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12/05/2011 - 31297CITY COUNCIL MEETING CITY OF FRIDLEY DECEMBER 5, 2011 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 Varichak Councilmember Barnette Councilmember Saefke Councilmember Bolkcom OTHERS PRESENT: William Burns, City Manager Darcy Erickson, City Attorney Scott Hickok, Community Development Director Darin Nelson, Finance Director/Treasurer Jim Walston, Lindquist & Vennum APPROVAL OF PROPOSED CONSENT AGENDA: APPROVAL OF MINUTES: City Council Meeting of November 7, 2011 APPROVED. City Council Meeting of November 14, 2011 Councilmember Saefke referred to page 10, paragraph 7, line 2, the word "necessity" should be "necessary." APPROVED AS CORRECTED. OLD BUSINESS: 1. Second Reading of an Ordinance Repealing Chapter 510 of the Fridley City Code Pertaining to Tree Preservation. William Burns, City Manager, stated Council approved the first reading of this ordinance at their November 14 meeting along with a new policy providing for the placement and care of trees on City property. Staff recommends Council's approval. FRIDLEY CITY COUNCIL MEETING OF DECEMBER 5, 2011 PAGE 2 WAIVED THE READING OF THE ORDINANCE AND ADOPTED ORDINANCE NO. 1287 ON SECOND READING AND ORDER PUBLICATION. 2. Receive the Minutes from the Planning Commission Meeting of November 16, 2011. RECEIVED. 3. Special Use Permit Request, SP #11-03, by SignArt Co., Inc., to Allow the Installation of an Electronic Changeable Message Sign on the Existing Free- Standing Sign at the Freedom Service Station, Generally Located at 7600 University Avenue (Ward 3). William Burns, City Manager, stated the petitioner, Ted Woodard, is requesting a special use permit to allow an electronic gas pricing sign and an electronic reader board. The Planning Commission unanimously approved this request at their November 16, 2011, meeting. Staff recommends Council's approval. APPROVED. 4. Resolution Approving a One-Year Extension on Special Use Permit, SP #10-11, for the Columbia Arena Property, Owned by William Fogerty, Located at 7011 University Avenue N.E.; and Resolution Approving a One-Year Extension on Variance, VAR #10-08, for the Columbia Arena Property, Owned by William Fogerty, Located at 7011 University Avenue N.E. (Ward 1). William Burns, City Manager, stated last December, Council approved a special use request and a side yard setback variance that would have allowed Columbia Arena to be converted to an assisted living/memory care facility. Although there is no immediate intention to redevelop this site, William Fogerty has recently requested a one-year e�tension for both the special use permit and variance. Staff recommends Council's approval. ADOPTED RESOLUTION NOS. 2011-60 AND 2011-61. 5. Motion to Authorize Preparation and Distribution of Request for Proposals for Comprehensive Municipal Recycling Services. William Burns, City Manager, stated the City's contract for recycling services with Allied Waste expires on March 31, 2012. In view of the fact the City has not concluded its organized collection studies, staff recommends having potential recycling haulers give the City prices for a one-year and multi-year contract. Although the City has not specified either single sort or dual sort, it is likely none of the haulers will bid a dual-sort collection process. FRIDLEY CITY COUNCIL MEETING OF DECEMBER 5, 2011 PAGE 3 Dr. Burns stated the City's Environmental Quality & Energy Commission has requested the City give preference to haulers that use biodiesel or natural gas fuel in their trucks. Staff has also asked that a number of optional considerations be included. One of these is an optional food (organics) waste service in their proposals. Additionally, staff has asked that the proposals include a minimum of two annual educational pieces that would be sent to residents by the successful hauler. Also, all program conversion educational materials are to be covered by the hauler. Dr. Burns stated proposals are due by January 3 and will be presented at the January 10 Environmental Quality and Energy Commission meeting. Council will be asked to consider staff's recommendation regarding the winning bid at its January 23 meeting. Staff is recommending Council's authorization to seek proposals for recycling services under the above terms and conditions. THIS ITEM WAS REMOVED FROM THE CONSENT AGENDA AND PLACED ON THE REGULAR AGENDA. 6. Motion to Schedule a Public Hearing for January 23, 2012, on a Proposed Ordinance Amending Section 2.06 of the Fridley Charter Pertaining to Vacancies in the Council. William Burns, City Manager, stated the Fridley Charter Commission recently approved new language for the filling of vacancies on Council. The changes were inspired by new State law pertaining to the timing of special elections. Staff recommends Council schedule the public hearing for January 23 to consider these changes. APPROVED. 7. Claims (153093 - 153272). APPROVED. 