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CCM 06/24/2019 CITY COUNCIL MEETING CITY OF FRIDLEY JUNE 24, 2019 The City Council meeting for the City of Fridley was called to order by Mayor Lund at 7:07 p.m. ROLL CALL: MEMBERS PRESENT: Mayor Lund Councilmember Barnette Councilmember Tillberry Councilmember Eggert Councilmember Bolkcom OTHERS PRESENT: Wally Wysopal, City Manager Scott Hickok, Community Development Director James Kosluchar, Public Works Director Gretchen Nicholls, CDI Coordinator PROCLAMATIONS: Women of Today Founder’s Day – July 1, 2019 John Berg Appreciation Day – June 28, 2019 APPROVAL OF PROPOSED CONSENT AGENDA: APPROVAL OF CITY COUNCIL MINUTES: 1. City Council Meeting of June 10, 2019. APPROVED. 2. Second Reading of an Ordinance Amending the Fridley City Code, Chapter 205.07 R-1 One Family Dwellings, Chapter 205.08 R-2 Two-Family Dwellings, and Chapter 205.23 Hyde Park Neighborhood Zoning District Regulations of the Fridley City Code to Codify Current Policy and Add Requirements or Tree Planting in New Home Construction (Text Amendment, TA #19-01, by the City of Fridley); and Adopt Official Title and Summary Ordinance. FRIDLEY CITY COUNCIL MEETING OF JUNE 24, 2019 PAGE 2 WAIVED THE READING OF THE ORDINANCE AND ADOPTED ORDINANCE NO. 1368 ON SECOND READING, AND ADOPTED THE OFFICIAL TITLE AND SUMMARY ORDINANCE, AND ORDERED PUBLICATION. 3. Second Reading of an Ordinance Amending Chapter 128 of the Fridley City Code Pertaining to Abatement of Exterior Nuisances (Text Amendment, TA #19-02, by the City of Fridley); and Adopt Official Title and Summary Ordinance. WAIVED THE READING OF THE ORDINANCE AND ADOPTED ORDINANCE NO. 1369 ON SECOND READING, AND ADOPTED THE OFFICIAL TITLE AND SUMMARY ORDINANCE, AND ORDERED PUBLICATION 4. Second Reading of an Ordinance Amending Chapter 110 of the Fridley City Code Pertaining to Abating Public Nuisances (Text Amendment, TA #19-03, by the City of Fridley); and Adopt Official Title and Summary Ordinance. WAIVED THE READING OF THE ORDINANCE AND ADOPTED ORDINANCE NO. 1370 ON SECOND READING, AND ADOPTED OFFICIAL TITLE AND SUMMARY ORDINANCE, AND ORDERED PUBLICATION. 5. Second Reading of an Ordinance to Amend Section 15 of Chapter 402 of the Fridley City Code to Administer and Regulate Water, Storm Water, and Sanitary Sewer in the Public Interest (Text Amendment, TA #19-04, by the City of Fridley). WAIVED THE READING OF THE ORDINANCE AND ADOPTED ORDINANCE NO. 1371 ON SECOND READING AND ORDERED PUBLICATION. NEW BUSINESS: 6. Resolution Approving Final Plat, P.S. #19-01, by U.S. Home Corporation, DBA Lennar on Behalf of the Property Owner, the City’s Housing and Redevelopment Authority, to Accommodate the Construction of a Townhome Development, Generally Located South of 7071 University Avenue, with Parcel Identification Numbers of 113024340009, 113024340010, and 113024340011 (Ward 1). ADOPTED RESOLUTION NO. 2019-27. 7. Resolution Approving Gifts, Donations and Sponsorships for the City of Fridley. ADOPTED RESOLUTION NO. 2019-28. FRIDLEY CITY COUNCIL MEETING OF JUNE 24, 2019 PAGE 3 8. Approve Assignment and Assumption Agreement Between the City of Fridley and Granite Construction for Sanitary Sewer Pipe Lining Project No. 2017-450. APPROVED. 9. Claims (185436 – 185576) APPROVED. ADOPTION OF PROPOSED CONSENT AGENDA: MOTION by Councilmember Barnette to adopt the proposed consent agenda. Seconded by Councilmember Eggert. 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 adopt the agenda. Seconded by Councilmember Tillberry. UPON A VOICE VOTE, ALL VOTING AYE, MAYOR LUND DECLARED THE MOTION CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY. NEW BUSINESS: 10. Motion to Approve the Fridley Corridor Development Initiative, Highways 47 and 65 Summary Report and Final Recommendations. Scott Hickok, Community Development Director, stated the City hired LISC of the Twin Cities and Gretchen Nicholls as the City’s facilitator; and he would like to introduce Ms. Nicholls who will make the final report. Gretchen Nicholls, CDI Coordinator, stated she never imagined so many people would be a part of the conversations about these major corridors through the community. It was wonderful to see how many people came out to share their ideas and offer their participation in a very important conversation about a key feature that defines their community. What should be a major connector felt more like a major impediment for people. There was a feeling that the changes over time had made this corridor less safe and there were many things they thought could be improved. FRIDLEY CITY COUNCIL MEETING OF JUNE 24, 2019 PAGE 4 Ms. Nicholls stated it was a challenging conversation because they are working to balance mobility, safety, access, and aesthetics--the look and feel of the corridor--so there were many things to consider as people were explaining ideas and strategies. The added complexity revolved around who actually controlled what happens on these roads. The challenge of working with MnDOT and Anoka County was evident in the conversations. Nevertheless, the need for alignment among the partners to achieve the goals is necessary. Ms. Nicholls