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HomeMy WebLinkAboutWK - July 23, 2009 C T Y O F © 1685 CROSSTOWN BOULEVARD N.W. • ANDOVER, MINNESOTA 55304 • (763) 755 -5100 FAX (763) 755 -8923 • WWW.CI.ANDOVER.MN.US City Council Workshop Thursday, July 23, 2009 Conference Rooms A & B 1. Call to Order — 6:00 p.m. 2. Discuss Resident Request — Residential Petting Zoo (as Home Occupation) 3. Open Space Commission Update 4. Update on Implementing Single Family Rental Licensing 5. Discuss Assessment Policy Manual - Engineering © 6. Council Goal Discussion 7. 2011 -2015 Capital Improvement Plan Development Progress Report 8. Discuss Charging for Fire Services 9. 2010 Budget Development Progress Report (Staff report will be distributed under a separate cover) 10. Other Discussion 11. Adjournment C I T Y O F NDOVE 1685 CROSSTOWN BOULEVARD N.W. • ANDOVER, MINNESOTA 55304 • (763) 755 -5100 FAX (763) 755 -8923 • WWW.CI.ANDOVER.MN.US ANDOVER CITY COUNCIL WORKSHOP — JULY 23, 2009 MINUTES The Andover City Council Workshop was called to order by Mayor Mike Gamache, July 23, 2009, 6:00 p.m., at the Andover City Hall, 1685 Crosstown Boulevard NW, Andover, Minnesota. Councilmembers present: Sheri Bukkila, Don Jacobson, Mike Knight, Julie Trude Councilmember absent: None Also present: City Planner, Courtney Bednarz Director of Public Works /City Engineer, Dave Berkowitz City Administrator, Jim Dickinson Others DISCUSS RESIDENT REQUEST — RESIDENTIAL PETTING ZOO (AS HOME OCCUPATIOA9 Mr. Bednarz explained a resident at 4618 Roanoke Street NW approached staff with interest in operating a therapy program involving children with disabilities and farm animals on this 8 acre property. Mayor Gamache asked if the house faces toward 165 Avenue. Mr. Bednarz stated it is set off away from the County Road but does face it. Mayor Gamache asked if the resident had all the animals already. Mr. Bednarz stated she did not but would get smaller animals for the kids. Councilmember Bukkila liked the idea of this. Mr. Bednarz stated the applicant is allowed to have the animals but as a business the code does not regulate this very well. Councilmember Jacobson noted they allow dog kennels where there could be more dogs than allowed in districts. He asked if this would be a business in the winter. Mr. Bednarz indicated it would be run three months out of the year according to the applicant's letter. Mr. Bednarz stated if the Council liked the idea they may want to put in some limits and should decide how they would want to regulate this. Mayor Gamache stated he would be fine with allowing this type of business on five acres but nothing less. Councilmember Trude stated she would not want to see a lot of buses coming and going with buses parked along the road. Councilmember Jacobson stated they could make it a conditional use where they would need to come in every year for approval. Q Andover City Council Workshop Meeting Minutes — July 23, 2009 Page 2 The Council discussed wording to allow one more than five acres, a Conditional Use Permit, and that the business needs to be reviewed annually and indicate hours of operation. OPEN SPACE COMMISSION UPDATE Mr. Bednarz reviewed with the Council the Open Space Commission field trip to Woodland Creek Golf Course in Andover. Councilmember Jacobson asked how much Mr. Ron Vanelli wanted for the golf course property. Mr. Bednarz stated he wants $6,000 to $7,000 per acre. Councilmember Jacobson asked if this could be used for several purposes if the City purchased the property; a passive park, leasing space for gardens for residents along with open space. Mr. Bednarz stated Mr. Vanelli is interested in the City or anyone buying the property. Mr. Bednarz indicated the Open Space Commission thought it would be nice to have a trail running through the course. Councilmember Knight stated if they had trails, they would need a parking lot. The Council liked the idea of a trail running through the parcel. Councilmember Knight asked how the wetland banking works. Mr. Bednarz stated they have to establish the wetland first and the watershed comes out and looks at it to see if it complies. Mr. Berkowitz stated the golf course has a good water source with the creek running through it, making it easier to establish wetland. Councilmember Trude thought it would be a nice idea to have a trail easement over the sewer line easement so when they go in with the sewer they could put a trail on top of it. UPDATE ON IMPLEMENTING SINGLE FAMILYRENTAL LICENSING Mr. Bednarz stated staff has been working to get an accurate list of non - homestead properties in the city. The list is currently showing approximately 716 non - homestead parcels. He stated so far there has been one person who has filed for a license and up to nine others wanting to get one. Councilmember Trude asked if the people renting are homeowners who cannot sell or are they investors. Mr. Bednarz stated there is a mix of both. Councilmember Knight asked what the City was giving them for information on becoming a landlord. Mr. Bednarz explained what the City had for information for owners. ® Andover City Council Workshop Meeting Minutes — July 23, 2009 Page 3 Mr. Bednarz indicated that next month's update would be a better measure of progress for the program. REVISED PUD