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06/27/2011 - 30004CITY COUNCIL MEETING CITY OF FRIDLEY JUNE 27, 2011 The City Council meeting for the City of Fridley was called to order by Mayor Lund at 7:30 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 Jim Kosluchar, Public Works Director Darin Nelson, Finance Director/Treasurer PROCLAMATION: Women of Today Founder's Day, July 1, 2011. PRESENTATION: CenterPoint Energy Community Assistance Grant. Roger Brandel, CetnerPoint Energy, presented a check to Fire Chief Berg in the amount of $2,500 to purchase protective gear for the Fire Department. Auditors Update. ADOPTION OF AGENDA: MOTION by Councilmember Barnette to adopt the agenda. Seconded by Councilmember Bolkcom. UPON A VOICE VOTE, ALL VOTING AYE, MAYOR LUND DECLARED THE MOTION CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY OPEN FORUM VISITORS: No one from the audience spoke. FRIDLEY CITY COUNCIL MEETING OF JUNE 27, 2011 PAGE 2 APPROVAL OF MINUTES: City Council Meeting of June 13, 2011. Councilmember Bolkcom noted that Councilmember Barnette was present at the meeting. MOTION by Councilmember Bolkcom to approve the minutes as amended. Seconded by Councilmember Varichak. UPON A VOICE VOTE, ALL VOTING AYE, MAYOR LUND DECLARED THE MOTION CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY. PUBLIC HEARING: 1. Consideration of an Amendment to a Stipulation on Plat, PS #99-03, Varichak Addition, Generally Located at 5906, 5924 and 5942 Benjamin Street NE (Ward 2). MOTION by Councilmember Saefke to open the public hearing and waive the reading. Seconded by Councilmember Bolkcom. UPON A VOICE VOTE, ALL VOTING AYE, MAYOR LUND DECLARED THE MOTION CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY AND THE PUBLIC HEARING OPENED AT 7:50 P.M. Scott Hickok, Community Development Director, said in 1999, the single family property at 1583 Gardena Avenue was replatted to allow the creation of three single family lots. Those lots have since been developed and are addressed as 5906, 5924, and 5942 Benjamin Street. During the plat process there was a great deal of concern about the drainage impacts that these newly created lots would have on the surrounding area and as a result, several stipulations were developed to help alleviate those concerns. One of those stipulations was #3, which states, "No grading or land alterations shall be permitted within 50 feet of the north property line of Lot 1", which is 5942 Benjamin Street. That 50 feet was dedicated as a drainage easement to manage the flow of water from Benjamin Street to the low area west of this property. Mr. Hickok said as a result of that stipulation, the property owners simply put sod in this area when they constructed their house and have left it that way until recently. Engineering staff recently noticed that landscape work was being done within this 50 feet area, and alerted the property owners to the stipulation. As a result, the property owners and their landscape contractor came in and met with City staff. Mr. Hickok said the property owner's landscape contractor explained to City staff that they are proposing to install a"rain water harvest system." He explains "the rain water harvest system" allows the homeowner to retain several hundred gallons of rainwater while circulating it through an artistic waterfall and stream. The goal is to keep the rainwater and recycle it back into the FRIDLEY CITY COUNCIL MEETING OF JUNE 27, 2011 PAGE 3 landscape." He also states that "the new landscape plan will in no way hinder drainage on this site. In fact, it will allow for less run-off from this property to the low area to the west of the property. The existing slope will be minimized, therefore reducing water run-off from the property and into the watershed. " Mr. Hickok said based on the discussions with the landscape contractor, the literature provided on the rainwater harvest system, and discussions with Cathy Miller, who owns the property north of the subject property at 5950 Benjamin Street, who will be most closely affected by this project, staff is agreeable to amend Stipulation #3. Staff is proposing that Stipulation #3 read, "Any grading or land alteration within 50 feet of the north property line of Lot 1 shall be reviewed and approved by City staff prior to commencement of project. Any work approved shall protect adjacent trees, whose drip line is within the project area, with the use of a protective fence around that drip line of the trees." Mr. Hickok said City staff recommends the City Council hold a public hearing to ensure that any public concerns regarding this change are heard. Staff also recommends modifying Stipulation #3 on PS #99-03 and adopting the resolution. 