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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2025-04-22 WK ANDOVER CITY COUNCIL WORKSHOP MEETING – APRIL 22, 2025 MINUTES The Workshop Meeting of the Andover City Council was called to order by Mayor Barthel, April 22, 2025, 6:00 p.m., at the Andover City Hall, 1685 Crosstown Boulevard NW, Andover, Minnesota. Councilmembers present: Rick Engelhardt, Karen Godfrey, 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 City Attorney, Scott Baumgartner Finance Manager, Lee Brezinka Natural Resources Technician, Kameron Kytonen Nature Preserve Commissioners Parks and Streets Operations Manager, Jason Baumunk Others JOINT MEETING WITH NATURE PRESERVE COMMISSION Natural Resources Technician Kytonen introduced the Nature Preserve Commissioners and reviewed a presentation with the Council on the Nature Preserve Commission. Councilmember Schue asked what interaction the Nature Preserve Commission and the Planning and Zoning Commission have. Councilmember Godfrey said she was involved with the Planning and Zoning Commission for nine years, and they never had any involvement with the Nature Preserve Commission. Mayor Barthel shared since he became the Mayor, he has thought a lot about the Nature Preserve Commission. He said he wants to have a conversation with the Council at an upcoming meeting about what they should do with the Commission. He noted if all the Commission is ever going to be is just overseeing the four nature preserves in the City, then it may not be worth having the citizens appointed as Commissioners to come together a few times a year to discuss these preserves. He added they could empower the Commission and give them a seat at the table with the rural reserve to give them greater involvement in the development process. He said he would want to see the Commission become something strong if it is going to stay. Andover City Council Workshop Meeting Minutes – April 22, 2025 Page 2 Councilmember Godfrey agreed and added the Nature Preserve Commission was originally created to help acquire land for open spaces, and now it is just for preserving what they already have. She noted they are currently at a turning point for the future between just preserving the existing land or to expand. Mayor Barthel asked why the Commission only has the four preserves and not also the open space st on the southwest corner of Hanson Boulevard and 161 Avenue, as this is technically a nature preserve. Councilmember Schue asked when the Council will discuss the future of the Nature Preserve Commission. Mayor Barthel said he would like the Council to have discussed the future of the Commission by the end of 2025. Councilmember Schue said he is in support of discussing this and engaging the Commission on the future of the nature preserves. He thanked the Commissioners for all of the work they have been doing. Councilmember Godfrey shared her appreciation for the Nature Preserve Commission for putting together a great presentation, which summarizes where they have been and how they got to where they are. Mayor Barthel noted in the six years he has been on the Council; he has felt that the Nature Preserve Commission has not been given complete direction on where to go. He said he wants to make sure that this direction is set moving forward. Councilmember Shafto agreed with his fellow Councilmembers and added he does not want them to lose sight of this throughout the year. He said he wants to make this a recurring discussion so they keep it as a focus of the Council. He shared he loves the nature preserves and thinks they will be a part of the City’s legacy. He shared his appreciation for the Commission and all of their work. THTH DISCUSS PROPOSED ROUNDABOUT AT 7 AVE. (CSAH 7) AND 165 AVE. (CR 158)/C.P. 24-35 Director of Public Works/City Engineer Berkowitz reviewed the staff report concerning the thth roundabout at 7 Avenue and 165 Avenue. Andrew Paulman, WSB, reviewed the proposed roundabout project with the Council. Councilmember Godfrey asked what an MS4 community is defined as. Mr. Berkowitz explained it has to do with stormwater requirements. Mayor Barthel asked how long this roundabout would take to build. Mr. Paulman said it could take as short as six weeks. Andover City Council Workshop Meeting Minutes – April 22, 2025 Page 3 Michelle Pritchard, Anoka County Design Engineer, added the County will be doing pavement preservation projects in this area, and everything will have new pavement. She said she believes this will be a mill and overlay. Mr. Berkowitz shared they had discussed in the past that they would not be doing any plants in the roundabouts, and it would just be grass and colored concrete. Mayor Barthel asked if the City or the County would be responsible for mowing the grass in the middle of the roundabout. Ms. Pritchard said it will likely be done by the County when they are mowing the rest of the area. Councilmember Godfrey asked how extensive the communication with residents will be for this project. Mr. Paulman shared they will have an open house that residents can attend in person or virtually. He added they will also be mailing postcards to 650 residents in the area and posting on social media. He noted message boards often help get the word out for these projects. Mr. Berkowitz asked if they anticipate any utility relocation with the private utilities in the area. Mr. Paulman