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HomeMy WebLinkAbout07-26-2021 City Council Minutes MINUTES OF THE ORONO CITY COUNCIL MEETING Monday,July 26,2021 6:00 o'clock p.m. ROLL CALL The Orono City Council met on the above-mentioned date with the following members present:Mayor Dennis Walsh,City Council Members,Aaron Printup,Richard Crosby III,and Victoria Seals. City Council Member Matt Johnson was absent. Representing Staff were City Administrator/Engineer Adam Edwards,Public Works Superintendent David Goman,Finance Director Ron Olson,and Community Development Director Jeremy Barnhart. Mayor Walsh called the meeting to order at 6:00 p.m.followed by the Pledge of Allegiance. APPROVAL OF AGENDA CONSENT AGENDA 1. CITY COUNCIL MEETING MINUTES OF JULY 12,2021 2. CLAIMSBILLS 3. APPROVAL OF RENTAL LICENSE 4. APPOINTMENT OF ACCOUNTANT—CARRIE KRIENKE 5. PARKS AND GOLF COURSE SUPERINTENDENT RESIGNATION AND RECRUITMENT 6. LA21-000036—AZIZ SIDDIQUI OB/O DAVID WEEKLEY HOMES AND UNIVERSITY OF ST.THOMAS,OUTLOT A,STONEBAY—ORONO CROSSINGS FINAL PLAT— RESOLUTION NO.7206 7. LA21-000040—TEXT AMENDMENT RELATED TO DOCK LICENSES AND BIG ISLAND ORDINANCE NO.259,THIRD SERIES Crosby moved to approve the Consent Agenda as submitted. A member of the public asked to take item 7 off the Consent Agenda. Mayor Walsh noted they will take item 7 off. Motion seconded by Printup. VOTE: Ayes 4,Nays 0. PUBLIC COMMENTS There were no public comments. COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT REPORT Page 1 of 5 MINUTES OF THE ORONO CITY COUNCIL MEETING Monday,July 26,2021 6:00 o'clock p.m. 8. LA21-000042—MOHEGAN HANSEN ARCH OB/O CBS MN PROPERTIES,LLC,2060 WAYZATA BLVD WEST,MASTER DEVELOPMENT PLAN APPROVAL,ZONE CHANGE, AND PRELIMINARY PLAT—RESOLUTION Mayor Walsh said he and Barnhart have talked to the Applicant and discussed whether the height is pre- construction height or pre-development height;he clarified because there was a development there previously which never happened,they received approvals. Then everything was graded differently after the approvals and as Mayor Walsh understands it,the developer wants to go back to what all of the old heights were based on rather than the new grading as it changes things by about 6 feet. The Applicant stated they are trying to adjust their main floor level to meet ceiling heights and by today's development standards if they were to use the original grades which were never fully finished—they have hauled all the dirt off-site—and the back of the building was cut 14 feet or better. He said they are planning on filling it in so it is not a walkout. They would like to use somewhere between the pre- development elevation which he does not think is unreasonable. Barnhart shared in looking at a proposed building,they spend a lot of time looking at the defined height of the building. He clarified there are a lot of structures in Orono that are higher than 30 feet but based on the City's definition of height are right at 30 feet or less. On attached family projects height is a critical issue,he noted the apartment building across the street and the senior housing project Stone Bay, and said the City is always bumping up against 30 feet. What the City uses to define the height of a building is to look at the existing grade before doing any work and use that grade to help establish where the house "box"can fit. He said in the past the concern was people elevating their house pad and sticking a house on top of it so they get a prominent view of the lake over the treetops. Over the years the City Council has established a definition or mechanism for figuring out height using the existing grades. In this situation the property was developed in 2006 for office condominiums/townhomes;what was a hill before was cut and created walkout lots. He clarified the Applicant would set the building into the"hill"that is no longer there. Mayor Walsh clarified the way City Code works is they must use the number of what was dug out rather than using what used to be the hill, even though that is how everything was approved back then. Printup moved,Crosby seconded,to accept the Staff recommendations amending Part F,height no higher than 30 feet above the highest adjacent grade of 1022 with the clarifying comment that the City does not go back two developments to find different grades. Barnhart would like to come back with a resolution to get the City Council's final approval. VOTE: Ayes 4,Nays 0. 7. LA21-000040—TEXT AMENDMENT RELATED TO DOCK LICENSES AND BIG ISLAND Mayor Walsh stated this has come before the Council about 3 different times and the last time they were just looking at clarifying the final language for the resolution. Jeffrey Hornig,450 Big Island,bought the property one year ago and they are very happy with the purchase. Mr.Hornig noted this just came to their attention and some pointed out it may be helpful for the City Council to have a perspective of something they may not have seen or heard yet. Mr. Hornig is Page 2 of 5 MINUTES OF THE ORONO CITY COUNCIL MEETING Monday,July 26,2021 6:00 o'clock p.m. 7. LA21-000040—TEXT AMENDMENT RELATED TO DOCK LICENSES AND BIG ISLAND— Continued not opposed to this,he believes strongly in government, and has three points to share. First,safety and access;his understanding when he bought it is the road next to his property and he was told his property is the lowest one so that would be the side that emergency vehicles would use. By putting a dock there in the summer,he assumes it would be hard to have access. He noted there were five power outages from August to September. Mayor Walsh noted the property owner's land on screen as B1-6 and clarified the City Council is looking at B 1-4 right now. He stated if they ever did something at B 1-6,everyone around it would get notices and that would be the time to come talk about it. They are working on a case-by-case basis and this ordinance is really about the process which was instituted by B1-4. Mr.Hornig also noted the cost of a dock on the lake