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02-28-2022 City Council Regular Meeting MinutesCHANHASSEN CITY COUNCIL REGULAR MEETING MINUTES FEBRUARY 28, 2022 Mayor Ryan called the meeting to order at 7:00 p.m. The meeting was opened with the Pledge of Allegiance. COUNCIL MEMBERS PRESENT: Mayor Ryan, Councilwoman Rehm, Councilwoman Schubert, Councilman McDonald. COUNCIL MEMBERS ABSENT: Councilman Campion. STAFF PRESENT: Laurie Hokkanen, City Manager; Don Johnson, Fire Chief; Lt. Lance Pearce, Carver County Sheriff’s Office; Ari Lyksett, Communications Manager; Charlie Howley, Public Works Director/City Engineer; Kim Meuwissen, City Clerk; and Andrea McDowell-Poehler, City Attorney. PUBLIC PRESENT: JoAnn Syverson 489 Pleasant View Road Andy Sandberg 7501 Erie Avenue John Colford 7470 Chanhassen Road Tim Koupal 608 Pleasant View Road Mayor Ryan asked the City Council if there were any modifications or additions to the agenda. There were no changes to the published agenda. PUBLIC ANNOUNCEMENTS: None. CONSENT AGENDA: Mayor Ryan noted that item 10 has been deleted from the Consent Agenda. Councilman McDonald moved, Councilwoman Rehm seconded that the City Council approve the following consent agenda items pursuant to the City Manager’s recommendations: 1. Approve City Council Minutes dated February 14, 2022 2. Receive Planning Commission minutes dated January 4, 2022 3. Receive Senior Commission Minutes dated January 21, 2022 4. Receive Environmental Commission Minutes dated January 19, 2022 City Council Minutes – February 28, 2022 2 5. Approve Claims Paid February 28, 2022 6. Resolution 2022-16: Authorize Design Services Consultant Agreement for Galpin Boulevard Improvement Project 7. Resolution 2022-17: Approve 2022 Fleet/Equipment Purchases 8. Resolution 2022-18: Approve Rehabilitation Work for Sanitary Sewer Lift Station #24 Improvements 9. Resolution 2022-19: Accept Feasibility Study and Call Public Hearing for the 2022 Lake Lucy Road Rehabilitation Project No. 20-03. 10. ITEM DELETED - Resolution 2022-XX: Approve Maintenance Agreement with Riley Purgatory Bluff Creek Watershed District 11. Resolution 2022-20: Approve Quote from Shadywood Tree Experts for Ash Tree Removal and Stump Grinding 12. Approve License Agreement with Carbon Solutions Group for Installation of Electric Vehicle Charging Stations All voted in favor and the motion carried unanimously with a vote of 4 to 0. VISITOR PRESENTATIONS. 1. JoAnn Syverson Citizen Action Request JoAnn Syverson presented the results of a University of Minnesota study that researched differences between wakesurf boat wakes and other types of boat wakes. The study was conducted because there is controversy about the effects of wake boat wakes on lake property and the safety of others, and the U of M was receiving complaints. They initiated the Healthy Waters Initiative which was crowdfunded and the research findings are unbiased, peer-reviewed, and published. After a six-week field study, review of four boats (two were wakesurfing boats, two were not) it was found that wakesurfing boats need 2.5 times the distance from shore than non-wakesurfing boats. In other words, if the State agrees to a 200-foot buffer between a boat and the shore, wakesurfing boats need additional space to equal the same harms that would appear at 200 feet. Ms. Syverson shared about wakesurfing boats, noting they plow through the water at 10mph or slower, and the boats displace more water which causes bigger wakes. Wakesurf boats produced maximum wake heights that were 2-3 times larger than non-surf wakes and the total wake energy is 6.9 times larger than non-wakesurf boats. Wave powers of wakesurfing boats are 6-12 times larger and this is the energy the boat puts out in traveling along its path in the water. According to the DNR, wakesurfing boats are lumped together with all other kinds of recreational boats with the same laws of being 100 feet from shore. Ms. Syverson shared she lives on Lotus Lake which is a long, narrow lake and is a favorite for wakesurfers City Council Minutes – February 28, 2022 3 because of the long ride. She noted that 36 homeowners on the lake own wakesurfing boats and on the weekends the lake looks like the ocean. Ms. Syverson is recommending that buoys are allowed to be placed along the lakeshore to show boaters where the boundary or distance is. If the boundary is raised to 200 feet from shore, how will the boaters know where the boundary is? Ms. Syverson asked that the very narrowest section of the lake across from Carver Park where there are trees down and sea walls are washed away becomes a non wakesurfing area. The lake there is only 431.5 feet across and that area needs protection. Andy Sandberg knows the topic of wakesurfing has generated quite a bit of interest from some people. He pointed out that the boats and the sports existed before people, such as Ms. Syverson, purchased their homes. This was a known issue, people are trying to buy property where this already existed and then come in and get everyone else to change the rules for them. Ms. Syverson is talking about one topic today but has been pushing for the restriction of these boats and trying to get them banned entirely. He is a little bit sick of hearing about it and does not know where they draw the line, and if it is to choose other people’s recreational activities. He said if it is this topic now, what is next? No ice fishing or cross country skiing on the lake? If they