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HomeMy WebLinkAboutCC - March 4, 2014C I T Y O F NDOVE 1685 CROSSTOWN BOULEVARD N.W. • ANDOVER, MINNESOTA 55304 • (763) 755 -5100 FAX (763) 755 -8923 • WWW.ANDOVERMN.GOV Regular City Council Meeting — Tuesday, March 4, 2014 Call to Order — 7:00 p.m. Pledge of Allegiance Resident Forum Agenda Approval 1. Approval of Minutes (2/18/14 Regular; 2/18/14 Closed) Consent Items 2. Approve Payment of Claims — Administration /Finance 3. Annual Review /Temporary Greenhouse/Mickman Brothers Garden Center /2218 Bunker Lake Blvd. NW Planning 4. Approve Extension of Liquor License /Tanners Station — Administration 5. Approve 2014 Used Vehicle Sales Business License /Crown Eagle Autos Inc. — Administration 6. Approve Application for Exempt Permit /The Way of the Shepherd Inc. — Administration 7. Approve Change Order #1 /12- 28/Nightingale Street NW Reconstruction — Engineering 8. Approve Lease Agreement with Verizon Wireless LLC / 1717 Crosstown Blvd. NW - City Water Tower (Tower 2) — Administration 9. Approve 2015 Budget Development Guidelines — Administration 0 Discussion Items 10. Hold Public Hearing/Order Plans & Specification/12- 37A/Andover Blvd. NW & Crosstown Blvd. NW Turn Lane Improvements — Engineering 11. Request Tree Removal/White Pine Wilderness 2 "a Addition Development - Engineering Staff Items 12. Administrator's Report —Administration Mayor /Council Input Adjournment Re J REGULAR ANDOVER CITY COUNCIL MEETING —MARCH 4, 2014 MINUTES The Regular Bi- Monthly Meeting of the Andover City Council was called to order by Mayor Mike Gamache, March 4, 2014, 7:00 p.m., at the Andover City Hall, 1685 Crosstown Boulevard NW, Andover, Minnesota. Councilmembers present: Mike Knight, Sheri Bukkila, Julie Trude and Tony Howard Councilmember absent: None Also present: City Administrator, Jim Dickinson Director of Public Works /City Engineer, David Berkowitz City Attorney, Scott Baumgartner Others ® PLEDGE OFALLEGIANCE RESIDENT FORUM Mr. Jim Junker, 13503 Crooked Lake Boulevard, stated he received the City newsletter and was curious about how the City is paying off the debt Andover has of $50 million. He wondered how they are planning on paying off $18 million in 2014. Mr. Dickinson stated the $18 million is being held in a trust account for the payment. The trust account was funded through refinancing bonds. Mr. Junker wondered why the money was sitting in the bank not doing anything. Mr. Dickinson stated the trust account funds earn interest and the $18 million payment was made on February 1"of 2014. Mr. Dickinson explained the process the City goes through with funding, paying off their debts, the refunding and due diligence that was done to save Andover long term interest expense. Mr. Junker wondered why the City Council and Mayor are making $17,000 a year each because the City Council budget is around $85,000. The Council indicated they are not getting paid that much each and there are other items included in that budget. Mr. Dickinson stated the total is the overall budget for everything involved from secretarial work, supplies for Council meetings, organization memberships and training. Mr. Junker also wondered why the City Attorney is getting over one hundred seventy thousand dollars a year. Mr. Dickinson stated that budget item includes everything the Attorney does, both civil representation and criminal prosecutions. Mr. Dickinson indicated the City contracts with a Regular Andover City Council Meeting Minutes — March 4, 2014 Page 2 legal firm for these services. Mr. Dickinson also explained what activities are grouped into public safety budgets. Mr. Dickinson noted there is an itemized budget showing where all the dollars go if Mr. Junker or anyone else would like to see it. Mr. Dickinson indicated residents should call City Hall if they want the complete detail. Mayor Gamache stated the City has to follow State and Federal Government reporting requirements on how the budget is categorized and what they need the City to show, which is why the City budget report is very large and not feasible to send out to everyone in the City. Mayor Gamache asked Mr. Junker if he would like to have the budget mailed out to him. Mr. Junker stated he would like that. Mr. Gary Rolli, 2815 135th Circle NW,''stated: he had a concern regarding the fire hydrants in their area. He stated he called and found out that it is the responsibility of the homeowner to clear the snow by the hydrants. He wondered if there was a better way to make sure the hydrants are cleared of snow because there are a lot of elderly people that cannot clear the snow. He also wondered if the City can come up with some type of a plan so the