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02-04-2019 CCMMeeting of the Elk River City Council Held at the Elk River City Hall Monday, February 4, 2019 Members Present: Mayor John Dietz, Councilmembers Garrett Christianson, Nate Ovall, Matt Westgaard, and Jennifer Wagner Members Absent: None Staff Present: City Administrator Calvin Portner, City Clerk Tina Allard, Senior Communications Coordinator Kaylin Clement, Planning Manager Zack Carlton, Finance Director Lori Ziemer, and Deputy Clerk Jessica Miller 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. Mayor Dietz asked for a moment of silence in remembrance of John Kuester who passed away. He stated John was an involved and devoted Elk River citizen and his wife Louise is a former Councilmember and current member of the Housing and Redevelopment Authority. 3. Consider February 4, 2019, Agenda Councilmember Ovall requested item 4.9 be removed from consent. Moved by Councilmember Wagner and seconded by Councilmember Westgaard to approve the February 4, 2019, agenda as amended. Motion carried 5-0. 4. Consider Consent Agenda Moved by Councilmember Ovall and seconded by Councitmember Christianson to approve the following consent agenda as amended. 4.1 January 22, 2019, minutes. 4.2 Check register, check numbers 9968-9971 and 109236-109380 as outlined in the staff report. 4.3 Temporary On -Sale Liquor License for the Elk River Rotary Club for the Taste of Elk River on May 16, 2019, with the condition alcohol must be limited to an area enclosed by fence with a secure, controlled access and wrist band control is required. City Council Minutes February 4, 2019 Page 2 4.4 Acceptance of Public Improvements: Miske Meadows Third Addition. 4.5 Cable franchise renewal: 1. Ordinance 19-02 a regulatory ordinance establishing certain regulations governing the delivery of cable television to ensure all cable providers are subject to comparable obligations and burdens. 2. Ordinance 19-03 granting a franchise to Charter Communications to construct, operate, and maintain a cable system and provide cable service. 3. Resolution 19-04 for summary publication of ordinance 19-02 and ordinance 19-03. 4.6 Purchase a 2019 Caterpillar 930M Wheel Loader and HitchDoc model HDS 9200 hydraulic snow blower. 4.7 Adjustment to the pay plan to differentiate between the six positions in paygrade 2E and provide a retroactive adjustment to the police chief, fire chief, and public works director/chief engineer positions retroactive to the beginning of the pay period that includes January 1, 2019, as outlined in the staff report. 4.8 Interim promotion for Senior Citizen Programmer Natalie Anderson to recreation coordinator effective February 5, 2019, as outlined in the staff report. Motion carried 5-0. 4.9 Resolution for Finding of Fact Denying a Conditional Use Permit to Allow Establishment of an Instkutional Use by ResCare Minnesota, Inc at 633 Upland Avenue NW. Councilmember Ovall indicated he spoke with Attorney Beck and would like the letter staff recently received from ResCare to be made available to all residents who request it. He recommended continuing the resolution for denial until the next meeting. Councilmember Christianson questioned when the 60 -day timeframe is up. Mr. Carlton indicated February 22. Moved by Councilmember Ovall and seconded by Councilmember Christianson to continue the resolution for finding of fact denying a Conditional Use Permit to allow establishment of an institutional use by ResCare Minnesota, Inc. at 633 Upland Avenue NW to February 19, 2019. Motion carried 5-0 S. Open Forum John Dryer, 13008 Islandview Drive, issued the following statement: ft 1/�EAEI It NATURE City Council Minutes February 4, 2019 Page 3 As you are all likely aware, the city over many years has allowed ourselves and the previous owner of our home, the city has allowed them to build critical dwelling infrastructure on this property that's just a small strip of property adjacent to our house but now we're being told that these additions, critical additions like a septic tank, have to be removed because they fall in a small strip of land that was platted back in 1953 just over on the east side of our lot. That land has never been used by the city and we were told there are no plans to use it. So, this has gone on for a while. Just thought I'd come and kinda give my side of the story here a little bit. All attempts by us to reach some sort of agreement on this situation have failed, but we're still trying. We simply cannot understand why the city would kind of want to purposely wipe out the value of our home and property. No proposed solution today would prevent our home from basically