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HomeMy WebLinkAboutCity Council - 11/18/2008 APPROVED MINUTES EDEN PRAIRIE CITY COUNCIL MEETING TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 18, 2008 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 Gene Dietz, 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 7:04 PM. All Council Members were present. II. COLOR GUARD/PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE Young thanked Girl Scout Troop 10562, Prairie Star Service Unit from Prairie View Elementary School, for presenting the colors. III. OPEN PODIUM INVITATION IV. APPROVAL OF AGENDA AND OTHER ITEMS OF BUSINESS Neal added a couple of items and changes to Item XIV.B. He said Item V.A. PROCLAMATION RECOGNIZING 40TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE EDEN PRAIRIE CHAMBER OF COMMERCE will be moved to the December 1 agenda. He added Item XIV.A.2. John Duckstad— Community Center. MOTION: Duckstad moved, seconded by Aho, to approve the agenda as published and amended. Motion carried 5-0. V. PROCLAMATIONS/PRESENTATIONS A. PROCLAMATION RECOGNIZING 40TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE EDEN PRAIRIE CHAMBER OF COMMERCE (Continued to December 1, 2008) B. MILLER PARK BARRIER FREE PLAY AREA DONATION Lotthammer said Mike and Jennifer Garvin and a volunteer fundraising committee recently conducted a fundraising event. They were able to raise additional funds for the remainder of the items in Phase I of the Miller Park Barrier Free Play Area both from that event and from donations on their website. He said tonight Mr. Garvin CITY COUNCIL MINUTES November 18, 2008 Page 2 will present a check to the City in the amount of$76,651.43. He noted this will be in addition to the $134,369 check presented to the City by Mr. Garvin on August 19, 2008. Lotthammer presented diagrams and slides of the master plan details for the barrier free play area. He said it was designed as a phased plan, and there were alternates included in the bidding process. He said the contribution tonight will enable us to put all the alternates for Phase I in place this spring. He said Phases II and III are several years off, and we will pursue fund raising and grant oppotunities for those areas. Mike Garvin said this project started over two years ago, and the dream is starting to become a reality now. He thanked the City for all their support. Their recent event was attended by over 200 people who helped to support the park by making donations and purchasing pavers. He noted their website is still up, and they continue to receive donations on that. Young accepted the check for$76,651.43 from Mr. Garvin. He said the Council is very appreciative of the efforts of Mr. Garvin and his family. Aho noted this is the type of thing that makes Eden Prairie a great community when people give their time, money and talents to a great cause. MOTION: Nelson moved, seconded by Aho, to accept the donation from the Tom and Kathy Miller Family Foundation in the amount of$76,651.43 to assist with funding for phase 1B of the Miller Park Barrier Free Play Area. Motion carried 5- 0. C. ART CENTER FUND RAISING UPDATE Lotthammer said Stacey Desai, Chair of the Friends of the Eden Prairie Art Center, was unable to attend the meeting tonight so he will give an update on the fund raising efforts. He said $3,500 has been raised to date mostly from individual contributions. Several fund raising events have been held primarily to raise awareness of the Art Center. An anonymous donor has pledged $25,000 to be contributed once the building is open and operational. We just learned that the Eden Prairie Foundation has awarded a grant for$8,500 to fund the pottery studio upon completion of building upgrades and opening the building to the public. He said Ms Desai has heard from several people who would be more comfortable contributing if they had assurances the building would be opened and would be used as an Art Center. He noted the Council packets include a summary of the fund raising efforts through grants and foundations. He said the grant application process comes along in a staggered time frame. Young thanked him for the report and encouraged the Friends of the Eden Prairie Art Center in their fundraising efforts even though these are challenging times. VI. MINUTES CITY COUNCIL MINUTES November 18, 2008 Page 3 A. COUNCIL WORKSHOP HELD TUESDAY, OCTOBER 21, 2008 MOTION: Aho moved, seconded by Nelson, to approve the minutes of the Council Workshop held Tuesday, October 21, 2008, as published. Motion carried 5-0. B. OPEN PODIUM HELD TUESDAY, OCTOBER 21, 2008 MOTION: Butcher moved, seconded by Duckstad, to approve the minutes of the Open Podium held Tuesday, October 21, 