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05/23/2011 - 30002CITY COUNCIL MEETING CITY OF FRIDLEY MAY 23, 2011 The City Council meeting for the City of Fridley was called to order by Mayor Lund at 7:04 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 Don Abbott, Director of Public Safety James Kosluchar, Public Works Director Margo Prasek, Parks and Recreation xxxx 7osh Callahan, xxxx Mike Jackson, 7865 Beech Street NE PRESENTATION: Parks & Recreation Department's Summer Programs. Public Works Department 2011 Tornado Cleanup Plan: MOTION by Councilmember Bolkcom to add this item to the agenda. Seconded by Councilmember Saefke. UPON A VOICE VOTE, ALL VOTING AYE, MAYOR LUND DECLARED THE MOTION CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY. Don Abbott, Public Safety Director, stated this is a staff report regarding the tornado and what they have been doing. Fridley was struck by what they believed to have been a tornado at about 2:26 p.m. on Sunday, May 22, 2011. The tornado was believed to be related to the suspected tornado touchdowns in St. Louis Park, Golden Valley, Minneapolis, and Anoka County. Anoka County was included in the tornado watch issued at 12:10 p.m. on Sunday. It was set to expire at 8 p.m. Warning sirens were sounded in Fridley at 2:12 p.m. A tornado entered Fridley at the Minneapolis Waterworks. It came across the river just west of the 4400 block of East River Road. It did fairly e�tensive damage to trees and fences. They have not heard back yet on structural damage at the Minneapolis Waterworks. FRIDLEY CITY COUNCIL MEETING OF MAY 23, 2011 PAGE 2 Chief Abbott stated the tornado traveled on a north/northeast path across the City through Fridley's northeast corner. He said six train cars were tipped over off the track in the BNSF railroad yard. There were no hazmat or other concerns at that time. There was a tipped over semi-trailer at the Murphy warehouse on Main Street. More concentrated severe damage occurred in the City's southwest areas. Damage resulted from the tornado itself, with high winds tearing away shingles and parts of roof and damaging outbuildings, and from trees falling on homes, cars, fences, and roads. Damage also occurred when falling trees uprooted gas lines, sidewalks and driveways. Several power transmission lines and service feeds were also downed by falling trees. Chief Abbott stated Fridley Police and Fire units responded to calls of damage, downed power lines, and broken gas lines immediately after the tornado occurred. Police Reserves and Fire units cordoned off several streets blocked by trees and power lines. Police and Fire staff checked houses with damage for injured persons and found none. Police also restricted access to residents only in the Summit Manor neighborhood until approximately 9:30 p.m. because it was unsafe to allow traffic in. Chief Abbott stated traffic on Seventh Street, between 694 and 61st Avenue, was restricted for two to three hours during the evening. They had e�tensive sightseeing traffic that was actually interfering with efforts to remove the downed trees. Public Works crews began cleaning the streets of major debris at about 4 p.m. The City had about three of the big loaders out with its crews. By 9:30 p.m. most streets were once again passable. Four streets remained blocked until this morning. At this point there is one street in the City that is not passable, and that is 67tn Place, west of Seventh Street. You can access homes from either side, just not all the way down the street. Chief Abbott stated several businesses along Main Street suffered e�tensive damage. They were left unsecure and without power. Business owners in that area secured their property with their employees and/or provided private security until they could board up. Police increased staffing levels throughout the night and into today with the assistance of the Anoka County Sheriff's Office. He said the demonstration house at 831 Mississippi took a pretty e�tensive hit from a tree. It was one of the more damaged houses in the City. Chief Abbott stated at approximately 4:00 p.m., Xcel Energy had 200 customers in Fridley without power. They expected to have all power restored to the City by 8 p.m. Fridley schools were closed today because of the power outage. There was some damage along the ball fields of the high school and the middle school as well. Public Works crews continue to remove debris from streets. All streets are open except for 57th Place. Chief Abbott stated City staff has completed preliminary damage assessments. All storm- related expenses are being tracked for potential reimbursement. The Camden Bridge in Minneapolis remains closed at this time. The National Weather Service survey team was out this morning. Sergeant Rick Crestik led them on a tour of the area and reported that they confirmed the storm was a tornado with winds in excess of 100 mph and believe it was Category EF1 as it came into the City. It might have dropped a little bit as it headed to the north and east. That is their preliminary indication at this point. They have also confirmed that the storm in north FRIDLEY CITY COUNCIL MEETING OF MAY 23, 2011 PAGE 3 Minneapolis was a tornado. They are not sure if it was the same tornado, but it came out of the same storm cell. Chief Abbott stated Community Development conducted property assessments and estimates. Right now they are estimating over $11 million in property damage in the City. That includes 12 industrial buildings damaged, totalling $9 million; 50-60 residential or other buildings with an average of $37,000 per damaged structure. One residence is reported as a total loss, approximately $135,000. There are two four-plexes with some damage. Fridley Schools are estimating $50,000 to $100,000 in damage. Fridley Parks is estimating $57,000, including trees, limbs, and structures. As to estimated disaster related-unemployment, there will be about 100 jobs where people are unemployed for 15 days on average. As to total disaster-related business losses, they are estimating those to be $1.5 million. Chief Abbott stated the City would like to thank the following agencies that provided staffing resources under mutual aid request. They were with us from shortly after the tornado hit. Some of them stayed through the night, and into today. They include the Anoka County Sheriff's Office; Anoka County Emergency Management; Minnesota State Patrol; Columbia Heights Police and Fire; Coon Rapids Police and Fire; police departments from