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11-02-2015 CCMMeeting of the Elk River City Council Ver Held at the Elk River City Hall Monday, November 2, 2015 Members Present: Mayor Dietz, Councilmembers Olsen, Burandt, Westgaard, and Wagner Members Absent: None Staff Present: City Administrator Calvin Pormer, Finance Director Tim Simon, Fire Chief T. John Cunningham, City Attorney Peter Beck, Economic Development Director Amanda Othoudt, Planning Manager Zack Carlton, Environmental Technician Kristin Mroz, Senior Planner Chris Leeseberg, Parks and Recreation Director Michael Hecker, Street Superintendent Mark Thompson, Police Chief Ron Nierenhausen, Patrol Captain Darren McKernan, and City Clerk Tina Allard Call Meeting to Order Pursuant to due call and notice thereof, the meeting of the Elk River City Council was called to order at 6:43 p.m. by Mayor Dietz. 2. Pledge of Allegiance The Pledge of Allegiance was recited. 3. Consider 11/2/15 Agenda Moved by Councilmember Westgaard and seconded by Councilmember Olsen to approve the agenda. Motion carried 5-0. 4. Consider Consent Agenda Moved by Councilmember Wagner and seconded by Councilmember Westgaard to approve the following consent agenda: 4.1 Check register, check numbers 94141-94313 as outlined in the staff report. 4.2 Massage therapist license to Angelique Lerdall valid at Life's Retreat Massage and Spa through December 31, 2016. 4.3 Purchase agreement between City of Elk River and E&R Investments, LLC for purchase of real property located at intersection of Highway 10, Joplin Avenue, and Business Center Drive. 4.4 Revisions to the HRA Blighted Properties Forgivable Commercial/Industrial Loan program policy and application as outlined in the staff report. City Council Minutes Page 2 November 2, 2015 ---------------------------- 4.5 Hire David Williams as a police officer effective November 16, 2015. 4.6.A Hire Angie Fisher as a secretary/receptionist to the police department effective November 9, 2015. 4.6.13 Hire Danielle Faulhaber to the position of secretary/receptionist to the police department effective November 3, 2015. Motion carried 5-0. S. Open Forum No one appeared for Open Forum. 6.1 Proclamation: Veteran Appreciation Month Mayor Dietz read a proclamation proclaiming November as Veteran Appreciation Month. He introduced Sherburne County Veterans Services Director Bruce Price. Mr. Price provided statistics about veteran and noted many of them don't utilize the benefits available to them. He stated it his is mission to get the word out about these services and what his office can provide for veterans. He further invited the veterans to visit him. Moved by Councilmember Wagner and seconded by Councilmember Westgaard to designate November as Veteran Appreciation Month. Motion carried 5-0. 6.2 Certificate of Achievement for Excellence in Financial Reporting Mr. Simon presented the staff report. He noted staff has done an excellent job. Council congratulated Mr. Simon on doing a great job. Moved by Councilmember Westgaard and seconded by Councilmember Olsen to accept the Certificate of Achievement for Excellence in Financial Reporting. Motion carried 5-0. 7. Public Hearings There were no public hearings. B.I. Elk River Landfill, Inc., Solid Waste Facility License Amendments Ms. Mroz presented the staff report. r0VIREI Ir INATUREI City Council Minutes November 2, 2015 Page 3 Moved by Councilmember Burandt and seconded by Councihnembet Olsen to approve the solid waste facility license for the Elk River Landfill, Inc., as outlined in the staff report. Motion carried 5-0. 8.2 Discuss Work Session Items Mr. Portner presented the staff report. He noted the park dedication fee discussion would be on the November 16 meeting agenda. 9.1 Council Liaison Updates Council provided updates for the various boards. Council recessed at 7:01 p.m. to go into work session. The meeting reconvened 7:07 p.m. 10.1 Saxon Property Discussion: Requested by The Briggs Companies Pat Briggs, Briggs Companies — Stated they are working on an overall development plan for the former Saxon Motors property (South of Highway 101/169 bridge and west of Highway 10/169). He stated it is 20 acres and is known as The Point in the city's Focused Area Study. He introduced Dan Anderson who he has hired as a consultant. Dan Anderson stated he likes this project. He stated he informed Mr. Briggs that they need to come in today and erase everything else. He stated this location needs attention and he has a list of users who want to be here. He stated he has shown the users the direction he would like to go but they are all under NCNDA (Non - Circumvention Non -Disclosure Agreement) so they can't talk about the project. Mr. Anderson stated he specializes in people movement. He stated he knows the road will change and he wants to address the townhome project located in the area. He stated he would never have done the townhome project at this location but it ended up being a good move and it is a nice -looking project. He stated he would like to add to it by marrying up the uses and get body movement to get people in and out of the area. He stated they don't' have a lot to present to the Council to highlight what they are doing today but he wants them to know he is a protocol person and he wants to deal with the senior planners and get Council's feedback. He stated that towards the end of projects be does the heavy lifting to try and bring in a plan Mr. Briggs envisions and the financial component. He stated he doesn't get involved with a project unless he knows he can bring in the financing piece. He stated he looks forward to working with the city and coming up with ideas, good and bad, and to work through the details. Mayor Dietz encouraged Mr. Briggs and Mr. Anderson to work through the city's planners. P011RE1 11 NATURE City Council Minutes Page 4 November 2, 2015 10.2 Lake Orono Right -of -Way Access Mr. Leeseberg presented the staff report. Councilmember Westgaard stated the advantage to keeping the access is in case the city ever needs to access the lake from the opposite side of where it currently has access. He agrees that once the access is given up the city could never get it back. Mayor Dietz stated this request is unique in that the public is asking for access