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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2008-02-21 - Council MinutesCITY OF CORCORAN JOINT CITY COUNCIL AND PLANNING COMMISSION MEETING February 21, 2008 CALL TO ORDER AND ROLL CALL Call to Order The Corcoran City Council and Planning Commission met on February 21, 2008, at city hall in Corcoran, Minnesota. Present were Mayor Guenthner, Councilor Grabowski, Councilor Jacobs, Councilor Hudok and Councilor Thomas. Planning Commission members present were Commissioners Kevin Casserly, Pat Ellinger, Robert Laddusaw, Pat Hank, Rosalyn Milbrandt, Michael Osterberg and Alternate Darrell Krueger and Dean Franssell. Also present were Interim City Administrator Bodem, City Planner Gartner, and City Engineer Rhein. Mayor Guenthner called the meeting to order at 7:00 p.m. followed by the Pledge of Allegiance. Mayor Guenthner explained the purpose of the meeting and explained the process of the Comprehensive Plan Update. Planner Gartner explained that this meeting is to identify issues with the current Comprehensive Plan and to review problems the city has had in the past and to seek information on ways, if any, that the issues can be corrected in the Comprehensive Plan. He explained that there will be some amendments done to the Comprehensive Plan due to changes in maps and technical information that the Met Council is requiring to be provided as part of the project. SERVICE WATER MANAGEMENT PLAN Planner Gartner explained that a presentation was given to the Council from the Met Council regarding this plan in the fall of 2007. The Service Water Management Plan is to help protect local creeks, lakes and wetlands from runoff from development and agriculture uses. The City was given a grant of $20,000 to help implement this plan. Currently they are asking that the Council authorize Bonestroo to start the process and get the plan implemented. Mayor Guenthner explained that the Council received a memo and review of the plan from Bonestroo July of 2007 but the Council for some reason didn't act on it at that time. Met Council has been more actively involved with promoting a natural resource best practice. They want to be sure the natural resources remain protective and one way to do this is for city's to adopt a Service Water Management Plan. MOTION made by Grabowski, seconded by Thomas, to approve the work proposal from Bonestroo Engineering Firm and for them to start the process of implementing the Service Water Management Plan. Voting Aye: Grabowski, Guenthner, Hudok, Jacobs and Thomas. (Motion carried 5:0) Mayor Guenthner explained that Planner Gartner has identified three areas in the Comprehensive Plan that needs reviewing and discussion. One of the items being population projections and communications between Met Council and the city in 2005. The second item is the availability and phasing of sewer services. The third item being the timeline for completion of the plan. In September of 2005 the Met Council had some formal communication sent to the city requesting the city to confirm or affirm the population that was presented in the Comprehensive Plan. The city didn't respond to the request and the Met Council took that as the city's confirmation that the population projections were accurate. The question now is whether or not the population projection in the Comprehensive Plan is accurate or not. A question was asked if the City has the figures that were used to calculate the population projections for 2008 thru 2012 and what is the actual population amount today. If the City had the actual amount then it would provide a basis to review if Service Water Management Plan Page -1- CITY OF CORCORAN JOINT CITY COUNCIL AND PLANNING COMMISSION MEETING February 21, 2008 the projections are correct or not. Mayor Guenthner explained that the population projections were figured by going back to standards that apply to obtain municipal sewer systems. As the Comprehensive Plan was reviewed areas were identified that are eligible to receive municipal sewer that gave the city a number of how many to plan for. The next step of the analysis, based on info available, was the phasing of the municipal sewer lines and connections. This gave the city the information needed to project the population amount each year by the municipal sewer availability. A question was asked on whether or not the city is required to have municipal sewer. Mayor Guenthner answered that there is no legal obligation to have the MUSA line brought into the city. He explained that there was an assumption that without the municipal sewer it would limit industrial /commercial development in the city. There was a question asked how the farm owners that have large amounts of land and if they were to sell some of their land for the MUSA line, how is that influenced in the Comprehensive Plan. Mayor Guenthner explained that the beginning process of the comprehensive plan was interviews with different groups of people in the community. One of the groups being farmland owners. During the interview they were asked what their attitude was about the city in regards to land use in the past, present and future. This lead into discussions about fairness the city is to take in developing of land throughout the city. The elected officials decided the three districts and two of the districts are on the east side of the city and the third district being at the southwest part of the city. The city wanted to preserve the open space value within the city. He explained how developing has progressed in the city and the zoning rules the city has adopted. He also explained that the sewer line is only able to handle so much and the City Engineers are able to calculate how much a sewer line can handle. An alternative was for the city to go to the Met Council and request a bigger line to be put in because the usages can increase as years go by and once the line is in the ground, it is difficult task to have to dig it up and change to a bigger capacity pipe line. So it is best for the city to plan for the community being suburbanized in the future and making sure the sewer line can handle that capacity. The city then created an ordinance that said if land is put aside that can't be subdivided, the city will provide the landowner with a bonus rights. That was a way to motivate landowners to preserve the open space value. Stan Chatsick, Mapleton Road, explained that he was a member of the Waste Water Commission for about eight years. One of the considerations back then was the downtown and business part of Corcoran had all of the septic systems failing. Lots were laid