Crystal, Champlin, Brooklyn Park, Maple Grove, New Hope, Plymouth, and Spring Lake Park; and the Hennepin County Sheriff's Office. We had a lot of assistance. There were well over 100 first responders. Chief Abbott stated Fridley residents are urged to use caution when cleaning up from the storm or any storm. Historically, more injuries occur from clean-up than from the storm itself. The only injury reported from this storm was a clean-up related injury about an hour after the storm. No injuries and thankfully no fatalities in Fridley. Chief Abbott stated City Code prohibits burning brush, leaves, and storm debris. The City will be presenting a proposed plan for how residents can deal with the debris. Ask tree trimmers and contractors to see their licenses and City permits. Tree trimmers are required to have a 2011 City permit. It will be red. Contractors should be licensed by the State, and if they are going door-to- door soliciting business, they need a City soliciting permit. To help the process, the City has instituted an expedited permit and license application process. Today, the City processed 27 applications for licenses for tree trimmers and soliciting permits. James Kosluchar, Public Works Director, stated the Public Works crews are proposing pick-up of trees and large branches on boulevards as their clearing operation proceeds. The City will arrange for a drop-off site. Tentatively it has arranged with Columbia Arena to host that location, which would be available to only affected residents during said hours. Mr. Kosluchar stated Public Works crews would pull all uprooted boulevard trees and provide fill just basically to clear a safe boulevard. Residents would have the responsibility to place topsoil and plant the boulevard and water. Chief Abbott stated anyone who is looking to volunteer to help or anyone who needs help with the clean-up should contact Fridley's senior citizen program coordinator, Connie Thompson, at the Fridley Community Center. FRIDLEY CITY COUNCIL MEETING OF MAY 23, 2011 PAGE 4 Mayor Lund stated he wanted to commend City staff, the Fire Department and the Police Department. He thought it was a very efficient operation. It was quite amazing to see in just four short hours after the storm how much had been done. They did a good job. He also wanted to publicly thank all the other listed agencies who came and assisted. He saw a lot of people coming forward to help as he toured the affected areas with Congressman Keith Ellison. Councilmember Bolkcom asked Mr. Kosluchar if the information will be on the website. Mr. Kosluchar replied, yes. It will be on the website tomorrow. Councilmember Bolkcom stated if you do have a trailer, you can bring your branches up to the Columbia Arena. If you don't have one, you can place the branches along the boulevard as soon as possible. Mr. Kosluchar replied that is correct. He said he was really impressed by the amount of clean- up that has been done. They do want to provide a clean-up and for those people who do not have a means to transport materials, that is what this program is for. Councilmember Bolkcom asked how this storm compared to the last big storm as far as size. Mr. Kosluchar replied they estimated around 20 to 25 percent. Councilmember Bolkcom asked when Columbia Arena would be open. Mr. Kosluchar replied they are setting it up Tuesday and will be officially opened on Wednesday. Councilmember Bolkcom asked about the work in the parks. Mr. Kosluchar replied that will be probably much slower. They will have reduced crew in parks. They will be assigning a couple of the parks maintenance people to street cleaning duty while this goes on. Actually there is a lot of work to be done in the parks themselves, too. They are assembling a crew that will be a roaming crew, and they will have two crews that are concentrated on the hardest hit areas. Councilmember Bolkcom asked whether they have any residents who are displaced from their homes because of the storm. Chief Abbott replied, today they did hear about three families who have to stay elsewhere. The City itself did not have to shelter anyone. Councilmember Bolkcom asked Dr. Burns if he had any conversations with any state senators and representatives. Williams Burns, City Manager, replied Senator Franken and Representative Ellison have both been very gracious in offering help. At this point, they are not sure whether the City will qualify FRIDLEY CITY COUNCIL MEETING OF MAY 23, 2011 PAGE 5 for federal assistance, but they have shown a great interest in Fridley. One of our state representatives, Kate Knuth, was in contact with the City, and generally, the outside legislators have been very gracious. Councilmember Bolkcom asked if they would be receiving any money. Mayor Lund stated he did get some clarification from Representative Ellison who stated in order for federal funding to take effect for a disaster, there has to be a minimum of $6.9 million of uninsured damage. Therefore, it remains to be seen if there are any federal monies available for Fridley at all. It will take time to get the estimates. Chief Abbott stated they are almost done with the paperwork to submit to the federal government for funding. Councilmember Bolkcom asked what the cost estimate was. Mr. Kosluchar asked if she was talking about out-of-pocket costs or general costs. Councilmember Bolkcom replied both. Mr. Kosluchar replied for general manpower and equipment costs, costs the City is already paying and reassigned work, they are talking a little over $100,000 over three weeks. As far as out-of-pocket costs, they will include fuel and some maintenance and should amount to less than $10,000. Councilmember Bolkcom asked if they would be using City staff. Mr. Kosluchar replied, yes. A company may also be providing a grinding service for wood chips at no cost to the City. Councilmember Bolkcom stated Mr. Fogerty should be thanked for allowing the City to use the Columbia Arena state. Councilmember Saefke asked if they will have a map on the website showing who will have access to the drop-off site and where the pick-up will be. Mr. Kosluchar replied, yes, that is what they plan to do. Just show eligible properties. They may even have a parcel map at some point where residents can search to see if their parcel is eligible. Mayor Lund asked when the City would start picking up the trees and brush. Mr. Kosluchar stated they are asking people to get that material out this week. Mayor Lund asked how they were going to get that information out to the