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HomeMy WebLinkAboutCity Council - 08/19/2008 APPROVED MINUTES EDEN PRAIRIE CITY COUNCIL MEETING TUESDAY,AUGUST 19, 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, Water Plant Manager Rick Wahlen, 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. Council Member Butcher was absent. II. COLOR GUARD/PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE Young said there will be no color guard this evening. III. OPEN PODIUM INVITATION IV. APPROVAL OF AGENDA AND OTHER ITEMS OF BUSINESS Neal added Item Item XIV.F.A. Report on the City's Participation in the Republican National Convention. MOTION: Aho moved, seconded by Duckstad, to approve the agenda as published and amended. Motion carried 4-0. V. PROCLAMATIONS /PRESENTATIONS A. MILLER PARK PLAY AREA DONATION Lotthammer said the next two items on the agenda are directly related to each other. The first item is to accept a gift toward the Miller Park Play Area, and the second one contemplates entering into a contract with Odessa II for construction of the play area. He said he will review what the contract is for and what the play area will be like and then Mike Garvin will review the fundraising efforts. Lotthammer said Mr. Garvin approached the City some time ago to see if there was interest in making Miller Park a barrier-free play area. Miller Park fits well with the concept because it is a large community park that draws many people and is reaching the end of its life span. A portion of the equipment there was scheduled to be replaced this year, and several other areas are scheduled to be replaced over the next few years. CITY COUNCIL MINUTES August 19, 2008 Page 2 Lotthammer said barrier-free playgrounds contain play structures that are another level beyond the accessibility requirements of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). Barrier-free playgrounds give everyone the ability to play together and generally include a rubberized, poured-in-place surface. They have very few steps and provide ramps that have less than a 5% grade. He said it will be accessible to those in wheelchairs but also will accommodate parents with small children in strollers and people who have balance and sight challenges. He said this would open the playground up for people of all ages and all abilities. Lotthammer said Mr. Garvin was interested in taking the play area to that level, and the fundraising along with the donation from their family allows that to occur. He said renovating Miller Park is a large project, and the master plan includes replacement and renovation in phases. Phase one has play structures for the youngest ages. Equipment in the other two phases will be left in place until the end of the structure's lifespan. Lotthammer said the contract was bid out in such a way that we could be flexible depending on the funding available. There was a base bid and eight bid alternatives so that, if the funding was less than the full amount, we could select from a portion of the alternates along with the base. As of today we have a known amount of funding that includes the $134,369 contribution from the Miller/Garvin families and $110,000 allocated from the City budget. That amount allows us to complete the base bid plus four of the alternates. The remaining alternates will be added as the fundraising continues. He noted they have a fundraiser scheduled in early October, and we may be able to add on the other four alternates at that time. Mike Garvin said the past two years has been an exciting time for him after he approached the City with the concept of the barrier-free playground. He said his six-year old daughter is in a wheelchair, and she could not sit in the swing sets that are considered ADA compatible. He had heard about the barrier-free playgrounds and realized the impact they would have for everyone. He recently saw a picture of a barrier-free playground at a military base for returning injured veterans that allowed them to access the park with their children. He said the fundraiser in October will be a party where people will be able to buy a paver to place in the park. They also created a website for donations and will continue to try to raise money to get the alternate bids. He said phases two and three will also have numerous barrier-free components. Mr. Garvin presented Mayor Young with a check for $134,369 as a donation from the Tom and Kathy Miller Family Foundation. Aho thanked Mr. Garvin and his family and noted this is one of the things that makes Eden Prairie great when residents see needs in the community and step up to work with the City to meet those needs. Mayor Young said he was very appreciative of the contribution and the efforts and sentiment of the family. Nelson said she loved the whole concept and asked if there will still be places for parents to sit. Lotthammer replied benches will be scattered around the area, and CITY COUNCIL