City Council

ANDOVER CITY COUNCIL WORKSHOP MEETING – JANUARY 27, 2015 MINUTES The Workshop Meeting of the Andover City Council was called to order by Mayor Julie Trude, January 27, 2015, 6:00 p.m., at the Andover City Hall, 1685 Crosstown Boulevard NW, Andover, Minnesota. Councilmembers present: Mike Knight, Sheri Bukkila, Valerie Holthus and James Goodrich Councilmember absent: None Park Commissioners present: Shane Stenzel, Angela Marinello, Mark Miskowiec and Ted Butler Park Commissioners absent: Alisa Lewnau, Sarah Elstrom and Jim Lindahl Also present: City Administrator, Jim Dickinson Public Works Director/City Engineer, David Berkowitz Assistant Public Works Director, Todd Haas Others JOINT MEETING WITH THE PARK & RECREATION COMMISSION Mayor Trude welcomed the Park and Recreation Commissioners and discussed how she views the roles of the Commission and the Council and how together they can look at the big picture of providing park amenities to the residents of Andover. Discuss Kelsey Round Lake Park Master Plan Draft RFP/Project 15-11 Mayor Trude stated she thought it would be a good idea to have a neighborhood meeting for this item with the Park Commission for those directly impacted by the Kelsey Round Lake Park. Mr. Berkowitz reviewed with the Council and Commission aerial maps of the park with wetlands, flood plain, existing trails and the area topography. Commissioner Miskowiec asked where the Indian burial grounds were found or was there a general area marked on the map. Mr. Berkowitz showed on the aerial map where he believed the grounds were at and indicated the area he showed is from a 1992 map. Mayor Trude asked if the Master Plan from the 90’s was done with the same wetland restrictions they have today. Mr. Haas stated the rules used today did not start until the middle 90’s so anything that is done now will be different than what was done in the early 90’s. He stated it could impact how or where trails will be developed. He would like to have that done as part of the Master Plan development. Andover City Council Workshop Meeting Minutes – January 27, 2015 Page 2 Mayor Trude stated the lake does change according to rain because it is a surface water lake, which is what the specialists have said. Mr. Berkowitz indicated this lake has a tributary area and is very dependent on rainfall. He noted installing a trail around the lake could be hard to do because of the floodways and where the houses are located. Mayor Trude asked if the lake is designated as a wildlife sanctuary lake. Mr. Haas stated it is not designated as one but there is an eagle nesting site on the lake. Mr. Berkowitz indicated they installed a sign per a resident request. Chairperson Butler asked if a trail would have to go outside the floodway area, how is it that Round Lake Boulevard runs right through the floodway area. Mr. Berkowitz stated the County has to deal with the impacts as the road went through and had to go through the proper channels in order to put the road through. He stated the Board of Water and Soil Resources (BWSR) does not like to see any trail going through any wetland impacts, roads have been allowed. Commissioner Stenzel asked what properties are currently residential and which ones are vacant along the north area of the lake. Mr. Berkowitz thought there was a home on each parcel along the north side of the lake and that he was not aware if any were vacant. Commissioner Stenzel indicated making a trail along and around the lake was his idea. He was a little disappointed that there was a meeting with the DNR and other officials and the Park Commission did not know about it. Mayor Trude indicated the Council asked staff to notify the Commission of the meeting. Commissioner Stenzel stated from his perspective we have an amenity in our City which a lot of cities do not have and this lake is not completely surrounded by homes. He stated this could potentially be used by all rather than having to drive by or bike by on the roadway and not really being accessible. He stated Kelsey Round Lake is their largest park and as they start looking at the parks and recreational activities along with some of the trails there is a great opportunity to connect trails to allow residents in Andover to go from one part of the City to another by using trails. In looking at the Master Plan they need to know how they are tying all of the trails together. What he was proposing was not a five year plan but more of a twenty-five to thirty year plan because if they do not start to plan now they do not know what the City will look like in the future. They should be looking towards the future. He stated they should have a Master Plan for when the homes come up for sale they can review the possibilities of acquiring access before they are sold. Mayor Trude asked Mr. Dickinson to discuss the park dedication study. Mr. Dickinson stated within the park they have some features that were put into the park study for Kelsey Round Lake. The park study is what determines the city park dedication fee. He reviewed