CC 2015 03 23
CHANHASSEN CITY COUNCIL
REGULAR MEETING
MARCH 23, 2015
Mayor Laufenburger called the meeting to order at 7:00 p.m. The meeting was opened
with Boy Scout David Durenberger from Troop #409 leading the Pledge of Allegiance.
COUNCIL MEMBERS PRESENT:
Mayor Laufenburger, Councilwoman Tjornhom,
Councilman McDonald, Councilwoman Ryan, and Councilman Campion
STAFF PRESENT:
Todd Gerhardt, Chelsea Petersen, Paul Oehme, Todd Hoffman, and Sgt.
Peter Anderley
PUBLIC PRESENT:
Debra Roesser Bluff Creek Golf Course
Dave Kirkbride 2080 Boulder Road
Mike Cohrs Bluff Creek Golf Course
Gayle Degler Carver County Commissioner
Laurie Susla 7008 Dakota Avenue
Larry Koch 471 Bighorn Drive
JoAnn Syverson 489 Pleasant View Road
Mayor Laufenburger: Thank you David and thank you Troop 409 for visiting with us tonight.
Always fun to see boy scouts in our council chambers. I want to welcome to this council
meeting to those who are present in the chamber with us as well as those who are watching on
Mediacom Channel 8 at home or wherever you may get that television broadcast. First action
tonight is council members, are there any modifications to the agenda as printed? If not we will
proceed with the agenda as it is printed.
PUBLIC ANNOUNCEMENTS.
Mayor Laufenburger: This is an invitation to the Easter Egg Candy Hunt. The City of
nd
Chanhassen is proud to present the 32 Annual Easter Egg Candy Hunt. This is the second in a
year long series of special events or festivals that are sponsored by the City of Chanhassen, local
service organizations and the local business community. I would like to invite everybody to join
th
me on Saturday, April 4 at 9:00 a.m. at City Center Park for this annual event. This event is for
children 12 and under and will feature a candy hunt, coloring contest, prize drawings and a
special visit from the Easter Bunny himself. Or herself. I’m not sure about that. Anyway the
cost is $5 per child and you can register the day of the event and I look forward to seeing
everyone there. Thank you.
CONSENT AGENDA: Councilwoman Tjornhom moved, Councilwoman Ryan seconded
to approve the following Consent Agenda items pursuant to the City Manager’s
recommendations:
City Council Summary – March 23, 2015
1. Approve City Council Minutes dated March 9, 2015
2. Receive Park and Recreation Commission Minutes dated February 24, 2015
Resolution #2015-16:
3. 2015 Street Rehabilitation Projects: Call Assessment Hearing.
4. Approval of 2015 Liquor License Renewals
5. Approval of 2015 Pay Equity Report
All voted in favor and the motion carried unanimously with a vote of 5 to 0.
LAW ENFORCEMENT UPDATE.
Sgt. Peter Anderley: Good evening Mayor, council. You have the reports from February.
Nothing out of the ordinary there. Everything looks pretty good. One thing you might notice is
the amount of crashes was a lot lower basically from last February to this February just due to
the driving conditions.
Mayor Laufenburger: We didn’t make that up this morning did we?
Sgt. Peter Anderley: Well we did make some up quite a bit overnight. The guys were really
busy. You know even though it was 60 some degrees last week. Nice sunshine and the roads
were all dry and no snow. Last night’s snow did keep us pretty busy. It was that wet, heavy
snow. People driving just too fast. We had multiple property damage crashes. Nothing serious
or anything like that but a lot of damaged vehicles. Cars in the ditch and again just remind the
public that winter’s not over yet and we get that wet, heavy snow we really need to slow down
and give everybody some extra time and basically just their safe driving winter habits they’re
still here. With that also with the warm weather we’ve had numerous calls, reports of people out
on the ice, whether it’s safe or not. In the next few weeks as the lakes are starting to open up we
urge people to use extreme caution if you’re going to go out on the lakes because they are getting
soft. The ice is starting to break up and we don’t want to have to have any water tragedies or
anything like that. One item to note is the sheriff’s office went live this week with their Twitter
and Facebook accounts so we encourage the public to follow us on Twitter. We’re going to try
to post things updates as far as road closures. You know if there’s an accident where we have
the road closed, we’re going to try to get that out to help the public avoid the area. Maybe give
themselves extra time if they’re going to be traveling through the area. I know last night there
was one that went out because they had some numerous crashes. Just reminding people that hey
we have a lot of crashes. Slow down. Leave early. Take some time so that started up this week.
The supervisors on the road are going to be able to tweet those out as quick as possible and post
on our Facebook so if there is any major road changes, you know roads shut down due to
whether an accident. High winds knocked a tree across the road. Anything like that.
Mayor Laufenburger: And those familiar with Twitter and Facebook can just search Carver
County Sheriff’s Office, is that correct?
