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4.4 SR 11-15-2021Request for Action To Item Number Mayor and Ci T Council 4.4 Agenda Section Meeting Date Prepared by Consent November 15, 2021 Tina Allard, City Clerk Item Description Reviewed by Ordinance Amendment: Parking in Municipal Cal Portner, City Administrator Parking Lots Reviewed by Action Requested Adopt, by motion, an ordinance amending Chapter 74-99, parking in municipal parking lots. Background/Discussion The city used to issue parking permits at $20 each annually to allow downtown business employees to park in designated areas of the downtown parking lots. This stopped in 2016 per Council direction. There have been no comments or issues to date regarding the change from 2016. There is language in the current city code outlining staff is still required to issue these permits. To clean up the antiquated language, staff recommends removal from city code. If Council feels there are issues or concerns, it is recommended to remove this item from the consent agenda for further discussion. Financial Impact N/A Mission/Policy/Goal N/A Attachments ■ Draft Ordinance Amendment ■ November 21, 2016, Staff Report ■ November 21, 2016, Minutes ■ River's Edge Minutes ■ River's Edge Minutes The Elk River Vision A welcoming community with revolutionary and spirited resourcefulness, exceptional service, and community engagement that encourages and inspires pi ospei ly. M TUREJ Updated.• August 2020 Stfikethfoughs to be removed Underlines to be added City of Ordinance 21 Elk�V=s�4-- iverr An Ordinance Amending Chapter, 74-99, Parking in Municipal Parking Lots of the City of Elk River, Minnesota, City Code The City Council of the City of Elk River does hereby ordain as follows: SECTION 1. That § 74-99, Parking in municipal parking lots, of the City of Elk River Code of Ordinances shall be amended as follows: (a) The municipal parking lots along the Burlington Northern Railroad are designated for either commuter or public parking. Where posted, time Emits are enforced. (b) The posted employee parking afea within the King A-vefrde parking lot requires etnployee schedule,vehicies to display parking pefffiits as issued by the police chief or his designee. Etnpioyee pafking pem4ts are issued f6f an antydal fee as listed in the cit-y fee and allo employees to park in the designated e"loyee parking area on a first coffie, first served b between 8:00 a.ffi. and 6:00 Monday through Friday. The residents of the "Special ., Distr4ct" ffiay also purchase a total of ftine business pertnits. 4-he Special Distr4ct includes residences in the Br4ek Block, the Cineffia Block, and the Houlton Block. (c) After 6:00 p.m. and until 8:00 a.m. Monday through Friday, and all day on weekends, the King Avenue parking lot is open to any and all parking. (With the exception of 74-102, "Snow Removal") (d) The north section of the King Avenue lot shall have twenty-six (26) posted spots designated "Designated Snow Removal Parking Only, Nov. 15-April 15, 6:00 p.m.-8:00 a.m." "'ire spots wiU also be posted "Employee pafking opAy pe--it,equ—ed� A! F 8:00 a.m. 6:00 p.m." (e) Violations of this section are punishable as provided in section 74-91. SECTION 2. That this ordinance shall take effect upon adoption and be published as provided by law. Passed and adopted by the City Council of the City of Elk River this 15th day of November, 2021. John J. Dietz, Mayor ATTEST: Tina Allard, City Clerk Last Updated January 2019 p 0 W I R 1 9 RY NATURE] Request for Action To _.u....ItemNumber . Mayor and City Council 9.1 Agenda Section Meeting Date Prepared by Work Session November 21, 2016 Amanda Othoudt, Director, ED Item Description Reviewed by Downtown Parking, Regulations, Permitting and Cal Portrier, City Administrator Decorative Lighting Reviewed by Action Requested Discuss downtown parking regulations, permitting, and decorative lighting. Background/Discussion Downtown Parking Regulations and Permitting At their September 14 meeting, the Downtown River's Edge group discussed concerns with parking downtown. Several businesses have complained about the lack of parking availability for their customers along Main Street and Jackson Avenue. The group indicated that out of convenience, employees and some business owners are parking along Main and Jackson instead of parking in the designated employee parking area of the King Avenue lot. Business owners and their employees are required to purchase parking permits in order to park in the designated employee area of the King Avenue lot. A total of 86 employee parking spaces are designated on the downtown parking map (attached), 23 of the 86 are reserved for First National Bank employees through a parking easement agreement with the city. It was suggested at the meeting to eliminate parking permits in the King Avenue lot, and instead allow the downtown business owners to designate a specific area for their employees to park. Downtown Decorative Lights At their April 6, 2015, meeting, the HRA approved up to $4000 in costs for the installation of commercial quality lighting of the downtown trees. Staff received two proposals which were submitted by Rainbow Holiday Design Company and Emerald Companies. The HRA authorized staff to negotiate an agreement with one of the two companies to install decorative lighting based on lowest cost and quality. The contract