CC 2016 03 28
CHANHASSEN CITY COUNCIL
REGULAR MEETING
MARCH 28, 2016
Mayor Laufenburger called the meeting to order at 7:00 p.m. The meeting was opened
with the Pledge to the Flag.
COUNCIL MEMBERS PRESENT:
Mayor Laufenburger, Councilman McDonald, and
Councilwoman Tjornhom
COUNCIL MEMBERS ABSENT:
Councilwoman Ryan, and Councilman Campion
STAFF PRESENT:
Todd Gerhardt, Chelsea Petersen, Kate Aanenson and Roger Knutson
PUBLIC PRESENT:
Nancy Link 6285 Ridge Road
Martin Nyman 6341 Fox Path
Jerome Barnes 6320 Fox Path
Jack Fess 6280 Ridge Road
Deanne Sheeley 6280 Ridge Road
Mayor Laufenburger: Thank you and welcome to tonight’s council meeting, those of you that
are in the chamber. Council chambers this evening as well as those watching on Mediacom
cable channel 8 or 107.2 at home. Just for the record Councilmembers McDonald and Tjornhom
and myself are present tonight. Councilmember Ryan and Campion are both excused absents
tonight. We’ll begin tonight with our consent agenda.
PUBLIC ANNOUNCEMENTS:
None.
CONSENT AGENDA:Councilwoman Tjornhom moved, Councilman McDonald
seconded to approve the following consent agenda items pursuant to the City Manager’s
recommendations:
1. Approve City Council Minutes dated March 14, 2016
2. Receive Planning Commission Minutes dated March 15, 2016
3. 2016 Street Improvements Project 16-01: Call Assessment Hearing
Resolution #2016-28:
4. 2016 Mill and Overlay Project 16-05: Approve Joint Powers
Agreement with the City of Victoria
Chanhassen City Council – March 28, 2016
5. Approval of 2016 Liquor License Renewals.
6. Approve Purchase of Two Dell Network Servers
All voted in favor and the motion carried unanimously with a vote of 3 to 0.
VISITOR PRESENTATIONS.
None.
LAW ENFORCEMENT/FIRE DEPARTMENT UPDATE.
Lt. Eric Kittelson: Good evening Mr. Mayor, council members. I have the law enforcement
update for the month of February, 2016. Calls for service in February, we had 108 citations for
traffic and parking violations and 391 warnings for violations. Total calls for service, we had 10
Part I crimes which brings us year to date, we are half of what we were last year at this time. We
had 45 as of the end of February last year. We’re at 22. A pretty significant drop in serious
crime which we like to see. Part II crimes, we’re right about where we were last year at 42 and
non-criminal we had 1,028. We do have a Towards Zero Death impaired driving enforcement
and safe and sober event coming up. Distracted driving. Enhanced education enforcement.
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Carver County Sheriff’s Office will join 300 agencies statewide from April 11 to the 17th to do
enhanced enforcement and education of distracted driving and just a reminder to everyone. In
Minnesota it’s illegal for drivers to read, compose, send text, emails or access the internet while
driving, in motion or a part of traffic and that includes being stopped at a stop sign or a stop light
and just a couple recent events in Minnesota to remind us how serious this is. In New Prague a
school bus driver was walking to get his morning paper. Was killed by a woman allegedly
responding to a text message. A driver sending a Facebook message ran a red light killing a
father and his young daughter in Sherburne County and a 20 year old suspected of being
distracted lost control of his vehicle in Washington County, hit an embankment, went airborne
and smashed into a car killing a 22 year old mother so texting and driving from what I’ve seen
out there it resembles impaired driving and plain and simple so just a reminder. Even at a stop
light or stop sign you know it’s still illegal to access that phone so pull into a parking lot or off to
a wide shoulder where it’s safe to do that and if you need directions or to find out where you’re
going just pull in somewhere safe and get yourself recalibrated and back on the road. So we
have a new crime reporting system which is going to dramatically change the monthly reports
that you all see and anyone that accesses the council packet. Minnesota’s actually the last state
to come into compliance with this and currently we report crime data to the BCA, which is the
Bureau of Criminal Apprehension using Minnesota’s Criminal Justice Reporting System or
CJRS but that system’s over 40 years old and it’s obsolete technology. It’s very difficult to
integrate with other systems and unfortunately it can’t be changed to meet new state and federal
reporting requirements so basically what we’re doing is we’re changing from a summary to an
incident based reporting system and Carver County is 1 of 3 pilot agencies in the state. All
agencies in Minnesota have to become compliant by the end of 2017 and Carver County is 1 of
the 3 pilot agencies in Minnesota which means we’ll be one of the first so you folks will all see
that information before others. We expect to go live in the next several months and I’ll definitely
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Chanhassen City Council – March 28, 2016
keep you updated on that. Our records staff and supervisor have been working diligently testing
and evaluating over the last several weeks and will definitely give you an update on when we’re
going to do that and when those monthly reports are going to change. So what’s changing? The
new system is NIBRS or National Incident Based Reporting System. NIBRS collects data on 52
crimes and 24 categories. Currently under our summary reporting I just was telling you about
Part I crimes. Summary reporting only collects data on 10 Part I crimes. NIBRS collects data on
attempted crimes and summary reporting does not and summary reporting only has 2 categories.
Crimes against persons. Crimes against property and NIBRS adds a third category which is
crimes against society and most of those are drug offenses. NIBRS also collects information
about crimes committed using computer and summary reporting does not so basically NIBRS is
going to have 24 offense categories and they’re going to call them 52 Group A offenses and 10
Group B offenses and they’re also going to measure 58 data elements so. The simplest example
I can give you of this is under the summary based reporting if we take a report of someone drives
down the road and damages 10 mailboxes. That’s 10 file numbers. 10 separate crimes. Under
this system it will be one crime. One file number. Ten victims so that’s just a little sample of
how those reports are going to change and what that means for us but when we went over the
annual report for 2015, we have other benchmarks that we can go by. You know we have our
patrol activity logs and we know how much time officers are spending on unobligated time.
Obligated time. How much time they’re writing reports and things of that nature so we’ll still be
able to draw some measurements and comparisons. It will just take a little more time for future
planning.
Mayor Laufenburger: Sure, Lieutenant this NIBRS system will this be the model for all law
enforcement agencies across the nation?
Lt. Eric Kittelson: Yes and we are actually the last ones to come into compliance with that.
Mayor Laufenburger: So we’ll be able to see comparisons between our community and other
communities in this system as well is that correct?
Lt. Eric Kittelson: Correct and you know the state of the world today is you know we’re
becoming global in almost everything we do and this will help us in a number of different
aspects to measure crime stats and also to track offenders and things of that nature so.
Mayor Laufenburger: And will it be easier for you to report to us or to other citizens in the
community on what’s happening on, even on a weekly or a daily basis? Is that possible?
Lt. Eric Kittelson: I think we have that capability now if we draw the data. What this is, is
mostly it’s much more specific so many more categories so it might break one type of crime
down such as theft and it might break it down based on was it computer related? Was it a bias
crime? Was it fraud? It just makes, it just creates a whole bunch more categories under
basically a number of smaller umbrellas with a lot more detail underneath and so if we wanted to
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Chanhassen City Council – March 28, 2016
draw that data out and mine that data we would be able to come up with a lot more specific
information.
Mayor Laufenburger: Will this require more or less time from your deputies? What’s your
thoughts on that?
Lt. Eric Kittelson: Well we, I was in a work group with our records staff. It is a lot more data
entry and a lot more collecting of information but we’ve created some templates and drop down
boxes to make a lot of point and click for some of the rudimentary stuff so it will involve more
work and a little more time but we’re trying to minimize that as much as possible. And some of
that information then will be done by records staff after the fact.
Mayor Laufenburger: Sure. Were you done with your report?
Lt. Eric Kittelson: I am. Any questions?
Mayor Laufenburger: Questions?
Councilwoman Tjornhom: Do you know what actually why we’re the last, I don’t know if it’s
department?
Mayor Laufenburger: State.
Councilwoman Tjornhom: State yeah to actually adopt this new system?
Lt. Eric Kittelson: I’m just not speaking for the Department of Public Safety but I think in a lot
of respects Minnesota’s usually at the forefront and we had, it’s just like our current driver
license situation where we were kind of the first to have a really good system and it worked
really well for a long time and so we were always kind of going above and beyond what was
required and now, so it worked for us for a really long time.
Mayor Laufenburger: We hang onto things that are good is that what you’re saying?
Lt. Eric Kittelson: Yeah and now we’re having to catch up a little bit but it will be a pretty
seamless transition other than the information you all see each month is going to take a little
more deciphering and we’ll figure that out together.
Councilwoman Tjornhom: Okay.
Mayor Laufenburger: A couple months ago you introduced us to some new deputies.
Lt. Eric Kittelson: Yes.
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Chanhassen City Council – March 28, 2016
Mayor Laufenburger: How they working out?
Lt. Eric Kittelson: They’re doing very well. Deputy Carly Barrett is scheduled for final
evaluation this week and next and then she’ll be on her own pending successful completion of
that and the rest are fitting in nicely.
Mayor Laufenburger: Okay. Anything?
Councilman McDonald: No.
Mayor Laufenburger: Thank you Lieutenant.
Lt. Eric Kittelson: Thank you.
Mayor Laufenburger: Nice report. Chief Johnson.
