[0:44] uh welcome to the April 1st 2025 Minnesota Supreme Court meeting Oh just kidding April Fools The April 1st

[0:52] 2025 city council meeting for Weisetta I hereby call the meeting to order Uh

[0:57] members of the public may attend the city council meeting in person or may watch or listen remotely by the meeting

[1:02] view the meeting on channel 8 WCTV and the city's website at

[1:09] weisetta.orgwv Public comment during the public forum andor public hearing portions of the meeting may be provided

[1:14] in person at the meeting in advance or logging into the team's call and raising

[1:19] your hand during the public hearing When your name is called in the meeting you will be seen and heard in our council

[1:25] chambers and the cable channel You will be asked to unmute and then you may begin your comment All public comments

[1:30] must include your full name and address Uh next is the pledge of allegiance Uh if we could all stand if you're able and

[1:37] follow along I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the

[1:44] republic for which it stands one nation under God indivisible with liberty and

[1:50] justice for all Thank you The next item on the agenda is

[1:56] roll call Uh let the record reflect that all are present with no absences Earlier

[2:02] uh today the council participated in a workshop and discussed the following the review of the Weisetta bar and grill

[2:08] remodel plan uh where we provided input to staff on design direction both look and feel and function Uh this item will

[2:15] be prov back back uh with specifics on budget and timing at a future meeting with a goal of the remodel happening

[2:20] next year Mr Mayor I just want to point out that council member Sorenson is absent Oh you're right Thank you I go

[2:28] back and restate that council member Sorenson is absent So we'll go back to that roll call and and let the record

[2:34] reflect that we are not all present but council member Sorenson has an excused absence Thank you for catching that Uh

[2:40] the next item on the agenda is to approve the agenda I would accept a motion to approve the agenda as is or

[2:46] does anyone would like to make any changes

[2:52] I'll move to approve the agenda as outlined Second Uh moved and seconded Do we have

[2:59] any further discussion All in favor say I I I That passes Uh

[3:05] the next item on the agenda is our public forum Um just making sure that

[3:11] there isn't anything on here Um so for members of the public in attendance tonight you're interested in speaking

[3:16] please come to the DAS and state your name address and indicate you're representing a group and limit your comments to three minutes If your item

[3:23] is something you wish to speak about on the agenda for those that are in person fill out the form at the table in the back and hand it to staff And for those

[3:30] who are watching on teams you can send a note via chat to staff and let them know which agenda item you wish to speak

[3:37] about We also require that your camera is turned on when you speak The first

[3:42] item on the public forum is introduction of Mr Cabra who is a high school compass

[3:48] student and I will turn that over to city manager Dah Thank you Mr Mayor and good evening council So I would like to

[3:55] introduce uh Ragav Cabra Uh he's a Weisetta Compass student um mentee Uh

[4:02] Ragoff if you can come on up to the podium please Um so uh just for those

[4:08] that may not be familiar with the Compass program it's a program for distinguished seniors at Wisetta High

[4:15] School uh that really focuses on um uh bridging kind of the gap with uh seniors

[4:23] at high school with the business community So it allows students that are have achieved a certain level of

[4:29] excellence to take classes um and have a mentor within the business

[4:34] community and also do special projects so they can learn a little bit more uh about the business community certain um

[4:41] professions that they might be interested in to really get them uh started uh and down the hill of of

[4:48] college and whatever they want to do So it's a it's a distinguished program and um unfortunately for Mr Cobra he drew

[4:57] the short straw and got assigned me Um I I think part of that program I'm the

[5:04] only government uh individual but because I get to work in such a great community with so many business links we

[5:10] have a lot of conversations about um you know connections with the greater business community wherever he's

[5:16] interested in And then also you know basic stuff like resumeéumés um getting

[5:22] getting um getting him ready for just you know uh his interest in the business

[5:27] community and and his career So it's been fun to get to know uh Ragav and uh

[5:33] I hope you'll ask him many questions He's learned a lot We're still going to be meeting over the next couple of of

[5:38] months And uh his his interests are just general business and administration and

[5:44] the automotive industry So um we've got uh yeah never mind I'll I'll leave it at

[5:50] that in terms of automobiles Um but uh happy to have him here And uh I think

[5:56] he's got a a couple things he'd like to say but feel free to ask uh Ragav any questions Why don't you go ahead and

[6:02] introduce yourself and and make your comments and welcome Um first my name is Ragav Cabra I'm with Weisetta as Mr Doll

[6:09] stated and I'm really grateful to be here and to be able to um stay in this meeting

[6:15] And um I just wanted to say like this class I mean obviously having my mentor

[6:22] uh Mr doll has been amazing so far and I've been coming to Wisetta since I was a kid and like finally like learning

[6:30] about like the ins and outs and what happens behind the scenes of being in this community and going to these events

[6:35] like JJ Hill and stuff has been has honestly um I've been considering coming

[6:42] into this field more after seeing how everything works and how honestly

[6:47] interesting it is and working with these people and yeah do you guys have any questions

[6:54] First welcome Um maybe just one to start and then I'll turn over to the rest of the council But what are your plans you

[6:59] know after graduation After graduation I plan to attend Mano State University down south um where I study at where I'm

[7:06] probably going to study um automotive engineering and business Great Yeah Questions of council of our uh student

[7:14] Yeah I'll weigh in with a couple How many Compass students are there at Weissa High School Um you have to apply

[7:21] and then you get interviewed and I think uh I think 32 32 students in that class

[7:28] How many in business management economics There are other branches though Okay So more than 32 just 32 in

[7:35] business 32 in just business management economics The one that I'm in Okay What

[7:41] made you focus on automotive Automotive I've just like cars Just like cars since I was a kid like you and every other kid

[7:49] it seems And I've like like I've liked cars since I was a kid and like lately

[7:54] I've been getting more and more into it and learning how they work and working on them And so that kind of pushed me

[8:00] towards automotive engineering Other questions

[8:07] Sure I'll ask a question Um I'm glad you had such a great experience with manager

[8:12] doll and um fun that you got to learn a little bit about a municipality Is there any

[8:19] takeaways or big surprises that you um learned as when you got started Um

[8:25] probably one of the biggest takeaways is how like everybody like as much as everybody has their own like sectors

[8:32] that they manage whether it be civil public whatever it is um they all have to work together and it all works so

