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HomeMy WebLinkAboutCity Council - 09/21/2010 APPROVED MINUTES EDEN PRAIRIE CITY COUNCIL MEETING TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 21, 2010 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 Gene Dietz, Community Development Director Janet Jeremiah, City Attorney Rick 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 III. OPEN PODIUM INVITATION IV. PROCLAMATIONS /PRESENTATIONS A. RECOGNITION OF HOME DEPOT VOLUNTEERS Lotthammer said during the spring and summer of 2010, the Eden Prairie Home Depot donated over 300 bags of mulch. The mulch was used to replace aging and deteriorating mulch at Miller Park and Purgatory Creek Park. Store personnel delivered and spread the mulch at each of the sites. He recognized three representatives from Home Depot for their hard work and thanked them very much for their efforts. MOTION: Nelson moved, seconded by Aho, to accept the donations and recognize the efforts of the Eden Prairie Home Depot. Motion carried 5-0. V. APPROVAL OF AGENDA AND OTHER ITEMS OF BUSINESS Duckstad added Item XIV.A.1. Neal said there are three items on goldenrod paper that have been changed on the agenda: Item VIII.C., Item VIILF., and Item IX.B. Neal added Item XIV.B.3. MOTION: Aho moved, seconded by Nelson, to approve the agenda as amended. Motion carried 5-0. VI. MINUTES A. COUNCIL WORKSHOP HELD TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 7, 2010 CITY COUNCIL MINUTES September 21, 2010 Page 2 MOTION: Duckstad moved, seconded by Case, to approve the minutes of the City Council workshop held Tuesday, September 7, 2010, as published. Motion carried 5-0. B. CITY COUNCIL MEETING HELD TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 7, 2010 MOTION: Aho moved, seconded by Duckstad, to approve the minutes of the City Council meeting held Tuesday, September 7, 2010, as published. Motion carried 5- 0. VII. REPORTS OF ADVISORY BOARDS & COMMISSIONS VIII. CONSENT CALENDAR A. CLERK'S LICENSE LIST B. ADOPT RESOLUTION NO. 2010-64 DECLARING COSTS TO BE ASSESSED AND ORDERING PREPARATION ON SPECIAL ASSESSMENT ROLL AND SETTING HEARING DATE C. ADOPT RESOLUTION NO. 2010-65 APPROVING APPOINTMENT OF ELECTION JUDGES AND STUDENT ELECTION JUDGES FOR THE GENERAL ELECTION D. REJECT ALL BIDS FOR METAL ROOF REPLACEMENT AT CITY CENTER E. REJECT ALL BIDS FOR STANDBY GENERATOR PROJECT AT THE COMMUNITY CENTER F. APPROVE PURCHASE AGREEMENT FOR MITEL CONSOLE SYSTEM WITH MARCO MOTION: Duckstad moved, seconded by Nelson, to approve Items A-F on the Consent Calendar. Motion carried 5-0. IX. PUBLIC HEARINGS/MEETINGS A. VACATION OF PORTION OF DRAINAGE AND UTILITY EASEMENT ON LOT 4, BLOCK 5, THE RIDGE AT RILEY CREEK 2ND ADDITION (Resolution No. 2010-66) Neal said official notice of this public hearing was published in the September 9, 2010, Eden Prairie News and sent to 4 property owners. The property owner has requested the vacation of the drainage and utility easement over a part of Lot 5, Block 4, The Ridge at Riley Creek 2nd Addition to facilitate the building of a swimming pool. City Staff have reviewed this request and determined that there are no existing or future needs for this portion of the easement and it can be CITY COUNCIL MINUTES September 21, 2010 Page 3 vacated. There were no comments from the audience. MOTION: Case moved, seconded by Duckstad, to close the public hearing and to adopt Resolution No. 2010-66 vacating a portion of the drainage and utility easements lying over, under and across Lot 5, Block 4, The Ridge at Riley Creek 2nd Addition, according to the recorded plat thereof, Hennepin County, Minnesota. Motion carried 5-0. B. NINE MILE CREEK WATER RESOURCE CENTER by Nine Mile Creek Watershed District. Request for Code amendment to add Governmental Office as permitted use in the Public Zoning District, Comprehensive Guide Plan change from Low Density Residential to Parks/Open Space on 4.24 acres, Comprehensive Guide Plan change from Low Density Residential to Public/Quasi Public on 1.1 acres, Planned Unit Development concept review on 5.32 acres, Planned Unit Development district review on 5.32 acres, Zoning District change from R1-22 to Public on 5.32 acres, Site Plan review on 5.32 acres and preliminary plat of 5.32 acres into one lot.