DISCUSSION — ANDOVER CLOCKTOWER COMMONS Mr. Dickinson stated at the July 21 Council meeting the Council expressed a desire to review with the developer, the revised PUD application for Andover Clocktower Commons at the July 23` workshop. Mr. Dickinson reviewed the supplemental staff report with the Council. Councilmember Trade stated at the August City Council meeting the applicant wants the Council to approve a three quarters intersection just east of Hanson Boulevard. She did not think the plans would be needed at that time but she thought they needed to move forward with this. She thought there needed to be an amendment to the PUD for a three quarters intersection approximately 600 feet from the intersection. Councilmember Jacobson agreed that everyone wanted a three quarter with a pork chop design and right turn lane. He thought they could resolve the issue of concrete versus painted medians on Crosstown Boulevard. He thought at this point striping would be ok. He also thought the applicant did not want a right turn lane and staff did. He also thought the applicant needed to bend at some point too and that a right turn lane probably is required. Mr. Darren Lazan stated they are not opposed to a right turn lane but wanted to discuss the design of the intersection. He stated that staff took the comma on the pork chop median and extended it out and he felt this aggravated the situation and made the turn more dangerous. Mr. Berkowitz stated they have looked at the design and considered safety as the main issue and felt the raised pork chop and center median is needed on Crosstown Boulevard from a safety standpoint. Mayor Gamache asked with striping would they still have a dedicated left turn lane. Mr. Lazan stated they would. Mayor Gamache asked if they would need to expand the road. Mr. Lazan stated they would not at this time. Mayor Gamache asked how they would accomplish the left turn lane without widening the road because Crosstown Boulevard on the east side is not as wide as Crosstown Boulevard in front of City Hall. Mr. Lazan showed on a map how they wanted the intersection to look and the area of the road that would need to be widened. © Mr. Lazan stated they want to try to phase the intersection in when the improvements are needed. They are willing to stage this as development comes. Mr. Berkowitz reviewed the City's plans with the Council explaining that by striping Crosstown d Andover City Council Workshop Meeting Minutes — July 23, 2009 Page 4 Boulevard it would allow the possibility of a left turn out of the development. The left turning movement is the most dangerous turning movement in a situation like this and that is what a % intersection with medians prevents. Councilmember Trude thought when the entire development builds out they could reevaluate the intersection for changes. Councilmember Knight stated the speed study changes the dynamics also. Mr. Roberts stated he appreciated the Council asking for a speed study and will help to potentially lower the speed. Councilmember Jacobson thought they all agreed with the pork chop in the intersection. The applicant does not want a right turn lane in as shown because it is too long and they do not want the median in the middle of Crosstown. Councilmember Jacobson wanted to know why the applicant did not want a right turn lane going into the development. Mr. Lazan stated they are fine with a right turn lane but did not want the right turn lane to be as long as staff wants it to go and there are also issues for them with storm water drainage and spacing. © Councilmember Trude wondered if there is a way to reduce the right turn lane and use the ditch system until the property across the road sold. Mr. Berkowitz stated minimum turn lane requirements are three hundred feet. He stated the City plan shows the right turn lane at approximately one hundred eighty feet in length. The grade is substantially different between the trail and the road making a ditch difficult to construct. Mr. Lazan explained what they would like to do with the turn lane by shortening it and eliminating putting in a curb all the way to Bluebird Street. Mr. Berkowitz stated his recommendation is to make the permanent safety improvements now which include a median on Crosstown and a longer right turn lane because the City will own the road and have to maintain it in the future. Councilmember Trude thought people will already be slowing down at Bluebird Street for that intersection so she did not think they needed as long a right turn lane as being discussed until future development comes in. Mr. Dickinson asked at what point does the City get to channelization on Crosstown Boulevard based on the revised PUD proposal. Mr. Lazan stated it would happen when the Holasek property develops. The Council concurred. © Councilmember Knight stated he is troubled because there is paint striping in many places in the City and other cities without problems. Councilmember Jacobson stated he would feel comfortable if the applicant can put in writing that © Andover City Council Workshop Meeting Minutes —July 23, 2009 Page 5 when they sell either parcel north of Crosstown Boulevard that they will make the permanent improvements, for the full right turn lane. Mr. Berkowitz stated if there is not any hard