3. No grading or land alterations shall be permitted within 50 feet of the north property line of Lot 1. Any �radin� or land alteration within 50 feet of the north propertX line of Lot 1 shall be reviewed and a�proved by City staff prior to commencement of project. Any work a�proved shall protect adjacent trees, whose drip line is within the project area, with the use of a protective fence around that drip line of the trees. Councilmember Bolkcom asked for an explanation of what a tree drip line was. Mr. Hickok said that there is a canopy of branches that creates a drip line, if the drip line of trees goes into the 50 foot area, roots would be affected by excavation. On the north or west side if there are root systems that would be affected judging from drip line, they would be protected by orange fence to keep equipment off the root system. Councilmember Bolkcom asked what happens to the stipulation if they move away and someone doesn't want to deal with it. Mr. Hickok said the stipulation is filed with the property. New property owners would be governed to follow the stipulation and would need approval if they wanted to change anything. Mayor Lund asked what would happen if the property would fall into disrepair. Mr. Hickok said that would need to be handled through code enforcement. Councilmember Saefke asked if a pump is required to recycle the water. Mr. Hickok answered yes. FRIDLEY CITY COUNCIL MEETING OF JUNE 27, 2011 PAGE 4 Councilmember Saefke asked what happens when the tank fills up. Mr. Hickok said there is a spillway and when the water level reaches that point the water will go back to where it was intended to go. Very little water will run off the top of the surface. Councilmember Saefke asked if any calls were received from neighbors. Mr. Hickok said Cathy Miller, the neighbor to the north, called to voice her support for the homeowner's project. Councilmember Varichak asked what happens to the water in the wintertime. Mr. Hickok said the frost goes down to a certain level and the water down lower will not freeze. When spring comes they would turn the pump back on. Raymond Campbell, Campbell Signature Landscaper, said he worked with Layne Otteson to design this system to get water off property. The landscape was turned into a rain garden to look like a park like setting. The area will hold as much as 10,000 gallons of water on the property. If the system overflows, the water goes back into the ground and will still be contained on the property. The upper pond is designed to hold 5,000 gallons of water. There is an artistic waterfall to fall down and perform a function. The waterfall will keep the water oxygenated, keep it from getting stagnant and keep mosquitoes out. The water will also be filtered before entering the watershed. Cathy Miller, Neighbor, said she is in support of this with the code enforcement and the drip line protected. Visually this will be a beautiful site and beneficial to the neighborhood. MOTION by Councilmember Saefke to close the public hearing. Seconded by Councilmember Bolkcom. UPON A VOICE VOTE, ALL VOTING AYE, MAYOR LUND DECLARED THE MOTION CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY AND THE PUBLIC HEARING CLOSED AT 8:10 P.M. NEW BUSINESS: 2. Resolution Approving and Amendment to a Stipulation on Plat, PS #99-03, Varichak Addition, Generally Located at 5906, 5924, and 5942 Benjamin Street NE (Ward 2). MOTION by Councilmember Saefke to adopt Resolution No. 2011-29. Seconded by Councilmember Bolkcom. UPON A VOICE VOTE, ALL VOTING AYE, MAYOR LUND DECLARED THE MOTION CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY. FRIDLEY CITY COUNCIL MEETING OF JUNE 27, 2011 PAGE 5 3. First Reading of an Ordinance Updating and Amending Fridley City Code, Chapter 510, Tree Preservation. Jack Kirk, Director of Parks and Recreation, said almost 40 years ago, in the mid-1970s, a tree preservation ordinance was established in the City of Fridley. It came about during the debate that centered on the development plans for some park land at the northern boundary of City. One group in the City favored developing the park as a golf course and another group wanted the park used as a nature center. That park land is what we now know as Springbrook Nature Center. It is his understanding that the tree preservation ordinance was established to prevent golf course fairways from being cut in the forested land of the Nature Center. Mr. Kirk said the existing tree preservation ordinance only allows up to 3 trees (per acre) to be removed each year from City-owned land. The trees may only be removed as part of a woodland management plan as well. The ordinance does not allow for the trees to be removed to create a park amenity such as an open play area or to construct a picnic shelter. As we move forward with plans for the SPRING project at the nature center, it will be necessary to take down more than just 3 trees per year to accomplish various phases of the project. There may also be other future City projects on City land that will run into a conflict with the existing tree ordinance. Mr. Kirk said it was recommended to the Parks and Recreation Commission that several changes to the tree preservation ordinance may be appropriate at this time. The ordinance today allows for the removal of trees that have a verified case of Oak Wilt or Dutch Elm disease. There are other diseases and pest infestations that may require removal of trees, so it was suggested that a statement be added like that in the ordinance. The current ordinance allows for limited tree removal (up to three trees per acre per year) for the purposes of woodland management. It was recommended removing the limitation on the number of trees and adding a statement that would allow removal for City-approved projects. Mr. Kirk