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12/05/2005 - 00028911CITY COUNCIL MEETING CITY OF FRIDLEY DECEMBER 5, 2005 The City Council meeting for the City of Fridley was called to order by Mayor Lund at 7:34 p.m. PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE: Mayor Lund led the Council and audience in the Pledge of Allegiance. ROLL CALL: MEMBERS PRESENT: Mayor Lund Councilmember-at-Large Barnette Councilmember Billings Councilmember Wolfe Councilmember Bolkcom OTHERS PRESENT: William Burns, City Manager Fritz Knaak, City Attorney Scott Hickok, Community Development Director Jon Haukaas, Director of Public Works Brian Weierke, Police Captain Don Abbott, Director of Public Safety Richard D. Pribyl, Finance Director/Treasurer APPROVAL OF PROPOSED CONSENT AGENDA: OLD BUSINESS: 1. Second Reading of an Ordinance Amending Chapter 104 of the Fridley City Code, Pertaining to Diseased Tree Removal Assessment Fees (Tabled November 21, 2005). William Burns, City Manager, stated since the November 21, 2005, Council meeting, the wording of the ordinance has been changed for purposes of clarification. They eliminated the $25 fee and replaced it with language that allows them to charge the actual cost of the abatement process for tree abatement. Staff recommends Council's approval. WAIVED THE READING AND ADOPTED ORDINANCE NO. 1214 ON SECOND READING AND ORDERED PUBLICATION. 2. Second Reading of an Ordinance Under Section 12.06 of the City Charter Declaring Certain Real Estate to be Surplus and Authorizing the Sale Thereof, Generally Located at Glen Creek Road and Logan Parkway (Ward 3). FRIDLEY CITY COUNCIL MEETING OF DECEMBER 5, 2005 PAGE 2 WAIVED THE READING AND ADOPTED ORDINANCE 1215 ON SECOND READING AND ORDERED PUBLICATION. 3. Second Reading of an Ordinance Under Section 12.06 of the City Charter Declaring Certain Real Estate to be Surplus and Authorizing the Sale Thereof, Generally Located at Ely Street and Liberty Street (Ward 3). WAIVED THE READING AND ADOPTED ORDINANCE NO. 1216 ON SECOND READING AND ORDERED PUBLICATION. 4. Second Reading of an Ordinance Amending Chapter 205 of the Fridley City Code Pertaining to Front Yard and Side Yard Setbacks in the S-1, Hyde Park District (Zoning Text Amendment ZTA #05-03, by the City of Fridley). WAIVED THE READING AND ADOPTED ORDINANCE NO. 1217 ON SECOND READING AND ORDERED PUBLICATION. NEW BUSINESS: 5. Receive the Minutes from the Planning Commission Meeting of November 16, 2005. RECEIVED. 6. First reading of an Ordinance to Amend the City Code of the City of Fridley, Minnesota, by Making a Change in Zoning Districts (Rezoning Request, ZOA #05-04, by Peter Borman to Rezone Multiple Properties from R-3, Multi-Family, to R-1, Single Family, Generally Located at 100, 104, 108, 112, 116, 120, 124, 128 and 132 River Edge Way) (Ward 3). WAIVED THE READING AND ADOPTED THE ORDINANCE ON FIRST READING. 7. Resolution of the City of Fridley, Minnesota, Approving the Transfer and Exchange of Certain Parcels of Land with Kent L. Craft and Kathleen M. Craft, Generally Located at Glen Creek Road and Logan Parkway (Ward 3). William Burns, stated the City is trading Tract B for an easement that is part of the Crafts' property. Staff recommends Council's approval. ADOPTED RESOLUTION NO. 2005-71. 8. Resolution of the City of Fridley, Minnesota, Approving the Transfer and Exchange of Certain Parcels of Land with Peter J. Kadlec and Richard G. Kadlec, Generally Located at Ely Street and Liberty Street (Ward 3). William Burns, stated the City proposes to trade Tract A for a right-of-way easement. Staff recommends Council's approval. FRIDLEY CITY COUNCIL MEETING OF DECEMBER 5, 2005 PAGE 3 ADOPTED RESOLUTION NO. 2005-72 9. Preliminary Plat Request, PS #05-02, by Family Lifestyle Development Corporation, Generally Located at 1314 Mississippi Street, 1340 Mississippi Street, 6421 Central Avenue, 6441 Central Avenue and 6461 Central Avenue (Ward 2). William Burns, City Manager, stated the owner of the senior condominium project, John DeMello, is requesting a six-month e�tension of the time required for filing the final plat. Staff recommends Council's approval. Councilmember Wolfe asked why they were not told that this had been sold by Mr. DeMello. Scott Hickok, Community Development Director, said he does not believe it has been sold. . Peter Eisenzimmer, 6535 Oakview Drive, asked what this item was for. Mayor Lund said it was an e�tension of time to have the final plat for Anoka County. There are no changes. APPROVED. 10. Approve 2006 Tri-City Consulting Services Agreement Between the City of Fridley and GIS Rangers, LLC. William Burns, City Manager, stated the cities of Fridley, Andover, and Columbia Heights jointly contract for GIS mapping services. This item represents the renewal of an ongoing contract we have probably had for close to ten years and has been very successful. There is a 5 percent increase. Fridley's portion of the cost for this service is $29,595 and is budgeted for 2006. Staff recommends Council's approval. APPROVED. 1L Motion to Approve the Deferral of the 2005 Street Improvement Assessment for the Property Located at 125 Craig Way N.E. (Ward 3). William Burns, City Manager, stated the owner meets all of the City's criteria for the deferral. Staff recommends Council's approval. APPROVED. 12. Resolution Establishing a Policy for Out-of-State Travel for Elected Officials of the City of Fridley, Minnesota. William Burns, said legislation adopted by the State in 2005 requires cities to develop an out-of- state travel policy for elected officials. Staff recommends Council's approval. FRIDLEY CITY COUNCIL MEETING OF DECEMBER 5, 2005 PAGE 4 ADOPTED RESOLUTION NO. 2005-73. 13. Appointment — City Employee. William Burns, said staff recommends the appointment of Sandy Stanger to the position of Accounting/Data Processing Clerk. APPROVED. 14. Claims (124359 - 124503) APPROVED. 15. Licenses. APPROVED THE LICENSES AS SUBMITTED AND AS ON FILE. 16. Estimates. APPROVED THE FOLLOWING ESTIMATES: BCG Construction, Inc. 3117 Salem Avenue South St. Louis Park, MN 55416 2005 Miscellaneous Concrete Repair Project No. 359 FINAL ESTIMATE ............................... $ 9,250.23 Palda & Sons, Inc. 1462 Dayton Avenue St. Paul, MN 55104 2005 Neighborhood Street Improvement Project No. ST. 2005 — 1 Estimate No. 7 ........................................ $72,783.33 Dave Perkins Contracting, Inc. 14230 Basalt Street N.W. Ramsey, MN 55303 71 '/z Avenue Street Improvement Project No. ST. 2005 — 3 Estimate No. 1 ........................................ $14,692.89 FRIDLEY CITY COUNCIL MEETING OF DECEMBER 5, 2005 PAGE 5 MOTION by Councilmember Barnette to approve the consent agenda as presented. Seconded by Councilmember Wolfe. UPON A VOICE VOTE, ALL VOTING AYE, MAYOR LUND DECLARED THE MOTION CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY. ADOPTION OF THE AGENDA: MOTION by Councilmember Bolkcom to approve the agenda. Seconded by Councilmember Wolfe. UPON A VOICE VOTE, ALL VOTING AYE, MAYOR LUND DECLARED THE MOTION CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY. OPEN FORM (VISITORS): Peter Eisenzimmer, 6535 Oakview Drive, asked if there is going to be an open meeting on taxation. William Burns, City Manager, said they will be holding the public hearing on the budget later in the meeting and he can speak at that time. Mr. Eisenzimmer asked about the Islamic Center. Mayor Lund said that was discussed at the last Council meeting, but they would be happy to talk to him. Councilmember Bolkcom suggested that he could go to the public library and view the tape of the last City Council meeting. PUBLIC HEARINGS: 17. Consideration of the 2006 City of Fridley Budget. MOTION by Councilmember Bolkcom to waive the reading of the public hearing notice and open the public hearing. Seconded by Councilmember Wolfe. UPON A VOICE VOTE, ALL VOTING AYE, MAYOR LUND DECLARED THE PUBLIC HEARING OPENED AT 7:47 P.M. William Burns, City Manager, stated the budgeting process is a year-long process that begins very early in the year with the preparation of a Council/Commission survey and then a discussion of the responses by the City Council and members of the City's commissions. They then have discussions at the departmental level. Council holds budget work sessions in June and in October. He thought staff was very reasonable with their budget requests. FRIDLEY CITY COUNCIL MEETING OF DECEMBER 5, 2005 PAGE 6 Dr. Burns stated the budgeting format is the same as in previous years. What goes on at the State legislature is very important and he incorporates that into the budget. Two of the consequences of the legislative session that were in our favor were the absence of levy limits, and they were given freedom to levy back additional lost LGA, amounting to in excess of almost $300,000. There were few new mandates or negative legislation as a result of the 2005 session. Dr. Burns said a number of items arose from the survey