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11/18/1997 - City Council Special 00373 MINUTES OF A SPECIAL MEETING OFTHEEAGANCITYCOUN~ November 18, 1997 A spedal meeting of the Eagan City Council was held at 5:00 p.m. on Tuesday, November 18, 1997 at the Eagan Munidpal Center. Present were Mayor Egan and City Councilmembers Awada, Blomquist, Masin and Wachter. Also present were Director of Finance VanOverbeke, Assistant to the City Administrator Hohenstein, Director of Parks and Recreation Vraa, Chief Building Offidal Reid, Senior Planner Ridley and City Administrator Hedges. DEMOLmON AIRLINER MOTEL City Administrator Hedges stated that the home acquisition in the Highway 55 Tax Increment District is nearing completion. He stated that as the remaining property owners begin to consider alternatives, staff is requesting direction on how best to deal with the redevelopment of the Koloski's Addition property in general and the demolition of the Airliner and Spruce motels in particular. City Administration Hedges stated that the Kor family, which owns the Airliner and Spruce properties, has spedfically ask that the City consider acquiring their sites as well as the Kollofski's Addition homes. Assistant to the City Administrator Hohenstein stated that the Kors are currently exploring options which include private demolition which is estimated at $100,000 plus the cost of any asbestos abatement, public demolition with the cost being assessed by the City back to the Kors and the third alternative is public acquisition and demolition. He stated that if the City would consider acquiring and demolishing the property it would be necessary to agree to a property valuation. He stated that the Airliner will be valued by the County Assessor's office at $68,600 in 1998 and the Spruce motel at $81,300 in 1998. Assistant to the City Administrator Hohenstein stated that the policy question before the City Council is whether the City should be involved in the acquisition or should the Kors be obligated to cover the costs of demolition through their own action. City Councilmember A wada stated that the cost could be significant if there is a large quantity of asbestos in the two motels. She further stated that she would not be in favor of public acquisition unless the costs of demolition and asbestos abatement were deducted from the purchase price. City Councilmember Masin stated that she prefers private demolition as the option for site clean-up. City Councilmember Wachter asked if the City had considered fire training as an option. Assistant to the City Administrator Hohenstein stated that the City is currently discussing using the motel fadlities for some limited fire training. City Councilmember Awada asked what the upside to the alternative of public acquisition and demolition. Assistant to the City Administrator Hohenstein stated that this option increases the partidpation by the City toward a master plan for redevelopment and also the demolition could potentially proceed quicker than under a publicly ordered, private demolition. Mayor Egan questioned how the City would recover the cost. Assistant to the City Administrator Hohenstein stated that it depends on the acquisition price from the Kors and the value of the site once the five to six acres is available for sale. Director of Parks and Recreation Vraa stated that parkland that is dedicated through a commercial development is calculated at $60,000 - 80,000 per acre for determining the parkland donation amount. City Councilmember Wachter stated that he would prefer the City look into ways to allow the home sites and motel sites be developed into one large developable site. City Councilmember Awada stated she could support acquisition, but only if the costs of demolition and Spedal City Coundl Meeting Minutes November 18,l997/Page 2 00374 asbestos abatement were deducted from the price, and after exploring all options with the Eagan Fire Department. Assistant to the City Administrator Hohenstein stated that staff needs direction regarding how the City should fadlitate the redevelopment. City Councilmember Blomquist stated that the entire area, including the Airliner and Spruce motels, should be reviewed as a part of the Comprehensive Guide Plan update during the next few months. Mayor Egan encouraged one master plan development. He further stated that in time, he could support an RFP for a developer to take over the entire area as the best alternative for redeveloping the property. Mayor Egan summarized the direction stating that staff is to proceed with the demolition of the Airliner and Spruce Motels as an obligation of the current owners and that staff should work with exist- ing property owners in the area to encourage partnerships for an overall master planned redevelop- ment. SECOND SHEET OF ICE Director of Parks and Recreation Vraa reviewed plans for the second ice sheet stating that the timeline and all changes that have been prepared by the architect since the last review by the City Coundl require direction so final bid documents can be prepared. He stated that for uniform building code requirements and complying with ADA, a second sheet of ice and the existing Civic Arena are considered one building. The Director of Parks and Recreation also stated that the interpretation has increased the number of toilet fadlities required and the need for the elevator to be installed in the existing building. Mr. Paul Dahlberg of ACC Architects spoke to the original requirements and how the restroom fadlities will be redistributed between the new fadlity and the existing fadlity. He spedfically stated that rather than construct all the restrooms in the second arena, some of the stalls would be constructed on the mezzanine level of