Loading...
032408 CC Reg MinCITY OF SHOREWOOD 5755 COUNTRY CLUB ROAD CITY COUNCIL REGULAR MEETING COUNCIL CHAMBERS MONDAY, MARCH 24, 2008 7:00 P.M. MINUTES 1. CONVENE CITY COUNCIL REGULAR MEETING Mayor Lizee called the meeting to order at 7:17 P.M. A. Roll Call Present. Mayor Lizee; Councilmembers Bailey, Turgeon, Wellens and Woodruff; Attorney Keane; Acting Administrator/Director of Public Works Brown; Finance Director Burton; Planning Director Nielsen; and Engineer Landini Absent: None B. Review Agenda Acting Administrator Brown requested Item 3.C, Street Sweeping Agreement with Minnehaha Creek Watershed District for Christmas Lake Road, Lift Station 12, be removed from the agenda. Wellens moved, Woodruff seconded, Approving the Agenda as Amended. Motion passed 5/0. 2. APPROVAL OF MINUTES A. City Council Work Session Minutes, March 10, 2008 Turgeon moved, Woodruff seconded, Approving the City Council Work Session Minutes of March 10, 2008, as Amended in Item 2, Page 1, Paragraph 4, Sentence 5, change "some portion of recyclable material." to "some portion of recycled material.". Motion passed 5/0. B. City Council Regular Meeting Minutes, March 10, 2008 Woodruff moved, Wellens seconded, Approving the City Council Regular Meeting Minutes of March 10, 2008, as Amended in Item 12.B, Page 8, Paragraph 3, Sentence 2, change "to have an open house from 10:00 A.M. -Noon on Saturday, April 1, 2008," to "to have an open house from 10:00 A.M. -Noon on Saturday, April 12, 2008,". Motion passed 5/0. C. City Council Special Meeting Minutes, March 17, 2008 Wellens moved, Woodruff seconded, Approving the City Council Special Meeting Minutes of March 17, 2008, as presented. Motion passed 5/0. 3. CONSENT AGENDA Mayor Lizee reviewed the items on the Consent Agenda. SHOREWOOD CITY COUNTIL REGULAR MEETING March 24, 2008 Page 2 of 10 Turgeon moved, Bailey seconded, Approving the Motions Contained on the Consent Agenda and Adopting the Resolutions Therein. A. Approval of the Verified Claims List (This item was moved to Item 9.C, under GenerallNew Business). B. City Clerk's License List C. Street Sweeping Agreement with Minnehaha Creek Watershed District for Christmas Lake Road, Lift Station 12 (This item was removed from the agenda.) D. Adopting RESOLUTION NO. 08-023, "A Resolution Accepting Estimates and Awarding Contract for Well Abandonment Portion of the 2008 Woodhaven Well Demolition Project, City Project 08-O1. E. Approve Agency Review of the Draft Comprehensive Water Resource Management Plan (This item was moved to Item 9.D, under General/New Business). F. Amending Resolution No. 08-004 to appoint Martin Wellens to Park Commission Liaison for April 2008 and for September -December 2008, and to appoint Jeffery Bailey for Park Commission Liaison for May -August 2008. G. Accept Agreement for Executive Search Services with Springsted, Inc. H. Special Event Permit Application Registration Councilmember Turgeon questioned if Attorney Keane had the opportunity to review the agreement with Springsted, Inc. Keane stated he had reviewed it and provided comment. Motion passed 5/0. 4. MATTERS FROM THE FLOOR There were no matters from the floor presented this evening. 5. REPORTS AND PRESENTATIONS None. 6. PUBLIC HEARING None. 7. PARKS A. Report on Park Commission Meeting Held March 11, 2008 Commissioner Norman reported on matters considered and actions taken at the March 11, 2008, Park Commission meeting (as detailed in the minutes of that meeting). SHOREWOOD CITY COUNTIL REGULAR MEETING March 24, 2008 Page 3 of 10 Councilmember Bailey asked Commissioner Norman to elaborate on the topic of an attendance policy. Norman stated over that past two years the Park Commission had experienced some attendance issues. The Commission researched if the City had an attendance policy or standard, and if not could the Commission establish a policy. When the Commission became aware that the importance of attendance was being stressed during the interview process for the Park and Planning Commissions, the Park Commission thought there was no need to adopt a written policy. The Park Commission decided that if a commissioner missed three consecutive meetings then maybe they should reconsider their commitment to the Commission and possibly resign from the Commission. Councilmember Turgeon stated she had suggested that topic be discussed. She explained that the Park Commissioners were also expected to attend Arctic Fever planning meetings, which were not well attended by all the Commissioners. She commented that during asix-month period when she served as Park Commission Liaison there had been one Commissioner who rarely attended the Commission meetings. Acting Administrator Brown stated the Commission had agreed that if a Commissioner had not attended two-thirds of the scheduled meetings then Staff and/or the Park Commission Chair would ask the Commissioner if they had a desire to continue to serve on the Commission. 