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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2025-05-27 WK ANDOVER CITY COUNCIL WORKSHOP MEETING – MAY 27, 2025 MINUTES The Workshop Meeting of the Andover City Council was called to order by Mayor Barthel, May 27, 2025, 6:00 p.m., at the Andover City Hall, 1685 Crosstown Boulevard NW, Andover, Minnesota. Councilmembers present: Rick Engelhardt (arrived at 7:00 p.m.), 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 Fire Chief, Dennis Jones Recreational Facilities Manager, Erick Sutherland Natural Resources Technician, Kameron Kytonen Others ROADSIDE MEMORIALS Community Development Director Janish reviewed the Staff report concerning roadside memorials, the complaint that had been received, policies from other area cities, and best practice considerations. Mayor Barthel noted the memorial in question seemed pretty minimal and asked if the person who complained had given a reason. Mr. Janish stated it was due to the consistency of the memorial coming and going. City Administrator Cotton noted the person who complained walked by this memorial every day and saw it as a ‘downer’ that was impacting their quality of life. Councilmember Shafto referenced the City of Champlin’s policy, which believed that clearing memorials sooner prevented longer-term problems, and asked what ‘longer-term’ problems meant. Mr. Janish explained they were implying that if there was a site where individuals were adding to it or expected it to be there for a longer period, then allow it to remain for a short period, and then go out and remove it rather than looking at compliance or having multiple things added to it. Andover City Council Workshop Meeting Minutes – May 27, 2025 Page 2 Councilmember Shafto stated he felt that a two- to three- week timeframe was too short and would put Staff in an uncomfortable position and would require them to be removed more often. He stated if they decided to have any kind of policy, he would suggest that they use the one-year time frame and a bit beyond in order to make it to the first anniversary but would also support looking at them on a case-by-case basis. Ms. Cotton expressed concern if the City allowed memorials for a year and then the City removed them, people would replace them on the first anniversary, and then there would be another year with it in place. Councilmember Shafto explained he was thinking of the memorials being allowed for a 15-month time period. Councilmember Schue asked if the suggestion was that the first time it is placed, it would be allowed to be there up to 15 months but noted that grief takes different forms and would suspect that people will want to see something, during that time period, on an annual basis. He asked what Councilmember Shafto would suggest for the following years around the anniversary date, versus having a permanent memorial, which is what the complaint was about. Councilmember Schue asked if Champlin’s policy meant that they just allowed them to stay in place for two to three weeks, even if someone puts up a memorial every year. Mr. Janish explained they had not asked that specific question about whether the memorial would be allowed to be placed every year on the anniversary date, so they would get a few weeks every year. Councilmember Schue asked how often the City had received this type of complaint in the past. Mr. Janish noted this was the first one he is aware of. Director of Public Works/City Engineer David Berkowitz stated he thought there had maybe been one other complaint. Councilmember Schue suggested that, rather than creating an entire policy on this, to see if they get other complaints because he would like the City to be sensitive to both sides of the issue. He explained nobody likes an eyesore, despite what it may represent, but if they are keeping it up and refreshing it, he was not in favor of red tape. He noted if this was the only time the City had gotten this type of complaint, he would suggest that the City just monitor the situation and not take any specific action at the moment. Mr. Janish asked what communication the Council would like Staff to provide to the person who had complained. Councilmember Schue suggested Staff acknowledge their concern and let them know that the Andover City Council Workshop Meeting Minutes – May 27, 2025 Page 3 City would further consider it, but would not take any immediate action. He explained he did not intend to diminish their complaint, but could see both sides of this issue, and did not feel that the City should take immediate action. Mayor Barthel asked how many memorials were usually displayed around the City. Mr. Berkowitz stated they were not tracking them. Mayor Barthel explained he did not want the City to have to track and monitor anniversary dates of the various memorials, but also did not want the memorials to look unsightly. Councilmember Schue asked what had been done in the past if Staff came across memorials that were run down and neglected. Mr. Janish stated if someone had picked up the memorial, it would most likely have been the Streets Department, which would not have been reported back to the City. Councilmember