Chief Don Johnson: Good evening Mayor and council. It’s the fire department report for
February. We’re at 40 of 45 fire fighters. Right now I’ve got 2 on medical leave. I’ve got one
on personal leave. I am happy to report that our youngest group of rookies are done with their
licensing so they’ve basically passed all of their testing and they’re state certified and licensed
fire fighters. We are going to hold off on the last portion of their training which is their
emergency medical responder training and group them together with a larger group of staff that
we hope to hire here in June so, but they are responding to calls and they are on trucks. With the
hiring process at the time I authored this report we had 14 applications. I want to say we’re at
about 18 right now. We’re going to make our last push during the pancake breakfast here April
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3. We’ll have some recruiting booths there. We do have a scheduled orientation night for all of
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our applicants April 12. We’re inviting them and their family members down to start the hiring
process with interviews starting in, at the end of April. It will be a long process to get on. We
hope to do our final hiring by late June, early July with conditional offers going out at the end of
June that will include a psychological testing, a background check and a medical surveillance
test to.
Mayor Laufenburger: What’s your target for number of fire fighters you want to bring on?
Chief Don Johnson: That will probably depend on the quality of applicant we get. I know we’ve
run between 40, up to 48. I know I’ve got one other person that has a for sale sign in the yard
and the zip code will determine whether they remain on so we have room for up to 45 plus if
we’ve got some exceptional candidates I’ll request to go up as high as that will take us to get
those candidates on now.
Mayor Laufenburger: Great.
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Chanhassen City Council – March 28, 2016
Chief Don Johnson: We responded to 53 calls in February. Two of those calls were structure
fires. One in Victoria which was a pretty major loss fire and the other one was a commercial fire
here that was a piece of equipment on Commerce Drive. The fire wasn’t big enough to actually
set off the sprinkler system so we just had a cold smoke fire when we had shown up and did the
investigation working with the company to get them back on track. We had 22 EMS calls and
one of those calls was a motor vehicle accident with injuries. Training since we’ve last met
we’ve had cold related injuries. Back boarding and then Dr. Sipprell came in and did a refresher
for the entire department on the use of Narcan. We have been carrying Narcan since last October
so I wanted a refresher with the use of that. Ice rescue procedures, leadership training for
officers and we’re currently working on an online class for over the next 30 days for fire flow
and fire path. The fire fighter memorial is substantially funded I’m happy to report. If council
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could put a date in the book, May 9 is significant for the fire department. It was the actual first
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recorded meeting of the Chanhassen Fire Department in 1966. This is our 50 year of service.
We are going to do a ground breaking that evening for the memorial so I’ll work with Mr.
Gerhardt and try to work some time in before the actual council meeting starts for that evening.
Mayor Laufenburger: What day of the week is that?
Chief Don Johnson: That is a Monday so.
Mayor Laufenburger: Monday night.
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Chief Don Johnson: And then as I said April 3 is the Lions Breakfast at Fire Station 1 so 8:00
to I want to say 1:00 if anybody’s available come down and enjoy some pancakes with the Lions
and see the fire trucks and we’ll have some booths there and it’s usually a good time for families
so pretty reasonably priced for a family to have some pancakes.
Mayor Laufenburger: And you’re guaranteeing good weather for that as well?
Chief Don Johnson: I’m not going to guarantee good weather but I believe it may be cool but it
will be sunny so we’ll have our trucks outside and plenty of indoor seating for, to enjoy
breakfast. We did have a lot of fun at the Easter Egg Hunt Mr. Mayor with you. As you know
the fire department was there to stand that up so and then I’ve included some charts and graphs
to kind of show where we’re at historically. We’re at about 52 calls already this month so we’re
pretty, we’re hitting our average right now of calls. Not too busy. Not too lean so that’s my
report. I can stand for questions.
Mayor Laufenburger: Any questions for the Chief? Our community is growing Chief. Are you
seeing any impact in response times as a result of new homes? Are we able to stay within the
standard of response times? What your view on that?
Chief Don Johnson: You know right now Mayor I haven’t pulled the data. I think our duty crew
program that we have on a limited basis has been extremely successful. I want to say this year
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Chanhassen City Council – March 28, 2016
alone with the changes we’ve made we’ve hit about 24 duty crew only calls during that window
of 6:00 to 10:00 at night on those few nights a week so hitting those calls really drops our
average down so we’re still under the 10 minute. Under the 10 minute mark for an actual engine.
Not just a command vehicle but an engine on scene with that duty crew in place so we’ll be
talking about that throughout the year and keeping with what the numbers tell us.
Mayor Laufenburger: For those people that are in the chamber as well as maybe watching at
home, can you just give a brief summary of what a duty crew is versus a purely volunteer in-
home or in workplace environment and why did we go to that solution?
Chief Don Johnson: Sure. Historically Chanhassen has used a duty crew since 2002. Those
shifts were 6 hour shifts on a Friday and Saturday evening because we were having trouble
trying to find that volunteer model that was going to meet those demands on those evenings with
high family demand time and weekend time. Prior to that a year, about a year and a half ago we
started to chase the data a little bit. We did a lot of work around when we were going out and
when we were actually needed and we shortened some of the shifts. We added another night and
we used some of our payroll to actually add some daytime here and there and what that’s
resulted in is we’ll stand up a 3 person crew. It’s all volunteer right now so you sign up for the
shifts you want and then during the time that the duty crew stood up is we actually allow that 3
person crew to handle quite a bit more calls on their own without paging out the entire fire
department so it both gives the community an immediate response because that crew’s there and
ready to go. They’re usually out the door in less than a minute versus the 4 to 5 minute range of
getting crews in the station, on a truck and that truck out the door.
Mayor Laufenburger: So that duty crew is actually occupying, they’re in the fire station.
Chief Don Johnson: Correct.
Mayor Laufenburger: And their sole purpose is to be there to respond quickly to events that
need them and historically you assign the duty crews to those times that have historically been
most common for needing a fire crew is that correct?
Chief Don Johnson: Correct.
Mayor Laufenburger: Okay.
Chief Don Johnson: Correct.
Mayor Laufenburger: So this is an anticipation on your part to respond to those things quickly.
Chief Don Johnson: Correct and you know as we talked before Mayor is Wednesdays seem to
be our day of being the busiest.
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Chanhassen City Council – March 28, 2016
Mayor Laufenburger: Amazing.
Chief Don Johnson: And that’s actually changing for 2016 right now so we might have to look
at a different day or two but it’s been beneficial. I want to say 2014 we hit a total of 11 duty
crew calls for the whole year. Well now just as I said in this year alone we’re up to about 23 just
with chasing and scheduling the data of when we actually, we need that.
Mayor Laufenburger: So using the information you have available and as you say chasing the
numbers responding to when historically shows as this is the most busy time. Let’s get people
in.
Chief Don Johnson: Correct. And then what we’ve used it for Mayor is we’ve also got station
duties. The station is cleaned. The trucks are more well maintained and that’s the type of things
that these staff are doing when they’re at the station.
Mayor Laufenburger: So they’re not just playing cards you mean, is that right?
Chief Don Johnson: Correct. Correct.
Mayor Laufenburger: Okay.
Chief Don Johnson: I’ll sometimes get calls during the day where some of our citizens are
having issues with smoke detectors and it may not relate to a full call out but we’ll send a truck
out when the duty crew’s on and have you know, use that time when we’re already scheduled to
send people out and look at things in the community when we’ve got you know folks that may
need a little bit of extra help and it doesn’t necessarily mean a 911 call out but, and they can wait
a couple hours. We’ll send that duty crew out to check on that so we’ve looked for ways to
maximize how we use those 3 people at the station. They don’t just sit and wait for calls.
There’s actually work being done which benefits all of us.
Mayor Laufenburger: Good. Well let me also with you standing there let me make note that I
know you’re using customer comment cards and often times they’re returned to you and they
show excellent results. People are very pleased with what you’re doing Chief so congratulations
to not only to you but to your assistant chief. To the captains and your entire crew, you’re doing
a wonderful job for this community so on behalf of the citizens thank you.
Chief Don Johnson: Thank you.
Mayor Laufenburger: Councilwoman Tjornhom.
Councilwoman Tjornhom: I just want to say I really enjoyed attending your association meeting
and I appreciated the free t-shirt and all the snacks that were also provided during the meeting so.
No I’m joking.
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Chanhassen City Council – March 28, 2016
Mayor Laufenburger: Snacks? When did snacks? Chief.
Councilwoman Tjornhom: No, no, I’m sorry. Sorry just made the Chief get red. That was for
Councilman McDonald. But really what a great group you are.
Chief Don Johnson: Thank you.
Councilwoman Tjornhom: And great work you do and I’m so honored just to be able to be there
with you and work with you so.
Chief Don Johnson: Thank you. Thank you very much.
Councilwoman Tjornhom: So thank you so much for that.
Chief Don Johnson: I believe you did have an action item to check with Councilman McDonald
on his action item.
Councilwoman Tjornhom: Yeah I know I haven’t done that yet.
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Mayor Laufenburger: So just a reminder May 9 you’ll likely do ground breaking on the
memorial is that correct?
Chief Don Johnson: Correct.
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Mayor Laufenburger: And that’s the precisely the 50 anniversary of the convening of the
Chanhassen Volunteer Fire Department.
Chief Don Johnson: Correct.
Mayor Laufenburger: Wow.
Chief Don Johnson: One of the keynotes for that evening, as well as probably we’ll ask council
to be there but I have Mr. Windschitl who has, we have a line of duty death and I think you know
most fitting when we’re honoring our retirees and what that wall is intended to be of a line of
duty death to have a family member there that actually has a line of duty death I think will be
very memorable for all of us so.
Mayor Laufenburger: Absolutely, alright. Thank you Chief very much.
Chief Don Johnson: Thank you.
Councilman McDonald: Thank you.
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Chanhassen City Council – March 28, 2016
6285 RIDGE ROAD, PLANNING CASE 2016-05: REQUEST FOR AN INTERIM USE
PERMIT TO PERMIT CONSTRUCTION OF A STABLE ON 1.74 ACRES OF
PROPERTY ZONED RESIDENTIAL SINGLE FAMILY (RSF) AND LOCATED AT
6285 RIDGE ROAD (LOT 1, BLOCK 1, MEYER’S ADDITION). OWNER: NANCY
LINK.
