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HomeMy WebLinkAboutCity Council - 09/02/2014 APPROVED MINUTES EDEN PRAIRIE CITY COUNCIL MEETING TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 2, 2014 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, City Attorney Ric Rosow, and Council Recorder Jan Curielli I. CALL THE MEETING TO ORDER Mayor Tyra-Lukens called the meeting to order at 7:00 PM. II. PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE III. OPEN PODIUM INVITATION IV. PROCLAMATIONS/PRESENTATIONS V. APPROVAL OF AGENDA AND OTHER ITEMS OF BUSINESS Case added Item XIV.A.1. Nelson added Item XIV.A.2. MOTION: Nelson moved, seconded by Aho, to approve the agenda as amended. Motion carried 5-0. VI. MINUTES A. COUNCIL WORKSHOP HELD TUESDAY, AUGUST 19, 2014 MOTION: Butcher Wickstrom moved, seconded by Case, to approve the minutes of the Council workshop held Tuesday, August 19, 2014, as published. Motion carried 4-0-1, with Aho abstaining. B. CITY COUNCIL MEETING HELD TUESDAY,AUGUST 19, 2014 MOTION: Nelson moved, seconded by Case, to approve the minutes of the City Council meeting held Tuesday, August 19, 2014, as published. Motion carried 4- 0-1, with Aho abstaining. VII. REPORTS OF ADVISORY BOARDS & COMMISSIONS CITY COUNCIL MINUTES September 2, 2014 Page 2 VIII. CONSENT CALENDAR A. ADOPT RESOLUTION NO. 2014-81 APPROVING EXTENSION OF VERIZON WIRELESS TELECOM LEASE AT BAKER ROAD WATER TOWER B. APPROVE PROFESSIONAL SERVICES AGREEMENT WITH BLUESTEM HERITAGE GROUP TO PRODUCE INTERPRETIVE SIGNS AND KIOSK STAND FOR THE RILEY-JACOUES FARMSTEAD C. ADOPT RESOLUTION NO. 2014-82 DECLARING PROPERTY AS ABANDONED PROPERTY Getschow said Item B. should be removed from tonight's Consent Calendar because the agreement with Bluestem needs additional work. MOTION: Butcher Wickstrom moved, seconded by Case, to approve Items A and C of the Consent Calendar. Motion carried 5-0. IX. PUBLIC HEARINGS/MEETINGS 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, Nelson, and Tyra-Lukens voting "aye." XI. ORDINANCES AND RESOLUTIONS A. ADOPT RESOLUTION NO. 2014-83 DECLARING PUBLIC NUISANCES AT 19184 KRISTIE LANE Getschow said at the Open Podium portion of the last Council meeting residents approached the Council with concerns about the property at 19184 Kristie Lane. The residents expressed a desire to have it declared a public nuisance. Rosow said staff followed up with the issue brought up at the last Council meeting. He noted at the last meeting he described a possible action for the Council to pass a resolution finding that code violations on the property constitute a public nuisance. The resolution being proposed tonight declares public nuisances at 19184 Kristie Lane and sets out the conditions and code violations we believe constitute a public nuisance. The resolution also orders that permits for abatements of those conditions and violations be applied for by September 13 and that the repairs be completed by November 1, 2014. If the conditions are remedied by November 1, that would be the end of the procedure. If they are not remedied, the resolution also authorizes us to begin an action in District Court concerning the property. We would get an order from the court ordering them to do the repairs and stating that if the repairs are not CITY COUNCIL MINUTES September 2, 2014 Page 3 made, we could go in and make repairs and assess the costs against the property. MOTION: Case moved, seconded by Nelson, to adopt Resolution No. 2014-83 declaring public nuisances at 19184 Kristie Lane, ordering abatement, and authorizing the City Attorney to proceed with an action in District Court if the public nuisances are not abated. Case said clearly the neighborhood has been very concerned about this. There are a couple of leaders who have risen up from the neighborhood about this matter, and he asked that City staff stay in communication with them about the action. Getschow said staff could come up with a protocol to keep everybody informed about the process. VOTE ON THE MOTION: Motion carried 5-0. XII. PETITIONS, REQUESTS AND COMMUNICATIONS XIII. APPOINTMENTS XIV. REPORTS A. REPORTS OF COUNCIL MEMBERS 1. Concerns of Southwest Metro Lakes Association--Council Member Case Case said Thursday night he and Council Member Nelson met with the Southwest Metro Lakes Association to hear their continued concerns with the actions of the Riley-Purgatory-Bluff Creek Watershed District with impending rule changes. He said the Council, as elected officials, should be kept as knowledgeable as possible on their actions. The Council needs to be involved as an elected body and our actions should not be impeded by an unelected body. He suggested two things: 1) Ask the Riley-Purgatory-Bluff Creek Watershed District to postpone the vote on the new rules that is scheduled for their October meeting. This would give us time to be more involved and find out if actions are being taken that might be in violation of our rights; 2) Have Mr. Rosow look at the documents and give a brief report on his opinion as to whether the new rules might be in violation. The Southwest Metro Lakes Association has obtained some legal opinion that the revised rules might be in violation. Case said there is another longer term issue regarding what goals the Watershed District is trying to accomplish. A majority of the property within the Riley-Purgatory-Bluff Creek Watershed District is in Eden Prairie, but the majority of the Watershed District's funds are not being spent here. He