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HomeMy WebLinkAboutAgenda & Minutes REGULAR COUNCIL MEETING AGENDA Date: October 6, 1997 1. CALL TO ORDER................................................................................7:30 p.m. 2. PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE 3. CONSIDER APPROVAL OF PREVIOUS MEETING MINUTES A. September 15, 1997 4. CONSENT AGENDA: D. Consider Approval of Invoices to be Paid. Consider Approval of Animal Control Re~lgrt for August, 1997. Consider Approval of Resolution 97-X*=Authorizing Award of Bid for Purchase and Installation of an In-Ground Irrigation System for the Pond's Park. Consider Approval of Agreement to Allocate Election Expenses with Scott County and School District. Consider Approval of Massage Therapy License for Linda Epps. A. B. C. E. 5. PRESENTATIONS: A. Status Report on Outdoor Learning Center - Dar Fosse. 6. PUBLIC HEARINGS: A. There are no Public Hearings. 7. OLD BUSINESS: A. Consider Approval of Resolution 97 -XX Declaring Costs to be Assessed and Ordering Preparation of Proposed Assessment Roll for Projects 95-07 Mushtown Road Improvements and 97-17 Pike Lake Trail Improvements and Resolution 97-XX Establishing the Date of the Assessment Hearing for Projects 95-07 Mushtown Road Improvements and 97-17 Pike Lake Trail Improvements. B. Consider Approval of Ordinance 97-XX Revising Animal Control Ordinance Requirements. C. Consider Approval of Report on Investigation of Private and Public Streets that are Inadequate with Respect to Fire Apparatus Access Requirements. D. Consider Alternatives for Main Street Storm Sewer Affecting 16100 Evanston Avenue. 8. NEW BUSINESS: 16~~6iagle Creek Ave. S.E.. Prior Lake, Minnesota 55372-1714 / Ph. (612) 447-4230 / Fax (612) 447-4245 AN EQUAL OPPORTUNITY EMPLOYER A. Consider Approval of Resolution 97-XXrApproving an Amertdment to the Comprehensive Plan, and Ordinance 97-XX Approving the Zone Change Request by Deerfield Development for the 260 Acres Located Directly South of the Waterfront Passage Business Park. \" B. Consider Approval of Resolution 97-X:X. Approving Wetland Replacement Plan for Eagle Creek Villas Assisted Living Project.,,:, C. Consider Approval of Resolution 97~ A~p~oving an Amendment to the Sterling South at the Wilds Planned Unit Development Plan to Allow Detached Single Family Dwellings. D. Consider Approval of Reconstruction of Wellhouse #3 and the Replacement of the Water SCADA system Prior to Construction of Well #6 9. ITEMS REMOVED FROM CONSENT AGENDA 10. OTHER BUSINESS: 11. ANNOUNCEMENTS/CORRESPONDENCE 12. ADJOURNMENT 10697.DOC .' September 15, 1997 ~/lV -:,o~~ ALL TO ORDER: Mayor Andren called the meeting to order at 7:30 p.m. N E Present were: Mayor Andren, Councilmembers Kedrowski, Robbins, Mader, and Schenck, Acting City Manager Woodson, City Attorney Pace, Planning Director Rye, Planning Coordinator Kansier, Planner Tovar, City Engineer Ilkka, Assistant City Engineer McDermott, Parks and Recreation Director Hokeness, Parks Maintenance Supervisor Friedges, Finance Director Teschner, Recording Secretary Oden. 2. PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE: Mayor Andren led the Pledge of Allegiance and welcomed everyone to the meeting. 3. APPROVAL OF PREVIOUS MEETING MINUTES: MOTION BY KEDROWSKI SECOND BY SCHENCK TO APPROVE THE MINUTES OF THE SEPTEMBER 2 CITY COUNCIL MEETING. . Councilmember Schenck noted on page 8, five lines down, where it says zero dollars, it should say zero percent. . Councilmember Mader said he had some concern that there were items missing from the minutes, including a credible witness to the lighting discussion, Mr. Richard Feig ,whose testimony was not mentioned. He said Mr. Feig had spent years writing specifications for competitive bidding projects. He said Mr. Feig was the only person whose testimony was not based upon a personal interest. He said he asked the City's consultant whether as a practical matter, the specifications precluded other vendors from supplying the equipment, and the answer that was given was yes. He said that was not in the minutes. He said there was discussion about the amount of dollar value of Musco equipment that was going to be utilized on the project and there was no reference to that. MOTION BY MADER TO AMEND THE MINUTES TO INCLUDE A VERBATIM TRANSCRIPT OF THE PONDS LIGHTING PORTION OF THE MEETING. . Mayor Andren asked if there was a second. There was no second so the amendment failed. She asked ifthere was further