MINUTES August 19, 2008 Page 3 there is seating in the gazebo which is very close to the small children's area. MOTION: Aho moved, seconded by Nelson, to accept the donation from the Tom and Kathy Miller Family Foundation in the amount of$134,369.00 to assist with funding for phase 1 of the Miller Park Barrier Free Play Area. Motion carried 4-0. B. AWARD CONTRACT FOR MILLER PARK PLAY AREA MOTION: Nelson moved, seconded by Aho, to award the base bid contract to Odessa II along with alternates #2, 4, 7 & 8 for a total of$244,369.25 and authorize staff to award additional alternates through a change order process should additional funding become available. Motion carried 4-0. VI. MINUTES A. COUNCIL WORKSHOP HELD TUESDAY,JULY 15, 2008 MOTION: Duckstad moved, seconded by Aho, to approve the minutes of the Council Workshop held Tuesday, July 15, 2008, as published. Motion carried 4-0. B. CITY COUNCIL MEETING HELD TUESDAY,JULY 15, 2008 MOTION: Aho moved, seconded by Duckstad, to approve the minutes of the City Council Meeting held Tuesday, July 15, 2008, as published. Motion carried 4-0. C. SPECIAL CITY COUNCIL MEETING HELD ON TUESDAY,AUGUST 5, 2008 MOTION: Nelson moved, seconded by Duckstad, to approve the minutes of the Special City Council Meeting held Tuesday, August 5, 2008, as published. Motion carried 3-0-1, with Aho abstaining. VII. REPORTS OF ADVISORY BOARDS & COMMISSIONS VIII. CONSENT CALENDAR A. ADC RE-PLAT Approval of Development Agreement. Location: South East quadrant of Technology Drive & Mitchell Road. B. CH ROBINSON DATA CENTER/OFFICE Second Reading of the Planned Unit Development District Review and Zoning District Change from Neighborhood Commercial to Office on 2.59 acres, and Resolution for Site Plan Review on 9.84 acres. Location: 14701 Charleston Road. (Ordinance 19-2008-PUD-10-2008 for PUD District Review and Zoning District Change; Resolution 2008-79 for Site Plan Review). C. ADOPT RESOLUTION 2008-80 APPROVING FINAL PLAT OF THE ENCLAVE AT OLD SHADY OAK ROAD CITY COUNCIL MINUTES August 19, 2008 Page 4 D. TERMINATE HILLTOP TOWN OFFICE DEVELOPMENT AGREEMENT E. AWARD CONTRACT FOR REPLACMENT OF CITY MONUMENT SIGNS TO SIGNATION SIGN GROUP F. APPROVE SECOND AMENDMENT TO PRAIRIE VILLAGE LEASE G. AUTHORIZE APPLICATION FOR WINTER USE PERMIT TO THREE RIVERS PARK DISTRICT FOR USE OF THE LRT TRAIL H. ADOPT RESOLUTION 2008-81 AUTHORIZING DISPOSAL OF TWO PARCELS OF TAX FORFEITED LAND I. AWARD BID FOR TRAIL RECONSTRUCTION ALONG MITCHELL AND BAKER ROAD TO MIDWEST ASPHALT J. APPROVE AGREEMENT WITH SCOTT W. BAKER ASSOCIATES, INC., FOR PRAIRIE VILLAGE LIQUOR STORE RELOCATION AND EXPANSION SERVICES MOTION: Duckstad moved, seconded by Aho, to approve Items A-J on the Consent Calendar. Motion carried 4-0. IX. PUBLIC HEARINGS /MEETINGS A. PARKS AND RECREATION FEES AND CHARGES Neal said this public hearing is being held in response to the Council's request last year to hold a public hearing whenever we are approving changes to our parks and recreation fees. He said official notice of this public hearing was published in the August 7, 2008, Eden Prairie News. Staff is submitting the proposed changes to fees and charges for inclusion in the 2009 budget. These fees and charges are a part of the annual operating budget within the Parks and Recreation Department and help offset operating expenses. A synopsis of the fees and charges were submitted to the City Council at the July 15, 2008 meeting. Neal noted the Council will have another opportunity to approve the fees as they get incorporated into the budget later this year. Staff believes it is important to have the public hearing at this time because we are making plans for advertising and getting brochures ready for the fall season. MOTION: Duckstad moved, seconded by Nelson, to approve the proposed Park and Recreation fees and charges for inclusion in the 2009 budget. Motion carried 4-0. Neal noted the motion should also include closing the Public Hearing. MOTION: Duckstad moved, seconded by Aho, to amend the motion to close the public hearing and with the motion to be considered as having occurred prior to the CITY COUNCIL MINUTES August 19, 2008 Page 5 previous motion. Motion carried 4-0. Young thought the public should be given an opportunity to speak on this issue. There was no one who wished to speak. Rosow said it was not necessary to reopen the public hearing since no one wished to speak on the subject. B. SUPERVALU Request for: Planned Unit Development Concept Review on 135 acres, Planned Unit District Review on 37 acres, Zoning District Amendment with in the Office Zoning District on 37 acres and Site Plan Review on 37 acres. Location: 11840 Valley View Road. (Resolution 2008-82 for PUD Concept Review) Neal said official notice of this public hearing was published in the August 7, 2008, Eden Prairie News and send to 154 property owners. The project is a 15,000 square foot building addition for use as a conference center. The