2
City Council Summary – March 23, 2015
Sgt. Peter Anderley: Yep.
Mayor Laufenburger: Okay, to get that.
Sgt. Peter Anderley: Yep and they will find them both on there.
Mayor Laufenburger: Okay, good.
Sgt. Peter Anderley: The last item I have to note is I’ve been filling in since January. As of
th
April 6 Lieutenant Kittleson will be taking over the Chanhassen contract up here in Chanhassen
and I will be going back to my night patrol county wide.
Mayor Laufenburger: Good. Any questions of Sergeant Anderley? I would just like to say
Sergeant, thank you for giving us this bridge of safety while, for the last 3 months. Thank you
very, very much and we look forward to meeting Lieutenant Kittleson probably in April. I
expect Sheriff Olson will be bringing him in to introduce us.
Sgt. Peter Anderley: That is the plan I believe.
Mayor Laufenburger: So we wish you continued good success and just don’t forget about us
here in Chanhassen okay?
Sgt. Peter Anderley: I won’t. I appreciate the support and like I said if I’m, if you’re out in the
middle of the night you might run into me and we’ll have a cup of coffee then.
Mayor Laufenburger: Well let’s hope it’s coffee that we’re talking about and nothing else, is
that alright?
Sgt. Peter Anderley: Exactly.
Mayor Laufenburger: Thank you Sergeant. Thank you very much.
Sgt. Peter Anderley: Alright.
Mayor Laufenburger: I’m going to before, Chief could I ask you to sit down just for a second.
I’m going to back up. I overlooked a very important element on the agenda and that is visitor
presentations.
VISITOR PRESENTATIONS.
Mayor Laufenburger: We do have a visitor with us this morning. Commissioner Gayle Degler
from Carver County Board is with us tonight and I’m sorry for looking past you just for a
moment.
Gayle Degler: No problem. That’s not the first time people have overlooked me.
3
City Council Summary – March 23, 2015
Mayor Laufenburger: Okay, you represent the southern part of Chanhassen.
Gayle Degler: Yes, I represent District 1 on the County Board. Council members and the
mayor, I’d like to just give you the opportunity to ask me a question or two and I’ll see if I can
respond to it and in the meantime while you’re thinking of that I have about 5 things I’d just like
to mention what’s going on in Carver County and Chanhassen. Years ago I never needed my
glasses but boy now if I don’t bring my glasses I’m up the creek. The southwest reconnection
project. That’s the 101 bridge project and is continuing to work north on this bridge
construction. On a day when the wind is blowing from the south you can hear the pile driving
going on. They’re putting on the pure caps. The concrete beam installations. The bridge deck is
th
being prepared on the Shakopee end but no concrete will be poured until after April 15. The
additional static load test, and probably most people don’t know what a static load test except for
Mr. Oehme over there, but they ran into some poor soils inbetween Pier 8 and Pier 15 so this
static load test is another way to test the pilings to make the foundation that will meet the design
parameters. County Road 61, which I usually call old 212, work on the Bluff Creek stream
bridge and the north end abutment will be starting so they will haul in a lot more sand in April.
And one other thing I want to mention is the west leg of the wye will be closed down in early
May. At this point I don’t know how long it’s going to be closed but I just want you to be
prepared that if you’re taking that road like most, a lot of us do sometime in early May it will be
closed down. Our library. Chanhassen library remains a very popular destination in Carver
County and in the community. In February the library had 16,665 visitors and they checked out
over 25,000 items. Over 300 people attended Music in March and the library will host Arts in
April in this next month. This next term resilient communities is a term I’m not really familiar
with but Carver County has been selected as a partner community for the University of
Minnesota Resilient Community Project. This partnership will bring the expertise of the
University and hundreds of graduate and professional students to projects that are identified by
Carver County and it’s partners and obviously the City of Chanhassen is one of the partners.
Some of the projects that will be included will be enhancing our bike and pedestrian facilities
near our park and ride locations. Creating safe routes to schools and evaluating stormwater re-
use opportunities. The next item, everybody’s heard of Coney Island and is Coney Island on
Lake Waconia or in Lake Waconia but either way the Carver County Board approved a
charitable pledge donation agreement with the Norman and Ann Hoffman Foundation. This
agreement lays the ground work for transferring the ownership of Coney Island on Lake
Waconia to Carver County along with a pledge of a considerable amount of money to help clean
up the island and for recreational improvement. This charitable gift by the Hoffman’s was
probably one of the only ways that Carver County would have got possession of this island. And
the last thing I want to mention is the Environmental Center. The Environmental Center served
over 27,000 county residents and businesses in 2014. This is a new record. We properly
managed over a million pounds of hazardous materials in addition to all the yard waste, cans,
bottles, and other non-hazardous waste. It’s consistently the lowest cost per participant facility
in the metro area and if you’re not familiar where it is, if you follow Lyman Boulevard. If
you’re following Lyman Boulevard heading west, right before you hit 41 on the south side you
hit Peavey Road so it’s in that, that’s where it is so if anybody has any questions I’d be willing to
give it a shot.
