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HomeMy WebLinkAboutCity Council - 11/19/2013 APPROVED MINUTES EDEN PRAIRIE CITY COUNCIL MEETING TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 19, 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, City Planner Michael Franzen, Parks and Recreation Director Jay Lotthammer, City Attorney Ric Rosow, 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. Council Member Nelson was absent. II. PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE III. OPEN PODIUM INVITATION IV. PROCLAMATIONS/PRESENTATIONS A. LETTER OF RECOGNITION FROM THE EDEN PRAIRIE POLICE DEPARTMENT Police Chief Reynolds read the Police Department's Letter of Recognition being presented to three citizens who provided life-saving CPR to a heart attack victim in an Eden Prairie business parking lot in October of 2013. Mayor Tyra-Lukens presented the award to Allison Deme, Mikaela Stekly and Ann Koehler. B. ACCEPT GIFT OF HISTORIC PLANTER FROM THE WUTTKE FAMILY (Resolution 2013-95) Lotthammer said Council Member Case has been in conversation with the Wuttke family recently about their offer to donate a historic planter to the City. Staff visited the site and determined it to be of historical value and significance. Due to the grading work occurring on the Wuttke site, the planter needed to be immediately removed. The planter currently sits in the front yard of the Cummins-Phipps-Grill House and has been used as a backdrop and support for holiday decorations. Travis Wuttke gave a PowerPoint presentation about the historic 12-foot seed planter that was used on their farm for many years. He showed several photos of the planter at their farm and at the new location at the Cummins-Phipps-Grill House. CITY COUNCIL MINUTES November 19, 2013 Page 2 Tyra-Lukens asked how old the planter is. Mr. Wuttke said he was not sure but could provide the information to the Historical Society. MOTION: Case moved, seconded by Butcher Wickstrom, to adopt Resolution No. 2013-95 accepting the gift of a historic planter from the Wuttke family for display and historical interpretation. Motion carried 4-0. C. PRESENTATION OF NATIONAL AWARD FOR FIRE PREVENTION PROGRAM EFFECTIVENESS State Fire Marshal Jerry Rosendahl said the Eden Prairie Fire Department is being recognized with a Life Safety Achievement Award from the National Association of State Fire Marshals for effective fire prevention and education strategy for our rental housing inspection program. Only 117 awards were given throughout the country this year, and 17 of those went to departments in Minnesota. Mayor Tyra- Lukens accepted the award. D. SOUTHWEST LRT COMMUNITY WORKS CORRIDOR-WIDE HOUSING STRATEGY UPDATE Cathy Bennett of the Urban Land Institute-Minnesota (ULI-MN) and Kerri Pearce Ruch of Hennepin County gave a PowerPoint presentation on a housing inventory for the communities along the Southwest LRT Corridor that was completed by Maxfield Research. Ms Bennett said City staff member Molly Koivumaki also participated in the study. She said ULI-MN is a non-profit that actively engages private and public sectors to collaborate to create thriving sustainable housing. They were asked to provide technical assistance to Southwest Corridor Community Works to prepare a corridor-wide housing strategy update. She said corridor housing strategy is important in order to maximize benefits to the community and region due to the future LRT, to provide an important part of the Southwest LRT Community Works vision and guiding principles, and to provide a critical component to be competitive for Federal funding support for the LRT. Ms Bennett reviewed the results of the housing inventory, noting that was the first step in the overall strategy where extensive amounts of data were collected and analyzed. She said the next step will be to perform gap analysis to determine the difference between the current housing stock and the projected housing demand along the Southwest LRT corridor. The consultant who will perform the gap analysis should be selected by December or January, and the analysis should be completed during the first quarter of 2014. They will return to the corridor cities to get input after the gap analysis is completed. Tyra-Lukens asked if the FTA's New Start program has elucidated goals for housing along the corridor. Ms Bennett said there are two components of the New Start criteria: one is a data piece, and the other is the analysis to produce a score to