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4.1 DRAFT MINUTES (1 SET) 06-01-2020VA City ELt*� Virtual Meeting of the Elk River City Council River Held at the Elk River City Hall Monday, May 4, 2020 (Due to the COVID-19 Pandemic) Members Present: Mayor John Dietz, Councilmembers Garrett Christianson, Nate Ovall, Matt Westgaard, and Jennifer Wagner Members Absent: None Staff Present: City Administrator Calvin Portner, Stormwater Coordinator Brandon Wisner, Public Works Director/Chief Engineer Justin Femrite, Chief of Police Ron Nierenhausen, Parks and Recreation Director Michael Hecker, Recreation Manager Steve Benoit, and City Attorney Peter Beck Call Meeting to Order Pursuant to due call and notice thereof, the meeting of the Elk River City Council was called to order at 6:36 p.m. by Mayor Dietz. 2. Roll Call ■ Councilmember Christianson ■ Councilmember Westgaard ■ Councilmember Ovall ■ Councilmember Wagner ■ Mayor Dietz 3. Consider Agenda Mayor Dietz added item 8.3. discussion on opening playgrounds and live meetings. Moved by Councilmember Wagner and seconded by Councilmember Westgaard to approve the agenda as amended. Motion carried 5-0. 4. Consent Agenda Moved by Councilmember Ovall and seconded by Councilmember Wagner to approve: 4.1 Minutes: ■ April 20, 2020, Regular ■ April 27, 2020, Board of Appeal and Equalization 4.2 Check register, check numbers 114332-114430 as outlined in the staff report. 4.3 Deer Herd Management Plan City Council Minutes Page 2 Maur 4, 2020 ----------------------------- 4.4 Amendment to the Preliminary Development Agreement with Modern Construction of Minnesota, Inc. 4.5 Ordinance 20-04 Allowing Installment Payment of Certain Liquor Licensing Fees 4.6 Sidewalk Machine Replacement Motion carried 5-0. S. Open Forum No one appeared for Open Forum. 6. Presentations, Awards, and Recognition There were no presentations, awards, or recognition. 7.1 2019 National Pollution Discharge Elimination (NPDES) System Annual Report Mr. Wisner 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. 8.1. Twin Lakes Road/Kelley Parkway Update and Professional Services and MnDOT Master Partnership Contract for US 10 Study Mr. Femrite presented the staff report. Mayor Dietz questioned if there was a penalty for suspending our current contract. Mr. Femrite indicated there is not. Councilmember Wagner stated this is an important intersection and communication with the public and businesses along Twin Lakes Road will be important. Mr. Femrite explained staff will continue to reach out to stakeholders about the progress. Moved by Councilmember Westgaard and seconded by Councilmember Wagner to suspend the engineering design contract with Hakanson Anderson for the extension of Twin Lakes Road, the Kelley Parkway alignment, and a new high capacity intersection with US Highway 10. Motion carried 5-0. Moved by Councilmember Wagner and seconded by Councilmember Ovall to enter into a Master Partnership Contract 1028386 Work Order No. 1 with the Minnesota Department of Transportation for cost sharing on the US Highway 10 (US 10) Study. Motion carried 5-0. i City Council Minutes May 4, 2020 Page 3 Moved by Councilmember Westgaard and seconded by Councilmember Ovall to approve $280,606 in professional services from SRF Consulting, Inc. associated with professional services for the US 10 Study. Motion carried 5-0. 8.2 Discuss Work Session Items Mr. Portner presented the staff report. He noted some of the dates will need to be updated once we resume normal business. 8.3 Open Playgrounds and Live Council Minutes Mayor Dietz asked the Council if they are interested in returning to live meetings if the Stay at Home Order ends May 18. Councilmember Christianson explained he is in favor of opening meetings to the public and he does not see how the Governor's Executive Order prohibits the city from having live, public meetings. He added he is fine with allowing modifications for those not comfortable attending meetings in -person. Councilmember Wagner indicated she is also in favor of resuming live meetings as she feels the Council is losing out on the public input portion and is more productive as a group in -person. She noted she is also in favor of making adaptations for those who want to remain distanced. Mayor Dietz indicated he would like police officers at the meeting to regulate how many people are in the meeting room at a time. He asked if the Upper Town Conference Room would be available for overflow. Mr. Portner stated he is not sure on the timeline of completion of the remodel of the Upper Town Conference Room. Mayor Dietz stated depending on how many people show up for the public hearings they could still follow social distancing guidelines. Councilmember Christianson suggested having an officer stationed near the door and people could go in one at a time, speak, then exit so the next person could go in. Councilmember Westgaard agreed it is easier to conduct conversations and receive input during in -person meetings but at the same time, the Council's first obligation needs to be the safety of the public and to follow state and federal guidelines. He stated if we can still do that and ensure people adhere to social distancing guidelines, he would prefer to go back to in -person meetings. Mayor Dietz questioned if the Council wishes to