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HomeMy WebLinkAboutWK - January 28, 2014A C LNN r Y o r © OVE 1685 CROSSTOWN BOULLVARD N.W. • ANUUVtF<, MINNE601 A 55304 • (763) 755 -5100 FAX (763) 755 -8923 • WWW.ANDOVERMN.GOV E City Council Workshop Tuesday, January 28, 2014 Conference Rooms A & B 1. Call to Order— 6:30 p.m. 2. Goals & Policies for 3'd Generation Water Resource Management Plan/Project 13 -27 3. Discuss Mailbox Requirements for New Developments 4. Discuss Concrete Curb & Gutter of Parking Lots in Parks 5. Discuss /Review City Code Amendments - 12 -2 -2 Definitions; 12 -12 Permitted, Conditional Interim & Prohibited Uses; 12 -14 Administration & Enforcement 6. Discuss /Review Community Survey 7. 2013 General Fund Budget Progress Report Per Audit December 2013 8. December 2013 City Investments Report 9. Other Business 10. Adjournment ANDOVER CITY COUNCIL WORKSHOP MEETING —JANUARY 28, 2014 MINUTES The Workshop Meeting of the Andover City Council was called to order by Acting Mayor Sheri Bukkila, January 28, 2014, 6:30 p.m., at the Andover City Hall, 1685 Crosstown Boulevard NW, Andover, Minnesota. Councilmembers present: Mike Knight, Julie Trade and Tony Howard Councilmember absent: Mayor Mike Gamache Also present: City Administrator, Jim Dickinson Community Development Director, Dave Carlberg Public Works Director /City Engineer, David Berkowitz Assistant Public Works Director, Todd Haas Others GOALS AND POLICIES FOR 3RD GENERATION WATER RESOURCE MANAGEMENT PLAN /PROJECT 13 -27 Mr. Berkowitz explained the City Council is requested to discuss the proposed draft goals and policies for the 3'a Generation Water Resource Management Plan, Project 13 -27. Mr. Berkowitz reviewed the staff report with the Council. Councilmember Howard asked how the plan has changed. Mr. Berkowitz stated the plan is the same. A few years ago they decided they needed consistency in their rules. He stated because of Atlas 14, staff feels it is better that they started a few years ago because they are now seeing the one hundred year flood elevation going up a little bit. Councilmember Howard asked if the developers are following the plan. Mr. Berkowitz stated they are going by the City's plan and also the Coon Creek Watershed District's plan. Councilmember Knight stated some of the other communities are having aquifer problems and he wondered if they will be having the same issues in the future. Mr. Berkowitz stated staff just met with the Coon Creek Watershed District and it was concluded that the DNR's plan of Ground Water Evaluation does not currently include Andover. Mr. Berkowitz stated many communities are discussing the option of using surface water for drinking. He noted Ramsey went through that discussion a few years back. Councilmember Trade asked if surface water would be a shallow well or a pond. Mr. Berkowitz © Andover City Council Workshop Meeting Minutes —January 28, 2014 Page 2 stated it would be from a pond. Councilmember Trade wondered if they needed to start looking at alternatives for the rural area of Andover. Mr. Berkowitz stated the problem used to be with washing machines using a lot of water but now washing machines are being designed to use less than 20 gallons of water per load which has helped a lot. Councilmember Knight thought a lot the water problems now in the state have to do with the production of ethanol. Councilmember Bukkila asked whether the City has any choices in this or is this the way it is. Mr. Berkowitz stated they try to keep it to a minimum when taking language from statutory regulations. Mr. Haas stated the City needs to make sure they have clean water. He stated the Lower Rum WMO went bare minimum and the Coon Creek Watershed District will likely be more restrictive. Councilmember Knight asked if they can mandate rain gardens. Mr. Berkowitz stated it is a best management practice that a developer can use if they need to meet a requirement of infiltration. As a best management practice, a developer needs to come forward asking for a rain garden and the Council reviews it to see if it is the best way to manage the water infiltration. Councilmember Trade stated on the first page, Goals, under Item C it states: "to protect and enhance..." and maybe it should read "to protect or enhance..." so it is not mandatory. Councilmember Bukkila asked if there is a purpose to this discussion or is this being presented as something new that the Council needs to follow. Mr. Berkowitz stated it is both. Mr. Dickinson reviewed the reason for this discussion and noted it is also an educational piece for future review of developments. Councilmember Bukkila stated she would rather have staff review this and decide what needed to be added or removed to be in conformance with what the State Statute dictates. Staff reviewed examples of the one hundred year elevation requirements in different developments in the City. Mr. Dickinson wondered on Item E, what was meant by "provide a mechanism..." Mr. Berkowitz stated this is left vague to leave options open. Councilmember Trade wondered if in the rural areas of the City, they should be more environmentally friendly and have each site take care of its own run off. She thought this would save money because if there are drainage ditches in the rural areas, they would not need curb and © Andover City Council Workshop Meeting Minutes — January 28, 2014 Page 3 