4.1. DRAFT MINUTES (2 SETS) 06-06-2016 Closed Meeting of the Elk River City Council
City of
Held at Elk River City Hall
Elk Monday, May 2, 2016
River
Members Present: Mayor Dietz, Councilmembers Olsen,Westgaard, and Wagner
Members Absent: Councilmember Burandt
Staff Present: City Administrator Calvin Portner
Also Present: Attorney Tom Scott
I. Call Meeting to Order A0
Pursuant to due call and notice thereof, the meeting of the Elk River City Council
was called to order at 6:13 p.m. by Mayor Dietz.
2. Closed Meeting
The purpose of the meeting was to discuss Pinewood Golf Course/Gray Plant
Mooty litigation per the attorney/client privilege,pursuant to MN Statute §13D.05,
subdivision 3(b).
3. Adjournment
There being no further business,Ma or Dietz adjourned the closed meeting of the
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Elk River City Council at 6:34 p.m.
John J. Dietz,Mayor
Tina Allard, City Clerk
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VA
City of
Elk Meeting of the Elk River City Council
River Held at the Elk River City Hall
Monday, May 2, 2016
Members Present: Mayor Dietz, Councilmembers Olsen,Westgaard, and Wagner
Members Absent: Councilmember Burandt
Staff Present: City Administrator Calvin Portner, Planning Manager Zack Carlton,
Economic Development Director Amanda Othoudt,
Communication Coordinator RaeAnn Gardner, Chief of Police Ron
Nierenhausen, Police Captain Darren McKernan,Police Sergeant
Justin Ege, Park Maintenance Supervisor Tim Sevcik, City Attorney
Peter Beck, and Executive Secretary/Deputy City Clerk Jessica Miller
I. Call Meeting to Order
Pursuant to due call and notice thereo;. e meeting of the Elk River City Council
was called to order at 6:38 p.m. by Mayor Dietz.
2. Pledge of Allegiance
The Pledge of Allegiance was recited.
3. Consider 05 /02/2016 Agenda ,
Moved by Councilmember Westgaard and seconded by Councilmember
Wagner to approve the May 2, 2016, agenda. Motion carried 4-0.
4. ,Consider Consent Agenda
Councilmember Olsen requested item 4.6 be removed from the consent agenda and
discussed at a future meeting.
Moved by Councilmember Olsen and seconded by Councilmember Wagner
to approve the following consent agenda:
4.1 Minutes
■ April 4, 2016, Regular
■ April 18, 2016, Regular
4.2 Check register, check numbers 9847-9849 and 96689-96810 as outlined
in the staff report.
4.3 Private kennel license to Kristin Pearo, 14239 190`h Avenue NW, to keep
up to five dogs, valid until December 31, 2016.
4.4 Special event permit for Broadway Bar and Pizza to hold car shows on
Monday, May 30, 2016, and Sunday,June 5, 2016, subject to the
following conditions:
City Council Minutes Page 2
May 2,2016
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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 and a list of the property owners to
notify. The event planner must provide an affidavit that the notice
was distributed. The notification must address the anticipated
increase in street parking.
2. On-street parking to be used for customers only.All display
vehicles must be confined to Broadway Bar and Pizza property.
3. Applicant must receive permission for use of any private property.
4. 167`h Avenue must remain open to two-way traffic.
5. Liquor is only permitted inside the building and on the patio, and
must be strictly enforced by bar staff.
6. Exterior sound systems/music must comply with city noise
ordinance.
7. Applicant must contact Fire Marshal Cliff Anderson at 763.635.1110
(during regular city hall business hours) prior to or during event set
up for a walk-through inspection of the property to ensure proper
accessibility to the buildings and adjacent properties is maintained
during the event.
8. Applicant must provide portable toilet facilities as outlined in the
application.
4.5 Appoint Jill Larson-Vito as the Planning Commission representative to
the Administrative Hearing Board until February 28, 2019.
4.7 Resolution 16- 27 acknowledging donations to the Parks and
Recreation Department.
Motion carried 4-0.
S. Open Forum
No one appeared for Open Forum.
6.1 ERX Motor Park Presentation
Chris Carlson, owner ERX Motor Park,provided an overview on ERX Motor Park
history, events, and economic impact on Elk River.
6.2 Police Department Presentations
Chief Nierenhausen and Sergeant Ege provided a demonstration of the iRobot
device and provided information pertaining to the mine resistant ambush vehicle
(MRAP) armored vehicle.