Kate Aanenson: Thank you Mayor, members of the City Council. This interim use permit
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appeared before the Planning Commission with a public hearing on March 15. The Planning
Commission did vote 5 to 1 to recommend approval of the interim use permit. We noted in the
minutes that there was some discussion after the public comments regarding you know the
concern for runoff, smell, noise and neighborhood harmony were expressed. Again the interim
use permit does call for annual inspections and the staff had advised the Planning Commission
that as a part of any complaints that we would follow up on those to see if they’re in compliance
so with that they did recommend the 5-1 approval. The request is for 6285 Ridge Road which is
off of Pleasant View and Ridge Road which is a street that dead ends as it goes towards
Shorewood. The property is zoned Residential Single Family. It’s 1.74 acres and having a
stable on this property does require an interim use permit. Again little close up of the property.
As I stated it’s 1.74 acres. There is a pool under construction right now. At the time of the
Planning Commission there was some concerns brought by the neighbors regarding some of the
debris and the status of the pool itself and the applicant is working on that and working to also
clean up the debris. So again the request for interim use permit is for a private stable. Again the
RSF district does permit private stables as an interim use permit and the stable would need to be,
comply with Chapter 5 and I’ll go through some of those standards. I know there was questions
about the use of or the application of horses in the residential single family district. We have
some that pre-date the city ordinance. We also have a couple, specifically one on Galpin
Boulevard that’s in the middle of two significant subdivisions on either side. It’s a little bit
larger parcel. While it’s A2 it’s in close proximity to existing single family homes and that’s
along Galpin Boulevard. Again the two other ones are also adjacent to single family
neighborhoods but probably go back over 30 years before we were permitting them the way we
are today. So again to construct the stable you have to go through the stable permit and then it
does based on how big the acreage is, how many horses. Again the applicant’s requesting for
one miniature horse but based on the acreage they could be allowed 2 and that was some
discussion that was brought up at the Planning Commission. Whether or not there’d be more
than one or two. Again the accommodations that are being proposed would allow that but
certainly as a part of the interim use permit you could look at that as a potential that you may
want to limit the use of that so again only one horse is being proposed and again it could provide
for two. There’s also a building, the structure itself and then also a paddock area which I’ll go
through in a little bit more detail. But I just wanted to be clear that this is the general issuance
standards for the interim use permit so it follows the conditional use standards. It conforms to
the zoning regulations which again it is residential single family. It is an interim use permit and
so 2 and 3 are being met. The other thing that we did put in here, the date that the event would
terminate. Traditionally a conditional use runs with the property. In this circumstance there’s
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Chanhassen City Council – March 28, 2016
typically a sunset clause on that so what the staff had recommended that there be 3 criteria for
the termination or the change in the interim use permit and what we had recommended, one is if
there’s a sale of the property, a subdivision of the property, or alterations of the property lines or
widening of Pleasant View Road which would take away additional right-of-way. Making the
lot smaller so those would be the 3 trigger dates with the interim use permit. Again one of the
criteria for the issuance itself and that the use would not impose additional costs on the public
and then finally the user agrees to any condition that the council may deem appropriate for
permission of the use. I know the Planning Commission did have some discussion of that and I
think that was one of the concerns of the neighbors too, whether or not there could, another
miniature horse be brought on the property so that might be something that you want to discuss.
Mayor Laufenburger: Kate can I just interrupt for a second?
Kate Aanenson: Absolutely.
Mayor Laufenburger: So just to clarify, what’s the determining factor regarding how many
horses would be allowed on this property?
Kate Aanenson: The acreage.
Mayor Laufenburger: And the acreage would support up to two is that correct?
Kate Aanenson: That’s correct.
Mayor Laufenburger: Okay. And we know that at the present time the applicant wants to
introduce one horse is that correct?
Kate Aanenson: That’s correct.
Mayor Laufenburger: Okay, thank you.
Kate Aanenson: So again the stable requirements. One and a half acres. Then this is 1.75 which
would allow for the two and then there’s a criteria for additional horses. Again if you look to the
structure itself, the stabling can’t create a nuisance. Again this did come up. How would we
manage the nuisance factor? Again we do have somebody in the city that does inspect these and
again any nuisance that was felt by the neighborhood that we would follow up on that and make
sure that it’s meeting any concerns that they would have and that would be sanitary conditions
regarding flies, manure and the like. And then also there was some concern about potential
drainage. So those are the criteria that it would be, that there’s annual inspection and then the
intent of this would be that it would be inspected as the structure went up to make sure that it met
the compliance of the ordinance. So this is the site itself so the stable’s going to be back in this
area. It’s heavily wooded which was also a discussion that came up to regarding the amount of
trees removal on the area so I’m just going to zoom in a little bit closer.
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Chanhassen City Council – March 28, 2016
Mayor Laufenburger: Can you go back? What’s the green color indicate?
Kate Aanenson: Those are just the woods. Kind of the area that’s kind of the more natural.
Mayor Laufenburger: Okay. Okay.
Kate Aanenson: So I think this one might be a little bit more illustrative of the intent. So this
would be the building itself, and this would kind of be the paddock area. The horse would be
kind of out in this area. Although this larger square area would also be available too but for the
most part the horse would be able to wander in and out of the shelter and into this area freely but
there’s also the larger area too. So this area behind the barn would be the area that would be
cleared and leveled so when I say cleared the trees would be removed from that area and then
more leveled out so the miniature horse would have room to just wander about in that specific
area. This is the barn itself so if you look at where that paddock area. The horse could come out
under the shaded area which is also a requirement they have access to cover and then go roaming
into that area. The structure itself is approximately 100 square feet and then this would also
serve the area to store the hay. We did work with the applicant and request the information
regarding the amount, on how much hay and frequency it would be delivered. This was a
question that was brought up by the neighbors and I think it was a little bit ambiguous at the
Planning Commission. I’m not sure we had all the facts so I just want to make sure we’re clear
on this. This is coming off of Pleasant View. I think some of the people on Pleasant View
wanted to know how this would be accessed because right now that’s how the staging’s coming
in to get at the pool based on the grade. Right now it’s the owner’s intent that this is for a
construction access but then it would be gated. Gated with no permanent access to the driveway.
Although hay could be delivered at this area as stated by how much hay would be required for
the one miniature horse. That hay delivery would probably be done twice a year so it’s not
intended to be serviceable all the time. It wouldn’t have a curb cut per se. There is a rolled
asphalt there but it would be a gate that would provide minimal access. I think one question that
was also brought up would be how would if the site needed to be cleaned how would that be
removed from the site too so we may want to get more specifics from the applicant on that. So
with that the staff did put Findings of Fact. Went through the interim use permit. Believe that it
meets the criteria as spelled out in the code and we are recommending approval, as did the
Planning Commission of the interim use with the subject to the approval of the Findings of Fact
and I’d be happy to answer any questions that you may have.
Mayor Laufenburger: Alright, thank you Kate. Let’s bring it back to council first to see, are
there any questions of staff from the council? Mr. McDonald do you have a question or two?
Councilman McDonald: I have a question or two. There was also an issue brought up at the
Planning Commission concerning the fence and that wasn’t I think well resolved in there. Is
there going to be one fence that will also meet the requirements for the pool or will there be two
fences? One around the pool and one around the property for the horse.
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Chanhassen City Council – March 28, 2016
Kate Aanenson: This fence here will be around. Will also accommodate the pool area and that
meets the standards. Well it has to be inspected by the City because it does need to meet the
requirements of the City for securing a pool area so that’s, that was not clear at the Planning
Commission. You are correct and so this drawing has been added and then inside of that would
be an interior area that the horse could just roam in and out of the barn which we would call the
paddock area but, and also if someone wanted to walk the horse around it would have also a
larger area too so there is a fence around the pool that meets all ordinances.
Councilman McDonald: Okay and then the other thing that wasn’t quite clear from that meeting,
what we’re looking at right now would be a miniature horse but as I understand the statute you
could put a regular sized horse on the property, is that true?
Kate Aanenson: That’s correct.
Councilman McDonald: And what would prevent the applicant, I guess if it even makes any
difference from swapping out the miniature horse for a regular sized horse.
Kate Aanenson: Yeah we didn’t specify that in the.
Councilman McDonald: Well would part of that be, would the shelter take care of a regular
sized horse or would that necessitate again coming back and asking for another interim use for a
larger facility for a regular horse?
Kate Aanenson: I guess I would ask the City Attorney if one of the conditions as opposed to
reasonable conditions under the interim use permit if you wanted to state, so I’m under number 6
that the application is for a miniature horse and that’s what we’re approving as part of the interim
use permit.
Roger Knutson: Mayor, members of the council. Since the applicant has requested approval for
one miniature horse you certainly could add that as a condition of approval. That you’re
approving one miniature horse.
Councilman McDonald: I have a question about that. The zoning says you can put 2 horses on
there. What you just said to me I interpreted if they wanted to add a second they’d have to come
back and get permission, is that?
Roger Knutson: That’s correct if you have a condition here that says one miniature horse. Then
they wanted to change it to a full sized horse or 2 horses or any other, whatever, they’d have to
come back and ask for an amendment to their interim use permit.
Councilman McDonald: Okay thank you. You know you answered the question about the gate
but I’ve still got a I guess a question and a concern about that. That’s coming off of Pleasant
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Chanhassen City Council – March 28, 2016
View. Does that pose any problems as far as public safety because that’s almost at the curve on
Pleasant View where traffic’s coming down the hill and traffic’s going up the hill. Is that a
concern with public safety?
Kate Aanenson: We had engineering and the sheriff’s office look at it. Based on the limited use
of that they did not feel it was a safety issue. Again the use would be to bring hay in and a
minimal service of the property.
