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HomeMy WebLinkAbout02/10/2014 Regular City Council Meeting 7:00 PM Monday,February 10,2014 City Council Chambers City Hall 590 40th Avenue N.E. Columbia Heights, MN CALL TO ORDER Mayor Peterson called the meeting to order at 7:02 PM. APPOINTMENT OF SECRETARY PRO TEM Motion by Williams, seconded by Schmitt, to appoint Carole Blowers as Secretary Pro Tem. Motion passed unanimously. ROLL CALLANVOCATION Roll Call: Present: Councilmembers Schmitt,Williams,Diehm,Nawrocki, and Mayor Peterson Staff Present: Walt Fehst, City Manager; Jim Hoeft, City Attorney; Scott Nadeau,Police Chief The invocation was provided by Pastor Dan Thompson of Heights Church. PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE-recited ADDITIONSIDELETIONS TO MEETING AGENDA The Council, upon majority vote of its members, may make additions and deletions to the agenda. These may be items brought to the attention of the Council under the Citizen Forum or items submitted after the agenda preparation deadline. Councilmember Nawrocki stated he wished to add a discussion of the problems at the business establishment at 332 40a'Avenue tonight. PROCLAMATIONS, PRESENTATIONS, RECOGNITION, ANNOUNCEMENTS, GUESTS- None CONSENT AGENDA These items are considered to be routine by the City Council and will be enacted as part of the Consent Agenda by one motion. Items removed from consent agenda approval will be taken up as the next order of business. City Manager Walt Fehst went over each of the consent items. Approve City Council Meeting Minutes of January 27, 2014 MOTION: Move to approve City Council Meeting Minutes of January 27,2014, Establish Date for Annual Local Board of Appeal and Equalization Meeting MOTION: Move to establish the Local Board of Appeal and Equalization Meeting Date for Monday, April 14,2014, at 6:00 PM, in the City Council Chambers. City Council Minutes February 10,2014 Page 1 Approve Business License Applications MOTION: Move to approve the items as listed on the business license agenda for February 10,2014, as presented. Payment of Bills MOTION: Move that in accordance with Minnesota Statue 412.271, subd.8, the City Council has received the list of claims paid covering check number 151107 through 151248 in the amount of $1,630,289.03. Councilmember Nawrocki asked if people will be mailed a notice of the date of the Local Board of Appeal and Equalization Meeting. The City Manager will make a note of that. Motion by Diehm, seconded by Nawrocki, to approve all the Consent Agenda items listed above. Motion passed unanimously. Discussion on Business Located at 332 40th Avenue N.E.–Urban Shesha Police Chief Nadeau reviewed the various problems at the smoking business located at 332 40th Avenue NE, which opened in 2011. These include juveniles smoking, noise and disturbance complaints, assault, robbery of person, disorderly conduct, large crowds of people outside, signage (window coverings) and fire code violations, smoky non-ventilated building, and most lately—a drive by shooting which occurred on January 31. Anoka County investigators are still working on the case, and they have suspects. Thankfully, no one was hurt in that incident. This past Saturday, one of our sergeants went to conduct a walk through, and was met at the door of the business with armed guards employed by the lounge. At first, they would not let him in, but eventually they did let him in. Later in the discussion it was questioned why armed guards would be needed at this business. The Police Chief has had contact with the owner of the business. Right now the owner is in Kenya. The Mayor asked if we have similar businesses in town and if there are incidents like this. We have two other similar operations in the city, with no serious incidents reported. The Mayor asked what the city's options are. The City Attorney advised the council that they could have two different approaches to the problems: either from an operational/business standpoint or a licensing standpoint (like rental properties). Councilmember Nawrocki said we have been receiving calls about activities at this business for some time now. The neighbors in the area are concerned about the noise and late activities of this business. The shooting has people scared. The City Attorney stated that the council could take a broader approach regarding the shooting (which is in a category of its own), operational hours, and parking issues, etc. (i.e., issues that affect all businesses). The council must hold a public hearing and give the property owner and business owner enough notice for them to respond. The council would then make a decision if there should be stipulations put on the business, or suspend the license, or revoke it. He felt at least a 30 day notice would be warranted. At the hearing, staff could present relevant information (including past warnings given), and the owner would present any information they would want to, and the council would act. He also mentioned that he is aware of a public hearing for three or four residential licenses(one owner)coming up at the last council meeting in March which could take some time. City Council Minutes February 10,2014 Page 2 Mayor Peterson wants this business situation at 332 40th Avenue taken care of properly and as fast as possible. He personally has spoken with the business owner and promises have not been kept. He feels we need to do something about this as soon as possible, like at our next meeting. They have had lots of opportunities to correct things,and things have not been taken