residents. FRIDLEY CITY COUNCIL MEETING OF MAY 23, 2011 PAGE 6 Councilmember Bolkcom asked if they could use the block captains. Mayor Lund replied block captains would be an opportunity and also posting signs in the area. Mr. Kosluchar stated another thing they may consider is flyering some of these areas, especially where it is really concentrated and they will be there first Chief Abbott stated block captains absolutely can play a part in this. There is already a message on the reader board in front of City Hall. Storm clean-up preliminary details are already on the City's website and will be updated with the new information tomorrow. A list of licensed tree services, contractors, and solicitors are on the website, too. Mayor Lund stated as they remove the stumps and the tree debris for those who cannot get it to the drop-off site, they are not going to be filling in the holes on anybody's property nor on the right-of-way or boulevard. They will leave that up to the property owners. He asked if the City would be supplying any of the dirt fill. Mr. Kosluchar stated he thought for the really deep holes, they would probably provide some fill and sand material just to make it safe. Basically they are more effective at dealing with the big items, trees, etc., and dealing with patches of sod; and a resident can be more effective at dealing with getting the grass established. Josh Callahan, Fridley resident, asked how they determine if a tree is on the boulevard. He believes a tree of his is on the City's easement. It is a big tree that fell over. Is he responsible for that getting it taken care of? Mr. Kosluchar told Mr. Callahan to contact Public Works. However, typically, if it falls on your property, it is going to be your responsibility. Anything over the easement line, that is going to be private responsibility. Councilmember Barnette stated the City never planted trees on the boulevard. Mayor Lund stated and any trees removed from the boulevard will not be replaced by the City. If the tree was wholly in your yard but it falls in the neighbor's yard, everything on that imaginary property line now becomes that neighbor's tree. MOTION by Councilmember Saefke to adopt the City of Fridley Public Works Department's 2011 Tornado Cleanup Plan. Seconded by Councilmember Bolkcom. UPON A VOICE VOTE, ALL VOTING AYE, MAYOR LUND DECLARED THE MOTION CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY. FRIDLEY CITY COUNCIL MEETING OF MAY 23, 2011 PAGE 7 APPROVAL OF PROPOSED CONSENT AGENDA: APPROVAL OF MINUTES: City Council Meeting of May 9, 2011. APPROVED. NEW BUSINESS: 1. Receive the Minutes from the Planning Commission Meeting of Apri120, 2011. RECEIVED. 2. Resolution Authorizing Final Changes in Appropriations for the General Fund, Special Revenue Funds, and the Capitol Improvement Fund for the Year Ended 2010. William Burns, City Manager, stated although we wound up the year spending $713,000 less than budgeted for general fund expenditures, we did have a few adjustments within the departmental budgets for the general fund as well as a few adjustments in several other funds. Dr. Burns stated the largest of the general fund adjustments was a$62,566 expenditure to replace the vehicle hoist at the City garage, which will be reimbursed from equipment certificate revenues. We also incurred a$42,847 over-expenditure for Police Department personnel which is attributed to several items including a required increase in PERA contributions and reimbursed grant expenditures such as the Safe and Sober grant. There is also a$12,087 over-expenditure for unemployment compensation. The additional funding for the grant management fund includes $80,000 in grant funding for our vehicle theft grant and $41,000 in State Health Improvement Program (SHIP) funding. Neither the revenues nor the grant-related expenditures for these programs were budgeted. Dr. Burns stated the HRA reimbursement fund adjustment of $17,224 had to do with insurance reimbursement and expenditures related to HRA properties. The drug/gambling forfeiture fund generated $26,717. This amount is used to offset a portion of the City's cost for the officer assigned to the DEA Task Force. The City of Fridley's Community Center donations fund included $766 in unexpected donations and $15,045 in expected expenditures for the storage room alteration that was done in 2010. The Springbrook Nature Center fund included an additional $7,809 in program revenue and related expenditures. Finally, the capital improvements fund included an $811 revenue expenditure adjustment associated with a grant for a trail construction at the Innsbruck Nature Center. Staff recommends Council's approval. ADOPTED RESOLUTION NO. 2011-24. FRIDLEY CITY COUNCIL MEETING OF MAY 23, 2011 PAGE 8 3. Claims. (150717 - 150863). Councilmember Bolkcom noted Check No. 15086 had a typographical error and should be "SR GOLF LEAGUE FEES." APPROVED. 4. Licenses APPROVED THE LICENSES AS SUBMITTED AND AS ON FILE. 5. Estimates. Northwest Asphalt, Inc. 1451 Stagecoach Road Shakopee, MN 55379 Street Improvement Project ST2011-01 Estimate No. 1 ............................................. $62,698.10 Ron Kassa Construction 6005 East 250th Street Elko, MN 55020-9447 20ll Misc. Concrete Repair Project No. 401 Estimate No. 1 ............................................. $ 3,830.40 APPROVED. APPROVAL OF PROPOSED CONSENT AGENDA: MOTION by Councilmember Barnette to approve the consent agenda. 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. Seconded by Councilmember Saefke. UPON A VOICE VOTE, ALL VOTING AYE, MAYOR LUND DECLARED THE MOTION CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY. FRIDLEY CITY COUNCIL MEETING OF MAY 23, 2011 PAGE 9 OPEN FORUM: OLD BUSINESS: 6. Livestock License Request by Andy Zheng for Racing Pigeons (Tabled May 9, 2011). MOTION by Councilmember Varichak to remove this item from the table. Seconded by Councilmember Barnette. UPON A VOICE VOTE, ALL VOTING AYE, MAYOR LUND DECLARED THE MOTION CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY. Scott Hickok, Community Development Director, this started back on Apri125. Approximately three years ago, the City approved a pigeon license for racing pigeons at the property located at 1632 Rice Creek Road. There have not been any complaints about the pigeons. The owners of this property have done a very nice job to deliver on their promise and keep the pigeons so they are not the target of complaints. Mr. Hickok stated one thing that has kept this item from being on the