Councilman McDonald: Okay and again is that something that we should put in the restrictions
that the gate can only be used sporadically for the delivery of hay?
Kate Aanenson: I think that might be helpful so we have some reason to say that they’re not
meeting the intent because I think that was one of the concerns of some of the neighbors too.
Councilman McDonald: It was a concern of the neighbors and again the Planning Commission I
didn’t see where that was totally addressed.
Kate Aanenson: Yeah. I’m not sure we had all the facts at that time of how the hay was being
delivered, correct.
Councilman McDonald: Okay.
Mayor Laufenburger: You don’t have to exhaust all your questions.
Councilman McDonald: Okay I’ll move on. If you don’t cover them I’ll come back to them.
Mayor Laufenburger: Okay, alright. Did you have any quick questions?
Councilwoman Tjornhom: No I’m just waiting for public comments.
Mayor Laufenburger: Okay, alright. Mr. Knutson, can you clarify something for us please? Is it
in our power to deny an interim use permit?
Roger Knutson: Mayor, an application for an interim use permit is what we call a quasi judicial
decision. You’re not making a policy for the city. For example should, adopting an ordinance or
something. You’re deciding whether the facts you’re presented with meet the standards in the
ordinance. If the facts meet the standards in the ordinance then you do not have discretion. You
have to decide whether the requirements of the ordinance have been satisfied. If they have been
satisfied then you lack discretion but if you determine they have not been satisfied then of course
you have the right to turn it down.
Mayor Laufenburger: Okay. So in this case if we determine that the facts of the application,
Kate can you bring up the permit stipulation there? Nope, before that. There. The issuance of
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Chanhassen City Council – March 28, 2016
standards. If these 6 standards have been met in our view then we really have no choice and we
have to approve it.
Roger Knutson: That is correct.
Mayor Laufenburger: Okay. However in our approval we can establish, Kate refers to those as
conditions of use, is that correct? We can establish any number of conditions of use in order to
clearly define the use during this interim period, is that correct?
Roger Knutson: That is also correct.
Mayor Laufenburger: Okay. And we know, now you can go to the next one Kate. We know
that stable requirements is one of the stipulations or one of the conditions of use, is that correct?
Kate Aanenson: That’s correct.
Mayor Laufenburger: Okay. Are there other conditions of use?
Kate Aanenson: They’re not spelled out in here but we’ve made them, they’ll have to apply for a
building permit to get the structure.
Mayor Laufenburger: Yep, okay. Just a second here. I’m looking at, just give me a moment
please. Okay, there we go.
Kate Aanenson: Standards for keeping horses.
Mayor Laufenburger: Yeah I’m looking at Section 5-106 which is called revocation. You may
not have it on the screen but may I read it just briefly?
Kate Aanenson: Sure.
Mayor Laufenburger: It says, a permit issued pursuant to this division may be revoked by the
stable inspector if it is determined after investigation by the stable inspector or designated
employee or after holding a hearing thereon preceded by notice of the hearing to be given to the
holder permit mailed et cetera, the permit holder has not maintained the standards set forth in
Section 5-104 and 5-104 makes reference to, whoa wait a second. Excuse me. Further in that
section it says item number 4. The permit holder has treated a horse cruelly or inhumanely or
has not furnished adequate care to a horse as set forth in Section 5-89 so do we assume by
reference that the permit holder agrees with the language in Section 5-89?
Kate Aanenson: It would be my recommendation that that would be one of the requirements that
they comply with keeping of horses.
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Chanhassen City Council – March 28, 2016
Mayor Laufenburger: Okay and 5-89 specifically says cruel and inhumane treatment. Cruel and
inhumane treatment of horses shall exist where a person fails to provide adequate care to horses.
Adequate care includes but is not limited to the following and then it enumerates a number of
things. My question Kate is, all of these are part of the Article III. Excuse me, Section, I think
it’s Section 5, Article III, Horses. My question to you is, do all of these things in our code that
relate to horses, do they apply by reference to the interim use permit or do we have to
specifically state?
Kate Aanenson: Well they would apply because having a horse is implied just like it is like
keeping of a dog or that sort of thing. If you’re not meeting any city ordinance.
Mayor Laufenburger: Okay.
Kate Aanenson: They’re all enforceable.
Todd Gerhardt: Mayor, council, anybody in the community with a horse would have to comply
with those ordinances.
Kate Aanenson: If they’re on 1.74 acres or 3 or 10 or 12 or whatever.
Todd Gerhardt: Right, you don’t need to include it as a part of the interim use.
Mayor Laufenburger: Okay, alright. Okay. Let’s see. In just a moment I’m going to ask if the
applicant would like to say anything but before I do that I want to just cover a couple other
things. Kate there was some mention in the Planning Commission notes, and by the way for all
the people who are present this evening the council has reviewed all of the Planning Commission
notes including the verbatim from the Planning Commission so we’ve already read and heard.
We’ve read letters. We’ve read letters from neighbors. We’ve read the applicant’s comments.
All of that is part of the public record that we have and that includes among other things the
neighbor concerns where smell and noise of livestock. It would attract more unwanted animals.
Rodents. Vermin. Varmints. Flies. Insects. There was concern for the horse. Access from
Pleasant View as Councilman McDonald mentioned. Runoff from the stable or corral to
Pleasant View Preserve and there’s a stipulation in here that the stable just be 200 feet from
wetland. Does this comply with that?
Kate Aanenson: (Yes).
Mayor Laufenburger: And so it’s more than 200 feet to the wetland. Home values will decrease
so we’re very aware of those particular issues that have been brought to the council’s attention. I
say that because it’s, there is not a public hearing tonight but I may ask that if anybody wants to
speaks to something other than these issues from the neighbors but I will do that a little bit later.
Let me see. So without further ado I’d, Mr. McDonald did you have other questions?
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Chanhassen City Council – March 28, 2016
Councilman McDonald: Yes I did Mr. Mayor.
Mayor Laufenburger: Okay.
Councilman McDonald: I have one other question for staff. One of the things that I guess I got
confused on was a couple years ago we did have an issue come up dealing with livestock and I
was kind of banking upon that but I understand that was a different situation within the ordinance
and that was property under the one acre size. My question is, have we got any plans to review
the ordinances in this particular area to really kind of look at what would and would not be
allowed within a residential area concerning livestock?
Kate Aanenson: We had brought that forward in 2014 and I think at that point we were
concerned that just because someone has an acre and a half it might be substantially wet. It
might be heavily wooded. It might be on a steep slope so we had talked about recommending
that there be minimum standards for acreage and at that time it did not move forward for a code
amendment but we can certainly go back and revisit that.
Councilman McDonald: Okay so we can go back and re-evaluate.
Kate Aanenson: Absolutely.
Councilman McDonald: Okay, thank you.
Mayor Laufenburger: But I would point out if, if in the future we were to evaluate that and if the
council decided that let’s say for example 3 acres would be needed in order to accommodate a
horse would, and if this interim use permit were approved would this interim use permit be,
would this operate under a legally non-conforming?
Kate Aanenson: Yes. Yes.
Mayor Laufenburger: Is that the status it would operate under?
Kate Aanenson: Yep.
Mayor Laufenburger: Okay. I’d like to hear from the applicant if the applicant is present this
evening. Would you mind addressing the council. Tell us your name and address.
Nancy Link: Good evening. My name is Nancy Link and I live at 6285 Ridge Road.
Mayor Laufenburger: Welcome. Nice to have you here Nancy.
Nancy Link: Thank you. Thank you so much and you did like most of my pages here so thank
you very much. I understand that the neighbors have concerns and so I have done my best to try
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Chanhassen City Council – March 28, 2016
to address a lot of those, although it’s sort of built into naturally to the City of Chanhassen with
it’s annual reviews for the permit. There’s a stable inspector on staff and every year you have to
make sure that you’re keeping up with all the standards and making sure that the smell and noise
and what not so.
Mayor Laufenburger: Nancy if I can interrupt you. It sounds like what you’re telling us is that
you’ve reviewed all of the requirements of keeping a horse on your property. All of the
ordinances. All of the suggestions. The inspections, all of that and you’re prepared to comply
with all of that is that correct?
Nancy Link: Correct.
Mayor Laufenburger: Okay, very good. Keep going.
Nancy Link: Let’s see. A couple of things I just want to make sure that I completely address is,
and obviously you did read all the notes from the Planning Commission. There is a ditch, sort of
a creek kind of thing that runs off of Pleasant View and kind of meanders down the property line
into Silver Lake and that was something that was of concern just because of runoff and what not
so I wanted to make sure that it was completely clear that I’m working with Minnesota Green
which is helping me to make sure that we engineer that paddock area such that the drainage goes
away from Silver Lake and that ditch in particular. The other issue I wanted to make sure that
we address is just that because we are making this stable, we’re building it. I’m putting some
money into it for the property value. I don’t want to limit it to just being a stable so I’m making
sure it’s something that could be used for storage and for whoever lives there next or if this
miniature horse doesn’t work out it’s going to be a nice accessory structure as it’s called in the
city so I just wanted to make sure that that was clear. And actually a neighbor had also
wondered about electricity and water down to the stable and those are both things that we have
covered with the builder. And then as far as.
Mayor Laufenburger: When you say you’ve covered them with the builder so your plans are to
have power to the building.
Nancy Link: Yeah. Yep.
Mayor Laufenburger: And water.
Nancy Link: Yes.
Mayor Laufenburger: So it’s flowable throughout the year including during winter months.
