City Council Highlights – March 14, 2023
The March 14 Regular City Council meeting was off to a quick start. There were no Presentations or Citizen Input and the Councilmembers approved all 14 Consent Agenda items on the list. Nothing was on the agenda for a Public Hearing and Councilmembers went straight to the four items under Council Business.
The first item was to Adopt Resolution #23-042 Approving the Preliminary Plat for Parkside Townhomes. The applicant, COR at Ramsey LLC, proposes 68 attached townhome units in 12 buildings, built in two phases, generally located west of Rhinestone Street, east of Traprock Street, south of 146th Avenue, and north of Ramsey Parkway. Community Development Director Stephanie Hanson outlined the proposed 12 buildings, street and sidewalk access, landscaping and plantings and front and side-facing architectural features visible from public areas. Staff recommended approval of the preliminary plat contingent upon enhanced exterior materials of both the fronts and sides of the buildings facing public roads; review and approval of stormwater management from the Lower Rum River Watershed Management Organization; and inclusion of a street lighting plan in the final plat submittal. Representatives from the developer (Jason Palmby) and the builder MI Homes (John Rask) discussed the project more in-depth and answered Councilmember questions. The resolution was unanimously approved.
Case 2 was to Adopt Resolution #23-054 Approving Plans and Specifications and Authorizing Advertisements for Bids for Improvement Project #23-12, HY-10 Ramsey Improvements. City Engineer/Public Works Director Bruce Westby spoke about the purpose of the improvements to support current uses and future development. The bid plans refer to Ferret Street's extension to Bunker Lake Boulevard. The plans drawn by Bolton & Menk included the road extension northward through privately owned property. Presently, the property owner no longer supports the extension, but the City is hopeful that discussions with the owner will result in renewed support. Westby recommended the project be bid as drawn to avoid incurring more cost revising plans. If the property owner continues not to support the project, the City will amend plans, issue an addendum while it is out for bids, and bring back a scaled-down project to Council for approval at the end of April. A unanimous motion was carried out to approve authoring the advertisement for bid as drawn.
Case 3 was to Adopt Ordinance #23-04 Amending the City Charter Prohibiting Membership on City Boards and Commissions of Non-City of Ramsey Residents. This ordinance restricts non-Ramsey residents from serving on boards and commissions and unanimous Council approval would be needed to amend the City Charter. Councilmember Musgrove wanted clarification on “unanimous” since the Mayor was absent for this meeting and Council was at six members instead of the regular seven. City Attorney Knaak reviewed the statutory procedure, and this particular ordinance would require an affirmative vote of all members of the Council. A motion was made to table the case to a special City Council meeting on March 21, 2023.
Case 4 was to Adopt Ordinance #23-03 Amendment to Chapter 2 Article V. - Boards, Commissions and Authorities Division 2. - Economic Development Authority Section 2-189. The amendment’s purpose was to clarify City Council appointments to the Economic Development Authority (EDA) and to set the term of a Councilmember to coincide with their current council term. The ordinance presently read that once a Councilmember is appointed to the EDA, they would remain on it until they were no longer a member of the Council, however long that was. The ordinance to define terms was unanimously approved.
To see the entire agenda of this meeting, you can visit City Council Agendas.
Watch the City Council March 14, 2023, meeting on QCTV.