Call the meeting to order. Please stand for the Pledge of Allegiance. I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America, and to the Republic for which it stands. One nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.
Miss Nelson, any additions or deletions in the agenda? May I just call to the attention of the Council? In your blue folder, there’s an updated resolution for item three L and an updated Council action form for item three on the consent agenda. Okay. And then. Is there any item, any Councilmember wishes removed from the consent agenda? Mr.. Mayor. Council item three.
T I will remove item three G. Any other items? Any council, Mr. Mayor? Yes. That’s three t. Sorry. The proclamation. Yeah. Three t and I’m going to remove three g. So, um, three t um, okay. Any others items? Seeing none, I have a motion to approve. Motion to approve. Second. All those in favor say aye. Aye, aye.
Opposed? That passes. Then with respect to item three, t Councilmember Janaka. Yes, Mr. mayor, um, this is the proclamation to declare August 20th, August 31st, 2026 as International Overdose Awareness Day in Maple Grove. Um, so I’ll go ahead and read the commentary related to the council action form.
International Overdose Awareness Day is a global event held annually on August 31st. To remember those gone too soon from overdose deaths. Each year, thousands of people are lost from drug overdose. Some survive but suffer permanent injury with devastating impact to their family and friends.
International Overdose Awareness Day provides an opportunity for us to realize that overdose is preventable and to reflect on practical ways to prevent overdose in our community. Maple Grove Town Green will be illuminated with purple lights on Monday, August 31st, 2026. In recognition of this proclamation. Uh, and with that, Mr.
Mayor, I’d love for us to be able to hear from the family of Grant, someone in our community who died too soon of an overdose. Sure, we should hear from them. I had to push the button. Yeah, we’ll. Okay. There you go. Thank you for having me. My name is Christy Princeton.
And my son Grant started battling addiction at the young age of 16, after he suffered two ACL surgeries where opioids were prescribed to him for pain maintenance for the next three years. Grant was in and out of hospitals for various drug related issues. Grant was ashamed, embarrassed, and tired of the hold these drugs had on his young life.
All of the pain Grant was going through ended on the night of April 8th, 2020 at 11:30 p.m. when I went down to his bedroom to find my baby slumped over with vomit on his shirt. This was the moment that a new pain started for me and my family. Grant was gone forever. At the young age of 19.
16mg of fentanyl caused my baby to overdose. His overdose changed my entire life as I knew it. I want to thank the city of Maple Grove and, um, Christy Barnett for coming forward and all the great people on City council. Um, Christy Yanagawa as well. Um, for recognizing overdose Day in Maple Grove.
Uh, the proclamation not only honors my boy, but all the other lives taken from drug overdose. Thank you. Thank you. Mr. Mayor. I’ll move that item for approval. Second. Is there any further discussion? Uh, seeing none. All those in favor say aye. Aye.
Any opposed? Are that passes? And then, with respect to item three, G, I have to remove item three G because I have a conflict on this item. So I will turn it over. So yes, Mr. Mayor. Um all right. So any discussion on item three G, which is the River Valley Church planned unit development concept and development stage plan.
Any discussion from council on this item? Seeing none, I’ll entertain a motion. What is the desire of council? I’ll make a motion. To approve River Valley Church planned unit development. Concept and development stage plan. Resolution number 26 105. Second. Got a motion and a second. All those in favor, please signify by saying aye. Aye.
Anyone against? Any abstentions? Yes. All right. That passes. Thank you. The next item agenda tonight is item five a the Maple Grove Moments photography contest. And I’ll come down and run through the various contestants. Mayor, maybe I’ll take a moment to introduce Olivia Morris with us tonight, along with Carol Morris.
And Olivia has been with us as a communications intern this summer, and so she’s been helping out with the photo contest. And so she’s here to help present this evening, along with Carol Morris, our communications coordinator. So another successful prior to the contest here. Uh, we head over 250 increased by 144 residents of Maple Grove City.
Contest. Uh, this contest is made from five categories. And how do we select bulletin board graphs? Okay. Recognize the need for diapers and persons who are able to receive their award for this call? For this, press forward divided into categories. The first is the abstract category. And okay, just go get the please hit the button.
Just hit the button. Go first. We gotta go category. We watercolor sunset, but we need the type of. Sometimes. Oh I suppose it has to be on. So anyway um, the abstract category the winner was Dean, Skyler and Mr. Skyler, please come forward. Wavy watercolor sunset. Congratulations. Uh, second place was inside a hockey stick by Don Rao. Yeah.
And I don’t think Don is here. So third place went to Lions of Light. Mine by Nicole Droste. Nicole here we are. They are some beautiful photographs. The second category is the animal category. Uh, first place went to A good Day Fishing by Don Barney. I think Don is here. That’s very cool. That’s amazing.
Second place went to. Just kidding around by Angela Svensson. Almost everybody. I don’t know if Angela was here. Third place went to Sunlit Plumage by Abby Elrod. And Abby’s not here. The third category is Events and Recreation. Uh, first place went to Full Throttle by Nick Manno. Thank you. Very nice.
Second place went to catch of the Day by Susanna DuBose. Did you take. The photograph? Yes. Okay. Oh, there. Yes. And third place went to 2026 Chalk Fest day, won by Earl Evans. Steiner. The next category was the nature category, and the first place went to Fascinating Fungi by Tom Danielson. Second place went to work.
Crimson Meets Cosmos by Brandi. And third place went to sunlit Summer. Snowfall. And then the people category. Uh, fun and Weaver Lake slide by Ron Lucas. Congratulations. Yeah. Look at me. Uh, second place went to swinging at Central by Megan Smith. All three of them. Take her.
Uh, third place went to a touch of Hometown Magic by Amanda Jones as Amanda. Here. And then the youth category. Uh, the roar of crimson basketball. By Derek. Jace. Uh, second place went to nature’s lucky charm by Kate Jaynes. And Kate’s not attending. At third place went to Chalk Fest. Amazes all ages. That was by two angler. It’s a good good.