be considered in the land use criteria. Tyra-Lukens asked what is unique about a transit corridor that makes collaboration along the corridor essential. Ms Bennett said transit is very fixed and costly transportation, and development tends to occur CITY COUNCIL MINUTES November 19, 2013 Page 3 around fixed transit. The transit corridors tend to increase the housing market at a rapid rate as development comes in. The analysis will identify strategic areas where housing makes sense, and there will be things the cities can do collaboratively along the corridor as well as things they can do on their own. Aho asked how they recommend Eden Prairie take advantage of the information once the inventory and gap analysis are completed. He noted Eden Prairie is about 98% developed, so additional housing would have to come through redevelopment. He asked if there will be requirements as the information is put forward. Ms Bennett said the Southwest LRT Community Works does not have any authority to make requirements, so they hope the City is able to get a benefit from the recommendations and take action. She said Eden Prairie is already doing some things to anticipate new opportunities, such as rezoning for higher density around transit stations. V. APPROVAL OF AGENDA AND OTHER ITEMS OF BUSINESS Tyra-Lukens added Item XIV.A.1 and 2. MOTION: Butcher Wickstrom moved, seconded by Aho, to approve the agenda as amended. Motion carried 4-0. VI. MINUTES A. COUNCIL WORKSHOP HELD TUESDAY, OCTOBER 15, 2013 MOTION: Aho moved, seconded by Butcher Wickstrom, to approve the minutes of the Council workshop held Tuesday, October 15, 2013, as published. Motion carried 3-0-1, with Case abstaining. B. CITY COUNCIL MEETING HELD TUESDAY, OCTOBER 15, 2013 MOTION: Butcher Wickstrom moved, seconded by Aho, to approve the minutes of the City Council meeting held Tuesday, October 15, 2013, as published. Motion carried 3-0-1, with Case abstaining. VII. REPORTS OF ADVISORY BOARDS & COMMISSIONS VIII. CONSENT CALENDAR A. CLERK'S LICENSE LIST B. APPROVE PURCHASE OF REPLACEMENT VEHICLES AND EQUIPMENT AS LISTED IN THE 2014 BUDGET C. APPROVE SHADY OAK CHANGE ORDER NO. 1 CITY COUNCIL MINUTES November 19, 2013 Page 4 D. DECLARE OBSOLETE EQUIPMENT AS SURPLUS AND AUTHORIZE CITY MANAGER TO DISPOSE OF PROPERTY E. APPROVE LETTER OF AGREEMENT WITH GENESIS FOR HEALTH SAVINGS ACCOUNT ADMINISTRATION F. ADOPT RESOLUTION NO. 2013-96 DIVIDING AND ESTABLISHING BOUNDARIES FOR PRECINCT 19 G. APPROVE PROCLAMATION DESIGNATING NOVEMBER 30 AS SMALL BUSINESS SATURDAY IN THE CITY OF EDEN PRAIRIE H. APPROVE AMENDMENT TO REHABILITATION DEFERRED GRANT PROGRAM AGREEMENT BETWEEN CITY OF EDEN PRAIRIE AND PROP I. APPROVE AGREEMENT BETWEEN THE CITY OF EDEN PRAIRIE, AND MOTOROLA FOR ONGOING SERVICE OF CITY'S 911 DISPATCH CONSOLES SYSTEM MOTION: Case moved, seconded by Aho, to approve Items A-I of the Consent Calendar. Motion carried 4-0. IX. PUBLIC HEARINGS/MEETINGS A. FAIRWAY WOODS II CONDO HOMEOWNERS ASSOCIATION HOUSING IMPROVEMENT AREA—FIRST READING OF AN ORDINANCE AND ADOPTION OF THE RESOLUTION Getschow said the City Council held a public hearing in October regarding the petition put forth by the Fairway Woods II Condominium Association requesting the establishment of a Housing Improvement Area. Owners were notified by mail, and a legal notice was published on November 7, 2013, in accordance with procedures outlined in Minn. Stat. 471.345. He said this follows State legislation which allows the creation of a Housing Improvement Area at Fairview Woods and allows the homeowners association to make improvements to the common areas of their property. The costs for the improvements will be assessed to individual homeowners through a special assessment. He said his understanding is that 100% of the homeowners wanted to be part of the improvement. Tyra-Lukens asked if there is no net cost to the City because interest costs on the money are added to the amount assessed. Getschow said that was correct. The City would not be subsidizing the project. Aho noted there is no cost to the City but the City gets involved because the homeowners association has tried to get financing for the improvements but was unsuccessful. CITY COUNCIL MINUTES November 19, 2013 Page 5 There were no comments from the audience. MOTION: Butcher Wickstrom moved, seconded by Aho, to close the public hearing; to approve the first reading of an ordinance establishing the Fairway Woods II Condominium Association Housing Improvement