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4.1. DRAFT MINUTES (1 SET) 03-16-2020 Meeting of the Elk River City Council Held at the Elk River City Hall Monday, March 2, 2020 Members Present: Mayor John Dietz, Councilmembers Garrett Christianson, Nate Ovall, Matt Westgaard, and Jennifer Wagner Members Absent: None Staff Present: City Administrator Calvin Portner, Police Captain Bob Kluntz, Detective Eric Balabon, Planning Manager Zack Carlton, Environmental Coordinator Amanda Erickson, Stormwater Coordinator Brandon Wisner, Parks and Recreation Manager Michael Hecker, and Recording Secretary Jennifer Green 1. 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 Agenda Moved by Councilmember Wagner and seconded by Councilmember Ovall to approve the agenda as presented. Motion carried 5-0. 4. Consent Agenda Moved by Councilmember Westgaard and seconded by Councilmember Ovall to approve: 4.1 Minutes:  February 3, 2020, Regular  February 12, 2020, Special  February 18, 2020, Regular  February 18, 2020, Special 4.2 Check register, check numbers 113703-113838 as outlined in the staff report. 4.3 Resolution 20-15 acknowledging donation awarded to the Elk River Police Department by Great River Energy in the amount of $2,500. th 4.4 Development Agreement for Miske Meadows 6 Addition as outlined in the staff report. 4.5 Front Burner Naming Rights Professional Services Agreement as outlined in the staff report. 4.6 Owner Cost Contracts for the Multipurpose Facility and Lion John Weicht Park Improvement Projects for Pro-Tec Design for keyless card door access City Council Minutes Page 2 March 2, 2020 ----------------------------- in the amount of $24,446.02 and Electronic Design Company for a full range audio system in the amount of $93,552.79 as outlined in the staff report. Motion carried 5-0. 5. Open Forum Dan Abrahamson, 17936 Tyler Dr. NW, stated he moved to Elk River six months ago specifically to use the Hillside Bike Trail and stated his son-in-law, who has been riding those trails for years, is now teaching him and his grandkids. He thanked the city and Minnesota Off-Road Cyclists (MORC) for their work on the six-mile trail. He requested the City Council be fiscally responsible when deciding the Hillside entrance, asking that they don’t shorten the trail, or move the entrance onto Tyler Drive as it will cause a further safety concerns with traffic through his neighborhood. There being no one else to speak, Mayor Dietz closed Open Forum. 6.1 Recognize Promotion of Detective Eric Balabon to Juvenile Detective Sergeant Captain Bob Kluntz presented the staff report and introduced Eric Balabon. Mayor Dietz administered the oath of office. 7.1. Conditional Use Permit: ISD 728 Parking Lot Improvements, Elk River High School Mr. Carlton presented the staff report. He indicated the Planning Commission, who met earlier that evening, recommended the Council approve with conditions outlined. Mayor Dietz opened the public hearing. There being no one to speak, Mayor Dietz closed the public hearing. Mayor Dietz asked for clarification on the number of additional parking stalls. Mr. Carlton clarified there are 51 additional stalls being added and 75 total parking stalls allocated for the multipurpose facility. Mayor Dietz stated he was pleased with the results of the meeting with Central Lutheran Church the week prior for these improvements. Councilmember Westgaard stated these improvements are a long time coming and he felt it was good to see the expansion of the parking lot that addresses safety and queuing issues as well as adding high school and incorporating multipurpose facility parking spaces. He stated he also felt comfortable if staff was comfortable. Councilmember Wagner asked for clarification on where the senior center parking spaces were located and where pedestrians will enter the multipurpose facility. City Council Minutes Page 3 March 2, 2020 ----------------------------- Mr. Carlton outlined the parking assignments and where pedestrian crossing will occur, noting pedestrians will use a crossing located directly in front of the entrance to the building. Councilmember Wagner asked about additional handicapped parking stalls. Mr. Carlton pointed out the handicapped parking stalls and noted they could use any marked stalls. Councilmember Wagner asked about the student athletes crossing School Street to use fields in Lions Park. Mr. Carlton outlined a proposed signalized cross walk at the new signal location along with a separate project where the city will add a push button control crossing on School Street, noting this will be similar to one on Twin Lakes Road that use flashing beacons identifying the pedestrian crossing. Councilmember Christianson asked how staff will address future issues of inadequate handicapped parking stalls. Councilmember Ovall commented that after hearing it explained earlier that evening at the Planning Commission meeting, he realized this layout is similar to drive lanes at Walmart or Target