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HomeMy WebLinkAboutCity Council - 04/21/2009 APPROVED MINUTES EDEN PRAIRIE CITY COUNCIL MEETING TUESDAY,APRIL 21, 2009 7:00 PM, CITY CENTER Council Chamber 8080 Mitchell Road CITY COUNCIL: Mayor Phil Young, Council Members Brad Aho, Ron Case, Jon Duckstad and Kathy Nelson CITY STAFF: City Manager Scott Neal, Parks & Recreation Director Jay Lotthammer, Public Works Director Eugene 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 7:00 PM. All Council Members were present. II. COLOR GUARD/PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE Mayor Young thanked Troop 370, sponsored by Pax Christi Catholic Community, for presenting the colors tonight. III. COUNCIL FORUM INVITATION IV. APPROVAL OF AGENDA AND OTHER ITEMS OF BUSINESS Neal said there will be an additional item under Proclamations/Presentations presented by a Relay for Life representative. He added three items under Item XIV.B. In addition, he said Item VIII.E.regarding the Observatory construction contract should be moved from the Consent Calendar and discussed as part of Item V.C.2. MOTION: Aho moved, seconded by Case, to approve the agenda as amended. Motion carried 5-0. V. PROCLAMATIONS /PRESENTATIONS F. RELAY FOR LIFE Neal said this item will be taken out of order and presented first. Jody Russell, Co-chair of the American Cancer Society's Relay for Life, said this year's event will be held on July 17. She noted they are in their 141h year in Eden Prairie, and they have a goal to raise $125,000 this year. She thanked the City for supporting two teams in this year's relay and for supporting their ponytail drive to collect hair to make wigs for cancer patients. She presented the Mayor with an outdoor sign recognizing Eden Prairie as a Relay for Life community. CITY COUNCIL MINUTES April 21, 2009 Page 2 A. HENNEPIN COUNTY LIBRARY UPDATE Michele McGraw, Manager of the Eden Prairie Library, gave an update on the library as part of National Library Week. She reviewed the highlights for 2008 and the initiatives for 2009, noting that the Eden Prairie library had the highest circulation in the Hennepin County Library system in 2008. B. ARBOR DAY PROCLAMATION Mayor Young read a proclamation proclaiming May 2, 2009 as Arbor Day in the City of Eden Prairie. C. ACCEPT DONATIONS FOR STARING LAKE OUTDOOR CENTER OBSERVATORY Lotthammer said several years ago we were presented with a large telescope capable of seeing into deep space. Since then we have been on a quest to figure out a way to house it. Because of the size of the telescope, it needs to have a very stable base and must be in a protected area. They selected Staring Lake Outdoor Center as a location for the telescope and have worked with a soils engineer to resolve some soils issues at that location. Another challenge was to find a funding source. In response to a couple of articles in the newspapers, two individuals indicated a desire to contribute to the project. Lotthammer said we went out to bid on the project recently and were intending to award the contract to the lowest bidder. We notified the contractor that they were the apparent low bidder; however, we later received a notification from the contractor that they were not interested in pursuing the contract. In order to follow our proper contract procedures, we would need to award the contract to the low bid contractor and they would have ten days in which to sign the contract. If they choose not to enter into the agreement, we would then go on to the second lowest bid contractor. We determined that contractor is interested so we are proceeding with the process. We have funding sufficient for either the low bid or the second lowest bid. He said the three motions before the Council tonight are the contract award and the two donations. 1. Doug Kohrs Lotthammer said Mr. Kohrs has offered a contribution of$125,000 for the construction of the Observatory. Doug Kohrs said, although he is a resident of Edina, he and his wife have great enthusiasm for the project. He thanked the Mayor and Council Members for their foresight in accepting the original donation of the telescope. He wanted to make sure the Eden Prairie community and the surrounding communities appreciate this asset because it will be an incredible opportunity for the youth of the community to dream about the future. Mayor Young thanked Mr. Kohrs for his generosity. CITY COUNCIL MINUTES April 21, 2009 Page 3 MOTION: Duckstad moved, seconded by Aho, to accept the donation from Doug and Carolyn Kohrs in the amount of$125,000 to assist with funding for Staring Lake Outdoor Center Observatory. Motion carried 5-0. 2. Steve Mohn Lotthammer said Mr. Steve Mohn was the other individual who came forward to offer a contribution of$10,000 for the Observatory. Mayor Young asked Mr. Lotthammer to convey our thanks to Mr. and Mrs. Mohn. MOTION: Nelson moved, seconded by Case, to accept the donation from Steve and Sue Mohn in the amount of$10,000 to assist with funding for the Staring Lake Outdoor Center Observatory. Motion carried 5-0. 3. Award the Contract for Staring Lake Outdoor Center Observatory to Hunerber2 Construction MOTION: Case moved, seconded by Aho, to award the contract for the Staring Lake Outdoor Center Observatory to Hunerberg Construction. Motion carried 5-0. D. ACCEPT DONATION FOR THE ART CENTER FROM THE EDEN PRAIRIE LIONESS CLUB Lotthammer said the Eden Prairie Lioness Club is donating $3,200 to assist with funding for equipment at the Art Center. They also informed us they will donate an additional $1,800 in January 2010. He noted the Friends of the Art Center are very appreciative of the City Council's efforts on behalf of the Art Center. Staff has been working very hard with various organizations to obtain donations and also to pursue grant opportunities. We are approaching $50,000 in fundraising. The Art Center has been up and operating on a partial basis for the last couple of weeks. MOTION: Aho moved, seconded by Nelson, to accept the donation from the Eden Prairie Lioness Club in the amount of$3,200 to assist with funding for equipment at the Art Center. Motion carried 5-0. E. METROPOLITAN AIRPORTS COMMISSION PRESENTATION Tim Anderson, representing the Metropolitan Airports Commission (MAC) introduced the new Manager at Flying Cloud Airport, Jeff Nyrocke. Mr. Anderson gave a slide show presentation about expansion at Flying Cloud Airport. He said the north parallel runway was extended to 3900 feet last year