT CALENDAR A. CLERK'S LICENSE LIST B. ADOPT RESOLUTION NO. 2007-43 APPROVING FIRST AMENDMENT TO THE DEVELOPER'S AGREEMENT GRANTING A ONE-YEAR EXTENSION TO THE UNITED HEALTH GROUP PUD DEVELOPMENT AGREEMENT C. ADOPT RESOLUTION NO. 2007-44 AUTHORIZING ACQUISITION OF EASEMENTS FOR CONSTRUCTION OF SINGLETREE LANE IMPROVEMENTS, I.C. 07-5690. D. APPROVE LICENSE FOR PROPOSED WATERMAIN CROSSING ON VALLEY VIEW ROAD AT NINE MILE CREEK, I.C. 02-5586 E. ADOPT RESOLUTION NO. 2007-45 PROHIBITING PARKING ON VALLEY VIEW ROAD FROM FLYING CLOUD DRIVE TO GOLDEN TRIANGLE DRIVE, I.C. 02-5586 F. APPROVE PROFESSIONAL SERVICES AGREEMENT FOR PAVEMENT EVALUATION SERVICES FROM GOODPOINTE TECHNOLOGY G. APPROVE HOUSING SERVICES AGREEMENT, MASTER LINE OF CREDIT AGREEMENT, AND CREDIT DRAW AGREEMENT WITH WEST HENNEPIN AFFORDABLE HOUSING LAND TRUST (WHAHLT) H. AWARD CONTRACT FOR PLAYGROUND EQUIPMENT AT CARMEL PARK TO EARL F. ANDERSON, INC. I. AWARD CONTRACT FOR PLAYGROUND EQUIPMENT AT RUSTIC HILLS PARK TO WEBBER RECREATIONAL DESIGN, INC. J. RECEIVE THE FLYING CLOUD AIRPORT ADVISORY COMMISSION 2006 ANNUAL REPORT AND APPROVE 2007 WORK PLAN K. APPROVE SECOND AMENDMENT TO THE THIRD RESTATED JOINT POWERS AGREEMENT BETWEEN THE CITY OF EDEN PRAIRIE AND SOUTHWEST TRANSIT MOTION: Aho moved, seconded by Butcher, to approve Items A-I, and Item K of the Consent Calendar. Motion carried 5-0. VIII. PUBLIC HEARINGS/MEETINGS A. DISCRETIONARY ENVIRONMENTAL ASSESSMENT WORKSHEET FOR THE HENNEPIN VILLAGE ROADWAY ALTERNATIVES ANALYSIS, I.C. 06-5688 CITY COUNCIL MINUTES March 20, 2007 Page 4 Neal said this is a Public Hearing to consider the Discretionary Environmental Assessment Worksheet (EAW) for the Hennepin Village Roadway Alternatives Analysis, I.C. 06-5688. Official notice of this Public Hearing was published in the March 1, 2007 Eden Prairie Sun Current. He said the purpose of the public hearing is to solicit comments regarding the completeness of the Discretionary EAW, commonly known as the Prospect Road EAW. The EAW will provide a basis for the City Council to make decisions regarding roadway alternatives, but the document itself is not intended to contain a final roadway recommendation. Neal said after the public comment period closes on April 11, staff will present the final report to the Council and prepare a resolution addressing the findings resulting from the comments and the final report, including comments received here this evening. The City Council will receive the findings and resolution on May 1 for discussion of the EAW and the alternatives proposed within the EAW. Neal said the more difficult decisions of this project will be made at the May 1 and noted we are here this evening is to receive comments on the EAW and not to make the decision on which roadway to select. Public Works Director Dietz displayed a map showing the roadways in the project area. He said questions were raised last summer regarding the desirability of constructing Prospect Road to connect Site A and Site B through the creek corridor. Through a number of discussions, the Council decided to do a discretionary EAW in order to get to the bottom of the environmental impact of the roadway systems. He said it is primarily a neighborhood issue so most people in the neighborhood know a lot about it. He said the EAW identified and determined the environmental impact of six alternatives and he reviewed the six alternatives. Environmental Coordinator Stovring reviewed details of the EAW, the process the City will be going through, what will be done to get it to a finished product, and scheduling of the process. She said the EAW is a means of gathering the information needed so the Planning Commission and City Council can make decisions. She said we will collect the comments addressing the issues and come back later to discuss various alternatives and decide which alternative is the best fit. Stovring said we look at the EAW to determine if it is complete and accurate, if it is not does it simply require more data prior to the start of the project or is there a need to do an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS). She said we are now within the 30-day comment period that goes from March 12 to April 11. At the end of the comment period the City Council has 30 days to take action on the EAW. The EAW will go back to the Planning Commission on April 23, where they will determine if the EAW is complete and make a preliminary recommendation to the City Council for the best roadway alternative. Similarly, on May 1 the City Council will determine if the EAW is complete and will begin discussions on the preferred roadway alternative. Stovring said the Oak Creek and Hennepin Village development projects are expected to be on the Planning Commission agenda for their May 14 meeting. CITY COUNCIL MINUTES March 20, 2007 Page 5 There are a number of evaluations Staff has recommended for the EAW depending on which alternatives are chosen including a detailed archeological survey, spring analysis for Miller Spring for Alternatives 1-5, a detailed wetland evaluation for Alternatives 1-5, and the storm water ponding requirements for the road alternatives. Stovring said Alternative 6 has more detail than the other five because that alternative was already approved by the City Council in 2002 so there has been quite a bit of work done on the design of that alternative. The other five alternatives are concept plans and would