8. PLANNING -Report by Representative Commissioner Hutchins reported on matters considered and actions taken at the March 18, 2008, Planning Commission meeting (as detailed in the minutes of that meeting). A. Conditional Use Permit Applicant: Stephen Doyle Location: 26785 Edgewood Road Director Nielsen stated Stephen Doyle owned the property at 26785 Edgewood Road. Mr. Doyle had applied for a conditional use permit to construct a detached garage. The floor area of the new garage would put the property in excess of 1200 square feet of accessory space, necessitating a conditional use permit. The new garage would replace an existing detached accessory building and would be located on the west side of the site. The property was zoned R-lA, Single-Family Residential and contained 2.5 acres of land. Nielsen reviewed the property survey which showed the location of the existing house and attached garage, as well as an existing shed which would be demolished. The proposed single-story detached garage would contain 1344 square feet of floor area. When that area was combined with the existing attached garage, the amount of accessory space on the site would total 2112 square feet. The house contained 2510 square feet of floor area above grade, not including the porch on the rear side of the house. Nielsen reviewed how Mr. Doyle's request complied with the four criteria specified in Section 1201.03 Subd.2.d.(4) of the City's Zoning Code for granting a conditional use permit for accessory space in excess of 1200 square feet. SHOREWOOD CITY COUNTIL REGULAR MEETING March 24, 2008 Page 4 of 10 The total area of accessory buildings (2112 square feet) did not exceed the floor area (2510 square feet not including the porch on the rear side of the house) above grade of the existing home. 2. The total area of accessory buildings did not exceed 10 percent of the minimum lot size for the R-lA zoning district (.10 x 40,000 = 4000 square feet). 3. The proposed garage would comply with R-lA setback requirements. Hardcover on the property would be well under 25 percent. 4. The architectural character of the new building would be the same as the existing house. The siding and roofing would match the house. Nielsen noted the plans submitted with the application showed vertical siding on the proposed garage and horizontal siding on the existing house. He stated t11e applicant had explained to the Planning Commission that the garage drawing was taken off of the Internet, but the siding on both the house and proposed garage would be horizontal and it would be the same color. Nielsen stated the Planning Commission had unanimously recommended approval of the conditional use permit. Nielsen stated Stephen Doyle was present this evening to answer any questions Council may have. In response to a question from Councilmember Turgeon, Mr. Doyle stated he spelled his first name Stephen; it was spelled incorrectly in the resolution. Turgeon moved, Woodruff seconded, Approving RESOLUTION NO. 08-024, "A Resolution Granting a Conditional Use Permit for Additional Accessory Space to Stephen Doyle, 26875 Edgewood Road" as amended to correct the spelling of his first name. Motion passed 5/0. B. Waterford PUD Amendment-Beer and Wine License Applicant: Waterford Center LLP Location: 19905 Highway 7 Director Nielsen stated the Waterford Shopping Center was located at 19905 State Highway 7. He explained the Waterford commercial element of the Waterford PUD agreement was approved in September 1990. Shorewood Resolution No. 100-90 specifically addressed two uses to be included in the Center: 1) a convenience store with gas pumps; and 2) a family restaurant. The resolution set forth conditions as to how the two uses would be operated. In the case of the family restaurant, hours would be limited to between 7 A.M. and 11 P.M. and the restaurant would not eligible for any kind of liquor license. To date, no restaurant had occupied space in the Shopping Center since it was built. Nielsen stated the owner of Waterford Center LLP had recently requested an amendment to the original Waterford PUD agreement that would allow the owner to market to potential tenants on leasing space for the expressed purpose of adding a family restaurant that would be able to serve beer and wine. He related the owner had stated he was not pursuing any specific tenant, but all of the potential tenants the owner had spoken with had expressed interest in wanting to serve beer and wine. SHOREWOOD CITY COUNTIL REGULAR MEETING March 24, 2008 Page 5 of 10 Nielsen explained when the Waterford Shopping Center was originally approved, residents had expressed concern that the restaurant may end up being more of bar (particularly a sports bar) than a restaurant if the sale of liquor was allowed. Two things would probably preclude that from becoming the case -the hours for the restaurant were limited to 7:00 A.M. to 11:00 P.M., and the applicant had only requested a wine and intoxicating malt beverage (i.e., beer) License. The City had recently received correspondence from individuals in the area south of the Center (in particular the Waterford Townhomes). The individuals were open to a restaurant and almost unanimously wanted it limited with regard to the sale of liquor (which beer and wine would somewhat do). Some individuals had suggested the sale of beer and wine be limited to individuals who were at the restaurant to dine; that