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04-25-11 CC WS Mtg MinCITY OF SHOREWOOD CITY COUNCIL WORK SESSION MONDAY, APRIL 25, 2011 MINUTES CONVENE CITY COUNCIL WORK SESSION 5755 COUNTRY CLUB ROAD COUNCIL CHAMBERS 6:00 P.M. Mayor Lizee called the meeting to order at 6:01 P.M. A. Roll Call Present. Mayor Lizee; Councilmembers Hotvet, Siakel, Woodruff and Zerby; Administrator Heck; Finance Director DeJong; Planning Director Nielsen; Director of Public Works Brown; and Engineer Landini Absent: None B. Review Agenda Zerby moved, Siakel seconded, approving the agenda as presented. Motion passed 510. 2. DISCUSSION ON THE AGENDA FOR THE MAY 3, 2011, JOINT COUNCIL, PARK AND PLANNING COMMISSIONS MEETING Administrator Heck stated Council has scheduled a joint meeting of the Council and Park and Planning Commissions for May 3, 2011, from 6:00 P.M. — 8:00 P.M. Mayor Lizee and Couneilmember Siakel have both asked what the Council wants to accomplished during the meeting. The Planning Commission has been discussing sustainability and the Smithtown Crossing redevelopment study area and it wants to have further discussion with Council and the Park Commission. He noted that Staff will email the Commissions a copy of the strategic planning report that was a byproduct of the Council and staff retreat held in February 2011. Mayor Lizee stated Council and the Commissions need to reach agreement on what sustainability means to the City and what elements of sustainability are important to the City. She asked the other Councilmembers what they would like the goals of the meeting to be. Councihnember Siakel stated she thought both Commissions put in a fair amount of time on projects specific to their areas. The joint meeting could promote more of a shared focus on projects that impact both parks and planning. She requested an agenda for the meeting be published well in advance. She suggested Council agree to what it would like to accomplish during the meeting. She recommended Council and the Commissions reach agreement on what the definition of sustainability is from the City's perspective as well as what components are important to the City. She stated the Planning Commission has done a great deal of work on the Smithtown Crossing study. She suggested feedback on that study be solicited from Council and the Park Commission during the meeting. She also suggested that the Commissions be provided with information about the strategic planning discussion, facilitated by Sharon Klumpp with Springsted Incorporated, which took place during the retreat. She stated the County Road 19 corridor could also be an agenda topic. She clarified she is not criticizing what's been done to date. Director Nielsen stated the Planning Commission has prepared a draft report for the Smithtown Crossing study area. The Commission wants to ensure Council supports the Commission's recommendations CITY OF SHOREWOOD WORK SESSION MEETING MINUTES April 25, 2011 Page 2 of 4 before it shares the draft report with the neighborhoods. It had not been the Planning Commission's intent to ask for the Park Commission's input about the study, but the Park Commissioners are more than welcome to be involved in the discussion because a park is part of the study area. He noted that Council and the Park Commission will be provided with a copy of the draft report this week. He stated the Planning Commission wants to know if Council thinks it's on the right track. Councilmember Hotvet stated she is pleased that Council and the two Commissions are going to meet. She noted she has served as the Council Liaison to the Park Commission the last few months. She suggested the various events and projects for the year be reviewed and shared with neighboring cities to see where efforts cam be coordinated if at all possible. Director Nielsen stated the Planning Commission has sustainability on its 2011 work program and some of the Commissioners have been doing some research on their own. He noted that sustainability is an enormous undertaking; it affects everything. Prior to the joint meeting Council and the Commissions will be provide links to 4 — 5 websites that have a tremendous amount of information about sustainability. The Planning Commission has primarily been using the definition of the League of Minnesota Cities. Nielsen then stated that Staff has recommended to the Commission that it follow the Minnesota GreenSteps Cities Program (MnGSCP) to provide structure to the sustainability conversation. The MnGSCP has identified a list of 28 best practices. One of the ways to view sustainability is to ask the question of what is the impact of doing something 20 years from now. For example, will the large houses currently in the City still be occupied by single families many years from now? He explained the Commission is working on drafting a resolution for Council's future consideration asking for Council's support in joining the MnGSCP. For the May 3 rd meeting Council will be provided with a list of the 28 best practices. The list could be divided into smaller groups with some of them being more parks related. He noted the City is already doing some of the best practices and others will take a drastic change in thinking. Some of them may never be accomplished. He explained most of the sustainability plans want much higher density than the City has and he doubts the City will want to change that. Councilmember Siakel requested the materials for the meeting be sent out as soon as possible. Mayor Liz& stated all the items tie into the strategic plan. Councilmember Hotvet stated it's important to assign a timeline and measurements to the elements of sustainability Council wants the City to pursue. She then stated residents want to know when things will get done and bow they can get involved. Councilmember Siakel stated the above topics fit in with some of the strategic planning goals identified during the Council and staff retreat. She stated her goal is to have people working off of the same page and not independently. Councilmember Hotvet asked Director Nielsen when he and the Planning Commission want to have Council's feedback on the draft report on the Smithtown Crossing study area. Nielsen stated during the May 3 rd meeting. Administrator Heck asked Council what other items