Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAbout09 14 2015 Draft City Council Minutes PR °4? 1714646 Dakota Street SE Prior Lake, MN 55372 4*NNESO 1' REGULAR CITY COUNCIL MEETING MINUTES September 14, 2015 CALL TO ORDER The meeting was called to order at 7:00 p.m. Present were Mayor Hedberg, Councilors Keeney and McGuire, City Manager Boyles, City Attorney Johnson, City Engineer/ Inspections Director Poppler, Public Works / Natural Resources Director Gehler, Community and Economic Development Director Rogness, Community Development Specialist McCabe, Finance Director Uram, Accounting Manager Erickson, Police Chief Elliott, and Administrative Assistant Green. Councilors Morton and Thompson were absent. PUBLIC FORUM City Manager Boyles reviewed the process for the public forum and explained that items sched- uled for public hearing are not eligible for discussion on the public forum. He did clarify that the budget and levy are appropriate items for forum discussion until the public notice of the budget hearing is published. Comments: Mark Coffman, 15901 Sunfish Trail SE, stated he has been charged on 82 code violations and 13 citations. Stated the City Code Enforcement Officer's method for taking pictures of his prop- erty for case files is approaching harassment. Stated he was in court on some of these counts and that the Code Enforcement Officer was told by the judge to leave him alone. Stated he has served time in jail and some of it is due to the Code Enforcement Officer's activity. Commented on persons serving on advisory committees in his neighborhood and perceived conflicts of interest for them. Mayor Hedberg advised Mr. Coffman that his 10 minute allotted comment time is up. Candy Freeman, 3269 Sycamore Trail, commented on the preliminary Budget levy stating she has lived here for 28 years. Cited why she likes living here. Commented on value increases of her home vs. levy increases. Feels levy is not keeping up with needed infrastructure and, there- fore, favors a tax levy increase. Urged Council to reach out to citizens to hear their opinions and inform them of what the levy options would mean to them. Mary Haugen, 4824 Adrian Circle, affirmed comments of Freeman and provided an observation about the quality of life in the City. Commented on the vibrancy of Lakefront Park and the number of people of all ages who use it. Believes that an adequate levy is needed to keep the resources maintained and improved upon. Willing to pay more in order to do that. Wes Mader, 3470 Sycamore Trail, stated that representatives of the Citizens for Accountable Government organization planned to attend the meeting and make comment about the prelimi- nary levy but were advised that public comment could not be taken regarding that topic so they did not attend. Commented about an editorial in the Prior Lake American and offered rebuttal to statements made in the article by the mayor. Mayor Hedberg responded that Mr. Duinnick clearly indicated the City is obligated to provide for growth and the City of Lake Elmo scenario was a good example of repercussions when not com- plying with metro planning. Kim Kern, 16209 Evanston Avenue SE, stated she would pay more in taxes for the City to be the best City it can. Knows the infrastructure must be maintained and that it should be paid for as the expense is incurred rather than postponing payment for future generations. 1 Lloyd Erbaugh, 17291 Marshfield Lane, spoke of the things he loves about the City and the kinds of businesses that are here. Believes local politics are a bit stand-offish. City Council mem- bers take an oath to represent all residents and adopt policies that are in the best interest of the community. The Council should seek input from all residents. Referred to the 2040 vision and strategic plan meetings and how that document is a road map to the future. Suggested a prelimi- nary levy be approved at a 16% rate and the remainder of the year used to solicit input from resi- dents. Invited citizens to be involved by applying to serve on an advisory committee. Hedberg: Asked staff to learn where Mader may have heard that comments would not be taken about the preliminary levy. Freeman: Stated the Prior Lake American said there would be no public hearing tonight. Hedberg: Replied that public comment as part of the forum is possible until the date of the public hearing notice is published. Keeney: Generally, in addition to comments that can be made at the public forum people can lobby individual Councilors with their input. He has observed underwhelming input on most topics and would welcome input. McGuire: Commented that Mader may be confused with what happened in Lake Elmo. That city spent millions of dollars resisting growth and eventually did what the Metropolitan Council needed. The letter the Councilors received from Duinnick could be provided and explained to Mader. APPROVAL OF AGENDA MOTION BY MCGUIRE, SECOND BY KEENEY TO APPROVE THE AGENDA AS PRESENTED. VOTE Hedberg Keeney