regular agenda with the licenses was the fact that they wanted to meet with the property owners. They may recall they have a building for the pigeons that was a cute little shed in the backyard with a gamble roof, and that was where the pigeons stayed. They had a some chicken wire attached to the area where they would fly back in. There is even a little computerized entry system so they know what time the bird comes back in, and then the birds go neatly back into their little coop. There have been a couple of additions. Mr. Hickok stated the City had two bad telephone numbers for the owners and there is a bit of a language barrier. In past, he has had to go to the owners' restaurant in another city and stop and visit with them and let them know it was time for an inspection. Unfortunately, he has not been able to do that. It does look like there is enough concern from outside the fence. There are two shed additions. Staff does not suspect it means additional pigeons but that some additional building has been done. Mr. Hickok stated staff's recommendation is to approve the pigeon license portion. Staff is going to ask that they keep communication with Council open. They are going to do an inspection and make sure the additions to the building have proper permits if they need them and, if necessary, that they come down. They have had comments from the ward councilperson about this and received one comment out of courtesy asking why the shed got bigger. Staff just wants to make sure it is right. Mr. Hickok stated the City is going to give the owners until September 30 to get the permit and either remove the additions or make them right through the proper permit process. If things do not go well, staff will have this back on Council's agenda in October 2011. He thought that would give the owners enough time to take care of it. FRIDLEY CITY COUNCIL MEETING OF MAY 23, 2011 PAGE 10 Councilmember Varichak asked if the City has done this before. Mr. Hickok replied, they have. Not for pigeons but for other licensed entities. For example, one of the auto recycling operations had a license where the City needed an additional six months to make sure that they met some standards. Their license was provisionally approved with the understanding that if issues were not cleared up within the ne�t six-month period, they would bring it back. He does not think this license will take six months. He thinks three months will do it, and that would include removing or correcting the building additions and getting the proper permit to do so. Councilmember Varichak said that is why they are doing the six-month requirement instead of just one or two months or whatever. Mr. Hickok replied the Council could do less. He would like to allow them enough time to succeed. There are fairly significant additions to this little building and, if they need to take them down, he does know from trying to get a hold of them they work almost around the clock. He would like to give them enough time to succeed before bringing it back to Council. Mayor Lund asked if the owners were cooperative. Mr. Hickok stated they have had previous success with either knocking on the door or communicating by phone. For whatever reason this time, there were two non-working phone numbers. Mayor Lund stated he really did not have a problem based on Mr. Hickok's recommendation to issue a provisional license. It clearly needs to be on the record that it is conditional because there is an outstanding issue. Councilmember Bolkcom asked why they did not wait until the work is done. She understands they have a special use permit with stipulations. Fritz Knaak, City Attorney, replied ordinarily it is something that is a straight-up permission especially when it is related to animals, although you are dealing with a situation where there might be some conditions that are related to the actual animal use. They do have the discretion to include some additional conditions if they choose to do so, provided they are related to the license, which in this case would be to the pigeons. Councilmember Bolkcom stated she remembered the concern with the original license was that they would have more pigeons. She understands they have not had any comments or feedback from any of the neighbors. We believe it is storage, but we do not really know what the buildings are for. It has not been inspected. She is concerned about e�ending it until September. It seems like they are spending a lot of time on such a small license and a lot of staff time. The recommendation is they are going to do it this time; but ne�t time, it needs to be renewed and the City has to be able to get a hold of you. Mayor Lund stated that is a valid point. FRIDLEY CITY COUNCIL MEETING OF MAY 23, 2011 PAGE 11 Councilmember Bolkcom asked if the license becomes conditional no matter what when it comes back to Council, or if it will come back to them if they do not take care of it. She thought the conditions needed to be spelled out. Mr. Hickok said what they can see from outside of the fence is that the little gambled roof barn building with the chicken coop, which is actually the entry point for the pigeons to come back with their clock from their race, is clearly separate from the little additions that were put on. Mr. Hickok stated it looks like they have left the pigeon part alone and consolidated some other needs on the site, like where their rakes, lawnmower, etc., go in a flat roof shed they have attached to it. The pigeons come back through the same entry point. Mr. Hickok stated 60 pigeons are necessary to put together a racing team. He thought 49 pigeons actually made a racing team, but 60 pigeons fly to make sure at least 49 return. The coops are arranged in there in just the right size. Their license says they are asking for 60 pigeons and he believed them. If he thought for a second they had over that amount, they would not be making this recommendation. Councilmember Bolkcom asked if staff anticipated the e�tra additions would need to come off. Mr. Hickok replied, yes. Councilmember Bolkcom asked if that was mixing two different things together. Mr. Hickok replied that is what he is asking Council to do. The City's issue is with an appendage on the building that can be handled separate. It is a building permit issue, and he suspects those additions will come off the building. Councilmember Bolkcom stated if it is more of a building permit matter, can they actually put those conditions on a license? Attorney Knaak replied if in fact it is