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City Council Minutes 04-12-2004MINUTES REGULAR MEETING - MONTICELLO CITY COUNCIL Monday, April 12, 2004 - 7 p.m. Members Present: Roger Carlson, Glen Posusta, Robbie Smith, Brian Stumpf and Bruce Thielen. Members Absent: None 1. Call to Order and Pledge of Allegiance. Mayor Thielen called the meeting to order at 7 p.m. and declared a quorum present. The Pledge of Allegiance was said. 2. Approve minutes of March 22, 2004 regular Council meeting. BRIAN STUMPF MOVED TO APPROVE THE MINUTES OF THE MARCH 22, 2004 COUNCIL MEETING. ROGER CARLSON SECONDED THE MOTION. MOTION CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY. 3. Consideration of adding items to the agenda. Brian Stumpf added discussion of the area at the back of the Groveland 4th Addition. Rick Wolfsteller requested approval of a resolution declaring the City's intent to reimburse itself for certain expenditures from the proceeds of a bond issue. ROBBIE SMITH MOVED TO ADD THESE ITEMS TO THE AGENDA. BRIAN STUMPF SECONDED THE MOTION. MOTION CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY. 4. Citizen comments/petitions, requests and complaints. Mayor Thielen explained the purpose of the citizens comments portion of the agenda. a. Groveland Park: Michelle Brandt, 9988 Innsbrook Drive and Jackie Fallon, 3766 Woodside Drive came before the Council to express their concerns about the park in the Groveland development. They had met with Mayor Bruce Thielen and Parks Chairman Larry Nolan and had reached an agreement wherein: 1) The City would do some plantings to screen their property from the park; 2) Eliminate the proposed restroom structure and scale back the shelter and 3) Delay the construction of the hard court for this year. Ms. Brandt and Ms. Fallon read a statement setting forth their position on the Groveland park. They acknowledged the petition that was being circulated by residents who were in favor of the park and its further development and noted that these residents did not live adjacent to the park. Council Minutes - 4/12/04 Douglas Dickie, 3739 Brentwood Drive and Felicia Doyle, 10040 Somerset Lane, submitted a petition from some 80 plus residents of the Groveland development who were in favor of continuing development of the park as outlined by the Parks Commission at their May 12, 2003 meeting. A number of these residents were in attendance at this meeting as well. Ms. Doyle stated that negative comments about the park were limited to a few individuals. Overall the residents were supportive of the park and looked forward to its full development. Ms. Brandt pointed out that she was within 57 feet of the playground so she was more impacted by what happened there. Mr. Shea, 3712 Savannah Avenue stated he didn't feel the park noise was a real issue. He said there was just as much noise coming from the kids playing in the yards and to him that was just a sound of summer. Jeff Janette, 3630 Brentwood Drive, stated the presence of the park was a major factor in their decision on selecting a lot in the Groveland development.. b. Prairie Road - Wayne Carlson, 215 Prairie Road expressed his concerns about the proposal to widen Prairie Road and other proposed improvements. He stated that the speed of the vehicles on that road travels fast and that widening the road will encourage the excessive speed. The development of the townhomes in the Timber Ridge 3rd Addition would just add more traffic. He felt the proposed development and the road improvements should be looked at carefully since there are safety issues related to this area. C. Annexation - Doug Stokes, 8066 Edmonson Avenue NE stated he did not want to be annexed into the City of Monticello. Mayor Thielen responded that the City and the Township are in the process of mediated negotiations at the present time. 5. Consent agenda. A. Consideration of ratifying new hires for the MCC.. Recommendation: Ratify the new employees as identified. B. Consideration of appointment to fill vacancy on Library Board. Recommendation: Approve the appointment of Jacqueline Gordon to a three year term on the Library Board expiring on December 31, 2006 and to appoint Eric Anderson to complete the term of Diane Herbst which expires December 31, 2004. C. Consideration of approving final plat and development agreement for Autumn Ridge III Addition. Recommendation: Approve the final plat and development agreement for Autumn Ridge III Addition subject to approval by the City Attorney. 