Loading...
City Council - 06/14/2011 APPROVED MINUTES EDEN PRAIRIE CITY COUNCIL MEETING TUESDAY,JUNE 14, 2011 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, Interim Public Works Director Rod Rue, Community Development Director Janet Jeremiah, Parks and Recreation Director Jay Lotthammer, City Attorney Siira Gunderson 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. II. COLOR GUARD/PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE III. COUNCIL FORUM INVITATION IV. PROCLAMATIONS /PRESENTATIONS A. EDEN PRAIRIE PLAYERS PROCLAMATION Reed Schulke, representing the Eden Prairie Players, thanked the Council for their support the past 20 years. He reviewed the activities and future plans of the group. Tyra-Lukens asked how the group solicits the scripts for the original one act play program. Mr. Schulke said they use an online service and that information is then shared among playwrights around the world. Tyra-Lukens read a proclamation proclaiming June 17, 2011 to be Community Theater Day. B. PRESENTATION OF POLICE LETTER OF RECOGNITION Police Chief Reynolds said Police Department letters of recognition are being presented to two citizens who stopped a suspect in a purse snatching incident on May 17, 2011. He read the letter and presented copies to John Finch and Joseph Passofaro to recognize their efforts in the incident. C. CONSERVATION COMMISSION GREENSTEP CITIES PROGRAM PRESENTATION (Resolution 2011-45) Regina Rojas said the Conservation Commission has evaluated the requirements to participate in the GreenStep Cities program. She introduced the commission Chair, Laura Jester. Ms Jester introduced the members of the commission present and CITY COUNCIL MINUTES June 14,2011 Page 2 gave a PowerPoint presentation on the GreenStep Cities program. She said Minnesota GreenStep Cities is a new, voluntary challenge and assistance program managed by the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency (MPCA) to help cities achieve their sustainability goals through implementation of 28 best practices. The program was developed by a coalition of several partners and is specific to Minnesota. The best practices are tailored to all Minnesota cities, focus on cost savings and energy use reduction, and encourage innovation. Eden Prairie needs to implement 16 out of 28 best practices to complete the program. The program offers peer learning opportunities and allows flexibility in planning, programming and implementation of the best practices. Jester said the program grew out of the Mayors' Climate Protection Agreement that was signed by the City several years ago. She said completing the program would showcase Eden Prairie as a leader in the area of conservation and would recognize the accomplishments of the City's 20-40-15 plan. She reviewed the five components of the program's best practices: land use; transportation;building and lighting; environmental management; and economic and commercial development. Jester said Karen Kurt, Human Resources Manager, researched this program as part of her Master's degree program. Ms Kurt analyzed where Eden Prairie would be if the program were to be implemented. She believes the City has done 13 of the 16 required best practices, although that has not yet been approved by the MPCA since we have not yet joined the program. Jester reviewed the best practices required and discussed the ones the commission believes may have already been completed. The commission would develop a work plan to implement the best practices if the Council approves the resolution tonight. She said some staff time would be required for participation in the program, but her understanding is the department directors believe this would be a benefit to the community and the environment. Aho asked if there is an estimate in terms of the impact on staffing and the cost to the City to implement the program. Rojas said we have not done a cost analysis as part of the research,but we believe it could be done with current staff time and could actually result in some reductions in costs to the City as the 20-40-15 program has done. Nelson asked if we would continue the 20-40-15 program while we do this, as she would not like to see that process stopped. Jester said this is just an extension of that program, and we would get recognition for what we have done in that program. Butcher Wickstrom said it sounds like a wonderful program and seems to be an extension of what we have been doing. Case asked who determines if we have met the best practices. Rojas said there