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04-10-1995 CC MIN - SPECIAL e SPECIAL MEETING OF THE ELK RIVER CITY COUNCIL HELD AT THE ELK RIVER CITY HALL MONDAY, APRIL 10, 1995 Members Present: Mayor Duitsman, Councilmembers Dietz, Scheel, Farber, and Holmgren Members Absent: None Staff Present: City Administrator Pat Klaers; City Clerk Sandra Thackeray; Street/Park Superintendent Phil Hals; Police Chief Tom Zerwas; Assistant Finance Director Lori Johnson; Building and Zoning Administrator Steve Rohlf 1 . Call Meetina To Order Pursuant to due call and notice thereof, the special meeting of the Elk River City Council was called to order at 7:00 p.m. by Mayor Duitsman. 2. Consider Council Aaenda e COUNCILMEMBER FARBER MOVED TO APPROVE THE APRIL 10, 1995, CITY COUNCIL AGENDA. COUNCILMEMBER HOLMGREN SECONDED THE MOTION. THE MOTION CARRIED 5-0. 3. Consider Elk River Area Chamber of Commerce Request for Financial Support of Leadership Prospect Proaram Chamber of Commerce Executive Director Jackie Schuelien indicated that the Chamber of Commerce is requesting financial support in the amount of $2,500 annually to assist in funding the Leadership Program. Mr. Myron Rothstein gave a brief presentation of the Leadership Program that is designed to develop leaders in the community. The council discussed the detail and quality of the program being offered. Mayor Duitsman indicated that because the city is short of funds, he did not feel the city could contribute the full $2,500. He stated that he would be willing to contribute $1,000. Bill Rubin, economic development coordinator, stated that alternative funding could be pursued. COUNCILMEMBER FARBER MOVED TO AUTHORIZE THE PAYMENT OF $1,000 TO THE CHAMBER OF COMMERCE FOR THE LEADERSHIP DEVELOPMENT PROGRAM AND REQUESTED THAT THE ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT COORDINATOR PURSUE OTHER FUNDING OPTION. COUNCILMEMBER HOLMGREN SECONDED THE MOTION. THE MOTION CARRIED 5-0. e Special City Council Meeting April 10, 1995 Page 2 e 4. Consider Chamber of Commerce Reauest for Exemption from Lawful Gamblina License Sandra Thackeray, city clerk, indicated that the Chamber of Commerce has made a request for an exemption from Lawful Gambling License to hold a raffle during the Fourth of July celebration. COUNCILMEMBER SCHEEL MOVED TO AUTHORIZE AN EXEMPTION FROM LAWFUL GAMBLING LICENSE FOR THE ELK RIVER AREA CHAMBER OF COMMERCE FOR JULY 4. COUNCILMEMBER FARBER SECONDED THE MOTION. THE MOTION CARRIED 5-0. 5. Review Application Reauirements for PUD Zonina Reauests Mayor Duitsman stated that this issue is on the council agenda at his request. He indicated that he felt it was uneconomical to request a landowner to submit a development plan for a conditional use permit {CUP} with a planned unit development {PUD} rezoning application. Discussion was held by the council. staff. and Bob Minton, planning commission representative, regarding the pros and cons of requiring a land owner to submit a development plan for a CUP with the PUD rezoning application. e Councilmember Farber felt that the city would have more land use control by going through the CUP at the same time as the PUD request. Councilmember Dietz stated the city would be able to better defend its denial of a PUD rezoning than the denial of a CUP. Discussion was held regarding the possibility of requiring the land owner or developer to submit a modified site plan, rather than a formal CUP application, with the PUD request. It was the consensus of the council to take no action on this issue at this time and to have staff further research the issue. 6. Review Comparable Worth Proposal City Administrator Pat Klaers stated that, per the Mayor's request from the last meeting, the Comparable Worth Committee has submitted a revised pay plan reflecting salaries and wages at 90 percent of those paid by metro communities with populations between 10,000 and 25,000. He indicated the council previously had reviewed a 95 percent pay plan and the council felt that this may be too high. Mayor Duitsman indicated that he supported the 12 step pay plan for non- exempt employees and the ten step pay plan for exempt employees, however, he was reluctant to approve the pay plan based on 95 percent of the metro communities. e At this time, Lori Johnson distributed another pay plan which was requested by the Mayor; it reflected 93 percent of the Class 6 metro communities. Mayor Duitsman further stated that because the steps are somewhat automatic, he would favor a two year periOd for moving from ohe step to the next. Councilmember Dietz indicated he