Councilwoman Tjornhom: I have a question.
4
City Council Summary – March 23, 2015
Mayor Laufenburger: Councilwoman Tjornhom.
Councilwoman Tjornhom: Commissioner Degler, thank you for being with us tonight and yes
the mic’s on. Alright, thank you for being with us tonight. Can you tell me a little about that
yellow ribbon you’ve got on your lapel there on your jacket?
Gayle Degler: This yellow ribbon, I’ve had more people comment on that. It’s Beyond the
Yellow Ribbon. Chanhassen has Beyond the Yellow Ribbon committee. Chaska has Beyond
the Yellow Ribbon. When soldiers are deployed their life is taken care of because the
government tells them where to go, what to do, what to eat but what about the families that they
leave home and Beyond the Yellow Ribbon committees is an organization that helps provide the
little things in the lives of these families are still at home. You know who’s going to cut the
lawn? Who’s going to shovel the snow? Who’s going to just answer the phone when they need
somebody to talk to and it’s, I want to congratulate the City of Chanhassen for being one of the
first cities recognized as a Beyond the Yellow Ribbon community and Carver County has a
number of them. Chaska and Norwood-Young America also, thank you.
Councilwoman Tjornhom: Thank you for wearing that.
Gayle Degler: Other questions?
Councilwoman Ryan: Mayor?
Mayor Laufenburger: Councilwoman Ryan.
Councilwoman Ryan: Commissioner Degler, great to see you tonight. A couple questions on
the resilient community.
Gayle Degler: Yes.
Councilwoman Ryan: How were we chosen? Or what were the parameters? You know.
Gayle Degler: I could make up an answer and say hey it’s just because everybody wants to but I
do not know the specific parameters as to why Carver County was chosen.
Councilwoman Ryan: Was it something we applied for?
Gayle Degler: Yes. It’s a grant that we applied for.
Councilwoman Ryan: Okay. And then do they, when they come with the projects that you listed
what will the specific responsibilities be for the City or the County? Are you aware of those?
Gayle Degler: I am not aware. I know obviously it’s a partnership so we’re going to have to
have inputs on these projects but the overall benefit will be obviously greater than our input so
5
City Council Summary – March 23, 2015
it’s a good thing that we’re working with the University and these projects will enhance the
whole community.
Councilwoman Ryan: Great, thank you.
Gayle Degler: I wish I could have been more but I’m not going to make up something I don’t
know anything.
Councilwoman Ryan: Appreciate that. Thanks.
Gayle Degler: I’m open for anybody, if you have a question or a concern, either give me a call
or shoot me an email but if you shoot me an email maybe you should include your telephone
number because with my technology skills I’d much rather talk to you on the phone than try to
email you back so thank you.
Mayor Laufenburger: Just before you leave Commissioner.
Gayle Degler: Sure.
Mayor Laufenburger: Mr. McDonald, did you have anything?
Councilman McDonald: No I’m fine.
Mayor Laufenburger: Just a couple things. Coney Island Waconia, I grew up in Waconia so I
knew of Coney Island back when the Gophers were practicing there.
Gayle Degler: Ah wait a minute, you were not back that far.
Mayor Laufenburger: I was a glimmer in my parents eye at that time.
Gayle Degler: Okay. Okay.
Mayor Laufenburger: But is it the intent that it will become a Carver County Park, is that
correct?
Gayle Degler: Yes. Yep, that’s the intent.
Mayor Laufenburger: Okay.
Gayle Degler: At this point there is a number of structures on the island. There were a few old
homes that are deteriorating and they will be cleaned up as part of the donation and in the future,
can’t set a date on it but it will be part of the park, county park system.
Mayor Laufenburger: Great, okay. And then one other comment. You mentioned the
Environmental Center. Just a reminder to Chanhassen citizens in the Chanhassen Connection,
which is the quarterly publication sent to all Chanhassen residents, we often include coupons that
6
City Council Summary – March 23, 2015
are worth dollar or up to ten dollars for recycling so if it would normally cost you ten dollars you
can use those coupons so it’s great incentive to participate in that.
Gayle Degler: And I will thank the City for that because I have used those coupons I think just
about every year. My mother gets the same so I use her coupons also so, and I want to remind
people. In this Environmental Center there’s a re-use area. If you want to, if you’ve got some
painting that you want to do that you don’t want to buy a whole gallon of paint, they might have
a quart of paint left over. It’s good product that they have sitting on the shelf just ready for
anybody to use. There’s sometimes automobile products. There’s lots of things that you can, if
you’ve got extra you take it to them and if you need something look on the shelf, you might find
what you need.
