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01-06-2014 CCM City'd. Meeting of the Elk River City Council V Held at the Elk River City Hall Monday, January 6, 2014 Members Present: Mayor Dietz, Councilmembers Wilson,Burandt,Westgaard, and Motin Members Absent: None Staff Present: City Administrator Calvin Portner, Finance Director Tim Simon, Parks and Recreation Director Michael Hecker,Planner Zach Carlton, Communications Coordinator RaeAnn Gardner, City Attorney Peter Beck, and City Clerk Tina Allard I Call Meeting to Order Pursuant to due call and notice thereof, the meeting of the Elk River City Council was called to order at 6:30 p.m. by Mayor Dietz. 2. Pledge of Allegiance The Pledge of Allegiance was recited. 3. Consider 01 106/2014 Agenda Moved by Councilmember Westgaard and seconded by Council ember Wilson to approve the January 6, 2014, agenda. Motion carried 5-0. 4. Consider Consent Agenda Moved by Councilmember Motin and seconded by Councilmember Wilson to approve the following consent agenda: 4.1 December 16, 2013, Regular and Closed Council Meeting Minutes 4.2 Check register as outlined in the staff report. 4.3 Private Fennel License to Kristina Cody-Thiem for 22279 Grant Street NW, to have four dogs and two cats,valid until December 31, 2014. 4.4 Resolution 14-01 designating depositories of city funds. 4.5 Designate the Star News as the official newspaper for legal notices. 4.6 Appoint Mayor John Dietz and Finance Director Tim Simon to the Fire Relief Association Board with term expirations of January 5, 2015. 4.7 Resolution 14-02 to enter into an agreement with the Minnesota Department of Transportation (MnDOT) and the Landscape Partnership Program to share costs of city beautification projects. j 4.8 Pay estimates as outlined in the staff report for the public works facility project. 4.9 Resolution 14-03 amending Resolution 07-88 establishing the meeting dates of the Heritage Preservation Commission. City Council Minutes Page 2 January 6,2014 4.10 Massage Establishment and Massage Therapist License to Lisa Bartel, dba A Touch of Heaven, at 200®5`" Street NW,valid through December 31,2014. 4.11.a Special Event Permit to the Elk River Area Chamber of Commerce for Shiver Elk River scheduled Saturday, February 8,2014,subject to the following conditions: 1. The event planner is required to notify surrounding businesses, residents, and organizations. The city will provide a template of the notice that must be distributed. The city will provide a list of the property owners who must be notified. Event planner must submit an affidavit that the notice was distributed. 2. Tents must meet applicable state and fire building code requirements. No stakes shall be pounded into the pavement. Applicant is responsible for contacting the fire marshal at 763.635.1110 or 763.238.3489 to schedule an inspection prior to opening of the tents. 3. Applicant shall be responsible for garbage clean-up immediately following the event. 4. Walkers/runners are to utilize sidewalks, trail systems, or road shoulders throughout the entire route. No road closures will be permitted. It is each runner's responsibility to ensure the streets/intersections are safe prior to crossing. 5. Applicant must contact Police Captain Ron Nierenhausen (763.635.1202) at least three weeks prior to the event to arrange for police reserves. 4.11.b Temporary on-sale liquor license to the Elk River Lions Club for Shiver Elk River scheduled Saturday, February 8,2014. 4.12 Vendors for the Oak Knoll Lighting Project: GraybaR for Musco Sports Lighting $103,908 Rike-Lee Electric, Inc. for Electrical $13,700 Elk River Municipal Utilities for Transformer $5,094 Great Northern Landscapes for Irrigation $5,400 Total Project Costs $128,102 Motion carried 5-0. 5. Open Forum No one appeared for Open Forum.. .1 Introduction on New Employee 'rim Dalton " Parks and Recreation Director Michael Hecker introduced and provided a bio for the new Recreation Coordinator,Tim Dalton. Mr. Dalton discussed how excited he was to work for the city. F iP 0 W E K E D N Y City Council Minutes Page 3 January 6,2014 The Council welcomed Mr. Dalton. 6.2 Parks and Recreation Master Plan Presentation Mr. Hecker introduced Lil Latham and Paul Page. Ms. Latham reviewed Hoisington Koegler Group,Inc.'s (HKGi) goals for the Elk River Parks and Recreation Master Plan. She discussed elements of the plan, their past experience working on projects for Elk River. She noted the process would take approximately 9 months. Ms. Latham questioned the Council about their goals and priorities. Ms. Latham asked: 1. Which is your favorite park and why? Council comments included: • Woodland Trails for its activities • RiverEdge Park for concerts and proximity to business/river • Bailey Point • The city has a lot of excellent parks and they are liked for different reasons depending on the type of activity.Woodland Trails and Bailey Point are for nature and walking,whereas RiversEdge is for downtown and music, and the sports complexes are for athletic programs. 