City Council Workshop

10801 Town Square Drive City of Blaine Blaine MN 55449 Anoka County, Minnesota Minutes - Final City Council Workshop *While this is a public meeting where interested persons are welcome to attend, it is a work session for Council and staff to discuss issues before them. It is not for the purpose of receiving public input. Thursday, November 3, 2011 6:30 PM Cloverleaf Farm Room A NOTICE OF WORKSHOP MEETING The meeting was called to order by Mayor Ryan at 6:30 p.m. Quorum Present. ALSO PRESENT: Clark Arneson, City Manager; Bryan Schafer, Community Development Director; Bob Therres, Public Services Manager; Joe Huss, Finance Director; Ward Brown, Budget/Fiscal Analyst, Tom Sweeney, City Attorney; Jean Keely, City Engineer; Chris Olson, Safety Service Manager/Police Chief; Roark Haver, Communications Technician; Al Thorp, Senior Engineering Technician; Jane Cross, City Clerk; and Recording Secretary Linda Dahlquist. Present: 7 - Councilmember Clark, Councilmember Kolb, Councilmember Bourke, Councilmember Herbst, Mayor Ryan, Councilmember Hovland, and Councilmember Swanson 1. TMP 11-0182 WALMART / BALL ROAD PROPOSAL Community Development Director Shafer stated Walmart has reached an agreement with Marty Harstad to purchase 24 acres on the southeast side of I35W and Lexington Avenue. Walmart is proposing to build a new 150,000 square foot facility similar, almost identical, to the approved Walmart location to be built along Highway 65. Walmart would move the store from The Village to the new location and market the old site for re-use. The potential re-use is not known at this time. The purpose of the workshop is to gain background on the project, the impact it will have on Ball Road, Lexington Avenue and the immediate residential neighborhood to the south, what the road re-design option are and how Walmart intends to manage these issues. Councilmember Clark asked if this project will require a Conditional Use Permit. Community Development Director Schafer responded it is a planned business district which does require a conditional use permit, but not rezoning. He stated there will be lots and outlots for subdivisions of the development. Eric Miller, MFRA, civil engineering consultants for this project, stated MFRA works with Walmart on projects in Minnesota, Wisconsin, and North Dakota. He stated MFRA has been working with Walmart for several years expanding existing stores and developing new stores that offer a full complement of their services including groceries which is a significant part of Walmart’s business model. He stated MFRA City of Blaine Page 1 City Council Workshop Minutes - Final November 3, 2011 built the store in The Village and that store is referred to as a Division One store which is a general merchandise store with limited groceries. Walmart is expanding its Division One stores to offer full groceries and general merchandise. Mr. Miller stated the request to relocate the store from The Village is for this purpose. He stated MFRA has held meetings with City staff, MDOT, Anoka County and the Rice Creek Watershed District. He stated in preparation of a City application, a comprehensive traffic study was conducted. He stated Ball Road is currently a two lane, rural roadway that will need to be upgraded significantly to serve a development of this scale to accommodate the traffic. MFRA is preparing to submit an application to the City. Mike Spack, traffic engineer with Spack Consulting, stated in August, Spack Consulting met with City staff and MDOT to discuss a traffic study. He stated the conclusions of the traffic study focused on Ball Road. He stated a left turn lane will be needed for entrance into the development from Ball Road. The main recommendation is for a three lane road with a left turn in the center. He stated MFRA’s recommendation is to reduce to size of the driving lanes in order to reduce speeds. Councilmember Clark asked what is the traffic count on Ball Road. Mr. Spack responded 2,000 per day. Councilmember Clark asked what is the count estimated to be. Mr. Spack responded the estimated traffic count would be 12,000-13,000 per day. Councilmember Swanson asked about the current traffic heading west on Ball Road. Mr. Spack responded the current traffic volumes are light. Councilmember Bourke asked how close is the nearest home from Hupp Street. Councilmember Clark commented there is a house on the corner. Mr. Miller responded three streets connect into Ball Road. He stated Ball Road is a State Aid