Mayor Laufenburger: Great. Well Commissioner thank you for coming and we look forward to
having you back here whenever you want to come so and it’s good to have you representing
Chanhassen.
Gayle Degler: Look forward to the partnership that we always work together.
Mayor Laufenburger: Thank you very much Commissioner.
Gayle Degler: Thank you very much.
Mayor Laufenburger: Is there any other visitor that would like to make comment at this time on
any matter that is not on the agenda tonight? Please step to the microphone. Tell us your name
and address. Maybe you’d like me to tell you your name and address. Nice to see you Ms.
Susla.
Laurie Susla: Nice to see you too Mr. Mayor. My name is Laurie Susla. I live at 7008 Dakota
Avenue in Chan and I would just like to address a couple things about the AIS decision that’s
being talked about this evening for the City. One minor note, I was late to the meeting. I’m
sorry about that but I was noticing a figure, a $10,000 figure being discussed as far as the money
that Chanhassen ramps and parking spots contribute to the money that Carver County gets from
the State. The way that money is figured out, and Todd did you already go through this with
them at the?
Todd Hoffman: No, I just gave them the numbers that Carver County provided us.
Laurie Susla: Okay. Alrighty. So the way that number is, the way the funding is figured out for
counties is that ramps, boat ramps are worth, public boat ramps are worth $2,308. We have 4.
St. Joe, Ann, Susan and Lotus. Not including Minnewashta because that’s in the Carver County
park. That equals $9,232. We also have 25 trailer parking spots. Those are worth $254 each
and that’s another $6,350. So all in the money that the County is seeing because of city ramps
and parking spots is $15,582 each year. From 2015 forward. 2014 was a little bit less than half
that amount. So that was a minor note. We would like to say, I’m on the board of the LLCA, the
Lotus Lake Conservation Alliance and we would like to say that we’re very happy that
Chanhassen is most likely going to be being rolled into the Carver County program. Carver
7
City Council Summary – March 23, 2015
County has been running a great program and it just makes sense to not have two programs
running in the same county so we’re very pleased that we’re being hopefully included in that
plan. One thing that we’re a little concerned about though is the precedent that will be set if we
keep the program as it is being proposed right now where the Chanhassen lakes will only be
seeing the inspection services that Chanhassen, the Riley-Purgatory Watershed District and the
LLCA pay for. This is, as you know a different system for the Chanhassen lakes than for the rest
of the lakes in Carver County and we’re a little concerned that as we roll into the Carver program
that we’re setting this precedent that may continue forward in future years. We would very
much like to see the Chanhassen lakes be prioritized with the other Carver County lakes to
determine what types of services should come from the $40,000 that Carver County is putting
into this program and the 192 dollars in State funding and we do understand that money will be
going to overhead and payroll administration. Those types of things but there is still a very
large, larger than it has been pot of money and it would be nice if the Chanhassen lakes got
added into that prioritization process and what we would like to see happen after that is similar to
what’s happening at Lake Minnewashta right now. Lake Minnewashta gets a certain amount of
hours inspections from the county and then the watershed district adds onto that so that they have
full time inspections during boating season. I believe it’s til Mid-September is their program.
We could do that here too if Carver County were to include the Chan lakes in the prioritization
process, all of our lakes would see a benefit. Even small lakes like Parley and Wasserman in
Carver County are getting inspection services so certainly the Chanhassen lakes would also be
getting some base level of service and then we could do what Minnewashta does. We could take
the money from the City, from the LLCA, from the Watershed District and supplement those
hours and we could use that to help my, one of the things that, I’m going to put this up here so,
you really can’t see it that well but we’re concerned about Lake Ann. We say that all the time.
We have the benefit of a lake with 150 homes on it. 250 homes around it. We have a very active
lake organization. We have the ability to raise some money. Lake Ann doesn’t have that so we
are concerned as if we lose Ann, you can see Ann here. We’re going to lose Lucy, Susan, Rice
Marsh, Riley and there’s a lake here called Green and then on down to the Minnesota River. So
it is, will certainly affect the Lake Ann beach park but it would also affect a lot of other lakes.
So we’re hoping that as you all consider different options for 2015 that you might consider
asking Carver County to think about including the Chanhassen lakes in with their prioritization
process.
Mayor Laufenburger: Okay.
Laurie Susla: Thank you.
Mayor Laufenburger: Before you step away just I want to say thank you to you and your
association for your partnership with the City of Chanhassen along with the Riley-Purgatory-
Bluff Creek Watershed District to make this Chanhassen program unique and at least up til now
successful in that it appears that we’ve prevented, collectively we’ve prevented zebra mussels
from entering the water system.
Laurie Susla: Right.