have to be completed if one of those is selected. Dietz noted they did not include any discussion in the EAW process about Dell Road. He said Dell Road will most likely be improved to an urban roadway at some time in the future, however this project is not tied to Dell Road changes and is a stand-alone project. Young opened the public hearing. Michael Boland, 13579 Berkshire Road, thought the EAW provides a lot of good information and it is a good first step. He was concerned there were some things omitted from the EAW. He said the information regarding the slopes in Question 16 did not clarify for each alternative how dramatic the slopes were and where they occur. He would like to see an analysis showing the slopes for each alternative so one could envision the difference in slopes for each roadway. He said there is a table in Question 16 showing how much dirt would be required for each of the alternatives but it does not address the issue of fill, particularly for Alternative 6. Question 25 reviews the trails and trail access but he was concerned about the quality of the trail access for Alternative 6. Question 29 states "connecting Eden Prairie and Dell Road may also require future upgrades to Dell Road," but information on the expansion of Dell Road is not included in the EAW. City staff has said when this area is fully developed there will be approximately 350-400 households in the area, yet the EAW works with an anticipated number of 140 households in Hennepin Village B and another development currently being built in the area. He thought that discrepancy gives a skewed picture of the impact. Craig Coleman, Attorney with Faegre & Benson, representing the Minnesota River Bluff& Riley Creek Alliance, said the Alliance is a group of Eden Prairie residents that are very concerned about the impact of development of the bluff land in Eden Prairie along the Minnesota River. He said these lands are extremely valuable economically and environmentally. The Alliance is particularly concerned about the roadway alternatives, and they do not see the immediate necessity of road construction in the area. He said Alternative 6 for Prospect Road is the only option that makes sense if a roadway is necessary. Options 1 and 2 in particular would be extremely expensive, make no sense for the city, and should be rejected. He noted no significant environmental impacts were identified for Prospect Road construction, and it impacts only 2.16 acres of land as compared to Alternatives 1 and 2 which impact 8.5-9.5 acres. He said Alternatives 1-5 include land that contains the last remnants of the Big Woods left in the state. He suggested the CITY COUNCIL MINUTES March 20, 2007 Page 6 Council pay close attention to the DNR letter attached to the EAW and the state archeologist's letter, both of which show no impact from the Prospect Road alternative. Coleman said Alternatives 1 and 2 are particularly bad and the EAW is insufficient to support those two alternatives. He said the Turnbull Road expansion doesn't make any sense without Dell Road connecting to Hwy 212. He said Turnbull Road and Dell Road would spur significant new development, and there are no proposals in place for that area. He thought Alternatives 1 and 2 present enormous costs to the City in terms of premium acreage lost and there is no funding available for the roadways since there are no development proposals in place for that area. He said the Alliance will submit written comments. Megan Doyle, 9924 Dell Road, said she is building a house at that location. She was concerned with the five alternatives presented to the Prospect Road alternative. She thought the developer is trying to shift costs to the neighbors. She thought there was not enough research into Alternatives 1 and 2 and those two would be much more expensive to create. Todd Johnson, 10020 Dell Road, said he believes the EAW document fails to address adequately the need to link Dell Road in this process. Alternatives 1 and 2 specifically would require improvement to Dell Road. He thought Alternative 6 has been completely discussed, has been in place for five years, and would be the best alternative. He will submit written comments. Dean Edstrom, 10133 Eden Prairie Road, said he came to a meeting of the Eden Prairie Conservation Commission last November 13 and saw a map that showed a big red X on their home. He said the Hennepin Village project went through a long process with the City over a number of years and there were many big issues involved in that project. He thought the project is too dense for the site and there are obvious environmental and traffic impacts. He said the solution to the issues was Prospect Road that was designed to be a connection to County Road 4 and to provide ingress/egress from a major artery. If Eden Prairie Road is upgraded in some fashion, the purpose of improvements made to County Road 4 will be effectively eliminated. He said it seems clear from his review of the EAW that Prospect Road is the clearest and best solution for transportation issues in the area and all the other alternatives have known problems. He thought the Council does not need to decide to alter Eden Prairie Road or build a connection with Dell Road, and he thought it was unconscionable for the City to take traffic and solutions already approved in a development and shift it to residents when there is an adequate solution presented. He thought