discussion. . Councilmember Mader said he thought it was tragic that they were recording minutes and making it a part of public record when they know there are omissions and errors. He said unless somebody would like to contest the fact that there was a Mr. Feig here at all, it was a very relevant part of the discussion. He said Mr. Feig 16200 Eagle Creek Ave. S.E.. Prior Lake. Minnesota 55372-1714 / Ph. (612) 447-4230 / Fax (612) 447-4245 AN EQUAL OPPORTUNITY EMPLOYER seemed to be the only one without a vested interest. He said he did not care who got the business, but it should be a competitive procurement. He said everyone else that testified had a vested interest. He said it was his understanding that Mr. Feig had no contractual relationship with any of these suppliers and that he was here as an expert in the field. He said he thought it was astounding that the Council would not amend the minutes. . Councilmember Schenck said he agreed with including details, but he was not in support of a verbatim transcript. . Councilmember Mader said it was only about two weeks ago that Councilmember Schenck did support a verbatim transcript. · Councilmember Schenck disagreed. He said there may have been omissions, but it was difficult to determine what is necessary to input and what is not. As far as a verbatim transcript, he would not support it. . Councilmember Mader said the idea of selectively leaving things out of the minutes was a very dangerous precedent and he did not understand what would be dangerous about a verbatim transcript since there was a tape made available which is public information. He said that to leave out key pieces of information out of a controversial issue was a very serious reflection on the intent of the Council. . Councilmember Kedrowski said that the remarks were inappropriate and that Mr. Feig was admitted as Hubbell's consultant. He did have a vested interest because he was invited to be at the meeting by Hubbell Lighting. . Councilmember Mader said as best he knows Mr. Feig has no contractual relationship with any of the vendors, he is not under contract, he does not have a vested interest, he is not being paid. He said he did identify himself and present his credentials. He said if Council wanted to disqualify him as an inferior person, they could do that but he just thought it was incredible to omit his presence at the meeting from the minutes. . Mayor Andren said an amendment was moved and she did not hear a second and rather than hear a debate, the motion to amend failed. She called the question on the original motion. , Upon a vote, ayes by Andren, Kedrowski, Robbins, and Schenck, nay Mader, the motion carried. 4. CONSENT AGENDA: a) Consider Approval of Invoices to be Paid 2 b) Consider Approval of Treasurer's Report c) Consider Approval of Fire Call Report for August. d) Consider Approval of Building Permit Report for August. e) Consider Approval of List of Surplus Property to be Sold at County Wide Auction. f) Consider Approval of Resolution 97-82 Authorizing Award of Bid for Trails, Parking Bay and Basketball Courts Identified in the 1997 Capital Improvement Program. . Councilmember Mader asked that item 4E be removed for discussion after new business. MOTION BY KEDROWSKI SECOND BY SCHENCK TO APPROVE ITEMS A, B, C, D, AND F OF THE CONSENT AGENDA. Upon a vote, ayes by Andren, Kedrowski, Mader, Robbins, and Schenck, the motion carried. 5. PRESENTATIONS: a) There were no presentations. 6. PUBLIC HEARINGS: a) There were no public hearings.. 7. OLD BUSINESS: a) Consider Approval of Resolution 97-XX Approving an Appeal by Philip and Bryan Hines of the Planning Commission Denial of Variances to the Setback from the Ordinary High Water Level for Property Located at 2719 Spring Lake Road, Case File #97-050. . This item was deferred at the request of the petitioner until further notice. b) Consider Approval of Resolution 97-83 Awarding Bidfor Field and Security Lighting at Pond's Park. , . Acting City Manager Woodson introduced the item. The Council heard testimony at the September 2, 1997 City Council meeting. The Council heard information presented from the City Manager, the Parks and Recreation Director, the City's engineering consulting firm, Wunderlich-Malec concerning meetings that were held in regard to this project as well as how the consultants prepared the specifications for the lighting. 