Okay. Congratulations to all the winners and thanks to all the participants. It was another wonderful year and you can see by the photography that one. It was a beautiful set of photography.
Our judges were Dave Kaiser from media, Alicia miller with the Osceola Maple Grove Press, KC Baldo with Prime advertising and local photographers who have also participated in the past. Shelby Isom, Rich Moll, and Mark Schaefer. We appreciate everyone, obviously, who did this. It’s a great, great annual event for us as a city, and winning. Entries will be on display in the hallway between the Government Center and the Public Safety facility.
And those will also be shared on the city’s social web site. And we print it in the winter newsletter as well. So congratulations once again to all the winners, and thank you for everyone who participated. The next. Tonight is item five. Be the Open Forum.
Um, I’ve have received a blue card from William Fazio regarding the Maple Creek Townhomes and, uh, the Maple Creek Townhomes project will be postponed. Is that correct? Maybe joking. Uh, Mr. Mayor, members of the council. That is correct. Uh, the Maple Grove. Uh, excuse me, the Maple Creek townhome project has been recommended to be tabled until September 8th. Uh, that is to work out some access issues to that particular development that came up.
So, Mr. Fazio, I don’t know if you want to present your thoughts tonight or what you want to do. I think you can speak if you want to and let us know what your thoughts are. I think that would be helpful. Thank you. Mr.. Testing. Is this working? Perfect. Thank you. Good evening, Mr. Mayor.
City council members, it is a pleasure to be here this evening. Thank you for allowing me to speak today. I’m here on behalf of the board of directors of the Wynn Rose Townhome Association, a complex of 79 households over by Bass Lake Road and 101 near the proposed Maple Creek Townhomes.
Planned unit development. And I was here to speak tonight because there’s some items we wanted to make sure we’re on the agenda or on the record per se.
So, um, they hadn’t been in some of the city staff reports, and we wanted to see how we can best partner and work with you all. Um, so I’d say the largest item is that Wynn Rose has a single entrance, so we only have one way in and out of our development. And the concept envisions.
Excuse me, reconstructing that entrance into a shared access using a portion of the association’s property and also using one of our stormwater ponds. And we wanted to let you all know that at this time, the applicant has not reached out to us at all, and nobody has either requested our consent or worked with us on what this would look like.
And so we’re concerned about some of the safety issues for the development, both during the construction, but also after that as well. Um, so at this time, we’re not asking the council to deny the application, but we are asking if you could consider some conditions on the project. Um, and I sent these over an email as well.
But one of them being to ensure that access to Walnut Grove was maintained at all times during the construction without any full closure, and that we receive a written phasing and detour plan to review before any work begins.
Item two being regarding emergency vehicle access to windows, and that it’s maintained at all times, and something that we can get confirmation on from the fire marshal. And um, number three, there was a resolution back from the city council. Number 19, dash 046. Um, at that time, which called for a second emergency only vehicle access drive to be constructed.
And since that was never constructed, we’re requesting if there could be some sort of temporary secondary access so that our residents are not reduced to only one disrupted entrance for the duration of this project. Um, number four is we’re requesting that there be no construction, traffic, staging, stockpiling of materials or working work or parking on association property or within our entrance to prevent blocking that.
Um, number five being the items that the association has today in this area, the fencing, irrigation and entrance improvements that they be restored to existing condition or better by the developer with a specific timeline on when that would take place.
And number six being that we could get a designated contact from both the city and the developer with advance notice to us, and we wish to have the record reflect that. The plan previously presented and approved by the Planning Commission assumes cooperation that our association has not agreed to provide, or that we’ve not been asked to provide either.
And we just wanted to make it clear that our understanding is a cross access agreement, reconstruction of our entrance, and any use or expansion of the stormwater pond for the benefit of the new development would require our consent.
And again, just wanted to put on the record that that hasn’t been requested or given, and we reserve all rights to our property, and we welcome the opportunity to partner with city staff and the applicant on how we can address these issues for our community. Thank you for your time this evening. Thank you, Mister Fazio.
Um, I know that we’ll give the blue card to our staff so they can reach out to you and be in contact with you as they work with the developer on this project. Yes. Thank you. I appreciate you helping us get connected with the applicant. Okay. That’s that’s what we’ll do. All right. Thank you. May I sit down now? Yes. You can. Thank you. Thank you. Uh, the next blue card I received tonight is from Kurt Portland.
I’m sure 9439 Dallas Lane. Uh, asking or talking about the Rice Lake Dam. Oh, certainly. Sorry. Yeah. Okay. Well, I’ll pass it around. So I’ve lived on, uh, Rice Lake, um, on the Elm Creek side of things for the past 16 years. We’re experiencing excessive drawdown this year.
I know we are in a drought, so we’re seeing some excessive things in excessive times. But this is even with that. If I look at it, the the stats over here on the right show, then, uh, NOAA rainfall for the area through April through today’s date.
And this is not even the third worst one that we’ve had since then, but we have the lowest lake levels to the point that we can’t get boats off, lifts can’t get through the channels and things like that. What has happened is I know I’ve talked with Derek on the city side of things, that the bottom flap on the dam, they can’t get it closed all the way.
There was vandalism done in 2022 and they’re supposed to be fixing it in 2030. And there’s $1 million project on the books for that to get it fixed. The problem is right now is it’s open. Based on our rough math, about 1.5 to 2 cubic feet per second, more than it should be.
What that results in is over an eight month period, that’s about 26.3in in lake trout. That just comes off the top. And to replenish that, roughly speaking, every time we get rain, the old rule of thumb was it’s about a 1 to 4 to 1 to 6 ratio with that watershed. So you get one inch, you get 4in to 6in of lift.
That means that you’re going to need to say see somewhere between 4 to 6in of above normal rainfall just to maintain it. Then once you get behind, as long as that’s still open, then it’s got to keep continuing and continuing.
So what I’m faced with is one of the taxpayers here is we have three more years of this, and we’re already starting behind the eight ball and Mother Nature, you know, obviously hasn’t been kind to us. But think about what this is going to look like year to year three. In the past, the flow hasn’t been that bad. So even since the vandalism in the last two years, it hasn’t been that bad.
