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08-11-2014 CCM City of hEfl*k =,.. meeting of the Elk River City Council River Held at the Elk River City Hall Monday, August 11, 2014 Members Present: Mayor Dietz, Councili-nembers Wilson,Westgaard, and Motin Members Absent: Councilmember Burandt Staff Present: City Administrator Calvin Portner, Police Chief Brad Rolfe, Police Captains Bob I-Juntz and Ron Nierenhausen, Finance Director Tim Simon, Community Operations and Development Director Suzanne Fisher, Fire Chief j obn Cunningham, City Engineer Justin Fenirite, Wastewater Treatment Operator Matt Stevens, and Cite Clerk Tina Allard I Call Meeting to Order Pursuant to due call and notice thereof, the special meeting of the EUk- River City, Council was called to order at 6:00 p.m. by Mayor Dietz. 2. Pledge of Allegiance The Pledge, of Allegiance was recited. 3.1 20 15 Budget Mr. Simon presented the staff report. Various departments presented their budgets. Diw ,g Task Force Qfficer T)osifion Chief Rolfe introduced Sherburne Count), employees Chief Deputy Don Starry, Captain Scott Fildes, and Sergeant Ben Zawacki. Chief Rolfe outlined the following reasons why he felt the need for a drug task force officer: ® pooling of resources 0 Elk River is a hub location ® Count= task force crosses into all communities in the county Councilmember Motin stated the task force position is important but felt communities throughout the county should also be asked to pay their fair share, Sgt. Zawacki compared statistics on drug crime in the various Sherburne Count), communities as shown in his PowerPoint presentation. lie noted the low crime rates City Cound Minutes Page 2 August 11,2014 ---------------------- in these other communities as compared to Elk River. Sgt. ✓awacki further reviewed the following: N Location/population/highways Overdose dead-is Benefits of partnership Past concerns of the Council Councilmember Morin liked idea of one of switching out Elk River patrol officers because they would have the hometown knowledge, and the three-year rotation on the task force would keep the officers experiences/knowledge in the community. Councilmember Westgaard noted it would make more sense to work with the county drug task force rather than the city having only one police employee working drug operations. Mayor Dietz agreed the city need to have the drug task force officer position. He noted most of the projected 2015 budget increase ($350,000 of the $400,000) is from the police department and questioned if anything could be cut or if additional revenue could be raised. Chief Rolfe stated most of the budget goes to personnel services and he had no suggestions for cuts if the Council wants to maintain the same level of service. Mayor Dietz further stated it is good news the Council can sell the budget to people better when they can say three-fourths of the budget increase is due to the police department. Police Pub&'Enaployee RelimmenlAssocialion (T,,.RA) Discussion Mr. Simon discussed the State increase of the PER-A contribution for police. Mi. Portner stated PERA retirement changes in state law air putting pressure on policing services throughout the state. Chief Rolfe stated the change is speeding up retirement of officers throughout the state. He stated officers who retire at age 50 before they reach full pension are going to incur a significant penalty on their pension at age 55 so many of them retired to beat the law before it took effect. Captain Nierenhausen stated a lot of police departments are starting to feel the crunch due to the retirements. He stated now that the new PERA law is in effect, there will be a trend for police officers to stay at a job longer,which can have the residual to the city. He stated with the rash of officer retirements in other communities there is much more competition to get good, quality candidates to fill positions. He stated metro area cities are hiring in advance knowing they have a certain number of vacancies to fill ill the future, wlu'ch causes more difficulty for Elk River to get good quality candidates. p 0 V I h 1 0 M V NAWREJ City Council Minutes Page 3 August 11,2014 ------------------------------- Mr. Portner stated another concern with police department's cherry-picking other police departments looking for quality candidates. Chief Rolfe stated he is more concerned with the aging demographics of the Ell, River Police Department and the number of retirements that could occur in the near future. He noted the average age of Elk River officers is over 40. Councilmember otin commented the city may want to begin the hiring process this year to fill the patrol officer position,in