8. Licenses. THIS ITEM WAS REMOVED FROM THE CONSENT AGENDA AND PLACED ON THE REGULAR AGENDA. APPROVAL OF PROPOSED CONSENT AGENDA: Councilmember Bolkcom asked that Item Nos. 5 and 8 be removed. MOTION by Councilmember Barnette to approve the consent agenda with the removal of Item Nos. 5 and 8. Seconded by Councilmember Varichak. UPON A VOICE VOTE, ALL VOTING AYE, MAYOR LUND DECLARED THE MOTION CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY. FRIDLEY CITY COUNCIL MEETING OF DECEMBER 5, 2011 PAGE 4 ADOPTION OF THE AGENDA: MOTION by Councilmember Bolkcom to adopt the agenda with the addition of Item Nos. 5 and 8. Seconded by Councilmember Saefke. UPON A VOICE VOTE, ALL VOTING AYE, MAYOR LUND DECLARED THE MOTION CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY. OPEN FORUM, VISITORS: (No one from the audience spoke.) 2012 BUDGET AND PROPERTY TAX PUBLIC MEETING: 10. Presentation of the 2012 City of Fridley Budget. William Burns, City Manager, stated the budget is prepared in a number of conte�ts. One of the most important is the legislative conte�t. The 2011 Legislative Session was characterized by a 20-day stalemate that e�tended from July 1 to July 20. The results were not that bad for the City. The City got more LGA than it thought it would, got the market value homestead credit program eliminated, giving the City $450,000 more in property tax revenue than it thought it was going to have. The State's levy limits were also eliminated in 2011. Dr. Burns stated 2012 is an election year. Typically in election years, there is very little structural reform. The budget is technically in balance even though there remains a substantial amount of work that needs to be done in 2013 to correct the financial problems created by the shift of school funding. There is still a lot of money to come up with, and 2012 will be a relatively easy year and things will pretty much remain the same. Dr. Burns stated going through the budgeting process, there are a number of budget issues that come up every year. They tend to focus on the large issues as opposed to tiny little line items, and this year was no exception. They looked at salaries and benefits. They also created a new capital equipment fund that is separately funded by equipment certificates. They revisited the school resources officer issue, and decided to bring back a second school resources officer that had been eliminated in 2009. They also transferred an officer out of the police activity fund when they eliminated the DEA office position that the City had previously designated. Dr. Burns stated half of the IS fund depreciation charge was restored which had been suspended because of budget adjustment issues, and they addressed several general fund revenue issues including local government aid. Ultimately they decided not to budget it in the general fund for 2012, but to put it in the general capital improvements fund where there were a growing list of issues, particularly building-related issues. Dr. Burns stated they also debated what to do with property tax increases. Additionally, they addressed quite a number of capital improvement projects. Typically those projects involve streets, parks, and building improvements. They discussed utility rates, they did a lot of cash FRIDLEY CITY COUNCIL MEETING OF DECEMBER 5, 2011 PAGE 5 flow analysis in the budgeting process to try and determine what it takes to manage without borrowing money. They City did raise the utility rates again this year in order to avoid future, longer-term cash flow issues. Dr. Burns stated the ne�t section is called "Budget in Perspective." For all budgeted funds, not including enterprise funds, the City is spending $17.3 million or about 9 percent more than budgeted for 2011. A lot of that has to do with capital improvements. The general fund has a 2.3 percent increase and 95.5 percent increase for the capital improvements fund. A lot of the increase came from capital improvements as well as a$318,000 increase for general fund expenditures. Dr. Burns stated the general fund expenditures for 2012 are projected at $14.3 million or $318,354 more than the amount budgeted for this year. The biggest increase in expenditures is for personal services, which is comprised of about 77 percent of the general fund expenditures. It used to be a little lower than that but, as the City makes adjustments and cuts back, the money it spends for existing personnel goes up; and the money it spends for supplies and contractual services tends to go down a little bit. Supplies are up by $23,000 and most of that is fuel. Other services and charges include about $70,000 for restoration of the IT depreciation amount charge. Capital outlay is down because the City moved that out of the budget. Dr. Burns stated another way to look at distribution is to look at distribution of funds among service areas. The Police Department spends the biggest chunk of the City's money. Public Works is second. However, if you take a look at the enterprise funds and include their money for the enterprise funds, they are the largest expenditure. They spend more money than any other department in the City. The City also has fairly large expenditures by the Fire Department and Finance Department. Dr. Burns stated under expenditure changes in the general fund, personal service costs are up by $417,000 which includes almost $264,000 in salaries. There is an additional $34,000 for retirement or public employee retirement