in anticipation of the south parallel runway being shut down this summer in order to expand that runway to 5000 feet. He reviewed the project schedule, noting the expanded south parallel runway will be operational in January 2010. They will receive $1,800,000 in Federal stimulus money to use for the project. He reviewed the type of aircraft that will be able to use the airport once the runway is expanded to 5000 feet. CITY COUNCIL MINUTES April 21, 2009 Page 4 Young said we are scheduled for a community meeting in May with the Airport Commission and the MAC. Mr. Anderson said it will be held on May 28. Young thanked him for his participation, noting it is a great value to have the MAC represented at the meetings. He asked Mr. Anderson if it would be possible to get someone from the FAA to participate in the meeting as well. Mr. Anderson said he believes there will be two representatives from the FAA attending the meeting. Young said later this evening we will be talking about the request from the MAC to participate in the Joint Airport Zoning Board, and he asked Mr. Anderson if he planned to stay for that discussion. Mr. Anderson said he would. Young asked if the issue of indemnification of the City has been resolved should the City choose to participate in the Zoning Board. Anderson said there will be indemnification to the City through the MAC as they are considered the primary party in regard to the Zoning Board. Young said there has been discussion of expanding the airport for many years, and it has been almost seven years since the City signed the Final Agreement on the airport. The question we commonly get is whether it is still necessary to expand the airport in light of economic conditions today and the changes in the aviation industry. Anderson said the expansion of the airport was an issue of the types of aircraft coming to the airport and not numbers of aircraft, and the purpose of the expansion project is to make sure that in the future when the economy comes back we have the reliever system ready for the kind of aircraft we want to be ready for. Case said he believed that perceptually, many people in Eden Prairie do question the expansion of the airport, and there is still a lot of disagreement with Mr. Anderson's statement justifying the expansion. He had questions regarding the potential discussions about a 6000 foot runway. He was interested in the MAC's understanding that both the MAC and the City of Eden Prairie in 2002 contractually promised to publicly stand against the expansion beyond the 5000 feet. Anderson replied to the extent the MAC doesn't have any legal requirements to extend the runway farther than that, they will not support or advocate for a longer runway. Case said some wording in the MAC Reliever Airport Task Force report seems to imply the MAC perceives a need to view the two reliever airports as needing a special designation because the Anoka and Flying Cloud Airports serve a higher need in the system. The consultant hired by the MAC recommended classifying Anoka and Flying Cloud airports as Minor II relievers within a 2-tier reliever system. He asked Mr. Anderson if he would take a public stand against the Flying Cloud Airport receiving the Minor II status. Anderson said in the days when the MAC was working on the Task Force report in house and were discussing the future of reliever airports, they had a discussion that three of the airports (Anoka, Eden Prairie and Holman Field) were larger than the others. He said that discussion was used to guide their planning process, and it had nothing to do with runway lengths because those are dictated by law. The current activity with the Metropolitan Council in the long range planning process is unrelated to that. CITY COUNCIL MINUTES April 21, 2009 Page 5 Case said there is a statement in the MAC's FEIS on Flying Cloud Airport that 5000 feet is not really sufficient and a larger runway would better serve Flying Cloud's needs. He was a little concerned about that and asked if the MAC would not advocate for anything longer than 5000 feet. Anderson said we have an agreement that we will not advocate for anything longer than 5000 feet. However, the MAC would have to abide by a mandate from the legislature to extend the runway. Case then asked if he would ever testify that a runway longer than 5000 feet would not be needed. Anderson said the Metropolitan Council has responsibility for planning for our region, and if they come through with a requirement for 6000 feet for all reliever airports, the MAC would have to say 5000 feet is our agreement and that is not their plan for the airport. Young asked Mr. Neal about whether Chairman Bell of the Metropolitan Council indicated that the Met Council had no intention or plans to change the definition of reliever airports. Neal said that would be his characterization of Chairman Bell's letter to us, and he noted it went even further to distance the Met Council from the work of the consultant and how it was being construed. Duckstad asked Mr. Anderson if he, as a representative of the MAC, has an expectation of how the extension and lengthening of the runway may change the present use of the airport. He asked if it will substantially change anything according to Mr. Anderson's expectations by increasing the amount of traffic takeoff and landings or by changing or increasing the size of aircraft. Anderson said that he would expect both the number and size of aircraft would increase over time, and the 5000 foot runway is intended to have slightly bigger aircraft;however, the MAC has a commitment to not change the nature of the airport. Nelson said she received a letter from a resident who lives in the western part of Eden Prairie about the buffer zone around the airport. She asked what kind of effort will be made to keep as much of the buffer zone as possible or to replant some of it. Anderson said the trees being taken down now are a result of the need they have to extend the approach lighting system. An 11-acre site will be impacted by that, and they will do some replanting of smaller plants in the area when they are done. Nelson also received some questions about what is being done to mitigate issues regarding birds. Anderson said we have John Offstrom on staff and he is the Chair of the Wildlife Committee that deals specifically with wildlife issues. Mr. Offstrom has worked with the Minneapolis-St. Paul airport and with other reliever airports on these issues. It takes constant