wait to see if Governor Walz lifts the Stay at Home Order on May 18. Councilmember Christianson indicated he would like the May 18 meeting to be in -person. He added he does not see anything in the Governor's Stay at Home Order that prohibits live, in -person meetings. He noted Big Lake is still having in -person meetings, but they limit the amount of people in the meeting. City Council Minutes May 4, 2020 Page 4 Mr. Portner explained guidance from the League of Minnesota Cities and other city managers has been that the Stay at Home Order prohibits everything except for what is exempt from the Order and the guidance so far is for groups to meet virtually if possible. Mr. Portner asked for which Councilmembers are in favor of returning to in -person meetings when possible. All Councilmembers indicated they are in favor. Mr. Portner indicated as of today, CDC guidance is for gatherings of no more than 10 people at a time. He explained with Council, staff, and the city attorney it does not leave much room for the public. He stated staff will put together a plan using the current CDC guidelines and best precautions. Councilmember Christianson indicated it is very important to give the public access to the meetings and a chance to engage the Council. He noted only one person can speak at a time anyway. He does not believe citizens sending the city administrator comments in an email is sufficient engagement. Mr. Portner indicated he is comfortable resuming in -person meetings if CDC protocol can be followed. Councilmember Christianson asked Mr. Beck if he had a chance to review the Governor's Executive Order and if government meetings fall under public gatherings. Mr. Beck explained municipal government is a creature of the state and we are defaulted to being prohibited from anything other than what we have specific statutory authority to do. In this situation, Mr. Beck indicated he would agree with Mr. Portner's conclusion that the Governor's Order does not exempt City Council meetings. Mayor Dietz questioned if this could be left open ended for May 18 until Governor decides on the Stay at Home Order. If the Order ends, the meeting could be at City Hall and if not, it would be held virtually. Attorney Beck indicated the meetings must be noticed three days ahead of time but assuming we have clear direction from the Council, the meeting could be noticed appropriately once the Governor decides. Mayor Dietz asked the Council if they prefer to move towards resuming in -person meeting at city hall for the May 18 meeting or if they prefer waiting to see what the Governor's direction is. Councilmembers Christianson and Wagner indicated they would like to resume in - person meetings on May 18. Councilmember Westgaard indicated he would also like to resume in -person meeting on May 18 but he wants to be sure the city is following the CDC guidelines and he is ok with having one more virtual meeting and waiting on the Governor's Orders. Councilmember Ovall indicated he would love to resume in -person meetings, but he has a chronic cough which be believes is allergies but since he doesn't qualify to get a COVID test he would be more comfortable participating virtually. City Council Minutes May 4, 2020 Page 5 Councilmember Wagner questioned if Councilmember Ovall could participate virtually if the remainder of the Council met in person. Mr. Portner said he could as the Legislature changed the Open Meeting Law to deal with the pandemic and Councilmembers participating virtually are no longer required to be in a public place. Discussion took place on whether masks would be required for the public. Mr. Portner noted he has some cloth masks available for Council and staff but not enough for the public. He noted June 1 has a couple public hearings that may draw more people and it may be difficult to keep people masked. Mayor Dietz questioned what would happen if someone showed up to the meeting without a mask. Mr. Portner indicated public safety could assist. Councilmember Westgaard stated if masks are required and someone does not comply, they would not be allowed in just like at other businesses. Mayor Dietz questioned if we would have to make masks available for purchase. Mr. Portner indicated he will defer to the Chief. Chief Nierenhausen indicated the Police Department does not have any available for the public. He noted the Fire Department may have some cloth masks but those cannot be collected back once they are given out. The Chief expressed concern with the Police Department removing someone from a public government meeting for not wearing a mask. Mayor Dietz indicated he does not want it to get ugly and questioned if the Council thought it would be an issue with people showing up without masks. Councilmember Westgaard indicated it could and he would prefer to be prepared with incurring the costs to provide masks or to get the word out for meeting rules. He questioned the urgency with resuming in -person meetings on May 18 stating waiting until June 1 might put the city in a better position to be safe and follow the appropriate guidelines. Mayor Dietz stated he agrees with Councilmember Westgaard and believes rushing back to in -person meetings on May 18 may open the city up to trouble and he would rather be safe and hold off until June 1. Mr. Portner indicated