Nancy Link: Yes. Yep and the electricity part of it is important for keeping the water from not
freezing. The stable is not going to have a sink or a toilet or a shower. It’s just going to have
water available to give to the horse. Another important aspect to the fencing I want to address
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Chanhassen City Council – March 28, 2016
really quickly is that there’s going to be 4 standard sized gates just for individuals that have self
closing and self latching mechanisms and then the access point on Pleasant View Road is again
just to reiterate it’s just going to be for any kind of service call or delivery. We’re only going to
get the hay delivered twice a year because it’s something that we have planned on storing so it’s
not a big in and out all the time kind of thing. Let’s see. And we are not going to have a trailer
to transport the horse. We have Cleary Lake Veterinaries down in Prior Lake. They make house
calls and I’ve already contracted with them to take care of him for his, you know whatever shots
and those kind of things that need to take place in keeping him healthy. So I just I guess the last
thing I want to say is just I, some of you here might be parents like I am and I view my job as a
mom to help my kids foster their interests and to learn and grow and one of my children came to
me and asked about a miniature horse and once I looked into it, the more I learned about it the
more I thought it was a good idea and then when it came to the City of Chanhassen and I realized
that I was zoned properly for it, it just was something that I explored and here we are so I
absolutely I want no harm to my neighbors and it’s not, I think there’s sort of a, there’s two sides
to the coin of property value. One realtor might say that a miniature horse will bring it down
when another realtor actually might say that it could bring it up so I think that’s just a matter of
opinion but again I’m not trying to upset anybody. I just, this was something that came up and
so here we are.
Mayor Laufenburger: Okay before you go would you mind answering a few questions?
Nancy Link: Sure.
Mayor Laufenburger: Can you tell us a little bit about your family Nancy?
Nancy Link: My children range, my oldest is a junior at the Minnetonka High School. A boy.
His name is Roy and then I have a freshman at the high school, Walker.
Mayor Laufenburger: Teenagers.
Nancy Link: He just turned 15 and passed his permit test so we have 2 drivers I guess now.
Mayor Laufenburger: Have you told the neighbors about this already?
Nancy Link: Walker has his permit.
Mayor Laufenburger: Keep going. Keep going.
Nancy Link: And then my daughter Vada is, she’s 11. Fifth grader soon to be at the middle
school in Minnetonka. Minnetonka Middle School West and then I have a fourth grade boy and
th
so when I told them that the permit had passed on the 15 the boys all went like this, yes because
they’re excited for their sister to get something special.
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Chanhassen City Council – March 28, 2016
Mayor Laufenburger: And her name is Mada?
Nancy Link: Vada.
Mayor Laufenburger: Vada, okay. Have you, do you have any current pets?
Nancy Link: We do. We have an almost 6 year old Cavalier King Charles spaniel dog and then
we have an almost 2 year old golden retriever.
Mayor Laufenburger: Oh okay. How do they feel about Smoke?
Nancy Link: I think they’re excited.
Mayor Laufenburger: Have they met Smoke? Where is Smoke currently?
Nancy Link: He is at the breeder which is in Clear Lake, Minnesota and they have not but the
breeder has dogs on her property along with her, I think she has 10 miniature horses right now
and yeah.
Mayor Laufenburger: I would like to ask you about the gates if I can and the gates are shown
here. So it’s identified as 6 total. With Kate’s help can you just describe each of these gates for
us Nancy if you wouldn’t mind.
Nancy Link: Yes so on the top of the screen, that represents the north side so we’ll have a gate
at.
Mayor Laufenburger: By the pool? Along side the house.
Nancy Link: Yeah basically on the north side of the house so the driveway is that sort of
speckally, yep.
Mayor Laufenburger: Okay so there’ll be a gate right there.
Nancy Link: And so there’ll be a gate over here.
Mayor Laufenburger: Okay. And by the way is this fence, is this fence that we’re looking at
right now, is this depicting a chainlink or a wood fence or what is that?
Nancy Link: That thicker line is going to be a cedar fence.
Mayor Laufenburger: Like a vertical cedar fence?
Nancy Link: Yep.
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Chanhassen City Council – March 28, 2016
Mayor Laufenburger: Okay, alright. And that will continue along to the east.
Nancy Link: Yep.
Mayor Laufenburger: Okay.
Nancy Link: Until basically the trees sort of take over.
Mayor Laufenburger: Okay. And are we now showing a chainlink fence?
Nancy Link: Yes.
Mayor Laufenburger: Okay.
Nancy Link: So where the trees take over the chainlink takes over.
Mayor Laufenburger: Okay. So what’s the purpose of that gate right there?
Nancy Link: You know I just I, the last house that I lived in we had a fence around the property
and there was just certain times where maybe a ball went over the fence and you have to go
retrieve it and it was hard to climb the fence or go all the way around so it just kind of made
sense to me to make sure that if we needed to get to that area there was something.
Mayor Laufenburger: So access to the farther yard, okay.
Nancy Link: Yeah.
Mayor Laufenburger: And again that’s chainlink along there right?
Nancy Link: Correct.
Mayor Laufenburger: Okay so that chainlink will then continue all the way in a southerly
direction to that corner. Is all of that chainlink or will there be some wood in there as well?
Nancy Link: Well the property right now has a, I guess you call it just a wood fence, rail fence
that goes along the property line.
Mayor Laufenburger: Wait, no I’m talking about the portion of the fence that goes from the gate
on the north, south to Pleasant View. That right there. Is all of that chainlink?
Nancy Link: Yes sir.
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Chanhassen City Council – March 28, 2016
Mayor Laufenburger: Okay, alright. That’s all chainlink. So now we’re on Pleasant View. Is
this also chainlink along here?
Nancy Link: Yes.
Mayor Laufenburger: Okay and this is where you plan to put in a permanent access gate for
temporary usage, is that correct?
Nancy Link: Yes.
Mayor Laufenburger: Okay, and that will be large enough so that a vehicle can come in to
deliver hay and you said twice a year?
Nancy Link: Twice a year.
Mayor Laufenburger: Alright. How about removal of waste? How often will that be necessary?
Nancy Link: You know that is something we plan to do every week.
Mayor Laufenburger: Okay. Is that something you as a family will do or is that a service?
Nancy Link: We’re going to start out as a family.
Mayor Laufenburger: Okay.
Nancy Link: And then go from there.
Mayor Laufenburger: Okay, alright. Okay so let’s continue. So we’ve got chainlink. Now
we’re at the corner and now we’re going back towards the corner the corner of the house. That is
all chainlink as well?
Nancy Link: Yep.
Mayor Laufenburger: And is there a gate there?
Nancy Link: That will be another small gate, yep.
Mayor Laufenburger: Access gate kind of thing, okay. Okay, so that’s chainlink with exception
of the top by the pool that will be, how high will that cedar fence be? Do we have a requirement
Kate for the height of a fence around a pool?
Kate Aanenson: Yes we do. I don’t remember it off the top of my head but yes there is a
requirement of type of fence and height of fence.
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Chanhassen City Council – March 28, 2016
Mayor Laufenburger: Okay. Do we require a fence around the pool area? I know the pool is,
the hole is there and you’ve got I think slate or something around the outside. Do we require a
fence around the pool area or is it sufficient for us to have a fence around what I would call the
back yard?
Kate Aanenson: It’s around the back yard is fine.
Mayor Laufenburger: That’s acceptable, okay. Alright. Okay now let’s talk about the stable
area. Okay we have the building which is identified there. That’s the lean to building right or
the?
Nancy Link: With a lean to, yep.
Mayor Laufenburger: That you want to be potentially an accessory structure.
Nancy Link: Right.
Mayor Laufenburger: And Kate we know that that structure would qualify as an accessory
structure, is that correct?
Kate Aanenson: That’s correct.
Mayor Laufenburger: Okay, alright. And then right in front of that there will be an open area
where Smoke can go in and out by his choice, is that correct?
Nancy Link: Correct.
Mayor Laufenburger: Okay, so then now talk about the fence that’s around that corral area.
What kind of fence is that?
Nancy Link: Yes. So that we had planned to make, it’s called a 4 rail ranch style so it’s similar
to the wood fence that currently surrounds the property.
Mayor Laufenburger: Pleasant View. The one on Pleasant View?
Nancy Link: Yes. Yes.
Mayor Laufenburger: Okay. Same separation on the rails or will it be narrower?
Nancy Link: It would be a little bit, yeah. It would definitely be narrower.
Mayor Laufenburger: Okay so you’ve got to keep, how big is Smoke?
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Chanhassen City Council – March 28, 2016
Nancy Link: He is 38 inches in height and he weighs 175 pounds.
Mayor Laufenburger: Okay so clearly the fence around the corral needs to be appropriate for.
Nancy Link: Absolutely.
Mayor Laufenburger: Okay, alright.
Nancy Link: And a chainlink fence is not appropriate.
Mayor Laufenburger: Why not?
Nancy Link: Because they can push into it and it’s not sturdy enough to withstand their, that was
just what the breeder had told me.
Mayor Laufenburger: Okay.
Nancy Link: So I still want the chainlink fence to go around the entire property for the pool and
then the automatic pool cover is another safety thing that’s there.
Mayor Laufenburger: Okay. So let’s go back to the picture of the fence. The one where, the
drawing where the fence, there. Okay. So now on the, on the east side of the corral, can you
move your red dot there? No, east side. Of the corral. So that you have it dotted.
Nancy Link: There you go.
Mayor Laufenburger: So that’s got chainlink going from the gate all the way down to Pleasant
View so are you going to put a wood rail fence so that that’s what Smoke comes in contact with?
Nancy Link: Yep.
Mayor Laufenburger: Okay.
Nancy Link: It will be basically a double fence because the chainlink will be there and then the
corral area will be separate kind of within.
Mayor Laufenburger: Okay.
Nancy Link: And mainly the reason that I wanted to do that was just in case this doesn’t work
out we’re not having to go back in and redo the fence to accommodate the pool.
