HomeMy WebLinkAbout2000 06-05 CCM Special Session MINUTES OF THE PROCEEDINGS OF THE CITY COUNCIL
OF THE CITY OF BROOKLYN CENTER IN THE COUNTY
OF HENNEPIN AND THE STATE OF MINNESOTA
SPECIAL SESSION
JUNE 5, 2000
CONSTITUTION HALL
1. CALL TO ORDER SPECIAL MEETING
The Brooklyn Center City Council met in special session and was called to order by Mayor Myrna
Kragness at 7 p.m.
2. ROLL CALL
Mayor Myrna Kragness, Councilmembers Debra Hilstrom, Kay Lasman, Ed Nelson, and Robert
Peppe. Also present: City Manager Michael McCauley, Assistant City Manager Jane Chambers,
Community Development Director Brad Hoffman, Planning and Zoning Specialist Ron Warren,
Public Works Director Diane Spector, Administrative Specialist Anne Finn, City Attorney Charlie
LeFevere, and City Clerk Sharon Knutson.
3. OVERVIEW OF SPECIAL MEETING
Mayor Kragness explained that this special meeting of the City Council was requested by Sharing
& Caring Hands to communicate with the City Council regarding a potential land use application
for a residential facility located on Earle Brown Drive. The property is zoned C 1 -A. This zone is
intended for office commercial use and does not contemplate residential uses. The City has not
received an application for a land use change, but Sharing & Caring Hands has indicated it plans to
seek a land use change to allow a residential facility. The City Council will not take any action at
this meeting. The meeting is solely for the purpose of receiving information. She asked persons to
use the sign up sheets which were located at the entrance to Constitution Hall to be placed on a list
to receive notification of future Planning Commission or City Council hearing dates. A summary
of the questions, concerns, and comments from the meeting will be prepared and mailed to persons
using the sign up sheets.
Mayor Kragness recognized representatives from Sharing & Caring Hands.
4. PRESENTATION BY SHARING & CARING HANDS
The following representatives spoke on behalf of Sharing & Caring Hands: Mary Jo Copeland, Dick
Copeland, architects John Cuningham and David Engelson of Cuningham Group, and Kallie King
Yanta.
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Ms. Copeland addressed the City Council and explained that she wants to build an orphanage in
Brooklyn Center where children could be taken for a period of time. She believes there is a great
need for housing the children and keeping siblings together in one setting rather than splitting them
into several foster homes. She purchased land in Golden Valley and tried to build an orphanage
there, but the land was polluted. She believes the Brooklyn Center site near the Earle Brown
Heritage Center offers numerous amenities for the children: across from Civic Center, near a park,
close to senior citizens who may volunteer to work with these children, and near Target. Children
could walk to Target to buy clothes and to the Civic Center and park. She said Reliastar informed
her the property has been available for 15 years. She gave an overview of the site which will
include: 32 units with 8 children and 1 parent figure in each unit plus a study and cooking facility;
the general areas will include: a community room, gym, chapel, school, and library. 192 kids will
live there, along with interns from colleges so they can pay off tuition. Two staff members qualified
in child behavior will be on -site during the day. Each child will come with a social worker from
their home county. One alternative to the issue facing the school district could be for some children
to be taught on site. Ms. Copeland stated she would assess each family referred by various counties
and take as many children as she could. She also stated that God has picked this spot.
Dick Copeland addressed the City Council and said Ms. Copeland met with the State of Minnesota
and Hennepin County and both are supportive. Target wanted to be the lead corporate sponsor. The
first site chosen was in Golden Valley, but it was polluted. The other sites were rejected because the
land was not for sale. They want the orphanage to be close to parks, schools, and additional
amenities. Their first attempt to purchase the land from Reliastar was turned down. They were
concerned about the zoning issues but thought this was something they could work in. They delayed
submitting an application so they could present their concept to the community and receive input.
David Engelson of Cuningham Group, architects for Sharing & Caring Hands, presented a schematic
design of the project. The building design has three floors; first floor has a school, gym, library,
chapel; apartments on second floor; greenspace includes court yard and playground.
John Cuningham of Cuningham Group discussed his personal interest in the project, as he grew up
in a residential academy in Philadelphia. He said Hennepin County has 8,000 neglected children and
this school is planned to deal with these at -risk children.
Kallie King -Yanta expressed her support of the concept and encouraged people to visit Sharing &
Caring Hands.
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Mayor Kragness thanked representatives from Sharing & Caring Hands.
5. PUBLIC INPUT
Mayor Kragness mentioned again that the City Council is taking no action this evening and outlined
the procedures for speakers.