vigilance around airports if there are things that attract birds,but we have the best people in the world to deal with that. VI. MINUTES A. COUNCIL WORKSHOP HELD TUESDAY, MARCH 17, 2009 MOTION: Duckstad moved, seconded by Case, to approve the minutes of the Workshop held Tuesday, March 17, 2009, as published. Motion carried 5-0. CITY COUNCIL MINUTES April 21, 2009 Page 6 B. CITY COUNCIL MEETING HELD TUESDAY, MARCH 17, 2009 MOTION: Aho moved, seconded by Duckstad, to approve the minutes of the City Council Meeting held Tuesday, March 17, 2009, as published. Motion carried 5-0. VII. REPORTS OF ADVISORY BOARDS & COMMISSIONS VIII. CONSENT CALENDAR A. CLERK'S LICENSE LIST B. APPROVE SECOND READING OF ORDINANCE NO. 3-2009 AMENDING CITY CODE CHAPTER 9 RELATING TO HOURS OF OPERATION OF PUBLIC PARKS C. APPROVE SECOND READING OF ORDINANCE NO. 4-2009 AMENDING CITY CODE SECTION 2.23 RELATING TO CONSERVATION COMMISSION ROLES & RESPONSIBILITIES AND ADOPT RESOLUTION 2009-23 APPROVING SUMMARY FOR PUBLICATION D. ADOPT RESOLUTION NO. 2009-24 APPROVING FINAL PLAT OF PRESERVE COMMERCIAL PARK NORTH 5TH ADDITION E. AWARD THE CONTRACT FOR STARING LAKE OUTDOOR CENTER OBSERVATORY TO HUNERBERG CONSTRUCTION (Item moved to Item IV.C.3.) F. AWARD CONTRACT FOR PLAYGROUND EQUIPMENT AT BIRCH ISLAND PARK TO CLEARWATER RECREATION LLC G. AWARD CONTRACT FOR PLEASANT HILL CEMETERY FENCING TO MIDWEST FENCE H. ACCEPT 2008 GENERAL FUND FINANCIAL RESULTS AND APPROVE FUND TRANSFERS I. ADOPT RESOLUTION NO. 2009-25 APPROVING TRAFFIC CONTROL SIGNAL AGREEMENT NO. 93962 WITH MNDOT FOR THE TRAFFIC SIGNAL ON FLYING CLOUD DR. AT SINGLETREE LN., I.C. 07-5690 J. AWARD CONTRACT FOR 2009 STREET STRIPING TO HIGHWAY TECHNOLOGIES INC., I.C. 09-5747 K. AWARD CONTRACT FOR 2009 BITUMINOUS CRACK SEALING TO PRECISION SEALCOATING INC., I.C. 09-5748 CITY COUNCIL MINUTES April 21, 2009 Page 7 L. APPROVE PROFESSIONAL SERVICES AGREEMENT WITH HTPO FOR THE BENT CREEK GOLF COURSE DRAINAGE IMPROVEMENTS, I.C. 09-5754 M. APPROVE SELECTION OF PDI TO PERFORM THE CITY MANAGER'S 2009 PERFORMANCE REVIEW N. AWARD THE CONTRACT FOR RECONSTRUCTION OF ROUND LAKE PARK TENNIS COURT COMPLEX TO NORTHWEST ASPHALT INC. O. ADOPT RESOLUTION NO. 2009-26 AUTHORIZING ACQUISITION OF EASEMENTS FOR VALLEY VIEW ROAD FRONTAGE ROAD MOTION: Case moved, seconded by Aho, to approve Items A-D and F-O on the Consent Calendar. Motion carried 5-0. IX. PUBLIC HEARINGS /MEETINGS A. ANCHOR BANK Request for: Planned Unit Development Concept Amendment on 1.06 acres, Planned Unit Development District Review with waivers on 1.06 acres and Zoning District Amendment within the Commercial Regional Service Zoning District on 1.06 acres and Site Plan Review on 1.06 acres. Location: 12950 Technology Drive. (Resolution No. 2009-27 for PUD Concept Amendment; Ordinance for PUD District Review and Zoning District Amendment) Neal said official notice of this public hearing was published in the April 9, 2009, Eden Prairie News and sent to 83 property owners. The existing building was a Krispy Kreme Doughnut Shop. The project is to add a drive-thru canopy and an additional 494 square feet to the building to accommodate a new Anchor Bank location. The building addition meets the building material standards. Parking meets code and the drive-thru provides adequate stacking. A front yard setback waiver from 35 feet to 31 feet is currently requested for the building addition on the east side where an outdoor patio existed. This waiver may have merit for the following reasons: • The setback is consistent with the variance approved in 2003. • The distance between the building addition and Prairie Center Drive is over 100 feet. • The addition adds architectural interest. Neal said the 120-Day review period expires on June 30, 2009. The Planning Commission voted 7-0 to recommend approval at the March 23, 2009, meeting. Jeremiah said the minutes and the report of the Planning Commission meeting on March 23 contain a bit of analysis of the status of the Southwest LRT and some additional information has been revealed through the completed EIS. Staff will meet with Anchor Bank tomorrow to make them fully aware of the current information relative to this site. The LRT is a good six years away,but we will continue to share with them the most current information. CITY COUNCIL MINUTES April 21, 2009 Page 8 There were no comments from the audience. MOTION: Duckstad moved, seconded by Case to close the Public Hearing; and to adopt Resolution No. 2009-27 for Planned Unit Development Concept Amendment on 1.06 acres; and to approve 1st Reading of the Ordinance for Planned Unit Development District Review with waivers and Zoning District Amendment in the Commercial Regional Service Zoning District on 1.06 acres; and to direct staff to prepare a Development Agreement incorporating staff and commission recommendations and Council conditions. Motion carried 5-0. B. LONE OAK/MITCHELL ROAD SIGNAL LIGHT REASSESSMENT, I.C. 06-5675 (RESOLUTION NO. 2009-28) Neal said official notice of this public hearing was published in the April 2, 2009, Eden Prairie News and sent to the owner and the receiver. On May 16, 2006, the City entered into Special Assessment Agreement 06-04 with Lone Oak Center, LLC, regarding traffic signal improvements to the Lone Oak Road and Mitchell Road intersection, which have been completed. The assessed property has gone into foreclosure, and the receiver has asked that consideration be given to amending the time of repayment from 5 years to 15 years to make the development financially viable. All other aspects of the assessment—principle amount and interest rate— will remain the same. Council approval of the reassessment may be granted upon a finding that the assessment is excessive. Based on current economic conditions, a 5 year repayment period creates an excessive assessment against the property, therefore, staff recommends a 15 year payment period as per the receivers request. Dietz said this item is in response to a request from the property receiver, and we are trying to accommodate their request. There were no comments from the audience. MOTION: Nelson moved, seconded by Case, to close the public, and to adopt Resolution No. 2009-28 approving Lone Oak/Mitchell signal light reassessment. Motion carried 5-0. X. PAYMENT OF CLAIMS MOTION: Duckstad moved, seconded by Aho, to approve the Payment of Claims as submitted. Motion was approved on a roll call vote, with Aho, Case, Duckstad, Nelson and Young voting "aye." XI. ORDINANCES AND