Loading...
3.1. DRAFT MINUTES 08-08-2011DRAFT MEETING OF THE ELK RIVER CITY COUNCIL HELD AT THE ELK RIVER CITY HALL MONDAY, AUGUST I, 201 1 Members Present: Mayor Dietz, Councilmembers Zerwas, Motin, Gumphrey, and Westgaard Members Absent: None Staff Present: Interim City Administrator Bob Thistle, Finance Director Tim Simon, Building Official Bob Ruprecht, City Engineer Justin Femrite, Accountant Lori Stich, Human Resources Representative Lauren Wipper, Various Building Division Staff, and City Clerk Tina Allard 1. Call Meeting To Order Pursuant to due call and notice thereof, the meeting of the Elk River City Council was called to order at 6:30 p.m. by Mayor Dietz. 2. Consider Council Agenda The following items were added to the agenda: ^ Branding Update ^ Relocation of the Recreation Division ^ Guardian Angels Bonding ^ Hillside Park Trail Grant MOVED BY COUNCILMEMBER WESTGAARD AND SECONDED BY COUNCILMEMBER GUMPHREY TO APPROVE THE AGENDA AS AMENDED. MOTION CARRIED 5-0. Consent A eg nda MOVED BY COUNCILMEMBER WESTGAARD AND SECONDED BY COUNCILMEMBER ZERWAS TO APPROVE THE FOLLOWING CONSENT AGENDA: 3.1. MINUTES ^ JUNE 27, 2011 SPECIAL ^ JULY 11, 2011 WORKSESSION ^ JULY 13. 2011 EMERGENCY ^ JULY 18, 2011 REGULAR 3.2. CHECK REGISTER AS OUTLINED IN THE STAFF REPORT. 3.3. ADOPT RESOLUTION 11-44 ORDERING PREPARATION OF AN ALTERNATIVE URBAN AREAWIDE REVIEW FOR THE 171sT AVENUE STUDY AREA. 3.4. ADOPTING RESOLUTION 11-45 AUTHORIZING AN AGREEMENT TO TRANSFER ELECTION SHARE IN THE BROOKING-TWIN CITIES TRANSMISSION PROJECT FROM THE CITY OF DELANO City Council Minutes Page 2 August 1, 2011 ----------------------------- 3.5. SIGNING THE SUBSCRIBER AGREEMENT ON BEHALF OF THE CITY BY CITY OF ELK RIVER PROSECUTING ATTORNEY SCOTT BAUMGARTNER. 3.6. SPECIAL EVENT PERMIT AND TEMPORARY ON-SALE LIQUOR LICENSE FOR THE CHURCH OF ST. ANDREW FOR SEPTEMBER 18, 2011. 3.7. ACCEPTING THE DISTINGUISHED BUDGET PRESENTATION AWARD FOR THE 2011 BUDGET FROM THE MN GOVERNMENT FINANCE OFFICERS ASSOCIATION. MOTION CARRIED 5-0. Mayor Dietz offered kudos to staff for the budget award. 4. Open Mike No one appeared for open mike. 5.1. Resolution Approving an Amended Spending Plan for Tax Increment Financing District No. 16 -Public Hearin Mr. Simon presented Ms. Deckert's staff report. Mayor Dietz opened the public hearing. There being no one to speak to this issue, Mayor Dietz closed the public hearing. MOVED BY COUNCILMEMBER MOTIN AND SECONDED BY COUNCILMEMBER WESTGAARD TO ADOPT RESOLUTION 11-46 APPROVING AN AMENDED SPENDING PLAN FOR TAX INCREMENT FINANCING DISTRICT NO. 16. MOTION CARRIED 5-0. 5.2. 2011 Seal Coat Improvements -Award of Construction Contract Mr. Femrite presented the staff report. MOVED BY COUNCILMEMBER MOTIN AND SECONDED BY COUNCILMEMBER WESTGAARD TO ADOPT RESOLUTION 11-47 ACCEPTING BID AND AUTHORZING EXECUTION OF CONTRACT IN THE MATTER OF THE SEAL COATING IMPROVEMENT OF 2011. MOTION CARRIED 5-0. 5.3. Approve Funding Option for DNR Grant Application for Bailey Park Acduisition Mr. Thistle presented the staff report. He stated the DNR would like to know if the city is willing to go along with the financing plan outlined in the staff report in order to remediate violations to two grant agreements. He stated the city is not eligible for other grant opportunities until the remediation for the previous grants are resolved. Council asked where the funds would come for the city's costs. Mr. Simon stated loan options are available through the GRE fund as a possibility. City Council Minutes August 1, 2011 Page 3 Council questioned if the city would have the option to pay off the $20,592 in order to clear the violations for future grant opportunities if this grant is not received. Mr. Thistle stated he would talk with the DNR to find out which approach they would like the city to take to remediate the violations. MOVED BY COUNCILMEMBER ZERWAS AND SECONDED BY COUNCILMEMBER GUMPHREY TO APPROVE THE FUNDING FOR THE CITY PORTION OF THE BAILEY PARK ACQUISITION SHOULD THE CITY OF ELK RIVER RECEIVE A GRANT AWARD FROM THE DNR NATURAL AND SCENIC AREAS GRANT PROGRAM. MOTION CARRIED 5-0. 5.4. Discuss Council Worksession Agendas Mr. Simon requested to add the property tax levy to the September 12 agenda. It was noted that the EDA would be hosting a meeting on September 12 regarding the branding program and all Boards and Commissions, including the City Council, were invited to attend. Councilmember Zerwas stated he would be unable to attend the August 8 Council meeting. Council consensus to approve the agenda as presented. 6. Recess to Worksession Council recessed at 6:45 p.m. and reconvened in Upper Town for the budget Worksession at 6:50 p.m. 6.1. 