2 Council Minutes - 4/12/04 D. Consideration of a request for a conditional use permit for a detached accessory structure in an R-1 District. Applicant: Jason VanderHeyden. Recommendation: Approve the conditional use permit for a detached accessory garage with the condition that the applicant meet each of the requirements of the zoning ordinance, including the 1,500 square foot threshold. Applicant allowed to install cement apron in front of accessory building enabling vehicle turn -around movement. No driveway off rear yard area parking is allowed with this approval. E. Consideration of approving final plat and development agreement for Timber Ridge III plat. Recommendation: Approve the final plat and development agreement for the Timber Ridge III Addition. F. Consideration of amendment to final plat and rezoning request for Carlisle Village. Recommendation: Amend the final plat of Carlisle Village with the following conditions and approve the rezoning from A -O to RIA, R2A and R2. Tree removal, grading and utility work boundaries for Phase 1 to be set by the City Engineer which includes restrictions on work in the wooded areas until plans are approved. Developer provides all securities as required via the preliminary finance spreadsheet. Development agreement is executed which identifies a tree preservation plan for Phase I consistent with the Planned Unit Development approval granted by the City Council. Any significant changes of the PUD tree preservation protocol must first be approved by the City Council. Preliminary plat documentation on the entire project to be updated prior to initiation of Phase I. Tree preservation plan to be established prior to any work being allowed in Phase II including tree removal. G. Consideration of authorizing election equipment purchase. Recommendation: Approve the purchase of M-100 ballot tabulator for use in the 2004 election for $4,475 plus sales tax. H. Consideration of resolution ratifying policy issues for presentation to Wright County Commissioners. Recommendation: Approve the policy statement for presentation to the Wright County Board of Commissioners. I. Consideration of cost estimate for on street, angled parking and boulevard improvements on Walnut Street adjacent to the Dan Olson property and authorizing staff to obtain bids on the work. Recommendation: Authorized the preparation of cost estimates for street and boulevard improvements on Walnut Street adjacent to the Dan Olson property, 207 West Yd Street and authorizing staff to obtain bids on the work. Robbie Smith asked that item #5E be pulled from the consent agenda and discussed in conjunction with agenda item #9. Glen Posusta requested that item #511 be removed from the consent agenda for discussion. J Council Minutes - 4/12/04 ROBBIE SMITH MOVED TO APPROVE THE CONSENT AGENDA WITH ITEMS #5E AND #5H BEING REMOVED. ROGER CARLSON SECONDED THE MOTION. MOTION CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY. 6. Consideration of items removed from the consent agenda for discussion. #5H - Glen Posusta stated that he asked that this item be pulled because he wanted to vote in opposition to the policy statement as he felt there was redundancy in the policy statement. BRIAN STUMPF MOVED TO ADOPT A RESOLUTION RATIFYING THE POSITION PAPER AS PREPARED AND SUPPORT PRESENTATION TO THE WRIGHT COUNTY COMMISSIONERS BY THE WRIGHT COUNTY MAYORS ASSOCIATION REPRESENTATIVES. GLEN POSUSTA SECONDED THE MOTION. MOTION CARRIED WITH GLEN POSUSTA VOTING IN OPPOSITION. 7. Presentation by Margo Askin and Tom Parker of the Library Board on expansion of library facility and requesting authorization to begin work with an architect on the proposed expansion. Tom Parker and Margo Askin spoke to the Council about the existing use of the library and the need to look at expansion needed to handle the continued growth. Tom Parker stated that the library had been built in 1982 and there had been no expansion of the building. In 2003 when the library was moved to its present site, the library did not gain space but did end up with a newer building and the capability to expand if needed. Based on the increase in usage and the continuing growth of the community, now is an appropriate time to look at expansion of the existing building. It was pointed out that in the Great River Regional Library system a Branch III library has 10,000 sq. ft. Monticello presently has about 7,000 sq. ft. Being a Branch III library means more books and more staff hours. The Library Board and staff is requesting the opportunity to work with an architect so that they can come up with recommendations for the expansion of the building