3 . Also at the meeting were national representatives from Hubbell, engineering representatives and their attorney who challenged the specifications. In response to the allegations made by Hubbell representatives, the City Council deferred action on award of bid for this project, and staffwas directed to respond to the issues raised by Hubbell before taking action on awarding the bid. . Staffhas had the opportunity to review the allegations made by Hubbell and the responses are contained in the staff report along with the responses made by Hubbell representatives that are detailed in the staff report. The first one 1 )City Bidding process does not conform to Minnesota Statute 471.35. The City is not in violation ofthe statute, and the City Attorney concurs with this. Issue (#2) The specifications were drawn too narrowly and rigidly. The specifications were performance specifications. Hubbell in their September 2nd testimony at the City Council meeting confirmed they could have met the specifications if they had more time to prepare them. The consulting engineer selected and specified the lights after the City staff and Parks Advisory Committee communicated to the engineers that the highest priority was to 1 )provide minimum spillage and glare on adjacent neighborhoods, 2)provide high quality field lighting and 3)allow for future upgrading of the field lighting to reduce spillage and glare if necessary. Issue (#3) Hubbell had insufficient time to prepare their bids in response to specifications. Hubbell representatives at the meeting confirmed that they were aware of the initial bid on June 10. They had written notice from the City Attorney for two months before the rebid was due on September 4. Issue (#4) The specifications were so rigid, Prior Lake residents were deprived of the benefits of competition. The contractors are the first ones to call if the specifications are non- competitive. Neither the City nor Wunderlich-Malec have received any calls from contractors saying there was inadequate opportunity for competition in the process. Moreover, the City received six bids for this project and no one complained about not being able to use Hubbell lights. Issue (#5) Wunderlich- Malec the City's consulting engineer has recommended Musco products in previous bid awards. Hubbell has had the opportunity to qualify and indeed has stated on the record that they could have met the qualifications. It is the consultant's position that the Musco product was generally specified because it outperforms other products due to its modular design, glare control, spillage control, lighting intensity on the field, maintenance and cost. Issue (#6) The difference in light spillover between the two products is imperceptible to the human eye. The data set forth in the staff report refutes this contention and says there is 40%-70% difference in lighting intensity between Hubbell and Musco products measured on adjacent residential property. . There are two questions the Council must decide. He said the Council must decide if the specifications pertaining to the lighting were drawn narrowly to the exclusion of competition, and if they were not, the Council must consider award 4 of bid. In considering these questions, the Council must decide, based upon the information provided, whether the specifications for the lighting fixtures were so narrowly drawn as to prevent in this case Hubbell from having its light fixtures used by the contractor bidding on the Ponds athletic field project. The Council should also consider the criteria used to develop the specifications such as spillover, field illumination, whether the fixtures can be modified once they are installed, etc. Does the Council concur with this criteria, that they are warranted, necessary, and desirable? . If the Council believes the criteria were appropriate, then they must decide whether the specifications were so narrowly drawn so that only the Musco product could have met them. Any cost to Hubbell to modify the existing lighting fixture to meet the performance standards described in the specifications is not the question. The process of qualifying the equivalent product is intended to allow contractors to bid products other than those specified in the specifications for the non-specified product to meet the performance standards. The process is not intended to make sure the cost of all products is roughly equivalent. The decision the Council must reach must be a reasonable one. In deciding whether a decision of the City Council is reasonable, the City Attorney has advised that the court looks at