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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2025-02-25 WK 1 ANDOVER CITY COUNCIL WORKSHOP MEETING – FEBRUARY 25, 2025 MINUTES The Workshop Meeting of the Andover City Council was called to order by Mayor Barthel, February 25, 2025, 6:00 p.m., at the Andover City Hall, 1685 Crosstown Boulevard NW, Andover, Minnesota. Councilmembers present: Rick Engelhardt, Scott Schue, and Jonathan Shafto Councilmember absent: None Also present: City Administrator, Sarah Cotton Community Development Director, Joe Janish Director of Public Works/City Engineer, David Berkowitz Finance Manager, Lee Brezinka Others DISCUSS POSSIBLE SOUTH WARD LAKE DEVELOPMENT Community Development Director Janish reviewed the staff report in regard to a possible South Ward Lake development. Councilmember Engelhardt asked if they have any other similar properties in the City that they have developed before with access point issues. Mr. Janish shared that Dakota Street in Petersen Farms has similar access to this. Director of Public Works/City Engineer Berkowitz added they do not have any emergency access points that are nearly this long. He explained they would need to plow this access, and the long- term maintenance would also be the City’s responsibility. Councilmember Schue asked how funding happens when they have this type of access. Mr. Berkowitz shared the developer would pay the upfront costs and the City would be responsible for the long-term maintenance. Councilmember Schue shared his concerns with the long-term costs of this maintenance. He said he would be open to something so that the developer would be responsible for these maintenance costs. Mr. Janish stated they could ask the developer to maintain this access through the PUD. He noted this would then become a question of how the developer would maintain it. He added they could also change the code and allow cul-de-sacs to be over 500 feet in length. Andover City Council Workshop Meeting Minutes – February 25, 2025 Page 2 Councilmember Shafto said he does not like the idea of the access of what is being proposed as a PUD as it seems like a lot of houses to put on a wetland. He added he is also concerned with the long-term maintenance costs in a development that will not add much to the tax base. Mayor Barthel explained this in the rural area and all of the urban area tax dollars end up going towards the roads. He noted not every piece of land in the City is developable and to make a bunch of concessions to make an area developable gives him heartburn. He said there are some developable areas on the property in question; however, past Councils have put in things to the east of this area that will prevent a road from ever going through this area. He stated he would be okay with a longer cul-de-sac in this development rather than an emergency access due to how much that would cost. He noted the developers are proposing a lot of homes in an area that may not be developable. Councilmember Engelhardt asked if there would be any wetland mitigation requirements for this land. Mr. Janish said they would have to follow the standard wetland mitigation process. Mayor Barthel asked how long the proposed cul-de-sac is. Mr. Janish said it was around 1,500 feet. Mayor Barthel said there would also be long driveways with this longer cul-de-sac. Councilmember Engelhardt asked if there will be fire hydrants in this area. Mr. Janish said no and noted that these properties will be on private wells and septic tanks. The Council consensus was reached to direct staff to share with the developer that they are not in support of the long access point due to the long-term maintenance costs. DISCUSS INTERIM PERFORMANCE STANDARDS IN HUGHES/WESTVIEW INDUSTRIAL PARK Mr. Janish reviewed the staff report concerning interim performance standard requirements for Hughes/Westview Industrial Park in regard to paving and parking surfaces. Councilmember Engelhardt said he would like it to be paved. Councilmember Shafto shared he cannot think of a reason why he would not want them to pave the lot. Councilmember Schue noted it would be a significant cost to have this paved. Councilmember Shafto shared having fire sprinklers in the buildings would be more important than the paving. Councilmember Schue asked if front access is currently paved or is just gravel. Mr. Janish said it Andover City Council Workshop Meeting Minutes – February 25, 2025 Page 3 was paved at one time but is now breaking apart, so it is more like loose gravel. Councilmember Schue shared he is not opposed to requiring this to be paved; however, he is concerned with the extra costs that would be incurred by the property owner to have this paved. He added he is not sure if the lot would even need to be paved based on the proposed use of parked equipment waiting on repair or resale equipment. He noted if it is gravel then whatever contaminants are there will stay there; whereas if they were to pave it then these contaminants would run off and they would not be able to contain them. He said he would be in favor of requiring a combination of pavement and gravel with the front access area being paved. He shared he would like to know more about how they plan to contain contaminants like oil, antifreeze, and transmission fluid. Councilmember Shafto asked if there are other properties that used to have gravel that were required to switch to pavement based on their use. Mr. Janish said there have been times that changing the use has resulted in requiring pavement. He added pavement is also required for new construction. Councilmember Shafto said it could seem like they are showing favoritism if they do not require pavement at this location when they have at other locations in the same situation. Mayor Barthel shared they required everything in the Hughes Industrial Park to be paved. Councilmember Schue asked about the rationale for why pavement was required. Mayor Barthel shared the use was changing and then required to meet city code including pavement. Mayor Barthel said he would like at least three-quarters of the area to be paved. He noted if they need an area of dirt or gravel that would be acceptable; however, he would like the majority to be paved as they have required this of other businesses. He added they were originally going to require curb in this area as well, but they decided against it to save the property owners some money. Councilmember Schue noted since the precedent has already been set for other businesses in the area that pavement is a requirement. He said he likes that they relaxed the curb requirement to save money with the pavement. nd Mr. Berkowitz asked if they would also want to require front parking off of 162 Lane to be redone. Mayor Barthel said yes. Mr. Berkowitz explained they had proposed to just fill the potholes and paint it. He asked if they would want to require this to be paved rather than just