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07/10/2006 - 00027559CITY COUNCIL MEETING CITY OF FRIDLEY JULY 10, 2006 The City Council meeting for the City of Fridley was called to order by Mayor Lund at 7:28 p.m. ROLL CALL: MEMBERS PRESENT: Mayor Lund Councilmember-at-Large Barnette Councilmember Billings Councilmember Bolkcom MEMBERS ABSENT: Councilmember Wolfe OTHERS PRESENT: William Burns, City Manager Fritz Knaak, City Attorney Scott Hickok, Community Development Director Jon Haukaas, Public Works Director Julie Jonas, Planning Coordinator APPROVAL OF PROPOSED CONSENT AGENDA: APPROVAL OF MINUTES: City Council Meeting of June 26, 2006. APPROVED. NEW BUSINESS: 1. Replace Special Use Permit, SP #73-05, with Special Use Permit, SP #06-08, for Sinclair Fridley, Generally Located at 6071 University Avenue N.E. (Ward 1) William Burns, City Manager, stated at the June 26 meeting, staff and Council reviewed compliance with Special Use Permit, SP #73-05. Since then, staff has noticed substantial compliance with the conditions of this permit. Staff does note, however, there are some continued problems regarding parking of the vehicles. Although they are not recommending the revocation of the permit, they are recommending replacement of the special use permit with a new one. The list of the modified stipulations for the new special use permit, SP #06-08, includes stipulations that vehicles park at least 15 feet from the propane and gasoline tanks. Staff recommends Council's approval . FRIDLEY CITY COUNCIL MEETING OF JULY 10, 2006 PAGE 2 THIS ITEM WAS REMOVED FROM THE CONSENT AGENDA AND PLACED ON THE REGULAR AGENDA. 2. Receive Bids and Award Gateway West 3rd Street Improvement Project No. ST2006 — 3 (Ward 3). William Burns, City Manager, stated staff is recommending the contract be awarded to the low bidder, Midwest Asphalt, for the sum of $276,194.70. The 1,320 foot reconstruction project will begin within the ne�t two weeks. Staff recommends Council's approval. THIS ITEM WAS REMOVED FROM THE CONSENT AGENDA AND PLACED ON THE REGULAR AGENDA. 3. Receive Bids and Award HRA Decorative Fence Project No. 2006 — 1. William Burns, City Manager, stated this is in conjunction with the Fridley HRA Gateway West project. Staff received one bid for a decorative fence that will run between 57th Place and 61st Avenue. The low bid was provided by Crowley Company, Inc., in the amount of $318,967.26. A contractor will install the brick bollard and anodized aluminum fence from the University Avenue side of the public right-of-way and seek to minimize disturbance of existing vegetation. Staff recommends award of the contract to Crowley Company, Inc. THIS ITEM WAS REMOVED FROM THE CONSENT AGENDA AND ON THE REGULAR AGENDA. 4. Resolution Declaring the Necessity to Increase the Water, Storm Water and Sanitary Sewer Rates in Excess of the Inflationary Index or 5%, Whichever is Less, as Required by Section 7.02 of the Fridley City Charter. William Burns, stated since the inception of the Charter amendment which limits utility rate increases, the City has been struggling to balance annual utility revenues and expenditures. The deficit between utility revenues and expenditures has grown from $250,000 in 2002 to a projected $627,596 in 2007. Although we have been able to use utility reserves to cover deficits, the reserves are rapidly shrinking. At the same time, the need for utility capital improvements continues. In 2005, the cost of the water system in Fridley was $1,000,000. In 2006, we are spending $478,500, and ne�t year we expect to spend $765,000 for repair of valves, water main replacement, and repair of the elevated water storage tanks. Since revenue bonds are not feasible under circumstances where the utility systems do not generate positive net revenues, we are forced to place an additional burden on reserves for these projects. Staff recommends Council's approval of the resolution. THIS ITEM WAS REMOVED FROM THE CONSENT AGENDA AND PLACED ON THE REGULAR AGENDA. 5. Resolution Authorizing Participation in the Safe and Sober Communities Grant Program. FRIDLEY CITY COUNCIL MEETING OF JULY 10, 2006 PAGE 3 William Burns, City Manager, stated Fridley is once again proposing to join other Anoka County cities to sponsor a safe and sober campaign. The grant for this campaign is provided by the Federal Office of Traffic Safety and channeled through the Minnesota Department of Public Safety to local law enforcement agencies. Appro�mately $5,000 per community will be used to provide joint traffic enforcement programs on major holidays and high school graduations. The grant money will also be used for traffic safety-related public education and officer training. The resolution authorizes the Fridley Police Department to join Anoka County and designates the City of Coon Rapids as the fiscal agent for this project. Staff recommends Council's approval. ADOPTED RESOLUTION NO. 2006-43. 6. Claims (127248 — 127398). APPROVED. 7. Licenses. APPROVED THE LICENSES AS SUBMITTED AND AS ON FILE. 8. Estimates. APPROVED THE FOLLOWING ESTIMATES: Maertens-Brenny Construction Company 8251 Main Street N.E. Fridley, MN 55432 Locke Park Water Treatment Plant Improvements Estimate No. 5 ...................... $ 16,031.25 Park Construction, Inc. 500 — 73rd Avenue N.E. Suite 123 Fridley, MN 55432 2006 Street Improvement Project No. ST2006 - Estimate No. 2 ...................... $559,372.68 Palda & Sons, Inc. 1462 Dayton Avenue St. Paul, MN 55104 2005 Street Improvement Project No. ST2005 - 1 Estimate No. 2 ...................... $ 147,142.88 FRIDLEY CITY COUNCIL MEETING OF JULY 10, 2006 PAGE 4 MOTION by Councilmember Bolkcom to approve the consent agenda as presented with the removal of Items 1, 2, 3, and 4. Seconded by Councilmember Billings. UPON A VOICE VOTE, ALL VOTING AYE, MAYOR LUND DECLARED THE MOTION CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY. ADOPTION OF THE AGENDA: MOTION by Councilmember Billings to approve the agenda with the addition of Items 1, 2, 3 and 4 from the consent agenda. Seconded by Councilmember Bolkcom. UPON A VOICE VOTE, ALL VOTING AYE, MAYOR LUND DECLARED THE MOTION CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY. 1. Replace Special Use Permit, SP #73-05, with Special Use Permit, SP #06-08, for Sinclair Fridley, Generally Located at 6071 University Avenue N.E. (Ward 1) Councilmember Billings asked Mr. Hickok if the business owner was sent a copy of the new stipulations. Scott Hickok, Community Development Director, replied, yes. Councilmember Billings asked if they had heard back from the owner. Mr. Hickok replied, no, they did not. Councilmember Billings stated he was a little curious about Stipulation No. 10 that said vehicles shall not be stored for more than 48 hours on the site. He asked if that was in the City Code or it was a stipulation. Mr. Hickok replied that is an element of the City Code that currently exists for auto repair operations. It is also a component of a 1983 letter specifically related to the Sinclair station. It is something that already applies to the station and is simply being reiterated as a stipulation here. Councilmember Billings stated his concern is what happens if somebody comes in, asks for some work to be done on their car, agrees to have it done, and then decides they do not have the money to pay for it. He asked how that would be handled. Mr. Hickok said they need to have an alternative location where vehicles can stay, probably not in this City because it is not typical that vehicles are able to stay for any period of time in a commercial or industrial entity. Councilmember Billings asked so they are not allowed to pull it inside the station each night and pull it out and get it out of the way while they work on other cars and then pull it back in so they keep it under lock and key and observation. FRIDLEY CITY COUNCIL MEETING OF JULY 10, 2006 PAGE 5 Mr. Hickok replied if it is constantly remaining on the site, it has the effect of being there for more than 48 hours. If it is a vehicle that has stayed there for a month, whether it is pulled inside or not, it takes on the appearance of a place where vehicles are staying for an e�tended period of time. This stipulation is meant to say that they cannot do that. If they cannot get them in and out, they should not accept the vehicle. Councilmember Billings asked the station owner if he has received a copy of the 13 stipulations. Sinclair Station Business Owner said he did. Councilmember Billings asked the station owner if he was in agreement with the 13 stipulations. Sinclair Station Business Owner said he was. Councilmember Billings asked the station owner if he understood the 13 stipulations. Sinclair Station Business Owner said he does. MOTION by Councilmember Billings to repeal Special Use Permit, SP #73-05, and approve Special Use Permit, SP #06-08 for Sinclair Fridley, Generally Located at 6071 University Avenue N.E., with the following thirteen stipulations. 1. To maintain the site in a manner that is compliant with requirements of City Code, particularly the C-2 zoning district and Code Section 205.14. 2. Vehicles shall not park closer than 15 feet to the propane tank, in any direction. 3. Vehicles shall not park closer than 15 feet to the gasoline pumps, in any direction. 4. Vehicles leaking fluid shall not be stored outside without a device to prevent fluids from running off-site. 5. In accordance with C-2 zoning requirements for service stations, no heavy-duty car repairs shall be performed on-site. Heavy-duty car repairs include, but are not limited to, repairs on transmissions, engines, drive shafts and front ends and bodywork. 