neighbor is not relied upon to save a home from fire. Mayor Gamache stated the fire department will go out with tanker trucks on a call so they do not get into the situation of not having water available because they do not have access to the fire hydrant, so,if there is an emergency, they can start to fight the fire while the hydrant is being dug out by the fire department. Mayor Gamache asked staff to find out what other cities are doing to make sure the hydrants are clear. Councilmember Trude stated Fire Chief Winkel did talk about this, she thought each neighborhood had some able bodied individuals that should be able to clear the snow, and suggested it be brought up at the next National Night Out meeting. Councilmember Knight wondered if the Boy Scouts could take on this project. Councilmember Trude thought that would be a possibility, but was concerned about the safety of the Scouts. Mr. Berkowitz stated the homeowner is not responsible to clear the hydrants. He explained the process the Public Works Department goes through with each snow event. He noted the Public Works Department does ask for assistance in clearing the hydrants because during snow events the City is staffed to get all the snow cleared from the roads, sidewalks and then hydrants. He stated if a resident is unable to clear the snow, he would ask them to call the City and request someone to come out and clear the snow. Mr. Rolli stated he was worried about the elderly residents that cannot clear the snow. Mayor Gamache asked Mr. Berkowitz to look at possible ways to clear the snow from the hydrants. © AGENDA APPROVAL Mr. Dickinson requested Item 11 (Request Tree Removal/White Pines Wilderness 2 nd Addition ® Regular Andover City Council Meeting Minutes — March 4, 2014 Page 3 Development) be removed from the agenda. He noted the developer asked this item be removed. Councilmember Trude stated she would like to pull Item 3 (Annual Review /Temporary Greenhouse /Mickman Brothers Garden Center /2218 Bunker Lake Blvd NW) for discussion. Motion by Trude, Seconded by Bukkila, to approve the Agenda as amended above. Motion carried unanimously. APPROVAL OF MINUTES February 18, 2014, Regular Meeting: Correct as amended. 'Councilmember Trude requested a correction on page four, line 3 "8, to clarify the beginning of that line. "...she talked to, stated a lot of their focus is the map a-ad ae°s it we only on the sewer capacity, that means the City needs to make sure the overall plan works for the community.' Motion by Trude, Seconded by Howard, to approve the minutes as amended. Motion carried ® unanimously. February 18, 2014, Closed Session Meeting.: Correct as presented. Motion by Knight, Seconded by Bukkila, to approve the minutes as presented. Motion carried unanimously. CONSENT ITEMS Item 2 Approve Payment of Claims Item 4 Approve Extension of Liquor License /Tanners Station Item 5 Approve 2014 Used Vehicle Sales Business License /Crown Eagle Autos, Inc. Item 6 Approve Application for Exempt Permit/The Way of the Shepherd, Inc. Item 7 Approve Change Order #1 /12- 28/Nightingale Street NW Reconstruction (See Resolution R014 -14) Item 8 Approve Lease Agreement with Verizon Wireless LLC /1717 Crosstown Boulevard NW — City Water Tower (Tower 2) Item 9 Approve 2015 Budget Development Guidelines Motion by Bukkila, Seconded by Howard, approval of the Consent Agenda as read. Motion carried unanimously. © ANNUAL REVIEW /TEMPORARY GREENHOUSE/MICKMANBR0THERS GARDEN CENTER12218 BUNKER LAKE BLVD NW Andover Station LLC received a Conditional Use Permit (CUP) approval in 2008 for outdoor ® Regular Andover City Council Meeting Minutes —March 4, 2014 Page 4 display, storage and sales. The CUP allows for a seasonal flower mart in the Festival Foods parking lot. A condition of approval requires annual review by the City Council. Councilmember Trade stated she is a little worried about how busy the strip center has become . with the new fitness center and other businesses and she requested staff to look at the setup and how the greenhouse will affect the traffic and other businesses. She is worried about this interfering with some prosperous business going on with the layout that may take away some parking spots in the front of some of the quick turnaround businesses located there. She thought it might be better to have the greenhouse more rectangular farther north. She is not concerned about the actual business and is happy it will be there but she wanted to make sure that they do not have some customers of the existing businesses having issues with parking. She stated this does not interfere with Festival Food parking because it is on the other side of the grassy berm in the parking lot. Mr. Dickinson