McGuire Morton Thompson Aye ❑x ❑ ❑ Nay ❑ ❑ ❑ ❑ ❑ Abstain ❑ ❑ ❑ ❑ ❑ Absent ❑ ❑ ❑ ❑D Ox The motion carried. APPROVAL OF CITY COUNCIL MEETING MINUTES MOTION BY KEENEY, SECOND BY MCGUIRE TO APPROVE THE MINUTES OF THE AU- GUST 24, 2015 MEETING AS PRESENTED. VOTE Hedberg Keeney McGuire Morton Thompson Aye ❑x ❑x ❑x ❑ ❑ Nay ❑ ❑ ❑ ❑ ❑ Abstain ❑ El ❑ ❑ ❑ Absent ❑ ❑ ❑ The motion carried. CONSENT AGENDA City Manager Boyles reviewed the items on the consent agenda. A. Consider Approval of Claims Listing B. Consider Approval of Resolution 15-145 Approving the City's Standardized Construction Contract for Well #7 C. Consider Approval of Resolution 15-146 Accepting Proposals and Authorizing the Mayor and City Manager to enter into the City's standardized Professional Services Contract for surveying for 2016 Improvement Projects DRAFT 09 14 15 City Council Meeting Minutes 2 D. Consider Approval of Resolution 15-147 Authorizing the Mayor and City Manager to Exe- cute an Amendment to the AT&T Water Tower Antenna Agreement at Cedarwood Tower E. Consider Approval of the 2015 2nd Quarter Financial Report F. Consider Approval of Resolution 15-148 Accepting the Welcome Avenue Improvements and Authorizing Final Payment to Chard Tiling for the Welcome Avenue Industrial Park Im- provement Project G. Consider Approval of Resolution 15-149 Approving the Carriage Hills 5th Addition Final Plat and Development Contract H. Consider Approval of Resolution 15-150 Declaring Costs to be Assessed, Ordering Prep- aration of an Assessment Roll for 2015 Unpaid Special Charges, and Establishing the Date of the Assessment Hearing for the 2015 Unpaid Special Charges I. Consider Approval of a Resolution Declaring costs to be A.sessed, Ordering Preparation of an Assessment Roll and Establishing the Date of the Acccssment Hearing for the Mush town Road/Maple Lane/Panama Avenue Reconstruction Project ( City Project#14 011) J. Consider Approval of A Resolution Declaring Costs to be Assessed, Ordering Preparation of an Assessment Roll and Establishing the Date of the Assessment Hearing for the Credit River Road Reconstruction Project (City Project#TRN15 000006) K. Consider Approval of a Resolution Declaring Costs to be Assessed and Ordering Prepara tion of an Assessment Roll and Establishing the Date of the Re assessment Hearing for the Sunset Avenue Reconstruction Project (City Project#13 011) L. Consider Approval of Resolution 15-151 Declaring Costs to be Assessed and Ordering Preparation of an Assessment Roll and Establishing the Date of the Assessment Hearing for the Grainwood, Eau Claire, Highland, Marsh, and Skyline, Collectively the 2015 Street Improvement Project (City Project#TRN15-000004) Keeney: Requested that items I, J and K be removed from the consent agenda for discussion. MOTION BY KEENEY, SECOND BY MCGUIRE TO APPROVE THE CONSENT AGENDA WITH ITEMS 51, 5J AND 5K REMOVED. Keeney: Regarding item 5H, asked if property owners with delinquent utility charges could come to the public hearing to say whether they concur with the charges. Noted that the proposed pub- lic hearing is scheduled for October 12. VOTE Hedberg Keeney McGuire Morton Thompson Aye Ox ❑x ❑ ❑ Nay ❑ ❑ ❑ ❑ ❑ Abstain ❑ ❑ ❑ ❑ ❑ Absent ❑ ❑ ❑ ❑x []x The motion carried. PRESENTATIONS No presentation was scheduled. PUBLIC HEARINGS No public hearing was scheduled. OLD BUSINESS No old business was scheduled. NEW BUSINESS DRAFT 09 14 15 City Council Meeting Minutes 3 9A Consider Approval of a Resolution Setting Preliminary Budget and Tax Levy Mayor Hedberg proposed the Council receive a brief report regarding the levy and then table this item until the September 28 meeting since only three Councilmembers are in attendance. Noted that the City has until September 30 to declare the preliminary levy and public input can continue to be received. City Manager Boyles provided a background of the budget setting process as provided by State law. Reiterated that numbers approved at the preliminary budget are provided to the public and the public can make comment prior to approval of the final budget. Finance Di- rector Uram commented that work sessions have been conducted to discuss the items in the budget and emphasized that this is a preliminary budget and the levy can go down. Announced future dates of budget meetings. Discussed key pieces of the proposed budget and levy. Keeney: Commented on the need to sustain infrastructure for the long term and wanting to quan- tify what that takes. Expressed his caution about building something new or hiring more positions that the City cannot afford to sustain. He would like to know the amount needed to run the City every year including referendums for new buildings or equipment. Recognizes that is a "tall order" but it would be helpful to learn what areas for which we still don't know the operating costs. McGuire: That will be tough. The five-year CIP is even difficult as it gets "hazy" even four and five years into it. Asked what the "catch up" amount would be and whether