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HomeMy WebLinkAboutCity Council - 05/07/2013 APPROVED MINUTES EDEN PRAIRIE CITY COUNCIL MEETING TUESDAY, MAY 7, 2013 7:00 PM, CITY CENTER Council Chamber 8080 Mitchell Road CITY COUNCIL: Mayor Nancy Tyra-Lukens, Council Members Brad Aho, Sherry Butcher Wickstrom, Ron Case, and Kathy Nelson CITY STAFF: City Manager Rick Getschow, Public Works Director Robert Ellis, Community Development Director Janet Jeremiah, Parks and Recreation Director Jay Lotthammer, Assistant City Attorney Sarah Schwarzhoff, and Council Recorder Jan Curielli I. ROLL CALL/CALL THE MEETING TO ORDER Mayor Tyra-Lukens called the meeting to order at 7:00 PM. All members were present. Tyra-Lukens reviewed the series of tragic events involving the disappearance of Mandy Matula and asked for a moment of silence for Ms Matula. II. PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE III. OPEN PODIUM INVITATION IV. PROCLAMATIONS/PRESENTATIONS A. SENIOR AWARENESS MONTH PROCLAMATION Mayor Tyra-Lukens read a proclamation proclaiming May 2013 to be Senior Awareness Month. She presented the proclamation to members of the Senior Advisory Council. A representative of the Senior Advisory Council reviewed the events that are planned during Senior Awareness Month. B. COMMENDATION AWARD—RICHARD LANE III Police Chief Rob Reynolds read and presented the Police Department's Commendation Award to Richard Lane III, a civilian who assisted an officer with a difficult arrest in January of this year. C. UPDATE FROM HENNEPIN COUNTY SHERIFF'S OFFICE Sheriff Rich Stanek gave an overview of the work of the Sheriffs Office and their interaction with the Eden Prairie Police Department. He reviewed the services provided by the Sheriffs Department and distributed copies of their 2012 Annual Report& 2013 Strategic Plan. CITY COUNCIL MINUTES May 7, 2013 Page 2 V. APPROVAL OF AGENDA AND OTHER ITEMS OF BUSINESS Tyra-Lukens added Items XIV.A.1,A.2, and A.3. Getschow added Item XIV.E.1., noting information relative to the item was on goldenrod paper. MOTION: Nelson moved, seconded by Butcher Wickstrom, to approve the agenda as amended. Motion carried 5-0. VI. MINUTES A. COUNCIL WORKSHOP HELD TUESDAY,APRIL 16, 2013 MOTION: Aho moved, seconded by Case, to approve the minutes of the Council workshop held Tuesday, April 16, 2013, as published. Motion carried 5-0. B. CITY COUNCIL MEETING HELD TUESDAY,APRIL 16, 2013 MOTION: Nelson moved, seconded by Butcher Wickstrom, to approve the minutes of the City Council meeting held Tuesday, April 16, 2013, as published. Motion carried 5-0. VII. REPORTS OF ADVISORY BOARDS & COMMISSIONS VIII. CONSENT CALENDAR A. CLERK'S LICENSE LIST B. ADOPT RESOLUTION NO. 2013-45 DECLARING PROPERTY AS ABANDONED C. AWARD CONTRACT FOR TRAIL OVERLAY AND RECONSTRUCTION FOR VALLEY VIEW RD. AND MITCHELL MARSH CONSERVATION AREA TO BITUMINOUS ROADWAYS INC. D. APPROVE PURCHASE OF REPLACEMENT HEAVY EQUIPMENT AS LISTED IN THE 2013 BUDGET E. APPROVE CONTRACT WITH MIDWEST WEED HARVESTING FOR WEED HARVESTING IN MITCHELL AND RED ROCK LAKES F. APPROVE A CONTRACT WITH KEYS WELL DRILLING, MUNICIPAL WELL DRILLERS, TO DRILL AND INSTALL TWO GROUNDWATER OBSERVATION WELLS G. APPROVE GRANT AGREEMENT WITH THE DEPT. OF NATURAL RESOURCES FOR WATERCRAFT INSPECTIONS CITY COUNCIL MINUTES May 7, 2013 Page 3 H. DIRECT STAFF TO NOT WAIVE THE MONETARY LIMITS ON TORT LIABILITY ESTABLISHED BY MINNESOTA STATUTES 466.04 I. MOVE TO APPROVE THE HOUSING SERVICES AGREEMENT WITH WHAHLT MOTION: Case moved, seconded by Butcher Wickstrom, to approve Items A-I of the Consent Calendar. Motion carried 5-0. IX. PUBLIC HEARINGS/MEETINGS A. VACATION OF PART OF THE DRAINAGE AND UTILITY EASEMENT OVER LOT 4, BLOCK 2, GRAND HAVEN AT MARSH COVE (Resolution No. 2013-46) Getschow said official notice of this public hearing was published in the April 18, 2013, Eden Prairie News and sent to 13 property owners. The property owner has requested the vacation of the drainage and utility easement over a part of Lot 4, Block 2, Grand Haven at Marsh Ridge to facilitate the building of a swimming pool and retaining wall. The drainage and utility easements were originally dedicated with the plat of Grand Haven at Marsh Ridge. The property owner has submitted a revised grading plan to accommodate drainage from the adjoining lots. There were no comments from the audience. MOTION: Aho moved, seconded by Nelson, to close the public hearing and to adopt Resolution 2013-46 vacating part of the drainage and utility easement over Lot 4, Block 2, Grand Haven at Marsh Cove, Hennepin County, Minnesota. Motion carried 5-0. X. PAYMENT OF CLAIMS MOTION: Nelson moved, seconded by Case, to approve the payment of claims as submitted. Motion was approved on a roll call vote, with Aho, Butcher Wickstrom, Case, Nelson, and Tyra-Lukens voting "aye." XI. ORDINANCES AND RESOLUTIONS XII. PETITIONS, REQUESTS AND COMMUNICATIONS XIII. APPOINTMENTS XIV. REPORTS A. REPORTS OF COUNCIL MEMBERS 1. Call Out to Public Works Department--Tyra-Lukens CITY COUNCIL MINUTES May 7, 2013 Page 4 Tyra-Lukens said she wanted to give a call out to the Public Works Department for their wonderful job of snow removal this winter season. 