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HomeMy WebLinkAbout02.08.16 Work Session Minutes Council Workshop Minutes February 8,2016 Mayor Larson called the workshop to order at 6:30 p.m. Present: Larson,Bartholomay, Bonar, Donnelly, Pitcher Also Present: David McKnight, City Administrator;Robin Hanson, Finance Director;Adam Kienberger, Community Development Director;Kevin Schorzman, City Engineer; Todd Reiten, Municipal Services Director;Jen Dullum,Natural Resources Specialist;Cynthia Muller, Executive Assistant MOTION by Bartholomay, second by Pitcher to approve the agenda. APIF,MOTION CARRIED. Emerald Ash Borer Update and Plan The emerald ash borer was found in Apple Valley in January 2016. It has not been found in Farmington. The city ordinance has been updated and the city can remove trees on private property if they are infected. It takes approximately five years for a tree to die once infected. Farmington has 3100 boulevard ash trees. This does not include parks or natural areas. The cost to remove all of them would be$800,000 to $1 million. The city could remove 200 trees per year and a contractor would do the rest to be done by 2020. Or over 15 years,the city could budget$61,000 per year. The cost does not include stump grinding and replanting. There would also be equipment replacement costs. The current professional services budget is$12,000. Staff would like to be proactive and not wait until infestation occurs. Staff could begin work on some declining trees now. Most ash trees are in Dakota Estates and the downtown area. There is also a treatment that can be applied to ash trees to prevent infestation. That cost is$5 per inch diameter and needs to be done every two years. Council would like the plan to include removal and replacement costs. If two boulevard trees are removed on a lot,they would be replaced with one boulevard tree as a way to save cost. The current policy is if we cut down a boulevard tree,we do not replace it. We need to start putting money away now for this project. There needs to be public education and staff should reach out to newspaper reporters to provide some of this education. Staff will prepare a plan for removal and replacement. A survey of age of tree, condition and number of trees per lot will not be done as the tree age does not matter with infestation. Council is more interested in tree replacement numbers and costs. Clean Water Minnesota—Metro WaterShed Partners Membership Metro WaterShed produces materials for storm water outreach. The city used to contribute to them. They are revamping their program with an editorial campaign calendar. It will include Facebook,tweets,professional photos, newsletter articles for each season and will provide a consistent message. There are 70 partners in the group. Staff has been providing in-kind services to use their materials, but now Metro WaterShed is asking for memberships. There are funds in the storm water fund. This new program will also provide a tracking program showing Council Workshop Minutes February 8,2016 Page 2 how many of our residents are reading their messages. A fall clean-up program is also offered metro wide. Metro WaterShed manages the database. Cost is$1,000 to join. Staff is asking for funding for one year. If we do not participate,the social media messages would not appear in Farmington. Council would also like to know the dues for various other organizations the city belongs to. As the dues do not come out of the general fund, some councilmembers were in favor of it. Public education and outreach has to be done because of our MS4 permit. A consistent message across the metro makes the outreach more effective. Council agreed staff should bring the request to a Council meeting. Downtown Redevelopment Plan Task Force Update A presentation was given on the progress of the downtown redevelopment plan by Jeff Miller of Hoisington Koegler. Based on comments received,there may be changes to land use and zoning in the downtown area. The final plan will be presented to Council the end of March. Comments from open houses have been that the current mix of restaurants and bars does not attract families, casual gathering places are limited,no coffee shops, outdoor seating is limited, need improved connections with trails and sidewalks, lack of public gathering space,buildings on highway 50 do not reflect the historic character of downtown, downtown is off the beaten path for residents to the north,not enough destinations to attract residents on a regular basis, not enough unique shops, downtown identity and awareness is low in the community. The opportunities are to attract business to historic buildings,redevelop vacant and underutilized sites,add a park or plaza, add connections from downtown to trail system and river, add a Riverwalk on south side of river, create a stronger downtown entry from highway 50, improve character of streets such as 2°d Street and highway 50, add new housing options, create a stronger downtown identity. The downtown core area is from 1st Street to 5th Street and from Walnut Street to the river. Surrounding the core area is a downtown edge,riverside west which is west and north of the railroad and riverside north. The plan is to focus on the downtown core first. A concept plan for the core and downtown edges was presented. A market feasibility study showed there is a retail sales leakage occurring in many categories. The lease rates