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10/22/2007 - 29204CITY COUNCIL MEETING CITY OF FRIDLEY OCTOBER 22, 2007 The City Council meeting for the City of Fridley was called to order by Mayor Lund at 7:32 p.m. PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE: Mayor Lund led the Council and audience in the Pledge of Allegiance to the flag. ROLL CALL: MEMBERS PRESENT: Mayor Lund Councilmember-at-Large Barnette Councilmember Saefke Councilmember Varichak Councilmember Bolkcom OTHERS PRESENT: William Burns, City Manager Richard Pribyl, Finance Director Scott Hickok, Community Development Director Jim Kosluchar, Public Works Director Fritz Knaak, City Attorney APPRECIATION PLAQUE: Presented to Larry Kuechle, former Appeals Commission and Planning Commission member, by Mayor Lund. PRESENTATION: City Water and Sewer Repairs William Burns, City Manager, stated that the presentation has been cancelled and will be presented at a later date. APPROVAL OF PROPOSED CONSENT AGENDA: APPROVAL OF MINUTES: City Council Meeting of October 8, 2007. APPROVED. FRIDLEY CITY COUNCIL MEETING OF OCTOBER 22, 2007 PAGE 2 OLD BUSINESS: L Motion Approving the Second Half of the AMF Bowling Centers, Inc., d/b/a Maple Lanes 2007-2008 Intoxicating Liquor License and Requiring AMF to Continue Sending their Profit and Loss Statements through April, 2008; and Remove Resolution Denying the Renewal of the 2007-2008 Intoxicating Liquor License from the Table and Direct it Back to Staff for no Further Action (Ward 2). William Burns, City Manager, stated that earlier this year, Council approved the Maple Lanes liquor license with the understanding that it would revisit the issue in October. Since then, Maple Lanes has increased the food portion of its food to liquor ratio well above the 30% level required by code. Staff recommends that Council approve the liquor license for Maple Lanes for the second half of the 2007-2008 licensing year. Staff also recommends that Council remove the resolution denying their liquor license from the table and direct it back to staff for no further action by the City Council. APPROVE LIQUOR LICENSE FOR AMF BOWLING CENTER, INC., DB/A MAPLE LANES FOR THE SECOND HALE OF THE 2007-2008 LICENSING YEAR. REMOVE RESOLUTION DENYING THE RENEWAL OF THE 2007-2008 INTOXICATING LIQUOR LICENSE FOR AMF BOWLING CENTERS, INC., DB/A MAPLE LANES FROM THE TABLE AND DIRECT IT BACK TO STAFF FOR NO FURTHER ACTION. NEW BUSINESS: 2. Receive the Minutes from the Planning Commission Meeting of October 3, 2007. RECEIVED. 3. Resolution Certifying Certain Delinquent Utility Services to Anoka County for Collection with the 2008 Property Taxes. William Burns, City Manager, stated there are 460 Fridley utility accounts, or 5.4% of all accounts on the 2007 delinquency. The value of the delinquencies is currently at $266,467.53. Mr. Pribyl indicates that the final count and the final value of delinquencies certified to the County will not be known until mid-November. Staff recommends Council's approval. ADOPTED RESOLUTION NO. 2007-56. 4. Resolution in Support an Application for a Minnesota Lawful Gambling Premise Permit for the Fridley American Legion, Post 303, Generally Located at 7365 Central Avenue NE (Ward 2). FRIDLEY CITY COUNCIL MEETING OF OCTOBER 22, 2007 PAGE 3 William Burns, City Manager, stated this is a renewal for the period from March 1, 2008 to February 28, 2010. Staff recommends Council's approval. ADOPTED RESOLUTION NO. 2007-57. 5. Resolution Receiving Report and Calling for Hearing on Improvement for Street Improvement Project No. ST. 2008 — 1. William Burns, City Manager, said the 2008 project is the final project in the series of accelerated street improvement proj ects. It covers 4.28 miles of City streets and the proj ected cost of the project is $3,583,000. Of this amount, an estimated $600,000 will be assessed to benefiting property owners. Another $2,311,000 will be funded through General Obligation Bonds. Other sources of funding include the following: MSAS Funds $325,000 Sanitary Sewer Fund $30,000 Water Fund $100,000 Storm Water Fund $217,000 Dr. Burns stated the resolution also sets November 19, 2007 as the public hearing date for this project. Staff recommends Council's approval. ADOPTED RESOLUTION NO. 2007-58. 6. Approval of Change Order No. 1 for the 2007 Sewer Lining Project No. 371. William Burns, City Manager, stated staff is recommending that the sewer lining contract with Veit & Company, Inc., be increased by $18,387.48 to cover the cost of additional work not included in their original contract. Of this amount, $13,966.56 is for additional sewer lining not included in the original contract. The change order brings the total cost for the 2007 sewer lining project to $73,308.95. This is well within the $80,000 that was budgeted for sewer lining in the 2007 Capital Improvements Plan. Staff recommends Council's approval.. 7. Claims (133870-134054). APPROVED. 