stated they were focused on Highway 47 (University Avenue) and Highway 65 (Central Avenue). They had the great opportunity to work with a variety of people on this process. They engaged an advisory group that helped them really shape the content and inform kind of the design of the process. They helped them think through some of the different kinds of information they wanted to bring before this community and helped them really revise the final recommendations before they brought them to the community. Ms. Nicholls stated the advisory group worked with them throughout the process. They had a great panel of communities that helped them understand some of their experiences and examples from the work in their communities, and then they had a technical team that was working kind of in the background to help the process move forward efficiently and effectively. Ms. Nicholls stated the process was composed of four parts. The first part was to gather information on what the community cares about and what their concerns were. In the second workshop, they worked to design an interactive exercise to gather a lot of input on details on the different corridors and what it is they thought was important. Ms. Nicholls stated the third workshop was a panel discussion where they had some really great conversation with cities who have already been ahead of them in implementing some of these strategies so they could learn from their experiences. Ms. Nicholls stated the fourth workshop involved framing and approving the set of recommendations the Council has before them. Ms. Nicholls stated the process was well attended. It averaged 70 to 80 people per session. A lot of people returned for multiple sessions. In the interim, MnDOT provided a series of on-line surveys. So not only did they get input during the sessions, but people were able to provide feedback through an on-line survey process. As they see in this very long report, there were a lot of details and data gathered from all sorts of different ways. She hopes it is valuable as a reference as they move forward with future work on these corridors. Ms. Nicholls said going back to the recommendations, they had five themes or larger goals they thought really represented the main emphasis of all of the input they gathered. First and foremost was improving the safety for both the non-motorized and motorized users, especially at the key intersections. Another goal was improving the east/west connections between the corridors so that it invited greater multi-modal access. Strengthening the sense of place and community identity was really important in terms of, not just being a pass-through, but people actually feeling the community. FRIDLEY CITY COUNCIL MEETING OF JUNE 24, 2019 PAGE 5 Ms. Nicholls stated the next recommendation was better alignment for redevelopment and evolving land uses. Ms. Nicholls said another recommendation was to better provide accessibility and connectivity to the local businesses and community designations. Ms. Nicholls stated in addition to these recommendations, there was a large interest for maintaining an exchange with the City about these issues and ideas. They felt it was an opportunity to really clarify or crystallize some community standards around aesthetics to help MnDOT and other players to better understand some of the details the community feels strongly about. Looking to engage stakeholders as they do future work on street design options for specific parts of the corridors. Incorporating broad-based involvement when looking at these larger opportunities. Regular updates on studies. Ms. Nicholls said people just want to be in the know. They want to know when things are happening. They feel the City listens and really does care about what their ideas are. They just want to make sure they are in sync with where the City is on a lot of these conversations. Working closely with Anoka County Highway Department seemed really critical, especially with all of these dimensions about the ways people want to move around the community. The value of the City’s comprehensive plan and how these ideas get embedded in that document was also important. Ms. Nicholls stated transit is a key feature for the community. She asked how they continue to make that more accessible and more user-friendly, especially as the Rapid Bus Transit systems are starting to take form. Ms. Nicholls stated, finally, it was really great that they took it to another level in this process by identifying some of the ideas around implementation including looking for potential funding sources the City and other partners could access to help to move some of these strategies forward. It felt more tangible to break these up into short-term, mid-term, and long-term goals. The things that are around safety just seem like they are easier to just operationalize. Things that require a little bit more thought around, especially the southern portions that were looking to be more interfacing with slowing people down a little bit. The land uses are changing more significantly in the southern portion. And then long-term strategies for the northern portion on road