2. What do you think is needed or could be improved or what have you heard from constituents? Council comments included: • Direction on how to handle donations from organizations that have begun to step up and offer assistance to improve parks or donate items for them. Need to be careful on how to utilize donations,if accepted, and can't just react. Need a plan for competing priorities. • Direction and funding for maintaining parks long-term. • Inventory current parks and determine if they are needed or fit community needs. (due to funding) • Recreation programming. Expanding current program offerings and determining what public wants, statistics on current programming usage. • Important to have a variety of options available and have a balance for different users. • Connections between parks. Continuing the Mississippi River Trail to the . City of Ramsey. • Determine how public feels about a park referendum. • How the Houlton property fits in. p0WEREU 0 f NAYUREJ City Council Minutes Page 4 January 6,2014 .3 ayfinding/ ateway Sinage Visual Communications Presentation Ms. Gardner introduced Richard Lange with Visual Communications. Mr:Lange identified goals of a wayfinding plan and reviewed sample work he has done for other communities. Councilmember Westgaard suggested working concurrently with the Parks and Recreation Master Planning process. "r t There was discussion on grant funding for future signage projects. Ms. Latham noted HKGi has the database and skills to match projects to funding sources. 7.1 2014 Master Fee Schedule Ms.Allard presented the staff report. Mayor Dietz opened the public hearing.There being no one to speak to this issue, Mayor Dietz closed the public hearing. Moved by Councilmember Westgaard and seconded by Councilmember Motin to adopt Ordinance 14-01 adopting the 2014 Master Fee Schedule. Motion carried 5-0. Moved by Councilmember Westgaard and seconded by Councilmember Wilson to adopt Resolution 14-04 approving notice of summary publication of Ordinance 14-01 an ordinance adopting the 2014 Master Fee Schedule. Motion carried 5-0. .1 Renaming Orono Athletic Complex Mr. Hecker presented the staff report. Councilmember Motin stated he believes the request for a name change meets city policy but he has concerns. He noted he has raised these concerns in the past when the policy was originally adopted. He stated he specifically has issues with naming things after a person who is doing locally significant work. He stated people in the future won't have any idea who Dave (or any other person) is. He stated Dave is currently involved in city processes and if something, such as a park,is to be named after someone,it should be after the person has passed away. Councilmember Motin stated he would not vote to approve this request but emphasized that if anyone deserves this type of honor it is Dave Anderson. Mayor Dietz stated he respects Councilmember Motin's comments and cited f examples of sites named after local people such as Handke Pit and Salk Middle School. Pw0WEa10 sr NATURE i I City Council Minutes Page 5 January 6,2014 Councilmember Motin noted that no one knows who these people were in the examples cited. Councilmember Wilson stated he can understand Councilmember Modn's comments and stated the responsibility is on us to communicate their importance. Moved by Mayor Dietz and seconded by Councilmember Wilson to rename the Orono Athletic Complex to the Dave Anderson Athletic Complex. Motion carried 4-1 . Councilmember Motin opposed. 8.2 Apoint Acting Mayor Moved by Councilmember Burandt and seconded by Councilmember Motin to appoint Councilmember Wilson as acting Mayor for 2014. Motion carried 5- 0. Councilmernber Motin stated that next year the Council should go back to its original schedule in order to work in coordination with terms of members and elections. 0.3 Records Management Policy Ms.Allard presented the staff report. Moved by Councilmember Westgaard and seconded by Councilmember Motin to adopt the Records Management Policy. Motion carried 5-0. 