8. Licenses. APPROVED THE LICENSES AS SUBMITTED AND AS ON FILE. Councilmember Bolkcom asked with respect to Item 1 she asked if there was a typo or if in March, Maple Lanes' number was only 3%. Richard Pribyl, Finance Director, said it was typo and the number should be 30%. He would have this corrected. FRIDLEY CITY COUNCIL MEETING OF OCTOBER 22, 2007 PAGE 4 Councilmember Bolkcom asked Dr. Burns why the delinquencies in Item 3 were not known and if it was because they had between now and certification to pay. Dr. Burns said that is correct. Councilmember Bolkcom asked if a feasibility study should be included with Item 5. Fritz Knaak, City Attorney, said that is correct. MOTION by Councilmember Bolkcom to move into record the draft report dated October 18, 2007, for Street Improvement Proj ect No. ST 2008 - 1. Seconded by Councilmember Barnette. UPON A VOICE VOTE, ALL VOTING AYE, MAYOR LUND DECLARED THE MOTION CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY. MOTION by Councilmember Barnette to approve the consent agenda as presented. Seconded by Councilmember Varichak. UPON A VOICE VOTE, ALL VOTING AYE, MAYOR LUND DECLARED THE MOTION CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY. MOTION by Councilmember Bolkcom to adopt the agenda. Seconded by Councilmember Saefke. UPON A VOICE VOTE, ALL VOTING AYE, MAYOR LUND DECLARED THE MOTION CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY. OPEN FORUM: NO ONE FROM THE AUDIENCE SPOKE. PUBLIC HEARINGS: 9. Consideration of the Assessment for the 2007 Nuisance Abatement MOTION by Councilmember Barnette to open the public hearing. Seconded by Councilmember Saefke. UPON A VOICE VOTE, ALL VOTING AYE, MAYOR LUND DECLARED THE MOTION CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY AND OPENED THE PUBLIC HEARING. Richard Pribyl, Finance Director, presented the annual assessment for those properties the City has expended resources for cleanup in accordance with the City Code. There are 28 properties involved in this assessment for a total amount of $122,173.90. The assessment will be for one year at 6'/z% interest. Mr. Pribyl said that staff would be presenting the assessment resolution later in the meeting for Council's consideration. Once the resolutions have been approved, the property owners have a FRIDLEY CITY COUNCIL MEETING OF OCTOBER 22, 2007 PAGE 5 30-day window in which to prepay. The resolution must be approved tonight to achieve the 30- day window. Michael Maloy, representing his parents John and Kathy Maloy at 8051 Broad Avenue, said that the initial document that was presented to his parents was very vague. The Maloys have attempted to get information from the City to affirm the status of their property and the City has yet to respond. The Maloys are in disagreement of the assessment and if it does go to court, they want to be clear on what will be needed. Mr. Maloy said they removed fallen trees from their property and the City charged $7,000 or $9,000 with interest. The Maloy's stated that no information was received prior to the removal of the trees. He said they presented information to City staff a year ago and asked for clarification and received nothing until October 4. Mayor Lund said when trees fall down, if they fall on your property it is your responsibility to remove the tree. If the tree was on the City's property and fell on your property, it would still be your responsibility for removal. Councilmember Bolkcom asked if the parents lived at this property. Mr. Maloy answered yes. Julie Jones, Planning Coordinator, said this case started in July of 2006. Staff did try several times to contact the property owners. Letter were sent to the St. Croix Falls address twice in July of 2006 alerting them that a storm damaged tree had fallen on the house and would need to be removed. This was from the September 2005 storm and as of July 2006, the tree still remained on the home. There was another letter sent on August 21, 2006. Councilmember Bolkcom asked how staff became aware of the tree on the house. Ms. Jones said that Scott Hickok, Community Development Director, did an inspection on the property. There is also a note with the file stating staff did try to contact the Maloys at their Wisconsin home via telephone more than once. Messages were left asking them what their plans for removal of the tree were. They received no response from Mr. and Mrs. Maloy. Councilmember Bolkcom asked if registered letters were sent out. Ms. Jones said no. Mayor Lund said there was a certified mail receipt in the file, but it was from a letter sent to Julie Beberg on September 25. No year is listed so he assumed it was a year ago. There was also a letter sent to John Maloy on August 21, 2006, so there is evidence that there has been correspondence occurring with the Maloys. The City did abate this and remove the tree but the Maloys said they removed the tree themselves. Ms. Jones said she was not aware that the Maloys removed any part of the tree. The date of the removal was October 6, 2006. Staff does give people one year to resolve the problem. FRIDLEY CITY COUNCIL MEETING OF OCTOBER 22, 2007 PAGE 6 Mayor Lund asked if there was roof damage to the home. Ms. Jones said she did not recall. Scott Hickok, Community Development Director, said that the tree landed on the home but there were enough branches to distribute the load and not damage the home. Councilmember Bolkcom clarified that the tree was removed on October 6, 2006, and asked if a letter was sent to homeowner. Ms. Jones said there was a letter sent to the homeowner and an invoice sent on October 10, 2006, stating they had 30 days to pay the bill for the tree removal. Councilmember Bolkcom asked if anything was heard from the Maloys after the invoice was sent out. Ms. Jones said no, there was no letter in the file. Mr. Maloy asked to address the objections that were sent to Ms. Beberg on September 25, 2006, before the City removed the tree. The objection that was pertinent to the issue is the tree that fell was on City property. Mayor Lund said that if your tree falls in the neighbor's yard, the neighbor now owns the tree and bears the expense to remove it. So regardless of whose tree fell on the house, it