design rethinking. This helps people envision how things might play out. Ms. Nicholls asked Scott Hickok to comment on the next steps. Scott Hickok, Community Development Director, stated they have had wonderful input from the citizens. It is very important from this point forward they continue their communications with those people who have taken their time and have contributed in such an important way to the City. They have some near immediate-term, some mid-range, and some long-term solutions. Funding will be a part of that, but the next steps are going to be very, very important. They have engaged the audience and certainly want to bring them along. FRIDLEY CITY COUNCIL MEETING OF JUNE 24, 2019 PAGE 6 Mr. Hickok stated one of the first things and it is part of the next agenda item is the aesthetics along the roadway. They really cannot say enough about how important the relationship between the State and the County will be on their next steps. City staff has found them to be very agreeable and willing to work with them on a number of issues, including the fence along the University Avenue corridor. The parties involved with the State, County and the City have listened and have begun to take a position on what they can to do to really advance some of these ideas. Mr. Hickok stated they would encourage people to stay informed. Staff will help do that through the City’s newsletter, social medial and other forms of communication. They will let them know folks to really stay close. They will through the City’s newsletter, social media, and other forms of opportunity keep them informed. They will let them know when they will be removing pieces of the chain link fence or replacing them with other materials. They will also continue to have meetings to celebrated success and to keep the communication flowing. Mayor Lund stated he was proud of the involvement of the citizens in these meeting. They attended not just one, but four sessions and there were a lot of good outcomes from those four sessions. They will see that in the next action item. They are excited and looking forward to those improvements and the ones that are coming in the future. Councilmember Bolkcom referred to the summary report. On page 51, she asked how “incorporate stop bars” relates to crosswalks. Mr. Hickok replied, stop bars are the stripes that tell the driver what position they would like the front of the vehicle to stop at to leave more room for the pedestrians and bicyclists as they cross. Councilmember Bolkcom referred to page 56, under Pedestrian Bike Transit. It says, “killed on 56” but asked if it was supposed to say “65.” Councilmember Bolkcom referred to page 59, under Landscaping, right before Moore Lake, it says fix eyesore of black desert parking. She asked what that was. Ms. Nicholls replied this was taken off the discussion sheet, but it probably just references a large parking lot that is asphalt. Councilmember Bolkcom referred to that same page, under “Lighting” it says “49’ers too old lighting styles, etc.” She asked what that meant. Ms. Nicholls said some of those comments are cryptic because people are just writing their comments in, and she does not have any further explanation. Councilmember Bolkcom stated perhaps they should mention that this is why the comments are the way they are. Ms. Nicholls replied, state “verbatim”. FRIDLEY CITY COUNCIL MEETING OF JUNE 24, 2019 PAGE 7 Councilmember Bolkcom stated under that section, “Speeds and Traffic Flow,” “Islands are close to intersections - need to be cleaner.” That is the same kind of thing. Councilmember Bolkcom referred to page 60. At the top of the page under “Other,” it says “connect Locke Park over 47.” She asked what that meant. Mr. Hickok replied, a land bridge. Locke Parkway. Councilmember Bolkcom said on page 60, under “Suggestions and Comments,” “Change 47/694 exit/entrances to pit in an overhead.” She asked if that should be “put in an overhead.” Ms. Nicholls replied, maybe. It could have been a typo on her part. Councilmember Bolkcom referred also to page 60, under “Suggestions.” She asked what “Do X left turns, not L” meant. Ms. Nicholls replied, again, sometimes it is not easy to read the handwriting or how they have written things and are hard to transcribe. Councilmember Bolkcom referred to page 63, under “How Does Highway 47/65 Impact . . . Fridley?” There is the response, “It doesn’t”. Ms. Nicholls replied, that was taken off the on-line surveys so that is how they responded. Councilmember Bolkcom referred to page 80. She asked if the type on the attachment could be made larger. She thought there was a lot of good information on it. She also asked if the next step would be to put it on the City website. Mr. Hickok replied, yes. They will make changes Council is asking staff to make. The draft was published on the City’s website. The final draft will be on the website for people to read. Staff wants people to stay with the City on this. They know the people are interested, and the City does not want to disappoint them. There is more to share. This is just the beginning of the journey, and they want to make sure all the