[8:40] like flawlessly that it's like kind of interesting to me how like even though everybody is assigned something

[8:46] individually all of it comes together in such a like in such a cohesive way It's

[8:51] a great takeaway Thanks And I am not paying him to say any of that I swear

[8:57] Mr Park do you have any questions or Yeah So

[9:02] um how are we going to solve the Trump tariffs on cars That's your April Fool's question

[9:09] by the way I won't put you on the spot for

[9:15] that What's your favorite car Favorite car Do you have a model or a make or a

[9:20] year Um that's a tough question because I got like 20 in my head that are going

[9:27] through right now But for now I I over at Lexus of Weisetta they let me test

[9:34] drive one of their LC500s and that's been new favorite of mine Okay good Good

[9:40] And what kind of cars have you learned to work on Work on so far only like Japanese because that's what we've been

[9:46] driving at home So doing little repairs here and there but it's been fun And hopefully I get to work on more cars

[9:53] Good My My family was car dealers so my brother's got the business now And so I

[9:59] grew up detailing cars and mowing the grass outside Yeah I detail cars I have

[10:05] a business so yeah I just wish I could do more of them right now but the

[10:10] weather is not compliant with me Very good Thank you Thank you Um well

[10:15] welcome uh you know you're at the tail end of your your your I guess your program but best wishes on graduation

[10:22] and future and thanks for for uh working with us here at the city Yep Thank you so much Okay Thank you Um the next item

[10:31] on public forum is proclaiming the month of May as Arbor Month I just have a couple comments to set this up Um I

[10:37] didn't know this but uh Arbor Day goes back to Nebraska in 1872 uh former

[10:44] governor Sterling Morton uh actually put this forward uh to make tree planting

[10:50] more prevalent Um he also uh served as the secretary of agriculture under the

[10:55] second term of President Grover Cleveland I also didn't know that Grover Cleveland and Trump are the only two

[11:01] presidents in US history to serve non-consecutive terms Anyway uh fact

[11:06] there Um anyway so uh Minnesota was one of the first states to follow Nebraska and adopted the tradition of Arbor Day

[11:13] in 1876 Um it's usually the last Friday of April and since 1978 the state has also

[11:20] designated the entire month as Arbor Month And um so it's about raising

[11:25] awareness about the trees the environment and the community's overall well-being There's numerous statewide celebrations but Weisetta has its own

[11:32] little tradition So each spring the city of Wisetta distributes potted shade trees to its residents free of charge Um

[11:39] it's our way of saying thank you to caring about our community's tree canopy Um I believe that you can submit a

[11:46] request up until Monday May 5th while supplies last And uh the residents are

[11:52] responsible for planting said trees if you get them um on private property within city limits and the public works

[11:58] department will deliver those trees on or around Friday May 23rd There are two

[12:04] species available this year American basswood and sugar maple And if you're interested you can go to

[12:12] wisetta.org/free tree giveaway All spelled out F rea With that I'm going to turn it over

[12:18] I think to Mike who's going to take us through our proclamation celebrating Arbor Month and Arbor Day

[12:26] Thank you Mr Mayor and Council thank you for the introduction I appreciate some of the additional info By the way we

[12:32] have about 18 trees that are left for availability for our residents Oh wow So popular Yep About 82 people have signed

[12:40] up already Fantastic There may be a few more Well you can't submit twice Yeah

[12:45] got one Uh tonight as we've done over the past several years uh we're

[12:50] proclaiming Arbor Day and Arbor Month as the month of May For the past 14 years the city of Weisetta has been recognized

[12:57] as a by the Arborday Foundation as a Tree City USA community To qualify as a

[13:03] Tree City USA community the city must meet four standards established by the Arbor Day

[13:09] Foundation and the National Association of Tree or of State Foresters The standards were established to ensure

[13:16] that every qualifying community would have a viable tree management program and that no community would be excluded

[13:22] because of its size The four standards are maintaining a tree board or

[13:27] department having a community tree ordinance spending at least $2 per

[13:32] capita on urban forestry and observing Arbor Day And by reciting an official

[13:39] Arbor Day and month proclamation the city can demonstrate its support for the

[13:45] community tree program and complete the requirements for continuing its recognition as a Tree City USA community

[13:52] And with that I would ask if you so choose to proclaim Arbor Day as April

[13:59] 25th and the month of May as Arbor Month Sure So I think the city will proclaim

[14:06] it to be Arbor Day on the 25th and of April and uh tree arbor month in the

[14:12] month of May And then do we need a motion to accept the proclamation or is this just a ceremonial thing

[14:17] Ceremonial Ceremonial All right All right Will anyone else like to comment on Arbor Day or Arbor Month before we move on to the next item

[14:25] Okay great Thank you for that Mike Appreciate that Thank you Uh city manager do we have anyone on teams that

[14:30] wanted to speak in the public forum Uh Mr Mayor we do not Okay so next on

[14:36] our agenda is new agenda items And so this is number six Does anyone on

[14:42] council have new agenda items to bring up now or in the future

[14:47] Okay hearing none we'll move on to the consent agenda which is item seven So

[14:53] we'll go through all of the items on the consent agenda Approval of the check register Approval of municipal licenses

[15:01] Award of contract to HUB parking technology for the Mil Street parking

[15:06] ramp access project Authorized purchase of a front-end loader Oh that sounds fun

[15:11] adoption of resolution 072025 amending the 2025 fee schedule for right-of-way

[15:17] permit fees and electrical vehicle charging fees So is there a motion to

[15:23] approve the consent agenda as presented or of any items need to be pulled for review I have a couple of questions

[15:31] about item D and curious if um I could ask

[15:37] those or we could have a small discussion Why not I think um maybe let's um let's get the agenda approved

[15:44] without that included and then we'll we'll pull it to ask questions How does that sound Sure Okay So um are there any

[15:49] other items that need to be pulled for discussion Okay So I would accept a motion to approve the consent

[15:57] agenda with the exception of item D which we'll have further questions on So

[16:02] I would accept a motion for that So moved Take a second for that Second Any further discussion All in favor say I I

[16:10] I Okay Molly over to you to address your questions on item 7D

[16:15] Uh thank you Mr Mayor And um I'm glad um Kelly's here because I think you'll

[16:22] have some answers for me Um I just was I as reading through the packet noticed

[16:28] that the reason for the purchase it seemed as I understood it was because