6. Alternations to the site shall comply with the International Building Code (IBC) and International Fire Code (IFC). 7. The signage shall comply with Chapter 214 of the City Code. 8. Maintain current licenses per any and all City, County and State requirements. 9. No outside storage items shall be visible from the public right-of-way. 10. Vehicles shall not be stored for more than 48 hours on-site. 11. The drive aisles and entrances shall be kept clear. 12. Vehicles shall be parked in stalls that are striped and designated for parking. 13. No sale or display for sale of automobiles. Seconded by Councilmember Bolkcom. FRIDLEY CITY COUNCIL MEETING OF JULY 10, 2006 PAGE 6 UPON A VOICE VOTE, ALL VOTING AYE, MAYOR LUND DECLARED THE MOTION CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY. 2. Receive Bids and Award Gateway West 3rd Street Improvement Project No. ST2006 — 3 (Ward 3) Councilmember Billings noted they received two bids. The successful bidder was something like between 55 and 60 percent of a second bidder. He asked about the drastic difference between the two bids. Jon Haukaas, Public Works Director, replied he did not have a good answer why there is such a large spread. They did have a good amount of contractors picking up the plans and looking at them. The final low bid is very close to what they had estimated which is why they are bringing it forward. Councilmember Billings asked if the low bidder is doing other work in the City of Fridley currently. Mr. Haukaas replied, not currently. Councilmember Billings asked if they have other contracts here this summer. Mr. Haukaas replied, he did not believe so. They have done work for the City in the past. Councilmember Bolkcom commented this is a little bit unusual for an HRA street improvement project, not to have a premeeting because of the timing, but there has been a few letters sent out to the neighborhood and there have been three comments. She asked if a meeting could be put together for the neighborhood in the ne�t couple weeks. Mr. Haukaas stated they are going to try and have a preconstruction meeting with the contractor later this week and get some of their information as to when they want to mobilize and schedule their work They did just recently decide to have that. Dr. Burns' consent agenda said they would start within two weeks. That may get pushed back slightly, but they still have some tight deadlines on this project. They want to get it in before September 1. MOTION by Councilmember Billings to receive the bids and award the Gateway West 3ra Street Improvement Project No. ST2006-3 to Midwest Asphalt in the amount of $276,194.70. Seconded by Councilmember Bolkcom. UPON A VOICE VOTE, ALL VOTING AYE, MAYOR LUND DECLARED THE MOTION CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY. 3. Receive Bids and Award HRA Decorative Fence Project No. 2006 — 13 Stephen Quenroe, 5859 Third Street N.E., stated what concerns him about the project is taking out all the trees behind his property and having to look at University when it has taken probably FRIDLEY CITY COUNCIL MEETING OF JULY 10, 2006 PAGE 7 15 to 20 years to get growth there. The trees deter trash from being thrown everywhere which happens down the road where there are no trees. He thought it should be possibly looked at in a different manner. If not, some trees should be planted. Mayor Lund asked if he was opposed to the decorative fence. Mr. Quenroe said he was and a lot of his neighbors agree, too. They could not be at the meeting. Councilmember Bolkcom stated there has been some discussion about this in the past and they have sent out some letters. As far as she knows, they have not received very much information or comments from the neighborhood. The problem with planting trees along there is maintaining them. They have heard comments from people over and over again that University is the gateway to Fridley, and we have some very ugly fences on the other side which are talked about quite often. Paul Bolin, Assistant Executive HRA Director, stated they did send out two different letters, one went at the end of May, the second one around June 21. The June letter actually included the plans for the fence, some of the details, and they did ask people if they had specific concerns to give them a call. He did hear from three other neighbors and he will be meeting with one on Tuesday, July 11. The resident called with some concerns about trees that were actually on the right-of-way side of the fence that they would like the City to try and save. He will also be meeting with Mr.Quenroe regarding his property in the morning, and will try to mark the trees that seem to provide the most screening and work with the contractor and save what they can for vegetation. He did have a good conversation with the fence contractor explained that some of the neighbors do have concerns with the vegetation. They agreed that they will work from the MnDOT right-of-way side and try and take as little vegetation as possible. Councilmember Bolkcom stated she thought there was one neighbor who had a bunch of lilac trees that she used as a noise barrier. She asked Mr. Quenroe if his trees were big. Mr. Quenroe said they are probably 30-year old trees and are as tall as 35 to 40 feet. Councilmember Barnette asked if those trees were on his property. Mr. Quenroe said it was hard to tell. They are probably on the MnDOT side. Councilmember Barnette stated one of the big problems they have is dealing with the State. They own the fence and it is on their right-of-way. Mr. Quenroe replied the fence that is there now keeps dogs from running out onto University Avenue. Mona Horst, 5859 Third Street, approached and stated oftentimes they do get a lot of garbage in their yard from University Avenue and with not as much coverage in her yard, she is sure there FRIDLEY CITY COUNCIL MEETING OF JULY 10, 2006 PAGE 8 will be a lot more garbage coming into their yard. She asked if there is anything the City can do so that it stays clean on University Avenue. Mayor Lund replied twice a year there is the Adopt-A-Highway program that volunteer organizations do. The City has been maintaining the State's right-of-way at the City's expense because they cannot get the State to maintain it. MOTION by Councilmember Bolkcom to receive the bids and award the bid for the HRA Decorative Fence Project No. 2006-1 to Crowley Company, Inc. in the amount of $318,967.26. Seconded by Councilmember Billings. UPON A VOICE VOTE, ALL VOTING AYE, MAYOR LUND DECLARED THE MOTION CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY. 4. Resolution Declaring the Necessity to Increase the Water, Storm Water and Sanitary Sewer Rates in Excess of the Inflationary Index or 5%, Whichever is Less, as Required by Section 7.02 of the Fridley City Charter. Pete Eisenzimmer, 6535 Oakley Drive, approached and asked how the City can increase the rates if it is against the City Charter without the approval of the public. William Burns, City Manager, said the action must be approved by the public. If Council passes the resolution, it will then be placed on the ballots. MOTION by Councilmember Bolkcom to adopt Resolution No. 2006-42. Seconded by Councilmember Barnette. UPON A VOICE VOTE, ALL VOTING AYE, MAYOR LUND DECLARED THE MOTION CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY. OPEN FORUM (VISITORS): Lenny Brandt, 190 Craigbrook Way, approached and said his neighborhood is concerned that there is too much speeding on their street. He wanted to get the problem on record. The problem has become a great concern to all of them on that street. They have about 17 children on that street. The median they have put on East River Road does not allow access to onto Stoneybrook. He asked Councilmember Bolkcom if she could contact MnDOT and see if they could put an exit so people can get onto Stoneybrook Now, they come down to Craigbrook Way, spin around, and get onto Stoneybrook. Councilmember Bolkcom replied that is actually a county road. They could ask. Mr. Brandt stated one of the neighbors put a"Slow Down, Kids at Play" sign in her yard but that has not done anything. They would like to have something done. If he could do it, he would put about three or four speed bumps along the road. FRIDLEY CITY COUNCIL MEETING OF JULY 10, 2006 PAGE 9 Councilmember Bolkcom stated they could talk to the Director of Public Safety, Don Abbott, and the neighborhood resource officer, about putting out a speed trailer that shows the speeds people are driving. The resource officer can work on coming to the neighborhood and actually watching from the street. Donald Giorgio, 185 Craigbrook Way, approached and stated he is particularly concerned because in the last three months they have had four families move into the neighborhood with 18 kids under the age of 12. He is scared because people are coming down the road at sometimes 50 mph. He would like to get a hold of the Chief of Police and see if he wants to park a police car in his garage with a policeman and get some of those speeders and maybe slow them down. He asked if they could put a sign at the top and the bottom of the street saying, slow down, children at play. Councilmember Barnette putting out a speed trailer may make people realize how fast they are going. Mr. Giorgio stated he has lived on