with the Council and Commission what the future features identified in the park study for Kelsey Round Lake were. The largest item listed is an interpretive center estimated at $500,000. A total of $750,000 of improvements are listed in the study for Kelsey Round Lake. Andover City Council Workshop Meeting Minutes – January 27, 2015 Page 3 Councilmember Knight asked what would be the focus of an interpretive center. Chairperson Butler stated when they got the Pine Hills North site he thought what they want to do is take a second to reassess their largest park and the only park in the City that connects to a lake and take a holistic view of the what they can do with that park and how it can better serve the whole community. He stated they put some things into the Comprehensive Plan, which gets revised every five to six years so part of what this plan could do is inform the next Comprehensive Plan so the Master Plan could inform the next Comprehensive Plan rather than the reverse. Mr. Haas agreed. He stated the Comprehensive Plan is important and there is a lot of funding available through the State and Met Council that would help develop this park. Chairperson Butler indicated this is not something they want to push to do so often but these are very large parcels with unique features and they want to make sure the community can enjoy them. He stated staff is not equipped to do the large scale planning and they do not have the resources to do this. Councilmember Knight stated what makes this different is there is an inordinate amount of swamp around the lake which is a factor they need to consider because this is not a swimming or recreational lake. Mayor Trude thought this was more like the Springbrook Nature Center where they have boardwalks throughout. Mayor Trude wondered if this lake is potentially grant worthy. Commissioner Stenzel stated it depends on what will be allowed in the wetlands. He stated the DNR has changed their ruling regarding cattails on lakes. It used to be there was no cutting back of cattails at all and now they have relaxed those rules and allow some removal. Councilmember Holthus thought there needed to be a piece of legislation for each lake plan. Commissioner Stenzel stated there is and it is really difficult to get anything, especially on the narrow leaf cattail but the DNR now has allowed for cutting of those in recreational areas of lakes because they are now considered to be a more invasive species. Mayor Trude stated there is a Master Plan from the 1990’s and she wondered if this needed to be scrapped or could new plans be worked into it. Mr. Haas stated the reason why they are doing this is to find out what the City wants to do to improve the park. Mayor Trude stated the main issue is the trail around the lake and she would like to hear if other’s have an opinion about the trail. Councilmember Holthus stated she is worried about this lake because it is considered a pothole lake and eventually overtime it may evolve into a flat land and the lake could disappear. She wondered what it would look like in thirty-five years because it might not be a lake at that time so a trail while feasible to put in may not provide the same amenity we envision. Councilmember Knight stated there is no specific shoreline that can be seen. Mayor Trude asked if he remembered any conversations about this. Councilmember Knight stated he did not but no one fishes on this lake because the lake cannot sustain fish. Mayor Trude stated this is a nesting lake for wildfowl. Andover City Council Workshop Meeting Minutes – January 27, 2015 Page 4 Councilmember Goodrich stated he has the same type of concerns with the lake and there are not any beaches or attractions on the lake. He noted he bikes the trails in the area. The long term planning is great but he is not happy with just a trail in the park area. Councilmember Bukkila stated she is open to feedback from an expert and she wondered how much land would be needed for a trail and how far onto properties they would need to go to put in a trail. She thought that would be helpful information to find out. She was really at a loss for an interpretive center and did not see this as being any value or a commodity in the future. She thought those dollars might be used better elsewhere. Chairperson Butler thought there might be better ways to utilize the trails. Councilmember Bukkila stated as she looked at the RFP, it seems overly focused on the interpretive center and she did not think that was their biggest focus. She wondered what their options are and what were they going to do with it. She thought it was overkill for the amount of information. Chairperson Butler stated there is some interesting history and wildlife in this area. Commissioner Stenzel thought a kiosk at the Community Center could be used for an interpretive area rather than one in the park. Mayor Trude stated one of Councilmember Bukkila approaches was good and that is to throw it out in a study and see what they get back. She stated that politically this is going