and budget work sessions. Money is budgeted for an additional firefighter and a pawnshop detective. Remote water meters were discussed and it was decided not to purchase them at this time. They discussed the rehiring of a part-time crime prevention specialist and restoring lifeguards at Moore Lake. Both of those items were rejected. Funding for Community Emergency Response Team or CERT training was discussed. This item was not included in the budget. Dr. Burns said they took a long look at the impact of the budget on fund balances. Personnel items were discussed including the firefighter position, the pawn shop detective position, a 3 percent cost of living adjustment, and a health insurance increase that amounts to almost 20 percent. They also discussed state-mandated costs for public employee retirement compensation. The Police Department would like an IT consultant to help with their many information technology applications. Alexandra House requested assistance with their funding and we agreed that for one year we would contract with them for $35,000 to continue to provide an in- house domestic abuse advocate. Dr. Burns stated a number of equipment requests were part of the budget discussions. Police squads, a new paver and paver trailer for Public Works and a new rescue truck for the Fire Department were included. They talked at length about the utility deficits and the property tax levy and how it was increasing primarily as a result of lost state revenues. Dr. Burns said the overall amount of money they are projecting to spend is up by almost $2 million or 11.6 percent. The general fund is up by $778,000 or 6.3 percent. Both the special revenue funds and the capital project funds are also up considerably. The budget for the general fund will be up by $778,000 or 6.3 percent. This is the fund for most of the City's operations excluding water, sewer, storm water, the liquor stores, and the enterprise fund. About 53 percent of the increase is for personal services. Expenditures include the cost of the new police officer and the new firefighter. They are also talking about enlarging the firefighter work week from 50 hours a week to 56 hours a week These are being done to improve our in-city response, mutual aid response, and fire inspection response. There is a cost in the budget to fund what are mostly State-mandated public employee retirement increases. A 3 percent COLA is included that adds about $250,000 to the cost of the budget. Health insurance is about a$126,000 item. They also have a few market rate adjustments for employees whose salaries have fallen behind those in other cities. That will cost about an additional $35,000. Dr. Burns said there is a$30,000 increase in "Supplies" and almost all of that is for vehicle fuel. Under "Other Services and Charges," they included about $18,000 more for legal services because of scheduled increases for the City Prosecutor and for the City Attorney. Since 2006 is an election year, they have to spend about $32,000 for the cost of administering the elections. The $35,000 cost for Alexandra House is included. The amount of $9,000 was included for FRIDLEY CITY COUNCIL MEETING OF DECEMBER 5, 2005 PAGE 7 HVAC repairs. They also anticipated a very active construction year and are anticipating about $31,000 for a new building inspector. The big increase in the special revenue funds is because the Springbrook Nature Center fund is included there as a separately-funded and accounted-for special revenue fund rather than being included in the General Fund, which added $327,095 to the special revenue fund budget. The other big increase under cable television is the amount of $188,078 which represents use of money the City is receiving from Time Warner that can only be used for replacing the City's cable television equipment. We are planning to use the money to transition from analog equipment to digital equipment. Dr. Burns stated the capital improvement fund is another big area of increase. There are three different areas where capital improvement money is spent and there is a five-year plan that programs these improvements. They are spending $202,000 for building and fire equipment. For the streets capital improvement program, they will be spending almost $3.2 million in street reconstruction in 2006. For the neighborhood street improvement program, they alternate between different wards every year. Ne�t year they will be in Ward 1. This year they were in Ward 3. The main expenditure for the general capital improvements program is for a salt storage shed. They will also use some money for non-slip tile floors in the Police Department. Under the parks capital improvement program, $202,000 will be used for drainage improvements at two of the Community Park ball fields. The south lot at Commons Park will be resurfaced and there will be tennis court and basketball court overlays. Dr. Burns stated there is only a$27,000 increase in Enterprise Funds. This amount is the result of an $80,000 cost from the Metropolitan Council and Environmental Services for sewage treatment costs. Dr. Burns said the budget is having a fairly significant impact on our fund balances. They project that the overall fund balances will drop from $16.3 million to $13.5 million between 2005 and 2006. Fund balance is being used at a rapid pace in order to avoid charging even higher property taxes and to maintain a quality level of local government services. It reflects the loss of intergovernmental aid. In 2001, 29.1 percent of our general fund resources came from the State, today we get about 4.4 percent. In 2001, they depended on property taxes for about 35.3 percent of our resources. Today it is 62.2 percent. Dr. Burns stated each year they look at the general fund expenditures in both actual and constant dollars. The constant dollar of general fund expenditures has not varied much from year to year. The City levy for ne�t year, as a result of all of the budgets will be $8,757,188. That is $689,239 more than the 2005 levy and represents an 11 percent increase or a$64 increase for the owner of the average-valued home in Fridley which is estimated at $214,000. There are other factors that influence how the City operates. New construction is up a little bit and there should be some major projects like a Target Superstore, CVS Pharmacy and a senior condominium project. Employment is a somewhat mixed picture. Overall unemployment rates are below those that they forecasted last year. They still have a little bit higher rate of unemployment than Minnesotans have statewide, but we are under the 4.8 national rate. We also looked at the number of jobs, and Fridley is still losing jobs. Every year for the last four or five years we have been losing jobs, particularly manufacturing jobs. This year we are actually gaining some manufacturing jobs, but we are losing a significant number of retail jobs and jobs in the service FRIDLEY CITY COUNCIL MEETING OF DECEMBER 5, 2005 PAGE 8 sector and other economic sectors of the City. Property values are going up. The values of residential property are appreciating much faster than the values of commercial property and industrial property. Residential properties again are appreciating by over 13 percent. The values for the apartment buildings are still appreciating but not nearly as much as what we reported at budget time last year. Commercial property has actually decreased and industrial property is up by a very small amount. Dr. Burns stated crime rates have gone up a little over 6 percent. He believed Part II crimes have increased a little more than Part I. When they look at average crime rates though for the actual categories of crime over the last five years, those categories are not significantly higher than average for the last five years. The measure that they use for public assistance is the number of children in District 14 who are getting free and/or reduced meals. They also look at the number of people who are getting public assistance from the County including food stamps. The School District's free meal program has increased around 27 percent. Dr. Burns stated the consequences of the 2006 budget include higher property taxes and reduced reserves. As we have reduced reserves, we are also seeing the virtual elimination of the police activity fund. For the last three or four years, we have been transferring about $500,000 from the police activity fund. By the end of this year, we will have used all but about $180,000. The general fund reserve is another source of revenue they use very heavily. By the end of 2008, that fund will also be completely depleted unless they do something in the way of finding new revenue sources. The most attractive way to find new revenue sources is for the State to do it. When the State shares revenue, they share it based on some sort of formula with all of the local jurisdictions throughout the State. The alternative to that is to give the