Loading...
07-02-2018 CCMMeeting of the Elk River City Council Held at the Elk River City Hall Monday, July 2, 2018 Members Present: Mayor Dietz, Councilmembers Olsen, Ovall, Westgaard, and Wagner Members Absent: None Staff Present: City Administrator Calvin Portner, Planning Manager Zack Carlton, 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 6:30 p.m. by Mayor Dietz. 2. Pledge of Allegiance The Pledge of Allegiance was recited. 3. Consider July 2, 2018, Agenda Moved by Councilmember Wagner and seconded by Councilmember Ovall to approve the July 2, 2018, agenda. Motion carried 5-0. 4. Consider Consent Agenda Moved by Councihnember Ovall and seconded by Councilmember Westgaard to approve the following consent agenda: 4.1 Check register, check numbers 9941-9943 and 106657-106828 as outlined in the staff report. 4.2 Temporary On -Sale Liquor License to Church of St. Andrew for September 16, 2018 with condition alcohol must be confined to an area enclosed by a fence with secured, controlled access and age verification is required. 4.3 Set Canvassing Board meetings for primary election for Friday, August 17, 2018 at 8:00 a.m. and general election for Friday, November 9, 2018, at 8:00 a.m. 4.4 Resolution 18-42 appointing election judges for the 2018 elections. Motion carried 5-0. Open Forum No one appeared for Open Forum. City Council Minutes July 2, 2018 6. Presentations, Awards, and Recognition There were no items. Public Hearings There were no items. 8.1 Discuss Work Session Items Mr. Portner presented the staff report. Page 2 9.1 Council Liaison Updates Council provided updated on the activities of the various boards and commissions. Library Board ■ Budget to be discussed at next meeting. Heritage Preservation Commission • No update. Parks and Recreation • Councilmember Olsen commended the work of the commission. Planning Commission ■ Six items will be coming forward to Council at a future meeting. Elk River Municipal Utilities ■ Grace period included on billing. ■ Electric/water sales up. ■ Minnesota Municipal Power Agency update. Energy City ■ Germany trip update. ■ Recommend sharing Energy City updates regularly. Chamber Government Relations Committee working on a business development survey. A Cyber security and Region 7W update were also provided. Council recessed at 6:42 p.m. in order to go into work session. Council reconvened at 6:46 p.m. IO11RII Ir NAT E City Council Minutes Page 3 July 2, 2019 --------------------------- 10.1 Zoning to Reduce Lot Sizes Mr. Leeseberg presented the staff report. He reviewed the developable land outside the Urban Service Area, potential lot numbers when manipulating lot sizes, the Comprehensive Plan, population estimates, and transportation. He discussed lot sizes and the need for land for a primary and secondary septic system. Councilmember Ovall questioned if there is anything allowed with a 2.5 acre lot that couldn't be done on a 1.5 acre lot. Mr. Leeseberg noted yes and cited some examples such as smaller accessory structures and the disallowance of chickens. Mayor Dietz expressed concerns with changing everything located north of County Road 33 to allow 1.5 acre lots and questioned if Mr. Christianson's request could be the only allowance. He suggested looking at the whole 2.5 acre area and evaluate if there are certain sections that lend itself as a better fit to be 1.5 acre lots versus the 2.5 acres. He stated he is not in favor of changing everything north of County Road 33 from 2.5 to 1.5 acres. He felt Mr. Christian's request was unique. He stated he prefers the 1.5 acre lot size, not the 1 acre option requested. He stated staff would like to avoid utilizing the Planned Unit Development process for this type of development. Councilmember Wagner stated she doesn't feel the city needs to change the entire area north of County Road 33 to the 1.5 acres. She stated wetlands can hinder development on some property. She suggested looking at certain wetland areas and rezone them to allow for the smaller lot sizes, noting it would take some work to figure out. Mayor Dietz questioned if Council could review this on a case by case basis as each development comes forward. Mr. Portner stated Council would be creating spot zoning and possibly other issues but there may be alternative solutions based on other zoning criteria. Mr. Leeseberg stated Council would need to be careful with the spot zoning and would need criteria developed in order to say no to other future developments. Mayor Dietz questioned if it would take some work for staff to review the whole area to determine what would be best for 1.5 acres versus 2.5 acres. Mr. Leeseberg stated it would be a significant amount of work and tine to perform the level of detail requested. Councilmember Ovall asked if there is any guidance or other community examples regarding cluster developments and community septic systems. PpGIIRto�9eer NATUR City Cound Minutes July 2, 2018 Page 4 Bill Christianson stated he was involved with a project that allowed one acre lots with some restrictions and they were required to maintain primary and secondary septic locations. He stated he understands the idea of a 1.5 acre lot versus a 1 acre lot due to septic concerns. He discussed the market noting 2.5 acres lots gets to be too much for families as the kids grow up and out. He stated it's not the idea of more lots but of creating a nicer