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HomeMy WebLinkAboutWK - May 2, 2011ANLDb Y O F ,p OVE 1685 CROSSTOWN BOULEVARD N.W. • ANDOVER, MINNESOTA 55304 • (763) 755 -5100 FAX (763) 755 -8923 • WWW.CI.ANDOVER.MN.US CITY COUNCIL WORK SESSION Monday, May 2, 2011 6:30 p.m. City of Ramsey 1. Call to Order 2. General Development Update 3. Bunker Lake Boulevard Reconstruction 4. County Highway Access Policy (Attachments) 5. QCTV Strategic Plan © 6. Lower Rum River Watershed Management Organization (Attachment) 7. City Collaboration Opportunities 8. Other Topics 9. Adj ourn HIM TABLE OF CONTENTS 1. CALL TO ORDER ...................... . .......... I .............. I ............................ 11.1 ........ 1.2 2. INTRODUCTION ............. ......................... . ........... :................. :............... 2 3. COUNCIL BUSINESS ... ........ .... . ................................... .... ....... . . ........ I .... ... .............. 3 3,01: General Development Update .................................... ............................... 3.02: Bunker Lake Boulevard Reconstruction ..................................... ............................... 3 3,03: County Highway Access Policy, ................................................................................ 4 3.04: QCTV Strategic PIan .............. . .................................................. . ... ............... I ... I......... 4 3.05: Lower Rum River Watershed Management Organization .......... ............................... 5 3.06: City Collaboration Opportunities ................................................ ............................... 5 3.07: Other Topics ................................................................................ ............................... 6 4. MAYOR, COUNCIL AND STAFF INPUT ............................................ ............................... 6 5. ADJOURNMENT ...................................................... ...........................:..7 N 0 Ramsey and Andover Joint City Council / May 2, 2011 Page 1 of 7 M L all 1J JOINT CITY COUNCIL MEETING WITH THE CITY OF ANDOVER ANOKA COUNTY STATE OF MINNESOTA The Ramsey City Council conducted a joint meeting with the City Council of Andover on Monday, May 2, 2011, at the Ramsey Municipal Center, 7550 Sunwood Drive NW, Ramsey, Minnesota. Members Present: Mayor Bob Ramsey Councilmember Randy Backous Councilmember David Elvig (arrived 7:58 p.m.) Councilmember Colin McGlone Councilmember Jason Tossey Councilmember Jeffrey Wise Absent: Andover Members Present: Councilmember David Jeffrey Mayor Mike Gamache Councilmember Sheri Bukkila Councilmember Don Jacobson Councilmember Mike Knight Councilmember Julie Trude Also Present: City Administrator, Kurtis Ulrich Public Works Director, Brian Olson Senior Planner, Timothy Gladhill Andover City Administrator, Jim Dickinson Andover Director of Public Works /City Engineer, Dave Berkowitz 1. CALL TO ORDER Mayor Ramsey called the joint meeting of the Ramsey City Council and Andover City Council to order at 6:30 p.m., followed by the Pledge of Allegiance led by Mayor Ramsey. 2. INTRODUCTION None. Ramsey and Andover Joint City Council / May 2, 2011 Page 2 of 7 © 3. COUNCIL BUSINESS 3.01: General Development Update City Administrator Ulrich explained the concept of The COR at Ramsey. He noted the rail station is planned to be within The COR development. This is a high priority for Ramsey. In addition, a 230 - unit apartment and 80 -unit senior living project is being proposed. He noted the other events such as the Farmers Market and The Draw. He mentioned Legacy Christian Academy is going to build at the intersection of Bunker Lake Boulevard and Armstrong where they purchased 187 acres total, although they are building on 90 acres and that is off the tax rolls. Councilmember Trude acknowledged Legacy's move to Ramsey and explained their Council was aware because one of their Councilmembers was on its Board. Andover City Administrator Dickinson stated their City reached 70 new homes in the last year; 68 of them were single family. They started out 2011 with 10 new homes. He noted the major projects Andover has had such as the law enforcement center; expansions at Bunker Lake; and a few commercial businesses will be expanding. He said he does not anticipate an increase in residential development and the City is working on electronic signs in the community. Andover City Administrator Dickinson advised that the intersection of 7 Avenue and Bunker Lake Boulevard will have some work this summer. © Councilmember Knight mentioned Castel