project meets the requirements of the office zoning district for site coverage, setback, and parking. The building addition requires a shoreland structure setback waiver from 200 feet to 50 feet. The reasons to consider the waiver are: • The addition is a 1.7% encroachment of the area of the shoreland setback; • The addition is a 1.2 % encroachment of the area of the shoreland impact zone; • The addition has a green roof; • Existing trees and topography screens views of the structure from the lake. Neal said the 120-day review period expires on October 19, 2008. The Planning Commission voted 5-0 to recommend approval of the project at the August 11, 2008 meeting. Jeremiah said staff sees the green roof, rain garden, and pervious pavers proposed for the project as mitigation for the proposed encroachment on the shoreland setback. Neil Libson, representing SuperValu, gave a Powerpoint overview of the project. He thanked the City for their partnership relationship and noted they also have a strong relationship with the residents around the lake. He said recent changes in the company since the acquisition of Albertson's have created the need for a conference center at their headquarters. They have decided that Eden Prairie is their home. They are planning to do some renovation to the main headquarters building and they leased the old Best Buy headquarters. They currently hold meetings in hotels, which is very expensive, so they want a conference center in order to bring people to their home offices. He said they looked very carefully at the location for the new building and selected a site that has minimal impact and is very close to their existing services. Miles Lindberg, Westwood Professional Services, reviewed the PUD site plans showing the location of the new conference center. He said the building was very carefully sited, and they looked at a number of mitigation elements, including the green roof and the rain garden because the building does violate the setback lines. CITY COUNCIL MINUTES August 19, 2008 Page 6 Mia Blanchett, Project Manager for HGA Architects,presented views of the interior and exterior of the building. Aho said the City looked at a green roof as a component for the Community Center expansion and asked what kind of vegetation they plan to put on their green roof and if they have calculated the possible return on investment of that roof versus a traditional roof. Mr. Lindberg said he did not know about the return on investment, but their primary reason for doing this was to meet the spirit of the zoning requirements and this was the best way to do that without disturbing any more than necessary. The roof itself will act as a filter, and they will look for materials that blend. It will probably be a combination of native grass species that have proven successful to grow on roof tops. There were no comments from the audience. MOTION: Aho moved, seconded by Duckstad, to close the Public Hearing, to adopt Resolution 2008-82 for Planned Unit Development Concept Review on 135 acres, to approve 1 st Reading of the Ordinance for Planned Unit Development District Review and Zoning District Amendment within the Office Zoning District on 37 acres, to direct Staff to prepare a Development Agreement incorporating Staff and Commission recommendations and Council conditions, and to direct staff to issue grading, footing, and foundation permits to SuperValu to proceed with construction at their own risk. Motion carried 4-0. Nelson reiterated that the reason we are granting the shoreland variances is because they are putting in things like pervious pavers and the green roof. She thought it is important for the record to show SuperValu has gone the extra mile with this. C. VACATION OF DRAINAGE AND UTILITY EASEMENTS FOR LOTS 1 THROUGH 4, BLOCK 1, LOOSEN ADDITION, Vacation 08-03 (Resolution 2008-83) Neal said official notice of this public hearing was published in the July 31, 2008, Eden Prairie News and sent to nine property owners. The property owners have requested the vacation of all the drainage and utility easements to facilitate replatting of the lots to The Enclave at Old Shady Oak. The drainage and utility easements were originally dedicated with the Loosen Addition plat. New drainage and utility easements will be dedicated with The Enclave at Old Shady Oak project. The release of the resolution vacating the drainage and utility easements shall be conditioned on the recording of the plat of The Enclave at Old Shady Oak. Wahlen said this is a housekeeping matter to tidy up the easements. There were no comments from the audience. MOTION: Duckstad moved, seconded by Nelson, to close the public hearing and to adopt Resolution 2008-83 vacating all of the drainage and utility easements lying CITY COUNCIL MINUTES August 19, 2008 Page 7 over, under and across Lot 1 through Lot 4 inclusive, Block 1, Loosen Addition, according to the recorded plat thereof, Hennepin