whether there is any evidence in the record to support the decision. In a decision ofthis type, the court is unlikely to substitute its decision for that of the City Council's. Let the record show that the City Council made a considered decision based on the evidence before it. . Mayor Andren said last meeting the Council heard testimony from Hubbell representatives. As a result of what the representatives of Hubbell alleged, the Council tabled the item until staffhad the opportunity to address the issues. She said she did not want to see going back and forth over the item again for an hour because it would not be productive. Everyone has had an opportunity to make statements. She said if Council would like to ask questions, that would be fine, but going back and forth would not be productive. MOTION BY SCHENCK SECOND BY KEDROWSKI TO APPROVE RESOLUTION 97-83 AWARDING BID FOR FIELD AND SECURITY LIGHTING AT POND'S PARK. . Councilmember Mader said at the last meeting he asked Wunderlich-Malec whether the specification that they had prepared as a practical matter eliminated use of anybody's equipment other than Musco and Wunderlich-Malec said yes as a practical matter it does. He said that indicated an overly restrictive specification that allowed only one vendor. He said he heard a number of suggestions that all of the projects that Wunderlich-Malec had ended up being given to Musco and he saw that question asked. In the letter from Wally Sharp who is vice president of Wunderlich-Malec, they say upon review of past projects, it is evident that Musco 5 has in fact been the successful supplier of nearly all recent sports lighting projects. It is hard for him to believe that Prior Lake's situation at the Pond's is so unique and so novel that the specification had to be written so that only one lighting supplier can supply the equipment. He said he saw some notes that said "well other people can meet it too if they modify their product". He said that would be like specifying in detail the design of a Chevrolet and saying Ford can bid on it if they want to. And obviously Eord is not going to retool their production line to match someone else's design. He said from his viewpoint, it is not a competitive procurement and he would not support this. . Mayor Andren said the reason the specifications were drawn the way they were was that the City wanted the safest and the best lighting. The people of the community deserved a quality product that eliminates the spillage and eliminates the glare. That is what the Council needs to be concerned with. The City Attorney has said that this was an appropriate procedure. She said as far as bidding, this is an entire project. It is not one light bulb. It is one component of this particular project. Hubbell did not meet the specifications. She said she was satisfied by the recommendations of the Parks Advisory Committee, the engineering firm and the Parks and Recreation Director. . Councilmember Schenck said rather than being too restrictive, he thought this specifications opened up for more competitive bids. When it was bid out, it was with specific limitations. Perhaps it could have said Musco or better in the bid, but it said specifically the equivalent and it was determined that the products that were bid by the six vendors met the criteria. He said the choice before the Council was do they give the citizens second best or the best. He said he could find no wrongdoing in this process and he would support it. . Councilmember Kedrowski said it was important as they moved forward to understand that it was a political as well as a financial decision. The Council has listened to the needs of the neighborhoods and has incorporated that into the bidding process. . Mayor Andren called the question. Upon a vote, ayes by Andren, Kedrowski, Robbins, and Schenck, nay Mader, the motion carried. 8. NEW BUSINESS: a) Consider Approval of Resolution 97-81 Authorizing Public Sale of $1,065,000 G.o. Improvement Bond of 1997. 