said there may be some that require relocation to get them out of the way. Councilmember Shafto shared he is looking forward to this roundabout as he drives this road a lot and it can be very dangerous. Mr. Berkowitz explained when the development in this area went in, the City and the County discussed running the road through the development to lessen the curves; however, it came down thth to the potential of two roundabouts, one at 165 and at the other intersection of 165 around the curve. He said they were not likely to get funding for both of these projects, so they went with the best candidate, which was this one. He stated they will evaluate the improvements made by this roundabout before they discuss whether or not they need the second roundabout. He asked Mr. Paulman how many roundabouts he has built. Mr. Paulman shared he has built 110 in the State since 2005. Councilmember Godfrey asked if this is a one or two-lane roundabout. Mr. Paulman said it will be one lane. Mr. Berkowitz asked about the population threshold for a four-lane road. Mr. Paulson shared the State aid manual said it is 15,000; however, if there is a traffic study that would show how an area could benefit from four lanes, they can request more lanes without the population requirement. He added he does not see the need for more than one lane in this area. PINE HILLS NORTH SHELTER RESERVATION POLICY/FEES Parks and Streets Operations Manager Baumunk reviewed the staff report in regard to the Pine Hills North shelter reservation policy and fees. Andover City Council Workshop Meeting Minutes – April 22, 2025 Page 4 Mayor Barthel asked why someone would be required to have a park exclusive use permit to have a food truck on site if the food truck could only operate there 21 days out of the year. Mr. Baumunk explained the food truck would not normally be able to operate here as it is public property. He noted it is a requirement in the code that if someone wants to bring in an entity to sell food or merchandise, they are required to get a park exclusive use permit. Councilmember Godfrey asked if there is electrical service available for the food trucks to use. Mr. Baumunk said no and noted the food trucks would need to be able to provide their own electricity. Councilmember Godfrey shared she has a lot of experience working with food trucks at events, and she thinks that anything they can do to streamline this process will be beneficial. She noted this site is going to have a lot to offer; however, when comparing it to other sites that are available in Anoka County for much less, the cost for this space seems a bit high. She added she does not think they should allow alcohol in the park. Councilmember Shafto stated he thinks that having a food truck for an event should be a part of the application process, and the code should be adjusted for this. He asked if someone reserved a food truck for an event; are other people who happened to be at the park able to purchase food from the vendor. Mr. Baumunk noted it would likely be exclusive to the event. Mayor Barthel shared he was also supportive of streamlining this process in any way possible. He said he is fine with the fee where it is currently. Mr. Baumunk noted if they start getting complaints about how high the fee is or the space is not being reserved, then they can reevaluate the fee to see if it needs to be adjusted. He shared alcohol is currently not allowed in any parks. He asked if they wanted to look into allowing alcohol in parks or stay firm on not allowing alcohol. He noted most cities that do allow alcohol in their parks only allow it from a licensed vendor. Councilmember Shafto asked if there have been any residents who have asked to have alcohol in the park at an event. Mr. Baumunk said he had never heard of anyone asking for this. City Attorney Baumgartner asked if they had looked into Ramsey’s rules around alcohol in parks, as he had his son’s graduation party in one of their parks, and alcohol was allowed. Mr. Baumunk shared that Ramsey allows alcohol in some instances; however, it is up to the discretion of the director. Mr. Baumgartner shared he is also concerned about the possibility that someone could drink in the park and then go drive drunk. He noted if they only allowed licensed and insured vendors to supply alcohol, then they would take on this liability. Councilmember Godfrey noted the capacity of this space is 50 people, and she does not think they need to plan for allowing alcohol at this time. Andover City Council Workshop Meeting Minutes – April 22, 2025 Page 5 Mr. Baumgartner asked if they have a different price for residents and non-residents to reserve this space. Mr. Baumunk said no and explained they wanted to get the space up and running and evaluate this before making a decision on changing the fee. Councilmember Godfrey noted the language currently reads that the space will open for residents to reserve. She said if this is also open to non-residents, then they should clarify this language. Councilmember Schue stated this is just a pilot program for right now, and they can change it down the road. He asked staff to keep the Council in the loop with what is going on with the space. He agreed he is not supportive of allowing alcohol. He noted he does not want this to be exclusively for Andover residents; however, he would prefer that residents have a lower fee than