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HomeMy Public PortalAbout12/19/00 CCM271 MEDINA CITY COUNCIL MEETING MINUTES OF DECEMBER 19, 2000 The City Council of Medina, Minnesota met in regular session on December 19, 2000 at 7:30 p.m. in the City Hall Chambers. Mayor John Ferris presided. Members present: Ferris, Johnson, Lane (arrived at 7:45 p.m.), Smith, and Zietlow. Members absent: None. Also present: Police Chief Ed Belland, Attorney Ron Batty, Public Works Director Jim Dillman, City Engineer Tom Kellogg, Planning & Zoning Administrator Loren Kohnen, and Administrator Clerk -Treasurer Paul Robinson. 1. Additions to the Agenda A. Carolyn Smith asked that item 4, Urban Commercial, be placed first before the Business Park. B. Update on prosecution appeal. Moved by Carolyn Smith, seconded by Phil Zietlow, to approve the agenda as amended. Motion passed unanimously. 2. Comments from Residents in Attendance on Items Not on the Agenda There were none. 3. Park Commission Comments There were none. 4. Planning Commission Comments There were none. 5. Public Hearing to Create a Storm Sewer Tax District Moved by Jim Johnson, seconded by Phil Zietlow, to open the public hearing. Motion passed unanimously. Ron Batty said when the Wild Meadows Developers proposed an innovative storm water improvement system, there was some concern about how this would be repaired if it did not function as planned. The Council discussed and authorized the creation of a storm sewer taxing district that could be used in case the storm sewer system failed. With this taxing district, the City could recoup the cost of repairing the storm water systems by taxing those within the special taxing district, which encompasses the Wild Meadows Development. Marc Anderson of Lundgren Brothers said that they were in favor of this taxing district, however, they did want a record of what determines failure or success of the system. He said that it is not necessarily the lack of filtration, but the failure to take care of the storm water as a whole. He said they would like that to be determined by the City engineer. Ron Batty said this ordinance does not specifically include any provision regarding when failure is determined. He said a project would need to be ordered by the City Council at the time that Medina City Council Meeting Minutes December 19, 2000 272 failure would be determined. He said a definition of failure may need to be included in the developer's agreement. Moved by Phil Zietlow, seconded by Carolyn Smith, to close the public hearing. Motion passed unanimously. Ron Batty said the action to adopt the taxing district would need a 2/3 majority vote. Moved by Carolyn Smith, seconded by Phil Zietlow, to adopt Ordinance # 324 establishing a storm water -taxing district. Motion passed unanimously. Also included was a title and summary resolution. Moved by Phil Zietlow, seconded by Carolyn Smith, to approve the Resolution 00-59 authorizing publication of the ordinance 324 Special Taxing District by title and summary. Motion passed unanimously. 6. Replat at 2971 Ardmore and 4565 Pine Street Loren Kohnen said Mr. Wald and Mr. Ahlstrom were requesting a replat of their property to accomplish a lot line rearrangement. He said Mr. Wald wishes to purchase 10 feet of Mr. Ahlstrom's lot. This 10 x 100-foot piece is located on the east side of Mr. Ahlstrom's property and would be combined with Mr. Ahlstrom's property on the west side of the lot. These properties are zoned Urban Residential, and the minimum lot size in this district is 9,000 square feet. This replat would still allow both properties to meet the minimum 9,000 square foot lot size requirement. He said the City Council would have to set a public hearing to vacate the two existing 5-foot drainage and utility easements. He said the proposed plat includes the required easements on the proposed property lines. Kohnen said that staff recommended approval of this replat with one condition, that the small shed on the south side of Mr. Ahlstrom's property be moved off of the property line and have a 5 foot setback to the south property line. Kohnen said additionally Mr. Wald is requesting 3 setback variances to construct