(Resolution No. 2010-67 for Guide Plan change; Resolution No. 2010-68 for PUD concept review, Ordinance for PUD district review and Zoning District change; Resolution No. 2010-69 for preliminary plat) Neal said official notice of this public hearing was published in the September 9, 2010, Eden Prairie News and sent to 59 property owners. The owner wants to give the property to the Nine Mile Creek Watershed District(NMCWD). The home would be converted into office and meeting room space. This use is not permitted on land zoned R1-22. The proposed use of the property requires a guide plan change, zoning change, a code amendment, and waivers from the City Code. All of the requests are discretionary actions which the City is not obligated to approve. The guide plan change is to Parks/Open Space and Public/Quasi Public. The building, building expansion, driveway, parking, tree removal, and infiltration-rain garden areas are located in the proposed Public/Quasi Public area. The remainder of the site is proposed for Parks/Open Space. To accommodate the use as proposed, the public zoning district list of permitted uses needs to be amended. The use could be defined as: "Governmental offices in buildings of less than 6,000 square feet." The waivers are for exterior materials, paved surfaces, and driveway width. Neal said there is a conservation easement on the property in favor of the Minnesota Land Trust. The easement would allow only a single family home that can be expanded by not more than 50%. If the private conservation easement is extinguished, through a judicial process, then the property would have rights to subdivide under the requirements of the R1-22 zoning districts for lot dimensions and lot size. The Public Zoning District permits more than just the watershed district office. Although the conservation easement would preclude most of them, if the private conservation easement is extinguished, through a judicial process, then the property would have rights under the Public Zoning District. These uses would have greater impacts than the proposed use. A way to limit the use of the property to the watershed district office only is to require that a deed restriction be CITY COUNCIL MINUTES September 21, 2010 Page 4 recorded on the property in favor of the City. He reviewed the PUD waivers required for the exterior materials, the paved surfaces, and the driveway width. Neal said the 120-Day review period expires on December 10, 2010. Since the Planning Commission meeting, the site plan has been revised to relocate the driveway to align opposite Topview Road. The driveway width has been revised from a minimum of 12 feet to 18 feet. The Planning Commission voted 5-0 to recommend approval of the project at the August 23, 2010 meeting. Rosow noted the purpose for the public hearing is for the City Council to receive comments from the public on the merits of the proposal. He said the Council cannot make a decision based on a"straw poll." The Council has to consider the substance of the comments. He asked those who planned to speak tonight to be as factual as possible rather than general. He said the Council has the discretion to determine if the proposed guide plan change is an appropriate change. With respect to the zoning changes, one is for a City-wide text code amendment that would allow governmental use in a public district. The law states that a change in the zoning must follow the comprehensive guide plan, so the guide plan change must be approved first. He said there must be a 2/3 vote (four votes) of the entire City Council to pass the guide plan change, and the rezoning takes a majority (three votes). As to the question of whether Council Member Aho had a disqualifying conflict of interest because he lives in some proximity to the subject property, Rosow said he reviewed case law and consulted other city attorneys and the City Assessor on this. He reviewed the five factors that should be considered in making a decision on a conflict of interest and said he determined that Council Member Aho does not have a disqualifying conflict of interest in this matter. Aho said he appreciated the diligence of the City Attorney in this matter;however, he decided to abstain from voting since he lives in the neighborhood. Duckstad asked whether the zoning change would be a moot point if the guide plan change is made. Rosow said if the Council were to approve the guide plan change, a property owner can come in and request the property be zoned in accordance to the guide plan. Duckstad asked if the zoning request is not automatically passed when the guide plan change is approved. Rosow said it is not automatically passed, but as the guide plan motion is set up, if the guide plan passes by the correct vote, then all the rest would pass. LuAnn Tolliver, Chair of the NMCWD, introduced the board of the NMCWD. She said she believes they have an excellent proposal, and they have had a great working relationship with the City of Eden Prairie. Kevin Bigalke, District Administrator for the NMCWD, gave an explanation of the NMCWD, noting they are a special purpose unit of government. He said the Kaerwar property is 5.3 acres, of which 4.2 acres will be in Parks/Open Space and 1.1 acres will be in Public/Quasi Public zoning for the administrative functions of the water resource center. This is a unique opportunity to continue the preservation and stewardship of resources on the Kaerwar property. The PUD is unusual CITY COUNCIL MINUTES September 21, 2010 Page 5 because