related directly to the use. The concern that is being addressed is the use that has to do with the use of the pigeon coop. They do have the discretion to do that sort of thing. The difference being of course that when the issue is addressed then, the consequence of failing to address the condition is far more severe. The other option would be to red-tag the place or do something like that irrespective of whether the pigeon license is granted, and then go in and create that kind of potential hardship when really all they are looking for is to see whether they are in compliance with the original terms of the license. It is unusual but this is an unusual case. Attorney Knaak stated an example would be in places where there are a lot of horses. A certain amount of permitting is necessary in those kinds of communities such as in north Washington County. Sometimes when you have those livestock kinds of reviews as you can have in those places, reasonable conditions are imposed; and they relate to the keeping of the livestock Very often it has to do with barns and all that kind of other stuff. FRIDLEY CITY COUNCIL MEETING OF MAY 23, 2011 PAGE 12 Mayor Lund stated for clarification, there is not a problem with the pigeons. They are dealing with a possible code violation which can be handled separately even unrelated to the pigeon license. They do have the discretion to attach it to the pigeon license. He said he was fine with either way. Councilmember Varichak asked what happens if there is a need for the additions. What would the owners do? Mr. Hickok said the inside of the barn almost looks like the bank deposit room at the bank, with the different bank deposit boxes. There is an identical cubby for each of the racing pigeons. There would be no need to have a little annex. He believes the addition is for rakes, a lawn mower, etc. Councilmember Bolkcom asked if they could keep that stuff in there if it did not have an addition on it. We really do not care what else they keep in there as long as they did not add on. The problem is the part that is added on. Mr. Hickok replied, it gets into a little bit of a funny area; but as long as they do not exceed the amount of accessory building permitted on that site, taking the combined total of their attached garage and their detached buildings and all, that is probably still not going to be an issue. They can keep their pigeon operation separate and they could expand that building if it were for rakes, etc. The problem is they did not get a permit and there is a bit of an aesthetic problem. The building itself is nice, but it has the additions on it. He does not think it would pass code-wise. Councilmember Bolkcom asked if they could set an inspection date for a month from now. Mr. Hickok replied, that sounds great. MOTION by Council Varichak to approve the livestock license request by Andy Zheng for racing pigeons conditioned upon the homeowners having an inspection done within the ne�t 30 days by the Building Inspection staff to review the additions that have been made to the original building. Further, if the additions do not meet the minimum Code requirements and corrections are not made by Friday, September 30, 2011, the item will be placed on the October 10, 2011, agenda for reconsideration of the pigeon license on or at the residence of 1632 Rice Creek Road. Seconded by Councilmember Barnette. UPON A VOICE VOTE, ALL VOTING AYE, MAYOR LUND DECLARED THE MOTION CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY. NEW BUSINESS: 7. First Reading of an Ordinance Amending Chapter 128 of the Fridley City Code Pertaining to Abatement of Exterior Public Nuisances (Text Amendment, TA #11-06). FRIDLEY CITY COUNCIL MEETING OF MAY 23, 2011 PAGE 13 Scott Hickok, Community Development Director, asked the City Council to consider this te�t amendment relating to Chapter 128, the abatement appeal hearings for the City. Chapter 205 provides a process for zoning appeals to be heard by the Appeals Commission. Chapter 128 provides nuisance abatements in the City with an opportunity for an appeal to be heard by an independent hearing examiner. Recently the City began bringing either side of the appeal before the Appeals Commission. Last year the Appeals Commission's schedule was reduced to once a month because of the lack of activity on the regular variance agenda, but this meant that the 20- day hearing deadline for the appeal could not be met. Mr. Hickok stated if the City is not going to use an independent hearing examiner, then the Code language should state the current process of using the Appeals Commission. Nothing in this te�t amendment changes the City's current process. The amendment simply makes the timeline for the abatement appeals fit within the Commission's schedule. That way the City will not be getting itself into trouble with not having an Appeals Commission meeting in a proper timeframe. Mr. Hickok stated since this is not an amendment to the Zoning Code, it does not require a public hearing. The action tonight is the first reading of the ordinance. Staff is prepared to conduct a second reading of the ordinance at the ne�t Council meeting on June 13 unless they are directed otherwise. This is a fairly straightforward modification as staff sees it, but it really does clean up the City's hearing process so that when people request a hearing before the Appeals Commission, we have the proper amount of time to get it through the hearing process. Mayor Lund referred to a correction where it says "twenty (�30) days" it should read "thirty (�30) days." Also, in review of this ordinance, the last sentence talks about if Council affirms the "Appeals Commission's decision declaring that an e�terior public nuisance exists, the City shall abate the e�terior public nuisance after twenty (20) days following the Council's final determination, unless the property owner obtains a court order to the contrary within said twenty (20) days." It seems really unreasonable, once the person goes through the appeals process, then goes to the Council and, if they agree that there is a nuisance, the appellant only has 20 days to get a court order to the contrary. He would think it should say the appellant has 20 days to start a court action. Mr. Hickok replied, he agreed. He thought the intent was that they provide proof they had started court action within 20 days. Staff will clean that up for the second reading. Councilmember Bolkcom asked if conducting the hearing no more than 30 days after the request going to