could be an option as the City had a number of types of liquor related licenses. Nielsen then explained the Planning Commission suggested the hours of operation for the restaurant be changed to 6:00 A.M. - 11:00 P.M. to allow a restaurant owner to serve an earlier breakfast; the hours of operation for the convenience store with gas facility were 6:00 A.M. -Midnight. Nielsen commented that he had been somewhat surprised that there were no residents at the Public Hearing held about this request. Nielsen stated the Planning Commission unanimously recommended approval of an amendment to the Waterford PUD agreement which would restrict the hours of operation for a restaurant to 6:00 A.M. - 11:00 P.M. and restrict the sale of beer and wine to individuals dining in the restaurant area; and an amendment to the protective covenant recorded against the Waterford commercial property. In response to a question from Councilmember Turgeon, Director Nielsen explained that some time ago there had been a previous inquiry by an interested restaurant owner about the possibility of a liquor license if the restaurant owner were to lease space in the Center but a formal application was never submitted. Nielsen then explained at that time the interested party was encouraged to discuss his desires with the residents in the Waterford development. Turgeon moved, Woodruff seconded, directing Staff to prepare a resolution amending the commercial element of the Waterford Planned Unit Development agreement to restrict the hours of operation for a restaurant to 6:00 A.M. -11:00 P.M. and to restrict the sale of beer and wine to individuals dining in the restaurant area; and amending the protective covenant recorded against the Waterford commercial property. Motion passed 5/0. 9. GENERAL/NEW BUSINESS A. Planning Commission Appointment Acting Administrator Brown explained that during a Council special meeting earlier this evening Council had the opportunity to interview two candidates for the open seat on the Planning Commission. The candidates were Missy Vilett and Malinda Schmiechen. Wellens moved, Woodruff seconded, Approving RESOLUTION NO. 08-025, "A Resolution Making the Appointment of Missy Vilett to the City of Shorewood Planning Commission effective March 24, 2008, through February 28, 2011." Motion passed 5/0. SHOREWOOD CITY COUNTIL REGULAR MEETING March 24, 2008 Page 6 of 10 B. Discussion regarding settlement matter, Ascending Praise Church Acting Administrator Brown stated Staff had been scheduled to meet with Pastor Linus Nyambu on March 19, 2008, relating to the settlement regarding Ascending Praise Church (APC). Pastor Nyambu had committed to delivering the remaining settlement at that time; he had previously made payment of $1,000 of the $4,000 settlement. Brown explained that he had placed calls to Nyambu numerous times but to no avail., and none of his calls had been returned. Brown reviewed a list of options available for addressing this settlement issue. - Stop pursuing the settlement and release all claims. Council would have to weigh the cost of pursuing the settlement. - Continue to try and meet with Pastor Nyambu and negotiate the best collection efforts. - Ask to meet with another representative of the Church. - Do nothing for a period of time, and then try to make contact with representatives from the Church in 30, 60, or 90 days. - Turn the issue over to a collection agency. Councilmember Turgeon stated it was her understanding that APC no longer existed. Attorney Keane stated APC had merged with Livingword Church during 2007; APC as an entity no longer existed. Keane explained the City had reduced the situation to a confession of judgment, and that was a personal obligation for Pastor Nyambu. Mayor Lizee clarified APC had merged with Livingwaters Church. Councilmember Turgeon stated she had asked Director Burton to research what the legal fees had been incurred relative to this pursuit. Burton stated that amount was approximately $8,700 and that was for invoices through January 2008; she assumed there were additional fees yet to be billed. In response to a question from Councilmember Turgeon, Attorney Keane explained the confession of judgment could be filed with the Court or County Recorder which would result in it becoming an obligation. He then explained if Pastor Nyambu made a credit application (for a mortgage or a loan) the existence of the obligation would be disclosed. He stated he was not sure if there was a cost to file the judgment. Councilmember Wellens stated his experience with collection agencies had been that an agency received one half of the debt it collected. Attorney Keane stated his experience had been that the agency received 30 - 40 percent of the debt collected. Mayor Lizee stated the City had been pursuing a settlement for past due rent and utilities and for damages for over one year. She noted that the legal costs incurred through January 2008 were substantially more than the remaining settlement owed. She stated the City entered into a contract with APC, and Council considered it to be a charitable deed; the City entered into the arrangement with APC in good faith to help a Hurricane