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HomeMy WebLinkAbout05.02.11 Council Minutes 7a- COUNCIL MINUTES REGULAR MAY 2, 2011 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, Bartholomay, Donnelly, Fogarty, May None Joel Jamnik, City Attorney; Peter Herlofsky, City Administrator; Teresa Walters, Finance Director; Kevin Schorzman, City Engineer; Brenda Wendlandt, Human Resources Director; Lee Smick, City Planner; Cynthia Muller, Executive Assistant Beve Preece, Ann Manthey, Vida Raine 4. APPROVE AGENDA Councilmember May pulled item 7f) Approve Request for Proposal Dental and Long Term Disability Insurance for comment and items 7g) Approve Dew Days Fee Waiver and 7h) Approve Farmington Business Association Fee Waiver for discussion. Mayor Larson added item 5c) Soybean Festival and Community Calendar. MOTION by Fogarty, second by May to approve the Agenda. APIF, MOTION CARRIED. 5. ANNOUNCEMENTS a) Proclaim National Day of Prayer Ms. Ann Manthey gave the history of the National Day of Prayer. Council proclaimed May 5, 2011, as National Day of Prayer. b) Proclaim Historic Preservation Month Council proclaimed Mayas Historic Preservation Month c) Soybean Festival and Community Calendar Ms. Vida Raine stated the Soybean Festival will be held Saturday, May 21, in downtown Farmington. Information is available on their website and posters have been placed throughout town. She thanked City staff and the City Council for inkind help for all the festivals held throughout the year. These festivals can have a huge economic impact over time. Last year's attendance at the Soybean Festival was 41 % Farmington residents and 59% non-resident. Ms. Raine gave statistics of attendance and the economic impact of various festivals throughout Minnesota. 5 Council Minutes (Regular) May 2, 2011 Page 2 An effort is underway to combine all events for community organizations, churches, sports teams, a special sale, etc. into one community calendar. It is difficult for a City to take on this type of project because of the separation of church and state so it is important this be community based. It will be structured so it is very easy for people to contribute to the calendar by utilizing Google calendar features. Any organization can create their own calendar, maintain it themselves, and then it will be added to the community calendar on the website FarmingtonToday.com. Buds & Bytes will maintain the site. Mayor Larson noted this is a great calendar. 6. CITIZEN COMMENTS 7. CONSENT AGENDA MOTION by Fogarty, second by Bartholomay to approve the Consent Agenda as follows: a) Approve Council Minutes (4/18/11 Regular)(4/13/11 & 4120/11 Workshop) b) Approved Appointment Recommendation Fire Captains - Fire Department c) Approved Appointment Recommendation Fire Lieutenant - Fire Department d) Approved Appointment Recommendation Rescue Captain - Fire Department e) Approved Revising EDA Composition - Administration f) Approved Request for Proposal Dental and Long Term Disability Insurance - Human Resources i) Adopted RESOLUTION R23-11 Accepting Donations Rambling River Center Construction Project - Parks and Recreation j) Approved Bills APIF, MOTION CARRIED. g) Approve Dew Days Fee Waiver - Parks and Recreation h) Approve Farmington Business Association Fee Waiver - Administration Councilmember May pulled these items because of the garbage fees being waived. As the community grows it will become more common for these requests. She suggested having an initial discussion for future requests, ifwe want organizations to look at fees that will cost the taxpayers money. As the budget is extremely tight, she suggested for fees that would cost the taxpayers money, review on a case by case basis to waive City permit fees, but additional costs would be covered by the festival organizers. Councilmember Fogarty did not have a concern with waiving the fees. The more traffic we can bring in, the better. She understood the taxpayers are covering the garbage pickup, but no one has complained and they want these festivals. Councilmember Bartholomay added it is great for economic development. Councilmember Donnelly did not have a concern and felt it was goodwill for the City. We don't want to discourage the festivals. 6 Council Minutes (Regular) May 2, 2011 Page 3 Mayor Larson noted Councilmember May does have a good point. Even though permit fees are waived, it may not be a bad idea for organizations to budget a little for garbage fees. Otherwise, he has no problem with waiving fees. Councilmember May noted we have to keep in mind there are other costs being incurred, especially with staff time. There are quite a few additional inkind services, especially with Dew Days that are being made by the taxpayers. MOTION by Fogarty, second by Donnelly approving waiving the permit and facility rental fees for the 2011 Dew Days celebration in the amount of$I,833. APIF, MOTION CARRIED. MOTION by Fogarty, second by Bartholomay to approving waiving the permit fees for the Farmington Business Association festivals in the amount of$540. APIF, MOTION CARRIED. t) Approve Request for Proposal Dental and Long Term Disability Insurance - Human Resources Councilmember May asked how the process works and how providers are notified. Human Resources Director Wendlandt stated staffhas a list of people who have requested RFP' s. Staff also sends letters to providers in the area asking if they would like to submit a proposal. The RFP notice is also published in the legal publication. Any provider has an opportunity to submit a proposal. 