and is more consistent with today’s design work of walking through an area to enter a store front. He felt since more handicapped spots were added in closer proximity to the front entrance of the multipurpose facility, this design was better and especially with a fire lane added. Mr. Carlton stated if handicapped parking becomes an issue in the future, he felt staff could discuss a resolution with the school district to add additional parking spaces. Moved by Councilmember Westgaard and seconded by Councilmember Ovall to approve the Conditional Use Permit for ISD 728 allowing improvements and modifications to the Elk River High School and multipurpose center parking lot, with the following conditions: 1. Staff approval of updated plans addressing comments outlined in the staff comment letter dated January 15, 2020. 2. The CUP will not be recorded until impacted property owners agree to required easement or right-of-way transactions. Motion carried 5-0. 8.1 Naming Rights Committee Appointments Mr. Portner presented the staff report. Moved by Councilmember Ovall and seconded by Councilmember Christianson to appoint Mayor John J. Dietz and Councilmember Wagner to the Naming Rights Committee. Motion carried 5-0. City Council Minutes Page 4 March 2, 2020 ----------------------------- 8.2 LORE Update Ms. Erickson outlined the upcoming open house scheduled for March 25, which will provide an opportunity for residents to view the restoration plans, ask questions to staff and consultants from WSB, and provide feedback on the revised plan set. She indicated postcards will be mailed early next week to lakeshore property owners and a notice will be published in the legal section of the Elk River Star News. Ms. Erickson noted WSB will have very easy-to-read graphics for the open house participants to view, which will allow clear discussions with open house attendees. Ms. Erickson stated the DNR Commissioner said she is unable to give direct approval of the drawn down. Staff will send an opt-out notice to lakeshore property owners with information on contacting the city to notify if they don’t support the draw-down project. she stated the opt-out notice, mailed approximately a week after the open house, will provide clear direction on how to respond, whether by phone, email, or written letter, as well as a 30- day deadline for responding. The DNR and city attorney will review the language of the notice. After the 30-day deadline, staff will have a permit package ready to submit to the DNR for the drawdown. Councilmember Christianson asked about the possibility of not having enough funds to do the entire project and the effect it would have on proceeding with the project, along with the permitting process and bids, wondering if the city is held to a specific amount of sedimentation. Mr. Wisner stated they’ve had that discussion with WSB staff and noted the EAW specified 120,000 cubic yards of sedimentation. He said there has been interest in lakeshore stakeholders to consider increasing the amount should bid prices come back low as in the 1998 drawdown. He indicated processes have changed since 1998 and suggested writing the bid documents using different considerations, such as Option A as a base package and Option B would include more volume of sedimentation removed in specific areas. He stated they are taking a lot of comments and coming up with the best overall plan. He stated the hope would be because of the EAW did identify both the upper and lower lake dredging, they could use Options B too. Ms. Erickson clarified that staff would work with the DNR to amend the permit should the bids come back lower and therefore providing for a different amount of dredging. She stated she doesn’t see the requirement to seek additional funding to dredge a certain amount of material and felt by working closely with the DNR they could do less than they apply for should that scenario occur. Councilmember Christianson asked for a timeline if permits were submitted in May. Mr. Wisner stated there is the potential to submit the permit prior to May and before the open house but staff wants to answer stakeholder questions and take in their comments to ensure project transparency. He stated the permit will come with conditions and the opt- out/75% condition is one of them. He stated they’re fortunate to have had ongoing meetings with the DNR area hydrologist for the past 3-4 years and because of those active City Council Minutes Page 5 March 2, 2020 ----------------------------- conversations he is confident the DNR will be very familiar with the overall dredging project. Mayor Dietz asked what options would be submitted with the permit. Mr. Wisner stated he hasn’t submitted a dredging permit to the state previously, but the state’s permitting software should handle the permit request for the potential of two options. He stated the goal was to capture as much of a project as they can when submitting the permit to the DNR while working closely with WSB