is a lot more detail provided by Ms Kurt's analysis of where we would fit. One particular item could be filled by something as simple as a change of wording for the zoning code. She said we would submit documentation to the MPCA and they would decide if we have met the criteria. Case said it seems to be a nice way to organize what we have done, and he thanked the commission for their efforts. CITY COUNCIL MINUTES June 14,2011 Page 3 Tyra-Lukens said this is something near and dear to her heart, and it would be hard to believe we haven't met most of the criteria. She hoped there are some things we have to do that will cause us to stretch a bit. Jester said the Conservation Commission feels the same way and may ask to go a step further in some of the best practices. Tyra-Lukens said she noted there has been some discussion about recycling in the commission minutes. Jester said the GreenStep Cities program does not address everything we would like it to address, and the program is mostly about energy conservation. The commission is extremely committed to increasing recycling rates in this City, and is working on that area. Case noted there is mention of solid waste reduction under the category of environmental management. MOTION: Case moved, seconded by Butcher Wickstrom, to adopt Resolution 2011-45 authorizing the City of Eden Prairie to participate in the Minnesota GreenStep Cities Program. Motion carried 5-0. V. APPROVAL OF AGENDA AND OTHER ITEMS OF BUSINESS Tyra-Lukens added Item XIV.B.1. Impact of Possible State Shutdown. MOTION: Nelson moved, seconded by Aho, to approve the agenda as amended. Motion carried 5-0. VI. MINUTES A. COUNCIL WORKSHOP HELD TUESDAY, MAY 17, 2011 MOTION: Aho moved, seconded by Case, to approve the minutes of the City Council workshop held Tuesday, May 17, 2011, as published. Motion carried 5-0. B. CITY COUNCIL MEETING HELD TUESDAY, MAY 17, 2011 MOTION: Butcher Wickstrom moved, seconded by Nelson, to approve the minutes of the City Council meeting held Tuesday, May 17, 2011, as published. Motion carried 5-0. VII. REPORTS OF ADVISORY BOARDS & COMMISSIONS VIII. CONSENT CALENDAR A. CLERK'S LICENSE LIST B. REDSTONE AMERICAN GRILL by Jim Sultany. Second Reading of Ordinance 8-2011-PUD-4-2011 for Planned Unit Development District Review on 2.97 acres and Zoning District Amendment within the Commercial Regional Service Zoning District on 2.97 acres, Resolution 2011-46 for Site Plan Review on 2.97 acres. Location: 8000 Den Road. (Ordinance No. 8-2011-PUD-4-2011 for CITY COUNCIL MINUTES June 14,2011 Page 4 PUD District Review and Zoning District Amendment; Resolution No. 2011-46 for Site Plan Review) C. APPROVE ELECTION EQUIPMENT CONTRACT BETWEEN HENNEPIN COUNTY, CI TY OF EDEN PRAI RI E & SCHOOL DI STRI CT 272 D APPROVE ANNUAL REPORT FOR THE NPDES STORMWATER PERMIT PROGRAM E. APPROVE PROFESSIONAL SERVICES AGREEMENT WITH WENCK ASSOCIATES FOR ANNUAL STORMWATER POND INVENTORY PROGRAM F. ADOPT RESOLUTION NO. 2011-47 APPROVING PLANS AND SPECIFICATIONS AND ORDERING ADVERTISEMENT FOR BIDS FOR CHEROKEE TRAIL UTILITY IMPROVEMENTS G. ADOPT RESOLUTION NO. 2011-48 APPROVING PLANS AND SPECIFICATIONS FOR VALLEY VIEW ROAD/PRAIRIE CENTER DRIVE INTERSECTION IMPROVEMENTS AND AUTHORIZE PURCHASE OF SIGNAL EQUIPMENT H. ADOPT RESOLUTION NO. 2011-49 DECLARING PROPERTY AS ABANDONED MOTION: Nelson moved, seconded by Case, to approve Items A-H on the Consent Calendar. Motion carried 5-0. IX. PUBLIC HEARINGS/MEETINGS A. T-MOBILE by T-Mobile. Request for Site Plan Review on 2.93 acres. Location: 7595 Anagram Drive (Resolution No. 2011-50 for Site Plan Review) Getschow said this is an integration of a telecommunication antenna on an existing 100 foot Xcel Energy tower for a total of 110 feet. The 110 foot tower height would require a setback of 440 feet. The existing tower is 320 feet from the residential zoned district. City code states that"a tower's setback may be reduced at the sole discretion of the City Council, to allow the integration of a tower into an existing or proposed structure such as a place of worship steeple, light standard,power line support device or similar structure". The developer seeks integration of the antenna with the existing tower and the Council's support for the 320-foot setback. He said official notice of this public hearing was published in the June 2, 2011, Eden Prairie News and was sent to 116 property owners. The 120-day review period expires August 12, 2011.The Planning Commission voted 6-0 to recommend approval of the developer's option at its