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05-13-08 CM Minutes Council/Manager Meeting Minutes May 13, 2008 Present: Mayor Loomis and Council Members Freiberg, Pentel, Scanlon and Shaffer. City Manager Tom Burt, Public Works Director Jeannine Clancy, Director of Planning and Development Mark Grimes, Public Works Manager Bert Tracy, Director of Parks and Recreation Rick Jacobson and Assistant City Manager Jeanne Andre. The meeting began at 6:30 pm in the Council Conference Room. Olson School Mark Grimes introduced Nancy Rajanen, Assistant Superintendent of School District 281. He explained that the district owns Olson School in Golden Valley. In recent years the school has been rented out to other districts or used as temporary quarters for students from other district schools which are being renovated. The property is zoned for use as a school. Ms. Rajanen informed the Council of the District's intent to lease the school to the Prairie Seed Academy. This is a Hmong charter school which has previously leased and now plans to purchase the former Lincoln School in Brooklyn Center. If the Prairie Seed is successful in securing funding to lease and renovate Lincoln School, it will finalize the lease and temporarily move to Olson School for the 2008-09 school year. Prairie Seed is an elementary school and almost all of the studentswould arrive at school on buses. When the lease is executed, probably in June, the District plans to host a neighborhood meeting to inform area residents about the current plans for the building. In the future the District may resume temporarily use of Olson school by district students while their home facility is renovated. This use depends on the securing financing for the proposed renovations. The Council asked Ms. Rajanen to work with Mark Grimes to identify the surrounding neighborhood homes to be invited to the proposed neighborhood meeting. Proposed Ordinance Amendment - Inflow & Infiltration (I & I) Allen Barnard provided background on proposed amendments to the I & I ordinance prepared in response to recent court cases on this subject. In order to allow citizens relief from unwanted government intrusion on their property, the ordinance will provide an alternative to City inspectors for required inspections of the sanitary sewer service. Licensed plumbers, following City approved procedures, will be able to inspect and record the private sewer service. The date-stamped video or digital record of the inspection will be submitted to the City for review. Property owners opting for private inspection will still be required to pay a fee to the City to review the tape, and the remainder of the process following City review will remain the same, except that the property owner may also have a licensed plumber document that corrective orders on the service have been completed. There is also a new provision that foundation drains must be properly discharged outside the structure. The Council inquired if there is a penalty for falsifying information. Allen Barnard will determine if adequate penalties are in place prior to formal Council consideration. The ordinance will be placed on an upcoming regular meeting of the City Council. Request for Variance - 400 Dakota Avenue South Mark Grimes reported that this properly did not meet the 35-foot front yard setback when it was built in 1969. Consequently, the City Council at that time permitted the Council/Manager Meeting Minutes May 13 2008 - Page 2 building to be completed under the condition that no other variances be granted for the expansion of the house. The current owner was unaware of this condition and has requested a rear-yard variance to extend the exiting deck ten feet to the rear. Allen Barnard opined that the City Council could ask the current property owner to abide by the condition previously placed on this property, or remove or modify the condition. The Council agreed to place on its next agenda a motion to allow the current property owner to apply for a variance that would allow rear-yard construction. Sign Exemption for Youth Sporting Events Mark Grimes reviewed past history, which included adoption of an ordinance of temporary duration, providing for limited signage on youth athletic fields. This ordinance expired under a sunset date in late 2006, which the Little League recently asked the City to extend. Extending the sunset or modifying this section of the Code would require adoption of a new ordinance. However another section of the Sign Ordinance (4.20) provides that the City can permit signs in its parks. This permission could be granted administratively. A draft policy that could guide administration of this section of the Code was included in the agenda packet. It includes a provision that signs could only be located 500 feet or more from a residential zoning district. The Council concurred that staff should proceed with this approach. Impending Sale of Excess State Property in Golden Hills Redevelopment Area Tom Burt provided background on property owned by the State that may soon be declared excess and sold. The Housing and Redevelopment Authority (HRA) toured this property in April to understand development challenges such as access, poor soils, and storm water drainage needs. The existing Golden Hills Tax Increment District includes this property, but there would be no financing available from this district for new development. The Minnesota Department of Transportation is currently appraising the property and will either sell it to the highest bidder or to a public entity for public use or redevelopment. Three developers have approached the HRA staff to see if the HRA is willing to be involved in the land transfer. The land uses proposed by these developers include multifamily housing, hotels and neighborhood retail. If the City is interested in having greater input into the land use and site plan for any development it could have the HRA become involved in the land transfer and select a developer that would respond to development concerns expressed by the Council and HRA. The Council discussed the pros and cons of public involvement and suggested that the staff continue to work with interested developers on purchasing the property through the HRA. Policy for Community Group Participation in City Concerts in the Park - 2008 Pilot Project In recent years the Envision Connection Project has informally used the Concerts in the Park as a venue to promote community groups and activities. The group recently considered ramping up this approach to invite community groups to provide food at the concerts. In response to this proposal City staff prepared a permit process that would outline responsibilities involved for non-profit organizations, particularly when serving food. The proposed policy and application were included in the agenda packet for Council review. Mayor Loomis reported that the Connection Project Board reviewed the policy at its meeting Monday night and would prefer to maintain the informal process Council/Manager Meeting Minutes May 13 2008 - Page 3 used in 2007. Since health requirements related to serving food are the largest concern, the Board is suggesting that food sales not be a part of the process. After discussing a number of options the Council concurred with continuing with the 2007 process. Bidding for City-Wide Trash Haulers Council Member Scanlon asked that the Council discuss ways to reduce the number of garbage trucks on City streets and the number of days that containers are at the curb for garbage collection. Staff distributed a memo about garbage hauling practices for some of the surrounding cities as background information for Council discussion. The Council generally agreed with the goal of reducing traffic and clutter on neighborhood streets, but there was not consensus on moving forward on a detailed study of this issue now. The Council discussed asking the Environmental Commission to study this topic, but deferred as the Commission is currently occupied with looking at the City's carbon footprint. Chemicals on Lawns Mayor Loomis received a suggestion from a resident that the City ban use of chemicals on lawns because of the negative impact on the environment. While the Council expressed sympathy with the request, the consensus was that itwould be difficult to implement on a local level. The Council inquired about City use of chemicals. Jeannine Clancy noted that staff uses chemicals at a minimal, as needed level. The Council requested staff to continue to educate the community on this issue and distribute information at Valley Days. Board/Commission Appointments Mayor Loomis reviewed applicants and openings for various boards and commissions. The Council recommended appointments be considered at the next Council Meeting except for the Human Rights Commission. The Mayor noted that there are more openings on this Commission and she is recommending filling all of the openings at one time. Step to It Challenge with St. Louis Park Mayor Loomis reported that the St. Louis Park City Council had accepted the Council's challenge. Hennepin County has agreed to set up a process to report the progress of each respective Council. The meeting adjourned at 8:50 pm. Jeanne Andre Assistant City Manager