that street for 35 years, and since the revamping of East River Road by Anoka County, their street's traffic has increased by at least 300 percent. Mr. Eisenzimmer asked why Meadowlands Parks is being drained. Mr. Haukaas stated the park was excavated and expanded to provide additional storm water capacity for their street reconstruction project this year. The outlet has been lowered somewhat this year because there have been some problems with the high water table. This will allow a lot more room in that pond temporarily for water coming in after large rains. The water elevation has probably dropped less than a foot and has exposed some mud flats. Those will recede, and they will see additional growth along there. PUBLIC HEARING: 9. Consider Revocation of Special Use Permit, SP #03-14, for Central Auto Parts, Generally Located at 1201— 73 �/z Avenue N.E. (Ward 2) (Continued June 26, 2006) MOTION by Councilmember Billings to remove from the table. Seconded by Councilmember Bolkcom. UPON A VOICE VOTE, ALL VOTING AYE, MAYOR LUND DECLARED THE PUBLIC HEARING OPENED AT 8:23 P.M. Julie Jones, Planning Coordinator, stated the business they are talking about includes multiple parcels all zoned M-1, Light Industrial. This site contains an auto recycling business called Central Auto Parts. There is an area to the north of the business that is the Park Plaza manufactured home park The special use permit is required in M-1 districts for a junkyard or auto recycling business in order for them to operate that type of business in that zoning district. The business must also obtain an annual junkyard license which is approved by staff. That approval is contingent on the business meeting the stipulations contained in their special use FRIDLEY CITY COUNCIL MEETING OF JULY 10, 2006 PAGE 10 permits. The annual review of this license was done this spring. Due to the lack of compliance with previous stipulations, the City considered revocation of the special use permit for this business in 2003 as well. Council chose at that time to give the business owner five years to complete several new stipulations in addition to the stipulations they had on previous special use permits they had obtained in 1973 and 1982. Upon inspection of the site in April, staff discovered there was still a lot of non-compliance issues going on with the older stipulations associated with the special use permit. Business activity was still occurring on the street. That has been a chronic problem at this site in the past. The Police Department has issued 14 tickets to apparent customers of the business who are parking in "No Parking" areas. The customers must park on the street because the business owner has been parking vehicles blocking the entrance, and those vehicles are often disabled or inoperable. One of the stipulations states that they cannot store any inoperable vehicles outside their fence. The fence also has not been repaired as stipulated. There was also a stipulation to rebuild it so it was at a consistent height around the entire perimeter of the property. They have also seen a chronic problem of junk vehicles consistently being piled higher than the fence line, and in the stipulations, it states nothing shall be piled higher than two feet below the fence line. Because of the business activity that is occurring chronically on the street, they have had a lot of litter issues on the street. The right-of-way is often being used for storing vehicles or other business material. Ms. Jones stated as far as the five-year timetable for the new stipulations that were added in 2003, those involved basically redesigning the site, adding landscaping and irrigation, installing curb and gutter, installing a pond, and repairing a fence. All were required, with the exception of the curb and gutter installation, to be completed by March 2006. None of those items had been completed. After years of non-compliance, staff feels this demonstrates the need to remove this business owner's special use permit. Staff recommends that the City Council takes action to revoke Special Use Permit #03-14 for lack of compliance with stipulations of the said permit. She has visited the site again recently to see if anything new had developed since they had been out to the site in April. Some of the stipulations have been corrected which revolve around parking of the junk vehicles at the entrance to the business. There were still some vehicles parked on the street, but not to the degree as in the past. There are some things above the fence line, but that has improved as well. They do still have grave concerns about the design of the site that was required. Since revoking a special use permit of this kind is a unique situation, they wanted to provide this information to Council and the business owner. There will be a lot involved in vacating the site. Ms. Jones stated staff recommends that the site be closed in 90 days of Council action, that any business signs be removed within 15 days, that they remove all full and partial vehicles from outside their building, that they remove all motor fluids and hazardous materials from the site, that they remove and sweep all soil from paved areas at the entrances that they see as an ongoing problem, that they remove all fencing, including fence posts, that they remove any equipment wrapping that is on site, that they remove all materials and litter from public right-of-ways around the site, and that they grade and landscape the entire site to prevent soil and wind erosion. Council would need to consider such action at the ne�t Council meeting on July 24. Councilmember Billings stated there were 12 stipulations from the special use permit from 2003. Stipulation No. 1 was to prepare a survey and finish site plans including hard surface FRIDLEY CITY COUNCIL MEETING OF JULY 10, 2006 PAGE 11 parking/storage area with curb and gutter, landscape plans, grading and drainage plans that was due March 2004. He asked if staff had seen those site plans. Ms. Jones replied, no, they have not. Councilmember Billings stated Stipulation No. 2 was to obtain City and Watershed approvals for the design and installation of landscaping and irrigation, and fence repairs that were supposed to be done by March, 2005. He asked if the City had been able to approve the design. Ms. Jones said they have not seen any design plans; however, she believed they had done some irrigation work. Mr. Hickok replied they did correct irrigation back at the time of the special use permit review. They did receive a survey of this site. The survey is basically the foundation for what the plans will be built upon. It has no work beyond what is on site currently. Councilmember Billings said but going back to No. 1, they have not seen a finished site plan that includes hard surface parking/storage area with curb and gutter, landscape plans, grading and drainage plans. Mr. Hickok replied, no, they have not. Councilmember Billings said they have only seen the survey of what exists. Mr. Hickok replied, yes. Councilmember Billings stated by March, 2006, they were supposed to complete the first stage of grading, storm sewer piping, and the storm water detention pond. He asked if any of that work required building permits. Ms. Jones replied it would require a land alteration permit. Councilmember Billings asked if a land alteration permit has been applied for. Ms. Jones replied, no. They would require plans before issuing that. Councilmember Billings replied so it would be safe to assume then that, since they have not applied for any permits to do that, that they have not done the work. Ms. Jones replied, correct. Councilmember Billings stated regarding Stipulation No. 4, those are things that need to be done in March, 2007, so he did not know whether they could hold them responsible to have that completed. Also, Stipulation No. 5 is things that need to be done in 2008. Regarding Stipulation No. 8, the building shall be metal with brick veneer. There is no indication in Ms. Jones' matrix whether that is completed or not. FRIDLEY CITY COUNCIL MEETING OF JULY 10, 2006 PAGE 12 Ms. Jones stated that was done some time ago around the 2003 hearing. Councilmember Billings stated regarding No. 7 he believed she indicated in her presentation, no cars piled higher than the fence. She has indicated there are times they are piled higher than the fence. No inoperable cars shall be parked or stored outside the fence. And that has at least until recently been ongoing. Regarding the driveways, it indicates that three exit points have been established. Ms. Jones replied, yes. Councilmember Billings asked regarding No. 10, a solid screening fence shall be placed completely around the property and the fence shall be improved by being painted or constructed of an acceptable color-fast material and shall be uniform in size. He asked if that had been completed. Ms. Jones replied, no, it has not. Councilmember Billings asked regarding No. 11, additional landscaping shall be placed along the screening fence and an overall landscaping plan shall be submitted by the property owner approved by the staff in accordance with Stipulation No. 1. They have completed a portion of that but they have not provided a landscaping plan, is that correct? Ms. Jones replied, correct. Councilmember Billings asked regarding the last stipulation that the concrete driveway shall e�tend a minimum of 10 feet beyond the screening fence into property from the street, do they know