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09-16-2019 CCMCity of Elk + Meeting of the Elk River City Council it1Ver Held at the Elk River City Hall Monday, September 16, 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, Economic Development Director Amanda Othoudt, Community Development Director Suzanne Fischer, Fire Chief Mark Dickinson, Planning Manager Zack Carlton, Parks and Recreation Director Michael Hecker, Recreation Manager Steve Benoit, Environmental Coordinator Amanda Bednar, Liquor Operations Manager Joe Audette, 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 6:08 p.m. by Mayor Dietz. 2. Pledge of Allegiance Pledge of Allegiance was recited. 3. Consider Agenda A variance request by Sergey Vainelovich for a front yard setback was added as item 7.3. Moved by Councilmember Westgaard and seconded by Councilmember Ovall to approve the agenda as amended. Motion carried 5-0. 4. Consent Agenda Moved by Councilmember Wagner and seconded by Councilmember Ovall to approve: 4.1 September 3, 2019, minutes. 4.2 Check register, check numbers 9991 and 111785-111967 as outlined in the staff report. 4.3 Pay estimates as outlined in the staff report. 4.4 Guarantor Agreement 2019-20 with Fairview Health Services to provide OSHA required Hepatitis B vaccines and titer testing. 4.5 Resolution 19-41 approving the Industrial Incentive Microloan and authorize the execution of the microloan documents for Distinctive Iron, LLC. City Council Minutes September 16, 2019 Page 2 4.6 Purchase agreements with Musco Sports Lighting, LLC and Sports Technology Inc. for the purchase and installation of ballfield lights at the Youth Athletic Complex. 4.7 Hire Jennifer Dengerud to the position of payroll specialist effective September 17, 2019, with pay and benefits as outlined in the staff report. Motion carried 5-0. S. Open Forum No one appeared for Open Forum. 6.1 City of Elk River Volunteer of the Month Mayor Dietz presented the September Volunteer of the Month award to Curt Crane. He highlighted the following: ■ CAER volunteer. ■ Teaches English as a second language at Adult Basic Education. ■ Bus driver for the St. Andrew school field trips. ■ Taught Music Masterpiece and Orchestra Masterpiece at St. Andrew's school. ■ Assisted City of Elk River Parks Department with buckthorn eradication. 6.2 Proclamation: Constitution Week Mayor Dietz read the proclamation. He presented it to Daughters of the American Revolution member Marilyn Schroeder. Moved by Councilmember Westgaard and seconded by Councilmember Christianson to proclaim September 17 — 23, 2019, as Constitution Week. Motion carried 5-0. 6.3 ISD 728 Referendum Update ISD 728 Superintendent Dr. Daniel Bittman provided an overview and information regarding the district's planned referendum scheduled for November. 6.4 Fire Department Fundraiser Mr. Audette and Dillion Cox from Dahlheimer Distributing presented Chief Dickinson with proceeds from a recent liquor store fundraiser for the Fire Department. Chief Dickinson thanked all who participated. P 0 V E R I I I NATURE f City Council Minutes Page 3 September 16, 2019 Moved by Councilmember Wagner and seconded by Councilmember Christianson to adopt resolution 19-42 acknowledging contributions from Coors, Dahlheimer Distributing, and the public. Motion carried 5-0. 6.5 Introduction of New Employees Mr. Audette introduced new liquor store managers John Colotti (Northbound Liquor) and James Kuklock (Westbound Liquor). 7.1 Conditional Use Permit: Auto Repair Business - Auto-Rec Bodyworks Inc., 21475 US Highway 169 Mr. Carlton presented the staff report. Mayor Dietz opened the public hearing. There being no one to speak to this issue, the public hearing was continued to October 21, 2019. Moved by Councilmember Westgaard and seconded by Councilmember Christianson to continue the public hearing to October 21, 2019. Motion carried 5-0. 7.2 Easement Vacation: Nate Cary, 10710 188'h Ave NW Mr. Carlton 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 Wagner to adopt resolution 19-43 vacating a portion of the drainage and utility easement along the rear property line at 10710188t' Ave NW, with the condition work in the area to be vacated may not begin until the resolution vacating the easement is recorded. Motion carried 5-0. 7.3 Variance: Front Yard Setback, Sergy Vainelovich - 20020 Vance Street NW Mr. Carlton indicated no action is needed on this item as the applicant has withdrawn their application. 8.1 Rental License Revocation Ms. Fischer presented the staff report. Attorney Beck indicated the city has lawful basis to revoke the rental license and explained he will be working towards identifying appropriate steps to get the property cleaned up. r 0 1 E I E I I I NATURE City Council Minutes September 16, 2019 Page 4 Councilmember Christianson questioned when the Crime Free/Drug Free Addendum was approved. Ms. Fischer stated the addendum was approved in 2016; however, the Crime Free/Drug Free housing addendum was not included when the former fire chief implemented online applications. She added moving forward all future new and renewal applications will be required to sign the document. Attorney Beck indicated staff will review the rental licensing program and process in an attempt to improve compliance. He indicated he will work with staff and bring changes back to Council, along with supporting documentation. Council consensus was to move forward with revocation. 8.2 Lake Orono Improvement District (OLID) Budget and Levy Ms. Bednar presented the staff report. Patrick Plant, Chair of the Orono Lake Improvement District Board, presented the OLID budget and tax levy. Mayor Dietz questioned if the city needs to hire someone to confirm each property will support the proposed assessments. Attorney Beck indicated yes, he would recommend appraisals be conducted. Mayor Dietz stated it would be valuable to have the appraisal information on hand for the assessment hearings. Moved by Councilmember Westgaard and seconded by Councilmember Christianson to adopt resolution 19-44 approving the Orono Lake Improvement District annual budget for the year 2020. Motion carried 5-0. Council directed staff to begin the 429 assessment process and hire an appraiser to begin the appraisal process. 