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HomeMy WebLinkAboutWK - November 24, 2009 C I T Y O F © ND OVE 1685 CROSSTOWN BOULEVARD N.W.. ANDOVER, MINNESOTA 55304 • (763) 755 -5100 FAX (763) 755 -8923 • WWW.CI.ANDOVER.MN.US City Council Workshop Tuesday, November 24, 2009 Conference Rooms A & B 1. Call to Order — 6:00 p.m. 2. Discuss Shed Setbacks and Easement Encroachments (Continued) - Planning 3. Clearwire Sites Discussion/09 -33 - Engineering 4. Discuss Anoka County 2030 Transportation Plan 5. Emerald Ash Borer Update — Engineering © 6. Discuss City Code Enforcement (commercial vehicles and storage) - Planning 7. 2010 General Fund Budget Development Progress Report 8. 2010 Tax Levy Discussion/Public Hearing Preview 9. Other Discussion Closed Session 10. City Administrator Review End Close Session 11. Adjournment C A I T Y O F p 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 MEETING — NOVEMER 24, 2009 MINUTES The Workshop Meeting of the Andover City Council was called to order by Mayor Mike Gamache, November 24,2009,6:00 p.m., at the Andover City Hall, 1685 Crosstown Boulevard NW, Andover, Minnesota. Councilmembers present: Sheri Bukkila (arrived at 6:08 p.m.), Don Jacobson, Mike Knight, Julie Trude Councilmember absent: None Also present: Director of Public Works /City Engineer, Dave Berkowitz City Administrator, Jim Dickinson Community Development Director, Will Neumeister Others 1 0 DISCUSS SHED SETBACKS AND EASEMENT ENCROACHMENTS (CONTINUED) Mr. Neumeister stated this item is a continuation of the discussion regarding shed setbacks and easement encroachments that was discussed at the October 27 Council Workshop. Mr. Neumeister reviewed the information with the Council. Councilmember Trude stated to date they have enforced the code as it exists. Mr. Neumeister indicated that is correct. Councilmember Jacobson thought they should leave the code the way it is but provide for an encroachment agreement. Councilmember Knight stated if they are going to allow it in the easement they need to stipulate the shed needs to be portable. Mayor Gamache asked if staff would only be looking for these types of violations if they are reported. Mr. Neumeister stated that is correct since there are a lot of them out there. The Council discussed how the City would handle such issues in the future. Councilmember Bukkila stated she preferred Blaine's regulations. Mayor Gamache agreed. The Council reviewed Blaine's regulations. Mayor Gamache stated the encroachment agreement would allow someone to encroach in the drainage easement. © Regular Andover City Council Workshop Meeting Minutes —November 24, 2009 Page 2 Mr. Berkowitz explained what a drainage easement does. He reviewed what type of easements the City will run through the easements. Councilmember Trude asked what staff would need to do if they put in place an encroachment agreement. Mr. Berkowitz stated they would need to pull the plat to see if there is a utility in the easement and then physically visit the site to make sure there is not a drainage flow blockage. Councilmember Trude stated if they were to have an encroachment agreement the City would need to adjust their fees to recoup their costs. Councilmember Trude asked when this was talked about in ARC was there a concern. Mr. Berkowitz stated the main concern is drainage. Councilmember Trude thought from a policy perspective they should be responding to only new construction and not structures that are old. - Councilmember Knight stated they needed to make sure the structure is moveable. Mr. Steve Jung, 2126 142 Lane NW, stated Blaine's idea is not a good one. He reviewed Coon Rapids, Anoka's and Blaine's policies. He did not understand where Blaine has their bench mark. He stated other cities do regulate their policy and enforce moving structures outside of the easement. He stated they have a huge water problem in the backyards when the ground is frozen. There is a local drainage problem and he does not want to have water problems in the future. Councilmember Jacobson stated if they are going to change the ordinance to allow this they need to do it for the entire city. Mayor Gamache stated he knows there are sheds like these in the City because he sees it all the time and if the Karnowski's need to move their shed then others in the City will need to follow. He did not think the City should go out and look for these but if residents complain then something will need to be done. Mr. Dickinson summarized what the Council discussed and wanted the Code to provide. Mr. John Karnowski, 2114 142 Lane NW, stated they will be applying for a variance. The Council reviewed the variance process with the Karnowskis. CLEAR WIRE SITES