2008, as published. Motion carried 5-0. C. SPECIAL CITY COUNCIL MEETING HELD MONDAY, NOVEMBER 10, 2008 MOTION: Aho moved, seconded by Nelson, to approve the minutes of the Special City Council meeting held Monday, November 10, 2008, as published. Motion carried 3-0-2, with Duckstad and Butcher abstaining. VII. REPORTS OF ADVISORY BOARDS & COMMISSIONS A. FLYING CLOUD AIRPORT ADVISORY COMMISSION UPDATE Rick King, Chair of the Flying Cloud Airport Advisory Commission, gave a brief update on recent activities of the Commission. He introduced Commission members present tonight and noted they have two student members for the first time this year. He said the Commission worked with the Metropolitan Airport Commission (MAC) in March to include Flying Cloud Airport in the multilateration project in order to help provide more accurate flight paths and take a better look at early and late traffic hours. He said that cost a little extra money for MAC,but it will serve us well. In May the Commission issued their security report, and they recommended that report be done every other year going forward. In May the FAA released the record of decision that allowed the start of construction projects at the airport that had been on hold for a long time. In order to provide information on those projects, the Commission conducted a special meeting at the Hennepin Technical College that was attended by 230 people. King said the Commission met with business owners in July and had a tour of the airport. He said our local MAC representative, Commissioner Molly Segal, addressed the Commission in September. In October sewer and water was put in along Pioneer Trail and that was followed by new fencing along the roadway. They are now doing hookups to the underground sewer and water lines. A number of the older hangars have been sold and some will be replaced. King noted the north parallel runway was extended to 3900 feet in October. Next year the south parallel runway will be extended to 5000 feet. He said one of the things that came up at a Council meeting was to have them take a look at what else the Commission could do about night time noise during the voluntary curfew time between the hours of 10:00 PM and 7:00 AM. He said they met with MAC about that, and MAC will formally ask the FAA to do some things at the airport. He CITY COUNCIL MINUTES November 18, 2008 Page 4 noted the FAA cannot make a voluntary curfew into a mandatory one because of its use as a public facility. He said they plan to meet with each of the operators at the airport to get their ideas for ways to reduce noise. They plan to ask the FAA to study whether the tower hours could be modified. He noted when the tower is closed at night the north parallel runway is also closed. Next summer the profiles will be altered because of the construction on the south parallel runway and they plan to distribute information to residents about that project. He reviewed the noise complaints received, noting that five households accounted for 53% of the complaints in the latest reporting period. He said there was a cargo group based out of Flying Cloud Airport during the Republican National Convention, and many complaints were filed during that time. He said flight operations this year have been about the same as last year and are lower than in 2006. The Commission is working with the Planning Commission on the airport zoning declaration that will be included in the new Comprehensive Plan. Butcher commented the report was very impressive. Young said the Commission has exceeded the Council's expectations when the Commission was reactivated. He thought the public meeting in June was very impressive. He thanked Mr. King and the Commission for their work. VIII. CONSENT CALENDAR A. CLERK'S LICENSE LIST B. ADOPT RESOLUTION 2008-105 APPROVING FINAL PLAT OF EDEN BLUFF HIGHLANDS 5TH ADDITION C. BROOKVIEW RIDGE (Approve First Amendment to Development Agreement) D. ENCLAVE AT OLD SHADY OAK (Approve First Amendment to Development Agreement) E. ADOPT RESOLUTION 2008-106 DECLARING PROPERTY "ABANDONED" F. APPROVE CHANGE ORDERS NO. 1, 2 AND 3 FOR WEST 78T STREET WATER MAIN REPLACEMENT PROJECT TO ELLINGSON DRAINAGE, INC. G. AWARD CONTRACT FOR CONSTRUCTION OF MUNICIPAL WELL NO. 16 FACILITIES TO ENCOMM MIDWEST, I.C. 08-5731 H. 2009 FUEL PURCHASE CONTRACTWITH THE STATE OF MINNESOTA I. ACCEPT REQUEST FOR WITHDRAWAL FROM VERIZON WIRELESS FOR RELOCATION OF PROPOSED WIRELESS TOWER AND ANCILLARY CITY COUNCIL MINUTES November 18, 2008 Page 5 STRUCTURE TO ANOTHER SITE WITHIN RILEY LAKE PARK AND RETURN PLANS TO PROPONENT WITHOUT PREJUDICE MOTION: Duckstad moved, seconded by Aho, to approve Items A-I on the Consent Calendar. Motion carried 5-0. IX. PUBLIC HEARINGS /MEETINGS A. 2008 GUIDE PLAN APPROVAL (Resolution 2008-107) Neal said official notice of this public hearing was published in the November 2, 2008, Eden Prairie News. Before the 2008 Guide Plan is submitted to Metropolitan Council, the Planning Commission and City Council must approve the plan. The Planning Commission recommended 7-1 to approve the plan at its October 27, 2008, meeting. The plan contains an executive summary with a chapter by chapter explanation of the changes in the plan. In general, the plan changes can be summarized as follows. 