the City must get Prospect Road built or must terminate or drastically reduce the Hennepin Village development plans. Linda Johnson, 10020 Dell Road, said she was in favor of the Prospect Road alternative. She noted when they built their house they went through many discussions with City for permits to build their house in order to preserve the bluffs. She said one of the houses that would have to be destroyed with the Turnbull Road alternatives was a former Parade of Homes model is valued at $3 million or else a CITY COUNCIL MINUTES March 20, 2007 Page 7 part of the Big Woods would have to be taken. She said this is a question of trust with the City when the residents follow the permit process and work to preserve the bluffs and then that trust is betrayed with changes made later by the City. David Carl, 9776 Cupola Lane, said he lives in Hennepin Village A. He said he has four issues: the EAW includes inadequate treatment of the development scenarios and the impact on traffic patterns; the inappropriate and misleading conclusion in Paragraph 21 that states no operational or safety issues are anticipated from the traffic volumes; failure of the process to assess the public safety impact in Hennepin Village; and the inadequacy of the Public Hearing notices since almost no residents of Hennepin Village received notice of the Planning Commission and City Council meetings. Norma Wuttke, 16860 Flying Cloud Drive, was concerned with wildlife and threatened species and the issue of traffic. She said many wildlife and plant species have disappeared on their own, so she thought some solution to protecting the species or reintroducing them could be addressed. She said traffic in the area flows north on Eden Prairie Road to get to schools, churches and shopping rather than going south on Hwy 212. She said improving Eden Prairie Road to Hwy 212 would encourage through or non-residential traffic to Chaska and Shakopee. She showed a map of the area that had traffic channeled on the east bluffs going north through Homeward Hills Road. She thought Dell Road would offer a similar channel for the area on the west. John Neikus, 9752 Cupola Lane, was concerned about the cost of Prospect Road and said the developer will just pass the cost on to purchasers in the development. He said they were told the road would go through when they purchased property, but it was described as a lightly traveled road. He thought it will actually be a heavily traveled road. He noted an east/west road will not solve problems at the top of Eden Prairie Road. He said the homes located along Prospect Road in Site 4 of Hennepin Village have only a 25-foot setback from the road. He thought heavy traffic and public safety will be an issue and the EAW did not address. Jeff Strate, 15021 Summer Hill Drive, said he does not live in the project area but has been involved in the issue since 1993. He addressed some inadequacies he saw in the EAW. Page 3, Item 7, of the EAW addresses the project magnitude data which needs a lot more information. He recommended more options be considered and the Riley Creek valley should be looked at because there is a very rare ecosystem in that area. He recommended we look at Riley Creek again to see if it could be reclaimed as a trout brook. He said the NURP pond proposed for Prospect Road will add increased temperature and nutrients to Riley Creek. He noted some of the other alternatives go quite close to aquifers that supply Miller Spring, so we would need really detailed information about where those alternatives would go. Travis Wuttke, 16860 Flying Cloud Drive, expressed concern about the financial costs and it was crucial the EAW provide cost information for all of the alternatives, particularly for the bridge alternative in Alternative 6. He was also concerned that the impervious surface figures should be modified to reflect CITY COUNCIL MINUTES March 20, 2007 Page 8 accurate build-out numbers for the entire area. He said the traffic study did not include details on the possible elimination of the intersection at Eden Prairie Road and Hwy 212, particularly in regard to future development and the impact of that development on traffic. MOTION: Butcher moved, seconded by Duckstad, to close the Public Hearing. Motion carried 5-0. IX. PAYMENT OF CLAIMS MOTION: Butcher moved, seconded by Duckstad, to approve the Payment of Claims as submitted. The motion was approved on a roll call vote, with Aho, Butcher, Duckstad, Nelson and Young voting "aye." X. ORDINANCES AND RESOLUTIONS A. FIRST READING OF AN ORDINANCE AMENDING CITY CODE SECTION 5.36 RELATING TO LICENSING OF SOLID, RECYCLABLE AND/OR YARD WASTE COLLECTORS Neal said this is a Chapter in our City Code we have been working on for several years and to which we make periodic changes. Dietz said Ms Stovring has worked with Hennepin County on the grant for recycling that allows the City to give annual rebates to residents on water bills. He said the county expects us to conform to certain rules and regulations, and they have requested the code regarding the licensing of haulers conform to their requirements. This change adds definitions to conform to the County's expectations and will make no difference in how we do business. MOTION: Aho moved, seconded by Nelson, to approve First Reading of an Ordinance amending City Code Section 5.36 relating to licensing of collectors of solid, recyclable and/or yard waste. Motion