Field in Anoka will be moved to the intersection of P Avenue and Bunker Lake Boulevard. This is being marketed now. 3.02: Bunker Lake Boulevard Reconstruction Public Works Director Olson warned this summer will be very busy for road construction on Bunker Lake Boulevard. It will be closed for eight weeks and there will be many detours through the City. Mayor Ramsey noted the road closures and detours have been very controversial for the Ramsey Council. Discussion took place regarding the best place to create turns into the industrial park off Bunker Lake Boulevard. Councilmember McGlone commented the cuts and accesses in Andover into the Cinema area seem to work well. Councilmember Trude explained it is not the best situation for businesses. The County provided the access and this is currently going through an engineering study. Public Works Director Olson noted Anoka County is somewhat stringent on accesses and he hopes to see information on guidelines from the County by the first part of May. He explained Ramsey and Andover Joint City Council / May 2, 2011 Page 3 of 7 © Bunker Lake Boulevard will be a 4 -lane divided highway through Ramsey and one section between Ramsey Boulevard and Sunfish Lake Boulevard that will need to be upgraded. Mayor Gamache questioned why the ramp over Highway 10 will be at Armstrong Boulevard and not Ramsey Boulevard. Mayor Ramsey responded Ramsey Boulevard is lesser traveled and in the future could be the gateway to a bridge. City Administrator Ulrich added the decision was made a few years ago. Sunfish Lake Boulevard, Ramsey Boulevard and Armstrong Boulevard were the three choices for the ramp. Since Sunfish Lake Boulevard and Ramsey Boulevard have been constructed, Armstrong Boulevard was the ultimate solution. Public Works Director Olson raised the issue of the Highway 10 placement. In 2004, the businesses that were part of the decision - making were 27% of the tax rolls. This was a big decision. Now MnDOT is changing gears and does not want to change the Highway 10 placement. Public Works Director Olson noted Arlene McCarthy from the Metropolitan Council attended a meeting last week to discuss the transit tax district. At this point, Ramsey could not opt out and the cost of to the City would be $300,000. Andover City Administrator Dickinson acknowledged their cost is about the same. © Discussion took place on the pros and cons of a rail station and the potential TIF district. 3.03: County Highway Access Policy Andover Director of Public Works /City Engineer Berkowitz explained Bunker Lake Boulevard from Jefferson Street in Ham Lake all the way through Ramsey will be a divided highway. Anoka County is helping monetarily as well as the cities of Andover and Anoka. Andover is planning various uses on the northeast corner of 7 Avenue and Bunker Lake Boulevard. Andover Director of Public Works /City Engineer Berkowitz mentioned that the City pays up to 75% of reconstruction costs, and the remaining 25% is assessed to the citizens for local street reconstruction. Most of the neighborhood knows their road needs reconstruction and anticipate it. When staff has to spend a lot of time on the upkeep of the roads, they evaluate to determine if it should be reconstructed. Public Works Director Olson stated Ramsey's assessment is 50% for overlays. The roads are lasting about 40 years before staff has to reconstruct and Ramsey sealcoats on a preplanned schedule to maintain the quality of the roads. 3.04: QCTV Strategic Plan Councilmember Jacobson commented when QCTV began, it was a broadcast vehicle that © provided an outlet for people to make their own movies. Now there are social networking sites Ramsey and Andover Joint City Council / May 2, 2011 Page 4 of 7 © for that, and QCTV is still handling the government broadcasting and the sports events. He felt it was becoming an internet operation and it is questionable what the future holds. Councilmember Trude noted the Joint Powers agreed to pay for the structure, which is paid for, and she believed the member cities still have an obligation to run the system. Councilmember Jacobson stated he believes it will go to high definition and be internet based in the future. Mayor Ramsey questioned how funds could be generated to use the facilities to move forward because without cable TV, there are no franchise fees. He asked if it can be sustained if only used for venues to broadcast meetings or similar programs. Councilmember Jacobson explained the franchise agreement needs to be renegotiated. The County broadband signal is coming in, and Comcast may ask for a reduced franchise fee. Mayor Ramsey brought up the issue of the split for income from QCTV. Historically, Anoka was paying the most because of its growth, but it cannot grow anymore. However, Ramsey and Andover continue to grow, so the distribution many need to be reconsidered. 