to be very charged. Councilmember Bukkila stated this is no different from acquisitions on Bunker and as land turns over and things go through they will see what can be done to put in a trail. She stresses that a trail should only be put in once all the access was acquired, don’t build a trail to a dead-end. She stated that even if the lake isn’t there she did not think it was unreasonable to connect the trail system to the lake. Mayor Trude stated the feedback she has had from the neighborhood is people are concerned about where a trail would be installed and she thought it was a negative for the nesting life. Mr. Kyle Nemeth, a Planning and Zoning Commissioner stated he lives across Highway 20 from the park and a couple things the neighbors agree on is the trail system within the park is good and it would be nice if the dead end trails could be incorporated into the surrounding trails. They thought the interpretive center is a little bit of overkill but given the nature in the area and the history it would be helpful to have interpretive plaques explaining that. Some neighbors thought it would be nice to install some sort of archery range in the area because that is becoming popular with the youth. He stated the neighbors concurred on putting in a playground nearby and possibly taking part of the parking lot out for a playground area. He thought the park is an asset and he enjoys walking through the park and seeing all the wildlife there. Mayor Trude wondered if the plans are to be refined, do they want to explore the trails with neighborhood loops. Mr. Berkowitz stated on their transportation plan they identify routes and Andover Boulevard extension will be a big project to eventually connect to Round Lake. He showed on the aerial map the possible connections. Andover City Council Workshop Meeting Minutes – January 27, 2015 Page 5 Mayor Trude thought this should go to a small task force to fine tune the RFP. She indicated she would like to have Commissioner Stenzel, Chair Butler, Mr. Kameron Kytonen, Councilmember Goodrich, Open Space Commissioner Sabel and Planning and Zoning Commissioner Nemeth on the task force. Mr. Haas would facilitate. Commissioner Stenzel stated he would like to have a community input meeting added to the RFP task list. Mayor Trude stated she is really uncomfortable with a trail around the lake and wondered if the Commission wanted to still research this further. Councilmember Bukkila stated she wanted the level of expertise to work with elevations, nature and water tables and not just an architectural view of things. Discuss Current 2015 – 2019 CIP and Project Goals of the City Council Chairperson Butler reviewed the 2015-2019 CIP and Project Goals. Mayor Trude asked when they have parks that do not have a lot of features in the park, have they thought about doing some small enhancement to bring up the fun factor in the parks and putting a couple of new items in to keep the kids content, such as sand diggers. Chairperson Butler stated as they are looking at the park improvements that are incorporating more sand features with the diggers and other new items. He thought as they went further into the year and noticed they are not using a lot of the funds for security and other features they could think of adding small items. Mayor Trude thought it might bring some interest to the parks because she thought the Commission was too focused on jungle gyms and kids get bored with them over time. Councilmember Holthus asked how much money was used in 2014 out of the $15,000 miscellaneous fund. Mr. Haas did not think much was used last year. Mr. Dickinson stated this will rollover into the cash flow if not used and then can be used for a future larger project. Councilmember Bukkila stated the Park Commission seems to have a wish book for the parks but they do not ever go back and fulfil them. The money is going toward replacement and for new parks. Mr. Hass noted there are two funds the Park Commission works from, one fund is for equipment replacement which contains $50,000 per year and another fund, Park Improvements Fund is for specific items earmarked in the 5 year CIP. Chairperson Butler stated they are trying to make park improvements and also focus on Pine Hills North. He stated the directive of the Council last year was to focus on Pine Hills North. He stated they have to have the ability to be flexible and one of the areas he feels that they have made improvements in is with irrigation in the parks. He stated neighborhood parks typically have the worst looking grass in the neighborhood without irrigation but they have budgeted $20,000 a year to try to irrigate some of the neighborhood parks. Andover City Council Workshop Meeting Minutes – January 27, 2015 Page 6 Councilmember Knight thought they will need some type of building at Pine Hills North Park and a decent parking lot because that will be a very busy place. Mr. Dickinson stated they need to make sure people know where the parking area is and not park along the playfield areas. Councilmember Knight