NMCWD is requesting some exemptions from the building materials because they want to keep the building materials compatible with the existing architecture. The second exception is to the parking lot design and materials. He said their whole mission is water resource protection and they hope to make this into a zero runoff scenario. In order to do that they are proposing to have a portion of the parking lot be a porous asphalt surface that will allow water to infiltrate into the ground so there is essentially no storm water runoff. Twenty five parking stalls are required because of the size of the building; however, they are proposing to have 15 of those stalls in porous asphalt and ten stalls as overflow parking with a re-grass paved surface. They are proposing a modest building addition to accommodate board meetings on the property. The conservation easement on the property allows up to a 50% addition to the square footage, and this would be well under that percentage. Bigalke said one of the big issues that came up with the neighborhood was the impact on traffic. They hired a local consulting firm to do a traffic impact analysis. Based on the square footage of the building, the daily traffic trips generated would be 34-44; however, they don't feel that is an appropriate analysis because they will have only two people on their staff. The consultant calculated the two employees would have about seven daily trips coming in and out of the water resource center, which is less than the daily trips for a typical single family home. Occasionally they will have board and advisory committee meetings. When they have public hearings or meetings they anticipate will have a large attendance, they would take those off site as they currently do. He thought this is a unique opportunity for two units of government to have an educational outreach facility where porous pavers and rainwater gardens can be used as demonstrations to show developers how those work and what the long term maintenance requirements. He reviewed the plan drawing for the property, noting the driveway has been realigned in response to neighborhood concerns. They also supplied a substantial amount of tree screening to help screen car lights. He said there was erroneous information circulating that they planned to build an amphitheatre on the site,but that is not true. Some time ago a conservation easement was established over the property, and the proposed use of the property would be appropriate and acceptable under the easement. Duckstad asked about a memo to Mike Franzen dated September 13 indicating that 145 signatures had been collected in favor of the project. Bigalke said they have been very forthright with the public about what they are proposing to do and how they intend to use the property. They started in October of 2009 when they met with the neighborhood at Ms Kaerwar's home, and they have been in communication with the neighbors within a 600-foot radius of the property while the proposal was developed throughout the spring months. He said they submitted the proposal to the City on July 14 and had a public information meeting on July 19. Since that time they have been working with the neighborhood garnering additional support. The 145 signatures on the petition represent 112 homes within the neighborhood. He said six people in the neighborhood have officially stated opposition to the proposal. Duckstad asked if Mr. Bigalke himself obtained the signatures. Bigalke said they were obtained over a period of time by individuals in the neighborhood who assisted with communicating what is being proposed. They CITY COUNCIL MINUTES September 21, 2010 Page 6 provided a four-page executive summary of the proposal and have used both volunteers and NMCWD staff to gather signatures. Duckstad asked if he knew if any of those who signed the petition have changed their mind. Bigalke said they have not received any official notice of removal of support. Duckstad asked if the six people who were opposed live close to the property. Bigalke said there are three properties on the corner of Gerard Drive that have indicated opposition. Duckstad asked if they have any understanding with the City of Eden Prairie that the City would contribute any funding to the project. Bigalke said they are not requesting any financial support from the City of Eden Prairie. They would probably want to work with the Public Safety staff as they do their routine patrols, but there is no additional patrolling or monitoring planned. There would be no contribution from the City for the parking lot, the building addition, or any maintenance. Duckstad asked how much the total cost of the project is. Bigalke said they do not have any hard numbers at this time as they decided not to spend a lot of money on details before the project was approved. Duckstad noted they propose 4.2 acres of the property be designated as a