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HomeMy WebLinkAboutCity Council - 10/16/2007 APPROVED MINUTES EDEN PRAIRIE CITY COUNCIL MEETING TUESDAY, OCTOBER 16, 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 Jay Lotthammer, 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 7:00 PM. City Manager Neal was absent. II. PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE III. COUNCIL FORUM INVITATION IV. PROCLAMATIONS /PRESENTATIONS V. APPROVAL OF AGENDA AND OTHER ITEMS OF BUSINESS Acting City Manager Dietz added Item VII.A. HUMAN RIGHTS AND DIVERSITY COMMISSION. MOTION: Nelson moved, seconded by Aho, to approve the agenda as amended. Motion carried 5-0. VI. MINUTES A. COUNCIL WORKSHOP HELD TUESDAY, OCTOBER 2, 2007 MOTION: Aho moved, seconded by Butcher, to approve the minutes of the Council Workshop held Tuesday, October 2, 2007, as published. Motion carried 5-0. B. CITY COUNCIL MEETING HELD TUESDAY, OCTOBER 2, 2007 MOTION: Butcher moved, seconded by Nelson, to approve the minutes of the Council Meeting held Tuesday, October 2, 2007, as published. Motion carried 5- 0. VII. REPORTS OF ADVISORY BOARDS & COMMISSIONS A. HUMAN RIGHTS AND DIVERSITY COMMISSION Carrie McGuire, Chair of the Human Rights and Diversity Commission, gave a short Powerpoint presentation on the Commission's recent projects. She said the CITY COUNCIL MINUTES October 16, 2007 Page 2 Commission worked with Parks and Recreation, the Arts & Culture Commission, and other community groups to put together the International Festival on August 12, 2007, noting they had the biggest turnout ever for the event with approximately 2,000 people attending. The Commission puts up displays at the Eden Prairie Library with a different theme every month, such as Hispanic Heritage, Disability Awareness, and Native American Heritage. They will also have the Hennepin County Libraries' "Faces of Change" exhibit at the Eden Prairie library in November and plan to partner with them to have an exhibit opening event sometime in mid-November. VIII. CONSENT CALENDAR A. LIBERTY PLAZA Second Reading of Ordinance 23-2007-PUD-10-2007 for Planned Unit Development District Review with waivers and Zoning District Amendment within the I-2 Zoning District on 30.34 acres and Zoning District Change from Rural and I-2 to Office on 17.31 acres, Resolution 2007-108 for Site Plan Review on 17.31 acres. (Ordinance No. 23-2007-PUD-10-2007 for PUD District Review and Zoning District Amendment; Zoning District Change Resolution No. 2007-108 for Site Plan Review) B. ADOPT RESOLUTION NO. 2007-109 APPROVING FINAL PLAT OF TIMBER LAKES 2ND ADDITION C. ADOPT RESOLUTION NO. 2007-110 APPROVING LED CONVERSION PROGRAM AGREEMENT NO. PW 46-49-07 WITH HENNEPIN COUNTY, I.C. 07-5706 D. APPROVE CONTRACT WITH BARR ENGINEERING CO. TO PROVIDE MONITORING AND MAINTENANCE ACTIVITIES FOR RILEY CREEK WATER QUALITY MONITORING STATION E. APPROVE CONTRACT WITH METROPOLITAN COUNCIL ENVIRONMENTAL SERVICES TO PROVIDE TASKS ASSOCIATED WITH MONITORING AND MAINTAINING RILEY CREEK WATER QUALITY MONITORING STATIONS F. APPROVE CONTRACT WITH DORAN CONSTRUCTION INC. FOR POLICE TRAINING ROOM REMODELING PROJECT G. APPROVE PURCHASE OF TRIMBLE GPS HARDWARE AND SOFTWARE FROM FRONTIER PRECISION H. APPROVE PROFESSIONAL SERVICES AGREEMENT WITH AERO- METRIC INC. FOR LIDAR DATA PURCHASE MOTION: Duckstad moved, seconded by Butcher, to approve Items A-H on the Consent Calendar. Motion carried 5-0. IX. PUBLIC HEARINGS /MEETINGS CITY COUNCIL MINUTES October 16, 2007 Page 3 A. LAMETTRY COLLISION Request for: Planned Unit Development Concept Review on 3.2 acres, Planned Unit Development District Review with waivers on 3.22 acres, Zoning Amendment within the Commercial Regional Service Zoning District on 3.2 acres, Site Plan Review on 3.2 acres. Location: 11903 Valley View Road. (Resolution No. 2007-111 for PUD Concept Review; Ordinance for PUD District Review with waivers and Zoning Amendment) Dietz said official notice of this public hearing was published in the October 4 2007, Eden Prairie Sun Current and sent to 10 property owners. He said LaMettry Collision purchased the former Land Rover site. The existing building is 20,500 square feet, and an additional 5,120 square foot building is proposed. The plan conforms to city code requirements. The 120-Day Review Period expires on January 11, 2008. The Planning Commission voted 7-0 to recommend approval of the project at the September 24, 2007 meeting. Jeremiah noted the reason for the LaMettry move to the site was to accommodate Harley-Davidson on the existing LaMettry site. There were no comments from the audience. MOTION: Aho moved, seconded by Nelson, to close the Public Hearing; to adopt Resolution No. 2007-111 for Planned Unit Development Concept Review on 3.2 acres; to approve 1 st Reading of the Ordinance for Planned Unit Development District Review with waivers, and Zoning District Amendment within the Commercial Regional Service Zoning District 3.2 acres; and to direct Staff to prepare a Development Agreement incorporating Staff and Commission recommendations and Council conditions. Motion carried 5-0. X. 