whether that has been completed. Ms. Jones replied it is her understanding that it has not. Councilmember Billings stated so out of 12 stipulations, there were 20 they could have done something about, but have only completed 2 of the stipulations. Ms. Jones replied, yes. Karen Kurth, attorney for Central Auto Parts and Jerry Haluptzok, approached and stated she wanted to make clear they do not represent Central Auto Parts, Inc. That is a separate corporation and is also the owner and landlord of this property. She said there is a problem with water drainage on the site which is exacerbated by neighboring businesses. It is a problem unique to the property because of its shape, which is kind of like a bowl. It is also a problem that Mr. Haluptzok has no inkling of when he agreed in 2003 to the stipulations that they set forth. The lowest corner of the property is the southwest corner, and that is the corner that the drive comes out on. It fronts on 73 '/z Avenue, and that is where the building is. The highest point is the northeast corner. Even at its highest point, that property is significantly lower than the neighbor, Gustafson Grinding. Every time it rains hard, they get an e�tensive runoff from Gustafson Grinding's property. In the northeast corner, the water runs straight down the center FRIDLEY CITY COUNCIL MEETING OF JULY 10, 2006 PAGE 13 of the yard, right up the driveway, and right into 73 '/z Avenue. Same thing happens on the other corner, on Mayor Lund's property, on the other side. It runs straight onto that corner, into the center of the driveway, and onto 73 '/z Avenue. Mr. Haluptzok was advised that the preference would be to have the water would flow off the back side of the property which would make him have to find a way to make water flow uphill. It has been a significant problem. It has been brought to the attention of Mr. Hickok and maybe other members of the City Planning Department at least five times. Mr. Haluptzok has specifically asked for some help with the drainage problem before dealing with the other stipulations because it affects everything. Mayor Lund responded he is very aware of the drainage issues Mr. Haluptzok had and that is why he needed to prepare a site plan. He probably needs to hire an engineer to ascertain where all the water is coming from and to devise a plan for a 10-year flood and 100-year flood. With that knowledge, you can then come up with a drainage plan and then address some of the other issues. He asked what the correlation was between that and piling cars higher than the fence and parking inoperable care outside the fence area. Attorney Kurth stated part of the drainage problem is the water coming off of the neighboring properties which includes Mayor Lund's property and Gustafson Grinding. Mayor Lund replied it would not be his property because his is at the lower elevation. Attorney Kurth replied she had a photograph. Mayor Lund stated he has a drawing for the entire area. Attorney Kurth showed a photo and stated to Mayor Lund that his building is clearly much higher than Central Auto Parts. Mayor Lund replied it is because he raised the property so that the building would not get flooded because it was at a lower elevation. The building has been raised purposely and there are natural swales and underground pipes that contain any storm water runoff on his property. It stays on his property, and does not go to the neighbor's property in any direction. There is a higher elevation but there is a natural swale. Under the sod, there is a 10-inch drainage pipe so it takes the water from his back lot and brings it forward all the way to the front of the property where you see the retention pond. Attorney Kurth stated her understanding is there has been some problem with the storm sewer on 73 '/z Avenue not being able to handle excessive water. Mayor Lund stated when there is a hard rain, it does momentarily back up but as soon as it stops raining, it goes down quickly. There is a low spot in front of his property where there is a storm sewer grate in the street. It plugs ups very frequently, especially in a hard rain. Almost all of the stuff he sees come out there is small auto parts and a lot of sand from the parking lot. He goes out there repeatedly himself and takes a shovel and cleans it out so it will drain. FRIDLEY CITY COUNCIL MEETING OF JULY 10, 2006 PAGE 14 Attorney Kurth stated the drainage problem has been huge and overwhelming in terms of expense and what to do about it, especially when Mr. Haluptzok was advised that he could drain off the backside of the property into the side that is the mobile home park She wanted to make sure Council knew what issues he was dealing with. She believes the design issues really do depend on the drainage. Mayor Lund said he had to do the same things. Attorney Kurth with respect to Stipulation No. 1, she has a copy of the survey. The surveyor as a matter of fact called the City and asked specifically what they wanted in terms of design. It is certainly not a final plan but there is some proposed curb and gutter and other things. It is a start. Councilmember Bolkcom asked when that was. Attorney Kurth said before the first meeting on June 12. Councilmember Bolkcom said it was originally viewed in March 2004. Attorney Kurth said no one has been out until April of this year to view the progress. Mayor Lund replied he did not know if they are the ones who should be pushing him to do the work that he agreed to do back in 2003. If he needs assistance, he should talk to staff. Attorney Kurth stated they said they would review the progress each year. In not doing so, it led Mr. Haluptzok to quite frankly have some complacency. Councilmember Bolkcom said what she is suggesting is because City staff was not there reviewing it, he became complacent . Attorney Kurth replied she is not saying that City staff had any duty to do that except they said they were going to do it. The recommendation said that it would be reviewed annually and they said that the special use permit guidelines and stipulations were reviewed annually upon renewal of his license every year. She is not saying the City had an obligation for any bills or costs. Mayor Lund asked if they do an annual licensing renewal for this type of business. Mr. Hickok replied, yes. Mayor Lund asked if there has been any discussions each and every year ensuing from the license renewal. Mr. Hickok said the Fire Department and the City Clerk are also involved with the review of annual licensing. At one time, they were ready to pull the special use permit. Council graciously said set up some stipulations that give him some time to correct these issues. It was incumbent upon him, as the property owner, to come in according to that schedule. He was working with an attorney at the time, and they laid out the schedule. It should have been clearly known to him FRIDLEY CITY COUNCIL MEETING OF JULY 10, 2006 PAGE 15 what was required. Licensing does not say he is in compliance. He knew these stipulations are there. They did go out and look They did confirm that the fence was not fixed, that they continued annually to have the piles too high, and that they continued annually to treat the parking lot like part of the salvage yard that is unscreened and kept inoperable cars out in the outside. He was on a five-year program but at a certain point though, it was incumbent upon the City to say we are three years into the program and you have not done anything. Mr. Haluptzok was very surprised there were things that were missed. Staff was in his yard and they were looking at a totally unimproved site, and he seemed surprised by the fact there was a plan that was due the first year. His attorney worked to make sure that Mr. Haluptzok knew there was a plan. Councilmember Bolkcom asked if Mr. Haluptzok or his attorney representing him received the special use permit along with the stipulations and if they were not at the Council meeting when they discussed all this in detail. He knew there was a plan and the stipulations were there at that time. They have been there since 2003. Mr. Hickok replied that is correct. They also requested a record of those minutes so that he could have that on hand to remember and remind themselves of the discussions and all of the details. So, they had the package of information they needed to succeed. Councilmember Bolkcom stated going back to the conversation related to the Police and Fire Departments. When the cars were parked on the street illegally was there usually a conversation with the Police Department or were they just ticketed. Mr. Hickok stated the streets are posted for "No Parking" during a certain period of time and that is during the night. If there are cars there during the night they are in violation of the law. Mayor Lund stated part of that street is "No Parking" at all and then other parts are during certain hours. Mr. Hickok replied he believed the tickets were for both. Mayor Lund stated just for clarification, he wanted to make sure there were agreed upon stipulations in 2003. Ms. Kurth replied that there were some agreed upon stipulations. They respectfully disagree that the City did not have any obligation to at least follow-up or make a telephone call, especially when he specifically asked for help and suggestions on how to deal with the drainage problem. Councilmember Barnette asked if an engineer should be doing that. Ms. Kurth stated all he was asking for is what the City wanted