DEEPHAVEN CITY COUNCIL MEETING
MONDAY, MAY 7,
2007
MINUTES
1.
CALL MEETING TO ORDER: Mayor
Paul Skrede called the meeting to order at 7:00 p.m.
PRESENT: Mayor Paul Skrede, Councilmembers Steve Adams, Keith Kask, John Wheaton and Kim Crockett
STAFF: Police Chief Virgil Gustafson,
Zoning Coordinator Gus Karpas and City Administrator
Dana Young
2.
PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE
The
Council recited the Pledge of Allegiance.
3.
APPROVE CONSENT AGENDA
Motion
by Councilmember Kask to approve the Consent Agenda, consisting of the
following items:
A. Minutes of April 16, 2007
B. Approve May Verifieds
C. Authorize the Purchase of a
Chevy Silverado from Thane Hawkins Polar Chevrolet in the amount of $30,477.08,
the purchase of the plow truck equipment package from Aspen Equipment in the
amount of $26, 122.99, and the sale of the City’s 1989 Chevy pickup truck.
Seconded
by Councilmember Adams. Motion carried
5-0.
4.
MATTERS FROM THE FLOOR
Mayor
Skrede expressed his sympathy to the family and friends of Mrs. Tallakson and
C.J. Ramstad and J.J. Ramstad who recently passed away.
5.
PLANNING & ZONING
REQUESTS
A.
Variance – Jerry Sundquist
and Rebecca Larson, 19980 Cottagewood Road (R-2, 40,000). A variance request to build a
new single family home located within the required rear yard setback. The requested setback variance is for eleven
feet, six inches of the required twenty-five foot rear yard setback.
Zoning
Coordinator Karpas presented his staff report outlining the request and read
his recommendation. He indicated that
the Planning Commission voted 5-1 to recommend approval for the request. They determined a hardship existed in that the lot could not be
reasonably developed with the required setbacks, that the applicant could not
meet the minimum house width requirements without a variance and that the home
was consistent with other homes in the neighborhood.
Mayor
Skrede opened the meeting to public comment.
Jerry
Sundquist presented a scaled model of the home for the Council’s review. He explained, using the model, how the home
was oriented to the lake.
Commissioner
Wheaton asked about potential tree removal, more specifically what the
applicant’s plans were in terms of the two oak trees near the proposed
driveway. Mr. Sundquist said their
intent was to save all the trees, at most, they were looking to prune some of
them.
Hearing
no further comment from the public, Mayor Skrede closed the public comment
period.
Councilmember
Crockett said she visited the site and likes the proposal. She said the applicant doesn’t intend on
altering the existing slope, which made it easy to visualize the proposed house
on the lot. Mr. Sundquist said they
realize their property is very visible and wanted to keep the look of it
basically the same, so it would not stand out.
Councilmember
Adams asked about the proposed exterior of the home. Mr. Sundquist said the siding would be cedar
with the peaked roofs being metal and the flat roofs would be sodded.
Councilmember
Kask moved to approve the variance request to encroach eleven feet, six inches
into the required twenty-five foot rear yard setback for the proposed single
family home, as presented, at 19980 Cottagewood Road, in accordance with the
recommendations of the Planning Commission and City Staff. A hardship exists in that the lot cannot be reasonably
developed without the issuance of the variance, strict adherence to the setback
requirements would not allow a home that complies with the city’s minimum width
requirement and the proposed structure is in keeping with the character of the
surrounding neighborhood. Seconded by Councilmember Crockett. Motion carried 5-0.
6.
UNFINISHED BUSINESS
A.
Approve Promotion of Officer
Chris Whiteside to Police Sergeant
Police
Chief Virgil Gustafson reported that the Civil Service Commission met on April
21, 2007 to complete two assignments.
First, to re-interview the second highest qualified candidate for Police
Officer. And second, to evaluate the
essays provided by internal candidates in order to promote one of the
candidates to fill Sgt. Johnson’s vacancy when his promotion to Police Chief
becomes effective July 1, 2007. He
stated that the Commission voted unanimously to promote Chris Whiteside to the
position of Police Sergeant effective May 8, 2007.
Motion
by Councilmember Wheaton to approve the promotion of Chris Whiteside to Police
Sergeant, effective May 8, 2007.
Seconded by Councilmember Adams.
Motion carried 5-0.
B.
Discuss Park Committee
Recommendations
Park
Committee Liaison John Wheaton provided a summary of the following
recommendations from the Park Committee at their April 12th meeting.
·
Draft a letter to Xcel Energy regarding tree trimming (clear cutting)
along the LRT trail. Park Committee is
very disappointed with how it looks.