make further restrictions on the lake it will also affect property values which in turn will affect property taxes. Mr. Sandberg noted there are others who would have been here to talk about the subject if they’d known it was a topic tonight. For every person like Ms. Syverson, he believes there are many that would speak out against her preferred restrictions on this topic. John Colford commented on the U of M study, noting it was done in a deep water lake and it is well-established that waves dissipate faster in shallow water so it does not apply to Lotus Lake which is shallow. Waves will dissipate faster and all of the distances are overestimates for a shallow lake. He said between a Malibu Response (a flat-bottomed ski boat) engineered to minimize wake and a wakesurfing boat which is ballasted, trim-tabbed, and surf-gated to maximize waves, the difference in wave height in the study was 2 inches at 200 feet. He said it is incredibly powerful right behind the boat, but it dissipates. He clarified again that the difference between a boat engineered to minimize wake and one designed to maximize wake was 2 inches at 200 feet. The study’s conclusion was that a wakesurf boat needs to be 500 feet from shore, and Mr. Colford stated that wave is 4-6 inches. There was not a study about erosion, they just defined a referenced condition that a Malibu Response or Larson inboard/outboard was traveling in a straight line parallel to shore. Mr. Colford is on Lotus Lake all the time and when there is a deck boat loaded down while tubing and it makes a turn it is a bigger wake than he can put out. Going to a typical lake on any weekend, one boat going 20 mph is not the reference condition. This is all an arbitrary definition to make wakesurfing boats look bad. He shared that the best wake is in the middle of the lake and not near shore so wakesurf boats are already self-motivated to be as far from the shore as possible. Mayor Ryan explained the process, noting if a Council Member feels that this is something they want to add to an agenda or work session, they will bring it forward and it must have the support of three other Council Members to be added. The process happens at roundtables and the next roundtable is April 25, 2022. This applies to all resident initiatives or topics they want the City City Council Minutes – February 28, 2022 4 Council to consider. Mayor Ryan noted this issue was before the City Council in 2020 and the decision was made to follow the recommendations of the DNR. FIRE DEPARTMENT AND LAW ENFORCEMENT UPDATE 1. Law Enforcement Update Lieutenant Pearce reported on January activities, noting they had 752 patrol activity calls, 48 Class A offenses of which 33 were fraud and theft complaints and they continue to be higher than they have seen over the last couple of years. He stated they had 361 non-crime calls for service and 336 in the traffic category; 157 traffic stops resulted in 33 citations, and the department saw 51 crashes of which 6 were personal injury crashes. He shared that domestics continue to be on the increase, arrests have remained even, and mental health is also on the increase. All deputies went through a bias and autism class the previous week and they have a new canine that will be named this week. Councilwoman Rehm asked about the autism class. Lieutenant Pearce shared it was taught by Minnesota Crisis Intervention Team and it was a four- hour class in which they went through statistics of why the number of people with autism has increased, gave some methodologies on better ways to interact with people with autism, and gave explanations about why behaviors might be different. 2. Fire Department Update Fire Chief Johnson reported on January activities, noting they have 33 paid on-call firefighters with 2 on extended medical leave. Two of the paid on-call captains accepted the full-time firefighter position and will start on April 4. They interviewed the first group of 16 and invited 10 applicants back, then offered 7 candidates a position: 3 non-traditional candidates are experienced firefighters from other departments and 4 are traditional Chanhassen residents that require extensive training prior to work. They will begin medical training in April/May and fire academy will take them through December/January before they will be on the schedule. The other 3 will likely be on the schedule within 4-6 weeks with on-the-job training. Chief Johnson noted January was a busy month with 94 calls for service of which 25 were general alarms and 69 were covered by staff crews. Chief Johnson noted 2 were fire response calls and one was an auto-aid response in Victoria for a residential house fire. He noted Truck 1 (the auto-aid response truck) was staffed at the station and beat the City of Victoria to the fire. He shared this not with anything against the Victoria fire service, but rather it is the fire department’s ability to cover their own City and borders pretty quickly. PUBLIC HEARINGS. None. GENERAL BUSINESS. None. City Council Minutes – February 28, 2022 5 COUNCIL PRESENTATIONS. None. ADMINISTRATIVE PRESENTATIONS. None. CORRESPONDENCE DISCUSSION 1. Code Enforcement Activities ADJOURNMENT Councilwoman Schubert moved, Councilman McDonald seconded to adjourn the meeting. All voted in favor and the motion carried unanimously with a vote of 4 to 0. The City Council meeting was adjourned at 7:33 p.m. Submitted by Laurie Hokkanen City Manager Prepared by Kim Meuwissen City Clerk