said while the basic premise of the ordinance will still be to protect trees on City- owned land, a change in this ordinance will allow for approved projects to be completed on City land when needed or desired. The proposed changes will still allow for any projects or woodland management that will affect tree removal to be reviewed and approved by the Parks and Recreation Commission, the Planning Commission and the Fridley City Council. There are still the checks and balances in place to prevent unwanted removal of trees on City-owned land. Mr. Kirk said the Parks and Recreation Commission discussed this item at their May 23, 2011, meeting, and passed a motion of support to change the tree preservation ordinance with the changes as recommended by staff. The motion passed on a 3 to 1 vote. The Planning Commission discussed this item at their June 15, 2011, meeting and passed a motion to support the recommended changes to the tree preservation ordinance. Mr. Kirk said staff recommends the City Council approve the amendment to Chapter 510 of the Fridley City Code related to tree preservation, as recommended by the Fridley Parks and Recreation Commission and the Fridley Planning Commission. FRIDLEY CITY COUNCIL MEETING OF JUNE 27, 2011 PAGE 6 Councilmember Barnette said this ordinance should have never happened in the first place. The ordinance was created to prevent a golf course from happening. He is in favor of this amendment. Mayor Lund said it is important to talk about reforestation as well as preserving trees in the code. Councilmember Bolkcom asked if there was a difference for private or business as far as tree preservation if someone wanted to build on a lot and take down trees. Scott Hickok, Community Development Director, said we do not have a tree ordinance this strict for private property. We do ask that builders and developers only take out those trees necessary to complete their development and that they protect the older trees. But, they do not have a tree management or replacement plan. Councilmember Bolkcom was concerned people did not know about this item on the agenda because there was no public hearing. Councilmember Barnette said it was on the Parks and Recreation Commission's agenda as well as the Planning Commission's agenda. Councilmember Bolkcom asked what it meant by "must be justified and approved". She asked what process would be used for approval. Mr. Kirk said that language did not change. The request would pass via a motion, first to the Planning Commission and then Council. Councilmember Bolkcom asked for staff to look at that language before the second reading. Mayor Lund noted that it says "only after management plan". Maybe the approval would come in the form of a resolution. He asked what a management plan was. Mr. Kirk said they did not plan to change that part of the language. That language is what it always was. A management plan is be something that would say how many trees are being taken out and how many plantings will be going in to replace them. Mr. Hickok said when the electronic message board was put in, three trees were taken out and staff came back with a management plan. Trees do not have to be replaced tree for tree but the plan would explain what will be done in exchange for taking trees out. William Burns, City Manager, suggested changing the language to read tree replacement plan instead of management plan. Councilmember Bolkcom said this is the first situation that has caused us to look at this ordinance. FRIDLEY CITY COUNCIL MEETING OF JUNE 27, 2011 PAGE 7 Mr. Kirk agreed that they usually do not see any requests that come to this magnitude. Councilmember Bolkcom asked if all those things would come back to the City Council if trees are removed. Mr. Kirk answered yes, if large trees are removed. There is an exemption for the size of trees removed. MOTION by Councilmember Varichak to waive the reading of the ordinance and adopt the ordinance on first reading. Seconded by Councilmember Bolkcom. UPON A VOICE VOTE, ALL VOTING AYE, MAYOR LUND DECLARED THE MOTION CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY. 4. Resolution authorizing the Fridley City Manager to Join with Former Six Cities WMO Cities in Initiating a Joint Petition to the Board of Water and Soil Resources to Expand the Boundaries of the Coon Creek Watershed District to Include a Portion of those Cities. Jim Kosluchar, Public Works Director, said at the February 7, 2011, City Council meeting, they approved resolutions to request that areas within the Six Cities Watershed Management Organization (SCWMO) be transferred into the Coon Creek Watershed District (CCWD) and the Mississippi Watershed Management Organization (MWMO). The City Councils of the SCWMO member cities (Blaine, Coon Rapids, Spring Lake Park, Columbia Heights, and Hilltop) all passed similar resolutions seeking to have their cities included in a watershed district or watershed management organization. In March, 2011, the SCWMO board passed a resolution to dissolve and the CCWD filed a petition with the Board of Water and Soil Resources (BWSR) for a boundary change to include parts of the former SCWMO. The BWSR moved forward with the public process to act on the petition, including a public