that can then be presented to the Council. Rick Wolfsteller stated that the architect could give the City a good idea of the cost of the expansion and whether the City has sufficient funds budgeted for it. Glen Posusta, council liaison to the Library Board noted that at the last meeting of the Library Board there was discussion on whether the architect should focus only on the immediate expansion needs or look at ultimate expansion of that site. It was generally felt that the canopy area would be the area considered in the expansion but the Council felt the architect should look at long term needs as well. Fred Patch stated that initially the City was looking at utilizing the existing building structure and that is why the canopy area was looked at. He noted that the only down side to utilizing the existing canopy area is that the column structures would extend down and interfere with the open space. He suggested that the expansion project be spread over two years for budgeting purposes. GLEN POSUSTA MOVED TO AUTHORIZE CITY STAFF ALONG WITH THE LIBRARY BOARD TO BEGIN WORK WITH AN ARCHITECT ON THE PRELIMINARY PLANS 11 Council Minutes - 4/12/04 FOR EXPANSION OF THE EXISTING LIBRARY BUILDING. ROBBIE SMITH SECONDED THE MOTION. MOTION CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY. 8. Consideration of approving a resolution of negative impact - Sunny Fresh/Old Community Methodist Church. Jeff O'Neill provided background information on this item pointing out that item had been discussed at previous Council meetings. At this time the City is being asked to relocate the Methodist Church building onto MCC property and to issue a negative declaration of impact for Sunny Fresh. The proposal for the relocation of the Methodist Church would call for Swan River School to obtain planning approvals for the building and secure their charter school status and associated funding. Sunny Fresh would contribute $200,000 to cover the cost of moving the building to the new site, preparation of the foundation and closing the open portion of the east wall. The City would move the National Guard storage facility to another location and the City would accept the responsibility for maintaining the facility until such time as the Swan River School receives charter status. Other issues include the purchase of the building by Swan River, the use of the Methodist Church facility by the City or other community groups and related revenue from the rental and agreement on a joint parking arrangement. Jeff O'Neill presented a sketch of the proposed building layout. Isabelle Olson, Michelle Twardy and other representatives for the Swan River School were present and outlined for the Council their plans for use of the building and the time line for obtaining their charter status. They also provided information on financing revenues that would be available to them for use in acquiring and maintaining the building. The school would be a Montessori school for grades 1-6 with a maximum enrollment of 124. The representatives of the Swan River School pointed out that this an opportunity to bring a community school to Monticello but also to preserve an historic building. Glen Posusta asked if the National Guard was agreeable to this. Jeff O'Neill indicated that the National Guard had not yet been approached by the City but he felt comfortable that the City could meet the needs of the National Guard. Robbie Smith asked if the City was donating the property to the charter school and stated his concern about the school competing with the public school system. Bruce Thielen asked what happens to the property if the charter school ceases to exist. Isabelle Olson responded that the charter school generally attracts those students not currently in the public school system. Some of the those who have enrolled for the charter school are from Princeton, St. Cloud, St. Michael and Becker so it is bringing people in that would not normally be in the existing school system. She noted that very few charter school applications have been turned down and she was confident that the charter school would continue to operate. However, if that was a concern of the city then a provision could be placed in the agreement that would have the property revert back to the city if it was no longer used as a charter school. Roger Carlson asked if other charter schools were set up in a similar fashion to what is being proposed for Monticello. Representatives from the Swan River School indicated there was similar situation in Rogers. I Council Minutes - 4/12/04 Bruce Thielen felt