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HomeMy WebLinkAbout11-25-19CITY OF LAKEVILLE CITY COUNCIL WORK SESSION MINUTES November 25, 2019 1. Mayor Anderson called the meeting to order at 6:00 p.m. in the Marion Conference Room. Members present: Mayor Anderson, Council Members Hellier, Lee, Volk (via phone), and Wheeler Members absent: None Staff present: Justin Miller, City Administrator; Allyn Kuennen, Assistant City Administrator; Daryl Morey, Planning Director; Paul Oehme, Public Works Director; John Hennen, Parks & Recreation Director; Jerilyn Erickson, Finance Director; Tamara Wallace, Deputy Clerk 2. Citizen Comments There were no citizen comments regarding non -agenda items. 3. CMU Zoning District This summer the City Council, Planning Commission, and City staff attended a bus tour which included stops in Eden Prairie, Maple Grove, and St. Louis Park. The purpose of the tour was to examine development standards to see how the City would implement the Corridor Mixed Use districts as outlined in the 2040 Comprehensive Plan. Mr. Morey and Dan Licht of the Planning Company presented the bus tour findings at the September 23 City Council work session meeting and has since prepared three proposed zoning districts to implement CMU land uses in the city: • M-1/ Mixed Use 1-35 Corridor District - designated for sites adjacent to the I-35 corridor • M-2/ Mixed Use Cedar Corridor District - designated for sites adjacent to Cedar Avenue • RM -3/ Medium Density Residential District - intended to allow development of detached townhome, twin -home, row townhome, and back-to-back townhomes within the Cedar Avenue Corridor Brian Bross, 17289 Joy Court Lives in the neighborhood that abuts the Fleet Farm project - expressed concerns with setback requirements and the desire to have specific enforcement language, asked for clarification on building heights versus stories as it relates to higher ceilings in homes, and would like to see more greenspace as an amenity to residents. Mark Hrubes, 17281 Joy Court Echoed concerns about building height, current setback requirements, and proximity of the project to the edge of their development. City Council Work Session Minutes, November 25, 2019 Page 2 The Council reviewed the zoning districts and discussed: parking concerns with respect to neighboring transit, potential negative impact to traffic flow/ congestion, requirement of a traffic study, building aesthetics, retail space, additional greenspace between residential/ commercial developments to serve as a buffer, underground parking, and specific language regarding setbacks. The Council also talked extensively about implementing a minimum distance a building can be to the road based on its height. 4. Storm Shelter Discussion The City has required that any slab on grade home include a storm shelter for the protection of the residents. At the September 16 meeting, the City Council approved an amendment to the Zoning Ordinance to allow those storm shelters to be constructed anywhere in the home or within 500 feet of the home. Since making this amendment, staff has received feedback from the State of Minnesota, through a complaint raised byHousing First Minnesota, referencing State Statue which indicates that no municipal building code can deviate from the State Building Code. (State Building Code only requires storm shelters for manufactured home parks). Staff is seeking direction on whether to leave the storm shelter language in the ordinance, amend the zoning ordinance to remove the storm shelter requirement, or to seek legislative approval to allow municipalities to require storm shelters for slab on grade homes. Mike Suel, D.R. Horton Felt that based on current State Statute, it is clear the storm shelter requirement should be removed from the City's ordinance. D.R. Horton currently has a slab on grade property they are looking to develop and have not submitted plans as they are hoping for direction on whether they must install a storm shelter. Also stated in other cities they have always provided the choice to the consumer to install a storm shelter, however traditionally consumers have not taken this option which he indicated costs between $16,000 - $20,000 to construct due to materials. City Attorney Andrea McDowell Poehler of Campbell Knutson was on hand to answer questions regarding the process to seek legislative approval and what would happen if the City decided to keep the current language in place. The City Council indicated they felt the best course of action was to move forward with repealing the ordinance to avoid legal action brought against the City, and to suspend enforcement of the ordinance to allow pending projects to move forward. Mayor Anderson indicated that he hopes the building community will continue to offer the construction of storm shelters as a selection, so the consumer is aware of all their options. 5. Tree Ordinance Update Ms. Ball gave an update on the City's Emerald Ash Borer (EAB) management plan and the Shade Tree Epidemic Pest Ordinance. The EAB management plan seeks to minimize adverse City Council Work Session Minutes, November 25, 2019 Page 3 environmental impacts and reduce the loss of ash trees in the City. The EAB plan consists of several components: education/ outreach to the community, an ash tree injection program for public/ private properties (which has saved roughly 3,400 trees in two years), public ash tree removals, and surveying/ monitoring EAB infested trees. The next steps are to reach out to local businesses/ commercial areas that have infested trees and let them know what their options are for treatment, continued outreach to the community by mailings/ postcards, and additional information on the City's website on how to identify EAB. The Forestry division has also added a new Forestry Technician whose primary focus is to assist with the implementation of the EAB Management Plan and Shade Tree Ordinance enforcement. Expansion of the division has allowed many more accomplishments this year such as: the addition of over 2,000 trees to the map -based online City inventory, responding to three times more inspection requests for damaged/ dead/ leaning trees, and assisting parks with several planting projects as well as a system for watering new trees. Staff will continue ash tree inventory along the boulevard, and next year will move to residential marking of invested trees. The Council thanked staff for the update on the plan, and their continued efforts. 