would be in favor of the 95 percent pay plan because of the fact that the pOlice department union employees receive 98 Special City Council Meeting April 10, 1995 Page 3 e percent of the Class 6 metro cities. Councilmember Dietz further indicated that he would also be in favor of employees jumping a step every two years as opposed to every year. Council member Dietz stated that the implementation of a new pay plan will have an impact on city employees planned to be hired in 1996. Councilmember Holmgren indicated that he was in favor of the city completing job evaluations prior to employees receiving an increase in pay. Council member Farber indicated he did not feel the council could set the salary any less than 95 percent of the Class 6 metro communities as they have already set a precedent with the police department by paying the police union employees 98 percent of the metro communities. Councilmember Holmgren stated that the police chief's salary is currently at 80 percent of the Class 6 metro communities. He indicated that the council has discussed this issue several times and has promised that an increase would be made to the police chief, however this has not happened. Council member Holmgren suggested the police chief should be moved to the same step as the city administrator. Councilmember Scheel stated that she concurred with Councilmember Holmgren. e Mayor Duitsman stated that he also concurred with Councilmembers Holmgren and Scheel, however, he requested that the council consider moving both the assistant city administrator and pOlice chief to Step 8. COUNCILMEMBER SCHEEL MOVED TO CONTINUE ANY ACTION ON THIS ITEM UNTIL THE NEXT COUNCIL MEETING AND, ALSO AT THAT TIME, A~!'ROVE MOVING THE ASSISTANT CITY ADMINISTRATOR AND POLICE CHIEF TC STEP BIN THE PAY PLAN WITH ANY INCREASE IN SALARY TO BE RETROACTIVE TO JANUARY 1, 1995. COUNCILMEMBER HOLMGREN SECONDED THE MOTION. THE MOTION CARRIED 5-0. Mayor Duitsman indicated that he would like staff to consider having personnel evaluations on a yearly basis. Councilmember Dietz reiterated the fact that an adoption of the pay plan would have an impact on the budget and further indicated that if the council approves a pay plan at 95 percent of the Class 6 metro cities, he would prefer to see the clothing allowance eliminated for the clerical staff. Mayor Duitsman concurred. Assistant City Administrator Lori Johnson indicated that the council is requested to consider title changes for certain employees that have been recommended by the Comparable Worth Committee. She further stated that the committee is requesting that the senior citizen coordinator's point value be increased from 57 to 62. . The city administrator requested that the council consider passing a motion to officially change certain positions from exempt to non-exempt and from non- exempt to exempt. Special City Council Meeting April 10, 1995 Page 4 - COUNCILMEMBER DIETZ MOVED TO APPROVE THE REVISED POSITION TITLES AS REQUESTED BY THE COMPARABLE WORTH COMMmEE, TO INCREASE THE POINT VALUE FOR THE SENIOR CITIZEN COORDINATOR TO 62 POINTS, TO MOVE THE BUILDING OFFICIAL AND ASSISTANT FINANCE DIRECTOR TO THE NON-EXEMPT STATUS AND TO MOVE THE CITY CLERK TO THE EXEMPT STATUS. COUNCILMEMBER HOLMGREN SECONDED THE MOTION. THE MOTION CARRIED 5-0. Councilmember Farber left at this time (8: 15 p.m.). 7. Joint Park and Recreation Commission/City Council Meetina The Park and Recreation Commission joined the City Council at this time. Members of the Park and Recreation Commission present included: Chair Dave Anderson, Vice Chair Dana Anderson, Rolfe Anderson, Sue Daleiden, Shawn Donais, Clair Olson, and Robin Tuttle. Staff members Phil Hals and Steve Rohlf were also present. 7.1 . Review Inventory of City Prooertv The City Council and Park and Recreation Commission reviewed the inventory of existing city property. A majority of the property owned by the city consists of park land. Mayor Duitsman indicated his concern regarding the possibility that the city may r1ave extra property which it does not need. He indicated that if this is the case, the city should consider disposing of the property as the money could be used elsewhere. e It was the consensus of the Park and Recreation Commission and the City Council that because most of the land owned by the city was parks, there was no excess land available for sale. 7.2. Information on Uodated Master Park Plan and Plans for Neiahborhood Parks Park and Recreation Chair Dave Anderson informed the council that the commission has been working on revising the Park and Recreation Master Park