he is hopeful some of the guidelines will be more relaxed by June 1. He stated an option for other commissions is to continue virtual meetings and have someone from staff or the Commission present at City Hall to take live comment. Councilmember Wagner explained as much as she'd like to resume in -person meetings on May 18, she does not want to put the Council in a position to have to remove someone from the meeting if they refuse the rules. Chief Nierenhausen indicated normally the Police Department would remove someone for not abiding by the Council's rules at the Council's request; however, he City Council Minutes May 4, 2020 Page 6 would want to discuss this issue with an attorney familiar with criminal law because of all the variables during this unprecedented time. Attorney Beck stated he will work on obtaining additional guidance but generally speaking, the Council has the authority to enforce the rules, protocol, and decorum they set and he believes failing to wear a mask would fall in the same category as someone disrupting the meeting. He noted if the Council wants to wait until June 1 to resume in -person meetings it would give more time to seek additional guidance. Councilmember Christianson questioned if making masks mandatory would clear this issue up. Attorney Beck explained his initial response would be yes because it would be a Council rule and enforceable in the same manner as other rules; however, the more the guidelines evolve and the more guidance we can get will help the chief and his officers with enforcement. Councilmember Ovall questioned if a speaker could be installed outdoors so people waiting to attend a meeting could listen to the meeting. Mr. Portner stated he will look into options. Councilmember Wagner reiterated she is anxious to return to in -person meetings but after hearing from Chief Nierenhausen, she does not want to get into a situation where someone refuses a mask and must be removed from the meeting. Mayor Dietz agreed it could get ugly and would like to wait a few more weeks and see what happens with the Governor's Order and the guidelines. Councilmember Christianson indicated he believes the Council is getting to wrapped up in the what -ifs for May 18 and thinks it would be a good time to see how an in - person meeting would go and change anything that does not work. Councilmember Westgaard would like to revisit this issue on May 18 to see if anything from the Governor's Orders or CDC guidelines have changed. Consensus of the Council was to continue with virtual meetings for May 18 with the goal of resuming live, public meetings on June 1. Councilmember Wagner suggested city step up our social media communications for how the public can engage the Council for virtual meetings. She would like to see more posts, maybe every three days. Mr. Portner indicated it can be done. Attorney Beck indicated he will work with Mr. Portner and Chief Nierenhausen on guidelines for live meetings outlining expectations of the meetings as clearly as possible and possibly bring back for Council review on May 18. Playgrounds Mayor Dietz indicated he received several calls about the Police Department telling City Council Minutes May 4, 2020 people not to use the playgrounds. Page 7 Mr. Portner indicated the city's playgrounds are currently signed as closed due to COVID-19 but there is no active enforcement. Councilmember Ovall indicated confusion with enforcement may be the problem as he has also received calls from parents saying an officer asked them to remove their kids from the playground. Chief Nierenhausen questioned if the Council has information on the callers because he would like to look back at police records for details to verify the concerns. Mayor Dietz said he received a call Saturday from someone who said she was politely asked on Friday to remove her kid from the playground. Councilmember Ovall has the person's name and will provide it to Chief Nierenhausen. He believes it is the same person who contacted Mayor Dietz. Chief Nierenhausen indicated that is helpful and he will look in to. He believes the person asking people to remove their children from the playground may be a department volunteer. Mayor Dietz asked Mr. Portner the status of the playground rules and asked the Council what they want to do. Mr. Portner indicated current CDC guidance is for gatherings of fewer than 10 people and to maintain social distancing, so the city took proactive measures and closed the playgrounds. He explained with current guidelines we want people socially distanced and that can be very difficult on a playground. He added information from the CDC on how long the virus lives on different materials was also considered as the city does not have the means to sterilize the playgrounds sufficiently. He noted it is up to the Council if they want to leave the decision on whether to use a playground up the people. Councilmember Wagner believes the signs meet the spirit of the Governor's Orders and she has no desire to fence or tape the playgrounds. She added people need to be responsible and have self -governance and she is not interested in the police taking time to drive by each playground but for enforcement to be only complaint driven. Council consensus was to leave the playgrounds signed as is but not actively enforce and to have Chief Nierenhausen follow-up with his officers and make sure everybody is on the same page with enforcing the guidelines. 