Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAboutCity Council - 03/20/2018 - Workshop APPROVED MINUTES EDEN PRAIRIE CITY COUNCIL MEETING TUESDAY, MARCH 20, 2018 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 p.m. All Council Members were present. II. PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE III. OPEN PODIUM INVITATION IV. PROCLAMATIONS/PRESENTATIONS A. SOUTHWEST TRANSIT 2017 DISTINGUISHED SERVICE AWARD by Len Simich, Executive Director and Jay Rowe, Chair Len Simich and Jay Rowe,representing Southwest Transit,presented the 2017 Distinguished Service Award to Mayor Tyra-Lukens. Mr. Simich said Mayor Tyra- Lukens has provided 21 years of outstanding leadership for Southwest Transit. Since she began her service with Southwest Transit in January 1997, ridership has increased over 300%, and the service has provided one of the most reliable and safe transit opportunities in the country. He noted up until last year their customer approval ratings were 99%,but he was happy to report 2017's rating was 100%. Tyra-Lukens commented one of the best things she did while in Southwest Transit was to be on the committee that hired Len Simich as the Executive Director. She noted it has been great working with everyone at Southwest Transit to provide efficient and innovative transit service to residents of Eden Prairie, Chanhassen and Chaska. Mr. Rowe also thanked Council Members Case and Aho for their service to Southwest Transit. CITY COUNCIL MINUTES March 20, 2018 Page 2 B. STATE OF SOUTHWEST TRANSIT by Len Simich Len Simich, Executive Director of Southwest Transit, reported in 2017 they executed agreements for Southwest Light Rail Transit(SWLRT) after more than three years of negotiation. In 2017 they also received an increase in State funding, their first such increase since 2008. Southwest Transit ridership is up again, primarily for the very popular Southwest Prime service. Because of the increased demand for Southwest Prime, they are currently in discussions with LYFT to partner in providing more Prime service. They received a State Grant for$250,000 to fund Saturday service for Southwest Prime. Aho commented we are proud of the service Southwest Transit provides and are very pleased with everything that comes out of Southwest Transit. C. ACCEPT DONATION FROM OSR PHYSICAL THERAPY OF $750 FOR PARKS AND RECREATION SPECIAL EVENTS (Resolution No. 2018-41) Lotthammer said OSR Physical Therapy has donated $750 for three Parks and Recreation special events. MOTION: Aho moved, seconded by Butcher Wickstrom, to adopt Resolution No. 2018-41 accepting the donation from OSR Physical Therapy of$750 for Parks and Recreation Special Events. Motion carried 5-0. V. APPROVAL OF AGENDA AND OTHER ITEMS OF BUSINESS Getschow said there is a goldenrod document adding Item XIV.A.1 to the agenda. There is also a goldenrod document for Item VIII.N. That item removes paragraphs from the Scheels' development agreement that was approved at the March 6, 2018, City Council meeting. The language contained in the paragraphs to be removed will be provided in separate agreements with each of the anchor tenant property owners. Tyra-Lukens added Item XIV.A.2. Case added Item XIV.A.3. Case and Aho added Item XIV.A.4. Butcher Wickstrom added Item XIV.A.5. MOTION: Nelson moved, seconded by Aho, to approve the agenda as amended. Motion carried 5-0. VI. MINUTES A. COUNCIL WORKSHOP HELD TUESDAY, MARCH 6, 2018 Aho asked that the two occurrences of the acronym "FDA" be changed to "FTA" on Page 1, Paragraph 4. MOTION: Butcher Wickstrom moved, seconded by Case, to approve the minutes of the City Council workshop held Tuesday, March 6, 2018, as amended. Motion carried CITY COUNCIL MINUTES March 20, 2018 Page 3 4-0-1, with Nelson abstaining. B. CITY COUNCIL MEETING HELD TUESDAY, MARCH 6, 2018 MOTION: Case moved, seconded by Butcher Wickstrom, to approve the minutes of the City Council meeting held Tuesday, March 6, 2018. Motion carried 4-0-1, with Nelson abstaining. VII. REPORTS OF ADVISORY BOARDS AND COMMISSIONS VIII. CONSENT CALENDAR A. CLERK'S LICENSE LIST B. ADOPT RESOLUTION NO. 2018-42 GRANTING RENEWAL OF A T- MOBILE COMMUNICATION LICENSE AGREEMENT AT 7401 DELL ROAD C. AWARD CONTRACT TO RJ MARCO CONSTRUCTION FOR BUILDING NEW EP FOUNDATION OFFICE IN CITY HALL D. AWARD CONTRACT FOR MILLER FIELD 11 IMPROVEMENTS E. DECLARE OBSOLETE EQUIPMENT AS SURPLUS F. APPROVE MASTER SERVICES AGREEMENT WITH VTI FOR SECURITY INFRASTRUCTURE SERVICES