Plan. He stated that the planning process consisted of categorizing parks in the following five areas: . neighborhood parks; . trails; · special use parks; . regional parks; and, . community athletics. Dave Anderson explained the reason for changing priorities in the Park and Recreation Commission's revision of the Master Plan by increasing the number of smaller neighborhood. parks. Dave Anderson stated that the commission felt that the city cannot expect developers to come up with large parcels of land for large neighborhood parks in the urban areas. e Councilmember Holmgren indicated his concern regarding the funding methods for the extra neighborhood parks proposed by the Park and Recreation Commission. Councilmember Scheel indicated her concern regarding the need for parks to be paid for by the developers. Special City Council Meeting April 10, 1995 Page 5 e The Park and Recreation Commission indicated to the council that there is a great need to acquire or develop land for youth activities. Councilmember Holmgren suggested the possibility of the city purchasing land adjacent to school district land so that the city and school district could jointly share in the use of the land. The need for soccer fields was discussed in detail. Councilmember Scheel indicated that she was not in favor of the city acquiring land as it would be taken off the tax rolls. Council member Scheel stated that the need for athletic facilities should be paid for by the school district and that there should be a more equitable way to pay for the pork system. Mayor Duitsman questioned whether the Park and Recreation Commission had plans for the trail system downtown. Dave Anderson indicated that from a recreation standpoint. Woodland Trails Park is priority. Council member Holmgren left at this time (9:37 p.m.) 7.3. Land Use Versus Zoning for Caoturing Park Dedication Fees e Dana Anderson highlighted the importance that the Park and Recreation Commission places on the possibility of collecting park dedication fees from commercial land in the Business Park. It was the consensus of the City Council that the Park and Recreation Commission review this issue and send its recommendation to the Planning Commission for review. 7.4. Trail Issues Dana Anderson indicated that the Park and Recreation Commission is studying the issue of sidewalks versus trails in the Master Park Plan. It was the consensus of the council to discuss this issue in more detail at a future meeting. 7.5. Temoorary Soccer Fields Near City Hall Clair Olson indicated that there is a shortage of space for junior soccer fields. Discussion was held regarding the possibility of using some of the City Hall property for temporary soccer fields. Clair Olson stated that the soccer coaches are looking for land to be used for junior soccer fields for a one year time period. After further discussion, it was the consensus of the council to have the Park and Recreation Commission hold a neighborhood meeting to discuss the possibility of having two youth soccer fields on City Hall property for a one year period. 7.6. Overhead Power Lines Near City Parks e Dave Anderson indicated that the Park and Recreation Commission has a concern with the number of overhead power lines in the city's p:lrks. He indicated that the concerns revolve around safety and visual pollution. Phil Hals indicated that the city should suggest that the Utilities Commission consider providing more underground power lines. e - e Special City Council Meeting April 10, 1995 Page 6 Mayor Duitsman requested the Park and Recreation Commission to approach Elk River Utilities on this issue. 7.7. Discuss EDA Site Phil Hals recommended that any further development on the EDA Main Street property be stopped until the Riverfront Corridor Committee meets so that the city can coordinate its plans with the Riverfront Corridor Committee plans. Phil Hals informed the council that the city has received a request to have a musical group use the EDA Main Street site for a musical program. It was the consensus of the council that the Park and Recreation Commission discuss the parameters of these types of requests. The City Council thanked the Park and Recreation Commission for its work on the Master Park Plan. 8. Other Business There was no other business. 9. Adiournment There being no further business, COUNCILMEMBER DIETZ MOVED TO ADJOURN THE MEETING. COUNCILMEMBER SCHEEL SECONDED THE MOTION. THE MOTION CARRIED 3-0. The special meeting of the Elk River City Council was adjourned at 10:08 p.m. Respectfully submitted, ;/~~ Sandra Thackeray City Clerk ....