2. Report on Last Meeting's Closed Session--Tyra-Lukens Tyra-Lukens reported the Council had a closed session at the last meeting to review the performance of City Manager Getschow. She noted all Council Members were present at the meeting along with the City Attorney. Mr. Getschow's performance was judged excellent across all areas of the evaluation. The City Council will deal with an adjustment of salary for the City Manager at the next meeting. 3. Hennepin County's Step-to-It Challenge Program--Tyra-Lukens Tyra-Lukens said at the last meeting she announced that the City will participate in Hennepin County's Step-to-It Challenge during the month of May. The purpose of the program is to increase a participant's level of physical activity to address issues of health and obesity. The program started May 1, and those who wish to participate can sign up on the Step-to-It website. It is a challenge between individual participants and cities that participate in the program. B. REPORT OF CITY MANAGER C. REPORT OF THE COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT DIRECTOR D. REPORT OF PARKS AND RECREATION DIRECTOR 1. Approve Professional Services Agreement with RES Specialty Pyrotechnics for 4 th of July Fireworks Lotthammer said the Council asked staff to restore some cuts or make enhancements to events in the City. One of the things staff is not able to do is deal with fireworks. Staff asked two fireworks companies for proposals. Staff s analysis showed the group we have used before, RES Specialty Pyrotechnics, would still give a good value. Staff is proposing to increase the fireworks budget from $20,000 to $25,000 to make an even better event. Tonight's request is to enter into an agreement with RES for$25,000 for the 4th of July fireworks. Aho noted in the past we have always received some private donations to help offset the cost of the fireworks display. He asked if we would again accept such donations. Lotthammer replied we always accept additional donations, and we have different levels of sponsorship for the event. We have had some consistent sponsors for the event every year. MOTION: Case moved, seconded by Aho, to approve a $25,000 professional services agreement with RES Specialty Pyrotechnics to CITY COUNCIL MINUTES May 7, 2013 Page 5 provide fireworks at the 4th of July Hometown Celebration at Round Lake Park. Motion carried 5-0. 2. Approve Professional Services Agreement with HGA for Community Center Aquatics Desisn Services Lotthammer said in 2007 when the Community Center was expanded, the one area not addressed was the pool. As we have conducted public meetings and reviewed the feasibility study, it has become apparent that some changes and enhancements must be made to the pool. We performed a feasibility study to determine what we could do and what the costs might be, and we engaged a lot of residents and groups in that effort. The next step in the process would be to take it to an architectural design. We sought proposals from architect firms that specialize in this area and received four proposals back. The proposals ranged from$330,000 to $950,000. Staff is recommending a proposal from Hammel, Green and Abrahamson, Inc. (HGA) in the amount of $607,500. HGA appeared to be the best fit, and they were the company that did the feasibility study. Lotthammer said the contract will be subdivided into three increments, with 40% for master planning and design, 40% for construction details to go out for bid, and 20% construction administration. The fee for the first phase of the project will be $243,000 to develop the master planning and design. Each subsequent phase will require City Council review and authorization. At the end of the first phase, the Council could decide to go forward with subsequent phases or postpone a decision. Nelson agreed we need to get some firm prices for this, but she was concerned we are tied into the plan of adding on the deep water pool and not a plan to upgrade the current pool. She asked if there is any flexibility to find out what it would cost to do some other options. Lotthammer replied we have some potential to do some rough estimates; however, as we went through the feasibility study and looked at good methods to address all of the issues and users involved, the concept of changing the current pool only addressed some of those issues. The goal was to determine what is best for the next 30 years. We can do the Phase 1 work and that will achieve many of the solutions identified in the feasibility study. Nelson said she still believes the groups we serve least at our pool are younger children, seniors and family users. The current pool has some disadvantages,but she would like to have some options to the $16,000,000 estimated cost or at least to have something very clear to take to a referendum. Butcher Wickstrom said one of the things we have been doing over the past few months is collecting views from a variety of pool users. She thought there is a benefit to the current