Minutes - Council - 11/27/2007 - Laserfiche WebLink

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concern by the residents to complete an EA W. He stated that if the City Council was inclined to deny the request for a CUP, it would not have to spend time discussing who would pay for an EAW. City Attorney Goodrich clarified that tonight's discussion is not about paying for the EA W, but for the consultant to advise the City Council on whether an EA W is warranted. He stated that the law is clear that the City Council cannot take further action regarding the Diamonds Sports Bar CUP request. He stated that the City Council can discuss it, but it cannot be approved nor any action taken towards approving it because this could prejudice the EA W. Councilmember Strommen stated that if the City Council denied the CUP request, it would not need to incur the expense of a consultant. City Attorney Goodrich stated that the issue has not been studied as to whether or not there are conditions, other than environmental, where the City Council could consider denying it. Councilmember Look stated that he would like to talk about the costs of the EA W. Mayor Gamec stated that in the past, the City has paid for the EA Wand billed it back to the applicant for the final costs. City Attorney Goodrich stated that he again wanted to clarify that tonight's discussion is whether to hire a consultant to advise the City Council on whether an EA W is warranted, not to decide on an EA W or who would pay for the EA W. He confirmed that if an EA W is deemed to be warranted, the cost would be the applicant's. Councilmember Elvig asked if the information gathered as part of the RTC could be used in this case rather than conducting a whole separate EA W. Public Works Director Olson stated that the AUAR study had a specific area it covered, which was only the RTC area. He noted that it did have some watershed implications south of the RTC, but the environmental documentation in this case, would not cover the area in question. Councilmember Look stated that this application does not meet the mandatory requirements for the EA W. He stated that it is easy to put together a petition and feels the discussion should focus on the costs because he does not feel the costs should be forced on the applicants. He asked how much an EA W costs. Associate Planner DaInes stated that typically, the projects that require a mandatory EA W are very large and can cost around $20,000, but this project is much smaller, so she assumes that there would be a smaller cost. Councilmember Strommen stated that she did not think it is fair to factor in the cost of the EA W in the City Council's decision. She stated that she feels the City Council should focus on the first step, whether a consultant should be hired to help the City Council decide if an EA W should be completed. City Council / November 27, 2007 Page 7 of 18