[16:34] the the front loader we already have is no longer under warranty And I'm wondering if that's our common practice

[16:41] Just to be perfectly frank like a quick Google search and a little of a deep dive on the John Deere website claims

[16:50] that these should last 4,000 hours and we're getting about 1,500 out of it

[16:57] And I just want to know like our philosophy on vehicles and equipment

[17:03] especially large equipment that maybe could possibly live past their warranty

[17:08] and save the community a little bit of money My philosophy is to um knee-jerk

[17:15] and default to fixing and maintaining what we have before we purchase brand

[17:20] new And curious if you could Yeah I'd be happy to answer a couple questions Uh

[17:27] we've had a standard um kind of replacement life for the front end loader of seven years It happens to tie

[17:34] in with the warranty That's not the only reason that we use that as a life cycle

[17:40] um it gets a lot of work So we're starting to see more and more maintenance responsibilities for that

[17:46] piece of equipment And we do like to take advantage of the fact that because we maintain it reasonably well before

[17:53] the costs get too high we get a pretty good trade in So it offsets a good chunk

[17:59] of the overall cost of the equipment If you saw in the cost estimate we're paying at the end of the day after trade

[18:05] in $149,000 but the tradein is almost the value of the the final price Very

[18:13] similar to what we saw 7 years ago 7 years ago it was about $190,000 We got

[18:20] $110,000 tradein At the end of the day the equipment was about 85 My only push

[18:25] back is if that's a trade-in value To me that is also saying that there's a lot of value left in the equipment Um and so

[18:34] $136,000 for a piece of equipment that's working well it seems

[18:42] Um seems worth having a discussion about and just a better understanding of what

[18:48] maintenance would look like if it were to have an issue and would be out of warranty Like is that a big challenge

[18:55] for us um they're expensive replacements so it depends on what the issue might be

[19:01] but hydraulics are typically an issue which operate the majority of the the

[19:07] equipment Um electronics are very expensive Same thing with we were chatting out in the hallway about uh

[19:14] motor vehicles Motor vehicles have a computer and when the computer starts to fail it it's almost worth the majority

[19:22] of the value of the vehicle In this case it wouldn't be a $300,000 replacement but the cost of a

[19:30] new front end loader isn't getting any less Over the last couple years it's gone we had estimated including our

[19:37] trade in about 125 as you see it's 25 more than that but the overall vehicle

[19:42] cost is close to $300,000 Is it difficult to find someone to work on these this equipment Uh it's specialized

[19:50] equipment So typically we would take it to a contractor called McQueen if we

[19:55] can't do it in house Okay I just like think holistically we should look at um

[20:02] how fast we're we look at it all the time Okay Yep Well then to me the

[20:07] challenge is if we put it off a year or two years just to extend the life we're going to be paying maintenance costs and

[20:13] by the time we get to that two years down the road the cost of the equipment might be half a million dollars and our

[20:19] trade in is maybe 100 grand maybe less than 100 grand And now we're paying more

[20:25] for the equipment than we're actually paying now Okay All right I just wanted to bring that up and think about that um

[20:33] on on our larger pieces of equipment moving forward or continue to Yeah we do keep track of that No very good question

[20:41] Is that closed out from your perspective Is it Yeah it did I just wanted to share my philosophies and um how I feel about

[20:48] using and maintaining and um fixing what I already have and trying to apply that

[20:54] philosophy because I think it's a good um way to budget So I'm just glad to hear you guys are doing it as well And

[21:02] unfortunately um it doesn't sound like it's going to work in this situation but

[21:08] any other questions on this item Otherwise we'll close this out Okay hearing none we'll move on to the next

[21:13] item on the agenda which is need to miss Oh you're right Thank you Thank you Alex Well we did the consent agenda right We

[21:19] and then we pulled it Yes you're right Then we need to vote on this item So I would accept a motion to authorize

[21:25] purchase of front-end loader with the further clarifications that Molly offered So I would accept a motion on

[21:31] that I'll make that motion Do I have a second Second All in favor say I I I Okay that

[21:39] passes So moving on Thank you Alex Moving on to um new business We don't

[21:45] have any uh hearing today public hearing today So new business The first item on new business is consider adoption of

[21:51] resolution 082025 approving an encroachment permit and approval of

[21:56] grading plans and sidewalk plan for 109 and 115 Minnotonka Avenue So I'm turning

[22:03] this over to Mr Mayor Uh Director Kelly is going to take this item Okay Thank

[22:09] you Hello again Happy April Uh tonight before you have a proposal for two homes

[22:16] at 109 and 115 Minnatonka Avenue South The development of these two parcels on

[22:22] these two lots has a couple uh impacts to our our city code The first being uh

[22:29] grading impacts The grading impacts then lead to an encroachment permit request

[22:35] and then the last has to do with uh public infrastructure installation in lie of tree replacement The project is

[22:43] located at the corner of Weisetta Boulevard and Minnotonka Avenue South Here are the two parcels 109 and

[22:51] 115 located on the west side of Minnotonka Avenue The applicant's request uh is to

[22:59] construct two homes They have uh pretty significant grading impacts Down in the bottom corner we have a rendering of

[23:05] their new proposal For those of you that drive by the site pretty often you know that the site sits down pretty low today

[23:12] And they're proposing to raise the grade to improve the aesthetics as shown in the rendering and access to the new

[23:19] homes Right now the the single access is from the southern end of the site to one

[23:25] single uh structure on the property as shown on the attached existing survey

[23:31] formerly existing There is no structure on the site today As you can see here the drainage

[23:38] primarily runs to the center of the lot and to the

[23:44] west Here's the proposed site plan for the 109 property the northern of the two

[23:49] properties Related to grading they're proposing about,00 cubic yards of fill

[23:55] As that relates to the overall size of the site it turns out to be about 2.81 81 ft I'm going to back up a slide

[24:02] because I think that's where I had my description of city code where it says modifications

[24:09] that serve to alter the average grade and typical natural grade of individual lot more than 2 feet requires city

[24:16] council approval It's not a variance to our code It simply says that anything more than 2 ft average grade change

[24:23] requires your approval So the northern lot has 2.81 81

[24:29] ft of average grade change The southern of the two lots

[24:34] 115 proposes about a 5-ft change 4.97 Again the natural grade and

[24:43] drainage will drain to the west They are providing a drainage system along the