changes are made with good communication. Councilmember Bolkcom asked if there is anything on a council-level they need to do to help bring this forward? Do they need to talk to their County commissioners? There is a fair amount of stuff here that is county-related. Do they need to talk with the state representatives or senators to help push this, because there is a fair amount of money involved to do these projects. Mr. Hickok replied, they absolutely can use the Council’s support and staff will bring recommendation on pieces as they see it. This is an enormous opportunity for the City to make some changes. They will do it in bite-sized chunks that relate to funding and other opportunities. These changes will not come without the Council’s participation and support. It will be the Council’s final decision that will launch things. FRIDLEY CITY COUNCIL MEETING OF JUNE 24, 2019 PAGE 8 Councilmember Bolkcom stated it does make sense to send this to the County commissioners and State representatives and senators. Because Representative Connie Bernardy and Senator Carolyn Laine were there. Mr. Hickock stated in fact Representative Bernardy already suggested some funding opportunities relative to these types of projects. Councilmember Eggert stated he and Mr. Hickok briefly talked about page 40, “TH 65 Focus Area.” They failed to list Highway 65 and Medtronic Parkway in the list for that focus area. He asked if they can add that intersection to the list. Ms. Nicholls stated they will make sure that gets inserted. MOTION to approve the Fridley Corridor Development Initiative, Highways 47 and 65 Summary Report and Final Recommendations including the changes. Seconded by Councilmember Tillberry. UPON A VOICE VOTE, ALL VOTING AYE, MAYOR LUND DECLARED THE MOTION CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY. NEW BUSINESS: 11. Resolution Approving the University Avenue Corridor Map through the City of Fridley Providing for the Use of Fencing, Lighting, and Design to Enhance a Community Identity and Directing Staff to Submit Such Map to the Minnesota Department of Transportation. Wally Wysopal, City Manager, stated they are pleased to bring forth this immediate step with regard to the Corridor Study. This item refers to the fence that is located on University Avenue, rdth basically between 53 and about 69Avenues. It has been a dubious fence for many, many years. With a lot of great work from Scott Hickok and James Kosluchar, they were able to engage not only the community around this issue but also get the attention of MnDOT. At one point, MnDOT started to understand the removal of the fence was near and dear to the heart of the community. They said they heard staff and Council did not want the fence to remain but asked about how the community felt. When they put together the citizen engagement process, it became very clear that the chain link fence was not a desired remnant of this corridor. Mr. Wysopal stated there is some further background that was pushing this issue and it was that MnDOT had a funding project to replace the existing fence with more chain link. Therefore, this project got done at just the right time because, with the conclusion of the corridor study the Council just approved, MnDOT is going to take into consideration the findings of that study and work on a plan based on the City Council’s action tonight to remove some of the fence. Mr. Wysopal presented a map showing what staff is asking the Council to adopt which would provide removal of the fence. What they see in red would be areas where it would be removed; and the areas in green would be kept. The areas on top along Rice Creek on both sides of FRIDLEY CITY COUNCIL MEETING OF JUNE 24, 2019 PAGE 9 University are in green and the reason for that is that provides somewhat of a barrier for any wildlife through that corridor. Other areas also in green are the decorative fence further down by th Christenson Crossing and further between that and about 57. That fence was constructed with HRA funds and was beautifying the neighborhood and was felt by the community, City Council, and staff that it could remain. Mr. Wysopal stated the areas they were also very pleased to see some movement on is in the areas in black which they had this discussion about. Just to show them the type of commitment MnDOT has to this plan, they are proposing maybe they consider some roses of all things that were recently developed by the University of Minnesota. The roses are salt-tolerant and do great along highways. Mr. Wysopal stated there is also some area in blue they are suggesting getting converted to decorative fencing. Mr. Hickok’s department is working with those property owners right now, including Moon Plaza and the area by the CVS pharmacy to see if they would be open to extending that decorative look--the brick bollard and the black decorative fencing in that area because it does serve as a protection to that commercial area. People may be getting off of a bus, and they may want to take a shortcut to the businesses there where the fences would provide some safety there as well. Mr. Wysopal stated the area in yellow is