stated one thing to keep in mind, there are two lots in that area that are currently not built on so there should be adequate room for parking for all of the businesses. Councilmember Trade thought the greenhouse should then be on the right side of the grassy © berm so people do not need to park so far away from the strip mall stores. Councilmember Bukkila asked who would be responsible for the parking lot. Mr. Dickinson stated it would be the owners. Councilmember Bukkila wondered if there were complaints regarding the parking, and should the owners get the complaints they should address them. Mr. Dickinson stated that is correct but once the greenhouse is set up, it will not be moved during the season. He stated staff could watch the parking and if there are any apparent problems it could be reviewed for next years' renewal. Councilmember Bukkila wondered if there is any consideration given to the tenants and what they thought about the temporary greenhouse. Councilmember Trade stated because of the fitness center, customers are parking close by rather than farther away which causes problems for the businesses that have quick in and out service. Councilmember Trade suggested the greenhouse be moved one row to the east. Councilmember Bukkila wondered if moving it would then affect the Festival Foods parking. Mr. Dickinson stated staff will work with the applicant and the mall owner on a suitable solution to the issue. Mr. Jeff Sutter, Mickman Brothers, Inc., applicant, stated the location is on the diagram. The greenhouse is fairly mobile but there are water and electric hookups in the parking lot that will be needed. He did not think moving the greenhouse on the other side of the grassy berm would be a © problem. He noted Festival Foods is fine with the proposed location, he also noted that the owner of the mall has discussed the greenhouse with the current tenants. Motion by Trade, Seconded by Knight, approving the renewal of the Conditional Use Permit for © Regular Andover City Council Meeting Minutes —March 4, 2014 Page 5 Andover Station LLC for Outdoor Display, Storage and Sales in the GB- General Business Zoning District in Andover Station, asking staff to work with the applicant on a location that is suitable to everyone. Motion carried unanimously. HOLD PUBLIC HEARING /ORDER PLANS & SPECIFICATIONS /12- 3WANDOVER BLVD NW & CROSSTO WN BO VD NW TURN LANE IMPROVEMENTS Mr. Berkowitz explained the City Council is requested to hold a public hearing and order plans and specifications for Project 12 -37A, Andover Boulevard NW & Crosstown Boulevard NW Turn Lane Improvements. Mr. Berkowitz reviewed the information with the Council. Mayor Gamache asked if there is going to be any complete shutdowns of the road. Mr. Berkowitz stated they are pretty deep into the design and they are looking at a four way stop for a couple of weeks while the stop light installation is underway. They do not anticipate having any closures. Councilmember Howard wondered if the sign for the high school is in jeopardy or is the school going to move it. Mr. Berkowitz stated through the study that was done, it was determined that the sign will be able to stay. It is five feet off the trail with the current design. They do need to work with the school district to acquire a drainage and utility easement in that area because drainage will now flow through their low area. They will be negotiating with the school on an easement. Motion by Howard, Seconded by Bukkila, to open the public hearing at 7:50 p.m. Motion carried unanimously. No one wished to address the Council. Motion by Bukkila, Seconded by Howard, to close the public hearing at 7:51 p.m. Motion carried unanimously. Councilmember Howard asked in constructing this, will the flow alleviate a little bit of traffic off Hanson Boulevard or will this redirect some of the traffic that goes through Andover Boulevard to the west of Hanson Boulevard. Mr. Berkowitz stated it could, but this will primarily alleviate traffic flow problems at that Andover /Crosstown intersection. He stated to alleviate the issues on Hanson Boulevard, Hanson Boulevard really needs to become a four -lane divided road. He hoped changes will be noticable. © Motion by Knight, Seconded by Bukkila, to approve Resolution R015 -13, ordering improvement of Project No. 12 -37A, Andover Boulevard NW and Crosstown Boulevard NW turn lane improvements and directing preparation of final plans and specifications. Motion carried Regular Andover City Council Meeting Minutes —March 4, 2014 Page 6 unanimously. ADMINISTRATOR'S REPORT City Staff updated the Council on the administration and city department activities, legislative updates, updates on