was on the Maloys' property so they need to pay for the removal. Mr. Maloy said there was a violation because the City drove on their property to remove the tree. He asked if this can be done legally without a court order. He would like to get the issue resolved, as his parents cannot be financially responsible for this incident. Mayor Lund said the owner had a year to remove the tree but it was never totally removed. There was an opportunity to remove the tree and it was not done. The City offered a lot of help to property owners in removing trees and even allowed owners to bring the trees to the Columbia Ice Arena parking lot. Councilmember Bolkcom asked about the correspondence that was sent in July and whether the Maloys responded. Mr. Maloy said he was not aware that his parents responded. Councilmember Bolkcom said they were living on this property. She asked when the property owner removed a portion of the tree. Mr. Maloy did not have a record of when it was removed. Councilmember Bolkcom asked if it was before or after October 6. Mr. Maloy said they removed part of the tree before the City did any work. FRIDLEY CITY COUNCIL MEETING OF OCTOBER 22, 2007 PAGE 7 Councilmember Bolkcom said four letters were sent and she asked if there was any ownership on the parents' part knowing there would be an abatement if the tree was not removed. Staff even allowed extra time but if there is no response, the City takes action. Mr. Maloy said the City ignored the response that was sent to Ms. Beberg at the City. Councilmember Bolkcom said other residents had to remove trees that were hazardous. Mr. Maloy said the tree was removed to the point that it was not a hazard to the public. There should not have been other costs for the City to remove the tree. Councilmember Bolkcom asked if the City had not removed the tree, if the tree would it still be there today. Mr. Maloy said probably not. Councilmember Bolkcom asked if they ever contacted the City saying they would remove the tree. Mr. Maloy said they sent a letter with a series of questions to Ms. Beberg and it was ignored. Councilmember Bolkcom asked what they thought would happen after staff did not respond to the letter the Maloys sent. Mr. Maloy said that after 30 days and the City did not respond, they did not dare do anything. Mr. Hickok said that even when a tree is lying on a house and the roots are out of the ground, a forester has to come to the house to verify that the tree is dead. The code enforcement staff did take care of that with the Maloys' tree. Councilmember Bolkcom asked who the forester was that went to the Maloy's. Mr. Hickok said it was Dave Lindquist. Councilmember Bolkcom asked the City Attorney in this case if the City did not receive any correspondence from the property owner if they had the right to take care of the tree. Fritz Knaak, City Attorney, said he has not seen the letter but has reviewed the case. The property owner was given notice and opportunity to respond plus four letters were sent. To his knowledge staff followed the procedure meticulously. The Maloys have the statutory right to appeal to District Court, but there is nothing in this case that states the City did anything wrong. Mayor Lund said that Mr. Maloy said the City had no legal right to enter his property to remove the tree. Attorney Knaak said the law states that if you have a notice of abatement of nuisance the City can enter. If a notice is provided and the owner had opportunity to respond and did not, the City has the right to enter. FRIDLEY CITY COUNCIL MEETING OF OCTOBER 22, 2007 PAGE 8 Councilmember Bolkcom asked for a copy of the letter from Mr. Maloy. Mayor Lund asked how the Maloys thought this was fraud and the information was insufficient and vague. The document states that the property had improper outdoor storage and storm damage tree and brush. He asked how much more clarity was needed. Mr. Maloy said the documentation on the work on the property. Mayor Lund said that the assessment would not be waived because of technicalities. In reality, if they had taken care of the tree that had fallen on their home, the abatement would not have happened. Mr. Maloy said they would have taken care of the tree if the City had responded to the letter that was sent. Mayor Lund said they had 13 months to take care of the tree. Dr. Burns asked for clarification as to when staff abated the fallen tree and what was done with the correspondence from the petitioner. Mr. Hickok drew a sketch of the tree on the house. He said the base of the tree was just a few feet beside the house, the tree roots were out of the ground and the tree was lying on the house. If you were to take any part of the tree on the hill down it would have damaged the house. No part of the tree could have been removed without a crane to lift the tree. The surveyor worked on this because there was an un-vacated right-of-way and they were confident this was on the Maloy's property. There was no evidence that any tree removal was done prior to the City taking care of the tree. The tree had to be removed very carefully so as not to further damage the house. He asked who signed for the letter. Councilmember Bolkcom said S. Robinson. Councilmember Saefke said he had a large pine tree fall on his home and the only way to remove the tree was to lift the tree off and then cut the tree. He can see how this removal can be an expensive process. Mr. Maloy said he helped remove part of the tree from his father's roof and it fell into another tree. He says the City removed only lengthy tree