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HomeMy WebLinkAbout06.07.10 Council Minutes 7cz- COUNCIL MINUTES REGULAR June 7, 2010 1. CALL TO ORDER The meeting was called to order by Mayor Larson at 7:00 p.m. 2. PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE Mayor Larson led the audience and Council in the Pledge of Allegiance. 3. ROLL CALL Members Present: Members Absent: Also Present: Larson, Donnelly, Fogarty, May, Wilson None Joel Jamnik, City Attorney; Peter Herlofsky, City Administrator; Teresa Walters, Finance Director; Randy Distad, Parks and Recreation Director; Lisa Shadick, Administrative Services Director; Brenda Wendlandt, Human Resources Director; Cynthia Muller, Executive Assistant Beve Preece, Eric Speckan, Tom Jensen, David Pritzlaff Audience: Mayor Larson called for a moment of silence for former Fire Chief Ken Kuchera. 4. APPROVE AGENDA Councilmember May pulled items 7i) Approve Waiving Fees for Dew Days, 7j) Approve Waiving Fees for Farmer's Market, 7n) Bills for discussion. City Attorney Jamnik pulled item lla) Exchange Bank Settlement as the documents have not been signed by the other party. City Administrator Herlofsky pulled item 71) Approve Transfer of308 Elm Street from the City to the EDA as it is not necessary. MOTION by Fogarty, second by Wilson to approve the Agenda. APIF, MOTION CARRIED. 5. ANNOUNCEMENTS a) Ambulance Viewing and Allina Presentation - Susan Long Ms. Susan Long, Site Lead for the ALF operation for Allina Medical Transportation gave a report on their activities for the past year. 6. CITIZEN COMMENTS a) Response to Mr. Colin Garvey Mr. Garvey did receive staff's response and will follow-up at the next Council meeting. Mr. David Pritzlaff, 20255 Akin Road, stated his comments were an extension from the June 1,2010, budget workshop. Mr. Pritzlaffasked for the following information: - A total on the overtime for plowing the trails this past winter. - Regarding Solid Waste costs, he had previously requested a total of what solid waste costs the City including everything; trucks, payment on Maintenance Facility, tires, wages, gas, maintenance, etc. He noted the 2010 budget states $1,874,000 for solid waste and asked if that was the total cost to operate Solid Waste. At the budget workshop, it 7 Council Minutes (Regular) June 7, 2010 Page 2 was discussed that $112,000 was transferred out of Solid Waste into the general fund and he assumed that meant there was $112,000 in profit. If so, are we charging the residents $112,000 too much? Municipal Services Director Reiten had stated even ifwe did not have Solid Waste, we would still have to levy $125,000 for services received. Mr. Pritzlaff asked, what are those services? - Regarding cutting grass on undeveloped lots. He noted there are some undeveloped lots where grass and weeds are getting high and asked why we are not enforcing the ordinance to cut grass. Mayor Larson stated the ordinance changed last year and Mr. Pritzlaffwill be provided with a copy. If staff receives a complaint, will the grass be cut? He has an area near his home (Swanson Acres) that is not cut. It does not make the neighborhood look good. - He had requested information be made public during a discussion on the Walnut Street project. As residents were at the podium Councilmember Fogarty passed a note to Mayor Larson and Mr. Pritzlaffrequested their packets be made public so residents know what was written. - Mr. Pritzlaffthen asked to comment on the Deputy Registrar Office. Mayor Larson stated they are in the preliminary stages of determining what is needed for that office. Mr. Pritzlaffasked if that is the case, why are we approving anything. He understood we have until December 31, to tell the State yes or no whether we want this. We are going to pass something without all the information. It has been said in previous meetings that Council does not want to approve something without all the information. The memo states the budget impact is not totally known, but there are some startup costs. Ifwe don't know the costs, why would we even approve a portion of it? Mr. Pritzlaff asked what is the startup cost? What is the profitability? What is the traffic flow? He would like to see these answers before anything is approved. What kind of money do we have in the budget for this? Are we going to levy for it? It is another business to the City; just like Solid Waste and Liquor Operations. Anyone that opens a business gets all this information in hand before moving forward. Mr. Pritzlaff felt this item should be tabled and reviewed in full. City Attorney Jamnik stated that is premature. What is in the packet is explained in the resolution. Under the State constitution a special law passed by the legislature has to be ratified or approved by the local unit of government in order to go into effect. Many cities have in the past delayed adopting the resolution ratifying the special law only to find out they forgot and the statute becomes void. This is a procedural requirement in order to ratify a special law passed by the legislature. It does