this provided a good opportunity for the community. Although Roger Carlson supported the concept of the charter school he had reservations about using municipal funds for such a venture and putting the City at a financial risk. GLEN POSUSTA MOVED TO HAVE THE STAFF PREPARE AN AGREEMENT BETWEEN THE CITY OF MONTICELLO, SUNNY FRESH FOODS AND SWAN RIVER MONTESSORI SCHOOL DETAILING THE TERMS OF THE BUILDING RELOCATION, FINANCING CONSIDERATIONS, USE OF THE BUILDING BY THE CITY AND JOINT PARKING ARRANGEMENTS AND TO ADOPT A RESOLUTION ESTABLISHING A NEGATIVE DECLARATION OF IMPACT WHICH WOULD ALLOW THE BUILDING TO BE MOVED. BRIAN STUMPF SECONDED THE MOTION WITH DISCUSSION. Brian Stumpf noted the proposal does have a revenue potential for the City. Robbie Smith felt it put the City in competition with the public schools and he opposed it for that reason UPON VOTE BEING TAKEN, MOTION CARRIED WITH ROBBIE SMITH AND ROGER CARLSON VOTING IN OPPOSITION. 9. Consideration of accepting feasibility report and setting a public hearing date - Prairie Road Improvements. Bret Weiss stated the proposed project covers Prairie Road from CSAH 75 to I-94. He is asking that the City accept the feasibility report and set a public hearing date for April 26, 2004. He noted the concern raised about the residential development and the increase in traffic that would result from the development. The project would get the road reconstructed to a standard to handle the traffic volume and accommodate pedestrian traffic. Bret Weiss stated more information will be presented at the public hearing and at the informational meeting. He did note however, that this project has costs for new improvements outside the reconstruction costs such as storm sewer. Jane McNamara, 315 Prairie Road, raised some questions on information contained in the feasibility report. She challenged the statement in the report that "The property owners along the existing Prairie Road requested that the City consider the project to address the lack of pedestrian facilities in the area." She indicated that she had talked to 11 out of the 16 property owners abutting Prairie Road and none had requested this and if it was not requested by the property owners why was it being done. Bruce Thielen noted that over a year ago an accident occurred and that was the reason for the discussion on pedestrian facilities in the area. Brian Stumpf added that the resident whose child was involved in the accident did not actually live on Prairie Road. It was noted that the developer of the Timber Ridge 3rd Addition had petitioned for improvements in this area so the study was done in part in response to the petition. Bret Weiss added that after the public hearing, the Council can determine the scope of the project. Jane McNamara also pointed out that the bus stops on both Hedman Lane and Prairie Road but there is no sidewalk on Hedman Lane. She also questioned the statement in the report "Storm sewer will be constructed to accommodate runoff from the roadway and will provide an outlet for the proposed pond within the Timber Ridge 3" Addition development." She was concerned rel Council Minutes - 4/12/04 about approving a development agreement that would require the storm sewer. Bret Weiss explained this was for the 8 units that do not have a ponding area. ROBBIE SMITH MOVED TO ACCEPT THE FEASIBILITY REPORT FOR THE PRAIRIE ROAD RECONSTRUCTION PROJECT NO. 2003-02C AND TO SET A PUBLIC HEARING DATE FOR APRIL 26, 2004. ROGER CARLSON SECONDED THE MOTION. MOTION CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY. ROBBIE SMITH MOVED TO APPROVE THE PRELIMINARY PLAT OF TIMBER RIDGE 3RD ADDITION BASED ON THE FINDINGS THAT THE PLAT MEETS THE REQUIREMENTS OF THE CITY'S COMPREHENSIVE PLAN AND THE R-2 ZONING DISTRICT AND TO RECOMMEND APPROVAL OF THE CONDITIONAL USE PERMIT FOR FIVE 4 -UNIT TOWNHOUSE BUILDINGS BASED ON THE APPLICANT MEETING THE CONDITIONS BELOW AND BASED ON THE FINDINGS THAT THE PROPOSED PLANS ARE CONSISTENT WITH R-2 ZONING STANDARDS AND THE REQUIREMENT OF THE AREA TO ENSURE PUBLIC SAFETY AND AN ATTRACTIVE NEIGHBORHOOD: 1. Submission of a final plat and execution of a development contract prior to issuance of building permits. 2. Establishment of an association to maintain common areas, including the cul-de-sac island landscaping. 3. Landscape detail is provided for the separation of combined driveways. 4. Provide sidewalk along both sides of Prairie Road to connect to Timber Ridge in accordance with the City Engineer's plan for the Prairie Road Reconstruction Project. 