assistance. Health insurance is up by $59,000 or 9.89 percent. The City's program it has for the cash benefit program in lieu of health insurance offered to employees is up by $40,000. Dr. Burns stated there are a number of revenue changes. Overall, the City's general fund revenue is up by 3.8 percent. By far, the biggest change in the major revenue categories are property taxes at $9.7 million; licenses and permits at $712,000; state programs at $804,000; charges for services at $1.9 million; and special assessments at $42,000. There are also interest income, miscellaneous income, and transfers from other funds. Dr. Burns stated regarding the special revenue funds, spending for all these funds is projected at almost $1.3 million, $70,000 more than what was budgeted for 2011. Special revenue funds are those funds the City must separate out because of the special sources of revenue that it has to account for independently of other expenditures. The biggest spender here is the media coordinator. His budget is up by $167,542. Under grant management, the City is down by $39,000. The Solid Waste Abatement Fund is up a little, and the Police Activity Fund has been eliminated. The Springbrook Nature Center fund is up by $10,000. FRIDLEY CITY COUNCIL MEETING OF DECEMBER 5, 2011 PAGE 6 Dr. Burns stated regarding the Cable TV Fund, most of this is for the purchase of new cable television equipment in the Council chambers and in the control room. The revenues for the equipment in this fund come from cable franchise fees which they expect to be $258,050 in 2012. Dr. Burns stated the Grant Management Fund includes expenditures that are reduced by $39,515. Part of that is because they terminated the SHIP (State Health Improvement) Grant. Also, the Metropolitan Council has discontinued the City's Section 8 Housing Program. There are some big reductions there. Dr. Burns stated there was some money left, about $176,000 from the Section 8 Housing Program. It was free for the City to use, and they decided to use that over about a two-year period to fund a single-family housing inspector. The City will use the same person who was doing the Section 8 Housing inspections. The other part of this expenditure is the Chores and Mores Program which has been run out of the Senior Center for quite a few years. It is pegged at about $28,000. Dr. Burns stated solid waste expenditures are up by $7,802. The increase reflects the fact the City no longer has SHIP money to pay for some of the salary costs for the recycling coordinator. The City also over budgeted a little bit for the recycling hauler for 2011. Otherwise those expenditures would be up more. The revenues for recycling include $279,562 from fees the City charges the public; $60,000 in SCORE funding the City gets from Anoka County; and $36,819 the City transfers from other funds. Dr. Burns stated the Police Activity Fund has been eliminated for 2012 in conjunction with the City's withdrawal from the DEA Task Force. As to the Springbrook Nature Center, expenditures are up by $10,143 or 2.6 percent. The increases reflect additional salary and benefit costs, telephone charges, and IS depreciation charges. Dr. Burns stated the revenues from the Springbrook Nature Center levy are set at $320,200. Also, they have raised programs revenues of $91,900 from things such as Pumpkin Night in the Park, etc. Dr. Burns stated as he previously mentioned, the capital improvements funds are the biggest part of the 9 percent increase in overall fund spending. They are looking at $1,429,000 for general capital improvements. The amount is $698,000 more than budgeted for this year. Building needs account for a large part of this increase. Particularly for the City Hall building which needs a roof. Dr. Burns stated the building projects are still in a state of flux. When they were budgeting at the last time they met in October, they talked about a municipal center roof expected to be $250,000. They are going to have to reevaluate that as they know that number is higher. They have also been looking at the cost for the garage outside the Police Department, which serves as a storage place for recreation as well as a firing range for the Police Department. That number FRIDLEY CITY COUNCIL MEETING OF DECEMBER 5, 2011 PAGE 7 will change. Additionally they talked about spending $60,000 to upgrade a Public Works storage building, and they are going to have to look at that again. Dr. Burns stated the street improvement projects include the City's portion of the 2000 mill and overlay project at $680,000; $160,000 for seal coating; $30,000 for replacement of traffic signs which he believes is a state/federal requirement. Also, there are bikeway/walkway upgrades; and they are currently working very hard on getting a Main Street bikeway working. Dr. Burns stated there are the Parks improvements which include replacement of community parking lots, community park lighting upgrades, and furnishings for all parks. Dr. Burns stated the capital equipment fund, a newly established fund for purchasing equipment with equipment certificates or notes, includes $13 5,000 for police vehicles, a fire rescue truck, a Parks maintenance vehicle, and a dump truck