12/08/2008 - 29218CITY COUNCIL MEETING
CITY OF FRIDLEY
DECEMBER 8, 2008
The City Council meeting for the City of Fridley was called to order by Mayor Lund at 7:32 p.m.
ROLL CALL:
MEMBERS PRESENT: Mayor Lund
Councilmember-at-Large Barnette
Councilmember Saefke
Councilmember Varichak
Councilmember Bolkcom
OTHERS PRESENT: William Burns, City Manager
Fritz Knaak, City Attorney
Scott Hickok, Community Development Director
Richard D. Pribyl, Finance Director
James Kosluchar, Public Works Director
BOARD OF CANVASS
Receive and Certify the Amended Statement of Canvass From the General Election of
November 4, 2008.
Debra Skogen, City Clerk, stated the original canvass was held on November 10 and there is a
small clerical error on page 1 of the canvass report. The "under" total was actually reported as
"over," and the "over" total was reported as the "under" total. They have made the corrections
and are asking Council to recertify the canvass report.
Mayor Lund stated the totals really did not change.
Ms. Skogen replied that is correct. The "under" votes are votes where nobody voted, and the
"over" votes are where there are more than one vote for that race. Under the race for Mayor,
there were two incidents of the over vote. Therefore those two did not count against the race.
Mayor Lund asked if the over votes were pulled as an exception or as contested.
Ms. Skogen said no, nothing at this time.
Councilmember Bolkcom asked how it happened and how she found out about it.
Ms. Skogen said a question was asked about the number of over votes. She looked at the report
and realized she had put them in the wrong column.
FRIDLEY CITY COUNCIL MEETING OF DECEMBER 8, 2008 PAGE 2
Mayor Lund said they should have caught it at the initial Board of Canvass meeting. He looked
at it and it seemed like an awfully high number of overvotes.
Ms. Skogen replied overvotes happen at every election. In the past, there was an incident where
more people voted for a question than they did for one of the candidates. It is hard to say what
the voter's intent is when he/she votes.
MOTION by Mayor Lund to Recertify the Amended Statement of Canvass from the General
Election of November 4, 2008. Seconded by Councilmember Saefke.
UPON A VOICE VOTE, ALL VOTING AYE, MAYOR LUND DECLARED THE
MOTION CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY.
ADMINISTRATIVE HEARING
Abatement Appeal of Wayne and Kellie Liepke, 1634 Gardena Avenue N.E. (Ward 2).
MOTION by Councilmember Barnette to open the Administrative Hearing. Seconded by
Councilmember Saefke.
UPON A VOICE VOTE, ALL VOTING AYE, MAYOR LUND DECLARED THE
ADMINISTRATIVE HEARING OPENED AT 7:40 P.M.
Scott Hickok, Community Development Director, stated the abatement process started with a
letter sent to Mr. and Mrs. Liepke regarding an encroachment into the Innsbruck Nature Center
Park City Code, Section 128, describes a process whereby the City can abate nuisances for
infractions in the City. In that process, 20 days are given to correct the violation, set an
agreeable schedule with the City or request a public hearing. In this situation the Liepkes
requested a hearing, and it was set before the Appeals Commission for September 10. The
Appeals Commission deliberated based on the offered testimony. A consensus was reached
among those Commission members, and the outcome supported staff's position, which was that
the abatement should move forward, and they should discontinue the encroachment into
Innsbruck Nature Center.
Mr. Hickok said the property is 80 feet wide and 135 feet deep, which represents 10,800 square
feet. The properties adjacent to the Liepkes are deeper. Their neighbors' properties are 295 feet
except the home immediately to the west of the Liepkes which is also 135 feet deep. The
encroachment into the park and beyond their property is 80 feet wide by 133.25 feet or 10,660
square feet which is public property being privately used by the Liepkes. A standard residential
lot is 9,000 square feet; and the amount of park property that is being used is 1.2 of those single-
family lots.
Mr. Hickok stated this may be one of the most beautiful abatements we ever find ourselves in
the midst of. The Liepkes know how to landscape, and they know how to do it very, very well.
However, the issue is in a natural setting, like Innsbruck Nature Center, people would not realize
as they look at the subject property that it is not the Liepkes' backyard. The Nature Center is
FRIDLEY CITY COUNCIL MEETING OF DECEMBER 8, 2008 PAGE 3
meant to be a native planting area; a natural area where people can go and experience a different
kind of park with birds and other wildlife.
Mr. Hickok stated after the hearing, findings of fact will be prepared. Council's decision is final
and the petitioners shall act in accordance with the final decision. A question might come up
regarding a discussion they had with Jon Haukaas, our previous Public Works Director.
Mr. Haukaas indicated by e-mail that "I would have said that all structures have to be removed. I
may have said we weren't going to make them tear out lawn, etc., but I wouldn't have
specifically allowed them to keep a garden on park property."
Jack Kirk, Parks and Recreation Director, stated the Innsbruck Nature Center is a 24-acre park
that is owned and operated by the City of Fridley. It is a mostly undeveloped tract of land that
features some unique habitat and landscape. There are ponds, wetlands, forests, and some
significant elevation changes throughout the park The park has had for many years a system of
walking trails that allow park visitors to enjoy these natural elements. From the early 1970's
through 1982, Innsbruck Park was actually the home to our Nature Center operations. When the
interpretative building opened at Springbrook Nature Center in 1982, our Nature Center staff
moved out to that location. While Innsbruck Park saw a reduction in the number of people who
were using the trails, neighbors and residents in the area still continued to use that park for
walking and hiking.
Mr. Kirk stated one of the challenges of that particular park, are some elevation changes. It
makes it difficult to maintain trails. They have had some washouts, and it is has been an ongoing
problem. In 2006, our Public Works Director at the time, Jon Haukaas, suggested the City
consider an expansion and improvement of the trail system. He suggested looking into a grant
program that would allow us to put some off-road bicycle paths in the park. He presented that
idea to the Parks and Recreation Commission and there was some interest, but they wanted more
information. In preparation for the grant application, Mr. Haukaas had the City Surveyor look at
the park boundary lines so they could get an accurate reading. The City discovered that there
were a number of encroachments into the park land and there were some type of encroachments
on all four corners of the park. There were several cases where people were using park land for
personal use and purposes. There were also cases of people dumping debris, yard waste, etc. into
the park land. On December 28, 2006, Mr. Haukaas sent a letter out to all the property owners
surrounding Innsbruck Park, calling attention to the fact that there was a recent survey. There
were a lot of stakes/markers still out there that people could see. He asked that all the
encroachments into the park be removed and taken care of by June 1, 2007. He did this in
cooperation with the recommendation of the Parks and Recreation Commission. Some of the
property owners took care of the encroachments. Others did not. Properties were looked at
again in the summer of 2007, and there were still a number of encroachments that needed to be
taken care of.
Mr. Kirk stated the Parks and Recreation Commission discussed it again that summer, and
asked him to send another letter telling people they needed to take care of these encroachments.
This was the second letter that went out. The letter was sent on August 14, 2007, and a new
deadline of September 15 was set. Some people did call and were taking care of things.
However, once again not everybody did. On October 11, 2007, one of the families close to the
FRIDLEY CITY COUNCIL MEETING OF DECEMBER 8, 2008 PAGE 4
park wanted to make sure they were taking care of all of the encroachments and wanted to meet
with him on the site to make sure they were doing things properly. They knew where the
property line was, and they were getting their things taken care of. He went and met them and it
turned out they did not have any encroachments. While he was there he noticed that the property
at 1634 Gardena had not attended to their encroachment at Innsbruck Park There was a shed, a
storage cabinet, some children's play equipment, a basketball stand and a hoop, a garden, and an
area planted with flowers, all on park land. The area surrounding all of these structures was
mowed grass.
Mr. Kirk said he stopped at the property to see if the property owners were home. They were
and he asked if they had received a letter from him. They acknowledged they had. He told the
owners that they needed to remove all of the property off the parkland as soon as possible since
they were about a little over a year into this process. He explained the first letter had gone out
the previous December, and he had sent a second one in August. He told the owner they were
going to be creating some new trails in the park, and a trail segment was actually going to be
included in the area that they were encroaching into. The homeowner did want to know how
close the trail was actually going to come to his property. He said he told the homeowner that
the trail had not been laid out so he could not give him any exact information.
Mr. Kirk stated the owner asked him in that meeting if everything had to come out, and he told
him, the items he had in the park had to come out. He told him he needed to stop mowing in the
area because it was a natural area and needed to go back to becoming natural. He stated the City
intended to put up a small sign in some of the encroachment area that indicated where the park
boundary was to make it easier for people to understand. The information he gave him seemed to
upset the homeowner, who indicated that his family had owned the house for 40 years, and had
always mowed back into the park area, even before it was a natural history area. He stated that
Mr. Haukaas, who originally had talked with him, had indicated that he did not have to take his
garden out. Mr. Haukaas had told him he needed to take out the structures, but as Mr. Liepke
understood his conversation with Mr. Haukaas, he did not have to take the garden out.
Mr. Kirk stated said he was working very closely with Mr. Haukaas on this project, and he
believed Mr. Haukaas and himself were both on the same page--that all encroachments needed to
come out of the park The property owner was upset and stated he would probably talk with the
elected officials about this item. He did tell the homeowner that he could talk to the Parks &
Recreation Commission about it.
Mr. Kirk said the properties were inspected again this spring, and two of the properties had still
not dealt with the encroachments. Scott Hickok and he made personal visits to the properties on
July 17. That is when they were given the abatement letter. They talked with the property
owners and told them they needed to take action. The Liepkes appealed and ask for a hearing
with the Appeals Commission which was held on September 10. They requested a hearing
before the City Council.
Mr. Kirk stated they have dealt with a number of encroachments over the years since he has
been the Parks and Recreation Director. There have been fences, landscaping, structures, and at
one point they even dealt with a six-foot satellite dish that was cemented in the City park land.