[24:48] west side of the property line before it crosses to the neighboring property where there is another pipe that takes

[24:54] it further to the southwest Because of the grading on the site a retaining wall is shown along the

[25:00] northern property line It extends onto the right ofway of Weisetta Boulevard Because the wall is proposed

[25:08] to be more than 4 ft it's considered structural and we would need an encroachment permit for a structural um

[25:15] feature within our rideway A structural feature in the ride

[25:20] ofway encroachment also requires city council approval

[25:26] The last request to the three is to use for the first time or consider for the

[25:32] first time our city code section 936 06 A3 which states that an applicant or the

[25:40] council may wave the tree tree replacement requirements on a site in

[25:46] lie of public infrastructure And in this case the applicant is suggesting to

[25:51] offset the tree replacement or part of the tree replacement for the overall development of these two sites by

[25:57] constructing a sidewalk along Wisetta

[26:03] Boulevard Tree replacement in general on the two sites uh will impact about 262

[26:09] in of trees applicant has determined that about 100 in of the trees can be replaced

[26:15] reasonably on the new sites as they're developed leaving about 162 in total

[26:21] that is proposed to be offset by the sidewalk construction Here's a sketch from that

[26:28] survey of 109 showing in red the proposed sidewalk The sidewalk would

[26:33] extend from Minnitonka Avenue to the driveway of the apartment building to

[26:39] the west Just for a little bit of additional info

[26:46] the map on the right is our overall sidewalk and trail plan The blow up on

[26:51] the left uh shows that in orange that that is a gap that is in our current

[26:56] sidewalk plan So this is something that we've had in um our overall goals to

[27:02] close this gap and the recommendation or suggestion to construct this sidewalk

[27:08] would fulfill that

[27:13] Just for some perspective this is the a Google Street View on the left of the site looking down to 109 and 115 beyond

[27:21] and a rendering of the development on the bottom

[27:27] right So before you tonight we have three approvals or for consideration One

[27:34] is to approve the grading plan of more than two feet on these two sites 109 and

[27:40] 115 To adopt resolution 082025 approving the encroachment of

[27:45] that retaining wall in the northwest corner of 109 Minnotonka Avenue South

[27:51] and to approve the sidewalk construction in lie of tree replacement And with that

[27:56] I'd be happy to stand for any questions you might have I know the applicant is also here Yeah So let's first take

[28:02] questions of staff and then the applicant will be given a chance to comment if they if they choose to But first questions of staff and what's been

[28:08] presented Go ahead So the five foot change um

[28:14] seems like a lot Uh what happens to the runoff It sounds is it all feeding into

[28:21] this pipe that runs southwest Is there any um other issues with the neighboring

[28:30] property to the south or the west I mean I'm just worried about unintended consequences for

[28:37] changing the Yeah the the property as proposed meets our hard cover

[28:43] requirements as would a single family site there If it was still a single family home it would be allowed to have

[28:49] the same amount of hard cover within the site The grade is going up but they're

[28:54] proposing a drainage swale and some infiltration underground infiltration which will slow the runoff to the

[29:01] adjacent property Ultimately it does cross the line to the adjacent property where there's a pipe that captures it

[29:07] before getting to the apartment building and taking it around to the west Okay So I saw in the one rendering that it

[29:13] looked like there was a swale right on the Weisetta Boulevard side Is maybe it

[29:18] was I think I'm gonna just go

[29:24] It was in the keep flipping Well maybe it's here I

[29:29] I I I saw it in the actual rendering of in the rendering Yeah

[29:36] Um there we go Wait No it's it's not this one more back I think Yep

[29:44] Sorry about flipping There we go Yeah there on the right Is that what is that The only spot that kind of protects the

[29:51] And where is the retaining wall The retaining wall in this image is at the

[29:56] far upper right hand corner of the image So this is looking at it from Minnetonka

[30:01] Avenue and a boulevard looking to the west The retaining wall is at the far

[30:07] back right hand corner of the structure on the right hand side And that's supporting the sidewalk in that spot or

[30:14] it it's supporting the boulevard and the sidewalk What it does is allows for the grading of the boulevard area to be

[30:21] lessened to allow the construction of the sidewalk Okay Um and then I

[30:31] guess are there other precedents for changing the grade 5t Have we done that

[30:38] often in the city We haven't done it often but yes there are other precedents

[30:44] uh that have been brought to the council before Uh two years ago or maybe three

[30:50] uh there was a project on PV Road 340 PV Road that suggested um 3 or 4 feet of

[30:58] grade change Another project that came forward was 555 Bushway Road two parcels very large

[31:07] was about 14 acres 11 somewhere between 10 and 14 acres Uh very large three

[31:13] sites that were graded and the grade change was about 3 and 1/2 ft and 3 and

[31:19] 1/2 ft over those large parcels is quite a bit of grading One of my previous slides showed

[31:26] the area of these two lots These lots are just over 10,000 square ft They're very small So having grade change and

[31:33] that the grade change doesn't include the construction of the home That's the adjacent grading the leftover or remnant

[31:39] grading around the structure uh that we that adds up So we do have precedent It

[31:45] doesn't happen often and that's why the code provision in uh

[31:52] 9164D is in our code to make sure that you are aware of grade changes to ensure

[31:58] that there aren't any adverse impacts Um are I can't remember Are there any

[32:05] heritage trees on this one I don't believe so No Okay Okay It's all my

[32:11] questions Okay Great Other questions of staff You uh questions I had actually kind of

[32:16] relate to that same thing but you know I'm very familiar with that lot I can still picture the old home that was there and um not having thought about

[32:24] council business but when I did walk by it at times in the past I thought there must be some really bad drainage

[32:30] problems on this property just the way that it's situated down in a depression So my question is is this grading change

[32:37] proposed actually going to improve the drainage that was there before I believe

[32:43] so Yes And and it's actually going to be enhanced by some additional on-site

[32:48] management Okay That's what I thought Okay One quick question Mr Mayor Um

[32:57] this property these properties are in the R3A district I presume if I'm not

[33:02] mistaken I'm not sure I'll have to look to my planning colleague

[33:09] Got to figure out how microphones work Uh mayor and council that is correct They are in the R3A zone So we have some

[33:16] new zoning standards in R3A in um in terms of front setbacks Um can you tell

[33:24] me how those how this is complying with our new um standards At this time the