cities new taxation tools. Another important issue to resolve is the utility funding issues. They have been to the ballot twice and the voters of Fridley have said they do not want to eliminate the Charter restriction on utility rates. At the same times, the accumulated deficit continues to grow year after year by well over $1.3 million. This year's deficit will be around $468,000. This reduces our ability to improve our water, sewer, and storm water infrastructure. It weakens our bond rating when we do go out to borrow money, and it provides an unfair subsidy for the larger utility customers. We do need to look at resolving the utility funding issue whether it be asking for another Charter change or taking the rate increases above the rate of inflation to the voters every time that happens. The problem is that is expensive, it can only happen every two years, and the balloting process requires a super majority or something other than a majority. Many of the expenditures for water and sewer rates are not related whatsoever to the rate of inflation. Dr. Burns said with a strong sense of pride in the quality of Fridley's services, he presents the 2006 budget for Council's consideration. Councilmember Barnette said he had not received his tax statement from County. Peter Eisenzimmer, 6535 Oakley Drive NE, presented his tax statement and discussed the various increases in property taxes and other taxes. He is on a fixed income and does not have the money. He said people cannot afford to stay here. FRIDLEY CITY COUNCIL MEETING OF DECEMBER 5, 2005 PAGE 9 Walter Squire, 6701 Channel Road NE, asked how long the double-digit property tax increases were going to go on. He asked if there was someplace else to get the revenue. Mayor Lund said he could not answer the question as to how long are they going to see the increases. What the State does affects us dramatically. We are restricted by the State in that they do not give us any opportunities or ways of raising additional revenues. We are relying more and more on our liquor fund. There has been some discussion in recent years on creating another liquor store. He said they struggle with revenues, and with trying to maintain the level of services they have had for a number of years and are not trying to create new expenses that will only make it worse. They will continually work on trying to balance the budget. Bruce Bondow, 6616 Central Avenue, said even those who are working are have a hard time keeping up with the 11 percent increases and urged Council to take a hard look at expenditures. Larry Gustafson 1641 - 76th Avenue NE, and spoke about his property taxes increasing. John Hopkins, 7374 Able Street, asked about the $20,000 spent on a telephone survey. He said about six months ago there was an ad in the paper for a recycling coordinator. He asked if that position was necessary for a city of less than 30,000 people. He asked what the total compensation was for the City manager. He said they need to look at cutting back a little here and there. They cannot afford the 11 percent increase. Mayor Lund said they could cut the telephone survey, but they are trying to stay in touch with the citizens. This is not done every year. The recycling position is required or they lose funding. Councilmember Barnette said there was a very interesting article in the Star Tribune comparing taxes of all the cities. Fridley did pretty well in comparison. Steven Ling, 120 Hartman Circle, said he had not received his tax statement and had the same problem last year. He does have a concern with the increases that they are facing. He checked other legal notices and found that many other cities only had a 3 to 6 percent increase. It also appears that their total dollar numbers were not increasing at the rate Fridley's were. He would like the City to try to reduce expenses. They have lost income from the state. They do need to come up with other revenue sources. Mayor Lund replied there was an increase but if you look at this in constant dollars, they are not spending any more. Mr. Ling stated he understands but in light of the fact the City did increase the budget by $1.5 million last year and another $2 million this year, the question he has is when will it stop. He is concerned about the City continuing to draw on reserves. It just seems like a short-term solution to a long-term problem. Mayor Lund said the City is trying to stay at the level of spending they are at. FRIDLEY CITY COUNCIL MEETING OF DECEMBER 5, 2005 PAGE 10 Dr. Burns said they are spending down our balances. As the Mayor has said, what you are seeing as expenditures is primarily a maintenance budget. The pawnshop police officer is new but even that position is one that was there before. After 2003, they held a police officer vacancy open and did not fund it. With respect to the firefighter, the City needs another firefighter. Other than that, the services that are budgeted are the same services we have had year after year. Councilmember Billings asked what services should be cut or eliminated. Mr. Ling stated he has not had a chance to review the 2006 budget. If he can get a copy of the budget from the City, he would be happy to send a letter to the City identifying the services that he feels could be cut. Mayor Lund asked if the budget was online. Mr. Pribyl, Finance Director, replied they will have it on the website soon. Anyone who wants a draft copy can call him at 763-572-3250. Dr. Burns asked if there was a copy at the library. Mr. Pribyl said there was. MOTION by Councilmember Barnette to close the public hearing. Seconded by Councilmember Wolfe. UPON A VOICE VOTE, ALL VOTING AYE, MAYOR LUND DECLARED THE PUBLIC HEARING CLOSED AT 8:58 P.M. 18. Review of Intoxicating Liquor License for AMF Bowling Centers, Inc., d/b/a Maple Lanes, Generally Located at 6310 Highway 65 N.E. (Ward 2) (Continued April 25, 2005). MOTION by Councilmember Wolfe to remove this item from the table. Seconded by Councilmember Barnette. UPON A VOICE VOTE, ALL VOTING AYE, MAYOR LUND DECLARED THE MOTION CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY. MOTION by Councilmember Bolkcom to waive the reading of the public hearing notice and open the public hearing. Seconded by Councilmember Barnette. UPON A VOICE VOTE, ALL VOTING AYE, MAYOR LUND DECLARED THE PUBLIC HEARING OPENED AT 9:59 P.M. Mr. Pribyl, Finance Director, stated this is a continuation of the public hearing that was continued from the original public hearing held on Apri125. At that meeting, the City issued and approved a temporary liquor license for AlVg' Maple Lanes. The probationary license was issued FRIDLEY CITY COUNCIL MEETING OF DECEMBER 5, 2005 PAGE 11 because AMF Maple Lanes did not meet the appropriate food percentage related to the food and alcohol ratio. For bowling centers that relationship is a minimum of 30 percent food and maximum amount of 70 percent alcohol. They have been receiving regular monthly financial reports from AMF and in October, their ratio showed food at 31 percent and alcohol at 69 percent. Staff has not included snacks, candy, or cold drinks in the food percentages and this is consistent with our position at the April 25 meeting. Staff recommends opening the public hearing, receiving the information related to the update on the gross food sales for the period 7anuary through October, and then removing the probationary qualifications should they feel that is an appropriate action for the balance of this license use. Councilmember Bolkcom said with respect to including snacks, they are not doing anything that they have not done before. There is no other restaurant that has a liquor license or establishment that has a liquor license that they allow vending machines to be part of the food sales. Mr. Pribyl said they are not holding them to any different standard than any other liquor license establishment. Councilmember Wolfe stated except the ratio is different. Mr. Pribyl said as far as actually determining their sales as related to food and alcohol, they have the same standard that everyone else has except for the ratio that relates to bowling centers. Cynthia Blanc, AMF Bowling, said they are meeting the 30 percent. They are no longer including vending information in their ratios. Councilmember Bolkcom asked what needed to be done besides the public hearing. Mr. Pribyl referred that question to the City Attorney. Mr. Knaak, City Attorney, they need to hold the public hearing, provide information on the record that justifies whatever decision they are going to take, close the public hearing, and then take action. MOTION by Mayor Lund to remove the probationary liquor license and continue the liquor license until Apri130, 2006. Seconded by Councilmember Wolfe. UPON A VOICE VOTE, ALL VOTING AYE, MAYOR LUND DECLARED THE MOTION CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY. MOTION by Councilmember Wolfe to close the public hearing. Seconded by Councilmember