FRIDLEY CITY COUNCIL MEETING OF DECEMBER 8, 2008 PAGE 5
Property owners oftentimes ask if they can buy the property from the City or just leave their
items there. He has tried to be very consistent with all of these encroachments and has said the
land belongs to all the citizens in Fridley and is not something they can give to one individual for
their personal use.
Mr. Kirk stated in this particular case, the City is not asking for any compensation for an
individual or family who has used public land for many, many years. All they want is for them
to remove their items and that the land become available for use by all the citizens of the
community.
Councilmember Bolkcom asked if staff had copies of the letters that were sent.
Mr. Kirk replied he does have copies of the letters.
Councilmember Bolkcom asked him to read the letters.
Mr. Kirk read the letters as follows:
1. December 28, 2006, regarding Innsbruck Park Boundary and Cleanup of
Encroachments. Dear Property Owner: The City of Fridley recently completed a
survey to verify the boundaries of our Innsbruck Park You may have noticed stakes
and pink ribbon running along your side or back property lines to mark locations of
property items we found in this process. This letter is going out to every property that
borders Innsbruck Park. We are asking each of you to remove any encroachment
onto park property that may have inadvertently occurred over the years. We also
request you clean up and remove any dumping of debris onto park land, including
trees and brush. We ask that this work be completed by June 1, 2007. Beginning in
June of the ne�t summer the City of Fridley will again be inspecting the boundary and
will take code enforcement action to clean up and remove any remaining debris. Any
City cost to clean up of dumping plus administrative costs may be charged to the
adjacent property owner. We prefer this all be done on a voluntary basis without the
need for punitive action. If you have any questions on this boundary, please feel free
to call me directly at 763-572-3550 if you have any questions. Sincerely, Jon
Haukaas, Director of Public Works.
2. August 14, 2007, Dear Property Owner: Last December you should have received a
letter from Public Works Director, Jon Haukaas, about the Innsbruck Park boundary
and clean-up of encroachments into parkland. A survey completed by City staff last
fall identified the park boundaries and found a number of areas where private
property had been e�tended into the park land or material and/or debris that had been
dumped into the park The letter from Mr. Haukaas asked the property owners clean
up or remove any debris or material that was dumped into the park A completion
date of June 1, 2007, was listed. We are now well past the completion date, and a
recent inspection of the park boundaries showed that several of these encroachments
have not been taken care of. At the request of the Parks & Recreation Commission,
the City is e�tending the deadline to take care of these issues until September 15,
FRIDLEY CITY COUNCIL MEETING OF DECEMBER 8, 2008 PAGE 6
2007. If you have not already attended to this situation, please take appropriate action
as soon as possible. A final inspection will be made in mid-September to determine
compliance with this request. If you have any questions and need additional
information, please feel free to contact me at 763-572-3575. Thank you for your
anticipated cooperation and support. Sincerely, Jack Kirk, Director of Parks and
Recreation.
3. July 16, 2008, to Mr. and Mrs. Liepke. Re: Code Violations — Need for Action at
1634 Gardena Avenue NE. Dear Property Owner: Fridley City Code, Chapter 128
(copy enclosed) has established a procedure for abatement of certain e�terior public
nuisances. This allows the City to remove from private property those items defined
as e�terior public nuisances in accordance with the provisions outlined in the chapter.
A recent inspection of your property at 1634 Gardena Avenue NE revealed the
following conditions to which this Code section applies. The violation,
encroachments into Innsbruck Nature Center, such as sandboxes, swing sets, storage
building, and gardens. Code Section, under miscellaneous violation. Action needed
to correct: You must respond in one of three ways listed below no later than August
5, 2008, or the City will take action to abate the nuisance conditions outlined in this
letter. (1) Correct the violations identified in this letter, (2) Contact me at 763-572-
3590 and make arrangements to have the property cleaned up in accordance with the
schedule that is agreeable to the City; and (3) Apply in writing to the Community
Development Director for a hearing in front of an independent hearing examiner.
Unless you pursue Option No. 2 or No. 3 shown above, I will reinspect the property
on or shortly after August 5, 2008. If the violations remain, the City will abate this
e�terior public nuisance in accordance with the enclosed ordinance provisions.
Should this occur, you will be charged for the cost associated with the abatement
including up to 25 percent for administrative expenses incurred as outlined in this
Chapter. Please call me at 763-572-3590 if you have questions or wish to discuss this
further. Thanks for your cooperation. Sincerely, Scott Hickok, Community
Development Director.
Councilmember Bolkcom stated she believed the first letter could lead someone to believe they
had to remove rubbish. It is pretty clear in the third letter dated August 5 from Mr. Hickok that it
also included the gardens. She asked Mr. Hickok whether he received anything from the
property owner on or before August 5 related to either No. 2 or No. 3 as outlined in his letter.
Mr. Hickok stated they did respond and requested a hearing.
Councilmember Bolkcom asked Mr. Kirk about the other encroachments he mentioned in his
testimony. He was not just talking about this property, but about other parks in the community.
Mr. Kirk replied, that is correct.
Councilmember Bolkcom said they were not treating this case any different, and he was talking
about other parks when he mentioned the satellite dish.
FRIDLEY CITY COUNCIL MEETING OF DECEMBER 8, 2008 PAGE 7
Mr. Kirk replied he was referring to other parks.
Councilmember Bolkcom said the encroachments on this park are not treated any different than
encroachments on other parks.
Mr. Kirk replied, no, they are not being treated any differently.
Councilmember Bolkcom asked how the City found out about encroachments.
Mr. Kirk replied it can be similar to this case where they are looking at property lines. Most of
our parks are groomed parks where they mow the lawn and the encroachments are much more
visible. When you have a nature area like this, it can go on for years because, unless the trail
actually goes right up to this property line, the only way to get to this encroachment would be to
go through an individual's yard. They have had fences all of a sudden appear that are five feet
from a ball line at a ball field that were not there two weeks before.
Councilmember Bolkcom asked Mr. Hickok to point out on the photographs where the property
line was. She said she went to the property owners' house for an open house and thought it was
all his property.
Mr. Hickok pointed out where the park property begins. He stated it is manicured and there are
some nice planting beds and it appears like somebody's backyard.
Councilmember Bolkcom said so all three of the gardens are part of the Nature Center's
property.
Mr. Hickok replied they are. It is a beautiful backyard with very nice gardens. They had timber
edging along their planting beds which they have now removed. They were to stop mowing this
summer, also. They had chosen to leave their plants in place but to stop mowing so it would go
back to the native appearance. When the City was out most recently, the mowing had not ceased.
Councilmember Bolkcom asked if all the plantings should disappear or if they should let the
grass grow around them or if it could be one or the other.
Mr. Hickok replied, it could be one or the other.
Councilmember Barnette asked regarding the property to the west, the 285-foot deep property,
are the owners maintaining their property all the way to the property line.
Mr. Hickok replied some folks have transitioned their properties as they get closer to the park.
As you get a little bit further over they mow deeper on the lot. It is typical that those lots, that
have the land to do it, are taking advantage of that full backyard.
Councilmember Barnette stated you have a situation of 6 lots that are 285 feet deep. Let us
make the assumption they are maintaining all those lots. There are 2 properties where you are
FRIDLEY CITY COUNCIL MEETING OF DECEMBER 8, 2008 PAGE 8
almost creating a peninsula of park property. He can understand the Liepkes saying let's make it
nice and straight, and he can understand their frustration, and he respects the City's position.
Councilmember Saefke asked if the park lots behind the Liepkes' lot and the people to the west,
were tax forfeit properties.
Mr. Hickok replied, yes.
Councilmember Saefke stated it is his understanding that with respect to tax forfeit property,
even if the City decided to sell the land, they could not.
Mr. Hickok replied that is correct.
Councilmember Saefke stated that limits any discussion on that end. He asked when it was tax
forfeited.
Mr. Hickok replied he thought it was in the late 1970s.
Councilmember Saefke asked whether the Liepkes and their neighbors would have been
notified about that.
Mr. Hickok replied, very likely. Typically when lots like this go tax forfeit, the County contacts
the City. They just recently had a couple of those come before them where the City was asking
the Council whether there was an interest. In one case there was and in another case, the City let
it pass. It was not of interest to the City, but it does have that first opportunity, especially in a
situation like this adjacent to a park, where it can provide some expanded area to a park, the
County provides it as an opportunity to the City. So, it may have not been opened up to
neighbors for purchase.
Councilmember Saefke stated he just wanted to make it clear that even if they wanted to, they
could not sell the property to them.
Mr. Hickok said if a property is acquired by the City, and we pay fair market value and we
choose to use it for a park, that is one thing. If it goes up for sale later, there is a bit different
disposition opportunity than if it is acquired through tax forfeiture where we have accepted it
from the County for purposes of park land.
Councilmember Saefke asked whether they could give it to the Liepkes.
Mr. Hickok replied, no. It is for everyone's enjoyment and not a private individual.
Councilmember Saefke asked for the past 40 years they have enjoyed that property for their
benefit but never paid taxes on it, correct?
Mr. Hickok replied that is correct.
FRIDLEY CITY COUNCIL MEETING OF DECEMBER 8, 2008 PAGE 9
Mayor Lund asked in what cases the City could sell public land if the need should arise?
Mr. Hickok replied, it depends on how it was acquired.
Fritz Knaak, City Attorney, stated they can sell certain kinds of property that the City owns but
it depends on how you get it. If the property is acquired park land or is dedicated as park land or
comes through a process like this where you have tax forfeiture, you are very limited in how you
can sell it. In fact, you cannot sell it as a practical matter. If anything, it would revert back to
whoever the original donor was. If the City buys property for some other reason and you have
no need for the property, the City's Charter makes provisions for the City to declare it to be
surplus and then sell it at fair value. They have done that. In a case like this they are limited in
how they can sell it.
