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HomeMy WebLinkAboutCC - March 2, 2010 rl 0 1685 CROSSTOWN BOULEVARD N.W.. ANDOVER, MINNESOTA 55304. (763) 755-5100 FAX (763) 755-8923 . WWW.CI.ANDOVER.MN.US Regular City Council Meeting - Tuesday, March 2, 2010 Call to Order - 7:00 p.m. Pledge of Allegiance Resident Forum Agenda Approval 1. Approval of Minutes (2/16/10 Regular; 2/16/10 Closed; 2/17/10 Workshop) Consent Items 2. Approve Payment of Claims - Finance 3. Approve Plans & Specs/Order Advertisement for Bids/09-22/Bunker Lake Blvd. NW Frontage Road/Jay Street Realignment - Engineering 4. Consider Approval Application for Exempt PermitlNational Wild Turkey Federation - Administration 5. Debt Service Payment - Finance 0 Discussion Items 6. Consider Conditional Use Permit! Andover Lions Park/Clear Wireless LLC - Planning 7. Consider Conditional Use Permit!Shadowbrook East Park/Clear Wireless LLC - Planning 8. Consider City Code Amendment!Exterior Storage of Commercial Vehic1es & Other Storage Items - Planning Staff Items 9. Administrator's Report - Administration Mayor/Council Input Adjournment o. 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 REGULAR ANDOVER CITY COUNCIL MEETING - MARCH 2,2010 MINUTES The Regular Bi-Monthly Meeting of the Andover City Council was called to order by Mayor Mike Gamache, March 2, 20lO, 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: City Attorney, Scott Baumgartner Director of Public Works/City Engineer, Dave Berkowitz City Administrator, Jim Dickinson COmInunity Development Director, Will Neumeister City Planner, Courtney Bednarz Others 0 PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE RESIDENT FORUM No one wished to address the Council. AGENDA APPROVAL Additional information for Item 6 and Item 8. Motion by Trude, Seconded by Jacobson, to approve the Agenda as amended above. Motion carried unanimously. APPROVAL OF MINUTES February 16, 2010, Regular Meeting: Correct as written. Motion by Trude, Seconded by Jacobson, to approve the minutes as indicated above. Motion carried 0 unanimously. February 16, 2010, Closed Session Meeting: Correct as amended. Councilmember Jacobson stated on page one, line 43 before the word "circumference" insert the 0 Regular Andover City Council Meeting Minutes - March 2, 2010 Page 2 word "pipe". At the end of line 46 and 47, Mr. Berkowitz made a statement and he did not think the minutes met the intent. Mr. Dickinson indicated it did meet the intent. Councilmember Jacobson asked on Page 2, line 4, after $35,000 he questioned the rest of the line. Councilmember Trude stated the appraised value is missing. Mr. Dickinson stated it should state "25% of the market value" Councilmember Jacobson stated at the end ofline 10 instead of "my" it should be "Mr." and at the end ofline 12, scratch "bid does" and insert "higher bids". Motion by Jacobson, Seconded by Trude, to approve the minutes as indicated above. Motion carried unanimously. February 17, 2010, Workshop Meeting: Correct as written. Motion by Jacobson, Seconded by Trude, to approve the minutes as indicated above. Motion carried unanimously. 0 CONSENT ITEMS Item 2 Approval of Claims Item 3 Approve Plans & Specs/Order Advertisement for Bids/09-22/Bunker Lake Blvd. NW Frontage Road/Jay Street Realignment (See Resolution R022-l 0) Item 4 Consider Approval Application for Exempt PermitlNational Wild Turkey Federation Item 5 Debt Service Payment Motion by Knight, Seconded by Bukkila, approval ofthe Consent Agenda as read. Motion carried unanimously. CONSIDER CONDITIONAL USE PERMIT/ANDOVER LIONS PARK/CLEAR WIRELESS LLC Mr. Bednarz explained Clear Wireless, LLC is seeking to locate a 120 foot tall tower and wireless internet array within Andover Lions Park. A conditional use permit is required to locate an antenna above 35 feet in height. 0 Mr. Bednarz reviewed the information with the Council. Councilmember Trude reviewed the legal obligations that the City needs to follow. City Attorney Baumgartner agreed. 0 Regular Andover City Council Meeting Minutes - March 2, 2010 Page 3 Mayor Gamache stated under zoning district regulations 9-12-5 item A, residential zoning districts, B-public land, it indicates that when the City Council determines that the tower will not adversely affect the use of the park or neighboring properties, it is one of the review criteria, another review criteria is item C, the effect on values of property and scenic views in the surrounding area. There does not seem to be a real legal point they can stand on and it seems to be in the eye of the beholder. City Attorney Baumgartner stated the review criteria was somewhat subjective in its application but then again as discussed before it is almost impossible to be all inclusive of all potential scenarios