additions to his garage and kitchen. He has answered the six questions and they are attached. One variance request is for a garage addition. This is a variance to the side yard setback of 2.3 feet. He is also requesting two variances to construct a 10 x 18-foot kitchen. This would require a front and a rear yard variance. A front yard variance of 4.3 feet, less than the neighbor's setback, and a rear yard variance of 1 foot. Loren Kohnen went through responses to the six criteria. He said that staff recommended granting the front yard setback variance to the kitchen addition, but did not recommend that they approve the rear yard setback for the kitchen addition, and recommended not granting a variance for the garage. Kohnen said that the Planning Commission approved the two variances for the kitchen, but did not recommend approving the variance request for the garage. Medina City Council Meeting Minutes December 19, 2000 273 The Council discussed the replat. Moved by Phil Zietlow, seconded by Carolyn Smith, to authorize the City Attorney to draft a resolution approving the preliminary plat with the conditions as recommended by the Planning Commission. Motion passed unanimously. Moved by Carolyn Smith, seconded by Phil Zietlow, to authorize the City Attorney to draft a resolution approving the variances as recommended by the Planning Commission. Motion passed unanimously. 7. Set a Public Hearing for the Vacation of Easements for the Second Meeting in January 2001 Moved by Carolyn Smith, seconded by Phil Zietlow, to set the hearing for vacating the easements. Motion passed unanimously. 8. Urban Commercial Ordinance Paul Robinson introduced the ordinance. He said the Planning Commission addressed this ordinance and had few changes and a couple of clarifications not as substantial as some of the issues for the Business Park. Robinson said one of the issues for the UC was a provision that may be too restrictive regarding the light manufacturing uses. Currently they are required to be 200 feet away from residential zones. Robinson said this could negatively affect between 10 and 15 existing businesses. Carolyn Smith asked if they could be then grandfathered in. Ron Batty said they could still exist, but they would be considered type C non -conforming uses. Phil Zietlow thought that 200 feet made sense, however, he would like to know what businesses would be impacted. There was some discussions about the impacts. Jim Johnson was concerned that this was a load on the landowners and eventually too restrictive for the existing businesses. There was some discussion about the setbacks. Robinson said the side yard setbacks were reduced from 20 to 10 feet. Jim Lane said that this was a good general discussion, however, it is absent of some of the facts. He suggested that staff identify the properties and the characteristics of those properties that are affected, and take another look and bring that back to the Council. There was some more discussion regarding the potential problems with type C non -conforming uses. Ron Batty addressed some areas he thought needed to be cleaned up. There was some issue about the consistency between the sign ordinances and the sign provisions in the new ordinances. Medina City Council Meeting Minutes December 19, 2000 274 Ron Batty said that he would double-check their consistency. There was some additional discussion about the conditions for automotive and gas station uses. Bill Thibault said that he would check on some alternative language, and work with the City Attorney. There was some additional discussion about other inconsistencies that may be caused by this ordinance in relationship to others. Robinson said that as a part of the proposal they presented to the Council at a previous meeting, Bill Thibault was going to be marking up all of the potential inconsistencies that were created from the new ordinances and provide that marked up copy to Ron Batty for him to begin work on rectifying some of those inconsistencies. There was some discussion about outside storage. The Council wanted to consider allowing a few vehicles to be stored outside based on the square footage of the building. Staff was to develop some suggested language for this. There was some discussion about that. The Council wanted Ron Batty to look at drafting an amendment to the zoning ordinance including a site plan review component. Ron Batty said that he would draft that. There was some discussion about when this ordinance would return to the Council. It was decided to bring this back at the second meeting in January. 