losing all of its value. If we wish to relocate we wouldn't be able to sell our house. My wife and I are both in our 60s, we're getting close to retirement, just trying to preserve our home as we're very close to that. It just kind of seems unbelievable to us that this is even happening. We came to city hall last week, Wednesday, January 30, to work with a professional mediator to try and resolve the issue. We offered some ideas, tried to work towards a compromise, but representatives from the city have not moved at all. So, I'm coming before the Council just to make a quick statement. We feel it's again hard to believe that members of this Council would really approve of the treatment we have received from city staff. We don't really want this to end up in court. It's a big deal to us. It's a little piece of land but I hope we can somehow find a way to resolve this in a way that doesn't cause us to lose our home. Thank you. 6.1 Recognize "Mayor for the Day" Essay Winners Ms. Clement presented her staff report. Breanna Bode and Avery Lauder read their essays. Mayor Dietz presented Ms. Bode and Ms. Lauder with "Mayor for the Day" signs. 7. Public Hearings There were no public hearings. 8.1 Food Truck Ordinance Amendment Ms. Allard presented her staff report. Moved by Councilmember Christianson and seconded by Councihnember Wagner to adopt ordinance 19-04 amending Chapter 38 regarding Mobile Food Units. Motion carried 5-0. 8.2 Discuss Work Session Items Mt. Portner presented his staff report. POCEAEOOY City Council Minutes February 4, 2019 Page 4 Mr. Portner stated he would like the Council to have the annual Council workshop on their radar. He indicated he would like to complete the workshop in one day and asked if a Saturday in March would work. Consensus of the Council was to hold the workshop on a weekday beginning in early afternoon. Mr. Portner will work with staff and get back to the Council with some tentative dates. 9. Council Liaison Updates Council provided updates on the activities of the various boards and commissions as also noted in the respective board's minutes. Energ City ■ Next meeting February 20. Councilmember Christianson stated he indicated he spoke with Environmental Coordinator Amanda Bednar regarding recent changes to the organics program and the biggest complaint was finding the dumpsters but new signage is up which will help. He stated cancellations and new registrations are about equal and Ms. Bednar believes program participation will increase once the weather improves. Hentage Presemation • Water tower grant, walking tours, oral histories, and the water tower's upcoming 100 -year anniversary. Meeting was very well attended by high schoolers trying to get meeting credit for classes. Library • January meeting was cancelled due to a conflict with Council meeting. Next meeting is March 26. Parks and Recreation ■ Park dedication for a new addition north of town ■ New homeowner near Woodland Park came forward at open foram to say she is enjoying the park and to thank the commission and staff for their hard work. Relocation of the proposed nature center and playground at Woodland Trails as recommended by the Woodland Trails Regional Grant Committee. Planning Discussed potential mixed use including mini storage and an apartment complex. Utilities ■ Reviewed the safety manual ■ Handled some beginning of year items ■ Received update from Wage and Benefit Committee ■ Retirement of Mike Thity after 34 years working for Elk River Municipal Utilities. II11aII Ir MATURE City Council Minutes February 4, 2019 Page 5 Council recessed at 6:55 p.m. in order to go into work session. Council reconvened at 6:59 p.m. Mayor Dietz asked that item 10.2 be discussed prior to 10.1 to allow Golf Course Manager Chris Singer to arrive. 10.2 Institutional Uses in the Downtown District. Mr. Carlton presented his staff report. Mayor Dietz stated he believes an ordinance amendment should be adopted to allow inpatient health care facilities in the Downtown District. Councilmember Ovall believes the definition of institutional uses may be too broad and questioned if the definition of inpatient healthcare facilities could be segmented as there may be some uses not appropriate for the downtown area. Councilmember Christianson would be interested in checking with other cities on their definitions. Councilmember Westgaard is fine with how the current definition reads and feels like it properly defines institutional uses. He preferred leaving the definition as -is limiting institutional uses in the Downtown District to worship facilities only. He noted difficulty in crafting an ordinance that's too specific. Councilmember Ovall