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Home My WebLink About2002-04-30 Applicant Attorney Ltr to CA05/01/02 WED 13:06 FAX 612 340 7000 RIDER BENNETT 002 " Attorneys at Law A Profcsfwsl Linitted l'artnerrhp 333 South Seventh Suite 7000 Minneapu6, MN 55402 `telephone • 612 - 34 0.79 51 Fax. 612-340 - 7900 www,riderlaw.com RIDER BENNETT E GAN'&ARUNDEL BY FAX AND MESSENGER Mark J. vierling, Esq. Eckberg, Lammers, Briggs, Wolff & Vierhng, P. L.L.P. 1835 Northwestern Avenue Stillwater, IN 55082 April 30, 2402 Jeffrey D. CRrpentcr (512) 340 -8935 jdcarpcnter@rideTlaw.com Jae: City of Oak Park Heights /Stillwater School District — Stillwater Stadium Our File No.: 16981/102 Dear Mark: Thank you for your letter of April 25, 2002 regarding the above matter. I appreciate your prompt xresponse to my letter of April 24, as well as your appreciation for our time sensitivity in this matter. For the reasons discussed below, we respectfully request that the City proceed at this time to issue the City of Oak Park Heights Tfurd Amendment to Conditional Use Pennits and Variance for Stillwater Area Nigh School/Independent School District No. 834 (the "CUP Pennit "). In mi effort to respond to the issues outlined m' your letter, please note the following: 1. Li tin Plan. The Distri.ct's lighting plan for parking lots, entrance gates and bleachers was furriished to the City on March 7, 2002. A copy of the subirussion from Jay Pomeroy, the District's architect, is enclosed. At the March 26, 2002 City Council meeting there was some brief discussion over a possible compliance issue with cutoff requirements as they pertain to the bleacher lighting. A. subsequent conversation between .day Pomeroy and Kris Danielson appeared to indicate that the March 7 plans were actually in compliance. we have since directly confirmed with Kris Danielson, that the March 7 lighting plain is acceptable. 2. Emgggncy Evacuation Plan. The final Emergeacy ,evacuation. Plaii was submitted to, and approved by, City staff well in advance of the March 26 City Council rueeting. Discussion at that meeting shrularly indicated that City staff and the City Council were comfortable, with the Plan. It is my understanding that the, Police Chief, who attended the March 26 City Council meeting, has also approvad the Plan. Although the permit conditions previously required by City staff the 836754 -1 05/01/02 WED 13:07 FAX 612 340 7900 RIDER DENNE'TT RIDES B ENNETT G 4N � �RiU N D E L L LLP ....+.; Mark J. vierlm' g, Esq. April 30, 2002 Page 3 Ray /Marshall, that the watershed Authority approved in its April 25, 2002 meeting a modification to its pernnit that would impose those maintenance obligations directly on the District. In other words, I believe the watershed has now addressed the City's only concern in this area. A. copy of the revised permit will be furni shed when it b ecomes available. Pending receipt of the actual permit, I hope to receive as early as tomorrow a copy of the draft permit. I will fax it to p you as soon as it is received by our office. In the meantime, you should feel free to contact Ray Marshall at 651.777 -6960 should you have any questions. I ant unaware of any rernaining issues relative to drainage issues or the watershed permit. �. ParldLig and Traffic Mann ement Flan. The final Parking and Traffic Management Flan was submitted to, and approved by, City staff well in advance of the March 26 City Council meeting. Discussion at that meeting similarly indicated that City staff and the City Council were comfortable with the flan. It was my understanding that the police CWef, who attended the March 26 City Council meeting, has also approved the plan. Although the permit conditions previo'Usly required by City staff, the Planru.n.g Commission and the City Council was never understood to require a formal signing requirement, nor had any such signature process previously been requested, we have no problem with this. An execution copy in the form. enclosed has been furnished to Kris Danielson to be signed during this Wedrnesday's City staff meeting. 