Area pursuant to Minnesota Statutes 428A.11 to 428A.21; and to adopt the resolution approving the Housing Improvement Fee for the Fairway Woods II Condominium Association Housing Improvement Area pursuant to Minnesota Statutes 428A.11 to 428A.21. Rosow said, because these are coordinated actions, we need a first and second reading of the ordinance in order to be effective at the same time as the resolution. There would have to be a unanimous vote of the City Council to do that, and Council Member Nelson is not here tonight. Therefore, only first reading of the ordinance could occur this evening. Butcher Wickstrom withdrew the motion with the consent of Aho. MOTION: Butcher Wickstrom moved, seconded by Aho, to close the public hearing and to approve the first reading of an ordinance establishing the Fairway Woods II Condominium Association Housing Improvement Area pursuant to Minnesota Statutes 428A.11 to 428A.21. Motion carried 4-0. B. NOTERMANN PROPERTY by John W. Shardlow, FAICP. Request for Comprehensive Guide Plan Change from Rural Residential to Neighborhood Commercial on 1.07 acres, Comprehensive Guide Plan Amendment to expand the MUSA boundary to include 11.5 acres, Planned Unit Development Concept Review on 11.5 acres. Location: 16180 Flying Cloud Drive (Resolution No. 2013- 97 for Guide Plan Amendment and Extending MUSA Boundary; Resolution No. 2013-98 for PUD Concept Review) Getschow said official notice of this public hearing was published in the November 7, 2013, Eden Prairie News and sent to 7 property owners. He said the property includes Lions Tap and the property to the north zoned rural residential. The Planning Commission voted 6-1 to recommend approval of the project at the October 14, 2013 meeting. John Shardlow,project consultant, said this is an application for a comprehensive plan amendment and a concept plan approval for the PUD. There is a change in land use for a small portion of the Notermann property from Rural Residential to Neighborhood Commercial and a request to expand the Metropolitan Urban Services Area (MUSA) line to all of the Notermann's property. The change would be for the commercial portion of the property only and is related only to the Lions Tap parking lot. There is no request for rezoning. He said the City retained a consultant to do an analysis of the lift station, and the consultant confirmed that service to Lions Tap was taken into account with the original survey. Mr. Shardlow said Hennepin County is planning to upgrade Flying Cloud Drive and will be updating the intersection of Flying Cloud Drive and Spring Road. He CITY COUNCIL MINUTES November 19, 2013 Page 6 said they started conversations with Hennepin County Transportation Department about the realignment of Spring Road to reduce the 70' angle at that intersection and to help accommodate more traffic in the future. He showed the preliminary design for the intersection, noting that would not be finalized until further in the design process. He said the design would require acquisition of 0.35 acres of the nearby Sever Peterson property and some surplus property from Hennepin County. The County has submitted a letter indicating their support of the process. Shardlow reviewed the location of the existing and proposed MUSA lines and noted this project would bring the entire Notermann property within the MUSA line. He said the sanitary sewer line would extend south from the existing lift station at the Riley Creek crossing parallel to the new alignment of Spring Road. He noted they will not be in a position to come forward with construction drawings until Hennepin County has completed their design plans for Flying Cloud Drive and Spring Road. Shardlow said they will expand the parking lot for Lions Tap so that it is all on the west side of Spring Road and will improve access to the buildings. The Notermann's have agreed to give up the curb cut on Flying Cloud Drive and to pay fair market value for the surplus right of way. They plan to excavate on the northern portion and then use that fill near Flying Cloud Drive. They would increase the number of parking spaces at Lions Tap to 121. He noted they have received letters from neighboring property owners expressing concern about the expansion of the MUSA line, protection of the river bluffs and wildlife corridors, and the enforceability of a future PUD. He said the Notermann property is not within a shore land district so it is not part of an official bluffs policy. Butcher