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01/19/2021 CITY COUNCIL MEETING January 19, 2021 7:00 PM Fridley Civic Campus, 7071 University Avenue N.E. MINUTES PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE CALL TO ORDER PRESENT Councilmember Ann Bolkcom Councilmember Stephen Eggert Mayor Scott Lund Councilmember Dave Ostwald Councilmember Tom Tillberry City Manager, Wally Wysopal Public Works Director, Jim Kosluchar Civil Engineer, Brandon Brodhag PROCLAMATIONS/PRESENTATIONS 1. Twin Cities North Chamber of Commerce Update 2. Recognition of Officer Todd Des Jardin by Brian Weierke, Director of Public Safety APPROVAL OF PROPOSED CONSENT AGENDA Motion made by Bolkcom, Seconded by Tillberry. Voting Yea: Bolkcom, Eggert, Lund, Ostwald, Tillberry APPROVAL OF MINUTES 3. Approve Minutes from the City Council Meeting of December 21, 2020, and January 4, 2021 Approved NEW BUSINESS 4. Resolution No. 2021-04 Authorizing Use of Municipal State Aid System (MSAS) Funding for Street Rehabilitation Project ST2021-02 Approved Resolution No. 2021.04 City Council Meeting 1/19/2021 Minutes Page 2 5. Resolution No. 2021-05 Approval of Gifts, Donations and Sponsorships received between December 22, 2020 and January 11, 2021 Approved Resolution No. 2021-05 6. Resolution No. 2021-06 Approving and Authorizing a Drainage Easement and Utility Agreement with Willows Bend Senior Living LLC Approved Resolution No. 2021-06 CLAIMS 7. Claims Approved ADOPTION OF REGULAR AGENDA Motion made by Bolkcom, Seconded by Tillberry. Voting Yea: Bolkcom, Eggert, Lund, Ostwald, Tillberry OPEN FORUM, VISITORS: Consideration of Items not on Agenda – 15 minutes. No one from the audience spoke. REGULAR AGENDA ITEMS PUBLIC HEARING(S) 8. Public Hearing on 2021 Street Rehabilitation Project No. 2021-02 Motion to open the public hearing made by Eggert, Seconded by Tillberry. Voting Yea: Bolkcom, Eggert, Lund, Ostwald, Tillberry Brandon Brodhag, Civil Engineer, stated that the City received a petition from the neighborhood in 2019 to repair streets from residents on Monroe Street. Staff prepared a new Pavement Management Plan and the City Council authorized substantial budget modifications to create adequate funding and prioritization for this project. The City authorized initiation of this project November 9, 2020. The neighborhoods include Rice Creek Terrace East, Spring Valley and Harris Lake. The Rice Creek Terrace neighborhood streets include Rick Creek Terrace, Monroe Street, 67th Avenue, 68th Avenue, and Brookview Drive. The Spring Valley/Harris Lake neighborhood streets include 64th Avenue, Arthur Street, Camelot Lane and Square Drive. Mr. Brodhag stated that the work elements include removal of pavement, water main/hydrant replacements, storm sewer utility and sanitary sewer improvements, curb replacement, re-paving streets and restoration. The tentative schedule is to open the bids and award a contract in March City Council Meeting 1/19/2021 Minutes Page 3 2021, private utility work in May 2021, construction from June-September 2021, and final hearing and notice of assessment in October 2021. Assessments will begin in January 2022. Mr. Brodhag noted that in December 2020, property owners and Council members were invited to view a virtual presentation in lieu of an open house due to the COVID pandemic to introduce the project. Preliminary information was presented and emphasized the importance of communicating with staff with questions or concerns before and during construction. The notice was mailed to 246 properties, and the presentation has currently been viewed 38 times. Mr. Brodhag said staff developed a feasibility report that evaluated streets in the area and considered roadway conditions, utility improvements, and provided details on the extent of construction. City Council received the report at its December 21, 2020 meeting. The feasibility report concluded that the project is cost effective, necessary and feasible. The estimated project cost is $1,320,000. The amount of $140,145 will be paid by Fridley Municipal State Aid, $456,855 will be received from assessments to adjacent properties, $601,000 from the Water Utility Fund, $25,000 from the Sanitary Sewer Utility Fund and $97,000 from the Storm Sewer Utility Fund. Mr. Brodhag stated there are two accessible parcel categories, Low Density Residential (LDR) and Non-Low Density Residential (NLDR). There will be no NLDR in 2021-02. LDR properties are assessed for street rehabilitation only. Properties with driveways on the project streets are