stumps. Mayor Lund said it is typically cheaper for owners to hire their own tree removal. Mr. Maloy does not know where the $7,000 came from. Mayor Lund said Fridley is an older community with older trees. A crane was needed to remove the tree and it can be very expensive. MOTION by Councilmember Bolkcom to move into record two letters from the Maloys dated October 18, 2007, and September 25, 2006. Seconded by Councilmember Barnette. FRIDLEY CITY COUNCIL MEETING OF OCTOBER 22, 2007 PAGE 9 UPON A VOICE VOTE, ALL VOTING AYE, MAYOR LUND DECLARED THE MOTION CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY. Attorney Knaak wanted to make it clear that no appeal can be taken on the assessment amount until a written objection is received. He said the letter they received would be an objection. MOTION by Councilmember Barnette to close the public hearing. Seconded by Councilmember Saefke. UPON A VOICE VOTE, ALL VOTING AYE, MAYOR LUND DECLARED THE MOTION CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY AND THE PUBLIC HEARING CLOSED AT 8:30 P.M. 10. Consideration of the Assessment for Street Improvement Project No. ST. 2007-1 MOTION by Councilmember Saefke to open the public hearing. Seconded by Councilmember Bolkcom. UPON A VOICE VOTE, ALL VOTING AYE, MAYOR LUND DECLARED THE MOTION CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY AND THE PUBLIC HEARING OPENED AT 8:31 P.M. Richard Pribyl, Finance Director, stated this project assessment pertains to the concrete curb and gutter portion of the 2007-1 project. The total number of properties is 333, with a total assessed cost of $440,557.08. The assessed cost of the street project is at $17.02 per front foot as compared to the original estimate of $25.00. The assessment is for 10 years and the interest rate is 6'/z percent. As of 5:00 p.m. there were no verbal or written objections to the assessment. Mr. Pribyl stated that staff will be presenting the assessment resolution later in this meeting for Council's consideration. Final courtesy assessment letters will be mailed to all affected owners after consideration and approval of the assessment resolution. Cliff Jacobson, 6240 6th Street NE, asked if the letter he received in the mail is what he has to pay. Mayor Lund said that is correct; but a final letter will be sent out after tonight's meeting. Mr. Pribyl said that property owners do have a 30-day window to prepay this assessment. The final number will be ready tomorrow. Jim Gliadon resides in the Melody Manner Area and wanted to praise the City engineering department and those associated with project. Forest Lake construction did a wonderful job and he is very pleased with the results. Julian Jensen, 5946 Fourth Street NE, said during National Night out in 2006, a Council member said the State and County would be paying for the street improvement proj ect. He asked how much they were paying. FRIDLEY CITY COUNCIL MEETING OF OCTOBER 22, 2007 PAGE 10 Mayor Lund said it is a City street and the State and County do not pay. Jim Kosluchar, Public Works Director, said that because they are local streets there are limited funds. The amount of $325,000 was being applied to this project, which is about 10% of the project costs. The other 90% is distributed through utility funds, special assessments and annual bonds paid under the general levy. Dr. Burns, City Manager, said that a large percent of the street construction is done through the bonding of money that will be paid back over a period of time. Mr. Jensen just wanted to clarify if what the Councilmember was saying was correct. He also commented that the sewer connections in his yard were not fixed. Mayor Lund said City staff could look at the problem. If the problem is in his own personal line, he will be responsible for the cost. Mary Milliken, 6140 Sixth Street NE, said she did not receive any information, but it may have been sent to the previous property owner. They have lived at that address since December. Mr. Pribyl said since they are newer owners, it would have been mailed to whoever was on record with the County three weeks ago. Ms. Milliken asked where they would go to get the information. Mayor Lund said to contact Mr. Pribyl. Councilmember Barnette asked if they were alerted about this assessment when they bought the home. Ms. Milliken answered no and the previous owners may be getting this information. Dorothy Wicklund, 7461 Lyric Lane, has been talking with Layne Otteson, and she has synthetic grass and no sod or black dirt was needed but she was assessed the same amount as everyone else. Mayor Lund said she was only assessed for concrete curb and gutter on the address side of the street. Ms. Wicklund said the shut off valve in driveway needs work and she has contacted Forest Lake Construction Company but has not received a call back from them. Mr. Kosluchar said he would have Forest Lake Construction contact her. Councilmember Barnette said that money was set aside for these street proj ects so the property owners are only assessed for the curb and gutter. Many cities charge properties for the street as well as the curb and gutters which can cost three times as much. FRIDLEY CITY COUNCIL MEETING OF OCTOBER 22, 2007 PAGE 11 Hong Nguyen, 6074 Fourth Street, is representing her sister and several years ago her property taxes went up a lot and now the property is being assessed for $1,341. She asked what this charge is for and how it is calculated. Mayor Lund said the $1,341 charge is for the front address side for the concrete curb and gutter that was installed in front of the