Mayor Lund said looking at the property lines, he can see where this could clean up the line and
make the property straight across. However, it is tax forfeited property and we cannot sell any of
that property.
Attorney Knaak replied that is right. That is a condition of the City receiving the property to
begin with. It is like park dedicated land. When you receive park-dedicated land, you are
receiving that land subject to the condition of the donation. You do not really have the authority
to sell it.
Councilmember Varichak asked if there is any way for anybody to get to that property from
that natural area. It does not look like it.
Mr. Hickok replied, right.
CouncilmemberVarichak replied so the only way they could get to that particular property or
the two adjacent properties is through the yard of the homeowners, is that correct?
Mr. Kirk replied, there is no path at this point. There has been a path in the past coming off of
Stinson on the south end of all of those properties, but it did not e�tend northward at that point.
Mayor Lund asked Mr. Liepke what he thinks a fair closure is to this issue.
Wayne Liepke, 1634 Gardena Avenue NE, stated Mr. Kirk has mentioned a couple of times that
the property to the east of them had called Mr. Kirk out to make sure they were not encroaching.
When the letters originally were sent out, that property owner was a very good friend of his and
he had brain cancer. When they came out and did the survey, there was stuff all over the place
and Mr. Liepke spent a day bringing all of it back on to the property. His neighbor passed away,
but it was his family who called. He just wanted to let them know it was him that made sure
everything was on the property. They have had many people come up through the park, into the
gardens, and tell them how beautiful they are and how thankful they are that they are there. They
have always had an open garden type policy for people to come in and talk plants.
FRIDLEY CITY COUNCIL MEETING OF DECEMBER 8, 2008 PAGE 10
Mr. Liepke replied, as far as a closure to this, he does not have anything legal to throw out.
They are gardening on park property. It is winter now and nothing can be done. He proposed
that in the spring that his business, Gardens of Rice Creek, would in the areas of where they had
been mowing grass, be allowed a one time donation to plant native grasses and plants that are
conducive to parks and that natural setting. They could allow them to grow and kind of cover
the grass area. His concern with doing nothing and just leaving it like it is, is that he has seen
what would happen. The grass would turn into basically a weed-infested field that he does not
think anyone would benefit from. He says one-time because he knows they want them to stop
doing what they are doing, and he would not want it to be open-ended.
Mayor Lund asked if Gardens of Rice Creek was a business.
Mr. Liepke replied, yes.
Mayor Lund asked if he was in the business of landscaping.
Mr. Liepke replied, yes.
Councilmember Bolkcom stated he and his partners have done a lot of landscaping at the
Anoka County Library here in Fridley.
Mr. Liepke replied also at Springbrook last year.
Mayor Lund asked about what appeared to be a mulched path coming off his garden area. He
asked Mr. Liepke if he maintained those chips and created the pathway to get to the main path.
Mr. Liepke stated on the City's old maps, it shows that path. However, that path basically was
kind of borne from just his family for the last 40 years going back into the woods. Maybe the
City adopted it as their path, that is fine, but they always kept it up so people could walk up and
enjoy the gardens and it led back into the woods as well. They have never told people, stay out
this is private, we are doing this for private reasons.
Mayor Lund stated if that is his desire to put wild species plants, he asked if that would be
acceptable from a code enforcement standpoint. As long as it is some non-invasive species or
something that is native to the area.
Mr. Hickok replied we do allow that. Frankly, that would be a good solution. Typically if there
is a defined edge, they mow to a certain point and then it becomes prairie grass from that point
on. That is something that they have seen and have allowed.
Mayor Lund stated keeping in mind this is public property, if the staff is okay with that, he
thinks it is fine as long as the petitioner is a landscaper, professional or otherwise. He thought
they should provide the City with a list of what will be planted to make sure they are acceptable.
He asked about purchasing 25 feet of the surrounding properties. It would be like a trade-off.
We would clean up the lines.
FRIDLEY CITY COUNCIL MEETING OF DECEMBER 8, 2008 PAGE 11
Councilmember Bolkcom said we been told we cannot trade property.
Mayor Lund asked Mr. Knaak if they could trade some of that property.
Mr. Knaak replied, you cannot swap it. It is your property.
Mr. Hickok replied he thinks what happened is 1624, 1628, and the subject property were all
platted at the same time with the idea that if something developed south instead of the Nature
Center, they dedicated half the right-of-way so they could have access and sell lots in the future.
When it became Innsbruck Nature Center, any idea of any sort of development there went away,
and 1624 combined that parcel with their parcel and made a deep lot of it. Number 1634 did not.
They did not purchase the parcel and did not combine it and those lands went tax-forfeit. He
understands that it was not Mr. Liepke's family who owned it before, that was prior to them
being there.
Councilmember Barnette stated Mr. Liepke's proposal sounds very reasonable. Mr. Liepke is
willing to go back to its original property line, put some plantings in there which would benefit
the park, make it more natural.
Councilmember Bolkcom stated so all those gardens would go away, leaving natural grasses.
She is asking if the petitioner is going to be planting native grasses around the gardens or are the
gardens going away?
Mr. Liepke replied, no, he is proposing planting the native grasses where the mowable grass is.
Councilmember Varichak stated she does not know how it will all play out as the grass starts to
grow and does not know if they will look good together. She thinks it would still look like
Mr. Liepke's property. She has been there. It is gorgeous. It will take a while for the grasses to
grow.
Mr. Liepke stated he is going by the resolution the Appeals Commission made which was to do
nothing and just leave it. He was just trying to find a happy medium.
Mayor Lund stated he does not see a real problem if Mr. Liepke wants to put in native species
in the area under the guidance of City staff and accepting that it would probably take a couple
years. Mr. Liepke has already testified he would not maintain the existing gardens which would
go to more natural vegetation. He does not have any problems with it.
Councilmember Bolkcom stated she does have a concern because the way it is now, people
perceive that as their property. There are a lot of expensive plants here. Why would he leave
plants in there and then put grasses around there and not maintain them?
Mr. Liepke replied they would be kind of varied. He believes it would look somewhat more of
a natural landscape than just letting the grass grow and do nothing. Some of the plants that are in
FRIDLEY CITY COUNCIL MEETING OF DECEMBER 8, 2008 PAGE 12
there, such as the bee balm are natural plants. Obviously the hostas, peonies and lilies are not,
but a natural state they would look nice.
Councilmember Bolkcom asked if he would be tempted to divide them and change them
around.
Mr. Liepke said this is only part of their gardens. When people did come up on park property,
they were also invited to come right up to their backdoor where gardens are as well. So, there
are plenty of gardens. The gardens are somewhat self-sustaining. He could do that.
Councilmember Bolkcom asked Mr. Kirk if he thought the solution was reasonable.
Mr. Kirk said tonight was the first time he heard of the proposal. There is some intrigue with
that and it may work out. He has to admit he has some concerns if the gardens are going to stay,
and we are going to be selective on where we plant different types of grasses in there. However,
it almost sounds like it is another landscaping project which is being done on City park land.
Our whole idea is for this area to be natural. If you let forests go they will regenerate.
Mr. Liepke stated it is filled with buckthorn in that area. So that is how the forest is
regenerated.
Mr. Kirk stated without seeing a more detailed plan and really looking this over he is
uncomfortable saying tonight if that is acceptable.
Councilmember Bolkcom stated and once the grasses are in there, who maintains them and who
waters them. She asked Mr. Liepke whether the grasses have to be watered when they are first
planted.
Mr. Liepke replied they are on the north side of the woods which does not get a lot of sun. He
thinks there are a lot of drought-resistance plants that would not need water.
Councilmember Bolkcom asked what about in the beginning when they are first planted.
Mr. Liepke said they could be watered when first planted, but he thinks that would be it.
Mayor Lund asked Attorney Knaak if a motion would be in order to approve the abatement.
Then through the motion or by an amended motion, if the Council so chooses, they could amend
the abatement or delay the abatement for six months to allow some time for Mr. Liepke to
provide information that is acceptable to staff about native vegetation and give him time to plant.
Attorney Knaak replied the appropriate response would be to approve the abatement, based on
the information and testimony provided, and allow a six-month period of time during which the
Liepkes and staff could work out an appropriate abatement remedy.
Mayor Lund stated they have six months to come to an agreement and after the six-month
period, the Liepkes leave it alone, not maintaining the gardens.
FRIDLEY CITY COUNCIL MEETING OF DECEMBER 8, 2008 PAGE 13
Attorney Knaak replied another option is to close the public hearing and continue further
deliberation on the matter including any decision they make for six months.
Councilmember Bolkcom said they could close the hearing, not render a decision, and direct
staff to work with Mr. Liepke on his abatement plan related to the landscaping and bring it back
to them for approval.
Attorney Knaak stated that is an option but in fact what they would be doing is cutting off the
public hearing which they need to do tonight. Rather than making a decision, what they would
do is continue that part of the proceeding for six months. If nothing happens to their satisfaction,
they would then impose a sentence which would be the abatement. In the alternative, if in fact a
reasonable resolution is brought before them, they can accept that.
Mayor Lund asked if there is a timeline.
Attorney Knaak replied, in this instance, no. He suggests getting the appellant to consent to
that as a matter of record.
Councilmember Bolkcom asked to a date certain?
Attorney Knaak replied to a date certain would be better but not necessary.
Councilmember Bolkcom asked if Mr. Liepke had to continue to do this if they do not actually
have a date.
Attorney Knaak replied, technically, he could not continue what he is doing. What he would be
doing in any event would be actually a citable offense. He said she was correct by putting a date
specific on it. You eliminate the issue of whether this thing could continue indefinitely.
Councilmember Bolkcom asked if they have not rendered a decision, is he really doing
something he should not be doing.
Attorney Knaak replied, yes, he is actually damaging or encroaching on City property.