for the Street department. They originally had a $600,000 fire truck in here. He pushed that back by one year to 2013 and asked the Fire Department to apply for 50 percent funding for a FEMA grant. The City had applied for this before and had been denied but that was for the whole amount. Dr. Burns stated regarding enterprise funds, which are funds that generally raise their own revenues from the sale of services, the budget is $13,217,335. If you add that to the other funds, the City's total budget for everything is about $27,600,000. Dr. Burns stated the funds that are included here include the water fund, the sewer fund, storm water fund, and the liquor fund. The water fund expenditures are $2.8 million. They are up by about $46,000 or 1.7 percent. Most of the increases are attributable to depreciation charges, personal services costs, and additional costs for utilities. The sewer fund expenditures are almost $3.6 million. There is actually a decrease there. The City is down by $182,982 or —3.8 percent and it is mostly due to decreased treatment costs from Metropolitan Council's environment services division. Dr. Burns stated the storm water fund is set at $575,125. It has increased by almost $22,000. The amount is almost entirely due to interfund charges charged to the storm water fund for the overhead of the general fund. The services provided are by other general fund employees. Dr. Burns stated the liquor fund is set at $5.2 million. There is a small decrease that is due mostly to reductions and depreciation costs, advertising costs, and common area maintenance charges. Dr. Burns stated the City's debt service is over $2 million for 2012. This includes $791,249 in water system improvements; $16,000 for sewer system improvements; storm water improvements at $12,550; and $1,119,503 for street improvements which includes the property owner's portion of the costs for the 2011 street improvement project. Also, the City has equipment certificates that are going to cost $63,000 in 2012. Dr. Burns stated regarding the tax impact, the City's 2012 property tax levy is $10,703,739. The amount is $194,422 or 1.85 percent more than was budgeted for 2011. It includes general FRIDLEY CITY COUNCIL MEETING OF DECEMBER 5, 2011 PAGE 8 fund property taxes of $9.6 million. The City's portion of the street improvement debt and equipment certificates is $780,730. The Springbrook Nature Center levy is at $320,000. Dr. Burns stated the tax impact of these amounts is affected by changes in valuation rates for different property classifications. The valuation rates the City uses for 2012 are about 12 to 18 months old. Because of the process of creating the valuations and because of the law as it relates to creation of valuations, the City is always behind. The costs he is giving them are what the City has for determining taxes in 2012. With that in mind, the City has seen a significant decline in residential values and a lesser decline in commercial/industrial values. Dr. Burns stated 2012 property taxes are also impacted by replacement of the market value homestead credit with a market value homestead exclusion program. In prior years, the credit was charged to cities and then reimbursed to the cities by the State. Under the old system, particularly in the last two or three years, the State often failed to reimburse the cities for the credit as a means of addressing the State's budgeting balance. Under the new system, the cost of the credit is spread directly to non-qualifying property owners, principally to commercial/industrial property owners. Dr. Burns stated once the market value homestead exclusion arithmetic and all of the property tax calculations are made, the City's portion of taxes on a Fridley home valued at $171,400 will increase from $609 in 2011 to $614 in 2012. Overall, property taxes will vary depending on which of the four Fridley school districts the home is located in. Dr. Burns stated regarding the financial health of Fridley, its fund balance picture is improving. It is at about $18 million which it has been at for the last three years and seems to be holding its own at that level. The City projects that the unreserved governmental funds will decrease only slightly. This is always subject to a number of variables, which are very hard to predict. Dr. Burns stated regarding the revenue side, the City anticipates pulling in about $600,000 in 2012. That number has been a lot higher in prior years. Dr. Burns stated regarding revenue resources, the main resource, 68.2 percent of the City's general fund revenue comes from property taxes. At one point when the City was getting a larger amount of LGA, about 30 percent of its revenue came from property taxes. Dr. Burns stated another thing to look at as you consider the budget is how the City's expenditures are changing in terms of constant dollars. When you include inflation, you can see those expenditures have changed very little since 1995 and are projected to change very little in both 2011 and 2012. Dr. Burns stated in addition to the State legislative conte�t, there is also an economic environmental conte�t. Every year the City tries to identify the Fridley environment. It is not