development for the empty nester or retiree. He stated he has done cluster plats on .5 acre lots, but expressed concerns with some common community septic issues such as who will pay costs if a failure. He stated there is a need in the market for some type of balance between the .5 acre size and the 2 acre lot size. Councilmember Westgaard questioned if the cluster development is an option under the R1 a zoning district. Mr. Leeseberg stated it is available but today it would be difficult to obtain agreement on the development due to complex, shared septic issues inherent with these types of developments. Council questioned the Planned Unit Development (PUD) option. Mr. Leeseberg stated staff is working on fazing them out mainly because they are not codified and they can be difficult with enforcement/follow-up. Councilmember Westgaard stated he wasn't inclined to change all the R1c zoning north of County Road 33 to 1.5 acres but believes there are certain parcels with hindrances he would be open to allowing some smaller lots and finding the mechanism to be able to do it and felt the PUD was the best solution. Mayor Dietz suggested the applicant apply for a PUD this year because it's going to take staff some time to sort out lot sizes for land north of County Road 33. Mr. Leeseberg asked for more direction on what the determination is for a 1.5 acre lot noting geographical issues. Mayor Dietz suggested working with the city attorney on this determination, noting all Council want to work in the 1.5 acre option but is not sure how to do it. Councilmember Westgard stated the Council wants to maintain some inventory of 2.5 acre lots and how can this be accomplished such as do we keep the more rural areas furthest from urban service area. rortet1 8 NATURE City Council Minutes Page 5 July 2, 2018 10.2 Athletic Complex and Recreation Project Financing 10.3 Direct Staff to Prepare Local Option Sales Tax Referendum Resolution Mayor Dietz stated tonight Council will be discussing what projects will go on the local sales tax referendum. He requested this item then come back to Council on July 16 for a formal vote with ballot language determined at the special meeting scheduled July 23. Councilmember Wagner noted costs reviewed at a previous Council meeting for high priority trail connections only included actual trail construction costs and not right-of-way acquisition costs. She requested this information be spelled our more clearly for future projects. Mr. Sevcik noted it would be a challenge to know or determine right-of-way costs. He noted the trails may not all be completed at once and sometimes can be based on future available opportunities, such as part of a county project. Councilmember Ovall noted he requested an apples to apples breakdown of the options because the Ballard*King analysis was incorrect. Mr. Pormer stated an apples to apples comparison can't be done because no other community has a field house that compares to the current one in the architectural plans. He stated the one most similar is with the City of Andover. He discussed the many differences and noted Elk River's project is a 30,000 square foot building while Andover's is 20,000 square foot. He stated Andover's revenue in 2017 was $231,436, which is consistent with what Ballard*King projected for Elk River. He discussed the many differences between Elk River and the City of Plymouth. He stated Plymouth's revenue was $413,400. Councilmember Ovall stated he was talking about the economies of scale and efficiencies you would have if the building was a community center. He questioned if this option was off the table. He stated Council had talked about the community center option and, for him, what wasn't presented in that proposal was an apples to apples comparison of the efficiencies you would gain by having all the staffing and programming done under one roof because there wouldn't be the expense of running separate facilities. Mr. Portner stated the single facility in the Ballard*King analysis did include the percentage of revenue over expense. Mayor Dietz stated the analysis projected a negative number. Councilmember Ovall stated it wasn't an apples to apples comparison because we did not have the expenses for the senior center. P��6r/E[ A�`E BDA l f; \t'1 i �1� City Council Minutes July 2, 2018 Page 6 Mayor Dietz stated he was under the impression that Council was moving forward with either Option 1 or Option 2 for the facility diagrams and not the community center. Councilmember Olsen concurred. Council discussed their thoughts on the distribution of funds and reached consensus on the following two options to be considered at the July 16 meeting. Option 1 $26 million Recreational Facility (arena building) $1.5 trillion Senior Center Facility $1 trillion Lake Orono Dredging $2 trillion Trails $2.5 million Lake Orono Park $2 million Youth Athletic Complex $35 million TOTAL Option 2 $16 million Recreational Facility (arena building) $1.5 million Senior Center Facility $1 million Lake Orono Dredging $2 million Trails $2.5 million Lake Orono Park $2 million Youth Athletic Complex $25 million TOTAL Council noted a discussion needs to occur about a fallback plan in case the sales tax referendum fails. II. Adjournment There being no further business, Mayor Dietz adjourned the meeting of the Elk River City Council at 8:16 p.m. Tina Allard, City Clerk P OIEIEI B1 NATURE