Bolkcom. UPON A VOICE VOTE, ALL VOTING AYE, MAYOR LUND DECLARED THE PUBLIC HEARING OPENED AT 10:08 P.M. FRIDLEY CITY COUNCIL MEETING OF DECEMBER 5, 2005 PAGE 12 OLD BUSINESS: 19. Second Reading of an Ordinance Amending Chapter 11 of the Fridley City Code Pertaining to Pawn Shop Transaction Fees (Tabled November 21, 2005). MOTION by Councilmember Bolkcom to remove this item from the table. Seconded by Councilmember Billings. UPON A VOICE VOTE, ALL VOTING AYE, MAYOR LUND DECLARED THE MOTION CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY. Councilmember Billings asked if the time period should be two or three years. Chief Abbott stated the intention when they put the language together was to reflect a two-year period. He said the memorandum is correct. Councilmember Billings stated the ordinance right now is set up to be three years and the memorandum talks about it only being for two years. He is very comfortable with the three years and it sounds like Councilmember Barnette is comfortable with the three years. Unless someone wants to make a motion to change the ordinance, it will be in effect for three years. MOTION by Mayor Lund to amend the dates in the ordinance as follows: All December 31, 2008, dates should be changed to December 31, 2007, and all January 1, 2009, dates should be changed to January 1, 2008. Seconded by Councilmember Wolfe. UPON A VOICE VOTE, MAYOR LUND, COUNCILMEMBER BARNETTE, AND COUNCILMEMBER BOLKCOM VOTING AYE, COUNCILMEMBER WOLFE VOTING NAY AND COUNCILMEMBER BILLINGS ABSTAINING, MAYOR LUND DECLARED THE MOTION PASSED BY A 3 TO 1 VOTE. Councilmember Wolfe said he does not support this because he thinks there are a lot of questions. He does not think two businesses should pay for a police officer who may be doing other jobs besides pawn shop work. It should be pro-rated. Councilmember Bolkcom said the Director of Public Safety has said there is enough work for a detective to do this full time. She asked about providing a monthly report. Chief Abbott said that would not be a problem. Councilmember Wolfe replied he just flatly disagrees and does not think they should be doing this. We do not charge a per transaction fee at the liquor store. Councilmember Billings said the Police Chief has said this person will be a pawn shop investigator. They have been told that $105,000 will be collected from the pawnshops based on the fee. They were also told that it would cost around $120,000 for this position. FRIDLEY CITY COUNCIL MEETING OF DECEMBER 5, 2005 PAGE 13 Chief Abbott replied, approximately $123,000. Councilmember Billings stated so there is about $18,000 which would be, maybe 15 percent, that would actually be getting paid by the taxpayers of the City of Fridley. He asked if Councilmember Wolfe thought there should be a full-time officer? Councilmember Wolfe replied, no. They received a report that said there was a specific establishment in Fridley that had over 30 citations and six arrests in one night. That is a relatively common thing at that particular establishment. Chief Abbott stated that is correct. They did have 32 citations issued that evening. Not all of those were patrons of that establishment but it was the officers working the detail within a fairly limited geographical area around it. He cannot tell them what the breakdown of patrons vs. others people was. Mayor Lund asked what the City charges for liquor establishment licenses? Mr. Pribyl, Finance Director, stated it is based on the square footage of the establishment but it runs from $4,000 to $8,000. Mayor Lund asked how many liquor establishments are paying a license fee. Mr. Pribyl replied he thinks there are 12. Mayor Lund said so they are looking at about $72,000. Councilmember Billings stated based on 121icenses at an average cost of $6,000. Mayor Lund stated so there is a substantial amount of money collected for enforcement activity that relates to drunken driving. The charge for the pawn shop is excessive, he does not dispute that, but he thinks significant charges are imposed on liquor establishments as well. Councilmember Bolkcom asked if the city was spending every day of the week at the liquor establishments. Chief Abbott said it was short-term, temporary enforcement activity taking place. Councilmember Wolfe asked could they do that there every night. Chief Abbott replied the business level would not support that other than for Saturday nights. Councilmember Bolkcom said people could say the same about building permits. They pay taxes. Why pay additional money for a building permit. She believes they do need to be protective and she there are some activities going on there that need to be watched. FRIDLEY CITY COUNCIL MEETING OF DECEMBER 5, 2005 PAGE 14 Councilmember Wolfe asked with the seven pawnshops, was the tota137,000 transactions or is that an average. Chief Abbott replied the total for St. Paul was 36,000 plus, from January 1 through October 31. During that same time period, we had 27,000 plus transactions. Mayor Lund asked the City Attorney to enlighten them on the discussions that have occurred with some of the pawnshops and interested parties. Mr. Knaak, City Attorney, said there is a memorandum from the Public Safety Director that outlines the discussions and conversations that occurred and it accurately reflects what was discussed. They have a copy of a decision by a Ramsey County District Court judge denying the City of St. Paul a motion for summary judgment on a challenge under their ordinance. There are some distinctions between the St. Paul ordinance and what the City of Fridley has and so while clearly he is interested in any kind of decision, as their legal advisor, it is his assessment that this case does not provide a great deal of guidance other than the indication that it is an issue that pawn operators certainly will litigate over. Councilmember Wolfe stated in his opinion, would it be in the City's best interests to see what happens or to move forward and take a chance? Mr. Knaak replied as a practical matter it will not affect the City at all directly. Councilmember Wolfe asked if the City of St. Paul loses, would a precedent be set for a future case against the City of Fridley. Mr. Knaak stated a decision in Ramsey County District Court is not binding with the City of Fridley. It would not become that until such time as it went to the Court of Appeals and a decision was made that would be against the City of St. Paul. There is just no way of anticipating at this point what the basis of that kind of decision would be. He can think of no justification from a legal point of view that would require them to delay or would even necessarily make that a good idea. John Martin, Attorney for Cash-N-Pawn and Pawn America, said he is there to present a letter to the Council requesting that the matter before them be tabled for further study and actual revision. As Council has indicated, they had a meeting at the Police Department earlier which he thought was very productive in terms of exchanging information and clearly, there is an interest in working together. Very rarely does the city council of any community have a court decision that would provide a guiding light to a matter before them. The City's ordinance is a little different than St. Paul's. Here is what is striking. St. Paul and Fridley have an APS system. Both communities pay the fee to Minneapolis. St. Paul has requested a$3 fee. The judge in the case that his office is litigating in St. Paul has said that to the e�ent that the fee has raised revenue, it is not reasonably related to regulating the business. He does not see the Ramsey County District Court judge changing his mind about one fundamental principle and that is you have to segregate those things that are regulatory from those things that are general police work. They want to do this right and they encourage the City to do it right up front, and that is why FRIDLEY CITY COUNCIL MEETING OF DECEMBER 5, 2005 PAGE 15 they think that tabling it for further study, making sure they make the distinction between the regulation and the regular law enforcement activity, and imposing a fee that is not something that is driven because there is an officer that needs to be hired and somebody has to pay for it. He appreciates the opportunity after the public hearing to address them. Councilmember Billings asked if the St. Paul ordinance refers to this transaction fee as an APS transaction fee. Mr. Martin said it does. Councilmember Billings stated, whereas the Fridley ordinance merely refers to it as a transaction fee. Mr. Martin stated the Fridley City Code states in its purpose as follows: 31.01. It can help the Police Department better regulate...through timely collection and sharing of pawn transaction information. This chapter also implements and establishes the required use of the APS system, the Automatic Pawn System. Fridley's ordinance, very much like St. Paul's, is directly located