the City could be caught up if a large levy increase is passed this year. Acknowledged that the City lagged behind the last few years, but does not want to be in the position of having large increases every year. Keeney: Stated that the City concentrates on the levy, but spending has not flattened out. Other revenue sources play into the spending side and we have invested significantly in capital over the past few years. Cited spending figures over the past year that reflects spending money taking care of the City, but using existing funds. Part of what we are passing is the preliminary budget which is the spending side of the equation. Hedberg: Would like to see General Fund Operating broken into two lines: true operating ex- penses and capital projects spending. Believes the majority of expenses have come in capital spending and it would be helpful to have it separated to be able to start tracking it. MOTION BY MCGUIRE, SECOND BY KEENEY TO TABLE THIS ITEM TO THE SEPTEMBER 28 CITY COUNCIL MEETING. Hedberg: Stated his desire to keep the forum open to comments about the budget as long as possible. Tabling this item allows the Council to receive comments at the September 28 meeting. Keeney: Added that it is customary for larger-impact items to be considered by the full Council so tabling for the full Council is not out of the ordinary. Noted that the public forum is closed off to some topics to preserve public hearings and provide equal opportunity for input from opposing opinions. But this delay will incur no harm by providing extended public input. VOTE Hedberg Keeney McGuire Morton Thompson Aye ❑x ❑x ❑ ❑ Nay ❑ ❑ ❑ ❑ ❑ Abstain ❑ ❑ ❑ ❑ ❑ Absent ❑ ❑ ❑ ❑x ❑x The motion carried. 9B Consider Approval of an Ordinance Amending Subsections 1102.403, 1102.503 and 1104.307 of the Prior Lake Zoning Ordinance Related to Controlled Access Lots on General Development Lakes (Upper Prior Lake, Lower Prior Lake and Spring Lake) DRAFT 09 14 15 City Council Meeting Minutes 4 McGuire: Queried whether this item should also be tabled as it is a very important item and be- lieves the full presentation should be made when the full Council is in attendance. Boyles: Asked when the moratorium expired. Casey: Replied that it expired on August 14. Hedberg: Inclined to defer action until September 28. Keeney: Concurred. Hedberg: Stated the item is not contentious, but the City has been through a two-and-a-half year process to develop a proposed ordinance and for that reason it should be address by the full Council. Community Development Specialist McCabe provided a brief report stating the primary issues identified are the need for more public notice and public comment during approval processes for conditional use permits. Reviewed the proposed ordinance amendments. Hedberg: Understands that the Department of Natural Resources (DNR) reviewed and approved one dock per 12.5 feet. McCabe: Affirmed. Keeney: Asked if the City will have obligations to the existing ordinance if applications are re- ceived before this amendment is enacted. Rogness: Replied we can clearly demonstrate in written form that the DNR approved 12.5 feet. They seemed to have questions internally so they either did not recognize what they approved, or perhaps something has changed on their shoreline requirements. Johnson: Added this was approved and copied to the person requesting it in the past year and the rules haven't changed in the last year on this point. The DNR comments on substantial points so there are many strong indications that 12.5 feet is just a minimum. The DNR would still need to approve a conditional use permit. Keeney: Does not want to delay too long and requested it be brought to the September 28 meet- ing. MOTION BY KEENEY, SECOND BY MCGUIRE TO TABLE TO MEETING ON SEPTEMBER 28. VOTE Hedberg Keeney McGuire Morton Thompson Aye ❑ ❑ Nay ❑ ❑ ❑ ❑ ❑ Abstain ❑ ❑ ❑ ❑ ❑ Absent ❑ ❑ ❑ ❑x ❑x The motion carried. 9C Consider Approval of a Report on Emerald Ash Borer (EAB) Public Works / Natural Resources Director Gehler reviewed the agenda report on this topic dated September 14, 2015. Spoke of how EAB spreads and method and meaning of quarantine. Estimated that the City has 8,000 public ash trees. Proposed a work session for the Council on this topic. Hedberg: Asked if the inventory was done primarily in the right-of-way. Gehler: Replied that it was taken in the right-of-way and the City trails. Hedberg: Responded that with 1,000 acres of parks, there are probably many more ash trees than represented. Keeney: Asked if we have an exposure dollar number. Gehler: That is what the impact analysis will try to determine. Also inventoried size and health of the trees which will factor into the impact statement. DRAFT 09 14 15 City Council Meeting Minutes 5 McGuire: Asked about the magnitude of this infestation compared to the Dutch Elm disease. Gehler: Stated that will be researched so the information can be available during a work session. Hedberg: Clarified that the estimate is 8,000 ash