1. Development of a Town Center in the Major Center Area. 2. Development of mixed land used in Golden Triangle. 3. Increased population by 2030 to 77,124 (+15,037). 4. Increased number of households by 2030 to 32,961 (+8,986). 5. Increased employment by 2030 to 65,500 (+14,200). 6. Additional senior and affordable housing units in the MCA. 7. An alternative light rail alignment to serve the MCA, Town Center, and Golden Triangle. 8. The airport chapter is now part of the transportation chapter. In the last update it was a separate chapter. The update recommends that the airport be guided "Airport" rather than its current"Public" designation. An airport zoning district and regulations will need to be developed. 9. A new chapter called economic development which includes the Council's current economic development policies as well as new ones for the MCA and Golden Triangle. 10. A new chapter called Active Community Planning which contains policies for creating a more physically, socially and environmentally healthy community. Minnesota law outlines the following sequence for submitting a comprehensive plan to the Metropolitan Council: Step 1: Submit plans to affected jurisdictions (generally adjacent cities, counties, school districts, watershed districts and airport commissions, etc.) for a 6 month review. (complete) Step 2: The Planning Commission approves the guide plan update. (complete) Step 3: The City Council gives its preliminary approval, subject to Metropolitan Council review, and authorizes its submittal to the Metropolitan Council. Step 4: The Metropolitan Council takes 15 days to determine if the guide plan CITY COUNCIL MINUTES November 18, 2008 Page 6 update is complete for review. Step 5: If the update is complete, the Metropolitan Council has 120 days to complete its review and make a recommendation. Step 6: Within 9 months of Metropolitan Council approval the City must formally adopt its plan. Jeremiah said most discussions and public input over the past four years have centered on the concept of creating a Town Center. Four years ago the Council appointed a task force to look at that area and meet with representatives of the property owners and City representatives. Four surveys were completed during that process, all of which indicated the most important initiative for the City is to develop a compact, walkable Town Center in that area. The Major Center Area (MCA) study was completed in January 2006 and was instrumental in the Town Center Phase I development, which included Windsor Plaza, Presbyterian Homes and Gander Mountain. She said the quality of life survey completed in 2007 indicated one of the few issues facing Eden Prairie is the lack of a downtown. The Planning Commission worked on the MCA study to see what it meant and how we could implement it. They helped develop the Town Center guidelines which are the basis for amendments to the Comprehensive Guide plan. In August this year staff met individually with representatives of the property owners in the area to make sure they were aware we were continuing to implement the MCA study. Staff received a lot of positive comments from the property owners and tenants with regard to the City taking this initiative and insuring the future viability of the area. Jeremiah said there have been some changes to the plans for the WalMart property recently, and WalMart representatives have expressed some concerns. Staff feels these concerns can be addressed within the parameters of the Comprehensive Plan amendments. They are working with WalMart to make sure the interests in the City and the community can be realized, and WalMart can remain and still have a viable business. We have been working to set up a meeting with them, and that will be held on December 2. Jeremiah said tonight's action is subject to the Metropolitan Council's approval of the Comprehensive Plan, so we cannot formally adopt the plan until after we receive their approval. No rezoning of properties would take effect until after the plan was approved. She noted this will give us additional time to better understand WalMart's position and their future plans for the property. Young asked