stated soccer golf is becoming popular with seniors in Minnesota so they need to try to accommodate things like that in the parks too. Mayor Trude thought an important feature in the parks is swing sets. She would like to see the Park Commission continue to collect resident input when looking at park improvements for the neighborhood parks. Councilmember Bukkila wondered if they could decrease the future improvement budget on Kelsey Round Lake Park. Mr. Dickinson thought they should wait until the task force comes back with their input on this to see what should be done. Chairperson Butler continued with the CIP amounts for the Park & Recreation Projects. Mayor Trude stated the Council relative to ice rinks has indicated they want to keep something in the south area of the City because there are a lot of people in that area that use the rinks. Chairperson Butler stated the rink at Crooked Lake School will be a smaller rink for the younger kids and also for 3 on 3 hockey games. Mr. Berkowitz stated there has recently been a lot of public use of that rink. Chairperson Butler noted something he forgot to put into the plan is the Park Commission would like to pave both campus hockey rinks to accommodate pickle ball and rollerblading in the summer. Mayor Trude stated that would be a good idea because while campaigning she heard that a lot of teens would like to use the rinks for the purpose of roller blading. Councilmember Knight asked what the status was of Fox Meadows Park. Commissioner Stenzel stated there was a small task force that reviewed this park and it was decided to hold off on improvements of this park and focus on Pine Hills North. Councilmember Holthus thought they should get the Pine Hills North Park done. Councilmember Knight agreed. Commissioner Miskowiec noted Fox Meadows needs a well which is an expensive endeavor. Councilmember Bukkila thought they needed to take their time with the Pine Hills North Park and not do it all at once. Commissioner Marinello stated at Sophie’s Park they have the little library where people can check out a book, read it at the park or bring it home and return it later. She stated when her kids outgrow a toy it gets put in the park for others to enjoy and that has worked out well. Commissioner Miskowiec thought it would be a great idea to have a study done on Kelsey Round Lake Park to see what could be done in the future. He would like to hear from the experts on this. Andover City Council Workshop Meeting Minutes – January 27, 2015 Page 7 Mayor Trude stated the Council appreciates the Park Commission’s time and commitment they have put into the park system. Councilmember Goodrich appreciated what the Park Commission is doing. Council recessed at 7:30 p.m. Council reconvened at 7:40 p.m. UPDATE ON STORM WATER PLAN/13-27/3RD GENERATION SURFACE WATER MANAGEMENT PLAN Mr. Berkowitz explained this is an update to the City Council regarding the Local Surface Water Management Draft Plan that has been completed by HydroMethods, engineering consultant. Mayor Trude asked if there will be a public hearing on this at the City Council. Mr. Berkowitz stated staff would prefer to have an open house and will post information in the City newsletter regarding a date for the open house. Mr. Kent Brander, HydroMethods, gave a presentation of the draft plan to the City Council. Mayor Trude noted the narrow leaf cattail are invasive species but it has not been included in the invasive species section of this and wondered if they would be classified as invasive. Mr. Brander did not know. Mr. Brander reviewed the rainfall data in the report. Mayor Trude thought they needed to deal with more rain now than they used to and the cities need to build the storm sewers to those numbers. Mayor Trude wondered how they know there is more rain by Crooked Lake than anywhere else in the City. Mr. Berkowitz indicated there are rain gauges throughout the City and it is based on previous analysis and calculations. Mayor Trude thought that after they adopt this plan they will need larger storm ponds and storm sewer pipes. Mr. Berkowitz stated potentially but on the flip side they have infiltration requirements that are allowed so it will balance out as they go forward. He stated the goal is to treat the water before it reaches the local waterways. Mr. Brander stated there are a number of new requirements which are incorporated in the plan. He stated one change is for new developments there cannot be an increase in volume, total phosphorus or total solids. Another change is there has to be some evaluation of the ponds and how they are performing in terms of removing phosphorus and suspended solids from the system and there are a number of additional documentation requirements that the MS4 needs to take into account. Andover City Council Workshop Meeting Minutes – January 27, 2015 Page 8 Mr. Brander explained the plan allows for some minor and major amendments if needed. The GIS system the City has which is ongoing is an important parallel effort and achieves a lot of the same