9. Council Liaison Updates There were no updates. 10.2 Multipurpose Facility Rental Fees Mr. Benoit presented the staff report and reviewed a PowerPoint outlining fee information. City Council Minutes May 4, 2020 Page 8 Mayor Dietz questioned if rainout concerts can be held at the multipurpose facility. Mr. Hecker explained they could but the city has a good relationship with the school and the acoustics are good at the high school and would be the preferred location. Councilmember Ovall indicated there was a lot of information presented this evening and he would prefer it is included in the packet ahead of time to allow Council time to review and potentially shorten up the presentation time at meetings. Councilmember Westgaard agreed with Councilmember Ovall it would be helpful to have information ahead of the meeting to review. He explained the Council discussed this information back in December and he is disappointed the information and figures weren't included in the packet. He recalls saying in December it would be premature to set fees when the role of the new advisory commission hadn't been discussed. Mr. Portner indicated no decisions are being made on this tonight and the fees will come back in the fee schedule. He indicated the Council will review the organizational chart and advisory commission structure this evening and he is requesting feedback tonight to bring back at a future meeting. Councilmember Westgaard stated based on past Arena Commission discussions, both Elk River Youth Hockey and the high school are prepared to pay more than $205/hour. He stated it is his understanding a higher fee like $220/hour would be Justified with a new facility. He would prefer the new advisory commission weigh in on the fees. Councilmember Wagner echoed the comments of Councilmembers Ovall and Westgaard indicating she would have liked to see the information presented in the packet ahead of time. She also agreed with having the new advisory commission be part of the fee discussion from the start. She added she would have liked to see total revenue generation and how that will come together for the multipurpose facility. Mr. Benoit indicated staff will bring this back to the May 18 meeting and add it to the fee schedule. Councilmember Westgaard questioned what the Council can do to get this moving as the initial discussion was five months ago. He stated it seems like consensus of the Council was to have the new commission in place to help set up policies, procedures, rules, fees, etc. for the facility and questioned if there is an obstacle to forming the commission since it has been discussed for five months. Mr. Portner explained staff researched market rates to get a baseline for the facility to open. He indicated the new commission can review the rates, policies, etc. and recommend changes, as necessary. He stated staff is working on staffing, utility, and other costs and estimated revenue to see how close they will be but with the current pandemic it may be difficult to predict what usage for this fall will be. City Council Minutes May 4, 2020 Page 9 Mayor Dietz stated he doesn't believe it will be possible for the new commission to have to make these decisions so soon. He recommended the commission study the decisions and bring back recommended changes to the Council. Councilmember Ovall understand why market comparisons and analysis was completed and agrees staff will have to guide the new commission but he believes without feedback from the commission they might be missing out on establishing appropriate ice rates. He noted it is harder to increase rates later than it is to reduce rates. Mr. Portner indicated nothing is set with the ice rates and the rates can be whatever the Council wants them to be. He stated he can review with Arena Manager Rich Czech to see where he expects rates to be. 10.1 Parks and Recreation Organizational Chart Mr. Hecker and Mr. Benoit presented the organizational chart. Councilmember Westgaard questioned how this organizational chart compares to the current organizational structure and how many full and part time employees are in the budget compared to 2018. Mr. Hecker indicated the only difference is Mr. Benoit will move to a facility role rather than overseeing programming and duties that have been assigned to Mr. Benoit will transfer to other staff. Mr. Portner indicated overall budgeted wages and benefits have decreased due to the former activity center director Ms. Bonin's wages and benefits split between one of the assistant facility managers and one recreation assistant. Councilmember Ovall questioned if the senior recreation coordinator and the vacant office worker position would fall under the facility budget. Mr. Portner indicated their wages come from the General Fund. He recommended their wages remain there since their positions relate to programming and he feels actual building expenses and revenue should stay with the building. Councilmember Ovall stated he understands why it is in the General Fund, but he could see it going either way since they are occupying the multipurpose facility and running programming in the facility. Councilmember Westgaard questioned if the