Godfrey stated she understood Councilmember Schue’s point of view, but felt this provided the City with the opportunity to set some guardrails and establish a framework without the need to be highly detailed or encumbering members of Staff. She explained the City should set some general guidelines as something that can be referred to and would show residents that the City has thought about this and is sensitive to the issue. She recommended some of the guidelines include things like nothing should be attached to a street sign, block the right-of-way or sightlines, nothing should be in the City’s right-of-way, or prevent the City from maintaining properties. Mayor Barthel stated much of what Councilmember Godfrey had just outlined was included in the best practices information shared by Mr. Janish. He explained he did not want anything to look unsightly six months from now and for the City not to be able to do anything about it but also did not want to tear it down after just two weeks. Mr. Janish stated what he heard the Council say was to look at the maintenance of the memorial, and if it was in good condition, it could remain. Councilmember Shafto stated if they do not attach a timeframe, it may end up putting the City in a position where they have to make decisions on a case-by-case basis. He noted what is considered ‘unsightly’ is not the same from person to person and will require judgment. He stated this does not appear to be a big issue in the City, but noted it may be worth adopting a specific timeframe, such as six months. Councilmember Godfrey suggested they could say something like, ‘Generally, such memorials should not be maintained for more than six months.’ Councilmember Shafto stated it would help, so it would not just be a permanent structure. Andover City Council Workshop Meeting Minutes – May 27, 2025 Page 4 Mr. Janish thanked the Council for their input and explained that Staff would bring something back to the Council for consideration based on their feedback. COMMUNITY CENTER PARKING DISCUSSION Mr. Berkowitz reviewed the Staff report regarding Community Center parking and the request to add additional handicapped and/or senior parking stalls. Mayor Barthel asked what side of the Community Center these requests were for. Mr. Berkowitz stated they were referring to the YMCA side. Mayor Barthel stated the YMCA side has 12 stalls and the other side has seven stalls. Mr. Berkowitz stated the response he and Erick have gotten is that those stalls are not close enough to where people want to be. Councilmember Godfrey asked if the issue was that people who have handicapped parking permits are unable to find a handicap spot. Mr. Berkowitz explained when he takes a look, he usually sees a few handicap spots still available. He noted the requests coming in tend to be from seniors and not from someone disabled who has a handicap permit. A resident stated his wife works at the YMCA and there is a cycle each day where there are quite a few seniors that attend activities in the early mornings, so those spaces fill up, but, in general, there are spaces available the rest of the day. Mr. Berkowitz stated this would be where the potential senior parking stalls could come into play and gave the example of Forest Lake, which has this type of parking available that has time limits on it. Ms. Cotton stated Forest Lake’s sign says, ‘Senior and Family Parking’. Mayor Barthel asked if the YMCA had commented on this issue. Mr. Berkowitz stated they may be hearing about them and noted that the person who had petitioned the City told him that they had spoken with the YMCA and was told that it had been brought to the City’s attention, but clarified that the YMCA had brought it up as a concern, but never asked for additional parking stalls. Councilmember Shafto asked if things had quieted down over the last few weeks. Mr. Berkowitz stated it has settled down and noted that the last petition came in about two weeks Andover City Council Workshop Meeting Minutes – May 27, 2025 Page 5 ago. Councilmember Godfrey asked if part of the issue may be the activity schedules put together by the YMCA. Mr. Berkowitz stated what he has seen is that seniors seem to like being there when there are fewer people at the YMCA, so there tends to be the morning workout rush, but in general, they don’t want to be there with the masses. A resident stated he felt that was right and explained he was basing this on the feedback he had gotten from his wife. He stated water aerobics is a popular activity that caters primarily to seniors and is typically scheduled in the mornings. He noted he did not think this was needed 24 hours per day and was more likely a three-hour window of time. Councilmember Shafto asked how often the parking lot was at maximum capacity and there were no parking spaces available. Mr. Berkowitz stated it was only the case when there were things like hockey games, and it happened more in the evening hours. He noted he had taken a drive through the parking lot at 9:30 a.m. this morning and was surprised by the number of cars there were. Councilmember Shafto suggested the City may want to have a blended approach in adding a handicap