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HomeMy WebLinkAbout08.02.10 Council Minutes Ice COUNCIL MINUTES REGULAR August 2, 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: Audience: Larson, Donnelly, Fogarty, May, Wilson None Joel Jamnik, City Attorney; Lisa Shadick, Administrative Services Director; Teresa Walters, Finance Director; Randy Distad, Parks and Recreation Director; Lee Smick, City Planner; Cynthia Muller, Executive Assistant Ron & Bev Ersfeld, Sarah Miller, Charlie & Joanne Weber, David Pritzlaff, Jerry Ristow, Jeff Thelen, Julie McKnight 4. APPROVE AGENDA Councilmember Wilson pulled item 7b) Fire Relief Association 2011 Pension Request for discussion. MOTION by Fogarty, second by Wilson to approve the Agenda. APIF, MOTION CARRIED. 5. ANNOUNCEMENTS a) CEEF Board Ms. Julie McKnight, representing the CEEF organization, stated a year ago she was here asking for a loan. Tonight she was present to repay 20% of that amount ($4,655). She thanked Council for their support in helping their organization come back. There were a number ofvolunteers helping to organize Dew Days 2010 and most are back helping for Dew Days 2011. b) MRP A Recognition - Parks and Recreation The Rambling River Center improvement project was completed in 2009. Ms. Jill Anfang, MRP A was present to present their 2009 Award of Excellence to the City of Farmington Parks and Recreation Department for their work on the Rambling River Center improvement project. She also recognized Parks and Recreation Director Distad for nominating the project. The awards committee was impressed by the level of partnerships, the scope of improvements, the vo lunteer and fundraising spirit and the concise time line demonstrated by this project. Mayor Larson thanked staff and volunteers who worked so hard on this project. It is a credit to Parks and Recreation Director Distad and his staff for having a vision and guiding the volunteers. 4 Council Minutes (Regular) August 2, 2010 Page 2 6. CITIZEN COMMENTS Mr. David Pritzlaft: 20255 Akin Road, stated at the last budget workshop, Council became aware of some fmancial situations of the City. We will have to levy $650,000 more for a few projects we have not levied enough for. One project that is not going well is Vermillion River Crossing. The other project is the Hill Dee reconstruction project, which went well. With the financial situation, he felt Council has to look at some serious cuts. He noted Dakota County will cut $10.6 million from their budget and have asked all departments to cut $5-7 million from their operating budgets. We need to make serious cuts rather than just looking at the small picture. At the last workshop it was stated building permits are at 95% of budget. It was also stated that the Vermillion River Crossings project was optimistic, but it did not payoff. Staff is counting 84 building permits for next year from the CDA senior housing project in Vermillion River Crossing and Twin Ponds. He felt that was too optimistic. They are county projects and the county is cutting $10 million. He felt Council should not count on those projects. He asked Council to make some real cuts; more than $50,000 here and there so the taxpayers are not impacted so much. Councilmember Fogarty stated she has spoken with Commissioner Joe Harris and he has said the CDA project has already been given approval for next year by the County Board. 7. CONSENT AGENDA MOTION by Fogarty, second by Wilson to approve the Consent Agenda as follows: a) Approved Council Minutes (7/19/10 Regular) (7/26/10 Workshop) c) Approved Temporary Liquor License VFW - Administration d) Approved Temporary Liquor License St. Michael's Church - Administration e) Adopted RESOLUTIONR44-10 Approving 2010 Safe and Sober Campaign- Police f) Adopted RESOLUTION R45-10 Approving Participation in Livable Communities Act 2011-2020 - Planning g) Approved 3.2. Beer License Weng's Kitchen - Administration h) Approved Bills APIF, MOTION CARRIED. b) Approve Fire Relief Association 2011 Pension Request - Finance Councilmember Wilson wanted to make sure Council fully understands the situation of the Relief Association to make sure the department is fully protected and the Council is protected as well. He asked if the adjustment of$5,175 is the fmal adjustment for the year. Finance Director Walters confIrmed it is. The $126,000 was an estimate for the budget. Investments are measured from June 2009 to June 2010 and they are doing better. Councilmember Wilson was confident they do a good job managing their money, but Council is held hostage to make them whole. He asked that staff meet with the Relief Association quarterly and provide updates to Council. 5 Council Minutes (Regular) August 2, 2010 Page 3 Councilmember May recalled last year they received spreadsheets to provide more information as to where the number came from. She was uncomfortable with the whole process and that Council has to arbitrarily vote, but they have no say in the investments or how the process works. They can put funds into risky investments, but if they lose, they come to the City. Finance Director Walters explained it is a decision by the State that they are allowed to do this. They want to be able to improve their investments. There is an incentive for the Relief Association to watch their investments, because the City would not increase their pension because of covering the required contribution. MOTION by Wilson, second by Donnelly to approve the City's required contribution in the amount of $131,175 and approve maintaining the pension benefit level at $4,575 as in 2010. APIF, MOTION CARRIED. 