work. Mr. Hickok stated that is why they are making the change. They can always have an Appeals Commission meeting within that cycle so that it does work out right. Councilmember Bolkcom referenced in that same sentence, "unless a later date is mutually agreed to by the property owner and the City," and asked who the City was. FRIDLEY CITY COUNCIL MEETING OF MAY 23, 2011 PAGE 14 Mr. Hickok replied the two parties would be the Code Enforcement Officer which could be a number of persons but until it comes to Council it would be the Code Enforcement Officer who they had initiated the action and the individual who initiated the action. They would then advise Council and the Appeals Commission as to what the date would be. Councilmember Bolkcom asked if they could put something more specific in the language other than "the City." Mayor Lund stated perhaps they could say "City representative." Mr. Hickok said they will work on that. MOTION by Councilmember Bolkcom to waive the reading of the ordinance and adopt the ordinance on first reading. Seconded by Councilmember Saefke. UPON A VOICE VOTE, ALL VOTING AYE, MAYOR LUND DECLARED THE MOTION CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY. PUBLIC HEARING: 8. Consideration of Revocation of Special Use Permit, SP #08-07, for Simba Collision, Allowing Limited Outdoor Storage of Construction Materials and Equipment and Vehicles Within a Fenced-In Area in the Rear of the Property, Generally Located at 7865-69 Beech Street (Ward 3). MOTION by Councilmember Barnette 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 PUBLIC HEARING WAS OPENED AT 8:58 P.M. Scott Hickok, Community Development Director, stated this has to do with outside storage violations on a property that has been granted a special use permit. The outside storage has occurred at 7865-7869 Beech Street. Outside storage needs relate to both a construction business and an auto body shop at the same location. The screened outside storage is located in the back of the property along the alley. Five stipulations were part of this approval: (1) Stripe nine parking stalls; (2) That no outside storage beyond the enclosed area in back would occur; (3) The Fire Marshall was to approve the types of items that would be stored in that area; (4) There would be no junk vehicles be stored on site; and (5) No vehicles would be parked outside of the designated parking stalls. FRIDLEY CITY COUNCIL MEETING OF MAY 23, 2011 PAGE 15 Mr. Hickok stated they have had a number of observations by Code Enforcement staff that many vehicles are stored beyond the nine parking stalls on this site. In the photographs, they will see on the south side of the building there are as many as four cars at any given time that are related to the body shop. Some of them in pretty decent state of repair but rarely ever with license plates and other times they are not in good repair. Mr. Hickok stated there are other observations that have been made about vehicles being stored on site in this kind of condition. This would be in direct violation of the stipulations on the special use permit for this site. Vehicle parking outside of the designated parking areas and vehicle maneuvering is also occurring on the street. This is a small site, but there is actually maneuvering that appears to be part of the body shop activity that is happening out on the street and not on the site alone. They know that the special use permit relates very specifically to an area on-site. Our code generally says that you should not have an activity that outpaces the demands for parking, so that you have to have parking on the street. In this case, not only is there parking on the street, but they have seen actual body shop type activity happening out on the street. Mr. Hickok stated staff did have a business meeting with the building and the business owner last week The business owner was reminded that they only have space to store two customer vehicles inside the building overnight and, therefore, they really need to budget their outdoor activities to plan for that. They did concede that is the space they have to deal with and sometimes they do have great difficulty in moving vehicles around to have enough room to operate inside but yet to keep within compliance. The auto body business was also reminded that they can store licensed and operable customer vehicles in the rear storage area behind the building. Mr. Hickok stated since staff warned the business one year ago about special use permit violations, and the problem has continued, staff recommends that Council continue to consider this item. They feel it is appropriate and have prepared a resolution revoking SP #08-07 based on the following facts: 1. The business capacity of two businesses on the site regularly exceeds the nine parking stalls located on the site so vehicles are often parked beyond the designated parking stalls; 2. Inoperable or unlicensed vehicles are routinely stored outside on the site; and 3. The Simba Collision business is routinely using the street to maneuver and park vehicles being serviced since many vehicles are being stored in the driveway. Councilmember Bolkcom asked who the owners of the property were. There is a notice to Michael 7ackson and another one to Cynthia 7ackson. FRIDLEY CITY COUNCIL MEETING OF MAY 23, 2011 PAGE 16 Mr. Hickok replied, Michael and Cynthia Jackson are husband and wife and are both listed as owners of the property. He does not know why one is issued to one and another to the other. He believed there may have been some change of ownership. He believes it does appear in the City's utility and property ownership records that Cynthia Jackson is now the owner. Councilmember Bolkcom stated it sounds like this has been an ongoing issue. She asked if there has been discussion and communication both verbally or written to the owners? Mr. Hickok replied, yes, to both. Code enforcement records on this site are quite lengthy and go back some time. Although they are bringing it before Council now, the CTS records show that even when there was a group of four owners on this property, the City had code enforcement issues. It is a reoccurring issue. Councilmember Bolkcom asked Mr. Hickok to summarize what the owners' response to the violations has been in the past. Mr. Hickok replied, for the most part it has been a combination of things. It has been a movement towards compliance after letters have been sent out and obedience to the Code for a period of time. Long enough that they need to restart the