Katrina family. Unfortunately the situation did not work out as Council had hoped it would. She questioned how much longer Council wanted to pursue this matter. Over the last year it had been difficult for Staff to convince Pastor Nyambu to meet with them, and APC was no longer an entity. Based on past practice, the chance of receiving any of the remaining settlement was not very great. She recommended the City stop pursuing the settlement and reduce all claims. Councilmember Woodruff stated he was frustrated with the lack of progress on settling this matter. He stated he thought the approximate cost to the City for past due rent and utilities and for damages was SHOREWOOD CITY COUNTIL REGULAR MEETING March 24, 2008 Page 7 of 10 $18,000 plus there were the legal fees. He did not want to release all claims. He requested Attorney Keane research the cost to file the judgment, and if the cost was reasonable the judgment should be filed. Once that had been completed, should Pastor Nyambu apply for credit that perfected judgment would surface and that could be an impetus for him to pay the settlement. He did not think the City should pursue the use of a collection agency. Councilmember Turgeon agreed with Woodruff. Councilmember Bailey stated he would happy to receive an estimate of what it would cost to file the judgment from Attorney Keane, but he did not think the City should spend another dime on this process. Councilmember Woodruff stated he agreed with Bailey, but it would be good to know the cost. Woodruff moved, Wellens seconded, directing Attorney Keane to research the cost to perfect the confession of judgment. Motion passed 5/0. C. Approval of the Verified Claims List This item was removed from the consent agenda at Councilmember Woodruff s request. Councilmember Woodruff questioned if the $40,304 invoice from Ready Watt Electric was for outdoor warning sirens. Acting Administrator Brown explained the sirens had been installed and were ready to be tested, and he was trying to gef information from Hennepin County on what the monthly cost would be for monitoring and maintenance of the sirens. Woodruff moved, Turgeon seconded, approving the verified claims list as presented. Motion passed 5/0. D. Approve Agency Review of the Draft Comprehensive Water Resource Management Plan This item was removed from the consent agenda at Councilmember Woodruff's request. Councilmember Woodruff stated there were a few corrections he suggested be made to the very lengthy Comprehensive Water Resource Management Plan before the Plan was submitted to various agencies for review. The Plan stated there were no agreements with other entities; if Item 10.A on the agenda was approved the Plan should be updated to reflect that agreement. In Section VIII the Plan referenced a City Manager; that should be changed to City Administrator and the Planning Director should be added to that section. Wellens then. stated he was confused about the statements in the Plan relative to flood areas. Early in the Plan it was stated the there were no flood plains in the City. The Plan included communication from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) which discussed flood insurance was required for certain structures and lots. Engineer Landini explained there were many flood plains in the City which were covered under FEMA Flood Insurance Rate Maps (FIRM). Councilmember Woodruff noted that in Section 1 Page 2 it was stated there were no FEMA flood plains in the City. Landini concurred that statement would need to be corrected. He explained he had spoken with Steve Gurney, with WSB & Associates, about having a page in the Plan directing individuals to the FEMA website for access to the FIRM maps. Acting Administrator Brown suggested Council approve this draft so this effort could remain on schedule. He explained that it was not unusual to forward the draft for review to the various agencies and SHOREWOOD CITY COUNTIL REGULAR MEETING March 24, 2008 Page 8 of 10 then revise the Plan with recommended changes. He stated Staff would update the Plan with the recommended changes before the Plan was submitted for review. Woodruff moved, Wellens seconded, accepting the Draft Comprehensive Water Resource Management Plan and authorizing distribution of the Draft Plan to the appropriate agencies for review and comment, subject to Staff making the changes identified by Councilmembers. Councilmember Wellens stated he had provided Staff with a list of five items that should be considered for modification. Motion passed 5/0. 