carried 5-0. XI. PETITIONS, REQUESTS AND COMMUNICATIONS XII. REPORTS OF ADVISORY BOARDS & COMMISSIONS A. HELICOPTER NOISE COMPLAINTS AT FLYING CLOUD AIRPORT Neal said this is the first of our reports from City Advisory Boards and Commissions. The Chair of the Airport Commission, Rich King, will respond to some questions raised regarding helicopter noise at the February 20 Joint Workshop Meeting. Chair King said at the February 20 meeting Council Member Nelson brought up the issue of helicopter noise at the February 20 meeting. The Commission had heard some types of reports about helicopter noise but had not yet reviewed the full set of reports for January and February noise complaints. He said they reviewed those CITY COUNCIL MINUTES March 20, 2007 Page 9 reports at their regularly-scheduled March 8 meeting. They discovered there were 90 complaints received during that time, a figure twice that of other months reviewed. He said letters are written by the MAC to operators who are in violation of the procedures with copies sent to the City. King reviewed charts summarizing the data regarding noise complaints. He said the dominant flight track is from the airport to North Memorial Hospital. Lifelink III and Air Methods began operations at Flying Cloud Airport and started using the Bell 222 helicopter in February. The purpose of the flights is medical, but in February they held training operations, which caused the spike in the number of reports. He said this is an air evacuation operation that operates 24/7/365 with crews on standby. He said the Commission asked the Air Methods manager if training operations could be conducted at another airfield and they agreed. In addition MAC met with Air Methods and the FAA tower manager and asked them to design new noise-friendly procedures that would take them over areas are less populated. He said they expect to have the results at the next meeting and the Air Methods Manager agreed to come to meet with the City Council if the Council would wish. King said this will be a continued Commission focus. He said some of the flights involve critical care issues and may occur in the middle of the night. The Commission will investigate all complaints and report back to the Council periodically. Young thanked Mr. King for the Commission's work and for their immediate and thorough response to the issue raised by Council Member Nelson. Butcher thought the model was a good one because it is proactive, collaborative with other groups, and responsive to issues brought up by residents. B. RECEIVE THE FLYING CLOUD AIRPORT ADVISORY COMMISSION 2006 ANNUAL REPORT AND APPROVE 2007 WORK PLAN Chair King said the Commission met with the City Council on February 20 to discuss the results of the first year of operations of the Flying Cloud Airport Advisory Commission and to discuss their 2007 work plan. He said the focus in 2006 was on the education with regard to the operation of the airport, businesses at the airport and an audit done on the final agreement with MAC. The purpose of the Commission is to discuss airport issues in depth and to advise the City Council on those issues. King said the Commission and the staff liaison took various approaches to their education including meetings with owners and operators, meetings with MAC personnel, and tours of facilities at Flying Cloud Airport and other airports in the MAC system. Through the review process, the Commission determined the final agreement with the MAC was on track. The capital improvements were reviewed and it was determined there was limited funding available for those improvements. CITY COUNCIL MINUTES March 20, 2007 Page 10 He said the one of the Commission's major activities is reviewing noise issues and he noted they have started to meet every other month instead of quarterly. King then reviewed the Commission's goals for 2007 and said they were looking for the Council's concurrence. Nelson said she would like to add goals regarding homeland security. She thought the Commission should study FAA and Homeland Security recommendations regarding safety in order to see what security should be added at Flying Cloud Airport, such as tower security, buffer requirements and toxic waste disposal. She thought this is a significant safety piece for the City and especially for the neighbors surrounding it. She would like to see a report back as soon as possible. Young thought it was fair to add safety and security as a general goal for the Commission but he was hesitant to impose a deadline on them. Butcher said we have already done some work on that and Fire Chief Esbensen would be a resource. Aho commended the Commission for a fine job and an excellent report. Nelson said we talked a good deal about business development and she was not clear how we got to the phrase "competitive advantage" rather than "targeted marketing." King said they had a Commission meeting after the February 20 Workshop and discussed the point. He said several Commission members felt the word "marketing" actually meant we would push the airport in the community and beyond. The adjustment in terminology was meant to narrow the focus. Young thought it was a good change because there was some question that use of the word "marketing" would mean use of City tax dollars and resources, which was absolutely not contemplated. MOTION: Duckstad moved, seconded by Butcher, to adopt the 2006 Annual Report of the Flying