non-residents. Councilmember Godfrey added Anoka has a policy that only residents can reserve park spaces. Mr. Berkowitz shared the goal is to start getting reservations for this space in early June, and he does not think they will be able to change the ordinance around food trucks by that time. City Administrator Cotton shared they could put a question about food trucks on the application for the space, and if someone is planning on having a food truck at their event, then there would be a list of requirements that they would have to send to the City. She said this process will take some time to review all of the requirements. She added she met with the Fire Department in regard to food trucks, and they will soon be requiring fire inspections of these food trucks. Councilmember Shafto asked if they would limit these events to one food truck. Mr. Baumunk noted there is not enough room for more than one food truck. Council consensus was reached to direct staff to streamline the reservation process for Pine Hills North and continue to not allow alcohol in the parks. COUNCIL TRAINING - OPEN MEETING LAW & CONFLICT OF INTEREST DISCUSSION Mr. Baumgartner reviewed the training with the Council on Open Meeting Law and conflicts of interest. Mayor Barthel asked if a resident emails all of the Councilmembers if he should include Ms. Cotton on his reply so she is aware of the email. Mr. Baumgartner said yes. Councilmember Schue asked if Ms. Cotton would be able to let the rest of the Council know when one Councilmember has replied to a resident in a situation where they were all contacted, that is why they ensure that the resident has been answered, and they are not breaking any open meeting laws. Mayor Barthel asked if they need to be careful about continuing to talk after meetings have Andover City Council Workshop Meeting Minutes – April 22, 2025 Page 6 concluded. Mr. Baumgartner said yes and explained they would never want to give the public the perception that the Council is discussing Council matters after meetings. Councilmember Shafto asked how they would control the serial meetings. Mr. Baumgartner shared it would be up to the Councilmember not to take a conversation that they have had with someone else to another Councilmember. He noted this would be very hard to prove that it violated open meeting laws; however, they do not want to get to the point where they would have to prove they did not violate the open meeting laws. Councilmember Shafto requested they add a copy of the conflict-of-interest form to Laserfiche for easy access. LAND USE AGREEMENT Community Development Director Janish reviewed the staff report concerning a land use agreement for a resident who would like to build a second home on their property to be their new primary home once completed. Councilmember Shafto shared he is generally supportive of this idea. He asked what would happen if the property owner passed away or decided to sell the home while they were still in the process of building the second home. Mr. Janish said this agreement does not cover this scenario. Mr. Baumgartner noted this would be an unusual scenario, but if it were to happen, the new property owner would have to come to the City to work on some kind of agreement. He asked if they would want to limit this land use agreement to only homes, as this discussion originally started because of an accessory structure. Mayor Barthel noted as long as the resident follows the process of building the new structure and tearing down the old, then he does not care if it is for homes or accessory structures. Council consensus was reached to direct staff to move forward with the proposed land use agreement. CODE ENFORCEMENT PROCESS Mr. Janish reviewed the staff report in regard to the current code enforcement process. Mayor Barthel asked how much the tickets are for non-compliance. Mr. Baumgartner explained if it is a payable offense, there is a set amount that is available on the State’s website that lists all cities' payable offense amounts. He suggested the Council review the dollar amounts for each offense periodically. Mr. Janish noted the code enforcement system is currently operating on a complaint-based model. Andover City Council Workshop Meeting Minutes – April 22, 2025 Page 7 Councilmember Shafto asked if complaints made to the Sheriff’s Office make it back to the City. Mr. Baumgartner shared the Sheriff’s Office would likely call the City and ask them to address the matter if they receive a complaint, as the Sheriff’s Office does not step into this process until a citation needs to be issued. Mayor Barthel asked if there is a maximum number of citations a person can receive. Mr. Baumgartner said no. Mayor Barthel shared a resident had come to him and showed him a property that has been out of compliance for a long time, and the property owner has been getting citations and is still not taking care of the issue. He asked at what point the City would be able to enforce more action. Mr. Baumgartner explained the City always has the right to do an abatement process. He shared he has concerns with abatements as they do not know the value of the items they would be disposing of. He said he would like this to be the last resort to clean up a property. He added if they were to do an abatement, he would want them to go through the court process to get a judge’s blessing and order before removing any of the items. Mr. Janish