facility superintendent, facility maintenance manager, recreation coordinator, and two assistant facility managers are all scheduled during the day as that seems like a lot of supervisors in the building at the same time. Mr. Portner indicated the superintendent, senior recreation coordinator, and facility maintenance manager will likely be in the facility a majority of the day, but the assistant facility managers will be mostly nights and weekends. He added the building will be open about 117 hours a week. Mr. Benoit reviewed a PowerPoint outlining estimated revenues and expenses. City Council Minutes May 4, 2020 Page 10 Mayor Dietz questioned if we would break even if we planned for 25% revenue. He added 20% seems conservative. Councilmember Wagner agreed 20% seems conservative and questioned if staff researched other facilities. Mr. Benoit explained he did research and most he spoke to were comfortable in the 20-30% range for the first year. Councilmember Wagner added she would have appreciated receiving this information prior to the meeting for review. Mayor Dietz questioned if the ice rates are set to $220/hour how much additional revenue would be generated. Councilmember Westgaard indicated the arena averages about 1,700 annual billable hours so about $25,000. Councilmember Westgaard believes a sinking fund to cover capital improvements should be included from the start, possibly through increased fees or through reduced staffing costs. He explained the Arena Commission discussed long-term future projections for capital improvements for the old arena that could probably be used as a guide for future long-term capital improvement projections. He added breaking even without having a Capital Improvement Fund would be a disservice to future Councils. Councilmember Ovall agreed adding it is important to find out the capital expenditure depreciation life cycle for various assets to plan accordingly. He indicated the only other thing he sees missing is the naming rights/advertising revenue. Mayor Dietz explained if the naming rights company comes even close to the numbers, they are projecting the Council will be pleasantly surprised at the revenue generated. He added that revenue could potentially be used for a sinking fund. Councilmember Wagner concurred. Mr. Portner explained staff estimated revenues conservatively and paired with the expense estimates necessary to make the building functional. He indicated the advantage to a new building is most everything is under warranty, so he's not concerned with capital improvement expenses the first year and is more concerned with operations and establishing baselines for rates, fees, and staffing. He further explained additional staffing hours are included to cover the additional hours the Multipurpose Facility is open compared to the old facilities. He noted staff has been informed none of the staffing is set in stone. Councilmember Westgaard indicated he would like to start out slow and small with staffing in the new facility and add later once we know what rental and marketing revenue will be. He explained it's easier to add staff later than have a fixed number of staff and try to figure out how to make it work if the revenues fall short of projections. He added this is a lot of information to digest and he would like to see additional details before giving the green light to advertise. He added establishing the advisory commission for the facility is his priority and he would like the commission to put this information together and make a recommendation to the Council. City Council Minutes May 4, 2020 Page 11 Mayor Dietz questioned if staff costs were staying the same and employees were just being reassigned. He stated his impression was current staff would be utilized and no new hires. Mr. Benoit indicated they are not looking to hire additional staff. He indicated the Council's direction was to keep staffing budget neutral and they have done that. He explained Ben's position on the organizational chart is currently vacant because he left and will be replaced. He added Megan has been moved from her current position to an assistant facility manager position. Mayor Dietz asked for staff to provide the organizational chart with descriptions and approximate wages for all the positions to the Council outlining how staffing is being kept budget neutral. Councilmember Westgaard and Wagner concurred adding a lot of information was presented this evening and they would have liked to have it earlier as it is tough to provide direction without having time to review the information. 