Mayor Lund asked Councilmember Bolkcom if her suggestion would be that we approve the
abatement but also stipulate that there is a six-month period or a date certain.
Councilmember Bolkcom said her suggestion is that they close the administrative hearing and
actually come up with a date certain for the landscaping plan.
Mayor Lund asked if that could be done in the findings of fact he was going to ask staff to
prepare.
Councilmember Bolkcom replied, she thinks so. They are saying this could co-exist but they
need to give staff some time to work with Mr. Liepke.
FRIDLEY CITY COUNCIL MEETING OF DECEMBER 8, 2008 PAGE 14
Dr. Burns stated he agrees with her, but they have worked with the Liepkes and advised them of
the encroachment for quite some time, and to allow this to play out for six months with a
decision on the abatement, is contrary to the City's interest. His suggestion would be to close the
hearing, and come up with a separate decision at their first meeting in February.
Councilmember Bolkcom suggested March or April to give Parks and Recreation enough time
to react and give time for City staff to work with Mr. Liepke.
Mr. Hickok stated he thinks it would be important to get to a decision before the growing season
even begins. He thinks at the latest, on April 1.
Dr. Burns asked what about the second meeting in March.
Mayor Lund informed Mr. Liepke they are talking about closing the abatement hearing tonight
but not rendering a decision until the second meeting March which gives him, staff, and the
Recreation Department time to come to an agreement. The meeting date would be March 23,
2009, and at that time they will render a final decision.
Mr. Liepke replied, okay.
Mayor Lund said at that time Council could render a decision in writing. It would be based on
the testimony that has been presented tonight. Some of that would be, in his mind, a discussion
about the inability to purchase the land. Mr. Liepke has agreed under oath that he knows it is
City land, and that he will discontinue mowing and maintaining the City's property. They are
willing to give him one time to put in some natural vegetation.
Councilmember Bolkcom clarified that the abatement does go forward and the landscaping plan
needs to be in front of them by March 23.
Attorney Knaak said his understanding is that is what they are going to do. The findings would
be crafted in the meantime for their approval.
Mayor Lund stated it is his opinion that they wanted to close the abatement hearing, to not
render a decision on the abatement until the second meeting in March.
Attorney Knaak stated he suggests that the motion be in the form of directing staff to work with
the individual but to create appropriate language in the findings which would conceivably
include the agreement that they have with the Liepkes.
MOTION by Commission Varichak to close the abatement appeal of Wayne and Kellie Liepke,
1634 Garden Avenue N.E. Seconded by Councilmember Bolkcom.
Mr. Hickok stated he is confident in working with the Liepkes that they will come to a solution.
If they do not come to a solution, what would happen?
FRIDLEY CITY COUNCIL MEETING OF DECEMBER 8, 2008 PAGE 15
Mayor Lund stated after they close this public hearing, they are going to make a motion to abate
the property but delay it until the second meeting in March to give staff and the Liepkes time to
finalize the decision on City staff's perception on what is going to be acceptable vegetation and
then as Mr. Liepke stated in his testimony allow him a one-time opportunity to plant native
grasses and plants.
Councilmember Bolkcom said Mr. Liepke needs to come forward relatively soon and outline
his plan. The landscaping plan and the findings of fact should be prepared by March 23. This
has gone on since 2006.
UPON A VOICE VOTE, ALL VOTING AYE, MAYOR LUND DECLARED THE
MOTION CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY AND THE ADMINISTRATIVE HEARING WAS
CLOSED AT 9:08 P.M.
MOTION by Councilmember Varichak to direct staff to prepare findings of fact containing the
terms of the abatement to review and take action at the City Council meeting on March 23, 2008.
Seconded by Councilmember Barnette.
UPON A VOICE VOTE, ALL VOTING AYE, MAYOR LUND DECLARED THE
MOTION CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY.
CITY COUNCIL MEETING
APPROVAL OF PROPOSED CONSENT AGENDA:
APPROVAL OF MINUTES:
City Council Meeting of November 10, 2008.
APPROVED.
City Council Meeting of November 17, 2008.
APPROVED.
Councilmember Saefke stated he would like to make a minor correction on the Council minutes
of November 17, 2008. On Page 3, under Public Hearing, the paragraph begins with Don
Abbott, after that it should read Public Safety Director, not Public Works Director.
Councilmember Bolkcom asked that the language of the presentation for the 2008-2009 City of
Fridley Winter Operations Policies and Procedures be included in the minutes.
APPROVED AS CORRECTED.
FRIDLEY CITY COUNCIL MEETING OF DECEMBER 8, 2008 PAGE 16
NEW BUSINESS:
1. Approve Extension of Special Use Permit, SP #05-03 and Variance, VAR #05-14, by
Kinghorn Company for Woodcrest Baptist Church, to Allow an Expansion of an
Existing Church in a Multi-Family Zoning District, Generally Located at 6875
University Avenue N.E. (Ward 1).
William Burns, City Manager, said this permit allows expansion of the church and parking lot.
It was first approved by Council on November 10, 2005. There have been two subsequent one-
year e�tensions in December 2006 and December 2007. Kinghorn Construction, the contractor
for the project, is requesting an additional one-year e�tension. Staff recommends Council's
approval.
THIS ITEM WAS REMOVED FROM THE CONSENT AGENDA AND PLACED ON
THE REGULAR AGENDA.
2. Approve Submittal of the City of Fridley's Draft Wellhead Protection Plan to the
Minnesota Department of Health for Approval.
William Burns, City Manager, said we sent our Draft Wellhead Protection Plan to other
jurisdictions on September 4, 2008. After a 60-day review and comment period, Council held a
public hearing on November 10, 2008. Now that the hearing and reviews are complete, staff is
ready to send this preliminary plan to the Minnesota Department of Health. The plan is available
on the City's website. Staff recommends Council's approval.
APPROVED.
3. Approve Change Order No. 1 for the Commons Park Water Treatment Plan
Improvements, Project No. 379.
William Burns, City Manager, said the change order is for $2,500 and is necessary to meet the
City's prevailing wage requirements that were inadvertently left out of the bidding documents.
The change raises the contract amount to $609,200. Staff recommends the $2,500 change order
to Shank Constructors, Inc.
APPROVED.
4. Resolution Authorizing an Increase in Compensation and Changes in Certain
Benefits for the 2009 Calendar Year.
William Burns, City Manager, said staff is recommending a 3 percent cost of living adjustment
and a 3 percent increase in automobile allowances where applicable. The increase is consistent
with past salary adjustments, our union contracts, and other local jurisdictions in the
metropolitan area. Staff recommends Council's approval.
ADOPTED RESOLUTION NO. 2008-59.
FRIDLEY CITY COUNCIL MEETING OF DECEMBER 8, 2008 PAGE 17
5. Claims (132428-139834).
APPROVED.
6. Licenses
APPROVED THE LICENSES AS SUBMITTED AND AS ON FILE.
APPROVAL OF PROPOSED CONSENT AGENDA:
MOTION by Councilmember Barnette to approve the consent agenda as presented with the
removal of Item No. 1. Seconded by Councilmember Varichak.
UPON A VOICE VOTE, ALL VOTING AYE, MAYOR LUND DECLARED THE
MOTION CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY.
ADOPTION OF THE AGENDA:
MOTION by Councilmember Bolkcom to approve the agenda with the addition of Item No. 1.
Seconded by Councilmember Saefke.
UPON A VOICE VOTE, ALL VOTING AYE, MAYOR LUND DECLARED THE
MOTION CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY.
OPEN FORUM:
Joe Brothers, 1021 Hackmann Circle NE, asked for a statement of clarification from Council.
On November 4, 2008, he had an incident with an individual from Fridley's Police Department.
He was expressing his First Amendment rights of displaying a political sign on the Matterhorn
overpass. The person who initially confronted him on the issue said he could not have a sign on
the overpass. Mr. Brothers said, yes, he could. The individual said it was state property. Mr.
Brothers said, no, it is federal property. He can display it and that it was his right to display the
sign as long as he was not causing a traffic obstruction. The person who confronted him initially
made the call to the Police Department. He believed the City Manager got the call.
Mr. Brothers stated he thought they were under the impression that he was causing a traffic
obstruction which he was not. He knows under his right to free speech, that he also has the
responsibility not to cause problems with traffic. During their conversation, the officer
expressed his viewpoint that he was a socialist. He asked the police officer why he thought that.
He said he felt a bit intimidated. He asked the officer what would happen if he went back out on
the bridge, and he said he would be cited. Mr. Brothers asked him how much would it cost. The
officer would not give him an amount, because as he found out later, the officer could not
because it was the court's decision.
FRIDLEY CITY COUNCIL MEETING OF DECEMBER 8, 2008 PAGE 18
Mr. Brothers said he asked who made the initial call. Eventually the officer said he would
arrest him and put him in jail. He said he was a teacher and would not want to be arrested
because he is an outstanding citizen. He said he felt threatened when he said that. For his
employment he cannot have a misdemeanor on his record. He knows the law gives him some
discretion. He drives I-694 and he was not causing any problems. The only problems that were
being caused were eastbound because there was actually a highway patrolman who had pulled
somebody over. He was actually on the westbound side. He placed himself there for a couple of
reasons. He knew the sun was going to come up and it was going to be in people's eyes who
were heading eastbound. He said he called the State Highway Patrol Office to ask if they had
received any calls, and they said they had not. They seemed surprised and somewhat shocked
that this had happened.
Mayor Lund said he did not know if he could hang the sign or not, political or otherwise.
Mr. Brothers said he was holding it. You cannot hang a sign on a bridge. The initial complaint
against him was that he was hanging the sign wildly. He was not. He was holding it up with two
hands because it was a pretty large sign.
Mayor Lund asked what he wanted Council to do.