under possible replacement under another program. MnDOT is very open to the possibility of replacing the fence, and this resolution would set the wheels in motion for MnDOT to allow this fence to be removed, the decorative portions to be extended, and then certain areas for it to stay. Mr. Wysopal stated MnDOT is very open to the City be the contract administrator for the project which will give the City a little more flexibility, and with Jim Kosluchar’s watchful eye, make sure they are not taking down too many trees and shrubs which are currently providing some buffers. One of the downsides is, under a MnDOT contract, they tend to clear cut everything out in order to remove the fence and then it loses all that existing natural buffering the residents are enjoying right now. This would be a separate item coming back to Council., but what staff is asking for the Council’s approval tonight is a resolution they can send to MnDOT and get the wheels in motion and get the fence addressed. Mayor Lund stated it has been at least a dozen years since he and six other mayors were recruited to go down to the Commissioner of Transportation’s office and they received them and were generally kind but said they were not going to give them any help. They specifically talked about the fence way back then and about even more simple tasks like mowing the right-of-way because it looks terrible if you only mow it like once a year in its entirety or make one swath three times a year. The City has been mowing it for a number of years. He really appreciates the involvement MnDOT has taken MOTION by Councilmember Barnette to adopt Resolution No. 2019-29. Seconded by Councilmember Tillberry. FRIDLEY CITY COUNCIL MEETING OF JUNE 24, 2019 PAGE 10 UPON A VOICE VOTE, ALL VOTING AYE, MAYOR LUND DECLARED THE MOTION CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY. 12. Resolution Adopting the Local Water Management Plan. Jim Kosluchar, Public Works Director/Engineer, stated the City’s Local Water Management Plan is a ten-year planning document. It is required under State Statute. It will be in effect for the years 2019-2028. It can be amended as Council may desire or need. It guides the City in the management of water resources. It is the basis of capital investment planning, and other funding decisions for storm water. There is also a requirement to have elements in your plan for certain grant applications for them to qualify. It also helps City staff pursue effective policies, programs, and projects toward meeting goals of the Plan. A lot of those are in partnership with the City’s watershed organizations, conservation districts, and other government entities. Mr. Kosluchar stated the last plan was approved in 2001. An update was required in 2011. That was delayed because of the dissolution about that time of the Six Cities WMO and the entrance of the City of Fridley into the Coon Creek Watershed District and Mississippi WMO. There was some period of time where there was some adjustment and the State planning body authorized the City to extend its time to renew the plan until this Comprehensive Plan cycle. Mr. Kosluchar stated it is a required chapter in the Comprehensive Plan. It was included in the December 17, 2018, version submitted to Met Council. The approval timeline for the Water Management Plan chapter is accelerated for all cities ahead of their completion of Comprehensive Plan time because it adheres to a different rule. It must be adopted within 120 days of the Watershed Organization approval. It has been approved by the Coon Creek Watershed District, the Mississippi WMO, and the Rice Creek Watershed District. Mr. Kosluchar stated the basis of the plan gives them some guidance on where they were. The Minnesota Rules gives them guidance, the City’s MS-4 storm water permit program has expanded and the goals and objectives of that permit also are incorporated here. They had public input during that Comprehensive Plan process. They have to consider other Comprehensive Plan goals that might interact. Mr. Kosluchar stated there are six main goals in the Plan: (1) All of Fridley surface water can be enjoyed to the highest intended or classified use; (2) Fridley properties and infrastructure are not impacted by flooding; (3) wildlife habitat and connectivity are enhanced alongside sustainable and equitable use of public water and public water accesses for recreational purposes; (4) the quantity and quality of Fridley’s groundwater resources are protected; (5) Fridley residents and businesses are aware and engage in the protection of Fridley’s water resources; and (6) the City is resilient against the impacts of climate change, including the increased frequency of heavy rain. Mr. Kosluchar stated so there are some primary challenges identified in the Plan. Also, there are conditions that offer opportunities for the City’s improvement including some Fridley water bodies that are impaired for different uses. Impairment is a classification that is basically FRIDLEY CITY COUNCIL MEETING OF JUNE 24, 2019 PAGE 11 underlined by the USEPA but also the State MPCA. They monitor water bodies from time to time