Cloud Airport Commission and to approve the 2007 Work Plan as amended. Motion carried 5-0. XIII. APPOINTMENTS A. BUDGET ADVISORY COMMISSION Neal said earlier this evening the City Council completed the interviews of candidates for the Budget Advisory Commission. MOTION: Young moved, seconded by Duckstad, to appoint Don Uram, Katherine Kardell, Richard Proops, Gwen Schultz, Mark Kantor, Jon Muilenburg, and Richard King to the Budget Advisory Commission. Young asked if we have an established term for this group. Neal said we have not because we were not sure if their service ends with the completion of this budget review. He suggested it be set at a two-year term which would take it up to the next review cycle. CITY COUNCIL MINUTES March 20, 2007 Page 11 AMENDMENT TO THE MOTION: Young moved, seconded by Duckstad, to set the Budget Advisory Commission terms to expire 3/31/2009. Motion carried 5-0. VOTE ON THE MOTION AS AMENDED: Motion carried 5-0. B. CHAIR AND VICE CHAIR OF BUDGET ADVISORY COMMISSION Neal said the City Council has the discretion to appoint Chair and Vice Chair of the Budget Advisory Commission. MOTION: Butcher moved, seconded by Nelson, to appoint Katherine Kardell as Chair and Don Uram as Vice Chair of the Budget Advisory Commission. Motion carried 5-0. C. BOARD OF APPEAL & EQUALIZATION Neal said the proposed appointments to the Board of Appeal & Equalization are the five current members, so they are being proposed for reappointment. MOTION: Duckstad moved, seconded by Butcher, to appoint to the Board of Appeal and Equalization Mike Best, Doug Malam, Annette O'Connor, Brian Duos, and Patricia Pidcock for the period of April 1, 2007, through May 31, 2007, or until the Board of Appeal and Equalization completes its work. Motion carried 5-0. D. CHAIR AND VICE CHAIR OF BOARD OF APPEAL & EQUALIZATION Neal said the City Council has the discretion to appoint Chair and Vice Chair of the Board of Appeal & Equalization. MOTION: Butcher moved, seconded by Aho, to appoint Patricia Pidcock as Chair and Mike Best as Vice Chair of the Board of Appeal and Equalization. Motion carried 5-0. XIV. REPORTS A. REPORTS OF COUNCIL MEMBERS B. REPORT OF CITY MANAGER Neal offered to defer his items until after the Parks Commission Item XIV.D.1. The consensus was to proceed to Item XIV.D.1. D. REPORT OF PARKS AND RECREATION DIRECTOR 1. Award Bids for the Eden Prairie Community Center Expansion, Third Rink, Round Lake Park Baseball Field Relocation and Birch Island Park Improvements CITY COUNCIL MINUTES March 20, 2007 Page 12 Lambert summarized the nine projects involved in the discussion tonight. Once the expansion of the Community Center was decided upon we started looking at other projects related to the Community Center or Round Lake and found nine items to tack on. We had in our plans about $700,000 of capital improvement money in the General Fund for Community Center repairs that would have been required with or without expansion. A third rink has been discussed for many years, and the Hockey Association was able to raise $1 million of the $3,445,533 required. In order to accommodate the additional parking required because of expansion they decided to locate extra parking next to the building where the baseball field was located and relocate the baseball field to softball field #5. The Baseball Association then agreed to pay for 50% of improvements for improvements to the relocated field such as ballfield lighting, a sand-base field with a drainage system and a stadium. The Watershed District had a project scheduled to build one or two NURP ponds to treat all the water north of Eden Prairie Road. The relocated parking provided excess dirt which was needed at Birch Island Park in order to improve the access to the park, parking and a playground. He said they put the nine projects together and realized they needed someone who could coordinate and combine the projects to provide for efficiencies during the grading phases, electrical work and other construction costs. They decided to hire a construction manager rather than bid it under a general contractor. He said RJM Construction was selected as the construction manager and introduced Bob Jossart, the President of RJM. Bob Jossart said as construction managers they act as the City's agent throughout all of the projects. To date they have provided a budget, a schedule, advertised all of the work and received bids. He said they met with the Parks Commission last night and presented them with a list of 16 options to consider as they relate to cost and total project budget. He said they need City Council action regarding the 16 options tonight and they can then go out and award contracts to all the bidders. After the Council's action they will come back in a week to present at least six or seven of the contract awards along with a "not-to-exceed" cost estimate. Lambert reviewed the bid summary of the projects opened last Thursday. He said the total of the bids opened was $15,585,000 without the walking track. He then directed the Construction Manager to cut as much as he could and still have a viable project and then prepare a recommendation with alternates. He reviewed the alternates recommended by RJM and approved by the Parks Commission last night. He then reviewed the funding sources which totaled $15,670,000, noting there is $1,411,000 remaining in the Flying Cloud ballfields referendum we could borrow