home. Mr. Kosluchar said that the charge is $17.02 per foot and the measurement of her property is 78.79 feet, which totals $1,341. Ms. Nguyen asked if the figure could be negotiated or reduced. She also had a question about a tree that had a branch needing trimming. She was pretty sure it was a City tree. Mayor Lund said staff would check to see if it is a City tree. If it is the property owner's tree, she will need to take care of it. Councilmember Bolkcom asked what the total proj ect cost was to the City. Mr. Kosluchar said the entire proj ect total was $2.0 million plus and $440,000 was assessed. Councilmember Bolkcom said that what is being paid through assessments is a lot less than what would be charged in other cities. Councilmember Barnette said that to the best of his knowledge the City has never planted any trees in the City's right-of-way. If the tree is in the City right-of-way, it is the City's responsibility. If not, it's the owner's responsibility. A lot of developers planted trees in the right-of-way that are now the City's responsibility. MOTION by Councilmember Barnette to close the public hearing. Seconded by Councilmember Saefke. UPON A VOICE VOTE, ALL VOTING AYE, MAYOR LUND DECLARED THE MOTION CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY AND THE PUBLIC HEARING CLOSED AT 9:00 P.M. 11. Consideration of the Assessment for Street Improvement Project No. ST. 2007-2. MOTION by Councilmember Saefke to open the public hearing. Seconded by Councilmember Bolkcom. UPON A VOICE VOTE, ALL VOTING AYE, MAYOR LUND DECLARED THE MOTION CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY AND THE PUBLIC HEARING OPENED AT 9:01 P.M. Richard Pribyl, Finance Director, stated that this project assessment pertains to the street milling and overlay on the 2007-2 project. This project assessment involves 69 property owners. The total assessed cost is $111,823,11. The assessment is for 10 years at 6'/z percent interest. Staff will be presenting the assessment resolution later. FRIDLEY CITY COUNCIL MEETING OF OCTOBER 22, 2007 PAGE 12 MOTION by Councilmember Bolkcom to move into record updated Figure E, 7th Street Assessment Roll (Residential). Seconded by Councilmember Barnette. UPON A VOICE VOTE, ALL VOTING AYE, MAYOR LUND DECLARED THE MOTION CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY Ms. Mohamed, 6956 Seventh Street, asked why she was charged for this. Mayor Lund said it was for the new street. Ms. Mohamed said the street improvement is worse than what it was before it was fixed. She asked why this needed to be paid for when she also pays her property taxes. Mayor Lund said the property taxes doe not have anything to do with the street assessment. Property taxes pay for administrative staff, plowing, mowing parks, etc. Every homeowner in the City pays property taxes. When new streets are done, the property owners are charged. There was a public hearing about the need for this street to be done. The arguments were that the street did need to be done and the time for the arguments to not have the street done was at the previous public hearing, which was held a while ago. The maj ority vote of the Council was that the street did need to be done. When your street is repaired, you have to pay your share. Ms. Mohamed said that if a person cannot afford this, they are charged 6'/z% interest and that is not fair. She said Council does not adhere to what the people want. Maybe the money that is being spent is not being spent wisely because not everyone can afford this. Mayor Lund agreed that this is a hardship to any property owner but the arguments from the public hearing were taken into consideration. If the project is delayed, it will only increase the cost in the future. Ms. Mohamed said she never complains or comes to these meetings but she thought it was unfair and that it puts stress on people. This needs to be paid or interest will be charged. Mayor Lund said this procedure has been in place in the City for many years. The owner has 30 days to pay or interest will be assessed. Councilmember Bolkcom said that people do not have to pay the 6'/z% interest and can borrow from somewhere else. Ms. Mohamed said it is getting very expensive to live in Minnesota. Councilmember Bolkcom said that a survey is done every year to decide which streets need to be fixed. If we do not maintain the streets it will cost double or triple in future. The City needs to keep up the roads and part of this road was in very bad shape. There was a lot of discussion on what should be done, and it was decided to do the project right the first time rather than patch the road. No one is disputing that $900 is a lot of money, but the City needs to maintain the streets. The community helps to pay for the streets people drive on. FRIDLEY CITY COUNCIL MEETING OF OCTOBER 22, 2007 PAGE 13 Mayor Lund said he was sorry she was not happy with the decision. Keep in mind that whatever happens to the citizens of Fridley happens to the Council as well, because they are also taxpayers and citizens of the city. Ms. Mohamed asked why the 6'/z% interest was charged. Mayor Lund said it also costs the City to borrow money for the project. Dr. Burns said that only 22.5% of property taxes are City taxes. This doesn't make taxes any easier to pay, but the City just gets a small share of the property taxes. MOTION by Councilmember Barnette to close the public hearing. Seconded by Councilmember Saefke. UPON A VOICE VOTE, ALL VOTING AYE, MAYOR LUND DECLARED THE MOTION CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY AND