September 21, 2015, Council Meeting

CITY OF SPRING PARK
CITY COUNCIL MINUTES
SEPTEMBER 21, 2015 – 7:30 PM
SPRING PARK CITY HALL
Attendance: Al Leuhman, Catherine Palen, Planning Commissioner Mike Mason. Skip Wilson and Jim Hackney and Daniel Seward and friend from 2401 Interlachen Rd.
1. CALL TO ORDER – Mayor Williamson called the meeting to order at 7:30 p.m.
2. ROLL CALL – Pavot, Hughes, Bren, Horton, Williamson
3. INTRODUCTIONS – Williamson introduced the council and staff to the public. Administrator Tolsma, Clerk Lewin, Attorney Beck, Engineer Pearson, Planner Brixius.
4. PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE
5. ADOPT AGENDA – Hughes makes a motion and Horton seconds to adopt the agenda. All votes ayes, motion carries.
6. ADOPT CONSENT AGENDA – Pavot wants to clarify on page five of the council minutes that she holds a Masters Degree in Industrial/Organizational Management.
a. City Council Regular Meeting Minutes from September 8, 2015
b. Draft Planning Commission Meeting Minutes from September 9, 2015
c. Administration Committee Meeting Minutes from September 15, 2015
7. PUBLIC FORUM – Williamson explained Daniel Seward lives at 2401 Interlachen Rd. Seward said he recently relocated from Texas. He said he looked at several houses to rent. He said the house he moved into has had never ending problems and the landlord refuses to fix anything. He has placed his rent in an escrow account and he will go before the court in a few days. There are water leaking issues within the house. He said he is looking for inspections to be performed for rental property such as a third party inspector. He said this is something the landlord can pay for in order to ensure the rental property is deemed safe. Williamson said this has been discussed over time and there are a few issues why it hasn’t been done. He said there isn’t adequate staff to take this on and the city isn’t sure about housing stock within the city that is rental.
8. PRESENTATIONS & GUEST SPEAKERS – None.
9. PETITIONS, REQUESTS & APPLICATIONS – None.
10. ORDINANCES & RESOLUTIONS -
a. Resolution 15-15: Certification of Preliminary Tax Levy –
Williamson said this was in the packet about three weeks ago and it has been discussed at a work session. He said a preliminary levy is not final but allows the county to anticipate what the taxing entities are going to propose and to give an opportunity to react. He said the preliminary levy can only be reduced, not increased. He said the proposed increase is slightly under $20,000. Williamson looks for questions from the council and Hughes asked about the West Arm Road assessment revenue and if that is coming from the residents. Tolsma explained it wouldn’t affect the levy as it’s not factored in. Hughes makes a motion to accept Resolution 15-15 and Bren seconds. All votes ayes, motion carries.
b. Resolution 15-16: LMCC Budget –
Williamson said the cable commission has undergone several big changes in staff and city involvement. Williamson said the operations amount to be spent was less than revenue but there are substantial capital costs to upgrade to high definition. He said there is a planned draw down on the fund balance as there is a feeling it is too high. A suggestion was made to distribute some of the excess to the member cities. However, he said a compromise is being pursued to distribute a lesser portion than first proposed. He strongly recommends that the budget be approved. He said approval is required by the majority. He understands about five have adopted it so far and two more are needed. Williamson makes the motion to approve Resolution 15-16. Horton seconds. All votes ayes, motion carries.
c. Resolution 15-17: Water Treatment Plant Sideyard Variance –
Brixius said this is about an expansion of the water treatment plant to remove TCE from the water supply. He said there have been a variety of layouts discussed and a northern expansion along the eastern wall has been selected. He said this will require a variance on the east sideyard. He said the site is constrained due to parking and this is the best plan. He said the planning commission held the public hearing and there were no public comments taken. Brixius said the property owner affected has no problem with this. Bren makes a motion to approve Resolution 15-17 and Hughes seconds. All votes ayes, motion carries.
d. Ordinance 15-03: Fee Schedule –
Williamson said this has been discussed for many months. He said the charge was to transfer the fees to ordinance. He said it was left on the basis where there wouldn’t be any fee changes however the document in front of the council does in fact have changes. He said they relate to building code changes only. He suggests this be laid over in order to review the budget and make any changes necessary. Williamson makes the motion to lay this over to a work session and then bring back to the next regular council meeting. Horton seconds. Hughes wonders if this is enough time to put this together by the next work session. Williamson amends the motion to read "...to lay it over to an appropriate time when this can be examined." Horton approves the amendment. All votes aye, motion carries.
11. REPORTS OF OFFICERS & COMMITTEES
a. Mayor and Council –
• Williamson said the police commission meeting was held on September 9th and the best response time was for Spring Park and they are roughly 3.5 minutes. He said Spring Park is being served very timely. He said Heart Safe Community is working to identify private AED’s and the police is interested in knowing more about these, such as restaurants and certain businesses. He said the police budget is up based on population, property valuation and calls for service. He said it is a carefully calculated formula that should lead to stability. However there has been some instability and Spring Park went up 10.6% more relative to population and property value but 17.8% for call frequency. He said the city needs to keep an eye on this to make sure we are being treated fairly. Williamson said the Mound Ninjas who entertained some and offended others with their antics are both no longer in the community.
• Bren said she’s been reading in the local papers regarding changes cities are making regarding rental properties. She said if there were ordinances in place for the purpose of inspections, it would prevent some of the problems encountered. She suggests this be looked into. Hughes said he’s been a proponent of this for years and feels rental housing inspection serves a good purpose and thinks even inspections before sale would be good.
• Hughes said the LMCD has a meeting on Wednesday at 7 p.m. in Wayzata. He said regarding the Planning Commission minutes, he likes what was said on page two about adding a Frisbee golf course behind the tennis courts. He thinks this is a great idea as it’s an inexpensive use for property that is underutilized. He said to just move on this and get it done. Bren said the PC also talked about doing something in regards to soccer and she thinks that is great. Hughes said maybe Wilkes Park could be utilized for soccer. Williamson is looking for an update as to what has been improved at the parks so far this year.
Horton and Pavot nothing.
b. City Administrator – nothing.
c. City Engineer
a. West Arm East Change Order #2 –
Paul Pearson said as background information he refers to a document on the overhead. He said the water main was replaced and up on the hill area there were favorable soils found. He said as they worked their way westerly, the soils were higher in moisture content. He said about 80 feet from the connection point they ran into unstable soil. He said it was recommended to excavate 80 linear feet of soil and to backfill and then to excavate soil above the water main. He said the good news is that instead of 80 feet it was actually about 40 feet. He said this reduced it by about half. He said there is no need to revise the change order because it was substantially reduced.