Wickstrom asked if there is a concern about a prehistoric feature on the hill to the north of Lions Tap that could be impacted by the construction. Franzen said all the property along the Minnesota River has the potential of containing burial mounds. He said that would be reviewed at some point when development plans are submitted. Mr. Shardlow said the Notermanns retained the 106 Group to analyze their property and they concluded it was not a burial mound. Butcher Wickstrom said she would like to see the survey and the cultural inventory. Dean Edstrom, 10133 Eden Prairie Road, was concerned about protecting the bluff. He said in the past 30 years Eden Prairie has restricted the footprint of this property to make special provision for the slopes. He said the 9.6 acres of the Notermann property is not developable because it is less than ten acres. He looked through the records of the City and found specific reference to a burial mound on the north part of the property. He believed the question is whether the City will continue the policy to preserve the bluffs. He said he will not give access from Eden Prairie Road for any private road to develop a portion of the Notermann property. Mary Lou Carlson, 10129 Eden Prairie Road, said her property is up the hill behind Lions Tap. She was concerned about continued development on the bluffs and any plans to build homes on the Notermann property. She was also concerned the wildlife trails around her house might be disturbed and about a burial mound that CITY COUNCIL MINUTES November 19, 2013 Page 7 angles out from her house. Tyra-Lukens said all of the Council Members really value the river bluffs; however there is not a lot the Council can do short of buying all the bluff property which would be extremely expensive. The Reeder Ridge development was a large parcel of land, and the city was able to use density transfers to preserve the bluffs area. Franzen said the first conversation about bluffs protection started in 1982 where the Council asked staff to come up with a recommendation for a bluffs study committee. They had discussion with property owners, developers and government agencies, and a final report was given to the Council in August 1982 that presented a recommendation for a preservation framework of the entire Minnesota River Valley. He said part of the City's commitment to protect the bluffs area was to have the MUSA line stay above the bluffs and keep the land below the bluffs zoned rural residential. At this point, the Notermann property has a failing septic system and they will lose parking spaces with the upgrading of Flying Cloud Drive. He noted changing the Comprehensive Guide Plan is a discretionary action of the City Council. Sever Peterson said his family has lived at the property at Flying Cloud Drive and Spring Road for several generations. He was here to speak in favor of the Notermann family and their restaurant receiving sewer and water services. He noted they are not requesting that service go up into the bluff area. He said he will lose some land to the road alignment, and the Notermanns will purchase some of the land for the realigned parking lot. He did not think the project impacts the bluff in any way, and he would like to see the neighborhood grow in a healthy way. Bert Notermann said his family has owned Lions Tap since 1977 and remembers a time when there were no houses along the bluffs. He said his family is a big supporter of Eden Prairie. He thought this is an opportune time to get sewer and water to Lions Tap with the upgrade to Flying Cloud Drive. It will be more convenient for the business, will provide better fire safety and his insurance rates will go down. Mr. Edstrom said both the Notermanns and Mr. Peterson have been good neighbors over the years,but he is troubled by the impact that this project may have on the bluffs and on his property. He said he does not have a problem with them having sewer and water service down there, but he does have a problem with more development. MOTION: Case moved, seconded by Butcher Wickstrom, to close the public hearing. Motion carried 4-0. Case said clearly there are several perspectives about this project, and he saw two issues. The first is whether we should bring sewer and water down to the property, and he could support that. He said Lions Tap is a community historic icon, and we should do anything we can legitimately do to help any business in Eden Prairie. He said we have helped to preserve