9. Business Park Ordinance Paul Robinson said that the biggest issues for this ordinance were outlined in the memo. The first one dealt with the uses. He said that there are a number of uses that are not added as allowed uses and will become type C non -conforming uses. He said it may be worthwhile looking at creating a separate zoning district for some more intense existing uses. He said this way the heavier uses, if allowed, would only be allowed in a smaller area. There was a lot of concern about the amount of outside storage and other uses, especially at Loram. Jim Johnson said he liked the idea of splitting the Business Park District into two separate districts, taking into consideration the number of existing businesses that have a higher industrial type uses. Paul Robinson said also included in the packet was information on the different types of non- conforming uses. There was some discussion about the uses that may or may not be allowed, and there was concern about allowing a foundry, or other heavy use such as a foundry, in the Business Park. Medina City Council Meeting Minutes December 19, 2000 275 There was some discussion about the interior clearance height and percentage of docking space allowed. Walter Gervais of Walter G. Anderson said he was concerned about the amount of warehouse storage space that was being allowed. He has quite a bit of interior storage in order to accommodate the processing and construction of the boxes they create. He said he would like the idea of exempting products stored to be used in the production on site from the definition of warehouse space. There was some concerns about the clearance height, especially for those businesses that already exist. For most, the height requirement was okay and changes to a shorter height would be too restrictive. Representative of Goodin Company at 4352 Willow said he was concerned about eliminating wholesale distribution warehouses. He said that is their primary business. Terry Schneider representing a number of businesses said that they are okay with the amount of docking space allowed. However, they would like the definition of warehouse to be a little more expansive and exempt not just the supplies to be used in the production on site, but also storage of the finished product. Phil Zietlow said they were concerned about having warehouse businesses where trucks were coming and going all night. We have already heard from a number of residents concerned about warehouse development in this area. Marc Anderson representing Lundgren Brothers said they applauded the courtyard concept, however, they thought the distance between the residential district and the businesses should not be reduced, but increased. They were also concerned about how screening would be defined between the residential and commercial districts. Bill Ciora, a resident of Foxberry Farms, thought that 10% docking space was not restrictive enough. He said that would allow, pretty much, the same number of docks that was proposed previously on the Rolling Green site. Marc Anderson suggested that if a dock was to remain visible because of a wetland or other topography, that it be required to be at least 1,320 feet or a quarter mile away from the residential districts. Kirt Woodhouse, owner of the property on County Road 116, said the 600 foot requirement is a new requirement. He said there are a number of restrictions in this ordinance that will require higher quality buildings and constrain the developers. He said that you can not always make docks disappear with screening because there are wetlands and other topographical issues that are in place. Terry Schneider said he was here tonight representing 12 businesses owners in the Business Park District, and would like to suggest six modifications. They would like to suggest the 720 feet