Road and it is designed to accommodate the added traffic. He commented the wider the road, the higher the speed. He stated MFRA is looking to have eleven foot lanes to keep sound and speed down. Councilmember Bourke asked about the residents’ ability to get in and out of their driveways. Mr. Spack stated it will take the residents longer to get out of their driveways. Mayor Ryan asked what the traffic volume impact will be compared to the current Walmart? Mr. Spack responded approximately 20 percent more vehicles. Councilmember Herbst asked if a driveway onto Lexington is a possibility. Mr. Spack responded it is not allowed. Councilmember Hovland stated he is not in favor or medians, but he is in favor of mutual turn lanes. He is also in favor of moving the driveway to the intersection of 103rd Court NE. He stated a traffic signal installed sooner would be important versus later. He asked if the traffic study included bus stops and pedestrian movement in the neighborhood. Mr. Spack responded no sidewalks are currently on the road. He stated a trail system would be an improvement. Mr. Spack stated Hupp Street is the safest location for the Walmart driveway due to the curve of the road. Councilmember Kolb stated the wait time of the residents trying to get out of their driveways will be significant. She asked what will happen to the original store. Councilmember Swanson asked about the other buildings on the map. Community City of Blaine Page 2 City Council Workshop Minutes - Final November 3, 2011 Development Director Schafer responded they are proposed small business buildings. Councilmember Clark asked if the traffic study included the small business in the traffic study. Community Development Director Schafer responded yes the study includes traffic to these businesses. Mayor Ryan stated the traffic signal is important for this project. Councilmember Swanson stated the plan for a neighborhood meeting the week of Thanksgiving is not good. Mr. Miller responded they will reschedule the meeting. Councilmember Clark asked about a future signal at Hupp Street. He asked how much traffic would justify a signal light. Mr. Spack responded increased business development to the east would necessitate a signal light. Councilmember Herbst shared concern that if the signal light does not go in right away, it may not go in at all. Councilmember Clark stated he would like to see the driveway closer to Lexington Avenue. He stated he is not comfortable with the current traffic plan. Mayor Ryan stated the signalization is important to this project. Councilmember Hovland asked about the trucks and the loading dock area. He asked if the trucks could back in to have their headlights face the freeway, the trucks driving around to exit and noise from idling trucks are items to address. Mayor Ryan stated a public hearing will be scheduled and the neighborhood will receive notification letters in the U.S. mail. Councilmember Clark asked to include the neighbors on Marmon Street in the notification letter mailing. Discussed 2. TMP 11-0183 2012 GENERAL FUND BUDGET UPDATE Finance Director Huss stated on September 1, the City Council adopted the 2012 Preliminary General Fund Budget and the 2012 Preliminary Tax Levy. The Budget was approved pursuant to Council direction at the August 18 Workshop. He stated adjustments have been made since the adoption of the Preliminary Budget, most notably with the acceptance of four retirements under the Voluntary Separation Incentive Program and some expenditure adjustments have allowed a reduction in the reserve drawdown in the Proposed Budget. Mr. Huss commented Blaine’s costs of services are lower compared to other cities. He mentioned there is a 2% drop in the residential tax base in 2012 due to legislative action and the City’s actual tax capacity has dropped significantly. City Manager Arneson stated cities do alternate from paying and receiving funds from the Fiscal Disparities Program. Councilmember Herbst asked to see the proposed funds statement the City will receive. Finance Director Huss responded the statement comes from Anoka County. City Manager Arneson responded Anoka County will mail the statements on November 15, so the Council should have the statement for review at the Council meeting on November 17. Councilmember Herbst stated the residents need to know it is not the City doing this. The workshop adjourned at 7:25 pm. City of Blaine Page 3 City Council Workshop Minutes - Final November 3, 2011 Adjourned City of Blaine Page 4