May 23, 2011 meeting. Kari Brown, representing T-Mobile, was present to answer questions. CITY COUNCIL MINUTES June 14,2011 Page 5 Case said he supports the request but had a question regarding the arbitrariness of height restrictions and variances given for those heights. He understood that as technology improved the cells could be broken apart and the structures made lower, so he thought this feels somewhat arbitrary. Getschow said the 4-1 restriction in the code deals a lot with new towers. There was a time when there were issues about construction of many new monopole towers. Ms Brown said they have some limitations when they use Xcel poles and can only use the lattice towers with antennas placed above or below the lines. This request is to extend the tower by the height of the antenna. She said they chose the site because the landlord will allow a lease and Xcel will allow them to use the tower. The site is on a bit of a hill and is very centered in the coverage area. Case noted AT&T has a proposal to purchase T-Mobile and asked if that would impact this tower. He thought we had an agreement with Xcel in the past regarding the replacing of lattice poles with monopoles eventually. There were no comments from the audience. MOTION: Butcher Wickstrom moved, seconded by Aho, to close the public hearing, and to adopt Resolution No. 2011-50 for site plan review on 2.93 acres. Motion carried 5-0. B. SMITH DOUGLAS MORE HOUSE-DUNN BROTHERS COA - Certificate of Appropriateness for demolition of the work shed and construction of a trash enclosure for the Smith Douglas More House Getschow said the Smith-Douglas-More house, located at 8107 Eden Prairie Road, was designated a Heritage Preservation Site on September 16, 1997. The property is also eligible for registration as a National Register of Historic Places property. A Certificate of Appropriateness (COA) is required to make any change in, on, or to a designated Heritage Preservation Site, including demolition. This Certificate of Appropriateness will approve the following items: Workshop: The City is requesting approval of a Certificate of Appropriateness for demolition due to the workshop building's advanced state of dilapidation. Given the current condition of the building, and the concern for the safety of Dunn Bros. employees and the public, it is recommended that the building be removed. Prior to demolition any significant features or materials will be salvaged for reuse, or conveyed to the Eden Prairie Historical Society. Trash enclosure: The workshop building was used by Dunn Bros. to store trash bins,but due to the condition of the building trash bins are now being stored outdoors behind the store. Getschow said official notice of this public hearing was published in the June 2, 2011, Eden Prairie News and was sent to 80 property owners. The Heritage Preservation Commission (HPC)reviewed the plans and supports this request. CITY COUNCIL MINUTES June 14,2011 Page 6 Nelson asked if there was any discussion about trying to reface the trash enclosure with the original wood. Jeremiah said there has been discussion about potential reuse of wood for a future shed. The trash enclosure isn't a building, but rather is an area that has a fence around it. That fence will match the other fencing on the site. She said they plan to preserve the material and hope there would be a future use for it. Aho asked if the City would pay the cost for this since it is a City-owned building. Lindahl said the demolition and construction of the fence would be paid for by the City through the Facilities Department. Basil Wissner, 8293 Mitchell Road, asked if the shed is part of the historical building and if we have the right to tear it down. Jeremiah said this item was required to go through the HPC for their recommendation. It is a locally designated site so it doesn't have to go through any process other than approval by the HPC and the City Council. Mr. Wissner asked if all the material will be saved. Jeremiah said not all of the material is salvageable. Mr. Wissner asked if the property will be able to get on the National Register if we remove the shed. Jeremiah said we look at the Secretary of the Interior's standards, and those allow the removal of buildings that have deteriorated to this stage. Case said he appreciated Mr. Wissner's question very much and noted we should be questioning every time we take something down that is historical. He understands this falls under the certified local government process because the HPC has listed it