noted they can start running into issues when the complaints are for outdoor toys, patio furniture, or other items that are made to be outside. He said there are no rules in code that limit the number of toys, patio furniture, grills, or other outdoor items someone can have. Mr. Baumgartner stated they do not want to set themselves up for discretionary enforcement. He explained if a resident does not like what their neighbor has in their yard, then there is a civil statute that would allow them to get a civil injunction against their neighbor. He said he has given this option to residents in the past who are concerned with their neighbor’s property, but it is not violating the City’s code. Mr. Janish asked the Council if they would like to make any changes to the current process. Mr. Baumgartner added there are some residents who will receive a payable ticket, and they will choose to pay it rather than clean up their property. He said some of these citations he chooses to make mandatory appearances as this is more inconvenient and will help get them into compliance. Mr. Janish noted their ultimate goal is to see people come into compliance, not to penalize them. Mayor Barthel said he would like to look over the fees. He stated he is not looking to increase these fees so they can make a lot of money as a City; he wants to increase them to get people into compliance. He noted this review has been very helpful and will aid him in speaking to residents when they come to him with code enforcement concerns. Councilmember Schue shared his appreciation for staff expressing reasonableness through this process and how they evaluate every situation individually and with care. Councilmember Godfrey said this will help her understand the code enforcement annual report Andover City Council Workshop Meeting Minutes – April 22, 2025 Page 8 better as well as better be able to advise residents on the formal process in place. Council consensus was reached to direct staff to keep the current code enforcement process and to bring back information on the fees to the Council at a later meeting. BUILDING MATERIALS NON-RESIDENTIAL Mr. Janish reviewed the staff report concerning building materials for non-residential buildings. Councilmember Shafto asked if the steel paneling would be allowed in a residential community. Mr. Janish said no one has proposed this yet. Mayor Barthel stated he likes the consolidation factors of aesthetics, use, and value when it comes to building materials. He said knowing this makes him feel better about what they require throughout the City. Councilmember Engelhardt added this should help clarify the reasoning to the applicant who came forward at a recent meeting wanting to build a steel storage building. nd Councilmember Godfrey shared it looks like 3139 162, which is next to the property that wanted to build a steel storage building, has a green metal building. Mr. Janish explained this property had started developing before Andover was incorporated. He said they used to allow for steel in this area, which is why there are some steel buildings out here. He stated the Council has looked at these properties only when they change uses to make the upgrades to bring them into the current standards. He said there is flexibility in these standards. nd Councilmember Godfrey noted the 3139 162 property has huge piles of dirt outside of it and asked if it recently changed uses. Mr. Janish shared he believes this property was a landscaping company in the past, but they did not have any outside materials. He noted there is a provision in the code that states the Council can require a CUP for any property that has a lot of outside storage. Councilmember Godfrey said the property looks neat; it is just much different than it used to be in the past. Council consensus was reached to keep the building material standards as is. RECEIVE MARCH 2025 COMMUNITY CENTER UPDATE Finance Manager Brezinka reviewed the March 2025 Community Center update. Councilmember Godfrey asked when they would break even on the golf simulators. Mr. Brezinka said they had projected they would break even in two years, making $20,000 a year. Mayor Barthel shared switching from Subway to an ice cream shop has been a major success, as Andover City Council Workshop Meeting Minutes – April 22, 2025 Page 9 he always sees lots of people standing in line for ice cream. Mr. Brezinka shared the turf will be coming out this week, and they will be painting the lines for hockey. Ms. Cotton stated they will be hosting the puzzle exchange at the Community Center this weekend and they have already received 1,100 puzzles. CITY HALL REMODEL PROJECT UPDATE Mr. Brezinka reviewed the staff report concerning the City Hall remodel project updates. Mayor Barthel asked why a cubicle costs more than an office to remodel. Mr. Brezinka explained it is because the walls of the cubicle are being replaced. Councilmember Godfrey asked when they would be getting new chairs for the Council Chambers. Mr. Brezinka shared they get $20,000 from QCTV and could use these funds for new chairs. He noted it is typically very difficult to get everyone to agree on the same style of chair. Ms. Cotton shared they can have a vendor come out with sample chairs for everyone to try out and make a decision on. Councilmember Godfrey stated the chairs are a lower priority than other remodel projects, but she would like