always easy because not everybody focuses on Fridley in drafting economic numbers; however, there are some things here that help it. We collected construction numbers from our Building Inspection Department, and know that construction has been up in 2011. The City is looking at almost $38 million in new construction this year. It has had some major projects, including two FRIDLEY CITY COUNCIL MEETING OF DECEMBER 5, 2011 PAGE 9 $6 million Cummins project, a$6 million Wal-Mart project and a$6 million Sam's Club project that should be starting soon. It has been a good year compared to recent years. Dr. Burns stated employment numbers are also improving. Fridley's unemployment rate dropped from 7.7 percent in September of last year to 6.6 percent in September of this year. Also, the number of jobs has increased by 2.2 percent. They jumped from 21,157 to 21,615. Most of these jobs are held by people outside the City. Approximately 17 percent of the jobs are held by Fridley residents. Dr. Burns stated regarding property values, data used to figure valuations for property for tax purposes, all Fridley property dropped by 3 percent in 2011 compared to 7.7 percent in 2010. The value of single-family properties, however, dropped by 15.8 percent in 2011 compared to 9.2 percent in 2010. Values of non-homesteaded buildings, having three or fewer units, actually increased by 3.7 percent. Values of apartment buildings, having four or more units, dropped by 6 percent compared to a 4.5 percent drop in 2010. Commercial values dropped by 2 percent compared to 6.1 percent for 2010. Dr. Burns stated industrial values dropped by 5.9 percent compared to 7.5 percent in 2010. Fridley's tax capacity has decreased by 7.7 percent compared to 7.5 percent in 2010. Dr. Burns stated another way of looking at the Fridley economy is to look at public assistance. There are two measures of that. Staff asked the County about the number of people on cash assistance and food stamps. That is up 9.7 percent in 2011, still a high number. It is better than last year which was 16.9 percent. Another thing they look at is the number of District 14 students receiving free or reduced lunches. That is up only 2.5 percent versus 3.8 percent in 2010. In previous years, it was much higher than that. Dr. Burns stated prime rates are also part of the economic environment in which the City operates. All crimes were down by 7 percent as of October 1, 2011. This is the fifth year in a row that crimes have been down. While they are down, the City has seen a small increase in the number of violent crimes in 2011. Dr. Burns stated, in conclusion, the City did have a better than expected outcome from the legislative impasse. They expect few changes in 2012 because it is an election year. This leaves the City with many uncertainties for 2013 as the Legislature will rejoin to tackle the real tough issues. The better than expected legislative outcomes have been accompanied by improvements by the local and the statewide economic conte�t and, for that matter, the national economic conte�t. These circumstances have led to some relaxation of the City austerity measures that it began adopting in 2009 and carried through into the 2010 and 2011 budgets. Dr. Burns stated City employees have not had a cost of living adjustment (COLA) in 2010 and 2011. There is a 1 percent COLA in the 2012 budget. The City is filling the one School Resource Officer position and is also creating the temporary position for a single-family rental inspector. It is also restoring 50 percent of its IT depreciation charges and increasing the funding for building and parks improvements substantially, particularly building improvements. FRIDLEY CITY COUNCIL MEETING OF DECEMBER 5, 2011 PAGE 10 Dr. Burns stated even though the City let up on some of the adjustments, it is continuing many of the adjustments into 2012. It still has four full-time vacancies. It is continuing restrictions on employee travel and conference expenses. It continues to eliminate employee leave sellback and continues to spend 50 percent of the IT depreciation charge. Dr. Burns stated the budget that emerged from all this is 9 percent more which includes a 2.3 percent increase in the general fund and a 1.1 percent increase in the enterprise fund budgets. These expenditure increases are accompanied by modest tax and fee increases. All property tax levies total are up by 1.85 percent and will raise taxes on the average value Fridley property by about $5, from $609 to $614. The City is still a small portion of the tax bill the taxpayer receives. Dr. Burns stated utility rate increases will cost residents, using an average amount of water, an additional $30 a year. The budget will leave the City with $18.3 million in unreserved cash balances and very good prospects for maintaining adequate cash flows for the foreseeable future. He does not think every city can say that. Dr. Burns stated maintaining these remaining adjustments made for 2010 and 2011 will not be easy. There will be a lot of pressure to go back to pre-recession circumstances and to ease up on those things. There are many challenges that lie ahead of the City. One of the first and foremost is contract