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03-18-2019 CCM�^ Meeting of the Elk River City Council ver Held at the Elk River City Hall Monday, March 18, 2019 Members Present: Mayor John Dietz, Councilmembers Garrett Christianson, Nate Ovall, Matt Westgaard, and Jennifer Wagner Members Absent: None Staff Present: City Administrator Calvin Pormer, Senior Planner Chris Leeseberg, Police Chief Ron Nierenhausen, Fire Chief Mark Dickinson, Human Resources Manager Lauren Wipper, and Deputy Clerk Jessica Miller I . Call Meeting to Order Pursuant to due call and notice thereof, the meeting of the Elk River City Council was called to order at 6:09 p.m. by Mayor Dietz. 2. Pledge of Allegiance The Pledge of Allegiance was recited. 3. Consider March 18, 2019, Agenda Mayor Dietz asked for item 4.5, the Pinewood Agreement, to be removed and discussed after consent. Moved by Councilmember Westgaard and seconded by Councilmember Ovall to approve the Match 18, 2019, agenda as amended. Motion carried 5-0. 4. Consider Consent Agenda Moved by Councilmember Wagner and seconded by Councilmember Christianson to approve the following consent agenda as amended: 4.1 March 4, 2019, minutes. 4.2 Check register, check numbers 109770-109918 as outlined in the staff report. 4.3 City of Otsego Dispatch Agreement No 19-07 as outlined in the staff report. 4.4 Health Rewards Program Policy as outlined in the staff report. 4.6 Resolution 19-09 conveying portions of the Cleveland Avenue tight -of - way to Sherburne County to complete a roundabout. Motion carried 5-0. City Council Minutes Page 2 March 18, 2019 ---------------------------- 4.5 Pinewood Management Agreement No. 19-08 Mayor Dietz confirmed some details of the agreement including termination notice and who is responsible for maintenance costs. Mayor Dietz asked Mr. Singer if he has the list of equipment replacement costs he mentioned during the discussion in February. Mr. Singer indicated he has the list and thought he sent it over but will send it again. Mayor Dietz explained he is comfortable with the lease but has concerns about equipment replacement costs. He questioned if the Council has an interest in obtaining an appraisal to see what the course is worth. Councilmember Ovall indicated it may be difficult to get an appraisal without showing income history. Councilmember Wagner questioned if Mr. Singer would still come before the Council for equipment purchases. Mr. Portner indicated the Council would have full discretion when reviewing the Pinewood budget each year. Councilmember Ovall stated as part of the agreement the city pays Elk River Golf Club a management fee and the Golf Club gets the profits. He questioned if some of the capital improvement costs could be covered with profits from Pinewood. Mr. Singer explained the Golf Club is already taking a risk on day-to-day expenses and if treated like a rental unit the owner would be responsible for maintaining the property. Mayor Dietz stated Elk River Golf Club is doing a great job managing Pinewood and he is comfortable proceeding with the lease and covering capital expenditures. He noted the agreement can be revisited if necessary. Councilmember Westgaard indicated if the Council is interested in selling Pinewood it could be discussed at a future work session. He noted Elk River Golf Club will need to begin preparing for golf season so he's hesitant to delay the agreement. Mr. Singer questioned if the Elk River Golf Club would be notified immediately if the city considered putting Pinewood up for sale. Mayor Dietz indicated he would like the Golf Club to be notified any time the Council is discussing Pinewood. Moved by Councilmember Westgaard and seconded by Councilmember Ovall to approve Agreement 19-08 Pinewood Management Agreement. Motion carried 5-0. S. Open Forum No one appeared for Open Forum NATURE City Council Minutes March 18, 2019 6.1 Volunteer of the Month Page 3 Mayor Dietz introduced and presented a plaque to Dan and Bonnie Fixell as the March Volunteers of the Month. He noted the following accomplishments: ■ Food Rescue – Target to CAER • Deliver Community Education brochures • United Way volunteers • Work at Community Connect events ■ Eve of the Arts volunteers • High School Theater ticket sales • Deliver Empower t -shirts ■ United Way Grants Committee members • RiverCenter Christian Ministries members 7.1 River Walk Apartments — 17354 Zane Street NW A. Right-of-way vacation: Zane Street NW B. Simple Plat: River Walk Mr. Leeseberg presented the staff report. He stated no action is needed as the applicant has withdrawn all four applications associated with the River Walk project. 7.2 Ordinance Amendment: Commercial Kennels in C3 District Mr. Leeseberg presented the 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 Christianson and seconded by Councilmember Wagner to adopt ordinance 19-05 amending section 30-1024, highway commercial district. Motion carried 5-0. 7.3 Ordinance Amendment: Temporary Signs Mr. Leeseberg presented the 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 Westgaard and seconded by Councilmember Christianson to adopt ordinance 19-06 amending section 30-867, district regulations. Motion carried 5-0. 