regulation from residential be measured from the building, not to the parcel line. They would also like to see the entrance to the courtyard be allowed to be at least 60 feet. This would allow for better movement in and out of the courtyard. Medina City Council Meeting Minutes December 19, 2000 276 He said they liked the concept and would like the City Council to be able to encourage this concept, but it needs to be practical and work. Brad Moen, representing a property on Chippewa and TH 55, said that screening internally is ideal, but there are some sites that just cannot conform to that. He believed that this ordinance did not allow for the certain properties to fully develop based on the constraints of the property itself. Phil Zietlow said that if you cannot have a courtyard, then you need to face the docking areas away from the residential district. Brad Moen said that would mean that all the docking would be facing Highway 55. He said you are already constraining people by allowing more than 50% hardcover. That is also a very strict requirement. Terry Schneider said they also believed that allowing only 50% hardcover was not entirely fair. He said it penalizes those with large upland areas. He suggested some alternatives for allowing a additional hardcover for those that do not have wetlands or large wetland areas. Brad Moen, commercial property on Highway 55 and resident, said he believed there should be some type of compromise allowing additional hardcover for those who do not have areas that are covered with wetlands. He said the wetland setbacks should be reduced and the tree preservation section should be loosened. In his case, the high ground on this property is covered with trees, so if you want people to build on the high ground, then you are going to need to allow for some trees to be removed. Bill Cavanaugh said that he, his brother, and son, are here representing their properties. He said five acre minimum lot sizes were too large. They would like smaller urban commercial lots on their property. Terry Schneider said they were also concerned about the section requiring the grade to be preserved. They believed limiting clear cutting was reasonable, however, there needs to be some reasonableness with how much grading can take place on a property. If the Council would like berms to be placed for screening, it makes more sense to take existing material on the property rather than trucking in new material. He gave several other reasons. The consensus of the Council was to consider Mr. Schneider's proposed language modification for grading. Bill Thibault said he was concerned that if this was modified to too great of an extent, that any type of grading or grade change could be justified based on providing reasonable access or berming. He said there are multiple ways to argue that grading for a building pad is reasonable. Ron Batty said one of the issues he addressed concerned the regulations regarding churches and religious institutions. These regulate the seating capacity, the distance to residential, etc. Bill Thibault gave a response to why these regulations were added. There was some discussion about whether or not churches should be listed as a use in the district. Medina City Council Meeting Minutes December 19, 2000 277 At this point, staff was to consider whether or not churches should be left in or out based on acceptable conditions, and whether or not the Business Park area was the place to include churches. Ron Batty said that if you were going to leave churches in, they should have the same sort of restrictions as in other districts rather than special regulations limiting their size and location. There was some discussion about the allowable height for a building. Some members were concerned that 35 feet was too high. Bill Ciora said he thought the overall concept of the Business Park was to have low profile buildings. He believed that 24 feet was a low profile building, and that 35 feet was too high. He was concerned about being able to berm and screen a building that height. He thought a lower height should be considered. Reg Pederson said, as a property owner in the Business Park, he would be concerned about limiting the height. He believed that 35 feet is not that high. He said that would allow a two story office building. He thought the Council was looking for office type buildings. He said lowering the height would not necessarily stop distribution. The Council wanted to have staff provide some examples of building heights of existing buildings and their interior clearance heights. The Council directed staff to provide some additional information on the issues addressed and to bring this ordinance back to the City Council. Since the ordinances were not adopted, the moratorium ordinance was also not amended. 