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Mayor Kragness opened the meeting for the purpose of public input. There were 54 people who
spoke as follows:
Nancy Carlson 6024 Aldrich Ave. N., Brooklyn Center
Donn Escher 3107 65th Ave. N., Brooklyn Center
Ranslow Zuber 111 E. Kellogg Blvd., #904, St. Paul
Byron Brekke 5536 Irving Ave. N., Brooklyn Center
Mary Manning 5307 Oliver Ave. N., Brooklyn Center
Jack Cramer 2118 Brookview Drive, Brooklyn Center
Tony Kuefler 5943 Abbott Ave. N., Brooklyn Center
Jim Campbell 6100 Summit Drive, #14, Brooklyn Center
Mary Barrus 5441 Camden Ave. N., Brooklyn Center
Donna Zieska 5455 Brooklyn Blvd., Brooklyn Center
Katherine Johnson 2601 Kening Terrace, #519, St. Anthony
Tami Athens 5630 Bryant Ave. N., Brooklyn Center
Christina Copeland 5200 Newton Ave. N., Minneapolis
Carol Hester 5441 Bryant Ave. N., Brooklyn Center
Pat Wright Mary's Place, Minneapolis
Daphne Inegbe Mary's Place, 401 N. 7th St., Minneapolis
Leatha Lemmer Brooklyn Community Chamber of Commerce
Warren Lindquist 7030 Ewing Ave. N., Brooklyn Center
Larry Person 6046 Emerson Ave. N., Brooklyn Center
Diane Perfetti- Christ 2625 65th Ave. N., Brooklyn Center
William Corwin 7212 Humboldt Ave. N., Brooklyn Center
Alfred Gerszewski 5340 Hanson Court, Crystal
Mike Opat Hennepin County Commissioner
Judy Thorbus 6265 Brooklyn Drive, Brooklyn Center
Kathy Campbell 4806 Howe Lane, Brooklyn Center
Joshua Harrison 6425 Girard Ave. N., Brooklyn Center
John Solomon 6819 Emerson Ave. N., Brooklyn Center
Dan Remiarz 6201 June Ave. N., Brooklyn Center
Katherine Person 6046 Emerson Ave. N., Brooklyn Center
Jim Holst 6107 Bryant Ave. N., Brooklyn Center
Jim Brown 5636 Emerson Ave. N., Brooklyn Center
Candy McFicker Salesperson for Country Inn & Suites
Pam Crawford 7001 Irving Ave. N., Brooklyn Center
Marshall Pedley 6645 Xerxes Place N., Brooklyn Center
Linda Berglund 5408 Dupont Ave. N., Brooklyn Center
Cheryl Torres 3812 72nd Ave. N., Brooklyn Center
Clayton Ditty 7131 Knox Ave. N., Brooklyn Center
Juliana Fick 5336 Dupont Ave. N., Brooklyn Center
Sharon Valerius 2218 55th Ave. N., Brooklyn Center
Audrey Olejar 2406 55th Ave. N., Brooklyn Center
Hugo Lindner 5328 Penn Ave. N., Brooklyn Center
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Marilynn Slovak 5442 Oliver Ave. N., Brooklyn Center
Jim Soderber g 6401 Camden Ave. N., Brooklyn Center
Mike Noonan 4141 Quail Ave. N., Robbinsdale
Phil Cohen 5501 Humboldt Ave. N., Brooklyn Center
Susan Shogren Smith 600 62nd Ave. N., Brooklyn Center
Claus Pierach 6930 Willow Lane, Brooklyn Center
Ron Christensen 6101 June Ave. N., Brooklyn Center
Pat Milton 5637 Brooklyn Blvd., Brooklyn Center
Roger Kloster 7223 Lee Ave. N., Brooklyn Center
Patricia Wacha 5448 Dupont Ave. N., Brooklyn Center
j Barb Copeland no address given
Jeff Copeland no address given
Wayne Paulson 5330 Colfax Ave. N., Brooklyn Center
Summary of Questions, Concerns, and Comments
Theorphanage will reatl impact the City and School District No. 286.
greatly P Y
What effect will this have on the TIF District?
Brooklyn Center School District is the third poorest school per pupil in the State.
28% of the City is on fixed income.
The Financial Commission's position is that deviance from the City's Comprehensive Plan might
impact dramatically on the City's infrastructure with resulting financial implications.
The Financial Commission offered to assist the City Council, if requested, to review any financial
impacts.
It is a bad idea to build to place children in an institutional setting.