DISCUSSION 109 -33 Mr. Berkowitz stated the City Council is requested to discuss potential Clearwire tower sites for wireless internet within Andover and provide direction to the Clearwire representatives on how to proceed. Councilmember Knight stated with a bare pole there will be nothing sticking out of them. © Regular Andover City Council Workshop Meeting Minutes — November 24, 2009 Page 3 Councilmember Trude asked if there would be four carriers on 120 foot pole. She wondered if this would include phone_ carriers also. Mr. Berkowitz stated that is correct. Mr. Dickinson stated one of the main things for collocation is there will be other companies that will want to come in and this will reduce the total number of towers in the community. Councilmember Jacobson asked if the enclosure needs to be enclosed in a fence. Mr. Dave Hagen, representing Clearwire, stated the photo shown is for Clearwire's equipment and other companies will have their own equipment and will likely need their own enclosures. Mayor Gamache asked when Clearwire looks at areas do they look at private property or only public areas. Mr. Dickinson stated they are prompted to look at public areas first based on City Code. Councilmember Knight asked what the area is for coverage. Mr. Hagen stated it is approximately a half mile circle of coverage. Mayor Gamache asked if the sites in Coon Rapids are in parks. Mr. Steve Stultz, representing © Clearwire, stated they are doing a total of six sites with the City of Coon Rapids and some of them are in parks and they have not had any problems. Councilmember Jacobson asked if the coax would go inside or outside the pole. Mr. Hagen stated it would go inside the pole. Councilmember Jacobson stated the site at Andover Lions Park along the trail seems to be closer to the houses than the other ones and thought this might be a problem for residents. Mr. Stultz stated in regard to Hidden Creek Park they are flexible on where it ends up as long as it is in the park area itself. Mayor Gamache asked if they have looked at other public areas instead of parks. Mr. Stultz stated they have but the sites need to be connected to the other locations so the one that will go in Hidden Creek Park would need to be close enough to connect to an antenna placement in Coon Rapids. He explained to the Council how the antennas communicate with one another. Councilmember Jacobson asked if the emissions from their towers are higher or lower than a cell phone tower. Mr. Hagen stated they emit half of what cell towers emit. Councilmember Jacobson stated his only concern is if they had multiple storage boxes below the tower how it would look and how much area it would take up. Councilmember Bukkila asked when staff has reviewed these do they look at them in expanded view for collocation rather than piece meal them. Mr. Berkowitz stated technology can change in five years so they do not know what to expand on. Mr. Dickinson stated they have multiple sites, the water towers are good places and they can review the park areas with the Park and Planning and Zoning Commissions with public hearings. © Regular Andover City Council Workshop Meeting Minutes — November 24, 2009 Page 4 Councilmember Knight asked what the provision for the northern part of Andover would be in order to get WiFi in the future. Mr. Hagen stated the area would need to grow in order to bring the WiFi into the area. Mayor Gamache preferred if Hidden Creek Park got moved to a commercial area a few blocks away. He did not have a problem with the water towers or along the railroad tracks. 1VIr. Dickinson stated these will all have separate CUP's but would like them to be reviewed at the same meeting. Mr. Stultz stated they are proposing a 75 foot pole in Hidden Creek Park. The Council thought all the sites except for Hidden Creek Park are ok but would like Clearwire to find an alternate placement of the antenna at Hidden Creek Park. The Council recessed at 7:15 p.m. The Council reconvened at 7:20 p.m. © DISCUSSANOKA COUNTY2030 TRANSPORTATIONPLAN Mr. Berkowitz stated the City Council is requested to discuss the draft of Anoka County 2030 Transportation Plan that sets goals, priorities and funding strategies to guide and direct the county's infrastructure investments over the next several decades. Mr. Berkowitz reviewed the information with the Council. Councilmember Trude stated they should make a note to take into consideration attractively maintained medians in right -of -ways. EMERALD ASII BORER UPDATE Mr. Kameron Kytonen updated the Council on the Emerald Ash Borer insect and ways to prevent the spread of the insect. Mr. Kytonen stated an option to stop the spread is to take down healthy ash