8.3 Economic Development Authority and Housing and Redevelopment Authority Tax Levies Ms. Othoudt presented the staff report. Moved by Councilmember Wagner and seconded by Councilmember Christianson to adopt resolution 19-45 authorizing the preliminary Economic Development Authority 2020 tax levy. Motion carried 5-0. Moved by Councilmember Ovall and seconded by Councilmember Westgaard to adopt resolution 19-46 authorizing the preliminary Housing and Redevelopment Authority 2020 tax levy. Motion carried 5-0. The Council recessed at 7:26 p.m. in order to go in to work session. The meeting reconvened at 7:33 p.m. NATURE It City Council Minutes Page 5 September 16, 2019 9.1 Orono Lake Improvement District Relationship to City Ms. Bednar presented the staff report. Attorney Beck explained lake improvement districts are unique noting he has had many conversations with the League of Minnesota Cities regarding lake improvement districts. He stated he received varying opinions on whether or not the OLID can be added to the city's insurance. He indicated the best way to resolve would be for the OLID to submit an application to the League of Minnesota Cities Insurance Trust and wait for a decision. He further explained there is nothing that prohibits or requires the city to provide any level of staffing to a lake improvement district. League consensus is it is up to the city whether the OLID uses city staff and legal representation. He added the OLID is an independent body having full discretion to make their own staffing and legal decisions. He indicated there are costs involved with the city providing these services and he would recommend any staff or legal expenses be billed back to the OLID. Mr. Plant indicated he would like to pursue holding their annual meeting at city hall. He said they had 120 people packed in to the Trott Brook Barn and it didn't work well. Mayor Dietz stated he has no issue allowing OLID to use city hall or the new multipurpose facility. Mr. Plant indicated a desire for city staff to continue working with the Lake Orono Water Quality Committee, with limited direct involvement with the OLID. He indicated the OLID would function as a separate entity making recommendations to the city similar to an advisory committee. Council consensus was to allow the Orono Lake Improvement District access to city staff, legal representation, and insurance with OLID being responsible for the costs associated with each. 9.2 Lion John Weicht Park Flag Discussion Mayor Dietz provided an update on the meeting with American Legion leadership. He indicated they discussed the Rivers Edge Commons Park not being the best option for the Legion's Memorial Day Celebration because the park's layout is not conducive to the mostly senior citizen attendance. He stated the group discussed options and really liked the idea of moving the flag to Lion John Weicht Park. He stated they also discussed relocating and incorporating the Veteran's Memorial at Lion John Weicht Park. He noted the American Legion membership voiced overwhelming support for locating the flag and the Veteran's Memorial at Lion John Weicht Park rather than pursuing a flag downtown. p I W I A I I ! 1 NATURE City Council Minutes September 16, 2019 Page 6 Councilmember Wagner believes the Veteran's Memorial is often overlooked in its current location and locating the flag and the Veteran's Memorial to Lion John Weicht Park is an opportunity to create a community asset. Mr. Portner stated the logistics still need to be worked out. He explained only a small part of planning for John Weicht Lions Park has been completed through the Active Elk River process. He indicated the Parks and Recreation Commission will be master planning the remainder of the park improvement and this can be included. Mayor Dietz stated he would like to discuss funding when the time comes as he doesn't know if it's appropriate for this to come from the Park Improvement Fund. The Council asked Mr. Portner to discuss this with the 292 Group. He noted this may be a later 2020 or 2021 project. The Council was agreeable to the timing in order for it to be done correctly. Council consensus was to proceed with the option of locating the American Legion flag and Veteran's Memorial to Lion John Weicht Park. 9.3 Downtown Development Proposal Ms. Othoudt presented the staff report. She outlined the different agreement options and questioned if the Council is interested in entering in to an agreement with Jesse Hartung of Modern Construction. Jesse Hartung, Modern Construction, explained his goal is to see if the city is interested in selling the downtown property if a development makes sense. He stated he believes entering in to a preliminary development agreement would be the simplest because it gives him the authority to do some due diligence work and come back with a development proposal but doesn't require all of the details to be worked out right away. He requested exclusivity to the property for three months so he can prepare site layouts and renderings. He explained he believes there is a demand for the type of project he is proposing and doesn't want to get in to a position where multiple developers are looking at the same project. Councilmember Ovall indicated he would want to see a traffic study done as part of this agreement. Mr. Hartung explained a traffic study is extensive and expensive and questioned if this could be put off until there is a better understanding of the full development. Councilmember Ovall stated a concept of traffic flow will be sufficient. Councilmember Westgaard noted he would like to hear more about Mr. Hartung's company and experience with projects of this magnitude when he comes