8. PUBLIC HEARINGS 9. AWARD OF CONTRACT 10. PETITIONS, REQUESTS AND COMMUNICATIONS a) Approve PUD Amendment Fairhill- Engineering The amendment to the PUD is the addition of ownership interest in the parcel. This does not diminish the City's security with respect to the assessment for 195th Street. The developer remains the same. City Attorney Jamnik stated the security is the land and the transfer of property already made with the initial phase of the project. The only thing left is the pending assessment for the bridge construction and the road. That will come to Council in approximately a year. There is a periodic requirement for environmental review. Mr. Peter Coyle, counsel to the developer, stated the first phase will begin once the market improves. MOTION by Fogarty, second by Bartholomay to approve the PUD agreement for Fairhill, amended to add David and Karen Finnegan as owners of a portion of the subject property. APIF, MOTION CARRIED. b) Adopt Resolution - Approve Minnesota Green Steps - Planning This program was presented to Council at the April 18, 2011, Council meeting. City Planner Smick stated this program is an opportunity for the City to work on cost savings and energy use reductions while encouraging innovations. There are 16 best practices which the City has already done and there are three others to be 7 Council Minutes (Regular) May 2, 2011 Page 4 done as a requirement to become a Step 3 Green Step City. The City is well on its way to receiving more recognition for its efforts. Surrounding cities are at various levels ofthis program. Farmington is almost at the fmal step for the Step 3 designation. Councilmember May understood this is voluntary and she was not opposed to the overall program, but was concerned with the time management. She felt it is too costly on staff time. We are already adopting a lot of these practices. Putting a label on it is not that important. She would prefer to see the Planning Department focus time and energy on commercial/economic development. She is very excited about the Grow Farmington initiative. She spoke with a hotel owner today about the benefIts of the Community Calendar and how much.benefIt she has already seen in having that. The time that City Administrator Herlofsky has spent working with other cities trying to create more efficiencies, that is the direction where she would like to see the City Planners use their precious time and not driving around monitoring whether people are complying with the chicken ordinance. She realized that is only one little piece of the puzzle, but she would rather see staff focus their time in other areas because there is a lot of paperwork involved in this program. Councilmember Fogarty did not completely disagree, but she does not mind being part of this program because we have accomplished so much and get credit for it as long as it does not take a signifIcant amount of time. This is a back burner item. This could be used as an economic development tool and could qualify us for an economic development grant from the state or another type of grant. When you participate in these types of programs you receive points for grant processes. She does not want to think that because we didn't take a few hours of staff time to do some paperwork we lose out on a grant that could help economic development. You can pay me now, or pay me later is how she feels about dedicating staff time to this. Councilmember Fogarty agreed economic development needs to be a top priority, but staffhas made this a low impact on the amount of staff time. City Planner Smick stated the work on the matrix is done; we only need to look at the three required steps which includes looking at public buildings, plus Mr. Doug Bonar will volunteer to assist with that work as he is certifIed in LEAD. The other two steps are community and economic development and how to get green businesses here. Staff understands this will be a back burner item. Councilmember Donnelly felt staff understands we should not spend a lot of staff time and it also is a way to take credit for things we have already done without incurring any further expenses. It puts Farmington out in more places and for good reasons. Councilmember Bartholomay felt it is a very marketable piece and will pay more dividends down the road. He thanked City Planner Smick and other staff for the work they have done and especially Mr. Bonar for volunteering his time. 8 Council Minutes (Regular) May 2, 2011 Page 5 Mayor Larson was confident staffwill prioritize their time wisely. MOTION by Bartholomay, second by Donnelly to adopt RESOLUTION R24-11 approving the MN GreenStep Cities program. Voting for: Larson, Bartholomay, Donnelly, Fogarty. Voting against: May. MOTION CARRIED. c) March 2011 Financial Report - Finance General fund revenues are at 2.54% of the budget and without taxes revenues are at 12.81 %. This is comparable to last year and we are on track for budgeted revenues. At 21.93% of the budget expenditures are slightly below budget. Councilmember Fogarty noted fmes are 25% below budget but $1,765 higher than last year. Finance Director Walters explained the budget amount from last year was reduced this year. The amount offmes does fluctuate and we are on track since we reduced the budget. Councilmember Fogarty realized we are over budget for salt for the roads and asked how light does the snowfall have to be to balance at the end of the year. Staff stated we would have to have half of the amount we had last year. Councilmember Bartholomay confIrmed the contingency is gone. It was used for the fIre relief pension. Councilmember May noted senior center operations without the transfer show expenditures exceeding revenues by almost $22,000. Finance Director Walters explained the senior center needs the support ofthe general fund in order to operate. The transfer is added to the revenue, so the expenditures are higher. Councilmember May noted the ice arena revenues exceeded expenditures by $31,000 for the quarter which is very good. She asked if there are any new plans for renting the facility. City Administrator Herlofsky stated staff is constantly working on it. A couple years ago the karate group rented the facility, but not this year. Councilmember May asked if keeping the ice year round was feasible. City Administrator Herlofsky stated unless there is a use for it, there is no point in having it. Someone requested use ofthe ice during the summer, but there was no guaranteed revenue stream. Ice is available once the demand is created. Mayor Larson stated the request was for running individual summer clinics. Ice time was $50/hour cheaper in other communities and that is where they went. Councilmember May noted the liquor revenues are slim and asked how negotiations are going for the leases and when Council will receive an update. Mayor Larson noted negotiations are going well and we will receive an update in a month. 