space and giving the senior parking signs a try. Mayor Barthel stated if the City installs senior signs, they will want to have a time limit on them. Mr. Berkowitz cautioned that handicap dimensions are different, so it would take up more than 1 parking space. Councilmember Godfrey asked if he was thinking of a sign that said something like, ‘Reserved for Seniors from 8:00 a.m. to 12:00 noon’. Mayor Barthel noted he would like to get input from the YMCA as well. Mr. Berkowitz acknowledged that Staff would talk to them about this idea. Ms. Cotton explained she had spoken with the YMCA and was told that they were not requesting additional handicap or senior parking, but would support it. She stated if the City decides to move forward with the senior parking signs, they would work with the YMCA on finding out their peak hours for senior programming. She cautioned that enforcement of the senior parking signs would be non-existent and would be on an honor system because the City did not have the resources for that activity. Mr. Berkowitz stated the difference between this situation and Forest Lake was that the facility in Andover City Council Workshop Meeting Minutes – May 27, 2025 Page 6 Andover is owned by the City. He stated adding senior signs here may set a precedent for similar requests in other locations throughout the City. Councilmember Schue asked how many parking spaces/senior signs would be done in the initial round, and noted initially, he would not add handicapped parking. Mr. Berkowitz stated the easiest way would be to take a back-to-back stall and put one post in with a sign for each spot and noted they could do a trial run with just one of those that would add two stalls set aside for seniors, but felt at a minimum they should do four stalls. Mayor Barthel stated they could be done in the second aisle along the sidewalk and would not have to be next to the handicapped stalls. Mr. Sutherland expressed concern about where this would end and explained he had a feeling that this may open up to four stalls turning into a request for eight, and adding expectant mothers and other groups, and noted it would not be enforceable. He stated if the City decides to do something like this, he suggests they keep it to a minimum of four stalls. The Council discussed time limits/timeframes and starting when the YMCA opens for the day because that is when some of the water aerobics classes are scheduled. Council consensus was reached to direct Staff to move forward with four senior parking stalls, two signs placed on the second aisle near the median walkway, weekday only, and to work with the YMCA on the best hours based on their senior programming. FENCING (PRIVACY SCREEN) Mr. Janish reviewed the Staff report concerning fencing and privacy screening, and a recent request for use of material that was not acceptable under the current City Code. Councilmember Godfrey noted she had looked at this type of fabric for fencing at her property when they were dealing with noise from neighbors. She stated this type of material has improved over the last few years and is more attractive than the slats in chain link fencing, and also has sound-deadening properties. She explained she thought the City should consider making this type of material acceptable in the City. Councilmember Shafto stated he did not see any issues with this material, but felt the City should also add language that it would need to be maintained. Councilmember Schue stated he agreed, but his concern was that his kids were artistic and would like to paint murals on them, and asked if those types of concerns could be addressed. Mr. Janish confirmed this was something that Staff had thought about when they were looking into this, and would recommend that the requirement be that it needed to be earth-toned colors. Andover City Council Workshop Meeting Minutes – May 27, 2025 Page 7 Council consensus was reached to direct Staff to consider allowing the use of high-density polyethylene fabric for privacy screening on fencing, with limits on allowable colors. NATURE PRESERVE DISCUSSION Natural Resources Technician Kytonen reviewed the Staff report in regard to the future of the Nature Preserve and the desire by the Council to continue the discussion from the April 22, 2025, Workshop meeting. Councilmember Godfrey stated her understanding of the original intent of the Nature Preserve Commission (NPC) was to make recommendations and guide the acquisition and development of natural areas for the enjoyment of residents. She stated it had been accomplished and the money spent was approved in a referendum and felt the City was not in the position to acquire more large open spaces for use as nature preserves. She asked if members of the NPC had any thoughts about what they would like to do to further their mission. Mr. Kytonen stated there is interest in expanding the preserve and identified some nearby land that could be targeted, with Council approval, and noted there are some possible funding sources that they could tap into, including future referendums. He clarified the NPC felt that there were other things they would like to do, such as an interest in coordinating