9. Restroom issue while 1 respect the City's desire to resolve the Building Code requirements compliance for restroom facilities, please note that resolution of this p q issue was purposely removed from the requirements for issuance of a Conditional Use Permit in this matter. The early con fusion on this issue, coupled with the District's need to obtain a permit as quickly as possible, is what produced the compromise position at the City Council's Mar 26 meeting to the effect that the Distract need only abide by applicable State law whatever that law might actually provide. Notwithstanding the above, I enclose for your file a copy of my letter to Kris Danielson and Scott Richards, dated as of March 29, 2002, which addresses the applicable compliance requirements, as now clan'fied by Scott McLellan of the Minnesota Department of Administration, Building Codes and Standards Division. In addition, to the above, please note that I specifically raised with the City Council at its March 26 meeting wheth there were any remaining issues that we needed to address for p ur poses of issuance of a permit. This question was raised at that time out of an abimdance of caution on our p art to confirm whether there were in fact , miy lingering issues whatsoever that still needed to be addressed. It was, and is, my understanding that the City Council and City staff s3s7s44 1 RB RI DER 13 ENNE ECAN&ARUNDEL 05/01/02 WED 13:07 FAX 612 340 7900 RIDER BENNETT li� 004 Mark J. vi.erling, E sq. April 30, 2002 Page 4 expressed that they were comfortable that we had complied with all requirements, with the possible exception of the bleacher lighting. The record of the March 26 City Council meeting should reflect this position. As discussed in Paragraph No. I above, we have now confirmed that there are n o remaining issues with respect to the bleacher lighting. In light of this, and notwithstanding our cont�nu�ng efforts to accommodate the City's requests, we believe the City should proceed to issue the CUP Amendment at this time. On a related issue, we have been advised as of today by Kris Danielson that Jim Butler may now be taking the position that all or a portion of the stadiwn project should be subulitted to the State of Minnesota for a formal plan. review. The fall scope of this intended submission remains unclear. Preliminary infonnation, however, suggests that such submission may somehow be tied to the issues presented in Paragraphs 3 and 9 of your ,April 25, 2002 letter and of my discussion above (although it may be much broader). our information concerning the precise action which may now be undertaken by Mr. Butler remains unclear, and we have not been able to obtain further clarification as of this date. we understand, however, that Mr. Butler may be shortly submitting a formal letter indicating his position. with respect to this latest development, please understand that we h ave s concerns, an we caution th e City against taking this step. At present, the DistTict has, in reliance on the City Council action at both. the March 26 and .April 23 ), 2002, C ity Council meetings, proceeded to accept a successful bidder for the most of the project. The initial pry-- construction meeting is scheduled to occur this Friday. Moreover, we are advised that the bleacher manufacturer has already commenced pre - rnanufactufing work relating to the actual bleacher design. The District's timetable for this project has been corrlm.unic.ated within all levels of the City review process. The l atent requirement for submission of this project to the State, afte° having secured final approval by the City Council, will create a significant, unnecessary and costly obstacle to the Dis trict's stadium efforts and is wholly inconsistent, and in conflict, with the overall City review and approval process to date. As to the immediately preceding discussion, 1 regret that it has been necessary to bring this to your attention at a time when action by Mr. Butler, or by others within the City, has not yet occurred, and may not actually occur. Unfortunately, due to the significance of this action to both the City and the District, and the fact that we have been a lerte d to it by Ms. Danielson, I feel compelled to bring it to your attention at this tune. Prompt action on your part at this time may eliminate what may otherwise become a significant problem for all concerned. a367sa -1 RB A0LJr- t D t$ N N t5 t EGANOLARVNDUL 05/01/02 WED 13:08 FAX 612 340 7900 RIDER BENNETT • 005 RIDER, BFNNFTT ELAN .ARUND LLP Mark J. Vi erling, Esq. April 30, 2002 Page 5 Thank you for your assistance in this matter, and please call me as soon as possible. JD CIm.m cc: Ms. Kris Danielson Mr. Scott Richards Mr. Mike Brab ender Mr. Jay Pomeroy Very trul Yours, RMER, BENNETT, E AN & ARUND LLP �F -Odole'Fffre * e nter 836754 -1 I�B #�IDR HBNNETT GAN&ARUND9L