as historically significant, and that is why it came before the Council tonight. He walked through the shed recently, and it looked like it was built around 1920, so the shed was added about 60 years after Mr. Smith built the house. MOTION: Aho moved, seconded by Case, to close the public hearing and to adopt the findings of fact and approve Certificate of Appropriateness #2011-01-032 for the Dunn Bros. coffee store site improvements plan. Motion carried 5-0. C. SUMMIT PLACE SENIOR HOUSING PROJECT—RESOLUTION 2011-51 RESCINDING RESOLUTION NO. 2008-71 AND RESOLUTION NO. 2011-52 MODIFYING REDEVELOPMENT PLAN FOR REDEVELOPMENT PROJECT NO.5 AND TAX INCREMENT FINANCING DISTRICT NO. 15 Getschow said this item was continued from two previous meetings. He noted the HRA will be convened tonight to act on this item following this public hearing. He said Tax Increment District(TIF) #15 was established in 1999 in order to provide 43 affordable housing units to seniors living at Summit Place for a term of 15 years. As part of this request, the owners have agreed to use additional TIF revenue generated from the 80-units addition to provide 5 more affordable rental units within the existing building for a total of 48 affordable units. They have agreed to extend the term of the affordable units to year 2026, or 26 years from when the first increment was collected from the district. CITY COUNCIL MINUTES June 14,2011 Page 7 Getschow said if the forecasted amount of TIF to be collected over the next 15 years is more than is needed to write down rents on the affordable units, then the rental affordability on all 48 units will be extended. Summit Place is a 320-unit senior rental project located at Flying Cloud Drive and Fountain Place Road immediately south of the Eden Prairie Center. He said official notice of this public hearing was published in the April 21, 2011, Eden Prairie News. Jeremiah said the development of the 80 additional units is not yet ready for Council consideration so the project management agreement to specifically allow that project is not part of the action tonight. It also was not part of the public hearing we advertised. This amendment would extend the term of the TIF District from 15 years to 25 years to assure the affordable units remain in the project. It also provides the opportunity for five more affordable units to become part of the additional units. It also makes those five units available to use somewhere else if the additional construction does not move forward. She said staff is meeting with the developer on Friday to discuss the status of the project. Case asked if extending TIF Districts requires the same criteria and if it has to be passed by some agency at the State. Jeremiah said staff has looked at this to make sure it meets all the criteria. We do get audited periodically but there is no process for the State to sign off on it. There were no comments from the audience. MOTION: Case moved, seconded by Nelson, to close the public hearing. Motion carried 5-0. At 7:55 PM Chair Tyra-Lukens opened the HRA meeting. She reconvened the Council at 7:57 PM. MOTION: Aho moved, seconded by Butcher Wickstrom, to adopt Resolution No. 2011-51 rescinding Resolution No. 2008-71 and to adopt Resolution No. 2011-52 adopting a modification to the redevelopment plan for redevelopment project No. 5 and the proposed adoption of a modification to the tax increment financing district No. 15. Motion carried 5-0. X. PAYMENT OF CLAIMS MOTION: Case 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 CITY COUNCIL MINUTES June 14,2011 Page 8 A. STUDENTS ON COMMISSIONS Getschow said 17 applications were received for the 2011-2012 Students on Commission program, and all 17 applicants are being recommended for appointment. MOTION: Aho moved to appoint to the Arts & Culture Commission: Jamie Bernard for the fall term; and Nafisa Mahamud and Roseann Awad for the fall and spring terms; and Butcher Wickstrom moved to appoint to the Budget Advisory Commission: Charles Adams for the fall and spring terms; and Tyra-Lukens moved to appoint to the Conservation Commission: Kelly Hallowell for the fall term; Yasmin Atef-Vahid for the spring term; and McKenna Campbell-Potter and Rebecca Ebert for the fall and spring terms; and Case moved to appoint to the Flying Cloud Airport Advisory Commission: Kevin Gadel and John Bowman for the fall and spring terms; and Nelson moved to appoint to the Heritage Preservation Commission: Metadel Lee for the spring term and Ian English for the fall and spring