8
City Council Summary – March 23, 2015
Mayor Laufenburger: So thank you for your partnership in the past and your, for your continued
commitment in the future so pass that along to your members.
Laurie Susla: You’re very welcomed. Yes I will let them know. Thank you.
Mayor Laufenburger: Alright, thank you. Any other visitors would like to speak at this time on
an item not on the agenda?
Larry Koch: If you would Mayor, councilors. Men and women I guess. My name’s Larry
Koch. I live at 471 Bighorn Drive. I have two things I’d like to just bring up. First of all I’d
like to state that I happen to be a member of the Citizens Advisory Committee for the Riley-
Purgatory-Bluff Creek Watershed District.
Mayor Laufenburger: Okay.
Larry Koch: And I’m not here to speak in any official capacity whatsoever okay?
Mayor Laufenburger: Okay.
Larry Koch: So I want to make sure that that’s understood. But having been, live on Lotus
Lake. Been a member now going on my second year with the committee. I just want to
encourage you and offer my personal support to participate with Carver County in coming up
with a unified program for AIS. I really think that AIS, especially these zebra mussels is our
number one threat to our lakes. We’re really known for our lakes. They’re a terrific resource
and that said I know we have many jewels you know if our county and in our city from a lakes
perspective and I believe that the lakes within Chanhassen are just as important as all the other
lakes in the county. I don’t think any of them should take second seat to anybody in that regard
and I would just encourage staff and council to work with Carver County to come up with as fair
and appropriate allocation of funds to protect these jewels that we do have in this county. This is
one thing that we are known for so I just want to reiterate and acknowledge what Laurie said and
support what her statements. And the second thing I’d like to say is, I want to thank the City.
They were out cleaning the cul-de-sac I live on and sweeping it up and you know one of the
things on the watershed district we’re concerned about you know pollutants and everything else
getting into lakes so I know nobody ever says thank you for doing things like that but I wanted to
mention that. I think that was terrific. You know sand and everything else that gets in there, not
only plugs up the drains but ultimately will find it’s way with other things into the lake so I just
want to commend you and your staff for doing that.
Mayor Laufenburger: I’ll make sure that the staff hears that Larry. Thank you very much.
Larry Koch: Thank you. Those are my comments.
Mayor Laufenburger: Thank you. Anybody else for visitor presentation? Good evening.
JoAnn Syverson: Hi. JoAnn Syverson of 489 Pleasant View Road in Chanhassen. I was just
helping draft our Lotus Lake Association dues letter for this year and something, you know I’m
9
City Council Summary – March 23, 2015
thinking through, we have to now ask each homeowner for an increase of $25 a year. We are
now asking for $225 a year rather than $200 dollars a year and the bulk of this money goes for
our overage coverage for AIS inspections which we know are necessary because 2 years ago a
boat would have gotten in with zebra mussels if our LLCA paid inspector hadn’t been there to
stop it so we know the importance of this extended inspection time. And I guess I’m just not
understanding why Lotus Lake is being treated so differently from Minnewashta. They don’t
contribute any homeowner dues towards their inspection schedule but we’re just asking for the
same schedule that they receive from funds outside of the homeowners money. So before you
pass your agreement with the County I would just you know ask you if you would try to clarify
that. What is the difference in how we are being treated from Minnewashta? Thank you.
Mayor Laufenburger: Thank you for your comments. Anyone else this evening for visitor
presentation? Just by way of information we did have on the work session agenda tonight, prior
to council meeting a discussion of two items and we were unable to conclude that discussion
prior to the council meeting appointed time so we will be reconvening in the Fountain
Conference Room to discuss among other things the questions and comments that were raised by
the last 3 visitors so those of you watching at home, if you’d like to continue to be part of that
discussion following council chambers, you’re welcome to join us in the Fountain Conference
Room after this meeting. Any other visitor presentations this evening? Okay. Thank you. Now
we’ll move back to our, the agenda that I started and then interrupted. Chief Johnson.
FIRE DEPARTMENT UPDATE.
Chief Don Johnson: Thank you Mayor and council. This is my report for February. We have
47 paid on call firefighters. We do have one person on personal leave and one member on
medical leave. We did respond to 48 calls for service in February. Two of those were fires.
One structure fire in Chanhassen and a mutual aid response to Minnetonka. We had 2 vehicle
fires involving tractor trailers with minimal damage. One snowmobile fire in front of the
residence which seemed odd until today. And then 4 motor vehicle accidents including a
significant accident involving patient extrication from the vehicle on 101 and Pioneer. That was
about a 35 minutes extrication. It was pretty difficult. High speeds and a T-bone so it was a
very difficult accident to work.
Mayor Laufenburger: Any injuries in that?
Chief Don Johnson: The driver of one vehicle was injured but doing okay when we put him in
the ambulance so.
Mayor Laufenburger: Alright.