phased approach. She has confidence in HGA as a design and architectural firm, and we need to move forward with the next step. She asked if the 20% for construction administration is standard. Lotthammer replied the actual master planning would be about 5% of the CITY COUNCIL MINUTES May 7, 2013 Page 6 initial 40% total, with 35% being the cost of the design piece. At that point the plans aren't ready to go into a contractor's hands so preparing those plans would be the second 40%. The remaining 20% would be for bid administration and construction administration. Aho said this is a very important topic to our community. We have been looking at our needs as a community for quite a number of years. The current facility has not met our needs for the last ten years. The pool is also important to the High School community. He thought we have had a really good process to date, and he thanked everyone who gave their input. We do need good data to make good decisions. The only way to get to a real decision point is to get more data, and that means going to the design phase. We still need more input and opportunities for other people to look at the feasibility plan, so he thought we could open it up again. He saw this as a very transparent process where we open it to the public and solicit input at many points. Even if we take this step tonight, we aren't moving forward to completion. Aho said we need to move forward with this, and he asked how much time we would have to get public input. Lotthammer said public input is part of the master planning study. The next couple of months will still be time to engage people. The Assistant Athletic Director at the High School has been asked to have their staff think about what they need. There are many viewpoints to bring to the table. We know what the site will hold,but there are still critical design decisions to be made. We know there are decisions to be made like dealing with the deep areas of the pool. There will be alternates included in the plans, and some of the alternates will lend themselves to pursuing at a later time There are also alternate material types that might be used. Aho said he did not believe there is an option to do nothing. We have to do something with the pool because of the mechanical issues and code issues. We would have to invest a significant amount of money to keep the current pool running as it is, and it would still not meet our needs. Tyra-Lukens said today the Council would be authorizing just the award of a professional services agreement and not the funding or scope of the project. MOTION: Butcher Wickstrom moved, seconded by Case, to award the Professional Services Agreement for Design and Architectural Services for the Community Center Aquatics Project to Hammel, Green and Abrahamson, Inc. (HGA) and authorize 40% of design scope in the amount of$243,000. Motion carried 5-0. 3. Authorize Contract with Northern Educate for Room & Ice Rental at Eden Prairie Community Center Lotthammer said staff was approached by Northern Educate Sports Academy for potential purchase of non-prime time ice and room rental on a consistent basis at the Eden Prairie Community Center. Northern Educate is aligned with CITY COUNCIL MINUTES May 7, 2013 Page 7 charter schools that are chosen by the students enrolled in Northern Educate's program. Northern Educate's program models the school year. Half of their students spend the morning doing ice and fitness training while the other half works in the classroom with on-line courses and tutors. The groups switch in the afternoon. There is low demand for all three sheets of ice during the non- prime time hours, so it would be advantageous to sell them ice time and to have them in our facility during the school day. He said Ms Sevenich and Mr. Ramsey have done a lot of due diligence on this. It is important to note that Northern Educate would not impact any of the other day-time groups that are in the Community Center. They would be located on the far side of the facility from the other groups and will be very self-contained. We have put a cap on the total number of students at 60 until we make sure there is no negative impact. This contract would result in a large sum of additional revenue to the Community Center. Tyra-Lukens asked where the group's funding comes from and if the students will be from Eden Prairie. Lotthammer said students pay a fee to be part of the Academy and a separate fee for the charter school they select. The Academy does not give any type of certification,but they do have people there to help guide students with their education as well as their sports skills. The group was looking for a location in the southwest metro area, so many of the students would be from the immediate geographic area. Northern Educate serves students from K-12,but most would be in the junior high age range.. Nelson asked about the use of the ice sheets during the hours the school would be there. Lotthammer said for most of the school year we have all three ice sheets up, and the Academy would not displace any other groups. Nelson asked