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HomeMy WebLinkAbout08.10.15 Work Session Minutes Council Work Session Minutes August 10,2015 Mayor Larson called the work session to order at 6:30 p.m. Present: Larson,Bartholomay,Donnelly,Pitcher Absent: Bonar Also Present: David McKnight, City Administrator;Robin Hanson, Finance Director;Adam Kienberger, Community Development Director; Kevin Schorzman, City Engineer;Randy Distad, Parks and Recreation Director;Cynthia Muller, Executive Assistant;John Solberg, MnDOT South Area Manager MOTION by Bartholomay,second by Donnelly to approve the agenda. APIF,MOTION CARRIED. 2016 Trunk Highway 3 Proiect Mr.John Solberg,MnDOT South Area Manager, presented the final layout for this project. If Council agrees with the plans, a public hearing will be held at the October 5,2015, Council meeting. Mr. Solberg mentioned comments from the project open house. The Hickory Street access will remain as is. Main Street will be closed at Highway 3. Spruce Street will be left as is. The median access at Walnut Street will be closed. Larch will have a 3/4 intersection where you can only go north,not south onto Highway 3. Traffic will be able to turn onto Larch from Highway 3. Mr. Solberg clarified,the median at Hickory will remain open for now. Once the mall site redevelops, if there are issues with that intersection,MnDOT will close the median if there is a safety problem. This should be known to anyone marketing the property. MnDOT does not need municipal consent to work in the median. Regarding the Highway 50 project,the access to 8th Street(the frontage road)will not be closed at Highway 50. This will also be part of the October 5, 2015,public hearing. The cost to the city for the Highway 3 project is$50,000 for the signal at Highway 3 and Elm Street. 2016 Budget The preliminary budget will be brought to the September 8,2015, Council meeting for approval. Currently the 2016 net tax levy is$9,613,254,which is a$450,000 increase over 2015 or a 4.9% increase. At the July 20, 2015, Council work session Council asked staff to restore the EDA transfer from the general fund to $40,000,the to-be-determined position of$75,000 was restored, and the Administrative reserve was reduced by$11,979. The pool will be open in 2016. This change will be budget neutral as demolition costs were included in the 2016 budget. Local government aid(LGA)and fiscal disparities will be updated by the end of August. Human resource costs will be finalized after contract negotiations are complete. Debt repayment amounts will be fmalized when the 195th Street bond issue is awarded this fall. Council Work Session August 10,2015 Page 2 The fmal budget cannot be higher than the preliminary budget. The 4.9%net tax levy would mean a tax increase of$46.52 per year or$3.88 per month on the average home. Councilmember Pitcher noted the overall message he is hearing is don't raise taxes. He cannot support raising the levy this much. Included in the 2016 budget is a$293,000 debt levy for the 195th Street project, fiscal disparities is$160,000 less than 2015 and building permit revenue was reduced$100,000. The debt levy is going down in 2016 from $3,059,000 to$2,970,000. At the same time we are increasing debt over$200,000 in the 195th Street project. Councilmembers Donnelly,Bartholomay and Mayor Larson supported the 4.9%increase. Regarding the pool, it will cost$3,800 to replace the burners in the heater. Council agreed to fix it so the expense would be in 2015. Regarding other budgets,the$40,000 transfer to the EDA was restored. In the sewer budget, staff received updated costs on the sewer line on the north side of town that joins the Lakeville development. The professional services line item has been decreased to $150,000. There was a small profit on summer ice due to new groups buying time. The dehumidification system has helped tremendously and saved a lot of wear on the equipment. 2007A Bond Refunding These bonds were used to finance the City Hall and First Street garage. The bonds are redeemable February 1,2017. Based on current estimates we could save$312,000 if we were to refund the bonds now. The cost would be$173,000. We would also lose the option to rent the upstairs to an expanded list of tenants,which would be difficult in any case. If we wait until closer to February 2017 interest rates could raise .5%. Staff asked if Council wants to refund the bonds now and lock in the$312,000 savings or wait to see what interest rates are like later. Councilmembers decided to wait to refund the bonds. City Administrator Update Council had discussed expanding the size of the EDA. This will be discussed at the September work session. MOTION by Bartholomay, second by Pitcher to adjourn at 7:38 p.m. APIF,MOTION CARRIED. Respectfully submitted, Cynthia Muller Executive Assistant