if we wanted to include the walking track in the total. Young noted the Council had a joint meeting with the Parks Commission today so Council Members are aware of the information. Duckstad noted some Council Members attended the Parks Commission meeting last night. CITY COUNCIL MINUTES March 20, 2007 Page 13 Nelson said she was against borrowing money from the Flying Cloud ballfields referendum funds. Young concurred with that,but he had also had a discussion with City Manager Neal about other possible sources. Young said many of the issues at the meeting last night stem from the fact the amount raised by the referendum is not adequate to finance the expansion of the Community Center. Practically speaking, some people have suggested because the costs are greater than the referendum amount the issue should be resubmitted to the voters. He asked what the implications on project costs and available funding would be if we did that. Lambert said he has gone through at least four or five referendums since he started with the City. They have always added to the referendums with parks funds in order to finish the project. He asked Jossart to discuss the implications of delaying the project. Jossart said the first issue would be all value from the bidders would be lost. Construction costs never deflate, and there would be at least a$700-800,000 increase due to inflation and another $150-250,000 in expenses to rebid and administrate the project. Young said this is important because we are spending public tax dollars. He has taken all the comments into consideration but the options come down to using the referendum dollars only and shoehorning the project, referring it back to a referendum which could easily take one or two years to complete, or to use the Cash Park reserves in addition to the referendum funds. He said the Council decides every year to spend the Cash Park reserves so he has no problem with using those to fill the gaps to get this project done. He thought part of the decision tonight is prioritizing for needs and being comfortable with the decision. Aho said this issue is an important one and we have to be responsible with the funding and the mandate of the people. He thought the residents want the Community Center improved, and if we limit it to the original amount on the referendum we would be doing a disservice. He seriously considered sending it back for referendum, but that does not seem to make any financial sense in light of the increased costs that would be caused by delay. He thought we have a responsibility to go ahead with the project which will increase the costs now by including all nine projects, but will reduce the overall costs and make it much more efficient. Butcher said she planned to support all 16 including the walking track. She thought it was a wonderful plan, and she has often heard complaints for many years about not building the original Community Center as it should have been. The community passed a referendum to make the financial commitment to create a well-equipped Community Center. She thought we have reviewed the budget very prudently, have talked to staff, commissions and individuals in the community, and have found a way to make it work. CITY COUNCIL MINUTES March 20, 2007 Page 14 She applauded the athletic associations for their help. She thought it is a lot of money but it is time to make improvements. Nelson agreed there was nothing to be gained by going to referendum and extending it out. She believes we need to learn from this and make a commitment for future referendums that the cost estimates will go out 2-3 years from the first date of the referendum so we can stay within the referendum amount. Lambert said the decision of the Parks Commission last night was to recommend everything except the walking track; however, they wanted to make sure we brought back the walking track within the 120 days. He thought the walking track should be delayed in order to see if there are any matching grants out there and also if there are any reductions because of the rebidding process. He noted we need to have the Council act on the three motions tonight so work can begin on April 16. He said the total amount in Motion 1 will be $15,585,000 which is the number to be approved without the walking track. He said the third motion would be to set a special meeting next Monday or Tuesday in order to award contracts and to approve the "not-to-exceed" price in order to begin construction by the April 16 deadline. Duckstad thanked Lambert for the clear and lucid presentation of the nine projects. He thought the projects make sense and the Community Center and Round Lake area is the core of the parks system. He asked that we make every effort in the future to determine a figure the residents can rely on when we go out for referendums seeking money for substantial investments and improvements. He said the original Community Center was small and had inadequacies. There were certain cuts and deductions made at the time it was built that made it a less-than-adequate facility. He was also in favor of the recommended delay for the walking track in order to get additional money from any grants available and to see if there are additional cuts from the rebidding process. Young said it is an issue of communications regarding the referendum and residents in the fall of 2005 could reasonably assume the referendum to be of an amount sufficient