development /CIP projects, and meeting reminders /community events. Mr. Dickinson explained at the last workshop they reviewed some information relative to the taxable market values and the numbers have changed already. State Department of Revenue action has made some changes for the County within their values. The number presented at the workshop was that the total taxable market value would be about a ten percent total tax base increase, the new numbers are boosting that number as high as sixteen percent. What has changed is that other cities within Anoka County have also seen some significant increases and the primary reason for the change is that the State has looked at the sales ratios. They require that all sales and market values be at least ninety percent of what the current market is. The State felt Anoka County's percentages were not high enough and the County needed to make some modifications. The State moved the sales timeframes from October 1 — September (used for the base), for 2015, to using October I" through January 1, 2014 which added four more months into © the sales analysis in which there was significant increases in values between September and the end of the year. That is what is leading to those increases. Capturing that entire increase in value is not something that he will recommend to the Council, as that would not be prudent as the State is making this change. He thought it was something to wait and see on and to not be hasty. Councilmember Trude wondered why the State was being so greedy with a surplus. Mr. Dickinson stated as values go up, the State Aid commitment goes down. He thought this would take some long -tern evaluation. He stated Andover has a lot going on relative to new development when compared to the neighboring cities. Councilmember Trude thought Mr. Dickinson explained to her earlier to expect a twelve percent increase for the City so she wondered if the sixteen percent is for another city. Mr. Dickinson stated sixteen is the total. They will have some changes within the community that are lower than that. Mayor Gamache asked what the State planned on doing next year. Mr. Dickinson thought that was a good question and suggested they wait a little bit on capturing of what is the City's true base. Mr. Dickinson continued to review City activities. Mr. Berkowitz stated property owners are not ultimately responsible for removing snow by hydrants but they ask that citizens do try to help out by removing snow from around hydrants if they are able. He noted staff cannot get to all the hydrants in the City right away. He stated their big push now is to clear the catch basins because once the snow starts to melt the water will back © Regular Andover City Council Meeting Minutes —March 4, 2014 Page 7 up if they are not cleared. Councilmember Howard wondered how much the City spends on clearing their hydrants. He thought they could have some volunteers clear the snow, or if the Scouts could do this, or if the City could pay a certain amount per hour for this service. Councilmember Trade stated the Scouts could use this for community service hours but there are a lot of issues with safety and the City needs to be cautious. The City needs to encourage volunteerism. Mr. Berkowitz noted neighborhoods need to work together. Councilmember Trade stated she would not want to pay for something that should be volunteer. She would hate to raise taxes in order to make this a City requirement. Councilmember Howard stated the reason he brought up paying people is that the City is already paying workers to do this and they do not have the time. Councilmember Trade stated she has seen people cleaning out around the hydrants that she lives by. Mr. Berkowitz reviewed other Public Works activities with the Council. MA YORICO UNCIL INPUT (North Metro Mayors Meeting) Mayor Gamache stated the North Metro Mayors Association had © their meeting last week and they had Michael Langley, CEO from Greater MSP. He stated some of the good news coming out of the meeting is there will be more jobs opening up in the area. Councilmember Trade reviewed what Mr. Langley discussed such as a worker shortage. Mayor Gamache stated Greater MSP is helping bring businesses to the Twin Cities. He stated there was also discussion at the meeting about the upcoming legislative session and what the North Metro Mayors Association will be backing and working with the Legislature on. One of the big items is getting the Highway 10 project moving along and getting some Federal funding. There is also a bill being submitted about Met Council Boardmember terms and the bill would stager those terms. ( Walmart Fire Works) Councilmember Trade asked in looking at the