him to do. When he did the survey a month ago, he called and got very specific requirements from the City. One that was mentioned was moving the fence in 20 feet. Mayor Lund asked Mr. Hickok if there has been some discussion about moving the fence back. FRIDLEY CITY COUNCIL MEETING OF JULY 10, 2006 PAGE 16 Mr. Hickok stated he heard from the surveyor on Friday, June 9. The surveyor was trying to prepare the information that he needed to get to the City by Monday. He asked about parking lot setbacks, building setbacks and standard fence setbacks. During their discussion they talked about what you can do. Mayor Lund asked who suggested moving the fence back as one alternative to correcting some of the problems. Mr. Hickok said he told the surveyor he could tell him what the Code requires and talk to him in general terms. Attorney Kurth talked about retaining ponds being an option. Stipulations 1, 2, and 3 are design phases and are clearly overdue, 4 and 5 are not due, 6 was okay, 7 was no cars piled over the fence and that has recently been complied with and she is not going to say it has not been an ongoing problem. A higher fence would really make a difference. Councilmember Bolkcom asked her to explain what had been done so far and what the future plans are. Attorney Kurth replied the only way to fix the problem with the fence was to get the cars off the piles. Regarding leaving inoperable cars outside the fence, there have been instances when a tow truck driver might leave a tireless car outside the fence, but he it was his understanding that this had not been an ongoing problem. Mayor Lund replied he sees quite a few cars parked there because he drives down there every day. It is not just from Central Auto Parts but they're from Sam's across the street. Until recently he did notice some improvements going on at Central Auto Parts. They did finally clean out the relatively small parking area that was being used outside the fence repeatedly for storage of junked cars. Mr. Hickok stated he would like to point out a couple of things. One, the City Code requires that sites be self-sustaining for their parking so the problem of them being on the street is a problem in and of itsel£ They need to have enough parking to accommodate the needs for their customers. He finds it interesting in the testimony tonight they are hearing that Mr. Haluptzok was not aware that was a problem. In May when staff inet with Mr. Haluptzok, he mentioned that he had problems with people stealing parts that he purposely keep the driveway full, so he could see them from inside the store. Also, the cars are typically not just parked on the street, but often the hoods are up and there are activities going on. They are taking parts out and putting parts in and are also doing repairs out on the street. Mayor Lund said he mentioned to Mr. Haluptzok to put a door or window in on the side of the building. Attorney Kurth stated she might not have been clear when she said they were not aware of the problem. She was referring to the business activity occurring on the streets. She does want to FRIDLEY CITY COUNCIL MEETING OF JULY 10, 2006 PAGE 17 address the idea of what can be done. Mr. Haluptzok is trying to get some kind of traffic flow on the site. There is a theft issue with people wandering in and out. Councilmember Bolkcom asked when that would happen. Attorney Kurth replied she did not know. She is not sure a foot traffic plan is part of this. Councilmember Bolkcom stated she thought she heard her say that he was trying to change the traffic flow of people coming into his business. Mayor Lund asked if there was a problem with the stipulations he agreed to in 2003. Mr. Haluptzok said he does not. Mayor Lund commented some of them are fairly significant. He is hearing them say in the background, just for testimony that he says he does not have a problem with them. He certainly knows now that the staff and City Council is serious about making improvements. He does not know how the rest of the Council is going to feel about it, but he wants to know if Mr. Haluptzok has a problem or are we going to argue about the stipulations. Mr. Haluptzok says, no. He wants to make this right. He has to get it on an accelerated plan at the very least, if they do allow him another license. Attorney Kurth asked about the timeframe. Mayor Lund said then need to see some action, not just a couple cosmetic things. Attorney Kurth asked Mayor Lund if it would be reasonable for Mr. Haluptzok to provide him with a timetable. Mayor Lund replied that is already agreed upon. There was a timeline provided and discussion from at least the fee owner, he guessed not the property owner, but the fee owner and an attorney then. Jerry Haluptzok, operator of Central Auto Parts, approached and stated with respect to the water problem, he called Scott Hickok and asked him if he would come out and look at the problem at Gustafson Grinding because their whole yard is all paved towards his yard. In the back he has a curb. He went to the back corner of the curb and busted it out so all the water, everything runs off his building, down his driveway, and goes right straight into the holding water. Mayor Lund replied kind of the same thing Mr. Haluptzok did with his driveway. Mr. Haluptzok responded and said that was already there when he moved there. He filled that back in. Mr. Hickok told him to talk to Gustafson Grinding. Mr. Haluptzok went and talked to him and Mr. Gustafson said he has papers from the City telling him to do that. FRIDLEY CITY COUNCIL MEETING OF JULY 10, 2006 PAGE 18 Mayor Lund stated if he is agreeing to these stipulations as he did three years ago, he needs to make those corrections. If Mr. Haluptzok has problems, he is ultimately responsible for them. He has to get staff or hire an engineer if that is needed to be done to correct and remediate the problem. Mr. Haluptzok stated Mr. Hickok told him he has to work with Gustafson Grinding. It is his understanding when he built that building there was a holding pond in back. He filled that in and paved over the top of it, so now he has no holding pond at all. Nothing to control his water. So now Mr. Gustafson's water is his problem. Mr. Hickok stated a number of times Mr. Haluptzok has talked about the issues on his site that would keep him from successfully maintaining the water on his site. Those same discussions happened back at the time he had another attorney. At that time, they had discussed there is probably two levels of water he was dealing with here. One is his own that he would be required to manage from new hard surface. He is going to have to have hard surface curb and gutter like Code required from the time he began business there. The other part, if he is concerned, he has a couple of choices. He can go deal with Gustafson Grinding or wherever he believes the water is coming from and early on, the owner of that property had indicated that there is some land up north of the fence that he would be willing to dedicate to the problem. There seems to be a solution. He could start working that direction. If he needs a linear pond to slow down the water that is coming onto his site and some way to control it, work with a civil engineer, figure out how that can work The best they can do is advise that he work with his neighbors to see if there is a solution. Councilmember Bolkcom commented the discussion about where the water is flowing is not their issue. She feels they are getting back to where they were in 2003 talking about drainage. Mr. Haluptzok replied the reason they keep coming back to the water on this is because he cannot go on with the rest of the stipulations until he can control the water. Mayor Lund replied he needs to control the water. He also agreed to those stipulations in 2003 and again at this meeting he said he would agree to those stipulations. He is going to need to get an engineer to figure out a solution to the problem. Mr. Haluptzok stated he has talked to people and it still comes down to Gustafson Grinding does not want to do anything because they think they are completely in the right. If they put a holding pond in, it will be by the trailer court and kids will be planning in it. Mayor Lund stated he has some problems there and he has to rectify them. The alternative is worse. He has to deal with it. Mr. Haluptzok asked Council to have Mr. Hickok please help him talk to Gustafson Grinding. That is the only problem he has. He can continue on from there. FRIDLEY CITY COUNCIL MEETING OF JULY 10, 2006 PAGE 19 Councilmember Billings stated regarding the survey work that was presented in June 2006, that represents a contact Mr. Haluptzok had with a professional. He asked how many other engineers or surveyors has he contacted in the last three years to take a look at the drainage problem. Mr. Haluptzok replied, just one. They are waiting for his answer as far as whether they are going to move the fence back and put holding ponds in the front. Councilmember Billings said so he is saying he had not contacted any engineers Mr. Haluptzok replied, no, he has not. He has been trying to do this all on his own but he does not understand this stuff that well. Councilmember Billings replied that is why there are professionals that help you with this kind of stuff. He said there was talk about ponding on the strip of land. He asked if Mr. Haluptzok had heard of that prior to the meeting. Mr. Haluptzok replied, yes. Councilmember Billings