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HomeMy WebLinkAboutSP April 24, 2000 (2) ~ 0./) UJÎ~~ 5-1",,-00 CITY of ANDOVER Special City Council Meeting - Monday, April 24, 2000 9:00 AM - Conference Room A 1. Discussion with Metropolitan Council RepresentativesNarious Issues 2. Other Business 3. Adjournment -- ~ = W1 i.J:;tu, ,5-'lp-= CITY of ANDOVER Special City Council Meeting - April 24, 2000 Minutes Mayor Jack McKelvey called a Special Meeting ofthe Andover City Council to order on Apri124, 2000, 9:05 a.m., at the Andover City Hall, 1685 Crosstown Boulevard NW, Andover, Minnesota. Councilmembers present: Don Jacobson, Mike Knight Councilmembers absent: Julie Johnson, Ken Orttel Also Present: City Administrator, Richard Fursman Community Development Director, Dave Carlberg Metropolitan Council Members - Natalie Steffen, Tom McElveen and Sandra Pinne1 Others Natalie Steffen began by stating that since she felt responsible for this meeting happening this morning she would explain why. It all began within the last two weeks and started with the Mayor's article in the Andover Today newsletter. It was brought to the attention of Metropolitan Council by two different sources questioning whether the rules were the same for Ramsey as in Andover. She wasn't too concerned until a councilperson fÌ'om the city of Ramsey called and reiterated some difficulties they were having and talked about the Moratorium that Andover was considering. She placed a call to Mr. Fursman and left a message with Mr. Carlberg (she was unable to attend the last council meeting) and asked that a copy of the Moratorium be faxed to her and to call her concerning Mayor McKelvey's article. The following day she visited the city manager in Ramsey to check out the phone calls she was receiving, most of which were about the school district not telling the truth and Ramsey not telling it correctly. She asked him if some certain things were going on and he said yes they were, so she reminded the city of Ramsey of their responsibility in the situation they were in and stated that Tom McElveen can confirm that. She advised the city manager to call Mr. McElveen at Met Council and back up these kinds of things. She called Mr. McElveen to review with him the difficulties and also inform him of the impending phone call. She stated that she was a little nervous, but if there is nothing to be nervous about, he needed to tell her and she would drop it. Ifhe saw these things as causing some problems then they needed to figure out what to do about it. She reiterated different points with Mr. McElveen. She didn't believe at that time he had seen the mayor's article. Tom stated that he would like to have a conversation with the chair. They proceeded to have a three-way conversation and decided to meet with the city of ,Andover. Natalie stated that she would be uncomfortable talking to Andover without letting the school district know about the meeting. - ..- .- She called Mr. Giroux at the school district office to let him know that she wanted to talk to the city of Andover and he agreed and also, after viewing some council meeting tapes, understood why she was a little nervous. Ms. Steffen indicated that she has viewed approximately 20 hours of tapes and looked at some documents to make sure Andover understands what was asked of them, and minimize the outside concerns about whether or not what they are asking of one city is the same expectations as that of another. Ms. Steffen stated that she talked to the mayor on Thursday evening and connected for the first time with Mr. Fursman on Friday, but the rumor she heard from the Met Council Chair about them blocking the land getting out of Ag Preserve was not discussed with her and that is when she started getting angry. She realizes that Mr. Fursman was upset Friday morning but his accusation made her very angry: (1) She doesn't feel responsible nor does she think the Met Council is responsible for the situation that Andover found itself in wanting a school, and their feeling towards the Met Council. (2) She is left in a situation where a group in Andover and in Ramsey may be talking to one another (one group doesn't want the school here and the other wants the school in Ramsey) and they are sharing information and everything is being blown out of proportion. (3) Met Council is here to provide information. This is a local issue therefore they are not going to tell where things have to be placed. There was more discussion about the mayor's article. Councilmember Knight asked what was so objectionable about the article. Mayor McKelvey stated it was the part about the $160,000 townhomes. Ms. Steffen stressed that it was not just one item on its own that was objectionable. It was a combination of things. Councilmember Knight noted that at the last council meeting he made a statement to the audience explaining why Andover needed a Moratorium on multi-family affordable housing, and also in the forthcoming newsletter article, he reiterated the city's commitment. Councilmember Jacobson and Knight restated that the City Council gave Met Council their word that in the next plan they would meet the objectives of Met Council. A discussion took place regarding $160,000 townhomes (Mayor McKelvey explained 'that the city can buy them down and still keep them valued at $160,000), timing issues, disgruntled groups taking things out of context and misconstruing them any way they want, etc. Councilmember Jacobson noted that the city will meet Met Council's goals but it may be by a different route. Councilmember Knight said he would hope Ms. Steffen and other Met Council representatives would trust the judgment of the Council instead of what they hear from disgruntled developers and residents. Councilmember Jacobson explained to Ms. Steffen that the Moratorium is needed because some areas will need to be rezoned for higher density which will probably not go over very well with some ofthe residents. Rezoning does take some time. Councilmember Jacobson asked Ms. Steffen if she had her answer from this meeting and she said yes. Mayor McKelvey commented the city needs time to step back and figure out where to put multi-family housing. Met Council Representative Tom McElveen restated why he and Ms. Steffen needed to have this meeting. They heard at the Met Council that Andover did not want affordable life-cycle housing and needed to have that clarified as it made them vel)' nervous. The other concern is that Andover has a piece of property that is multi-family zoned that the city is going to down zone. That sends a signal that he needs to be concerned - he needs to ask the question. Then they see a Moratorium on multi-family housing but not on any other housing. On some of the land trades there is a concern on their part as to whether there is enough land that is going to be guided and zoned for multi-family. These are all concerns that Met Council has. Consequently, other cities feel Andover is being treated differently. Councilmember Knight explained that Ramsey has a different set of circumstances - what they have to deal with is not Andover's business. We have no state highways and more of our share of wetlands and peat bogs. Ramsey doesn't have those. They have a major highway with traffic to deal with. We do not have this. There was more discussion regarding the goals set by Met Council, the Moratorium and feeling free to call anyone on the City Councilor at City Hall when they feel uncomfortable with a situation to settle things before getting upset. , Sandra Pinnel, representative from Met Council, stated she has been working with staff on Andover's Comprehensive Plan and asked if there were any other concerns. Ms. Steffen raised the issue of the 1 in 10 situation. She is hoping to address this by learning more about cities that are part in the MUSA line and part outside the MUSA line which have a different set of circumstances like areas with good farm land versus part marginal farmland. She felt she needed to sit down with us and let us know what is happening. Tom McElveen feels positive about the direction Andover is going. There was more discussion about rezoning, transportation, park-and-ride and taxation issues. Ms. Steffen stated she would like to have a small meeting with the mayor and one councilperson to let the school district know that there is nothing to worry about. Motion by Mayor McKelvey, seconded by Knight to adjourn. Meeting adjourned at 9:55 a.m. Respectfully submitted, e~ Pat Janssen Acting Recording Secretary