administrative update report, someone wants to do fireworks at Walmart and they are only going to allow garden materials so she wondered if that got sent back. Mr. Dickinson stated this would have to go through a review process for approval. Councilmember Trade wanted to make sure the staff person dealing with that does not have any confusion so they do not have a problem this first summer. u Q Regular Andover City Council Meeting Minutes — March 4, 2014 Page 8 (Proposed Mining Request) Councilmember Trade stated in the administrative update report she saw there will be a CUP request to do mining of soils for Mark Smith, to remove from one neighborhood and replace in another one. She stated they had this-problem before where the mining was not being done in a rural agricultural area, there was actually mining where there were homes sitting. Mr. Berkowitz stated staff is currently reviewing that request for the Planning and Zoning Commission in early April and then will come forward to the City Council in April or May. He stated staff wants to make sure the soil is not taken down to far so it is not buildable in the future. (Snow Removal at Intersection) Councilmember Trade asked. for snow removal at the corner of Prairie Road and 140th Avenue because the banks along the intersection make it hard to see around the corners. ADJOURNMENT Motion by Bukkila, Seconded by Howard, to adjourn. Motion carried unanimously. The meeting adjourned at 8:30 p.m. Respectfully submitted, Sue Osbeck, Recording Secretary [4] Regular Andover City Council Meeting Minutes — March 4, 2014 Page 9 REGULAR ANDOVER CITY COUNCIL MEETING MINUTES — MARCH 4, 2014 TABLE OF CONTENTS PLEDGEOF ALLEGIANCE .......................................................................... ............................... 1 RESIDENTFORUM ....................................................................................... ............................... 1 AGENDAAPPROVAL ................................................................................... ............................... 2 APPROVALOF MINUTES ............................................................................ ............................... 3 CONSENTITEMS .......................................................................................... ............................... 3 ApprovePayment of Claims ........................................................................ ............................... 3 Approve Extension of Liquor License /Tanners Station ............................... ............................... 3 Approve 2014 Used Vehicle Sales Business License /Crown Eagle Autos, Inc ......................... 3 Approve Application for Exempt Permit /The Way of the Shepherd, Inc .... ............................... 3 Approve Change Order #1 /12- 28/Nightingale Street NW Reconstruction (See Resolution © R014 -14) .............................................................................................. ............................... 3 Approve Lease Agreement with Verizon Wireless LLC /1717 Crosstown Boulevard NW — City WaterTower (Tower 2) ....................................................................... ............................... 3 Approve 2015 Budget Development Guidelines ......................................... ............................... 3 ANNUAL REVIEW /TEMPORARY GREENHOUSE/MICKMAN BROTHERS GARDEN CENTER/2218 BUNKER LAKE BLVD. NW ........................................... ............................... 5 HOLD PUBLIC HEARING /ORDER PLANS & SPECIFICATIONS /12- 37A/ANDOVER BLVD. NW & CROSSTOWN BLVD. NW TURN LANE IMPROVEMENTS (See ResolutionR015 -14) ................................................................................... ............................... 5 ADMINISTRATOR'S REPORT ..................................................................... ............................... 6 MAYOR/COUNCIL INPUT .......................................................:................... ............................... 7 NorthMetro Mayors Meeting ...................................................................... ............................... 7 WalmartFire Works .................................................................................... ............................... 7 ProposedMining Request ............................................................................ ............................... 8 Snow Removal at Intersection ..................................................................... ............................... 8 ADJOURNMENT............................................................................................ ............................... 8 \J