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HomeMy WebLinkAboutWK July 28, 2005 5'\NDbVE~ CA.>~ c:kv wu..::ttuJ S- -I ~-oS 1685 CROSSTOWN BOULEVARD N.W. . ANDOVER. MINNESOTA 55304. (763) 755-5100 FAX (763) 755-8923 . WWW.C1.ANDOVER.MN.US Special City Council Workshop Thursday, July 28, 2005 7:00 p.m. Conference Rooms A & B 1. Call to Order - 7:00 p.m. 2. Discuss Tree Preservation Policy - Engineering 3. Review Information!05-6/1487 - l48lh Lane NW (Keith Olson) - Engineering 4. Rural Reserve Discussion - Planning 5. 2006-2010 Capital Improvement Plan - Administration 6. 2006 Budget Discussion - Administration 7. Other Business 8. Adjournment ANDOVER CITY COUNCIL WORKSHOP- JULY 28,2005 MINUTES The Workshop of the Andover City Council was called to order by Mayor Mike Gamache, July 28, 2005, 7:00 p.m., at the Andover City Hall, 1685 Crosstown Boulevard NW, Andover, Minnesota. Councilmembers present: Councilmember absent: Also present: Don Jacobson, Ken Orttel, Julie Trude Mike Knight City Administrator Jim Dickinson Community Development Director, Will Neumeister City Engineer, David Berkowitz Assistant Finance Director, Lee Brezinka Natural Resources Technician Kameron Kytonen Others I DISCUSS TREE PRESERVATION POLICY City Engineer Berkowitz stated City staff was requested by the Planning Commission to review the Tree Preservation Policy. Staff had held internal discussions and has called other cities to generate ideas and compare the City's program with other programs. The goal is to save more trees and valuable natural areas and/or put back more quality native trees. Natural Resources Technician Kytonen reviewed the discussion items with the Council. Councilmember Jacobson asked how they could legally stop tree removal at the time of the first sketch plan. He stated once there is a plan and development is occurring they can control tree cutting but he did not know if they could do this before that time. Mr. Berkowitz stated once this is in the review process they do not want them to cut trees. Right now they can do this during the sketch plan. Councilmember Trude thought by doing this it would give them a little more control. Mr. Berkowitz stated some of the developers at this time have not cut the trees down out of respect but they do not have anything in writing and some developers have c1earcut out of spite. Mr. Kytonen stated the City of Blaine has this policy in their provisions. The developer actually has \ to submit a plan if they are going to remove more than two trees per year. Councilmember Orttel stated he did not agree with Blaine's' policy. He wondered if there was enough room to work with the developer to allow them to remove trees that are not desirable. A lot of the properties are not developable unless they remove all of the trees and he wondered if there will be reviews. Mr. Berkowitz stated the reason for so much tree removal in Andover is because the topography is so flat and because of the water basin. . / Special Andover City Council Workshop Meeting Minutes - July 28, 2005 Page 2 Councilmember Jacobson wondered at what point they can regulate tree removal because he did not think a sketch plan is a legal document. Councilmember Trude stated what the neighbors and Planning Commission are complaining about is all of the clear cutting that is happening in the City. Councilmember Orttel asked what the City considers a tree. Mr. Kytonen stated their decision would come after evaluation of the property. High priority trees would include oak trees. Councilmember Orttel wondered if the taking of the trees, be penalized, what this would do with a typical lot and home price. He wondered if it would put a burden on residents that is not bearable. Mr. Berkowitz stated those are items they would like to work out with the Planning Commission and Council. He thought they would allow everything to be taken out of the rights-of-ways that cannot be saved and then look at what trees could be saved. Councilmember Jacobson stated this would be done at the sketch plan. / Mr. Berkowitz stated they would like to be more proactive. They would like to have Mr. Kytonen go out and walk the site and discuss with the developer what could be saved. Councilmember Jacobson indicated he did not have a problem when the sketch plan comes in but he did not know if they could stop them from removing trees. Councilmember Trude stated she likes what is being proposed and any problems the developers have, staff will hear about. Councilmember Trude would like to see more center islands within the cul-de-sacs with natural plantings. Mr. Kytonen stated Blaine has a similar plan right now; for every acre cleared they have to have eight trees per acre maximum put in. Councilmember Trude stated she is fine with what they are doing now and taking things in incremental steps. Councilmember Jacobson wondered how far down they will go for lot size. Mr. Kytonen stated they could go pretty far for tree replacement. Councilmember Orttel stated his concern is on properties that have too many trees. Logically they need to take trees out for the street and utility areas. He thought it sounded like they are talking about replacement