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Chanhassen City Council – March 28, 2016
Mayor Laufenburger: Gotch ya. Okay. We didn’t talk about the gates on the corral. You’ve
got 2 gates shown on the corral. One on the north side and one on the south side, is that correct?
Nancy Link: Yes.
Mayor Laufenburger: And those would be rail gates. Hinged rails is that correct?
Nancy Link: Yep. Yes.
Mayor Laufenburger: And what’s that purpose?
Nancy Link: Well the, Mike Austin who is the builder he just suggested that making sure you
could access the corral area from both sides and then the stable itself will have a door. Just
making for safety reasons just to make sure that we can get in as easily as needed.
Mayor Laufenburger: Okay. Alright. And once again Nancy you’re familiar with all of the, all
of the code regarding the inspections. The stable requirements, all of that is that correct?
Nancy Link: Yes.
Mayor Laufenburger: Okay.
Nancy Link: And even one of the conditions I was going to suggest too that if it would make my
neighbors more comfortable we could put the condition in there that this is just for one horse.
Well we already stated that anyway. That if we wanted to add another one, which we don’t
intend to, and we don’t intend to get full sized horses. You know just anything to make their
comfort level.
Mayor Laufenburger: Does Smoke have playmates at Clear Lake?
Nancy Link: Yes.
Mayor Laufenburger: Does he like that?
Nancy Link: You know.
Mayor Laufenburger: I’m asking you to kind of understand the mind of the horse here Nancy, I
realize that.
Nancy Link: I know. I know. And Angie who, she runs.
Mayor Laufenburger: Angie Sauer?
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Chanhassen City Council – March 28, 2016
Nancy Link: Yes. She knows her horses very well and she is comfortable. I mean she has,
she’s been an integral part of all of this from, she’s kind of my behind the scenes person because
I’ve asked her a lot of questions and she has a wealth of information and she’s been in this
business for a long, long time and she would not put Smoke into a situation that she was not
comfortable with and so having said that she thinks that he will do fine. We have been visiting
him over the last several months and she’s been working with my daughter on training him and
just getting to know his personality and those kind of things so, did I answer the question?
Mayor Laufenburger: Yeah I just, I did some reading about miniature horses and they are.
Nancy Link: They’re herders.
Mayor Laufenburger: They’re a herd animal and they like, you know like your dogs. You dogs
think of you as part of their pack. That’s why they like to spend time with you right? Here
we’re talking about a horse that’s going to be in a stable, in a corral and the visitors will be Vada,
Roy, your other one?
Nancy Link: Walker and Wyatt.
Mayor Laufenburger: Walker and Wyatt so.
Nancy Link: And James, the dog.
Mayor Laufenburger: Well they’re not going to be there all the time.
Nancy Link: Right.
Mayor Laufenburger: Does that concern you about Smoke at all?
Nancy Link: You know it doesn’t just because Angie has been so forthcoming and protective of
him and if she is comfortable with it then I’m comfortable with it. We do have a Plan B and.
Mayor Laufenburger: Always good to have a Plan B.
Nancy Link: Yeah.
Mayor Laufenburger: You want to describe it to us or not?
Nancy Link: Plan B is a stable, it’s down in, it’s right on the Chaska/Chanhassen border on
Flying Cloud Drive at 101. It’s about 6.8 miles from door to door and she has 4 stables and she
currently just has 1 horse and a goat and she said that Smoke is more than welcome to board
there for a price every month and she would take care of him and do all the hay but we could
come and go as we like.
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Chanhassen City Council – March 28, 2016
Mayor Laufenburger: Have you considered that as your Plan A and your own stable as a Plan B?
Nancy Link: I have.
Mayor Laufenburger: Okay. Have you had pets in the past besides dogs?
Nancy Link: Yes. We have had a snake.
Mayor Laufenburger: How’d that work out?
Nancy Link: That was good. That was Walker’s little pet. We’ve had, my kids have won at the
school, sometimes they’ll give away goldfish or hamsters and what not so we’ve had some
hamsters over the years. We’ve had guinea pigs and we’ve had rabbits.
Mayor Laufenburger: And they’ve been enjoyable?
Nancy Link: Oh yeah.
Mayor Laufenburger: And your kids have acted responsibly with them?
Nancy Link: (Yes).
Mayor Laufenburger: Okay. Do you have any other questions for the applicant? Thank you
Nancy.
Nancy Link: Thank you.
Councilman McDonald: Excuse me Mr. Mayor.
Mayor Laufenburger: Oh go ahead Mr. McDonald.
Councilman McDonald: I think you pretty much answered the question. I mean you talked
about us adding some additional restrictions as far as you know only for one mini horse and not
for regular sized horses and also the restriction on the gate on Pleasant View. You’re okay with
adding those restrictions then?
Nancy Link: I am.
Councilman McDonald: Okay.
Nancy Link: Actually came out Sunday morning and a tree had come down in the yard.
Thankfully it didn’t hit anything but once they lift the road restrictions I’m going to get my tree
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Chanhassen City Council – March 28, 2016
people out to dispose of that which it would be nice to have that access point if it was closed off
at this point to take care of those kinds of things.
Councilman McDonald: Okay, thank you.
Nancy Link: Thank you.
Mayor Laufenburger: Let’s see. Oh Kate, can you bring up the sixth point of the permit. There
general issuance standards. Can you speak to these Kate and this really is in response to Roger’s
comment that if we believe that these have been satisfied then we must issue the permit, is that
correct Roger? Am I saying.
Roger Knutson: That’s correct Mayor.
Mayor Laufenburger: Okay, alright. So let’s just go down these one by one.
Kate Aanenson: Again we believe in the first one. That does meet the conditional use standards.
It also conforms to the zoning regulations.
Mayor Laufenburger: Okay just the standard is, is a private stable allowed in a residential single
family area?
Kate Aanenson: (Yes).
Mayor Laufenburger: Okay it is. Alright.
Kate Aanenson: Yep, yes. And as would be accessory structure of this size too if that was to go
away and that was just a stable. Again the zoning district does allow for interim use permit of
the stable. We’ve identified a termination date. We actually put 3 potential termination factors.
Mayor Laufenburger: Just remind us what those 3 are again.
Kate Aanenson: Sure. There was 3 of them. One would be if the property were to subdivided.
The second one would be a sale of the property and then the third one would be that if additional
right-of-way was required for Pleasant View Road that impact the size of the lot itself.
Mayor Laufenburger: So sale of the property says that this is a permit that we’re issuing to the
applicant with this property description.
Kate Aanenson: Right.
Mayor Laufenburger: Zoning, et cetera.
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Chanhassen City Council – March 28, 2016
Kate Aanenson: Right and I would say that would be further in the fact that this applicant is
proposing one miniature horse so if you’re restricting it that way you wouldn’t want somebody
to come in and think they could put in 2 full sized horses.
Mayor Laufenburger: Okay but as we know if this property owner sells their property a new
property owner could not come in and assume that they can have one miniature horse at that
stable? They would have to make application to us.
Kate Aanenson: That’s correct.
Mayor Laufenburger: Alright.
Kate Aanenson: And then again the use would not impose additional costs to the public again
going forward in the future and we don’t believe that would be the case. And then again that the
user would agree to conditions that would, deem appropriate in order to minimize the impact and
we’ve talked about what those might be and that would be limiting to one and then access to, off
of Pleasant View would be limited to two minimal service operations such as bringing in hay
twice a year.
Mayor Laufenburger: Okay so it appears that the latitude that the council has is related to
number 6 which is conditions the City Council deems appropriate for permission of the use. I’m
looking for confirmation from Mr. Knutson on that, is that correct?
Roger Knutson: That’s correct.
Mayor Laufenburger: Okay. Just for clarity then, listening to council comments and some
things that I’ve read Ms. Aanenson I would like you to just make record of these things. I think
it’s appropriate that before the horse takes occupancy of this, assuming the permit is to be
granted. Before the horse takes occupancy we have our stable inspector go out to inspect the
stable, the corral, and everything even before the horse takes occupancy, do you understand that?
Kate Aanenson: Yes.
Mayor Laufenburger: Okay, alright. I don’t think it’s stipulated but I think it’s appropriate that
the applicant is building a structure that will be big enough to store all of the feed, the hay and all
the materials needed to properly care for this horse. Is that a condition that we can put place on
this?
Kate Aanenson: So your condition is making sure that the structure’s large enough to store hay
and.
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Chanhassen City Council – March 28, 2016
Mayor Laufenburger: No, not that it’s large enough but that the structure as proposed by the
applicant will be the storage area for all feed. For all hay. All the materials needed to take care
of this animal.
Kate Aanenson: Correct, I think that’s reasonable, correct.
Mayor Laufenburger: I think I’m looking for a nod from you Nancy. Do you understand that?
Is that okay? Alright. I’d like to make sure we have a stipulation that water is running year
round. She’s already said that but I think we need to make that.
Kate Aanenson: Yeah.
Mayor Laufenburger: That’s not in the, that’s not stated anywhere in any of the documentation.
Kate Aanenson: If I may Mayor I think she said water and electricity.
Mayor Laufenburger: Water and electricity.
Kate Aanenson: Yes.
Mayor Laufenburger: Year round, okay. Mr. McDonald has mentioned the placement of a gate
on the Pleasant View side of the property that is a, it’s a permanent gate for temporary usage.
Kate Aanenson: There was one other one that the applicant brought up if I may.
Mayor Laufenburger: Yes.
Kate Aanenson: And that was regarding a drainage towards the creek. That she was working
with the Minnesota Green to make sure that the drainage towards the creek was minimized.
Mayor Laufenburger: Do we have a, do we have somebody who can validate that?
Kate Aanenson: Yes.
Mayor Laufenburger: So if we made it part of the condition then we could validate that?
Kate Aanenson: Yes.
Mayor Laufenburger: Okay. What do you think about that Nancy?