And of all things, it was a road sign that was jammed in there. Like, I don’t know if you guys have ever seen what that slide gate looks like, but it’s literally a big board that just drops in there and they slide down.
It’s not going all the way down now. And what they used before was a big orange road sign that my kids could see as they were walking through those paths that were cut through the bush. I don’t know.
I understand that from an engineering perspective, that’s far from great, but from a MacGyver fanboy standpoint, like myself, we need those solutions because we can’t wait till 2030. With that. Is there any questions or anything I can clear up for you guys? I don’t think we have any questions right now. I know that, uh, Marshall, all soccer is here. Yes, as as well. So do you want to add something regarding this? Certainly. Can.
Yeah. Um, I don’t have much to add. Curt said it. Well, I’ve been in Maple Grove. I’m at 13926 95th Avenue North, which is about seven houses down from the dam. I’ve been there 22 years in the Lake Association paying member for 22 years.
When the dam was opened last winter to do the drive down, which I support. Um, we raised a concern saying in the last round in 2022, the dam didn’t get shut properly and the white lake level started to come up. Within two weeks it had dropped over a foot.
So the city worked with us at that time, that used a temporary solution to help control the water flow down to the legal limit of two cubic feet per second, which we’re obligated for the last 50 years. Currently, it’s at 3.5 cubic feet per second. So we’re discharging in the last three months, we’ve discharged 10.5in of additional water that we don’t have to.
So tonight when I walk by the park, uh, to the point where it’s difficult for people to put in canoes to go fishing at the Arboretum Park, and as Curt mentioned, we have three more years of this. And if we don’t find a way, this lake will continue to drop, even if we start getting normal rainfall again.
And I asked that the I reached out to Derek in June twice by email, once by a phone call. He did not respond to any of my requests bringing up this concern, and I feel at this point now, I do need to come and take additional steps to see if we can’t get a solution.
My background is 35 years in operations management and industrial construction. Where there’s a will, there’s a way. I just asked for the city to make an attempt to try and control the flow of water so we don’t run Rice Lake empty before 2030. Thank you for the time. Thank you. Alexandra. Okay. Okay. You might want to speak, but we didn’t say. Okay. Um.
Well, thank you on that. I think we’ll have to look at that and see what we can do and what we can, or we can. Jimmy rig something to help sustain this for the next couple of years. Um, I don’t know if you want to. Mr. Working. Mr. Mayor.
Yes, I am aware that, uh, Alexander working is here tonight to potentially update us on the retaining wall at his property. So, Mr. workin. A taller one of these? Yeah. Yeah. We need to tell our mic. Um, Mr. mayor, uh, members of the council, thank you for letting me speak here.
Uh, and thank you for taking a look at the, um, the email that I had sent out, uh, at the working session earlier. Um, so a little background, uh, I moved into this home in 2020. Um, at that point, the retaining wall, um, was in much better shape.
I think it was noted that in 23, uh, was when the wall, uh, started to severely sag and bulge toward the middle there. Um, what I wanted to, um, address was a couple points. Um, first of all, we, uh, our family, um, the neighbors who share the ownership of that continuous wall, um, both strongly want to see this road reconstructed on time.
Uh, it’s, uh, our opinion that, um, we shouldn’t let this wall get in the way of that. And we want to do our best to, uh, help with getting that plan completed. Um, I do have, uh, the survey work that was completed, uh, today, actually, um, if I could, you know, approach and bring that up. Um, so this is the official survey, um, that shows the.
Layout of the wall, uh, as it sits on my plat, along with the, uh, line between myself and the neighbors to our west. Um, you can see there that most of the wall is, uh, either in the right of way or in the neighbors plat.
Um, there is only a northern, uh, border of our property. Um, so since I was alerted that this wall was our responsibility in February, um, and to address why we haven’t, you know, touched the wall before we were informed, uh, in 23 that the wall was city property by the city.
Um, it was done over a phone call with the with the city. Um, at which point we said, well, this is not ours. Our real estate agent told us it wasn’t ours. We didn’t look into it any further. Um, that isn’t us. We should have looked further at the title. Um, we didn’t know about the easement agreement at that point.
So when it was brought to our attention, the what we started doing was reaching out to contractors. Um, uh, we have reached out to more than ten contractors at this point. We’ve heard back from five, um, we have three, uh, written estimates. We have two verbal estimates.
Um, so we’ve done the the legwork to get, uh, numbers in front of the, the council. Um, I can get copies of those over to you all. Uh, if that is, uh, helpful in any way.
Um, what I do want to point out is I know that, uh, recent communication between us and the city has stated that the the goal of the reconstruction is targeted at the part that is failing in the right of way. Um, we have not had a single contractor, and that includes the feasibility study that was produced by the city. Um, suggest that a targeted reconstruction would be feasible.
Uh, I know that you can engineer a wall to do kind of whatever you need it to do. Um, it’s not my opinion that that would be an efficient use of of money. Uh, especially because the, uh, if it is the soil that’s causing it to fail, which is what all of the contractors, um, 201 have have suggested.
We’re kind of shoveling money down on a reconstruction that will cause us to have to bring in heavy equipment on the newly finished road. And that’s, um, that’s not what we want to do. We want this road to last for us. We don’t want to waste that money.
Um, I guess finally we, um, we just wanted to bring up the with the original wall and the original agreement. Um, that wall was constructed in 2001. Um, the estimate given in the permit for the construction cost was $10,000. Um, that’s an order of magnitude lower than the current construct. Reconstruction costs would be.
Uh, it’s my opinion, and I understand that the the agreement is binding with the or with repair fees. The easement agreement doesn’t talk about reconstruction in any way. We do want it reconstructed. We want this wall to look nice. We want this wall to be good for us and the neighbors that share it with us.
Um, but I am concerned that the original wall was built incorrectly. Um, in a for the most part, um, and that unfortunately, because the inspection was not completed, that that incorrect construction was not caught.