in addition to sustainability and the Smithtown Crossing study report it wants on the May 3 rd meeting agenda and what additional background information it would like for the meeting. The MnGSCP was mentioned by Director Nielsen. Heck then asked if Council wants to identify specific objects for the two Commissions for discussion during the meeting. CITY OF SHOREWOOD WORK SESSION MEETING MINUTES April 25, 2011 Page 3 of 4 Mayor Lizee stated both Commissions have, or should be considering, a work program for 2011 and that should be shared with Council. The Commissions should also do that for 2012. She stated the Smithtown Crossing study should also factor into the County Road 19 corridor study. A Trail Planning Committee has recently been formed and that Committee should be involved when appropriate. She commented that there has been discussion about the Excelsior Parkland area. She stated she thought it prudent for the City's Park and Planning Commissions to work with the City of Excelsior's and the City of Tonka Bay's Commissions about improvements to the County Road 19 corridor, and to reinitiate the discussion about a trail along County Road 19 with Tonka Bay and the City of Orono. Councilmember Hotvet suggested the City have its own strategic plan. She stated some elements of the plan could be done with a coordinated effort between the City and neighboring cities. She reconunended that agendas be shared well in advance of meetings between the various cities about potential joint efforts. Councihnember Siakel proposed a draft agenda for the meeting. It is as follows: ➢ Introduction of Councihmembers and Commissioners ➢ Present findings of the strategic planning discussions that occurred during the Council and staff retreat and identify the top four priorities ➢ Provide an overview of the Minnesota GreenSteps Cities Program and its 28 best practices and how an item such as the Smithtown Crossing redevelopment study area ties into it — consider using the document as a reference and guide for future planning and projects ➢ Develop a high level plan of action for a couple of the top strategic plan priorities. Three priorities could be the Smithtown Crossing redevelopment study, trails and the MnGSCP. Siakel stated she thought Staff and the Planning Commission should assess the City Code to ensure it's in compliance with State Statutes and identify how to make the City's Ordinances somewhat consistent with Excelsior's and Tonka Bay's. This may have to be discussed at a future meeting because of time constraints. Administrator Heck stated he will work with Director Nielsen to create an agenda and Staff will forward the strategic planning documentation to the Commissions. 3. STRATEGIC PLAN MEETING SCHEDULE Administrator Heck stated during the Council and staff retreat held in February 2011 a high - level, initial draft of a strategic plan was generated. Additional work is needed to improve upon that plan. That work should be a priority so efforts expended to date are not wasted, noting the Commissions should be part of the efforts as appropriate. Once a strategic plan is agreed upon it should be revisited and revised if needed annually. Heck asked Council how frequently it would like to meet to discuss strategic planning and what days of the week and time of the days would work best. Ile also asked Council to identify who should participate in that planning process. Councilmenber Hotvet stated she has a flexible schedule. She then stated she anticipated the initial strategic planning effort (an outcome of it being a solid template) would involve more work upfront. She conveyed she thought important for staff to be involved in the effort. CITY OF SHOREWOOD WORK SESSION MEETING MINUTES April 25, 2011 Page 4 of 4 Councilmember Siakel requested the meetings be scheduled far enough in advance. If staff is going to be involved, she suggested the work sessions be scheduled during regular work -day hours. The initial meetings could be four hours long with two meetings being scheduled for May. Mayor Liz& asked what Councilmembers' travel plans were. She stated the Council and staff retreat was in part successful because it was done during the regular work day. She suggested the work sessions be held during the regular business day. Key staff can be involved regularly and more staff can be brought into the process as appropriate. Councilmember Zerby stated it would be challenging for him to devote four hours during a business day toward this effort. He suggested the meetings be two hours long. He stated he has three trips plarmed during the next 60 days. He asked if the agenda would be to discuss the plan generated during the retreat item by item. Councilmember Hotvet proposed focusing on one strategic goal during each meeting. Councilmember Zerby stated that may vary by goal. Administrator Heck stated there are a few key attributes that need to be defined better, and that could be done relatively quickly. He then stated some of the goals and objectives in the current plan have similar components and he attempted to group them together. The items in the plan need to be reviewed and duplicate items eliminated. He suggested that first the larger goals be discussed so Council and staff can reach consensus on a clear high level definition of what the goals mean. After that more detailed elements of the goal can be identified. After that consensus has to be achieved on how progress and success will be measured. Heck commented that if at some point in the planning process Council and staff cannot continue to make progress he expressed confidence that Ms. Klumpp could provide feedback on how to continue to move the process forward. Councilmember Woodruff suggested that during the first few meeting attendance be limited to Council and department heads. Department heads can bring additional staff when they think it would be beneficial. Ile noted that he cannot meet on Wednesdays and Fridays before 1:00 P.M. There was ensuing discussion about when to schedule the first meeting. There was consensus to schedule a strategic planning work session for May 11`" from 1:00— 3:00 P.M. Woodruff moved, Siakel seconded, Adjourning the City Council Work Session of April 25, 2011, at 6:40 P.M. Motion passed 510. a6A - k Christine Liz6e, Mayor