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HomeMy WebLinkAbout10-05-1998 CMW I~ COUNCIL/MANAGERWQRKSHOP CITY OF MAPLEWOOD MEETING MINUTES 5:00 p.m., Monday, October 5, 1998 Maplewood Room, City Hall A. CALL TO ORDER The meeting was called to order by Acting Mayor Cazlson at 5:00 p.m. B. ROLL CALL Mayor George Rossbach Absent Councilmember Sherry Allenspach Present Councilmember Dale Cazlson Present Councilmember Kevin Kittridge Present Councilmember Marvin Koppen Absent Others Present: City Manager Michael McGuire Assistant to the City Manager Michael Ericson Community Oriented Services Coordinator Colleen Dirkswager C. APPROVAL OF AGENDA Councilmember Carlson moved to approve the agenda with the addition of the following items as re~c uested by himself and Cit~Manager Michael McGuire• 1 English Street. 2 Certification of Election Judges 3. Dispatch Services. 4. Bruentrup Farm. The motion was seconded by Councilmember Kittridge Motion passed 3-0. D. PAT QUINN. ST. PAUL PUBLIC SCHOOLS Mr. Quinn was not able to attend and was represented by Project Architect John Hamilton and Landscape Architect Kathryn McFadden along with school district representatives Barbara Burke and Lee Bauer. The representatives want to know if the City of Maplewood will support an arts & sciences magnet middle school to be located at the intersection of State Highways #61 and #36. It would open in the spring of 2000 and have 600 students in grades 6 - 8: It would be a six-district elective school with other students attending from surrounding school districts. Council Manager/Workshop Meeting Minutes October 5, 1998 Page 2 Mr. Hamilton reported that St. Paul Schools have explored a total of ten sites and like the location of the Miggler property because of its major highway accessibility and because it has a wetland which would likely be used for class experiments. The district has received $3.8M in funding from the state legislature for land acquisition and need to make a site selection soon. Councilmember Carlson expressed support for the concept but concern over the location because of the loss of good commercial property and subsequently loss of tax base revenue. City Manager McGuire expressed support for the concept but expressed concern over the location along State Highway 36 and the traffic problems currently faced by commuters who used it on a daily basis. He also expressed concern over the loss of taxable commercial property which the city has very little left. He inquired whether a location along the I-94 corridor would be a better location with easier access and less expensive. He asked the representatives ifthey could meet with city staff to discuss other city site locations and they agreed. E. COMMUNITY-ORIENTED SERVICES UPDATE Colleen Dirkswager introduced Kathy Don Carlos from the DNR who was present to discuss deer management/control issues with the council and local residents who were in attendance. Many of the residents have experienced deer problems primarily in the south section of the city. Kathy said that the DNR can provide technical advice but it is up to the city to discharge or enforce ordinances. She inquired what the city has done to quantify the problem. She stated that the City of Maplewood cannot manage the deer in a vacuum because the deer need quality food and they move up and down and back and forth across the river. She said the city has three options: 1. No action. 2. Harvesting in normal hunting season. 3. Apply for a special DNR permit to harvest outside the deer hunting season. City staff will collect data about the number of vehicular accidents, public/private property incidents, and deer count and schedule the issue on the city council agenda in the next 60 days. As the last portion of her agenda report Colleen asked the council if they had any questions on the issues listed in her staff report and the council thanked her and said no. F. OPEN SPACE PROGRAM City Manager McGuire announced to the council the new members of the three-person Open Space Program Acquisition Committee and they are Dominic Ramacier from the original committee, Cliff Aichinger an administrator with the Ramsey/Washington Metro Watershed District, and Janet Grew-Hayman a naturalist with the Maplewood Nature Center. He explained that the committee will be in the final process of reviewing sites and utilizing the remaining funds from the original open space funding allocation. He will make the official public announcement of the commiee members at an upcoming city council meeting. Mike Ericson Council/Manager Workshop Meeting Minutes October 5, 1998 Page 3 and he will meet soon with the members of the committee to review the final process so the committee can proceed to completion. G. COMMUNITY CENTER UPDATE Parks and Recreation Director Bruce Anderson discussed with the council a number of activies including the success in generating additional revenues at the Community Center. He also described a proposal for an exchange of services with the massage therapist at the Community Center. The proposed exchange would be an annual membership fee for a massage a month. The massages would then be used in a number of ways for members and employees of the city. Councilmembers agreed that it was a good idea and supported the use in the manner described in Bruce's memo to council. H. OTHER BUSINESS Councilmember Carlson discussed the English Street parking issue and said only four people showed up. City Manager McGuire presented and asked for approval and certification of the Election Judge list. Kittridge moved and Allenspach seconded a motion to annrove the election iudee list as_prenared by the city clerk Motion passed 3-0. -City Manager McGuire informed the council that the dispatch services issue was moving along slowly but would be discussed at a council meeting in November. There are two options for the council to consider and they are to keep the existing operation but make a significant investment to upgrade the system and secondly, to contract with Ramsey County for dispatch services. The last issue City Manager McGuire presented was the Bruentrup Farm proposal from Bruce Mogren and Edina Realty. He stated that the issue would be discussed at the October 12 council meeting where the public would have an opportunity to be heard to help determine public support for the purchase. I. FUTURE TOPICS None. J. ADJOURNMENT Motion by Allenspach and seconded by Kittridge to adjourn the meeting at 6:48 p.m. Motion passed 3-0.