7.4 Ordinance Amendment: Rezone Community Commercial Districts (C4) to Highway Commercial (C3) Mr. Leeseberg presented the staff report. paVIAE®Btl1 A—TURE City Council Minutes Match 18, 2019 Page 4 Mayor Dietz opened the public hearing. There being no one to speak to this issue, Mayor Dietz closed the public hearing. Moved by Councilmember Christianson and seconded by Councilmember Wagner to adopt ordinance 19-07 rezoning all C4 community commercial districts to C3 highway commercial. Motion carried 5-0. 7.5 Simple Plat: Mark and Lori Amborn, 13432 Meadowvale Road Mr. Leeseberg presented the staff report. He noted the public hearing is already open and should be continued to April 15. Moved by Councihnember Wagner and seconded by Councilmember Christianson to continue the public hearing for this item to the April 15, 2019, City Council meeting. Motion carried 5-0. 7.6 Ordinance Amendment: Home Occupations Mr. Leeseberg presented the staff report. Mayor Dietz opened the public hearing. There being no one to speak to this issue, the public hearing was continued to April 15, 2019. Moved by Councilmember Christianson and seconded by Councilmember Westgaard to continue the public hearing for this item to the April 15, 2019, City Council meeting. Motion carried 5-0. 8. General Business There was no general business. Council recessed at 6:35 p.m. in order to go into work session. Council reconvened at 6:38 p.m. 9.1 Healthy for Life Wellness Incentive Program Ms. Wipper presented the staff report. The Council questioned how human resources would insure employees were meeting the requirements of the program. Ms. Wipper indicated she feels staff has a pretty good handle on being sure employees are doing what they say they are. Ms. Wipper explained based on Council direction, the program was broken down in to four categories to make it look more like the police WIP program. NATUREJ City Council Minutes March 18, 2019 Page 5 Ms. Wipper indicated staff reviewed costs of adding a biometric feature. She stated the least expensive option was $29.00 per employee, which is $2,500 if everyone participated. It was noted these same biometrics can be completed during an employee's physical typically for no additional charge. Ms. Wipper explained the policy is meant to encourage and provide incentives for employees to be healthy. She stated studies show healthy employees reduce healthcare costs, absenteeism, and presenteeism. She noted when the new pay plan was put in place it was built to averages with a 1.5% gap between our top pay and top pay of comparable cities with the intent of implementing a program like this to allow employees to come closer to the top pay of our comparables. The Council had concerns with there being too many items and it being too easy to reach the goal. Ms. Wipper indicated by breaking the program up in to categories similar to the WIP program and removing the tobacco cessation points, employees will have to strive a little harder to meet the goals. Ms. Wipper distributed a draft tracking scorecard. Councilmember Westgaard questioned if there is any indication health insurance premiums would be reduced with implementation of this program. Ms. Wipper indicated it is difficult to say because we are pooled with a larger group for our health insurance premiums. She noted it is in our best interest to remain in the health insurance pool. Councilmember Westgaard stated two months at a health club may not be long enough to earn 100 points. He suggested lengthening the time frame or dropping the point value, or both. Mayor Dietz clarified this program starts over each year. Ms. Wipper indicated it does. Ms. Wipper stated language would be included allowing the program to end or change at any time at the city's discretion. Councilmember Ovall suggested a monthly point allocation. Consensus of the Council was to remove points for attending the employee appreciation event. Councilmember Wagner explained she is not on board with this program. She likes some of the ideas of the fitness program but she has a really hard time adding this to the budget and doesn't feel tax dollars should be used this way. She believes there are multiple incentives to work here including access to a nice workout room and summer hours. She noted she would feel differently if there was proof health insurance premiums would be reduced. eaweetI I [�IATUR� City Council Minutes March 18, 2019 Page 6 Councilmember Westgaard indicated he doesn't completely disagree. He would like to see the topics refined a little more and parameters set. He would like staff to continue working on the program. Mayor Dietz explained the city has taken big strides recently to be more competitive in pay and it may be too soon to implement another incentive. He added he would like to see this program mirror the police program and he would like to see a copy of the police program to see how it can be incorporated. He also suggested having a set dollar amount rather than a percentage so every employee receives the same incentive. Councilmember Westgaard questioned if employees have been polled to gauge interest. Ms. Wipper indicated they have not. Councilmember Westgaard suggested figuring out what topics employees are interested in. Councilmember Ovall commented in his experience wellness programs are better received when run by employees rather than compulsory. Council consensus was for Ms. Wipper to provide a copy of the police department WIP program for review and revisit. 