not require the City Council to do anything substantively regarding the Deputy Registrar's Office, but it is necessary under the State constitution to ratify that special legislation. It is a procedural requirement, and nothing else. Mayor Larson stated we should do this before we start determining operational costs. City Attorney Jamnik stated this is something you have to do in order to make that law effective. City Administrator Herlofsky stated we have been in contact with Senator Pariseau's office for over a year asking if this was possible. It was approved a couple weeks ago. We have met with the County, with other cities, and nothing will be put in place until we have a budget and Council has approved that budget. We are at the preliminary stages. We do not have a business plan yet, because we are in the process of developing it. We are not expecting to start this office until close to the fIrst of the year. There will be plenty oftime to work out the issues. Mayor Larson stated it comes back to the Council for approval. Mr. Pritzlaff felt it was a waste oftime to have it on the agenda when you don't know everything. Mayor Larson stated we will vote on this tonight. Council wi11look at how much startup costs will be to determine if it will be worth it and if it is we will vote for it, and if it's not, then we will not accept it. We have the choice. This vote tonight is not 8 Council Minutes (Regular) June 7, 2010 Page 3 costing us anything. Mr. Pritzlaff asked for the exact deadline for approving the resolution. Mr. Eric Speckan, 708 5th Street, thanked the City for reconsidering the boulevard tree replacement. He noted the City wanted to use a variety of trees to prevent disease spreading. The City had decided that Lindens and Maples were the trees of choice. He did some research and you are supposed to have a population of 10% - 20% of one particular species. He felt the City should consider having two more other species. He will e-mail the list to the City Engineer. Mr. Speckan understood there were plans for one tree per resident and staff would consider two trees. He asked ifthere was an official decision. Councilmember Fogarty stated there was a map of trees removed and trees to be replaced and they did not match up exactly. Staffwill be working with the homeowner to place the tree in the boulevard or in the yard. Mr. Speckan asked if the grade of the road will change. It is really low right now and their driveway skirt would be very steep. Mr. Speckan will contact the City Engineer. Ms. Beve Preece, Dakota Valley Arts Counci~ stated the DV AC was cleaning up the Art Park today. The DV AC will have letters distributed to 14 students that have been selected from the 2009/2010 art shows. The DV AC would like to have 14 paintings replaced in the park and hoped the students would respond with original work to be placed in the park. There will be a ceremony in late fall. There is a sculpture in the park that has been damaged and artwork would also be placed in that spot. There are also some empty places for new art work. The students should contact the DV AC to place it in the park. It is a beautiful park and they want to keep it that way. The DV AC will also have an art display at the Flavors of Farmington on June 17, during Dew Days. There will also be an art show on Saturday and Sunday in City Hall, and a display at the Farmer's Market this summer. 7. CONSENT AGENDA MOTION by Fogarty, second by Wilson to approve the Consent Agenda as follows: b) Adopted RESOLUTION R35-10 Approving Deputy Registrar Office- Administration c) Approved 2011 ALF Budget - Administration d) Approved School and Conference - Parks and Recreation e) Approved Appointment to Rescue Squad - Fire f) Approved Appointment Recommendation Police - Human Resources g) Approved Appointment Recommendation Liquor Operations - Human Resources h) Approved Appointment Recommendation Liquor Operations - Human Resources k) Approved Liquor License Addendum Celts Pub - Administration m) Approved Business Reinvestment Grant Program - Economic Development APIF, MOTION CARRIED. a) Approve Council Minutes (5/17/10 Regular) (6/1/10 Workshop) MOTION by Fogarty, second by May to approve the minutes. Councilmember Wilson stated he would like to divide the two sets of minutes. Councilmember Fogarty withdrew her motion. MOTION by Wilson, second by Fogarty to approve the May 17, 2010, Regular Council minutes. APIF, MOTION CARRIED. MOTION by Fogarty, second by May to approve the June 1,2010, Council workshop minutes. Voting for: Larson, Donnelly, Fogarty, May. Abstain: Wilson. MOTION CARRIED. 