in that sphere, the APS. Councilmember Billings stated, but again, the specific item in the revenue side of the St. Paul ordinance refers to it as an APS transaction fee. Therefore, it is his understanding that the judge is saying that these other costs are not directly related to APS. In Fridley we are charging a fee for the entire transaction, not just identifying it as part of the APS. The judge has said that further the cost of processing an APS transaction does not include all issues involving pawn shops and police monitoring of pawn shops. Whereas the City's transaction fee is not limited to the APS portion of the transactions, but is related to the entire transaction. He thought there is a significant difference between St. Paul and Fridley. Secondly, Mr. Martin indicated that what they are doing with the sunsetting is to try and justify the cost after the fact. It is his understanding that the Police Department has made a presentation that by hiring a full-time officer they expect to be finding much more than the approximately one-half of 1 percent transactions that have been uncovered in the past. They expect that to be much greater. He believes the purpose of the sunsetting was not to justify the cost, but to determine whether the costs were truly beneficial to the end result. The costs related to that full-time officer are pretty black and white. They are not trying to justify those costs after the fact. They are trying to justify the result of those costs. Mr. Martin stated they could probably debate that judge's ruling on his first point. He thinks the fundamental lesson is that you cannot take general law enforcement and put it on the backs of a particular industry. And whether Fridley's ordinance reads the way it does or St. Paul's reads the way it does, that fundamental overlay is there. Regarding Councilmember Billing's second point, he did not suggest that they were going to justify the cost later. What he is urging them to do is to study what that means because it appears to him that studying it as they go is not appropriate with what he knows about this particular case. Councilmember Billings stated but at the same time, what Mr. Martin is saying, is if some judge in Ramsey County determines that to regulate means one thing in his mind, than they in FRIDLEY CITY COUNCIL MEETING OF DECEMBER 5, 2005 PAGE 16 the City of Fridley and the County of Anoka should assume that is what regulate means. An appellate court may determine what regulate means on a statewide basis or maybe an Anoka County judge could determine that regulate has a much different meaning. In the meantime, they should not worry about the crime that may exist in pawn shops until such time as they find out what the opinion is of a particular judge in Ramsey County. Mr. Martin said it is a well-written and well-reasoned decision. It is not binding on this Council or this City. It is possible another judge could go in a different direction. Given the fact there are numerous similarities from what the Council is considering, with what has already been litigated, why not take it as a lesson and step back It is an important decision, one that he thinks if it were to persuade them to table this for further study, would be mutually beneficial for the City of Fridley and his clients. Mayor Lund stated one thing that he wanted to put on public record is he got the impression from the attorney for the pawn shops that all cities are struggling with revenues. He said he does not want anybody to think that it is to try and raise revenues. Councilmember Wolfe stated there are a lot of questions. Councilmember Barnette said he has listened to Mr. Martin. This was probably the reason why he wanted some kind of a sunset provision because it gives them a chance, and they could table until they study it further. He thinks in a sense it does give them a chance to do the study. There is time to look at it, and if it is not justified, it goes away. MOTION by Councilmember Billings to receive the letter from attorney John Paul Martin dated December 5, 2005. Seconded by Councilmember Wolfe. UPON A VOICE VOTE, ALL VOTING AYE, MAYOR LUND DECLARED THE MOTION CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY. MOTION by Councilmember Billings to waive the reading and approve Ordinance No. 1218 as amended on second reading and order publication. UPON A VOICE VOTE, MAYOR LUND, COUNCILMEMBER BARNETTE, COUNCILMEMBER BILLINGS AND COUNCILMEMBER BOLKCOM VOTING AYE, AND COUNCILMEMBER WOLFE VOTING NAY, MAYOR LUND DECLARED THE MOTION CARRIED 4 TO 1. NEW BUSINESS: 20. First Reading of an Ordinance Amending Chapter 603 of the Fridley City Code Pertaining to Food Sales. Richard D. Pribyl, Finance Director, stated during the liquor license renewal process for AMF Maple Lanes, a question was raised about including vending sales within the food percentage mentioned in the City Code. This proposed ordinance helps clarify that. They are proposing fairly minor changes that would help clarify the definition of food as it relates to restaurants FRIDLEY CITY COUNCIL MEETING OF DECEMBER 5, 2005 PAGE 17 within Chapter 603. There is one additional change they would like made. Under "Restaurant," the first sentence states "any establishment other than a hotel or bowling center." After further review, they would like to strike "or" and add "but including bowling centers." Councilmember Bolkcom stated instead of putting "but" in why not just put "including bowling centers." Councilmember Billings asked if they would be requiring that the bowling alley go back to 40 percent. He thinks they should leave the language alone under `Bowling Center" and change the title from bowling center to bowling center/restaurant. Mr. Pribyl stated it licenses the restaurant and not the bowling center. Councilmember Billings replied, yes, that is why we changed it from bowling center to bowling center/restaurant. The definition of a restaurant is an establishment that has to have 40 percent. Secondly, he disagrees with whomever Mr. Pribyl talked to at the Department of Public Safety who said they can only issue licenses to bowling alleys, etc. He believes that language in 601 is in fact a reference to having municipal liquor stores. They are still allowed to issue on-sale licenses to hotels, clubs, and restaurants. It does not say that they can issue them only to hotels, clubs, and restaurants. It says that a City owning and operating a municipal liquor store may issue on-sale liquor licenses to hotels, clubs, and restaurants. He believes that is an indication they are still allowed to issue them to those types of establishments even though they have municipal liquor because it does not say "only." It does not say they are restricted only to those establishments. In 404 it says a city may issue an on-sale intoxicating liquor license to the following establishments located within its jurisdiction. It goes on to list bowling centers and several other types of operation. He does not think they need to make any changes. Mayor Lund asked if they were under any time restraint. Mr. Pribyl said they were not. MOTION by Councilmember Wolfe to table this item for further review. UPON A VOICE VOTE, ALL VOTING AYE, MAYOR LUND DECLARED THE MOTION CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY. 21. First Reading of an Ordinance Creating Chapter 205.32, 0-7 of the Fridley City Code Pertaining to Shoreland Overlay District. Mr. Hickok stated this ordinance should be ready by December 12 or the first meeting in January. Councilmember Bolkcom asked if it should be tabled until January. Councilmember Hickok encouraged people to watch the website to see when the item would come back In this case, there are over 460 addresses and it is very expensive to mail out notices. He will bring it back as soon as possible. FRIDLEY CITY COUNCIL MEETING OF DECEMBER 5, 2005 PAGE 18 Councilmember Bolkcom said her letter stated if it does not come back on December 12, it will on January 9. Councilmember Barnette asked if anyone had received any calls on this issue. He had one. Councilmember Bolkcom said the letter was not mailed until November 22. Mayor Lund stated he had received a couple of telephone calls and he could not say they were overly negative or overly positive. MOTION by Councilmember Bolkcom to table this item until the City Council meeting on January 23, 2005. Seconded by Councilmember Wolfe. UPON A VOICE VOTE, ALL VOTING AYE, MAYOR LUND DECLARED THE MOTION CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY. 22. Special Use Permit Request, SP #05-04 by Sprint PCS, to Allow Wireless Telecommunication Facilities in an M-3, Heavy Industrial, Outdoor Intensive District, Generally Located at 8290 Main Street N.E. (Ward 3). Mr. Hickok stated Keith Edwards who represents Sprint is requesting a special use permit to allow construction of a 125-foot telecommunications tower on the industrial property owned by Don Kasbohm