3.05: Lower Rum River Watershed Management Organization Mayor Ramsey suggested cities should be represented by an elected official on this board rather than staff because decisions are being made that affect the cities, and those decisions should come from elected officials. He pointed out that if the Board exceeds any state or federal guidelines, there is potential for a lawsuit and municipality is liable to pay for the litigation. Councilmember Trude mentioned she is on the Technical Advisory Committee. The Committee provides technical expertise and considers planning and zoning for the County. She said she can see what is happening at the Council level and used that knowledge for this Committee; however, the discussions in this Committee center mostly on engineering. She can consider the impact to the residents while the engineers do not have that kind of exposure. Andover City Administrator Dickinson explained the cities have been following the grandfather rule for designating a LRRWMO Board Member, which has been reviewed by attorneys. He noted if at some point when Todd Haas from the city did not want the position any more, it could be filled with an elected official going forward. That is up to the Council. Mayor Gamache commented he is comfortable with their Councilmember on the TAC because of the member's background. He said they have staff on the LRRWMO which works out well because staff is familiar with the City's position on many of the items that are discussed. Councilmember Elvig arrived at 7:59 p.m. U Ramsey and Andover Joint City Council / May 2, 2011 Page 5 of 7 © 3.06: City Collaboration Opportunities Andover City Administrator Dickinson stated in a recent Local Government Official's meeting, discussions took place regarding cooperation between cities. The discussions identified five areas the cities should work together with other entities. One is service sharing and another is equipment sharing. He felt it would be beneficial to take advantage of fiber and technological systems, which could be a countywide sharing. He said another area is that each City should know what is available in the neighboring communities as far as economic development. He suggested a goal be identified to keep economic development within the County. The last area is citizen communication, including communication at the administration level. Andover City Administrator Dickinson felt cities needed to do abetter job to engage, listen and get information back to citizens. Mayor Ramsey stated sharing software would be a big improvement. Councilmember Knight noted if the public sees the cities working together, that alone is a benefit. He gave examples of other cities and how their sharing of equipment worked. Andover City Administrator Dickinson noted they will be meeting soon at the County level, where he will propose the collaboration concept. Once it is adopted at the County level, it will be distributed to City Councils. At that point, there will be a recruitment of volunteers to attend meetings. Q Discussion took place regarding sharing equipment, the potential of the equipment coming back needing repair, and whether it would be feasible to share snow plowing. 3.07: Other Topics Mayor Ramsey solicited ideas for a "brand" of the area. Andover City Administrator Dickinson said the theme they are now considering is "Up North" — the northern metro area is the new up north. Councilmember Knight discussed the carp issue at the Coon Rapids Dam. Councilmember Tossey stated he understood the approach that is being taken is highly efficient. He added if the carp get into the Rum River, it can easily get to Mille Lacs. City Administrator Ulrich noted this issue will be discussed further. Discussions took place on the state of trails, and the possibility of having trails that connect the two County parks. A discussion also ensued on the types of associations that oversee athletic organizations. H Ramsey and Andover Joint City Council / May 2, 2011 Page 6 of 7 4. MAYOR, COUNCIL AND STAFF INPUT None. 5. ADJOURNMENT The joint meeting of the Ramsey City Council and Andover City Council adjourned at 8:40 p.m. Respectfully submitted, Jim Dickinson City Administrator Drafted by Chris Moksnes TimeSaver Off Site Secretarial, Inc. �J Ramsey and Andover Joint City Council / May 2, 2011 Page 7 of 7 H