hearing which was held at the Blaine City Hall on May 31, 2011. The BWSR board was scheduled to act on the petition on June 22, 2011. Mr. Kosluchar said on June 8, 2011, at the request of one of its newly appointed board members, the CCWD held a special meeting to discuss the boundary change petition. The result of that meeting was the approval of a motion to rescind the petition made to the BWSR. The vote was 3 to 2 in favor. With the petition withdrawn, that leaves the former SCWMO areas in violation of the Metropolitan Water Management Act requiring that all metro communities be a part of a water management organization. The BWSR has notified Anoka County of their need to rectify the situation. The County could choose to accept the responsibility to manage those areas or they could assign those areas to an existing water management organization. In this case, they could direct the CCWD or the Rice Creek Watershed District to accept those areas into their boundaries. Mr. Kosluchar said on June 16, Anoka County held a special meeting to discuss the matter, and it was the general consensus of the County Board to wait and see what happens over the ne�t two to three months. Council has previously determined that the former SCWMO area in the north of FRIDLEY CITY COUNCIL MEETING OF JUNE 27, 2011 PAGE 8 the City of Fridley would be best served by being in the CCWD. Given the recent decision by CCWD and the uncertainty of what decision might be made by the County, it would be in the best interests of the City of Fridley to petition the BWSR to include that part of the city in the CCWD. This action would be best accomplished by joint petition with the other former SCWMO cities affected by the CCWD petition withdrawaL Minnesota Statutes § 103D.251 provides the authority for this action and requires a majority of the cities in the watershed district to sign the petition. Mr. Kosluchar said Blaine has passed a similar resolution, and is preparing the petition. Spring Lake Park has passed a motion in support of the petition. He said he believes the City of Coon Rapids staff also supports such a petition, and will be recommending approval of the joint petition. Staff recommends Council approve the resolution directing the City Manager to join with the cities of Blaine, Coon Rapids, and Spring Lake Park in initiating a joint petition to the Board of Water and Soil Resources to have the parts of those cites formerly in the north portion of the Six Cities WMO included in the Coon Creek Watershed District. Mayor Lund asked why the petitions were rescinded. Mr. Kosluchar said that there was a concern about how new levies were included in the watershed district and there is a lack of funding at this time to bring this area into compliance. Councilmember Bolkcom agrees something should be done to get the six cities together. Anoka County does not want to take on this water management. Mr. Kosluchar said the deadline will be missed but this is the best outcome to get into Coon Creek. Councilmember Bolkcom said right now, the money is coming out of the general fund and it makes sense for different areas to become part of a watershed. Mr. Kosluchar said the Coon Creek staff are eager to work with us and have been very helpful. Councilmember Varichak said this would not affect residents east of Mississippi. Mr. Kosluchar replied correct. Councilmember Bolkcom asked what happens ne�t. Mr. Kosluchar said a draft petition would be created and the City Attorney would look at it. MOTION by Councilmember Barnette to adopt Resolution No. 2011-30. Seconded by Councilmember Varichak. UPON A VOICE VOTE, ALL VOTING AYE, MAYOR LUND DECLARED THE MOTION CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY. FRIDLEY CITY COUNCIL MEETING OF JUNE 27, 2011 PAGE 9 5. Claims (151145-151328). MOTION by Councilmember Bolkcom to approve Claims 151145-151328. Seconded by Councilmember Saefke. UPON A VOICE VOTE, ALL VOTING AYE, MAYOR LUND DECLARED THE MOTION CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY. 6. Licenses. MOTION by Councilmember Bolkcom to approve the licenses as submitted and as on file. Seconded by Councilmember Saefke. UPON A VOICE VOTE, ALL VOTING AYE, MAYOR LUND DECLARED THE MOTION CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY. 7. Informal Status Reports. Councilmember Bolkcom said that the Fridley `49er Days had a great turnout. She thanked all staff involved who helped make this event successful. Mayor Lund thanked the Lions Club. Mayor Lund acknowledged the Fridley City Band on their SOth Anniversary. Councilmember Saefke added that the Fridley City Band will be performing at various parks throughout the community. Mayor Lund announced the Fridley Community Theater play, "Anything Goes," will be performing the last weekend in July and the first weekend in August. Admission is $10 for adults and $8 for seniors and students. There are 70 people in the cast this year. ADJOURN: MOTION by Councilmember Barnette to adjourn. Seconded by Councilmember Varichak. UPON A VOICE VOTE, ALL VOTING AYE, MAYOR LUND DECLARED THE MOTION CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY AND THE MEETING ADJOURNED AT 8:50 P.M. Respectfully Submitted, Krista Monsrud Scott J. Lund Recording Secretary Mayor