hikes with residents, getting the public more involved, representation at the Andover Fun Fest, and spots with QCTV. He noted the goal of the NPC was to pursue more land opportunities, be involved in the review of new plats, and be able to comment on them. Councilmember Shafto stated there were a lot of different facets to the goal of pursuing land opportunities. He noted he did not have any issue with approaching landowners and asking if they would be interested, but it was a potentially expensive endeavor. He stated if it were outside of the MUSA area and a developer bought it, it would be a long-term expense to the City and not long-term revenue. He stated there would be potential cost savings by turning some of these areas into a preserve and reiterated he did not have a problem with the NPC reaching out to landowners to determine potential interest. Councilmember Godfrey stated there would need to be guidelines because if the NPC started knocking on doors or approaching residents, she asked if the implication would be that they would be communicating. She explained she did not believe the City was in a position to even travel down those pathways at this point. She suggested it be more of a general education approach for the NPC to educate property owners who are adjacent, to let them know there is an option to donate or potentially sell the land to the City to become part of the nature preserve. She clarified she would be cautious about approaching people and suggested that they consider donating or selling the land. Councilmember Schue stated things like hikes and the QCTV tours were great and seemed like low-hanging fruit opportunities. He stated the more challenging one was the possible pursuit of land opportunities. He noted within the land opportunities work; he would ask the NPC to do more Andover City Council Workshop Meeting Minutes – May 27, 2025 Page 8 research on grant opportunities. He stated the adjacent property owners already liked nature and did not think the NPC would end up finding anyone hostile to this discussion, but agreed the City should put some guardrails around the conversations. He explained he liked the idea of educating the adjacent property owners so they know there are possibilities, but reiterated that part of that would be knowing if there were grants available and if they were matching. Councilmember Shafto noted if the City was going to expand the nature preserves, it would need to be done sooner rather than later before it was all developed. He stated this was the right time to be having this discussion, but explained that the price would also have to be right. Councilmember Schue stated whoever is discussing this with the landowners will be able to find out if they are interested or not, and if they find people are interested, then the City can look into things a bit deeper in order to see what options may be available. Councilmember Godfrey suggested the first step be to put something in the City newsletter rather than just start knocking on doors. Mayor Barthel mentioned Dalske Park and asked how many residents of Andover visit it every year, and noted there is nowhere to park there. He stated it may not be the best example to use because there was not enough upland, but his thought was that Dalske Park may get 10 visitors per year, and someone else could build a home on that parcel and pay a lot of property tax to the City. He stated he questions whether it was worth the City owning and buying these kinds of properties. He stated the nature preserves on the north side are used a lot because of the neighborhoods nearby. He noted he would suspect that not a lot of people would drive from his neighborhood to Kelsey Round Lake Park to walk, and believes the question is whether the City wanted to expand this, what the reason would be for expanding, and whether it made financial sense for the City to buy the properties. He stated if the land was donated, he would be all for it but cautioned that he wasn’t sure it would be worth buying something like Dalske Park which only serves 10 residents/year. Councilmember Shafto stated he didn’t disagree with that thought process, particularly for Dalske, but thinks the one they were talking about was North Woods Preserve, which he felt was used a good amount. Ms. Cotton stated she felt the NPC's number one priority was Martins Meadows. Mr. Kytonen stated it was way up there, but another would have been a chunk south of Dalske with a blend of wetland and upland. Councilmember Shafto stated for Dalske, in his opinion, the price would have to be pretty low or would have to be donated. He stated on the flip side if this were developed with one house on 5 acres, he wasn’t sure what those property taxes would cover. He referenced his earlier comments and stated this would not necessarily be the biggest reason to buy a nature preserve and noted the idea that it was expensive or more expensive wouldn’t necessarily be true because there were other cost implications to just letting one single home be located on five acres because their $4,000 in Andover City Council Workshop Meeting Minutes – May 27, 2025 Page 9 property taxes would not cover