THE PUBLIC HEARING CLOSED AT 9:25 P.M. NEW BUSINESS: 12. First Reading of an Ordinance Amending Chapter 11, General Provisions and Fees, Pertaining to Pawn Shop Transaction Fees. Don Abbott, Public Safety Director, stated Council passed an ordinance revising the City Code to increase pawn transaction fees from $1.50 per transaction to $3.00 effective January 1, 2006. This legislation incorporated a"sunset provision," wherein the fees would automatically revert to $1.50 per transaction January 1, 2008, unless action was taken to continue it. This ordinance removes the sunset provision and continues the $3.00 fee without further expiration. Mr. Abbott said the first pawnshop opened in Fridley in 1994. Pawnbrokers are regulated by Minnesota Law and by City Code. The City of Fridley presently licenses two pawnbrokers: Pawn America at 789 53rd Avenue NE and Cash-n-Pawn at 201 57th Avenue NE. Chapter 31 requires the Police Department to regulate Fridley pawnbrokers by monitoring operations and hours of operation, requiring pawnbrokers to provide transaction records to the Automated Pawn System (APS) daily, requiring pawnbrokers to allow inspection of premises and inventory by the Police Department at any time and insure persons have a legal interest (ownership) in the item being presented to a pawnbroker. Mr. Abbott stated that APS is a statewide pawn database that is used by municipalities to regulate pawnbrokers. This efficiently and economically shares information, and it helps detectives identify criminal activity, solve crimes and recover stolen property. It also automates checks of some pawned items against the national database of stolen property (NCIC). Only about 1/3 of pawned articles have serial numbers allowing NCIC checks. The database depends upon accurate and complete item description and entry by pawnbrokers and also depends on accurate and complete information being provided by crime victims. FRIDLEY CITY COUNCIL MEETING OF OCTOBER 22, 2007 PAGE 14 Mr. Abbott shared the billable transactions by licensee. Year to date there are $24,899 in transaction fees. Fridley is number two in transactions by city. St. Paul is number one. Mr. Abbott stated the pawn detective's duties include regulating pawn shops by conducting frequent audits and compliance checks of pawn shops, insure that the point-of-sale software in use by the pawn shops meets State requirements, responds to inquiries from APS staff concerning data entry issues and is the point of contact between the City and the pawnbrokers. The detective is assigned all cases involving property confiscations at the pawnshops, assigned all incoming property crime (burglary and theft) cases involving incomplete property descriptions with no suspect information, to perform manual searches of APS records. Mr. Abbott reviewed the 2006 costs and APS charges of $1.00 per transaction, which totaled $30,158. A total absorbed expense was $23,859 by the City. In 2006, we started the transaction fee which resulted in a much more aggressive action. Calls for service increased from 99 in 2005 to 211 year to date in 2007. They are seeing an increase in confiscations, possession of stolen property and pawning property of another person. Mr. Abbott stated that maintaining a pawn detective to regulate the pawn shops is necessary to insure that accurate information is entered into APS to identify and recover stolen property. This leads to improved ability to identify suspects resulting in additional criminal prosecutions, thereby deterring theft which reduces victimization of Fridley residents, businesses and the pawn shops themselves, ultimately enhancing public safety and quality of life in the City of Fridley. Councilmember Barnette commented that it was interesting to see that Fridley has only two pawn shops and they are the second largest ranked among the cities. Detective Pankonin said it is probably because of the size of Pawn America, which is the mega store in the entire state. Mr. Abbott said that both pawnshops are also conveniently located in the City as well. Councilmember Bolkcom asked for clarification of the transaction fees. Chief Abbott said the $3.00 transaction would include all items that are on that transaction and the investigation fee relates to the new manager's license. Councilmember Bolkcom asked if they anticipated the APS fee going up in the future. Chief Abbott said they expect the fee to remain the same as it is today. Councilmember Bolkcom said the Police Department does a good j ob of maintaining and informing Council on what goes on in the department. She asked if retail shops were seeing any difference in their stores regarding thefts. Detective Pankonin said he has not heard anything regarding thefts, but the pawnshops have said they are happy with the relationship they have with the City. FRIDLEY CITY COUNCIL MEETING OF OCTOBER 22, 2007 PAGE 15 Councilmember Bolkcom asked if people that pawn other people's property are ever arrested and wanted for other violations. Detective Pankonin said that on numerous occasions narcotics are found on them as well. Dr. Burns recalled that at one point there was not full cooperation of all retailers and asked if this was still a problem. Detective Pankonin said if the merchandise is pawn-related the retailers are willing to prosecute. Mayor Lund said the costs are still exceeded by the fee currently charged and asked if the fee should be raised to $4.00. This is costing us $23,000 a year so if the fee were raised another dollar, we may break even. Clearly this regulation is necessary