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HomeMy WebLinkAbout6.b. Minutes of February 11, 2004 City Council Work SessionROSEMOUNT CITY PROCEEDINGS CITY COUNCIL WORK SESSION FEBRUARY 11, 2004 Pursuant to due call and notice thereof the Committee of the Whole Work Session was held on Wednesday, February 11, 2004 at 6:00 p.m. in the Council Chambers at City Hall. The half -hour earlier start time was to allow time for a presentation by Ehlers and Associates. Mayor Droste and Council Members Riley, Shoe - Corrigan, Strayton, and DeBettignies were present. Also in attendance were City Administrator Verbrugge, Community Development Director Lindquist, Parks & Recreation Director Schultz, City Engineer Brotzler, Finance Director May and Police Chief Kalstabakken. Key Financial Strategies City Administrator Verbrugge introduced Jim Prosser and Rebecca Kurtz from Ehlers & Associates, to present the second part of the Key Financial Strategies for the City of Rosemount. This will include suggested time frames and staff requirements. Staff will review the material updates and refinements can be made. This will also include a section on funding capital which will require Council and staff to determine not just cost, but how much change our community can take. Priorities will need to be set. A comparison of concepts and strategies will constantly have to be a part of planning. Issues and rationale by staff will need to be reviewed. A list was presented of items with projected start date, cost /time estimate, stage, and comments. City Administrator Verbrugge wished to include a Fire Station which is listed in the Capital Improvement Budget. Ehlers noted that it is very important to include the community in the decision and planning of major projects even if they will not go to referendum. So process is very important. It is important to select which line items may need public involvement. It is very helpful to have feedback from residents involved and this is especially important politically. Each department gave updates on the listed items. Mr. Prosser said they will provide an updated spreadsheet, show revenues and expenditures, and recommend a time frame for issues. Prosser noted that City Council and staff are the best judges on what is right for Rosemount. Feed -back is expected, pop -up priorities may arise, and then the document can be adjusted. The next meeting on Key Financial Strategies will be in April. Fund Balance Policy Finance Director May presented the issue of compensated absences and how to handle that without changing our payroll system. Finance Director May recommended designating a portion of our General Fund as encumbered for compensated absences. The Fund Balance Policy would need to have one sentence amended to read, "Fund balances that are reserved for encumbrances and reserved for compensated absences will be excluded from the calculation of the 55% as they are designated for. a specific purpose." Council was comfortable with this amendment. 42/52 Comprehensive Planning Study Community Development Director Lindquist presented the issue of appropriate land uses in the County Road 42 /Highway 52 area on the east end of Rosemount. Lindquist noted this could take on more urgency depending on the timing for highway reconstruction and the potential development of an Air Cargo facility. Staff requested direction regarding the process for doing a land use study, including if they would like to create a committee for that purpose. Council Member Strayton thought this study may be premature and that it may be more prudent to wait and see if the Air Cargo facility is located in Rosemount. Discussion included establishing a business park and reviewing the zoning plan. Consensus was to hold off on beginning the study for several months. 1 ROSEMOUNT CITY PROCEEDINGS CITY COUNCIL WORK SESSION FEBRUARY 11, 2004 Rosewood Estates Community Development Director Lindquist requested direction from City Council on the land use for the parcel east of the railroad tracks on Highway 3 and north of CR 42 and the parcel considered the "church property." The developer indicated they would like townhomes on the western lot, but staff is interested in promoting commercial uses on the property. Dakota County Community Development Agency (CDA) submitted a letter for a potential townhome development and the letter stated that Lighthouse Community Church was considering selling some of its property. CDA would require about five acres for their project. Council indicated they were comfortable with a possible land use change. Mike Olson of Progress Land Company shared some concerns his company has as property owner. Sideyard Setback Requirements Community Development Director Lindquist presented information gathered from communities on front /rear /and side -yard setback zoning regulations and lot sizes. It was noted that Planned Unit Developments (PUDs) allow developers to relax the regulations if something is gained for the City. Council was aware of maintaining neighborhoods by not taking away the character or "look" of it. Discussion included how a neighbor's window may be ten feet from a garage wall and that may not be desirable. Lindquist noted space that is not maintained (between houses) often becomes a storage area. City Administrator Verbrugge instructed that if the main reason to change the ordinance could be determined, then staff could prepare a policy to direct that thought. Issues discussed were neighborhood stabilization, maintaining home values, crime prevention/code enforcement, safety, and the idea of allowing residents to grow into their homes in order to keep them in Rosemount. Council decided to look at changing the RI-A zoning district standards to allow 5' sideyard setbacks and look at rezoning the Carralton neighborhood to R1A due in part to their proximity to two other R1A neighborhoods. Not all Council Members were in favor of the rezoning change. Fence Ordinance Discussion Community Development Director Lindquist reviewed the general standards for adjoining side yards on corner lots and the regulations for fences. Traffic sight lines were a concern. It was suggested to remove "fence" from the list of physical items requiring a setback. Concern was also voiced on what to do about the many violations pointed out to staff. The question was raised as to how many fence variances are requested in a year? Mayor Droste pointed out that one resident's request may not be reason to change an entire policy. It was recommended to have the Ordinance modified to require a 15 foot setback for fences rather than 30 feet. The Council directed staff to "get the word out" on this proposal and see what kind of feedback is required. An ordinance amendment would go before the Planning Commission and City Council. UPDATES Radio Communications Infrastructure Police Chief Kalstabakken gave some background information on the current consolidation of public safety communications services in Dakota County. A task force group, the Radio Work Group was created to prepare findings and make recommendations. This group recommended making a transition to the regional 800 MHz system to be implemented by 2006. Dakota County will continue with the VHF/UHF equipment but develop a strategy to move to the digital 800 01 ROSEMOUNT CITY PROCEEDINGS CITY COUNCIL WORK SESSION FEBRUARY 11, 2004 MHz system. This will allow sharing of the communication equipment costs as well. The dispatch center operations are considered a separate issue at this point. Mayor Droste thanked the Police Department for their efforts on reducing speeding motorist in residential areas. Leprechaun Days Parks & Recreation Director Schultz presented information on the two options for coordinating this year's event. The first was to have the event run the same as in years past, having a committee of residents fulfilling all of the requirements of the new special event policy. The second option was to have city staff take on the lead role of organizing the event for one year with help from citizen volunteers. The City would then be the fiscal agent responsible for the event. The City would assist with getting the structure of the event more clearly defined. Schultz introduced Joe Walsh, a long time volunteer with the event. The Council felt that the event could be run either way as long as the as community members were involved and the event is organized to be successful in the future. Schultz will contact the event coordinators from last year and discuss this matter with them. Commission Appointments Mayor Droste requested that all applicants be interviewed even if they currently hold a commission seat. This will allow City Council to get feed back on the operations of the commission. Council selected Saturday, March 13 9:00 a.m. to noon for interview appointments. The appointments will be made at the March 17 regular City Council meeting and commissioners will begin their terms after April 1. The regular Committee of the Whole was adjourned at 10:30 p.m. Respectfully submitted, City Clerk Jentink The City Council's Agenda Packet is Clerk's File 2004 -06. 3