6. Transportation Update Mr. Oehme provided the transportation update which included the following construction projects: County Road 50/ signal at Cedar, County Road 70 improvements, 2019 Street Reconstruction project, 179`h Street improvements from Cedar over to Flagstaff, 2020 miscellaneous roadway project, and upcoming street projects to ensure ADA compliance. Break from 7.29 — 7:35pm 7. Parks Referendum The City Council previously discussed a potential Park Bond Referendum which would include the following improvement projects: indoor turf facility/ dome adjacent to Hasse Arena ($5,000,000), expansion of Antlers Park ($7,500,000), a new community park/ ballfields adjacent to Avonlea neighborhood ($11,900,000), improvements to East community Park ($2,000,000), and renovations/ improvements at Ames & Hasse ice arenas ($6,900,000). In February a private firm submitted a proposal to construct and operate the turf facility/ dome on ISD 194 property; the school district is currently in discussions with that group. Considering the dome would no longer be included in a potential park referendum, staff wanted to see if there was a desire from the Council to move forward with a referendum. Bob Swan and Jim Storms of the Parks, Recreation, and Natural Resources Committee (PRNRC) also attended the meeting. City Council Work Session Minutes, November 25, 2019 Page 4 The Council discussed the remaining projects that would be included in the referendum, improvements needed to current facilities, and tentatively indicated they would look to include this with either the August or November election to prevent a special election in 2020. The Council would like the PRNRC to re-evaluate any other projects to include in the referendum and directed staff to review the estimates as the initial numbers were obtained two years ago. 8. Financial Sustainability Policy At the September 23 City Council work session meeting, Ms. Erickson, along with Barry Fick and Bruce Rydeen of the Finance Committee, outlined the proposed policy which seeks to proactively evaluate the long-term financial needs of the community such as funding levels, service needs/ fees, maintenance of existing assets, protection of natural resources & environment, establishing sufficient reserve, and debt reduction. The intent is to establish a framework that the City can apply to future budgeting years with the plan to reach the goals outlined in the next five to seven years. The Council reviewed the document and had some questions/ language changes they wanted to revisit before the 2020 final budget review. Ms. Erickson, along with Finance Committee members Barry Fick and Bruce Rydeen, presented the revised Financial Sustainability Policy changes which included: language to add one-time exceptions/ deviations from the policy, an asset classification chart to address thresholds/ funding goals, language added to the Environmental Sustainability & Funding sections to address exogenous costs, and a compensated leave fund for those employees eligible to retire within the next five years. The Council reviewed the policy updates and talked extensively about the environmental sustainability section. The Council directed staff to adjust the language in this section as there were concerns the present language would require the City to use energy efficient products, technology, and green products without the ability to use digression. 9. 2019 Year End Preview & Final 2020 Budget/ Tax Levy Discussion Ms. Erickson provided an overview of the 2019 yearend estimate which reflects an increase in reserves of $420K - $1.7 million more than anticipated in the 2019 budget; and presented the revised 2020 proposed General Fund budget, and the property tax levy to support general services. The new plan reduces the property tax increase from 7.67% to 6.95%, maintains the 2020 fund balance ratio at an estimated 44.8% (which is in the middle of the required range of 40 - 50%), accounts for the personnel changes that were included in the preliminary budget, and uses 2019 permit revenues to provide additional inspection services. The proposed tax levy would result in an estimated increase of $60 on the median value home ($328,500). City Council Work Session Minutes, November 25, 2019 Page 5 Ms. Erickson outlined how the tax levy was ultimately reduced as well as the challenges staff would need to address in 2021 to include: new positions, health insurance changes, need to issue debt for equipment replacement, and parking lot repairs at area parks. The Council thanked staff for their work in reducing the preliminary tax increase and finding additional spending cuts. The final step in the budget process will be a public hearing held at the Monday, December 2 City Council meeting to adopt the 2020 Budget & Tax Levy/ Fee Schedule. 10. Items for Future Discussion None. 11. Committee/ City Administrator Updates Mr. Miller - Interviews for the Arenas Manager position will begin Tuesday, November 26. Mayor Anderson - Reminded the Council to complete their evaluations for Mr. Miller's annual review. The Mayor also indicated that he and Justin completed all legislative meetings regarding the recent BATC Report - the legislators were receptive/ appreciative of the information. The Mayor will be speaking at the upcoming Minnesota Multi -Housing Association as part of a panel discussing partnership with local government. Council Member Hellier - Discussion concerning the Dakota County Broadband board's Indefeasible Right to Use document will take place at the December 9 work session meeting. Council Member Lee - Attended the I -35W Alliance meeting where the committee developed a priority list. Council Member Wheeler - The Liquor Committee reviewed RFP results for the proposed Keokuk Avenue liquor store. This item will also be discussed at the December 9 work session meeting. The Council chose a date for their annual retreat which will be held on Saturday, January 11. 13. The meeting adjourned at 9:15 p.m. submitted, y allace, Deputy City Clerk Douglas rAnderson, Mayor