City Council Minutes

Pursuant to due call and posted notice thereof, the regular meeting of the Victoria City Council was called to order at 6:30 p.m. by Mayor Hershberger Thun in the Council Chambers at 7951 Rose.

Members Present: Mayor Mary Hershberger Thun; Councilmembers: Tim Amundsen, Tom O'Connor, Jim Paulsen and Kim Roden.

Absent: None.

Staff Present: Don Uram, City Administrator; Jylan Johnson, Finance Director; Holly Kreft, Community Development Director; Jennifer Kretsch, City Clerk; Cara Geheren, City Engineer; and Mike Norton, City Attorney.

Others Present: Unsie Zuege, The Chanhassen Villager and others.
 

Mr. Uram requested an update on 86^th Street and an update on the Minnehaha Creek Watershed District be added under the City Administrators reports.

A motion was made by Councilmember Paulsen, to adopt the Agenda as amended. The motion was seconded. With all members voting in favor, the motion carried. Vote: 5 Ayes, 0 Nays.
 

(3) CITY ORGANIZATION /PROTOCOL:

A motion was made by Councilmember Paulsen, to approve Resolution No. 10-01; A Resolution approving the 2010 Council Member Assignments, Consulting Staff, Committee/Commission appointments, Fire Department Officers, City Protocol and miscellaneous items. The motion was seconded. With all members voting in favor, the motion carried. Vote: 5 Ayes, 0 Nays.

Jim Lahl, Office President at the KleinBank Victoria office introduced himself and provided a brief overview of KleinBanks services and history.
 

(6) CONSENT AGENDA

A motion was made by Councilmember Roden, to approve the Consent Agenda. The motion was seconded. With all members voting in favor, the motion carried. Vote: 5 Ayes, 0 Nays.
 

A motion was made by Councilmember O'Connor, to approve the Claims Roster in the amount of $393,443.95. The motion was seconded. With all members voting in favor, the motion carried. Vote: 5 Ayes, 0 Nays.
 

A motion was made by Councilmember Roden to approve Resolution No. 10-04; A Redolution Accepting Donations. The motion was seconded. With all members voting in favor, the motion carried. Vote: 5 Ayes, 0 Nays.
 

Ms. Kreft stated that the City Council held a first reading of Ordinance No. 371 at the December 14, 2009 City Council meeting. Ms. Kreft stated that the major changes to the existing language in the code include:

• Site Plan and Building Materials Review by Planning Commission and City Council for all new construction and any additions greater than 20% of the gross floor area

• Change the process for deviations from the design standards to a conditional use permit versus a variance

• Additional details for each of the standards so developers know the City's expectations for design requirements

• Removal of wood as a primary material and added it along with hardiboard as an accent material.

Council Member Roden asked why a Conditional Use Permit is used in this process and not a variance.

Ms. Kreft stated that in order to grant a variance a hardship must be proved and economic considerations cannot be considered a hardship pursuant to Minnesota State Statute.

The Public Hearing was opened at 6:53 p.m. and closed at 6:54 p.m.

A motion was made by Councilmember O'Connor to adopt Ordinance No. 371. The motion was seconded. With all members voting in favor, the motion carried. Vote: 5 Ayes, 0 Nays.

A motion was made by Councilmember Roden to amend the Closed Session agenda by adding the discussion of property acquisition. The motion was seconded. With all members voting in favor, the motion carried. Vote: 5 Ayes, 0 Nays.
 

Mr. Uram stated that a vehicle accident occurred on Saturday, January 9, 2010 at 4 p.m. The vehicle accident involved a 16 year old who had just received his driver's license a few months earlier. He was driving his vehicle southbound on Kochia, turning west on 86^th Street. When entering the round-about, his vehicle fish-tailed down 86^th street, hitting a snow bank causing his vehicle to over- turn.

Jayme Kruse, resident of the Allegheny Neighborhood stated that the recent vehicle accident adds to the safety concerns of the residents abutting 86^th Street and that something needs to be done.

Ms. Geheren stated that at the November 23, 2009 City Council meeting, staff was directed to implement short and long term strategies to address the speed, volume and safety concerns of 86^th Street. The short term plan is to have the Carver County Sheriff increase traffic enforcement, and work with Chaska for periodic use of their portable speed trailer and solicit quotes for the purchase and installation of permanent variable speed display signs in the spring. The long term plan is to work with the City of Chaska to obtain the necessary right-of-way for a road reconstruction in 2011. Victoria will also need to work with Chaska to get all of the right-of-way placed in the City of Victoria in order to utilize Municipal State Aid funds to help pay for the project.

Ms. Geheren stated that she is putting together a project timeline and list of tasks for the first quarter 2010. The first item is to work with Chaska on determining what right-of-ways need to be acquired and start that acquisition process. The request to add 86^th Street needs to be submitted to State Aid by March 1, 2010. Then a Resolution must be passed by May 1, 2010 designating 86^th street as part of the State Aid System in order to be eligible to receive funding for a 2011 street reconstruction date. After the right-of-way acquisition occurs, preliminary street reconstruction design will start in which the community will be asked for comment and feedback on the designs.