Mayor Dietz confirmed the only financial impact for the city if awarded the MRAP
vehicle would be the shipping costs. Sergeant Ege stated the Mayor is correct and
estimated the shipping cost at$3,000 - $5,000 depending on where the vehicle is
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located. Sergeant Ege added he spoke with the city mechanics and they will be able
to maintain and service the MRAP.
Council consensus was for support of the Police Department to submit paperwork
for the MRAP.
7.1. Paxmar- Outlot D, River Park; Outlots B & D, River Park, Second
Addition
■ Conditional Use Permit to Establish Planned Unit Development
■ Preliminary Plat (Miske Meadows) to Subdivide Property Formerly
Platted as River Park and River Park Second Addition (96.2 acres)
into 241 Single-Family Residential Lots
Mr. Carlton presented the staff report.
Mayor Dietz opened the public hearing.
Don Jensen,Land Development Director for Paxmar—indicated Paxmar recently
closed on land Lennar owned that will assist in connecting the overall development.
He explained why the property lines are laid out the way they are. He added it makes
no difference to the project if the connection to Sunset Ridge is made or not.
Greg Lien, 19147 Lincoln Street—stated he would only be in favor of a connection
to Sunset Ridge if it had a breakaway barrier.
Karl Voltzke, 19172 Kennedy Street -indicated he is not in favor of a connection to
Sunset Ridge. He explained he believes connecting the developments would be
detrimental to the Sunset Ridge Development which conflicts with #5 of the PUD
criteria for approval stating that a PUD shall not cause undesirable impacts on
adjacent lands and land uses. Mr.Voltzke also asked the Council to consider
conducting a new traffic study.
Leland Bendix, 19104 Lincoln Street- stated he is not in favor of a vehicular
connection to the Sunset Ridge Development because he believes the roads in that
area are dangerous enough.
Bert Bongard, 19040 Lincoln Street- believes there will be an increase in fatalities if
the connection is opened up for vehicles. He agreed he would like to see a new
traffic study. He added he is also not interested in having his taxes increase to pay for
repair of the roads due to the extra traffic.
Mike Matter, 19126 Lincoln Street—thanked the Planning Commission for hearing
resident concerns about the connection and thanked Paxmar for not pushing the
connection. He stated he would like to see the Planning Commission's
recommendation on the connection with the barrier adopted.
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City Council Minutes Page 4
May 2,2016
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Brent Roberts, 19203 Lincoln Street- agreed with all the comments so far regarding
the connection to the Sunset Ridge Development and the traffic study. He
questioned the validity of the traffic study because he believes traffic has increased,
not decreased as the study shows.
Dave Green, 19110 Kennedy Street - stated he is not in favor of a connection to the
Sunset Ridge Development and he doesn't understand why staff believes a
connection will benefit anyone in Sunset Ridge. He likes the idea of a trail
connection.
Howard Johnson, 19184 Lincoln Street- agreed with everyone who spoke already.
He is not in favor of a vehicular connection to Sunset Ridge because he believes the
intersections are dangerous enough already. He would be in favor of a walking or
bike path.
Randy Barney, 19008 Lincoln Street- stated he is not in favor of a connection. He
explained he believes another traffic study should be done in 15 or 30 minute
increments to get an accurate picture of traffic during peak times. He added the
roads are not well lit and additional traffic could cause issues for people walking at
night.
Pat Voltzke, 19172 Kennedy Street-indicated she doesn't understand how the
Council can just change the zoning. She also expressed opposition for the project
because she believes it will ruin the reason residents moved to the area. She added
she would like to see the traffic study redone as well.
There being no one else to speak to this issue,Mayor Dietz closed the public
hearing.
Mayor Dietz indicated it seems the only concern of the residents is the vehicular
connection to the Sunset Ridge Development. He added taxes would not increase
for repair of the roads as the Pavement Management Fund covers those expenses.
He explained Twin Lakes Road is a county road and the city has no jurisdiction so all
improvements would have to be initiated by Sherburne County.
Councilmember Wagner reiterated Twin Lakes Road is a county road and the city
doesn't have much control. She explained she is familiar with the traffic around the
area as her children go to Twin Lakes School. She stated she spoke with the city
engineer earlier to see about improving the site lines and he worked with the
landowner and cleared many trees which helped. She noted a majority of the
accidents are deer/car accidents. Councilmember Wagner stated she does have
concerns with adding traffic on to Lincoln Street but wondered if the Sunset Ridge
Development would benefit by an alternate access to Twin Lakes Road. She
explained she understands resident concerns and is not disagreeing with anything
stated but she questioned what the negatives are for not making the connection and
wondered if they outweigh the benefits.