RESOLUTIONS A. FIRST READING OF ORDINANCE AMENDING CITY CODE CHAPTER 9, SECTION 9.10, RELATING TO FIRE AND BURGLAR, ROBBERY AND SAFETY ALARM SYSTEMS CITY COUNCIL MINUTES April 21, 2009 Page 9 Neal said this ordinance separates alarm systems regulated by the Police Department and the Fire Department into two separate areas. It provides the following registration method for alarm systems: Burglar, Robbery and Safety Alarm Systems will be required to be registered. A fee will be required with the registration. Repeated false alarms will result in false alarm fees and possible suspension of response. Fire Alarm Systems —Code-Required will be required to be registered. The registration is free once an educational training program is completed by a representative of the owner. Repeated false alarms will result in false alarms fees and possible suspension of the registration. Fire Alarm Systems —Non-Required will not be required to be registered. Repeated false alarms will result in false alarms fees. Neal said the City of Eden Prairie has had an alarm system ordinance in place for many years that allows us to charge a fee for false alarms. The intent has always been to prevent false alarms, not to generate fees for the City. Police and Fire response to alarms result in direct costs to the citizens in actual dollars spent. They can also have non-monetary effects, such as the inherent danger of emergency response. In analyzing false alarm causes, we found that the ordinance in its existing form was not having the desired effect. Some companies were budgeting for the false alarm fees rather than taking actions to prevent them. Neal said we also found that there needed to be a difference in how we approach alarm systems. Many fire alarm systems are required by Fire Codes to be installed for protection of life. Burglar and robbery systems are installed based on the occupant's request, not code mandates. This ordinance allows the City to tailor the response to false alarms so as to encourage owners to take steps to prevent them. It also allows registration of the most problematic alarms to provide us with the owner and contact information that allows us to rapidly work with the responsible parties, thereby intervening before problems continue or escalate. Neal said the driver behind this ordinance is our attempt to drive down false alarms because they have an impact on the instincts of our responders as well as the obvious expense associated with the false alarms. Fire Chief Esbensen said this has been an issue that he has focused on since he was just a rookie in the Fire Department. He said false alarms take about 23% of the volume of calls this year. This ordinance addresses the last of the big pieces to get a control of the false alarms and deals with maintenance testing of the alarm system. He said a group worked together on this to come up with this language and structure. Young asked if any alarms systems need to be registered under the current alarm ordinance. Esbensen said they do not. Young then asked if fire alarms are treated CITY COUNCIL MINUTES April 21, 2009 Page 10 differently from burglar and safety alarms under the current ordinance. Esbensen said they are not. Young said his principle concern is the proposed consequence of repeated false alarms to be possible suspension of the registration. He asked what that means from a service point of view. Esbensen said there is a $200 charge to reinstate their system;however, on the fire side there is no registration fee. One of the reasons for that is after there has been a false alarm we follow up the next day and try to schedule some education with the person in charge. In many cases that is a difficult challenge. By requiring registration but having it free, we hope to get a large amount of compliance. Young asked if suspension of response will be a consequence for repeated false fire alarms. Esbensen said we require those by code, so we don't feel comfortable with suspension of response for those. He said neither will we suspend response for non- required systems. Nelson asked whether a homeowner would be likely to have the necessary information to register the burglar and home systems, how expensive the registration will be, and how much time they will have for that. Esbensen said there is a $25 fee on the law enforcement side, and they do not have to know about the make and model of the alarm. It is more about contact information so we have a way to get back to the responsible party. Nelson then asked if it will have to be done yearly. Esbensen said it will be yearly or anytime there is a change in the information. Nelson asked what percentage of Eden Prairie homes have alarm systems, and how much paperwork this will create through City Hall. Esbensen said the number is about 15-17% for a city of this size. He said our goal is to get this registration process on line and tie that into the computer-aided dispatch center. Nelson asked if this will create enough information coming in that it will take another employee to handle it. Esbensen said that is not their intention. Nelson then asked if the information as to who has the systems would be made available to the public. Rosow said he was not sure but we determined that a lot of business registration information is private so he thought the same statutes would drive the privacy of this information. He said he would bring back the answer to the question at second reading. Duckstad asked if they found that other cities have similar problems with false alarms and if the enforcement procedures proposed would be similar to other cities. Esbensen said it varies by organization, but Minnetonka went to a stricter ordinance several years ago and are currently running 12-14% false alarms. He said there are some buildings in Eden Prairie that we have never received a false alarm from, but there are several repeat offenders, especially with buildings where attention is not paid to the alarms and maintenance of the systems. Duckstad asked if there would be a legal concern that the fee for a false alarm is too large and might be considered too punitive. Rosow said fees have to be CITY COUNCIL MINUTES April 21, 2009 Page 11 commensurate with services that are provided. They have discussed the fee issue and they will have to bring an amendment to the Fee Schedule if the ordinance is approved, so the Council will have an opportunity to look at the fees at that time. He said in his discussions with the Fire Chief