could be$18 -$20 per sq. ft. The priority would be to fill vacant buildings first then redevelopment of other sites would be more viable. Riverside west could be mixed residential and small use. The site has poor visibility and access for retail. A variety of housing types could help attract multiple market segments to downtown. Current rental rates for apartments range from $1.50 -$1.70 per sq. ft. Townhouses would be targeted for ownership with apartments for rental. There would be potentially higher construction costs for housing adjacent to the railroad tracks. The recommended short-term strategies include building relationships with key downtown property owners; refurbish existing vacant commercial buildings, interiors and exteriors, particularly historic buildings; support civic/municipal destinations downtown; improve biking and walking facilities; add outdoor seating and gathering places,permanent and temporary;build downtown's identity. The recommended implementation for the downtown core is to fill existing buildings and redevelop strategic sites, add outdoor public space in the downtown core for events and informal Council Workshop Minutes February 8,2016 Page 3 gathering,add trails to connect downtown to the river and regional trails. For the downtown edges it is to redevelop new housing options and for the Riverside districts to add park and trail amenities on the south side of the river and add housing next to the river. Redevelopment will be market driven which means things may not move as fast as we would like. The Council and EDA need to be more proactive to make it happen. It is good to have the library,post office and liquor store downtown. Whatever we have to make people come here will also lead them to other shops as everything works together. 2016 Storm Water Work There are two drainage issues. The first is on Embry Avenue in Akin Park Estates east. There are issues in the summer and in the winter ice builds up in the curb from several drain tiles. There is a drain tile at the top of the hill on the west side of the street. Staff suggested making a connection from the surface drains into this drain tile. A survey would be done of the drain tiles and sump pumps coming from homes and a cost estimate for the connection. Staff would like to do this project this summer. It would be a good use of the storm water fund. Council agreed with staff to obtain quotes. (Councilmember Bartholomay left at 8:35 p.m) The other issue is along Akin Road near 203rd Street. There is severe erosion to the east almost to the evergreen trees. Staff recommends capturing the water from the culvert and taking it around that property rather than allowing the water to go through the property. There is also an issue to the north at Bible Baptist Church. Water is going over the berm between the path and the parking lot and washing into the parking lot. Staff suggested in a year or two put curb and gutter along Akin Road from the roundabout to Farmington Lutheran Church. It would involve cutting out the shoulder and installing curb and gutter to make it more urban. Cost would be approximately$500,000 to $700,000. This could be a possible use of MSA funding. It was suggested to put curb and gutter on the east side of Akin Road only. Staff will research this further. Additional Municipal Services Staffing Municipal Services has been short staffed since 2013. It is getting to the point where staff cannot keep up with the work. Employees have been out on sick leave or vacation which adds up to 1.5 FTE. Employees have been moved around between solid waste, streets and snow plowing. Staff would like to have a floater position. Half of the time would be spent in solid waste and half in streets, so only 10%of the cost would come from the general fund. In the winter,two or three employees are allowed to go on vacation if they are in town in case they need to come in for snow plowing. We have 12 routes and there are seven employees for plowing. Vacation has to be allowed in the summer because of preventing it in the winter. It is getting to the point where the work is not getting done. Council agreed this is a core responsibility and we have to do it right. Council asked about an organizational chart and a flow chart showing the duties. Staff should provide Council with a list of work that is done with this many people and what is getting left out. At the same time we are pulling from solid waste,parks, engineering and then those Council Workshop Minutes February 8,2016 Page 4 items fall behind. We try to keep people on the same plow route,but when pulling people from other areas they are on a new route they are not familiar with. The same thing happens with solid waste where garbage is picked up at a different time than normal. Staff will provide a snow plow policy. Policies are not on the website because they are used as a guideline for staff to follow. The position being requested would fall under several categories from mechanics assistance, solid waste operator, snow plow driver to building maintenance. Council noted these duties are a priority and staff would not be requesting this if it wasn't necessary. A council workshop was scheduled for February 22, 2016,to discuss municipal services staffmg further and to receive a liquor store update. MOTION by Pitcher, second by Donnelly to adjourn at 9:10 p.m. APIF,MOTION CARRIED. Respectfully submitted, Cynthia Muller Executive Assistant