10. ENGINEERING/PUBLIC WORKS A. Wetland Conservation Act Joint Powers Agreement with MCWD Engineer Landini explained at its March 10, 2008, meeting Council approved a resolution delegating Local Government Unit authority for Wetland Conservation Act administration for lands inside Shorewood within the Riley-Purgatory-Bluff Creek Watershed District jurisdiction to the Minnehaha Creek Watershed District (MCWD) contingent upon adoption of a Joint Powers Agreement (JPA) with the MCWD. Landini then explained the MCWD had since offered to administer the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources (DNR) Work in Public Waters permitting. The Work in Public Waters permitting for lands inside the City within the RPBCWD had fallen back to the DNR as of February 25, 2008. Having a State agency process the permits resulted in additional processing time for City residents. The benefits of having the MCWD administer the process would be a faster permitting process for the residents, and a consistent procedure City wide. Landini stated Council had been provided with a revised JPA this evening for consideration. The JPA addressed administration of the both WCA permits and Work in Public Water permits for lands inside Shorewood with the RPBCWD jurisdiction. He stated there was a recommended change to the revised JPA; the MCWD recommended Section 4.1 be changed to reflect advance termination notification of 90 days rather than 60 days. He then stated the 90 day period should provide the City with adequate time to implement procedures for handling the permitting. Councilmember Woodruff questioned if 90 days would be adequate based on the effort recently expended to prepare for the possibility of the City assuming WCA permitting responsibilities. Engineer Landini stated he thought it would be sufficient time as the City has a draft ordinance already prepared. If for some reason that was not sufficient time for the City, the Board of Soil and Water Resources would assume that responsibility, but that would result in a moratorium on that permitting. Wellens moved, Woodruff seconded, Approving RESOLUTION NO. 08-026, "A Resolution Authorizing the Mayor and City Administrator to Enter Into a Cooperative Agreement with the Minnehaha Creek Watershed District for Wetland Conservation Act Administration and Minnesota Department of Natural Resources Work In Public Waters Administration" subject to changing Section 4.1 to reflect a 90 day advance notification of termination. Motion passed 5/0. SHOREWOOD CITY COUNCIL REGULAR MEETING March 24, 2008 Page 9 of 10 11. STAFF AND COUNCIL REPORTS A. Administrator & Staff Acting Administrator Brown stated at the EFD Governing Board meeting held on March 19, 2008, Chief Gerber presented the EFD 2007 Year End Review document which had been distributed to attendees. He commented he had copies of the document if any of the Councilmembers wanted to review it. He stated the list of EFD accomplishments was impressive. He stated the new civil defense sirens would be tested on April 2, 2008. He then stated Springsted, Inc., either had or would be scheduling time to meet with. Councilmembers. Director Nielsen stated the Planning Commission had discussed the issues sections of the chapters in the Comprehensive Plan. He suggested a joint meeting of the Council and Planning Commission be scheduled to review the issues. There was consensus to schedule a joint meeting of the Council and Planning Commission to discuss issues identified in the Comprehensive Plan for 6:00 P.M. on April 14, 2008. B. Mayor & City Council Mayor Lizee stated there was an SLMPD Strategic Planning work session scheduled for 4:00 P.M. on March 26, 2008. In response to a comment from Councilmember Wellens, Acting Administrator Brown stated he was researching what other cities were doing with regard to golf carts on city streets. In response to a question from Councilmember Wellens, Attorney Keane explained that he had contacted the Director of the League of Minnesota Cities Insurance Trust and was told that in order to have insurance through the LMC Trust an organization had to belong to the LMC. Councilmember Turgeon reminded Council that it had committed to updating the City Administrator's performance appraisal form prior to the interviewing of candidates. She suggested that task be scheduled for a work session. Mayor Lizee suggested Sharon Klumpp with Springsted, Inc., be asked to provide Council with guidance on that as she probably had access to examples. There was consensus to schedule a work session for 6:00 P.M. on April 28, 2008, to review the City Administrator's performance review form. In response to a comment from Councilmember Wellens, Acting Administrator Brown explained that Chief Gerber had stated the EFD and SLMPD had made some minor changes to a few of the medical response protocols for automatically initiating calls to fire and rescue. With regard to a question from Councilmember Wellens, Director Nielsen explained with regard to the issue with a blue storage container in Ward 4, the City had been represented in Hennepin County Court four times on the issue. The first time the offender did not appear. The Court then issued a bench warrant for the offender's arrest. The offender was arrested and posted bail. At the arraignment the offender asked for an extension to the arraignment, which was granted. A pre trial was scheduled for April 8, 2008, and a trial had been scheduled for May 5, 2008. SHOREWOOD CITY COUNTIL REGULAR MEETING March 24, 2008 Page 10 of 10 12. ADJOURN Turgeon moved, Woodruff seconded, adjourning the City Council Regular Meeting of March 24, 2008, at 8:16 P.M. Motion passed 5/0. RESPECTFULLY SUBMITTED, Christine Freeman, Recorder Christine Lizee, Mayor ATTEST: awrence A. Brown, Acting City Administrator/Clerk