on carefully crafting the two options. Mayor Dietz asked if the Option B would be determined in time for the open house. Mr. Wisner stated surveying work for the lake has not been recently refined and they don’t want to do hand surveying during the project due to time constraints, therefore surveying work was being completed during this week via sonar and drone to determine exactly the amount of material to consider be removed. He stated the 429 assessment process would begin by WSB this week and the final TAP meeting would be in April following the open house. Mr. Wisner then discussed the feedback from the meeting with the OLID board last week and discussions surrounding dredging equally versus a deeper dredge in specific areas and how that meets the long-term maintenance objectives. 8.3 Resolution Supporting Infrastructure Accountability Mr. Carlton presented the staff report. Councilmember Christianson asked what the potential fee impact would be on new development home prices, stating the developer wouldn’t pay that but pass the cost onto the new home purchaser, and how this would impact deter growth. Mr. Carlton indicated the impact fee is unknown at this time and wasn’t provided in their fact sheet but fees are likely to be included in developer fees similar to other infrastructure fees like SAC and WAC and park dedication fees, which could ultimately increase the price of a home. He noted there would be a big range in what the fee would be and would be difficult to tabulate on a broad basis as it would vary for each city. Councilmember Christianson asked if the city’s resolution proves collection of these fees if legislation passes. Mr. Carlton stated his reading of this allows cities to create ordinances and allow cities to evaluate what is the most appropriate and legally defensible fee would be in their community. Moved by Councilmember Westgaard and seconded by Councilmember Wagner to approve Resolution 20-16 Supporting Infrastructure Accountability as presented in the staff report. City Council Minutes Page 6 March 2, 2020 ----------------------------- Motion carried 5-0. 8.4 Discuss Work Session Items Mr. Portner presented the staff report. Councilmember Wagner requested a follow-up discussion on 5K runs and events/activities and routes and what routes and procedures the city wants to use. 9. Council Liaison Updates Council provided updates of various advisory board activities as noted in the respective boards’ minutes. Council recessed at 7:20 p.m. to go into work session. The meeting reconvened at 7:35 p.m. 10.1 Activity Center Property Mr. Portner presented the staff report. He distributed a handout outlining the survey results. After discussion, City Council consensus was to put the Activity Center property on the market as is. The council provided staff direction to market the property. th 10.2 Concept Review: Climate Controlled Storage, 11074 179 Avenue Mr. Carlton presented the staff report. The applicant, Keith Burnham, explained his request using submitted photos to show how the current Sportech/MaxSun building would be modified to accommodate a climate-controlled storage facility for approximately 500 occupiable units. Mr. Burnham said he would proceed with purchase after hearing council feedback but was concerned with the council not approving the project in the long run. It was the consensus of the City Council to support the proposal as presented if rezoned as a PUD to allow the use as a climate-controlled storage building. 10.3 Lion John Weicht Park Dedications Mr. Portner presented the staff report. The council discussed the facility naming process and it was the consensus of the council to continue following that process but noting it would be fine to move a dugout plaque and three seats to the new fields. The council also agreed to wait until park construction is complete before finalizing any dedications. The council felt it would be appropriate to engage in discussions with the Lion’s Club for possible plaque placement at the new fields which would describe the club’s history and its namesake, Lion John Weicht. The council also agreed to discuss the presence of the high school program and how that’s presented in the new space and would need to have future discussions with school officials to work through those details. 10.4 Set Annual Council/Staff Retreat Dates/Topics City Council Minutes Page 7 March 2, 2020 ----------------------------- Mr. Portner presented the staff report. The council discussed a possible topic of a deep dive into customer service versus compliance shaping perception. After further discussion, the council agreed to a tentative date for the annual council/staff retreat on Thursday, April 23, from noon to 6:00 p.m. in the EOC. 11. Adjournment There being no further business, Mayor Dietz adjourned the meeting of the Elk River City Council at 8:20 p.m. Minutes prepared by Jennifer Green. ___________________ John J. Dietz, Mayor ___________________ Tina Allard, City Clerk