Mr. Brothers stated he believes they have that right as citizens of the United States to be able to
display public opinions as long as they were are not causing destruction. He wants it to be
known to the Police Department that when that police officer comes to that scene, he should
evaluate the scene first. The officer never saw Mr. Brothers up on the bridge. He was at his car
and about ready to leave.
Mayor Lund stated they will take a look at it. He will talk to the Police Chief and have him
look at it. Since Mr. Brothers brought this up in public forum, he will respond at the ne�t
meeting during the public forum.
Mr. Brothers stated he sent an e-mail to 8 or 9 addresses off the website. He knows one senator
received it.
William Burns, City Manager, said a citizen complained and he asked the Police Department to
investigate to determine whether there was a threat to public safety by Mr. Brothers leaning over
the interstate and holding a sign. They did send a police sergeant out there, and the sergeant
apparently determined that there was a threat to public safety and asked him to stay off the
overpass.
Mayor Lund stated the officers are very well trained about ascertaining circumstances.
Dr. Burns stated Mr. Brothers called him after this incident had occurred, and he arranged for
him to talk to Captain Rewitzer. Mr. Brothers he did come in and talk with Captain Rewitzer.
He is not sure what the result was.
FRIDLEY CITY COUNCIL MEETING OF DECEMBER 8, 2008 PAGE 19
Mr. Brothers stated they did listen to him. He does not feel it was resolved the way he would
have liked. He holds police officers in the highest regard, or at least he did, until this situation.
He also feels he lost a sense of trust that he had placed in his Police Department. He is also
willing to realize people make mistakes. He wants the police officer to at least evaluate what is
going on.
Mayor Lund stated he is running on assumptions too, because he was not there and he has not
heard the other side of the story. He has to assume that an officer has been highly trained, well-
schooled, on trying to downplay situations, not worsen situations. Mr. Brothers could have been
argumentative.
Mr. Brothers replied, I could have.
Mayor Lund stated and the officer has some latitude and discretion in saying, look, I think you
are a public safety threat. He may not agree with that, but, but between the two of them, he
guessed he would tend to side with the officer.
Mr. Brothers stated the person who made the call was Rick Wolf who was a candidate for one
of the Council seats. He knows who he is because he lives one block from him. He knows the
officer and Mr. Wolf have a previous relationship, and he also knows that he had or did have a
John McCain sign in his yard. Because his initial call was based on political, he made a call to
Dr. Burns initially, too. If Mr. Brothers is a citizen and calls the City of Fridley, he could
distinguish all political signage whatsoever. That is his right. He could keep making calls, drive
around Fridley, and do that. He wants to see that does not happen. We have this freedom of
expression that we need to guarantee within the City of Fridley.
Mayor Lund stated as long as it is not a detriment to public safety.
Mr. Brothers replied what he is saying is that throughout the day he saw a number of people in
the City of Fridley waving signs wildly throughout the day--on University Avenue, Central
Avenue, down the on-ramp to I-694 on University. He wants to make sure those citizens of
Fridley are not obstructed in the process. He felt that he was wronged.
Mayor Lund said they would look into it.
Councilmember Bolkcom asked Mr. Kosluchar about the gentleman who was before them on
November 10 regarding a light and if there had been a resolution on that matter. Mr. Stahlberg
had asked that he send him some information related to his concern about fertilizing vs.
snowplowing. She has not seen anything back on it. There was also a gentleman at a hearing
regarding his father's sidewalk and was wondering if Mr. Kosluchar had looked at it. She asked
if Mr. Kosluchar would report to all of them in an e-mail.
Pete Eisenzimmer, 6535 Oakley Drive, stated he received a letter from Anoka County on taxes.
It said that we were supposed to have a meeting tonight.
Councilmember Bolkcom replied, we are. It is ne�t on the agenda.
FRIDLEY CITY COUNCIL MEETING OF DECEMBER 8, 2008 PAGE 20
Mr. Eisenzimmer stated every year he has come here and the meeting is supposed to be at 7:30
p.m. It is 9:30 and he is still here. It has never gone on the agenda.
Mayor Lund asked what was not put on the agenda.
Mr. Eisenzimmer stated it says the meeting is for 7:30 tonight. It is not on the agenda. It is
supposed to be on there so they can talk about taxes. Every year he has called the City Hall, it is
on the agenda. They never spell it out what it is for. He just had some medical work done and
he cannot sit here for two or three hours.
Mayor Lund stated he is sorry but they do have other things on the agenda. They put the things
on the agenda where they belong in procedural order.
PUBLIC HEARING
7. Consideration of the 2009 City of Fridley Budget.
MOTION by Councilmember Saefke to open the public hearing. Seconded by Councilmember
Varichak.
UPON A VOICE VOTE, ALL VOTING AYE, MAYOR LUND DECLARED THE
MOTION CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY AND THE HEARING WAS OPENED AT 9:38
P.M.
William Burns, City Manager, stated the budgeting process is a lengthy process which starts at
the beginning of every year with a lot of planning activities, including Council/Commission
surveys and goals and objectives from the project managers and many discussions. There are
two Council review sections. One is in June and one in October. They present the preliminary
budget to Council in August. In August they establish taxation figures for the preliminary tax
figures for the coming year.
Dr. Burns stated tonight is the final public hearing on the budget. At the ne�t meeting on
December 15, Council will be asked to vote on the budget resolution.
Dr. Burns stated the preparation of the budget occurs within a lot of important conte�ts. One of
the most important of those is the legislative conte�t. This year's legislative session was filled
with partisan tensions. They began with when the Governor vetoed the omnibus transportation
bill. They got even stronger later on in the session when he took the central corridor project out
of the bonding bill. Ultimately, the Governor and the legislation did come to a conclusion.
Dr. Burns stated there were a number of other positive and negative things that resulted. Local
government aid was modified to take into account jobs in the community and that was a great
benefit for Fridley. There was also some benefit in the form of legislation that allows us to use
money from three expired tax increment districts. They also passed special legislation that
FRIDLEY CITY COUNCIL MEETING OF DECEMBER 8, 2008 PAGE 21
enabled us to set up a large, 150-acre transit oriented TIF district, that would greatly benefit the
Northstar rail project.
Dr. Burns stated there were some things that we are glad did not happen. One was they did not
get wine in the grocery stores. One thing we would have liked to happen but did not, was getting
the administrative fines issue straightened out. The one thing that did happen that we did not
want to happen was eliminating almost all of the $600,000 advantage we had from getting the
local government aid formula changed.
Dr. Burns stated another thing that happened this year that affected us is the water conservation
mandate. All cities over 1,000 in population that have water systems now must provide a tiered-
rate structure that discourages additional water use beyond certain levels. As you start using
more water, particularly if you start getting above the average water usage, your costs go up.
They wanted us to raise the cost to 20 percent and then ne�t year 40 percent.
Dr. Burns stated as we go into 2009 we are getting a lot of bad news lately. The state budget
deficit for the ne�t biennium is going to be something like $5.8 billion. He thinks it is very
likely that we are going to possibly have a portion of this year's local government aid unalloted.
He thinks it is also very likely we will have a portion or maybe all of ne�t year's local
government aid taken away. If it all gets taken away, we are going to lose about $2 million.
Dr. Burns stated as far as additional changes in the LGA formula, the current formula benefits
the two central cities and out-state Minnesota to the tremendous disadvantage of suburban
communities in the Twin Cities metropolitan area. We have been fighting very hard to change
that formula; however, changing the formula requires money and there is no money. He has
heard that the focus of this legislative session will be not on getting us more money but on
changing the sales tax to include items that are not currently included--particularly services.
Dr. Burns stated as they got into the budgeting conte�t, one of the first things discussed was the
contribution of a Fridley police officer to the metropolitan area Gang Strike Task Force. We also
talked about a contribution of a police officer to the Federal Drug Enforcement Agency task
force. The question was not so much whether we donate the officer or whether we send the
officer to those task forces; but whether or not we backfill. Ultimately we have decided in the
2009 budget to appoint somebody for the drug task force probably later in 2008 or maybe in the
first quarter of 2009. We will be backfill that position that we give to the DEA task force and
that means another police officer position.
Dr. Burns stated regarding health insurance, every year we talk about health insurance benefits
and ways of keeping them down. We did manage to reduce the health insurance costs this year
by rebidding our health insurance contract. We reduced them by about 6.2 percent or by
$65,000.
Dr. Burns stated also the Fridley Recreation brochure goes out to 12,000 people. We have
determined we would identify the active users of the Recreation program and limit the
distribution of the brochure to 1,000 or so active participants. We would also put the Recreation
brochure on line and buy the software yet this year that enables people to register on line.
FRIDLEY CITY COUNCIL MEETING OF DECEMBER 8, 2008 PAGE 22
Dr. Burns stated it has been almost an annual debate on whether we are going to continue to
contribute to non-profit organizations. We have been spending about $29,000 for Alexandra
House, mediation services of Anoka County, and the Southern Anoka County Community
Consortium, which is essentially Values First. We decided this year not to spend that money on
the outside contributions. Considerable discussion was held over equipment purchases at various
levels of the budgeting process. One request was to replace our two sidewalk snowplows, at a
cost of well over $100,000, and that is not in the budget. Instead we decided to spend some
money this year to rebuild one of those two snowplows. One of the big equipment purchases
was the purchase of a new dump truck this year. That made our budget for equipment a little
larger it was in 2008. They discussed several other equipment purchases.
Dr. Burns stated capital improvement projects are also an annual part of the budget discussion.
One of the big ones this year was the 85th Avenue bikeway. We have had around $1 million in
federal funding that we were in danger of losing. We had to put up about $250,000, however.
We could use state aid money to come up with the $250,000; but then we lose the ability to use it
for neighborhood street overlay projects. There was a lot of discussion on the bikeway and the
mill and overlay project identified for the West University Avenue Service Drive in 2009. We
will mill and overlay that area, and we will also be installing a new water line in an area where
we have had a lot of water main breaks.
