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12-11-01 WSDecember 11, 2001 Page 1 MINUTES CI g `~ CC;UNCIL `J`JGP.~ SESSI^N - I;ECEr.^,[BED Il, 2o~I A work session of the Hopkins City Council was held at 6:30 p.m. on December 11, 2001, at the City Hall. Council members present were Mayor Maxwell and Council members Brausen, Hesch, Jensen and Johnson. City personnel present were City Manager Mielke, Public Works Director Stadler, Assistant City Engineer Bot, Assistant City Manager Jim Genellie, Police Chief Reid, and Police Captain Liddy. Also present was Councilman-elect Bruce Rowan. Vacation of 13"' Avenue Mr. Bot said this vacation had been discussed a few years ago, but then reconstruction plans were delayed and the matter was dropped. Reconstruction of 13`" Avenue was ordered by the Council last month; on November 7 St. Joseph's put in a petition for vacation. St. Joseph's held a neighborhood meeting December 5. Major issues raised were: alternate route for emergency vehicles (there are three usable ones); possibility of a parking lot entrance off 15t St. S; street parking in front of City Gables being eliminated through use of the church lot; reliability of the traffic study; turning the alley into aone-way (consensus was to wait and see if problems arise before doing that). The public hearing and first reading of an ordinance for the petitioned vacation is scheduled for December 18, 2001. Answering Mayor Maxwell, Mr. Bot said for reconstruction to proceed on schedule, a final decision would need to be made in a month. Mr. Stadler answered Mr. Brausen that if that deadline could not be met, one solution might be to do assessments after the reconstruction. Paul O'Gorman, trustee of St. Joseph's, addressed the Council. He stressed that the church does not want to hurt anyone by the vacation. They want it for safety issues, to consolidate the school campus, to put parking closer to the facilities without pedestrians having to cross roads. They want to put grass over the present road to the playground, correct the road situation in front of the property and extend parking to in front of the old convent. They would like to make a sidewalk connection from the park to Mainstreet. They would upgrade lighting for the parking lot. Utility easements would not be built upon. St. Joseph's has been approached several times by developers about developing this area (all of which would have required this vacation); St. Joseph's has always refused. This plan would not increase residence density and St. Joseph's is willing for the public to use the parking lot if liability issues can be solved with the city. The American Legion has had an informal agreement whereby they plow the lot in exchange for use of it; that would not change. He feels most of the traffic on 13"' is people using it as a shortcut, rather than residential traffic. City Gables residents could use the lot so that street parking could be eliminated in front of their building and increase their safety. Addressing Council questions he added the following: John Ireland school building use may change if IHM is added to, such as expanded daycare, a Mary shelter, Montessori school, youth center; accesses to the lot are still an open issue; an issue of concern is vandalism on the lot and St. Joseph's responsibility for that. City Manager Mielke said there were no zoning issues. Mayor Maxwell suggested the possibility that traffic now using 13"' could be given aone-way route through the parking lot; Mr. O'Gorman said that possibility had not occurred to anyone. Mr. Mielke answered Ms. Hesch that an December 11, 2001 Page 2 agreement for shared usage might be able to be agreed on in concept before the issue needs to be decided, but there would not be tune to get it properly written. He has talked to City Attorney Jerre Miller who says liability issues always rely on negligence; short of provable negligence there is no liability. Mr. Brausen said one issue would be if the agreement would be long-term. Mayor Maxwell said the extra parking is enticing, but traffic issues are the major issue. Ms. Jensen asked if the vacation could be annulled if the church sold the property later; Mr. Mielke will check with the legal department. Mr. Bot added the utility companies also need to be checked with yet. Mayor Maxwell asked for public comment. Mr. Jeffrey Fine said he owns properties on Mainstreet said in general he favored the vacation but was concerned how it would affect the alley access to parking. Mayor Maxwell said that part of the alley would not be affected. Cecil Kloss of City Gables said in April 1999 he had collected signatures on a petition against the vacation. He feels children's safety issues could be met by signage. Mr. Mielke noted that the Council had not taken any action in 1999, as there was no formal application by St. Joseph's so no formal hearing was ever held. Dennis and Tom Roof own nearby apartments and are strongly against the vacation, although they appreciated St. Joseph's holding the neighborhood meeting. Dennis says safety of children is not a real issue as St. Joseph's let children play on the parking lot when cars were parking, etc. for a funeral. He also feels the traffic study results are not applicable as they were done in winter, not when the park is in use. Tom added at present there are only two ways in and out for their apartment dwellers; the vacation would leave only one. Eunice Andren of City Gables said she would like to see no parking on 12"' , as cars parked there are dangerous for seniors as well as children. Isabel Kloss suggested the