for every tree. Developers usually pay a high price for wooded land and they generally try to save what trees they can. '\ I Mr. Berkowitz stated they need to look at what is feasible. Councilmember Jacobson stated they need to be careful about treating all the land the same. / Special Andover City Council Workshop Meeting Minutes - July 28, 2005 Page 3 Councilmember Trude stated one area this would not work is in a commercial site because they need more open space for the building and parking. Councilmember Jacobson stated he is concerned about the legality of this before preliminary and also about one size fits all. They need to allow some flexibility. Mayor Gamache wondered if there will be an additional cost that would have to be charged to the developer for the added work of looking at the trees. Mr. Berkowitz stated they do charge on an hourly basis and this is charged through the plat. Councilmember Trude stated she supports tree preservation and there will be tradeoffs. She thought this is an important part of the equation. Mr. Kytonen thought most developers will not try to avoid the loophole because they will want to keep in good standing with the City. Mr. Berkowitz stated they are having some problems with the silt fence and would like a little more help with the violations. The Council supported staff in having the building inspectors stop construction if the development is not in compliance. Mayor Gamache wondered if there are different kinds of conservation-style development. Mr. Kytonen stated they are working hard with the resource that is there and working harder to preserve that resource and restore it. Mr. Berkowitz stated storm water treatment is a big change when it comes to Conservation-Style development. He stated in most cases developers have proposed that type of development to the City ofLino Lakes. They have to work with the right developer for this type of development. Mr. Kytonen noted they want to require new plantings to be native. Councilmember Trude agreed and noted they do not want species that do not do well in our climate. REVIEW INFORMATION/05-6/1487 _148TH LANE NW (KEITH OLSON) City Engineer Berkowitz stated Mr. Keith Olson, 1487 148th Lane NW, approached the City Council at the June 7, 2005 City Council meeting requesting the City revisit his request for sewer and water. A feasibility report was prepared and rejected by the City Council due to lack of support by the properties that would be assessed. Mr. Berkowitz discussed the report with the Council. Councilmember Jacobson wondered if the assessment numbers include concrete curb. Mr. / Berkowitz stated yes. Councilmember Trude wondered if anyone in the neighborhood changed their mind about wanting the improvements. The resident at 1452 indicated he did not want it and he did not know of anyone in the neighborhood that would want the improvements. Special Andover City Council Workshop Meeting Minutes -July 28, 2005 Page 4 Mr. Olson stated when he bought the property he was told the sewer and water was up to his property but only the sewer was to that point. Mr. Berkowitz reviewed the utility layout with the Council. Councilmember Jacobson stated the problem is ifno one else wants to pay for the improvements, Mr. Olson would have to pay for it all. Mr. Olson stated there are three residents in the area that want this to be improved which are the ones who have the largest assessments. Mr. Berkowitz stated they still have to pay their assessments. Councilmember Orttel stated if the three people who want the improvement were to split this, what would that come out to. Mr. Olson stated he is willing to pay the assessment. He stated some of the people are afraid that if the water is brought in front oftheir house, they will be required to hook up and then be billed for it. If the City could send a letter to those residents promising they would not have to hook up he believed they would want the improvements. Councilmember Orttel stated Mr. Olson is willing to pay for the assessment but he wondered where the rest of the money would come from. Councilmember Jacobson asked if they did not require the people to hook up to the water right away and if Mr. Olson paid the assessment, there is still a gap and they would have to get money from somewhere. Mr. Berkowitz reviewed with the Council the residents who did and did not want the improvements and the assessment costs for each. Mr. Olson noted that when this road is improved, the residents will eventually have to pay for it. Councilmember Jacobson stated because they have a fifty/fifty split of residents wanting the improvements, he was reluctant to go to a 429 process. Councilmember Orttel stated they found this hard to go forward because they do not have over fifty percent wanting the improvement. Councilmember Jacobson stated he would not go ahead with this without the majority ofthe residents wanting this. He told Mr. Olson that ifhe could get fifty-one percent ofthe residents stating in writing that they want the improvement, the Council could look at this again but otherwise they could not do anything. RURAL RESERVE DISCUSSION , , Mr. Neumeister explained staffhas begun