was awarded to Rainbow Holiday Design Company in the amount of $4,400. Staff presented the proposal to the Downtown River's Edge group at their May 13, 2015, meeting. The Downtown River's Edge group approved to contribute the $400 difference plus maintenance for a year. At their November 9 meeting, the Downtown River's Edge group discussed concerns with the downtown decorative lights. Several of the lights are not working and haven't been properly maintained. The LED light warranty with Rainbow Holiday Design was up on July 15, 2016, a year from the initial installation of the lights. Staff is looking for direction from Council on the level of involvement on these issues. Financial Impact Eliminating parking permits in the King Avenue lot for 2017 will result in the loss of approximately $1,500 in revenue. Attachments HRA Staff Report (April, 6 2015) HRA Minutes (April 6, 2015) Rivers Edge Meeting Minutes (April8, 2016) Rivers Edge Meeting Minutes (May 13, 2016) Rainbow Lawn Care Signed Proposal (May 15, 2015) Rivers Edge Meeting Minutes (September 14, 2016) Rivers Edge Meeting Minutes (October 12, 2016) Downtown Parking Map (February 10, 2015) City Council Minutes November 21, 2016 8.3 8.4 Page 8 Mr. Carlton indicated the developer was approved for three model home permits with the first development agree'""Ient and five with this levelopment agreement. He explained model homes are normally used as a tool toell homes but he feels like approving more model home pern-Ai s will move awl' from the intention of model homes and instead be used as a tool "ip allow earliAuildine. Moved by Councilmember Westg., Olsen to amend the proposed Dev home permits. Motion carried 5-0. Summary of City Administrator Evaluation Mayor Dietz read a statement Summary of Parks Mai Evaluation Mayor Dietz read a and'econded by Councilmember mt Agreement to allow eight model Mr. ante Worker Performance s performance evaluation. Borst's Performance summarizing Ms. Borsl�s performance evaluation. Recessed 7:41p.m. to go intoXkork session. Reconvened at 7:49+;p.m. 9.1 Downtown Parking, Regulations, Permitting and Decorative Lighting Mr. Portner presented the staff report. Downtown Parking Regulations and Permitting Mayor Dietz stated he agrees with removing the parking signs, getting rid of fees, and not enforcing. He added it bothers him that employees and some business owners park in the spots that should be for customers but the city has no control over this. He added the city made a good faith effort to enforce parking but employees got wise and figured out ways to avoid the requirements. Fred McCoy, McCoy's Pub — stated the idea isn't to get rid of parking permits but to stop charging for the permits. Councilmember. Olsen noted there are costs associated with staff issuance of permits. He agreed there should be a designated employee parking area. Mayor Dietz indicated the cost to issue permits is minimal. He questioned if the permits can be changed to not expire. Chief Nierenhausen stated this would still need to be monitored. Chief explained he is trying to understand why permits would be required when there is no fee and the area is not monitored.. He noted all downtown businesses would need to be in agreement to make this work and he is not hearing that agreement. City Council Minutes November 21, 2016 UM Councibnember Wagner indicated she is on the Downtown River's Edge group as a business owner and she has put a lot of thought into this issue. She suggested having the Downtown River's Edge group come up with a permitting process instead of the city taking care of the permitting and enforcement. She feels in order for this to work it would have to be a partnership between the Chamber of Commerce, the RDA, and the Downtown River's Edge group to show the effects on business if no parking is available. She believes if many of the businesses were aware of the economic impact of leaving the front parking spaces for customers they may be deterred from parking there or allowing their employees to park there. Mr. McCoy concurred with Councilmember Wagner. Mr. McCoy requested the city leave the employee parking signs up and the Downtown River's Edge group will infonn all businesses of the change in the parking rules. Tim Dolan, downtown business owner — agrees with Councilmember Wagner's idea of the Downtown River's Edge group taking over permitting and enforcement. He added parking is a bigger issue when the city holds large events downtown, such as the Farmer's Market and the concerts. The Council concurred with the Downtown River's Edge group taking over the permitting and enforcement and for staff removing the 2-3 hour parking signs. Downtown Decorative Lights Councilmember Wagner indicated there is no clear understanding on who maintains the decorative lights. Ms. Othoudt indicated the Downtown River's Edge group paid $400 towards the lights and agreed to maintain them for a year, which has expired. Councilmember Wagner stated she gets .feedback from people saying they like the lights. She called Rainbow Holiday Design and received a new quote. She explained the quote was approximately $3,000 for 123 light strands (100 for the trees and 23 for the light poles) with maintenance billed at $75/hour as needed. Councilmember Olsen questioned if lights could be eliminated from the trees. Councilmember Wagner indicated she would