0.4 Discuss Work Session Items Mr. Portner presented the staff report. Mayor Dietz asked about the discussion of a comprehensive facilities plan. Mr. Portner stated it would be coming forward soon. 9. Council Liaison Updates The Council provided updates of the work of the various boards/commissions. Council recessed at 7:47 p.m. in order to go into a worksession meeting. The meeting reconvened at 7:53 p.m. 10.1 County Fairgrounds Discussion Mr. Portner presented the staff report and asked the Council what they see as the highest and best use for the current fairgrounds property. riN' wA"T'Uj'RBEj' City Council Minutes Page 6 January 6,2014 County Commissioner Bruce Anderson discussed the lease and its financial viability. He also questioned what the Council would like to see happen with the fair if the current fairgrounds property is developed for a different use. Councilmember Westgaard stated he would like to see the fair stay in Elk River. He noted all property has another use and it is whether the city wants to make a commitment to have a fair. He questioned if another location in Elk River would serve the needs of the fair better. Commissioner Anderson stated the county is working on enhancing the management process for the fair and making the event better overall. He stated volunteers do most of the work for the fair but they need better direction. Councilmember Wilson concurred with Councilmember Westgaard but added he would like to see what else the current property could be used for during the rest of the year. He stated the location is ideal with its Highway 10 location. He noted the fair needs help in multiple ways such as more food vendors, sponsorships,better entertainment, etc. Councilmember Motin stated he's not sure it makes sense for the fair to be in Elk River and that it shouldn't be kept at the current location. He stated if the fair remains in Elk River he would like to see it at a different location. He further expressed concerns with the fair not being able to survive if it moves away from Elk River. He stated the current fair is not a draw or benefit to the city considering the amount of cost involved. He stated the current fair property is a prime spot for development. He stated the current location doesn't have much of a connection to downtown. Councilmember Motin questioned what image the city wants conveyed of itself,country or city. Commissioner Anderson stated there is no question the current fair property is a valuable tax base to the city. He further noted he would like to keep the fair in Ell-, River and that it may need additional property (compared to its current location). Councilmember Burandt asked if other fairs around the state with better attendance have moved to new locations. She noted an issue for this fair has been parking. She stated she liked the current location of the fair but felt changes were needed to draw more people. She further stated she would like to see the fair stay on the east side of the county and that if it couldn't be in Elk River it should at least be near it. Mayor Dietz stated the fair started to become an issue and has gone downhill ever since the City of Becker received a parcel of land that was dedication strictly for fair use or youth programming. He noted how people have become divided over where the fair should be located and that the Board needs to make a long-term decision about the location so the issue can be settled. He noted the Fair Board has been unable to get the volunteers it needs from other groups in the county because those other groups want the fair to be located somewhere else. He further questions if the lease has a clause about the amount of time the fair is given to move to another F P 0 W E R 1 0 0 Y City Council Minutes Page 7 January 6,2014 location if someone were to have an interest in the land. Mayor Dietz stated he disagreed with Councilmember Motin that the fair makes Ell River look country more than town and cited the Anoka fair as an example. He stated he hasn't heard issues or complaints about needing more space for the fair. He noted the fair does need improvements. Mayor Dietz stated the volunteers do a great job with the fair but they need assistance. He commented that the fair is an asset to the city and should remain in Elk River. Commissioner Anderson agreed the fair is an asset and should remain in Elk River. He stated he has spoken to representatives from Cargill and thought it may be a viable option for a fair location. He noted some amenities such as a research facility with animals that would be a good fit. Mayor Dietz questioned how the city could help with the fair and noted no one has asked the city to step up in the past. Councilmember Motin stated it sounds like a good idea to move it with the right improvements but had concerns if current issues were just being kicked down the road. He suggested adding columns to the survey in the staff report to show revenue/expenditures for each of the fairs. Councilmember Burandt questioned what would be an optimal size for a fair. Mr. Portner stated they could ask the question of other fairs and noted a lot of them are land-locked. County Administrator Steve Taylor mentioned how the county and city could provide more professional type services to the volunteers by providing individuals with expertise, such as attorneys, accounting,marketing, offering fair management classes, etc. H. Adjournment There being no further business,Mayor Dietz adjourned the meeting of the Elk River City Council at 8:49 p.m. ghnj6ietz,Nyajyor Tina Allard, City Clerk P 0 W E R E 0 0 Y NAYURE]