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HomeMy WebLinkAbout08.06.12 Council Minutes 2a, COUNCIL MINUTES REGULAR August 6, 2012 1. CALL TO ORDER The meeting was called to order by Mayor Larson at 7:00 p.m. 2. PLEDGE OFALLEGIANCE Mayor Larson led the audience and Council in the Pledge of Allegiance. 3. ROLL CALL Members Present: Larson, Bartholomay, Donnelly, Fogarty, May Members Absent: None Also Present: Andrea Poehler, City Attorney;David McKnight, City Administrator;Kevin Schorzman, City Engineer; Cynthia Muller, Executive Assistant Audience: 4. APPROVE AGENDA MOTION by Fogarty, second by Donnelly to approve the Agenda. APIF,MOTION CARRIED. 5. ANNOUNCEMENTS Ms. Julie McKnight,representing CEEF, presented the third of five loan payments for Dew Days. She thanked the City for the loan and the participation of staff. Dew Days was very successful and is getting bigger every year. 6. CITIZEN COMMENTS 7. CONSENT AGENDA MOTION by Fogarty, second by Bartholomay to approve the Consent Agenda as follows: a) Approved Council Minutes(7/16/12 Regular)(7/23/12 Workshop) b) Adopted RESOLUTION R30-12 Accepting Donation Pollution Prevention Day —Municipal Services c) Approved School and Conference—Parks and Recreation d) Adopted RESOLUTION R31-12 Accepting Donation 2012 Dew Run—Parks and Recreation e) Approved Quote Trail Maintenance-Engineering fl Approved School and Conference—Fire Department g) Approved DNR Grant—Fire Department h) Acknowledged Resignation Fire Department—Human Resources i) Acknowledged Resignation Police Department—Human Resources 4 Council Minutes(Regular) August 6,2012 Page 2 j) Approved Appointment Heritage Preservation Commission-Administration k) Approved Bills APIF,MOTION CARRIED. e) Approve Quote Trail Maintenance-Engineering Councilmember May asked why there were only two bids. City Engineer Schorzman stated two bids is typical. There are a lot of companies that do trail maintenance, but use their own proprietary material on trails. He found several companies used master seal in the past and it worked well. Councilmember May asked if we are using something no one else uses, is that a good thing. City Engineer Schorzman explained other cities do use this product and gave examples of where it has been used. 8. PUBLIC HEARINGS 9. AWARD OF CONTRACT 10. PETITIONS,REQUESTS AND COMMUNICATIONS 11. UNFINISHED BUSINESS 12. NEW BUSINESS a) Establish Liquor Operations Committee-Administration The MMBA recommended the City implement a liquor operations committee. Their report included guidelines on the committee's duties and agenda examples. The purpose of our committee can be determined by the City Council. City Administrator McKnight recommended a monthly review of financials, sales, and hot issues and work on one,three, and five year business plans. He expected the committee to meet monthly. The committee would be comprised of two Councilmembers,the City Administrator, and liquor operations management staff. Councilmember Fogarty felt this was a great idea. She recommended Mayor Larson sit on the committee. Councilmember May felt it would be helpful to have a resident or business owner involved in retail on the committee. Councilmember Fogarty stated this is not a formal board or commission, and having people come in for presentations would be helpful. Councilmember Donnelly agreed with including someone with a business background. Councilmember Bartholomay agreed and suggested two residents or business owners. City Administrator McKnight stated this committee is strictly advisory and would provide ideas and summaries of what is occurring. Staff will start advertising for community members as soon as possible. This committee would be brought back each year for appointments. Councilmember Bartholomay nominated Councilmember May to sit on the committee. MOTION by Fogarty, second by Donnelly to establish the committee with Mayor Larson, Councilmember May, two business owners/residents,the City Administrator, and liquor operations manager. APIF,MOTION CARRIED. 