looking at the steps needed to develop a master plan for the Rural Reserve Area. The Rural Reserve Area is very similar in size and also the conditions present at "The Lakes" in Blaine. The city's master planning effort should follow the same general steps and general theme. If Council has a different vision, the staff needs to hear from the Council what that would be. The vision may be different, but the planning process and steps should remain Special Andover City Council Workshop Meeting Minutes - July 28, 2005 Page 5 the same. A vision for this area needs to be developed early on so that staff and the Planning Commission can work into the master plan any new "Big Picture" ideas that the Council may have. Councilmember Jacobson wondered if Mr. Neumeister was suggesting that staff do all of the planning or should they sit down with the property owners and go over this. He thought this was a little backwards. He stated they should talk to the landowners first and plan this and then they should go to the Met Council with their ideas. He wondered why they would exclude the landowners and go to the Met Council first. Mr. Neumeister stated what Councilmember Jacobson is talking about deals with the sewer pipe installation and the costs associated with bringing a trunk there. He stated it would take six months to do a Master Plan which would include reviewing this with the City Council, Park Commission and landowners. He stated they can only go so far in the base planning of this before they get the owners involved. Councilmember Jacobson wondered what the agreement with the Met Council was for this area. Mr. Neumeister indicated it was three units per acre. Councilmember Jacobson did not think this was what the Council would want to see there and he recommended this amount not be included in the letter to the Met Council because then they will be held to that amount. Mr. Dickinson stated the Met Council indicated that in order to develop the rural reserve, they will have to have three units per acre. Councilmember Jacobson stated when they start to plan the rural reserve area they need to plan what is best for the area even if it is not three units per acre. The Council discussed the items that can be taken out to determine the calculation for net units per acre. Mr. Neumeister stated if they do not know the number the Met Council wants for units per acre, they cannot start to plan this and the developer is going to need to know the kind of density that will work. Mr. Dickinson stated the developers will probably come to the Council with more than three units per acre because they will be spending a lot of money on mining the area. Councilmember Jacobson stated he did not want apartments in there to justify the density. He is very concerned with identifying a density of three units per acre to the Met Council. Councilmember Trude noted the market is showing that townhomes are being overbuilt so she did not know if they would work. She stated the market in Andover is soft for townhomes and they could bring this forward to the Met Council. She stated they do not start a land rush in Andover but they also do not only want to respond to the developers. Councilmember Jacobson indicated he did not want to rush into this because the developers want this; he wanted to make sure it is done right. / Special Andover City Council Workshop Meeting Minutes - July 28, 2005 Page 6 Mr. Dickinson stated they need to figure out the sewer capacity for growth. Mr. Neumeister stated once this is reviewed with the Met Council, the Engineer will have to discuss with property owners the extension of a major trunk line to serve this area which could take between 12 to 18 months to complete. Mr. Berkowitz explained to the Council the process they will need to go through. Mr. Dickinson stated they want the developer to carry the costs instead of the City with a reimbursement process in place. Councilmember Jacobson thought the park plan needs a major park in that area. Councilmember Orttel thought the developers were further along than expected with that area and had studies done that could be shared with the City. / Councilmember Orttel indicated he would like frequent updates regarding this so they are kept in the loop. 2006 - 2010 CAPITAL IMPROVEMENT PLAN Mr. Dickinson indicated the draft plan is submitted to gain City Council comments on the plan and to use it as a tool for the 2006 City of Andover Budget review process. Councilmember Jacobson wondered what they are going to do with the generator at Fire Station 1. Mr. Dickinson stated this generator would be permanent for emergency situations. Mr. Brezinka stated the Fire Chief would like a generator at all stations for emergencies. Mr. Dickinson stated they issued bonds for refinancing Public Works and they also issued bonds to build Fire Station 3. When they issued those bonds, they were purposely restricted that they would only be used for public safety improvements and in completing that project they will have excess proceeds which can be used towards the generators. Councilmember Jacobson stated considering what they are trying to do at the Community Center, do they want to add