[33:30] city is not reviewing a new home permit Oh that will come forward at a later date assuming these actions were to be

[33:37] taken Understood That will be the next step under review Okay great So making

[33:44] them aware of our new zoning standards would be important

[33:51] Um that was that was the majority of my questions too which was if you could just bring the slide up that showed the

[33:57] retaining wall I'm think I'm mostly clear on where it is but if you just

[34:03] read through it sounded very much like it would be along the I'm going to I'm going to show this slide first This is

[34:09] the overall 109 lot as it sits Minnotonka Avenue on the right hand side

[34:15] of the page Weisetta Boulevard on the north side I'm going to just flip two slides because this is a zoom in It's on

[34:22] the very west side of the 109 property and crosses into the rightway right at the 109 Western property line

[34:32] So how far would this retaining wall be from the curb

[34:38] It's going to I don't have a measurement exactly The sidewalk is proposed at five It's going to be about 25 ft behind the

[34:44] crew Plenty of space Okay And most of it's on the property The majority of the

[34:50] wall is on the property However it crosses onto the ride ofway which requires an encroachment Um which led me

[34:58] to my next question which maybe more for the applicant but hope maybe you can answer it director Kelly is the proposed

[35:05] sidewalk Um will that have a buffer in between the sidewalk and the street or

[35:12] will the sidewalk just meet the street Right now it's proposed to be up against the back of the curb right up against

[35:18] the street Very similar to the sidewalk that extends from Barry Avenue up to the

[35:24] sidewalk in front of these apartments and as the sidewalk across the street in front of Clappage Park As we studied so

[35:32] much of White Desert Boulevard in our corridor study we um really encouraged

[35:39] the idea of um closing one of the this particular loop in sidewalks but we our

[35:46] values were moving forward there should be a buffer in between the roads Um if

[35:51] you walk along Weisetta Boulevard on the other side of this street right here

[35:56] there's no buffer between the street and the sidewalk And it is the most unpleasant way to the most

[36:05] unpleasant strip of the of the um of of the that walk So I'm curious if the

[36:13] applicant and this will be a better question for you guys would be willing to add that buffer as that's Yeah thank

[36:20] you If you wouldn't mind just stating your your name and address and then um after you address that question maybe you could just stay up there and offer

[36:26] any general comments on your application or if you have a presentation So go ahead sir Welcome Uh thank you My name

[36:32] is John Sonic with the Charles Cud Company And uh um 25340 Smithtown Road

[36:39] Shorewood Minnesota Uh so when it comes to the sidewalk I drew it two different

[36:45] ways in the 3D I drove up and down the street three times trying to decide whether it looked better up tight or

[36:52] back And because everything from this intersection west is tight against the

[36:57] road I determined that it looked better um up against the road If if and in

[37:05] order to change that on the other side of the road I think if we went back in history and I should have done this this

[37:11] house was built and the road was 12 ft lower Okay And somewhere along the line

[37:18] uh and I don't know what historical data I have to get to to find that this road

[37:23] was raised and the other road was raised to get it because the the park on the other side of the road is in the same

[37:29] pit in comparison to the road And so it's when we're asking to raise the

[37:35] house up it's not like we're trying to ask for something unnormal We're just

[37:41] trying to get the homes back up to the normal height of the road because somewhere along the line in the last 80

[37:47] years from when the original house was built the road got raised and and if you

[37:53] look in the 3D it's much more appealing to have a home up level and and we kept

[37:59] it as low as we could because we're chasing ground in the backyard In other words I'm I'm having to put in a special

[38:05] deep basement just to get the backyard down to where the ground is uh because how much higher the road is and we kept

[38:13] a swale in the front yard that the other council member noticed uh because I

[38:18] didn't want the house to be above the street in the backyard or on the other left side of it any higher to have it

[38:25] look unnormal So we actually are still lower than the corner of Weisetta Boulevard and Minnetonka Boulevard uh

[38:33] engineering wise um in order to do that So we've worked with Mr Kelly we've

[38:38] worked with the planning department We the homes are all designed multiple

[38:44] times around to fit to your new code because when we turned them in the first time they fit to the code around the

[38:50] corner and this zoning district has a different roof height So then we had to

[38:56] redesign the roof height and the rest of it to adjust down The setbacks and everything are according to what the

[39:03] planning department has given us for the setback So we've designed them based on hard cover height of house and set back

[39:11] from the street to fit to all of the codes that you currently have Uh with all due respect just I think her

[39:16] question was would you be open to if if the council directed a different approach Absolutely Pardon Yeah And and

[39:23] I have a 3D showing it that way So then the trees go between the curb and the sidewalk which is if I had east from

[39:31] this location that's what it was So that's how I drove up there and it's like okay So I had my um grassman

[39:38] actually draw it that way and then I looked at then I had and we're because we're building new homes on 264 and 270

[39:45] right now I drove by and it's like you know what I'm going to put it back behind the curb again So I don't

[39:50] honestly think the cost is the same no matter what The retaining wall holding

[39:55] it up um again is it's not going to impact that If I bring it in the I went

[40:02] and measured the rest of the stuff going east it's about six foot gap of of Boulevard sod with the trees living

[40:08] between the boulevard and the curb or the sidewalk and the curb Absolutely We

[40:13] can take the trees put the boulevard trees in between the sidewalk which is the way it is So however the city would

[40:19] like it and that's why Mr Kelly and I have left it kind of open for you guys

[40:24] to decide you know if we're going to take a little bit of tree money and put it towards getting the sidewalk built or

[40:31] if we're just going to saw it And you know it's it's just I can only put so

[40:36] many more trees back on this lot And at that point at a certain point you know

[40:42] it'd be to me it'd be good to do something on the land versus just donating the rest of the money to

[40:48] whatever So while you're there I'll just give you a chance to make any other comments or or uh about your your

[40:55] application and then we'll open it back up to questions Sure Uh so we've done a a extensive job designing a home to fit

[41:02] into keeping you know with the neighborhood and the new homes that are going in the neighborhood and we try and

[41:08] build a high quality home at the Charles Cut Company Um and so we are um you know

[41:15] doing what we can here Again we're putting the arborite buffer on there um

[41:22] with the boulevard trees besides uh rather than a fence because I'd much rather have green things that grow

[41:30] versus a fence you know on the edge of the boulevard there uh even though we we only get uh 20% of those arborit trees