Pearson said a geotextile was used and it increased the strength of the road and they modified it from eight inches to sixteen. He said they had already allowed for four inches of gravel built into the contract so in theory they are only increasing it two inches. Pearson said because of the rain since the project started additional rock was necessary. He said this change order is being brought by the City and the City consultant due to site conditions in the field. Horton asked about adding of the more stable rock, she wonders if that will stabilize the soil more. Pearson said this will strengthen the road more to a seven ton section. Williamson said he assumes the history of the road has been researched as there has been heaving and settling in that area. He said excavation and soil correction was done previously. He said it seemed to have worked well and was more stable after that project. Pearson feels the previous correction was entirely effective and he’s worried about it being a sponge as water is going to permeate. He wonders if all these correction actions are going to result in a satisfactory resolution. Pearson said they are consistent with what was constructed in the 1990’s. He said they are proposing the 3inch minus material that is more free draining. He said seepage will be free draining to the drain tile to the catch basin. Pearson said this is porous material so it allows water to drain through it.

Hughes asked about drainage and refers to the tree diagram and he wonders how long the slope is. Pearson said they are attempting to save as many trees as possible and the clearing has been at the edge of the slope. Hughes asked if this will provide more drainage to the street than what was there prior. Pearson said there will be surface water which will drain to the bottom of the riprap and therefore keep it off the street as much as possible. Bren wondered if the area so wet was ground water or poor drainage. Pearson said it’s a combination of the natural soil condition along with the rains. He said that material could be removed however use of fabric and rock is more cost effective than exporting and importing soil.

