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HomeMy WebLinkAboutWK - May 20, 2010 0 1685 CROSSTOWN BOULEVARD N.W. . ANDOVER, MINNESOTA 55304. (763) 755-5100 FAX (763) 755-8923. WWW.CI.ANDOVER.MN.US City Council Workshop Thursday, May 20, 2010 Conference Rooms A & B 1. Call to Order - approximately 6:45 p.m. - Immediately following Community Garden Plot Ribbon Cutting Ceremony 2. Discuss Wind Turbine Ordinance 3. 2011-2015 Capital Improvement Progress Report 4. 2010 Budget Implementation Progress Report 0 5. 2011 Budget Development Discussion a) Newsletter Discussion b) Community Education Partnership Discussion 6. Discuss Capital Improvement Plan!Park Improvements 7. Discuss Dog Parks 8. Discuss LRRWMO 3rd Generation Watershed Management Plan 9. Discuss Street Light Request/Shadowbrook 10. Other Topics 11. Adj ournment 0 C I T Y o F 0 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 - MAY 20,2010 MINUTES The Workshop Meeting of the Andover City Council was called to order by Mayor Mike Gamache, May 20,2010, 7:00 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: Assistant Public Works Director, Todd Haas City Administrator, Jim Dickinson Others The meeting was called to order following the Community Garden Plot Ribbon Cutting Ceremony. 0 DISCUSS WIND TURBINE ORDINANCE Mr. Dickinson explained on March 16,2010 the City Council approved Ordinance No. 390 which includes regulations for wind energy conversion systems. Recently, Councilmember Don Jacobson submitted revised language suggestions for consideration. Councilmember Jacobson reviewed with the rest ofthe Council the revised language he came up with to improve the Ordinance. Councilmember Trude stated on page 2 under WECS prohibited she wanted to add a word... shall be prohibited "on" but she wanted to know why this would matter. She said it would be fine if it was omitted because they do not control it. Councilmember Knight agreed. Councilmember Trude stated she would like to remove this from the ordinance. The Council discussed roof mounted turbines. Mr. Dickinson stated the question was if the Council still wanted roof mounted prohibited within the MUSA area. He stated Councilmember Jacobson is proposing to remove this from the ordinance so roof mounted turbines would be allowed throughout the entire City. 0 Councilmember's Knight and Bukkila stated they would not want to remove that from the ordinance. Councilmember Bukkila asked if it were roof mounted would it still be under conditional use. Mr. Dickinson indicated it would. Councilmember Bukkila stated she would not have a problem with that if each one was reviewed. 0 Andover City Council Workshop Meeting Minutes - May 20, 2010 Page 2 Mr. Dickinson noted most current residential roofs are likely not designed to structurally hold a turbine so he believed new construction would be where most would likely be proposed. Councilmember Bukkila stated because these are so new she thought there will be improvements to them in the future so she did not want to prohibit them at this time. Councilmember Bukkila asked if someone installs one ofthese and taps into the grid will the utility companies get involved. Councilmember Jacobson stated these would be for home use and not powerful enough to tap into the grid and to supply electricity to a full household. Councilmember Trude asked ifthey will need to add this to the building code. Mr. Dickinson stated if someone were to come in for approval they would need to get a structural analysis done to see if the structure is strong enough to hold a wind turbine. Setbacks Mayor Gamache stated he liked the proposed changes to the setback section. 0 Mayor Gamache asked how they would measure the setback ifthe turbine is on top ofthe home. Mr. Dickinson stated they would follow the design requirements for these. Councilmember Knight asked how they would control a noise nuisance that would be continuous. Mr. Dickinson stated that would be listed in the nuisance ordinance. The Council continued to discuss possible noise issues related to wind turbines. Councilmember Trude asked if wind turbines will be allowed in front yards. Mr. Dickinson stated it depended on where on the lot the wind turbine would fit with the setback requirements. Councilmember Jacobson asked Mr. Dickinson to check with the City Attomey regarding this. Mr. Dickinson preferred to keep the insurance liability requirement at $300,000 since that is the standard amount provided on a homeowner's policy. The Council concurred with the changes that were proposed to the Ordinance. Mr. Dickinson indicated the proposed changes would need to go through the public hearing process agam. 2011-2015 CAPITAL IMPROVEMENT PROGRESS REPORT 0 Mr. Dickinson stated Administration/Finance along with all other City Departments are well underway in the process of developing a 2011-2015 CIP. As part of the process, staff is working with various committees and commissions to assist them in completing their work. 0 Andover City Council Workshop Meeting Minutes - May 20, 2010 Page 3 Mr. Dickinson reviewed the progress report with the Council. Mr. Dickinson stated the Park Commission is going to be focusing on this item at their meeting and they will be discussing the funding they received because Andover Station North was paid off early. He stated the reason they did this was because the Andover