located at 9290 Main Street N.E. The proposed facility will consist of a 125-foot galvanized, self-support monopole equipment platform and electronic equipment facility. The facility will be contained in a fenced-in 15 x 30 foot leased space on the north side of the industrial building near the rear of the property. The proposed tower is being designed for at least two additional wire carriers as required by our ordinance. In 1996 they may recall the Federal government passed a Telecommunications Act and for the past nine years a number of 75-foot to 250-foot monopole, or lattice-type tower structures, have been on the rise in both the metro and rural locations across the state. Cities have been required to recognize and accept the technology. Cities do have the ability to control the location of PCS towers; however, cities cannot take the position of "not in my city." In December 1996, the City Council established a moratorium prohibiting the construction of new telecommunications towers and antennae array. The moratorium allowed the City to take a comprehensive look at the impact of the Telecommunications Act and established an acceptable antennae facility locations map. With the moratorium in place, staff worked with a PCS consultant to get a clear understanding of the technology, issues, and to determine how many antennae locations would be required to service the community. As a result of that analysis, an approved site approach was approved. They have a map showing the approved locations. In order to install a tower in an industrial-zoned property not on the approved site list, a special use permit must be obtained. Mr. Hickock stated the subject property in this case is zoned M-3, Outdoor Intensive Heavy Industrial, as are the properties to the south and west. The Springbrook Nature Center is located directly north of the subject property. The property to the east is zoned M-2, Heavy Industrial. The existing 88,000 square foot building was constructed in 1977. Several interior alterations have been made to the building since it was constructed; however, there have been no additions. FRIDLEY CITY COUNCIL MEETING OF DECEMBER 5, 2005 PAGE 19 The property has been involved in several code enforcement cases since the early 1980s. Most of the violations pertain to an inoperable, unlicensed vehicles; outdoor storage; and dumpster screening or lack thereof. In 1986, a citation was issued to Mr. Kasbohm for storage of junk vehicles and failure to provide screening of dumpsters and a storage area from the public right- of-way. A citation was dismissed based on the owner's signed statement that he would resolve those code issues. These are the same code enforcement violations they are currently dealing with on this property and a citation is pending. The outdoor storage that exists on the site is not screened, there are hazardous chemicals being stored outside, the property is not surrounded by curbing and there are also unlicensed, inoperable vehicles being stored on the property. As a result of these non-compliance issues, stipulations have been placed on the special use permit request to assure that the property comes into compliance before a building permit would be issued for a telecommunication tower at this location. The purpose of the special use permit is to provide the City with a reasonable degree of discretion when determining the suitability of certain uses upon the general welfare, public health, and safety of the area in which it is located. A special use permit gives the City the ability to place stipulations on the proposed use to eliminate negative impact to surrounding properties. The City also has the right to deny the special use permit request if impact to the surrounding properties cannot be eliminated through stipulations. The petitioner's radio frequency engineers have indicated that the location of the tower in this geographic area or the immediate vicinity is crucial to link in with their existing system. Doing a visual search for the tower location, they identified the existing T-Mobile tower which is located on the Park Construction property at 30 - 81st Avenue. City Code requires that the petitioner prove that a new site is necessary and that usable approved sites are not located within a half-mile radius of the proposed new site. The T-Mobile tower on Park Construction is located .348 miles from the proposed new tower site. There are a few towers located just beyond a half mile of the proposed site. One which is located at Talco Industries at 7835 Main Street. The other is at the Northtown mall. Sprint's frequency engineers have determined that if Sprint located their antennae on the T-Mobile site it would not provide adequate coverage in the areas they are looking to serve. The petitioner has stated that the demands in this area exceed the ability for coverage using any neighboring south tower sites; thus, the need for the construction of a new tower. Mr. Hickok stated while the subject property is not on the approved site list for telecommunication towers in the City, it is located in an industrial district which makes it eligible at least for a special use permit. There was a balloon test done before the Planning Commission meeting. It was done on an e�tremely windy day, and was not entirely successful. A second balloon test was done on November 30. This balloon test is basically a representation of the height of the tower so they can see it from certain distances and view it from certain angles. The tower will be visible from certain views in Springbrook Nature Center. Visibility of the tower has been a concern of Nature Center photographers. Siah St. Clair has done a very nice job of laying out an illustration of where the tower is relative to the Springbrook Nature Center. He will take them then through a series of photographs and show them on the site plan where the photographs were taken from. Photos were taken and shown of the balloon at 2,300 feet, 1,800 feet, 1,500 feet, 1,200 feet, 950 feet, 250 feet, and 150 feet. Councilmember Bolkcom asked whether those were all public places where anyone could stand. FRIDLEY CITY COUNCIL MEETING OF DECEMBER 5, 2005 PAGE 20 Mr. Hickok stated they were. Councilmember Wolfe stated so roughly seven months of the year there would be a lot of leaves and you probably would not see those either. Mr. Hickok stated the early balloon test revealed there were a couple of areas of concern for Springbrook Nature Center staff and others about migration mortality. Studies of birds have shown that birds oftentimes do hit structures like this. Sprint has responded to this concern with the tower design. Councilmember Wolfe asked if studies have shown that birds will crash into the towers. Mr. Hickok replied this was a request. The alternative design of the single-shaft tower will also reduce the visual impacts of the tower from Springbrook Nature Center. At its November 16 meeting, the Planning Commission recommended denial of the special use permit. The motion was carried on a 5-2 vote. The Planning Commission wanted staff to investigate how many of these towers there were in surrounding communities and to ensure the balloon test was conducted again before the City Council meeting. In the staff report they did put together a matrix of surrounding communities and how many tower locations they have. He cautioned them to not draw their own conclusions about the number of towers. There are a lot of factors that are involved. Staff recommends approval of this special use permit request with fourteen stipulations. In response to the concerns expressed at the Planning Commission meeting, the petitioner has proposed an alternative tower design. Councilmember Wolfe asked if it was standard practice to paint the towers a specific color. Mr. Hickok said that has been a standard part of their special use permits in the past. Councilmember Bolkcom asked if it is a Sprint tower would it help someone with Cingular coverage. Mr. Hickok stated they did require that each tower facility location has the ability to co-locate, and the industry has really responded to that by having already pre-negotiated arrangements. Councilmember Bolkcom asked why they could not use the T-Mobile tower. Mr. Hickok said it does not provide coverage for the specific location. Councilmember Bolkcom asked the City Attorney if they can deny the request based on the fact that is visually impacts the Springbrook Nature Center area. Mr. Knaak, City Attorney, replied they do actually have a considerable amount of discretion in terms of what they can or cannot allow in the placement of these kinds of towers. There is a federal preemption in the sense that you cannot prevent a provider from providing coverage. You cannot exclude towers from cities. One of the factors they are allowed to consider are the unique circumstances of a particular site in the City. FRIDLEY CITY COUNCIL MEETING OF DECEMBER 5, 2005 PAGE 21 