channelization on Crosstown Boulevard City staff would not support the project Mr. Lazan suggested they bring a plan to staff along with suggested language for the PUD to be presented at the August 5�' City Council meeting. Councilmember Jacobson asked if they are still anticipating making improvements this year if everything is approved. Mr. Lazan thought that could be accomplished, since they have the plans ready. DISCUSSASSESSMENT POLICYMANUAL Mr. Berkowitz stated the City Council is requested to discuss the current assessment procedures relative to high volume roadways (Municipal State Aid Routes) and direct staff on assessment policy © procedure changes. Councilmember Jacobson thought the only thing they were going to discuss was how they are going to assess people on MSA roads when there is a high level of traffic. He did not see that in the report and he was thinking maybe the easiest way to determine this was to look at the ADT's and set a certain number. If they go over that number they would qualify. Councilmember Trude stated on page 6, IV, under policies related to special assessments, they have comments related to policies, which is where the topic could be put in. She thought they should create a new category "MSA High Volume Streets which have ADT's in excess of (what ever number staff and Council believes is adequate) are viewed as benefiting the community at large, accordingly the City Council may reduce the total amount assessed to abutting properties or reduce the percentage assessed based on (list criteria; volume, role the street serves in the community, etc.)" She thought this would depend on what role the street serves in the City. Mr. Berkowitz reviewed the items with the Council. The Council discussed how they wanted to assess different areas of the City and different criteria. Councilmember Trude thought their policy should include MSA streets, which have ADT's in excess of 1,500 trips per day. © Mr. Berkowitz showed a City map with MSA roads on them along with high volume traffic on the roads. Councilmember Jacobson thought this should be based on a sliding scale, when the percentage of Andover City Council Workshop Meeting Minutes — July 23, 2009 Page 6 vehicles goes up the cost should go down for the residents. Councilmember Trude thought the following wording should be added: "In these cases when they have high volume MSA roads assessed costs will generally be divided by the number of lots with non - developed lots generally not being assessed." If they know a development is going through they should assess. Mr. Berkowitz needed to know if the Council wanted to leave the policy as is and work on these roads as they come up. Councilmember Jacobson thought they should add something to the policy. The revised policy will be brought back for formal approval. COUNCIL GOAL DISCUSSION Mr. Dickinson stated at the September 16, 2008 Council meeting the Council adopted the 2008 -2009 Council Goals. No priority scoring was done, as it was assumed that staff would work diligently on all the goals. © Mr. Dickinson reviewed the information with the Council. He wondered if the Council wanted to have a list made up to discuss for next years goals. Councilmember Jacobson thought they should because it helps to keep things going. Councilmember Knight thought they should score the items in order of priority and a good exercise to make sure they keep doing what needs to get done. Councilmember Jacobson noted they need to make sure their zoning matches the Comprehensive Plan. 2011 — 2015 CAPITAL IMPROVEMENT PLAN DEVELOPMENT PROGRESS REPORT Mr. Dickinson stated in early May, Administration/Finance held a 2010 -2014 CIP kick -off meeting with Department Heads where discussion centered on the 2010 -2014 CIP development calendars and the need for other committees (Vehicle Purchasing & Facility Management Committees) and commissions (Parks and Recreation & Community Center Advisory) to start their work to meet the deadlines scheduled. Councilmember Jacobson stated what concerns him is the years 2011 -2013 because they are horrendous dollar amounts and he did not know how they will do this. © Mr. Dickinson reviewed the plans with the Council. Mr..Dickinson stated there is an item in the plan for a tunnel under Crosstown Boulevard with applying for a grant. He wondered if the Council is still interested. Councilmember Knight thought © Andover City Council Workshop Meeting Minutes —July 23, 2009 Page 7 if they built this there would be more problems than they would want to deal with and did not advise this. Councilmember Bukkila agreed. Councilmember Trude asked if the safety concern could be addressed with an underpass or should they look at an overpass. Mr. Berkowitz stated an overpass is not financially feasible and they can address safety concerns. Councilmember Bukkila asked if they were to build the underpass could they get security cameras and sensors. Councilmember Trude wondered if they could gate the underpass after hours at night. Mayor Gamache asked if they could get a report from the City of Anoka on any problems they have had with their tunnels. Councilmember Knight asked if there was any way to replace vehicles with hybrid vehicles. Mr. Dickinson stated there are areas where hybrid vehicles may work