5. Provide additional landscaped buffer along the east boundary of the north portion of the project consistent with the rest of the project and the recommendations of the Planning Commission Report of April 6, 2004. 6. Compliance with City Engineer recommendations on grading, drainage, utilities and street construction. 7. Compliance with City Public Works direction for mailbox locations, garbage collection locations, street lighting and other requirements. 10. Consideration of approval of purchase agreement for acquisition of industrial land. City Administrator, Rick Wolfsteller provided background information on the item. Initially the Council had approved a letter of intent which was to be the basis for arriving at a purchase agreement. The proposal ended up involving a number of agreements which made the situation more complicated. Agreements are needed to cover the sale of a strip of land by the City to the property owner, an assessment agreement to cover the Chelsea Road improvements; a temporary access agreement and the purchase of 120 acres of land by the City. There is some engineering work that remains to be completed and it is hoped that an agreement can reached within the next couple of weeks possibly by June V. The terms of the original letter of intent approved by staff, Council and IDC small group was not approved by the seller. Matt Brokl stated that because the letter of intent that was before the Council was not what was originally started out with and so they are looking for direction from the Council. The offer made by the City has not been agreed to by the seller of the land. Matt Brokl suggested that someone from the Council should be in on the negotiations. Mayor Thielen indicated he would be willing to sit in on the negotiations.. 7 Council Minutes - 4/12/04 Glen Posusta asked if the City approved a letter of intent, why was there a second letter of intent. Matt Brokl responded that the second letter of intent was because the seller was not in agreement with some of the conditions noted in the letter of intent. Rick Wolfsteller stated that if the letter of intent is modified may be it should go back to the IDC Small Group BRIAN STUMPF MOVED TO TABLE THIS ITEM AND DIRECT STAFF AND THE MAYOR TO WORK WITH THE IDC SMALL GROUP AND CONTINUE NEGOTIATIONS. GLEN POSUSTA SECONDED THE MOTION. John Chadwick stated there is a struggle to draw up the appropriate legal documents. He stated that if they could retain the commercial land they could pay for whatever improvements were needed. Glen Posusta asked if Mr. Chadwick had seen the 6 items noted by the staff. Mr. Chadwick said he didn't know whether he had seen it. Rick Wolfsteller stated the terms listed in the letter of intent are not being agreed to by the seller. He noted the road alignment would require easement acquisition. Rick Wolfsteller stated that some of the land would derive more benefit from the improvements so the property should not be assessed equally. UPON VOTE BEING TAKEN, MOTION CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY. 11. Consideration of bids and award of contract for Overflow Parking Lot at Walnut Street, Project No. 2003-18C. John Simola indicated that the preliminary estimate for the parking lot construction was $74,000. Plans for the parking lot were prepared by John Bogart and the project was advertised. Five bids were received ranging from $37,538.90 to $62,217. John Simola also received a quote for the electrical work for lighting the parking lot in the amount of $4,200. There was an agreement with Towne Centre that they would pay 50% of the cost of the parking lot but Mr. Veit has not responded back agreeing to payment of his share of the cost.. Glen Posusta asked if John Simola liked the design of the parking lot. John Simola stated it was an efficient use of space. Glen Posusta indicated he had talked with John Bogart and Mr. Bogart indicated that the design came from the city staff and Mr. Bogart provided Glen with another sketch. Glen Posusta felt the existing parking lot design would make it difficult for snow removal and maintenance. Rick Wolfsteller noted that the parking agreement was a result of the conditional use permit that was approved for the restaurant in the Towne Centre. The City was to pick up half the cost because of the parking needs of the library,(no longer at that site) and the other half was to be picked up by Veit. The question is whether it would be premature to build the parking lot at this time. It was questioned whether Sunny Fresh needed additional parking. With the possible removal of the Methodist