two more stalls to the City Hall garage. Mr. Dickinson stated they would make an amenity view from the Community Center with the addition of a retaining wall. They would put two stalls on and they would be looking at a fairly reasonable improvement where they would utilize the staff to construct the facility. / Councilmember Trude thought this area looked bad when going to the Community Center. Mr. Dickinson stated they will be cleaning up the back of City Hall so it looks better. Councilmember Trude thought it would be nice to have all the garages gone so they could see the Community Center. She thought they should look at this as part of the site management plan. Special Andover City Council Workshop Meeting Minutes - July 28, 2005 Page 7 Councilmember Jacobson stated his concern is where the addition is going and how it looks. He is not against adding more room for Public Works. Councilmember Trude thought it detracted from the Community Center. Councilmember Trude wondered if they need to heat a garage. Councilmember Orttel did not think they kept it real warm just enough to melt the ice and snow. Councilmember Jacobson suggested this be left in but before it is built, staff comes back to the Council with it. Councilmember Jacobson asked how much the previous mezzanine cost. Mr. Dickinson stated it was $9,900+. Councilmember Jacobson wondered why the proposed mezzanine is almost three times as much as the one that was built already. Mr. Dickinson stated they can cut down on the costs. He noted the last mezzanine was done completely in-house and the $9,000 only included material costs. He stated this is budgeted at install costs. j Councilmember Jacobson wondered why they need $25,000 for planning the new area for Public Works on page 20. Mr. Dickinson stated this will be done in-house at $10,000. Councilmember Jacobson wondered why they would need an electric scissor lift. Mr. Dickinson stated they can use this at all the public buildings and the YMCA may pay for part of it. Councilmember Orttel stated in regard to fire equipment, the equipment has a twenty-five year life. He wondered why they are replacing them at 16 years. Mr. Dickinson stated part of the structuring is they don't want to replace all of them at the same time. The current proposal would give them a good resale value of the used equipment and then when they bond for equipment, they can bond so debt service remains at a constant level. Mayor Gamache suggested they chart out how many repairs are going on for the equipment so they know when they should replace them. Mr. Dickinson stated they are. Councilmember Orttel thought they were going to reconsider putting curbs in all of their parks in rural areas. Council member Trude thought it would help their parks budget if they did not do this. Mayor Gamache thought the concern with not having curbing was that cars cut through the park so a curb would stop that. Councilmember Trude stated they could put posts up with wire running through it to deter this. Mr. Berkowitz thought it would work best to see this on a site by site basis. \ ; Councilmember Jacobson stated he is concerned about the costs of the atWetic park south of the WDE site. Mr. Dickinson stated the plans have been revised but the costs are similar. Special Andover City Council Workshop Meeting Minutes - July 28, 2005 Page 8 Councilmember Jacobson wondered if the $150,000 is to just redo the hopper. Mr. Dickinson stated it would be cheaper to replace the hopper than to buy a new sweeper. Councilmember Orttel asked why they are planning to replace the sign truck. Mr. Dickinson stated this one has been listed for replacement starting in 2006 but based on maintenance record; they are pushing it out another year until the cost per mile gets to be too expensive to maintain. He noted this is what they are doing with all of the vehicles. Mr. Berkowitz stated they are going to look at bringing the seal coat back to an eight zone setup because they are getting some imbalance in the City. Mr. Berkowitz stated the Hanson Boulevard dollars are what the County has given them but the costs will probably be higher. Councilmember Jacobson stated his only point is that the City spends a lot of money every year but when they ask for something from the County, the County says they do not have enough money to help them with improvements. The Council discussed with staff the plans for Hanson Boulevard. J Mr. Berkowitz stated the intersection amount at Nightingale should be lowered because the costs were computed before they discussed it with the County. 