Chief Don Johnson: Other activities we were asked to stand by for the Waconia Fire Department
st
on February 21 so they could enjoy their annual event. We sent an engine and a 4 person crew
over there and again until today we were monitoring the conditions outside pretty closely. It was
very dry so with, we’ll go back to normal burning restrictions and permits for, as far as the DNR
th
goes today. And I did neglect to put in here as far as an announcement. April 12 is the annual
Lions Pancake Breakfast that will be hosted at Fire Station 1. That will start at 8:00 in the
10
City Council Summary – March 23, 2015
morning. We partner with the Lions for that. It’s an annual event and we would encourage
anyone and all Chanhassen residents to come and enjoy that breakfast.
Mayor Laufenburger: Is that a, that’s open to Chanhassen and surrounding citizens correct?
Chief Don Johnson: Correct.
Mayor Laufenburger: Okay. Anybody and everybody can come.
Chief Don Johnson: As I alluded to we did have one fire in Chanhassen at 2:25 in the morning
th
on February 16 the Chanhassen Fire Department responded to a fire within a residence on
Tecumseh Lane. The fire was actually in the wall above the fireplace. It was a wood burning
fireplace and the fire box had eroded. It was an accidental fire. Those things don’t last forever
and it started some of the framing material behind the wall on fire in the mantel so we were
lucky to get there and get it out with minimal damage for the homeowner but no injuries.
Nothing to report there. On the prevention activities I’ve got those listed. We’ve been very busy
with a lot of our restaurants opening up and doing the final inspections on those for sprinklers
and monitoring systems. As well as we were asked to participate with a local employer for their
th
Wellness Fair on March 12. We had approximately 80 employees visit the booth. We
promoted home fire safety devices, hands on fire extinguisher training and had several drawings
for door prizes. We were, it was very well received by the members of that company. Our
numbers are listed in the graphics that I provided. We’re about on a monthly average of where
we were in ’14. We’ve got a proposed projected count of about 625 calls if we stay on this path.
It looks like Tuesdays are a heavy day. I don’t know why. We’ll see if that, Wednesdays were
last year so, and then I’ve also added some response data for your review. And I can stand for
questions.
Mayor Laufenburger: Okay, any questions for Chief Johnson? Thanks for coming out. I know
you were under the weather today so thanks for coming out tonight Chief.
Chief Don Johnson: You bet, thank you.
Mayor Laufenburger: Thank you.
PUBLIC HEARING: REQUEST FOR ON-SALE BEER AND WINE LICENSE, BLUFF
CREEK GOLF COURSE, 1025 CREEKWOOD DRIVE.
Todd Gerhardt: Mayor, council. Sitting in front of you is a letter from Jim and Janet Sabinske.
They live off of Creekwood Drive and have concerns regarding the granting of the beer and wine
license to Bluff Creek Golf Course. Speed. Littering. The narrow roadway were concerns that
the family expressed in their letter to the City Council. Background checks have been completed
on the managers and owners. They both, or all of them have come back clear and at this time I
would open it up to a public hearing.
Mayor Laufenburger: Okay. Public hearing is open, and by the way this was one comment that
we received. Did we receive any other comments from any other neighbors?
11
City Council Summary – March 23, 2015
Todd Gerhardt: No other comments were received.
Mayor Laufenburger: Okay. And alright. At this time I will open the public hearing. If there’s
anybody present in the chamber, council chambers tonight that would like to speak to the
proposed motion of approving the request for an on-sale beer and wine license for Bluff Creek
Golf Association, please step to the podium. Identify yourself. Your name and address please.
Mike Cohrs: My name is Mike Cohrs. Actually the General Manager of Bluff Creek Golf so
thank you Mayor.
Mayor Laufenburger: Alright.
Mike Cohrs: Thank you council for listening. What we’re hoping to do is, you know beer and
wine license. We want to give what our customers are asking for. We have a lot of requests for
beer and wine. The strong beer and I know, I know the neighbor Jim Sabinske real well. We’ve,
I’ve worked there for almost 20 years. I’ve dealt with him quite a bit.
Mayor Laufenburger: Where’s his home in proximity to the club house Mike?
Mike Cohrs: If you’re coming in off 101, you take a right on Creekwood.
Mayor Laufenburger: Yeah.
Mike Cohrs: His house is the second house on the left.
Mayor Laufenburger: Okay.
Mike Cohrs: So it’s still in that straight away before it makes a turn onto our property.
Mayor Laufenburger: Okay. Thank you for that.
Mike Cohrs: You know me and Jim have gone back a long ways. We’ve worked with him. He,
we’ve hired him for a bunch of our concrete work and stuff so I’m not exactly sure if it’s, you
know what his issues are. You know safety’s a big one for us. We’ve imposed a lot of our own
safety. We’ve put a 20 miles an hour speed limit sign on our property to try and slow them
down. We have asked the police to come through during certain portions of the night to patrol it.