that would arise, so unfortunately there has to be some subjective interpretation of the code and he thought this was one example of it. Mayor Gamache stated this has been through the Planning Commission and Park and Recreation Commission. At the Planning Commission they actually asked for a different location within the park. Mr. Dave Hagen representing Clear Wireless, thought the Planning Commission left the location open as far as approval but deferred to the City Planner in regard to that. Councilrnember Jacobson stated while watching the Park Commission meeting he noticed a point was made about lightening strikes and the potential impact to the natural gas pipe in the area and 0 thought this was a valid point and he asked staff to contact Northern Natural Gas and Centerpoint Energy and staff has indicated each company did not have a problem with the tower going up. Northern Natural Gas stated it had no history of anything near its pipeline being struck by lightning and causing a pipeline failure. Centerpoint Energy stated the same thing and that they take this into consideration when they build the pipelines, they do not have a concern with the tower acting as a lightening rod and exploding the pipelines. Mr. Berkowitz reviewed the letters from Northern Natural Gas and Centerpoint Energy and stated the companies wbuld want to review the design criteria. He stated this is normal and staff works with other agencies on the design criteria before the installation oftowers. Mr. Kean Ponde representing Clear Wireless site engineering reviewed possible interference ofthis service and the FCC requirements with the Council. He also reviewed the application maps with the audience explaining where there will be possible coverage lapses in the area if the tower were to be moved to different locations in the park. Councilmember Trude asked what happens to the tower if this service does not work. Mr. Dickinson explained there is a provision within the license that the provider put up security that if the company would leave, the City has the ability to remove the pole/tower if the provider does not. Councilrnember Knight stated this tower is 120 feet tall and is taller than the other towers approved and he wondered why that was. Mr. Ponde stated in order to supply service to the desired service 0 area they need to make the tower higher to provide the same coverage to everyone. Councilrnember Jacobson asked if there is any technical reason why the tower cannot be moved from where proposed to closer to Bunker Lake Boulevard. Mr. Ponde stated ifthe pole is moved there will be a coverage hole. All of the different tower sites are connected and if moved there may not be ~ 0 Regular Andover City Council Meeting Minutes - March 2, 2010 Page 4 a line of sight and the tower may not work. Councilmember Bukkila asked what the minimum height would be to attain the full signal strength. Mr. Ponde stated they need 120 feet for the tower to cover the desired service area and to communicate with the other sites. Mr. Ponde reviewed with the Council the reasons for the height of the tower along with the reasons why the tower cannot be moved further to the south. Mayor Gamache asked if the Park Commission made a motion as to where the tower should be placed. Mr. Ted Butler, Park Commission Chair, stated the motion ended up recommending denial ofthe CUP at this park but they did talk about alternate locations. Mr. Butler stated none of the members of the Park Commission loves the idea of placing poles in their parks. He thought the role ofthe commission was to provide input in balancing the potential benefits as well as the potential drawbacks on all of these wireless poles they have been looking at over the months. He stated he is not speaking on behalf of the Park Commission Members. He 0 stated he voted nay against the denial because he thought their role as a Park Commission is to focus on the park issues and whether on a net benefit basis this would be a good thing for that park and the park system as a whole. A lot of the discussion ended up revolving around whether Clear Wireless could have achieved their objectives by collocating on the existing County tower along Hanson Boulevard. He did not feel their role was to evaluate the technology infrastructure needs of Clear Wireless. Mr. Butler stated Andover Lions Park is somewhat more problematic park than some ofthe other ones they have looked at. He stated the playable area of the park is somewhat smaller than other parks they have reviewed. He stated at the Park Commission meeting he recommended they use the northern location proposed and since then he visited the park and has reconsidered. He thought the best place would be the southwest area of the park. Mr. Butler reviewed the Park Commission discussion regarding placement of the tower in the park. Mayor Gamache stated the layout of this park is different than that of other parks and makes this difficult for placement of a tower. He stated Lions Park would not have been a park the Council would probably have wanted to be included in the City Code for areas to allow towers to be placed. He thought the Council was looking more at the larger square parks in the City with large chunks of land. He stated Lions Park does not have the large area to place a tower. He stated another concern is the City is not there to help a business make money. 