Um, and that is where we come to today, where I can’t fix the, the construction, how it was built, and I can’t fix the inspection. But what I can do is try to work with you all and get this fixed as best we can. Um, Councilwoman Janet, go. You have my email. Um, if anyone has any questions or anything, please feel free to reach out to me. I’m, uh.
I work out of the home, so if anyone needs to come and see the wall, walk through it with me. I’m happy to do that. Thank you for your time today. If you have any other questions, I can answer them now or later. Consider other questions. Right now, I think that we’re asking for further information.
At least some of us are just trying to figure out exactly what happened here and what we can do. So thank you very much. Yeah. Thank you. The next on the agenda tonight then is item six A the public hearing on the on sale wine and three two malt liquor license for the Great Greek Mediterranean Grill. Mr. Nelson.
Mayor members of the Council. A public hearing notice for the on sale wine and three two malt liquor license application for the Great Greek Mediterranean Grill was published in the August 6th, 2026, edition of the Maple Grove Press called for a public hearing to be held this evening on August 17th.
We do have a representative of the business here tonight, Andrew Van Vliet, who is the owner and manager, um, to answer any questions to the council and talk about, um, this new addition to their business with the wine and three, two beer. With that, I can stand up for any questions, counselor.
Any questions for Miss Nelson regarding this item? If not, uh, obviously you’ve been in the city for a while, so you’re looking to expand it? Uh, the on sale in three, two malt liquor license.
Um, one of the things that we always talk about is that, you know, we as a city, take liquor licenses very seriously, and we expect that our holders will follow the rules and regulations with regards to the sale of minors and sale to obviously intoxicated individuals or sales to individuals who, by their license, aren’t entitled to be sold alcohol. So, um, to that end, we will have a couple compliance checks every year.
Um, people come out and double check and make sure that you’re following the rules. And, uh, you know, generally speaking, it’s under age individual who’s seeking to buy alcohol. And hopefully you successfully turn them away.
So, uh, that happens a couple of times a year and we expect our license holders to pass those type of tests. And usually they do. So I just want you to be fully aware of that process and what we do, because I think historically, some people were surprised that we were actually checking on them. So, um, it’s important to us that it’s done right.
But I don’t know if others have other comments, but usually it’s up to me to chastise the applicant. Mr. mayor, council staff. And I do know that I believe the last of the yearly or the last for the year.
The police department gives an updated, uh, alcohol training that, uh, for servers, for people who are doing it for uh, Central Park, for, uh, Rock and the Grove and other things. That’s how I’m aware of it. And I had to go through it when I served there. Uh, but it, you know, it sounds like, um, the opportunity for the remainder of the year is gone.
Have your employees gone through that training in the last week or in the last month or so? Uh. Not yet. Uh, is there there is no other training this year, is there? I don’t have mayor council. I don’t have that information in front of me. But I’m happy to follow up with you.
Um, there are other online options as well, so I don’t know if you have a program within your franchise or your business itself for training your staff. Um, but we could point you to some online resources, and then I can get you the dates of the upcoming training as well. Mr.. For online services training? Yes.
Yes. So we do have online resources that businesses can make avail themselves of as well. Okay. Thank you. Council. Other questions or comments? Uh, if not this is a public hearing. Can I have a motion to open the public hearing. Motion to open. Second? All those in favor say aye. Aye. Uh, this is a public hearing.
Anyone wishing to address this item six a the public hearing on the on sale wine. And three two malt liquor license for the Great Greek Mediterranean Grill that should come forward at this time. Is there anyone here to address this item? Item six A seeing none, I’d entertain a motion to close the public hearing. Motion to close..
Second. All those in favor say aye. Aye aye. And then, with respect to the matter itself. Mr. Mayor. Council member, I’ll make a motion to approve the on sale wine and three two malt liquor license for Spartan Foods, LLC, doing business as the Great Greek Mediterranean Grill, 7860 Main Street, Maple Grove, Minnesota.
Subject to compliance with liquor licensing requirements and chapter four of the City code, with said license to expire June 30th, 2027. Second motion made and second. Is there further discussion? Seeing none, all those in favor say aye. Aye aye. Any opposed that passes and well, good luck with it. All.
The next item, agenda item six be the Maple Grove Senior Living Project, vacation number 2602. Yeah. Thank you, mayor and council. Um, this item is a public hearing for proposed vacation of easements associated with the Maple Grove Senior Living development.
The item includes two primary vacation areas, the first being the roadway easement vacation of west of the plat, which would be from the former Ranch View Lane right of way, and then on the north side of the plat, right of way of Arbor Ridge Parkway. Uh, these proposed vacations were included as part of the development review.
Staff has provided private utility companies notice of the proposed vacations, and this hearing has been publicly notified as well. After review, staff is recommending the council hold the hearing for the vacations. Um, close the hearing and then consider the attached resolutions. With that, I can stand for any questions. Counsel. Have any questions for Mr. Labonte regarding this item? Uh, seeing none.
This is a public hearing, and we should have a motion to open the public hearing. Motion to open second. All those in favor say aye. Aye, aye. This is a public hearing. Anyone wishing to address item six be the Maple Grove Senior Living project number 26, 19, vacation number 2602. They should come forward at this time.
Is there anyone here to address item six B? Seeing none, I’d entertain a motion to close the public hearing. Motion to close. Second. All those in favor say aye. Aye. Any opposed? That passes. And then, with respect to the resolution itself. Mr. Mayor. Councilmember McCullough. I’d like the motion to adopt a resolution.
Number 26012, vacating certain easements located in the city of Maple Grove, County of Hennepin, state of Minnesota. I think it’s 261021020, sure. Yep. Second. Uh, is there any further discussion, if not all those in favor say aye? Aye. Any opposed that passes the next ten I am seven a the Fish Lake Estates short plat. Mr..
Mr.. Karo and see you out of the corner of my eye. There you go. Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Mayor. Members of the council, uh, the applicant is requesting approval of a short plat to subdivide an existing 1.9 acre parcel into four single family residential lots.