to fund the Community Center expansion. He said in the future we may have to explain that a referendum may not be the exclusive source of funds for the amenity being proposed. Neal said he thought we have learned that during this process. He said we don't expect any bonding referendums in the immediate future, but we will keep it in mind going forward. MOTION: Butcher moved, seconded by Aho, to authorize the Construction Manager to prepare for award of all bid categories based on the scope of work approved this evening, and a construction cost not to exceed $15,585,000, and to request staff to determine the feasibility of obtaining matching funds for the walking track, and to make a decision on that CITY COUNCIL MINUTES March 20, 2007 Page 15 alternate within the next 120 days. Motion carried 5-0. MOTION: Butcher moved, seconded by Aho, to reject bids for fencing and netting, and for pre-cast structural concrete, and authorize RJM to re-bid those projects. Motion carried 5-0. Neal said only 10-15 minutes would be needed for the special meeting to award the contracts. The consensus was to meet at 5:00 PM next Tuesday. MOTION: Duckstad moved, seconded by Nelson, to set a special meeting for Tuesday, March 27 at 5 p.m. for the purpose of awarding contracts for the Community Center/Round Lake projects and to approve a "not-to- exceed" price for the RJM Construction management contract. Motion carried 5-0. Young asked representatives from the Hockey Association to come forward. He said they have worked extremely hard to meet the challenge put to them in order to raise funds to build the third rink. Representatives of the Hockey Association then presented a $1,000,000 check to the City, stating it was the result of donations and work from many individuals and businesses in the community. C. REPORT OF CITY MANAGER 1. City Council Meeting Schedule Neal noted we are out of synch in April with the regular meeting schedule. There is a Town Hall meeting at Hennnepin Technical College on April 10. There will be a dinner in the Culinary Arts dining room from 5:30 to 6:30 p.m. before the meeting starts at 7:00 p.m. He said Council Members have been asked to reserve Tuesday, April 24 to reschedule the March 2 Long Term Planning meeting and staff would like to have the second phase of the Long Term Planning meeting on Monday, May 7. In addition, we have tentatively scheduled the spring Joint School Board/City Council meeting for Monday, May 21. 2. Annual Performance Review for City Manager Neal said for the past five years the City Council has retained Harry Bruhl with Personnel Decisions, Inc. to do the City Manager's annual performance review. The consensus was to retain Mr. Bruhl. 4. Orrin of the Airport Issue Neal said the question was posed as to where the airport issue came from. He said on February 6 he submitted to the Council a list of nine priority items called "The Proposed 2007 City of Eden Prairie Federal Legislative Program" to get their general okay that these were items we could go CITY COUNCIL MINUTES March 20, 2007 Page 16 forward with to discuss with the federal legislators when we go to Washington, D.C. He said Item 2 on the list dealt with airport funding and stated "the Council supports the plans of the Metropolitan Airport Commission to improve the buildings, infrastructure and facilities at Flying Cloud Airport. The City Council authorizes City Council members and staff to seek federal support to advance the MAC's improvement plans at Flying Cloud Airport." He said the Council approved the list of discussion items. Based on that list and the presentation given to the Council by the Airport Commission on February 20, he prepared a cover letter as part of the 2007 Federal Legislative Agenda. He said our discussion of airport issues took at most 1% of the total time we spent with federal legislators. He said there were no requests for anything out of the ordinary regarding airport funding. Aho thought it was just important to state to those residents concerned who may see this as a large change in direction towards the airport that there is no change in direction, and we just want to move forward with the current agreement we have with the MAC. He said we are looking for repair and refurbishment of the airport facilities in order to improve the overall look of the airport. Butcher said she was at the majority of those meetings and has the same read as the City Manager does. The tone was about making the airport safer in terms of having the buildings and the facilities changed to improve the public image and also to make it safer. There was never a sense of advocacy for expansion of the airport in those conversations. Nelson said there has been a lot of discussion with this. The Council spent over $1,000,000 to get the 2002 agreement, and she thought we need to respect the fact that MAC is the expert on reliever airport needs for the State of Minnesota and the metropolitan area. It is their responsibility to decide when money is spent on expansion of the airports. She wanted to see Eden Prairie stay with the 2002 agreement. She thought sewer and water improvements are necessary and homeland security needs are important, but she thought we need to keep a hands-off approach to the expansion issues and let MAC make those decisions. Duckstad said he also attended the meetings and his recollection of what transpired accords with what Mr. Neal