Motion
by Councilmember Wheaton to approve the purchase of an auto fill device for the
Children’s Park fountain at a cost not to exceed $200.00. Seconded by Councilmember Adams. Motion carried 5-0.
Mayor
Skrede stated that he asked staff to include the proposed letter to Xcel Energy
for Council review because he felt that any letter that is signed by a
representative from a City Committee is also representing the City.
Councilmember
Crockett stated that she can certainly appreciate what the Committee is
intending to achieve with the letter to Xcel Energy and that she has had
experience with utility companies trimming and cutting trees. She stated that she felt the tone of the
letter was too aggressive and would prefer that the letter request that Xcel
work with the City during its tree trimming operations. She added that the removal of buckthorne, as
referenced in the letter, is not Xcel’s responsibility and felt that there is a
need to balance tree removal near power lines with the need to reduce power
outages. She stated that she would have
taken a different approach than what was discussed in the letter.
Mayor
Skrede asked if the tree trimming occurred within the LRT trail, which is the
responsibility of the Hennepin County Railroad Authority rather than the City.
Councilmember
Wheaton stated that he agreed with Councilmember Crockett’s comments and would
encourage Xcel to work with staff.
Mayor
Skrede suggested that Xcel should be invited to make a presentation to the Park
Committee and invite them to participate more fully with any upcoming tree
trimming projects in Deephaven.
Councilmember
Kask stated that he also agrees with Councilmember Crockett’s comments and
certainly appreciates Chairman Woodburn’s passion to protect trees but noted that
power companies have to maintain clearance from their power lines and would not
be supportive of attaching the City’s name to the letter.
C. Discuss Request for Reimbursement from the City of
Minnetonka
Administrator
Young stated that participation between cities on projects that occur on
adjoining borders is very common practice and it is very typical for cities to
participate in the design and cost of such a project. He stated that the Eastwood Road project was
very unusual in that the City of Deephaven did not receive the usual
notification of this project, often learned of project meetings through its
residents rather than the City of Minnetonka and were never formally approached
to participate in the costs of the project.
He
stated that the only time it was mentioned that the City of Deephaven was
expected to participate in the cost of this project was during a meeting he
initiated with Minnetonka staff and their consulting engineers on March 7, 2006
to review the design plans for Eastwood Road.
He stated that he was informed that Deephaven was expected to
participate in our portion of the project cost, which was estimated at
$125,000. He stated that shortly after
this meeting, Deephaven’s City Attorney was informed by the Minnetonka City Attorney
that Deephaven would not be invited to participate in the design or the cost of
improving Eastwood Road due to the fact that the road was located entirely
within the City of Minnetonka and Minnetonka had provided the ongoing
maintenance of Eastwood Road for many years.
He
stated that since that last conversation, Deephaven has never been contacted
about participating in this project or been asked to enter into a Cooperative
Agreement approving the City of Deephaven’s portion of the project cost. He added that it is very unusual to act on a
joint project without entering into a Cooperative Agreement.
Councilmember
Crockett stated that a number of the Councilmembers were involved in the
Eastwood Road project, particularly due to the concerns of Deephaven residents
and several Minnetonka residents concerning certain elements of the
project. She stated that it is clear in
her mind that we were never invited to participate in the project.
Mayor
Skrede stated that City Attorney Jerry Gilligan had also emailed him following
his conversation with the Minnetonka City Attorney confirming that Minnetonka
did not expect Deephaven to participate in the cost of Eastwood Road. He stated that on one occasion he had also thanked
John Gunyou, the Minnetonka City Manager, at a School District/City meeting for
not charging Deephaven for Eastwood Road.
He stated that absent a request for a Cooperative Agreement it appears
that Deephaven was never intended to participate in Eastwood Road.
C.
Update on Arundel Property
Zoning
Coordinator Gus Karpas stated that Mr. Arundel made application for a Special
Home Occupation permit in July of 2006.
At that time he was seeking approval to exceed the permitted number of
non-resident employees and sought a waiver of the Homestead requirement. He withdrew his application and began working
on obtaining a Homestead designation for his property since he was not living
at the property at the time placing him in violation of the Home Occupation
ordinance. He stated that City Assessor
Dan Distel has issued a Homestead for Mr. Arundel’s property since he has moved
into the property and meets the Homestead requirements.
He
stated that he spoke to Mr. Arundel who indicates that he lives at the
property, still operates his business and is down to one other employee other
than himself. He stated that under these
circumstances, Mr. Arundel is currently in compliance with the Home Occupation
ordinance. He added that Mr. Arundel
recently purchased commercial property in Minnetonka and has just received his
Building Permit to begin construction.