and we may want to consider raising the rates again. Councilmember Saefke agreed that the rate should be raised to $4.00. He did not think a$4.00 fee would be a lot to the owners. The City should recover all costs associated with pawnshops. Councilmember Bolkcom did not think it was a good idea to raise the fees right now. A fee study will be done and it could be raised later. Councilmember Barnette agreed. Mayor Lund said since we were doing a fee study of all fees, it would be appropriate to raise the rate at a later date should it be necessary. This would give the businesses a chance to respond to a new fee rate. Detective Pankonin said they would also like Council to check on the fees that are charged to the criminals as well. Mr. Abbott said the fee was set at the $3.00 because some of the work the detective does becomes a general law enforcement practice. Rather than hand the case to someone else, it makes sense for the detective to finish the case. Mayor Lund said there are other businesses in Fridley that have cases with stolen property and they are not charged for the police time so it would not be fair to single out the pawnshops. MOTION by Councilmember Bolkcom to waive the reading of the ordinance and adopt the ordinance on first reading. Seconded by Councilmember Varichak. UPON A VOICE VOTE, ALL VOTING AYE, MAYOR LUND DECLARED THE MOTION CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY 13. Special Use Permit Request, SP #07-07, by Todd Regnier for Rixmann Fridley, LLC, to Allow an Electronic Changeable Sign (Digital Video Screen) as Part of a New Free- Standing Sign to be Installed at the LivInn Hotels, Generally Located at 5201 Central Avenue NE (Ward 1) FRIDLEY CITY COUNCIL MEETING OF OCTOBER 22, 2007 PAGE 16 Scott Hickok, Community Development Director, stated that the petitioner, who is representing Rixmann Fridley LLC, owners of the LivInn Hotels, located at 5201 Central Avenue, is requesting a special use permit to allow an electronic changeable sign (digital video screen) as part of the construction of a new monument sign to be installed at the LivInn Hotels. Mr. Hickok stated that the petitioner is proposing to construct a new monument sign. The working "LivInn Hotels" sign is proposed to be 15.4 square feet and the electronic message sign is proposed to be 44.3 square feet. Total square footage of the sign is 59.7 square feet. Mr. Hickok reviewed that the subject property is located in the southeast corner of Central Avenue and 52"d Avenue. The property is zoned C-3, General Shopping. The subject property was originally developed as a car wash/gas station in 1966. In 1982, the car wash was demolished. A hotel was constructed in 1984 as an addition to the exiting Skywood Mall. In 1991, a plat and variance were approved by the City Council for the subj ect property and the Skywood Mall property. At the time, the hotel was being sold to a new company, and they were only interested in purchasing the hotel portion of the complex. The plat created a lot line between the hotel and the Skywood Mall, which is separated by a firewall. Mr. Hickok stated that a variance was granted to allow for a zero lot line between the two buildings. Since 1991, the subject property has continued to exist as a hotel, as a Best Western, Kelly Inn and most recently the LivInn Suites. Mr. Hickok stated that electronic changeable signs are an approved special use in any zoning district except residential, provided the message does not change more often than once every 45 seconds. The sign also needs to be in conformance with the sign requirements for the zoning district, in which the property is located. The subject property is zoned C-3, General Shopping, which requires that all free-standing signage per development combined, cannot exceed 80 square feet in size. Mr. Hickok said there is a free-standing monument sign that already exists on the property, which is located just west of the existing building. The petitioner plans to remove that existing sign and construct the new monument sign to be located along Central Avenue. The proposed sign will be 59.7 square feet, of which 44.3 square feet will be the electronic portion of the sign. The hotel also shares a freestanding sign with the Skywood Mall property, which is now Menards. However, that sign is located on the Menards property and since the hotel is a separate parcel from Menards, they are entitled to have their own freestanding, 80 square-foot sign. Mr. Hickok said the petitioner is proposing to include a digital video screen as part of the sign. This type of screen is the latest technology in the sign industry and is something that we have not seen in Fridley. We are starting to see this type of technology on billboards along the interstates in the Twin Cities area. Mr. Hickok said that over the years, the City Council has approved several special use permits to allow electronic message centers; however, this type of sign will look more similar to a flat screen television. Staff has spoken with the petitioner and they understand that the message on this screen can only change once every 45 seconds, per City Code requirements and that there can not be any flashing or moving parts, including the illusion of movement on the screen. FRIDLEY CITY COUNCIL MEETING OF OCTOBER 22, 2007 PAGE 17 Mr. Hickok said that the Planning Commission held a public hearing on October 3, 2007, and recommended approval unanimously with seven stipulations. City staff concurs with the Planning Commission's recommendations. Electronic changeable signs are an