2006 BUDGET DISCUSSION Mr. Dickinson indicated the taxable market value went up 7.25 percent which was a surprise to them because they expected it to go up a double digit number. The tax capacity value went up 11.39 percent due to the catch up of the limited market value people. He noted they have not added a lot of homes to the City. Mr. Dickinson stated on the debt service levy they want to maintain it at a consistent level. He stated in 2007 they are dropping close to $400,000 on the levy and that would probably be a good time to look at equipment purchases. A debt levy close to $400,000 would yield 1.5 to 1.7 million worth of equipment purchases. He stated it is probably a good time to look at purchases between 2007 and 2008 to maintain a consistent debt level. Councilmember Orttel stated they went to $1.669 million and then they will jump to $1.8 million and if they are going to keep it level, couldn't they keep it level at 1.4. Mr. Dickinson stated if they are going to look at a levy, he would target the 2001 G.O.Capital note because it yields a 1.5 million dollar bond. He thought that would be all they would need. He stated they do levy on an annual basis for Capital Equipment reserve so there may be some flexibility. / Mr. Dickinson stated they have forecasted the levy slightly under the CPl index. They are looking at a 1.4 percent increase in the tax rate and could be going as high as 2.5 percent. He stated in the column marked "Market Value Homestead Credit Cut", the proposed column, under gross City levy, it would be $8,469,000 with the 1.4 percent increase in the tax rate. By doing that amount oflevy, Special Andover City Council Workshop Meeting Minutes - July 28, 2005 Page 9 based on what the State has done on Market Value Homestead Credit, they would be netting $7,988,000. He stated the State is taking that chunk away. Mr. Dickinson stated for 2005, the Certified Levy is $7,556,813 and they are receiving this year $477,000 less than that. He stated they are absorbing that within the 2005 budget through reduced spending and a small utilization of fund balance. Mr. Dickinson handout information from the League of Minnesota Cities identifying the Market Value Homestead Credit estimate which shows calculations of the Cities and where the big cuts in Market Value homestead credit are at. Councilmember Orttel wondered how they determined this. Mr. Dickinson stated it is by Market Value growth and household income. Mr. Dickinson reviewed the budget gap analysis and how they are going to cut the budget in 2005 & 2006. He also reviewed the salary increases along with insurance benefits. Councilmember Trude stated the problem is they have the $480,000 decrease from the State. She wondered if they could increase the levy a little bit which is what all of the other cities are doing. Councilmember Jacobson indicated he could go up to 2.5 percent for an increase but not much more than that. / Mr. Dickinson reviewed the miscellaneous expenditures with the Council. Councilmember Orttel wondered if they are going to see anything from the Community Center this year. Mr. Dickinson stated they will not and they may end up having a deficit the first year. He stated they need to look at a full year before they could determine what the revenues and costs will be each year. OTHER BUSINESS Mr. Berkowitz stated the County is proposing a trail on the east side of Hanson Boulevard from 133'd to Bunker and they have been told that this will not receive any Federal funding. He indicated they sent this information to the County Parks Department and asked if this was something they were interested in and they stated they were but did not have any funding for it and they thought they could work on an agreement where the City would pay for it now with the possible reimbursement from the Anoka County Parks if they received a grant. He did not see a real need for the trail because they would have to fund it one hundred percent and they will be constructing a trail on the west side for the residents that tie the corridor all the way up Hanson. Consensus ofthe Council was to forgo a trail on the east side of Hanson Boulevard for other areas. ; Mr. Berkowitz stated they had the issues with the overlay program in the curb and gutter. They had one item that came up. He showed on a map where the problem was and what it consisted of. He noted they never informed the residents through the 429 process that they would be assessed and there is not a whole lot they can do to assess them. Mr. Dickinson stated they do not have the curb in Special Andover City Council Workshop Meeting Minutes - July 28, 2005 Page 10 yet and Mr. Berkowitz informed the contractor not to put it in. Mr. Dickinson stated one possible solution to the potential question is if it would have been on there, the unit charge may have been reduced by $10.00 or $15.00. He thought on the final assessment, they put that as an adjustment amount to the individual assessments. Councilmember Trude wondered ifthe costs are coming in under estimate. Mr. Berkowitz stated they are. Mr. Dickinson wondered if the Council wants to do anything with the scooters coming into law on August 1,2005. He stated right now motorized vehicles are not allowed on trails so they would be on streets. They could put in an ordinance not allowing them on the city streets. Councilmember Jacobson thought they should wait and see what happens. Mr. Dickinson handed out a list of where all of the National Night Out parties will be this year. Mr. Dickinson showed the Council the flyer for the grand opening of the YMCA/Community Center. Motion by Jacobson, Seconded by Trude, to adjourn. Motion carried unanimously. The meeting adjourned at 10:30 p.m. Respectfully submitted, Susan Osbeck, Recording Secretary /