Dr. Burns asked if there had been a fair amount of telecommunication tower litigation. Mr. Knaak said there has been quite a lot. The Telecommunications Act of 1996 does provide for location regulation of placement and you are allowed to regulate that. There is no easy and clear answer. It is up to the Council. They do have the discretion and have the factual basis in part and a visual basis that would ultimately be part of a record if their decision was challenged. They have the discretion to consider that and to decide whether that is a significant and negative enough impact on that resource. Councilmember Bolkcom also asked about the stipulations and what they meant to the special use permit. Mr. Knaak replied as a practical matter that becomes a condition of the permit. If there is a breach of the terms of the contract with the property owner, that could subsequently be reviewed and provide the basis for revocation. Councilmember Bolkcom said if there were problems again with the property owner, the special use permit could be brought back to the City Council. Mr. Knaak said that is true of a special use permit. Siah St. Clair, Naturalist, Springbrook Nature Center, said there is quite a bit of research on bird mortality during migration with towers. He did not know about this particular pole. Councilmember Bolkcom asked about the migration times. Mr. St. Clair stated there are migration routes in spring and fall. Councilmember Barnette if the high lines were still on the western boundary by the railroad tracks. Mr. St. Clair said they were. Councilmember Barnette asked approximately how high they were. Mr. St. Clair said he thought they fell just shy of 200 feet and of requiring lights. Councilmember Barnette said at the Planning Commission meeting they talked about obstruction and birds flying. He said there are other obstructions and Springbrook Nature Center is in an urban area. He asked if Sprint would be paying any rent and if it could be used for the cleanup of the property. Mr. St. Clair said looking west you are going to see all the towers and tracks. If you look to the east, it is an uninterrupted horizon line of trees which is what the photographers come out for. FRIDLEY CITY COUNCIL MEETING OF DECEMBER 5, 2005 PAGE 22 Councilmember Barnette said if this helps the technology, it is important to go along with this. He said he thinks they were allowed seven sites. Mr. Hickok replied actually they had 13 sites selected originally. Councilmember Barnette asked if the Park Construction and Tyco sites have special use permits. Mr. Hickok said they did. He discuss the areas with lack of coverage or holes in coverage. Councilmember Wolfe has a question relating to potential litigation. There are spots in the Nature Center where you could take pictures or not take pictures. He said the visual impact seems minor. The pictures were taken without a single leaf on the tree. It might have been different if there were leaves on the trees. Attorney Knaak replied he could not really speculate as to what may or may not happen at trial. Council must decide. The argument has been presented that it is a visual impairment. Councilmember Bolkcom stated she thought it was really very hard to look at photos without actually being there and seeing the balloon up in the air. Councilmember Wolfe said the safety issue is important too. Steven Edwards, Sprint PCS, said they are requesting approval of a 125-foot high stealth pole. They are looking to improve coverage in the University Avenue commercial district around Northtown. They are trying to reduce the number of dropped calls or blind spots, poor quality of calls, and to basically address coverage complaints they have had. Combined with the large amount of retail in the area, he thinks it shows a demand for an increase in service. He thought it was important to understand how Sprint selects locations for towers. Their engineers identify an area of need. He goes in and identifies locations or possibilities. In all cases they look for existing towers and buildings with adequate height. In this area, they are looking for 125 feet. As a last resort, they look to build a pole because it does impact the community. It also costs more for Sprint to develop a pole. They already have an actual lease with carriers so an actual agreement with T-Mobile, would actually speed the process along. Councilmember Wolfe asked how big the tower is from 75 feet up. Mr. Edwards stated it is typically like a light pole standard. It would be the same size all the way up with just a slight taper at the top. He would guess it is probably two feet across. They have an agreement with the owner as far as enforcement of the Code and bringing the site up to Code as required by the stipulations. Councilmember Bolkcom asked if Sprint understood that this special use permit could be brought back before Council at any given time. Mr. Edwards stated he believed they will have an agreement in place. FRIDLEY CITY COUNCIL MEETING OF DECEMBER 5, 2005 PAGE 23 Councilmember Billings asked where they currently have towers. Mr. Edwards indicated the Spring Lake Park water tower and at Highway 10 and Central Avenue in Blaine. Mayor Lund asked if they pursued other sites. Mr. Edwards indicated that they had. Mayor Lund asked why a 125-foot tower and not a 75-foot one. Howard Dietrich, engineer for Sprint PCS, said that would not allow other carriers to co-locate at this location. Mayor Lund asked why the T-Mobile site would not work. Mr. Edwards stated that is identified in the coverage map. He believes the T-Mobile tower is 125-feet. They would actually install at 150 feet and basically on the map you can see the coverage. They would have to be back and ask for a residential tower. Councilmember Wolfe stated the City does not give much leeway. It is the way it has to be, so it is in their best interest to keep up the property. Don Kasbohm, property owner, said he has owned the property since 1978, and he also owns many other properties in the Twin Cities area. His property is seven acres and 88,000 square feet. He has 25 tenants, so it is almost like an apartment building. He had three auto tenants but got rid of one of them. He had some rough tenants. The City said there was some spoilage there, and he spent $7,000 and got it cleaned up. He spent $240,000 on a new roof in the last three years, $70,000 on blacktop, and $350,000 on improving the building. It is also an area where there are no residential houses. People on the weekend might go over there and dump their cars. He has tried to keep the building up as best he can. They have offered to put a fence up, about six feet high going across, so they only have one street, Main Street, where people can see the building or see much of what is going on there. Behind them on the west side it is just nature with just a small little ravine. The south side was a vacant lot until they built a nice trailer sales place. On the north side is the Springbrook Nature Center. Councilmember Bolkcom stated she is a little concerned when he said he is going to try and keep his property up the best he can. She wants to make sure he understands that with this special use permit if he has a code violation and does not take care of it, he could lose his special use permit. She asked what kind of issues they had. Mr. Hickok replied, outdoor storage. It is probably 45 days old and has not been rectified. Mr. Kasbohm said on that issue, he called the owner on two of the things that are in the front on Main Street. One of them got removed right away and they are working on the other one. FRIDLEY CITY COUNCIL MEETING OF DECEMBER 5, 2005 PAGE 24 Mayor Lund said he wanted Mr. Kasbohm to understand because he has a history of 20 years of violations. Mr. Kasbohm said he will try to keep it up the best he can. Councilmember Wolfe said he has a special use permit with stipulations that have to be followed. Mr. Kasbohm stated, no problem. Frankly they can be throwing cars out and new ones show up. Nobody is living there so people come and they will dump their garbage. Councilmember Wolfe stated that is the bad part about being a landlord. Someone else thinks you have to clean it. Unfortunately, under the City Code, you have to clean it. Mr. Kasbohm stated he put $350,000 into the building and the blacktop, and he is trying to keep it up. He offered to put up a fence. Mr. Hickok said a resident forwarded some pictures of telecommunication towers shrouded in tree cover disguises. Donna Bahls, 7514 Alden Way, said she got the pictures off the internet and believed they were from somewhere in Pennsylvania. She thought they were supposed to look like a white pine. Councilmember Bolkcom asked how much they cost. She asked if the 60-day law was December 12. Mr. Hickok said it was. Ms. Bahls stated she attended the Planning Commission meeting. At the meeting, Commissioner Dunham asked if the site plan we have now is