the bluffs by working with the developer during CITY COUNCIL MINUTES November 19, 2013 Page 8 the development process. If a project comes forward to develop the property, we would review that project and exercise the same powers. He noted a property owner deserves to actualize the potential for their land. He said he would support allowing this to go forward as requested. Aho said bringing sewer and water to Lions Tap makes sense at this time especially if the roadway is to be redone. There is an economy to do construction at the same time. He thought what they are doing to the parking is minimal, and he did not see it as having a big impact to the bluff area. The parking would have to be changed as their access will change from Flying Cloud Drive to Spring Road. We do have to protect the bluff but that is a separate issue that is not before us tonight. What is before us tonight is to decide if we will allow them to bring the MUSA line down and if we will allow them to change their parking. He supported both of those proposals. Butcher Wickstrom said, while we don't have a specific bluff protection policy, it has always been our spirit to have the best situation so all the residents can enjoy the bluffs. She was delighted that we have a business that wants to expand in this recovering economy. She believed Lions Tap needs sewer and water. If in the future there is a time to consider development there, she was sure the Notermanns will be respectful of the land. She said she supported this proposal. Tyra-Lukens said the third point of the request is for PUD concept review and asked if that is necessary as part of this project. Franzen said the PUD concept is an idea and the Council is not bound to do rezoning. The request is just for expansion of the parking lot and one rural residential lot. Tyra-Lukens said she was comfortable with this and was delighted with the expansion. The larger issue of bluff development is something that we have to deal with each time a proposal comes through. MOTION: Case moved, seconded by Aho, to adopt Resolution No. 2013-97 for Guide Plan change from Rural Residential to Neighborhood Commercial on 1.07 acres and expand the MUSA boundary to include 11.5 acres, and to adopt Resolution No. 2013-98 for Planned Unit Development Concept Review on 11.5 acres. Butcher Wickstrom said she wanted to make sure staff reviews the cultural issue. Franzen said they would do that. VOTE ON THE MOTION: Motion carried 4-0. C. FIRST READING OF AN ORDINANCE AMENDING CITY CODE CHAPTER 11, SECTIONS 11.02, 11.03,AND 11.70 RELATING TO SCULPTURES AND STATUARY AS ACCESSORY STRUCTURES Getschow said official notice of this public hearing was published in the November 7, 2013, Eden Prairie News. The city code identifies statuary and sculptures as signs permitted in all districts according to setback, height, and size. Some residential CITY COUNCIL MINUTES November 19, 2013 Page 9 developers and businesses want to display public art separately or as part of an identification sign,but because of the limitation on number and size of signs, choose sign over art, or ask for a waiver. The Planning Commission and City Council recently recommended approval of a sign waiver for United Health Group for a larger sign that included a sculpture. Getschow said the code amendment is as follows: 1. Add sculpture and statuary to the definition of accessory structures 2. Delete sculpture and statuary from the definition of a sign 3. Add setback requirements 4. Add height requirement 5. Limits the number of sculptures and statuaries in commercial, office, industrial, public and airport zoning districts. Tyra-Lukens said she wondered if there is any type of statue or piece that we might consider to be advertising, such as a sculpture of Ronald McDonald in front of a McDonald's restaurant. Franzen read the definition of statues and sculptures, noting that definition would exclude inflatables. He thought the businesses that are most likely to want a sculpture are large businesses or residential builders that want to create a corporate identity. There were no comments from the audience. MOTION: Aho moved, seconded by Butcher Wickstrom, to close the public hearing and to approve the first reading of the ordinance amending chapter 11 relating to sculptures and statuary. Motion carried 4-0. D. VACATION OF PUBLIC DRAINAGE AND UTILITY EASEMENTS LYING OVER, UNDER AND ACROSS LOT 1, BLOCK 1, CITY WEST CORPORATE ADDITION (RESOLUTION No. 2013-99) Getschow