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City Council Minutes Page 5
May 2,2016
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Councilmember Westgaard indicated the connection is currently a dead end and the
question is whether or not the connection should be opened as the area grows. He
stated he also has a hard time believing the counts in the traffic study are accurate
and believes a dialogue with the county would be beneficial to ensure the numbers
are accurate. He explained he would like to see continuity and connection between
neighborhoods adding the city cannot continue to not make connections. He added
the Council had these same discussions about 193Td Avenue and Line Avenue. He
noted he drives Twin Lakes Road every morning and agrees it is dangerous and
doesn't believe the Council should contribute to an already dangerous area by
connecting at this time but he would be in favor of a connection to the Sunset Ridge
Development in the future when traffic concerns with Twin Lakes Road have been
addressed.
Mayor Dietz explained to the residents that even if the Council decides against the
connection at this time,it doesn't mean future Council's won't decide to make the
connection. He stated he is in favor of leaving the connection closed for now and
evaluate traffic once a portion of the development is in. He added a traffic study may
not be necessary if no connection is made at this time.
Councilmember Olsen stated he is in favor of staffs recommendation to connect the
development to Sunset Ridge.
Councilmember Westgaard indicated staff,the Planning Commission, and the
developer seem to be a long way apart on what they would like to see in the
development and he questioned if this is ready for Council consideration. He added
he would like to see continuity between staff and the developer.
Councilmember Westgaard explained he had concerns about the high density of the
development eight years ago and the density has increased with this proposal. He
would like to see the developer work harder to maintain lot sizes from the original
plat. He expressed concerns with on-street parking adding if cars are parked on both
sides of the street there wouldn't be enough room for two-way traffic. Mr. Carlton
explained the streets are standard street width, adding when on-street parking
availability is reduced, the frequency of two cars parked across from each other
increases.
Mayor Dietz stated he found the recommendations very difficult to follow and
would like to see recommendations of staff, developer, and the Planning
Commission laid out in column format and would like to see all the issues addressed
with different options.
Mr.Jensen explained he believes staff and the developer are in agreement on many
of the larger issues and the main concern relates to language included in some of the
conditions. He added there isn't much time left to get this approved in time for the
construction season.
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May 2,2016
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Mayor Dietz stated he isn't ready to make a decision tonight because this
development is a huge impact on the city. He asked that staff come back with the
requested information at the next meeting. He asked Mr. Beck if he would be part of
discussions regarding the homeowner's association. Mr. Beck indicated he would if
he was asked. Mr. Beck encouraged the developer to provide written detail on
comments addressed this evening. He added he believes staff and the developer are
down to six or so issues that need resolution and he would like staff and the
developer to come back in two weeks.
Councilmember Wagner questioned how a homeowner's association is set up for
long-term success.
Alan Roessler, Paxmar Development, explained many homeowner's associations
have failed because there wasn't enough residences built to sustain the association.
He further explained once the development is completed and turned over to the
homeowner's association it is pretty tough to dissolve. He indicated in order for an
association to be dissolved every party with an interest must sign off,including
lenders. He added it's near impossible to get large mortgage companies to release
their interest. He stated the developer's goal is to keep association dues low to assist
in sustaining the association which is one reason why they asked for the exterior
maintenance to be removed from the conditions. He stated their preference would
be for the homeowner's to be responsible for their own exterior maintenance upon
approval from the homeowner's association.
Councilmember Westgaard asked for clarification on the association's role in exterior
maintenance. Mr. Carlton explained staff's recommendation is for the association to
maintain roofs and siding in perpetuity to ensure the long-term aesthetics and
maintenance is maintained in this development.
Mr. Beck noted lenders only have to consent to the dissolution of a homeowner's
association not be part of the exterior review process. He added staff's
recommendation for the homeowner's association to maintain all exterior building
coverings is common with attached townhomes. He noted that the problem the city
has experienced with homeowner's associations isn't so much that they have
dissolved but rather disappeared. He stated he believes staff is trying to provide
enough responsibility to the associations so they remain intact.
Councilmember Westgaard questioned if the Council can make a decision tonight on
the connection to Sunset Ridge so the residents don't have to come back and speak.