it added to the list if they happen to have some extra funds available. Ms. Cotton shared they are trying to do these projects as cost-effectively as possible and noted they have an employee from Public Works who will be removing all of the wallpaper, sanding, and prepping the walls for painting, which will save them money by not having to hire an outside vendor for this work. She added they would like furniture that will last, so they do not have to replace it often and can just work on maintaining these projects. Councilmember Schue thanked staff for thinking about this project in a cost-effective way. He noted at first glance, the project costs seem very high, but they could have been a lot more if they had not found cost-saving measures. Council consensus was reached to direct staff to move forward with the proposed remodel projects for 2025. OTHER TOPICS Mr. Berkowitz discussed the Station Parkway trail. He asked if the Council would like them to remove this entire trail. Councilmember Shafto shared he would be supportive of keeping the middle section of the trail as Andover City Council Workshop Meeting Minutes – April 22, 2025 Page 10 they have been getting feedback from residents that they want this area to stay. Councilmember Schue agreed and said he thinks the two ends of the trail can be removed, but keep the middle section for now. Mr. Berkowitz shared they would send notices to the residents letting them know that this middle section will be replaced. Councilmember Godfrey asked how much this will cost. Mr. Berkowitz said it will likely cost around $25,000. Mayor Barthel shared he would like to discuss the future of the Nature Preserve Commission at an upcoming Workshop. Councilmember Engelhardt shared he had met with Commissioner Gwinn and challenged him to raise awareness and visibility into the nature preserves that could get people to visit them. Ms. Cotton asked if the Council would like to discuss the Nature Preserve on their own or if they would like to have another joint meeting with the Commission. Mayor Barthel said he would like to start this discussion with just the Council. Ms. Cotton stated she wants to ensure they come up with a clear strategic vision for the Nature Preserve Commission, as staff currently struggles with how to direct this Commission. Councilmember Godfrey noted without a clear direction or a vision, the Commission can spend lots of time applying for grants, like they did for the bridge, that end up getting rejected. She said it is not good for a City to not have a vision of where they want to go in the future, and they end up spending resources without clear direction. Mayor Barthel added this Commission also has a very high turnover rate. He said it seems as though residents join the Commission with excitement about what the nature preserves can be, and when they get on the Commission, they realize there is no direction, and they end up leaving. He noted it is time for a change. Councilmember Engelhardt shared he took his dog for a walk one day, and he saw an old railroad sign off Nightingale Street that was dilapidated. He noted it would be nice to clean this up and maintain it, and this could be done by the Nature Preserve Commission to preserve this piece of Andover’s history. Mayor Barthel noted it is so much easier for the Park and Recreation Commission to get things done as they have a whole department behind them, while the Nature Preserve Commission does not. Ms. Cotton stated when they discuss this at a Workshop, she can review the City’s strategic plan Andover City Council Workshop Meeting Minutes – April 22, 2025 Page 11 to see where the Nature Preserve Commission fits into the City’s goals and plans for the future. Councilmember Godfrey asked if there is a schedule for updating the strategic plan. Ms. Cotton said there is nothing currently planned to update the strategic plan, but they can put something together if the Council wishes. She added there are no funds currently in the budget for this process. Mayor Barthel shared the last time they updated the strategic plan, they designed it to be a five- year plan, meaning they would not readdress this until 2028. Councilmember Schue said it would be very helpful to review the strategic plan as a part of this to help them guide their discussion on the future of the Nature Preserve Commission. Councilmember Shafto added he would like to better understand what the next steps are for the fire study that was conducted. Ms. Cotton shared she has requested a few updates from the vendor that conducted the study, and once she receives the report back, she will bring it to the Council at th the May 6 Council meeting to accept the report, then they will discuss the findings more deeply at upcoming Workshop meetings. Mayor Barthel said he would like staff to do an overview of the report for the residents so they can see what all went into this study. Ms. Cotton asked if she could give the overview at the upcoming meeting or if they would like to vendor to present the findings. Mayor Barthel said staff can do it as the vendor would likely charge them to come back. Councilmember Shafto asked if the entire report will be publicly available. Ms. Cotton said yes. ADJOURNMENT Motion by Schue, Seconded by Godfrey, to adjourn. Motion carried unanimously. The workshop meeting adjourned at 9:04 p.m. Respectfully submitted, Ava Major, Recording Secretary