City Council Workshop

Blaine City Hall City of Blaine 10801 Town Sq Dr NE Blaine MN 55449 Anoka County, Minnesota Minutes City Council Workshop Thursday, September 20, 2018 6:30 PM Cloverleaf Farm Room A NOTICE OF WORKSHOP MEETING 1 Call to Order The meeting was called to order by Mayor Pro Tem King at 6:30 p.m. 2 Roll Call Quorum Present. ALSO PRESENT: City Manager Clark Arneson; Police Chief/Safety Services Manager Brian Podany; Finance Director Joe Huss; Economic Development Coordinator Erik Thorvig; Associate Planner Shawn Kaye; Associate Planner Lori Johnson; Public Services Manager/Assistant City Manager Bob Therres; City Engineer Dan Schluender; City Attorney Patrick Sweeney; Senior Engineering Technician Jason Sundeen; Communications Technician Roark Haver; and City Clerk Catherine Sorensen. Present: 6 - Councilmember Hovland, Councilmember Clark, Councilmember King, Councilmember Garvais, Councilmember Jeppson, and Councilmember Swanson Absent: 1 - Mayor Ryan 3 New Business 3-1 DEER HARVEST UPDATE AND OPTIONS Attachments: Deer Management PowerPoint Police Chief/Safety Services Manager Podany stated the Wildlife Management Plan adopted by City Council strives for 12 deer per square mile because of diminishing “carrying capacity” (or suitable habitat) for healthier deer, less vehicle deer collisions and complaints. The USDA has worked with the City of Blaine for many years assisting with keeping the geese population under control and has done exceptional work. The USDA was contracted with for our deer harvesting and removed 79 deer over five nights of hunting at the cost of approximately $14,000. There were 26 males and 53 females. The goal of 100 deer harvested could have easily been accomplished based on the number of deer seen by the USDA while City of Blaine Page 1 City Council Workshop Minutes September 20, 2018 they were out harvesting. The USDA reported the overall health of the deer population was somewhat poor. It was noted 75-80% of the adults harvested had pneumonia and were underweight. He commented further on the pros and cons of the Metro Bow Hunters and asked how the Council wanted to proceed with the deer harvest situation. Councilmember Hovland asked if the fee being charged by the USDA was a flat fee. Police Chief/Safety Services Manager Podany reported this was the case and noted the fee covered the removal of up to 100 deer. Councilmember Hovland questioned if the City could work more with the DNR to allow local hunters to harvest more deer as he believed this would assist the City in managing the deer herd. Councilmember Swanson supported this suggestion but recommended the first deer be a doe. Police Chief/Safety Services Manager Podany stated another option would be for the City to work more closely with Metro Bow Hunters. Mayor Pro Tem King requested further information on the required liability insurance for the USDA. Police Chief/Safety Services Manager Podany commented on the USDA liability insurance and encouraged the Council to continue this contract. Mayor Pro Tem King and Councilmember Swanson stated they supported the USDA contract continuing. Councilmember Hovland questioned if hunting could occur at the airport. Police Chief/Safety Services Manager Podany reviewed the hunting boundaries with the Council. Councilmember Hovland requested staff speak with the airport to see if the hunting program could be expanded into their space, as this would assist in reducing the size of the City’s herd. Council consensus was to remain with USDA, to educate residents on the impact of feeding wildlife and to consider expanding accessible hunting program at the airport. 3-2 REVIEW REVISED SENIOR CENTER SITE PLAN Attachments: Site Layout Option 3 Public Services Manager/Assistant City Manager Therres stated last month staff presented a draft site plan for the location of the new Senior Center in Aquatore Park. Council expressed some concerns about the draft site plan on behalf of the City of Blaine Page 2 City Council Workshop Minutes September 20, 2018 Blaine Festival and Fogerty Arena and asked that the new senior center be shifted slightly to the west to accommodate the Blaine Festival and still maintain the current amount of parking. Staff relayed these concerns and comments the Architect, 292 Design, who was able to adjust the building plan to have the north-south portion of the new Senior Center moved from the east side to the west side of the new building as discussed at the workshop meeting. This allows the road to remain in its current location and not affect the current parking and open area to the east of the senior center which is important to the Blaine Festival. The revised location also does not affect the overflow parking lot for Fogerty/Four Seasons. Staff has had the opportunity to meet with representatives of the Senior Center, Fogerty/Four Seasons Arena and the Blaine Festival to make sure they are comfortable with this layout. Councilmember Clark asked how many parking spaces would be impacted