11. UNFINISHED BUSINESS a) City Administrator Search Process - Human Resources Human Resources Director Wendlandt brought back items from the previous meeting for Council to consider. 9 Council Minutes (Regular) May 2, 2011 Page 6 1) Determine the role of the Council sub-committee. Council agreed the Human Resources Director and the Mayor will screen the resumes for qualifications and then have all resumes forwarded to all Councilmembers and each one select their top five. From those selections, that should give a list often candidates. 2) Decide whether to have the top candidate take a management assessment. The assessment contains a psychological component, leadership, and at an additional cost different inbox tests. Council receives a report on the outcome. This costs approximately $800/candidate. If you add different inbox exercises there is an additional cost. Council did do inbox tests last time. The assessment includes four hours of testing for leadership qualities, and strengths and weaknesses. Councilmember Fogarty did not recall receiving that information in the past so it must not have been a factor in her decision. Councilmember Bartholomay felt it is money well spent. Councilmembers May, Fogarty, and Donnelly did not think this was necessary. Mayor Larson would like to see this done on the top two candidates. Council decided to wait and see if this is needed. The Police Department does the background checks. Staffwill provide a sample assessment report to review for a decision at a later date. 3) Decide if Council wants any involvement and/or input from City staffat all levels on the fmalists. Human Resources Director Wendlandt stated a couple of employees have asked if there would be a chance to do staff interviews which has been done in the past. Staff interviewed the top five candidates and provided input to the Council. Last time we had a meet and greet and staffwas allowed to go and meet the candidates and offer opinions to Council. Councilmember Fogarty enjoyed the meet and greet and received input from the community and staff. There was one meet and greet for everyone. Regarding the interviews, in the past there were Council interviews, and a staff interview panel and an employee interview panel. Councilmember Fogarty felt the staff interviews and meet and greet input was very helpful. Mayor Larson would like staff to have their own interview session with the candidates and Council review the questions and answers and also have the meet and greet. Human Resources Director Wendlandt will determine the mix of the interview panels. Councilmember Donnelly agreed it would be good to have staff interviews without Council and he would value their opinion more than the management assessment. The number of top candidates to be interviewed will be determined later. 4) Determine to have a "meet the candidates" reception for community members before the fmal decision is made. Council decided to have this as in the past. 10 Council Minutes (Regular) May 2, 2011 Page 7 5) Determine how or who will handle Administrator responsibilities in the interim. Councilmember Fogarty stated after the Mayor has received input from all of Council he should make the final decision on who should be interim. Deadline for applications is May 20, 2011. The interim will be decided at the May 16, 2011, Council meeting. 12. NEW BUSINESS 13. COUNCIL ROUNDTABLE a) HiPP Staff Appointment - Administration City Administrator Herlofsky has been co-chair of the HiPP Committee involving cities in Dakota County. Six committees have been set up to look at various areas for cities to work together. A representative to one of the committees could be from Council or staff. Police Chief Lindquist will be on the committee for public safety facilities. The new City Administrator would work with the general group. The person appointed to a sub-committee would stay on the sub-committee. MOTION by Fogarty, second by Larson to appoint Councilmember May to the dark fiber sub-committee with Councilmember Bartholomay as alternate. APIF, MOTION CARRIED. Councilmember Fogarty: May 14, is Spring Clean-up Day and flower baskets will also be hung downtown. She is the Chairperson for the Farmington Pageant and urged residents to buy a button to support their candidates. Many businesses are offering a discount with a button. If a business is interested in being listed with a discount and if a business would like to sponsor a candidate please contact Councilmember Fogarty. She congratulated Alexis Johnson for designing the Dew Days button this year. Councilmember Bartholomay: He rode with the police last Friday and thanked Officer Zajak and the Chief for arranging it. He recommended the rest of Council take advantage of it. The groundbreaking for the Vermillion River Crossing senior housing is May 4, at 3 :00 p.m. He asked to schedule an engineering workshop for June. City Engineer Schorzman: Regarding the Fairhill PUD, the proposal is to do the split of the property by meats and bounds survey. Council agreed. Mayor Larson: The community calendar is www.FarmingtonToday.com. May 4, at 3 :00 p.m. is the groundbreaking for the new CDA senior housing building in Vermillion River Crossing. It will have 66 units. A wine tasting sponsored by Farmington Liquors will be held at Blondie's on May 4. The after event for the park and pond clean-up was moved to the Rambling River Center on Saturday. The building was overflowing with volunteers who worked to clean up the parks and ponds. He thanked residents for their dedication to Farmington. He urged residents to shop at the Farmington liquor store as profits stay in town. Farmington Friendly is the brand for Farmington. He asked that residents support local businesses. 11 Council Minutes (Regular) May 2, 2011 Page 8 14. ADJOURN MOTION by Fogarty, second by Bartholomay to adjourn at 8:17 p.m. APIF, MOTION CARRIED. Respectfully submitted, Cynthia Muller Executive Assistant 12