8. PUBLIC HEARINGS a) Adopt Ordinance - Amending 2010 Fee Schedule Increasing State Surcharge for Building Permits - Engineering The State has increased surcharge fees for building permits from $.50 to $5.00 for July 1,2010 - June 30, 2011. MOTION by Fogarty, second by Wilson to close the public hearing. APIF, MOTION CARRIED. Councilmember Wilson asked who would be impacted by this increase. City Planner Smick explained it is for all types of building permits. This impacts every community. Councilmember May referred to the memo from the State, and the fact the City is borrowing from internal funds for the budget deficit, this shows what happens. It will be a cause of concern as we work through our budget issues. It can put a temporary band aid on things, but when you borrow funds, the money still has to be replaced. It is a bit unfair to the taxpayer who somewhere along the line had paid that fee or tax for a specific purpose and the original purpose goes away. This will become a common trait; how do you replace those dollars. She did not want to see the City start doing that. MOTION by Wilson, second by Fogarty to adopt ORDINANCE 010-625 amending the 2010 fees and charges ordinance. APIF, MOTION CARRIED. b) Approve Wine License Weng's Kitchen - Administration Mr. Tony Weng has applied for an On-Sale Wine License for Weng's Kitchen, Inc., 115 Elm Street. MOTION by Fogarty, second by Wilson to close the public hearing. APIF, MOTION CARRIED. MOTION by Fogarty, second by Wilson to approve an On-Sale Wine License for Weng's Kitchen, Inc. APIF, MOTION CARRIED. 9. AWARD OF CONTRACT a) Approve Pilot Knob Trail Extension Contract - Engineering This project is to install a trail connection on the west side of Pilot Knob from 200th Street to CSAH 50. Construction will be fmished by October 1,2010. The 6 Council Minutes (Regular) August 2,2010 Page 4 City prepared the design of the trail and the County will perform all of the inspections. Six bids were received. The low bidder was Minnesota Dirt Works for $260,462. The project will be funded by the County for $157,000, the Park Improvement fund will pay $10,000, and the road and bridge fund will pay $119,000. This also includes a 10% contingency. Councilmember Wilson asked ifwe have a history of working with Minnesota Dirt Works. City Planner Smick explained the City has worked with them on private projects. Councilmember Wilson noted the bid spread is $72,000 and asked if the low bidder captured everything in the bid. Staff stated they did. When City Engineer Schorzman determined the estimate, rather than doing a statewide review of other estimates, he did an estimate that was within the vicinity of Farmington. Other bidders may have been looking outside the Farmington area. Any change orders will be shared between the City and the County. Councilmember Wilson noted this is the most glaring trail connection in the Farmington area. Parks and Recreation Director Distad agreed the length of this trail is significant. Councilmember Wilson stated ifwe were not getting County participation to the level we are, he would not approve this project. Also, the park improvement fund and road and bridge fund are for projects that benefit the entire community. Councilmember Fogarty asked about the Rortion ofthe bid showing removing bituminous. Mayor Larson stated on 200 Street there will have to be a curb cut and a ped ramp will be installed for ADA compliance. MOTION by Wilson, second by Fogarty to adopt RESOLUTION R46-10 accepting the base bid of Minnesota Dirt Works in the amount of $26,462.20 and awarding the project. Mr. David Pritzlaff, 20255 Akin Road, stated it would be nice to have this trail connection, but felt the City could not afford it. It is $10,000 out of the park improvement fund and $119,000 out of the road and bridge fund which is taxpayers' money. Here is a cut Council can make and try to save the taxpayers some money. He agreed we receive money from the County, but we also received a grant for a bridge which the City also had to contribute $1 million and that project has not gone well. Here is a real cut the Council can make. Delay the project. It is not necessary. It is $129,000 from the City that we are spending, no matter what fund, it is taxpayers' money. He felt we should delay this, and use this as one of the first decent sized cuts in the budget. Voting for: Larson, Donnelly, Fogarty, Wilson. Voting against: May. MOTION CARRIED. 