[41:39] covered because your ordinance reads that we can only get credit for 20% of a

[41:44] tree type and that it's it's still a a a better way for us to buffer the home

[41:51] slow the sound of the road down and give the home a little bit of privacy And I believe because the there's two more

[41:58] homes up the road that have the similar type buffer it it looks in keeping with what the other neighborhood has there

[42:05] too Um so hopefully we've done a good job in presentate you know presenting to

[42:11] you guys uh what is going to be a couple of beautiful homes um um for the new

[42:17] wise setup area Okay Uh thank you Open up to questions of the applicant from council

[42:24] No I do have one thing on the water part that you asked Um so there's water

[42:31] resource uh best practices here in the backyard and you can just barely see it

[42:38] in that picture there Uh but there's a long skinny uh what was referred to as a

[42:44] French ditch A lot of people understand what that might be So we are collecting the water from the yard and then each of

[42:50] the yards has an underground storage facility So underneath the grass those

[42:56] all the way around these sites that water's collected it's brought into the underground storage facility and first

[43:04] uh promoted to settle into the ground there So at that point they'll actually be less runoff going into the pipe once

[43:13] these homes are built than there originally was with the house that was there Uh it's not an inexpensive thing

[43:20] you know it's another pretty close to $30,000 we're investing into best

[43:25] management practices to keep as much rainwater on our site as we can and have

[43:30] it soak into the ground And because this portion of Weisetta has a fair amount of

[43:36] sand and its clay u we believe that the quite a bit of it is actually going to

[43:41] end up actually going into the ground and not that much of it heading off to the west you know a large a large rain

[43:48] event is still going to go through the pipe but I'm assuming this was this you filled out Okay great Um further

[43:55] questions of the applicant otherwise we'll bring it back to council for discussion and deliberation So questions Um I have one quick question Maybe it's

[44:01] better for staff but um what would have the fee have been if we or what would it

[44:08] be if we wouldn't accept this offer

[44:14] So for the 162 in that is sort of outstanding not to be planted on the

[44:20] site already is about $48,000

[44:27] Okay So bring it back for discussion So staff is recommending approval Um I

[44:33] guess who would like to weigh in first I'm happy to Go ahead Council Park

[44:39] Yeah Um on the grading plan um I think I

[44:46] I was a little concerned about changing the topography of the area but it sounds like at one

[44:54] point this is not the or this topography was changed on the house So I guess that

[45:00] helped me get over that hump on 109 and raising it 5T Um also it sounds like a

[45:07] very good water management system so we're not going to have any uh unintended uh consequences from this

[45:14] change So I'm okay with the grading Um the encroachment permit for

[45:22] 109 does not seem like a big deal at all Um it's a very short uh area Um and then

[45:31] thirdly the sidewalk construction Um I would prefer that uh we have the buffer

[45:38] It is really um Weisetta Boulevard has become almost

[45:44] a little mini highway and it's really uncomfortable walking on the sidewalk immediately next So if you could have

[45:49] another 150 feet or 200 feet I don't remember what the lot size is of buffer

[45:55] between you and the um the traffic It's it's just nicer So I would be fine with

[46:04] that sidewalk in in exchange for the 162 in as long as we had the boulevard or

[46:11] the uh buff sixoot buffer between it Thank you Mr Park Who would like to go

[46:16] next I go in line here Um pretty much my thinking is is aligned with uh with Jeff

[46:22] Parkill here uh if you haven't seen the property you wouldn't understand how

[46:29] improving the grading plan would help that property because it definitely would help And and again I would have

[46:35] been okay with that even without the explanation of the road having been raised at some point but that just adds

[46:41] to my comfort level with that Uh in terms of the encroachment uh that's something apparently that the city is

[46:47] totally fine with and it looks like it's good in the plan And in terms of the sidewalk uh that to me was the most

[46:52] interesting part I am okay with that I would have been okay with it doing straight because that's sort of like my

[46:58] engineering you know uh balance sort of thing But uh no matter what if there's a

[47:04] place where we don't have sidewalk now and the Yeta quarter study indicated well we should have sidewalk uh and we

[47:11] would like to have offset this is a place where we can start that And so maybe going further west at some point

[47:18] in the future the sides sidewalk will be offset to align with this So I'm okay with that too And having a sidewalk to

[47:25] me it makes sense I mean I'm totally willing to do that trade-off because it it does two other things for the city

[47:32] which is it um adds to the walkability which is something we talk about a lot right now If you walk along that

[47:38] sidewalk even though it's right up against the curb you get to that spot then what you're either going to feel like you're walking in somebody's

[47:44] property or you're going to step out into the street and we don't want that to happen So having the sidewalk makes a

[47:49] lot of sense to me And then again the plan also improves improves the water runoff So I'm totally fine with all this

[47:56] Okay Thank you Council Member Pers Council member McDonald Yes Thank you Um

[48:01] I I agree with what um my colleagues have said up here as well Um I think the

[48:10] it's going to vastly improve that that property is kind of a a whole and um as

[48:16] long as um we're doing it thoughtfully and not putting neighbors and that at

[48:21] risk that feels I feel comfortable with it Um I I I really like the the swap

[48:29] kind of thing for the sidewalk for the same reasons um council member Pleish had So I do I do want to see that

[48:36] boulevard in there and have it match the one to the east instead of matching the

[48:43] one to the west So I'm in favor of these uh three asks Did you have a comment Yeah

[48:50] just a quick comment on the boulevard trees Also unlike the trees that were planted up the street we're actually

[48:56] going to start out with four to five inch trees So they're going to be 20 some feet tall to begin with and much

[49:03] more retruer which gets the process going quicker So that's great I'm

[49:08] comfortable with what staff has recommended I do also support adding the the strip buffer of grass Um so I think

[49:15] we have consensus for that So um any further questions of of applicant or

[49:20] staff before we I would accept a motion Mr Mayor just one note um the for the

[49:26] resolution if the council considers that um the land owner is actually Rachel

[49:32] Development So I would just add that that note be uh part of the motion Okay

[49:38] Okay So um if there's any further comments or

[49:44] questions otherwise I would accept a motion I think to approve this with the condition associated with that strip of

[49:50] of of grass facing the street I'd be happy to make a motion Okay I would make

[49:57] a motion to approve the grading plan for 109 and 115 Minnotonka Avenue South To