Mr. Beck indicated it may be best to discuss at a future meeting when issues relating
to delaying the connection have been addressed. Mayor Dietz stated he believes the
residents have been heard so no need for them to return. Mr. Beck added the public
hearing has been closed.
Moved by Councilmember Olsen and seconded by Councilmember
Westgaard to continue this item to the May 16, 2016, City Council meeting.
Motion carried 4-0.
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8.1. Adopt License Agreement to Maintain Bee Hives
Mr. Sevcik presented the staff report.
Councilmember Westgaard questioned who carries liability insurance if the hives are
damaged or someone is injured. Mr. Sevcik indicated Mr. Schultz carried insurance.
Councilmember Wagner indicated she has no issue with bee hives but questioned if
it makes sense to sign the property as having an active bee colony on premise. Mr.
Sevcik explained the Houlton Planning Committee discussed signage and didn't have
a strong recommendation either way. One main con discussed by the Committee was
signage sometimes attracts people to things they might not otherwise bother and one
main pro was signage notifying people with bee allergies about the colony.
Moved by Councilmember Olsen and seconded by Councilmember Wagner
to adopt the license agreement with Joseph Schultz to maintain bee hives on
the William H. Houlton Conservation Area. Motion carried 4-0.
Council consensus was to install signage indicating there is a live bee colony on
premise. Mr. Sevcik stated he will work with staff to have one installed.
8.2 Discuss Work Session Items
Mr. Portner presented the staff report.
Councilmember Wagner expressed an interest in having a joint meeting with
Sherburne County to relay resident concerns about Twin Lakes Road.
Councilmember Westgaard stated he would like to see a joint meeting with the
County scheduled soon. He added some possible agenda items are Twin Lakes Road
safety-issues, county ditches, and possible site selection for the multipurpose facility.
9.1 Council Liaison Updates
The Council provided updates of the work of the various boards/commissions.
The Council recessed at 9:32 in order to go into work session. The meeting
reconvened at 9:37 p.m.
10.1 Energy City Commission Interview
The Council interviewed Harley Hanson.
Moved by Councilmember Westgaard and seconded by Councilmember
Wagner to appoint Harley Hanson as the Chamber of Commerce
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representative to the Energy City Commission with a term expiration of
February 28, 2017. Motion carried 4-0.
10.2 Joplin Property Acquisition and Condemnation Process
Ms. Othoudt presented the staff report.
Doug Shaftel, Kennedy and Graven,provided an update on the progress and
process of the Joplin property acquisition and potential condemnation action. Mr.
Shaftel noted he anticipates the process may take 120 days.
10.3 Deer Herd Management
Mr. Sevcik presented the staff report. He stated a volunteer group has been meeting
to discuss possible rules and details of the Deer Herd Management Plan. He
introduced members present including Parks and Recreation Commissioners Dave
Anderson and Mike Niziolek, Police Sergeant Dave Dummer,and Steve Engelmeyer
who manages the local Cargill hunt. He stated Councilmember Westgaard, Elk River
Police Reserve Kelly Hinrichs, and MN Department of Natural Resources
Conservation Officer Mitch Sladek also participated in the meetings.
Mr. Sevcik explained the plan can be reviewed on an annual basis.
Councilmember Wagner questioned how general park users will be made aware of
the hunts. Mr. Sevcik explained after formal approval the plan will be published on
the city website,in the Star News, and signage will be installed at the entrance of the
parks.
Council consensus was to move forward with the Deer Herd Management Plan.
Mr. Engelmeyer cautioned the Council to be prepared for negative responses from
the public because in his experience not everyone understands why deer are hunted.
10.4 Park Dedication Fee Update
Mr. Carlton presented the staff report.
Mayor Dietz stated he would like this report to be reviewed by the Parks and
Recreation Commission at their next meeting. He questioned if we need to be
consistent with the methods used. Attorney Beck explained consistency is easier to
implement and more transparent. He added staff can check into other alternatives if
the Council desires.
Councilmember Westgaard questioned how other options would be different.
Attorney Beck explained based on direction from the Legislature all options would
be based on property value but other options could cost more to implement.
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Councilmember Westgaard commented he doesn't see an option unless the city
wants to face lawsuits based on the current system.
Mayor Dietz stated he would like staff to explore if other cities are going more than
10% and come back at the next Council meeting.
II. Adjournment
There being no further business,Mayor Dietz adjourned the meeting of the Elk
River City Council at 10:51 p.m.
Minutes prepared by Jessica Miller.
John J. Dietz,Mayor
Tina Allard, City Clerk
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