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." XI. ORDINANCES AND RESOLUTIONS A. SECOND READING OF ORDINANCE NO. 24-2007 RELATING TO SNOW REMOVAL ON SIDEWALKS AND TRAILS AND ADOPT RESOLUTION NO. 2007-112 APPROVING SUMMARY ORDINANCE FOR PUBLICATION Dietz said the first reading of the Ordinance to remove snow from adjacent sidewalks and adjacent trails in certain locations was granted during a regular meeting of the Eden Prairie City Council on October 2, 2007. The following modifications were made to the Ordinance in preparation for this second and final reading: 1) Language was added to clarify the sidewalks and trails that will be the responsibility of adjacent property owners is limited to those that are abutting CITY COUNCIL MINUTES October 16, 2007 Page 4 public streets and specifically excludes those that are between homes and in back yards. 2) All reference to utilization of sand and salt to control ice has been removed from the Ordinance. 3) Scenic Heights Road was added to the list of roadways for which the City will be responsible for snow removal from trails/sidewalks. 4) Minor editorial comments. Dietz said one of the things we talked about was how to best deal with the elderly and accommodate their special needs. He spoke with Mary Keating of the Housing and Community Services staff who said the Home Outside Maintenance for the Elderly (HOME) program is available for snow removal for residents aged 60 and over. He noted the HOME program is one of those subsidized by the City. Snow removal is available to residents aged 60 and over on a sliding fee basis. Staff continues to explore the possibility of programs that may be available to physically- challenged residents. He noted staff is recommending that no special provision be made for military personnel on active duty. He thought the first year would be a test case as to how to deal with some of the limitations our residents might have and he thought there would be resources available. If second reading of the ordinance is approved tonight, staff will prepare a direct mailing to each property owner in the City. The mailing would encourage residents to lend a helping hand to neighbors that may be of need and would include information about the HOME program, a staff contact and phone number, and the City's website address. Young said he heard Mr. Dietz say it would probably be done on a complaint basis and he asked what the ordinance contemplates. Dietz said the ordinance provides that if people do not plow sidewalks within 24 hours, they would receive a posted or mailed notice that gives them another 24 hours to plow. He said we would not do inspections but will deal with this on a complaint basis. Young then asked when the ordinance would take effect. Dietz said it would be effective on publication in the newspaper and would be in place for the first snowfall if it is adopted tonight. Young noted there was some discussion when we had the joint meeting with the School Board about whether penalties or fines would be put in place during the first year. Dietz said the ordinance has no penalties or fines. If the plowing is not done 24 hours after the notice is given to do it, the City would remove the snow and then would bill the property owner for the actual cost of the snow removal. Young asked if a written notice would be given if there is a complaint. Dietz said it would be posted at the house. Young then asked if the department will inspect the property again at the end of the 24 hours before anything else is done. He said he assumed we would knock on doors and try to find out if there is someone home. Dietz said staff knows there will be difficulties but we are just going to have to struggle through this first year using resources that are available such as the HOME program. CITY COUNCIL MINUTES October 16, 2007 Page 5 Aho asked,if it appears that there is no one home, will there be any attempt to contact the resident by phone or some other method. Dietz said he thought that would be difficult or impossible to do unless we have some information in advance