the amount that the department is thinking of charging is not equal to the actual costs incurred by the department in responding to a false alarm. Nelson asked if we will try to do public education on the web about how to not have false alarms if we go ahead with this registration process. She thought there are certain kinds of things that tend to cause false alarms and it would be good to have something about that for people to look through when they register. Esbensen said there will be an online educational process that you go through that highlights the common reasons for false alarm situations for the required systems. He said the target is property that has code requirements to have an alarm system. Nelson asked if that means this really doesn't apply to residential. Esbensen said false alarms for residential fire alarm systems are fairly infrequent. Aho asked if they have a threshold in mind regarding the number of false alarms. Esbensen said those with required systems will be allowed one free in a 12 month period, and non-required systems will be allowed three free in a 12 month period. After that they will be billed for the false alarms. MOTION: Aho moved, seconded by Nelson, to approve first reading of an ordinance amending City Code Chapter 9, Section 9.10, relating to Fire and Burglar, Robbery and Safety Alarm Systems and adopting by reference City Code Chapter 1 and Section 9.99 which among other things contain penalty provisions. Motion carried 5-0. XII. PETITIONS, REQUESTS AND COMMUNICATIONS XIII. APPOINTMENTS XIV. REPORTS A. REPORTS OF COUNCILMEMBERS 1. Council Member Case—Budget Advisory Commission Case said back in January he raised a concern about the Budget Advisory Commission's (BAC) charge. He said he had come to be somewhat of a convert to the concept of having a BAC as a group that would give the Council advice. He cautioned that the BAC should probably not be involved in what the Council does from the concept of values. The Council is accountable to the public and the BAC is not. The current Senior Center issue raises the specter again of his concern about the BAC's charge, and he wanted to point out a couple of thoughts. He thought that issue belongs more in the area of values. To the BAC the Senior Center programs could very easily be moved somewhere else. While the Senior Center programs CITY COUNCIL MINUTES April 21, 2009 Page 12 could be moved somewhere else, it is the place piece that makes the building of value. It is the Council's role to determine if we want to have services at a particular place. This body has determined the activities at the Senior Center to be of value. He thought we need to look at this in a workshop session to get what we really want from the BAC in terms of how we deliver our services more efficiently and in better ways but not have them get into what we do. In discussions with the BAC members he thought they would like to have their charge refined so they will do what we want them to do. We may want to discuss or have staff look at directing them to give feedback on the efficiencies and better delivery of services but not venture out into value issues. Young said he recalled Council Member Case raising the issue in January. He said he was surprised to hear the recommendation from the BAC regarding the Senior Center,but he thought the recommendation the BAC made fell within their charge. The only way he could respond to the concern is by knowing that the job of the BAC is not as broad and all encompassing as the Council's job, and that is implicit in their charge. We do consider things beyond the financial impact. He didn't know if we could change the charge we originally created without essentially eliminating the effectiveness of the BAC. He understood it can cause some angst among residents as we work through the process,but he believed in the process and did not think a change in the charge to the BAC is necessary. He said it is the right of any Council Member to bring forth a suggestion for change. Reading from the mission statement of the BAC, Duckstad said "the commission shall act in an advisory capacity to the City Council" so it is clear anything they do is only in an advisory capacity. The Council has the final say on anything they do or recommend. The statement they are working under now states they are to work on proposed budgetary and operational controls with the goal of aiding the City Council in making fiscally sound budgetary decisions. He did not see anything specific in the mission statement that we can do to change it. He didn't see that this last issue pertains to policy necessarily,but rather it pertains to a serious budgetary problem. He has the impression they are trying to look at ways to save money and be fiscally sound. Nelson thought we need to expand it to the extent that they make a full recommendation when they make recommendations. They didn't give the implications of costs and savings for the changes at the Community Center. If they give us a recommendation in the policy area she would like it to be a complete recommendation that has all the costs so we have the bottom line. Young thought that raises a good and fair point. Mr. Neal, Mr. Lotthammer and he met with members of the Senior Advisory Council a couple of weeks ago, and we told them we will certainly investigate all the things Council Member Nelson mentioned including determining if there would be an actual cost savings if it were to be moved to the Community Center. We do CITY COUNCIL MINUTES April 21, 2009 Page 13 need to have complete information before making a decision. He thought the BAC may be looking for a better sense of direction,but in the absence of that direction he thought their charge should be broad. Aho said he didn't see this so much as a policy issue on their part in terms of the Senior Center but rather an operational efficiency issue. We charged the BAC to give recommendations in an advisory mode, and he thought it is in our best interest they do that. The Council would make the judgment after we know the costs and do our due diligence. He didn't want to limit the BAC's role,but it would be good to give them more direction. Case thought they get into policy and they likely should not. He acknowledged their advisory role,but the Council is the final decider. Because we have empowered them to be a group that can get headlines with a recommendation before it comes to the City Council, it can cause needless angst when the recommendations