said official notice of this public hearing was published in the October 31, 2013, Eden Prairie News and sent to 6 property owners. He noted this is in relation to the UHG property. The property owners have requested the vacation of the drainage and utility easements to facilitate the plat of City West Corporate 2nd Addition for new building construction. The drainage and utility easements to be vacated were originally dedicated with the plat of City West Corporate Addition. In order to accommodate a new building on the lot, the property owners would like these underlying easements vacated and will dedicate all new drainage and utility easements with the plat of City West Corporate 2nd Addition. MOTION: Butcher Wickstrom moved, seconded by Aho, to close the public hearing and to adopt Resolution No. 2013-99 vacating the public drainage and utility easements lying over, under and across Lot 1, Block 1, City West Corporate Addition, Hennepin County, Minnesota. Case said he would abstain from voting on the motion because of a possible conflict of interest. CITY COUNCIL MINUTES November 19, 2013 Page 10 VOTE ON THE MOTION: Motion carried 3-0-1, with Case abstaining. X. PAYMENT OF CLAIMS MOTION: Butcher Wickstrom moved, seconded by Aho, to approve the payment of claims as submitted. Motion was approved on a roll call vote, with Aho,Butcher Wickstrom, Case, and Tyra-Lukens voting "aye." XI. ORDINANCES AND RESOLUTIONS XII. PETITIONS, REQUESTS AND COMMUNICATIONS XIII. APPOINTMENTS A. 2014 BOARD OF APPEAL AND EQUALIZATION (BAE) Getschow said in the past the appointments to the Board of Appeal and Equalization were made at the same time as other commissions in February and March. Because of new regulations regarding training of the BAE members, we need to make the appointments earlier. Tyra-Lukens asked if we will have to make these appointments the same time every year in the future. Getschow said that may be the case. MOTION: Case moved, seconded by Butcher Wickstrom, to appoint to the Board of Appeal and Equalization Jim Johnson, Lyndon Moquist, Annette O'Connor, Patricia Pidcock and Todd L. Walker for the period of March 1, 2014, through May 31, 2014, or until the Board of Appeal and Equalization completes its work. Motion carried 4-0. XIV. REPORTS A. REPORTS OF COUNCIL MEMBERS 1. Food Donations -- Tyra-Lukens Tyra-Lukens said she wanted to remind people about making food donations during the holidays. The local food shelf, PROP, accepts food donations. In addition, KARE-11 is teaming with Second Harvest Heartland to sponsor a Food Fight contest with teams stationed around the metropolitan area on November 26. One of the teams will be stationed at Kowalski's in Eden Prairie. 2. Small Business Saturday -- Tyra-Lukens Tyra-Lukens urged residents to patronize small businesses within our community especially on November 30, which is Small Business Saturday. CITY COUNCIL MINUTES November 19, 2013 Page 11 B. REPORT OF CITY MANAGER C. REPORT OF THE COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT DIRECTOR 1. Joint Powers Agreement with Port Authority of the City of St. Paul for Implementation of the Minnesota Property Assessed Clean Enemy Program (MN PACE) (Resolution No. 2013-100) Getschow said the Conservation Commission has had an item in their work plan to examine the new PACE program. The State legislature passed a law to allow certain "green" projects to be assessed by a local community. The Conservation Commission has spent quite a bit of time looking at enacting a policy where we could do this. Until recently we had two issues with this: the amount of time and the difficulty in creating a program; and we had not heard from any of our business community that might be interested in it. We have been approached by the St. Paul Port Authority as an organization that would help run and administer the program. Also, we found out the Southwest Crossing building was interested in doing about$2,000,000 of improvements. Tonight's action is entering into an agreement with the St. Paul Port Authority to administer PACE programs in Eden Prairie. Any individual project would have to come before the Council to be approved and assessed. Peter Klein, Vice President of Finance for the St. Paul Port Authority, said energy efficiency and renewable energy is extremely important to their customers. The Port Authority is able to go anywhere in the State to administer energy efficiency programs. The State Department of Commerce provides