rather see the light poles wrapped than the trees. Mr. Dolan concurred adding lights on the trees seem to cause issues. Consensus of the Council was to eliminate the lights on the trees. Mr. McCoy stated he seems to recall money set aside for downtown beautification. City Council 'Minutes Page 10 November 21, 2016 Ms. Othoudt indicated there is money budgeted to implement a downtown beautification plan. Mr. Portner added the money is for a. one-time purchase and he would prefer for ongoing costs such as lights to come from the General Fund if the Council decides to fund. Mayor Dietz questioned if the Council funds a set amount for the lights and maintenance if the Downtown River's Edge group would be willing to cover the remaining amount. Councilmember Wagner stated she believes the group would be willing to make a financial contribution. Council consensus was for Mr. Portner to bring back a recommendation to Council to include an amount for lights in the annual budget and work with the Downtown River's Edge group to maintain the lights. Staff time Mr. Portner stated a large amount of staff time is spent attending and contributing to the Downtown River's Edge group meetings. He explained the city does not provide that level of staff participation for any other group or organization and questioned what level of support the Council is comfortable providing. He suggested one staff member be designated to receive and direct inquiries from the Downtown River's Edge group. Mayor Dietz indicated Ms. Othoudt seems like the natural person to attend the meetings and she can disseminate the information accordingly. He noted he doesn't feel that more than one staff person needs to attend the meetings. Counciltnember Wagner explained Ms. Othoudt is definitely an asset to the group but Mr. Benoit is an asset as well since the Downtown River's Edge group has many partnerships with the parks and recreation Department. She suggested having Mr. Benoit and Ms. Othoudt alternate attending meetings. Mr. Portner stated those two employees will alternate attending based on the agenda and disseminate information as necessary. 9.2 2017 Budget Ms. Ziemer presented the staff report providing updates on the General Fund budget and proposed tax levy. 9.3 Pinewood Proposals Discussion Mr. Portner presented the staff report. He stated two proposals were received and reviewed both proposals as outlined in the staff report. City Council Minims November 21. 2016 Page 11 Councilmember Westgaard stated he is leaning towards the Elk River Golf Club proposal because he is familiar with their staff and track record and the proposal allows the city .more control. He added he has some concerns regarding the proposal, which could be worked out prior to approval. He noted nothing in the proposal says it has to be a long term contract and both parties have the option to evaluate after two years. He expressed interest in making a decision soon so Pinewood can be operational by spring. Mayor Dietz questioned how equipment maintenance would be handled. Chris Singer, Elk River Golf Club manager, stated there would be a maintenance schedule and repairs would depend on the agreement and the course superintendent. He added the golf course superintendent would take very good care of the city's equipment. The potential of sharing equipment was discussed. Councilmember Burandt stated she is also leaning towards the Golf Club proposal because she isn't in favor of selling the property and has too many questions about the second proposal. Councilmember Wagner indicated she believes the power of the Elk River Golf Club's brand could help get Pinewood operational successful ul the future. Elk River Golf Club representatives explained hour Pinewood reopening is a positive for the Elk River Golf Club because it acts as a gateway to the Elk River Golf Course as golfers gain experience. Mayor Dietz indicated he is much more comfortable with the Elk River Golf Club proposal now that some issues have been explained. He understands the city will have to provide some funding but his goal is to minimize city's losses. He concurred the reputation of the Elk River Golf Club could go a long way in helping Pinewood be profitable. He stated he would like to see an agreement in place for potential issues with the equipment, adding he is in no way questioning the integrity of the Golf Club staff. Mayor Dietz indicated there is a golf course in Grantsburg, Wisconsin run by volunteers and questioned if Mr. Singer would be agreeable to using volunteers. Mr. Singer stated he is not opposed to the idea but would want to discuss further. Mayor Dietz indicated volunteers could be run through the city's volunteer coordinator. Mayor Dietz questioned who would set the green fees. Rivers Edge Meeting Agenda Wednesday September 14, 2016 2:30 PM Granite Shores Communitv Room Treasurer's Report: $7238.39 Secretary's Report: The August minutes were accepted as written. Old Business City Update: Amanda: EDA is receiving many inquiries and requests for information for projects being developed to begin activity in the spring — industrial and commercial developments. Blue Egg closed — no update on individual who was interested in the building, possibly some interest from another bakery. At our last meeting we requested a budget for downtown improvements and an update on streets, parks