Dr. Burns stated there were quite a few other capital improvement projects. Most of the work
will be done ne�t year. We will be doing improvements to the Commons Park Treatment
plant—changing out the filter media and other painting and repairs tasks. We will also be
repairing and painting the Commons Park elevated storage tank ne�t year. We have about
$40,000 or $50,000 worth of municipal parking ramp repairs. We are going to have a new picnic
shelter in Briardale Park, and replacing many of our courts.
Dr. Burns stated one thing we had to face for 2009 is the restructuring of the utility rates. What
they have done is establish a residential rate structure and a commercial rate structure. He thinks
the residential rate structure has four tiers and the commercial rate structure has five tiers. The
residential rates are separated by about 10 percent increments. The commercial rates are
separated by about 11 or 12 percent increments.
Dr. Burns stated one thing we will be doing away with is minimum water billing. We will also
be introducing a fixed rate charge which consists of most of the administrative overhead costs
that really are attributable to all of our water and sewer customers. The end product is a new rate
that will increase water rates by 17.5 percent and sewer rates by 11.3 percent. For the average
user of 96,000 gallons it amounts to $38.38 per year or $3.20 a month.
Dr. Burns stated regarding the budget in perspective for all budgeted funds including the general
fund, we are budgeting $17,676,772. We are actually looking at a reduction of $1.5 million or
almost 8 percent. Most of the reduction is in the capital improvements area and most of that is
represented by the pullback from the Neighborhood Street Reconstruction Program that we have
been pursuing so actively. We have gotten our goals accomplished there We have reconstructed
FRIDLEY CITY COUNCIL MEETING OF DECEMBER 8, 2008 PAGE 23
something like 30 miles of streets that used to have asphalt curb and gutter, and we have new
concrete curb and gutters and new streets in those areas.
Dr. Burns stated the general fund is the fund that provides for the Police, Fire, Public Works,
Recreation, Community Development, City Manager's office, legal staff, Council, etc. The
general fund is going up by 3.9 percent. About 70 percent of the $561,000 increase is for
personal services. They are up 3.7 percent and supplies are up by $111,000. Most of our supply
money is for what we projected for gasoline.
Dr. Burns stated capital outlay is up by $101,000 and a lot of that has to do with the 2.5-ton
dump truck and plow that we are replacing in the street department.
Dr. Burns said with respect to the money for personal services the total increase is $391,000. A
lot of that is for a 3 percent cost of living adjustment. It amounts to $247,000. The state-
mandated public employee retirement assistance increases to $85,000. Step increases for
employees' salary amounts of $55,000. We have a negative for the health insurance, we are
spending $65,000 less; and temporary employee salaries will go up by $22,500.
Dr. Burns stated basically it is the same budget we have had. It provides for the same services.
We do have about $20,000 for the finance department to do some imaging for City departments.
We have a tremendous backlog of paper documents that have not been put into digital format.
Having them in digital format gives us much greater access to these documents and saves
employee time and also it saves space. We want to hire two additional part-time employees on a
temporary basis to help with this backlog of imaging.
Dr. Burns stated in addition to the dump truck and the plow, we are replacing three of police
squads and replacing a pickup truck that is used by the Police Department. We are also replacing
a brush chipper in parks maintenance and we are replacing the Fire Chief's 1999 Crown Victoria.
We are buying a street sweeper, not out of the general fund, but out of the storm water fund at
cost of $175,000.
Dr. Burns stated with respect to the special revenue funds, there is not much activity. We are up
$160,000 and $117,000 is for the police activity fund. That is where the DEA task force fund is
budgeted. Both revenues and expenditures are budgeted there. We expect to pay for the officer
with forfeitures.
Dr. Burns stated there are three types of capital improvements that show up in the general
capital improvements budget. The general capital improvements are generally capital
improvements for buildings. We will be doing ramp improvements and some security
improvements to the Municipal Center. We will also be doing some roof repairs and several
other building improvements.
Dr. Burns stated with respect to our streets, our money will be devoted to the West University
Avenue Service Drive. We will also have another seal coating program at a cost of about
$180,000, the service drive is about $700,000. Those are two major projects.
FRIDLEY CITY COUNCIL MEETING OF DECEMBER 8, 2008 PAGE 24
Dr. Burns stated the enterprise funds are funds that are basically self-supporting. They are
supported by rates or by costs, goods sold, or by charges for services we provide. The water
fund budget is the big culprit, it is going up almost 19 percent to $413,089. The sewer fund is up
$131,000. Most of the sewer fund increase is attributable to the Met Council's charges for
paying our share of the treatment at the Pig's Eye plant. With respect to our municipal liquor
store, almost all of that, is cost of goods sold. We are spending $13,300,000. It is about 4.8
percent more than what we spent in all these enterprise funds in 2008.
Dr. Burns stated $413,089 is accounted for by new depreciation charges. We are doing water
capital projects in 2008 and 2009, and the depreciation that we charge so that we can replace
those things again 20 years down the road shows up as a budgeted item. We are planning on
purchasing 500 automated meters in 2009 at a cost of $125,000. Before purchasing meters for
all customers, we would like to see what we can expect in terms of payback for the City. We
also have $133,000 in debt service calls associated with projects and about $38,000 in operating
costs that we contribute to the water fund.
Dr. Burns stated regarding the sewer fund, it is up $40,000. A lot of that is depreciation and the
street sweeper we are buying out of the storm water fund.
Dr. Burns stated we had $741,300 in debt service costs, street improvement debt service,
supported by general obligation bonds of $805,005. The TIF-related debt from the Fridley HRA
is $1.7 million.
Dr. Burns stated the 2009 levy, including the street levy as well as the general fund levy, is
$9,482,000. It is $54,946 less than the amount we levied in 2008. Looking at the impact of the
property tax changes on a Fridley home valued at $204,200, taxes are going to go down. The
taxes are going down in all the school districts except for the Anoka-Hennepin School District.
Dr. Burns with respect to the financial health of the City, the fund balances keep going down. If
we loose our local government aid, that will be another $2 million. General fund revenues are
not keeping up with general fund expenditures in order to balance the general fund. Every year
we must transfer money from sources outside the general fund. Our main sources include the
City's closed bond fund. We also have a general fund reserve that we tap, and one of the big
ones is the liquor fund. Liquor sales generate about $500,000 a year for our general fund.
Dr. Burns stated regarding revenues by percentage, about 57 percent of our revenues come from
property taxes. The other 43 percent is from a variety of other sources, including inter-
governmental revenue charges for services. Local revenue comes from a wide variety of revenue
sources.
Dr. Burns stated regarding expenditures, what we try and do every year is compare budgets.
We adjust our expenditures for inflation and then try and see how much additional money we are
spending. Up the last year or so, we have been pretty constant. We were not spending more in
constant dollars from year to year than we were maybe ten years earlier. He is seeing we are
starting to spend a little bit more. Overall it amounts to about .6 percent a year between 1995
and 2007. He tried to see where those additional costs were coming from. He saw a lot of it in
FRIDLEY CITY COUNCIL MEETING OF DECEMBER 8, 2008 PAGE 25
police overtime, but the overtime is financed by grants and other outside sources. State-mandated
employee retirement increases are also a big part of that amount. Legal services costs have
exceeded the rate of inflation. We recently took requests for quotes for our prosecution services.
It is not yet reflected in the budget, but we have been successful in reducing those prosecution
costs by $50,000 for 2009.
Dr. Burns stated other conte�ts in which our budgeting occurs is what he calls the e�ternal
economic environment. Each year we take a look at various indicators of local economic health
as part of our budgeting process. One of the first of these is new construction. New construction
in the first ten months of 2008 is about the same as it was for 2007. It is $37,334,000 and
compares to $36,252,000 for the first 10 months of last year. What is different though is much
of the value we had this year was accounted for by three large projects including one major
public project at the Minneapolis Motor Works. The other ones include the Medtronic Rice
Creek campus remodeling and the Lifetime Fitness Club remodel. Those three projects, over
$500,000 in value, compared with six projects this size in 2007, and he believed in 2006 there
were eight projects over $500,000 in value. So from a standpoint of big projects, we are falling
by the wayside a little bit.
Dr. Burns stated Fridley's unemployment rate, as is the case with our national employment rate
and state unemployment rate, is going up. Fridley's rate as of the end of September was 6.5
percent. That compared with 5.1 percent in 2007, and a statewide unemployment of 5.9 percent
at the end of September. We have also seen a decrease in the number of jobs available in
Fridley. We have moved from 23,900 to 23,115 jobs (decrease of 3.3 percent).
Dr. Burns stated regarding property value, the total estimated market value of Fridley property
has decreased by about .2 percent. That is about the same where it was last year. The value of
single-family homesteaded property has decreased by 4.2 percent. Keep in mind that our
assessed valuations for property run about a year and half to two years behind. So eventually,
these numbers are going to rise as we start to get more current. The value for non-homesteaded
residential property has risen by 9.6 percent. He found out a large reason for that is we have had
70 formerly homesteaded single-family units become rental units. The value of non-
homesteaded residential property having four or more units has decreased by 2.1 percent and as
that has happened commercial values have increased by 8.4 percent and industrial values have
increased by 3.8 percent. Our values do not take into account foreclosure sales. Information
from the North Metro Realtors Association for October indicates that the average sale price for a
single-family home decreased by 15.8 percent to $173,060 during the first nine months of 2008.
However, the number of homes on the market and the length of time on the market seem to be
decreasing in the latter half of this year. For example, in June we had 165 homes on the market
which dropped to 150 in September, and in October it was 134. The length of time is also
decreased through the latter half of 2008.
Dr. Burns stated the County reports there were 1,223 Fridley households receiving cash
assistance and/or food stamps as of the end of September. This represents a 5.4 percent increase
over last year. District 14 reports 1,376 students receiving free or reduced-cost meals at the end
of October. This number represents 56.3 percent of our students. It is 6 percent higher than we
had at the end of October in 2007.