assessed. Corner lots are assessed on one side only. Assessment is based on dividing the proportional street improvement costs for the assessed area by the number of residential properties. Multi-unit residential properties of up to four units pay the lower of the NLDR rate, or the residential rate reduced by 50% for each unit over one. Final assessments are based on actual construction costs and all LDR units receive an equal assessment. The estimated cost per unit is $1,995 for this project. Mr. Brodhag reviewed the three payment options. A lump sum payment can be made within 30 days of the final assessment hearing. The amount can be assessed to property taxes and paid over a 10- year term with an interest rate to be calculated by the Finance Director and is 2% over the prime rate. The annual tax payment would increase an estimated $300 in the first year and diminish as time goes by. Senior citizens, retirees and individuals with a qualifying disability who meet certain criteria may request to have the assessment deferred. Interest accrues until the deferment is terminated. Mr. Brodhag said staff requests the City Council continue the preliminary assessment hearing and hear all those who desire to address Council. If so in order, Council can move to adopt the resolution directing preparation of final plans and ordering advertisement for bids for Project No. ST2021-02. If approved, staff would have a geotechnical company onsite to drill soil borings along the corridor, finalize design/plans and work to receive approvals from State Aid, continue to coordinate with private utility companies with schedules and update the neighborhood via the project page on the City's website(www.fridleymn.gov/projects). Councilmember Bolkcom said the video was viewed 38 times, but some people could have viewed it more than once. She asked if there were any questions or calls from people who could not make it to the meeting tonight. City Council Meeting 1/19/2021 Minutes Page 4 Mr. Brodhag replies yes, questions about the process and how everything would work, and the assessments and how they could pay. Councilmember Bolkcom asked if anyone objected to the project. Mr. Brodhag replied no. James Wolf, Monroe Street and Pandora Drive, said that his street address is Pandora Drive, but his driveway is on Monroe Street. He asked what street he would be assessed for and if he would be assessed for both streets. Mayor Lund replied that residents do not get assessed for both streets, but he was not sure if it was the street address or driveway access to the street. Jim Kosluchar, Public Works Director, confirmed that only one street on a corner lot would be assessed. He said the policy for rehabilitation streets is to assess the driveway side. If there are two driveways, the address side will dictate. Norma Hotvedt-Iacono, 593 Rice Creek Terrace, asked about irrigation set-up and rain gardens. Mr. Kosluchar replied the letter did ask homeowners to mark known irrigation with flags, but if they are unable to do that and the contractor breaks something, allowance is in the bid to repair at no charge. Marking sprinkler heads saves time, but it isn’t expected for a homeowner to pay for a contractor to put out flags. The rain garden is a storm water quality element. If homeowners are interested in improving the environment, they can contact us, and staff will follow up with them. Not every property is capable or suitable for a rain garden. Staff will access the property and meet with the homeowner. Dorothy Doll, 6870 Brookview Drive, asked where to find the presentation on YouTube. Mr. Kosluchar replied that it can be found on the Fridley project website There is a link listed there along with other presentation materials. Phil Borer, 561 Rice Creek Terrace, asked if there was a fee for a rain garden to the homeowner. Mayor Lund replied that there is no charge and it is voluntary. The City is trying to mitigate stormwater runoff. There is minimal maintenance that the homeowner has to do to keep up the raingarden. Mr. Borer asked what it meant to repave the street. Mayor Lund replied that two inches of asphalt will be taken off and they will lay down new pavement. Mr. Borer noted that Rice Creek Terrace is very busy with people walking on the street. He asked if there was going to be any sidewalks installed in the future. Mayor Lund thought that possibly a line could be put in the road to separate a walker/bike lane, but he was not sure if there is enough room. City Council Meeting 1/19/2021 Minutes Page 5 Mr. Kosluchar