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HomeMy WebLinkAboutWK April 22, 2008 0 1685 CROSSTOWN BOULEVARD N.W. . ANDOVER, MINNESOTA 55304. (763) 755-5100 FAX (763) 755-8923 . WWW.CI.ANDOVER.MN.US City Council Workshop Tuesday, April 22, 2008 Fire Station #1 13875 Crosstown Blvd NW Andover, MN 55304 1. Call to Order - 6:00 p.m. 2. Fire Department Update 3. Building Maintenance Code Discussion 4. Assessment Policy Discussion 0 5. Open Space Corridor Selection 6. Other Business 7. Adjournment 0 CITY o F NDOVE 0 ANDOVER CITY COUNCIL WORKSHOP- APRIL 22,2008 MINUTES A Workshop of the Andover City Council was called to order by Mayor Mike Gamache, April 22, 2008, 6:05 p.m., at the Andover City Hall, 1685 Crosstown Boulevard NW, Andover, Minnesota Councilmembers present: Don Jacobson, Mike Knight, Ken Orttel, Julie Trude Councilmember absent: None Also present: City Administrator Jim Dickinson Community Development Director Will Neumeister Director of Public Works/City Engineer, Dave Berkowitz Fire Chief Dan Winkel Others FIRE DEPARTMENT UPDATE 0 Fire Chief Dan Winkel updated the Council on the Fire Department 2007 Annual Report. Councilmember Orttel wondered how many members they are allowed. Chief Winkel stated they are allowed fifty. Councilmember Trude indicated it looks like in the last couple of years there has been a lot of of turnover. Chief Winkel indicated they have approximately four or fIve a year. Councilmember Orttel wondered what the difference is between an all call and primary call. Chief Winkel stated primary call is one station closest to the residence or area in need and all call is multiple stations. This happens during the daytime when they do not know how many fIrefIghters are in the City. Councilmember Jacobson asked if Coon Rapids was involved in the Auto Aid. Chief Winkel noted Coon Rapids did not want to participate in Auto Aid but is involved in Mutual Aid. It would cost Coon Rapids too much money to respond to Auto Aid incidents but they will be on call if needed. Councilmember Trude wondered if Chief Winkel has analyzed their mutual aid responses because she thought a lot of fIre trucks have gone to other cities like Ham Lake to help out a lot. 0 Chief Winkel indicated he could look at the numbers and let the Council know. Chief Winkel stated they started insurance' invoicing in February 2008 and he wanted to get the Council's input regarding this. Councilmember Orttel stated several states out east have outlawed these for individuals and the same will probably come to Minnesota in the next year or 0 Regular Andover City Council Meeting Minutes - April 22, 2008 Page 2 so and he thought it might be a good idea to hold off on this until it is resolved here. Councilmember Knight asked what the insurance companies' response is to this. Chief Winkel stated they have not had an issue and have paid the invoices without question. Councilmember Jacobson asked how much money they would get a year invoicing accidents and is it worth it. Chief Winkel stated Spring Lake Park, Blaine, Mounds View Fire Department has been doing this for a while and gets around $17,000 a year. Chief Winkel asked what the Council would like the Fire Department to do regarding this. Councilmember Jacobson thought they should not have them invoice anymore. Councilmember Orttel thought they should put this on the next Consent agenda for actual action. The Council consensus was to hold off on invoicing for accidents until the State has made a decision. Councilmember Jacobson asked if they have changed their criteria when hiring to hire more EMS experience. Chief Winkel indicated they have. He reviewed the numbers with the CounciL 0 Chief Winkel reviewed the recap of calls for 2007 with the Council. Councilmember Jacobson asked when Chief Winkel thought they would bring some full time staffing to the City. Chief Winkel stated he would like to request it for the 2009 budget but did not feel that would happen. He would like to start with some full time staffing and to begin with he would propose two people but in good faith he could not do that at this time. He noted the Council should begin to think about this in the near future because eventually they will need to hire some full time employees. Chief Winkel noted they now have fIve part-time inspectors because of the grant they received. Councilmember Jacobson asked how often they inspect public structures. Chief Winkel stated they will inspect schools annually but most of the public buildings are close to three years if not a little longer because they do not have the staff to do this. Chief Winkel reviewed the Hughs Industrial Area Fire Inspection violations with the Council. The 2008 Goals and Objectives for Fire Protection were reviewed. The Council thought Chief Winkel should research the costs for a day duty crew so it is available 0 when the time is right. Councilmember Trude suggested a survey of the group be done to see what the interests are. Chief Winkel reviewed the training with the Council. 0 Regular Andover City Council Meeting Minutes - April 22, 2008 Page 3 The Council discussed the replacement dates for vehicles and Chief Winkel suggested if the City can pay cash for the next fIre engine they should, at least for the chassis because they will save fIve to ten percent of the cost. The Council thought the report was a nice comprehensive one and thanked the Department for all they have done for the City. The Council took a fIve minute recess at 7:40 p.m. The Council reconvened at 7:45 p.m. BUILDING MAINTENANCE CODE DISCUSSION Community Development Director Neumeister stated the City Council recently discussed establishing a housing maintenance code for single-family residential units and wanted to further discuss options that may be available. 