trees in the City and replace with other trees. Mayor Gamache asked if he has done an evaluation of how many Ash trees are in the City. Mr. Kytonen stated they have applied for a grant to do this. Mr. Winslow Holasek stated it is getting to a point where the cost is prohibitive for people who © have large areas of trees to take the infected trees down. He thought if the City is really serious about getting rid of the diseases they will have to work with the County and even the State to get rid of the diseases. He thought the City needed to have a worksession dedicated to diseased trees to look at large areas infected in the City and try to find a solution to the problem. He is sure there are other land owners that could not afford taking the trees down. He thought this should © Regular Andover City Council Workshop Meeting Minutes — November 24, 2009 Page 5 be a joint project with the County. Mr. Kytonen stated he has talked to loggers about taking large amount of trees down in the City for a discounted price. Councilmember Jacobson suggested Mr. Kytonen look at the current ordinance and make adjustments to it and talk to the County if they could use the area by the compost for tree disposal. Mayor Gamache asked if the County has come to the City asking for a joint effort. Mr. Kytonen stated they have not. DISCUSS CITY CODE ENFORCEMENT (COMMERCIAL VEHICLES AND STORAGE) Mr. Neumeister reviewed examples of commercial vehicles that are in violation of the City Code with the Council. Councilmember Bukkila stated she did not see a problem as long as the business vehicles are the same size as a passenger vehicle. © Councilmember Jacobson thought the vehicles are fine to be parked outside as long there is only one commercial vehicle parked in the driveway. Councilmember Bukkila stated she would not limit the number. The Council agreed they are fine with commercial vehicles of a passenger vehicle size parked in a driveway but are opposed to larger trucks parked in driveways, such as cube trucks in urban districts. Councilmember Jacobson stated he would be ok with one one -ton truck or less parked in the driveway in the urban districts. Councilmember Trude wondered if they could have a special use where the vehicle would need to be screened. Councilmember Jacobson stated in a rural area he would not have a problem with a large vehicle parked if it can be put in a building. Mr. Neumeister reviewed a complaint with travel trailers being parked in a rear yard with 2.5 acres. Councilmember Trude thought screening was critical. Mr. Dickinson stated the Code allows two twenty -foot trailers or less. © Mr. Neumeister thought they could raise the code maximum to 32 feet in order to allow this, they may even want to put screening in the ordinance. The Council agreed screening from neighbors is critical and if it is screened properly the footage would not matter in a rural area. Regular Andover City Council Workshop Meeting Minutes — November 24, 2009 Page 6 Councilmember Jacobson stated this should be brought to the ARC Committee with the knowledge that the Council is willing to eliminate the twenty and go to a larger size if screening is adequate. Mr. Neumeister stated he would bring this to ARC and the Planning Commission for review. 2010 GENERAL FUND BUDGET DEVELOPMENT PROGRESS REPORT Mr. Dickinson reviewed the 2010 General Fund Budget report with the Council. The Council discussed the warming house attendants at skating rinks. Mr. Dickinson suggested evaluating the furlough program in March/April 2010. Mayor Gamache asked if this could be evaluated in January or early February 2010. Councilmember Trade stated she is disappointed because she thought they were going with the 2.48% tax levy to stop the furlough. Mr. Dickinson stated if the furlough is removed too early he fears they may have to re- implement it if revenue does not come in as expected. Councilmember Trude asked if they are foolish going from 3% to 2.48% with commercial valuations in question. Mr. Dickinson stated he is not worried about it. 2010 TAX LEVYDISCUSSIONIPUBLIC HEARING PREVIEW Mr. Dickinson stated the Council has had a number of reviews of the City of Andover 2010 Budget and continued detailed review of the General Fund budget that is primarily supported by the proposed 2010 Tax levy. Mr. Dickinson reviewed the information with the Council. OTHER DISCUSSION There was none. The Council recessed to go into the closed session at 9:43 p.m. for the 2009 City Administrator review. The Council reconvened at 10:30 p.m. Motion by Bukkila, Seconded by Trude, to adjourn. Motion carried unanimously. The meeting adjourned at 10:30 p.m. Respectfully submitted, Susan Osbeck, Recording Secretary