park, and asked if they had talked to Mr. Lotthammer to see if the City has need of a park at this location. Bigalke said it would not be a City-operated park. Duckstad asked what they contemplate the use will be by children. Bigalke said it would be similar to what Ms Kaerwar currently allows. The NMCWD does not plan to develop any park amenities. They would actively manage the natural resources,but it would be essentially a natural resources preserve of open space. Duckstad noted the parking lot will have 25 stalls; however there was only going to be one person occupying the property. He asked what kind of meetings would require the 25 stalls and if a smaller number would work. Bigalke said the 25 stall requirement is based on the number required for a building of up to 5000 square feet. He said they have two full-time employees who will be there on a regular basis. They will occasionally have permit applicants and developers there to meet with the NMCWD staff. They would need more spaces primarily when they have their board meetings or for an outreach event. Duckstad asked if residential owners surrounding this site would be able to see the parking lot. Bigalke said it would be very unlikely because you typically can't see the home from points on Gerard Drive. He said they will provide additional screening if that is necessary. Duckstad noted the existing home is about 3800 square feet which is fairly large and asked if that wouldn't be large enough. Bigalke said they propose to add a conference room that will be about 2500 feet to accommodate their board meetings. There will be another addition of about ten feet to provide more spacious offices. Duckstad asked if NMCWD plans to relocate its headquarters from the present site. Bigalke said they do. Young opened the public hearing, noting there would be a time limit of three minutes. CITY COUNCIL MINUTES September 21, 2010 Page 7 Barry Steerup, 7019 Donlea Lane, said he was originally in favor of this project as it was intended to maintain the nature preserve of the area. He still believes that is the case and he has heard nothing from Mr. Bigalke tonight to say they would clear the space. He said his main concern is to maintain the quiet enjoyment of his own home, and he thought this plan would accomplish that. Jenifer Prince, 13190 Beehive Court, said she was one of those who collected signatures, and the only negative responses she got from people included opposition because they heard they were going to put a tall office tower in the space, build an amphitheatre, or bring massive numbers of school buses into the facility. Except for those erroneous ideas most of the people just wanted the information and were excited to have this facility. Terry Langland, Gordon Drive, said he has enjoyed Ms Kaerwar's intent to keep the property as it is,but he was not sure what the impact of the district office would be on the neighborhood. He said his first choice is not to have an office in the neighborhood,but the proposed plan seems to eliminate the possibility of a development with greater levels of traffic. Unless the changes to the comprehensive guide plan would impact Eden Prairie in general, he would have to be in bias of the proposal as presented. Keith Kapitan, 12838 Gerard Drive, said he is concerned that this decision will mean so much to Eden Prairie 20-25 years down the road as it provides a means to learn how to conserve water and other green concepts. Stacey Bozanich, 17855 Liv Lane, was concerned about the extensive remodeling required for the home and questioned whether there are not enough organizations already doing school field trips. She said the tendency of government is to grow and in 2008 two members of the Council ran 8 on the promises of less government and lower taxes, so it seems like there should be at least two votes against this from those members. She said this is not a time to be expanding government. Jerry Johnson, 15801 North Hillcrest Court, said NMCWD is a public entity and the resources they need to develop this property will come from the taxpayers. He thought the City is opening the door for the possibility of more taxes being needed to support this project and whatever else the group may decide to do in the future. He urged the Council to vote no on this request. He thought the NMCWD should look into water quality in the City if they are looking for a project. Jan Mosman, 15117 Scenic Heights Road, said we have a tradition in Eden Prairie where we have been given money, land and buildings for various public places. She said the property will stay safer for everyone involved if a building is secured and maintained and there is regular use of the building. Pete Rasmussen, 13100 Roberts Drive, said there seems to be a lot of activity on cost issues on this. He said he has been at every meeting and has been very impressed with everything that went on about the