adequate. She would suggest that this would be an excellent time to have City staff revisit the plan and assess its adequacy. If the City staff believes the plan is adequate, then we should really have minimal need for special use permits. If they believe that the current plan is no longer adequate then as of 1996, then she would suggest a moratorium on special use permits while the plan is revised and new sites are identified. Everyone would benefit if they had identified sites and this could be handled through staff in a normal way without having to have too much involved. Another comment she heard at the Planning Commission meeting was that we now have an opportunity to finally get this property owner to clean up the property. The property owner should not be rewarded for past poor behavior as a property owner. She did read the Sprint application and she was not really convinced that the T-Mobile tower would not work. Mr. Edwards stated the question came up of what other alternatives there were to building the tower. The tree idea was mentioned and also the suggestion that they install them on water towers. The question came up as to what water towers they were on. He knew of one along Hansen Boulevard. It was built about a year ago. The water 180 feet high and Sprint is at the FRIDLEY CITY COUNCIL MEETING OF DECEMBER 5, 2005 PAGE 25 top. They went on to ask what else in the area could they install on. They talked about the T- Mobile tower, and as a last resort, about actually building a tower. Councilmember Bolkcom said there was a water tower by the river. Mr. Edwards stated they would not be able to reach their coverage into the commercial areas. Councilmember Bolkcom stated she did not know they had to be that close to each other. She asked if they could expect more as cell phones became more and more popular. Mr. Edwards replied he did not think so just because of the difficulty and expense of building a tower. Mr. Dietrich said they are going to have to pay a lot for a tower. Unfortunately, it is not possible to locate it at the T-Mobile tower. Mr. Edwards said they cannot be a user of T-Mobile's tower because of its location. It does not reach into the commercial area that they are trying to reach. It does not provide the coverage that they are trying to provide to that area. Mayor Lund asked if they could work off the existing towers for the high power lines. Mr. Edwards said they often work with Xcel. They do not let them install off those towers because the foundation of those towers are not built to sustain additional antennas. Councilmember Billings stated in addition the power line is not zoned for that. Mr. Hickok said at that location it would not be right. Mayor Lund said there has been some interest on tree poles. He asked if it could be built if it was added as a stipulation. Mr. Edwards replied he would be against it because it would look taller than the rest of the trees and it would not sway in the wind like the other trees. Mayor Lund stated he was not inclined to support this for several reasons. He thinks that the Planning Commission made some valid points. He thinks they are the protectors of natural resources. He thinks that places were identified for this and that other sites should be looked at. MOTION by Councilmember Bolkcom to deny Special Use Permit Request, SP #OS-04, by Sprint PCS. Seconded by Councilmember Barnette. Mr. Knaak stated if they choose to vote not to do this, he recommended that they direct staff to prepare findings for their review. FRIDLEY CITY COUNCIL MEETING OF DECEMBER 5, 2005 PAGE 26 Councilmember Bolkcom stated she just feels there are an incredible amount of towers in their community and she does think they need to look at where their towers are and where they have them. She thinks there should be some other options. Councilmember Wolfe stated he just cannot imagine them having a legitimate reason to stop this from all the other things since he has been on the Council. To have a balloon test stop them from doing this, he thinks it is ridiculous. Councilmember Bolkcom stated before she saw the balloon test she was not in favor of this. After having discussion with a couple of the Planning Commission members and because of where it is. If you read the staff tonight they thought they should approve that. Councilmember Wolfe said he does not think they have a reason to deny this. He said he supports this. UPON A VOICE VOTE, MAYOR LUND AND COUNCILMEMBER BOLKCOM VOTING AYE AND COUNCILMEMBER BARNETTE, COUNCILMEMBER BILLINGS AND COUNCILMEMBER WOLFE VOTING NAY, MAYOR LUND DECLARED THE MOTION FAILED ON A 2 TO 3 VOTE. MOTION by Councilmember Barnette to approve Special Use Permit Request, SP #OS-04 by Sprint PCS with the following 14 stipulations: 1. The property owner to meet all code requirements related to outdoor storage, unlicensed/inoperable vehicles and screening prior to issuance of a building permit for the telecommunications tower. 2. A landscape and screening plan shall be submitted and approved by City staff prior to issuance of a building permit for the tower. 3. The color of the pole shall be "sky blue" or a similar color approved by staff. 4. The petitioner or successors shall install and maintain the proposed equipment so that it blends into the surrounding environment. 5. A 20-foot drive aisle around the building shall remain clear of debris and vehicles for fire equipment access and circulation. 6. The tower shall not be artificially illuminated except as required by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA). 7. The facility shall be designed to discourage unauthorized entry. 8. A building permit shall be obtained prior to commencement of installation of any facility equipment on this site. 9. No signs other than warning or equipment information signs are permitted as part of this application. 10. Any future placement of antennae on the tower shall require review by the City to determine if the equipment location requires additional stipulations or a revised special use permit. 11. The petitioner to provide the City with structural plans on how the tower will break apart in a high wind event and will not fall over. (Code requires towers to collapse upon themselves rather than tipping in e�treme wind conditions.) FRIDLEY CITY COUNCIL MEETING OF DECEMBER 5, 2005 PAGE 27 12. The petitioner to provide the City with a soil report and footing analysis indicating that the existing soils and footings can support the tower. 13. A grading and drainage plan shall be submitted and approved by City engineering staff prior to issuance of a building permit for the tower, to alleviate existing storm water problems. 14. Necessary storm water flow controls and curbing, as required in the M-3 code, will be installed prior to issuance of a building permit for the telecommunications tower. Seconded by Councilmember Wolfe. UPON A VOICE VOTE, COUNCILMEMBER BARNETTE, COUNCILMEMBER BILLINGS AND COUNCILMEMBER WOLFE VOTING AYE AND MAYOR LUND AND COUNCILMEMBER BOLKCOM VOTING NAY, MAYOR LUND DECLARED THE MOTION CARRIED ON A 3 TO 2 VOTE. MOTION by Councilmember Billings to add the following three stipulations: 15. During the life of this special use permit, the property owner shall not allow any Code violations including, but not limited to, outdoor storage, inoperable vehicles, and proper screening. 16. If City staff believes that an inappropriate number of Code violations occur and/or not corrected and remedied in a timely manner, this special use permit shall be scheduled for review of revocation by the City Council. 17. If the City Council revokes the special use permit, the tower shall be removed within 60 days after the revocation action. Seconded by Councilmember Barnette. Mayor Lund stated relating to No. 16 he would like the stipulation to say the special use permit shall be scheduled for review of revocation. UPON A VOICE VOTE, ALL VOTING AYE, MAYOR LUND DECLARED THE MOTION CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY. 23. Informal Status Reports. Dr. Burns stated the City newsletter is out. MOTION by Councilmember Barnette to adjourn. Seconded by Councilmember Wolfe. Peter Borman, 120 River Edge Way, asked about Item No. 6. He wanted to ask about waiving the fee. Councilmember Billings explained that it was a consent agenda item, and unless there is some disagreement, they are all approved at once. FRIDLEY CITY COUNCIL MEETING OF DECEMBER 5, 2005 PAGE 28 Mr. Borman asked what the itemized costs were. Mr. Hickok said a lot of time is spent on the application. It is his recommendation that they do not waive the fee on this matter. It would be a bad precedent. Dr. Burns asked if they have anything from their fee analysis in writing. Mr. Hickok stated he would be glad to provide that. UPON A VOICE VOTE, ALL VOTING AYE, MAYOR LUND DECLARED THE MEETING ADJOURNED AT 12:15 A.M. Respectfully submitted by, Denise M. Johnson Scott J. Lund Recording Secretary Mayor