clock almost and they send a second 15-day letter. He believed there was a citation issued at one point in the past for the property owner, Franklin Builders, of which the Jacksons are part of. As part of that, they had a one-on- one conversation about the kinds of outdoor storage and activities that need to happen on this site to keep the property in compliance. They did have a very good and cordial meeting with them. There is a desire by both the property owner and the business owner to be in compliance. One of the things they point out is there are times when customers leave cars overnight for service, and their tow trucks will leave it on the street. Mr. Hickok stated they think there are workable logistics to make this site work Of course they do not want to see a business have to leave. However, without a special use permit they are going to be even further constrained on this site. With the amount of code enforcement the City has had on this site, it is beyond just having meetings at this point. Staff believes it warrants having this kind of discussion. SUP's have to be reviewed and, if the City finds continuing violations, they need to bring it back to Council so they do not waive the opportunity to enforce those stipulations. Councilmember Bolkcom stated going back to the five stipulations from June 13, 2008, which ones are not being met? Mr. Hickok replied, Nos. 1, 2, 4, and 5. Councilmember Bolkcom regarding the unlicensed cars, they could have tagged them in the past. Could they have them towed eventually? Mr. Hickok replied in certain instances they do. This is the kind of oversight staff wants the property owner to do. They do not want to have to tag it and go back in five days. That is a lot FRIDLEY CITY COUNCIL MEETING OF MAY 23, 2011 PAGE 17 of enforcement that is under the mandate of stipulations already on an SUP. Staff thinks when it reaches that point, if they would have to tag and tow, they really need to consider revoking this SUP instead. Councilmember Bolkcom referred to the April 9 letter addressed to Cynthia Jackson, there is mention about using dealer license plates. Could they ever use those? Mr. Hickok replied there is a strict set of rules for using a dealer license. Staff learned from their meeting last week there is an ongoing business relationship with Northtown Auto which he believed is on University Avenue. It is an auto sales lot they do a lot of work for, and that may explain those plates. However, they do need to be careful because the answer to an unlicensed vehicle sitting outside is not to put a dealer plate on it. Councilmember Bolkcom stated the City seems to have these problems with the places that do not really sell cars but they sort of sell cars, they never have enough spots, and then they have ones where there is always a car dropped off with a tow truck It seems like it happens quite often, but there is never any signage at any of these places that tells them they cannot do that. She asked Mr. Hickok regarding the discussions with the property owner and the manager was the flavor of the last meeting anything to have you tell her they are not going to see any more problems if their SUP is not revoked? Mr. Hickok replied, he thinks the flavor of the last meeting was that they realize how serious this is, and both parties really are very interested in maintaining the SUP and maintaining their ability to operate here. This is very much like other businesses in which the City had an issue where there is more than one tenant, where a building owner maybe owns part of the building, and there is a tenant who operates the other part, and the owner needs them to comply in order to keep them a vital tenant in the building. However, oftentimes the tenant can get the owner in trouble; and frankly that is what is happening here. This is less about Franklin Builders right now and having their materials outside. It is far more about he thinks a body shop that has too little room to work or lack of logistic skills on the part of the people operating it to keep the vehicles out of their own way and to keep room for a vehicle that shows up overnight that they were not expecting. If you have nine stalls you are dealing with, that is the logistics that you have to work out. You have to schedule based on how much room you have to work on them. Councilmember Bolkcom stated it is almost three years since this happened. Maybe the property owner needs to come to the podium and give some kind of reassurance that they have a different plan than they have had in the last three years with the collision business as to how they are going to rectify this problem. It is not the City's issue if they do not have enough parking spots. It becomes the City's issue when they have to continue to enforce the stipulations. Right now, they are only complying with one of them. Mike Jackson, 7865 Beech Street NE, replied, one thing that will help them is parking cars in the rear which he did not know they could do. Staff inentioned they could park two cars back there. One thing that happens to the business owner is they will have two cars done and then whoever they did the work for does not have the money so they hold the cars. They have two cars sitting outside that could be stored in the back while they are waiting to get their money. FRIDLEY CITY COUNCIL MEETING OF MAY 23, 2011 PAGE 18 Councilmember Bolkcom asked if they could store licensed vehicles in the rear. Mr. Hickok replied yes. They would have to be licensed and be streetworthy. Mr. Jackson stated he was not aware the tow truck could dump a car in the street. He thought they had to dump the car back into the driveway. Councilmember Bolkcom asked if some simple signage would help. Mr. Jackson stated he thought that would probably take care of it. Councilmember Bolkcom said she needed some reassurance that he will put up some signage like that. She is hearing they cannot help it because the tow truck tows a car there and leaves it in the street. Mr. Jackson stated sometimes there is nobody there. Councilmember Bolkcom asked if there was lighting on the building where they could put a sign for the tow trucks. She needs something to show they are going to work on this problem, and she is not quite hearing it. Mr. Jackson replied, yes, he would think something like that would work. Councilmember Bolkcom asked if he was saying he would put up signage. Mr. Jackson replied, yes, he will put up signage with a light. Sometimes if they get a semi or something to drop off lumber