9 Council Minutes (Regular) June 7, 2010 Page 4 i) Approve Waiving Fees for Dew Days - Police j) Approve Waiving Fees for Farmer's Market - Administration Councilmember May asked ifthere was a standard as to who can request to waive fees. There are numerous organizations in the community and felt this sets a precedent. Both of these events are run independently from the City and they do collect fees; in particular, the Farmer's Market for garbage collection and parking lot sweeping fees. We do collect fees from the vendors. Does it not fund itself? City Administrator Herlofsky stated we try to break even, but the primary purpose is to bring people downtown. Councilmember May did not want to discuss which event benefIts the City more. A lot of events by organizations are benefrts. She asked fundamentally if other organizations ask to waive the fees. Administrative Services Director Shadick stated as far as the Farmer's Market it is an EDA event. So the EDA would be responsible for paying those fees. If they are taking fees in for the vendors, that would offset that, but it is an EDA and City function. The Dew Days fees have always been waived by Council with the City's participation in Dew Days. As far as other organizations waiving fees, that is a Council decision and they are brought to Council. Councilmember May stated we are not talking about huge dollars, but as a member of other organizations in the community, that is something you budget when you plan the event. She preferred to be more black and white and have them put it in their budget and plan accordingly. If there is a permit fee, there is a permit fee. As far as the Farmer's Market, if we want to waive the garbage and sweeping fees, then that should be an EDA decision. It is a small amount, but it is the principal of it. She felt the fee should stand. Administrative Services Director Shadick stated it is a good point that the organizations budget for these fees. They were not budgeted for based on past practice of Council waiving the fees. That could be brought back to the organizations. City Administrator Herlofsky stated prior to his arriva~ Dew Days received a contribution from the City. The issue is we are paying ourselves with some of these items. We are trying to minimize the amount of confusion. Councilmember May felt the City is already contributing quite a bit, in particular with Dew Days. With the Farmer's Market, ifwe want to see what the true cost is, we want it to be a viable event. Councilmember Wilson stated in looking at it from an organizational budget perspective you would have to add in a cost that the residents will pay through property taxes for the events to occur. If you were to budget that specific item, you could have a situation where residents could be paying a few cents more in taxes to fund the fees versus money that has already been collected. City Administrator Herlofsky stated at the last meeting we waived the fees at the Soybean Festival. The City's general practice is to try to be cooperative with the community. MOTION by Fogarty, second by Wilson to approve waiving the fees for Dew Days. Voting for: Larson, Donnelly, Fogarty, Wilson. Voting against: May. MOTION CARRIED. MOTION by Fogarty, second by Wilson to approve waiving the fees for the Farmer's Market. Voting for: Larson, Donnelly, Fogarty, Wilson. Voting against: May. MOTION CARRIED. n) Approve Bills Councilmember May had several questions on the list of bills as follows: Bonestroo - the list does not say if the amount is retainer or non-retainer and the Campbell Knutsen bill does. She asked ifany of the $62,000 paid to Bonestroo is covered by the monthly retainer and what is the monthly retainer? 10 Council Minutes (Regular) June 7, 2010 Page 5 Campbell Knutsen - some are listed as retainer, some non-retainer, and some other. She asked what that retainer amount is. The retainer portion totals $435 of the $10,700. She asked if other daily work is done that would not be covered by the retainer. Councilmember May stated it is more a fundamental question of what the retainer is and does the retainer cover a portion of the totals. City Attorney Jamnik stated the retainer classification on the Campbell Knutsen bill is misleading because it is not a retainer the City pays as a specified amount each month. Campbell Knutsen has a not to exceed number that says for general legal work the City can expect to receive a bill for no more than X amount. They defme certain items as non-retainer such as litigation matters, development projects, and special assessment projects. Councilmember May stated in the Bonestroo case, the way we are charged is different for retainer versus non- retainer work. Mayor Larson asked if there was a way to mark on the bills if there was a way to show the developer would be billed. Councilmember May asked ifclean-up days was done and ifwe would get a recap showing if it has exceeded the budgeted numbers. Staff will be providing a report. AFLAC - Councilmember May asked if this was supplemental insurance paid by the employees. Human Resources Director Wendlandt stated it is for supplemental insurance. Some is for short term disability where employees can use part of the City's contribution to pay for that. Some is for other types of insurance that is payroll deducted from the employee's paycheck. The employee elects whether they want to have it or not. American Engineering Testing - Geotech services for $5,811 is charged to the Arena equipment bond. Councilmember May asked if the results of the