Station North fields are built on an outlot and by them utilizing the available funds that were provided that area is no longer a park dedicated improvement funded facility which means twenty years down the road if the Council wants to shut the facility down and sell it they can do that. Councilmember Jacobson liked the idea of doing this because right now when they accept a park dedication from a developer it has to be a park but maybe it should be outlots with placing play structures on them and in the future they can tum them into something else. Mr. Dickinson stated there is a fiscal background behind why this is done. This would offer the City maximum flexibility to utilize the assets they have. Motion by Jacobson, Seconded by Bukkila, to authorize staff to look into the issue of parks/outlots 0 and bring back to the Council for potential changes to the City Code. Councilmember Knight asked ifthere is any part of Eminent Domain that affects that. Mr. Dickinson discussed with the Council some cities that have accepted outIots instead of park dedicated parcels in a development. He discussed the benefits and drawbacks that the City would have ifthey adopted this. He thought this is something the City should explore. Motion carried unanimously. Mr. Dickinson continued to review the Capital Improvement Plan with the Council. 2010 BUDGET IMPLEMENTATION PROGRESS REPORT Mr. Dickinson stated the 2010 Budget and Levy was the outcome of a number of budget workshops with the Council, numerous staff meetings, a December 1, 2009 Public Hearing and the final adoption on December 15, 2009. The 2010 Budget includes a total property tax levy of$10,856,299: $7,631,494 (70.3%) operational levy, $1,900,566 (17.5%) debt service levy, and $1,324,239 (12.2%) capital levy. The 2010 gross levy reflects a 2.48% increase over 2009. 0 Mr. Dickinson reviewed the Budget Implementation progress report with the Council. The primary focus of the report was the investment portfolio make up and some of the strategies currently being used. 0 Andover City Council Workshop Meeting Minutes - May 20, 2010 Page 4 2011 BUDGET DEVELOPMENT DISCUSSION Mr. Dickinson explained the City Finance Department distributed to all City Departments their base budgets, personnel services estimates, capital budget forms, and line item budget pages on May 5th to get the 2011 budget development process underway. Mr. Dickinson reviewed the staff report with the Council. The Council discussed possibly reinstating steps for employees and when the furlough for the employees should be lifted. Mr. Dickinson indicated he would be comfortable with removing the furlough starting mid-September 2010, but also to allow employees to voluntarily continue on the furlough if they would want to through the end of the year, the benefit provisions would remain enforce, this would likely be attractive to some employees. Mr. Dickinson stated mid-September would be one full year on the 4 hour per pay period furlough. 0 The Council was in agreement to remove the furlough by mid-September 2010, but would encourage Mr. Dickinson to push for an earlier option if financially prudent. Mr. Dickinson indicated if that was the Council direction he would look for an earlier date. They asked Mr. Dickinson to send out a letter to the employees letting them know how much the Council appreciated them taking the furlough and acknowledge their sacrifice. a) Newsletter Discussion Mr. Dickinson showed the Council a couple of sample newsletters from different vendors for consideration. The Council would like the Newletter Committee to look at formal proposals. b) Community Education Partnership Discussion Mr. Dickinson stated the City of Andover as part of the annual budget process for the past number of years has included a funding contribution to the Anoka-Hennepin School District specifically for Community Education. The budgeted contribution for 2010 is $45,200 and the 2008 and 2009 the budgeted contribution was also $45,200. Mr. Dickinson reviewed the information with the Council. Councilmember Trude explained a lot of money is being spent on clerical stuff and staffing. 0 She thought they needed to provide better service to the community for what the City is contributing. She thought they needed to go to a regional model because most schools are regional. She stated they wanted to go to more family programs in the evenings. One current problem is that all elementary programs are held after school and working parents can not always arrange to pick up their child. 0 Andover City Council Workshop Meeting Minutes - May 20, 2010 Page 5 Councilmember Trude stated they are thinking about offering Adventures Plus by combining the daycare with the program and the parent can pick them up after work. Councilmember Bukkila stated this will not work with families that have day care after school. She stated families will need to make a choice again. Day cares will not let you pay for part time so the families would need to pay for Adventures Plus for once a week activities and a day care. Mr. Dickinson noted the City of Ramsey has stopped contributing but he thought they needed to talk to them because he felt Andover could be subsidizing Ramsey. Mayor Gamache felt the Council needed a breakdown of the costs that Andover will be paying for the services before any contribution is made. The