County, Minnesota. Motion carried 4-0. D. CANCEL PUBLIC HEARING FOR RIVERVIEW ROAD STREET AND UTILITY IMPROVEMENTS, I.C. 52-157 Neal said at a neighborhood meeting on August 6, 2008, Riverview Road residents and engineering staff discussed the proposed improvements and financing plans presented in the feasibility study. At the meeting,residents voiced a strong desire to delay construction of the project and allow time to form a neighborhood committee to work with staff on ways to improve the current project. He said residents are particularly interested in evaluating alternative solutions to managing Xcel facilities in the corridor and in preserving select trees along the north side of the corridor adjacent to the trail. The segment of Riverview Road between Parker Drive and Homeward Hills Road is a narrow bituminous surface in poor condition. There is no pedestrian facility serving the adjoining neighborhoods. The proposed improvements will correct these deficiencies and improve the visual character of the corridor. The current plan represents the vision of a previous neighborhood committee that worked with staff over several years in the mid-1990's. He said staff recommends cancelling the public hearing and continuing the process in order to make further refinements based on the neighborhood's interest and commitment. Neal asked that the Council instruct staff to work with the neighborhood to refine the design. MOTION: Nelson moved, seconded by Duckstad, to cancel the public hearing for Riverview Road street and utility improvements and to encourage staff to continue meeting with the neighbors involved. Motion carried 4-0. 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, Duckstad, Nelson and Young voting "aye." XI. ORDINANCES AND RESOLUTIONS A. FIRST READING OF ORDINANCE AMENDING CODE SECTION 6.20 RELATING TO PARADES, RACES AND PUBLIC ASSEMBLIES Neal said staff is requesting that the City Council amend City Code Chapter 6 by replacing Section 6.20 in its entirety with regulations related to parades,races and public assemblies in order to provide for the public safety of protesters, park users and public safety personnel. The proposed ordinance provides regulation for parades, races and public assemblies of more than 50 people on public grounds. Public assemblies include any ceremony, show, pageant, fair, exhibit, promotion, block party, demonstration, picket line, rally or other gathering on public grounds. Groups wishing to assemble are required to apply for a Public Assembly Permit CITY COUNCIL MINUTES August 19, 2008 Page 8 with the Police Department. A Public Assembly Permit will cost$15. Groups that are exempt from obtaining a permit include school sponsored events, holders of a City Large Group Use permit,persons with rental or use agreements with the City or another governmental agency, and City of Eden Prairie or other governmental sponsored events. Events taking place on private property are not covered by the ordinance and do not need to obtain a permit. Neal noted staff first spoke with the Council about this issue earlier this summer when we began to see other cities adopt regulations regarding protests. This was being done somewhat in anticipation of the protests expected with the Republican National Convention (RNC),but there are other good reasons to have such an ordinance in place. The ordinance is important for the safety of the people involved to know when the events will happen and to know how large they will be. Neal said staff was looking to have the Council do the 1sr and 2nd readings of the ordinance this evening in order to have it in place before the RNC. Because we do not have the full City Council here tonight, we will need a special meeting on Friday in order to meet the publishing deadlines and time frames. Young asked when the ordinance would become effective if this passes 1St and 2nd readings. Neal said it would become effective upon publication which would be Thursday, August 28. Young asked if we will make an effort to reach out to groups that we know have some events coming up that would not know of the ordinance. Neal said the groups coordinate with the Park and Recreation Department who will connect with them and advise them of the new ordinance. Rosow said to the extent any of those events already obtained a permit from the Parks Department for use of the park they don't need the permit through this process. Nelson asked if this does not apply to private residences or private businesses. Rosow said it does not apply to private property. Nelson then asked if it would not affect them even though they may fill the streets with people parking for the event. Rosow said it would not. He said when they looked at drafting the ordinance we looked at our neighboring communities. Bloomington does regulate gatherings of more than 25 people on private property as well as public property. During discussions with staff and particularly the Police