their funding and requested they take a look at the ability to implement PACE. They have put together a pool of revenue bonds that can be used throughout the State to finance energy efficiency and renewable energy projects. The PACE programs require the issuance of revenue bonds as well as ongoing monitoring of the amount of energy efficiencies and tracking of the energy saved. Aho said he assumed that there is no cost to the City to enter into this joint powers agreement. Mr. Klein said the Port Authority would be compensated through the interest rate on the bonds. The City would have to institute a special assessment on the property and then collect it. MOTION: Aho moved, seconded by Butcher Wickstrom, to adopt Resolution No. 2013-100 approving the Joint Powers Agreement between the Port Authority of the City of St. Paul and the City of Eden Prairie to implement the Minnesota Property Assessed Clean Energy Program (MN PACE) in Eden Prairie. Motion carried 4-0. Tyra-Lukens said it would be great to do a presentation to the Chamber of Commerce and the Rotary Club to get the word out about the program. Getschow said staff will discuss a plan to promote the program. CITY COUNCIL MINUTES November 19, 2013 Page 12 D. REPORT OF PARKS AND RECREATION DIRECTOR 1. Aquatics Desisn Update 2. Professional Services Agreement for Aquatics Desisn Lotthammer said the Council saw the feasibility study for the aquatics center some time ago. Many workshops and meetings were held with user groups and residents to get input on the preliminary design. As a result of those meetings they expanded the scope of the design somwhat. He noted almost every department of the City has been involved in this in some way. Victor Pechaty, representing Hammel, Green and Abrahamson, Inc. (HGA), said they spent a lot of time taking the qualitative needs from the community and turning those into quantitative requirements. In June of this year, the Council approved a professional services agreement with HGA for architectural design services for the aquatics expansion. The master planning phase acknowledged that the project would have to be done in two phases in order to keep the aquatics program available at all times. They planned both phases together in order to understand how Phase 2 could plug into Phase 1 in a seamless way. He gave a PowerPoint presentation showing the proposed design for Phases 1 and 2 of the aquatics center, cost estimates, updated operating revenue forecasts and funding methods. Mr. Pechaty said the design plans for Phase 1 now show two eight-lane lap pools: one pool set up for swim training and competition; and the second pool with a deeper water environment with diving boards. Phase 2 of the expansion has a zero depth pool to accommodate small children and those with accessibility issues. They included an expanded spectator seating area in Phase 1 with 300 seats constructed out of concrete with an area below the seats for storage. The upper area has an expanded fitness area. A large elevator was added to accommodate the movement of fitness equipment and emergency equipment, something the existing elevator in the building is not able to handle. He said the design now provides multiple bodies of water that will meet the needs of various user groups. Brian Recker, RJM Construction, said they have been able to provide budgets along the way as the designs progressed. He said the total cost estimate for Phase 1 of the project is $12,211,499. Phase 2 will cost about$7,205,000 if Phase 2 is bid in the spring of 2014 when Phase 1 is bid. By bidding both phases at the same time there would be efficiencies that would bring a cost savings of$395,000. He noted they predict that larger construction projects coming up in the metropolitan area, such as the Vikings Stadium, will cause increased labor costs if bidding of Phase 2 is delayed. Lotthammer said operating revenue/cost projections for the Community Center show there could be $200-500,000 that could go towards the debt payment. He said they have applied for a Hennepin County grant for CITY COUNCIL MINUTES November 19, 2013 Page 13 $325,000, and expect to hear on that application on December 17. Mark Davis, President of the Foxjets Swim Team, said they promote swimming and physical fitness and have been active in Eden Prairie for 32 years. He said they are consistently pushing the limits of the pool resources. Eden Prairie residents make up 85-90% of their swimmers, and they provide scholarships