Williamson opens this to residents.
• Al Leuhman on the east end, 4300 West Arm Road. He wonders if this moisture is being accelerated due to the holding pond and seep under the road to contribute to the moisture content. Pearson said the pond is intended to be dry and it is holding water due to a protective fabric installed. He said the fabric material will be removed when construction is finished and the pond will drain down. He said they are looking to put in a temporary riser to allow for drainage.
• Robert Hackney 4272 West Arm. He said this was presented as a water diversion with an actual storm sewer system. He said there is standing water and now they are going to accelerate this by dumping the water from the pond and he now wonders what is going on. Williamson said this entire project was a three level plan and all three options required an easement with the property owner. Hackney said they didn’t know this was conditional. Pearson said as part of the preliminary report a need for obtaining an easement was discussed. He said as far as the drainage, this water goes though the culvert, through the storm sewer and the corridor. He said there were three options discussed. He said with the third option, if not able to secure the easement, they dead ended the pipe. He said there has been an attempt to contact the property owner. Hackney wants to know where the road runoff is going to go and Pearson explained the drainage will go to the south curb line and drain down the road to the road culvert. Hackney disagrees and feels they will have more water draining. Pearson explained because of the increase in the size of the holding pond, there will be less water draining over time, slowing the drainage down. Wilson (4272 West Arm Rd) said there were a lot of things discussed in regards to tree removal and making the swale drain more freely. Wilson said he’s concerned that this was misrepresented. He doesn’t understand why there can’t be imminent domain process.
• Luehman said the petition was presented to address drainage. He said they’re finding out now that it isn’t what they thought. Hughes wants to know what the drop is through the swale to the lake and he doesn’t think the drop from the street to the lake is not very much. Bren said she did some research and she looked back in the minutes and Sippel made the motion to start the road project based upon an agreement that the swale be improved. She said she walked through the construction project and she walked across the swale by the lake and she was shocked at the condition of the swale. She said the trickle of water coming out of the swale into the lake was like pouring a small amount from a glass. She said a hard rain needs a passage way to get to the lake. She feels this needs to be addressed either through the swale or through something. Bren said she spoke with the person operating the Bobcat and this person stated this won’t work unless something is done with the swale.
• Tolsma said all of the communication with the property owner basically states that the property owner and his attorney are reviewing this. Tolsma said he is going through email as the property owner will not even give a contact phone number. The property manager has indicated the property owner is not even around. He said they’ve always had reasonable exchanges over the course of this project. He said the City has offered the best deal they can. Tolsma said he called the Watershed District to see if they can take this over and he has everyone working on this that can be working on this.
• Wilson said this project shouldn’t have been pursued if they didn’t have complete control of the drainage. Williamson said he wasn’t really in favor of the project to begin with. Wilson said the culvert problem has not been dealt with.
• Catherine Palen (4352 West Arm Rd) has the petition and it doesn’t state what exactly the petition was for. She said when the project was approved the swale to the lake was approved as well. She said there is water pooling and standing water right now.

Tape Break – 9:24 p.m. Meeting resumed 9:33 p.m.

• Williamson recognizes Catherine Palen. She said she did call the MCWD and they acknowledged they had been contacted by Spring Park City. She said the swale is unique in that there is no place to put snow so it’s pushed to the existing swale. She sid there is blacktop, gravel and debris deposited in the swale and it isn’t functioning. She said a covered drain would be advantageous to the lake.
• Tolsma said when this discussion was started they went to the MCWD and proposed the plan. Three options were discussed and MCWD said they preferred option three which is the option being pursued. He said the City preferred option one which was a drainage pipe but that wasn’t an option. Palen asked if there were any grants made available and Tolsma said they didn’t discuss grants.
• Wilson asked if MCWD looked at the swale. Wilson said this is not a wetland and shouldn’t be described as such. Pearson said technically the office has worked with the MCWD and as part of this review they asked for a wetland delineation and there are wetland vegetation plants.
• Bren suggests this be looked at and have Beck see if some sort of resolution can be reached.
• Williamson said Tolsma has worked on this to the point of exhausting every avenue. He said Beck could look into managing this drainage area and maybe offer some opportunities for this.
• Al Leuhman said he can’t fathom why a conversation with the Lord Fletcher's property owner cannot be had. He would like to hear from the city attorney why contact hasn’t been pursued.
• Williamson said city government doesn’t have the power that some think they do. Hughes also wonders why the city attorney has not been involved so far. Beck said she will do some research in order to get the property owner to respond. Hughes asked Beck if we can legally require him to supply a phone number and an address in order to serve him with a legal document. Tolsma said the problem isn’t reaching the property owner. He said they were in intense negotiations last spring. He said they were emailing back and forth but at one point negotiations couldn’t continue unless the assessment was waived. Discussions stopped for a few months and now it has picked up again. Tolsma said there was never a promise that the storm sewer it was going to be installed. Beck said she will do some research into legal options if she is directed to do so. She said there are costs associated with this and it may be cost prohibitive.
• Pavot wonders about the deposit of snow removal and thinks this shouldn’t be allowed Beck said basically it's his property to do with what he can.

The council gives Beck direction to pursue options about the drainage swale.