goals of the surface water management plan. Mayor Trude noted the reason the City is doing this is because it is mandated and it is to meet State and Federal law requirements and it is also important for the City to maintain proper storm water management. Mr. Brander indicated that was correct. Mr. Berkowitz noted the Coon Creek Watershed District and Lower Rum River Watershed Management is already enforcing these rules and Andover has adapted their plan to meet their rules. Councilmember Goodrich stated in looking through this there is a lot of potential cost that they could incur and he wondered what the potential cost could be. Councilmember Bukkila stated in the plan it is estimated to be $300,000 to $400,000 annually to maintain this. Councilmember Goodrich asked if there were any grants for this. Councilmember Bukkila indicated this is an unfunded mandate. Councilmember Knight asked how the costs get passed on. Mr. Dickinson indicated the storm water management fee is the primary funder for this and each property gets billed for this. Councilmember Bukkila asked if this is supplemental at all by the City General Fund budget. Mr. Berkowitz indicated it did not. Mayor Trude stated the farmers usually don’t create the storm water runoff, they collect and retain storm water runoff so they do not get charged and are exempt. Councilmember Holthus questioned if that was correct. Mr. Berkowitz indicated the farmer gets a zero bill but they do produce storm water runoff. Mr. Berkowitz indicated farmers are exempt from a lot of these requirements and that is a big issue about phosphorus. There is generally more discharge of phosphorus from farms as compared to a residential lot. Councilmember Knight asked how all of this is evaluated. Mr. Brander stated there are models that are used to show how much phosphorus is being removed from a pond or lake. Mr. Dickinson stated one way he considers if they are doing their job correctly relative to storm water is how many calls they get about flooded homes or flooded driveways. He stated this is all part of the plan to make sure the water can flow through the pipes and that they are functioning as they are supposed to. That is the kind of measure they use. Councilmember Holthus wondered what happens if someone has a lot with a wetland and all of the runoff goes into that wetland, would that be fair for them to have to pay when they are collecting everyone else’s runoff. Mr. Berkowitz stated there is a process where a landowner can become exempt but now that they have LIDAR which shows two foot contours, ninety-nine percent of the people that have a wetland on their property the wetland has the potential to overflow and leave the property and go into a ditch. Andover City Council Workshop Meeting Minutes – January 27, 2015 Page 9 Mr. Berkowitz noted a few individuals are exempt in the City after appealing the fee. Mr. Berkowitz stated it is harder to become exempt because with current aerials they can see the contours of the land. Councilmember Knight asked if an individual has a pond on their land and the water remains level would they have to pay the fees. Mr. Berkowitz stated that if there is a potential for water to leave the property, they have to pay. He stated water in Andover fluctuates up to five feet so there is a hundred year flood elevation set in that area or if not, there is a hundred year flood elevation for a nearby creek or stream and they make the determination based on that. If the resident does not like their determination, they have the ability to appeal that to the City Council. Mayor Trude stated the fee does pay for ditch maintenance and mowing. She stated they will also be educating residents on how to lower the discharge from their properties. Mr. Berkowitz stated the City needs to evaluate how the ponds are functioning in the City as a part of the new requirements. He stated they have to show they are reducing the phosphorus loads and suspended solids. Mayor Trude wondered if they will need to go to the ponds in the City and draw samples to find that out or is it only public owned ponds. Mr. Brander stated they do not say exactly how it has to be done. The evaluation can be done using the LIDAR because that is using topographic data. It can also be done by looking at the drainage area and age of construction. Another component is to look at the actual pond itself and check the depth of sediment in the pond. Mayor Trude asked if this is one of those best management practices and if the City indicates they are working on it, they would be ok. Mr. Berkowitz stated his concern is the way the storm water requirements are going, they will continue to increase the requirements. They will be testing water quality and other things in the next ten years and it will get more intense. Mr. Haas noted the bottom line is it all comes down to clean water. Mayor Trude thanked Mr. Brander for his presentation. DISCUSS BUNKER LAKE BOULEVARD NW FROM CRANE STREET NW TO JEFFERSON STREET/11-25/SYCAMORE STREET STUDY AND OPEN HOUSE Mr. Berkowitz