the road and noted there would be a lot of variables to consider. He stated the problem with possible land acquisition is that the City does not have a lot of information or data, and everything was just speculation. Mayor Barthel referenced Kelsey Round Lake Park and the property on the corner of Hanson st, Boulevard and 161 Avenue and if they were a ‘park’ or a ‘nature preserve’, and how that was determined. Mr. Kytonen stated the determination was based on how it was purchased and clarified that the four preserves were from the referendum. He stated Kelsey Round Lake Park has more recreation opportunities. Mayor Barthel stated if there were more opportunities for recreation at Kelsey Round Lake Park, then that means the City has a group of residents meeting four times a year to talk about areas of the City that do not have a lot of opportunities for recreation activities, and asked if that was worth their time. Mr. Kytonen explained this was why they were looking at other things that the NPC could do, such as the tours and promoting them. Councilmember Godfrey stated the City has evolved to the point where, perhaps, the NPC, needed to be merged into Park and Recreation Commission because the other things the NPC was looking at doing, like the QCTV tours, hikes, and reviews of plats, would fit there too. Councilmember Shafto stated they could merge them or change the current NPC’s scope to include things outside of the existing nature preserves and move towards more of an education and programming role. He noted he was willing to entertain the idea of merging then, but his hesitation would be that Park and Recreation Commission seems to be more procedural in dealing with specific park issues, and he would be afraid that the preserves would get lost in the shuffle. Mr. Kytonen stated he had reviewed their archives before tonight’s meeting, and they had discussed the NPC looking at passive parks to see what could be done with them, and also the possibility of forming or morphing into an Environmental Committee. Councilmember Shafto stated he felt the type of person who is energized by the NPC would be a different person than would be energized by Park and Recreation Commission. Councilmember Schue asked Natural Resources Technician Kytonen if he had any opinions on what Councilmember Shafto had just shared and if the current membership of the NPC would embrace jumping into Park and Recreation, which meant having to deal with other issues. Mr. Kytonen stated he felt there would be some interest from the current NPC members. Councilmember Schue stated they would have to look at how things were organized because he Andover City Council Workshop Meeting Minutes – May 27, 2025 Page 10 suspected the NPC members would want to have more focus on the preserve areas and just a bit to do with some of the area items. Councilmember Shafto clarified he was not against merging the NPC and Park and Recreation Commission, but if they did, he felt they would also need to redefine the purpose of the group. Councilmember Godfrey stated she felt this needed to be a continuing conversation because the Council had a lot to think about and noted she would also like the NPC membership to think about it and think about designing their ideal NPC. She stated she didn’t believe this was something that was able to be decided on tonight. Mayor Barthel agreed and stated he had not intended this to be a conversation that the Council had in just one night, and then moved something forward. He agreed it required a lot of thought because there were different approaches that they could take, such as having one person from the NPC on the Planning and Zoning Commission in order to be part of some of these conversations. He stated he felt the slate was blank right now, and the Council could craft things because the NPC was at the point where a decision needed to be made and needed an overall mission. Councilmember Shafto stated he felt there were two different issues that needed to be separated. He stated the land acquisition piece was on its own, and the other would be the future of the NPC, which he felt was more pressing because there was no rush on acquisition. He stated he felt the Council’s focus should be on what they want the NPC to do and what discussions they should be part of. He suggested it could be an ad hoc kind of thing, depending on the development. He stated he would like the Council to determine the vision for the NPC before the end of 2025. Councilmember Schue stated if the Council was going to task the NPC to do something specific, there may be pushback from them, so he would like to have their participation and input in this process before a decision is made. Council consensus was reached to have the Councilmembers spend some time thinking about all the discussions that have been had related to NPC, direct staff to get together with the NPC to brainstorm ideas about what they would like to see in the future, for the NPC and the City Council to get together at a future Workshop meeting to discuss the ideas, and to hold off on taking any actions related to land acquisition. Mayor Barthel recessed the meeting at 7:16 and reconvened