about their being gone for the winter. He thought someone will be caught in that situation this winter, and it will cost them$50-$100 to remove the snow,but this is the way other communities do business and he thought we just have to break into something like this. He said staff will be reacting to complaints only and will not go out looking for unplowed property. Butcher said she knew this is a big change for the community and people are anxious about it. She thought that after this first year we should revisit the ordinance and see how we could tweak it to make it better. She suggested residents feel free to call City Hall and see what this means to them and see if they fit the criteria for receiving assistance. Dietz said there is a front page article about this on the City website with a map that marks the responsibility of the adjacent property owners with a red or light blue line. Nelson said she was concerned about our not looking into the situations where there is a family with a National Guard member who is overseas. She would like to have some kind of program whereby they could request assistance in advance. She did not like to just brush off these situations and she thought there may not be too many families where this is the case. The other Council Members agreed with her. Dietz said we will endeavor to make a provision for that, although we don't know who will be in that situation. Rosow said there are two mechanisms in the ordinance that provide for the Council to weigh in and that could provide relief in those situations. It is not an automatic determination that the City sends someone out to plow if it is determined it is a nuisance. There will be an opportunity to interface with someone if there is someone at home, and at that point the department can determine if there are special circumstances. If someone does not pay for the cost, it gets assessed and the only way that occurs is at a hearing. At that point individuals come before the Council and can explain the situation to the Council, and the Council has the discretion to not assess that cost. Dietz noted the motion is in two parts because it includes the authorization of an amendment to the 2007 CIP budget to include the expenditure of$116,500 for additional equipment for sidewalk snow removal. MOTION: Butcher moved, seconded by Aho, to approve Second Reading of Ordinance 24-2007 relating to snow removal on sidewalks and trails; to adopt Resolution 2007-112 approving summary for publication; and to authorize an amendment to the 2007 Capital Improvements Projects (CIP)budget to include the expenditure of$116,500 for additional equipment for sidewalk snow removal. Motion carried 5-0. XII. PETITIONS, REQUESTS AND COMMUNICATIONS CITY COUNCIL MINUTES October 16, 2007 Page 6 XIII. APPOINTMENTS XIV. REPORTS A. REPORTS OF COUNCIL MEMBERS B. REPORT OF CITY MANAGER C. REPORT OF COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT DIRECTOR 1. Dunn Bros./Smith-Douglas-More-House Jeremiah said the current 5-year lease between the City and Dunn Bros for use of the Smith-Douglas-More House will expire at the end of this year. Over the past few months, staff has been negotiating terms for a new lease with the franchise entity (Puregrace LLC) that has been subleasing the property from Dunn Bros since October 1, 2006. Although Dunn Bros has honored their lease, they indicated back in 2004 that the store was operating at a loss and they or their franchisee would need a significant rent reduction before they could renew a lease. Over the past two months the idea of selling the property emerged and the City had the property appraised at $565,000. Both Puregrace and Dunn Bros have indicated they will not pursue a purchase at the appraised value,but Puregrace is prepared to renew a 12-18 month lease with an annual net rent of$33,250 which includes $18,000 from Puregrace and $15,250 from a prospective subtenant. In addition, Puregrace will pay 5% of gross sales over$30,000 per month. The tenant will pay the utilities, and the City will pay for outside maintenance, exterior repairs, HVAC maintenance, taxes, expanded parking and an upper level fire exit. Jeremiah said staff is recommending that a new lease between the City and Puregrace be prepared in agreement with the proposal, except staff recommends to not pursue the parking lot expansion and the upper level first exit requested by Puregrace unless the tenant agrees to pay more rent or to commit to a five-year lease. Young asked if the current rent is $67,000 annually and they have paid taxes on it of about$15,000 and exterior maintenance