9.2 Public Safety Building Needs Chief Nierenhausen and Chief Dickinson presented the staff report. Mayor Dietz expressed an interest in obtaining an architectural study for expansion of the public safety facility and questioned the process. Mr. Portner indicated generally we put out a scope of the project and companies would bid on putting together an analysis. Council consensus was to solicit bids for an architectural study for the police department expansion (garage and upper level) and the upgrade and expansion of fire station 2 with a possible addition of a third fire station located on the east side of the city. 9.3 Public Works Apprenticeship Program Mr. Femrite presented the staff report. Councilmember Westgaard questioned how the apprentice program would differ from seasonal employees. Mr. Femrite explained the level of training for the apprentices would be more extensive. He noted seasonal employees are only on board for three months and do not receive extensive training. He added seasonal employees will still be utilized. Councilmember Ovall indicated he doesn't disagree with the concept. He questioned if we have the capacity to train and mentor the apprentices. Mr. Femrite indicated it NFA rI 117E City Council Minutes March 18, 2019 Page 7 would require some time management but thought we could make it work with hopes that by investing time to train apprentices, time and money could be saved later. Mayor Dietz questioned if this would fit for high school students. Mr. Femrite explained the program is geared towards high school graduates as this is a yearlong program. He indicated they are still working on the pay and titling as they have to be sensitive to the unions. He noted staff is working with human resources on the details. Mayor Dietz questioned what incentives are available upon completion of the yearlong apprentice program. Mr. Feturite stated the goal is to train these employees to create a bench of qualified applicants available when resignations or retirements are presented. Mr. Portner added we could also provide an excellent reference if the apprentice did a good job but we don't have any positions available. Councilmember Wagner stated she believes there would bean interest as many high school students don't know what they want to do or where they want to go when they graduate. She added it would also be a good fit for someone making a career change. She believes it will serve as a yearlong interview for the city to see if people would be a good fit. Councilmember Westgaard concurred. Councilmember Christianson questioned if this is a union position. Mr. Femrite indicated we are proposing it would be non-union filling a laborer position. Mr. Portner added he will continue discussions with the union representative. Councilmember Christianson questioned if it was possible to transition a seasonal worker to the yearlong apprenticeship. He indicated at the company he works for they train all seasonal employees but if they find one that is exceptional they do additional training. Mr. Femrite added he does try to retain and provide additional training to the better seasonal staff. Mr. Femrite indicated staff will formalize the program identifying pay, benefits, and other details and bring back to the Council for formal approval. 9.4 Pavement Management Funding Mr. Ferrite presented the staff report. Councilmember Wagner questioned if it makes sense to look at the city's pavement needs as a whole including new parking lots rather than just existing streets. Councilmember Westgaard indicated the intent of the franchise fee is to get away from assessments and questioned the impact of adding trails and parking lots in to the franchise fee fund. He stated liquor store funds have been added to the Park ATVRE City Council Minutes Page 8 Match 18, 2019 Improvement Fund and it's never enough to complete the projects. He was concerned including parking lots and trails could deplete the fund. Mayor Dietz explained he doesn't believe the intent is to add parks or trails, just about maintaining what we have. He noted there is no way the Park Improvement Fund can afford to fix the Orono parking lot. He doesn't have an issue with using some of the franchise fee money as long as the fund is seeing substantial numbers each year. He stated the Council should decide what the franchise fee money can be spent on. Councilmember Wagner indicated her intent isn't to replace park equipment, just the parking lot asphalt. Mayor Dietz indicated he does not have an issue with funding parking lot improvements on city -owned land and streets and asked for Mr. Femrite's opinion. Mr. Femrite explained the franchise fee was set based on projections for larger street projects over 10 years. He indicated those projections showed the maintenance needs will plateau and we should see a period of fund growth when we have caught up on maintenance. He added he can't speak for how the bid climate may change. 10. Adjournment There being no further business, Mayor Dietz adjourned the meeting of the Elk River City Council at 8:11 p.m. Tina Allard, City Clerk >ica Miller. POR I R I 1 6 Y f'ATURE