planning and zoning for this. He thought this is going to be a great project. He thought the comment about looking CITY COUNCIL MINUTES September 21, 2010 Page 8 forward 25 years to see what clean water is all about was a wonderful idea. The NMCWD has an existing budget, it does projects today, and it will continue to do projects. Jeff Strate, 15021 Summerhill Drive, said he met Ms Kaerwar as a Minnesota Lane Trust board member and was one of the people who helped her learn what a conservation easement was. He said her goals for her property are totally in line with the rest of Eden Prairie. He said very seldom are easements dissolved by the owner and there are huge penalties to do that, so it is unlikely the NMCWD would ever subdivide this. He was very concerned about the perception that the project will increase traffic. He thought the NMCWD has provided accurate information about the use of this property, and he recommended the Council approve both the guide plan change and the zoning change. Beverly Aho, 12742 Gordon Drive, said she has lived in Eden Prairie for more than 19 years, and she commended Ms Kaerwar on her generous offer to donate the property. She said she is speaking against the zoning change. The comprehensive guide plan and zoning ordinances exist for our good. We should not perform spot zoning and change property into a public use. If a general contractor were to ask for this, most people would not support it. hi addition people she has spoken with who support the project seem to have the impression this property could be developed into a residential neighborhood. However, the easement protects the property in perpetuity and is binding on the current and future owners of the property. Bill Satterness, 8597 Red Oak Drive, asked for clarification of the position of the City staff and the Planning and Zoning Commission on this. Neal said that would be part of the City Council discussion and was not sure it should be part of the public hearing. Young said he will make sure that is addressed. Ember Kapitan, 12838 Gerard Drive, said she is one of the ones that went around the neighborhood with the petition. She said there were some fence sitters because they did not know a lot about it but the majority of the people were for the proposal. She did not think we got to be the number one city to live in by not being forward thinkers. Ms Kaerwar is gifting this so NMCWD does not have to pay for it. She felt this is not like a commercial building and will be a good thing for the neighborhood. Barbara Kaerwar, 12800 Gerard Drive, said her property is a wonderful place for passive recreation, and she has tried to make it as public as possible. It is hilly and rocky with thin soil so it will be a good place for demonstrations of erosion control. She appealed to the Council to approve the offer. Tom Casey, representing Ms Kaerwar, said this is a selfless and generous act by Ms Kaerwar to give the land to the NMCWD. He said Ms Kaerwar has no other option and will work with the Minnesota Land Trust to remove the easement I the project is not approved tonight. He didn't think the argument of spot zoning was applicable in this case. He asked that the Council approve the project and move forward. CITY COUNCIL MINUTES September 21, 2010 Page 9 MOTION: Case moved, seconded by Nelson, to close the public hearing. Motion carried 4-0-1, with Aho abstaining. Duckstad said he shares the concerns of a couple of the speakers about the expansion of government, and he was also against unnecessary government spending. As a Council Member he has an obligation to look at the agenda item and follow the law. The agenda item is whether or not there is a basis on the merits to change the classification of our guide plan. He said the purpose of the zoning code is to protect the people in the areas where they live to make sure they are not disturbed and residential values are protected. He said all the neighbors have expressed their opinion that the proponent wants to sell her property to the NMCWD in a way that won't interfere with their right to live in the neighborhood. Many of them feel this use of property would not only allow them to live in the neighborhood but would permit their kids to use the area as a park. There seems to be a great deal of evidence to support the guide plan change. He said the Planning Commission looked at this and recommended the guide plan change by a vote of 5- 0. There is also a unanimous recommendation by the Conservation Commission to adopt the guide plan change. Young asked if staff came to a recommendation on this. Jeremiah said staff recommended two acceptable alternatives. One of the alternatives would be denial, based on the inconsistency with the current comprehensive guide plan and zoning, and the other would be for approval with the caveat that we place a restricted covenant on the property to limit use of this