parking be moved and the playground be moved to by the school. Doug Palmer of City Gables said he overlooks the parking lot and that is where the children play, not on the playground, so expanded parking would increase the danger to them. Ms. Jensen said making a decision quickly without having everyone involved meet together is not the Council's way of doing things. Mr. Brausen wondered if the street could be gated during school hours; Mr. Stadler said no other school does that and feels it would be a drastic measure. Ms. Hesch said she heard three issues that need discussion: closing access, traffic on 12"', and elimination of parking on 12"'. Ms. Johnson said she felt the playground and school should be on the same side of the street. General Consensus. Mayor Maxwell said he felt the consensus was that the Council would not make a decision on December 18. There should be a meeting set up in January to discuss possibilities; he suggested Jeffrey Fine, the Roofs, Cecil Kloss and Paul O'Gorman as participants. Police Civil Service Commission City Manager Mielke said the Council had wanted to create an ordinance that would protect employees but remove the hiring issues posed by the current Civil Service Commission. During that process City Attorney Wynn Curtiss said the city charter does not give the Council that authority, so he was directed to see if the charter could be changed. The issue of layoffs and reinstatements has been brought up during the process. Attorney Curtiss said he thinks the charter can be changed. Section 202 allows advisory boards to be formed and gives them subpoena power. He still needs to determine if that subpoena December 11, 2001 Page 3 authority section would also need to be amended in the charter. Assistant Ci~,~ Manager Jil-n Genellie said the Charter Comm~issior~ could meet after the second week in January. They have to meet twice, but no time spacing is required. Then the Council would need to meet twice on the issue. Ninety days after publication, the changes made would take effect. The charter gives the power, but implementation would require an ordinance setting out the rules, etc. for the committee. Then there would need to be a resolution to abolish the Civil Service Commission. He strongly recommends it be orchestrated so the new committee would be put in place at the same time the Civil Service Commission is abolished. Answering Mayor Maxwell, he said he thought both Council meetings should be regular meetings. Answering Ms. Hesch he said he felt early May would be the earliest all steps could be done. Answering Mr. Mielke, Chief Reid said he is in a hiring process now under the old rules so the need to push this through quickly is gone, but added he will probably need to recruit again before the year is out. Ms. Jensen asked about ramifications if the Civil Service Commission were simply abolished with no other changes made. Mr. Curtiss said the attorneys for 2 of the units said they would never use the appeal process. Mr. Mielke added that then arbitration would be the only appeal for disciplinary matters. Layoff issues, etc. could be incorporated into personnel policies. It is possible it would enter into contract negotiations although the city has always opposed putting management issues into contracts. Ms. Johnson asked about Diane's letter; Mr. Mielke said he feels those issues must be taken care of after the charter issue. Chief Reid said Diane is part of a bargaining unit in which the 4 police members are a small minority; they weren't interested in working with Mr. Genellie, which he hadn't expected. Mr. Mielke added that union measures overrule city policy, even if city policy is more liberal, as is the case with HEMA. He added a police representative who was unable to attend the work session had indicated the police officers have not changed their feelings on the issue. Captain Liddy said he feels abolition of the Civil Service Commission is critical because other cities are directly recruiting Hopkins' policemen; other cities without such a commission are already interviewing those on the last "available police" list. General Consensus: Attorney Curtiss is to get a definite answer by January 2 at the latest and is to proceed as quickly as possible. Ms. Hesch asked that she be put on record that if the charter change cannot happen, she feels the Civil Service Commission should just be abolished. ®ther Leaves on boulevards. Ms. Johnson asked about the bagged leaves left out because people did not follow the rules. Mayor Maxwell said he told Mr. Stadler to have them picked up. Mr. Mielke said he disagrees, as that is not fair to those who paid. Ms. Johnson said she feels they should be fined or charged in some way. General Consensus: Have staff pick them up now, and then draft an ordinance to take care of this problem so it doesn't happen again next fall. Mr. Mielke said if someone complains about the free pick-up he will refund their money. Budget Meeting. Mayor Maxwell asked what levy should be brought before the Council. General consensus was it should be 9.8% as was published. December 11, 2001 Page 4 Miccellanemxs P~Ia-yor Maxwell said he would go to the meeting on housing and transportation at Doubletree on Friday morning. City Manager Mielke handed out copies of the survey from the 1996 survey about the Art Center. Ms. Johnson asked that the new lighting in the Plantation be checked to see if it is angled correctly. Mr. Brausen moved adjournment; Ms. Johnson seconded. Meeting adjourned at 9:15 p.m. Kasey Kester, Secretary ATTEST: Euge e axwell, Mayor COUNCIL MEMBERS