Going back to the change order, Pearson said a flare end section was installed but with conversation with the property owner he feels the flare end section should be removed and replaced before curb and gutter is installed because the end of the flared end section is about a foot back of the curb. Pearson said someday if things go well, they could remove the flared end section and replace it with six feet of pipe. He said it’s not part of the change order presented tonight. He said an estimate for completing this is approximately $3-4K. He said with the water conditions presently in place he feels it’s a good option if they replace the flared end. Hughes wonders when this would be done. Pearson said before the curb goes in and they were hoping for curb install within the next week. Horton wonders if the drainage pipe can be installed now in hopes the property owner will come through. Pearson said the flared end was put in to help with erosion concerns with the hope the property owner might extend it. Williamson suggests a motion for change order number two. Hughes makes that motion consisting of three parts. Horton seconds. All votes ayes, motion carries. Williamson asked for a more generic motion and he makes it for the pipe to approve a change in the discharge feature addressed by the engineer regarding the flared end to the straight pipe. Pavot seconds. All votes ayes, motion carries.

Pearson said as of today they’ve put in more rock and they’re noticing a section of 300 feet where they would like to increase the 3” minus from eight inches to twelve inches. He said the estimated cost for that work with the excavation, the fabric and additional rock is approximately $9.5K. Pearson said he is not comfortable with not doing this. He said it’s very saturated soils and Hughes confirms. Hughes moves to approve that $9,500 for the additional gravel and fabric material. Bren seconds. Pearson said they have unit prices and they'll use that as their guide so there is no need to have a not to exceed. All votes ayes, motion carries.

d. City Planner
a. District C1 Zoning Interpretation –
Williamson said there are certain uses for each zoning district and they are spelled out in the ordinance. He said warehousing is not specifically described in the C-1 District. Brixius said 4636 Shoreline Drive has been a problem site for a number of years due to the turnover of multiple businesses. He said there was a fence that used to screen part of the property and that was removed exposing the property even more. He said recently it was brought to his attention there are two interested parties in purchasing this property, one being automobile sales and repair. He said sales and services are allowed in the zoning district and conditional use permit criteria would have to be met. He said the second inquiry would be construction of a warehouse building for boat storage. He said up and down the street there is boat storage on the exterior and they’ve changed the ordinance to allow boat storage outdoors. He said based on past uses and allowing boats for external use there is an opportunity to clean up a site and build a new building.

Hughes asked about the former tenants doing boat repairs and he wonders about a flame trap being installed. Brixius confirmed. Hughes wonders about the boat storage and Brixius said all those services would be offered in terms of boat winterizing and preparing for spring. Horton asked about using the existing buildings. Brixius said the upper level or street level would be used. He said the lower area is of interest and a newly built building would be to C-1 standards. Horton wonders if this is wide enough to accommodate turning radius. Brixius said this would all be part of the conditional use permit. Hughes wonders about new buildings having to conform with architectural standards. Brixius said yes, these standards are in place and they would have to be met.

Williamson said there are a lot of issues that are raised with this property. He is concerned about the Dakota Rail property infringement and wonders about there being an issue about access to the property. Brixius said a new survey would obviously have to be performed. Brixius said he has gone through the comprehensive plan and, although it’s not a dream plan, it’s been a difficult site. He is looking to the council for direction to interpret the code as warehousing being acceptable in a C-1 District without a change in the ordinance. Brixius said he is looking for permission to go to the potential buyers and state warehousing will be made part of the C-1 District as well as conditional use.
e. City Attorney – nothing.
f. Public Works Superintendent – nothing.
12. UPCOMING MEETINGS & TRAINING – Tolsma said they are required to set a Truth and Taxation hearing and he recommends December 7th at 7:30 p.m. Williamson makes the motion and Pavot seconds to set the Truth 'n Taxation Hearing for December 7, 2015 at 7:30 p.m. All votes ayes, motion carries.
a. September 23 – LMCD – 7:00 PM
b. September 28 – Council Work Session Meeting – 7:00 PM
c. October 5 – Regular City Council Meeting – 7:30 PM
13. UNFINISHED BUSINESS
14. NEW BUSINESS & COMMUNICATION
a. Bills & Payroll – Bren makes a motion to pay the bills. Horton seconds. All votes ayes, motion carries.
15. MISCELLANEOUS (Information Only)
a. Lord Fletcher’s Noise Test Results – Williamson said a copy is in the packet. He said he had a complaint regarding a fishing tournament that was exceeding amplification.
b. WeCAB Request for Support – Williamson said he really appreciates WeCAB and he said Ridgeview Medical Center supports this. He thinks it’s important to get representatives to come in and speak to the council to determine what benefit is coming to Spring Park.
c. Mound Fire Department Press Release
16. ADJOURNMENT – Horton makes a motion and Hughes seconds. All votes ayes, motion carries at 10:32 p.m.

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Wendy Lewin, City Clerk


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Dan Tolsma, City Administrator