10. Final Plat Approval for the Wetterstrom Addition Loren Kohnen said the plat had been reviewed by the City Engineer and the Public Works Director and there were no additional issues outstanding. Moved by Carolyn Smith, seconded by Jim Lane, to direct the City Attorney to prepare a resolution approving the final plat for the Wetterstrom Addition. Motion passed unanimously. 11. Sewer Credit Jim Dillman said they have been working with the County on an agreement for the Arrowhead frontage road. As a part of that agreement, the City agreed to reduce the County's future sewer charge. The current charge is $3,100 per acre. The current credit request would end up being $47,471.23, which would result in 15.3 acres being deducted from the 112 remaining acres at the County. This would, in essence, pay for the City's portion of the Arrowhead frontage road project. Moved by Carolyn Smith, seconded by Phil Zietlow, to direct staff to authorize the Administrator - Clerk and Mayor to sign the agreement, and authorize a transfer from the General Fund to the Capital Improvement Fund of $47,471.23. Motion passed unanimously. 12. Legal Rates There was some discussion about whether or not there was going to be a contract written up between Kennedy & Graven and the City of Medina. Medina City Council Meeting Minutes December 19, 2000 278 Ron Batty said that each year he has asked for an increase they believed was necessary. Then, once approved, he would follow up this request with a letter of understanding to the City regarding the services of Kennedy & Graven. Jim Lane said he was okay with that as long as the letter of understanding was re -approved each year. The request was for $110 and hour for non -reimbursable billings, and $135 an hour for reimbursable billings. Moved by Jim Johnson, seconded by Carolyn Smith, to approve that request. Motion passed unanimously. 13. Engineering Fees Tom Kellogg said that similar to Ron Batty, they have experienced some increase in costs, and are requesting a slightly higher rate of increase than the rate of inflation to help maintain their technical employees and remain competitive with other engineering firms. There was some discussion about whether or not a contract would be put in place between Bonestroo and the City. Robinson said that they do have a copy of the contract that needs some additional work and that over the next year, they will try to finish that and revise it for approval for next year. Moved by Jim Johnson, seconded by Phil Zietlow, to approve the proposed 2001 rate increase for engineering fees. Motion passed unanimously. 14. Resolution Approving the 2001 Levy Moved by Jim Johnson, seconded by Phil Zietlow, to approve Resolution 00-60 approving the 2001 Levy and Budget as proposed. Motion passed unanimously. 15. Approval of the 2001 Tobacco Licenses Moved by Jim Johnson, seconded by Jim Lane, to approve the tobacco licenses as presented. Motion passed unanimously. 16. Approval for the Sick Leave Retirement Accrual Robinson said that last year the Council adopted a policy where by allowing employees to bank additional sick leave and place it into an account to pay for future health insurance. He said the accrual for this year is as attached. He is looking for approval so that those funds can be dedicated. Sick Leave Accrual - 2000 Years Until 2000 Monitory Vested Value Ed Belland 11 $ 1,888 Sandie Larson 6 $ 1,151 Mike Rouillard Vested $ 1,858 Laura Sulander 5 $ 1,288 Cec Vieau 10 $ 1,595 Medina City Council Meeting Minutes December 19, 2000 279 Moved by Jim Johnson, seconded by Carolyn Smith, to approve the sick leave accrual as presented above. Motion passed unanimously. 