Church building there would be a possibility of developing additional parking on their site otherwise they could contribute towards the construction of the parking lot. John Simola stated when the parking lot was first looked at they were trying to save the trees on the site. He also indicated that it does not comply with city ordinance as the ordinance requires N Council Minutes - 4/12/04 islands to be installed. John Simola stated the bids are good for 30 days so the Council does not have act on them at this meeting. BRIAN STUMPF MOVED TO TABLE ACTION ON THE AWARD OF BIDS FOR THE OVERFLOW PARKING LOT ON WALNUT STREET UNTIL THE NEXT MEETING AND DIRECT STAFF TO CONTACT VAUGHAN VEIT ON HIS COST PARTICIPATION IN THE PROJECT. ROBBIE SMITH SECONDED THE MOTION. MOTION CARRIED WITH GLEN POSUSTA VOTING IN OPPOSITION. 12. Consideration of purchase of property at 224 East 4t" Street. 011ie Koropchak provided background on this item. She explained the property is not occupied and has been listed for a couple of months. City staff talked about this area and its redevelopment. The HRA considered this at their April meeting. 011ie Koropchak indicated that there would be no relocation costs involved and the HRA did recommend that the Council proceed with the acquisition of the parcel only if the Council agrees. If the property is redeveloped it will require a considerable amount of TIF assistance. By purchasing this property the City is demolishing one blighted property. The HRA also noted that in the future they would like to see redevelopment driven by a developer's proposal. Roger Carlson added that the HRA was not really excited about this property and was concerned that with the City purchase of this property, the price of surrounding property would escalate . The HRA would prefer developers coming to them with property they have acquired and request assistance from the HRA. BRIAN STUMPF MOVED TO DENY APPROVAL TO AUTHORIZE ENTERING INTO A PURCHASE AGREEMENT FOR THE ACQUISITION OF THE PROPERTY LOCATED AT 224 EAST 4TH STREET. GLEN POSUSTA SECONDED THE MOTION. MOTION CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY. Jeff O'Neill stated that from the staff s point of view this purchase was at a reasonable price. Brian Stumpf stated his concern was with the follow up cost and Glen Posusta stated his concern is the City's proposal to put 8-12 townhouse units in that area given the high number of townhouse units already existing. 13. Consideration of authorizing staff to sign off on completed EAW for Wal-Mart site Jeff O'Neill provided the background information on this item noting that the proposed Wal- Mart site is at the intersection of Cedar Street and School Boulevard on the east side of TH 25 and north of Kjellberg's East. The Council is asked to give staff approval to submit the EAW worksheet to the EQB. The Council received a draft document. If the Council waits it would cost Wal-Mart a month in the planning cycle. Mayor Thielen asked what was the status of Home Depot. Jeff O'Neill stated that he had talked to representatives of Home Depot and they indicated that they will be looking at other sites in the City. Home Depot stated that having a side by side arrangement with another major retailer was important to them. I Council Minutes - 4/12/04 BRIAN STUMPF MOVED TO AUTHORIZE STAFF TO FINALIZE AND DISTRIBUTE THE WAL-MART EAW VIA THE ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY BOARD BEFORE APRIL 19, 2004. GLEN POSUSTA SECONDED THE MOTION. MOTION CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY. 14. Approve payment of bills for April. ROGER CARLSON MOVED TO APPROVE PAYMENT OF THE BILLS. GLEN POSUSTA SECONDED THE MOTION. MOTION CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY. Glen Posusta questioned a bill from Menard's and asked why the City didn't purchase these materials from the local lumber company. John Simola replied that if the prices locally were within 10% of the another company the City did buy locally. Ar dpd Item-.-- Groveland 4t': Brian Stumpf indicated he was contacted by a resident about the area behind the Groveland 4t' development at the north edge of the undeveloped area near the wetlands. The complaint was that the snow fencing was still up there was a considerable amount of garbage and debris blowing around. Brian Stumpf noted the good job the soccer club had done in cleaning up in areas of town.. 15. Adjourn. ROBBIE SMITH MOVED TO ADJOURN AT 9 P.M. GLEN POSUSTA SECONDED THE MOTION. MOTION CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY. Recording Secretary 10