Department it was decided that was not necessary in our community, so the ordinance was made applicable to public property and not to private property. Nelson asked if a private home event that would require street access to be shut down would be affected by the ordinance. Rosow said it won't change that because the ordinance relates to activities on public property for which a permit is required. The idea is that we need notice of this kind of event in order to prepare for it. Nelson said it is better to know what the intent is up front. Rosow said they tried to make the ordinance clear that it affects only gatherings on public property. CITY COUNCIL MINUTES August 19, 2008 Page 9 Rosow noted that the Council is asked to take action on the first reading of the ordinance, to continue the second reading to Friday, and to continue the meeting to Friday at a specific time. MOTION: Aho moved, seconded by Duckstad, to approve first reading of an ordinance amending City Code Chapter 6, Section 6.20 relating to parades, races and public assemblies and adopting by reference City Code Chapter 1 and section 6.99 which among other things contain penalty provisions. Motion carried 4-0. B. SECOND READING OF ORDINANCE AMENDING CODE SECTION 6.20 RELATING TO PARADES, RACES AND PUBLIC ASSEMBLIES MOTION: Duckstad moved, seconded by Nelson, to continue second reading of an ordinance amending City Code Chapter 6, Section 6.20 relating to parades, races and public assemblies and adopting by reference City Code Chapter 1 and section 6.99 which among other things contain penalty provisions until Friday, August 22 at 5:00 PM. Motion carried 4-0. XII. PETITIONS, REQUESTS AND COMMUNICATIONS XIII. APPOINTMENTS A. TECHNOLOGY COMMITTEE Neal said there is an opening on the Technology Committee which was formed in January 2008 as an outgrowth of the Technology Task Force, with 11 of the original 15 members agreeing to serve for at least one year. One of the members resigned, and several members have had work reassignments, so there are about seven members attending meetings regularly. David Lindahl, Economic Development staff, said he received a call from Dan Foley expressing his interest in serving on the Technology Committee. Mr. Foley is an Eden Prairie resident and has a diverse background in computers and communications. He is a member of the Eden Prairie Chamber of Commerce and also recently participated in the City's Business Survey. Lindahl thought Mr. Foley would be an excellent fit for the Technology Committee. MOTION: Duckstad moved, seconded by Aho, to appoint Mr. Dan Foley to the Technology Committee. Motion carried 4-0. XIV. REPORTS A. REPORTS OF COUNCILMEMBERS B. REPORT OF CITY MANAGER 1. Budget Advisory Commission Process Neal said at the City Council meeting in July he briefed the Council on how CITY COUNCIL MINUTES August 19, 2008 Page 10 the Budget Advisory Commission (BAC) would bring items to the City Council and discussed the issue of their terms of service. He said we asked the BAC for their feedback on how they believe they should be structured. At that time we discussed that we wanted to have different terms for them because of the way we conduct our budget preparation process. He said before staff proceeds with the preparation of an ordinance he wanted to get some final feedback this evening. Young asked if they will have four-year staggered terms. Neal replied that was correct. They propose to begin the staggered terms by establishing three two-year terms and four four-year terms to start the stagger, so that every other year we would be appointing either three or four members to the commission. He said staff asked for input from the commission regarding whether they planned to seek reappointment. One member did not want to seek reappointment and the rest were equally divided between wanting two or four year terms. He said staff will get the ordinance ready and start organizing a recruitment process because we will need two new members. Young thought that was fair. He asked how we would advertise for the positions. One of the things he pointed out at the workshop is that he didn't want people to think that we weren't clear about the City Council feelings. His feeling is that the existing members of the BAC could be segued into the new process. He wanted to be clear what we communicate to people. Neal said the reappointment of the existing commission members is at City Council discretion. Our customary practice for returning commission members is to invite them in for the re-interview process. Young noted that the commission members' current terms expire on March 31, 2009, so we will be appointing and reappointing them before their terms expire. He thought we should just continue the appointments of the commission members who want to continue on the BAC and advertise the two positions that are coming available. Aho agreed that was a good way to handle the process since their