The property is located at the northeast corner of Fish Lake. Uh, this is between Maple Lane and East Fish Lake Road. All four of the proposed lots are within the Shoreline District, and they meet the minimum lot area of 15,000ft. There are four small depressions on the property that were that were discovered.
Uh, they were reviewed by the panel and determined not to be wetlands, but rather incidental low areas associated with previous excavation activities. And it was confirmed that no wetlands on the property. There are no wetlands on the property, and the entire site is considered buildable.
Um, there are a couple plat, uh, cleanup items. The narrow outlet on the the east side of the property will be conveyed to the adjacent dental clinic to clarify a shared property boundary. Um, confusion over the boundary location as well as a northern portion of the property that was platted over East Fish Lake Road.
This will be cleaned up and rededicated as public right of way. Um, that’s the area in read up here. Looking at the site plan, the lots will be accessed from Maple Lane. This is an existing roadway serving nine lakeshore homes. Currently, uh, although the property is not within a T zone. Uh tree preservation overlay.
Uh, the applicant did voluntarily submit a tree preservation plan. This was in your packet. Um, they’re showing that 30 trees will be will be saved. These are located on the north, uh, corner of the property, as well as along the east side of the property.
Um, stormwater runoff will be directly directed to a sand filter basin between lots two and three. Right here. Uh, engineering staff reviewed the drainage plan and found it to be acceptable. Uh, as with any proposal, the drainage and stormwater plan is subject to watershed review. Uh, there was a neighborhood neighborhood meetings held on the 9th of July.
The primary concerns related to the property line adjacent to the dental clinic. I spoke about the conveyance of lot A to address that. Um, other concerns involve stormwater drainage as well as highway noise.
Uh, to help with the concerns about over the highway noise, the following, uh, excuse me, following the tree removal, the applicant has provided a landscape plan showing 21 new trees will be planted, as well as a six foot fence installed. Uh, this is behind lots one and two, where a majority of the tree loss will occur. Um, and the applicant can can speak more to that. The fence.
It will be under HOA, so it will be maintained throughout the duration. Um, regardless of the condition of the fence, the fence would be replaced or or repaired when needed. Uh, Planning Commission did review this at an earlier meeting and and tabled it to uh for staff to research two concerns.
The first was the location and the extent of the the noise wall that was constructed along the interstate, uh, including whether the trees on the subject property had anything to do with where the wall was terminated. The city’s transportation engineer reviewed the I-94 noise wall project and confirmed that MnDOT does not consider trees or vegetation to be effective. Noise barriers.
The location of the wall was based on MnDOT and Federal Highway Administration noise abatement criteria, which concluded that extending the wall would not provide the necessary benefit to the existing homes on Maple Lane and beyond. There was also some, uh, constraints with with space in the right of way here to really extend the wall further.
So it was determined, uh, based on based on the criteria from the, uh, the noise modeling and the location of the wall, that it would not extend any further. So in the end, no, the trees did not influence the wall location. Uh, the second concern was regarding a potential, uh, potential impacts of a nearby.
Well, um, the property at 8101 Maple Lane is still on well, water. And they had concerns about the project and construction and future runoff affecting the well. Um, we asked the applicant to provide a report prepared by a professional engineer to address the potential impacts on the development, uh, from the development on the neighboring.
Well, the engineer concluded that the proposed development is not expected to adversely impact the well. The proposed sanitary sewer and stormwater facilities exceed the minimum separation distances. Uh, established by the Minnesota Department of Health. And the report also notes that construction would be subject to erosion control, stormwater management, and permitting requirements intended to protect groundwater quality.
Upon receiving this information, the Planning Commission unanimously, unanimously recommended approval of Fish Lake Estates short plat. With that, I’m happy to answer any questions. The applicant is here tonight as well. Counsel have questions for staff regarding this item. Item seven A. Uh, seeing none, we should hear from the applicant regarding this project.
Please state your name and address for the record. I don’t think it’s on. A little button. Yeah, yeah. There you go. Good evening. Thank you for having us. And, uh, uh, reviewing our plat here and considering approving it. Um, thank you all for being here and having us.
Uh, I think the biggest concern, um, or one of the concerns that we have resolved is I wanted to come up with a good idea and a good plan. Um, the fence that we had proposed, um, on our own, on the back side. So, um, the noise can effectively be, you know, reduced and, um, as much as possible.
And after doing some further investigation and getting, um, bids and, um, talking to numerous contractors, we came up with a plan that when we’re putting up the fence in the back, um, to effectively not have too many spaces in between the fences, like in between the boards. And that will help reduce noise.
There was concern about who’s going to take care of that fence. Um, that’s already written in the association doc. So, uh, they will be required to maintain that fence. So as of right now, we’re planning on vinyl fence. Saying that maintenance free does not really right now is to build a wood fence with no spacing, six feet high.
And then, um, at least on one side, if not the other side, have both sides have some type of, um, maintenance free product. So it holds up and helps with the noise. Um, so it does not at least worst case scenario, doesn’t get any worse.
I mean, it’s and best case scenario, uh, we don’t have any complaints with the neighbors, um, saying that there’s more noise out there. And also by planting larger trees, uh, on both sides of the fence. Um, I believe, um, I think I had met that, uh, Jesse know that it was approximately 20 to 25 trees, I believe.
And also we added those trees in the front as well to not only make the development look nice and the neighbors be happy as well, but to help with the noise and have decent sized trees. So, you know, it’s an enjoyable area for all, especially the current residents and the new future residents of this. Development. More than happy to try to answer those for you.
Counsel for questions for the applicant regarding their proposed project. Do you know if there was talk about doing the fence higher than six feet? I actually would have appreciated that. If we could go to eight feet. But you, um, the city has rules regarding that. I wouldn’t be opposed to making it eight feet.
Uh, I think it would be very beneficial to have it eight feet high. Um, and you’re not really going to have. I’m going to make sure the fence is far and away. Um, setback from the proposed, um, area that I’m giving to the city for sidewalks and stuff like that.
So I have no problem with making it eight feet high. Um, I was just following the city rules where they only, um, allow six feet high, but I would be totally fine making it eight feet high if possible. Mr. Labonte, I’m going to put you on the spot here.