6 - !"1- . Steve Mattson of Juran and Moody reviewed the agenda report. The sale of bonds was for improvements to Pike Lake Trail, Mushtown Road, and County Road 42. He said they were anticipating selling the bonds some time in October. They anticipate bid opening October 20 and then coming to the Council meeting for approval. . Councilmember Schenck asked about the previous practice of selling bonds in a month with five Mondays to get the best rate, like September. . Mr. Mattson said in theory it is true. He said this time of year the bond sales have slowed down. May, June, July are months that are more important when considering five Mondays. The October sale should be just as good because there are not a lot of bonds for sale. MOTION BY KEDROWSKI SECOND BY SCHENCK TO APPROVE RESOLUTION 97-81 AUTHORIZING PUBLIC SALE OF $1,065,000 G.O. IMPROVEMENT BONDS OF 1997. Upon a vote, ayes by Andren, Kedrowski, Mader, Robbins, and Schenck, the motion carried. . Mr. Mattson said the federal government and the Securities Exchange Commission is always concerned about the security of bonds being sold to the public. There is a concern that something can happen with a municipality, and people would need to be notified. With any municipality that issues more than $1,000,000, in a year, there must be a covenant of full disclosure. There are seventeen items that must be addressed that, if affected, can affect future sale of bonds. If any of these seventeen items are affected, there must be a disclosure to a repository of information. The new regulation requires the City to give this information. It is very cumbersome and detailed. Juran and Moody has offered to do this for the City on an annual basis at a cost of $1 ,500. b) Consider Interim Ordinance 97-16 Providing for a Moratorium on Building Permits in the Downtown Development District. MOTION BY KEDROWSKI SECOND BY SCHENCK TO APPROVE ORDINANCE 97-16 PROVIDING FOR A MORATORIUM ON BUILDING PERMITS IN THE DOWNTOWN DEVELOPMENT DISTRICT. . Councilmember Robbins said it made sense and she would support it. . Councilmember Mader said he had no problem with the moratorium and asked if there was response from downtown business owners. 7 . Acting City Manager Woodson stated that staffhas heard no formal concerns from anyone. . Mayor Andren said the EDA was appointing a steering committee to look at the downtown area. . Councilmember Kedrowski said the EDA had not yet met with downtown business owners, but there was a lot of interest. He said a subcommittee was formed to interview members for the steering committee. There was one individual who applied to be on the committee who was not a downtown business owner, and he was not certain if that precluded the individual from consideration. . Mayor Andren called the question. Upon a vote, ayes by Andren, Kedrowski, Mader, Robbins, and Schenck, the motion carried. 9. ITEMS REMOVED FROM THE CONSENT AGENDA: a) Item 4E) Consider Approval of Resolution 97-82 Establishing List of Surplus Property to be Sold at County Wide Auction. . Councilmember Mader asked about the computers and printers that were being auctioned in the City from surplus property. . Acting City Manager Bret Woodson said that the computers were old ones from the Police Department that were not upgradeable to either the City network or the County system. . Finance Director Teschner said the printers have been with the City since October of 1986. He said the 11 PC's in the Police Department have been in use approximately four and one-half years. They were the bare minimum as far as computers. MOTION BY MADER SECOND BY KEDROWSKI TO APPROVE ITEM 4E OF THE CONSENT AGENDA. Upon a vote, ayes by Andren, Kedrowski, Mader, Robbins, and Schenck, the motion carried. . Councilmember Kedrowski asked about the zoning ordinance revisions. He said there should be a two step process such as a workshop format to go through the zoning ordinance versus just bringing it up at one Council meeting. 8 .i,~ IE .' . Planning Director Rye said from his perspective it would be helpful to get together with the Council either for 1/2 day or a full day. He said the first hearing would be next Monday. The Planning Commission will take testimony. They could either wait to do a workshop until the Planning Commission has taken action or they could do the Council workshop at the same time. . Mayor Andren said it would make more sense to wait until after. . Councilmember Mader asked whether there would be a summary document to put the changes in perspective. . Planning Director Rye said yes. . Councilmember Robbins said in the Weekly Update there was an item regarding staff forming a committee to work on health insurance premiums and she wanted to pass on that it was a job well done. 10. ADJOURNMENT: MOTION BY SCHENCK SECOND BY KEDROWSKI TO ADJOURN THE MEETING. . Upon a vote, ayes by Andren, Kedrowski, Mader, Robbins, and Schenck, the meeting adjourned at 8:30. ~w~ Acting City Manager ~/l) /lzM) Recording Secretary 9