and classify them if they do see impairment. In the City’s vicinity of the Mississippi, it is impaired for mercury and fish tissue which is actually a statewide TMDL and a limit has been established for that. Mr. Kosluchar stated regulatory storm water pollutant limits are established for some of these water bodies; and the remainder that are impaired will be established in the future. It is a process that takes time. There are reports, research, sampling, and testing done on all these impaired water bodies until they come to a conclusion on what is sustainable and what is going to help them reduce pollutant impacts so they can come off this impaired list. Mr. Kosluchar stated some Fridley water bodies are also vulnerable outside of those impairments for chloride or salt impairment. They know Springbrook Creek is impaired basically for chloride. Mr. Kosluchar stated as to storm water management systems, they also know those must be maintained to be effective. That is a challenge the City has with funding. The City does not have complete monitoring modeling data throughout the City. For instance, it is doing a study on Norton Creek right now. The City feels it is important to analyze. In addition, the City does not always have data and sampling on all constituents that may cause storm water issues. At times the City recognizes there may be an issue and may want to do follow-up sampling of a water body or receive an impairment classification, and then there is follow-up sampling by the State local watershed districts. Mr. Kosluchar stated other challenges they have identified in certain parts of Fridley are areas prone to flooding. They are trying to address and prioritize those. Some shorelines in Fridley are experiencing erosion. Oak Glen Creek is a good example of that. Mr. Kosluchar stated certain areas of Fridley are vulnerable to groundwater contamination or are otherwise not suitable for infiltration. There is risk involved because of the land uses and perhaps hazardous materials that are stored associated with those land uses that some locations are not suitable for infiltration, which is the premiere BMP (Best Management Practice) for storm water quality. Mr. Kosluchar stated other challenges are education strategies that are necessary to reach residents and businesses. The City has upped its game with regard to outreach. Rachel Workin has seen to that. However, it is hard to get people to listen and interested in a subject like storm water. The City does get a lot of help from the Springbrook Nature Center and all the teaching that they do which is nearly all related to storm water and habitat. Mr. Kosluchar stated another challenge is that climate change is expected to disrupt normal weather patterns and increase severity of events. Other potential future issues have been identified in the Plan as well and those include chloride contamination that may be reduced over time but still may be in the City’s water bodies or in the sediments from the water bodies. FRIDLEY CITY COUNCIL MEETING OF JUNE 24, 2019 PAGE 12 Mr. Kosluchar stated the Plan lays out 41 actions needed to address the issues or to work towards the goals of the Plan. Actions are further broken down into project-specific locations, identified partners, approximate cost, and approximate time for incorporation into the capital investment plan. That is called our implementation plan. There are also non-location items in that plan, such as operational changes. The City’s street sweeping program is a great program. The City gets a lot of value for the cost in storm water quality throughout the City and eventually its water bodies are better off for it. Mr. Kosluchar stated the City’s implementation plan includes planning of resources through its storm water capital investment fund, its operating budget which includes such things as street sweeping, grants from other agencies, partnerships with watershed organizations, county and state partners (including the Anoka Conservation District), education facilities (such as the Fridley School District and Springbrook Nature Center), and volunteers. The City recently started an Adopt-a-Drain Program. If anyone is interested in that they can go to the City’s website and search Adopt-a-Drain, and they will find some resources where they can help out as a volunteer to make a difference. Mr. Kosluchar stated Council approved the Plan during the December 17, 2018, City Council meeting. The Met Council provided comments to partner watershed organizations who reviewed the final plan. They have approved the plan as presented and so staff is requesting Council adopt the final plan through the attached resolution. Mayor Lund stated he does not fault the plan. He thinks it is a good plan, but he was a little surprised not to see anything about the flood plain. A few years ago, towards the end of the year, they were basically forced to approve a flawed flood plan redraw. He thinks the DNR or whoever did that had numerous flaws in it. The County brought that forward at a County meeting and indicated there were a lot of flaws in that plan. He asked if there has been any discussion