So, um, the the fences that are currently being constructed on we really drive, they seem higher than six feet. And I don’t know if that’s just because of my lack of ability to know how tall things are, or if they just haven’t been cut off yet.
Can you speak to that at all? Uh, that is a great question. I have to do some more research on the height along of those new fences along the corridor. Okay. Thank you. And as you write that, we prohibit fences above six feet tall, I think he does. I think he’s right.
But I might look at my, uh, partner over on the other side of the dais and community development to confirm that. Uh, that that is correct. Yeah. Typically in a residential area, six feet is the limit. Okay. However, on planning, we have had fences that are closer, taller, uh, and have been approved. So something like that could be approved.
Uh, and again, it had to go through the planning Commission and come to council. Uh, but uh, in this case you could say this is residential, but it’s certainly the backside of a of a transportation corridor. That wouldn’t seem to be an issue of approving a feet. There. Mr.
mayor, if I mean, I think that if we I mean, if the applicant is, um, favorable to that, I think that we could just add that as a condition to change that. Um, I don’t think he would need to go through the variance process to get a variance for that. Um, but, I mean, I think it makes sense in this situation since it’s on a really, really busy road.
Um, there would be continuity between the entire development. So it’s not like you have one fence that’s a certain height and then another fence that’s not.
Um, and being that the, um, existing freeway sound wall can’t be extended there, um, I mean, I would be, I would be open with having this fence be as high as necessary in order to mitigate as many of the impacts to the area as possible. I. Uh, Mr. Mayor, members of the council, I just had a little sidebar with the city attorney here.
Ordinarily, if if a resident wanted to get a fence taller than six feet, you would have to go through the variance process. However, because this is part of the PUD process, tonight, you would have the ability to put that into the PUD approval that we would do an eight foot fence.
I would just point out to the applicant that once a fence does exceed six feet, it kicks in some additional requirements and you have to have that, um, permitted through our building inspections department. What we can follow up with him, if that’s the way that things work out. Are you I’m sorry. Just a quick question. Um, and thank you for your time.
Uh, are you just my idea was to actually have the fence drawn up by my architect and then just drop it off. Uh, they’ve been very, um, very, very good to deal with. The city has. And the other projects that we have going on in the same area, they’ve been favorable to agreeing with the recommendations that we’ve had.
So I would totally be fine if it’s okay with you guys to, um, have it eight feet high. I think that would help the neighborhood. That’s why we had originally suggested it ourselves and eventually with the trees that were planting, um, that we’re spending close to $30,000 on these trees.
I think that will help. As well as this fence. The main reason I’m asking that, um, and it’s nice that you guys are agreeing that the fence should be eight feet high is because, um, if you guys are, I don’t know if you guys are familiar with the
area a little bit there. Um, where the wall. The the noise wall ends right now. I’m not sure why they ended it there, but, I mean, I’m sure they have valid reasons. Um, I think it would help offset the noise, because that wall ends.
And my concern was, is that if I don’t have a wall as high as possible next to it, going along, the residents biggest concern was that once the trees and a lot of them are not in good condition, that’s why I did the tree preservation so everybody can see what condition these trees are, how they are right
now. I think it would be a lot very good for the residents there and the city. Um, to go with an eight foot fence and I will drop off a, um, 3D rendering and also showing the city exactly how we plan to construct that after grading is done and completed and prior to any construction beginning, we
would build that fence wall. Ideally, we’d build the fence wall right after the grading. So our plan is, if all goes well today, um, and the watershed to start grading in the near future. And once that I would start with them grading up there, and then we would start constructing that fence.
Um, up on the rear, uh, adjacent to, uh, I-94 and the frontage road. And that would probably keep a couple of the neighbors happy, too. So I think it’d be a good way and a good way of letting the neighbors know that we’re taking their concerns seriously. Okay.
I think we’re with that makes sense. So make the eight foot wall part of the approval motion. Um, I don’t know if you have anything else for us or. No. Just thank you for your time. Um, looking forward to making this area a nice area for the city. And I appreciate you guys’s time very much.
Thank you. Is there anyone else who wishes to address item seven? A? Uh, seeing none. Um, is there a motion to be made by the council? Mr. mayor, Mr.. Mayor, um, I’ll make a motion.
Uh, recommending the city council direct the city attorney to draft a resolution approving the Fish Lake Estates short plat, subject to one, A, B, c and adding d um to mirror the conversation we had about the fence. Second motion made a second. Yes. Mr. Hojo. Mr. Mayor and Councilmember Johnson, if I could just, uh, interject some proposed language just to ensure that the council. Is.
, uh, on this, uh, in agreement. Uh, so the language that I propose is with the addition of an eight foot permitted fence along lots one and two, designed to be compatible in aesthetic to the existing freeway wall. You’re not going to ask me to repeat that. Are you? No.
No, but I just want to make sure that that’s. That’s part of the record. Yes. Very nicely said, Joe. Thank you. And I’ll keep my second. Motion. And second, those are further discussion. Seeing none. All those in favor say aye. Aye. Opposed? Thank you. Thank you so much for your. Time.
Uh, the next item, the gentleman is item seven. Be the Maple Creek Townhomes plan unit development concept. Stage plan. I believe that we are tabling this. Is that correct? Mr.. Carl? Mr. mayor, yes, we would have to. You would have to ask for a motion to table this next item to September 8th.
So I have a motion. I’ll make a motion to table to September 8th. Second. All those in favor say aye. Aye aye aye. Opposed? Uh. That passes, and then Mr. Kaboom. Report on upcoming items. Thank you, Mr. Mayor. Members of the council. We have a planning commission meeting coming up in September.
On September 14th. We have a number of items coming forward at that time. There will be a proposed addition to the Maple Ridge church over on Maple. No way. Near the fire station. Uh, they’ve been working on that for some time, so they’re excited to bring that forward.
Uh, for review. Uh, there is a proposed short plat on the very southern end of the city along Maple Grove Parkway called Warth Estates. It’s an existing home that’s there that’s sort of nestled into a larger development.