at 7:25 p.m. FIRE DEPARTMENT DISCUSSION Ms. Cotton reviewed the Staff report concerning the Fire Department related to prioritization and implementation of the recommendations that were outlined in the Fire Services Evaluation. Fire Chief Jones thanked the Council for approving this feasibility study. He briefly reviewed the short-term, mid-term, and long-term recommendations and shared comments on each item. Andover City Council Workshop Meeting Minutes – May 27, 2025 Page 11 Councilmember Schue stated Chief Jones had mentioned communications and data, and believed he had been referring to internal communications, and asked if he would also touch on external communications, such as public relations. Mr. Jones stated by engaging the Council and holding City meetings with interest groups, he felt the community needed to have some ownership and input. Ms. Cotton stated she had asked Fire Chief Jones, beginning in June, to come forward at the monthly City Council meetings and provide a monthly report, similar to what the Sheriff’s Department has been doing. She noted some of what will be included in the report would be data, which can start to inform the City’s decision-making. Councilmember Schue stated he assumed the Fire Department already had internal metrics but explained the Council had not seen them and felt it would be an important step in this process. Ms. Cotton stated doing these monthly reports would be an opportunity to educate the public on strengths, weaknesses, and challenges that exist, so if, down the road, the City needed to make some significant changes, there would already be a storyline in place on why they needed to make this change. Mayor Barthel stated there were 92 recommendations in the fire services study that were broken down for short-term, mid-term, and long-term, and explained he had asked Ms. Cotton to put this information together in a spreadsheet format. Mayor Barthel explained he wanted this to be the City’s master document, and Chief Jones has shared the first things he wanted to tackle were data and training. He stated his thought was that they should chart these out to ensure that none of the 92 items from the study were forgotten, and they can also make sure they are staying on track. He noted this was another discussion that the Council would not finish at tonight’s meeting. Ms. Cotton indicated the spreadsheet is still in draft form and reviewed how she had laid out the information within the spreadsheet. Councilmember Schue asked about comparisons to other cities, especially the local cities, and noted he had not seen that. Ms. Cotton explained this type of comparison was not included within the scope of work for the study, but stated it was the kind of information that Chief Jones would be able to pull together by contacting area fire departments. Mayor Barthel explained for tonight, he would like the Council to establish Chief Jones’ priorities and Council priorities and start breaking down the list into the things that they wanted to focus on initially. He suggested this be an agenda item added to the end of every Council Workshop meeting so they can check in and see what is happening. Andover City Council Workshop Meeting Minutes – May 27, 2025 Page 12 Mr. Jones stated his top two items are data and communications, but training and prevention are also important. Mayor Barthel noted there appeared to be six short-term items listed in the survey for data, and asked which ones Chief Jones felt should be priorities. Mr. Jones explained his summary for short-term recommendations was that all of the points listed were continually being addressed and evaluated using their new records management system. He read aloud comments he had written within the summary and noted some of the recommendations within the study had already been accomplished or had already been worked on, which meant that the Department would not have to start from scratch. He stated there were also items on the list that, realistically, they would probably never get to. Mayor Barthel asked for permission from Ms. Cotton to share the spreadsheet document electronically with the full Council. Ms. Cotton gave Mayor Barthel permission to send this document to the Council as long as it was labeled ‘Draft’ and reminded the Council not to hit ‘reply all’. Mayor Barthel asked the Council to look through the spreadsheet information, put together some priorities, and also have Chief Jones go through it and make notations on things that have already started moving along, so the Council knows that information as well. Mr. Jones continued his review of the items listed for mid-term recommendations. Ms. Cotton suggested the Council come to the next meeting with what they would like to see be the top 5 priorities, and see where there may be overlaps, and then they can be put in prioritization order. She explained she believed the way the consultant had listed the bullet points in the order that they thought the priority would be, but noted that there could be some low-hanging fruit. Mayor Barthel noted there may be some mid or long-term items that the City felt should be priorities, and not just the short-term