Bidding for the street reconstruction project will occur in the spring of 2011.

Council Member O'Connor stated that the 2011 Capital Improvement Plan does not include 86^th Street in the plan; therefore, other roads in the Plan may be reconstructed at a later date.

Council Member Paulsen asked if the utilities by the road would need to be relocated. Ms. Geheren stated those details will be known when the preliminary road design phase begins.

Council Member Roden asked who pays for the utility relocation and if entering into a franchise agreement would help. Ms. Geheren stated those details will be known during the design phase. If the City wants the utilities buried, the City would be responsible for the cost to bury them. Mr. Norton stated that a franchise agreement wouldn't necessarily reduce the cost of relocation. The City has a good right-of-way ordinance that can help enforce relocation efforts.

Ms. Kruse stated that she feels the recent accident is a speed and safety issue and needs to be addressed in the short term and requested that speed humps be looked into again. Mr. Kruse indicated that electronic speed signs will not force drivers to slow down. Ms. Kruse indicated that if snow-mobile operators were in the area at the time of the accident, they may have been injured also.

Mr. Uram stated that due to the recent weather, the roads were very icy and speed bumps along 86^th street would not have been the solution since the accident occurred as a result of ice in the round-about.

Council Member Amundsen asked of concrete barriers could be put up along side of the road as a temporary solution.

Mr. Uram stated that concrete barriers may be a safety concern for pedestrians if they are on the wrong side of the barrier.

Council Members discussed the option of speed humps vs. speed bumps and how they are used in other communities. Council Member Roden requested that short-term safety solutions be implemented.

Ms. Geheren stated that she would not recommend speed bumps or humps on collector roads.

Speed humps or bumps cause issues for snow plowing operations and may cause problems for emergency vehicles.

Mr. Uram stated that staff is implementing the short term solution that was approved at the November 23, 2009 City Council meeting.

Ms. Kreft stated that staff has received information that the Minnehaha Creek Watershed District (MCWD) wishes to establish a corridor between Marsh and Wasserman Lakes that will achieve their objectives of the Land Conservation Program. This corridor would require the purchase of land in Victoria's future annexation area. The land is located in Laketown Township between Lake Wasserman and Marsh Lake Road. The major concern with the proposed purchase is that the MCWD is buying developable property that is within Victoria's growth area.

Mr. Uram stated that Victoria's Comprehensive Plan zoned this area residential with approximately 150 units on this site. If the MCWD would purchase this land, that would reduce the number of developable units down to 75. From a financial perspective, this would be a loss of approximately one million dollars to the City, not including future taxes. Future City infrastructure has been planned in the potential land purchase area, which could impact the City's ability to extend services to other developable areas. The land purchase would have an impact on Victoria taxpayers.

Mr. Uram stated staff is strongly opposed to the MCWD purchasing land in Victoria's future annexation area. The City's approved Comprehensive Plan was reviewed by the MCWD without comment regarding the future land use or indication of their intent to purchase land in this area.

Mr. Uram stated that staff would like approval to address the City's concern at the MCWD Thursday, January 14, 2010 meeting. Mr. Uram stated that Council Members O'Connor and Paulsen were briefed by staff on this issue prior to the City Council meeting.

Council Member Roden asked if this will help water quality issues. Ms. Geheren stated the MCWD report indicates the impact on water quality is unknown.

The Council Members asked what rights the City has on this issue and what are the rights of the MCWD.

Ms. Uram stated that the MCWD legal opinion says that there is no case law in this type of property acquisition in which bonds would be sold for funding.

Mr. Norton stated that the authority and governing statutes of the MCWD would need to be researched as well as public finance issues.

Ms. Geheren stated she is on the League of Minnesota Cities Stormwater Coalition and will inform the League of this proposal and the cities concerns.

Council Member Amundsen complimented Victoria Fire Department Members Troy Walsh, Bill Blinstrip and Steve Dahl for their heroic actions in saving a life at house fire on January 7, 2010. He noted the Victoria Fire Department firefighters are volunteers risking their lives to save others.

Mayor Hershberger Thun reported that the downtown business community is hosting a Valentines event on February 11, 2010. Mayor Hershberger Thun reported that she met with lobbyists to help designate transportation funding for Highway 5 and 212. Mayor Hershberger Thun stated that at her recent Mayors meeting the State Economist presented a combined state revenue shortfall for 2012 and 2013 exceeding 5.4 billion dollars. The report indicated that Minnesota's economic recovery will be slower than the rest of the country's states and Minnesota is in the top ten states in terms of deficit.
 

A motion was made by Councilmember Amundsen, to adjourn into a closed session meeting. The motion was seconded. With all members voting in favor, the motion carried. Vote: 5 Ayes, 0 Nays.

A motion was made by Mayor Hershberger Thun, to adjourn the closed session meeting. The motion was seconded. With all members voting in favor, the motion carried. Vote: 5 Ayes, 0 Nays.

A motion was made by Councilmember O'Connor, to adjourn the meeting at 9:23 p.m. The motion was seconded. With all members voting in favor, the motion carried. Vote: 5 Ayes, 0 Nays.

Respectfully submitted,
Jennifer Kretsch
City Clerk