trees in the City. Gehler: Replied that is a preliminary estimate and does not include private land. Keeney: Offered that it may be as much as $20,000,000 to remove all of them. Hedberg: Agreed this should come before the Council at a work session. Keeney: Speculated that the action would be for tree removal. Gehler: Replied that part of the impact analysis will be looking at three different options for re- sponse, the costs associated with them and a timeline for implementation. Hedberg: Reiterated that staff is working with SCALE's Service Delivery Committee and indicat- ing that this will be brought to a work session as early as October 26. ITEMS REMOVED FROM THE CONSENT AGENDA 51 Consider Approval of Resolution 15-152 Declaring costs to be Assessed, Ordering Prep- aration of an Assessment Roll and Establishing the Date of the Assessment Hearing for the Mushtown Road/Maple Lane/Panama Avenue Reconstruction Project (City Project#14- 011) 5J Consider Approval of Resolution 15-153 Declaring Costs to be Assessed, Ordering Preparation of an Assessment Roll and Establishing the Date of the Assessment Hearing for the Credit River Road Reconstruction Project (City Project#TRN15-000006) 5K Consider Approval of Resolution 15-154 Declaring Costs to be Assessed and Ordering Preparation of an Assessment Roll and Establishing the Date of the Re-assessment Hear- ing for the Sunset Avenue Reconstruction Project (City Project#13-011) Keeney: Stated that these three items are to set assessment roles and dates of public hearings. Noted that part of setting the assessment role is to publish it to the property owners. Believes all of these projects have a case to be made to push more of the cost to the trunk funds and oversize funds rather than the general levy. Asked if a decision can still be made to move funds even if these numbers are published. Johnson: Replied that the number can be reduced, but not increased. Keeney: Supports preparing for the hearing and stated he will promote having more of the funds come from the trunk fund and oversize fund. McGuire: Noted that it could be sent back to the Assessment Review Committee, but it has met several times on each of these projects so he believes there would be resistance from himself and Councilor Morton to do that. Project costs have been reduced considerably. We can keep pulling money from elsewhere, but at some time people have to pay their fair share. Appraisals show this amount is fair. Believes the trunk fund has been stretched already by treating the Panama area as a one-sided project. Keeney: Would like to argue that the acreage that may be served by this infrastructure is more about serving the trunk than the homes along Panama. Would like to make those arguments in front of the full Council. Hedberg: Believes it is appropriate and necessary to have the deliberation in response to the hearing and make a final determination at that time. Johnson: Noted that this is an assessment bond so the City will not want to reduce below 20 percent. Poppler: Added that all of these are 429 projects so cannot be under 20 percent. McGuire: Commented about the percentage level of the varying projects. Boyles: Noted this proposal is to set the hearings for October 12. DRAFT 09 14 15 City Council Meeting Minutes 6 Poppler: Affirmed that the proposal is to set hearing dates, set the high end amount of the as- sessments, hold the hearings but not adopt at that time so people have time to submit waiver re- quests. Adoption is proposed for the second meeting of October and certification to the County by November 30. MOTION BY MCGUIRE, SECOND BY KEENEY TO APPROVE: 1. RESOLUTION 15-152 DECLARING COSTS TO BE ASSESSED, ORDERING PREPARA- TION OF AN ASSESSMENT ROLL AND ESTABLISHING THE DATE OF THE ASSESS- MENT HEARING FOR THE MUSHTOWN ROAD/MAPLE LANE/PANAMA AVENUE RE- CONSTRUCTION PROJECT ( CITY PROJECT#14-011); 2. RESOLUTION 15-153 DECLARING COSTS TO BE ASSESSED, ORDERING PREPARA- TION OF AN ASSESSMENT ROLL AND ESTABLISHING THE DATE OF THE ASSESS- MENT HEARING FOR THE CREDIT RIVER ROAD RECONSTRUCTION PROJECT (CITY PROJECT#TRN15-000006); AND 3. RESOLUTION 15-154 DECLARING COSTS TO BE ASSESSED AND ORDERING PREPARATION OF AN ASSESSMENT ROLL AND ESTABLISHING THE DATE OF THE RE-ASSESSMENT HEARING FOR THE SUNSET AVENUE RECONSTRUCTION PRO- JECT (CITY PROJECT#13-011). VOTE Hedberg Keeney McGuire Morton Thompson Aye ❑x ❑x ❑x ❑ ❑ Nay ❑ ❑ ❑ ❑ ❑ Abstain ❑ ❑ ❑ ❑ ❑ Absent ❑ ❑ ❑ x❑ Ox The motion carried. OTHER BUSINESS / COUNCILMEMBER REPORTS McGuire: Stated that former Planning Commission Dave Roseth has passed away. Cited a number of the ways that Roseth served the community. Commented on the success of the 32nd annual Firefighter's Chicken Feed held the past weekend. ADJOURNMENT With no further business brought before the Council, a motion was made by McGuire and se- conded by Keeney to adjourn. The motion carried and the meeting adjourned at 8:36 p.m. Frank Boyles, City Manager DRAFT 09 14 15 City Council Meeting Minutes 7