downtown. No street improvements is planned. $12,000 allocated for downtown "Mississippi redevelopment framework plan" — may be some -room in that budget to share costs with downtown businesses for putting benches or bike racks downtown. Downtown Businesses would need a more narrowed project list which could go presented to HRA to be included in next years budget. Downtown Parking: It has been the impression that many of the parking spots on Main Street and Jackson Ave that should be left open for customers are being used by employees and owners of businesses. Some of the businesses downtown are paying for parking permits to park in the employee section of the King Ave lot. Amanda suggested that parking in the right spots be enforced by individual business owners not the city. Unfortunately some of the people who park in customer parking are business owners and residents. In order to ascertain whether the parking permit requirement to use the lot is causing employees to park their cars on the street, it has been suggested that we don't require businesses to have parking permits to park in the employee section of the lot. We would still expect businesses to keep their employees from parking in the customer parking areas. We could then encourage all businesses to park in the lot without having the impediment of having to have a permit. Motion to eliminate parking permits in the King Ave lot for 2017 to assess the impact. Fred Moved, Wendy Seconded motion passed. Wendy will send a formal request to the city council. Another problem with parking in the lot is that Residents over Old Main and Pompeii aren't parking in the Overnight Resident parking along highway 10 for residents. This causes a major problem for the snow plows. Fred will talk to people renting residential to let them know where residents should move.their cars to on snow days, and possibly get them connected with the city so they could receive an automated call reminding them to move their cars. The City would also like downtown businesses to try to get sidewalks shoveled early in day (by 3am... ) so that the snow doesn't end up in gutter line after the plows have gone through and form icy banks. Fred suggested that the city run a small side walk shoveler so they are cleared before they plowed. We would need to request the council to do that? Is there someone else who can provide shoveling services at that time — possibly Plaistads. Zach is meeting with landscape designer about Hwy 10 side of King Ave lot- meeting with landscape designer for tall grass — 5 ft tall. No indication about whether there are plans to improve sidewalks on the northwest side of King ave lot. ERMU Will look at replacing Light poles in 2018 downtown. Not guaranteed to happen. We discussed adding more ii°k-racks downtown. There is already one by the Sunshine Depot and one by Avalon. Would it be of beri'of3t. to add one by, the river? Amanda quoted a price of approx 564. Would like colorful arty bike race ,.-,,W, ou14,11ke to see ones that are currently in place updated. The consensus was that we needed to adc: 2 m6 e,matching flower pots. Put one by Magnnussen LLC 350-550 per pot. (we will get bidsifi the spring"`i` r both summer and winter plantings) Decorative Lights on street lights: Amanda and Jennifer eting with contractor on Tuesday. Parking Permits, where to park, signage: Subcommittee created to discuss parking changes met prior to the regular meeting to discuss ways of communicating to all downtown businesses: the benefit of leaving downtown street parking for customers; Better Signage for Public Parking; Maps with designated employee parking and customer parking; Designate employee parking (no permits required); Designate Customer Parking; Time limits on parking spots (2 to 3 hrs uniform), City is already working on Wayfinding Project. Included in this is better signage directing people to the downtown area, better signage for public parking and the removal of all street 2 to 3 hour parking signs. Elk River no longer has a parking ban on over night parking on streets (code red phone calls for snow emergency when no street parking allowed). There was confusion between the Wayfinding Plan that the City of Elk River had been working on to provide better signage directing people to downtown and the inclusion of removing all parking control signs in downtown (i.e. there will no longer be "no overnight parking signs", "3 hour parking only", "2 hour parking only.") We had been focused on removing monetary requirements for downtown employee parking permits in the King Ave lot and didn't realize that part of the discussion that the city was having was to remove all signage. The fact that all of the parking signs were coming off the streets in downtown was never made an agenda item or clearly communicated in our Rivers Edge meeting discussions. Wendy requested a poll of the members at the meeting as to whether they were in favor of having the signs removed. 6 of the 7 Rivers Edge members at the meeting voted to keep the 3 hours parking signs - Jennifer abstained from voting. Wendy was directed to contact RaeAnn Gardner, Communication Director at City of Elk River 635- 1000 to let her know that we are not in favor of the controlled parking limits being removed from downtown. Jennifer said she would talk to Cal Portner about our concerns. The meeting was adjourned at 3:45PM