10.3 Multipurpose Facility Commission Mr. Portner presented the staff report. He reviewed the commission outline by section. Purpose The Council had no comments. Membership and Term Mr. Portner indicated 11 members can be difficult to manage and suggested nine may be easier to work with. He added he included all youth organizations who will utilize the facility. He explained one option to reduce membership would be for the four turf organizations to rotate terms two organizations at a time. Mayor Dietz questioned if the Council designee is a Councilmember or a citizen designated by the Council. Mr. Portner stated he presented it as a Councilmember noting there is a Councilmember on the current Arena Commission. Councilmember Westgaard indicated he is leaning towards nine members and suggested the following breakdown for representation: Council, senior, school district, two at -large with one having a background in finance, two turf -focused organizations, youth hockey, and figure skating. He added he does not believe a Parks and Recreation Commission representative is necessary. Mayor Dietz stated he prefers a nine -member commission and agrees with Councilmember Westgaard that having two at -large members is a good idea. Councilmember Wagner suggested having one of the at -large members be non-profit or event centered individual or other similar experience. Discussion took place on identifying criteria when advertising for members like how the EDA Finance City Council Minutes Page 12 Maur 4, 2020 Committee identifies members. Mr. Portner added the Council could identify preferred career areas for the at -large members if they wish. Mayor Dietz questioned if the seniors will be comfortable with only one representative. Mr. Portner explained he believes they will as they do not currently have any representation on a city commission. Councilmember Wagner suggested keeping the commission at 11 members and having four at -large members to allow more community members to be a part of the commission. She added she does not believe the Council or school district members should be eligible to be chair, vice chair, or secretary. Mayor Dietz concurred. Mayor Dietz would like most of the commission to be Elk River residents and agreed with only allowing three non-resident members. He noted the school district representative may not be an Elk River resident, but he would want the community members to be residents. He questioned if there is a way to specify the residency requirement by position. Councilmember Westgaard agreed the community member positions should be residents adding he would like the senior representative to be a resident as well. Mayor Dietz suggested allowing three of the youth organization members and the school district representative to be non-residents. Councilmember Wagner agreed. Mr. Portner questioned why the senior representative should be a resident. Councilmember Wagner indicated people have a choice on which senior center they attend but our residents should be given the most attention. Council consensus was for the senior representative to be a resident. Councilmember Westgaard noted establishing a quorum has been more difficult with the larger commissions and suggested nine members. Mayor Dietz concurred adding attendance may be difficult for the turf organization members since they won't be using the facility as much as the ice representatives. Councilmember Christianson noted the members can be adjusted later if necessary. Councilmember Ovall indicated he doesn't have a strong opinion. Authority and Duties It was noted Mr. Benoit would be the staff liaison for this commission. Mayor Dietz questioned who will prepare budgets and other information for the commission to review. Mr. Portner indicated typically staff provides the budget information for commission review, but the Council can decide to have the budget led by the commission if they wish. Councilmember Westgaard indicated staff prepares the budget for the Arena Commission to review and he believes the process works well. City Council Minutes May 4, 2020 Page 13 Councilmember Westgaard questioned when the new commission would go into effect and if the existing Arena Commission members would transfer to the new commission or if new members would be sought. Mr. Portner indicated that is a Council policy decision. Mr. Portner indicated based on the current schedule, the commission could be established on May 18 with appointments in June and their first meeting in July. Mayor Dietz stated there may be some duplication as two youth hockey representatives currently sit on the Arena Commission but there will only be one youth hockey representative on the new commission. He suggested having everyone reapply and interview and to choose members based on experience and background. Mr. Portner explained rather than adopting commission guidelines in ordinance, he would like to have an ordinance establishing the commission and have the Council set the guidelines. He stated guidelines are much easier to change moving forward rather than amending the ordinance every time there is a change. Attorney Beck indicated it can be done the way Mr. Portner is recommending. Mr. Portner explained an entrance monument was proposed on School St. but his concern is the only people that will see the sign are the ones already at the facility or those going to the high school. He indicated the city can look at possibly getting MnDOT signs on Highway 10/School Street and Main Street/Jackson Avenue pointing towards the Multipurpose Facility. He added a directional sign could also be put on Highway 169 and once the 169 redesign is completed the monument sign could be put on Highway 169 directing people went to the facility. Council asked Cal to incorporate comments Can email revised document and put on next agenda for action. II. Adjournment There being no further business, Mayor Dietz adjourned the meeting of the Elk River City Council at 10:07 p.m. Minutes prepared by Jessica Miller. John J. Dietz, Mayor Tina Allard, City Clerk