explained the City Council is requested to discuss the petition submitted to Anoka County requesting the intersection of Sycamore Street NW & Bunker Lake Boulevard NW to be reconstructed to a restricted access, right-in/right-out as part of the planned Bunker Lake Boulevard NW reconstruction project. Councilmember Holthus asked where the proposed sound barriers will be located at. Mr. Berkowitz stated the County has met with all of the property owners and where the walls meet the criteria, the walls will go in. He stated one of the retaining walls will start at Crane Street, second lot in to Wintergreen Street. He stated from Wintergreen Street to the railroad tracks there will not be a sound wall because the railroad already makes enough noise that those homes Andover City Council Workshop Meeting Minutes – January 27, 2015 Page 10 did not qualify. There will be a wall starting from Sycamore Street going nine lots down. Councilmember Bukkila asked on the properties that do not qualify for sound walls is there something the City can do to give those owners a ten foot fence variance. Mr. Berkowitz stated Mr. Carlberg is looking to amend the City Code to allow ten foot fences along county roads and the residents present at the open house meeting were notified of this. Mr. Berkowitz stated the last wall segment is in the Shadowbrook Addition by Goldenrod Street. Mayor Trude asked how they will handle the retaining walls along the reconstruction. Mr. Berkowitz stated the County will work through that in the final design of the road. Steve Nyhammer, Thad Richardson and Chris Handle were at the meeting from the Sycamore Street area neighborhood. Mr. Berkowitz reviewed the petition from the neighborhood for restricted access. He noted the majority of the residents in that neighborhood do not want a restricted access, they want to leave the plans as the County originally had them, which would remain a full access. Mr. Thad Richardson, 13825 Sycamore Street, stated he received a letter regarding a petition. He stated restricting access to one point out is forcing everyone to go out onto 139th Avenue and Prairie Road, which is a bad intersection already with accidents. That intersection is not changing and nothing will be done to help the traffic flow. There are also two new developments going in on Prairie Road which will likely back up the road even more. He stated emergency vehicles will not be able to access their development except through Prairie Road which will add a lot of time. He stated if there are problems with the railroad and they need to evacuate the neighborhood the restricted access will not help them to get out they will need to get out onto Prairie Road. He stated he is also worried about resale values of the homes if access is restricted. Mayor Trude stated there is more than one access into this development and she thought his main concern was with convenience. She stated to be honest this is not a landlocked neighborhood. Mr. Richardson stated this is not a practical way to get in and out of the neighborhood. Mayor Trude asked Mr. Richardson if his main concern was with ease of access into his development. She stated they have received a lot of data and traffic studies from the County and also a lot of comments from other residents in the area and she thought there were some points that people made that were better arguments than Mr. Richardson’s convenience argument. Mr. Berkowitz stated at the open house there were a lot of questions and people were really respectful but concerned. Ms. Chris Handle stated even with new developments coming in on Prairie Road that will affect the traffic flow too. Mayor Trude stated there is always a continuous flow of right turn traffic going north onto Prairie Road and Prairie Road does not have the breaks in traffic and probably affects her outlook on all of this more than what Mr. Richardson has talked about at 139th Andover City Council Workshop Meeting Minutes – January 27, 2015 Page 11 Avenue and Prairie Road. Councilmember Holthus indicated that they needed to hear from the other residents at the meeting. Mayor Trude stated they would but she wanted to comment on the points that were made by people who are not here on this topic. Mr. Steve Nyhammer, 791 139th Lane, stated his concern was traffic being added onto 139th Lane going onto Prairie Road. He thanked Mr. Berkowitz for having an open house for the neighborhood. Mayor Trude asked if he was opposed to the restricted access. Mr. Nyehammer indicated he was. Mayor Trude stated she thought the concern of the people who brought forward the petition was they would become like a frontage road. Mr. Richardson thought the reason why some of the residents wanted the right-in/right-out is because of the speed of traffic going through the neighborhood. Mayor Trude noted that becomes neighborhood traffic issues. Mayor Trude stated County Engineer Doug Fisher explained the width of any potential overpass for the railroad has to be one lane width wider if there is traffic going onto