negotiations with the City's public safety bargaining units. Dr. Burns stated there are also uncertainties associated with the resolution of the State's budget deficit. He believes the value of the education shift alone is $3 or $4 billion. The City also has growing capital improvements needs. It has held off on capital improvements, and there are building and street needs. Dr. Burns stated one of the most important issues in the whole City environment but that does not get talked about much, are all the challenges the City has from attorneys representing industries challenging the City's commercial and industrial valuations. It has been tremendous and costs the City a lot of money if it really wants to fight these things. We just won in a court battle, but going to court is very expensive. Typically the large corporations have much more money to go to court than the City does. The City has over 100 of these valuation petitions. That is a big challenge on its horizon. What happens is, as the City loses ground on these petitions, residential values go up; and that makes it tougher to operate the government. Dr. Burns stated the City's awareness of challenges is accompanied by a great appreciation for its citizens. The City also has a Council that works closely and respectfully with staff, and a staff that works with great teamwork to provide he thinks some of the very best municipal services at some of the lowest costs possible. Mayor Lund said with this new market value exclusion which is helping all homesteaded properties, he suspects people are seeing the valuation has dropped; but the commercial is picking up the brunt of that exclusion as it has to come from some place. He believes that will only add to the challenges Dr. Burns just mentioned. It is going to put more pressure on more challenges for lowering the valuations on those commercial/industrial properties. FRIDLEY CITY COUNCIL MEETING OF DECEMBER 5, 2011 PAGE 11 Councilmember Barnette stated picking up on that same thing, there was a time in Fridley where they used to talk about the industrial/commercial paid approximately two-thirds of the taxes and the personal property taxes one-third. He asked what the ratio was now. Darin Nelson, Finance Director, replied he believed they were the opposite of that. He could double-check that. Councilmember Barnette stated and still the City is getting continued challenges from the industrial/commercial. Dr. Burns stated the law as it stands makes the City responsible for that. The beneficiaries of the work the City does in fighting these challenges are primarily the school district and the County, yet the City winds up paying the cost for those things. Councilmember Barnette stated he always prided himself in telling people in Anoka County that Fridley at one time was probably the lowest on property taxes. The City of Fridley residents still get a very good bargain. Councilmember Bolkcom asked when the actual numbers for the school levies would come out. Mr. Nelson replied in March when the residents receive the final notices on the tax statements. Mayor Lund stated there probably will be some increases on the tax statements depending on the vote from those levy referendums. Mr. Nelson stated he did talk with a couple of school districts, specifically Fridley School District. He believed that district is the only one where there will be a change from their truth in taxation notices to their tax statements. Regarding the other school districts, Anoka-Hennepin and Spring Lake Park, he believed they had referendums as well but they did not expire this year. They will be renewed for the following year. NEW BUSINESS: 11. Plat Request, PS #11-01, by Lindquist & Vennum, PLLP, for BAC Home Loan Servicing, LP, to Reconfigure the Lots at 100 and 110 Mississippi Place N.E. (Ward 3). Scott Hickok, Community Development Director, stated this is a final plat. James Walston is the petitioner. He is seeking a replat of properties at 100 and 110 Mississippi Place N.E. to reconfigure the property lines from going east and west to north and south which allowed the homeowner to sell each twin home unit separately on its own parcel. Mr. Hickok stated in 2007 the previous property owner, Bruce Westman, went through the preliminary plat process; however, the final plat was never filed. The property has since gone through foreclosure and the new owner, Bank of America, would like to proceed with getting the lot line changed through the platting process. FRIDLEY CITY COUNCIL MEETING OF DECEMBER 5, 2011 PAGE 12 Mr. Hickok stated the existing twin home meets all setbacks and lot coverage requirements. The fence along the western and eastern property line is non-conforming in that it is higher than 4 feet in the front yard. The front yard fence can only be 4 feet and this one is a bit higher. Staff will stipulate the fence be reduced to 4 feet in the front yard within six months of the final plat approval. Mr. Hickok stated at the November 16 meeting this year the Planning Commission unanimously recommended approval with the stipulations. Staff does recommend concurrence with that Planning Commission recommendation. Councilmember Bolkcom asked about the final