To make sure if there is any issues with you know people drinking too much of their own beer
they’ve brought on illegally, then hopefully they could kind of curtail some of that. But we’ve
had, you know our leagues we have captain meetings every year to discuss the beer drinking and
make sure it stays under control. That they would talk to all their, the golfers under their league
so we’re doing quite a bit of our own to try and prevent any major things from happening so we
follow all the major laws and rules. We haven’t had any issues with the police and all our secret
shoppers have come through clean so I think we run a strong business. I think we, we’re not
here to be you know against a neighborhood at all. I mean we’ve done so many things for the
neighborhood. I know the letter from Jim said we are not a good neighbor but I can tell you
12
City Council Summary – March 23, 2015
we’ve mowed Laverne Lynch’s yard for her 15 years when she was still living. She just couldn’t
do it so we did it for her. We helped a guy build a small putting green. We’ve gone down
Creekwood. We’ve picked up trash so I think we’re, I think we’re a great neighbor so and I hope
you guys can realize that too so.
Mayor Laufenburger: Before you go any questions of the council have of Mr. Cohrs? How long
have you had your beer license?
Mike Cohrs: As far as I know since 1972.
Mayor Laufenburger: So as long as you’ve been a general manager.
Mike Cohrs: Yeah, longer than I’ve been there yeah.
Mayor Laufenburger: Okay. Okay. Thank you Mr. Cohrs.
Mike Cohrs: Thank you.
Mayor Laufenburger: Anybody else wishing to speak in the public hearing on this request for
beer and wine license? Your name and address please.
David Kirkbride: David Kirkbride, 2080 Boulder Road, Chanhassen. Mayor, council. I worked
with Mike for 8 years not long ago. I’ve never found a more man of integrity I suppose in the
industry. The 8 years I was on the license at Bluff Creek we never had an incident with anybody
from law enforcement. We always passed the secret shoppers as Mike stated. I think we were
great stewards, a great neighbor for the community and for the neighboring people. In the 8
years I can’t recall ever talking to the Sabinske’s whatsoever about poor customer support. Too
fast of driving or that we had problems with people drinking. Where we held the license, I think
the 3.2 license versus the beer license, you still have to follow the same laws. You have to give,
check the ID’s. You have to make sure that they’re not intoxicated when you serve them. I
think Mike and his staff will continue that process. I think they’ll do wonders for I think
upholding the law as, or as law enforcement and everything else goes so I just wanted to state
that I’m in full support of Bluff Creek getting it. I manage Halla Greens Golf Course as well so
we’ll most likely be coming in front of you now in the not too distant future but I couldn’t stand
behind Mike any more.
Mayor Laufenburger: Thank you Mr. Kirkbride.
David Kirkbride: You bet, thank you.
Mayor Laufenburger: Anyone else wish to address the council on this matter? There being no
other interested parties I will close the public hearing and bring it back to council for any
questions of staff or comments. Or motions. Anyone? Mr. McDonald.
Councilman McDonald: Mr. Mayor, I have a question. I’ll direct it to Mr. Gerhardt. He may
want to direct it someplace else but they bring up a number of issues in here about the speed
13
City Council Summary – March 23, 2015
limits and about you know cars driving erratically and all like that but what I’m interested in is
all the time that they’ve had a license, what kind of problems have we had out there? Have there
been, you know is this a hotbed for arrests or anything like that or what’s the history been?
Todd Gerhardt: I’m not aware of any continuous history out there. I’m sure there’s been
occasions where there’s been issues. What’s changed here from last year is Bluff Creek Golf
Course had a beer and wine license which was 3.2. This year we changed our ordinance to allow
strong beer to be sold at the local golf courses so as a part of that Bluff Creek is making their
application for a strong beer and license and under the previous licensing for 3.2 there was no
issues that came to my attention and Paul, I don’t know if you’ve ever had speed requests. It is a
narrow roadway. It does curve as you approach the golf course if you get into Creekwood Drive
and, but I don’t know of any accidents that have occurred there. There’s no curb and gutter on
the roadway. People will drift off the road and probably rut up the sides of the road but other
than that I’m not aware of any other issues that are going on out there.
Councilman McDonald: Okay, thank you.
Mayor Laufenburger: Alright, any other questions or comments? Anyone care to make a
motion?
Councilwoman Tjornhom: I’ll make a motion.
Mayor Laufenburger: Alright, Councilwoman Tjornhom.
Councilwoman Tjornhom: I’d like to make a motion the City Council approves the request for
an on-sale beer and wine license from Bluff Creek Golf Course Association.
Mayor Laufenburger: Okay, is there a second?
Councilman Campion: Second.
