04-30-2018 CCM SPECIALSpecial Meeting of the Elk River City Council
Held at the Elk River Public Safety Facility
Monday, April 30, 2018
Members Present: Mayor Dietz, Councilmembers Olsen, Ovall, Westgaard, and Wagner
Members Absent: None
Staff Present: City Administrator Calvin Portner, Finance Director Lori Ziemer,
Chief of Police Ron Nierenhausen, Fire Chief T. John Cunningham,
Planning Manager Zach Carlton, City Engineer Justin Femrite,
Community Operations and Development Director Suzanne Fischer,
Economic Development Director Amanda Othoudt, Parks and
Recreation Director Michael Hecker, City Clerk Tina Allard, and
Records Specialist Katie Porath
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 3:11 p.m. by Mayor Dietz.
2. Visioning and Goals
Review Values and Vision Statement
Mr. Portner asked council if there were any concerns about the Vision Statement created
in 2017. There were no concerns.
Core Services Discussion
Council contributed their input on what is included in "core services" prior to the
meeting.
Council and staff discussed their opinion of what constitutes a core service. They agreed
core services have to be in place before people want to move to your community.
Chief Cunningham asked when you bring on a service does it then become a core
service?
Councilmember Westgaard agreed when you begin a service you have an obligation to
staff, maintain, and care for it.
Councilmember Westgaard felt one of their biggest challenges as council and staff is to
show the added value and to tell the community the story of why something is
important.
Ms. Fischer was in favor of Pinewood Golf Course being sold. She also asked if
Community Ed should run programs instead of the city.
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Mr. Hecker said that he has had conversations with Community Ed to reduce
duplication.
Mayor Dietz felt that Parks and Recreation was nice to have but not essential.
Ms. Othoudt was surprised EDA Financial Incentives received support from council
since not all businesses need financial incentives and she does not feel it is a core service.
Instead, she would consider business retention and expansion as core services as well as
redevelopment because it is re -investing in the community.
Councilmember Ovall considered Community Development as next tier in importance
but not a core service.
Chief Cunningham stated being proactive on building inspections will help catch
potential problems and may lower the need for future code enforcement. A clean
community is usually a safer community.
Mayor Dietz thinks it is an advantage that we can talk about all of the services Elk River
has to offer and that these services are in house.
Mission Statement Discussion
Mr. Pormer asked for components of a mission statement. A vision statement is what
you want to be, but a mission statement is how you get there. He provided example
mission statements from other communities.
Council discussed the mission statement examples from various local cities and which
parts they liked from their statements. Council worked on developing their own mission
statement based on the following key points:
• Good stewards
• Opportunity to live, work, and play
■ Responsibly grow
• Meet changing needs — agile
• Timeless
• Ethical, efficient, and responsible
• Sustainable
• Work with citizens to achieve goals
■ Help, not hinder, citizen quality of life
• Reflect the culture of citizens and what is important to majority
Councihnember Westgaard stated developing a mission statement would be different
based upon if your city is still growing versus in the process of redevelopment.
Chief Nierenhausen felt "being responsible" should be a given and should not need to
be stated in a mission statement.
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Councilmember Wagner expressed mission statements could not be a static statement
but should be re-evaluated over time. Elk River has a lot of room to grow. Perhaps this
mission statement should be for the next five years and then reassessed.
Mr. Portner suggested they come back to the mission statement creation later in the
meeting.
Finance Review — Peers
Ms. Ziemer reviewed a financial chart comparing Elk River to 14 other communities of
similar population.
Council recessed at 5:23 p.m. Council reconvened at 6:01 p.m.
Goal Setting
Council determined the following short-term, mid-term, and long-term goals:
Short-term
Commercial development
Great River Energy (GRE) revenue replacement
Budget and sinking fund for building repair
Update salary schedule/compensation plan
Garbage situation (RDF tax base?)
Parks and Recreation funding (capital) plan
Mid-term
CRT Vision
Budget Plan — post -waste management of GRE
Transportation development funding
Acquire business park land
Develop means for park capital needs
Commercial development
Long-term
Urban Service Area expansion
Commercial/Industrial development
Public Safety Facility buildout
Sustainable Capital Funding
Council reviewed the following financing options:
■ Levy
■ LGA
• Liquor operations
■ Excess fund balance
• User fees
• GRE fund
• Landfill fund
• Local Option Sales Tax (LOST)
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• Franchise fees
■ Payment in Lieu of Taxes (PILOT)
Mission Statement
Mr. Portner returned to the Mission Statement discussion.
Councilmember Wagner asked if Elk River was ready to stop being referred to as a
"bedroom community" (a city where citizens own a home but work, shop, and recreate
in a different city). She asked if the list of comparably -sized cities presented during the
financing section would consider themselves to be bedroom communities.
Councilmember Westgaard added Elk River used to have a vision and mission as a
manufacturing hub to attract companies and employers. He added people change jobs
more frequently than they move, contributing to the concept of living and working in
two different communities.
Councilmember Wagner proposed the following mission statement:
Where Council and Staff work with citizens to develop a sustainable and prosperous
community for all to live, work, and play and to appropriately govern in an ever
changing environment.
Mayor Dietz suggested council take some time to look over the statement and offer any
changes, questions, or suggestions at a later meeting.
Sustainability
Mr. Pormer asked council to consider and explore building a sustainable plan to undo or
get around impending challenges of the near future.
Council proposed the following options for developing sustainable funding:
• Sinking fund — money from NSC growth
• Service Levels — GF Budget
• Bonding
• LOST
• User fees
• Tax Increment Financing (TIF)/Abatement
■ Get out of funds (GRE, Landfill)
• Asset inventory with peer comparisons — Divest quality vs. quantity
• Look at asset management partners with shared facilities
Councilmember Ovall expressed there seemed to be too many parks that are not
developed and other cities seem to focus on enhancing signature parks.
Councilmember Olsen countered it seemed past decision makers wished to have parks
within walking distance of neighborhoods. Many park lands developed out of remnants
of land that couldn't be developed for other uses. Maybe in the future, the city should be
more intentional about picking park lands.
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Mayor Dietz explained in the 1990s the city sometimes took land instead of cash but
didn't develop the land immediately. In many cases it is impossible to sell the land.
Giving up the land would revert back to the original owners and the only cost savings
would be from maintenance.
Mr. Hecker stated there are currently 13 undeveloped parks in Elk River.
Councilmember Wagner stated someone had the forethought to reserve the land
comprising Central Park in New York and having green space/open space is a benefit to
the city. Trails are also attractive to potential buyers.
Councilmember Westgaard wants to get away from funding mechanisms with "sunset
dates." He stated Elk River has been fortunate to avoid bonding on major projects in the
past.
Mayor Dietz stated most projects have a plan for how to pay for them except for the ice
arena. A sinking fund will not help the current issue but may help with future problems.
Councilmember Westgaard asked what the balance is between user fees and bonding.
Mr. Portner indicated the Parks and Recreation Commission are currently conducting a
study that may help to determine the answer to this question and reduce taxpayer impact
because of users.
Ms. Fischer asked why the city hesitates to use bonding since many other communities
seem to use it as a funding source.
Mr. Portner explained bonding is sometimes viewed as a negative and, to date no other
projects have needed to examine this source of funding.
3. Adjournment
There being no further business, Mayor Dietz adjourned the meeting of the Elk
River City Council at 8:22 p.m.
Minutes prepared by Katie Porath.
Tina Allard, City Clerk
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