get out there as a policy decision. He thought it is important for the BAC to not just come back with a full package but also to come back with alternatives. He thought the language of the charge is very vague, and he will bring something back as a proposed change. Duckstad said he was not so concerned that the BAC is exercising policy and he did not think they are doing that. He agreed we need more facts when we look at issues and thought perhaps we could also get some kind of a staff study on the BAC recommendations before we discuss them. B. REPORTS OF CITY MANAGER 1. AARA Stimulus Plan Neal said staff has been looking at the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act(AARA) stimulus plan to see what opportunities would be available in the plan for Eden Prairie. He said we believe there are a couple of opportunities, one of which is over$69,000 in new Community Development Block Grant(CDBG) funds. There is also a program within the Act that would allow us to apply for money to replace or to keep police officers whose hiring had been frozen because of budgetary constraints. Another opportunity is the Energy Efficiency and Conservation block grant program that encourages cities to do energy efficiency and conservation programs. We have been allotted $626,000 as a grant by the federal government for this program. Under the rules for this program we need to put together an energy efficiency strategy and some ideas about how we would spend the money. They encourage cities to use the funds on municipal buildings and programs but also to use part of it out in the community, so we may want to ask the community for suggestions. Young said we need more information about each of the three opportunities. He said he is always fearful of looking for ways to spend federal dollars and has a general concern and skepticism about that. CITY COUNCIL MINUTES April 21, 2009 Page 14 Nelson thought we need to look very seriously at the energy component because some of it might fit into our 20-40-15 project. We might do more with that program if we had money available, and anything that would make business owners look for more long-term energy efficient things would be good. She would very much like to look at anything that would keep up the local businesses and anything we can add to our own energy efficiency because it will save money in the long term. Aho said his concern in accepting one-time federal dollars money for staffing positions is that when the dollars go away we are still encumbered by the staffing positions. Case said when we are looking at the possibility of even laying off people and we need to fill a police officer position he didn't know why we would not want to use these dollars to have that police officer. Young thought the general idea is that if these dollars fit into current budgeting and staffing or programming that is one thing, but we can sometimes be too eager to spend federal dollars. Case thought that is what the stimulus package is intended for in terms of creating jobs. He thought we owe it to the residents of Eden Prairie to look into it if it benefits the people of Eden Prairie. Neal said we have a police officer position that is frozen so we do have eligibility under that particular program. He said under the energy efficiency program we could accept that money and pay for things we agreed to do but planned to borrow for. 2. City Center Landscaping Neal said we have taken a look at our options and will bring that information to the next meeting. We are looking at the City receiving a waiver from our landscaping ordinance to allow us to grow our grass a little longer. We would be a sample project and would use some grasses that would be in violation of our ordinance but really are in the spirit of conserving water. 3. Transformer Failure at Community Center Neal said there was a transformer failure on Saturday at the Community Center that resulted in the facility being closed for most of the day. That has been remedied and is back up. 4. Goodrich-Remus Barn Neal said the City Council considered a request from Hennepin County for the City to accept ownership of the Goodrich-Remus Barn at the Council's CITY COUNCIL MINUTES April 21, 2009 Page 15 August 19, 2008, meeting. An extract from the approved minutes of the meeting was included in the Council packet for tonight's meeting. He noted at that time the majority of the Council Members were not interested in the City assuming ownership of that barn. Hennepin County does own the barn and they need to finalize their decisions about what they are going to do with it. The Hennepin County Engineering Department has requested a final response regarding the City of Eden Prairie accepting ownership and responsibility for the Goodrich-Remus barn. Young said we did have this discussion last August, and his opinion remains the same. He is not interested in the City owning the barn. Case said this is one of the most visible and known barns in our City, and is a great example of 1942-type architecture on one of the most historically- intact homesteads in Hennepin County. He said he knows of two entrepreneurs who would be interested in leasing it, and he would hate to see it go away. He would like to see the City actually take ownership of it to make sure it stays for future generations. Aho said he has not heard about any proposals from entrepreneurs to take lease of it and maintain it. He would be interested in hearing about that,but he would stand by our recommendation from last August until we hear more. Young said it would certainly be an option to hear any such proposals,but they could also lease it from the County. Duckstad said he was also opposed to the City acquiring or owning the barn in light of our current serious economic and budgetary problems. Neal said he has received 10-12 emails over the last six months from people who are interested in the barn or have ideas about the barn. We pass those on to the County for their consideration. The County sends us a copy of their responses to the emails,but thus far they haven't accepted any of the proposals. MOTION: Aho moved, seconded by Duckstad, to affirm the City Council's August 19, 2008, decision regarding the City's potential ownership of the Goodrich-Remus Barn. Motion carried 4-1-0, with Case opposed. 