if that meant there is not a lot of down side to this. Lotthammer replied there will be some extra costs for cleaning and maintenance, and there will be some additional wear and tear on the facilities. We would require some damage deposits from the group. He noted staff feels very comfortable that this is a financial benefit for the City. Nelson asked if there is a chance we could have more costs than the amount we get in from them. Lotthammer said staff has visited the Eagan facility where the group runs a similar program and talked to the Manager of their arena. In addition, the City Attorney helped write some things into the contract for the parameters of use. There will be a clear understanding of who gets to use what, when and where. We have diagrams and schematics of the facilities that outline what they can use and when. Case asked if staff is comfortable that any Eden Prairie resident who might want additional ice time will not be impacted by the Academy. Lotthammer said we believe so, especially with the flexibility during the day. Case said it sounds like a win/win situation. MOTION: Aho moved, seconded by Case, to authorize staff to enter into a non-prime time ice and room rental contract with Northern Educate Academy for the 2013/2014 school year. Motion carried 5-0. CITY COUNCIL MINUTES May 7, 2013 Page 8 E. REPORT OF PUBLIC WORKS DIRECTOR 1. Adopt Resolution 2013-47 Ordering the Repair or Removal of Hazardous Conditions Located at 11157 Bluestem Lane Ellis said this is an order of repair for a private property located on 11157 Bluestem Lane which overlooks Purgatory Creek. Staff has been keeping a close eye on the property for the past year as there is an erosion issue that has existed for quite a while. We believe this is a private matter,but the property owner recently contacted staff to let us know he noticed a major movement of soil in their backyard. The property owner has concerns about his retaining wall, the four-season porch and the home. He showed a photo of the site, noting the slope erosion and instability near the creek. Staff teamed with Wenck Associates to review the safety issues there and to determine how to resolve the situation. Wenck Associates went on site and determined there are safety factors for the retaining wall, the four-season porch and the home because the situation has deteriorated fairly significantly. We have worked with the property owner and he needs assistance to work on this. Aho asked about the property line. Ellis showed the property line on a site drawing. He noted the source of the erosion is ground water underneath their home that is trapped in a layer of soil that sloughs off and slowly erodes back towards the home. Wenck Associates has put together a recommended fix during the last month that involves fully anchoring the soil, installing rip/rap and re-vegetation on the slope. The requested action tonight is a resolution ordering the repair. There is a prescribed State statute that allows us to go onto the property to make the repairs. We would give the property owner 20 days in which to make the repairs or to give the City authorization to go on site to make the repairs. Staff would come back at a future date once the repairs are made to discuss levying an assessment against the property. The property owner will reserve a right to object to the assessment at that time. Case said we have to move on this tonight,but he would like to learn about the impact the erosion has on other properties in the neighborhood as well as the City property. Aho asked if the property owner wants to handle this themselves or if they want the City to manage the whole process. Ellis thought the property owner would feel more comfortable if the City handles it as it is a somewhat involved process that will take some time. Aho said he would like to see some commitment from the property owner that we could levy their property if we do the repairs. Case noted we have the right to do that anyway, and we have done this before in certain situations where we decided it would be appropriate for the City to be involved. We need to also learn what the impact is on the neighbors as there may need to have some kind of a street assessment. CITY COUNCIL MINUTES May 7, 2013 Page 9 Aho noted if you look at the map almost all the homes in the neighborhood look to be in a somewhat similar situation, so this may be a bigger issue than just the one property. Nelson asked if we are positive this will fix the problem. Ellis said we feel confident with this fix. Wenck Associates tends to specialize in this type of project and has a lot of experience in this. This recommendation addresses the issue of managing the ground water flow, so he thought this is the best option out there. MOTION: Case moved, seconded by Butcher Wickstrom, to adopt Resolution 2013-47 ordering the repair or removal of hazardous conditions located at 11157 Bluestem Lane. 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: Case moved, seconded by Butcher Wickstrom, to adjourn the meeting. Mayor Tyra-Lukens adjourned the meeting at 8:15 PM.