if any changes to the Guide Plan that occur after we have given preliminary approval have to go to the Metropolitan Council as well. Jeremiah said the Met Council makes a determination if it is a minor change or if the Met Council needs to approve it. She noted we send any changes to the Met Council at any time we update the plan or make changes to an individual property. Duckstad asked how often we have to update the Comprehensive Plan. Jeremiah said it is guided by statute to be updated every ten years,but we can update it more frequently as we respond to requests for changes. CITY COUNCIL MINUTES November 18, 2008 Page 7 Susan Steinwall, attorney representing WalMart, confirmed that they are meeting by conference call with staff on December 2. They have also had conversations with staff prior to this time. Her client has concerns but likes doing business in Eden Prairie. They have asked that the Comprehensive Plan be amended so that the WalMart site is no longer shown as part of the proposed Town Center area and that the transportation component of the plan would no longer show the north/south connector road that would bisect the site. Young said it is important for the City to continue its discussions with WalMart. He said it is not the policy of the City Council or the City to push any company out of this town. If the Comprehensive Guide Plan would change the zoning, it doesn't preclude WalMart from continuing to do business as a nonconforming use. He asked if WalMart has a plan for that location that would be different from the expectations of the City discussed in the Comprehensive Plan. Ms Steinwall replied she understands the City has already adopted a new zoning district for the Town Center area. The expectation is that the new zoning district would be applied to the Town Center area which would include the WalMart site. The WalMart site would then be termed "nonconforming." She said the vision of use of retail space within the Town center area would be different from that of services provided by WalMart. WalMart is more aligned with the Eden Prairie Mall in terms of attracting regional shoppers. Therefore WalMart would be out of synch with the zoning and with the Comprehensive Plan. She said their plans are to stay put and to continue to do business as WalMart has done in the past. She said no client likes to be a nonconforming use, and it is important the building match up with the City's official controls. Young said it could remain as a nonconforming use in perpetuity. Ms Steinwall said, under most nonconforming use ordinances, if there were to be a casualty event it would be difficult to rebuild, and that would be a huge concern for a multi- million dollar investment. The building is considerably larger than the maximum building size allowed in the proposed Town Center area. Rosow said under the nonconforming use statute any nonconforming use destroyed by fire to greater than 50% of the value has a period of time under the statute to apply for a building permit and can rebuild free of the current zoning that made them nonconforming. Aho asked if that would apply to catastrophic events other than fire. Rosow said it states by fire or other peril. Nelson asked if there are likely to be any more changes because she served on the original committee and thought WalMart's reaction was positive at that time. Ms Steinwall said WalMart has changed its approach to domestic expansion in the last few years, and just recently the CEO announced the emphasis will be on remodeling and updating property and staying in place. Previously WalMart was on a very ambitious plan to build a lot of new stores in new locations. The letter provided to the City was signed by the man who makes the decisions, so she did not anticipate any further changes. Nelson said she was a little confused when she read the letter and remembered some of the comments made when she served on the original committee. CITY COUNCIL MINUTES November 18, 2008 Page 8 Young said the points raised are important not only to WalMart but to other property owners in the area. Part of the City's obligation is to look forward in our land use plans while being respectful to the businesses that are currently located in the City. He encouraged staff to continue discussions with WalMart because they are an important business in town as well as a taxpayer. MOTION: Butcher moved, seconded by Aho, to close the public hearing. Motion carried 5-0. MOTION: Butcher moved, seconded by Nelson, to adopt Resolution 2008-107 for approval of the 2008 Guide Plan Update Plan. Motion carried 5-0. B. VACATION OF DRAINAGE AND UTILITY EASEMENTS ON LOT 1, BLOCK 1,AND OUTLOT A, EDEN BLUFF HIGHLANDS, 3RD ADDITION, Vacation 08-04 (Resolution 2008-108) Neal said official notice of this public hearing was published in the October 30, 2008, Eden Prairie News and sent to two property owners. The property owners have requested the vacation of a portion of the drainage and utility easements to facilitate replatting of the lots to Eden Bluff 5th Addition. The portion of the drainage and utility easements to be vacated were originally dedicated with the Eden Bluff Highlands 3rd Addition plat and will no longer be required with the dedication of the Eden Bluff 5th Addition plat. The release of the resolution vacating the drainage and utility easements shall be conditioned on the recording of the plat of Eden Bluff 5th Addition. He noted this is considered a housekeeping item. There were no comments from the audience. MOTION: Aho moved, seconded by Butcher, to close the public hearing and to adopt Resolution 2008-108 vacating a portion of the drainage and utility easements lying over, under and across Lot 1, Block 1, and Outlot A, Eden Bluff Highlands 3rd Addition, according to the recorded plat thereof, Hennepin County, Minnesota. Motion carried 5-0. X. PAYMENT OF CLAIMS MOTION: Duckstad moved, seconded by Aho, 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 XII. PETITIONS, REQUESTS AND COMMUNICATIONS XIII. APPOINTMENTS A. BUDGET ADVISORY COMMISSION CITY COUNCIL MINUTES November 18, 2008 Page 9 Neal said the City advertised for two vacancies on the Budget Advisory Commission, (BAC) with applications being taken from September 17 through October 3, 2008. Ten applicants applied for consideration to the BAC. Interviews for the BAC were held in lieu of the City Council workshop on Tuesday, October 21, 2008. A new BAC orientation session will be held in November or December 2008 in advance of the start of the new BAC Commission terms scheduled to begin on January 1, 2009. MOTION: Butcher moved, seconded by Nelson, to appoint to the Budget Advisory Commission for four-year terms Richard King, John Muilenburg, Don Uram, and Eapen Chacko, with terms to begin January 1, 2009, and end December 31, 2012. Motion carried 5-0. MOTION: Duckstad moved, seconded by Butcher, to appoint to the Budget Advisory Commission for two-year terms Richard Proops, Gwen Schultz, and Annette Agner, with terms to begin January 1, 2009, and end December 31, 2010. Motion carried 5-0. Young said there were an abundance of qualified applicants so this was a difficult decision to make. He encouraged all those who were not appointed to continue their interest in service to the City. B. BUDGET ADVISORY COMMISSION CHAIR AND VICE CHAIR MOTION: Aho moved, seconded by Nelson, to appoint Don Uram- Chair and Richard King - Vice Chair of the Budget Advisory Commission. Motion carried 5-0. XIV. REPORTS A. REPORTS OF COUNCILMEMBERS 1. Kathy Nelson—2008 General Election Nelson said she wanted to talk about the 2008 election and to formally thank Kathleen Porta for all her hard work in the election. She noted people may not realize how much goes into the election process. Ms Porta has put in many hours above and beyond the normal work days. Young said those were good comments. He thought we should also thank all the election judges and others involved in the election process. 2. John Duckstad— Community Center Duckstad said Mayor Young gave a helpful explanation about the Community Center at the last meeting. There have been some lingering doubts as to the final cost of the project, and he thought the Mayor's comments helped dispel some of those doubts. He suggested the Council consider asking the City Manager to prepare an update on everything that has been done at the Community Center and detailing the various projects CITY COUNCIL MINUTES November 18, 2008 Page 10 included. There were a lot of additional projects added to it that drove the cost up. He thought an update of the costs along with a procedural history of what happened would be helpful to the citizens of Eden Prairie. He also suggested putting a user-friendly article in Life in the Prairie to let everyone know what happened. Young said it is important for us to be clear in our communications about what actions we have taken and what dollars we are spending. Every year we allocate dollars from the capital funds for parks projects, and last year some of those projects were in the vicinity of the Community Center. He thought it would be a good idea for the Council to always be very clear on how we spend taxpayers' dollars. Neal said staff will prepare the update. He said they have been working on a final reconciliation of the construction projects and will be able to share that information with the Council in December. B. REPORT OF CITY MANAGER 1. Award Police and Fire All-in-One Solution RFP to New World Systems Neal said a team from the IT, Police and Fire Departments has been working on this item for a long time to figure out our needs, find the vendors, get references and make site visits. Unfortunately we have reached a critical impasse in our contract discussions with the preferred vendor. He asked that the item be continued until the December 1 meeting so they can continue negotiations with the vendor in the hopes of reaching a mutually agreeable solution. MOTION: Duckstad moved, seconded by Butcher, to continue this item to the December 1, 2008 meeting. Motion carried 5-0. 