at their place, they do not have room for them to back up into their spot either. Councilmember Bolkcom stated this is a business with the special use permit. They have to follow the stipulations and have to figure it out. Mayor Lund stated typically you are usually working with one or two towing companies so it is repeated. It is not like they are coming from all over the place. It is just a simple letter of notice to those towing operators that they cannot dump the vehicles after hours in that nature. The deal is they have to park in the empty stall provided in the back Signage would do it. Whatever gets them into compliance. Regarding when the lumber is being delivered, as long as it is not parked overnight and is in compliance. The City is not trying to be unfriendly to business, but if everybody does this and there are no restrictions, sometimes they outgrow the business and pretty soon there is encroachment, a hardship for many others, safety issues and many other things. There has to be some type of order. He does see a history here. Councilmember Bolkcom stated one thing is signage. They need more communication. If there is a car out in the street, it has to be off the street; and there cannot be vehicles there without licenses. The property owner is responsible because it is his special use permit and he is the owner. This is serious business because he could have his special use permit revoked. She FRIDLEY CITY COUNCIL MEETING OF MAY 23, 2011 PAGE 19 asked with respect to the revocation of the permit if they could table it for review in two months and have the owners come back with a written plan as to how they are going to change their business in order for this to happen and actually show they are following a plan. Attorney Knaak replied, they are in a public hearing and they can continue the public hearing. Councilmember Bolkcom asked what if they do not revoke the special use permit tonight, they continue the public hearing to whatever date they might come up with, and in the meantime suggest they work with the City staff with a plan and also show the Council the plan is working in three months. Attorney Knaak replied, they could certainly do that. He said he believed they have done that in the past where they are in the process of taking in information. This is not a situation where they are worried about the 60-day rule or anything like that. They are not asking Council to do anything. They can take whatever continuances, whatever amount of time, and whatever additional considerations they choose to. You can close the public hearing and take action. You can close the public hearing and not take action. Or, you can continue the public hearing. Councilmember Bolkcom asked if they close the public hearing and do not take action are they basically not revoking the special use permit. Attorney Knaak replied, no. This is the Council's opportunity if they want to gather additional information or have additional discussion, to allow that to occur on the record if they continue the public hearing. Councilmember Bolkcom said the easiest thing to do would be to continue it for three months and then come back. She asked Mr. Hickok if three months made sense. Mr. Hickok replied, that is consistent he believed with what Council did with Sam's Auto Body. Mayor Lund stated he thinks that is way too long. He asked Mr. Jackson whether he has had discussion with Simba Collision about the ongoing violations, and if they have come to any kind of a resolution as to how they might come into compliance. It is not a short-term fix. Mr. Jackson replied, they have talked about it. During the winter, he thought they were doing a pretty good job of keeping up with it and then all of sudden in the last two months it changed. Councilmember Bolkcom stated she meant for them to come up with a plan within the ne�t 30 days, communicate with City staff, and show that their plan is working. City staff would have an opportunity within the ne�t two months after that plan. It would give them time to work out their plan, communicate with all the managers, and show City staff by inspections, say one in June and one in July, that they are actually following the rules. She asked Mr. Hickok what he thought. Mr. Hickok replied, that would certainly give them time to get signs made. The sign code allows them a number of information signs at four square feet. They could have signs made and FRIDLEY CITY COUNCIL MEETING OF MAY 23, 2011 PAGE 20 have them posted. A lot could happen. In that first month they can get their plan ready and get their signs ready and then staff can see two months of behavior before it is brought back Code Enforcement could watch that. Councilmember Bolkcom asked Mr. Jackson what he thought of that plan. He work out a plan with the managers of the business, start working on getting those signs, get back to City staff or start working with them in the ne�t week, and give City staff the ne�t two months to observe them. Mr. Jackson replied yes, he thinks they can do that for sure. Mayor Lund asked Mr. Jackson if there is any area outside of the building that could be used for storage of the vehicles. Is there a fenced-in area that could be utilized from time to time? Mr. Jackson replied they do have fenced-in storage in the rear. Mayor Lund asked if it was full. Mr. Jackson replied, no. Mayor Lund asked Mr. Hickok if that would be permissible for them to store some of the vehicles there. Councilmember Bolkcom replied that is part of their stipulations, no outdoor storage other than the existing stalls. Mr. Hickok stated the cars being worked on for sure could not be in that area. They did talk about using that as a secured area for finished cars only, and he thinks that would be acceptable under these standards. Mayor Lund said they need to come up with a resolution that they can stick to. MOTION by Councilmember Bolkcom continuing the public hearing to the August 22, 2011, City Council meeting. Seconded by Councilmember Saefke. UPON A VOICE VOTE, ALL VOTING MOTION CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY CONTINUED AT 9:28 P.M. 9. None. Informal Status Reports: AYE, MAYOR LUND DECLARED THE AND THE PUBLIC HEARING WAS FRIDLEY CITY COUNCIL MEETING OF MAY 23, 2011 PAGE 21 ADJOURN. MOTION by Councilmember Barnette, seconded by Councilmember Varichak, to adjourn. UPON A VOICE VOTE, ALL VOTING AYE, MAYOR LUND DECLARED THE MEETING ADJOURNED AT 9:37 P.M. Respectfully submitted, Denise M. Johnson Scott J. Lund Recording Secretary Mayor