care o£ Chief Nadeau stated the criminal investigation of the shooting can be kept separate from the business license situation. Councilmember Diehm suggested that we set a date and staff can decide to send out the notice. Councilmember Schmitt recommended a tentative date of April 14 for the public hearing. City Manager Fehst said this would give time for staff to prepare the necessary notices and different alternatives the council could take. PUBLIC HEARINGS-None ITEMS FOR CONSIDERATION Other Ordinances and Resolutions—None Bid Considerations—None New Business and Reports -None ADMINISTRATIVE REPORTS Report of the City Manager Walt Fehst, City Manager, stated that Congressman Ellison will be holding a meeting on March 12th regarding the Parkview Villa sale. Councilmember Diehm and Mayor Peterson plan to attend. Community Development Director Scott Clark and Assistant Community Development Director Joe Hogeboom will attend as well. The City Manager advised that Scott Clark, Community Development Director will be retiring the first part of April. They received approximately 18 applications, and we will be interviewing seven to eight of them. Three finalists will be invited for a day of activities on March 3, 4, and 5. The City Manager advised that we have met with the NE Business Center representatives regarding the proposed library/city hall. This was a serious candidate for senior housing in that building. Their proposal came in about twice as much as expected. With this and other issues, including loss of some tax dollars,he feels we should move on and look at another site. This is a major business opportunity and key site. Other options are the bowling alley site, building on the east side of Murzyn Hall, or adding behind the Public Safety Building. Councilmember Nawrocki stated that attendance at libraries is down; attendance at our own library has been down the last two months. He asked for attendance counts at our library from last year and this year. He stated we have a many of programs offered at the library which are oriented towards recreation. The City Manager advised that he plans to attend the National League of Cities Conference (which runs March 8-12), along with Scott Clark and Joe Hogeboom and possibly the Mayor. Councilmember Nawrocki questioned why we have to send so many people, especially since we are not members of the National League of Cities anymore. Flight and hotel costs were discussed. He stated that in the past when he went, he stayed at a hotel within walking distance of the conference which was very reasonable. The City Manager asked him for the name of the hotel. City Council Minutes February 10,2014 Page 3 CounciImember Nawrocki asked about remodeling costs for the Community Development Department. The City Manager stated that about $4,000 was spent on carpeting and paint, $5,000 on asbestos removal, plus city staff costs for removing one wall. Councilmember Nawrocki stated at the last meeting he asked for election information including filing information to be placed in the next city newsletter, and he spoke to the City Clerk about this. He also acknowledged a detailed report from the Assistant Community Development Director regarding the property under construction at 40d'and University. The City Manager stated that the public hearing on state aid streets and alley improvements will be on March 4`h, at 6:30 pm and 7:00 pm respectively. At the next work session on March 3rd, the Finance Director will present a budget plan for the next five years. The Public Works Director has a number of items he wishes to discuss at that meeting. There may not be an EDA meeting that night. Report of the Cif Attorney -Nothing to report CITIZENS FORUM At this time, citizens have an opportunity to discuss with the Council items not on the regular agenda. Citizens are requested to limit their comments to five minutes. Anyone who would like to speak shall state his/her name and address for the record. Malcolm Watson, 1717 49th Avenue NE, stated that he will be speaking to the County Assessor about VFW and American Legion properties who must apply for tax exempt status (and if they don't, they will be taxed as a business). He reiterated that the local Board of Appeal and Equalization meeting is April 14, 2014, at 6:00 PM. Mr. Watson expressed appreciation to the Public Works Director, Kevin Hansen, and Lauren McClanahan, Public Works Superintendent on the snow removal in the city, especially the crews working midnight to late in the morning to clear Central Avenue of the large snowbanks. Harold Hoium, 4200 3rd Street, thanked the snow plowing crews for clearing the snow in front of the bus stops. He did feel that more salt should be used, especially on the hilly streets of town. He inquired what the status of the construction is at 401h and University---are they going to finish it or tear it down? Councilmember Nawrocki wondered if there is a penalty if this project is not completed by a certain date. Mayor Peterson advised that the Columbia Heights Activity Fund sponsored a "Polar Plunge" on February 1', at Balsam Lake, Wisconsin where twenty local people attended and twelve actually jumped in, earning monies(at$50/person) for the March of Dimes. The activity put Columbia Heights in the limelight. The Mayor also reminded us to remember our servicemen and women in our thoughts and prayers, and to do a random act of kindness. ADJOURNMENT The meeting adjourned at 8:08 p.m. Respectfully submitted, 110a'r0le J. Blo*ers Secretary Pro Tem. City Council Minutes February 10,2014 Page 4