asked him if he followed up on that. They were here in 2003 because there were some problems. They worked out a five-year plan for him to solve the problems. Here they are three years later and, if he is hearing Mr. Haluptzok correctly, he is saying he tried to solve those problems himself instead of getting professional help. He is not going to be able to do the drainage plan or design the runoff. Those are calculations that need to be done by an engineer. Mr. Haluptzok is saying he is having a problem with his neighbor dumping water onto his property. Those are situations where, if he talks to his neighbor and he is not doing something, then he needs to hire an attorney. He said he is willing to bet that he does not have a bunch of money that he has been setting aside for the last three years to make these fixes. Mr. Haluptzok said he does not. That is why the cars have been piling over the top of the fence. He has not been hauling anything because he has been trying to get enough money to put this in motion. Councilmember Billings said it is unfortunate that he has not taken any action any quicker than this. He is not sure that he would be inclined to go along with setting up another timetable. He asked how quickly he thought he could get these things done. Mr. Haluptzok replied he could probably have an engineer draw one up by the next meeting. s. Councilmember Billings asked Mr. Haukaas if he thought that two weeks was enough time for a hydrologist to come up with a plan for that site . Jon Haukaas, Public Works Director, replied it depends on the e�tent of the survey and how much information they have collected. If they have all of that existing information, yes, they should be able to put something together within two weeks. FRIDLEY CITY COUNCIL MEETING OF JULY 10, 2006 PAGE 20 Councilmember Billings asked Mr. Haluptzok, if they were to continue this public hearing for 30 days, does he honestly believe he would be able to come in with some engineering plans. Mr. Haluptzok said he did. Councilmember Billings asked if he came in with engineering plans in those 30 days, does he think he would be able to complete the first phase and the storm water piping and the storm water retention ponding by the spring of ne�t year. Mr. Haluptzok replied, yes, sir. Mayor Lund wanted Mr. Haluptzok to realize that there would have to be some Watershed approvals and that might hold it up substantially. Councilmember Billings stated there is not a lot of activity that gives him encouragement that he is going to be able to get himself back on this timetable that was established in 2003. John Buzick, Central Auto Parts of Minneapolis, Inc., stated the salvage yard has been operating on that property for 60+ years. They were there running the yard before there was zoning. The only reason for the special use permit is they were building a new building. There was a preexisting condition, it had been a salvage yard. The fence that was there was built at the City's request in the shape, manner, and position they wanted. While Central Auto Parts of Minneapolis, Inc. ran the business, they had a very amicable relationship with the City. They sometimes had problems, but they got them solved. He outlined the history of the property. He said Mr. Haluptzok made this deal in 2003. He made no deal with the City for Central Auto Parts of Minneapolis, Inc. He was not authorized to make a deal on behalf of Central Auto Parts of Minneapolis, Inc. This is not part of the special use permit because that belongs to the land. There is a very big significant difference. The land special use permit has nothing to do with the City's problems with Mr. Haluptzok They can pull Mr. Haluptzok's license but the stipulations that he agreed to, he does not think the special use permit makes him held accountable. In fact the City Code states that the City has to give him a year's notice if they plan to pull his special use permit. If Mr. Haluptzok wants to do these things which he thinks is amicable of him. The issue should not be the special use permit but Mr. Haluptzok's, because he has gotten no notices and he made no agreement. Mr. Haluptzok has never had authorization for anything to do with their land. To put their special use permit in jeopardy because of it, is not fair, and he does not think it is legal. Councilmember Billings asked Mr. Buzick to tell him what part of the City Code says the City has to give someone one year's notice. Mr. Buzick replied, Section 205.17. The landlord will be given a one-year written notification that the City plans to pull the special use permit. Councilmember Billings stated they may have to go back and look at the special use permit that was in place before 2003 and see what conditions were on that. FRIDLEY CITY COUNCIL MEETING OF JULY 10, 2006 PAGE 21 Mr. Buzick stated they agreed to them and did not have a problem then. In fact they sold Central and repossessed it. It has always been a salvage yard no matter who was there. He would hope that Mr. Haluptzok wants to do those things and he is willing to let him stay, but if the City pulls his license, of course he would be gone. Part of the 90-day stipulations involve him. He would like to solve this. Mr. Hickok stated the special use permit goes with the land. If Mr. Buzick wants to put his special use permit at risk by having Mr. Haluptzok or anyone else operate his property, he is certainly entitled to do that. In terms of notification, when they were going through this process in 2003, Mr. Buzick, himself, and Mr. Haluptzok sat in the conference room and talked about the special use permit. He was involved in the process in 2003. He was at the hearing. Mr. Buzick said he was not a party. He would not have agreed to the stipulations. Mayor Lund stated his renter agreed to them back then and again tonight. Mr. Buzick replied, yes. Mayor Lund asked him if he had a problem with him living up to those stipulations. Mr. Buzick replied, not at all. Mayor Lund if Mr. Haluptzok loses the license, it is not going to solve that problem because then the special use permits stipulations would be placed upon him directly. Mr. Buzick replied not the ones from 2003 because he never agreed to them. The stipulations they have are from 1983 from the last special use permit when the landowner agreed to the stipulations. Mayor Lund asked him what he saw as a solution. Mr. Buzick replied he sees the solution is very simple, if Mr. Haluptzok is going to do what he says he is going to do and comply with the City, then everyone is happy. If not, pull his license and they will have to move on with somebody else. Mayor Lund commented then they are back to square one if they move onto somebody else. Mr. Buzick replied then they will have to come in and wrestle him out. Councilmember Barnette asked City Attorney Knaak about Mr. Buzick's statement that he had to be notified one year previous. Attorney Knaak read the provision related to uses allowed with a special use permit and specifically paragraph (8) of that section, Junk Yards (Automotive Recycling Center). All junk yards shall satisfy the following requirements: ... any property that is in violation of (a) above shall be given one year from the date of written notification by the City or any other regulatory FRIDLEY CITY COUNCIL MEETING OF JULY 10, 2006 PAGE 22 agency to abate the violation. If the pollution is determined to be hazardous...the time of one year shall be reduced to a reasonable limit." Mr. Buzick stated that is what he means. He has not been involved in this discussion with the City for the new stipulations. He has been involved with talking about them. Mr. Haluptzok does business as Central Auto Parts. They are Central Auto Parts of Minneapolis, Inc. the company. Attorney Knaak continued and stated he thinks the answer to this language has to do with the time from which an individual is notified of the problem and having a certain period to abate. Without being a party to the discussion, he would anticipate that was probably a discussion that went on in 2003. While the gentleman is correct, there is a provision that says you are given one year from the date of written notification to abate the violation, the implication seems to be that is one year running from like today or recently. In fact, from what he understands is going on here, that communication, notification, and abatement process itself was begun in 2003. So as he is reading this right now, this would not enter into their consideration of this matter. Mayor Lund asked Mr. Buzick if he sees it differently. Mr. Buzick replied, of course, he sees it differently, because he was not a party to it in 2003. Mayor Lund stated but he knew about the problems, he had discussions about it. Mr. Buzick replied that was problems pertaining to Mr. Haluptzok's license, not to their special use permit. He does not want to involve attorneys. If Mr. Haluptzok can solve this problem for all of them, he would be willing to work with him, too. He knows he has done a lot of improvements. In fact, the last time he was there, he put the sign in front, those cars are supposed to be towed, and Shorty's Towing did not tow them. Attorney Knaak stated he read the following page and shared the paragraph saying, "if action is not taken to abate the condition during the specified time, the use shall not be allowed to continue operation within the City of Fridley." It is not discretionary. As he understands it, it is not an action