It is hard to believe that a social worker would recommend the institutional setting.
Children should be placed in a group home or foster care.
Children should be integrated in their own community.
A needs assessment has not been done by Hennepin County.
An impact study has not been made on the effect of this issue.
This was the first time that a school was included in the proposal.
Brooklyn Center School District is overcrowded and temporary classrooms are being added already.
The orphanage would remove the property from the tax rolls and impact residents.
What supervision will the children have?
The orphanage should be 100% funded long term.
Citizens of Brooklyn Center should be able to vote on this issue.
How can Brooklyn Center School District add almost 200 more kids to it?
This is a tax burden on residents.
What about accessibility? The children would need to cross three of the busiest roads to get to
amenities.
The property is one of the last parcels of commercial property left in the City and is valuable.
The location is an isolated area; with whom will the children interact?
The age group mentioned is 4 -11, but what about the children who may be kept until they graduate?
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The City's tax base has been reduced so many times with the highways and roads; the tax base
cannot be reduced any more.
The community is being revitalized, such as the 53rd Avenue Project in the southeast neighborhood,
and this proposal will not help with the image difficulties.
30% of the children in Brooklyn Center School District are non - residents.
Children should not live in an institution; children should live in a home setting like foster home.
The site is not large enough.
An orphanage is a beautiful, loving, wonderful place to live.
An orphanage will not spoil anything.
Volunteers help at orphanages to show kindness and love.
People are afraid of change.
The world is growing, so the school district will grow too.
Whose responsibility is it to take care of the children who are neglected?
There are not enough foster parents.
This proposal will keep all siblings together.
The poor will always be here and need help.
People will come from all over to see the orphanage.
Siblings should not be separated, and this proposal provides an alternative to foster homes.
Who are "them" when the residents refer to the type of children living at the orphanage?
Mary's Place provides care and assistance for the homeless.
The Brooklyn Community Chamber of Commerce is opposed to the land use and supports the City's
Comprehensive Plan.
The Legislature provided funding to keep classroom sizes down. How will the school be able to
lower classroom size with an additional 200 children?
Residents support orphanages overseas, why not support an orphanage in your own community?
Concentration should be placed on the quality of education, not the class size.
There are homeless children in Brooklyn Center, and this would provide them an opportunity to live
somewhere and be cared for.
More foster homes are needed.
Foster children are also neglected.
There is senior housing in the area, why not this type of housing?
Who will pay when a pedestrian bridge is needed?
What are the costs and losses to the City for zoning?
The Brooklyn Center School District has no land to expand its schools.
There have not been any police calls relating to Sharing & Caring Hands.
This is a noble cause.
The orphanage would provide more friends for the kids.
A tax increase is okay.
This will compliment the redevelopment of the City.
Brooklyn Center School District should take less open enrollment.
The land is vacant, why not build?
Maybe Target could fund a pedestrian bridge, if needed.
Guidelines need to be in place.
Brooklyn Center cannot afford this proposal.
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Foster care children are moved every three to six months.
The proposal is planning an on -site school, so this wouldn't affect the school district.
In favor of orphanage; the City doesn't need another high -rise building.
The site is too small. What happens when the site needs to expand?
Increased property taxes are a hardship on residents.
This is not a halfway house, it is a home for children.
The property has been on the market for 15 years; why not this use?
The orphanage will bring in children from out of state, transplants.
Segregation in own school will not work.
Orphanages were abandoned for a reason, they did not work.
Why weren't the residents brought in earlier on this proposal?
Home school does work.
Are the nuns or volunteers qualified and properly licensed to deal with these children?
The basic issue is zoning; follow the Comprehensive Plan.
Keep in mind the interests of the City as a whole.
The City does not need more housing density.
The City has met the challenge of the changing culture.
How much can one school district and one city endure?
Brooklyn Center has done its fair share.
An over - concentration of at -risk children will lower the process of helping these children.
Brooklyn Center is not the right place.
Volunteerism will make a better community.
Keep an open mind and listen to the options.
How does the City benefit from this proposal?
Does the facility meet the long -term goals of the City?
There are a lot of communities with larger parcels of land.
This is not a racial issue, but a space issue.
Brooklyn Center is not the place for the orphanage.
Visit Sharing & Caring Hands.
The orphanage will provide children without homes a place to live.
The orphanage will not hurt our schools.
Mayor Kragness thanked everyone for their input.
6. ADJOURNMENT
A motion by Councilmember Lasman, seconded by Councilmember Peppe to adjourn the City
Council special meeting at 9:45 p.m. passed unanimously.
t
City Clerk May
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