by the new design. Mr. Therres stated he was uncertain. Councilmember Hovland questioned if additional parking spaces were needed at Fogerty. Mr. Therres reported this area was heavily parked area given the fact people use this parking lot for the arena and the adjacent playground. Councilmember Clark stated he believed the spaces were necessary given the number of people that attend Blaine and Spring Lake Park hockey games. Councilmember Swanson commented he was pleased to see the building was back to the L-shape originally presented to the seniors. Rob Hall, Fogerty Arena Manager, discussed how congested parking gets along Lincoln Street when a high school hockey game was being held at Fogerty. He supported this roadway becoming a one-way. Councilmember Clark stated this would make this street much safer during hockey games. Councilmember Garvais asked what the timeline was for this project. Mr. Therres commented on the potential timeline and stated he anticipated plans would be drawn up this winter. Councilmember Jeppson questioned if the proposed timeline worked for the Festival Committee. Brent Connolly, Blaine Festival Committee, indicated he would love to see the project delayed until after the Festival. He stated 2019 was the City’s 50th Anniversary and a great deal of money has been invested in next year’s Festival. He requested the project be delayed until the last weekend in June. City of Blaine Page 3 City Council Workshop Minutes September 20, 2018 Pam Anderson, Architect 292 Design, stated a major concern with delaying the project was cost. She discussed the benefit of beginning the project in the spring versus waiting until July. She reported site work and parking issues could be addressed during the Festival. Councilmember Jeppson supported the project waiting until June 29th. She feared that the site would be tampered with during the Festival and for this reason supported a July 1st start date. Councilmember Clark stated he would like to know more about what the additional costs would be to delay the project to July 1st. Mayor Pro Tem King commented he supported the construction timeline as proposed. Councilmember Swanson stated another thing to consider was that the new senior center was not extremely complicated. Councilmember Garvais indicated he supported the project starting in early spring versus after the Festival. He suggested language be drafted into the site agreement that the project area will be properly fenced and all large equipment will be removed from the site prior to the Festival. Mayor Pro Tem reported the Council was comfortable with the site plan but requested staff further investigate how project costs would be impacted if the project were delayed from March to July. Council consensus was to support the site plan as proposed but request staff to show cost and timeline impacts if construction started in July versus March in order to allow the Blaine Festival to occur without impact. 3-3 SPLIT OF PARK DEDICATION FEES Attachments: Parks CIP Open Space CIP Mr. Therres stated in 2000 the City passed a bond referendum in the amount of $3.5 million for the purchase of open space property. As part of the process the City Council created the Natural Resource Conservation Board (NRCB) to make recommendations on which property to purchase and how to manage the open space property. To provide an ongoing funding source for the NRCB's management of the open space property the Park Dedication Fee Ordinance was changed to split the park dedication fees collected with development to have 35% of fees collected from residential development go to an Open Space fund. The remaining 65% of residential development and 100% of industrial and commercial development would go to the existing Park fund. City of Blaine Page 4 City Council Workshop Minutes September 20, 2018 Councilmember Swanson explained he did not support the City having one fund for the park dedication fees and asked Finance Director Huss for his opinion on this matter. Mr. Huss stated the City was experiencing a higher rate of park dedication fees with the number of projects being developed. He noted the Park Fund was benefiting from this. For this reason, he explained a shift back to the 65/35 would not be detrimental to parks. Councilmember Hovland stated he also supported the City having separate funds. He recommended the Council proceed with a 65/35 split. Councilmember Clark commented on the importance of setting aside funds for the Natural Resources Conservation Board as well. Mayor Pro Tem King and Councilmember Jeppson supported the split going back to 65/35. Councilmember Hovland commented these funds could assist the City in completing valuable trail connections. Council consensus was to return to a 65/35 split. Other Business Councilmember Hovland requested the Council discuss how to balance taxes paid by residents living on a private road at a future workshop. Direction to staff. ADJOURN The Workshop was adjourned at 7:21 p.m. City of Blaine Page 5