wanted the Council to become involved and become more knowledgeable CITY COUNCIL MINUTES September 2, 2014 Page 4 about this issue. He commented he believed the people of Eden Prairie must have proper access to our lakes. Nelson said the Southwest Metro Lakes group had a map that showed 2300 residential lots potentially affected by the rules. She didn't think the action was fully understood and was concerned about how the rules would affect our planning. She thought we need to slow down and get some reports back on how it will affect our policies. Tyra-Lukens said it would be helpful to know why we even have Watershed Districts. It seems we have authority for making some of these rules but she was unclear if they are supposed to be advisory to us, with what issues they are supposed to be concerned, and how they are supposed to function. Aho said he is also concerned that we have multiple watershed districts in the City. If they each have their own set of rules, it is a very confusing and onerous process to go through for any project that comes through. There could be two standards by which a project would have to abide. Nelson thought there is a question of how these rules would meet the fairness test. Case said he thought cities have statutory powers over watershed districts if cities have passed ordinances. If that is true, we might be ceding some of our powers. Getschow suggested we could get some history of watershed districts and their statutes and authority. We could also review the status of the rules. There was an earlier set of comments the Council voted on in March that had some concerns about the buffers. The City Attorney has already done some research so we should be able to give an overview at the next meeting. He thought a motion would be useful to authorize him to contact the watershed district and ask them to hold off on voting on the rules. MOTION: Case moved, seconded by Aho, to authorize the City Manager to contact the Riley-Purgatory-Bluff Creek Watershed District and ask them to hold off on their vote on the proposed rule changes. Motion carried 5-0. 2. Eden Prairie Named One of the Top Ten Safe Cities--Council Member Nelson Council Member Nelson congratulated City staff, the Police Department and the Fire Department for our being named as one of the top ten safe cities in Minnesota. Case noted we were in ninth place;however, seven of the cities were out state, and they don't have some of the issues we do in the metro area. We were in the top three in the seven-county metropolitan area. CITY COUNCIL MINUTES September 2, 2014 Page 5 B. REPORT OF CITY MANAGER 1. Adopt Resolution No. 2014-84 Certifying Proposed 2015 Property Tax Levy,Accepting Proposed Budget for 2015, and Consenting and Approving 2015 HRA Levy Getschow said the Council has until the end of the month to adopt a preliminary property tax levy. This would be the maximum levy amount and would set the numbers that go out to property owners in October. The request is to set the levy and budget for 2015 and to set December 2, 2014, as the date for a meeting to discuss the budget and to provide an opportunity for public comment. He noted this is the second year of a two-year budget cycle. Every year we need to approve the budget and tax levy for the budget; however, the second year is more fine tuning and tweaking. In July we discussed a total City budget with a 2-2.5% increase and a preliminary tax levy increase from 2-2.7%. Since then, we have been able to fine tune some numbers and are looking at a total City budget of less than 2%. The budget will maintain service levels at the current high level but will not add any new programs or positions. He noted our property tax values are going back up, and a median-value home would see an increase of just over 5% in value. He said we see similar numbers in the commercial area, and staff will share more information towards the end of the year. He noted with the increase in property values Eden Prairie will be back to being valued at$9 billion in 2015. Case asked if we have a sense whether a median value home is back to the value it had before the losses in 2008-2009. Getschow said it is getting quite a bit closer to those levels. Case then noted the projected percentage increase for residential, apartments and commercial is down somewhat and asked if we know the formula to be used. Getschow said we can make calculations because the legislature decides at what rate they tax properties. Nelson commended the staff for keeping the budget within the inflation level and below 2%. Staff is doing innovative things to do more with less;but it takes hard work to keep the budget under control, to keep the service levels and to keep happy residents and employees. MOTION: Case moved, seconded by Butcher Wickstrom, to adopt Resolution 2014-84 that: Certifies the proposed 2015 property tax levy to be $33,792,311; Sets December 2, 2014, as the meeting which will include discussion of the budget and provide for public comment; Accepts the proposed 2015 budget of$44,337,935; and Consents and approves the HRA tax levy of$200,000. Motion carried 5-0. C. REPORT OF THE COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT DIRECTOR D. REPORT OF PARKS AND RECREATION DIRECTOR CITY COUNCIL MINUTES September 2, 2014 Page 6 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: Butcher Wickstrom moved, seconded by Nelson, to adjourn the meeting. Motion carried 5-0. Mayor Tyra-Lukens adjourned the meeting at 7:38 PM.