So, uh, at this point, they’re looking at dividing that lot into three new lots. Uh, we’re looking at a residential variance on the 7400 block of Dallas Court. And, uh, it is exciting to finally reveal that, uh, Dick’s Sporting Goods has made application to, uh, develop a new store in the northern part of town, across from, uh, Target on Maple Grove Parkway, south of 610.
It would be a House of sport, um, similar to the size and scope of what you see at Ridge Dale. Uh, so that would be coming before the Planning Commission in September as well. In addition to the Planning Commission meeting, just one thing I’d like to put on the council’s radar.
Uh, hockey Day, Minnesota 2028, which we all know is is coming to Maple Grove that year. Uh, it’s having their big logo reveal on Tuesday, August 25th. So something for the community to look forward to.
Uh, and the council is invited to that event, which is on your calendar at the Rush Creek Golf Club. I’m happy to stand for any questions that you have for me. Council. Any questions for Mister Hobo? Uh, seeing none, we’ll move on to item eight. Mister Levant. Yeah. Thank you, mayor and council members.
Um, as we’re fast approaching the start of school, I wanted to give the council and the public an update on some of our public projects that are adjacent to school sites. Um, they look like they’ve got a lot of work left to do, but we’re making good progress, and we’re on schedule to have those completed prior to the start of the school year.
So, um, first up by the high school, the contractor completed their final concrete work of the year. They did that earlier today and then continuing throughout the week, and they are on schedule to have the roundabout at 99th Avenue and Fern Brook open for the public prior to the start of school.
Uh, still doing work cleaning up the boulevards after that point, but the intersection will be open. Uh, second up by the newly ribbon cut school up in the northwest side of the city. Arbor Ridge Parkway has a new turn lane being constructed.
That paving is expected to be completed in the next week. Uh, so they’ll be doing restoration behind the curb. The only element on that that will be after the school is starting is a new rapid flashing beacon for a pedestrian crossing that’s been ordered. But due to some long procurement times, will be installed in the fall.
And then lastly, but not least, Weaver Lake Road is making great progress on the western side of the project where all of the paving was completed. The contractors can be spending the next two weeks working on trail paving, as well as restoration behind the curb.
Um, and then council may have noticed that the traffic control along West Fish has now been removed as that work has been completed. Um, there will still be barrels and cones in these three project areas.
Um, Weaver being one of them that has the final wear course coming on in September when we can do the final mill and overlay between East Fish and West Fish. But all the major elements on the projects should be ready before the school starts. So with that, I can stand for any questions. Council. Any questions for Mr. Labonte? Seeing none, we’ll move on to item nine. A, uh, Miss Nelson.
Mayor, members of the council, we do have representatives here from both Parks and Recreation, the police department that will be providing a presentation about some proposed ordinance amendments regarding motorized wheeled devices and park regulations. So I’m going to turn it over to Amy Peterson, our assistant parks and recreation director. And Commander Travis Buda from the police Department.
Sorry. Push the button there. All right. Wonderful. Mr. mayor, members of council. Thanks for taking the time tonight. Uh, before you, as a proposed ordinance, amendments for motorized vehicle. Uh. I think we need a mic. Oh, sorry. Is it on there? Maybe pull it closer to you, or. There you go.
We’re going to share. Going to dual doing multiple things. All right. Thank you. So, uh, thank you to this this evening, we’re proposing an ordinance amendment for essentially e-bikes.
It’s been a collection of work that Parks and Rec and the police department have been working on for well over a year now, and we’re trying to get our current ordinance, um, better updated to align with certain statutes of the Criminal Code, uh, clarify where those wheeled devices can be be operated throughout the city, uh, improve some education and some enforcement options, and then address the repeated offenders that allow the police department to take some
affirmative action. With that, we’re kind of taking this year’s. All right. Um, and yes. Good evening, Council mayor. Um, and then some background on that. We did review, you know, in our current ordinance and, um, kind of identified those inconsistencies.
Um, and then we worked with the city attorney and our city prosecutor to make these recommendations to the council. Um, we did add some language that although we hope we’re going to be, um, following the state statute, we can still restrict some devices and, um, park areas. Um, by park policy or signage, if we so choose.
So the first, um, ordinance that we’re proposing be changed is section 2221, which really is just updating definitions to match what city statute has. Um, we did not have kind of all of them in there. We kind of had e-bikes, but not those in some areas. And, or, um, e-scooters.
So we looked through everything, got everything consistent to really align with state statute. It also works that if state statute changes, our ordinance would then also change. Um, the section 22-25. Um, um, talked about things that are prohibited in parks.
And again, we just clarified that that the things that, um, motorized vehicles are prohibited, except things that are identified in the definitions of section 22, Dash 21. Um, and then again added some language that the city still has some authority to, um, by signage or park policy, limit some areas.
Um, for e-bikes, e-scooters, if we so choose example could be like a town green plaza, maybe the skate park, things like that that we don’t want any type of motorized. Um, wheeled device. So with those changes we have worked on some just different communication, some different things that we want to have out in the parks. We’ve started putting some of these e-bike guidelines and some high use areas.
Again, these follow the state statutes which now our ordinance would also match. Um, so that’s just some, um, some marketing efforts and educational efforts we’re doing. And we’ll talk a little bit more about that at the end of our presentation. So we’re looking at what the differences between our current city code and what we’re proposed.
Changes are mainly in there is going to be establishing some better accountability for parents and guardians. Um, with their juveniles having a violation for us. We’re struggling right now that with the state statute state law changing on juveniles, uh, 13 and under, not being able to be charged with the crime, things like that.
So we’re looking at doing a warning system for the police department that would, um, go over a period of 12 months where we do one or subsequent, uh, violations, um, where we’re contacting the parent and guardian directly. Um, again, we’re looking at what kind of Amy said about the education side of things.
So working on promoting some of this out, what that means for, um, education awareness, what that first violation does. Uh, where officers will be doing and making contact directly with the parent or guardian.