plat because back in 2007 there was a preliminary plat. Now it is in front of them again and one of the stipulations is related to the final plat. What is normally the time frame related to that? Mr. Hickok replied typically there is a six-month time period to go from the preliminary plat to the final plat. Mr. Westman had been contacted numerous times to get his final plat recorded and simply did not do that. The bank then, after foreclosure, was in a situation where they wanted to sell each of the units independently but could not. Councilmember Bolkcom asked if there was anything the City can do to increase the chances of that final plat being completed. Mr. Hickok replied they are very interested in doing that now. Jim Walston, attorney with the law firm of Lindquist & Vennum, stated he was referred this case last summer. He looked it over, determined what the problems were, and at that point they moved ahead right away, examining the title, seeing all the problems, and what Mr. Westman did not do. He cannot remember the exact date they filed all the application materials, but they are fast-tracking this as best they can. They agree with all the conditions. Hopefully they will have the check for the park dedication fee this week, and they will turn that over to Stacy Stromberg. Mr. Walston stated they are all set to go. Bank of America is aware of the requirements for the trimming back of the fence. They are going to ground out an unsightly tree stump in the front yard and landscape it. They have prepared an e�terior maintenance, landscaping, and party wall declaration that Bank of America has signed off on in form and content which has been approved by Fridley City staff. As he understands the process, the final plat will be before Council ne�t week and assuming it is approved, they would be set to pay the fees and file the plat. Councilmember Bolkcom stated at the Planning Commission meeting there was some talk about the cross easements and access. Mr. Walston stated they thought there would need to be a cross-driveway easement but that is not the case. As far as the declaration, typically when you have a party wall, it would cover maintenance and repair issues with that common structural line. City staff had a very good idea to have a declaration with respect to e�terior maintenance. He thinks they have it all covered. FRIDLEY CITY COUNCIL MEETING OF DECEMBER 5, 2011 PAGE 13 Mr. Hickok stated staff is very comfortable with the document. Councilmember Saefke asked if the property line is going to go down the middle of the two units. Mr. Walston replied right. Councilmember Saefke asked since there would be two separate owners, will there be two sewer and two water services, one for each side. Mr. Hickok replied this was built as though it was going to be separate ownership for both sides. Unfortunately, but for this line, everything else was done right. Councilmember Saefke asked whether they see any problems because they are talking about covenants between the two owners on the maintenance of the building. Councilmember Bolkcom stated it is one of the stipulations, too. Mr. Hickok replied, they have done a very nice job of making sure that does not happen. MOTION by Councilmember Bolkcom approving Plat Request, PS #11-01, by Lindquist & Vennum, PLLP, for BAC Home Loan Servicing, LP, with the following five stipulations: 1. Petitioner shall remove or reduce the height of the fence to 4 feet in the front yard on the west and east sides of the property within 6 months of final plat approval. 2. The line separating the two lots shall align with the party wall of the twin home. 3. Final plat shall show right of access along CSAH 1(East River Road) to be dedicated to Anoka County along the entire length of the property. 4. The petitioner shall submit covenants for filing with the County records for this property, at Anoka County, subject to City approval. Covenants shall define future maintenance expectations between property owners. 5. The petitioner shall pay Park Dedication fees at a rate of $1,500 per lot. Seconded by Councilmember Saefke. UPON A VOICE VOTE, ALL VOTING AYE, MAYOR LUND DECLARED THE MOTION CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY. FRIDLEY CITY COUNCIL MEETING OF DECEMBER 5, 2011 PAGE 14 5. Motion to Authorize Preparation and Distribution of Request for Proposals for Comprehensive Municipal Recycling Services. Councilmember Bolkcom stated her question is related to the EQEC wanting to give a higher ranking for collection vehicles that use biodiesel or natural gas fuel. Mr. Hickok replied, much like a candidate application where they would score candidates in an interview process, they would score applications when they come back in for meeting the criteria that was spelled out in the RFP. This is one criteria and something that they are not going to lose a lot of points for. Councilmember Bolkcom asked and there are companies out there that use that fuel? Mr. Hickok replied, yes, there are. Councilmember Bolkcom asked what the organic service option was. Mr. Hickok replied, that is something becoming really common in the industry right now and, as a matter of fact with or without it mentioned here, will