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06-08-10 CM Minutes Council/Manager Meeting Minutes June 8, 2010 Present: Mayor Loomis and Council Members Freiberg, Pentel, Scanlon and Shaffer, City Manager Tom Burt, Public Works Director Jeannine Clancy, Engineering Graduate Mitch Hoeft, Director of Planning and Development Mark Grimes, City Planner Joe Hogeboom, and Assistant City Manager Jeanne Andre. The meeting began at 6:30 pm in the Council Conference Room. Possible 1~GV-461 Sanitary Sewer Reliever Routes Jeannine Clancy introduced Jeff Schwartz of Metropolitan Council Environmental Services (MCES), who came to the meeting to review the options for the proposed sanitary sewer to be constructed from the vicinity of the West End development in St. Louis Park to Highway 55 in the vicinity of Highway 100. Mr. Schwartz reviewed the pros and cons as outlined in a May 28, 2010, Technical Services Memorandum. Alternative 1 crosses 1-394 and follows Turner's Crossroad to Glenwood Avenue, jogs to the left on Glenwood and then proceeds north on Turners Crossroad to Highway 55. Alternative 2 starts in the same manner, but diverts west on Golden Hills Drive to Xenia Avenue and then north across Glenwood , following the same course as Alternative One, north along Turners Crossroad to Highway 55. The pipe will be 18 inches in diameter and will be placed in a trench 10 to 11 feet in depth. Alternative 1 is slightly more expensive, but at the concept level the alternatives are relatively similar in cost. MCES sought Council direction on the preferred route as it is ready to move to design, and it is cost prohibitive to do detailed designs for both alternatives. MCES is preparing for construction in 2012. The Council discussed the alternatives. Council Members expressed concern with the impact on utilities and residential access for Alternative 1 and the impact on traffic flow with Alternative 2. The most significant traffic issues for Alternative 2 relate to the segment between Laurel and Glenwood Avenues, which may not accommodate a land of traffic in each direction during construction. Consequently traffic may need to be diverted to alternate state-aid routes such as Jersey and Winnetka. The Council favored going forward with Alternative 2, on Xenia Avenue, but requested special attention to traffic issues, including keeping the sewer alignment to the west and tunneling to avoid traffic diversion and disruption. Proposed Ordinance Amendment - Section 11.72 - Fence Requirements in Residential and Multiple Dwelling Zoning District Joe Hogeboom reported that staff has difficulty explaining to the public and enforcing the current fence ordinance that allows fences only behind the 35-foot front yard setback. Homes in Golden Valley are not uniformly set back 35 feet, and the plane of the front setback is not always uniformly set at 35 feet. Therefore staff is recommending that the fence setback be established based on the plane of the house and allowed to vary if the plane changes from one side of the house to the other. There is another provision that allows 6-foot fences in the front yard on streets that are A or B minor arterials. The City no longer uses this street delineation in its Comprehensive Plan and this requirement has not been uniformly applied in the past. Therefore staff is recommending removing this language and requiring a variance for any 6-foot fence to be placed in the front yard. This would allow case by case consideration of unique characteristics of the site. Council/Manager Meeting Minutes June 8, 2010 - Page 2 The Council supported removing any reference to six-foot fences in the front yard setback and handling such requests by variance. Council Members supported the concept of using the front plane of the house as the setback requirement for installation of a six-foot fence, but suggested that the proposed language is unclear and asked staff to clarify the language before presenting an ordinance addressing both issues to the Planning Commission for comment. The Council also discussed the issue of requiring a permit to install a fence. Council Members asked staff to bring examples from other cities and suggested provisions for requiring fence permits in Golden Valley to an upcoming Council/Manager Meeting. Proposed Ordinance Amendment - Height of Principal Structure in High Density Residential Zoning District (R-4) Joe Hogeboom explained that Council had previously discussed requiring a conditional use permit for any building in excess of five stories or 60 feet in the new High Density Residential Zoning District. Staff prepared an ordinance to incorporate this change. The Council indicated support for taking this change to the Planning Commission for consideration. Access to Minnesota Department of Transportation (MnDOT) Property at 1-394 and Turner's Crossroad Tom Burt reported that staff has had difficulty working with MnDOT and the adjacent property owners to identify appropriate access to the parcel MnDOT would like to sell at the northwest intersection of 1-394 and Highway 100. The current MnDOT position is that the existing alley, combined with a strip of property owned by MnDOT (totaling 25 feet), could either be turned over to the City as a street, or retained (but not maintained) by MnDOT as a street. Staff is not recommending either of these options and inquired if the Council would support one of these options or proceeding with eminent domain to acquire right-of-way that is either 50 of 60 feet in width, and more in keeping with street width established in the subdivision ordinance. The Council did not support any of the options and suggested that it would only support development if the developer can find a way to provide appropriate access in keeping with subdivision requirements through purchasing adjacent property without eminent domain. The Council also suggested that the staff look at options to rezone the property to a use that better reflects available access. Allowing Chickens Council Member Pentel spoke in favor of allowing chickens to be kept in the City. After discussion Council Member Freiberg stated that he is not opposed to considering a chicken ordinance, but as a majority of the Council does not support proceeding, he did not think staff time should be committed to this issue. Domestic Partnership Registration Council Member Pentel spoke in favor of domestic partner registration as recently adopted in the City of Edina. Concerns raised by other Council Members included whether the City is the appropriate level of government to take on a registry and if there would be issues with providing information from the registry under data practices requirements. The Council Council/Manager Meeting Minutes June 8, 2010 - Page 3 directed staff to prepare a draft ordinance and present it to the Human Rights Commission for comment and future consideration by the City Council. Proposed Ordinance Prohibiting Coal Tar Based Sealer Products Tom Burt reported that one additional item needed to be added to the agenda. Jeannine Clancy distributed an Executive Summary providing information on grant funds available to help fund stormwater maintenance. When the City dredges a pond it must test for the presence of PAHs (polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons). When PAHs are present the dredged materials must be handled as hazardous waste, adding significantly to maintenance costs. A current City dredging project is at a pond on Golden Valley Country Club property that accepts municipal storm water. This project must address PAHs in the dredged material and is estimated to cost $100,000. A new state grant program assists with the disposal of hazardous materials related to stormwater dredging. In this case, the proposed grant would provide between $50,000 and $70,000 toward the cost of disposal of the dredged materials. Grant applicants are required to either have in place, or be in the process of adopting, an ordinance prohibiting the use of coal tar based sealers in the City. Because the grant just became available and the project is already scheduled, the Council would need to take quick action on the proposed ordinance in order seek grant funds for this project. The Council supported moving forward with the ordinance and the grant application. The meeting adjourned at 8:05 pm. Jeanne Andre Assistant City Manager