about correcting the errors that were in the flood plain redraw. Mr. Kosluchar replied he does remember this. He said he has worked for the City for 12 years and they have been hearing about the update to the Flood Plain maps. Mayor Lund stated it was just a few years ago the Council had to approve it because if they did not then people who needed flood insurance could not get it. Mr. Kosluchar stated what they adopted was not a change in the Flood Plain map. FEMA digitized their product and that is what the City got. In the Rice Creek Watershed District where you live and upstream in the Rice Creek Watershed District there are some flood plain adjustments that Rice Creek went and modeled themselves and were able to incorporate into that FEMA product. Unfortunately, Fridley was in the Six Cities, and did not have a robust budget nor staff to do that kind of thing in other areas of Fridley in time to incorporate into the Flood Plain Map. Mr. Kosluchar stated he can give them an update though. The Coon Creek Watershed District has been very aggressive on updating their flood plain maps and which would affect and improve FRIDLEY CITY COUNCIL MEETING OF JUNE 24, 2019 PAGE 13 things for the City’s Riverview Heights residents. The City has been pushing along that improvement. At this time, the Minnesota DNR does the preliminary review which takes about a year for them to review these changes. They are in the process of reviewing those. Whatever they approve would then be submitted to FEMA for their review, and then they would have some real change up in that area. Along the Springbrook Creek outfall is mainly where they will see changes. However, it takes time and effort. Mr. Kosluchar stated if people have questions about their flood plain, he would be happy to answer their questions. There is a way for residents who have a problem property where the flood plain is not really reflected accurately, and it is called a Letter of Map Revision. There is a process to go through. Often the City partners with the watershed districts to help residents get through that process. Mayor Lund stated in Anoka County when they met with the County back then, they actually have a huge error in one particular case along the Rum River he thought it was where the house is entirely in the flood plain. It should be under water. Because of that change his neighbor,0 was approached by his mortgage bank and was told he needed to get flood insurance. His neighbor took the trouble of trying to get that mitigated or reversed through the procedure Mr. Kosluchar spoke of. He had his land surveyed to prove it was out of the flood plain. It did not make any difference. The bank still required he get the flood plain insurance and he still has it until this day. Mayor Lund stated in his own case the flood plain looked like it was going right through his backyard pool. How can the pool water level be the same on one end to the other, but half the pool is in the flood plain and the other half is not. Mr. Kosluchar stated he encourages people if they are in the flood plain to make sure they have flood insurance. If they need help, they should get in touch with the City and staff will work with the watershed partners. Mr. Kosluchar stated one good thing about the process that took them a while to understand is that FEMA was not going to modify the boundaries of the map. At large was that Atlas 14 which they talked about which is the precipitation data. The updated data does have impacts on those 100-year flood plains. Inadvertently it was to the City’s benefit because they were able to incorporate that new data into the City’s model. It does raise the flood plains generally. It does not have a huge impact in Fridley but with Coon Creek’s efforts up in Coon Rapids and Blaine which are fairly flat, it has a huge impact there. It may require inclusion of some of those properties at some time in the flood plain that are currently included, but it is reality and it is just change in data. There is more data to pull from. This is historic data not looking forward. That change actually did benefit Fridley somewhat. Mayor Lund stated he does not dispute that with the global warming many people have learned to accept, while others think it is just a blink of the eye of nature. The lines probably needed to be redrawn and to increase the flood plain area because of the deluges that are becoming more and more prevalent or common. However, there are a number of instances that are clearly flawed. He only pointed out two small ones. He thought there were plenty more. FRIDLEY CITY COUNCIL MEETING OF JUNE 24, 2019 PAGE 14 MOTION by Councilmember Eggert to adopt Resolution No. 2019-30. Seconded by Councilmember Bolkcom. UPON A VOICE VOTE, ALL VOTING AYE, MAYOR LUND DECLARED THE MOTION CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY. 13. Approve Preserve at Locke Park Development Agreement between the City of Fridley and U.S. Home Corporation, dba Lennar. Scott Hickok, Community Development Director, said this is a standard agreement. This is a development agreement between the City of Fridley and U.S. Home Corporation for