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CCM 10/23/2017 CITY COUNCIL MEETING CITY OF FRIDLEY OCTOBER 23, 2017 The City Council meeting for the City of Fridley was called to order by Mayor Lund at 7:02 p.m. ROLL CALL: MEMBERS PRESENT: Mayor Lund Councilmember Barnette Councilmember Varichak Councilmember Saefke Councilmember Bolkcom OTHERS PRESENT: Wally Wysopal, City Manager Darcy Erickson, City Attorney Jon Lennander, Assistant City Engineer Rebecca Keenan, 200 Logan Parkway NE Leif Nelsen, 7190 Riverview Terrace NE David Brodie, Coon Rapids City Attorney APPROVAL OF PROPOSED CONSENT AGENDA: APPROVAL OF MINUTES: City Council Meeting of October 9, 2017 APPROVED. NEW BUSINESS: 1. Resolution Designating Time and Number of Council Meetings for 2018. APPROVED. 2. Approve Proposed 2018 Development Review Schedule for the Planning Commission, Appeals Commission and City Council Action. APPROVED. 3. Approve a CenterPoint Energy Gas Facilities Easement in Commons Park for Service to the Fridley Middle School (Ward 1). Wally Wysopal , City Manager, said this is a for a gas line facility that CenterPoint Energy currently has in the park. It is just a formality to designate that it exists. FRIDLEY CITY COUNCIL MEETING OF OCTOBER 23, 2017 PAGE 2 Councilmember Saefke stated on page 20, the first line of the easement should state the year “2017” instead of 2016. APPROVED AS CORRECTED. 4. Receive the Twin Cities Gateway Fiscal year 2018 Budget. Councilmember Bolkcom said on page 23, it states the budget is to be to the City on or before October 1, but it was received by staff until October 4. She asked if the City is late on receiving it. Mr. Wysopal said they were not. RECEIVED. 5. Claims: 1710-ACH PCard; 178410 - 178592 APPROVED. ADOPTION OF PROPOSED CONSENT AGENDA: MOTION by Councilmember Barnette to adopt the proposed consent agenda. Seconded by Councilmember Varichak. UPON A VOICE VOTE, ALL VOTING AYE, MAYOR LUND DECLARED THE MOTION CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY. OPEN FORUM, VISITORS: No one in the audience spoke. ADOPTION OF 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. NEW BUSINESS: 6. Assistance Request – Mitigation Grant Application for 7190 Riverview Terrace N.E. and 200 Logan Parkway N.E. (Ward 3). FRIDLEY CITY COUNCIL MEETING OF OCTOBER 23, 2017 PAGE 3 Wally Wysopal, City Manager, stated Council received a letter from the Mr. and Mrs. Keenan at 200 Logan Parkway, and Mr. and Mrs. Nelsen at 7190 Riverview Terrace, regarding a river slope erosion problem that is occurring there. They are asking for the City’s assistance. The City has been working with the Coon Creek Watershed District regarding this issue. Mr. Wysopal stated in the letter, the neighbors specified certain things they would like Fridley’s assistance with. Staff is bringing this letter to Council with the request they direct staff to continue to work with the property owners and other organizations to determine whether it is in the best interest of the City to enter into a grant agreement that may have some potential mitigation to the problem the property owners are experiencing. Mr. Wysopal stated what staff is requesting of the City Council is not to agree with anything specifically that is in the letter right now, but direct staff to continue to use its resources to try and work with the property owners on a reasonable resolution to the issuance and submittal of this grant. Rebecca Keenan, 200 Logan Parkway N.E., said they stated everything in their letter without going into excessive detail. They have really been struggling with what to do, and what is appropriate for the property on the river and for their finances. Their homes have gone from being an asset to a liability. She said she could not sell her house. It would be sold as a tear- down. Ms. Keenan said she is not really excited about this grant because the only option for this grant is to tear down their home. She would have preferred a FEMA grant that would have helped them move their house or allowed them to rebuild, etc. However, what they have before them is the best they have right now; and that is a grant that they are told would basically be a tear-down and nothing could be done with the property thereafter. They understand the City may not be all that excited about this grant either. However, they need to look at all of their options, and they have looked at them well. That is why they want the City’s help to at least look at this grant, and see if this is something that is possible. Ms. Keenan stated to date their family has spent between $15,000 and $20,000 just managing this program, getting a second opinion from a soil engineer, and looking at all kinds of options for interim maintenance of their slope (because their backyard is just a mess). They have really gone a long ways towards trying to do what is appropriate. That is why they are asking for the City’s help. She hates asking for help. She said she is a very independent person. They take care of stuff. When the people who came out to first look at their problem told them it would be hundreds of thousands of dollars for any kind of project to fix, they wondered what they were going to do. This appears to be one of the more cost-effective things they are looking at. Mayor Lund asked Ms. Keenan if the only option under this particular FEMA grant is that the home has to be demolished. He asked if it could be moved. Ms. Keenan replied her best understanding is that it would be for a tear-down. FRIDLEY CITY COUNCIL MEETING OF OCTOBER 23, 2017 PAGE 4 Mayor Lund said they do need to look at it. He said he hears her and feels for her. This is a very extreme and unusual case. There is probably no perfect solution. He said they feel for her and they are going to direct City staff tonight to continue to work towards a solution. It is a little premature at this point for them to make that final commitment of being the lead on the application. They certainly want staff to continue to weigh in and assist in the manner they have been. It is a difficult problem. Obviously the property owners want to make the right decision and, if the City can aid them in some way with staff’s support and time, he does not see anything wrong with that. Hopefully, they will find a satisfactory solution. Ms. Keenan said they will let him know what that is. Leif Nelsen, 7190 Riverview Terrace N.E., said he echoes the comments Ms. Keenan made. He understands Council will not be making any decision tonight. He