the Civic Arena which would warrant more use than in the new addition. This change and the need for an elevator have increased the cost of the project. Mr. Dahlberg further commented on the estimated cost for the project, stating that two elements including the precast and refrigeration have increased since the cost estimates were presented. These costs are up by approximately $43,000 and after adding the additional toilets and elevator required by the new uniform building code and ADA, the total increase to the second sheet of ice budget is $140,156. City Administrator Hedges stated that the cost proposed for parking and the five percent contingency were retained as presented. Mr. Dahlberg stated that the City should be able to apply a part of the contingency to offset the budget increase, however, he mentioned there is uncertainty about soil conditions on the southeast corner of the construction site. City Councilmember Wachter stated that there is little the City can do about the new uniform building code requirements and ADA standards, however, there should be a strong effort to limit and discourage any change orders. Mike Parsons, Construction Manager, noted the importance of proceeding with the bidding and steel and precast because of the long delivery schedules. City Councilmember Wachter stated that the City should proceed ahead with the project including the ordering of steel and precast at this time. He questioned why the City would not bid all of the project at one time? In response it was noted that the remaining bid section would not be ready for bid until January and that by bidding all together time would be lost on the steel and precast. City Administrator Hedges stated that the budget and plans and spedfications should be approved as a part of the November 18 regular City Coundl meeting agenda. Mayor Egan thanked Mr. Dahlberg and staff for their presentation and stated that action will be considered as part of the regular Coundl meeting as summarized by the City Administrator. Spedal City Coundl Meeting Minutes November 18,1997/Page 3 003?S LNABLECO~SPROGRAM City Administrator Hedges stated that staff was given direction by the City Coundl at the November 3 meeting, to continue consideration of renewal of the Livable Communities Program to determine what the consequences are if the City deddes not to partidpate in the program during 1998. He further reviewed a memo that outlined the various funding programs and grants that the City received points for by being a part of the Livable Communities Program. Mayor Egan stated that the statute was a compromise with legislative interests who had proposed to limit local zoning authority, mandate certain uses throughout the metropolitan region and create penalties for non-compliance. He stated that the purpose of the Livable Communities Act was to permit voluntary partidpation and negotiated goals and to provide funding programs for program partidpants to pursue those goals. He further stated that pulling out of the Livable Communities Program could impact the cluster activities that are currently administered by the County HRA. Mayor Egan reminded the City Coundl that Eagan has set its goals as part of a cluster of Dakota County dties which allows everyone to take advantage of concentrations of different types of housing throughout the County. He further stated that Eagan meets certain of the goals individually and more within the cluster it meets. Mayor Egan also spoke to the grant programs, stating that livable communities is a healthy compromise to the radical soda! engineering that was originally proposed, similar to the negative notoriety the dty of Maple Grove experienced approximately two years ago. Mayor Egan further stated that none of us are enamored with government regulations, however, as long as the Livable Communities has not negatively impacted the City, we should partidpate in the program which to date has allowed dties to make voluntary decisions about housing. City Councilmember Masin stated that the City Coundl must place the City first and if the Livable Communities Program is not renewed, the City could become vulnerable to criticism. City Councilmember Awada stated that the City does not benefit from grant programs with the exception of the ISTEA funding. However, the City was not successful in receiving a grant. She further stated the City meets its housing quotas due to excellent housing decisions that have been made during the 1980's and 1990's and feels partidpation in the Livable Communities Program is not necessary. City Councilmember Masin expressed a concern about the impact the City of Eagan would make on the county clustering program. City Councilmember Awada stated that no one likes the Livable Communities Program and commented that this is not about housing since we have already exceeded our goals. She further commented that the dtizens of Eagan are in agreement with the housing objectives that have been met by the City Coundl and, further, that the Livable Communities Program is not necessary. City Councilmember Masin stated that she would like the City to work within the system and change the legislation if the City Coundl is not in agreement with the local community program. City Councilmembers provided additional comments about the Livable Communities Program and, after a discussion on the merits of staying in the program as opposed to discontinuing partidpation for 1998, Mayor Egan stated that this item would be further discussed under old business on the regular City Coundl agenda. He further stated that a final vote would be considered at that time. OTHER BUSINESS There being no other business, the meeting was adjourned at 6:20 p.m. November 18, 1997 Date ~~ ", City Clerk