the Lennar Townhomes that will soon be constructed on the south side of the City campus. It is an agreement very much and nearly identical to the Pulte agreement Council is familiar with. It does cover any number of things, elements, and features of development and protects the City and sets the standards of agreement with the developer to make certain the project follows those standards. Councilmember Eggert said the park dedication fees are $1,500 per unit. He asked if they were paid at closing. Mr. Hickok replied, the park dedication fees are most oftentimes paid at the time of the building permit on a unit-by-unit basis. In this case, they have agreed to pay all of the park dedication fees up front as part of the closing. Councilmember Eggert stated he also noticed the City has received two Letters of Credit which relates to site work he believes. That is security so that if construction stopped, you have a clean site? Mr. Hickok replied, that is correct. The City can then carry it forward as they must to correct the work themselves. That is the surety to make sure it gets done properly. MOTION by Councilmember Tillberry to approve the Preserve at Locke Park Development Agreement between the City of Fridley and U.S. Home Corporation, dba Lennar. Seconded by Councilmember Bolkcom. UPON A VOICE VOTE, ALL VOTING AYE, MAYOR LUND DECLARED THE MOTION CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY. 14. Informal Status Reports Councilmember Bolkcom stated she would like to thank the residents who attended the 2020 Census Complete Count Committee. It is a small group of people; however, some of them had worked on the census in the past. There was a lot of information shared. There were a lot of questions. It is going to be different since 2010 when people had landlines. Also if they do not fill out the form, they will come knocking and a lot of people do not answer their doors. FRIDLEY CITY COUNCIL MEETING OF JUNE 24, 2019 PAGE 15 Councilmember Bolkcom said when they first send the form out, a lot of snowbirds will be gone. The U.S. Mail does not forward anything that comes from the Census Bureau because of your permanent address. There are jobs out there if people are interested. We are now part of a bigger group of states. We used to be part of Kansas City and now we are part of Illinois and eight bigger states. There is a booklet you can look at. You can go on the website. She hopes that more people will come. Councilmember Eggert stated Alyssa Kruzel, Community Engagement Specialist, will be bringing the group together again. He would like to raise one concern because as Councilmember Bolkcom will recall they looked at the maps for Fridley and saw that in 2010 they had gone backwards and dropped the City’s level of reporting. It is below average for the State. The State is one of the highest in counting residents. He raised the level of concern as to the start of a bad trend of underreporting. Of course that may impact Fridley for federal funding, grants, and economic development. A lot of people use those numbers. Fridley needs to help with the CCC to get a complete count. Councilmember Bolkcom stated Hennepin and Ramsey counties both have come on board and Anoka County has not yet developed a committee yet. Both she and Councilmember Eggert sent something to their County Commissioner. Councilmember Eggert stated he sent to Mandy Meisner the 50 reasons you want a complete count. Councilmember Bolkcom stated Commissioner Meisner said she was going to talk to the county administrator about Anoka County getting on board. One of the other things is the whole citizenship question which is still up in the air. Councilmember Bolkcom stated when they are making phone calls from some of the district offices it will come up as U.S. Census Bureau; however, there are a number of people who work from home and use their own phones and block that number which will make you not answer the phone. That is another thing they have to work out. There is a lot less money and they had people go out to all the different neighborhoods and who speak different languages because some cultures do not count their children. When they are filling out the form, they do not consider their children to add to the form. They did a lot of marketing, but there is a lot less money for them. They have gone into the meat packing plant in southern Minnesota. However, now some of that money is gone. Some of the varied languages spoken here in Minnesota are not on their list of material that is going out or are available to people in different languages. They are still working on that. Councilmember Eggert stated they are hiring people and here in Anoka County they pay around $15 or $16. They are ramping up their hiring right now. FRIDLEY CITY COUNCIL MEETING OF JUNE 24, 2019 PAGE 16 ADJOURN: MOTION by Councilmember Barnette to adjourn. Seconded by Councilmember Eggert. UPON A VOICE VOTE, ALL VOTING AYE, MAYOR LUND DECLARED THE MOTION CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY AND THE MEETING ADJOURNED AT 8:28 P.M. Respectfully submitted by, Denise M. Johnson Scott J. Lund Recording Secretary Mayor