appointments aren't up yet and they have given a lot of their time on the commission. Neal noted none of the current commission members has an attendance problem and none has served multiple times. He said staff would probably do some local media telling people of the two openings and describing what they do and the terms of service. We would ask them to fill out an application that would be copied and sent to the City Council. Interviews could be held in December. He said we could have an ordinance to the Council in September. Nelson said there were a number of people that applied when the BAC was begun, and she thought we should contact them about the two open CITY COUNCIL MINUTES August 19, 2008 Page 11 positions. Neal said staff would do that. 2. Section 106 Memorandum of Agreement between the Federal Hi!hway Administration and the Minnesota State Historic Preservation Office Neal said we are moving forward with the Pioneer Trail project and need to get the final approval from the historic preservation standpoint of the Goodrich-Ramus barn. This item authorizes the City Manager and the Heritage Preservation Commission Chair to sign the Section 106 agreement which sets out all the various things we are going to agree to take care of. We have had a lot of discussion about this barn. The barn was sold by the owners to Hennepin County, so the County owns the property. We are going forward with the review of the project. Neal said his position as we moved this project forward has been that Hennepin County owns the barn and the City does not own the barn. We have had a strong mandate from the Council to make the road project happen. We made agreements with the County to enable the road project to go ahead. We have not had a mandate from the Council to save the barn. He was looking for reaffirmation from the Council on this issue. He recently learned the county has come up with a design that would preserve the barn in place. His initial position with the County has been that they own the barn and we have not expressed interest in receiving the barn or owning it at some point in the future. Young said a lot of people are anxious to see Pioneer Trail expanded, and we need to do whatever we can to get that process on track and completed as soon as possible. He said he had no idea what Hennepin County intentions are with the barn. Duckstad said he has no interest in the barn. He did not want to receive it and was opposed to participating any further. Nelson said she did want to see the road go through, and she was glad to see the County has put together a plan for the barn. She didn't want to go so far as to say we would never have an interest in getting a gift of the barn, especially if it would be fully restored and we would receive some help with on-going maintenance. Aho said he was anxious to see the roadway move forward because it is a very important roadway to the Eden Prairie residents. He also had no interest in the City owning the property. If Hennepin County wants to own and maintain the barn, that would be okay but he didn't want the City to have the financial burden of maintaining it. MOTION: Nelson moved, seconded by Aho, to authorize the City Manager and Heritage Preservation Commission Chairperson to sign the Section 106 Memorandum of Agreement between the Federal Highway CITY COUNCIL MINUTES August 19, 2008 Page 12 Administration and the Minnesota State Historic Preservation Office Regarding Reconstruction of County State Aid Highway 1 (Pioneer Trail). Motion carried 3-1, with Duckstad opposed. C. REPORT OF THE COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT DIRECTOR 1. Smith-Douglas-More/Dunn Bros Lease Jeremiah said the Council had asked for an update on the Smith-Douglas- More/Dunn Bros lease. She said that was a timely request because Mr. Lindahl had started up discussions to renegotiate the lease. The current 12 month lease between Puregrace LLC and the City of Eden Prairie at the Smith-Douglas-More property expires at the end of this year. Puregrace and its sub-tenant College Nannies and Tutors are both happy with the arrangement and are asking for a one year extension to the current lease under generally the same terms. Jeremiah noted it was an above average year of expenses on the property and we ended up with a net rent of$11,000. In the future the net rent should be closer to $17,000. The questions of whether to add more parking or to make changes to the access to the property are still under discussion. To do a parking lot turn-around and add additional parking would be $25-30,000. They looked at opening up the median but that would require approval of the County and would also be a$25-30,000 improvement. Puregrace doesn't feel comfortable that they could help pay for those improvements. She said staff feels those changes would improve the viability of the property and would allow them to have more events. Jeremiah noted there is a letter from