terms; and Aho moved to appoint to the Human Rights and Diversity Commission: Ramla Mahamud and Camrie Vlasek for the fall and spring terms; and Butcher Wickstrom moved to appoint to the Parks, Recreation, and Natural Resources Commission: Joseph Schmit for the fall term; and Katie Ostendorf and Liz Powell for the fall and spring terms. All seconded by Case. Motion carried 5- 0. XIV. REPORTS A. REPORTS OF COUNCIL MEMBERS B. REPORT OF CITY MANAGER 1. Impact of Possible State Shutdown Getschow said the 2011 State legislative session ended on May 23 without a budget and, unless an agreement is reached by June 30, a portion of the State government will be shut down. We have received a lot of questions about what effect the shutdown would have on the City. The effect will be determined by what is deemed by the State to be an essential service. The City relies on its own revenue for operations but we rely on State, grant or other funding for projects such as the Hwy 494/169 project. Staff is trying to hurry up projects that require State approval to get them approved before July 1. He said projects requiring state inspection may not be able to move forward. We are trying to identify what indirect effects might occur from other agencies in the State. Nelson thought it would be nice to put something on the website to let people know they can continue to get permits and that a shutdown won't affect specific City operations. Butcher Wickstrom said a link to BeReadyMN.com might be a good idea as well. Getschow said the League of Minnesota Cities is also updating information daily. CITY COUNCIL MINUTES June 14,2011 Page 9 Tyra-Lukens noted SouthWest Transit does not meet until next week but their intent is to continue to operate through reserve funds. C. REPORT OF THE COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT DIRECTOR D. REPORT OF PARKS AND RECREATION DIRECTOR 1. Eden Prairie Soccer Club Donation Lotthammer said the Eden Prairie Soccer Club is donating $4,000 to fund one set of soccer goals and two pair of soccer nets to be used on fields 12 and 13 at Miller Park. MOTION: Butcher Wickstrom moved, seconded by Case, to accept the donation from the Eden Prairie Soccer Club in the amount of$4,000 to fund a new set of soccer goals and new soccer nets at Miller Park. Motion carried 5-0. 2. Friends of the Arts Center Donation Lotthammer said on May 12, 2011, the City of Eden Prairie received a letter from the Friends of the Eden Prairie Art Center informing us that we would be receiving a donation for over$10,000 for capital purchase items to go towards new arts programming opportunities at the Art Center. In addition, the Friends of the Eden Prairie Art Center believe their goals have been met and have made the decision to discontinue fundraising for the Art Center. The $10,368.10 being donated is the last of the money raised and they are turning it over to the City. City staff will continue fund raising efforts such as writing grants for programming. He said we wanted to recognize the work done by the Friends of the Eden Prairie Art Center to make the Art Center operational. Tyra-Lukens said this group has raised a lot of money before this final donation. It is wonderful to see the participation figures at the Art Center. Aho asked what is left to do in terms of capital investment at the Art Center so we can inform people of those specific needs. Lotthammer said we are looking at some advanced kiln processes as well as other areas of art that people are interested in. At this time we are not in a position to make those decisions and would rather let this donation sit in the bank while we determine where the trends and needs are before we make big capital expenditures. Our registration for programs continues to grow, and we are getting closer to the capacity of the building. MOTION: Aho moved, seconded by Nelson, to accept the donation from the Friends of the Eden Prairie Art Center in the amount of$10,368.10 to fund capital purchase items required for new arts programming at the Eden CITY COUNCIL MINUTES June 14,2011 Page 10 Prairie Art Center. Motion carried 5-0. Tyra-Lukens thanked the Friends of the Art Center for the funds they have raised and for their efforts on behalf of the Art Center. E. REPORT OF PUBLIC WORKS DIRECTOR F. REPORT OF POLICE CHIEF G. REPORT OF FIRE CHIEF H. REPORT OF CITY ATTORNEY XV. OTHER BUSINESS XVII. ADJOURNMENT MOTION: Nelson moved, seconded by Case, to adjourn the meeting. Motion carried 5- 0. Mayor Tyra-Lukens adjourned the meeting at 8:12 PM.