said this was one possible solution. It was the best possible solution at this point and, in order to even apply and have FEMA even say yes or no, they need the assistance from the City with help in writing the grant. Mayor Lund said they understand the parameters. There are always these details of who can apply and how to apply and assistance is needed. They will certainly have staff look at that as an option. However, they need more time to look at that avenue before they will commit to it. Mr. Nelsen asked for a timeframe, because it sounded like this needed to be in by February. Mayor Lund stated they were just made aware of this recently, so hopefully within the next several weeks is what they are looking at. They understand there are time constraints. The City wants to look at all the options, too, on the property owners’ behalf. Councilmember Bolkcom said as far as preparing the grant, they are talking using some City staff, and they also briefly talked about possibly needing the help of a consultant. Jon Lennander , Assistant City Engineer, replied, that is correct. He believed it would involve a substantial amount of time by City staff and the consultant. He believed the Watershed District will still be involved in it because they have been involved with the consultant up until now. Councilmember Bolkcom stated and part of staff’s work would be working closely with Coon Creek Watershed District. She said once the application is made, ow long would it take for the City to receive some type of answer. Mr. Lennander replied once the application has been submitted, he has been told it takes most likely up to about a year to get a final decision on it. It could even be longer than that. It will actually depend on how much money is available at the time the grant is submitted. Councilmember Bolkcom said and it is fair to say that Coon Creek Watershed District at this point has said we have done the monitoring and we are stepping back from that piece. One of her other concerns is that there is a year where there could still be some movement in those backyards and some other problems that might arise. FRIDLEY CITY COUNCIL MEETING OF OCTOBER 23, 2017 PAGE 5 Mr. Lennander said he has not talked with the Watershed District specifically about continuing their monitoring. He thinks the monitoring will need to continue at least until something is decided. Councilmember Bolkcom asked Attorney Erickson, with respect to the letter from the homeowners, if Council asks staff to assist the homeowners, does it mean the City is obligating itself to fulfill all six requests in the letter. Darcy Erickson, City Attorney, replied, at this point the City is not signing any grant agreements and is not submitting any grant agreement. Council will be directing staff to continue to review and explore the aspects of the grant program that has come to the attention of City staff. At this point there is no action item for the City to approve or authorize entry into any such agreement. What is before the Council is a request by the property owners for assistance; and the City Council, as she understands it, will be asked to direct City staff to continue to explore that grant program. She imagines it will come back before the City Council on a future date. Councilmember Bolkcom asked Mr. Wysopal, if this is directed to staff tonight, how does the City plan on keeping communication with the homeowners themselves on where they are at and what is happening? How does he see that taking place? Mr. Wysopal said Jon Lennander is the key point person on the project for the City. He will be in contact with the property owners as well as through any of the other agencies who are working right now. Councilmember Bolkcom stated because there are lots of other agencies who might play into this, such as the DNR, Mississippi Corridor, etc. MOTION by Councilmember Bolkcom to direct staff to continue to work with the homeowners towards a resolution that keeps in mind the concerns of the matching disposition. Seconded by Councilmember Saefke. UPON A VOICE VOTE, ALL VOTING AYE, MAYOR LUND DECLARED THE MOTION CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY. 7. Resolution Approving a Joint Powers Agreement for Criminal Prosecution Services between the City of Fridley and the City of Coon Rapids and Authorizing Execution of Said Agreement. Wally Wysopal , City Manager,stated this item was before the City Council on September 25, at which time staff was directed to meet with the City of Coon Rapids to come to terms with an agreement. They have done that successfully. This agreement will provide for City prosecutorial services which means representation for all petty misdemeanors, gross misdemeanors, criminal proceedings, and cases beginning January 1, 2018. They will also handle the City of Fridley’s DWI forfeitures. The agreement will be for 5 years. There will also be services related to a victim services coordinator, which is something Fridley was very FRIDLEY CITY COUNCIL MEETING OF OCTOBER 23, 2017 PAGE 6 interested in. Coon Rapids is represented here tonight by their city attorney, Dave Brodie. Mr. Wysopal stated the agreement is very favorable for Fridley and Coon Rapids, as it combines their resources; allows their police chiefs to take better control of schedules with regard to court time, etc.; and does have a favorable budget impact to Fridley by about $40,000. Staff asks for Council’s approval of the resolution and the joint powers agreement. David Brodie , Coon Rapids City Attorney, stated their City Council did approve this last week; and they are excited for the opportunity to combine resources and provide prosecution services for the City of Fridley. He prosecuted for the City of Fridley way back. As he told the Coon Rapids Council, he hopes this will provide another impetus for the two cities to continue to work together. MOTION by Councilmember Barnette to adopt Resolution 2017-62. Seconded by Councilmember Saefke. UPON A VOICE VOTE, ALL VOTING AYE, MAYOR LUND DECLARED THE MOTION CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY. 12. Informal Status Report: There were no informal status reports. ADJOURN: MOTION by Councilmember Barnette, seconded by Councilmember Varichak, to adjourn. UPON A VOICE VOTE, ALL VOTING AYE, MAYOR LUND DECLARED THE MOTION CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY AND THE MEETING ADJOURNED AT 7:27 P.M. Respectfully submitted by, Denise M. Johnson Scott J. Lund Recording Secretary Mayor