agreed with Councilmember Westgaard indicating he is in favor of a broader definition but he would still like to explore the pros and cons of getting more granular with the definition. Mayor Dietz questioned how long the definition was in our ordinance. Mr. Carlton indicated that the institutional use was defined in city ordinance in 1988. Councilrnember Wagner believes the change in 2018 to limit institutional uses in downtown to worship facilities only was made for a reason and she's not convinced it should be changed back. She added that downtown is still working on defining who they are and she believes it may be appropriate to hold a conversation about what we do and do not want to see downtown. Mayor Dietz indicated a majority seem to agree with the definition as written but would like staff to research with our peer communities the definitions of healthcare facility and to what extent institutional uses can be segmented in the Downtown District and city-wide. 10.1 Pinewood Golf Course Contract P a I IR I I 8 1 N A TURA City Council Minutes February 4, 2019 Mr. Pormer presented his staff report. Page 6 Mr. Pormer distributed a handout on equipment replacement costs at Pinewood. Councilmember Ovall questioned if the equipment on this list is included in the Capital Improvement Plan. Mr. Portner noted equipment items were removed from the Capital Improvement Plan when Pinewood closed. Councilmember Westgaard explained he would like to understand what the Parks and Recreation Commission is responsible for overseeing and would like to have a discussion with Mr. Hecker about programming and managing the golf coarse. He noted it is positive for Pinewood to be sustainable but he would like to see the equipment replacement schedule. Councilmember Christianson stated he isn't interested in Pinewood competing with the Elk River Golf Club as they are distinctly different courses. Mayor Dietz likes that Pinewood is self-sufficient but has concerns about capital expenditures. He has confidence if the Elk River Golf Club continues to manage Pinewood, it will become profitable. Mayor Dietz questioned if there would be any benefit to sharing equipment with the Golf Club. Elk River Golf Club Manager Chris Singer indicated there are options for sharing of equipment. He added he would recommend purchasing used equipment because of the size and topography of the course. Mr. Singer added purchasing or sharing equipment from other departments may also be an option. He indicated he will discuss with Street Superintendent Tim Sevcik and Golf Club Superintendent Jon Varty and put together estimates for equipment replacement if the Council desires. The Council concurred they would like to see Mr. Singer's estimates. Councilmember Ovall questioned if Pinewood needs to remain a city asset or if it could be sold. Mayor Dietz explained he would be open to selling it but the city put out an RFP to reopen or sell Pinewood and the only viable option was for the Golf Club to manage it. Mr. Singer noted the Elk River Golf Club is not in a position to outright purchase Pinewood. Mayor Dietz indicated the Council would like to see Mr. Singer's equipment replacement costs and take some time to weigh the options. Mr. Singer said his preference in management agreement options would be from tight to left on the last page of his presentation but he would be willing to bring other options to his board if the city has another version they would like to discuss. Mayor Dietz questioned if there is a way to structure a lease with the Elk River Golf Club if the city wanted to put the golf course up for sale. Councilmember Ovall indicated he believes it would be okay as long as the city provides the Elk River Golf NATURE City Cound Minutes February 4, 2019 Page 7 Club with first right of refusal for purchasing. Mayor Dietz indicated selling Pinewood as a golf course would be the perfect scenario but leasing it might be the next best option. Consensus of the Council was to continue management discussions with the Elk River Golf Club at a future meeting. Councilmember Wagner indicated the Council may need to think about restructuring a committee or commission to oversee the multipurpose facility, Pinewood, and Lions Park Center. She suggested possibly a citizen's commission making recommendations to the Council. Mr. Portner indicated it may make sense for the Parks and Recreation Commission to oversee these facilities but this can be discussed in the future. II. Adjournment There being no further business, Mayor Dietz adjourned the meeting of the Elk River City Council at 8:10 p.m. Minutes prepared byJessica Miller. Tina Allard, City Clerk POR ERE. .G' I &TURA.