Mayor Laufenburger: Mr. Campion, we’ll take your second. Any discussion on the motion? I
would just like to make a comment if I may. Mr. Cohrs I certainly appreciate you speaking here
on behalf of Bluff Creek and Mr. Kirkbride as well and I personally have experienced Bluff
Creek and I find you to run a very good operation out there and I would, I’m not discounting Mr.
Sabinske’s comments. I think that from his perspective he may see litter and he may observe
some speed. I would just encourage you to continue to reach out to Mr. and Mrs. Sabinske when
they return and make sure that they know that you’re very concerned about keeping them happy
and satisfied because we want cooperation between neighbors. You’ve demonstrated Bluff
Creek to be a good citizen of the city of Chanhassen. I’m sure Mr. and Mrs. Sabinske feel the
same way about their own participation in the community. It’s important that we have
harmonious neighborhoods, okay?
Mike Cohrs: Absolutely.
Mayor Laufenburger: Alright, thank you. Any further discussion?
14
City Council Summary – March 23, 2015
Councilwoman Tjornhom moved, Councilman Campion seconded that the City Council
approves the request for an on-sale beer and wine license from Bluff Creek Golf
Association. All voted in favor and the motion carried unanimously with a vote of 5 to 0.
COUNCIL PRESENTATIONS.
Mayor Laufenburger: I do have one. Just a reminder to those in the chambers as well as those
observing at home, this Thursday from 9:00 a.m. to 11:30 will be another The Mayor Is In at
City Hall. If citizens would like to stop by and have a cup of coffee. Just chat with me. I will
have official office hours in a conference room just off the reception area and the second
Saturday and the Fourth Thursday of every month through May this will occur so the Mayor will
be in. Also I have received comments, I personally have received comments from citizens and
from other council members that indicate that the community wants to be both informed and
engaged in the activities surrounding the possible development at Powers and Lyman known as
the Quadrant. Just a reminder that 2 weeks ago the City Council directed staff in partnership
with the developer to prepare a contract for an AUAR. That would be an Alternative Urban
Areawide Review and this is a tool that city governments use for evaluating development
projects. The AUAR contract will likely return to the council for review and approval sometime
in the next few weeks. Is that probably true Mr. Gerhardt?
Todd Gerhardt: That is correct.
Mayor Laufenburger: Okay, and we anticipate this review process will conclude later this spring
or early this summer. In the meantime city staff will engage with the developer in dialogue
regarding uses for the Quadrant. Additionally the City staff and council is very interested in
hearing from citizens during this time. City staff is exploring a formal process or a system to
receive feedback from the citizens but let me remind all citizens of Chanhassen that your council
is always open to citizens contacting us about anything related to, not only this development but
anything else going on in the city. You can visit the city website and find the most current
information about projects. You can also get the email addresses for the council, both
individually and for the full council. We like to hear from you. We want to listen to your input
and for that we thank you.
ADMINISTRATIVE PRESENTATIONS.
Mayor Laufenburger: Any administrative presentations Mr. Gerhardt?
Todd Gerhardt: Just one that’s in the correspondence packet. Paul Oehme has recently been
appointed to the Local Road Research Board and this is an interesting board. It’s cutting edge
thinking on test cases for a variety of different construction methods and having Paul on there is
going to be a great resource for us to get information and see what are some of the new cutting
edge ideas when it comes to road construction. Sewer and water projects. Water treatment and a
variety so I think it’s a big credit to Paul to be asked to be a member of this board and being
appointed so I just want to thank Paul for giving more of his time and sharing his knowledge and
gaining more from the rest of the board members.
15
City Council Summary – March 23, 2015
Mayor Laufenburger: We congratulate you Mr. Oehme. I know that your influence certainly
goes beyond the city of Chanhassen. You’re also Vice Chairman of the Met Council’s Technical
Advisory Committee, is that correct?
Paul Oehme: That’s right.
Mayor Laufenburger: So we appreciate not only what you do for Chanhassen but how you use
your reach in other territories to improve Chanhassen as well so thank you Mr. Oehme.
Anything else Mr. Gerhardt?
Todd Gerhardt: That’s it.
Mayor Laufenburger: Okay. Any other comment on the correspondence packet?
CORRESPONDENCE DISCUSSION.
None.
Mayor Laufenburger: Any other comment on the correspondence packet? If not, may I have a
motion to adjourn.
Councilwoman Tjornhom: So moved.
Mayor Laufenburger: And before I ask for a second, just a reminder that we will continue our
work session in the Fountain Conference Room immediately following the council meeting. Is
there a second to the motion?
Councilman McDonald: Second.
Councilwoman Tjornhom moved, Councilman McDonald seconded to adjourn the
meeting. All voted in favor and the motion carried unanimously with a vote of 5 to 0. The
City Council meeting was adjourned at 7:50 p.m.
Submitted by Todd Gerhardt
City Manager
Prepared by Nann Opheim
16