Minutes - Council - 01/08/2008 - Laserfiche WebLink

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A friendly amendment was made to the Motion by Councilmember Elvig, seconded by Councilmember Jeffrey, to approve the proposed site plan contingent upon compliance with City Staff Review Letter dated November 30, 2007, revised January 3, 2008, specifically addressing the below issues: 1) That satisfactory funds are collected for trail fees and construction, and reasonable easements for said construction are agreed on for future trail construction; 2) Installation of adequate landscaping, as required by the Environmental Coordinator to properly screen the loading dock area from Bunker Lake Boulevard. Amended Motion carried. Voting Yes: Mayor Gamec, Councilmembers Elvig, Jeffrey, Dehen, Look, and Strommen. Voting No: None. Absent: Councilmember Olson. Case #6: Request for a Conditional Use Permit for a Telecommunications Tower in Alpine Park; Case of T -Mobile USA Councilmember Elvig left the Council Chambers at 8:58 p.m. Councilmember Dehen stated that he recalls past discussion that the City would be taking a comprehensive look at the tower locations and height. He stated that he provided an article to the Council about the City of Bloomington limiting the size of cell phone towers to 65 feet. Councilmember Elvig returned to the Council Chambers at 9:00 p.m. Councilmember Dehen stated that he is not willing to approve this application until the City takes a look at this issue and stated that Councilmember Strommen recommended that the City take a look at this quite a while ago and it doesn't appear that anything has been done. Councilmember Look stated that he understands that Verizon is putting in a large tower in Princeton and asked if this is something that the City could consider so it doesn't have to deal with smaller towers on a site by side basis anymore. Steve Edwards, representing T-Mobile, stated that he was not familiar with this tower but noted the larger towers like this usually go into rural areas and would not work in a more urban area like Ramsey because the quality of calls would be decreased. Councilmember Strommen stated that following up on Councilmember Dehen's comments, she does feel that the City needs to re-examine its cell phone tower ordinance and she would have hoped to see some progress on this by now, for example, a moratorium. She stated that she has concerns that once this issue is not before us, that the City will move on and forget about the possible issues until the next application comes forward. She stated that she still does not feel that parks are the best locations for towers and wants to see the Council review the big picture. She stated that she understands that action needs to be taken on this application, but wants to make sure that this is reviewed before the next application comes before the Council. City Council / January 8, 2008 Page 16 of 23