to the lake. Councilmember Westgaard noted most people most likely don't know there is land accessible to the lake. Mayor Dietz questioned if there is a way to maintain the driveway and still allow the public to have access to park. Mr. Leeseberg stated it would be a tight fit to allow public to park on the driveway. Councilmember Wagner stated if she lived here she feels it would cause issues fox the adjacent homeowner's if the access was opened up to the public. Councilmember Westgaard stated there are two issues: 1. Whether the city is comfortable with giving up access to the land by vacating it; and 2. if the city keeps the right-of-way, how does it handle access. Attorney Beck stated because there is an application requesting the city vacate this parcel it should wait until the public hearing before getting involved with too many specifics. He stated the Council should consider why it may be good to maintain this access on the south side of the lake and highlighted the example of when the lake was dredged and trucks were hauling away material. He stated the city would have some options available to them if they decide not to vacate the right-of-way, such as a formal agreement or licensing agreement with the adjacent owner, or opening it up and establishing rules for public access. Attorney Beck suggested the Council provide staff direction regarding the establishment of criteria on a broader basis for all the water accessible right-of-ways. He stated in most cases it is in the public's interest to keep the easement but the city may want to consider setting up criteria on how they are allowed to be used. Mayor Dietz stated each of the right-of-ways should be evaluated to determine whether they make sense to keep. POV 1111 B1 NATURE City Council Minutes November 2, 2015 Page 5 Attorney James Neilson representing Mr. Dargis, the adjacent homeowner — Stated this issue has been before Council several times and he would like staff to look back at old minutes. He stated the application for this homeowner, back in 2007, was improperly denied. He stated this is not public ground but an easement and the adjoining properties have fee title and have the absolute right to use the property unless the city is using it. Mr. Neilson referred to city resolutions from 1975 and 1976 which prohibits the launching of boats. Attorney Beck suggested Mr. Neilson present his information with the homeowner's vacation application so it can be analyzed. He stated the fact that the city hasn't been using the right-of-way doesn't mean it can't use it and noted an earlier decision by the Council can be reversed. Mayor Dietz stated discussion on this item would cease until the vacation application is considered in January. 10.3 2016-2020 Capital Improvement Plan Mr. Simon presented the staff report. He stated staff will have the final plan on the December 21 agenda for approval. Various staff discussed their capital outlay proposals. The Rivers Edge Commons Park Expansion Capital project was also presented. Council consensus was to move ahead on the bidding process for construction winter 2016 and return back to Council with the bids. This includes bidding the additional elements shown on the concept plan. I O.S Streamline of Licensing Process Ms. Allard presented the staff report. Council directed staff to bring back recommendations on the types of licenses that should be approved in-house by staff. Council noted they wanted updates on the licensing that is approved. 10.4 2016 Budget Update Mr. Simon presented the staff report. Council consensus was to go forward with a revised levy of 1.54 percent over last year with the proposed adjustments. Staff reviewed a Library budget adjustment to add $500 in part-time pay and offsetting the amount from the contractual services line item for 2016. Council concurred. POVIIEN r NATURE City Council Minutes November 2, 2015 Page 6 There was discussion regarding the Elk River Municipal Utilities Payment in Lieu of Taxes for utilities and the difficulty in administration of this for utilities staff Mr. Simon stated making a change by showing the costs in each city departments budgets may help to make staff more aware of their utility usage and to seek ways to reduce those costs. The budget increase will be offset by the additional 1% payment in lieu of fees and will have no levy impact, but will adjust the department expenditures upwards for 2016. Staff will present this as a separate item to be included in the final budget adoption on December 7. There were no additional questions about the 2016 budget. 10.6 Commercial Haulers Composting License Mr. Thompson presented the staff report. Mayor Dietz expressed concerns with the new policy as it applied to commercial haulers. He stated there are elderly residents who can't pick up their leaves and branches and they need to hire the work out. He stated these residents would end up paying more because of the additional costs to utilize a private composting company and it wouldn't be fair because they also pay taxes for the city/county compost facility. There was discussion regarding how scenarios affect the issues and it was noted enforcement would be difficult without hiring additional staff. Mayor Dietz stated he spoke with Sherburne County Commissioner Bruce Anderson, who told him this matter is strictly the decision of the cities. Mr. Thompson expressed concern with Elk River allowing commercial haulers and not the rest of the county compost sites because then all the commercial contractors would come to Elk River. He stated this would cause a large increase in their workload to process the material. Staff was directed to explore other options with the Recycling Board. 10.7 Vacation Accrual Carryover Discretion Mr. Portner presented the staff report. Council expressed concern about setting a precedent but Mr. Portner explained how this was a unique situation. Council consensus was for staff to move forward with drafting language to allow the vacation accrual payout for consideration at a future meeting. Polo[all 81 A TUR City Council Minutes November 2, 2015 H. Adjournment There being no further business, Mayor Dietz adjourned the meeting of the Elk River City Council at 10:05 p.m. Tina Allard, City Clerk Page 7 rIIIIII II NATURE