G. DECLARE UNCLAIMED PROPERTY AS ABANDONED H. AWARD CONTRACT FOR 2018 SEALCOAT PROJECT TO PEARSON BROTHERS, INC. I. AWARD CONTRACT FOR 2018 STREET STRIPING PROJECT TO SIR LINES-A-LOT J. APPROVE AGREEMENT WITH WENCK ASSOCIATES FOR LOWER RILEY CREEK WATERSHED OUTLET MONITORING K. ADOPT RESOLUTION NO. 2018-43 SUPPORTING T.H. 169 MNPASS PROJECT SUBMITTAL TO CORRIDORS OF COMMERCE L. APPROVE AGREEMENT WITH SRF CONSULTING GROUP FOR RAILROAD QUIET ZONE DESIGN AND IMPLEMENTATION CITY COUNCIL MINUTES March 20, 2018 Page 4 M. AWARD CONTRACT FOR NEW WATER TRUCK BODY TO STEPP MANUFACTURING CO, INC. N. ADOPT RESOLUTION NO. 2018-46 APPROVING AGREEMENTS REGARDING EDEN PRAIRIE MALL ANCHOR TENANTS MOTION: Nelson moved, seconded by Case, to approve Items A-N on the Consent Calendar. Motion carried 5-0. IX. PUBLIC HEARINGS/MEETINGS A. VACATION OF PART OF THE DRAINAGE AND UTILITY EASEMENT DEDICATED ON BLUESTEM HILLS 3"ADDITION (Resolution No. 2018-44) Getschow said there has been a request to vacate a part of the drainage and utility easement dedicated over Lot 1, Block 1, on the plat of Bluestem Hills 3rd Addition. A portion of the deck and porch on the lot is encroaching into the platted easement. Upon review, Engineering staff recommends that the part of the easement described above be vacated to eliminate the encroachment. There were no comments from the audience. MOTION: Case moved, seconded by Aho, to close the public hearing and to adopt Resolution No. 2018-44 vacating a part of the drainage and utility easement dedicated on Bluestem Hills 3rd Addition over Lot 1, Block 1, Hennepin County, Minnesota. Motion carried 5-0. X. PAYMENT OF CLAIMS MOTION: Butcher Wickstrom moved, seconded by Nelson, 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. Mayor's Water Challenge (Resolution No. 2018-45) Tyra-Lukens noted this will be our seventh year supporting the National Mayor's Challenge for Water Conservation. She said the challenge draws CITY COUNCIL MINUTES March 20, 2018 Page 5 attention to the issues of water conservation, water purity, and energy conservation. She read the resolution in support of the National Mayor's Challenge for Water Conservation. Eden Prairie's water challenge will be held from April 1 to April 30, 2018. She encouraged people to sign up for the challenge on the City's website. MOTION: Case moved, seconded by Butcher Wickstrom, to adopt Resolution No. 2018-45 supporting the Mayor's Challenge for Water Conservation. Motion carried 5-0. 2. Outstanding Student Volunteer Award—Mayor Tyra-Lukens Tyra-Lukens said Ryan Stolz has been named an Outstanding Student Volunteer for the Spirit of Community award. She congratulated him and reviewed the volunteer work he has done. 3. National League of Cities Council of Cities—Council Member Case Case said he and Council Member Butcher Wickstrom represented Eden Prairie at the Congress of Cities event held last week in Washington, D.C. In addition to attending the workshop sessions, they were able to network and lobby our representatives and senators on municipal issues. He reviewed the workshop sessions he attended: • Workforce Readiness—the workshop encouraged setting a goal of bringing together business and education groups to work on an asset map that would show gaps in employment so goals could be set to address those gaps; • Opioid Crisis—the workshop provided information on the opioid crisis. April 28 is National Prescription Drug Take Back Day when individuals can bring back old prescription medicines; • Tax Reform—in the workshop it was reported the new tax bill continues opportunity zones whereby local governments can issue private activity bonds that can be used for public projects such as ports and also for public housing; • Future of Marijuana Policy—there are several bills proposed that deal with marijuana, including one that would prohibit prosecution of someone using marijuana for medical purposes, one that allows marijuana use for veterans with PTSD, and another to take marijuana off the Schedule 1 Controlled Substance list which would facilitate funding for research projects; • Gun Violence Prevention—cities are encouraged to take the initiative and promote community conversations about gun violence. There are plans to correct problems with the National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS). CITY COUNCIL MINUTES March 20, 2018 Page 6 4. Lions Club Eyeglass Collections—Council Members Case and Aho Case said he and Council Member Aho are members of the Eden Prairie Lions Club, and were asked to facilitate locating collection boxes for used eyeglasses at City Hall, the Senior Center and the Community Center. Aho said the Lions Clubs collect used eyeglasses that will be shipped to third world countries after optometrists have graded them by prescription and cleaned them up. Aho suggested also placing a collection box at Southwest Transit. 