0 Motion by Gamache, Seconded by Bukkila, to deny the conditional use permit request for a wireless internet antenna installation for Clear Wireless, LLC, 13960 Palm Street NW, with the following reasons: That granting this conditional use permit will have an adverse affect on the values of the property and the scenic views in the surrounding area due to the layout ofthis unique park. 0 Regular Andover City Council Meeting Minutes - March 2, 2010 Page 5 Councilmember Trude asked why this would adversely affect the value of property, she asked for an explanation on what that was based on. Mayor Gamache stated it is based on the fact that they have taken testimony from individuals at the Planning and Zoning Commission that they feel that while the train track is a part ofliving in that area they did not think that having a 120 foot pole directly out their back window would be a positive. He thought this also adversely affected their park because it would be placed next to the trail and would adversely affect the value of the trail and if the tower were to fall it could fall directly onto the trail. Councilmember Trude wondered if the applicant could respond to that comment because she heard that comment too and they do try to get these away from residents view. She understood some homes would see it and some will not and currently people see the County antenna flashing all the time, including herself. She thought she will probably see this tower out her back window and the next one in Shadowbrook Park East out her front window but she thought this is not about helping a business make money, it is about a goal the community has which is to be a progressive modem community that has amenities that families need and the City has a lot of home based businesses, more than most cities, and services like this are seen as essential. She 0 thought that a home selling in a community that has 4G wireless service will have more value than a community that does not, so there are always those tradeoffs. She has a hard time flatly throwing these out indicating this part oftown does not need wireless and felt there is an alternative. She thought they could move the tower within the park and most of them are concerned about putting the tower somewhere that it is not in plain sight. She stated she cannot support this motion and is not sure the property values would be negatively valued. Mr. Hagen stated he knew a study was done on the impact oftowers installed in communities and it indicated there is no impact on property values ofthose types oftowers nearby residential. Councilmember Jacobson stated they did hear testimony by people indicating it would decrease their property values; he did not see anything to back it up and did not think it should be included in the motion. He wondered if the Mayor had anything to support his motion. Mayor Gamache stated he did not and could remove the part about adversely affecting the values of the property from the motion. Councilmember Bukkila stated over the course of the weekend she had the opportunity to go to the park twice and took a look at the layout in the lower portion ofthe park and she felt there is already enough down there with the railroad and pipeline flags and to the north after the tree line there is a break and it was so quiet and she did not want to disturb that by having a tower located there. She felt this would be a disruption and break in the view. 0 Councilmember Knight stated he has had a lot of requests from residents wondering when they would be getting Wi-Fi. He had a problem with the location because it is too close to someone's home. He would like to table this to look at some other places, such as the County land to see if they would accept the pole along the tracks on Bunker Lake Boulevard. He would prefer this be tabled in order to talk to the County. Mayor Gamache stated he would not have a problem with ----- 0 Regular Andover City Council Meeting Minutes - March 2, 2010 Page 6 this but felt they needed to either approve or deny this. Mr. Dickinson agreed and thought values of property should be removed from the motion and the Council should