property as to the number of employees and number of meetings. She said staff does not find that public use in general is compatible on this property; however, staff believes the restrictions can be mitigated with the restrictive covenant. Young asked if the NMCWD agreed to the restrictive covenants. Jeremiah said they are aware of the Planning Commission's conditions of approval. Young asked if the restrictive covenant would be captured by the proposed motions before the Council. Jeremiah said it would. Nelson thanked all the people that came tonight to show interest in this project. It is beautiful property, and it is wonderful to have it open and available to the community. She thought it is valuable to have a guide plan change to this park-like situation to keep it that way. She thought we should look at what the Planning and Conservation Commissions had to say when they voted unanimous approval of this. Case said our concern this evening as a City Council is whether this is an appropriate land use, and he believes it is. He said he was frustrated that staff has not let the Council in on their concerns until tonight; nonetheless,he could find no reason not to vote for this. This use is far superior to any other use, and it will be of tremendous value to the greater community. We also get the advantage of having NMCWD headquarters within our borders. He said he could also support it without attaching the conditions Ms Jeremiah spoke about. Young asked which conditions he was referring to. Case said some of the conditions of the agreement that we need CITY COUNCIL MINUTES September 21, 2010 Page 10 to work out with the NMCWD. Young asked if the proposed motion captures those conditions. Jeremiah said it does,but we just don't have the details of the agreement worked out. She said staff will come back with the details at final reading. Young said he wanted staff to briefly talk about what this opens the door to in this or other neighborhoods of the City. A change to the guide plan can open up the door, and it may not be favorable to other parts of the City. Neal asked if his concern was what other types of issues would fit into that zoning category. Young said that was correct and also if there are other parts of the community where the changed zoning would be applicable. Jeremiah said with the restrictive covenant nothing would be opened up on this property other than the specifics of the application. She said we are opening up the possibility of small government offices in other areas of the City that have public zoning. Young asked how many other residential neighborhoods might be impacted by the change. Mike Franzen, City Planner, said about 2000 acres in the City are zoned public right now and potentially could be impacted by the zoning code. Approximately 1/3 of our City is parks and open space, and we would have many residential lots adjacent to the open space. Young asked what our ability to limit the use would be. Franzen said if they came in with a similar request it would be difficult to say no. Duckstad asked if Mr. Franzen saw a problem when there are similar applications after the guide plan change is approved. Franzen said one of the advantages of having government offices expand where they are currently permitted is that they are able to expand by getting a building permit. There is a potential problem if they want to expand and they are in a residential neighborhood. Staff made the recommendation for a deed restriction because we don't want to have the number of employees increased to 25 or 30. Duckstad asked if he is proposing we change the guide plan so it has sufficient protection. Franzen said in most cases where we have office uses in a residential area they are in the backyards of neighborhoods or their traffic doesn't use the same streets. Young said he was inclined to grant this request but wanted to get a better understanding of the issue of governmental offices in other parts of the City. He asked about the owners of the other public land and the total acreage of governmental offices in a public zone. Franzen said approximately 400 acres is owned by MAC, and most of the other publicly-zoned property is owned by places of worship, the High School and Forest Hills Elementary. MOTION: Case moved, seconded by Nelson, to adopt Resolution No. 2010-67 for Comprehensive Guide Plan change from Low Density Residential to Parks Open Space on 4.24 acres and from Low Density Residential to Public/Quasi Public on 1.1acres; to adopt Resolution No. 2010-68 for Planned Unit Development concept review on 5.34 acres, subject to approval of the required Comprehensive Guide Plan amendment; to approve 1st Reading of the Ordinance for Planned Unit Development district review with waivers, and Zoning District CITY COUNCIL MINUTES September 21, 2010 Page 11 change from R1-22 to Public on 5.34 acres, subject to approval of the required