likely come back as part of the RFP's. They would like to highlight it though and if five out of the six come back with that, again, they might get a couple of points for doing that. That would help their tonnage to do that, and with the modern industry of collection is they come back and offer that as one of their services they would provide. Councilmember Bolkcom asked if they feel they can do the proposed timeline. Mr. Hickok replied, yes, it is. Staff has talked with the City Attorney, and they think it is and will keep it on track. Councilmember Bolkcom asked if they have any kind of feeling about how much the cost might calculate with everything else that is going on. Mr. Hickok replied, watching what is happening with our communities, they have a pretty good feeling about where they are going and entering into this process. Of course the big thing will be whether the City goes with a one-year contract or a multi-year contract. The multi-year contract will result in a better price, but there is other motivation, too, for the City to consider the one- year contract. As they look at garbage hauling, they would really like to know that answer, too, and a one-year contract might help them get through that. MOTION by Councilmember Bolkcom to authorize preparation and distribution of Request for Proposals for Comprehensive Municipal Recycling Services. Seconded by Councilmember Saefke. UPON A VOICE VOTE, ALL VOTING AYE, MAYOR LUND DECLARED THE MOTION CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY. FRIDLEY CITY COUNCIL MEETING OF DECEMBER 5, 2011 PAGE 15 8. Licenses. Councilmember Bolkcom asked regarding the Pickle Park intoxication liquor holiday endorsement, are the other ones holiday endorsements also. Mr. Nelson replied they are the temporary ones for the Christmas Eve holiday. All of these on there are for the holiday endorsement. There are also a couple of others that applied when they did their annual renewal this past spring. Councilmember Bolkcom asked regarding SuperAmerica, what are they going to sell. Mr. Nelson replied 3.2 percent off-sale. Councilmember Bolkcom asked if they pay the same fee as the eating establishments that have an intoxicating liquor license. Mr. Nelson replied he would say it is a fairly minimal fee for the two-day licenses. However, he does not know if there is a difference between the off-sale and the on-sale. Councilmember Bolkcom asked regarding the rental license, the Hubers were before them at the last meeting during the open forum and discussed the three rental properties--6676, 6551, and 6571. She asked if anyone could give them an update. Dr. Burns stated he took the information from the Fire Chief, and he also talked to the City's Chief Building Official today. All of the correction orders have been addressed at 6571. They are happy with the work That includes the Building Inspector. The back utilities and taxes have been paid, and they see no other reason to withhold the rental license for this property. They are not recommending 6551. They are making progress on it, but they are not there yet. Councilmember Bolkcom asked about 6676 Channel Road. Dr. Burns replied the only ones he has been aware of are the 6571 and 6551. Councilmember Bolkcom asked if it was possible for someone to check the property to see if there are any code enforcement issues, so Council can address some of the other issues that were brought up at the open forum. Mr. Hickok replied it is on their radar. The list that allowed the owners to get their license is based on the rental inspection list, and if there is something outdoors that is aesthetic and code enforcement related, it will be addressed. 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. FRIDLEY CITY COUNCIL MEETING OF DECEMBER 5, 2011 PAGE 16 12. Informal Status Reports. Councilmember Saefke stated he and Councilmember Barnette received a complaint regarding some garbage at a house on the corner of Carroll Drive and West Moore Lake Drive. When he drove by there the other day, he saw a portable dumpster. He asked if staff had driven by there to see if it had been picked up. Mr. Hickok replied staff received the complaint first. It did go through the normal code enforcement process and there was no response to the letters. It is on track now for abatement. Councilmember Saefke stated he did not understand why it has not been taken care of as he believes when you buy the portable dumpster; you are also purchasing the pick up. All the party would have to do is call wherever that bag is from and have them come pick it up. Councilmember Barnette stated he believed that was part of the problem. The house has been foreclosed, so they cannot get anyone to respond. Mr. Hickok replied the single owner of the house died. Their suspicion is other family members have been trying to help clean the place up. It has not gone through the Sheriff's sale yet, it has not left the ownership of the deceased, and is not in the hands of a bank yet. After December 21, the City may also be abating the portable dumpster. 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 9:50 P.M. Respectfully submitted by, Denise M. Johnson Scott J. Lund Recording Secretary Mayor