for anyone who wants to participate and can't afford it. He said he was here tonight to support the current proposed design. He believed the design expands and meets the programmatic needs of the Foxjets as well as the entire community. He said the Foxjets will commit to raise $500,000 to be part of the assistance that makes this a reality. They have a comprehensive plan to sell naming rights, sponsor a donor recognition wall and solicit long term medal pledges. He noted they have been waiting a long time to get back on the agenda to discuss more water resources in Eden Prairie. Getschow said there are two main sources of funding for these types of projects: lease revenue bonds issued by the HRA; and tax abatement bonds that have a lower interest rate but require quite a few more processes and elements we would need to go through. He said we have decreasing debt levies in the community so we could take on the pool project without increasing the overall debt levy. Lotthammer said at their November meeting the Parks Commission voted unanimously to recommend moving forward with design and bid documents for Phase 1 and 2. Moving forward with the design and bid documents now would allow us to go out to bid in March, at which point the City Council could determine if we want to move forward with the project. He said staff would plan to prepare the documents with alternates as we might want to delay some items that might be too costly after receiving the bids back. Aho said if we proceed with Phase 1, it is inevitable that we will have to do something with Phase 2 soon afterward, so he thought it doesn't make sense to delay Phase 2 from the perspective of project cohesiveness. He asked if we are at 50% of the design process because we have to do design documents for Phase 2 as well as bidding documents for both phases. Lotthammer said that was correct. Aho said it sounds like the projections show the project is revenue neutral in terms of the tax impact to the residents using either revenue or tax abatement bonding. He asked if approving this project will not increase the taxes. Lotthammer said overall the City bonds are falling off, and we have had some of our debt at the Community Center fall off as well. Aho said staff mentioned increased revenue of up to $500,000 at the Community Center. He asked if that would be generated from fees for the new facilities and if all the additional maintenance costs are included. Lotthammer said that was correct because we have some economies of scale and already have systems in place. We will need some additional staff because it will be a bigger facility,but we believe we will have more all day use and will be able to serve all types of user groups. CITY COUNCIL MINUTES November 19, 2013 Page 14 Aho said he has spoken with a lot of residents and users at the Community Center about why they don't have family memberships. The current pool does not fit their needs. He saw the need for additional facilities both for the pool and the fitness facility to better serve the users. He thought the idea of having a larger elevator was good from a safety aspect. He asked if the design will be done in such a way that we can easily pick and choose what we want for items such as the water slide and the spa. Lotthammer said they want to spend some more time with HGA and RJM to see what some of the things are that could be easily separated out. Aho commented that is important, and it is also important that everyone understand we are not seeking final approval of the project at this point. We will continue with the design and bid so we can get hard cost estimates from the construction teams. MOTION: Butcher Wickstrom moved, seconded by Case, to approve amending the scope and fees of the current professional services agreement with Hammel, Green and Abrahamson, Inc. (HGA) to complete architectural design and bidding documents for Phase I and 11 of the Aquatics Addition project as identified on amended Exhibit A at a total amended cost not to exceed $639,150. Motion carried 4-0. Tyra-Lukens said she was very excited about this and it is long overdue. It is a project that will meet the needs of the people that use the facility. E. REPORT OF PUBLIC WORKS DIRECTOR F. REPORT OF POLICE CHIEF G. REPORT OF FIRE CHIEF H. REPORT OF CITY ATTORNEY XV. OTHER BUSINESS XVI. ADJOURNMENT MOTION: Case moved, seconded by Aho, to adjourn the meeting. Motion carried 4-0. Mayor Tyra-Lukens adjourned the meeting at 10:15 PM.