Nancy Link: I think that’s great.
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Chanhassen City Council – March 28, 2016
Mayor Laufenburger: Okay. And then last, let’s talk about this one horse thing. We’ve said that
we can do that. You’ve indicated that your plan is for one horse. Council do you feel okay
about putting a stipulation that’s one miniature horse only? Mr. McDonald.
Councilman McDonald: Just so it’s understood it’s a miniature horse, not a regular horse.
Mayor Laufenburger: One horse miniature type.
Councilman McDonald: Okay.
Mayor Laufenburger: Oh, I want to speak about this noise and smell. This seems to be very
critical for the neighbors, and appropriately so. Now I recognize and again I’ve done some
reading as you have and you’ve experienced this Nancy, I would want to make sure that there,
you said weekly. That seems like a lot if this is a 175 pound. Probably the size of a Pyrenees or
a Newfoundland right?
Nancy Link: Correct.
Mayor Laufenburger: I wouldn’t want to hold you to once a week, though I think that’s a good
discipline to follow. I don’t think I want to be prescriptive on that. I would just like to say to
ensure prompt and timely removal of accumulated manure and waste.
Nancy Link: Fair enough.
Mayor Laufenburger: You see in the ordinance, or in the language it says that the winter
st
accumulation must be removed by May 1. I would not want to have the neighborhood have a
st
winter accumulation go from first snowfall on Halloween until May 1, right.
Kate Aanenson: I think leaving it prompt and timely is probably the best only in the fact that we,
I’m not sure that we would have staff to go out and inspect every week. Otherwise it would be
nuisance space so prompt and timely would be.
Mayor Laufenburger: Prompt and timely and it certainly goes without saying Nancy that yes,
assuming this permit is granted the best watch dogs that we have on this will be your neighbors
you know. And by the way I think good fences make good neighbors so, okay. Alright. So I
think that’s 1, 2, 3, 4, 5. I think that’s 6 additional conditions. Is that what you have?
Councilman McDonald: If I could Mr. Mayor, let’s go back to the gate.
Mayor Laufenburger: Okay.
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Chanhassen City Council – March 28, 2016
Councilman McDonald: What are the restrictions on the gate? I understand she’s going to need
it to bring hay on and off but how often are we going to allow utilization of the gate? For what
purposes?
Mayor Laufenburger: Well that’s a good question Mr. McDonald. What are your thoughts on
that?
Councilman McDonald: Well again I would like to see it used for not ordinary purposes.
Delivering hay is not an ordinary purpose to a house. I’m concerned about the removal of waste.
How are you going to get it off if you can’t go through that gate? Otherwise you’ve got to truck
it up the hill and to your driveway so I’m sure you want to use the gate for that. My concern is
really public safety onto Pleasant View and to have a truck and traffic coming in and off of that
road so I would say.
Mayor Laufenburger: Are you thinking of time restrictions? Is that what you’re thinking?
Councilman McDonald: No. I wouldn’t put time restrictions. What I’m looking at is that the
purpose of it would be to service the animal and any say emergencies with on a property. I mean
you just mentioned a tree came down. Well of course anyone would want access to the property
anyway possible but you know for normal use of delivering things to the pool or something I
would expect those need to come through the driveway so this doesn’t become a secondary
driveway.
Mayor Laufenburger: So restricting use of the temporary gate to service the miniature horse
only?
Councilman McDonald: And emergencies.
Mayor Laufenburger: And emergencies.
Councilman McDonald: Right. I’m not going to say you can’t get onto your property but I don’t
want it to become something where it becomes a secondary driveway either.
Councilwoman Tjornhom: Or a parking lot.
Councilman McDonald: Or a parking lot or anything along those lines.
Mayor Laufenburger: Kate you get the drift of what we’re looking for?
Kate Aanenson: Yes.
Mayor Laufenburger: I think we’re going to rely on you to craft language that’s appropriate to
cover that. Are you okay with that Mr. McDonald?
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Chanhassen City Council – March 28, 2016
Kate Aanenson: Yes.
Councilman McDonald: (Yes).
Mayor Laufenburger: Okay.
Nancy Link: I think right now too with all of the construction…
Mayor Laufenburger: You know what, I’m going to need you to come to the microphone so that
Nann can capture your words Nancy.
Nancy Link: I just wanted to add because right now it seems like there’s a lot of coming and
going with the pool work that I think people are seeing that access point being used so much and
that could be part of the clarification that they want. That this, once the process is done and
everything’s done the gate is purely for convenience of deliveries.
Kate Aanenson: Let’s just clarify the construction of the barn is probably going to get accessed
via this way too.
Councilman McDonald: Right.
Nancy Link: Right.
Kate Aanenson: So I think just to be clear on that.
Mayor Laufenburger: So once construction is complete you’re talking about.
Kate Aanenson: Correct.
Councilman McDonald: But what I’m talking about, you had a house built across the street from
you about maybe a year and a half ago and there were a lot of complaints about traffic on
Pleasant View at that point. Parking and those things but the City tends to look the other way
because again it’s temporary construction.
Nancy Link: Temporary right.
Councilman McDonald: It’s the same thing here. I would expect until your done of course you
can use that access. What I’m trying to say is that after everything is built and everything is now
gotten down to a routine, that that doesn’t become a secondary access to your property which
you use for a lot of things. Bringing in gardening or you know other truck deliveries or anything.
That’s what I’m trying to prevent off of Pleasant View.
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Chanhassen City Council – March 28, 2016
Nancy Link: Yes. Absolutely.
Mayor Laufenburger: Okay I think we need to count on Kate to make sure we get some
language in that effect. Thanks Nancy.
Nancy Link: Okay.
Mayor Laufenburger: Alright let’s, unless there’s any questions of staff or Mr. Knutson let’s
bring it back here for a comment or a motion.
Councilman McDonald: Mr. Mayor.
Mayor Laufenburger: Mr. McDonald.
Councilman McDonald: I do have some comment on this. One of the things I did mention a
couple years ago we had this issue of livestock in residential property. I’m pretty much on
record as not being in favor of that because I do not think that’s a proper place for livestock
within a residential neighborhood. However as I’ve said your property is not the same as what it
was you know 2 or 3 years ago when this came before the council so in looking at this I really
feel I have no choice but to vote for it and support it because you do meet all the requirements. I
don’t necessarily approve of it but then again it’s your property. I think as long as you meet the
requirements you should be able to do whatever you want on your property so at, you know for
that I will support issuing a permit for this. But at the same time I do look to go back to the City
and I would like us to readdress this issue of livestock within the community and to relook at
those ordinances and I would like to have that done before the end of this year so that is
something that we can look at as a council and vote on so that we have something in place. I
would also think that because of the restrictions and everything that we put on this Mr. Knutson I
don’t see a problem down the road if say the property is sold and someone thinks oh boy we’ll be
able to put a horse on here because she already had a miniature horse and at the time you could
put horses but if we change the ordinance to say that it’s not allowed that does not apply to a
future owner, is that correct?
Roger Knutson: If you change the, right you could have a potentially have a full grown horse,
full sized horse here.
Councilman McDonald: Potentially.
Roger Knutson: If you change the ordinance and someone else comes in then they could not
have that.
Councilman McDonald: Right, okay. Yeah as long as I’m assured of that I think that is
something that City should look at so again I’m asking for review of the ordinance to look at
bringing things kind of up to speed there but in the meantime as I say you meet the requirements
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Chanhassen City Council – March 28, 2016
so you should be able to do on your property what you want to do. I’m in favor of voting for
this.
Mayor Laufenburger: Councilwoman Tjornhom did you have any comments?
Councilwoman Tjornhom: Boy where do I start? I am one that actually, I don’t mind people
using their property in a way that brings them enjoyment. It’s their property and so if they would
like to have a miniature horse and it is within their right to have a horse I believe that it’s not my
place to say you can’t have a horse. Now had this been different where you were in a townhouse
and you said by golly I’m going to turn my garage into a stable and put a miniature horse in there
then that’s an issue but like I said this was clearly stated before you moved in, before a lot of
people moved into that neighborhood that this is what it was zoned and this is what you could do
with your property and this was part of it. Reasonable use was considered. If you have 1 ½
acres or more you could have a horse. And I have to say that I don’t think I’ve ever been in a
meeting where there’s been so many stipulations added onto it also so I think that tonight I can’t,
yeah I think everything is clearly spelled out. Everyone sitting in this room what the
expectations are of what’s to happen with the property and how it’s to be used. So I will be
supporting it and I probably would have supported it without all the stipulations that were added
also so I hope you and Smoke are all very happy.
Mayor Laufenburger: Thank you Councilwoman Tjornhom. Let me just make a comment
specifically to you Nancy and I think this is critical. I come from a background where pets, I
grew up in Waconia and we had chickens and they were allowed and we had a lot of them and
we had dogs and my wife grew up on a farm in Wisconsin and she had horses, et cetera so I
understand that animals are very valuable teaching tool and experience for both young people
and adults. It can teach people responsibility. Discipline. Respect for nature and God’s
creation. It can also teach people the importance of trust between a human and an animal but it
does require sacrifice. It requires when something must be done instead of doing what you want
to do and those are some of the most important lessons that I think kids can learn. This is a, yes
it is a right that you have to use your property the way you choose but it’s also a privilege and a
responsibility and I would hope that you and your family all recognize that. You are surrounded
by I think it’s 13 people who number one don’t have the same knowledge and understanding that
you do and they have a little fear about what might come so it’s incumbent upon you I think to
not disappoint them because they’re going to be with, they’re going to be on Ridge Road, that
private road but some of them long after you are okay so if this permit is approved by City
Council then it will remain in place for one year and during that time you have the permission or
you are allowed to build in accordance with the stipulations. If you don’t complete the
construction within that one year then the permit will be revoked. Am I saying that correct Ms.