5. Joint Airport Zoning Board Neal said the Metropolitan Airports Commission (MAC) proposes to establish a Joint Airport Zoning Board for the Flying Cloud Airport to regulate air space zones and land use safety zones to protect the airport environment from hazards to aircraft. MAC has requested that the City of Eden Prairie participate on the Board together with the cities of Bloomington, Shakopee, and Chanhassen. CITY COUNCIL MINUTES April 21, 2009 Page 16 Tim Anderson, representing MAC, said he gained some perspective on this from a discussion he had this afternoon with an engineering colleague. He said the State has a zoning statute that takes effect if the Zoning Board does not adopt one. He said there would be advantages for Eden Prairie to participate in the process. Young asked if this is an informational item only. Neal replied the Council could act on it tonight. There is not a recommendation on the item tonight but he wanted to find out what the Council Member concerns or thoughts are about participating on this Board. The MAC would like us to join, and the Flying Cloud Airport Advisory Commission recommends that we join; however, Mr. Rosow has some concerns about our participation. Young said he understood the recommendations and his first reaction is a certain level of discomfort in that they recommend that Bloomington, Shakopee and Chanhassen also participate on the Board. He asked what precipitated the MAC bringing this to the City this year and what would MAC do if we did not participate. Anderson replied the MAC is the primary on the Board. He said they have a model underway for the St. Paul airport with St. Paul, West St. Paul and South St. Paul participating on the Board. That process is going very well, and the presence of West and South St. Paul has not detracted from the ability of the city and the airport to get a good product. The other cities on the Board would have to select representatives who would need to take the time to participate in the meetings. The MAC is doing this now primarily because we of the runway extension and the need to look at safety zones. Young asked if the MAC will do this on their own volition if we do not participate in it. Anderson said the MAC does not have authority to do this on its own volition, so the State would take the authority to enact its own model. Duckstad suggested that the City of Eden Prairie has an interest in the airport and would have an interest in serving on this zoning board. He thought there are citizens in our City that would want adequate representation in this zoning effort. He thought we have an obligation to step forward and show leadership so we should at least participate. He understood the possibility that by being on the Zoning Board we would expose ourselves to liability issues but he thought that was very remote. Case said we have been throwing around this question since 1995 and because the State legislature has given zoning authority to MAC over cities, the MAC can do anything they want on this. He saw this as only an attempt by the MAC to look for cover. He has asked before what the advantage to our City is and he could never get an answer, so he would suggest we not consider joining this group. CITY COUNCIL MINUTES April 21, 2009 Page 17 Aho said if it is a certainty that the Board will be formed then he believed we owe it to our residents to join the group and be a part of the process. Young said he has some trepidation because of the other cities being asked to participate,but he thought ultimately we would be better off if we have representation at the table. Young asked what staff's recommendation is on this item and when we would have to take action. Neal said the hope tonight was to hear feedback from the City Council as to how you see this shaping up. Staff would then prepare an action item for May 5 based on the feedback. Rosow believed under the statute the MAC does have the authority to go ahead and form the Board without the participation of any of the cities. If MAC doesn't do that, the Commissioner is empowered to go ahead and impose the regulations already in the Minnesota statutes. If the MAC is willing to indemnify the City for the liability regarding the taking of property, then that relieves some of our concerns. He said his second concern was to disagree with the recommendation of who should be on the Zoning Board. While Mr. Kipp is an extremely valuable member of the staff and knowledgeable about airports, the Council takes recommendations from staff so he didn't think it is fair to put a staff member into the political process. Neal said he agreed with Mr. Rosow that Mr. Kipp should probably not serve on the Board. There may be a member of the Planning Commission or Council Members who would be willing to serve on the Board. C. REPORT OF THE COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT DIRECTOR 1. Garage Sale Code Amendment Jeremiah said at the time the Home Occupation Ordinance was put in place we discussed a separate garage sale ordinance. The Planning Commission has looked at it recently and is recommending we move forward with a garage sale ordinance to define garage sales and to put some limits on them. The proposed ordinance would limit the number of garage sales to four a year and would allow each garage sale to be held for up to four consecutive days. We have not held a Public Hearing, so she wanted direction from the Council as to whether we should schedule that. Nelson said she has considered whether we need this and whether this is the right ordinance. She didn't think there is a problem with sample sales and she did not think every item in a garage sale has to be a used item. If we are going to have a code amendment she would want it limited just as to number of days, that people should have to live in Eden Prairie, and perhaps where the sales are held. She didn't want to get into what they sell and who could sell it, so she thought this goes too far. CITY COUNCIL MINUTES April 21, 2009 Page 18 Young said he agreed with Council Member Nelson and didn't think we should put things in ordinances that would be hard to defend. Case asked how this would affect large church rummage sales. Jeremiah said this is meant to regulate what can occur at garage sales on a single family premise or other residential premise that is not subject to other regulation. It is not unusual for cities to have this kind of regulation, and it would be enforced only by complaint. She said the question is do we want to have an ordinance for those times when we get a complaint or do we want to tell people we don't look at that. If it was a home business, we would