Um, and then what happens if there’s a subsequent violator and how we can, um, have some authority to be able to take take some of those actions? Um, it does lead all the way from an administrative type citation, which holds us parents accountable and also includes taking that wheel device that is causing the violation that they’re not abiding by.
Again, this is kind of a, um, a step process. We always look at the totality of the circumstances when a violation would happen, uh, severity of things like that. And so some of this might not be linear going one way or the other, but for the most part is following this pattern of how we would look at, um, increasing some of the enforcement around that.
Yeah. And then, um, with that again, um, commander to myself and, um, Sergeant Grant Smith and others from our both of our departments have really been working on some of those educational outreach and really want to continue that, especially as we get into the new school year.
Um, we’ve been doing things on our community newsletter, working with and some of our local media. We have some new trail signage coming, working in, collaborating on some bike rodeo community events where we can educate and hand out flyers, um, working with the schools.
Um, particularly right now with Back to school, they’re having some back to school nights where they’ve offered to let us have any kind of literature out at those events. Um, social media campaigns. Um, and again, just looking for different ways that we can, um, outreach to our community.
One thing that, um, after, um, after tonight’s meeting, if things get approved, we will be working on really updating our city webpage. We do have, um, a shortened link called Maple Grove. Um, myGov slash Park safety brings you directly to a page that will list kind of all of our, um, regulations around e-bikes, e-scooters.
Um, we have been maintaining that, but now we’ll be able to add a little bit more, um, FAQs and different things. Um, one thing that, you know, Travis really had talked about too, is how do we make this easy for everyone to understand? So we really are going to be working together on what are the common questions that we’re all getting? Let’s make an FAQ and really be able to answer those questions for
our community. Um, and then also talk a little bit more of educating about the enforcement that we will would be having moving forward. And with that, I don’t have any more. We’re open to any questions that you may have. Council have questions regarding this proposed set of amendments. Mister mayor, council staff.
I have a question under or uh, motor motorized bicycle and motorcycles says that you can ride them on streets. Now, I know that to be incorrect. Unless it’s licensed with all of the safety gear. Correct. That may need to be more specific on this.
If that’s all that a 15 year old is going to see. Oh, I can ride it on the streets. Yeah. One of one of our other educational items is listing out like the the specific type of wheel device so that if it meets that criteria, it should be licensed.
The operator must be licensed according to state statute where, um, you know, these wouldn’t be used on park trails and things like that. If that make sense.
Uh, it does, except it’s very simplified under here, under 15 plus, it said I can ride a motorized bicycle or Emoto with 15 plus. And if you just don’t pay attention on the street now 15 year olds can’t ride a motorized bicycle on on a. Street unless they have a license. And they don’t get that unless it has the headlights and the tail lights and all the other safety gear.
They can’t be ridden on the streets, so some of these e motos absolutely do not belong on the street and can never be licensed for street use. Correct.
So we can look at clarifying that a little bit and making sure that part of our education is to do even some small examples of stuff, like you’re talking to, I’m 15, I have this work, can I ride it? Where can’t I, what do I need? That sort of thing? Uh, also, is there any recourse against, uh.
Uh, any bicycle shop that would sell to somebody who walks in with a 13 year old for an e bicycle? Unfortunately, no. Um, that’s why we’re looking at the parent parental responsibility within the ordinance of that guidelines. That guidance should come from them and that overseeing should be part of their responsibility.
Can there be any ordinance that says this thing right here be blown up to two by three and put on a wall inside of the bike shops and, and have that as part of the sales process? Please look at this and agree to it and maybe even have them sign something at the time of purchase because it’s a parental issue. It’s not just a kid issue. The parents know and they’re allowing this to occur. Yes, sir. Councilmember.
So if I could just clarify. So, um, it says that under the e-bike e-bike guidelines, ride safe and know the rules that section, all riders must operate at a safe speed for conditions and all other trail users. Um, yield to pedestrians and slower users.
So these guidelines here, if you are found violating those guidelines, does that then give um, law enforcement the authority to impound the device at any time when an immediate public safety risk exists or under specified circumstances. It could. Yes. Okay. Counsel, further questions regarding this item. Item nine A. Is there anyone in the public who wishes to address item nine? A? Mr. mayor.
I just have a couple of comments. Um, I do think that we’re going to need some state legislation for this down the line. Um, there has been, uh, folks who have passed away in the community from accidents related to these motorized scooters or e-bikes.
Um, so I would hope that down the line we could consider a legislative piece on our platform to talk to our state lawmakers about, uh, maybe speed limits and stricter enforcement for, for these. Councilor comments or questions regarding this item. 9AI think that we all agree that they need to be.
Not only do we need to update these this way, but we probably need further legislation to limit some of the activities that we see happening with that. Uh, I’ll make a motion to approve the proposed amendment ordinance amendments. Second. Is there any further discussion? Seeing none. All those in favor say aye. Aye. Opposed? That passes. And then, uh, Miss Nelson reported on coming items.
Thank you. Mayor. Members of the council. I’m just want to note, on Tuesday, last Tuesday, August 11th, we held a primary election here. Great work by our election staff. It was a rather uneventful election, which is the kind that we like to host here. And, um, administered very well.
We had about a third, just over a 30% turnout. Um, with a combination of early voting, absentee voting, and then folks who voted in person on Election day. So, um, staff is already starting to prepare for the general and absentee. That’ll start, um, September.
So a couple of things related to the election coming up. We do tomorrow evening here in the chambers, have the North Metro Mayor’s legislative candidate forum for Senate District 37 and 42. Um, that will start at 5:00 pm. Um, they’re estimating about 5 to 8 for that.
And then on August 25th, we have the League of Women Voters, um, candidate forum here for our local city mayor and city council races. And that will start at 6:30 p.m.. Both of those candidate forums are available on channel 16. Playback on CC media. So if you’re not able to be here in person, you can catch them, um, online or on cable TV.
And with that, I would stand for any questions. The council may. Have. Council. Any questions? I entertain a motion to adjourn. Motion to adjourn. Second. All those in favor say aye. Aye.