order to get a quality candidate,if the Council plans to keep the drug taskforce officer in the budget. Eqiiip,)en1 Replacevlenl Bugef Ms. Fischer noted not everything requested by departments is included in the 2015 proposed equipment replacement budget, noting about $200,000 was cut by the Fleet Committee. Chief Cunluirigharn explained the need for the rehab tiailer onsite during fires. Mr. Stevens discussed replacement and trade-111 of the jet vac truck. Mr. Simon suggested Council consider advertising and purchasing the truck in December in order to get it at lower cost. Council consensus was for staff to move forward with getting quotes for the jet vac truck later this year on the consent agenda since this is an enterprise fund and the project was anticipated in the capital plan. SUPce lValerAlanageview Avgrany Mr. Femrite discussed the surface water management and stated he needs Council direction regarding funding for the program. Mayor Dietz questioned ho-,,x, much of the program funding is mandated for each year. Mr. Ferrinte stated ponds are becoming more challenging because they contain high levels of certain contaminates and the dredging material is required to be ]andfilled. He stated the city is looking at dredging only three ponds in 2015 and has over 371 ponds to go that need this work. He stated the city needs to get on a proactive schedule. He stated the MPCA must see continued progress from the cItT. Mayor Dietz questioned how other cities are paying for this program. � 11 Mr. Femrite stated most cities are handling it through a utility fee and he outlined some of the surrounding communities funding. He noted that some General Fund expenditures should be transferred out to fit more appropriately into this programs budget. Fie noted the program would cost between $500,000-600,000 a year. p D W f A I I a I NAWREJ City Council Nfinutes Page 4 August 11,2014 ----------------------------- Councili-nember Westgaard questioned why the city would transfer some of its personal services into this program. Mr. Simon stated you would want the stormwater utility, if set up to be an-inclusive of the operating costs for the program, similar to other enterprise funds. Enterprise funds function like business-type activities and support all associated costs. Mr. Partner stated there would be a public education campaign similar to the franchise fee program and the city can show the levy will be reduced. Councilmember Westgaard preferred the levy increase so it would be transparent. Councilmernber Westgaard suggested adding the additional costs of the surface water management program to the General Fund. He thought there may be less kickback because there would be more complaints with another fee being imposed. He expressed concerns with trying to explain that the General Fund will go down, but people aren't really saving anything because they are being charged another utility fee. Mr. Simon stated there would be more transparency with keeping the funding all in one fund. Mr. Portner, stated the difference is that people who are contributing to the stormwater issues are paying for it, whereas in the general fund tax people pay based upon the value of their property. He stated there would be more equity to the utility fee. Councihnember Morin questioned if the fee will be based on impervious surface square footage. Mr. Fernrite stated this option was in the 2012 study recommendation but the city could look at other options. Mayor Dietz stated he understands the rationale and that the program is mandated by the state, but this utility fee will be a difficult sell to the public, comparing it to the franchise fee benefit. Mr. Fernrite stated the fee has its pros and cons but it is fairer and the city can collect frown schools, churches, etc. (big users who are not taxpayers). He noted that the City of Rogers has a utility fee so in essence, Elk River taxpayers are paying for Rogers' stormwater through school district taxes. Councilrnernber Wilson stated there are environmental reasons the program is mandated and the city wants to keep clean water. Pb � EAE !U BT INATUREI City Council Minutes Page 5 August 11,2014 ------------------ Mr. Portner stated a decision is needed prior to setting the levy on September 15. Mr. Portner noted the cost of prograrri, across the board, Till be more expensive for homeowners as a property tax than a utility, fee. Staff was directed to come back with proposed fee options and total funding costs, 4. Adjournment 'rherc being no further business, Mayor Dietz adjourned the meeting of the EIR River City Council at 8:18 p.m. f)h+nDie' ayor Tina Allard, City Clerk I I Y 4ArURE] Er ';�:YL