Aanenson?
Kate Aanenson: The interim use?
Mayor Laufenburger: The interim use permit.
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Chanhassen City Council – March 28, 2016
Kate Aanenson: I’m not sure about that timeline.
Roger Knutson: Substantial construction.
Mayor Laufenburger: Okay, substantial construction must begin within that year’s timeframe.
Now this permit doesn’t say that you must build that stable. You are permitted or allowed to
build that stable as specified all in accordance with among other things Section 5, Article III
related to horses. Specifically related to the cruel and inhumane treatment. Let’s see, and with
that I’m going to offer a motion. Could you bring that language up please Kate? That the
Chanhassen City Council approve the interim use permit to permit a private stable subject to the
conditions of approval and adopting the Findings of Fact including the following conditions.
Inspection of the stable and corral prior to occupancy by the horse. That all feed, hay and all
materials important to the care of the animal be stored inside the stable. That water and
electricity be made available to the horse at the stable year round. That there will be prompt and
timely removal of accumulated manure and waste. That there will be restrictions placed on the
use of the temporary gate on Pleasant View. And that this interim use permit is for a single
horse, type miniature. And that’s my motion. Is there a second?
Councilwoman Tjornhom: Second.
Mayor Laufenburger: Thank you Councilwoman Tjornhom. Any further discussion?
Todd Gerhardt: Mayor, council wherever it references horse can we include the word miniature
along with that just so there’s no.
Mayor Laufenburger: For clarity.
Todd Gerhardt: Yeah.
Mayor Laufenburger: Yep, that seems reasonable. Alright. There being no further discussion.
Mayor Laufenburger moved, Councilwoman Tjornhom seconded that the Chanhassen
City Council approves the Interim Use Permit to permit a private stable subject to the
following conditions and adopts the Findings of Fact:
1. A building permit is required. If the proposed construction is to be of a “pole-type”
building, a signed structural engineer’s design is required.
2. The applicant shall submit a tree removal plan in conjunction with the building permit
application.
3. The applicant shall preserve any significant, healthy trees within the rear yard.
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Chanhassen City Council – March 28, 2016
4. The applicant shall meet the requirements of City Code Article III, Section 5, Horses.
5. The interim use permit shall end with any of the following occurrences: 1) sale of the
property, 2) subdivision of the property or alteration of the property lines or, 3) widening
of Pleasant View Road which takes additional right-of-way from the parcel.
6. Inspection of the stable and corral prior to occupancy by the miniature horse.
7. All feed, hay and all materials important to the care of the animal be stored inside the
stable.
8. Water and electricity be made available to the miniature horse at the stable year round.
9. There will be prompt and timely removal of accumulated manure and waste.
10. There will be restrictions placed on the use of the temporary gate on Pleasant View Road.
11. This interim use permit is for a single horse, type miniature.
All voted in favor and the motion carried unanimously with a vote of 3 to 0.
Mayor Laufenburger: Thank you Nancy. Take the good news to your family. With the good
news comes great responsibility. Alrighty, thank you. Want to thank all of the members of the
audience that were in the chamber this evening. Thank you for your comments leading up to this
and I look for you to support as you are able to Nancy’s family’s efforts with respect to this new
guest into the neighborhood. Thank you very much.
APPOINTMENTS TO SENIOR AND ENVIRONMENTAL COMMISSIONS.
Mayor Laufenburger: At an earlier meeting we appointed members to the Planning Commission,
the Park and Rec Commission and over the last few work sessions we’ve interviewed candidates
for the Senior Commission and for the Environmental Commission and once again we had many
applicants that are very interested in giving back to this community and by way of motion I
would like to place these names in nomination. For the Senior Commission I’d like to appoint
Jean Mancini to a 3 year term. Jackie Engel to a 3 year term and Cheryl Ayotte to a 3 year term.
And for the Environmental Commission I would like to appoint Wayne Benbow to a 3 year term.
Bill Chappell to a 2 year term. Charlotte Chappell to a 2 year term. And Balakrishna
Chintaginjala to a 1 year term on the Environmental Commission. Is there a second?
Councilman McDonald: Second.
Mayor Laufenburger: Thank you Mr. McDonald. Any comments?
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Chanhassen City Council – March 28, 2016
Mayor Laufenburger moved, Councilman McDonald seconded to make the following
appointments to the Senior Commission: Jean Mancini, Jackie Engel, and Cheryl Ayotte
to 3 year terms. To the Environmental Commission the following appointments: Wayne
Benbow to a 3 year term; Bill Chappell and Charlotte Chappell to a 2 year term; and
Balakrishna Chintaginjala to a 1 year term. All voted in favor and the motion carried
unanimously with a vote of 3 to 0.
ADMINISTRATIVE PRESENTATIONS.
Todd Gerhardt: Just want to give a shout out to our Park and Rec Commission. Todd Hoffman,
all the volunteers that helped out with the Easter Egg Hunt this past Saturday out at City Center
Park. Huge event. We had over 350 children that participated in the event. Mayor
Laufenburger was there also participating. Thank you for your time and saw a video of it.
Looked like a great time. Candy everywhere and kids scrambling to get as much as they could
so great job by our park and rec staff there. Second thing, Mayor Laufenburger, myself and Paul
Oehme will be meeting with Senator Ortman this coming Thursday to talk about some special
legislation for the reconstruction of 101 between Flying Cloud Drive up the bluff to Pioneer Trail
so we did get support last week from Representative Hoppe in introducing that Bill so we need a
companion in the Senate so we’re going to meet with Senator Ortman to see if she would do that.
Mayor Laufenburger: Great. Anything else?
Todd Gerhardt: That’s all I have.
COUNCIL PRESENTATIONS.
Mayor Laufenburger: Mr. McDonald.
Councilman McDonald: Well one of the things I guess I wanted to bring up, a couple years ago
Chanhassen started a Beyond the Yellow Ribbon organization. Our first activity was to actually
th
march in a 4 of July parade with a number of children of deployed servicemen or service men
and women who were then actively serving on duty. Since that time we’ve gone through a lot of
organizational growing pains I guess. One of the things that we did with the City, the City
helped to sponsor Beyond the Yellow Ribbon to become a Beyond the Yellow Ribbon City so
Chanhassen is a Beyond the Yellow Ribbon City. The next step in all that was to try to get the
organization put together so we could actually do what we said we were going to do or what we
were formed to do which was to help veterans, deployed personnel, members of military families
with any emergencies or any problems that would come up. One of the problems of course with
doing all of that is you need to be a charitable organization in order to get the donations and you
know to get corporate sponsorships and everything. I’m very happy to announce that actually as
th
of the 29 of this month the IRS did decide to bestow upon the Chanhassen Yellow Ribbon the
tax free status as a 501c3 so we are now a full fledged charitable organization. We will
38
Chanhassen City Council – March 28, 2016
definitely be going out to solicit donations and you know anything that anyone within the
community would feel free to give to us that we would be able to in turn use towards our
veterans. And hopefully also as we now begin to grow again I would throw open the doors that
anyone that’s interested in this type of activity, you can definitely contact Chelsea during the day
or you can contact me and we would be more than happy for you to come to one of our meetings
and to begin to get involved as we begin to look at new activities and new horizons that are now
open to us that we can do as a charitable organization that we were not able to do before.
Mayor Laufenburger: Great. And Chelsea is Assistant City Manager Chelsea Petersen who has
offices here at City Hall.
Councilman McDonald: I would claim her as my right hand man on this but I’d get in trouble
with the boss over here so yeah, she’s just a good person that has volunteered to help and I
appreciate it.
Mayor Laufenburger: Well Jerry that really is good news so all those people that have been
holding those checks, not sure who to write those out to.
Councilman McDonald: Right, they can now.
Mayor Laufenburger: Now they can write them.
Councilman McDonald: Now they can write them out.
Mayor Laufenburger: Beyond the Yellow Ribbon 501c3.
Councilman McDonald: Yep.
Mayor Laufenburger: And those gifts are now tax deductible.
Councilman McDonald: Now they’re tax deductible.
Mayor Laufenburger: Wonderful. That’s great news. Thank you very much Mr. McDonald and
thank you for your leadership in that organization as well. Any other council presentations?
Councilwoman Tjornhom: Yeah I think it’s a good segue to the next presentation I have and I
want to announce that there is a Carver Scott Veterans Resource Fair that will be held this
th
Saturday. That’s Saturday, April 12 from noon to 4:00 at the Chaska Curling and Event Center
in Chaska and at that fair there will be opportunities to learn more about veterans benefits,
healthcare resources, housing resources, education resources, non-profit services, transportation
services, employment resources, military family support, community resources and other special
offers. So I hope that everybody that is interested in attending that will be able to go to the
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Chanhassen City Council – March 28, 2016
nd
Chaska Curling Center and that is at 3210 Chaska Boulevard in Chaska this Saturday, April 2
from noon to 4:00.
Mayor Laufenburger: Great, thank you very much Councilwoman Tjornhom. And this is a, if
you haven’t had a chance yet the Curling Center is a new venue in Chaska and it’s getting rave
reviews for it’s activities and this event center is a part of that so great opportunity for veterans to
show up this Saturday, noon to 4:00. Thank you. Any other council presentations?
Todd Gerhardt: Mayor, council we’ll put this on Facebook and also a Twitter shout out and to
let more people know about it.
Mayor Laufenburger: Great. Great. Okay. There being no other presentations I entertain a
motion to adjourn.
Councilwoman Tjornhom moved, Councilman McDonald seconded to adjourn the
meeting. All voted in favor and the motion carried unanimously with a vote of 3 to 0. The
City Council meeting was adjourned at 8:35 p.m.
Submitted by Todd Gerhardt
City Manager
Prepared by Nann Opheim
40