said there is a transportation plan for walks and trails in Fridley, but Rice Creek is not in that plan. If enough requests come in from individuals for walkways/bikeways on the street, staff can investigate that. Councilmember Tillberry suggested something be put on the website for people to see what a sample of a rain garden would look like. Mr. Kosluchar replied that staff can refresh the page to put a link on there with Raingarden 101 information. The property owner has to maintain the vegetation and keep it free of litter and debris. Councilmember Bolkcom thought that maybe a list of addresses of people who had rain gardens should be listed so people could look at them. Gary Stockwell, 549 Rice Creek Terrace, asked when the final assessment is done and when they would send out the final bill. Mayor Lund replied there will be another hearing at which time the final assessment would be approved. You have 30 days after that hearing to pay the bill. The bill be will mailed to homeowners. Paul Hengle, 1081 Rice Creek Terrace, asked if someone could pay off the assessment in two payments, one at the beginning and the rest in six months. Mayor Lund replied that the assessment can be paid off however the homeowner would like. If it is paid off early, they would be charged less interest. Mr. Hengle said he has a public rain garden next to his property and it is a lot of upkeep. It is a great idea but after 6-7 years, it is a mess. This is not on his property, and he does not see anyone maintaining it except himself. He is also opposed to sidewalks on Rice Creek Terrace due to the cost to the homeowner to put them in. Mr. Kosluchar replied that rain garden is expansive with a pretreatment device. It was installed by Rice Creek Watershed District and maintained by the City of Fridley. It has been a challenge and staff are trying to get better with maintenance. Mr. Hengle has done more than his fair share by being a good neighbor. Staff tries to get out there 2 to 3 times a year. He is thankful for neighbors who help, but the City will try to get there to clean it more often. He encouraged Mr. Hengle to call Public Works when this rain garden needs to be cleaned up. Mr. Hengle said that the watershed district installed the rain garden with a lot of native plants and the City sprayed and killed them, which is why it looks like a mess. The City needs to replace the native plants that have died. Mayor Lund said that Public Works will look and see if the plants can be replaced. Alec Bruns, 6800 Oakley Street NE, asked when the notices were sent out, as he did not know there were online resources. He also asked when homeowners will know when their street will be torn up. Mayor Lund replied homeowners will be kept abreast with weekly updates to let them know what is coming up. We have a good system of notifying properties about what is happening. City Council Meeting 1/19/2021 Minutes Page 6 Councilmember Bolkcom said this is a different year with the pandemic. Normally there would have been a meeting with presentations with opportunities to ask questions and provide feedback. Staff posts good information on the website or homeowners can sign up for email updates. Motion to close the public hearing made by Tillberry, Seconded by Bolkcom. Voting Yea: Bolkcom, Eggert, Lund, Ostwald, Tillberry NEW BUSINESS 9. Resolution No. 2021-03 Ordering Final Plans, Specifications and Calling for Bids: 2021 Street Rehabilitation Project No. ST 2021-02 Motion made by Tillberry, Seconded by Ostwald. Voting Yea: Bolkcom, Eggert, Lund, Ostwald, Tillberry INFORMAL STATUS REPORTS Debbie Dahl, Director of Community Services and Employee Resources, shared information on the parks master plan. She said a lot of work has been done internally with staff and a consulting firm. An update is ready for Fridley’s website on “Finding your Fun in Fridley.” This is an interactive website and people can provide feedback to staff. If you view the map, there is an overview of our current parks system, over 36 parks, and by each park there is a dedicated number to click on and you can see photos and data of what will be happening at that park. As concept plans are developed, they will be loaded into this system along with upcoming meetings for individual parks. A list of scheduled projects will be listed in the future. ADJOURN Motion made by Ostwald, Seconded by Eggert. Voting Yea: Bolkcom, Eggert, Lund, Ostwald, Tillberry Meeting adjourned at 8:24 p.m. Respectfully Submitted, Krista Peterson Scott J. Lund Recording Secretary Mayor