item for the agenda tonight. But as he reads it, if they find in fact at some point that action was not taken during the time that was specified to abate the condition. .. the use shall not be allowed to continue operation within the City of Fridley. Councilmember Bolkcom asked Mr. Buzick if what he is saying is the special use permit that he has should be his and it has nothing to do with who he leases the property to. She is a little confused because then he turns around and says, well, if Mr. Haluptzok is going to fix it he is okay with it. What would prevent him from coming back six months from now and saying, well, this has nothing to do with me and the property. Mr. Buzick replied he will hold to his contention the special use permit is not tied to Mr. Haluptzok's business of running Central Auto Parts. Mr. Haluptzok cannot make agreements for him for this special use permit. He gives Mr. Haluptzok no obligation to represent him in the FRIDLEY CITY COUNCIL MEETING OF JULY 10, 2006 PAGE 23 court of law, he is not his attorney, he did not have his attorney, he was not represented with any of the negotiations on the special use permit that they seem to tie in together. Councilmember Bolkcom asked so what he is saying is back in 2003 he was not aware of this going on. Mr. Buzick replied he is not aware of those stipulations. He was aware there was a problem with Mr. Haluptzok but he did not agree to those kind of stipulations. He told him he was not going to blacktop his parking lot because of all these all problems. Councilmember Bolkcom asked if he can have a license to have a salvage yard without the special use permit that is there. Mr. Knaak replied the underlying special use permit would be required in order to use or have a license to conduct that business on that location. Whoever it might be. In other words, if you have a special use permit, it is possible to have that use under any number of licenses presumably. However, if there is no special use permit, that just simply is not an authorized activity on the uses. Mr. Hickok replied what he presumed from the discussion tonight that a special use permit is a contract between the City and an individual and that they negotiate the terms of that contract, that is not true. A special use permit is a subset of the zoning. The City can with or without the owner impose stipulations under a special use permit. They had a use that was clearly in trouble in 2003. Mr. Buzick was aware it was in trouble, and it was not an issue of whether we had to negotiate with Mr. Buzick to come to terms that we could agree with. It was the City's responsibilities to put stipulations on to help mitigate issues that would otherwise be a detriment to the City. It is a subset of the zoning. It is something the City has done to protect itself against problems. It needed to mitigate problems and the City did that. Mayor Lund asked Mr. Buzick is he contending that no changes should ever have been made in the special use permit and that they do not have the authority or the right to review and make changes to that special use permit. Mr. Buzick replied he is sure that they have the right to, all he know is under just law they should be negotiating with the property owner not the lessee of the property. Mayor Lund asked Mr. Knaak if they should be talking about a license revocation or suspension or other things having to do with the license with Mr. Haluptzok and then dealing with Mr. Buzick directly on this special use permit and whether they want to revoke, suspend, or make significant changes to his special use permit. He wants clarification whether they are dealing with the wrong people here. Mr. Hickok replied Mr. Haluptzok's license expires in two weeks and has been e�tended for purposes of this discussion. At the end of the two weeks, he would not have a license to operate. The special use permit goes with the land and, as the owner of the property, that is who you would want to protect. If you think of this as a landlord-tenant situation, the landlord certainly FRIDLEY CITY COUNCIL MEETING OF JULY 10, 2006 PAGE 24 should be very interested in what happens to the land despite what the tenant may or may not be doing. Attorney Knaak stated the City Council has the discretion to do either or both simultaneously if they so choose to do so. License process has to do with authorizing a particular business to engage in an allowed business on the site. In this particular case, you also have a special use permit and, as he understands it, the conditions that have been involved in the special use permit have been running with the land or as a matter or record have been in place for some years. The City actually has an obligation to review special use permits that are pending, and its failure to do so in some circumstances can be viewed as a waiver. So the City has an obligation to review special use permits. If the terms of the special permit are not being abided by, the City has the authority to end the special use. With respect to compliance, it is virtually automatically put before Council for a public hearing. If the terms are not being complied with, they have an obligation to pull the special use permit as he reads that ordinance. Mayor Lund stated to Mr. Buzick and by virtue that he was advised or he had knowledge back in 2003, he did participate in some meetings that relates to his property. He had an interest in it. He brought up the point a couple of ineetings ago that he had not been properly noticed and not received a timely notice, so therefore they postponed it to give him timely notice. He is aware of these events and in his testimony he said that he never agreed to any stipulations. He may not have directly done so but through his renter apparently it was so. Mr. Buznick did have knowledge of those stipulations because he remembers specifically both of them talking about this a couple of years ago and how it was going to be a huge problem asphalting the entire back parking lot. Mr. Buzick replied pertaining to Mr. Haluptzok's license not his special use permit. Mayor Lund stated what he does find from this discussion is that Mr. Buzick's points are well taken and after hearing from the City Attorney and staff, he sees there is enough evidence that says Mr. Buzick has been involved to the point that he wants to be and it does behoove him to see that these stipulations are met. It does affect both of them and they can simultaneously revoke the license and the special use permit. Mr. Buzick replied he thinks the Council can do pretty much what they want. He would be happy to work with the City. Councilmember Billings asked about the special use permit process in August, 2003. Mr. Hickok replied that was part of their necessary code enforcement process and it was brought for Council's review as part of reviewing other special use permits and this one as well. Anything that had glitches in it, stipulations that were not being adhered to, they brought the Council those properties. There were a number of other properties that they reviewed and discussed relative to their non-compliance of stipulations and this was part of that systematic process. FRIDLEY CITY COUNCIL MEETING OF JULY 10, 2006 PAGE 25 Councilmember Billings stated in other words it was the 2003 action of establishing this new special use permit was the result of reviewing the existing special use permit. And of course if Council were at that time to do nothing or to create a new special use permit or to revoke a special use permit that existed that that time. He asked if they had the minutes from 2003. Mr. Hickok replied, yes, they do. Councilmember Billings asked, how lengthy are they? Mr. Hickok replied quite lengthy. He thinks each one is in excess of 20 pages. Councilmember Billings asked can they tell from the minutes who was in attendance at those hearings. Mr. Hickok replied, they could by virtue of who spoke. They may or may not have been a speaker at that meeting. If they were in the audience and did not speak, they would need to check the sign-up sheet for the meeting. Councilmember Billings asked and would there be any indication of who received mailings for initial notice of discussion of the special use permit in 2003. Mr. Hickok replied, yes, they would have the mailing list from 2003. Councilmember Billings asked if the mailing list was available. Mr. Hickok replied, yes, it is here. He read the list as follows: Central Auto Parts of Minnesota, Ham Lake; Central Auto Parts of Minneapolis (they were also notified at a second address). Councilmember Billings replied he is a little bit perplexed that someone could conceivably receive notice that the City was going to review a special use permit, have discussions with staff, be on the mailing list, and then come in three years later and say that they did not know the special use permit was being issued by the City. Mr. Buzick said they were making deals with Mr. Haluptzok. Councilmember Billings replied they made the deal with the land. Instead of just canceling the special use permit they tried to come up with a program. They will take a look at the minutes from the prior meetings and see if they cannot gather more information. Jerry Bates, Sam's Auto Parts, approached and stated he has been employed in the automotive industry for 25 years. When Mr. Buzick's prior tenants used to run Central Auto Parts, Mr. Bates worked there at that time. There was always constant flooding at that