soil borings have been received. This should not be charged to the bond. Staff will check on it. The soil borings showed the area will work for a second sheet of ice. Staff will be providing a report. Becker Arena Products - This was also charged to the Arena equipment bond. Parks and Recreation Director Distad stated this is for the demolition of the old dasherboards and is part of the construction project. Councilmember May asked if we pay the individual sub-contractors or just the general contractor? Staff stated this is the general contractor because the dasherboards were bid separate from the ice making equipment. Cintas - The weekly mat services showed $416 for the Arena. Councilmember May asked if we discontinue that for the off-season. Staff explained this is the bill for Marchi April. Councilmember May asked that the dates be verified for this bill. Pellicci Hardware for $1,470 - Councilmember May stated there are 58 items. If we are taking 58 trips to Pellicci's and stop the job, make the trip, find the item, that could be 58 hours. There are a lot of small dollar items. She asked if the supervisors could do better planning. Finance Director Walters stated they are individual invoices. Councilmember May stated this could be a full week's pay. 11 Council Minutes (Regular) June 7, 2010 Page 6 Weber Recreational Design - Park signs, the account description is under other costs. Parks and Recreation Director Distad stated those are new signs for Lake Julia and Prairieview Parks and are paid out of the park improvement fund. There isn't a coding for signs, so we use other construction costs. Dennis Burke for the doghouse - Councilmember May asked about the status of the fund raising for the canine unit. There is no account description shown. MOTION by Fogarty, second by Wilson to approve the bills. APIF, MOTION CARRIED. 8. PUBLIC HEARINGS 9. AWARD OF CONTRACT 10. PETITIONS, REQUESTS AND COMMUNICATIONS a) 2009 Comprehensive Annual Financial Report - Finance The KDV Auditor presented the 2009 Financial Report. The Auditor commended the Finance department for getting through the year end closing without a Finance Director and commended the new Finance Director for the audit preparation. The transition went very smoothly. The fund balance was just under 25% of the annual balance. The City policy states there should be a fund balance of35% - 50%. The City is 10% short of the 35% minimum. Councilmembers asked questions regarding depreciation, tracking capital assets, and the tax capacity. The City's tax capacity is under 45%. The State average is 36.9%. As far as delinquent taxes, the entire levy came in $85,000 less than budgeted. Either the bank or someone is paying taxes on foreclosed properties. Cities have been hit hardest because of not collecting utility revenue when the homes are vacant. b) Approve Schmitz-Maki Arena Improvement Project Change Order - Parks and Recreation There are three additions to the Arena improvement project which include: - Adding a mop sink in the refrigeration equipment room $2,995 - Add ventilation system and controls for refrigeration equipment room $13,267 - Add a panic device hardware to exit doors from the refrigeration equipment room $4,418 - Deduct the ice rink subsoil drainage system $13,701 The floor is open so now is the time to install the mop sink. It is necessary to clean the building. The ventilation system needs to be enlarged. The fan is not large enough to accommodate the room in case of an ammonia leak. The panic device hardware is a code requirement. There was $45,727.95 in contingency for the project. The additions to the project amount to $20,680, but not doing the drain tile is a deduction of$13,701, so the remaining contingency is $38,748.95. 12 Council Minutes (Regular) June 7,2010 Page 7 Councilmember Wilson asked if the changes to the refrigeration room were due to plans not being thought out by the contractor, or an expansion. Parks and Recreation Director Distad felt Bonestroo did not understand the code requirements for the fan and the panic bar. Councilmember Wilson stated he will approve the items because they are needed, but questioned why a reputable firm would not be aware of code requirements. They demonstrated considerable ice experience during the bid process. He wanted to know what discussions staff had with Bonestroo and bring it back to Council. Councilmember Fogarty was struggling to understand how we missed two code requirements to the sum of$17,000, especially when we chose Bonestroo because of their familiarity with our Ice Arena and the City. If this is a mistake on their part, then some of this cost should be absorbed by them. It is a big deal that codes were missed. Staff will discuss the situation with Bonestroo and report back to Council. Councilmember May specifically recalled Bonestroo saying there was someone who was an expert within their organization with ice arenas. Between the contractor and the engineer to miss a code requirement, she will not approve this until she gets feedback from Bonestroo. Mayor Larson stated