but in area where performance is needed he thought vehicles with diesel engines work best. Councilmember Jacobson asked if they are going to raise the SAC rate. Mr. Dickinson stated the sewer rate is good but the water rate is where we struggle with balancing usage rates. © Councilmember Trude thought they should begin lobbying to repeal the law about getting new voting equipment. Mr. Dickinson stated this is a Federal law and he did not anticipate the City paying the whole $100,000. He stated they tend to follow what the County directs as acceptable equipment. DISCUSS CHARGING FOR FIRE SERVICES Fire Chief Winkel stated the Fire Department staff continues to evaluate appropriate methods or means for collecting revenues and also reducing operational costs. Chief Winkel reviewed his staff report with the Council. Councilmember Jacobson asked how the billing went with the insurance companies for accidents. Chief Winkel thought it went well and all bills were paid one hundred percent. Councilmember Jacobson asked if the reason for the fees is to help the general overall budget and not just the Fire Department. Chief Winkel stated that was correct. Councilmember Knight asked how many primary inspections they do a year. Chief Winkel stated they have previously done one hundred in a year and it depends on how complicated they are. © Councilmember Jacobson asked what they would charge for fees for inspections. Chief Winkel reviewed the fee schedule with the Council. Chief Winkel explained they will start to get calls from businesses if they charge for inspections. Andover City Council Workshop Meeting Minutes — July 23, 2009 Page 8 The Council thought the addition of some fees seemed reasonable. Councilmember Bukkila indicated she liked the crash portion but did not like the fee to businesses portion. Councilmember Jacobson stated he would not want to charge businesses or homeowners. Chief Winkel reviewed the third proposal with the Council in regard to responding to all emergency medical calls. Councilmember Jacobson asked what calls could the Fire Department respond to that the ambulance could not. Chief Winkel explained they would respond to the emergency with the ambulance when warranted. Chief Winkel stated the goal is to provide as much communication and updates through the central call center. He added that potentially fatal calls will still get paged like they do now, it will not go to the call center. Councilmember Jacobson thought they should start to initiate the fee for car crashes, utility line © breakages and inspections. Mayor Gamache stated he did not like this at all because they will get numerous calls like they did previously. He stated he liked reducing calls to a certain degree. He stated they may be saving a few thousand dollars here and there by cutting out service but he wondered if it would be worth it. Councilmember Knight stated the only potential money saver would be in item three. Mayor Gamache thought item three would work to a point but they have to seriously look at services people expect and he did not want to cut out those services. Councilmember Jacobson thought they should still charge contractors for breaking a gas line. Mayor Gamache agreed but did not want to charge for car crashes. The Council also liked implementing item three. Chief Winkel stated they will start evaluating not going to all of the service calls but will not implement it until 2010 if the Council agrees after review of the evaluation. Councilmember Jacobson asked Chief Winkel to keep a log on what they would or would not have done in emergency calls. The Council recessed at 8:45 p.m. The Council reconvened at 8:50 p.m. OTHER BUSINESS • Hartfiel's Property Donation Andover City Council Workshop Meeting Minutes — July 23, 2009 Page 9 Mr. Dickinson stated the owners of the Hartfiel property want to donate the property to the City to maintain. Councilmember Jacobson did not think the owners were going to do anything with the property so why should the City maintain it. Mr. Dickinson thought the owners may let this go tax forfeit and the City would probably get it. Mr. Berkowitz stated the main clean up would be trash. Staff discussed with the Council this property. Councilmember Trude stated she liked the corner because it has cattails and other natural growth. She thought this would be a visual property and could be a donation to the Open Space Project. She thought this was a visual park. The Council thought staff should look into this. • Serendipity Cafe Wine License Request a Mr. Dickinson stated Serendipity Cafe is requesting a wine license but they are not 1,000 feet away from the existing school in the shopping mall. Councilmember Knight thought they should change the ordinance because otherwise they will be setting a precedent because they have already enforced this with other businesses. Mayor Gamache stated he would not have a problem with lowering the buffer to 400 feet. Councilmember Jacobson asked if they changed the ordinance to 400 feet would this be in effect for all districts. Mr. Dickinson stated that was correct. Councilmember Trude stated she would have a problem with changing the ordinance because she would not want liquor establishments that close to a school. Councilmember Knight wondered if they could make an exception for schools in shopping malls because it is not a school building, they are a tenant in a strip mall. Mr. Dickinson stated he would check with the School District to see if they would have a problem with this or if they would provide them with a waiver for this and then bring it back to the Council but he wanted to make sure it was ok with the Council first. 