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HomeMy WebLinkAbout06.15.15 Council Minutes COUNCIL MINUTES REGULAR June 15, 2015 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, Bonar, Donnelly, Pitcher Members Absent: None Also Present: Andrea Poehler, City Attorney; David McKnight, City Administrator;Robin Hanson,Finance Director;Jim Larson, Fire Chief; Adam Kienberger, Community Development Director; Randy Distad, Parks and Recreation Director;Kevin Schorzman, City Engineer; Todd Reiten, Municipal Services Director;Brenda Wendlandt, Human Resources Director;Lena Larson,Municipal Services Coordinator; Cynthia Muller,Executive Assistant Audience: 4. APPROVE AGENDA Councilmember Bonar pulled item 7c)Amend Ordinance Pertaining to Police Regulations for discussion. Councilmember Bartholomay pulled this item to table it for further revisions. City Administrator McKnight added items 71)Appointment Recommendation Finance Department and 12a)Financial Review 1St Quarter 2015. MOTION by Bartholomay, second by Pitcher to approve the Agenda. APIF,MOTION CARRIED. 5. ANNOUNCEMENTS 6. CITIZEN COMMENTS 7. CONSENT AGENDA MOTION by Bartholomay, second by Bonar to approve the Consent Agenda as follows: a) Approved Council Minutes(6/1/15 Regular)(6/8/15 Work Session)- Administration b) Approved 2016 ALF Ambulance Budget-Administration c) Tabled Ordinance Amendment Pertaining to Police Regulations-Police d) Adopted RESOLUTION R22-15 Accepting Donation for Pollution Prevention Day—Municipal Services e) Adopted RESOLUTION R23-15 Accepting Donation to the Rambling River Center—Parks and Recreation f) Approved Seasonal Hiring—Human Resources Council Minutes(Regular) June 15,2015 Page 2 g) Approved Appointment Recommendation Finance and Liquor Operations— Human Resources h) Acknowledged Retirement Fire Department—Human Resources i) Acknowledged Retirement Fire Department—Human Resources j) Acknowledged Retirement Finance Department—Human Resources k) Approved Additional Staff Issued Business Credit Cards-Finance 1) Approved Appointment Recommendation Finance Department—Human Resources m) Approved Bills APIF,MOTION CARRIED. c) Amend Ordinance Pertaining to Police Regulations-Administration Councilmember Bonar commented on a few of the changes made to this ordinance to bring the ordinance up to date. This will be brought back to the next meeting due to minor revisions requested by Councilmember Bartholomay. 8. PUBLIC HEARINGS 9. AWARD OF CONTRACT 10. PETITIONS,REQUESTS AND COMMUNICATIONS a) 2015 Curbside Cleanup Summary—Municipal Services This is the 15th year of the curbside cleanup program and the weight of the garbage and electronics collected is the highest it has ever been. There was 462.68 tons of garbage, 257,712 pounds of electronics and 690 appliances. The total cost of the project was$187,573.23 and exceeded the budget amount by 10%. The overage will be covered through the solid waste budget by reducing other line items. b) Approve Agreement Hillview Park Trail Construction Project—Parks and Recreation The master plan provided for a paved looped trail in Hillview Park. The trail would be 780 linear feet. The low quote was received from Kevin Casey LLC contracting Services in the amount of$35,205. The park improvement fund identified$25,000 for this project. To make up for this amount,two park signs will not be purchased and an additional $2,000 will come from the fund balance. Hillview Park is classified as a class three park where very little mowing is done and is left in its natural state. Mowing will be done once or twice during the summer. It does not have playground equipment or a shelter and is not classified as a neighborhood park. Vegetation on the hillside is kept long to prevent erosion. Council noted the trail crossing would be on the darkest section of the road and suggested installing a street light at the crossing. There is also no reflective barrier at the end of the road when driving west. Council discussed alternatives to an asphalt trail, such as cutting the grass short or using wood chips. The balance Council Minutes(Regular) June 15,2015 Page 3 in the park improvement fund is$212,000 and$77,000 is dedicated to parks that are not yet complete, so$135,000 is available for other parks. Park improvement funds cannot be used for maintenance. It has to be used for development or improvement of parks. The cost of a cobra street light is less than$1,000 and could be placed on the northwest corner of the turn. If the corner is lit,that should take care of reflective signage at the end of the road. The master plan does call for two playground structures. This would be done when land to the west develops. The entire park covers three acres. Council agreed to mow a trail and use natural materials such as wood chips and wait for an asphalt trail until development occurs. MOTION by Larson, second by Pitcher to deny the asphalt bid and look at alternatives for a natural trail, install a street light and mow according to the current schedule. APIF,MOTION CARRIED. c) Community Solar Subscriber Collaborative—Community Development Legislation is in effect to require Xcel Energy to produce via solar energy a percentage of its total retail electric sales to retail customers in Minnesota by 2020. Basically, does it make sense for the city to explore pursuing the opportunity to purchase solar energy at a rate that