items. Councilmember Godfrey referenced Facility and Equipment and explained one of the things that struck her was the item listed fourth under short-term, plan and implement vehicle exhaust removal in all stations. She explained to her that should be a very high priority because it is a health and safety issue for Staff and may take a while to get it done and planned for within their CIP. Ms. Cotton acknowledged the Council could bring back their top seven priorities as long as they didn’t have so many that the conversation would be cumbersome. She explained she and Chief Jones would go through this file and work to complete the information on the status of each item and add any pertinent notes, and would send it back to the Council for their review before the next Workshop. Andover City Council Workshop Meeting Minutes – May 27, 2025 Page 13 Councilmember Godfrey noted the Council had interrupted Chief Jones and suggested that he may want to finish some of his thoughts before they wrapped up tonight’s meeting. Councilmember Engelhardt asked if there were any quick wins or things on the list that were already almost across the finish line. Mr. Jones read aloud a few items from the list to use as examples to answer Councilmember Engelhardt’s question. Councilmember Shafto asked why items that were completed or almost completed had been included in the report. Mr. Jones stated the consultant hadn’t asked how some of these things were being addressed and had just looked at how things were originally set up. Councilmember Shafto asked when Fire Chief Jones and Ms. Cotton were looking through the list and marking things as all set, he would like to see more detail shared on why they believe they were all set with those items and where they felt the disconnect was with the consultant. Ms. Cotton stated if there were any items the Council felt Staff should take into consideration for the 2026 budget process, it would be helpful for them to get that feedback as soon as possible. Mayor Barthel reminded the Council that there would not be a Workshop meeting in July or December and stated that he would like to make sure they are able to get this well-organized at the June Workshop meeting. Councilmember Shafto suggested the Council could send their priorities to Ms. Cotton before the next Workshop meeting. Ms. Cotton stated if they did that, she would be able to summarize the goals before the meeting and suggested they get it to her by noon on June 18, 2025, and explained she and Chief Jones would complete adding their comments to the file by June 9, 2025. OTHER TOPICS Mr. Janish explained Staff would like direction from the Council on the parking ordinance and gave a brief overview of past parking calculations for a development on Bunker Lake Boulevard and Narcissus Street. He described the setup, what the HOA documents outlined, how the City enforces parking regulations, ideas and options that Staff had discussed with the applicant, and how other art studios and classrooms have been set up in other communities. He asked the Council for input on whether they felt nine parking stalls would be appropriate for a three-room classroom use with the potential of 70 students. A resident asked how they would be able to put 70 people in a house and explained he felt their Andover City Council Workshop Meeting Minutes – May 27, 2025 Page 14 proposed occupancy was high. Mr. Janish explained this is 2,300 square feet, and their architect claims that the building capacity is 105 people. Councilmember Shafto stated in addition to capacity for the building, he felt that hours of operation would also be important because the daycare business would generally wrap up around 5:00 p.m., so after that, he would be less concerned about parking. Mr. Janish stated the applicant had indicated that there would also be daytime classes. Councilmember Shafto stated it was hard to determine this without knowing more details on the nature of the business and asked why the applicant was so comfortable with such limited parking. The Council asked questions about whether the other businesses within the HOA were aware of plans to bring in 70 students to this space, the number of employees at the daycare, drop-offs/pick- ups expected for the daycare, and the art school. The Council expressed hesitancy to approve this plan without having details of the proposal for this business and would like it in writing. Mr. Janish stated he would like input from the Council on another item related to the property located near Walmart and the bank, and the possible expansion in the corner. He gave a brief overview of the reason that this would require a variance of about 27 feet. The Council discussed possible Staff concerns if the Council chose to grant the variance, whether it would set a precedent, how the expansion may affect the sight lines and the entrance into the property, and gave tentative support to consider the variance request, as proposed. ADJOURNMENT Motion by Councilmember Shafto, seconded by Councilmember Engelhardt, to adjourn. Motion carried unanimously. The workshop meeting adjourned at 8:25 p.m. Respectfully submitted, Kayla Atkins Rokosz, Recording Secretary