3.1. DRAFT MINUTES 08-15-2011DRAFT
MEETING OF THE ELK RIVER CITY COUNCIL
HELD AT THE CITY OF ELK RIVER (UPPER TOWN CONFERENCE ROOM)
MONDAY, AUGUST 8, 201 I
Members Present: Mayor Dietz, Councilmembers Gumphrey, Motin, and Westgaard
Members Absent: Councilmember Zerwas
Staff Present: Interim City Administrator Bob Thistle, Finance Director Tim Simon,
Accountant Lori Stich, Fire Chief T. John Cunningham, Ice Arena Manager
Rich Czech, Planning Manager Jeremy Barnhart, Engineer Justin Femrite,
Human Resources Representative Lauren Wipper, and Senior
Administrative Assistant Jennifer Johnson
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 A eg nda
MOVED BY COUNCILMEMBER GUMPHREY AND SECONDED BY
COUNCILMEMBER WESTGAARD TO APPROVE THE AGENDA. MOTION
CARRIED 4-0.
3. Consider Consent Agenda
MOVED BY COUNCILMEMBER MOTIN AND SECONDED BY
COUNCILMEMBER GUMPHREY TO APPROVE THE FOLLOWING
CONSENT AGENDA:
3.1. AUGUST 1, 2011 MINUTES
3.2. SPECIAL EVENT PERMIT AND TEMPORARY ON-SALE LIQUOR
LICENSE TO THE AMERICAN LEGION
3.3. MUTUAL AID FIRE CONTRACT
3.4. ANNUAL MONITORING OF OLD CITY DUMP
3.5. LETTER OF SUPPORT FOR CITY OF ROGERS FUNDING
APPLICATION
3.6. RESOLUTION 11-48 ACKNOWLEDGING CONTRIBUTIONS FROM
RMG/ALERUS FINANCIAL TO THE ELK RIVER POLICE
DEPARTMENT
3.7. APPROVAL OF LICENSE AGREEMENT WITH HARVEST REAPER,
LLC (AKA BEAUDRY OIL & SERVICES)
3.8. PROCLAMATION: CONSTITUTION WEEK SEPTEMBER 17-23
3.9. CONSIDER HIRING ASSISTANT ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT
DIRECTOR
MOTION CARRIED 4-0.
City Council. Minutes Page 2
August 8, 2011
4. Open Mike
No one appeared for open mike.
5.1. Ice Arena Update
Mr. Czech presented the staff report. Ice Arena Commissioner Dale Martin was also
available to answer questions.
Mr. Czech updated the council on the status of the renovation project. He stated the Ice
Arena Commissioners and himself have approached the arena user groups and have
requested them to provide a written financial commitment outlining their long-term financial
support in the arena. He stated summertime is a tough time to reach these groups and as a
result, he's only received one written commitment. He will continue to request this from the
user groups but to recognize the groups are taking time to ensure they are able to honor the
financial commitment needed to help support the arena and any renovations.
After discussions with the school district's financial officer, it was determined the school
board ultimately has the authority to authorize financial support to the arena. Mr. Czech felt
a joint meeting with the school board and city council would be beneficial in order to discuss
the future of the arena and the school district's financial role. Mayor Dietz stated he would
like to schedule a joint meeting this fall with the school district.
5.2. 1715E Avenue Area Draft AUAR
Mr. Femrite presented the staff report.
He introduced Andi Moffatt from WSB & Associates, who briefly highlighted the three
scenarios in the working draft as outlined in the AUAR. She discussed the next steps of
adopting the AUAR and working with staff to finalize the AUAR which would then be on
the August 15 consent agenda for approval of the final draft. After approval, the report
would be opened up fora 30 day comment period for input from state agencies and the
public. A public open house would be held on August 29 for residents and land owners in
the area. After these comments are received, WSB responds to these comments and the
AUAR is revised. After the revisions are made, it will then go out for a second comment
period of 10 days and provided there are no official objections from any state agencies, the
AUAR and mitigation plan would be adopted by council, most likely occurring sometime in
November.
She, along with Ed Youngquist and Chuck Rickert, also from WSB & Associates, continued
by highlighting major environmental issues in the surrounding area, such as traffic, air and
noise, habitat and threatened species in the area, storm water management, water use, and
erosion and sedimentation.
In the mitigation measures regarding the recreational infrastructure, Mr. Barnhart requested
council to begin think about how the council will want to handle the park dedication
requirements and other financial incentives and how this would be applied to this area. He
stated based on the marketing study, a big part of bringing development to this area would
be incentives, such as free land, reduced rate, creative financing or discounts on utility fees,
and wanted the council to think about how they would address these incentives in the future.
City Council Minutes
August 8, 2011
Page 3
After some discussion, it was the consensus of the council to at this point, not make any
firm decisions regarding providing incentives and to take each development request on a
case by case basis.
5.3. Compensatorv Time and Flexible Work Schedule
Mr. Thistle stated this item would be heard at either the August 15 or September 6 council
meeting.
5.4. 2012 Budget Discussion
^ Ice Arena
Mr. Simon presented the staff report. Staff discussed their requested budget and goals.
5.5. Council Open Forum
Mayor Dietz stated he recently visited the Metalcraft Building, located on Business Center
Drive near the Sherburne County Gov't. Center. Employees of Metalcraft said they receive a
lot of visitors thinking the Metalcraft building was City Hall or the Elk River Library. Mayor
Dietz thought a directional sign should be installed near Metalcraft to help assist the public
in finding City Hall.
Mayor Dietz discussed the idea of locating the Spectrum dome next to the Ice Arena near
the Elk River High School. He was told there was an area in the parking lot where the dome
could be located. Councilmember Gumphrey asked if anyone had talked to Spectrum High
School about this proposal. It was decided to discuss this proposal with Spectrum before
talking to the school board.
6. Other Business
Chief Cunningham invited the council to the Elk River Public Safety Open House on
Saturday, September 10. The event will run from 12:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m. and would include
a special presentation to commemorate the 10th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks, along with
many activities for the public. He also invited them to the Fire Department Dance later that
evening; this dance would commemorate the 130th anniversary of the Elk River Fire
Department.
7. Council Updates
There were no council updates.
8. Staff Updates
There were no staff updates.
9. Adjournment
There being no further business, Mayor Dietz adjourned the meeting of the Elk River City
Council at 8:35 p.m.
Minutes prepared by Jennifer Johnson.
Ciry Council Minutes
August 8, 2011
-Tina Allard, City Clerk
Page 4
John J. Dietz, Mayor