Comprehensive Guide Plan amendment; to approve 1st Reading of the Ordinance for code amendment to add governmental offices as a permitted use in the Public Zoning District, subject to approval of the required Comprehensive Guide Plan amendment; to adopt Resolution No. 2010-69 for preliminary plat on 5.34 acres into 1 lot, subject to approval of the required Comprehensive Guide Plan amendment; and to direct Staff to prepare a development agreement incorporating staff and commission recommendations and Council conditions, subject to approval of the required Comprehensive Guide Plan amendment. Motion carried 4-0-1, with Aho abstaining. Mayor Young recessed the meeting at 9:00 PM and called the meeting back to order at 9:05 PM. C. FIRST READING OF ORDINANCE AMENDING CITY CODE SECTION 11.03 SUBDIVISION 311 RELATING TO SPECIAL REQUIREMENTS FOR OFF STREET PARKING AND OFF STREET LOADING FACILITIES Neal said official notice of this public hearing was published in the September 9, 2010, Eden Prairie News. The current code requires that every off-street parking area shall be (1) surfaced with an asphaltic or Portland cement binder, (2) graded so as to dispose of all area surface water, and (3) marked so as to provide for orderly and safe use of the area. The proposed code replaces the current code in its entirety as follows: "Parking areas, loading areas, and driveways shall be surfaced with bituminous, concrete, natural stone or other types of concrete stone and pavers and graded to dispose of or infiltrate all area surface water without damage to private or public properties, streets, or alleys." Neal said in 2009 the Planning Commission directed staff to evaluate additional permeable paving material options for inclusion in a future amendment to the code. The Conservation Commission also worked on the code amendment evaluating surrounding city codes and practices. On August 2, 2010 the Conservation Commission voted 5-0 to change the draft code amendment to include the words "to dispose of or infiltrate all area surface water." The Planning Commission voted 5-0 to recommend approval of the code amendment at the August 23, 2010 meeting. He said this change would allow for alternatives to the standard asphalt or concrete driveway. There were no comments from the audience. MOTION: Aho moved, seconded by Nelson, to close the public hearing and to approve first reading of an ordinance amending City Code Section 11.03 Subdivision 3H relating to special requirements for off street parking and off street loading facilities. Motion carried 5-0. X. PAYMENT OF CLAIMS MOTION: Case moved, seconded by Duckstad, to approve the payment of claims as CITY COUNCIL MINUTES September 21, 2010 Page 12 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 SECTION. 2.05 RELATING TO SALARIES OF MAYOR AND COUNCIL MEMBERS Neal said this ordinance amendment deletes the meeting pay provision set forth in Section 2.05, Subd 3 A and B. At the workshop on September 7, the Council discussed an amendment of Section 2.05 of the City Code that would remove the provision for compensation for attending special meetings of the Council and other meetings involving city business. This ordinance amendment deletes the meeting pay provision. MOTION: Nelson moved, seconded by Aho, to approve first reading of the ordinance amending Section 2.05 of the City Code relating to salaries of Mayor and Council Members. Motion carried 5-0. XII. PETITIONS, REQUESTS AND COMMUNICATIONS XIII. APPOINTMENTS XIV. REPORTS A. REPORTS OF COUNCIL MEMBERS 1. Recruiters for City Manager Position—Council Member Duckstad Duckstad said the City Manager supplied us with the names of four recruiters and their resumes. He said all are qualified and he would be prepared to select one of them based on the thorough proposals they submitted. Young said we will discuss that in the next agenda item. B. REPORT OF CITY MANAGER 1. City Manager Search Process Neal said there was a discussion at the last meeting about how to proceed on the executive search for a City Manager. The Council asked City staff to prepare an RFP to go out to qualified vendors. There are four vendors that do this work in Minnesota, and the RFP was distributed to those four. All four vendors responded with a proposal. He said there is a tentative workshop scheduled for October 5 that could be rescheduled to later this year or next year if the Council would like to have an opportunity to interview the vendors. He thought there should be some additional discussion on the interim City Manager responsibilities and how the Council might wish to proceed. CITY COUNCIL MINUTES September 21, 2010 Page 13 Nelson said she would like to have some interview time. There was a very large difference in prices between the groups, and there seemed to be some differences in what they are proposing. She also has a few more questions about how they plan to do their search. She