10. PETITIONS, REQUESTS AND COMMUNICATIONS a) Approve High School Hockey Agreement - Parks and Recreation The contract with the School District covering ice rental for the boys and girls hockey games has been revised. Staff reviewed the current contract for items that 7 Council Minutes (Regular) August 2, 2010 Page 5 have not been covered in the past. New costs to be covered from the rental fee during games are as follows: - Administrative costs associated with the Facilities Maintenance Supervisor being at the junior varsity and varsity hockey games. This cost was not billed in the past. - Additional charge for cleaning of the Arena after hockey games. In the past this was not charged. - Cover administrative costs associated with the use of the Arena such as scheduling the facility for games, scheduling employees for the games, counting money from game receipts, depositing money from games and invoicing ofthe games. - Cover increased cost for disposing of increased garbage that is generated from the crowd watching the game compared to little or no garbage created during practices. In addition to increasing the hourly rental fee to provide the Arena for high school hockey games, staff is also proposing to increase the gate split from 60% City / 40% school district to 75% City / 25% school district. All of the overhead costs for running the games are borne by the City. Previously the City received $950 from the school district which covered a four hour rental of the Arena during the junior varsity and varsity boys games. The City received $900 from the girls junior varsity and varsity games. The girls were renting the Arena for 3.75 hours, but it is now 4 hours. As a result of the change, the City will charge $325/hour which would be $1300 for the four hour rental. In addition, revenues will also increase from the higher gate receipts. There will be a total of26 games played in the upcoming season which should generate $8,550 more for the Arena. This only pertains to the games. The practice times will remain at $200/hour. Councilmember May asked if the Hockey Association set a dollar amount they would contribute. Councilmember Fogarty stated it was a percent. Councilmember May recalled the conditions also contained certain times and asked if that has been worked out. Parks and Recreation Director Distad stated that would pertain to practice ice time; this is for game ice time. The games are set by the State Conference. Councilmember May asked if the school district has approached the City about assisting with the arena improvements. They have not. Staff is trying to show the true costs of allowing the Arena to be used for their games. Councilmember May asked ifthere will be any discussion regarding the renovations. Staff has discussed it with school staff, but no offer has been made. Councilmember Fogarty suggested having a resolution at the next meeting with Council formally asking the School Board. Councilmember May understood the money comes from the same pockets, but the school district has a bigger base. Staff stated the school district staffwill take the agreement to the School Board for approval. Mayor Larson stated when the City uses the school facilities for events, we are also charged these types of charges. MOTION by Fogarty, second by Wilson to 8 Council Minutes (Regular) August 2, 2010 Page 6 approve the Farmington High School Game Ice Rental Agreement with the Farmington School District. APIF, MOTION CARRIED. 11. UNFINISHED BUSINESS 12. NEW BUSINESS a) Set Budget Workshop - Finance Mayor Larson requested that a closed session be held with the City Administrator to discuss some performance issues before the budget workshop. It was decided to hold the closed session following the August 16,2010, Council meeting. The budget workshop will be held on August 23, 2010, at 6:30 p.m. The EDA meeting will be held at 6:00 p.m. Finance Director Walters also asked that Council turn in their budget comments. Councilmember Fogarty asked if full staff needed to attend the budget workshop or just the City Administrator and Finance Director. It is more a discussion that Council needs to have. Council had no further questions for Department Heads, therefore, they do not need to attend the budget workshop. b) Set Parks Tour- Parks and Recreation The Parks and Recreation Commission selected August 11 or August 30 to give Council a tour of the parks. Council preferred August 30. Parks and Recreation Director Distad noted August 30 was being held open in case the budget workshop needed to be continued. If that is the case, a second budget workshop would be held on August 30, rather than the Parks tour. 13. COUNCIL ROUNDTABLE Councilmember Fogarty: She attended the Relay for Life and thanked the people who organized the event. It was a really nice event. The theme was "Fighting Cancer to Enjoy More Birthdays." She attended a benefit at the Legion for Gracie Norland. She thanked all those who attended. They raised almost $20,000. August 3, is National Night Out. Administrative Services Director Shadick: The Primary Election is Tuesday, August 10, 2010. Candidate filing is August 3 - 17, 2010. She thanked Liquor Operations Manager Randy Petrofske for the Flavors of Farmington event. It was a wonderful event and over 100 people attended. Randy and his staff did a lot of work. Mayor Larson: Encouraged everyone to sign up for Nixie or Twitter on the City's web site to receive City messages. 9 Council Minutes (Regular) August 2, 2010 Page 7 The Fair starts the week of August 9, 2010. Please watch for pedestrians. Regarding the Pilot Knob trail extension that was approved, he realized they spent some money on it, but he considers it public safety. There are a lot of people on that road, and it is not safe. He urged residents to support Farmington businesses. Ifwe want more, we need to support the ones we have. He was unable to attend the Flavors of Farmington because he was attending a soccer game where the Farminron U15 girls team won the State Championship. Boys Lacrosse 7th & 8th graders won 4 place in the State tournament. 14. ADJOURN MOTION by Fogarty, second by Wilson to adjourn at 7:59 p.m. APIF, MOTION CARRIED. Respectfully submitted, Cynthia Muller Executive Assistant 10