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08-10-2020 Special CCMMeeting of the Elk River City Council Held at the Elk River City Hall Monday, August 10, 2020 Members Present: Mayor John Dietz, Councilmembers Garrett Christianson, Nate Ovall (5:06 p.m.), Matt Westgaard, and Jennifer Wagner Members Absent: None Staff Present: City Administrator Calvin Portner, Finance Director Lori Ziemer, Patron Services Supervisor Brandi Canter, Planning Manager Zack Carlton, Community Development Director Suzanne Fischer, Fire Chief Mark Dickinson, Environmental Coordinator Amanda Erickson, Parks and Recreation Director Michael Hecker, Recreation Coordinator Tim Dalton, Liquor Operations Manager Joe Audette, Westbound Liquor Store Manager James Kuklock, Recreation Coordinator Natalie Anderson, and Recording Secretary Jennifer Green 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 5:01 p.m. by Mayor Dietz. 2. Pledge of Allegiance Pledge of Allegiance was recited. 3. 2021 Budget Library Lori Ziemer introduced the Library Budget and Brandi Canter with the Great River Regional Library (GRRL), who discussed performance measures and division goals. She stated she and Robbie Schake kept the 2021 goals like 2020 due to how strange 2020 has been for the library system. She stated there is still work to be done in each task area. She explained the performance measures have been profoundly impacted by the library closures due to COVIDI9. The closure between mid -March and beginning of June affected circulations, which plummeted to zero. She explained the doors are now open for curbside pickup or grab and go but noted it is difficult to figure out projections for the rest of this year. They will use estimates from January to March, June, and July to make 2021 projections. She explained all programing has gone from in -person to virtual, but that process has been slow going. Current programming includes a monthly adult book club on Zoom, passive programming at curbside and a kid's summer reading program. Program attendance is down significantly, and the future is unknown regarding in- City Council Minutes August 10, 2020 Page 2 person programs. Both she and Robbie felt there was no way to provide an honest reasonable projection for 2021. Ms. Canter explained the state library office requirement of annual door counts but they chose not to require it for 2020. Ms. Canter explained the budget, which was very much like 2020 and noted the amazing work done by library staff, going above and beyond to meet the needs of the public. Mayor Dietz asked about the status of the additional hours contract. Ms. Canter stated the contract was in its second year with Elk River as the only library paying for additional hours, which the patrons love. She thanked the council for this. Councilmember Wagner asked about the Capital Outlay amount of $10,000 for Equipment: furniture/shelving. Ms. Canter explained the Library Board and Robbie have suggested making some replacements of worn upholstery and furnishings with some replacements being made in 2020 and would like to make more in 2021. Councilmember Wagner stated if we are expecting lower numbers with occupancy, counts, and programming, does it make fiscal sense to keep the budget the same or should adjustments be made. Ms. Canter stated many library communities are looking at areas where they can cut and stated specifics such as furniture or shelving are replaced from past use and wear. She noted the Library Board and Robbie are very careful with those funds and understands if the council would want to back down on some budget figures. Councilmember Ovall contemplated adjusting the building hours, cleaning services, and utility costs proposed for a building that is used less. Ms. Ziemer indicated the contract could be adjusted and has been adjusted for other city facilities. Ms. Canter stated they are open the same number of days and the same number of hours but due to the pandemic are requiring an increase in cleaning to ensure staff and patron are safe. Councilmember Christianson stated there have not been any Library Board meetings to discuss this or the budget, including the capital outlay items. Councilmember Wagner mused if there would be unspent funds in line items such as programming. rNATURd U City Council Minutes August 10, 2020 Page 3 Ms. Ziemer indicated the amount of funds spent for 2020 on programming to date is $320.00. Councilmember Christianson asked the status of the annuity. Ms. Canter stated the annuity is currently tied up in litigation. The council asked to hear from the Library Board to consider retooling the library hours. Mayor Dietz asked if shorter days open would cause problems with staffing. Ms. Canter stated the city is still paying for additional hours and is up to the council if they would like to continue that. She said the schedule for the library outside of that is set by GRRL and any changes to it would have to be presented to the GRRL Board of Trustees. She noted extending the hours per day the building is open is not beneficial as they do not receive patrons in the early morning or late evening hours and would not be a good business investment. It was the consensus of the council to have Gary Lore analyze the library building cleaning contract and report back with any adjustments. Councilmember Ovall asked if utility costs could be reviewed. Planning / Code Enforcement Mr. Carlton presented the proposed Planning and Code Enforcement division performance measures and goals, and budget. Mayor Dietz asked if code enforcement has become more aggressive by staff or more complaint based. Mr. Carlton stated if a complaint and letter goes to a property owner, it typically turns into addressing similar violations from neighboring properties. Community Development Ms. Fischer presented the proposed Community Development performance measures and goals, and budget. Councilmember Ovall asked for clarification on the safety training figure. Ms. Fischer stated the figure represents the minimum number of trainings staff members have taken, which include the required OSHA and state training plus any additional training assigned by the department head. NATURE City Council Minutes August 10, 2020 Building Safety Page 4 Ms. Fischer presented the proposed Building Safety performance measures, goals, and budget on behalf of Building Official Bob Ruprecht. Environmental Ms. Erickson presented the proposed Environmental performance measures, goals, and budget. Councilmember Ovall asked about communication efforts to lake property owners to notify