02-12-18 CC WS MinutesCITY OF SHOREWOOD
CITY COUNCIL WORK SESSION
MONDAY, FEBRUARY 12, 2018
MINUTES
1. CONVENE CITY COUNCIL WORK SESSION
5755 COUNTRY CLUB ROAD
COUNCIL CHAMBERS
6:00 P.M.
Mayor Zerby called the meeting to order at 6:00 P.M.
A. Roll Call
Present. Mayor Zerby; Councilmembers Johnson, Labadie, and Sundberg; City Administrator
Lerud; Planning Director Darling; Director of Public Works Brown; and, City Engineer
Fauske
Absent: Councilmember Siakel.
B. Review Agenda
Sundberg moved, Johnson seconded, to approve the agenda, as presented. Motion passed 4/0.
2. FIRE LANE BIRCH BLUFF ROAD
Director Darling stated that at the last Council meeting, a resident had asked for the Council to consider
allowing small motorized vehicles on Fire Lane 3 and noted that a property owner had put up a sign that
stated no motorized traffic would be permitted to use Fire Lane 3. The City started receiving calls from
residents and explained what the ordinance said and a number of residents indicated that they wanted to
come and speak to the Council about this matter. These residents had planned to attend the January 22,
2018 meeting, but that meeting was cancelled due to weather. She stated that she felt there was lower
resident turnout at the January 31, 2018 meeting because it was a special rescheduled meeting and suspects
that there may be residents at the Regular Council meeting later today. She reviewed the current
classifications of the fire lanes and when and how the current rules came into being.
Cheryl Lester, 26245 Birch Bluff Road, stated that she lives directly across from this fire lane and would
vote against giving trucks access through the fire lane. They wouldn't mind snowmobiles as much because
it just seems to be part of the neighborhood culture, and while snowmobiles do make some noise, they are
not very disruptive. Earlier in the year, there were work trucks going in and out, which she assumed were
ice fishermen and that seemed much more disruptive.
Greg Larson, 25535 Orchard Circle, stated that he has lived out here for 35 years and agreed that
snowmobiles have used that lane without any trouble in the past. He stated that there are two other fire
lanes that he feels most residents do not know about that could be utilized to help residents access the lake.
He stated that these other fire lanes have been basically privatized over the years, there isn't access or
signage, so there is no way for people to know that they even exist. He noted that over time, brush has
grown up in some of these fire lanes, basically making them appear to be private property. He noted that
there is some arborvitae that will soon be encroaching on the Birch Bluff fire lane also, which would again,
basically privatize that fire lane, as well.
CITY OF SHOREWOOD COUNCIL WORK SESSION MEETING MINUTES
FEBRUARY 12, 2418
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Mayor Zerby asked if the fire lane would be considered a right -of -way, and plantings and rocks placed by
residents would not be permitted.
Director Darling confirmed that it is a right -of -way and private improvements are not permitted in the fire
lane. She noted that she had spoken with the Public Works department and the arborvitae were surveyed
to be on the adjacent property rather than on the fire lane.
Mayor Zerby stated that currently, the City works on things in the right -of -way based on complaints, so
people have to let the City know if these kinds of things are going on and encroaching on the fire lanes. He
stated he has a concern about allowing parking and swimming, but would be fine with snowmobile use.
Councilmember Johnson stated he thought about this issue with respect to noise pollution. He stated that
according to Mr. Blomquist, there are discrepancies between Tonka Bay's laws and Shorewood's law at
the Crescent Beach fire lane with regard to snowmobiles. He agrees with Mayor Zerby and also has
concerns about allowing parking and swimming at this location.
Councilmember Sundberg stated that she feels restricting parking will ensure that it is neighborhood people
using the fire lanes and not people from neighboring communities coming over and parking their trucks
and accessing the lake.
Mayor Zerby stated perhaps the Council should look at amending the zoning regulations so we don't have
parking and swimming use at this fire lane.
Councilmember Sundberg agreed that this needed to be clarified. She asked what the street use regulations
were for snowmobiles. Lerud stated that he believed they could use the outside edge of the roads to the
nearest point where they can gain access to the trail or lake.
Mayor Zerby stated that there appeared to be a consensus about how to move forward in addressing the fire
lane at Birch Bluff Road.
Councilmember Johnson asked how the City would handle the other fire lanes in this area.
Mayor Zerby stated that he likes the idea of signage that specifies it is a fire lane and what the allowed
usage is.
Councilmember Sundberg asked if the City should be allowing the fire lanes to be taken over my brush or
if it should be proactively cleaning it out.
Director of Public Works Brown stated that thinks there will need to be a public education component to
this of notifying the adjacent homeowner, so it is not a surprise to them, if it is Council's desire, they would
go in and clear those out, but some of these may involve more significant work because they have essentially
been closed off for quite some time. As Mr. Larson pointed out, most of these, over the years, have been
used less and less because having fire vehicles access them to gain access to water, is no longer practical
from a fire department standpoint.
Councilmember Johnson asked if staff could put together a quick status of what each of the ten existing fire
lanes looked like for Council to consider in their discussions.
Labadie arrived at 6:35.
CITY OF SHOREWOOD COUNCIL WORK SESSION MEETING MINUTES
FEBRUARY 12, 2018
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3. COMMISSION INTERVIEWS:
6:30 — Commission Interview: Nat Gorham
6:45 — Commission Interview: Holly Ashmore
Mayor Zerby noted that these interviews have typically taken place in the conference room and suggested
that Council relocate in order to conduct the interviews.
4. ADJOURN