of$5,500 per year, for a total payment of about$88,000. Jeremiah said that was correct. He asked if the proposed lease between the City and Puregrace is for$33,250, including $15,250 with a subtenant. Jeremiah said that was correct and we would expect that Puregrace would handle the sublease. She said the net amount to the City according to the new terms would be only about$12,000, a significant reduction. Young then asked how she arrived at the net amount of$12,000. Jeremiah said that was after subtracting taxes and outside maintenance from the total rent of$33,250 per year. Young asked if, in order for this particular subtenant to occupy the building, they would need some type of improvement or change and it is expected that CITY COUNCIL MINUTES October 16, 2007 Page 7 we pay for that. Jeremiah said they are requesting we pay for the expanded parking which would be approximately $33,000, and for the upper level fire exit which would be $12,000. She noted staff is not agreeing to those terms unless they increase the rent amount and the terms of the lease to five years. Young asked what Puregrace will sign, as of today. Jeremiah said with they will sign with the terms proposed,but staff is recommending that we go back and negotiate with them further to extend the lease or to release the City from the obligation of doing the parking lot improvement and the fire exit. Young asked what efforts we have undertaken to find out if there are other potential tenants interested in the property. Jeremiah said we have not done any search for other tenants,but this one-year lease would enable us to do that and also pursue other buyers. Young then asked if we could put Puregrace on a month-to-month basis. Dave Lindahl, Economic Development staff, said he had a short conversation with Ann Schuster of Puregrace, and he thought she would entertain a month-to-month lease. Young said we are 2-1/2 months from the expiration of the lease. He wasn't thrilled with the lease terms as it is substantially less than the current lease, but he did not want to see the property stand vacant. He would like to see the City to explore what other options are available, whether it would be to explore a better lease or what the property could sell for. Butcher thought there is a greater issue here, and it is a philosophical question. She said it is a question of what does the community think is the value of maintaining ownership of a historic property. It has evolved into a gathering place for a variety of groups in the community, and we need to ask what that means to the community because in the past people had an interest in that. She said the third thing is how we feel about public access, that is, are we interested in selling this so that the community would not have public access to it. She thought rather than making a decision as to whether this is the right lease we should have a philosophical discussion on the Council and make a decision on what we think is the value of this property to the community. Duckstad said he would be in favor of a month-to-month lease that would give additional time for us to explore what would be in the best interest of the City. Aho said he was in favor of a month-to-month lease at this time because it would give us time to evaluate. We have had some ongoing discussions with community groups, and there is some interest in keeping public access to the facility. He thought there are opportunities to do that in a unique way, and this would give them time to evaluate it and see if it might fit for them. Nelson said she would like to see it remain something that is open to the public but would also like to see the City have ultimate ownership of it. If CITY COUNCIL MINUTES October 16, 2007 Page 8 we can keep a contract of some kind on it, we can make sure the inside stays historic,but we need to have it open and available to the public. She would agree to a month-to-month lease,but she thought we need to do the parking lot expansion because that might make a big difference for this tenant or any future enterprise. She said we should discuss putting a parking lot expansion on it, or at least something where you can turn around if there are no parking spaces open. She would like to give this tenant a real chance because it has become a meeting place, and she thought any place that makes high school students like history and historic buildings has some value. Butcher agreed with Council Member Nelson. She said since we probably won't have a dialogue tonight about the philosophical perspective of the entire City Council, she would agree to have an