look at that under the Home Occupation ordinance. Case said he was not sure there is a problem identified that we are solving with this. He thought this came out as a side issue when we were doing something else. Aho said he could see why staff is coming to us with this issue,but he agreed with what has been said. He did not perceive this as a large problem right now and not a big enough issue to generate legislation on it. He thought if the time comes when we have a lot of problems, then we should come up with a policy. Duckstad said he was also opposed to it and thought we should leave things the way they are. Neal said if it is something the Council doesn't hear about from people, then it is probably not something worth our time. He noted it was a big issue in Minnetonka a year or so ago, and they approached it with a regulatory hand. Nelson thought she would hear from a lot more people if we told them what they could sell at their garage sales. She thought residents need to be able to have garage sales. Jeremiah said our current interpretation of the Home Occupation ordinance is that these types of sales would not be permitted. She said we would not necessarily have to put in language regarding the types of material. Young said in the meantime the City Council will not enforce the fact that these types of sales may not be permitted. Jeremiah said she understood the intent is to allow garage sales so she will bring back something that is much scaled down for a Public Hearing. 2. Use of CDBG Funds for Renovation of PROP New Location Jeremiah said this item uses our existing money to help PROP rehabilitate the new facility on Martin Drive. As we have done with other non-profits, CITY COUNCIL MINUTES April 21, 2009 Page 19 we are proposing to grant $50,000 in funds for some of the necessary renovations at the new facility. They have volunteers doing plans and are saving as much money as possible. She said staff recommends the use of these funds. Jeremiah said at this point we are not making a formal recommendation regarding the additional money from the AARA funding. We will take a look at whether a Public Hearing will be required to allocate those funds. She anticipates the uses recommended for those funds will be for transitional housing to replace an existing rental home. She said Frasier Homes will probably come in at a future time to ask for rehabilitation money to improve handicap access. Case said the City Fellowship Home is historic and asked if there is an acknowledgement of that. Jeremiah said that was reviewed by the Historic Preservation planner, and there is some valuable woodwork in the structure. Case asked if it has been documented. Jeremiah said they are making efforts to salvage material but there are serious structural issues so the home is not salvageable. It will be documented and will come before the Council at another time. Young asked how the allocation of these funds relates to the discussion we had earlier in the year on the allocation of funds. Jeremiah said this is a separate item. When we looked at the formula earlier in the year, we looked look at Human Services agency grants. We can use only 15% of the annual CDBG allocation for those kinds of grants. We were not certain of what the 2009 allocation would be, so we looked at those as percentages to allocate to the Human Services agencies. These are rehabilitation funds for bricks and mortar projects, so the PROP rehabilitation is qualified for use of those funds. MOTION: Nelson moved, seconded by Aho, to approve the use of up to $50,000 in CDBG funds to make renovations necessary at the new PROP site located at 14700 Martin Drive. Motion carried 5-0. D. REPORT OF PARKS AND RECREATION DIRECTOR E. REPORT OF PUBLIC WORKS DIRECTOR 1. Acquisition of Easements for Valley View Road Frontage Road (Resolution No. 2007-29) Dietz said Home Depot has two access points into the property, one of which is at the intersection with a signal light at Prairie Center Drive. The easterly one is a shared access with the CSM office building, with the inbound half by CSM and the outbound half by Home Depot. There is a cross access agreement between CSM and Home Depot and one between CSM and Menards. Home Depot also needs to have a cross access CITY COUNCIL MINUTES April 21, 2009 Page 20 agreement with Menards on the west half of the driveway in order to have a proper frontage road along Valley View Drive. Menards is unwilling to do that, so this item would authorize staff to go ahead with the condemnation of the west half of the driveway. He said staff will obtain written agreement from CSM and Menards that the entire cost of the condemnation proceedings will be paid by them. Young asked why we need the frontage road. Dietz said we try to limit access to Valley View Road in order to maintain the integrity of east/west roads through the City. Aho said he tended to agree with this because there is not really much distance between the light at Topview and the one at Valley View. It would be difficult to squeeze another access in there, and the site would make it difficult to put in an access to Topview. Dietz said depending on what comes through the process we will or will not pursue access to Topview. He thought a project with high use would probably bring a recommended access from Topview. Aho asked about having access to Roberts Drive instead of Topview. Dietz said he thought that would be very difficult. Neal said we are bringing this back to the Council because we have been trying to work with the parties involved and have not been able to bring about an amicable agreement. Duckstad asked if this location has been a source of any other problems or is there anything else that has driven the need for this. Dietz replied all of this is in anticipation of what will happen on the last Menards site. We have reached an impasse in negotiations, and it can only be resolved by our powers of condemnation. MOTION: Case moved, seconded by Duckstad, to adopt Resolution No. 2009-29 authorizing the City Engineer and City Attorney to pursue the acquisition of easements necessary for the construction and maintenance of a frontage road adjacent to Valley View Road between Home Depot and Topview Road. Motion carried 5-0. F. REPORT OF POLICE CHIEF G. REPORT OF FIRE CHIEF H. REPORT OF CITY ATTORNEY XV. OTHER BUSINESS XVI. ADJOURNMENT MOTION: Duckstad moved, seconded by Case, to adjourn the meeting. Motion carried 5-0. Mayor Young adjourned the meeting at 9:28 PM.