0 Mr. Neumeister reviewed the staff report with the Council. Mr. Dickinson asked in 4-1-4 inspections and investigations, item b, did the Council still feel comfortable the way it is written. Councilmember Trude thought everything the Council listed is exterior. Mr. Neumeister stated they wanted to propose this be stricken. Councilmember Trude thought their tree inspector has that right now. Councilmember Orttel thought they should just list exterior. Councilmember Trude thought they should talk to the City Attorney regarding this. Councilmember Jacobson stated on the bottom of page two it lists exterior building materials and he thought this should state remodeling projects. He did not support entering a home. Councilmember Trude agreed. Councilmember Orttel thought this was what they wanted in the code. ASSESSMENT POLICY DISCUSSION Director of Public Works/City Engineer Berkowitz stated the City Council is requested to discuss 0 the merits of updating the City's current assessment manual. Mr. Berkowitz reviewed the information with the Council. Councilmember Jacobson asked if they had a major problem with their assessment policy. Mr. 0 Regular Andover City Council Meeting Minutes - April 22, 2008 Page 4 Berkowitz stated they do not but they are looking to bring it up to current standards. Mr. Dickinson stated they should be looking at the entire policy instead of only one section. Mr. Berkowitz felt it would take six months to go through and make changes to the policy. Councilmember Trude stated they need to make sure they have a policy that can hold up in court if needed. The Council felt this should be started based on available staff time. OPEN SPACE CORRIDOR SELECTION Community Development Director Neumeister stated the Council and the Open Space Commission discussed establishing corridors to help guide open space preservation efforts at the joint work session in February. 0 Councilmember Jacobson asked for clarifIcation on the verbiage in the bond. Councilmember Trude thought the reason they are establishing corridors is so they can meet the requirements of some grants. Councilmember Orttel wondered why they need to determine corridors. Mr. Dickinson stated it determines an area of focus to purchase properties in. Otherwise he did not know if had any real true meaning in the community. Staff reviewed the proposed corridors with the Council. Councilmember Trude thought it would be better to keep the corridors informal because things will probably change over time. She thought they were good maps to use for grants but if these were formally used, developers might get nervous thinking they could not develop in these areas. The Council so acknowledged, received and reviewed the corridor maps and authorized the use of them for grant applications. OTHER BUSINESS . Comprehensive Plan Update 0 Community Development Director Neumeister stated they have received a couple of comments from neighboring cities. The Met Council was taking issue with how their plan was prepared using population and density. Mr. Neumeister reviewed the discussion with the Met Council regarding the Comprehensive Plan 0 Regular Andover City Council Meeting Minutes - April 22, 2008 Page 5 update with the Council. Mr. Dickinson stated they will likely have to modify the tables in order to please the Met CounciL He thought they should footnote this so it is noted that they have the information if needed. Mr. Neumeister stated the second issue is the growth staging. The Met Council stated that if they set two properties back beyond 2020 the City will need to make the rest of the City three units per acre. Some of the Council felt if this were to happen then to put the two areas back into green. Councilmember Jacobson indicated he would like to keep this the way it is and challenge the Met Council. Councilmember Orttel stated they are using common sense so it is available in the future. He stated they are taking into consideration the slow down in development. Haluptzok Issue Community Development Director Neumeister stated Mr. Haluptzok wants City sewer on his 0 property and is asking indirectly if the City would be supportive of this. Mr. Dickinson stated this is in the context of the development of the East Bethel Sewer Treatment Plant. He stated this would be put in 2030 or beyond even if it is on the East Bethel area Mayor Gamache asked how this affects the City. Mr. Neumeister stated the Met Council will probably see if the City will look at urbanizing this area Mayor Gamache stated they cannot do anything with the sewer coming from the south but he wondered if enough property owners in that area are interested, they may want to look at this. Councilmember Trude stated they need to look beyond the sewer and see how it will affect the entire infrastructure. Mr. Neumeister stated they may want to wait until East Bethel submits their Comprehensive Plan to the City for review to see how this is planned. . Vandalism at Round Lake Boat Launch Councilmember Knight stated he received a call from a resident regarding vandalism at the Round Lake Boat Launch and he wondered if the City knew anything about that. He also stated that loons are nesting on this lake and wondered if they could prohibit boating on the lake for an amount of time. Mr. Dickinson stated they can have parking restrictions and limit the wake areas along with noise but they cannot stop people from boating on the lake. 0 Mr. Berkowitz stated the sign prohibiting people from going to the island was removed but he did not know about any other vandalism. Mr. Dickinson stated he could see if there was anything legally they can do. Mr. Berkowitz stated they can check with the DNR and let them know to see if they want to do something. 0 Regular Andover City Council Meeting Minutes - April 22, 2008 Page 6 . Fox Meadows Park Update City Administrator Dickinson stated they have received a number of phone calls regarding the Disc Golf Course that was pulled. He explained to the Council what was discussed. He stated the County is looking at a Disc Golf Course at Bunker Hills and there was only one resident that was upset and would probably go to the City Council Resident Forum. . Community Center in Coon Rapids and Field Usage for Community Education Councilmember Orttel brought up that Coon Rapids is looking at building a Community Center. Staff discussed with the Council fIeld usage at the High School and Community Education. Motion by Jacobson, Seconded by Orttel, to adjourn. Motion carried unanimously. The meeting adjourned at 8:53 p.m. Respectfully submitted, 0 Susan Osbeck, Recording Secretary 0