He stated that Mr. Arundel intends to move his business from 19380 Lake
Avenue to his new commercial structure as soon as the building is finished.
Councilmember
Crockett stated that this issue came to her attention due to the neighbor’s
concerns regarding the number and speed of delivery trucks that deliver to his
business. She requested that the Police
Department monitor the area to ensure that the traffic laws are enforced,
particularly with the beach season coming up.
7.
NEW BUSINESS
A.
Adopt Ordinance No. 04-43,
Amending Section 405 Fee Structure
Administrator
Young provided a brief review of Ordinance No. 04-43, which proposed to
reformat Section 405 to make it more easily readable and to amend impound fees,
animal boarding fees, manufactured home parking fee, zoning fees, impounded
property fee, and to include the B1 Slide fee.
Motion
by Councilmember Crockett to adopt Ordinance No. 04-43, An Ordinance Amending
Section 405.05 pertaining to the Establishment of Fees. Seconded by Councilmember Wheaton. Motion carried 5-0.
B.
Discuss Temporary Sign
Permits
Zoning
Coordinator Gus Karpas stated that we have a unique commercial district
consisting of a number of small retail shops.
He stated that there are a number of signs in the commercial district on
Minnetonka Boulevard that are either permitted temporary signs or for lease
signs. He stated that both types of
signs are permitted under our sign ordinance.
He stated that the Council could consider amending the ordinance to
limit temporary signs to a particular number of days per calendar year. He stated that he was unsure how the Council
would like to address for lease signs.
Councilmember
Crockett stated that there generally appear to be three types of signs. The first sign or sandwich board advertises a
sale or some other short-term event. She
stated that she would like our businesses to have the opportunity to advertise
these types of events occasionally.
She
stated that the second type of sign is a for lease sign, which appear to be
permanent in nature. She stated that
this adds to the visual clutter and while she doesn’t want to interfere with
someone’s right to lease their space, she believes that there are other more
productive ways to lease a space than to post a for lease sign.
She
stated that the third type of sign are those advertising a home for sale,
particularly those signs that are posted at the end of a street or on
Minnetonka Blvd. She stated that she is
sympathetic to homeowners who want to post a sign on their lawn but not with
those who post it in someone else’s yard at the entrance to a neighborhood.
Mayor
Skrede requested that staff draft a letter that would be sent to real estate
companies requesting their assistance in controlling the number of signs. He stated that he would rather solve the
excessive number of for sale signs through cooperation rather than an ordinance
change. He also requested staff draft a
letter to address temporary signs and language on a possible ordinance change
on the regulation of for lease signs.
Zoning
Coordinator Gus Karpas stated that he would contact the League of Minnesota
Cities for their recommendations on model ordinances on commercial signs.
Councilmember
Wheaton suggested that for lease signs could be required to be small enough,
approximately 1’ x 2’, to fit on the building itself, which would alleviate
some of the excess clutter.
8.
DEPARTMENT REPORTS
A.
Police Department
Police
Chief Gustafson stated that it was brought to the City’s attention by a
resident that the City is currently not in compliance with the ordinance on
Dangerous/Potentially Dangerous Dogs by not providing notification to residents
within 350’ of a dangerous or potentially dangerous dog. In addition, he stated that the State
Legislature recently passed a law that now requires counties rather than cities
to register dangerous dogs. He
recommended that the Council discuss amending the City’s Dangerous Dog
ordinance to drop the requirement that the City issue certificates of
registration to dangerous dogs and delete the requirement that the City provide
annual notification to every property owner within 350’ of a potentially
dangerous dog.
Police
Chief Gustafson added that he believes that the Deephaven Police Department is
very aggressive enforcing the potentially dangerous/dangerous dog statute. He stated that Deephaven currently has 15
dogs declared as potentially dangerous and no dogs declared as dangerous while
Minnetonka has only 7 dogs declared as potentially dangerous and no dogs
declared as dangerous.
Councilmember
Kask stated that he believes that knowing about a potentially dangerous or
over-aggressive dog would benefit residents.
Mayor
Skrede suggested that notification could be placed on the City’s web page.
Councilmember
Crockett stated that she would not object to removing the certificate of
registration requirement but would prefer to see some sort of annual notice go
out perhaps with a page on the City’s web page and a notice referring to the
web page in the City Newsletter.
Police
Chief Gustafson stated that most of the owners of potentially dangerous dogs
are very responsible and a number have questioned the designation of their dog
as a potentially dangerous dog.