out and there were no ultimate sites required. Once the pipe is passed up there aren't many other options. This lead into a discussion about the options that was available in the past including adding a plant. It was suggested that staff compile a list identifying the issues that need to be addressed regarding population growth and projected population growth. It was asked if anyone knew anything about the document that the Met Council had sent the city in September of 2005. Councilor Thomas answered that he knows the city received a twenty-five page document from the Met Council and that the city had no objections to the population projections but did have a problem with the timeline. Planner Gartner explained that when the city looks at the population projections Page -2-- CITY OF CORCORAN JOINT CITY COUNCIL AND PLANNING COMMISSION MEETING February 21, 2008 they need to think about absorption and how fast the market is going to dictate development in the city. When someone comes to the city and want's to develop the plan states how they will be supplied sewer and how the city will improve the roads with increased traffic in the area. He explained that as of today the population of the city is about 5800 people. In the plan that Met Council has it states that the projection for 2010 is 11,600 people. He noted that the city doesn't have the infrastructure for the population to increase to that amount in two years. During a past meeting with Met Council it sounded like a representative would be attending tonight's meeting. It was asked why there wasn't a representative in attendance. Planner Gartner explained that he spoke with Met Council and there was no definite answer given of why they weren't attending the meeting but did say they would schedule a meeting with the Planner, Administrator and the Mayor in the near future. It was suggested that staff contact Met Council and get answers to the questions that have been asked. Planner Gartner was asked on what issues with the current comprehensive plan he sees and what would the city need to do to be compliant. Planner Gartner answered that the city needs to decide if the colored areas on map are ok, or if they should modified. If the city disagrees with the system statement, the modification request can be made to Met Council but the burden of proof, for justifying it, is on the city and there isn't a guarantee they would approve it. He also explained that there isn't much flexibility for change of the density of 3 units to 5 acres. He suggested the city not give up anything for the MUSA boundary and not make any changes. There is a portion off of Highway 10 and County Road 50 that is higher density. If developer wants to come in to that area, how is the city to provide sewer to that development. Planner Gartner answered that the city has to adopt a Capital Improvement Program. The city could charge the developer an area charge to bring in the pipe line, the city also could assess the property owner for the cost of brining in the pipe line and as areas add on to the pipe line then the city could reimburse the developer for moneys paid or do it like a rebate program. Mayor Guenther explained that also according to the land use plan map the MUSA line was to jump from Maple Grove to the down town area of the city. It would progress in forty-acre chunks. There was some discussion on the Sanitary Sewer Plan and what changes need to be done to that plan. Another issue to address is if the city wants to continue to have a MUSA boundary that will provide for urban development. Some discussion was started about developer's feelings about having to pay for the extension of the line and whether or not that will keep developers from wanting to develop in the city. Planner Gartner added that there is another way for the developer to get assistance in paying for such infrastructure. The city will be collecting area charges, hook up fees and such and the city has the ability to waive the fees or trade them for increased value. The developer will bring in the sewer and water from Maple Grove, as an example, and instead of the city collecting the fees and paying for the infrastructure to go in, the city can allow the developer to keep them to help pay for those costs. There was some discussion about the city's website and how the city should be perceived. Currently the opening of the website states that the city is waiting to be discovered, it was suggested that if the city wants to be developed, maybe allow a developer to come in and do the leg work that is needed and provide the city with Page -3- CITY OF CORCORAN JOINT CITY COUNCIL AND PLANNING COMMISSION MEETING February 21, 2008 some feedback. It was suggested to change the density in the WASHICK area to change the density moderate to high density with natural borders. This Lead into discussion of other areas in the city that might need density changes and it was suggested that staff prepare a list of the areas that might need to be changed to be discussed at the next meeting. It was suggested that the list of issues compiled from staff be available for residents to view before the next meeting, so residents can speak about it at the next meeting. There was some discussion about some parcels being down zoned without the property owner being aware of it and this should be addressed in the comprehensive plan. Mayor Guenthner explained that he feels there is a misunderstanding and doesn't believe anyone was down zoned, but if someone feels that way then they need to bring it forward to the city for clarification. Planner Gartner added that this type of thing could be fixed through an ordinance change. Commercial Industrial Development versus residential development affecting property taxes was discussed. This lead into a discussion of what type of community would be ideal. A suggestion was made that the City Council make a formal request to the county to make the down town area sewer system compliant. Another suggestion was to ask the Met Council if it is necessary for the city to bring in more sewers. The City Engineer was asked to check in to the best way to route a sewer system into the down town business district. There was some discussion about when and where the Met Council has determined the MUSA line to come into areas of the city. Some of the council members and planning commission members expressed their feelings about the current Comprehensive Plan. ADJOURNMENT MOTION made by Thomas, seconded by Grabowski, to adjourn at 9:15 p.m. Voting Aye: Grabowski, Guenthner, Jacobs, Hudok and Thomas (Motion carried 5:0) Interim City Administrator Todd Bodem