5. National League of Cities Council of Cities—Council Member Butcher Wickstrom Butcher Wickstrom reported she and Council Member Case were able to advocate with our federal elected officials to work cooperatively with local governments such as Eden Prairie to gain assistance in such areas as promoting funding for the SWLRT. She was part of a group of 10-12 people who sat down with Senator Klobuchar who was very optimistic there would be enough money in the bill for funding "New Starts," which would include projects such as SWLRT. Because we have solved so many of the initial concerns and challenges and the project is now essentially"shovel ready," SWLRT should be high on the priority list for the projects competing for the funding. Case noted President Trump's budget did not include funding for New Starts; however, there are so many districts around the country that need such funding Congress is expected to add it back in. Senator Klobuchar has no sense the total funded bill will be large enough to include all the projects, so the individual projects will have to fight for the money. Senator Klobuchar does believe the SWLRT will be funded this year. Council Member Butcher Wickstrom noted she ran for a seat on the City Council for the first time in 1996 when the big issue in the City was where the light rail would go, so she believed it is about time the project was started. B. REPORT OF CITY MANAGER C. REPORT OF COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT DIRECTOR D. REPORT OF PARKS AND RECREATION DIRECTOR 1. Emerald Ash Borer Management Plan Update and Award Contract for Treatment of Ash Trees to Rainbow Treecare Lotthammer reported we are moving to a different phase of the Emerald Ash Borer(EAB) Management Plan now that the EAB has been identified within the City. CITY COUNCIL MINUTES March 20, 2018 Page 7 Matt Bourne, Parks and Natural Resources Manager, gave a PowerPoint update on the EAB Management Plan. Staff has been working with the Minnesota Department of Agriculture to collect information about the EAB. We have updated our City ordinances to address the EAB problem and have added selective removal of ash trees to our City project list. We are doing outreach and public education as we take more proactive measures. He noted staff has completed an ash tree inventory and showed a City map of major areas where ash trees are located within City parks, City rights-of-way, and unmaintained areas adjacent to City trails. Some of the ash trees will be saved, and some will be removed. Jacob Busiahn, Forestry Technician,reported staff plans to treat roughly one- half of the ash trees in fair or better condition that are 12 inches or more in diameter and are located in City parks and on City rights-of-way. He said they received four bids for the contract to treat the City's ash trees, and Rainbow Tree was the lowest bidder. In addition, they received two bids for treatment of ash trees on private properties. The treatment for City trees will be based on pest pressure and will be administered at three-year intervals. He showed a slide with projections for outcome of treatments,based on the experience of other cities and areas. The treatments will be done by trunk injection applications because research has shown that method of treatment is best for reducing exposure to the pesticide. Aho asked if the trunk injection application is as good as other methods of treatment. Busiahn replied some of the other treatments are not as effective for trees that are 12 inches or more in diameter, and trunk injection is more pollinator-friendly. Busiahn said removal of ash trees would take place seven to eight years after the infestation has started. That timetable would cause a spike in the cost and would have an impact on the aesthetics. About 2000 trees will be removed over a period of eight years. Staff is proposing to replace 1.5 trees for each one that is removed from the parks and the City rights-of-way on arterial and collector streets. We will encourage people to replant on private property and will