approved special use in the commercial zoning district, provided the sign complies with Sign Code requirements. Rick Gliszinski, Burnsville, said it is a beautiful sign and it welcomes the people to the city. Councilmember Saefke asked if announcements could be on the sign listing events that are being held in the City. Mr. Gliszinski answered yes. Councilmember Bolkcom said that there is nothing in the stipulations that says the old sign is going away. Mr. Hickok said they are reworking their site plan and the old sign would fall into their new parking lot so he is sure the old sign would be removed. Councilmember Varichak asked if there is a similar sign close by. Mr. Hickok said there is a larger but very similar sign by the Xcel Energy Center in downtown St. Paul on the corner of 7th and Kellogg. MOTION by Councilmember Saefke to approve the Special Use Permit request, SP #07-07, by Todd Regnier for Rixmann Fridley, LLC, with the following seven stipulations: 1. Petitioner shall obtain sign permit and current sign erector license prior to installing any signage on site. 2. Message on L.E.D sign shall not change more often than authorized under Section 214.07 of the Fridley City Code. 3. Message on the L.E.D. sign shall never flash or have motion that may distract vehicular traffic in the area. 4. The proposed freestanding sign shall be 10 feet from any property line or driveway. 5. Petitioner shall adhere to city code requirements for temporary signs. 6. All trees to be removed for the installation of the new sign shall be marked and approved by City staff prior to issuance of a sign permit. 7. Existing monument sign to be removed upon completion of the proposed sign. Seconded by Councilmember Bolkcom. UPON A VOICE VOTE, ALL VOTING AYE, MAYOR LUND DECLARED THE MOTION CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY FRIDLEY CITY COUNCIL MEETING OF OCTOBER 22, 2007 PAGE 18 14. Resolution Adopting Assessment for the 2007 Nuisance Abatements. MOTION by Councilmember Bolkcom to adopt Resolution No. 2007-59. Seconded by Councilmember Saefke. UPON A VOICE VOTE, ALL VOTING AYE, MAYOR LUND DECLARED THE MOTION CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY Scott Hickok, Community Development Director, said that between the time of the public hearing and the resolution he was able to find some information to respond to some of the comments from the public hearing. He shared a few of the photographs that were taken the day of the abatement. A total of 54 photographs were taken. The photographs showed that the tree removal required heavy equipment for safe removal. In response to the statement from the petitioner about the letter that was sent certified, the City did receive it. The "S. Robinson" signature was Shelly Robinson who was working at the front desk at that time. The letter did not respond to any of the three items on the statute that relates to the abatement process so no response from staff was needed. The three items the homeowner can respond to in the abatement process are to give the timeline in which they would remove the tree, state if they are okay with the schedule of staff moving forward with the tree removal or request a hearing. The letter that was received responded to none of those things. The second page of the letter that was missing included a threat to staff if they were to trespass on the property. Because of this threat, the letter was forwarded to the Police Department and two officers were present when the tree was removed. It is important for Council to know the letter received from the property owner was not a letter to elicit an information response from staff. Staff does a good job at responding to appropriate letters but in this case this letter was quite a different letter. Mr. Maloy clarified that the threat was for legal action and did not think it was necessary to bring in the police. 15. Resolution Adopting Assessment for the Street Improvement Project No. ST 2007-1. MOTION by Councilmember Barnette to adopt Resolution No. 2007-60. Seconded by Councilmember Varichak. UPON A VOICE VOTE, ALL VOTING AYE, MAYOR LUND DECLARED THE MOTION CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY. 16. Resolution Adopting Assessment for Street Improvement Project No. ST 2007-2. MOTION by Councilmember Saefke to adopt Resolution No. 2007-61, replacing pages that were moved into record at the public hearing. UPON A VOICE VOTE, ALL VOTING AYE, MAYOR LUND DECLARED THE MOTION CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY FRIDLEY CITY COUNCIL MEETING OF OCTOBER 22, 2007 PAGE 19 17. Informal Status Reports. Councilmember Bolkcom said there is a leaf drop off at the Public Works facility on October 25 from 4 to 7 p.m. This is a free service, but the leaves must be in bags. Councilmember Bolkcom asked if there was an update on the quiet zone. Jim Kosluchar, Public Works Director, said they are in a working pattern and looking at three different options. With the contracts that are necessary to get the work done, he does not see this happening this fall. Councilmember Varichak asked how the recycling event went. Dr. Burns said that there were 430 drop offs and a large number of items were collected. The average wait was 30 minutes. ADJOURN: MOTION by Councilmember Barnette to adjourn. Seconded by Councilmember Varichak. UPON A VOICE VOTE, ALL VOTING AYE, MAYOR LUND DECLARED THE MOTION CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY AND THE MEETING ADJOURNED AT 10:17 P.M. Respectfully Submitted, Krista Monsrud Scott J. Lund Recording Secretary Mayor