[50:03] adopt the resolution 08-2025 approving the encroachment permit for 109 Minnotonka Avenue South

[50:11] and to approve the sidewalk construction in lie of tree replacement uh for all for Rachel development Okay that's good

[50:19] Do I have a second for that Second Okay any further discussion Okay All in favor say I I I

[50:27] Okay that passes Thank you very much Um next on our agenda um is considering

[50:33] adoption of resolution 092025 approving a fence variance at

[50:41] 33055 Wake Cliff South and a private street So um turning over to Mr Kelly

[50:48] again or who does this go to Uh Mr Mayor this is going to be the first full item for our brand new uh community

[50:54] development director Alex Sharp and I am excited for this presentation All right no pressure Alex Over to you sir Fence

[51:00] variances and I feel the most riveting item that we can do That being said this

[51:06] is a good project and I think it is a very applicable site for a variance So uh to kick things off thank you mayor

[51:12] thank you council and Jeff setting me off for a little bit of nervousness to start this off with Uh this variance is

[51:19] for three different properties with three different property owners One being or two being single family home owners and the third being the Wake

[51:27] Cliff uh town home association The site is uh is part of

[51:33] the Wakeliff neighborhood north of Highway 12 and south of Gleon Lake I'll

[51:39] zoom in a little bit closer so that you're able to see it in a moment The site is zoned R4 medium density

[51:46] residential district and guided uh predominantly as a medium density with uh high density off to the west

[51:55] I'll linger a little bit longer on this slide so that you're able to uh gather your bearings but the Wake

[52:01] Cliff variant or the Wake Cliff neighborhood has private streets which is why one of the three properties

[52:07] selected is uh the neighborhood association rather than the two single family homes Um so they are in a duplex

[52:16] uh area but these two properties are where residents are And then here you

[52:21] can see along the tail end of uh Wakelift uh south this is where the

[52:27] fence location is proposed There is an existing fence on

[52:32] the site Uh the the area noted in black is an existing privacy fence that

[52:38] existed since the time of the original Wakelift development It did not extend to the east as it as proposed now Uh

[52:46] likely it actually connects in with property to the west of this as well So it was likely installed at the time of the original subdivision and then uh has

[52:54] the applicants are seeking to carry it forward largely due to storm damage of trees over the past several years as

[52:59] those trees have begun to age There are actually two different variances present on or being sought on the site Uh one is

[53:07] for allowing a fence in what is considered a front yard and I'll get to that in a moment The second is for the

[53:12] opacity of the fence in the front yard Our code reads and it's

[53:19] uh a interesting uh fence code that anytime you are adjacent to a public

[53:26] right ofway that that side is treated as a front for a fence And so along

[53:31] Hollybrook Road that's considered a front So therefore they need to meet the

[53:37] front fence requirements which would require uh only a 4- foot fence and

[53:44] a opacity less than what the applicant is seeking for the privacy off of a rel

[53:49] relatively busy road On the left you can see the

[53:55] existing fence and where it ceases today Uh this is that black line you saw on the prior slide And then on the right is

[54:02] the proposed location or approximately marked out on site The neighborhood was notified uh

[54:10] both by the applicant and by city council or I'm sorry and by the city I'm not going to go through uh every aspect

[54:16] of this bullet point but if you do have specific questions we can go back to them but do want them to be made as part of the public record There have been no

[54:23] public comments received to date and the planning commission did unanimously recommend approval uh as part of their

[54:29] March 24th 2025 agenda Uh and I would go back to note that there was a public hearing held as

[54:36] well When considering a variance the city uh considers uh four key points

[54:44] First starting with is it consistent with our comprehensive plan And then there's the practical difficulty points

[54:50] of is the variance reasonable Is it unique and not created by the land owner

[54:55] And does it alter the essential character of the neighborhood The draft resolution and report and

[55:02] findings recommended approval by the planning commission addressed each of these points and found that the re

[55:08] variance is deemed reasonable does present a unique condition uh not

[55:14] brought forward on other properties and it would not uh hinder the or uh alter

[55:20] the essential character of the neighborhood and may in fact enhance it With that the applicant is present

[55:27] this evening I can stand for any questions or sit as it were and uh the

[55:32] motion is and recommendation are before you Okay Questions of staff

[55:41] Yeah Just a curiosity about that uh front yard setback or very not a setback

[55:46] but front yard feature of the fence Bear with me here If the

[55:52] homeowners association had built say a dog house on that little property would

[55:58] that then make this the back of the property Uh mayor council member Fleckish no Here

[56:06] I'll go back to the survey because I think it's the best spot to show you So to many this would be considered the

[56:12] rear yard particularly for this site right There is no front yard for a roadway parcel It it that's why I said

[56:19] if you had a dog house there would then become the back Um and on this parcel it

[56:24] would be considered semifont semi-side So the dog house analogy essentially doesn't apply because it's based upon

[56:32] Hollybrook Okay So no stray dogs there And the one on the the right would also that's not the front yard there either

[56:37] So it's front yard excuse me backyard sideyard backyard and then front yard simply because there's no structure

[56:43] there Largely for the predominant side of the fence Yes Where the code does read is that anything uh in front of

[56:51] this structure would actually be the front yard So there is a portion of the proposed fence that would be considered

[56:57] front yard for the unit on the east Okay Okay Further questions of staff Maybe go

[57:04] to Molly first Go ahead Mine will be a softball compared to council member Plekish's question which is that

[57:11] existing fence that you showed us a photo of the one in the black It looks is that six foot and 100% opaque Correct

[57:20] Uh mayor council member member McDonald that is correct Thanks Okay member Park

[57:26] Hill So maybe I missed this uh in the explanation

[57:31] but why wasn't this built when they originally did the project and or they

[57:37] originally built this fence And is the purpose of it purely sound a sound

[57:42] barrier or what's the kind of the thought purpose for the fence Mayor council

[57:49] member Park Hill I think I would defer to the applicant on that I don't have the history of Okay when that why the

[57:56] fence wasn't or what those intentions were for the original town Yeah let's park that just for a second and see if there's any other questions that you had

[58:01] and then we'll turn it over to the applicant to make comments Those are my only questions Okay great I'd invite the applicant or whoever and just uh state

[58:08] your name and your address and certainly uh if you would mind addressing council member Parkle's question and you

[58:13] certainly can offer any any other additional comments that you wish on the application Thank you very much Good