17. Pay the Bills Moved by Jim Johnson, seconded by John Ferris, to approve the bills, order check numbers 21796-21875 for $153,127.77, and payroll check numbers 16874-16889 for $16,922.67. Motion passed unanimously. 18. Adjournment Moved by Carolyn Smith, seconded by Phil Zietlow, to adjourn the meeting at 11:50 p.m. Motion passed unanimously. B. Ferris, Mayor Paul Robinson, Administrator Clerk -Treasurer Medina City Council Meeting Minutes December 19, 2000 280 (THIS PAGE LEFT BLANK INTENTIONALLY) Medina City Council Meeting Minutes December 19, 2000 281 ORDER CHECKS - DECMEBER 19, 2000 21796 A.T.& T $48.13 21797 ALL STEEL PRODUCTS $1,759.78 21798 ALLSTAR ELECTRIC $688.47 21799 AMERICAN SUPPLY GROUP $23.95 21800 AMERIPRIDE LINEN & APPAREL SVC $57.95 21801 ANDERSON, EARL F. $70.10 21802 ASPEN ENVIRONMENTAL $15.55 21803 BATTERIES PLUS $14.90 21804 BOY SCOUT TROUP #570 $100.00 21805 BRAUN, ROBERT $2,000.00 21806 BROCK WHITE $545.71 21807 BUDGET PRINTING $1,199.54 21808 CANDLELIGHT FLORAL $91.20 21809 CHRISTENSON, JEREMY $28.82 21810 CULLIGAN $69.49 21811 CY'S UNIFORMS $25.90 21812 DEPT. OF NATURAL RESOURCES $212.00 21813 DOBO'S, THE $18.00 21814 ELK RIVER CONCRETE PROD. $1,036.08 21815 EMBEDDED SYSTEMS, INC. $768.00 21816 EMERY'S TREE SERVICE $559.13 21817 ERICKSON, ROLF ENT., INC. $3,745.40 21818 FORTIN HARDWARE $256.66 21819 GARY'S DIESEL SERVICE $67.79 21820 GENUINE PARTS $126.29 21821 GLENWOOD INGLEWOOD $59.75 21822 GOPHER STATE ONE CALL $123.20 21823 GRAINGER $147.25 21824 HAMEL BUILDING CENTER $544.69 21825 HAMMEL, GREEN AND ABRAHAMSON $1,361.73 21826 HAWKINS WATER TREATMENT GROUP $1,699.21 21827 HELPING MINNESOTA CITIES, INC. $1,495.25 21828 HENNEPIN CO.DEPT.OF GEN.SVC $148.72 21829 HENNEPIN CO.TREAS.,ACCTG.SVCS. $569.50 21830 HENRY & ASSOCIATES $646.44 21831 HOTSY CORP., THE $4,930.95 21832 LAKE BUSINESS SUPPLY $513.68 21833 LAWSON PRODUCTS, INC. $108.13 21834 LUNDGREN BROTHERS PLUMBING $140.50 21835 M.A.U.M.A $30.00 21836 MAYER DISTRIBUTING $3,658.22 21837 MCPA $120.00 21838 MDS MATRIX MEDICAL, INC. $683.86 21839 MEDICA $248.00 Medina City Council Meeting Minutes December 19, 2000 282 ORDER CHECKS — DECEMBER 19, 2000 (CONT'D) 21840 METRO.000NCIL ENVIRO. SERVICES $8,118.40 21841 MIDWEST AUTOMOTIVE $198.47 21842 MINN COMM $30.69 21843 MINNESOTA POLLUTION CONTROL $420.00 21844 MINNESOTA RURAL WATER $200.00 21845 MN-GFOA $30.00 21846 MOTHERS MOTORS/LORETTO TOWING $14.00 21847 NATIONAL FIRE PROTECTION ASSN $705.00 21848 NEXTEL WEST CORP $551.25 21849 NORTHERN ESCROW, INC. $82,849.03 21850 OLSEN CHAIN & CABLE $165.75 21851 OLSON'S MERCANTILE $12.07 21852 ORCHARD TRUST CO $880.00 21853 PRIEM, JON $129.95 21854 QUILL CORP. $28.39 21855 QWEST $104.00 21856 REYNOLDS WELDING $150.58 21857 ROYAL CONCRETE PIPE $800.00 21858 SAMARITAN TIRE CO., INC. $93.04 21859 SKYWAY PUBLICATIONS, INC. $407.12 21860 ST. PAUL STAMP WORKS $88.13 21861 STEVENS, T. L. WELL CO., INC. $11,380.96 21862 STO-COTE PRODUCTS, INC. $3,204.92 21863 STREICHER'S $249.88 21864 SUBURBAN TIRE & AUTO SERVICE $237.34 21865 TALLEN & BAERTSCHI $3,320.80 21866 THIBAULT ASSOCIATES $1,739.16 21867 TWIN CITY WATER CLINIC $65.00 21868 USPS $1,000.00 21869-70 VERIZON WIRELESS $224.42 21871 VIEAU, CEC $157.11 21872 WRIGHT-HENNEPIN ELECTRIC $72.69 21873 XCEL ENERGY $1,035.74 21874 XEROX CORPORATION $488.13 21875 P.E. R.A. $3, 2.17.83 Total Checks $153,127.77 Medina City Council Meeting Minutes December 19, 2000 283 PAYROLL CHECKS - DECEMBER 18, 2000 16874 ROBINSON, PAUL A. $1,106.39 16875 SCHERER, STEVEN T. $1,031.33 16876 MCGILL, CHRISTOPHER R. $1,099.75 16877 ROUILLARD, MICHAEL J. $669.11 16878 DILLMAN, JAMES D. $1,548.34 16879 DRESSEL, ROBERT P. $1,052.52 16880 BELLAND, EDGAR J. $1,883.45 16881 VIEAU, CECILIA M. $933.63 16882 SULANDER, LAURA L $1,025.71 16883 LARSON, SANDRA L. $868.91 16884 BOECKER, KEVIN D. $335.28 16885 PRIEM, JON D. $1,179.89 16886 CHRISTENSON, JEREMY L. $1,284.53 16887 NYSTROM, JAMES $1,128.22 16888 NELSON, JASON $1,159.12 16889 LARSON, TODD A $616.49 $16,922.67 Medina City Council Meeting Minutes December 19, 2000 284 (THIS PAGE LEFT BLANK INTENTIONALLY) Medina City Council Meeting Minutes December 19, 2000