Puregrace in the Council packets that explains the situation with their subtenants and some of those things they have been doing to reach out to the community and promote the site. Young said his view on this issue hasn't changed since last year, and he thought it is helpful to remember the historical situation of the site. Seven years ago we entered into a lease with a large seller of coffee,but for some reason that didn't work as expected with Dunn Bros. Last year this City Council reduced the rent about 75% and taxpayer dollars were used to refurbish the property. We did not go to the marketplace to get a competing offer from someone else. There is no way he would support the renewal of this lease on the terms the Council agreed to last year. He thought we owe it to the taxpayers to at least have staff go to the marketplace and bring back alternatives to the Council. He thought we should at least test the waters and advertise that the site is available so we can find out what the marketplace will do. Aho concurred with Mayor Young's comments about accepting a lease with such a very low rate. We ought to open it up to see if there are any other offers that would have a better rate. CITY COUNCIL MINUTES August 19, 2008 Page 13 Nelson said she had mixed feelings about this after all the community response. She would like to see them continue but she wouldn't say we should not go for anyone else. At their meeting this morning the Chamber was discussing the terrible economy and how many problems there are with leasing any property. This does serve a definite function to the community and she was glad we aren't interested in selling it. If we look at alternatives, she wanted to look for just a short period of time. If we have someone else she would like it to be someone who would have it open to the public on a daily basis. She was skeptical about people rushing in to give us other offers and she didn't want to end up losing this lease. Duckstad said he agreed with the Mayor's comments. Neal said he thought the direction from the Council is pretty clear. MOTION: Young moved, seconded by Duckstad, to direct staff to reject the lease terms proposed by Puregrace and to seek and bring alternative leases from the marketplace to the Council for its consideration as soon as possible. Nelson thought rejecting the lease goes too far in this market. She would like to see us authorize staff to pursue a new lease on this property from all potential lessees. Young thought this would give the tenant a fair opportunity to respond and would also give us time to consider alternatives. We can revisit the issue in November or December. He noted the current lease is almost free, and we need to make the effort to find something better. VOTE ON THE MOTION: Motion carried 3-1, with Nelson opposed. 2. Town Center Implementation Jeremiah said at the last meeting the Council asked for a staff discussion with regard to strategic planning on the Town Center. That request was somewhat in response to the proposal regarding Top Dog. Staff prepared a memo for the Council packet outlining the status of our implementation strategy for the Town Center area. The Major Center Area (MCA) plan was adopted by the City Council in early 2006 as an advisory tool. The Town Center was one of the major recommendations that came out of planning. It was driven by responses to citizen surveys, all of which identified Town Center as a primary desire for the area. The MCA study does include implementation strategies, and these were discussed in a Council workshop. At that time the Council directed staff to change the Comprehensive Plan land use designation and zoning for the Town Center area. Jeremiah said the Town Center Comprehensive Plan amendment is included CITY COUNCIL MINUTES August 19, 2008 Page 14 in the overall Comprehensive Plan update which is currently in the six- month review process. The review process will end in September, and staff will then bring it through the Planning Commission and City Council. At that point the Town Center zoning ordinances will have been approved. We adopted the ordinance but have not yet applied it to the property. As soon as the Comprehensive Plan is in place, we would move forward with the rezoning. She said we anticipated this process would take some time,but we thought it would be preferable to negotiate to the best of our ability with development proposals rather than using a tool like a moratorium. Staff believes that was the right decision, and things are going quite well overall. Jeremiah said since it has been some time since the MCA study and some property owners may not remember what the vision was for their property, staff is proposing to work with Mr. Lindahl to set up individual meetings with all the property owners. They would discuss the Comprehensive Plan changes and the impending rezoning and would be able to talk through what the ramifications would be for the