rely on the adverse affect on scemc Views. Mayor Gamache stated he is going to remove the adverse affect on property values from his motion and instead include that the reason for denial would be because it would adversely affect the scenic views in the area because it is so close to a large number of homes. The proposed location interferes with the play space in the park. Councilmember Jacobson asked if it was technically impossible to put the tower down on the south side ofthe park and could it be placed across Bunker Lake Boulevard and into the County Park. He wondered if they looked at the possibility of doing this and if so, what did they find. Mr. Ponde stated if they tried to move the tower there will be some coverage holes on the north edge of the desired coverage area. He stated technically they could make this work but there will be some coverage holes. Councilmember Bukkila asked ifthere was a cut offto the service and is it in Andover. ls there a 0 border to the area that they are able to successfully service. Mr. Dickinson stated they are looking at 161 st A venue as the furthest north they could reach. The Council discussed area coverage ifthe tower was moved to the County property. Mayor Gamache stated he would remove the property values part of the motion and change it to read".. . have an adverse affect on scenic views because it is so close to a large number of homes in the surrounding area due to the layout of this park." Councilmember Bukkila agreed with the change. . Councilmember Trude thought they needed another condition that has to do with the use of the park because she thought moving it to the south would work but it does impede the play space in the park and she thought that was part of the balancing. The proposed location interferes with the play spaces ofthe park. Mayor Gamache stated he added "...due to the layout of this park" for that reason. Mr. Hagen stated they do have a significant investment of preparing a plan and drawings for this site and time is important to them as they work towards a launch midyear. They would prefer to get approval of the south location in the park to a denial but they would prefer they vote it up or down rather than table it for future considerations. Councilmember Knight stated he agrees with everything being discussed but there is a need for 0 Wi-FUn the City and where he lives he pays triple for internet than what this will be so ifthey could manage to move this to a site that is somewhat more acceptable will put them in much better shape. Mrs. Kim Sevaria, 13820 Sycamore Street, stated their home butts up to Lions Park ball field . 0 Regular Andover City Council Meeting Minutes-March 2,2010 Page 7 area and she thought the area is too small to have the tower placed in the southern area. She stated they have been working with the City to develop the park and the tower will not work. She thought this would look terrible and highly encouraged the Council to deny the entire request. Motion carried unanimously. Motion by Jacobson, Seconded by Bukkila, to have staff prepare findings of fact to support the denial for the Andover Lions Park Clear Wireless, LLC conditional use permit application. Motion carried unanimously. CONSIDER CONDITIONAL USE PERMITISHADOWBROOK EAST PARK/CLEAR WIRELESS LLC Mr. Bednarz explained Clear Wireless, LLC is seeking to locate a 118 foot tall tower and wireless internet antenna array within Shadowbrook East Park. A conditional use permit is required to locate antenna above 35 feet in height. 0 Mr. Bednarz reviewed the information with the Council. Councilrnember Knight suggested they look for a site to place the tower along the Ham Lake line of the park. This would take the tower away from everyone and there is some high ground there and he thought they could find a spot there. Mr. Berkowitz stated they did try to evaluate the site for the best placement. Mr. Berkowitz explained they did evaluate the site and there are a lot of wetlands in the area. He reviewed the analysis with the Council. Councilmember Trude wondered if the tower could be placed on the berm in the park. Mr. Berkowitz stated that would be pretty tight to the right of way and the berm was put there to screen the parking lot from the road. Councilmember Bukkila asked if it could be placed amongst the grove of trees to hide it. Mr. Berkowitz stated there is potential in the current location to place it further into the trees to hide it. The Council requested the tower be placed further to the east into the trees. Motion by Jacobson, Seconded by Knight, to approve the conditional use permit subject to the conditions of the attached resolution changing the resolution under the Now Therefore It Be 0 Resolved, #2 to read: the tower, antennas and ground