FRIDLEY CITY COUNCIL MEETING OF DECEMBER 8, 2008 PAGE 26
Dr. Burns stated the crime rates are generally about the same as last year for Part I and Part II
crimes. Part I crimes being the more serious crimes, murder, rape, robbery, etc. We had 1,274
Part I crimes in the first nine months of 2008 vs. 1,276 for the same period last year. We had
2,578 Part II crimes in 2008 vs. 2531 in 2007. He would say overall in comparison with other
communities in our area or the metropolitan area as a whole, Fridley does have a relatively high
crime rate.
Dr. Burns stated another thing he has noticed is we have had a fairly significant rise in the
number of delinquent utilities we are passing onto the County for taxation purposes. That
amount for this year was $315,797 compared to $236,154 in 2006.
Dr. Burns stated the state legislative horizon is not very promising in light of the budget deficit
situation. In general, he thinks the economic picture is worse. Overall expenditures are down
due to reduction in street improvement costs. General funding expenditures are up by about 3.9
percent, but there are new services and some significant reductions in things like health
insurance, legal fees, and payments to outside agencies. Special revenue fund increases are
largely explained by the DEA task force donation of an officer. A large amount of expenditures
are up by 19 percent due to the deferred capital improvements and a need to replenish depleted
cash balances. They got depleted because of the Charter restriction we had up until November
2007.
Dr. Burns stated water and sewer rates will increase by 14.2 percent and cost the average water
user $3.20 a month in additional fees. The general fund expenditures of $14,920,000 are
supported by $13,355,000 in revenue. So there is about a$1.6 million lapse area that is not
covered by revenue. We have to transfer funds from other funds in order to balance the budget.
If we continue to pull down reserves at this rate, assuming we do not use money that is reserved
for capital improvement and assuming that we do not lose all of our LGA as a result of the
State's economic crisis, we will have enough cash to last us through the year 2015 according to
our Finance Director. Many cities would love to have that situation but, still, 2015 is only a
short distance away and if we lose State money, it will come much sooner than that.
Dr. Burns stated at that point we will need to borrow money from other funds to satisfy our cash
flow requirements. In order to have cash flow we have to have about $5 million available at all
times. We continue to seek additional local government aid from State to address our budget
shortfall, but there is little short-term likelihood that we can succeed with this. It will leave us
with a choice of asking the voters for additional property taxes or making substantial service
cutbacks. We have cut back just about everything we can so far. There a few areas. We still
have a City newsletter, we still have an employee wellness program, we still allow department
managers to go to national conferences, and we are still mowing University Avenue but there are
not many spots where we can cut and keep up the array of services we have right now.
Dr. Burns stated on the project side, we can look forward to some great benefits that would
come from the Northstar commuter rail station that should be in our City by about November of
ne�t year. We still have a strong employment base and a hard-working and talented City and a
strong team-oriented City Council that can be counted on to continue to provide very high
FRIDLEY CITY COUNCIL MEETING OF DECEMBER 8, 2008 PAGE 27
quality services at a very competitive price. If you look around and look at our costs vs. other
cities, we are basically lower in most cases.
Councilmember Bolkcom asked when would they expect legislation on the rate increase
changes.
Dr. Burns replied at their ne�t meeting on December 15.
Councilmember Bolkcom asked if they had received any written comments related to anyone
having any questions.
Mr. Pribyl replied he has not. They received a number of calls just related to the truth and
taxation statement and the valuation, but not the budget.
Councilmember Bolkcom asked if people were calling because they were concerned about the
decrease in valuation.
Mr. Pribyl stated what they have been seeing is actually a comparison between neighbors as far
actually changes in valuation. Actually our residential appraiser, Lynn Krachmer has been
handling those calls and explaining the differences between some of the different value changes.
Councilmember Bolkcom asked but is it a majority of people having an increase in the
valuation if they have a huge remodel or addition.
Mr. Pribyl replied, basically, the only reason why they would see an increase is if there were
improvements made to the home.
Councilmember Bolkcom asked if they will be passing a resolution for the budget ne�t
Monday.
Dr. Burns replied the budget resolution and the tax levy resolution.
Councilmember Bolkcom asked if anyone will have an opportunity to say anything if they
come to the ne�t meeting.
Dr. Burns replied they could. They will put the budget message on the website and if people
want to respond to them on-line they can do that as well.
Mr. Pribyl stated they would invite any questions also to the Finance Department. They can call
him at 763-572-3520.
Mayor Lund stated in light of the recent state shortfall, the government may do an allotment of
our payment yet this December for the second payment of LGA. Whatever that amount is will
only increase our deficit.
Mr. Pribyl stated should we lose half of that, it would be approximately $350,000.
FRIDLEY CITY COUNCIL MEETING OF DECEMBER 8, 2008 PAGE 28
Dr. Burns stated and if we lose the $1.3 million we are scheduled to get ne�t year, add that on,
also.
Don Holum, 6575 Monroe, 47-year resident of Fridley, stated in the Fridley Focus it has down
attend the public hearing, "All Fridley city residents are invited to attend the public hearing of
the City Council to express their opinions of the budget and on the proposed amount of the 2009
taxes. The hearing will be held on Monday, December 8, at 7:30 p.m." So he can see why there
would be a little controversy in the time and date. It states at the end, you are invited to send all
written comments to the City Manager so that also is covered in that notice.
Councilmember Bolkcom stated, it could probably say, "The meeting will commence at ....
Mr. Holum stated he did attend the truth in taxation hearing for the Fridley District No. 14 last
week They did an excellent job, they provided a 15-page report, and he followed along with the
presenter and everything else. He wished it had been the same thing this evening so he could
have made notes and studied it. He asked if some of these overlays are available to the public.
Councilmember Bolkcom gave Mr. Holum her copy.
Dr. Burns stated that is what he was trying to put on the website.
Mayor Lund stated interested persons can come to City Hall where they are welcome to peruse
a copy. They may be charged for minimal printing costs if they want a copy.
Mr. Holum stated in relation to the meeting for school district taxes, Dr. Burns mentioned that
School District No. 14 taxes were going down. They actually increased.
Dr. Burns stated the taxes as a group are going down. They are talking about the County and
the City combined.
Mr. Holum replied in his particular case they went up. In fact when he mentioned regarding the
approved school levies which were referendums that went down slightly but when it came to
other school levies which covered that covered capital outlay expenditures, that went up about 26
percent on his statement. In all the literature and the media he has listened to, everyone has been
saying the valuation of homes is going down 9 percent. He is not sure if it is nationwide, but
they included the metro area. Then this evening on the overlay Dr. Burns mentioned in Fridley
they figured out 4.2 percent valuation of homes going down. His went down 1.6 percent. He
does not think that is fair. He asked who he would talk to.
Dr. Burns stated if he thinks the valuation on his home is not accurate, he can talk to the
assessor's office.
Mr. Holum stated that is where he is coming from because basically he does not think it has
dropped anywhere near what Dr. Burns has mentioned.
FRIDLEY CITY COUNCIL MEETING OF DECEMBER 8, 2008 PAGE 29
Dr. Burns stated that was for all single residential property in Fridley. That was not the average
residential property or a particular residential property, it was for the lump sum.
Mr. Pribyl asked if that was based on the North Metro Realtors Association?
Dr. Burns replied, no, that is based on the data that he got from the City Assessor.
Mr. Holum asked what the high and low ranges were to get to the 4.2. He thinks his should
have gone down more.
Dr. Burns stated if Mr. Holum thinks his value is not accurate, he can talk to our City Assessor.
Mayor Lund stated just to give Mr. Holum another example, his own went up 2 percent.
Mr. Holum stated when he spoke with a realtor, he told him a reasonable figure would be about
6 to 9 percent. He said he would speak with Mr. Pribyl or the assessor's office.
Dr. Burns said Mr. Holum needed to keep in mind, too, that the value on the average property is
probably one and one-half years old.
Mr. Pribyl stated that is correct. For the values we are working with in 2009, those values are
actually established as of January 2, 2008. However, the timeframe that they look for, the sales
in establishing the values, is October 1, 2006, through September 30, 2007. So currently they are
probably seeing more of a reduction in value, but this is a period of time that this value is based
on.
Mayor Lund asked so he is saying ne�t year the percentage could be a greater amount?
Mr. Pribyl replied, yes.
Dr. Burns stated also the assessor does not recognize foreclosure values in estimating the value
of a house. The 15.8 percent mentioned earlier was the reduction in average price of a home in
Fridley between October 2007and October 2008. That was all sales, including foreclosures. We
do not want foreclosures in our valuation.
Mr. Pribyl stated the Minnesota property tax is not a simple system. With the changes in values
right now, we are seeing a lot of people asking a lot of questions because of the more recent
values reductions. However, when we get into the timeframe in which the 2009 taxes are
established, they have to understand we are a year and a half to two years behind.
Mr. Holum stated getting back to the article in the Fridley Focus, this week it spoke about the
local tax rate comparison. He has no idea what they mean. They talk about this year, 30.324
percent; ne�t year, 28.905 percent which covers no levy increases. He asked if there are any
anticipated levies coming up and if so what are the rates.
FRIDLEY CITY COUNCIL MEETING OF DECEMBER 8, 2008 PAGE 30
Mr. Pribyl stated those are actually the tax capacity rates that the City will be collecting for
2009 compared to the tax capacity rates for 2008. That particular advertisement is actually
stipulated by the Department of Revenue. We are actually complying with their format for
advertising for the Truth in Taxation process.
Dr. Burns stated it can have meaning when you compare the tax capacity rates for one
community with another community. Mr. Pribyl has done some work on that and maybe he
wants to repeat what he found.
Mr. Pribyl replied what we found when we looked at the largest communities that are
comparable in size and actually larger in Anoka County, we are the second to the lowest as far as
our tax capacity rate. The lowest is Ham Lake.