2. Proposed Highway 169 Coalition Neal said Eden Prairie has been invited to participate in the newly-forming Highway 169 Coalition to advocate for improvements to Highway 169. He participated in a discussion with city officials from other cities along the corridor in the early summer, and the most important project in their view was the intersection at Highway 494 and 169. He said it would cost about $5,000 for an annual membership in the coalition. He asked the Council to give some consideration to that, and noted we will have to give them a decision by the final meeting of 2008. 3. Update on Issue Rmardins! Hennepin South Services Collaborative Neal said the Hennepin South Services Collaborative is reaching a critical point in their budget for 2009. There is a county action being contemplated that would have a positive impact on their budget, and they are looking for CITY COUNCIL MINUTES November 18, 2008 Page 11 elected officials to contact county officials about that. Neal said he told them he would pass their letter along to Council Members tonight. C. REPORT OF THE COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT DIRECTOR 1. Smith Douslas More House Proposals Jeremiah said back in August the Council directed staff to seek additional lease proposals for the property on the open market. Dave Lindahl has been diligently working on that and has done a lot of marketing efforts. There were a couple of proposals received by the November 6 deadline. One is a French restaurant concept and the other is the existing tenant, Puregrace LLC, who is operating the Dunn Bros coffee shop. She said the proposal from the Dunn Bros tenant would net out$5,000 more per year than the French restaurant and Puregrace is not asking for any assistance with upgrades to the property. Young said he took a look at the proposals over the weekend, and he thought that the proposal from the existing tenant is a superior proposal over that of Cafe Ficelle. It is also superior in its terms to the proposal we received from Puregrace in August. He also believed more important than that is the fact that the City Council did what it should have done a year ago when it was asked for a substantial rent reduction. These terms are substantially less than the terms we had two years ago. When we receive a proposal that is substantially less, we should at least go to the market so we can tell taxpayers why the rent was reduced. Aho said the Council has received a lot of input from a lot of residents on this project and the process involved, and he appreciated all the input received. He echoed Mayor Young's comments, and also thought the Dunn Bros proposal is superior both in its monetary terms and from a community standpoint in its use as a public meeting space. Butcher said she wished the process had not happened quite the way it did, and there was some divisiveness in the community that did not speak well of the process we used. She said she will support the Puregrace proposal. To her this was not just a financial decision, and she thought the Dunn Bros proposal offered much more to the community than just a business. Nelson was delighted to see the new proposal from Puregrace. She believes they do a wonderful job with one of our historic homes every day of the week. She thanked them for all the things they do for the community and the opportunities they provide. She said she definitely planned to support this item, and encouraged all residents to take an opportunity to buy a cup of coffee there. Duckstad thought our obligation was to go out and get the best lease terms we could get, and we accomplished that. CITY COUNCIL MINUTES November 18, 2008 Page 12 MOTION: Butcher moved, seconded by Nelson, to accept the Puregrace LLC proposal for lease of the Smith Douglas More House and to authorize staff to pursue a lease with Puregrace LLC. Motion carried 5-0. D. REPORT OF PARKS AND RECREATION 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 MOTION: Aho moved, seconded by Butcher, to adjourn the City Council meeting. Motion carried 5-0. Mayor Young adjourned the meeting at 8:30 PM.