5 Council Minutes(Regular) August 6,2012 Page 3 b) Approve Assessment Waiver PID 147700029090-Engineering This waiver is for a landlocked parcel directly north of 309 Main Street. Originally,these two parcels were together. At some point,the north 50 ft. of the lot was split off. It is 3,000 sq. ft. and is not buildable. The owner of 309 Main Street is interested in purchasing it and combining it with his lot. The parcel has $9,000 in deferred assessments from the Main Street project and the Elm Street project which makes it impossible for him to purchase it. Staff requested Council waive the assessment conditioned upon it being combined with 309 Main Street. If not,the assessment will continue to exist as there is no access to the parcel and you cannot build on it. Councilmember May asked if the owner of 309 Main Street could pay the interest on the assessment. It should never have been assessed in the first place. Staff agreed when the assessment search was done, it showed up as a parcel and an assessment was placed on it. There is$2,600 in interest accrued,which is half the value of the property. Council discussed the issue further, and agreed the lot should never have been assessed in the first place. MOTION by Fogarty, second by Bartholomay to approve waiving the assessment on PID 147700029090 contingent upon the sale of the parcel and the combination of that parcel with the 309 Main Street property. APIF,MOTION CARRIED. 13. COUNCIL ROUNDTABLE Councilmember Donnelly: The Dakota County Fair is this week and he encouraged resident to attend. Councilmember Fogarty: She will be salsa judging at the Fair. Tuesday is National Night Out. Next Tuesday is the Primary Election. Councilmember Bartholomay: Regarding National Night Out, he asked if the City provides lists of parties. Residents can contact the City. August 14, 2012, is Primary Election Day. The filing deadline for Mayor, Council, and School Board close at 5:00 p.m. on that day. Councilmember May: She formally announced she is not seeking re-election. She has five more months to serve and promised to be a good steward to the taxpayer for her remaining term. While it has been a good experience, it has also been very frustrating at times. She stated she might have been naive in thinking Council has a more active role in working with staff and residents to think outside the box. She was not discounting fellow Councilmembers or staff, but how government operates and spends money is far different than the private sector. The private sector takes much more immediate steps to make changes and cut spending and that is not the case in government. Council, staff and residents have to remember who is paying the bills. It is not the profit we are making from selling widgets, but from the taxpayers' pocket books. We get services for the 6 Council Minutes(Regular) August 6,2012 Page 4 money, but we have to be realistic with ourselves and with staff and we cannot keep going to the taxpayers year after year asking for more money. Let the cities in California declaring bankruptcy be a wakeup call to all of us that there will come a point where the bills cannot be paid if they keep rising, because the taxpayers can only pay so much. She did not know the answer. She thought she could be more a part of the solution, but it is difficult to even have a meaningful workshop dialogue to bring up new ideas and then implement them. It hasn't happened a lot. At a recent workshop,just the mention of asking if a budget number was too high for the Rambling River Center has literally inundated her with angry phone calls and e-mails from seniors in the community. No one at the workshop said to close down the center. No one said to eliminate the budget. All we asked was is it too much to spend, should we trim back, can we get more use out of the building to stretch the dollar. If we don't ask the question,the expenses will go up every year. We need to seriously look at our organizational structure, how our departments are run, if we need to privatize some services, how to make the most and best uses of our city-owned facilities, etc. We need to have a dialogue now, not that it will all happen right away, but we need to do a much better job in looking to our future and say when will the taxpayers say they can't pay anymore. Many are already saying that. Perhaps a new dynamic on the Council can get this new dialogue going and get some creative ideas moving in a forward direction. She hoped she helped pave the way for others who will come after her. Mayor Larson: Encouraged residents to follow the City on twitter and Facebook for City information. Household hazardous waste drop-off will be held September 8, 2012, at the Maintenance Facility. He urged residents to shop local. Businesses have seen an increase in business. 14. EXECUTIVE SESSION a) Notice of Claim—Attorney-Client Privilege MOTION by Fogarty, second by Bartholomay to adjourn into Executive Session for attorney-client privilege discussion related to potential pending litigation at 7:39 p.m. APIF,MOTION CARRIED. Executive Session convened at 7:45 p.m. Attendees included Larson, Bartholomay, Donnelly, Fogarty, May;David McKnight, City Administrator;Joel Jamnik and Andrea Poehler, City Attorneys;Julie Fleming Wolf Attorney. 15. ADJOURN Executive Session and the Council meeting adjourned at 8:26 p.m. Respectfully submitted, Cynthia Muller Executive Assistant 7