the contractor is following the plans Bonestroo provided. He was very disappointed in Bonestroo. Councilmember May asked ifwe cannot put in a mop sink ourselves. Parks and Recreation Director Distad stated we cannot install the mop sink because it has to be a licensed plumber and it has to be inspected. Councilmember May felt we could get a local contractor to do that for us. Councilmember Donnelly asked what would happen ifwe waited until Bonestroo could explain to us what happened. Staff stated because these are not tied to the ice making system itself, they could be done at a later date. The mop sink needs to be done because the floor is open. Councilmember Donnelly stated it would have been nice to have Bonestroo here to explain how they missed the code. Councilmember Wilson asked if the cost for the two more expensive items would change ifwe did not act on this tonight. The prices are good for 30 days from June 1,2010. City Administrator Herlofsky suggested if the floor will be closed before June 21,2010, Council could authorize staff to complete that portion. Councilmember Fogarty stated we have to do these items. The issue is between Bonestroo and the City. It will not change the change order. Mayor Larson felt the City is being taken advantage of by $3,000 for a mop sink. Bonestroo knew the arena and the building was open for them to write the specs. He was very concerned they missed a ventilation system for ammonia. Councilmember Wilson stated the City did not see how the number came about. Staff confIrmed the contractor submitted them to the construction manager. Councilmember Wilson asked why we cannot solicit bids for the work to be done. Staff did not know how many bids they solicited. Mayor Larson would like to know the markup price from their sub-contractor. Councilmember Donnelly stated the total difference is about $7,000. In the end we have no choice; it is a 13 Council Minutes (Regular) June 7, 2010 Page 8 code requirement. In the interest of keeping the project going, there are still things that could go wrong. Ifwe delay the project, it could affect having ice for the season. He would approve this tonight, and expect an explanation from Bonestroo at a later time. Mayor Larson felt there were not any items that would delay the project. He wanted to talk with Bonestroo before Council approves it. He suggested getting a quote for the mop sink from a local contractor. Staff cautioned you would be bringing in a different sub, there would be insurance, and the plumbing and the mop sink has to be tied together. Staff can contact a couple local people to check on the price. Councilmember Fogarty suggested contacting the Hockey Association to see if there is a plumber who would be willing to install it. This is exactly the type ofvolunteer work she was talking about. Councilmember May stated that is what happens. We vote and the whole thing moves forward and gets pushed under the rug. She felt Council should not vote until they have some answers. Mayor Larson suggested not voting on this, staff check with a local plumber to obtain a cost to install the mop sink, bring Bonestroo in for an explanation at the next meeting. Councilmember Fogarty stated there is no motivation on the contractor's part to call the Hockey Association and work with them because he will not make his upcharge ifsomeone donates their time. She needs staff to be a huge advocate for the City and the Hockey Association and do whatever we can to bring the cost down. Maybe it won't work; but we won't know unless we ask. MOTION by Fogarty, second by Wilson to table this item until June 21,2010. Councilmember Wilson suggested bringing Bonestroo to the workshop on June 14. Council agreed with this. APIF, MOTION CARRIED. 11. UNFINISHED BUSINESS 12. NEW BUSINESS 13. COUNCIL ROUNDTABLE Councilmemher Fogarty: Regarding Fire Chief Ken Kuchera's passing, not only was he a great Fire Chief for over two decades, he was a good community member. He will be greatly missed. She encouraged everyone to attend the Dew Days events which begin with the Pageant on June 16,2010. The parade will be Saturday afternoon. The list of events is available on the website. The Fanner's Market will start on June 24, 2010. Councilmemher Donnelly: He attended the Memorial Day service at the cemetery hosted by the VFW and the Legion. It was a very nice event. Parks and Recreation Director Distad: The outdoor pool opens on June 16,2010. The Dew Run will be held on June 19,2010. 14 Council Minutes (Regular) June 7, 2010 Page 9 Mayor Larson: He urged residents to support the local businesses. The businesses in Burnsville and Rosemount are starting a campaign we discussed called the 3/50 project. You pick three businesses in town and spend $50/month at each of them. He hoped Farmington businesses would also join that project. He asked ifthere was any new information on Facebook and Twitter. Staifis working on it. 14. ADJOURN MOTION by Fogarty, second by Wilson to adjourn at 9:03 p.m. APIF, MOTION CARRIED. Respectfully submitted, Cynthia Muller Executive Assistant 15