properties. We can discuss their concerns with the Planning Commission and the City Council. We have options we can consider to offset it a little while maintaining the overall redevelopment vision,but we do need to get the Comprehensive Plan land use designation in place. Young thought the idea of meetings with the property owners is a good one. It is very important the message we send to the property owners is that this is something we want to do with them, not to them. D. REPORT OF PARKS AND RECREATION DIRECTOR E. REPORT OF PUBLIC WORKS DIRECTOR 1. Water Demands and Well#16 Wahlen reviewed the water supply and developments completed in the last six months. He said last year 3.5 billion gallons of water were delivered to customers. In order to respond to that kind of demand there are a number of projects underway including the drilling of a new well. Well#16 is being drilled and looks like it will produce something like two million gallons per day. We have a nice water plant,but we only have enough well capacity to pump 22 million gallons per day. Wahlen said last year we had a significant increase in water consumption. To respond to that demand we improved Well#9. With that and the new well we should be good for the next year or so. We have plans that are contingent on approval of the Comprehensive Plan update, and once the Metropolitan Council blesses that, we should be able to go ahead to develop an additional five wells. Until then we need to do what we can with the current resources. Wahlen said water use this summer is drastically different than last summer. CITY COUNCIL MINUTES August 19, 2008 Page 15 August has been really dry, and we are looking at a peak August for the City if the trend continues. He said the good news is that last year there were over 1800 water violations,but this year we have had only 400 to date. Aho asked if we expect the overall demand to increase greatly in the future. Wahlen responded the Met Council believes our current projections exceed their plan values from a couple of years ago, and that is why it is so important to get the Comprehensive Plan update approved. There is additional development in the Golden Triangle area and several multi- family unit developments are planned. We anticipated growth with development and redevelopment and our projections for 2030 show usage of 26-28 million gallons per day. F. REPORT OF POLICE CHIEF 1. Report on the City's Participation in the Republican National Convention Police Chief Reynolds reported on the activities regarding the upcoming RNC. He said through the mutual aid agreement with St. Paul, we have promised to send 12 officers to assist them beginning next Saturday through the following Sunday. Eight of them will be part of a mobile field force that have gone through training, and the remaining four will be assigned to crowd or traffic control duties somewhere in the Minneapolis and St. Paul area. We have also loaned them our law enforcement analyst. He said we have submitted an application to have the cost of the officers' wages refunded to us for the training time and their time on duty. Reynolds said they are also looking at any areas of interest we might have regarding public safety in Eden Prairie. There will be a large number of people going through the City. We have looked at sites and have drawn up contingency plans. In order to conduct regular business while missing a large number of officers, all vacation and personal leave has been canceled during that time. Staff hours have been changed to a twelve-hour shift. He said they worked with the Fire Department to staff a rescue rig 24 hours a day to respond to medical calls. He thought these considerations will get us through the time period. G. REPORT OF FIRE CHIEF H. REPORT OF CITY ATTORNEY XV. OTHER BUSINESS XVI. ADJOURNMENT MOTION: Nelson moved, seconded by Aho, to continue the City Council meeting to 5:00 PM on Friday, August 22. Motion carried 4-0. Mayor Young closed the meeting at 8:45 PM. CITY COUNCIL MINUTES August 19, 2008 Page 16 XVII. RECONVENE THE MEETING Mayor Young reconvened the meeting at 5:05 p.m. on Friday, August 22. Council Members Butcher and Nelson were present. A. CLERK'S LICENSE LIST MOTION: Butcher moved, seconded by Nelson, to approve the Clerk's License list. Motion carried 3-0. B. SECOND READING OF ORDINANCE AMENDING CODE SECTION 6.20 RELATING TO PARADES, RACES AND PUBLIC ASSEMBLIES MOTION: Butcher moved, seconded by Nelson, to approve second reading of Ordinance No. 20-2008 amending City Code Chapter 6, Section 6.20 relating to parades, races and public assemblies and adopting by reference City Code Chapter 1 and section 6.99 which among other things contain penalty provisions; and adopt Resolution No. 2008-84 approving Summary publication. Motion carried 3-0. XVIII. ADJOURNMENT MOTION: Nelson moved, seconded by Butcher, to adjourn the meeting. Motion carried 3-0. Mayor Young adjourned the meeting at 5:07 p.m.