gutters. Mr. Haas stated there is a lot of maintenance involved with keeping drainage ditches open, which adds up in costs. He stated they really need to weigh out the costs. Mr. Berkowitz stated the edge of the road deteriorates without curb and if curb is not put in, then gravel needs to be placed and maintained. Councilmember Trude stated this is something the City needs to look at further and review. Councilmember Bukkila stated her concern is maintenance and upkeep. Mr. Berkowitz noted they try not to dictate what the developer does with their developments but if the Council wanted to discuss this further or make changes, staff is fine with that. DISCUSS MAILBOX REQUIREMENTS FOR NEW DEVELOPMENTS Mr. Berkowitz explained the City Council is requested to discuss mailbox requirements or mailbox styles for new developments. Mr. Berkowitz reviewed the staff report with the Council. © Councilmembers Knight and Howard stated they did not like the large cluster style mailboxes. Councilmember Bukkila stated lock boxes are great but too expensive for most people. Councilmember Knight asked what they do with newspaper boxes. Mr. Berkowitz indicated the newspaper boxes need to be placed at the same height as the mailbox or higher because those boxes are what the Public Works Department hits. Mr. Berkowitz stated it is generally up to the developer to decide what they want to do as long as it meets the City's requirements. Councilmembers Bukkila and Howard stated they would be okay with mega cluster mailboxes if it was half the size of what was presented. Councilmember Trude indicated she liked cluster mailboxes because they were durable, looked nice, and the mail people like them. DISCUSS CONCRETE CURB & GUTTER OF PARKING LOTS IN PARKS Mr. Berkowitz explained the City Council is requested to discuss concrete curb and gutter for parking lots in City Parks. Mr. Berkowitz reviewed the staff report with the Council, also a map of Prairie Knoll Park was displayed. Councilmember Bukkila stated this needs to be practical, not pretty. Mr. Dickinson stated the City might get some backlash from commercial developers because it is a requirement for the commercial developers. © Andover City Council Workshop Meeting Minutes —January 28, 2014 Page 4 Councilmember Bukkila stated she would be okay with doing this for recreational purposes. Councilmember Howard stated he would be comfortable with putting curb along the inside of the parking lot to keep vehicles off the park. Mr. Berkowitz stated the cost to curb both parking lots is $25,000. Councilmembers Howard, Knight, and Bukkila felt rather than using curb, they should add more vegetation around the parking area to deter people from driving where they are not supposed to drive. Mr. Dickinson asked if they needed to do a code amendment or do they do this individually as projects are approved. The Council felt it should be approved individually. DISCUSSIREVIEW CITY CODE AMENDMENTS — 12 -2 -2 DEFINITIONS, 12 -12 PERMITTED, CONDITIONAL INTERIM & PROHIBITED USES, 12 -14 ADMINISTRATION & ENFORCEMENT © Mr. Carlberg explained the City Council is requested to continue the discussion of City Code 12- 12 Permitted, Conditional and Prohibited Uses. Mr. Carlberg reviewed the staff report with the Council. Councilmember Bukkila stated she would like to see "Group Family Daycare Facility" listed as "Daycare Facility — Group Family." Mr. Carlberg stated that was a good idea. Councilmember Bukkila thought the headings needed to be categorized by keywords. Councilmember Trude liked the idea of using in large headings with subheadings such as "Animals; Dwellings; Storage; etc..." Councilmember Bukkila reviewed a list of sections she thought should be put into the chart, which would help people better find things they are looking for. Mr. Carlberg thanked her for the thoroughness of the list. Councilmember Trude wondered if they are putting some things in the chart that do not belong there. Mr. Carlberg stated some are listed in the chart because they need a conditional use permit. Educational Institution or Facility © Mr. Carlberg reviewed the current definition with the Council. Councilmember Trude thought there needed to be a better definition for this item. She thought © Andover City Council Workshop Meeting Minutes —January 28, 2014 Page 5 this was too broad and should not include K -12. She noted the City of Blaine's definition really defines the items. Mr. Dickinson stated if it is listed as conditional in residential districts, the Council could deny or approve the item, if appropriate. Councilmember Trude thought putting one definition in the ordinance for everything could hurt the community. Mr. Dickinson stated he thought the Council's intention was to get rid of the definition and use the description. One title will be K -12 and the other will be Post - Secondary with conditional use in business areas, otherwise K -12 is permitted in all other areas except the M -1 & M -2 Districts. The Council discussed with staff the confusion of the chart in regard to education. Mr. Carlberg stated a previous discussion that the Council and staff had was to exclude them from the commercial district because they did not want to lose the tax base. The Council thought that was a good point. Mr. Carlberg noted a business like Sylvan Learning Center would be allowed because it is service related and would still