interim lease so we can at least have the discussion. Young thought going forward on a month-to-month lease makes sense,but the question is what other direction we give staff in the interim. Nelson said she thought we need to give this tenant a shot at really making it and paying us more. Duckstad said he would give them enough direction so they could explore every reasonable possibility. He would not want to agree to the need for a parking lot expansion at this time,but it could be kept open as a negotiation point. Aho said he agreed and he would not vote to do the parking lot at this time. Butcher thought when we first looked at leasing this property we didn't really know what would happen and she thought Dunn Bros. didn't know either. We were all hopeful there would be a better revenue stream coming in,but we were really just guessing at the lease. She was not set on the original number because it was arbitrary. She thought we have a treasure with Puregrace and Dunn Bros. being in the community and we need to continue to work with them. We do have a revenue stream,people do know what is located in that building and they do want to participate in supporting it. She did not think there was a strong need to change what we have or to go out and seek other kinds of leases. She thought there may be another compromise for the parking lot, and we should work further with the staff on that. Young said he assumed Dunn Bros. had some projections about operations that supported the lease terms and it has been in business for five years now. The dollar amount being proposed is a substantial reduction from what we told people would pay back the capital expenditures. He would like to direct staff to look for other possible tenants to see if we can get more rent,but he did not hear that from the other Council Members. He asked if there was sentiment on the Council to lock these rates for 12-18 months. Aho said he would agree to 12 months at most and would be open to looking at other opportunities to lease the property. He would like to see it remain a facility that has public access because community members have expressed CITY COUNCIL MINUTES October 16, 2007 Page 9 an interest in keeping it available as a public access. The question we have as a Council is whether we are willing to pay for that. He would prefer the month-to-month route with 12 months at the outside so we can look at other options. He said, if we go 12 months,he would like staff to work with the leasee to negotiate a little better lease than what we are seeing here. Butcher said she would agree to going with the 12 month lease. She didn't think there is any need to change this quickly and 12 months would give us more time to work within this lease and deal with the question of how that site might better fit the needs of Dunn Bros. Nelson said she liked going with 12 months because it gives us breathing room and gives us time to raise some funds to get it the way we want it to be, both from an historic perspective and for business purposes. Duckstad said he had no objections to either a 12 month or a month-to- month lease so we have enough time to agree on what we want to do with the property. MOTION: Butcher moved, seconded by Nelson to direct staff to prepare a new lease for 12 months between the City of Eden Prairie and Puregrace, LLC (a Dunn Bros Coffee Franchisee) at the Smith-Douglas-More Property located at 8107 Eden Prairie Road per the terms outlined in the staff memo but without the expansion of the parking lot and the upper level fire exit. Aho asked if we are leaving any room for negotiating by staff or are we accepting it on face. Butcher said her motion was as stated in the memorandum. VOTE ON THE MOTION: Motion carried 4-0-1 with Young opposed. Nelson asked if we could pass a motion to instruct staff to look into working with some outside organizations or foundations to see if there could be some private funds raised to improve the outside maintenance or parking lot. Young said he was not sure if we would need a motion to do that. Nelson then asked if we could just make the suggestion to staff to do that. Young thought that was a fine idea. Dietz said he heard the suggestion, and staff will endeavor to do that. D. REPORT OF PARKS AND RECREATION DIRECTOR E. REPORT OF PUBLIC WORKS DIRECTOR F. REPORT OF POLICE CHIEF G. REPORT OF FIRE CHIEF CITY COUNCIL MINUTES October 16, 2007 Page 10 H. REPORT OF CITY ATTORNEY XV. OTHER BUSINESS XVI. ADJOURNMENT MOTION: Aho moved, seconded by Butcher, to adjourn the meeting. Motion carried 5- 0. Mayor Young adjourned the meeting at 7:55 PM.