Sycamore Street and that affected the cost of that overpass by one million or so because of all the dirt build up. She wondered if the City has had anymore discussions with the County about railroad overpasses because Ramsey is getting two overpasses and Coon Rapids has two and Andover does not have any. Mr. Dickinson noted the reason the County is looking at the other two cities and not in Andover is because there is no transit in Andover. The funding pots that are providing the money for the overpasses is generally based on transit. Mayor Trude did not think there would be a problem for the residents attending the meeting because there did not appear to be Council support for limiting access at Sycamore Street and Bunker Lake Boulevard. Councilmember Knight stated eventually there is going to be a train catastrophe and emergency vehicles will not be able to get through without an overpass. Council consensus was to keep the plan as it is and do not make it a right-in/right-out. Mr. Berkowitz stated that he would send a letter to residents in the area about the decision and he reviewed the reasons. The Council indicated the engineering study about the increased traffic at Prairie Road and 139th Lane should be referenced as well as resident input. DISCUSS BIKE ROUTE DESIGNATIONS/WOODLAND ESTATES DEVELOPMENT Mr. Berkowitz explained the City Council is requested to discuss the on-street bike route designations that currently exist in the Woodland Estates development. Mr. Berkowitz stated the intent at one time was to make a trail segment through the development and eventually tie it to development to the north. He stated this does not meet the current criteria Andover City Council Workshop Meeting Minutes – January 27, 2015 Page 12 as a bike route. This does provide a lot of inconvenience to the residents in the neighborhood because they cannot park in front of their homes. Mr. Berkowitz stated they have to make sure there are no parking restrictions in this neighborhood, with the high school. He stated as soon as they lift the no parking there will be school kids parking on the road. Councilmember Holthus stated that was true and there will be a lot of them. This will become a parking lot. Mayor Trude asked if the parking lot at the high school was maxed out and if so, they should talk to the high school about the proof of parking requirements. Councilmember Holthus thought the high school parking lot was full and indicated they added more capacity with the portables but did not add more parking. Mayor Trude indicated that was correct but she did not think they provided enough parking to begin with. Mr. Dickinson stated one thing they needed to keep in mind was in the near future they anticipate seeing an application for an expansion onto this school which will give them new parking requirements. Mr. Berkowitz stated in the mailing they will identify the need to maintain “no parking” along 149th Avenue within so many feet of Raven Street during school hours and they will look for resident feedback. Council consensus was to remove the on-street bike route designation in the Woodland Estates development. 2014 GENERAL FUND BUDGET PROGRESS REPORT Mr. Dickinson stated the City of Andover 2014 General Fund Budget contains total revenues of $9,569,142 and total expenditures of $10,026,875 (includes $30,500 of 2013 budget carry forwards), a decrease in fund balance was planned. Mr. Dickinson reviewed with the Council department budgets that will be over budget and explained why. He noted that overall the City is ending the year better than anticipated. DECEMBER 2014 CITY INVESTMENTS REVIEW Mr. Dickinson explained summary reporting of the City Investment portfolio to the Governing body is a recommended financial practice and often viewed positively by rating agencies. He noted the high cash balance is needed to cash-flow the first six months of city operations. OTHER BUSINESS Mayor Trude stated the City can apply for grant money for trails through the Safe Routes to School Grant Program but they need to have a plan. She wanted to know if the Council supports Mr. Berkowitz working with the School District on getting this plan going. Councilmember Bukkila stated she is fine with doing this if it did not cost the City a lot of money. Mr. Dickinson explained they could do this in house but if a developer comes in and their plans need to turn around quickly it is going to get bumped because that is what generates revenue but they will Andover City Council Workshop Meeting Minutes – January 27, 2015 Page 13 attempt to do that. Mayor Trude stated Mr. Dickinson was going to give a short update on how Met Council density is figured. Mr. Dickinson stated he was going to have Mr. Carlberg give the Council a presentation at the next workshop because they have an agenda item on that workshop that the densities will relate to. ADJOURNMENT Motion by Holthus, Seconded by Knight, to adjourn. Motion carried unanimously. The meeting adjourned at 9:18 p.m. Respectfully submitted, Sue Osbeck, Recording Secretary