Mr. Holum stated it is too bad they cannot just say that straightforward.
Mr. Pribyl said if he has questions and would like to come in and go over it, to give us a call.
Mr. Holum stated Dr. Burns mentioned budget reserves but not any dollars. He asked how much
it was.
Dr. Burns stated the $1.6 million that he talked about is what they are taking out of our general
fund reserve, and that is round numbers. It comes out of the general fund reserve, the closed
bond fund, and the liquor fund which is a rolling amount.
Mr. Holum asked if it has affected his property taxes.
Dr. Burns stated we have not raised property taxes. It keeps the taxes down.
Mr. Holm asked because of this.
Mayor Lund said we are restricted in our ability to raise taxes. Fridley is under the Charter
restriction. To make up the difference in revenues, and since our expenditures are greater, we
make the transfer of the profits from liquor sales. The balance, a little over a million dollars,
comes out of reserve savings which is rapidly depreciating and is of grave concern.
Mr. Holum stated he thinks we have to do more as citizens and legislators, and we need to get
on the band wagon and start making people listen to our needs. He for one would certainly like
to volunteer to go on a trip to the legislature, but he thinks they have to start having more citizens
in Fridley do just that.
Mayor Lund said citizen involvement would be fantastic, but very few people do that.
Councilmember Bolkcom asked if Dr. Burns could put the budget message on the website
before presenting it if people do have questions and they cannot attend the meeting, they can ask
them. They should maybe send out a letter and put it in some other places.
FRIDLEY CITY COUNCIL MEETING OF DECEMBER 8, 2008 PAGE 31
MOTION by Councilmember Bolkcom to close the public hearing. Seconded by
Councilmember Barnette.
UPON A VOICE VOTE, ALL VOTING AYE, MAYOR LUND DECLARED THE
MOTION CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY AND THE PUBLIC HEARING WAS CLOSED
AT 10:55 P.M.
8. Approve Change Order No. 1 to Miscellaneous Concrete Repair Project No. 375.
James Kosluchar Public Works Director, stated there are three items reflecting work that was
performed on this summer's project. They are related to reconstruction on Ashton Avenue and a
conflict with an existing 24-inch natural gas main. This is not the CenterPoint gas main that was
constructed this summer. That was a separate main.
Mr. Kosluchar stated Item No. 8 is for additional costs to install a protective cap on the gas
main. The purpose of the cap was two-fold: to make anybody excavating aware that gas main
exists there and, to provide some load transfer because it is so shallow. That was an existing
condition we had to deal with.
Mr. Kosluchar stated Item No. 9 is a more typical change. He believes there were 10 items and
they are for the street reconstruction project. They generally smaller ticket items.
Mr. Kosluchar stated Item No. 10 is again related to the Ashton Avenue work This is in
relation to our general contractor for the street reconstruction project. This change order is
related to the method they used to reconstruct the street. They had to use a different method
because of the gas main proximity to the surface. Ashton Avenue is in the west central area of
the project and the portion we are talking about is from 62"d to 64th Way.
Mr. Kosluchar stated during the design process we discovered there was an existing 24-inch gas
main. We worked with CenterPoint Energy. It took some time to find out where it was located
and whether we were going to interfere with it. We did three different sets of potholing on the
main. We were done with design and bidding by the time we got all this information. So we
were looking at a change order, possibly changing the profile of the road. We found out that we
could address the profile of the road because of the intersecting side streets. He said they did not
have CenterPoint do the work to basically keep the project moving and on schedule. In addition,
we have some right-of-way issues which he has been working on with Attorney Knaak. He said
he is fairly comfortable that we can get Items 8 and 10 reimbursed in the amount of about
$26,000
Councilmember Bolkcom asked why the main line was not replaced. She asked whose
responsibility it was and why we did not wait on this and put it in another project ne�t year.
Mr. Kosluchar said that was the first thing they talked about when they found out that the gas
main was constructed prior to the road. CenterPoint presented the thought that the City road is
there and we may or may not be able to force them to relocate that line. At any rate to
reconstruct that line from their dollars would have cost about $500,000 to $600,000 according to
FRIDLEY CITY COUNCIL MEETING OF DECEMBER 8, 2008 PAGE 32
what they told us. So it would have been a prolonged site. We would not have been able to
construct it this year. We also consider not constructing it this year, but we had all the side
streets that were attached. We have the rail station that is going in just south of this location
potentially ne�t year. We did not want to hamper the completion of this project. Instead we
went ahead and CenterPoint has been good work with.
Councilmember Bolkcom asked if we had any long-term issues or concerns. Are we really
assured there would not be any problems? Do we actually have something from CenterPoint
saying this is a good solution? It seems like we sort of have a band-aid on something.
Mr. Kosluchar replied this is the solution they recommended. Structurally it is their main. We
want to protect that main in the neighborhood. It is in a much better, safer condition than it was
before they started this reconstruction work. We did some adjustments to the road grade where
we could. It was less protected before.
Councilmember Bolkcom asked if they have anything from CenterPoint saying this is a
solution as far as liability. Is this the normal routine when they find something like this?
Attorney Knaak stated he did not know what their usual practice is. However, he would
anticipate there would be no additional exposure on the part of the City.
Councilmember Bolkcom asked if this is the normal routine.
Mr. Kosluchar replied, actually he has seen this before. He has never seen this done with a gas
main but he has seen it with a water main.
Councilmember Barnette asked if the project was completed.
Mr. Kosluchar replied it is done with the exception of a final course of pavement.
Councilmember Barnette said which will be done ne�t spring.
Mr. Kosluchar replied correct.
Mayor Lund asked how shallow the 24-inch main was.
Mr. Kosluchar replied it is less than 2 feet at some points.
Mayor Lund asked if they were concerned about frosting.
Mr. Kosluchar replied the main has been there since 1959.
MOTION by Councilmember Barnette to Approve Change Order No. 1 to Miscellaneous
Concrete Repair Project No. 375. Seconded by Councilmember Saefke.
FRIDLEY CITY COUNCIL MEETING OF DECEMBER 8, 2008 PAGE 33
UPON A VOICE VOTE, ALL VOTING AYE, MAYOR LUND DECLARED THE
MOTION CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY.
9. Approve Change Order No. 2 to 2008 Street Improvement Project No. ST. 2008-01.
MOTION by Councilmember Bolkcom to Approve Change Order No. 2 to 2008 Street
Improvement Project No. ST. 2008-01. Seconded by Councilmember Saefke.
UPON A VOICE VOTE, ALL VOTING AYE, MAYOR LUND DECLARED THE
MOTION CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY.
10. Approve Change Order No. 3 to 2008 Street Improvement Project No. ST. 2008-1.
MOTION by Councilmember Bolkcom to Approve Change Order No. 3 to 2008 Street
Improvement Project No. ST. 2008-1. Seconded by Councilmember Saefke.
UPON A VOICE VOTE, ALL VOTING AYE, MAYOR LUND DECLARED THE
MOTION CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY.
1. Approve Extension of Special Use Permit, SP #05-03 and Variance, VAR #05-14, by
Kinghorn Company for Woodcrest Baptist Church, to Allow an Expansion of an
Existing Church in a Multi-Family Zoning District, Generally Located at 6875
University Avenue N.E. (Ward 1).
Councilmember Bolkcom asked if they have received three or four e�tensions.
Scott Hickok, Community Development Director, said the project was approved in 2005.
Councilmember Bolkcom said maybe this should be the last time.
Mr. Hickok said they have indicated that projects like this depend largely on the kindness and
donations of others, and at a time when contributions are down, they are seeing the same thing.
They have the project designed and it has not changed. When it gets this far from when it was
approved, people can forget and then all of a sudden there is a project in their neighborhood that
was approved four years ago and they were not expecting to see it anymore.
Mayor Lund said their letter asks for at least one more e�tension, so there is a good likelihood
that they may be back again for another e�tension given the amount of donations. It may be
appropriate to make a stipulation now or at a future request that given the length of time, they
need to send out a letter notifying the neighborhood in the 350—foot radius or whatever that this
is still an ongoing project, and we would like some feedback if they have an issue.
Councilmember Saefke said the letter states that they are taking a wait and see approach. He
said he does not have a problem e�tending it for one more year knowing full well how these
projects go, especially now with the goodwill of people. He does not think it does any harm. He
FRIDLEY CITY COUNCIL MEETING OF DECEMBER 8, 2008 PAGE 34
would suggest they allow one more e�tension and then if nothing happens, they deny any more
e�tensions. When they get the money they can come back.
Councilmember Bolkcom stated she is sure another concern is they would have to pay for
another permit application.
William Burns, City Manager, asked Mr. Hickok whether they have had a lot of neighborhood
concern over this project.
Mr. Hickok replied, none. No inquiries have been made at all since 2005. There was very little
public input on it.
MOTION by Councilmember Saefke to approve the e�tension of Special Use Permit, SP #OS-03
and Variance, VAR #OS-14, by Kinghorn Company for Woodcrest Baptist Church. Seconded by
Councilmember Bolkcom.
UPON A VOICE VOTE, ALL VOTING AYE, MAYOR LUND DECLARED THE
MOTION CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY.
11. Informal Status Reports.
Mayor Lund stated since it was brought up twice this evening, because the administrative
hearing took a significant amount of time, it delayed our typical process and the public hearing
on the budget would have been held earlier. In retrospect, the administrative hearing should
have been placed at the end of the agenda. The administrative hearing was never meant to be
scheduled on the same night.
ADJOURN.
MOTION by Councilmember Barnette to adjourn. Seconded by Councilmember Varichak.
UPON A VOICE VOTE, ALL VOTING AYE, MAYOR LUND DECLARED THE
MEETING ADJOURNED AT 11:16 P.M.
Respectfully submitted by,
Denise M. Johnson Scott J. Lund
Recording Secretary Mayor