said. He has always understood we had an agreement that was previously worked out that had a central issue of whether our airport would remain a small, local/regional airport. We are not in favor of an airport that grows in any way into a commercial hub. He thought we would be interested in some upgrading of the airport to improve the aesthetics of the hangars and add other operating amenities such as sewer and water. The Council is continually concerned about reducing noise and that the airport operates in a safe fashion. Young said none of us discussed or contemplated abandoning the agreement with the MAC, particularly because our relationship with MAC CITY COUNCIL MINUTES March 20, 2007 Page 17 is better today than when the agreement was signed and that is a good thing. MAC is a higher level of government and they could be a bully so we don't want to pick a fight with them. Right now they are very cooperative and our residents benefit from that cooperation. He noted the term we used at the Joint Council/Airports Commission meeting was "balance." He thought we need to be responsive to complaints, and we will be able to work better on the voluntary portions of the agreement if we have a good working relationship with MAC. No one is implying that business concerns at the airport are more important than the residents' concerns. He said the ultimate decision of whether the airport expands is the decision of MAC. Duckstad said the agreement is important to us and gives some security to the residents; however, MAC owns the airport and controls what goes on there. He said the residents need to know we will continue to maintain that attitude. Nelson said she understood we are agreed MAC will make the decisions on expansion when they think it is appropriate. The City will continue to maintain good relations with them as much as we can. 3. Resolution No. 2007-46 in Support of a High Speed Minnesota Broadband Policy Neal said this is a legislative initiative to join with the City of Eagan and other cities in Dakota County. Businesses in Eden Prairie and Eagan have expressed interest in supporting the State to actively encourage private telecommunication companies to improve access to very high speed broadband services. He said it encourages a state-wide goal of two-way Gigaband access across Minnesota by the year 2015. He said the City of Eagan passed the initiative at their meeting earlier this evening. It is a legislative item so there are no costs involved for the City. MOTION: Aho moved, seconded by Nelson, to adopt Resolution No. 2007-46 supporting the High Speed Minnesota Broadband Policy Initiative. Motion carried 5-0. 4. Community Technology Task Force Neal said we have been looking at creating a Community Technology Task Force for a couple of years. He said the issue began with discussions with the City Council in 2004 about municipal wi-fi systems that would provide free broadband wireless services. At that time the City Council decided the market should continue to provide those services. Since that time there has been some evidence of market failure. There were a number of complaints during the transition from Time Warner to Comcast. The telecommunications infrastructure is important to the City and we don't know that much about it. CITY COUNCIL MINUTES March 20, 2007 Page 18 Neal said staff researched solutions to the concerns and discovered a model used by the City of Eagan in 2004 that seemed like a good match for Eden Prairie. Their process involved appointing a group of Eagan residents and business representatives as a task force to study the issue and to recommend solutions to the City. He said the City of Eagan supplied the task force with professional facilitation to assist them with their mission. Neal said the proposal tonight would appoint a task force of community volunteers to study questions of what we have in terms of broadband services, what we need for those services, and how we could get the services. He said they interviewed three consultants to assist the task force with this mission and are recommending the selection of Community Technology Advisors Corporation, which was the firm that assisted Eagan with their project. Neal said he would propose David Lindahl serve as the staff liaison to the task force. We also propose to recruit people from the technology businesses in the City, appoint them as a task force sometime in May, and charge them with completing their report and delivering it to the Council in October. MOTION: Aho moved, seconded by Butcher, to approve the creation of a Community Technology Task Force and to award a consulting contract to facilitate the task force to Community Technology Advisors Corporation in an amount not to exceed $35,000. Motion carried 5-0. Nelson thanked Mr. Neal for putting the fiber optic aspect into this as she thought that will become potentially necessary for some of our technology businesses in the near future. C. REPORT OF THE COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT DIRECTOR E. REPORT OF PUBLIC WORKS DIRECTOR F. REPORT OF POLICE CHIEF G. REPORT OF FIRE CHIEF H. REPORT OF CITY ATTORNEY XV. OTHER BUSINESS XVI. ADJOURNMENT Bob Lambert thanked the Council and the citizens of Eden Prairie for the privilege of serving the community for 29 years. MOTION: Butcher moved, seconded by Aho, to adjourn the meeting. Motion carried 5- 0. Mayor Young adjourned the meeting at 10:35 PM.