time. Council asked Mr. Haluptzok if he had the money to go ahead and do this. With the price of scrap metal, the pile of cars is like a golden bankroll sitting there. All the yards try to comply with the City. They want to try to make this a nice looking environment for everybody. FRIDLEY CITY COUNCIL MEETING OF JULY 10, 2006 PAGE 26 Mayor Lund said they are not trying to shut down the business. They all recognize the need for salvage yards, but that is not the issue here. That is not their first goal. Very little has been done or accomplished with what was agreed to in 2003, and that is why they are here again. Now they see a little bit of action happening at the salvage yard, but only under the threat of revocation of a license and/or special use permit. Councilmember Billings said he would like to do research on a couple of things. He would like to continue this public hearing until the first meeting in August. Councilmember Bolkcom asked if the license is due in two weeks. Mr. Hickok replied the license was e�tended to July 31, 2006, that was an e�tension of last year's license to give him time to take care of this issue. MOTION by Councilmember Billings to continue the public hearing until August 14, 2006. Seconded by Councilmember Barnette. UPON A VOICE VOTE, ALL VOTING AYE, MAYOR LUND DECLARED THE MOTION CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY. MOTION by Councilmember Billings to e�tend the existing junkyard license in question until August 15, 2006. Seconded by Councilmember Bolkcom. UPON A VOICE VOTE, ALL VOTING AYE, MAYOR LUND DECLARED THE MOTION CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY AND THE PUBLIC HEARING WAS CLOSED AT 10:33 P.M. NEW BUSINESS: 10. First Reading of an Ordinance Amending Chapter 214 Related to Definitions, Institutional Signs (Churches and Schools), Political Signs, Temporary Sign Requirements, and Signage for Industries and Businesses along Interstate 694. Mr. Hickok stated this is a te�t amendment for the first reading of a sign code amendment. Over the last sever months, staff has had discussions with Council and the Planning Commission related to sign code legislation they have in place. Very specifically, they had conversations about signage along I-694. After their latest discussion, staff drafted new language that would state that new signage be placed between the principal building and the Interstate 694 right-of- way. It also requires that the sign be placed within that 275 buffer strip and 10 feet from the property line. So the Code will require that the sign erector submit a certificate of survey to verify that all of the above requirements are being met. Other te�t amendments related to definitions of institutional signs, churches, and schools, political signs, temporary sign requirements, signage requirements for the R-1, R-2, and R-3 Districts remain the same as viewed during the public hearing. Their focus recently has just been on fine tuning the I-694 language. As a reminder, churches and schools would be allowed up to 80 square feet for free standing signs. FRIDLEY CITY COUNCIL MEETING OF JULY 10, 2006 PAGE 27 Councilmember Billings stated he was concerned about the language about the freestanding building being located between the principal building and the Interstate 694 right-of-way as well as within the 275-foot buffer strip. He was under the impression that they were going to do away with between the principal building and just go with the 275 feet. Mr. Hickok apologized and stated he did not realize that was the issue before. He would be okay with taking that segment out. Councilmember Billings stated one thing that he looked for today, and he apologized because he knows in the last several years they have talked about this portion of things, but in the original suggestion to staff there was something about defining the parcel for I-694 as being all of the property that was either under one ownership or one rental. What he is concerned with would be he is not seeing any site plans or anything for the Cub site but he heard a rumor McDonald's was going to become a freestanding building and, if they do that, he would think they would probably want one separate tax parcel for that. Even though it was just going to be rented from Holiday Companies, they probably want to get a separate tax parcel for that so they know what their real estate taxes are for that, too. He does not want to see that one large site with one fee owner being broken up into four parcels for each of the buildings only then to have them have four signs along I-694. Is there a way they could put a definition in saying something to the effect, a parcel within this I-694 corridor or property within the I-694 corridor would be defined as all contiguous property that is owned by one fee owner will count towards the square footage. Mr. Hickok stated they did not overlook that piece of their discussion. They determined that it is self-defeating for them to do the subdivision for purposes of another sign along the highway between the chart that talks about how much land area relative to the size sign they get. They could right now subdivide the Holiday site because they are using that as a discussion. They could subdivide that into the four they are talking about and end up with 80 square feet of sign. That is exactly what they could do by Code today. So there is no win or lose. The real benefit of highway signage is keeping the large parts up and in the Holiday example, keep that 240 square foot sign and then divide it up how they want for the complex. But they did not choose to put anything in there. MOTION by Councilmember Billings to amend the Ordinance, Section 214.17(2), line 1, and remove the words "between...right-of-way,". Seconded by Councilmember Bolkcom UPON A VOICE VOTE, ALL VOTING AYE, MAYOR LUND DECLARED THE MOTION CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY. MOTION by Councilmember Billings to waive the reading of the ordinance and approve the ordinance on first reading. Seconded by Councilmember Bolkcom. UPON A VOICE VOTE, ALL VOTING AYE, MAYOR LUND DECLARED THE MOTION CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY. FRIDLEY CITY COUNCIL MEETING OF JULY 10, 2006 PAGE 28 11. Informal Status Reports. Councilmember Bolkcom asked for a brief update on the water quality and on the street project. She said there will be updates on the website relating to the street project. Mr. Haukaas stated the east side of town, generally east of Highway 65 and north of I-694, has been experiencing some rusty water. They are still trying to isolate exactly what it is. They have narrowed it down to two likely scenarios. One is essentially an over-treatment of water, too much free chlorine in that area of town which then essentially attacks some of the pipes and starts stripping some of the existing rust off the interior pipes which then gets in the system. The difficult part is that it is after all of the filtration, so they have not had the opportunity to filter that out. It is not harmful. It is just iron. The second issue is that during the winter, with shutdown of the filter plant and the upgrades they were doing, there was a reversal of flow in a major 20-inch diameter water main that connects the 63rd Avenue booster station to the west across the highway and into the low zone. That pipe typically flows towards the east, and for six months they had it flowing towards the west. Now it is again flowing towards the east. The reversal of the flow stirs up sediments and puts it into the system. It is physically impossible for our system to flush that 20-inch diameter main. It requires a flow of between 4,000 to 5,000 gallons per minute to be able to actually empty that out. They physically cannot do that. So they are looking at other solutions. They do not have an answer just yet. They did meet with the consultant last week, and they are testing daily to narrow down exactly what the problem is and how they are going to solve it. He will keep them updated on their progress. Mr. Haukaas said they were preparing to get ready for initial paving on those portions that they have opened up already. There was a problem found in a section of curbing about 100 or so feet in one of the areas south of Community Park They are working to correct that. There are a few areas that are very close to being ready for curb and within days after that, paving. They will be meeting with the contractor to determine exactly what their schedule is going to be. They have information on the City's website under "What's Happening." Mayor Lund asked Mr. Haukaas if they have something on the website about the water problem. Mr. Haukaas replied, nothing to that e�tent. They did have some information on the website for a while, but he did not want to put misinformation or speculation on the website. Mayor Lund stated he thought that the issue had been resolved. Mr. Haukaas replied it was partially successful. It did clear up for a while and in late June when the temperatures got hotter, there was a great increase in water usage which brought the flows through that pipe to a much higher level and stirred it up again. FRIDLEY CITY COUNCIL MEETING OF JULY 10, 2006 PAGE 29 ADJOURN: MOTION by Councilmember Barnette, seconded by Councilmember Bolkcom, to adjourn. UPON A VOICE VOTE, ALL VOTING AYE, MAYOR LUND DECLARED THE MEETING ADJOURNED AT 10:53 P.M. Respectfully submitted by, Denise M. Johnson Scott J. Lund Recording Secretary Mayor