sponsor tree sales and a giveaway program on Arbor Day. We will set up City- wide contracts for treatment that individuals can use. The replanting program will not include any maple, spruce, apple or ash trees. He showed a slide of several of the trees they will use for the replanting program. Busiahn reviewed the public education and outreach plans that are a large part of the management plan. He noted there are approximately 50,000 ash trees in our maintained areas, or 14% of the total number of trees in those areas. We will promote proper treatment of ash trees on private property and will provide a treatment contract option for residents. The City website will be updated to provide information on the options available. Staff plans to do targeted mailings to areas where there is a higher density of ash trees. There will be educational sessions and materials available at City events. He said the cost to treat an CITY COUNCIL MINUTES March 20, 2018 Page 8 average sized ash tree is about$13 per year, or about$350 for the 25-year program. The cost to remove an average sized ash tree and replant another tree is about$700, so there is a definite cost advantage to treating the ash trees. Bourne reviewed three cost scenarios for treating and removing ash trees over the next 25 years. He said staff is recommending Scenario B which treats 1050 trees, removes 2114 trees, and replants 3171 trees, with a total cost of$1,416,554. We will provide volunteer opportunities to help with the replanting of trees. He noted some of the costs have been built into the 2018/2019 budget, and are hoping the tree replacement fund just put in place will help with some costs. There will be some savings in other contracted services to help with the funding. Case asked if we are being proactive or if we are waiting to treat the ash trees until they show signs of the disease. Bourne replied we will do both because we need to spread out the work load and also to concentrate on areas with high density of ash trees. Case asked if other cities have found some of the ash trees will survive. Bourne replied we have not found that. Aho asked what must be done with the trees that are removed. Bourne replied the diseased tree is hauled to our offsite storage site. The public utility company comes in, grinds it up, and uses it to produce energy. Nelson asked if we plan to take out ash trees in heavily wooded areas. Bourne said we will leave ash trees in conservation and unmaintained areas that are not near a trail or private structure. Nelson asked if leaving those trees will encourage more EAB problems. Bourne replied once the tree is dead, the EAB moves on. Nelson noted it is great we are starting to be proactive in this because these can be dangerous in some areas such as parks. She suggested we pay attention to some of the heavily wooded areas that people often go to for geo- caching or other activities and keep those areas safe. Tyra-Lukens asked if the price reduction offer to Eden Prairie residents will be for trunk injection treatments. Bourne said it will be the same as the City's trees will receive. Tyra-Lukens asked when people can start to take advantage of the price reduction program. Bourne said that could occur as soon as the contract is signed. Tyra-Lukens asked if there is any reason to ban the soil drenching treatment products because of their effect on pollinators. Bourne replied we can only recommend trunk injection treatments and discourage the other methods. Tyra-Lukens suggested we make sure to highlight the advantages of trunk injections versus other methods in our materials and on the website. Tyra-Lukens asked if we have started to remove ash trees. Bourne said at this time 25 trees within the City limits have EAB infestation, mostly contained in the northeast corner of the City. Tyra-Lukens asked how we will do the replacement program. Lotthammer replied we will do about 300-350 trees per year for the next 7-10 years. Tyra-Lukens asked when Arbor Day will be observed. Busiahn said it is April 28 this year. CITY COUNCIL MINUTES March 20, 2018 Page 9 MOTION: Butcher Wickstrom moved, seconded by Nelson, to accept the proposals and authorize entering into a contract with Rainbow Treecare for the treatment of ash trees on City property over the next three years at a total cost not to exceed $63,870.60. Motion carried 5-0. 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 5-0. Mayor Tyra-Lukens adjourned the meeting at 8:11 p.m.