and when he saw$800 for a permit,he thinks the City is grossly undercharging. He pays$7,000 in Excelsior for a modest spot. Mayor Walsh clarified in Excelsior that is a for-profit business and the City is not a for-profit business so all fees run to what the cost is to do something in general rather than a money-making operation. It is a break-even operation as they do not want government in the for-profit business because they don't do a good job at that. Mr.Hornigstated there are a lot of snakes on the property and he had a landscaper come out who noted P P Y p one of the snake nests is down by the space. His understanding is they cannot move snake nests so it is something to start thinking about before digging and disrupting a snake pit. Crosby asked how long it takes Xcel Energy to get out there if a tree goes down and power goes out. Mr.Hornig said it does not take too long, after a big storm they were out within a couple of hours. Printup moved,Crosby seconded,to approve LA21-000040—Text Amendment Related To Dock Licenses and Big Island-Ordinance 259,Third Series. VOTE: Aye 4,Nays 0. Barnhart suggests a$500 per year fee and asked if that is acceptable to the Council as the fee was not in the ordinance. Mayor Walsh clarified the previous motion would also approve the $500 license fee. He asked if the motion was amended and accepted. Crosby moved,Printup seconded,to amend the motion to approve the $500 license fee. VOTE: Ayes 4,Nays 0. CITY ATTORNEY REPORT None. CITY ADMINISTRATOR/ENGINEER REPORT Page 3 of 5 MINUTES OF THE ORONO CITY COUNCIL MEETING Monday,July 26,2021 6:00 o'clock p.m. 9.WATER CONSERVATION DURING DROUGHT Edwards noted many cities in the area received notification from the DNR that the State is now in a drought warning phase which requires certain actions from municipalities, one of which is to enact a portion of the City's water emergency plan per the water supply plan. Edwards has provided some information in the packet. Tonight,he is looking for approval or guidance on what portions of the water emergency supply plan the City Council would like to do. Edwards' recommendation is to go with an informational effort with voluntary actions at this point because currently Orono is not suffering from water shortages within their municipal system. Some surrounding neighbors are but right now the infrastructure pumps and towers in Orono are able to keep up with the heightened demand. However, it is probably a good time to remind people of good irrigation practices. He noted they are also getting many phone calls from residents about how high their watering bills are. Edwards said part of it is the City can look at numbers for the meter reads and the amount of water going on to some of these properties which is excessive. Walsh previously spoke with Edwards and asked the rationale for doing a water ban. He noted 1/3 of Orono is on City water and 2/3 are on wells so there is not a huge demand on the infrastructure from that standpoint,there is nothing that says their aquifers are low. His recommendation is that the City start with information to the public until such time as they need to go to a watering ban. The Council discussed informing the public on the best times to water and ways to cut back on watering. Edwards noted the City has also significantly cut back watering at the municipal golf course,Bederwood Field,and City Hall. Mayor Walsh suggested in the Resolution under"Now Therefore,Be it Resolved"adding the word "voluntary"after abide,and under item e,adding the word"voluntary"restrictions shall remain in place until September 30th,because the Council can remove or amend this if they move from voluntary to mandatory. Walsh moved,Crosby seconded,to approve the Resolution No. 7208 as amended to include the word"voluntary"in the two places mentioned. VOTE: Ayes 4,Nays 0. Edwards updated the Council and noted personnel is consuming the City Staff right now;he thanked the Council for approving the Accountant tonight and noted they are in second round interviews for the Maintenance Worker position. He noted another Staff member tested positive for Covid-19 and is currently in the recovery period. Edwards noted Olson is running utility billing,doing the budget process, and trying to hire vacancies. PLANNING DEPARTMENT REPORT Barnhart noted they are doing public outreach as part of the Navarre parking lot plan in August. There is a virtual question and answer period on August 12 and a public meeting on August 17. They will send out postcards to directly adjacent businesses and posting it on Facebook and the website. Page 4 of 5 MINUTES OF THE ORONO CITY COUNCIL MEETING Monday,July 26,2021 6:00 o'clock p.m. MAYOR/COUNCIL REPORT Crosby would like to start highlighting local businesses in the area to give them some free press. The first one is a new addition who opened up a store in the Navarre area called Pfeffer's Meats. They purchased some steaks for the 4thof July and everyone at the store was fantastic and smiling and the food is incredible. It is the perfect addition to the community. Crosby also brought up some robberies happening in the area and reminded the public to look out for their neighbors,make sure their doors are locked,not leave valuables in the car,and if someone sees something suspicious to call 911 without hesitation. Seals emailed Edwards about potentially doing an outreach regarding misinformation about Lowry Woods; she thinks it would be a good idea to approach it by sending out the facts that there are no trees being cut down,a bike club wants to use it and has the right to ask; she noted they are just having conversations right now and there are no behind-closed-doors meetings. Mayor Walsh said condolences go out to the families of Sam Schuneman of Maple Grove and Matt Motzko from Deephaven who passed away recently in a car accident. ADJOURNMENT Crosby moved,Printup seconded, to adjourn the meeting at 6:47 p.m.VOTE: Ayes 4,Nays 0. ATTES : k9C!2g01 / f A na Carlson, City Clerk Dennis Walsh,Mayor Page 5 of 5