mounted equipment shall conform to the plans revised November 11,2009 but move east as far as possible. Councilmember Bukkila stated she is fine with that as long as it does not end up where it is currently proposed. Councilmember Trude asked if they could have this moved to the southeast as far as 0 Regular Andover City Council Meeting Minutes - March 2, 2010 Page 8 possible. Councilmember Jacobson stated they could. Mr. Berkowitz stated when they move this they do not want to remove any trees. If they need to limb trees up he wanted to make sure that was acceptable as long as they do not have to remove trees. Councilmember Trude stated if they have to remove a few trees that would be ok and would ask for a couple more to be replaced. Mr. Berkowitz stated there are some mature oak trees in this area and he would like to preserve them. The Council would not want the oaks removed and to use judgment when placing the tower and equipment. Councilmember Trude asked if they were asking for screening in this motion. Mayor Gamache stated there is screening requested for the building. Mr. Hagen stated they did plan on putting up a chain link fence, six feet high with slats for screening around it but if the Council would like some screening in lieu offencing that would be agreeable. The Council preferred trees for screening over a fence. Councilmembers Bukkila and Trude asked if the motion might be amended with point #2 to read: " . . . and reasonable screening as directed by staff." This was accepted by the proponents 0 Mayor Gamache stated he is going to vote against this because he is having problems with these being in parks. He never thought it would come to the point that there would be five coming in for approval within months of each other. Mr. Jason Kunzie, 13881 Sycamore Street, stated he agreed with many of the points raised by the Council. He stated the issue is whether or not to allow 120 foot microwave towers to be constructed in their parks and he agreed overall they should not be allowed to be constructed because they over power everything in the area and there is no scale to how they are being placed in the parks. He thought what it comes down to is they need to clarify the definition of a park because he thought there was some confusion. He thought part of a park was open space and that open spaces increase the value of homes so it must be the opposite if open spaces are removed or compromised and he did not think a large microwave tower belonged in an open space. Mr. Kunzie continued to give his opinion on the benefits and drawbacks to the towers in the City. He stated the benefit would be the revenue. The drawbacks would be they are given limited information, which he provided additional information to the Council. He stated he did not see the speed or price benefit of this service. He wondered where the benefit is for this service to the residents in the City. He discussed the safety issues related to the towers. He thought that without a clear need to installing these towers adjacent to pipelines, that it not be done. Councilmember Trude indicated the Council was not voting on this specific issue. 0 Councilmember Jacobson explained his experience with high voltage transmission lines and indicated they crossed many pipelines when they have built these towers, he had never heard of any concerns from the pipelines except that the towers are adequately shielded and grounded which they are. He stated a pole adequately grounded according to electrical code and according to the specs set -- -- - 0 Regular Andover City Council Meeting Minutes - March 2, 2010 Page 9 out by the Natural Gas Pipeline Companies, it will adequately protect against something happening. Mr. Kunzie asked what the increase in risk was and no one can really answer that because of the unpredictability of lightening. Councilmember Trude stated she would be more worried about pipeline ruptures and railroad cars derailing than towers being hit by lightening and causing a pipeline problem. Mr. Kunzie stated in general he is against the construction ofthese things in open spaces and parks that are not scaled properly and is detracting from property values and the things that the citizens of Andover voted for in the referendum to protect these open spaces and they are not protecting the open spaces they already have. Mr. Ponde explained the tower radiation does not act like a microwave; it is a small two foot shrouded dish and impossible for the microwave radiation to reach the ground. This is a regular tower just like the cell towers throughout the City. He stated this cannot be compared to Comcast because it gives Wi-Fi outside of the home, throughout the City and Comcast is only available for in home use. He stated they need to follow all the FCC rules. 