2012 Budget Mr. Simon presented his staff report. Ms. Allard, Ms. Wipper, and Mr. Ruprecht presented their proposed 2012 budget requests. The building safety report was presented by staff. The Council had previously asked for information on how a City of Ramsey inspection contract would look like in Elk River. Mr. Simon reviewed the charts and exhibits in the report. He noted staff strictly followed Ramsey's inspection contract and didn't take other factors into consideration or complete an evaluation of pros and cons. Council asked what the 1,219 miscellaneous hours were for in Exhibit 3. Mr. Ruprecht stated they were hours spent on customer service follow up, such as assisting builders, homeowners, etc. over the phone or at the counter. Mr. Thistle noted the difference in hours between 2010 and 2011. He stated the trend shows it was more cost effective to have in-house staff complete the work in 2005 without adding costs. He stated the city was close to equal in terms of staffing load in 2010, but this year, primarily because of the increase in commercial activity, staffing should be closer to equal. City Council Minutes August 1, 2011 Page 4 Councilmember Gumphrey noted he spent a lot of time talking to building inspectors on a past personal project. Councilmember Motin questioned if there is a way to have a hybrid plan in place when the building inspection workload increases in a better economy. He suggested keeping a base of staff but then contracting out some of the work during busier times. Mr. Thistle stated this could be one approach the city could consider if Council would like staff to come back with options. He believed the issue is how to keep staffing and costs inline as the city goes through changes in the economy. He stated there is still the need to be careful so the city is not too tight or sacrifices customer service. He stated staff could evaluate this if Council directs them. Mr. Ruprecht listed the example of the year when the city had some bad storms and had to hire an intern to get through the excess of roofing permits for the year. There was discussion on Exhibit 2 regarding the Building Inspection Comparison. Mr. Thistle stated staff did not take into consideration how Ramsey monitors the quality of inspection a customer receives. He stated in any contract, the service component needs to be addressed. He stated with inspections, problems can appear further down the road. He questioned what the additional management cost may be to manage these type of contracts. Mayor Dietz stated the Council will take the report under consideration. Mr. Thistle questioned if Council would like staff to do anything further on this item. Councilmember Gumphrey stated he had no interest in going further. He stated the quality of service being provided by the city is essential and the safety factor is important. Councilmember Zerwas concurred but stated the city needs to look at the time that is being allocated for energy audits, residential rental inspections, and some of the stuff that has been added in the last couple of years. He stated the city needs to look at what's key and focused to the mission if inspection workloads are increasing. He stated the city is not in a position to be adding extra work at this time. Mr. Thistle stated staff could continue to track the trends and evaluate other options on how to handle an increase in inspections but that this could be evaluated separately from the budget. Mayor Dietz stated he would like to see other options. Councilmember Motin stated he is not opposed to looking at other options but maintain status of current employees. He stated if the economy improves he would like to look at evaluating options such as contracting out. He suggested looking at this again in 2013 if the economy improves. Councilmember Gumphrey agreed with the timeframe. Mr. Thistle stated staff will follow this direction and wait to evaluate it. City Council Minutes Page 5 August 1, 2011 Mayor Dietz disagreed with Council direction and didn't feel the status quo should be maintained. The cost savings in Exhibit 2 were discussed. Mr. Simon reviewed the LGA history for Elk River. He also reviewed the new Market Value Homestead Credit (MVHC) the state will be implementing. Councilmember Zerwas requested that the patrol position be added to the vacant/requested positions attachment for future budget discussions. Other Business There was no other business. 8. Council Updates Branding Update Councilmember Zerwas presented an update of the Branding Subcommittee. He stated consultant ChandlerThinks presented the results of his work on this program. He noted the brand position coincides with the visioning and goals completed by city staff. He stated buy in of all parties will be needed for the success of the program. Recreation Division Relocation Mayor Dietz questioned Council if it was okay for staff to proceed with moving the Recreation Division to City Hall. Council consensus was to move forward with moving the Recreation Division to City Hall Staff Updates Guardian Angels Bonding Mr. Thistle stated that Guardian Angels may be coming to the city with a $3.5 million conduit bonding request fora 30 unit addition. Hillside Park Trail Grant Mr. Simon stated the grant for the water drinking station has been denied. 10. Adjournment There being no further business, Mayor Dietz adjourned the meeting of the Elk River City Council at 8:03 p.m. Tina Allard, City Clerk John J. Dietz, Mayor