Councilmember
Adams recommended removing the notification by letter requirement in the
ordinance and instead require annual notification through a posting on the
City’s web page.
B.
Excelsior Fire District
Fire
District Liaison Kim Crockett stated that the Board had a very interesting
discussion regarding Deephaven’s and Shorewood’s rejection of the technology
fund proposal within the Capital Equipment Plan. She stated that it was the consensus of the
Board and the Fire Chief that the budget process will become unwieldy if each City
uses a line item veto on a particular item.
She stated that there was a preference for each City to approve a
particular budget amount and let the Fire Chief decide how the funds should be
allocated rather than have each City micromanaging the budget. She stated that she believes this is a valid
position to take.
Mayor
Skrede stated that this is the first time a budget item has been questioned in
his four years of dealing with the Fire District. He stated that they didn’t do their homework
in regards to a proper explanation of the technology budget in the Capital
Equipment Plan and it wasn’t approved.
He stated that it is the responsibility of the Council to be fiscally
responsible.
Councilmember
Crockett stated that the Fire Board has decided to spend up to $5,000 from
discretionary Orono funds to work with a technology consultant to develop an
acceptable technology plan. She stated
that the Board also is open to amending the Joint Powers Agreement to allow for
more realistic timelines to review the Capital Equipment Plan.
Councilmember
Adams stated that we apply the same standards on the Fire Budget that we do on
the City Budget. He stated that the
Council simply requested an assessment of need for technology funding, which
was partially done, and to demonstrate that a level of diligence is being
followed on the purchase of the technology.
He added that he doesn’t consider this as micromanaging, but a simple
request for sufficient information to support the request.
Councilmember
Wheaton agreed that the Council wanted justification for the proposed
expenditures. He stated that the Fire
District is still a relatively young organization and City’s need to keep a
close eye on expenses. He added that
once a track record has been established, he felt that there might be less
micro-management on expenditures.
Mayor
Skrede stated that Shorewood Councilmember Dick Woodruff and Deephaven resident
Brian Crockett have both offered to assist the Fire Chief with developing a
technology plan that would cost substantially less than $5,000.00.
Councilmember
Crockett stated that there would be upcoming action taken by the Fire Board to
address both Deephaven’s and Shorewood’s concern over technology funding.
C.
Public Works
Administrator
Young provided a brief update on Public Work Department activities in April and
upcoming projects in May.
D.
Administration
Administrator
Young provided an update on the following items:
·
Cell Tower Collocation
·
Summer staff hours
·
St. Louis Bay Dock Plan approval before the LMCD on April 25th
·
Updates on the Senior Community Services and Friends of the South Shore
Center funding meeting and the Fire Department Funding Allocation meeting
Further
discussion was held on the application for a Dredging Permit that has been
submitted to the Minnehaha Creek Watershed District to clear the accumulation
of beach sand in front of several boat slides.
He stated that the amount of information required by the Watershed
District to obtain approval of the Dredging Permit would require the assistance
of the City Engineer.
Mayor
Skrede provided an update on the progress of the Funding Allocation Committee
and reported that there appears to be support from at least four of the members
for a usage formula and to conduct a periodic review of the funding
formula. He stated that some of the
momentum of the Committee has slowed due to the perception that a change in the
funding formula would require full support of the membership to amend the Joint
Powers Agreement, which is unlikely to occur because of Excelsior’s objection
to a change in the formula. He stated
that his interpretation of Section 9 of the Joint Powers Agreement is that it
would allow the Board through majority vote to bring an issue to dispute resolution.
Councilmember
Crockett stated that it appears absolutely clear to her in Section 9.1 of the
Joint Powers Agreement that the Board may independently call for dispute
resolution of any issue. She stated that
a majority of the Board could initiate the dispute resolution process.
Councilmember
Adams added that it is also clear that the Committee members have a fear of
ending up in a dispute similar to the South Lake Police dispute. He stated that it would be helpful if we
could define the dispute resolution process so that it is not a protracted
process.
Councilmember
Crockett suggested that the Committee should draft language and present it to
the Board for their consideration.
Mayor
Skrede also provided a summary on the progress of Senior Community Services
funding proposal, Comprehensive Plan revisions, a performance evaluation of
LMCD Liaison David Gross and on the recent Mayor’s Forum meetings.
9.
ADJOURNMENT
Motion
to adjourn by Councilmember Kask, seconded by Councilmember Crockett. Motion carried 5-0. The meeting adjourned at 9:45 p.m.
Respectfully
submitted,
Dana
H. Young
City
Administrator