[58:19] evening mayor and council members and other members Uh my name is Reed Shaw

[58:26] Reid SA I live at 470 Wakeliff Drive North and I'm on the board of the HOA

[58:34] Yeah welcome Um to get to Council Member Parker Hill's question

[58:39] immediately the um first of all having been there for only seven years rather

[58:45] than the almost 30 when it was constructed I don't know the exact answer I can comment though that this

[58:54] that the black line fence runs into

[58:59] um the adjoining um HOA as well uh Pondridge So it may

[59:07] have been a joint project I don't know that But to council member McDonald's

[59:12] point one of the reasons why the fence was proposed as it is is to keep the

[59:19] community look it is the same height and the same opacity as the existing fence

[59:25] And that was really all we were trying to do or the contractor was trying to do

[59:31] in terms of putting this fence in at this time Okay Any any other comments

[59:36] about the application No I I would just like to um thank uh Director Sharp for

[59:43] having us be his first presentation to the council and also uh I would like to thank staff particularly um uh planning

[59:52] commissioner um uh city planner Corals who has spent a lot of time with us

[59:59] during this project and we very much appreciated her guiding us through the process Okay just hang tight for one

[1:00:05] second Any further questions of the applicant from council No Okay Thank you Thank you Um so now I'd bring it back to

[1:00:11] the council for uh you know staff is recommending approval uh of this resolution with a variance Uh who would

[1:00:18] like to weigh in first Okay get off Okay thank you Um I think

[1:00:24] this is a perfectly reasonable request The planning commission did a great job

[1:00:30] Um and I support their findings and so I have no issue with this and we'll vote

[1:00:36] in favor of the variance Thank you council member Uh who would like to go next Let's go down the line Again I have

[1:00:42] no problem with this I mean the few questions I had were all answered either by staff or by the the homeowners

[1:00:48] association So perfectly fine Makes sense Okay Council member Parkill I have nothing further to add I think it's fine

[1:00:54] Yeah I don't either I support it So I would accept a motion Uh adopting

[1:01:00] resolution 092025 approving a fence variance for this uh 330 355 Wake South

[1:01:07] and Private Street Who would like to make that motion I'll make that motion Mr Mayor Okay Do I have a second Second

[1:01:14] Do we have any further discussion Hearing none Uh all in favor say I I That motion passes Um do we have

[1:01:23] anybody on teams Jeff that wanted to comment on anything Uh Mr Mr Mayor we do not Okay So the next item on the agenda

[1:01:30] is a city manager report Over to you Jeeoff Yes Uh Mr Mayor just one thing Um

[1:01:37] wanted to remind everybody in this room and that's listening if you're a property owner now is your time If you

[1:01:44] have any questions or concerns about your evaluation from the county that you

[1:01:49] received over the last couple weeks uh please call the county get it on their list They're really responsive they'll

[1:01:56] call you back and ultimately our local board of appeal and equalization hearing is going to be on April 17th Um so you

[1:02:05] still have time to work things out with the county Uh if if uh your concern

[1:02:10] doesn't get worked out within 10 days of the hearing which is the 7th then it

[1:02:15] would ultimately come to us Um but now is the time really So I encourage residents at uh either in this room or

[1:02:23] in the community to give them a call The number um is

[1:02:30] 612-3483046 and feel free to contact city hall if you have any questions about the process Okay Uh any questions

[1:02:36] for the city manager I I have one Um so received some

[1:02:42] feedback from the residents of Harmony Circle over the last couple weeks including a phone call today about the

[1:02:47] notice that's out there from Excel Energy to put a communication tower fairly large tall one actually um on the

[1:02:56] I don't know if it's called a substation or what is it called Mike a substation on 101 Can you just comment what you

[1:03:03] know about it and what if anything is our purview over it and what guidance

[1:03:08] could you offer the public if they have feedback on that proposed new tower going in Thank you Mr Mayor Happy to and

[1:03:16] I'll just provide my kind of summary answer and then I'll look at uh Mr Sharp and Mr Shelzel if they want to add

[1:03:23] anything But ultimately Excel Energy has submitted a cup which is a conditional use permit process where the city is

[1:03:30] able to put conditions to mitigate impacts of whatever is being built Uh so

[1:03:35] that will go through a public hearing process The public hearing is slated for Monday April 7th so next Monday at the

[1:03:43] planning commission At the planning commission Thank you Yes And then ultimately um if if it is acted upon at

[1:03:50] that meeting it will carry over to the next planning commission meeting for final approval or final recommendation

[1:03:56] of approval and then go to the city council on May 6th That's all tenative

[1:04:02] assuming it goes through the process Um ultimately the actual request is to essentially replace a smaller pole with

[1:04:11] a much larger pole a smaller pole being about 100 feet replaced by 140 feet pole

[1:04:18] So it's you know I would say a significant um uh additional you know height for

[1:04:25] that substation and that's why you know we have a public hearing That's why you know if re if uh needed or if reasonable

[1:04:32] the city has an opportunity to put conditions um on that project Okay Other

[1:04:38] staff members would like to weigh in like what what is the purpose of the poll Is it a cell phone tower Is it a

[1:04:44] what is it Uh so thank you mayor Uh the purpose of this poll is actually for private communications with Excel

[1:04:51] between their other substations and other devices So this is not a typical cell tower that would be utilized for

[1:04:58] any of our cell carriers within the community This is principally for or not principally solely for Excel They won't

[1:05:05] in fact allow additional users on that poll One of the advantages that does

[1:05:10] have is it does create a cleaner apparatus look uh versus other cell towers applications that the city may

[1:05:17] review Mr Kelly any further comments or No both explanations were great It's

[1:05:22] going to be a private network for Excel use Okay Well just thank you for alling that process and you know hopefully for

[1:05:28] the concerned residents of Harmony Circle they can tune in or we certainly can follow up with them So thank you for that clarification Any further questions

[1:05:35] of city manager All right Um I guess we would then move to adjournment Do I have a

[1:05:41] motion to adjourn tonight's meeting So move Mr Mayor Okay In a second

[1:05:48] I'll second that motion Any further discussion before we venture out into the snow on April Fool's

[1:05:54] Day Hearing none I would accept uh or we'll vote All in favor of adjourning say I I I That carries Thank you And we

[1:06:01] you know we're closed Adjourned