05-08-12 CM minutes Council/Manager Meeting Minutes
May 8, 2012
Present: Mayor Harris and Council Members, Clausen, Freiberg, Pentel and Scanlon, City
Manager Tom Burt, Police Chief Stacy Carlson, Director of Public Works Jeannine Clancy,
Director of Planning and Development Mark Grimes, City Planner Joe Hogeboom,
Environmental Commission Chair Rich Baker and Administrative Assistant Lisa Wittman.
The meeting began at 7:15 pm in the Council Conference Room.
Donation of Street Name Signs to Golden Valley Historical Society
Jeannine Clancy stated that the Historical Society has expressed interest in the old street
signs and the concrete support posts that are currently in the process of being replaced.
She explained that the Historical Society would like to sell the signs as a fundraiser.
However since the old signs have salvage value it would take City Council approval to
donate the signs to the Historical Society.
The Council discussed the salvage value and potential price of the signs. After discussion,
the Council consensus was that donating the signs to the Historical Society is a good idea
and they would like the item to be brought to the next regular Council meeting.
Human Rights Commission Task Force
Stacy Carlson reviewed with the Council the tentative timeline in setting up a task farce
whose purpose would be to assess the need for and scope of a Human Rights
Commission. She discussed the public notification sources including the City's website,
Patch.com, SunPost Newspaper, Golden Valley CommonPlace and a mailing ta faith
institu#ions. She added that the task force would be overseen by the Assistant City
Manager and facilitated by Mediation Services.
The Gouncil discussed the notification tetter, the timeline, the application and interview
process, the number of people to be on the task force and other types of organizations
they would like to send the notification letter to. After discussion, the consensus was ta _
remove the second sentence from the notification letter, post the notification letter at the
library and mail the notification letter to.high schools, the City's Bridge Builder group and
the City's landiord group. They would also prefer to limit the number of people an the task
force to 30.
Environmental Commission Tasks:
a. Draft Work Plan — Study City Code Section 10.32: Animals and Fawl-Keeping
b. 2012 Priorities
Environmental Commission Chair Rich Baker reviewed the Commission's proposed work
plan and timeline regarding the study of whether the City Code should be amended in
order to allow the keeping of chickens. He noted that the six month deadline given by the
Council might not be realistic and that the Commission hopes to have the study complete
by March 2013.
Baker next discussed the Commission's 2012 priorities including: transportation
alternatives, composting, natural area management plans, and solar panels on City
buildings.
Council/Manager Meeting Minutes
May 8, 2012 — Page 2
The Council discussed the various priorities and expressed their support. They suggested
the Commission also consider electric cars and charging stations when they work on their
transportation alternatives priority and that they also include the Planning Commission.
Douglas Drive Moratorium Area — Light Commercial District
Joe Hogeboom reminded the Council that the City adopted an ordinance in 2Q10 which
placed a one-year moratorium on development within the area located at the northeast
intersection of Highway 55 and Douglas Drive. The moratorium on the property expires in
July. Hogeboom explained that the Douglas Drive Corridor Study suggested the creation
of a carporate campus on the site. Hogeboom stated that a corporate campus could be
achieved on the larger portian of the site, located to the north of the Frontage Road,
through the existing Business and Professional Offices Zoning District. He stated that staff
is proposing a new Light Commercial zoning district to accommodate smaller-scale and
neighborhood types of commercial uses for the area between the Frontage Road,
Highway 55 and Douglas Drive. The proposed Light Commercial zoning district, once
created could also be applied to other areas in the City.
The Council discussed the proposed new ordinance and the types of uses they would like
to see on this vacant land directly adjacent to the Douglas Drive/Highway 55 intersection.
They also discussed how the property could possibly be used in the interim and
suggested that staff talk to the property awner about cleaning up the property. After
discussion, the direction to staff was to bring the proposed Light Commercial zoning
district ordinance ta the Planning Commission for review, work with the property owners to
improve the site and to keep the praperty zoned Industrial in the meantime. The Council
then directed staff to move forward with re-guiding the area north and east of the Frontage
Road to Commercial-Office on the General Land Use Plan Map and then to rezone the
property to Business and Professional Offices.
The meeting adjourned at 9:05 pm.
Lisa Wittman
Administrative Assistant