produce a tax base. 10 Mr. Carlberg stated the Council removed publicly owned and operated property except as in the amended, but he wondered how they will deal with these things because they are not allowed in any district now. He would like to put this back in. The Council agreed with this suggestion. Mr. Carlberg stated they do not address private utilities, only public utilities. They need to have a public utility and a private utility line, which would be permitted. In the definition, they need to be addressed. He noted they include transmission lines and gas pipelines that are listed as permitted but should be conditional. The Council asked staff to correct this. DISCUSSME VIE W COMMUNITY S UR VE Y Mr. Dickinson explained an Andover City Council 2013 -2014 Goal is to "pursue a community survey to determine resident support for current city services and programs." At the October City Council workshop, Council direction was to start this process to assist the Council on gauging public opinion of current services and support for future capital projects. Councilmember Knight stated question 4 "what do you think is the most serious issue facing the City of Andover today?" is going to be hard to tabulate because it is not a multiple choice question. Mr. Dickinson stated this is what they had on the previous survey and noted last time the primary concern was City growth. Councilmember Bukkila stated she had an issue with question 77 that asks about property tax © increases. She thought the question was important but was a voter question and they do not know what lifestyle situation each resident has. She would like to be more transparent on the question, not complicated. Andover City Council Workshop Meeting Minutes —January 28, 2014 Page 6 Councilmember Knight stated he had an issue with questions 51 through 57 related to enforcing city codes because he thought it would be too complicated to go over by phone. Mr. Dickinson stated these questions were in the last two surveys it does not seem like you are on the phone that long when taking this type of survey. Councilmember Trude thought question 60 maybe too complicated also, but she thought that was an important issue to cover. Councilmember Howard stated he thought question 47 about whether there should be a vehicle over pass constructed over the railroad tracks on Bunker Lake Boulevard was an important question to ask but should include dollar amounts for people to answer. Mr. Dickinson noted if dollars are added to the questions, people may start to add them up and decide it is all too expensive. Consensus was to seek financial support. Councilmember Trude thought they should add a question asking if the person would use or does use that route. Consensus was to add that question. Councilmember Trude thought question 63 about open space areas should have a question added © "Do you think ... open space should be accessible." She thought another question should ask if open space should be large parcels or small areas in the urban area. The Council agreed to add the questions. Councilmember Trude asked if they should add a question if people would want to spend more money on trails or parks. Councilmember Bukkila would like to have those split up and ask both questions. Mr. Dickinson stated they could add questions within questions 64 -68, depending on the responses. Councilmember Howard stated he would rather have questions about trails than parks. Councilmember Trude thought they may need an open ended trail question such as "If a trail is added, where would it be." Mr. Dickinson stated a person would need to be educated on trails in order to indicate where they should go. Councilmember Bukkila thought the trail question should focus on access to school trail systems. Mr. Dickinson wondered if they should add the question: "Should the City expand the trails ?" The Council supported that question. Mr. Dickinson summarized the area of trails and parks in the survey, noting the trail questions © will come first, followed by park related questions. Councilmember Knight thought they should have a few questions regarding city services, what is being offered, and what should be offered. Mr. Dickinson thought this was already covered in Andover City Council Workshop Meeting Minutes — January 28, 2014 Page 7 the survey. Councilmember Bukkila thought the question on text messaging for updates should not be asked. She stated she liked question 88 about email distributions, but would like to remove question 89 regarding texting. Councilmember Trude stated she would like to know if the residents know about the City's Facebook page and to remove all other questions regarding social media. 2013 GENERAL FUND BUDGET PROGRESS REPORT PRE AUDIT DECEMBER 2013 Mr. Dickinson reviewed the 2013 general fund budget with the Council, highlighting both positive and negative budget variances. DECEMBER 2013 CITY INVESTMENTS REPORT Mr. Dickinson reviewed the December 2013 City investments with the Council, identifying that the city has a very large debt service payment on February 1, 2014. © OTHER BUSINESS Councilmember Trude stated the Council needs to keep in mind possible people to invite to apply for the EDA board. ADJOURNMENT Motion by Howard, Seconded by Knight, to adjourn. Motion carried unanimously. The meeting adjourned at 9:10 p.m. Respectfully submitted, Sue Osbeck, Recording Secretary H