and educate them on improvement opportunities to their shoreline during the lake drawdown and explaining the permit process. Ms. Erickson explained she along with the DNR and Soil and Water Conservation District held a virtual workshop at the end of July explaining the opportunities to lake property owners to improve their shoreline and the outlining the permitting process. She stated a postcard will be mailed notifying the lake owners of the drawdown dates, encouraging them to remove docks and boats before that happens and directing them to the city website for information on a shoreline permit. Councilmember Christianson noted communication from staff to lake owners was good and has heard positive feedback. Ms. Erickson asked due to training and conference opportunities being minimal for her in 2020, could those excess funds be reallocated to fund a recent invasion of Eurasian waternulfoil on Lake Orono. She stated the Orono Lake Improvement District (OLID) group was very proactive, receiving a permit from the DNR for treatment, and they requested the city cover a share in the cost for treatment in the amount of $654.59. It was the consensus of the council to pay $654.59 for this treatment from funds reallocated from training/conferences. Energy City / Garbage Ms. Erickson presented the proposed Energy City and Garbage performance measures, goals, and budget. Fire Chief Mark Dickinson presented the proposed Fire Department Administration & Operations performance measures, goals, and budget. Councilmember Ovall asked for clarification and tangible statistics (like a pie chart) .regarding fire incident calls to further understand the call response types. r0 V UA I I EV A URA City Council Minutes August 10, 2020 Page 5 Chief Dickinson stated he presents these types of statistics in the annual report. He discussed the fire department call responses of car accidents, false alarms, and gas/electric calls. He states they do not respond to medical calls except for minimal assistance on car accidents. He and Mr. Portner will provide the council with the current year-to-date figures breaking down the incident types and call volumes. Mr. Portner also noted the fire fighters also spend numerous hours training Emergency Management Chief Dickinson wants to review the siren sound plan and wants to determine if certain sirens are no longer effective in such areas as the industrial /commercial zones of the city. Liquor Mr. Audette presented the proposed Liquor Operations performance measures, goals, and budget. They discussed the delivery system position, sales recovery from the COVIDI9 closure, preparations for the Redefine 169 project by creating more sales opportunities to encourage Northbound shoppers to use Westbound during construction, and sales of Total Wine products. Councilmember Ovall asked about non-alcoholic sales. Mr. Audette discussed these types of sales are trending across the board with "mocktails" and non-alcoholic wine, beer, and spirits. He indicated this is a very small portion of their sales. Councilmember Wagner asked about the high credit card fees and asked when the last time the liquor store went to market. Mr. Audette stated he is working with Heartland Payment Systems, who took over their online services to adapt to COVID-19 and curbside pickup only and will eventually take over all credit card fees due to decrease overall costs. Mr. Portner noted one of the goals of the delivery sales is to increase the dollar amount of the sale. Mr. Audette stated for delivery service, they will require a $75 minimum order. Councilmember Ovall asked if there was a way to incentivize customers to use debit versus credit when making a purchase. Mr. Audette stated he will work on incentives with their point of sale rep. Mayor Dietz asked if improvements were made to ensure staff is comfortable with coming to work. p 0 W I A E I a NTV E City Council Minutes August 10, 2020 Page 6 Mr. Audette stated most employees are comfortable, wearing masks and gloves, and wiping down surfaces to sanitize and clean carts. Ms. Ziemer asked the council to discuss the proposed Park Improvement Fund transfer. It was the consensus of the council was to keep the transfer amount at $250,000 annually and review this option when finalizing the budget near the end of 2020. Senior Programming Mr. Hecker and Ms. Anderson presented the proposed Senior Programs performance measures, goals, and budget. It was noted the small number of senior programming currently being held due to COVID-19 and discussed the effect on opening the new facility. Mayor Dietz asked if there will be a limit to the number of participants in the new facility. Ms. Anderson stated for the Trott Brook Barn, current guidelines are 25% of the room capacity, which in this case limits participants to 10 and changing programing from drop -in to sign up. She states the instructors are good at following the 6-foot rule. Mayor Dietz asked about membership requirements for the new facility. Ms. Anderson stated the council approved that memberships would not be required until the beginning in 2021 and would see an increase in both resident and non- resident rates. Recreation Mr. Hecker and Mr. Dalton presented the proposed recreation performance measures, goals, and budget. Councilmember Christianson asked about the number of open gym hours occurred at the YMCA. Mr. Dalton indicated around seven hours per week, noting how it has increased lately and spread hours over two nights. Mr. Portner discussed the staff position changes for 2020 and 2021 for both recreation and the multipurpose facility. After discussion, he stated they will add to the part-time position in which they are adding an additional eight hours for programming to create a full-time position and will add it to the requested personnel Est. P0TENE6 IV NATUR City Council Minutes Page 7 August 10, 2020 ----------------------------- Mayor Dietz is concerned about recreation programming not recovering after COVID-19 and wants to ensure staff will keep offering the programs and they are budgeted for in 2021. Mr. Hecker stated he shares the same concerns as the mayor and wants to ensure the same. Mayor Dietz commended the department heads for doing a responsible job with the 2021 budgets. He suggested to have some 2021 items purchased in 2020 with reallocated funds. 4. Adjournment There being no further business, Mayor Dietz adjourned the meeting of the Elk River City Council at 7:27 p.m. Minutes prepared by Jennifer Green. 0,, hn . Die ayor Tina Allard, City Clerk u POiEREj9� By TUIR El