2010 BUDGET DEVELOPMENT PROGRESS REPORT Mr. Dickinson stated City Departments deadline for submitting 2010 Budget materials was July 2na © Since that date Finance has been compiling the proposed 2010 expenditure budgets, preparing 2010 revenue estimates, preparing 2010 levy calculations and analyzing the 2009 revenue and expenditure estimates. Mr. Dickinson reviewed the information with the Council. Andover City Council Workshop Meeting Minutes —July 23, 2009 Page 10 The Council asked if they could reduce the emergency funds. Mr. Dickinson indicated they could reduce the operational emergency reserves. Councilmember Jacobson asked if they were looking at reducing Community Service Officer hours to save some money. Mr. Dickinson stated there will be a wage freeze for 2010 and he has had a midyear review on the health insurance plan done and the insurance looks like it will be going up significantly. He stated they will be shopping this around again. Councilmember Jacobson stated if prices keep going up they may need to give each employee a set amount of money to find their own insurance. Mr. Dickinson reviewed the insurance information with the Council. Mr. Dickinson stated the City Attorney's office will reduce fees by 3% for 2010. Councilmember Trude suggested they implement an administrative fee in the City for property violations, rather than relying on the criminal court system. ® The Council discussed the possibility of implementing administrative fees in the City. Mr. Dickinson stated he will gather more information on this and bring it back for review. Mr. Dickinson stated the Sheriff's contract will have a 2.1% increase in 2010. The Council is comfortable with the increase as long as there is no reduction in service. Mr. Dickinson reviewed Council Memberships and Donations /Contributions with the Council. Councilmember Jacobson thought Community Schools should have a zero increase. Mr. Dickinson reviewed the proposed tax levy information. Councilmember Jacobson asked if Mr. Dickinson is suggesting they levy the maximum of 5% or could they get what they need out of less. Mr. Dickinson stated he was looking at the 3% number in order to not further cut the proposed 2010 budget beyond what has already been done to bring back cut items they would need to levy more then 3 %. Councilmember Trude asked if they levied five percent what community services would be brought back. Mayor Gamache stated he would like to look at the furlough program and shoot for a 4% levy and remove the furlough program for 2010. He stated he was fine with the layoffs because they needed to do that. Councilmember Knight asked if there is room to cut some of the non - personnel costs. Mr. © Andover City Council Workshop Meeting Minutes — July 23, 2009 Page 11 Dickinson stated they could do this and they continue to challenge their vendors to see what could be done. Mr. Dickinson discussed with the Council City additional cuts that could be made if a 0% levy was done. Councilmember Knight asked Mr. Dickinson to make a report for the Council in regard to the levy percentages to see where they would end up at. Councilmember Knight stated he would like to see what other cities are doing. Councilmember Knight asked Mr. Dickinson to check with other cities to see what they could do together do to cut costs for both cities. Mr. Dickinson stated they have already been doing that. Councilmember Knight stated they should develop a volunteer organization and appeal to people who are available to see if they can volunteer some time at the Community Center for supervision. Mr. Dickinson stated he will continue to work on the budget and try to keep that tax levy as low as possible. They will list things they cut that the Council could bring back, and also suggest further cuts if zero percent levy increase is approved. OTHER BUSINESS Vacant Lots for Sale in Andover - Mowing Mr. Dickinson stated the City policy has been to mow the first twenty feet of a yard and leave the rest for residential lots for sale. He wanted to know if the City wanted the entire lots mowed or get on the builder, how stringent should they be on mowing the lots. Councilmember Trude thought on Andover Station North they should mow the lots to keep them up. She thought the Council needed to go out and look at these before they make a decision. The Council discussed mowing vacant lots and thought the lots needed to be mowed at least once a year by someone whether it be the City or the developer but should not be mowed all the way down because of the dust that will occur after. Mr. Berkowitz asked the Council how they need to follow up on erosion control. He suggested they go out and do it and charge it back to the lot. The Council agreed. Motion by Jacobson, Seconded by Knight, to adjourn. Motion carried unanimously. The meeting adjourned at 10:23 p.m. Respectfully submitted, Susan Osbeck, Recording Secretary