back to the Council. Mayor Dietz had concerns about a development downtown. He questioned the simplest way to provide Mr. Hartung exclusive rights to the property without any P 0 1 1 R E I a 1 ■A 1 URE City Council Minutes September 16, 2019 Page 7 other commitment from the city. Attorney Beck indicated there are a couple options but a preliminary development agreement will work. Mayor Dietz indicated he really wants to hear from the downtown businesses on how they feel about this proposed development. He had concerns about the city - owned parking lot being developed and the city losing the ability for parking expansion. He noted he is not in favor of reduced building permit fees or SAC/WAC fees as that has not been past practice. Mr. Hartung indicated he will address the parking concern in his concept plan. He would like to talk to the downtown businesses one on one rather than having a public meeting. He will provide their input when he comes back to the Council. Councilmember Ovall added this is already a public meeting and the public could have come and spoke if they wished. Council consensus was to allow Ms. Othoudt to negotiate a preliminary development agreement with Mr. Hartung valid until January 31, 2020. Mayor Dietz opposed. 9.4 Active Elk River Project Timeline Mr. Portner provided an update on the timing of the projects. 9.5 Rivers Edge Commons Park Rental Policy Mr. Benoit presented the staff report. Ms. Miller indicated administration staff has some concerns with the draft policy as written because it says any event that is not a private wedding or city -sponsored event will be run through the special event process regardless of whether or not areas outside of the park will also be used. She had concerns with this opening up the park use for just about anything since special event requests can only be denied for reasons specifically outlined in ordinance. She explained current special event ordinance allows parks to be run through the special event permit process as long as they meet special event criteria. Mr. Benoit indicated he believes there is some confusion as the intent was to handle use of the Rivers Edge Park the same as how it is currently being handled by simply acknowledging the park can be used as part of an approved special event permit. Attorney Beck suggested changing the sentence regarding special event permits in the policy because how it isn't clear how it's currently written and he fears there could be trouble if left as is. Council consensus is for administration and parks and recreation staff to work together to reword the sentence in the policy relating to special events to match current special event ordinance and have Attorney Beck review. r 0. s E I E I I I NAYURE City Council Minutes September 16, 2019 9.6 Rivers Edge Commons Park Alcohol Policy Mr. Benoit presented the staff report. Councilmember Ovall requested staff use the same benchmark cities when conducting surveys. Council consensus was to eliminate the department policy regarding alcohol in Rivers Edge Commons Park and not to change the city ordinance. 9.7 Park Shelter Branding Page 8 Mr. Hecker presented the staff report. He noted staff would prefer a black frame on the shelters because it's easier to maintain and hide vandalism. Parks and Recreation Commission Chair Dave Anderson explained the commission would like discretion to pick a roof color on a park by park basis. He noted he feels it is important for the roof color option to go along with their partnered frame color noting the stone cannot be spray painted if they are vandalized. Councilmember Christianson indicated it is not important to him to have identical structures are every park and he sees no issue with having three color options. Councilmember Wagner stated she would like to see one color used for branding and consistency. She indicated the city is spending $35 million in improvements and this is the perfect way to create a memorable impression. She added she would like to see red shelters to continue off the pieces already downtown. She doesn't believe having multiple color options and going back to the commission each time is a good idea. Mayor Dietz indicated he doesn't have an issue with any of the three colors presented as long as all the structures are consistent. He does not have an issue going back to the Parks and Recreation Commission to choose a roof color each time a shelter is constructed. Councilmember Westgaard believes the shelters should be one design and one color in order to show the image of who we are. He would like the design, frame color, roof color, and stone on the pillars to all be consistent. Councilmember Ovall explained he was originally leaning towards having three color options but after hearing Councilmember Wagner's explanation he has changed his mind and is leaning towards one color option with the black frame. He noted he was originally concerned about only having a 10-year warranty on the red but it seems to be holding up fine downtown. rI o 1 E n E e 1 1 NATURE] City Council Minutes September 16, 2019 Page 9 Councilmember Wagner asked if the designers had any comments about the colors. Mr. Hecker indicated the designers said it is a city decision but they did note red can be used in both the active and passive settings. He noted if one color is chosen for active parks and another color for passive parks, someone still has to make the determination on whether a park is active or passive. Council consensus was to think about the options and discuss at the next work session. Councilmember Wagner suggested Councilmembers visit Polygon's website to see samples. 9.8 Council -sponsored Employee Luncheon The Council discussed the logistics of the September 23 Council -sponsored luncheon. 10. Adjournment There being no further business, Mayor Dietz adjourned the meeting of the Elk River City Council at 9:53 p.m. Minutes prepared by Jessica Miller. Tina Allard, City Clerk u rP R 111 R E B R Y NATURE]