patched. Mayor Barthel said yes. The Council consensus was reached to direct staff to communicate with the property owners that pavement will be required on at least three-quarters of the site. METROPOLITAN URBAN SERVICE AREA (MUSA) PLANNED UNIT DEVELOPMENT Andover City Council Workshop Meeting Minutes – February 25, 2025 Page 4 (PUD) DISCUSSION Mr. Janish reviewed the staff report in regard to MUSA PUDs and the land use map. Councilmember Shafto asked when they anticipate the Met Council to increase density requirements again. Mr. Janish said it would likely be in ten years from now. Councilmember Schue asked if a majority of the developable land in the MUSA would be done through a PUD. Mr. Janish said yes as they are looking at going through the PUD process with almost every development. He explained a lot of the lots that are left are not as easy to develop. Mr. Berkowitz explained they have been having to do a lot more PUDs over the last few years as the applications that were coming in were not standard. Mayor Barthel noted while PUDs cause a little more work by staff and Council, it allows them to have more control over density. DISCUSS POSSIBLE MATCHING FUNDING SOURCES FOR MNDNR GRANTS FOR DALSKE WOODLANDS BOARDWALK AND KELSEY ROUND LAKE PARK TRAIL RECONSTRUCTION/25-6 Mr. Berkowitz reviewed the staff report concerning the possible matching funding source for grants for the Dalske Woodlands Boardwalk and the Kelsey Round Lake Park Trail reconstruction. Councilmember Schue asked where they would come up with the money for this. Finance Manager Brezinka explained with the current budgetary estimates they are projected to be gaining fund balance for the year that they could use for this project. He said they are estimating an excess reserve of $2,000,000 in fund balance. Councilmember Schue shared since he is new on the Council he is not sure if there are other areas that they would want to prioritize for this excess fund balance. He said he is not opposed to these projects as he knows some residents would really enjoy it; however, there would also be residents who will not understand why they chose to spend the excess fund balance in this area. Mr. Berkowitz noted the work at the Kelsey Round Lake trail needs to be done while the Dalske Woodlands Boardwalk is more of a desired project. He said if they build the boardwalk correctly it will be there for up to 100 years. Mayor Barthel shared they have been considering the boardwalk for a long time and if they are able to do it without costing the taxpayers with the grants, then he would like to do it; however, if the grant funding does not get approved then he does not think it would move forward. He added that not every member of the Natural Preserve Commission is on board with this project. Mr. Berkowitz discussed the Kelsey Round Lake Park trail and shared he was not originally aware Andover City Council Workshop Meeting Minutes – February 25, 2025 Page 5 that it would be eligible for grant funding. He added this trail is the longest trail system within a park in the City. Councilmember Schue asked when they expect to hear back on whether or not they will be awarded any grant funding. Mr. Berkowitz shared the federal grant application is due by the end of February and the other DNR grants want submissions in the next week. He said for both grants they should hear back around July. He explained if they get the grant funding and the projects are approved by Council they would begin the design process next winter for construction to begin in 2026. Councilmember Schue asked if this timeline is realistic for finding the City’s portion of the funding in the budget. Mr. Berkowitz said yes and noted if they are awarded the grant, it would put them in a tough spot if they could not find the funding and had to reject it. Mayor Barthel shared when he first started on the Council he struggled with the budget for the first few months. He said everything will start to make more sense once they start working on the CIP and it will help projects like this make more sense. Councilmember Schue noted this was addressed in their fundamentals course over the weekend and he now has a much better idea of how the budget works. Mr. Brezinka added if they get the grant funding and approve these projects then they could take this funding out of the general fund and set it aside for this project. Mr. Berkowitz shared the Kelsey Round Lake Park trail has been in the CIP for 2027 and they had always listed the funding source as the general fund. Mayor Barthel stated the difference between wants and needs can be a slippery slope. He noted that Kelsey Round Lake is a well-used amenity and if they do not replace the trail then they would have to pay the price to tear it up. Councilmember Schue thanked staff and Council for being patient with him as he gets familiar with the budget. He shared coming into this discussion he was more in favor of the Dalske Woodlands Boardwalk as it was a cheaper project; however, through discussions he has realized there is more of a need for the Kelsey Round Lake Park trail improvements. The Council consensus was reached to direct staff to apply for grant funding for the Dalske Woodlands Boardwalk and the Kelsey Round Lake Park projects. OTHER TOPICS Mr. Brezinka shared the roof of the original ice arena, and the field house are in the CIP for $1,000,000. He stated they have had 90% of the plans drawn and the estimates are coming back between $1,130,000 and $1,260,000. He said they will be going out for bids within the next few weeks and wanted to let the Council know that they will be requesting a budget adjustment for this Andover City Council Workshop Meeting Minutes – February 25, 2025 Page 6 project. He noted there is fund balance available for the Community Center to pay for this difference. Mayor Barthel asked if they try to keep the Community Center fund balance at 50% like they do for the general fund. Mr. Brezinka said they do not have a policy about the Community Center fund balance. Councilmember Schue asked what fund the roof will be coming out of. Mr. Brezinka said it will be coming out of the Community Center special revenue fund. Mayor Barthel requested they have a deep dive discussion of the Community Center and its funding sources for the new Councilmembers. He asked if the YMCA is doing well for itself. Mr. Brezinka shared this is their top facility. He explained the YMCA pays for their portion of the building and there is a shared common space in the building. He said when the roof of the YMCA is done, they will be paying for it themselves. Mayor Barthel suggested having a few Workshop meetings a year at different locations like the Community Center, Public Works, or Fire Stations. ADJOURNMENT Motion by Schue, Seconded by Shafto, to adjourn. Motion carried unanimously. The workshop meeting adjourned at 7:21 p.m. Respectfully submitted, Ava Major, Recording Secretary