noted she would like to start a workshop at 5:00 PM to allow enough time to interview the vendors. Aho said he would like to do an interview of the four respondents as soon as possible. He thought it might mean setting up a special meeting because it may be difficult to do the interviews in the limited time of a workshop. Case agreed with the fact we need to have interview time outside of a regular meeting structure. He noted the Council has never met together to discuss what qualities we want in a City Manager. He would like to have some time to spend with any firm and would support setting a special meeting. He said we haven't really discussed how we are going to cover with an interim manager in the short term. He thought it could be someone on staff who would step in and that is more of a pressing need than starting the executive search. Duckstad agreed that a special meeting is needed, and it should be done right away. Young said the only item we need to firmly establish is whether we need a special meeting or we can use the workshop time. Aho said we have to follow the schedule of notice but should do it as quickly as we can all convene. Rosow said it requires three days notice. Neal said staff could start the process tomorrow. Nelson urged everyone to look carefully and make as many dates available as possible. Case noted we would also have to get the four firms on board for the meeting date. Neal said our first concern will be to get all Council Members together, and then we will get notice to the vendors. 2. Potential Consolidation of 911 Systems in Hennepin County Neal said he distributed a high level executive summary of an integration coordination review that examines the potential to integrate or consolidate all the 911 systems in Hennepin County. He said there are eight cities that continue to maintain their own 911 systems while everyone else in the county is dispatched by Hennepin County. Residents of those cities rely on the county to provide their Public Safety Answering Point(PSAP). He said the spreadsheet in the summary shows how the tax burden is handled for PSAP services by municipality. He noted $425,478 in property tax goes to Hennepin County from Eden Prairie to support the PSAP for the county, according to the method they used to determine cost sharing. It costs us $875,902 to operate our local 911 system. Our shared cost for the consolidated system would be more than what we currently pay for our own system and our share of Hennepin County's system. He said we are not CITY COUNCIL MINUTES September 21, 2010 Page 14 walking away from the table,but have told them we are not in favor of paying more for less service. Young asked if there currently is a separate levy for the PSAP. Neal said it is not a separate levy,but this is the portion of the levy they have broken out internally. Young asked if we know how they calculated the figures. Neal said we don't. Young noted he read that Edina picked up the 911 dispatch for another city. Neal said they made an agreement with Golden Valley. Young asked if there would be an opportunity for us to pick up service for other cities. Neal said there might be an opportunity, and there is some discussion going on with cities that maintain their own PSAP about how we can pay less money for a county system we don't use. He said one of the issues pushing the study is the fact that the county is involved in examining its own needs for a new 911 dispatch center for the Sheriff's office. Their current facility is sub-par, and they have some needs to upgrade the system. They want to know how big that system should be. He said we are looking at that and also examining ways that the existing PSAPs could be used in an overall county system in a way that might decrease the need for a new large county facility. Duckstad asked if there is any possibility they might reconsider and retreat from these figures. Neal said it didn't seem like it the day they presented the information, but there are many different ways to spread the cost of a consolidated PSAP. This way doesn't offer any incentive for us to consolidate. 3. City-Wide Open House Neal said we will have our annual City-wide Open House on Saturday, October 9. There will be a table outside the Council Chamber that will be available for Council Members to sit at and answer questions. The Police, Fire, Public Works and Utilities departments will be open and will have their own displays. C. REPORT OF THE COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT DIRECTOR D. REPORT OF PARKS AND RECREATION DIRECTOR E. REPORT OF PUBLIC WORKS DIRECTOR F. REPORT OF POLICE CHIEF G. REPORT OF FIRE CHIEF H. REPORT OF CITY ATTORNEY XV. OTHER BUSINESS CITY COUNCIL MINUTES September 21, 2010 Page 15 XVI. ADJOURNMENT MOTION: Duckstad moved, seconded by Nelson, to adjourn the meeting. Motion carried 5-0. Mayor Young adjourned the meeting at 9:30 PM.