rest ofthe Council concurred. The Council recessed at 8:55 p.m. The Council reconvened at 9:00 p.m. 0 DISCUSS DOG PARKS Mr. Haas stated this item is in regard to a request by resident Jennifer Frisby in the Pinewood Estates development for the City to consider a location(s) for a dog park possibly at one of the existing city parks or other city owned property. Councilmember Jacobson wondered if they could use the old golf course for a dog park. Ms. Frisby stated she has done a lot of research on the City of Minneapolis website regarding their dog parks. She stated she is ready to take the next step and get other people involved in getting a dog park started. Mayor Gamache asked when looking for areas for a dog park he thought people south of City Hall would want one because they will not want to go very far to take their dog. Mr. Haas stated they will look at all the options and there will be a booth at Fun Fest to see what the . . response IS. Councilmember Trude wondered why the resident wanted to have a dog park. Ms. Frisby stated she loves dogs, one of her dogs is a service dog and she wants to have a place where she can bring her C dogs and a lot ofthe parks in the City do not allow dogs. She would like to be able to bring her dogs with her to watch her daughter play sports. She thought this would be good for the dogs and also for the owners. Mayor Gamache stated they would need to post some rules at the park indicating the City is not 0 Andover City Council Workshop Meeting Minutes -May 20,2010 Page 6 responsible for damages or bodily harm. DISCUSS CAPITAL IMPROVEMENT PLAN/PARK IMPROVEMENTS Mr. Haas explained this item is in regard to the 2011-2015 Parks Capital Improvement Plan (CIP). Mr. Haas reviewed the staff report with the Council. Mr. Haas stated the Park Commission is on board with Hawkridge Park, they felt $100,000 was very generous and they want to move forward. They were also interested in doing Sophie's Park this year and also the skate park. Mr. Dickinson stated they would be looking at $150,000 from the fund for Hawkridge Park, Sophie's was $75,000 which would leave approximately $100,000 left to start another project and they do not want to start a project unless they have all the money to get the project done. Councilmember Bukkila asked if they could leave the left over money there. Mr. Dickinson stated 0 that is always an option. Councilmember Knight explained the problems the Community Center is having with the kids at the skate board park. He noted it is not the kids that skate but the ones that hang around with them and he felt they had a supervision problem. Mr. Dickinson reviewed with the Council based on his research what makes a good skateboard park. Mr. Haas stated the Park Commission is not interested in placing permanent equipment at the skate park but would like to install a concrete pad somewhere and replace equipment as needed. The Council discussed with staff supervision problems that are OCCUlTing at the Community Center. DISCUSS LRRWMO 3RD GENERAL WATERSHED MANAGEMENT PLAN Mr. Haas explained the Lower Rum River Watershed Management Organization (LRRWMO) is currently in the process of finishing their Third Generation Watershed Management Plan in accordance with stated rules for surface water management. Cities within the management area and other agencies are given a 60 day review period to provide comments on the proposed plan. Staff has reviewed the plan and would like to review a few items with the City Council before the formal comments are submitted. 0 Mr. Haas reviewed the staff report with the Council particularly the disturbed acreage requirement to require a permit. The Council concurred that they wanted to keep the permit requirement at 1 acre and directed staff to write a letter indicating this. 0 Andover City Council Workshop Meeting Minutes - May 20, 2010 Page 7 Wetland Buffers Mr. Haas reviewed the wetland buffer plan with the Council. Mr. Haas noted a technical committee will need to be formed to come up with a buffer strip language that they can recommend to the board that they can incorporate into the plan. Design Infiltration Requirements Mr. Haas reviewed the design infiltration requirements with the Council. DISCUSS STREET LIGHT REQUESTISHADOWBROOK Mr. Haas stated the City Council is requested to consider the installation of a streetlight as requested in the Shadowbrook Development. Mr. Haas reviewed the information with the Council. 0 The Council was in agreement to install a street light where indicated on the map shown. OTHER TOPICS Mr. Dickinson stated he received a call regarding people placing a memorial on her property where someone was killed. The resident did not want to have the memorial there and wondered if there was a policy in place regarding this. He stated the City does not have a policy and wondered ifthe Council wanted to implement this. The Council indicated they did not want to set a policy at this point but asked staff to talk to the family involved about this. He noted the resident would be ok if a bush was planted there but did not want a memorial there anymore. Mr. Dickinson stated he would talk to the deceased family about the memorial. Motion by Knight, Seconded by Trude, to adjoum. Motion carried unanimously. The meeting adjoumed at 10:05 p.m. Respectfully submitted, 0 Susan Osbeck, Recording Secretary