0 Mayor Gamache stated there were some towers approved in the City of Coon Rapids and some are collocation on water towers, some in parks and he wondered if some were located in commercial districts. He also wondered if the City of Coon Rapids denied any of the locations submitted on public land. Mr. Ponde did not think there were any denials. Mr. Dickinson stated the consultant that was working on the Hidden Creek project did work in Coon Rapids and there were two small parks that did get declined and they are looking to see if they can be installed in the general vicinity. Motion carried 4 ayes, 1 nay (Gamache). (See Resolution R023-10) CONSIDER CITY CODE AMENDMENT/EXTERIOR STORAGE OF COMMERCIAL VEHICLES & OTHER STORAGE ITEMS Mr. Neumeister stated the City Council directed staffto prepare two draft amendments to the City Code pertaining to vehicles and exterior storage. The direction given was to allow up to one commercial vehicle such as a truck, suburban, or a van other than a "cube van" or "moving truck" to be parked on a residential driveway. The Council also directed that staff prepare an amendment to allow an increased length of up to forty (40) feet for adequately screened recreational vehicles such as motor homes, campers, travel trailers that are located in the rear yards of rural lots which are at least two and a half (2.5) acres in size. The Planning Commission held a public hearing on January 12, 2010 and continued the public hearing to their February 9, 2010 meeting where they considered a 0 draft code amendment. Mr. Neumeister reviewed the staff report with the Council. The Council asked if this could be tabled and brought back to the March W orksession for discussion , 0 Regular Andover City Council Meeting Minutes - March 2, 2010 Page 10 after staff has reviewed the Council changes since they felt this needed more work and then to be brought to the Council for resident input and final review. Motion by Bukkila, Seconded by Jacobson, to table this item to a future Council Worksession. Motion carried unanimously. ADMINISTRATOR REPORT City Staff updated the Council on the administration and city department activities, meeting reminders, ClP Projects and development activity. MAYOR/COUNCIL INPUT (Andover Home Improvement Show) - Mayor Gamache stated March 20th the home improvement show will be at the Andover Community Center from 9:00 a.m. - 4:00 p.m. Q Motion by Jacobson, Seconded by Bukkila, to adjourn. Motion carried unanimously. The meeting adjourned at 9:28 p.m. Respectfully submitted, Susan Osbeck, Recording Secretary 0 I 0 Regular Andover City Council Meeting Minutes - March 2, 2010 Page 11 REGULAR ANDOVER CITY COUNCIL MEETING MINUTES - MARCH 2,2010 TABLE OF CONTENTS PLEDGE OF ALLEGlANCE ......................................................................................................... 1 RESlDENT FORUM ...................................................................................................................... 1 AGENDA APPROV AL.................................................................................................................. 1 APPROVAL OF MINUTES............................................................................................................ 1 CONSENT lTEMS ......................................................................................................................... 2 Approval of Claims..................................... ...................................... .......................................... 2 Approve Plans & Specs/Order Advertisement for Bids/09-22/Bunker Lake Blvd. NW Frontage Road/Jay Street Realignment (See Resolution R022-10) ................................................... 2 Consider Approval Application for Exempt PermitlNational Wild Turkey Federation............. 2 CONSIDER CONDITIONAL USE PERMIT/ANDOVER LIONS P ARKICLEAR WlRELESS LLC Motion to Deny ..................................................................................................................2 CONSIDER CONDITlONAL USE PERMIT/SHADOWBROOK EAST P ARKICLEAR WlRELESS LLC (See Resolution R023-lO) ............................................................................. 7 CONSIDER CITY CODE AMENDMENTIEXTERIOR STORAGE OF COMMERClAL 0 VEHICLES & OTHER STORAGE ITEMS Motion to Table ................................................... 9 ADMINlSTRA TOR REPORT ..................................................................................................... 10 MAYOR/COUNCIL INPUT ........................................................................................................ 10 ADJOURNMENT......................................................................................................................... 10 0 --