could save the city money on utility costs through Xcel Energy over 25 years. The Met Council is asking cities in the metro area to participate in an RFP to establish solar gardens. The first step is to send the Met Council a non-binding letter of intent to participate in the RFP. The solar garden can be located anywhere in the twin cities. We would subscribe to any solar array in Dakota County or in an adjacent county. The rate would be procured through the RFP with a solar developer. This would be a way to lower our utility usage of power purchased through Xcel Energy. The RFP would be published in July 2015 and sub-agreements would be executed in October 2015. Construction would take one to six months. The Met Council will solicit proposals,review them, and make a recommendation for the collaborative as a whole which includes the rates for the solar energy. Staff would work with the city attorney on the type of joint powers agreement for the city to be a subscriber. The city can join the group and also look at this independently. MOTION by Bartholomay, second by Donnelly to authorize the submittal of a letter of intent to the Met Council expressing Farmington's desire to subscribe to solar production via the RFP process. APIF,MOTION CARRIED. 11. UNFINISHED BUSINESS 12. NEW BUSINESS a) Financial Review 1s`Quarter 2015-Finance At the end of the first quarter revenues and expenses should be at 25%of budget. General fund revenues are at 3%of budget due to property taxes being received in June/July. Building permit revenues are less than 2014 and are behind budget for Council Minutes(Regular) June 15,2015 Page 4 2015. If budget adjustments are necessary,they will be brought to Council in early August. General fund expenditures are at 23%of budget. Planning expenditures are at 46%of budget due to a personnel settlement paid out during the first quarter. Snow removal is higher than 25%of budget,but significantly less than 2014. The general fund fund balance decreased$2.1 million to$2.1 million or 18%of the 2015 general fund expenditures. Staff reviewed funds for the Rambling River Center,pool, EDA and the ice arena. Ice arena revenues are$13,000 less than last year and youth hockey rental revenue is down by the same amount. Both liquor stores met their gross profit benchmark of 25%. Sales at the Pilot Knob store are down by$11,000 compared to 2014. Downtown store sales are the same as 2014. For the first five months of the year,Pilot Knob store sales are $34,000 less than 2014. b) Fire Department Restructure and Department Update—Fire Department Fire Chief Larsen has reviewed the structure of the Fire Department and recommended some changes. Overall there are 50 members including a fire chief, three assistant chiefs, five captains, six lieutenants and the rest are fire fighters. The restructure reduces the amount of senior staff and pushes some of the responsibilities down to the lieutenants. The amount of captains would be reduced by three and increasing lieutenants by two. There will be very concrete roles and responsibilities. Three assistant chiefs will have responsibility for a division within the fire department. A captain will be assigned to each of them. Those captains will be responsible for a fire station and they will have four lieutenants to assist them with the organizational needs at the assignment level. Interviews are being conducted for various positions. In the past it had been hard to get onto the rescue squad because of the hours. There were 20 members on the rescue squad,of those 18 would be interested in responding to rescue calls and 12 have committed to an EMT class in January. This will provide increased service to our residents. In the restructuring there is not a separate rescue squad. It will be combined into the fire department. MOTION by Bartholomay, second by Bonar to approve the formal restructuring of the Farmington Fire Department. APIF,MOTION CARRIED. Fire Chief Larsen has been evaluating everything the fire department does, increasing training,officers are meeting weekly to go over policy and procedure changes, and rules and regulations. The stations and apparatus are being spruced up. A singular marking system has been developed so all of the fleet looks the same. The relief association is donating funds to pay for this. Fire fighters are very engaged and taking ownership of buildings and the fleet. Council Minutes(Regular) June 15,2015 Page 5 13. COUNCIL ROUNDTABLE Councilmember Pitcher: Lots of Dew Days activities this week. City Engineer Schorzman: The 195th Street contractor encountered Charter Communications main line and some residents have been without service for awhile and it is being repaired. Community Development Director Kienberger: Midwest Dental will be moving into the Tamarack Retail Center and will open this fall. Mayor Larson: Dew Days starts on Tuesday with the Miss Farmington Pageant, Wednesday is the Flavors of Farmington and there is an entire list of events on the Dew Days website. The Farmers' Market starts Thursday with 20 vendors. Mayor Larson has been challenged to a pizza eating contest by Lakeville Mayor Little. He encouraged residents to shop local and support Farmington and community events. 14. ADJOURN MOTION by Bartholomay, second by Pitcher to adjourn at 8:19 p.m. APIF,MOTION CARRIED. Respectfully submitted, Cynthia Muller Executive Assistant